Inspired

So Shenan posted on her blog about doing blind contour drawings in her class and they had to draw their hand without looking at what they were drawing, and they couldn't lift the pencil. I was inspired off of her pictures that she did so I tried it. I used a pen and did my left hand. Here's how it went:


I personally think I did pretty well. I'm proud of it :)


I'm also inspired to post these pictures that Shenan and I took on the way to Show Low for Christmas (teehee... love you Shenan don't hate me!!!) I didnt even remember taking these and they were on my camera!!!


This is one of my favorites:


...




And this is what I will expect from Shenan for posting these. This is why you don't ever piss her off hahaha. (Remember I love you Shenan!!! I just love this pic, I'm sorry!)

Squeeeeeeeeeeze!!!!!!!!!!!

So, lately I'm squeezing in more ways than one.

SQUEEZE #1

My pants are tight (so tight I actually have to lie on my bed to button them...), my wedding ring is tight, my shirts show rolls again... sure fire signs that I've gained a bit of weight back.

I got my surgery over 2 years ago and since then, I've lost 115 lbs. At that point I was still 25 lbs away from where the drs told me I should be at. I was only 15 away from where I wanted to be at though.

Well... I got married 5 lbs over my lowest point. I blamed that to stress of planning the wedding. At Christmas (5 whole months of being married *yay*) I was only 5 lbs over that. That was a huge accomplishment for me, because they say once you get married you gain weight because you're all relaxed and enjoying life, so I wrote off that 5 lbs. My goal was to get through the holidays without gaining more weight than that. After Christmas and my hubby and I just stayed at home enjoying eachother, I gained. A lot. Like ten pounds in the month. TEN WHOLE POUNDS!!! IN A MONTH!!! Ugh. That's disgraceful. I wasnt watching what I ate, I ate all day long without thinking about it, I didn't exercise...

Needless to say, my trainer was kinda "disappointed" (aka pissed). She's been with me for 4 years now working with me and knows how I work... I was doing so well after Thanksgiving and all of that, and Christmas came and it was like Hiroshima. I've plumped up like the Christmas pig getting ready for the slaughter. Now I'm 3 lbs away from the number I swore against seeing for the rest of my life. The 200 number.

So I'm starting the new year over, starting it right. My goal is to get all the way down to my goal weight by my birthday. MY goal, not the drs. I still think the drs are insane for saying I can get down there. But that's 35 lbs in 5 months. That's like 6 lbs a month. If I just get back to doing things right, that'll be easy.

Well, SHOULD be easy.

Nick is supporting me behind it. He never wanted me to get the surgery in the first place. Well, if he knew me back then he says he wouldnt have let me get it. But now that I got it, he doesnt want to see me put it to waste. And I agree. I got it to teach myself a new life, and to be able to teach my kids so they can be healthy too. Break the cycle of big. Nick wants to lose weight too so he said he's willing to eat whatever I eat and to start cutting back. He's funny because he knows I'd do anything for him so he asked me to lose weight for him. Not because he wants me to be skinny, but because with him as a motivation he knows I would take it more seriously. So I started on him today when he wanted snacks, telling him dinner was in a half hour (I made the rest of the porkchops that I did yesterday... yum yum yum. BTW Erica, THANKS for your recipe!!! I found one that had everything you said plus a couple more spices in it like thyme and rosemary and basil and then parmesan cheese and it was kinda spicy but Nick liked it. And you saved me from going to the grocery store haha). He didnt like having to wait, and he ate his dinner PLUS mine (I didnt eat much) and he said he felt like a pig but was still hungry. We'll work on it. It's all portion size and drinking more. He's gonna start working out with me too.

SQUEEZE #2

Gonna start this by saying sorry this is so long... but if you're still reading, I LOVE YOU!!! Haha.

So Nick and I are moving, saving money there, just bought a car, saving money there, I'm taking the light rail to school, saving money there, I'm clipping coupons, saving money there.

And yet money is still very tight. It seems certain bills keep coming out of the woodwork. Credit cards that we've paid off come back and say "OH there's a finance charge for $70 for this month even though there's no balance due on it", or "your dr appt was back in April of last year, but insurance wont cover it so you're stuck with it now".

It would help if my "job" would work me more than one day a week (or two) for 5 hours. These $50 paychecks aren't helping us much. I've been applying to places trying to find a part time office job in the afternoons... just something with steady hours where I'm not coming home at midnight and I dont have to work on Sundays.

I wanted to get out of the "waitressing" (in quotes because I dont really do that right now... just a banquet server... the menu is already chosen) but that might be the best choice right now. I've sworn off fast food, but at this point, any job is a job. We just need additional income. I need to be able to make the school payments or I'll have to drop out of the semester.

...And we all know that cant happen...



So, that's what's new. We're getting skinny. In more ways than one.

Author???

