Spring Memories

Summer is finally here, and I'm absolutely thrilled; it is my favourite season after all. The beginning part of the season always feels even more special, because it is filled with so much excitement and anticipation for the months ahead that make up my favourite part of the year.

There's always so much to look forward to in the summer, but before I do that, I want to take a look back and acknowledge all the sweet moments from the past few months. After reflecting on it for a few days, I've come to realize how special this spring has actually been. It's been the time when I've gradually started once again to come out of my shell, to share more of myself, and to be a part of something, after a long while of feeling a strong need to keep to myself, to do inner work, and to find my own individual rhythm.

As a result of this outward shift, I've also started to notice and enjoy the little things around me again, and looking back on the ones I've documented helped paint a much clearer picture of just how sweet and special this spring has been.

Everybody needs a little afternoon nap sometimes. Seeing the ways in which she sleeps is always entertaining, but on this particular afternoon, I really liked how she laid on the couch with just her head on the pillow, like a little person.

These beautiful flowers in our front yard. Every year I post pictures of them, and it's because every year I can't believe how much joy I get from seeing them pop out of the ground after so many months of mainly white and grey all around.

Our Easter eggs. For the past few years, we've used only natural materials to colour them, which can be quite unpredictable. So, every year I tell myself that I will test out different materials beforehand, and every year I fail to do it. Luckily, we still got some beautiful colours, though not necessarily the ones we were expecting: the grey, although beautiful, was supposed to come out as red by using black cherries (that is what the article said, but thinking about it, it does make sense that black cherries would produce a black-ish colour); the vivid yellow came from turmeric, and the gorgeous blue that I can't get enough of from purple cabbage; the slightly darker yellow was supposed to be green (although in real life, it did have a sort of chartreuse tint to it) by combining the yellow and blue liquids, but it seems like the turmeric was too powerful.

Superfood oatmeal inspired by Drea - not the most photogenic breakfast, but I had it for a week straight and absolutely loved it, so I thought it was worth mentioning. Every morning, I added an assortment of nourishing extras to the basic oatmeal to make it even better: ground walnuts for added protein, rosehip powder for extra vitamin C, spirulina powder for all over super-goodness, cinnamon for its blood sugar balancing properties (and great taste!), and vanilla bean powder for even more flavour.

I'd love to know, what moments or things stood out to you this spring and made the season special?

Knotted Beauty

A few months ago, I mentioned on Instagram that I was spending the afternoon taking pictures of a few scarves that my mom had crocheted. Thankfully, after a couple of hours of photographing, I got to see the results of my efforts and I was actually pretty happy with how they turned out, so I wanted to share a few of them here as well, because this is not a frequent occurrence in this camera-challenged girl's life.

Like I mentioned, the scarves were all crocheted by my mom, after learning this beautiful new stitch called "Solomon's knot", as a way to use up some of the yarns we have around the house and to stay busy during her long commute to and from work.

The reason I was photographing them is because we decided to list them on Etsy. As much as we love a handmade scarf, we really don't need so many of the same, and we'd rather share them with others who will appreciate their beauty and softness just as much as we do.

Besides, after seeing how beautiful this pattern looks, I've requested a larger, shawl-sized scarf, that I can drape over my shoulders and wear during all 4 seasons, not just the 3 colder ones that these scarves are perfect for. To this day though, I'm still debating what colour or yarn I'd like my shawl to be crocheted with (maybe one of these neutral, lighter yarns that we have in the shop?), which always seems to be the hardest choice for me when it comes to handmade projects. Usually, when I pick the material first, I know almost instantly what I would like to make with it, but when I pick the project first, I have the hardest time settling on the material.

Does this only happen to me? What is the hardest choice for you when starting a new project? And also, speaking of Etsy, what are your favourite shops there?

PS: Naturally, I had my whiskered assistant along with me for the picture-taking, to make sure everything was in order!

