Fun, Fabulous, and what being Fifty means to me!

What the “F” means to me!!!

For those of you who know me, you know I don’t have a “potty mouth” so when I say What the “F” means to me, you know that no profanity will be used! LOL!

Here are a few (not really🤪) F words to describe what the F means to me: Fit, Funny (I may be my biggest fan but who cares 😁), Fasted, Faithful, Friendly, Fabulous, Fantastic, Fun-Loving, Ferocious (the Scorpion/red head in me!), Flirty, Flourishing, Forgiving, Fortunate, Fulfilled.

I thought a few years ago that turning the big 5..0.. was going to be tough for me; turning 40 was, so I figured turning 50 would be even worse. Well, the past 10 years I have been through many changes and I have become a very different person in many ways. The last 2 years especially have been very eye-opening and I have really learned to love life and appreciate those people and things that mean the most to me. I have really figured a lot of things out about who my friends are, who I love, and who loves me, and most importantly how to love myself.

Life is what you make it! A truer statement there never was! Life is all about choices and attitude. Stuff happens and it is up to us how it affects us.

Entering into this new decade of life brings excitement and joy to me. I find myself reflecting on life lately and realizing that my 50 years on this earth have been nothing short of FABULOUS. Sure, life has had its ups and downs, but choosing to see those as growth moments has helped me to live my best life.

I smiled this morning thinking about what I have accomplished in my 50 years, and I am feeling nothing short of blessed and grateful. I have THE BEST husband in the world! Yes, I am biased, but meeting, marrying him, and creating the life we have together was by far the best decision I have made in my life; HANDS DOWN! I know I tend to go on about how he is the best human being in the world for me and how life with him is how my life needs to be lived, but it’s true! Thank you ,❤️Shawn❤️ for being, well, YOU!

So, besides having Shawn, I have THE BEST children. (& Dog Finley🐶) a mom could ever ask for! I love my girls more and more each day and I know they are who they are in large part because of the life we have given them, but I could not be more proud and thankful for the adults they have become. I feel so blessed to be their Mom every moment of every day. Thank you Megan and Amy for being who you are!

I live in THE BEST HOUSE in THE BEST neighbourhood! Seriously, I do! I love our house! I love the size, the design, the yard, the proximity to the lake, the neighbours, and everything that comes with it! Now, for those who know me well, you all know that, funnily enough, I live on the same street that I grew up on!!!!!!! Funny eh?!?!/Well, Shawn and I moved our family back to the street I grew up on 14 years ago and I am so, so, so, very happy that we made that decision and we will be here for the remainder of our days or as far as I can tell into the future! In other words, we aren’t going anywhere as who could ask for more than living on a street where we are surrounded by incredible neighbours, lots of old, big trees, and live .5 of a km away from a beautifully kept waterfront path where I spend a great deal of time running, walking, and biking! Thank you neighbours, and lake for all that you give us!

I truly love my good friends who are always there for me to listen, talk, and help in any way they can. True friends are hard to find and I definitely have some gems in my life thankfully❤️Thank you to those friends who know to check in on me when I’m quiet, who send a quick text to say “Hi!” and who not only tolerate (lol), but enjoy spending time with me💛☀️🥰

I love my job and work environment at JSOD! Who could have predicted that I would do 5 years of Post-Graduate Studies, work 15 years as a Communicative Disorders Assistant (Speech and Language Therapist) at a clinic with an amazing, caring boss, then move into this current life working part-time as a Receptionist/Office Organizer/Front Desk Manager for the past 6 or so years?!?!? I couldn’t be happier for the choices I’ve made to land me where I am today! I am so happy and feel so blessed to have had all the opportunities to bring me to this happy life at 50! My work at the dance studio fulfills me in a way I didn’t realize I needed until I embraced it and fell in love with the children, the families, and the fellow employees I surround myself with 5 days a week. I love how loved and appreciated I am by the kids, families, and people I work with! Thank you to those of you at JSOD who support, love, appreciate me for who I am and what I bring to the Dance studio life!

I have THE BEST family and extended family a girl could ask for! My parents raised a happy, content girl, who became a thankful, fun-loving happy adult, and they did a great job I believe! I have terrific brothers (including in- laws), sisters (including in- laws) and parents (including in-laws) and I am grateful for being surrounded by such a supportive, caring group of people every day! I have an incredible sister in law that I have always been super close with who I am very thankful for and who deserves a big shout out for being an incredible friend, and the hands-down best aunt to our girls that ever did live! Seriously Emma! You rock!!!

