Here's The Thing

So here's the thing... My brother informed me this evening that I am a horrible blogger, and he couldn't be more right. I informed him that I have nothing interesting to write about because I have been busy working OT every chance I can and freaking out in my head about finding a place to live in Arizona. He then said, well there you go, write about that ( I did also indicate I have been doing great with my project 365 with a picture a day, but he said that is not writing) I hate when that kid is right.

So to catch up, nothing exciting has happened. I've been working until 7pm every chance I can to make some extra money to pay things off before I leave. I spend a better part of my evening throwing a dart at a map trying to find a place to live (the shear geographical location is enough to make your head spin) and there are a million different options, and everyone and their brother has an opinion and I don't know which opinion is correct. So needless to say I'm freaking out, it's overwhelming my mind. Mom and I leave Wednesday to go find a place, we have 3 days. I feel like it's a needle in a haystack to try and find a place that I can afford, has a good location, and is safe enough that I could leave my windows open overnight. YIKES! It's a lot on my brain.

But something else did happen. I turned 28. I'll recap that for you tomorrow (well this evening now since it's 12:33am) I went down a the YouTube rabbit hole this evening as a distraction of apartment websites and got a little farther down than I wanted, hence the late hour.

But here's a quick 10 things to hold you over.
- I've been shown BBC's 'Sherlock' and I'm obsessed
- Oddly attracted to Benedict Cumberbatch (who plays Sherlock)
- I wish Tom Hiddleston was my boyfriend
- I am entirely over this winter, it fees like it's never ending
- I got many Facebook posts for my birthday, but the texts from friends meant the most.
- The movers come to take my things on their adventure West Feb. 23rd
- I feel like a lazy blob and gained all the weight I had lost after my 83 days Fat to Fit
- I hope I can lose it all again once I settle myself in, I like that there are mountains to climb and hiking trails, and maybe even mountain biking
- I promise I will be a better blogger once the adventure gets going
- I haven't even had time to freak out over the fact I'm starting a whole new job, that in itself is stressful, so throw a whole other state in the mix (what was I thinking?! jk I'm excited) { I'm very lucky to have my work bff moving along too, that will make the work part easier } 
* Bonus * The Walking Dead is back!

So there you have it, I guess this is my official entry back into blogging. The adventure west begins this week so stay tuned, I'm sure there will be great stories to be told, this is mom's first time flying so that shall be interesting.

My Etsy Experiences

Etsy.com is a wonderful website where people with much more talent than I make and sell homemade items, jewelry and all kinds of pretty things. I keep trying to think of something I could make on Etsy that people would want to buy... but I digress.

Have you ever purchased something on Etsy? Was it good or a bad experience? Well I would like to tell you about my two experiences from Etsy... two very different tales.

My first purchase was a handmade ring I purchased it April 22, 2012 and two days later the website said it had shipped. Got my ring loved it, no problems.

My second purchase I have still yet to receive. It was purchased way back when on November 21, 2012. Yes 2012. The shop states it could be up to 3 months for order to be completed, and mine was around the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday, but I didn't think it would take 9 months to get an order.

So as to not be pushy, I emailed a few times to check on the status.

Jan 5th 2013- I emailed to check

Jan 6th- response- holiday time longer wait

March 9th- I emailed to check

March 10th- response- seller had a sudden death in family and has been out, apologized for delay

March 10th- I responded sorry for the loss, take your time.

May 13th- I emailed to check again. No response.

June 17th- I emailed to check again 

June 21st- response- apparently she shipped it a long time ago it should have arrived by now, she has no way to track it blah blah.Said she will make me a new one at no charge and have it completed/shipped in a week.

Aug 28th- I emailed to check again. No response.

Now magically as of August 30th it shows my order has shipped. I'm kinda thinking she never sent the original one and has just now sent me my clutch. I had to pre-pay for this way back in November when I placed the order. 

So now I wait to see if it actually arrives. I feel like she wasn't honest in her responses  when she did respond, but maybe she was telling the truth. Either way, I'm still waiting for my clutch.

Podcasts and Sirius

I go back and forth between music and podcasts to keep my from losing my mind at work. I've tried other podcasts but keep coming back to these four as my main go-to's. With an hour drive each way I can go through them pretty quick when I'm in podcast mode. So here's a little about my podcast listening.

Rooster Teeth- my brother got me hooked on this one. No particular reason I listen to this one, it's entertaining and the guys are funny. It's mostly about gaming, but even though I don't even own a game console it's still funny to listen too.

