I was looking at my work calendar today and suddenly realized that next week is the last full week of school before winter break. Not that I’m complaining about an impending vacation or anything, but WOW. Suddenly Christmas is here. Thankfully my shopping is done and we even managed to get the Christmas tree up this weekend, something I’m proud of considering how busy we’ve been.

This will be the 6th Christmas that Lucas and I have spent together. In the past we’d always had a pretty standard 5′ Christmas tree. This year, though, we inherited my grandparents’ 12′ Christmas tree with plenty of ornaments and decor to accompany it, which is perfect to go in our brand new house. But let’s be honest: while the ceilings in our house are higher than standard ceilings, even they can’t quite accommodate 12′ of tree plus an angel on top. Thankfully the trunk is made up of several pieces that fit together, so we were able to leave out a single 2′ section to make the tree fit in our living room with the crown on the angel’s head just shy of the ceiling. Success! It was an all day affair fluffing and decorating, but totally worth it; not only is it nice to have grandpa’s old Christmas tree stay in the family and begin getting used again, it’s totally gorgeous and HUGE. It’s neat to remember all of the memories of it down at the lake house each year and think about how it’s got a new life being a part of the memories we’re creating for Liam in our house now. Sounds sappy, right? Newsflash: I’m a mom now; EVERYTHING and every moment is sentimental!

“OHMYGOD THE BOY JUST FARTED, QUICK HONEY GRAB THE CAMERA!” Yup, pretty much.

So then of course, what’s an all day event like putting up the Christmas tree without photos? Not an event in the Karpiuk household, that’s for sure! We obviously took a ton of photos, because putting up such a huge tree for our first Christmas in the new house and Liam’s first Christmas was a momentous occasion.

Here are just a few pictures from yesterday; the rest are all up on our Flickr account in the Christmas Tree 2011 set, which will eventually be part of a larger Christmas 2011 collection since you know there’ll be a heck of a lot more photos to come.

Oh, and that photo of Liam looking like he’s about to eat your face off? That’s his new thing: the snort laugh. He wants to join in on our laughter, so he’s developed this hilariously hideous snorting laugh where he crinkles up his face and does a lot of repetitive, quick snorts in a row with his mouth WIDE OPEN. It’s hysterical. I need to get that on video, seriously.

Anyway, I guess all that’s left to do now is to wrap gifts and pick a picture or two for our Christmas cards this year so that they can get mailed. Considering how ambushed I feel by December, at least I’m mostly on top of things, right? Good luck with all of your holiday preparations!

Get married? Check.
Buy a car? Check.
Have kid(s)? Check.
Buy a house? CHECK.

Yup, that last condition has been met; Lucas and I are now officially grown-ups! Oh, and we now own a house, too.

Yesterday, quite unexpectedly, we bought our first home.  We had been talking about it for years, really. It didn’t take long to realize in Calgary that it was going to be an unobtainable goal, (holy crazy housing market, Calgary!) but the market is much easier on the buyer here in Indy. To be fair the cost of living is different, but the price of homes, even as far south of the Calgary city centre as you can possibly be and still technically be in city limits, is three times the cost of the same size home here.

We’ve been throwing money away on rent for too long. When a flyer came in the mail the other day with some sample mortgage rates listed next to beautiful pictures of three bedroom homes, it seemed too good to be true. I had just been talking with my boss about interest rates two weeks ago, which fueled our desire to start seriously considering home ownership again with the market being so great for buyers. And we’d not be just any buyers… we’d be first time home buyers, and there’s a plethora of programs and benefits out there where people practically throw money at us for it. I checked out the flyer’s website and created an online portfolio where we chose some floorplans we liked and indicated what part of the city or surrounding areas we were interested in. We were contacted quickly by an agent and set up a time to chat and see if they had anything that fit our needs and budget.

Our needs were pretty simple. We wanted a single story home with three bedrooms and an office. An open concept kitchen to living room was a must, as was a yard and garage. When we left our apartment yesterday to meet with the agent, we figured we’d go over our budget and needs and then he’d show us some floorplans. We had no idea that he already had a few brand new homes ready for immediate move-in picked out according to our needs, and that he was ready to show them to us same day. We looked at one home, and moved on to the second, which we fell in love with. It was perfect, with everything that we wanted and more. The location was good for work, and the neighborhood was nice.  Sold.

Though it sounds crazy that we started looking, found, AND bought a home in one day, (in about four hours start to finish) and that it was only the second house we had seen, we’d like to think that it was instead just our good luck. All of the stars aligned just right and all of the pieces just happened to fall into place… it was meant to be. We couldn’t think of any reason to say no to the perfect house; why hold out when we had found exactly what we wanted at a great price and a good location?

