Michael, Logan and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Drive and travel safely and enjoy this lovely joyous season! I am grateful for the Saviour and his atoning sacrifice and love for us, and I want everyone to know that. He loves us all or we wouldn't be here today. Again, Merry Christmas!
Love,
The Bly's
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Updates and Such
What a crazy week! I haven't really -done- that much but it's been busy feeling. I guess that's the Christmas season for you - I love it!
Logan news: Over the past 3 days specifically I have noticed HUGE improvement in Logan (aside from his runny nose/not being able to breath problem lol). He is eating full meals again and has put back on 2lbs. Isn't that amazing? I'm completely shocked even though I knew what we are doing for him would work. However, on a negative side, Logan has di-gressed in a few areas. He is extra clingy, he is extra whiny (usually if i'm not paying enough attention to him), and he is no longer sleeping well at night.. and when I say he was sleeping 'well' before, he would sleep 4-5 hour stretches between wake ups, now he's at 2-3 hour stretches, which is exhausting!
Anyways, can't win them all right? lol, I am actually not complaining about it, i'm just stating the facts. Logan is my son, and this is his journey, and despite how tired I am or say I am, I really and truly don't mind it.
Logan news: Over the past 3 days specifically I have noticed HUGE improvement in Logan (aside from his runny nose/not being able to breath problem lol). He is eating full meals again and has put back on 2lbs. Isn't that amazing? I'm completely shocked even though I knew what we are doing for him would work. However, on a negative side, Logan has di-gressed in a few areas. He is extra clingy, he is extra whiny (usually if i'm not paying enough attention to him), and he is no longer sleeping well at night.. and when I say he was sleeping 'well' before, he would sleep 4-5 hour stretches between wake ups, now he's at 2-3 hour stretches, which is exhausting!
Anyways, can't win them all right? lol, I am actually not complaining about it, i'm just stating the facts. Logan is my son, and this is his journey, and despite how tired I am or say I am, I really and truly don't mind it.
What else.. well MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all! I am excited for the holidays to start tomorrow! My family will be joining us at our house this year. Tomorrow (Friday Dec 24th) my mom, dad, brothers, sis-in-law, and neice will be here for some toboganning and dinner (hopefully everyone can make it out in the light or it'll just be visiting and dinner) ...and of course gifts for Ben's family because we won't see them on Christmas Day itself. Since my folks and brother Matt are out they'll just stay over night and do Christmas morning with us, then around 10:30 Michael and I will head down to Magrath. We would have driven down Christmas Eve so we could be there, but unless you drive with Logan during nap time it is a torturous and marriage-ending experience (lol). Since Michael has to work and the drive from Cochrane to Magrath is over 3 hrs now, we will just leave Saturday during the day. We'll make it in time for Christmas feast! :) Yum! Then we'll stay until Tuesday, so it'll be a great visit! Hopefully Logan is feeling better by then.
I had more to say but can't think of anything! lol so that's all for now.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Call me crazy...
I have been researching Homeschooling very thoroughly recently. I go back and forth about whether I want to do homeschool with Logan, and with my future children. I came to realize my only thing stopping me is ME. Homeschooling would be a lot of work for me as a person and I would have to make a committment to do it. So I am on a journey to work past my own selfishness and evaluate what is best for my children.
Here's what i've come up with so far:
1. The public system terrifies me these days and for all children who have to enter it (on an emotional basis). Jr High for me was what killed my self esteem, but I see it coming earlier and earlier.
2. The new cirriculums I don't think are anything spectacular to write home about. I was actually reading the Alberta K-3 cirriculum and they are so basic I have complete confidence that I could teach it to my children.
3. I have met alot of people in town and have been asking about the education system in Cochrane. I have been told great things about the elementary school that we would be required to attend, but have heard countless times AWFUL things about the local middleschool. Also I have learned there is a huuuge homeschooling network in town, so it wouldn't always be just me! (They will actually bring in teachers for you if your child was struggling in science for example - so a science teacher, or scientist would come in and do some classes for the students)
4. My Bowen instructor did "no-schooling" (that's actually what it's called) with her children, which is a system that allows them to learn things in their own way, as they want to. So no book work at all. I couldn't do that personally with my kids, but her boys are now 11 and 13 and EXCELLING as people, and are so grounded in themselves, and actually ask to learn things because there is no pressure on them to learn it. (ex: when yugi-oh came out, they wanted to play, so they had to learn math)
I would like to do a combination of the curriculum and no-schooling in an ideal world. But I am fairly confident that I will in fact home-school my children. It is so sad to me to watch at an earlier and earlier age children 'falling apart' (for lack of better term). They are getting more and more obese, they are becoming less and less confident, they are bullying earlier, etc, etc... I don't want that for my children.
My biggest 'concern' with homeschooling used to be (note the words "used to") the social aspect of public school is important. My views are completley 180'd now. The social aspect is completely up to the parent! If I secluded my child(ren) and kept him/her inside, by themselves, each and every day, they would absoluetly be lacking on the social side. But on the other side of things, if I enroll them in classes and activities, continue to attend church, embrace the homeschooling network available in Cochrane (and everywhere), let them play at the park and meet their neighbors, and just encourage them to communicate to clerks, receptionists, and other 'workers' of the world, they will be just fine! Oh, and 'field trips'! Have you been to the zoo in the middle of the week and found parents with their school aged children there? Absolutely! We would meet people all the time :)
So as I said, my own insecurities and selfishness is what makes me waffle back and forth, but I'm excited to venture into this possibility. I figure 2 1/2 years will just fly by when Logan's ready for Kindergarden lol so I'm educating myself now.
Here's what i've come up with so far:
1. The public system terrifies me these days and for all children who have to enter it (on an emotional basis). Jr High for me was what killed my self esteem, but I see it coming earlier and earlier.
2. The new cirriculums I don't think are anything spectacular to write home about. I was actually reading the Alberta K-3 cirriculum and they are so basic I have complete confidence that I could teach it to my children.
3. I have met alot of people in town and have been asking about the education system in Cochrane. I have been told great things about the elementary school that we would be required to attend, but have heard countless times AWFUL things about the local middleschool. Also I have learned there is a huuuge homeschooling network in town, so it wouldn't always be just me! (They will actually bring in teachers for you if your child was struggling in science for example - so a science teacher, or scientist would come in and do some classes for the students)
4. My Bowen instructor did "no-schooling" (that's actually what it's called) with her children, which is a system that allows them to learn things in their own way, as they want to. So no book work at all. I couldn't do that personally with my kids, but her boys are now 11 and 13 and EXCELLING as people, and are so grounded in themselves, and actually ask to learn things because there is no pressure on them to learn it. (ex: when yugi-oh came out, they wanted to play, so they had to learn math)
I would like to do a combination of the curriculum and no-schooling in an ideal world. But I am fairly confident that I will in fact home-school my children. It is so sad to me to watch at an earlier and earlier age children 'falling apart' (for lack of better term). They are getting more and more obese, they are becoming less and less confident, they are bullying earlier, etc, etc... I don't want that for my children.
My biggest 'concern' with homeschooling used to be (note the words "used to") the social aspect of public school is important. My views are completley 180'd now. The social aspect is completely up to the parent! If I secluded my child(ren) and kept him/her inside, by themselves, each and every day, they would absoluetly be lacking on the social side. But on the other side of things, if I enroll them in classes and activities, continue to attend church, embrace the homeschooling network available in Cochrane (and everywhere), let them play at the park and meet their neighbors, and just encourage them to communicate to clerks, receptionists, and other 'workers' of the world, they will be just fine! Oh, and 'field trips'! Have you been to the zoo in the middle of the week and found parents with their school aged children there? Absolutely! We would meet people all the time :)
So as I said, my own insecurities and selfishness is what makes me waffle back and forth, but I'm excited to venture into this possibility. I figure 2 1/2 years will just fly by when Logan's ready for Kindergarden lol so I'm educating myself now.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Logan's blood reading assessment
So today I took Logan to my blood reader because I have had some concerns about him - I think I blogged about them but I will refresh you as to what I was most concerned about: Logan over the past few months in particular has given up his healthy eating for barely eating, or only eating things like breads, crackers - so bad carbs (in my opinion). He would rarely eat veggies and the only protein he was eating was things like cheese and yogurt. Thankfully he still would eat fruit! (And he on occasion would eat veggies or meat but it was rare - not a daily basis that it should be)
Anyways, from this I was starting to notice that Logan just didn't seem well. His bowel movements weren't where they should be, he seemed sunken in the eyes, he was starting to lose weight (3.5 lbs to date in the last 2 months), the fact his nutrition wasn't where it should be bothered me, and he was randomly puking or just plain ill more often then I felt he should be!
The results from his reading were outstanding! They addressed everything I was concerned about and explained everything I was concerned about. The major and most important thing we learned is that Logan's liver is barely functioning - it is in very rough shape. Here is a blurp about the liver I pulled off the internet:
Anyways, from this I was starting to notice that Logan just didn't seem well. His bowel movements weren't where they should be, he seemed sunken in the eyes, he was starting to lose weight (3.5 lbs to date in the last 2 months), the fact his nutrition wasn't where it should be bothered me, and he was randomly puking or just plain ill more often then I felt he should be!
The results from his reading were outstanding! They addressed everything I was concerned about and explained everything I was concerned about. The major and most important thing we learned is that Logan's liver is barely functioning - it is in very rough shape. Here is a blurp about the liver I pulled off the internet:
"The liver has many functions. Some of the functions are: to produce substances that break down fats, convert glucose to glycogen, produce urea (the main substance of urine), make certain amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), filter harmful substances from the blood (such as alcohol), storage of vitamins and minerals (vitamins A, D, K and B12) and maintain a proper level or glucose in the blood. The liver is also responsible for producing cholesterol. It produces about 80% of the cholesterol in your body."
Also because of the poor liver functioning, it was very visable that Logan's stomach was in rough shape - Myra (the blood reader lady) used the phrase 'his stomach seems very raw', and his gall bladder isn't up to par, etc. Everything is just in poor condition. Then on a side note he had visable parasites (creepy to see floating around on the screen), allergies to dogs/cats, dust, and mold, and he also had a little yeast.
Side Note: apparently antibiotics have mold in the actual penacillin formula, which means Logan has a slight allergy to it. I say that because in the past 6 months Logan has been on antibiotics at least 3 times because of his ear infections. Myra explained that with poor liver function the body cannot fight off those infections on it's own, thus the reaccuring infections he has had to live with.
Her last major note that I remember off the top of my head is that she figures the poor Liver function is probably from a fall (even just in the learning to walk process) that he experienced. Of course she can't be sure, but that would be a logical explanation as I don't know where else he would have developed liver problems from.
Myra gave us a bunch of natural medicines for him: He is taking a powdered Acidopholus, Milk thistle, and a something for the yeast. We will then follow up in 6 weeks to be sure there is improvement.
Never before have I been so happy with my decision to follow through with the concerns I have for my son. This could potentially also assist in his sleep problems, and of course his overall wellness will absolutely improve! I am very excited to see the results and changes over the coming weeks - and I know there will be some as I have had success when seeing Myra every time I've seen her for personal issues.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Nutrition
I labelled this Nutrition because I have two completely different and opposite topics to address but they both fall into nutrition in a way.
