Sunday, December 31, 2017

Reflections of 2017 (And 2016 Because I Missed It!)

I love nothing more than recapping my year and reflecting over everything that has happened! I'm not really one for New Year's Resolutions; but, I love looking back on the highlights of my year! 

I know a lot of people say how terrible 2017 was; but, I had so many personal life moments this year that I personally thought 2017 was one of my favorite years! I'm always looking forward to the next year and hope 2018 is just as amazing! 

Family Vacation in Kauai, Hawaii 

We were so lucky to ring in 2017 in Kauai, Hawaii with our little family and my husband's extended family and it was such a great vacation! I have never been to Hawaii before and Kauai was a beautiful island! I'm still planning on writing a travel post (which actually is waaay longer to write than my normal posts!) so you can have more details! Also, apparently it's very common to vacation in Hawaii while pregnant to give the baby some Aloha! 

Damian Turned 12!

I can't resist using our Valentine's Day picture - Damian turned 12 at the end of January and it's so hard to believe that he will be a teenager in early 2018! I'm always so proud of him and he is such a thoughtful, sweet boy! 

Elliott Was Born

At the end of April, we were so happy to welcome Elliott in to the world! He had been giving me a little bit of high blood pressure throughout my pregnancy and I ended up going off work a few weeks early to keep my blood pressure down! But, I ended up being induced and he is such a good baby and I'm so happy to have my little, amazing, complete family! 

Got a Recognition Award at Work 

Sorry about the far back cell phone picture routine; but, this moment was really exciting for me! In general, my every day job (that I'm currently on Maternity Leave from) is a pretty thankless job so it feels really good that my manager nominated me for a personal merit award - just a way to say I have gone above and beyond both in my position and in my workplace as well! It felt really good to be recognized! 

Blog of The Month on the CBB

In July, I was soooo honoured to be the Blog of the Month on the Canadian Beauty Blogger's site! This group has been amazing for me in the blogging world - since I have joined the CBB I have connected with so many great people and been given new opportunities to grow as a blogger (PR, blog feedback, post improvement). 

Spent The Rest Of The Year Enjoying Being At Home

This sounds so lacklustre; but, I have been loving my time at home! First, Damian started Grade 7 (Junior High!) and I have been home to drive him and his friend to school (the buses around us are not good to his school) or to and from school activities and clubs. It's just nice to able to do that when possible! 

And, being home watching Elliott grow and change has been amazing as well! Every month is something new and we have a great group of baby friends (I was lucky enough to have one of my closest friends have a baby 1 day after Elliott!) that we go swimming or to the library or to lunch with, so I don't feel like I'm stuck at home doing nothing - we are busy! I am actually kind of dreading going back to work because I'm not ready in a few months! 



Here is a look at my 2017 Best Nine from Instagram - these are always so fun to see what everyone likes on Social Media! Sorry there is no more belly in 2018; but, there will be more masks, makeup, nails and babies (pretty much sums up my whole Instagram feed!)

And, because I missed it (I think because we in Hawaii at the end of 2016) I never did my recap of 2016 so I'm going to add it in here! I have a 2015 Reflection Post so my OCD would not let me skip 2016!


Damian Turned 11

I already mentioned earlier how proud I am of this little man, but I have to share his birthday when I talk about each year! 

Saw My Cousin Live in WWE

So, this might seem a little silly; but, my cousin has been wrestling since he was a little kid! We used to watch the WWE together and then wrestle in the basement when we were like 6 & 7. He was signed with the WWE a couple of years ago and it was just so cool to go to a show in Calgary and get to see him perform (plus, Damian now loves wrestling after seeing this!)

Vacationed in Palm Springs with Friends

Mitch & I spent a few days in Palm Springs with some of our friends and it was lovely! We went for a nice dinner, hung out by the pool, went shopping, and went to Joshua Tree National Park! Just Mitch and I actually went to California a few days earlier and went to Universal Studios and Disneyland (yes, without our kid!) and it was just as amazing - we love rides and had a great trip! 

Became An Aunty!

Yay! In February of this year, my husband's sister and her husband had a baby boy! They live in Sweden, so this picture is from August when we got to meet him! He is the cutest busiest little boy - I wish we were closer so I can him more often (but we get to see lots of videos and pictures!)

Finished Developing Our Basement (And Got An Amazing Wine Room!)


How awesome does our dungeon-y wine room look?! The rest of the basement is just a games room, bedroom and bathroom. We really wanted this cool custom space in our basement! (That stone wall was all placed one by one by hand - my brother-in-law does amazing work!)

Found Out We Were Pregnant 

We were just ecstatic to find out our family was growing! And, he had the cutest due date - May the 4th (we are a geeky family!) He didn't end up coming on that date; but, it made for a fun announcement! 

I Turned 30!

I think it's funny that I have spent my 2 big milestone birthday's 18 & 30 pregnant! Maybe not funny, but you know what I mean! I celebrated with my friends having a quiet night (my birthday parties always used to be a big party/games night/girls night in!)

And, We Found Out Baby Was A Boy! 

We all had our fingers crossed that we were having a boy so we were very excited to see during our ultrasound that we were! We already had a boy name, Elliott, picked out (and no girl name we could agree on!) and a little boy will be a welcome addition in 2017! 



And, this was fun to see for 2016 as well! 

I wish you guys all the best in 2018 - I am always excited to see what a New Year will bring! We are starting the year with a family trip to Disneyland mid-January, I'm going to soak up every day before I go back to work in April, and we will see what that brings - I will likely be going back to shift work (that I haven't done for over 4 years!), we will have a teenager and a 1 year old this year, and we will see what else 2018 has in store for us! Happy New Years! 

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