Wedded Bliss

Today is my wedding anniversary. My fourth wedding anniversary. I find that a little crazy. (And not in a bad way.) I am so ridiculously blessed to have the husband I have. Jonathan is my perfect match even though I don't always see that. He is quiet and thoughtful, I talk too much and often without thinking. He can be impatient, whereas I can be too patient. I make quick judgements about people, places, or things and he takes his time and examines all the facts. He measures twice and cuts once - I just start cutting. We are both growing frustrated waiting to be parents, but he has never once blamed me or judged me when I started crying at the news that someone we know is expecting.

Neither of us is perfect, I know that. But I also know, without a shadow of a doubt, that we are perfect for each other.

Domesticity

I am trying very hard to turn over a new leaf in the cooking and cleaning department. (Do I sound like a broken record? I know I've said this same thing before!) I spent Monday night and yesterday morning getting my house clean. Not spotless - but clean enough that if my mother-in-law decided to pop by unexpectedly I wouldn't be absolutely mortified. Today I planned our meals for the next week, got groceries, made a couple freezer meals, made breakfast sandwiches for the week, and baked some chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting for my husband.

I need to remember to start doing one or two things every night so that on Wednesday when I'm off I don't have a huge list of things to accomplish around the house. (And maybe I can spend some time spiffing up my blog.)  It was nice today not to have to worry about a ton of cleaning. I'm going to vacuum and dust my living room, but that's all that really needs to be done since I've done little bits over the past couple days.

On a sort-of related note, I'm in the market for a new slow cooker. I'd really like one with a timer. Most recipes say 4-8 hours and I'm gone from the house for nearly 11 hours each day. Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations?

Attempting to be productive...

Daisy licked the spoon when I
was done mixing up her treats.
She can't wait until they're frozen!

One of the nice things about my job is that I get a day off through the week. The downside to that is that I work Saturday when my husband is home but I still enjoy it. It gives me a chance to read and relax, or get some house work done.

I decided I should try to be productive today since I spent my day off last week at the petting zoo with a friend and her son. So far I've done a couple loads of laundry, a load of dishes, bought groceries, put supper in the slow cooker, and made some frozen treats for Daisy. Hoping to get my bathroom cleaned next and maybe do some vacuuming. Though I might just take a nap first...

PS: The recipe for the frozen doggy treats is here if you're interested. I made them last summer too and she goes absolutely crazy for them. And it's much cheaper than buying doggy icecream at the store.

Cancelling the Pity Party

I got some news yesterday that really upset me. And I was upset because the news upset me. Confused? A family member announced yesterday that's expecting a baby. And I am so happy for her. She's going to be an amazing mother, and her husband is going to be a fantastic father. They are truly lovely people. However, Jonathan and I have been struggling to conceive for almost three years. So instead of being happy for them, I had to leave the room before I started crying.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening wallowing in self-pity. (I did manage to say congratulations before we left, but I know my behaviour was ridiculous.) I sobbed in my bed while my husband walked the dog. I honestly don't know the last time I cried like that.

This morning I woke up feeling a little foolish. How selfish am I? What is wrong with me that I can't be happy for friends and family who are experiencing one of the most joyful times of their lives? And what about my husband? How does it make him feel when I behave like that? Time to cancel the pity party and get on with life.

God's timing is perfect - I'll have a baby when (and if) I'm supposed to. For now, I've decided to try and finally develop that routine I've been talking about for months. I'm going to try and get myself healthy. Will eating better and exercising more make me get pregnant faster? Maybe, or maybe not. Will it make for an easier pregnancy when the time comes? Definitely. And if I don't get pregnant is there any harm in being healthier? Well that's just a silly question...

Back for Good

I have been a bad blogger. I unintentionally took a month long hiatus. (Oops!) I'm hoping that I am back for good this time. It's not the first time I've said that, but I'm trying to get into more of a routine at home and at work. And I want to make sure I make some time for things just for me.

I haven't really been up to a whole lot lately. I took a week of vacation in the middle of May. Just a "staycation" that I had planned to use to get some house cleaning done. I just needed a break from work. I didn't get much cleaning done, and I ended up spending two and a half days at work anyways. (Fail.)

