The Wiedemann Family || 2018
Getting my entire family together for family photos is always a challenge.
The last couple of years we’ve managed to do so over Thanksgiving weekend.
You can find last year’s photos here: The Wiedemann Family 2017.
Everybody In!
Over the past couple years our family has grown as two of my sisters have gotten married, one had a child, and another adopted a dog. Fitting a large number of people - especially a large number of people who are similar heights, into a photo comes with challenges - but with the help of some chairs and a few volunteers willing to sit on the ground - we were able to get everyone arranged quite nicely.
Biological
Then we grabbed a couple photos of just the biological family.
The Grandkids
My mom specifically requested that she get some photos of her and my dad with her “grandkids” - my niece Acacia and my sister’s chihuahua-pug mix, Chevy.
The Martins
I wanted to make sure we finished all of the pictures with Acacia as quickly as possible. It was a little chilly out, and of course working with children is always a bit unpredictable. But she did great! She remained content to the very last shot. :)
The Van Ysseldyks
Next I took photos of my sister, Allysin, and her husband Kyle - and of course their puppy, Chevy.
Portraits
Finally we finished off with some headshots. My mom keeps a collage of headshots on her wall - one of each of us from each year. So now a yearly headshot is mandatory. :)
Word Vomit || I Have Way More Interesting Things To Do . . .
My friend Sarah was in town this week for a conference.
We went out for coffee, and while we stood waiting for our coconut milk latte (mine) and salted caramel hot chocolate (Sarah’s). She turned to me, “So,” she asked. “How are things with (that guy you like)?”
She already knows he rejected me awhile back and is wondering how I’m feeling about it.
How I’m feeling about being (still) single.
It’s a fair question.
This rejection was harder than most for me. I wanted it so desperately.
Dreaming of a future where we travelled and changed the world together.
A lifetime of staring into those blue-hazel eyes, laughing til our ribcages hurt, and finding creative ways to help humanity.
The problem is that this is always the question.
Only a couple weeks before I had run into an old friend from Waterloo, and one of the first questions he asked is if I was dating someone.
It’s the under current of my life.
Being single.
Not wanting to be single.
People wanting me to not be single because they know I don’t want to be single.
It’s like that scene from Mean Girls:
Cady: [voice-over] I was a woman possessed. I spent about 80 percent of my time talking about Regina. And the other 20 percent of the time, I was praying for someone else to bring her up so I could talk about her more. […] I could hear people getting bored with me. But I couldn't stop. It just kept coming up like word vomit.
Except change Regina to my relationship status.
Today I’m sitting at the lunch table at work.
I’m drinking coffee out of my re-useable S’well bottle. The Cinematic album from Owl City vibrating through my headphones; pumping hope through my veins.
Thirst by Scott Harrison, the Founder & CEO of charity:water, open to where I’ve paused reading in front of me - midway through chapter 18. Scott’s in the midst of a life transformation and is currently planning a huge fundraiser for Mercy Ships.
I’m staring out the window blankly.
I’m not paying attention to what’s happening around me.
I’m way more interested in what’s happening inside me.
I think I’m over it.
I think I have way more interesting things I want to do with my life than obsess about getting some guy to like me.
Don’t get me wrong - I want to get married someday.
It’s still a dream etched in the core of my being.
Who doesn’t want to be loved and chosen?
To have a hand to hold.
And a favourite pair of eyes to gaze into for the rest of forever.
But I can hear people getting bored with me.
And maybe they’re right to be.
Maybe somewhere along the way I became the one dimensional support character with no story arc.
Maybe I’m missing some depth because the pursuit of a love I can never quite reach has consumed me.
Heck. Let’s be honest - I’m bored with myself!
It’s like hearing the same story over and over.
Predictable.
Nothing new.
Same old.
Like, does no one else notice this same song has been playing on repeat for the last 30 years?
The repetition is kind of soothing.
I know how this ends.
But today, staring out the window at the trees relinquishing their changing leaves to the brisk fall breeze, I’m ready for something new.
A life of let go and adventure.
I’m ready for a life where the ending isn’t one I know.
Doesn’t that seem way more interesting?
Like a Bible verse I read during church on Sunday:
Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original. (Galatians 5:25 & 26)
“We have far more interesting things to do with our lives”
I want a life worth living.
Filled to the brim with stories worth telling.
I have no doubt that someday I’ll get married.
I am brilliant, kind hearted and laugh-out-loud funny.
