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Hey look, there's an app for blogger...

Well, to make this brief: I got married, husband is in Afghanistan, I'm trying out wordpress at thewolfandthetigress.wordpress.com, I moved to a new city in Colorado, my depression is much better due to a therapist and diet, I had to buy smaller jeans today, and I'm going back to school as a culinary arts student. Also, I'm not sure if I can read everyone else's blogs from this app, so comment if you see this so I make sure to come visit you.

That is all...

Craftiness!

Life is settling down for me with the negative things, and picking up with the positive things! That's a nice shift. (-: My super awesome boyfriend Greg has been encouraging me to embrace my artsy crafty side after noticing how excited I get about such things. Great idea! I decided to try out a lot of DIY (Do It Yourself) I see online, and also do lots of homemade Christmas gifts. Today I did my first one: guitar pick flowers! I got my inspiration from this blog:

http://becomingmrsvail.blogspot.com/p/guitar-pick-flowers.html

Aren't those pretty? I changed a few things for mine. The whole project was kind of in honor of Greg because he's a fantastic guitarist, so I picked blue picks since that's his favorite color too.

These are the picks I used. I don't know anything about them, I just picked the cheap blue ones at the store! These are 1mm, Dunlop, Tortex, and blue. That is the extent of my knowledge about them. Oh, and they cost $5 for a dozen. They had a sort of powdery finish instead of shiny, but more about that later.

Here's the cast & crew! I forgot the sparkly middle bead in this picture though. It got to star in the finished project though so hopefully no jealousy there. First step is to place the picks in a five petal flower shape. Do it right side up though, unlike me in the picture.

Use painters tape if you have it, and scotch tape if you don't, to tape the picks in place. This is just so you can turn it over and hold them in place while you glue the button on, so as long as it'll hold them for a few minutes you're okay. Meanwhile...

Paint five more petals with your contrast color, if you're going to use two layers like I did. I used a metalic copper for mine, and did three coats. You can see how sparsely it went on with one coat; lots of thin coats completely dried inbetween will give you a hard smooth finish. If you glob it on you'll get bubbles and wrinkles! Thin coats dry within a minute or two.

Pick up your flower by the tape and flip it over carefully. Use hot glue to attach a button to the back. The reason I suggest a button is so that if you want to make it into a bouquet or something else, you can thread the button with a thin wire so it attaches easily. Make sure you thread it before you glue the bead on! In my case I attached it to the hair clip with hot glue so I didn't need wire. Look how pretty the other petals are after a few coats!

Let the glue dry, then turn your flower over and remove the tape. Because my picks had a powdery finish, the tape left marks. Oh no! I fond out that if I applied a very scant amount of lotion evenly and wiped it off well, the picks resumed their original color and it got rid of the powdery weirdness and left a very nice matte look. If you know more about picks than I do and pick out shiny picks in the first place, this step would not be necessary. It's possible that painters tape would not have left marks either, I'm not sure! But now you know how to fix that...

Glue your pretty bead in the middle. This hides the button and adds interest. You could also try a pompom, a cool button so it showed more than the one underneath, or whatever strikes your fancy.

Turn your flower over to the back and glue on your accent petals. You could also use the same color petals w/o painting them, or just do a single layer and skip this step altogether. In the blog I linked, she put the petals directly behind the originals instead of alternating. See what you like best!

Glue the alligator clip to the back. Be generous with the glue here, as the clip will not lie flat. Also make sure you position it so that the tabs you push to open are over one of the base petals not the accent petals; it'll be stronger. To operate the clip, you'll be pushing on the back tab of the clip and on the petal itself. It works out pretty well!

The finished project! You can also use these flowers to make a bouquet, as napkin rings, as boutteniers (spell check doesn't even recognize that, sorry..), magnets for your fridge, etc etc! Enjoy being crafty. <3

Definite Progress

I'm not sure which purchase I was more excited about yesterday - a vacuum cleaner for $10 or a six-muffin tin which will fit in my toaster oven for $1.50. Haha! I'm becoming so... domestic. I have the numbers written down for someone selling a washer and dryer that my aunt might want to buy for the house, and for a swiffer wet jet for $15 for me. Major items I'll still be wanting are couches, a dining set, eventually another bed for the spare room, a bicycle, cookware, and lots of cleaning supplies. At some point my aunt and uncle will put in a washer and dryer, fridge, and oven. But I can do laundry at home, I have a toaster oven, and I have a mini fridge I'd bring, so those aren't super essentials initially for me.

