Thankfulness

So here’s my goal: I want to cultivate thankfulness in my life. I began writing a list of everything I’m thankful for in my personal journal, but I kind of forgot about it and, frankly, started being more of a grumbler than a thanker. So I want the theme of this blog to be one of thankfulness, which will hopefully be the reflection of a life of thankfulness. I’m going to purposefully write about aspects of my life that I’m thankful for, highlighting complaints and ungratefulness only to shed greater light on that for which I am grateful.

In order to avoid the impression that this is a look-at-all-the-great-things-in-my-life exploitation, let me premise this: I believe that God is the giver of all good things. And even some of the seemingly not good things we experience can serve to bring us to greater depths of gratefulness.

Why now, after not blogging for over a year and a half? Well, during much of that time, Jeff and I were vlogging.* Being the practical person that I am, I didn’t want to repeat what we were already doing via video. Also, I figure this will help keep me accountable to interpreting life through the lens of gratitude.

*TheChaseons Along the same lines as my thankfulness accountability here, Jeff is currently vlogging about his weight loss journey. You can also see past videos of our East Coast life.

I really do have good intentions about blogging more regularly. We're trying to be more intentional about living simply, and part of that means enjoying the journey of the day-to-day, even the unexpected things. I think we're getting better at that.

I started doing some supply teaching before Christmas and have been working nearly full-time the last couple of months. However, supply teaching has the wonderful perk of no take-home prep or corrections. It's quite lovely to be home by 3:30pm and still have energy to take care of the house, cook, run, relax... Plus, I can always say "no" if I'm too busy with the rest of life to teach. My perspective is that my teaching is the extra-curricular activity which shouldn't take away from my "studies" of homemaking and wifehood. Also, Jeff is now working from home doing freelance graphic design and photography, so it's nice to be available to help him out when needed.

Here we are strolling on "our" beach, near our house. (This was in the fall; presently, the beach is full of ice and snow.)


Even Mitaines is enjoying East Coast living and dining.

Introducing...

The other day, Jeff called from work and said he was coming home for lunch and that he would bring something home for lunch for us. He brought home chicken (to eat) and a kitten! Now, we've always hesitated about getting a cat for many reasons, the least of which is not the tendency for some pet owners to treat their animals as human members of the family. To make a few what-should-be-obvious statements, our cat is not our baby; I am not its mother. Thus I will not refer to it or me as such. And I will never pay to have professional photographs taken of my pet. However, should you wish to do so with your own pet, please contact my husband and he'll gladly take great photos, and your money. That being said, we're quite delighted with our new feline friend. We named him Mitaines (French for Mittens, pronounced Mee-'Ten), to reflect his francophone heritage. Oh, and I also won't be spending excessive amounts of money on pet accessories. Check out the stylish scratching/climbing pole I made with a stool and a pair of old jeans. I'm glad I did, otherwise he'd probably be tearing apart some piece of furniture instead.

Life on the North Shore

We're now into the swing of a new fall routine, although I don't think "routine" is a word that ever describes our life for long! Nevertheless, Jeff has settled into his new graphic design job at a local print shop, as well as pursuing photography on the side. I'm home full-time for now. It's nice to feel like I can focus on doing one thing well (i.e., homemaking) rather than doing many things but feeling like none are done very well. We're in our new house near the beach and we've had the pleasure of many visits from friends and family. Here's a brief photo overview of highlights from the past few months.

Fishing trip up river (This was my first big catch...)


First family canoe run


Seafood feast with visiting friends


Jenny's folks enjoying the view from our swing


Sam being baptized in the very rough waves of the bay


Fall Beachcombing


Jeff heading to his first day at the new job


Jenny's creamy pumpkin cheesecake at Thanksgiving


Fun in the leaves

Pressing on

I've obviously neglected our blog for a while now. And the longer I didn't update, the harder it was to be motivated to do so because of all I would have to squeeze into it in terms of what we've been up to. So, I decided to just continue from where we're at now because our journey over the past eight months would deserve much more than a few blogs could offer.

We recently sold our home in Ontario and moved back to northern New Brunswick, where we lived the first year we were married. I don't think either of us has been as excited about any of our moves or circumstances as we are about this. It's like a sigh of relief has come over us, like a bumpy part of the road has been travelled and conquered. And though we were wearied and maybe worse for the wear, refreshment is coming, and we are strengthened for the journey to come.

A summer of celebrations

Celebrating...

4 years of marriage...


with the in-laws!



A myriad of delightful guests in our first house, (e.g., Cousin Marty and Jeff jammin' in our living room)



Culinary explorations:

Jeff on the shiny new BBQ


Jenny on the yard-sale waffle maker (note: 100% whole grain and organic waffles from scratch)

Moving

Jeff and I move into our first house tomorrow. When I began packing seriously yesterday, my first thought was, "I wonder how much it costs to hire someone to do this?" Then I got into the swing of it, only the odd time becoming distracted by the newspaper I was using to wrap dishes and stopping to read an article or two. As I made it through the office and bookshelves this afternoon, I became increasingly thankful for all the people who have been a part of my life throughout the years, however briefly. Although it's a little frightening to see how much stuff we have, so many items trigger pleasant memories of times and places that would otherwise be lost in the dusty corners of my mind.