25

Everyone and their dog is doing this on facebook. My coworkers and I had a big discussion today at work about how lame this whole 25 Random Facts thing is. But secretly? I really want to do it. I'm facebook friends with the girls at work, so I had to secretly stash it on my secret blog because yeah, we have also talked repeatedly about how lame blogs are. I just smile and agree...

1. My freshman year of college, I went to Mt. Bonnell three times in two weeks with three different boys. Mt. Bonnell is a scenic overlook that is up in the hills above Lake Travis. It's very make-out-point like, even though places like that really only exist in 80's movies. I somehow managed to have three different boys take a liking to me at the same time and they all had the idea to take me to Mt. Bonnell. I kept telling each one that I had never been there before, even though some of these outings were only days apart.

2. I love cereal and eat it every morning for breakfast. I don't have it with milk though. I love it dry. I do pour it into a bowl and eat it with a spoon, even if its just plain, dry cheerios.

3. I've had my cat Gus for almost a year and a half. I never paid the pet deposit at my apartment. I used to try to hide him and not let him go near the windows, but now i don't even bother. I open the blinds halfway every morning for him to look out while I am at work.

4. I have been pulled over for speeding four times, but only gotten a ticket once. It was in a construction zone and I was going 26 over, so it hurt pretty badly.

5. I have totaled two cars. The first was in high school on my way to school, the second about three years ago, on the way home from work. But I was having to work on a Saturday, which sucked, so I always felt that I wasn't supposed to be driving in that spot at that time. Both wrecks involved me rear ending the car in front of me. Hmm. That's always your fault, right?

6. Sometimes when I am running, I start to make up dance routines to the music I am listening to on my iPod. They are always elaborate drill team competition routines from my high school days, and I always insert a lot of spins and turns into them, probably because I could never do the spins and turns very well. If I am running on a street with no cars/people, I even act out the arm movements as I imagine a flawless team of girls doing my perfect routines.

7. I also pretend that the music i listen to in my iPod is a soundtrack to my life, as if i were in a movie. I play out all kinds of scenarios, some real, some not, that fit perfectly with the song. I obviously wish i was on an MTV reality show.

8. My entire elementary school years, I wanted to be a teacher. I still have days where I wish I had been an education major and was teaching 3rd grade somewhere today. I think someday I will still be a teacher.

9. My senior year of college, I went with four friends to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It was just how you would imagine Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street to be - crowded, messy and incredibly fun.

10. The summer before I started fourth grade, I spent several weeks with my cousin in Oklahoma. She always wanted to ride bikes, but I didn't know how to ride a bike and was too embarrassed to tell her. So I always acted like I hated riding bikes. By the next summer, I had learned to ride my bike and my cousin came to stay with my family for a few weeks. We rode bikes every day and she always asked me while I suddenly liked to ride them. I never fessed up. I did however fall off my bike that summer, and break my arm in two places. It sucked.

11.My favorite movie is Love Actually. My favorite book is Atonement. My favorite band is The Fray.

12. I love, love, LOVE listening to Kidd Kraddick in the morning. It reminds me of my dad driving me to middle school at MIS and I still listen to it as I get ready and drive to work every morning. I feel like they are my friends.

13. I once won a cell phone on the radio by calling in with the list of the five top songs of the day. I called before they had even played all the songs, just to make sure I had the number right. The DJ himself answered and when I told him I was calling early to test the number, he told me he would let me win. So I stayed on the line with him while he finished playing all the songs and then started the contest. Caller number 10 or something was supposed to win, but he totally cheated and just pretended that I had called in at the correct time. He was very sleazy and was making jokes with me that I was too young to understand. I never used the cell phone because my parents wouldn't commit to the two year contact to activate it.

14. My boyfriend pretends that Carrie Underwood is his ex-girlfriend, so I pretend that Justin TImberlake is my future BF.

15. I hate voicemails and avoid checking them until I absolutely have to. This means I usually have to go through three or four two week old voicemails to hear one when I finally need to check it. This same rule applies to work. I despise coming in in the morning and seeing my voicemail light blinking. Please, just email me instead.

16. At the end of college, my friends and I had rituals that involved eating terribly. Every Sunday night, we went to Chili's and ordered chips and salsa and the fried chicken strips. Tuesdays was McDonalds happy meals, sometimes even the two cheeseburger meal. With fries. Thursdays we went to Taco Cabana and ate tortillas and burritos and tacos. Fridays was happy hours at the Merc. It should be no surprise that I gained the freshman 15 during my senior year.

17. When I graduated UT, I literally left Austin after the ceremony to go start my job in Dallas. I drove with my mom, while my Dad and siblings pulled the U-haul home. I cried until at least Temple, at which time my mom told me to get over it and shut up. No part of me wanted to leave my life in Austin as a student living with all my best friends and having zero responsibility other than going to class and passing the tests.

18. Once I got back to Dallas and started working, it amazed me how much easier working full time was, compared with being in school. My job was demanding and I often worked late hours, but once I left work I didn't have to think about it until the next day. I didn't know what to do with myself in the evenings, since I didn't have to read, write papers or study. It was a weird feeling.

19. Now, I would love to go back to school. I miss sitting in class, taking notes, learning new things. I hate to see shows on TV with college kids in it because I am immediately so envious of them. It's not so much the lifestyle I miss anymore, but the actual being in school and getting to read and learn about so many new things. Yes, I am a bit of a dork.

