Long time no blog...

Wow, it has been a while hasn't it? I hope you haven't been holding your breath.

A few updates...

• I completed my first half marathon, in one piece. Final time.... 3hrs 3mins...and some seconds. Goal was to finish in 2:45, but hey.... I started crying around mile 10, so I'm happy I finished.

Here's my recap from the race....

My first Half-Marathon... mile-by-mile, play-by-play:MILE 1: great, comfortable pace, looking around at all the people, no pain. My running partner, J and I started our alphabet game to pass the time and we were feeling strong. We got to the publix mile approaching mile 2 and we caught up with the 2:45 pace group. We realized they were doing 2:1 intervals and I breathed a sigh of relief…as in, maybe we can actually keep up with them. (Not so much) MILE 2: is where I hurt my foot on our last training run, so I didn’t have great memories, but I was pain free and feeling strong, so we powered through mile 2 into mile 3 MILE 3: smooth sailing, I knew were coming up on my favorite part of the route, so I was looking forward to that and I still felt strong. We passed hydration station #2 with our awesome BGR sisters cheering us on as we approached mile 4. (Don’t stop the people are watching…lol) MILE 4-5: I was still feeling good, but was def starting to feel the burn in my calfs a little. I love the Edgewood to Eulid stretch, we incorporate that stretch into our regular runs, so I was looking forward to that part, but then all of a sudden, we veer off of Edgewood, go around my fav part and then turn back onto Euclid, just in time to approach mile 5 and climb the filthy Gu stained streets of little 5. But I just go with it. At this point, I was a little tired and ready for mile 6, my running partner and I had a plan, we run 6, walk 5 minutes, run 3, walk 5 mins, and then run the rest. I was ready for the walking part. Although I had slowed down a little, I pushed through to the mile 6 marker and then promptly slowed to a walk. More like a crawl, but I was still moving. MILE 6: J was keeping track of time and pace since my pacer was out of wack. “We aren’t going to make 2:45” She yelled behind her in my direction. Me: Who cares? I just want to finish. She counts down and it is time for us to run again. At this point, I have sucked down about a pack and a half of shot blocks… mistake #1. I know the North Ave hill is coming up right before mile 7 and I am worried. I try to tell my legs to power up the hill and not break pace, but they don’t listen and I stop to walk. (That is not part of the plan!) I get to the top of the hill and pass mile marker 7… Wooo Hooo, half way there! MILE 7-9: I’m super high on shot blocks and start to run again and I fall into step with a BGR girl. We hit a comfortable pace and mile 8 and mile 9 fly by and I am feeling strong (and still high). MILE 9: Time to stop and walk again… and thank you baby Jesus, because my left calf is KILLING ME. I move over to the side and stretch again, I regret it because I know I’m going to lose both of my running partners now, but my calf hurts so bad I had to try to shake it off. J waits for me and the rest of the race was a blur. Partially because of my abuse of shot blocks and sheer exhaustion, but there were tears and lots of grunts and moans. (Note to self: for my next half, make sure you follow the training schedule so that you don’t feel like your lungs are going to collapse). J tried to motivate me…. And she did a great job, but my body wasn’t hearing it. MILE 10-12: I struggled from mile 10 to 11 with a couple of walk breaks in between, and when we finally got to mile 12, I felt like I was going to fall out right there. MILE 13: Why am I doing this? This is sooooooooo dumb! I picked up my feet and dragged my legs, old man- trot style and I got to the sign that said ¾ of a mile… WHAT?! ¾’s of a mile… that is soooo far! I have to laugh now, but that last little bit just about killed me. I got to the ¼ mile sign and I could see the corner…. Just make it to the corner. I could see J crying already and then she disappeared around the corner, I picked up my speed (at least it felt like it) trying to get through that last tenth of a mile, I saw J coming back for me so we could cross together and I saw our friends screaming at the finish line and that made me smile sooooo hard. J and I held hands a hauled our tired asses across the finish line. I DID IT! I finished! 3:03:11… that is my time to beat next time. I was so freaking happy to be done and so proud of myself for doing it. I got my medal, someone slapped a cold wet towel in my hands and that was that. 13.1… done :-)

• J and I are still living happily ever after.
• I started working out hardcore 6 days a week and watching portion sizes and I have lost 5 pounds so far. 
• I'm on vacation out of the country visiting my family, so my goal is not to gain any of the weight back. And then go into attack mode the moment I get back home.
• I'm gonna be 30 in 64 days.... 64 days.

What can you say after that?

xoxo,

Hell is freezing over....plus some money stuff

Hell is freezing over... Because I am posting twice in one day!

lol... yes, I know-- I'm a dork

Anywho, I wanted to take the time to update my financial info on my right side bar.

Here's a quick run down:

Emergency Fund: is still in place, in a 'hands off' bank account. Bad news is I haven't contributed to it in some time, but I am earning a few bucks in interest.

