Category Archives: blogger

author, blogger, Christianity, encouragement, God, Jesus Christ, mindset, musings, positivity

Be Here

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If you asked me what I love most about summer, it wouldn’t be the vacations or the long list of things to do.

It would be the way life seems to exhale.

Breathe in 1, 2, 3, 4.

Breathe out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

The calendar loosens its grip. Evenings stretch a little longer. We linger over dinner , gather around the barbecue, read books we’ve been meaning to open for months, and find ourselves talking more, not because there’s an agenda, but because there’s finally enough time.

Somewhere between the sunshine and slower mornings, I start to remember who I am when I’m not racing from one commitment to the next or scheduling one commitment or another! haha

We’re halfway through another year.

Already.

That realization can make me feel one of two things: pressure because time is slipping away, or gratitude for the chance to pause before rushing into what’s next in the next six months.

I’m choosing the second.

Summer has become my invitation to pause and reflect.

To notice what has been life-giving.

To acknowledge what has been heavy.

To celebrate the prayers God has answered and quietly place the unfinished ones back into His hands.

Lately, I’ve found myself returning to some familiar rhythms.

I’ve picked up my journal again, filling pages instead of just filling my calendar.

I’ve been writing my blog and about research not because I have to, but because words help me hear what my heart has been trying to say.

I’ve been listening to worship music that gently redirects my attention away from striving and back toward the One who never asked me to earn His love. What a gift!

I’ve been reconnecting with old friends whose conversations feel like coming home.

And, after months of frustration, I’ve found myself moving again.

Not quite the way I had planned.

A foot injury has changed what exercise looks like for me, reminding me of another season back in 2022 when training for Ironman took an unexpected turn. Once again, I’m learning to adapt instead of quit. So these days you’ll often find me on my bike, lifting weights or deep-water running which makes me grateful simply to move, even if it looks different than I imagined. (What a mind shift!)

There is something humbling about discovering that joy doesn’t disappear when our plans change.

Sometimes it just finds a different path.

Maybe that’s what summer offers all of us.

Not an escape from real life, but a return to it.

A chance to step outside.

To feel the warmth of the sun on our faces.

To laugh a little longer around the table.

To read.

To pray.

To listen.

To breathe.

To remember that the richest moments in life are rarely the busiest ones.

As we begin the second half of the year, I’m finding that I don’t need another ambitious checklist.

I need presence.

I need gratitude.

I need space to hear God’s gentle voice again.

Because when I slow down enough to notice Him, I almost always notice the goodness He’s been weaving into my life all along.

So wherever this summer finds you, my hope is that you’ll give yourself permission to slow down.

Reflect on where you’ve been.

Celebrate how far you’ve come.

Release what you’re not meant to carry.

And simply…

Be here.

Happy Canada Day friends!

xoxo Joanna

author, blogger, Book, Boys, God, home learning, Jesus Christ, life, musings

Be Juggling Flaming Bowling Pins while Riding an Unicycle

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If you asked me how life is going right now, I’d probably laugh before answering.

Picture someone juggling flaming bowling pins while riding an unicycle. Now replace the bowling pins with a master’s thesis, the end of another school year, conference planning, countless emails, family life, an ever-growing list of ideas and health issues that stop me from falling asleep. Welcome to my current season.

Some days I feel like I’m absolutely thriving. Other days I can’t remember at 11:30am where I left my breakfast… or whether I actually ate it.

This spring has been one of those “full” seasons. I’m researching homeschooling and online learning to prepare to start my Masters thesis, comparing Grade 9 and 10 student achievement across different learning models. It turns out I genuinely enjoy looking at spreadsheets and statistics, which surprises no one who has ever watched me colour-code or create summary fields in a Google Sheet.

At work, another school year has wrapped up. There’s something deeply satisfying about seeing students finish well, teachers catch their breath, and families celebrate another year of home learning. It’s also a reminder that education has never been one-size-fits-all. Every student carries a different story, and every family chooses a different path.

