It’s hard to believe that summer is half over.

Summer in Ontario is about so many things: soaking up as much of the dearly-missed sunshine as possible, endless trips to farmers markets, hitting every patio in sight, racing home to hit the road and drive up north to the lake….the lake.  Yes, the lake calls us.  It had been calling Christian and I for the better part of a decade.  And we are so excited to say that summer 2017 is our first year as cottage owners!  The most exciting part about that statement?  Knowing that we have countless summers of cottage memory-making ahead of us.

But, before we plunge into the future, allow me to share our winding journey of how we got here in the first place.

We didn’t just wake up one morning and decide “today is the day!” (have you met my husband?  He’s a very planned and calculated guy — these kinds of decisions don’t just “happen”!).

No, there were a lot of pieces and experiences over a number of years that came together in order to turn this dream into a reality.

It begins on near opposite sides of the country: me, a west-coast gal raised about as close to the ocean as you can get in beautiful British Columbia.  I grew up in a small coastal town called Tsawwassen (literally meaning “facing the ocean”) and the ocean was always there.  I was fortunate to have friends with homes on or near the beach from when I was in elementary school all the way into my teens.  My best friend, Leah, has a family cabin right on the beach and I spent many summer weeks there: playing football on the sandbar, falling asleep to the sound of the waves lapping up against the rocks, the salty air in my hair and on my face; it is to this day one of my favourite places on earth.

Meanwhile, Christian is growing up with his own version of life-on-water.  With his grandparents owning a family cottage near Minden, Ontario, he spent most summers at the lake with his brothers: swinging on the rope swing, diving into the water, pulling the darned pump in and out of the lake to help get things running right, starring up at the stars in the night sky and just being a BOY.  To this day, some of Christian’s most treasured family memories occurred at the Huggett family cottage.

We both had some magic moments, independently, by water: mine on the ocean, and Christian’s by the lake.  We both decided from a young age that we wanted that association with water, in some way, to be in our lives.

What is it about being by a body of water?  The smell.  The sound.  The way your shoulders instantly sink away from your ears and relax.  The way it simply allows you to sit and enjoy. There is nothing like it.

10 years ago, the ocean-born gal meets the lake-bound boy.  Our first date in Toronto took us to Ashbridge’s Bay beach where we starred out at the massive lake and shared our first kiss.  I had the chance to visit Christian’s grandparents cottage that fall (fortunately, as it was sold just a few years later…this photo is the last one we ever took up there):

Christian came to BC with me the following summer and we took a trip to Tofino together. I’ll never forget his reaction when he jumped into the Pacific.  He was collecting sand dollars and starfish like a wild man.  He’d never seen a kelp doll before; he was mesmerized by all the sea critters we would come across.  I realized how much I had taken these gifts for granted.  How spoiled I was to have grown up by the sea!

In our early years of marriage, while we juggled never-ending home renovations, tried to balance our bills, all while growing our careers and figuring out life as husband and wife, we would often go for walks.  On our walks, we would always talk about our future: our hopes, our dreams and our plans together.  Always, the topic of a family cottage came up.

At first, I was against it.  In those early years, I still felt torn calling Toronto home. Although we had put down roots and bought a home together, purchasing a cottage property in Ontario just felt so….FINAL.  One house you can sell, but two properties?  How will I ever return out west when we have two properties tying us down?

But on went the years, and our lives.  And slowing but surely, Ontario became my home.

We would go on beach vacations, a trip to the south of France, a journey around the Greek islands, a road trip from Santa Monica to Santa Barbara…and always the topic would arise: how can we find our own slice of the beautiful waters’ edge?

The truth is, we didn’t necessarily know when it would happen.  But what we did know, is that we had talked abut it enough to know that when it was right, it would just feel right, and we would know.

Last year, after the sale of our first home (which had since evolved into a rental property), and after spending a glorious week at our friends’ cottage on the Lake of Bays, we looked at each other and said: we either take this opportunity and re-invest in another rental property, or we take the plunge — and dive into cottage life.  You can tell which option we chose by now…

Stay tuned for “the hunt” post coming soon to a blog near you!  The story continues…