Home is Where the Heart is

I recently went up to Canada for my sister's grad and was very happy to be able to see my immediate family as well as some family I don't get to see as much. It was a busy but wonderful weekend! There were only a couple bumps along the way that I could only help but think wouldn't have been an issue if I wasn't a Canadian living in America.
First of all, the worst coincidence I've ever experienced; My sister and my sister in law's graduation's were on the exact same day! Now yes, this could have been the case even if both of my family's were living in the same city, however at least I could have celebrated with them both the day of and it's possible they could have even been at different times of day and I could have been present at both.

So while I had an absolutely amazing time in Canada celebrating not only my sister's graduation but also her and my dad's birthdays, in the back of my mind I couldn't help but be sad that I was missing my sister in law's graduation who I am quite close to. Not only that but my husband not coming with me to Canada is always unfortunate because I long for opportunities for him to bond with my family seeing as how he doesn't see them nearly as much as I see his family.
The other event that happened to fall on the exact same weekend was Mother's Day! Once again I was not able to celebrate with both sides of my family. Originally I was planning on flying home that day and meeting my mother in law and family for brunch, but leaving my mother the night before and being gone on the Sunday was something that made my heart weary. This led me to find a later flight that left Sunday evening so my mom was happy, but then I dissapointed my mother in law with the change in plans which once again made my heart weary and led me to apologize about a million times.
Through this crazy weekend of almost every important event in May happening at the same time, I learned a couple things.
For one, make the best plan possible when things are in your control. I should have searched harder for a flight that left Sunday afternoon in the first place so that I didn't change the plan last minute and have to skip out on Brunch plans. Finding a flight that works perfectly with your schedule is never easy but the more you search around the better chance you have of finding the right one. In addition, sometimes, you might have to bite the bullet and pay a little more for a more convienent flight, and you have to decide if the money is worth the time you gain.
Secondly, don't stress the things that are out of your control. Many times I cried when I found out my two sister's graduations were on the same day. I was dissapointed I'd miss one and I was dissapointed my husband couldn't come with me to the other. I dreaded the idea of having to tell my sister that my husband wouldn't be able to come for a couple weeks before finally telling her (or rather, making my husband tell her). But was she super mad and upset like I expected? No! She completely understood that he had to go to his own sister's just like I had to go to hers and there was nothing we could do about it. That's just the way life works sometimes. Had I realized that immediately when I found out, it would have saved me a lot of tears.

Finally, and most importantly, I learned, though I have not fully conquered, the fact that having two families is hard! Especially having family in two different countries and multiple cities within those countries. It was so much simpler when I was a kid having most of my family all around me.
Growing up my family was for the most part either in Manitoba where I grew up or Alberta, a couple provinces over where we'd often go visit. I was very close to everyone in my family and we would frequently have big family gatherings for various events throughout the year not to mention most of us went to the same church!

Now you have to understand I'm not just talking about my immediate and semi-immediate family here. I'm talking cousins, second cousins, third cousins, great aunt's and uncles, and so on. This might not be normal for a lot of family's but for ours it was. And it was a huge blessing that I took completly for granted because here I am now living in a different country than all of them with even more family members than before. A whole other clan!
So how in the world am I supposed to stay close to all of the family that God has blessed me with? I really don't know. It gets me down sometimes because I so desparetly want to be able to hang out with everyone in my family from Manitoba, Alberta, Southern California, and even family I haven't had the opportunity to meet in Florida.
I know this is a common struggle in the day and age we live in because of what easy access we have to other parts of the world. Many families are separated even further apart than mine. But this is still new to me and I'm honestly trying to figure out how to deal with it. How are you supposed to deal with missing your cousin's wedding and not meeting your newest baby cousin who's already over a year old? How do you deal with keeping your extended family up to date on the newest events happening in your own life? How can you deal with your heart being in so many different places when your body can only be in one?
As I wrestle through this thought process on my own, the first thing that comes to mind is appreciating the family you are around on a day to day basis. It is very easy for me to get depressed while hanging out with my in-laws because I almost feel like I am cheating on my own family. They don't get to see us every Sunday, they see me every couple months if we're lucky. That's not fair to them. But I also know that they wouldn't want me to not hang out with my in laws just because they get to see me more. I know they are thankful that I am around a family who loves and cares for me as much as they do.