The Talking Dead Podcast- I LOVE this podcast. Two Canadian guys Chris and Jason talk about all things 'Talking Dead' you know, the zombie show on AMC. The thing I love about this podcast is it takes your perception of the show and completely changes it into something else. I like most people I imagine, watch the show on a purely entertainment based scale. After each episode they break it down and really make you think about it on a whole different scale, not only in entertainment speaking but as well as cinematic integrity as well. While the show is on summer break they update less often and talk about news and rumors for the set of filming for the next season.

Nerdist- The host Chris Hardwick interviews different people in the entertainment/music industry and basically just really famous people. It's not scripted and it's just friends talking and it's always funny. I don't listen to this one as much, but I just kinda go through the episodes and look for people I know and listen to those first then go back and fill in the spaces.

Off the Air- Chick McGee from Bob & Tom. This is the podcast I listen to least of all, mostly because the others keep me pretty busy. This podcast is more of a causal conversation with Chick and the guests of the show. Most of the guests you'll know from the Bob & Tom show.

Those are the main podcasts that I can listen to. I'm kinda picky about them, I don't like amateur sounding ones because it's too annoying, and if the people have weird voices that I don't like I can't listen to it either. I know... weird.

That brings us to Sirius Satellite Radio. I got a 6 month free trial when I bought Edgar. So far I'm not impressed. I would much rather stream Pandora radio (which I heart) I do enjoy the 90's on 9, but it's just not intuitive enough for me. My Pandora knows what I like and what I don't and I can give a song a thumbs down and never have to hear it again! I just feel like my Pandora has a much better variety than what I can find on Sirius. Maybe I just haven't given it enough of a change, but I'm trying. I just can't find a station that I love and HAVE to listen to. Any suggestions for a favorite station if you have Sirius? I don't think I will be renewing when the time comes.

10 Things: Think Positive Thoughts

I'll be completely honest with you, the above picture is my life 7 hours and 45 minutes everyday, 5 days a week, and it's blah. Add to this already depressing gray world the fact that the Page Turner is abandoning us in just 2 days time and off to play Willy Wonka in her small town and it becomes difficult to find anything to be positive about. But here I give you (scraping from the bottle of the barrel) 10 things: Think Positive.

- I got new pens! They write in different color inks and I had a $1 off coupon hooray! 

- I finally beat the stupid Candy Crush level that I had been stuck on for weeks

- Mom and Dad brought me a strawberry pie from McD and an iced tea! :D

- Vacation days renewed on the 1st and I haven't used one yet! 

- I get to sleep with the windows open tonight (a nice break from the rain!)

- I have finally recovered from the 'Red Wedding' on Game of Thrones

- My brothers stupid videos on Vine are hilarious.

- I have a jar full of starburst's on my desk. (favorite flavor is Pina Colada)

- OL is going to take me gambling sometime this summer :)

- Tomorrow is food day at work.

Books

I love reading books. It's so easy to get lost in another world when it comes to books, but I don't actually read all that many. Last night I opened this month's book club book, my pick, The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood and I couldn't put it down and read the whole thing, it was excellent! I won't go into detail about the book, I'll save that for after our meeting on Thursday, but I'm glad I picked this book, you should read it. How did I come across this book you may ask yourself, well Oprah told me I think, and I liked the cover. I'm pretty sure it was maybe on one of the must reads for a month or something.

But back to books in general. Books take up time to read, I appear to only like to read books at night, no clue why, but I always end up staying up way too late, just one more chapter I constantly negotiate with myself, then when I get to the end of that chapter, well, you just can't stop there either. I'm pretty sure it was like 1:30am before I went to bed last night. 

Since I've had my Nook, there have only been a handful of books where I've actually read the physical book. I do feel bad that I'm contributing to the demise of book stores and libraries, but I just love my Nook. I like having several books to choose from, they are usually cheaper and I don't have books collecting dust on book shelves. I think if I really really liked a book I would buy it to have a physical copy too, that should save the bookstores right? 

Anywho, books. I like to read. Anyone read anything good lately that they would like to share with the group?

Is It Wrong?

Is it wrong to want to stick your head in the freezer and just stand there?! Perfectly normal, ok good.

For realz y'all it's hot in here! I'm not ready for summer just yet, well I mean summer can come but could Spring not say goodbye so fast? But alas, it's that  time of year again. The time of year when I feel like an ass complaining about not having central air, total first world problems I know. It seems too soon to get the window units put in, I like to enjoy the fresh breeze through the open windows with the small town sounds coming through the window. Every year I ask myself how did the prairie people survive the summer in their long dresses? I like to think that global warming has made the summers hotter therefore making me slightly less of a whiny wimp for sweating so much. But all of these brings us to the summer bucket list time....

