An Unusual Date Night

Life can get hectic – we all know and have experienced that. But sometimes, your love life is what suffers most, especially when you’re having a hard time finding time to get the things you need to get done, done. It’s an awful cycle to get into. But what if you could turn “tasks” into dates? Here’s an example of what I mean:

I didn’t buy my used car that long ago (2 years?) but we know that it’s going to have some major work needed soon. It’s ten years old, and it’s been a wonderful car. But the price in work that it will need done far surpasses what the car is worth, so we’re starting to look at getting a new car.

I hate the idea of spending a ton of money, I really do. And especially because I know we can’t afford a new car right now, the thought of looking at vehicles does not appeal to me at all. However, my husband wants an idea ahead of time what I want so he can work towards getting me something I like. I guess it’s kind of a motivating goal for him to know what I want so he can work towards that thing.

Last night, he asked me if I would go looking at cars with him since it was Sunday and the dealerships close early. It would give us the privacy to walk the lot, look at the vehicles from the outside without being interrupted by a car salesman which I can get so intimidated by. I’d rather have my time to at least identify what type of vehicle I’m looking for before being pursued to purchase anything.

My husband’s been after me for awhile to do anything like this, and I’ve been avoiding it. But especially because vehicles have been his new love, I decided to go more for him than anything. But you know what? I couldn’t have made a better decision. First of all, he was excited I had said yes. Secondly, we went to Starbucks to get a drink to take around with us. Thirdly, it really was kind of like a date, getting to know what each other liked about vehicles, browsing around after hours, not having any outside pressures, and just spending time together. It was actually really nice.

So instead of thinking about the mundane tasks all of the time, maybe think of ways you can incorporate tasks with your spouse and make it more of a date. It can totally change something you hate (I really hated looking at vehicles the four times we’ve done it before). Spend your time together, and make the best of every situation that you can. You and your spouse promised to share your lives together, so share even the smallest of tasks. It can have a way of improving you life all around. 🙂

The Most Emotional Spring Break

Wow. Where do I even begin…

This year I was actually looking forward to my Spring Break (for the first time since I’ve started teaching). I had the new passion planner my parents got me, I booked my days full of cleaning and catching up on life… and grading too.

On Friday, the very first thing that happened was my washing machine broke. I had so much laundry to catch-up on, but that was going to have to wait. Not a good beginning sign…

The next few days went rather well. Starting Monday, I found myself sticking to my schedules I had created, and conquering so much of the work that had been put off for way too long. I cleaned my basement, my kitchen, my entry, my stairs, my bedroom, part of my office, most of my bathroom, and even categorized some items I have to sell! It was so productive. And yes, I got quite a bit of grading done as well. I even spent excess time with my dogs and my skinny pig. I was so happy.

First, I got news that my sister was pregnant. Normally, this would be exciting news, except my sister’s life has been very rocky the last few years. She was currently with a not-so-good boyfriend, a not-so-good job, and renting a bedroom from a house – definitely not a place or situation to raise a child! She also has not had healthcare for years, and is not consistent with taking care of herself – not good for the baby, let alone her!

This turned into a very rocky situation of my step-father taking her to his hotel with him, her leaving behind his back, him buying her a plane ticket and her never returning to the hotel like she said she would. It turned into many phone calls, texts, and Facebook messages, few and far between responses from my sister, and potentially very bad situations that I cannot elaborate on at this time. What resulted of the situation was that my sister promised to be back in time for our day together on Friday which never happened. My step-father ended up picking her up on Sunday, keeping her with him Sunday night, and flying out with her on Monday. I was worried she would even refuse to get on the plane, but for some reason, she did it. Now she is home with my family who will help her get back on her feet and hopefully be able to handle her emotions at this time. It’s going to be a long road for her.

Amidst those difficulties, worrying and stress, my skinny pig died. After having an awesome week, being able to spend all that extra time with him, we noticed he was acting strange on Friday morning. So we went to the pet store, bought liquid vitamins to put in his water, and by the time we came home, he was dead. Mind you, he was at least 4 years old, if not more than that. So for a skinny/guinea pig, he was in the upper range of their age. It is just incredibly sad that he has been with us for 4 years and we have bonded with him so much. Our little guy’s passing was incredibly hard to take amidst everything else on this break.

As the title of this blog speaks, this was probably the most emotional Spring Break I’ve ever had. I hope it’s the last one like this I ever have. But from here, we can only move on and hope for better.