The BEST news is that I get to begin subbing this week! Remember how I was thinking it'd be weeks and didn't know what to do with myself? Yeah. I was in the process of getting some paperwork together to take to the sub lady, and the principal from the school where I student taught said she hoped the lady could get me set up quickly because she has a job for me on Thursday. She offered to call the lady and did, and I have an appointment at 9:00 today to get processed. After that I should be good to go, and I'll be working all day Thursday! Whew, what a blessing. Thank you, Pa, for having it under control even when I didn't. So I think that'll be $70 minus taxes this week, and hopefully I can get lots of other work. I'm so thankful for this! I'll also be house-sitting overnight for someone on Friday night, so that'll be a little pocket change.

I swept the floors in the three main common areas at the rental, and did some vacuuming with my cute little semi-useless vac. It's a great machine for a dorm room, or I'll keep it upstairs for little messes when I don't want to lug the big one up the stairs, but for the common area downstairs I need to take my new (ha) big boy to it. So today I want to finish sweeping, and vacuum everything. I'd like to mop also but the water at the house isn't turned on yet and I think it's smarter to just wait than to try to bring water over in a bucket or something. I'd turn it on if I knew how... gotta learn these things if it's going to be my house! I bet it's in the utility room somewhere, right?

I have a hot date tonight, so the basic sequence of my day will hopefully be a little cleaning --> two hours of processing for subbing --> drop of car to fix alignment and make sure I didn't bugger anything else up --> more cleaning --> pick up car --> hot date. If it's warm today and I have time between picking up the car and my hot date, I'd like to clean my car a bit. I got a car wash (which I rarely go pay for) and the very next day I drove all day in snowy sludge, went off road, and otherwise goofed her up. :( I feel bad, and also she looks terrible, so I want to AT LEAST hose her off, if not break out my awesome car cleaning kit and go to town.

{it's already 30F out, and it's only 5:49... good sign!}


I'm going to get started on my day, but I leave you with this little piece of delight from the newest blog I'm following, Good ol' Mitch. Check out his blog for more nerdiness.

I also leave you with one of my favorite songs from a musical, especially when discussing meds with people...

"Who's Crazy/My Psychopharacologist and I, from Next to Normal"

"My psychopharmachologist and I
It's like an odd romance
Intense, and very intimate
We do our dance..

My psychopharamcologist and I
It's like a lover's game
He knows my every secret
I know his... name!"

On Forethought and Generosity

I should be in bed right now but I'm so moved by the generosity of those who love me I just have to blog about it first.

To start with, I will be moving out soon. My aunt and uncle own a house which they want to fix up a bit more so it can be rented out, but there's a bit of a thievery problem in the neighborhood so as long as it's clearly unoccupied, people keep coming in and stealing things (even the skylight! Now that's low... or high...). My aunt and uncle have been very much wanting someone to live there, so it can be fixed up un-interrupted. I of course have been looking for a place to live, cheaply, and in their infinite generosity they offered to let me stay, free of charge. In exchange I will be a presence so no one tries to take things [obviously we're also bumping up the security of the property], and I will help with cleaning and renovations. It is really a nice little 3br/2bath house; not huge but much bigger than I require right now and definitely bigger than the cute shoebox I had been looking at. I am so excited about moving in; I already took Bagheera over with me to check it out and begin a little cleaning. Bagheera thinks it's fascinating and I don't know how many times I swiped cobwebs off his ebony snout as he rooted through the crooks and crannies. I think he approves!

Since I'm going to have a place of my own, I've been thinking a lot about what I'll need for this house. I'll get to claim and bring with me my furniture from home; bed, dressers, desk, hope chest, office chair. I knew I had some cookware and dining pieces from college, but they of course are mismatched and of cheapest quality. Mom and I ran a few errands today, and I took back a sweater that was too large for me which I'd received for Christmas. The woman told me that I could exchange it for any one item of the same original ticket price; since my gift-giver had purchased the sweater on a good sale, that was a pretty notable price! I decided to check out the housewares, and came away with a fantastic Black & Decker toaster oven, free for me in exchange for a sweater I wouldn't have worn. Score!

I'd also looked at silverware sets and dining sets, but they weren't quite the right price for the exchange so I left them there, sad that I'd have to make do with my mismatched cheap-o pieces from college until I start earning money. I knew I had a few things in my hope chest, but I wasn't sure what. Once I got home, I decided to do a thorough inventory.


