Another week and a summer of changes

Oh man I have been lame about posting...whoops. Well, well well what can I say. I dropped ten pounds--give or take-- in 3 weeks and I wanna drop ten more before Christmas time....actually before Halloween....actually before the end of September but who's keeping track.

I'm lovin it though. I don't feel like such a blimp but my jiggly arms are my next goal now that I have dropped my rounded tummy and slimmed my thunder thighs. Oh man I cannot wait to be model thin. Its considered an accomplishment for me, when I accomplish it.

Anyway besides dropping some pounds not too much happened this week. Monday was a day and Tuesday followed right after. Both days I was very hungry and can't really remember much of what happened. I was hungry Wednesday when I came home from work and so I ate oatmeal....mmmmm oatmeal. Then I went to church. Good stuff there. I visited with a few people, which was nice because I don't get to have too many intelligent but relaxed conversations with people. Alex Kearns was baptized that night and it was really great being able
to witness that.

Oh ya this is kinda a random side note but I've been reading a few new books. One of them started out really great but I had to stop reading it because it had some bad words and stuff. It was about this old man who's a poker player and it told how to read people and how hard core poker playing is.

Anyway then Thursday rolled around and I babysat the Farnsworth kids. They're a lot of fun. Apparently some random surgery story I made up left them with stories to tell there grandparents. I don't even know what I said......uh oh. Sometimes I make up the most random and crazy stories off the top of my head...or maybe its the back, middle or random spots of my head, who knows?

Friday came and I worked at the GYN office, wahoo. It was a full week for me. A lot of phone calls and I am dreading them this week. Our Dr. is out for a couple of weeks on vacation. The phone calls will consist of "uh I can't get an appointment. This is ridiculous. You know what let me leave a message." I get so sick of the attitudes. I wonder if these people realize that they hurt feelings. I have to admit to more immunity than last year. Last year I used to get upset EVERY time someone was mad at me or hurting. Now when they give me an attitude over the phone I tend to roll my eyes and put on my false happy voice and pretend it doesn't bother me.

Well after all of that I went and spent the night at the Harts so I could babysit Lydia in the morning so her parents could go do a yard sale. She's a fun little girl. I spent the night watching Clue and crocheting. The guest bedroom was great cause they had a feather mattress. Mmmm it felt good. A whole big bed all to myself. Sometimes the bunk bed in my bedroom gets a little frustrating.

Saturday came. I babysat until 11 and then I went to Sam's soccer game. I don't usually go to them because I get really frustrated with the referees and the calls they make. But he played really well. We went and had lunch. Oh man Taco Bell tasted so good after eating oatmeal and salads all week. Sometimes a treat is necessary.

Well I went and shopped after that. Walmart I bought fixings for a pie and some veggies and fruit and yarn for the blanket I am working on. I went to JcPenney and bought 3 pairs of jeans for $13.59 It was crazy, that was a once in a lifetime deal for JcPenney. After that I bought a watermelon for a $1 from the Amish and then I went to the Flea Market. I bought this wicked awesome dress for only $20 and it is totally modest!!!!

Well I came home and jumped on the scale. I thought I must have gained a million pounds over the weekend but I found to my utter delight that I had dropped below what I was hoping to be. Then I swam and jumped on the trampoline. Jon wanted to back out and hit up the sales at JcPenney and so I took him there. I ended up buying an SD card for my phone and went home.

I did some cleaning, laundry, hair curling, nail painting. At midnight I made my pies and didn't eat anything along the way. I have been a master of temptation recently. No one would believe how disciplined I have become. This summer has been good for me. A lot of good habits created. Clean room, clean car, updated blog, lots of pictures, learning to follow driving directions, becoming independent, dieting, and exercising. Its been amazing.

Dieting

Ugh my life is a neverending diet. I don't think it will ever come to a close and I don't think it should anyway. There are upsides to dieting and exercise--I'm sure there are--but I haven't seen a lot.

Of course this could be because I am not an affective dieter. There are some kinks that I really need and am trying to work out before I go back to school. I was hoping to be a lot slimmer when I went back to school but the only thing different about me is some new muscles, new goals, slightly different perspective and a totally different diet.

Its hard. A lot of times I fall prey to the temptation of all the food around me. One of the reasons I am excited to go back to school is that I won't have to dread when my sister bakes something irresistible or when the family has an ice cream bash or theres left over food in the fridge. Nope. I am in control at school. Its me, myself and I. I won't be buying any junk food this semester. What a happy day it shall be for me.

I am excited to finally work out and lose some real weight. When I come home at Christmas no one will recognize me. I only buy oatmeal and salad fixings right now and I will when I go back to school--that will be a site to see, me eating salad everyday. I also have Crystal light and a bag of suckers for when I get extreme sugar cravings. Ugh to be skinny again. I'm just ten pounds away from it but its a hard, difficult kinda ten pounds. Its the ten pounds that just won't let go. Its the ten pounds that holds onto all the obvious places, all the places I don't want or need the fat.

But once I take it off people had better watch out. Because not only will I be skinny, like I was last year--oh if only I could go back in time--but I will be fit and muscular. I will be able to take any guy out with just one punch.....one look ;)

West Virginia

Mmmmm so I guess I am kinda making my blog a little bit of a journal spot.....thats ok, right??? So I went to WV last week--in case you can't tell from the title of this--and it was stupendous!
Of course you can't say something is stupendous until you tell how it is stupendous, sooooo let me tell you....if you want....if you don't, well....STOP READING!

