Dedication

This is dedicated to you...you know who you are.

I'm not going down without a fight this time.

Cursed

Bad things seem to happen in my personal life when I do 30-day blog challenges. Therefore I'm quitting this one. Maybe I'll be back after my New Mexico vacation with another update then, but for now I decided it was best to just stay mum.

Day #11

If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?

There are a few careers that I've dreamt about, but realistically don't think will happen. The one I'd probably choose to answer this question is a movie critic. I always thought it would be awesome to get to watch movies, share your opinion, and be paid for it. The downside is you'd basically have to watch every movie, and there are plenty of movies that come out which I have absolutely no interest in seeing, such as G.I. Joe Retaliation. Ick.

Day #10

Today I am picking my own topic, because I actually have something to discuss. Yesterday I went to the doctor's for a check-up on how my medication was going, and I requested to do a blood test, specifically for glucose intolerance. My dad has diabetes and my sister had told me she was on the border of having insulin resistance, so I figured I must be in bad shape since I'm heavier than her. Anyway, I got the results today and to my great surprise, I have a lower percentage than she does! And than my mom! I was at 5.6% and they are at 5.9%. Apparently all of my other stats are good too. The only thing of any concern is that my triglycerides are in the mildly high range, though birth control and alcohol can affect that. Overall I think I'm in good shape! But this foray into finding out more about the state of my health has made me feel more dedicated to losing weight.

That brings me to my conundrum. I decided to start posting weight loss updates on Facebook. I'm doing this because I read an article the other day saying that sharing information like that on social media sites keeps you accountable and more motivated. On the other hand, I don't want to come off like I'm promoting the need to lose weight. You all know how I feel about the belief that all women seem to share about needing to lose weight to be happier. It's just gotten to the point for me that it's too uncomfortable to be the size I am. I'm self-conscious. I don't need to become a twig, and I don't need to drop a bunch of weight overnight, but I would like to drop enough to feel healthier, fitter, and more comfortable in my own skin.

So for the past few days I've been getting up early to do Just Dance or Hip Hop Experience on the Wii, as well as some stretches for my back. Next week I am going to go check out a gym with my co-worker to see if I might want to get a membership there, since it's only $15 a month and offers classes. And this summer semester, I am going to be taking a Stretch and Strength course at CWI, to keep me up on exercise and to help improve my back. I'm also going to try to get my bike over to the apartments so I can ride back and forth to work during the summer. Oh, and of course there are Chris and I's beloved "gym and a swim" that we do in the summer, when our complex's pool is open.

Anyway, I have my starting weight, so here we go. Wish me luck!

Days 7, 8, and 9

So I totally fell off the blog wagon over the weekend. Sorry. Here are entries for Saturday, Sunday, and today:

Day #7: What are your favorite comfort foods and why?:

This was actually a stupid topic to choose today, on my part. I'm fasting for a blood test at the doctor's in a couple of hours and it is getting to a painful stage...I don't need to focus even more on food! Quick answer would be usually something sweet like cookies, or if we're talking meals there's nothing better for comfort than a big bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy. Yum!!

Day #8: What is your favorite quote?:

I have a ton, to be honest. Go on any quote site and look up Oscar Wilde and you're going to get just a huge list of amazing quotes! But, in honor of Sunday being Mother's Day, I thought I'd choose my favorite humorous mother related quote, which is..."If I wanted to hear the pitter-patter of little feet, I'd put shoes on my cat." Perfect for me, right? I actually put that as a favorite quote on an assignment from high school, so my feelings of not wanting kids have gone that far back. When I was married before, I was going to have them because that's what you're supposed to do when you're LDS, you know? Luckily now I don't have that pressure and can make the decision on my own. Anyway, I got a card from my girls yesterday, each with their own signature meow written inside. We went and had dinner at my mom's as well. I have a wonderful mom and am glad I can call her one of my best friends. I may not ever get to celebrate Mother's Day in a mainstream way, but my family is perfect and I wouldn't change it for anything...

Day #9: Put your music player on shuffle and write the first 10 songs that come up:

• Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
• Say It Right - Nelly Furtado
• In Need of a Miracle - New Radicals
• Cell Block Tango - Chicago motion picture soundtrack
• Hello, Goodbye - The Beatles
• Bones - The Gossip
• Darts of Pleasure - Franz Ferdinand
• Bandoliers - Them Crooked Vultures
• Baby Come Home - Scissor Sisters
• Forever Young - Rod Stewart

Whew! Nothing too embarrassing! Now say a little prayer for me that I can survive the next two hours without passing out from hunger...