Seriously friends, loyal supporters, and family who reads my blogs, I am so thankful, blessed, happy and tickled pink by the love I feel every day!

I must also mention here that my dream of owning a Yellow VW Beetle came true last year as well! I had always hoped it would happen, and it DID!!! I smile EVERY time I’m in it and TRULY love it more than you can even imagine💛❤️😍🥰

I love life sincerely appreciate the slow-living, non-busy, way that I have chosen to embrace it! Nothing pressing that leads me to rush anymore! I used to feel that I was defined by what I accomplished, by showing how busy I was, and how many things I could multi-task into a day/week/month/year, but not anymore! Now I live life slowly, appreciating my loved ones, loving moments the way I never have before. I have chosen to surround myself with people who I care about, who care about me, and who make me feel good. I concentrate on being happy, content, and taking time for myself. Does this mean I don’t have less than stellar moments/days/weeks?? Absolutely not! I just don’t dwell and expect things to be perfect anymore. Perfection does not exist and I don’t believe in it!

I started this blog saying it, so I will end it the same way:

Life is a series of choices; you can chose to dance in the rain or wallow in your own self pity when things aren’t perfect!

Me? I choose to dance in the rain and run in the snow!

Living my best life at 50!

Your Simply Susan Fabulous, facts about turning Fifty!!!!💛🥰

🍂”Fall”ing for change🍁

September was a much anticipated month of transition for my family. A lot of changes were coming our way and I was worried about what the shifts were going to look like for me, and for all of us!

In the 2nd half of the Covid 19 Pandemic my mental health was not good. I was having more “lows” than “highs” in my moods and was really struggling. I couldn’t seem to get out of the “funk” that enveloped me for quite some time. Thankfully I have a fantastic support network of family and good friends so I received the support I needed, and was determined to feel better.

To skip ahead from a very challenging, sad, 1st 6 months of this year, through numerous changes I was able to get myself “leveled” off with respect to my moods. Phew! It was a long, tough haul but it could have been worse I know.

First of all I was going to be returning to my job that I had sadly been not able to do because of the Pandemic. Now, first off, I LOVE my job! I work in a dance studio and I love the people I work with, the kids there, and their families! I wasn’t so much “worried” about going back, but change, and getting back into a routine that I been away from for a while is just challenging for me. I was looking forward to it, but things were going to be very different for me again.

So, as the summer was winding down I started to wonder how I was going to cope with the coming months of major change!

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  1st daughter moving to University

Now that was one of my worries, the next was that my youngest daughter was moving away to go to University! I had never been away from her for more than a full week her entire life! She was excited to go, and I was thrilled that she wanted to; so proud that we had raised a daughter that wanted to learn to be independent, and learn to live on her own!❤️

That being said, I couldn’t imagine the house without her lol! She and I have always been really close and I was worried about how things would be without her around. I mostly worried that she would cope ok with her academics (a perfectionist) and make friends as she was very worried about those aspects the most! I just wanted to know she would be ok.

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2nd daughter moving away.

Alright, now to add another layer, my oldest daughter was ALSO leaving again after being home for 4 months to go back to her University!!!

So, within 1 week my darling husband and I went from being a family of 4 who spent tons of time together, to me going back to work, and both girls moving away!!😲🤪

I need to say one thing here of utmost importance…….my husband Shawn is my absolute best friend and the best dad and loving husband I could have ever dreamed of!❤️ I’m not kidding❤️ I am thankful for having him every single day!

The good thing about Shawn and I is that we have a lot of common interests and hobbies that we do together; we run, bike, walk, visit craft breweries, hike, watch movies to name a few. I have realized over the years how valuable these common interests can be when you are facing living with just each other for the rest of your lives, potentially….I am not oblivious to the fact that kids move back lol🤣.

So, with that what has happened since September began?????

I am feeling FANTASTIC and am loving life!❤️

Our youngest daughter has adjusted very well to living away and has found “her people” ( her words lol!) She has made some really good friends who are proving to be excellent companions and she is very happy. I couldn’t be more relieved!

My older daughter moved into her new townhouse with 5 other girls and is super happy! She has always done well on her own so I was not so much worried for her as I was going to truly miss her!❤️!❤️

Shawn and I have really adjusted well to living alone. We spend less on groceries (but more on schooling lol etc), do less laundry, and have more time with just the 2 of us….oh and my bro who is a big part of our family❤️

Fear of the unknown can be so scary, but being in a good place mentally before I took on the biggest challenges was a huge win for me!

