Blogmopolitan Quiz, Part 2

I am so in love with this idea from Erin! I had a blast with the first one, and this one was even better. 

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Sunday Social

1. Favorite breakfast food
This depends on the day - I don't think I really have a "favorite", per se. I do really like Boyfriend's egg sandwiches, and I'm also a pretty big fan of chicken fried steak with biscuits and gravy a la Denny's or Perkins, though.

2. Best way to spend a free day
Outside, in sunshine. Partially spending it with someone I love, and also partially spending it completely alone with nothing but a book and an iced coffee for company.

3. Airline ticket to anywhere in the world...where would you go and why?
I'd go on a vacation to Bora Bora. The ocean always calms me, and sunshine, crystal clear waters, and bungalows just sounds like heaven to me right now

4. You can only leave the house with one thing...what is it?
My mom gave me a statue for Christmas a few years ago.. It's really special and meaningful to me, and also completely irreplaceable.

5.How do you take your coffee?
With lots of flavored creamer.. usually a French vanilla or vanilla caramel variety


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FRIDAY. And stuff.

Hey heeeyyy, check me out, blogging three whole days in a row. That's like practically unheard of in these parts. Does anyone else feel like blogging is just freaking weird? It's all like, narcissistic and stuff. In real life, if people were constantly like, "OMG LET ME TELL YOU ALL ABOUT WHAT IS IN MY PURSE OR WHAT MAKEUP I USE OR GO THROUGH MY ENTIRE WORKOUT AND MEAL PLAN FOR THE WEEK IN DETAIL", that would be irritating. But in the blog world, narcissism is like completely accepted and celebrated and everybody wants to be friends! I love it.

Moving on...This is kind of a long post (lots to cover), so go ahead and #backthatazzup to one of my very favorite Zumba songs while you read.

It's been a looooong week. For starters, last weekend wasn't really the best I've ever had. I've been doing a lot of thinking and soul-searching during this week, though, and even though said behavior has led to a lot of missed sleep and hours when I struggled to focus, I am confident that things are looking up. :) On Monday, (1) I went to an indoor playground with Dedra and the boys. We had a blast, and they only had a mini-meltdown when it was time to go. Progress, people. ZJ also nearly ripped Rett's head off trying to help him find the slide.. Looks like he was none the worse for the wear though, so we'll just mark it down in the "Hilarious Things Kids Do" column and continue laughing about it.

Dedra and I (2) went to Zumba with Eva on Monday and Tuesday night, and of course had a blast. I finally (3) got some new shoes too, so my feet were feeling a lot better after class on Tuesday than they have been. My knee still sucks, but that's nothing new. (4) Work has been insane this week. The end of the month is always a pretty intense time, since clients need to wrap up monthly accounting stuff, send invoices, etc., but this past week, a lot of just random stuff all happened at once to create a perfect storm of absolute chaos. I've been working lots of extra hours, which has really not been easy, since my brain has really had to struggle to focus. But it's finally Friday, yaaayyy! I have plans for a really fun and relaxing weekend. :) I was also able to take some time this week to (5) visit a family that I used to babysit for when I last lived in Vegas. It was SO much fun. They're just the sweetest family, and M. even made me a card! (I may or may not have teared up at the sheer adorableness of this card, guys...so.freaking.cute.)

In the spirit of following through on my plans to try a new recipe every month in 2014, I attempted some crock pot macaroni and cheese this week. It was basically awful. I mean, the taste was okay - any time you throw like four different kinds of cheese and some cream and Worcestershire sauce together, you're bound to come up with some at least reasonably edible. But it cooked too long, and got all mushy in the middle and totally burned on the edges. Definitely a fail on that front, but hey...I tried, and that's what it's all about, right? Or something. 

If you follow me on Twitter, then you've probably at some point seen me mention my good friend Joe. He and I grew up together, and now he is a Paralympic bronze medalist, and training to go back to the Rio Paralympics in 2016! I have to say, I'm selfishly glad that he participates in the Summer games, because I don't really care too much about the Winter ones (except maybe figure skating, but I can't even make myself care about that this year). He is pretty cool, so you should all probably go get to know him like, right this minute. And speaking of Olympics, be sure to check out this lovely little freebie from Sarah, and show your American team spirit. Also - the one and only Matt Antoine, winner of the Bronze medal in the Skeleton event in Sochi, is from my hometown! Apparently, good ol' Prairie is better for a lot more than just dropping a carp on New Year's Eve, considering its produced two world-class athletes. #smalltownpride

And with that, I'm off! Have a great weekend, everybody!! 