Day #6

What is your star sign and do you think it fits your personality?:

Personally I think horoscopes are a bunch of bunk, so instead of doing this exact question, I am going to modify it a bit. Last year, at work, we took the Meyers-Briggs Personality Test. I found it incredibly interesting! The personality type I got (INFJ) was really spot on...so much so that it made me feel a little more sane. I'll explain how after the description (bear with me, it's a little long):

As an INFJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you take things in primarily via intuition. Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit with your personal value system. 

INFJs are gentle, caring, complex and highly intuitive individuals. Artistic and creative, they live in a world of hidden meanings and possibilities. Only one percent of the population has an INFJ Personality Type, making it the most rare of all the types. 

INFJs place great importance on having things orderly and systematic in their outer world. They put a lot of energy into identifying the best system for getting things done, and constantly define and re-define the priorities in their lives. On the other hand, INFJs operate within themselves on an intuitive basis which is entirely spontaneous. They know things intuitively, without being able to pinpoint why, and without detailed knowledge of the subject at hand. They are usually right, and they usually know it. Consequently, INFJs put a tremendous amount of faith into their instincts and intuitions. This is something of a conflict between the inner and outer worlds, and may result in the INFJ not being as organized as other Judging types tend to be. Or we may see some signs of disarray in an otherwise orderly tendency, such as a consistently messy desk. 

INFJs have uncanny insight into people and situations. They get "feelings" about things and intuitively understand them. As an extreme example, some INFJs report experiences of a psychic nature, such as getting strong feelings about there being a problem with a loved one, and discovering later that they were in a car accident. This is the sort of thing that other types may scorn and scoff at, and the INFJ themself does not really understand their intuition at a level which can be verbalized. Consequently, most INFJs are protective of their inner selves, sharing only what they choose to share when they choose to share it. They are deep, complex individuals, who are quite private and typically difficult to understand. INFJs hold back part of themselves, and can be secretive. 

But the INFJ is as genuinely warm as they are complex. INFJs hold a special place in the heart of people who they are close to, who are able to see their special gifts and depth of caring. INFJs are concerned for people's feelings, and try to be gentle to avoid hurting anyone. They are very sensitive to conflict, and cannot tolerate it very well. Situations which are charged with conflict may drive the normally peaceful INFJ into a state of agitation or charged anger. They may tend to internalize conflict into their bodies, and experience health problems when under a lot of stress. 

Because the INFJ has such strong intuitive capabilities, they trust their own instincts above all else. This may result in an INFJ stubborness and tendency to ignore other people's opinions. They believe that they're right. On the other hand, INFJ is a perfectionist who doubts that they are living up to their full potential. INFJs are rarely at complete peace with themselves - there's always something else they should be doing to improve themselves and the world around them. They believe in constant growth, and don't often take time to revel in their accomplishments. They have strong value systems, and need to live their lives in accordance with what they feel is right. In deference to the Feeling aspect of their personalities, INFJs are in some ways gentle and easy going. Conversely, they have very high expectations of themselves, and frequently of their families. They don't believe in compromising their ideals. 

INFJ is a natural nurturer; patient, devoted and protective. They make loving parents and usually have strong bonds with their offspring. They have high expectations of their children, and push them to be the best that they can be. This can sometimes manifest itself in the INFJ being hard-nosed and stubborn. But generally, children of an INFJ get devoted and sincere parental guidance, combined with deep caring. 

In the workplace, the INFJ usually shows up in areas where they can be creative and somewhat independent. They have a natural affinity for art, and many excel in the sciences, where they make use of their intuition. INFJs can also be found in service-oriented professions. They are not good at dealing with minutia or very detailed tasks. The INFJ will either avoid such things, or else go to the other extreme and become enveloped in the details to the extent that they can no longer see the big picture. An INFJ who has gone the route of becoming meticulous about details may be highly critical of other individuals who are not. 

The INFJ individual is gifted in ways that other types are not. Life is not necessarily easy for the INFJ, but they are capable of great depth of feeling and personal achievement.

