2024 Oscar Predictions

Every year after the nominees are announced, do my best to watch all the Best Picture noms, and some of the Actor/Actress nominees’ movies, some of the shorts since they’re a quick watch and usually pretty good. With our recent move and the related chaos, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to watch as many as I usually do but I’m happy to report that I actually did pretty good:

Oppenheimer: We saw it in the theater and I’m glad we did; it’s going to win a ton of categories tomorrow night. This is one of those movies that was just OK (in my opinion), but because of what it’s about, it’ll sweep.

The Holdovers: I really liked this movie. Great story, great cast, great setting. Up until a couple of days ago, I had Paul Giamatti winning best actor but ended up flipping to Cillian Murphy just because of all the buzz. I’d rather Paul win but the Academy is the Academy. Really good performances from everyone in this movie.

American Fiction: WOW, what a hoot! I really enjoy Jeffrey Wright in everything he does(Westworld, Hunger Games) and he did great in this. Another great story, poking fun at the woke world we live in. I laughed out loud a few times watching this last night.

Past Lives: Nice story. Sad ending. Surprised it was nominated though. Didn’t mind in the least that a lot of it was in Korean.

I’m planning on watching Anatomy of a Fall today. I want to watch Poor Things and Killers of the Flower Moon and will as soon as I’m able. I tried watching Maestro twice but couldn’t get into it both times so I gave up. I have not seen Barbie but will watch it once it’s free on one of the streaming services. I want to see The Zone of Interest; it’s a very different take on a historical time that we’re all familiar with.

I watched 2 noms for Live Action short:

The After: Really enjoyed this, albeit a sad story.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar: This was so different, just in terms of style and dialog – that’s what made it great, plus the stellar cast.

Below are my picks (in bold)for this year:

BEST PICTURE

American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest

BEST DIRECTOR

Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall

BEST ACTRESS

Annette Bening, Nyad
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Emma Stone, Poor Things

BEST ACTOR 

Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Colman Domingo, Rustin
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
America Ferrera, Barbie
Jodie Foster, Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall
David Hemingson, The Holdovers
Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer, Maestro
Samy Burch, May December
Celine Song, Past Lives

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie
Tony McNamara, Poor Things
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

Io Capitano, Italy
Perfect Days, Japan
Society of the Snow, Spain
The Teacher’s Lounge, Germany
The Zone of Interest, United Kingdom

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Bobi Wine: The People’s President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in Mariupol

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST EDITING

Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP 

Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow

BEST SOUND

The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“What Was I Made For?”, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Barbie
“I’m Just Ken,” Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, Barbie
“The Fire Inside,” Diane Warren, Flamin’ Hot
“It Never Went Away,” Jon Batiste, American Symphony
“Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” Osage Tribal Singers, Killers of the Flower Moon

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

The After
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and Blue
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island in Between
The Last Repair Shop
Nai Nai & Wai Po

2024 Word of the Year

I’ve been thinking about my Word of the Year for a while and one word kept coming up in my thought process. Last year, I chose BUILD – I had a lot going on both personally and professionally and there was definitely a recurring theme in my life in 2023.

For this year’s word, I chose ROOTS, which is an extension of all the building that went on last year.

As many of you know, my husband and I moved from SW Ontario to Nova Scotia in January. The main reason was to find a property with more land than our suburban corner townhouse had and although it served us well and I learned a lot about gardening in the 15 years we lived there, we were looking to expand. Buying a home on any kind of sizeable lot in Ontario was either cost prohibitive, or located outside of reasonable growing zone (which defeated the purpose). So, off to the Maritimes we went. Our new home is on 1.5 acres and a good part of it will be dedicated to growing food (fruits, vegetables and herbs), as well as areas for perennials and annuals. We’re surrounded by trees but hope to plants some fruit trees and berry bushes. Lots of ROOTS in our future.

If you’re a gardener, you know that planning a garden requires patience and you’re in it for the long game. Plants look great when first planted, but it takes 2-3 years for them to really strive and shine, after they’ve rooted in and established themselves.

