THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life ~ May Edition

April has been a really chill month for me (at least by my standards), which felt much-needed. I needed some time and space to get myself feeling good and back to a good place. I needed to get my life organized for the spring. Thankfully, April was able to provide this for me and it has been a relief. Amy turned 40 years old and we celebrated her two times! The first was a big and fun dinner at JOEY with all of her friends! We popped bottles, there were balloons, we stayed out too late, and we spent the whole time laughing our faces off. It was such a blast! The second was our own Girls Night dinner where the four of us could celebrate Amy together and give her presents. Amy chose The 3 Amigos for that dinner, which is a delicious Mexican place that we enjoy.

One of my favourite food events in Edmonton happened, the EDify Best Restaurants 2025 event! This is a huge party where all of the best restaurants in the city come together in one room to feed me food!! Tim and I go every year and we love it... But we also leave waaaaaayyyyyy too full. I wrote a whole blog entry about everything that I ate in case you're interested!

And then there was Easter! We enjoyed a four-day weekend at home as a family and just spent the time doing the usual things. The Easter Bunny came to our house which Archie is still very excited about and we ate all of our favourite Easter foods. I finally have a duck egg guy once again!

Tim (and Mary and Jonny!) participated in the Alberta Run the River Edmonton Spring Challenge and it was his first Half Marathon! He's done races before but he has always run the 10k in the past. He completed the half marathon in 1:57 which he was very happy with. I'm so proud of him!! Tim has been training really hard for this and he has gotten really fit. I'd say that he's in the best shape that he's ever been in, at least since I've known him. I often joke that he has gotten all sexy while I have been slowly falling apart, ha ha!

And yes, our country had a Federal Election. First I want to start by saying that I know that all of my friends vote in all of the different colours and that I respect everyone's individual opinions. The beauty is that we each get to choose whatever is right (or the closest to it) for each of us. When it comes to you ladies, my actual close friends, I couldn't care less how you voted because I care a whole lot more about the actual person that you are (whom I love), the friendship that we share, and our years spent in life together. I am honestly not that political of a person myself, but of course I do have issues that are more important to me than others. I mostly care about the environment and climate crisis, women's and LGBTQ rights, and Canada's sovereignty. Those things are my jam. It's no surprise to me that when I do the Vote Compass it always puts me closest to the Green Party. However, my riding of Edmonton Strathcona is the strongest NDP riding in the entire country - right here in Alberta (which is pretty wild) and I really like Heather McPherson as a candidate. I always see her around the neighbourhood doing the same kind of stuff as me! So that is who I voted for (and she won!). Obviously I was clearly aware that the NDP was NOT going to form government and I was ultimately happy that Mark Carney was elected as the Prime Minister. He seems extremely competent, fiscally conservative, and socially liberal. And he's an Edmontonian!!! Now all we need to do is have the Oilers win the Stanley Cup and Edmonton will basically run this entire country. HA HA!

As you'll recall from last month, I detailed all of the annoying health stuff that I've been trying to figure out. I've been feeling a lot better in general and have made a few changes. I believe that I have a several things going on which includes Postherpetic Neuralgia and Sensitization (from having Shingles) and then Migraines with Aura (which might be connected to hormone therapy and my menopausal transition). Or more likely all of it combined is just creating one big problem. Sigh. I have a follow up with my Neurologist coming up and I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say and what he thinks I should do next.

Life with Archie: Archie's programs have started up for the spring! This time he's doing: Swim for Life Swimmer 2 ~ It's his second round of this but I think that he'll pass it this time.

Plus he's still in Beavers. We kept his spring programs pretty light because we're going to be away for so much of the spring and it would be a waste to sign him up for something that he'd miss a huge part of. Archie built a Globe Planter at the latest Kids Workshop at Home Depot and also an Easter Egg and a Mother's Day Flower at two LEGO free-build events.

Archie dressed up for the last day of school before Easter and as usual there was an appropriately matched lunch!

Archie's school also had a Wear Neon Colours Day!

