Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey everyone, you're listening to 5 Years Time with your host, grace Black Music. Hey, cuties, we're back. Happy September. I hope you all had a fabulous August and summer in general. We took a pause there. Who was worried? Who was worried? There was a point where I was worried. We were always coming back. But I'm going to give you the rundown Today. We are going to do a whole catch up on my August and the adventures I had the highs, the lows, the in-betweens. Overall, it was such a fabulous month. I'm so excited to recap it.

Speaker 1: 0:53

I ended up taking the whole month off of the podcast and the vlog over on YouTube, and I think it's all meant to be. At first I was a little disappointed in myself, but I think it's something that I have been wanting to do for a while is just go with the flow and chill and just like embrace the day and the moment, and so my body kind of physically told me I should do that. We'll get into that. But anyways, before we jump into the whole recap, I just want to say I missed you all so much. You all know the second I sit down in the studio I am just 10 out of 10. So jazzed, so happy to be here and I just feel that exact same way.

Speaker 1: 1:35

I actually ended up like we kind of have this rule in our house for me and Trevor If his stuff is like all over the place, or my stuff is all over the place, like dropped in random places of the house, then and one of us is cleaning, instead of like making a pile of stuff at like the end of a table I don't even know how to explain it but instead of like us having to put away each individual item, like I'll just put whatever his stuff is on his desk and he'll just put whatever my stuff is on my desk. My desk is the studio. So, yeah, it became quite a dumping zone, because then I never came in here to have to pick anything. So I did a quick clean out this morning and we're back up in running oil action. Running oil action, yeah, sure, I also had to find my computer, because Trevor uses it sometimes I don't know what for.

Speaker 1: 2:23

So this laptop that I film and record through is so old, like not so old, but I got it when I went back to school, so I would have been 20. So it's 10 years old because I'm 30. Oh my gosh, this computer is 10 years old, which, like I feel like seems like old I don't really know. But anyways it is so slow you can literally only do one thing on it at a time and when I record the podcast that's all I can do. And I have to make sure I delete like everything from the computer prior to recording or else I run out of space, I run off of using like an external hire drive, completely like any of my editing software photos, videos, audio files. They all just go directly on there. But I can't upload them directly on there using this software, so I have to. My podcast video and audio has to download onto the computer before I can put it there and that. So if I don't have everything like erased from the computer prior, it doesn't work.

Speaker 1: 3:22

But anyways, long story short is, the reason I didn't really see this computer for a month was because obviously I wasn't recording the podcast and Trevor had taken it to do something like. It's our fun computer as well. We don't have like a social computer. Well, I guess he has it. Actually I'm lying to you, I don't know why Trevor uses this computer. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I this whole time thought like, oh, this was like our our, not work computer, because he obviously has a work laptop. And back when I used to work like from home for other people, I had a work laptop. So it was like we would use this laptop as our fun laptop, like the hobbyist laptop. Obviously it's now turned into my podcasting, but I used to podcast on the computer downstairs, which now I'm remembering, we have a whole computer that he plays video games on. So I'm so confused Maybe he just uses it when he wants like a laptop instead of like a desktop. Anyways, funny. But this morning I was like I'm Trevor, where's my computer? He was like, oh yeah, yeah, let me go find that. So we got the computer back. We're all good, we're going to work in action, but oh, it feels so good to be back here and have the routine of the podcast back.

Speaker 1: 4:32

I feel like I have so much to talk about and I had a big debate. I was like should we just jump in and start new with some fresh topics? And then I was like no, we should recap August because, first of all, august is like my month. Hello, I'm a Leo. My birthday's in August, I turned 30. And I feel like I really embraced it as my month this year and just like, took all the opportunities and did everything I could, and so I'm really excited to share that with you and how I am feeling, just so like, ah, breath of fresh air and focused in on, like, my wants from the world.

Speaker 1: 5:07

I feel like we've been talking this past year all about trying to figure out what my why is and why I do what I do in all aspects of my life, and, yeah, I think taking this month off was really just like proving to myself and like solidifying that I am going in the direction of what my why is and we've gone through this. My why is to spend more time, to spend time with my family, to enjoy the little things in life, to soak in all those moments, to share and connect with people and to be the best version of myself, to share and connect via online podcast, YouTube and short from videos, social media, all that stuff. I need to make sure that I'm also living presently, in the moment and taking that time off for myself. So, yeah, I think overall, I'm just feeling much more I don't know aligned with myself and also like proud that I am leaving people please, or tendencies behind, because I really have tried. I wouldn't say I'm a very good people please, or anymore. I'm definitely, I'm definitely better, but still there are parts of me where I just feel like at that pit in my stomach and that icky feeling and that like anxiety, where it's like, oh, I'm letting someone down or I worry of someone's reaction or all that stuff. But we all know that.

Speaker 1: 6:27

But anyways, before we jump in, let's do our snack and drink of the week. Okay, cute, I saved my first sip for you. Oh, I have to tell you I have been on a caffeine kick ever since BC. Oh, fun fact. I went to BC but I got back and I had row for a whole week like she wasn't in school. I'm gonna give you the whole recap.

Speaker 1: 6:53

I just need a caffeine to get through, because I could not have I. There was no moment for me to like catch up on my sleep schedule. Now I've just been drinking coffee and what can I do? But I'm down to one coffee a day. There was a time there where I was like too many. It's funny how my body just like I don't know it was never pushing me over the edge. It was like I just needed it, but I think it probably will as the now that it's still lighter out. But it was dark this morning and it was like 6am Used to be light at that time, but anyways, I was gonna say, as it gets darker and the days get shorter, that's when I find caffeine really does affect me, because I have to make sure I'm expending it, like physically every day. If I'm not going to, then I just got to go to the decaf row, but anyway.

Speaker 1: 7:35

So our drink of the week, first of all, it's the mug. I'm obsessed with this mug. I'm going to give you a close up for the YouTube cuties. Okay, cute, one second. I got to move closer to the camera. I don't think the camera picked up all the details because my light is so bright over here in the corner, but it's got like these little speckles on it. It's so cute.

Speaker 1: 7:56

Anyways, I thrifted these mugs sometime in August and I'm obsessed with them. I have two of them and we all know that I love a thrifted mug. I can't stop, won't stop, and I want to get rid of most of our mugs that we have, the mugs that came with my dish set. I love our dishes, love, love, love our dishes, but the mugs that came with them are kind of annoying because they're pedestal mugs and I find that they're just annoying to use and they're tippy and yeah. So I'm currently trying to like work through our mugs and sort out what mugs we love, what mugs we donate. So that's where we're at.

Speaker 1: 8:30

But anyways, it is a lavender honey latte and I am obsessed with lavender honey, have been for like a year since I first discovered it last summer, and I actually just went to oh, I forgot to put that on my. Oh, my gosh, I forgot a big thing on this thing. I got at it. I wrote a quick timeline of my August because I was like I'm going to miss out on things, but anyways, I recently just picked up or got a new jar when I was at Mingle Hill, which is where I get the lavender honey from, and it's just so freaking good. It's not even that big of a honey person, cutie. It's cream honey, which I think makes a difference, but it's like fudgy and the lavender is so nice, like it's not. I'm not a huge floral person. I don't like gin. For that reason I find it too floral, but it's not. It's not that it's like this, like fudgy, I don't know a little bit of that savory. It's just so good. It kind of adds that savory round off to the honey so it's not like sickly sweet. So I just do a little spoonful of that into my double shot of espresso and then top it up with some foam milk. So, cheers Q, let's have our first sip. And we know, oh, that was so good. But now we know, confirmed that I am kind of getting off the caffeine kick, like having to live for caffeine because it is 1018am and I'm having my first sip of coffee.

Speaker 1: 9:46

Where Briar, it's like I could not function. I would try to function and it was like I need coffee, I need coffee, I need coffee. Like there were a few days where it was like that I was like I can't do this right now. And then the second I had coffee I was like, oh, I feel better and I kind of like I felt like I was banding together with the, with the, with the moms out there who feel that way, because that's never really been me. I've always been a morning person. That's definitely me. At nighttime I wouldn't drink coffee at nighttime because I would stay up all night. But like at nighttime. I'm a little bit of a witch with a B if I'm tired, so I get it, like I get it, but that's never been me.