So my dad sometimes, ok almost daily, sends me interesting articles, most of the time I just forward them to my home email "dad" folder and read them later but this once kind of stuck out, and it was short so that's always a plus. Who is Josh Linkner, no clue, he sounds fancy judging from his website. But his blog post was called More, Less, Stop basically the short premise of this blog was we have an limited amount of time in each day and to help us prioritize we can make a list 1. More- what do we want more of? 2. Less- what are some things we could do with less of and 3. What are some things that we need to stop doing altogether. He challenges us to think of seven things for each list and try to do them for 30 days. I think this shall be tomorrow's daily distraction. I'll get back to you with my list and I'll keep thinking about my summer bucket list.

Maybe I could enlist your help for one of my summer bucket list items. I'm looking to take a solo adventure/vacation to someplace with a good mix of things to do/relaxing down time, I was thinking possibly Savannah, or just a straight up beach trip and maybe to go to Hilton Head Island in SC, I'm still brainstorming. Do you have any ideas? 

How is Canada Cooler than the US?

Commander Hadfield, that's how.

Chris Hadfield is a Canadian born astronaut whom I've been slightly stalking for months now on Twitter {@Cmdr_Hadfield} He was the first Canadian in space and has called the International Space Station home for the past five months. He's been tweeting some of the most amazing pictures from space and has been very active on social media... you may have seen his latest YouTube video in which he covers 'Space Oddity' by David Bowie, kind of crazy to listen to the lyrics and see the breathtaking images, that are real, like totally legit, no computer fancy tricks, real space. Definitely check it out if you haven't...

Adding to the list of why I'm obsessed with Commander Hadfield is this quote, that was brought to my attention by a coworker... When asked if he had any advise for a young person looking to get into the astronaut field he replied with this quote.

"Decide in your heart of hearts what really excites and challenges you, and start moving your life in that direction. Every decision you make, from what you eat to what you do with your time tonight, turns you into who you are tomorrow, and the day after that. Look at who you want to be, and start sculpting yourself into that person. You may not get exactly where you thought you’d be, but you will be doing things that suit you in a profession you believe in. Don’t let life randomly kick you into the adult you don’t want to become." - Chris Hadfield

The part that stood out to me in this somewhat lengthy quote was the last line..

"Don’t let life randomly kick you into the adult you don’t want to become."

Please do yourself a favor and check out his twitter and Facebook for the amazing/breathtaking pictures Chris took from space. It will give you a moment of awe I promise....and you're welcome, you will now have space oddity stuck in your head for a few days! :)  Love, Heather!

Working for the Man

I read an article on CNN the other day...

"The average 25-year-old has already worked 6.3 jobs between the ages of 18 and 25, according to a recent study by the Labor Department."  - from the article found here

Say what?!

If you click the picture of the poor sap who is smiling like an idiot, and click through the other sob stories of the millennial's who have worked several jobs. You know what? Shut up!! Until the age of 26 you can be under your parent's medical insurance so you don't need a full time job, and quit your whining you got to experience a whole bunch of semi-fun jobs. Some of the interviewed millennial's [a millennial is also know as generation Y, Google it] go on to brag about their success in starting new businesses for themselves. 

I don't see what is wrong with this. You worked a whole bunch of jobs yes some crap but you got to experiment with what you liked and what you didn't like. The article talks about all this job-hopping going on. I know part-time jobs are jobs, but do we really consider them jobs? I mean if a person has like 8 full time career worthy jobs, that is one thing, but if you have 6 different part time jobs does that really count? 

Anywho... 

This got me thinking about how many jobs I have had. The only real, aka full-time-with-benefits-job, I've ever had is my current job at the insurance company. I've been there 6 long years in May, but maybe you'd be interested in my other jobs... you know before I started working for the man.

Job #1- The Greenhouse and Nursery in my small town. This was my very first job at the ripe old age of 15, I even had to get a work permit from the school so I could work before I was 16. My main job here was watering the plants, planting. I went on a few landscape jobs with the guys and laid sod, got your Christmas tree all cut and in a stand during the holidays, put together grave blankets and wreaths. My very least favorite job was bringing the mums up from the back on the giant skyscraper carts. SUCKED! Pros of this job, I got to work with my friends, I was outside all summer and though it sucked at the time (or so I thought) there are some days I wouldn't mind going back to those summers in the sun. Time at this job 2 years.