Other Savings: account is  constantly up and down, but I try really hard to keep at least at $1000 and as things come up I try to save for them. Hence few hundred dollars over my $1000 minimum. They goal is to have a steady $2000, but I've had a hard time keeping that up. I'm hoping to bump in up after my big fat tax return check.

Fully Funded Emergency Fund: isn't in my plans to happen until I am debt free, well at least outside of student loans.

Our Wedding Fund: this poor account has seen no love.... well other than withdrawals. With J out of work the money we started saving for our wedding started to be used for necessities like incredibly high power bills and ridiculous traffic tickets.

On to the debt...

AMEX: I have no excuse for myself. Long story short, I ran this card back up. And as always, I have nothing to show for it... other than the bill. The plan to is knock this out when I get my tax refund and put the card in the freezer so I won't be tempted to swipe.

MBNA: Remember this is the 0% interest card that I used to transfer a big lump some from my personal loan.This card honestly should have bee paid off by now (had I not run the AMEX back up) But as the other, I will pay this one off with a lump sum I will get back from taxes. Just in time before the 0% deal ends.

Personal Loan: My next payment will bring me under $10,000! Yesssss!! I have just been paying the minimum on this as I try to attack the other two (unsuccessfully, but still in the works.) Once I get the other 2 knocked out I will work on stacking on the payments to get this one gone as well.

Overall, I am doing better than I was doing when I started this blog. I started out with about $25,000 in debt and my current balance now (outside of my student loan debt) is $16,492.04. Seems like that number should be lower, but I will take it.


By my birthday in 143 days, my goal is to be down to: $9,000. Which I think is completely realistic. The only reason I'm not being even more aggressive is because I want to save some money for an engagement ring. I'm going to have to start a new secret blog to talk about that. :-)


Not to get completely off subject, but it's funny. I was so angry at J last night and this morning. Like really angry. I didn't post the details, but I was angry to the point that I realized the honeymoon is definitely over (we have honeymoon moments, but the actual 'vacay' is so over.) But after talking to her this morning and sharing my anger, internal battles and issues and watching her listen and really SEE me, I realized what we have is irreplaceable and as angry as I was, us talking about made it go away.... and I still want to marry her, like really wanna marry her. lol.. Isn't that funny? Our relationship isn't perfect, in fact it has been pretty fucking hard from time to time, but we are both so invested, so vulnerable and so willing to communicate, that even in rage we can figure it out. Relationships take work and effort and honesty... I guess a part of me is a little afraid that this relationship will crash and burn just like the last one, but what I am learning is, I am a work in progress and I have to make a conscious effort to not loose myself and that part is just as important as communication with her and putting forth effort.


Ok... that's it. That's all I got. See you soon.


P.S. Feel free to click on the donate button on the top left of the page and show me a little bit of love... or a lotta bit, your call. :-) Thanks a million!

xoxo,

Looks like I'm a once a monther...

I just wanted to say hi... and I missed you guys, it's been almost a month again. I haven't forgotten you... just caught up in other things.

J and I have been living together for almost 2 months and things are going great... I couldn't be happier.

G will be here in about a month and a half and I can't wait to see her! It's been a whole year almost.

I think I'm going to drag her wedding dress shopping during her visit. :-)

Yep, wedding dress shopping.

Here's what I am envisioning...

*sigh* soooo pretty!


On a completely different note, I'm a little bit torn because my good friend M.... remember her? Part of the 'Angel's'... well she has fallen off the face of the planet. She's never been good at keeping in touch, but there was a point in time when she would at least respond to an email. Now.... nothing. At first I was concerned... maybe something is going one. They just got married, maybe that are trying for kids, or maybe there is stress at work... I dunno. But regardless, she hasn't responded to one email. Her wife responds, but she doesn't. Did I do something? I just thought we were closer than that. What do you do in this situation?? I'm sure I'll see her when G is in town over the holidays, but do I even say anything?? Let me know your thoughts.

See you in about a month... hopefully I can make it sooner. :-)

xoxo,

Success!!

Remember the big moving drama I had mentioned at the beginning of the month? Well, all has worked it’s self out… we aren’t homeless, We signed a lease last Friday!

We went back and forth a few times and put a deposit down on a one bedroom apartment in-town at a trendy apartment complex. It was $1,000 per month so we figured we could suck it up to save the money for the wedding.

Wrong.

When we looked at the model it was a two bedroom with the same layout, just minus the second bedroom. Well when we went to look at the actual one bedroom, we looked at each other and said, No. It was cute, but it was just too damn small for all our shit, even with the 10x13 storage unit.

We were so exhausted of searching we started backtracking and called the owners of a 3 bed/2 bath condo that we had seen previously and had dubbed “Heartbreak Hotel” (because the complex looked like a set for an old 70’s porn movie). We didn’t think anyone would want ‘Heartbreak’ cause it was so old and tacky on the outside.

Wrong again.

It was gone. But maybe that was good, we don’t want to live somewhere named “heartbreak” anyways… what kind of fucked up premonition is that anyways?

