Category Archives: fun

Be Sharing Random Shower Thoughts

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

Be Shifting a Grump

🤔 Have you ever come across an Air Canada flight attendant that is obviously tired and grumpy? 

🤔 Do you have a relative that has an expiry date of one hour when your family visits and then they turn into a harsh, grumpy person? 

🤔 Are one of your teenagers waking up in a grumpy mood or bringing one home from school? 

💫 I have encountered all of these things and wanted to share some diddies today on what I like to do when coming across each of these grumps. 

✅ Ask them a question. This was my strategy for the flight attendant. I looked them in the eyes and simply asked: :Where is the best place you have flown?” She talked about when she used to live in Toronto and her trips to Boston, all with a smile. Boom shakalaka.  

✅ Remove yourself. Over the last 30 years as an adult, dealing with grumpy relatives has been a dance I have learned. Sadly, the best thing I have come up with has been to remove myself from the dance. I have tried asking questions or accommodating what they want to do or bringing gifts or food and try to be a lesser version of myself, but alas the removal from that person has been the best way to shift the grump.  A wise counsellor has also recommended meeting at neutral spots, (parks, coffee shops, restaurants etc.), but I have found that this only expands the expiry date by minutes not hours and is often not worth it.  Boo!  

✅ Smile and pray for them (or send them positive thoughts, if that’s more your jam). Ah teenagers. We are currently living with a tremendous trio of boys aged 16, 14 and almost 12. I feel as a parent, my job is to simply hold space for them as they deal with big emotions. Also, I want my teenagers to simply know I am here for them no matter what.  I really feel that a radiating smile and powerful prayers are like a force field that helps them and protects us as parents from being slimed by their “green, mucousy” grumpy ways. Yes, overall in life, I do think of grumpy people as being green and slimy. 🤣💚 

Don’t let anyone get their “stuff” on you.  

Random flight attendants. 

Relatives. 

Teenagers. 

All people that can slime you with their green grumpiness. 

As I say to my boys: Who’s in charge of your emotions? 

I am. 

I pray that my words will encourage you as you “live with” the people in your life with JOY and PEACE.  

Do you have a strategy for living a positive, joyful life no matter the emotional state of the people around you? Let me know. I always love to add tools to my emotional toolbox. 

Have an epic week folks and love what you do.  

Xoxo 

Joanna 

Be Finding Your Dream Job (A letter to my boys)

To my Blue Crew,

I want to write this letter to each of you after a few years of working in my “dream job” as an online teacher as I know you have watched what has unfolded for me as a mom and teacher.

Right now you want to be a movie producer, a truck driver/inventor and a RCMP Member or Conservation Officer in the K9 unit. I am so excited to see what unfolds for you hardworking, heartfelt human beings.

My dream job involves working with and inspiring other human beings, particularly young people starting with EACH of you three boys. From teaching my first amazing job in Cherryville to teaching in Switzerland to working in the online system, my career journey has been an interesting one. How did I find all my dream jobs for each season of my life?

First and foremost, I wanted to find a job that I could work around you and daddy’s schedule. Someone had to “hold down the fort”.

Second, I wanted to work within my passions of learning and growth.

Lastly, I wanted to ensure that the exchange for my time, which is our greatest currency, was in balance with the money that the job was going to pay me.

Family first.

Life long learner.

Time for money.

What will be important for your dream job? The clearer you are, the quicker the job will come. It was only after you were born and I stepped away from the education system that my journey towards my dream job began.

Family first.

Life long learner.

Time for money.

As with any dream job, there is always, always some friction involved. The friction or “emotional heat” can be caused by a colleague that you work with, by one task that you don’t particularly like or even how your mind can’t settle down after your work day ends. For every job the friction created is different and you will have to make a conscious decision if these “rubs” are worth it to pursue and go after your dream job.

Go boys.

Find your dream job.

Be aware of the friction.

And have as MUCH FUN as I am in my job.

God bless everyone that reads this blog post and especially bless our growing boys: 15, 13 and 11 year old young men.

Have an epic Wednesday folks and love what you do.

xoxo Joanna

Be a Great Pyrenees (Post about Friendships)

As a dog, I would previously have been seen as a fluffy, golden retriever.

I love human beings and can talk to anyone, anywhere. I have made friends after a 4 hour plane trip and even made a lifelong friend in a checkout line in Nashville. She complimented me on my shoes. We stayed in contact and then I ended up finding her the same pair of shoes and sent them to her.

