Counting Down.

A quiet New Year's at home, with gin

and goodies, Yahtzee and trashy tv!

And these 2 girls who keep us laughing.

Life would be very quiet without them!

~ Chy

The In Between.

I love the time in between Christmas

and New Years. Most years, we all

have time off. This year, I did have

to do a bit of work on the Wednesday

before Christmas and then again this

week. Not hard at all. I go back on

Monday and am looking forward to

the start of the year. Getting back to

routine will take a bit of work as we

haven't had to be up early and many

afternoons, we find ourselves curled

up on the couch, watching the snow

fall outside while we watch a movie

or work on our fun projects. We eat

when we're hungry, nap when we're

tired and spend time doing things we

don't always have time to do. It's truly

relaxing and what the in between is for!

Do you love all the time in between?

~ Chy

The First Day.

 

The night before, our traditional dinner, 

delivered out to the country from town.

A movie to end the night. A dvd that

dh received on Christmas morning.

Giggly girls. Terrible movie ~ my review!

But they all enjoyed it and had a great time.

We stayed up until midnight, cause this

little guy insisted. Then he woke us up!

We celebrated Christmas again as he

had been away to see his dad that day.

A walk outside with warm sun and just

a few clouds in the sky. Love our cottage.

In the Summer, you can't see the front

but in the Winter, it is much more visible.

Second Christmas dinner was chicken

instead of turkey, with all the fixings!

Stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce (with

brown sugar and a cinammon stick),

peas in butter and gherkins. Oh and

potatoes for those who can eat them!

My full plate. So good. I'm glad we get

to celebrate Christmas more than once.

How was your first day of the New Year?

Was it a busy day or a relaxing one for you?

~ Chy

End of a Decade.

I'm not a resolution maker, so I won't bore you with a list of things I should tackle this year. I will make goals for my personal life and my work life, and share those with my family for personal and with my team for work. I'm sure you're saying "but a goal and a resolution are the same thing" and my response is I see them as two separate things.  A resolution is something to change or "resolve" in my opinion. To me, a goal is a set plan to achieve an end result that benefits more than just myself. I hope that made sense. Not what everyone else does, but by now, if you've followed me for a bit, you know I don't exactly do things "by the book" in this little life of mine. It's who I am.

This decade was full of many amazing experiences and a few not so great moments that kept us grounded (or "re~grounded" us) and humble. Highlights since 2000:

• birth of our first grandson in 2010
• the birth of our first granddaughter in 2013
• stability in our programming at our charity
• successful funding grants for our charity
• my promotion from a counsellor at our little community hospice to the program manager for the pillar that supports grieving families
• our 30th wedding anniversary ~ special trip
• our 35th wedding anniversary ~ new rings
• travel that took us to new unexperienced places 
• designing then building our dream cottage 
• our first real veggie patch and a real art studio
• more theatre productions and a travelling show
• creating and producing an outdoor music festival

A couple of things that were really hard over the last decade:

• my father-in-law died in 2015 at age 80
• my mom was diagnosed with dementia in 2016
• my cousin died in 2017 in a car accident
• my auntie died in 2018 at age 80 as well
• a relationship ended and another was changed
• a culture shift at our charity ~ still navigating

Clearly, the good outweighed the bad and there are so many more things I could add to the list that enriched our lives over these years. The hard things are hard and some are still a work in progress. This is what life is all about .... embracing the beautiful experiences and navigating the ones that take us to our knees. I'm thankful for both (though I wish some of the hard things could be a bit softer) as they enhance the others and keep us grateful and humble. Good life lessons. And new directions when we hit "roadblocks" with projects. We grow from hard experiences. And cherish the good ones.

I'm ready for 2020. A new decade is always exciting. But I have concerns for the politics that have been less than stellar in other countries. And now our own beloved Canada is going thru some difficult challenges. The economy is changing and we'll need to be extra careful this decade with spending and purchases. Frugal living has always been our path and will continue to be. A thought just popped in to my head that a decade from now, as we enter 2030, we'll be retired and living a different life style. I wonder if we'll still be here, in our little house in the big woods? Or on the tiny island we love so much, in a tinier cottage, overlooking the sea. Will we be welcoming more grandchildren over the next 10 years? We will bring home a new puppy to love? Finish writing our books that are currently sitting? Successfully have 10 years of a music fest under our belts? Will we travel to Europe (dh has never been) or stay closer to home and continue to explore this amazing country? Will our friendships shift? Who will come in to our lives next? What will happen to our tiny charity? So many ideas, so many unknowns. Exciting, isn't it? I'm so very ready for 2020 ....

Are you ready? Are you excited to say goodbye to 2019?