First: Crossfit
I have been doing Crossfit for the past 4 weeks. I would attend a 1 hour GRUELING class twice a week. I actually loved it because it challenged me to do things I never would have thought I could do before. Like pull ups - I can do on my first round 8-10 pulls up! Who knew I'd ever be there one day! Also, I can do 20 boy push ups, and I can do 65lb barbell shoulder presses.. And so on! It's just exciting for me - Michael even has mentioned when he hugs me or cuddles me that he can feel various muscles (and he likes it LOL). And I have followed the instructors food plan for me almost to a T. I had a very bad week during week 3 (which is when I did all my Christmas baking and chocolate making) but I got back on track and did 5 days of straight no sugar/no flour without ANY cheating. I am on day 6 and finished the last half of logan's mini muffin this morning, and had to make chocolates, and fully intend on having one to taste. So otherwise, I have done pretty darn good I think.
Can anyone feel a 'but' coming on? You got it! BUT.. after all that I have had ZERO results. My measurements have not changed, and I have acutally gained 3lbs. grrr. My weight number is extremely important to me as it used to be such a high number - it doesn't matter if that's good or bad, it's just how I am and I'm okay with that. But don't worry everyone, I am not giving up, but it's just disheartening a bit. I'm not even looking for a pep talk, i'm just venting. (so lol, please no one tell me that 'it just takes time' or anything like that). All I want from people is them to just keep encouraging me as I continue on.
Secondly: Logan
Logan in the past 2 months has more or less stopped eating vegetables, and I didn't notice specifically until recently, but he also won't eat meat. He eats fruit, muffins, sandwiches (and not even those as of this week), and crackers - and of course Christmas baking LOL. Anyways, he is losing weight, not eating well, and though he looks healthy, i'm concerned about his nutritional well being. I cannot take him to the doctor because doctors are (no offense) a little useless in this kind of scenario. Nutrition is extremely important to me as a person, and I want to be sure my child(ren) are getting what they need.
My first step was that I put Logan on the cancellation list to get in to see my blood reader, as she can scientifically look at his blood and see what he is or isn't lacking.
My second step is that I went out and got some protein drinks for him - I got the Pedia-Sure as it's designed for children. He doesn't realy love them, but he will drink them. Also, I am sure to give him those fruit/vegetable drinks so he's getting a serving of veggies too.
So the results: I actually am able to get into see Myra (blood reader) on the 14th - they had a cancellation! Which means i'll be going to Rimbey earlier than expected because Myra is in Stettler. And, I am continually trying to get Logan to eat food. I present a huge variety on his plate each day and meal so he has choices of good foods to choose from. I found yesterday that he really enjoys peas. And as far as protein goes, he will only eat yogurt and cheese (not great sources or protein). Anyways, it's a journey, and i'm doing everything in my power at this point to keep him healthy and well. He is growing up so quickly in height that I need to be sure it's in a safe matter for his body.
Anyways, that is all for now! :)
First: Crossfit
I have been doing Crossfit for the past 4 weeks. I would attend a 1 hour GRUELING class twice a week. I actually loved it because it challenged me to do things I never would have thought I could do before. Like pull ups - I can do on my first round 8-10 pulls up! Who knew I'd ever be there one day! Also, I can do 20 boy push ups, and I can do 65lb barbell shoulder presses.. And so on! It's just exciting for me - Michael even has mentioned when he hugs me or cuddles me that he can feel various muscles (and he likes it LOL). And I have followed the instructors food plan for me almost to a T. I had a very bad week during week 3 (which is when I did all my Christmas baking and chocolate making) but I got back on track and did 5 days of straight no sugar/no flour without ANY cheating. I am on day 6 and finished the last half of logan's mini muffin this morning, and had to make chocolates, and fully intend on having one to taste. So otherwise, I have done pretty darn good I think.
Can anyone feel a 'but' coming on? You got it! BUT.. after all that I have had ZERO results. My measurements have not changed, and I have acutally gained 3lbs. grrr. My weight number is extremely important to me as it used to be such a high number - it doesn't matter if that's good or bad, it's just how I am and I'm okay with that. But don't worry everyone, I am not giving up, but it's just disheartening a bit. I'm not even looking for a pep talk, i'm just venting. (so lol, please no one tell me that 'it just takes time' or anything like that). All I want from people is them to just keep encouraging me as I continue on.
Secondly: Logan
Logan in the past 2 months has more or less stopped eating vegetables, and I didn't notice specifically until recently, but he also won't eat meat. He eats fruit, muffins, sandwiches (and not even those as of this week), and crackers - and of course Christmas baking LOL. Anyways, he is losing weight, not eating well, and though he looks healthy, i'm concerned about his nutritional well being. I cannot take him to the doctor because doctors are (no offense) a little useless in this kind of scenario. Nutrition is extremely important to me as a person, and I want to be sure my child(ren) are getting what they need.
My first step was that I put Logan on the cancellation list to get in to see my blood reader, as she can scientifically look at his blood and see what he is or isn't lacking.
My second step is that I went out and got some protein drinks for him - I got the Pedia-Sure as it's designed for children. He doesn't realy love them, but he will drink them. Also, I am sure to give him those fruit/vegetable drinks so he's getting a serving of veggies too.
So the results: I actually am able to get into see Myra (blood reader) on the 14th - they had a cancellation! Which means i'll be going to Rimbey earlier than expected because Myra is in Stettler. And, I am continually trying to get Logan to eat food. I present a huge variety on his plate each day and meal so he has choices of good foods to choose from. I found yesterday that he really enjoys peas. And as far as protein goes, he will only eat yogurt and cheese (not great sources or protein). Anyways, it's a journey, and i'm doing everything in my power at this point to keep him healthy and well. He is growing up so quickly in height that I need to be sure it's in a safe matter for his body.
Anyways, that is all for now! :)
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
I'm a dreamer - what else keeps us going right?
VACATIONS! I want to plan one.. but the reality of it all is that I likely won't do much more than camping-style vacations for a handful of years down the road.. which is fine, don't get me wrong, i'm happy to camp-cation!
But, a girl can dream right?? :) Here's my 'wish list':
1. Church History tour (Missouri, Nauvoo, Winter quarters, Kirtland, Palmyra)
2. Bahamas - I'm leaning cruise opposed to land resort, not sure why, just a feeling
3. Jamaica
4. Hawaii
5. the East Coast (Canada)
6. Disneyworld (yes, Orlando - I have a sour taste about Cali still that i'm not ready to go back)
7. Europe - we have decided that if we ever make it to Europe, we'll go for at least a month, and it'll be when all our kids are grown and on their own
I think that's a big enough wish list for now :) I'd like to see one 'big' vacation every 5-7 years. That's why it's called a wish list!
But, a girl can dream right?? :) Here's my 'wish list':
1. Church History tour (Missouri, Nauvoo, Winter quarters, Kirtland, Palmyra)
2. Bahamas - I'm leaning cruise opposed to land resort, not sure why, just a feeling
3. Jamaica
4. Hawaii
5. the East Coast (Canada)
6. Disneyworld (yes, Orlando - I have a sour taste about Cali still that i'm not ready to go back)
7. Europe - we have decided that if we ever make it to Europe, we'll go for at least a month, and it'll be when all our kids are grown and on their own
I think that's a big enough wish list for now :) I'd like to see one 'big' vacation every 5-7 years. That's why it's called a wish list!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Epiphany
So I was just sitting here playing with Logan and noticed within the last day or so that I think he has grown again (the pants I recently bought him I no longer have to roll up), so I decided to measure him. Now I can't be sure it was 6 weeks ago, but i'm confident that was when I last measured him - it was definetly less than 8 weeks ago.. anyways, he has grown an inch and a quarter! That's a lot for a little guy in such a short time!
Now for my epiphany. Logan has always been tall for his age, he has been growing very very steadily at a fairly fast pace. (side note, he's no longer gaining weight, for the first time in his life the past month he has actually started to lose). Logan has also been a very bad sleeper. It is proven that we do alot of our growing at night. Anyone catching onto my epiphany?
Well I think there might be a cooralation between the two for him. I am not tall, but I have spoken with teenagers who have had major growth spurts and they have told me it's uncomfortable and painful. So I have a feeling alot of Logan's night problems may just be growing pains!
Now, it's not completely that as he has a lot of bad habits that I have been working on (with success) but I think a big reason he has always wanted to nurse all night, or drink bottles all night is that nursing and bottles were and continue to be (not the nursing anymore) his way of soothing the pain!
Anyways, it's just a thought and theory but frankly, it makes a whole lot of sense to me. I don't know many people who have had boys this tall this fast so I can't really look to friends/family for help on this one. THOUGH, at my play group I met a girl who has a 19 month old boy who is also very tall (not Logan tall but still tall) and he does not sleep through the night either! he's up more often than Logan at this point - and as we compared notes they were very similar in alot of things - very different in others of course, but made me feel SO much better about my situation!
Well, for those who might be wondering, Logan is 34 1/4" and 30lbs (down from 33 at his peak).
Now for my epiphany. Logan has always been tall for his age, he has been growing very very steadily at a fairly fast pace. (side note, he's no longer gaining weight, for the first time in his life the past month he has actually started to lose). Logan has also been a very bad sleeper. It is proven that we do alot of our growing at night. Anyone catching onto my epiphany?
Well I think there might be a cooralation between the two for him. I am not tall, but I have spoken with teenagers who have had major growth spurts and they have told me it's uncomfortable and painful. So I have a feeling alot of Logan's night problems may just be growing pains!
Now, it's not completely that as he has a lot of bad habits that I have been working on (with success) but I think a big reason he has always wanted to nurse all night, or drink bottles all night is that nursing and bottles were and continue to be (not the nursing anymore) his way of soothing the pain!
Anyways, it's just a thought and theory but frankly, it makes a whole lot of sense to me. I don't know many people who have had boys this tall this fast so I can't really look to friends/family for help on this one. THOUGH, at my play group I met a girl who has a 19 month old boy who is also very tall (not Logan tall but still tall) and he does not sleep through the night either! he's up more often than Logan at this point - and as we compared notes they were very similar in alot of things - very different in others of course, but made me feel SO much better about my situation!
Well, for those who might be wondering, Logan is 34 1/4" and 30lbs (down from 33 at his peak).
Friday, November 26, 2010
Updates
1. Logan slept 10 hours last night! That was a definite first. It was his first night as an official 18 month old - maybe that had something to do with it? lol.. Either way, I was excited! I only woke up at 2:30 briefly, then again at 6:00. At 6:15 Michael went upstairs to check on our little man to be sure he was actually alive. He still is! He woke up at 7, crawled into bed with me, and we got up at 7:30 officially.
2. Crossfit. Firstly - the meal plan. I did amazing the first week, had a bit of a downhill weekend, and now I've got all the 'bugs' fixed and I'm happy with the plan. During that first week I had decided to eat eggs as my breakfast protein, and all week I was EXHAUSTED (like, falling asleep in the middle of the day exhausted, and very very cranky), and a few other ill-symptoms - well I took out the eggs all together and now I'm okay. Not sure the reasoning there, but they didn't work with my body. I also have decided to keep 2-3 servings of fruit as that just makes me happy and cutting back to 1-2 was not fullfiling for me. (I used to eat 4-5 servings a day, so 2-3 is a good compromise). And, I am trying hard to eat protein for my snack foods - I actually plan to cut out the day time snack all together and keep the evening snack.
