A Beginning

Since Charming and I moved to Alberta there have been many things we have been meaning to start but never seem to get around to doing. Since The List got started we were inspired to actually get going on some of them.

The first thing was to become more active. We both may look slim and trim but if a two minute jog can knock the wind out of you something needs to be done! At first we got swimming passes but a certain someone doesn't like to get his face wet so we both got a pair of running shoes. Browsing through Pinterest, several times I have seen a routine called "From Couch to 5K" and have been meaning to try it out. For once I actually saved the Pin. I have it handy so that Charming and I can spend some quality time chasing each other, not talking, trying to catch our breath. This is just the first week of ten so hopefully in a couple months we would be able to sign up for a race and jog the whole thing no problem, or at least with less problem than right now.

The other thing we wanted to do was get some toys. There are so many people we would love to invite over but don't because we feel bad that their kids will have nothing to do. Since we have had a break from our stormy weather today, we headed out to some garage sales to see what treasures we could find.

The other reason we decided to get toys was because this wonderful lady is about ready to pop and when Wee Three comes along she promised to send up Wee One for a couple days!

I hope you meant it when you said I could have Wee One cause we've been preparing. I got some puzzles and books just for her!

For only bringing along a 20 dollar bill I think we got a pretty good haul for this week!

And this one is my favourite. If I read this one for a bedtime story I might never get to sleep!

An Adventure

For me The List is more about the journey than the destination so in keeping with that spirit, Charming and I went on an adventure for the long weekend.

Right after I came home from work on Saturday, Charming decided we should go somewhere, so we booked a mystery hotel on Hotwire and packed our bags. We were on the road within an hour, which in relation to Charming's usual packing schedule is VERY good. We drove down to Calgary to our hotel right on the airport. Once we got there he seemed pretty pleased with his choice and the camera seemed to find him almost angelic for it too.

The only thing was when we woke up on Sunday, I realized we hadn't really prepared for it at all! I had some granola bars and juice boxes stashed away for breakfast but we didn't have lunch or dinner. We went to the Calgary Reformed Church and within five minutes we not only had lunch plans but dinner plans too. It is such a blessing to be part of the communion of the saints! Thanks to the van Ellenburg's and the Helder's for keeping us so well fed and for great company. Charming even got to play a game of Ticket to Ride.

On Monday we were on our way to Banff to see the sights. A light breakfast at the exceptionally busy Timmy's and we were on our way.

We walked through the beautiful little town and did a little shopping. We stopped for some fancy steeped tea.

And a very nice meal at a Greek restaurant in town.

We went to Lake Louise, we took the scenic route back and found a nice little spot to practice with the camera. Apparently I was taking too many pictures because Charming kept sneezing.

We fooled with the settings trying to get the right picture. This one was a good picture of Charming but the mountain disappeared into the sky and took away the definition in the clouds.

 
Once I finally found the settings to make them look the way I wanted it to ...

 
I put charming into the picture but I would have needed a flash or some sort of reflector to make him brighter.

The whole time Charming was looking for wildlife as he was driving and he was finally rewarded when we came to this guy crossing the road.

While the window was still open I thought I should make up for all the pictures I took of Charming

All in all it was a wonderful drive to and through the mountains, with some stops along the way to take in the beauty of God's Creation.

Confronting the Clutter

The List has one item that may never get checked off. I like to look at it more as a life long project. Redecorate the house.

So we have been living in this house for a while now but we haven't quite unpacked all the boxes we brought with us. Part of the problem is that we don't seem to have anywhere to put certain things.

This is what tends to happen when I unpack a box without finding a place to put things first.

After probably six months, which I shouldn't really admit to, Charming and I decided that enough was enough and we headed out to IKEA. Well actually Charming did his usual research before we went anywhere. He figured out all the dimensions and took his trusty measuring tape with us. I find that part somewhat boring, hence the lack of pictures of this stage ... but if he didn't figure out the details we never would have gotten such a perfect fit.

Once we had chosen all the accessories we loaded it in the car and brought it home.

Charming read through all the instructions, which is hard to do since IKEA uses pictures, before he assembled anything. He would even refer to them after assembling not one but three of these beauties.

He got to do the fun part while I folded everything to fill up all the drawers. And yes he only posed for this shot cause I did actually help with this project ... a bit.

I think they turned out really well in the end and we have even been able to keep the room fairly clean because of it. I see more organizational projects on the horizon since Charming enjoyed this one so much!

The List

So ... *cough* ... I might have been a little bit crazy to think that I would be able to keep this up everyday. But here I am several months later to try again with a more, shall we say 'reasonable' goal in mind.

The last post I wrote was at the very beginning of winter. I am happy to announce that winter is FINALLY over! The snow has melted, skies are blue, and I can almost go outside without a jacket on. I may or may not have a little issue with seasonal depression ... so hopefully now I can get back to being positive. There is nothing quite like a trip home and a hug from Mom to boost the moral.

With all the time I have had stuck inside the last few months I have spent a lot of time thinking. I have come to realize that I have been putting life on hold. I keep waiting for a certain sign to pop up and tell me to do something with my life. It might be that I want it to hit me rather than just letting myself see it.

Well I say enough waiting! And I made 'The List.'

I call it The Bucket List Before Kids. It's a bit wordy I know so for now it's just The List. It is open ended so I can add any new idea that pops into my head on there but at the same time it doesn't necessarily have to be finished before we have kids. It is really a list of goals that I want to accomplish at some point in my life and it will be much easier to get a good chunk of it done before becoming a mom.

One of the "more likely to be accomplished" things on the list is BLOG CONSISTENTLY. I was hoping that if I blog about my progress on the list it would keep me going and that YOU would hold me accountable. And by YOU, I mean Mom ... So you better return the favour... :)

The best part of the List is that Charming bought me this beauty to document EVERYTHING.

Well almost everything. I may need a little practice on that, keeping my prior blogging history in mind. So hopefully next week I will let you know what I've done to tackle The List.

Charming also added one item to the list that I can't wait to complete!