Note: This photo is what Shrove Tuesday dinner looks like when you’re married to a chef. I asked for seconds and his response was, “okay, do you want me to plate it?” haha.

Last week I blogged that my plan for Lent was to finish everything on my to-do list and the result? It’s honestly the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I amazed myself with how much I managed to fit in between my full time teaching  job every day, night class on Wednesday, after work coffee-shop job on Thursday, and random basement hippie concert on Friday. On Saturday I went home to go bridesmaid dress shopping with my BFF (we found dresses that are so amazing that she changed her whole wedding colour scheme from pink to purple for them!), so I left Kent in charge of the to-do list and he met all expectations by fixing our coffee table, buying a new lamp, fixing a light fixture, and hanging a quilt. Actually while I was home I vacuumed the car and I’m so glad I did. I am fine with driving an older car as long as it is clean! I prefer it, actually. The $0 payments per month besides some upkeep twice a year are quite nice. I think it appeals to my Dutch senses.

On Sunday I cleaned out our whole entire closet and realized that the majority of my clothes have been moving with me from apartment to apartment and never being worn. What a waste of time and space. So I purged about 2/3 of my wardrobe and it feels wonderful. I no longer have to feel guilty about all the stuff I’ve not worn in forever. This week my biggest accomplishment was finally  getting Kent’s ring sized and mine beautifully shined after being submerged in cofee-related-grime each day for far too long. I can’t stop looking at it now! I even had a photo shoot of it during recess.

I’m finding that it’s changing me a lot. Now when something new that I have to do comes up, I make sure I do it right away because I do not want to have to add something new to the list. I’m so much cleaner too, because my mind feels more organized. Now I also can’t relax until the apartment is clean and yesterday when I stepped in the door the first thing I did was vacuum. Who am I? Kent has actually asked me that question a few times in the last week, but I think he means it in a positive way.

I did say in my last post that I was afraid that the to-do list may actually be never ending and I am afraid that I was right. Sometimes if I’m inside during recess I will sit there and think of everything I can possibly add to the list. A list that was once 38 items long is now 65, and I’m done 23 of them. I guess that’s good because it’s over a third completed and we’re not over a third through Lent, but it doesn’t account for everything I have yet to add… which could be trouble.

How is yours going, if you gave anything up for Lent or are trying harder at something?

This year I don’t need to give up buying clothes (in fact I should probably start buying clothes again), and I don’t feel that I even eat enough junk food to warrant giving that up. I always try to give something up that will really change my life or at least be pretty difficult. While Erica said that she doesn’t like being told when to start something new (as in New Years Resolutions) I actually really like it, and Lent in particular since it comes with measurable dates to start and stop. I could start exercising more, but let’s be honest , it’s winter and I live in Canada. But Kent is running every day for Lent so I’m sure I’ll get out there with him when it’s not snowing.  Just not every day.

Now that we’ve established that I’m perfect and I don’t need to give up anything (juuuust kidding!), I’ll tell you what I did decide to give up:

For Lent, I’m giving up procrastinating.

Does anyone else have that ongoing list of small tasks that need to get done eventually, but that never seem pressing? I do, but I wrote them all out a few weeks ago and haven’t crossed any off since. On it is everything from getting my last name change officially finished, printing honeymoon pictures and some more wedding photos, hanging the quilt my Oma made us as a wedding gift (apparently wedding tasks are not my forte even six months later), fixing my coffee table, painting a bookshelf, filling me and Kent’s ipods with songs, organizing all the photos and videos on our computer, fixing my car tire, vacuuming my car, getting Kent’s ring sized finally… the list goes on! (For two and a half notebook pages, to be exact.) For Lent, I’m going to finish EVERYTHING on this list.

I wrote out everything I could possibly think of yesterday and then felt extremely overwhelmed with everything I need to do in the next forty days. But I got started on it right away, and last night in the hour between school and my evening course, I got all my honeymoon photos printed along with some wedding photos, and bought an album to put them in. I also made an appointment to get my name changed on my health card today, and Kent has been instructed to get our tire and coffee table fixed today (okay so maybe I’m not doing it all on my own.) I’m excited, not about doing all of these things but about having them all done.

Although to be honest, I’m a little worried that tasks like these keep adding up and I will keep adding things to the list forever. I’m curious, how does everyone else deal with these little tasks? Are you good at staying on top of things or like me do you have pages of things that need to get done eventually?

We blondes party in style!

We’ve had a few year in review posts and posts about the last decade, but the new year is finally here! And a snowy one at that!  I usually don’t think about making a resolution, but this year I’m resolving to work harder in school.

Here’s to hoping everyone had an AMAZING new years, and that your 2010 is the best yet!

What are your new years resolutions?

First thing, this movie is for Aley. Puppy vs. Cat We were talking about what I should write about, and her suggestions were something along the lines of “me, puppies, me, kittens, procrastination, me”, so there you go Al. I also have to post this video, because Nicole Kraumanis is my amazing cheerleading idol. Nicole Team Canada Audition

Second, my car died yesterday. It was a sad day spent at home, not being able to go to school without scrounging up $3 to take the bus there, and probably $3 back.  I hardly got any studying done there, because T-Mo distracts me at every chance she gets…so does the lure of my comfy bed.  I called CAA this morning to go to school, and they told me it would be about 4 hours. Thank goodness it only took about 1.5 hours.  So I drove around Ottawa for about 20 minutes because the CAA man told me to, and I would have done whatever he said to make my car okay again.  During my drive I realized that Ottawa is an awesome city in any season.  Most cities are only fun to walk around in in the summer, and dreadful during the winter months (if they do have cold, snowy winter months), but Ottawa is just so nice.  In my opinion there are 3 things that make Ottawa so beautiful during the winter.

1) Parliament.

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If you can find something in your city that looks as amazing as this during the winter send ‘er over.  Otherwise this wins the prize. Here’s a better picture of the lights on Parliament:

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2) Rideau Canal.  For those of you who don’t know, Ottawa has the world’s largest skating rink (Winnipeg has the longest, but I guess it’s skinnier),  measuring 7.8km (4.8 miles) long.  Along the way they have Beaver Tails, hot chocolate, skate rentals, and it’s the focus of  the Winterlude festival.

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Me and my friend Andrena skating last year.

3) The Byward Market.

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To be honest I don’t know a lot about the Market.  I know that most of the good bars are there, there are some super cute shops, and they have cute vendors on the sidewalk.  Oh, and my favourite restaurant- Lonestar!  It’s a nice place to take a walk, which is what Kaylee and I do a lot there.

Anyways, this post just justified my love for Ottawa.  I do love it a lot, but I will love going home on Monday even more I think! Especially once my exams are all over and done with!