Speaker 1: 10:26

In the morning, I usually am someone who, like wakes up, eyes are open and the day is ready to begin. Remember is the complete opposite of that. He needs to have like quiet, silent phone time or like reading, independent, be alone, and then he's ready to like embrace the day where I'm like hey, like do have every thought in the world to say, and if I say anything to him in the morning, I know it's that's just for me. It's not for him to listen, that's just for me. That's what I've learned.

Speaker 1: 11:00

Okay, anyways, so that is my drink of the week is my honey lavender latte. I am friggin obsessed. Let's go for another Mmm. And the mug just makes it so much better. I love tiny mugs, I love them. Oh, I love them so much. Okay, next up, my Snack of the week. Yeah, cute, I'm friggin obsessed with crunchy peanut butter toast. I can't stop, won't stop.

Speaker 1: 11:32

I have it for like breakfast, lunch and dinner, mainly because I did not do any proper grocery shopping since I've come home from my trip, because I had a video I had to film for a brand which involved like three meals and so I was like, oh, I'm just gonna meal prep that for all my meals, but they're like all dinner lunchy things. But then I didn't really get anything else. I did go grocery shopping yesterday or on Sunday so don't stress, we have food but there was like I was just eating that for everything. I was like we just need to work through what we had. Like we had some random box of lettuce and we had lots of. Or we had a loaf of bread and a peanut butter jar and then like so many baby bells because I had them leftover from when I was doing camp this summer. I had gotten a big thing of baby bells. So I've been working through that. Actually, my last baby bell today. It's kind of sad. I like the baby bells. It's a nice little protein. Pick me up on the plate, but anyways. So that has been my obsession.

Speaker 1: 12:29

I love any kind of like rye bread. Like you know the thin rye breads you get. They kind of come in like a half loaf situation. I love any of those. This week I actually got a flax seed one from Farm Boy I normally get. If I get a flax seed. I get the flax seed from Cobbs. Oh, the flax seed sunflower sourdough, it is just bon appetit. But I got one from Farm Boy this week. Because I was at Farm Boy and they had a flax seed one. I was like, oh, I'll try this. It's not a sourdough, it's just normal. But it's pretty good, it's delicious, I've been enjoying it, but it's like not the same thing as the Cobbs one, if you're gonna think that it's not a sourdough.

Speaker 1: 13:06

Anyways, I toast it, I butter it, salt it butter. If you don't use salted butter, then you need to put a sprinkle of salt on top at the end, because you need the salt. So salt it butter and then a smother of the chunky peanut butter or crunchy. But it is chunky, it's so good. Me and Ro have been obsessed with it. Ro's been having a jam toast too, but I've just been having that and having a little sweetness in my latte. I always like a little something sweet If my coffee's not gonna be sweet and I wanna be eating something sweet. But if my coffee's sweet, then I want that something savory. And so the peanut butter toast has been perfect and I've been eating it for every single meal. I need snacks. I'm just obsessed. I'm loving it. So, anyways, that's our snack and drink of the week.

Speaker 1: 13:45

Okay, cute, what's next? I have to remember what comes next. Do we hop right into? This week, I learned, which is my monthly recap. Is that what we hop right into after this? It's like, oh gosh, I forgot how this goes. I'm pretty sure that's what we do. So, okay, cute, let's get into this week, I learned ["I Learned"].

Speaker 1: 14:06

This week, I learned that I'm 30, flirty and fabulous. I actually oh no, that's not what it is. It's 30, 30, 30, 30, 30, 30, 30, 30, and thriving. But I guess that's not what I learned. I learned that I'm 30. What did I say? Something in fabulous, but anyways, I turned 30 this summer. Okay, we're there, we're here, we've made it, and I gotta say I don't feel that much different.

Speaker 1: 14:35

But the week before I turned 30 was a little stressed out, saying that now I'm like gonna correct my posture because let's go all the way back to the beginning of August. The beginning of August, I threw out my back. Cutes. I don't even know how I threw my back. It wasn't a thing that happened. It was like one day in the morning I was like oh, my lower back is a little sore and my lower back is normally what's sore Like when I'm in the kitchen cooking and doing dishes and stuff. I'm pretty tall, I kinda hover over the counters. I always have to be bent over and so when I spend a lot of time I feel like I'm always aching and then I know to like chill and be okay. But this day it was like the morning. It was like, okay, my lower back hurts a bit. Then I just got progressively worse and I'm pretty sure we were gonna do something.

Speaker 1: 15:30

Me, trevor and Ro were gonna go somewhere Ribfest. I remember it was a Friday. I remember it's all coming back to me. So we were gonna go to Ribfest because that weekend we were going away on a little family trip with our friends in Collingwood and so we were gonna go to Ribfest on Friday and drive up to Collingwood on Saturday morning. And I think it was a long weekend. Yeah, it was. It was the first long weekend of the summer or of August, and anyways, I all day was really excited. I was like, oh, ro was at summer camp. I was like, okay, I'm gonna get all my work done for the weekend. We're going to have ribs for dinner and play on the bouncy castles. This can be a good time, good family time.

Speaker 1: 16:11

Right as the day went on, I was like what the heck is happening right now? Like I am in so much pain, like it is actually kind of hard to walk and I can't really bend over, and it was just like kind of a mental game as well. Maybe not right at first, but like I was like what is happening? And we're supposed to go away this weekend and like I just kept thinking ahead and I was like am I able to move? Like what's happening? And Trevor was like, hey, why don't I pick up Ro and you rest a bit and then we'll see how you feel closer to dinner time, right, best time. I was like, okay, so Trevor went to pick up Ro and I was laying down and then Ro got home and I was like Ro, I literally can't move right now.

Speaker 1: 16:57

And she was like mom, like what's wrong? And I was like I don't know, my back really, really hurts. And it's so funny because now, anytime that someone doesn't feel well, she's like oh no, does their back hurt? Like that's what she thinks that means now, because it was like one of my Trevor just kept saying like, oh, mom's not feeling well, Like we have to be kind and considerate and gentle Her back's hurting, and so now she puts those two things together, but anyways.

Speaker 1: 17:21

So I hung out with Ro for a couple hours, real chill, like I think I sat and she played and we just like hung out. And then I sent Trevor and her off to the rib fest together, which, like I was a little sad. I was bummed. It's like I missed rib fest this year. I don't like that's sad, but it's okay. They had lots of fun and I rest it because my big thing was like I don't want to go to rib fest and like blow it. You know what I mean? Because we were supposed to be going away for the weekend and this was like exactly a week before my birthday. The next weekend was my birthday and I was like I don't want to be in a bad shape for my birthday.

Speaker 1: 17:54

I know things take time, like anything I've learned. Everything just takes time, like when you hurt yourself. And this is like the number one postpartum thing I learned After Ro. It was like I've just learned everything takes time. Be patient. It takes time. Be kind to yourself, be considerate, move slowly. Don't not move, rest, but also make sure that you're still moving your body, getting up and walking around like gently, very slow, not pushing yourself. It's all about balance, right? So I feel like I have that mentality and it's very much carried me through. That's one of the best things I learned and I'm grateful for the postpartum journey, other than I don't know what else I'm grateful for about the postpartum journey. I mean, I'm grateful for my baby, but the postpartum stuff. But I was grateful that I learned it all just takes time. It takes time. So I was like, okay, I want to take it easy.

Speaker 1: 18:43

So they went off to Rip Fast and Ro or Trevor was like should we cancel this weekend? I was like I really don't want to cancel it. Like I said, if anything, we can be chill this weekend. Like we didn't have big plans. It was just going to be us and friends and we were just going up to their place in Collingwood and we didn't plan really anything. It was like we're just going to eat food at home, like I think we even plan to like have meals at home and just find some parks to play at, go get donuts, like just be chill. Like we had no huge plans. It was all just going to be chill anyway. So I was like what's the difference if I'm chill there or chill here? Like I want to go, I want to have fun. Like we only have so many summer, summer weekends.

Speaker 1: 19:17

So the next day I woke up and it was like it is worse. It is worse and this is not fun. And I was like it's okay, just get in the car and get it, find a comfy spot. The car has heated seats, that's going to be good and it'll be fine. So we were good. I was good in the car. Trevor drove so considerably. Like every time there was like are going to be a bomb or anything. He was so slow and I was just getting used to like this. And then I took Advil. I think I took Advil. I was like I think this is something I need to take Advil for Now.

