Month: January 2022

🌞Sunshine Blogger Award 9.0🌞

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Whoever is reading this post, thank you for taking time out of your busy day to connect with me! I was hoping to wrap up the Sunshine Blogger Awards (SBA) for good with a 🌞Sunshine Blogger Award 10.0🌞 However, to my dismay, I am only on 🌞Sunshine Blogger Award 9.0🌞 which means that I still have room for a final Sunshine Blogger Award if anyone wants to nominate me LOL. You might be wondering why this blog post is so random. If you really want to know why I have the sudden desire to reply to a SBA-nomination from October 2019, it is because January has been a crappy month for me (still is) and I need some sunshine in my life. In case you missed my last post, here is a link to my similar yet different blog post titled 🌞Sunshine Blogger Award 8.0🌞

The Sunshine Blogger Award is per recognition award for bloggers who inspire readers by promoting positivity and bringing joy. Thank you, Steve, for nominating me for the award on October 14, 2019. This date is not a typo – I left the nomination in my drafts for 2+ years, untouched. I am sure that most of you are familiar with Steve’s Country unless you have been living under a snow-covered rock. But don’t worry! Steve has you covered. He has plenty of snow-covered rocks to share with you! And let’s not forget the hot cups of coffee waiting for you when you pay him a visit. ☕

🌞SUNSHINE BLOGGER AWARD RULES🌞

The Sunshine Blogger Award has rules (surprise, surprise!). These rules ensure the success of this award, providing exposure to all the award winners. The rules are quite simple and straightforward.

RULES FOR AWARD:

  • Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link back to their blog so others can find them.
  • Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you.
  • Nominate 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 new questions 👈 optional
  • Notify the nominees about it by commenting on one of their blog posts 👈 optional
  • List the rules and display a Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post and/or your blog site.

QUESTIONS I WAS ASKED:

1. What is your favorite fruit? Personally, I love them all so it’s hard for me to narrow it down to just one. I can narrow it down to my top 3 favorite fruits: peaches 🍑 mangoes 🥭 and raspberries! 😍 

2. What is your favorite meat? I think my favorite meat is smoked brisket from Big T’s BBQ!

3. Do you like to make your own juice or buy it? We used to have a Ninja juicer but it took up too much cupboard space and it was a pain to clean. Eventually, I gave my husband permission to sell the juicer and I do not regret this decision. While we had the juicer, we were able to make fresh carrot, apple, and beet juice which tasted amazing. However, the amount of work it takes to make fresh juice is not worth it in my opinion. I don’t buy juice because it is too $$$ in Canada. While we were visiting Singapore in Summer 2018, we bought freshly made juice every day! FYI sugarcane juice is simply delicious!

4. Do you like to bake? Sometimes. I like eating it more than I like making it.

5. Do you like to cook? No. Cooking creates a huge mess so I prefer simple meals. Less mess, less stress! My husband enjoys cooking so he is the chef in our house.

6. Would you rather eat at home or a restaurant every day? If I had unlimited, disposable income and I did not care about my weight, then I would eat at a restaurant every day. It is fun to eat out, so why not? But is it the right thing to do? Probably not.

7. Do you like to travel? Traveling can be fun, but traveling can also be exhausting and pricey $$$. And given the pandemic that we are [still] dealing with, we travel a lot less than we used to B.C. (before COVID-19) 😷 I have never stayed at a resort or have been on a cruise, so maybe one day I will be able to check these things off of my bucket list. In the meantime, I would like to visit Hawaii or visit Singapore again with my family.

Singapore, Summer 2018

8. Do you enjoy walks in nature? Yes, I enjoy walks in nature. I find walks in nature very healing and therapeutic. There is something very special about reconnecting with Mother Earth. I recently discovered a concept called grounding, which I like to do during the summer months when it is warmer outside.

9. Do you enjoy camping? I haven’t been camping in years! The last time I went camping, I think I was 11 years old. It was a lot of fun, and I would not turn down an invitation to go camping. You bring the camping gear and I’ll bring the food, which will probably be takeout. As we have already established, I don’t really enjoy cooking.

10. Would you prefer to live by the sea or in the mountains? We currently live in the foothills of a mountain which sounds dreamy, doesn’t it? I cannot get a good view of the mountains from where I live though. Due to the pandemic, we cannot visit the mountains in Banff National Park which is 1.5 hours away.

11. Would you prefer to live in an apartment/flat, or in a house? I have lived in an apartment/flat and I have lived in a house. I currently live in a townhouse and it is 1000% better than living in an apartment. A townhouse is quiet whereas an apartment is loud and noisy. We bought our townhouse in May 2021 and it feels nice to finally own a house. There was a time when I had to put up with an insufferable human who lived in the apartment dwelling above me. Re: What is “normal,” anyway?

Rebecca enjoying the first snowfall on our new balcony!

🌞SUNSHINE BLOGGER AWARD NOMINEES🌞

Usually, other bloggers ask me to nominate them for a Sunshine Blogger Award, so I decided to leave it open to anyone who wants to complete it! Please answer the following questions below ↓

QUESTIONS FOR YOU:

1. Why did you start blogging?
2. What is the theme of your blog?
3. Is your blog a hobby blog or do you monetize your blog?
4. Are you a vegetarian?
5. How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you?
6. Have you ever tried online dating?
7. Do you have a Nintendo Switch? If yes, what is your favorite game?
8. Do you play Animal Crossing? If yes, what is your Island’s fruit? 🍎🍒🍊🍑🍐
9. Do you believe in magic?
11. What is your favorite cereal?

