Life Lessons

The Sunday 7

April 15, 2018 • Inspiration, Lifestyle

Well hello there, it appears it has been a while! The past couple of weeks have saw me on the road and really what feels like this, there and everywhere. I proudly became an aunt on April 2nd to sweet baby Claire (congrats Justin and Meghan!). I can’t believe what this year has brought for our family #Blessed
If your in southern Ontario this weekend, your probably experiencing the same freezing rain/snow storm we are, which has had everyone indoors for the past 48 hours :S We are actually now currently siting here without power which means all our candles are out and lit up. Its actually quite romantic for a Sunday evening 😉 But really, where the heck is #Spring?!!!!
I’ve been meaning to blog lately but I’m been finding it hard after the Humboldt Broncos tragedy that took place last week in Saskatchewan. I’ve sat down so many times to try and put words down and for some reason, I can’t put the words together to express my emotions and the emotions of so many of us Canadians after seeing something like this shake our country to its core. But I want too and I will this coming week. At least I know one thing – we are truly an incredible country after seeing how we’ve rose collectively as a country in a time like this #United
One thing that the Humboldt Broncos tragedy reminded me to do is check my organ donation status after one of the players, Logan Boulet saved 6 lives through his organ donation. I checked tonight and I was already signed up, thankfully. Sign up today to give the gift of life #BeaDonor
Keeping in the hockey spirit, now that the NHL playoffs are here, we’re cheering on our favourite team #GoJetsGo
I recently finished this book and it is hands down, one of the best books I’ve read. I’m now on to this book.
Today, I listened to this podcast on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday with Gretchen Rubin (Author of The Happiness Project). So many good lessons in this one, it wanted me to pull back out my Happiness Project book and read it again. The biggest take-away? Happiness is like a muscle, you must work at it and exercise it. It was a perspective I needed to hear and be reminded of right now.

Snowstorm, Pea Coats & 2 a.m. Chaos: What is Your Character Defining Moment?

March 16, 2018 • Career, Leadership, Lifestyle

It was 10 years ago last weekend that I was College Royal President at the University of Guelph. Where did that time go. Seriously.

Among the many awesome things that took place that year, I think everyone will always remember 2008 as the year of the ‘snow storm and coat fiasco.’ It is a memory that while I cringe at first, it really was a character defining moment for me and my team of volunteers… and something I {now} laugh at when I look back.

It was early March and it had been beautiful weather until that Saturday when we were holding the annual ball. 2000+ students ascend on the University for a formal night known as the ‘College Royal Ball.’ That Saturday it started snowing. And it continued. All. Day. Long. To point that we had to meet late that afternoon and decide whether, for safety precautions, to cancel the ball after consulting with University administration. We decided to go on and hold the ball. If only had we known, that it would be our outsourced coat check that would be our dreaded nightmare, not the snow.

Because it was snowstorm of the century, everyone came in their formal suits and ball gowns in what felt like their snow suits. There were a lot more snow pants, boots and snow jackets that I ever remember seeing at any other ball. By the end of an epic night of dancing and drinking, 2000+ students (give or take) lined up all at once to get their myriad of clothing apparel. And what we realized quickly as an executive, was that the group we had outsourced coat check responsibilities too had not been as *organized* as we had thought – stuffing jackets here and there, not in numerical order.

It was a nightmare. Seriously, the worst nightmare of its kind.

What it turned out to be was a bonafide mess of huge piles of snow pants and jackets all unorganized – and of course, all the men’s black pea coats looked all the same that year, making for an even tougher time to decipher whose jacket was whose when we were trying to rally and help.

It was a nightmare. Have I mentioned that already?

When I called my parents that morning at their chore time, 6:30 a.m. to explain what had happened, I think they could tell in my exhausted voice that I hadn’t went to bed yet. 24 hours later.

To say I had to keep my composure as President; put on a brave face; role up my sleeves and go to work to help hand back jackets; all while {trying} to remain calm and stay positive for everyone around me was one of the hardest things I’ve done to date.

It truly was my first ‘adult-like’ experience where I had to put on my big girl pants and think and act like an adult. It really was a character defining moment for me as a person but also, a future glimpse into how to pull yourself together and how you have to act as a professional in the workplace when $*** hits the fan (in not so nice terms).