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I hate having to come up with post titles.

Oh hi. I don't know what the deal is with me.. I have like eleventy billion post ideas, and things I want to write about, but I never do it. I think it's probably more because I spend so much time at my desk doing actual work that when I'm done with that, all I want to do is go somewhere, anywhere else where my computer isn't. Obviously, that sort of attitude is not exactly conducive to blogging, so we find ourselves here.

But in the interest of showing up, and at least getting something down on the "paper" that is this white space with a blinking cursor, I thought I'd fill everybody in on some happenings in my life recently, and on some of the topics I'm mulling over.

Happenings:

I have been doing a lot of Zumba lately, and I discovered muscles in my arms for the first time in years. I'm not like, ripped or anything all of a sudden, but now when I flex my arms, something actually happens. It's basically like the most exciting thing ever.

I had my very first Skype date with a fellow blogger - none other than the oh-so-wonderful Belinda, who I absolutely adore. Seriously guys, she is SUCH a fun girl! We had some connection issues during the call, so it ended up getting cut short, but it was still so much fun! We were talking about something specific, that if I can ever get my act together and actually put together something interesting like I want to, will show up on this here blog at some point soon. *fingers crossed*

I went with my sister to take the boys to an indoor playground on Monday evening. I know I talk a lot about how I have the cutest nephews ever, but seriously, I dare you to argue with these pictures. They're just the best. (And that is really the only picture I could get of ZJ, since that kid pretty much never stops moving - I don't just purposely take more pictures of Rett and ignore ZJ.)

They stopped over to visit me at home the other morning, and ZJ wasn't feeling well (poor kid!), so he did manage to hold still enough for me to get a couple pictures at least.

And as for post ideas I'm overthinking? SO MANY. But to give you a bit of an idea....
...technology is actually more trouble than it's worth sometimes
...diversity should be celebrated, but is there a point when that celebration becomes too much and does more harm than good?
...there are a lot of things I've learned in the past few years that I wish I had known when I was younger. 
...why do Americans have such a bad rep in the world? 

And there are a bunch more, but just trying to organize all my thoughts on these topics alone is somewhat daunting. Ahhh, if only I weren't such a dang perfectionist. Oh well. 

What are you up to these days? 


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I'm the kind of girl who...

What a fantastic idea this is. Love it. 

...wishes she were cool enough to drink black coffee

...yearns to travel the world, to learn, explore, discover, and change

...strives for self-awareness

...thinks showers (and all of the stupid "getting ready" aftermath of showers) are completely overrated

...wishes she was a gourmet chef

...has a difficult time narrowing down a career plan and committing to the appropriate education

...loves beauty products and makeup but doesn't use them very often

...overthinks EVERYTHING

...has no trouble at all drinking all the water she is supposed to drink (on most days, anyway)

...loves to talk about everything

...actually really enjoys flossing her teeth

...is slowly but surely turning into a homebody/introvert

...will drop everything to be there when someone she loves needs her

...LOVES high heels, but can't wear them, like ever

...is a hopeless romantic and totally swoons over the cheesiest stuff like flowers or photo strips or forehead kisses

...hates cleaning showers and mopping floors, but actually enjoys cleaning the rest of the bathroom

...works hard to recognize and overcome flaws

...is usually always smiling or laughing about something

...forgives easily

...is completely in love with oceans

...believes in the amazing power of positive mental processes

...loves to make people laugh

...loves sunshine and warm weather and absolutely hates cold and snow

...thinks blogging is totally weird, but also completely awesome

...gets easily distracted

...could eat at Chipotle every single day and be completely, blissfully happy

...loves deeply and fully

...is learning how to stand up for herself, and working on finding courage to ask for what she needs

...loves reading and is always looking for good suggestions for books

...loves snuggling babies, especially her nephews

...is late to linkups and forgets to post A LOT of the time 

Cheers! 

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Questions you should ask yourself

I've been in a bit of a blogging slump lately. I want to write, honestly, I really do.. But I struggle with knowing what to share, how much is too much, etc., and so I tend to err on the side of caution. I can always put it out there later if I want to, but once it's out, it's never coming back. So in the interest of posting something - anything - I decided to steal an idea from Kelly and answer some questions. Because when you're not sure what to write, answering some random questions about yourself is always the best idea, right??

Right.

