I'm Giving Up TV (For One Week)

Hey y'all long time no talk...or blog...or whatever.

I know I've been MIA since January (honestly how are we just about to hit the 6th month of the year!?).

Things have been super busy for me so far this year. I started me new job as a Youth Support Worker in December and have been spending my weekends and evenings working there, becoming more and more in love with social work, and working hard to learn all I can. I'm currently in the process of working to sign up for a couple of necessary courses I need to apply for my Masters of Social Work. I need two classes which I intend to take during the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 terms and then I can apply for January 2019.

I also went to BC and Alaska last month (another blog post on that) and have just been busy spending time with friends and family.

In all honesty though, I could have been busier. I could have accomplished more. I could have been more productive. With summer coming around and school on the horizon I've noticed how much could be getting done and how unmotivated I can be to actually do it.

So I'm giving up tv for the next 7 days. I know it doesn't sound like a lot but I'm used to carrying my tv (in the form of an iPad or laptop) basically any time I'm at home. I watch tv while I'm getting ready, while I'm eating, and as a way to spend time with Jordan. And it's all mindless stuff, we don't even have any particular show we're interested in right now.

There are two main reasons why I am giving up tv this week though:

1. I honestly think tv makes me dumber (it's either that or the toxins everyone talks about that come out of cat litter. It's a thing, guys). I use tv as a way to turn my brain off, which is okay if you do it to unwind for a bit at the end of the day but if you're always turning your brain off from the moment you wake up, or the moment you get home from work, it really becomes problematic. With tv to distract me at all times I never need to do any critical thinking, or introspection. I can basically turn my mind to other things and forget about thinking any deeper.

2. I was listening to the audio book version of The Magnolia Story (see I'm so stupid now you guys I can't even read!) and after I came down from worshiping on the alter that is Joanna Gaines (shiplap, you guys, shiplap forever) I started to take a few of their pieces of advice to heart. Chip and Joanna have never had a tv in their house since they've been married. Originally it was just a suggestion from a marriage counselor that they do not have a tv in their home for the first 6 weeks of their marriage and it just stuck. I find that Jordan and I use tv as a way to distract and entertain ourselves. We watch it together and we watch it separately and not only does it keep us from spending quality time together, but it keeps us from being creative and productive with how we spend our time. I was wondering: how would Jordan and I entertain each other if we didn’t have tv? Would we play boardgames? Would we build something together? Would we bike downtown together and experience our city? So I flew the idea by Jordan and he was super into it.

This morning I listened to podcasts while I got ready for work and Jordan said he slept in just a little longer because he knew he would just spend his time twiddling his thumbs before work. While this doesn’t sound too much better, it is. I laughed along with my podcast, free to roam with my earbuds in, without being distracted by the screen, and Jordan got more much needed rest, which is something he has a serious problem with.

Tonight I’m looking forward to going home to work on a cookoo clock that I’ve been repainting and getting ready for my meeting with an academic advisor tomorrow. Jordan is going out for the night so I’m left to my own devices, I guess I’ll see how creative they can get. 

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown

TV Free .5 Days

Book Goals 2017

One of my new years resolutions every year is to read a certain amount of books. It's usually one of my best kept resolutions.

This year I want to change things up a bit because I found that last year I was either reading garbage (please see any of the books I read that were penned- or co-penned- by a reality tv star). I don't have any issue with reading "just for fun" books but I also realized that most of the books I was reading were from points of view very close to my own. I wasn't learning anything. I want to spend this year reading from authors unlike me, or at least those who have things to teach me. I wan't to read classics, or cult fiction, or non-fiction novels. I want to read about people and events that I know very little about. I want to learn things about Canada's Indigenous peoples (a group I'm sad to say I have never done my research on). I want to read novels that are said to be the greats. I want to learn.

Also, can you believe I've never read the Harry Potter books? Those will be some of my fun books I'd like to sprinkle throughout.

2017 is going to be a year of learning for me. I'd like to take this time to understand different people, different lives, and events, and grow as a person.

My list below is a group of books I'd like to read. I think each one has something to teach me in some way or another. Let me know if there's any you'd add to my list!

Into the Wild- Jon Krakauer
A Wrinkle In Time- Madeleine L'Engle
Harry Potter (all of them!)- J.K Rowling
The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath
The Inconvenient Indian- Thomas King
The Hobbit- J.R.R Tolkien
I Feel Bad About My Neck- Nora Ephron
Catcher in the Rye- J.D Salinger
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams
Tropic of Cancer- Henry Miller
The Diary of a Young Girl-Anne Frank
Ham and Rye- Charles Bukowsky

Books on Social Work and Mental Illness I've currently purchased:
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat and Other Clinical Tales- Oliver Sacks
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry- Jon Ronson
I Never Told Anyone:Writings By Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse- Ellen Bass
Where to Start and What to Ask: An Assessment Handbook- Susan Lukas


I think a big theme of this year will be social work, mental illness, and addictions, feminism, required readings, and race.