So the summer of 2011 has been monumental. First our beautiful son is born, and 6 weeks later we stumble upon the ideal home buying scenario and purchase our first home in one day. Both huge life-changing events that came surprisingly easy to us. We are so thankful. And happy. Life is pretty darn perfect.

We move at the end of September, so we’ll need to start packing soon. In our own house we can finally paint, so that’s something else exciting to think about, too. As long as we close as planned, we’ll be in the new home before I go back to work from maternity leave, too. It’s going to be a busy next few weeks, but so worth it! Yay for being grown-ups!

PHOTOS! Almost forgot… I took a few photos of the house yesterday while we were there and they are in our New Home gallery on Flickr; we’ll be adding to that gallery as the adventure unfolds. And while you’re over there checking out those photos, you’ll definitely want to swing by the Liam gallery to see what’s new, too. I swear he is growing every day before our very eyes. Newest photos are always added at the end!

We got home from the hospital last night, and as you can imagine, we’re exhausted and trying to get settled in. Thank you for all of the emails, well wishes, calls, texts, tweets, Facebook messages, and voicemails! Though we have not had time to reply to everyone individually, (we were overwhelmed with your love and support!) do know that we have seen and read every single sentiment and appreciate all of them dearly. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. I know you’ll understand if it takes awhile for us to get back to you, get organized, and get photos and proper blog posts up. I plan to do a new blog category here on our family site called “Dear Liam” where I write letters to our son as we go through this experience; I have a post for the first 24 hours all planned in my head but no time or energy to get to it. Eventually! Just know all of your support has meant a lot to us.

We began a quick “Arrival!” Flickr gallery and hope to add more photos soon.

Thanks again! Welcome, Liam!

Saturday was our first day at the convention. Even though Dragon Con had started officially on Friday, I didn’t feel like we had missed too much. Mostly because the one panel I just HAD to attend was the Venture Brothers panel on Saturday afternoon. Lucas and I managed to snag front and center seats in the huge auditorium, being a mere four rows or so from the stage. Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick were so awesome. I especially enjoyed their question and answer format as they roamed the floor to theme music in between questions. I have to admit that my favorite part, though, was the depth of the various Venture Brother themed costumes people put together. We sat across from someone dressed as Hank who had built a life-sized Helper bot to accompany them. I posed with several Monarchs and Dr. Girlfriends and was tickled to run into a well done Dr. Henry Killinger, too, complete with his magic murder bag. Too amazing! I mananged to capture the hilarity of Doc and Jackson dancing at the end of the panel, which turned into Jackson falling out of his chair during one of his sweet, sweet dance moves.

Speaking of costumes, that was another highlight of Dragon Con for me. Many people went above and beyond with their costumes; moreso than I remember at Gen Con. Not only that, but most were also more than willing to stop and let you photograph them or were happy to pose with you for photos. I guess it’s an expectation that comes with dressing up for a convention. It inspired me to want to attempt my own costumes next year. I think Lucas and I would make an excellent Monarch/Dr. Girlfriend pair, though our group of friends also dreamed up the perfect scenario of us dressing up in a group Venture Brothers theme for next year together, which is even better!

For me, Dragon Con was such an exciting adventure. Yes, there were lines. Yes, there were rude people, and yes there were some frustrations… but overall it was a hugely positive experience for me. Probably because it was only my second geeky convention ever, with Gen Con last month being my first. The difference was that Gen Con was a working con for me, where I was behind a booth all four days and didn’t get much opportunity to check other things out, whereas Dragon Con was a play con for me, where I was able to experience everything that I wanted to experience since I wasn’t behind a booth. Don’t get me wrong, I loved selling GEEKSOAP at Gen Con and will be doing it again next year, but I will then follow up with attending Dragon Con again the following month as a way to unwind and experience it all, too. A working con and a play con within a month of each other? I can handle that!

Scheming Cylon

One of the biggest highlights was getting to meet @CatStaggs and pick up some of her signed art, and getting to meet Ashley Eckstein at the @HerUniverse booth and nab a shirt. Both women are so incredibly creative and are such inspirations! And of course the absolute best part of Dragon Con for me was that throughout the weekend we got to hang out with Chris and Devin along with finally meeting Kara, Jake, Lisa, Jessie, Terry, Dave and his friends, including Mike (another amazing artist like Dave!), and Eugene. Finally getting to put a face and a hug to the names and getting to spend time with all of these fabulous people was the icing on the cake and made Dragon Con such a memorable and fun experience. I only wish I would’ve had more time! After our big group dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe on Sunday, Kara, Jessie, and I danced together for no reason at all (which was a riot – video below!) and then we all went back and played the Battlestar Gallactica board game in our hotel. Are you surprised to hear that Lucas ended up being one of the cylons along with Kara?

