What Happened Last Month

I find myself sitting here, wondering to myself... what happened last month? I'm really not going to go into the entire detail of what caused what and who did this and that. I think there's much more important lessons to learn from the events that transpired over the past month.

For anybody who doesn't know, my wife moved out for about one month and is now back home where she belongs. There are underlying issues which I believe this has brought forth and from this point things can go one of two ways: either we learn from this and become a stronger couple who work together, or we learn absolutely nothing at all except that perhaps we just don't work out as a couple. I like to think we have taken the first path of learning to be better together where rather than avoiding each other we take the time to talk and work through our issues.

My personal learning from this event has brought me to the conclusion that staying up all night long isn't the way to go, because it only makes me tired the next day and unable to function properly. As it turns out, sleeping at night definitely makes me more motivated and able to do things during the day. I suppose the fact that I start work most days by 7:00 am helps me be tired by the time it starts getting late at night... it also helps that I'm pretty much forced to get up at 6:30 or earlier every day (including days off) either because of the dogs going mental at stupid times of the night / morning, or because our DEAR SWEET baby girl now wakes up most days no later than 6:30 in the morning because she often goes to daycare before I start work... which also means I have to be up even earlier than usual.

I suppose I've also learned that I need to pay more attention to both Carley's an my own needs and emotions and we need to work at talking together instead of brushing things off and hoping that's the end of it; emotions are important and valid, even when they seem stupid. Though someone else's problems may not make sense and may seem insignificant to you, those problems may be much more meaningful to them.

On that note, I've learned things about myself as well; such as that I am important, and I can do things for myself as well as others. I still don't like going out of the house very much, but I am feeling much better about myself. The most troubling thing I'm currently dealing with is finding the motivation to get things done while I'm not on working time or taking care of Isabelle... instead of sleeping. I seriously hate sleep; I wish I never had to sleep ever again... but it feels soooooooooooooo goooooooooooooooooood to sleep and / or nap.

I do have a lot of plans on the go right now though: Dates with Carley, playing with and teaching Isabelle, cleaning and organizing the house so that we can actually find things and not feel like it (the basement) is cluttered, making blog posts and videos, and somehow finding all the time to do all of this and keep going without running out of energy! ........ Oh... I also want to get into a regular habit of taking the dogs for a walk, and playing games with friends (most importantly my wife), and drawing / doodling, maybe taking the time to colour, read some books, get into biking once the weather clears up... there's so much I want to do and so little time to do it all.

Every day is a learning experience, but we'll get there... together.

~ Kyle Welykholowa ^_^

Let's Make It Official

Honestly, I find it kind of hard to believe that the day for us to make everything official and finally get married to my love is coming up so quickly.official I'm getting married to my love. I'm sure it was just yesterday that we still had a month to go before this big day. Now I find the big day is tomorrow!

Will this change anything? Of course it shows that we're committed, but I don't think it will change too much. I could be wrong, but other than a change of name and signed paperwork... I think we're pretty much already a married couple. Does that make it any easier and less nerve-wracking to go through with such a big event? Not really. This will be on display in front of our closest friends and family of our commitment to our relationship. We can't just go through with something like this then give up on it at the first sign of trouble. This is the real deal.

This is is no longer a recording with all the mistakes edited out of it. This is a livestream with all the technical difficulties you didn't expect. I have great confidence that together we won't be just another show cancelled after the first season. We will be an ongoing series right up until the end when there's nothing left for us to do... At which point they'll make spin offs of the other characters in our show going on to do their own things as they get older. Now, if all goes as planned... Or unplanned... we will have a long time with many adventures to go on about for quite some time.

Seriously though, I think we compliment each other so well it's almost scary. She's excited, I'm content. She's loud, I'm quiet (usually). She's clean, I'm dirty. She's wants things done right away no matter what, I want to take a little bit more time to think about it first. The real tough part seems to be learning to communicate together. We're absolutely getting better at it each and every day, but it's certainly an ongoing process to learn about one another and how to coexist together under the same roof while raising children.

Let me just take a moment to thank family for being so helpful and supportive even at the worst of times, and friends for giving us people to socialize with and talk to besides each other. Most of all, I should thank Carley for continuing to put up with me no matter how silly or stupid I may be on any given day. I mean heck, even though we have a child doesn't mean we have to make things work; though I am glad that thing's do in fact work between us.

