If you missed my first blog post, don’t worry, you can read how we’re moving to Canada part 1 here.

If you’re all caught up, welcome back and buckle up because the things that happened in two months are WILD!

A brief recap:

• We booked non-refundable tickets to Canada for July
• Zach’s PR card approval came the next day
• We had less than a month before our trip to figure out what to do

Planning our Move to Canada

When Zach and I first thought about the move up North we had hoped that it could be done before Labour Day—specifically because of the snow in the mountains.

We didn’t know at the time when things would come but we hoped that we could get up there before the first snowfall especially if we would be driving our belongings.

The cost was also a factor as we didn’t know how much money we could spend on moving—or shipping out things.

There were so many variables that honestly made planning our move so complicated. And it wasn’t until the PR approval came that we could start to envision a plan.

Zach’s job was another piece we needed to sort out. Should he apply for jobs now or wait? We decided to have him look and apply for things he wanted. But make it casual. We weren’t in any rush at this point.

He found a few jobs he was interested in and applied for them.

Deciding to Sell Our House

We had met with a realtor prior to the visa coming in because we had some questions and had never sold a home. But we put it on the back burner because we didn’t know when the visa would come.

We contacted our realtor around mid-June and said our paperwork came. She happily met with us to begin talking about selling. We worked with Patricia Kirk at Keller Williams and couldn’t recommend her enough!

Patricia shared that summer is the best time to buy a home so trying to list then was perfect. She suggested that it could be better to get on the market before the July long weekend (18 days from our meeting). She knew it would be a bit of a stretch, but shared multiple options. 

Zach and I looked at each other and said “Why not?!” We agreed to list our house on June 28. When in fact it was NO WHERE near ready. 

For the next 18 days, we HUSTLED. We cleaned, painted, and packed. I had my best friends all come periodically to help so I could get our house ready to sell. All the while, Zach was pretending nothing was happening and kept working as “normal”.

We got photos taken of the house and if I do say so, it looks FANTASTIC.

Morning of the House Listing

I will try not to make things too graphic.

I woke up with Emma in the middle of the night the morning of our house going on the market, and something wasn’t sitting well.
After a few minutes, I needed to put her down in her crib and run to the bathroom. For the next four hours, I was violently ill.

Zach stayed up with me as I was scared because I had never been that sick in my life before. He took care of me and finally, I was able to get some sleep but only an hour or so. I thought I had food poisoning but was unsure as no one else in my family was sick (yet).

Open Houses

I spent all of Friday sleeping and recovering while Zach cared for both Emma and me. Then Saturday morning was our open house. I was thankfully well enough to be up and we left the house for a few hours.

I was staying hydrated and praying I’d be okay for our flight up to Calgary the next morning.

That evening a few hours after Emma went down for bed she woke up and was sick on and off for a few hours. The morning of our flight.

At this point, Zach and I are worried about Emma, and our flight to Canada, and realizing that this was not in fact food poisoning. But a virus.

Emma started to feel better just as we prepared to head to the airport. So we finished packing haphazardly and tidying up the house at 5 AM as there was a second open house and we RUSHED Out the door.

Flying and Immigrating to Canada

Praising God Emma was acting tired but herself at the airport. We hoped the worst was behind us. But alas, in the air halfway to Calgary, little Emma began getting violently ill again. It was one of the worst moments of my life watching her scream and cry and be sick on the plane.

We land and she’s feeling much better—the altitude messed up her little system.

We go wait in line at customs and then go stand in line at immigration to get Zach’s PR status confirmed and then initiate his card. At this point, we had only received a paper confirmation, not the physical card.

Immigration went SO SMOOTHLY!!!

We did a soft landing, meaning we were coming without our belongings and that would come later. The officer was kind enough to initiate the card process so we didn’t have to do that when we decided to move officially.

Zach and I were beyond tired exhausted and scared. When we saw my dad outside the terminal I burst into tears as that was the most terrifying and stressful flight and two weeks.

Canada Day (July 1)

At this point, we are in Calgary at my parent’s house and hoping to rest a bit after the most stressful two weeks.

Midday on Canada Day Zach shares he’s not feeling well. And I’ll save you details but Norwalk virus hit my husband like a TRUCK. Zach had the paramedics called twice and a trip to the hospital with severe dehydration.

A great way to start his permanent residence in Canada and experience our free health care🙈

Now it is important to mention that a potential job interview was scheduled for Zach prior to us coming and the first interview was scheduled for the day after Zach was hospitalized. I emailed them and they graciously agreed to move the interview but only two days later.

We pumped Zach with fluids and rest and prayed he’d be able to make the virtual interview and show them how wonderful he was.

Our Oregon House Pending

Bet you forgot about the house, huh? Hahaha well, the morning we got back from the hospital visit Patricia messaged me and said we had our first offer.

After three days on the market.

We countered their offer and they accepted. 

By July 11, Zach accepts his new job and they give him a month before he starts.

In the span of 11 days, we all went from being violently ill and immigrating, to interviewing for a job, selling our house, and accepting a job.

When God wants you to be somewhere, He makes it happen!

Moving to Canada

Y’all this is getting crazy, right?! Well, I’m going to share the next things in a third post because it’s just too good to not share. I don’t want to miss anything God did for us, so stay tuned for that!