So at work Saturday I was telling some of my friends/coworkers about some of the things going on in my life, and shared some stories of back when I was in my early teens (we were working a Bat Mitzfah (i dunno how to spell it) for a ton of 13-year-olds) and they though I had some CRAZY stories.

Some of them being how I was in two "gangs" in middle school and high school in Maryland so that way I could walk home safe without getting beat up for money for them to get alcohol or drugs (*yay for Maryland*)

One about how I'm being a bridesmaid for a wedding next year... for my ex-boyfriend and his new girl. My ex being my husband's best friend... and I'm in the wedding party and my husband isnt -- as payback for my ex not being the best man in our wedding but being a groomsman (while Nick's brother was the best man) and I'm just a bridesmaid but have to pay for travel (being a destination wedding in a ship off of the California coast during sunset) and renting my dress (which is really a period costume since it's a Pirate theme and the bride is a costume designer so she'll be picking authentic fabric and such so it'll be more expensive) and maybe the wig I'll have to wear as well as jewelry and shoes and all that... which is like normal I guess for a bridesmaid. I was actually excited to JUST be a bridesmaid instead of maid of honor or the bride... too much planning. I just want to sit back and enjoy... but the maid of honor has never been a bridesmaid before so she has no idea what to plan or how... so I have to help her... and somehow find a male AND female stripper because the mom of the bride is lesbian and so is the maid of honor... it just all keeps getting better.

One about how my friend died in 6th grade out of the blue from his leukemia...

How I used to get beat up in middle school because of my frizzies in my hair...

Anyway. I was telling my coworkers all these stories as they shared as well, and one of the bartenders just laughed and said "man, you DO have a lot of good stories. You should write a book"

...

I had thought about it before. My life is like a reality TV show gone crazy. Some of the stuff that happens you can't even think up. It's a major soap opera. So I've started a couple of journals with the idea of actually turning it INTO a book. But I spend so much time trying to write all of the back story that I never write what is actually happening.

Anyway, I thought it would was interesting that someone said I should write a book. I'd like to, though some of it I dont know that I'd want to share. It's all good stories though.

Aubrey Burke -- author

eh... we'll see.

Things I've done (from Emily)

1. Started your own blog - definately have
2. Slept under the stars - at my old house I would sleep outside when it was nice out
3. Played in a band - Tuba and baritone!!! Oh, and flute... but I try to forget about that one.
4. Visited Hawaii - graduation celebration and celebration of mom beating her breast cancer
5. Watched a meteor shower - sure have
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland - for band
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch - I sketch... I paint... it's not good but it's an art
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight - lol, Nick and I have them all the time
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - guilty!!!
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping - hahaha, yay for my own private hot tub!!!
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset - both :)
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise - to Alaska!
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person - many many times!
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors - not yet
35. Seen an Amish community - yay for living out east :)
36. Taught yourself a new language - my sister and I have our own. So do Nick and I
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied - doesnt take much :)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight - gorgeous
46. Been transported in an ambulance
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Gone without food or water for 24 hours or longer
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling - it's fun :)
52. Kissed in the rain - Nick finally accomplished that for me
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China - it's amazing. Absolutely breathtaking.
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Stayed up for 24 hours with NO sleep at all
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter - in Hawaii no less :)
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy - Little foot!!!
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt - it's a comforter I made for myself with my aunt mom and grandma :)
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Changed a lightbulb
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book - someday
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Mowed the lawn
84. Had your picture in the newspaper - yay for going to China :)
85. Read the entire Bible -working on it
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - yay for fish :)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life - Shenan's once upon a time... so much for me teaching her to swim
90. Sat on a jury - I will soon lol yay for jury duty
91. Met someone famous - at work there's a lot of famous government people and football players. I've met them... dont really know them though
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee - many times in Maryland

Good and bad news in two words

We're moving.

Or is that 3 words? We're= we are = 2 words? But it's one word... oh well.

We're moving into a 2 bed, 2 bath place between Lindsay and Val Vista on University. It's a little too far into Mesa for our taste and a little too far from a freeway for Nick to be happy, and we're moving into it with my friend and her boyfriend and their two dogs.

... yeah.

So the GOOD part about it is we're saving a LOT of money a month and we can get out of the lease in 6 months if we need to and in a year we SHOULD be able to pay off every credit card but one if we stay there.

It's a means I wish we didnt have to take, but we cant afford our cute little place right now until I'm out of school. So hopefully no friendships are ruined, no marriages are strained, no financial situations are worse... but the next year will definately put all of those to the test.

We'll be moving Feb 6th. Wish us luck!!! And if anyone has extra moving boxes, I'd love you forever if we could use them!!!

It's official!!!