Moving to a new city, let alone a new province, comes with its own special set of challenges. There are the administrative tasks (new health card, new driver’s license, etc.) but also so many unknowns. Since we’ve moved cross-province before (Montreal to Mississauga in 2008), it’s not as scary an endeavor as it was the first time and one we’re embracing as a new adventure on our journey, one we’re 100% sure was the right decision for us at this time in our lives. But it does come with an understanding that we’ll need to do the work to learn about our new home, our new community, our new province’s people, its history, its amazing benefits and quirks, as well as its challenges and gotchas. But that’s all part of the fun and we’re in it for the long haul; building that sense of belonging will come with time and effort. We want to build ROOTS here.

Prior to our move, I had a fairly large houseplant collection which I had to part with (I gave lots away to friends and family) since movers don’t take them, especially not cross-province when moving in January (they would freeze in the truck since it takes almost 2 weeks in between homes). We had our cats with us on the drive from Ontario to NS (along with their gear and ours) so bringing plants was impossible in the already-packed car and honestly, logistically was more than I was willing to handle. I did manage to keep some of my favorite plants (friends of ours passed through Ontario on their way home to NS and picked them up, then kept them/plant-sat until we moved down in January. That said, it’s time to slowly rebuild the houseplant collection and surround myself with greenery again; I really missed that while we were in packing mode. So – more plants will definitely be part of my future. ROOTS!!

Looking forward to 2024 and establishing new roots, literally and figuratively!

2023 Garden Harvest – Final Tally

With all the action going on about our move, I realize that I forgot to post the final tally from our 2023 growing season harvests! See below – this is the last harvest at our old house. I’m writing this from our new home that doesn’t have yet have a garden. I’m unsure what this growing season will bring but as we build the new garden out, things will be evolving over the next few years. 🙂 Stay tuned!

• Radishes: 73
• Spinach: 12 cups
• Arugula: 8 cups
• Napa Cabbage: 7
• Snap Peas: 1,484
• Buttercrunch lettuce: 3
• Con salad: 9
• Buckley lettuce: 13
• Garlic scapes: 17
• Romaine lettuce: 24
• Garlic: 22
• Turnips: 49
• Carrots: 122
• Beans: 676
• Chard: 65 leaves
• Cherry tomatoes: 1,608
• Slicer tomatoes: 6
• Green onions: 30
• Chamomile: 1 tea tin, dried
• Basil, mint and lemon balm: Lots, eaten fresh

Impressions from this growing season: I planted enough cherry tomatoes (14 plants is the sweet spot), I need more slicer tomato plants (or just find a variety that produces more) – I only planted 2 but only got 6 tomatoes – that seems low. I also need to plant more lettuce. In 2022 I planted too much so reduced the number of plants for 2023 but it turns out, I need something in the middle to keep us in lettuce all spring and early summer.

Update on my 2023 Word of the Year: BUILD

We’re nearing the end of the year (let’s put the shock of that little tidbit to the side for now) and it’s time to take stock on how I did with my Word of the Year selection for 2023.

If you’re new to the Word of the Year concept, this is a great article that explains it all. It’s essentially setting a theme for your life over the next 12 months so you can focus your energy on what’s important to you and help you prioritize goals that align with your WOTY.

Last year my word was BUILD and I don’t think I could have picked a better one!

I had identified 4 “pillars” to focus on:

I was in a new job and a big focus of my new role was to build the practice and team I was newly leading. The team has now grown to 5 people and the practice has had some great successes, new (and retained) clients and landed some fantastic projects for the new year.

My husband and I had made the decision to move to Nova Scotia and decided to build a new house (through a builder). That house is almost complete now and we move in in January. This past year has been filled with decisions, plans and excitement about our new dream home. There wasn’t a week that went by that we weren’t talking about something regarding the build of the new house.

The goal of the move was to have more land to have a larger garden than we have now on our suburban lot. We selected a 1.5 acre lot for the new house to be built on and cleared additional space in the backyard to be able to build a new, large garden to grow fruits, veggies and herbs as well as a small orchard. Eventually we’ll put in a greenhouse to allow for an extended growing season as well.