The whole reason I am living in California is because an amazing family has accepted me into their lives with arms wide open. Instead of getting down about the people you are living away from, be thankful for the people you live close to! Invest in the family that is immediately around you. Yes your relationship and encounters will be different than with the people who live a distance away. But that doesn't make either relationship any less valuable. So don't take your near family for granted. Especially when you never know where you'll be in 10 years.
Secondly, it is so important to treasure the time you do have when visiting family in other parts of the nation. Before I left for my last visit, I was dreading the whole trip because I knew at the end of it I would have to say goodbye. But had I kept that mindset, it would have spoiled the entire weekend and I would have lost out on experiencing quality time with my family to the fullest. I just tried to enjoy every single moment I was there and in the end, the goodbye wasn't even so bad! We were all tired from a wonderful weekend together and knew that the next time we'd see each other would be sooner than we thought.
Finally, the only other thing I can think of to make living apart from family easier is simply to make an effort and do what you can to connect! The day and age we live in is the reason for people being so spread out, but out of that has also come many forms of communication and staying in touch. Facebook is great for family that is apart because you have the opportunity to share parts of your life with people across the globe. So make an effort to post pictures and comment on other people's if you want to be more involved with your far out family. I know it's not the same as being face to face but in reality, you simply can not meet every person you wish to face to face every day and social media gives us a unique opportunity to catch a glipse of that.
Now if I'm being honest, the number of people I'd love to talk to and catch up with is overwhelming to me. To the point that just thinking about messaging them on facebook and then having to keep up a converstation gives me a bit of anxiety so I end up not messaging anyone! If that is like you, then start small! Pick one person and message them! Or post a picture of something that's happened in your life recently and tag people in it! Maybe it means adding that one cousin on facebook you've been avoiding! Whatever the step is to connecting with your family more, do it. You won't regret it. Family is one of the greatest blessings God has given us. Just through writing this blog post I have become more thankful for all of my family both in Canada and America.

It's Hockey Night Tonight!

🎶Hello out there, we're on the air, it's hockey night tonight!
Tension grows. The whistle blows, and the puck goes down the ice!🎶

Now wait! Before you close the page just because you're not a hockey fan, give me a chance to explain to you the beauty that is Hockey. Any sports fan should be able to appreciate the actual game itself and the skill it takes to play it. But allow me to help you understand the whole culture behind it and why we Canadian's love it so very much.
To understand my love for hockey, it requires us to go all the way back to the year I was born...

April 28, 1996. Winnipeg, Manitoba. Winnipeg Arena.

Photo cred: http://thehockeywriters.com/ode-to-jets-fans/

The Winnipeg Jets played their final game as a franchise after announcing their heartbreaking move to Phoenix Arizona. Jet's fans around the country came to see this final game. Including my dad, who drove 13 hours across the country, while my mom was 8 months pregnant with me. Now before you judge him, you have to understand that he grew up watching the Jets and they were the pride and joy of him and his whole city. It is not a small thing to lose a sports team. (Currently, Raider fans understand that most 😢)
So my dad cheered his heart out at that game and even though he lost his team that year, when he came home, just a few weeks later he gained me. I don't know if he told me about that final game as he changed my first diaper or fed me my bottle, but somehow he passed along his love of hockey to me because by the time I was two years old I was watching hockey with him every night. By the time I was three I was going to hockey games, cheering and fully aware of what was going on. By the time I was four I could recognize the music for Coaches Corner with Don Cherry and looked foward to hearing him yell as he wore the most ridiculous suits. And from whatever age it was that I learned about the Winnipeg Jets, I was a fan and longed for the day I could go to a Jets game with my dad. I even wrote it on my bucket list for a school project and though people laughed at me saying it was never going to happen, I didn't lose hope.

I still remember the day in 2011 when it was announced that Winnipeg was getting a hockey team once again. I can hear the cheers from the other classrooms that found out before my own 9th-grade class. I can feel my phone vibrating with a text from my dad, elated that hockey was back. Though we didn't know at the time the team would for sure be called the Jets, we had a feeling it couldn't be any other way. And we were right.

