August: Ineffable Wanderlust Blog Circle {Sturmfrei}

Our word of the month this month is Sturmfrei which is a German word apparently meaning "to be alone, or to have the place to oneself, the ability to do what you want"

I had no idea what to shoot for this and since I'm very rarely by myself I thought this was going to be another month where I couldn't think of anything!

Then it hit me

The Canadian Farmwife!!!!!

Since doing the Italian housewife, and one picture of the Abu Dhabi housewife, friends have been joking that I needed a Canadian version. Ballgowns and horse manure were thrown about as ideas.

So, one day this month, both kids were in camp, I had nothing to do, and I realized this was the perfect strumfrei!! Why not do the photoshoot!?!

So here are the hilarious results!
*This would have been much easier if I could have found my stupid remote for the camera! Instead I hauled back and forth in heels and ballgowns in our farmyard in order to get these shots!!! I was exhausted by the end of it :)*

Hope you enjoy!!!!

June: Ineffable Wanderlust Blog Circle {Faodail}

Faodail, which means "a lucky find" in Gaelic is our word of the month this month.

I initially thought about posting a picture of our favourite restaurant, or something along those lines but then decided to go a different direction.

In June 2015, Richard and I had been told earlier that year that we weren't going to be able to have another child naturally, and that we would require IVF. Having already done one failed IVF in Abu Dhabi, and having no desire to repeat it, we decided we would foster or adopt instead.

We had been researching what this meant, and how to get into it when I agreed to take birthday/anniversary pictures for my friend Elysia. At the party afterwards I set up a little photo booth and snapped shots of the guests. One little girl was fascinated with my camera and kept wanting to see each shot after it was taken, I was completely charmed!

Later that party I was asking Elysia about fostering (she works in the child welfare industry) and it came up that that same little girl was living with her grandparents, they were looking for someone to provide respite care on the weekends, and they lived in the South end of Calgary.

I said I'd talk to Richard and we decided why not!? I told Elysia she could give her Aunt my number and that is how the journey began.

What if I hadn't said yes to taking photos at that party? What if I hadn't asked Elysia about foster care? She would have just been that little girl at the party that was really cute.

Instead, she is our lucky find, our faodail.

The missing piece to our family puzzle.

She brings happiness, silliness, chaos and love with her.

It hasn't been easy at all, and there have been days where I've questioned the sanity of our decision!

We are a work in progress, we are learning and evolving every day and will probably continue to do so for years to come, perhaps even the rest of our lives!

She is teaching us the true value of patience and consistency, and we have learned a lot about ourselves as parents.

But the blood, sweat, frustrations and tears are worth it,  because she's worth it. It's those moments where it all comes together, when the hearts touch and communicate, even if it doesn't last until the following afternoon! It's worth it to watch the sisterly love (and fighting) that has developed between the girls, a bond that will last a lifetime. It's worth it to see her grow, learn, develop and change into her own person. We are lucky to be part of a change so profound, and to know a love so deep and to have a life touch ours so deeply.

Our story isn't over and we still have legal formalities to attend to before we can officially call her a Burwell. Those are just pieces of paper, in our hearts she is already in her forever home.