Drool (pic of the backyard below, we also have a side yard that’s not pictured):

Lastly, with the move from Ontario to Nova Scotia, we’ll be building a new life in a new province. Since we haven’t moved yet, that will come next year but we have done lots of research, joined lots of local Facebook groups to get to know the area and community and visited a few times to get our bearings.

Suffice it to say, 2023 was definitely the year to BUILD!!

If you haven’t done so in the past, or just haven’t yet picked your WOTY for next year, I encourage you to do so to establish the groundwork for an awesome 2024!

2024: A Look Ahead

Starting with our move to Nova Scotia in January, this year’s primary focus will be on the new house, adjusting to life in a new province, and building out the new garden and landscape. Needless to say, my Life List items will mainly align with that but you never know what surprises and opportunities may come up along the way!

• Live on at least an acre of land (we’ll have 1.5 acres on the new property)
• Plant a tree
• Plant/own a small orchard
• Grow berries
• Grow onions
• Learn water bath canning
• Collect rain water

I’m going to keep the list short in 2024 because I have no idea how much we’ll accomplish and see this as a multi-year project from the garden and mini-orchard for food production and all the landscaping around the house. The top priorities are to get the fruit trees and berries in since the sooner they’re planted, the sooner they will produce. A few garden beds to hopefully grow some food the first year.

Bigger, long-term plans include a greenhouse and building out the full veggie garden, completing the landscaping on the whole property including paths and garden beds. We’re really excited about the future! 🙂

I’ll also include my usual goals:

• Read 10 books
• Watch 50 shows/movies
• Cook 12 new recipes

2023 – Our Year in Photos

Life List Recap 2023

Well – where to begin…LOL This year took on a life of its own once we decided to take the leap and move from SW Ontario to Nova Scotia (read about the “why” here). Once that decision was made, we ended up choosing the “build” route mainly because we hadn’t been able to find an existing house that ticked enough boxes. The goal had been to get more land for a larger garden, and we would have been fine with a smaller house since it’s just my husband and I. But even that proved challenging – so we ended up with a larger house than we have now on 1.5 glorious acres of land, surrounded by trees in a quiet area SW of Halifax. The greater part of this year has been spent planning as much as we can while the house was being built. We move in less than 3 weeks in January. So. Excited.

That being said, my Life List plans got a tad sidetracked but I still managed to complete some items. And there will be lots of changes coming now that we have the potential of much more land to play with; the extent of which we’ll explore next year.

Completed this year:

• Celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary
• Travel gal to visit 50 countries updated to: 24 done, 26 to go (Added Austria)
• Drink a margarita in 5 different Margaritaville locations (added the Nashville one this year)
• Visit Nashville
• Reduce use of plastic wrap/plastic containers
• Have an extended pantry
• Make prime rib

I removed some items since I’m no longer interested in doing them:

• Learn to play guitar
• Jump (or get pushed) into a pool fully clothed
• Cook a live lobster
• Rent a beach house

I have a feeling this next year in a new house and new province will be filled with exciting new adventures!

The Life List tally is now at 366 done out of 519.

Christmas Ornament 2023

As per our usual annual tradition, we bought a new ornament to add to our tree that was a standout of something special from the past year. We spent a long weekend in Vienna to celebrate my sister’s 50th birthday and got to enjoy the beauty the city had to offer.

Oscar Predictions 2023

It’s that time again! See below for my predictions for this year’s Oscars, airing on Sunday. We’re springing forward this weekend too so it’s gonna be a late night! My picks in red.

