The Journey of a Friendly Giant

It's very rare that your first time traveling will be your only time. Once exposed to the exciting and unpredictable newness that often comes with leaving home, the chances of you making more travel plans are very high. What I enjoy most about traveling is the reminder it gives me that life comes in different colours, flavours, tastes and smells. Traveling also does a wonderful job in teaching lessons of humility and tolerance of different ways to live life. I'm no rookie to the traveling game, my travel bug has become more of a monster; I've lived in over 5 countries and visited over 25 in my lifetime so far. In fact, this blog originated as a travel blog for an international internship I was fortunate enough to experience with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). I wouldn't be the person I am today without having traveled as much as I have, and I hope my now 14 month old (already!?) can say the same one day. Needless to say however, like most thi...

"So how's daycare going?" When I say ‘okay’… what I really want to say is that it’s not that great.  Daycare isn't getting easier for me, but it is getting easier for him (apparently). He still screams "MAMA!" every morning with big tear drops streaming down his face. It still crushes my heart every morning, (how can it not?...)  I'm not numb to his crying yet (What If I never am?)....  Plus I'm still breastfeeding so physiologically, and quite literally… I'm a hot mess. This is the beginning of week three, and he has now started crying for the entire 20-minute car ride to daycare. He then proceeds to fight me when I try to take him out of the car seat when we arrive. He's strong too! He has ripped a blouse and a necklace almost effortlessly because he didn't want to let go of me when I tried handing him off to the daycare attendants. He also head-butted one of them right in the mouth, taking her by surprise and frankly,...

This woman is 8 Months pregnant and lifting some pretty hefty weights above her head. Be honest, how do these images make you feel? The aforementioned woman’s name is   Leann Ellis , Fit Mom veteran, and she is pregnant with her third child in the photos. I have to admit that the first time I saw the photos a few years ago I was shocked, a tad disgusted, and kind of confused about her intentions. I instantly thought to myself what many of her criticizers are saying to her in the article “But what about the baby? How selfish can she be?” When I was 7, I remember meeting a 30 year old and thinking “Wow they are ANCIENT”. Now that I’m there, I realize I was wrong, and a bit silly to assume such things. Today, now that I’m well on my way to my 6 th month of pregnancy, I’m realizing that everything I thought I knew about pregnancy was inaccurate. I hate to point fingers, but it’s not only my fault. Twenty years ago, science had conducted very little research on the eff...