And….GO!! I know you have very busy lives outside of the blogging world and I appreciate that you took the time to read this blog post! I look forward to reading your answers if you decide to participate in the Sunshine Blogger Award. 

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Surviving January

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っ(◔_◔)っQuestion: Is January a depressing month for you?

It is the beginning of a New Year and I am already off to a rocky start. I have been depressed since New Year’s Eve. I wasn’t planning to stay up past midnight but my husband and daughter insisted that I watch the fireworks with them… on TV. We had planned to watch the fireworks IRL but plans were canceled due to extreme weather conditions, which is not surprising to anyone who lives in western Canada. Okay, maybe I am being a bit melodramatic, but to give you an idea of how cold Canada is, I wanted to share a photo with you that my husband took on his phone. Just looking at this photo makes me feel cold! #brrr

I am Feeling Blue (SAD)

The New Year is meant to be a hopeful time for us all. Many of us have ambitious goals and feel motivated to crush our goals or face our inner demons. How many of you are familiar with the saying, This will be my year? or New Year, New Me? As tempting as it is to push the reset button on January 1, reality does not have a reset button. January 1, 2022, is no different than December 31, 2021, unless you decide to make a change and take action to make it different. Usually, I am motivated enough to make a list of resolutions for the new year, but this year, I am struggling with my mental health which includes Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). It could also be due to the fact that the holidays are over and there isn’t Christmas to occupy my mind anymore. It could also be due to the fact that I have to go out in the real world again and I have the harsh realization that I am still dealing with social anxiety. To be honest, I haven’t done much to overcome that during the Christmas holiday. 🎄🎁

❄ The Long, Long Winter ❄

I want to hide under the blankets and hibernate until spring 2022. Nothing about winter feels rejuvenating to me. I cannot wait for spring because spring brings me hope. I need longer days, warmer weather, and sunshine in order to thrive 🌞🌻 In the meantime, I know that routines are essential when it comes to surviving the long, long winter. Last year, I distracted myself by doing a No Spend Challenge in January 2021. However, this year, I don’t even have the motivation or mental energy to participate in this challenge. When I tried the No Spend Challenge last year, I enjoyed it very much so I still recommend checking out this challenge if you want to save some money and/or get out of debt. I am 30 years old and live well below my means. Both my husband and I are frugal people and we are actively saving for a brighter future. I might write more about frugality and money-saving tips in future blog posts 🤔

Insomnia Strikes Again

Confession time: I am not good with diary-style blog posts because it takes me several hours to edit them, and even longer if I am struggling to find the energy or motivation to write. I am editing this blog post on January 5, 2022, but I wrote the rough draft on January 3, 2022. To give you some context, I was supposed to work on Sunday, January 2, 2022 (day shift) but I did not sleep at all the night before. I had horrible insomnia because my 5-year old daughter kept me up until 0300 slamming doors and being obnoxious. I am a very light sleeper who needs earplugs and sleeping masks; even that doesn’t seem to help much. On day shifts, I have to wake up at 0430, so I was both physically and mentally exhausted. That morning, I had a pounding insomniac headache which forced me to call in “sick” at 0415. I feel bad for being that person who canceled last minute.

Below is a screenshot from my Instagram account. Feel free to follow me on IG even though I stopped uploading on IG a long time ago. I let go of IG because it wasn’t good for my mental health. You can only filter so much content, and even then, the algorithm is not perfect. There always seemed to be something triggering on IG no matter what I did which is why I took an extra-long, extended hiatus. Looking back, using #victim as a hashtag was a bit melodoramatic. Anywho…. as you can see, insomnia is still an ongoing problem in my life which could also be contributing to my $hit mood. 😴 I have tried everything to help me sleep and I even wrote a blog post about improving sleep hygiene a couple years ago. Insomnia is an ongoing problem for many of us who live in cold climates.

Not only am I disappointed when other people let me down, but I feel really bad when I let others down. I admit that I feel guilty for canceling my shift when I know that they are counting on me to show up and be present at work. I also noticed that this is not the first time that I had to cancel a day shift due to insomnia. What is it about early mornings that I despise so much? I call these “sick” days my mental health days or self-care days. I have to remember to be kind to myself, especially on days when I am struggling with anxiety and depression. Also, I have to remember to practice self-compassion which has started to gain more popularity over the years, especially in the mental health community. If you haven’t heard of the self-compassion movement, I recommend checking out this Ted Talk by Kristin Neff on Youtube.

I had planned to stay in bed all day but then I remembered that I had to go to work the following day (another day shift). Then I remembered that the world goes on without me whether I like it or not, and that the Earth will keep spinning regardless of how I feel. Sometimes, taking a day off after a horrible night of insomnia is absolutely necessary, but I cannot hide under the blankets forever. I know that I will have to get out of bed today and that it is only a matter of time before I have to go back to work. Tomorrow will come and I will have to face the real world once more. I might not see the light right now, but I know that there will be happier, sunnier days ahead.

Do you believe that changing seasons affect your mood? If you live in the northern hemisphere with a cold climate, how do you get enough sunlight? Please join the conversation by leaving a comment below ↓ I look forward to reading your comments. I hope that you are all staying safe and healthy during the winter season. 😷

Thanks for stopping by!

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