Week 11 Day 2

I woke up so sore today after yesterday’s double training session. My chest and my legs hurt so bad!! But to me, that means a successful workout and an opportunity for muscle growth, so I’ll take the pain any day!

School went well today. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, except for my class started their Planets presentations. They have been working on these presentations for a little over 2 weeks and for the 10 students that were ready to present today, I was blown away. The details in their presentations were phenomenal. The pictures they researched, the information, the animations within the presentations, some even had sounds, it was just phenomenal. I was so impressed with my students and looking forward to the next 10 presentations tomorrow.

After school, I waited around a little bit, grading homework, waiting for my husband to come and pick me up. It wasn’t too long of a wait, but he had to take the battery back out of my car so that we could exchange it while out to get groceries this evening.

My husband dreads grocery shopping, but we got our food, exchanged our battery and made it back home to eat and prepare to go to the gym. However, when the extra carbs I ate hit me, I desperately needed a nap. My body was still very much worn out from Sunday.

Unfortunately, we never got up from our nap. And at first, I was incredibly upset about this. But the more I thought about it, it was probably best to just fuel my body for the day with good foods to help the muscles heal before going back to destroy some more.

Week 9 Day 1: Had Some Fun

Today was a pretty awesome day.

First of all we slept in. I love sleep. If someone had only been able to convince me at a young age how much I’d value sleep later on, I think I would have slept more.

Then we got up and went to the Canadian Finals Rodeo: Championship Sunday. This was so much fun! Going through the Expo, watching all the finalists; it was a blast! I’ve loved horses for as long as I can remember, and my husband and I really seem to have picked up the rodeo circuit. We absolutely love it!

After the rodeo, we went to one of our favourite restaurants, Azucar Picante that has traditional Peruvian food. Now here’s a funny story. The ONLY South American country I’ve been to is Peru. I went on a mission trip with my church’s youth group, TYMES, during my grade 12 year. My husband’s uncle married a Peruvian woman and so his cousins are familiar with only Peru as well. Small and strange, but a definite connection here!

As always, the food was great! I was able to get a shredded chicken, rice, potato, and some delicious sauce dish that was amazing. I can finally eat soft food! But I did try something crunchy earlier and winced in pain. So no hard foods yet.

Following the restaurant, we came home and took a nap.

After the nap, we got up and went to the gym. Today’s workout was a three circuit workout of mainly shoulders mixed with some abs. Oh boy. Did I have fun playing with poses and the lighting at the gym. I have not felt like I’ve been losing much fat lately, but seeing how some of my muscles were popping out tonight, that encouraged me a little bit. At least changes are happening!

Now I’m home, working on grading again. Of course, taking an intermission to write this blog. I’m going to work much harder to stay on top of these daily posts. Thank you guys for your support this whole time! Life is a journey with many ups and downs, but it has been and always will be my focus to stay on the happier side! Night everyone!

Easter Sunday-Tradition, Plans & Car Problems!

Happy Easter everyone!

Easter in my family was always a “fun” holiday. We (the siblings) would always go to sleep, knowing that there would be chocolate eggs hidden around the house in the morning, and a basket filled with goodies (candy, bunnies, etc.) for each of us! Sometimes our mother would have to colour-code the chocolates so it would be a fair hunt for everyone. Sometimes, there would be specified kinds of chocolate eggs since my sister was allergic to peanuts and I enjoyed Reese’s eggs. Only one year did our egg adventure take a twist when our golden retriever suddenly became interested over night. Our Easter was still splendid, and fortunately, the dog was fine. I guess she had her Easter treat as well.

This Easter was different however. Since my husband and I have been trying to eat healthier and are both still in a weight loss phase, we hardly ever have “treat” food in the house. Needless to say, we did not buy chocolate. We actually had no plans at all for today.

Last night, another young, married couple (friends of ours from university) invited us over for an Easter dinner with them today. Finally we had plans! I think it is so very important, especially for young married couples starting out, to yes figure things out as much as possible on your own (don’t forget your parents are there to help and support you of course!), but also to not alienate yourself from your friends. Trust me, friends will actually help you grow in your relationship when you are able to be yourselves and have fun with others. Somehow it makes you appreciate your significant other more. Still not sure how that works, but it amazes me every time. Maybe I’m just crazy… that could be!

So here I was, super excited we had plans, and totally freaked out about the drive! You see, they live about 75-90 minutes away, and our car… I don’t even know how to describe our car. Let’s just say that the car and I have a very love/hate relationship.