Job #2- The Drycleaner, in TWO towns.. At this job I basically checked in all your dryclean only clothes, sorted the laundry to be sent over to the 2nd location in the next small town over, which housed all the laundry equipment. I'd work here after school and weekends. Then when A.Drama started working there too she took over the main small town location and I would work in the next town over location after I was done at school (college school) I like this job because basically all I ever did was check stuff in. I would press the pants, the pleats suck. I'd put together orders and run the cash register. When I was in the next town over I got to press the laundered startched dress shirts, I will be honest, I loved this part of the job. We had like 3 different machines that basically did everything for you, but I loved putting the shirts on the machines, fun stuff. Then I got downsized. Time at this job 2 years

- after a very very short 1-2 month break, this has been my only unemployed time since I was 15 years old

Job #3 I worked at Michael's in the big city for one day. Hated it and I still lived at home to boot and driving 35 mins after working to 10-11pm just wasn't cutting it when I had to get up and be at school again in the morning. Time at this job 5 hours.

Job #4- an open MRI facility. LOVED LOVED LOVED this job!! I miss it everyday. Literally every single day. An open MRI is great for people who are claustrophobic (since it's open on the sides) and also for larger patients who might not otherwise fit into the smaller tube style MRI's at the hospitals. This job was perfect, I'd come to work after my classes, I was living in the big city at this point which made things easier. There were 5 people total in the office, I was the late night receptionist checking people in since we were open until 7 for your convenience. My boss was the most amazing person ever and my co-workers were the bomb-diggity. I worked next door to China King and The Great Harvest Bread company, can we say ideal? We played jokes on each other and everyone loved each other (I still keep in contact with everyone) Did I mention that my boss was the most amazing person ever?! When we didn't have patients there may have been Uno tournaments. Then I got downsized, I stopped working on a Friday and started the next job on Monday. I would have worked there forever :( Time at this job 2 years

The whole crew plus the gals and doc from the dermatologists office 2 doors down

We got a singing telegram for my boss, that's how awesome she is.

Job #5- The Insurance company, nuff said. Time at this job 6 years and counting 

Job #5.5- Bath and Body Works. My first and only retail job. I worked here for the holiday season, got some sweet discounts. It honestly wasn't that bad, but going to school full-time in the evenings, working full-time at the insurance company it was just too much at the time. 

Well I'm below the average it appears, and really I think the current full time job with benefits and a retirement plan is the only one that really really counts. How do you stack up on jobs so far?

Go Get Your Mail

I’m at a perplexing crossroads in my life I feel like lately. Which is slightly absurd when I really think about it. I have a steady job that I have no fear of losing, I’m finally getting things paid off, I live with my grandparents so I don’t have much to worry about in the form of housing, but I just completely feel like something is missing and I can’t even to begin to figure it out.

While talking with a friend the other day contemplating applying for a position in the company that on paper sounds just like what I need. A job that would allow me to travel, more money, and work more with people BUT it could possibly involve moving to a random state and picking a random city to live in, inside I FREAK out. There are possibly other positions that could become available in the Dallas area, but a few weeks ago when I started really considering it I broke out in hives… hives?! That has never happened in my life. I’ve come to the realization that I am a complete chicken shizz when it actually comes down to making a big change like moving to a place where I know no one. The idea on paper seems whimsical, a chance to start a new, meet new people, see new places.. but logistically it scares the crap out of me. Where do you pick to live, how will you make friends, bills, is it safe. O. M.G. freak out.  Then I think about being so far from home, missing my family, and who would take care of poor little Oliver if I couldn’t take him with me? So as I’m sharing my internal freak out thoughts with my friend, she tells me in a better way, but basically I need to stop being so scared of life and get out there and make things happen. She feels she has lost out on so much in her life because she was too scared. When she first moved to the area she lived in an upstairs apartment and was too scared to go outside and around to the front to get her mail, she made her husband go and get it.

I know I need to just suck it up and “go get my mail” but how and where do you even begin to start? I’m in desperate need of some sort of change whether that be in my career or in my personal life, like finding a passion or a new hobby or something. I just crave something and I can’t even figure out what that something is. A big part of me is just so scared to take a chance. I’m so careful and I have been my whole life, I just always like to have a safety net there to catch me, or more so I guess, it’s just easier to not try and then you don’t fail, but that won’t move you forward. It’s exhausting these days trying to figure this all out. I’ve mentioned it before, but life events in these economic times are just so skewed from what they used to be. Many people my age still live at home because they can’t find jobs etc etc. Which means the whole “adulthood” has been pushed back a bit. I just don’t know….

How do you get over being such a chicken shizz and make something happen? I’m not saying life has handed me lemons by any means, I know I’ve got it pretty good. I’m just missing that icing on the cake, that extra sweetness to make it just that much better. I’m ready to “go get my mail” I just don’t know where the mailbox is…

In a Man's World

I am kinda sorta looking at new cars. I've had Simon for about 6 years now and we're up to about 140k, so it's not unreasonable that a new car is on the brain. Moreso I just want something new. Every so often (like every 6 months it seems) I think I want a new car, I always talk myself out if, but none the less we do this dance. Research, research, research some more, and then stop short of actually test driving anything, because at this point I have talked myself out of it and don't want to fall in love with anything. That all changed yesterday....

