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" Go Confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."

This is my personal mantra. I read it for the first time several years ago and instantly connected with it. It made sense in an inspiring, tough love kind of way. These words have come in handy during some tough and stressful times over the years, when I question myself whether what I am doing is really worth all the pain, stress and sacrifice. What I love about these words is that they force me to imagine the life I want to live, and most importantly, what goals I must achieve in order to live life that way. To date, after asking myself these questions, I always find myself feeling justified and refocused, and realising that whatever I'm working on is certainly worth the effort.

In December 2010, a couple of weeks before my 28th Birthday, Trent and I were wandering through the One of a Kind Artisan Christmas Show in Ottawa. For those of you who have never been, this is a show full of vendors who sell art, jewelry, crafts, artisan food, furniture and clothing. It is always a great place to find unique gifts for others or yourself. That day we came upon a man who made pieces of jewelry that had tiny inscriptions on them. He had several hundred options of many sayings and quotes on all different shaped earings necklaces and braclets. I loved the uniqueness of each one, as he had handcrafted each individually himself. I looked for several minutes inspecting each piece and reading the different inscriptions. Disappointed that he didn't seem to have a piece with my words on it, I almost left the table empty handed. But, being the great salesman that he was, he handed me a list of possible sayings that he had in stock. It turned out he had mine.

My Necklace

Being that it was Christmas and I was supposed to be buying other people gifts, I did not have a lot of extra cash to put towards a gift for myself. I became even luckier that day when Trent saw in my eyes how much I loved the piece and that it was something that would mean alot for me to have. He helped me pick out the one I wanted,  handed his Visa to the man, and told me he would hang onto it until my upcoming birthday. While it was no shock when I opened the gift a few weeks later, the necklace became one of my most treasured pieces of jewelry and one of the most meaningful Birthday gifts I had ever received.

It is this very same necklace that has become my good luck charm throughout this whole process. I have worn it during every flight, while Huff was travelling, the day we were reunited, and the day she came home. I have worn it on days when I was feeling uneasy that our plans may fall through or that my physio licence wouldn't be approved. Its words have provided me strength, and forced me to ask myself about the life and goals I was working towards.


Today I realised we were living the life I had imagined. We had finally made it.

Let me backtrack and catch you up. On Monday morning Trent and I awoke to an early morning start (though neither of us had slept much through the night).  10 days were up, and we could finally bring Huff home! We headed back up to Shado Lans with her new collar and leash in hand and, after performing all the necessary administrative duties, we were allowed to let her loose. She saw me get out of the car with the leash and collar in hand, and when I waved and called her name from the gate, she erupted into a wild bum wiggling, tail whipping mess. This, we soon found out, was only a minimum level on her excitement scale. When we opened the door to her suite she nearly knocked both Trent and I over with the force of her excited greetings, and it took both of us to calm her down enough to put on her collar.

She was finally coming home.


The day we brought her home was one of the most beautiful days we have had since being in New Zealand. The sun was warm, the sky was clear, and the wind was low; the perfect day for her first walk on the beach. Huff was beside herself with joy, and Trent and I weren't too far behind her. We spent 2.5 hours on the beach that day, half during the afternoon and the other half at sunset. On rare occasions, life hands you an honestly perfectly formed day. I consider this one of them.

Every morning since Monday, we have spent an hour or more taking long walks on the beach with  Huff, enjoying what is left of our time off. Huff runs around exploring, smelling and peeing on just about everything she finds interesting.Such locations have included bushes, dead fish, sandcastles and shells.  More than once she has tried to mark her spot and discovered that her bladder was fresh out of pee, but she seems to manage the tiniest drop to leave her scent on the desired location. Trent and I walk and play with her, as we inspect the ever changing beach debris that the tide leaves behind each day. This usually contains an array of driftwood, seaweed, shells, fish and corral. Mostly we just feel lucky and grateful to be living life this way.

While Huff settles into her new lifestyle, and Trent tries to make a living as a professional sea shell collector,  I woke up on Tuesday to find that life had a big cup of goodness brewing for us this week. A call to the Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand confirmed that my application assessment had been completed and that I would be receiving mail the next day confirming that my application had been.....APPROVED!!!!!!! I kindly thanked the woman on the phone and quickly hung up in time to let out a shriek of pure joy and relief.  "YES!!!!!!!" were the only words that came out of my mouth as I flew down the short hallway from the bedroom to the kitchen into Trent's open arms. Huff came over, tail wagging, and did what she always does when Trent and I hug. She joined in.

 It was official. We had just received our ticket to a life in New Zealand.

