As it happens, we just celebrated our very first Canadian Thanksgiving as “real life” Canadians… in Disneyland, California— where it wasn’t actually Thanksgiving. But it’s all good, and we certainly found lots to be thankful for in the “happiest place on earth”!

FINALLY, I have my very own “nesting place” where I can hide write, read, and get all creative— and much of my inspiration came from a lovely little book called… drum roll… The Nesting Place. With the motto “it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful”, and a recommendation from my fave inspirational writer Ann Voskamp, this was one book I had to check out:

After living in the beautiful land of Canada for nearly twenty years, we will officially be CANADIAN CITIZENS tomorrow— and I get the chills just thinking about it! Our swearing in ceremony will make it all legit, and we will finally have dual citizenship. For real. This is a big deal, and I’m a little overcome by the whole thing.

Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that cause us to catch our breath in wonder— things like walking the dog. It’s not necessarily the actual dog causing the sense of awe (sorry Lily), but the unfeigned, honest act of the everyday mundane suddenly becoming meaningful.

“Goodness makes greatness truly valuable, and greatness makes goodness much more serviceable.” Whatever am I talking about, you may ask? Well I found this fascinating quote today from Matthew Henry’s Commentary, and it’s whirling around in this little brain of mine, so I thought it only fair that I should spew my findings with you. You are welcome 🙂

Summertime is definitely in full swing— heat waves, forest fires, beach dinners, and wonderfully unpredictable schedules. Add to that some great books (you HAVE to work in some serious reading time in summer—it’s a rule) plus a new yummy cupcake dessert (to balance out the plethora of salads consumed) and the season is complete! So of course, I have few suggestions for you this Fabulous Friday…

Parenting any age is plain old hard work, but it seems to me that parenting teens involves a constant shift of challenges and celebrations, demands and delights, pain and pride. Some days we feel like we’ve been slapped in the face with a wet fish, and then we remember we are dealing with teenagers. But we survive it all, somehow, just like our ancestors before us. Just like our kids will with their own teens one day (I like to call that payback.)

So I am finally resurfacing from my bedroom, feeling like I have Bambi legs— you know, a little weak and wobbly. The dreaded stomach flu hit me with vengeance on Wednesday, and it’s now Sunday and I’m feeling almost human again. Yay!

I'll admit- I have a major city-crush on Montreal. Possibly because I have flown out there 3 times so far this year and it almost feels like home, but mainly because it's such a cool city in so many ways. I know I've mentioned it (a lot) in past blogs, but I want to...

No, really— I was punched at my eldest son’s prom on Sunday night. Just when I thought the grad drama was over for our family (see last week’s post MOST MEMORABLE MCGILL GRAD), we ended this particular night with a flourish. But fear not, this punch was thrown from a...