Remember I went to the car show? I saw all those new cars and that new car smell got stuck in my nose. It was like a drug, I need that smell I thought to myself. So yesterday I did the unthinkable.... I went to a dealership for a test drive.... BY MYSELF! Holy moly.

I should preface this story with the fact that I am a research-aholic. I check Edmunds, consumer reports, blogs, forums, anywhere you can think of to see what others think of the vehicle I am researching at the time. Working in a automobile industry I see the values of cars everyday. I checked NADA and even KBB and I knew where my car was valued at. I had checked the rates in the credit union, and I knew what I wanted my payments to be, so I knew about where I needed to be with the amount I finance. So to the dealership I went...

I was test driving the new Chevy Cruze. Which is nice, it's super fancy on the inside with touchscreen navigation/satellite radio, push button start, heated seats, remote start and on and on and on. It's smaller than my car though, and I rather enjoy my space. So after the test drive, while impressed with the looks, not a huge fan of the space issue, and the steering wheel doesn't telescope or move as much as I would have liked for my height and driving position. But humor me with your numbers Mr. Salesman.

While on the test drive the appraiser was looking at my car. Also Mr. Salepeople...know your audience. I realize a young female walking into the showroom alone would normally be a bulls-eye and you can pull out all your "girl" tricks. But sir, when I begin chatting you about the Corvette's in the showroom and inquire about the new Stingray, I feel that should have been a heads up. Also while on the test drive as I'm asking about other vehicles, I'd think you'd be aware that while not an expert, I am not dumb when it comes to automobiles.  Keep in mind reader that this was the first car I have test drove, even if I were in love with this car, I would at least need to test drive a competitor just so I don't get large purchase Heather buyers remorse which often accompanies large purchases (aka anything over $100 I analyze and do the whole, is this a want or a need chat). 

So.. time to talk basic numbers. Granted I know that my car has high miles, but having checked my sources I know what my car is worth. Your low ball offer of $2500 was an insult, telling me that is your best offer, leads me to believe that is your best offer. So... no go dear sir. My brain is on shutdown, I would like to go now.

After that offer, I did the whole need vs want conversation on the drive home. I think I'm going to stick with good ole Simon for as long as I can (which was my original plan when purchasing him, so why did I even dream I needed a new car) But I did take this as a great learning experience. Why do car purchases have to be who is the best negotiator? Why do you say that is your best offer when 1-I told you what I wanted for my car, then seem confused when I'm not pleased. 2-You could have "got me close" to what I was looking for but I "didn't want to deal" It's a confusing thing looking at cars. Why do we have to go through this exhausting ritual. Blah, it makes me never want to buy a new car. But like I said, I've learned something and will be better prepared when I really am ready to buy. And just because I go in alone, doesn't mean I should be treated any different, especially when I express that I'm not illiterate when it comes to cars, show a girl at least a little respect!

10 Things: I Have A Few Questions

* Does thinking you might be a hypochondriac in fact add to your possible hypochondria? 

* Are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles really appropriate for the workplace? 

* Would it be unhealthy to give up every kind of beverage except for water for lent?

* Since P. Phil didn't see his shadow, what defines 'early' spring?

* Is it wrong to just want a simple thank you for your hard work?

* Why was February the month that got shortened out of the other 12?

* Could the sun be anymore MIA lately? 

* Have you seen any Cadbury mini eggs in stores?

* Do you think your luck factor is upped the week of your birthday?

* Why do you have to bring the treats to school when it's your birthday? 

Is It Spring Yet?

I don’t know about you but I am over winter. Sayonara old man winter, Punxatawney Phil says early Spring and that can’t come soon enough.  All I want to do when it’s dreary and gray is hibernate in my warm cozy house and watch TV and be a non-productive member of society. But alas, life must go on even when the skies are gray.

I’ve been putting in some extra hours at work for overtime, I don’t know if we will ever get caught up, and actually right now I kinda hope we don’t. I’m saving the extra money for a new car and a great vacation. I had lunch with an old boss a few weeks ago and she totally called me out. She said remember when you said you were waiting to finish your degree before you started really working on your career? Um oops that was like 3 years ago. And Jillian has been calling me out on my lack of participation with the gym. I sit and complain about being fat, yet just sit and complain. I dream of a different position within the company, but just sit complacently in the same department that I started in. Bottom line, change is scary, yet if you never do something different you’ll always have what you’ve always had. Snore.

