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!!!!💛🥰

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💛🙃🥰