End of Semester

Today was officially the last day off classes in this semester! I am now done with writing papers until next semester and I get to focus the majority of the next two weeks to studying hard for my final exams. Finals is always a crazy time. I mean it shouldn't even be humane that Universities are allowed to inflict that much worry, concern, and stress into the lives of their students. I always tend to get fairly overwhelmed and find myself wishing that time would go by faster. I have 5 exams plus a lab exam to study for between now and December 14th, seems like a crazy feat right now but I know I will get through it. I have for the last two semesters! I think Fall final exams are the hardest because I know that Christmas is sooo close, yet so far away!

Otherwise, life has been throwing several curve balls at me over the last little while and I am almost at my wits end. I mentioned having car problems before and I am officially convinced that I am doomed when it comes to cars. While having my car in the shop getting fixed, I had a free renal car from Enterprise. Everything was going great for about 4 or 5 days and I was loving driving the VW Golf with heated seats and then BAM! flat tire one day. After waiting over an hour in the cold for CAA, they inflated my tire and I drove to Enterprise to get a new rental car. Picked up the Mazda 2 and that was fine. Boyd Autobody was supposed to be done with my car last Thursday, then it changed to Friday and so on until Tuesday (last night) when I finally picked it up. Brandon discovered this morning that my car is still having the same issue of the engine shaking and lights flickering whenever you stop. I was NOT IMPRESSED to say the least and left a message with our claims adjuster (she's USELESS) and then finally her supervisor. Neither of them returned our car. Needless to say we went back to Boyd today and left our car, telling them they need to ACTUALLY fix the problem. Then another problem occured, they hadn't set up another rental for us to use ("they didn't know") apparently even though it's on our file. We currently have one of their courtesy cars which I have to return tomorrow and get a new rental, while they fix their screw up. Seriously not impressed, and my devil horns definitely made an appearance today. END OF RANT!

I am currently releasing some stress by drinking copious amounts of wine, catching up on The Voice, and cuddling my Maggie on the couch. All I can say to life is, please give me a break! My life is already stressful enough and I don't think there is enough wine in the world to help me out if things don't improve.

Finally, I am excited to see my Mamoo this Friday when she comes into the city with my aunts and grandma! We will shop, eat, drink, and catch up. I love spending time with my mommy! Also maybe we can Facetime with my sister? *hint hint*

Here's to a good rest of the week!

Friday Letters...

Dear cars, Please stop breaking down on me and making me frustrated! My car is currently in the shop getting fixed (after a minor rear end accident) and for the past week I have had a rental car. This morning while driving Brandon to work, the beloved VW golf had a flat tire. After waiting for an hour for CAA, the tire got fixed and I was late for class!

Dear school, I would appreciate it if you would stop stressing me out and making me a very angry, grumpy person. I just want these 2 papers, 1 lab report, and final lab to be over so I can focus on my 6 exams (I would much rather study than write fyi).

Dear sister, please start keeping in touch more. Update your blog, post some pictures, shoot the fam an email, update your facebook... anything to let us know you're alive and well (just kidding). But seriously, we want to know what you're doing in Rome!

Dear Brandon,  thanks for calming me down this morning after the flat tire scenario and getting me a cafe mocha to keep me warm while waiting. You really are so thoughtful and you always have my back! I love you :)

Dear Maggie, please stop sleeping on momma's head all night. I mean I love you but you wake me up on average about 10 times per night. Please resort to any other spot on the bed you silly kitty!

Dear weekend, thank god you are finally here! I have had one heck of a stressful week and I just need a few stiff drinks right about now. You wouldn't judge if I started drinking at 2:30 in the afternoon would you?

Dear Christmas break, HURRY THE HECK UP! 

 

so what wednesday

This week I am saying "so what" to:

• the fact that I have 2 papers due next week and I haven't started either of them yet.
• worrying and stressing about health issues. I've been struggling with certain health issues for a year or two now and I need to realize that worrying isn't going to solve anything!
• the fact that we are putting up our Christmas tree in the city this week. I used to think it shouldn't go up until at least December, but what the heck? Bring on the Christmas spirit!
• I haven't been very good about sticking to regular exercise like I have mentioned several times on this blog. I also found out yesterday at physio that I am not to do any high impact exercise or crazy abdominal exercises until my problems are fixed! This means no more HITT workouts for now :(
• I haven't started Christmas shopping yet. I always say I will start early but then life gets away on me! I am hitting up a craft sale this weekend though that is promoting unique little handmade shops :)
• PROCRASTINATION! I always say I won't procrastinate and I always end up doing it anyways, so as long as I get things done before the due date... why stress?
• Exams start in a little less than 2 weeks and I haven't even let them cross my mind yet. First I need to get started on my papers. Oh the life of a busy student!

I'm excited for this week to be over because than it means I only have 3 days of class left and Christmas is getting closer! The countdown is on :)

Life lately...

So this past weekend was definitely a good one, however it seemed to fly by way faster than I was hoping.

On Friday, I baby sat my 2 cousins while my aunt and uncle went to the Neil Young concert. We played board games, watched a movie, played truth or dare and generally just had a ton of fun. I still can't believe how much energy boys aged 7 and 9 have because by about 10 p.m., I was ready for bed and they were still wired. Needless to say, they were still awake at midnight when my aunt and uncle got home. 