Speaker 1: 19:52

Growing up, my mom's back was always bad. Like I feel like growing up, that's like I'm consistent memory I have of my mom is like her throwing out her back. We went. I remember we went on this family trip. We were coming home from Ireland and we had to lay over in England. So we were in England for a few days and she threw out her back that weekend and had to like stay at the hotel, hang out in the pool, like take it easy. And I remember all I wanted to do in London was like shopping. So my dad had to take me shopping. And it was just a funny memory because, like me and my mom are the shoppers and I just remember my dad like sitting on you know, like the dad boyfriend bench, and I think my brother was there too and they had to watch me do fashion shows all day. It's just like a memory I have in my mind. But anyways, there's more than that. Like my mom threw out her back lots growing up, so I remember that. So I was like, oh my gosh, I'm literally my mother Every time I was in this car.

Speaker 1: 20:44

We were going to Collingwood and we pulled over a side stop to like get out and stretch a bit. Troubles, like maybe we should get up like and move a bit, like we don't want to be stagnant for too long. So we got out there. Super cute farmers market oh my gosh, I wish I knew where it was, but we was literally on the side of the road. I feel like we've driven past it before because we go to Collingwood a few times a year.

Speaker 1: 21:06

It was so frigging cute, like they had everything you needed. They had all the farm produce. They had farm fresh eggs like little egg, little eggs, chicken fresh eggs like blue, brown, all the different colors. They had activities going on in the back. They had some animals, farm animals I don't remember what they were. They were like back in the field. Clearly it's like a happening place. Maybe they do like evening things as well, because they had like cornhole. It looked like they could probably have like shows, like live bands and stuff. They had a bakery. They had jams, pickles, breads, pies, meat pies, ice cream. They had everything you needed. They had the cutest watermelon in the Hoid world that I just had to buy. It was so small. I was obsessed with it. Yeah, they had everything. It was amazing. I could have spent all day there.

Speaker 1: 21:56

I was like I want this right by me, like it was just a one stop shop for cuteness and loveliness. So, anyways, we stopped there. We got plums, we got some buns, we got some stuff to bring, I think we got some chips and we got back in the car but like getting out of the car, I literally was like I'm my mother, I'm my mother, like I was like having it, was like this thought that I'd never, or this memory in my mind. That was just unlocking of like remembering my mom trying to get out of a car when her like back was thrown out, or stand up from a chair and it's like, oh my gosh, like this is serious. This is serious. Is this my life, is this my future? I'm turning 30 in a week. Is this literally what's going to be happening moving forward? So I was like trying to be chill, like I was like just be chill, grace, everything just takes time.

Speaker 1: 22:42

Once I heal from this, however long it takes, I will implement more of a stretching routine. I will implement more of. I will start doing more ab, take care of myself, things. Like obviously, your core is so important for your back. Postpartum, my back was like the most painful not this painful, I wasn't like I threw it out, it was just achy all the time and I worked with my Pilates instructor at the time to like help build back up those core muscles. So it's like I need to start doing those types of exercises and stretches again. Just simple stuff. I just and more and do some walking and be really thoughtful with what I'm doing, how I'm moving my body. I was just I need to be more thoughtful, mind body connection, moving forwards, how I'm sitting, how I'm standing, just be more thoughtful, because obviously this kind of just happened.

Speaker 1: 23:29

So I'm thinking like it was just like prolonged periods of sitting. Incorrectly, that's what I think, because, like in the summer, I sit on the ground all the time. I'm like hunched over, like chilling with the kids, like I probably just like did it to myself that way. That's what I think. Like I was just like not sitting properly for like a prolonged period of time over and over again, without like having any proper stretches between. So, anyways, we get to calling with and I didn't tell my friend that I had thrown my back out because I was like maybe it'll be better by the time I get there. No, so, anyways, I just like let her know. I was like hey, just so you know I'm moving slow. I threw my back out, but like we're still going to have a great time and we did, we still had a great time and I was able to chill, but my back was starting to feel so much better on. So Saturday it hurt. Sunday it was starting to feel so much better. I was like, oh my gosh, it's only going to be a few day affair, like not even a week.

Speaker 1: 24:21

And then Monday morning we woke up early oh, also we didn't do that much in calling what. I already said, that basically but we had like at home barbecues. We went and got donuts, I think we got ice cream at one point. I'm trying to think like we really just chilled, like we really just had like a chill time. We went to the epic park. That row was like obsessed with. So on Monday morning we woke up early and we're always early risers because we have row and our friends were still sleeping. So we were like, hey, you want to go to that park because we were going to leave on Monday. So we're like, why don't we go to that park? And it had rained, it was rainy. We're like it's not going to be busy. It was really busy the day we went before, because it was sunny and it was the end of the day. So we got I think we got some Tim Horton's on the way to the park and then we went to the park and I was like, you know, I'm feeling better, I'm not healed, but like I'm, like we're getting better.

Speaker 1: 25:10

And then I pushed myself. I pushed myself too much because I grabbed onto Trevor or something. I don't even know what happened, but he leaned on me, not like it wasn't a purposeful thing, but like keep it his arm on me. And then the way that I moved, oh, it just twinked something. Oh my gosh. Now I thought I threw it in my back the first time. Now, this is really. I threw my back, I literally was cramping up, I thought I couldn't move. Like I was like one of my associate, trevor, was like, do we have to take you to the hospital? I was like no, no, no, no, no, no. Like this is just something that takes time. I just need Advil. And like we should just go home soon because, like I'm not going to have a good rest of the day. So, anyways, we ended up going back to the house having breakfast and then we, I think, headed out shortly on the road after that.

Speaker 1: 25:59

Oh, that car ride home was absolute miserable. It was so painful it was, oh my gosh. And then we went to my mom's to pick up Alibi, because she was staying with my mom, and I just said to my mom like I'm literally you, and she was like I know, grace, I'm sorry. I was like it's okay, and I just was standing up the whole time we were there because I had to sit that whole car ride, which was just horrible. At what?

Speaker 1: 26:21

After we had come back from the park, I was like on the, I got myself on the floor somehow and I was like in like a half child's pose, half downward dog, and it was like getting comfortable that position. But then I literally couldn't get up, like it was like I was just so immobile, like, and it just like makes you realize like you got. It's like every time you're sick, you're like oh my gosh, I'm never going to take it for granted again. When I feel good, like I'm going to do everything I want, it's the same thing, right. It's like when I couldn't do move the way I want it to move, even just the most simple things walking, sitting up, getting out of a car, getting into a car, driving, road, school, like and when I couldn't do things like that, it was like, oh, I'll never take it for granted, but I'm really trying not to take it for granted now, like I'm really trying to make sure that I like keep myself in check, but anyways. So we picked up my mom or picked up my dog from my mom's, that went home and then that week, literally I just spent the whole week, like that whole next day, I think, I spent laying down which like, and I went for a walk around the block, like once in the morning, once in the afternoon, but I spent the whole day like just laying in bed. I think I started a new girl then so I've been watching new girl, which has been great. But yeah, it was just too much, like I could not. And then I was like we'll see what tomorrow brings. And then the next day I was like you know, I think I'm feeling better I went for more of a walk, went in the pool the pool was really good and it's just like every day I was able to move a little bit more, make myself some food.

Speaker 1: 27:45

I hadn't been able to take road of school because getting in and out of the car was so painful and like even just driving I was worried, like if I'd have to break quickly, like oh, it's like would I do it because it would be so painful, like hopefully I would bang this. I just want to be safe, especially if I had grown the car. So Trevor was dropping off and picking up row and my birthday was coming up like just a couple days. It was going to be on the weekend. I wasn't sure what we were doing. Trevor had said, like, oh, we're going to be chill, whatever, because most of my friends were going to be busy. Summer birthday thing is that like that's what happens, which is fine. I was fine with that. But especially now that I was in so much pain. But I was like I really don't want to be, like it's my 30th, I want to have a good weekend with the family.

