16 Things

I saw this sign in Jimmy Johns today. It was a list by Dave Berry of 16 things it took 50 years for him to learn. I love it and had to share!

16 Things it took me over 50+ years to learn
By: Dave Barry, Nationally Syndicated Columnist

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. (This one is very important.)

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

13. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

14. Your friends love you anyway.

15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

16. Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes; and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Love and Hate

10 Things that I love
1. Watching crap TV
Real Housewives, Jersey Shore
2. Going on long walks
Pretty much the only workout I actually enjoy
3. Anything to do with water
I do enjoy swimming, rowing, and kayaking, I guess those count as workouts too
4. Listening to music
I love to listen to mine and Stephen's song over and over. It makes me smile.

5. Eating...just in general, I love to eat
Mexican food, italian food, and barbeque. Just a few of my favorites.
6. Reading books
Getting emotionally connected to the characters, is my favorite part of books.
7. Lazy Sundays
Sitting around watching TV all day with my husband.
8. Window shopping online
Um...I would have to say this is AWESOME! I can't get enough online shopping.
9. Watching episodes of my favorite shows over
Grey's Anatomy, True Blood, Dexter, How I Met Your Mother
10. Arts and Crafts
I have been getting ideas from HGTV and a blog I have been reading for decorating and can't wait to start!

5 things I hate
1. When the season end for a TV show
It's always a cliffhanger and then you have to wait like 4 or 5 months for the next season...blow
2. The impending doom of a deployment
Self explanatory
3. Not being able to see my best friends
That will change in about a week! Yay!
4. Having no motivation
Problem I have been having recently with my workouts, oh well, I have faith I will get back on track, when my life is back to a routine again
5. Weather that is too hot or too cold
I don't like to walk outside and be sweating instantly or walking outside and feel like I'm freezing from the inside out

I can't think of 10 things I hate...at the moment. I was bored and got inspiration from one of the blogs I read.

Moving on Up

Well, I was told I need to update my blog. I haven't in a month and a half...oops. Sorry guys. I haven't really been keeping up with my workouts as well as I would like to. So I feel like crap updating, but I guess that I should share my ups and downs with you, my good days and my bad days. Or should I say my good months and my bad months.

For now I guess I will update you on my life.

WEDDING 7/30/11


My brother in law married one of my friends from college, Nichole, that weekend. Beautiful wedding, great ceremony. It was very fun. It was great to hang out with family and a few friends I hadn't seen in a while. Here are a few pictures.

AUSTIN 8/1-8/12


SO MUCH FUN! I missed Austin, so much! We went to College Station for a night also, and that was so much fun. We went to Hullabaloo Diner for dinner...SO GOOD! Then we went to Northgate for the evening with some of my brother and sister in law's friends, we had an amazing evening. Here are some pictures of our northgate shenanigans :)

I also helped throw an engagement party for one of my best friends, Mandy, and her fiance Andrew. We went to a very nice dinner at Maggiano's and then went to the High Ball for an evening of uninterrupted karaoke! I had a blast, as did Mandy, but she doesn't remember, haha! By the way the tiramisu (sp?) at Maggiano's is absolutely delicious! Best tiramisu I have ever had! I wish I would have taken a picture of it, haha.

After that, Stephen's parents came to town and we spent a lot of time with them! We were so glad they were able to make it and spend time with us! We went to the Salt Lick, which is always amazingly delicious! We also went to Trattoria Lisina, Stephen and mine first time going. Absolutely wonderful! For the rest of the time, Stephen and I just relaxed and spent time together.

DEPLOYMENT....


Well deployment is upon us, due to OPSEC, I can't share any exact dates. Stephen will be leaving soon to go down range, as they call it. I find it funny that they call it going "down range", I don't know why, but it makes me giggle. We went to a town hall meeting last night and got some good information on what we need to do to prepare, financially at least. The next few months are going to be tough, but I knew what I was getting into when I married Stephen and the possibility of deployment. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right?

MOVING


Well folks, I will be moving back to Austin after Stephen leaves. Other than the fact that I'm doing it because Stephen won't be here, I'm pretty excited about moving back to Austin, or as I call it, Real Texas. Hopefully I can find a job, I have a few leads on employment out there. Thanks to some good friends, hopefully I will have a job soon after I move there. I'm glad I have good connections and great friends! They make my life easier, and for that I appreciate them! So, to those of you who have helped me I appreciate it more than you know!

I will be living with my parents, to save money! A lot of money, that I'm also excited about. To finally have some savings will be nice. I think this is the one good thing about deployment, the savings that we will obtain.

EXERCISE


Like I said at the beginning I have been slacking on my workouts. I have been reading a book though, it's called Run Your Butt Off. It's a book helping you go from walking to running. I used to run like 6 nights a week, I miss that. I want that motivation back, where did it go? :( I hope I can get it back and lose the weight I would like to use.

