Life Lately: Family February Edition

Hi friends!  I took a week off from social media and spent the week enjoying my family.  One of my goals was to prioritize spending tine with the girls, my husband and friends.  Last week was a school holiday, so we all had the week off.  It was very cold again, like -30C, so unfortunately we didn't play outdoors as much as we would have liked but we did make the most of it and we just allowed ourselves to slow down and relax around the house.  Here is our week and what our family has been up to.

Saturday, Feb. 18th 

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband Logan!  We celebrated by going up to the cabin.

Sunday, Feb 19th

Halie's boyfriend joined us at the cabin for the weekend.  We skated, got outdoors on the side-by-side and sled, and enjoyed some walks.  We played games, Halie and BF cooked us a delicious pasta dish for supper, and we even got a visit in with three of our friends from the lake.  Oh and we saw a Lynx just strolling by.

Monday, Feb. 20th

Back home and we got together with some of our oldest friends.  We were supposed to go out but due to it being  Family Day, a holiday, the place we were going to go to was closed so they just came over.  We had the BEST time.  We laughed so much and had a blast catching up, reminiscing and just full-on laughing out loud. 

Tuesday, Feb. 21st 

We recovered from the night before and stayed at home.  A lazy morning.  Mail day!!!!  Look at what I got in the mail from a local jewelry, Isla! Rae Jewelry?!?  I am so in love with these huge hoops!   Make sure you check her out, she ships and these are a great price at only $22.

Wednesday, Feb. 22nd

Coffee date with my friend Kandice to start off the day.  Driving the girls to and from the barn, job, friends.  Basically a full-time Uber!

Thursday, Feb. 23rd 

We went to watch AVATAR and Halie decided to come along.  Anya had already seen it and opted to hang with friends instead.  It was a really good movie and even though I never did see the first one, I really enjoyed it.

Friday, Feb. 24th

Cooper day!!!!  For our nephew Coopers 7th birthday we decided to give him an experience gift.  When he arrived we had a waffle and sausage breakfast, then played numerous games of Loop n' Louise, Guess Who and Go Fish. We went to Ruckers and played arcade type games, followed by going to a hockey game.  Luck would have it that the game was our city, Blades,  vs. the city he lives in, Raiders.  A really intense game, including a power outage, and an overtime  win for Coopers team!!!  

Saturday, Feb. 25th 

After a morning hot tub with Cooper, Logan drove him home and Anya wanted me to teach her how to clean the bathroom.  I've given both girls opportunities to learn to clean the bathroom properly and I am willing to pay them for that chore.  It's a win-win!  After Halie was done at the barn, the two of us went to the mall as I needed to pick up a few items for a new collaboration I am working on.  Stay tuned on those details.  

Sunday, Feb. 26th 

Last day of vacation means a slow morning coffee before working out and starting the day.   The weather lifted and we spent some time outdoors with Oreo.  We also hosted my family over for an afternoon visit, coffee and cake for Logan's birthday.  Check out the new winter coat Logan bought with his birthday money.

Overall, I spent a lot of time just hanging out with the people I love the most.  Also, I dug into planning our Disney World trip in 6 weeks and we feel set and ready to go for the most part!  The countdown on our adventure is on.  If you have any tips or tricks, let me know!

Have a great week and thanks for taking the time to stop by.  

Looking Forward to 2023

Now that we are firmly planted in 2023, I've been pondering what/how I want to focus my energy in 2023.  This year I decided to divide my goals, or ideas of focus, into categories to see which ones spoke to me the most.  Upon looking at a variety of different organizers online and various caterigoies the below are the ones that spoke to me the most.  Some years I have a list or goals, other years I've let a word guide me, and this year I really wanted to look at the different categories of my life to figure out where I want to put my energy the most.  So let's take a peek below and don't forget to leave a comment below with your own aspiration, hopes, goals, or your word for the year.

Personal 

• Reading is still one of my goals.  I've upped my goal to 24 books for this next year because I've found a groove in listening to audiobooks with more success.  I am also aiming to make 2 of these books, in print, be non-fiction and related my work in education and/or leadership.
• Try out some new skin care products and introduce Retinol to my routine to meet the needs of my skin at in this new decade of life.  PLEASE send me your must try products for 40+ sensitive skin.

Health

• Joining up races in 2023 is something on the top of my priority list, a duathlon, 10km or maybe even I could train for a half-marathon.  
• Start lifting  or incorporating weights 2x/week. 
• Dry Needling and Chiropractor appointments on a consistent rotation. It's been a long road to having my back and right hip feel like it could do that again, but I've had so much success with dry needling in the past 18 months that I feel like I am very much in a healthy maintenance stage.  
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Family/Relationships

• Kids:  As the girls are getting older, Logan and I both are excited to enjoy a family trip to Disney World this year in April and then we are hoping to do a family night/day date every 4-6 weeks.  We kicked off the New Year with a day of snowboarding/skiing at our local hill and everyone ended up having a good time.  Some other possibilities is a movie night, a hike, dinners out (we don't do that a lot), maybe an escape room, etc.  Give me your teenage suggestions!
• Parents/Grandma:  As my grandma continues to get older, 92, I am feeling my time with her also limited so I want to make seeing her a major commitment and make time to call her weekly and visit her in person bi-weekly.  I also want to have a sit down meal with my parents monthly.
• Friends:  We want to make seeing friends and hanging out with them happen monthly.  Our friends are so important to us and they make us feel alive and we are always laughing those big belly laughs.  
• Logan and I feel like we are in a really good place and we are finding lots of ways to spend time together on a regular basis through out regular evening walks with Oreo and by hanging out lots over the weekends.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Career

• Photography:  I wan to continue to grow my photography side business this year.   2022 brought lots of new clients, and fall was especially busy. I am hoping to increase my cliental and interaction on IG this year by doing a few giveaways and also by posting twice a week.  I also want to enroll in a coarse or a webinar to keep learning and growing my knowledge base, specifically incorporating and trying new prompts and poses for family photography.
• Teaching:  I really want to attend a conference on leadership, early learning or literacy in 2022, like a bigger, in person conference.  I want to be INSPIRED.

Finance

• Monitor spending.  I wanted to dive into our finances in 2022 and failed miserably.  In 2023 I'd like to monitor these three things:  #1 how much I spend on clothing, #2 do a deep dive in our overall spending 2x/month and #3 track how much money I make from my photography side gig.  

My plan/hope is to evaluate, reflect and adjust these goals in each quarter of the year.  Next time I'll have a post update on them will be Monday, March 27th.