On September 20th, 2011 I stood beside my dad as our beloved Winnipeg Jets skated out onto the ice in their new uniforms. I had never heard such a deafening roar of cheers around me and I had never seen my dad smile so big as he did in that moment. I dare say the excitement of it all even brought a tear to my dad's eye, even if he won't admit it 😉.
It was an unforgettable night. To see our city once again full of the life of hockey. To see our big bruiser Dustin Byfuglien crushing bodies against the boards. To see our rookie Mark Shieflee dancing around players and making goals happen. And most of all to hear the roar of the crowd every time our team scored (which happened to be 6 times).
The night came to a close at the buzzer which couldn't even be heard because of the already cheering fans. After the team congratulated each other, they skated to the center to raise their sticks in salute to us. This brought an even louder cheer I didn't know possible because it was precisely what the old Jets team did that night they played what we thought to be the last.

Every team has their own comeback stories and amazing games that make the fans so dedicated. All around the country on game night you will find thousands of fans dressed up in their jerseys and facepaint proudly cheering on their boys in the chilly arena. Even if it's a work night and the game goes into overtime, it doesn't matter because there's hockey being played that demands to be watched. There is goals to cheer for, bad calls to boo at, and high fives to be given to strangers just because you're cheering for the same team.

Following the comeback of the Jets, my high school years were filled with going to many games because my dad ended up getting half a season of tickets. It was always the highlight of my week when I would get to go and even when I couldn't, I would watch the game at home. Hockey turned into an obsession and I quickly became the only girl in my class who could name all of the players on the team as well as their line, position, and number.
Because of how invested I was in hockey growing up, you can imagine why it is so hard living in California. Obviously, I can not have season tickets in Winnipeg while living here but in addition to that, hockey is not appreciated nearly enough! Despite California having three hockey teams, the love for the sport is severely lacking. In Canada, almost everyone has a team. Even if they don't watch every game or follow them that closely, they know where their loyalties lie. Just like American's do with their football, baseball, and basketball.
Whenever I actually do meet another hockey fan here, even if they're not a Jets fan, I feel an instant connection. The converstation quickly becomes one of "who's your team?" "did you hear about that rookie?" "they've got a good chance at play-offs this year" and so on. I leave the conversation feeling refreshed and as if I've gained a friend.
I was very happy that when I met my husband, it wasn't hard to turn him into a hockey fan. It just took him watching a couple games to realize how awesome it was and now I even come home to him watching hockey sometimes. I was even happier that he didn't have a team already so that no big rivalry was bred in our marriage.
Well I could go on forever but I think that covers most of what I have to say about the greatest sport there is. If I haven't made a fan of you from this article, even after reading about the culture and love behind it all, then go get some skates, a skinny stick and a hard rubber puck. Try skating, stick handling, and watching your surroundings all at the same time while also avoiding a 250 pound guy coming at you and see how you do. Then maybe you'll at least gain an appreciation for the skill of the game 😉

So You're From Canada, Eh?

When you first meet someone from another country, say England or Russia, you are often quick to notice their accent and can tell they might not be from around here. For a lot of Canadians however, this is not the case. In general (at least from my experience in the western half of Canada), we don't talk that much different from the average American. After all, most of us speak English, some in addition to French, so it's just a matter of how we pronounce certain words. 
When meeting someone for the first time, they often have no idea I am from Canada until I mention something myself. What follows after that usually falls into one of three general comments:

1) You don't have an accent!
2) Oh, I have family in Canada! They're from (insert city), do you know them or have you been there?
3) Canada, EH?

Now like I was saying before, a lot of Canadian's where I'm from don't have much of an accent and I'm the same. When people say I don't have an accent this I always go on to say how it's really only certain words that I say differently. For example, for semi-truck, I say "sem-ee truck" rather than "sem-eye truck" and for asphalt, I say "ash-vault" rather than "ass-vault". This resulted in a lot of laughter and jokes from my American friends and family, but strangers or acquaintances tend not to notice.

Banff, Alberta (August 2014)

As for the second common comment, just like the average American, I have not been to a lot of places in Canada. It's not as small as people seem to think. Yes, the population of Canada is less than that of California, but by land mass, it's actually bigger than America. I'm also only 20 so I haven't seen as much of the world as I would like to. It is quite safe to say that I have not been where your family lives, let alone that I know them. Especially considering a lot of Canada's population is in B.C. and Ontario, neither province of which I have ever really been. (And side note, it is not cold there all the time, it's actually quite beautiful in the summers!)