At home, life continues to remind me how quickly time moves. Our boys are teenagers now, building lives of their own and travelling around the world. (As I write list, JC has just landed in Lison, Portugal to compete in his first International trampoline competition representing Canada! CC is getting ready to go to the World Cup in taekwondo and our youngest is a practice players on the BC summer games team!) It’s a strange and wonderful transition, from packing lunches and driving to sports to cheering them on from the sidelines of growing into adulthood.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, I keep coming back to the reason I started Be Enough.

Not because I’ve mastered contentment.

Not because I’ve figured everything out.

But because I need the reminder as much as anyone else.

The world constantly whispers, “Do more. Be more. Achieve more.”

God quietly says, “You are already loved. You are enough. I am enough.”

I’m learning that my worth isn’t measured by another degree, another accomplishment, or another perfectly checked-off to-do list. Those things are good, but they were never meant to define me.

So if life feels a little chaotic right now, you’re in good company. Mine certainly is.

Here’s to unfinished projects, overflowing calendars, unexpected joy, abundant grace, and learning, one ordinary day at a time, that we have always been enough because of the One who made us.

Thanks for following along on the journey.

Have the best week!

Love ya, xoxo Joanna

blogger, friendship, teaching, Wordsmith

Be Talking TO or ABOUT People

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I was a “full-on”, “on purpose” teenager.  I played volleyball, basketball and ringette.  I travelled all over western Canada for my sports. I played flute in the band as an out-of-the timetable course. I had a boyfriend in grades 10 through 12 and a large circle of friends in my neighbourhood and around the city. I enjoyed Wing Wednesday at Earls on the bypass and even went to park my car at McDonald’s to see what everyone was doing on weekend nights that I was in town.  I am not sure if I was oblivious to gossip, but I definitely lived on the outside of it as I was having too much fun living life. 

Lately, as I contemplate my last few years, I realize that there are two kinds of people in life: Those that talk TO you and those that talk ABOUT you. (I am not sure how I skipped learning this in high school, but perhaps I got lucky learning this now!) 

If you are saying my name and I am not physically within ear shot, yup that’s talking ABOUT me.  If you have an encouragement or thought about something I did and you tell me directly, with no third party involved, that’s talking TO me.  For me, there is not a grey area for talking about and to someone, even if you are praying for them.  One can build someone up and the other rips them apart, step-by-step.  

Why did I decide to write this today. Well folks, I am hoping that as you walk through life that you will have people around you that always talk TO you. I would rather be around people that are busy bodies than spend five seconds with a busybody.  

I hope this encourages you on your walk through life today. Have a terrific Tuesday and love what you do. 

Xoxo Joanna 

blogger, Flexibility, Wordsmith, writing

Be Wondering about the “To Me”

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I have always loved the perspective of things happening “for us” rather than “to us”.  Lately, I have been wondering about the mental benefit of making this division in my mind between the words “for me” and “to me”. (You know how much I love words and my mind often does play mental gymnastics with words.)

In the last four months, I have had three things happen in my professional and personal life that I feel were definitely done “to me”.  Things that affected my life, without any type of discussion or collaboration beforehand. In one single moment, my life shifted. 

Fundamental.

Unprovoked.

Future shifting.

Life altering changes.

They have all ended up progressing me towards a positive, as I know when unforeseen things happen we can either become wounded or wise. I always choose wise.  But it still feels like these three things were foisted on me.

The latest example was my childhood kitchen table. The wooden, handcrafted fifty year old table that we ate every dinner at together as a family, celebrated birthdays and Christmases at, where my mom did her marking and my dad did his bookkeeping for his business. The hub of my family home growing up in Northern British Columbia where many memories were made. One night, a few weeks ago, I received a text from my dad with a picture of a new dining room set. Where had the kitchen table gone you ask? My father had suddenly decided to gift it to his girlfriend’s son. This one moment with the loss of my childhood table, which symbolized so many things about my sweet mom, brought me to my knees and made me reflect on all these moments in the last four months where things were simply done.