Regrettably weight does not come off as easily as it comes on. I’m still hovering around 11lbs lost total, kind of at the plateau. I’m working on overcoming my lack of energy in the evenings and just need to force myself to go, I have a looming 80 days left to be ready for races I have signed up for. Yikes, zero barrier is fast approaching. As far as my career goes, there are definitely more things I can be doing, you have to be able to help yourself around these parts. My first step was reaching out to my old boss, part of helping yourself is know when to ask for help or advice. She suggested I find a mentor in a different area to learn more about the business side of our giant company. Have any of you ever had an official mentor, or do you just use peer mentors and seek advice from others.

My OT motivational buddy keeps saying she has a good feeling about 2013. I feel like the past couple years everyone has said this will be the year, great things will happen. The past couple years haven’t been bad by any means, but there really is something that feels different about this year. I think I might finally have the strength for change this year. In just one short month I’ve already purged so much, both physically (I cleaned the crap out of my closet) and emotionally. I’ve already felt the pendulum change towards thinking more for myself and what I want rather than how it might make others might feel. I’ve let go of some past baggage and let people fade from my life who don’t really need to be there anymore and it feels great. So if the first month of the year is any indication of how the rest of the year will turn out, I have a good feeling. Bring it on February!

Dear End of Year Holidays

I've decided that I don't like holidays on Tuesdays. Why must this be? Thanksgiving always gets to be on a Thursday why can't we get Christmas and New Years moved to the weekend?! Ok ok, I guess those are kind of locked in dates. But I still don't have to like it.

I also feel like we need to spread these holidays out a little more. It's like BAM! Thanksgiving-November, Christmas-December, boom New Year-January. Our next day off isn't until Memorial Day-May. Holy hell that's depressing that means we have 5 months before we get another day off... bogus. Back to work tomorrow it is. Double depressing is a few of the older folk are throwing around the 'R' word... you know retirement. What will I do without their wise words of anti-encouragement to get me through the next FORTY or so years of working.... oh yikes. 40 more years.

I know I complain about my job and I do feel bad about it knowing that there are people trying to find a job out there. But it sucks the life out of me. But they say one day at a time right? But I really am thankful to have a job although I know sometimes it doesn't seem like it.

Happy day 1. 364 to go.

Lately

Lately I have found myself completely distracted within the depths of my own mind. I'm constantly distracted by thoughts of change and ways I want to better myself. I keep thinking of all the things I want to accomplish in the new year. I love the new year because although it seems cheesy and cliche', its the perfect time to sit down and evaluate and reflect.

I know I might be jumping the gun here, but I've already got an early start on one of my goals, simplify life. And my first step was deactivating my Facebook. Gasp! I know, how will I survive. I'm actually really looking forward to it, it will be nice. I've given up Facebook for lent before so that was 40 days. My first goal is to go 3 months without Facebook. This may sound completely trivial but I spend way too much time just sitting and staring at the newsfeed waiting for it to update in a social media zombie stare. I mean lets be real for a second, realistically if the Walking Dead Zombies were to have just their basic instincts intact most of them would probably just sit and stare at their computers or smart phones, that's pretty much what this generation does anyway and people could probably easily confuse them as zombies, instead of moaning brains they would more likely be speaking in internet meme's and making grumpy cat faces.... but I digress. 

Phase 1 one of 2013, simplify. I mean I always have time for Facebook and have severely neglected my blog, and sadly one of my goals was to blog more. I have like 60 posts this year, that is like 5 a month, pathetic. What happened to the other like 360 days? So I promise since I'm on Facebook hiatus, there will be more blogging. Easy... try to contain yourself. They may be short and sweet, but I'll come up with something to keep us all entertained.

The tradition I started last year, choosing one word to focus on rather that making specific goals, will continue again this year. I have already chosen my word. I've researched this a little bit and from what I read people really do well with these kinds of resolutions. You can fail and still be succeeding at the same time. I will share my word a little closer to the new year to keep you all in suspense. But here is a little story to kinda explain how the 2013 word came to be and goes along with the whole wanting to change and how small things can make a big difference without really even thinking about it.

You see just ten weeks ago I decided that I wanted to grow my nails out. I have always been a biter/picker of my nails and the only time I've ever had pretty nails was when I had fake ones put on once for a homecoming and once for a prom. I always felt that my stubby little nails were too short to look pretty with polish on so I never wore any, but always kinda wanted to. So one day I said maybe if I have polish on them I will be less apt to pick at them. So for $10 and a few coats of OPI Lincoln Park After Dark I went to the salon and had my nails painted (I'm really picky about how my nails look, I've mentioned this, I don't want them to turn out looking like the blind man down the street did them, so I pay people) Then something happened. Whenever I would get start to want to pick and bite I would see the polish, cuss myself and fight the urge of boredom or stress, whichever it was at the time. And before I knew it, I was no longer a nail biter/picker and now have nails long enough that I feel more girly and get to wear pretty polish. I've fallen in love with the Sally Hansen Salon Effects strips which let me do my nails at home without being streaky or messy and looks halfway professional.