Now as for the third comment, I have to plead guilty. The word "eh" is a frequent one in my vocabulary, though not nearly as much as it was before. I have dropped it a little bit, not due to the giggles and imitations that followed my saying it (though that was a regular occurrence at Bible college), but because I've picked up more on what the people around me say the longer I've been here. Now often in place of saying "eh" I have begun to say "huh" instead. This is something my family, specifically my grandpa took the liberty of pointing out. It is now a common joke between my American and Canadian family to go back and forth mocking each other with "HUH?" and "EH?" jokes. 
As I briefly hinted above, Bible College was made even more interesting by being Canadian. All of my friends thought it was really cool that I was Canadian but that didn't save me from the jokes and giggles when I would say something different. It was a real eye opener for me because up until that point I had always just assumed that people in the states were just like me. I didn't know there were any differences and I never thought it was a big deal to be Canadian. Luckily, we Canadian's have a fairly good reputation in general and are known as friendly so I haven't had any terribly negative experiences when people find out I am Canadian. 
That didn't mean, however, that I didn't have to put up with some serious flak from my husband's family when I first met them (mainly his dad, who I doubt will read this but will probably hear from word of mouth 😉). Even my husband insisted that I said some words not just different, but straight up wrong. 
Now to be clear, I was never genuinely hurt by their comments, especially when I realized that was their way of accepting me into the family and showing love. So as a sort of initiation I put up with jokes about our mounties, our small military, Justin Bieber and stereotypes like how we're too friendly, it's always cold there, and how we're apparently scared of the dark (that one I had actually never heard before). 
But now that I have put up with it, the jokes have become less frequent and I only have to hear the occasional one here and there which I give as little of a reaction to as possible (usually me shaking my head as my face goes red and I give up a small smirk).
Overall meeting people as a Canadian living in the United States has been a positive experience. I am thankful America is so accepting of Canadians even if we have to put up with a few jokes from time to time. After all, just because we're friendly doesn't mean we don't give American's a hard time when they come to Canada. Just ask my husband. 😏

Getting My Foot in The Door!

Welcome to my blog!

I am honoured that you have taken the time to read the blog of a girl from a small Canadian town (relative to California cities that is😏). I have been living in California on and off for a couple years while going to Calvary Chapel Bible College but as of July 1, 2016, I officially moved in and settled down with my husband in our home. 

Just this week, I received my Permanent Resident Status (aka. my Green Card🙌) and it has led me to reflect on the adjustment of moving to a different country. 

Most people assume that Canada and America are pretty similar and while in general they are, (compared to other parts of the world), there are still differences big and small that take adjusting to. Prior to moving here I had visited the states many times for different reasons such as soccer tournaments or class trips, but when I was just visiting I was more focused on the experience as a whole rather than the little details.
The longer I have been here the more little things I have found in day to day life that are different from when I was growing up in Canada. I hope to amuse you with these differences and challenges I have come across in my time being here. 

I don't intend for my blog to be political or one that is hating on either country. To be honest, I love both countries and consider them both my home! I have family and friends all over both regions and can't imagine living anywhere else in the world. We are all truly blessed to live in North America! 

Anyways, enough Patriotism (if I can even say that while bragging about two different countries😜). Let's get more to the point of this blog! 

One of the first things I came to encounter that was different in America, as silly as it may seem, was wearing shoes in the house. Growing up in Canada, if I wore my shoes through my home, my mom would see the trail of dirt leading straight to me and I would have to clean it up. If I did this at a family friend's house, I would be known as very rude and most likely not invited back. In Canada, with rain and snow galore, a mess would be made for sure. This is why us friendly Canadians always removed our shoes at the front door and put them right in a front closet. 

As simple of a concept as it may seem to just keep your shoes on when going to an American friend's house, it wasn't easy for me! It genuinely stressed me out whenever I went over to a new home at first.

Should I take my shoes off at the door? 

Should I leave them on?

What if I get their carpets dirty?

Should I just ask?

All these questions would race through my mind up to the moment when I would walk in. The first few times the polite Canadian in me won out and I ended up taking them off. This led to slightly confused looks at my sock feet, my face becoming slightly flushed and an explanation of how I was from Canada. 

Since those first few times I have learned to feel out what everyone else is doing before making my decision and just going with the majority. Not that it doesn't feel weird, wearing shoes through the house and hoping they're not dirty, but it's better than getting strange looks of confusion. 

Now that I have my own house, and am the one responsible for cleaning the floors, I have brought with me the Canadian tradition. When family comes to visit they already know to take their shoes off and for people that haven't been over before, I'm quick to explain the concept. After all, it is a half Canadian home 😉