Happy New Year! It’s 2020 and the start of a new decade. Much has happened in the last ten years of my life. In fact, I started this blog on the eve of last decade. My first post went up on November 2, 2009, and it was a simple reflection on an All Hallow’s Eve Party. So much has happened since then!
Over the last ten years my husband and I welcomed a beautiful girl and another cuddly boy into our family. With three little kids under foot, and only six months after our youngest was born, we uprooted our family from Northern British Columbia and move south to the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. It was one of the most difficult transitions of my life…
Moving is stressful on its own, but at that time I was trapped in a quagmire of anxiety. Shortly after our move, I threw myself into preserving enough food to survive a zombie apocalypse and knitting so much that I gave myself carpel tunnel. I planted a big garden, raised rabbits, baked sourdough bread, made soap, started home-schooling my kids and blogged about our family adventures in my spare time (at midnight). I was one productive mama, but I was seriously struggling.
My first couple years in the Okanagan valley were difficult. I felt very lonely, crippled by my anxiety and spiritually adrift. I wouldn’t (couldn’t?) ask for help. I didn’t know how. I didn’t know who to turn to.
In 2013 I made an appointment with my doctor. It was a decisions that ended up pivoting my entire life towards hope and healing. I saw a psychiatrist. I went to a cognitive behavioral therapy course. I started taking care of myself and it was so very good. I also started to rediscover the healing power of nature and Divine Love once again.
By 2014 I began pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I started travelling with my husband and young children (with great friends and family!) to places I never imagined I would go. Together we went to Thailand (2015), Mexico (2016), New Zealand (2018) and most recently Bali (2019). We went on rock climbing adventures and backcountry adventures.
In 2017, my father-in-law passed away. It was unexpected… death often is.
By the second half of the decade, after a year of experimenting with exercise at home, I joined a CrossFit gym and loved it! I even took a course to teach kids, pre-teens and teens CrossFit and discovered a new passion. Around the same time, I became the president of a non-for-profit board. An exciting adventure that taught me so much.
This decade also held two beautiful family weddings, and I gained a new bother and sister (in law), both of whom I am so grateful to know. Eventually my parents made the move down to the Okanagan too, and it has been wonderful having family close by.
And my blog? By the end of the decade my blog started becoming less personal. This change was mostly intentional. My children were getting older and I wanted to protect their privacy. I also wanted to help other families and children enjoy nature together. I created an Okanagan map of family friendly hiking trails. I started sharing tips and ideas to help family enjoy nature together. Some of my posts were quite popular, like this one: Stop Telling Kids to “Be Careful” and What To Say Instead.
And then for the last six months this blog and all my social media went quiet…
During the last six month I started to sense a shift in my life. New opportunities came and I made another leap. Another move, this time not as far. We moved up the valley to a new city, a new job (for my husband) and a home closer to family. And that’s where we are now. Our new home is a small log house that sits on a small acreage. We share the property with my parents. It’s beautiful. It’s a new adventure.
I hope to continue blogging about our family adventures but I think my blog will return to its roots as a lifestyle blog, with a bit of this and a bit of that. In the last year I’ve discovered that blogging for business, traffic, sponsorships or likes is not what I set out to do. It’s not me and that’s alright.
And my word for 2020? The year 2020 is going to be all about Connection. Not digital high-speed connection but slow in-person connection with family, friends (new and old) and the Divine.
Wishing you a start to a wonderful year my friends! If you pick a word for the year, I’d love to hear it. Drop a comment in the section below.
How to Pick a One Word Resolution
2 comments
Beautiful post Josee. Thank you for sharing. I’d love to be a part of your resolution!
Wow! I haven’t taken the opportunity to think about the past 10 years as of yet, but you have had a wild and wonderful 10 years! I feel so thankful to know you and your family 🙂 I’ve been thinking about a New Year’s word as well and will definitely let you know when I’ve decided on the right one for our family. May God continue to bless, keep, and uphold your family close to Him this year!