Getting Settled, Mission BC

Views in Mission, BC.

Well it has been busy over here – outside the blogosphere. We bought our new home, moved in (and unpacked!), completed a few urgent renos – I even studied Reiki and am now a level 2 practitioner.

Busy!

While I wait for my latest DIY project (the ugly fireplace) to dry before continuing, I thought I would fill you in on my current adventure.

The Ugly fireplace ‘BEFORE’

The ugly fireplace ‘DURING’.

Mission BC is quite beautiful to look at. Nestled between the Pacific Coastal Mountain Range and the Cascade Range, there is a view from each direction.

A stunning view – if you like mountains, lakes and rivers.

More on that later, of course. I plan to do a lot of local exploration – it is beautiful here!

There is a fantastic park not far from my residence – ‘Heritage Park’. It has a varied history, and once was occupied by an Aboriginal residential school. The foundations still remain.

There are plenty of trails into nature worth exploring, as well as many groomed trails – and of course an epic view. There are even ‘love locks’ here.

I have not yet added mine, but will keep you posted :D.

And I haven’t even mentioned Our Lady of Lourdes yet. Named ‘the grotto’, our Lady sits perched above Mission (yes, a ‘Mission’ operated here – and there is still a functioning monastery named Westminster Abbey).

Every Easter between 5 and 7 thousand people gather here to celebrate and pay homage. I am hoping we will be able to make our way over this year.

*UPDATE* The pilgrimage doesn’t happen at Easter – it happens in August!

I plan to learn more about this little building – its history and development. I am sure I will be pleased by what I discover.

I have yet to be disappointed by our drastic move. We put quite a distance from ourselves and ‘downtown’ (meaning Vancouver). Something we hadn’t previously considered doing.

No regrets (yet!).

Our new home has an epic yard that needs a bit of love. I can tell someone once cherished this space – but it was years ago. I estimate 6 or 7, actually.

Horribly overgrown and hiding many unusual ‘gifts’ (like the mens underwear I found in the back yard!), I know what I will be doing this summer!

Gardening, lots and lots of yard maintenance, trimming pruning and more gardening.

This is my first yard officially. I have been an ‘urban dweller’ up to this point and have not been afforded the land luxury. I am quite excited.

And yes, I am still reformatting here…well not at this exact moment…at this exact moment I am getting back to the fireplace to slather on what I hope will be the last coat of paint!

Back to my normal schedule soon :).

*UPDATE*

The Fireplace – DONE!

Additional photos in the slideshow.

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RELATED ARTICLES

• Love Locks (Wikipedia)
• The Grotto (heritagepark-mission.ca)
• Westminster Abbey (westminsterabbey.ca)