Then Saturday, I slept in and lounged around wasting away most of the day. I did manage to make some delicious chili in the crockpot though and Brandon got to eat some before I drove him to work on Saturday night. Then I came home and got ready to go to Rumour's Comedy Club with Jenna, my best friend. It was a night full of laughs, good foods, a few drinks, and then topped off with some free bowling. 

Goofin' around.

Then Sunday, I had to wake up early and drive Brandon to a Master's bowling tournament (have I mentioned how much I love being the only one who can drive our rental car?... not!). Then I came home and went back to bed until 11, oops! I spent my afternoon writing a paper and then I got to take a break to go for supper with Dave, Brandon, and Sarah. We went to The Tavern and shared 4 different appetizers! It was delicious and filling. Then I topped off my Sunday night with a nice phone call with my momma.

It's so crazy to think that I only have 7 days of classes left, which means that after lectures end the only thing standing between Christmas break and I is 2 papers and 6 exams. Even though the end is so near, I can't let myself get excited yet because I need to stay focused for the next 3 weeks. It'll be tough getting through all of those exams but I have done it 4 times before (each semester of uni), so I am sure I can make it through again! Can't believe Christmas is so soon, I am very excited :) I plan to put up the tree in the city this week and also get started Christmas shopping by attending a handmade craft sale this weekend in the city. Bring on the holidays! :D

Currently

wearing: lots of boots with tights and dresses paired with some jewelery and scarves!

reading: just finished reading "don't cry" by Joy Fielding. It was a different book than I'm used to but I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of it! Now time to start a new book.

planning: what to buy/make everyone on my list for Christmas! I have been browsing Pinterest for some good handmade ideas to help save some cash this year :)

enjoying: my morning pumpkin coffees, Hart of Dixie, cuddles with my Maggie, and procrastinating from doing school work.

looking forward to: being down this term of school and heading home for CHRISTMAS!

 

feeling: excited, happy, and thankful. also a little anxious because I haven't accomplished much of my to do list today.

 

loving: Starbucks Christmas drinks, driving this fancy rental VW, and nightly snuggles with my man and kitty!

listening to: lots of mumford & sons, florence + the machine,taylor swift, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgie Line, etc

realizing: time is flyyyyying by! I am almost done 2.5 years of university... that's crazy talk!

I mentioned in this post that I am driving around a rental VW and let me tell you, it's beautiful! Basically, my car is in the shop right now getting looked at and they will assess the damage and see if it's worth fixing. So in the mean time, my insurance covers a free rental car. After almost 2 hours waiting, I left with this beauty of a car... I AM IN LOVE!

Lacking Motivation

I am seriously lacking when it comes to motivation lately. Ever since I wrote midterms back in mid October, I constantly feel drained and don't feel like doing much of anything productive. I have a lot of things that need accomplished but I find it hard to get started on those tasks. I mean, I have 2 papers due next week and one due in the final week of my classes. I also have 6 exams I could be prepping for, corrections to make on a past paper, laundry to do, dishes to wash, Christmas presents to make or buy, etc. but I just have no energy or desire. 

I feel like I just need a major overhaul and change in life, in order to get some zest back in my life. Awhile ago, I talked about getting healthy again and consistently working out to feel better about myself and since then I have fallen off the bandwagon again. I know that if I got serious about my weight loss journey, I would feel so much better about myself and this would help increase my energy levels and desire to be productive. 

I always seem to go through a funk or two during each term when my attitude is basically "I don't care anymore", so I am sure that I can get out of this funk. I just need to take the first steps and get my butt in gear! The first steps are always the hardest but I am tired of feeling exhausted and uninterested in life... so a change I must make. Life is worth living and I believe that change will make all the difference in how well I am "living" and not just "surviving".

 

Weekend Recap

I mentioned last week that I was SUPER excited to head home for the weekend and let me tell you, it was an amazing weekend! I was scared that my sister and I weren't going to make it home because a snow storm was supposed to roll in on Friday. Thankfully, the storm held out until Saturday and Sunday... so I got to spend the weekend at home with my parents, sister, and the animals.

On Friday, I was done class at 11:20 and then I grabbed my sisters car keys and left the city by about 12:45. I was home by 3:45 and spent the afternoon visiting with my mom, drinking tea, cuddling Missy and Jinx, and making supper. My mom and I headed to Brandon to pick up Steph and then headed home to visit some more!

On Saturday, we spent the day cooking, baking, visiting, playing games, cuddling the animals some more, having drinks, visiting the cows, and just relaxing! It was the perfect way to spend the day.

On Sunday, it was more of the above with a little bit of paper writing thrown into the mix. I was supposed to head back to Winnipeg that afternoon but ended up being snowed in, we got about 7 or 8 inches of snow from Saturday to Sunday so I didn't head back to Winnipeg until Monday morning.

It was exactly the kind of weekend I needed to feel refreshed and relaxed! It was so nice to see my sister in over a month and I am hoping that it will help me get through the next month or so of classes and exams. Now I cannot contain my excitement for Christmas! There is honestly nothing better than Christmas, I love the lights, decorations, baking, music, snow, presents, family time, hot chocolate, tobogganning, snow fort building, etc.

Here are a few pictures from this weekend:
( I apologize that they are poor quality, I took them on my blackberry)

Playing settlers of catan!

Visiting the cows

Sleepy little Jinx

Maggie needed momma cuddles when I got home

Sweet little missy

snow, snow, snow

snowy trees

Now I am ready to push through these last 11 days of lectures and 6 exams before I can head home again to celebrate Christmas!