Life After Baby Number Two

Alright, so last time I posted anything was... a little over four months ago? Shortly before our beautiful new baby Topanga was born. Perhaps you can guess that having a second child is quite a bit more difficult than I had originally anticipated; not so much that the second baby is hard to handle, but suddenly the first becomes more work once there's someone else there to share the attention.

Only recently have I finally been able to begin feeling like I can actually start working on my hobbies like writing and blogging once again, hence why I haven't posted anything prior to now. There's certainly quite a bit of work having to change diapers every couple hours after being used to not needing to do so with a 3-year-old. Gotta get up every few hours no matter what time it is to feed the baby and play a bit and put her back to sleep once she's tired again. So busy so much of the time.

But really the new baby isn't all that much work in my opinion. Like... I've done it before. Or even just helped with it. So I know what I'm doing with the second one rather than learning everything for the first time, and thanks to conveniently being let go from my previous job shortly before Topanga was born, I've had so much time to spend with her to get to know her up until this point. I suppose I'm honestly quite grateful for such opportunity, though it has truly been quite a financial strain which couldn't have been handled up to now without Carley being so awesome and figuring out the situation.

The really hard part of this whole ordeal has been transitioning Isabelle into no longer being an only child. I remember my sister saying that the hardest part about having another baby isn't the new baby... it's the first child that's the hardest part. I absolutely get that now; Isabelle is still teaching us new things each and every day for the first time which we can then use to teach Topanga in a better way down the road in the future.

So here we are, four months later from my last post... just when I think things will finally get back to the way life was before, things change again because she figured out how to roll over; now we've had to learn to sleep without being swaddled at night, and wouldn't you know it, she starts getting red-cheeked and fussy which is messing with her sleep schedule. Oh, children are such a frustrating and yet totally rewarding life adventure of new experiences each day. 

Have a wonderful day! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

Life Update - March 2020

It's been a while since the last time I posted something other than a game review. Today, I bring you an update on the current goings on in my life!

Wife

Carley is still doing fantastic since starting her new medication back in January. If not for now being 7 months pregnant and looking after a screaming toddler, I'm sure she'd be one of the happiest people on the planet. Recently she's been finding herself to be more tired than usual and even being sore without having done too much physically. I know she hasn't been able to do as much around and out of the house as usual, so she's been going a little bit stir-crazy... not because she can't leave the house, but instead because she can't user her body as much as she wants.

So instead of going out and running around Carley has been putting more of her effort into cooking amazing meals for our family to have us eat well and keeping the finances under control. I really don't think we've ever been so organized before. We have new artwork going up around the house, things being beautified to look more bright and wonderful, and I really think this is the best we've ever been doing as long as we've known each other.

Daughter

She's going to be three later this month! I've been thinking of her as being three for quite a while now and I think that is making it seem like it's taking forever for her to actually turn three for real. She's been telling us more and more stories each day. Sometimes her brain is trying to go so fast that her mouth can't keep up and she stumbles over words and sentences until we get her to slow down and take a breath! I'm looking forward to the inevitable never-ending stream of works that come as she gets older... though perhaps she'll learn to be a little bit quieter every once in a while instead of constantly yelling her tales at me.

No matter what she just gets cuter and cuter as time goes on and I love her more and more with each and ever day.

Dogs

They're still alive and adorable! Maybe a little bit spoiled though.

House

Has there been a big update to the house? In a way, yes. We decluttered A TON of stuff from the house. Bunches of things we weren't using were donated and a ton of other junk that wasn't useful was discarded thanks to the help of a very awesome guy who made a couple runs to the dump for us.

Surprisingly, I've also managed to be somewhat handy and not only fix a broken wire in our alarm system, but also change an outlet from 2 to 3 prongs in our bedroom WITHOUT shocking myself or starting a fire! Yay!

ME!

I've tried a type of antidepressant before that didn't seem to make much of a difference if any at all. Recently I've started taking an antidepressant once again to see if it has a quality impact on my moods, though of course this one is a different one than last time. I'll admit that I'm a little bit surprised that I feel so great compared to how I've felt previously. I didn't really think about it too much but I've had anxiety over starting a day of work before where now I have none. Something that I'm quite used to, talking to people over the phone and online, and yet I was feeling anxious over it.