So, as I had said in an earlier post, Nick and I were trying to trade in two cars for a new one. We were trying to trade in his 2000 Ford F150 and his 2003 Hyundai Tiburon. They both kept breaking down and we wanted something that had good gas mileage and that we wouldnt have to keep spending money to fix up. So we decided on a 2007 Nissan 350Z (that's orange haha). We have had SO many issues trying to get it. We tried with just my credit (that's too limited), my credit with Nicks (which isnt so great at the moment), and my credit with Nick's grandma's (who also apparently doesnt have much credit).

They ended up calling us telling us to bring it back and we'll get some other car. Nick was REALLY bummed out cuz he wanted to at least race the car once. So on the way to the dealership he burned out the tires REALLY well (haha we had to air out the car the whole way there) and he took off his racing sticker when we got there. They originally told us (after waiting a half hour) that they might just need to change the number of months that we lease it for. So we get all excited. And bummed that Nick took the sticker off. He only had one. Then they come back and say that if we DONT trade in the cars, they can get me financed for the 350Z without anyone else's credit with it.

... yeah. Since we can afford 3 car payments *rolls eyes*. They have all of our info, they should know we couldnt afford that.

So they tell us the only way they can get us financed is for a much cheaper car. So Nick and I go look.



And look...




And keep looking...


It's dark and like two hours later and we're like "what the heck, what's taking them so long" so we go back and find our guy and he's like "I have a couple things to run past you" and i'm like "uh oh. I dont like that." So we sit down and brace ourselves.

He said "We've had the car over 60 days and we dont want it back..." so basically, we get the car for $4000 less that what we originally leased it for, a better interest rate, same term, and we save $120 a month on payments. Plus insurance will now be $70 cheaper a month.

We thought we had an amazing deal in the first place. We basically got all the money we owed on the trade ins (minus $1000) and we get an 07 350Z with only 8000 miles on it (and is worth $26000) for $18000.


Can anyone say AWESOME?!?!?!

Nick doesnt have another racing sticker for the club he races in, so that's a bummer, but it's official that we have the car :) So pictures to come!!!! It's a sexy little car.

We're so stoked.

I just needed to get this out

I know it's been a couple of weeks since I've posted, and a LOT has happened... I didn't take pictures so I've just kind of put off writing about it. I'll put a quick summary though to catch you up. Each one of these WOULD have been it's own entry with details and such haha, but here it is in short version:

Summary:
~ Christmas was amazing - Christmas Eve was spent in Show Low, drove up with Shenan and Nick in his truck (yay for 4-wheel drive in snow!), got lots of amazing stuff from my family. Christmas Nick and I went to his brothers house where his whole family was and we exchanged gifts and ate food and played guitar hero until after midnight.
~ All we've done for vacation is play the games we got for Christmas and watch movies we got for Christmas... pajamas are our daily outfits unless we go out
~ I'm out of work looking for a job and can't find one that works with my work schedule so I'm considering dropping out of the speed for this semester, work full-time and take night classes for sign-language until I can find a job that will let me do school in the mornings and I work afternoons. You wouldn't think it'd be that hard. Stupid economy *shakes fist*
~ Nick and I hosted a New Years Eve party where a lot of people showed up that I wasn't expecting. It was a nice surprise. Things got a little crazy later in the night though... I guess that's what happens when there is alcohol consumed though. *shrug* it's new years, what do you expect haha. People finally left around 2:30am.
~ New Years Day we went to a party at a friends house an hour away and played games until after midnight
~ On Dec 29th Nick and I traded in his truck and car for a 2007 350Z that's orange (I know, it's kinda crazy) and things were all good and fine until this last weekend when financing called me saying that my credit is amazing but limited because I havent had a loan like this taken out before and my income is too not-stable (*shakes fist at economy*) and Nick's credit has too many hiccups but good income and they could finance us if we had a joint credit but we dont (we just got married of course we dont) so they want someone ELSE on our loan for the car. There's no reason we shouldn't get financed it's just been a huge headache. We were at the dealer until after 1am just to get the car and now they're saying they might have to take it back because they assumed we'd get financed. They assumed correct, the banks are stupid. We make enough to make this, it's not much more than what we were paying for the other cars... it's my stupid LIMITED credit that wont let us get it. Ugh. Now we have to beg someone to be on our loan with us but no one in my family can do it, so I'm PRAYING Nick's grandma will sign for us. She's done it before so hopefully it'll work this time. I just dont want to have gone through all this to give back a car.
~ Looking at moving out with some couple friends into a house to make rent cheaper.

So that's that. Now on to what I needed to get at.

Shenan,
You're amazing, and you don't deserve anything that's happening to you right now. But I love you, forever and always, no matter what. And someone else will too, a boy that won't care about any of this crap. That I will promise you. You are such an insanely amazing person. Pick yourself up and start over again. It's not the end of the world :) You have so much talent, it makes me envious. You have so much goin for you. I feel so stuck where I'm at. You have dreams and plans and the ambition to get there. Go for it doll.
I love you babe.
<3