Mill Lake Park, Abbotsford

Hi friends! How's your Summer been? Over the next short while, I'm going to play catch up on some of our little highlights so far....I hope you've had a wonderful time enjoying the great outdoors! This is definitely the time when our province makes it oh so appealing to stay close to home. It's just beautiful. Here are some photos from back at the end of June. One of my favourite things to do is to explore places I've never been before. Here's a beautiful park to walk around, complete with a water park and numerous playgrounds along the little 2.5 km lakeside loop. It's called Mill Lake, and it was a great spot to spend the day and bring a picnic.

for the birds....

Today our sweet friends picked us up to have an adventure. I can't tell you how grateful I am to have these days together. We started at the bird sanctuary(one of my all time favourite spots) and ended our trip on a local farm, having a picnic in a beautiful covered gazebo as the girls played the day away. The best things in life sure don't cost much - time shared, laughing so hard that a little pee comes out, savouring coffee, walking through gorgeous parkland, spotting wildlife, and ending the day with ice cream. Seriously, pinch me. 

Living the dream

This weekend we went to visit my niece's gorgeous home in Mission. It was the most spectacular piece of property I have had the luck of exploring. I think she's pretty much going to have to live there forever because I can't imagine a more beautiful place to call home.

 The view from their front yard

 The view from the back yard (Yes, the mountain is also on their property).

 Papa, having a blast. 

 Their beautiful homestead.

Our daughter tossing sticks for one of three awesome dogs living on the property.

Watching her have so much fun adventuring around the property made me just keep thinking, this is how we are supposed to live - not sitting in traffic running around doing errands, but just enjoying everyone's company, playing in the great outdoors and ignoring the clocks.

Someone has to keep all those dogs in line.

Sweet cousins

California Dreaming

 Mission Beach

 Encinitas

 San Diego Zoo

 We walked in the main gates, I took this photo and got really choked up  - It was definitely a lifelist moment for me to take her to Disneyland

 The incredible Pixar parade

 Disney's California Adventure Park

 Doc McStuffins gave Hops a clean bill of health

 Merida - the character Stella often gets most compared to

 Coronado Beach

 Mission Beach

 La Jolla

 Balboa Park

Old Town

Hello Friends! We did a fun little getaway to California last week. We spent the first few days exploring San Diego, then we surprised her with a little Anaheim getaway in the middle of the trip and ended the week back in San Diego . When we drove up to Anaheim, she fell fast asleep in the car, we had done a tonne of walking that day at the San Diego Zoo. So, lucky for us, she didn't see all of the giant Mickey Mouse signs near our hotel. It was honestly one of the greatest moments to tell her that when we woke up in the morning, we were going down the street to Disneyland. I don't know if I've ever seen her so excited. It was definitely a life list moment for me to take her to Disneyland - I have always loved it there so much, that I couldn't wait to share in the magic with her. But when we were at Disneyland, there was a girl walking with her friend and said, "Can we grab a giant pretzel, it's on my life list." So, a lot of dreams were coming true that day. There were so many highlights from the vacation: from watching her face light up on the rides at Disneyland, running along the shoreline of Mission Beach, having our hotel in San Diego give us a sweet gift basket of goodies for returning to their hotel, watching my daughter lose her shoe into a protected cove of seals in La Jolla, having a kind lady give my daughter two free balloons after she witnessed Stella losing her balloon into the sky, watching the gorillas interact at the San Diego Zoo, having fish tacos and ice cold beer while looking out at the ocean, building sand castles in Coronado, having time for us, that didn't have any distractions or demands. It sure was a blast to wake up each morning and plan the day's adventure.  xo

Prince

Say it isn't so. This morning I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me hearing the news that Prince had passed away. I am not exaggerating when I say that he single handedly influenced my life's soundtrack more than any other soul. He was my number one, by such a lengthy distance, that I don't even know who number two would be.
When I was 10 years old and heard the song 1999 for the first time, I was immediately hooked. It was like my passion for music exploded. I watched the video repeatedly, awestruck by this charismatic singer who seemed to come out of nowhere. I read everything I could about him. I ran out immediately and got the album and desperately wished I was in his band. I devoured everything that he put out: I ran out and bought some of his older albums like Dirty Mind and Controversy...and as the years went on: Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, Parade, Sing O The Times, Lovesexy, Batman, Graffiti Bridge, Diamonds and Pearls, Love Symbol, The Hits, Come, The Gold Experience, Emancipation....I even remember taking a bus into Vancouver specifically because I heard a record store had a rare copy of the Black Album.  I remember finding out one of my college professors liked Prince, and we would engage in these incredible discussions about how he influenced us. I think I belong to a giant legion of fans who just appreciated what he was doing - that he was constantly re-emerging with new sounds, pushing the envelope, taking a genre and turning it on it's head....I felt moved listening to his music, I felt sexy, I felt like I wanted to dance until I couldn't dance anymore. I wanted to be Sheila E and play the drums for him. I wanted to be part of his band The Revolution in any capacity I could. I would dance night after night in our basement to his music, determined that one day I'd be a back up dancer for him on his tour. I just wanted so desperately to be in the vicinity of his creativity because something about his music connected to me on a scale that no one else had. I bought up sheet music to his songs to play on the piano, bought up albums of artists that he mentored, like Sheila E, The Time, Wendy & Lisa...I just loved his funky hook, his sexy riffs and how he emancipated himself from his record label so that he could keep doing what he loved, without restrictions. I love the fact that he was so shy to interview, but when he hit a stage, he was larger than life, he had the dance moves of Michael Jackson/James Brown, and the guitar skills of a funkier Jimi Hendrix. I am so thrilled that I got to take some of my best friends and my hubby to some of his shows, to share him with them. The last Prince show I went to, I was six days overdue, and people thought I was crazy for getting tickets. But, it ended up being my favourite show of his, and I went into labour when I got home. I love that he is part of our birth story and I can't wait to introduce my daughter to his music.