Speaker 1: 28:27

And so Friday I was feeling pretty much like almost better, like they were getting up and getting getting up and getting down. Yeah, getting up and getting down was the only thing that really like I had to pay attention, like I had to like brace myself, take a breath, even row. Like by Friday I think I was driving her to and from school and I would get out of the car and she'd be like, hey, mommy, we got this, like, let's take our breath. You're so cute, I freaking love you, but it's just funny what she picks up on. And so Friday I was like still having to brace myself, but I was feeling so much better and I think just feeling better just made me feel even more better. And then Trevor surprised me.

Speaker 1: 29:06

So my birthday was on the Sunday, but the Friday was the start of my birthday weekend and Trevor surprised me with my friends coming down to, my best friends Coming down for a sleepover, which was so fun. So they came that evening and, rowan, I kind of knew something was up because Trevor was like, oh, drop row. I thought your mom's after school. And I was like okay. So I was like I think somebody might be coming over. So, yeah, that was so fun. We just made some drinks and hung out. And then we went to my favorite bar pharmacy and got some they have the most fun drinks and I got this little like Kool-Aid Jammer's drink. I thought it was so perfect. I was like I'm turning 30, I'm getting a Kool-Aid Jammer's. And it came with these little like jelly shot balls. They were so cute, but anyways, all their food is like Asian twist, like snacky food, so we got like Korean fried chicken and the shaker fries and I think we got calamari. We got a bunch of stuff. It was so delicious and then we just had it home, I think we all went to bed. We all hit the hay. Because the next day Trevor surprised me with more friends.

Speaker 1: 30:14

So my two other best friends so it was a group of six of us went on a wine tasting, like a proper wine tour, which I've never done before. We live in wine country, so like if we ever go to wineries, we just like drop by at a winery, like I've never done, like a proper, like go on a bus, go to a bunch of wineries. So we did that. We had to. We Ubered to a like local hotel and they picked us up. We got on the bus. We went to all the wineries. Oh my gosh, I've never had so much wine. Also, I hate oaky wine, like and so like. That's. I guess the disadvantage of wineries is like you have to taste things that it's like no, and they're only handful of full of oaky wines. But it's like the second you have it's like I don't know how. I'm sure people love it, obviously because they make it, but it's like I can't. The smokiness, no, no, no, no, no. But anyways, we all had so much fun.

Speaker 1: 31:01

We went to a couple wineries in the morning and then we went for lunch down on Niagara on the lake and we hit up Craigs cookies, which I was so excited about that we would have time to I wasn't sure, like none of us really knew it was up. Trevor booked it but like he didn't really know but we were we had enough time to like walk the strip. So we got down to Craigs cookies, got some cookies, had it back on the bus, hit up a few more wineries and then the bus driver was like hey, like where do you guys live again? And we're like here, and he's like, oh yeah, like I'll drive you home. So he drove us all the way home, which is awesome, and I'm glad we over it in the first place. We over it because obviously we're going to be drinking all day. But if one person had chosen to like be the DD and we had our car, there would have been more annoying.

Speaker 1: 31:40

But we got to all have a good time and then they dropped us off right at home, which was great, and then we just all hung out literally. We all had our silent friendship time, just chilled out and ordered a pizza. And then the pizza came and we had some pizza and Trevor made me a crumb brulee for my birthday dessert, which was so cute, like he made it from scratch, even went out and bought ramekins, because we only have two ramekins like baby ramekins. So he went out and bought like enough baby ramekins and had made crumb brulee and I was such a cutie like I think that's he was saying he was like I think this is the first dessert I ever made. I'm like this is so exciting, the first dessert and it's for me. I'm so lucky. So anyways, it was a really wonderful time.

Speaker 1: 32:18

And then our friends left and I think me and Trevor or at least me, I don't know what time it over went to bed, but I'm pretty sure soon after I like passed out at like five or six o'clock. It was a big day, we were up pretty early and we had been out the night before and then like just drinking all day. Yeah, I was just like passed out and I don't think I woke up till like seven the next day. So I had a good sleep. Then Trevor made me breakfast in bed on my actual birthday, which was the Sunday, and he made me eggs Benedict. He makes the best eggs benefit, they're so good and I watched new girl in bed and then we went to pick up row and he took me shopping. So we went to the outlets which I love going to the outlets and we had a shopping day, which was so fun. And then we went to the cake for dinner, which I love. The cake it's so classic, it's always good no matter what, and I don't think I've ever been for my birthday before. So I got like their classic birthday pie I think it's called a Billy minor something. It was so delicious and it was just lovely to be there and I met a few cuties. It was so fun. It was such a great weekend and my back was totally feeling fabulous by this point, so life was good and I just felt so much better. So that was my birthday weekend. It was such a great time.

Speaker 1: 33:27

And then jump into Monday I was running church camp, so I ran like our VBC or VBS and I was like a week of camp at church and it was so much fun, which was another reason why I was like stressed out. Oh, also, the week that I my back was thrown out, like I had to go to church and set up and I was just like a little limpy and I was going to go right for, like I was like, okay, I'm going to go Tuesday just to make sure that I can get everything set up, but then I had to push it off till later in the week because I was like I can't go right away and I was a little crunchy, but I was all worked out. Like I found a little time crunch, a little stress, but it all worked out. But Monday I was feeling so much better, my back was all good. I had a great weekend. Friends, family and I was ready to rock and roll and so row was coming to that too, and we also brought our neighbors, so that was a good time. And then there was a group of us I think I was a loving kids. It was a really good week. It was so fun I it made me miss working in childcare, but it also like felt good just to do it for a bit, like I'll always, anytime I work with kids, I'll always miss it, like I loved working in childcare and I never say I'm never going to again.

Speaker 1: 34:34

It just doesn't work with my lifestyle, or with my lifestyle right now, because, especially, I love working with schoolagers, which is before and after school, and like before and after school is the only time I get to see row. So maybe when I was a little bit frozen at school age and maybe if I can work at her I don't know, but anyway I'm never going to say never to not working in childcare, but like I'm happy that I get to do these little things. It makes me want to do them more often. Like little things like that. Like maybe March break camp or maybe run a youth group or something I don't know, but like I do love working with the kids and I love camp, like that's my favorite part of working with kids.

Speaker 1: 35:09

And so the Mondays are always like nervous. You feel like you really have to pull everyone together, make everyone have fun, like make sure that people are getting to know each other. Everyone's kind of like out of place. Some people are so excited to be there, some people are nervous, like some people don't want to be there at all. And then by Wednesday it's like you're one big happy family. And then by Friday you're like so sad. Like in a week it's wild how like you all just kind of have your groove. And then on Friday it's like this is sad, like it's sad that we have to say bye.

Speaker 1: 35:36

So it was a great week. We had so much fun and, yeah, it was. So it was such a good time and we did so many fun things. We did like a cake competition, cake decorating competition, which was so fun, and we did tie dye. We also found a splash pad that I had no idea exist. I always thought it was a water fountain, so that was fun. We would walk to this flash pad and have a great time there. So, yeah, we had so much fun anyways.

Speaker 1: 36:00

Then that ended on Saturday, right after so Friday camp, on Saturday we had our first community event, which is our, which was our flower bouquet event, which was so beautiful and it's such a beautiful day and we had so much fun. We made bouquets, we were out in the field picking flowers and we got to learn about the edible flowers, which was so delicious, and then also, obviously, the non edible ones that we made bouquets out of. And then we went in and we got some treats, some different baked goods, and we drank tea, because they all make at the farm mingle hill. They make cold climate teas. They're so delicious, so we got to drink some tea while we made our bouquets and it was so lovely. It truly was so lovely. And I'm so excited because, with the pickle workshop coming up in just couple weeks September 23 I believe which it's already full, but I think we're adding two more dates for October, so don't hold me accountable and I'm pretty sure we are going to. Which is so exciting because the pickle one filled up like a uber click and I'm so excited for it because these pickles are amazing and we can you guys also would like doctor, that would make your own situation, but it's gonna be so much fun. But anyways, we had such a good time at that.

