Oh Canada!

Our time up here in Halifax has been a whirlwind!  Ben started school, I got a job (not a "real" one, but one to keep me busy until I can do hygiene again), seen the sights, loved spending time with friends, and have just enjoyed life.  I can't speak for Ben (although I think we're thinking the same), but I love it here.  Most of it probably has to do with the awesome people we've met, and basically spend all our free time with, but Hey, that's what makes life fun right?  We were welcomed to the "Utah" dental student clan right when we got here, it's been great having people in the same situation, with the same problems (USA withdrawals =]).  It's been a while since I've met so many guys who are like Ben and just tease and tease and tease.  He fits right in, and I continue to be the brunt of many jokes (mostly started by Ben), and we both feel at home.  I think we're going to have 4 amazing years up here. Anyway, here are some pictures of some things we have done and seen.  It's definitely not everything, but it's what I've got for ya.

Shortly after we got here, we heard about berry picking, and we had to go.  A large group of us ended up going and getting lots of blueberries and raspberries.  They were amazing.  It was hot, and we were outside, but the berries were worth it.  We pounded through our raspberries and will probably finish up our blueberries soon, but there's always next year!

Afterwards, we stopped to get ice cream, and found this little gem of a place.  It had a small pond, some animals and a little playground area.  Here's Ben and Nate helping Brecklyn and Cam feed the animals.

And Nate, so graciously, took a picture of us on in the boat at the "park."  Yeah, we're kids.

Ben's school had like a million activities planned for their "orientation" week to help the students get to know each other and the area better.  While most of the activities involved drinking, clubbing and bar hopping, they did a Harbour Hopper tour and let the families go too.  Basically, we took a tour of downtown Halifax on this bus thing, which also turned into a boat.  It was pretty sweet.

Here's a view of Halifax from the water.  It was pretty awesome being on the water.

On the tour, we drove past our apartment building - here it is.  Harbour Ridge.  

The school also had a softball tournament during Orientation week for the students.  It was the first time I had ever seen Ben play (and maybe even his first time playing?) and I was impressed.  He was sexy.  No wonder I've always dated athletes.  Don't worry older brothers, Ben's an athlete even if he didn't play sports in high school =] 

A few weeks into school, Ben had his White Coat Ceremony.  When I was telling my mom about this, she asked "So.....is that like where he gets his lab coat?"  She wasn't very impressed, and when you put it like that, it does sound pretty lame.  But it was cool to see him walk across the stage, get a coat put on him (with his name, I might add), sign the pledge (or whatever it was), and be "officially" on his way to becoming a doctor.  I mean, look at that guy, don't you want him to be your dentist??

We have also had the pleasure of visiting the temple a couple times since we've been here.  It SUPER small, but still very pretty and I love going.  It's weird because it's only open certain times each day, so you can't just pop on over like we've been doing at the temples in Utah.  Yes, we are definitely not in Utah anymore =]  Here we are in front of it.

And Ryan and Janae, who we went with one of the times.  I don't think Ryan will ever let me live this trip down because I totally banged my knee super loud during a quiet moment.  Awkkkkward...

Last weekend was Canada's Thanksgiving, so we both had the day off.  Ben wanted to take me to a place he had breakfast at when he came up here for his interview, so we got up early and drove along the water for about an hour and had breakfast.  We then stopped by one of the beaches on our way home and walked along it for a while.  It was nice.  The weather was perfect for a Fall day and it was nice to be outside together.  Oh, and it doesn't hurt that the beach was gorgeous.  

Ben showing me a dead crab right before he threw it at me.  So sweet.

It was so peaceful walking along the sand and rocks with the small waves in the background.  Felt like I was back in California =]

As you can see, we've been enjoying our time up here these past 2 months.  I'm excited to see what the next 4 years brings us.  =]

Milkwaukee

So, during our road trip to Halifax, we took a much needed break in Milwaukee.  We stayed with Trent & Camilla & their cute boys, Jaxson and Tommy.  It was the BEST trip.  We stayed up late every night chatting and playing games (which, I might brag, Ben & I dominated - sorry Trent).  It was just like old times, when they lived in the apartment below us.  Except this time, we were sleeping in their basement, so we were technically below them =].  

 

On Saturday, we went to the Wisconsin State Fair, which was just a few minutes from Trent & Camilla's house.  It was really fun.  There were lots of animals, funky and delicious food, and some very strange people.  Everything we expected!  Haha.  Here's a brief recap:

Checking out the animals

Jaxson, who always has way too much energy =]

Tommy eating fried bacon.  He looks happy....haha

The other crazy food we had: 

krispy kreme burger, french fry corn dog, fudge and cream puffs

We probably gained 10 lbs each, but hey - that's what vacation is for, right??

Ben & I 

(In case you didn't know, he decided to grow out a beard after he finished BYU)

Basically, it was a great weekend.  We relaxed, had fun, and saw great friends.  

What could be better? 

Road Trip

So, after a pretty sweet summer, Ben & I packed up everything, got rid of a ton, and said goodbye to Utah.  We rented a Penske truck and towed our car almost 4000 miles to Halifax, Nova Scotia.  It was a long, tiring, GREAT trip across the country through 12 states, 2 provinces and 2 countries.  I'm not sure we would ever do it again, but it was a good one time experience. =]  Anyway, here's a recap of our trip.