Secondly - the fitness side. I really enjoy the class. It's much more intense then any class or bootcamp I have ever taken. I enjoy the classs that are more activity based then the 'body building' style classes that run. I am not looking to body build, I am looking for toning and cardio - so I may not be able to stick out crossfit long term as they seem to lean more towards the body building. I will see though at the end of the 4 weeks. It is AWESOME getting a workout that's truly a workout twice a week.
3. Michael read my blogs last night and he made a point of mentioning his new-to-him truck doesn't have 150,000kms, it has 92,000kms. (happy Michael?)
4. We pick up our 'new' van on Saturday in Okotoks. (Which means I get to do some South Calgary shopping on Saturday lol). The car must be scared to be sold because this past week it has never ran better! All the 'problems' have disappeared. I said to Michael that 'our car has a dirty little secret' that it's going to hide from the buyers at the auction. At certain moments I feel dishonest about selling it this way BUT at the same time, people buying in auctions know there are hidden problems in alot of the vehicles and it's the risk of purchasing that way. My first car that I bought in the auction actually had an engine problem also. Them's the breaks! I actually just pray that we get the $2500 to pay the van, plus $500 to pay to instal a car-starter lol - so I want $3000 total out of it!
2. Crossfit. Firstly - the meal plan. I did amazing the first week, had a bit of a downhill weekend, and now I've got all the 'bugs' fixed and I'm happy with the plan. During that first week I had decided to eat eggs as my breakfast protein, and all week I was EXHAUSTED (like, falling asleep in the middle of the day exhausted, and very very cranky), and a few other ill-symptoms - well I took out the eggs all together and now I'm okay. Not sure the reasoning there, but they didn't work with my body. I also have decided to keep 2-3 servings of fruit as that just makes me happy and cutting back to 1-2 was not fullfiling for me. (I used to eat 4-5 servings a day, so 2-3 is a good compromise). And, I am trying hard to eat protein for my snack foods - I actually plan to cut out the day time snack all together and keep the evening snack.
Secondly - the fitness side. I really enjoy the class. It's much more intense then any class or bootcamp I have ever taken. I enjoy the classs that are more activity based then the 'body building' style classes that run. I am not looking to body build, I am looking for toning and cardio - so I may not be able to stick out crossfit long term as they seem to lean more towards the body building. I will see though at the end of the 4 weeks. It is AWESOME getting a workout that's truly a workout twice a week.
3. Michael read my blogs last night and he made a point of mentioning his new-to-him truck doesn't have 150,000kms, it has 92,000kms. (happy Michael?)
4. We pick up our 'new' van on Saturday in Okotoks. (Which means I get to do some South Calgary shopping on Saturday lol). The car must be scared to be sold because this past week it has never ran better! All the 'problems' have disappeared. I said to Michael that 'our car has a dirty little secret' that it's going to hide from the buyers at the auction. At certain moments I feel dishonest about selling it this way BUT at the same time, people buying in auctions know there are hidden problems in alot of the vehicles and it's the risk of purchasing that way. My first car that I bought in the auction actually had an engine problem also. Them's the breaks! I actually just pray that we get the $2500 to pay the van, plus $500 to pay to instal a car-starter lol - so I want $3000 total out of it!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Negative
Well today's blog I am going to write because I actually took a pregnancy test yesterday. It was negative. The reason I tell you that is because frankly, I was so disappointed! Michael and I are not trying, in fact I have been on the pill again since my surgery in August, but I have been experiencing some 'signs' that are not specific to pregnancy, but can be signs of pregnancy so I thought I would check for a few reasons. 1. because I was curious, 2. I am currently at the beginning of a new fitness regime which would need to stop if I were pregnant, and 3. I am supposed to immediately go to the doctor upon being pregnant again to get an ultrasound done - precautionary of course.
Anyways, as I said, I was defiently not trying but it surely stirred some emotions in me (sadness that it wasn't positive for one) and I am so ready for another baby. Michael and I are currently in the process of adoption, and that is all I will say on that because it is not something I feel needs to be 'advertised' but it's something we are definetly pursuing presently. I have this internal debate about when I should start 'trying' again for our own again. I have been given the okay by my doctor a long time ago, so healing wise I'm 'technically' okay. Adoption is a process. It has taken 5 months to get almost nothing done (lol), and it's at least another 4-5 months of the process before you're even approved to go on the adoption lists for the birthmothers to see! After that it is in "God's hands", and it could be weeks, months or years. So Michael and I will likely in the early new year start trying for our own. I don't know what kind of successes I will have there with my history to date, but I can't live in the unknown forever. I feel like my family is incomplete. I love Logan more than anything, and I think he needs some siblings.
I am excited, nervous, scared to be pursing 'trying' and adoption at the same time but I also feel completely comfortable, confident, and happy about the combination. I just know deep down that my family is supposed to grow, and if I'm not supposed to have a baby naturally, then I won't yet until the adoption goes through - that is how I feel. I should say too that Michael and I don't 'try' any more. There is too much emotional stress attached in that word: "trying". We just come to a point where we stop preventing and see what happens. :) It feels so much better emotionally!
Well that's all for now :) I already feel better about that ugly little 'negative' line just by blogging!
Anyways, as I said, I was defiently not trying but it surely stirred some emotions in me (sadness that it wasn't positive for one) and I am so ready for another baby. Michael and I are currently in the process of adoption, and that is all I will say on that because it is not something I feel needs to be 'advertised' but it's something we are definetly pursuing presently. I have this internal debate about when I should start 'trying' again for our own again. I have been given the okay by my doctor a long time ago, so healing wise I'm 'technically' okay. Adoption is a process. It has taken 5 months to get almost nothing done (lol), and it's at least another 4-5 months of the process before you're even approved to go on the adoption lists for the birthmothers to see! After that it is in "God's hands", and it could be weeks, months or years. So Michael and I will likely in the early new year start trying for our own. I don't know what kind of successes I will have there with my history to date, but I can't live in the unknown forever. I feel like my family is incomplete. I love Logan more than anything, and I think he needs some siblings.
I am excited, nervous, scared to be pursing 'trying' and adoption at the same time but I also feel completely comfortable, confident, and happy about the combination. I just know deep down that my family is supposed to grow, and if I'm not supposed to have a baby naturally, then I won't yet until the adoption goes through - that is how I feel. I should say too that Michael and I don't 'try' any more. There is too much emotional stress attached in that word: "trying". We just come to a point where we stop preventing and see what happens. :) It feels so much better emotionally!
Well that's all for now :) I already feel better about that ugly little 'negative' line just by blogging!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Bad things that happen aren't always necessarily bad - depends how you look at it!
So folks, our car is ka-put. We have had mostly problems with it since we bought it. As a back-track, when we bought the car we loved the Matrix as a car, but this particular one has/had to many extra options that deterred from it being a good family car. Logan was a month or two old when we bought it so Michael is the one who test drove it and he of course being a guy loved it - not seeing what a girl may/may not see as being a problem (especially with a baby). Anyways, Michael and I have this problem of spur of the moment, or impulse if you will, purchases. And it's usually the -big- stuff that we do it! So it was a joint partnership mistake on Michael and my part purchasing this car without doing more checks into it mechanically, and having us both a part of the test-drive, etc. (I say this because I have harbored alot of negative feelings towards my husband over this car, but I have recently decided that frankly, a relationship is a two-way street and if i'm going to play the blame game, our relationship will not only worsen, but other issues will come of that. It's hard but i'm working very hard on accepting this as a joint effort mistake).
Anyways, we've had the car for 18 months, and we bought it for $12,000. (side note, it hasn't been -awful- the whole time, just ever so often issues creep up, or reminders of certain things pop up too). I took it into the mechanics this week and they did a compression test, and long story short, two of the four cylanders are almost completely shot. We've been trying to sell the car because we have come to the decision of purchasing a van. Last weekend we were into the Dodge dealership and they actually offered us $5000 for the car, and $8500 for our truck as trade in towards a used 2010 but the problem is we would have had to still get a loan for $10,000 and Michael and I have decided we do not want to go into debt for another vehicle at this time. We had thought if the difference was less than $5000 we would consider it, but it wasn't and we walked away (as pointed out earlier, this is a big step for us).
Three days ago, Michael's dad called and said that his brother (michael's uncle) is selling their van (the van we want - the dodge grande caravan - 2004) for $2500 because he bought a new one. It's so 'cheap' as it has 230,000kms on it. I was humming and hawing over it because of the high kms. But I was also thinking that it would be a good (and affordable) way to see if we truly -like- the gr.caravans (as that is the hardest part of a vehicle purchase, a test drive really doesn't do it justice).
Okay, so per my title, how is my car cratering a positive? Well, we have decided to put our car in the Michener Allen auction, and hope for the best. As far as appearance goes our car is one good looking car. It has a lot of extras, and frankly if someone bought it for 2-4000 bucks, went to the wreckers and stuck a new engine in it for 1500-2000, for a good price they have a really good car in the end. But we'll take our chances at the auction as they are 'as is', the end goal getting a take home of at least 2500 to pay for the van.
More positive: Michael has recently purchased a new-to-him truck for $500 bucks. Yup, it's a 1987 with like 150,000 kms on it lol, and we know where it's coming from, so we know the original owner. It's in pretty good condition. Michael wants it primarily to do some off-roading in, and it will be his 5 minutes commute truck. Thus, we'll have the van in place of the car, and his new-to-him truck, so we'll actually sell our 2004 Dodge Dakota. If all goes well we'll be able to sell it for about $10,000 and voila! We have our house down payment nearly saved! (of course it doesn't hurt to save more than the minimum, but you have to have the minimum before you can do much else lol). The deal is Michael will keep out about $1000 to put some 'extras' into his new truck and the rest will be popped into our ING savings accout.
Anyways, I am very sad about the loss on our car, but frankly, that's life and if I were to dwell on it I wouldn't be any further ahead in life. But I am excited that these 'deals' have come up as far as replacement vehicles goes, and when the time comes that we buy a newer van, or a newer vehicle a few years down the road, if we have to finance one at that point, i'd much rather finance a car-loan and have a house downpayment, then have no house dp and a new vehicle.
So here's to hoping things work out for the best! :)
Anyways, we've had the car for 18 months, and we bought it for $12,000. (side note, it hasn't been -awful- the whole time, just ever so often issues creep up, or reminders of certain things pop up too). I took it into the mechanics this week and they did a compression test, and long story short, two of the four cylanders are almost completely shot. We've been trying to sell the car because we have come to the decision of purchasing a van. Last weekend we were into the Dodge dealership and they actually offered us $5000 for the car, and $8500 for our truck as trade in towards a used 2010 but the problem is we would have had to still get a loan for $10,000 and Michael and I have decided we do not want to go into debt for another vehicle at this time. We had thought if the difference was less than $5000 we would consider it, but it wasn't and we walked away (as pointed out earlier, this is a big step for us).
Three days ago, Michael's dad called and said that his brother (michael's uncle) is selling their van (the van we want - the dodge grande caravan - 2004) for $2500 because he bought a new one. It's so 'cheap' as it has 230,000kms on it. I was humming and hawing over it because of the high kms. But I was also thinking that it would be a good (and affordable) way to see if we truly -like- the gr.caravans (as that is the hardest part of a vehicle purchase, a test drive really doesn't do it justice).
Okay, so per my title, how is my car cratering a positive? Well, we have decided to put our car in the Michener Allen auction, and hope for the best. As far as appearance goes our car is one good looking car. It has a lot of extras, and frankly if someone bought it for 2-4000 bucks, went to the wreckers and stuck a new engine in it for 1500-2000, for a good price they have a really good car in the end. But we'll take our chances at the auction as they are 'as is', the end goal getting a take home of at least 2500 to pay for the van.
