Day Thirteen - Goals

I've been waiting for this post.

Let's talk goals. I have a few. For my short term goal, I want to have all my Christmas shopping done by the end of the first week of December. It should be an easy goal to meet too. Hannah and Cameron are each getting a big(ish) present from us and a couple of small things for their stockings. So far, they have their big(ish) presents and Cameron has 1 thing for his stocking. We already know what we are doing for our parents, and probably something small for the grandparents too. We are probably going to be grinchy this year and opt out of the secret santas.

For a medium goal, I want to lose 28 more pounds. Since the beginning of August, so 3 months ago, I have lost 27 pounds. Holy crap, right? I had a bad couple of weeks where I decided that I was just in the mood to diet, and went back up about half a pound, and then I got sick. After an awful night fighting with a stomach bug, I lost 3 pounds. The day after, I could not bring myself to eat, and I lost another half a pound. So that definitely helped my cause, but I have a LONG way to go. My goal is to be to my goal weight by the beginning of March, so about 3 1/2 months to lose 28 more pounds. I think it can be done. I miss my body from 4 years ago. Of course, I realize it will probably look a little different than back then, but I have 2 pairs of jeans calling my name.

A more long term goal is to focus on school and get some sort of degree. I will be honest, I do not have one. At all. After I graduated high school, college was the last thing on my mind. I had just spent 13 years in school and I was ready to have fun. I realize now that I made a huge mistake. I did take a couple of classes when I lived in California, but nowhere near enough to get a degree. My main focus will have to be to figure out what I want to do. I ultimately want to have a part-time job once Cameron and Hannah go to school, probably something in an office, so I will probably focus on something in that area. Big ambitions here. My main focus in my life has changed since I have kids, and I want to be able to put them first. Whatever they need, whenever they need me. But I like my alone time too, and why not get paid to get a little time away from the kids, right?

Day Twelve - Beliefs

First and foremost, I would like to start this post off by saying that I do believe in God. I may not go to church or read the bible daily, but that does not mean that I do not believe. I went to a church camp when I was in middle school and learned a lot about God and everything that happened because of Him. Church was just not something important in our family while I was growing up. My friend Amy and I went pretty religiously when we were seniors in high school, and I went for a little while when I lived in California, but I am not and have never been a member of a church.

Onto other beliefs.

I believe that any type of sweet can cure heartbreak. Ask Amy. We used to eat pretzels dipped in frosting to forget bad things. I have eaten my share of ice cream and chocolate to try and ease my mind. Unfortunately for me, food was what I turned to a few years ago and really packed on the pounds. So these days, if I am ever feeling sad, I eat ONE tiny piece of something sweet and my mood perks up almost immediately. =)

As for future beliefs, we are going to be a house that believes in Santa. There is something so awesome about waking up on Christmas morning and finding out if you were naughty or nice, and if Santa came to visit you or not. We will leave milk and cookies for him and carrots for his reindeer, and when we wake up on Christmas morning, I am sure we will almost always find that Santa came to visit our house the night before. I am excited to watch my kids' reactions towards the holidays as they get older and start to understand what everything is all about.

Day Eleven - Television.

I love TV, so this one might be kind of hard. Over the years, I have changed my taste in the shows that I watch (gone are the days of The Hills and The Real World). I watched Desperate Housewives religiously when it first came out, but over the seasons, I have lost interest.

I LOVE this show. It is gross and gruesome, but there is just something awesome about homicide detectives that can solve (REAL) cases in 48 hours - with only a few leads to go on. This show has inspired my dream job of being a homicide detective, although I could never do it (blood is not my thing).

Do you know how hard it was to find a picture with the latest cast? I had to choose this one since all the others still had pictures of George O'Malley and Dr. Burke in them. Wow. Anyways, this show has been on for 7 years now, and I still love it. There have definitely been some episodes that I shook my head at, but all in all, this is my favorite drama-ish show.

Who doesn't love Michael Scott? Or Dwight Schrute? This show makes me laugh every time it is on. There are lines from seasons past that Josh and I quote fairly often. We watched the entire series (that was available at the time) on Netflix a year ago and fell in love all over again. This show is just hilarious.

I miss this show. Thank God for reruns. I can remember watching it when I was little and not quite understanding what everything meant. I was sad to see this one end, but all good things must come to an end.

Ahh, Sex and the City. I didn't find my love for this show until I was 18 and living in California. My friend turned me on to it and I was hooked. I had to borrow all the seasons she had until I finally got caught up. We watched the end together on DVD, and I was so sad. Of course, there have been 2 movies that have come out since the end, but nothing beats the good old half an hour episodes of Sex and the City.

Day Ten - Fears

Something I am afraid of...

Did you figure it out?

I am scared of heights. Anything taller than 5 stories, and my knees get shaky. Around the same time my knees start to shake, my head starts to spin and I feel an overwhelming need to sit down. Ugh, I hate heights.