Ironically, I had a first meeting with my New Zealand boss today. For those who don't know, I am working for a company called TBI Health in New Zealand, a sister company to CBI, who I worked for in Canada.This is part of the reason we chose New Zealand, as CBI had strong connections with TBI, and have done several employee transfers and inter company training over the years. It was an interesting feeling getting dressed and stepping back into the world of being a professional. We had been travelling for eleven and a half weeks. We had seen old friends, countless new places, relaxed, explored, and lived life by our own agenda. I did not regret a thing. This morning I knew that my mind and body were ready for the next step.

The clinic is nice and the staff is quite friendly and welcoming. It will take me some time to learn the new programs and insurance organisation, but I am looking forward to using my brain again, and sitting back in the learner's chair, instead of being the leader. I spent the day checking off the many " to dos" of settling into a new community; registering the dog with the city, purchasing some things for the house, mailing the board some important documentation, and getting a bus pass. It was nice to feel productive again.

I took the bus home, got off at my stop and stepped into the pouring rain. It was cold and wet, and I couldn't wait to get inside. As I opened the gate, I looked up. Through the rain I saw Trent and Huff sitting at the big picture window watching me and waving.

For the first time, I did not have to imagine what it would be like, or ask myself if it would be worth it. The finish line was in sight.

 We were finally home.

The 40th Kilometre

I feel as though we have reached the 40^th kilometre.

For those of you who have not taken part in the 42 kilometre stretch that is a marathon, I will explain. Hitting the 40^th kilometre in a marathon, to me, has always been an elusive place. It is a milestone where almost all the work has been done, except for a few measly negotiable kilometres that stand between you and the finish line.  It is only a short distance that is keeping you from crossing the line and entering into that amazing, hard to reproduce feeling of exhaustion mixed with gratitude; the feeling that you can finally relax after months of hard work and sacrifice.  

There are always lots of people around for support and encouragement at the 40^th kilometre; they are exactly the kind of people you wished had been there around the deserted and unexciting 35th kilometre when you actually needed the encouragement. Most are suddenly eager to be involved, screaming things like “you’re almost there” (even though you still have some distance to cover), or, my personal favourite; “only one more hill to climb!” (When in fact there were 4 substantial inclines ahead). For a spectator, this is the part where things get exciting.

People do not run marathons because they are fun, or at least I don’t. They run them for the challenge, for the competition with themselves, the amazing adventures running can take you on, and for the undeniable feeling of self-accomplishment that you feel when crossing the finish line. People don’t move across the world because it is fun either. Okay, the end result, much like the marathon, is fun. But the process of moving across the world, that is the real marathon.

And so I find us now, at the 40^th kilometre of our own 2011/12 International Relocation Marathon. Our kilometres have brought us through mountains of paperwork, stressful disappointments, exciting developments, tough decisions, sad goodbyes and happy reunions. Through it we have been fuelled by faith, hope, excitement, and deep sense of adventure. With each passing kilometre we have checked off so many significant pieces to the puzzle: selling the house, finding a job, visa applications, transporting Huff, finding a place to live, etc, etc etc.   Now we wait for just on more check on the list: A licence to practise physiotherapy.

I won’t go into the boring details of the months of stress and hard work that obtaining a physiotherapy licence has taken me. Or, that my planning and my reality of this process have come to be an ironically stark contrast. Either way, I wait for the Board to finish their assessment, hopefully only for a week or so more, but no promises.

Let me explain. My job as a physiotherapist has allowed us to apply for a work sponsored visa in NZ. However, without a licence to practise in NZ, I cannot legally work as a physiotherapist, or be granted the work visa that has been approved on the basis of licencing. It is a vicious circle, which is until now, is the only thing keeping us from relaxing on the finish line. 

And so we wait.

Until then, the 40^th kilometre has brought us to a beautiful coastal beach town on the south western coast of the North Island, called Paraparaumu Beach. With a total population of 25,000 people, it is a beautiful place located approximately 50km north of Wellington.

We have rented a furnished beach house on an open ended contract in a quiet neighbourhood about 5 minute walk to the beach. The house has three bedrooms, and two bathrooms, which is a lot more space than we need, but the circumstances and price was favourable for a short term place. The backyard is huge and has a cute little garden and some friendly resident birds. We also have a lovely neighbourhood cat, which makes her way into our backyard almost daily for a nap under one of our big shady trees. I am interested to see if Jingles (my name for her) continues to come around once Huff is home. The house leaves some aesthetic details to be desired, but we have cleaned it up and made it our own for the meantime while we wait to find a more long term place to suit our needs.

