25 Questions (21-25)

I'm answering the last of 25 questions I saw on Sarah's blog. Sarah blogs at Toronto SAM and you can see her answers here. If you want to see my answers to previous questions, you can go here to read questions 1-5, here to read questions 6-10, here to read 11-15, and here to read 16-20.

21. Pretend money is no object, what would you do?

I would travel wherever I want and take my friends and family with me. I would go to way more Blue Jays games, including away games so I could visit other ball parks. I would renovate our house. I would also fly to Saskatchewan at least once a month to visit my parents and I would donate a lot more to the important causes in my life.

I would also buy a fancy drink at every Jays game! Hahaha!

22. What area in your life, right now, makes you feel the best? Why?

Our house is fairly clean right now so I'm pretty happy about that! Also we're not stressed about money right now, so I'm thankful for that as I know not everyone is in that situation. I'm also fairly happy with my job situation, and it feels very stable, so I'm also thankful for that. I see myself in this position for a number of years as I don't think I'll get bored! Hahaha!

23. Let's jump forward a year, what would you like to have achieved in the next year?

I would love to have taken some major steps forward on getting our house renovated. We've been dreaming about doing "something" for about four years now and I just feel really stuck as to what the next steps are. If we could be doing something about it, rather than just talking about it, that would make me really happy! It just feels really big and overwhelming.

24. What piece of advice would you give to five year old you?

Life may not work out like you are hoping it will but it will still be pretty darn awesome! (I think five year old me wanted six to ten kids! Hahahaha!) I would also encourage her to start building a flossing habit :)

25. How do you want to be remembered in life?

I want to be remembered as someone who loved well, was kind to others, and stood up for what was right.

Thanks for reading my answers to these questions. Let me know your thoughts on any of these -- either responses to my answers or tell me your own answers.

Friday Favourite Moments 2025 #12

In some ways this first week back at school/work after our March Break has felt very long. However, this edition of my Friday Favourite Moments kind of snuck up on me so take that for what it's worth! I have a short and sweet edition of favourite moments this week. (Also, I meant to post this early Friday morning and forgot to hit "publish." It's been that kind of week!)

1) Activate Games

When I posted on Instagram stories how I couldn't do VR because of my monovision contacts (I have one reading contact and one distance contact and thus, don't need reading glasses. However, my eyes couldn't focus on the VR and supposedly, 3D movies might not work for me either.), my Instagram friend suggested we check out Activate. This is a place where you are "in the video game." That's really the best way to describe it. You sign up for 75 minutes, are given a wristband, and then enter rooms where you play a game for 1-3 minutes. We loved the laser room (where you're trying to get through a laser maze), the grid room, and the hoops room. We were all hot and sweaty by the end but we also laughed A LOT and we can't wait to go back and visit. If you have one near you, you should definitely check it out!!! My Instagram friend's friend was the creator of Activate so it was especially fun because of the local connection.

 

2) St Patrick's Day meal

 

A number of years ago, I started making (vegetarian) Beef & Guinness Stew for St Patrick's Day. This year I also baked soda bread. This is one of my favourite meals of the year, and it's actually the only meal I cooked over our March Break.

 

3) Making summer plans

Sam is (mostly) in charge of our summer vacation this year. He picked the destination a few years ago and has been dreaming about it, and soliciting input, ever since. This past week, he and I sat down and booked a few things and our trip is really starting to come together. I'm starting to get really excited!!! How long until summer?!?!??!!?

 

 4) Kids playing together

 

I've said fairly often over the past few years that I'm extremely grateful that our kids waited until our long Covid quarantine was over to start their more intense sibling rivalry. It's nothing huge but just the constant sniping at each other, which is normal for two teenagers. It makes me extra grateful though for the times they do get along. Ten minutes before I took these pictures, I had both kids helping me do dishes and was about to go insane from the bickering. Then they headed out to kick the ball around and I wanted to capture these moments before it devolved again!!! Also, a favourite moment this past week is that all the snow has melted!!!!!!! Whooooo hooooo!!!!

5) Muffin from co-worker

Anytime a co-worker brings me food, it is a favourite moment! Hahaha!

So those were my favourite moments from this first week back to school/work. Have a great weekend everyone!

Halfway Through March And What I'd Read

This post is to catch you up on the first half of March and what I read. I felt like I didn't read a lot as I was reading three rather intense books over our March Break but, looking back, I started March off with a few lighter reads so actually read more than I thought I had. The beginning of March feels like it was so long ago!

I've been trying to read all of Carley Fortune's books as she is a Canadian author. I enjoyed this one and read it in a couple of days. This book made me want to plan a lengthy trip to Prince Edward Island. I've was there once, as a young adult, but I'd love to go back with my family. However, it might say something that when I'm reviewing this book, I'm talking more about the island than the story :)

 

I thought these would be fun romcoms but they turned out to be novellas. I've read more novellas this year than ever before, but that's been very unintentional. These were cute, short reads without a lot of substance.

I took this book out as it was an ebook available over the winter break. And then I kept renewing it and renewing it as I wasn't getting around to reading it. It was actually a fairly interesting, non-fiction book about someone trying to restore a heritage site in England. However, the story doesn't resolve so I really wanted to know a little bit more. I think restoring this site will take longer than the author's lifetime so I don't even know if this story has an end... If you're interested in heritage estates in England, pick it up, but be prepared for an unclear ending.

