8 Years of Marriage

In the past month we've hit a couple of milestones, one being my turning 30 late July, and the 2nd being our 8th wedding anniversary earlier this month! I've been hit a little hard with turning 30, and while it is by no means old and it's just a number, I'm not where I wanted to be at 30. We have been trying to grow our family for 7 years, and I recently made a career change that has been a big adjustment. Seeing a new number at the beginning of my age isn't easy when you aren't where you wanted to be. However, while there are things I wish I would have accomplished by now, I realized that there are a lot of things that we have accomplished in this time that we are so thankful for! I write out 8 blessings below, one for each year of marriage, and hope this will inspire you to count your blessings as well! It's extremely difficult to be sad or anxious while also being grateful, so we'll see how this works!

1. Aunt & Uncle: Being auntie & uncle to our three nephews, and numerous friends kiddos including 5 goddaughters (and one godchild arriving any day!) has been our best role to date. I'm sure any who have hung out with us in the past few years have heard about Joel, Joseph, & Lincoln and we are so blessed to have them as part of our lives and honoured to be an important part of theirs as well. So exciting seeing our goddaughters grow up, with the oldest starting kindergarten this year!

Joel and one of our goddaughters having a stroll. So special to see them interact with each other :).

2. Reading: A few years ago, I made the new years resolution to work towards reading all of the books that we owned. Since then we've both been reading so much more than when we first got married, and have enjoyed it immensely. I've ready 40+ books each of the past 3 years, and probably the biggest hobby we've added since reading so much is buying a ton of books. I'll never catch up at this rate, but it's a good problem to have! I read somewhere that buying books is an entirely different hobby than reading books, and we enjoy both thoroughly. If you're looking to enhance your reading life some things that have helped us: tracking on methods like the Goodreads app, and listening to reading podcasts like What Should I Read Next & From the Front Porch. The Children's Hospital Booksale is coming up next month too so I'm sure we'll be adding to our collection!

The books that I own & read in 2018. Some books not pictured are e-books or books that I borrowed.

3. Trips: In our 8 years we've been fortunate to go on a number of vacations including a few Caribbean cruises, some city vacations to Chicago & LA, Disneyworld & land, and most recently to London for our first European adventure. We have a family vacation planned for winter 2020, and have a long bucket list of travel in the future hopefully! It's hard to pin down a favourite trip, but Chicago is definitely one of my favourite cities to visit and one that we repeat whenever we can. My next bucket list type trip that I'm hoping to go on is Italy, since coming home from London all I can think about is going to a European country with pizza...England disappointed on the food front a little bit so nothing sounds better than old things accompanied by pizza and wine. 

A highlight of our trip to London was the Tower of London tour, and the beautiful Tower Bridge!

4. Living in a Time Where Clothes Feel like Pajamas but Look Cute. This is an embarrassing one because I legit just deleted one about feeling more informed about current issues and replaced it with wearing leggings as pants. My previous item here didn't come across super intelligent, but I will touch on it briefly - I feel much more informed about politics, issues that are important, and feel like a better person than when I first got married. Books & podcasts have been a huge help in this arena and I am so thankful to be more aware of the world around me. Back to leggings. I love rompers, my new business attire is ath-leisure (aka workout clothes you don't exercise in). I love that we live in a world where leggings and a jersey dress looks adorable and feels like PJs. I am thankful forever for this. I hope it never goes away. Also, back to being informed - much easier to be passionate about issues when you are dressed comfortably!

5. Podcasts: I've already mentioned podcasts a couple of times in this post, so you can tell that they are extremely influential. I finally got into podcasts probably about 5 years ago, and listen a majority of most days. I get so many more chores done, learn a lot, and am entertained. Some favourites that I haven't already mentioned: The Popcast, Relevant, That Sounds Fun, The Lazy Genius, 10 Things to Tell You, By the Book, The Simple Show. 

6. Incredible Friend Group: Philip is still best friends with his friends from kindergarten, and I am so thankful for them, their wives, and their kids. I feel so lucky to have married into such a great group of people, and especially want to note what great dads they are, how the wives have become close even though we're adopted in, and the kids are a delight. In addition, we have our bud Ryan who comes for sleepovers and sportscationed with us in the Fall, and a couple from church that we have book club with and have adventures with! So thankful for good friends. 

7. Renos: In our marriage we have renovated 2 kitchens, 2 main levels, and a basement! We are working on our exterior now which I hope to share soon, and am excited to update the blog with some after pictures of projects we worked on during hiatus. 

