Caught Up

Happy Wednesday to all my readers!

I was excited to see that yesterday my blog had 19 pageviews, the highest day yet! Should I blog more about wedding stuff or what? ;)

Andrew and I went to the mall last night to get him a new cell phone because his died. How convenient. So he ended up getting a sweet Windows Phone and it really has the latest technology. And then we had some time to kill so I tried on some shoes (I am looking for some sweet heels to wear with my wedding dress. No luck, but it was still fun to look!) and we started looking at wedding bands for him (this is practical because you can't have a wedding without rings, right?) and of course the men's bands are by all the other shiny diamonds that only women would like. After looking in a few shops we had to head out and I just mentioned to Andrew about how nice it would be to have money set aside with no purpose but to just spend it frivolously on what we want. I think going to the mall reminded me of how I sometimes I struggle with not having everything I want or that I see others have. It would almost be easy to get depressed about it.

But as we talked, I realized that I was getting caught up in things that really do not matter. I was almost caught up in the lie that my life wasn't as great as everyone elses because I didn't have all of the cool gadgets or clothes or plans to go to neat places. It would be so easy to allow my self-worth to get wrapped up in how much money I have, what car I drive, how good I look etc.

But there's nothing like a little perspective to kick you in the butt and remind you how ridiculous you are being.

I was driving to work today and a song came on the radio that left me a little teary eyed. (This has happened a lot lately... I wonder if I am just more emotional in the morning or if it's because I listen to sappy country music in the mornings?). The song 'The Breath you Take' by George Strait (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHodOymqfss) really hit me between the eyes. The song talks about how life isn't about trying to win the rat race of life but about those special moments in life that really matter, like spending time with the ones you love or being there when your grandson is born.

It was from listening to this song that I realized how incredibly rich I truly am in this life. I have a great job to go to everyday with amazing coworkers, I live in a country where freedom is the norm, I have food in the cupboard, I have an amazingly supportive family who I know I can call on at anytime, I have a fiance who loves me and dotes on me all the time, I have a bright future ahead of me and I have a God who loves me and has my best interests at heart. This list makes me feel ashamed for ever feeling sorry for myself because I don't have the newest or latest gadget or amazing plans for this coming weekend.

I was having a bad day a few weeks back and so in an effort to bring myself back to reality I made a list of everything I am thankful for on my whiteboard here in the office. I have left this list up to constantly remind me for those moments when I get caught up in unimportant things again.

Am I the only one who feels like this from time to time? How do you deal with this feeling? What are you all thankful for? I would love to hear your feedback! Comment below!

Just some food for thought on a snowy day!

- C

Cold and My Love/Hate Relationship With My Car!

Just a quick blog post to share my not so enjoyable morning with you all.

I have recently started going to the gym in the mornings 3 days a week. I find it really sets my day off on the right track and that I am not dragging my butt to the gym after work and doing a half hearted work out.

So this morning I slept through my alarm after a sporadic nights sleep but decided to get up and get going to the gym even though it would be a shortened work out this morning. So I got myself out the door by around 7, which was a miracle and I lock my door and head out to my car (who I have lovingly named Beatrice) to heat it out and scrape the ice off my car windows. It went down to -20 over night, so my Beatrice was really cold and complained quite loudly this morning. So I start the car and scrape of the windows and as soon as I grab the handle to open my door and get back in, all the car doors lock in protest of being forced to work in the frigid temps.

This was NOT what I needed this morning. I was locked out of my car and my house key was on my ring locked in my car. So this morning I spent 40 minutes waiting out in the cold for Andrew (bless his soul he jumped out of bed and drove over to rescue me from the cold) and the tow truck to come open my car door.

Man, the things that you think about when you are cold and trying not to focus on your toes becoming numb one by one. All I could think about were big fuzzy socks, bulky warm sweaters and how thankful I was for roadside assistance and a WONDERFUL fiance!

I also was thanking God that I do not live on the streets and that I don't work outdoors. I don't know how those people do it in this type of weather, I felt like I was going to turn into a popsicle.

All complaining aside, this morning reminded me of another simple thing to be thankful for: HEAT! Especially with 10-29cm of snow on it's way, I couldn't be more thankful.

Stay warm out there, and remember to be thankful for the little things that we take for granted every day.

As for me, I will remember to roll my window down when heating up my car, so that I won't get locked out.

- C

P.S. Stay tuned for more about me in my next post today or tomorrow. :)