Blessings Galore!!!

This week Andrew and I have been sooo blessed. We try to count our blessings everyday but this week we had really obvious blessings. I don't want to get into too much detail but Andrew and I didn't start off in a really great financial position. We have been working..welll Andrew has been working so hard to get us out of it and prepare us to feel more secure and start saving money for a house. This week Andrew went to pay his taxes...don't even ask why he is paying taxes in November lol...Anyways the guy told him that it was going to be $160 for doing the taxes...and Andrew was like...I only paid 50 last year...then the guy said were you a student last year? Anyways long story short, the lady forgot to deduct his schooling from his taxes and lets just say that saved us A LOT of money. Then Andrew has this mobile home out in Coutts that he bought to get a better knowledge of how to buy and sell a house, without it being an actual house. The guy he has got in there is renting to own but he was sooo bad at paying rent on time and he kept losing his job and just kinda scummy I guess. So one day he offered to just buy the house, he tried to skrew us over..but me being the business woman I am wouldn't take no for an answer even though softy Andrew was willing to settle. Again, long story short, he ended up giving us the money that he still owed on the house and now we don't have to worry about him trashing the house if we kicked him out or anything... it is ALL his now...and we have a big addition to our savings account!! WOO HOO! Then we had a $30 electricity bill and we only pay $525 for rent so that was pretty much a ridiculous amount for a month of bills haha. Andrew also found a truck on Kijiji that he really likes and thought it was a great find. He bought it and brought it home today...I don't really like it at all...I think part of the reason is because it has a flat deck on the back and so to me it is super ugly...but Andrew loves it. He came to the school to take me for a ride and I couldn't find my seatbelt so he pulled up in the parking lot over by the dariyqueen on the westside. He put the e-brake on and pulled the seat down to find my seatbelt...we were both looking for it and felt NOTHING...but for some reason I just looked up and I realized we were literally like 20 inches from hitting this van in the DQ drive thru. Andrew slammed on the brakes and we just couldn't believe our eyes that we DIDN'T hit this guy. We both HONESTLY did not feel a thing as we were rolling down the incline in the parking lot. I know it was because of the spirit that we didn't hit that van. Turns out the e-brake doesn't work in the truck...almost learned that the hard way...but the guy we almost hit was so NICE...I would have been peeved but he just made sure we were O.K. There were lots of other blessings this week but those were the big ones and I am so grateful we were blessed with them. I know that we can be blessed when we show the Lord our works. Andrew has been so willing to do this big new calling of his and I know MANY people would not want a calling like Andrew's. I also know it is because we pay our tithing and because of our fast on Sunday. Sometimes the Lord is just waiting to bless us if we show him our faithfulness. :)
Anyways GREAT WEEK...a lot of studying to do this weekend and I am going straight into final exams in full force!!!

Andrew's Career

So today Andrew and I got to spend some time together because it was too cold for him to go to work. I got off school at 1:30 and so we decided to go grocery shopping at Costco. When we got there we had lots of fun looking at all the Christmas decorations and fun books. It was really funny because when we got to actually grocery shopping Andrew kept asking for things and I would say "no we can't afford that" and this one time I said "Andrew, put that back!" and this old guy pushing a cart started laughing at us because I'm SURE he has been in Andrew's place before and his wife has told him to put things back. It makes me laugh just thinking about it. We did other various errands whilst discussing what Andrew should do with his life...we have gone through ideas such as a machinery salesman, biomedical engineer, real estate agent, mechanic, welder, any trade really.....we have no idea! I told Andrew he should be a stay at home Dad and I should just work but he didn't go for that lol!! Anyways this blog post is short but oh well, leave your thoughts and comments about what you think Andrew would be good at. Please?? :) Either on FB or here

Sunday!!

