Living in Canada

It is crazy to think about, but today marks ten years of me living in Canada. What?! A whole decade has gone by since I packed up my things and headed north? I often sit back and think about how fast a year goes by, but these past ten years just zoomed. I miss South Carolina, but I have come to make Toronto my home. But I do definitely get homesick from time-to-time!

So much has changed in my life in those ten years of being here and I thought I would list a few of the bigger positive ones.

- I got engaged and married. The whole reason I came here to begin with was Larry. He is Canadian and already had a home and established career up here. It made more sense for me to do the moving, since I was still living at home.

- I have done some really cool traveling and fun trips. One of my favorites was the Ice Hotel in Quebec.

- I get two Thanksgivings and a few extra holidays through the year. That's pretty darn cool. Who's going to complain about that?

- I have gone to some amazing concerts and events that I probably wouldn't have at home. It's easy to get to places by transit here. The best part about living in the big city is that many of these events have been free. Lady Antebellum, John Mayer, Beach Boys...I've seen them all for free. And the best experience I had at a concert was KISS. I was treated like royalty and I'm not sure anything will top that.

- I am a Permanent Resident here now, which I have to renew every five years. I think that before my current card expires that I will try for dual citizenship. We shall see!

- We've moved twice. Our new place nearly doubled our old in square footage, gave us an extra bedroom, and an extra floor. But I do miss the quiet neighbors at our old place, because our current ones are the spawn of Satan. I love the extra space, though. I have enjoyed decorating and organizing these past few months, which is an added benefit to buying a fixer-upper. You get to start fresh!

- We had two cats pass away, but added a dog to our family. So now we have Jade (cat) and Indy (dog). They cause trouble and bring laughs every single day.

- There are lots of things that changed since my move, but one of my favorites remains that I started this blog seven years ago. I've gotten to know a lot of you, have conversations with you, even meet you. I've loved every second of it!

I'm not a big risk taker. Moving here remains the biggest risk that I have ever taken and it has paid off in more ways than I could ever imagine. Sure it took me away from what I knew and loved, but it has opened doors for me. It has given me memorable experiences and taken me completely out of my comfort zone. I'd be lying if I didn't say that the big city and new places didn't still intimidate me, but it's good to explore and put yourself out there. It's good to take chances- rather big or small. This was my biggest change and often with change comes growth and great things. I'm ready to keep growing and living wherever life takes me!

P.S.- I've thought about writing a post about some daily differences that I have come across from living in both the States and Canada. Would that interest anyone?