Next phone call went to a really cool and trendy 2 bedroom/2 bathroom townhouse that we had also seen before and had went as far as being approved to lease it, but then got cold feet and backed out. The landlord played hard-to-get a little and told us that he had another couple that was interested, and he would let us know if they decided not to take it. Turns out the other couple got cold feet as well, so the townhouse was ours!!

Success!!

Finally. Lawd have Mercy.

Granted we had to give the man all of our money ($1200) for the deposit and loose the $175 that we put down on the one bedroom, but I know we made the right decision. The new place is going to be so awesome!

I don’t know what we were thinking anyways, the townhouse is only $200 more a month and it is 1480 sqft versus the 855 sqft at the one bedroom. It’s definitely worth it. Definitely.

Anywho,

We’re moving-in in about 3 weeks, so I will post a few pictures soon.

I’m super excited for J and I to finally and officially merge our lives together. <3

Talk to you all soon! Toodles! :-)

xoxo,

Bad Blogger

*sigh* How I missed you.

I’m a very bad bloggeres… it’s been over a month since my last post. Trust me, it’s not because I haven’t had things to say. I guess I’ve just been über busy.


I mentioned a few posts ago that I started another blog, a food blog, and as much as I want to share it here, I can’t because I kinda like the whole anonymous thing. However I will say, that I am the proud owner of my very first (dot)com… which I am super excited about. It still needs some work, but I’m really enjoying it and I see lots of opportunities coming from it.

So that’s that.

In other news...

I’m still fat. In fact, fatter than before, 219lbs to be exact. I don’t know what happened. Well, I do know what happened, I stopped paying attention to my diet and stopped working out. I rejoined LAfitness, but haven’t gotten a steady habit going yet. I’m working on it. I should probably start my weigh-ins ever Friday again, but I’m not going to make any promises yet.

Now, let’s talk about money. I’ve updated my financials in the column to the right. Money wise, things aren’t too bad. I’ve got a few big expenses coming up, but I’ve been saving, so that should be too big of a deal. I did run Credit Card #1 up a little again, but it’s not too bad and I will have that paid off (again) before the end of the year. What I am really looking forward too is J and I moving in together… that is going to free up sooooo much money, we’ll finally be able to really start saving for the wedding.

More on my love life… it’s great! As I mentioned, J and I are moving in together next month. I’m nervous and excited all at the same time. Nervous because this the first time I will really, truly be living with my partner and as much as I love her, she is messy and drops her shit in piles all over the place. I’m not the tidiest person in the world either, so I know we will make it work, I just want us both to feel comfortable in OUR space. I’m so excited too though, just to be able to share a space and it be ours to build together and not have to worry about where this or that is and if it’s at my apartment or hers (hate that!). Not to mention we will be cutting major costs. Between our 2 apartments we spend about $2100 on rent and utilities, which is ridiculous. Our budget for our new place is about $1200/month for rent $200month for utilities… that is freaking $700 saved a month. Unreal.

Anywho, the new home search it’s self is a big ol’ pain in the ass. We have to have looked at at least 20 different properties, ok I’m exaggerating, maybe more like 10, but it seems like so much more because we haven’t loved anything. Not to mention all the shit we have to shift through on the internet before we find something even worth looking at. We’ve got one place in mind, we’ve dubbed it the ‘heartbreak hotel’ because the community looks like an old porn set from the 70’s…. yep, you heard me. The inside of the condo is gorgeous, but the community… not so much. I’ll have to dedicate a whole post to the home search.

That is it for now. I promise it won’t be another month before I write again…. Talk to you guys soon. Have a great weekened!!



xoxo,

Battling the fat girl living inside of me and Betty Crocker…

I haven’t been to the gym since last Wednesday.

I haven’t been eating badly, but I haven’t been to the gym in 7 days, and the only reason I went then was because I was out of town for business and I didn’t have anything else to do.

What do I have to do to get rid of the porker inside of me??

Didn't I enjoy working out at one point??

I keep saying all the things I need to do, and I’m ‘gonna’ do… Hell I stopped eating for 11 days cleanse my system and ‘re-boot’(11 days instead of 10 on the master cleanse, apparently J and I can’t count!).

Part of the problem is the holiday madness. Getting ready for our road trip, baking millions of delicious little treats as though my last name is Crocker… shopping, packing and shipping… just one thing after another.

The cookies turned out great by the way… here is the picture I promised:




Chocolate chip cookies, Nutella filled orange linzer cookies, Mexican wedding cookies (aka snowball cookies), butter cookies AND sugar cookies

Needles to say, my kitchen was quite a CF (cluster fuck) for a couple of days… but it was worth it…. I’m pretty sure the girlfriend’s family will enjoy them! Nothing like a homemade gift!
Good news is when we get back from our holiday road trip the cookies will no longer be in the house, there will be no gifts to wrap and I’ll have absolutely no excuse for not working out.

Talk to you guys when I get back…. Have a wonderful ChrisKwazHkah!

xoxo,
 

Falling asleep at work…

It’s one of those days.