Here's to a wonderful future with many years to come. I love you Carley. <3

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== 30 days on $30 ===

     February 3rd, 2018 marks the beginning of Carley's 30 days on $30 challenge. In this challenge, her goal is to spend only $30 for the month of February on food and drinks. She had asked if I was interested in doing this with her. Unfortunately my answer had to be no due to being completely aware that I would be miserable the entire time. Carley on the other hand, is mentally prepared to go through this to gain a better understanding of how to keep a food budget on the cheaper side rather than unnecessary spending. She is also using this as an opportunity to learn to be more creative with the foods she has available. Finally, she's doing this because she wants to be able to say she has completed this and can do it whether or not she really has to.

     At first, while I was accompanying Carley on her shopping trip, I had thought to myself that it couldn't be possible to buy enough food with only $30 unless most of it is spent on something really cheap like rice. As it turns out, most of the food she got is NOT rice. There are quite a few noodles and soups and things and even some juices. Amazingly, what she managed to find and buy is much more than I would have expected and definitely more options than I would have thought possible. Here's a picture of everything she got for herself throughout the day.

     I know every time I go shopping I always think I'm not getting all that much... until I get to the checkout. At that point, things start to add up and then I realize just how expensive it is to eat anything other than noodles and rice. Just in case some of you don't believe this is actually $30 worth of food, here's the receipts as proof.

     Now, for all of you who can do math, yes, these receipts do go over the $30 value. There's a bit of a story to that as an explanation: See, we were looking at frozen vegetables thinking she'll need some sort of veggies to eat for the month. At first we were thinking of a couple different kinds of vegetables, but then we saw a price tag for a larger bag of peas for only about $2. Who could pass that up, right? It's not every day that you find a price tag that is probably printed wrong! Unfortunately the cashier we went to was her first day on the job and the manager on duty started yelling at her when he came over. It was in a different language, so we couldn't tell what he was saying, but it was clear that the girl was being yelled at. We felt so bad because she started crying that we just decided to pay what the price came up as and leave. Here's the tag we found for the peas.

     So, yes, the price tags aren't completely accurate as a result of the error, but keeping this price tag in mind, Carley did in fact stay under her price limit. She's keeping her food separate from the rest of the household so she can keep track of it all. My job? I'll be here to tell you all about her experience with this challenge and keep track of whether or not she's sticking to the rules. If anybody has any questions, please feel free to comment and I'll be sure to get the answers for your as soon as I can. Just for attempting something like this, I'm very proud of my Carley whether or not she succeeds.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== I've been Slacking ===

     First thing's first, I have to apologize to everybody for slacking in the past month. I haven't really posted anything for nearly a month now. Ever since the holiday preparation started, I haven't been doing much of anything useful at all. With work being so busy since there's only four of us rather than five in the office, Isabelle starting to stand up on everything, and everything else going on these days... I just haven't taken the time to post anything recently.

     So, my first New Year's resolution this year is to start talking to more people and try to actually get to know some people whom I can spend some time with either playing games or going out for coffee with. As another sort of resolution thinger... I'm wanting to put more effort into the things I want to succeed at. There are many things I want to succeed at including my blog which is why I'm making this post. You can expect to see many more posts about random life, game reviews, and current events. I'm also hoping I might be able to start doing food or movie reviews or something else.

     Here's hoping for a great new year with much to talk about. I'm looking forward to having much success at many things this year. I'm hoping you'll all join me as well on this fantastic journey and share this with all your friends.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== October 2017 Recap - Getting Into The Groove ===

     Alright, so I've decided around the beginning of each month from now on I'm going to give some kind of recap as to how things are going with my blog and sometimes with myself as well.

     This past month I only made two posts and my total views has gone down a little which says to me that I need to get back on the posting train so that I can continue to make something of my site. I have a lot of good ideas in mind to post about so here's hoping I can find the time and energy to actually get to work on these things. There's so much that I can do with this to let everybody know about my thoughts and even to share my ideas on current events in the world which could one day grow into something pretty big if people find me entertaining enough.