And we're off...

1.) What are you addicted to? (or, for a grammar freak like me, "To what are you addicted?")
The TV show Chopped. It's basically like, my favorite show of all time, ever. Except for "Friends". Which is also awesome.

2.) What's the first thing you would do if you were invisible?
Figure out a way to get away with some nefarious activities, i.e. pulling an "Oceans 11" kind of prank or something similar. Or just go to the house of someone I didn't really like and proceed to scare the ever living daylights out of them. Because a.) it would be hilarious, and b.) I'm apparently a really terrible person.

3.) Pictures or plants in your office?
Why can't I have both?? Ugh. But if I had to choose just one, I'd choose pictures. They don't often end up dying because I forget to pour water on them.

4.) If you could magically change a part of your body, what would it be?
Toss up between flattening my stomach, or leaning out my thighs a little bit. Probably the thighs thing, because I'm pretty curvy generally, and I could always flatten my stomach through diet and exercise, but with thighs and a waist like mine, it's dang near impossible to ever find a pair of pants that fits.

5.) Do you know people who would want to have sex with you immediately?
I feel like this is a strange question, but whatever.... Yes, I do. But I really couldn't care less about it one way or the other, because I'm not interested in that with any of them. So that's just weird and awkward.

6.) How often do you Google yourself?
Only when I am applying for a new job somewhere. If I were a recruiter or hiring manager, that's the first thing I'd do with every application I received, so I figure it's a good idea to know what someone would see if they googled me.

7.) Have you ever been depressive?
Since the actual definition of this word is "tending to depress", meaning that I depress others, I'm gonna go with probably, but I'm not really sure.

8.) What is the most embarrassing thing you could find on the internet about you?
I honestly don't know. I mean there are some pictures from college parties and stuff on my Facebook, I guess (I really need to take those down), but even those aren't that embarrassing. Suffice to say at this point that if there's anything all that embarrassing of/about me out there, I don't know about it.

9.) Do you think that time heals all wounds?
Huh. What a timely question this is... No, as a matter of fact, I don't think so. I think time can maybe form a scab, as it were, over wounds. But, just like when you have an actual scab, if you leave it alone, it's still there and may still hurt from time to time, but you do generally okay. If you start to pick at it, though, everything from the original wound can come rushing right back. So no, time doesn't heal all wounds. The only thing it can do is make you used to them, and used to the pain to the point where maybe, if you're lucky, you won't feel it or think about it much. But it never really goes all the way away.

10.) Which words of wisdom from your parents would you never say to your kids?
I would probably teach less of a black-and-white approach to things... I'd be a bit more "live and let live" than they are.

If you're interested in answering these questions yourself, I'd love to read the answers. Feel free to either leave them in the comments, or even do your own post, should you feel so inclined.



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Stupid stuff that is annoying

Yesterday, the lovely Juliette tweeted this:

Since I'm always annoyed about everything, I immediately got annoyed at her for acting like she'd win a contest like that, thus proving my own point responded by saying that I would be able to give her a run for her money in such a contest. 

And now, since I know everybody is like, ridiculously curious about what stupid things annoy me, since I'm the Queen of the Annoyed, I made you all a list. You're welcome. 

Things that annoy the ever-living daylights out of me (in no particular order):

...being at the end of a line, be it long or short. I just hate being last. 

...having to wait. For anything. Ever. 

...people who sit in MY seats at the movie theater (back row, center. Do not try to steal them from me. I will cut you.)

...scissors that leave a little indent in my finger when I use them

...people who mumble

...people who change lanes/turn without using their blinker

...also people who turn into the wrong lane (aka NOT the nearest lane)

...having to do math

...stupid household chores like cleaning the shower or taking out the garbage

...people walking too slowly in front of me

...anyone who passes me, ever, whether its on the road, or out walking 

...when people stop in the middle of the walkway and I have to go around them

...restaurant hostesses who think they're hot sh*t just cuz they control seating. We get it you're a big deal. Whatever. 

...when people eat something off my plate

...printers that take too long to print

...toilets that flush/refill loudly 

...redundancy in text, and authors who consistently use the same turn of phrase

...being put on hold. EVER. 

...radio DJs who talk too much between songs

...tv commercials that don't make me laugh

...people who talk too loudly in coffee shops

...service people who don't seem over-the-top excited about their customer service

...people who aren't me who talk in movies (but of course, it's okay if I do it)

...when people start sentences and don't finish them

...having to listen to the same story multiple times (I literally subject people to this exact fate like, every single day. I am the worst.)