I will be forever thankful to my excellent support system, my self intuition, and my incredible doctor!

That’s is for now! Comments and questions are always welcome!

Happy fall y’all!!🍂🍁😋

Your Simply Susan blog of the day💛🌞

Life Lessons

Well, if 2020 taught us anything it taught me how to slow down and how to appreciate the little things in life. I used to think that multi-tasking was the very best use of my time and that I could get “so much more” done if I could master this skill. Well, I was wrong! Multi-tasking is just a way of doing things that makes you do a half-hearted job at many things rather than a good/great job at one thing!

Why do we think the busier we are the more important we are? Who ever put this idea in our heads?

I have really learned to appreciate life and learned that “multi-tasking” is NOT more efficient and not always the solution to today’s busy lives. Multi-tasking just means you are putting in a “partial” effort to more than one thing. We need to STOP thinking that this is better! I was like everyone else and thought that while I talked on the phone to my mom I should be cleaning the bathroom, walking the dog, making dinner, or doing SOMETHING else! But do you know what? I only ever gave her “partial” attention and she deserves my full attention. Same thing with multi-tasking chores and jobs; everything is only “partially” done!

What I am trying to wrap my head around is just why everyone is so busy all the time! I live a fantastic life and don’t feel like I am missing out on anything, yet I don’t feel overwhelmed in any way and have plenty of down-time. Am I just different? Is this a choice I have made? Am I lazy?

It seems as though we think we are viewed as “Lazy” if we are not always running around doing 20,000 things, for 20,000 people!

Taking time to yourself and SLOWING DOWN is something we, as a society, need to embrace. Honestly, the lockdown and isolation of 2020 taught me that I need to take care of myself. I am that important! If I want to be a better human being/mom/wife/daughter/friend/employee than I NEED to take care of myself.

What does this mean you might ask?? It means prioritizing what makes me feel good, what I enjoy doing, what will make me feel fulfilled, and what I need to be happy. If we put ourselves first, we become better at being there for everyone else!

When my children were very young I realized that I needed exercise in order to feel complete, and to maintain my mental health. So, I carved out time in my day to do this.

There is this completely INSANE belief that to exercise you need to A) have at least an hour, B) join a gym, and/or C) own exercise equipment. This is 100% not true. There are a ton of workout videos on Youtube, (and a ton here on my blog!!) that are short, efficient, and totally worth your time. HIIT (High intensity interval training) is an intense 10-15 min workout that gets your heart pumping and gets you sweating and that’s all you need to do!

So please, tell me who doesn’t have 10 minutes to give yourself????? I GUARANTEE you spend quadruple this time scrolling through your social media feeds! Take the time right now to schedule in 15 min on 4 days this week where you do a Pilates, Yoga, HIIT, Booty Band, or Weights workout! Seriously………schedule it in right now! If we write things down we are more likely to commit to doing it.

To sum up, 2020 taught me to SLOW down, do one thing at a time, and that I am important! I have had a lot of time to think about life, contemplate my purpose, really realize who my friends are, realize how important connecting to people is and how to be the best wife/mom/friend/daughter/human being I can possibly be. You know what??? It is taking the time to appreciate each and every thing I do, and appreciating each and every conversation I have with someone I care about.

What do you think?

Are you willing to slow down?

I will never forget this year for so many reasons, but I also would never take away the lessons I’ve learned and am grateful for those every single day.

Your Simply Susan advice of the day💛🙃🥰

Life is good!

I am in a very good place in my life right now, so I decided I would spread the joy around.

Realizing and acknowledging the good things in your life helps you so much. So many people are negative about life and live to complain and focus on the bad in everything. Sure, we all have bad stuff going on in our life, but do you know what? It is up to you to change your way of thinking and not dwell on things that bring you down. Thoughts are like magnets; if you think of a few good things in your life they will bring forth more good thoughts and memories. The same goes for bad thoughts. I find I can spiral downward once I have a few things go wrong and end up in a deep, dark place that is quiet a challenge to dig myself out of.

I have a few helpful tips that will make your days happy if you follow them:

Smile at and say “Hi” to a stranger today! Pick your person wisely, but while you are out for your walk or walking to the GO train or whatever, smile and say “Hi!” to someone. It will surprise you how this simple thing can make both yours and someone else’s day!