I celebrated my 31st birthday on the 12th. It was also Mother's Day and my friend Kyla's wedding, so it wasn't much of a "me" day but it was a good day.

 

I've actually watched a fair number of movies recently. One of my goals for this year was to watch 24 movies. I was way off track and then over the past couple weeks Jonathan and I have watched a bunch. We watched all three Iron Man movies, plus the Avengers. (I love Tony Stark and Chris Evans is beautiful.) I haven't seen Thor yet, so that's the plan for Friday night. We also went to the new Star Trek movie with my brother and my parents for my birthday. I really enjoyed it as well.

We've been watching some play-off hockey too, but not the NHL. Our local QMJHL team won the President's Cup this past weekend. Jonathan is pretty excited because his NHL team (Colorado) has the top draft pick and it looks like one of our local boys might go first overall.

I read the Beautiful Creatures trilogy by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl this month as well. Not the deepest read, but I thought they were decently written and I enjoyed the story. I can't decide whether I'll see the movie or not. I tend not to enjoy movies if I've read the book. I spent the whole time comparing it to the book, and usually there are things missing. Some important, and some not so important, but it distracts me nonetheless. (Like with The Host - loved the book, and the movie would have been good if I hadn't spent the whole time focusing on the characters who were missing or the fact that I didn't think some of the actors suited the characters.)

I think that's more than enough rambling for today. Hope the weather is as warm and sunny where you are as it is here in Halifax!

Sunny Sunday

 

 

Today was an absolutely beautiful day. After church we took Daisy to our favourite park and walked around the lake for a couple hours. We came home and had our first fire in the backyard fire pit. I love days like today.

Friday Phone Dump!

I'm one of those odd people who have a Blackberry not an iPhone but I thought taking part in a phone photo dump would be fun. I don't think I realized how many pictures of the cat and dog I take though...

Top Row, left to right:

1. The cash office at my new store. (I spend about 40% of my time here, and the rest on the floor with the cashiers.)
2. Sydney acting all cute. The bed in the spare room is one of her favourite places to sleep.
3. Daisy likes to lick the frosting off, then eat the cookie. Too cute.

Middle Row, left to right:

1. As soon as Jonathan gets home from work Daisy runs over to get her belly rubs. She doesn't even let him take off his boots and coat first. (She's daddy's girl.)
2. Okay, seriously, is there anything cuter than a beagle sleeping?

Bottom Row, left to right:

1. Sydney helping me do some work on the blog. I'm glad she didn't decide to curl up on top of the laptop.
2. That face. I just can't resist.
3. Daisy's bed is another of Sydney's favourite places to sleep. She definitely spends more time in it than Daisy does!

Apparently I a) need to get out more or b) need to have kids so there are pictures on my phone of things other than my cat and dog...

Happy Friday!

Rainy days...

I'm not sure what the weather is like anywhere else, but it's not feeling very spring like here in Nova Scotia. I feel like we've barely seen the sun all month. And it's really starting to get to me. I don't suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder but I definitely find that the weather affects my mood and my motivation level. I get so much more accomplished at home when I can open the windows and crank the music. It's been alternating misting and pouring all day today and I haven't accomplished anything. Supper is in the slow cooker, but that's it. (And that wasn't even anything complicated, not even a new recipe.)

Right now they're forecasting sun for Saturday and I'm crossing my fingers. Not that I'll be able to really enjoy it if the day does end up sunny (I work 8 to 5 and then have to prepare for our church potluck on Sunday) but even just having sunshine coming through the windows will help I think.

I'm really hoping all this rainy, grey, depressing weather means we're in for a beautiful, warm, sunny May! Does anyone else find that the weather affects their moods? Or am I just odd?

I'm alive!

I truly have been a horrible blogger for the past few weeks. I am still planning on continuing my blog, I'm just still trying to find my rhythm with the new job. It's funny, because I'm actually working the same number of hours as before but my days are much more hectic, and I'm now in the car an extra hour each day. I'm totally wiped when I get home. Then I have to cook supper, spend some time with hubby, and try to get a little house work done. (Sometimes being a grown-up really sucks.)

Just a few random thoughts before I start getting ready for work...

