October 29, 2012

More sleep...yes please :)






Having a "good laugh" happens daily in the McKenley home....the long sleep however gets put to the back burner way too often these days & I really have no excuse. Isaiah sleeps through the night and has been doing so for months. We usually put him down around 7:30pm and he's out until we wake him up the next morning around 7:30am (on weekends we let him sleep in so that we can sleep in too :)

For some reason we just haven't been able to get ourselves into a good sleep routine. We've had hits and misses throughout the years, but as we are getting "older" sleep needs to become more of a priority (in my books at least). We have two friends in particular who are great at getting sleep. One friend of ours is a court officer and would always go to bed by 10pm. It never mattered if people were over visiting. He would politely get up and say "I'm heading to bed." It never came off as rude. In fact, we would always admire him for still getting his rest in even if people were over.

We did sleep training with Isaiah when he was 4 months with a sleep doula and it really paid off. He's a great sleeper & napper to this day. So now we are going to start "sleep training" ourselves. I know, sounds funny right? But I think this could be good. Instead of trying to be so ambitious and start out with some ridiculously early bed time like 9pm, we'll start out with a later time (11:30pm) and work our way down. I think the ideal bedtime for me personally would be 10:30pm.

I will keep you posted on how our "sleep training" goes. We all need at least 7 hours of sleep (at least that's what I read over and over again). So here's hoping for great sleep which in turn will result in more energy for the mornings :)

October 15, 2012

Well its official…..I am in the “Smartphone” World!


Goodbye Flip phone…..Hello Smartphone!



It all happened over the weekend. My cell phone which I inherited from my sweet hubby (after my older cell phone of 5 years died) finally stopped working for me. I could still text and make calls out, but I couldn’t hear the person on the receiving end at times even though they could hear me. Oh yes, pretty ghetto. I did enjoy my cell phone and was happy to not pay for data usage. As my phone got worse and worse I decided (with the help of Saj) to finally leap into the Smartphone world. My phone provider has been hounding me for years to upgrade and I would always pass, but this past Saturday I finally took the plunge. The great thing about the phone that I got (which is the HTC) is that I didn’t need to “upgrade” my current phone plan or get a data plan. I get to keep my “grandfather plan” as they phrase it. If I want to add data I can always do that at another time, but I really don’t think that I will need it (at least that’s what I keep telling myself). I have Wi-Fi at work, at home, and it’s available in so many places these days. 

 I am very glad that I waited this long before jumping in. In the very beginning (maybe 2-3 years ago) I definitely thought that I wanted a Blackberry. As time went on I realized that the Blackberry just wasn’t the phone for me personally. I lost interest in it (no offense Blackberry users). Probably about a year ago I started looking at the Androids. I didn’t see myself as an Android user at all, but then the more I started looking at the different ones out there plus trying them out, the more interested I became. Before you IPhone users jump down my throat, just know that I think that Apple has made a great product (my hubby has the IPhone 4S & loves it). I did strongly think about getting one, but after much thought it just wasn’t the phone for me. At the end of the day the HTC was my preference and it completely suits & exceeds my needs. Its very user friendly with a ton of free apps and a great camera/video recorder (you know how much I love to take pictures:) and it’s so fast. I honestly don’t think I will use this phone to its full capacity. There is so much you can do with it which I love.

I have officially entered into this new “Smartphone World” and I love it!



October 9, 2012

Dear blog world I am still alive...

The last time I blogged was back in May....I know, too long of a break right? Every time I've wanted to blog I just never got around to doing it.So here's hoping that I can actually start doing some more posts now and in the weeks to come.

 Since my last blog, Saj and I celebrated 9 years of marriage on June 7th. I can't believe how quickly its going by. It certainly doesn't feel like 9 years. Next year we hit the BIG 10 year mark. Double digits baby. A trip to Bora Bora would be my dream.....but I'm pretty sure that's not happening for our 10 year, lol. This may sound cheesy, but as long as we are together that's all I really care about. If it's a walk on Main street in Unionville & Starbucks, I'll take that. We are really about the simple things. Quality time is our love language.