So of course I took lots of pictures of our Dragon Con adventures and put them all together in a new set of our Flickr gallery appropriately labeled Dragon Con 2010! Hope you enjoy them. :)

Now that Dragon Con is over, Lucas and I are trying to focus long enough to get our things packed for the move next week. We move next Saturday, though we haven’t even begun to pack yet! Guess what we’re doing this weekend… ?

Hopefully I’ll get a moment to update once we get situated in the new place and/or even have a new recipe attempt to share soon. Have a great weekend!

To kick off 2010, we’ve given our blog a major facelift, as you’ve probably noticed. Not only do we have a new layout, but we’ve got a whole new domain as well. The old gallery system has been replaced by a slick Flickr account integration; you can see the most recent uploads in a photostream off to the right there, and clicking the “gallery” link above will take you to all of our photos (most recent sets at the top) and photo collections. Everything from the old Look At Us Go gallery has been moved over and old links on Look At Us Go will now redirect here to thekarpiuks.com. (While we feel like we’ve caught them all, if you find any faulty links just let us know!) Our email addresses have also changed accordingly. You can email us both by using us [at] thekarpiuks.com or individually with our name [at] thekarpiuks.com. With all of the immigration dust nearly settled, family is hopefully on the horizon; a fresh start with our family blog in a fresh new year seemed to be the way to go!

Speaking of immigration, we took a quick road trip to Toronto earlier this week for Lucas’ medical appointment. All went well and he flies back in to pick up the results for his final interview appointment in Montreal on January 5 to get his green card.  We’re really excited about the final piece falling into place so that we can move on. While in Toronto we enjoyed good sushi and good company and were sure to get our fill of Tim Hortons and other Canadian goodies that we’ve been missing. Special thanks to Ronald and family for their amazing hospitality!

2009 went out with a bang.  We treated my parents to dinner and their first live hockey game: the Indiana Ice vs. the Chicago Steel at Conseco Fieldhouse. It was a great time and afterwards we went back to their place and played Wii Fit until the ball dropped. Pictures can be found in a set on our gallery page. Lucas was of course my first kiss of the new year, with Oliver and Winston a close second and third ;) I sure am lucky to have such a great family. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us in 2010.

May 2010 bring you a fresh start, new excitement, and good health! Cheers.

1. We spent a fantastic belated honeymoon/anniversary trip in Nova Scotia in June. (See our last post.) It was wonderful!
2. We moved back to the states (Indiana) at the end of July/first of August.
3. I started teaching Computer Applications at the middle school, and love it.
4. We moved into our own place at the end of October.
5. My brother and sister-in-law had their first child — we’re now an aunt and uncle to one adorable William Herman.
6. We had our first (U.S.) Thanksgiving with Indiana family in three years.

That pretty much sums up the last few months! It’s been an exciting adjustment period getting all settled in back in Indiana. This weekend we put up our Christmas tree and today we got our first central Indiana snow… about a quarter inch in fact, which helped get me into the Christmas-y mood. (After living in Canada for three years, I’m not used to NOT having snow by now so I was having a hard time believing the holiday season was actually here.) It was hilarious driving to work this morning because it felt like everyone was driving SO SLOW over such a minuscule amount of snow. Dare I say I adjusted to driving in Calgary snow?

Our Christmas cards will be going out shortly, and I’ll post one up here closer to Christmas to share with the rest of the world. It’s a pretty cute one, if I do say so myself. Not because I made it, (I’ve got too many knitted gifts to finish this year, so we opted for a Walgreens photo Christmas card instead of my usual handmade) but because the new family photo is darling. Hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

A mama goose built a nest in one of the most unlikely places (though common downtown so I’m told) on a ledge of a tower of the office building I’m working at for the summer. Lucas comes over and we meet up for our lunch hour each day, and today we checked out the fuss over the baby geese that hatched from the nest on the ledge. The area near the window had some caution tape to keep us pesky humans at bay, but you are able to be close enough to see the little miracles. It’s like a little mini zoo off the side of my building. First there were just eggs. Now there are four little ones. They’re growing rather quickly, considering they were just hatched this week and it’s only Wednesday.  Mom and dad are always with them, keeping a watchful eye out. If you don’t see them sitting on the ledge with the babies, don’t get too comfortable… they’re definitely not far away. Today mom was down below, coaxing her little ones to go over the ledge. What seems like a deadly fall to me is apparently no big deal to birds… however, these guys aren’t quite big enough to get over the lip of the ledge to attempt flying (read: falling) yet. I took several (non-flash) photos today because while this has been really neat to witness, people came today in attempts to relocate the geese and I’m not sure if they’ll still be there tomorrow.