This may seem like the smallest thing in the world, but it's given me proof that under all my excuses I am capable of change, be it a small one in the scheme of things, but it's change. Changing a habit I've had for as long as I can remember was kind of difficult at times, but now I wonder what else I can accomplish... stay tuned.

Hello People

I see this map, it shows you've visited my lovely piece of paradise otherwise known as North of 10th. I hope you've enjoyed your visit today, maybe you checked out some past blog posts or just completely got here by accident. I know there are a few work friends and a few family peeps. But how did you get here? Do you stop by often? 

Take just a second out of your normal creeper routine and give me a shoutout in the comments. How'd you hear about North of 10th where do you hail from do you have a blog, share it in your comment and if I don't already creep you I totally will now! Or if you're too shy, that's fine too, but I see your dot on my map.

But mostly, thanks! Just thanks for stopping by and taking a second to read about my incredibly awesome life. Come back real soon ya hear! 

Hope You Can Button Your Pants Again

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm thankful that Thanksgiving only happens once a year... I kid, I kid. We had ham and turkey, potato and stuffing and oh so many pies. 

I was sad to hear that Mr. Food had passed away, I always remember watching him on the local TV station during the noon broadcast because oooh, it's so good.

A.Drama sent this picture Wednesday as she was helping gma get ready for the big dinner. We ended up not going the Japanese route for Thanksgiving, we had turkey instead. Don't worry, no adorable kittens were harmed in the making of this photo.

Wednesday night I also went bowling. I don't even remember what the score ended up being or who won. All I know is that you can't have anymore fun than that for $13 in small town hanging with friends.

Then Friday rolled around. More power to the people and brave souls who ventured out late Thursday/Early Friday but I'm not doing that again. That happened one year and then I remembered about 4 hours into the line at Best Buy to check out that I hate people. I could be maybe persuaded to change my mind in the future if there was a big big ticket item, or I think if you have kids there is more fun in getting today. But I'm not standing in line for days for a half off DVD set. No Way.

I tried today to get a jump start on my holiday shopping, at least for my co-worker friends. I got distracted and failed at my attempts, but to be fair, I tried to buy local first and had no luck. BUT you know how while shopping for others you always find something for you instead. Well a few friends had already found this little gem but today I found it for half off, only $15 for 

\hours of fun! My very own remote controlled helicopter! The cats do not approve, but gpa sure did! We've already had landing competitions by setting up random landing pads and laughing as the helicopter crashes to the ground. I think dad enjoyed it too! 

I give myself major props for getting out of the house on day 3 of my 5 day weekend. I may even venture to the big city to complete my original task, if I can handle being around people lol. But if not I suppose I'll just have to cuddle with an adorable little kitten pal.

Seriously Where in the H does 24 hours go?!

As I sit here trying to get through my normal internet searching schedule, I happened to glance at the time... already 10:19 serious?! This is getting a bit old, this will be night 3 or 4 where I don't feel like I have gotten my daily amount of slacking done. Now that may sound counter productive but lets think about this.... an average person should get about 8 hours (give or take) of sleep, a normal work day is 7 hours 45 mins, lets call it 8. That is already minus 16 hours out of 24. Take into account the rounded 2 hours in travel time daily and bam that leaves a measly 6 hours of slack time. I feel like this isn't enough time, I have blogs to check, gossip sites to catch up on and squeeze in some good pinning in there too, oh and dinner, and I'm trying to get my walks in which is minus another 50 mins or so... yowza.

Tonight I bought a wireless printer, did I need one? No not really. But it's super awesome! No more messy cords and I can print emails etc from my iPhone too, fantastic! If you're in the market for a new printer, Target has the one I got on sale for $50 (down from 80) and you get a $10 Target gift card to boot! Side rant: Target really is the land of let me enter the doors and see what I don't really need but will buy anyway. Tonight's victim was my mom, she saw a package of six colors of socks on clearance and couldn't pass it up, did she need them, nope, Target strikes again! Also I didn't realize that tricking you with a gift card had become Targets new "thing" whoever came up with that idea needs to get a big fat raise. In your mind you minus the $10 against competitors, but really you are just encouraged to come back and spend more than the $10 they gave you... well played Target, well played.