Our kitchen getting some finishing touches a few years ago.

8. Career Changes. As many of you will know, I had been working for a kitchen manufacturing company here in Winnipeg for the past 8 years. It was an amazing opportunity and I learned so much. I was primarily a design assistant for a majority of that time, but the past 2 years I moved into a corporate role doing training events for dealers, teaching them about the product and how to use the design software. I have since moved into a freelance role doing similar work. I never would have thought that I'd be confident enough to speak in front of people and teach them, let alone do it on my own. Being by myself in business hasn't been easy, so we'll see if I stick with it or not - but it is an exciting adventure at the very least. In regards to Philip's career, he is at a company he loves, as well as working on side projects like a writing project and a number of art pieces (stay tuned as we may sell some soon!). 

Overall, it has been a great 8 years. There have been some curveballs, and I always think of part of our vows where we promised to love what we didn't yet know. We certainly didn't know that we would struggle with infertility, that we'd take some career risks, that we'd move and renovate (although based on my parents, Philip should have had an idea this would happen). However, we've enjoyed the ride most of the time, and I'm excited to see what the next 8 years will bring! 

Our Trip to London

It has been a couple of weeks since we returned from London, as upon return I got sick and then we had a family funeral and house guests so we were quickly whisked away from the wonders of the UK. I did want to take the time to write out what we did, what went well, what didn't, etc. so that it can be helpful to me in the future - and hopefully helpful to you as you plan your own trip to London!

First off, London is amazing. Definitely go. It is beautiful, old, has tons to do, and is absolutely a great spot to go for vacation. There is so much I could share, but I will try to hit the most important things, first off....

Where We Stayed

We are pretty hotwire.ca loyal, and have booked all of our hotels on hotwire since we've been married. We did the same for this trip, and it worked out great. For those that haven't used hotwire before, you don't know the hotel you're booking until you've checked out, but the deals are great. Since we don't know what we're getting, we always put in 4/5 stars, and select some areas that we'd be happy to stay in. If you're quite familiar with the city, you can sometimes figure out the hotel based on amenities and location but that wasn't the case for us in London. We ended up at the Dolphin House Serviced Apartments in Pimlico, City of Westminster. The main reason we ended up there via hotwire was that we chose a budget friendly option, that wasn't a double bed. With London being a big city, and historic, the rooms tend to be quite small and most had only double beds. The serviced apartment was a great deal and had a king bed, kitchenette, and lots of living space.

As far as the hotel goes, it was ok. I wouldn't say it was 5 star luxe, the bed wasn't incredible, but we slept great every night. The main things were the bed wasn't amazing, and there was no AC. However, I think in London AC can be hard to come by, so this wouldn't necessarily have been better at another hotel. They did provide a fan, so we put a table at the foot of our bed with the fan blowing on us all night. The great things about the hotel were the ample space, kitchenette if you want to make some of your own light meals, and there was never any noise or other inconveniences.

Pimlico as a location also turned out totally fine. It was extremely quiet/peaceful, had a tube station a few blocks away, and some cute cafes. It was about a half hour walk to the main tourist areas (Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, etc.), or of course the tube was an easy way to get everywhere. My favourite part was the design of the homes in the area, it was just streets upon streets of white townhouses with black doors and stately columns. So gorgeous to walk around and there was no traffic via cars or foot traffic. It felt safe, there were the occasional people at the tube station that were asking for money and that kind of thing, but otherwise didn't come across anything like that. The picture below was from the street our hotel was on, and all the streets were that colour of homes and just absolutely adorable. Excuse all the selfies in this post, that's what happens when you go on a trip just by yourselves and don't talk to any strangers.

If we came again, depending on cost I may try to get a little closer to the areas I loved - but if it was significantly more I would say Pimlico was plenty convenient to everywhere we wanted to go, and even walking wasn't too far. If I moved closer I'd stick to Westminster, or maybe west closer to Kensington Palace, both those neighbourhoods I found quiet and lovely - as opposed to Piccadilly Circus or one of the areas that gives more of the "Times Square" vibe of being super busy and crazy. I felt much more anxious in those areas than in the historic areas. 

Getting Around

Transportation seemed to be a major theme in my mind as far as what we did well/items to share. Starting of course with a long travel day to get to London, we flew from Winnipeg to Toronto to Halifax to London. Mainly our flights were fine, although no TVs on the flights, not super long layovers for getting a sit down meal, and Philip got sick on our long flight over the ocean so we didn't sleep like we could have. 

