Memories. Dreams, and Reflections 2023

Is it too late to write a brief reflection on 2023? Or are we too far into 2024 to look back to last year? I haven't done a year end recap in a few years, but I found this fun way of doing it through Lysha's blog and I thought I would borrow it. You can see Lysha's post here but the idea is that you share a picture from the past year for each of the prompts. 

 

1. Me!

This is "me" in April. I'm in my happy place, at a Blue Jays game with a drink in my hand! I so clearly remember this evening because it was a beautiful, unusually warm, April evening and the dome was open. I just love going to baseball games!

2. I Love You

Well, of course the picture for this prompt has to be one of me and Dave. This was in August when we attended a cooking class to celebrate our anniversary (about six weeks late). The food we made was so good and I've been tempted to sign up for another class because it was so fun!

3. Still Laughing…

One of the funniest things we did as a family this year was walk goats! We did this on our winter getaway in January and we laughed our way through it. We had so much fun, we signed up for another goat walk two days later. This was such a random, but such a hilarious, experience and we all loved it!

4. Winter Wonderland

Another picture from our January winter getaway and another really unique experience -- skating in the forest. This was a ice track in Arrowhead Provincial Park and it was so beautiful to skate in the woods.

5. Birthday

This was me, three days before my birthday this year! I turned 51. It was a low key birthday but I did get to see "Hamilton" with Dave and see the cherry blossoms at High Park, both in Toronto.

 

6. Friends

We enjoyed many good times with friends this year but a mother-daughter trip to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios with Janice and Tessa in March was a definite highlight!

7. I Was Inspired…

An Instagram friend posted about dandelion shortbread and I was inspired to make some. It was better than I had anticipated but not worth the amount of work to make, in my opinion. Although I did have Rachel collect the dandelion petals for me which cut down on my work!

 

8. Spring Fever

Going to Florida over March Break to see a Blue Jays' spring training game, among other things, sure didn't help any with my spring fever! I wish I could just spend the entire spring training season in Florida seeing games!

9. Travel or Vacation

Our major summer travel this year was to go to Saskatchewan, and while we were there, we did a road trip with my parents to southern Saskatchewan. Seeing the Great Sand Hills was an absolute highlight! Yes, this picture was taken in Saskatchewan -- not in a desert.

10. Summer Days

How many summer days did we eat outside at our table, under our tree? If we're at home I eat almost every meal, and drink my coffee-hot chocolate out here. 

 

11. A Day In My Life
Almost every day in my life I am folding laundry. If I can hang it out to dry, and fold it outside, my life is even better! And in this picture, I was clearly listening to the Blue Jays on the radio -- baseball and laundry -- am I ever predictable?!?!?!?

12. All Smiles

This was a big year as four of the most important kids in my life all graduated this year. We were all smiles at Willem's Grade 12 grad. Rachel (Grade 6), Sam (Grade 8), and Tessa (university undergrad) all graduated this year too. And the coordinating of blue/navy was not planned :)

13. Autumn/Fall

One of our absolute favourite evenings in the fall is LUMEN, our city's festival of light and technology. It felt extra magical this year, for some reason.

14. Family or Home

Much as my entire life is in Ontario, Saskatchewan will always be home. There is just something about Saskatchewan which fills my soul. And I love that Dave and the kids get excited to go there too! Rachel, especially, talks about how Saskatchewan feels like her "second home" and that makes me so happy. We were overjoyed to spend two and a half weeks there this past summer and another week and a half over Christmas.

15. Celebrate!

Getting to celebrate with the Jays that they made it to the postseason was so much fun! If only they had played a little better once they actually got there but oh well -- there's always next year.

16. Let’s Do It Again…

My "let's do it again" moment this past year was absolutely the one on one trips I took with the kids. Going to New York City with Rachel and on a Missouri baseball trip with Sam were an absolute highlight of the year! I wish we could do these every year.

17. I Miss You
Even though we got to see Mom and Dad a few times this year, I always miss them when we're not together.

18. Beautiful
I really didn't know what to show for this photo but, as you all know, I love my January tulips and thought this picture of them was particularly beautiful.

19. Dress Up

We didn't have many excuses to dress up this year but this picture of Dave and I was a memorable moment. Rachel really wanted Dave and I to dress up as Mickey and Minnie for Hallowe'en and she went through our closets to put together these outfits for us. She was so excited to see us in these costumes even though we only wore them for a photo. It was too cold to wear them trick or treating!

20. Macro

To be honest, I Googled the definition of "macro" to ensure I knew what I was trying to show here. (Definition I found: showing as larger than life.) I don't know that this is exactly a "macro" photo but I think it's close. This is from the sunflower farm we visited in August which was a highlight of our local exploring.

21. Holidays

We celebrated many holidays this year and I chose this photo because, as much as possible, I tried to find the "joy" in all of them. This Christmas season I tried to drag my family to as many light displays as possible because the light, in the midst of all the darkness, really does bring me joy.

 

22. My Favorite

This picture defines "my favourite" because I love so many things about it:

1) Our matching holiday pajamas

2) Celebrating Christmas in Saskatchewan

3) Our family all together

4) A few traditions are represented in this one photo -- matching pajamas, family photo in front of the tree on Christmas morning, etc

23. Don’t Ever Change

Of course I want Sam and Rachel to grow up, become adults, live their own best lives, but I also hope that they're always happy to go and get ice cream with me (even in the midst of winter)!

24. Just Because…

I may not love having to leave the house early for work every day but I do really love walking along my favourite path and seeing the sunrise.

25. Hopes and Dreams

I have two pictures for this prompt. First, Rachel's "hopes and dreams" came true when she got the ends of her hair dyed blue in late January. I redyed it at home two times after that (March and May) and then, in the summer, she decided to get most of it cut off.

The second picture I have for this prompt is the new day lily bed we created along our neighbours' fence. Although it wasn't their fault, the building of the fence happenedtwo days after our other neighbours lost their house (and their mother) in a fire. In the picture I've chosen, we've just replanted some of the day lilies which were displaced by the fence and, somehow, I feel like the fence is tied up both with the loss of the "hopes and dreams" of our neighbours and their fire, and the new "hopes and dreams" we have that all the various lilies we're planted along the fence will grow and bring their beauty to our yard. I know -- that's a lot for one picture to signify but it's all mixed up together in my head.

And now, that's a wrap of 2023. There was a lot of good this past year, but there was also some loss and some hard mixed in with it. Isn't that how it always is though...