I don’t know if it’s the weather or what, but I went to bed early- 1030pm and woke up around 715am and I am still dragging. Did I sleep too much??

*sorry, I nodded off in front of my computer* lol… such a dork.

On another note…. The girlfriend and I will be packing up a rental car and driving to her home town (12 hours away!) on Wednesday for Chirstmas. I’m pretty excited about it, because we had so much fun together the last road trip… not really looking forward to the driving though.

Over the weekend I made piles and piles of holiday cookies. My entire kitchen was covered with flour and sprinkles and chocolate… every surface was covered by something. I’ll have to snap a picture when I get home tonight.

Speaking of pictures… I never made the chocolate soufflé or Hollandaise; however I did assault half a dozen eggs trying to make a perfect poached egg… lol. It’s not quite as easy as I thought but I finally got it…. Thanks to some youtube videos and Juila Child.

Oh I can't forget, the girlfriend also made me breakfast in bed on Sunday. So very sweet! Pancakes, eggs, turkey bacon and fruit.  She loves me :-)

Keeping it short and sweet today…. You all have a wonderful day!

Oh wait….Did you guys notice I’ve been blogging more?? :-) 6 posts so far this month, compared to 1 last month. (whomp whomp)

Ciao!

xoxo,
 

"Your passion is what stirs your soul...."

"Find your passion. Your passion is what stirs your soul and makes you feel like you're totally in harmony with why you showed up here in the first place." Dr. Wayne Dyer

I had to smile when I read this on FB today, because my girlfriend and I have been talking a lot about this over the last few days. It’s almost like it’s been on my brain so much that it is popping up everywhere… funny how the universe works.

Sooo…what is MY passion? What’s stirs my soul?

That’s the dilemma of my world right now.

I thought cooking/food was my passion. I’m not sure that it is. I like to cook and I LOVE food. But it didn’t feel like a passion today.

I’m in Texas at our corporate test kitchen again for work… we are working on the upcoming menus and part of our process is to recreate all the recipes to test for accuracy and tasting. Well, I’m the only ‘non-chef’ and the only female in the kitchen during this process.

Don’t get me wrong…I love wearing a Chef’s jacket, clunky clog chef’s shoes and working in a commercial kitchen… but feeling like you are a tall as an ant because the Chef’s don’t respect you… not so fun. Being the only woman (out of 14 arrogant Chef’s)… also not so fun.

They always give me the simple dishes to execute… for obvious reasons, my technique and skill aren’t at their level. That said, I fucked up both vinaigrettes I was responsible for making. Well, fucked up is an exaggeration, the recipes were fucked up, but they were still looking at me like I fucked it up.

It’s silly and I know I can cook and I know most people enjoy my food, but I hate that feeling- that feeling that I’m not even good at what I THINK my passion is.

I really do love food… but it is such a blow to my ego knowing that my girlfriend and my friends think I’m this great cook… but really, in a real kitchen outside of my house, I suck.

I had to go hide in the back office for a little while because I felt the tears prickle the back of my eyes. I just felt so frustrated and sad. I remembered looking in the mirror in the bathroom this morning and liking the way the Chef’s jacket looked on me and thinking… hmm, maybe? Is it just the status that I like that comes along with the jacket? If this was my passion, wouldn’t I know it? And if this isn’t it, what do I do now?

And on another note, why is the culinary world dominated by men?

I thought cooking was a woman’s thing? It’s a horrible piggish thing to think that ‘woman belong in the kitchen’… but why isn’t that true in the commercial kitchen?? Because men don’t want women to have any power or prestige?? Maybe this is part of the reason I’m hating the culinary world right now? They are dumb. Some of the male Chef’s anyways. They act like ten year old boys running around the kitchen with chefs knives posing as reputable adults. AND they treat me as a damsel in distress. I CAN DO IT MYSELF! I know what it means to julienne, I don’t need you to show me. No, the knife is too heavy for my sad weak delicate girly hands. Just because I didn’t go to CIA and I have a vjayjay between my legs doesn’t mean I can’t fucking cut onions or chop parsley properly. Ugh. I’m just as competent as they are, but sometimes I don’t feel like I care enough to fight.

So I just had a shitty day at work. Doesn’t mean I can’t still do it. Cook that is.

I don’t wanna just go through the motions in life…. I want to do something that I’m passionate about.

So what’s my passion?

Weigh-in Friday??

Ok… it’s not Friday, but I didn’t forget about it- I’m just on strike!

I’ll weight in again next Friday, I promise!


I totally forgot to mention “Julie and Julia”… the last time I wrote.

I went to go see it last weekend with H. It was SOOOOOO good! I actually went out and bought Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume 1 and 2 the next day (don’t worry, I got it on some crazy sale- I only paid $11.99!)

You should really go see it!

Anyways…


Here are those Badgley Mischka shoes I was telling you about…

Cute right?!

Well, after doing my budget for the month this morning (which I have updated on the left sidebar), I think I’ve come back to my senses. It’s not that I don’t want those beautiful things, I do, but it doesn’t allow me to reach my goal of getting out of debt and going on all these trips at the same time.

