Working on my Incredible Year workbook!

Spring is just around the corner already! Can I get a WOO-HOO?!?

This winter had me hibernating, reflecting, and being introspective. I've worked on my Incredible Year workbook and have been reading, crafting, drawing, and swapping on Swap-Bot. In my hibernation I've been dreaming up ideas for the things I want to create and share with the world. I've begun to do things on my 100 Things To Do This Year list...




Here is what I have accomplished so far in 2013 on my To Do List:

1 - Make an awesome 2013 workbook binder for myself.



Right on the inside is the table of contents, showing what's under each tab. "Goddess" is for my Incredible Year workbook as well as the rest of my personal discovery in 2013. "Trackers" include mood, fertility, monthlies, and how I feel before, during and after large solar flares.




2 - Go to a monster truck show.
We actually ended up doing this for our fourth anniversary in January! It was noisy as hell and a LOT of fun!




3 - Make pastel Christmas ornaments.
I'd been wanting to do this ever since I got my white tree last year and got absolutely obsessed with pastel decorations via my Pinterest. I've gotten SO many gorgeous ideas pinned to that board that I hardly know where to go next, so this strikethrough on the to-do list is only half-true. I'm not stopping with just these three ornaments!



I haven't yet put in their white thread hangers, but I bought these as plain wooden ornaments from DeSerres last month. I may end up adding more glitter because I'm not satisfied with how they look at the moment. But we'll see ;)

4 - Organize digital photo collection on my computer.
I felt so refreshed to get this done. All my photos are sorted into folders and sub-folders. For instance, I have a Family folder where photos of my family are sorted into sub-folders by name. I have a Nature album sorted by year and season. Special events or trips that have gotten TONS of photos get their own folders.

5 - Organize my digital scrapbooking stash.
This was a far more monumental task than my photos, but I completed it with a basic folder system separating kits by theme, and removing all alphas from their kits and placing them amongst all the others in my Alphas folder.

6 - Make a new e-mail address.
I have had silverhealer21 ever since I WAS 21. Eight years. It's been a sort of comfort to me, part of my identity, and not part of me that I wanted to change. But as I pawed through my Incredible Year workbook and knew I needed a huge refresher, a huge rejuvenation and newness in my life, I knew that that email address had to go. And so, wayfaring.dreams at gmail was born! :)


7 - Make my own Livejournal icons that really speak to me.
I've been using Livejournal as my intimate journal for years. Since 2004, to be precise. There are many communities and people there who make wonderful user icons, but I've never felt totally satisfied. So I downloaded icon texture packs, found some lovely images, and made my personal icons. One of these, of course, was my dear caribou spirit, and it is my default icon. I even changed my layout to a lovely, soft pink and I feel more at home on my Livejournal now!


8 - Make a 2013 Memory Jar.
Inspired by my lovely blogging friend Tina over at Sugar Bean Bakers, my MIL and I decided we really wanted to do one this year!

Click here to see Tina's 2012 jar, jammed full of wonderful memories throughout the year.

We call ours the Jar of Awesome Stuff, and it's already gotten quite a few Awesome Memories slipped inside! I keep forgetting to buy alphabet stickers to officially label our jar, but here it is anyway!



21 - Own a patchwork skirt.
I have seriously been obsessing over patchwork maxi skirts for ages, not sure if I should try to find one to buy or attempt to make one myself. Well, I was browsing through the wonderful store at The Rainforest Site and I gasped when I came across this fair trade beauty:


Recycled Sari Wraparound Skirt (two lengths) - $24.95

Made out of salvaged pieces of discarded Indian saris, this skirt recycles them into an entirely new and beautiful piece. The longer one, which is the one I purchased, is made of 100% recycled silk and is incredibly soft and light. I haven't gotten a chance to take a picture of it yet, but believe me, it is gorgeous!! It's very unique and I love to study the patterns in each square.

This kinda-sorta also made me reach 60 - Buy Fair Trade, but I didn't check off that in my workbook because I want to buy more fair trade this year to justify it!

92 - Do something that scares me.
I went to the Niagara Butterfly Conservatory with my friends Kent, Nicole and her brother Corey a couple weeks ago, and I steeled my nerve and held a scorpion. Followed by a tarantula.

