Where House of Kerrs is Heading in 2019...

Happy New Year, loves! Feels good to get back to writing after a much-needed holiday hiatus. We holidayed hard, then hibernated even harder, savouring near two weeks of blank space in the calendar. A sweet change from our typical go-go-going!

Taking a bit of digital detox also gave me time to think about where we’re heading with this platform this year. I’ll be honest, the close of 2018 had me quite spread and worn (personally & professionally) and adjustments and more focus will definitely be made to get a bit more of a grip on life. Checking myself before I wreck myself kinda thing. Some things for sure that will be changing – time spent on social media, especially Instagram. While a blessing because a tool to share my work, and affords freedom to do it anywhere (the rink, my car, the dentist’s office, etc.), and bountiful if used wisely, the app is built to keep people addicted with impossible algorithm programing and machine-like engagement expectation to keep up with, which with a very full family life to keep pace with, it’s impossible to sustain that level of interaction, nor does it at all feel good when you value being present for your family. So, tech wellness will definitely be considered in alignment with sharing our content this year and riding the waves of change this industry is undergoing. I just started reading “The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Balance in a Wired World” (*affiliate link*), which is helping me figure out how to use tech as an accent, rather than compulsion, to compliment this work. Highly recommend!

Also, there’s a big sway toward sharing life in real-time (thanks to IG stories). While I know many are very curious about our everyday goings as a large family, it’s a family decision to keep lots of our life private and off-line. Not to hide, but sacred time without cameras in our face is valuable to us and staying true to who we are. Our family is also changing – our oldest near pre-teen and not wanting all his business shared to the masses. We’ve always made decisions for this platform as a family and will continue to do so. My kids’ personal stories are not mine to tell, nor their hard moments fair to be sharing, and we’ve always respected this. You can read more about our perspective on having an online presence as a family here and here.

So, what can you expect? More of what makes me excited to write and share about. Despite many of us making it look easy, blogging is a TON of work, and this one run by a team of UNO…moi (Writer + Editor + Photographer + Bookkeeper + Marketer, etc.) so keeping at things that genuinely interest me keeps me wanting to continue plugging at it. Last year I turned away a lot of work that just didn’t jive with the things I cared to spend my time working on and writing about. I realized that the quality of work I have is way more important than quantity and I feel more excited about pouring into the blog when the work I’m doing is interesting and exciting for me. I think it’s also part of being authentic in this space – sharing tips/products that we’d actually use or add value to our life. And these will come through in the following topics that give me joy to talk about:

Family Travel – honest reviews of local and international places we visit, and tips for packing peace of mind for your adventures, both on the blog & through published writing on various Travel mediums. I think you want to see more of this too, as our travel content was our most sought after this year (yay!), reflected in our Top 10 posts of 2018 (*see below*).

We spent time over the holidays updating our family vision board with places we hope to visit this year. If you’ve never done one with your family before, I highly recommend it. So many things we put on our board last year came to life: including our vow renewal, connecting with our Italian roots, visiting a spa I’ve dreamed about going to for years, adding more flow & function to our home, doing more acts of service as a family, and receiving a gift to a place Andrew and I can enjoy as a couple, to name a few. It isn’t just woo woo stuff…it works, I tell ya!

Wellness for Moms – you’ve heard me say this repeatedly on here before: if moms are the heart of he family, what’s good for mom is good for everyone. Sharing how to tend to the mama spirit while meeting the many demands of motherhood will continue to be weaved into our content. Truth be told, last year presented some heaviness to navigate and keeping at finding healthy ways to navigate through it (meditation, writing & photography for release, supplements, nature and, of course, Mom-cations!) became even more important. I also go into a Winter funk this time of year, and know so many of you that do also, so check out how I’ve learned combat it here.

Also, I had the opportunity to work with some incredible partners empowering women and moms through their company mission this year. Kicking my insecurities to the curb and showcasing swimsuits for every female figure with Swimco, getting styled by the fabulous Smithery Style team who helps women shop for their shape not their size, joining the WWFreestyle program with WWCanada that educates how wholeness and wellness are so much more than numbers on a scale and killer workouts, and other brands that celebrate all types of women, supported my desire to bring some #Mompowerment to this platform. I will continue to share mama musings, products and services that support and align with this, because this is such an important focus for me nearing the next major decade of life – turning the big 4-0 this Spring (eek!).

Food – returning to my passion for cooking (including some with #DadChef) was a form therapy & release last year. I love sharing ways to make healthy meals for your gang with tips on how to keep it simple and fun. I hope to add more recipes to the blog this year, but if you don’t already, go follow us on Instagram as I often share quick meals on IG stories. By request, I’ll also be putting them in short videos to share on IGTV so you can find them at a later date. We’ve also really enjoyed being invited to and sharing our favourite spots to dine out at as a family in the GTA. We can’t wait to share more of this with you going forward.

Personally, I want to step out of my shell a little more and get more involved in media/TV/Radio. Getting over my fear of LIVE TV appearing on CHCH Morning’s Parenting Panel with the fabulous Julie Cole this Summer made me realize this is a great extension of the media work I do and topics I cover with the blog. I also want to do more published writing – it’s how this all began and what really lights me up.

I hope these are things that interest you also and will keep you sticking around. Before I sign off, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting this platform, and in doing so, helping it evolve. In the Spring of last year, I made a very tough decision to say so-long to a stable, full-time income stepping away (temporarily) from my Public Service career to have more time to be available to our family, and bring more calm to our flow. So, while this blog is a passion of mine, it’s also become a way to supplement my income and support our livelihood, and every like, comment, share and message you send is appreciated more than you’ll ever know. My word for last year was TRUST, and will continue to be my word for 2019. Trusting my heart & intuition and aligning with things that felt right brought some beautiful opportunities in 2018, work that matched my worth, and helped validate the tough decisions I made.

And to the incredible partners who continue to trust us with sharing how their products & services enhance our crazy large family life, a massive, whole-hearted thanks to you also.

If you’re just joining us, head on over to “Our Story” and “Why I Blog” for a little backgrounder on who we are and how this all came to be.

In case you missed them, here are our Top 10 Posts of 2018 we shared on Facebook over the holidays:

10 – A Memorable Stay at the Real-Life Dirty Dancing Resort

9 – 4 Reasons We Love Fern Resort for a Family Getaway

8 – Winter Hair Care Tips for Moms On-The-Go

7 – Our 12-year Vow Renewal

6 – 7 Best All-Inclusive Resorts for Families

5 – A Healthy Spin on Pizza Night with WW Canada Chef Tyler

4 – 4 Reasons to Book Hardrock Hotel Punta Cana for Your Next Family Vacay

3 – Our Front Entryway Reveal with Wayfair Canada

2 – 7 Best Travel Sites for Fams of 5+

1 – 7 Unique Date Night Ideas in The Six