Take time to give a genuine compliment to someone each day. Making someone feel good about themself will also make you feel happy.

Greet people with a smile and a Hi whenever you can. I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by a fabulous family, great friends, and a job working with people I love. I truly believe that greeting people with a big smile and a nice hello can put people at ease and make mostly all situations better!

Someone once told me a long time ago that every night when you are going to bed think of 5 things you are thankful for. This was one of the best tips I have ever received! When you remind yourself right before dozing off to sleep of things you are thankful for, that puts your mind in a good place and helps you fall asleep.

Please give these a try, you’ll be glad you did, trust me!

Remember….You can’t always control what happens, you can ONLY control how you react to what happens.❤️

Your Simply Susan quick and dirty tip of the day! 😊💛

What’s new with “SQ”? (pronounced “esskew”)

Last year was a year of growth for me. I learned so much about myself, and took the opportunity to learn about sustainability and minimalism which led me off on a journey that I am so happy that I have made. I decided to ignore that voice in my head that said “what difference can one person make?” and chose to make our families lives more minimal (less “stuff”) and more environmentally friendly.

One major change was that I started listening to Podcasts and became completely addicted to them! Wow, why did it take me so long to find these! I have spent a huge amount of time listening to a variety of podcasts from Intermittent Fasting, to Fitness, Minimalism, Environmental Sustainability, to Daily pep talks, and this was only the beginning! They became an integral part of my daily living and my walks with Finley became even longer, and much slower…..finally really allowing him to do what he loves best; sniff and pee! The longer I was out in the fresh air learning all I could, the better it was for me, and who’s kidding who, when Mom’s happy, the family is happy lol!!🤣.

The one GIGANTIC change I made was that I changed when I eat (not what I eat…NOT a diet) by following an Intermittent Fasting lifestyle! Best…. thing…… ever…. honestly!!!!! I have not felt this energetic, focused, and felt this good about my body since before I had children! More on IF (intermittent fasting) in another blog to come as I have SO MUCH to say about why I will never go back to the way I ate before. So, with this incredible focus and feeling so physically great, I set off to reinvent myself.

One very important point I learned is that what I put ON my body was just as important as what I put IN my body! So, with that bit of information, I started my search for recipes for creams, lotions, deodorants, balms, butters, etc. Then…..…I learned that I could also make all my own house cleaning products that are not only cheaper, but are better for the environment and cleaner for our indoor air which we all know can become quite polluted with sprays, stale air, dander, and that is not even taking into account all those chemicals we use in our cleaning products😤.

So, that is the inspiration behind this post and to showcase what and how my life has changed for the better this past year!!!❤️. With that, I have created my own product line called SQ (pronounced “skew”) which is short for my nickname Suzy Q! I make MANY products for our family, but I am making 4 currently available to purchase if any of my faithful blog readers are interested! I will be writing a separate post listing these products: their prices, ingredients, and directions for use so please check it out and feel free to share this blog site!

Life is good! Hope you enjoyed my first post in a while, and please stay tuned for my new posts as they have been inspired by my new improved Minimal, Sustainable, and Fasted Lifestyle!❤️.

Your 2021 Suzy Q aka “SQ” post of the day! My new motto: Fit Body, Calm Mind, Happy Home.💪🦵🧠🥰🏡

The Sun🌞continues to Shine😁

It was 1 year ago today, (with the thanks of the “Bell Let’s Talk” initiative) that I openly talked about my struggles with depression. I have to say, I am SO happy I did! The people who reached out to me about their struggles and the compassion toward my struggles have indeed been incredible. I am touched that there are so many kind people in my world that have opened up and confided to me, and offered their shoulder and listening ear if I need it.

What have I learned in the past year?
If you talk about it you can get the help you need. By letting people know the signs to look out for when I am starting to “spiral downward” I get the support and help I need. It doesn’t have to be talking to another person in person though. Just getting your emotions out in any way that works for you is the goal; I often find that I on bad days I am on the verge of tears and absolutely do not want to talk to anyone. But, I will text. Texting with certain people in my life has worked wonders for me in working through my emotions and trying to keep my head above water. Thank you to those people for being there for you, you know who you are!