Along the same lines as the heights, I hate flying. I am fine while the plane taxis on the runway, but as soon as it starts to accelerate, I am a wreck. Then comes the liftoff. My hands are pretty much molded to the armrests at this point. Ahh, and they finally reach the height they want to and cut the engines, and my heart jumps again as the plane seems to drop 10,000 feet. All is smooth sailing from that point on, unless there is turbulence and my hands are molded on the armrests or dug into the arms of the person sitting next to me. My favorite part of flying is the landing. I cry a few tears every single time the plane I am on lands, because I know it is finally over. Nothing like the way the plane jumps as it hits the runway to know that everything is going to be okay. =)

Day Nine - My Friends

Well this one will be short and sweet. I lost touch with a lot of my friends when I completely uprooted my life and moved to California. I didn't have a cell phone, and money was tight so I couldn't call or visit home as much as I wanted to. I have changed a lot since high school, and unfortunately, a lot of the friendships I had ended with the change.

I still talk to a couple of girls (although pretty infrequently) that I hung out with in high school. Since the post today is supposed to be pictures of me and my friends, I shall post them. Ah, memories. =)

Jamie and Me. The top 2 are 8th grade, the bottom is from 11th.

Jamie and me.

Jamie, Kim, Courtney and me at Grad Bash.

Poker with Kim at Grad Bash.

Jamie has been my friend for as long as I can remember. I think we were best friends starting some time in 8th grade. We went through a lot together through high school, and as teenage girls do, we had our fights. Kim says I invited her to my birthday party when we were in elementary school. She says that we had Lisa Frank party favors. I didn't meet Courtney until high school. These girls put up with a lot of crap from me, especially considering one of them always had to come pick me up (no driver's license!). We may have grown apart, but I still love these girls like nothing ever happened.

Now onto the girl I still talk to the most. She was another one that had to put up with my crap on a regular basis, but not quite as much. She was introduced to me by my boyfriend in 9th grade. I always say that even though that relationship turned out to be a dud, it was okay since I got one of my best friends out of it. Meet Amy.

We mainly got to hang out on the weekends since she went to a school that was 20 minutes away from mine. We spent a lot of time on the phone talking (in typical girl fashion) about nothing at all. She lived out in the middle of nowhere when we were both too young to drive, and neither of our parents were thrilled to drive us back and forth, so we definitely did not get to hang out much. She got her driver's license right on time in sophomore year, and the rest is history. (We won't get into all of that...)

At this point in my life, I would consider her to be my closest friend, but that is a longshot. She is another one that I pushed away while I have been struggling with my insecurities. She just recently moved to Texas and came back soon after, so I am looking forward to rekindling our friendship. We're practically meant to be BFFs! =)

Day Eight - Travel

Ahh travel, how I miss you. I have never been a HUGE traveler, but before babies, Josh and I took a couple of small trips together. We spent our honeymoon in Orlando, crossed the border into Canada when I was 20, and spent Christmas in Las Vegas with my family in 2006.

Brother, Me, Josh, Sister, Mom

Hotel we stayed at.. Never again!

We stayed in Vegas only for a couple of days. Family flew in from Michigan, California and drove in from Arizona. We had a good time, well, everyone that was actually legal had fun. It was December and my 21st birthday was 3 months away. Such a bummer. I would have loved to play some slots. Since we had been on the fence for so long about whether or not we could afford to make the trip to Vegas, we ended up only being able to get a room at the Imperial Palace. It was a decent room for what we needed it for - sleep. The rest of the time, we were walking up and down the strip, shopping, and hanging out at Treasure Island where everyone else stayed.

After everyone left Vegas, we piled into my parents' car and drove to Phoenix. It would probably have been a decent trip if we weren't packed into the car like sardines. All in all, we had a good trip. Who wouldn't rather be in the warm west when it is snowing at home? =)

Day Seven - My favorite movies.

Oh dear, this could be a long list. I love funny movies. If I had to choose one genre to pick as a favorite, I think comedies would be it. Of course, there are subcategories that fall under that genre too. Let's see if I can pick a top 5. And I'll try to pick from different genres.


1. Step Brothers

Josh and I watch this movie once a week. There is something about the combination of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly that is stupidly funny.

2. The Notebook

Of course, this is a typical girly movie, but I love this so much. Ryan Gosling's hotness certainly adds to the appeal of this movie too! =)

3. Grease

When I was in 5th grade, I watched this movie every day after school and never got sick of it. LOVE Grease!


4. Monsters Inc.

The child in me still loves most Disney movies. Monsters Inc has been a favorite since the first time I saw it.

5. Christmas Vacation

This is a holiday staple in our house. Who doesn't love Clark Griswold and his family? My personal favorite is Cousin Eddie.