THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life - September Edition

I now live in Edmonton, Alberta!!! What is my life?!

I moved away from Edmonton 6.5 years ago and in that time I lived in three different cities all over the country plus I had a baby. I’m exhausted! I truly hope that we’ll stay put here for the long-term. As much as I still desire to live on the west coast (someday!) our quality of life will be very good in Edmonton and I want Archie to have a solid foundation once he starts attending school.

Last month I was saying that I was interested to see how the pandemic was going to differ between Toronto and Edmonton... Well, it seems that we have moved to a place that is doing worse! Back in March the east was hit pretty badly and the west was not. But now that has switched. Apparently we’re destined to live wherever the pandemic is bad. Toronto roughly had about 321 active cases when we left which was only 0.01% of the population. So basically none. Currently Edmonton has 542 active cases which is 0.04% of the population. It’s higher... But still not very high. Overall, the pandemic doesn’t stress me out all that much any more and I am still more than happy to take the appropriate precautions and recommendations to stay safe. We were mostly happy and relieved that we did not catch Covid-19 on the airplane!!

We spent the beginning of August enjoying our last week in Toronto and getting ready to move. Even though Tim’s company paid for the movers and everything, it’s still a really big job to uproot your entire life and put it someplace else.

I was sad to say goodbye to my Toronto yoga studio, Chandra Yoga Shala. But even more disappointed that I never got to return to the studio to take one last class. The last class that I took there was on March 11th.

But the saddest part about leaving Toronto was leaving my friends. There were tears. I miss them a lot. However, I’m grateful that I got to share a bit of adult life with them for a time. They really showed me what lifelong friendship is. ♥

AND THEN WE WERE OFF!

Arriving back in Edmonton has been surreal. Part of it feels extremely familiar (did we ever leave? Were the past 6.5 years just a dream?). But it also feels different in some ways (I don’t work now and I have a kid) and it also sometimes feels like we’re just visiting. All in all, I’m very excited and optimistic to be here.

One of the happiest parts about returning to Edmonton is reuniting with my friends. I missed them a lot. Being back in the fold with them really feels like returning home and that everything is where it’s meant to be. GIRLS NIGHT IS BACK BABY! ♥

I was really excited to return to my Edmonton yoga studio, SATTVA School of Yoga. This is the same studio where I took my very first yoga class EVER, 13 years ago. I am now a member and have been attending classes (in a studio again!) around four times a week. This too feels like returning home.

Speaking of yoga, I made it to 152 DAYS of practicing yoga every single day consecutively!!! I highly doubt that I will ever beat that record or even come close again. Once I was able to practice in a studio again I allowed myself to end the streak. Sometimes it was a lot of pressure to keep up practicing every single day! I am trilled to return back to a normal studio schedule, however I will certainly maintain some form of an at-home practice - which is something that I never used to do. Thanks pandemic!

I returned to the Edmonton food scene, fast and furious. I have only been back for just over three weeks and I’m already the #2 reviewer & #1 photographer in Edmonton on Zomato and was featured on the Top Edmonton Yelpers in 2020 list as a Top Reviewer by Yelp. This makes me VERY excited about the future of my food blog in this city.

We escaped to Jasper!!! We dropped everything and ran away to Jasper! We love going on a camping trip each summer and I’m so glad that it got to happen this summer as well. It felt incredible to be back in Jasper, a place that means so much to us. We know that we’ll be there a lot. (Archie WILL be snowboarding this winter.)

Plus we’ve just been enjoying settling back in to Edmonton and are already discovering new things while simultaneously doing the things that we already know and love.

Best of all, is that we officially moved into our house. There is still LOTS of unpacking, setting up, and decorating to do (UGH!) but it already feels like home. See the full house tour video HERE! I cannot WAIT for it to all be finished so that I can go back to living my normal life and being comfortable in my home.

Also! In speaking to our landlord, it sounds like the idea of us buying this house from him in a couple of years isn’t an outlandish plan. He pretty much brought it up himself! So if we love the place, that’s very well what we might do.

Life with Archie:

He has been going with the flow!!! I’m pretty proud of him after the amount of disruption and change that we have thrown at him over the past month. He has slept in six different beds and I’m pretty sure that he doesn’t know what his home is anymore. All things considered, he’s been doing really well.

Speaking of which, he’s out of his crib and sleeping in a regular bed now! That has been a pretty great milestone.

Our Toronto house was Archie’s THIRD home and he’s only three! (And he’s now in his FOURTH!)

Archie said goodbye to his best friends in Toronto as well and I’m sure that he misses them.

Archie took his 24th flight!!!

And of course, he loved camping and going to the mountains. I absolutely love that we’ll be able to raise him with this as a part of his regular life.

ARCHIE IS GOING TO PRESCHOOL!!!

He’s going to Green Circle Preschool and he starts on September 15th and will be going two mornings a week. For me, this wasn’t all that difficult of a decision. I am by no means “fearless” of Covid-19 but at this point Archie’s socialization is more important to me. He’s an only child and he’s been stuck with his parents for six months without any of his usual weekly programs. He needs to go to preschool and I feel good about it.

PLUS his preschool is only a 3 minute drive from our house! And it’s the only nature-based preschool in all of Edmonton. (Nature-based learning is learning through nature and unstructured outdoor play. The kids explore nature, feed birds, collect natural items, search for nature “treasures,” climb trees, build forts, take care of an outdoor community garden, and explore the wooded area outside the school. The classroom includes an emphasis on nature-based learning.)

What’s happening with me in September?

Mostly more unpacking. I intend to have the entire place unpacked and decorated in the next few weeks because I hate living in any sort of limbo. I’m an “all in” kinda girl!

We are having a Socially Distanced Housewarming Party later in the month and the house will most certainly be complete by that point. (Please come! You’re all invited!)

Otherwise nothing super exciting to report! Just getting settled back into real life!

THIS MONTH’S SHOUT-OUTS!:

September 6th is Zena Domanski’s 45th wedding anniversary!

This is a big milestone! Wishing you and Dad a special time to celebrate! ♥

September 10th is Sarah Tasker’s 9th wedding anniversary!

Wishing you and Darren a special time to celebrate! ♥

September 17th is Sarah Tasker’s 38th birthday!

I’m super sad that I won’t be there to celebrate with you. But I hope that you have the most fabulous celebration and that you get truly spoiled! You have no idea (well actually, you probably do) how wonderful the past year and eight months has been having you back in my life. It breaks my heart that it came to an end so soon. But our friendship is the definition of forever! I love you! ♥