Thursday, December 30, 2010

Groceries: Week 1

Well, Husband and I just sorted through what groceries we will need for the first 7 days of our 17 Day Diet. The book, fortunately, has breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack example plans already laid out for each cycle, and for the first week, we're going straight from the book. So for this 7 days, we will need:

  1. Eggs (lots and lots of eggs)
  2. Red grapes
  3. Apples
  4. Peaches
  5. Blueberries
  6. Diet green tea 
  7. Lettuce 
  8. Spinach leaves
  9. Chicken breast (insane amounts of chicken breast)
  10. Bell peppers (red, orange, and yellow)
  11. Carrots (frozen and raw)
  12. Cucumbers
  13. Green beans
  14. Onions
  15. Tomatoes
  16. Truvia (instead of sugar or Sweet & Low)
  17. 7 lemons
  18. Sugar free yogurt 
  19. Balsamic vinegar
  20. Cabbage
  21. 15 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
  22. 14 oz. can of fat free chicken broth
  23. Turkey breast or tenderloin
  24. Turkey patties
  25. Ground turkey
  26. Sugar free strawberry jam
  27. Frozen strawberries
  28. Flaxseed oil
  29. Kefir 
  30. Taco seasoning
  31. Shredded, reduced fat cheddar cheese
  32. salsa
I mean.. This is ONE WEEK's worth of food. I'm slightly intimidated. At least for the first week I don't have to worry about school and preparing food. That will definitely be nice. 

I'm planning on cleaning out my refrigerator and pantry on January 2nd, so if anyone wants our excess food, please feel free to come and take it. It's not all junk, it's just stuff we're not allowed to have (pasta, Hamburger Helper, lunch snacks, brown rice, etc.).

Oh, by the way, we're officially starting this plan on January 3rd, so as to avoid New Years and the garbage that will be consumed during that time. January 2nd will be when I purchase everything on the afore-mentioned list and also when I rid our cabinets of excess food, and then by the 3rd, we'll be good to go!

I was talking to Husband at dinner tonight about what I am most excited for with this new diet plan. My whole life I have tried dieting and never had ultimate success (obviously). What I'm looking forward to is, once I lose some weight (even if it's not all the way down to my goal weight) being able to say that I actually did it. I've never had that kind of victory before because it never worked. I think once I know I can do it, it will be that much easier to maintain because I will have done it before. Because as it's always stood "I haven't ever been able to, so it must not be possible." 

I want to make it a possibility. 

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

WANTED:

Braylen and I want a child.


I mean, okay.. We won't take this one. 

He has a fabulous mommy already.

But one of similar cuteness and charm would be ideal.




Look at that Husband of mine.

He's in desperate need of a child to call his own,
so they can ram into him on the slide.


Can you see the look of desperateness in his eyes?
I mean, behind the sunglasses, of course.

It's there, I promise.


Darn you, higher education, for holding us back from our family expansion plans!

Monday, December 27, 2010

I told you that to tell you this.

Luke was 6 weeks old when we got him. He is now almost 8 months. Although he is pretty darn large, he is still a puppy. To add to this, we named him Luke Puppy. Puppy IS his middle name. Many people comment on the fact that we often refer to him as "Puppy," as though it is strange to call him such when he is so big. He responds to this name, as well as Luke. Besides the fact that he is, in fact, still a puppy (he's under a year old, people, and still acts very much like a puppy, regardless of his size) it is also his name. We will continue, long past his official puppy years, to call him Puppy.

I told you that to tell you this.

We have nicknamed nearly every activity we do based on our dog. If we take him for a walk, it's never "I'm taking Luke for a walk." We say, "I'm taking Luke for a puppy walk." Similarly, when we all go for a ride, it's not just a ride in the car, but a "puppy ride". Hm, there's "puppy nap," "puppy yawn," "puppy groan," and several others. Owning a dog really has increased the span of our vocabulary.

I told you that to tell you this.

Luke and I often go on "puppy walks". We normally take the same route, so as to visit all of our "puppy friends." Yesterday, I thought I would begin teaching him a new concept: stopping at every intersection to check for traffic. As we approach a curb, I tell him to "stop" then he is commanded to "sit". It took him a while to get the hang of it, but today when we walked, I brought treats, so it sped up the process immensely. He now will immediately sit as soon as he's commanded to "stop", without even needing the "sit" command. I was amazed at how quickly he picked it up! And not only that, but as he's sitting, waiting for me to tell him to go, I will look both ways down the street and he follows my glance and will look both ways also. It's pretty darn cute.

I told you that to tell you this.

I have an incredibly smart dog. And I use the term "dog" loosely because, as I said earlier, he is still very much a puppy. He still does not know his own size or strength, which makes him seem so much more "wild" than he really is. It's upsetting that he gets so excited when new people come around, because then most think he's a nuisance. It's when he becomes used to their presence that he can really show his true colors. I'm looking forward to the time when he is more calm and everyone can see the potential and intelligence in him that Husband and I see on a regular basis.

I told you that to ask you this.

Is it any wonder I'm so obsessed with our Luke Puppy?

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Christmastime is here

Or was here, rather.


The day after Christmas is always a little bittersweet to me. It's sweet because you've had such a wonderful time with family and friends and [hopefully] brought home a lot of great loot! It's extremely bitter (at least for me) because I wait the entire year for Christmas Eve and Christmas. I love those two days. And the thought of having to wait a whole year for them to come again is entirely too sad for me to think about on this chilly winter's morning.

I've just had an idea! My birthday (which is on July 1st) will be Christmas-themed this year. Get your sweaters ready!! I'm not waiting a full 12 months this time!

Although Christmas is [or should be] about much more than gift-giving, I really scored this year. A few of my treasures include:

An amazing 3-in-1 printer (that also prints photos)
A foot spa set
A trip to an actual spa for a facial w/my MIL and SIL
Tons of Luke puppy toys/treats
A Candies purse
A pair of Bob's shoes (which are exactly like Tom's)
and The Beauty, The Magnificent, The Piece de Resistance:

My new Fuji-film Fine Pix S1800 with 18x Optical Zoom

Oooooo... Ahhhhhh... Soooooo pretty.