Especially after I just made a $935 payment to pay off credit card #1 again! I used it for my work trip and some other miscellaneous shit that I probably didn’t need.

You’d think I would have learned by now.

Whatever.

It’s paid off again, and I realized how important that zero balance is to me. So no Dior glasses or Bagdley Miskcha shoes.

I have no shame is saying that I will be hitting up Canal street in NYC though! A knock off for $30 bucks sounds like a good compromise to me! Ok- definitely not knock-off shoes (EVER), but a bag and some glasses won’t hurt!

I sound shallow, but I’m really not. Material things don’t bring you happiness, I get that. But it’s all so pretty! :-)

Anywho… with that said. I am really missing my family. So the money is better spent going to see them and doing things with them at home. I’m so excited about spending Christmas with them… can’t wait!!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Weight loss challenge day 4… and day 5…

Where to start… hmmm…

Well. First I’m feeling extremely bloated. This means that b***h Aunt Flo is on her way again. This is not good for the scale.

Oh, and I know today is Weigh-in Friday, but since the weight loss challenge goes through today, I am planning to weigh myself tomorrow morning.

My beloved Angel M….to make a long story short, I did this challenge by myself. She only logged her calories for 1 ½ days and only worked out twice this week. What can I say? I can only motivate her so much. Shit, I still have to find motivation for myself! I love her dearly and of course I support her 100%, but she’ll come around when she is ready. Health and weight loss is very personal, and everyone has to make the decision on there own to commit to it.

For those of you who are new to my blog, I am not one to hold my tongue. AT ALL.

However, I’ll take my bitch factor down just a little and not yell at her…. That wouldn’t help anyways! The truth is- I can’t even complement her on trying, because she didn’t try. I am by no means perfect, and I could have done better this week myself, so it’s not about that. It just a little disappointing because I know how strong she is and how easily she could have completed the challenge if she tried. But in reality, I have been there too and I know, it doesn’t matter what anyone says. So my plan is to back off a little, but encourage her to be healthy.

So anyways…

Today is the last day of the challenge!

I have a extra challenge ahead of me this evening. I am going to dinner and a movie with H.

Yikes!

Ok, it’s not that big of a deal… but lets be real, even when you make good food choices at a restaurant, you are still not 100% sure what goes in it to create the final product. I’m gonna take my chances! I’m hitting the gym before dinner, so that should definitely help.

Oh, guess what I’m going to see?? Julie and Julia! I’m so excited. I read the book a while back, so I am looking forward to it!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

Weight loss challenge day 3….

Woot Woot! Only 2 days left to go!


Calories were a little bit on the high side today… 1500, but it is still within my limits. I was not feeling the gym either, but I went and did my hour of cardio. I had intended on going to kickboxing, but I got to the gym early and did my hour of cardio (elliptical 45 minutes, and stairs 15 minutes- trying to give my shins a break) and was pooped so I went home.

I’m meeting M at the gym tomorrow, so I’ll get a another good workout in.

Completely random…

Grey’s Anatomy season premier is September 24!! Woooooo! I can’t wait!

Have a good night everyone!

Operation sweat my hair out is now complete….

Yep, I went running on Saturday (ran a mile, walked 1½ miles). Then on Sunday I walked 2 miles (and got caught in torrential downpour and was soaked- further messing up my hair.)

This morning I got up a little early and did my 30 day shred DVD with Jillian Michaels. It is only a 20 minute workout- but it is pretty intense!

I wish I could report a fun and crazy weekend, but I spent most of the time fighting with my girlfriend. And I don’t really want to talk about, because I’m not sure what to say yet.

Oh wait- that’s a lie! I went to dinner with the Angels on Friday night- how could I forget! I got to se B and her little pregnant self. So freaking adorable! We chit-chatted for hours oohhing and ahhhhing over all the baby details (and of course mucho belly rubbing!).

That was the highlight of the weekend… it just went down from there.

I spent a lot of time blog surfing over the last few days, and I have found some very, very cool fashionistas blogging about everything from their careers to fashion and make-up to shoe collections and love and many other things. It kinda made me feel a little envious.

I’m absolutely in awe that there are real life Sex and the City characters that live their life like I’ve seen in movies. I’m talking bicoastal living, destination weddings, AMAZING collections of shoes, clothes, make-up and jewelry, one of a kind pets, restaurant hopping, car services… the whole nine.

The shoe wardrobes are what really got to me. We are talking hot, HOT designer shoes that I have never so much as even tried on.

These ladies really have it going on and it really makes me what to be there as well.

One day I want to be blogging about living in NYC in my awesome Chelsea apartment, with my fabulous shoe collection, amazing career, flawless body, perfectly manicured nails, loving girlfriend, amazing friends and family that visit all the time- and loving every second of it.

Until then, I’ll just have to blog about what I want…

Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy with my life- flaws and all (most of the time) but a girl can’t help but dream.

Just a few things that I lust over....