- I just finished reading "The Best of Me" by Nicholas Sparks. Excellent book. A little predictable, but very emotional.  I definitely see it being made in to a movie. (But don't wait for it to become a movie, read the book. It's worth it.)

- New job is going well, despite being so much more hectic. I just got a new assistant. (My second one in less than two months...) She's adorable though, very excited and very keen. I think we're going to work well together.

- Going out for supper with "my girls" on Thursday night. I've had the same best friends since junior high and even though our lives have gotten pretty hectic we always make an effort to get out once a month or so. This time it's been two months, so we decided to be a little more fancy and are headed downtown to a nice restaurant for drinks and dinner. I can't wait!



An old picture of the three of us.

- I'm also planning my first weekend away without Jonathan. A good friend of mine (Hi Julia!) moved to a small town about an hour and a half away for work and I'm heading down to spend a night with her in her new place.

- I'm trying to get back on the healthy eating/exercising bandwagon. It's not working. I don't know what sort of kick in the rear I need, but it better come soon!

I am so sorry for not commenting on everyone's blogs lately, my plan is to spend some time on Bloglovin' tomorrow and try to catch up at least a little bit. I do have some errands to run first, but I think I'll save the house cleaning until after I'm done. :-) Happy Tuesday!

My weekend recap

So, I'm a day late, but I actually had a pretty great weekend.

Friday night Jonathan and I decided we needed a date night. My new job is still going well, but I'm exhausted at the end of every day. (Not so much physically as mentally.) We got some gift cards for Christmas for restaurants and the movies so the plan was to head to Boston Pizza and then up to the movie theatre to see either Oz or Identity Thief. Unfortunately we only made it to dinner. By the time I got home from work, and got ready it was later than we thought it would be. And of course there was a wait at BP. So by the time we finished eating we would have had to see a late movie and I still had to get up and work on Saturday. Even though we didn't get to the movie it was still nice to get out and relax over a meal that someone else prepared and cleaned up.

Saturday was a pretty steady day at work. I'm still trying to make things my own, plus do all the day to day stuff, so time is flying. We had signed up to play floor hockey at the church Saturday nights but missed the first two weeks. Jonathan was really looking forward to going this week, but truthfully I was dreading it. Driving home in the car I ran through all of the excuses I could use to get out of it. I got home though and Jonathan had cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed and made supper. Plus he bought me a beautiful necklace because he knew I had a couple stressful weeks. How could I not go to floor hockey now, especially when he was so looking forward to it?

So off we went to floor hockey. We go to a pretty small church so the floor hockey group was a mix of ages; from Jonathan's uncle to 10-year-old Emily and every age in between. In the end I was so glad I had gone. One, I need more physical activity in my life. (I'm definitely a couch potato.) And two, it was fun. We laughed and made jokes and no one took the game too seriously. At "half time" we all had fruit punch and rice krispy squares like a big group of kids. I can't wait for this week.

Sunday morning was church of course, but then, since the weather seemed to be turning spring-like, Jonathan and I decided to take Daisy out for a walk. She loved being in the new SUV, she had tons more space in the back but she could still get up close to us. We tried out a new path and Daisy loved it. Sunday evening was church, groceries, and the Amazing Race. And I was happy with how the race turned out too.

Pretty much a perfect weekend I think.

Hope everyone's week got off to a great start! I'm heading out for lunch with my old boss and then off to work. Hopefully I'll have an chance to get some posts scheduled this week.

Pay Day!

So, my new job came with a pretty decent raise. And I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I'd like to do with all the extra money we've got coming in...

 

1. We already did the first thing on my list, we got ourselves a better second vehicle. I drive a 2005 Honda Civic, but up until last week Jonathan was driving a 2001 Chevy S10. Last Thursday we picked up a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe. Buying new didn't appeal to us, but we wanted something that felt new, and we found it.

 

2. I'd like to get at least one colour for Butter London's "Spring" collection.

 

{ via Butter London }

 

3. Sign up for a subscription box. Leaning towards Julep's Monthly Maven Box, or Bark Box for Daisy. I think she'd love it!

 

4. Save some money and go on a trip! I'd love to go on a cruise, or go see castles in Wales, or go visit my sister-in-law in Florida...