... wow.

I had so much more in there than I remembered. I started receiving these items when I was no older than 12, and haven't added anything to it for at least the past 4 years or more. Inside, I found so many treasures! When they were given to me, I knew they'd come in handy at some point, but I had NO idea I would be brought almost to tears of gratitude when I really needed them and they were waiting for me. There were numerous odds and ends of course. I discovered that I had an entire set of the purpley plastic dining pieces I'd only vaguely remembered - I think those cups, bowls, plates, and mugs were among the first things I ever put in the hope chest. Casual/outdoor service for four! I also found five drinking glasses with white and gold roses on them and five wine glasses, which I chose from my great grandmother's possessions when she passed away years ago. I ALSO found a 16 pc fine china set that I had no idea I had - saucers, dessert plates, salad plates, dinner plates, and teacups, with delicate roses along the edges. I would not choose that particular style if I was buying brand new, but I love that they remind me of my precious Mimi and they are just perfect. At the bottom of the chest, lo and behold.... a 70 pc silverware set! Service for EIGHT, plus a handful of serving forks and spoons.

There was also a knife set from China (complements of my dad on his business trip - it's the sort of set that has some knives, shears, a peeler, etc), the beautiful hand painted table cloth my parents purchased for me from South Africa, and (and this is very precious to me) several items made specifically for me from my deceased Uncle M. There is a large and two small boxes; finely jointed, carefully burnt for an aged effect, precisely made and one has my name written on it. There is also a faerie call - a small piece of wood that appears to have no seams yet rattles when shaken as it contains pieces of stone and metal that are supposed to summon faeries. Finally, a magic wand - a triangular length of wood (not round) with twine wrapped to make a handle, and at the other end carefully wrapped silver wire and a bit of quartz. He chose the various elements to suit me, and he once explained the various energies involved. I do not count on them for magical powers, but the love he poured into these gifts just humbles my heart. He passed away about three years ago after a long hard life, but I will always hold on to these trinkets as being the best part of him.


When I was given all these housewares and gifts, I knew that somewhere down the road they would be useful because every house needs plates, etc. I didn't know I'd find myself kneeling on my carpet, flat broke if not in debt, in awe of the love and forethought demonstrated by beloved family as they prepared for my future before I knew how. I'm sure I liked getting a fancy silverware set for Christmas when I was in my teens... but really, is that the most exciting gift ever? Yet, whatever other gift they could have given me would be forgotten and useless by now. This one will remind me every day that I am loved and cared for!

I am more eager than ever to clean up the rental and move in. I have an amazing life ahead of me!

Ball Pythons

I think I have a semi interesting post coming up, but I'm about to lie down for a nap before I pass out so it will have to wait. For now, I thought some of you would enjoy seeing some pictures of my ball pythons? I uploaded several pictures of various things from my phone to my laptop, so look forward to numerous picture-laden posts in the near future.

To start, here is my Mario. He is the younger of the two, more shy, and he is about to shed so I didn't take him out for his photo shoot. The pictures are obviously low quality. The lighting is terrible in my basement, and Linux doesn't like to read my camera's memory card so I have to use my phone for now. However, you can get an idea of his pretty pattern:

And his characteristic "curl into a ball when stressed" move:

I was able to get better pictures of Luigi, because he is not in the blue and is more friendly. (-: Here are a couple of my favorites! The first one shows off his neck stripe:

And this one shows his tail stripe! This shot is now the background on my phone.

I'm excited about my boys, even if they did cost me an arm and a leg. (-:

~

I was thinking, and I really enjoy listening to songs others share with me. I decided to start including some of my personal favorites, or whatever's on my mind, in my posts. If you'd like to, please feel welcome to leave me a link to one of your favorites! I will listen to it and either post my comments or talk to you personally. (-:

Click here to listen.

"I Dreamed a Dream", from Les Miserables. I really enjoy this soundtrack, and this is one of the more popular, and beautiful, songs.

"I dreamed that love would never die,
I dreamed that God would be forgiving..."

"But the tigers come at night,
with their voices soft as thunder.
As they tear your hope apart,
as they turn your dream to shame..."

"I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed."

You don't have to be emo to love this song. Listen to it, adore it. Check out the Susan Boyle version if you'd like some variety; this is the song that propelled Boyle from countryside nobody to international star. And it's no wonder; the raw emotion and vulnerability is breathtaking.



