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Living life fully – Mom Dad CuppaKids
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Living life fully

Real Life

Changing it up – 2014 Oh How we loved you.

by Jenn & Chris on

Mom Says: We have an expression in our house when we want to covertly swear at each other.

“2009”.

Why would a year be our code for cursing? Because on the dawn of 2010,

every one of us had had a really shitty year. We couldn’t wait for 2009 to be over. So as Dick Clark’s New Years Rocking Eve dropped the ball, our cheer simply became

“To 2009, Go F#$*k yourself”.

I have to note that the hubs and I don’t fight so this isn’t used for mean. This is simply our cheeky way of talking to each other about taking out the garbage, losing at Rock, Paper, Scissors on who had to get up with the kids, our frustration about fighting for Autism support, simple marital conversation.

The end of 2014 feels completely different.

I want to savour so much of what happened this year. We chose to change and we changed A LOT.

We decided to live life heartily. With vigour. Like we only have one life to live and we want to make the best of it.

When we looked back this year, we realized we did a ton. Yes, we were accused of needing to slow down (which we started doing more at the tail end of the year) but looking back, I’m not sure we would do much different. It was a special year. A prideful year.

A good year….

  • We were selected and took on Marilyn Denis Couples Weight Loss Challenge at the beginning of the year. (Each of us lost 40 lbs in 5 months)
  • I fit back into my wedding dress 10 years later
  • We took my mom and dad on a multi-generational trip to Scotland
  • I watched “Amazing Grace” by The Holmes Brothers with my dad back at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, (a place that brings me such happiness)
  • We explored the National Leprechaun Museum in Dublin, Ireland
  • We met up & experienced Amsterdam with one of our dearest friends (who lived in New York)
  • I did the Grouse Grind (with Lisa from RentfrockRepeat.com)
  • We watched our kids excel at learning how to paddleboard
  • I celebrated one of my best friend’s 40th birthdays in New York
  • We started the year eating Swiss food, in Quebec with friends from Manitoba who live in Ontario & skied Mont Tremblant
  • We were part of my uncle’s 90th birthday celebration, & spent a grand time with cousins in Scotland
  • I had magical, heartfelt conversation with my beloved Grandma & got a chance to say goodbye before she passed
  • We celebrated our 10 year anniversary with Prosecco on a rock in the middle of our lake
  • We helped my 87 year old dad climb to the top of a lookout with a view of Tarbert on Loch Fyne.
  • We went to James Taylor, a concert we saw the night we got engaged
  • I rode through Central Park and across the Brooklin Bridge on a bike
  • We took more moments on the end of the dock and enjoyed friends & family up there in every season
  • We went to the top of Ben Nevis (& helped my mom conquer her fear of heights) and climbed to the top of Arthur’s seat in Edinburgh (and helped me conquer my own fear of heights)
  • We saw complete awe & amazement as we took the kids on the Harry Potter train & crossed the Glenfinnan viaduct
  • We searched for Nessie on a rainy day in Loch Ness
  • I shared my experience about having crippling anxiety attacks to a large room full of people
  • Both Chris & I played hockey weekly (& might I note that I went from falling 20X a game to none in one year)

  • Climbing Kilimanjaro
    Climbing Kilimanjaro
  • We climbed to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro (Thank you @Intrepid_Travel)
  • We got lost in Stonetown, Zanzibar
  • We had beers in a bar on a rock in the middle of the Indian Ocean
  • We saw Elephants…Like A LOT…too amazing for words
  • We went to One Direction
  • I turned 40
  • We raised over $3000 for The Intrepid Foundation and the Village Education Project Kilimanjaro (you can still donate if you would like)
  • We met some fabulous Irish & English peeps. (Ones we know we will stay friends with for a lifetime.)
  • I met amazing men & women in travelling to San Francisco for Women 2.0, Atlanta for Mom 2.0 Summit, Vancouver for Women in Biz Network, and a cross-Canada #Road2Bliss (& know many of them are also friends for life)
  • I spoke at a dozen conferences
  • We participated in a budget challenge (Thank you @Manulife) and surprised ourselves with how much we could save
  • We ran a pretty seriously epic BlissDom Canada conference
  • I received 3 awards for saving a man’s life last year – You can read that story on my guest post on Tweenhood
  • I got to have fun with my imagination creating the Canadian Lentils Carnival Party
  • We launched 360Bliss.ca (a hub for influencers, businesses & brands providing education & opportunities in the social media professional space)
  • I added my voice to #BeenRapedNeverReported.
  • I learned that I need to exercise my creative brain and struggled (yet loved) a month long writing challenge
  • I learned that I need to put down my phone more and be in the NOW as opposed to capturing the now
  • We cheered at the World Juniors (Thank you @ChevroletCanada) and many a Leafs Game