I'm also trying to work through this bad boy:

It's a poster featuring 100 essential novels. Shauna and Erika bought this for me for my birthday. When you read each one you scratch off the gold foil. I will scratch them all one day. Not one day this year, but one day!

So if you have any suggestions to broaden my horizons let me know.

Read on, readers and remember:

From the desk of:
Taylor Brown
Soon to be Well Read, Soon to be a Dangerous Creature

DIY Welcome Sign and Picture Display

Guess who's back? Back again? Making crafts for her friends!

That's right. I dipped my toe back into the crafty waters and I'm glad I did because not only did I make a great Christmas gift that Erika loved but I also took the opportunity to make myself something too!

This year I thought it would be fun to make my best friend her Christmas gift. I wanted my gift to be special this year and I had something to say with it. Erika I used to work together until late last year and up until then we had practically spent every day together. This was the first time since highschool that we hadn't either worked or lived together. Crazy! Now we're so busy following our own paths so I wanted to make something that would remind her that I'm still by her side.

Erika is a big tv buff and we've always bonded over our loves of shows like Gilmore Girls, Greys Anatomy, and Sex and the City. Her gift was themed around those loves.

I wanted to make her a sign that said "Where You Lead, I Will Follow" from Gilmore Girls  wanted it to also hold some pictures of us. I saw a similar one at Walmart that I modeled mine after.

My first step was to go to the trusty, old hardware store. Luckily it was Christmas time so they already had some pre-cut pieces of wood for crafts. It was destiny. I picked up enough for both of our signs.

I also picked up some brushes, whitewash wood stain, gloves, cheese cloth and gold spray paint.

My first step was to use the white stain to give a nice whitewash to my pieces of wood.

If you've never stained something before basically, you apply the stain to the wood, wait a few minutes, and then wipe it off with a cloth. Easy peasy.

After two coats the wood had the translucent white finish that I was looking for. I specifically tried to find pieces with knots in the wood so you would really be able to see the true wood under the wash.

Next I nailed my pieces of wood together by lining the four long pieces of wood up in a row and nailing them to the two short pieces behind it.

Then it was time to try out my typography skills!

I definitely liked the way the marker turned out vs what I know I would have massacred with a brush but I think in the future I'll experiment with stencils as well to get a thicker result. I was a bit limited by the thickness of the marker.

My next step was to get my clothespins ready. I spray painted them gold and let them dry for a day.

Finally, I super glued the clothespins on and added pictures and the signs were done!

Here's the one I made for myself:

This Christmas craft was a great success. I loved mine and Erika definitely loved hers! It's a fun way to display pictures that you can change up throughout the year. I put some Christmas themed pictures in mine but I'll keep cycling them because I have tons of pictures and now I don't have to frame them. I'll just clip them on any time and now they can have their day in the sun!

I made her another quick craft which I'll share with you soon!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown

Crafty Kringle

Books of 2016

Another year is coming to an end, which means another year of book learnin' has gone by. Last year I shared all the books I had read during the year (click here to see that list) and this year I'm keeping the tradition alive.

Sadly, I didn't read as many books as I was hoping I would. I was going for 15 but hey, 12 ain't too bad (11 books, one book of poems, one  short story/book).

There were some good books, some half finished books (not included in this list), and some very silly books, but all together it was a decent reading year.

Here are my 2016 reads:

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematorium- Caitlin Doughty
This was byfar my favourite read of 2016, and it happened to be my first. It's a biography of a young woman's first job in a crematorium. It was so freaking interesting. You honestly have no idea what happens to peoples bodies before they get buried or cremated. I basically spent the entire time I was reading this book shouting out interesting facts to anyone who would listen.

The Grownup- Gillian Flynn
This is my short story/book. I am a huge Gillian Flynn book (specifically Gone Girl). I wasn't too in love with this short story. It was definitely interesting but the ending was a bit of a flop for me. It's a quick read if you'd like to find out for yourself though.

The Girls- Emma Cline
This book was definitely a close second for favourite book read this year. It's told from the perspective of a middle aged woman looking back on how she joined a murderous cult when she was a teenager in the 1970s. It has such amazing commentary on what it is to be a girl. I would highly recommend this to anyone!

Everything I Never Told You- Celeste Ng
Everything I Never Told You is the story of a chinese-american family in the 1970s. Their oldest daughter is found dead in the lake by their house and each family member goes through their memories and how they could have gotten to this moment. It's a super interesting read about how much you truly don't know about the people closest to you and a great commentary on how it feels to be part of a different race in America.