I absolutely love all the things that I received, but I have to say that Husband really won me over with this beauty of a camera. I knew he was getting me one, but I had no idea it would be this amazing. I love playing with it and taking pictures. Here are a few from the past couple of days:

Luke Puppy, on Christmas Eve, at my parents' house.
Chewing the new stick toy my mother bought him.

Husband and our future nephew, Makisig.

 Makisig, my BIL Logan, and Husband's cousin Lauren.

It's safe to say he is my favorite little kid to hang out with.

I mean, c'mon. Look at this face.


We (Husband and I) bought each other Christmas ornaments this year.
We intend to do so every year, as a new Christmas tradition together.
This is my first one: Kissmas Cottage, first in the series.

This one is his: Indiana Jones.

These we got as a gift from my mother when she returned from Germany.

Mmmm so happy with this camera. I look forward to sharing many more pictures/memories with you as they present themselves. 

I hope that your Christmas was as special as mine was! Husband and I both loved getting to spend it together. We look forward to many many more ahead (even if we do have to wait for them...)



Side Note:
       We saw True Grit yesterday and it was AMAZING and funny. Go see it now.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Puppy Love

I'm overwhelmed with love for my dog at this moment, and trying to encompass it within a FB status just wasn't cuttin' it.

By now you can see that I love to make lists. This post is no different.

Ten Reasons I Love My Dog, Luke:

  1. We have a bed for him set up in the dining room under a table. When you're sitting in the living room and look over, you can see him. I love it when I look over and he's looking straight at me. This happens a majority of the time I glance over at him. He's always watching me to see that everything's okay. 
  2. He is extremely smart. It's so much fun to get to show off all the tricks he can do when our friends and family come to visit. At this point in training, he's mastered sit, shake, speak, up, down, turn, praying, and probably a couple others that aren't coming to me at the moment. We still work on "go to bed" and "drop it" on a regular basis. "Stay/Wait" is also on our list of to-do's. Oh, also a BIG training point for us right now is toning down his excitement when guests come over. I'm pretty sure this will get easier with time, as his puppy-ness eventually simmers down, but no sense in not trying to work on it when we have the opportunity.
  3. He's head over heels in love with Husband and I. I don't have specific instances to provide as examples, it's just a certainty I have. He is happiest when both of us our home and we're all together. 
  4. Every once in a while, he'll get up from his bed in the dining room and come over to where I am on the couch and rest his head on my leg so I can pet him. He's just ridiculously loving.
  5. He loves to go on car rides. He doesn't try to get in the front seat, he doesn't try to jump out of the window, he doesn't bark... He's absolutely perfect. In fact, I often forget he's even in the car with us. That is, until I glance at the side mirror and see him with his head out of the window, ears blowing in the wind, happy as a clam. 
  6. When we go on walks, he's the kind of dog that will want to sniff/lick any dog we come to. All the dogs we pass in yards will bark or growl at him, and he doesn't even flinch. He's very non-confrontational.
  7. He's friendly to every person that we meet. He loves our family. He is a little rough with kids, despite the fact that he absolutely adores them. He just doesn't realize how much stronger/bigger he is than they are. He is getting better, and I'm excited to see how he is when we have kids.
  8. His guard dog skills have vastly improved in the past 2-3 months. There's a noticeable difference between his normal, everyday bark and the bark he gives when the doorbell rings or someone knocks at the door. He also dislikes when my car horn beeps (like when I remote lock the doors) and when my cell phone rings and the ringer is turned on. He's just started barking to the cell phone yesterday, but he did it again today from a dead-sleep. We're hoping that, as time progresses and he becomes less interested in his surroundings at night and more interested in getting sleep, we'll be able to let him sleep outside of the crate. This would make him a much more effective guard dog and would make me feel a lot safer when Husband works nights.
  9. He's 100% potty-trained. Hallelujah! 
  10. Although my cat hisses/swats at him more often than not when he passes by, he still tries to lick her and sniff her every chance he gets. He's just such a sweet dog, no matter who he meets or how they treat him.

I'm kind of obsessed with my dog, oops. He's just kind of wonderful.

following "shake" command

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Weekend

Well, "taking it easy" since school got out has been a little challenging since we'd already made plans for this weekend. Once I got home from my last final on Friday, Braylen took me back up to Norman to go to one of my favorite restaurants for a celebratory lunch (Reeeeeeeeed Robin, yummmm). Love that place. Then we got home, I took a nap, and when I woke up, we went out to eat AGAIN to celebrate the good grade I got on the final I took that morning (Napoli's). Afterwards we had a mishap at Walgreens and then headed out into the wilderness (aka Ninnekah, OK) to see a friend of ours we hadn't seen since, what, June? I got to catch up with her and Bray got to play CoD Black Ops for the first time (he was unimpressed).

The madness continued Saturday. We woke up to the sounds of beep-beep-beeping at the door (our open bedroom window is RIGHT by the front door). We were both thoroughly confused in our sleepiness, until it dawned on me... It's UPS!! So Bray got up and brought in our goodies from the mailbox... Three packages and two Netflix movies... Yay!! We bought the "Shrek" 4disc box set, "A Muppet's Christmas Carol", and "Where the Heart Is". We were awake at that point, so we got up and watched "A Muppet's Christmas Carol". I started cleaning and getting ready for our long-lost friends to come have lunch with us. Finally got here around 1pm. We ate Chicken Express and talked about dogs. =]

After they left, we headed up to Oklahoma City to have our Christmas dinner at Grandma Betty's. I had the best cream corn I've ever tried and watched part of "Open Season" and "Kung Fu Panda" (there were children present, by the way... These were not my choices). My "nephew", Makisig, stole my heart yet again. He's so stinkin' cute. After eating, the kiddos opened presents and the adults opened cards (we hauled in a couple hundred this year!!) and then everyone parted ways by 7:30. When we got home, we watched "Where the Heart Is" then headed to bed.

Today, the plan is to go to Grandma Virginia's here in Chickasha to do her Christmas get-together. We'll probably stay an hour or so, then come back home. Some of his aunts want to come over to see our house, and then my friend Darcy is supposed to swing by on her way to Texas.