Now I feel wonderful! So wonderful that I'm even doing work on projects that I had pretty much stopped working on altogether such as my making videos, live streaming, and even working on my blog. Not only that, but I've started writing and colouring again. I'm even beginning to draw every once in a while. Life feels so wonderful that it's difficult to be annoyed and angry with anything or anybody. I'm getting fresh air whether it's walking with the child, the dogs, or just myself. It's so perfect!

At this point I don't even have goals that I'm all concerned about hitting other than to just have fun and live a little.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

New Job, New Routine, New Friends

Hey everyone! If you haven't heard, I have a new job! Unfortunately my new job has be being extremely exhausted after work most days which makes it quite difficult to do much of anything... including my blogging. Now, I truly do enjoy typing and sharing my stories with the world, but when you're so tired that you can't even bring yourself to spend some time typing for a bit is quite something.

For anybody wondering, I'm now working at the Thunder Creek Pork Plant in Moose Jaw. Historically, I haven't done MUCH for physical work. Instead, I've done a lot of cashiering and customer servicing and whatnot of that type... this work requires much more lifting and using of the arm muscles that I haven't had much of previous to now. So as a result, I end up being quite tired and sore at the end of the day especially given the fact that I have to get up by 5:00 AM at the latest if I want to have enough time to comfortably get ready for work in the morning.

So how crazy is that? I still like to stay up much later than I probably should whether or not I have to get up so early in the morning... though I find that because what I do for by entire work day is pick up and move meat around, I don't exactly need to be in the best mood and super awake and all that. Basically I still like to stay up late and watch shows and YouTube and Twitch and things, but I often don't have the energy or willpower to get anything else done while I'm here.

Luckily with this new job and new routines around it, I've surprisingly managed to find new friends! Never did I ever think I would find people that I would get along with working in a pork plant of all things, but strangely enough there are people there who enjoy joking around and even playing games outside of work. I've been needing to find new friends to game with for quite a while now and suddenly finding people I can chat about games with and play games with is such a rush that I haven't had for quite a while now. I finally feel like I have interesting things to talk about again!

So for the time-being I'm looking for an office job to take advantage of my schooling and get a higher pay to better support the family, but in the mean-time I'm much happier than I ever thought I'd be working in a cold pork plant. It's definitely something to get us by for now that I can stick with if I for some reason can't find what I'm looking for in an office. With that, wish me luck in my continuing search and let us see if we can get back on track with everything we're wanting to do.

In the mean time, have a great day everyone! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

Being Sick SUCKS

Holy man, let me tell you guys, being sick SUCKS. It's hard to get a good night's sleep, difficult to get up in the morning with your perfectly wide-awake child, and the worst part is keeping yourself up and motivated to do things you know need to be done. Even washing the dishes feels nearly impossible when sick.

And it's all thanks to this little thing here:

I have never been sick so much in my life since Isabelle started going to daycare and now she happily brings home every bit of germs and sickness that she can and spews it everywhere either by coughing all over things, or in my face, or by putting her mouth all over the stuff that we touch all the time. On the bright side... I SHOULD (in theory) become a healthier person with her strengthening my immune system. On the other hand, I still have this cough that I haven't been able to get rid of since... I don't really remember anymore, it's been more months than I can think of. I just can't seem to stop coughing ALL THE TIME. Now there's probably something to do with "Kyle needs to drink more healthy liquid water with no sugar in it..." Or.... Uhh..... No, that's probably something to do with it. IT'S A WORK IN PROGRESS!

If that wasn't bad enough, in all the kerfuffle my wife got sick as well. Now, Carley getting sick is something that happens from time to time and I'm quite used to taking care of her including the additional requests when she's not feeling well, but something about this sickness was a little bit different than usual. I just couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew something wasn't quite right... is it true that she's really just that cranky and annoyed with everyone only because she's sick?

As it turns out we were hit with the unexpected inconvenience of Carley's doctor being away during the time when she needed to go in to renew her prescription for Concerta. If you don't know what Concerta is, it's a slow-release medication for ADHD which really helps her focus and not hate everybody. So because the doctor was away, we couldn't get her prescription renewed which meant she had to do without her medication for a week. Something we didn't expect which never occurred to use as a possibility is that she went through some withdrawal. As it turns out, taking Concerta daily doesn't make you think much about it other than notice how much it helps with day-to-day life, but quitting it cold-turkey actually causes a withdrawal period which would be similar (though likely not as bad) as quitting something like heroin so suddenly. Insane, right?