What are your wishes, hopes and dreams for 2020?

~ Chy

Farewell 2018.

How ironic it is to be ending the year with blog post #2018. Not planned, just how it fell in to place. 

What was 2018 like for our family? Other than my mom falling and shattering her pelvis, which turned in to an almost 8 week stay in the big City hospital, this year was a lovely one for the most part. A few hiccups here and there but that's what makes life what it is. To end off 2018, here were some nice highlights:

* I've made great progress in working with my board ~ an ongoing process that is taking a ton of energy but worth the time to get to where we want to be

* I received an unexpected promotion in my job at hospice, along with a sweet and very welcome raise

* We were invited to Ottawa to speak in the House of Commons ~ the whole trip was unbelievable, an honor we could not have imagined and one we'll always cherish

* Our granddaughter is finally old enough to sleep at gramma and grampa's and we've now had 4 sleepovers

* We worked very hard on our landscaping, getting our grass in, creating a better walk way, contracting out a deck to extend our back porch, creating a pergola, moving the fire pit over so there was more room for the deck, and the best of all these: creating our veggie patch with 8 raised garden beds, a white picket fence and a successful first harvest with strawberries, pumpkins (white and orange), peas, beans, onions, zuccini and tons of beets

* We bought crown moulding for the house (to go up soon), we put up blinds on the upper level and are currently receiving quotes for the main level, we finished up most of our art studio (2 lights and drawer pulls to be installed still), we organized the garage so we can finish off the shelving this coming Spring for dh's workshop and we made plans for some minor but helpful changes in 2019 ~ new benches for the mudroom, new shelves for our master bedroom walk in closet and more landscaping plans, including a greenhouse ~ we hope for this long awaited dream

There were moments that were hard and unexpected but amazing moments too. We had several successful events and a fantastically popular and financially viable Fringe show .... now we're on to our next project: the creation of an annual music and arts festival for our community. It's happening and all of council and our mayor are on board with support and proposed funding. Our hospice will be built this year (old building coming down and new one going up) and life is looking rosy for 2019 so far. It's always like walking on egg shells as we venture in to the New Year. Will it be a good year? Will it be a hard year? Always a mix of both, so off we go, on a new adventure!

Wishing you and your family a beautiful 2019!

~ Chy

New Year Wishes.

From our little family, in the little

house in the big woods, to you and yours.

Our 2012.

It was another good year. Really, I have nothing to write that was negative. I see so many people tonight writing on blogs or on Facebook how bad this year was and how they are excited to see the end of it. I don't feel the same but then somehow, even when we've had a year that had challenges, there is always something to feel good about, even if it's the smallest thing. It's how I was raised and how we've raised our kids but something I had to teach my dh. He grew up with lots of negativity and it took a while to get him to really look at life with a new perspective. I'm so glad he turned it around. Makes life that much nicer if our focus can be positive.

 

 

Flowers from a dear friend recently. Brightened a rainy, snowy day!

 

Highlights from this year:

• our oldest daughter and grandson came to live with us and we've survived this first year, a year full of learning all over again how to have a baby in the house
• our oldest son made 2 movies and 4 commercials and expanded his modeling contracts
• our 2nd son moved to a new job and then got married
• our 2nd son and daughter-in-law are now expecting their first baby, our second grandbaby
• our 2nd daughter was hired to be our preschool teacher by the board of directors
• we both received raises this year and feel fortunate to be in positions that we both love
• we enjoyed 2.5 weeks in our paradise, a secluded cottage overlooking the ocean, at our favorite spot on the West Coast - just the two of us, resting, rejuvenating and rediscovering
• we finished up some renos on our house and rebuilt our backyard that has become another living space for us
• we found the most amazing naturopath who is actively working on my health with confidence
• we gifted a name to my employer, expanded our programs, have wait lists for classes and a long time dream has now come true!

Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year. May all your dreams come true and your passion for life be lit!

Cuddly!

Too tired to stay awake for the end of the year.

Beckett loves his Cars bed and goes to bed each night,

without issue, as long as McQueen and Mater are by his side.



 

Good night sweet baby.

Thank you for a fun 2012!

Fireworks - Part ll.

We got to see the fireworks after all!!

Took a short walk down to the park

with the dog and the kids.

 

Perfect spot to see the most amazing light show,

very loud but very colorful.

 

Great way to ring in the New Year!!

Fireworks ....

I'm sad we are missing the fireworks this year. Dh is still not feeling 100% so we're staying in. I might pop outside at 8 p.m. when they are set to go off. We can usually still see them a bit from our house if we walk across the street. It's so warm here today after last week's bitter cold, so attendance will be amazing but sadly, we'll not be there this year.