The first London transportation that we came across was the Gatwick Express. We arrived in Gatwick airport as we had booked with West Jet and that is where they land as opposed to Heathrow. It's a bit of a trek to downtown from Gatwick, but for those that are unsure - the Gatwick Express was awesome. We had pre-purchased tickets so we just walked right to the platform and got on, it wasn't crowded at all and there was lots of space for luggage and places to sit. The trip was probably about half an hour, and you get your first glimpses of London from the train window. The train drops you at Victoria Station, which was about a 5 min cab ride from our hotel. We could have walked but we had a fair amount of luggage and weren't sure of the area, or we could have taken the underground which would have just been one easy train, but they are fairly crowded so I wouldn't recommend taking the underground with full-sized suitcases in tow - not only would the stairs be a challenge in some stations, but also there is no room for luggage on most of the trains we were on. 

Throughout the rest of the trip we took the underground/tube/subway (whatever you want to call it) for most of our journeys. The underground is only about 3 pounds per ride if you stay in central London, and caps at 10 pounds a day if you use an Oyster card. Comparably, a cab had a minimum 10 pound rate for a ride and we took one cab that cost more than all of our tube rides added together. It is also really fast and easy to use the underground, so we'd highly recommend it. Ahead of your trip, get a visitor Oyster card. You load them with money ahead of time, so that your trips on the tube don't require tickets. When you arrive at the station, you scan your card and get into the station, and then when you arrive at your destination, you scan again as you exit the station. Your card is automatically charged. Just make sure to check your balance occasionally so that you don't run out. We're still working this part out, but you are supposed to be able to get any balance remaining on your card at the end of the trip refunded so you shouldn't need to worry about having too much on the card. We had to mail the cards back to England to get refunded, so just waiting for that process to be completed. We didn't have much left on our cards, maybe 10 pounds. One thing that I loved about taking the tube was that you never needed to look at schedules or times to figure out where to go or what to do. There is always a train in our experience, we never had to wait more than 3 mins for a train to arrive. Just get yourself to the station, and head the right direction. Signage is pretty good, so we never had any issue with figuring out where to go. The scariest part is that the doors open for what feels like 10 seconds. If you aren't right by the door when they open, don't even bother. You can't be courteous and let people off before you get on, or you aren't getting on. Just get in there and find somewhere to sit or stand. It's also good to make a plan for if someone gets left behind. We didn't end up being separated, but there were some close calls for sure. We made the plan that if someone got on the train and the other person was left on the platform, get off at the next station and wait for the left behind person to arrive in a few mins on the next train. If one of us was left on the train and the other was able to get off, the one on the train would get off at the next station and head back the other direction to where we were getting off. Both of these situations almost happened to us, because I am not exaggerating when I say the doors were open for very little time, and the trains are very crowded at times so it can be hard to get to the door.

I mentioned we did take cabs a few times, the only times were to and from Victoria station for the airport train, and to our hotel twice late at night when I wasn't sure about taking the underground so late. For the train, we used the My Taxi UK app. It was very easy to use, comparable to an experience with Lyft or Uber in other cities.

What We Did

Saturday: Walked down the Thames to the heart of Westminster. Saw Trafalgar Square, the Parliament Building, enjoyed St James Park, and toured Westminster Abbey with tickets we had pre-purchased at home.

Sunday: Sunday we had our first taste of Pret a Manger which is on every corner in London it seems. We then took the train to Kings Cross Station to see Platform 9 3/4, and the station itself was gorgeous. Even saw someone propose to someone in a flash mob so that was exciting. Afterwards we walked to Buckingham Palace which was incredibly beautiful. Afterwards we walked through the park to the Churchill War Rooms which was another of our arranged tours. Churchill War Rooms was very interesting, the only downside was at the beginning you see some of the underground rooms where they lived and worked during WW2, and then you're in a museum about Churchill and you think that's all so you are really soaking it all in. Then, they announced 30 mins left and there are still 16 rooms, so everyone had to rush to see the last of the underground areas - so just pace your time if you go so you can see everything. Can always go back to the museum a bit if you wanted after the rooms are done.