Sleepy time. Fare thee well. Leave me notes about the snakes, about the song, and most especially about songs you'd like me to listen to!

Bloggerstock: What inspires you?

It is that time again. Time for Bloggerstock, the holidays, New Years, all kinds of crazy stuff. It is a fun, exciting and sometimes a stressful time. That being said, here I am taking over Mollie's blog for a guest post because you know that I need something else to think about at this time of year.

So, the theme for bloggerstock this month is:

“What inspires you?”

What or who inspires you to do whatever it is that you do be it blogging, writing, school or your job.

I thought that this topic would be easy to write about, but as I sat down to write I found it a lot more difficult. What inspires me to do what I do? Well that is a good question. I have always enjoyed what I do, I love working in the theatre. I think that one of my biggest inspirations is my father. Though not in theatre, I think that his being in a related field guided me to where I am today. I like to think that I make him (and my mother) proud by doing what I do.

I suppose it is also because of my father that I also peruse photography. Every day that I go out with my camera I think of my father. Most of the time I can hear him giving me pointers in my head. I think that he provides inspiration every time I hit the shutter release. Looking through the view finder I always think of what he tells me about framing and composition. Las summer we actually got to go on a photo workshop together which was really fun. Now, this weekend I am off to shoot portraits for a friend.

So, the biggest inspiration in my life has to be my family. They have always been there for me and I am there for them. I do my best every day to make them proud and I think that I do pretty good. I suppose that is the best thing to ask for at this time of year. To be able to have a family that supports you and to be able to make them proud is a great thought for the new year!

Well, that was an atypically short kinda ramble for me, but I think that it is to the point. If you are interested in more of my ramblings you can find them at icewolf08.com. If you are interested in bloggerstock, please visit the website. If you are looking for Mollie's post, you can find it over on Nugs' blog.

.... no more adventures please.

I didn't know when I wrote the title of that last post that I was condemning myself to more adventure than I bargained for. I went to Denver today to get my ball pythons. The seller informed me that it was supposed to snow heavily in the evening, so I got up early and had my new pair of tires put on the car and we left by 9:30am. It started snowing at 11am, but it was a pretty light snow so I wasn't too worried. It's been really warm so the snow just melted when it hit the ground. We got the boys, who are just lovely and I will put up pictures soon, and were on our way. It kept snowing, and the roads were a little slick, and the temperature dropped quite a bit so it was very cold out. Everyone was going 45mph on the interstate where a more typical speed is 80mph, so I thought we were being pretty safe. Plus I had new tires in the back and not-as-bald tires on the front so I of all people should be pretty safe right?

Well, I noticed the suburban right in front of me suddenly start veering to the left onto the shoulder [we were in the left lane of a three lane section] and quickly puzzled out in my head that the car in front of him must be slowing down suddenly. I hit my brakes, which thankfully are ABS so I didn't have to pump them, but could tell I wasn't going to slow down fast enough. If I went to the shoulder I'd hit the suburban. If I stayed straight I'd hit the car in front. If I went one lane over I'd hit that car, and there was a semi that was also in the center lane but there was enough room for me to slip by. I cross the center lane and tried to stay in the right lane, but had lost too much forward motion to regain control and was sliding sideways right towards the beginning of a guardrail. I pointed my tires in the direction I was headed which gained me enough control to go ahead and go all the way off the road, miss the guard rail, and slide into the ditch. There was some rocks to the right; big rocks like in a drainage area to prevent erosion. I tried to steer between the rocks and the big sign post (which is what the guardrail was guarding) but ended up clipping a boulder w/ my right front tire which popped it. We slid to a stop, facing the right way, not flipped over, and not so much as whiplash to ourselves. Whew!

A cop stopped by and told us where a nearby parking lot was to change my tire, which my buddy did for me because she's awesome and I'm not so much, and we drove to Discount Tire where we waited an hour and a half for them to give me two more new tires. We drove home, taking twice as long as normal because the roads were still bad. My alignment is off but she drives fine. So... yeah. I spent $600 on a new set of tires today, a five hour trip took eleven hours, my pythons were cool to the touch by the time I got them home and into a warm cage, and my friend and I are perfectly healthy and fine and home. Plus as I was asking if she was okay and apologizing for the little escapade, the first thing she said was "That was actually some really good driving". And my parents are all impressed at how I kept a cool head and didn't stress out through all of this. So, it's pretty nice to get compliments in the middle of a crazy day. Tomorrow... I'm hoping for more fun, less money spending, and less danger!

