Happy New Year! 2022

It’s a new year and I’m so blessed and grateful to be on this earth. When I got diagnosed with breast cancer the first thing I though of is I don’t want to die. I love life so much. It’s abundant. I love my husband and children so much. I want to spend all my time with them and grow old with them. I love so many things, I love fresh air, I love nature and water and trees. I love books and teas and coffee. I love food and music and art and cultures and stories. I love animals.

There is so much to explore and do. I want to try new things and have more experiences. I love Stories and fairytales. I love being a kid again by dancing around and looking like a fool but letting loose and letting go. I love looking at the world with wonder and being curious. I love expressing my self. I love children and teaching kids. I love my friends so much. All the memories made and all the moments waiting to be explored. Cherished times always in my heart. I love how babies smell and I love hugs. It feels amazing to hug and squeeze loved ones. I love the Theatre. The most magical place to be is in the Theatre. Stories to be told and magic to be seen. I love to love. My heart is so full it’s overflowing. I’m grateful and thankful. Feeling love and happiness abundantly. Gratitude and love.

I love the smell of flowers and grass. I love blue skies and I love storms. Grey skies and wind. It’s all beautiful. I love films. Love watching great stories come to life. I love the smell of food and freshly baked bread. Love the taste of chocolate. The sound of waves hitting rock, the sound of birds and the smell of the ocean. I want to explore and see more. I want to live many more Christmases and see more twinkling lights. I want to run through snow and go tobogganing. I want to sing more and act on stage again. I love life and I’m so grateful for each second the clock ticks. More love, more memories made, more of it. I hope this year will be full of everything I love and everything that brings joy and positivity.

I wish this year will be full of everything you love my friends. Wishing you all the best.

Love ❤️

Maria @bestdayblogger

Hello September! 2021

I can’t believe it’s September. How are you my friends? I hope you are taking good care of your selves and are keeping safe and healthy. As for me I’m healing nicely and I’m continuing my cancer Journey with a positive mindset. It is truly hard some days. But I’m staying positive.

Last weekend we went to Port Perry and had fish and chips and I bought a book from the local book shop. It was lovely to get out and forget about my worries!

It’s that time of the year when I start planning October posts. Fall is my favourite time of the year. Autumn makes me happy. Books make me happy. Food makes me happy. I love all the colours that change in Autumn. I love cooler weather and the delicious autumnal foods. Do you have a bucket list? What are your favourite Fall things to do and see? Here is my bucket lists from previous years. I hope you try some of these out.

I will probably try to do a couple of blog posts but I don’t have time to do one for every day in October. I wish I could. 🎃 🍁

Health: I am doing well my friends. I’m continuing my radiation. I have 16 more to do. I am also continuing Herceptin. I’m feeling good and I just have a few aches and pains but I’m healing nicely. Radiation side effects don’t show up until two weeks later so I’ll keep you posted. I’m vlogging my radiation journey on my YouTube channel. If you like please subscribe. My hair is growing back but very very slowly.

THANK YOU

I will start off by saying thank you to Ulysses Press for the following two cookbooks: “The Un official hocus-pocus cookbook” by Bridget Thoreson and “The Unofficial Hogwarts cookbook for kids” by Alana Al-Hatlani. I am a huge fan of Hocus Pocus and Harry Potter so these two cookbooks are amazing!!! SuPeR FuN!

They have amazing Fall recipes in both cookbooks and I look forward to trying a few of them out. I will definitely share them with you when I make them. Some include pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, hot chocolate and more.

“The Unofficial Hocus Pocus Cookbook” by Bridget Thoreson

“The Unofficial Hogwarts Cookbook For Kids” by Alana Al-Hatlani

T H A N K Y O U

Thank you to Shoppers Drugmart and Pacifica Skincare for hosting a lovely giveaway on Instagram. I won some fabulous skincare that is vegan and cruelty free. I already started using the skincare and love them!

Thank you to AVON.CA for sending me a lovely PR Sample of FRUITS AND PASSION alo Shower Gel. “Its gentle cleansing formula is enriched with vitamins E and B5, known for their hydrating and antioxidant properties.” Thank you!

Thank you all for reading my blog post. Have a beautiful month and I look forward to writing another post very soon. Thank you!

Life Can be Stormy

Sometimes life can be stormy

Up and down

Twists and turns

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with a lot of emotions

Things sometimes work out and sometimes they don’t

I say things I don’t mean

I learn from my mistakes

I’m growing

I try to become a better person

I learn

I move on

I hurt

I cry

It’s all going to be okay

That’s what I tell my self

I count my blessings write down things I’m grateful for

I write down my goals and dreams

I write down my wishes

Less material things and more life experiences

Working on the inside and feeling fulfilled

Full of God’s grace and love ❤️

Forgiveness to myself and others

I’ve been trying to stay hopeful

Sometimes I want results fast but life is teaching me things take time and to enjoy the process

Courage and one moment at a time

As things move forward I pray to God for courage, love, strength and happiness.