 
It's all the talk about INFJ's intuition that makes me feel more sane. Throughout my life I've always had a strong intuitive nature. I like to tell people I'm a little bit psychic! Ha! Anyway, it was just kind of crazy to read this because it very closely describes me.

After we took the test and were going over results, our information included the names of some famous people with our same personality types. I cracked up over mine. They included the following: Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi...but also Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden. I have since warned people that I could either be really good or really bad, so they ought not to cross me! Obviously I know probably none of these people took the actual test, but I just thought it was interesting how such seemingly different people could have the same type of personality at their core.

Day #5

What are five places that you'd like to visit?:

I was actually telling Chris the other day that we should start making it a point to take a side trip anytime we visit his family in England to see other places in Europe. It just seems like a waste to go that far and not travel to some other fun sites, but Chris pointed out that it's already so expensive to travel to England in the first place, that paying for an additional vacation on top of that could be tough. Plus we are going there to visit his family, so I'd feel kinda bad ditching them for a week to go off on our own. But anyway, we are going to pretend those aren't issues right now and list off the dream vacation destinations:

1) Paris

• To be honest, I don't like the French. I'm not exactly sure why I want to go to Paris other than because it's only a few hours from London and it seems like something that is on everyone's bucket list. It would be an experience, at least. I definitely want to make a side trip there one day (even considering the reasons listed above) because you could go for just a couple of days and they have a train from London that isn't too outrageously expensive.

2) Italy

•  I'm not that particular about where, I just think it would be a fun place to visit. Chris has been there once and always talks about wanting to go back.

3) Scotland

• My British friends and family might not like me listing this one (there seems to be a rivalry between the two countries) but it was my favorite country when I was on the British Literary Tour in college (sorry England) and we only stayed there for a few days. I would love to go back again and explore.

4) Greece

• I've always loved Greek myths and would love to explore their ruins. And come on! It's absolutely gorgeous!

5) Hawaii

• This one doesn't really apply to a place to see when we go to Europe, but this is the spot Chris really wants to visit. I've never been either and obviously think it would be a lot of fun. It would also be a lot of money though, so we'll have to save up for this one for awhile. 

Day #4

What are you top 5 pet peeves?

1) Businesses who change the first letters of words in their name so they all start with the same letter. One example is Krispy Kreme doughnuts. (That doesn't stop me from eating at Krispy Kreme though... :))

2) I don't know if I'd really call it a pet peeve, but it drives me crazy to have the volume set to certain numbers. It's a total OCD thing and there's no rhyme or reason to the numbers; it's not like odd versus even numbers, just randomly picked ones.

3) People who are nice in a totally fake way.

4) People who don't like cats. It's not just the not liking cats part, it's the fact that it seems a universal truth that cat haters can't keep their mouths shut about their feelings. Even if they know that I'm a major cat lover, they have to pipe up and say something rude about them. Drives me crazy.

5) Bad drivers. I have terrible road rage. I'm so glad I don't live in Utah anymore, but Nampa drivers are definitely not my favorite either. One of my old friends once told me a joke that the 2C on Canyon County car plates stands for "2 Crash" and I think about that every time I see one of them being stupid.

Day #3

What is something you feel strongly about?

WARNING: Some of these talking points may be controversial to some, so proceed with caution. I'm not looking for a fight, just answering a question honestly...

I'm going to go with bullet points and explanations on this one, because I can think of quite a few:

• Animals
• As most of you should be aware of by now, I'm a huge cat lover. I will advocate for their awesomeness until the day I die! But really, I feel strongly about animals in general, and in their well-being. Did you know that Idaho is one of only 3 states where animal abuse is not considered a felony? It's terrible and something that needs to be fixed. I really want to make the time to start volunteering at a shelter, because I'm sure I'd love my time there. If I could, I'd adopt a whole bunch of shelter cats! Even better, if we somehow come into a pile of money later in life, Chris and I have discussed creating a cat sanctuary. A nice place they can come to live out their days in peace. That would be amazing.

