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In Adventures/ Blogging/ Life

Seeking – A Recap

Well, guys, 2020 is almost over. Who would’ve predicted what we would go through as a global community when we first launched into 2020!! But today is the last day. We made it.

I’m sitting here, coffee in hand, tree still up but half the decorations knocked off by a cat or two, grateful for all that 2020 has taught me. And I’m looking forward to what 2021 might have instore. I was scrolling Instagram, as one does, when I read a recent post by Emily at Mom Struggling Well { my favourite podcast!! } And I loved her recap of the year, which nudged me to do one of my own, based on THIS post.

For 2020, my Word of the Year was Seek. And I had come up with a list of ways I wanted to Seek. So, an honest review, heart on my sleeve, for you to close out 2020.

SEEK TRUTH – through open, honest conversation and guided talks, I found some truth. Some was easy to accept, some hurt like a bugger.

SEEK POSITIVITY – I choose to surround myself with glass half full people. And I will also pick to see the bright side.

SEEK WELLNESS – I took my health by the horns this year. I moved more, eat better { still love me some sugar though } and came out feeling so much better about this 45 year body I call home.

SEEK PEACE – a quiet cup of coffee, a still wander in the dark, knowing that God is in control, I’m so thankful for the peace of 2020, in the midst of so much chaos.

SEEK GOD – the irony of this, churches closed and so it was up to me to seek time and space out for God. Worship music, podcasts and Christian people in my life helped me with this throughout 2020

SEEK HEALING – this one stopped me in my tracks this morning. I feel like it should say forgiveness….and I have to admit, there’s so much more work that needs to be done here. There are things that need to be healed, forgiven.

SEEK NATURE – I feel so fortunate to be able to have spent so much time in nature. Walking in my yard, exploring beaches around this part of the province and beyond, and hiking so many trails. I feel like my mental health benefitted greatly from seeking nature in 2020.

SEEK GRATITUDE – so much to be thankful for and I certainly am. Provision, guidance, opportunity, I had it good this year in many ways and I am grateful, so very thankful.

SEEK LAUGHTER – I laughed a lot. But there was lots of tears, too. It was not the easiest year in some ways. But there was laughter and good times.

SEEK CREATIVITY – usually I would have rocked this but I didn’t feel like I did a ton of creative things this year. I need to clean up my studio space and fix that. It feeds my soul.

SEEK ADVENTURE – ohhhh, there were adventures of all sorts. Waterfalls, hikes, beaches, vacation – lots of adventures and I hope to continue that in 2021

SEEK JOY – my favourite, always. I found joy. In many ways, places and with many of the people in my life. There is no end to the joy to be found.

I know that everyone had different battles to fight throughout the year. It was a year of loss as a community due to the mass shootings, COVID and the changes that brought to our ordinary life. Everyone did the best they could despite it all. Fortunately, we have a new year stretching out in front of us, let’s make the best of it.

Warmly,

Lori

December 31, 2020 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

4 In Adventures/ Blogging/ Thrifting with Farm Fresh/ Uncategorized

Thrifting with Farm Fresh

Well, what better way to kick off 2020 then with a Thrifting Challenge!

It’s no secret that I love to search for treasures among the thrift stores and antique stores. Basically, that is how my house is decorated!! Almost every piece has a story and I probably bought 90% of things second hand. Wait, maybe closer to 95%….as I look around 😉

There are a few reasons why I love searching second hand for things for my home. I love getting out and trying to find the treasures among all the crazy things you find on the shelves or at the yard sales. You might find 20 awesome things or you might find zero. You just never know!

I also really like the idea that these items are given a second chance, they haven’t made their way into the landfill to pollute our earth. And if I’m finding the items second-hand, then it means I’m not buying something new, something that had to be processed, shipped and packaged. I realize that it probably makes a teeny tiny impact, but it’s something and if we each do something little, it all adds up, right?

Now, I’m not one to buy a lot of clothes for myself second hand. I hate clothes shopping on a good day. So, I tend to find it very frustrating to shop second hand for my clothes. If there is anyone out there willing to lend a hand and teach me how to do it, by all means, reach out! The girls are much easier to clothe with hand-me-downs and they tend to always find great things second hand.

