My family of five just landed in St. John’s, NL. We’ll be here for two and a half months. Brian is here to conduct his research on the history of St. John’s regional planning for his SFU Urban Studies program. The two older kids are just happy to be along for the ride and want to go snowmobiling and ice fishing with their grandparents everyday. They can’t though, because we’re in the city and my parents live five hours away, so I’m afraid much of their time here might be a severe practice in patience. There is the snow though. So far, that’s been a real hit.

And me? I’m here for the adventure and to conduct my own kind of research: what do I think about the daily ins and outs of family life in St. John’s, especially in the middle of winter? Is it possible for us to ever conceive of living here permanently? I want to get a feel for living here with kids in tow.

People thought we were brave to venture this, and perhaps we are to some degree, but I welcomed this for many reasons. One being that I love how change shakes things up. I love a good fresh take.

I was starting to feel quite listless in Vancouver. Bracing against the dizzying spiral downward, face first, into the mundane rigamarole of laundry, dishes, and Netflix, was starting to drain me. Just thinking of coming here opened me up to new possibilities. Maybe I can start doing yoga. Maybe I can play music with my brother on folk nights at the ship pub. Maybe I can start blogging again. 

Funny how we think we’ll be completely different people when we travel.

Stuffing those runners in because now I’ll be a runner!

But I did start blogging. I thought it might be helpful to write about a potential move, just to articulate my thoughts and conflicted feelings on the issue. For today, I will say that I love our new little rental in downtown St. John’s. I love the snow, for today anyway, and how it made Brian and I nostalgic for dating days gone by. I love that my generous parents are staying with us for a week to help us settle in.

Let the adventure begin.