Gone.

Without thought of me.

Without any conversation beforehand.

Nothing I can say to change things “back”.

Done.

Unrecoverable.

Unchangeable.

Simply done and done.

As I sit in the sun today, I am not reframing these three events so that they sit better in my soul, I am simply sitting with this feeling and becoming wiser in who I allow into my life, what I hold tightly to and how I am spending my time.  Time is our greatest commodity friends.

Who? 

What? 

When? 

These are all up to me and allow me to live with JOY even when things happen “for” and “to” me.  

I am enough. 

You are enough. 

Keep being conscious of your who, what and when. 

Happy wonderful Wednesday folks and love what you do.

Xoxo Joanna 

Aging, blogger, Grief, life, love, positivity, women

Be Having Grandma Hands 

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I was hanging out with twin three years old last week and one of the sweet souls grabbed my hand and exclaimed, “You have grandma hands!” 

I wanted to cry as I looked down at my hands. 

I realized in this moment that I have MY MOM’S HANDS! 

I almost bawled. 

I cannot even put into words the pure JOY that I felt. If I can pour a portion of the love that my mom poured into the world through her life AND her hands, I will be blessed.  

Grandma hands. 

To bless. 

To give. 

To share. 

To love. 

Thank you Jesus for giving me this vision about my hands. 

Thank you for the privilege to live long enough to have Grandma hands.

Happy Saturday lovely folks and love what you do. Xoxo 

Joanna 

blogger, Goals, musings, Wordsmith

Be Adding More Fun F’s to 2024

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In early January, I posted five F’s that were my goals for 2024:

1️⃣ Fitness

2️⃣ Have Fun with Friends

3️⃣ Find Fantastic Fiction

4️⃣ Flourish in the Fine Art of Frosting a Fabulous Cake

5️⃣ Frolic Across Canada

I feel eager to share that that I am rocking and rolling through the top 3 F’s. 6 workouts done, lots of fun with friends and I have been reading some fantastic fiction. WOOP WOOP! We have our first birthday in the house in April, so I have a few months to find someone who will lead me in the art of frosting a cake and our frolicking across Canada dates are booked! Can I get another woop woop?

I had left my goals out on the kitchen counter for a week or so and suddenly I started seeing more F’s for 2024, so I have added to my list.

Here are the latest F’s I am excited about for 2024:

🤩 Faith-filled, festive fun with the boys: I have been trying to play more games, plan more get togethers and surprises for the boys the last few weeks. It’s brought a beautiful lightness and joy to our home.

🤩 Flourishing romance with Sexy Neck: After Steve was able to take a whole two weeks off at Christmas, the first in seven years, I realized how much I really missed spending time with him. We have been enjoying working out together, doing projects together and talking about daily life on a regular basis. What a gift!

🤩 Fun with Finances: As a girl who loves a good spreadsheet budget, this is a really fun activity for Steve and I to do together. We are updating our expenses and especially looking at our grocery bill and “extras” that we spent our money on. I am excited to see what shakes down and how we can save and give away more. Earn more, give more! That’s fun!

And that’s all folks, just a little update on the F’s goals that keep morphing into more in twenty twenty-four.

If you have a word or goals or some F’s to share for 2024, I would love to hear them. Big hugs to you all.

Have Sunday funday and love what you do.

xoxo Joanna

author, blogger, Boys, fun, musings, Wordsmith, writing

Be Sharing Random Shower Thoughts

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Let’s kick off 2024 with some fun!

Our twelve year old, OC, has been sharing “random shower thoughts” from various websites he has found through his searches. (Sidenote: Through writing this blog, he showed me he has a whole files section on his device with these random shower thought jokes.) OC will share these thoughts at meals and on car rides and it’s always fun to see what makes our family howl. Here’s a few that made me chuckle out loud:

😂 “Go to bed, you’ll feel better in the morning” is the human version of “Did you turn it off and turn it back on again?”

