October 101 update!

Talk about progress! Here's what I accomplished this past month.

• got rid of three shirts from my closet
• donated some rice! 
• paid $2700 toward student loans
• used $4 in coupons
• read three books!

Goals completed:

• kissed in the rain (10/11/12) 

Last month, I made a list of the progress I planned to make this month. 

Goals for October:

• make an effort to catch up on rice (50K+ grains donated)
• run 1 mile
• lose another 5 lbs. (get down to 137)
• pay $1200 toward loans
• read 4 books

I didn't quite get to all of 'em, but I'm pretty happy with where I'm at. The three books I read this month landed me at 50 of my 100 read. I'm halfway done! With these two new jobs I've been working, if I can get some more tutoring hours, I will be able to quit working in crappy retail and then I'll have plenty of time to read again. I'll need to read one book every 7.96 days to complete these 100 in time! 

I'm far from my rice goal, but my computer has been ornery lately. It won't load the ads under my questions, so there aren't any ads paying for my correct answers, and then I feel bad continuing to answer more questions. So when I get a new computer, finally, there will need to be more of the 17K+ days I used to have. 

I won't lie, I don't think I ran once this month. Or, maybe I did, but it was only once. In better news, I weighed in at 137.8 this morning! I did lose more than 5 lbs, because I used an incorrect number to calculate the 137 figure, and I'm almost at that goal. 

And obviously I paid well over twice what I had hoped to on my loans. It's a good thing, since they mature on Sunday. I'm a little apprehensive about that - the huge big-girl bills finally coming due, and not having the option to pay anymore. But I must say I'm pretty proud of myself for making just shy of $5000 in payments in the last two months. 

For the month of November, I plan to: 

• read four more books 
• run one mile without stopping
• get down to 135 lbs. (don't judge! It's the holidays.)
• write Billie & Wally
• watch one old movie I've never seen
• pare my closet down by five more items. 

Thanks for cheering me on! 

xoxo

Lessons from the fair

At the fair. Baby wallaby!!!!!!!!!!! 

Kyle and I kicked off the day on Wednesday with a 6-hour photo session with the incredibly talented Ron Brewer, of Ron Brewer Images in Surprise. We then trekked back across town to the fair, where we spent the rest of the day. As we were leaving the fair, Kyle commented on how many people had taken interest in our relationship throughout the day -

• Ron, when I was taking a quick potty break, asked Kyle how long we had been together. (His response: five years.) 
• When running Kyle's credit for his new mattress, the salesperson looked at me and asked our combined household income. ("Oh, no. We don't live together.")
• An exhibitor pawning her Dead Sea Salt scrub in the Expo booth asked if we were married while she scrubbed my hands. 

He asked why, when other people were taking note of our interactions and commenting on how cute we are together, aren't we always happy. 

It didn't take me long to think of a response. We don't respond well when there's the slightest hint of conflict. But there's a little more to it, and these are the five things that came to mind. 

1. It's the little things - a good-morning text message, a surprise coffee at work, picking up flowers on your way over, or just a call to say goodnight.  Making his favorite cookies, picking up some candy corn on my way over. Sometimes the smallest actions make the biggest impact. All are small gestures that won't put you out more than a five-spot, but that convey love and affection in a way that words don't. 


2. Think before you speak. I was baring my soul the other night in a way that obviously put him a little on the defensive, but Kyle responded by calling me crazy. The last thing I want to hear when I'm emotionally vulnerable is something like that! The same goes for me. I could have re-evaluated my emotional tirade to tone it down a bit, I'm sure. 


3. Apologize often, and sincerely. Sometimes all that's needed to rectify a situation is an apology! If you hear "I'm upset because," apologize for the action that caused that emotion. It could make a world of difference.  


4. Put your partner first. You're in this for the long haul - at least that's assumed when you're in a committed relationship. Set that precedent for making them feel important. Plus, if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. And mama, if you're happy, make sure the mister knows how much you appreciate him. 


5. Always be respectful. If you wouldn't talk to your coworkers the way you talk to your partner, perhaps you should re-evaluate your behavior. Be kind. All those 1 Corinthians attributes that love should be? Be mindful of those.  

And now I'm hitting the hay because the clock just passed midnight, and I think Kyle passed on his stuffy sinuses to me by way of a sore throat. I'm going to try to keep these five things in the forefront and see what a difference it makes.

xoxo!

25 things.

I started reading a new blog tonight: Momastery. It's the story of Glennon, a beautiful mom of three, and her daily struggles with sanity. She's pretty entertaining.

Anyway. Her very first blog post was the "25 things" that was floating around facebook in 2009. (Proof that I also succumbed..) I remembered mine and thought it would be fun to do a then and now kind of thing. So here goes.


The old one:

1) I argued with Kyle's mother the other night and found out who truly is the bigger person.

2) I really need to start eating healthier.

3) Even with my eating habits, I've managed to lose over 25 lbs. since I left the sorority house. I'm really proud of myself. I'm smaller now than I was 3 out of 4 years in high school.

4) My electromagnetism class is really stressing me out.

5) I'm in love with Pandora radio.

