The Ultimate Shipping Rate.

Who in Iqaluit has mouthed the words "that would cost like a MILLION dollars to ship here"?

Well . . . if you'd like something from IKEA shipped to you in Iqaluit they will actually charge you a BILLION dollars. I'm dead serious. I was in the neighbourhood for buying a leather sofa...I couldn't believe my screen . . .











It seems though, that their delivery would be somewhat timely . . . "billion dollars" timely though? I mean, for the love of god, the GST is 50 Million alone!

Try it for yourself. Especially enjoy the hilarity you experience when you go to order just a desk lamp, or just a power bar!

Amazing.

Snow?

This time last year we couldn't believe how cold it was and we marvelled at how much snow Iqaluit had in October. This year, there isn't even a hint that there even is a winter this year.

I took a dive through some old pictures and payed close attention to when they were taken/posted and there were tonnes of snowy-white pictures. To be honest, and I know this sounds crazy but, I miss the snow. Hell, I even miss the COLD. This city looks incredible under a blanket of ghost and it seems to almost feel warmer. . . yes, warmer.

I think the biggest let down is that our friend from Texas (Ty) has never experienced winter in Canada, let alone an Iqaluit winter. So, I'm anxious to see his reaction and what he thinks if the snow should ever arrive. We've been teased a few times but without any lasting snow. A friend of mine who has lived here his whole life made a comment to me over the weekend, he said "I think this is the first Hallowe'en in Iqaluit without snow."

If you don't buy into the whole "global warming" idea, I'm living through the proof.

Machete don't text

nope.

. . and so it begins. . .

It went from clear skies to a small blizzard in 45 minutes . . .

We didn't really celebrate a "One Year Anniversary" in Iqaluit. I didn't blog about it and it sort of slipped by us. Time seems to fly up here and there's no shortage of people who will confirm that. This month we officially joined the very popular club of "I was only gonna stay a year but here I am (insert lengthy time here) later!" Iqaluit grows on ya'!

What really drove the "anniversary stake" through me today was the weather. It's coming up to our second winter here and I think by Iqaluit standards that qualifies us as people who can say they've been here "a year". I'm proud of us.

I can remember thinking how we may not last up here during the first few months,and I especially remember how hard the homesickness hit during the holidays. I've always said that it takes a certain kind of tolerance and personality to really last up here and I still stand by it. But now, when you've met the challenges head on and you're still happy, excited, and strong, I think that's when you know you can last up here. It's an overwhelming experience, it really is but, you'll always be better for having taken the journey.

A year later, we'd still do it all over again.

DUMP FIRE

I love the smell of methane gas in the morning.

I decided to remember this because it's the strangest fire experience we've had to date.

Last week, some genius teenager decided it'd be a great idea to start a gas fire at the dump. Lucky for us it was the night all the wind decided to pick up. At first, you could smell that old warming scent of fire wood but now, it feels like you're inhaling the fumes off an over-heated engine. Oddly enough, from what I understand, we are inhaling parts, liquids, and burning fluids from old tires, engines, waste, and oils from cars.

Personally, I find this both ironic and coincidental since all last week on the local morning A.M. radio show they had pushed this story/report from some environmentalist who had just been to a dump out in Baker Lake. His very dramatic radio clip was funny to hear over and over all week, and then again translated to Inuktitut but, now it all makes sense.

After two days of burning wood, we are left with a god awful scent of burning plastic, methane gas, and just plain pollution. Maybe this guy was right. Maybe the dump situation up here is out of hand and this is some crazy way of realizing it. Who knows?

Either way, the whole situation . . . .wait for it . . . "Stinks!".

Yes, I did.

Happy Birthday Steph.

Happy 26th Birthday Stephanie!

What a great reason to finally make a post!

I love you . . . dinner's on me!

Ty & Lacie Galloway

I'd like you all to welcome our dear friends Ty and Lacie Galloway to Iqaluit.

Stephanie's best friend and her husband made the move and started their own northern adventure.


Ty

No. Ty is not my brother and we are in no way related. I'm not saying that wouldn't be the raddest situation on the planet, it just isn't the case. However, he is awesome.


Lacie

Yes. When asked why Lacie was so excited to get up here she was quoted as saying "the sole reason I moved up here was Jordan and Stephanie's blog"

We love you guys. Good Luck.