 

5. Sign up for Weight Watchers and/or get a gym membership.

 

6. Get some new ringette gear.

 

7. Shoes! I want new sneakers and new casual shoes. And something fun. (Like these peep toes from Payless.)

 

 

 

 

8. Put some extra money on credit cards and get those paid off. (And, unfortunately, this is where all the extra money is going to go...)

 

 



 



 

 

 

My wait is over!

So, you may remember that one of my "big" goals (and one that was kind of out of my hands) for this year was to get the promotion I've been waiting for.

Well, it happened.

I got the call on Tuesday offering me at Front End Manager position. I am THRILLED.

I knew that there were openings. I knew I was towards the top of the list. But I wasn't expecting it to happen quite as fast as it did. I got the call with the offer on Tuesday, signed my offer letter today, and I start Monday. Monday.

I was actually supposed to be on vacation next week, but they "recommended" I put it on hold as I will also have a brand new assistant. Luckily I didn't really have much planned other than house cleaning, but I do need the weekend off for my ringette provincials and I'm really hoping that won't be an issue.

The transfer is very bittersweet. I love that I'm getting my shot, and I'm ready for it. Leaving the store I'm in now though? It's going to be tough. The store I'm just at only opened in April 2011 and I helped with the opening. I was there two weeks before the store opened setting up, there all through grand opening and through all the bumps and hiccups. And the store is growing so much. And part of me wants to see it continue to grow. The store I'm transferring to is an older store, and much smaller. And it's in the heart of the city, not part of our recent "suburban sprawl." Very different.

Two more shifts left, and then I'm done. It still doesn't feel real.

Biggest Loser

Today is my second weigh-in for our "Biggest Loser" challenge at work. Last week I was up 3 pounds and I'm expecting a similar result today. I just haven't been able to get myself started. I just keep sabotaging myself and it's so frustrating. I know that I can lose weight and feel better if I make better food choices and exercise more but I just can't get going. It's getting to that point where my clothes don't fit properly and I don't want to go anywhere because I don't have anything to wear. Will that be enough to get me to take the first step? I don't know. I really don't.

A few things I want to try and remember...

 

 

 

 

For those of you on a weight loss journey, what sort of things do you find motivating? Any thoughts on how I can get myself moving in the right direction?

 

 

Not just a starter

When we first bought our house in July 2011 I had it in my head that this was just our started home. We wouldn't live in a semi forever, and that when we had kids we'd move into something bigger, newer, or fancier. Whenever we made any upgrades (dishwasher, building a deck, etc) my thought was that it would be easier to sell that way. I said something to Jonathan this weekend about how I'd like our next house to have a fire place and he just kind of looked at me. 

We discussed it a little more and (with hubby's help...) I've come to the realization that there probably won't be a "next house." We're in a 30 year mortgage and we have some credit card debt and I have student loans. By the time we deal with the debt we'll be saving for retirement and hopefully putting aside money for our children's education.

It was kind of a tough pill for me to swallow. In my head I'm far from a shallow, materialistic person but every so often I realize that yeah, I can be those things. And I don't like it. It's made me realize too, that there are things I want to do around the house. Things that I had thought we wouldn't bother with since we wouldn't be here long. Nothing major - a few of the rooms need paint updates and the carpet in the living room has to go. I guess it's time to focus on those things instead of all the things I wanted in my next house.

Snagged from Google Streetview.
Lots of snow on the lawn today!

No such thing as a day off

I don't know how mothers who work full-time do it. I can't keep my house clean and it's just my husband and I. (Plus the furbabes.) I have a huge list of things to do today and absolutely no motivation. I keep saying I need to get into a routine, but it hasn't happened yet.

I've never been a "cleaner." I love having a clean house, but deep down I'm lazy and I don't like being the person who has to clean it. My bedroom was always a disaster growing up, and while my house isn't that bad, I'd be embarrassed if company showed up unexpectedly.

To try to keep myself motivated, on track and maybe even a little accountable I'm posting my to-do list here...

1. Clean the kitchen
2. Clean the livingroom/dining room
3. Clean the bathroom
4. Swiffer/vacuum everywhere
5. Bake muffins for Ladies Bible Study
6. Meal plan for the week
7. Pick up some groceries
8. Take the cat to the vet
9. Laundry


Here's hoping I can cross at least the top 3 off the list by the end of the day!