Monday: This day we went to the British Museum, one of many free museums in London. The architecture is amazing at the museum, and it's in a nice area with bookstores and cute cafes. The only recommendation I would give is to maybe have an exhibit in mind that you are very excited about, because it is huge and overwhelming. With sore feet going in already, we were quickly tired out and seeing rooms upon rooms of antiquities got old fast. They have an amazing collection, but I think we would have enjoyed it more had we gone in with one exhibit we wanted to see thoroughly and then maybe leave. It was impossible to take it all in so it felt quite daunting. Afterwards we went to a number of bookstores, including Hatchards which was opened in 1797 and was 5 stories of beautiful books. Lastly, we kept up our vacation tradition of going to a nice movie theatre. We went to the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square and sat in a theatre that seats 800. The seats were all priced based on their location in the theatre, so there were about 10 of us in the theatre seeing Men in Black (not good PS) but we were all spread out. We sat in the nosebleeds because the close seats were 40 pounds each.

Tuesday: We spent 5 hours at the Tower of London on Tuesday. It was probably our favourite tour that we went on during our trip. It was incredibly moving to see inscriptions made by prisoners hundreds of years ago, the crown jewels, and buildings built in 1050.

  

Wednesday: Our main activity Wednesday was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. We saw both parts on the Wednesday with the first at 2 pm, and the 2nd at 7 pm, dinner break in between. Overall about 5 hours of Harry Potter play! It was definitely worth doing, and I think we would have regretted it if we hadn't gone, but it was super expensive and could have used a musical number!

Thursday: Our last day in London! It was probably one of my favourite days. We went for a super long walk to Hyde Park, about an hour there, then through the park, and eventually to Kensington Palace. The parks downtown London are amazing, and we took our time as we didn't have anything scheduled. We walked the paths, saw the monuments, enjoyed the scenery in London for our final day. When we got to Kensington Palace, we found we had time for a tour so we went in and got tickets for the last time of the day. It was very cool to be in the house where tons of royals have and do still live, and even the room where Queen Victoria was born. It was also interesting to learn about Queen Victoria and how she became queen so young even though those responsible for her tried to get in the way, and when her husband died (also her first cousin) she wore black forever afterwards and really took a step back from royal duties. Definitely would recommend a visit.

Hopefully this covers off the trip fairly well! It was an unforgettable trip, mainly just seeing how old things are compared to Canada. I hope we'll be able to go back someday, but hard to imagine as there is so much world to see! While there, we decided we'd love our next trip to Europe to be Italy someday (way better food than mashy peas). Now have to go make some bucks so we can make that happen! If any are planning a trip to London, feel free to get in touch I'd love to share any tips!

Our Whole 30 Experience

We just officially finished the Whole 30 on Sept 18...and we survived!

For those of you who haven't heard of the Whole 30 it's 30 days of no dairy, no grains, no legumes, and no added sugar. So basically meat, vegetables, and fruit.

I had heard about it over the years on a number of blogs I read and while we were in Chicago for our anniversary all of a sudden it popped into my head as something we should do. Normally we would talk ourselves out of it somehow, but instead within 2 weeks of coming home we had our fridge and pantry cleaned out of all things non-compliant and were ready to go.

One of the main driving forces which I don't think people would think of when they first hear of us doing the Whole 30 was to be better at meal planning. We were getting so lazy, we both work into the evening sometimes and getting dinner on the table can just be daunting when you're already tired from a long day - let alone getting a healthy meal on the table.

I'm the type of personality that has to do it all the way or not at all, this year we gave up desserts for all of 2016...and it is so much easier for us to do that than to say "let's eat less desserts" or "let's eat more vegetables" we seem to be the types that need something really regimented in order to succeed. I knew that doing something that so drastically changed our diet would really kick our butts into gear on the meal planning front.

Now that we're on the other side I thought I'd share some of our results and what worked for us. I should start by saying that we absolutely loved the Whole 30 and are planning to do either the exact thing again right away or potentially slightly revised and longer with some different rules. More on that in the future!

To start off with a bang, those of you who might be thinking about this from a weight loss perspective - it wasn't what we had aimed for but it was a very welcome side effect. In 30 days I lost 18 pounds. I am heavier than some and so it shed off fairly quickly but in all my years of exercising/eating right attempts I have never had those kind of results. I never felt hungry, ate delicious meals, and didn't exercise other than going for walks and the calories that are burnt while living life. That is partly why I want to keep going with it, because if I could get to a healthier weight this way that would be awesome. We had some party foods this week since being off the Whole 30 so I'm sure some is right back on, but we're planning to do this again right after Thanksgiving and likely continue it for a longer period than the 30 days. This next 30 we will definitely add in using the treadmill to this because it's important to eat healthy and exercise our muscles too.