 Summer has also come and gone way too quickly if you ask me. Now we have hit the cooler season which also happens to be one of my favourites...FALL. I love the changing colours and the freshness that the Fall always brings. I also love Fall even more-so now because that's when Isaiah was born. Its hard to believe that he is 2 now. So many people use to say to us "enjoy this time, it goes by so quickly." At the time I didn't really get it (due to lack of sleep, and trying to figure out things along the way) but now I do. Where in the world did those 2 years go? Just 2 short years ago Isaiah was only 10 days old and now he's walking, talking, running, climbing, dancing, eating lots and my list can go on. I enjoy him so much these days (except for those temper tantrums...that I can do without, lol).



Saj was also born in the Fall too (he just celebrate a milestone birthday this weekend....40, eek). It was a busy weekend for us and we didn't have the chance to properly celebrate. Saj was in a wedding for one of his good friends Nigel Maynard. The wedding was on his actual birthday (October 6). At the reception though, everyone sang happy birthday to Saj which was so sweet.


As for me, well I turned a year older back in July. I had a great day with my hubby and I was actually off on vacation during that time which was amazing. There are days when I feel like the pace of life needs to slow down. I often wish there were more hours in the day to do things, but what I'm realizing is that I need to prioritize better and just do what I can each day. I also want to start going to bed earlier. I'm realizing that I do need more sleep. I'm sure better sleep could do us all some good. I really enjoy my times with Isaiah. I love being outdoors with him as he explores the world from his view. He brings me such joy!


In a nutshell that's life. There is so much more that I could write, but I like to keep things short (even though this blog is a bit on the longer side today :)  I hope that you all had a lovely Thanksgiving with your loved ones and took the time to Thank God for all of His great blessings.  I am thankful for my crazy family. Life wouldn't be the same without you.







May 14, 2012

Mothers Day 2012 - The Highlights :)

sleeping in until 7:45am
beautiful tulips
a new book signed by the author
a wonderful message at church
hearing Saj sing
an afternoon nap
dinner out with my husband and son
eating popcorn...... 
that's how I spent my 2nd mothers day.... Just perfect!





April 30, 2012

Simple goals for the week - UPDATE


 
Last week I had posted about some simple goals that I was hoping to complete throughout the week. If you missed the post here it is: http://tricia-snippets.blogspot.com/2012/04/simple-goals-for-week.html
Truth be told, I only started on my list on Saturday morning. Yes, I can be a procrastinator too (something else I'm working on :)

Here are the results;

1. Clean off the piles of clothing on my chair and in my closet (sadly I can be a slob). Organize my closet and purge all clothing that I no longer wear! -
  • Surprisingly, this didn't take as long as I thought it was going to. I turned on the radio in our room and worked away on this. I felt great getting it all finished. It probably took me about 40 minutes to get it all done.
2. Clean out the "kitchen junk drawer." Its gotten a bit out of hand. 
  • Confession: my awesome husband did this task. He's so good at being organized (hence why I am also trying to be more organized). While I was working on my closet, he took on this project. I was so impressed at how clean he got it. It is no longer a junk drawer :)
3. Clean off the piles of paper on our table. At one point it was cleaned but then slowly it has become a bit of a dumping ground (my fault).
  • This was the first thing I tackled on Saturday morning. It literally took me about 12 minutes to complete this. I actually set a timer and worked away. Once our table was clean and wiped down, you have no idea how happy that made me. Finally I could eat on it again, LOL. We enjoyed breakfast around the table as a family (the way it should be :)
4. Clean out our magazine rack and recycle what we no longer need.
  • I enjoyed this task and it was a quick one to complete. One thing I realized is that I have so many Kraft magazines. I didn't really throw them out as I love collecting them. What I did do was remove the ones that were out of season, and only kept the Spring/Summer issues out. The magazine rack is less cluttered and looks more appealing now.
5. Be in bed no later than 11pm (except for this Friday night. Were going to a dinner party :)
  • This goal wasn't completely fulfilled. I technically wasn't in my actual bed by 11pm each night, but I did fall asleep multiple times on the couch watching TV (or as Saj would say, the TV watching me). I still need to work on this area. And sadly, our dinner party was postponed but we have set a new date and I am so looking forward to our gathering. 