Celebrating Toby

This little* goofball joins the 3-year-old club today and I can't wrap my head around it. Just like Mikka, he's brought us so much joy, laughter and light-heartedness, that we can no longer picture life without him.

My sweet troublemaker, keep eating all the good stuff (and sneaking even more with every chance you get!), rolling over for belly rubs, and being the most lovable, nutty pup in existence for many more years to come!

PS: That treat you almost managed to steal last night from the plate on the kitchen table is waiting for you to savour (or, you know, gulp) it in celebration of this new year of life.

*he's actually been bigger than me for most of his life already, but you know how it goes, to me he'll always be that little wide-eyed puppy that we brought home almost 3 years ago.

Celebrating Mikka

This little girl turns 3 years old today. I don't know if extra cuddles are what she wished for (I'm pretty sure they're not - ha! - she's little Miss Independent, after all), but that's what she's getting anyway.

My sweetheart, here's to many more late night playtimes, head rests on my shoulder, and loud protests!

Apple Goodness

A few weekends ago, we picked the apples from the tree in our backyard. We've been living in this house for a bit over 4 years now, but this is the first time we have been able to get some apples from our own tree. In previous years, they were completely compromised by some sort of insect that comes out in the spring in our area but, for the first time this year, plenty of them made it through and ripened. Sure, they are not the perfect-looking kind that we find in grocery stores - in fact, they're filled with bumps, bruises and imperfections - but it feels so great to be eating apples from our own garden.

All in all, we had enough to fill the box to the brim, which I thought was pretty good for a tree from which we hadn't picked a single apple before.

The boys - my dad, my brother, and Toby, who mainly helped with eating - were in charge of picking them from the tree, and my mom and I are now busy turning them into pie, sauce, and butter before they go bad.

Video proof of Toby "helping" with picking (read: eating) the apples. He polished off 3 of them, one by one, that he found on the ground underneath the apple tree. The video shows him enjoying his third apple, and I wish that my camera's battery hadn't died before he finished it, but I got such a kick out of seeing him turn and eat it so carefully, almost like a human.

I'd love to know, what are your favourite apple recipes?

My Two Sweethearts

 It's already been more than a year and a half since these two boundless personalities have joined our family. I've been meaning to write more about them - more than just a quick mention here and there - for equally as long. But somehow, putting my love and feelings for them into words seems like such a daunting task. I don't know if I have the writing skills to do them justice. But, I am ready to try and I will do my best.

These past two years have been some of the toughest of my life so far - filled with long struggles and hard falls as well as, if I allow myself a bit of dramatic exposition, gut-wrenching heartbreaks and some personal tragedies too. Through it all, so many times, these two sweet souls have been the bright light in my life, the reason to keep going and sometimes even smile at the end of a tough, long day, week, or month. The amount of love that I can feel now has grown into proportions I never knew existed.

I could spend this entire post in clichés, and I actually might because now I understand how true they are. Even though I don't have any kids of my own just yet, I feel like this whole experience of adding Toby and Mikka into my life has been so much like what I've heard, read, or witnessed new mothers experience with their babies.

I knew I was in trouble the first week we brought each of them home. Since I was still job-hunting back then, I was the one spending the entire day with them, mostly by myself. They knew from the very beginning - don't all kids?! - how to drive me crazy with unlimited amounts of energy and a sense of curiosity that knows no boundaries, only to make me forget about it in a second when they fell asleep and cuddled next to me in the most adorable ways. I will never forget how crazy good it felt when Toby would fall asleep with his head on my feet after a marathon session of being a little menace, or that time Mikka laid next to me, in my bed, with her head resting on my arm and we took the most glorious 2-hour morning nap together before really waking up for the day. I don't have pictures of any of these instances, but they are so well-imprinted in my memory that it almost makes them even more special.

Now that I am working, I also feel like I am starting to grasp what the "mom guilt" is all about when I have to leave them for the entire day, especially knowing how long it will be before I come back home again. It breaks my heart a little every morning when Toby tries to grab my hand as I walk down the stairs to the front door, or when Mikka gives a long look to our car backing out of the driveway, perched on top of the living room or bedroom window. And it doesn't help when at night, once I am finally home again, I don't have enough energy left to play with them or give them the attention they need and so deserve after being the best pets and doing nothing but napping all day.

