Welcome to Vancouver!

Today we have been in our new apartment in Canada for 1 week. We've unpacked and put 99% of everything away into its new place, and have begun the process of making this new apartment our actual home. Dave did the bulk of the unpacking while I worked 7-3pm Mon-Fri this past week - he is very good at putting a home together, and having moved 5 times in the last 4 years, he's had plenty of practice.

We love Vancouver so far, are very pleased with our apartment and are infatuated with our neighborhood. The apartment is more spacious than our place in Portland, with much newer appliances. It's completely carpeted which I actually kind of enjoy - my toes aren't as cold and I'm less inclined to put on a pair of slippers. There are tons of closets, perfect for all of our (read: David's) stuff (read: climbing/hiking gear). The closet in our bedroom is a walk-in, which I have already gotten way too used to. Spread out and hang all of my clothes in as many places as I feel like? Don't mind if I do.

Our apartment is barely 2 blocks from a beautiful beach, with an amazing view of the mountains and West Vancouver, as well as a nice skyline view of Vancouver's downtown. We have endless choices of restaurants of all types, and have vowed to try not to go to the same restaurant twice. Two years won't be nearly enough time to sample all of this food!

Last night we went to Ikea and Home Depot, both of which are basically mandatory trips to make within a week of moving anywhere. We picked up a few things for the house and a ton of plants to put out on our balcony:

We've gone on several beautiful walks since we've been here - walking over the Burrard Bridge a few times already to go over to the downtown area.

.  Burrard Bridge .

The entire city is very fitness-geared, with bike lines everywhere and tons of people walking/jogging/biking to and from work. I'll write more about that in a later blog.

There are so many amazing things to see here, and I can't wait to blog about it all!