Speaker 1: 37:13

And then Sunday with trevors one of trevors, really good friends wedding, and this is like kind of the kickoff to our friends weddings, because we got married almost six years ago and really haven't had any friend weddings between them, but now all of our friends are engaged. So like this is the kickoff and for the next, like a year, two years, it's just like wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, which is so fun and so friend weddings are so fun, like I love a friend wedding and we had such a good time. But before we had it to the wedding, I actually booked myself a trip to go to BC. I was supposed to go to clonah to visit my best friend and her husband for a week my first week away without my, without row, without Trevor not my first week away without Trevor, like I've been without Trevor before, but like definitely without row. I've only been away from her for a night or two and so I was so looking forward to this. It was like my refresh week. I was also nervous, like I booked it. I was so excited about it I booked it a few months ago and then I got nervous about it and I was like, am I ready? And then, as it got closer and closer, I'm like I'm so ready and me and Ro just spent a whole week together doing the church camp. So I felt like I had so much connection with her and I love that I got that opportunity. So I just felt so ready.

Speaker 1: 38:36

And then, unfortunately, there were wildfires that were happening in Kelowna which there's always wildfires out in BC, but these were really bad ones and they were in West Kelowna and then had jumped the lake over to like Kelowna Kelowna where my friends live and sometimes wildfires like just blow through, like they're kind of. Obviously they're wild, they have a mind of their own, but sometimes they can pass through pretty quickly and sometimes they stick around. So we didn't really know what was happening. So from Friday to Sunday, I was supposed to fly on on Monday. From Friday to Sunday it was like we don't know what's happening. And then, sunday we just made the call. My friends were like we need to leave. Like they weren't in evacuation ever. They're very, very central. So they weren't close to the fire but they were like it's so bad, the smoke is so bad. Like we want to get out of here. Like what do you think? If we take a trip to Vancouver for the week, do you think you can switch your flight? Before I even respond, yes, I like went, switch my flight. I was like I don't care, I'm leaving, I'm let me have my vacation. So switch my flight to Vancouver.

Speaker 1: 39:32

And this was like all like literally an hour before we were leaving, maybe not even, and I hadn't even packed yet, cause at that point I thought like oh, it's not happening, like my flight's going to get canceled. The airport was closed that I was supposed to be flying into. Like it's not happening. And the wedding we were going to were staying at a hotel. So it's like I had to figure it out before we left to go to the wedding, because I was flying out on the Monday and the wedding was on the Sunday. So they had said that I was like awesome, let's do it.

Speaker 1: 39:57

So then we I was like, okay, I got a pack, I got to get ready for this wedding, all this stuff. So then I quickly really packed, like literally just threw stuff in and I was like, okay, whatever. Like my mindset was, as long as I have my ID and I have money, I can buy whatever I need. Like it's okay, like they have stores there if I don't have exactly what I need. You know what I mean? Like that was my mentality. So I just like threw a bunch of clothes in, whatever this and that, and the only thing that I did need to buy was a tote, which I'll get around to, but also I should take a bathroom break. We've been talking for so long and I'm drinking coffee, so I'll be right back. Okay, we're back, but anyways, I was like okay, I'm packed up, we're ready to go, and I need to now get ready really quickly. So that was that Trevor can attest. I was literally like a chicken running with my head cut off because I just had no like.

Speaker 1: 40:51

I'm usually so organized in the sense of like I have everything laid out. I'm a timely person, but this was very crunch. I knew we needed to leave within like half an hour. I had to get ready for this wedding. We were hoping to get early check in so we could get dressed at the hotel, like just put on our outfits. But I needed to have like my hair, my makeup, everything else done and also make sure I had everything. Because then it was like we're going to go, we're going to get to the hotel, I'm going to throw my outfit on and go straight to the wedding, and then we're not going to get to home till late, and my flight was at, I think, six am, so I had to leave the hotel at four am in the morning. So it's like I want to make sure everything's in order so I can not have to think about this later when potentially I'm hungover, because I still want to have a good time at the wedding.

Speaker 1: 41:30

So, anyways, I was literally even in the car ride. I was like physically, like breathing, like chill, grace, it's okay, grace, do I have this, do I have that? And then the second we got to the. So then we got to the hotel. Literally at the hotel I was like throw my dress.

Speaker 1: 41:48

We took an Uber to the wedding, which was close to the hotel. And then the second I got to the hotel, it's like I unpacked it on. We saw all our friends. I unpacked on all them. I was like, hey, this is a situation. I got myself a glass of wine and it was like I'm going to be okay, grace, I'm going to be okay. And then I let myself enjoy the night.

Speaker 1: 42:06

So we had a great night. We had so much fun. I wasn't going to make Trevor drive me to the airport anymore because it was so early and this is his friend's wedding. He should deserve to have a great time. So I pre-booked an Uber to pick me up. Like, oh, that's what I did Even as we sat down for the actual wedding. I booked the Uber before it started, because I was like I can't, I can't do this right now, like I just need to make sure I have that in order before we get ahead of ourselves.

Speaker 1: 42:31

So then it was a great night. We had so much fun and I was very responsible. I only took one shot Good job, grace. And I drank a whole vodka sodas. I stayed with one alcohol too. Well, I guess not because I had wine, vodka and wine, but I didn't mix too much, like I just had wine with dinner. You know what I mean, okay. So, anyways, I did pretty good.

Speaker 1: 42:47

I felt great the next day I'll tell you. I'll keep going, by the way, and at 9.30, I think it was 9.30, I switched to water. So I was feeling good. I was like I'm being responsible and I'm going to feel good because I cannot imagine flying hungover. I just feel like that would be the worst thing ever. Like whenever I used to go on like all inclusive resort vacations, growing up, like you would go to like Cuba or Jamaica or whatever. Oh no, it's telling me I need to free up space. Okay, I think you should. We should be good.

Speaker 1: 43:22

Anyways, I told you about this already that the space thing is like the end of my world on my computer, but let's get back into it. So I had stopped drinking, I felt good and I was saying how, like when I used to go to like Cuba on like spring break vacations, or like we would go to like a tropical resort or whatever, you would see all these people who would either be drinking before they got on the plane. I just can't even fathom or be like so hungover coming home I just couldn't do that Like I would feel, and catch my Uber, like be responsible. So we got back I quickly. I think we got back at like 11. I quickly went through cuties. The drama is real. Okay, I just had that. I think I jaked myself by talking about it at the beginning, about my space.

Speaker 1: 44:12

Anyways, long story short is I just spent the past like half an hour trying to figure out how to download my audio because my computer was like nope, your podcast is not going to save and I was like what? So anyways, I'm happy I stopped it there and then I had a little mental breakdown and now we're back. I was able to save. I only lost a couple of minutes. So we're going to backtrack a couple of minutes so that we leave off. Where we left off and where I was talking to you last was I was saying that when you go on a plane on like a weak vacation, this is the situation. Also, I'm trying to figure out why my computer is so dark, but it's because I didn't plug it in. But I still have enough battery, we're okay. Anyways, the sad truth is that my video didn't save. So that's. The sad part is that my video didn't save.

Speaker 1: 45:03

And now I'm thinking should I just upload the audio file to YouTube or should I just send people the podcast? It's just so disappointing. I think I need to figure out a new way to record my podcast, because this is like the second or third time this has happened and it's just like so irritating. I'm trying not to have a pit about it. Okay, let's just jump back in, because at least we got the audio. That's all that matters. At least we got the audio Cuties. I'm sorry for my YouTube watchers if you are having to just listen via audio and not seeing me. We're going to figure this out, don't worry, cute. So I'm going to work hard to figure this out for the future. Let's take a deep breath together and through the nose, out through the mouth. I'm glad that we have each other to work through these things. Okay.

Speaker 1: 45:51

So when you go on a vacation, we are picking back up. I'm on my way to Vancouver. So when you go on a vacation and you're going on like a all inclusive situation, there's all these people who I feel like are like so hyped at the airport Like they're pre-drinking. They're drinking on the plane, like I just can't fathom doing that. Or when you're coming home and everyone's just been drinking all day, they're like getting in every last all inclusive beverage you can get before you go to the airport. And then I just can't fathom being hungover on a plane or even being drunk. I just feel like I'd be so claustrophobic I just couldn't do it. Anyway. So that's how I felt going into this Vancouver trip. I was like I want to be in good shape.

