What an adventure. I spent most of 2025 pregnant and we welcomed our son into the world in October. My main goal was to approach pregnancy and parenthood as what philosopher Laurie Paul describes as a transformative experience.
“Consider becoming a parent. You decide to have a child. You cannot understand the experience of parenting until you have the child. But once you do, the experience transforms you—you form a bond, an attachment, and you want that very child. It alters the kinds of things you care most deeply about.
You are doing something that changes you—something that reshapes you into a different kind of person. And there is an essential sense in which you cannot know ahead of time how it will change you.”
-Dr. Laurie Paul
It’s been a hoot so far; just the happiest time. This year we stayed closer to home, planning, dreaming, and letting the new experience unfold. I feel closer and more connected to my community than ever; people really showed up to support Matt and I in the most beautiful ways. I also got a great new position at the federal agriculture department and so happy to be supporting public science again.
Here were a few of my favourite things.
Experiencing
Hands down: my birth experience and parenthood with my favourite person.
Seeing the icebergs in Twillingate, Newfoundland. Awe-inspiring and a reminder of their fleeting state.
Swimming always: at my neighbourhood pool, prenatal aquafit, Clear Lake and West Hawk Lake
Entertainment
Seeing two of my favourite musical acts for the first time. The amazing Attacca Quartet at the Winnipeg New Music Festival and Waxahatchee at the Winnipeg Folk Festival.
Reading Peggy by Rebecca Godfrey
Watching Andor
Eating
Cookbooks I’m still wrapping my head around: Meerha Sodha’s Dinner and Samin Nosrat’s Good Things
Finally getting a chest freezer to store summer’s best produce