So needless to say, dear little Isabelle was happy as a clam the past week or so, Carley got sick and went through withdrawal which made her tired and want to stay in bed but also get out of the house because she couldn't stand anybody (while also needing to go out for a walk due to excessive energy levels), and I just held on to sanity while being sick and having to cater to the demands of two ladies who were so very in need... oh, and of course the dogs still needed to go out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in all day long again. No rest for the weary as they say.

Anywhos, now that I'm pretty sure I'm over the majority of being so very sick, and now that I've finished watching the Netflix show "Strong," I'm feeling much like I should start getting back into producing blog posts and new content to keep you all entertained. I have so much in my brain brain BRAIN, that I want to get out there and share with you all!

Keep an eye out for more stuff coming up very soon! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

Get Ready For The Best Time

Are you ready for the best time? What better time could there be then now to begin anew with all the stories and videos and reviews and everything that I've been working on?

Now, I could have made some posts and some videos over the past few weeks, but I just wasn't feeling it. I didn't think that forcing myself to make a video while sick would be of the best quality that I'm looking for. I didn't think that making myself stay up while tired would make for the best quality thoughts put onto a page. And to top it all off... the Summer Games Done Quick marathon started which played for a week straight. So I effectively took a vacation from my content production and in only a couple days I'll be taking another week for a REAL family vacation.

This is great you see, because I have been sick for like the past month. Well, I was sick for a couple weeks followed by having a lingering cough for a week followed by... Well it's mostly gone but still a little bit there. And I'm sure the whole reason I got sick in the first place was because of the new influx of germs from Isabelle and all her adorable little friends coming and going from daycare all the time.

There was also the major adjustment which I'm still working on right now of Carley starting her new job which was part time at various different hours, but now is a full-time position all the time five nights a week... nights. Now I do love that Carley is so happy working and getting herself out of the house, building connections and relationships, and generally being happier. The hardest part is that we have to learn to exist together within the same household still seeing each other at least a little bit every once in awhile. If you have never worked opposite hours from your significant other, you wouldn't believe how difficult it can be to not see your significant other except for like two days a week. The rest of the time, one of you is tired and the other is not, or one of you stays up later than you should to see the other followed by being exhausted the next day. There really is no great in-between point. But for us, it is what is best for us right now.

So hey, I'm going to upload a few things while I have the time today, go on vacation, then get to work on finally making something of my everything I want to do with this here blog and everything else I do. During the time I'm gone, I will do my best to at least take down some thoughts of what has gone on each and every day which I would then be able to turn into a blog post very quickly after coming back.

I have to say, I love the job that I have and I love being able to share my life and my experiences with all of you fine people out there. Please continue to share with me any ideas you have for Content that you would like to see or hear. I have lots of great ideas but your feedback is the most important to me for what you want to see. You can always comment right on each blog page, comment on any of the links that I share out there, or even email me at Kyle.Welykholowa@gmail.com.

Enjoy yourselves out there, and look forward to more great content coming at you soon! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

First Day of Spring 2019

Hey everyone!

In case you didn't know, today is the first day of Spring in 2019. I can absolutely say that I'm super happy for Spring to finally be here with all the warming up and melting that comes with it. I have great hopes of getting out more this year with the family; especially the dogs who didn't get out too much over the Winter. Really the whole family deserves to be able to get outside more and enjoy the nice weather. I'm hoping for much more trips to the park, the beach, and perhaps we'll be able to find some time to get out on some adventures to other places as well.

Don't get me wrong, Winter is great, and the coming warmer weather wouldn't be as awesome without the long drawn-out cold to really make you miss how nice it is to be able to go outside in shorts and a t-shirt. Without this warming and cooling cycle throughout the year, I absolutely wouldn't appreciate the changes in weather as much as I do now. I do enjoy going out for walks in the cold weather when the snow is out, but now that the temperatures are rising... though I'm not looking forward to all the mud that comes with it, I'm super excited to be able to get outside with a dog or two in the evening for a walk or a run 

For me, Spring is the real beginning of the year with new growth and warm weather. I'm thinking now is a great time to start a new thing of updating my goals with each season and I'll try to give a summary of how I feel I did at the end of the season.

