The Passionate Voice

The Sunday 7

• Food for Thought, Lifestyle, Travel

  1. If only it was March right now and this beautiful sunny, Sunday was an indication that Spring was here. Unfortunately, looks like we may have to brace ourselves for some more winter weather (I mean, it is January still). In the meantime, I am enjoying as much time outdoors as possible and snapped this photo above on the city limits of Guelph overlooking the countryside #MyFavouriteViews #RemindsMeOfTheFarm
  2. I  can’t wait to try out this Mexican restaurant in Waterloo that I read about in Toque magazine, a free amazingly-designed magazine I found (for free!) in my local Balzacs in Guelph.
  3. I purchased this refreshing face mist from The Body Shop over the holidays and I’m loving it! Its the perfect mid-day pick up.
  4. I also recently bought these beauties (thanks to Winners!) and can’t wait to get to wear these.. in bare feet, with warm, sunny weather.. sometime soon hopefully #dreaming
  5. This place in Prince Edward County for a creative genius retreat looks ah-mazing! Who wants to hit the road and go with me for a weekend of brainstorming, writing and no cellphones (only for photos of course!)
  6. How is it February in 4 days?! We have lots of exciting plans in store for the next month. To keep me organized (and happy every time I open up my laptop), I found this cute February desktop wallpaper.
  7. Bell Let’s Talk Day is coming up this week on Wednesday, January 31st! Be sure to participate on social media if you can or at least watch some of the awesome shows that will be airing featuring real-life people talking #MentalHealth#EndtheStigma

26 Things to be Grateful for this Holiday

• Lifestyle

I am writing this as I watch the World Junior Hockey Game, in my Roots track pants, on Boxing day. You can’t get anymore Canadian than that! I hope you had a fun holiday yesterday with your loved ones and took in the special day of the year. I’ve been so overwhelmed (in a good way) for all the small details that I thought I would share some here on Boxing Day – 26 things I’m grateful for this holiday. Maybe some of these small moments will resonate with you as well 🙂

  1. Waking up without an alarm clock
  2. The smell of coffee as it begins to brew (and knowing its acceptable to put Baileys in it because heck, its the holidays!)
  3. Volunteering before Christmas and seeing how you’re helping to make a difference
  4. Getting your emails done to a 0 inbox!
  5. Crossing off all of your to-do’s for the day
  6. Finishing a big project at work and then celebrating with colleagues
  7. Saying Merry Christmas to a random stranger on an elevator
  8. Holding the door open at the local coffee shop for someone… and then getting your coffee bought by the person in line ahead of you
  9. The feeling you get as soon as you walk into Chapters #HappilyOverwhelmed
  10. Finding the best deal at Winners for a Christmas gift #StarttheCar
  11. That feeling of success after finishing a baking recipe that took way too long but you’re hoping is oh so yummy
  12. Cracking a new bottle of wine.. yum!
  13. Biting into the freshest, squeakiest piece of cheese… and knowing there is an entire plate left to eat
  14. Singing Christmas carols at the top of your lungs as if you’re the best singer… for some reason Blake loves the ‘I Want a Hippopotamus’ song.
  15. Seeing friends after so long and catching up like nothing ever changed
  16. The smell of wood burning as you walk outdoors in the nighttime cold air
  17. Sitting down to the best homemade meal you helped to make
  18. Eating a salad you made for lunch and feeling so good about yourself afterwards for (finally) eating healthy!
  19.  Starting to watch a series on Netflix you’ve heard people rave about #TheCrown
  20. Watching the World Junior Hockey games.. its a national Canadian pastime at Christmas
  21. Sitting around with family on Christmas Eve and watching Christmas Vacation, so many good laughs (even though we’ve already seen the movie like a thousand times!)
  22. Playing games with your siblings and laughing so hard
  23. Knowing its acceptable to wear track pants the entire holiday season
  24. Sitting in the darkness with only candles flickering while you dive into a new read or magazine
  25. Watching your son open up his first Christmas present and knowing he has no idea what all of it means
  26. Knowing you can chase your dreams, following your passions, raise a family, love hard… and feel so damn good about it all.
[Photo Source]

The Sunday 7

• Lifestyle

Happy Christmas eve! How is it already Christmas tomorrow?! My favourite time of year is here and before we know it, we’ll blink and it will be gone. Today, all I have planned is eating, baking, more eating, evening mass and spending time with the fam. This marks Blake’s first Christmas so this holiday is even more special. Enjoy the time with your loved ones! xo

  1. Our trip to Manitoba this week brought the most beautiful, snowy (warmer) cold weather that allowed us to spend time outdoors. I was able to get this beauty shot above before my iphone shut off from the cold temps, figures right?! We had the best time with family and I even had a chance to visit my favourite local shop, Pineridge Hollow. I grabbed this amazing smelling ‘White Pine’ candle.
  2. These creative ways to ‘dress up your toast’ for Christmas morning by food blogger Brittany Stager look oh so yummy. Try these tomorrow morning!
  3. I hope I’ve been good this year because this cool piece of new technology is on my wishlist 🙂
  4. Check out this cute desktop wallpaper to brighten up your computer or mobile backdrop to match the festive season. Anything plaid or checkered for me please!
  5. This (easy) tomato soup recipe with a grilled cheese and this will be a perfect lunch.
  6. Looking for a last minute Christmas idea (24 hours to go)?! This gold flatware set is beau-ti-ful!
  7. I love this white envelope idea for Christmas. There is so much more to the season than gift giving. I seriously love giving rather than receiving.

Merry Christmas everyone!

