Bye Bye Birdie...er...Baker

12 hours.

Looking back at Baker form the lake

New Beginnings

It is with mixed emotions that we write this post because it feels like it is too soon in coming. It seems like just a short while ago that we arrived in Baker Lake with all the time in the world ahead of us. Alas, we have been here for just about 2 years and with that, our time here has come to an end.

When we decided to come north, we were so excited at the adventure that lay ahead of us...and Baker did not disappoint. We have made some amazing friendships and have grown a northern family that will forever be in our lives. We were welcomed into this small but overwhelmingly friendly community with open arms and open hearts - something that we will never forget. We had adventures, we made memories - and more importantly, we shared our lives, and lives were shared with us.

The next couple of posts will be us wrapping things up, reminiscing and saying our goodbyes. What will become of this blog, you ask? Well, we will leave it up for comments and questions - and will monitor the email address (nunavutchillers at gmail dot com) because we feel it is important to help others moving to the north as much as they need. We know it was difficult to find current/"live" blogs when we were researching, and we want to keep that line of communication open for whoever needs it.

As the sun sets on this chapter of our lives and we await the rising of the moon for our next adventure, we want to say thank you for joining us on this journey and for being as supportive of us as we navigated these (frozen) waters. We hope you enjoyed our time together - because we certainly did! Who knows, maybe our next adventure will lead to more tales...the world is our oyster!

Full moon over a semi-frozen Baker Lake - June 13,2014

Love,
Lily, Jeff & Pepper

Happy Birthday (+1 day), Jeff!

Although Jeff's birthday was yesterday, Pepper and I wanted to send birthday greetings for him here as well. So, to our amazing Jeff: we hope this year will be better than you can even imagine, and we hope we made your day special. This is your year. xoxo.

A few days ago I was looking at the weather forecast and predicted that a blizzard would be coming for Thursday. I'm the best wife, aren't I? I tried to control *weather* as a gift to my husband! Things were looking pretty good too, since we were under a blizzard warning - but as is typical in the north, things take a while to get here. The warning was lifted mid-day (and broke my credibility streak at predicting storms, grr!) but the forecast still reads as though there could be potential for something overnight and into tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

We also got a nice gift in the form of railings put up on our stairs, finally! That is exciting in itself, since we have been asking for them since November 2012. A safety concern that was amplified after I took a particularly nasty spill down the stairs, they are now much safer - and it only took a 1 1/3 years. Hooray!

Birthdays and other celebrations are bitter-sweet while we are up here, since it is typically an occasion for us to be reminded of how far our families and friends are. We are blessed to have made a wonderful Baker Lake family to share our special days with, and that definitely makes everything a lot easier. Next year is a big birthday for Jeff - I think it will warrant a location that will be as far away from blizzard-ready as possible. Drinks with tiny umbrellas may be on the docket as well.

The planning and plotting begins! :)
-L

A Weekend Away...

It's hard to plan a surprise getaway when you live in Nunavut. There are many more logistics than booking a b&b and packing an overnight bag into the trunk of your car. I managed to pull it off (though a day late) and spent some of our Aeroplan points to whisk us away to the paradise that is Winnipeg. Side note: I am terribly saddened that Winnipeg is considered to be exciting, and have vowed to expand our horizons as much as possible. 

It was a plan that needed many people helping, and a lot of finagling but I confirmed the tickets on Wednesday at 2pm and we were on a plane by 4pm. In 30 minutes we were able to pack, find a Pepper-sitter, book a hotel and grab something from the post office. The rest, as they say, is history.

I surprised my husband with the news and we were off! So far, it has been a relaxing trip in the sense that we didn't have a plan, or things that needed to be done...we are simply here to reconnect and spend some time together in the "big city." Highlights so far have included scoring some amazing deals: our car rental ($10/day and unlimited kms?!), our hotel (hooray for government rates!), our food (dinner the first night with...plenty of adult beverages came to $30 after tax and tip, and our 2 huge hot breakfasts came to $9 after taxes!!). We then spent a long time walking around the shops, cheering with a crowd of strangers in the middle of the mall while we watched the Canadian women's hockey team win their Olympic gold medal, driving about town, and generally regaining a sense of normalcy again.