Motivation

I firmly believe that motivation is all in your head...

That being said, I need to relearn that philosophy. My motivation has been severely lacking lately. Basically I have hit a workout wall. I have been feeling blah and it has been affecting my workout performance. I feel like the motivation is finally coming back though. So for some accountability I'm going to write down what I plan to do for the next week of workouts. Excluding today, I already worked out, I did Yoga X today. By the way I am doing the Lean program for P90X.

Saturday 7/16: Get up early and run, when I get home from work do Legs and Back and Ab Ripper X on my P90X workout.

Sunday 7/17: Get up and run, then come home and do Kenpo X

Monday 7/18: Stretch X and go swimming

Tuesday 7/19: Get up early and do Core Synergistics

Wednesday 7/20: Go spinning and Cardio X

Thursday 7/21: Get up early and do Shoulders and Arms and Ab Ripper X

Friday 7/22: Swimming and Yoga X

Saturday 7/23: Running, Legs and Back, and Ab ripper X in the morning

It seems like a lot, but really when I go running I'm only running 2-3 miles and when I'm swimming I only do 1500-2000 meters, which in my book, is NOT a lot. So I expect you, my readers to help me stay motivated and keep me accountable. Send me a text, ask me if I worked out like I said I was going to! Please, help me! Haha.

When I get my schedule for the next week I will post the next week of my workout. I am going to Tuscon the last weekend in July, hopefully the hotel we are staying at has a gym, note to self, to remember to check that out. So I'm going to get behind on my P90X that weekend. Then we are travelling to Austin for two weeks to visit family before my husband deploys, I may be missing some P90X workouts, but I will definitely try my hardest to keep up with it. I will most definitely be running while in Austin, I may go down to Town Lake a few mornings and go on the running trails. Anyway, that is all folks.

Current motivator...still the weddings...haha

Starting Over

How does one do so at the age of 24? I have not had a particularly bad life. Here is my life in a nutshell. I was born...of course. My parents did not divorce, they stayed together. My parents could always afford to buy me the things I wanted. I was given a cell phone at the age of 15, a car at the age of 16, and a college education at the age of 18. I met my husband in college, we married last November. I had my bad days, as does everyone, but I always had a roof over my head, food on the table, a shoulder to cry on when I needed one, and clothes on my back.

Here is me on November 27, 2010

I was about 175 pounds in this picture. To some people that may not be a lot. To me this is the heaviest I "want" to be.

A little background to why I was this heavy at this point in my life. My now husband and I had been away from each other for the better part of 7 months. I was working a job where I wasn't sure if I was going to have time to sit down and eat lunch, so I never brought a healthy lunch to eat, I generally picked something up from the closest fast food joint or got an unhealthy lunch with coworkers.

I found myself envious of the people in my life who were thin and pretty. So in December when I arrived in El Paso with my husband, I began the couch to 5k program. I successfully finished it and ran a 5k in February this year. In March I began going to the gym on base, taking classes, going on the elliptical, and other machines. I was losing weight, but not in the healthy way. I was burning 1000 calories a day and only eating 1500, so my body was only taking in 500 calories. Not good. I lost weight, fast. I'm now at about 160 lbs.

I started working at Best Buy. So when I work, I'm on my feet all day. I also started P90X. Basically I'm going to dedicate this blog and every blog from here on out to losing weight. I don't believe in giving up the things you love, for the sacrifice of fulfilling societies demands for every woman to be thin and beautiful. I believe that you should do what makes you happy. If eating a cheeseburger makes you happy then do it, but skip the fries, or hell get the fries! I say, all things in moderation.

I'm also reaching out for help. My husband has been gone for the last month and I have found myself a little depressed and going back into the fast food eating thing again. My promise to you is that if I slip up, or make a mistake I will not lie to you, if you promise me that you will help keep me motivated. Also, I need some help with recipes for one, my husband will be deploying in the fall and I don't want to be eating fast food 4 times a week.

Current motivator:
I am going to 3 weddings in the next year, and since I did not rock it at my wedding, I want to have a rocking hot body for at least one of the weddings. (One of them is at the end of July, so probably not that one, but for the other two most definitely!)

Dress to Impress

So yesterday I took a test today for a position with the City of El Paso. Something you need to know before I go on my rant, I'm very opinionated. I went to City Hall to take the test. I believe that no matter what, if it is for a job, you should dress professionally, just in case. Anyway, to get to the point, there were people who weren't dressed professionally and there were people who were dressed professionally. THEN...there were the people who were obviously trying to dress professionally, but missed the mark. They get a point for trying. Kudos for you. It just amazes me what people believe is dressing professionally. I'm sure that it is not completely their fault, maybe they just haven't been taught. Nobody was there to tell them what was professional and what wasn't.