A Blanket of Calmness & Clarity

• Lifestyle

This past weekend marked the first big snow fall of the season back at home on the farm and across much of Ontario. Who knew Ontario could (still) be host to this much snow early in December and -20 degree temperatures?! I thought this type of winter was something only my in-laws experienced in ‘Winter-peg” Manitoba in December.

There is nothing better than being in the countryside to take in the first snowfall to unofficially mark the start of winter. Blake is in awe. You can see through his eyes, the newfound magic of seeing snow for the first time. The sounds he makes as he screams (in joy I hope?! ha) watching the white stuff fall has been one of the coolest things to experience with him. I am beginning to understand why parents say they get to relive everything over again when you watch and experience everything for the first time through your children’s eyes.

There is something about the first snowfall of winter that I SO welcome. It is so calming; looking out of the window and seeing the snow settled on the ground, like a warm blanket comforting the earth.

Its reason #93746284758 to love living in Canada because I really do love the change in seasons. Each season provides just enough time for us to enjoy its welcomed differences from the last season, before we get bored with it and then all of a sudden, a new season is upon us. I love how different each season is; how each season renews us; and how each season allows us to do something completely different. Hard to believe only four months ago you could have found me on the water in a bathing suit on a dock and now we’re zipped up in parkas in freezing cold temps.

I think that is the whole point of each new season – each season ushers in a different feeling for us.

For me, spring brings a fresh awareness of everything new around us; summer makes me want to relax; fall provides perspective and winter is for hibernation and much needed silence, calmness and reflection after a busy year.

Each year seems to get busier and busier, so winter and its calmness and clarity (and chance to catch up on sleep!) really are welcomed. Similar to the animal kingdom, it really is a time to hibernate by getting in our comfy clothes, watching more netflix, reading more books (that we’ve put off reading all year), eating all the treats our heart desires and spending time with our favourite people.

After the craziness of becoming a first time mom earlier this year, for some reason more than any other year, I am SO ready for this winter season. How about you?!

Things I Love About Our Country #Canada150

• Agriculture, Lifestyle, Travel

Happy belated Canada day, friends!

Now that I am (somewhat) caught up on sleep from what was an epic Canada day long weekend, which included celebrating my little brother’s wedding, I wanted to share 6 of the things I love about our country to commemorate #Canada150. Hope you got to celebrate what was uniquely yours on Canada day!

[1. Food and wine]  – strawberry picking, pumpkin patches, cherries, maple syrup, lentils, there are so many amazing things I’ve been surprised to learn we grow, produce and harvest within our very own country. We truly have one of the safest, most sustainable food systems in the world with the abundance and variety of yummy foods we produce. We should also be proud of our emerging wine industry – we may be a few hundred years behind Europe in our wine production but our wines from BC and Ontario are still incredibly tasty too! The photo of the cherries above is actually our neighbour’s cherry tree. Talk about eating and enjoying local?! #HowCoolIsThat

[2. The views and our 4 seasons] – I think it is fair to say we may have some of the most diverse, vast landscapes of any country in the world in part because of the 4 seasons we get to experience. From the mountain views, to the prairie flats, our waterways to the red dirt on the east coast, you can experience so much in just one country (even though it takes a far distance to get from one end to the other and 4 changes of clothing for each season!). I feel fortunate to have visited almost all Canadian provinces – the only two provinces I have yet to visit are Newfoundland and Saskatchewan which I have added to my travel bucket list! Some of my favourite views (of so many in our country) that I’ve been able to personally savour include mountains views from Sidney, BC and Banff/Lake Louise, AB; rocky shores in Lake-of-the-Woods/Kenora, ON; watching the northern lights in the prairie, Manitoba skies; harbour ocean-front views in North Rustico, PEI and one of my absolute favorite views, the calming, scenic views from my family’s cottage on the Trent River in ON. Oh and fall is still my favourite season of them all 🙂

[3. Innovations and creations] – I didn’t realize how many incredible innovations our country and Canadians are responsible. Some of them are life changing and some are the simple pleasures we and so many millions enjoy – things like insulin, peanut butter (one of my absolute favs!), the life vest, the electric wheelchair, backup lights on modern cars, garbage bags and the paint roller. You can read more awesome inventions here. Who knew how truly awesome we are?!

[4. The Great Lakes] – Being raised on the water, I’ve always been attached to the water and love a good deep breathe of fresh, water air (it could also be the fact that I am the water sign Cancer). Being from Ontario, I love how close we are to the Great Lakes, all 5 of which are just a drive a way to enjoy. I’ll never forget learning in grade school how to remember the names of our 5 Great Lakes – remember the acronym HOMES (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior!) You are welcome 🙂 Side note, my girlfriends and I thought the Great Lakes are so awesome that we got the sweatshirt I’m pictured in above, made last summer when we were all in Grand Bend #BestIdeaEver

[5. The Canadian game of Hockey] – The photo above of the goalie is of my very own husband Andrew in his glory days as a goalie for the University of Guelph. He has since hung up his pads, but I love how much we enjoy the game of hockey together. I’ve always been a huge fan (of not only him) but the game of hockey itself. I have loved being a fan in the stands since a young age and understand the game enough to rock our family hockey pool which I won this year 😉

[6. Our ‘Canadianisms’] – There are so many awesome things that make us known as Canadians that I’m calling these our ‘Canadianism’s. Things like the iconic Hudsons Bay brand of colourful stripes (I have the paddle above!), maple syrup, poutine, Tim Hortons, the red maple leaf, our manners/politeness – these are just a few of the things that make us so uniquely known around the world as Canadians.

[Photo Source]
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