Goodbye, 2010

There's just a few hours left of 2010. I have no idea what 1910 was really like. I'm sure those alive in 2110 will have no idea what it was like to be here now. That thought really puts life in perspective. All the stupid little stuff just seems even move stupid and insignificant. And that makes me wonder why resolutions are so hard to keep for just about everyone who makes them.

Is it really so hard to get off the couch and clean your home?

Is it really so difficult to just do that 30 minute work out?

Is it really so inconvenient to just say yes when asked to do someone else a favor?

It's not. Just think about the time you waste watching tv, reading, playing video games... whatever. Your book will still be there when you're done. If you have a DVR, so will your TV show or movie.

My goals, not just for this year, but for my life in general won't be easy to accomplish. I know they are going to be a battle. I know I won't be successful right away with all of them. Sometimes I may even cheat and that's okay so long as it's not a common occurence. Some days are just bad days, but those days don't need to lead to a downward spiral. That's the most important thing I need to remember.

I'm going to keep my home cleaner. Specifically, my kitchen table. I throw everything on it. Steve does too. It's always a mess.

I'm going to become healthier. I'm going to eat less junk food. I'm going to eat more whole grains, fruits and even vegetables. I'm going to ride my bike at least 4 times a week. I'm going to actually workout too. When it gets warm again, I'm going to walk to and from work.

I'm going to read more. I'm going to read more of the classics, too.

I'm going to forgive, and move on. I'm going to control my temper. I'm going to walk away when I'm upset, and come back when I'm less emotional.

I'm going to see how long I can go without eating fast food. When I finally give in, I'm going to see if I can beat that goal the next time around and so on, until I no longer eat it at all.

I'm going to quit being lazy in the kitchen. I've already done really well, but I am going to use even less prepared items.

I'm going to blog more.

I'm going to install and start using my webcam to connect with friends and family that I am so far away from.

I'm going to build up my savings. I'm going to stop worrying about money all the time. God always provides for us. Everything always works out okay in the end.

I'm going to tell my husband how much I love and truly appreciate him more often.

I think those are some good things to get me started. Let's see how it goes! Here's to 2011!

Lucky. This time anyway!

I am so tired of getting ahead, just to be knocked back down.

Steve's car broke down Tuesday on his way home. He was on the interstate, and his car suddenly shifted down, and wouldn't go back up. He took the next exit and tried coming home on Main St. so he could go slower. He ended up pulling into a parking lot as his car slowly died. Lights, engine, everything.

We had it towed the next day to Midas and thankfully, it wasn't the alternator like we thought. It was the battery, the negative cables, and an alternator cable that was pinched.

Still, it took the $200 I was going to send to my dad this week to start paying him back. *Sigh* Hopefully, we can start paying him back soon. I'm thinking any money we get back from taxes will go straight to them, assuming nothing else happens of course. *Knock on wood*

A weekly ritual

You may recall my cat... Jasmine?

Yes, her. Yes, she often sleeps with her tongue sticking out.

She doesn't really like those plastic balls that jingle. She doesn't really like any plastic balls. She loves Christmas bows though. We have 2 floating around our apartment.

My friend NB bought her own cat some crinkle balls. They are shiney, colored foil balls. They are "crinkle balls" because they make that crinkle sound.

I thought maybe Jasmine would like them too so I bought a pack of four for like a dollar. She loves them. She bats them around like crazy, and gets sad when they all disappear - and they ALL disappear eventually... under the oven.

And so it is our weekly ritual to stick the broom under the oven to push them out. She anxiously awaits their return, as you can see.

Merry Christmas to you!

Christmas day we slept in a bit. We had already opened our presents. My in-laws were extremely generous and we are very grateful. My family as well. (Who are in Mexico by the way, instead of visiting their daughter. Yes, I am bitter, but not because they are in Mexico.)

So we got jackets, video games, candies, jewelry, a gift card to olive garden, towels, totes, a cookbook stand, toy helicopter, money... you know... stuff we need, as well as fun extras.

We had a little bit of an early dinner. Ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, and corn. I forgot to get dinner rolls and Wal*Mart was closed by the time I remembered. Oh well. Then we went site seeing.

For the record... No. Neither Steve nor I are Mormon. Not to be offensive to my family and friends that are... but it's kind of annoying when people ask just because we go somewhere or live in a certain state.

We went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City to look at all the pretty lights and nativity. I went a few years ago with my parents, and I wanted to share it with Steve this year. It's very pretty.

