Hello Friends:

So I’ve been thinking about it and I honestly can’t remember if I even had a chance to announce this in my last blog but . . . we bought a house!!!

It’s our very first house and over the last year we’ve been busy turning into a truly cozy home that we absolutely loved!!!! 

Honestly, at first t was hard to fathom leaving our glass tower, 24th floor, Coal Harbour existence and moving to a proper adult home nestled amongst giant trees, right by the ocean. But it’s been a good move, friends! Such a very good move!!!

For about four years we were solidly downtown Vancouver people. We walked to the Olympic Cauldron, to stunning Stanley Park, tumbled out of our house to countless restaurants, walked to concerts and major sporting events, and could see both mountains and ocean from every single floor to celling window in our corner apartment.

And it was truly magical while it lasted!!! It was the right place for us at the right point in time. And in fact for four glorious years we had the absolute privilege of being able to live out our Vancouver dreams!

We lived every moment of the life we imagined while we were living in the Rockies. And the reality? Well I don’t think either one of us would trade those years for the whole world!!! <3

But like most things in life there came a time when it was obvious that we were ready to move on. Or as I would put it to the Husband, “Daisy wants stairs, a yard, a deck and a fireplace!” HA! Which seems like an exaggeration but if you know my little furry one you know it’s true.

And that’s how we found ourselves searching for and finding what is now our Coastal Casa.

Moving to our new Casa did more than give us a beautiful home, it significantly reduced my commute from a minimum of two and a half hours each day to under half an hour total!

Moving to this house gave me my life back.

Gaining those extra hours in the day allowed me to pour time and energy into my family, my puppy, and losing all the weight and unhealthy habits I accumulated while commuting for those years. It’s been a long process but I’m so excited to tell you about how that’s been going in future posts!!!! 

The life I have now wouldn’t have been possible if we still lived downtown. 

The fitness levels I have now would have been very hard to attain with my monster commutes.

The team I’ve built (that’s right, I have a team now!!!) would not exist if we were still up in that beautiful tower.

And the smiling people in the picture below? I wouldn’t know any of them, and they certainly wouldn’t have become some of my very best friends in the world.

This last year has truly been a blessing!

I have seen God in every single moment. I am happier than I can remember being in the longest of times. And I’m so hopeful and excited for the future!!!

This life is turning out to be an incredible journey! None of it has looked the way I thought it would but that’s because my mind couldn’t have imagined that it would be this good! 

Question: Catch me up friends! What’s the biggest change that’s happened in your life in the last year? Are you happy that it happened?

Hello Friends!!!!

It’s been a long time hasn’t it?!? And yes, by a long time I’m referring to a year! 

Some of you probably remember my previous blog incarnations (A Canadian in Paris, To be the Whole Package, and Toronto Girl West). But those are tales for yesteryear, my friends. Truth be told is I never set about to stop updating my blog. It just kind of happened. And then there was an unfortunate episode where my host accidentally deleted all my data (!!!).  And before you knew it, I didn’t blog anymore . . . . 

But please don’t think that I didn’t think of blogging. In fact, that’s far from accurate. I thought about it, and often. 

For years my blog served as my creative outlet, a way to connect with incredible people from around the world, a log of my recipes, and the BEST chronicle of my adventures possible!!!!!! I had some incredible times blogging, and frankly some of my very best friends now come from my blogging days! :)

That probably explains why for months now I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that it was time to make my grand return to the blogosphere - and so here I am!!!!

Welcome to West Coast Karen!!! You and I have some catching up to do, and I’m looking forward to every single moment to come!!!

It feels oh SO good to be back!!!