Are any of you cleaners? Or do other people struggle with it too? Any tips or tricks?

Time for some R&R

What a crazy couple days! I work in a grocery store, and they were forecasting a blizzard. Thursday and Friday were beyond ridiculous and today was pretty much a ghost town. (Which was good because 75% of my staff didn't make it in because of the weather.)

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a real post - tonight I'm just relaxing with Jonathan and Daisy and enjoying being warm & snug at home. (Might even have a hot chocolate with some Baileys and whipped cream...)

Weekend Update

I'll be honest, I don't have much of a social life. Hubby and I are both very much home-bodies. But, I have to stop comparing myself to other bloggers and remember that this is my life and as long as I'm happy with it (which I am) than it's okay. I decided to the Weekend Update link-up with Sami even though my weekend was pretty boring. :-)

When I got home from work on Friday I decided I was too tired to make supper so I sent Jonathan to The Battered Fish to get us some fish and chips for supper. They make they best fish and chips I've ever had. It's both good and bad that they've opened up right around the corner... After supper I decided to try out a new nail polish colour I got in my last Avon order. I've been looking for the perfect turquoise for months and I finally found it. I'm pretty impressed with the Essie topcoat I got on clearance a couple weeks back - no chips even after my day on cash.

Saturday I worked 8 to 5. (Just like pretty much every Saturday.) It was crazy busy though, they were forecasting a snow storm plus people were picking up things for their Super Bowl parties. I ended up spending a big chunk of my day on cashing ringing people through. I'm actually not on cash very often so it was kind of weird. My day went really fast though! Saturday night hubby made supper and then we both relaxed on the couch with our books. I love that hubby is turning into a reader.

 

 

 

We had quite the snow storm on Sunday so church services were cancelled. We should have tried to be productive but instead we finished watching season 2 of Body of Proof, took Daisy on a couple snowy walks, and I wasted tons of time on Pinterest. Neither of us are football fans so in the evening I convinced Jonathan to watch Pitch Perfect with me. I was worried it wouldn't be as funny the second time around, but it definitely was.

 

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

The View from my Window

 

 

 

Another snowy day here. Church services were cancelled this morning so Jonathan, Daisy, Sydney and I have been all curled up on the couch watching season two of Body of Proof on DVD. We're going to try and be a little productive this afternoon, but I don't see us getting much done except maybe a couple loads of laundry. But everyone needs a lazy day once in a while, right?

Sunday afternoon stroll

One of my favourite things about our house is the series of pathways that run behind and around it. We're in an older residential area that has two elementary schools and a junior high within walking distance. Rather than the kids walking on the road the geniuses who developed our neighbourhood included a series of connecting pathways to make the trip to school safer and shorter. Only a portion of the paths are maintained during the winter, but enough people use them on a day to day basis that they're pretty clear. The path is great for walking Daisy - lots of things to see and smell, and she's not doing her "business" on someone's front lawn.

I had really wanted to take Daisy and go on a bit of an adventure today. The weather is even mild enough that we wouldn't have had to bundle up too much. Unfortunately, the mild weather means everything is melting too and there's water everywhere. We decided to put our winter adventure on hold til next weekend. That meant I didn't get to play with my new camera alot, but I did snap a couple pictures to tide myself over.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Super excited!

I'm super excited, I bought a new camera today! We bought a pretty nice camera about four years ago (well, we got one as a gift) but it's really big. It takes great pictures, but I found I would leave it home more often than not because I just felt silly pulling out a great big camera at family events or at parties. I take pictures with my Blackberry, but obviously they're not the same quality and I never get them printed.

So I got it in my head a couple months ago that I wanted a new, little camera. I did some research and shopped around a little bit and decided on a Sony Cybershot. Jonathan and I both worked some over-time this week, and the Future Shop has a bunch of their cameras on-sale so I decided just to go ahead and order it. We ordered it on-line and saved an extra 10% off. In the end I saved over $80! And, I am ridiculously happy.

I haven't had a chance to play with it yet. I'm hoping Jonathan, Daisy and I will be able to go on a bit of an adventure tomorrow so I can try it out. Even if we don't, I'm sure I'll take some shots of the furbabies tomorrow.