More positive: Michael has recently purchased a new-to-him truck for $500 bucks. Yup, it's a 1987 with like 150,000 kms on it lol, and we know where it's coming from, so we know the original owner. It's in pretty good condition. Michael wants it primarily to do some off-roading in, and it will be his 5 minutes commute truck. Thus, we'll have the van in place of the car, and his new-to-him truck, so we'll actually sell our 2004 Dodge Dakota. If all goes well we'll be able to sell it for about $10,000 and voila! We have our house down payment nearly saved! (of course it doesn't hurt to save more than the minimum, but you have to have the minimum before you can do much else lol). The deal is Michael will keep out about $1000 to put some 'extras' into his new truck and the rest will be popped into our ING savings accout.
Anyways, I am very sad about the loss on our car, but frankly, that's life and if I were to dwell on it I wouldn't be any further ahead in life. But I am excited that these 'deals' have come up as far as replacement vehicles goes, and when the time comes that we buy a newer van, or a newer vehicle a few years down the road, if we have to finance one at that point, i'd much rather finance a car-loan and have a house downpayment, then have no house dp and a new vehicle.
So here's to hoping things work out for the best! :)
Thursday, November 11, 2010
New Fitness Plan/Workout
There is a place in town called Crossfit Cochrane that I have found. It is a gym I suppose but it is kind of different then your usual gym set up. I met with Mike (the owner) in his facilitiy and this is what I found:
-He is a personal trainer and he either personal trains or runs classes sort of similar to a bootcamp but instead of being outdoors or using your own body for resistance he's set up with all the gym equipment for everyone. I chose to do the classes because it brings the cost down.
-You can pay month by month, there are no obigations to sign up for a year or three year memberships.
-You can bring your children (free of charge) and there's a play corner with toys for them to play while you take your class.
-He sits down with you 3 times individually to do testing, assessment and program set up
So I have met with him three times now. He created a workout program for me. I am to come into his gym for 2 classes a week, and I paid for 4 weeks. The nice thing is that you are required to come for those 2 per week classes, cuz if you miss you lose them and cannot use them later. I like that because then you're motivated to do it! And then he set me up with a 3 day home program.
One of the sit-down assessments was food/nutrition based and he looked at what the past week, and had me track my food for a couple of days to see what I should/shouldn't be doing. So in the end he gave me a food plan that's pretty darn close to what I already do, with a few tweaks. I am VERY excited to give it a try. My goal is kind of wishy-washy because I want to lose 8-10lbs, but pounds I know are hard to judge by because of building muscle and getting fit can actually push the scale number up at first. Anyways, I have measurements done, and he said he might even do a fat-analysis body composition test on me, and my goal is to lose lots of inches in the thigh/butt area.
Wish me luck! My first class will be Tuesday, and I will try and get the ol' jogging stroller out for a few days before the weather turns too cold.
-He is a personal trainer and he either personal trains or runs classes sort of similar to a bootcamp but instead of being outdoors or using your own body for resistance he's set up with all the gym equipment for everyone. I chose to do the classes because it brings the cost down.
-You can pay month by month, there are no obigations to sign up for a year or three year memberships.
-You can bring your children (free of charge) and there's a play corner with toys for them to play while you take your class.
-He sits down with you 3 times individually to do testing, assessment and program set up
So I have met with him three times now. He created a workout program for me. I am to come into his gym for 2 classes a week, and I paid for 4 weeks. The nice thing is that you are required to come for those 2 per week classes, cuz if you miss you lose them and cannot use them later. I like that because then you're motivated to do it! And then he set me up with a 3 day home program.
One of the sit-down assessments was food/nutrition based and he looked at what the past week, and had me track my food for a couple of days to see what I should/shouldn't be doing. So in the end he gave me a food plan that's pretty darn close to what I already do, with a few tweaks. I am VERY excited to give it a try. My goal is kind of wishy-washy because I want to lose 8-10lbs, but pounds I know are hard to judge by because of building muscle and getting fit can actually push the scale number up at first. Anyways, I have measurements done, and he said he might even do a fat-analysis body composition test on me, and my goal is to lose lots of inches in the thigh/butt area.
Wish me luck! My first class will be Tuesday, and I will try and get the ol' jogging stroller out for a few days before the weather turns too cold.
My 'single-mom' week
Monday of this week I got a call from Michael saying he was being sent up to Edmonton for 4 days. He came home that afternoon, packed his bags and off he went. Today is Thursday and he's supposed to come home either late tonight, or tomorrow morning. I hope that's the truth!
So this week the challenges that I have faced have been different then I would have anticipated them to be:
1. I truly TRULY miss that evening adult contact. To be able to have a conversation with someone close to me, and just to even have the body of another adult present really brings me serious completeness. The phone and email do not do enough justice to fill that gap.
2. I have actually experienced "boredom" this week. Being in a new town, new house, etc, I have no schedule yet. I have small things to do some days of the week or errands to run, but nothing that lasts more than an hour or two. Being alone means I have Logan, and must entertain Logan from morning till bedtime. I usually have the extra set of hands come supper time.
3. This is kind of linked my #2, but I feel bad for Logan because I cannot sit on the floor and play for hours and hours - it's just not my thing. I can do bits and pieces. With the weather turning colder we cannot go outside, so I'm constantly trying to think of new and free or low-cost things to do. I am starting to feel like i'm a lazy mother, which when I step back and look at things, I am most definetly not - but those feelings of inadaquacy are sinking in more often the longer I am alone!
Anyways, should Michael get called away for more than 2 nights again, I will definetly go to my mom's or have her come here and stay with me because it's not my thing. I'm sure over time I will get used to it, and I will start to meet more friends - or any friends for that matter! I have made acquaintances, but I am far from feeling comfortable calling them up to get together yet, or just 'dropping in' like I used to do with my 'old life'.
Bonus: when Michael goes away he makes KILLER overtime which will be so nice for our pocketbook. I have implemented savings plans for the following: a) downpayment on a home b) vacation/"stuff" c) emergency fund. For now that is all I will worry about, the majority of our savings going into (a).
So this week the challenges that I have faced have been different then I would have anticipated them to be:
1. I truly TRULY miss that evening adult contact. To be able to have a conversation with someone close to me, and just to even have the body of another adult present really brings me serious completeness. The phone and email do not do enough justice to fill that gap.
2. I have actually experienced "boredom" this week. Being in a new town, new house, etc, I have no schedule yet. I have small things to do some days of the week or errands to run, but nothing that lasts more than an hour or two. Being alone means I have Logan, and must entertain Logan from morning till bedtime. I usually have the extra set of hands come supper time.
3. This is kind of linked my #2, but I feel bad for Logan because I cannot sit on the floor and play for hours and hours - it's just not my thing. I can do bits and pieces. With the weather turning colder we cannot go outside, so I'm constantly trying to think of new and free or low-cost things to do. I am starting to feel like i'm a lazy mother, which when I step back and look at things, I am most definetly not - but those feelings of inadaquacy are sinking in more often the longer I am alone!
Anyways, should Michael get called away for more than 2 nights again, I will definetly go to my mom's or have her come here and stay with me because it's not my thing. I'm sure over time I will get used to it, and I will start to meet more friends - or any friends for that matter! I have made acquaintances, but I am far from feeling comfortable calling them up to get together yet, or just 'dropping in' like I used to do with my 'old life'.
Bonus: when Michael goes away he makes KILLER overtime which will be so nice for our pocketbook. I have implemented savings plans for the following: a) downpayment on a home b) vacation/"stuff" c) emergency fund. For now that is all I will worry about, the majority of our savings going into (a).
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Inherited
I inherited my mother's piano this move.. I am in heaven! I've been without for about 5 years now. Didn't realize how much I missed it - Logan is even allowing me to play, he seems to enjoy it! He also enjoys playing himself :)
Talents are only talents if practiced, so now I can start practicing again, and maybe one day i'll reach my goal of achieving my grade 8 RC!
Very excited to have music back in my life :)
Talents are only talents if practiced, so now I can start practicing again, and maybe one day i'll reach my goal of achieving my grade 8 RC!
Very excited to have music back in my life :)
Sleep Training
We have embarked on the painful sleep-trianing journey with Logan! As most of my close family and friends know, Logan was a challenge in this department, and when we moved into the condo/townhouse in Canyon Meadows he refused to sleep in a crib despite our best efforts. He then moved into my bed with me, which was something I had previously vowed never to do, but I caved when it was the only way I as going to get a good nights sleep without doing the cry it out method. (Side note: we attempted that a few times in his early months but each and every attempt ended the same way - he would either cry so hard he would vomit, or he would cry himself to sleep and just be awake less than an hour later and even madder)
Anyways, we took the opportunity to set up Logan's new bed (okay, a double mattress on the floor until we can get a bedframe lol) in the new house and he was estatic to have a BIG bed! He was so excited to see his toys and bed all in the same room. The goal was not to let him sleep in our bed at all once moved, and i'm shocked but he hasn't wanted to even go in my bed once since being here - he doesn't even really go IN our room at all! Don't jump to any conclusions - he hasn't slept through the night yet, and I have spent many an hour in his new room myself, but I would rather go to his room, settle him down then head back to mine. So that's what we have done!
Night 1: I slept the whole night with him - new room and all I figured he would be most comfortable that way.
Night 2: I let him cry for about 20 mins before going to rescue him. After that he slept alone about 5 hrs before waking for a drink from a bottle, then went back to sleep the rest of the night.
Night 3: I let him cry again for about 20 mins and accidently fell asleep next to him for a few hours - then I left and he continuned to sleep a while longer.
And it's been fairly positive the whole week here. Last night was the first 'step backwards'. He figured out how to open his door, and I don't believe in locking him in, but I might put a gate up on the hallway side so he can't wander the house. He woke up every couple hours last night, so I let him cry but I was with him in the room. Eventually after on-and-off sleep till about 2am, he crashed till 7:30.
So yes, I am VERY pleased with the progress. Obviously this isn't a one-night-fix and will take some time. My goal is to have him sleeping without needing me by the time his sibling rolls around (whenever that may be) LOL Gives me a window of time anyways :)
Wish us luck!
Anyways, we took the opportunity to set up Logan's new bed (okay, a double mattress on the floor until we can get a bedframe lol) in the new house and he was estatic to have a BIG bed! He was so excited to see his toys and bed all in the same room. The goal was not to let him sleep in our bed at all once moved, and i'm shocked but he hasn't wanted to even go in my bed once since being here - he doesn't even really go IN our room at all! Don't jump to any conclusions - he hasn't slept through the night yet, and I have spent many an hour in his new room myself, but I would rather go to his room, settle him down then head back to mine. So that's what we have done!
Night 1: I slept the whole night with him - new room and all I figured he would be most comfortable that way.
Night 2: I let him cry for about 20 mins before going to rescue him. After that he slept alone about 5 hrs before waking for a drink from a bottle, then went back to sleep the rest of the night.
Night 3: I let him cry again for about 20 mins and accidently fell asleep next to him for a few hours - then I left and he continuned to sleep a while longer.
And it's been fairly positive the whole week here. Last night was the first 'step backwards'. He figured out how to open his door, and I don't believe in locking him in, but I might put a gate up on the hallway side so he can't wander the house. He woke up every couple hours last night, so I let him cry but I was with him in the room. Eventually after on-and-off sleep till about 2am, he crashed till 7:30.
