Tuesday, November 23, 2010
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!
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