So we’re staying in Quebec… what now? About a million things.

The thing in the forefront of our minds, however, is that 90% of our personal belongings are in a shipping container in Alaska, parked in our friends’ yard. Brand new mattresses, our bed (which Allen built), clothes, toys, things for our hobbies, pictures, our table… all of it is there waiting for us. Unfortunately, we’ve received quotes to move about half of those items here to Quebec in the ballpark of $24,000. Yes, seriously… and that’s WAY more than we want to spend!

So we’re trying to decide how and when to downsize our belongings in Alaska and move what we really want to keep here. At this point, Allen and I are potentially planning to be in Alaska sometime in April to sort, have a massive “Not Moving to Africa” yard sale, and somehow coordinate or facilitate a cross-continent move of the remainder of our items.

We’ll pack up our belongings here at Parole de Vie in May because we’ve already been approved for an apartment here in Québec! We move in on June 1, so we’re keeping that date in mind as we plan everything else. We’re thankful to have that HUGE thing checked off our list… we may not have anything to put in it, but we have a home!

Since we’re moving here for longer than a year, we’ll need to officially import our Jeep into Canada. That means getting Canadian license plates, Canadian drivers’ licenses, Canadian car insurance, etc. But we’re waiting to do all of that until the seasonal requirements for winter tires is over. We have until August to make this switch, praise God!

When our work visas are updated by ABWE Canada, we’ll need to get Allen an SIN – a Social Insurance Number. It’s kind of the equivalent of an American SSN and is required for many different things here. I have one, but it will change when I get my updated work visa, too.

We’ve submitted enrollment requests to a school in Québec for our kids and are waiting to hear if they were accepted or not. The school requires an interview before acceptance, so we’ll do that when the time comes, then work to gather all of their supplies, uniforms, etc. Hudson is too young, but Clara will be in maternelle (kindergarten) and Ruth will be in grade 1. Exciting!

This summer and fall, we’ll be plugging into a church plant in Québec, getting to know our new neighbors, continuing French learning in a less formal manner, and sorting out our new routine and life in the city.

Any questions? Let us know and we’d love to answer them!