Best Picture

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Malte Grunert, Producer

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers

“Elvis,” Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers

“The Fabelmans,” Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers

“Tár,” Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers

“Triangle of Sadness,” Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers

“Women Talking,” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers

Best Director 

Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”) 

Todd Field (“Tár”) 

Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”)

Best Lead Actor

Austin Butler (“Elvis”) 

Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) 

Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”) 

Bill Nighy (“Living”) 

Best Lead Actress

Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) 

Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) 

Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)

Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”) 

Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Best Supporting Actor

Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”) 

Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”)

Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) 

Hong Chau (“The Whale”) 

Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Best Adapted Screenplay

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” Written by Rian Johnson

“Living,” Written by Kazuo Ishiguro

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks

“Women Talking,” Screenplay by Sarah Polley

Best Original Screenplay

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Written by Martin McDonagh

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

“The Fabelmans,” Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner

“Tár,” Written by Todd Field

“Triangle of Sadness,” Written by Ruben Östlund

Best Cinematography 

“All Quiet on the Western Front”, James Friend

“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” Darius Khondji

“Elvis,” Mandy Walker

“Empire of Light,” Roger Deakins

“Tár,” Florian Hoffmeister

Best Documentary Feature Film 

“All That Breathes,” Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov

“Fire of Love,” Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman

“A House Made of Splinters,” Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström

“Navalny,” Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

Best Documentary Short Film 

“The Elephant Whisperers,” Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga

“Haulout,” Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev

“How Do You Measure a Year?” Jay Rosenblatt

“The Martha Mitchell Effect,” Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison

“Stranger at the Gate,” Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

Best Film Editing

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

“Elvis,” Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Paul Rogers

“Tár,” Monika Willi

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Eddie Hamilton

Best International Feature Film 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany) 

“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina) 

“Close” (Belgium)

“EO” (Poland) 

“The Quiet Girl” (Ireland) 

Best Original Song 

“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman,” Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR,” Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose  

“This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne 

Best Production Design 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole

“Babylon,” Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino

“Elvis,” Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn

“The Fabelmans,” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara

Best Visual Effects

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

“The Batman,” Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher

Best Animated Feature Film 

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley

“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” Joel Crawford and Mark Swift

“The Sea Beast,” Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger

“Turning Red,” Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

Best Animated Short Film

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud

“The Flying Sailor,” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

“Ice Merchants,” João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano

“My Year of Dicks,” Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon

“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It,” Lachlan Pendragon

Best Costume Design 

“Babylon,” Mary Zophres

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Ruth Carter

“Elvis,” Catherine Martin

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Shirley Kurata

“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” Jenny Beavan

Best Live Action Short

“An Irish Goodbye,” Tom Berkeley and Ross White

“Ivalu,” Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan

“Le Pupille,” Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón

“Night Ride,” Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen

“The Red Suitcase,” Cyrus Neshvad

Best Makeup and Hairstyling 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová

“The Batman,” Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Camille Friend and Joel Harlow

“Elvis,” Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti

“The Whale,” Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley

Best Original Score 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Volker Bertelmann

“Babylon,” Justin Hurwitz

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Carter Burwell

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Son Lux

“The Fabelmans,” John Williams

Best Sound

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges

“The Batman,” Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson

“Elvis,” David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

Word of the Year 2023

The act of choosing a Word of the Year is a way to define the year ahead and how you’d like it to flow, what you’d like to focus on, how you want it to feel. Basically giving the upcoming year of your life its own theme. Here’s a good post about how to go about picking a WOTY.

This is a new practice for me but one I can really get behind. I have lots of goals and dreams and I really like the idea of having an overarching theme to focus on.

This year, my word will be: Build

I changed jobs last year (after 26 years at the same firm) and my main challenge in my new role was to build the practice. So this year, I’ll continue to build the practice and the team and make it a success. Build!

My husband and I will also be moving this year, from Ontario to Nova Scotia, to satisfy our craving for a quieter life, a more rural lifestyle and to have more land. We’re seriously exploring the option to build a house since we haven’t been very successful finding one for sale that ticks all our boxes. Build!

With the move will come the need to build the new garden and mini homestead we’ve been dreaming of. That endeavor will take a few years to complete but it’ll never happen if we don’t start. I’m really excited about having the space to grow more things and become more self-sufficient, which will also require building some new skills. Build!

And all of that is wrapped up in building a new home and life in Nova Scotia. We’ve moved to a new province before (from Quebec to Ontario back in 2008) so it’s not as scary this time around. Nothing that good research, organization and a good plan can’t address. And you all know how much I love a good plan. 😁 Build!

I’m excited. 2023 is going to be awesome!