One of my summer goals was to take a class, well the community college didn't have a whole lot to offer in the summer but the fall schedule is out and now I'm overwhelmed with options. I'm thinking about the sewing classes, I know how to sew but I'm not terribly good at patterns. Or there is the knitting and crocheting class. I know I sound like an old woman and please feminists don't hate me, but stuff like that for my generation is kind of a lost art. I might add that I have glamorous dreams of becoming a wonderful artsy fartsy crafty person and will make millions with my Etsy shop. Maybe the Page Turner will let me have a corner of her hippy/All natural store. PT is whipping up batches of all natural body scrubs and shaving cream and all kind of stuff. She's kind of becoming a voo-doo hippy/witch doctor. It's the farm, it makes everyone go crazy lol jk PT, jk.

The time is now 11:10 and I feel I have so many other wasteful internet browsing to do (the intermittent surfing/blogging/surfing/surfing wasn't enough), but alas, I shall call it a night. I'm finally getting most of my things put back after the ambitious effort of rearranging my office/TV room. I have big plans for a digital organization fest in the coming months, deleting old files on my computers and maybe a winter project can be printing off my pictures and making my year scrap books a dream come true. Who knows, don't forget the world is ending in December so maybe it's best to not be quite so ambitious.. ya know, just in case.

Can you feel it?

The crisp cool air, teasing us with the touches of fall. If you know me at all you know fall is my favorite time of year, I love everything about it. I've loved being able to have the windows open at night, the best kind of sleeping weather.  The cool weather has also inspired me to get out and start walking. I walked a total of 8 miles last week, not much but I'm stepping up my game, I've got to get ready for the screaming pumpkin 10k coming up. I even had the energy to completely rearrange my tv room, man is that work.

I keep noticing that there is not enough time in the day. I want to read, watch tv, surf the net and get a walk in... too many options. AND new shows will be starting soon too, what's a girl to do?! But I have been making time to watch the drama fest they call Bachelor Pad, and wow... how these girls think they will find love on a show like this is beyond me.

Oh and not to forget but I am also taking care of a wild kitten who occupys a good portion of my time...

... although it's hard to tell it from these pictures. 



Cell Phone Pictures

I was just charging my iPhone and noticed that I have 5.5 GB of pictures/video on my phone. That is 1,146 photos and 40 videos. What are they of? Well too many pictures of my super adorable kitten, don't judge. They are only cute and little for so long before they grow into adulthood. Other pictures are vacation pictures, some are stupid and pointless. Some of them are Instagram'd pictures, concerts and storm clouds. Why do I take pictures when I never do anything with them, I can't just delete them. I just like to take pictures. So now I sit and ponder what to do with them all. I can't remember the last time I printed any pictures anyway, I really need to do that. If my computer ever crashes bye bye pictures :'( That statement actually makes me really nervous. I need to back them up. I have a friend who uploads all her pictures to Walgreens then prints a whole bunch when they have their 10cent sale, I should do that and keep photo albums of all the pictures I take in a year, they don't have to all be fancy and grouped by only a vacation here and a vacation there, I should just be like here this was 2012 and all the pictures I took this year... enjoy future generations. I'll have to remember to write on the back and date them, that's always appreciated by the future folk.

What do you do with your cell phone pictures?

Olympic Thoughts

Does anyone else feel slightly lazy cheering for the Olympic athletes? I mean here I am sitting in my comfy evening clothes and I'm thinking to myself go faster swimmer swim faster!

Do you think that gyms see an increase of people in during or after the Olympics?

I am slightly annoyed at the lack of spoiler alerts, at least make us click before ya throw the spoiler headline out there.

I tear up almost every time I see the parents reaction.

Seriously how do they judge the synchronized diving, it all looks synchronized to me.

I read that one athlete dropped his medal in the shower and broke it.. oopsie.

Everyone is hatin on Michael Phelps, I don't get it. You go swim a lap let me know how you do.

Some people should keep their tweets to themselves. It's a kick in the pants to get disqualified for being a stupid.

Do you think if I got the Olympic rings tattooed on my arm or back people would just assume that I was once in shape and just let myself go?

At what point in youth does a parent realize the Olympic talent. Maybe my parents just sneezed when I had my moment.

Is McDonald's really the most responsible sponsor of team USA, how about Coca Cola?

I remember my sister and I used to skate around in the kitchen in our socks, I was always Nancy Kerrigan and she had to be Tanya Harding. It may have given her some kind of complex.

Parallel bars seem like it would hurt when you fall on your arms.

Do judges have to complete special training?

I'm still amazed by how much money was probably spent on the opening ceremonies. Everyone was in coustume and movie make up, that's a crap ton of people!