We all have our character defining moments. That moment that will forever be etched into your memory as the time you had to become an adult and act like one, whether you liked it or not, or whether you expected it or not. I’d love to hear your character defining moments, share below!

Happy Friday and happy College Royal weekend to those I may see back on campus this weekend! Oh and Happy St. Patty’s day from your Irish friend 🙂

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13 Ways to Maintain Personal Infrastructure

February 6, 2018 • Career, Lifestyle

We are 37 days in to 2018. Have you been able to keep your New Years Resolutions or goals, that you so keenly set back on Jan 1? Yea, its hard eh? We all have the best of intentions but once reality sets in, its hard to get out of our already-established routines.

I shared my 5 goals for 2018 in my first ever podcast. I’m happy to report that I at least kept the first one – take vitamins for 30 days – which I did successfully in January. Great goal right?! lol I keep telling myself its the small things! ha Now I can focus on my other 4 goals for 2018 😛

A majority of us hop aboard the ‘new year, new me’ train at the beginning of January. But by the second month in, most of that enthusiasm and willingness to hold ourselves accountable to new goals goes out the window. We tell ourselves, “At least we tried, right?”

One thing I’ve personally been trying to hold myself too, is a system that holds me accountable to executing both my personal to-do’s and professional goals, all in one place, in an organized (less chaotic) way.

Its what I’ve been calling ‘personal infrastructure.’ Its what systems, tools, resources, apps, etc I’ve put in place to help me execute my goals as best as possible. Take a look at the 13 ways I’m trying to maintain this personal infrastructure:

Planner/Organizer – I shared a list of planners to use last year; this is the weekly planner I chose to use for 2018. I am a list-makin’ machine, there really is nothing better than crossing off your to-do’s once you get them done!
Cozi calendar app – I recently discovered and downloaded this app to help manage one consistent calendar, so both Andrew and I can use and update all of our important dates in one place.
Feedly – there are a lot of well-written and inspiring blogs out there. The Feedly platform allows me to read them all in one organized place.
Pocket – I blame the overabundance of articles that I find on Twitter as to why I always have a million tabs open. I fixed this by downloading this app to easily store and read these articles at a later time.
*To Read* inbox rule – I subscribe to newsletters that can sometimes fill up the ol’ inbox. I created a rule within my personal email inbox that automatically puts all of those newsletter subscriptions into a ‘To Read’ folder when they arrive. You can set up any number of rules so all of your emails come in and are sorted in advance of opening up your inbox #genius
Evernote – I have this on my laptop to help organize random chicken scratch ideas and my writing.
Tweetdeck – this platform is what I use to execute tweets on Twitter if I have planned content to send out in advance.
Planoly- this monthly subscription app allows me to organize and execute my Instagram feed.
VSCO – the app I use to edit photos for social media.
Canva – I have this website both as an app on my phone and open and readily available on my laptop, which I use to create images for my blog and social media.
Unsplash and Pexels – two great websites to source free stock images when necessary (remember to give credit where credit is due!)
The Bullet – my morning daily eBlast read to keep up-to-date with all the latest news, and all conveniently in one place!
Notes in iphone- if everything else fails, writing down notes on my iphone has been a saving grace.

Hope you find some (or all!) of these ideas and tips valuable in helping to maintain your own personal infrastructure, whatever that may look like!

Small Gestures, Big Impact #BellLetsTalk

January 31, 2018 • Lifestyle, Making a Difference

On a day like today, where we celebrate #BellLetsTalk day, it’s one day of the year where we are reminded to share both the good and bad around mental health.

Today is dedicated to sharing our stories, so we’re not alone in the struggles we almost all face daily in keeping a healthy mental health. If we looked at mental health the way we looked at physical health, our world would certainly be a different place.

I wanted to share a story from last week in hopes that today, we can be reminded of the good.. the good stories, good moments, and good human beings that are out there, who help contribute positively to our mental health and well-being.

Two small moments last week that took place in my local Balzacs coffee shop reminded me of just how powerful small gestures can be in leaving a lasting impact… by complete strangers.

When I entered the coffee shop, I wasn’t surprised to see the place was packed.. buzzing with people meeting, writing, studying, reflecting. A mom in front of me in line had, what appeared to be a newborn baby and a young toddler.. and here, there were no tables or seats available for this busy mom to sit down and enjoy her coffee with her fam.