The Burn Journals- Brent Runyon
When Brent Runyon was 14 years old her put on a gasoline soaked robe in his bathroom and set himself on fire. He survived the suicide attempt and the novel is his story of recovery and the effect his actions had on his family and his life.

Where Did You Sleep Last Night?- Lynn Crosbie
Lynn Crosbie imagined what it would have been like if Kurt Cobain had been reincarnated. She tells the story of a young girls obsessed with Kurt Cobain who tries to kill herself. Both the girl and Cobain are reincarnated and fall in love, going back through a lot of Cobain's mistakes in his past life, from stardom, to a new tumultuous relationship, to another life of heroin use. It was definitely an interesting read for a Nirvana fan but Crosbie's writing style threw me off sometimes. I think it needs a second read to be fully appreciated.

On Writing- Stephen King
Weirdly enough, I've never read a Stephen King novel, but I picked this up and loved it. I love a good piece of advice from a successful writer. My preference would be Chuck Palahnkiuk but I think Stephen King did a great job. He also gave some interesting glimpses into his personal life as well.

Yes Please- Amy Poehler
As a big Parks and Rec fan this was a super fun read. I really liked her personal stories, I laughed out loud a few times and her message to girls was super empowering. Highly recommended.

I Didn't Come Here to Make Friends: Confessions of a Reality Show Villian- Courtney Robertson
In my life I have watched one season of The Bachelor and Courtney Robertson was the villian of the season. My sister and I were obsessed with that season and watched it together every week to see what Courtney would do. When she came out with a book we both had to read it. It was a really fun read and another great thing to share with my sister. If you watched this season/are a Bachelor fan you should read this. She holds no secrets back.

The Glass Castle- Jeannette Walls
This book is Jeannette Walls' memoir of growing up in her dysfunctional family. From the beautiful stories her father tells her, to growing up poor, and running across the country to flee bill collectors, it's a great read on dysfunctional family dynamics and how children eventually learn to take care of themselves. It's going to be a movie coming our in 2017 I believe so read quick!

Strong Looks Better Naked- Khloe Kardashian
This was a super mindless read that I more or less enjoyed. I would bring this to the gym with me and read it on the elliptical and it was pretty motivating to hear Khloe's fitness journey. She really doesn't share anything too groundbreaking though (duh) and the book is littered with "I believe" or "I think" followed by scientific facts...which I don't think you really get an opinion of FACTS but nonetheless it was a easy and fun read.

They Left Us Everything- Plum Johnson
Plum Johnson's mother lived until 93 in their monstorous house in Oakville. Plum had spent the last 20 years taking care of her parents before they died. Now she had the task of cleaning out their gigantic house. It's a great, local book that says a lot about family heritage and learning things you never knew about those closest to you.

Milk and Honey- Rupi Kaur
This book was recommended to me and I would now like to recommend it to you. It's a book of poems and it's fa-reaking amazing. Rupi Kaur has the best social and internal commentary, especially about love and womanhood.

So Merry Christmas friends! I hope you get gifted a good book this year!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Bibliophile

A Year of Change

Ohhh what a year. It honestly feels like SO much happened and also so little. It's going to be our second Christmas in our house and in that sense, a lot of things are the same as we start to make traditions and settle into what a year looks like around here.

There's also been a lot of change.

For starters, we got a cat. I have been wanting my own cat for SO long. I love cats so much but unfortunately, Jordan did not so I  had resorted myself to the fact that a cat was not happening for us. I did not want to get a cat myself and deal with living with someone that could skirt all the responsibilities of an animal in our shared home. No way Jose. Then one day Jordan turned to me and said "You wanna get a cat together?" I responded with "YUP." This was the day I was waiting for (crazy cat ladies unite!). Jordan had finally broken down and felt guilty for denying me a cat for so long. That's how Peter came along. We went to the humane society and picked him out together. Now we take care of him together, cuddle him together, and bitch about how much of an asshole he can be together. True cat ownership!

The biggest change that happened to me was my entire career was turned upside down. While working at my customer service corporate job I had the opportunity to go on a tour with the United Way. The company I worked for did a lot of fundraising and they wanted to show us where the fundraising actually goes in our community. We took a tour of a youth homeless shelter and I immediately felt so drawn to the shelter. I could not stop thinking about how much I wanted to be a part of what that place did. I emailed the shelter and applied to be a volunteer and after a short interview, I was in. Volunteering at the shelter was one of the scariest experiences I had ever gotten myself into. I felt completely uncomfortable, completely unqualified, and completely in over my head. But I kept coming back. I volunteered every week and started to feel so much more comfortable helping out there. I got to know the kids better and my passion for social work grew. I officially made the decision that a career in social work was what I truly wanted. I have been researching schools ever since and have decided that I will be getting a masters of social work within the next couple of years.

