I thought I would give an update, Christmas letter style, but, now, after the mad rush of the holidays is over. Now, we have time to read it!
So how are you? I hesitate to say we are busy, since that is a thing everyone in North America says- and seems to be. We are, but it’s all good busy. I want to make that one of my resolutions- to stop saying I’m busy. I want to frame my life in another way next year.
I guess I will just say we are full. Full of: things to do, people to see, good obligations, family time, recreational activities, and love. So here is my family, in a nutshell:
Isabella:
Isabella is good! She is full of Olympic goals and lofty dreams. Hockey is her passion and she still dreams of taking her passion for it to the Olympics. When she goes to practice it isn’t completely “for fun”. She gets frustrated when the other girls don’t take certain things at hockey practice as seriously as she does. That intensity will serve her well in the future, if I can direct it properly.
So, for her, hockey is amazing. It is a path to a huge goal for her! Every single time, she complains about having to go because she’s sacrificing something else to go- whether it’s homework time, hangout time, or alone time. But, as soon as she straps on her skates, that changes. Suddenly, Isabella’s very happy to be there and becomes this unstoppable tiny dynamo on the ice. She has gotten so fast that even Josh can’t keep up to her anymore!! Isabella is a natural out there. Very hard on herself, which we are working to correct, but loves it.
Otherwise, she only has time for school because hockey is fairly constant and takes up a lot of our time. Just ask Hunter, who says all we do is for Isabella and he feels he lives at a rink- poor kid.
It’s hard to believe she’s in Grade 5 already! Isabella just learned about open and closed circuits at school. One of her teacher’s husbands works as an electrician so she brought videos of him doing his work, as examples for the classwork. Isabella LOVED seeing the videos and doing the circuits at school. She has decided that she likes it so much that she might be an electrician when she gets older. Wouldn’t it be amazing if she held onto that dream for that long?? I mean, when I was in Grade 5, I wanted to be an archaeologist.
Isabella’s current dream is to go to the Olympics once on a hockey team, write a novel in her spare team and be an electrician as her day job. Just tiny dreams. 😉
When she does have free time, she watches Marvel movies, Studio Ghibli movies or makes Beadie Pets (Pinterest that one! We’ve all done them I think).
Hunter:
Hunter is good. Wants to go back into ballet in the Spring, especially since we went to see The Nutcracker Ballet at the Jubilee Auditorium. He met a ballerina before the show and was unbelievably nervous to stand next to her for a photo. Then he oohed and aahed at their strength and grace onstage. It was beautiful to watch him find such joy in it. He’s only taken one recreational ballet class which was so basic that he got bored- and he still wants to go back into it. I just need to figure out that schedule with one car. In the Spring, hopefully. I think he would be so good in ballet.
Other than that, Grade 3 of school is going well. School is “easy” he says and the teacher is “forcing him” to work with others in the classroom and expand his social circle during group work. He doesn’t like math, but loves reading, writing and drawing.
Hunter is in his own group for spelling, by himself, because there are different tests for different levels now. That is so evolved! When I was a kid, we all did the same ones and the kids who were doing well just became bored and caused trouble. Now, everyone is equally occupied. I think that’s cool. Last week his spelling words started with “A”: appalled, anxiety, annoyance, amphibian, analyze, argumentative, avocado, asthma, aardvark and apathetic.
Hunter will do anything to get reading time. He’s constantly reading or drawing but he still plays Lego occasionally. His sense of humour is becoming wittier every day and he loves to curl up beside me on the couch to watch movies- Ponyo is still one of his favourites (inspired by The Little Mermaid story by Hans Christian Andersen).
Josh:
Josh is working hard and well-liked by everyone at Sysgen. When we go to the annual Christmas party, everyone sings his praises. I love that his hard work is being recognized. *proud face*
He had a good annual review and even got a small raise! Renovated basement, here we come- our savings goal is 2-3 years and then we will finish our unfinished basement and put one of the kid’s bedrooms down there, as they share for now.
Josh is so smart and is catching on to work quickly, as well as being challenged and getting to learn new skills. He loves learning as much as I do- it’s one of the reasons we love each other!
Other than that, lots of work, lots of kid activities (taking Izzy to hockey games on the weekend), and some downtime. He’s been helping me declutter and with small home repairs. So, that regular home-owning and killing it at work life.
Tianna (Me!):
This has been an amazing year! Mostly because I worked hard for it to be. I honed in on what I wanted to improve and worked my butt off to get better at those skills.
I bought a “real” camera, used, and it’s my first DSLR and the first SLR I’ve owned in over ten years!! Things have changed!! (Heehee). It’s a Nikon and I adore it. I dived right in, read the manual, practiced and read other books to help me remember the basics. Now, I have to practice a bunch and go from passable to good….but every second I spend taking photos (even when none turn out) is so joyous. Love love love it. It’s a tool to take better blog photos (can’t wait to share!) and clear Etsy product photos.
And Etsy! I opened up my Etsy shop and it’s been going really well. I am going to add a couple more products but they might have to wait until January. My shop focuses on eco-friendly household products that will help you reduce waste. Every little bit will help our Earth heal and thrive so I wanted to do my part. Currently, it’s reusable face pads for the bathroom and hand towels for the kitchen, but I’m hoping to add grocery bags, loofahs and scrubbies in the new year! I’m very excited to finally have a clear focus for my shop that helps the environment as well.
Other than that, for work stuff, I am a writer. I have been writing on my blog, guest posts and submitting writing whenever I can. Slowly, I have pushed myself to get better and hope to improve even more during 2019.
Still fixing my gut issues but I think they are improving, all through tweaking my diet and focusing on healthy workouts that don’t push too hard. I cut out eggs, dairy and oats as well and that seems to help immensely- even when I cheat about once a month.
And mom life! So proud of my kids, doing great at school. We have been back and forth from activities so it’s rare when we get to just chill at home. When we do, it’s lovely. They’ve grown so much in the past year. Isabella’s changes I’ve noticed the most because she is on the cusp of being a young lady rather than a kid- if you know what I mean. They’re weird and crazy and sensitive and my heart beats for them.
And….
Other than that, we spent all year doing home improvements and settling into our new digs. It takes longer than you think it will! So we didn’t end up doing any travel or going on many adventures. Saw the Hoodoos this summer and little jaunts like that.
We kept it to short day trips. We went to an amazing wedding, hung out with new friends, I went from pink hair to purple back to brunette, Isabella cut off all her hair, we went to a couple of movies, I started my business in earnest (finally) and Isabella rocked hockey games.
All in all, it was a very productive year even though we mostly kept to ourselves.
I hope your year has been just as good!
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