Today was so great!! Andrew woke up way earlier then me because he had to plan he lesson...for gospel doctrine class!! Yup, Andrew got called as gospel doctrine teacher in our ward and he did such an awesome job today. I slept in till what I thought was 10:30 but it really was only 9:30 so I went back and just cuddled in my bed for a while..sometimes I just like to lay there and think about life. We went to church and fast and testimony meeting was sooo great...we have a lot of old people in our ward so we get a lot of people who really know the saviour when they bear their testimony. Our Bishop has cancer so we had a lot of people get up and share their testimony and appreciation for our Bishop. I fasted today and it was the longest fast of my life hahah we got home for church and I made some pumpkin bread with chocolate cream cheese icing to take over to my parents house for dessert. I was adding the chocolate and I didn't want to add too much and over power the cream cheese taste so I tested to see if it was good enough and then all of a sudden I saw the milk sitting out and thought "wow I am really thirsty" so I grab the jug and drink right out of it...then 30 seconds later when I was wondering why that milk tasted so good I realized I had accidentally broke my fast haha. Needless to say I went into my room said a prayer and Andrew laughed that I didn't realize I had broke my fast. We went to my parents for dinner and had roast, mashes potatoes, peas, yorkshire puddings. I am so GRATEFUL we have family that lives so close and it is cool to have family dinners now that I am married... I am really starting to appreciate good meals like that....I can't cook that good! My pumpkin bread turned out good and everyone claimed they liked it...so I will believe them..I thought it was good. Anyways now we are just preparing our lunches and stuff for tomorrow! Have a happy monday!:)

You Can Never Win With This World!!!

Man is this post going to be a rant!!!!

You can never win with this world I tell ya!

This is not the first time I have experienced this...just the first time I have blogged about it lol

So today someone basically told me I am fat....and no I am not exaggerating.

All my life I have been teased for being too skinny,

in high school it was because I didn't have any boobs

or much of a butt.

I was teased for having big fat square yellow teeth.

I was teased for not wearing the most stylish clothes.

I was teased because I don't have the best come-backs.

I was teased because I am a dumb blonde.

I was teased for being clumsy.

I was teased for not being as smart as my friends in school.

I was teased for a lot more then that but I think that is sufficient.

My whole life I have been criticized and I have never felt good enough for anyone.

These past couple years ..yes I can say past couple years now!!

I have been with an AMAZING guy who makes me feel like I am such a catch!

He always tells me how smart, beautiful, thoughtful, amazing and wonderful I am.

So for once in my life I have NOT been stressing so much about what I look like,

if I am good enough, if I am smart enough and it feels freaking GREAT!

This might be a newsflash for some but....when I was skinny...I hadn't fully hit puberty yet! DUH!

Right now I may be a couple pounds heavier then I should be but SOO WHAT!

Did some people just think that I was never going to grow boobs and hips?!?!?!

I go from too skinny in my opinion to a healthy weight and all of a sudden I am fat?!?

or sorry...I should quote it directly from the person who said it right to my face..

"holy cow....no literally holy cow"

Well that sure makes a girl feel great....

Anyways I am really starting to realize why girls have eating disorders or on the flip side

are quite heavy. IF people would focus more on what is on the inside us ladies wouldn't have to be so self conscious of whats on the outside...

Some of us have more important things to do then count calories...

I am in 6 classes at the university and doing well in all of them,

I work a part time job of about 15 hrs a week,

I have church duties such as visiting teaching, institute class, scripture studying,

I do the laundry every week,

I hand wash all of our dishes,

I clean the rest of our house,

I take time out to go grocery shopping weekly,

I have a never ending list of homework,

I have group meetings,

I watch my little brother,

I occasionally run my sister to dance,

I hang out with my friends,

I spend every second I can with my husband

so maybe before you open your mouth you should realize that going to the gym is

LAST on my list of things to do.

I am making it my new life goal to compliment every person I have a chat with.

I am so fed up with the stupid standards that the world has said have to be met.

I am a freaking babe!!!!

Not trying to be conceded....but I get A LOT of attention from boys.

I am SMART

I am HELPFUL

I am a GOOD LISTENER

I am FUN

I am constantly LEARNING NEW THINGS

I am going to be a GREAT MOM

I am a CHILD OF GOD

I am RIGHTEOUS

I have a TESTIMONY

I have lots of room for GROWTH

but best of all I am HAPPY.