My boys often ask me to stop “chitty chatting”!

I might be weird as I will talk to anyone, but I won’t be someone’s friend just because our kids do the same activities , our kids are the same age, we teach in the same profession or we live on the same street.

I love every ONE, but my friends are people who are authentic, straightforward, family-oriented and passionate.

These last three years as I grew through deep loneliness and even discrimination as I wouldn’t share or talk about the greatest science experiment our generation has gone through. My golden retriever spirit died. I have happily morphed into the ever-watching guardian dog, the Great Pyrenees.

I still see you, but I am not going to chase you to hangout with you.

Watching.

Looking for what will happen next, but not engaging.

Watching.

Waiting to see who will “see” me back.

Watching.

I have gotten more mellow, more calm and more still.

Moving from an every chasing Golden Retriever to a watchful Great Pyrenees shifts things up in the friendship realm and many of my friendships fell away in the last three years.

I guess when you are doing a lot of chasing, you can think you have lots of friends, but it is truly the friends that will stand with you in the calm and the storms as a Great Pyrenees that are here to stay.

Thank you to my salt of the earth friends from the past and those to come in the future. I love you and I send you a big virtual lick!

Have an epic Friday folks and love what you do.

xoxo Joanna

Be Thriving with the six to eight day per year peeps

Summer 2019 is here!

And its SURVIVAL mode for those people being inundated with company, people they see six to eight days per year. I had an epiphany to share with you, one to make you THRIVE this year.

First, start by thinking about those 365 day per year peeps in your life. Who are the people you live with or choose to have in your inner circle? What do you have in common with them and why do you choose to hangout with them? What do you talk about and what do you love to do together?

Now, think about those six to eight days per year people. Next proceed to throw everything that you thought about and love about your 365 day per year people and fling it directly into the bottom of the swimming pool. These peeps that are in your life six to eight days per year, may be old friends or family. They may be colleagues from your spouses work that you attend conferences with or neighbours you only see in the summer.

Here’s my secrets to not only SURVIVE but THRIVE with these peeps.

Remember that everything that you thought and love about your 365 day per year peeps has been flung to the bottom of the swimming pool, now throw any negative thought or judgement about the six to eight days per week peeps in there too!

Get ready to look at you: What are your standards for healthy relationships and how do you want to interact with all people, no matter how often they are in your life? For me, this is pouring love and bringing the joy. I don’t share much about my life or even feelings at all, with my six to eighters, I save this for my 365 days per year peeps. But I do have fun with everyone. We eat nourishing delicious food. We go on and find adventures. We talk about travel. We discuss health. But I do not go into the deep end! Remember all that stuff that you had flung down into the deep end of the pool? Don’t go there! Oh I used you and boy what a mess it made.

These six to eighters can’t keep up with the change that happens in the other over three hundred and fifty days of your life. They can’t embrace the change because it would be like getting hit by a fast moving train. The people who can keep up, are on the train. Invested in you. In your inner circle. Those every day peeps who support and love you. The six to eighters receive the benefit of your high standards and love-filled hospitality. But that’s it folks. You may end up talking about things you don’t give a shit about for hours, but you ask questions and listen. You probably will end up doing mind numbing activities that were never on your wish list, but you will discover the joy and enjoy the ride. You will create space to recharge with who you are as you live these six to eight days per year. I exercise. I read. I spend a lot of time locked in the bathroom. I bring games I enjoy playing. I bring up new topics of conversations and then change it back once I see the six to eighters eyes start to gloss over.

Imagine….

Pure joy.

Overflowing love.

Judgement thrown away.

Negative thoughts too!

Thriving with the peeps who show up six to eight days per year.

Staying on your train, but diverting long enough to embrace other peoples rides.

THRIVING!

Be Creating the “Body Bliss Project”

I have witnessed throughout my entire life that one moment could change everything…

One conversation.

One phone call.

One parking lot meeting.

One moment in time.

Last week, I had one of those moments.

Sexy Neck and I were discussing my business and all the incredible people that have come into our lives in the last two and a half years.  I talked about all the incredible mentors and leaders I have met, especially all the inspiring women.

Joanna

After my mom died, my most inspiring woman left the earth.  My mama who constantly thought about helping others.  The woman who would show up sweaty at my door asking for water because she has just biked 70 kilometers for a cup of coffee with a friend.  Super Nana who did so many exceptional and thoughtful things for my boys that I couldn’t even begin to list them.  My ever-present friend, volunteer, incredible cook, amazing party thrower and always up for doing something out of the ordinary.  She was my most AMAZING inspiration as a woman.