What ever happens I will keep calm and strong.

Keep love in the heart and stay humble.

Dear January…

I poured a lot of creativity into the pages of my sketchbooks and notebooks. I avoided any physical exercise. I know I said I would do yoga but I’m not into it. Just not feeling motivated. As we move into February the sun helps brighten my spirit.

I’ve been writing poetry. I’ve been sharing my poems on IG. @bestdayblogger because I don’t have my computer to upload and edit my vlogs as much I’m spending time on Instagram Reels and IGTV. This year is my first time using those features. It’s fun.

I created a video for my Art Book Flip Trough.

I created a video of my tea collection. I’ve been into a lot of tea drinking lately.

Reading art and writing is how I’ve been spending my creative time. The rest of the time I’m doing laundry, washing dishes and cooking. It gets dark at 5:30 and I hate it. I feel tired and want to sleep a lot but can’t.

Currently reading Alice Hoffman’s Magic Lessons.

I am really enjoying this book.

I completed A Poem For Every Winter Day. A very lovely collection of poetry.

Art in my Moleskine Artbook. I completed my first book. I didn’t use both sides of the pages.

As for beauty I haven’t put any makeup on. I only use skincare products. Clarins, Pixi Beauty Skincare and Avon Skincare. I will be doing a full skincare winter routine post soon.

That is all for this month. Art, writing, tea drinking and reading. Taking care of the house chores and cooking. Feeding, bathing and taking care of my girls. Taking care of my self also.

I watched a Netflix movie in January. I LOVED IT. It is called Penguin Bloom with Naomi Watts. Based on a true story. It was amazing! You must watch it.

This month’s favourite snacks are chocolate and popcorn. 🍿

I’m also loving my new fountain pen. It’s really beautiful. I received this as a Christmas gift from my wonderful husband. I also completed my Tea Pigs advent calendar and loved opening a tea everyday. It was amazing trying different flavours of teas. Tea Pigs is great!

So goodbye January 2021! I enjoyed each moment and cried many nights missing my father and thinking about him. I had a few sleepless nights. Puffy eyes and bags under my eyes. It is hard. Flashbacks from the final hours with my father come to me all the time and I just start crying. I know the good memories will float above the sad ones one day. Until then I light my candle everyday and pray.

I hope you are all well my friends. Take good care of your selves and your family during these hard times. Spend your time doing things you love and things that bring you joy.

Thank you all and have a beautiful weekend.

Much love and positivity.

Cold

Dear 2020…

You induced turbulence and waves of emotional grief. You were unkind and relentless. You made me stand still while things around me moved in a fast pace. You tired me out and ripped my heart out of my chest. With these challenges there are many lessons learned. I have no control of fate, love can be omnipotent and even though social distancing keeps people apart, friendship, strength, courage and hope are resilient.

The beginning of 2020 was very challenging as Government announced the Pandemic and along with that came the rules like isolation and distancing. Staying away from family and friends was very challenging. Then schools closed and we started online learning. We only travelled around Ontario and spent time in nature. I started questioning a lot of things and there are so many emotions, feelings and thoughts about this entire pandemic. I can’t put it into words because there are too many things to reflect on. I’m still processing the entire thing. I started journaling more, doing art, yoga, reading more and staying creative. In the air lingered uncertainty, worry and fear for the future.

The last time I blogged was on October 23, 2020. I wrote that my father was coming and that I was going to take care of him. The first week he was here it was the hardest week of my life. I won’t go into detail. I felt so crushed and broken by his condition. His symptoms didn’t seem right to me. I took him to the hospital. They did all the tests and the results showed cancer. He went into isolation at the Hospital because he just came from Greece and I didn’t see him for two or three weeks. He was then moved to a palliative care unit and I was able to spend every day with him. I can’t get into detail about his condition and what he went through. It is too hard for me to describe. My father passed away on Dec 8, 2020. I was with him holding his hand and he knew I was there with him. I told him I love him and told him he is an amazing father to me. I cry every day and replay the last hours with him in my head. I’m broken. My heart aches. I cry and miss him. I think about him everyday. As I am writing my mind stops and thinks “What just happened?” Everything feels like it happened so fast. I know I was not alone in that room with my father holding his hand, I felt my mother with me.

Thank you for your messages, flowers and prayers. Thank you all for being there for me.

Even though it was a turbulent road and a lot of emotional chaos, I will add that love and faith in God is what kept me going. The love that I eternally have for my father gave me strength and courage to get through the hard moments. I can’t reflect on a lot things that have happened in the past two months. A lot of things are a haze, I’m still mourning and my thoughts make me tired. My tears just pour out unexpectedly through the day. I will be okay. Knowing my father is not suffering anymore and he is with my mother gives me peace.

I am hopeful and I feel loved. I have courage and strength to move forward with my family. My mother and father would want the best for me and I must keep that in mind. I love them and think about them everyday. They are around me and a part of me. I can feel them stronger than ever. Love, strength courage and hope are within me and I am resilient.