Category: 2016

2016: a quick recap of the year

I’ve loved participating in Kristen & Gretch’s What’s New With You link ups every month, and I find it nice to look back on the year and just see everything notable that happened each month. Especially as the girls grow up, I think it’s really important for me to focus on some of these small but fun things. Here is some of what we did in 2016, mostly for me to look back on, but also to share.

January


  • I started working part-time for 6 months. Molly started preschool simultaneously. We all settled into a different routine.
  • I ran a 5K race, my first race ever in winter. It was good, but chilly and icy!
  • I lost the solitary diamond from my engagement ring but Brian was able to find it in our kitchen sink trap. One of the worst days of my life – the stress I felt was unimaginable. I will now ABSOLUTELY commit to getting my ring inspected twice a year without any exception, ever.
  • We went to see The Arkells live and it was the most amazing thing ever.
February


  • We registered Molly for primary (grade school).
  • I continued on my path of decluttering our home (it’s a continual project, really)
  • We saw most of my family for Valentine’s day and that was great
  • Brian renovated our kitchen/hallway floors on the same weekend Lucy had surgery to put tubes in her ears (all went well)
  • Molly absolutely loved preschool!
March


  • We had a wonderful Easter holiday
  • Lucy turned 2 years old!!!
  • We got completely hooked on White Collar
April


  • I read my first Louise Penny book ❤ I also finished Eligible in a day! What a great reading month, actually.
  • I ran my second 5K race of the year at Citadel Hill and got my fastest time post-children
  • I started in the advanced yoga class with my teacher
  • Brian and I became godparents to our beautiful niece, my sister’s daughter
May


  • We saw Shrek: The Musical at Neptune Theater, which was Molly’s first Neptune show. She really enjoyed it but she got a bit antsy
  • We saw Raffi live in concert for the second time (Lucy’s first time)
  • We enjoyed brunch and lobster dinner for Mother’s Day with my mother in law and mom 🙂
  • Molly had primary orientation at Brian’s elementary school
June


  • We went out for dinner & to The Board Room Game Cafe for our 4th anniversary
  • we celebrated Brian’s birthday
  • we went to Brian’s cousin’s wedding and saw a lot of his family that we don’t see very often
  • We celebrated a friend’s daughter’s 1st birthday in the park
  • I ran a very slow 10K race in 100% humidity and extreme heat (the day after that wedding I just mentioned)
  • Molly “graduated” from preschool (cue the mom tears)
  • We took the girls to Upper Clements Park, an amusement park 2 1/2 hours away – they absolutely loved it but it was definitely a looooong day of travelling! We will be back though! 
  • We were on vacation for the last week of June & first part of July
  • Molly started summer soccer 
July


  • We had a great Canada Day with friends
  • I started back at work full-time again & one of my awesome co-workers came back from maternity leave
  • Lucy got her first hair cut!
  • I saw Love & Friendship with a close friend
  • We travelled to New Brunswick for the weekend to visit friends and it was a nice break
August


  • We went to one of my best friend’s weddings 2 hours away for the weekend; Molly was the flower girl
  • I saw some old friends from university and was so happy to catch up with them
  • We celebrated my birthday
  • I listened to The Arkell’s new album non-stop
  • I devoured Harry Potter & the Cursed Child in a day
September


  • I ran another 5K race & Brian and the girls surprised me at the finish line
  • Molly turned 5 & we had a family party for her
  • Molly started school and a new daycare
  • Molly was super overtired and this was a challenging parenting month, but we got it sorted out by October
  • We saw Beauty & The Beast at Neptune on Molly’s birthday weekend ❤ 
  • We went apple picking in the valley with my sister & her family & my parents
  • I joined the PTA at Molly’s school
October


  • I went to see The Barra MacNeils with my family & absolutely loved it
  • We had a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner at my parents’ house with 30 people
  • We took the girls to a few indoor playgrounds around the city, which they LOVED.
  • I spent 5 days away from Brian and the girls in Calgary to attend my cousin’s wedding
  • I took Molly to her Halloween Howl at school & we took the girls trick-or-treating
  • I saw one of my old roommates and her boyfriend, which was SO great. I was beyond happy to catch up with them.
November


  • Molly got her first (excellent) report card & we had our first interview with her teacher, which went extremely well. She also had her first field trip & learned a French song for Remembrance Day, which was adorable and sweet
  • I had 3 Fridays off (sick, holiday, vacation) which was kind of nice. I got used to 4-day work weeks
  • We visited my sister & her family for a day
  • We saw Fantastic Beasts in theatres (loved it) and I watched Gilmore Girls with a close girlfriend all in one night (marathon! haha)
  • We got a heat pump installed 
December