So far I've accomplished three things on my list:

#7: Watch movies with my honey as often as possible.
#8: Spend as much time as I can with my parents, parents-in-law, and friends.
#9: Continue to write on my blog to document what I can accomplish over the break.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Productivity

This is the first Christmas in a long while that I haven't had any obligations to fulfill (either job-wise or otherwise) and I've decided... That I need some dang obligations. But good ones. I want to be productive over the break, because it's been a long time since I've had a fun project to do, that I could accomplish during free time instead of in the place of something I should have been doing.

Whatever will I do with myself?!?!? I have a few ideas...


  1. Work on the scrapbook I started for Braylen and I last year. It contains the story of our relationship and I gave it to him as a Christmas present last year. I haven't update it since he proposed (yikes!) so I have a lot to catch up on. 
  2. Religiously keep up with the housework. I told Bray, I've really been slacking on my part of the housework over the past couple months, and this Christmas, he'll see the kind of housewife he's only dreamed of! It's kind of exciting to me... 
  3. Speaking of religion, I'd like to find a church home for us. Christmas seems an appropriate time. We went to First Baptist a couple of Sundays, but our work schedules conflicted and we couldn't commit long enough to get involved. I'd like to try again, especially now that Braylen will be working nights. Even if he works Saturday night and gets off at 6am Sunday, we could still go to church and he could sleep before and after. I'm definitely excited about this one. It's been a long time for both of us..
  4. Work double-time on puppy training with Luke. It kind of got lax with school being crazy the past few months, and we've really been working hard the past week or so. I just want to make sure he keeps improving, instead of plateauing. He's such a smart boy and he can learn so much.. Just have to stay consistent!
  5. [If finances allow for it,] I'd like to work on house decor a little bit. We don't have curtains in any rooms but our bedroom. That's something I'd really like to accomplish. I hate the look of just blinds and no curtains. I'd also like to get our downstairs bathroom somewhat spruced up. With that bath tub, it could really be cute!! 
  6. FINALLY order the prints from our wedding. In particular, I want to get a huge canvas of one of the black and white pictures from the day afters to hang in our bedroom.
  7. Watch movies with my honey as often as possible. 
  8. Spend as much time as I can with my parents, parents-in-law, and friends.
  9. Continue to write on my blog to document what I can accomplish over the break. I really hope it's interesting to you all, and not boring.
  10. Plan for and start buying the foods I'll need to start my diet in January. Of course, I can't start this until late December because it calls for mostly fresh fruits and veggies, as well as chicken and such, but it is something I need to set my mind to.

Like I said, I'd like to hold myself to several of these goals, and I hope that committing to documentation through this blog will enable me to do so. Hold me to it, ladies! 

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Cycles Approach

And I don't mean for phonological therapy.


I went to bed last night dreading how I would be able to study my horrendous pile of notes for my Speech Science test tomorrow. I forced myself to read through all of them on Tuesday (gosh, that seems so long ago...) and last night was the first time I'd looked at them since. I knew this was going to be my hardest test to study for and try to wrap my head around, but I woke up and decided to give myself a break.

Since I've been up, my method of studying has been as follows:


  1. Read a day's worth of notes (the way I have my notes organized on OneNote has them separated by day). 
  2. Read a chapter from "The 17 Day Diet" (which I received in the mail yesterday!!!!)
  3. Check facebook, email, d2l, and any other form of web media I desire (which actually takes less time because I get to do it so often that nothing changes)
  4. Begin again at Cycle 1.
It's really been working out for me. I don't get burnt out on reading notes because one day's worth really isn't that much. PLUS I get to read my new book, which is turning out to be reallllly good and I'm almost somewhat disappointed that I am waiting until after the holidays to start! ha. The foods sound really good and losing 20 pounds in a month sounds even better. (By the way, I deciphered that my goal weight is about 130-150lbs.. Depending on if I'm considered medium or "big-boned". I can't tell if I'm big-boned or not because I've always been overweight. So I think I'm going to settle for my goal weight being around 140lbs.)

Getting to know more about this weight loss plan had me thinking that it would be kind of neat to document here how it's going. What I eat, when I eat it, how it makes me feel, and how well/poorly it's going. It'll be interesting to see where this takes me, and I'd like to share it with those of you that have been reading. 

I'm ready to get started and excited that Husband wants to take the journey with me. In fact, he said yesterday, "I want to lose my gut and work on a six-pack." I laughed until I realized he was serious. I told him, "If my husband wants to have a six-pack, I have absolutely no objections!!" I'm so happy he's willing to work on this with me, even if he's happy with how I am now.


My lovely MIL sent me this message about a week ago:
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens" Ecclesiastes 3:1
I think that this is your season.


I'm ready to get started!!!

But for now, it's back to Cycle One.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

What's left of my brain.

This may be a hodge-podge of topics, because that's just the kind of mood I'm in.


Since I've been listening to Holiday Traditions on the XM radio in my loaner car, I've discovered SEVERAL new Christmas songs I never heard before: "Marshmallow World" by Dean Martin, "The Christmas Waltz" by Peggy Lee, "Winter Weather" by Tony Bennett, and many more. It's been kind of nice to add these to my list of favorites.


My dog needs a bath. He's very smelly. I'm sorry to any guests or persons that may be in his presence until said-bath takes place.


I'm in the middle of finals week, currently. In the past, I've blown through midterms/finals weeks without any problems. This is different. I'm exhausted all the time. Each day goes by so slowly. Maybe it's because I failed my first one. Kind of set a bad tone for the rest of the week. (And when I say fail, I mean REALLLLY failed. Lowest grade in the class, kind of fail). Fortunately, I think I still hold a B in the class so whatever. And the second test I had (which was this afternoon) I feel very confident about so maybe once I get that grade back I'll feel better about the rest of the week. Tomorrow I have another test that I feel pretty good about, but the big one (the one I thought I'd get the worst grade in) will be on Friday. I can't imagine bombing a test any worse than I did Monday, so I'm hoping for the best. But so far, my notes have not looked promising.


My cat stinks, too. But it's mostly her breath. Have you gotten close enough to your cat's mouth that you can smell his/her breath? I'm telling you... You think dog breath is bad, you got another thing coming smellin' a cat's breath. It's awful. Terrible. Horrible. Ungodly.

But she'd throw a hissy fit (no pun intended) if I tried to do anything about it.