Favourite Foods:

- FRUIT! We were so happy fruit was still in the running. It honestly got me through the first few days. Sometimes a craving could be easily quenched with a juicy bite of pineapple. We also bought this smoothie in the produce aisle that was the best thing ever. We bought it to try to help get off caffeine during this because while you can drink black coffee, neither of us were interested in that. We purchased this smoothie made by Happy Planet in British Columbia, and it was made of fruit puree and yerba mate which has a bit of caffeine I imagine. We tried to indulge in moderation because it is really fruit packed so definitely had some sugar in the natural forms, none added in so it was Whole 30 compliant.

- One of my favourite breakfasts was what I was calling a "galette." I don't know that it fit the traditional description of a galette, but it was freaking delicious and I liked giving it a fancy  name. In order to create this breakfast delight, line a frying pan with prosciutto to start. Turn the frying pan on to medium heat-ish (I don't actually remember what heat I set it to but I usually just play it by ear). Next put some mushroom slices and asparagus spears on the prosciutto. Finally crack eggs directly on top. So pretty! I usually would put a little bit of water in the lid of my pan and then pour it into the pan while putting the lid on top. Then I turn the heat low and let the eggs and vegetables steam. I actually want this for breakfast tomorrow now that I'm describing it. Ugh so good. You could easily switch up the vegetables to include broccoli, peppers, etc. etc. Anything will fly! Prosciutto was a great snack during the Whole 30 because most bacons had added sugar at our local grocery store. This was a nice breakfast meat and could also be eaten as a snack wrapped around a pickle!

- My favourite way to eat vegetables of which we ate a plenty was roasted! I got so sick of steamed vegetables and raw vegetables by about day 3. I love vegetables but I just wasn't in the mood for them, however put some olive oil and garlic on those things and slap them into the oven - best food ever. I could have eaten roasted beets/sweet potatoes/broccoli/cauliflower every single day and not been sick of it. 

Are you interested in joining us in our challenge to do an extended Whole 30 from October 11-December 23? If so, send me an email! I'd love to team up with others who are interested in reaping the benefits of the Whole 30 and work together to think of recipes, vent about challenges, and maybe more! cassondra.wiebe@gmail.com will get you in touch with me so we can talk about how we can encourage each other. 

Welcome Fall 2016

I can't believe it's September! I don't know if I'm weird, but I'm a little excited. September brings with it for me the same fresh start as January. I'm a huge list maker and I have found that the start of Fall has really been a motivating push to keep going with projects, do things I'm excited about, and start Christmas shopping!

I think this drive came out of both September starting, and we're almost done the Whole 30 Challenge which I have always found "good habits beget good habits" a true statement. Also the word beget should be used more frequently. Since we're making good food habits, it makes me want to make other good routine decisions.

The first week of September I made a list of 24 things I wanted to do in September. It was on the 7th so it equalled to one thing per day for the month of September. Some of the tasks are more ambitious than others, it includes things like bake a loaf of bread (planning to do that this weekend since we're done Whole 30 on Monday and can enjoy fresh bread), purchase 3 Christmas gifts (done!), and finish painting interior doors. I started off so strong, did 4 things in the first 2 days...and now I haven't accomplished much in a few days but today I hope to get back on track!

A few things that I'm excited for this Fall:

- Being back to blogging! It's so good to have something outside of work that gives a creative outlet, fulfillment, etc. Also we did so many home renovations since the blog break - so we can all look forward to seeing the transformation to our bathroom, kitchen, and basically the whole main floor. We're about to start our basement as well so that will be exciting!

- Pumpkin Spice Lattes - even though it's cliche. So delish. Even more than that, Salted Caramel Mocha Frappuccino...

- Scarves. I basically always have a scarf on. I have an obsession. I try to follow a one item in one item out rule where if I get a new scarf I get rid of one I don't wear as frequently...but I do cheat on that rule occasionally. I got a new scarf my mom got me in Munich and it is my new favourite accessory for sure.

- Christmas Shopping. I know this is weirdly early! However, our list of people we buy gifts for is more than 20 and it gets insane and expensive. I have trouble thinking about more than one gift at a time when I'm at the store so if we start early we get a few done, spread out the costs a bit, and don't feel rushed. Every year I aim to be done by end of November and every year I fail - but I'm  hoping this year I'll do it. I've already bought gifts for 6 little kiddos that we have the privilege of hanging out with frequently, and have started some of the fall birthday's that are quickly approaching. We've also been working on a gift for Philip's dad that we started in March...still not done. He will be happy at Christmas to get his Birthday/Father's Day/Christmas gift all in one hopefully.