Misery loves company so please all of you who might be letting others get you down,

DON'T.

They are so NOT worth your time (I promise this blog post is not hypocritical I am just trying to make a point lol)

You are beautiful in your own way.

Love yourself and you will be happy.

I love my husband.....I am so glad I chose you babe!!!!

For the rest of my life I will be with a man who absolutely

thinks the world of me...and I am so happy about that.

LOVE NICOLE MACLEAN

Blah

Today is a blah day....or atleast I am making it a blah day. I always hate when it gets to be about a month before finals...because then I have to actually start studying even if I don't have a test the next day. I am publicly making a goal to study really well for all my classes so I can get awesome grades!!! School is really starting to drag...I have been going to school non-stop since last september....and I'm in my fourth year. I do not know what to do with my life still!!!! Decisions were so much easier when I was just worrying about myself. Now I have to worry about my husband and future family ( an no that does not illude to the fact that we are pregnant because we are most definitely not). But once you get married you have to start thinking about that kind of stuff. I am so use to just going to school...doing my thing ahha and now I have to start figuring out a life plan. Andrew says not to worry about it but I'm just a stress ball...it is who I am. Anyways, the other day I desperatly needed to do laundry...Andrew was out of everything and our room was starting to smell of his cow poo smell. Our laundry day is friday afternoon but some slots are still open so I thought I would see if there was anything going on tuesday afternoon. No one was on the schedule so I ran upstairs and got our laundry. I quickly sorted it into colors and whites and then I grabbed the soap and booked it to the elavator.. you never know who would get down there before us!!! Plus our land lady is kinda a nazi and doesn't want you to have more then 10 items in a load at one time....and yes these are full size washers and dryers....crazy lady. Anyways I had stacked the too baskets one on top of the other and the soap was in the top basket...I set them down to click the elavator button....and yes....whatever your thinking in your mind....you are probably right......the baskets were so full that the top one fell off the bottom one and all the laundry detergent powder fell allllll over the floor...GREAT. So I am still paranoid that someone might stick their clothes in before me and I know Andrew REALLY needs laundry so I just scoop up enough to put in the laundry and I run downstairs. I put the stuff in the washer and run back upstairs so scoop the rest up...after scooping as much as I could and inhaling waaaay too much I went and got our vacuum. I plugged it in and starting vacuuming...I would not recommend this....I breathed in so much laundry detergent!!! I tasted laundry detergent the rest of the day...so yeah just wanted to share that little moment with you.
Then my land lady got mad at me for not holding the door while closing it..kinda like in sacrament meeting when you hold the door till it closes....except as she is telling me this there is a construction worker down the hall using a drill or something loud....our land lady says that people on our floor like to have naps........yeah well I'm pretty sure me not holding the door isn't keeping them from having naps.....as I hear a BANG BANG BANG VRMMMMM BANG BANG .
Overall it was NOT my day but they are fun to look back at and just laugh!!!

Lady Bugs

So my goal is to start blogging more often. I realize this sounds like a silly goal but I really want to get into the habit of recording funny moments and have a cool online journal type thing!!

The reason my blog is titled "Lady Bugs" is because they are all over my floor!!! There must be cracks in the windows or something but I just started noticing that even when I vacuumed every couple days, there was still specks on the floor. At first I thought it was because Andrew brings dirt into the house everyday but upon futher inspection I realized that these little specks were dead lady bugs. I looked at the windows and there was some Lady Bugs that were still alive but closer to the center of the room they had all died. They must come in to get warm and die.....so unfortunately for me I have to vacuum like a crazy!