Want to see more photos? Of course you do. Be warned: they will make your heart melt. Especially the one where cute little yellow fuzzball has his tiny little eyes squeezed shut. Totally adorable. To see the full gallery of fuzzy cuteness, click HERE. OH! And I made a little video of the window ledge action for you, too. Don’t mind the round hole/opening on the ledge that one of the babies falls into in the beginning — it’s a shallow (but stable) drain thing (like my technical terminology?) and the other two little ones are down in there. They’re just not quite tall enough to hop back out once they fall in, lol. But I promise they’re safe and sound in there. Enjoy!

Lately Lucas and I have been talking about our future. We know that one or more children are definitely on the horizon for us; we’re almost ready. But in the midst of talking seriously about starting our own family, it hit us: how can we start a family so far away from family? Let’s face it… in Calgary we’re nowhere near either of our families. Lucas’ family is out in BC and mine is all back in Indiana. In going over our options and the benefits of a move towards family, we ultimately have decided upon moving to the states. Indiana specifically, or possibly Chicago depending on job situations. I’ve always been very close with my family, and I know that my brother and his wife will be starting a family of their own at some point, too. I’ve always wanted our kids to grow up together and be close. I also never imagined having my own children without my parents being involved. I’m betting they never imagined I’d be 1800 miles away when we started having kids, either. And we’ll most definitely still see Lucas’ side of the family just as much as we do currently, regardless of where we live. So the choice seems clear and simple to us. And we’re happy with our decision. In fact, we honestly can’t wait.

So wait, how is this going to work with Lucas being Canadian and all? Well apparently because I am a U.S. citizen AND have Canadian Permanent Residency, Lucas as my spouse can apply for a K3 visa. This will allow him to live and ultimately work in the U.S. until his permanent residency is fully processed. On March 23 we’re going into the U.S. Consulate office here in Calgary to turn in the first part of the application process, which is to establish our relationship in person with the Consulate. They will verify our documents and send everything off to Montreal. This is the part where we wait… as we’re not sure how many months it may take to get this interview. Depending on turnaround time on paperwork it’s entirely possible we could move as early as this summer, but around Christmas seems more likely. Who knows. Once we have an interview date, we’ll fly out to Montreal and attend, and then supposedly 2 business days later… voila! Lucas will be legal to live in the states, and we can head on down. For an additional fee he can get the ability to work tacked onto his visa, which of course he’ll opt for. The downside is that the medical exam part will force him to take a quick day trip to Vancouver and we’ll have to pay for that and a quickie trip out to Montreal together for the interview, but in the grand scheme of things we truly feel it’s worth it. The benefits far outweigh the few bumps in the road we may encounter on the way to this change.

I do have a few issues with moving back home, though. First of all, no Tim Horton’s. Note to our friends in Canada: we want cans of ground Tim Horton’s coffee for Christmas so we can brew our own in the coffee maker at home. Sure it won’t be quite the same, but it’ll be better than none. And while I’ll miss Tim Horton’s dearly, there is an upside to Indy in the form of Chik-Fil-A. MMMMMM. And Bob Evans. And Steak ‘n’ Shake. My second issue with moving back home is that Lucas politely informed me last week that if he’s living in Indy he’ll most likely have to become a Colts fan. I immediately put on the brakes and emailed my parents to tell them that the move was off. I’ve gotten over the shock, but I may have to disown him if he becomes a Colts fan. GO BEARS.

So it’s a bit long-winded and I’m sure it seems like we’re gluttons for punishment turning around and dealing with new immigration stuff to go the other way so soon after I finished all of my Canadian immigration stuff, but there’s our news. We don’t know how long the process will take or when for sure we’ll be loading up a U-Haul and riding off into the sunset, but we hope to have a better idea of the timeline estimate after our U.S. Consulate visit on the 23rd. We’ll keep you posted :)

This evening Lucas and I ran a few errands to get some essentials for my first week of work.  We picked up some great items for the classroom (I think my kiddos will love the giant dinosaur egg that “hatches” in water in 24-48 hours when we do our dinosaur unit) and then I picked out some sweet winter boots.  These babies have an inner insulated form fitting sock that velcros into place within the sturdy boot shoe.  We’re talking warm. I’ve never experienced a second inside piece of insulation on boots before.  Though in all fairness I’ve also never lived somewhere where it gets as cold as it does here in Calgary before, either.  The traction on these real winter boots can actually be called real traction.  No more slipping on the sidewalks!  They hang on tight.  And the best part?  They’re pink and brown. Awesome.  It’s about time I became a real Calgarian, eh?

Work is going really well.  It’s challenging, but at the end of each day I’m already looking forward to the next day. And all I do is constantly scribble down neat little lesson ideas I think will get my little guys excited and engage them.  They’re really a great bunch of kids and the support staff I have to lean on as I get acclimated to the routine and students has made all of the difference in the world. It feels great to have a meaningful position again where I truly feel like I’m changing the lives of kids for the better. I love my job :) And of course, my sweet and wonderful husband surprised me by having flowers sent to me on my first day. I am so lucky.