6) I think the tv show House may have made me want to change my specialty from Oncology to Infectious Disease.

7) I was pooped on at the bus stop on Friday.

8) I should wash the silverware all at once so it's not such a pain, but I don't. I wash one utensil whenever I need it.

9) I'm so excited that I've finally started my Bioengineering stuff. I'm on my way!

10) I'm terrified of the Passion Parties expo I'm doing this weekend. I don't have a banner and I'm worried I'll look like an idiot - so unprofessional.

11) I don't miss high school, but I do miss the quality of the friendships I had. I've had a really hard time making friends here since I don't live on campus, and I'm drifting away from the friends I had.

12) My favorite food changes almost daily. It may be anything from mashed potatoes to cheese, Tequila lime turkey tenderloin to green bean casserole.

13) I'm afraid to open bags of microwave popcorn after the story of that guy who got cancer from the microwaved butter fumes.

14) I can't remember the last time I watched tv before December. My mom and sister watched the news while they were down here visiting. I didn't know we got tv signal in our apartment before that, and we've been living here since August.

15) I'm habitually late to everything, and I feel really terrible about it, but I generally don't make any effort to change.

16) I have two 7:30 AM classes. I'm not at all a morning person.

17) I'm addicted to MSOS.

18) I get a lot of bloody noses.

19) I've changed a lot in the last two years. I'm finally happy who I am as a person.

20) Several friendships and my relationship have suffered because of it.

21) I took a women's history class last semester and have changed a lot of my views on society, men, the civil rights movement... all because of that class.

22) I hate being lied to more than nearly anything in the world.

23) I wish I could make friends easier.

24) For the most part, I couldn't care less about turning 21. I don't drink, and I have no friends to go out with if I did.

25) I set my goals for myself way too high.

And now a new one.

1. After swearing off Kyle for a year and a half, he's back around. And that scares me a little. I'm especially nervous about his brother living there now, since it would be an understatement to say we don't get along. Things have been going better than they have in years, and I have a sinking feeling the other people living there are going to ruin that. 
2. I'm fat. I gained 40+ lbs. in Europe last year and have lost less than 20 of that. Ew. 
3. I dropped out of school. Or am taking at least a semester off, anyway. And my dad doesn't know. It makes me nervous that he might find out and tell me how disappointed he is in me. 
4. I am still late to almost everything. Probably the only reason I haven't been written up for it more often at work is because they can't afford to fire me. 
5. I do my dishes like a real adult now, but my house is still almost always cluttered. It's embarrassing, but when I get my one day off a week, I want to cherish it rather than clean. 
6. I have a compulsive shopping problem, and it doesn't discriminate. Groceries, lingerie, eye makeup, shoes... I over-buy all the time. 
7. I love the people I work with (for the most part), but I intensely dislike my job overall. I have a job interview later today, and I'm sitting down with someone else to go over my availability because they've already offered me work. 
8. The forum I wasted more than two years of my life on, I haven't logged into in months. I don't know that I've been on at all this year. I'm embarrassed that it used to consume so much of my time. 
9. I still hate being lied to more than anything else in the world. 
10. The longer I live in this country, the more I know I don't want to for long. I would love to make my home in Europe - preferably Austria. 
11. That deployment that I was so afraid of? It was probably the strongest part of our relationship. It was the coming home part that I should have been worried about. 
12. My newest life goal is to become a master sommelier (hopefully the youngest female master!) and be an overseas editor for one of the wine magazines. 
13. I am slowly working my way through a list of 101 goals, and though my progress may not be as quick as I'd like, I'm really proud of myself. It's a big undertaking and almost all my goals require a substantial amount of effort or planning. 
14. In less than two months, I've paid more than $3500 toward my student loans. Pretty proud of myself - especially on a retail salary. 
15. I purchased a $1000, unlimited year-membership to my favorite yoga studio back in July. I've gone less than ten times and I'm incredibly disappointed in myself, but I still don't try any harder to make it worth my money. 
16. The whole being 21 isn't a big deal thing? I get free wine from work. It took me five months to finish seven bottles. 
17. I limit my interactions with people who have juvenile or intolerant vocabularies. If you use the words "retarded" or "gay" in normal conversation, we probably aren't friends. 
18. I adore my little bird, but I don't let her out as often as I should because I hate that she shits all over everything. 
19. I am constantly multi-tasking. You'll never find me with less than five to seven tabs open on my computer. 
20. I love to read! I currently have 14 books checked out from the library. 
21. I am really jumpy - especially late at night. Sometimes I hate living alone without a scary weapon by my side. 
22. I would love to have a bed and breakfast some day. I love to cook and desperately want an amazing house! 
23. I have the horrible habit of pinning oodles of recipes onto my Pinterest food boards and never making them. 
24. I really want to chop all my hair off, but I've had long hair nearly my entire life. I'm terrified I will cut it short and then hate it. 
25. I am so glad I am constantly growing as a person. Looking back on my list from three and a half years ago, I am surprised at some answers and embarrassed by others. I hope to be able to look back on this in another three years and wonder at the changes I've made. 

There you have it! xoxo