Reflecting on the Last Decade

Next week I will be 40, yup, you read that right 40. This has had me reflecting a little bit on the last decade, where I once was and where I am now. It has been fun looking back and today I thought I would share some of the wonderful things I will remember about my 30’s.

I started out my 30’s living away from Justin, doing an internship in Timonium, Maryland. I spent four months there, and while the distance was tough for both of us, in the end it made our relationship stronger.  Once back home, I immersed myself in triathlon. I became certified as a triathlon coach and I worked with athletes of varying levels in both running and triathlon. I was already certified as a sports nutritionist, so being able to help athletes with both aspects of training was amazing.  During five years of coaching I saw many athletes coached by me cross finish lines of races ranging from 5km running races to Ironman triathlons. As a coach I am so very proud to say I watched over 30 half Ironman and Ironman finishers cross the finish line of their dreams under my guidance, what a thrill.

I completely understand crossing that finish line; in 2004 I trained for and completed my own Ironman in Lake Placid, New York. Words cannot describe the emotion of this accomplishment; it definitely is near the top of my all time experiences. I returned to Ironman training after this race and in 2006 completed my second Ironman in the UK. Again, while a totally different experience, the moment you cross that finish line is indescribable.

While in the UK, Justin and I took time to visit my family, some of whom I had not seen since I was twleve and Justin had never met. It was a wonderful few weeks.

During the preparation for my second Ironman race I began to search for alternative ways to fuel my body, looking for healthier options for both training and recovery. And this was the beginning of my next journey, heading back to school for holistic nutrition. I was looking for more from nutrition, I knew there was more to it and I was eager to explore it. I started school in September 2007 and loved it. I had no idea where it would lead; I just decided to go with the flow.

Since Justin and I had pretty much decided children were not going to be a part of our future, you can imagine his surprise and lack of words when on Christmas day 2007 I told him I wanted to have a baby. Yeah, he was speechless. But we talked about it and decided we would start trying on February 1, 2008. We would try for a year and if it didn’t happen, we would just move on. While, since I was charting, I know that we got pregnant on February 10, 2008 and a pregnancy test on February 27 confirmed it.

37 weeks pregnant

So, there I was a holistic nutrition student, not sure where I was headed with a baby on the way. Reece was born at home on November 6, 2008 and by this time I had graduated, with first class honours, and knew exactly what road I was on – I was going to specialized in mom, baby and toddler nutrition focusing on preconception nutrition right through toddlerhood. It was exciting and a little scary all at the same time.  I waited until Reece was 6 months before diving in and on June 1, 2009 Your Green Baby was born.  It was later this same year that I began to write my book Raising Happy Healthy Babies. An 18 month process, it was amazing to see this project through from first word to self published book in April 2011.

During the last decade, I have grown as a person, I have changed, and I have loved every minute of the journey I have been on. My highlight hands down was becoming a mom. The first moment I met my little man was the most amazing moment of my life.  My journey as a mom completes me and continues to push me to a new level of understanding, compassion and love.

So, looking back and reflecting has been an opportunity for me to enjoy the last decade again, but the truth is, it is the past. It is a wonderful past, but the reflecting is done, I now look forward to the next decade, excited about the journey I am on and looking forward to seeing where it will take me.

My Space

I have mentioned before, we live in an old schoolhouse, a one room schoolhouse to be exact, which was built in 1878. It has had a wall put up, and an extension added, both by the owner who originally brought the house from the school board back in the 1960's. 


A Summer View of Our Schoolhouse

Living in a one room schoolhouse, for us, is awesome, we really love it. It does require us to be very smart about space and how we use it. Before Reece came along and it was just the two of us, space really wasn't much of an issue, there seemed to be lots of it. Add in a baby, now a toddler, and well, we have gotten very creative.

In a one room schoolhouse a private home office was just not in the cards, actually an office of any kind was not in the cards.  Which lead to this...my space.

My Space

My office was originally in the loft, as was our family space, before Reece. But when I was pregnant we decided the loft would become Reece's room (which by the way was never used...our room is his room). So, I came up with the great idea of opening up the space under the stairs to created my own little nook.

I love my little nook. It is my space. It is tiny, yes, but it is mine. Justin did all of the handy work, from reclaimed wood...big bonus! He even added the book shelf last year so I could stop piling my books up on the floor. And as you can see, I have already outgrown it.

I enjoy working in this space, love the feel of reclaimed materials and wouldn't want a private closed off office space if you offered it to me.  Yes, it means I usually don't work when Reece is up and about, but really why would I want to do that.  Work gets done when he goes to bed at night and sometimes in the morning, if I can manage to sneak out of bed without waking him up. 

We are currently doing some minor renovations in our home, to yet again make it more "spacious" for us.  This includes moving our bedroom to the loft, creating a bedroom and home school/playroom for Reece from our old bedroom, reconfiguring the living space (aka family room, dining room, main living space) and creating a little reading nook complete with big yoga pillows and lots of books. 

I look forward to sharing our little renovations with you over the next few weeks.

A Little About Me



My little man and I hiking on Thanksgiving weekend.

My name is Kim.

I am a holistic nutritionist, specializing in mom, baby and toddler.

I have been happily married to Justin for 16 years.

We live in the country in an old schoolhouse, which was built in 1867.

My little man, Reece, was born at home on November 6, 2008.

We cloth diaper.

We co-sleep.

We breastfeed.

We did not circumcise.

We do not vaccinate.

We "life school".

We have been judged by many for the choices we have made and are making. We choose not to judge those who choose differently than us.

We are informed.

We are a vegetarian real food family.

We grow a lot of our own food, and hope to grow enough next summer to feed our little family.

We have dreams of chickens and fresh eggs every morning. And I secretly have dreams of a bee hive or two (but please don’t tell my husband yet).

We are working towards simplicity...in our home, our life and in our journey as a family.

If you wish to follow along on my journey of Mothering with Mindfulness...welcome.