So yes, I am VERY pleased with the progress. Obviously this isn't a one-night-fix and will take some time. My goal is to have him sleeping without needing me by the time his sibling rolls around (whenever that may be) LOL Gives me a window of time anyways :)
Wish us luck!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Moved In And Halloween
So I have to tell you, this is one of the most organized, most 'easy' moves i've ever been involved in! So I made a huge effort this time around to be thorougly packed (as last time I had a fairly new baby and thought I was packed but really was not). We were also fortunate to be able to move things ahead of time cutting down on alot of the work. But on the Calgary side moving out we had 2 extra men from my church come help us out (one being my cousin Wes) and my mom manned the cleaning crew which consisted of her and 2 women from my church. I headed up to Cochrane with my mother in law a little before everything was loaded to do the walk through on the new home with my new landlord, and to get lunch ready for my 'workers' (aka: my dad, my dad-in-law, Michael and of course me and mom-in-law). On the Cochrane side I had contacted my new bishop, and he did not disappoint. He sent 4 "Michael's" (lol I say it like that cuz they were young and strong in a similar fashion as Michael is)! So the move in was done in an hour!
Moving day was the second time i'd ever been out to the new house, and I immediately fell back in love with this house! We moved in Saturday afternoon, and today is Tuesday night and I have I think 3 boxes left to unpack? lol I'm an over-achiever I guess, but I just relish in the unpacking! I have had the hardest time with my kitchen.. I want to be efficient but when I wasn't sure if I had everything unloaded and what else was coming that I wasn't remembering I have moved and shuffled a few cupboards.
All in all I LOVE MY NEW HOME! We have even discusses the fact that this home could tentatively be purchasable by us in the future depending on a few variables of course, but it is actually "in our price range". And it's great for Michael because he is to work in 5 minutes! Can that get any better? Nope! lol..
The day we moved all our neighbors (well the duplex unit to the left and the lady on the other side of us) all came out and introduced themselves and we visited a bit.
That brings me to Halloween! Michael, Logan and I went to the trunk-or-treat in Calgary at my brother Ben's ward. Halloween on a Sunday is not something that we participate in so our church puts together these trunk-or-treats on the Saturday for the kids to enjoy. Logan was hilarious to watch! We showed him the philosophy of holding his bucket and going up to the trunks and holding it up. There was no way Logan was going to let go of that bucket! LOL he didn't really konw what they were putting in it but he thought it was awesome! Then on Halloween day despite the fact that we don't believe in trick or treating on Sunday, Michael and I chose to take the opportunity to meet our neighbors. So we did about 10 houses in and around or new home and introduced ourselves as we went - it was really fun! Again, Logan thought the whole idea was pretty fun. He even decided one little old lady's home was good enough to just walk into! haha.. he just went straight for the candy bowl, it was pretty cute.
So that's my H'ween and Move!
Moving day was the second time i'd ever been out to the new house, and I immediately fell back in love with this house! We moved in Saturday afternoon, and today is Tuesday night and I have I think 3 boxes left to unpack? lol I'm an over-achiever I guess, but I just relish in the unpacking! I have had the hardest time with my kitchen.. I want to be efficient but when I wasn't sure if I had everything unloaded and what else was coming that I wasn't remembering I have moved and shuffled a few cupboards.
All in all I LOVE MY NEW HOME! We have even discusses the fact that this home could tentatively be purchasable by us in the future depending on a few variables of course, but it is actually "in our price range". And it's great for Michael because he is to work in 5 minutes! Can that get any better? Nope! lol..
The day we moved all our neighbors (well the duplex unit to the left and the lady on the other side of us) all came out and introduced themselves and we visited a bit.
That brings me to Halloween! Michael, Logan and I went to the trunk-or-treat in Calgary at my brother Ben's ward. Halloween on a Sunday is not something that we participate in so our church puts together these trunk-or-treats on the Saturday for the kids to enjoy. Logan was hilarious to watch! We showed him the philosophy of holding his bucket and going up to the trunks and holding it up. There was no way Logan was going to let go of that bucket! LOL he didn't really konw what they were putting in it but he thought it was awesome! Then on Halloween day despite the fact that we don't believe in trick or treating on Sunday, Michael and I chose to take the opportunity to meet our neighbors. So we did about 10 houses in and around or new home and introduced ourselves as we went - it was really fun! Again, Logan thought the whole idea was pretty fun. He even decided one little old lady's home was good enough to just walk into! haha.. he just went straight for the candy bowl, it was pretty cute.
So that's my H'ween and Move!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
The End is Nigh... or the beginning is here?
Well I'm in my final week being a resident of Canyon Meadows! It's so sereal. It doesn't really seem real yet? I am very excited for the new place we're moving to but i'm very sad to leave all my friends. I have created some wonderful friendships, and some of those I feel will be life-long friendships. (Or at least they'll forever be on my Christmas card list!! haha)
Anyways, packing is going well and I'm confident the move will go smoothly. The only big thing is the weather at this point that could hinder the smoothness :)
Things I won't miss:
1. the mice in my current home
2. Calgary traffic
3. Michael's old paycheque lol
4.
Things I will miss:
1. the friends i've made
2. the ward i've been attending since we got married
3. Wal Mart (until it's built in cochrane - rumor has it it's coming)
4. a 'real' mall
5. the neighborhood
6.
Well that's all I can think of!
The next thing is the things i'm looking forward to!!
1. CHRISTMAS!
2. Christmas party with Shelley & Crystal
3. Setting up my new home
4. Buying a few new pieces of furniture
5. Fabulous Friday in Nov!
6. Bowen module 2 & 3 before the end of the year
7. Playing with Logan
8. Logan reaching age to attend NURSERY
9. Meeting new friends
10. Attending a new ward
Yes, the positive definetly outways the negative! Life goes on and that's the beauty of having a good attitude - if you choose to accept it and not wallow in it then changes are truly a wonderful thing :) I am forever grateful for michael's new job - he has never been happier as far as work goes, it's phenomanol to see him - i'd say he's glowing! I'll have to have HIM blog about his job... i'll see if I can't make it happen
Bye!
Anyways, packing is going well and I'm confident the move will go smoothly. The only big thing is the weather at this point that could hinder the smoothness :)
Things I won't miss:
1. the mice in my current home
2. Calgary traffic
3. Michael's old paycheque lol
4.
Things I will miss:
1. the friends i've made
2. the ward i've been attending since we got married
3. Wal Mart (until it's built in cochrane - rumor has it it's coming)
4. a 'real' mall
5. the neighborhood
6.
Well that's all I can think of!
The next thing is the things i'm looking forward to!!
1. CHRISTMAS!
2. Christmas party with Shelley & Crystal
3. Setting up my new home
4. Buying a few new pieces of furniture
5. Fabulous Friday in Nov!
6. Bowen module 2 & 3 before the end of the year
7. Playing with Logan
8. Logan reaching age to attend NURSERY
9. Meeting new friends
10. Attending a new ward
Yes, the positive definetly outways the negative! Life goes on and that's the beauty of having a good attitude - if you choose to accept it and not wallow in it then changes are truly a wonderful thing :) I am forever grateful for michael's new job - he has never been happier as far as work goes, it's phenomanol to see him - i'd say he's glowing! I'll have to have HIM blog about his job... i'll see if I can't make it happen
Bye!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Blogging just to blog
I don't really have any particular reason to blog but need to just do it!
I'll start with an idea my friend Crystal gave me - she is giving herself a highly wanted vacation as a goal to reaching some weight loss goals - so I was thinking that I should do something like that! I mean, I want to lose my last 8-10lbs but that's not my main goal. My first thoughts are to do some relationship building goals with my husband but i'm not sure how I could set parameters to that one.. anyways, the idea just popped into my head as a way to 'justify' Michael and I going somewhere 'hot' for a few days!
As far as life right now goes, I am in the final 2 weeks of moving. I still can't pack -everything- but we have surely packed and moved a good chunk of stuff! I need to just do it, but this week I have my neice Abbi for the week full time, which is great! She is such a good girl and so well behaved - couldn't be easier to have her around. So right now I will set some goals around that - I will pack at the minimum one box every day this week. I have also scheduled into my calendar days to work on specific cleaning projects - I want to defrost my freezer, clean the oven and the bathroom thoroughly so it'll be a 'quick' job to go over on moving day. Those in my opinion are the hardest projects of all.
This week I am going to be working on 2-3 people for Bowen. I'm not sure why i'm doing it but excited to get the practice in! My biggest fears at this point is that after module 2 is when the 'official' Bowen practice starts. What I mean by that is I have to do 50 balances, and 10 have to be from module 2 from 10 different people. I can do the same 10 people 5 times, or I can do 50 different people - but regardless I am in a new town, new area, and have no friend base yet! So finding people may be a challenge.
What else.. I found a new table and chairs for our smaller dining space - $100 for table and 4 chairs. I also have a couple couches to go look at. We have a second sitting area so I want to get a new-to-us set of couches for the upstairs! I am being semi picky, but only as far as buying used stuff and being picky can go! lol. I'm also in the market for a new bedframe for Logan, which I think I found the one I want at Ikea, so i'll likely just buy it new since it'll be Logan's bed for many years to come. AND i'm in the market for a new computer desk, a little microwave table (this can be anything really, just on the list lol), and new shower curtins and floor mats. Yup! i'm enjoying all the shopping around :) Though i'm not enjoying trying to decide what 'color' to make my bathroom! Too hard of a decision in the midst of moving..
Anyways, that's all for the moment!
I'll start with an idea my friend Crystal gave me - she is giving herself a highly wanted vacation as a goal to reaching some weight loss goals - so I was thinking that I should do something like that! I mean, I want to lose my last 8-10lbs but that's not my main goal. My first thoughts are to do some relationship building goals with my husband but i'm not sure how I could set parameters to that one.. anyways, the idea just popped into my head as a way to 'justify' Michael and I going somewhere 'hot' for a few days!
As far as life right now goes, I am in the final 2 weeks of moving. I still can't pack -everything- but we have surely packed and moved a good chunk of stuff! I need to just do it, but this week I have my neice Abbi for the week full time, which is great! She is such a good girl and so well behaved - couldn't be easier to have her around. So right now I will set some goals around that - I will pack at the minimum one box every day this week. I have also scheduled into my calendar days to work on specific cleaning projects - I want to defrost my freezer, clean the oven and the bathroom thoroughly so it'll be a 'quick' job to go over on moving day. Those in my opinion are the hardest projects of all.
This week I am going to be working on 2-3 people for Bowen. I'm not sure why i'm doing it but excited to get the practice in! My biggest fears at this point is that after module 2 is when the 'official' Bowen practice starts. What I mean by that is I have to do 50 balances, and 10 have to be from module 2 from 10 different people. I can do the same 10 people 5 times, or I can do 50 different people - but regardless I am in a new town, new area, and have no friend base yet! So finding people may be a challenge.
What else.. I found a new table and chairs for our smaller dining space - $100 for table and 4 chairs. I also have a couple couches to go look at. We have a second sitting area so I want to get a new-to-us set of couches for the upstairs! I am being semi picky, but only as far as buying used stuff and being picky can go! lol. I'm also in the market for a new bedframe for Logan, which I think I found the one I want at Ikea, so i'll likely just buy it new since it'll be Logan's bed for many years to come. AND i'm in the market for a new computer desk, a little microwave table (this can be anything really, just on the list lol), and new shower curtins and floor mats. Yup! i'm enjoying all the shopping around :) Though i'm not enjoying trying to decide what 'color' to make my bathroom! Too hard of a decision in the midst of moving..
