"The Best Journey Takes You Home"

If you have followed our family for any time, you know of our nomadic ways. In the ten years that Brett and I have been together, we have lived in six homes together. Needless to say, we learned a long time ago that home is not a place, but rather a feeling. Home is made up by the people we share a space with and the moments and memories that we create.

Two years ago, Brett's company (who had sent us to the west coast in the spring of 2012) let him go and we were faced with a big decision. We had a home we were happy in, in a beautiful part of the country, surrounded by great friends. If Brett chose to seek out a new position in his field we could have quite happily stayed the course. Instead, after much conversation and consideration, we decided to venture down the road less travelled. 

For years we had shared the dream of buying some acreage where we could raise our family, and be self sufficient. The only problem is that when you are happy and comfortable, it's not always easy to give that up to chase the unknown. Once our new reality sunk in, we viewed it as more of an opportunity than a bump in the road.

(an evening walk along the beach in Oregon - our favourite stop on the west coast)

We did some research and found that if we sold our home we should be able to purchase our dream, mortgage free on the opposite coast of Canada. That decision sent us on the greatest adventure of our lives. We spent about six months seeing as much as we could across North America. We visited family and old friends and met so many incredible people along the way. Though everyday of that trip was not easy, it is a time I hold dear. It was those memories that got me through some of the toughest days as we settled into our new community on Cape Breton Island. 

(the kids at West Mabou Beach on Cape Breton Island)

We arrived in the village of Whycocomagh in September of 2016 after coming across a viral land for work offer online. We were one of three chosen families to take on the offer. We settled into a little three bedroom rental and went about creating a new routine. Some days brought me to tears and there were moments that we questioned our decision to leave British Columbia. What kept us going at the end of the day was always that shared dream. 

Only a month or two after we arrived, I began looking at real estate listings online. One day I came across a beautiful property overlooking a lake, with more land than we had thought about, a farmhouse and two garages. At the time the price point of the property made it nothing more than a dream, so we kept looking.

Near the end of our first winter out east, there was a lot of action in the Toronto real estate market and it seemed like the right time to sell our income property that we had owned there for the past eight years. Once the house was repaired and listed on the market, we finally went to look at the dream property. The views and the land were even better than we had imagined, and we both saw so much potential in the house and garages. It was the type of property we had only dreamed of finding when we headed east. 

We spent the new few months waiting for our house to sell. Just when we had started to consider taking it off the market and putting new tenants in, an offer finally came in that we were able to negotiate on. This opened a window that would allow us to finally purchase the home that we had always wanted. 

The home and land became ours on November 10th, 2017. Even before everything was signed, Brett and I had started to discuss the perfect name for our new property. We started a list, but nothing we were coming up seemed to be the perfect fit. Finally in early December Brett found the perfect name, Misneach Ridge. Misneach is a Gaelic term which means courage, bravery, determination or hopefulness. What made this name stick out to me was when we read that the word was often used in the saying "Fortune favours the brave". We both felt that this was an accurate description of how our relationship has always gone. From when Brett and I first met, right up to our choice to sell our life on the west coast to head east, we have always taken chances and it has always paid off for us in ways that we never imagined.  

We have found our forever, and now comes the fun part of transforming it into a comfortable home for our family of five. I can't wait to share all of the details and the journey with all of you.