In which I break the silence and announce a new blog

It's been a long time since I've posted here, long in the internet sense of the word where everything is kept up to date to the second. 

It's been a good break, I've been living life and trying to be a little more intentional off-screen. 

We've unpacked and set up house, we've gone through final exams and papers, we've gone through a lot of coffee. 

We've had a deliciously refreshing Christmas break and we celebrated our little Kilmeny's third birthday. 

And now, it's back to school for Jared and back to routine for the rest of us. 

It's also a new year and a time for new beginnings which is why this will be my last post here. I've started a new blog, thisvintagemoment.com  and hope to share more photos, stories and life with you over there. 

I started this blog mainly as a place to share pictures and little bits about our days with our family and friends when we lived across the country from them. I'll still be sharing photos and stories about our life just in a different place and with a different focus. 

Thank-you so much for being here, for reading, for commenting (or not!), it's been lovely. Join me, over at this vintage moment where we make the most of the moments we have in a beautiful, simple, and intentional way. 

Growing and Being Quiet

Our household stuff has been packed up, driven across the country and will arrive at our doorstep tomorrow evening accompanied by some delightful people. We will go from living in very temporary surroundings to having all those rubber maid bins I packed up in June. 

It's going to be busy around here. 

The last couple months have been not what I thought they would be but they have been good. They have also been very hard in a lot of ways. Good and hard often go together to promote growth. 

I think I have growing pains. 

And so, I am going to take a little break. A little break from blogging, a little intentional quiet time. 

I'll be focusing on the very real life I live with my Jared and our two little girls. I'll be unpacking all.those.boxes. I'll be making the transition from hardly anything to everything as smooth as I can for my girls (really for all of us) and that requires me to be purposeful. 

I'm not sure how long of a break I'll be taking but I know that is needed.

Thank-you, as always, for reading and sharing this story with me. XO 

Five Minute Friday: Roots

I wasn't planning on writing anything today but I saw the prompt and I had too. Maybe you have to write as well or read stories of others, it's all at the gypsy mama's site.

4 provinces. 4 years. 2 little girls. 1 dream. 1 journey. 

I cried a little when I saw this week's prompt: Roots. Cried because that word resonates deep within me right now. 

We're doing something hard, something a little crazy but something that makes us so happy and so fulfilled. Something that we've been talking about since before we said our vows. A pursuit of a dream and a lifestyle that when we're old and gray and rocking away, we'll be glad we took the jump. 

It means uprooting, it means moving across the country. Twice. 

It means tears. Lots of them sometimes. It means deep happiness and the knowledge that we are more together then ever before. 

It means that our roots don't go down in just one town, in just one province, in just one country. It means that our roots are each other, that home is where ever we are. Together. The four of us. 

It means that our story is being written and these are the first few chapters. The hard bits. But the roots are going down.

linking up with Five Minute Friday, five minutes to just write. 

Peggy's Cove: A lesson in Quiet

It was quiet.  Punctured only by the occasional conversation carried on the wind and the constant crash of the waves against the rocks. 

We went towards the water, compelled by the rocks and the muddy, narrow path leading towards the water. One jump and then another and then another and we were there. Right on the edge.

6 inches separated me from the Atlantic Ocean. 

It was awesome. In the truest sense of the word. 

I could have stayed for a long time. I breathed in and out with the cadence of the waves, half in awe and half in delight. And then brought back to reality by the giggle of my two year old and the way she followed her uncle like a mountain goat over the rocks. 

The mum in me got nervous and I told him to hold her hand. Always.

It's barren there. Rocks covered with red heather. Little pools of water. And all around you, the ocean. Demanding respect. 

I tore myself away and we walked down to the village. Few words were spoken. We gestured when we wanted to stop and try to capture the scene before us. We wandered through a boathouse filled with old fishing paraphernalia and other interesting stuff like a whale's jaw bone. I wondered what use I would have for a lobster trap and how I would display it. And then I saw the shells, gathered up from the sea. Worth very little to the seller, but worth a great deal for me. I handed over my coins and he wrapped the shells up for me. 

 We followed the twisting road up to the lighthouse and the throngs of people. It is after all one of the most photographed sites in all of Canada. We took some obligatory pictures as well and headed away from the people. 

It was too noisy, too busy. Everyone caught up with too much noise, the bus schedules, the overpriced coffee served at the top, the perfect picture. 

I wanted to capture it all with a film camera. Slow.

We wandered along the rocks, always making our way close to the edge, watching the water hit the rocks and create spray. Our faces were moist. 

I found a house I wanted to live in, a little house by the sea. It's quiet and secluded. Simple and quiet. 

I crave that in my life. 