It's been a while since we have gone south and we needed the change of scenery and a bit of warmth (only -14 here!). Tomorrow we will hit some more shops, maybe go to the spa and get a haircut, and then have a nice dinner before we head back on Saturday morning. It's not a long trip, but it is just what we needed. We are as excited to be here as though this were a honeymoon!

I feel so rejuvenated! :)

-L

Happy 2nd Anniversary (tomorrow)!

Tomorrow is our second wedding anniversary and I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. It seems like just yesterday Jeff and I started dating (and subsequently spending every waking moment together). Our whirlwind romance and the years since then have been the most adventurous, fun and loving years that I have lived. I cannot wait to see what the rest of our lives brings us - because we have started off on such a high note, it's hard to imagine it getting even better. :)

To reminisce, I thought I would share some videos of our special day. Hope you enjoy!

This first one was taken a few months after we got engaged. We played it at our wedding reception as a pre-introduction of the wedding party and had such a fun day filming it. You'd never guess that a 4 minute video would take nearly 6 hours to film...but there you go. Actually, the day started bright and early with hair and make up for my wedding trials - and then we went down to the lake to take engagement photos, and then we ended the day with our stag and doe late into the night. Phew! What a day!!

Our wedding day was magical in every sense of the word. The day started with a light dusting of snow which made it perfect for pictures, but as the day went on the sun shone in full force and we had a warm and beautiful day for the ceremony. The only stress that I felt was when the limo picking us girls up was late because the boys drank all the champagne on the way to the church and the limo driver stopped to pick up a bottle for us (#firstworldproblems I know). The rest of the day went off without a hitch and we even threw in a surprise lion dance for our guests after an elaborate dinner and prior to the late night buffet of a poutine bar, hot dogs, pizza and all the sweets in the world. It's my wedding - of course there will be tons of food! :) We were fortunate to have had our families travel from across the globe to join us, and this 5 minute video is a tiny glimpse of how perfect our day was.

I loved re-living our wonderful day and I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane too!

xo.
-L

Be My Valentine

Not Pepper. Tho I'm sure Lily would buy this shirt for him if she could.

Dun dun duh! Today is a very special day for Lily and I, and I'm sure all of you know why.

It's four days before our wedding anniversary!

What did you think I meant?

OK, it's also Valentine's Day, a day when men everywhere buy their special loved one a card, some candy, and maybe a teddy bear, and figure that to be good enough to last another year.

Trust me, fellas - that is a big mistake. It's only good for about two, maybe three months, tops. :-p

Truthfully, every man should treat Valentine's Day like just another opportunity to demonstrate to his wife or girlfriend how much he cherishes her, like every other day, minus the chocolates, roses, and movie tickets.

Flowers and chocolates are out - the former because of the cost of shipping, and the latter, because I'm trying to become smaller so I'm not bringing temptation into the house. I bought Lily a cute Yorkie stuffed toy for Lily for Christmas, but Pepper has claimed it as his own and has eaten its nose, so stuffed animals are also out.

As such, this year, I'm going to do something a little different, provided Amazon gets me my package here on time. I'll do a reveal in one of the posts following today, but my wife is a present-snooper, so my lips are sealed until after I've given it to her. Hopefully it will be on par with the exacting standards of gift-giving my wife and I have set for each other. If not, I'll have a few days to find something at the Northern store that will make up for it. (unlikely)

To the rest of you, please make sure your loved ones know how much you mean to them, and they to you. Have a great day!

-J

P.S. For everyone in Baker, remember to look on the bright side - Valentine's Day means only 4 more months of winter!

2013 Wrap-Up

The old adage of "time flies when you're having fun" certainly held true for 2013. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting down to write our last new year's eve post - and it's hard to believe it's been 365 days since!

If last year was a year of self-discovery and growing as individuals, 2013 has definitely been the year of growing as a family. We began the year by welcoming Pepper into our lives and I honestly don't remember life without him; he has become such an integral part of our beings that it is as though he has always been here.

However, I'm not just talking about growing our family with Pepper. We have cultivated such wonderful friendships over the past year, and have gotten to know so many lovely people in town it feels as though our "external" family has grown exponentially. It is wonderful to walk into the store or an event that is being held in town and recognize/be recognized by community members and fellow Baker Lakers. It is nice to feel as though we are a part of the community we live in - something you don't necessarily get when living in the south and get lost in the crowd.