🤣 “Beans bags are just boneless sofas.”

😅 “Math is the only place where someone would buy 60 watermelons and 40 cantaloupes and no one asks any questions.”

😉 “If the earth was flat, the edge would be a tourist attraction.”

😝 “I correct autocorrect more than it corrects me.”

🎢 “Theme parks can snap a crystal clear picture of you on a roller coaster going 100 km/h, but a security camera can’t get a clear photo of a robber standing still.”

🍅🤮”If tomatoes are fruit, then ketchup is jam.”

🍎”Why aren’t iPhone chargers called Apple juice?”

💪🏻 “Pregnant women are the only true body builders.”

🤣”Maybe urinals were invented when a tall guy walked by the sinks and asked, ‘Why not?’.”

😂 Watching a graduation ceremony is like sitting through a movie that’s entirely credits.” (Shoutout to all my friends with Grad’s this year – both high school and university. There are quite a few of you!)

🤣 “Remember when teachers use to say, ‘You will never be walking around with a calculator in your pocket!’. Well look at us now.”

🌮 “If you weigh 99 pounds and you eat a pound of nachos, are you now 1% nachos?”.

🧼 “If you drop soap on the floor, is the floor now clean or is the soap dirty?”.

💻 “If Apple made a car, would it still have windows?”

😜 “If you are waiting for the waiter, are you the waiter?”.

🤣 “If you work as security at a Samsung store, does that make you a Guardian of the Galaxy?” (Throwback to our Disneyland trip in 2023.)

😂 “Why is the pizza box a square if the pizza is a circle and the slice is a triangle?”

And that’s all folks, I hope you have a fun start to the year in all ways.

Happy Monday and love what you do.

Xoxo Joanna

author, blogger, writing

Be Multiplying in Multitudes in KCity

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This summer marked our tenth year of living in KCity. We chose a 1960’s fixer upper home in a beautiful older area of town which is 3.5 kilometres from downtown and the beach. In these ten years our property price has doubled, the traffic has become something you need to plan for/think about and the amount of portables at schools are often more than you could imagine that are allowed as they don’t have water or washrooms in them. 

The last five years in KCity has brought a serious housing shortage and an equal inflation of prices for every home and apartment. Our last two mayors and city councils have had a mandate to try and fix this problem. They have allowed secondary suites in most neighbourhoods and now they are choosing to allow homes morphing into grotesque cookie cutter monoliths called six story wooden framed apartments. (Yup, because of construction practices wooden frame apartment buildings can now go higher than four stories!)  

And this is why I chose to write my thoughts down today: Two years ago, City Council almost gave a building permit to a local chiropractor to change 3 homes, down the street from us, into an over fifty suite apartment building. It didn’t pass by one vote. From 3 homes to over 50!

Last week I saw this article: Enroute to our son’s trampoline gym, four homes are becoming 124 units AND there is a similar apartment building being built right across the street. The craziest part, which I have talked to one city councillor about, is that our city building code only requires 1.5 parking spots per apartment building. I am not sure why builders aren’t required to round up or even what 1.5 cars look like, but I do know the aftermath of this. More cars on the streets and less streets to bike on safely. Yes, as you know, we are a biking family. We love to bike as much as possible and this is why we chose where we live.

I am having a hard time with this city development and parking spot math. Properties are not simply doubling by adding a secondary suite, but they are growing more than 30 times the original vision and planning for our city with its roads, schools and parks. 

Things are multiplying by multitudes in our city, but I am not hearing anything about multiplying our current infrastructure that includes roads, parks, water, sewage, schooling or even how this is all going to impact our recycling program and garbage dump. 

I am concerned.

As one of the fastest growing cities in North America, how is this growth going to envelop and change our dry climate and mountain-bound valley?

How much growth would you want to see in your own city? What do my fellow Kelownites feel about this?

Happy third week of Advent my friends. I pray that God is bringing the JOY into your life. Love what you do.

xoxo Joanna