Life in NS Archives - Operation Relocation: West 2 East Coast, Canada

OMG…we bought a house…on the other side of the country. I still can’t believe it’s real somedays. We put in an offer in February, which was accepted the very next day and we became the official owners with keys in hand by March 15th.

Almost…

The funny thing is we almost settled on another piece of property. It was nearly 2 acres, 1800 sqft, and had a massive shop. The house had everything we needed, but the house itself was not quite for me. It just didn’t feel like home, but everyone else was really excited about it and we could make it work. So, we began the process of making an offer with our realtor…I didn’t sleep a wink that night. When I got up for work, I said to Chris that I felt we were making a mistake. If it snowed, we would need a quad to get out of the driveway, we were off the beaten path abit more than we wanted, there was NO room for guests and the maintenance of the property was way more than what we wanted for right now. But we stayed with the plan to put in our offer…until an hour later when I got a text from Chris.

Quick backtrack: There was another house we had as our first choice. We were actually scheduled to have a showing the same weekend, however the owners had cancelled it. Turns out they already had an accepted offer. Well guess what… that fell through! On the same day we decided to buy the other property…My house was BACK ON THE MARKET!!! And we hadn’t signed on the offer to the other property yet. What are the odds

The House!

Holy serendipity! I told Chris to STOP THE REALTOR! Call her and schedule a showing ASAP…like that night! I was going to see this house even with a pending snow storm in the forecast. That very evening we all headed to the house right after work and waited for our realtor to arrive. Before we even walked in we knew this was going to be it, and then walking around the kitchen and living room, we all had that feeling of home. It felt familiar, but different. We toured the house top to bottom, walked around the yard and the decks. The yard is fully fenced for the dogs. The house is 2600sqft, 15 years old, so well maintained. There are 6 bedrooms: Bedrooms for us, a guest room for friends and family (#1 for me), an office, and bonus: an art room. The bedrooms are smaller, but we have 2 living spaces as well. A shed outside and an indoor storage space. The one negative…the entryway. Please don’t come in all at once, because you can’t, there’s no room haha. It’s a landing to go up or down stairs. But regardless of that…that was home and we knew it.

So…we put in our offer which was accepted right away and financing was approved thanks to our pre-approval and the tremendous help of Kelly with True North Mortgage. Honestly, Kelly was so helpful and made the process so stress-free and easy. We are so thankful to her.

Are you moved in yet?

Are you moved in yet, you’re are probably asking? NO. We decided to wait to have our things sent from BC until we had the keys to our house…just in case. So March 15th Chris emailed Big Steel Box and had our seacan ready to be shipped out. By April 12th we had received a call from Atlantic Tiltload in Dartmouth that our seacan had arrived and was ready for delivery the next day, anytime between 9am and 4:30pm.

April 13th was going to be a busy one. I luckily started work a bit later for 9:30am, Chris was meeting an installer for the new counter tops at 9am and now our seacan was going to also be delivered. I was really disappointed that I was going to miss the seacan delivery, but at least it was in the same area as us. But guess what! Chris arrived at the house for 9am and Atlantic Tiltload was already there and backed up into the driveway! I was heading to work, so I made a pit stop and got to watch the unloading afterall. My boss called and our delayed start was going a bit longer. Luckily. I could really enjoy this big moment with my family! Our things, our memories, comfort was finally here.

We are going to really miss our rental and its incredible view of the Northumberland Strait everyday. But we are so beyond ready to be in our own space with our own things. One Step Closer!

XO Mel

FIRST IMPRESSIONS…

How do I express waking up in our new place? Blissful, peaceful, exciting. How is all of the above and so much more.

We awoke around 10am ready to start our day. The first thing I did was open the doors to our private balcony. As I stepped outside and got my first real look at the Atlantic Ocean, I just stood there for minutes. Taking in the view, the air and the breeze. It was a bright and sunny day outside. I must have been grinning ear to ear, while also in disbelief. This was where we would spend the next 6 months. The risk, at this moment, was worth the reward!

I headed downstairs where the kids were also awake, but not functional. Whilst laying in their beds on their phones, in their jammies. I left them to it, as they’ve earned the space and the downtime after our big journey and close quarters. Chris and I just relaxed for the morning, then of to the Atlantic Superstore to get groceries and basic kitchen needs.

Later in the afternoon I gathered our crew so we could check out our new beach. There is a private access off to the left of the yard, a little lane shared by all the neighbours. It is a small hill less than 2 minutes from the front door. I could hardly contain my excitement as we walked down and the ocean became visible. It is so quiet on this beach, there was noone about, just us and the many oysters! Although we did meet a neighbour. We were taking in the damage to his property, and so was he.