My husband plays a lot of video games. A lot. A looooooooooot. He's playing one right now. Except he'd probably get mad at me for calling it a video game. The correct term, I'm told, is "MMORPG". Sigh, I mean, is it that much of a difference? It still takes away precious bonding time he could be spending with his lovely, talented, completely interesting and riveting wife.


I just had to look up if there is a difference in spelling between riveting (attention holding) and riveting (as in "Rosie the Riveter") because I don't want you all to think I often do work with rivets. I don't know how one actually "rivets," so I wouldn't want to be misleading. That is not a talent of mine. Although, it could be a hidden skill of mine that I've yet to discover... Hmm... Interesting...

They're spelled the same, as it turns out.


I think I'm done.

Monday, December 13, 2010

To the pokey.

I like to see people be taken away in cuffs. It's thrilling, exciting, and out-of-the-ordinary. It also brings a feeling of triumph when you're the one that brought about the events to put them in cuffs.

This applies to only people rightfully-accused, of course.

Our neighbors are noisy. Last night we called in a complaint (our second one, I might add) which led to the police coming to ask them to quiet down. I guess they found something more reprehensible than loud speakers, however, because two more cars came within minutes... Pictures were taken and the four hoodlums were hauled off in cuffs... to the pokey.

(my husband told me to say that)

Lately we've had to resort to watching Cops on TV.

(what's with TV channels these days having nothing on?)

And I think this has catalyzed my need to witness crime being resolved. Takin' the bad guys down. Hittin' 'em where it hurts. Do the crime, do the time. Feet to the fire. Get down to brass tacks. Pedal to the metal. Elvis has left the building. Don't count your chickens before they hatch, and curiosity killed the cat.

Wait, those idioms don't make sense do they? Got a little carried away, sorry.

Maybe in another life, I was a police officer, security guard, or FBI agent. Possibly a police dog?

Bad boys, whatchu want?
Whatchu want? Whatchu gonna do?
When Sheriff John Brown come for you
Tell me whatcha wanna do? Whatcha gonna do?

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Thursday, December 9, 2010

You've got to accentuate the positive...

Eliminate the negative.



I have been a bummer lately, and I just want to officially declare my apologies.
I am not a grump, I just have been very grumpy lately.
School is a pain, Husband is away 6/7 nights, my puppy is a disaster case, and did I mention school is a pain?


Top 10 Reasons Why I Should Shut My Mouth:


  1. I am married to the best man I know. He takes care of me, provides for our household, makes me laugh, loves me relentlessly, thinks babies are cute, loves our Lord, has a really cute puppy-dog look, and hugs and kisses his momma, daddy, and brother each and every time he sees them. I adore him. And that's that.
  2. God gave me this opportunity to go to graduate school. He gave me not only the opportunity itself, but the skill to get there and the support to see me through. I attend a wonderful school that many people would love to get the chance to learn within. 
  3. When I'm lying on the couch, watching TV (as I often do.. don't judge me), Luke will every once in a while wake from his comfortable nap on his doggie bed to come check on me. He lays his puppy head on my knee and waits for his puppy rub. How do you not smile?
  4. My parents and in-laws support me 100%. That's extremely hard to come by.
  5. Multiple people pray for me daily. I shouldn't let them down by sabotaging God's work in my life.
  6. I get to hear Christmas music every day. 
  7. When I drive to school, I get to watch the sun come up. God shows me what beauty can be. 
  8. Things like this sometimes happen: The other day I looked pitifully at Husband and pouted saying, "You know what I wish I had right now?" and he silently got up and got me a pair of socks because he knew my feet were cold. This particular instance had never happened before, he just knew what I needed. Like he always does. See #1. 
  9. I have a few really good friends. They're few and far between, so I'm extremely thankful for the ones I have. 
  10. I'm alive today.

To illustrate my last remark
Jonah and the whale
Noah and the ark
What did they do 
just when everything looked so dark?

They said we gotta accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
And don't mess with Mister In-Between

Monday, December 6, 2010

New Life Resolution

My New Life Resolution

I don't normally do New Years Resolutions. I kinda think they're silly, for the most part, and they've never worked for me. I've always preferred New Day Resolutions. As it turns out, those don't work for me either. Apparently, resolutions, in general, are very hard for me to stay motivated about.

Besides, my life needs to change, not my year or day.

I am overweight. According to BMI scales, I am obese. It has taken me a few years to come to terms with that fact, but I've got a grasp on it now. Some call it BBW (big beautiful woman) and some call it fat. I tend to lean towards the latter, cos I tend to not feel so beautiful being big, but that's just my own personal feelings on the subject.

I do not like my body. And let me explain that I never have. I won't go into all the gory details because blogs are supposed to be funny and cheerful, right? Let's just sum it up to say that, despite my husband telling me each and every day that I am beautiful and he loves me just the way I am, I do not and never have felt sexy or desirable, much less beautiful.

Wah, wah, wah.

Okay, I'm addicted to food. I admit it. I love cooking, and I love eating. More than most. It's not some problem where I find comfort in food because I had a horrible childhood and needed an escape from my pain (not to minimize those who that is an issue for). I had a great childhood, and wasn't taught to have unhealthy eating patterns. I just love food, and I love eating. It's fun to me. I don't like leaving a plate unless it's empty. Preferably after a second helping. I enjoy the tastes and smells and the satisfaction of satiation.

I need to change. I need to be better... for my husband, myself, and for our future family together. I need to stop avoiding the mirror (I can't remember the last time I stood in front of one). I need to stop hating every inch of myself. I need to cook healthier and eat healthier. I need to stop caring what my mother and extended family think of my weight. I need to stop thinking my appearance isn't good enough for my husband.

And I need to start now.

I watch Dr. Phil. In fact, I DVR it every day. (I blame Darcy Kay Jergens for this habit.) The other day he had a guest on his show named Dr. Mike Murano, who researched and authored the diet and book, The 17 Day Diet. From what I understand, the premise of the diet is to eat a certain set of foods for 17 days and then cycle through other types of foods every 17 days after that. I guess it psyches out your body and you continually lose weight instead of plateauing and eventually giving up. I don't believe in diets, and I am highly skeptical of this one.

But I ordered it.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

RANT: It's kinda funny when...