And so I build it in, one little bit at a time. And I keep my shells close to remind me. 

How To Be Quiet 

1. Take a deep breath. 

No, seriously. It can't always have the sea tang but it can always help. Breathe in and then out slowly to the count of ten. It slows your heart rate down and relaxes your body. 

2. Do the next thing. 

So the house may be a mess, the laundry still needs to be folded and there's other nagging jobs. Just do the next thing: put laundry on, wash the dishes, breathe. Everything will fall into place. 

3. Deliberately slow down. 

Light a candle, put some calming music on, gather your littles or whoever is close to you and hug them.   Take time to figure out the reason why life feels so busy, so noisy. And then scale back. 

4.  Take time to be quiet. 

It may just be a few minutes standing on the back porch, or it may be longer. Leave your phone alone, actually leave all screens alone. Take the few minutes to regroup and then face your lists, your busyness, your day. 

Where is your favorite quiet place? 

Style Inspiration for a Tired Mum

For the days that just feel a little more then you can handle, like it's been one meltdown/tantrum/tears/mess too many and you're just done. 

For the days when your big girl 'naps' with your little girl and changes the dirty diaper and it all ends in one big mess. I spare you the details. 

For the days when bubble bath becomes so much more fun and sweet smelling when your shampoo is emptied into the bath water. 

For the days when the questions, both yours and theirs, don't seem to end. And there really isn't an answer to satisfy 'why'.

 Be brave. Step out in another area. Let it change your perspective. 

Get dressed, like really dressed. Put together an entire outfit. Try something new. For their sake as well as yours. 
Know that this one thing you can do, and you can do it well. 

And then, let yourself be changed. See yourself as the professional mother that you are.

See the endless questions of why as a thirst for knowledge and the budding of a curious mind. 

Delight in the utter wonder that modern washing machines are. Dirty at naptime, clean and cozy for bedtime. 

Revel in the cuteness of two little girls covered in bubbles. At least the shampoo was good for their skin and their hair and their tummies.


What new outfits are you trying out and rocking? (Because we all like inspiration and ideas!)

outfit details:
black and white striped tee: Joe (clearance)
shawl: gift
skinnies: Tommy Hilfiger 
boots: thrifted
scarf: Mystique India (Edmonton)

Five Minute Friday: Finding my Voice

First time for everything, today I'm joining in the five minute Friday writing community over at Lisa Jo Baker's site  where we write for five minutes flat on the given prompt. Today's prompt: Voice 

I don't always know what is, this voice of mine. I write in the quiet, in the stolen moments and the deliberate moments. A little oasis of calm and sorting of thoughts. 

It doesn't seem to fit into any one catagory, and I don't know how to label it. The box lid doesn't always fit. 

But I write still. 

To capture the moments, if for no other audience then myself. To remember what they wore, how they looked and how simple yet complex life with two little girls can be. 

I sort out my ponderings, many just sit in drafts, afraid to be that honest and real out in the big world of the published blog post. 

But this is my voice. I can't not write. 

I write to find clarity, to inspire others, to share snippets of life. 

I write for myself, and in being true to myself I find my voice. 

I listen to His voice, the still small quiet voice. And remember that to everything there is a season, it won't always be twisting thoughts and wonderings. 

And through it all, I write. And I find my voice. 

Don't Think. Just Breathe.

Sometimes I think too much, too much quiet pondering with not enough quiet around me. Sometimes I just need to close everything up and open the doors on a brisk autumn day and pick apples.

I could tell you about how the tide was out and the banks of the Cornwallis river were bare and exposed. Or how the farm was completely deserted except for our little band and that we just put our money in the honesty box. I could tell you all about the apples and how we taste tested to see which ones we wanted to bring home. 

I could tell you how the little one sat right down and ate apples and how the older one ran and ran. I could tell you how the clouds were brilliant, the sun so bright and all the leaves set aglow.

 I could tell how we filled our four bags in no time flat. And that I have no idea what I'll be doing with all the apples but they will be enjoyed.

I could tell you how the petting zoo was full of animals and one manical donkey who nibbled on everything, including us. And how Kilmeny knows exactly the sound pigs make and she will forever say that pigs are grumpy and that they don't say oink. It's more of a gutteral noise from the back of the throat, that makes us all laugh and laugh when she imitates it.

 I could tell you about the good it does one's soul just to stop thinking, to let all the wonderings be and fill one's lungs with fresh, brisk air.

I could tell you how we came home and made apple fritters and then ate them for supper with boiled eggs and tea, in true hobbit fashion. 

I will wish you brisk autumn air, and clarity for all the thoughts swirling in your mind. And for you, the chance to let it all go and just breathe.