Honoring ourselves...

I used to write. When I was a teenager and a young adult, in the dark years of my life, when anxiety and depression got the best of me, I used to write beautiful poetry. I have many books filled with the words that were pouring out of me, as if I was too full to contain them. Words helped me heal. It might be why I decided to become a translator... But translating medical advertising and scientific studies is quite far from poetry writing... Today, I have a hard time finding the words to write a birthday card... My creation has moved to something more tangible, like knitting, sewing and felting...

Those were the thoughts that were going on in my mind while I was reading some of the wonderful blogs that I visit regularly. Then, I came across this beautiful post from Kate and it felt really good, really right. And I started looking through the photos from the last 5 years and I decided that it was about time that I took some time to honor myself for all I did during the last 5 years! No wonder the words are not coming, as Kate says, it's not that kind of life right now...

So here's a little story of the last 5 years of my life!

It all started with a WV van, of course! We left Toronto in May 2003 for Whitehorse, Yukon.



6 000 km later, we called it home right away.





And a month or so after our arrival in the land of the Klondike Gold Rush, I became pregnant! At 18 weeks, we found out that there were 2 buns in the oven! What a surprise!



That's 4 days before giving birth... at 39 weeks! Impressive, eh?



And after a very crazy birth, our two little salmons came to the world!



And at 26, 6 000 km away from our families, with a bunch of new friends without kids around us, we became parents!



And tried to stay a strong couple and to keep doing what we loved in the midst of it all...
Quite a challenge, I must say!






We kept on camping...



We lived in a tiny little house in downtown Whitehorse, on the same street as the French association, so there was always people coming and going. We had so much support from the community when the girls were born. My eyes still fill with water when I think about it. For a month after the birth, we had people coming at our house EVERY DAY to bring us a meal, people that we didn't even knew at times! It was just unbelievable!



And I kept gardening...



And I massage them...



And we carried them in slings all the time...



And they had tummy tub baths in the sun !



And we co-slept...



And we co-bathed...



And we hiked and walked a lot to soothe them and to stay sane... And to feel like we were enjoying the amazing landscapes of the Yukon...





God, we did a great job!!





And soon enough, they discovered complicity!
And it was beautiful to hear them laugh together!





And when they were 10 months old, I found out that I was pregnant again! Natural family planning sure makes for big families! I was terrified, but the support we had around us was so incredible that we felt we were in the best place to welcome Mathilde.



And Mathilde was born... and the girls were... well, I can't say that they were very excited, they were mostly indifferent and then, the adventure began... 2 weeks after Mathilde's arrival, Mara and Aïsha turned into very insecure, clingy and whiny little girls. It was HARD!



Mathilde was a happy and easy little girl, at least!



God I look tired... and I was!



There was a lot of that...



And of that too...



And then, they discovered the pleasure of being twins!







And yes, we used that device. Our friend calls it The Circle of Neglect!
For me, it was the Circle of Sanity!



And we kept traveling around, as hard as it was, we needed to get out a bit!



And they all got chickenpox. And Mathilde got complications and scared us all...



And I turned 30, and my amazing girlfriends invited me to a wonderful Inn for 2 days.
It was so great!



And last summer, we left the Yukon to begin a new adventure.




We sure miss the Yukon and our friends, but we are all ready for some new projects here in our new house with my Grandma and our family nearby.