• A Road Trip Where You Can Hug An Alligator.

    07/10/2015 - By 

    My friend Randey and I have been friends for a long time. We have always liked the same quirky movies and music. It made sense that we would also both love day trips and local exploration. We are very proud of the varied and gorgeous landscape Alberta has to offer and can’t imagine living anywhere else. Randey is a wealth of information about the landscapes we visit. He should work as a tour guide for foreign visitors that want to go off the beaten path or the tourist areas. After our first road trip together I took an online quiz…

  • The Power of Being Alone

    09/09/2015 - By 

    Wondering Wednesday: The Power of Being Alone. I recently had coffee with a friend who went on a month long trip and spent some of that time traveling alone. Normally an extremely social person who likes to have a friend along, she decided that this time she would do some of it on her own. She looked at landmarks, asked for help and had to trouble shoot some unforeseen problems with arrangements. She did it and feels proud (I am proud of her!) and is now more comfortable being by herself. She stretched her comfort zone to bring about personal…

  • Summer Trip to My Mom’s House

    08/07/2015 - By 

    Last week we went to my mom’s house for a summer visit. She lives in Saskatchewan, where there have been wildfires this year! Despite the smoke being blown in to her area, we still managed to enjoy the hot weather outside…although sometimes it became too hot for us. My mom lives in a small town of about 20 people. It is like being out on a farm. Her yard is fairly big, with a ton of big established tress. When you sit on her front porch with a cool drink, you feel like a Southern Belle. The porch has a…

  • Self Care and Reflection

    10/06/2015 - By 

    Have you ever had those days….weeks….months where you take on too much? You jot down too many tasks, say yes to too many commitments, and internalize too many problems? May was that month for me. Just too much. Very busy, and too many commitments. On top of it all, I fought a cold that entire month and wouldn’t admit the overload of tasks was creating the funk feeling (and the sickness) instead of helping alleviate it. In June, I secretly vowed, I will be all about self-care and slow down. But no, because between two kids finishing school, friend birthdays,…

  • Calgary Staycation

    27/05/2015 - By 

      We live off the beaten path in a sort of suburban area. We used to be the outskirts but now are a residential area, with older houses and not much for shops. I don’t even think my children realize we live in a city. I think they believe they live in a small town just outside of a city. For that reason, my son always brings up this weekend as the one where we “went to that city with all that cool stuff and the good food.” It makes me laugh, but I have to agree, it was a…

  • Calgary Comic Con

    20/05/2015 - By 

    A ‘staycation’ was in order for us, so we were all looking forward to Comic Con. It crept up on me! All of a sudden it was here. I was fairly unprepared. The kids wanted elaborate costumes but we didn’t have time in the end so I patched some stuff together from their wardrobe and Value Village finds, and it worked and it was super cute. Izzy was Pikachu and Hunter was Batman. Hello yellow clothing, cute red cheeks and a Pikachu toque, with a foam tail I cut out last minute. Izzy brought her sloth purse (made by a…

  • Banff & Radium

    13/05/2015 - By 

    On my 35th birthday, my mother-in-law took the kids for the weekend and we got to get away. It was just a couple of nights but it felt longer. Both cities are so close they would also make suitable day trips if you live in Calgary, Alberta. We got to Banff on Friday, in late afternoon, and checked in to our hotel. High Country Inn is very cute and I would definitely stay there again in a heartbeat. Loved the (almost) overly woodsy lobby and the friendly hotel staff. The two at the front desk were, I believe, Australian. In…

  • Some Truths About My Past

    28/01/2015 - By 

    Today is going to be a very self-indulgent post. I just have to get some facts straight and writing helps. I really thought about not posting this, but it is a part of me and I am generally just stating facts so there you go. Plus, I’m allowed to air my side of things. I have a voice and why should I silence it. I am not doing this to hurt people but to just say facts from what I’ve seen.   I grew up in small town Saskatchewan, in a town of around 3,500. Out of all of the…

  • A Year of Social Connection and Personal Reinvention.

    11/12/2014 - By 

    I have been spending a little bit of time on the internet lately. Well, I have been spending a little bit of time procrastinating lately. It doesn’t feel like December so I don’t feel the crunch to get my handmade Christmas gifts done like I should. But I will! So while I was procrastinating I have noticed there have been a lot of “change the rules” or “break the mold” kind of websites that are becoming very popular and profitable. I predict this will be a year of more social connection (how many websites encourage you to take time away…

  • November Means Christmas Planning

    04/11/2014 - By 

    Today feels like a Sunday. In our adorable fourth floor walk-up townhouse (that means stairs between every floor, if you’re wondering), my family is busy doing various things. My Husband worked from home today and the kids are home sick from school, which totally made it feel like a Sunday. We all spent most of the day in our pajamas (mine were pink plaid Hello Kitty ones, if you’re wondering) and the kids watched a lot of movies. My poor girl Izzy is suffering from a terrible cough and sore throat and now my poor boy Hunter has the cough…