We packed up our apartment on Wednesday, August 7 with the help of Chad & Tyler Prince and left Provo around 4 to go to Ben's parents and stay the night.  We had a little get together with his family for our last night there, it was really fun to see everyone one last time before we moved.

We started our journey Thursday morning, around 11, I think.  We figured we deserved to sleep in a little to hopefully have energy to drive through the night and get to Wisconsin at a decent time.  (We didn't, but that's ok.)  Here's a recap of that first part of our drive.  It was pretty boring.

I made sure that either Ben or I took a picture of each state's welcome sign.  Some states, there were 5 or 6 pictures - that's when Ben had the camera - and others are a little hard to see, especially if the weather was bad, but hey, we got them all!

 Wyoming - yuck - no offence, but it was a really boring drive along the 80.

We stopped at Cruel Jack's (the only place around) and had lunch, which was actually pretty good.  As soon as we got back on the freeway, we realized the next offramp had pretty much every other food place to eat at, but oh well.

This was probably the prettiest part of the drive through Wyoming.  

And yes, this view does get old fast. 

Nebraska.  It was late, dark, rainy and foggy.  Not cool.  We planned on driving through the night, but could hardly see in front of the truck (thank you Ben, for driving), so we pulled over and slept in the car for a few hours.   

If Wyoming was bad, Nebraska was even worse.  Lots of corn, grass and boring views as we went through Nebraska.  Plus, we were anxious to get to Wisconsin where we had a bed to sleep in. 

Iowa was next.   

Right before we left Iowa, we passed the Mississippi River.  Pretty cool! 

 Yes.  Wisconsin.  We finally made it.  We stopped and got some custard shortly after we got to Wisconsin - to give us energy to make it all the way to the Sheffield house.  We stayed at Trent & Camilla's all weekend to not only break up our long trip, but more so to spend time with them and their cute kids!  We had an awesome time in Milwaukee with them, but I'm going to talk about that weekend in another post.  So, moving on.  We left on Monday around 8 to start the 2nd half of our trip (actually a little more than half was left, but we were optimistic) feeling rested and rejuvenated.   

We hit Illinois not too long after we left Milwaukee. 

And here's Chicago in a snapshot.  We thought about stopping, but we were focused on our destination and thought that driving a truck through downtown would be torture.  So, we didn't. 

 Next was Indiana

Then Ohio. 

We passed right through Cleveland, so I had to take a picture of the Quicken Loans Arena, per Ben's request (where the Cavalier's play basketball, FYI)

and Progressive Field (where the Indians play baseball, FYI) 

We also spotted some sweet rims on this Cadillac.  Classy.  Only in Cleveland? 

We hit Pennsylvania next.   

And then New York.  (In case you can't tell, that does say Welcome to New York) 

It was dark and my camera was having issues getting a decent picture

Next, Massachusetts 

 And then New Hampshire

And finally to Maine.  

In Maine, we crossed the border into Canada through Calais.  We got to the border around 9:30pm, had to get our visas, have our truck inspected, and make sure we were good to go as far as living in Canada for the next 4 years.  It was a fairly smooth process, other than the main guy helping us being new, or maybe just not very good at his job.  We were pretty much the only people there, so all the workers helped us get through in a decent time.  After all was done, we headed into Canada as official visa holders.

I almost missed this sign.  Ben was driving on the freeway right after we passed the border and almost slammed on the breaks so I could get a picture.  Best husband ever?  Yes

We found a motel to stay at that night in New Brunswick.  We thought it would be best to have a decent night's sleep, in a bed, and actually be able to shower before we finished up our trip.  We had about a 5 hour drive left to Halifax, so we wanted to get to our new home in good spirits.

 Saint John was the first major city we passed in Canada.  Well, it was actually probably the only major city we passed through.  But it was pretty and had some cool buildings.

More Saint John. 

And finally, we made it to Nova Scotia.  I think they had the best "welcome" sign of all the places we passed through.  I mean, a lighthouse, come on.  Pretty awesome.  

So, after 8 days, 4000 miles, 12 states and 2 provinces, we finally made it to Halifax, and our new home the afternoon of Wednesday, August 14.  We showed up to our apartment with 8 guys waiting to unload our truck.  They even cheered when I pulled up in our toyota with Utah plates.  Nerds.  But honestly, it took like an hour to unload our entire truck.  It was incredible.  We were seriously so lucky to have such awesome guys around to help us.  

Since then, living here has been a blur.  We've met so many people and made a bunch of friends.  Moving here has been one of the easiest transitions (although dang scary at first) and I know this is the place we should be.  

Other Summer Happenings

The rest of the summer we made sure to keep busy and have lots of fun.  It was our last summer in Utah, so we took advantage of being around our friends and family.  Here is a recap of some of the things we did.

First off, another cutie nephew was born - Carter

Sophia & Layla had lots of fun spending time at grandma's and dressing up in the old dance costumes.

The old roomies got together for one last pic before we all went off our separate ways -

Anna to Virginia, Lisa to Logan, Me to Nova Scotia, and Laura...well she stuck around =]

We did a little camping and fishing while Trent & Camilla were in town.

Had some good eatin' with the fam bam.

Had a goodbye dinner with these two girls & the hubbies

Took a weekend road trip to Ely and spent time with some of Ben's family 

We did much more this summer, including parties with the family, lots of tennis, bi-weekly trips to the hawaiian ice stand, fireworks, half-price sonic shakes, game nights, and many, many more.  It was pretty much the perfect end to the time we spent in Provo, which may or may not have been way longer than we had liked =]