Speaker 1: 46:29

So we got home at an appropriate time and I was. I had already switched to water, I was feeling good and I got home. I unpacked my suitcase well, not unpack my suitcase, but I took out my suitcase, checked that everything was there. It was probably like 1130 ish and I took a shower, lined up all my stuff for the morning, like my toiletries that I would need, laid out my outfit and I was asleep by 1230 1am. So I felt good about that and I was like not feeling I was definitely not drunk. I could have been a little tipsy, but I was like not drunk. So I was like I'm going to wake up.

Speaker 1: 46:59

I set so many alarms to wake up between four and four 15, because my Uber was coming at four 30. And so I literally had where was it coming? At four 30? Yeah, four, 35 to six. My flight was at six 30. Anyways, I gave myself enough time so that I'd be at the airport two hours, two hours in advance. You know what I mean. So I set like so many alarms because I was like I better wake up and I normally wake up, like I'm not a heavy sleeper for the morning time but I was like I better wake up and I couldn't trust Trevor because he was having a good time. You know what I mean. So I was like I got to let him sleep. So I made it. I woke up first alarm. I was awake. I went to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, got dressed, put everything in my suitcase, got everything all organized and headed on down. My Uber was there waiting. He was fantastic, he was so nice, I loved him, dropped me off at the airport.

Speaker 1: 47:47

I got to the airport and I was thinking, you know, four am on a Monday morning, not going to be so busy. I walk into the airport and I'm all of a sudden like it's like it's alive, it's bustling, it's moving. And I'm like, oh my gosh, okay, what am I? What are the first things you need to do? Like I've not been on a plane since pre-pandemic, like 2019. I'm like what are the things you got to do? And so I was like racking my brain. I was like what's the first step? Okay, I got to go to the board and find out where I'm supposed to go to security. So I went to the board. I'm waiting for my flight to show up. There's people going left, right, everywhere. It's so busy. There's such big line in security. Yet the security I can see. I'm like, oh my gosh.

Speaker 1: 48:23

So then I figured out, I go to that security. I'm in line and I'm like am I going to have enough time? Like this is. I'm like kind of freaking out. And then we get actually going on a field trip with our security. They're like okay, the security's closed, everyone follow me, stay in line. They're like, leading us to the new security. Got through security, all's good.

Speaker 1: 48:39

Then I'm like okay, I need to figure out where my gate is. Go to the next board. I'm figuring out where my gate is. Okay, got my gate in my mind. Now let's go. We're walking, we're walking, we're walking. I'm like, wow, we're walking for a long time. We're going down escalators, up escalators, round escalators. I'm like, oh my gosh, like am I going to get to my gate in time? Like I'm literally the furthest gate away and this is Toronto airport, so it's pretty big. I'm like going, going, going, going, going. Finally get to my gate. And thankfully, in this little end of the airport there's like a Tim Hortons, half Tim Hortons. It has like just the coffees, like basic coffee, and it has like the muffins and croissants and some of the like fresh to go-y food, like yogurts and stuff. So I was like, okay, awesome, I'm going to grab a yogurt and a croissant, get some carbs, some protein, and we're going to get on this flight. I literally just had enough time to eat that and they were and go to the bathroom and they were like, okay, we're boarding and we ended up leaving early. It was fantastic.

Speaker 1: 49:29

So on the plane, I had downloaded shows. The night prior when I was, when I got back from the wedding, I was like, oh yeah, I got to download some shows and for some reason they confirmed downloaded, had the check mark next to them. Oh, sorry. I hit the mic, had the check mark next to them, but they didn't show up, like I don't know what happened. And then it was like error, like it said it wasn't my download. I had myself on airplane mode and it just kept saying error, error, error. And I was like what is happening? Turn it off, turn it on, nothing works. So I was like, okay, thank goodness we have YouTube, we have YouTube premium, which has like an auto download where it downloads like four YouTube's that it thinks you might like. So I had four YouTube's to watch. So that was good.

Speaker 1: 50:07

And then I had the most random podcast, because I usually clear out my downloads on my phone, because my life is always running out of storage, like this is if you work in off media, social media, online, like I feel like the whole world is just running out of storage, especially if you're working video content Like you never have enough storage. So I'm always deleting everything from my phone, including all my downloads, especially my podcast downloads. So I had the most random. I had like four random, random podcasts and I listened to them all, fell asleep like in and out of them. So I was just happy to have something in my ears because I had my sound cancelling headphones, which are like mandatory for a plane for me. I hate the sound of planes, like the background sound of a plane, especially sitting at the back of the plane. Oh yeah, I was sitting at the very back of the plane in the corner. I had a window seat so that was good and I just like drifted in that asleep and then I was so hungry.

Speaker 1: 50:57

When I woke up we had about an hour or so left and I was like I need to eat something. So I looked at the menu of what they had and they had Mr Noodles and I was like that sounds like just dreamy, reviving, like Hangover food right now. And honestly, I didn't have that bad of a hangover. But I needed something and this Mr Noodles came and I tell you it was like the bone broth of the world. I know it's not bone broth, but it that's what it felt like to me. I was like I'm being revived right now and I usually only eat the noodles and Mr Noodles, like I'm not a big broth drinker. Of the Mr Noodles, I drank every last sip of this. I was like sodium, give me life. I drank me. Drink water. I drank, please. So it was so good and the person next to me got the Mr Noodles too. I was like we know it's good, we know what's good.

Speaker 1: 51:36

And then we landed. We were in Ready to land and honestly, I thought Vancouver was gonna be so smoky was so clear. I first thing I did when I landed was text to my friend saying I was here, because they were driving down from Kelowna that morning and I knew I was gonna be there earlier than them because my flight was so early and it's like a five-hour drive from from Kelowna. So I Actually appreciated that because there was some work I needed to get submitted before I Like started my vacation. I was like, let me do it first thing. Also, with the time change I knew it was gonna be confusing, like one thing that had to be deadline. So I was like I want to do it first thing. So I had a couple hours in the airport and just got a bunch of work done and that was great. But anyways, first thing I did was take a picture, send it to them, be like oh, this is what it looks like they're like oh my gosh, we can't wait. They sent me a picture of them. It was like literally couldn't see in front of them. The smoke was so hazy and thick. So they were really excited to get to Vancouver.

Speaker 1: 52:25

So got off the plane and I was like I'm just gonna park myself down somewhere, get a Starbucks. I need coffee. I got a nitro cold brew with chocolate on it. The chocolate cold, foam Freakin good. It was like fueling my life right there, sat down, got a bunch of work done and then headed out to figure out where I was getting picked up. In.

Speaker 1: 52:46

The second I got outside it was like a breath of fresh air. It was literally so pleasant, it was so nice, the day was beautiful, it was warm. I was like this is better than I ever could have thought, like I was expecting the worst and it was fabulous. And Then they came, picked me up and we had a few. We had booked a last-minute Airbnb so we had a few hours to kill before we could book into the Airbnb and they had their dog with them so we hit up a dog friendly I think it was a brewery. Anyways, got some lunch down at this harbor. It was so sweet, so cute. And then we found a dog park Along some waterfront and I think it was a lake I don't know, maybe it was a river, it was not the ocean and whoops. And so we Went over there, went for a walk, found some wild blackberries, had some sneaky snacks and just chilled and enjoyed the outside. Then we drove to get into our Airbnb, which was awesome Got to our Airbnb and then the vacation started.

Speaker 1: 53:39

I think we decided we were like we all kind of just like ended up in Vancouver Very last minute so we had no idea what we were doing or anything. So we like sat down, we were like let's plan, let's plan out our week. And so we got a plan in order and one of my friend's husband's friend was also in Vancouver for the week because of the fires, so he was gonna do some golfing so me and Neela could have some us time and then we would all go out for dinner together with his friend and Neela and me and whatever. And so we all just had a great time. We honestly we had two like touristy kind of days, not back-to-back, but like we did one very Vancouver tourist day. And then we went over to North Van for another like touristy day where we did like the deep cove hike and oh my gosh, I love that same whichever. And then in Vancouver, on our touristy day, we went to Whatever the Granville Island, which I've been to before. I've been to Vancouver once before For a couple days with Trevor before we drove to Kelowna to visit our friends. So but anyways, it was great.

Speaker 1: 54:38

We did pickle testing, tasting, we got food. We went to so many breweries that's like Eric's favorite thing to do. My friend's husband, he like loves to hit up the breweries. I'm not a huge beer person but I will always like I can always get like the fruitiest one and enjoy it. So I had a nice peach one at one place. But I will go to a cider. Yeah, I love a good cider. So we did go to a cidery and did little flights there.

