Our first Canniversary!
 

Our friends rang us this morning to wish us a happy anniversary and for a moment we couldnt think what they were on about and then we realised that we arrived in Canada a year ago - how time flies!

We have had a very exhausting 12 months; the sale of our property was very stressful, packing up and clearing out 35 years worth of life emotional, saying goodbye to my mother and leaving behind our eldest daughter even more emotional. Six weeks after we arrived our first visitors came and it seems like non stop visitors since then. When we had a break between visitors we rushed around getting jobs done before the next lot came. It was very nice to see everyone but it left very little time for us to do our own thing. We hadnt realised how exhausted we were until we sat down and realised that there was only the three of us in the house - we just had our dinner and sat in front of the television not saying a word to each other, the quietness was bliss! Next year we are definitely setting some 'summer' time for ourselves to go where we want and do what we want instead of showing everyone else around.

Our youngest daughter has settled down very well at college and she is working harder now than she has for a long time but finding it challenging. She has had great support from the college, far more than she had in the UK. She misses her UK friends but speaks to them when she can on the telephone and of course there is always Facebook!

I miss our eldest daughter dreadfully but she has been over for two holidays and will be back again for Christmas. We missed her 21st birthday but tried to make up for it when she came in the summer. She is in her last year at Uni and I know she still wont be joining us when she finishes, but she has her own life to lead and as long as I know she is happy and well I can for the most part cope with that.

My Mother I also miss dreadfully but I am on the telephone to her two or three times a week, I send her pictures all the time and postcards and she really enjoys them and remembers when she was in Banff etc., 50 years ago!

We just cannot believe that a year has flown by but believe that having family here in Calgary has certainly helped to make us feel at home very quickly. I was worried that my OH wouldnt settle but he seems to be quite happy apart from frustration at not being able to find what he wants in the DIY stores, Canadian plumbing and electrics, and the terrible problems we have had with not only the UK tax office but the Canadian one as well. Hopefully these things will be better next year.

My one word of advice to anyone who thinks that moving will solve any problems they have in the UK, be it relationship or financial etc., it won't, they will still be the same problems but different surroundings! My OH and I still have certain issues and they havent changed one bit, but perhaps because we seem happier here than the UK we can cope with them better - does that make sense?

Anyway all I can say is that I am very happy to be here in Canada, we coped with the winter (we really loved the snow but I guess that won't last) and had a super summer even though it wasnt one of the best. I have not used an umbrella once in the 12 months, and I have even enjoyed the odd days of rain, and have drunk in the beauty of the autumn colours. I look out my window every day and say how lucky we are to be here. We have had no pangs of homesickness (thank goodness) and look forward to another year of blue skies and sunshine. :)

Re: Our first Canniversary!
 

CONGRATULATIONS...many more happy years here to come too, we're sure.

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.

Re: Our first Canniversary!
 

Totally. A lot more sense than the wailing gibberish "advice" often demonstrated on here :thumbdown:

R.

Re: Our first Canniversary!
 

:thumbsup: Happy Canniversary :thumbsup:

Re: Our first Canniversary!
 

congrats
Its comforting for us to read someone with no real complaints!
We have two daughters who will remain in the UK, one is married :unsure: (then we were her age when we married so have to bite our lip!) The other is in college for 3 yrs. Our hardest thing will be to leave them behind, but take comfort in knowing that they are both happy! They can come out later once we are settled, established.
I am curious does your oldest daughter not want to make the jump across?
Again well done and we are pleased for you to be living your dream!

Re: Our first Canniversary!
 

Congratulations!

A lovely helpful post. Can totally empathise (if that's the right word:o) with your hubby and the DIY front. My god trying to find a bathroom vanity is doing my head in, nearly two years I've been looking and am just comming to the realisation that what I envision just doesn't exsist:rofl:

Re: Our first Canniversary!
 

Our eldest was in 6th form college when we made the decision to sell up and move over. She made it very clear from the very beginning that she had no intention of coming over with us, she did not want to leave her friends! She would not join in with any family discussions we had on the subject and dug her heels in. We did feel rather hurt by her attitude but as it took longer to sell our property than we had hoped and she had started University by that time we didnt really have a lot of choice about leaving her, not wanting to upset her education.