A few things I'm not excited about:

- Leaves falling on my lawn and in my eavestroughs #adulting. Although I am excited for my garden to be covered in the white stuff we all hate so that I don't have to be embarrassed about the lack of gardening I did this year.

- Wearing a jacket - one Winter as a teenager I didn't wear a coat for the whole year just to be stubborn. Dumb jackets covering my cute scarves.

- No Bachelor/Bachelorette/Bachelor in Paradise until 2017...So excited about Nick as the new Bachelor. I crushed Philip in our competition this past season and look forward to doing much of the same next year.

Are you loving or dreading Fall?

My New Obsession: Podcasts

I have 28 podcast subscriptions on my phone. That includes the fact that I've unsubscribed from a couple today, it's definitely a fluid list. I'm fairly new to podcasts and resisted it for so long. Philip is obsessed. I have found myself resenting his podcast family - especially when it means that he doesn't want to see a movie I want to see because he "heard it isn't that great." I know who you heard that from, and it is from one of your dumb podcast people. Who's more important them or me? Anyway, I caved and I'm officially an addict.

If you haven't tried podcasts, I'd highly recommend it. This sounds dramatic, but if they haven't gone as extreme as to change my life, they've at the very least changed my day to day routines. I used to come home and unwind with a TV show before starting dinner. That routine made me feel very lethargic and it was hard to be motivated to keep going with the evening, especially on days when Philip works extremely late it's easy for the TV watching to spill over until the sun goes down. Now when I'm driving a podcast is playing, by the time I'm home I'm quite into it and it feels strange to sit and listen to it without doing anything...so I do dishes...or I prep dinner/lunches...or I do laundry. Game changer. 

I have drafted this post a few times because I can't decide which/how many podcasts to list - and I'm constantly tempted to name the few that I listened to that day because they're fresh in my mind as podcasts I love. This may be a recurring post theme of which podcasts I'm loving that day. For now, here are 3 that I love!

1. The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey

The Happy Hour has really been something I've found uplifting. Every week Jamie Ivey interviews a fellow female believer about what's going on in their life - they're often women of influence in their community - authors/podcasters/entrepreneurs that also have a strong Christian faith. She's very funny and light, but the talks really make me feel inspired in my walk with God and put me in a great mood. One of my favourite episodes recently was August 3, "Happy Hour #100: Aaron Ivey & Friends" where her husband interviews her. It really gave good insight into Jamie Ivey and made me feel like we were good buds.

2. The Simple Show

Tsh Oxenreider hosts The Simple Show, which I got into because I've been a long time reader of her blog, The Art of Simple. I don't know that I'm full minimalist - in fact I know I'm not - but I love to purge and limit the number of things we have in our home that we don't use. My very favourite episode was one of the early ones I listened to, June 11 "Ep 30: The More of Less with Joshua Becker." In fact after listening to it I requested Joshua Becker's book for my birthday and read it all within a few days of getting it. Such a good book, I'd recommend it to anyone looking to simplify their life.

3. Grown Ups Read Things They Wrote as Kids

This was my first podcast I ever subscribed to so I feel like it should be highlighted here. It is hilarious. They tour Canada having live events where brave souls go on stage and read from their diaries/homework assignments/etc. from when they were kids. I often cry laugh. I'll always remember my favourite episode ever from a couple of years ago...the short story the kid had written was called "Breeding Day" and it was about horses on breeding day and the drama that ensues. I told everyone about it at the time and always cried talking about how funny it was. I know my diaries are not something I would want to read on stage, or any of the weird comics my friends and I made, or my agenda books. It's all humiliatingly hilarious. They do come to Winnipeg so look for their events and know that if you speak on stage I may laugh at it on my commute to work some morning in the future! 

If you listen to podcasts, write in the comments about your favourite podcast! I would love to add to my ever growing list of 28 podcasts so far!

Also, if you don't know how to access podcasts on your iPhone, head to the Podcasts app (it's purple). Go to search to search for a specific podcast that you have in mind - go to the Podcasts tab (rather than All or Episodes) and you'll see the podcast listed. Click on it, and click the Subscribe button. From now on whenever there's a new episode it will automatically download onto your phone! You can also go to the Featured tab at the bottom and it'll show you podcasts of different categories that are popular which is a great place to start.