All in all I would say that it has been a great week of getting little things done. I'm happy with the results, and I'm hoping to keep things orderly. Happy Monday everyone!


April 23, 2012

Simple goals for the week


This week I'm hoping to cross off a few things on my to-do list. They are very simple tasks, but its stuff that I've been avoiding (shame on me :). I'm hoping to tackle a little bit each night once I'm home from work, have eaten and Isaiah's in bed for the night. Here's my little list;

1. Clean off the piles of clothing on my chair and in my closet (sadly I can be a slob). Organize my closet and purge all clothing that I no longer wear!

2. Clean out the "kitchen junk drawer." Its gotten a bit out of hand.

3. Clean off the piles of paper on our table. At one point it was cleaned but then slowly it has become a bit of a dumping ground (my fault).

4. Clean out our magazine rack and recycle what we no longer need.

5. Be in bed no later than 11pm (except for this Friday night. Were going to a dinner party :)

I'll let you know how it goes at the end of the week. Here's hoping for success!

April 21, 2012

Brunch!

Nothing excites me more than having Brunch at The Walters. Its always great food, laughs and conversations. Today was one of those great days where we finally had the chance to get together and catch up and do brunch (which turned into dinner, dessert & lots of great coffee :)

We are looking forward to our next gathering. We are truly so thankful and blessed to have this amazing family in our lives. Thanks for being such a great example to us!

April 16, 2012

Happy Monday!


Happy and Monday are two words that you don't often hear in a given sentence. I have decided that I am going to try and start looking at Monday's more positively than negative. One of the things that I love about Monday mornings at work is getting together with my fellow co-workers and having a time of prayer. Its refreshing and a great way to kick off the work week. Now I realize that for many you may not have the opportunity to do this at your workplace, so I came up with 3 simple tips to starting off your Monday well:

1. When you wake up, thank God for allowing you to see another day - Life is too short. Each day is a blessing so rejoice and be glad that you are able to see a new day!

2. Have the right attitude - If you say its going to be a terrible day, then its going to be a terrible day. Having the right mindset can either make or break your day!

3. Eat breakfast - Yes I did say eat breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day and it will fuel you for the day ahead. Many people will argue that there is no time to eat breakfast in the morning, but I would encourage you to get up a bit earlier in the morning and get something into your system. My favourite go to breakfast in the morning consists of eating 2 omega 3 fried or scrambled eggs, with turkey bacon and slices of tomatoes and cucumbers. It takes about 7 minutes or so to prepare this, and its well worth it in my opinion!

I hope that your all having a great Monday already and that these tips are helpful to you if you struggle with the Monday Blues. Happy Monday Friends :)

April 12, 2012

New Year Resolutions & Goals - How's it going?


We are well into the new year now and you have either stuck to your new year resolutions/goals or you have flopped on them. I would love to say that I have stuck to my goals for the year, but sadly I have flopped. As always things start off pretty smoothly with excitement and joy, then slowly things get tossed to the side little by little that you can't even see your way back to reaching your goals (so we think).

Instead of giving up and allowing defeat to set in, I encourage you (myself included) to rise above the slump and get back on track. If one of your goals was to exercise and eat better, start implementing that change today. You can start slowly by increasing your water intake and cutting back on junk foods. You can do simple exercises at home or start taking walks (it is a form of exercise :)

Whatever was on your list of resolutions or goals for 2012 please know that there is still so much time left to accomplish many of them. Don't beat yourself up any more. Tackle your goals and start fresh today. That's what I plan on doing, and I encourage you to do the same!

January 1, 2012

A New Year!

"Happy New Year! It's a time of new beginnings, so grab hold of the fresh and new and expect God to do something great in you this year" - Joyce Meyer



2011 is hours behind us and we are officially into the first day of the new year. Welcome January 1st, 2012!

God alone knows what this year will hold for us all. For some people this will be the year that they find that special someone, get engaged, get married, have their 1st, 2nd or 3rd baby, start college or university, graduate, buy a new home, get out of debt, start a new job, take an awesome well deserved vacation.... the list can go on an on.

Whatever your plans/goals are for 2012, I encourage you to give them all to God and allow Him to direct your path.

Happy New Year and God's riches blessings to you!