DO NOT SCROLL DOWN IF YOU ARE PHOBIC OF EITHER CREATURE!!!!!!!!

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My throat was dry and I felt sweat prickling my temples and the back of my neck, but I did it! I've gotta say, I felt pretty amazing afterwards!


Now it is time to go back into hibernation, in our wonderful dark, warm bedroom where my altar stands and our fan hums soft white noise, and dream again.

Life and Incoming Spring

Hi there! It looks like spring is already kicking into high gear here. Geese returning home, robins singing, sunny days, and buds appearing on the trees. I think winter's last hurrah came and went at the beginning of this month, and despite how OVER the season as I was, I still took some pics to capture the beauty of our sideyard.












That day it couldn't decide whether it wanted to rain or snow. It would literally change every minute or so!





I know it's all part of the package of living in Ontario, but I REALLY hate bundling up! And before you say anything, I also hated it during the first eight years of my northern-born life, so ha!


In other life news, Trevor's finally been promoted! It took long enough, and we're both breathing a sigh of relief now that his training begins next week. I still haven't found a job yet, and I still haven't applied for OHIP, but I need to deal with my severe anxiety for the former and I still need a bank statement for the latter. So some things have been delayed, which frustrates me a bit, but as I keep trying to tell myself: one step at a time. One foot in front of the other. That's the only way I can function!

And, like many other people, I'm praying hard for the people of Japan right now and everyone else who has been/is being affected by the disaster. Whether you pray or offer positive thoughts, it's all good energy being directed toward the stricken region. So I ask you to please spare a few moments every day to send your prayers or thoughts. And to be incredibly thankful for what you have, because in one horrible moment it could all be taken away.

I am so, so thankful for all that I have, including being in Canada with my husband. It's so easy to take for granted the little things, but I know I never will again.

Have a great weekend, friends.

Mary

Winter in Thornhill

Happy 2011, friends!

Abruptly readjusting to harsh Ontario winters has been, well, abrupt. I have to get used to putting two layers of pants on, foregoing my still-tight jeans to put leggings or long johns on to prevent popsicle leg syndrome. I have to put my fleece over my shirt, then put my coat over that, which winds up with me sweating to death and smelling salty by the time I set foot in my destination. I put on my trapper hat and my gloves and sometimes my scarf, all of which tend to inhibit one or more of my senses. The bitter wind may mock me, and I may have to but I'll be damned if one inch of me gets cold!

It's totally worth it to be back here, and it could be a lot worse, but dangit, I hate winter. And yet it's so darn pretty that I still love taking pictures of it!


It's in the 40's and 50's Fahrenheit back in Virginia. And I get icicles on my nose. But I'd still rather be here than there!








When I step out of our door and onto the walkway leading to the driveway and sidewalk, this is what I see.


Buildings behind a Yonge & Clark bus stop.


Clark Avenue East


Clark Avenue East




Our backyard. Come spring, those trees will be blossoming (they're apple, plum, and cherry trees) and I'll be able to plant some veggies!

What's the best way to warm up body and soul on a cold winter's day, when your feet are aching and freezing and your nose wants to fall off? Or even after you look at these pictures? Why, a trip to Tim Hortons, of course! I sure missed my Timmies.

Chili, bread, coffee, and an adorable Canadian doughnut hit the spot. And, naturally, I had to include my Canuck mittens for effect. And because I had just taken them off to take the photo. I love my mittens.

And this is how prepared I am for my first winter back in Canada. After battling with cold, wet feet from slushy snow days and the white crap melting indoors on my cheap boots in the bitter winter of 2009, I recently broke down and bought a good pair of boots with waterproof uppers. Yay waterproof!

They're not the adorable little wedge heel boots that everyone's wearing right now, but they're obviously not heavy duty walkers like I am. I NEED these clunkers.

And winter has only just begun. I will document it with even more photos and half-hearted complaining, and count down every single day until spring arrives, which will entail praise and even more photos.

I will update again on Thursday to share some of my favourite places in the area, as well as Tips on Becoming Canadian. Stay tuned! :)