     The hardest part is finding places and people who are interested enough in my content that the word gets around. I don't personally know many people and I'm not really part of any groups so it can be difficult to get in touch or find people who actually want to engage with my content and spread it around. That's where I'm hoping someone out there will share these stories or tell others about my work just to take that quick second to share something.

     I also greatly appreciate any comments people leave on my posts whether it's something telling me I'm doing a good job, or an insightful question, or any kind of feedback at all. Let me know you're listening! You shouldn't even have to sign up to make a comment at the bottom of each of my posts.

Keep being wonderful everybody! ^_^

~ Kyle

=== A Neglectful Owner ===

     With being so busy over the past month of June with work and school and everything else, I've been a pretty neglectful owner to my blog. I'm definitely super happy to be done being so super busy all the time; finally I can actually sit down and think about things other than what work I have to get done at all points in time.

     Of course I'm still super busy these days. I have quite a bit of work to keep track of and a few projects I'd like to work on including finally getting my garden ready to grow something.... probably for next year at this rate. Obviously I really want to get my blog back up and running as well. There's so much I want to write about, but I just haven't had enough time recently. I wish I had just a few more hours each day... maybe if I didn't have to sleep all the time....

     Realistically though, I think I just need to work on having a better diet. I think most of my lost energy is actually because I don't really eat very well. I do have a habit of only regularly eating one meal per day. I guess that makes me a bit of a neglectful owner of myself. I really don't get plenty of exercise either; some days I only have the time to sit in the car, sit at work, and sit at home.

     This clearly says to me that I need to work on quite a few things. I need to work on my health, my time management, and I need to work on getting back on track to my goals of content production and successful productive use of time. Even taking the time to think about what I want to type next but not putting anything down makes me feel silly for wasting time.

I might have a bit of a time-problem. ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Spring Semester ===

     If you've never taken Spring classes at school, then oh my goodness... let me tell you about how different this semester is compared to last semester. My previous semesters have been much MUCH slower than this one. I didn't realize it at first, but I already have midterms coming up in about a week and my finals are only about a month later. I have assignments due almost every day with not much of a break between each one.

     It's definitely been really hard to keep up with everything and still help out around the house and with the baby. I want to be able to do a great job at work and around the house and with school all at the same time, but instead I think I'm tiring myself out and not doing an amazing job of anything. It's a tough position to be in; I know I want to do so much that I wouldn't sleep if I didn't have to, but I simply don't have enough energy to accomplish everything I want to do at this time.

     As an example: my blog. I have hopes and dreams and goals of wanting to post things at least every couple days in an effort to grow my site and viewers and also as a way of sharing myself with the world in a way which could possibly benefit others. Instead, I see myself only posting maybe once a week at best and the rest of the time I sit in front of my computer after work and fall asleep until I finally drag myself to bed. This unfortunately happens with homework some days as well.

     Combined with the busy-ness of how work has been at this time of the year, I can certainly say I'm looking forward to after June once I'm done with 99% of school. I'm looking forward to finally having time to think without feeling guilty that I'm not constantly working.

Have a great day everybody! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

It's been so long!

     So I haven't updated my blog in like half a month now. I got so busy planning and taking care of Carley's birthday and searching for a new job that I just haven't really been able to do much of anything like this recently. I'm so sorry to anybody who enjoys reading about my thoughts and activities. I have missed doing this as of late.

     Carley's birthday was a huge success! She absolutely loved it! It makes me so happy to know that this most important birthday of hers went well. We stayed at a hotel and did all sorts of fun activities including somewhere around ten games of Laser Quest each. We're now members seeing as we find it so much fun that we would love to go quite a bit more often if possible.

     Following the success of the birthday, I spent the next little while figuring out and executing on a plan we made for myself to move back in with Carley. Seeing as we've been just a little bit short on funds recently, we figured it would be a good idea to move in together again. It'll be a great way to save money and a huge load of stress off of the both of us which can only help to move our relationship in the right direction.

     I've been learning a lot about Carley including how to handle her and help her when she's feeling stressed. We've also learned how to communicate much better than before. Things are looking pretty good. Obviously we're still a little bit stressed at the moment, but that should go away once the last of the moving is done. I have my little computer space all set up as evidenced by the fact that I'm sitting here using it. All we have left to do is get things into our storage space.

     Go out and be awesome everybody! ^_^

~ Kyle