Anyways, I am going to try to not wallow in self-pity and have a productive day at work. I'll dream about Prada, Valentino and Christian Louboutin- OH MY. (yes I am chanting from the wizard of oz- so what!)

I’ll be heading to the gym tonight to take out some of my frustration.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone.

Back to golf balls…

This is completely random, but I wanted to share. RS sent me this foward this morning. I tend to get wrapped up in miscellaneous shit… so this is one that hit home for me.

**FYI: I’m pmsing big time. I shouldn’t be allowed around other human beings- I sat in my room for the last 2 days watching seasons 1-3 of Sex and the City- the only time I left the house was to get twizzlers and ice cream. Ugh.**

**P.S. My girlfriend must really love me.**


Anyways…. Here is the forward…..


Mayonnaise Jar & Two Beers...

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.


They agreed that it was…

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.


The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.


He then asked the students again if the jar was full.


They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.


Of course, the sand filled up everything else.


He asked once more if the jar was full.


The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.


The students laughed...

'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.


The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your fri ends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else---the small stuff.


'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.


The same goes for life.


If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.


Spend time with your children.


Spend time with your parents.


Visit with grandparents.


Take time to get medical checkups.


Take your spouse out to dinner.


Play another 18...


There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.


Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter.


Set your priorities.


The rest is just sand.


One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.


The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.'

The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.

Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Skydiving….

Yes, I am volunteering for the Big Brother/Big Sister program.

Me.

Sporadic, crazy, control-freak that I am; I am volunteering to be mentor.

When the match coordinator called me to tell me that they found me a little, he told me a little be about her... she has had quite a past at such a young age. Her hobbies are talking on the phone and texting, her favorite food is hot wings, she’s an A and B student… and she is shy.

Sounds easy enough.

I met my little on Monday. She is an eleven year African-America girl, we’ll call her JJ.

Our first meeting was supervised by the match coordinator. We had to do some icebreakers and fill out an info sheet on each other. Maybe it is just the age, and the pressure of the first meeting with me. But the conversation went something like this…

Me: Are you as nervous as me?
JJ: No
Me: * nervous smile with a stupid giggle*
Me: So JJ, what do you like to do?
JJ: I don’t know
Me: Hhmm, well what do you do all day now that you are on summer break?
JJ: Nothing
Me: Do you have any hobbies?
JJ: No
Me: * nervous smile with a stupid giggle*

So maybe this will be a little tougher than I imagined! I know it will take time to develop our relationship… I just am trying to figure out what in the world to do with her!?

So at the end of our first meeting we decided I would pick her up on Sunday for us to hang out. I asked her what she wanted to do, guess what she said? Yep. I don’t know. Lol… too cute!

I sent her a text message on Tuesday (since she likes to text) saying…

“It was nice meeting u and ur Mom yesterday! Would u like 2 go 2 the movies when I pick u up on Sun.? If so, is there anything u want to see?”

Six hours later she responds with this…

“transformers”

I was literally laughing out loud.

This is going to be interesting.

I’m totally looking forward to it though. I have a feeling I am going to learn a lot from this kid!

On to Skydiving…

R, my gay boyfriend is going freaking skydiving for his birthday (which is coming up the first week of July). He has a big group of friends going. G is even going! Seriously, G is going it’s already confirmed! I kinda do want to do it, but I am TERRIFIED! I think it will be an awesome experience, especially to share with a group of great friends… but seriously? SERIOUSLY??

And of course it’s not free… it’s $139 for the jump and then $90 for the video/pictures of the jump.

So we are talking $229 to JUMP OUT OF A PLANE!

** I just spent $200 on shoes and a dress- and for the record the shoes nor the dress could possibly kill me, so I am definitely keeping them both!**

Ugh.

I. don’t. know.

I have until Tuesday to decide. Right now I don’t think I am going to do it.

What do you think? Should I jump out of a perfectly good plane with a stranger attached to my back??

We shall see!

The last week and a half….

First my birthday…

I am freaking 27 years old!!

It’s so weird. I mean I know I’m an adult (and have been for a while) but I’m soooooo close to 30! I’m not afraid of 30 or anything. I just don’t feel ready for 30. It just seems so… official. Does that make any sense?

Seriously- I have 3 more years to go, so maybe I’ll grow up in that time??

Anyways…

The beach was amazing! I know I said that already, but it really was!


We drove down on Friday Morning. I drove C’s car with C and D and my Girlfriend drove her car with G and H.

*Completely random- but my girlfriend and I do not have the same taste in music AT ALL, so it’s best that we didn’t ride 4 hours together! I’m Frank Sinatra, and Beyonce and she is Shaba Ranks and “Ghetto sing-a-longs” (as I like to call them- you know what I am talking about)*

So anyways, we got down to the beach around noon and checked in and got the keys to our beach house. The house was literally right next to the beach. We had an awesome view of the ocean from the upstairs deck and an outdoor shower…. It was really cute!

