Hi guys, thought I ought to post a thread and let you know that we (Big Stevo and me) hadn't disappeared off the face of the earth, we have arrived safely in NS.
We actually landed on Oct 21st, but it has taken this long to get ourselves sorted out. Our flight was great if a little emotional, strange mixture of feeling really, sadness, panic, excitement the list goes on..... The hardest bit out of this whole experience so far was those final goodbye's they really were tough, like nothing we have ever been through before and not one I personally want to go through again. Once we landed immigration was a breeze really, we were so well equipped, the lady on the desk was amazed by the amount of paperwork we had with us, but she only wanted to see the LMO, passports and job offer really, Steve got a 3 year TWP, I was given a 3 year OWP and the kids got their study permits so it all went really well. We had booked up to stay in Caribou, which was quite away from the airport, but the most beautiful spot, we arrived there so tired that we just crashed and I think we slept for about 13 hours!!
Then we began our quest to sort everything out, SIN numbers, bank stuff, schools and car hunting and a little house hunting to add to the mix. We ahd already been over in June so had a good idea of where we were heading. Those first few weeks were quite stressful the kids had to put up with so much, but they were amazing. We bought the car, a Dodge Durango which is lovely and I found the courage to drive it, having never driven on the other side of the road before let alone an automatic it was pretty scary, but I did it and love it now. We had looked at a house on MLS that we quite liked the look of in Pictou, it was really close to OH's work and it happened to still be on the market when we were ready to buy, so we looked at it and instantly fell in love with it, it is a great size for our family and had the land that we wanted (7 acres) and we decided to put in an offer, after lots of negotiating we managed to secure a deal. We had been staying in a 2 bed cottage and the it was beginning to get to all of us, our children were sharing a room and for a teenager and a nine year old to be sharing a room is not good and they were driving us crazy. I was feeling quite lonely too because the kids were at school and OH was at work so it was down to me to do all the running around and it was hard going then the times that I was on my own it was really tough, I began to feel like I wanted to go home, but you have to keep going and remember why you are doing it! So the moving day came and it was very stressful, the guy that was in living in the house was being extremely awkward trying to hang out leaving the house as long as possible, but eventually he left leaving us to enter our new house in NS and the 6 stressful weeks previous to that just disappeared! Almost straight away the removal lorry came trundling up the drive with all our stuff from the uk, that too was a very emotional moment, all our things that we had been without for 2 months had travelled all the way here it still amazes me now. So we have been busy busy busy unpacking and putting things in their place, what a wonderful feeling, we are enjoying it sooooo much and it's snowed twice already since we have been here, with a good 6 inches last night and it's still snowing so we are keeping our fingers crossed for a white christmas We have met some wonderful people already, they are so willing to help us out and genuinely interested in our plight! We are really enjoying Pictou, we did look in New Glasgow too and loved it, but we settled on Pictou because we wanted to have some land, and all the houses we looked at in New Glasgow were beautiful, but just didn't have the land that we wanted so that is why we chose Pictou, it means that Steve can walk to work if he wants too and I'm close to the shops and if I want something more than just groceries then I go to New Glasgow which is about 15 mins from here. The road are so easy too, we used to live about the same distance to our main town back home, but with the traffic the way it is in the UK it used to take much longer to get anywhere, it's so easy here so it doesb't feel like a chore whenever you have to go anywhere. The school bus picks the kids up from school in the morning and OH is off to work at 8 then I'm on my own till 3.45 when the kids come home again. I do miss home though and I'm sure I will for a while, but since we have been in the house we have been hooked up to cable so I can speak to folks back home really easily now (good old skype and facebook) When we were living in the holiday cottage we had no internet or phone so it meant going to the call box and library to make contact with friends and family which was a real bind! You don't realise how much you rely on the internet. I have been able to chat to my dad and my sisiter and OH parents via Skype with the webcam we have even taken them on guided tours using the laptop it's all a bit weird, but good. People have asked wether I would go home and my answer "NO" I don't miss England enough to want to go back, but obviously I would to have my family and friends here then it would be perfect, but I can't and that's hard to get used to. When we are talking to Canadians about our adventure they are amazed that us Brits do this kind of thing and if we thought about it too much it frightens us senseless!! Also the other thing that we have had to try and be careful of is to not bad mouth England because it isn't a bad place after all it's where I was born and I will always be English, but it just isn't the place we wished to raise our kids. I think the worse thing people can do is think that Canada is perfect, it's not, it too has its problems, but we feel as a family that we really can make NS our home and we are really looking forward to the future and what it might hold for us. Thanks for reading my thoughts I know a few people have been wondering how it's been going, good luck to all you guys still waiting, be patient it will happen, and hopefully it will be worth the wait for you like it has been for us.
Bella, Big Stevo and kids
xxx

Bella - well done - sounds like it's going really well. Congrats to all of you.

(if you have time to edit this, please break it up with a couple of paragraphs - I only say this now as someone will come on later and be more impolite It's hard to read in one long block )

Great post Bella, lovely to have the update and thanks for all the advice you have given us too via your PM's - you have been a great help

No doubt I'll be in touch soon again with my next round of questions

Well done and good read

We have found the same, so what we actually say to others is "Lovely country, nice to visit, but we wanted a good country to bring our children up in"

There is faults here just like the uk, just different

You sound so happy, i am really glad you have settled in your new house....good luck with settling in

MD

Fab post. I am really pleased you are settling in now - even though it can be hard at times! Your new house sounds fabby and I really want a Durango...maybe when we win the lottery and I can afford someone to drive me around (I don't drive eeek) I can get one lol

Welcome to NS and glad you are settling in well

If you ever want to pop in for a coffee just give us a shout

What a difference it makes having your own space with all your own furniture and belongings around you.

Having met you all quite a few times now, I know how well you are settling in. The kids are coming along nicely at school too which is a good feeling for mum and dad.

Today is like a winter wonderland so I hope you are all enjoying Samuel's 13th birthday with cake and lots of snowballs

Welcome to Nova Scotia

Hi there Silverdragon, thanks for the invite think I'll take you up on that one PM me your address and I'll give you a call
Bella

You are more than welcome anytime to get in touch, thanks for your kind words
xx
Bella
xx

Great post, its great to hear you have settled and feeling at home, wish you all the very best in NS

Hi stranger!! Thanks for the lovely post, you were only saying yesterday that we should do an update and now I have, just want to say thankyou so much for all your hospitality over the last few weeks you have been a real help, thankyou sooooo much, see you soon
Bella and the clan! xx

Not really a Canniversary though is it ?

Welcome anyway.

Sorry wasn't aware I said it was a canniversary?

I didn't actually put it in this section, it got moved for me, sorry x

Thankyou, I think they moved it, it was in the maple leaf to begin with, it through me. Thanks for the welcome