Almost seven years ago we took a leap of faith, moving our family from Sunny California to Newcastle. While house hunting, people warned us that it was expensive here! To us it wasn’t all that bad given we were accustomed to California prices – you pay for the weather after all! While they warned us about the prices, they didn’t seem to mention the tough winters with an abundance of rain and grey. When someone finally warned us, we cheerfully replied, we’re not worried at all, we grew-up in Minnesota and there’s nothing quite like a Minnesota winter where temperatures often fall well below zero!