During that time I received the offer to go work with Jordan and my parents at their financial planning firm. Since I'd been in the insurance industry now for almost two years in my current job, it would be an easy transition. It also offered me a lot more flexibility to go back to school in the future and to be honest, I was miserable at my current job and this was just the opportunity I needed to finally get out of there. I was worried I would regret my decision but I'm so much happier now and know that this was definitely the right choice for me.

A couple of months ago there were openings for part time staff at the homeless shelter I was volunteering at and after a few pushes from the staff there I decided to apply. I felt completely unqualified but the staff continued to reassure me that schooling means so much less than the natural instinct they have felt that I'd been exhibiting. I took the leap to apply and ended up getting the job! Now I work at the shelter part time and it feels SO amazing. I truly love this job and it feels like I had a dream and I actually took the steps to achieve it. So now I'll be working there for a couple years before I apply for my masters. It's definitely a long plan but I'm incredibly excited about what it will bring me one day.

This may have been the year of Trump and Harambe but a lot of good happened for me personally and I'm excited to see what can happen next year.

Here's to 2017 and hoping even better things are on the horizon (like a Trump impeachment maybe?)

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Part Time Social Worker (WOO!)

Cabo Cabo Cabo

Two weeks ago Jordan, my mom, my stepdad and I jetted off for a vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I had very high hopes that we would stay at the resort that everyone in Laguna Beach stayed at but alas, we did not.

No complaints here though because our resort was b-e-a-utiful!

I was honestly awe struck with Mexico. The desserts are gorgeous, the water is the perfect turquoise to indigo colour, and the weather was perfect!

We stayed at an all inclusive resort which meant we basically lived in the lap of luxury for a week. Drinks all day, amazing food, room service whenever we wanted, and trips to the spa filled up our days.

The highlight of the trip was the excursion Jordan and I took. We went an hour off the resort to go dune buggying. It was so amazing! The winding tracks took us through the desert at top speeds and brought us to the ocean throughout. It was so gorgeous to be surrounded by cacti and mountains one moment and then to have the landscape open up to a beautiful beach. I cannot say enough about the breathetaking nature we saw there.

<< Dirty, happy faces>>

We actually weren't there just for fun. Jordan and my stepdad work together and they were there on a conference. This meant that we had a couple of dinner events to attend and one was a formal night so Jordan and I got dressed in our best:

We were also lucky to be in Mexico during two holidays! One was Mexico's independence day, which led to fireworks and the other was American Thankgiving, which led to food!

I'm so glad we had that little getaway. It was the perfect, relaxing vacation after a very busy year!

Sadly my tan has pretty much faded (or peeled) by now and I'll just have to try to remember the warm Mexican sun while I'm scraping off my car every morning.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown

Bad Hombre

Whole30 #2- A Recap

I know I told you that I would intermittently update you on my 2nd Whole30 but to be honest, even I didn't want to hear about my Whole30 journey this time.

Now to preface, I love Whole30. It's all clean, whole foods. By the end of the 30 days I felt amazing! Healthy, alert, confident and in control of all of my cravings. During the entire Whole30 (my first and second times) I was thinking about all of the delicious foods I was going to eat when it was over- which is totally not the point of the Whole30 but stay with me here. By the end of both of my Whole30s I was searching for healthy recipes for the transition, had completely lost all those ice cream and cupcake cravings and binging on junk was the furthest thing from my mind. It's kind of awesome how that works out and probably why you NEED to do 30 days so you can even yourself out by the end. If I had stopped half way through it would have been a completely different story.

Now for my issues with this Whole30. My motivation this Whole30 was a lot lower. The first time I was gung ho to learn new recipes and really immersed myself in the habit of cooking constantly. This Whole30 I was so busy and so unenthused with the process that I really rested on the recipes I had learned last time. This quickly left me to get burnt out on the same old meals and I lost a lot of my love for food.

The biggest problem with this is that is actually caused me to under eat many times. I had no interest in making anything because I just felt so tired of cooking that I often put off dinner and made a meal of eggs or potatoes. One weekend I ate eggs for every single meal. It was brutal.

This is totally not in the spirit of the Whole30. I should have been thoughtfully preparing each meal, making sure all the food groups were present. I was just too tired and couldn't quiet muster the strength.

I do love Whole30 and I do believe I'll do another but I want to do it right next time. I want to give it the effort and energy it deserves, otherwise I'll spend my month unhappy, under-eating and under-representing some very important food groups.

So for the next while I'm working on balance. I want to really take the spirit of the Whole30 and it's focus on nutrition and unprocessed foods and bring that into a manageable lifestyle for me.

If that's all I got from this Whole30, that's good enough for me.

From the desk of:
Taylor Brown
Whole30 Vet