Yep, that’s the first line that popped on my head recently when Dave said it felt like things were coming together too easily. I swear the Simpsons have a line for every life situation.

We have accepted an offer on our house, conditional on a home inspection which is next week. We sold to people we know and we are sooooo excited for them. I think they will love the house as much as we do, and be great neighbours for the couple next door (which was really important for us, because we have the best neighbours in the entire universe). They are seriously the best buyers we could have hoped for, and it makes the fact that I’ll miss this house just a bit easier.

We also found our next house. It’s a nice backsplit in a small town, walking distance to the arena, soccer fields, park and splash pad. It’s also only seven minutes down the road from my parents, which is super exciting. Lucy will have lots of gardening to do this summer, and chickens to tame… And I’ll get pony time much more often! I can’t even contain my excitement.

So, in the words of Bart Simpson, “There’s only one thing to do at a moment like this: strut!”

So I am sure most of you assumed there was a reason behind selling our house beyond ‘we want to live closer to family’.

We DO want to live closer to family, but we aren’t making Dave commute just for that. As most of you guessed, Dave has accepted a new job. He didn’t have it officially signed and his resignation in until the end of last week, so we were being pretty vague with details when anyone asked.

It was hard keeping quiet and basically telling lies of omission to our friends, but we needed to have our ducks in a row. So, sorry friends, I really do strive to be honest with you all 100% if the time!

Dave’s new position is an entirely new opportunity and direction for him, and I think he will really enjoy a change of pace and new challenge. He excels in everything I’ve seen him try, so I’m very excited for him!

So any of you who read my last post know we listed our house for sale. It’s super exciting but a bit nerve-wracking at the same time.

We already have potential buyers but no firm offer yet, so we’re still floating in that place of not being quite ready to buy the next house. That being said, today we went house shopping.

Anyone that knows me knows I don’t like shopping of any form. That applies to houses as well. I know lots of people actually like shopping for houses, but I find it a bit annoying. Inevitably every house I like, my husband seems to find fault with. I swear we couldn’t be further apart in house tastes and desires.

We looked at two houses today. It’s funny what a good real estate agent and camera can do for a house. Based on the MLS listing house #1 looked much nicer than house #2. In reality house #1 was quite worn, and house #2 was quite lovely. I could really see myself in #2.

Unfortunately house #2 has an offer conditional on the sale of the buyers house, and without a firm offer on ours, we can’t really do anything to bump them out, so here we stay in limbo.

I know realistically there will be other options, I’m just antsy to get back home.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been pretty quiet on here, we’ve been busy bees around here. We made the tough decision to list our house for sale and we’ve been busy getting it ready and attempting to keep it clean (which is tough with a toddler).

There’s varying emotions involved with this decision. We’ve been in this town just over 4 years and the house for three. It was my husband’s first house, and the house where both of our babies came home for the first time. We’ve had wonderful neighbours too, and have met some really great friends. But all chapters in life come to an end, and we’re ready to make a change.

We have lived 1.5-2hrs from my family for around 5.5 years and we are ready to be close to them again. My kiddos LOVE grandma and grandpa, and their aunts and uncles. They don’t love the drive to visit, which is entirely understandable. So, we don’t have a place yet, but ours is up for sale and has had quite a bit of interest.

Hopefully soon I’ll have a more exciting update for you all!

nos·tal·gia
a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.

I am a person who often basks in feelings of nostalgia. It’s not that I dwell on the past per se, but I’ve been lucky enough to have many good times and good memories in my life. Certain songs like Blackhole Sun bring back happy memories of spending time with my oldest brother, certain smells trigger the comfort of my mother coming home from work. I love the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes with these memories, and reflecting on the happy memories. In fact, when I’m having a crappy day or my anxiety is inexplicably high, I often seek out these triggers and feel much better.

This week, for no real reason, my anxiety has been through the roof. It might have something to do with just being busy and kids being crazy (it has taken 3 days to finish this post), but it’s been driving me nuts. So my solution has been to sit down with a tea, and finish the sewing I have to do. It’s relaxing, calming, and makes me think of my grandmother. She had 8 kids and managed, so I try to channel her strength and grit whenever the weeks feel long.

Next stop, a 90s alternative play list. All should be right in the world after that.

I’ll try my best to write again soon!

Here in Huron County the winters are long. It’s always windy because of the lake, so even when it’s not snowy it tends to feel freezing cold. This results in stir crazy children and parents ready to pull their hair out.

Most playgroups are in the morning, which leaves the afternoon empty. I’ve been trying to cut back on our grocery expenses, and what better way than to do some baking. Toddlers love baking. It’s messy, delicious and an easy way to drive mom crazy. It ticks all of the toddler boxes.

Today we baked chocolate chip cookies. It went something like this:

Lucy, don’t eat the flour. Please stop eating the flour. Don’t touch the batter. Please don’t eat the batter. Don’t eat the batter. Stop. Eating. The. Batter. IF YOU EAT ANY MORE BATTER YOU CAN’T HAVE ANY COOKIES. STOP EATING THE CHOCOLATE CHIPS!

Sounds familiar, right? Somehow we don’t get too messy, but that’s probably because I only let her dump ingredients, not measure them yet.

I haven’t tasted the cookies yet but they smell delicious and they successfully used up about 45 minutes of the afternoon. The toddler might be a bit wired but I’ll still call it a win.