  • I’ll share more about December tomorrow, but we had a wonderful but busy month
  • We attended Brian’s work Christmas party (I had laryngitis but it was still a fun night out, haha)
  • We celebrated my niece’s first birthday & saw Santa in the mall on the way down (the girls were fantastic!) 
  • We celebrated Christmas, probably our best one yet; the girls were so excited!!
  • We visited a lot of family & friends
  • We played a lot of board games
  • We had one huge snowstorm but no snow for Christmas, Molly had 1 1/2 snow days
  • The Nova Scotia teachers began work-to-rule, which hasn’t affected us in huge ways but means no extra-curriculars at school etc. We are hoping they resolve it all soon.
Tomorrow I’m linking up with Kristen & Gretch to share what’s new with me, including a Christmas vacation recap 🙂 On Friday, I’m planning to share some things I’m looking forward to in 2017 and some goals!!!

Hello, 2016!!

I’ve been a bit inconsistent with blogging lately, and truly I did plan to post a few more times in December but we got INCREDIBLY busy (surprise, surprise!!) and then we spent most of our Christmas vacation battling a brutal cold/sinus infection/ear infection plague in our house. We are fortunately all much better now, and looking back I can actually appreciate that we were forced to have a lot of unplanned downtime while off work, so it was OK, but basically I had a nap almost every day and went to bed early whenever I could.

Some highlights of Christmas holidays include a week long visit with my brother, who lives in Calgary, some time with my new baby niece (although she was sick and learning to breastfeed etc etc too), seeing some friends, delicious dinners with my in-laws and parents, lots of board games, some wine, some sweets, some shopping, a bit of reading, Gotham, some purging and organizing, and (a bit) of exercise in there somewhere. On the final weekend before coming back to work, I also won $80 playing poker with Brian’s friends! #awesome #beginnersluck

I found out before Christmas that my job will be switching to 60% (part-time) until June. At first I was a bit disappointed about this, but I have embraced the extra time I will have with our kids before Molly starts school in September. Starting January 18, I will have Mondays and Fridays at home (i.e. super long weekend!) I am planning to use this time to get our house more organized, take the kids to fun events at the library and other play places, and really get our meal planning under control. I’m really excited about this change for now!! #askmeagainin2months

I was a bit disappointed to miss my Goodreads goal of 100 books last year, but I was pretty close and I honestly just lost interest in reading a bit in December with too much other stuff on the go. I’m back at it now though and I’m so excited to make myself some new reading goals for the year. Towards the end of last year, I was hesitant about my feelings towards the Goodreads book challenge, because it’s just a number, and quality/enjoyment is more important to me than the number, but I set my 2016 challenge to 100 books again because I like how it keeps me on track a bit. If I don’t meet it again, that’s OK.










Some other book/reading goals for the year:

  • Complete another reading challenge. I’m planning to do Erin’s challenge and I will post my preliminary choices later this week.
  • Focus on quality over quantity. I’m not going to pick shorter books just so that I can get to 100. I won’t finish a book if I’m not enjoying it just because I chose it for a reading challenge or it counts towards Goodreads.
  • Listen to the Harry Potter books on audiobook &/or re-read the entire series and blog about my thoughts. I really want to think more deeply about this series and it’s been a couple of years since I re-read it all. I also got the illustrated Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone for Christmas from Brian and it is beautiful!!!
  • Read some new-to-me authors and some other books by favourite authors
  • Read all of Jane Austen’s books
  • Knock out at least 20 books from my Goodreads TBR list 🙂
  • Read 5 non-fiction books
  • Try to finish the Semi-Charmed Winter Book Challenge, but if I don’t finish it (running out of time!), try to still appreciate the variety of books I read for it
  • Write more reviews on Goodreads & really put thought into the books that mattered to me (i.e. write down quotes I liked, try to remember favourite characters, etc)

Anyone else have any reading goals for themselves this year?!

I also have a few “life” goals for the year, which I will talk about in more detail soon, including:

  • Finish all 5 races that I am currently signed up for (5Ks and 10Ks – first one is at the end of the month)
  • Participate more on social media (especially Twitter and Instagram)
  • Spend less time scrolling through Facebook
  • Unsubscribe from any newsletters I am constantly finding myself deleting
  • 100% organize our house using this method here & the principles of KonMari
  • Strive for better physical and mental/emotional health by continuing with my yoga class, running, and eating more vegetables
  • Keep a daily journal of 1-2 highlights of each day or funny things the kids say (this binder is easily accessible, and so far, so good!)
  • Write more (blogging, journaling, just for fun). My brother gave me this book —> for Christmas and I can’t wait to delve into it a bit more
  • Learn more about photography (Brian bought me this e-book for Christmas and I love this post too with a lot of resources), blogging, and cooking.
I know this sounds like a lot, and some of it isn’t very specific, but I am already working on these little things and I am going to check in every month on some of these goals and see how I’m doing.