It has also meant that we have had another year of strengthening our love for our family and friends back home. Not once has our support circle wavered. Not once have we felt forgotten or neglected for being so far away. If anything, we feel more loved, more supported and more included in the lives of those we love most. Being physically far from "home" is difficult, yes, but it has afforded us the opportunity to work on our relationships and make an effort to be all-around better to the important people in our lives. We treasure and value everyone in our lives, and we try to express that as often as we can.

All in all, 2013 has been very kind to us. We have been blessed with wonderful memories we will be able to look back upon with fondness. We hope you had a wonderful 2013 as well and look forward to sharing the upcoming new year with you.

All our love,
Lily, Jeff and Pepper

Home

After a 14 hour travel day - most of it waiting around airports - I finally arrived home last night. The moon was full and shining brightly over Baker Lake, and it felt good to be back. Even the -41 weather didn't deter me from rushing off the plane. :)

Jeff and my lovely neighbour were at the airport waiting for me and we headed to the house where I was attacked by puppy kisses. It was wonderful.

I love the opportunity to travel for work and I enjoyed my time away, but home is where my family is. And it feels so good to be home.

-L

Soon

Missing my boys.
Just one more sleep and I'll see you soon, my loves.

-L

The Past Month

4 weeks is a long time to be away, and yet it feels like it flew by in the blink of an eye. Time moves funny in the south; I simultaneously felt like things were moving way too fast and it still felt like we were gone for a long while. Does that make sense?

It feels good to be back in Nunavut. To be honest, I didn't think I would say that after a month of being surrounded by *home* and all the good things that come with that. Yet, here we are. It's good to be productive and get back into a routine. Weeks upon weeks of indulgence and excess has caught up to us and we were exhausted when we finally arrived in Baker. Wouldn't trade a second of it for the world though; seeing our friends and family after so long was good for our souls. The weather was gorgeous the entire time we were home (high teens/low twenties!) and we took advantage of that as much as possible, sometimes just sitting outside on the front steps and enjoying the greenery.

We had a wonderful trip and left feeling rejuvenated and ready for Nunavut again. We aren't sure when our next trip home will be, but hopefully it won't be too long!

And since I know you missed Pepper more than you missed us, here is a before/after shot of our handsome man after a day at the doggy spa. He hated us for doing it, but he's just too darn cute isn't he??

It's good to be back!
-L

ᓇᓪᓕᐅᓂᖅᓯᐅᑦᓯᐊᕆᑦ - Nalliuniqsiutsiarit (Happy Birthday)

Does anyone remember the movie Benjamin Button? Lily has a cool characteristic in common with the main character. Despite the fact that the rest of us grow older as we reach successive birthdays, Lily appears to suffer the opposite effect. I swear, she looks no different that when I first met her, and even from photos predating that monumental occasion. Yesterday was Lily's birthday, and although she is chronologically older, you wouldn't know it by looking at her.

Pepper was really excited for Mommy's birthday...a little too excited. One of the side benefits of fixing your dog is that their energy levels tend to decrease. In Pepper's case, if that happened, it was either on a scale too small for the human eye, or he went from stratospheric to merely ridiculous. In other words, no apparent change.

I won't go into excessive detail about how we spent her birthday, but suffice to say, she was really surprised, and happy, I think. I believe it's important to make the extra effort, given how far away we are from many of our friends and family, although that will change very soon (the distance, not the effort part). It did include breakfast in bed, which she loved. I worry, though, that if I bring her breakfast in bed every morning, it will cheapen the specialness of the gesture, but she is adamant that it won't happen. I guess we'll see if she's right :-)

Happy birthday to my beautiful wife, Lily. You are everything I've ever hoped for, and I feel incredibly blessed to have you in my life. I love you.

