Welcoming a New Decade!

Nov 20, 2020
7 min read

Hello, there beautiful souls!

This might be a bit of a long one today folks, so grab your snacks and warm beverage of choice, and join me as I reflect on my 20’s!

Some people get super mushy and into a deeply reflective state when the year comes to an end. For me, I get like that each year around my birthday, and this year happens to be a big one! The big 3-0!

If you asked me a week ago how I was feeling about turning 30, I’d be honest and tell you, it was scaring the literal crap out of me, causing me a ton of anxiety, and I was just plain not feeling it! I think each year we set out to accomplish specific goals each year and when you don’t nail them, it leads to feeling disappointed. I was so fixated on the 2 things I hadn’t accomplished, I literally FORGOT how amazing the past decade has been.

So, join me on a trip down memory lane through a series of photos and look back on how amazing the last decade of my life has been.

I look back at the past 10 years and am so thankful for the people who have walked out of my life to make space for the beautiful people who walked IN! I’d say that was probably the hardest lesson of my 20’s, learning when to let “friends” go. Truth is, it is better to have a few good quality humans to surround yourself with. You are the sum of the 5 people you spend the most time with….so many sure those 5 are positive, high-vibing people, who will ELEVATE you to become the best version of yourself. I am most thankful for the tribe of people in my life, and the ways each of them push me to become a better version of myself through their love and support.

In my 20’s, I graduated from college! I was a personal trainer for a few years which taught me a LOT about myself, and about what I wanted to do for a career. Being a personal trainer in my early 20’s taught me a lot. It taught me that the vast majority of people take people at face value without taking the time to learn more about them. It taught me that people are super quick to pass judgment based on someone's appearance. It taught me how to hold my ground, and how to claim my space (literally!....I would stand on my toes constantly when I worked clients to appear bigger….it was a time!). It also introduced me to the love of my life.

On the day before my 21st birthday, I introduced myself officially to Thomas after months of trading smiles in the gym as I worked. On my 22nd birthday, we started seeing each other and the rest is kind of history.

Thomas and I have had SO much fun! We did so many fun 5k adventures, the neon vibe, color me rad, Mud hero, and more. We quickly took up hiking on the weekend, and on my 25th birthday, on our favorite mountain, he asked me to marry him.

Thomas got his first apartment, and shortly after that we rescued 2 kittens, Jasper and Alice <3 Around this time I settled into my new career working for an online health store. I wasn’t sure how it would work out long term, but 5 and a half years later- it was MEANT to be!

I started this job, it was regular 8-4 hours Monday-Friday and I took my first paycheque right to Mr. Morningstar and paid for a full year membership at Taekwon-Do. This was part of my earlier years that I had to give up in my late teens to go to school, and it was a part of me that I knew I needed to get back to. Taekwon-Do was what got me through a lot of hard years when I was younger, and it honestly formed me into the young adult I was, so my goal all through college was to find a career path that would allow me to go to the evening adult classes….and that’s exactly what I did!

I started Taekwon-Do after quite a break, and shortly after starting, I decided I wanted to push myself outside my comfort zone and start saying yes. Yes to competitions, yes to sparring, yes to seminars, yes to traveling, yes to LOTS of training….and with all those yes’s, so many amazing people came into my life, and I got to experience traveling with these friends that feel like family.

I competed at every CanAm tournament that was hosted, and I even managed to hold a Gold Medal in patterns 4 years running. Last year I got to join my teammates on the Black Belt Team and represent Ontario for team patterns, where we proudly brought home a gold medal from Newfoundland.

Taekwon-Do in my 20’s taught me more than I ever could have imagined, and way more than it did as a child. It also brought my best friend into my life, and one hell of a support system. That support system helped me accomplish my BIGGEST goal I had that I set for myself at the age of 10, and helped me prepare for my Black Belt Test, and in June 2018, I finally earned my Black Belt. People say it takes a village to raise a child, well, it takes one to cultivate a black belt too! I am forever thankful for my Taekwon-Do family.

Taekwon-Do wasn’t the only evolution in my 20’s. Thomas and I started our life together! We adopted 2 adorable kittens, in a 700 sqft apartment. We got engaged on my 25th birthday, and a year later moved into our own apartment in downtown Burlington! It seemed HUGE! The 1100 sqft seemed beyond spacious, with a balcony that had a perfect view of the lake when you looked to the right, and then a perfect view of where we got engaged on Mount Nemo when you looked to the left. During this time, I also managed to purchase my dream car- THE JEEP! After a series of unfortunate events with the good old Honda Civic, and by some stroke of luck I managed to make this dream come true with the help of my angels. I used a little money from my Grandma and Uncle Bill who passed, for the down payment on the Jeep, and my mom came with me to get my Papa’s custom plates that I had on my Accord, on the Jeep. So, all 3 angels came together to help me with the Jeep. Looking back on things now…..I think the fact I didn’t transfer over the custom Blue Jays plates to the civic is the whole reason I had SUCH terrible luck with it!

We said I DO in July of 2018 and had the most relaxing honeymoon in Blue Mountain. It wasn’t long afterward that I had this urge to grow our family by adding another 4 legs….and I knew an apartment wasn’t going to work for what I had in mind….so we made the move to our first house.

Our first house, though it isn’t exactly our, brought a whole older set of firsts...like, first basement leak, buying our first lawnmower, hedge clippers, and more gardening supplies than one thought necessary to maintain a yard. Then, in April of 2019, our big baby wolf came home via airplane all the way from Alberta.

THIS BOY! My goodness! He is my dream dog now, but shortly after Kylo arrived, I realized just how big of an undertaking he was going to be. Now, if I thought Taekwon-Do taught me perseverance and to have an indomitable spirit, I was wrong, Kylo did.

Kylo TESTED me. He tormented the cats (we actually still struggle with this a tad) the incessant biting resulted in bruises all up and down my arms and legs for months, he was reactive to other dogs, children, and basically anything with a heartbeat...and with no end in sight. We had no company for over a year. We didn’t really go anywhere...we had no life whatsoever for over a year.

The tears that were cried, and the frustration I had with him that first year and a half. His breeder tried to help from across the country, we went through 4 trainers, all of which told me he was the wrong dog for me, and we weren’t compatible….and finally we found Shield K9, and our prayers were answered. Was it easy? NOPE! Was it hard work and dedication? YUP! But you know what, it has been the most rewarding journey I have ever embarked on. And guess what- He is EXACTLY the dog I needed, and he has helped me through so much, and I am so thankful for him.

Once I was able to focus on life again and had a normal dog that wasn’t trying to eat people, it opened up room for me to CREATE again! And create is just what I did! I created this blog, as well as an Instagram community to go with it full of like-minded women. I started sharing my story and my journey through fitness and health and wellness, and it turns out, almost 7500 people wanted to listen to what I had to say. I find content creation a super fun creative outlet, and it’s allowed me to work with some really cool small businesses within the health world. It also reignited my love for photography, and I started a small photography biz specifically for families and pets! THIS is something specifically I want to dive into in my 30’s and really make flourish.

So, here we are! My last few hours in my 20’s….and I honestly feel amazing. I feel at peace, and ready to take on the decade to come. I feel so blessed to have the people in my life that I do. I feel fulfilled in what I do and loved beyond measure. My heart is full with my fur babies, and am so excited for the adventures Thomas and I will have in the next decade….one of which will be a house (it’s going to happen! Just watch). I feel confident in my career, and know I am where I meant to be.

So cheers to my 20’s. It has been a WILD ride to say the very least. My 20’s taught me so much about myself and I will be forever thankful for how transformative this decade has been.