What happened next was a small yet subtle reminder that good people DO still exist. A man kindly stood up and offered to give up his table for the young mom. Thank god, good people really do exist. As a new mom who finds one baby a lot to handle, I was so appreciative for this man and his kind gesture for the mom who had her two hands full.

The second moment in the coffee shop was personal for me – one of the most random yet most powerful moments. A middle aged woman happened to come over to my table as I typed away (I was probably working on the ol’ blog!) and said how she didn’t want to appear weird but that she had noticed my smile, how infectious it was and how it lit up the room when I walked into the coffee shop.

What?

I didn’t know this lady. Hadn’t noticed her in the coffee shop. Nor had I even realized I was smiling?! Maybe I was smiling while I was writing and I didn’t even realize it?! I’ll never know. I kindly thanked the lady and said how wonderful it was of her to come over and share something like that with me, as I blushed.

As she left, a wave of emotion came over me (it could be this new-found emotion that has come over me ever since having a baby, not quite sure?!) but I was reminded of just how amazing moments like that can completely transform your day. Just how amazing human beings can be and are.

How complete strangers can remind you of your most random qualities; how a random stranger can transform your mood in an instant; how a small moment or gesture like this can make you feel so connected to a complete stranger; and how your heart can feel so full over something that seems so trivial and small yet something that can be so powerful.

How a complete stranger can remind you, that despite all the negativity that appears to be going on in the world, good and positivity always prevails.

To the man who gave up his table and the lady whose compliment has etched a mark in my heart forever, thank you. Thank you for helping people you didn’t have too. Whose day you transformed. Whose mental health you helped without realizing.

What I hope to do on a day like today is pay it forward. While discussing mental health today, let’s share everything – the good, the bad, the ugly – but let’s also try and share the positive. Because that is just one of the many ways we can help contribute to this all so important conversation around mental health.

#BellLetsTalk

If you would like to speak to a professional, you can call Ontario’s Mental Health Hotline 24/7 at 1-866-531-2600.

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Sunday’s are for Thanks

September 10, 2017 • Inspiration, Lifestyle, Social Media

Sunday’s for me are a day of reflection and for gratitude. I realize everyday we must be grateful but Sunday’s in particular allows us peace, calmness and clarity to see through the busyness of life to realize how fortunate we are. I think we all struggle with gratefulness in some form or another – especially in the social media age of keeping up with everyone’s perfected instagrammed lives, it can be hard to keep our brains focused on what it is in our lives that is good.

For the first time in a while, we weren’t road warriors this weekend with Blake. We stayed put and enjoyed the things that we love about the city we live in. It made me appreciate the small things we did that had such a big impact on why our weekend was so awesome. Here is just a sample of our weekend that has me full of gratitude….

The best news from friends
Catch ups with friends by a fire outdoors, reminding us of the last few summer weekends we have
Free tomatoes from a stranger/neighbour down the road whose garden was too plentiful… something I think many gardeners experienced this year with their tomato crops
Trying this alternative version of a 7-layer dip from Alberta Milk that was super quick to make (still haven’t tried it, its chilling in the fridge!) and a new chocoloate zucchini bread recipe (baking in the oven as we speak!)
Sunflowers to brighten the kitchen table
Watching your newborn discover new sights and sounds in the most simplest things
Prepping for an upcoming social media presentation this week and loving every minute of it!
Working on an exciting social media project that captures the social media usage of Ontario agriculture stakeholders.. its in its early stages but the results are going to be interesting to say the least (have I mentioned how much I love figures and stats when it comes to social media?!)
Reading Magnolia Journal on a Sunday morning with a coffee in hand and a sleeping baby in my arms
A bike ride on the most gorgeous Sunday evening… this weather couldn’t be more perfect!
Fulfilling my promise at the beginning of the week of blogging every day this week which I am happy to report I did.. 7 for 7! And the best part?! More ideas are a brewin’ so watch for more to come!

I’m trying my hardest this year to practice gratitude, its why I’m proud to have kept up with my commitment and one of my goals for this year of writing down one thing each day I’m grateful for. Let’s just say that my #365DaysofGratitude jar is overflowing. I can’t wait to read them all at the end of the year.

A line from the latest Magnolia Journal said it best, “Gratitude turns what you have into enough.” Amen to that. Happy Sunday!

“Gratitude turns what you have into enough.”

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