If you are going to dress professionally, do it right. I have a few tips for people who may need some help in this area.
Girls:
1. If you are going to wear a skirt to an interview, make it a pencil skirt. If said skirt is higher than 1 to 2 inches of above your knees...don't wear it. You will look like a whore.
2. DO NOT under any circumstances wear heels that make you look like a hooker. I would say if it is a stiletto heel and more than 4 inches and has a platform more than an inch, would be a hooker heel. Refer to images below.

Anything that looks like these, not professional.

3. Slacks, a pencil, skirt, a button down shirt, a nice shirt, or a blazer are all acceptable. Although if the shirt accents your boobies too much...not a good shirt. NO JEANS!

Boys
1. The best outfit to wear to an interview would be, slacks, a button down shirt and a tie. Add a blazer if you want to try really hard.
2. A polo would be acceptable. Make sure there are no wrinkles. Also, make sure that it doesn't look like you borrowed it from your 10 year old brother or bought it in the boys department at Target. If you can't tuck it in to your pants, don't wear it. In fact...throw it away, don't ever wear it again, because it is too short for you!
3. Same as the girls, NO JEANS!

Those are my rules for dressing professionally. I'm sorry if I seem judgmental, I just feel that these are things people should know. Like I said, these people probably didn't have someone to tell them these things. I always say, dress for the job you want, not the job you have. If you are unemployed and you dress like it, then you will stay unemployed. Also, 9 times out of 10, if you go to an interview in jeans and your competition is dressed more professionally than you, I can guarantee that the competition will get the job.

It was really sad to me that there were people who weren't dressed professionally and they looked MUCH better and more put together than some of the people who were dressed "professionally".

It's my life

So, I think I have given up on the 60 days thing. I will update this when I feel like it. Haha. I don't think I can write something everyday. I think this would get really boring if I did. Obviously from the previous post, my weekend was drama filled, to say the least. I'm actually glad it is over. Let's hope the next one is good.

My allergies have been bothering me since this weekend. I was hoping when I moved to El Paso, my allergies wouldn't bother me as much. Needless to say, that they are most definitely not as bad as they could be if I were still living in College Station at this point, but they are bugging me. Hopefully with the medicine I got from the store yesterday will help me be rid of them!

So, I was supposed to be working by last Sunday at Best Buy. I still have not heard from them. Which is kind of making me worried. I had to take a drug test, which I know there was nothing wrong with it, as I do not use drugs. They had to do a background check, I have never been in trouble with the law. Unless they consider speeding tickets, then well, I definitely will not get the job, haha. During my second interview, with the General Manager, he asked me if I had any other job opportunities. I explained to him that I had an interview with Target and the City of El Paso. Even after telling him this, he offered me the job. I don't know if he is second guessing himself, and decided after all not to hire me. Maybe he thinks I'm too over qualified. I'm not sure. But I sure as hell wish that they would have said something to me before I went and bought clothes for the job. I'm probably doing all this worrying and venting and they will call me today.

So, currently I am on this smoothie making binge. I LOVE smoothies! My favorite one is by the Barefoot Contessa, it depends on how many people you are making it for and your tastes. Generally this is how I make it for just myself, I use one banana, 2-3 strawberries (hulled and quartered), and about one cup of orange juice. She uses freshly squeezed orange juice, I just use OJ out of the carton. They are really good. Also Jamba Juice makes these bags of frozen fruit, and all you have to add is one cup of Apple Juice and blend. They are really good. I want to start doing these with fresh fruit though. I need to look up some more.

Lately, I have been noticing an improvement in my strength. Yesterday I went to an Abs and Core class and we had to do a side plank for 30 seconds on each side. When I began working out and going to these classes, I was not able to hold a side plank for more than about 10 seconds and a regular plank for 30 seconds near about killed me. Well yesterday I was able to hold the regular plank with no problem for 30 seconds. I was able to hold the side plank for 30 seconds, like the whole time, I didn't touch the floor once. I was so happy! Also after the Abs and Core class was a strength and toning class that I had never been to that I wanted to try. We did a side plank in this class, but we had to hold a kettle bell straight above our heads, I was able to do this no problem! How awesome! Not to sound conceited or anything, but I am REALLY proud of myself.

I also like to do this in the morning when I wake up. This is a video of my cousin Katie who works at a Pilates studio, now keep in my that she is the mother of 3 children, and looks awesome! So if you want a good thigh work out try this!

Also, lately I have been working on teaching Brandy new tricks. I have successfully taught her to speak. Whoever said that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, was a liar. Anyway, not much else to say. Have a great day everyone!