SPRING GOALS

Family - I want to spend more time with my family doing engaging things together. I'm getting rather tired of TV and movies, so I'm wanting to play more games together whether that's board games, video games, or outside activities.

Health - Enough is enough! Time to get into shape and be more healthy than I have been in the past. My chosen type of work often has me sitting anywhere from 4 - 12 hours on a work day, so I definitely need to be doing some sort of extra type of activities to keep myself in good health. What a great excuse to get one or both of the dogs out for a walk as often as possible. Perhaps I should also mention that I have a brand new bicycle to get a ton of use out of this year; maybe I can even work on building some muscle this year as well, wouldn't that be great?

Work - I hate to say it, but money is an important factor this season. My goal will be a little bit mixed I think. Right now I'm quite happy with my job and it definitely has a lot of potential room for making extra money and even advancing through the system, but now that I'm done with my Office Administration Certificate, I may want to start looking for a higher-grade job.

Hobbies - Other goals while I'm considering what exactly I want to do on the work front include other options such as continuing to work on this here blog and my other content production avenues which may provide a secondary stream of income in the future. Definitely a bit of a dream there, but I wouldn't mind hitting something big one day and making the best of it... though I'm not BANKING on that happening. I'll definitely continue streaming and try to get on top of taking and posting pictures more regularly whenever we do fun things. I also may use some of my time to get back into playing my violin and try to do some writing and drawing as well... I have more than enough materials to work with on all of that. Most of all, I would actually really like to start reading more books again. I have a lot of books I would love to read again and a bunch of new books I would like to start reading as well... I'll work on that.

Projects - My other goals for the season are quite simple: clean up the house, and get some things done. This sort of covers everything because I have a really bad habit of procrastinating on things, but the most important part of this area is that I finally get the house back in order not only upstairs, but also in the porch, out in the backyard, and down in the basement. Things are a mess and there are also many house projects that we've talked about that I would like to finally get done.

So there we go, there's a lot to work on. I think it may be because I'm feeling behind on many things, but that's definitely something that I know I can catch up on... as soon as I stop procrastinating on, like... everything. So with that, wish me luck and let me know about your goals for the Spring season. As always, I'm always accepting of any ideas you guys may have and love hearing from you.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

Keeping Up With Life Is Hard

I've kinda posted about this sort of thing before, but it's honestly quite hard to keep up with life sometimes.

There's so much I want to do and I always feel like I just don't have enough time to do it all. Yeah, a bunch of it is things like blogging and streaming which most people I know would probably think is a silly thing to want to do all the time, but for me it's a fun thing I like to do that makes me happy. There are other things I would like to do as well including reading, drawing, writing, and getting back into playing my violin.

The worrying part is when I feel so apathetic that I don't feel like doing any of these things, especially when I don't even feel like playing games which is normally a very fun thing for me to do. Lately I've found it very hard to get up enough willpower to do any of these things which is actually rather concerning to me now that I think about it. Besides being always tired, I find myself not really wanting to do anything and only really able to get up and be energetic for the purpose of working.

I have great plans for so many things I want to do and how I want to be great and energetic and happy and be so much fun, and then I find I'm fighting with myself to do anything else but sleep in my spare time. I find it very frustrating to feel like this, but at least I know I'm in a pretty good spot to deal with this sort of thing right now with my family close by me and a comfortable place to feel safe and able to handle my problems.

As always, look forward for more awesome things happening in the future. I may try to mix things up with a few longer and shorter posts just to keep things rolling every now and then even when I'm not totally feeling it.


Have a great day everybody! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

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 ^_^

Sidetracked Development

Hey everyone! We've had a little bit of a... development last week and now not only am I super far behind on blog posts from months ago, but I'm also incredibly sidetracked from where I want to be right now. All is not lost though! At this point, I need to keep myself busy and what better way is there to do so than by resetting myself and getting back to work?

