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I have an idea

Posted in Lifestyle Design

You know that idea you have, the one you keep on thinking about and stays at the forefront of your mind. The one that a few close friends know about and you keep writing down in your notebook over and over again. And each time you think about it the hair on your arms raises a little bit and you might start shaking because that’s how important it is to you.

You know that idea, the one you have done nothing about? Yea, that’s the one I’m talking about.

We’re all guilty of feeling like we’re not good enough to accomplish that great idea we have, but honestly, what have you got to loose?! I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of waiting. When I think about my ideal lifestyle and what it looks like, my idea is the cornerstone, so let’s make our dreams happen!

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Creating a home

Posted in Personal

Once the boxes were packed for our move to Vancouver we excitedly talked about the new opportunities waiting for us and the life we were going to build for ourselves. We knew that as much as we loved our home in Holland, we desperately missed the hustle and bustle of a big city filled with restaurants to enjoy and places to see. After much consideration about the life we wanted to live, and signs from the universe, we realized that the first home we ever built together was where we’d begin another journey of living in Vancouver.

We were excited to move back into a place that was so familiar that we knew exactly where the nearest grocery store was and that friends were just a quick walk away. But I was also very apprehensive about what this new life would look like. Would we fall back into old patterns, would Europe feel like a dream that never truly happened, would our place feel like home like how Holland did? All these questions swirled around me and the answers would never come until we moved in.

The familiar ping of the elevator, the smell of the bay coming in over the ocean, and the way the door clicks when it closes. Everything brought back endless memories of what life used to be like. We saw our tiny condo and realized that the wear and tear of being a five year old building was showing and decided to give it quick paint job, pull out the unused fireplace, and put in some new flooring. I spent a week covered in paint and dust then spent the evenings soaking my sore muscles. It was worth it though.

A few changes makes it feel like we’re living in a completely different flat!  We light candles as soon as we come in the door, play soft music, and cook side by side in our tiny kitchen. I wanted a home that was filled with beautiful light, comforting and soft materials, elegant and masculine, and filled with memories from our time here before and as well as our time abroad.

I knew the type of look and feel I wanted our flat to have and used my Pinterest board to help me stay on course. With the exception of our dining room table and chairs and coffee table, everything has been reused from before. I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished.

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7 comments
  • CarloNovember 15, 2012 - 2:27 AM

    We wish you all the best for your new life on the other side of the pond! 😀

    Ciao

    Faby&CarloReplyCancel

    • LesleyNovember 15, 2012 - 8:10 AM

      Thank you Carlo & Faby, that means a lot! 🙂ReplyCancel

  • JennyNovember 16, 2012 - 10:19 AM

    Oh your new place looks so lovely ! I love the black and white pictures of your travels. I hope you feel home – can’t wait to see it in REAL one dayReplyCancel

    • LesleyNovember 16, 2012 - 2:03 PM

      Thanks! You inspired me to really enjoy black and white images, and it’s perfect!ReplyCancel

  • AmishNovember 18, 2012 - 3:13 AM

    Um…. wow!

    Place looks amazing! Looks much bigger. Love the hardwood color. Can’t wait to check it out in person.ReplyCancel

    • LesleyNovember 19, 2012 - 4:07 PM

      Can’t wait to have you two here!!ReplyCancel

  • jamieJanuary 18, 2013 - 11:25 AM

    oh lesley it’s so beautiful! catching up on your blog this morning and loving every word.ReplyCancel

Who are you

Posted in Writing

Sitting on the now familiar carpet of my childhood bedroom, I put pen to paper and wrote a letter to a friend. He was living abroad at that time and I wanted to send a letter to stay in touch. He knew me best: knew what I was struggling with and what my hopes and fears were. It was during this letter to him that I realized that I didn’t necessarily know what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew the type of women I wanted to be.

It was at a time in my life that I felt like I didn’t have control of the circumstances going on in my life. I felt like I was living an ugly black version of the person who I knew was just underneath. I desired to be so much more than the person I currently was and felt that if I wrote out who that person was then perhaps it would give me some direction.

I remember writing ‘cute’, ‘elegant’, ‘soft spoken’, ‘fashionable’, ‘god centered’, and so forth. It was a long list. When I sealed that letter off, it felt like I was putting a message in a bottle – hoping that someway, somehow, someone would see it and come rescue me from myself. Little did I know, that it was a letter more to myself than to him and that it would pave the way to who I was to become.

There is so much pressure to know what you want to do with your life. But have you ever stopped to think that the bigger question is, who do you want to be? How do you want to be described to people and how do you want to come across?

I no longer want to be cute, because I’ve surpassed that. I look in the mirror and see a beautiful woman, one full of flaws and imperfections, but beautiful none the less. I’ve cultivated an elegant exterior but I also know that it’s also apart of my soul to be elegant. I probably won’t ever be soft spoken, as I give and receive passionately and express myself accordingly. However, I know that I have a quiet spirit and that has become more prominent over time. The idea of what god centered meant at that time has changed but my faith is evident in everything I do and lays in something stronger than I ever thought imaginable.