I think it's kinda funny when


  • People lie to a direct question, and you know they're lying, and the other knows you know they're lying, but they keep lying anyway.
  • You're close to someone one day, and the next they don't even look at you when you pass by.
  • A professor expects you to know things you never learned and then wastes 10 minutes trying to make you guess on a question you don't know the answer to (because you never learned it). 
  • People talk to hear themselves talk. It's especially funny when no one is listening, but they keep talking anyways.
  • One day someone's your absolute best friend, and the next day they don't know a thing about you and could care less to learn. 
  • Someone rides your butt for 5 miles in the fast lane until they move to the right lane to try to pass you and then they get stuck behind a car that's even slower. (This one really does make me feel slightly victorious.)
  • You're in such a bad mood that Christmas songs tick you off. ("Christmas in San Francisco"? Sorry, but that doesn't sound like my idyllic Christmas vacation spot)
  • One bad thing ruins a whole day. Actually pretty childish to let that happen.
And yet, it happened to me today. Oops. 

The sun'll come out tomorrow.
Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow
There'll be sun!

Just thinkin' about tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs, and the sorrow
'Til there's none!

When I'm stuck with a day that's gray and lonely,
I just stick out my chin and Grin and Say,
Oh!

The sun'll come out tomorrow.
So ya gotta hang on 'til tomorrow 

Come what may.
Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!
You're always a day away!


Saturday, November 27, 2010

Shorkie Dilemma

This post will be 500 times less meaningful than it would have been if I had a picture alongside it.

(I'm getting a camera for Christmas so hopefully this will only be a problem for a short time. I would like my blog to become a lot more colorful and fun to look at... I apologize for the blandness as it is now.)

Husband and I decided to eat at our favorite local Chinese buffet this morning. And while I'm mentioning this, can I just say 9 out of 10 people that were there were wearing OSU (the tenth person was me in my OU hoodie). I'm not, by any means, a sports fan.. But I was a little caught off guard. I thought this was sooner territory? Guess not. Or maybe Cowboys like Chinese more, who knows.

Anyways, that's not the point. After we ate lunch, we realized we needed to stop at the grocery store to buy bread, cheese, and lunchmeat so he could have dinner tonight at work. Chickasha recently opened a Save-A-Lot store near the Chinese restaurant so we decided to try it out (after all, who doesn't like to save... a lot?). On our way across the street, Husband spotted a truck parked by a store with a pen full of puppies for sale. So, of course, we stopped to look (who doesn't look at roadside puppies?).

The couple was selling four pups... 3 Shorkies (Shitzu/Yorkshire terriers) and 1 Morkie (Maltese/Yorkie). The Morkie was a 16 week old white male with black patches. The 3 shorkies were all 9 weeks old and had black and brown blended fur. They, literally, looked like little Ewoks. There was one male and two females. The female we liked in particular had a stump for a tail because its mother got a little over-zealous when chewing off the umbilical cord. Due to the stumpy tail, black/brown fur, and teeny furry ears... This little pooch looked not only like an Ewok, but like a little teddy bear. It was the cutest damn thing I have seen in a very long time (pardon my language, but it's true... Like I said... A picture would make this 10 times more effective a point).

I write this post to explain how badly I want a small dog. I love lap dogs. Bless poor Luke Puppy's heart, he's just never going to be a good lap dog. For one thing, he's not allowed on the furniture, so that kind of nips that idea in the bud. Anyways, we've been discussing lately getting Luke a playmate, but we wanted an older dog (maybe 2 or 3 years old) who is about the same size as him so that Luke can be playful and not cause any damage to. This little teddy bear, although ridiculous and totally adorable and exactly the dog I want, would be a horrible match for the pup we have already. It makes me incredibly sad. Luke and I long for different things in a partner.

I can't linger on this topic or I will resort to crying.

*Side Note: Save-A-Lot is a crock. The store is arranged very strangely so we had trouble finding what we were looking for. The worst and craziest part of all was that we had to bag our own groceries. I mean.. what? What kind of grocery store makes you bag your own groceries? They ring up the items and put them back in your cart, then you roll your cart over to a table with a bunch of bags on it and you have to bag them all up yourself. Call me outrageously lazy, but isn't that what their job is? What if I was in a hurry and had a cart full of groceries? I'm supposed to take everything out of the cart AGAIN, bag it all up myself, and reload it all? Anyways, Husband and I weren't very happy, so we're not going back.

Walmart, you win again.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Ur in Trouble

... Get it?

Well, maybe you will.

Have you ever been woken up in the middle of the night by an overwhelming urge to go to the bathroom? This happens to me often because, like the extremely intelligent college-educated person I am, I constantly disregard medical advise to not eat or drink past a certain time. However, instead of getting up and going to the restroom, I often lie in bed thinking about how I can get out of getting up to make the strenuous 10 foot hike to the bathroom.

I would rather:


  1. Purchase a portable potty to conveniently set up next to the bed.
  2. Wet the bed and deal with it later.
  3. Hold it all night and just never go back to sleep and think about more ways to avoid getting up.
  4. Make Braylen go to the bathroom for me.
  5. Make Luke go to the bathroom for me. 
  6. Call my dad and make him go to the bathroom for me (as repayment for all the times I went for him)
  7. Take my pillow and blanket to the bathroom with me so I can keep sleeping.
  8. Move my bathroom to directly next to my side of the bed.
  9. Destroy the bathroom so I have no reason to need one (this one never quite makes sense to me).
  10. Buy sleeping pills so I can sleep through these urges and wait 'til the morning to go. 

And let's not even mention the word "catheter". 

Oops, I just did. Please forgive.

As you can see, I really don't like getting up in the middle of the night for bathroom purposes. I have such a distaste for making these unpleasant journeys because more often than not, once I lie back down after going to the bathroom, it takes me about 30 minutes to get back to sleep. This wouldn't be such a problem if I didn't get up more than once in the night. 

I really need to listen to doctors. 

And I really need to not write blog entries at 3:42 AM. Sorry you just had to read this. But I had to write about it while it was fresh on my mind. I'll wait until later in the day to post so I can edit any type-o's I may have made, so at least you don't have to go through that



But do you get it? 

Saturday, November 20, 2010

One is the loneliest number...

