Ten Things We’re Looking Forward To For Spring

It’s been a minute — maybe more like an eternity. This blog is a place that I constantly find myself coming back to, yet over these past many months, I’ve started and subsequently deleted a handful of posts. Nothing I try to share ever feels very relevant. Our family is still in an extended period of waiting with no clear end in sight, and living in this constant state of in-betweenness has overflowed into every crack of our lives.

In many ways, I feel settled into this in-between space. It has provided (forced?) a much needed pause on truly every facet of my life. In a time characterized by the stripping back of everything that felt familiar, I’ve indulged in much contemplation and reflection, and established a resulting hesitation to start adding anything back. An initial reluctance to let go has morphed into a beautiful protection over the quiet simplicity we’ve been living over these past 18 months. While I very much so still feel uncomfortable in this in-between space, I’ve also grown a sort of fondness for it. While I’ve so desperately longed to be on the other side of this period, I also hold some hesitation about forcing my way through it prematurely. The sense of presence I’ve been able to hold in this strange unchartered space now feels like a lifeline, and I’m almost afraid to lose it again.

This winter has been dark, cold, and blanketed in snow (which perhaps is nothing new when you live in Canada). But much like the physical environment we’ve been experiencing, I’ve felt this in my spirit too. It’s been a long winter. But this past week, the temperatures were just the tiniest bit milder, the layer of ice across our driveway melted off to reveal the asphalt, and I stepped out the front door to pre-start my vehicle (as one must do in the midst of winter) to the faint melody of a birdsong. In a moment, I literally felt my spirit come alive. A new layer of snow fell again a couple days later, but in the simplest of ways, this faintest taste of Spring ignited a renewed hope that a new season is coming. And coming soon.

Perhaps it’s naive optimism pushing me forward, but Spring always brings with it a renewed sense of hope and I’m choosing to lean into it. As such, I’ll joyfully share ten simple, unexpected things I’m looking forward to in this upcoming season.

01 // After Dinner Walks

Those hours right before and right after dinner are by far the most chaotic in our household. As soon as the weather warms up enough for the sidewalks to be cleared, we are going to get back into our routine of taking an evening walk as a family. The girls are eager to play at the park again, while Curtis and I definitely just appreciate the fresh air and the room to roam. The endless sidewalk routes and numerous playgrounds within walking distance are one of our favourite parts of still living here in our hometown and we can’t wait to use them again.

02 // Decluttering

The beginning of the new season always brings with it a deep desire to shed all the extra layers — and I’m not just talking about coats and boots. Once the hibernation of winter is over, there exists a deep drive to lighten the load. I made a master list of all the zones I want to tackle over this next month with a mindset of “do I really need this?” I’m planning to tackle my closet, the girls’ closets, our freezer, the toys, and everyone’s shoes. I’m also eager to get my hands on our vehicles to do a much needed deep clean in those too.

03 // Another Trip to Virginia

We always look forward to the short stints we get to spend in Virginia, even if we can’t permanently make the move yet. We’re planning another family trip in April, which always proves to be a time of renewal and connection for us. We are already looking forward to spending time with our extended family while we’re there, but also plan to enjoy lots of our favourite restaurants, continue exploring the area, and working at settling into our home. Which brings me to my next item —

04 // A Main Floor Renovation

We have been busy planning out a pretty extensive renovation of the main floor of our new home. The project affects the kitchen, laundry room, living room, dining room, and sunroom. It’s quite comprehensive, so I may devote an entire post to sharing more about some of our plans and process for it. But for the purpose of sharing now, I’ll note that we are getting really close to wrapping up the planning phase and feel fairly confident that we may be able to get started on the project soon. I’ll share more soon!

05 // Mabel’s Birthday

If “birthdays” could be a love language, it would be Mabel’s. She talks about her birthday constantly and has been planning her 6th birthday since the day after her 5th. We’ve had lots of conversations about this, and I think at the end of the day, she just loves to plan and facilitate experiences that make people feel loved and special and her own birthday is no exception. Her birthday will come at the beginning of May and I’m excited to involve her in the actual planning process this year. We like to keep our kids’ parties pretty classic and simple, but definitely like to celebrate them in their own special way. Keep your eyes peeled for “How to Throw a Mermaid-Dinosaur Party” in the near future because that’s where this is headed at this point - ha!

06 // Painting Flowers

I’m a graphic designer who primarily works digitally these days, but I’m constantly exploring how the digital landscape translates to the physical. Over the past year, I’ve casually been working on a series of graphic digital illustrations of flowers and then have joyfully been recreating them with paint on canvas. It has been fun. I’ve enjoyed playing with graphic colour palettes and flat graphic styles and then experimenting with how those shift once they’re rendered in paint. I hope to continue working at my flower paintings with little regard for the end result. With this one, the process is the fun of it.

07 // Reading With The Girls

Reading with, to, and for my girls has become one of my favourite pastimes in this quiet season of life! I added a few picture ledges to our wall last summer and have been enjoying the process of hunting down and curating collections of seasonal books that spark wonder, curiosity, and good conversation to display on them. I’ve become very picky about what books we offer in our home, yet never feel guilty about adding to our collection. I’m excited to start curating a solid Easter-themed collection and am also eager to pull out some of our garden themed books soon. (As a side note, I also like to keep non-seasonal books within easy reach and a few of our favourites have been The Brambly Hedge series, A Child’s Garden of Verses, and Jame’s Herriot’s Treasury for Children)

08 // Planning a Playhouse

The moment we purchased our home in Virginia (which is almost two years ago now), I picked a spot on our property where I’d like to build the girls a playhouse. Like most kids, our girls are very imaginative and love pretend play and so I thought it would be fun for them to have their own little world outdoors to enjoy and make their own. They certainly don’t need a formal playhouse in order to do that, but the idea of building one for them ignites all my own creative juice and so we have prioritized it as one of the first things we want to do at our new house. I’ve been having a lot of fun brainstorming ideas, collecting pins, and perusing playhouse plans on Etsy, but I think this Spring would be the perfect time to start fleshing out those plans on paper. I’m loosely making it a goal — even if we haven’t made our move by the summer, I’d like to try to get it built on one of our short term visits this year.

09 // Tulips

My favourite flower ever are tulips and the Spring is when tulips shine! I’m looking forward to filling my home with tulips any chance I can over these next few months.

10 // Putting My Boots Away

I really do love wearing layers, but by the time March rolls around, I am so tired of prioritizing survival over style. I can’t wait to tuck my boots away in the closet, neglect my socks in the back of my drawer, and start varying my shoe choices every time I leave the house. Oh, how good it will feel to simply slip on a shoe and walk out the door in an instant! And since I’m daydreaming now, I’ll just add that I also cannot wait to stuff my kids’ snowsuits away too. We’re very ready to shed some layers (and leave the house 10 minutes sooner) around here.

Ok, now I’m not just optimistic, but giddy. What are you looking forward to this Spring?