Once K and R made it to the house we grabbed some food and then headed out to the beach. It was so freaking hot! So of course we had to bring the umbrellas for the black girls (sorry if I am offending anyone! It’s a bad joke that we have… I love being in the sun. My girlfriend, G and C insist on shade-lol. FYI- I absolutely wear sun block- 70spf on my face and 45spf on the rest of me every 2 hours!) You should have seen us trying to get those damn umbrellas up! You wouldn’t think it’s that complicated! By the end of the weekend we finally had it figured out… but wind still tried to flip it up a couple of time. Too funny!

Saturday was my birthday. G and I got up and went jogging on the beach. It was actually fun and I got a good workout in. I needed that workout too because H made me a chocolate cake and it was delicious! My friends are so cute they had everything setup when we got back from the beach that morning. My girlfriend got me an awesome Polar heart rate monitor that I have been looking at. C got me Jillian’s book “Master your Metabolism” (because she’s knows I’m a little obsessed with her right now!), G got me some gardening tools (which came in handy when setting up the beach umbrellas!!) a bracelet and some cute candles, H and K and R both got me Target gift cards. They are all so sweet.

It really was a good birthday!

**until G turned into a raging pmsing monster! (Love you G!) Seriously, I was pmsing too and didn’t know it- it was just a bad combination! **

I’m going to skip over the part were I got completely trashed (by accident) on champagne and cosmos and wind up puking and crying after a game of Phase 10. I don’t remember much of it anyways!

NEXT…

After my fabulous birthday weekend I had to hop on a plane to Texas for work. It was uneventful for the most part.

***Oh- expect for this one really discussing random thing. I found out that I am grossly allergic to pears. One of the dishes we had to prepare was this poached pear salad. We had a couple of pears that we didn’t need and I was starving so I cut a couple slices off and ate while I was working. I immediately started feeling weird and oddly nauseous . I’m thinking, “oh. Shit. I can’t be allergic to pears too!” Long story short, I didn’t make it to the bathroom, so I puke into a trashcan in the empty conference room. I know, I know. That is so gross and way too much information, but I had to share because it is so freaking weird!***

****I really need to work on my random sporadic thoughts!****

Anyways… back to Texas…

I did workout in the hotel while I was there. I did an hour of Cardio on 2 out of the 4 days I was there. But I didn’t write down anything that I was eating. Better than nothing I guess!

So that is what my last week and a half was like. Another year older… and already back to work. Boo.

My Mom got back from her vacation today, so I finally got to talk to her. I seriously have the best Mom ever. :-) I can’t wait to see them.

I do have some very important news to share, but I will have to share tomorrow, because I actually have to do some work now.

It involves the Big Brother/Big Sister program and Skydiving.

And no the 2 are not related, I think you have to be 18 to jump out of a perfectly fine plane. :-)

Another year older

I wanted to write sooner, but let's just say I was majorly hung over on Monday coming home from the beach... And well sleep was more important at that moment!



Apparently at 27 I still don't know how to handle alcohol. Good thing is I only blew chunks one night, the other 2 nights I was sober (for the most part).



Other than that little episode I really had a blast. We literally laid on the beach all day for 3 days. (I'm nice and bronzed!) And the house we rented was right beside the walk way to get to the beach... Seriously like a 1 minute walk.



It was AMAZING!



On a side note, G and I had our first "fight" too. Really it was more like we were both pmsing (and didn't know it) but it's all good now. :-)



I'm posting from my blackberry because I'm in Texas for work so I'll have to share more details about the trip later.



OMG! I got my match for the Big Brother/Sister program. It should be very interesting. I'll share more later about this too.



Time for me to get back to work!



Have a wonderful day!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Mission accomplished!!

WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

I did it! I freakin did it!

5 hours of Cardio *check*
Blog a minimum of four times this week *check*
Write down what I eat *check*

I am super proud of myself, regardless of what the scale says tomorrow morning, I did my best this week.

You guys have no idea how POOPED I am. You should have seen me at the gym last night. It literally took every ounce of strength. Plus I didn’t want to blog about being a failure, so that was motivation as well. This morning wasn’t as bad. I stayed my fat ass on the treadmill for 65 minutes. I walked at various inclines, did sets of sprints (at 8.0!), and I RAN A MILE…

Holy SHIT!

I ran a mile (at 5.8!).

I had the idea of a “Last Chance” workout in my head, and well, I just kept running. (It certainly helped that I had 8.0 marathon man and sports bra and booty shorts girl running on the treadmills beside me. What? Don’t skinny hot people make you want to at least try to keep up?) Mind you I haven’t run a mile (without breaks) in well over a year, so this is something to be excited about! The only thing is- now that I know I can do it I’ll have to do it again. Ugh. Not exactly looking forward to it, because, well I HURT.

Seriously, my legs, butt, shins and calves are throbbing just a little.

OMG, completely random thought. I will have to do another post sometime next week about all the not so nice things you see at the gym in the morning. Seriously, is it necessary to parade your old wrinkly ass around the locker room BUCK naked? I mean I know it’s a locker room and everything but there are towels and all sorts of cute cover-ups you can wear while you put on your make up and do your hair. Seriously!

