Episode 22: Home Sweet Headache — The Chaos of Homeownership in Canada

Buying a house: the Canadian dream… or a financial horror story? In this episode, Chevelle gets real about the highs, lows, and total chaos of owning a home in Canada. From sky-high prices, mortgage stress tests, and endless taxes, to the freedom of tearing down a wall (or two) — it’s all on the table.

We’ll break down the cost of making a house a home, from a fresh coat of paint to a full-blown reno, and why anything that breaks is your problem to fix. Plus, we talk about glow-ups, Honey Do lists that never die, and how you might just have to trade pizza and beer for unpaid renovation help from your friends and family — including one niece who runs the job site like a tiny dictator.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the homeownership hamster wheel, this episode will make you laugh, nod, and maybe cry a little. Because, hey, it’s home sweet headache — and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

This wasn’t the summer I turned pretty.
This was the summer I turned real.

In this deeply honest solo episode, I open up about my 50 lb weight loss journey over 7 months—not as a "glow-up," but as a full-body reckoning. After gaining weight from a hormone imbalance caused by birth control, I had to fight to feel like myself again. With consistent gym time, hours of walking, and more rounds of golf than I can count, I began to reclaim my body—only to be met with praise I never asked for and a pressure I wasn’t ready for.

Everyone said I looked amazing. But what they didn’t see?
The body dysmorphia. The shame. The mirror that got meaner, not kinder.
The girl who looked “better” but felt more insecure than ever.

This episode explores the emotional weight no one talks about—the kind you carry long after the pounds are gone. I also share a chaotic and heartfelt love letter to my two heeler dogs, Whiskey (blue) and Copenhagen (red), who dragged me out of depression, nightmares, and bed—literally. Every walk, every bruise, every ball thrown 78 times in a row… they were part of my healing, too.

If you’ve ever felt unseen in your “before,” overwhelmed in your “after,” or like pretty came at too high a price—this one’s for you.

Some words never leave our lips—but they still live in our bones.
This episode is a collection of 13 unsent letters… to people I’ve lost, versions of myself I’ve shed, dreams that didn’t happen, and the love I almost forgot I deserved.

It’s raw. It’s poetic. It’s vulnerable.

You’ll hear letters to my younger self, to the friend I outgrew, to the body I once hated, to the life I let go of—and maybe, just maybe, you’ll hear one that sounds like it was written for you.

These are the words I never said—but desperately needed to.
Maybe it’s time you wrote yours, too.