February 2018

So I've found that now that I'm bullet journalling it's easier to remember what to blog about. I have all of my events and appointments in one place, and each month has a page specifically for me to write what I want to blog about from that month.

Early in February we got to watch the 2 episodes of Family Feud that our friend, Heidi, was on. We enjoyed getting to see it and hearing about how hot her husband is (ha ha).

Caleb went to a gun show with his uncle and cousin. He bought himself a hunting journal and a set of throwing knives. He is so excited to be old enough to start hunting this fall. Where has the time gone?

I bought a kitchen table for $10 that I'm going to refinish this spring. I'm really excited about this project.

We brought my drafting desk in to the house and it sits right in front of our big living room window. I love having something of mine in here.

Things got pretty rough for Caleb for a while. His anxiety and depression reared their ugly heads. We stayed right on top of it. His psychiatrist put him on an antidepressant, we met with the teachers at the school about it and he will start counselling next month as well. We can already see the medication making a big difference for him and are so glad we dealt with things immediately. We are also blessed with him having such a wonderful pediatric psychiatrist.

We had a nasty cold go through our house this month. It started with Brettley having croup and ending up in the ER one night. I joked that it's not winter until one of our kids goes to the ER with severe croup. It spread to his chest and from there we all took turns being sick. I'm still fighting mine off.

Ty sang the US and Canadian national anthems at the Hurricanes game with the school choir this month. They did very well, and he loved it.

John and I managed to find time to have a lunch date at Tony Roma's this month. We also played my original D&D campaign for the first time in years. I loved it.

For the first time since last May, I dyed my hair. It is a really fun shade of red and I am loving it. I really needed a pick-me-up, and it helped a lot.

Ty and Brettley started basketball camp on Saturdays at the school. They aren't terribly coordinated, but they had fun. I also registered Brettley for soccer starting in late April. He is super excited about it.

This evening we got to go to the grade 1 project-based learning showcase at the school. Brettley showed us a bunch of stuff about animals he did. He was so proud of himself.

Also, I am currently going through a change with my meds. While we got my anxiety mostly under control, my depression was/is still extremely bad. So the psychiatrist lowered my Seroquel from 75 mg back down to 50 mg, because I'm tired all of the time. I have now started taking Cipralex (an antidepressant) in addition to that. Hopefully we will figure out what will work best for me. For now, I'm just taking things 1 day at a time, sometimes 1 hour at a time. My bullet journal gives me something to focus on that helps me find a bit of happiness, so I'm really grateful that I took a chance and tried it out.

January 2018

January began with the passing of the prophet, President Thomas S Monson. I loved hearing him talk and tell stories in his comforting grandfather voice. He was a shining example of humble service. He will be greatly missed. My boys were very sad. Caleb was only a toddler when President Hinckley passed away, so this is the first time he has gone through this, really. It was so comforting to know that the Lord already had a plan in place for who would next lead the church, under His direction. I could see in the past couple of years how President Nelson was being prepared to take up the task, and grew in my love for him and his devotion to doing the work of the Lord.

I started reading again this past month, which was a big deal. I had stopped reading when I got really sick last year, so it's nice to be enjoying something that has been a lifelong hobby for me. Brettley also hit a reading milestone and is officially reading grade 2 level books now. I suspect he'll get to grade 3 books before the end of the year. Caleb is now reading high school level books, and apparently asking college level questions in science class. Ty has grown to love reading so much this year, which is such a joy to see.

I began my calling in nursery and was surprised by how quickly I fell in love with it. I had been in nursery when we left Edmonton and it had never been a happy place for me there, but here I instantly felt connected to these young ones and love their sweet little spirits. They are truly a joy to be around.

I discovered bullet journaling this month. It's a system that was made for me, I'm sure. I love lists, calendars, being organized, office supplies, and this combines them all. I've been loving it!

I finally got around to making a large wall calendar project that I'd been wanting to make for the past several years. John was a big help with it.

I got to see C, L's mom, when we were out shopping one day, which was a wonderful experience.

I have started walking more, outside and doing steps inside when it's too cold or icy. I found this really cool thing where it tells you the distances between locations from Middle Earth (Tolkien's world), so I'm using that to set goals for myself.

Last weekend I attended our Stake Relief Society Conference, which was amazing. I attended 2 classes. The first was 'The Courage to be Imperfect' which referenced Elder Holland's October 2017 talk quite a bit. The second class I went to was 'Don't Look Around, Look Up' where we talked a lot about the need to look to the Lord instead of comparing ourselves to others. We all got to listen to Dr Wayne Burton talk as well as play and sing for us. There was a wonderful luncheon afterward. I'm so glad I got to have that uplifting experience.

Yesterday was Bell Let's Talk, which I actively participated in to help fundraise, but also to bring awareness about the need that still exists for more education for the general public, more research and better access to supports. Obviously, this is something that is very near and dear to my heart. Caleb had a psychiatrist appointment yesterday and he gets to come off of his last medication. It was a very happy victory to see him have come this far from where we were even 2 years ago. He is such a brave little fighter.