You might not know that Prince also wrote several songs for other artists, like: Nothing Compares to U (performed by Sinead O Connor), The Glamorous Life  & A Love Bizarre (Sheila E), Manic Monday (The Bangles), Love, Thy Will Be Done (Martika), How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore (Alicia Keys), When You Were Mine (Cyndi Lauper) It's been an emotional day, but a beautiful day too. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the artists who site him as their biggest influence....artists who I really respect. His genius was far reaching and as sad as I am that I will never get to see him perform live again....I have been listening to his music all evening which is like embracing a friend you haven't seen in awhile....
His music was bar none, one of the greatest gifts my life has ever received.
I like to think he's up there throwing a giant party tonight.....

You are all familiar with his hits, but here's a few of my all time favourite songs, in case you haven't caught them:
The Beautiful Ones
Computer Blue
Controversy
Darling Nikki
Paisley Park
It
If I was Your Girlfriend
Sexy MF
Erotic City
17 Days


Rest In Peace sweet Prince. xo

digging deep

Hello friends! It's been a long time since I've had a chance to sit down and write in this space. Over the stressful period of the past 8 weeks, between dad's lengthy hospital stay, courses, work, being a mom to a preschooler, I felt like I hit my emotional bottom, like I had completely emptied the well. I felt like there wasn't a moment of my day where I wasn't needed. There were so many challenges along the way, from being called into the hospital repeatedly to try and help dad with particularly bad bouts of delirium, to being called in the middle of the night to say he's been put on life support, to having him look me right in the eyes and then speak jibberish. But last week,  when dad was home with 24 hour care, I remember going to his home, meeting with a nurse to get the low down on his care, running up to the colostomy clinic to get his supplies, and while I was there, his care aid's boss called with an earful of complaints, then while I was trying to leave the supply store, I was getting more calls from Dad with grocery requests, then I was trying to go pick up supplies for him from the red cross, and this was just one day off. I remember standing on the sidewalk outside, tears rolling down my cheeks, thinking, I am going to get sick. And then something clicked in me, I had to make space for myself again. I had re-fuel. And as soon as I made that decision, life didn't feel overwhelming anymore. This past weekend, I went swimming with my family, did laps for half an hour, sat in a steam room and felt like I was on vacation....it felt like the biggest treat I had (who knew $3.50 at a public pool could be my oasis?).....I went to a bbq later that evening with friends and kept catching myself looking around thinking, I am having the best time......I went to the beach with one of my friends and her daughter a few days later and while we sat in the sun, watching our girls play, I thought, I am so lucky to be experiencing this.....It's funny how just taking a bit of time for yourself can shift your perspective. Instead of setting up my tent in Camp Feel Sorry For Myself, I began to realize, everyone has tough things they are going through, but if you balance it out with whatever brings you joy, not only will you get through it, you won't lose your spark in the process. The photos on this post are all within the first three weeks of losing my mom. It was the single hardest time of my life, but I kept carving out space for joy, and it is what got me though it all. Looking at the photos you would never know that my heart was in a million pieces at that time. My mom passed away at 9 pm on a Monday night, and I remember the very next morning taking my daughter to her sports class. I sat there in a daze watching her, and sure enough, before long, I was smiling. Watching her abundant joy in that class always brought me happiness and I knew it was worth a shot to see if it could lift me. Always keep close tabs on what makes you happiest and make sure you carve out time for it. Think of it as essential as eating and sleeping. For myself, my happy place looks like: walking in beautiful parks with my family, taking photos, dinner parties with friends, setting up our home, feeling the sun on my face, it's the adrenaline rush of exercise, pushing myself in dance classes, hiking, camping, travelling, putting my feet in the sand, exploring farms, swimming in the ocean, staying in a cabin, it's being woken up by my daughter jumping into bed, it's late night cups of tea with Craig, it's hearing a song you love performed live, outdoor concerts, watching an inspiring documentary, a book you can't put down, a brilliant comedian, laughing so hard you pee (a little), but most of all its a full house of friends/family. If you feel like life is out of balance and that you are run ragged in your days, turn off your phone for a bit, you know, like in the olden days (the 90s) when we didn't have to be available 24/7......pick something from your list of what brings you joy, and invest back in yourself. Namaste. xoxo