Stay warm everyone!

It will be Valentines Day in a few days. In very cliché form, that will also mark mine and my husband’s 7th year of dating. I’ve been reflecting upon the last seven years lately, and honestly it feels like the time just flew by.

Just over 7 years ago we had our first date. We were working for the same company and Dave was doing quite a bit of work in my area. I had asked my team leader about him and was told he was an engineering intern. Me, being the opportunist I am, recognized that as a person who is not only smart and hard working, but also a person that would potentially earn decent money.

I know, I know, I hear the collective gasping from you all. But let’s be real, income earning potential is a very important factor, especially when you’re done just dating for fun and more interested in trying to find a life partner. He was also very attractive and had a great butt, clearly just as important as earning potential.

Now all of you gasp-ers are like ‘what about personality! That’s so important!’. Have you ever met an engineer? Trust me, if you went off first personality impressions, you would never date an engineer (think Sheldon from Big Bang).

Our first ‘date’ was awkward and uninspiring, but we kept talking and he was quite persistent over the next few weeks. I finally agreed to let him come over to my house on Valentines Day and make me dinner. He pretty much never left.

Sounds magical when you write it like that right? Except that skips all the things that have happened over the last 7 years. Moves, job changes, dealing with each others baggage, pregnancies, losing important people in our lives, the stress of navigating our new roles as parents, and all that falls in between.

I’d be lying if I said it’s been easy. It definitely hasn’t been. We’ve both had times over the years where we’ve been ready to throw in the towel. But we’ve always persisted, worked hard together and made it through. And that hard work has been worth it.

7 years in and I couldn’t be happier. My husband is loving and caring. He’s a great father and he works so hard to give us everything we need. We have a good life, and two beautiful daughters. Neither of us are perfect but we’ve both grown so much, individually and as a couple.

The bottom line is that life isn’t easy and relationships are no exception. We are so used to instant gratification and being able to just toss things out when we are bored. You can’t build a solid relationship like that. You have to be patient, kind, learn to compromise, be less selfish, work hard. When you can do that (and then some), you’ll see it pay off.

In March there is an event in my town called Inspiring Women of Huron County. The event is designed to recognize women in our community who are role models and advocates for women and families, and who have used their vision, talent and determination to make a difference. This year 21 women were nominated.

I nominated one of these women myself. I know many women in the community but this particular person has really made an impact in my life this past year, including my future “career” path. I felt the nomination was truly well deserved.

The nominee was sent my submission that I wrote about her. While I felt I could have covered so much more, she messaged me to tell me how much she appreciated what I had written, and how great it felt to be recognized for her efforts outside of her children and pursuing her passion.

This got me thinking, don’t we all feel that way? Especially as mothers. We often feel like we’ve lost ourselves and become an extension of our children, and that we are mostly recognized through them. We often feel unappreciated for all we do, like it’s not noticed. Wouldn’t we all feel better to have someone say hey, I see you, you’re rocking it over there!

So with this blog I propose a challenge. I want all of you reading this to think of a woman (or two or three) in your life that inspires you. Write them a note on what is is about them that you find inspiring, how they’ve made a difference in the lives of others, and how that has had an effect on you.

Big things happen when women support each other.

In the past few weeks there’s been another Facebook phenomena, the so called #10yearchallenge. This “challenge” is when a person posts a picture of themselves in 2009 and 2019. Essentially all it does is show how you’ve aged.

Does the way we’ve physically changed really matter? Of course my looks have changed, it’s been TEN YEARS (side note: I mostly just look tired now, thanks kiddos!)

I think the more important thing to explore isn’t seen in a picture. What about our personal growth in that 10 years? Our mental and emotional growth, relationships, life, etc? THOSE are the more imoortant things to reflect on.

10 years ago I was in my early 20s. I was insecure and needed a lot of positive feedback to feel confident. I was in a very toxic and emotionally abusive relationship, and lacked the confidence to realize I deserved to be treated better. I also had a lot of anxiety issues, but didn’t realize it until a few years later. I worked in a factory, didn’t really know what I wanted from the future, didn’t want kids, and honestly was a fairly selfish person.

Now, 10 years later, life looks a lot different. I’m married to a wonderful man, I have two beautiful daughters, and I am a stay at home mom, which is something I never thought I would be. I’ve sought help with my anxiety, both with counseling and medication. I’ve become much more confident in myself and have grown a lot emotionally. Overall, life is just so much different from 10 years ago.

While I may look a little older and a little more tired than I did 10 years ago, on the inside I feel the best I ever have. In my mind, that is far more important than comparing pictures.

I’m on my flight back from Vancouver to Toronto, then on to London. I have to say, this trip went really well!

On the flights to Vancouver both girls were excellent, the only time it got a bit hairy was when Lucy was in need of a nap. Our arrival went off without a hitch and my big brother was waiting for us as soon as we arrived.

Right now we are halfway through the first flight of the day. Odette napped for an hour and a half, I suspect Lucy will sleep soon. If she doesn’t she might be a bit wild, but it would be an easy way to adjust to the 3 hour time difference.

The trip itself was fantastic. The weather cooperated for us and we had quite a bit of sunshine. The girls both transitioned to the time difference right away and they behaved fantastic. This has been reassurance that my husband and I are doing something right.

My best advice for travelling with kids? Believe in their ability to be versatile.