Anyways,

I am happy to report that I decided that I am going to bring my workout clothes to the beach. Depending on how hung-over I am, I may try to get up early and walk/jog along the beach a couple of days.

Today is going to be hectic, but it doesn’t matter because tomorrow at 7am I will be heading to the beach!!

Have a wonderful weekend!! Talk to you guys on Tuesday when I get back! :-)

Ooohhh so much to talk about!

I’ve been wanting to write for days, but it’s just been one thing after the other.

First, I have to gush a little bit… because I seriously have the best girlfriend. This is going to sound silly, but it made my day. The other morning I woke up with my back facing her and she was holding me and she whispered she loved me in my ear. I mean, she tells me she loves me all the time, but what a wonderful way to wake up! :-) After 4 and ½ years, it is definitely the little things that get me! J

What else?

Oh! I got to see S my Bff/soul-sister yesterday. Her flight came in late so she missed her connection to where she was suppose to be going and she was stuck here for the night. I picked her up at like 10pm and she spent the night! It was short, but it is always good seeing her!

I guess it would help if I gave you a breakdown on who is who, because I have several bff’s that I refer to from time to time. So here goes…

S- My Bff/soul-sister that I mentioned above is exactly that- My soul-sister. We met freshman year of college and I was the Maid-of-honor in her wedding. We have a very similar background. We are both bi-racial and grew up (for the most part) in another country. I call her my soul-sister because we fight like sisters when we are together for too long (seriously we didn’t talk for a whole semester sophomore year because we got in a fight over a book!) But at the same time, I know she would do anything for me and I would do the same for her. She is uber- responsible and cautious and she is the best person to people-watch with!

G- My bff and roommate. We met at my first job out of college (Enterprise rent-a-piece of shit- sorry, I mean car). We are very different, but very similar at the same time. She is sensitive and self-determined and I am bossy and outgoing. We agree to disagree pretty often, but I love the conversations that we have because we can talk about controversial things and still be friends after. And she gets me! She knows that I get in my moods and she doesn’t hate me for it! ** Complete side story** (sorry I keep getting off subject, it’s the adult ADD-lol, not funny sorry!)The other day we were discussing my Birthday Beach trip (more details to come in a later post!) and G was thinking about leaving a day early because it seemed to be most convenient since there were so many of us and we only get 2 parking spots. Anyways- a little while after that conversation she sends me a message saying, “I know you aren’t sentimental like me, but are you sure you okay with me leaving early- It’s your birthday?” Clearly I was annoyed by the whole situation and my feelings were a little hurt, so it is funny that she thought to ask. This is one of the reasons why I love her, because she is the only person who would acknowledge that!

C- My Bff from high school that I mentioned the other day is a diva. I have known her since I was 10. I didn’t like her very much then, but by the time I turned 15 our friendship had blossomed. It is not very often that army brats get to grow up with the same set of friends so that made our bond even stronger. We graduated from high school together in 1999, but then we went separate ways to college. We wound up going to college 2 ½ hours apart, but we still only saw each other like 5-6 during those four years. We stayed close though, because we talked all the time. After college graduation we moved to the same city and became roommates. Bad idea! It took a little time, but we became close again. She is one of those people that I will always call my best friend now matter what the current circumstance is. We share so much history and so many memories. She really truly knows me, and she can’t bullshit me either.

Then there are my other high school friends. We had a “gang” called Cotton Club (C was in it too.). There were 9 of us and we were inseparable during those years. They are all awesome! They’re the kind of friends that you don’t talk to for 5 years then you get together and pick back up like it was yesterday. I love them!

I can’t leave out my “little sister”-H… she isn’t really my sister and she is actually older than me, but that is how it feels sometimes. She is the most genuine person I know and I am a bossy know-it-all. You get the point.

Last but not least, there are the Angels- B and M… (G is a part of the Angels too.) B is actually the one that I mentioned a couple weeks ago that is pregnant. We are all in relationships with woman (or seeking one ;-)- G is single) and very independent opinionated woman. I love our girls nights together- you should see us chit-chatting over each other a dinner table!



Whew. That was a lot! It should make more sense now though. Kinda. Maybe?

Whatever.

I have to change the subject again. The 2 hour season finale of Grey’s Anatomy just went off. OH. MY. GOD. I can’t even digest what just happened. Does anybody else watch it? Izzy and O’Malley die? Seriously? And that is it until the new season? I was crying so hard, you would think these people were my friends!

Now that I got that off my chest I can talk about the Cheetos, Cheese-its and chocolate that I ate yesterday.

Ugh. I know. Let me say this though, I am PMSing and I have absolutely no control over my ridiculous cravings. I did everything that Jillian told me not to do! There is some good news though. That day after work I met up with H at a park and walked 3 miles. It doesn’t make up for the shit that I ate, but it helps. Right?

It is almost midnight; I need to go to bed. I’m sure I forgot to mention something, but I’m too exhausted from watching Grey’s!

Good Night!