-J

Pepper's First Birthday

When we brought Pepper home, no one was really sure when his birthday was, other than the fact that it was in August. We decided to choose August 1 as his birthday since it seemed as good of a day as any! :)

Our Secret Spot

One of my favourite things about being in Baker Lake is the ability to go a short distance from town and you feel like you're in your own private world. Just a 15 minute walk from our house, Pepper and I stumbled upon our own "private" beach...we've stopped by a few times now and no one ever seems to be there. It's peaceful and quiet and it's simply lovely. Jeff even taught me (not very successfully) how to skip rocks one afternoon. It's our secret spot and it's been perfect spending time there as a family.

Who needs cottage country when this is practically in our own backyard? :)

-L

Boston

With everything that is happening in Boston right now, it doesn't feel right to post something trivial about our lives today. We have family who live there and are keeping them and the rest of the city in our thoughts and prayers. It's hard to fathom the trauma they must be experiencing right now and we hope it's all over soon.

Hold your loved ones a little closer today.

- L & J

Easter 2013

4 day weekends are great, but it was confusing because we kept thinking yesterday was Sunday, when it was actually Monday but we had the day off...all this to say that we accidentally forgot to post on the blog because we were behind a day. Oops! Not to worry though, we didn't forget you, dear readers, and I'm here to regale you with stories of our lovely weekend!

The Homestretch

The final portion of our vacation occurred mainly in our hometown, where we have our house and where Lily's family lives. We managed to surprise both of her parents, although her sister had been in the know for a while. When we arrived at the house, Lily ran upstairs, opened her parents' door and asked, "What's for breakfast?". Her mother was completely shocked, and when that wore off, extremely happy to see her eldest daughter home. Her father was at work, so Lily's mother asked him to buy food on his way home, but it was all food that Lily likes, which made him suspicious. He was still very happy to see his suspicions confirmed. We had a great family reunion that day, albeit a teary one.

Happy Birthday, Jeff!

Today's regular post will follow this one and in it, Jeff concludes our amazing vacation home. There are lots of pictures and it's an entertainingly long one, so be sure to read it! :)

This is a bonus post because today is a very special day, because it's Jeff's birthday!!! Please join me in wishing him a very happy birthday today! Hooray!!

Jeff,

I know we're far away from home but I hope today is a fraction of how wonderful you make every day of my life. Pepper and I are very lucky to have you and we're going to try our hardest to make today special for you. Pepper even started by correctly using his 'potty' this morning!! Now there's a great gift! ;)

We love you and can't wait to see what amazing things you'll do this year.

Yours Always,
Lily & Pepper
xoxo

Village People

If you're just joining us, we continue the recap of our vacation with our trip to Florida to visit with my family.

After our relaxing cruise, we met up with my cousins at Orlando airport, and headed to the Villages, just outside of Ocala. For those you unfamiliar with the Villages, it is the world's largest retirement community, home to about 50,000 residents 55 and up. It is large enough to warrant its own weather pattern, and it arguably houses the largest number of golf carts on this continent. If you like to golf, it is a veritable mecca, with 18 professional level courses and dozens of par-3 courses scattered throughout. It is a place where our family like to congregate whenever possible, given that a few of our number qualify as residents, many of us enjoy golfing, and weather in Florida is typically more temperate than Ontario (or Nunavut!) in the winter. 

The Magic of Disney

For those of you just tuning into our programme, we are about to embark on a miniseries of posts about our recent trip south to visit our family and friends. (Most posts will be much longer than usual with photos, so we apologize in advance!)

We begin this chapter by flying to Toronto, and I will mention first that our puppy Pepper was decidedly unhappy during his third flight (the first two having occurred the previous day, since we had to overnight in Winnipeg), and competed with the airplane's decibel level during take-off and landing.  I thought he quieted down during the flight, but it might be that the noise of the engines simply drowned him out. 

Glaring at us from under the seat

We were in our hometown for just under a day, so we introduced our little guy to our friends currently renting our house, and then packed him up and took him over to my parents' house in Mississauga. Originally, the idea was to surprise our families about our trip home; this worked much better on Lily's side than mine. 

There's no place like home....

One of the great things about living so far up north is that you learn to cherish vacations a lot more. Believe me, we know that first-hand, as we just returned from two weeks with our families and friends. We intended it to be a surprise, so we couldn't announce it beforehand to anyone. We have so much to talk about, we've decided to split our vacation blog post into multiple parts - our anniversary trip, our time in Florida, our time in Ontario, and our unusually interesting flight home.