Life is Good

On Friday, Dan and I got the keys to our rental. Since our house has not sold in the city, and we haven’t found anything to purchase in Parry Sound, we decided to find a rental to bridge our accommodations temporarily. 

We really lucked out and found a 4 bedroom home right in the town of Parry Sound, with a fenced in yard for the pugs. The house is currently for sale, but since the market is slow – we were able to rent it on a month to month basis. This is great for us since we didn't want to sign a lease and be committed to anything for the long term. The place is pretty sweet, asides from being right near train tracks (which everything seems to be in Parry Sound), it is totally furnished and all we needed to bring were our consumables and linens.

Monday Morning - Yoga Post-Run

The pugs are enjoying the new scenery. They really seem to love the backyard and want to spend their entire day out there. We have sliding doors which lead from the kitchen to the backyard, so I can blog and supervise the pugs at the same time.

Our weekend was pretty relaxed, for the first time in a long time Dan and I didn't have anything on our schedule. If I were in the city, I’d be finding so many things to do around the house or would have kept myself busy packing. It’s been three months since Dan and I lived together, so it was nice to connect again and not have to worry about only having a weekend to spend together.

Saturday we spent most of our time cleaning our rental, and picking up some supplies we needed. Afterwards, since my mind was so clear of thoughts and my place was tidy, I finally had free time to have a leisurely run.

Running since the marathon has been an ongoing battle for me. It’s been 9 months since the marathon and I haven’t fully committed to a running schedule. I've found every excuse in the book to not get out there. The past couple of weeks I've finally rekindled my passion – stayed tuned for a blog post on returning to running after a break.

On Sunday Dan and I went for a walk to enjoy the scenery. We live 5 minutes away from a marina and they have seaplanes there that take off throughout the day. We just sat and watched for an hour or so. This whole place is so leisurely and relaxed. It’s been awhile since I really kicked back and enjoyed the sights like I did last night. This mindset is really hard to get to, and I’m glad I am there once again.

My friend recently gave me a journal and the quote on the front is:

"In the midst of our lives, we must find the magic that makes our souls soar" 

I think I've found that magic.... 

Downtown Parry Sound Marina

Parry Sound is made up of these rocks - so gorgeous

The train bridge

The seaplane ready for take-off

Letting reality sink in - this is our new home!

Anyways, I’m off to enjoy the rest of my vacation before I start my new job next Tuesday. Daniel and myself along with some friends are going to a country festival this Thursday-Monday (Boots and Hearts) and we cannot wait. Stay tuned for another post about that.

Until then.... 

Enjoy life!

Merry Belated Christmas!

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday! For those of you who are off until the New Year, enjoy the rest of your time off (I'm slightly jealous too, haha).

We had a lovely Christmas this year and hosted dinner for 15 close family members. This was the largest crowd we had hosted at our home before and it turned out wonderfully. Lot's of smiles, laughter and good ole fashioned holiday fun. We had an extensive menu of full-fat goodness that kept the family happy, and I wouldn't of wanted it any other way. These were our eats:

Appetizers:

- Buffalo chicken wing dip
- Homemade cheese balls
- Cheese and veggie tray
- Calaprese skewers
- Pizza rolls

Dinner:

- The best damn turkey I've ever made in my life
- Ham
- Corn
- Stuffing
- Potato hash
- Salad

Dessert:

- Rhubarb and apple pie
- Assortment of homemade cookies

I have had the pleasure of participating in a bake exchange over the last few years with a great group of girlfriends. I always leave my baking till the last possible moment, and stress like a mad-woman until they are done. It is totally worth it though! My guests and myself are always crazy over the goodies. It is well worth the effort and the late night bake-a-thon.

Daniel and I were busy leading into the holidays. We decided to furnish our empty basement to make two full functional living spaces. It was quite the ordeal to take on the week before Christmas. But - we are happy we did it as it gave us so much more square footage for entertaining.

Here are some photo's of our new formal living room, our old furniture we moved into the basement:

 

 

We need to stain the legs on our new sofa/loveseat to match the rest of the dark wood, but that can be done in the New Year. Once we get our basement painted I will post photo's of that too. I love how our formal room turned out, it seems so much bigger with our new layout.

We've been in our home for 3 years now and were slowly started to fall out of love with it. With the TLC we gave it over the last week it rekindled our old feelings. It's nice to have a fresh new look to start off the new year.

From our home to yours... Happy Holidays!