Adventure - ho!

Today:

- Call and reschedule Bagheera's vet appt. CHECK
- Have dad look at tires. CHECK - Verdict: replace front two tires
- Go replace front two tires.
- Go to my therapist appt.
- Doggie play date with blogger Kandace and her dog Trent (oneredwall.wordpress.com)
- Go to vet appt and get Bagheera's last puppy shots.
- Finish cleaning room.
- Coffee and games w/ DG and JL, guy friends from my group.
- Get house picked up so cleaning lady can come tomorrow. Get a check for her.
- Withdraw cash for snakes?
- Call principal to get letter of recommendation. Or e-mail. CHECK


Tomorrow:

- Go replace front tires if it didn't happen today.
- Drive to Denver to get ball pythons, to another city to get furries I was suckered into accepting, and back home. All day trip.
- Be back by 6:30 to do coffee and stuff w/ EG and AG, gal friends from my group.
- Completely re-arrange all my pets into their various new cages.
- Exercise and train Bagheera; every day!
- Do first steps of broken glass jello.
- Finish and turn in application for furniture store greeter. Woo.


Friday:

- Get a head count for my New Year's Eve party.
- Go shopping for said party.
- Make sure house is sparkling clean.
- Finish broken glass jello and prepare any other snacks.
- Give Bagheera a bath and grooming.
- Have people over around 7 and party until the new year comes.




Oh and I guess I'm supposed work out each day too since I haven't done that yet... which brings me to my new motto:


"Time is not found, it is made."

Ponder it. Live it. Peace.

Recipe to Make Mollie Happy

2 handfulls uncooked egg noodles
1 cup frozen peas
1 egg
Butter
Soy Sauce


Put some water in a wok, bring to boil. Add noodles and eggs. Boil for a few minutes, until noodles aren't really cooked yet but definitely not crunchy. Drain the water, add some butter. Crack the egg into the wok and stir around the mix. Add some soy sauce. Continue to stir until egg is fully cooked. Serve!

The Funk and How to Beat it

Ze funk, I has it. I broke things off with aforementioned nice guy. Not a thing wrong with him, just couldn't deny that he was not the one for me so I had to let him go. I've stayed up until at least 3am the past two nights because I'm having trouble sleeping. I barely got out of my chair all day yesterday. I feel sad, unmotivated, inept, helpless. I'm about to spend $40 trading my corn snake for two ball pythons, which is a financially smart move because as a rule balls sell for $50+ easily a piece, but I'm still spending money without a job. I'm barely eating and when I do it's stupid food choices like chips, boxed macaroni and cheese, or breadsticks.

Considering that I'm eating junk food, drinking lots of soda, haven't taken my happy pills consistently in a long time, haven't had a good sleep schedule, stopped working out... well, those are all choices I have made that are not helping me out. I could blame it on the fact that my parents aren't living together, that I can't find a job, that I haven't been able to move out like I want, that the holidays are stressful... but life isn't about making our circumstances conform to our whim. It's about taking what we're dealt and making good choices that make us healthy and happy, build up relationships, bring us closer to God, and set ourselves up for success. I've not been doing a good job of that right now. Some choices I made are really good. But I need to do better.

Lets end the year 2010 with a week of taking really awesome care of ourselves. We all have reasons that we don't take care of ourselves... for just one week let's risk it, yeah? If all our excuses were valid, well then this week will prove it. But maybe, just maybe, our excuses are just excuses and our lives would be 300% better if we just took better care of ourselves. Ya think?

So instead of a New Year's Resolution, I'm making an End of Year Resolution. A year is too long to plan... but five days I can handle! So here's the plan.

- Work out three times
- Get some outdoor time every day
- Buy a ledger or something that helps me budget and write everything down
- Keep applying for jobs until I find a good one
- Take my happy pills every day
- Go see the therapist on Wednesday and do everything she recommends
- Stay connected with friends, and not just my online ones [though I love you all very much]
- Eat healthy food three times a day
- Drink lots of water, maximum of one soda a day!


Alright. I'm off to go do positive things in my life. Toodles!

Christmas Time is Here

"Happiness and cheer..." I get a kick out of how dreary that song sounds while the lyrics are so chipper.