I am passionate and empathetic, optimistic and filled to the brim with purpose.
I am loving and lovely and worth chasing.
And one day I’ll walk into a party, or a conference, or maybe a wedding reception.
It could be coffee with an old friend, a blind date, or someone who messaged me on Instagram.
Or it could be adventuring with someone I already know, while we’re singing our hearts out, laughing till we can’t catch our breath, or almost crying while we talk about things that matter.
One day a man will finally look up and in one of those flashes between moments he will see me.
With all my facets
And I will be loved.
And in the blink of an eye everything will shift.
But until then I refuse to be boring.
I refuse to read the same chapter one more time.
I will no longer have the same conversations or let the same responses fall from my teeth.
This is my life.
My adventure.
And I have far more interesting things to do than be the side character with no story arc, obsessed with love.
I am brilliant and capable and in the middle of an epic story, and I refuse to live like anything less than the main character.
I don’t want to be “that girl - she’s single.”
I want to be “that girl - she’s going places. She’s changing the world.”
So when you talk to me - don’t ask me about my relationship status.
Talk to me about my passions.
About the things I’m learning.
Friends made.
Places visited.
Ask me about the plants I’ve grown.
My current dance party playlist.
The last dream I remember.
Talk to me about something a little more interesting.
Photo: Allysin Van Ysseldyk
Christmas List
Entertainment
Vinyl/Records
The Greatest Showman Soundtrack
Bleachers - Strange Desire album
JohnnySwimm
iTunes giftcards
Books! (Here’s my booklist)
Clothes
Bobby pins
Cute socks :)
Hair ties
Scrunchy
Slippers for the office
House Stuff
A cute welcome mat (it doesn’t have to actually say welcome. I want to use it for my shoes.)
Biodegradable bandaids
Cute bird feeder for my balcony
Reusable produce bags
Reusable snack bags
Salt lamp
Wake up light (Examples)
Wall calendar
White paint for my bathroom (1 gallon. I’m thinking either Whisper White or Night Blooming Jasmine.)
Eco friendly cork yoga mat
Spooky Sunday || 2018
Autumn is hands down my favourite season,
and in the office I’m not the only one.
My desk mate, Jo, love Halloween and pumpkin spice everything - but especially lattes. It has been more than one year that Jo and I have field tripped over to Starbucks on the week their fall drinks are released.
My lunch mate, Tristan also loves autumn. He enjoys the cold, and in fact embraces winter. He enjoys all things cozy from cups of Yorkshire Gold to office slippers.
And so Spooky Sunday was born.
During lunch one day we started talking about all the fun activities autumn holds, and that quickly solidified into a plan.
A corn maze.
An October Sunday.
And adventure shivering in the brisk autumn wind.
Hanes Corn Maze | Hamilton, ON (I think)
Don’t even ask me where this place actually is.
I was lucky to carpool with one of the guys. To be honest, I absolutely adore carpooling. It makes every drive seem like some grand road trip.
Bonus Spooky Points for stopping for pumpkin spice lattes on the way out of town!
This was my very first corn maze, and it was so much fun!
Ryland and Susie were insanely good at following the cryptic map we were given, and this was a maze with a prize! Which made it 80 times more fun.
Susie & Tristan were the ones that sat down and cracked the code.
And for winning, we all got to spin the prize wheel!
How are you celebrating autumn? Leave me a comment!
Photo Journal | Thanksgiving || 2018
Thanksgiving this year was spent with my family at our cottage.
Growing up our cottage was completely electricity free. Most of my memories of my time spent there is of me reading - everything from Jane Eyre to comic books. When I was young we would buy Archie comic books right before cottage trips, and we’ve built up a pretty impressive collection.
Since then my parents and aunt & uncle have installed a solar panel that can be used for some basic electrical needs. But we still have to conserve energy - especially on grey weekends like Thanksgiving this year.
Everyone has their “go to” meal when they’re cooking for others. My dad’s is eggs. Look how Sunset Grill perfect the over easy eggs my dad made me were.
My mom recently repainted and decorated most of the cottage, but a lot of the pieces are classic and have been part of cottage life for years.
Something that made this Thanksgiving extra special was the fact that this was Acacia’s first Thanksgiving, and very first family holiday.
It was also Acacia’s first photoshoot. My sister Allysin was the one who took the photos, and filmed a video of the behind the scenes for her YouTube channel.
Suffice to say, Acacia is already well on her way to YouTube fame. ;)
