21 Years In Canada

Hello Blondies,

This is a very special blog post. Last year marked our 20th year since moving from the UK to Canada. I wrote a personal post on my favourite things and some of the adventures I have had the opportunity to take. Unfortunately during the change over it was lost. So here I am again typing out a post of my life in Canada while taking a walk down memory lane…and this time I’ll be saving it to a document as well.

This year has bar none been the most challenging, but I truly believe that without Challenge there is no Change and no Champion. Quick little motivation. You are a Champion, whether you feel like it or not, your strength is bigger than your struggle. Keep going, yesterday on Instagram I saw a post saying, “Forget the Speed, Forward is Forward”. This is clearly not the year anyone had planned but I do believe the best is yet to come, so whatever it is you’re holding back from, take a step towards it. It may not be a giant step, it may just be a phone call…and trust me phone calls can feel like mamoths, I’ve been there. Reach forward to your dream, one day you’ll get there.

I don’t believe we (my parents…I was four) ever had a particular vision on moving to Canada, except for the fact my dad had a dream of Australia but my mum thought it was too far from family so Canada was the compromise. 1999 was the year we packed up our life and moved across the pond. I have ‘99 tattooed on my foot as a sign that when I’m here home is there and when I’m there home is here (If I ever told you it’s because I’m a Gretzky fan #sorrynotsorry) . It’s on my foot not only to be #basic, and easy to cover up for any job that may deem necessary but as a reminder that sometimes you need to take a step of faith to allow for amazing things to happen.

Since moving to Canada, I have learned and graduated with a bilingual diploma, which allowed me to do a 3 month exchange in France, and land my dream job as a flight attendant. I have driven through every province from BC to Quebec and flown to every province (aside from Nova Scotia, Yukon and Nunavut). While I would say PEI doesn’t particulary count as we decided to drive from New Brunswick to PEI on a december afternoon…spoiler it’s dark by 6 and everything is closed, most expensive road trip, but good chats were had. I was also able to go to the 2010 Olympics (spectator not athelete…not like you needed to spell that out for you).

I’ve also had some rough patches…running into a brick wall while playing wall ball, crashing into a fence while skiing, splitting my chin open at gymnastics…needless to say that career didn’t last very long and a couple broken hearts along the way.

Not only have I made a few discoveries about myself, but also a few things about my Canadian family…eh, is actually a thing, I truly didn’t even notice it until after spending a few weeks away back home and coming back to Canada. Caesers can acutally be enjoyable if you use enough spice and booze, gin please. The apologies are sincere, running through the streets of London in 2017 trying to figure out where the proper bus terminal was, opened my eyes to how helpful Canadians are. Ketchup chips are delicious, and while I’m not a big beer drinker, it's a necessity at a Hockey game or Stampede. Lastly, Country Music is underrated. If you need a party starter or a good cry country music has got your back!

While I haven’t found anything quite as comforting as Marmite on toast or a Branston and Cheese sandwich, Mac & Cheese is a close second and while I didn’t have it much as a kid (mum hates macaroni…I hate spaghetti go figure), it’s always a easy treat for me on those cold winter nights. While we’re on the topic, let’s address the weather for a quick minute shall we? Calgary and Area, I love you and the chinooks, but for once can you please stay in your LANE, like November to March is plenty of snow…thanks.

If you haven’t been out west yet I would highly suggest it, start in Calgary for the Stampede, Rocky Mountains for Winter Activities…well even in the summer there’s plenty to do, I’ll save that for another day. Beautiful British Columbia, Kelowna and Okanagan for the stunning views, and wineries. Vancouver is always a must and to slow things down head to the island. My goal by year 25 is to take surf lessons in Tofino. As for the Eastern Side, it’s been a quick minute since I’ve taken a visit but Cottage Country forsure in Ontario is, I swear magic. I was lucky enough to spend a week there after my european adventure in 2017 before my best friends wedding, and I can see why it’s her happy place. Limit service, plenty of scenery. New Brunswick will also have a special place, I was able to surprise my friend there just before Christmas one year…the same time we decided to cross the bridge to PEI if you’ve been paying attention. Small town Fredericton charm is beautiful and has the cutest little places to eat or pop in for a pint. Sort of reminded me of Abbotsford, except I would highly suggest doing Abbotsford in the spring when the tulips are out. I don’t have loads of memories of Toronto as I was young when we lived there however I do know the Airport extremely well…definetley a great cardio workout, weight training and calorie burner in case you were wondering, I’ve done many miles in heels on those tile floors…and broken a few on the escalator, it would be nice to go back and do some sight seeing again, I think the last time I went to Niagra I was 10, I also had a shirt that said “I thought my dad was tall until I saw the CN Tower”. I bet you’re thinking WOW! She had great style even at ten…

Well if you weren’t thankfully my style had evolved drastically since and some of that is thanks to some very ambitious and creative Canadian Brands, some of my favourites include, Sunnatan, because well we get like 2 weeks of summer and there’s a secret confidence that shows up in that magic tanning sauce. Roseling Handmade, who has made this 90’s girl DREAM of bringing back scrunchies and headbands…fun fact I almost got hit my a lorrie in London at the age of 3 because my headband fell off my head and into the road and I ran back to get…thank goodness for online shopping now HA! EauClair Distillery…How else would I make Gin Cocktails?! I have also been blessed to work for some fantastic Canadian Companies as well which have lead to some amazing friendships, hard conversations and room for growth.

And finally this may land with you…or not but I feel nudged to write this, I don’t typically share much of my faith so I’m going a bit off script but screw it.

My AMAZING church, and recently church family. I have been going to Experience Church since 2015 (on and off, but consistently since 2017). I was the girl that showed up just with enough time to find a seat and as soon as the music played at the end I was the first one out the door with a cookie in hand…because everyone goes to church for jesus, coffee and cookies right?! Turns out I was missing one key thing, Community.

Late into 2019 I decided to join a small womens group, sounds super exclusive right? That’s what I thought too…until that monday morning I walked into that coffee shop and realized I was among friends and women who also were struggling with the “Have it all together/ feel like a failure”. In the chuch there's a saying “The devil isn’t afraid of a big church, he’s afraid of a united church”. The devil feeds lies to us, and all our insecurities, sitting with these women who were walking through life with me became a warm community even on a snowy monday morning when I just wanted to hid in bed.

It became even more important to me when I walked into the fire that has been 2020, I have had my moments of anger and stress and struggle, and it’s been hard, it’s been hard on all of us, but the thing that keeps me going is having a community and having hope that things are turning and we are growing.

My challenge to you…especially if you’ve made it this far is reach out to someone, a friend, a mentor, a love one and share how you are and ask how they are…and good isn’t an answer. I’ve been caught red handed using that as a coverup and ended with tears on a FaceTime but that release has help me let go and keep moving forward.

Wow, alright that was a little deeper than usually, Needless to say HAPPY CANADA DAY!

I’m off to celebrate with my family…which typically includes a trip to Village Ice Cream, quite possibly a Ceaser and I will probably hunt down a bag of Ketchup Chips while I’m at it.