So, who wants to join me for a $20 Thrift store Challenge? We have done this in the past and had great fun doing it! You can read past posts about it HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. {Look how young I was in that last post – say what??? That seems like forever ago!! }

What do you do? Take a picture of you holding your $20, send it to me….then SHOP! And send me pictures of you with your treasures! If you are posting any pictures on the socials, tag me and use the hashtag #thriftingwithfarmfresh and I’ll share them, too! I have discovered new places to go hunt for treasures thanks to this challenge last year! Let’s give ourselves a month to hunt – we’ll do a wrap up the first week of February so send those pictures to me!

Hope you’ll join us!! Let me know if you’re in!

Warmly,

Lori

January 6, 2020 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

9 In Adventures/ Blogging

Word of the Year 2020

It’s time to reveal my word for 2020!! I’ve thought long and hard, changed my mind several times….and finally settled on SEEK.

How is SEEK going to influence 2020 for me? For my family? For this blog? That’s the exciting thing – I’m not sure what all it might mean! But I have some ideas as to how I’d like it to pan out.

(Photo by Michelle Doucette of East Coast Food Stories taken at Preserve Retreat)

But first let me give you a little background. Life is filled with options, twists and turns. Do you remember those ‘Choose your own Adventure’ books? Sometimes I feel like I’m lost, wandering through the pages of one of those books, stuck thinking, ‘but what if….’ Which, just in case you haven’t figured it out for yourself yet, is pointless. So, from where I am, regardless which page I flipped to in this adventure called life, I will SEEK.

Throughout 2020, I’m not just going to let life lead me wherever. I want to live with more intention and be more deliberate in my day to day. I’m always amazed at how many days can go by without even realizing…you know, like driving your typical route to work, arriving and wondering how you got there? I want less of that in my everyday.

Today, for example, the girls wanted to go sledding at Mom and Dad’s awesomely amazing sledding hill { who cares it was a snow storm } and I had planned to just drop them off and head home to work on this post. But then, I decided that no, I was going sledding, too!! Who cares that the hill is steep and long and that I watched them coast down at Christmas with my heart in my throat. I wanted the adventure of it. I wanted to laugh with my girls and have fun with their friends. If I’m sore tomorrow, I’ll get to chalk it up to great afternoon filled with adventure, laughter and fun.

So I’m going to make a point to SEEK the following things each and every day of 2020!

SEEK TRUTH

SEEK POSITIVITY

SEEK WELLNESS

SEEK PEACE

SEEK GOD

SEEK HEALING

SEEK NATURE

SEEK GRATITUDE

SEEK LAUGHTER

SEEK CREATIVITY

SEEK ADVENTURE

SEEK JOY

I feel like my journey of seeking in 2019, and so I will continue to seek throughout 2020. I’m nervous and excited for what 2020 just might have in store. Will it all be smooth sailing and roses? No, of course. Will it all be horrible and hard? No, certainly not. I’m going to continue to look for joy in my life, no matter what comes my way. My life has a under-running current of Joy and that won’t change in 2020.

When I selected Colour for 2019, I tried (and failed) to implement a monthly component to my word. And I wasn’t thinking about doing that this year but then, through some conversation with my fellow blogger friend, Little Sarah Birch, I saw the opportunity to expand on the things I’m seeking in 2020 and shed some light on who I am and how I’m wired. Don’t hold me to it, but we’ll see where it goes.

I put the question out on my FB page for people’s new word for 2020. I love the responses I got. IMPACT. COMPASSION. ADVENTURE. PATIENCE. GROW. INSPIRE. RESET. PERSEVERANCE. JOY. EXPERIENCE. KIND. GRATEFUL. PROGRESS. WISDOM. VALUE. PLAY. TIME.

If you’ve selected a word to inspire you throughout 2020 (I refuse to use the term ‘guiding word’…far too woo woo for this girl) I’d love to hear about it. Drop me a comment here on the blog, Instagram or FB!

And just because it’s fun to look back over the years, here are my past words!

Please let me know if you have a word you’d like to share with me!! And I hope you are welcoming 2020 with open arms, and a certain level of excitement and refreshment for a new year of possibility!

Warmly,

Lori

January 3, 2020 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

2 In Blogging/ Life

2020 Here We Are

2020

Wow, I feel like I just sat down to write a post at the beginning of 2019 and here we are welcoming a new year and a new decade.

I like the sound of 2020. It has a nice ring to it. Don’t you think?

