Shovelling snow has become a regular daily event around here.....I took some time out to enjoy the view and discovered that life outside is bursting with activity!  While I was shovelling, the chickadees were enjoying the birdseed we had just put out.  They weren't the slightest bothered that I was shovelling right there beside the bird feeder.  

I decided to have a seat on the steps and watch the beauty of nature in action!  After about an hour, Dave (my other half) spied me outside and I encouraged him to join me.  We spilled some birdseed on the deck and watched as the chickadees got closer and closer.  We poured some feed on a paper plate and finally held some birdseed in our hands to see what would happen.  

One of the birds landed on my boot and jumped up on the paper plate.  The plate flipped up a couple times and scared the chickadee away, but once I held it securely in my hand, the chickadee comfortably enjoyed the treat!  After turning around to see what was happening with Dave....I saw that he had some birdseed in his hand, and the chickadee had landed right in his hand to get it!  We spent another half hour enjoying the interaction with our little feathered friends...then went inside feeling joy and gratitude for the opportunity to have had this special moment!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

​Julia

It's been less than a month since I retired from my full time job in the city.  I have had lots of opportunities to shovel snow over the past month!  The winter came in like a lion here in the country.  We had continuous snow for a couple of weeks which threatened to snow us in!  ​I did say I enjoyed shovelling snow.....but this got pretty intense!

We were out clearing snow together and one piece of equipment after another broke down until we had no way left to do the job.  We had struggled all day trying to clear a path in the snow.  I looked at my other half and laughed out loud...we had to give in to the fact we needed help.  I pushed him into the snow and fell down laughing beside him.   Why had we thought we had to do everything ourselves?   It couldn't be a coincidence that all 4 pieces of snow removal equipment broke down on the same day.  The angels were trying to direct us to take advantage of our options and not make it so difficult for ourselves.  That day we called the neighbour and arranged to have him plow our driveway whenever we have another big snowfall. 

Message received!   Thank you, thank you, thank you!

​Julia

Well, here I am after an unimaginable chain of events in the last year and a a half.  I'm living in a new place....traded my life in the city for the peace and tranquility of country living surrounded by trees and water...

Being on my own for many years, I had yet to meet that special someone to share the rest of my life with.  I figured my life was set to be the 'same old, same old'.  I hadn't met that person who I felt drawn to ...had an inexplicable connection with...until he found me! 

A very spiritual person, he talked and talked about his beliefs until I had to say 'enough'.  We were on the same page about a lot of things but I hadn't connected the same way spiritually.  I was worried that it would be a reason our relationship might not last.  I was so upset about it one night that I had a meltdown.  Then, all of a sudden I felt a extreme wave of energy hit me like a two by four - it took my breath away - in that instant I knew we were supposed to be together...I asked for some confirmation....yes, again I got the message that he was the one.  I felt the calm after that, and knew my life was going to change and spirituality would forever take a more important place in my life.  

We set out to make a life together...looking for a place to call 'our home' and found ourselves looking further and further north. We thought we had found the perfect house and drove just under an hour to see it....it was a little more than we wanted to pay, but we thought it was a possibility.  It was empty, so we walked around the property peering in the windows and envisioning ourselves there.  We were really excited and called the realtor...unfortunately, the owners had already accepted a conditional offer....the house was sold! 

We met the realtor anyway hoping that the offer would fall through...There was something about the realtor.....I somehow knew we should have him search for a property for us. We looked at a few more homes that were further and further away from the city...distances we wouldn't have considered initially, but either the property was lacking or the house itself wasn't what we were looking for. We went ahead with listing my house in the city....we decided to use the same realtor for the sale of my house even though his commission was higher than usual.....just had a feeling. 

The day we signed the listing, our realtor mentioned he had a property that his company had just signed.  It wasn't quite ready to market yet, but he thought it would be perfect for us.  Well, that got our attention!  He showed us some preliminary pictures and we were smitten!  The drawback was that it would be over an hour to work everyday.  We had to let the idea percolate a bit.  A couple days later, we decided to take a drive up to the property.  We made some stops on the way and finally arrived at the property....yes, it was everything we had hoped and dreamed of and more!

Now we felt the urgency to make an offer before anyone else found it!  We googled the distance and it was just over an hours drive from the city.  I felt I could manage the drive back and forth to work everyday to and from the city.  There was another couple interested, but they decided not to see the property after all and our offer was accepted!

A week later, my existing house was almost ready to go on the market and we already had an offer.  It was more than we had listed it for!  We had actually envisioned getting a particular price for the house to meet all of the expenses.  It was exactly the price of the offer!  Somehow, everything was working out!

After the initial euphoria of owning a home in the country, I realised I would have to be up at the crack of dawn to get to work everyday.  We found out that there were two properties with the same address, one near the highway and the other farther west.  We had used the property address close to the highway to determine the distance and time it would take me to get to work!  It was actually an hour and a half each way to commute to work!  In the back of my mind, I worried about how I would handle the commute for the next 5 years until retirement.  I just had to have faith that we were directed to the new place for a reason and it would all work out.

I was able to arrange to meet a co-worker at the half way point to work everyday and car-pool the rest of the way...this made the drive much more pleasant - downright enjoyable.  Then, I discovered something wonderful!  I could actually retire in 6 months!  How was I not aware of this before!  Was the universe again conspiring to help us?  

Fast forward 6 months to retirement and here I am today full of faith and gratitude for the events that brought us here!  I love my life!  Waking up to a view of snow topped trees bending in the wind.  Even the thought of shovelling snow is exciting right now.  I feel rested and happy to start the day.  Clearing the snow on the decks will help me to build strength in my arms and core.  It's amazing to get out in the cold air and feel so invigorated as I scoop another shovel full of snow and daydream about what's next!

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

Julia