He told us how his kayak shed had blown about 50 feet from its home on the beach, the bench swing he had built for others to use had blown right off the base, landing next to the kayak shed and we could see at least 100 trees had been uprooted or blown over…not to mention the dock that came from ACROSS the straight! He was a lovely fellow, who despite the wreckage, gave us tips on what areas in NS he recommended. Moose offered to help out clean up if he needed it and we all chatted for a while until we made our way back up the hill…down was much easier haha.

THE NEXT FEW DAYS…

This year Thanksgiving was celebrated on Monday by us, with a big ham and mashed potatoes. A little different though, as we were missing family back home and the loudness and laughter that comes with it.

Our first couple of days were fairly mellow. The kids practically stayed in their rooms and relaxed. Everyone slept in daily and woke up when they wanted. At some point we headed up to Highland Square Mall to see what stores it had to offer and we were pleasantly surprised! Some shopping is in order. We also checked out some of the stores around town like the Giant Tiger, Sobeys, and Atlantic Superstore and the NSLC, where we picked up some local beers, ciders and a very specific whiskey, Keepers, which Chris had his eye before we had even arrived.

We got both kids registered for school by Tuesday, Bowie was even invited to stay the rest of the day. So Moose, Chris and I went to the Swiss Chalet for lunch and finished Moose’s paperwork. Wednesday came and both kids were off to school, just like that. And by Thursday they were riding the bus as well.

Weekend at the Pumpkin Patch..

Saturday is here!! 1 week down…what should we do? Well it’s OCTOBER…duh Pumpkin Patch time! Now at home I absolutely loved going to Coastal Black Estate Winery. They have an incredible Pumpkin Fest, hay rides, Corn Husk Launchers! So I was hoping we would find something similar at least…and did we ever! Chris drove us out to Riverbreeze Farms in Truro and OMG !!! Fan-freakin-tastic! From the moment we walked in the main gate I knew we were in for a seriously fun afternoon. I couldn’t have guessed HOW MUCH there was to do. Though it was partially blown over and a wee bit easier to navigate, we started in the corn maze…BUT it was sooo hot…in OCTOBER. So in our flannels, boots and jeans…we turned around from the blazing sun and gave up. The corn maze was not happening lol. Talk about Hotober, it was 20 degrees celsius!

We decided there was so many activities we could enjoy on this incredible sunny day and so we moved on and found The Holey Goats. Where goats are literally popping their heads out of holes in a wall looking for food. Absolutely hilarious and surprising haha. There is so much to do at Riverbreeze Farms that we didn’t even get to it all. From Tug-o-War, Shotgun Express (SUPER Slide), Build a Buddy Farm, The Hamster Wheel, Hillbilly Shooting (paintball), Tetherball and so much more. But there is even more…there is the animals: Pigs (Chris’s favourite), kangaroos, a baby llama, bunny pen and of course the Holey Goats.

My favourite moment of the silly games had to be watching Moose and Bowie in the Hamster Wheels. They’ve rigged these up using 2 very large ditch drainage tubes on a couple of tracks. As they ran Bowie tried to keep up, and Moose went ass over tea kettle in his twice, extremely comical to watch.

We hopped on the tractor to the pumpkin patch. Riding with us was the Owner who told side-splitting Dad jokes for the 5 minute journey. Not only did we pick out some fabulous pumpkins, but Riverbreeze Farms had the forethought to put up “selfie” stands at each decorated station there. That way the whole family could be in the picture! Genius. After we rode back on the tractor with our pumpkins it was time to head home. What a great day, not one I will forget soon.

And Then…

Early the next week we celebrated Chris’s Birthday. We made steak sandwiches for dinner and shared gifts and cake. Most the rest of the week was just like a normal week for us. School, grocery shopping, Bowie doing art and us walking the beach. Although; Chris did give himself a birthday present…new tattoos with Brian MacKenzie, owner of Vintage Tattoos. Brian’s portfolio speaks for itself as a traditional tattooist, but he also apprenticed under Sailor Jerry. A pioneer in the tattoo industry. Chris learned this AFTER he had booked with Brian, so he was even more stoked! Within the week, Chris even found his new barber James, at The Good Company Barbershop. A pretty cool and modern shop that you can book online with, which Chris really likes too.

By Thursday we had a pretty crazy storm, lots of rain and decent winds. I was a bit worried that we may have some of the precarious trees knock over, but all that we got was an already damaged limb on a tree by the house. Phewf.

I would say that was a successful first couple of weeks. Lots more new places to explore and towns to visit yet.

Cheers Everyone! Next Blog…Lunenburg. Xo Mel