Thanksgiving

This past weekend was Thanksgiving, and there are lots of things I am thankful for! Yesterday also marked the fifth anniversary of landing in Canada. Quite the milestone and it makes you look back on the past five years, and beyond. But it also made me realize what an incredible journey this has been. My decision to move to Canada was not taken five years ago, more like 20 years ago! It took several hurdles before I was finally granted permanent resident status, but even that was the beginning of a journey. A journey that would take me from Tim Horton's to the CFS, where I am incredibly happy. It has not always been easy, but definitely rewarding. It also helped that I had tremendous support of people around me, whether it was in Canada, or across the ocean back in the Netherlands. My biggest supporter is probably my mom, who, despite the fact that it was not easy for her to see her daughter move across the ocean, never held me back, but always encouraged me to do it, without closing the door behind me. When I met Nolan, he was embraced in the family with so much warmth, which meant a lot to both of us. And in return, I was welcomed into his family with nothing but love. Of course, Nolan is amazing as well :-)

It was wonderful to host Thanksgiving at our house yesterday, with everybody there (except of course my dad, they'll have to come back together next time!).
Everybody loves our new house (just as we do!), so I'm sure people will be back!

My mom and Annette arrived on Friday, and as far as I can tell, they're having a great time! The weather has been amazing, mainly blue skies and no rain, and we've taken them to several walks in the Greenbelt and our neighbourhood. The colours are also magnificent, and we've been feeding chickadees out of our hand on the trails! So yes, people are having a great time! There are photos, which I will try to add to the next post.