Speaker 1: 54:59

We ate so much delicious food. I had my first ramen. Trevor doesn't really like ramen, so we never get it and it was delicious but it was, so I get it. Like it is very much a heavy soup, like it's very heavy, but it was so good, but it's definitely very heavy. We had dim sum one night. That was so good.

Speaker 1: 55:18

And we went for Korean one night, which was delicious, and I'm trying to think what we did for the last night. Oh yeah, we went to this like Michelin star rated restaurant that's not very expensive. It was a. We thought it was Vietnamese, but it was Cambodian, vietnamese and more Cambodian than Vietnamese. I've never had Cambodian food. It was so good.

Speaker 1: 55:38

And then we hit up a dessert place because I had a like midnight flight out red eye, and so we spent Three nights at our Airbnb and then we did two because we weren't sure like what Kelowna situation was gonna be like. We're gonna go back to clone or whatever. But then it was still up in the air. So I was like, let me just book out of Vancouver and then I don't have to drive all the way to Kelowna to get on another flight. Like, so then we, we're gonna extend our Airbnb. But Nila's sister actually lives in Vancouver and so we asked we're like, oh, can we stay with you, especially because I had like the late red eye flight, then they could drive out on Saturday morning Instead of having to figure out something like that. So we want to stay with her sister for two days, which was so great. And yeah, we just had such a great time and it was so sweet.

Speaker 1: 56:22

I did a little shopping one day and I'm silly about the tote. So the one thing I forgot to pack was I Packed when I thought I wasn't going anywhere. I packed rose overnight bag for grandma's house In my backpack, like the backpack that I like to use. Not, it was not like we have a diaper bag. That's like huge and we never use it anymore because we don't do diapers anymore. But so I just packed her in my backpack, which is a little bit smaller, and I didn't want. And then I didn't have a backpack and I have like a fanny pack, but that's like not enough to put, like your iPad and your headphones and like you know, things that you need, or external hard or external chargers, things like that. So I was like, oh no, I don't have a backpack for the airplane. Like I have my carry-on suitcase or roll-on suitcase, that's like your personal item.

