Recent pics in our new town

We've been settling into our new routines in our new town. Even though I did high school here, it might as well be a brand new town to me. I guess it's the difference between being a teenager in a small town that feels tiny and being a mom in a town that feels like the perfect size. 

 (We went to our first movie at the theater. Finding Dory. We didn't love it.)

(We have been to the frozen yogurt place a bunch of times. I love that we can get Cohen a tiny amount, and I love the marshmallow fluff for me. ) 

 (We are obsessed with the super smooth bike lanes. You can basically get around the whole town from our house on these and never have to actually go on the road. We have been biking every other day at least.)

(At the field trip to the apple orchard with his class. He got to choose and pick five apples.) 

(This is the green space behind our house. This town is seriously covered in green spaces that are maintained by the town. Lots of sweet places to throw a frisbee or have a picnic. We also love getting to be my parent's new dog sitters) 

(Doing a bit of work to get our new license plates on.) 

(Loving all the pumpkin patches around here.)

(Family date right after work.)

The kitchen plan

When we bought this house, we looked at it twice in an hour with our realtor for about 5 minutes each time. We LOVED it. Still do. But it wasn't until we moved in that we noticed that the surfaces of the cabinets were peeling off and bubbling. You can actually see it in these pictures, but we thought it was just shadows. 

The first thing we did when we bought the house is have the second extra white fridge removed and also the cabinets that surrounded it because we knew for sure we did not want two fridges. The second thing we did was replace the two-level countertop on the island for a giant chunk of granite. Oh, and we painted. That's how it is right now, and it is totally fine, but those bubbly cabinets are driving me nuts.

So we looked into replacing all the doors on the cabinets, but then we kinda figured we should just go all out and change everything we are not into at the same time. So we are officially doing it, and I am so excited. We told the contractor that we don't like a ton of decisions, so when it came time to choose finishes and stuff, he gave a few choices in some cases, and no choices in others. Love it. 

What we are doing:
- new lighting including island light, centre light, and two new sconces above open shelving that will be on the sink wall.
- new quartz countertops that will be totally different than our granite but look cool
- new stainless steel dishwasher.
- goodbye to the appliance garage on the corner cabinet
- hello to new open shelving, new cabinet doors, and new drawer pulls, new sink and fancy faucet.
- new subway tile backsplash

More updates to come...

Recent pics of our little guy, and our new "improved" life

We have been here for almost two months, and really, we are loving it. Sooo much is different compared to our last community and life*.  For the first few weeks we lived here, Cohen kept saying that he didn't like our new house, and he just wanted to be back to his old house. But now sometimes he says he likes his new house now. 

(Sometimes juice wins over smoothies) 

(All three of us got our eyes checked. Cohen has perfect vision, I am so close it's scary, and Jon's eyes haven't gotten any worst.) 

(We are so into our weekly market dates. Orange juice first) 

(So many new parks.) 

 (First day of preschool. Drop offs can be hard, but Cohen does so well once he is there.)

*How is our new life different from our old one? Let me make a list:

- The weather!!! The temperature is always about 10 degrees warmer here compared to Clarenville. I still listen to the radio from NL, so I hear about their weather warnings all the time while we are having a perfectly warm fall. Love it for being able to spend more time outside comfortably. 

- Our work hours. Jon is home from work by 4, and I am home by 4:45. We used to both get home around 5:15. That is a huge difference! It means we are able to make a decent supper most nights and also go for a little walk or bike ride. We go to work a little earlier, but since we have a toddler, we are always up early anyways. 

- Nan and gramps. Having my parents around is huge. Jon and I have been on multiple date nights since we have been back, and we have two overnights planned. In Clarenville, we used to go on a date once a year. Also, Cohen is thriving having the attention of his grandparents. They have special chocolate milk dates with him, and just give him so much attention. 

- Our kitchen. Our old kitchen was totally fine, but this new one is so much bigger. I find myself trying more recipes and starting multiple kitchen projects at once because there is so much room, and cleanup feels easier since there are a million cupboards to put things. 

- Bike paths. This town has a ton of bike paths. I don't remember them from when I grew up here, but now, you can get almost anywhere without actually biking on the actual street. We bike almost every day because of it. In Clarenville, biking was a little dicey, and there was basically only one small loop you could do. The roads were too narrow and steep to safely bike. Here, we bike to the park or to get frozen yogurt or coffee or a beer or even groceries. 

Ok, this is just a short list of the first few things that have popped into my head. There are so many more. I'll be honest, there are things we really miss about our old life. I really miss my coworkers and the family-like vibe that we were starting to develop more recently. We miss our babysitter, Paula, like crazy. Cohen still mentions her every day. I miss working with Jon. We have completely different jobs/clinics now, and talking about your day in the evening is not the same as experiencing work together. We are getting used to it. I weirdly miss our small house. This one is so much bigger/more work to clean (3 bathrooms!!)/more money to furnish.

Moving "home" was such a good move for us. Tonight we biked to my old elementary school to play at the playground. I told Cohen and Jon about some memories I have from that time, and it felt so good.