Braylen is back on the night shift so Luke, Kit-Kat, and I are left to our own devices here at the house. It would be kind of nice to have a quiet home, but sometimes it can make me a little blue. I like to hear the loud thud-thud-thud of my husband's Clydesdale feet every once in a while (don't tell him I said so though..) and being able to look over at him on the other couch click click clicking away on his computer (paying absolutely no attention to the ravishing red head sitting in the same room). Not to mention the fact that when he's gone I have to take the dog out in the cold, freezing, ice cold wind and run the risk of getting frostbite. It really is a tragedy.

So I need to look on the bright side.

Ten Things I Like about Being Alone in the Night:

  1. I have the whole king size bed and the covers alllllllll to myself. (I probably could stop the list right here and that would be enough... We have a fantastic bed.)
  2. I get to control the remote. All of my DVR'd shows from the previous week get watched while the husband's away. It's very nice. I can also watch the shows that cause him to roll his eyes at me.
  3. When I leave the toilet seat up (enabling Luke to drink from the toilet) I have no one to blame but myself. Along with when I leave the bedroom door open (allowing him to drag out socks from the laundry basket) and leave a napkin, paper towel, or straw wrapper in Luke's reach. It's always more fun to blame it on Braylen, but it saves me the energy of raising my voice when it's my own fault.
  4. I feel very independent when it's up to me to guard the house, lock the doors, feed the animals, turn down the heater before bed, and wield the shotgun. I am woman, hear me roar!
  5. I can have a friend over or go see a friend without feeling bad that Braylen is the third wheel or being left out. Bonus, it allows me to throw killer parties (in fact, the keg just got here... hold on).
  6. No one's here to make fun of me when I have on a hoodie, pants, socks, jacket, and zebra print Snuggie with the heater on... and am still cold. I'm not exaggerating... It's happened. Several times.
  7. I can get myself a snack and don't have to be attacked by puppy dog eyes (not from the puppy, by the way) asking if I can grab him one, too. 
  8. I can pass gas and no one looks at me like I'm a cavewoman. Luke has respect for my physical need to release gas... HE never judges me. 
  9. I have my choice of couches. That's two whole couches (not to mention the four recliners in the basement) that I have full control over. This kind of power should be outlawed.
  10. I don't have to cook dinner. As much as I love cooking, it's nice not to have to. 






I still miss him, though. 

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

I wanna be rich.

Have you heard this song? "I Wanna Be Rich" by Calloway has been playing on the station I listen to every once in a while (mostly on Way Back Wednesdays) and every time I hear it it gets stuck in my head for the rest of the day. It's so darn catchy. "I want money. Lots and lots of money."

I mean, who doesn't? Well, I guess some people don't. But, as a newlywed who's newlymortgaged (it's a word, k?), 'lots and lots of money' sounds particularly nice.

But that's beside the point. I only titled this entry that because it's in my head.

I really wanted to tell you that it's hard for me to blog. I went to the University of Oklahoma today to watch my blog-idol Ree Drummond speak about her life as a new blogger. It was extremely interesting (and hilarious) and it caused me to appreciate what she's done even more. For the past several months I have had a few people tell me I should write a blog (well, some didn't call it a blog, they went for a whole book, but let's me serious...). Not bragging at all, just saying this whole thing wasn't necessarily my idea. I've had many blogs in the past, but they never served much of a purpose. They were mostly "I did _____ today." One of PW's main points today was encouraging new bloggers to keep at it and not give up in the beginning. (Robin, I can hear you telling me "I told you so!")

I just want to make it clear that I'm still not comfortable with this blog idea. At least, not so much with my blog. I would love to delve into this whole blogging world, I just don't know what direction I want to go with it. I feel like talking about my life with Braylen and the pets is going to get old very soon. Plus, I don't want to seem like I feel people should care what happens day-to-day in our lives. I'm quite possibly taking this much too seriously. In fact, I know I am.

I just felt a disclaimer should be made: I am a newb, so bare with me.

So don't be asking me why..
I wanna be rich, oh!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Distraction

I've noticed lately that my life has become a bit of a distraction.

Imagine that I have two lives happening at the same time. The fun, lovey, relaxed one has definitely taken a front burner to the clean, studious, responsible one. It's a tad bit worrisome. (I'm sure for some more than others.. For example, it doesn't bother me a bit, but I'm sure my mother and mother-in-law are cringing... Or will be once an explanation is given).

I absolutely love being home. I get to hang out with my husband and my puppy, watch TV and movies, play Trivial Pursuit (which I stink at, but every once in a while get one right), go visit family, or entertain friends for dinner. I looooooove being at home. It's my favorite. I even like cleaning... Or at least tidying up after a big clean has already taken place... The big clean kinda stinks. Anyways, what I'm saying is... Maybe it's because my physical school is located 50+ minutes away that I find it so easy to forget about it when I'm not actually there. I can probably count on two hands the amount of hours I've spent studying for classes.

*Side Note: Clinic is not included in those hours... I've spent many more hours than I could count in preparation for clinic. The difference is, that's something I actually enjoy preparing for and implementing.

Okay, back to what I was saying. In the past month, my attention span for the afternoon class (I have two in the morning and two in the afternoon every Tuesday and Thursday) has gone from around 50% to about 5% (on a good day). I literally play Spider Solitaire, Freecell, or a random iPhone app during my last two classes EVERY Tuesday and Thursday. What's silly is I'm still making an A in both classes, but I'll write that up to good test-taking skills. It really makes me depressed at times though because I want to be involved in the class, but I just don't have the energy by the time those two roll around. I'm really hoping the scheduling next semester is better for my attention span, but we'll see.

What made me think of this, is that I should probably get started on my homework tonight. But instead I will either clean my house (to rid myself of an excuse to do so later, when studying will be really important) or watch TV. And I have a feeling it's going to end up being the latter. Oops... Thanks DVR, for distracting me from graduate school for the 56,974,847,574,398,030,000th time. Yeah, it's been that many times. I can't even count that high. Which is probably why I'm still in school.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

At least in my world, it is.

Braylen and I started playing the Christmas station on Pandora a few weeks ago. It takes my breath away how much Christmas music soothes me. It brings me down from the worst of moods, and makes me excited about life.

