Chapter 1: From West to East

Prologue: When I decided to write a blog, I struggled with how far back in our story to begin. But when I decided on the name for my blog, "Fom Land, to C", I knew that it had to begin at

the time in my life where that title gained it's first significance. "Land" representing "West", and "C" (also read as "Sea"), is a double entendre, representing both the East Coast and our Cancer journey. For the sake of those who may be reading this who don't know me, here's a quick chronological rundown:

• November 2010: Laura meets farmer/cost analyst named Jared at a remote site in Fort McMurray.

• March 2011: Laura moves to Castor, AB with Jared.

• May 2013: Laura and Jared get married.

• July 2014: Laura and Jared purchase and move into their new farm.

• August 2014: Emmett McNabb is born.

*** Insert 4.5 years of Infertility struggles and treatment here (a topic for later) ***

• January 2019: Stella McNabb is born.

• October 2020: Rowan McNabb is born.

• January 2022: Let's sell our farm and buy a new one across the country.

Lots more happened within those years, but as it pertains to this blog, you're all caught up. Having said that, let's move along...

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Castor is a small town three hours North East of Calgary. A town that thrives on agriculture and natural gas. It is surrounded by legacy farms - some centuries old; the legacy carried on by generations. We moved in with the dream to make a living selling fresh farm beef, but when you're surrounded by others who make their sole living on the land around you, you come to realize that you're a small fish in a very large pond. That's not to say that we weren't successful - we provided a fresh product to many customers for years, and took great pride in not only the product we delivered, but the trials and tribulations that came with raising cattle in the prairies. It was tough, but my God was it rewarding.

Making the decision to leave Castor was not easy. At this point in my life I was lucky enough to live in two places within Canada that I truly felt at home in. Being raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and then moving out West at 19, I had developed deep roots in Alberta. But after getting married and having children in Castor, my roots planted themselves firmly on Range Road 392. The people in this small town are unparalleled. Castor was/is a wonderfully warm, welcoming and nurturing community. They embraced us with open arms, and within short order - it was home. We lived a three minute drive from my sister in law, Shawna, who was my partner in crime, confidant and rock. We encouraged each other to spend money knowing our husbands hated it, and could always count on each other to partake in wild ideas and plans that one of us cooked up on a whim. Leaving her was painful. Moving the kids away from her was even more painful. I also felt like we were leaving at a time when my relationships with other Mom's who had kids my kids' age were just starting to blossom (shout-out to my girls xo). That's a big milestone as a mother - when you pass the threshold of "Mom with young kids in survival mode" to being able to actually have a social life based off friendships your children make when they start school. The thought of doing it all over again was daunting for me.

Then there was Jared - my 45 year old husband who, for the first time in his life, was going to move away from everything he knew. All the familiar faces, familiar smells, familiar conversations, familiar weather... all of it. Everything he knew was going to be turned upside down. My anxiety for him was enough to make me want to call off the move altogether. But, in true Jared fashion, he would always respond with "you're not seeing the bigger picture". And he was always right (don't tell him I said that), there was a bigger picture - it just took me a lot longer to see it.

The decision to leave was solely a business decision. If you know Jared, you know that the numbers had to make sense. Once the numbers were figured out, it was a no brainer. In February of 2022 we flew to Nova Scotia, rented a car, and drove to a little ocean town with a gorgeous stone church, Judique. I had stumbled upon this farm a year previous when I was home for a visit, but it was Jared's first time. The place was an absolute disaster. Clearly vacant for years, trees and overgrowth in the driveway and yard, and machinery and bale wrap everywhere. But we both looked at it and instead of seeing what it was, we saw what it could be. By the end of the second day on that visit, we put in our first offer. A week later, the deal was done. We sold our farm in Alberta over a rum, handshake and a bit of sadness (shoutout to Kelly - hope you're maintaining those quartz countertops!), and bought a new one in Nova Scotia. Then sh!t got real.

Three eighteen wheeler loads of equipment made their way from AB to NS over the course of the next 4 months. I flew with the three kids to Nova Scotia on June 30th, dropped them off with my parents and sister and flew back to Alberta on July 3rd. With the help of our amazing family, Brad and Sherri, we packed up a stock trailer and uhaul full, and by July 7th Jared and I were on the road driving East. Jared pulling the stock trailer with essentially our entire house in it, and me pulling a u-haul with two Newfoundland dogs and two cats as my co-pilots. We looked like a literal sideshow going into hotels at night.

We arrived in Nova Scotia on July 11th, and we immediately got to work. After the trailers were unpacked, I began putting together our new home. Jared started fencing - within 4 months he had pounded 1,200+ fence posts and strung and stapled over 25,000 feet of barbed wire. Our horses and some cattle arrived shortly after we did, which meant the move was officially complete. Machines were working constantly to clean up the yard and make it a safe and fun place for the kids to play, while still being functional to allow us to continue on with our plan. We met the neighbours, who immediately took us in as family. They are salt of the earth, those MacDonell's.

Life started to fall into place. Emmett started school in September, and soon after that, hockey. All three kids were in swimming lessons and starting to develop relationships of their own. I started working at my sisters spa part time, and was loving being back by the ocean. All in all, life was presenting itself to me in a way that had me counting my blessings daily. The move, though challenging at times, was worth it. Never was there a time where I questioned our decision to relocate - I stood by it wholeheartedly.

Come November, our life would start its eventual tilt off its axis. It would happen slowly, never allowing me to predict what could possibly happen next. Life altering circumstances that still would not lead me to question our decision to move, but maybe wonder if we made it for reasons we weren't supposed to know about until our life came crashing down around us.

Coming up next: The Not-So-Routine, Routine Surgery