Sorry in advance that the pictures are kinda bad/blurry. Maybe next year I'll get that camera they keep advertising that is good for "low light settings."

 

 

The actual temple

 

 

Baby Jesus!! <3

 

Hope you all had a merry Christmas!

Major breakdown

Sorry for the lack of posts... I've been busy, and I haven't wanted to get online either.

This has been a bad week for me. I completely broke down on Thursday shortly before I needed to go to work. I had it pretty much together until I got there and someone asked if I was okay, and I lost it again. My boss pulled me into his office to talk to me. Took me five minutes before I could get a word out.

I'm pretty sure there is something seriously wrong with me. I don't know what it is though. I'm scared. I can't really afford to go to the doctor. I'm not sure what kind of tests they will want to run, but I know I can't afford it and we have no health insurance.

I have been looking into it, but I don't think we'll be able to afford it. With no extra spending at all, we make just enough to stay current on our bills and be able to get gas and eat more than just ramen. I'm still looking for another job or a different job. At the same time, I'm hoping I can get into a lead position when some of the girls go back to school next month.

I just don't know what to do. I know I need to see a doctor, but I don't want to get behind on a bill, especially a medical bill. I'm just so frustrated, lost, and scared. I'm also annoyed. I'm losing patience. Steve wants to be in the Air Force and yet he is being uber lazy, and not working to get there. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of his lack of motivation. I hate this waiting game.

On top of that, our apartment managers sent us our lease renewal of 14 months. Or a month to month for $150 more every month. It's ridiculous. And if we don't renew by Thursday, we have to pay to get our carpets cleaned because they're stupid. They never told us that you have to get your carpets cleaned before lease renewals. I'm really getting tired of these managers. They left out a lot of things, as well as fibbed about a lot of things like how well the heating works.

IF Steve gets his act together, gets in the Air Force and we have to move, that means breaking our lease and paying a large sum of money to break it! Ugh! I hate it! I'm sick of this place that we are in in our lives.Waiting games suck!

Planned Parenthood

I don't have medical insurance right now since Steve and I both started new jobs when we moved to Utah. I'm on the birth control shot depo provera and was due for my next one so I called around to see where I could get it the cheapest - since I'd be paying out of pocket.

It was pretty much the same everywhere, except that they all wanted me to get a Well Woman check. I just had one in August (when we had insurance) and so I didn't want to PAY for another. One clinic said to go to Planned Parenthood since none of the clinics in Utah will accept my records being faxed to them from another clinic. Funny thing is, I had already tried their website, and it didn't give any indication that there was a Planned Parenthood in Utah.

Anyway, we got the number from another clinic, called and asked if they wanted my medical records faxed over since I didn't want another exam, but they didn't need it. I thought it was weird. We went in yesterday, and I filled out a quick form with my contact information and then I went back to the exam room. She got a brief medical history, and after approval, gave me the shot with no proof of anything from me!

I don't think I like their policies.

When I first started Depo Provera, I had to take a pregnancy test. I was told that if I missed a shot outside a certain two-week window, I would need to take another pregnancy test before they could give me another shot.

I just simply told her my two-week window, and she accepted it! What is wrong with them?! People lie! I didn't lie... but that doesn't mean other people don't lie!!! I know they are an organization that wants to be there for people, but still! I like that about them, but still!

I can't wait until we get insurance again. I guess I like stricter policies. I'm really not sure why it bothers me so much... but it does. What are your thoughts?

101

This is post 101! That's a lot... I would have mentioned it in my last post, but I don't think that the very first post counts. At least, not with my blog because it was really just a very basic idea for my blog. So here is celebrating 100 posts! Woot! I can't imagine reaching 1,000, but I'm sure I will someday.

Maybe 1,000 will be my 5 year goal? I don't know.

I'm glad to say that I have regular readers though. At least 10... that's pretty good I guess considering I've only recently started sharing my blog. I was originally writing for myself and felt awkward sharing... I still do, but it's nice that people read my blog and add their insights, a simple comment or to let me know that they are going through the same. It's lovely and makes my day brighter.

I'm not sure what to keep posting about. I'm not sure what is interesting to read... if I'm interesting at all. Haha.

Any ideas?

Star Puzzles and Dr. Spencer Reid

(Agent Prentiss is playing with a star puzzle)

Dr. Reid: What is that?

Prentiss: A star puzzle. Basically impossible to figure out. You have to fit all of the pieces back together to form a perfect star, but the origin of it is kind of a romantic tale.

