Homeowners!

Moving Day went smoothly (other than getting the truck stuck--another story!) and we are now getting settled in our new house....getting settled for the past 48hrs that is, and then off to Ontario for 9 days: to visit friends and family and celebrate the Gorbailios wedding next weekend!! New furniture has been purchased, to arrive when we return, but we already have our guest room set up and it is ready for visitors ASAP!! :)

Mini Vacation #3: Banff and Lake Minnewanka

We headed out to Banff for our third "mini-vacation"--stopping at Lake Minnewanka for a fun (but challenging) mountain-bike ride along the lake, and up and down the mountain! Great weather, great views and great company (as well as a few mountain goats!) made for a perfect ride; we then treated ourselves to a dip in the Banff Hot Springs pool (where my parents met 35 (?!) years ago!) and a well-deserved steak dinner! Loving the opportunity to have these fun little day trips just outside the city (Banff is about an hour from Calg).

My new job!

Just in case there wasn't enough going on, I found out yesterday that I have been offered a job at Providence Children's Centre: a preschool program for children with disabilities. It doesn't start until the end of August, but I'm really excited about the organization! See www.providencechildren.com Now we just have to figure out a way to pay the mortgage until I start work!! :)

Mini Vacation #2: Kananaskis!

Sunday, we headed out for a mountain bike ride in the Kananaskis with friends from Guelph Sean and Lauren: a bit muddy after many days of rain, but lots of fun!

Mini Vacation #1: Drumheller!

Last weekend we took our first (of many I'm sure!) "mini-vacation" to see what Alberta has to offer: we drove through some pretty threatening prairie skies to Drumheller and the Tyrell Dinosaur Museum for a day trip to explore the badlands and see the dinosaurs. I was here last 5 years ago, and Dave hasn't been here since he was a kid. Pretty amazing scenery--feels like you've arrived on another planet or are in the middle of the desert! The museum itself is pretty amazing--lots to see and do, and more dinosaur information than I could ever keep track of! Next trip: biking in the Kananaskis! :)

Our house (so far!)

Here are just a few photos of the new place (these are just from the MLS listing: will provide updated photos once we're in there!).

First 3 weeks...

Time is flying: hard to believe we've been here almost 3 weeks now! Seems like so much has happened these last few weeks that in some ways it feels like we've been here a lot longer. At the same time, it still feels a bit like we're on vacation, especially knowing that we will be back in Ontario in just a couple of weeks!
To keep you in the loop, we bought our house last week, and the last few days we have been working with our mortgage guy, lawyer and real estate agent to get all the technical stuff out of the way so that we can move in next friday, June 23rd! It seems like a quick turnaround, but we are both eager to get into a more "permanent" place where we are not living out of boxes, and where we have more than 3 (camping!) dishes. The next update will have to include our house photos once we have the official "sold" sign up! Hope you are all doing well!