Anyways, that's all for the moment!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Happy Birthday to me!!!
Yesterday was the quarter century mark for me! It was a nice day. I really have come to enjoy facebook because you get all those lovely birthday wishes, but I have to admit, I often wonder how many of those people would have said something if they didnt have fb to remind them? And then to counter that comment, I think does it really matter if they would or not because now we have the social networking capabilities to help us out. I know that I have been gratetful for the reminder once or twice from fb.
Anyways, I guess the big thing for me is that if I get an actual email or a special message private, or even more specifically a birthday card or phone call, I totally appreciate the extra effort put in!
Michael treated me well as per usual. He got me a beautiful dish set (he was sweet enough to confirm with me which set I wanted because he knows that I am picky about that) and I just love it! He also surprised me with a dozen pinky-orange looking roses. They're lovely. Then we dropped Logan off at the sitter's and went for dinner at Tony Romas.
I just had a great day! I was able to mingle with various people, I was able to get some projects done around the house, and I was just happy all day :) So Thanks to all who made my day that much more special!
Anyways, I guess the big thing for me is that if I get an actual email or a special message private, or even more specifically a birthday card or phone call, I totally appreciate the extra effort put in!
Michael treated me well as per usual. He got me a beautiful dish set (he was sweet enough to confirm with me which set I wanted because he knows that I am picky about that) and I just love it! He also surprised me with a dozen pinky-orange looking roses. They're lovely. Then we dropped Logan off at the sitter's and went for dinner at Tony Romas.
I just had a great day! I was able to mingle with various people, I was able to get some projects done around the house, and I was just happy all day :) So Thanks to all who made my day that much more special!
Rant
I recieved a letter in the mail from the Child Tax Benefit people which I didn't fully understand, so I called them and asked about it. Turns out -they- didn't take into account Michael's income when calculating our payment, so long story short we 'owe' them roughly $900. I was pretty peeved actually, i'm usually pretty understanding when there's a mistake made, but not this time.
Of course they want their money back. Frankly I didn't -ask- for it so that's what makes me the most mad! So the man on the phone reassured me there is no interest collected, and that my now qualifying "$16 a month" will be applied against it, and if I were to recieve money at tax time it will be applied against it, etc etc. He just said that whenever I am to recieve money from CRA they will apply it against the $900 until it's paid back.
I don't really know what to think about everything, i'm just angry about it!
Of course they want their money back. Frankly I didn't -ask- for it so that's what makes me the most mad! So the man on the phone reassured me there is no interest collected, and that my now qualifying "$16 a month" will be applied against it, and if I were to recieve money at tax time it will be applied against it, etc etc. He just said that whenever I am to recieve money from CRA they will apply it against the $900 until it's paid back.
I don't really know what to think about everything, i'm just angry about it!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Unreliable? or Justified busy?
I have been having a really hard time as of recent - maybe longer than I am letting on for, but I feel like I can't follow through with alot of things that I have every intention of doing. I am a people pleaser. If someone wants something or needs something I am fairly quick to say 'i'll do it' whether I really can or can't. I have also in past blogs alluded to the fact I am not really good at saying no. I will usually find a beat around the bush kind of way to do so. And I must say, it's not to say that I don't want to do stuff either - 95% of the time I actually really want to do what I say I want to!
Anyways, my most recent example that I hope she doesn't mind me sharing is that I was going to go to my friend Crystal's house and do her second Bowen treatment this weekend. Well the universe was working against me! 1. I forgot about the fact I did not drive to my mom's so I was carless and unable to actually GET to her house until Michael arrived Friday night. 2. My mom was working alot during my visit so I didn't have a babysitter and Logan is NOT a traveller - and I would need him to be watched while I was at her home or the Bowen treatment wouldn't be as effective potentially. 3. I actually left my Bowen text book at home and Michael was going to have to bring it. 4. My family was around longer than I anticipated and I hated being in a situation of having to choose family over friends.
Anyways, the list can go on! But in this particular example I feel like I have been even more so unreliable to my friend Crystal because: 1.I had planned to go to her son's 1st birthday and had to cancel the week of (I was also making the cake), and 2. I have yet to go and see her new home in Leduc - missed all her house warming events and such, and 3. when she moved from Red Deer I was not able to get up and say good bye officially!
Now Crystal aside for a second, my 'excuses' typically revolve around Logan and money. Logan is definetly not a long (or short for that matter) distance traveller, never has been. It is nearly impossible to get anywhere longer than an hour (if i'm lucky, 30 minutes is his max before he starts to get fussy these days). He is also very scheduled - so if an event conflicts with nap time or bed time, nap time or bed time most definetly wins. (Side note: I do NOT wake my baby either, so just don't ask me to get up any earlier than Logan awakens on his own). And then financially - we are definetly tighter in the pocket book than we were before we had Logan..and most specifically since my mat leave ended, so my lifestyle that I created is no longer as free range as it once was which is hard to break -other- people of the habit of our new life (especially when we used to call each other up all the time and be like 'hey! lets go for dinner!')
So I guess at this point I have to find a happy medium. I feel like i'm constantly apologizing these days and yes I am sorry for not being reliable, but how can I fix that? In my Crystal example I really just needed to weigh the situation a little better. In -theory- it worked out great - I was up in Rimbey and Leduc is just an hour's drive as opposed to 3 hours... but really, I made the assumptions that Logan would be cared for and I would have free range of a vehicle. So lack of planning on my part.
I also have to find a better way of tracking my calendar AND my to-do list in a side by side format. I need to have my calendar and availability with me at all time AND my to-do list.... or add my to-do list TO my calendar, because often I just write down events and then realize I really needed to get my Relief Society emails prepared and sent. I like to think i'm fairly organized but I do have my flaws! (Then what do you do if you double book? Or you have a second event come up that you want to go to more or -should- go to over another? e-gad!)
Anyways, this blog in particular is very all over the place but I'm afraid that I'm not even sure what I am trying to say! I have a personal goal to better myself on the reliability front. And to do that I need to learn to say "no" as part of the goal. And I need to plan better when combining various events in the same date/time frame!
Great advice from my mom that she heard in a talk at Education Days in Provo, a talk about decluttering your life:
"If you want an answer right now, then the answer is no."
What great advice! Along with that is a 2x2 square where the one side is labelled 'important' vs 'not important' and 'urgent' vs 'not-urgent'. At that point you can put your to-do list on a daily, weekly, or monthly level in the squares and decide where that day you want to focus your time. Often we place everything in the important and urgent column when really it isn't or shouldn't be. And frankly, sometiems I just want a day to focus on the not urgent, not important column (like cleaning my bathroom LOL - though sometimes that can look pretty urgent..)
..but that's a whole other blog :)
Anyways, my most recent example that I hope she doesn't mind me sharing is that I was going to go to my friend Crystal's house and do her second Bowen treatment this weekend. Well the universe was working against me! 1. I forgot about the fact I did not drive to my mom's so I was carless and unable to actually GET to her house until Michael arrived Friday night. 2. My mom was working alot during my visit so I didn't have a babysitter and Logan is NOT a traveller - and I would need him to be watched while I was at her home or the Bowen treatment wouldn't be as effective potentially. 3. I actually left my Bowen text book at home and Michael was going to have to bring it. 4. My family was around longer than I anticipated and I hated being in a situation of having to choose family over friends.
Anyways, the list can go on! But in this particular example I feel like I have been even more so unreliable to my friend Crystal because: 1.I had planned to go to her son's 1st birthday and had to cancel the week of (I was also making the cake), and 2. I have yet to go and see her new home in Leduc - missed all her house warming events and such, and 3. when she moved from Red Deer I was not able to get up and say good bye officially!
Now Crystal aside for a second, my 'excuses' typically revolve around Logan and money. Logan is definetly not a long (or short for that matter) distance traveller, never has been. It is nearly impossible to get anywhere longer than an hour (if i'm lucky, 30 minutes is his max before he starts to get fussy these days). He is also very scheduled - so if an event conflicts with nap time or bed time, nap time or bed time most definetly wins. (Side note: I do NOT wake my baby either, so just don't ask me to get up any earlier than Logan awakens on his own). And then financially - we are definetly tighter in the pocket book than we were before we had Logan..and most specifically since my mat leave ended, so my lifestyle that I created is no longer as free range as it once was which is hard to break -other- people of the habit of our new life (especially when we used to call each other up all the time and be like 'hey! lets go for dinner!')
So I guess at this point I have to find a happy medium. I feel like i'm constantly apologizing these days and yes I am sorry for not being reliable, but how can I fix that? In my Crystal example I really just needed to weigh the situation a little better. In -theory- it worked out great - I was up in Rimbey and Leduc is just an hour's drive as opposed to 3 hours... but really, I made the assumptions that Logan would be cared for and I would have free range of a vehicle. So lack of planning on my part.
I also have to find a better way of tracking my calendar AND my to-do list in a side by side format. I need to have my calendar and availability with me at all time AND my to-do list.... or add my to-do list TO my calendar, because often I just write down events and then realize I really needed to get my Relief Society emails prepared and sent. I like to think i'm fairly organized but I do have my flaws! (Then what do you do if you double book? Or you have a second event come up that you want to go to more or -should- go to over another? e-gad!)
Anyways, this blog in particular is very all over the place but I'm afraid that I'm not even sure what I am trying to say! I have a personal goal to better myself on the reliability front. And to do that I need to learn to say "no" as part of the goal. And I need to plan better when combining various events in the same date/time frame!
Great advice from my mom that she heard in a talk at Education Days in Provo, a talk about decluttering your life:
"If you want an answer right now, then the answer is no."
What great advice! Along with that is a 2x2 square where the one side is labelled 'important' vs 'not important' and 'urgent' vs 'not-urgent'. At that point you can put your to-do list on a daily, weekly, or monthly level in the squares and decide where that day you want to focus your time. Often we place everything in the important and urgent column when really it isn't or shouldn't be. And frankly, sometiems I just want a day to focus on the not urgent, not important column (like cleaning my bathroom LOL - though sometimes that can look pretty urgent..)
..but that's a whole other blog :)
Things I am Thankful For - inspired by Crystal
1. My husband and child
2. My mom, dad, siblings - including inlaws
3. My friends - in particular my friends with patience
4. The gospel in my life
5. My testimony
6. The fact my birthday is shortly after (or sometimes on) Thanksgiving this year!
7. Turning 25 - yes i'm grateful for that because a) I made it, b) it means I'm that much closer to being able to do things in my life that I havent yet done
8. Funny things children do and say
9. The piano
10. Weight loss! I am grateful that I am within 5-8 lbs of 'goal'
11. Healthy living and exercise
12. My running vehicles, a new home over head, food on the table and clothes on my back!
13. New things when I can them :) Who doesn't like new stuff?
14. Parties!
15. My RS calling - which I will dearly miss when I move!
16. This one is only occasional but i'm grateful for the 'unknown'!
That's all I have time for..
