how a full time job changed everything.

i miss this space.
like...i really missed it.
i never realized how blessed i actually was that i got to play and express myself here so deeply and for so long.
i feel so out of touch without this space.
i think of it constantly and come up with post ideas all the time but now my time to actually sit and articulate myself has diminshed a little bit. (case in point - i just realized, sitting here, that i work at 12:40 today instead of two! see - my thoughts are constantly elsewhere.)

don't get me worng - i love my new job. to some that may seem silly but to me it's great. in the span of 5 months i got hired, got my feet wet and got a promotion! i am running a little corner of the world and feel needed again. i know that sounds strange too, and i know that i am needed everyday in the running of things here but it's a different kind of needed.

and it feels great.

i do miss this space and i will be popping in from time to time but with the job, selling the house and family time it's harder than i thought.
a lot harder than i thought.
i always have this plan of jumping on here right when i get home from work and updating but then i just pushed off for someone elses plans of watching mindcraft youtube videos, checking out the lastest gossip on monster high or having a great cup of coffee & watching season three of downton abbey on netflicks - much needed un-wind time for me. then there's dinner to make, irish dancing to get to, borwnines to get too...you get the picture.
(i think the solution maybe my own laptop that i can curl in bed with??..... hhmmm....just a thought)

we have had some great adventures over the last couple of months which i have wanted to include y'all in so bad but unless i am sitting here at 3am it's just not happening.

there was our time in ottawa:

and then getting in the last skate at our place.....

and then it was spring break and we cheered tony on at his hockey game.......

and then the end of swimming lessons till the summer......

and then that time it snowed...AGAIN....

portfolio night at school.....

our one obligatory visit to the cabane a sucre....

someone lost another tooth....

tony played more hockey and won the championship......

spring FINALLY arrived and brought with it new bikes for our long-legged creatures......

and that time we put our house up for sale.

it's been a crazy ride these past couple of months and hopefully all the pieces will come together soon and maybe in the new house i can get a space for myself that i'm not in the back corner of the basement....cause really - who wants to sit back there?


i just realized this was my 500 post. seems kind of fitting.

case in point about life right now - i wrote this IN MARCH and am just putting the finishing touches on it today!my goodness.....

the sights of winter.

four years ago we moved from mild vancouver {yes they do get a lot of rain!} to cold cold cold quebec.
to say it was a shock is an understatement. sometimes i miss the rain. some days i would rather the rain.
that being said we have tried hard to embrace all that comes with the changing seasons and that includes winter.

now we are not complete crazy people - we do stay inside all bundled up when it's around minus 25, although you would never guess it was that cold outside for those always happen to be the sunniest days and the most appealing for those looking from the inside out! but when the temperatures hit -12 there is a sense of it not being too bad and we are bundled and pushed out. the great thing about these temperatures is that tony has been able to create a backyard rink. he has a love for skating and this way he can easily share it with the kids and get their skills up as well. win win. they spend hours out there playing redbull ice crush, doing obstacle courses, learning basic hockey skills and how to do figure eights. there are becoming real Quebecois! haha.

now for me - i still need a bit of convincing. i shy away from the low temps and i'm not as eager to walk the dog at night but i am getting better {just don't consult my husband on this! ha!}. i'm just not used to it and still feel like that vancouver girl at my core. it just seems too cold sometimes when to others it might feel normal. i will get over it sooner or later. i better.

the exciting part is that we have, for the past two winter's now, discovered the local ski hills and that's where my focus lies. i'm so happy we live near some sort of ski hill. my best memories growing up involve being dropped at the hill {cypress always.} with my sister for the day and sometimes being fortunate enough to have a gang of us up there ruling the slopes until the lights come on and we are forced to leave. i stole the kids away on monday - they had a day off of school - and went to a local mountain for the afternoon. we pretty much had the place to ourselves and it was magic. they don't quite share my love of skiing now but i am sure they will come around. hopefully. the days we can go up are here and there - weather is too cold or prior commitments that already rule the day limit our play time - but when we can go it's heaven.

i can't wait for the day THEY beg me to go - instead of the other way around.
that day you will not be able to wipe the smile from my face.
guaranteed.



******

as some of you may have noticed this space has been a little quite lately. there are a few reasons for that 1) although i have been cooking delicious food and i am dying to share the in's and out's with you i am, unfortunately, not cooking at 11am and photographing it at night in the winter is the pits!! and 2) i have taken a job outside of the house for now and 3) i am trying to decided what i am going to do when i grow up and that takes some planning. lots of planning. oh and we have decided to put our house up for sale. that's a big one there. that's makes it a lot harder for time for this space because all the little things of life are also taking over: laundry, homework, breakfast, lunch, dinner.....so my time to connect here and photograph/edit have been taken by those other tasks. that being said i am not closing down all together - i am just not being able to post three to five times a week like i once did, which actually does make me a little sad. i love this space so much and want to thank everyone who comes by and supports it. you can always see what we are up to via instagram {@jengronick} and if i ever post a food shot there that has you curious please drop me a line and i will fill you in - it would be my pleasure!!

talk soon! xx

seven.

in december cooper turned seven.
i can't believe we are there already. we now have an almost 9 year old and a seven year old!!
i remember 2006 like it was yesterday.....not like it was seven years ago!

i love parties. love them. love planning them. love throwing them.
they are my jam.
and especially i would do anything for this little guy. he is funny and charming and such a nice kid that waits patiently all year for his birthday AND christmas you can't help but want to spoil him a little. give him a little extra because of all the waiting.
but this one was.....a lot.
this year we took him and twelve friends bowling. glow-in-the-dark, laser-light show, disco bowling.
holy smokes that was a busy afternoon.
i completely under-estimated it.
i think maybe next year we are going to take him away for his bday. somewhere hot and fun.
{and somewhere brighter - trying to get 14 kids to stop moving to take a photo in a dark place sucks!!}

i don't know if i can do another.

...