So for a little bit, my posts may be jumping around a tad more than usual with some being current events and some being past events, but I'll be sure to keep all the proper pages updated so that correct timelines can be followed for anybody who wants to read from start-to-finish all in one go. Now that I'm done with the most important final class I have (which means I can officially apply to have the certificate I've been working towards for the past couple years), I can finally put more focus back into the blog that I have loved so dearly since it began.

Between work and child-entertaining, I've got a lot to do, but I think I can fit in a little bit of time for those important hobbies that keep be sane. I have a plan, a vision, a goal, a desire, to make this into a wildly successful site along with everything else I do and I can only make that happen with YOU.

Don't be afraid to keep up with IntroNerdedLiving, there's something for everyone here! I'm always looking for suggestions no matter where the comments are done. Please like, share, follow, and whatever else you have time to do if you enjoy anything that I do on this here blog. You can look forward to the continuing story of our honeymoon trip, game reviews, YouTube videos, and more!

Whether you tell me in person or via text, it means a lot to know that people read and keep coming back to read more.

Stay tuned for the next edition of IntroNerdedLiving. ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

How Time Flies

Every once in a while I find myself taking a step back and realizing just how time flies by and life gets so busy. There's so much I have to do and so much more that I want to do; how can a person fit everything into such a short amount of time?

Today I find myself somewhat disappointed for putting my blog on the backburner. So many stories and experiences and thoughts I find rushing through my head that haven't yet been given a chance to be shared with the world. On one hand, I suppose that's a good thing that I was able to have that break because now I feel like I've hit somewhat of a muse that I've been missing previously.

I suppose what I'm looking forward to coming up is the end of my school courses. While they've been fun, I think it really is time to buckle down and complete them. Yeah, that may mean some of my other projects won't get as much attention as I would like. It may even mean I cannot spend as much time with the family as I would like, but once I'm done... I don't have to worry about it anymore. It will truly be such a load off my mind and a weight off my shoulders to not have to devote so much time to working through these classes. I suppose what I'm saying is that I'm about to start a strict diet of textbook material for a while until I can be confident that I know what I'm doing.

So don't be alarmed if you don't hear from me for a bit... though I still fully intend to get back to making blog posts more regularly and continuing to try to stream more often. Perhaps it is a strange thing to many people out there, but live streaming... even if I were to be reading a book or working through schoolwork... something about it seems to motivate me to work harder and to be better and more proactive in other parts of my life. I don't know how to explain it really, but it's there in my mind working away, breaking down the wall that builds up stopping me from getting the simplest things done on a day-to-day basis.

I'm not going to go into detail about everything I have to do and everything I want to do, you'll see the results of all my hard work as things are completed. I can say my primary goals at this time include performing well with my new job (which I absolutely love), spending quality time with my family, and getting back up to date with the real (not gaming) blog posts that I know you all love.

I look forward to continuing to entertain you all. Don't forget to follow the blog, Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch so you don't miss any of the coming action!

As usual, you're all fantastic and I look forward to hearing from you when time isn't flying away from you too. ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Getting Laid ===

     A few weeks ago, I found myself getting laid... off from my job. While that's certainly something you don't expect to see coming, I wasn't totally surprised due to some other people getting laid off previously as well. At this point I'm still looking for a new job, but strangely I think we're doing better now than we were doing before. We finally have all of our bills paid including our credit card and we still have some money to spare for groceries and gas and whatnot.

     This is a situation we didn't actively plan for, but now that we find ourselves in this position, we surprisingly aren't as worried as we had expected we would be. The craziest thing for me right now is that I'm having so much more time to see my sweet Isabelle than before. I'm learning new things about her that I didn't know before and watching her grow and start to do things that she wasn't able to before either. It's amazing to be able to watching all of this happening from the comfort of my own home... rather than for only half an hour every morning and an hour each evening.

     I've become a stay-at-home dad at this point. Honestly, I didn't really think it would be so difficult to keep up with all the daily housework and things that have to get done. On one hand, I'm exhausted and worn out and I don't want to keep doing anything, but on the other hand, I'm getting things done and getting the house slowly organized and it feels great! I think I might be a little bit sad that I'm going to have to go back to work at some point (preferably sooner rather than later).