• Health Matters, Not Weight
•  I've discussed this topic before on the blog, about our need as a society to stop hating ourselves and our looks. It is practically a rule that if you are a woman, you have to want to lose weight no matter what size you are. Even if you're a size 2, you could still become a size 0 because Lord knows, the smaller you get, the better you are. This is a cycle that we teach our kids, when we are critical of ourselves in front of them. It is something that needs to stop. I think you should take pride in your appearance and put yourself together, but if you're in the double digit sizes, that doesn't make you any less of a person or any less beautiful. I believe in health, and you can be healthy at many sizes. You can also be very unhealthy when you are rail thin. We need to stop putting so much emphasis on weight and beauty as the things that make a person valuable.

• Equality
• I believe strongly in equality, and by that I particularly mean equality for the LGBT community. I have been known to de-friend people on Facebook over this issue, including one cousin. I can't deal with intolerance anymore. If you want to have your religion, that's completely fine, but how does it effect you if gay marriage is legalized? No one is going to force YOU to go marry someone of the same gender. Live and let live. If you want the lefties to leave your religious rights alone, then leave their freedoms alone. This nation was founded on the whole ideal of freedom, so these big religious groups trying to force their beliefs on the country makes me sick. The same could be said for women's rights. I could not believe how anti-woman the Republican party sounded this last election cycle. There was a bill going through Idaho to force women who wanted an abortion to have a vaginal ultrasound first. Why? Because it might make them change their minds? Most likely it won't and it just causes more psychological grief to the woman. There were politicians out there saying that abortions should be illegal, even in the case of rape.  Remember this gem from Richard Mourdock?: "I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God. And I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen." Ugh. Just ugh. Wonder if he'd feel the same way if he had to switch places with a rape victim who became pregnant. It's easier to say that as a man, isn't it?

• Gun Regulations
• I know I might get some heat on this one, being from Idaho, but this whole argument going on right now over gun rights is sooooooooooo ridiculous!! When the bill was first being discussed to ban assault weapons and clips with more than 10 rounds, I heard some co-workers discussing how that shouldn't pass. I couldn't help myself and went to ask them to please explain why they would be against that. Why do you need an assault weapon in your home? Why do you need a clip with more than 10 rounds? If you aren't up to anything illegal, I see no reason why those regulations should bother you. One of them told me some statistic about it taking 3 bullets to stop someone and what if 4 people broke into her house one night? The other said it was about restricting freedoms. At that point, I had to ask how the right wing people could use that as a justification for denying gun regulations but felt perfectly fine restricting gay people's right to marry or women's right to choose. It is completely hypocritical. Those regulations were buried, which isn't surprising, but what shocks me is how the bill requiring universal background checks to purchase a gun could be blocked. WHAT POSSIBLE REASON IS THERE TO OPPOSE THAT??! It seems like there is some kind of multiple person shooting every week in this country and we need to do something to stop it. I will never personally own a gun, but if you want to have a handgun, fine. What do you need an AK-47 for? While we are on the subject, why oh why would you teach your children under 10 years of age to go shoot a gun?? To go shoot groundhogs?? Seriously, tell me why you would want to teach your child that it is okay to shoot a harmless animal? Obviously I'm against hunting, but it's at least arguable as being legit if you eat the meat, etc. Do you think people who shoot those groundhogs eat them? I highly doubt it. So you are teaching your kids to go out and kill animals for no other reason than as a "fun activity."

I think I am going to stop here. If I continue, I may just alienate even more of you than I already have. As you can see, I've grown to hold some strong opinions in the last couple of years. I'd love to find ways to actively help pursue changes I'd like to see in our country, so if you know of any opportunities, please let me know.

Day #2

Where would you like to be in 10 years?

This is kind of a tough question. For most people I think they'd first say "I'll have X number of kids" and that's not really in the current plans for us. In 10 years, Chris will be long done with college so I hope he's settled happily into a career, be that teaching or writing. I hope he is able to find some success as a writer either way, because he has too much talent not to share it. As for me...I'm not really sure what I want to be doing. What I want to be when I grow up remains one of the great mysteries of my life. Chris and I had agreed that when he is done with college, I could go back to get a Masters degree if I wanted to, so I've been considering that. Mostly I've been considering law school. I'd love to have a career where I feel like I'm making a difference in the world and being challenged in my work. I guess what I'm worried about with a law career is that when people make me angry with their skewed views, I tend to just get frustrated and not be able to explain my side of things well. I think to argue law that's something I would need to work on.

