2012 in Review

Now that I'm ready to get back to some regular blogging let me say - HAPPY 2013 everyone! I hope you all had a safe and wonderful New Years Eve - we enjoyed some time together as a family. Before we really jump into this new year, I have to take today to look back. After all, 2012 was such an exciting year for our family. Here's how it all happened...

January:

I started the month off by looking back on how we did on our to-do list in 2011 (not bad) and put together a new list for 2012, which we started on pretty quickly (little did we know we wouldn't have much time to tackle most of that list). We did however, motor along with our ongoing bathroom renovation. It seemed to be our biggest focus, and I loved seeing that little space transform into something beautiful with our own... I mean, B's hard work (check out our January progress here, here, here, here and here).

February:

February seemed to move a bit slowly after we received big news at the beginning of the month. I started up my Stella & Dot business and also had the beautiful redesign completed on my blog. I was ready to get back into blogging when my little ol' MacBook met an early demise via a glass of water. In the end, so many things contributed to February being a slow month on the blog. But of course, there was bathroom progress in February as well... like when we hacked our IKEA sink so we could use our Delta Faucet. All in all... that was about it for February - not overly exciting.

March:

I started off the month by announcing our biggest news - that B's work was going to take our little family across country to live in BC. It was exciting and scary, and I was having such a hard time thinking of leaving our tiny home in Toronto. We made some progress on finishing up projects around the house (largely in the Bathroom with finishing touches), took a mini weekend trip to Niagara, and then made a family trip out to BC to find a new place to live. When I look back, March was definitely a whirlwind month.

April:

I shared some photos from our first trip out west, along with photos of our rental. Of course, that also meant that we finished up some last minute projects and than said a very sad good-bye to our little home. I shared some first photos of us living in our new place and we started exploring our new surroundings with a trip to Whistler.

May:

May was a little all over the place. I shared some updates on how we were progressing at the rental, and gave you a small look at how our bathroom renovation finished up in Toronto (or as finished as even we would see - we left Toronto before the whole renovation was completed). Then, off we headed on a big huge trip, starting with less than 24 hours in Phoenix and then off to Florida for a week. When we got back I scored some beautiful new chairs for the breakfast nook, that I could not wait to make our own. I finished out the month by sharing a small look at our guest room, as we prepared for our very first out of town guest. It was a VERY busy month.

June:

I was so excited to FINALLY get an area rug for our living room - a perfect spot for our sweet girl to play. I shared photos of my friend's visit out west and also revealed the bentwood chairs that I painted and recovered for the kitchen. We finally started to get things up on the walls, when we hung my new/old mirror. I also shared my inspiration for one of Halle's TWO first birthday parties.

July:

We were away for a good chunk of the month. Visiting B's family in Massachusetts for a week to celebrate Independence Day & also have the first of Halle's 2 birthday parties (see those posts here, here, here and here). Afterwards, I headed to Toronto with Halle for another week and spent a lot of time getting ready for her second party (and visiting Michael Penney's store). On the home front I began my mission to get some artwork up on the walls of our home, starting with our bedroom (which you can read about here and here). We spent a weekend on Vancouver Island with some new friends and on the 23rd of the month, our baby girl turned 1. Boy how that first year flew by.

August:

This month started off slowly with a few small changes in the living room, kitchen and master bedroom. We also found a new/old couch that we planned on recovering to use in our sunroom... but it's still sitting there untouched (by us anyway - the dogs seemed to have claimed it as a place to lounge). I got to spend some time at home, attending a friends wedding and of course planning, getting ready for and throwing Halle's second party for her first birthday. I was also happy to work on a little project for my cousin's nursery - a sweet little bird inspired mobile. We got our gallery wall started in the hallway at home, and at the same time made a couple of small tweaks to the gallery wall in Halle's room. It was also the start of our month of visitors and we did a lot of planning on the places we would take them to see. We had a lot of sight seeing coming our way.

September:

September was a pretty quiet month on the blog from me. I did share some updates to our guest room that we completed before everyone came to visit. I got to attend the grand opening night of the brand new West Elm store here in Vancouver and I had such a great time. I was excited to finally get started on our garage sale chair that we have had a sitting around for ages, and shared some of the sightseeing we had done with our guests. I then celebrated 5 years of being with B, my 27th birthday and my 3 year blogiversary! Yup - lots of things to celebrate in the last half of September!

October:

October was also quiet, but I still had a good amount to share. I started off by giving you a peek at my time at IDSWest and our BLEND2012 blogger event. I loved meeting so many fantastic bloggers from the West Coast, and it was a great chance for me to have a Mommy night out. I shared our fall decorating, including our Thanksgiving table and our fall mantle. I also shared a lot of family stuff, including a sneak peek at our newest family photos, and also a look at a couple of weekend trips we took together at a family. I gave an update on the slow-going transformation of our garage sale chair and then rounded out the month by sharing our Halloween decorations.

November:

I started off the month of November with some exciting news. I finally opened up my very own Etsy shop, Halle Handmade, and was very excited about it. The response I got was so encouraging and well and I can't wait to see where my little shop takes me. I shared a couple of photos of Halle in her Halloween costume, and one of my favourite projects we've worked on for the rental. I FINALLY got the canvas I had been wanting to put up on our mantel, and yes I love having a beautiful photo of our baby girl up there every day. We took another weekend road trip to cross some Christmas gifts off of our list, and Halle enjoyed a lot of activities that we picked out just for her as well. That wasn't our only trip though. We were lucky to spend a week back in Massachusetts for Thanksgiving, and visiting with family and friends. It was also when B popped the question and asked me to marry him! What an exciting month!

December:

I shared a look at the early Christmas we celebrated with our parents while we were in Massachusetts over Thanksgiving - celebrated exactly one month prior to Christmas Day. I also started to plan out what I wanted to do with our messy Dining Room... and was able to start to execute those plans a lot more quickly than I had initially planned. Of course, with it being the most festive month of the year I had to share a look at our Christmas decor, and also some of the fun festive activities we enjoyed with Halle (it's those activities that are my favourite... the memories that you create with family and friends). With wedding planning well underway, it also meant sharing a look at my very first wedding project.

Yup... 2012 was a crazy, busy and exciting year for us. Looking back really makes me feel so happy and grateful for everything we got to see and do, and all of the time we got to spend together as a family of three, and also with family and friends. Now, it's time to close the door on 2012, and open the door to 2013. I know it will be an exciting year with plenty more projects happening around the home, new travels and adventures, our wedding (and honeymoon)... and I'm sure plenty of surprises! I hope you'll stick around for all of the fun to come!