     One thing I would like so say is that I have no hard feelings towards Boardwalk at all. That's unfortunately just a part of business sometimes. I would still work for them if a favourable opportunity presented itself, but I will admit that I am enjoying a bit of time off where I can do some other things for a bit including paying a bit more attention to this here blog. I have big plans you guys, big plans. Much to do, much to do. Everything will come together in no time and soon enough you'll be reading about me almost every day! (Or maybe not, who knows? :P )

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Discovering A New Show ===

     Recently I've discovered a new show to watch and keep up with. Star Trek: Discovery is finally out after such a long time of hearing about it and waiting for it to come to the TV screen. I love things to do with space, and so I've always been a huge fan of all the Star Trek shows. Finally having an updated show to watch with all the new content and ideas and everything going on in it is breathtakingly amazing.

     There's something about space that really gets to me. I can stand outside on a clear night and look at the stars and start wondering and thinking all about how amazing it is that we're here; so small in the grand universe of things. And then when I think even more about that... how something so small as an ant exists as a living thing, and even smaller than that can be alive as well. All of these things are as small to me as I am to Earth. And yet, Earth is only an ant to the other planets, stars, and space around it.

     So here I am watching a wonderful new show all about these amazing things which is first of all is a great show with awesome content in the Star Trek universe, and secondly is about one of the very things I can lose my thoughts in.

     I don't watch a lot of TV shows, which is another reason why this is so great for me. It's nice to have something to sit down and watch or listen to where I don't have to be constantly at work all the time. I spend a lot of time thinking and planning and doing all sorts of things because I always want to be busy and productive. Every once in a while... it gets to be a little too much. As much as I would like to be the superman who never needs to rest, even I can get tired of working absolutely all the time. Speaking of working all the time... it's time to stop working for a bit. :)

Have a great day everybody! Don't work yourselves too hard. ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Quick Morning Post ===

     Time for a quick morning post to get the day going. I'm getting excited here, I have a couple plans to start some projects coming up. I'll be sure to update everybody on them as they happen. I don't want to reveal too much too soon, 'cause then the excitement will pass once it's finally time to let everybody know what I've done. Either that or there will be a letdown if something doesn't get done quickly or worse.... if something doesn't get done at all. I've been slacking a little bit lately (I'm sure I've said this more than once). I'll be starting on some new projects soon and continuing with some old ones right away as well. The hardest part is finding the proper time to actually get all of this done, but soon enough I'll figure out how to properly fit all of this into the time that I do have.

     The most important project to me at this time is getting into a greater habit of posting to my blog more often. I have much I would like to write about including everyday life, game reviews, food, drinks, locations, and experiences. I just tend to forget about how easy it is to sit down for a few minutes and write about it. I mean... one of my favourite things to do is to sit down a type for a while (I know, I'm weird). That's one of the reasons I keep a notepad file at work to type everything I need to follow-up on; also it's easier to keep up to date and not lose things that way.

     So I hope you all have a wonderful morning and please look forward to a coming flurry of new things on my blog, YouTube, and Twitch. You're all amazing and you all deserve to be entertained! ^_^

~ 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

=== Engagements ===

     Recently I have found myself quite busy with many engagements going on which are making it quite difficult get much done other than work, eat, and sleep. As always there's so much that I would like to do, but I'm usually either too tired from driving or I have some sort of school assignment due that night. Although there's plenty going on to keep me busy, I have managed to work through some of these engagements, and have even gotten some to work out to my advantage.

     The most prominent engagement I have currently would probably be school. With only half a month left before the finals, I'm quite close to being done the course. I'll unfortunately have a class which I'll have to retake to officially have the course certificate, but otherwise I should be quite employable in a real office setting. As much as I enjoy working where I am currently, I need to work towards something better for myself and my family because we just don't quite have the funds to get through everything we need. We're really close, but it seems like just when we're almost there, something happens which sets us behind again. This time it's a stone-chip which has become much worse than a chip. Just as we left to go get it fixed, we found that it turned from a chip to a crack which is just getting bigger each day.

     After school, I'm finding myself somewhat engaged with getting everything together at work; There's a lot of paperwork to keep up with and get on top of every day. I do however really enjoy my job. There are days when I find it difficult to get out the door and go to work and then once I get there, I find myself not wanting to make the necessary phone calls or whatever I need to do. I think if I were able to eat properly that I wouldn't have so much of that issue and I would be a much happier and more energetic person; perhaps I have an iron deficiency.