And the worst thing about it all, the one that I hear all mothers lament about?! It's without a doubt the feeling that, in what feels like the blink of an eye, they've turned from two tiny little furballs that I could cuddle with all day, into the full-sized and much more independent cat and dog they are now. I get a little sad just looking at the few pictures I managed to get when they were little and I wish I could still squeeze those tiny, wide-eyed bodies now. But then I squeeze their much larger bodies, and play with them and laugh at all their antics. And then it's all ok because I know that even in their old age, many years from now, to me they'll still be the same two little furballs who've changed my life for the better - the so-much-better, to be precise.

This is all just to say how grateful I am for my darling Toby and Mikka, and how happy I am with the choice my family and I made back in March 2013 to bring them both into our lives.

Mikka In The Garden

I was looking through iPhoto this week and I found these photos that I took about a month ago of Mikka hanging out in the garden beds among our vegetable plants. While the rest of my family was doing a little bit of work in the garden - tying tomato plants to poles for support, pruning said tomatoes and checking out the progress with the rest of the plants - I took a few minutes to follow my sweet girl around and capture her sense of curiosity.

The garden is on the far side of the backyard from the balcony where she usually hangs out when she goes outside and it took a little convincing to get her to stay with us (she's a homebody this one, never too far away from a quick run to the safety of indoors!) but as soon as she had her paws in the mulch, she started exploring and was having a good time.

Little Lady

Sitting pretty and wide-eyed with legs and arms crossed in front of you...

...or lazying around, in a "can't even keep my head up I'm so tired" kind of way?

Well, if you ask Mikka, there's no need to choose and you can actually do both, in a matter of just minutes.

Seriously though, this little lady and her canine brother Toby give me so much joy every day that I never knew was possible before having them. Even on a really bad day, they're the only ones that could make me crack a smile. How could I not when I get to experience this sort of shenanigans on a regular basis in real time?!

The two of them are what I'm most thankful for - along with my family and health - since they've come into my life, and so often I think how lucky I am to have them next to me to ease some of life's tensions. I've wanted to write more about them for about a year now, but each time I'm about to do it, there are so many feelings and emotions and things I want to say, that it gets overwhelming. I'll have to work on that.

Fresh New Beginning

After what felt, and I'm quite sure was, the most difficult year of my life so far, it felt wonderful to have a couple of weeks off from work to relax and decompress, to spend time with my family and my two sweethearts, Toby & Mikka, and to actually enjoy the moment.



It was a quiet holiday season at home, and it was exactly what I needed to let 2013 go and welcome 2014. It is my deepest wish for this new year to be truly wonderful, kind, and light-hearted.

Happy 2014!

This is my favourite picture of this time for obvious reasons, and despite what her expression might indicate, she actually enjoyed being there for a good couple minutes!

A Slower Pace

Being home on Friday reminded me what it feels like to slow down a little bit from the go-go-go pace that I've learned comes with a full-time job and long commute every day. It was nice to be able to enjoy the little moments again and take the time to just watch after my two sweeties, Toby & Mikka, to notice the vivid green of the cat grass we have planted and the dusty purple of a bouquet of flowers, and to admire the work and attention that my mom has already put into our first handmade decorations for the holidays so far. This is the way that I want to live my life, and I'm making it to my purpose to turn it into reality one day soon.

Mikka & Toby

This month we added two new members to our family: 13-week-old kitten girl Mikka and 9-week-old puppy boy Toby. They're quite a handful most of the time still (hence the lack of blogging around here in the last two weeks!), but learning and making progress every day, and we're so excited to have them!

PS: I am learning that taking pictures of pets is quite the feat, so no particularly great ones yet, as they're usually too quick - or too black! :P - for my limited photography skills.