Trent doing a training run last Friday on the Beach

Overall we love it here. My favourite thing is the beach.  The weather does not exactly scream beach weather, as the North Island is experiencing a rather cool summer at the moment, but it is perfect for long runs or walks on the beach.  Due to the fact that the tide comes right up onto the beach, the concept of white sandy beach has been washed out to sea. What it has left behind is a flat and firm packed down sand, that is perfect to walk or run on, drive on or play countless games.  On top of the terrain, the beach itself stretches for several kilometres, meaning you can run or walk for quite a long time before being forced back onto the roads. All factors considered the beach has been the obvious location of all our training runs since we have arrived. On top of that, there are sections of the beach designated to dogs, meaning they can be off leash and play free in the water and sand.

This leads me to mention our darling Catahoula. It seems she is much closer to the end of her personal marathon. She will be freed from quarantine this Monday morning with the wound up energy of a dog who has not been properly exercised for almost 2 weeks. We visited her on Saturday and she was so excited that she nearly knocked us both over.  Overall, she is looking great, well rested and completely unfazed by the whole airplane experience. The past few days have been the hardest on us, slowly passing the time until she can come home. Her homecoming will be another big check on our shortening list.

 So, with the cheering friends and family in place, we cross the 40^th kilometre with a sense of faith and hope for the remaining few strides.

The race clock keeps ticking, and so do we.

N.B: I composed this blog on Sunday, local New Zealand time, but was not able to post it until Tuesday, as we were waiting for our Internet to be installed. Huff is now at home and there have been some new developments. Keep posted and I will catch you up in the next day or two.

Home is Wherever I'm With You

Today was a day all about new beginnings. I awoke this morning with a feeling somewhat like Christmas morning. That long awaited, hyped up magic that comes after long preparation and planning.

It was finally time for the celebration.

While this day was about the reunion of our little family unit, I know that this day would never have been possible without countless other friends and supporters, and that our little reunion means just as much to you as it does to us. So, in recognition of that, I will do my best to describe our day as it truly was, as a dedication to all of you, and the help and support you have provided us in the past months

We started the day by weaving our way through a new world of dog suppliers, stocking up on toys, treats, food and tripe. Asking all the logical questions you might ask when figuring out a new environment. "Where do you buy raw food?" "Do you have canned tripe?", "What bed should we buy?". Luckily, the ladies at the pet store were more than happy to help the two lost Canadians get their dog set up in a new country. The whole thing felt like a deja vu, very similar to the whole process we went through when we first adopted Huff. Again.

We headed up the coast to the town of Levin, located on State Hwy 1. 70km north of Wellington, we found Shado Lans Kennels. The kennel is set in a beautiful backdrop of mountains and rolling green hills and fields. It was on that backdrop that we found Huff asleep in her suite.

The kennel attendant went into the room first, so I'm sure Huff didn't expect to see us. It took her a minute to realise exactly who was standing in front of her. And then.. it was a montage of whining, jumping and tail wagging, best seen in the video. All my fears that she would forget us vanished and there we were again, a happy little family.

Short of needing a good bath and a couple of days rest, Huff is doing fabulous. Trent and I decided that she looked just as we all do after embarking on a transcontinental flight: tired, a bit confused, and in need of a shower. The attendant at the kennel said she is doing really well and, short of giving the vet the evil eye yesterday, she is settling in nicely. The vet is happy with all her tests, and at the moment they are not foreseeing any problems.

Her suite is a pretty cool little setup. It is composed of 2 rooms ( one 8x8 and the other 10x12), that are divided by a sliding patio door that separates the indoor and outdoor portions. She has a indoor bed and an outdoor bed, and a pretty amazing view of the mountains. She has free range in an out of both rooms all day and night. Withstanding the lack of exercise and lonelines she will face during her quarantine, I think she be comfortable here for the next week.

Huff detected the bag full of toys we brought almost immediately. She proceeded to dig her head straight in the bag to fish out a 2 squeaky toys, a new nylabone and her new sesame street blanket. Then she ran around the room celebrating with each.

We spent our hour together playing and cuddling. One of the most special moments for both Trent and I was when she lied down on her bed between the two of us, with a paw on each of us, and relaxed into an almost sleep. It was that moment after a long and stressful journey when she realised she was ok and could relax again. Everything was going to be ok. And an added bonus... it was a whole lot warmer in this new mysterious place :) It was this moment for me that brought the tears streaming down my cheeks, and gave me the confirmation that all the hard work was most certainly worth it.