2. My mom, dad, siblings - including inlaws
3. My friends - in particular my friends with patience
4. The gospel in my life
5. My testimony
6. The fact my birthday is shortly after (or sometimes on) Thanksgiving this year!
7. Turning 25 - yes i'm grateful for that because a) I made it, b) it means I'm that much closer to being able to do things in my life that I havent yet done
8. Funny things children do and say
9. The piano
10. Weight loss! I am grateful that I am within 5-8 lbs of 'goal'
11. Healthy living and exercise
12. My running vehicles, a new home over head, food on the table and clothes on my back!
13. New things when I can them :) Who doesn't like new stuff?
14. Parties!
15. My RS calling - which I will dearly miss when I move!
16. This one is only occasional but i'm grateful for the 'unknown'!
That's all I have time for..
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Financial apology
Long story short, in a conversation recently had he expressed to me that he felt like I was blaming him for our current financial situation. A bit of an explanation - since I left working full time the finances have been a little tight in our home (not to be unexpected of course), which for me causes me occasional stress but I deal with it by vocally talking about it - it gets thoughts and ideas flowing and thus sometimes resulting in a way to make a few extra bucks! Bonus right? Well, I didn't realize it but Michael felt that everytime I mentioned it I was in a way suggesting that it was -his- fault! Of course that was never my intention! I am ever so grateful how HARD Michael works to support us so that I am able to stay home and raise our child (hopefully someday multiple). He is a phenominal man who faithfully goes to work and though some days he doesn't love going to work (who doesn't have their days right?), he does so that we can grow as a family. I stress about money but frankly in the end I keep reminding myself that we have our basic needs met. We have a home, we have food, we have clothes, we have each other. Sure we won't be able to go and purchase 'things' and 'wants' as openly as we once did BUT i'm okay with that!
So in the end, my dear husband - I am sorry for how I react sometimes, know that I am ever so grateful to have you in my life and deep down I know we will always be okay because we have each other, we pay our tithing, we have the gospel, and with that we can never go wrong!
So in the end, my dear husband - I am sorry for how I react sometimes, know that I am ever so grateful to have you in my life and deep down I know we will always be okay because we have each other, we pay our tithing, we have the gospel, and with that we can never go wrong!
We Found a Home!
Well the hunt is almost officially over! We went to Cochrane on the 1st (Carolyn & Rick graciously watched Logan for us - when he's there I NEVER have to worry about him) and checked out two homes. One was a 3 bedroom mainfloor in a nice area of Cochrane. We went with the intention there was a backyard for Logan to play in, and yes there is a backyard but the downstairs tenant gets it while we get the front. The front is not fenced though, so Logan can play on the back deck or supervised in the front near the street. It just wasn't what we're looking for as a home on the inside either. The second was a dream come true! It's a 1400 square foot duplex with a fenced back yard and a shed with front and back parking. It has 3 bedrooms, two 'living rooms', two bathrooms (both huge mind you), actual closets all through the home, and a nice big (well big to me compared to what i've had the last 3 years) kitchen. The two downsides: there is no actual dining room, and the bedrooms are all average sized - no actual 'master' bedroom.
Now my first sentence was the hunt is almost officially over, and I say almost because the owner loved us and hummed and hawed about even checking our references (he said he has a gut feeling about us) but in the end decided he probably should, so he plans to meet us on Monday to exchange checks and such. The house is more than we're paying now but we've been watching house rental prices and such in Cochrane and we're getting a good to average deal on a home. He also agreed to let us have the keys as soon as the lease is signed so we can slowly move over the course of the month.
So i'm pleased with how everything is unfolding! We both had an extremely good feeling about this place and we both feel wonderful about Cochrane.
Now my first sentence was the hunt is almost officially over, and I say almost because the owner loved us and hummed and hawed about even checking our references (he said he has a gut feeling about us) but in the end decided he probably should, so he plans to meet us on Monday to exchange checks and such. The house is more than we're paying now but we've been watching house rental prices and such in Cochrane and we're getting a good to average deal on a home. He also agreed to let us have the keys as soon as the lease is signed so we can slowly move over the course of the month.
So i'm pleased with how everything is unfolding! We both had an extremely good feeling about this place and we both feel wonderful about Cochrane.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Relief Society Broadcast
Well the annual Relief Society Broadcast was tonight and it was again just phenominal! I am glad that as I am growing ....older isn't the right word, and neither is 'maturing' lol... but as I prioritize things in my life, the church and gospel has truly become a central beacon to my life, decision making, and planning. Tonights speakers included all three members of the General Relief Society presidency, followed by Pres. Monson. Most of the notes I took are for my eyes only and will forever live in my written journal, but some interesting points to ponder are as follows:
-God is a God of love - why else would he have created the plan of happiness, and given us free agency, etc.
-Faith and hope can get you through most everything - we just need to know where to direct that faith and hope.
-Visiting Teaching - allos us to show compassion and be like Christ. If we think of our visiting teaching in a way of 'what would Jesus do' to help this/these sisters, our visiting teaching will turn from being a duty to being an act of love and service for others. Visiting teaching is -never- done!
-Charity Never Faileth. Charity is the pure love of Christ. Thus: The Pure Love of Christ Never Faileth.
-President Monson's anecdote on judging others: Lisa and Tom moved into a new neighborhood. Lisa looked out the window at her neighbor hanging out her laundry and was appalled! "Tom, that laundry is filthy! Our neighbors don't have the foggiest on how to clean their clothing!" and so on every time the neighbors put out their clothes Lisa would comment on the awful job she did on washing her clothing. One day she looked out her window and gasped. "Tom! Look at our neighbors - she finally learned how to clean her clothes - look how clean they are!" Tom looked at Lisa and asked her if she wanted to know how the neighbors had done it. Lisa of course was beyond curious and Tom looked at her and said "this morning before you got up, I washed our windows."
President Monson's talk (anecdote and the rest of the talk he gave) struck a cord with me. I am the first to admit I am judgmental, and I am even quicker to admit on occasion when I feel judged. I hope to take some of his wonderful points on judgement and charity and truly apply them into my life. Again, I would love to share more but that is all I feel I should publicly share.
-God is a God of love - why else would he have created the plan of happiness, and given us free agency, etc.
-Faith and hope can get you through most everything - we just need to know where to direct that faith and hope.
-Visiting Teaching - allos us to show compassion and be like Christ. If we think of our visiting teaching in a way of 'what would Jesus do' to help this/these sisters, our visiting teaching will turn from being a duty to being an act of love and service for others. Visiting teaching is -never- done!
-Charity Never Faileth. Charity is the pure love of Christ. Thus: The Pure Love of Christ Never Faileth.
-President Monson's anecdote on judging others: Lisa and Tom moved into a new neighborhood. Lisa looked out the window at her neighbor hanging out her laundry and was appalled! "Tom, that laundry is filthy! Our neighbors don't have the foggiest on how to clean their clothing!" and so on every time the neighbors put out their clothes Lisa would comment on the awful job she did on washing her clothing. One day she looked out her window and gasped. "Tom! Look at our neighbors - she finally learned how to clean her clothes - look how clean they are!" Tom looked at Lisa and asked her if she wanted to know how the neighbors had done it. Lisa of course was beyond curious and Tom looked at her and said "this morning before you got up, I washed our windows."
President Monson's talk (anecdote and the rest of the talk he gave) struck a cord with me. I am the first to admit I am judgmental, and I am even quicker to admit on occasion when I feel judged. I hope to take some of his wonderful points on judgement and charity and truly apply them into my life. Again, I would love to share more but that is all I feel I should publicly share.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Bowen Therapy
My mom is who introduced me to Bowen. I had never heard of it, and had no intention of really doing much with it, but then my mom was having some major success! She has had chronic back pain for 10+ years and now she has little to NO backpain what-so-ever. How is that even possible you ask? Well Bowen did it! She has had 3 sessions and voila - results. I became interested, and more specifically I was interested in the "simplicity" of it. As alot of you know I am trained in Touch for Health, and though I love TFH, I was having a hard time with it because it is so broad and I lacked confidence in myself on treating other people. I just didn't know where to start all the time! (that's a whole other blog though)
So what IS Bowen? That's a really good question. I still don't really know how to describe it! But, I thought I would use my blog to do my homework. Our assignment for next class is in our own words describe what Bowen is. So here is attempt #1.
In a Bowen treatment a person would come to the practitioner with their ailment, pain, or whatever else is bothering them. At that point after deciding where to start, the client would lay down (easiest to lay down but can be done standing or sitting) and as a practitioner I would make various "moves" over different muscles, fascia and tissue. These moves are small rolling motions, and when a move is done it triggers the nervous system (kind of like a guitar string, you strum it and it vibrates for a moment and settles). After you make the move (or in some cases a couple moves) the practitioner leaves the room for a few moments to allow the body to integrate the movement made (in the guitar string theory, we are waiting for the vibration to stop). After those few moments I would come back and continue - leaving the room after movement (or set of) made.
That's more of less it! We are sending signals to your nervous system who in turn signals the brain that a change is happening and your body readjusts itself. Pretty neat huh?
And for now, that is my best definition of Bowen (in my own words). I need people to practice on and people to be my case studies, so all volunteers welcome!!
So what IS Bowen? That's a really good question. I still don't really know how to describe it! But, I thought I would use my blog to do my homework. Our assignment for next class is in our own words describe what Bowen is. So here is attempt #1.
In a Bowen treatment a person would come to the practitioner with their ailment, pain, or whatever else is bothering them. At that point after deciding where to start, the client would lay down (easiest to lay down but can be done standing or sitting) and as a practitioner I would make various "moves" over different muscles, fascia and tissue. These moves are small rolling motions, and when a move is done it triggers the nervous system (kind of like a guitar string, you strum it and it vibrates for a moment and settles). After you make the move (or in some cases a couple moves) the practitioner leaves the room for a few moments to allow the body to integrate the movement made (in the guitar string theory, we are waiting for the vibration to stop). After those few moments I would come back and continue - leaving the room after movement (or set of) made.
That's more of less it! We are sending signals to your nervous system who in turn signals the brain that a change is happening and your body readjusts itself. Pretty neat huh?
And for now, that is my best definition of Bowen (in my own words). I need people to practice on and people to be my case studies, so all volunteers welcome!!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Parenting Skills
This past weekend (Sept 18-19) I had the opportunity to start my journey in learning a new healing technique called "Bowen" which will be a blog of its own. But my instructor in her introduction of herself mentioned that she is a Child Attachment counsellor. Well Logan is a highly attached baby which has caused lots of various changed in my life, but a big one is that I have not slept an entire night through since he was born. (That isn't an exaggeration).
In short this was Logan's life: He was born and I miraculously chose to nurse him (for those who do not know I was completely anti nursing). We quickly discovered that unless I was in the room or in some cases physically holding him, I was the only one he would be soothed by. He did not want a soother, he did not want a blankie, he did not want a stuffed animal or toy. It was me. I nursed him when he was sad, I nursed him to sleep, I nursed him when he was hungry. He was a thorough nurser - and a part of my reason for doing that was cuz he had discomfort as a baby and it calmed him down so why not do what works right? Anyways - as the months went on, by the time he was a mere three months old we learned that he also wanted nothing to do with his father! Can you believe that? Unless I was in the room he wouldn't go to or stay with him. It was a huge crutch in our lives because I sometimes just needed to 'get out' but Logan would just scream and scream and scream until I returned causing anguish on both father and baby. So I gave up my freedom because of my love for both of them. I would only go out when he was napping, or when we had a concrete distraction that I knew I would be safe for half an hour, etc.