(Everyone stops what they're doing to listen)

Prentiss: There was this young prince who wanted to win the heart of the fairest maiden in the land, so he climbed to the top of the tallest tower in the kingdom and he caught a falling star for her. Unfortunately, he was so excited that he dropped it and it smashed into all these pieces.

(Dr. Reid examines a piece)

Prentiss: So he frantically put it back together again to prove his undying love to her, and he succeeded and they lived happily ever after.

Reid: That doesn't make any sense.

Prentiss: What do you mean?

Reid: You can't catch a falling star, it would burn up in the atmosphere.

(Everyone looks at each other incredulously)

Prentiss: Yeah, but it's not literal Reid, it's a fable.

Reid: But there's no moral. Fables have morals.

Prentiss: Okay, so it's just a romantic little story. The point is it's basically impossible to do(Reid completes the puzzle in seconds) because you have to take all of those pieces and put them together exactly...

(Dr. Reid sets the completed star down on the table)

Prentiss: There's a lot to hate about you Dr. Reid.

Morgan laughs.

Rossi: Play poker with him sometime.

Morgan: Try playing chess with him..

Garcia: Or Go

(Prentiss scoffs, and Dr. Reid continues reading his book)

-------------------------------------

Love, love, love Dr. Reid. :)

My older sister had one of those star puzzles. It really is quite easy to do

Amazing Deals!

I looked through the ads for Black Friday, and Target's caught my eye with Vampire Diaries Season 1 for $12. The problem was the crowds. I did not want to deal with that, but I was willing for so cheap.

Then I was reading random articles a few days later, and I discovered Amazon was having lightning deals the whole week of Thanksgiving. They had certain items for super cheap during specific 4 hour periods that only came around once - with limited supply, of course. Luckily, I discovered the lightning deals just two hours before Smallville Season 9 went on sale. I snagged mine for $9.99 and got free shipping!

Of course, I searched for Vampire Diaries, and discovered it would be on sale on Black Friday at 5:30 AM. How annoyingly early! Ugh! However, I was originally willing to go to Target and fight the crowds at 4, but this way I could go back to bed 10 minutes later. So I got up at 5:25 and bought my copy for $12.99, and again got free shipping! With no tax, I actually got it cheaper than I would have at Target.

I know I need to be saving money, but how could I pass up almost $100 in savings??? Especially on something I would eventually buy anyway? It's my Christmas present to me since Steve got Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. It's only fair, right?

My printer hates me

My printer has been very difficult. It has never really liked envelopes much, but now when I need it more than ever... it's being a major pain in the neck!

A piece broke inside it. I fixed it with tape. That hasn't been an issue since I fixed it.

But, it refused to print just about every single time because it would falsely claim paper jam, even though it never actually grabbed a hold of the envelope in the first place! So I would take the envelope out from the top, and push eject, then try again and once in awhile it would randomly work.

It prints on normal paper just fine, which I don't need since I'm not in school. I do need it for these envelopes though. Well, I figured out the trick to making it print. It's sad that I had to find a trick in the first place. *Sigh* It's been a very frustrating event. At least I'm done though, and your Christmas card envelopes look nice without my sloppy handwriting. Yes, I know I have good handwriting, but it would get sloppy by the time I was done addressing them all.

Anyway, tonight's a good night! Off to watch my favorite shows! Vampire Diaries... Grey's Anatomy... Private Practice... Nikita... they're all on tonight! Woo hoo!

Oh, Gaia, how I love you

Today, I just want to show off my creativity in a virtual world known as Gaia. I've been inactive in the last year, but I'm starting to get involved with the community again. It's just a fun little forum, well okay not little since there are over 1 million members, but it still seems like very few people know about it.

Anyway, these are just a few of my favorite creations.

In case you can't tell, I like things to be color balanced all around and within the same shades. :)

This first one is my current one. The second one is the one I will be changing to when it gets closer to Christmas. She is supposed to be a young Mrs. Claus, even though she still has white hair. :) The last one is my Christmas avatar from last year and my "secret santa" drew her for me.

Isn't it cute? I love avatar art. Which is why whenever I do draw, that is what I draw.

See? This is something I did for a friend on Gaia. Isn't she pretty?

It's a silly fantasy world, but everyone has their escapes from reality. Gaia is one of mine. I've been a part of Gaia for almost 7 years. I'm one of the originals, and I'm proud of it. It's also where Steve and I met.