This weekend was so much fun! Andrew got Saturday and Sunday off and I was so dang excited..I havn't been able to do anything with my husband forever...Heavenly Father must have read my last post and decided it wasn't time for snow yet!! On Friday night it was pretty late when Andrew got home so I made him spaghetti and we just watched some T.V. . On Saturday I decided to skip out on work and hang out with my babe all day. We started out doing some errands such as a Costco run and we went and got my ring back... I will leave that for another post. Then we picked up Brock and went to The Smurfs... the movie was alright.. I had more fun watching Brock laugh then anything haha he is getting so big..my baby is growing up :(. After the movie was over we took Brock home and visited with my parents and then when to Andrew's mom and dads to visit with them. We then headed to Miriam and Barry's to make them some pumpkin bread. It was soooo good... you can get it at Costco and it makes bread or muffins or cake with cream cheese. I got to help Miriam bath Emma and it was sooo fun, Emma has her own little shower thing for her bath and it just melted my heart to see Miriam sprinkle little Emma. Miriam is such a good mom it is crazy! I am so excited that she gets to be my kids Auntie. Barry is also such a good daddy and we love spending time with them. Andrew and I were just talking about how blessed we are to have such good families.

On Sunday we went to church and someone in our marriage got a calling..not saying who yet...but it is super exciting and I will post about it next Sunday. Then we went to Brittany and Mikail's house for dinner and pumpkin carving. It was all the old roomates and really nice to see everyone. Then we went home and crashed, read some scriptures and had a good talk about how lucky we each are. It is always nice to start a week with such a great hubby. Anyways he just walked in the door so I'm going to go play with him!!

Love Nikki!!!

Cow Poo

Sooo Andrew has this super crappy job...no..literally...it is a crappy job. He basically sucks up farm animal poop and spreads it onto farmers fields with his tractor to fertilize the land. It is really good pay but he works all day..no...literally... he works from 5 am till 1130pm. So this year and ONLY this year...I am praying for snow. I really hate the cold snowy part about winter but this year Andrew's job ends when the snow starts. Now I never wanted to be one of those needy wifes but I am really getting there lol!!!! This summer Andrew had a job where I hardly got to see him and he was always out till late and now this fall he has had this job where I also don't get to see him till really late. He has even fallen asleep as I was trying to tell him about my day on multiple occasions haha which I always think is super cute because I hope our boys are cute like him when he sleeps but at the same time enough is enough!!!! I would like to get really dressed up, do my hair all nice, put on nice makeup and go out to a fancy restaraunt with my husband, followed by a theatre show or something of that nature. So pray for snow!!!!!!

Anyways life is pretty good this month. I am about 6 weeks from being done school and this semester is the first semester EVER that I am out during the first week of exams. I have a 21 day winter break...Andrew and I are toying with the idea of going somewhere hot before life gets busy and you end up with three kids and no vacations. If anyone has any ideas of where to get cheap cruises we would really appreciate it! I'm already counting down the days till I am basically done school. The sucky thing about transferring programs two years into University is that the pre reqs don't always line up and you are forced to go back for another semester with only one class left. So yeah...that will be me next fall...and what exactly do you tell people..haha yeah I'm graduating minus once class in the spring...??? Anyways I should just be grateful that I made it through the four years!! I am really excited to start working, I have decided that I just want to work with my degree for a little while before deciding where I want to go with it. I may just enjoy being a regular old accountant without the bells and whistles for a while. If you know of anyone looking for a regular old accountant in the Spring let me know :)

I don't really know what else to blog about. My life is so not interesting anymore haha!!!! I do enjoy spending time with my married friends though, Andrew and I really enjoy being able to play games and have people over on Sunday evenings and think we are finally settling into married life quite comfortably. I can already see the changes in the past 8 months. We have both really learned the lesson of looking inwards when there are issues instead of looking outwards. It is always easier to look inside yourself and recognize what you could be doing better to benefit the relationship and your spouse. I love how much I have grown up in the past 8 months. If you talked to me during the first couple months of marriage I probably would have told you it was hard but now I am absolutely loving it! Andrew and I have both grown so much and we feel like our relationship is so strong because of all the trials we have faced together. I am so grateful to be able to go through life with a partner, someone I can rely on when things are tough and someone who will hold the priesthood in our home. I am getting really excited for all the fun times that are ahead...especially for our first christmas together as a married couple...I find that experience will be so special for both of us.

Well I hope everyone is doing well and I enjoy reading all of your blogs so even though I am not good at commenting I still love reading!!!