I can remember listening to carols as we put up the Christmas tree growing up. Decorating the tree was always one of my favorite parts of Christmas, and it still is (I've been holding back putting up the Christmas tree since October). Listening to Little Drummer Boy, Silent Night, and Jingle Bells while hanging up the ornaments that have been on our tree since I can remember... The memories I have from Christmastimes past are some of my favorites and most fond.

Last year, I had to drive through a blizzard to make it home for Christmas Eve. Now, I say "I had to" and many people would disagree that it was a necessity. Unless it hasn't been made clear, Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year. The day before Christmas is the big day for my family. If I hadn't driven home, I would have been alone in a town without any friends or family around on my favorite day of the year. There was no way that would happen. Even though I didn't get to be with Braylen, being home with my family (for probably the last time we'll all be together like that) was well worth the treacherous drive.

This year, I'm hoping that the crazy snow we had last year tones it down enough that we can see everyone and get to enjoy our time altogether. This is my first married Christmas, and although things are supposed to dramatically change once your married, I think we'll actually be able to stay fairly regular with what we normally did. I'm just excited to be a part of his family, as well as spend time with my wonderful parents and grandparents. I am so thankful that I get to share the holidays with my best friend and our family. To have all of these blessings so early in my life is something I never could have hoped for.

Santa outdid himself.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Rant: Morning Radio

Since school started, I've been listening to 98.9 KYIS FM faithfully every day. In the morning, it's Jack and Ron, and on the way home it's usually Drew and Kaci, too. I've been noticing in the past month or so that Jack and Ron are quite sexist. And not just in a "for the radio" kind of way to make them look "good" (although, does it really make you look good?). It's getting almost ridiculous.

First example: A few weeks ago they somehow (as often happens) found their way to the subject of women and sex. They went on and on, back and forth, about how a good woman will do everything she can to please her man and that's what her goal is. No matter what it takes, she will find the perfect ways to bring pleasure to the man she's with and will accept nothing less. I let it go though, because, let's face it, it's partially true (the other part being that the man should be doing his part also. So I ignore each time they make comments like that.

Next example: This happened this morning, and honestly I had to change the radio station. They got a letter from a young woman who was writing in to tell them that she has a problem with sleeping with a guy too soon and getting attached and then the guy leaves. I got a phone call and missed what the point of her letter was, but Jack and Ron took it as a cue to explain how women should act in a relationship. Apparently, women should be willing to open their legs and be completely unattached with a man. They should show no interest in them (if they're mature) and the feelings and all that crap comes later. Okay, I'm not kidding here. A woman called in to discuss the subject with them. She said that her and her husband slept with each other for over a year before they formed a relationship, and now they've been happily married for over two years. Jack and Ron applauded her for her maturity saying that her and her husband were both extremely mature and other people should look to them for how to be in a relationship. They said that if you're mature, you can sleep with someone and have zero attachment to them. That women should be willing and happy to be this way, and that will show a man how mature and womanly she is. It's unbelievable to me.

I understand that as far as modern standards go, I'm naive and ridiculously old-fashioned about sex and what it should mean to a young adult. I just can't comprehend how sleeping with several partners is considered having a "healthy sex life." I can't fathom how far south our culture has gone when promiscuity is praised and considered healthy, but I guess that is where we are.

98.9 lost a loyal listener this morning.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Her Highness

Here's the thing about my cat. I know that I talk a lot about my pup, Luke, but before there was him, there was a cat named Kit-Kat. November 2nd of this year marked our 8th year of having Kit-Kat. (Let me say that I named her when I was in the 8th grade, so give me a break.) For a long time, she had been my only pet and we became verrrrry close, even though I have always been more of a dog person than a cat person. She is a princess, but a very sweet princess. She loves to have the center of attention, loves to be in the middle of the room, has to be on everyone's lap, and looooooooves to have everyone pet her and love on her. She is very dog-like in that respect, which is probably why I love her.

I've noticed within the past few years how big of a brat she is, however. She has started a habit of meowing for food anytime someone walks into the kitchen where her food dish is. She also meows anytime she's not allowed to do something she wants. Example: Our front storm door doesn't close all the way unless you pull it closed, so she's started escaping. Granted, she often doesn't leave the porch, and definitely doesn't leave the front yard, but I've had one too many cats die from being hit by cars and I really don't like the idea of losing her that way. We always immediately go out and bring her back in. And then she meows to be let outside again (which I think she learned from the dog, by the way). This morning, Braylen and I took Luke outside and I let Kit-Kat out also just to see what she'd do if she could go outside with permission.

She barely moved. She didn't leave the porch. And after 5 minutes, she was scratching at the door to be let back in. It's kind of like how she'll meow and scratch at ANY closed door in the house (especially when she knows we're on the other side of the door) and then once you open it for her, she's not interested anymore. It's ridiculous. She's such a teenager.

Oh, another thing about this lovely kitty is that she HATES (hates hates hates hates hates) other animals, including her puppy-brother, Luke. Any opportunity she has to swat and hiss at him, she jumps on (keep in mind she's de-clawed, people... I'm not subjecting my pup to abuse). She even tricks him into thinking it's safe by every once in a while letting him lick alllll over her face and sniff all he wants for about 10-15 seconds before she snaps and pounces on his face. It's funny and completely mean all rolled into one ball of fur. We kept saying before we got Luke "Kit-Kat will get used to it. She'll have to! Eventually, she'll grow to love him." Ummm... I think we were wrong.

These kids are driving me bonkers, but I sure do love 'em.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Oops. I forgot.

Okay, so let me introduce myself, as a new blogger. (And yes, I realize that this is my third post, and the second one in less than two hours)

First of all, this blog has been titled "Unexpected Fortune" because I have recently been given huge amounts of money and am a millionaire.

Just kidding.

When I say "fortune," I'm more talking about how fortunate I have been within these past two years, and within my life, as a whole. The blessings God has given me are immeasurable, and I never would have expected them growing up (especially in junior high and high school).