Right now I'm reducing a glaze for the ham I'm going to bake and I'm about to finish up the jello. I have to wrap a couple of presents to bring tonight as we always go to Grandparents' house for a gift exchange on Christmas Eve. I also need to decide what to wear; I don't think I have anything festive and I'm considering wearing my new mustard yellow sweater. It makes me feel trendy and daring for some reason.

I just wanted to say that I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and I look forward to all of your blog posts about how your holidays were. (-: Merry Christmas to all and to all a good... day!

Broken Glass, Soloist, Puppies, and Jobs...

Well, I didn't get that job I wanted. And I won't know about any of the others until next week or so. Which means I really can't be moving out next week now can I? I really hope to when i can though. If things look promising I'm going to ask the kind folks to hold the property for me; offer them half rent or something, until I'm all set. I'm applying at a furniture store as a door greeter and I'm going to check out restaurants. Ugh. :( I already checked all the restaurants that are classy and I would get good tips from... now I can try those which will bring in very few tips... then I'll go to no tips. And fast food. Crumbdiddlyumptious. Yes that is a real word and yes I do say it.

Here's a bright spot: Look at how cute my doggies are when they choose to share a space!

He's getting so big. I got him at 6 wks and he was shorter than Samantha. Now he is pushing 4 months, weighs three times as much as he did originally, and Sam could walk right under him if she ducked her head a little. They get along pretty well considering he's a rambunctious lab puppy and she's an old reserved papillon.

I'm watching The Soloist right now. I've seen it once before and I really enjoy it. It's about a man that once played the cello at Juliard but was overcome by paranoid schizophrenia and "bombed out of there". He is now homeless and living on the streets and he played a violin with only two strings until the reporter Steve Lopez discovered him. He writes about Nathaniel the musician in the newspaper and a cello is donated to him. From that point on both men embark on a journey of self-discovery, trying to make sense of the world, triumph and pitfalls. It is truly an excellent story and I highly recommend the movie to anyone. Nathaniel's character is so multi-faceted, unpredictable, and endearing that you will be captivated throughout the entire show.

Last of all, I am making broken glass jello for Christmas!I actually found this recipe many moons ago, and separately found the blog of The Food Librarian and only later realized that she is the one who I got the original recipe from. Does that make sense? Perhaps, perhaps not. Regardless, you need to check out her post and you'll see what I'm up to! For tomorrow I'm making the Christmas version; for New Year's Eve next week I'll make the multi-colored one. I've done this once before and my one problem was that I didn't wait for the white jello to cool enough before pouring it over the colored pieces and it melted them a bit. :( Whoopsie! This time I know better, now don't I? As a side not, do check out Food Librarian's latest post; I really want to make those clear gelatins with fruit in them. Gorgeous!!



I've really enjoyed getting to know people on 20sb.net and would like to give a general shoutout to anyone who has chatted with me, written on my wall, read my blog, or commented on it. I'm so encouraged to blog when I know that someone actually cares a teensy bit! Haha. I just added Google reader and will now be keeping up with all the blogs I'm subscribed to. I may not always comment but I will be reading because I'm interested in all of you!

"And so it goes..."

Every time I post partial song lyrics in my title, the first person to correctly identify the song will get a shout out in the following post. This one should be easy.

Well, life is interesting right now. I have a maybe on an intense housecleaning job that would run $180/wk, and I'm interviewing next week for a nanny job that would bring in $175/wk.I also had a hit from a lady that wants a babysitter which would bring in maybe $75/wk. And every other week I get $30 for housecleaning.

If every single one of those pulled through, I could be rolling with about $1,750/mo. If all of them fall through I get $60/mo. Should all shuffle down during/after the holidays so I have my fingers crossed in the next two weeks. I'm also applying for more jobs tomorrow, and I'm STILL trying to get my subbing to go through. I'm not sure if I'm more afraid that I will overbook myself, or that I'll not be aggressive enough because I don't want to overbook and will end up with nothing.


I found a house I think I want to rent. It's $600/mo and all utilities are included. It is also furnished. It's a 1 bed, 1 [full] bath, shoebox of a house. Actually if I get it I think I will make a shoebox model of it for fun. It has a living area, a somewhat narrow but not too bad kitchen, a pretty small bedroom, a utility room w/ washer and drier and another closet, and then a full bath with shower/tub and lots of nice counterspace. It's furnished with an L-shaped couch which consists of two armchairs that kick back, the corner piece, and a loveseat w/ a pullout bed, a cute little table for two in the kitchen w/ chairs, a two person bar with stools by the front window, a full/double size bed, some dishes/silverware/glasses, and all the major utilities such as washer/drier, fridge, microwave, oven, all that jazz. If I wanted to, I could just put my clothes in a bag and move in.