Until now.

I realized that these inspiring women have flooded my life.

Moms who are present with their families and incredibly in love with their men. Women who swim, cycle, run all for fun.  Ladies who laugh, love and who are exceptionally “light” to be around because they know themselves, are themselves and can completely be themselves.  These are the inspirations that circumvent my life.

And now I have an opportunity that I didn’t see coming.

One phone call from someone that I met early on in my life as an entrepreneur.   A fun-loving, heart-centred Aussie physiotherapist.

She shared a vision for a project.

I asked a few questions.

I knew that this was exactly what I had been waiting for.

A project created by leaders Down Under and the Great White North.

Body.

Mind.

Spirit.

For women.

By women.

Creating personal transformations as a collective unit.

Using the same super food nutrition and intermittent fasting to live out these transformations.

Being a part of a global community of healthy habits in body and mind.

Boosting each other up.

Creating sweaty selfies.

Playing water tag.

Celebrating wins.

Picking each other up.

One day at a time.

90 days in total.

I am so fired up about this project that I can barely sleep tonight.

One team.

Women who will change the world around them.

Through the Body Bliss Project.

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Be Living Reality 

Ask anyone I taught with, I was a reality tv junky. 

Addicted? 

Probably! 

The Bachelor.  

Big Brother.  

American Idol.  

Survivor. 

At the schools I worked at, I used to organize Survivor Pools where we each would ‘be’ a character and we would see who would be the ‘Sole Survivor’! 

Hours upon hours of reality tv, where my week would be organized around the specific day and hour the show would be on. 

Survivor was Thursdays.  

8:00pm. 

5:00pm if you had an eastern channel!

I loved it when my mom moved to town because she had that eastern time zone channel. 

Yup, imagine revolving your whole week around a reality tv show?  I did it!  Yes, I did! 

When my oldest, who is now nine, was four months old, I knew I had a wake-up call from tv land and I realized I had to make a decision.  

I had just started maternity leave and was home full time with JC!  I was moving from an incredible, full 14 hour days as a teacher, to home and my Reality tv land.  Can you see where I was going?

I knew I had to make a choice: watch reality from the couch or live it everywhere I went.   We decided to live it.  We stopped paying for cable television.  We started being intentional about what and when we wanted to watch tv shows on the Internet or via DVD’s.  We saw less commercials.  Our boys have rarely seen a commercial in their lives and often find them annoyingly interrupting to what they are watching.  

(Sidenote: The constant Oil of Olay commercials on the children’s network, Treehouse, also persuaded me to cut cable. Did I want my boys to think that women’s faces looked like that?)

Now, I live in reality every day with my brood of boys.  

I live it everywhere I go.  

Television shows and movies are rare. 

Connecting with others and creating space to be is happening every day. 

I have space to let my mind meander.  

I have nothing ‘pulling’ me away from my vision of what I want my daily reality to look like.  

My living ‘reality’ involves copious amounts of food in somewhat strange combinations, refereeing wrestling matches, going off the beaten path and lots of high energy activities.  That sounds exactly like reality tv, doesn’t it? 

Survivor anyone? Who will be the sole survivor?  Some days it’s me!

Big Brother? Me and my houseful of boys.  


Really real. 

Living life.  

Awake.  

Aware. 

Alive.  

Perfectly imperfect.  

Being me.  

In my reality.  

Hmmmm…. maybe it’s time to get rid of Facebook?  But that’s really real, isn’t it? 😂

Be Waiting not ONE single moment more…

16 weeks ago I begin a challenge.

The basics were take “before” photos, “after” photos, write an essay when you are done and put some products of your choice into your body using the business that I partner with.

My choice.

No other rules.

No checklists.

No counting.

Just me, my dreams, my goals and making daily choices.

I uploaded a quote from Ann Voskamp onto my phone:  

 I made a decision to move my body every day, except on rest days.  I ate in moderation and I used the scale and measurements to monitor my process.

Thank you to everyone who supported me, accepted my new “routines”, joined me on the journey and coached me along the way.  This is life changing stuff…

Pour into myself.

Pour out to others.

One relationship.

One day.

One beautiful imperfect life.

Me!

  How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. —Anne Frank