Archie attended a birthday party for his friend Cohen and had a blast going nuts with his friends. Plus he's had a bunch of great hangs with his bestie Jonah this month.

When Tim, Mary, and Jonny were running in the half marathon the kids got to participate in the Legendary Junior Event which was a bunch of different activities and obstacle courses. They all got medals as well!

A good month for him and still packed with activities!

And now for May. HERE WE GO. THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN TRAINING FOR. Ha ha! Tomorrow we are leaving on a huge travel adventure, one of the biggest of our lives so far! My parents are also joining us. We have been talking about doing this trip with them for years and it's finally happening! 25 days. 11 flights. 3 countries. 6 cities. First we are off to New Zealand! We'll be spending four nights in Auckland and while there, we will be going on the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour. Tim and my dad are HUGE Lord of the Rings fans so getting to see all of this stuff is a big dream of theirs. It was pretty much the whole reason that this trip was created. Then we'll be going to Wellington for two nights which is where Wētā Workshop is located, the studio that made the movies. Next we are heading to Australia! We'll be spending four nights in Sydney, staying right on Bondi Beach. We'll be celebrating Mother's Day while there as well! Tim, Archie, and I will also be doing the Sydney BridgeClimb, which we're pretty excited about. Then we'll be going to Brisbane for three nights at The Crocodile Hunter Lodge, which is the hotel at Australia Zoo - Steve Irwin's zoo. Because we'll be staying on-property we'll be allowed to basically live at the zoo and kiss all of the animals. Yeeeeeee! Then we have one night in the actual city of Brisbane. Next we are heading to Fiji! We'll be spending four nights at a resort in Sigatoka (on the main island) called OUTRIGGER Fiji Beach Resort and staying in a Beachfront Bure. Then we'll be going to Savusavu (on a smaller island) and spending four nights at a resort called Koro Sun Resort and staying in an Edgewater Pool Bure. So paradise, essentially. I have never been to any of these places before! And yes, we are taking Archie out of school for this but I feel that life experiences and seeing the world is just as important as going to school. His teacher was very supportive. I have spent months meticulously organizing all of the details of this vacation. I did all of the research, found all of the accommodations, figured out all of the activities, and looked into all of the best places to eat. It was a lot of work!!! But I'm very proud of what I have accomplished and I'm nervously excited to see it all come to life! So that's what I'm doing in May! BYEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

THIS MONTH’S SHOUT-OUTS!: May 14th is Heather Petrychyn’s 43rd birthday!

I will literally be in Australia on your birthday, which I think is perfectly fitting because I've always associated you with that country!! I remember in high school when you traveled there for several weeks to visit family and I wrote you a detailed novel (like a STACK of paper) about everything that went on (all of the drama!) while you were away. You are such an amazing person and I love the long friendship that we have shared; whether it's getting stranded in an airport together or reminiscing about 3am vending machine cake. Love you so much and wish you the best day! <3 May 18th is Nicole Thibault’s 43rd birthday!

Ma belle Nicole! I will be in Fiji on your birthday and I'm sorry that I won't be present on the actual day to devise some sort of sneak birthday attack! But we shall celebrate as soon as I'm back home!! I am very grateful that you will be stopping in to keep an eye on my house, ha ha. Please watch so much Ted Lasso and Severance. I hope that your day is magic and that you get very spoiled!! You are my chosen family and I love you beyond words. <3 May 27th is Krystie Watson’s 39th birthday!

What an exciting birthday for you! Firstly, it's your first birthday as a newly married woman! And secondly, it's the last year of your 30s! I have been so completely overjoyed for you and the love and life that you have built. You're someone who I just click with - it doesn't matter how long we've been apart. As soon as we're together I can feel the friendship and love that we share and it's so special. Love you always. <3 May 28th is Heather Petrychyn's 14th wedding anniversary!

Congrats to you and Curtis on 14 big years! I hope that you get to do something special to celebrate! Cheers! May 31st is Susan Murphy's 12th wedding anniversary!

Congrats to you and Matt on 12 big years! I hope that you get to do something special to celebrate! Cheers!