Do you ever think of the type of person you want to be more than what you want to do? Who does that look like, and are you that person or on your way?

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2 comments
  • JennyNovember 16, 2012 - 10:26 AM

    thanks for this post. it speaks right into my heart as I often sit down and try to think about who I am, who I wanted to be and where the difference is. Not only always thinking about what you want to do but who you want to be with all aspects does not only change your profession but it really changes your life. everybody should do that on a regular base. I am not sure I am already who I want to be but I know I am on a good way. I just know the person that I had in my mind 10 years ago is not the person that I am now and I like me more than her 🙂ReplyCancel

    • LesleyNovember 16, 2012 - 2:02 PM

      I like you too Jenny!! So glad this inspired you. 🙂ReplyCancel

Crossing items off my bucket list

Posted in Lifestyle Design

In my grade twelve year I was given the opportunity to take a whole semester of creative writing, and I couldn’t wait for the class began. Every day I looked forward to B block and would carry my plain page journal covered in surf pictures and inspirational quotes into class excited to begin writing. It was the first class I ever took that really felt I was given the opportunity to really let my writing shine though and not be hindered by the school’s expectations. We were allowed to write in colours and I took liberty to mostly write in felt markers and crayons, and pages were filled with fictional and non-fictional stories.

We were encouraged to allow our minds to wander, to write what ever came to mind without stopping, and see where it took us. I use this technique even today, when I feel the need to write but not really needing to say anything. As the class came to a close we were asked to write a list of a 100 combined things we wanted to see, do, or be during our lifetime and I devoured it up writing things like get a tattoo, move out of my parents place, see Paris and London, get married. They all seemed pretty attainable except for one item I never thought I’d actually be able to do.

I wrote, visit Africa. Kenya especially, but Africa. For some reason it always laid very heavy on my heart and I so longed to see a place that just felt so far removed but so emotionally attached to me. I longed to see it, but didn’t ever think I’d get the opportunity or would be blessed enough to get on a 30 hour flight.

And due to decisions I made a long time ago, to intentionally only allow things and people in my life that made my heart sing…I’m doing it! Tomorrow I am catching a plane and will be traveling for over 30 hours, and will land in Africa; Tanzania to be exact. I can hardly contain myself that another one of my desires is finally coming true!

My carryon is packed with just the essentials and I’m so ready to soak up all the Tanzanian culture I can get!

I’ve not very often I get to cross items off my bucket list, but this is one I’m truly celebrating! Have you crossed anything off your bucket list lately? Do you have a bucket list?!

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1 comment
  • JenniferSeptember 25, 2012 - 7:02 AM

    it must feel so wonderful to cross something off your bucket list. I don’t have a written list but just a list in my head but you inspire me to write my own list. The first and most important thing that was always on my list is having my own little company and be free to work for myself and do something I love – I am so glad I can cross that off my list before writing it down but there are so many more steps on the route to freedom. Thanks for your friendship and inspiration ! Keep on dreaming and writingReplyCancel

Living offline in an online world

Posted in Lifestyle Design

We stood on a street corner in Amsterdam, and while we waited for traffic to pass I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through Facebook to see if perhaps anyone has posted anything interesting. “Facebook again?” he says to me. “Just like you’re on TSN” I tease. But we both know that in reality, we’re tired of seeing the other staring at a screen instead of enjoying the beauty of the world. And I know that I’m tired of feeling like I’m chained to my phone.

Earlier this year I was trying to stay on top of every single Social Media outlet I could be apart of. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Google+ and I was trying to be active on all of them. It was exhausting and time consuming. Probably around the beginning of spring I decided to stop updating and checking twitter. It is great for connecting but I spent at least 30 minutes of my day scrolling and checking but not actually having any connection with anyone. Not what I wanted to spend my time on. I stopped updating LinkedIn and hardly even got Google+ up and running. I started spending less and less time on Pinterest and only 2 times a day on Facebook.

Enter late June and we decide to move to Vancouver, but to surprise everyone back home, we chose not to announce it anywhere. I felt like I couldn’t update Facebook without giving something away or feeling like I was lying. So for almost 3 months I hardly updated Facebook, only uploaded some images to Instagram to remember where we had been, and lived an offline life. And it was WONDERFUL!

For the first time in years, I felt obligation free to Social Media. I didn’t have thoughts of “oh, that’s a great status” or feeling like people really wanted to see what I was doing. I felt like I was still able to live a beautiful life, but it didn’t need to be documented, and it was the most refreshing feeling. I stopped carrying a camera around with me and enjoyed seeing the beauty around me through my own eyes and didn’t feel the need to write detailed notes to write about it later. And my beautiful life continued.

I’m slowly easing myself back into blogging, because I truly missed writing, but I will be spending less time on Social Media to expand on living an offline life in an online world.

What do you do to help yourself feel like you’re still living a beautiful life, even if no one reads about it?

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