Pass It On

"Love your neighbours as yourself"

As it's Christmas time in just FIVE days, I was inspired to write about passing it on, thanks to my neighbour. Anyone who owns a house, or even rents a house, knows there is a lot of upkeep.
Laundry, vacuuming, dishes, cleaning, etc.
The list seems never-ending sometimes, and the best part is once you are
finished your To-Do list, you get to start all over again the next day.

Yay. The life of a house-wife/ homeowner.

Well, since buying our house, we've come to realize we have amazing neighbours. They are the kind of neighbours that remind you there is hope for humanity. When we bought this house, I was 9 months preggo, and the house needed some major TLC, aka total reno. So thanks to our family and friends, we got the house liveable two weeks before the little man showed up. We owe a huge thanks to them,
we couldn't have done it without them.

This house was not only our biggest purchase ever, but also our best. Not only is it a source of shelter for our family, but in the following months since we bought, I've really seen what makes a house a home.

Examples?

1. While doing our massive renos, our neighbour came over and offered for us to use her lawn chairs, and to just grab them from her back yard. As new neighbours, we didn't feel comfortable enough yet to go grab them, and she must have picked up on that, so she ended up hauling them over for us. It might seem like a little thing, but even with my baby-brain forgetfullness, it's something
I really appreciate and obviously still remember.

2. Also, while doing our massive renos, we had three big dead trees in our front garden, which we had to pull out, leaving our garden totally bare. Another neighbour came over with a couple boxes of petunias. The garden was fairly low on our priority list, but I had to plant them or they would die. So I planted them, and it sounds silly, but they really made me feel like it was the cherry on top when it came to our renos.  It's sometimes the little things that made our houses look so much better and having flowers in our garden was definitely one of those little things.

3. Now that it's snowing like crazy out, it's hard to keep on top of the snow shovelling. We have not one, but two neighbours who have snowblowed our whole driveway and walkway. More than once.

4. You know how after a first snowfall there are always like a million car accidents? That's because people like me procrastinate getting winter tires, until it's just too late. Thankfully, I learned my lesson in a minor incident, and as I was turning into our street, I slid right into the yard of the people on the corner. With my non-winter tires on, I was stuck. So between me and the hubby, we were out pushing and trying to get me unstuck. One of the neighbours drives past and no sooner had she parked, she grabbed a shovel and started walking over. Of course as soon as this happens, we get ourselves unstuck.
But regardless, it's the thought that counts!

Not saying that those are the only nice things that have happened to us since living here, there are many more! It just really reminds me that there is good left in the world. With all the terrible things going on in the world, I think we need to make an effort to remember the good things that happen. Especially around the Christmas season, people seem to focus more on spreading Christmas cheer to others. But why not try to make it a daily thing, all year round? Little things, like making someone smile, actually mean a lot. So whether it is donating to the foodbank, or giving someone some words of encouragement, or anything,
I challenge you to pass it on.

Be the person that reminds people there are still good people in the world.
Sometimes we need reminding that there is hope! Ghandi said it best. Be the change.

Snowman Series (2009) Hahaha!