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 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! 😊💛

For the love of dog!

On my daily walks with our puppy I have been thinking a lot about how much he has improved not only the quality of my life, but of my family’s life as well.  The random smiles I get from watching him do, well, too many cute things to mention have made me realize how amazing a decision we made to add this wonderful addition into our family.

I have thought a lot about how when you have both a puppy and a baby there are many similarities to how you spend your days.  Before having children I never spent time at a park, I never took daily walks to get fresh, I wasn’t accustomed to daily chatting with strangers and so much more.  I realized that having a dog is similar to this. I treasure my morning walks with Finley and having to do this has made me a better person. It forces you to get out of the house (a positive thing), it encourages you to socialize with other dog walkers, and it takes you on paths you may not have traveled otherwise.  I love that each walk with Finley is different somehow; I take a different turn down a different street, I take that “off the paved path” through the stream area or whatever.  Whatever it is, it is always a daily adventure that I, and I truly believe that he too, looks forward to.

I never knew that I could be so attached to an animal before Finley.  He is the simplest joy around and is always there for me no matter what.  He will sit by me day in and day out, follow me faithfully around the house keeping an eye on me, and most importantly he will give me (and of course the other 3 members of my family!!!) unconditional love always.

Dogs don’t hold grudges.  They don’t judge you if you make a mistake.  Dogs are truly just there to love and be loved.

I love our Finley in a way I could never have imagined.  I always heard other people tell me about dog ownership and how great their dogs are.  Funny thing is, I always had a dog growing up and loved them (well, some more than others!!).  I obviously was not the one they were most bonded with, and now as an adult I realize my mom did ALL the work for our dogs.  I really had no idea what was involved, but also the fantastic and SO WORTH IT payback that a dog gives you if you treat it well.

We put off dog ownership in my family until we were truly ready and could both spend the time training our dog, and had the time to spend with the dog.  I am so happy that I spend the time with him that I do, I think that is why he is so loyal and well behaved and he’s only 7 months. I can’t imagine life without Finley, but I am sure glad that we waited until the time was right!

Finley rocks!  He is one amazing dog and we all love love love love him more than we ever thought possible.

If you’re ready for it and have the time, give dog ownership a second thought.  It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it.

Your Simply Susan happy thought of the day!