We left Wednesday morning. For the first time in my life I went in my Dad's car instead of my Mom's and what a trip. Of course there was no AC but the open windows made it all the better. The ride up was pretty much good scenery and awkward phone calls. Everytime we called or received a call we had to roll the windows up and then we would sit and swelter in the heat.

Anyway we reached our destination at about 5 p.m. and spent the evening chatting & catching up with everyone. Thursday my Dad woke me up at 6:30 to make our traditional doughnut run. Mmmmmm those were amazing doughnuts. Oh and the trip we made was great too, old familiar sights.....I am finally beginning to understand the layout of Wheeling, WV. Well we hung around the house after that until we went and saw Harry Potter and then we drove back to PapPap's house and spent the evening there catching up with relatives again. It was so great to see everyone.

Friday was the reunion at Benwood Park. That was a great time. Seeing all the relatives and finally figuring out how I am related to everyone was superb. I took a lot of pictures! It was great seeing my brother Joseph, after almost 2 WHOLE years. He looked very happy :)

After the reunion a lot of the relatives came back to Pap's house and we chatted and watched old movies on the projector. Saturday was another great day. My Dad, Sam and I went to a tunnel that dates back to the 1800's and took pictures of an old brewery where my Pap used to play when he was a kid. He used to climb up the elevator shaft to get in!!!

The Lego museum and then more old projector movies ended Saturday. I really enjoyed getting to see some of the relatives who had passed away before I was born. It made it more of a reality and being able to see pictures and silent movies helped me to visualize them better.

Oh ya we also went graveyard walking on Friday night. It was a small group of us, the traditional lot. Jon, PapPap and me. I about jumped out of my skin when a deer ran by us, freaky!

Well the trip home was uneventful and now I am back in MD....whoopy.

Life keeps going on

Mmmmm what were the highlights of my past week......I made a pie, does that count for anything? Yep it was a key lime pie, I must admit that I was a little proud. Oh man I am watching the "Santa Clause" right now. You know the one with Tim Allen? Gotta love that movie. It always brings back happy memories. I feel so sorry for Scott Calvin (Santa Clause) but I love his sense of humor!

Anyway the past week was decent but nothing particularly amazing. I did a lot of babysitting and worked at the office. Today was pretty sweet. I learned how to do Labs in the computer for pap smears, urine and blood samples...not that you wanted to know that. I find it pretty cool because I have absolutely NO medical background. As a matter of fact I am one of the least medically inclined people you will ever meet. I used to get nauseated just looking at them but my stomach doesn't clench as it did before. I consider this a great accomplishment.

I am going to West Virginia in just a matter of days! My goodness its going to be great. Family, food, scenery. Oh you should see the scenery! Old building that are chalked full of memories, walks through cemetaries at night and rolling green hills that stretch as far as the eye can see. West Virgina holds A LOT of good memories for me. For years it was our main vacation and I loved it. I love being with my family. Its great spending time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I always feel special when my PapPap opens up and tells me all of these amazing stories from his past.

I've also been catching up with friends from school and getting excited to go back to school. I am also nervous. I am taking on a HEAVY load too. I am working for the school paper for at least 20 hours a week and taking 16 credits. Not only am I the assistant editor for Campus but I am also Managing editor for the Brides Guide, I am so nervous!

I've also been eating healthy. I went and bought a bunch of fruits and veggies and have them locked in my fridge, in my closet. Yes, I know, who keeps a fridge locked in their closet? Well apparently I do because we have a little problem with stealing right now.

I've also been working out and I can feel some real stomach muscles coming in! So excited because no longer will I look to men for strength but myself. I have some great leg, stomach and arm muscles coming in and soon I will be able to take anyone, anywhere, anytime!

Time

Time. You don't have enough of it, you have too much of it, you keep running from it, you keep chasing after it. The seconds tick by and you wish that it would speed up, so you can leave work to spend an evening in the arms of the man you love and wish that each second were an hour.

Time. It's what gives us life, what ages us, what eventually kills us. Our history is made of moments, days, hours, minutes, seconds. We make time, spend time, and kill time. The clock ticks and another soul passes through the veil while another passes through the womb.

Each minute is a different moment for a different person with a different life. The ticking of a bomb, the death of a loved one, the cry of an infant are all but moments, instances they're all but a matter of time.

How can we measure such a thing? How can we waste such a thing? There are only 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an our and 60 seconds in a minute. Who knows if you will even live to see the end of that day, hour, minute, second. Soak in each moment that you are given, appreciate what you had taken for granted before. Enjoy the moments while you can before that second of time becomes your last.

Before Marriage List

Before I get married I have a list of things I wanna do!

1-Stick my face in a cake
2-Drive across the country
3-Climb a mountain
4-Bungee jump
5-Sky dive
6-Stay the night in New York city
7-Sing in front of an audience
8-Lose 20 lbs
9-Publish a story in the Readers Digest
10-Go to a foreign Country
11-Go horseback riding
12-Watch the sunrise
13-Read at least 100 hundred classic books
I will think of some more and keep adding them in!