I have learned that I am not alone, actually FAR from it. It is a way more common health issue than, I am sure, most of you realize. So many people struggle with depression and don’t even know they have it. I know people that I wish would open up to me because I can see they are struggling but they just keep carrying on struggling every step of the way. This makes me so sad as I know that if they at least talked in confidence to their doctor or other confidant about it this would make a difference and get them moving in the right direction.
I have learned that for me medication DOES work, and I NEED it. I tried reducing my dosage when I felt I was in a really good place. I felt good for a couple of weeks, then after about 3 or 4 weeks noticed some things that I chose to ignore. I, once again as I did in the beginning, found excuses for feeling down; PMS, not enough sleep, stress. Well, after about 5 weeks I had gone into a deep, dark spiral and realized I needed to go back to where I was. What I realized was that the medication takes a while to get out of your system, and then to get back in it as well. Sure enough at week 3 my body was reacting to being on less of the serotonin it needs that my body doesn’t produce enough of. Then I just got worse and worse. When I finally accepted that I do need my original dosage and went back up, again it took my body time to adapt and get back on track. Lesson learned. Would I try this again? Maybe yes! I had let those who are close to me know what was going on, and they were helping me and keeping an eye on me, so it was tough, yet my support network was there. Too many people dismiss meds and insist on dealing with depression their own way, but I encourage people to at least try some to see if there is a change. There are so many different ones out there and if one doesn’t work, don’t assume all don’t; there are tons.

One other thing I learned is that I need to be around things and people that make me happy and

avoid those that don’t. I no longer waste my time being with those who bring me down, and am spending more and more time with the people that care about me and that I love to be around. I used to worry about pleasing everyone, but now I know my happiness is in my hands and I surround myself only with those who can provide this! I find, for the first time in my life, that I am putting myself and my well-being first. I have also realized that Finley, our dog, is an absolutely incredible therapy tool and I encourage anyone out there who doesn’t own a dog to consider it! He helps me in ways I can’t even describe! He is a constant, complete joy in my life and I love him as unconditionally as he loves me!

If you d
I am ecstatic that many people have come forward and been able to open up to me, and said it was because of my blog. That truly touched me. My purpose of writing about my troubles with depression was to help people understand what it looks, sounds, and feels like. Many people weren’t able to put a label on theirs until I put it all out there in words and they realized that “Yes! That is exactly what I feel!” If I just affected one person it would have been worth it, but thankfully, I had a ton of responses and people coming to thank me for opening up.

All in all it was totally, completely worth it and I would continue to encourage others to seek the help or the listening ear they need to get through it.

Remember………Suzy Sunshine is ALWAYS here to listen and talk.

Your Suzy Sunshine “ray” of the day!🤣

A smile a day……keeps negativity away

I have made it a personal goal of mine to approach each day with a smile and a positive attitude.  Some days are certainly harder than others, but as long as I work at it, I generally succeed……I did say generally, I am only human and just like everyone I have days where I keep to myself and avoid seeing and talking to people.

The difference here is that I recognize I am not in a good mood, acknowledge it, and purposely try to keep to myself so as not to affect others.  You know what?  We are all busy, we all have daily life challenges, and we all have some crap going on to deal with!  I just want to stress that just because you may feel like a miserable cow doesn’t mean you need to bring others down with you!!!!

I just HATE being around people that think that everyone needs to know how life has wronged them, how they have “Way too much to do!” , how everything is “so expensive!”, etc., etc., etc.,!   WE ALL DO!!!!!!!  That’s called life and it’s the CHOICES that we make that can make or break us.  I purposely CHOOSE to avoid people, or keep to myself if I am feeling negative because I am quite aware that what is going to come out of my mouth won’t help!

When we are around those “negative, dark, cloudy” people we can’t help but be brought down with them.  What do I do?  I try and say something positive, and I LEAVE!  I refuse to let someone ruin my day just because they think the world is out to get them!  It’s not worth it!  Life is too short to waste time with people who don’t affect you positively.

I want you, my loyal followers, to really think about these things as you surround yourself with people.  Who do you realize is your “dark cloud”?  Who makes you feel good?  How can I help this person to see the good rather than the evil??

Life is a series of choices, let’s try to spread  positivity and happiness.  I LOVE to smile, and am thrilled to hear that my smile makes those around me smile to. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Always remember those wise words from your mother…..“If you don’t have anything nice to say to say, don’t say anything at all!”

Love, smiles, and hugs to all my fit2borganized followers.

Please feel free to comment, and add suggestions as to what you would like me to tackle in this year’s blogs!

Your Simply Susan SMILE of the day!!