We laughed. More than we have in awhile & we loved life. We valued friendships & experiences over stuff & things and it fulfilled us completely. We closed the book on 2014 with smiles on our faces and love in our hearts.

Dad says: Wow. That is some kind a list.  BIG list. Lots of stuff on the list, huh.  The one thing I noticed is the inclusion of turning 40 only took up one line, but if you were around for the year it seemed a lot bigger than that. Lots of fears, ‘what have I done with my life/I wanted to have X completed by then’ conversations.  Lots of lead up, and then…

One line, 4 words.  If you look at all the other stuff, and it is pretty monumental, perhaps a birthday isn’t such a big deal.  Age ain’t nothing but a number. Like a fine wine I don’t get older, I just get better…

I expect to keep pushing us to try new things, make new memories, and find that elusive balance between do and be.

Looking forward to 2015, lets see what the world has to offer now!

 

 

 

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Family Matters

We’re Not Dead Yet

by Jenn & Chris on

There is a classic skit in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” called Bring Out Your Dead. Set during the Black Plague, it portrays a village collecting up dead bodies that had passed on from the plague. A man approaches the cart full of dead bodies with has his grandfather (oh so alive) slung over his shoulder and tries to add him to the pile.

While the grandfather keeps protesting with the likes of “I’m not dead yet!”, the man works on convincing him that he is near death’s door. The skit plays out, ultimately he gets clubbed over the head and that’s the end of that.

Those words keep noodling around in my head these days. I’M NOT DEAD YET.

Facebook helped me stroll down memory lane this year as myself and the majority of my friends celebrated turning that epic age of 40. Birthday notifications popped up and many a TBT pic took me back to simpler times.

My fellow thespians
My fellow thespians

 

Rotary Exchange
Rotary Exchange

We have gotten older. Wiser. We give far less of a shit in terms of what other people think.

That part of 40 is awesome.

But we’ve kind of hit this no man’s land. This funk.

Not so awesome.

Our sense of adventure has somehow atrophied.

Going out dancing means sourcing a club that won’t make us look (or feel) like cougars.

Going to see live music has become a REALLY big night out.

A movie is the activity of choice if you can get a babysitter to come during the week and we are already Rock, Paper, Scissoring for New Year’s on who will get to be hungover in peace the next day and who will get up with the kids. (AND it takes 3 days to recover from said hangover)

I see so many of us settling into a world of domestic drudgery. Groundhog day in, day out of dropping kids off at activities, making dinners, making lunches, staying home to watch TV, living but not really living any more. We’re tired. We’re surviving. We are overwhelmed.

We have somehow accepted our fates that as parents, this is our life.

And it is.

But it doesn’t have to be so….in the middle.

WE’RE NOT DEAD YET.

We are at a time in our lives where there has been many losses.  Parents, friends, family. Our constant now seems to be going to more funerals than weddings. The word cancer is so prevalent in our sphere. People I love and adore facing this in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s.. and not just a few. A LOT.

So why when life is reminding us how precious it is, are you not taking more moments to feel grateful for what you have? Why are you not going after life with fervor and excitement?

What is stopping you from going after something you want to do?  What is stopping you from taking that trip? Trying that class? Checking out a new hobby?

It requires effort. Yes. SO MAKE THAT EFFORT.

Take one step forward in doing something different every day. GO on that trip you have been meaning to go on. DO IT.

Because having this beautiful life of ours should be filled with moments not things. Mountains of moments and memories not mountains of money owed and debt to be paid.

CHECK YOURSELF before you WRECK YOURSELF.

Teach your kids the value of solid friendships. Not quantity but quality. Encourage your kids to go for what they want, not let them see the inability of their parents to do the same. Create those important moments with those you love. You are not taking any new appliances to the grave with you. You are leaving a legacy of you as a person.

Make a mark.

WE’RE NOT DEAD YET.

 

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