Of course part of the problem is that I have more than clothes to move in. I have a dresser and I'd love to find room for my desk and I have an electric keyboard.... it's not a huge house. But it's much bigger than a dorm room, and I survived that for three years, so how bad can it be?

... right?

Lights, Camera...

Action!

I had the privilege of participating in a blogswap this year, through 20 Something Bloggers {20sb.net}. I am so excited to be swapping blogs with the lovely Amber, who can be found at http://www.amberlashell.com/ . Below you will find a great post she wrote, and if you hop on over to her website you will find the post I wrote for her blog! Enjoy hearing from someone else, and when you check out my post be sure to browse around her blog for a bit. (-:


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..
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First I want to thank Mollie for letting me crash her blog for 20sb. Our topic was Action. What will you do next year that you have been putting off for too long...

This was a hard one; I had to take a few days to really think about this one. I am the kind of person that lives with no regret, and I always live life to the fullest. Now, given that, I am also the worst procrastinator; I tend to put things off until the last moment. Last year, though, I tried not to put things off as bad as I have in the past and actually managed to get quite a bit of things done that I had wanted to.

I joined a gym, and have been going at least 3 times a week for the past few months (check t hat one off)

I gave up drinking Dr. Pepper a few months ago too, and that was a really hard one. They were making me feel sluggish and bloated, and I knew that they were no good to me, but they were like my own personal form of crack, I was letting them take over my life. Even though the first week was one of the hardest weeks of my life, I managed to walk away cold turkey, and haven't touched one since (it's been a couple of months now) and I think I will make me a badge with "so many days" sober.. It might start a few interesting conversations.

I wrote my first novel... I joined a really fun website called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) where you write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November, and I actually won!

I got a promotion at work, and managed not to kill anyone for almost an entire year so far! (Ok I wouldn't kill anyone literally, but if you work in an office, you know what I mean)

So, what have I been putting off that I need to get done?

Sending (stated above) novel off to potential agents. I am terrified of rejection, and rejection is just always expected in the world of publishing. I am scared that what I have written will not be good enough, or that I am just a crappy writer...

Once again, thank you Mollie for letting me crash your blog, it has been so much fun, and maybe we can swap again in the future

Until Next Time...Kisses!

Deja Vu

They separated five years ago, and now it's happening all over again. I'm living back at home, dealing with parents who don't get along. Almost feels like the past five years never even happened.


"Just because they haven't changed doesn't mean you haven't."








Thank you, Lord, for sending me such precious words of encouragement right when I need to hear them most.

And thank you for putting a solid man in my life who is willing to be a pillar of strength for me and nothing more until life settles down enough for me to think clearly again. <3

Before and After

Dear blogger community,

I am doing a little experiment about before and after shots, to see how good the general public is at evaluating weight loss based on photos. Please note that this photo set has nothing to do with my recent venture into the world of Jillian Michael workouts, so don't try to figure out how long I've been on the program to help you out. This is not related!

All you need to do is take a peek at the before and after photos below and comment with your best guess at how many pounds were lost. This is not the most dramatic set you'll ever see; I may post later a model with an even greater change. Just give you best guess! Like I said this is an experiment to see how good everyone is at estimating weight from photos. If you want to take a guess at the model's weight, either before or after, you are welcome to but that is not the most important part.

Without further ado, here we have a before shot:

and an after shot:

Do your best, good luck! I will write a personal poem for the closest guess.

SCREEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEECH

Pretty sure the world stopped turning. I'm subbing for my mom at her office job and nothing has happened for two hours. Haven't heard my boss so much as roll his swivel chair across the floor. No telephone calls. No one coming in. It is so. Quiet. I do believe the world has ceased to spin.

On the positive side, I lost two pounds! I'm also so sore in my legs I walk with a limp. Haha.

I'm off to Wal-Mar or Big 5 to get a heart rate monitor and resistance bands that go over a door, so I can be super awesome and to celebrate my loss. Which sounds funny but whatever.


This is a shout out to my 20sb's that have been keeping me company... y'all are awesome. I are heart you.