I never imagined that by age 20 I would be married to the love of my life, living in my first home, taking care of a puppy, attending graduate school, and planning a family. Well, let's just say that I imagined it and never believed it could actually happen to me. I envisioned that I would become the cat lady (with Kit-Kat being the ruler of all the other cats, of course) and came to terms with the idea that I'd have to be ready to live my life alone. I'm not quite sure why I had such a pessimistic view about life... I think I just wanted to prepare myself in case that happened. I wanted to be able to still love my life and myself, even if things didn't turn out how I so desperately wished that they would. Once I came to terms with the idea that I needed to be happy alone or with a partner... I met Braylen.

*Cue the gags*

I'm sorry but in every other relationship, I somehow managed to sabotage it and push them away. I assumed that would happen with my husband... That I would find something to dislike and use it to put a wedge between us until he was so miserable we broke up. I don't know why I did these things, I just did, okay?

Funny story... Braylen and I went on a double date with a female high school friend of his once. While the boys stared blankly at the football game on the screen, her and I talked about them, of course, and how much we loved them. I told her about how when he and I started dating I expected him to be like all the other flings I'd had other the preceding years... I assumed we would hang out a time or two (I'd get attached of course, cos I'm one of "those girls") and then I'd never hear from him again. I told her that after our first night of hanging out, I never thought he'd text again. She laughed and said "You definitely didn't know Braylen very well!" It's something that I've grown to love more and more about him. He's constant.

Back to what I was saying... Although I was used to relationships fizzling out quickly, Braylen never gave that a chance. Once he and I were together, he was hooked. And I don't mean that because I'm so wonderful (even though, I mean, it's completely true)... I just mean that he's so loving and considerate (gag) that he would never leave someone he cares about. I have always longed for a relationship or even a friendship that would be completely reliable, always constant, never a doubt that we were there for one another... And I had no idea what that could mean until Braylen came into my life.

So when I say that this is an "unexpected" fortune, I truly mean I never could have anticipated this type of happiness. Especially not this early in my life. And by "fortune," I mean that not only his love, but the love of his family and his friends (which are now MY family and friends) are more valuable to me than any amount of money.

Our life together is my unexpected fortune, and I hope that this blog is a place where we can share this fortune with whomever wanted to read about it.

Compilation.

About 30 minutes ago I finished my second test in a horrible class called Speech Science. Now, I could attempt to tell you the gist of what Speech Science is about.. If I had any idea, myself. But, sorry, I'm pretty sure this will be the first C I ever make, EVER. If I can even pull off a C. Example question from said exam:

T-F Voice onset are perceived categorically while formant transitions are perceived continuously.

Hm... let me tell you... I used the answer to this question in my therapy session just yesterday!!!

Oh wait, no I didn't. Because the answer to that question will never apply to my practice.

__________________________________________________________________________


Much more exciting news: My Luke Puppy comes home from the vet today. He was neutered yesterday, so I'm sure when he gets home he'll be just THRILLED with Braylen and I. Hopefully he'll forgive us, one day.


This is the wonderpup. I know... He's beautiful. He's really humble about it though.

__________________________________________________________________________


Wonder of wonders... My husband and I are both free to stay up as late as we please tonight! I don't have class or clinic tomorrow and it's his first of two days off tomorrow. What does this mean? Well, it could mean a number of possible situations... 
  1. We order pizza, watch our Netflix movie, take a walk with the dog, and go to bed by 10. 
  2. We hit the town (aka OKC or Norman) and go see a movie after having a fabulously delicious meal. (Can a meal be measured in deliciousness by how fabulous it is? .... Let's go with it...)
  3. We go and see our parents, and they feed us. (unlikely)
  4. We go to A&E, La Fiesta, Jake's Rib, or China Moon. The only restaurants in Chickasha we ever go to. 
I'm hoping for number 2. Because I'm a girl, and I like to go on dates with my husband. And I like that, when we go on dates, we still hold hands and give each other googly eyes. 

When he's not watching whatever sports team is on the TV screen at the restaurant we're at.

__________________________________________________________________________


And now I'm going to eat the lunch my husband lovingly packed for me at 7 AM this morning. 






Wednesday, November 3, 2010

It starts...

Along with so many other new beginnings in my life these days, I've decided to start keeping track of (yet another) blog. Facebook is great and all, but I want a place to really document all the things going on in our lives in a narrative form. Sometimes I need a little bit more explanation room than a status update will give me, and let's face it... What I have to say is definitely that important, no?

Ummm, yeah. Soooo anyway..

_________________________________________________________________________

Oopsie, I wrote a whole paragraph yesterday and then had to pause writing so now said-paragraph is irrelevant and had to be deleted. Way to be side-tracked, missy.

_________________________________________________________________________

Here's the thing about grad school: It's awful and wonderful at the exact same time. Let me elaborate...

Pros:

  1. The practicum. Both the preschool and the clinic have been wonderful practicum experiences for me (thus far). I am really enjoying going into treatment sessions, and am actually excelling and progressing in my abilities (or so say my supervisors, anyway). 
  2. The setting. The new building we're in is spectacular. I mean it... Spectacular. Oh, and it's minutes from Bricktown.
  3.  

Wait, I can only think of 2 good things.. Crap..
(Bear in mind, #1 is a very big pro.)

Cons:

  1. The commute. I drive about 50ish minutes, one way, at the peak of morning traffic, to make it to morning classes and clinic (which start at 9 AM). 
  2. The teachers. Oopsie. Not to be mean, but the classes just aren't taught like I'm used to. Which may/may not be my own fault, but in my opinion this is a huge con. If I'm having difficulty focusing in your class, I promise it's not because I have attention problems, just sayin'...
  3. The technology. "But wait," you say, "wouldn't that be a 'pro'?" Afraid not. Call me old fashioned, but I rather enjoy taking notes on paper. However, the lecturing style in class makes it next to impossible to keep up with pen and paper... Note the school requirement that everyone have a laptop. Everyone takes notes on their laptops. I could delve into the specific cons of having 24 laptops simultaneously tack-tack-tacking away for 5 hours, 2 days a week, but I think I'll let you use your imagination. 

I was thinking of other cons I could list, but they were all personal decisions that I made, so I can't blame that on grad school... At least not in writing, of course.

I will say this, at the end of this 18 month program, I will be ready to get my certification in a field that I've grown to love, so I suppose it can't be all bad, right? A Bachelor's and Master's degree in a total of five years.. I really can't complain.



That being said... It really takes away from time I could spend with my puppy.
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