I was born in the decade of big hair, horrible perms, and plastic on couches. Here I am circa 1986-ish on my Nanny's couch, which maintained its plastic covering until the 2000's.
My Aunt has always been a safe person for me to be myself with. One of my earliest memories is that I had a bad dream on a sleepover night, and when I couldn't fall back asleep sitting in their dining area eating watermelon until I calmed down.
Growing up, I spent many weekends at my Aunt and Uncle's with my cousins. We often fought over silly things, were dressed in matching outfits, and played epic games of Hide n Seek and made AMAZING forts. Now, my daughter gets to follow in the trend of matching outfits with her cousins, which I never thought I would enjoy as much as I do.
I love halloween! The first year my daughter was born, she had 3 costumes (one of which is shown here)
The second year, we moved into our house and started the tradition of trick or treating with my nieces and husbands family. My daughter was so excited to be able to wear my husbands old costume and each year it just keeps becoming more entertaining.
My husband and SIL at Halloween time. There have been nights when we have looked through a million of their printed images, and I hope the future generation learns the joy of prints.
In July 2008, I had an ectopic pregnancy that had to be surgically removed and resulted in me hating my body. I never felt like I was "beautiful" in the traditional sense.
To try and reclaim my identity and body confidence, I did a photo shoot and that resulted in a short stint of hobby modelling. This is one of the first images I ever felt pretty in.
The modelling was short lived, but it introduced me to the other side of the lens. This image is one of the first images that I felt beautiful and truly myself in.
I spent the fastest 10 months of my life, with these ladies while we went to school together.
Fast forward 7+ years and we still talk regularly despite distance, and I am so grateful for their ability to make me snort laugh with ease. These are the people who understand my camera brain, and my antics and get the importance of a photograph.
Some of my favourite memories involve being on a boat with friends and family and boats are considered my happy place. If I am near a body of water, I typically feel a sense of calm.
At some point, my Nanny was showing me a bunch of old jewelry and in the box were here engagement ring and wedding band and I fell in love with them. She was happy to let me use them. However , I can tell how proud she is, whenever there is a new person in her life she will introduce me and talk about my rings and ask for me to show them off.
From an awesome time machine that we built for some sort of project to do a presentation about some viking Bjorn something or other, we became fast friends and two decades later we can still laugh about something so old. (Even if we can't remember his name.)
We will have 4 hour video calls, snail mail and a dozen inside jokes that never get old. Yet after so many years of friendship, there has been an amazing growth and honesty that I cherish. Distance and time are not something that has affected this friendship in a negative way. We have a knack for picking up like no time has passed.
There are people who come into your life, and you just click. They understand you in a way that you didn’t even realize was missing. This lady is mine. We call each other soul friends and she is literally one of the best humans I know.
Whether we are going on an adventure, or having a nap.. we have each others backs. She has also become a favourite of my minis and they love their time with Auntie.
Pregnant with my first baby only a few days before she was born. 2014
Pregnant with my second baby, who I thought would be out shortly after the photo. I was wrong
Being a mother is the core of who I am. It changed me in ways I still process and reflect on regularly, and I believe I am always becoming.