...websites that don't load IMMEDIATELY

...when TV shows that I love end or get cancelled

...when smart people make stupid decisions (because le duh, I would never make a stupid decision myself, obviously)

...people who routinely refuse to drink regular water and insist on drinking sparkling water

...when people leave me voice mails (although there are some exceptions to that rule..like family and Boyfriend. But that's pretty much it.)

...when mail gets crinkled or crumpled in my mailbox 

See? I told you I'm easily annoyed. 

What little things irritate you the most? 

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Weekend recap

Hey Everybody. Happy Monday, or whatever. Since I work from home, Mondays are not really all that terrible. I set my own hours as well, so it's not like I have to go from sleeping in on the weekend to waking up really early or something ridiculous like that, either. I usually can't sleep must past 7:00am anymore anyway. I'm not so much grateful for that, but I do very much love and appreciate the fact that I have so much flexibility in my job and in my life.

I had a pretty fun weekend, all things considered. On Friday, I felt kind of miserable most of the day, so I laid low on Friday night and didn't do a whole lot other than hang out over at Dedra &Zack's for a while. I treated myself to Chipotle for dinner, and not five minutes after I started eating it, Dedra came over to tell me she was sending Zack to Chipotle, and to ask if I wanted anything. Figures. :) I went to bed earlyish that night after chatting with Boyfriend for a while, with the intention to sleep as late as possible the next morning.

"As late as possible" turned out to be 6:15am....not quite the relaxing morning for which I had hoped. Oh well. I spent a couple hours just resting, then wandered over to Dedra and Zack's and got drafted to help Zack film this video, which was actually quite amusing. Dedra and I hit up Zumba class with Eva at The Z Spot again, which was fantastic. I didn't even fall this time, guys. #progress

I was feeling restless on Saturday afternoon, so I decided to go to a movie at Town Square. Zack got home from the gym in time for Dedra to come with me, so we had a fun little sister date. We saw "That Awkward Moment", which we were a little worried was actually going to be uncomfortable to watch together, but it really wasn't (with the exception of just a couple parts). Overall, it was a really cute movie, and I enjoyed it a lot. And not just because Zac Efron was in it...even though my uber-creepy self has had a ridiculous crush on that boy since he the first High School Musical came out. I know...I'm disgusting.

Anyway, we also stopped at the Gap and each got a shirt on clearance, and then we hit up YogurtLand for some fro-yo amazingness. YogurtLand was one of the things I missed the most about Vegas when I was gone, so I have been dying to go ever since I came back. I ended up mixing cake batter and red velvet flavors with strawberry lemonade sorbet, which you wouldn't think would be all that good, but was surprisingly delicious. And then I of course added a bunch of toppings to make the whole thing completely unhealthy, but oh well, I loved it, so there you go.

On Sunday, I cleaned and cooked and then Jolynn was here and Zack and Dedra brought the boys and we all watched the Super Bowl at my house. We were all rooting for the Broncos, so it was a pretty disappointing game for us, but it was still really fun to hang out. Afterwards, I cleaned up a bit and then had a lovely two hour phone conversation with Boyfriend before calling it a night.

And now I'm back to the grind! Work, Zumba tonight and tomorrow, some work on Boyfriend's V-Day present (hopefully), and who knows what else?! It's gonna be a good week, I can feel it. :)

Have a great week everybody!



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Sunday Social!

Hey everybody! Happy Chinese New Year and Super Bowl Sunday! Do you know who you're rooting for to win? I'm more of a Bronco's fan myself, so I will be cheering for Denver today. 

It's been a while since I joined in on the Sunday Social, so I figured today was as good a day as any to do it. It's kind of fun to answer questions like this, and visit other blogs to get to know people! :) 
This week's questions:

1. 4 favorite bands you loved in high school:
    Backstreet Boys, Creed (don't judge me), dc Talk, Lonestar
2. 4 go-to meals you'd love to learn to cook or can cook really well: 
    Lasagna, chicken cordon bleu, steak and potatoes, chicken noodle soup
3. 4 necessities to your daily life: 
    Computer, phone, chapstick, water
4. 4 makeup necessities you must have if you could only have 4 on:
    Mascara, eyeliner, and chapstick. I know it's only three, but Idon't usually wear any more than that               anyway.
5. 4 favorite iPhone apps:
     Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, and Shazam. 


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