Ever-Elusive: Fitness

I'm fed up with the weight I've gained since I was at my slimmest, 18 months ago. Since then I've gained 35 lbs. Yes, in a year and a half! A combination of bad food, low exercise levels, high stress levels, poor sleeping habits, and side effects of anti-depressants all worked together to put me at my current heaviest weight. I still think I'm attractive and beautiful. But I would much rather be considerably healthier, and three sizes smaller.

With the help of my new fitness plan, I want to be at my target weight and size by graduation. I have 20 solid weeks to get there. I've never really stuck to a fitness program before; I've done a couple of diets [not very many] and I try to get out for walks or bike rides or do a little yoga. But I really want to know what I could achieve if I really really tried. You know? And then, once I'm at my target, I can choose whether or not it's worth it to keep it up. But I need to know what I could be, and do.


20 Weeks!

Numa Numa!

To counter the potential negative vibes of this post, I would like to start with the following awesome video.



If you haven't watched it, stop reading and go watch it.

If you didn't smile you may be dead.


Alright. My life is semi-crazy right now, yet at the same time I'm frustrated because not enough is happening. Figure that one out... I guess maybe I'm tired of the craziness of this particular phase of life and want to move on to the next, supposedly calmer phase? Right now I'm trying to get (a) job(s). Substitute teaching will be one, but it's possible that I won't have that licensure until another three months! So in the mean time, I need lots of something. Called like twelve classy restaurants, applied to half a dozen places online. Scored an interview for an occasional babysitting job and one for a housekeeping job.  Between the two, maybe... $75/mo? :-P Ideally I'd like to move out soon, so I'm going to need a bit more than that.

So, the other thing I've been doing is checking out potential housing. Seems fairly cheap, until you add utilities. And take out taxes from your paycheck. And my friend tells me you should get renter's insurance? Oh and several hundred $$$ to take the dogs with me. And a deposit! So. Yeah. If any of you rent, how easy or difficult have you found it to be, to make ends meet?


I'm  having drama problems with the guy I've been dating. :( His ex talked to someone that talked to an adult friend of mine who I'm very close to, and basically these people weren't very fond of him. Well, we all know his ex not very reliable. I personally would not want any of my guy friends involved with her. So, I don't trust her word. Plus she's his ex!! However, I guess these were concerns raised during the actual relationship, and they were anger related. Coming from a home where that has sometimes been an issue, I'm freaked out about possibly getting into a bad relationship. Once you're in, it's harder to see what's really going on, and it's hard to get back out. Do I think he'd hurt me? No. Do I think it could be an unhealthy relationship? ... I don't know? The things I've seen don't indicate that. But the two things I have to go off of are my own observations over like three weeks, and the word of his scoundrel of an ex, passed through two more people. Yet, the sorts of things they said.. if I knew they were true, I wouldn't even consider this relationship. So I feel super conflicted. Don't know what to think, you know?

I like a lot of things about him and we click really well. So.... for now I think my plan is to get to know him better, keep it pretty casual, let time work its magic.


I hate gossip.

You make me smile like the sun

I found out yesterday that my four-month old lab puppy is actually a three and a half month old lab puppy. Two week is not a huge deal, but that does mean that when he came into my life he was at the very oldest, six weeks old. No wonder he was a sad, scared little insecure puppy! Definitely not ready to leave his mama yet.

Now he is fourteen weeks, twenty-five pounds, taller than our sheltie, and 100% handsome. He learned to sit on command at seven weeks, was housetrained (... mostly! really!) by eleven or twelve weeks, and knows several commands. He can sit, come, wait (including when you feed him; he'll sit and wait until you tell him "okay"), get in his kennel, go outside, go somewhere else if he's begging and I say "go", leave the room with "get out of here", and "eat nice" instead of taking off your whole hand when given a treat. He also walks well on a leash, tolerates grooming, and and settle down if you're trying to hold him and he's wiggling. I still feel like he need to work on his manners... but I guess if he's not even four weeks old yet he's making good progress.

I have big plans for this handsome bundle of trouble! This week we're going to work on obedience [sit, down, come, stay] and "clean up", which will mean to get his toys from wherever he scattered them and put them in the toy basket. He has a bad habit of taking his toys outside and leaving them there, so we're going to try to remedy that. :) Some day I want to do agility and obedience competitions, companion dog certifications, therapy dog licensure... haha. He is mostly lab, with the obedient and eager to please personality that goes along with that.

Have any of you taught your dog tricks? What was the neatest trick you've ever seen a dog do, or wanted to train a dog to do?