I don't remember how I came across this book but I really enjoyed it. It's a historical fiction based on women who went to work in Northern France. I didn't realize that there are places in France which are still considered uninhabitable because of the damage done there by WWI. This is probably one of the best books I've read in 2025 and I highly recommend it, especially if you like fiction about WWI.

This is another book which I don't remember how I came across it. It was a cute romcom but I didn't think there was a lot of substance to it. I kept reading it at night, and falling asleep, so it took me quite a few days to finish it. It was fine, but not great.

I really wanted to like this book -- a non-fiction account of how books, as we know them today, came to be -- but it was dry and boring. Too much of the book referred to Old English quotes, which really slowed down my reading, and I felt like it skipped all over the place. Even now, I'm not really sure if I could tell you much about the topic.

This was a very good story, which took me a few days to get into, but once I was hooked, I couldn't put it down. It's told from multiple points of view, which can be a little confusing at times, but if you have a chunk of time, and want to an interesting story, I highly recommend it. I really want Dave to read it because I think he'll enjoy it. And probably my dad will love it too!

So that was what I read the first half of March. My reading felt a little eclectic as it was based on which of my library holds had come in. However, that is probably fairly reflective of my reading taste :)

March Break By The Numbers

As I've mentioned, our March Break didn't look like we had originally planned but, thankfully, it was still a lot of fun! We ended up doing a staycation and we just did what we could to make each day special. At the end of the week, Rachel said, "When we cancelled Hawaii, I was worried I was going to be bored at home but it was such a fun March Break and I wasn't bored!" I think we all felt that way.

While I had fun documenting our break on Instagram stories, I wanted to have a written recap on the blog as well. So here's a little March Break, by the numbers for you.

7 croissants eaten over the course of the week

countless flowers admired

only 1 meal cooked by me!

1 Grade 8 grad outfit acquired by Rachel

3 trips to Starbucks by some combination of us 

1 souvenir mug acquired by me

4 new duvet covers acquired by all of us in 1 trip to IKEA

1 set of ears pierced by Rachel

4 sets of friends visited with

a whole ton of snow melted off our yard

12 episodes of Gilmore Girls watched by Rachel and me (3 watched by Dave, half of one watched by Sam!)

7 major events/happening/activities

- Ctrl V, a virtual reality place

- Botanical Gardens, with an Alice in Wonderland themed tea time

- Come From Away musical

 

- Hockey Hall of Fame, with 2 cups seen (Four Nations Cup and Stanley Cup)

- one escape room adventure, (Dave and Sam did a different one)

 

- CAN-struction

- Activate, a place where you're *in* the video game (REALLY FUN, if you have a chance to visit one)

3 pies eaten for Pi Day (March 14th) plus 4 pizzas!

4 books read by me

It all added up to a pretty great March Break!

Friday Favourite Moments 2025 #11

Today is the last week day of our March Break and while it didn't look like we had originally thought it would, it's actually been a fairly fun break. I wrote last week that we'd had a March Break change of plans from going to Hawaii to staying here, due to some health issues my mom is experiencing. Thank you everyone for your prayers as we continue to await results from her latest test. We have some March Break fun still ahead over the next few days but here are my favourite moments from the past week. Also these are chronological, not necessarily in order of most to least favourite :)

1) Introducing Rachel to Gilmore Girls

I decided to start watching Gilmore Girls with Rachel this break and we're well into Season 1. It's so fun to go back and watch the show with Rachel!

 

2) Alice in Bloomland and a tea time at the botanical gardens

I wrote about this yesterday but I think one of my favourite days this week was the day we explored Alice in Bloomland at the botanical gardens. I was also unexpectedly entranced by the orchids. And the tea time was so good!!!

3) Rachel got her Grade 8 grad outfit

 

We went shopping in Toronto on Wednesday, among other things, and Rachel got her grad outfit, including shoes. She is super excited about it and I was excited that it wasn't too expensive and I agreed with her choices! Win-win!!!

 

4) Toronto experiences

Among the things we did in Toronto were go to see Come From Away (which was just as good the second time around) which both kids really liked and we went to the Hockey Hall of Fame. We got to see the Four Nations Cup there, as well as the Stanley Cup, and we got to try being play by play announcers.

 

5) Seeing Sarah of Toronto SAM

 

When I posted a picture on Instagram saying "Good morning Toronto!" Sarah messaged me and it turns out she was nearby. She dropped in for a very quick hello (and a hug!) and it was so good to see her. Next time we'll have to make an actual plan ahead of time to meet up, Sarah!!! Find Sarah's blog here.

 

6) New bedding and open windows

 

When we were at the botanical gardens, it turns out we were also near IKEA so we stopped by. I am addicted to IKEA bedding and this set looks like spring to me. I was so happy to make our bed with it yesterday and to be able to open a window in our bedroom. Spring is on the way and I couldn't be happier about it.

So those were my favourite moments from this past week. I'm looking forward to another three days of fun and spending time with friends. Until then, happy Friday and I hope it's spring-like where you are!