     The engagement I'm wanting to work on most is my content production. I've been so busy lately that my willpower to work on this sort of thing including my blog, Youtube, Twitch, and other projects (which also includes my garden) has declined drastically. I would like so much to work more on these sorts of things, but as of right now there are more important things to do. I'm sure I'll have much more time next month after school is done when I'll be able to live a more normal life not so full of things to do at every waking moment of the day. I keep getting the occasional subscriber or follower on YouTube and Twitch which makes me want to keep going. I keep seeing the numbers of viewers of my blog increasing over time which drives me to write more. These are things I really enjoy doing and want to succeed at without it feeling too much like work and without being exhausted all the time. I look forward to the day when I can confidently say I've truly done good work with at least one of these helping out in just a simple small way... even if it only pays for an ice cream one day down the road.

     The most exciting engagement is without a doubt the amazing news that Carley and I are ENGAGED! No seriously, there's a ring and everything. She had been saying for some time that she would be fine with a silver band, or a ring carved out of wood... or a ring pop. I managed to get her a real ring with a sapphire gem and get her out to Lake Diefenbaker where we explored the wild surroundings before finding a wonderful spot to propose to her without her having any clue about it before hand. She thought I just wanted a video of us kissing on the beach to remember the trip, but I then told her to wait and told her I had forgotten something. She had no idea what was going on and didn't believe her eyes when she saw a box get pulled out of my bag then get opened to reveal an actual engagement ring. It was such a beautiful experience going out there in general and it was made so much better by finally being able to propose to my love Carley. I look forward to our next trip out there. I only wish it didn't take 6 hours and a whole tank of gas to get there and back, but it's absolutely worth it. I wouldn't trade it for the world, and I wouldn't trade my love for the world. I'm the luckiest guy... in the world.

There are a lot of engagements going on right now and I can't wait to see how they all turn out. ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Crying, Babies, and Midterms ===

     So we've been handling our baby and wow, those midterms sure showed up fast; I didn't realize the spring semester would go by so quickly. Everything has been rushing by it seems with things to do every day followed by crying, crying, crying, and more crying... which results in sudden losses of consciousness at various times of the day when there is nothing immediately important to be doing. All of this however, is interrupted at equally random times of the day by more crying.

     This past month has been pretty much continuously assignments due at least every second day. As you may be able to imagine: driving 45 minutes to and from work every day, being short on sleep, trying to help with the baby, and then trying to get some school work done at the end of the day... it's a little bit difficult. There are times when things end up being late. There are times when things just don't get done at all. Currently, this includes booking a couple of my midterms... so I'm going to have to figure out how to still write those even though there is no available time to write them left in the system. Ugh...

     I look forward to the times when everybody is sleeping; the baby, the dog, and Carley. At these times I actually get some uninterrupted time to myself... for a bit. Inevitably someone ends up needing something. Carley needs a bit of help or attention or something to get done, the baby wakes up and wants........... I really don't know what, or the dog needs to get outside. I can't believe I'm thinking this, but the dog is probably actually the least needy at this time.

     I'm certainly looking forward to being done with my classes so I won't have to be doing so much all the time anymore. Oh how I can't wait to have proper time to think each day after I get home from work. One day Kyle... one day.

~ 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

=== Semester 3 Begins! ===

     Hard to believe the finals of last semester just happened a week ago and now here I am completing my first couple assignments today. I definitely wasn't expecting the final semester to begin so quickly but here we are starting the last leg of the journey (for the most part).

     It's been a tough road so far getting through all the classes. These days I don't have much energy to work with where I'm not physically exhausted. Some days I'm quite mentally exhausted as well, but for the most part I'm wanting to do so much and get so much done but I'm just not able to because my body wants to sleep. I know I'll be able to get through it all in the end, but right now it feels SO bad.

     Let's use tomorrow as an example. Tomorrow I want to work on my blog by making a post and promoting it. I also want to upload a video or two on my YouTube channel. I have hopes of wanting to play with the dog, steam clean the carpets, do a bit of writing, watch a show, work on school work, spend time with Carley, bake banana bread, go for a hike, play DDR, read a book, play a game on a console that I haven't played before, and probably more. There's so much I would love to do! Unfortunately I just don't really have the energy to do all of that in one day.