We left the kennel and headed home, making a stop for a late lunch in our new home as of Monday, Paraparaumu. We checked out our new place and took a wander down the beachfront to discover more gorgeous scenes of mountain, sea and sand, and a cute little beach side village.

It was quiet and quaint, with the fresh smell of new beginnings.

For more pics of the reunion check out:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150417667404649.308413.510819648&type=3&l=0911717d30

 

Air Huff has Landed!

The final lag is complete!!! I got the web address for the cargo tracker from Matthew just after I posted my lst blog, and it allowed me to track her NZ portion of her flight. All the info I have right now is from the online cargo tracker, as I have yet to hear from the kennel. It is most likely that she is still in transit to the kennel, as its located about 70 km outside of Wellington in Levin.

But she is here!!!!! The cargo tracker shows that she landed in Wellington at 11:40 am local time, passed through biosecurity and was picked up by Shado Lans.  I wont know how she is doing until I hear from John, but luckily it wasn't too windy today in Wellington, so hopefully she didn't have to much turbulence!!

Now comes the real last lag of the trip for Huff. Starting today she will spend 10 days at Shado Lans Kennel for her quarantine period in New Zealand. She has a suite there, basically a large room with a bed and room to play, so she will have lots of room to move around, even though she will be banned from social interaction with other dogs during this period. I think this will certainly be the hardest period for us, knowing she is so close by but not being with her. We take some video  tomorrow when we go to visit her, and post it so everyone who has been following her journey can be a part of the reunion.

Wow, with the way I slept last night, and all the emotion around this event, I sort of feel like I have gone on the transcontinental flight with her! It is so weird to know that she is now so close by, yet she still seems so far away!

Thank you to everyone who has been watching Huffs journey across the pacific and for all your love and encouraging messages through the past few days. Hopefully it has been as exciting for you as it has been for us :)

Arooo roo roo!

International Dog of Mystery

Just a quick update to say it looks like the toughest part is over! I dont have too much information right now other than being able to track her flight status. And her flight status seems to say she is on New Zealand soil!! Her flight from Vancouver to Auckaland landed as scheduled at 6:03 am local time this morning. She is likely boarding the next flight now that is set to depart at 9:30 am local time to Wellington. I most likely will know more in about 4 hours when John contacts us to let us know he has her at the kennel.

I woke up almost every hour last night waiting to see if I could check for her arrival online, and seemed to exist all night in that half awake half asleep state where you dream things as though they were really happening, but at the same time know that they aren't. I'll have a nap later once I know she is safe and sound.


Trent and I are going out this morning for our first long training run in our training program for the Round the Bays half marathon in February. Exercise is likely the best option right now to work out all this nervous energy :)

Stay tuned :)

Air Huff

So many blogs today :)

So the good news continues! Huff had a great stop over in Vancouver and has started lag number 2! She departed on Air Canada flight AC6090 approximately 2 hours ago. Matthew has been in touch with her handlers in Vancouver who said she is doing really well and that everything went as planned, and that we should have no worries.

This flight will take her from Vancouver to Auckland, her longest lag so far. I hope she brought a good book and ipod. Maybe they will provide her a complementary bone and some in flight entertainment. I feel episodes of the Littlest Hobo and Air Bud would be the most appropriate choices. 

She is expected to land in NZ local time at 6:10am January 20. For Ontario people that will be Thursday Jan 19th at noon. I will most likely be able to track her cargo check in about an hour or so later. From there she will depart on NZ417 at 9:30 am local time for a quick one hour sprint finish, and is scheduled to land in Wellington at about 10:30am local time. That will be about 4:30pm on January 19th for people in Ontario. John ( who is the Kiwi version of Matthew) from Shado Lans Kennels, where she will do her quarantine, will be there to pick her up and bring her to the kennel once she clears customs and biosecurity. He is supposed to call us once she is safe and sound at the kennel.

Wow, my heart skipped a beat when I realised she is really on the way, we really cant wait to see her after so long. She is certainly going to have a great passport! Thank you for all your thoughts and wishes so far, keep sending lots of love her way. And keep watching for more updates... you will know as soon as we do!! Although I'm sure you will hear the Aroo roo roos on her arrival :)

See you soon luv!!

West Coast Touch Down

Huff has arrived in Vancouver!!!! This is the first lag of her trip, followed by 2 more flights. Matthew says she is doing well and did well on the flight.  Above is a pic of her at the airport :)

Today Trent and I went to a fabric store and bought her a big fleece blanket with Sesame Street Characters on it. I hope she likes Elmo. It was a great feeling to buy something for her again, and realize that she is truly on her way.

Fly safe, Puppy dog :)

More to come...