The new place...

It's been a month since we moved into our new place and now that we've got rid of all the boxes it's time for a photo tour!

Great big house on the prairie. Even our car has a new home in that garage

Through the garage and down the stairs

My friendly moose, a reminder of Hudson Bay, ready to welcome guests

Welcome to our space

Dining area and craft space

That's the table we got for just $100 on Kijiji!

Craft supplies storage

The kitchen, which needs some work and new paint. We have permission from our landlords to take on a few of those projects (stay tuned)

Children's corner

Star that I received from Pathways Retreat

Living room

Sitting area, hopefully we'll be getting our couches soon

We needed some colour on the walls so we found some super cheap canvases and I spent a couple of afternoons painting.

A portion of our library and to the right, our diplomas are displayed to remind us daily that we've actually accomplished something. Check out that awesome Kijiji rug!

Both of our bedrooms are off of the living room. Here is my room's entrance

We put the office in my room

Office

Office

My bedroom with an extra bed so that Carrie can sleep here when we host overnight guests

Entrance from my room to bathroom

Bathroom and laundry

Complete with a bidet

The bathroom connects the two bedrooms

Entrance to Carrie's room

Our place wasn't furnished, with the exception of this king size bed

Carrie's room

Storage area in Carrie's room

At long last, Carrie's stuffie collection came out of storage and found a home

So that's our new place. Hope you enjoyed the tour!

New discovery...

No, it's not a new job... yet. Carrie and I decided to disrupt the monotony of hanging out in our place with an afternoon at the public library and then window shopping. When we walked into Indigo (bookstore) we swore that we wouldn't spend any money but when we came across this gem we both agreed that it would be money well spent:

Neither of us had heard of Paleo ('Primal') but when we browsed through the recipes we realized that this is exactly how we eat. Since August we've been eating according to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which is essentially grains-free though I still eat brown rice. While eating out presents its challenges, eating this way hasn't been nearly as hard as we first imagined. We've managed to adapt many of our recipes and have found some new ones online, but there are so many exciting recipes in this book!

To preview the book and see some of the recipes, click here.

Settling in...

Well, the settling in process is underway. For the last couple of weeks it's felt like I was just back home for Christmas and I don't think it had completely hit me yet that I would not be returning to Indiana. This afternoon as I walked the 1km to the mailbox I breathed in the fresh air, soaked in the prairie sunset, and smiled - this is home. I think living on the edge of the city, with many white-tailed neighbours, is going to suit us just fine.

We've unpacked almost all of our boxes now and our basement suite is starting to feel like ours. With just over 2000 square feet, our place is feeling very spacious! Kijiji has been our friend as we finish furnishing our new space. I'll try to post some pictures soon.

All of our fears about moving in winter were for naught. We arrived to an almost snowless prairie and above average temperatures, around +3C (37F)during the days. I am bracing for the cold snap which is sure to come and bought a parka in preparation, my first purchase upon returning to Manitoba.

Yesterday we took advantage of living close to Carrie's family by zipping out to Altona for lunch and picked up a few more boxes that we had in storage there. Carrie's niece has a 16th birthday tomorrow and it will be nice to be in on the family celebration. I love being closer to my family as well. My brother and his girlfriend, who live about an hour away, are coming over on the weekend for supper and an evening of Corner Gas, and we're looking forward to visits from the Saskatchewanites.

This is a sabbatical time and the exhaustion of our busy fall has caught up to us both. Rest has been a much needed luxury that we've been taking advantage of while we're unemployed. I've been sleeping 8-10 hours each night and often sneaking in a nap as well! As far as work, Carrie and I are both approaching the next several months as a period of watching and waiting to see what opportunities may arise. We anticipated that it would take some time to discern where ministry opportunities may be opening up, but have been surprised by the hints of openings that have been presenting themselves already in our first couple of weeks here! In the mean time I've been applying for jobs that would utilize my smorgasbord of skills for this self-supported sabbatical.

Though there are certainly things I miss about Indiana and moments of disorientation during this transition, for the most part I am very glad to be settling back into Winnipeg life.