We had bought this car, used. It was a 1999 Audi A4 Quattro. I really do not know cars, so the only reason I know some of this stuff is because of our experiences with this particular car. This car, though it is extremely old, is a delight of a car. Not only is it an Audi (which I have total respect for), it was a top-of-the-line Audi in 1999. I mean, leather seats, heated seats, hydraulic hood, A/C, amazing alarm system, jack-knife styled key, tinted windows, sun roof, new stereo system, and it was all-wheel drive. It was absolutely phenomenal!

I can remember the day we finally finished paying for it (cash of course) and drove it home. My husband was so excited. And when we were half-way home, I noticed in my rear-view mirror (I was driving my car), he had pulled to the side of the road. So I actually pulled to the side of the road and went in reverse to where he was. The car wouldn’t move! Since it was late at night, we had nothing to do but leave it on the side of the road, and wait until the morning to get a tow truck. What a beginning!

Next day, the car was towed (yay AMA!), only to find out the clutch needed replaced. Now I know it costs a lot for cars to get repaired in the first place. But try repairs on an Audi. Not just everyone works on an Audi. Let’s just say, it was a good thing that we had my car. We had not a penny to put towards the clutch.

Eventually, we had no choice but to fix the car as, unfortunately, my car was totalled. Maybe I’ll describe more about that in a later post. But let’s just say, the rental car I was given by my insurance company was bottom-line, summer tires, and did not stand a chance against Alberta roads in the winter. No way! I had not an ounce of traction, slid everywhere, and was just an accident waiting to happen; totally of which I had no control. So we had to get the Audi fixed so I at least had all-wheeled drive.

If you have never tried all-wheel drive before, I’m just going to take a second to tell you, DO IT! The Audi is my 3rd vehicle, and the first time I’ve ever driven an AWD vehicle in my life. I’ve lived in Canada all my life, the East and the West, and nothing has ever felt safer on the roads! 4WD of course does the same. But I’m telling you, if you want to feel like you are in control, and you only have a car, AWD does wonders!

So driving the car was fine after the clutch was fixed, and I was incredibly thankful to feel safer and to have an awesome vehicle. My husband had to have surgery, so for quite a while, I was going out for groceries and other necessities on my own. On one particular trip, the oil light came on. Because the car is so old, sometimes it can be a guessing game whether the car needs gas/oil, or if the sensors are just acting funny. To be on the safe side, I decided to get some oil. Now, I already told you I know nothing about cars, and so I just poured the whole container in. I really did not have to worry about needing more oil… but the car refused to start the next day. After getting it towed again (thank you AMA!), an oil seal had to be changed. I’m pretty sure it was completely my fault. Don’t ever overfill your oil. Use paper towel, learn where the dipstick is and how to check it. Completely important!

After another large expense was paid, one morning we went out to the car to find a flat tire. My husband changed the tire to the spare, and we took the tire in to find there were 2 nails in it. Got it repaired, changed the tire, finally good again.

Eventually, the car starting making weird noises. It also seemed to “shake”. We drove it like this for quite some time, having no money to once again fix the car. After a few daring trips, of which I would do nothing but pray the entire drive to wherever I was going, I told my husband that I would start taking the bus to work (3X the commute) so he could take the car in again. I had this intense fear that the wheel was going to fall off. Well, lo and behold, I was actually right. A wheel-bearing had gone, and the man could move the wheel 3 full inches in and out. He said it was a miracle the wheel hadn’t come right off. This too, eventually, got fixed.

Now, when we got the car out of the shop this last time, a waiver was signed for safety reasons. We definitely do not have money for another car right now, and there are so many things that need fixed! Is the car amazing? Yes! Do I appreciate it especially during winter? Yes! Do I trust this car with my life? No!

So knowing that I had to drive the 75-90 minutes to our friend’s place was a little nerve-wrecking. Fortunately, I slept on the way there so I only had to stress about the drive on the way back.

Now that all is said and done, and we are back home safely, I am completely happy that we went. We had a great time with friends, and Easter is just not the same without some sort of mini-celebration. We had a delicious meal, did some catch-up chatting, watched some movies/shows, talked about the origin of Easter, and just had a great time.

I’m curious to know if you have any Easter celebrations or traditions?

It’s definitely ok to enjoy an Easter bunny treat! But don’t forget the days that changed the world; when Jesus died because of our sins, and was resurrected to forgive us all for what we have done and will do. That is amazing love! Happy Easter!