Speaker 1: 57:05

But I didn't have my backpack and I was like what am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do? And I didn't want to use Trevor's backpack. This is backpack is huge. I was like I don't want a huge backpack. I didn't want to bring the diaper bag. I like, no, this is my mom free time. I'm not carrying that around, so it's giant. And and so I and I didn't want to bring up purse. For some reason I was just like I don't want a purse, like I'm not gonna want to carry that around, and like ultimately I probably should have brought the purse. But then I didn't and then I was like, okay, I'll use Trevor's backpack because I kind of want to be hands-free. But then the morning of when I was leaving, I was like I don't want this, like I had nothing in it. And then I was like I don't want this, so I didn't bring anything, I just had my fanny pack and the suitcase. But then before I got on the plane, I was like, oh no, I have to take everything out of my suitcase that I want. So I need, from my iPad, my headphones, my External hard or battery pack, all this stuff. And I was like, hey, Then I have like so much stuff in my arms and I was like this is too much. And then while we were in Vancouver, like they had the car, so it would have been fine if I had my purse and I could have just left in the car just to carry, especially like the external hard Are, the battery pack, so that I could have battery my phone all day, like that stuff, and so I was like, okay, I need to get a tote while I'm here and so, like it was like this running joke that I needed this tote and and everywhere we went there were like so many different totes and then finally I found a begu Toad that I was absolutely obsessed with and I'm very much someone who, like I hate buying stuff Just to buy stuff. Like I don't want to just buy a tote that I'm never gonna use, especially like you always have so many random totes that you get like freebies or whatever. Like I wanted a nice tote that I'm gonna love and use and I Was so happy that I was able to find begus. When we were at the At the market, when we were at the Vancouver market, the Grenville market, they had all these begus and I was like, okay, awesome, like if I'm gonna spend money, I want to spend money on something that I love and use and have wanted. Like I've been wanting a begu for a while and it's a great tote. It has a zipper on it, it has two handles short handles and then it also has a long handle where you can put it over your shoulder or cross body and it's adjustable and has a little pocket on the inside. I love the design of it. I was just so hyped I was like yes, and then we were like Joe, it was like totes, first photo, totes, first meal, like wherever this tote went, so it was great. Anyways, I'm very excited about my tote. So that was funny. Another running joke was someone I'd asked on Instagram and tick tock, like, give us your Vancouver recommendations when we were trying to plan it out, and someone was like, oh, you need to do the deep Cove hike. And then I think it was the deep Cove hike or it was a hike and they were like and also, bring some dipping clothes, because there's a nice place to take a dip. And I laughed because I was like dipping clothes, like bathing suit, obviously, but like I just love the way that they said dipping clothes. And then so I was like there's gonna be a dip pit. And then we were just had a running joke about dip pits and how, like, like we always had our bathing suits with us, the weather was never like too hot to want to go in the ocean. Like that was kind of frigid and, by the way, it was just this running joke about how everywhere we're like maybe there's a dip pit and Inside joke, but it was funny. So those were the two inside jokes was a dip pit and my tote. But it was a wonderful trip and then I had it home and it actually worked out better, even though I had a red-eye flight, which is kind of annoying because obviously if to get to the airport late and it's like in the middle of the night, that worked out better because my original flight was gonna return me in the middle of the night At midnight. And then I was kind of like, how am I gonna get home from the airport? Because row would be asleep so Trevor couldn't pick me up. Yeah, that was, we hadn't figured that out. But with my new flight, where I flew home at midnight and got home at 6 am, that was perfect because Trevor could just come in the morning with row to pick me up. So they came and picked me up. I was so exhausted I barely slept the flight home because I had a middle seat and I did go to the dollar store last minute when I found out my seat was a middle seat. I was like, okay, I need to get a, a neck pillow and maybe an eye mask because I don't want to fall asleep on the people next to me, and but I like could barely sleep. I like probably slept 10 minutes every hour. It's like a five-hour flight. And then so by the time I got on the plane I was like, honestly, I could just go for a shower and back to bed. And I was like, but don't do that grace, like we got a power through this. So Trevor's like why don't we go do a bunch of stuff? Like we had these free tickets to do a bunch of Niagara Falls stuff that we haven't used in a while, like that we haven't been using. So we're like, let's just go do some touristy things. So we literally like went and did three touristy things. Like we did journey behind the falls, we did the whirlpool cart and we did this like 40 interactive video. Ro was having the best time ever. I was literally dead. Like literally dead. I I kind of remember what happened, but I was like in line and doing this stuff, like so tired and Just wanted to go to sleep and I had a big debate should I go home for nap time, like because of rose nap, or should I not nap and I like was gonna fall asleep in the car and Trevor's like just take a nap, I don't think it'll be a big deal. Like it's not not normal for me to nap. I was like, okay, so me and Ro had a nap. I felt like I was. You know that sleep where, when you wake up, it's like you feel like you just came out of like a Pit of nothing, like you literally feel like you're waking up from the dad. Like that's how I felt and thankfully I was still able to go to bed at like a normal time that night. It was a little bit later than I would, but it was still like before midnight and that started me in a good track. But then in the mornings that week, oh, they were rough and I was just like we're gonna do coffee and Ro was off of school, so it was camp mom, me, ro and hanging out all week, which was awesome. So I had a week of Ro prior to me going away for a week. My week was fabulous. I honestly didn't miss Ro at all. I'm not I'm not a homesick person in the first place, but Ro also didn't miss me necessarily, like we would talk on FaceTime every night before her bed and she always was like okay, bye mom, like have a great night, like have fun, like she never was like sad for me or crying or like anything like that. I'm sure that would have made me feel more like oh my gosh, like pull to be home. But I could have stayed longer like I was having a great time and I've always been like that, like growing up I would go to sleep away camp for a month at a time, never felt homesick, like I've just always been An independent person and so I'm so glad that rose like that too, very independent, and so like we give ourselves our space, and that's great. So I feel really great about that and now I feel like I've done it and I can do it again. You know what I mean. So, anyways, it was great that we had that week before, my week off, and then we had our week after together, so we had lots of connection moments. I don't feel I feel like we both Just didn't affect our relationship. So, um, anyways, we had camp. Mom and Ro planned it out every single day. She was like had a plan, so we went to after. Not, we did go to african lines, sorry, but the first day, well, the first day we kind of just got an order. I was like still trying to figure myself out, energy wise, and trevor had just started a new job. So Ro was like we got to do a barbecue. So we did a big barbecue for him, which was lovely. And then the next day we went to Safari Niagara, which was so much fun. And then I can't remember what we did on Wednesday, but I know we did stuff. We think we went to a park and then we had to drop some stuff off. I need oh, I know I needed to film that collab. So we had to go grocery shopping and then I had to do some work and I did that over rose nap, which, oh my gosh, I was so stressed about like I even had to work over rose nap in a long time. I used to that's. I used to do that all the time when she wasn't in childcare. But, oh my gosh, every single, especially like filming a collab, oh, it was just like, and it was like I had to cook so many things and I was just like, so stressed out that entire time and I think that's why I like that. I've just been really stressed out over that cloud, I think, just because I was doing it well, where I was working with me or while I was mothering full time, anyways. Then on Thursday we ended up going to the farmers market, which we usually never go to, the Thursday farmers market. I used to go to that farmers market all the time because I used to work downtown, so it was like, oh, get my breakfast, get my lunch, whatever. But yeah, so I went to Thursday farmers market, went to the library, it was a very chill, lovely day. And then on Friday we went to African Lines for the safari. Last minute it was like in the morning she was like I want to go back to the safari, but we didn't get a season's pass this year. For, oh, no, it's giving me the ass. The ass I didn't mean to say that, it's giving me the sassitude. My computer about space, oh, okay, I'm just gonna keep going, but anyways, I sorry, I'm reading what it's saying Data sites have storage, this do I? So whatever, we're just gonna keep going, I'm gonna. The audio is gonna be fine, we've already decided, we've lost the video, anyway. So that morning she was like I want to go back to the safari, but we didn't get a season's pass this year. So I was like, oh, I don't really want to pay for it twice in one week. Why don't we go to a different safari? We haven't been to African Lines safari. So we went to African Lines safari and it was great. I've not been to African Lines safari since I used to take the kids on like PA days and stuff when I worked in childcare and it's always so busy. So I was expecting it to be so busy. I was like we've got to get there for open. It was not. It was busy like after the afternoon, like once it hit 12 o'clock it was like, oh my gosh, where did all these people come from? But the morning it was like no one was there and we did every single thing you could do. We rode on all the like there's a bus, we did the bus tour, we did the train, we did the boat, we saw the elephants, we went to every single show the reptiles show, the birds show, there's another show, another bird show and we did the water park, we did all the playgrounds, we did everything. And Ro then fell asleep in the car and then it was bad, not bad, but she woke up when we got home and it was like her bedtime when we got home and so she didn't go to bed for a long time. But that's okay. But it was a great week. We had a great week. And then on Saturday we ended up playing, going to Trevor's friend's house and then having a group of us just play a bunch of long games, throw around the football, like just good old, wholesome fun. And then we went and got some Indian street food for dinner, which was so delicious, and then it was that awkward time again. So we were actually close to Trevor's parents. So we stopped at Trevor's parents for like an hour and a half until we could drive home so Ro could fall asleep in the car at bedtime. You know what I mean. It worked out perfect. The next day we went back to Trevor's parents house, which was yesterday for Labor Day and also to celebrate birthdays because Trevor's family has a lot of September birthdays that like all happen kind of now, and then also to celebrate my belated birthday. So that was lovely and it was so hot. So we hit up the splash pad, we did make your own pizzas, we made some cocktails, it was just a good time. We just hung out, chit-chat it. And that is the summer, that is August. I mean, that was part of September too, but that is what I've been doing during our time off and it was so, so lovely and so busy and just so good and I felt like I could fully embrace every moment of it because I wasn't having to worry about recording podcast or editing the YouTubes and stuff. So I'm so happy. I took the month off and just like made that decision. Like my body kind of made it with my back going out. But then I was like you know what? We're just taking the whole month off because I just feel like I need to embrace this transitional period of my life where I am now going into my 30s and this is we are taking that. Why that we learned at the end of my 29 and leading it into my 30s. And I'm gonna lead by example. Cue put yourself first. I am putting myself first. So I love you all so much. I am so appreciative of you being here with me. I feel like we've been on such a journey and I'm gonna do my roses, buds and thorns, but I'm just gonna pause this first and make sure that this section of the podcast uploaded. I'm so sorry this is like such a choppy, but we are working together and I'm gonna figure out the video for next week because that is just disappointing, especially because, like, I have it all set up all cute, come on. Anyways, we're gonna get back to our roses, buds and thorns in just a moment. Let's get into our roses, buds and thorns. Okay, my rose for this week. I think it was just having a really lovely, fulfilled weekend with friends and family and just making sure that I'm really embracing like that in-person connection. I think that's something I really want to focus on. Moving into this, like I know it's not the new year, but I always feel like September is like a restart, refresh almost. But moving into this part of the year is just really like cultivating those in-person connections, because I feel like, obviously, online I'm connecting with people all the time, but sometimes I just feel like I'm not making those in-person connections that I need to be making. That help to fill me up in a different way. And then also, I've been really good at putting my like mental, physical health first and I'm trying to perfect that. Not, I know, it's not about perfection, but I'm really trying to create that habit of not going on my phone first thing in the morning taking my walk with Alibi. I try to take her with me because I know she'd appreciate it, except for when she makes me carry her Small dog issues, a small old dog, feel bad for her, such cutie. But anyways, just making sure that I whether it be my walk or going for a paddle, just getting out and having that mind clarity, it's been so impactful. And then also I've been doing album walks which have made such a difference. I feel like I'm so much more like I love to have music on. Sometimes I like to walk without music we all know that but like when I go on my long walk I like to do an album instead of shuffle. I just feel like it really like puts me in a zone when shuffle I'm like kind of booping and bopping all around and I feel like I love Spotify and I love my AI DJ and I love learning about new music. But I feel like I always know a couple songs from an artist, maybe only one, and now it's like click on the album, listen to the whole album and like I even find songs that I don't like outside of an album. They make sense in an album. Obviously the album has been curated for a reason there's a vibe to it, so I just like I've been enjoying that. So if you have any album recommendations, please let me know. And then, as for my thorn, I think I didn't sleep well last night at all just because I've been like stressing about this collab thing that I'm working on, just because I just get nervous sometimes, especially when it's like I'm trying to juggle it all at once, when I'm like full mumming, full working, full this. Sometimes it just feels really overwhelming. And now I was just stressing about it last night but I woke up and I like got a bunch of stuff in order and I'm gonna work on it this afternoon. It's gonna be all good. I'm gonna submit it and if it needs to be changed, it needs to be changed. It's okay. Like I just need to chill. Like sometimes I just get like stuck in my head and then my bud is I have a really exciting week ahead. Actually, tomorrow, I think, is just like a really exciting day. Today's a really big, heavy work day and tomorrow I wanna kind of just do embrace the fun. We're heading into Toronto for a Tiff event and then it's my sister-in-law's birthday, so we're going to her birthday dinner, so it's gonna be a fun Toronto day, slash afternoon evening and Trevor's coming as my date, so so fun. I haven't had him come to a work event yet, so that'll be fun. And then, obviously, we get to continue on at my his sister is my sister-in-law's, she's my sister or whatever birthday dinner. So that'll be so fun and I'm just looking forward to it. So I love you all so much. I'm so happy to be back at the pod. I'm gonna figure out the video. Don't worry, qtees, we're gonna figure this out, but the audio is gonna be a good, great, fabulous, wonderful. We'll have the podcast back and technical issues happen. We just gotta like chill and roll with the punches. Okay, qtees, it's been a month. We've got hiccups. I love you all so much. Thank you for being here. You're all the best and I can't wait to be back next week. Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube because even if the podcast video didn't work this week, we do have our new vlog up, which is so fabulous, and we'll have a new one next Sunday. So I love you all so much. Hugs and kisses. Mwah, mwah, mwah. You're all the best. Qtees. Quick kiss, charmel, do the name Qtees tomorrow.