Modern Mama interviews Mom’s in our “How Does She Do It?” feature. If you are interested in participating please reach out on Facebook or Instagram.
Our latest How Does She Do It?.. mama is Annie Barcenas. She is an entrepreneur, businesswoman, wife, and mother of two. She was born as a city girl but has slowly turned into a city-farm girl. Annie came from Mexico two decades ago and has made Calgary her second home. She graduated from Mount Royal College with an International Business Degree. She pursued her accounting designation and then finished her MBA. However, she loves to be constantly busy, so it is never a dull moment when she is around. Her last adventure is to be the Modern Mama Blogger for Calgary.
Be sure to give her a follow on her Twitter and Instagram!
Are you an urban or a suburban Mama, where do you live?
I have to laugh at this question because if you had asked me this question 20 years ago, I would have said Urban Mama 100%; however, now it is 50/50. The reason is we are very fortunate to split our time between the city and the farm. The city for us is Calgary. We are here most of the week as our children’s activities and business ventures are based here. During the weekends, we spend the time at the farm which is East of Okotoks. When the city gets overwhelming, I take off to go to the farm, and when the farm life gets too quiet, I return to the city’s craziness. I like both worlds.
Tell us about your children?
I have two beautiful children. One girl and one boy. The girl, Isabelle, is 17 years old. She is going into grade 12. Time flies; one more year, and she will be off to college. She is hoping to go to university in Quebec or ON. She is hoping to become a surgeon one day. Since she was three years old, she has been involved with figure skating, and now she is focusing her “skating career” on Synchronized Skating.
My son, William, is three years old. He is very active and loves the outdoors and his stuffies. I thought I was done collecting stuffies once my daughter became a teenager, but I was wrong. He loves his time at the farm because he gets to ride on big tractors and combines. Sometimes he gives us heart attacks because he is fearless and likes to climb and jump from stuff. We hope he will also play a sport, but we don’t know yet what it will be.
Typical Weekday?
My day starts at 5:30 am to get ready for work. I work in the corporate world in addition to my hobbies (side hustles). I work in the oil and gas industry as an accountant. I love my job as I work with a great group of people, making it enjoyable to drive downtown and be up that early. After work, I come home and spend time with the kids before we are off for some of their activities. Now that my daughter is older, I don’t spend too much time at the rink, so I spend time with my son and taking care of the side hustles. My day ends around 10:30 pm.
Do I have help?
YES and YES. There is no way I could accomplish all I do without the help of my family. This includes my husband, my in-laws, and my parents. They all contribute in some way or another. It can be by cooking dinner, picking up and dropping off, running errands, or even looking after the kids while we go away for a weekend. I feel very fortunate to have all this help.
Who cooks dinner?
My mom helps me a lot by getting dinner on the table during the week. On weekends I like to cook, but make sure to plan. It takes a lot of my energy to improvise.
How often do you buy something just for you?
Does a Starbucks coffee once a week count?
Do you exercise?
I love to exercise; however, I haven’t done anything lately because we were busy moving and settling in our new house. I like getting on the treadmill and running or doing Bootcamp workouts.
Something challenging so I can get my mind off reality. Once I get back to my routine, I normally do it either at lunchtime or early in the morning.
What clothing line or stores do you like to buy for your children?
For my son, we like Carters and Children place. My daughter loves Lululemon, Garage, and Forever 21.
Three things in my purse right now?
Airbuds, toy cars, pens
My favourite drugstore buy is
Hand Cream.
My guilty pleasure is?
Browse Pinterest for new ideas or projects.