What will the year 2020 bring? That’s the big question. We just never know, year to year, what life is going to throw our way. Every year has it’s share of highs and lows. 2019 certainly did. 2018 did, too, and I’ll bet that 1837 did, too. There’s just no way to know.

But, here’s the thing. How are you going into the year? What’s your attitude like? Do you have a positive outlook? Are you looking forward to what the year will bring? Or dreading what all could go wrong?

Based on some things that happened in 2019, I could face this year with a very negative outlook and a poor-me attitude. But, that’s not me, not how I was raised or how I want to approach the coming year. I’m looking forward to 2020.

I think I’m almost settled on my word for 2020. There were a few that I was debating between but I’m pretty sure that it’ll be made clear to me tonight, so stay tuned for that post.

I had set out in 2019 to reach 1000 blog posts for Farm Fresh, but it soon become apparent that wasn’t in the books for last year. I had laid out my game plan but life happened and I had to let that goal go. Am I aiming for that in 2020? No. I’m going to write when I’m inspired to write and share only what feels right. I have a few fun things planned and I’m looking forward to sharing those with you.

One of the first things I need to do in 2020 is get my camera fixed. I feel quite lost without it. It had been on the blink since May and now – nothing!!! And what’s a blog post with just words? Boring. I dug into the archives to find some pictures for this post. This one? It’s my favourite.

I hope that you are richly blessed throughout 2020, that you find Joy and that you are surrounded by love.

Look at 2020 – here we come!!

Warmly,

Lori

January 1, 2020 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

1 In Adventures/ Blogging

Preserve Retreat

A retreat is exactly what this girl needed. And Preserve Retreat, by the BlogJam Atlantic team, was bang on. Scenic setting at Oak Island Resort, blogging friends galore and stimulating discussions on all fronts made for an amazing weekend.

Since the first ever Blogjam, back 5 years ago, I’ve been a huge fan and do my best to be there. This year, I didn’t think I was going to be able to swing it, but knew me AND my blog needed it more than ever. I also have FOMO and the thought of so many of my blogging buddies hanging out for an entire weekend without me, well, the FOMO was strong! But a special thanks goes out to a few people who ensured I was there, you know who you are and I truly appreciate your understanding and generosity!!!

So, what did I gain from being at Preserve Retreat? Well, through so many of the incredible speakers, I took a long, hard look at myself, my blog and who my audience is and how I am serving them. The deep questions were asked, the hard topics handled so expertly well and the environment was a safe and welcoming one. During the breaks, so much more discussion happened, and different perspectives shared. It always amazes me how you can put a group of people in a room, the speaker gets up, does their thing and everyone’s take-away is different. We hear what we need to hear, to force us out of our own box, the ruts we’ve been stuck in or to get that kick in the butt we need.

Of course, like always, these bloggers fill my cup. They support and inspire me, they challenge me and are there for me. Being surrounded by the fierce bloggers I am privileged enough to call friends, I am safe to ask myself why am I doing this? Is it still relevant? What am I offering? What do I want to be known for? What is working, what isn’t? What do I want from this blog? Do I still even want to blog? All the things. I have some answers. And I am still seeking other answers.

It’s common to hear the question being asked, ‘What is your WHY?’ In fact, in our conference room, there was even a large poster we could add our WHY to. I didn’t. I have discovered I lost my WHY. Or maybe I never knew it in the first place. So, I’ve been doing some soul searching and looking at Farm Fresh and wondering why it still exists. You may notice that I took a blogging break. All I’ll say about it is that it is complicated. But what I learned from that was that my soul does crave to write and to share and to connect. What that means for the future, I can’t say I know yet. But know that I will be writing more posts and sharing more pictures because that’s what I love to do.

Preserve was so much of what I needed and on the level I needed, I wasn’t looking for information on SEO or how to grow my Insta following. I needed to look at my blog and myself and figure shit out. I still don’t have it all figured out but I think I’m on the right track. I’m not typically a note taker at these events. But I left with pages of notes, things I want to remember, things I want to share and explore more.

Thank you for sticking around even when I couldn’t. Thanks for checking in when you saw the long pause. Thank you for letting me share bits and pieces of life through this itty bitty corner of the world.

Warmly,

Lori

PS Photos by the talented Michelle Doucette, logo by the Preserve team

November 10, 2019 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

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