     It isn't all bad though. I'm sure I make it sound all awful, but seriously I actually think we're doing quite well at the moment. I'm super proud of myself for having made about $0.40 so far through my blog (which is a huge accomplishment for me!). And I'm still managing to find some time to do things other than be a vegetable or only work so much that I have no personality. Just give me a week or so from now and I think things might be a little better. Next coming month we're actually looking to be doing much better than we have been previously and oh boy I can't wait to tell you all about it!

~ Kyle Welykholowa

Almost Two Weeks Already.

     It's hard to believe it has already been nearly two weeks since the birth of our daughter. Personally I'm not a fan of all the crying and loud noises, but so far it hasn't been TOO bad. I think Carley and I are starting to get a sort of rhythm going. Surely there will be much more challenges to come, but at the moment, I think we're doing pretty well.

     Both of us have been on and off tired at different times and let me tell you... when you have a baby, there isn't much time to have everything planned out like you may have used to do. I like to plan things out and get things done at certain times, so on, and so forth. Now... I try to get everything I'm hoping to done during the quiet times that I have until the next time I hear that familiar crying sort of whining thing. It's not all cries and awful noises though, she's really not all that bad. I'm absolutely looking forward to days when she's more communicative and talkable and things.

     The best news is that Furgle is amazing with her. He likes to sniff her a lot and get his nose right up in her face, but he doesn't lick her too much or try to bite at her and things. He still likes to hang around with us and normally isn't too much of a pain. Carley takes him out for a walk almost every day because she's trying to get back into shape and healthy before having her jaw surgery and then doing this process all over again. Furgle is definitely still our baby and will continue to be as long as we have him.

     I'm glad it seems like we've figured out something that works for all of us before my finals for this semester and the start of next semester. With work, school, and our daughter, it's certainly a lot of work to handle each and every day, but it's all working towards getting what we need for our family. Soon enough I'll be able to start applying for a better-paying job so we won't have to live so tightly when it comes to spending.

We'll get there for sure, it's only a waiting game now. Have a great day everybody! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

First day back at work since baby was born.

     So today was my first day back to work since our daughter was born; oh my goodness was I ever a mess this morning. So I'm almost at work and I realize... I have no keys to get into work... great. I send a text to my boss who says I may be able to talk to one of our associates who lives nearby and gives me the address. I run over there and get there just as she pulls into her parking space and tells me she just let someone else into the office as well. She drives me back over to the office and lets me in and the first thing I do is grab the extra set of keys I know are available.

     Alright, so everything is good, right? Wrong. I have a showing this afternoon who calls me and asks if he can have his showing done earlier. I agree to that and make plans to meet him downtown to do the showing... and then end up calling him back to tell him I can't do the showing because I don't have keys for downtown... I forgot them at home. He asked if there was anything else I would be able to show him and I tell him I can show him things around here.

     So now's the fun part: He gets here, I talk to him a bit and figure out what he's looking for, find options, stroll out of the office with him in tow walking out of the building and to another building with the vacant unit to show, get to the door of the unit............. I left my keys in the office. So I had to ask the guy to wait so I could run over to the associate's place and ask her to let me in again. She has to call another associate who's in the area to do a couple showings to swing by and let me back into the office.

     Ugh, what a silly morning this has been. I don't think I've ever been more disorganized since I've started working here. One thing after another this morning. I'm dearly hoping I don't have to do much else this afternoon seeing as I'm not sure at this point if I'll manage to do it correctly or if I'll somehow manage to lock myself out of the office AGAIN with no keys.

     What caused all of this? Well I'm feeling pretty good for sleep. We managed to sleep in pretty good yesterday which I think caught me up at least to where I need to be as long as I have a caffeine or two in the morning. But seriously, all I was thinking about this morning was NOT work. My thoughts this morning consisted of "Please stop crying, I don't like loud, here's a bottle and a clean diaper" and "Awe... Furgle... you probably shouldn't be laying in the baby's bed thinger, but you're VERY cute."

Just wanted to share a fun story with you today. Have a lovely day everybody! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa