Time Well Wasted

Review

2012-02-01T21:24:00.002-05:00

11/22/63 by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved. LOVED. LOVED! I enjoyed everything about this story. One of my favorite authors doing my favorite genre of fiction!! This is King at his best. No sick thrills, but still a feeling of high suspense. I loved the historical aspect of this, and the twist to every story. Genius. Couldn't put it down! I hope King does more historical fiction in the future.

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Review

2012-01-22T19:28:00.000-05:00

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I REALLY wanted to like this book. Several people told me that this was a "must read" and it was amazing "historical fiction." However, I found it to be dull and it read like a textbook, not like a story. Also, the author tells you at the beginning that this is entirely true; he didn't make up any of it. The quotes and data are all accurate. In my opinion, it could have used some fiction to spice things up a bit.
I admit, reading about the World's Fair in Chicago was pretty interesting, but I don't need to know every tiny insignificant detail about it. There no thrill of a story line, and I'm pretty disappointed overall.

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2012 Goals

2012-01-15T16:08:00.000-05:00

Since January is half over, I better finalize some goals for 2012. Here's what I've got:

Lose 20 pounds

I had this goal last year, and lost about 14 and managed to gain about 5 back. Time to start again. I've joined the Midland Community Center, which I love so far. It's the only gym I've been to where I don't feel out of place and awkward. And today I joined Weight Watchers again. WW was the reason I lost any weight at all last year so I figured I'll try it again. With the combination of the MCC and WW, I think I can be successful with this goal and hopefully surpass it.

Lose 30 inches

I'm not so concerned about weight as I am with size. I would just like to be smaller. I don't care about a number on a scale. So I decided to add an inch goal to my weight goal.

Complete my Bachelor's degree

I admit: this is too easy. Unless something drastic happens, I WILL be graduating! I've waited too long for this to not happen.

Graduate with a 4.0

Only four classes left, and as long as I pull As in all of them I'll be able to graduate with my perfect GPA. Now THIS will be worth the 10-ish years of college I've put myself through. I'll be able to get into any graduate school that I want when the time comes. If I can accomplish this, I feel like I can almost forgive myself for taking so long to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

Get a promotion/new job

With my new degree I'm hoping to move up in Northwood. I really want to stay in Financial Aid more than anything, but I don't know how long I'll be able to wait before I need to start making more money. I hate to say it: but yes, it comes down to the money. I love my job very much, but I want to make more money! ;) And I'll need to start paying back my loans in November. If nothing comes up by October, I'll just need to get a second job I suppose.

Read 15,000 pages

In 2011 I read about 13,500 pages. With me finishing school in May, I expect I'll be able to do a lot more reading for fun. Yay! Book suggestions are welcome!

It's all I got so far. Simple, attainable, but not too easy. I'm sure I'll come up with something else as the year goes on. I'd like to do more Letterboxing, but that isn't really a track able goal; just something I want to do more of this year.

Wish me luck!

Review

2012-01-04T18:14:00.000-05:00

Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fantastic!! The short, suspenseful pages read like a James Patterson thriller. I loved every page of it. It was fascinating and kept me on the edge of my seat, even though the ending is known.

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2011 Goal Wrap-Up

2011-12-28T23:16:00.002-05:00

All right, here's the moment of truth. Here's what my goals were for 2011 and how I fared:

Get all As in school: CHECK! I am very proud of this one. I feel like I've finally found my niche.
Go on a vacation: CHECK! I went to Washington, D.C. to visit my dear friend Kersten for a week. It was fabulous.
Read 10,000 pages: CHECK! I totally blew this one away. As of right now I'm at 13,563 pages. These are only leisurely pages too; it doesn't include what I've read for school. Since this is my first time making goals for the year I wasn't sure where to begin. Now I have a good idea what to set the goal for 2012.
Do more meal planning: I'm going to say I didn't complete this one. Who am I meal planning for?! Me? That's just dumb. Most of the time I have cereal or a sandwich for dinner. And cooking meals for one person is pointless and wasteful. I usually end up throwing half of it away after it sits in the fridge for days. This would be a good goal if I were cooking for two or more. But for now, this goal just doesn't really apply to me and my current lifestyle.
Take lunch to work at least four days a week: Nope, didn't complete this one either. Obviously this is difficult to track but I know I didn't do this. Maybe two or three times a week would be a good goal to start with but I currently don't have a problem with eating lunch out or just coming home and making something quick.
Lose 20 pounds: I lost 14 pounds and several inches. I'm happier about the inches than I am about the pounds. So, nope, I didn't accomplish this one completely.
Save $1000: I had over $1000 saved but used some of it on Christmas. So, I guess I accomplished this half-way? lol. Is that possible?
Pay off two debts: CHECK! I paid off more than two actually and am very proud of it. :)
No soda: HAHAHA... Nope. I changed this to one soda a week which I usually stick to. One thing I'm happy about is that I broke my addiction to Mt. Dew. I tried to have one several weeks ago and after two drinks I had to dump it out; it was DISGUSTING!
Work out at Curves three times a week: The Curves thing was great while it lasted, but I cancelled my membership several months ago to try and save money. I plan on joining the Midland Community Center after the new year.

My grade is 4.5/10. HAH! I failed. (I had a secret goal that I didn't publish here that I accomplished, so I guess I'm at 5.5/11) I'm thinking of some new practical goals for 2012. So far I can only think of six and a few of them are repeats. I'll try and write them so that they're not vague (i.e. Do more meal planning. lol). They'll need to be somewhat trackable and accomplishable (is that a word?). One of them is obvious: Complete my Bachelor's degree. So there's one guaranteed win. I'm not really sure if these goals are bettering my life or anything, but I guess it doesn't hurt to have a clear direction of what I want to do with my life even if it's only a year at a time.

Overall 2011 was a pretty fantastic year for me. I'm feeling really good about where I am with my life. I haven't been able to say that in a VERY long time. For the first time I feel like I'm 100% on my own two feet and proud of it. I'm excited to see what 2012 will bring!

Time to Decorate!

2011-11-13T23:16:00.001-05:00

I couldn't wait any longer! I put up my tree and did some decorating this weekend. Sebastian was in heaven with all the fun glittery things there were to attack. Trying to wind this tinsel around the tree was a challenge since he kept grabbing and jumping at it. I had to stop a few times because I was laughing so hard. It's hard to scold him when he's having so much fun. :) He looks mischievous doesn't he?

Once the tree was up, I couldn't get Sebastian out from under it. He just sits under there all day. I'm surprised he didn't once try to jump or climb up the tree or even bat at the ornaments. He's done very well with it so far. However, today is my first day away with the tree up. I'll be very happy if it's still standing when I get home! If he's a good kitty he just might find some catnip under the tree on Christmas. :)

I bought my first Christmas gift this weekend too! (Thanks to Kohl's free $10 off any purchase!) I was so excited to get out my new wrapping goodies and try it out. I am VERY pleased with how it looks: simple yet lovely.

I followed this video to "tie the perfect bow" so that with one pull the bow falls right off.

I got some little jingle bells from the dollar store (9/$1) to add a little something fun. The letters aren't exactly straight or spaced out properly, but I suppose that's how it's supposed to be. Adds some charm. :)

This weekend is our big Christmas shopping trip. I'm so excited to get away and shop all weekend (we're going to IKEA this year!). I can't wait to get all the goods home so I can do more wrapping!

PS: If you want the best news on Black Friday deals check out bfads.net. Another good way to get into the holiday spirit! :)

Crafty Wrapping

2011-11-06T19:17:00.004-05:00

As some of you may know, I absolutely LOVE wrapping Christmas gifts. It's one of my favorite things about the holiday. I often offer to wrap everyone else's gifts for them and sometimes I get to. There's something about wrapping gifts that I find really soothing and fun. I like the idea of mixing up different colored ribbons, tags, and paper together. So this year I'm tackling a new type of gift wrap: plain brown paper. It sounds pretty ugly at first, but I found these photos on Pinterest (pinterest.com. You MUST check it out if you haven't yet. So much time-wasting fun!) that really caught my eye:

I just LOVE how this looks! And, it gives me an excuse to use stamps, ribbon, yarn, and other fun baubles for each gift. Turns out it's pretty inexpensive as well when compared to how much traditional wrapping paper costs. Also, I love the idea that my gifts will have a sort of "signature look" this year; no need to add the "From: Sarah" on everything. I want people to know these gifts are from me just by looking at them.

So, this past week, I started shopping for supplies. I found an excellent deal at Lowe's for the brown paper. They call it "Masking Paper" but it's really just a roll of brown paper with the same feel and thickness as traditional wrapping paper. I bought an 18"x180' roll for only $4! They had larger rolls of brown Contractor's Paper, but the paper was much thicker like a brown paper sack. I thought that might be pretty difficult to wrap with. You can't beat $4 and 180' will last me a few years I expect.

I love my stamps (got them 40% off at Michael's!) and the fun colors I got. Unfortunately, I didn't realize the "pigment" pads wouldn't work on this paper. I was pretty bummed because I thought silver, gold, and white would look great with some snowflake stamps. Still, the three colors I have look really neat on the brown paper. :)

I returned the pigment stamps today and bought some ribbons and other fun things. I got all of this for $20 today at Michael's! (It really only cost me $13, since I had $7 in returns).

Almost all of these items were $1 or less. The thick white polka-dot ribbon and Bunny Tail yarn were both under $5. So this is still turning out to be a very inexpensive way to wrap. So far, with everything, I've spent about $35 on this project. If I get any other fun things to add it'll be all $1 or less (that's the rule I'm giving myself). I'm sure I can find some fake cranberries or something like that at the dollar store if I want them.

We're doing our big annual shopping trip in less than two weeks. I can't wait to start wrapping!

Holiday Spirit

2011-09-16T10:55:00.000-04:00

I realized the other day that we're only a little over three months away from Christmas. Oh my goodness! So I started making my Christmas shopping list, card mailing list, budget, etc. I also got out Lillian's stocking that I bought last year and didn't make much progress with. It took me about two years to finish Caleb's so I really want to be able to give Lillian her stocking this Christmas. :)

Unfortunately, I bought the most elaborate one I could find because it was just so darn pretty! I wasn't thinking about buying one that was simple and easy; stupid me. But once this is finished, it's going to hopefully be something she will enjoy and love as she grows up. My mother made stockings just like this for all of us kids and I still cherish mine today.

Here's what the finished stocking will (should) look like:

And this is as far as I got last year (when I put it away after Christmas because working on it seemed never-ending):

Yesterday, after about four hours of sewing, stitching, stuffing, and sequining (Is that a word?), here's where I am:

Yup. I still have a LOT of work to do. But I'm determined to have this done for her this year.
I was nervous about how the face was going to turn out, since that's one of the most important parts. But I'm pleased with how it looks. :) I can't wait till it's done and I can fill it with fun stuff!

Review

2011-09-11T18:59:00.002-04:00

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It was creative, mysterious, fun, adventurous, suspenseful, with a touch of history and everything in between. One of my favorite things was all the photos that are strewn into the story. At the end of the book they explain that all the photos used in the story were real. That brought such a great touch to the book! It was left open-ended. I really hope Riggs continues with a sequel!

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Listen Up, Single Men

2011-09-09T14:30:00.000-04:00

I signed up on a dating website, again. I only do the free ones since I can't wrap my head around actually paying to meet a bunch of douche bags. When I had a two week break from school, I was bored and thought "what the heck." My profile is pretty laid-back and states that I'm not looking for a boyfriend, just someone to hang out with once in a while. For the most part I am happy being single. I like the simplicity of it. The only time it bothers me is when I want/have to go to an event and don't have someone to go with. But that doesn't happen very often.

After being on the site for a few weeks I've compiled a mental list of really, really obnoxious things that guys do or don't do on these sites. In the hopes that a few of them will actually read this, here it is:

1. If you don't have a photo, nobody will want to talk to you. There is no excuse for not having at least one picture. Multiple photos are preferable. If you're on a dating website, you know how to use a computer. Use it to upload a photo. It's not rocket science.

2. Your main profile picture shouldn't be of you and some other chick (unless it's clearly your mom or grandmother). Nor should it be of you with your shirt off (gag!) or laying on your bed (double gag!). Or one where you're so far away I can't even see your face. What are you hiding?

3. If you send me a message and I don't respond, DO NOT start sending me multiple messages. Clearly, I don't want to talk to you. This is why you don't have a girlfriend; because you're a crazy, pathetic little boy. I recently got one so I looked at his profile and wasn't interested. Then he sent me another message the next day saying "I noticed you looked at my profile. Was there something you didn't like?" So, what, I tell you what I didn't like and you change it? Yeah, that doesn't work for me.

4. When a girl sends you a message, contribute to the conversation! My biggest pet peeve is when a guy responds to my message but then only answers my questions and doesn't bring anything new to the conversation. So, where am I supposed to go from there? It seems like you're not interested. But then why even respond to the message in the first place? If you leave a message at a dead-end I have no where to take the conversation without it being awkward. As me questions. Be insightful. At the very least you should be able to converse with me. For example: I sent someone a message asking if he's always live in [city]? Or did he grow up somewhere else? And a few other opening lines. He responds with: "I moved here a few years ago, I grew up in [different city]." And that was all! All righty then. Again, if you're not interested don't even bother replying in the first place. If you are interested, then show me that you are. Geez!!

5. When sending a message, write like an adult! Don't use "u" and "r." Type the words out. This makes you look like an idiot. I will not date an idiot.

6. Please write more than two or three lines. If you don't, I start to imagine us on a date sitting there staring at the wall because I've exhausted all conversational efforts and you've only said a few words. That does not sound like fun to me.

7. I know it's difficult to portray yourself accurately in a profile, but you gotta give us something to work with. A sentence or two about how you're looking for your "soul mate" doesn't make you interesting or unique. It sounds trite and ridiculous. If you don't put any effort into your profile, it looks like you won't put any effort into anything else in your life either.

Review

2011-09-05T21:57:00.002-04:00

Room by Emma Donoghue
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First, I should say that I read this directly after I finished Jaycee Dugard's story. I wouldn't recommend doing that...
Reading from the point of view of a 5-year-old was different, but mostly in a good way. I liked the way the story was told through his language.
I probably would have enjoyed this more if I hadn't have just read the ultimate, true story of survival of Dugard's. Either way, I read this in about two days. It's a quick, good story.

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Review

2011-09-05T21:55:00.003-04:00

A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow. I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this or not, but once I started reading I didn't want to stop. Luckily, we know that there's a good ending to her story. But the details are very hard to read along the way. Jaycee is an amazing woman! She is so positive and inspiring and is doing great things to overcome her past. What a heartbreaking, yet uplifting, story.

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Review

2011-08-30T16:25:00.000-04:00

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There were many parts of this that I really enjoyed, and many parts that really bothered me. The parts I really enjoyed were when he just told the story. But there were many pages and sometimes chapters where Steinbeck got on a tangent that had nothing to do with the main story. Also, he created a character (Sam Hamilton) who, I felt, was supposed to be a reflection of his own thoughts. It's hard for me to explain exactly what I mean by that. But it's as if Steinbeck was almost showing off. The writing was just... too much. Those "showy" parts of the book came off as pretentious and obnoxious to me. I really didn't care for Sam Hamilton at all. To wrap up, I'm happy to say that I've read this. But I'm glad I didn't buy it because I'd never read it again.

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Letterboxing in Saginaw

2011-08-15T17:33:00.005-04:00

Pages read: 9477

Pounds Lost: 9

Sodas this week: 1

Workouts this week: 0

Amount in savings: $300

I was FINALLY able to do some letterboxing after a three-month hiatus. Otherwise known as summer classes; aka hell. I finished my summer classes (and kept my 4.0!) on Friday night followed by an immediate letterboxing trip on Saturday with my wonderful friend, Keri. She really loved it, and I loved having an adventure with her. It was fun to see her do some "bush diving." :)

She grew up in the Saginaw area so it was great having her to navigate. We were successful, finding all of the letterboxes we attempted. There were three outdoor and one indoor 'box. The indoor one was in a library (my first library letterbox) and it was awesome! I love libraries to begin with, and when you throw in some letterboxing it makes them even better! This one was the hardest to find, but it was well worth it. I also got my first little "gift" in this box. It was an intense find since the library was about to close. It was fun trying to be sneaky and fast at the same time, while they were paging every 5 minutes that the library was closing. I was a bit panicked, but it was really fun. I wondered how many of the employees knew what we were up to...

Change of subject: I've lost 9 pounds in seven weeks! (Not including the 2 pounds I've lost so far this week!) I'm such a huge fan of Weight Watchers! I'm becoming a major fangirl and take the opportunity to talk about it whenever possible. I'm expecting my friends and family to tell me any time now that they're sick of hearing about it. Feel free to let me know. However, I've recruited several people and it's more fun losing weight with others.

I kept all my last measurements from Curves. My last actual measure there was in November. I recently bought a tape measure so I could keep up on the measurements. According to my measurements last week, I've lost 8" in my waist since November! I measured three times because I just didn't believe it. That's outstanding. The bad news is that my chest an hips are the same exact size. What!? I'm ok with my chest staying the same but I would really like to lose some inches in my hips/butt. The point of losing weight is to eliminate my curves, not make them more prominent!! Overall I can't really complain, but geez... these hips.

It's Working!

2011-07-05T11:36:00.004-04:00

Pages read: 7500ish

Pounds Lost: 4

Sodas this week: 0

Workouts this week: 1

Amount in savings: $850

As of Sunday, I'd been on Weight Watchers for 10 days and lost 4 pounds! Wohoo!! So far so good. :) And I really feel like I eat a lot; it's not like I'm starving myself. I also like the incentive they give you for exercising: the more you exercise the more you can eat. Who doesn't like that idea?! It looks like I just might end up reaching my weight loss goal this year. That would be fabulous!

I was able to break in the bike last weekend. I went for a ride around the rail trail and had to stop because my butt was hurting SO bad. I hate that. If I stop I want it to be because my muscles are sore, not my ass from the seat. So I'm definitely going to invest in a different seat. The gel cover helped a bit but it's no miracle worker. Too bad I didn't save the receipt or packaging. Ugh.

School has really been demanding this summer. Thankfully two of my four classes will be done after this week. My last two classes are going to be really easy to handle. I'm looking forward to getting back into letterboxing. I haven't been out 'boxing since Memorial weekend. It seems like so long ago!! If nothing else I'll have time to pursue some letterboxes while camping at Hartwick Pines over Labor day weekend but I'd prefer not to wait that long.

Overall, things have been going very well. I feel great! Life is good...

Trying Something New

2011-06-22T18:21:00.004-04:00

Pages read: 7417

Pounds Lost: -3

Sodas this week: 2

Workouts this week: 0

Amount in savings: $1000

I've been thinking a lot lately about joining Weight Watchers. I haven't heard about anyone NOT having success with it. And now that they do the online program, I think that's what really made me start thinking about it. I wasn't into going to meetings every week. So I checked it out online and asked around. The membership is a lot cheaper than I thought it would be and I don't need to buy all those books and the calculator like I thought. So I didn't really see a downside to trying it out. I'm paying half of what I paid at Curves, too. So I really hope Weight Watchers works for me. So far, I really like it. But I just signed up today. :) It's a bit early...

I've also really wanted a bike for a while. I haven't rode a bike in probably ten years so it's time to get back on one. It seems like I see bikes everywhere, and there are some people that ride their bikes to work. I've thought about riding mine to work since it's only about five miles. So I finally bought one today! Here she is:

The colors are really pretty without being froo-froo girly. I got it at WalMart. Surprisingly, they had the best selection for the best prices. This Schwinn got really good reviews too. I'm excited to try it out! Of course I had to get a gel seat cover to go with it. I might get a water bottle holder too if I start going on long rides (which I would love to get into). It's still pretty stormy and very wet outside right now or I'd be out breaking it in. Hopefully I can tomorrow!

Been a While

2011-06-19T20:04:00.004-04:00

Pages read: 7373

Pounds Lost: 0

Sodas this week: 1

Workouts this week: 0

Amount in savings: $1250

Wow, I haven't blogged in a long time! Besides Blogger having issues for several weeks, I have been very busy. I've had a busy weekend and am now taking the rest of the night off to relax. I just realized I need to do a six-month update on my goals since that was the theme of this blog at the beginning. And off we go:

Get all As in school: I'm so happy to say that I'm at 100% of this goal so far! I am nervous about two of my summer classes, but I'll be satisfied with an A- if I get one. My ultimate goal is to graduate with high honors (magna cum laude). I'll need at least a 3.80 for that.
Go on a vacation: Check!!
Read 10,000 pages: I'm KILLING this goal! As you can see above, I'm at 7,373 pages. Next year, I'll make this one 15,000 pages. I'll also be done with school next year so I'll be able to read more.
Do more meal planning: Eh. I haven't really been doing well with this one. Cooking for one person is, most of the time, wasteful. More times than not I end up throwing out leftovers. I think next year I'll change this goal to something about eating healthier.
Take lunch to work at least 4 times a week: I've done this about 50% of the time. The hardest part here is making sure I go grocery shopping every Sunday for lunch food for the week.
Lose 20 pounds: Hah! Right. I've completed 0% of this goal... I hope to get a bike soon which should help me with this.
Save $1000: Check!! It's a relief to have some money saved up.
Pay off two debts: Check!! I'm very proud of this one too! Pretty soon I'll have a lot of student loans to start paying on and I need to pay off as much as I can now before then.
NO SODA!!: This was changed to one soda a week. This has been easier. I haven't been doing to well with this lately, but it's time to cut back again. I usually buy a soda with the Sunday paper, which keeps me to my weekly one.
Work out at Curves three times a week: I just cancelled my membership. :( I really like Curves, but can never go. I always feel like I have other things I need to do: homework, cleaning, walking outside, class, etc. I'd prefer to do outdoor activities if I can this summer. I'd really like to join Curves again when I'm done with school and have more time to go. I know it works, it's just not something I can commit to now.

Blogger Issues

2011-06-09T15:46:00.002-04:00

I'm sure any of you who use Blogger have experienced issues lately. I've been using this site for several years and this is the first time I've ran into trouble like this.

I haven't been able to log in for about three weeks now. I keep getting "Error 404." I've tried clearing the caches/cookies, different browsers, pressing CTRL+F5 before logging in... whatever they have listed on their help page.

Today I clicked on my Blogger shortcut to try and log in, and got the same error message. Then, just for shits and giggles, I typed www.blogger.com into the address bar and wah-bam... worked!! So I thought I should type a little something just to say I'm alive and well. Who knows when I'll be able to log in again. I guess the squirrel's tails must have all been lined up just right across the poles.

Dear Blogger: stop being wonky.

Fun at the Park

2011-05-19T21:45:00.007-04:00

Pages read: 6428

Pounds Lost: Oh, probably none!

Sodas this week: 1

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $50

Being an Aunt is the best! We had some fun at the park tonight. After we got home they wanted to cuddle on the chair with me, eat some raisins, and watch a movie. :) I doesn't get any better than that.

The Addiction is Growing

2011-05-17T19:38:00.002-04:00

Pages read: 6335

Pounds Lost: Who cares

Sodas this week: 1

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $50

Just when I thought I couldn't obsess over Letterboxing any more, I get my first finder!! How exciting! After the find was logged I immediately wanted to run out and look at the log book. :) But I was at work, and I figured I should probably wait till I get at least two finds. hehe

I can't wait to plant more boxes. Pretty soon I'll be ordering more "pink stuff" and carving tools. The tools that came with my starter kit are fine, but what I've got planned coming up will require a smaller gouge size. Up next I have a series in mind that I'd like to do. I know the location and have the image that I want to use. I'm a bit afraid that it will be too advanced for me but I'm going to try it anyway. Go big or go home 'eh?

For Memorial Day weekend, I usually go to my grandparent's cabin on Houghton Lake and definitely plan on going this year. After searching for letterboxes in the area, I was really surprised at how many there were! There aren't a ton in Houghton Lake/Prudenville, but there are a LOT in Lake City about 20 miles away. Lake City is small (population about 900); but there are about 40 letterboxes there! I've already got all the clues mapped out and printed, ready to go. Now if the weekend could just get here faster!

Yay for Letterboxing!! I'm totally loving it.

For more information on Letterboxing visit www.atlasquest.com.

Two Letterboxing Firsts

2011-05-11T20:26:00.000-04:00

Pages read: 6079

Pounds Lost: 1

Sodas this week: 3

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $0

I decided a few weeks ago to give postals a try (letterboxes sent through the mail). At first I thought these would be kind of pointless and unexciting. What's the point of letterboxing if there's no clues to follow? But it was fun to come home and see a little brown envelope waiting for me.

After searching through some old message board posts, I saw that most people keep a separate log book for their postals since they can add up really quickly. So I went to Michael's and got some supplies. I found the perfect sheet of scrapbook paper for the cover. I love it!

I'm ready for more postals! Bring 'em on :)

I also just planted my first letterbox about two hours ago! I'm SO excited for this! Alright everyone, go out and find it! haha

But seriously, I went to plant around six tonight because I knew the place would be practically deserted. Of course there was a lone muggle cleaning one of the buildings about 30 yards or so away from where I wanted to plant. It was like she knew I was up to something because she wouldn't stop staring at me! Literally, staring at me without moving. I almost waved to her at one point. haha So, I did my "cover" and took out my camera for a few shots. That didn't work. She still stared at me. Grrr... Just when I thought she was moving on and I was in the clear, I started to hear footsteps coming down the sidewalk. I would have just waited it out, but it was a coworker of mine! I dashed around the corner as fast and as quietly as I could in my flip-flops. Luckily she didn't see me. I don't know what I would have said...

After running to hide I actually saw a different spot to plant that was out of sight from the gawker. So I quickly hid and covered the letterbox as best as I could without being seen. Whew. Maybe some day I'll move it to my original idea spot.

As soon as I started to walk away I kept thinking of other places I should put it and immediately started worrying about it getting muggled. I didn't think I'd be that worried, but I still feel like I'm constantly trying to think of how I can make it better. I just need to let it go.

I can't wait till I get my first finder!!

Letterboxing in Midland

2011-05-10T18:46:00.008-04:00

Pages read: 6027

Pounds Lost: 1

Sodas this week: 2

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $0

I was lucky enough to do some letterboxing yesterday with two of my closest friends. We had one find and one attempt and maybe even a new recruit! It seems like I'm always in need of a new letterboxing companion.

We went for two boxes here in Midland that are in the Chippewa Nature Center. The first one was a nice, short walk and a rather easy find. I had never been to the Nature Center before and was surprised at how nice it was. Again, this is one of the great things about this hobby. You find so many interesting places (some right in your neighborhood) that you would have never discovered.

There's a Wigwam at the beginning of the trail. We took a few minutes to check it out.

After we found the box we continued on the trail to the homestead not too far away. That was pretty neat. I'd love to go back and visit during opening hours to check out the inside.

There we some cute sheep outside too! This was the kind of place where everywhere you looked, it seemed like the perfect spot to plant a letterbox.

The next letterbox we went for appeared to be missing. This was exceptionally frustrating since it's one of those boxes where you go for a long walk, and it ends up being about 50 feet from where you parked. I am not a fan of those. You can be assured that none of my plants will ever be like that. Speaking of plants, I am SO close to planting my first box. I have everything ready, I just need to decide how I'm going to do the clues and do the actual plant. Yay!!

Hopefully the rain will hold off this weekend. I have a garage sale planned with my sister and am hoping to do more letterboxing on Sunday. Happy trails everyone. :)

Letterboxing in Mt. Pleasant

2011-05-07T22:32:00.008-04:00

Pages read: 5941

Pounds Lost: 1

Sodas this week: 4

Curves visits this week: 1

Amount in savings: $0

Letterboxing has turned out to be quite a bit different than I initially thought. First, I was a bit naive about the whole thing. I remember being really disappointed to see how few letterboxes there were in my area. I thought I'd be able to do all of them in a weekend. How boring! Oh man, was I wrong. I might be able to at least attempt all the Midland ones in a weekend; but I am sure now that I wouldn't be able to find them all. It can be frustrating to feel like you've found the spot, but can't find the box. But I've realized that if I found every box that I attempted, it would almost be too easy. Right now I'm running about 50/50 for finds and attempts. I wasn't expecting that when I started this. Maybe it's just because I'm still a "beginner?"

It was so gorgeous outside today! My cheeks are a little red from the sun. I drove to a town about 30 minutes away to search for some boxes. The first box I attempted, Footsteps of Heroes, was in a great location.

I feel a little ashamed that I never knew we had a war memorial in Mt. Pleasant. The memorial was nice, and the clues were really fun to solve. However, I didn't find the letterbox. I'm fairly certain I followed the clues right, but it wasn't there. After going home to log the attempt I see that it hasn't actually been found since October 2008! And there have been five attempts since then. One thing I don't like about the Letterboxing.org website is there's no place for comments. So I couldn't see any notes from previous searchers.

I took some photos while I waited for the "muggles" to go away. This one is my favorite.

My second attempt was Lexa the Trail Pup. The park was small and lovely. I wold have never known it was there and the trails were really nice; paved and dirt both. Today there were a lot of kayakers. I never knew the river was so"rapid" around there. It was really loud!

I'm happy to say that I found this letterbox! However, it was a disappointing find. This is the first letterbox turned Geocache that I've found, and I'm not sure I want to go after any more. I know that it's quite common for the Geocachers to take the stamps (thinking it's part of the prizes), but this letterbox was missing a log book too. So, I didn't get to stamp at all and didn't get to read the log book which is one of my favorite parts. Even though I can count another find, it seems like a half of a find to me. This is also my first trip out with my own, personal stamp that I carved. I'm sad that I didn't get to use it at all.

5/8/11 edit: Turns out, if there's no log book and stamp, it doesn't really count as a find. I emailed the owner and let them know they were missing. Hopefully they'll replace the stamp and log book so I can go after it again!

Sebastian

2011-04-25T18:35:00.006-04:00

Getting Ready to Plant

2011-04-17T19:08:00.003-04:00

I've already done another carve, and this one only took about 30 minutes. I'm getting ready to hopefully plant my first letterbox! I know where I'm going to plant it, location-wise. And I have a pretty good idea of the exact location, but I need to find a good time to sniff it out and be sure. :)

I was going to post a photo of my new carve, but I'm not sure if that would be considered a spoiler? Because isn't that half the fun of letterboxing...finding out what the stamp is? I'd love some input on this from seasoned 'boxers.

I still need to get the actual box, log book, and ink pad. But that's easy stuff. Hopefully this week I can do some snooping around my location for the perfect spot!

Signature Stamp

2011-04-13T20:13:00.009-04:00

Pages read: 5197

Pounds Lost: ??

Sodas this week: 3

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $0

I got my first carving kit in the mail today. I couldn't wait to get home from work and try it out! I was getting embarrassed with my store-bought stamp and craved my own unique one. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out http://www.atlasquest.com/tutorials/carving/ for carving info.)

I quickly learned it's MUCH easier to transfer the image once you've taped it down. It moved on me a bit. Also, the tracing paper kept curling as I was transferring.

I found out here that scissors work just fine to cut through pink stuff.

Now I started to get really nervous! What if I totally suck at this? What if I get to the end and screw it up? How the hell am I going to do those letters!? Before I put it away and never touched it again, I just took a stab. Literally. I just gouged into the pink stuff. It felt great! haha Very satisfying and smooth. Then I just couldn't stop, and I didn't until I was almost finished.

However, I almost stopped here. Oh my gosh, I had no idea where to even begin with those letters. After using the #2 wedge (or whatever it's called) a little more, I was amazed at the small spaces I could gouge. I still want to get the #1, but for now this one worked. The letters still aren't perfect, but I like it that way! :)

One problem I've always had when I try to be crafty is that it never feels complete. I always think I could do more and better. I got a little carried away with trying to get perfect corners and letters. I bet you can tell where!

I'm so happy with the way this turned out! I feel proud that I was able to do it and am anxious to do another. Also, I was really surprised this only took about an hour or so to do. Now I'll be searching for images for the six letterboxes I've started to map out in my head. Oh my gosh, this is so much fun!! I've just opened a new window to letterboxing and I know I'm hooked already! :)

No Luck

2011-04-10T12:40:00.003-04:00

Pages read: 5013

Pounds Lost: 0

Sodas this week: 4

Curves visits this week: 1

Amount in savings: $100

Yesterday was the perfect spring day; the first beautiful day we've had this year. Which made it a great day for letterboxing. I decided to go after The Happy Snowman, and maybe attempt Ethan's Bridge Walk again... for the third time. After two cups of coffee I was ready to head out.

I wanted to grab a trail map at the start but there were none. The sporadic maps posted around the forest weren't all that helpful since there were no "you are here" spots, and it didn't have the numbered posts on it either. And those numbers were what the clues were based on. Either way, the first parts of the clues were pretty easy to follow. There were little numbered posts about every 50 yards or so.

I did stop for a second to take a photo with my camera. It was so gorgeous outside!

This was one of those searches where I was never quite sure that I was going the right way. I was relieved every time I saw a numbered sign that confirmed my path. When I got to the clue that says "at the T, go right to 5" that's when the trouble started. I went right, but ended up at 6. I eventually wanted to end up at 12 so I thought if I just kept on the same loop, which was 3.2 miles, I'd eventually run into 12. It might take a little longer, but that was all right. I eventually reached 7, and then I had another problem. There were two choices. I knew I was supposed to be heading south which led me one way, but the other path had an arrow that said "north loop" which is what I was supposed to be on.

I took the path south, hoping to run into 12. Well, after walking about 15 mintues I still hadn't run into any other numbers. So I back-tracked to 7 again and took the north loop. I walked quite a ways again, with no numbers popping up. I started to get rather irritated with myself. Why didn't I just turn back at 6?? Then the path I was on ended... at that southern path I was just on! So, I walked back down that path, for the third time, back to 7 again. I had been out walking now for over an hour and was starting to get thirsty. I back-tracked again, from 7 to 6, and then from 6 to another path I hadn't went down. Lo and behold, I found 5! Ok, back to the clues...

"At 5, go south to 12." I knew the general direction of south, but checked my compass just in case. At this time I didn't want to take another wrong turn at Albuquerque. So I'm facing the number 5 post. There's a path to my right, and one to my left. According to my compass, South faces the post... directly in the middle of the two paths! I ended up taking the path that looked like it hooked south eventually.

Now I've been out for about an hour and a half, and was starting to get really hungry for lunch. After about ten minutes I still hadn't run into another number, and the path was getting very muddy. (We had some flooding problems just a few days previously.) I was frustrated because I still didn't quite feel like I was on the right path after taking so many wrong turns. I decided to get out of there and wait for the mud to dry, get some nourishment, and come back again with a fresh start. So, after almost two hours of walking it was a bust! At least I'll have a better idea next time I go for that one.

While I ate lunch, and had a few beers, I made a mental list of things that I learned from this excursion:

1. Always bring a water bottle. You never know how long you'll be on the hunt.

2. Pack some peanuts or granola, just in case. It's frustrating to have to stop looking because you're weak and shaky from lack of food.

3. When I start planting boxes, I will ALWAYS let the finder know how long the hike should be.

4. Try and get a map of the trails before going out, just in case the park is out of them.

5. When boxing alone, bring my iPod.

Creative Juices are Flowing

2011-04-08T18:11:00.005-04:00

Pages read: 4963

Pounds Lost: 0

Sodas this week: 3

Curves visits this week: 1

Amount in savings: $100

I've decided to try my hand at stamp-carving. In the letterboxing community, it's considered poor form if you use a store-bought stamp. It's much more preferred to have your own personal stamp. I've only found and attempted about ten boxes total, but I'm already feeling a bit ashamed of my store-bought stamp. I'm looking forward to showing off my own creation. True, I did take the image from Google Images, but it'll still be a custom stamp. Of course this first one is going to be pretty basic but I'm sure I'll get better with practice. Some of the stamps people hand-carve are outstanding! Now that I know how to do it I'm in awe of their skill.

I ordered the Speedball Basic Stamp Making Kit from our local scrapbook store. It should be here any day. This should get me a good start on my first stamp. Then I can buy more materials as I need them. I'm going to follow the instructions on the Atlas Quest site, where they give tutorials on stamp-carving. I can't wait to get my kit! I'm anxious to do more letterboxing but I was hoping to have my new stamp done before then. That's not going to happen now because ya'll know I'm not very patient! Especially when the weather is supposed to be great this weekend! (Speaking of letterboxing this weekend, I'm looking for a companion if anyone is interested in trying it out.)

After deciding to carve my own personal stamp, I started to think of ideas for planting around here. Oh man, the ideas are coming at me left and right! I can't wait to plant my first box! I've got ideas for six already this past week, with a series of three. I'm having difficulty thinking of some unique places in Midland to plant because it all seems pretty "blah" to me. Besides the Tridge and the Loons (which there are already letterboxes dedicated to those) I don't know many other places to plant in the city. If anyone knows any other interesting places around Midland, other than Northwood University, feel free to suggest them. Try and think of a place that isn't somewhere people would normally visit. In the meantime, hopefully I can get a stamp or two carved for the ideas I already have. Wish me luck!

Letterboxing in Midland

2011-04-02T22:27:00.009-04:00

Pages read: 4631

Pounds Lost: -1

Sodas this week: 2

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $160

Yesterday I went letterboxing with the company of Rachel, Shawn, Caleb, and Lillian. We had a great time! Caleb, who just turned five, said he really liked it. We let him try to figure out the clues. Then, we'd let him find the actual box and pull it out. He was really eager to open it and see what was inside. I told him that we had to try and be sneaky, like a secret. That lasted for about ten minutes until he told someone on a bike that we were "on a treasure hunt." haha! Even Lillian was enjoying herself in the mud and snow. We were successful, finding two out of the three boxes we attempted.

The first one we tried was Ethan's Bridge Walk. I've attempted this one once before, back in February when we had about three feet of snow on the ground. Melissa and I didn't get very far that day. Today most of the snow was gone, so we could see a bit better where we were going. The clue says to find a couple that never leaves then follow their line of sight. Thinking back now, I'm not 100% sure we went to the right people. Here's Caleb, checking things out.

We looked in several places where we thought the clue pointed toward, but didn't find the box. I think we found the actual place where it's hidden, but it was too muddy and slippery to go after. One slip and you'd end up in the river! We were leaning over the edge looking, which made Caleb really nervous. He started freaking out a bit and wanted us to stop. So that one will have to wait until it's drier (and maybe without the kids). I'm still not even sure that we had found the right spot, but it felt right to me. We did "cheat" a little on this one. Instead of following the clues properly we just went right to the end clue. I think next time I'll go through the full clues to be sure I'm in the right area.

We did take some time to walk across the bridge and enjoy the views.

The second one we went for was Going Loony. We were successful, and this was their first letterbox. Caleb was pretty excited to get in there and pull it out.

I really loved this stamp! I'm a huge baseball fan, and love going to the Loons stadium. Kudos to MI Mavens for this one! We had Caleb rehide the box too, with Shawn's help.

Our last letterbox was the Duck Hunters Memorial. I had also attempted this one in February, but with three feet of snow on the ground there was no way we were able to find it. Again, we let Caleb follow the clues. We helped him when it came to taking the numbered steps.

After this last one we stopped for dinner. Now we're looking forward to getting more when it's warmer! Until then, we'll be thinking of some fun trail names for their family. :)

For more information on letterboxing, visit Atlas Quest.

Slump

2011-03-31T20:01:00.005-04:00

Pages read: 4535

Pounds Lost: 1

Sodas this week: 1

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $160

I'm afraid I'm entering a slump. My vacation is over. I've moved. I have my cat. Now it's time to go back to boring life. Work, class, home. Everything I've been looking forward to is now over. What's next?? Remember how I said I thrive from change? Now that I've realized that, I'm almost afraid to be stagnant. I guess part of this could be winter blues too. I am SO antsy for warm weather. Either way, I'm ready for more change. I'm not going to get myself knocked up or anything crazy. But I need something.

I need to explain something first here, before I discuss the Fruit till Noon "diet." Those that know me well remember when I used to say "I don't like anything that ends in berry." I didn't even think I liked strawberries until a year or two ago. I can count on one hand how many different types of fruit I've ate. So taking on Fruit till Noon is a big challenge for me. That being said, I like it so far. I've looked forward to the juicy sweetness every morning... up until today. Today was a bad day for food all around. All I wanted to do was snack, and eat Taco Bell and drink Mt. Dew and have ice cream. The fruit wasn't doing much for me today.

So far I've been eating apples, bananas, strawberries, and grapes. That's pretty much my extent of fruit that I knew I liked and could eat a bunch of. After four days of this every morning, I had to switch it up. I went to Meijer and bought blueberries, oranges, and kiwi. I've never had a plain blueberry before (not that I can remember). But I like blueberry muffins. That was my genius reasoning behind buying blueberries. Plus, they were cheap. I ate about four our five of them this morning, and then I was done. I don't think they're meant to be ate like that. haha

I've never had an orange. That I know for a fact. I love orange juice, and orange flavored things, but I've never had an orange. Not even a mandarin orange in a salad. Never. But everyone likes oranges, right? They're also relatively cheap, so I picked up a few. I have yet to eat one. But I'm not looking forward to picking off all that white pulpy crap. I can just see myself, picking away at this orange for like 20 minutes, desperate to get every bit of white that I can. Sheesh. If I cut it into slices, that would probably be easier huh? I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I Googled different ways to eat an orange and avoid the pulp. I hate pulp. A lot.

I'm pretty sure I tasted a kiwi once. They look lovely, and sound good. Also, you guessed it, they were cheap. I definitely Googled how to eat a kiwi. I'm not as embarrassed to admit that one! Apparently you just cut it in half, and scoop it with a spoon. Sounds simple enough. I haven't tried these yet either. Tomorrow morning I'll be taking an orange, a kiwi, and a banana and an apple for back up.

I don't want to give up on this "diet." But if none of these new fruits work, and I can't find any others that I like, then I don't see this working for me. Here's hoping!

Sebastian

2011-03-23T17:18:00.004-04:00

Pages read: 4160

Pounds Lost: 1

Sodas this week: Lots

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $310

I've made some major progress with Sebastian these past 24 hours. I had to leave him for a few days just after getting him and I was worried what may happen. But I am now thinking that leaving was good. It gave him a chance to get used to my place without worrying about me.

After I got home yesterday afternoon, Sebastian was nowhere to be found like usual. I waited a few hours and still didn't see him. I started to get worried again and turned to Google for help. Almost everyone said not to go looking for him, that I can't compromise his "safe zone." There was one person who said after I get a glimpse of him to sit on the floor with my socks off so he can get my scent with a few treats in my hand. So I waited a few hours more until I saw him peeking at me from behind the chair. I got on the floor in the middle of my big room, with my socks off, and tossed a treat on the floor. He was really tentative at first, but as soon as he started chewing the treat I could hear him purr! Then he was extremely lovey and was soaking up the pets. :) I gave him another treat and pet him on the floor for about 30 minutes. Things were going great! That's the first time I'd heard him purr.

Another person also suggested to keep talking to him, even when I can't see him. It's another way for him to get used to my voice. So I spoke in a soft voice the whole time we were on the floor. It seemed to work really well. He even laid in bed with me for a while last night. So far it seems that he's uninterested in sleeping at night, and wants to jump on everything and investigate. Eventually I might have to see what I can do to switch his schedule around.

We had a snow day today and I haven't seen him at all since last night. I'm going to try the same thing tonight to get him used to me again. Eventually I hope he won't feel the need to hide all day and can roam about the apartment like it's his home. I guess we'll wait and see.

Goals Update

2011-03-18T18:37:00.008-04:00

Pages read: 3977

Pounds Lost: +3

Sodas this week: 1

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $310

Since we're almost a quarter of the way through the year, I think it's time for an update on my goals. I need to see how I'm doing.

Get all As in school: So far I've kept my 4.0. I've got two of my four classes done this semester and I received As in both of them. I'm not so sure about my accounting class. I need to bring that grade up if I'm going to meet this goal. I'm still pretty confident.
Go on a vacation: Check!! It was fabulous.
Read 10,000 pages: I'm about 40% complete with this one, and we're not quite 25% through the year. Truckin' right along! I've never done goals like this before so this gives me a good foundation for next year's goals.
Do more meal planning: Um... yeah. Not so much going on with this one. There's been a lot of things going on for me this year so far. I haven't had much time for grocery shopping, let alone meal planning! I've got great intentions but the execution isn't quite there.
Take lunch to work at least 4 times a week: Ditto the last remark. Not much grocery shopping = no food for lunches.
Lose 20 pounds: Riiight.... So far I've gained three pounds since the start of the year. I've been losing inches, but no pounds yet. Now that the weather is nicer I plan on walking more.
Save $1000: I'm 30% into this goal, so I'm doing rather well here. Yay!
Pay off two debts: Check!! This one I'm VERY proud of.
NO SODA!!: FAILURE of the year! I've decided to change this a bit. Let's say I get one soda a week. Then maybe next year I can change to one a month, and so on. I'd like to eventually not drink it at all. One reason for this edit is because once I stopped drinking soda I drank more lemonade and juice. Which really has just as much sugar as soda in many cases. So maybe I'll try and drink diet when possible, and just limit myself more. Going cold-turkey wasn't very effective.
Work out at Curves three times a week: This isn't going so well either. I still need to change my membership to the Midland one, instead of Sanford. Hopefully after next week I'll be able to get into this again.

Out of the ten goals I can say that I've completed (or am on the right track with) five of them. That's pretty good! Better than I thought.

I have a new idea I'm going to try for losing weight. I got the idea from my cousin's wife, Jaclyn. She did a blog post titled "Fruit 'till Noon." I'd like to adopt that idea. There's a new organic market across from where I work where I could stop regularly and buy fresh fruit. It'll definitely be "Fruit and Coffee 'till Noon" for me. I don't hardly get enough fruits or vegetables in my diet, like most people. I'm going to start this one next week hopefully. Wish me luck!

On a completely unrelated note, I adopted a cat! He's five years old and is already declawed, neutered, and all that good stuff. Apparently he's rather affectionate. His name is Sebastian! I love it. :) I get to pick him up tomorrow at noon. Here's a photo that was emailed to me.

He's cute! I'm excited! Unfortunately, after I pick him up I'll be gone for a few days. I hope he can get accustomed to the apartment all right. I'll look forward to cuddling with him when I get home. I hope we get along really well!

Letterboxing in DC

2011-03-13T22:24:00.012-04:00

Pages read: 3370

Pounds Lost: ? (Haven't weighed myself in a while)

Sodas: Too many to count. Maybe 10.

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $260

I've been in the Washington, DC area for three days now. We've been having a great time doing a lot without exhausting ourselves too much. So far my favorite visit has been Georgetown. What an awesome area! We spent all afternoon there yesterday. All the little shops and restaurants are excellent. Every house we passed was lovely. I couldn't help myself from staring and snapping pictures. Everywhere you looked there was something unique. While looking for a cemetery that has a letterbox hidden in it, we found a huge garden. I don't remember the name of it but I took some photos. Of course there were no flowers in bloom but it was still awesome. I'd love to see it in full color. Those little finds are great. Georgetown was excellent, but we were exhausted after spending most of the day there. As much as I love coming to DC, I have to be honest and say that I find a lot of it exhausting. That's not necessarily bad either; it's just very wearing. It's hard for me to have much endurance because I'm not used to walking literally everywhere! In Michigan, we drive. There are no other options. Also, my arthritis really has been annoying. I really don't want that to be a hindrance but unfortunately it is. After walking around for three days my hips, knees, and ankles are extremely sore and tight. Tomorrow will be a much-needed day of relaxation. We may venture out a bit tomorrow but it won't be the all-day adventures that we've been having.

One of the things we've been doing is letterboxing. I introduced Kersten to it, and she's having just as much fun as I am finding these little hidden treasures. So far we've attempted eight and found four. I snapped some photos when I had the chance.

1. I won't say what this first one was because my picture kind of gives it away. We didn't have any idea what the object we were looking for looked like. This was supposed to be a 2-part clue, but only one was available. It took us some time but we found it! It was impossible to wait until nobody was looking since this was a very busy intersection (as most of them are in DC) so we tried to be as nonchalant as possible.

I really liked this one and the history that went with it. This is the kind of thing you'd walk right by and not glance at. Since I'm new to this, I hadn't seen a "micro" box before. The log book was very small. It's a good thing my signature stamp is also small.

The logbook was really neat. I love reading where the other's had come from. It looks like I was the first one from Michigan.

2. After that, we walked back to Scott Circle to find the next box. Again, we took some time figuring out exactly where to look but we knew the general area. I won't say which one this is either, so I don't give it away. But one of the clues was to sit on the green mushroom and reach underneath. It's exciting when you finally find what you're looking for. I yelled "green mushroom!!" when I saw it. So, I did what the clues said.

I liked the story behind this one too. It's got some history and humor together. It probably wasn't funny for those involved, but I definitely laughed.

3. The next day we went for some boxes in Georgetown. The first one we attempted, Mausoleum Guard-Bird, didn't work out for us. We found the cemetery all right but were disappointed to see it was closed on Saturdays. I was really bummed, because the cemetery looked really cool and I would have loved to check out some of the old headstones. Aren't old cemeteries so neat? The good thing about this dead-end is that it did lead us to the beautiful garden on the same street.

4 & 5. Next we tried for two boxes that were by the canal in Georgetown. But, after getting there I realized that I had two clues for the same box. They were from two different websites with two different titles, but they were the same exact clues. That was a little annoying. Also, when we got there, the box was missing. Mike, Kersten and I all took turns checking it out.

I should have read the comments before printing off those clues. That was my mistake. I reported it missing, like others before me, and also made a note that those two clues are the same. Hopefully that will prevent anyone from making the same mistake I did. We were 2/0 in Georgetown. Or 3/0 depending on how you look at it.

6. Today we went to the zoo and started with an attempt at our next letterbox by the Pandas. We were looking for Panda-monium. At first we had the wrong rock, and were bummed that we couldn't find it. Here's Kersten, bummed (lol):

But then Mike pointed out the correct rock, but we found the spot empty. We could see the exact outline of where the box should have been. It looked like someone had found it just before us and hadn't returned it yet. Bummer!

We weren't about to wait around because who knows if that's really what happened to it? I hope it wasn't missing for good.

7. Our next find was the DC Zoo: Black Crowned Night Heron. This was a fun one because it wasn't real difficult and you were easily lead from one clue to the next. That really helps to build up the excitement of the find. Kersten grabbed this one.

8. Our last one was also a success. We grabbed The Grounded Kiwi. This was a fun spot and it was hard to be sneaky. The stamp was huge! It was definitely a good find to end with.

I'm not sure if we'll do any more letterboxing these next two days. It's been really fun so far and it's lead us to some spots we wouldn't have normally went to. So far that's my favorite thing about letterboxing. I'm finding it to be an excellent, fulfilling hobby!

Apartment

2011-03-06T16:34:00.011-05:00

Pages read: 3326

Pounds Lost: -1

Sodas: 5

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $300

A week after moving in, I think I've got everything in place where I'd like it. Here are the "after" photos I said I'd post.

Here's the view from the front entry door. My sectional couch fits perfectly in the one corner, making a cozy little living room. The rest of the entrance is made up into an office area.

As you can see, the ragged walls really aren't too bad. The only place where it looks awful is my bedroom. My bed is red and white, so it really looks awful with the brown and tan walls. But whatever. My room looks really empty, and I didn't really make the bed, but here it is.

The two patterns together are just awful aren't they! haha I haven't been able to hang my mirror yet, since I don't have a drill and the walls are plaster. Eventually I'd like to buy some other piece of furniture at IKEA to put in here. Maybe a wardrobe of some sort. I'm still surprised at how much room I have. I've got a little walk way area that I put some decorations in. I'm going to use the stand for my microwave, but I need to buy an extension cord first. And the bathroom isn't very exciting. I already had brown bathroom things, so I bought a shower curtain to match. I think it goes well with the old tile.

I still completely love this place. The only complaint I could have is that it gets pretty cold in here sometimes. But I don't pay for the heat, and the landlord keeps it at 68. I used to keep my last place at 70, and it got pretty hot in there since I had a new furnace all to myself. I'll get used to it. But the water heat is nice, I don't have a sore throat every morning any more.

Only 4 more days till vacation!!

Compass Disappointment

2011-03-02T19:56:00.005-05:00

Pages read: 3252

Pounds Lost: -2 (Yeah, I lost negative 2. Sad.)

Sodas: 4!

Curves visits this week: 1

Amount in savings: $300

I ordered a compass through Amazon and just received it today. I was having trouble finding one in any stores around here. Of course Amazon has everything, and the compass I found was only 49 cents. It looked like a decent size and had the bearing numbers on it. I'm not looking for a 50 dollar compass; any cheap one would do. Or so I thought. This is what I got in the mail today:

Um... really?? It's smaller than a quarter! I can barely read the letters, and there are no numbers on there. Ugh! This is not what I ordered. I don't like giving bad reviews, but I had to leave a bad review for this one. It's nothing like the picture showed on the site.

I wanted a compass to use this weekend and then to take with me on vacation. I had some boxes in mind that required a compass. I'm pretty good with directions and could probably find the boxes without a compass, but I want to do things right and not be out wasting time.. Plus, a compass is pretty fool-proof; I am not. lol Time to keep searching. I just don't want to pay an arm and a leg for this, and I want it by Friday. I'm still hoping I can try for some more boxes this weekend. I might have to wing it and test my directional skills.

New Digs

2011-02-27T19:47:00.008-05:00

Pages read: 2800ish?

Pounds Lost: ???

Sodas: 3

Curves visits this week: 1

Amount in savings: $350

First off, I want to give a HUGE THANKS to my family and Melissa for helping me move this weekend. It was so fast, and I am so thankful to have people that I can call for help (especially when I only give them a 36-hour notice!). We had everything loaded up and ready to move by about 9:15 am. Everything was over to the new place and unloaded by noon. I was amazed. So, to everyone who helped, thanks again!

My new apartment is great! :) It's very cozy, and is coming along very nicely. I had taco bell for dinner last night, just because I could. I'm about a stone's-throw away from Kroger and one of my best friends, among many other things. I am very happy with everything so far. I'm not prepared yet to post any "after" pictures. I want to get everything put away and just right, then I'll post some. But, for now, here are some pictures from before I moved in.

This is my bedroom. And, yes, the walls are sponged/ragged. It's a bit much, but not too bad. The pattern does a good job of hiding imperfections on the walls. The room is a pretty good size and I really enjoy the windows. I have a pretty great view and it stays pretty bright in there. The closet is teeny tiny, but I'm doing a decent job of purging my clothes so they'll fit.

I have the smallest bathroom!! It's going to be interesting tomorrow, doing my hair and make up before work. There isn't any counter top to put things on. But the shower is marvelous! The water pressure is amazing, and I actually have a tub! :) But the sink is very small! I've never seen one so small. I took a picture with my hand as a point of reference for size:

Go ahead, hold up your hand. Just imagine a sink about 2 inches bigger than that.

The kitchen is very small but at least I have a counter top! I also have more storage than I did at the last place. It's cute and cozy.

And here's the huge living room/office. It's probably meant for a dining area too, but I decided not to have a table. Who needs one when you eat dinner on the couch in front of the TV every night. lol It's hard to grasp how big this room is from here without anything in it. The "after" photos will be better. Sometimes, when I'm in here I forgot that I'm in an apartment. It already feels like home.

Just a little update on the goals: I wouldn't be surprised if I lost a little weight this weekend. With going up and down these stairs Thursday night, Friday night, and for several hours on Saturday... my butt and legs are sore! I'm looking forward to getting back into my Curves groove after transferring to the Midland one. As for the rest of my goals, I'm going to have to do a 3-month check up pretty soon.

11 days until vacation!!! My goal this coming weekend is to do some letterboxing before my trip. Who wants to come along?

Movin' On Up

2011-02-25T13:18:00.005-05:00

Pages read: 2800-ish?

Pounds Lost: Probably none!

Sodas: 2

Curves visits this week: 1

Amount in savings: $350

I've been having issues with my current apartment these past several months. The pipes have froze I don't know how many times this winter. Every time I told my landlord, he'd try some silly thing as a temporary fix, but he never really took the time to do it right. Even after a pipe burst and sprayed water into the neighbor's apartment for several hours, my pipes were still freezing. If it got under 20 degrees I'd leave the water running all night long, but even then... they would freeze once in a while. Also, in the past few weeks I've been getting sewage coming up through my shower drain. It's been gradually getting worse. About a week ago I came home to an apartment that smelled like shit (literally) and the crap was up along the sides of my shower and curtain about 2-3 inches. GROSS!!! Furthermore, I don't have any windows that open so I couldn't air the place out. And I had to clean it up. That's when I started keeping my eye open for a new place. I told my landlord, of course, about the issue but nothing has been done yet. And if it's anything like the pipes, it won't get fixed right the first time.

So I'm moving on! I went and looked at an apartment last night after work, really liked it, filled out the application, paid, and it's mine! So now I have to move this weekend. Like right now. I'm so thankful that my new landlord gave me the keys right away so I could start. It was almost six by the time we got all that sorted out so I skipped class to get started. I went back up to the apartment to reflect on the leap I just took and had a moment of, "Ohmygod. I hope I did the right thing." But now I feel 100% confident that this is the right thing for now. It's going to be different, in a good way. Plus I'm right in the middle of Midland. The location couldn't be better. Also, I have windows that open! I know how to appreciate the little things in life. :) And he said I could get a cat! I'm really excited about that. It'll be so nice to have a little kitty to cuddle with.

I'm so thankful to have a great family that are willing to come and help me this weekend. And great friends who, even if they can't help, they've offered. I made about a million phone calls and I think everything is going to be just fine. Heck, I even took a load over last night as soon as I got the place! I'll probably do one or two loads again tonight myself. It's a start. I'm hoping tomorrow we'll have everything else out of the old place and into the new. Then Sunday I can just worry about unpacking and organizing.

So much for letterboxing this weekend. I'll have to try and go next weekend. I've been getting some good tips and ideas from the people on http://www.atlasquest.com/ about letterboxing in the city vs. country. But I'd still feel better if I had one more trip under my belt before vacation. Plus I'm just anxious to get outside and do more.

One thing I've realized about myself in the past 24 hours is that I like change. I'm not afraid of it; I embrace it! To me, change is exhilarating. I get bored too quickly with the same thing over and over. That could also explain why I've had so many boyfriends, but not many long-term ones. I get tired of them. haha.

Things are happening. I am happy.

Off the Wagon

2011-02-20T20:09:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 2778

Pounds Lost: ?

Sodas: 2

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $450

I didn't go to Curves once last week! Not good. Also, I had two sodas. I was a little hung over today and really needed some caffeine. Instead of taking the time to make coffee, I just bought a Mt. Dew at the gas station when I bought the Sunday paper. I have to admit, it tasted pretty wonderful. The third strike are the Shamrock shakes. Oh my, they are so delicious. I had three this past week! What an awful week as far as dieting and working out goes. It's time to jump back on the wagon starting tomorrow. No more soda, no more cutting workouts. I've got about two and a half weeks until I go on vacation and I want to work out as much as possible before then.

In review of my other goals, I've got my first final grade for this semester and it's an A! So I'm off to a good start there. In my other two classes that I've already started, I'm also expecting A's. The only one I'm not sure about is the English class that I won't start for a few weeks yet. Then again, it is English... my best and favorite subject. I don't want to be over-confident. But, I don't think it'll be too difficult to get an A there. There isn't much to say about my other goals, but I've already completed a few and am on my way with the others. The one I'm most nervous about now is losing 20 pounds. I really need to step it up a notch with that one.

I'm hoping (if we don't get too much snow tonight with this storm) that I can do more letterboxing this weekend. But it's been getting colder now. We had a little tease of nice weather for a few days that gave me some hope, but that looks like it's going away now. I'd really like to get another trip in before I go on vacation. I'm hoping to try for some boxes in Alexandria, but I'd like to have some more experience before then. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Wish me luck this week!

Fail

2011-02-15T15:16:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 2600

Pounds Lost: 1

Sodas: 1

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $250

Oh, the shame. On the other hand, oh the GLORY of Mt. Dew!!

Letterboxing

2011-02-13T19:19:00.008-05:00

Pages read: 2515

Pounds Lost: 0

Sodas: 0

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $200

I have been VERY antsy to start Letterboxing. I just couldn't wait until the snow melted. Especially since we have so much snow, I swear it'll be July before it's all gone!

Melissa and I set out after lunch to see if we could unearth some Letterboxes without having to dig through a few feet of snow. We attempted three, and were able to find one! I'm excited to have one under my belt. I can now officially say I am a Letterboxer. Three would have been nice, but I'll take one for now. :)

The downside to searching for boxes in your area is that you're so familiar with everything that you don't need to follow the clues. As I read the clues for the one that we found, I pictured it in my head and knew exactly where it was before searching. I've driven right by the spot many times. Before we started, Melissa and I discussed whether we should follow the clues or just go right to the end. For instance, one of the boxes had the searcher walking on a long path, almost in a circle, before you reached your end point (it probably would have been a mile or two). I understand this would be necessary if you weren't familiar with the area. But, for us, it seemed almost a waste. Especially when it's only about 35 degrees out and there's two feet of snow everywhere. So we cheated. Don't judge! It was still exciting to find it but not as much if we would have followed all the clues to an unknown destination. I'm looking forward to going to other places and following the directions.

In order to preserve the secrecy of the Letterbox we found (because, to me, it was very obvious) I'll just post a few pictures. I don't want to ruin it for anyone.

Once we saw that plaque, we knew we were very near. We dug through snow, sticks, leaves, etc and found it!

We walked to a nearby bench to sign the logbook and do our stamps. There was one in there from Massachusetts! I was also glad to see that our stamps weren't the only store-bought ones. One of these days I'd like to carve my own and make it original.

After this we took a break so we could warm our feet since by now we were soaked to our knees. With the heater on high, and the windows cracked we decided we weren't ready to go home just yet. So, with our hopes high we decided to try one more on the way home.

Unfortunately, one of the clues said to "look for the path to the right" that was hard to see and off the main path. Well that was impossible. Right before that we were to take 30 steps down the main path. Well, I have pretty long legs and Melissa is short so 30 steps to us ended up being about 15 feet apart. Then without being able to see the path between the trees, it was hard. We made a good effort but even if we would have been able to find the right spot there was too much snow to dig through. At least we tried. It was great to be outside for a while today and get some fresh air even if it did leave us cold and wet by the end.

One thing we learned from this is to bring along a garden spade and utility gloves. We're going to need to put together a little "tool box" of goodies to take with us. I also had no idea how much time we would need. Granted, this trip was different. But I think I am underestimating how long it takes to track down a box, write in the journal, and rehide it.

I can't wait till we can do more and explore some new places!

Another Goal

2011-02-09T20:14:00.004-05:00

Pages read: 2439

Pounds Lost: 2

Sodas: 0

Curves visits this week: 1

Amount in savings: $200

We started a "get fit" challenge at work. There's no big prize or teams, not even any weigh-ins which is a little disappointing. We sign up with a goal and just have to check in each week and let them know how we're doing with it. The challenge is 10 weeks long and each person just needs to choose a reasonable goal to beat. I thought "What the heck. At least we get a free t-shirt." So, I signed up. My goal is to lose 3% body fat in 10 weeks. I think it's a decent goal, so now I'll be adding that to my list for the next few weeks. If I keep going at the rate I have been, this shouldn't be a problem.

Negative #1) I skipped Curves today... again. I went shopping instead.

Negative #2) I was craving some chocolate earlier, or thought I was, and bought a Milky Way. Right after I ate it I felt sick. I drank about three cups of water and felt a little better. But now the thought of candy makes my stomach churn. That's definitely a new development! I wonder if that's what it'll be like if were to have a soda?

Speaking of shopping, I bought an ink pad and journal so I can start Letterboxing. Now I have all the stuff I'll need to get started! Sunday is supposed to be the first decent day we've had in a long time. Since it'll actually be above freezing, and some of the snow will hopefully melt, I've decided to try and find some letterboxes that day. This will be my first time so I hope it goes well. I've asked Melissa to go along with me. Even if we don't find any boxes it'll still be fun to be out.

Count down to vacation: 29 DAYS!!! Wow... 4 weeks from tomorrow at this time I'll be on a plane heading to DC!

Effort

2011-02-06T18:55:00.005-05:00

Pages read: 2270

Pounds Lost: 0

Sodas: 0

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $200

I think the Super Bowl is ridiculous. I don't follow pro football at all. I'll watch the Lions, but that's it. I'm watching this game because there really isn't anything else on. Plus, there's the commercials and the half-time show to look forward to. I did 50 crunches at the coin toss and decided to do 50 more for each scoring play. At least then I'll have a reason to pay attention to the game and do something good for myself at the same time. Also, for dinner I had a salad instead of going to a party and eating all crap. We had a party last night at my dad's and I totally engorged myself. I really needed to do some recovery today. (Oh!! Touchdown for Green Bay! Time to do 50 crunches. I'm also rooting for the Packers, just because they're the underdogs.)

We're supposed to be starting a weight-loss competition at work sometime soon, and I'm excited to get signed up for that. I'll take anything I can get as far as motivation goes. The prizes for this challenge are pretty great too. It would be great to be in the top three teams!

I've been really busy with homework lately. But I'm pretty much done with the work from my class last weekend, so then I'll only have two classes to worry about. Then, hopefully, I can start letterboxing. I ordered my stamp two weeks ago and still don't have it. The post office put my forwarding address on it, but then sent it back to the lady I bought it from. So, she had to mail it again. It's a lot of waiting for a $3 stamp. (OMG. Another touchdown already!! Here's 50 more...) I'm anxious to get it so I can get started. But with all this snow we just got, it's not like I'm in a big hurry. It's supposed to warm up next week so hopefully it'll start to melt a little. There are boxes available that I can search for even if there's snow on the ground, but I don't need to be tramping through a foot of snow just to get to them.

That's all I got for now. Only 32 days until vacation!

Vacation

2011-02-01T19:15:00.003-05:00

Pages read: 2040

Pounds Lost: 3

Sodas: 0

Curves visits this week: 1

Amount in savings: $0

I got my tax return today and will be getting money back from school tomorrow. The first thing I did (after writing some checks) was buy my plane ticket to Washington DC! I'm so excited!! This is going to be the best vacation. I'm really looking forward to spending all that time with Kersten. She's always so busy when she comes home that I hardly get to see her. This is going to be amazing! :) Only 37 days to go!

Speaking of money rolling in, I have been able to complete my goal of paying off two debts. I actually paid off four. It feels really good; a little bit of weight was being lifted with each payment. I will definitely be going on vacation now too, even though technically I haven't completed this goal it's very close. Finally, I won't be able to put $1000 in savings but I will be quite a bit closer to that goal pretty soon.

I'm kicking ass and taking names.

Progress

2011-01-31T19:28:00.006-05:00

Pages read: 2030

Pounds Lost: 3/0

Sodas: 0

Curves visits this week: 1

Amount in savings: $0

I had my weigh-in and measure today at Curves. I haven't had one in three months because I couldn't really go at all in November or December. I know I lost a few more inches, but I don't have the official count yet. They were really busy and she said she'd call me with the totals. I do know that my resting heart rate was down quite a bit, which is a sign that I'm getting healthier. My body fat percentage was exactly the same, and my weight was exactly the same. However, according to my home scale I am still down 3 pounds. I'm counting it!

Only 37 days till I get to visit Kersten! I'll be buying my plane ticket Friday. Then it'll really be official, and I'll be that much closer to completing one of my goals. Also, I'm already 1/5 complete with my reading goal in only a month. I definitely didn't set that one high enough.

I'm a bit nervous about this big storm we're supposed to get. I hope my power doesn't go out! Also, I hope if they cancel school that they'll also close the whole campus. If classes are cancelled, we still have to go to work unless otherwise indicated. But if we get a foot of snow and 30 mph winds I think we need to close the whole campus. I'll keep my fingers crossed! One can always dream.

**Update: I just got the call. So far, I've only lost 1.2 pounds. But my body fat has went down 5 percent, which is great, and I've lost 8.5 inches. I'm happy about that! :)

New Hobby

2011-01-25T18:42:00.006-05:00

Pages read: 1758

Pounds Lost: 3

Sodas: 0

Curves visits this week: 0

Amount in savings: $0

I lost three pounds over the weekend!! I pretty sure this is because I've been sick for the last three days. I did go to Curves four times last week too, but I hadn't really ate much this weekend. Nothing sounded good or tasted right. When I did eat it was because I was weak and shaky, not because I was hungry. Keep your fingers crossed that when I feel 100% again I won't gain it back! I've also not visited Curves at all yet this week because I just haven't had the energy. I can barely breathe, let alone work out. I'm looking forward to (hopefully) going tomorrow and feeling better.

Anyway... on to this new hobby of mine. My sister showed me this thing called Letterboxing. It's basically a treasure hunt of sorts. There isn't really a treasure at the end, but you do find a box with a stamp and journal inside. You take their stamp and put it into your own journal, and then mark the box's journal with your own stamp and write a little message. There are boxes ALL over. Some of the clues are based on simple directions, some have keys to find first so you can decode the next clue, and some searches have one box leading to another, and another, etc. I think it sounds really fun! I don't know how many times this last year when the weather was nice and I wanted to be outside but had nothing to do or nowhere to go (especially since I don't even have a yard). Sitting in the park by yourself gets pretty dang boring. I think this would be a great way to get outside and see some new places. Some of the boxes are inside, while others could take you on a hike several miles long. Check out these sites for more information: Atlas Quest and LBNA (Letterboxing North America) if you're interested. Once the weather gets better, I can't wait to start searching for boxes! I'd like to plant my own some day and see where people are traveling from.

It looks like I won't be able to start until the spring. There aren't many "snow friendly" boxes around here. But this really does seem like the kind of hobby I would love. Not only is it pretty simple, but it's very cheap (all you need is a stamp, ink pad, and journal) and gets you outside and moving around. I'm getting anxious to start!

Fail

2011-01-23T12:26:00.004-05:00

Pages read: 1672

Pounds Lost: ??

Sodas: 0

Curves visits this week: 4

Amount in savings: $0

This weekend has been full of failure. First, I had to dip into my meager savings. I recently had to pay $700 to get my car fixed, and now I'm behind on everything. When my tax return comes back most of it will be going to savings. Second, I haven't weighed myself since Friday. I have no idea where I am. I've been sick all weekend and haven't hardly been able to eat anything. That could be good or bad. I've got a fever too, so maybe I've sweat out a pound or so? Here's hoping. I will say that I really want a soda. I'm tempted to get a Sprite Zero or something, because there's this thing about fizz when you don't feel good; it somehow makes things a little better. I haven't caved yet. Mostly because I am avoiding anything that makes me move from the couch. I have no energy.

I've been keeping my water running at night because several times in the past few weeks I've had problems with my pipes freezing. So when I got up this morning and heard water running, I didn't think anything of it. But when I turned my faucet off and still heard it, I knew something was up. I then noticed that my carpet was soaked. But that was the only thing wet. So when I peeked outside and saw water coming out from under the neighbor's front door, my only thought was "shit." Of course, nobody over there was home and for once the guys weren't working in the shop. I had to call my landlord's home number (which, by a stoke of fate I even had!) and got a hold of his wife. And between the two of us we managed to get the guys over here. When he opened the neighbor's front door water was spraying out from the wall up to the ceiling and all over. Yikes. So now he's over there cutting the wall open and fixing it. Lets hope this is for good. I hate having to guess whether or not I'll have water in the morning. My neighbors are going to have a rude awakening when they come home!

Blah

2011-01-21T19:38:00.002-05:00

Pages read: 1521

Pounds Lost: 0

Sodas: 0

Curves visits this week: 4

Amount in savings: $50

No pounds lost yet. I'm completely unmotivated today, and I feel crappy. I almost bought a soda. I may also need to use that $50 I have in savings. Major sadface. On the positive side, I get to sleep in tomorrow. Also, there's a new Ghost Adventures on tonight at 9. That's always a good thing. Other than that, I got nothin. I'm ready for bed and it's not even 8!

Goals Update

2011-01-19T19:41:00.004-05:00

Pages read: 1389

Pounds Lost: 0

Sodas: 0

Curves visits this week: 3

Amount in savings: $50

I'm sore from working out. It feels great! I've been sleeping so much better lately, too. And I'm a bit surprised to say that I don't really miss soda at all. Once I got over the first week or so I haven't had a craving for it since (except when I was hung over). I thought giving up soda was going to be my hardest goal; turns out it's been my easiest so far.

I've decided to say "pounds lost" rather than my weight. First of all, it's easier for me to type :) And I'm less likely to cheat a little. Secondly, my goal is "lose 20 pounds" not to weigh a certain amount. Let's hope I can put a number other than zero up there soon!

Side note: American Idol starts tonight!! I love Steven Tyler!

Drumroll Please

2011-01-18T20:02:00.007-05:00

And here they are, my goals for 2011:

Get all As in school
Go on a vacation
Read 10,000 pages
Do more meal planning
Take lunch to work at least 4 times a week
Lose 20 pounds
Save $1000
Pay off two debts
NO SODA!!
Work out at Curves three times a week

That's what I'm up against this year. I feel like they're challenging without being impossible. Here's how things are going so far these last two weeks:

Too early to tell. There are no grades yet.
I've got a vacation planned for March 10-16 to Washington DC to visit Kersten :) Unless something drastic happens in the next few weeks, this is a done deal. I haven't been on a vacation in a few years, and I feel like I really deserve this.
So far, I've read 1249 pages...in 18 days. I wonder if I haven't made this task hard enough? In the past 18 days I've read the following books: The Justice Game, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. I'm now reading Infinite Jest and Water for Elephants.
I always make a list before I go shopping, but I need to be better at planning out what I'll be making in the days to come. So far, so good. This will also be harder as the semester goes on.
Again, so far so good on this one. But it's only been 2.5 weeks. Piece of cake so far. Especially since I went this last week or so without a car; I couldn't go out to lunch even if I wanted to! This goal also goes hand-in-hand with the previous one. If I'm "meal planning" then I'll also be "lunch planning."
I would LOVE more than anything to totally kill this goal, but I had to keep telling myself to take baby steps. I want to lose weight in a healthy way; a way that will ensure I lose and keep it off. So that's where I ended up with 20. I haven't gained any weight in probably 2 years, and now that I've joined Curves I think I'll be able to lose now. So far I don't think I've lost anything? I need to get into the habit of weighing myself every morning.
This one makes me the most nervous. On the path I'm on right now, I'll probably be able to save $500 or $600. And that's if no emergencies come up. Fat chance of that happening!
It's ironic that this goal comes after the one about saving money. I hadn't realized before that I'm sort of contradicting myself here. It's too late to change the goals now, but I wish I could. I'm somewhat confident that I can tackle this one.
At first I thought this would be one of the hardest, but I really don't miss soda. I'm pretty excited about this goal, too, because I think it'll do multiple things for me: save money, lose weight, and feel better. Once in a while I've had a craving for it, but it goes away quickly.
I'm loving Curves, and now have someone to go with to help keep me accountable. I didn't reach my goal last week because I didn't have a vehicle, but I will definitely reach this goal this week.

From now on I plan on having a brief overview of my daily-type goals. The thought of writing my weight on here for all the world to see is kind of scary, but I think it will help.

Pages read: 1389

Weight: 244

Sodas: 0

Curves visits this week: 2

Amount in savings: $50

Here we go! Wish me luck :)

Do I really want to?

2011-01-18T11:51:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure if I want to get into this again. *sigh* Reading my last post just ticked me off, and I don't want to leave it at that. This seriously needs updating. So I've decided to take this blog into a new direction (or, a direction. Period. Since there clearly wasn't one before). I've been inspired this year to write some goals that I want to accomplish in 2011. (I don't like the term "resolution" much; it seems daunting. "Goal" is more appealing.) So I think I'll use my little online space here in a "Bridget Jones-type" diary to keep track of my goals. Feel free to comment and/or give me motivation. Or you can tell me I'm ridiculous too; whatever. First things first. Here's what's been going down in the last year:

Based on the mushiness of my last blog a year ago, I'll start with this: Jarod dumped me. Over email. Because of one of my Facebook statuses. HAH! It's laughable now, but at the time I was really mad. Apparently he didn't respect me enough to even call me. How ridiculous. And the email was after three days of his ignoring me. How immature. PS, Jarod, if you ever read this: You've got DIVORCE written all over you. You're not fooling anyone by trying to hide it, or what ever it is you're trying to do. It's not a big deal. Half the population is divorced. It's time to get over it and move on. So I've been single for the last year+. I'm not all that tore up about it.
I got my own place. It's a little one bedroom apartment built into a hardware store. Nothing fancy. The outside is ghetto as hell, but the inside is really nice. It's the perfect size for me. It's uber cheap and only 10 minutes from work. And the best part is... I live alone!! It's a glorious thing, not having roommates. I will never have a roommate again, unless I get married.
My job is lovely! I really, really love it. Sure it has it's ups and downs, but I think it's perfect for me right now.
I'm back in school. Again. But this time it's free! I've always loved school, and it's so different this time around. I'm in the Adult Degree program and instead of being the oldest in my classes, I'm now one (if not the) youngest person in the room. It's really great having class with adults and not teenagers. How refreshing! And it's fun too. I should be graduating with my Bachelor's in December 2012. :)

I think that pretty much sums it up for now. Now I can get down to business and track my goals. In some way typing it up here will make things more real and help keep myself in check. We'll see.

This Past Month...

2009-12-11T19:55:00.002-05:00

...so many things have changed. First of all, it's been a month since I met Jarod. A month ago I knew that I wanted at least one more date with him to try and get to know him better. Now I know that I want as much time with him as possible, for as long as I can. I feel like I've known him for a lot longer than four short weeks, and have enjoyed every minute we've spent together. In just a few weeks, my life has changed from "me" to "us." It feels fantastic! :) Every time we say goodbye, I already can't wait until I can see him again. Most importantly, he makes me very happy.

Ok, enough mushy stuff!!

I've been at Northwood for three days now, and I really love it. There's a ton of information to remember and it can be frustrating because each situation is different. There is no cookie-cutter response or answer to any question or issue. It's the type of job that you can only learn by experience and time; not by working hard. I'm sure I will get even more frustrated in the future, especially since I like to do things for myself without help from others. Also, the people I work with could not be nicer. They're all really great. They work well together and they have fun at work. I was a little nervous the first day, but it didn't take me long to feel welcome and comfortable. Included in my benefits is free tuition, and I'm anxious to get back into a classroom. I'm hoping to start taking classes in the Fall 2010 semester.

Lastly, mom and Rich have bought a new house. They've also already found someone who wants to buy their current house! It all happened really fast. The new house is going to be perfect for them. I have to say, I won't be sorry to see this one go. Unfortunately, there's been more bad memories here for me than there are good memories. I'm anxious for them to have a fresh start, and for me to not have to be in this house again. This house has never been "home" to me. I look forward to the time when I can finally have my own house that will also feel like my home.

In closing, I just want to say that I am really, REALLY enjoying my life right now! I am more than relieved to finally have a steady job; one that I can see myself doing for a long time. I'm also very twitterpated with Jarod, and am very happy to have found a person I can see myself with for a long time.

Time to Celebrate!

2009-11-25T15:39:00.004-05:00

I can FINALLY say that I have found a job! After months and months of searching, and over 300 applications, I just accepted a job at Northwood University in the financial aid department. My technical title is "financial aid clerk." I'll be the first point of contact when someone comes into the department. There's going to be a ton of training involved, but I am so up for it! I cannot tell you how relieved I feel. It is so great to know that I have a permanent job; something I can count on. My end date at Dow Corning is December 8, and I start at Northwood on December 9. Gosh, I can't wait to get started!! They are hiring two people. It'll be really great to be on even footing with someone so we can help each other out and learn together.

On another note, my parents (mom and Rich) have just bought a new house! They offered to have me stay in our current house until they sell it. I'll just need to make sure it's always in show-condition. The only down side to this is that we don't know if it'll be two weeks or two years, but either way I'll have my own place for a while. It'll really help both of us out I think. Plus, then I won't have to move again so soon. That's not an offer I could say no to. I'm really excited for them though! This house is going to be perfect for them and our large family. They'll be moving in after the holidays.

Thirdly, things are moving along very well with Jarod and I. As he once said, "We are getting along like peas and carrots." He's meeting most of my family tomorrow for Thanksgiving dinner, and I am really excited to introduce him to everyone! It just sort of happened that he has to meet everyone at once. He's a brave soldier. :) But, I'm not worried in the slightest. I know he'll fit in just fine. Tomorrow is going to be another great day!

Table For Two?

2009-11-18T15:02:00.005-05:00

Well, I started dating someone. We've been on a few dates, and it's been really great. That's right. Dates. Plural. He didn't started ignoring my calls and/or texts like every other man I've tried to date recently. So, things are definitely looking good! Not only does he not ignore me, but he actually wants to talk to me and spend time with me. And the feeling is mutual. Jarod is pretty fantastic. So far he seems to be just what I need; just what I'm looking for. Right from our first date I felt really comfortable with him. I didn't feel any pressure to be anything but myself. Actually, I was afraid I'd talked too much and was going to scare him off. But, thankfully, I was wrong. I believe he's quite smitten with me, as I am with him... So far, so good. I've invited him to Thanksgiving dinner at my dad's house. I'm not worried at all about that, but I am a little worried about moving too fast. It seems natural to me that he should be included in a family holiday like this, but I'm afraid to rush into things. He assured me that he's fine with it, and his assurance makes me feel better. But, you know, I have to worry about it. I'd really like this one to work out. I don't want to screw anything up.

On a side note, I gained a pound this week. Boo... :( Probably because I ate dinner out almost every night. I've also been slowly feeding my Mt. Dew addiction back to life. Time to cut myself off again. It should be easier this time. What do they tell smokers who are trying to quit? "Never quit quitting." I think that applies to this situation too.

Another Interview

2009-11-16T14:36:00.004-05:00

I had an interview this morning at Northwood University for an entry-level Financial Aid Clerk. There were four ladies there, and we all sat around an oval table and talked. It was really casual and I felt very comfortable. Gladly, it was NOTHING like my Dow Corning interview which left me with sweaty arm pits, nervous twitches, and a throbbing headache. This atmosphere was very friendly; they didn't drill me with question after question. We just talked. There were a few questions, but mostly the administrator let me express myself how I wanted. It really made me feel confident because I felt like I was able to say what I wanted without having to wait for the right question to pop up. There was the usual "what is your greatest weakness" and "how do you work in a team environment" and all that, but those are questions I could answer in my sleep. The interview lasted a little over an hour, and then they gave me a little tour of the financial aid department and introduced me to everyone else. All the people were really nice, and we were laughing and joking with eachother. So, overall I'd say it was an excellent interview. I'd be pretty surprised (and heart broken) if I didn't get this job. She told me that they're interviewing five people (I was the first), and that they have two positions to fill. The odds are pretty good that I'll get one of them. She said I'd know within a week. I'm really counting on this one! Not only are the hours great, and the pay is decent, but I'd get free tuition for my Bachelor's!! I am REALLY excited about that! Ya'll know how much I miss school, and this would be an excellent opportunity because I could continue my education and still work. Plus, they told me my spouse and children would get free tuition (if I ever come across someone who'd want to marry me and procreate... lol). All around, it sounds like a great job. Stay tuned...

Six Weeks

2009-11-05T10:51:00.004-05:00

My supervisor told me that he has already starting hiring co-ops to replace me and my fellow contractors. So, I asked him if he knew what our official end date was. Apparently we're going to be training a few of our replacements for several weeks, and we'll be done sometime after or around December 15. I'm assuming that's the date he picked because that's probably when the co-ops are done with their semester. He also said there's a chance we might stay until the end of the year, but he doesn't really know yet. There's only three co-ops that he's offered the job to so far; one for each of us to train. Then, I'm assuming, those three will train the others he will hire for the next semester.

Even though we've all known this was a temporary job, we still had some hope that we would get hired. Well, that's all out the window now! Actually, now that I know for sure we aren't getting hired I'm very antsy to move on to my next job...whatever that may be. My supervisor has been nothing but kind, and has done what he could to help us find jobs somewhere here. It just didn't work out. At least we know we qualify for unemployment if nothing else comes along. I wouldn't mind having the holidays off with some pay!

There has been one job opportunity that's come up, and it all sounds too good to be true. My mom is now managing the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) switch for the hospital, and she gave my information to a lady who does recruiting for other companies who are doing consulting for the EMR activations. Apparently these companies are starving for people because every hospital, doctor office, etc. in the country has to be converted to EMR. There are a lot of traveling jobs available, and it's hard to find people who are willing to do that. I, however, am more than willing! I really have nothing keeping me grounded here; no permanent job, no boyfriend, no house or apartment. There is a job going on right now on Long Island that I could have went on, but you need to pay for all your food up front and I just couldn't afford to do that. The good news is there's a long-term assignment in Cleveland from January-June that I probably will be able to go on. Jenni will be going with me too. We'll be staying in a hotel and probably working about 60 hours a week and raking in the dough!! Since they have a hard time finding people, the pay is pretty outstanding. It's very, very hard to not get too excited about this. But, if I could go on this assignment, I would be debt free in about two months. I cannot imagine how great that will feel! I could really get things straightened around with my life. This lady said that it's mostly a done-deal; we shouldn't have a problem getting into the Cleveland job. We're just waiting on final word from the company (which is based out of Ann Arbor). We should hear something in a few weeks. I'm really excited about this opportunity, and about Jenni going too! If this all works out, it will be wonderful!

Changes

2009-11-03T10:38:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since I've written, but now that I'm out of my "I didn't get the job" slump, I have some other news-worthy things to write about. Well, I have one big thing to write about anyway.

To shorten a very long story, I moved back in with my mom. The other girls got an apartment in Midland, and I moved back home to save money and try to catch up. I still haven't had any leads on a permanent job, which really stinks. However, I did find out that if all else fails I will be eligible for unemployment. So that's at least some good news. Overall though, I really like being back at my mom's again. It's so peaceful; there's no drama. We all work and get home around the same time. And I like having people to cook for. I told my mom the next time I move out, it's going to be on my own. No more roommates! I'm so sick of that whole thing. At first, the thought of moving back home was just awful. But now, it's been really great. I told them that I was going to try and disrupt their lives as little as possible. I moved most of my stuff into storage and am using the furniture that was already in the "guest bedroom." The bed that's in there is mom and Rich's old bed, and it has one of those thick memory foam mattresses. It's like heaven. I love it! I also have heat in my room now, and A/C for the summer. Ahhh... it's really great being back.

Of course, it isn't all heated bedrooms and memory foam mattresses. :) I've found that my mom will criticize just about everything that I eat. If I want to spend five bucks on an individual pizza from up town, that's my business! But, she tells me to eat a cheese stick if I'm hungry. Right. A cheese stick. I'm starving and she says to eat some cheese. haha! It's just little freedoms like that which I will miss. But honestly, that's really not a big deal considering all the positives. I just thought it was funny.

Well, I have a date Friday with someone new. This is another guy I met on plentyoffish.com. He's from Merrill. We'll see how this one works out. I'm trying to stay optimistic. So far, I've had two strikes with guys from this website. If I get a third, I might just give up for a while!

The Big One

2009-10-09T14:49:00.003-04:00

It's been two hours since I've completed my ridiculously long interview, and I'm still trying to push it out of my head. What's done is done. Analyzing it now won't change anything. I feel like I did my best, and it's in God's hands now.

One thing I realized very early into the interview is that all the preparing I tried to do wasn't going to help me at all! All of the questions were situational, and there was no right or wrong answer. Furthermore, there isn't any kind of feedback to let you know if you've done well in their eyes or not. They smiled, wrote down everything I said, and were pleasant enough, but I have really no idea what they thought of my answers. I received some comments like "that's a good example" or "I understand," but that was really all. I suppose that's how it's supposed to be. I've never had this kind of professional interview before. And, frankly, my head still hurts!

The best part of the morning, by far, was meeting the head admin. She's a wonderful person; we got along very, very well. She and I ate lunch together and just chatted away the whole time. She's very easy to talk to and get along with. I really feel like she and I could work very well together. She did keep telling me that if this didn't work out, to not get discouraged and to keep applying. But, when you want a job as badly as I want this one it's hard to not get discouraged if you don't get it. Either way, whether I get the job or not, I'll probably cry!

They have a final interview to do Tuesday, and then they will deliberate and decide on Thursday. So, I will know something by the end of next week. Some of my coworkers have mentioned sending a thank-you note. I've never done something like that before. Is that old-fashioned or is it expected? I'll have to check into that this weekend.

Overall, I'd say it went as well as I could have expected. Now I just wait and see. That's the worst part!

Struggles

2009-10-07T09:41:00.002-04:00

I thought I was having a good week, but I guess I can't win them all (or any, apparently, because I haven't won a week yet)! My abs, shoulders, and legs are aching though and that makes me feel good, since it's my muscles and not my joints for once. I was positive that I'd have a good weigh-in this morning. Only, I found that I had gained this week. It wasn't a big gain, but when you're expecting a decent loss...it's kind of heart breaking.

I had a pound of ground turkey to use up, so yesterday I was browsing recipes for turkey burgers. Most of them claimed that turkey burgers are plain and boring unless you add about 10 different ingredients into them; 8 or 9 which are things I wouldn't have at home and would never add to my burger. I've noticed that when people say a recipe is "easy" or "simple," more often than not, it isn't! Another disheartening fact was that many of the suggestions stated to not use "extra lean" turkey, which is what I had, because they're too dry and flavor-less. But the turkey was thawed and ready to be used. I was determined. My point is this: my turkey burgers were fantastic!! I was very proud of myself! There was no recipe I followed, I just grabbed some things and threw it in the burger based on some ideas from other recipes. Furthermore, each patty was about 1/3 of a pound, which turned out only about 157 calories per patty! So, I added a wheat bun (200 calories) and two different slices of cheese (swiss and cheddar; 220 calories) because I still had at least 600 calories to use on dinner. It was grand! I made three patties; one for me, one for Jamie, and one for me to have tonight. Yum! Here's what I put in them:

1 pkg. onion soup mix
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper

That's it! Now that's what I call simple and easy. Granted, I don't measure things when I do this. I just go by what I think looks good. Also, I heated up a little olive oil in the pan first to make them a little crispy on the outside. I was really happy with the outcome. This will be something I'll be making often; especially when I'm craving a big, juicy burger.

Oh, Taco Bell. How I Love Thee!

2009-09-30T09:35:00.003-04:00

Apparently I'm going through Taco Bell withdrawals, because I had a dream about it last night. I was trying to order my favorite things, and they kept telling me they didn't have them. The "cheesy fiesta potatoes" are something I get every time I go there. They are so yummy! I kept trying to order them in my dream, and the guy kept telling me he didn't know what they were; they didn't have them. I started getting angry and yelled at the guy, "You do have cheesy fiesta potatoes because I get them every time I come here!" The guy behind the counter just stared at me. I ended up ordering food that I didn't even want, ate it, then woke up very disappointed. I figure it's been almost a month since I've had Taco Bell. The question is: do I have it today for lunch (since Wednesday is my cheat day, because we weigh in Wednesday mornings) or push through and try to get over this ridiculous addiction? Cave or persevere?

I've never been good at resisting temptation, but I guess that's why I look the way I do. On the Biggest Loser last night, the show was all about choices. It really stressed how an impulse decision can make you feel awful afterward, wishing you hadn't done it. I'm going to try and keep that in mind when I take off for my lunch break. Either way, the dream was pretty hilarious!

Another One Bites the Dust

2009-09-28T13:35:00.004-04:00

One of my "three" crashed yesterday. I got a text from Mark yesterday, canceling our date. He said he was going to have to work late, and that he was sorry. However, he didn't text me the rest of the day (which is unusual) and he didn't try to reschedule or make other plans. I'm wondering what happened between Friday (when everything was fine) and Sunday afternoon to make him want to cancel. I'm really not that upset by it, I just hate not knowing. I'd like to know if I said or did something wrong so I can avoid that in the future. But, I'm not going to text him first. He canceled the date; he can get a hold of me.

I did, however, have another guy ask me out today. I figure I've got nothing to lose at this point. Plus, he lives in the same small town as I do. That could be a good or bad thing! Either way, I'm prepared to be more aggressive with meeting people on this site. Again, I've got nothing to lose. Pus, even horrible dates make for some good stories to tell!

Rule of Three

2009-09-24T11:04:00.006-04:00

I had three really, really great things happen yesterday!

1. I got a call about my interview, and scheduled it for October 9, from 9-1. A four-hour interview! Be still my heart! She (the head administrative assistant in the office) told me that I'll be interviewed by three different managers, one at a time up to an hour each. Also, after the interview is over, she and I are having lunch together. She isn't the one to make the final decision, but she said she wants to make sure we get along well. I'm not nervous about the lunch at all, because her and I get along very well on the phone. At first I thought I'd be interviewed by several people at once, so when she said it was one-on-one, I said "oh, that's good!" She replied with, "No. It's not. It sounds terrible." haha! I couldn't help but laugh. She also told me that she's never been involved in an interview setting like that before, but that's how this company does all of their interviews. Furthermore, she doubts that the whole process will be four hours long. "I can't imagine they'd drill you too bad for an entry-level OP job." she said. That's what I'm hoping. Either way, I'm expecting to get a lot of the same questions two or three times. Once I found out it will be one-on-one, I was very relieved. I'm still nervous, and anxious to get it done, but not as bad as I was before. Just wait till that morning! I'll be very, very nervous! I feel like my whole life is riding on whether or not I get this job. No pressure! hah!

2. I joined a dating website and met a really great guy named Mark. We e-mailed each other for a few days, then started chatting on Yahoo messenger, which quickly moved to exchanging phone numbers and texting. Yesterday, we texted from 10 am till 10 pm, when I finally had to say goodnight and go to bed. Good thing I have unlimited texting on my phone! So far, he seems to be pretty great; just the kind of guy I'm looking for. We're going out Sunday night to the movies, and maybe coffee or something afterward. I'm excited and nervous to meet him. This is the first time I've done something like this. What if I walk in, and he doesn't like how I look? How can I lose about 100 pounds in the next four days!? Granted, he has seen pictures of me, but they've all been head shots. (But, he did tell me yesterday that he thinks I'm adorable!) My insecurity is beating me down. I'm going to try and turn this into motivation for our Biggest Loser. Anyway... I've kind of been e-mailing a few guys from this website, but Mark is the first one that caught my eye and the one who I seem to get along with the best. I guess we'll find out Sunday.

3. This isn't quite as exciting as the first two things, but I got a call from an internet company yesterday that I tried to get service with when we first moved into the house. Well, they seemed like the best company: they were the cheapest and fastest available. They came out to the house, but couldn't get a strong enough signal. Someone called me yesterday to say that they're putting up a new tower in Merrill. Excellent! This new company is less than half of what we pay now for our shitty internet. Right now, we have HughesNet, and let me tell you... they are wretched! We pay just over $90 a month, and it doesn't work half the time, and it's very very slow. If this works out, we're going to be saving a lot of money. It might not sound exciting, but we are happy to finally (hopefully) have reliable internet.

Table For One

2009-09-23T10:12:00.004-04:00

I'm single, yet again. Although, the "relationship" Matt and I had wasn't a typical relationship. Well, it wasn't like any other I've had before. It was different; in good ways and bad. We both knew it wasn't quite working, and my patience had run out about two weeks ago. I was honestly waiting for the right time to have "the talk." But, how do you do that when you only see someone about once a month? I had to settle with talking to him over the phone (on speaker too, since his phone wasn't working properly, and he could only hear people if he put them on speaker), which I hate doing. I hadn't talked to him in four days, and I just had to suck it up and call him (especially since I'd already decided to join a dating website and move on). When I know something is over, I just want it finished. Like a band aid; rip it off and be done. The beginning of our conversation went like this:

Me: So, I'm just going to come right out with it.
Him: Ok
You either don't want a relationship, or you don't have time for one. Is that right?
Whoa! *pause* Well, it's not that I don't want one, I just really don't have time. I thought I could make it work, and make time, but it's just not working out. The thing is, I thought things would get better once I get into my house, but I don't see how that will happen.

So, we then talked about how we've been feeling like this for a while, but never found the right time to bring it up. He was afraid that I was going to be angry with him, and I assured him that I had no hard feelings toward him. It's not that he didn't have time for me, he just doesn't have time for anyone or anything else in his life. I told him I'd like to try and hang out or go on a date if he has a night off once in a while, but I need the freedom to date other people and not feel like I'm doing something wrong. He completely agreed, and said it wasn't fair for me to be "waiting around for him." He then said that I'm young and have plenty of time to find someone, which I thought was odd...but, whatever. Now I'm not sure he ever wants to get married again, which I wish he would have expressed earlier. Oh well, what's done is done! I still think he's a fantastic person, but I found that just liking someone a lot isn't enough sometimes. I am SO ready to meet someone new! I've been having some luck with this website so far. Stay tuned to see how it all works out!

Interview

2009-09-17T09:05:00.003-04:00

I recently applied for the perfect job. I knew things were going pretty well when my co-workers who also applied for the job got rejection letters right away, but I hadn't got one. Yesterday I got a call for a phone interview and it went really well. I felt really comfortable talking to her and I could tell she was comfortable with me too. She told me that she was feeling overwhelmed because there were over 300 applicants; 14 of them kept drawing her back. So she did phone interviews with those 14 people. She then told me that management only wanted to interview 4 of the 14, and that I would be hearing (by e-mail) by Monday whether I'd been chosen to move on or not.

Well, I just received an e-mail this morning (a mere 16 hours after my phone interview!) letting me know I've been chosen for a face-to-face interview with management!! I couldn't be more excited or anxious!! I started jumping up and down in my cubicle! The interviews will probably take place during the beginning of October. The lady who interviewed me (who will be my supervisor of sorts) explained that it will take a while to schedule interviews due to the manager's schedules. So, I know there will be multiple people there. The excitement is starting to wear off, and nerves are starting to kick in! I will be researching interview questions today to practice. Holy cow, I'm really starting to get nervous now! At least I have a few weeks to prepare. I'll probably never feel ready enough, but I do know that I work well under pressure.

This would be the perfect job for me! I feel so blessed to have beat out so many other applicants, and I really want this job more than any others that I've applied for. Wish me luck, cross your fingers, say a prayer!

Goal: Become a Loser

2009-09-11T15:25:00.006-04:00

Certain members of my family and I have decided to do a weight-loss competition together. This has the potential to be fun and/or disastrous! We're calling it a "Biggest Loser" because that's kind of the format we're working with; winners are determined by percent of body weight lost. We just started this week and we're going until Christmas. The winner will get a nice little Christmas bonus! About a year or so ago, my roommates and some random family members and friends of ours did this same competition and it went pretty good. The winner ended up with over $200, and I lost 14 lbs. over 16 weeks. I could have done better, but I thought that was pretty good since I didn't join a gym and did it all on my own.

I'm contemplating joining Curves again. I used to go there years ago and I really liked it. The atmosphere is really comfortable and the workouts were hard enough, but not so hard that I didn't want to keep it up. The good thing about Curves is that the harder you work, the harder the machines work for you. They're also all low-impact so it's good for my joints. Furthermore, they show you where your heart rate needs to be for you to burn the maximum amount of calories, and you stop every so often to make sure your heart rate is where it needs to be. I liked that too because if I were to join a gym, I wouldn't have a clue what I really needed to do and I certainly can't afford a trainer. Actually, I really can't afford a Curves membership, but I can't really afford to keep gaining weight either. Also, the bills I haven't been able to pay lately aren't going to get paid anytime soon. If I join Curves that won't change.

On the negative side, I could also be out of a job again in just a few months. It's more expensive if you join month-to-month instead of with a contract, but I just don't think I could dedicate myself for a year without a steady job. Whatever I do, I know I don't have much at home that I can do as far as working out goes. It is SOOO boring walking at my house. I don't have a bike to ride. I could do some of my old Pilates stuff, but that's not much of a workout to be honest. It's good for strengthening, but not losing weight. My point is, if I want to win this competition (and I could REALLY use the cash), I need to join some kind of gym. Wish me luck!

PS: I've been keeping an eye out for Mid-Michigan's Biggest Loser, because I'd love to do that! The gym memberships are free, they provide you with a trainer, and you get tons of support and guidance. I haven't found any information yet on this year's competition, but they usually run it the same time as the Biggest Loser show; and that starts next week. I don't know what's going on there. Keep your eyes and ears peeled!

Progress

2009-09-02T11:04:00.004-04:00

I finally got some kind of recognition of progress of my relationship. This might not be a big deal to him, but it was for me.

I called Matt last night, and as soon as he answered I heard his daughter giggling and then she leaned into the phone and yelled "Hi Sarah!" My heart melted a little bit. She knows who I am! She doesn't hate me! I was so happy about that I couldn't stop smiling. Apparently she gave me my own ring tone so that she knows when I'm calling; it's a Taylor Swift song. I think it's pretty cute, but it could be a way for her to keep track of my calls. Either way, just the thought of Taylor Swift coming from his phone when I call makes me laugh. I wonder what song it is...

I think this is a step toward the "meeting the kids" phase. That's one area of our relationship that I'm not bringing up or initiating in any way. Sure, we talk about the girls and I like to hear about them, but I'm waiting for him to bring that up. I talked to my dad about this, and he immediately said that was the right way to go. So that makes me feel better. I'm really excited to meet them, and very anxious too. I really, really hope they like me. Matt is a great dad, and if his girls don't like me I know he wouldn't hesitate to break things off.

I remember the first time I met my step-mother, Becky. We were at the Alma bowling alley (I think it was league night for dad), and I remember exactly what she was wearing: a pink shirt with light-wash jeans with little embroidered flowers by the pockets (It was the 90s). As strange as it was for my parents to be dating, I liked her immediately. As I grew into my teenage years we had a hard time getting along. Well, hard time might be a bit of an understatement! But we can laugh about it now, and she's someone I feel comfortable talking to about anything. It took us a long time to get where we are now. But I learned to love and respect her and realized that we are a lot alike. I hope that I can learn from what her and I went through, and maybe not have such a hard time with Matt's girls when the time comes. His oldest daughter is the same age I was when I met Becky. I'm ready for the challenge. He's worth it!

Job Update

2009-08-27T14:23:00.002-04:00

My team had a meeting this morning at 7:30; apparently one of the ladies in my team thought we needed to have one. So we all come in a half an hour early to find that the lady who wanted the meeting wasn't coming. Excellent. Our supervisor tried to think of things to fill the time, and he did give us an interesting bit of news. Our job is now scheduled to last until the end of the year. That's the somewhat good news. The bad news is that they're still planning on co-oping our positions out beginning in the winter 2010 semester. That is the bad news. I'm glad that I've been continuing to search for jobs while doing this assignment and maybe I'll be able to get something permanent before we leave here. I dread going back to unemployment. Especially when I know I won't be able to get unemployment income. Sometimes I feel like the job searching will never end!

Recurring Nightmare

2009-08-26T15:06:00.004-04:00

I should go see a shrink, seriously. This dream that I keep having is driving me crazy. Mostly because I haven't got the slightest clue what it's supposed to be about and I always wake up feeling very anxious. Here's the scenario:

I am going on a cruise, and there's usually some type of obstacle that I have to overcome to get to the ship. For instance, I'm running as fast as I can to catch the boat, miss it, and have to swim to catch up. I'm going on the cruise alone, but once I'm on the ship I find that it's full of people I know. Practically everyone I know is there; my roommates, family members, old friends from high school, random people I've had in class with me. Then I take my luggage to my room to find that I'm sharing a room with my roommates and they're all getting ready to go out for the day. One of them is putting on their swimsuit, while another is getting dressed up for dinner. All around me, the people I know are all going about to different places and doing different things. They all seem very happy and relaxed. I start to feel anxious, like I'm missing something or am late for something. I throw open my bag to get dressed to find that I either have no clothes or, like last night, the only thing I packed were evening gowns. So then I'm all panicky and start to sweat and run around trying to find something to wear. Other times, I've found that I didn't even bring a bag at all. I usually wake up shortly after realizing this, and I'll wake with a jolt and my heart is pounding hard. It's very, very annoying. I wish I could figure out what this means so I don't have these dreams anymore! What's with the cruise ship? And everyone being there? Maybe it means I'm unprepared for life, or that I feel like everyone has their shit together but me and I'm trapped? Hmmm... there might be something to that theory.

Update--31 August 2009: I've had this dream two more times since I posted this. One time I was trapped in a shower that was too small for me. I couldn't move my arms to reach the shampoo or to even get out. My head was hitting the ceiling and everyone kept coming in the bathroom wondering what was taking me so long to get ready. I felt very trapped and hysterical while everyone else left me to go about their business.

I Never Thought I'd Say This...

2009-08-12T13:41:00.003-04:00

...but I really miss college. *sigh* I've only been out for three months, but it feels like much, much longer than that. I'm sure my longing for college has a lot to do with the fact that everywhere I look there are "Back to School" advertisements and that my two remaining housemates are working toward their Master's degrees. Matt took his girls school shopping last week, and my heart tugged a little. I want to go school shopping!! Oh, how I love the feeling of opening up a new pad of paper and writing in it for the first time with a new pen. I used to buy new notepads every semester (even though I didn't need them); one for each class (even though the majority of my classes were computer classes which didn't require any handwriting). I loved buying hi-liters, colorful paperclips, markers, pencils, bookmarks...all that fun stuff! I hardly used any of it; I just couldn't help myself. Even as ridiculously expensive as textbooks are, going and picking up my books was one of my favorite things about school. I'd browse through the books slowly, acting as if I'm having a hard time finding my class (even though I'd been attending Delta for years and knew exactly where to find my books), just so I could look at which books I was missing out on. After picking up each of my books, I'd open right to the middle and take a big whiff of it's freshly-inked pages. That, my friends, is the best part about new books--the smell! Each one is unique and brings a smile to my face.** After stacking them in my arms, and reluctantly parting with hundreds of dollars, I couldn't wait to get them home and flip through them. I am a nerd.

What do people do with their brain after they're done with school? I feel like mine is slowly turning to mush. I really don't like it. This could greatly be due to my incredibly boring, easy job. But seriously, I've tried crossword puzzles and logic puzzles and reading almost anything I can get my hands on but those really aren't enough to keep my mind busy. As much as I used to skip class (usually because I was bored with the material or had worked ahead), I am going to miss going. All of these feelings are probably a sign that I'll go back to college one day, I just can't right now. There's no way I could afford it. Right? No, I really shouldn't fill out a FAFSA, just in case; or browse the possible curriculum at SVSU or Delta for a second degree. Right?

**On a side note, the Harry Potter books have a scent that I've never come across anywhere else. They all smell the same, and I swear you could blindfold me and I could pick out a Harry Potter book out of a dozen others just by smelling it. The smell of those pages makes me think of midnight release parties, staying up all night reading as fast as I could, and the excitment I felt when I read them the first time...and the second...and the third... If someone brewed Amortentia (the most powerful love-potion in the world, according to the world of Harry Potter) for me, I'd smell campfires, men's cologne, and the scent of those books.

Good News

2009-08-06T10:16:00.003-04:00

I found out today that my job will be extended past the original 3-month period that we were first hired for. One of the best things about this is that I'll actually have health insurance for a little while. Originally I would have just started getting coverage when the job was going to end, since it takes 90 days to kick in. Now, hopefully, I'll get some insurance for a few weeks or months. Then I'll be stocking up on all my appointments and perscriptions during that time!

We were expecting to be done by the end of September, and replaced with co-ops. I always thought this was an odd time to hire co-ops, since it will be in the middle of the fall semester. But now Brad (our supervisor at Dow Corning) is saying we'll be needed for longer. How much longer, he isnt' sure. If I could be guaranteed a job until at least the new year, that would be great. I believe if they do hire co-ops for this job, they'll do it in January before the winter semester starts. Either way, I'm still keeping my eye open for something permanent. It's just nice to have something solid for now to fall back on. I asked my supervisor at Manpower to keep me informed if anything long-term or permanent opens up, and she said she would. But, I'm a little skeptical about that. I don't think she'd pull me off one assignment to move me to another one.

I've also been told that there will be two customer service positions in this floor opening up soon. One of the managers here was asking me yesterday about my degree and experience with customer service. She sounded pleased with what she heard and told me that they like to have people with a Bachelor's in business, but since I have an associates in business they'd pay for me to finish my degree. I would LOVE that! I would love to go back to school, especially if someone else is paying for it. All you have to do is get As and Bs, and they'll cover up to $26,000 a year for everything. It sounds too good to be true, and I don't even know if I will qualify, but I've got two managers here that put my name in as a possibility for the openings. I bet these customer service reps get paid really good too. Say a little prayer for me or cross your fingers. This could be an excellent opportunity for me!

Health Care Reform

2009-08-04T09:49:00.003-04:00

Owing to my having lots of time to browse the web while at work, I couldn't help but do some more research on Obama's health care reform. I watched his latest press conference that he held on July 22nd (which can be watched here if you missed it), and was pleased to see that Obama wasn't taking any crap from any of the press members. He also wasn't afraid to be blunt. Now, I certainly believe that there are underlying issues with this plan that he might not have been as up front about, because any plan or option is going to have a negative side. There isn't going to be a quick, perfect fix for every one's health care issues. However, it seems like he's doing what he can to keep the changes positive and in favor of the large quantity of Americans who are without coverage. This being said, I am sad to see that I don't see any changes for adults who are single, without children, that don't have coverage. I guess the only option for them (meaning me) is to buy private health coverage, and hopefully these changes will make it so that we cannot be denied coverage and it will be affordable.

The White House's website (http://www.whitehouse.gov/) has a list of "Health Insurance Consumer Protections" which breaks down the changes that will be made. They are:

No Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions. If there's anything on this list that will directly benefit me, this is it. The only reason I was declined for private health insurance (through Cinergy, etc.) was because of my pre-exisiting condition. To be denied because you have a condition that requires you to have health coverage is complete BS. These companies are denying the people that need help the most. Therefore, I think this will be a very positive change. I might have to pay a ridiculous amount per month for coverage, but hopefully it will still be cheaper than paying out-of-pocket.
No Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays. There will be a yearly cap on how much companies can charge for these items. This sounds promising, but what will that cap be? Will it be the same for every person, or will it depend on your type of coverage? If I can barely afford paying for the private insurance I'll have to get (because I have no other choice) will I be able to afford these co-pays, even with the cap?
No Cost-Sharing for Preventative Care. Now this I like. The site says, "Insurance companies must fully cover, without charge, regular checkups and tests that help you prevent illness." Would my regular checkups at my rumatologist's count as preventative care? I doubt it. But what about yearly exams; certainly that counts as preventative care, doesn't it?
No Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill. I think this is excellent. Again, it helps companies who stop covering those who need it most.
No Gender Discrimination. I never knew there was an issue with this. Is it like car insurance, where men typically pay more? Does one gender tend to have more health issues than another?
No Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage. I always thought this was a BS rule too, so I'm glad we're about to be rid of it. It's like saying "We'll cover you, but only if you don't get sick too much in a certain time period." Also, again, it's another way to stop giving enough coverage to those who need it most.
Extended Coverage for Young Adults. Ok, so now young adults will have coverage until they're 26. Big deal. By the time this passes, I'll be 26 and it won't matter anyway. Not that I only care about myself, but I don't see one year making much difference to anyone. There still isn't any real help for young adults that are unemployed, have no children, and are not disabled. You have to fit into one extreme or the other, which I believe most people do not. This seems like a really weak attempt to help cover those people who do not fit into the extremes.
Guaranteed Insurance Renewal. As long as you pay your premium, your coverage will be renewed. Pretty basic.

A lot of positive changes here I think, but I still have a lot of questions as far as what this means for me. Am I going to be able to get coverage if my job doesn't offer it; will I be able to now afford and gain coverage from a private company? I know a lot of people think this is the wrong way to go about changing health care, but I don't know if there's much else Obama could do without making it completely government-funded, nationwide (which is a whole other debate, but I would still be very grateful for a plan like that. I know a lot of people who are completely against this idea, and I also find that most people who are against it are those that already have coverage. But I'm not going to get into that! lol). Either way, I'm anxious to see how these changes will benefit myself and others that I know who need health coverage.

Neglect

2009-08-03T10:35:00.006-04:00

I have seriously been neglecting my blog lately! This is a good sign though; it shows that I've actually had things to do lately other than sit at my computer and write about my boring life and how nothing is going right! Well, my friends, some things have turned around finally.

I have a job. Yes, finally. Even though it's only temporary (about three months or so), it's still money coming in. It feels really good to be paying my bills again. I cannot wait till the day comes where those stinking bill collectors stop calling me! They have got to be the most obnoxious people on the planet. Do they really believe that calling me a dozen times a day will suddenly make money appear in my bank account? Do they think that I have the money, but I'm just keeping it out of their reach because I like getting all these calls? Honestly, if I had the money that I owe them, I'd give it to them! Furthermore, most of the time they don't leave a message and I am not in the habit of answering the phone when a strange number comes up. I just hope and pray that when these three months end I won't have to go back to unemployment, but something new and permanent will be available for me. I've continued to apply for jobs locally, but am still not having much luck. I figure I've applied for over 100 jobs in Michigan, and the one job I get isn't even one I applied for! Ironic, don't you think? Maybe Manpower will have something else open up after this one is done. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Dow Corning will hire me in. That would certainly be the best-case scenario. Even though my current job is mind-numbingly boring, they money is decent and I'm very thankful to be working.

On to more exciting news, I've started seeing someone. Matt used to be my team leader at Lowe's. I've liked him for years but never thought that he was interested in me at all. Turns out I was wrong! He told me last Friday (the 24th) that he's liked me for a long time but couldn't ask me out or anything since we worked together. I couldn't believe it! My jaw dropped and I found myself kind of stunned for a moment. Then there was this whole "No, I've liked you longer than you've liked me" kind of debate (the kind that would usually make me want to hurl). I'm still a little surprised when I think about all those times I tried flirting with him and never thought for a second that he liked me too. Mostly because he's nine years older than me. The age difference doesn't bother me (in fact, it's very refreshing to be dating someone older) but I thought that maybe it would bother him. He's really a wonderful person; one of the nicest people I've ever met. This is going to sound so cliche, but he makes me want to be a better person. We had a talk about church the other day and he makes me want to start going again so we can have that spiritual connection in our relationship. I've always thought that was really important, but never found someone that I wanted to share that part of my life with. I am really looking forward to introducing him to my family, because I know they will love him and that he'll fit in very easily. I don't want to do the whole "meet the family" thing too soon, but he isn't afraid of that step at all and that makes me more confident. Again, it's nice dating someone older and more mature; someone who doesn't run away when you talk about family.

There is one thing I'm extremely nervous about. He has two girls who are his world, and I am afraid that they're not going to like me. Mostly because I remember what it was like when my parents started dating and how awkward it was. His oldest is the same age I was when I first met my future step-mom and I keep thinking about how I felt at that time and am trying to keep that in mind when I meet his girls. When I first met my future step-mother I really liked her. She's a lot younger than my dad (nine years, in fact, just like Matt and I) so I felt like she could relate to me. However, we had a really hard time getting along for quite a while after she and my dad got married. Now we get along great and understand each other really well. I'm hoping that I can learn from the hard time that she and I had, and maybe be a good mother figure to Matt's girls. It is really crazy to think about being in that type of role, but I can almost feel it coming and I think I'm ready to take that challenge. He's worth it, and I'm sure his girls will be too.

Job Searching, Cont.

2009-06-24T15:36:00.004-04:00

I got a call from Manpower yesterday. She told me that the job at HSC keeps getting put on hold. Fantastic. The good news is that she has another job opening that she thought I'd be interested in. It's less pay then the HSC job, and it's only for about three months. However, it's at Dow Chemical in Midland and she said there is some possibility for long-term. Plus, they've already started doing interviews for the positions so it'll probably be starting pretty soon. She said they're going to hire 6-8 people. My guess is that they'll end up keeping the best two or three out of that bunch after the three months is over. I'm guessing there won't be any chance I'll get benefits (which really sucks because ya'll know how much I need medical benefits), but I really can't be choosy at all at this point. I had the Manpower rep e-mail my resume over, and she said I'll probably have an interview next week.

Furthermore, I applied a few days ago to a couple of part-time jobs at Target. I got a phone call today and set up an interview for Tuesday. Hopefully that will go over well and I can get started right away. Target isn't exactly my ideal career choice, but it'll be some sort of income.

Adventures in Boredom

2009-06-18T01:50:00.004-04:00

I'm what some people would call a night owl (as opposed to the day owl?). When I have an extended period of time off from work, school, or any other responsibilities, I find myself staying awake later and later into the night. Eventually, I'm up all night. I've been trying to avoid this pattern because when the time comes to commit to getting up at a decent hour for any event it proves to be very difficult. Last night I tried to go to bed around 4 a.m. This did not happen. I was wide awake still. I stayed up till around 6 a.m. The sun was starting to peek out. This is ridiculous. I am now, more than ever, hoping for the night job because I will be ready for it.

I suppose it's not really a bad thing to be up all night, since I can sleep till 1 or 2 if I want and nobody cares. It's just terribly boring. When everyone else goes to bed around here by midnight or so, I'm left all by my lonesome to try and find things to tire me out or keep me occupied. And when you don't have any money to buy anything new, or go do anything, my activity choices are extremely limited. Here are some of my favorite things to do at night to make the time pass:

Browse Facebook. This is probably my biggest time-waster. It's just so damn addicting! It got a little boring a few years ago when you had to be in college to join. Now, anyone can join and it's much more interesting. By the way, my grandma just joined. I guess I'm not that surprised, but it's going to take some time to get used to. One of my favorite things on Facebook is a little application called FarmTown. It's great! It's a lot like SimFarm, but you get to play interactively with other users.
Play this Harry Potter Role Playing Game. I found this a few weeks ago, and it's pretty fabulous! It's no secret that I'm a huge, dorky, Harry Potter fan. I was looking for something fun to do online (because apparently I don't spend enough time online) that was Harry Potter based, and I found it. It has really sucked me; it's time-consuming, fun, easy, and it's based on my favorite books. What could be better!? This RPG (role-playing game) is quickly becoming my biggest time-waster.
Check updates on the New Moon movie. This website is great. It not only gives updates on New Moon, but on all of the Twilight stars and the series. It's the most up-to-date and thorough one I've found. You can also follow them on Twitter.
I also check Perez Hilten at least once a day. I like his site because it's mostly pictures and he's hilarious. Probably 75% of it I couldn't care less about, but it's interesting nonetheless.
Reading is also a huge part of my life these days. Well, I guess it's a huge part of my life on any day. Lately I've started reading Harry Potter again (I know... this is like the 15th time I've read them, but they are seriously just as good every time...) because I always reread the series before any of the movies come out. I've also been rereading the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I love these books too because they are fast, hilarious, and easy to read. Plus, this will only be my second time reading them. I've been sort of bouncing between Stephanie and Harry to change things up a bit. I tried finding a different series to start on at the library, but the ones I want are either gone or I have trouble getting interested in anything.
If all of the above fail me, or I get bored (which usually happens), I turn to movies. Lately I've been plowing through the entire Seinfeld series that Mike loaned to me. I'm on season five right now. I can only handle so much Seinfeld at a time; it's been a slow process. After about five or six episodes I usually want to strangle George because he gets on my nerves. Then I know I've watched enough for the day. I just started watching Weeds too, and that show is pretty awesome. I don't get HBO, so I can't watch the new ones, but at least it's new and fun. Thank God for NetFlix!
Browse for information on Ireland. I've probably exhausted most of the decent sites about Ireland, but I just can't get enough. I am constantly comparing flight prices, hotels/castle prices, things to do, history, etc. I have a growing list of the best websites on traveling in Ireland. This has been a big motivator for me when it comes to job searching. When I feel like I just couldn't possibly fill out another application, I just think of my vacation plans. It helps.

It sounds like I do a lot of sitting on my ass, which is mostly true. However, I've been trying to make a solid effort to get out of the house at least once a day. I've been doing a lot of walking lately, and that's been great. I'd really like to lose weight before going to Ireland next year. That way, I can hook me a hot Irishmen and move there. If only life was that easy eh?

The End is Near

2009-06-09T21:54:00.003-04:00

I received a phone call today from Manpower. She told me that they had another job opening that I might be interested in. It's at Dow Chemical, the pay is less than the night job, but it's a day shift. She told me it would only be for about 18 months, and I'd be doing customer service work and scanning invoices. (Sounds terribly boring!) My only question was: Which job will start sooner? She then told me that they will start about the same time. Since I want more money, and don't mind working nights, I told her that I'll stick with the 12-hour midnight job at HSC. After we had that settled, she said they were still just waiting on approval from Dow. So I asked how long it will be before I start after hearing from Dow, and she said maybe a week or a week and a half; they will just have to wait for the drug screen and background checks to be finished. That was great news! Again, she never came right out and told me that I was hired...but it still sounds solid. I really wanted to come right out and ask, "So, I got the job right? I can stop job searching?" But, I didn't. Now I go back to the waiting game. I'm not a very patient person, especially when it comes to making money! I've already started a "things I need to buy" list for when the cash starts flowing in. I love making lists!

The Good, the Bad...

2009-06-04T19:48:00.005-04:00

What should I start with, the good news or the bad news? In an effort to finish in a positive light, I'll start with the bad news.

Long story short, I was denied unemployment. Super. I blame it on Lowe's, because all of my other friends who quit/got fired from Blowe's also got denied their unemployment. I think it's ridiculous. I try to keep in mind that I am hardly the only person going through this, but I don't know what to do next. What do people do when they can't find a job and don't qualify for unemployment? I have no idea what the next step is. But if I don't come up with money for at least rent soon, I'm going to have to move back in with my mom. That cannot happen. Will not. I'm desperate! A memorable movie quote comes to mind: "These are the exact circumstances people find themselves in right before they start having sex for money." :) haha

Time for the good news. I applied for a job Monday with Manpower, and got a call Tuesday. I went in today to fill out an application and test my proficiency with Word and Excel. Turns out I'm a "master" at the Microsoft applications (go me!). After I aced the simple tests, the lady I was talking with started telling me that I'll be working at HSC. I'd start in the older building, but will soon be moving to the new building they're working on getting ready. As soon as she started talking about where "I'll be working" I started getting excited. She also told me that they get paid every week, there's medical benefits, and that the work right now is slow and "a little boring" but that they don't care if I bring in a book or other work. Sounds great to me! After all of this information, I can't help but get excited. Usually when they start using terms like "You'll be working..." or "You'll start at..." it's a done deal. She told me they were just waiting for corporate approval which they thought would be this week, but they'll call me as soon as they hear. There are still several positions available, so I'm fairly confident that I'm in the running. Keep praying, or just cross your fingers, for me! I appreciate all the support I've been getting from my friends and family lately. I love you all very much!

Erin Go Bragh!

2009-05-30T00:12:00.004-04:00

Cabin fever is starting to get to me. Even before the promise of a job, I've started planning a vacation. I'm feeling almost desperate to get out of mid-Michigan and go somewhere drastically different. Therefore, I've started gathering information for a vacation to Ireland. I decided on Ireland because 1) I want to travel to another English-speaking country, 2) I've always wanted to go to either Ireland or England, 3) Ireland is cheaper to visit than England (or so I've found so far). Even staying in Dublin will be quite inexpensive; the most costly part being food and entertainment. I've already gained the interest of three of my good friends who'd like to come with me. It would be astounding if we all go, but just knowing that I have options for someone to travel with is exciting.

I'm aiming for next year either in the spring or fall. Summer is their busy season and several websites said that it's hard to book tours or even move around the city in the summer. I was surprised to find flights for those times for only about $600; I was expecting it to be closer to $1000 for sure. Also, I've found the exact, beautiful, perfect castle to stay in! It's called the Clontarf Castle Hotel. You can see a picture of the castle here. All in all, if someone shares the hotel cost with me I can take an 8-day vacation to Ireland for $2000 comfortably (allowing about $700 for food, tours, shopping, etc.). That's a lot less than I thought it would be! I know it's too early yet, since I have no source of income yet (my unemployment still hasn't kicked in!!), but I've got a lot of time on my hands to think about going away. I feel like it can't come soon enough.

Government Cheese

2009-05-17T13:26:00.003-04:00

It's been about two weeks since graduation, and I still don't have any solid leads on a job. So I signed up for unemployment. I have my first call to MARVIN next Monday. They sent me some papers in the mail just two days after I signed up online. I was pretty impressed by that. I ended up getting quite a bit more than I was expecting. I was sort of planning on just starting to apply for any part-time jobs (retail, etc.) just so I could get some income. However, what I'm getting from unemployment is more than what I would make at some store as a part-time employee. So I guess I'll just hold off for a full-time job in my degree field. I never really thought I'd be living off unemployment and food stamps, but without that assistance I don't know what I would do. I'm still pissed off about not being able to get any type of health care coverage, but I'll take what I can get at this point. Actually, the bridge card has been amazing. I should have signed up for that years ago when I first went back to college. I could have used the assistance then too, I just wasn't aware of it. After my mom gave me the idea, and I swallowed my pride, I found that getting food assistance was super easy. I'm not embarrassed to admit anymore that I need help because I know I won't be on it for a long time. It's just nice to get some help when you need it to get through a rough time. The government cheese tastes pretty good!

Life Without College

2009-05-05T23:00:00.006-04:00

I did it. I graduated from college. It doesn't feel the way I thought it would. I suppose I was expecting to feel more relieved. But, I'm just feeling a little empty. School has taken up so much of my life for so long that I don't know what to do with myself. It's a little intimidating. My life is nothing what I expected it to be like. I always imagined that I would go to college just because I like school. I honestly never imagined myself graduating and getting a career. I always thought I'd fall in love, get married, and stay at home. That's what I've really always wanted. Now that life hasn't turned out to be anything like the "fairytale" I always imagined, it's a little strange. Part of me just wants to go back to school right away so I don't have to deal with getting a job and moving and facing the fact that things haven't turned out the way I wanted them to. I just keep reminding myself that love, marriage, and a family is in my future...it's just not in the near future. So instead of putting it off further, it's time to suck it up and get a real job! I see myself going back to school again eventually, because I'd love to get a masters in library science, but I need to get a job right now so I can have some income and health insurance. I can't rack up any more student loans right now!

On a good note, I have my first official interview on Thursday. After applying for countless jobs between Michigan and DC, it's so nice just to be offered an interview. It's at a charter school in Hazel Park, just north of Detroit, called Michigan Math & Science Academy. It sounds promising, and the pay and benefits should be what I'm looking for. I'm certainly going to accept the job if he offers it to me, but I hope I'm not settling or going to move down there for a horrible job! Ahh... I guess I'm just nervous!

It's been pretty nice having some time off. It's only been a few days since I finished school. Today was great. My sister came over with her two kids. We had fun playing outside, and I got to snuggle with the baby for a while. If I have to move, I will miss seeing them the most.

Anxiety

2009-04-02T15:01:00.004-04:00

The time has come. The time for anxiety. Graduation is so close, I could spit and hit it. Instead of being uber excited, I'm feeling uber nervous. What if I can't get a job? What am I going to do if I can't pay my bills? I know I'm hardly the only person in this position, but I wonder how people cope with it. I've almost given up on getting a job in DC, and that makes me very sad. (I don't think anyone is going to hire me unless I live there first, and I can't afford to move there without having a job lined up first.) I'm just so burnt out after applying for SO many jobs. But, I guess I should be thankful that I have a plethora of jobs to even apply for. The bad thing is that there are also a plethora of people applying for these jobs. *sigh* Is having an associates good enough anymore? Which brings me to my next point...

I'm so worried about not getting a job that I've contemplated just staying in school and getting a bachelor's in something (probably computer science or business). I do realize, however, that this is just a pathetic excuse to put off "adulthood" that much longer. Then again, I really do love school. As much as I say I'm sick of it, I will miss it dearly. That's why I'd love to work at a school; I love learning and being in that type of atmosphere. I feel that working for a school is a MUCH more positive environment than any other place I've been. (I applied for a job yesterday at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie--wouldn't that be awesome!! I love northern Michigan!*) However, even if I wanted to go back to school I'm not sure I'd be able to afford it. I couldn't even get a measly loan to finish this semester. I certainly won't be able to afford to get a Bachelor's. Even if I do get loans, then I'll just be putting myself farther and farther into debt. It's a vicious cycle.

Let's just hope and pray that I can get a job sooner, rather than later, and avoid all of this anxiety that keeps building.

*My only problem with this is the Mackinaw Bridge, which I really really hate. It scares the shit out of me for some reason. We used to go up there about every year when we were kids, and I remember hearing a story about a woman driving across the bridge in a Metro and her car got blown over the side!! I know this is an extreme example, but I have to sit with my head between my knees, not looking, to get across. Yikes!! I tell my mom this, about how I would hate to have to drive across it regularly, and she says "Don't worry. Not very many people get blown over the edge." *rolls eyes* Not very comforting...

Lillian Grace

2009-03-25T19:20:00.004-04:00

Today my family welcomed a new member! My niece, Lillian Grace, was born around 6 a.m. today. She was 7 lbs. 10 oz, 20 inches long. She has a lot of black hair and dark eyes. She's also very quiet; doesn't cry at all. I love the little noises she makes when she sleeps, and she scowls a lot! :)

Tomorrow is Caleb's third birthday. That's significant in my family because I was also born the day before my sister's third birthday. We think it's pretty cool. Caleb was great with his new sister. He wanted to hold her a lot, but was all right with sharing too. Every five minutes or so he'd ask, "I hold her?" He'd sit very still and just look at her. He took his little had, brushed it against her cheek and said "so cute." That just melted my heart. I choked up a little!

Job Searching

2009-03-22T23:04:00.006-04:00

Well, I've started applying for jobs in the DC area. I've applied for probably 30 there so far. I'm trying to do a few every day, as new ones get posted. I also found two jobs around here, which was surprising. One of them happens to be at The Rehmann Group, and accounting firm that both my sister and dad have worked for (my dad still works there). So I think the chances of me getting at least an interview are pretty good, since I did some name drops in my e-mail. I'd like to start working somewhere here while I continue to pursue moving east.

I got an e-mail from a recruiter that works in the DC/Arlington area who has about a dozen jobs I qualify for. She told me to get in touch with her when I get closer to graduating. Well, I've got about five weeks left; I'm not sure how much closer it needs to be! I'm going to wait until April, then e-mail her again and tell her that I'm not moving unless I have a job first. Perhaps she thinks I'm moving out there first? I'm not sure. She did say this at the end of her e-mail, which I thought was a bit strange: "enjoy your last semester!! I mean REALLY enjoy it, because once it's over, it's over! :)" Yikes!

I'm already getting sick of searching and applying. I feel like there are so many jobs available that I don't know where to start sometimes. Then, on the Washington Post's website (which I use the most), they will run a lot of the same ads week after week. So then I forget if I've already applied to a particular job, because it'll say it's a new job when it's not. It's just the same job being posted over and over. I know I should be applying for more government jobs, but they're exhausting! Maybe I'll tackle some more of those tomorrow.

The Rest of My Life

2009-03-13T22:25:00.004-04:00

For a while now, I feel like I couldn't do anything with my life until I was done with school. Well, that time has finally come!! I got my first certification in the mail today; that was really exciting! I still have two or three more certifications, and then my degree, to come yet.

After much careful consideration and research, I've decided to move to Washington, DC. I'm actually aiming for the Arlington area, because the rents are cheaper, the crime rate is lower, and it's still within the metro DC area. There are a lot of jobs available in my field, and I applied to about 15 today.** I am SO excited to move! The only person (other than my roommates) who I've seriously discussed this with so far is my dad and Becky, because I know they would encourage me rather than try and talk me out of it. I have yet to have a serious discussion about this with my mother. I'm expecting her to not be too thrilled with the idea. Keep your fingers crossed.

This has been a huge decision to make, because I always expected I'd live in Michigan forever. That wouldn't be a bad thing if I could get a job here. But since I can't, I might as well make the best of it! I love DC, and am getting VERY anxious to be there and start exploring the city! I'm also really excited to get into a steady work schedule. No more classes! No more living out of my car!! (Which I will be selling before I go, because I won't need it). All I need now is a job, and the rest will fall into place. I've already got several apartments in mind, and a plan for moving my stuff. I'm just waiting on that job, which I don't think will be too hard to find. The Washington Post has about 700 listed in my field, and that's not including the few hundred government jobs I've found on a different website! :)

Please pray that I find a job quickly, and that my transition from country to city will go smoothly.

**This is a much bigger pain in the ass than I'd realized. About half of the jobs I applied for were government positions, which is great. However, they all have a different type of form to fill out. Plus, there's a separate application you have to fill out, and it's very tedious. I can't just upload my resume and cover letter and be done. Oh no. It took me about five hours today to fill out about 15 applications. Exhausting? Yes.

That being said, there were about six or seven (non-government) jobs where all I had to do was e-mail them my cover letter, resume, etc. That was fabulous! If there are any HR people reading this... you should ALL adopt this program! Haha :) As much as I would love a government position, the process for getting there is very troublesome and annoying.

Presidential Address

2009-02-25T19:54:00.004-05:00

I happened to watch a bit of the president's address last night, and was inspired as usual. He's a great speaker, and as big as his ideas are...I know everyone is hoping he can follow through with his promises. Of course, I was most interested to hear about his plans for health care and was happy to hear that he had quite a bit to say about it. In case you missed it, here is part of last night's speech:

"...we must also address the crushing cost of health care.

This is a cost that now causes a bankruptcy in America every thirty seconds. By the end of the year, it could cause 1.5 million Americans to lose their homes. In the last eight years, premiums have grown four times faster than wages. And in each of these years, one million more Americans have lost their health insurance. It is one of the major reasons why small businesses close their doors and corporations ship jobs overseas. And it's one of the largest and fastest-growing parts of our budget.

Given these facts, we can no longer afford to put health care reform on hold.

Already, we have done more to advance the cause of health care reform in the last thirty days than we have in the last decade. When it was days old, this Congress passed a law to provide and protect health insurance for eleven million American children whose parents work full-time. Our recovery plan will invest in electronic health records and new technology that will reduce errors, bring down costs, ensure privacy, and save lives. It will launch a new effort to conquer a disease that has touched the life of nearly every American by seeking a cure for cancer in our time. And it makes the largest investment ever in preventive care, because that is one of the best ways to keep our people healthy and our costs under control.

This budget builds on these reforms. It includes an historic commitment to comprehensive health care reform—a down-payment on the principle that we must have quality, affordable health care for every American. It's a commitment that's paid for in part by efficiencies in our system that are long overdue. And it's a step we must take if we hope to bring down our deficit in the years to come.

Now, there will be many different opinions and ideas about how to achieve reform, and that is why I'm bringing together businesses and workers, doctors and health care providers, Democrats and Republicans to begin work on this issue next week.

I suffer no illusions that this will be an easy process. It will be hard. But I also know that nearly a century after Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform, the cost of our health care has weighed down our economy and the conscience of our nation long enough. So let there be no doubt: health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year."

If my children or grandchildren have the disadvantage of inheriting rheumatoid arthritis like I did, I pray that the positive changes being made in these next few years will continue so that they never have to struggle with health care issues like I have. I'm more anxious now to see what the future holds than ever. When our country gets out of this slump we're in, it's going to feel great to be moving onward and upward! I've always been extremely patriotic, and President Obama makes me feel even more proud of the things our country will be able to accomplish. Now is the time to act and do our part.

Meatloaf Issues

2009-02-24T22:35:00.004-05:00

This is a silly issue, I know, but it really bothers me that I haven't been able to make a successful meatloaf!! It tastes like meatloaf, but will not stay in "loaf" form after it's cooked. It's too juicy, and falls apart when it's cut. I must be using the wrong type of hamburg? I've been using the leanest I can find. Maybe I'm not putting in enough bread crumbs or something to soak up the juices? Any ideas? Here's my current recipe that I use out of the Campbell's book:

1 can tomato soup
2 pounds ground beef
1 pouch dry onion soup mix
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg

My mother usually puts BBQ sauce on top, which is great. Any other alterations I should try?

Time Waster

2009-02-18T14:34:00.003-05:00

Don't you just love wasting time? I certainly do! Well, if you're looking for an easy way to pass the time, while laughing at other people's misfortunes, you're in luck! A friend of mine told me about this website, and I can't help but lol (literally!) every time I go to it. It's updated throughout the day, so there's almost always something new to read. Enjoy!!

FML

End of the Road

2009-02-14T14:52:00.002-05:00

It's true, I've come to the end of the road for any hope of health care and/or student loan to help pay my medical bills. Delta didn't approve my loan request because I was asking for more than my cost of education. Well I think that's a bunch of BS, because if the loan is credit-based, the school should have no right to deny you. They pretty much told me that because of my work study that I'm getting (which is the financial aid that pays me for my job there), I am not eligible for any loans. Therefore, I'd have to quit my job in order to get another loan. What a crock of shit. As you can tell, I'm pretty upset about it because this was the last resort, and usually when you get down to your last resort things work out. Don't they??

On top of that, I applied for some independent health care, and got declined. That's just spiffy. So I can't even get health coverage when I'm offering to pay for it. The whole system is screwy. So I've come to the end of the road for any type of health coverage too. Which is why I so desperately needed the loan, to pay for all these damn medical bills! Now what am I supposed to do?

Graduation cannot come soon enough...

Cooking Adventures

2009-02-08T17:43:00.003-05:00

Cooking has recently become a hobby of mine. This hobby has been greatly aided by the fact that I have been getting food assistance for the past few months. I used to be a little ashamed by the fact I was getting "food stamps;" however, this service has been so extremely helpful that I don't mind letting people know there's no reason to be afraid of it. If you need the help, at least getting food assistance is extremely easy. Unlike getting medical aid... I'll take what I can get at this point, because I need it!

Anyway! :) I've been pretty proud of my culinary skills lately. Granted, I'm still making very basic items, but I'm still proud. Since I've been able to buy quality food and am able to experiment a little, cooking has become fun. Well, today I wanted to break in my new awesome crock pot that I got for Christmas from my sister. In my task to perfect some really easy, basic dishes, I've really been loving this Campbell's cookbook. All the dishes are super easy, with only a few ingredients, and they are fast and yummy! Tonight I took a recipe they had in there for beef stew, and changed it up a bit. I decided to slow cook it, rather than use the stove top; I also used fresh carrots and potatoes, rather than frozen ones. I understand these are hardly major changes, but being one who loves to follow directions to the T, I was still nervous about the outcome (i.e. cooking time, would the beef get too rough, the potatoes and carrots not cooked enough??). It turned out great, and like usual I made way too much. I'll definitely have leftovers for a few days. I wish I had someone who will eat it with me! I'm happy to know that someday I'll have lots of people to cook for (hopefully), and then I'll probably tire of it. :) But for now, it's exciting.

Random Tidbits

2009-02-03T23:34:00.002-05:00

Luckily, there hasn't been much going on with me lately. Well, not much that I want to publicize on the web anyway. :) I just have some short comments:

1. I got a call from my doctor's office, letting me know that Abbott (the company that makes the Humira shots I take) has approved my request! Thank God for that! I will soon be getting my shots for free. That is spectacular news! Another weight lifted.

2. Today I received a letter letting me know that I am on the right path for graduation on May 1. This I knew already, but it sure is nice to see it in writing!

3. Due to my instructor's suggestion, I have been trying to keep up with doing Pilates every day. I have only missed one day so far, so I think that's pretty good. It still hurts my knee, because the swelling hasn't been going down, but the pain is just an annoyance more than anything. I haven't decided if I'm going to tell my doctor that I'm doing the class or not.

4. I found some pretty good health insurance, and it's surprisingly cheap! Well, it's around $200; and that's less than what I was expecting. I have applied, and as long as I get my loan money fairly soon I will be able to continue to see my doctor and get the right meds I need. Here's hoping neither of those things fall through.

Pilates

2009-01-31T11:48:00.004-05:00

I had my first Pilates class yesterday, and I was surprised that I was able to do most of the poses/moves/whatever they're called. Granted, I can't straighten my leg the whole way, or my arms...and you have to do that in every pose. That was somewhat painful. But mostly I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to going when my joints are "back to normal." (I use quotes because I'm not sure what normal would even be for me). I'm a bit sore today, other than my usual joint soreness, so I think that's a good sign. I really think this is something that I can continue to do in the future, and it will eventually help my joints. For now, I just hope that by next week I'll be having a good day again.

Hallelujah!!

2009-01-27T18:22:00.004-05:00

Some wonderful things happened today! I was really due for a good day because things have been really stressful lately. I'm excited to be able to report some good news.

1. I spoke with my new doctor's office today and they faxed my papers to Abbott, the company who makes Humira, to see if they will donate some shots to me. My doctor said they've never been turned down, so that's a good sign. I'm not sure how long it will take to get approved but it sounds like it will go through all right. If I can get some free shots, that will be excellent. It will save me a lot of money.

2. I have been trying to get approved for a loan so I can pay for some medical coverage for these next few months. Not only do I need health care, but my car has several things I need to fix before it gets worse and I'm dead broke! I probably filled out about ten applications to be turned down every time. I have never had a problem getting a student loan in the past; this is a sign of how bad our economy is right now. Well, I finally got approved today! Hopefully I can find some affordable private health insurance in the next two weeks before I go see the doctor again.

3. I spoke with an instructor today that the disability services person referred me to. She was very helpful! As soon as I said I have RA, she said "You need to be in pilates." Her husband has RA, and it was SO great to talk to someone who understands what it's about. Luckily, she teaches a Pilates class that fit in my schedule. She explained to me what they do in class and why that is the best thing for me right now. She understood that I will have good days and bad days, and just told me to do what I felt I could. If I needed to sit something out, that's ok. Everyone works at whatever pace is best for them. I think it sounds like just what I need. Talking to her was a huge relief because she knew exactly what I needed to do and discussed it with me. Now I know I'll be graduating on May 1 for sure!! Wahoo!

Getting Credit

2009-01-22T16:31:00.004-05:00

Who knew that a one-credit class would cause me more distress than all of my other classes? I am required to take a fitness class to get my degree. These are usually one-credit classes varying from Jogging to Basketball and even Golf. Me being optimistic and wanting to get moving, I originally signed up for Volleyball last fall. Well, around December I realized there was no way I was going to be able to play. So, I switched to Fitness Walking. Sounds like a piece of cake right? The start of the semester came fast, with me being less mobile by the day. I had an appointment with my new doctor, but it wasn't until after the first week of classes. I e-mailed my walking professor to explain my situation, and he told me not to worry and to keep him updated. So, I went to my doctor and explained that I would like a note excusing me from my first week of walking. She just looked at me and said she doesn't think I should be attempting the class at all. So she gave me a note explaining that I had severe Rheumatoid Arthritis and that I couldn't participate; could I please have some other alternative to the physical activity to get credit for the class. I was very appreciative of the note, and had no idea how hard it would be to get credit for a stupid walking class.

Right after the appointment I went and talked to my walking professor, showed him the note, and asked what I can do to get credit. His options were a) drop the class and take it later or b) try and do some activities in the pool. Well I certainly can't drop the class. I would lose my work study job and my financial aid. Plus, I won't be able to graduate, get a job, and get the health care that I need (because I don't qualify for government-provided health care. It's a bunch of BS). Who's to say that in a few months I'll be able to complete the course? There's no guarantee of that. Furthermore, doing activities in the pool is still just that--doing activity, which my doctor told me not to.

I go back to work, frustrated as hell because this is just another problem that seems unsolvable at the moment. My boss then refers me to the person who handles disability services at Delta. I went and talked with him today. He was very nice, and referred me to another professor who teaches fitness classes and said that he's had numerous disabled/handicapped people take her Fitness for Life class, and she has made custom workouts that fit their needs. So, now I have to go back to see her tonight and see what we can do. I'm not feeling very positive at this point. I would just take the damn walking class if I could even walk normally at this point! But, alas, I still can't. It is frustrating beyond belief.

I prayed for patience and peace about this last night, and am feeling much better today than I was yesterday. I'm thankful for that. However, with every other road block going on right now in my life, is it too much to ask for something to come easy? I've been going to school for six damn years! I just want to graduate already!!

Oh Happy Day

2009-01-20T18:00:00.004-05:00

I'm feeling so patriotic today! Watching the inauguration of President Obama really made me proud of my country. I really hope that our new President doesn't let us down. All his talk about hope has really gotten all of our own hopes up. I think the country is desperate for a new leader to look toward, and I believe that President Obama will be able to do great things for us all. During the inauguration today, they said that he's entering the white house with an 80% approval rating. That's great; I hope he's able to keep that rating high. I look forward to the changes he has in store for us.

In other happy words, I went to see a new doctor yesterday. She was pretty wonderful. Me and my mother spent about four and a half hours there, which was exhausting, but worth it. They were extremely nice and did more for me in one visit than any other office has. I was very pleased. Although the doctor was unable to extract any fluid from my massive, swollen knee, she did inject me with some meds and I am almost able to walk normally again. I still can't do stairs very well, but just being able to walk upright again is great! We were able to get some affordable drugs for now too. I have to go back again in three weeks. My next task is to get some kind of insurance. I'm looking into Medicaid again, because the doctor was sure that I am eligible although they first said I'm not. If that doesn't work, I need to apply for another student loan so I can pay for insurance through an independent company, which is expensive. One thing down, many more to go...

Book Club

2009-01-13T19:56:00.003-05:00

Me and a few friends of mine have started a book club! This is something I've wanted to do for quite a while. I looking into joining on at the Midland Library; and was disappointed to find out that you can't just join a group, you have to make your own. So, I was very pleasantly surprised when my friend, Jenni, asked me to join one with her and Amber. Of course we're all excited, and I hope that the excitement continues for many months to come. Amber is choosing our first book tomorrow, and I'm anxious to get reading and discussing.

I sent out some invitations via e-mail, but I don't have everyone's e-mail addresses. If you want to join, please let me know. One of my favorite sayings is, "The more the merrier!" We'd love to have you! Jenni created a network on Ning, so most of our interaction will be online. This way we can have people from all over join us. We'll try and meet together once a month for those who can. Again, if you're interested just send me a message/comment/e-mail.

Friend Request

2009-01-12T18:54:00.002-05:00

A certain ex-step-sister of mine has asked me to be her friend on Facebook twice in the past year. She also sent me a message asking how me and my family were doing. When we were younger, her and I were very close. She was one of my best friends. Well, mind you, I was about 12 or 13 at the time. I haven't seen or spoken to her in over ten years. The problem with me being her "friend" again is that it brings up an awful lot of bad memories. If her dad wasn't Satan's friendly next-door neighbor, I might consider it. But this certain ex-member-of-my-family really reeked havoc on our lives. My mother and I have always had a difficult relationship, and I blame a lot of that on him. I feel that he's most of the reason I was bounced between my parent's houses; the reason I felt, and still feel, like an unwanted member of my family a lot of times. Most parents will argue over who gets the kids because they want them around. However, I was bounced between houses because neither parent wanted me around. That was an extremely difficult time for me; going through my awkward teenage years and trying to find which home I could be accepted into at the same time. I'm sure some shrinks would love to analyze that...

But my point is this: should I befriend my previously mentioned ex-step-sister? She never did anything to hurt me, and was there for me when I was younger. A major problem is that I can't help but think of those "dark days" every time I see her name. I also think about all the hatred I felt, and still feel, toward other members of her family. I don't think I want to relive all of that every time I open Facebook (which I do more often than I'd like to admit)!

Updates

2009-01-11T20:21:00.003-05:00

I'm going to call Cobra tomorrow and see if there's anything I can do to regain my shitty, minimal coverage. At least, if this works out, I'll be able to go see the doctor without having to pay a few hundred dollars. If this doesn't work out, my mother (bless her heart) has offered to pay for the visit for me. I've been so distressed lately, she told me yesterday not to worry about it and she'll make sure I get to see the doctor and get some medicine. That was a huge relief. I have really appreciated her lately. It's nice to have a mother in the medical field who can help me out with these things. I want to do something after this is all over to show her how much she's helped me. I certainly don't tell her enough.

Only one week to go, then I get to see the new doctor. It can't come soon enough. Then I can stop blogging and whining about my pain and misfortune.

Health Care, Part II

2009-01-09T21:12:00.004-05:00

I've had it. Seriously. No matter what I do, I cannot get the insurance I need. This is frustrating beyond belief. I found out today that I was making payments to Cobra for nothing. Money down the hole! And, the worst part is I can't get up-to-date coverage. They say the payments I made were for the months that were already passed. What the fuck?? They tell me I only have coverage through November 27. I just don't get it. Then she tells me that I need to make two payments by today, or my coverage will be terminated. Well, it just happened to be 5 o'clock when I called; isn't that convenient! She tells me I can't make a payment over the phone; all the post offices are closed; and I could make a payment online, but you can only make one payment at a time! So then I say "So I'm pretty much screwed" and she has the nerve to say "Is there anything else I can help you with." I wanted to tell her to go fuck a goat. I'm so annoyed right now. This probably doesn't make any sense, but the whole story is so long I don't want to type it all out.

The worst part about all of this is that I finally got into a new doctor, and now I have no coverage to pay for it. I can't get any help. The pain and swelling are getting to be just about unbearable. I was SO looking forward to the new doctor, and now I'm not sure I'm even going. The only thing I can do is hope that my mom offers to pay for it.

I'm down to my last resort: write a letter to Humira asking for free samples. Apparently my mom knows someone who did this and they sent her free medicine. It's my last chance. I just hope it doesn't take a really long time to go through. It could take weeks for them to even read the letter, then make a decision. It could be May until I get some damn medicine, even if this does work! By then I'll be crippled. Maybe fail my classes, not be able to get a job with health care, etc. Damn it.

This is just the tip of why I fully support a Nation-wide health care plan. Having to deal with all of this crap is maddening. I would hate to be a mom going through something like this for a child. Imagine not being able to give your kid the help they need. I've been having such a difficult time these past two months, I feel horrible for others in my place. Maybe I'll move to Canada when I graduate. Yikes.

Health Care

2009-01-06T16:12:00.006-05:00

Being diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of three, medical care has always been an issue. I've been having a major struggle with this for the last few weeks. The frustration of not being able to get the medicine I need has moved me to tears, because I just don't understand how it's OK to deny someone the help that they need. To quote my roommate, Jamie, who was trying to offer help, "It isn't your fault." Too right! However, that doesn't matter.

The urge to finish school and get a job sooner rather than later is really tugging at me because I know without that, I won't be able to get a steady supply of the medicine I need just to do daily tasks. The past few days have been awful, and I know they will only get worse if I can't get some help. I've been without medicine now for about two months (the longest I think I've ever gone). These last few days I haven't hardly been able to wash my hair, brush my hair, hook my bra, tie my shoes, sleep (because no matter how I lie, something hurts), etc. My jaw hurts so bad that I can't really chew anything; some days I can't even open it far enough to fit a spoon in my mouth.

Please don't read this as a cry for pity. It's not my intention. I just have been really struggling lately, and my highest hopes are that with this new President and new changes that we can get some kind of nation-wide health care. I hate to think of people who have it worse off than I do. With the economy the way it is, if people can't get jobs how can they get the care they need? This is an issue that is very close to my heart (for obvious reasons). My fear now is that I will have sacrificed a full time job with benefits to finish school for a better career, and then not be able to find the job I'm training for. Then what? Not only will I have no money, but I won't have my medicine. I'm praying that I'll be able to find a job, and very soon after graduation. I will continue to pray for a health care plan that works for everyone; that nobody will be denied the help that they need. I believe President Obama will be able to make some major improvements in this area.

I'm going to see a new Rheumatologist in Lansing on the 19th. Luckily, the crappy insurance I can afford right now covers office visits, just not drugs. (The shots I need are about $1600 a month!) I have a good feeling about this one, and hopefully they have samples or something I can have. This is my last hope. Please pray that the doctor is able to help me. I don't know what I'm going to do if she can't. Maybe I'll move to Canada? hah!

Goals

2009-01-01T17:03:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year!!

I figured I should write down some goals for the new year. It just seems like "the thing to do" at this time. I have them in my head, but I'm a dorky list-maker type. I like to write things down.

1. Finish school. Unless something drastic happens, I'll be done on May 1!! If I don't graduate that day, I think I'll blow my brains out. Just so you know...

2. Lose weight. I have been in denial for a while about my weight gain these past few years. It's time to really take control of this. I hate the fact that I can't shop at any normal store anymore. It's all plus-size now, and it's depressing as hell.

3. Find a job. I hope to find a job soon after graduation, as does everyone else. I don't think this will be hard. I seem to be able to always find at least a hand full of available Administrative Assistant positions at any given time. I don't mean to brag, but I am really good at what I do. I don't think I'll have any problem knocking out any competition!

4. Lose weight. Again, this is important. Once I have a good job, I'll be able to afford a gym membership, maybe some classes or something. Plus, I'll hopefully have insurance by then and can get the medicine I need to be able to move, hopefully resulting in weight loss! I also sort of feel like I'll never get a boyfriend or fall in love unless I'm thinner/healthier.

5. Find my own place. Once I get a job, I'd really like to buy a house. I don't want to live in an apartment. Houses are so cheap right now, I really think it's the way to go. I want something I can grow into; something that I can keep for a while. I just hope I'll be able to afford a decent one. This may take a while to accomplish. It might have to be forwarded to the 2010 list (yikes!).

6. Lose weight. Did I mention this already? Oh, well... this is important to me. But, as with pretty much everything else I'd like to accomplish, I feel like I can't really buckle-down and be serious about this until I get a job. That is my first priority.

Those are certainly the most important things I want to accomplish this year. It would be pretty fab if I could do it all. You never know... if the year goes as well as how I started it, it'll be a pretty great year!

Christmas Movies

2008-12-21T23:28:00.008-05:00

Sarah's top 5 favorite Christmas movies:

5. A Christmas Story
Who can resist watching this classic every Christmas Eve, all day long? I sure can't... I believe I find a new thing to laugh at every time I watch it.

4. Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights
I always laugh out loud when I watch this. The poor old man is pathetic, but you can't help but laugh at him and his sister. The humor is mostly gross, so you have to sort of be in the mood for this one.

3. Bad Santa
I love Billy Bob; he's perfect in this movie. He's so nasty it's disturbing. The fat little kid is amazing as well. My favorite part is when they're in the car and Billy Bob asks if someone dropped him on his head, and the kid wonders how he can be dropped onto his own head. So funny... with many other parts.

2. The Family Stone
This movie is great. I was totally expecting a comedy, and ended up crying my eyes out at the end. It didn't help that we went and saw it not long after Aaron died. I could watch this movie over and over. All the characters are wonderful. I love their family, the craziness of them all. I sometimes wish I had a family like that.

1. Love Actually
I happen to be watching this right now, which inspired this crappy blog. hah!
I don't know how many times I've seen this, but I love it more and more each time. Each time I watch this movie, I just want to punch Sarah. I keep hoping that maybe this time she won't answer the damn phone when she has Carl in bed with her! What the heck is she thinking! He's beautiful!! But, no. She answers the phone every time...

I love all the characters in this movie. Each story is different, and they all intertwine. Billy Bob is in this one too, and he plays the American President. He comes off as a complete scumbag in this too. But, it is a British movie... and I believe they might think we're all a bit "dodgy" as they say. :)

Happy watching...

Where's the Heat?

2008-12-19T13:21:00.007-05:00

It's been kind of a rough day so far, and it's only 1 o'clock...

We're out of propane. Last time I checked, about an hour ago, our house was down to 51 degrees. Furthermore, we don't have hot water and I can't do laundry because we have a gas dryer. I went out last night and now would love nothing more than to wash the stench of bar off me. haha

Uncle Dennis called our propane company, because he assumed we were out. This is strange because we're on the "keep it full" program. They're supposed to come out every three months or so to fill the tank. Well, they tell Dennis that they haven't been out to our place since July!! What the hell! Dennis is NOT happy with them at all. So, now it's a fucking blizzard outside and we can't open the front door let alone get down the driveway (Kathi tried. She drives a Trail Blazer and got stuck. My little Saturn sure isn't going to make it). The propane company also said that all of their trucks are off the road due to the snow storm, so it's safer for other drivers. This makes sense, but it doesn't help our situation much. So... they say they'll be out "sometime today" to give us some gas. Until then, we're all stuck in our rooms under our electric blankets, only venturing out to use the bathroom or grab a bite. We've been texting each other from our rooms.

Dennis is going to plow the driveway for us later, but since it's still snowing like crazy, there's no point in plowing until it stops. So... I'm stuck in the house and can't really do anything; just waiting for either the snow to stop so I can go somewhere, or for us to have some damn heat so I can shower and do laundry.

Please snow, stop soon. And please, stupid propane company (who will remain nameless), bring us some damn gas!!!