Sorry, tangent there - Logan was that way until he was about 12 months old when he allowed Michael into his life. In the meantime - night time was a problem. Logan would NOT sleep through the night. Longest stretch he ever went was probably 4 hours (even to date). When we moved from the basement suite to the townhouse he wouldn't go in his crib even. It caused him undue stress and trauma despite our best efforts. So he now sleeps with me which in the beginning was just a way to allow ME some sleep. Long story short he is 16 months old now and he still doesn't sleep through the night and he will not sleep without me close by despite our best efforts.
Okay - that was crucial background I promise. Now this instructor of mine, I pulled her aside at lunch time and asked her if I could pick her brain, and briefly explained my situation - my question was how do I 'fix' this. My first mistake she told me is that I am thinking of this whole situation as a -problem-! She said this is your son's life and you don't ever want him to feel as though he is a problem, and secondly, this is not a negative thing (aside from the occasional day I feel tired of course) as it is just how he is.
We continued to discuss various things and she gave me one really good analogy from a conference she attended. A lady seperated the group she was speaking to into 3 groups. Group 1: People who eat meals on schedule. Group 2: People who can skip meals and it doesn't phase them. Group 3: Grazers. The speaker then went to group 1 and discussed with them how they are - 'so you can't miss a meal huh?' 'heavens no! if i miss a meal i get shaky and light headed...' and so on. And then group 2 - 'so missing a meal doesn't bug you?' 'are you kidding? I can be working on a project and look at the time and think wow it's 4:00 and i didn't even eat lunch!' .....same thing to the grazers. The speaker then went back to group 1 and asked them how they would react if they had a child who was from group 2. Would you force your child to change despite their personalities? Is group 2 -wrong- for the way they eat? Of course not! That's who they are.
The point then is that Logan is a certain way. Yes he's not the way that I am - I need (well needed lol) 8 consecutive hours of sleep to function. Logan doesn't. He is fully rested at the end of the night with his 2-3 hr spurts with a moment of waking up to check his surroundings, etc.
Then we had a conversation about attachment. All through a child's life we are constantly teaching them things. 'Sleep by yourself', 'Don't talk back to me', 'Don't be angry', etc. But my instructor said that wouldn't you prefer that your baby be attached to you? Wouldn't you prefer your baby be able to express emotions? Wouldn't you prefer your baby know how to say no (cuz as a teenager I would love for my son to be able to say no to his peers if necessary!) She said take a look at me and my husband. My husband and his family are very close. My family is not. I am peer attached. My peers are more important than my family because that is who I had to turn to. Who do you want Logan to turn to first? Family or peers? Wouldn't you rather have Logan feel loved and know where he can go if he needs love or comfort or attention or advice, etc? .... I'm not portraying this conversation on paper very well, but it was really touching to me! Lots of great comments were made.
Anyways, there was so much more in the conversation I would love to share. She just helped me realize that I am not wrecking my son. I am constantly living in a state where I feel like I am being judged by others because Logan is different. But after talking with her I feel so much more rooted in myself and so much more confident in myself. Each child will be different, and I am SO happy to know that I will be adaptable to each. (cuz heaven knows that if baby #2 sleeps through the night in his/her own crib I am not going to try and stop it! lol)
In short this was Logan's life: He was born and I miraculously chose to nurse him (for those who do not know I was completely anti nursing). We quickly discovered that unless I was in the room or in some cases physically holding him, I was the only one he would be soothed by. He did not want a soother, he did not want a blankie, he did not want a stuffed animal or toy. It was me. I nursed him when he was sad, I nursed him to sleep, I nursed him when he was hungry. He was a thorough nurser - and a part of my reason for doing that was cuz he had discomfort as a baby and it calmed him down so why not do what works right? Anyways - as the months went on, by the time he was a mere three months old we learned that he also wanted nothing to do with his father! Can you believe that? Unless I was in the room he wouldn't go to or stay with him. It was a huge crutch in our lives because I sometimes just needed to 'get out' but Logan would just scream and scream and scream until I returned causing anguish on both father and baby. So I gave up my freedom because of my love for both of them. I would only go out when he was napping, or when we had a concrete distraction that I knew I would be safe for half an hour, etc.
Sorry, tangent there - Logan was that way until he was about 12 months old when he allowed Michael into his life. In the meantime - night time was a problem. Logan would NOT sleep through the night. Longest stretch he ever went was probably 4 hours (even to date). When we moved from the basement suite to the townhouse he wouldn't go in his crib even. It caused him undue stress and trauma despite our best efforts. So he now sleeps with me which in the beginning was just a way to allow ME some sleep. Long story short he is 16 months old now and he still doesn't sleep through the night and he will not sleep without me close by despite our best efforts.
Okay - that was crucial background I promise. Now this instructor of mine, I pulled her aside at lunch time and asked her if I could pick her brain, and briefly explained my situation - my question was how do I 'fix' this. My first mistake she told me is that I am thinking of this whole situation as a -problem-! She said this is your son's life and you don't ever want him to feel as though he is a problem, and secondly, this is not a negative thing (aside from the occasional day I feel tired of course) as it is just how he is.
We continued to discuss various things and she gave me one really good analogy from a conference she attended. A lady seperated the group she was speaking to into 3 groups. Group 1: People who eat meals on schedule. Group 2: People who can skip meals and it doesn't phase them. Group 3: Grazers. The speaker then went to group 1 and discussed with them how they are - 'so you can't miss a meal huh?' 'heavens no! if i miss a meal i get shaky and light headed...' and so on. And then group 2 - 'so missing a meal doesn't bug you?' 'are you kidding? I can be working on a project and look at the time and think wow it's 4:00 and i didn't even eat lunch!' .....same thing to the grazers. The speaker then went back to group 1 and asked them how they would react if they had a child who was from group 2. Would you force your child to change despite their personalities? Is group 2 -wrong- for the way they eat? Of course not! That's who they are.
The point then is that Logan is a certain way. Yes he's not the way that I am - I need (well needed lol) 8 consecutive hours of sleep to function. Logan doesn't. He is fully rested at the end of the night with his 2-3 hr spurts with a moment of waking up to check his surroundings, etc.
Then we had a conversation about attachment. All through a child's life we are constantly teaching them things. 'Sleep by yourself', 'Don't talk back to me', 'Don't be angry', etc. But my instructor said that wouldn't you prefer that your baby be attached to you? Wouldn't you prefer your baby be able to express emotions? Wouldn't you prefer your baby know how to say no (cuz as a teenager I would love for my son to be able to say no to his peers if necessary!) She said take a look at me and my husband. My husband and his family are very close. My family is not. I am peer attached. My peers are more important than my family because that is who I had to turn to. Who do you want Logan to turn to first? Family or peers? Wouldn't you rather have Logan feel loved and know where he can go if he needs love or comfort or attention or advice, etc? .... I'm not portraying this conversation on paper very well, but it was really touching to me! Lots of great comments were made.
Anyways, there was so much more in the conversation I would love to share. She just helped me realize that I am not wrecking my son. I am constantly living in a state where I feel like I am being judged by others because Logan is different. But after talking with her I feel so much more rooted in myself and so much more confident in myself. Each child will be different, and I am SO happy to know that I will be adaptable to each. (cuz heaven knows that if baby #2 sleeps through the night in his/her own crib I am not going to try and stop it! lol)
Moving...
Well, I have to admit, a part of me has always loved moving. It is a chance to go through all your stuff and de-junk or take a little trip down memory lane as you go through things and you have a chance to clean things thoroughly! Also I love the adventure of settling somewhere knew - kind of like a 'fresh start' if you will!
On the other side of the coin moving takes alot of time and energy, and up to this point in my life my parents have done the grunt of the work, or it's just been -my- stuff, not my stuff, my husband's stuff AND a toddler's stuff (and all his boxed up baby stuff, etc). Also adding a new twist to it this time around is that up until this point I never settled anywhere before! As a child you're fairly pliable, and whenever we moved it was just around the same town. As a 'single adult' I didn't mind the unknown because it just fit everything else in my life! But now.. I have been married three years, have a child, a great church calling, friends, and the list goes on. I am actually heartbroken to give up my 'comfort zone' that I am currently in!
I should say though, deep down the love of the adventure still looms and once we're actually moved life will resume again and I will once again become settled but in the mean time it's more of a challenge than I EVER anticipated!
The House Hunt
We started looking for housing about 2 weeks ago. We were quickly reminded that no renter wants to rent a home until the very time you can move in! So for me that is a huge struggle because I am impatient and a planner and need closure - but I have no choice except to wait until October 1st before I can even start LOOKING!
In the mean time though I had an extremely stressful experience with a lady who meant well but still caused me undue stress. She offered us her place to move in Oct 1st and through a long drawn out process told us she wanted us to move and would waive the damage deposit. Incredible right? Well the problem is that we are tied to our current place and have to pay rent here also. The lady (wealthier than I of course) saw it as since we said we could pay her the d.d. Oct 1st, we were neither out money and would still get our d.d back from our current place. WELL.. from someone who is on the verge of beyond broke, the beauty of a d.d is that we will get it -back- at the end of our time in that home. But she was so persistant and it just caused me undue stress because I have a hard enough time saying no, so after saying no multiple times she still persisted. The long and short of it is that the house was -ok- but not ok enough... it had some issues that I was concerned about on Logan's behalf more than anything.
So we will wait until the first of October and try again! And in the mean time I will continue to -think- about packing but probably won't start for a few more weeks :) Wish us luck!
PS. The reason we are moving for those who don't know, is that Michael has a new job out in Cochrane.
On the other side of the coin moving takes alot of time and energy, and up to this point in my life my parents have done the grunt of the work, or it's just been -my- stuff, not my stuff, my husband's stuff AND a toddler's stuff (and all his boxed up baby stuff, etc). Also adding a new twist to it this time around is that up until this point I never settled anywhere before! As a child you're fairly pliable, and whenever we moved it was just around the same town. As a 'single adult' I didn't mind the unknown because it just fit everything else in my life! But now.. I have been married three years, have a child, a great church calling, friends, and the list goes on. I am actually heartbroken to give up my 'comfort zone' that I am currently in!
I should say though, deep down the love of the adventure still looms and once we're actually moved life will resume again and I will once again become settled but in the mean time it's more of a challenge than I EVER anticipated!
The House Hunt
We started looking for housing about 2 weeks ago. We were quickly reminded that no renter wants to rent a home until the very time you can move in! So for me that is a huge struggle because I am impatient and a planner and need closure - but I have no choice except to wait until October 1st before I can even start LOOKING!
In the mean time though I had an extremely stressful experience with a lady who meant well but still caused me undue stress. She offered us her place to move in Oct 1st and through a long drawn out process told us she wanted us to move and would waive the damage deposit. Incredible right? Well the problem is that we are tied to our current place and have to pay rent here also. The lady (wealthier than I of course) saw it as since we said we could pay her the d.d. Oct 1st, we were neither out money and would still get our d.d back from our current place. WELL.. from someone who is on the verge of beyond broke, the beauty of a d.d is that we will get it -back- at the end of our time in that home. But she was so persistant and it just caused me undue stress because I have a hard enough time saying no, so after saying no multiple times she still persisted. The long and short of it is that the house was -ok- but not ok enough... it had some issues that I was concerned about on Logan's behalf more than anything.
So we will wait until the first of October and try again! And in the mean time I will continue to -think- about packing but probably won't start for a few more weeks :) Wish us luck!
PS. The reason we are moving for those who don't know, is that Michael has a new job out in Cochrane.
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