THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life ~ November Edition
I'm on top of things this month! I'm also feeling a bit shocked that it's already November. November! The Christmas season is going to be kicking off very soon and I find myself asking where the entire year went. Let's get a quick pandemic chat out of the way. Things are doing a whole lot better these days. As things currently stand, in Edmonton there is 0.1% of the population with known active cases. We finally got QR codes and Alberta vaccine records with QR codes are now the only valid Alberta proof of vaccination accepted. So that's a major improvement. I'm definitely a lot less concerned about the pandemic lately and I hope that the high levels of vaccination can finally keep things under control. At the beginning of October we were in Jasper. We tend to visit the mountains (but mostly Jasper) at least once a season. I hope that this is something that we continue doing. The mountains are wonderful at every time of year. We had our annual family photography done with our wedding photographers, A Different Angle Photography. We're always very pleased with their work. I made an effort to look like the best version of myself that day!
The shoot didn't take too long and we visited a few different locations. I was so happy with how it all turned out!! Stay tuned for our Christmas card coming to a mailbox near you. ;)
It was easy to feel like a wonderful version of myself that day because I was in a place that I love.
The rest of our time in Jasper was wonderful as always and my parents were also with us so it was great to spend quality time with them.
My parents stuck around at our house in Edmonton for the first part of the month as well. On October 7th it finally happened... Tim had a vasectomy done!!! I drove him to the appointment and waited in the car while he was in the clinic. I swear, he was only gone for about 45 minutes. He said that the procedure wasn't a big deal at all. (He was texting me while he was having it done, ha ha!) He only felt about an hour worth of discomfort later on at home and then after that he was totally fine. We had (protected) sex about three weeks after the procedure and everything seems to be working completely normally. (They're going to check his sperm count in January.) We're SO HAPPY to have this taken care of and are entirely sure that this was the right decision for us! Highly recommend it to anyone who is finished having kids. It was quick and easy!
While my parents were in town we also took the opportunity to celebrate Tim's 38th birthday a little bit early due to the free childcare. We escaped for a whole night! We checked into our favourite hotel downtown, the JW Marriott Edmonton ICE District. We went out for a fancy dinner at a restaurant called RGE RD and did their Road Trip blind tasting menu. And then we had cocktails at Alchemy Bar, which is a bar that you get into by going through a secret bookcase door. The whole night was great!!
It has been a gorgeous, true fall season. I've been taking it all in as much as possible. A bit more follow-up from last month, I saw my doctor and he said that the improvement of my cholesterol is amazing and I should keep up the great work. I also got my period again after a 29 day cycle, which is back to being normal. I hope that it keeps up from now on! I also got my flu vaccine. I'm trying to be healthier in general. When the pandemic started we picked up a bunch of bad habits. Being "trapped" in our house seemed like the perfect opportunity to eat chips every night, get take-out fast food on a weekly basis, and be lazier in general. Stuff that we NEVER used to do! The only problem is that it's 20 months later and the bad habits have stuck around. It's time to overhaul the whole system and to get back to the way that things used to be!! I'm starting to feel so much better already.
We celebrated Thanksgiving with a delicious turkey feast and it was nice to have my parents around to join us.
We had a fun fall day out at Prairie Gardens to pick out our pumpkins - one of our favourite fall activities.
We had a Municipal Election! It all worked out great because the mayor that we voted for got elected. He actually won by A LOT. Edmonton's new mayor is Amarjeet Sohi and he's a former Liberal MP and was a cabinet Minister under Trudeau (Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and Minister of Natural Resources). He was very clearly the most capable and connected person for the job. Edmonton has an incredibly progressive municipal government right now and it's very cool to see. Tim's real birthday happened and even though we already celebrated, I still had a few surprises for him that day. Cheese and drinks in the evening is one of our favourite things.
We finally celebrated Amy's Birthday Girls Night, which had been put off for six months! She picked to have dinner at La Petite Iza, which she fell in love with after we went there for my birthday. We even sat at the same table (and therefore sat in the same spots).
And then it was Halloween!! We carved pumpkins, dressed up, had an amazing time Trick or Treating, and I even went to a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at my favourite theatre.
This month was so busy!!! There were so many things! Life with Archie: He's the best and I can't get enough of his little face.
Archie has been LOVING preschool and it's an amazing part of his life. He is learning so much and loves seeing his friends!
He had a new class photo done because more kids joined his class. It's a great crew!
We've been having a lot of fun crushing the themed preschool snacks. They had ORANGE AND BLACK DAY as well as a Halloween party... And we delivered snackwise. Do I make my life more difficult? Yes. Can I stop myself? Hell no.
Archie had a great time celebrating Halloween at preschool with his friends.
Archie has gotten WAY into numbers and counting. He often counts to 100 just because he feels like it. He's constantly building things. He's like a tiny engineer. Archie also started an 8 week PreSchool 3 Swim for Life swimming lesson program which he attends once a week. I'm really glad to have him back in swimming lessons for the first time since the pandemic started.
Archie has had a great month of nature adventures, friend hangs, and delicious eats!
Of course Halloween was the MOST exciting thing for Archie this month. He dressed up as Poe Dameron from Star Wars. He's never seen Star Wars so it was more for Tim's amusement. Archie loved his costume regardless! He told everyone that he was a "space man," ha ha. He absolutely LOVED Trick or Treating and was an old pro this year.
And here we are in November which is a whole thing! We normally put up our Christmas tree in mid-November and I can barely wrap my head around the fact that we're already here. Once that happens we consider our holiday season "kicked off" and will start doing all sorts of different holiday activities. The month is generally quite quiet though, and I think that I will be spending it getting my ducks into a row for all of the upcoming festivities. I'm pretty intense about my holiday traditions and look forward to the whole shebang! THIS MONTH’S SHOUT-OUTS!: November 9th is Erin Anderson’s 34th birthday!
It has been way too long and I really do hope that I'll be able to see you someday soon! I am far, far overdue for a Vancouver visit, that's for sure. I hope that your birthday is a total blast, which I'm sure that it will be. You always have the most lovely cabin celebrations and I'm sure that this year will be no different! I've been thinking of you lots and miss you lots too. Love you always. <3
November 10th is Sarah Swalm’s 39th birthday!
I also feel like it's been too long since we've been together as well! I really hope that we can connect when I'm in town for the holidays. I miss your spirit and fun attitude a lot! I hope that Adam spoils you a whole bunch and that your day is filled with surprises! Miss you and love you!! <3 November 20th is Carrie Schill’s 33rd birthday!
Dear Carrots!!! I am beyond thrilled about your life right now!! Not only are you living a real adult life but you're living in the city that you dreamed to be in, have graduated school and have an amazing job, and you have a beautiful apartment. I can't tell you how proud I am. There will always be challenges but you have accomplished A LOT. I love you so much and can't wait until we can share more adventures together. We need that! Also, I'm coming over. I hope that you feel so celebrated on your special day. Love, Rocks. <3
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