Tuesday, September 18, 2012

I'm Going Back to Cali, Cali, Cali....

Let me clarify a few things right off the bat here....we are indeed returning to a place. That place in not Cali though. I just couldn't find a better song than LL Cool J's amazing masterpiece to fully sum up how excited we are.

Dan and I made the decision to return to Toronto starting in December. There really isn't a song where anyone- much less someone of the lyrical genius level of LL Cool J or Biggy- sings "Going back to Canada." But you get my point.

We've booked our tickets and signed our lease! It is actually official that December 3rd will be our first official day as second-time-around Canadians! We are even going to be in the same apartment for the first six months! It will be one year from when we left....we are like the prodigal son returning to the place that treated us best. A homecoming of sorts.

Our decision is two fold- first, out of all of the places we have visited or lived in the last 18 months we enjoyed and felt most comfortable in Canada. Not only will we be closer to home and family and friends, but we see Toronto as a place where we can build a normal life until we can finally be back in the US.

Secondly, moving back to a familiar place and renting the same apartment are so that Dan can immediately get to work in his last month of work for the year. We need to be able to get acclimated with little to no disruption for him, and Toronto provides that for us. Once 2012 is over and Dan has more work freedom we will begin an extensive search for the perfect apartment with more space and more long term. Mike and Laura are back in Toronto now too, and they had a very tough time looking at more than 15 places and getting in bidding wars for a place. They have been such a big help learning all about the new Toronto renting market! We want to give ourselves enough time to be able to do that when Dan isn't in the middle of such a big work goal/deadline.

For me being back in Canada is the best scenario short of being able to move back to Raleigh. I loved our life there and our experience. Toronto, and this apartment, was our first place on our big journey of living abroad for Dan's work. It was a new beginning where we were going to have an exciting few years to explore. 2012 was difficult, challenging, exciting, and a great experience, but we are more than thrilled to go back to a new beginning in a place we love.

So start planning your trips to come visit! We will be making many more trips to visit friends and family now that we won't be but a simple border away from y'all! It makes a big difference than being an ocean apart! We also won't be ignoring anymore how important it is to us to keep close to our family and friends who have been so loving and supportive in this crazy journey we've been traveling. Being away from y'all is definitely the hardest part of this whole situation.

So Toronto or bust in December. I can't wait to blog more about all of the delish foods and meals we will be trying (especially with the St. Lawrence Market!), new winter activities we will be learning, and all of the things we missed in Canada our first time around!

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