Five years ago today...

Pemulis and Joelle flew from the world's least skiable location SW Ontario to Lyon to start a new life as ski instructors in the Alps. Since it turned out that neither of them could ski, instead Pemulis started a career as a machine learning researcher (way less cool than ski instructor and way less ski-bunnies involved but whatever) at XRCE in Grenoble in the heart of the Alps. Living within 50 km of many of the Tour de France's most famous mountain climbs, including less than 10 minutes away from the start of the climb to Lans-en-Vercors, Joelle took up road cycling in a serious way. She ascended the Alpe d'Huez on multiple occasions and performed serious training on said mountains that helped lead her (along with many miles ran along the banks of the river Isère and 1 or 2 swims at the Meylan pool) to an 11.5 hour Ironman in the inaugural Ironman Kalmar in Sweden. Pemulis just kind of hung out in a château and learned to not only function but thrive as an amateur ping pong enthusiast and wine connoisseur. After 1.5 years had passed and there were no more opponents for Pemulis to destroy in table tennis, the two decided to keep their European / Alp ski dream alive. While they hadn't even attempted to go skiing a single time in the previous eighteen months despite living at what is the centre of basically the world of both modern and historical downhill skiing, and within one-hour driving distance from what are widely acknowledged as the world's premiere ski resorts including les Deux Alpes, Alpe d'Huez, and others, their dream of having at least some tangential connection to the world of Alpine skiing remained alive; they decided that they were just too close to the action in Grenoble and that maybe being fairly close to the Alps but not directly in them could possibly help the situation. So, they picked up shop and moved down the road to Munich. Munich seemed ideal because it's about an hour's drive or train ride from world-class skiing in the Alps, but you're not right there in the thick of things in a city that just entirely revolves around skiing. This seemed to be the solution they were after. 3.5 years quickly went by, however, and along the way they added a third body to their small family which made getting out to the ski hill all the more complicated. Nevertheless, they didn't give up hope; a baby girl might be just what they need to finally have that true connection to Alpine skiing as they could start her off right -- you know, learning to ski before even learning to walk like all the greats claim to have done. Hold that thought because after these five years, an opportunity presented itself that would bring the protagonists back from whence they came to the Great White North. They deliberated this chance deeply and extensively and examined at great detail the idea that since they still hadn't become world-champion skiers despite living sort-of close to the Alps then it seemed clear that the only solution was to live really far from them. But in the end, they decided to stay for now because little Helga still can't walk on this five-year-to-the-day after flying to Lyon and therefore there's still a chance for her to learn to ski first.