I do wish my OH had had more of an open mind about Canada earlier, he had visited one October with me many years ago and of course the weather wasnt very good. He always referred to Canada thereafter as the frozen north. In 2003 we had our first family holiday to Canada and the weather was absolutely superb and he thoroughly enjoyed himself, got home and started to apply for his PRV. Had we made the move earlier she may well be here with us now.

I am afraid she does not have a very good relationship with her father, or should I say she does with him but he will never forgive her for things said in the heat of the moment in arguments when she was a young child - she has forgotten, or forgiven, what he said to her, but he wont do the same. So I think having the distance between them is better, it certainly leads to a calmer time here between us, that is until we have to discuss things that involve her! I always get annoyed that he cannt keep the discussion to the point in question without referring back to something she said to him ten years ago!

She is now in a house sharing with three others, she seems very happy and is enjoying her life. She has managed to get a land line installed in the house for the 12 months she is there and I can now speak to her whenever without waiting for her to visit her boyfriends home which makes the separation a little easier. So I am happy in the knowledge that she is happy and growing up into a beautiful woman and doing very well at Uni getting top marks in her work.

OH has no plans or desires to return to the UK for whatever reason and I have already told him that I at least want to return next year for her graduation! I would also like to see my 85 year old Mum and our youngest has said she would like to go and see some of her friends. It would only be a flying visit but at least it would be something. He hasnt said too much about it yet but I know come next year there may be fireworks, especially if he stays here whilst I visit. :( But never mind I am determined to see her graduate and to see my Mum and will face the consequences then. :):)

Re: Our first Canniversary!
 

He is also cursing that he left so much of his 'garage' behind. 35 years of hoarding things that might come in use and having to get rid of them broke his heart. He is still looking for tools he knew he had in the UK but are obviously not here! As we were not bringing a lot of furniture over with us (too old and worn out) we were aiming for a 20 ft container. The man who did our estimate said we would only just fit in one and that we may well have to send things over separately. Well on the day they arrived I kept saying to the man in charge do you think it will all fit in and he kept saying yes no problem, room to spare!!! and at the end of the day I think he could have brought over a lot more of his 'bits' :)

Re: Our first Canniversary!
 

Well - Congratulations to you all B - for having a fulfilling, if not B&B style first year ! And yes, any rumbling disagreements do travel with you, and I truly hope people don't really think they vanish before you board the plane. Other things come into focus and perhaps take priority in our new lives - and if those are the things we came to find, then hurrah !

Continued good wishes for life down the road (got your roof on yet?!) and I trust your plans for your trip back to the UK next summer go without too many hiccups ;) Your daughter would be chuffed to bits for you to make her graduation, I am sure.

Re: Our first Canniversary!
 

NO!!!!! They delivered tiles etc. on the 7th October using a 14 wheeled lorry that started to rip up our front lawn - OH not very pleased at all. No one has turned up since so we wait and wait. Perhaps we are being kept waiting because we complained about it, but having told them access was tight we did not expect a vehicle of this size to be sent. They said it was because it had the lift on it to lift the tiles onto the roof but when we got here decided that the roof was too steep to leave stuff piled on so left them in the driveway!!!

We did have our woodburner installed that day though but dont want to use it until the roof has been done. Are you getting your roof done?? :)

Re: Our first Canniversary!
 

Congratulations and I hope many more to come.:):)

I do hope also your OH finds it in his heart to forgive and forget, it is not a good burden to be carrying around. :(

Re: Our first Canniversary!
 

congratulations!

And tell your OH that my Hubby shares his frustration with the DIY, plumbing and electrics....

Re: Our first Canniversary!
 

OH has no plans or desires to return to the UK for whatever reason and I have already told him that I at least want to return next year for her graduation! I would also like to see my 85 year old Mum and our youngest has said she would like to go and see some of her friends. It would only be a flying visit but at least it would be something. He hasnt said too much about it yet but I know come next year there may be fireworks, especially if he stays here whilst I visit. :( But never mind I am determined to see her graduate and to see my Mum and will face the consequences then. :):)[/QUOTE]

Hi

Firstly congratulations in surviving the year.

Is sounds to me that your OH still doesn't want to move on with your eldest daughter as he is not prepared to travel to the UK to see her graduate. I would say to you leave the OH at home and have quality time with your mum and daughters. All of you can go and see your eldest daughter graduate, its a fab day and a very special moment.

Keep your chin up and go with your heart.

K:)

Re: Our first Canniversary!
 

Happy Canniversary!:thumbsup:

Re: Our first Canniversary!