Anyway, I'd obviously like to have a home by that point. We were discussing what kind of a house we'd like last night and my main problem with buying a house right now is that homes in the price range we can afford all just look exactly the same! They are carbon copies, inside and outside. I think this is why I really prefer older houses that have been renovated inside. They are unique. Here are some photos of a house I saw for sale a few months ago in Boise that I just fell in love with:

 (Our girls would LOVE this room, with all of the sunlight pouring in!)

 

I also really like the Pueblo style houses in New Mexico, but one of those would kind of be out of place in Idaho. Here's a few pictures of some to give you an idea of what they look like:

So yeah, hopefully in 10 years we'll have enough money to buy or build our dream house. I'm just not exactly sure where that will be yet. It's very possible we'll stay in Idaho, but we have definitely discussed the possibilities of moving to somewhere like Portland or Austin, TX. One of those pueblo houses wouldn't probably fit right in in Texas actually!

I hope in 10 years we will be at a point where we are both earning a decent income and are able to enjoy the finer things in life, like taking nice vacations together. Chris really wants to go to Hawaii but I fear we won't be able to afford something like that for awhile. I hope we've been able to travel a bit around Europe during our vacations to visit his family. If nothing else, I want to make a side trip to Paris soon since it's only a couple of hours away, by train.

I guess those are all the specifics I can think of right now. Really I just want to be settled and happy. Is there much more you can ask for out of life than that?

I Failed Last Time, But Here We Go Again....

So I decided to try another 30-day blog challenge, since it's been forever and a day since I posted on here. I guess I think my day to day life isn't interesting enough to write about so it helps to have kind of a writing prompt to get me going. I quit the blog challenge last time at day 29, so let's see if we can make it to day 30 this go around! I'm going to kind of mix and match some challenge lists to do prompts that interest me, so here we go:

Day 1: Five Ways to Win Your Heart

1) Be an animal lover, especially cats! I don't think you can really trust people who dislike animals. What do they have against them? I wouldn't want to own a dog myself, but I certainly don't dislike them. My sister's ex-husband didn't like animals and that turned out to be a telling sign of his black, black soul.

2) Have some depth. I prefer to associate with people who are actually able to have deep conversations. Superficial conversation is quite common these days and it's hard to find those people who you can relate to and share with. Oh, and not to be a jerk, but if you have kids, please have other things to talk about. Have you noticed that with a lot of parents, all they want to talk about is their kids? Well if you don't have kids, it's kind of hard to relate to and not all that interesting of a topic.

3) Be accepting. This is the one thing that has started to drive me more and more crazy about the politics in this country, particularly Idaho. Honestly, we are going to look back on this whole marriage equality thing in 20 years and it's going to be embarrassing for those people who were against it. It will be like the people who were against interracial marriages in the 60's. What do you have against it? The only argument people use is religion. How is it hurting you and your religion to allow people to love how they want to? Why do you feel the need to impose your religion on other people? Oh, and the recent argument about how marriage is for procreation and gay people can't procreate so therefore shouldn't get married? I'm sure you can guess how I feel about that as a childfree person...

4) Be nice. And I don't mean just nice to people's faces, but genuinely a nice person. I prefer to be around people who have empathy for others.

5) Be a boy from England named Chris Grapes. Oh how I love that man! He is my perfect match in every way so if you are just like him, you already have my heart.


So there's my prompt for the day. Quick updates on the past five months of life.........well, nothing really stands out. Chris has been doing great this semester and is headed for another 4.0. He won 1st and 3rd place in Fiction with a couple of his short stories (available in his collection on Amazon here) for the CWI Literary Magazine he's been working on. Work is same ol', same ol' for me. I am going to start taking some Criminal Justice courses at CWI beginning this summer with a goal of getting an Associates degree at some point. Yes, I already have a Bachelors but never got an Associates so I figured why not? Plus if I take 6 credits, I get counted as attending college for Chris' FAFSA and he therefore will get more grant money. Win, win! In a few weeks we are going to be taking a week-long vacation down to New Mexico. Both of us are really looking forward to it! Time by the pool with some drinks and good company! This year we are making the trek alone so we are free to do whatever without having to worry about boring the kids (sorry, I love you Zack and Taylor but am looking forward to having that freedom) so we will probably take one or two day trips to see local sights. That's all for now. Back tomorrow with another prompt!