20. I am really good at being a bridesmaid.

21. I do not like cheese. I will eat foods with cheese in them, as long as it is not one of the main ingredients. For example, I do not like and you couldn't pay me to eat macaroni and cheese, cheeseburgers, string cheese, anything with alfredo sauce or cheese enchiladas. Queso is the absolute worse offender. Yuck.

22. I had an internship at the Make a Wish Foundation in college. Among other things, I was trained as a wish grantor and assigned a kid whose wish I got to help grant. He was a high school student who had overcome a brain tumor and wished for a vintage Les Paul guitar. I know nothing about guitars, but we did get him what I later found out was a pretty amazing guitar. Autographed no less.

23. It is incredibly hard to think of 25 interesting facts about myself. Have I mentioned that I have an incredible boyfriend?

24. I won third place in the 2nd grade spelling bee. The word that I got out on was avenue. I also won 1st place in the Geography Bee in 4th grade. I beat a 5th grade boy in the tie breaker round and had to skip recess to take a test one day to try and make the regional round. I was so mad about missing recess that I raced through the test without even really trying. I remember my teacher asking me if I was sure I didn't want to look back over my answers before I turned it in and I just wanted to get outside and play with my friends. I never made it to the regionals.

25. In grade school, I read almost every Baby Sitter's Club book, in order. I say almost because they were writing them faster than I could keep up and I ended up losing interest around book number 82. I still have all of them, in big plastic tubs in my parents' attic.

Whew. Your turn.

Where'd she go?

I’m back. My brief hiatus is solely because I have been so busy lately. I met some friends for happy hour yesterday and we had this very conversation. One is a student in her last year of law school. One just started her own PR business. One is a PT and recently bought her first house with her husband way up north. We pondered over how we manage to always be so busy that even getting a date on the calendar for us to all get together is nearly impossible. Two other girls couldn’t make it at all and we’ve been planning this date since Christmas! I don’t work dreadful long hours, yet there are never enough hours in the day, week, or month. But, I’d always rather be busy than bored.

Anyways. One of the main things I was doing all last week was prepping for the Super Bowl Party at Mark’s. I always knew it would take actually inviting people over to really get the ball moving on decorating the house. We painted, cleaned, shopped, changed out his ancient framed photos, hung something over the mantle, rearranged, laid some stones in the backyard, bathed the dogs, bathed the cat (!), baked galore, grilled burgers, made dips with chips and dips with veggies, scrubbed the bathrooms and washed the windows (inside AND out). Just before people started arriving for the game, we stood back and admired out work. The house looked great.

The party was also a lot of fun. We had a good group of people come over and two of them even brought their dogs. I watched more of the four dogs chasing each other around the house and yard than I did most of the first half of the game! They all got along so well and it was hilarious to watch them play together. Everyone brought delicious food and we ate and ate and ate. In fact, we’re still eating the leftovers. Leftover burgers, leftover cookies, leftover cupcakes, leftover veggies, leftover chips and dip, leftover beer. No complaints, other than the extreme unhealthiness of most all of it. I ordered Mark to eat all the cookies before I returned to his house later this week. I think he’s taking my command pretty seriously, since he told me he had seven cookies with lunch yesterday!

In the middle of all the prepping for our gathering, I of course went to buy the iPhone. I won’t dwell on it. I know it is extremely annoying when people talk about their phones all the time. Play on their phones all the time. Email on their phones all the time. Text on their phones all the time. Use the facebook application to check photo updates on their phones all the time. Respond to every ring or ding or beep on their phones when you are trying to have dinner or drinks or a conversation. And I am not becoming one of those people. But I am AMAZED with this phone. It’s been about four days and, as my friend at happy hour so eloquently put it last evening, the iPhone will change your life. And it is. Another friend told me that it’s as addictive as crack, which I am also finding to be true.

So yeah, we took a quick break Sunday morning to dash over to the mall and buy the phone. Then I tucked it away for the rest of the day and didn’t really bring it out until mid-football game, and then everyone got theirs out and we downloaded applications for a full hour. At least. Ahh. OK. That is the end of iPhone talk on this blog.

This week is slow at work and I'm finding it hard to start and stick to one project long enough to actually complete anything. My apartment is a mess and I need to do laundry, as well as hit up the treadmill. Super Bowl Sunday took a toll on the trip to the scale this week, so I'm hoping for a better try next Monday. I am looking forward to going to the cycling class tonight because it's been two weeks since I've had the time to go! I'll end with some photos from this weekend and a promise to be better on keeping things updated. Happy Hump Day to all.

Well, the photo went in on the top and I don't feel like taking the time to move itdown. You can see our nice new green wall in the picture, which was during the 3D commercial at the Super Bowl.

Notta.

Well, in the week since I last posted, I fell off the wagon (slightly). I was so good last week that I think I felt a little invinceable. I didn't go to either of my spin classes last week. Didn't take the dogs for an hour long walk with Mark. Hardly did my pushups. Did, however, manage to eat at Chick-fil-a, On the Border, Friday's and Cracker Barrel. Four restaurants in four days. AHH.

On a side note, I don't know where I've been but this was my FIRST TIME EVER to eat at Cracker Barrel. I always thought it was like Luby's. I was oh so wrong. It was amazing. I could shop while we waited for our table and then the menu - I couldn't decide! Everything sounded delicious. I was trying to be good, so I got grilled chicken with green beans and pinto beans.... and mashed potatos and cornbread, but whatev.

Anyways. It was my sister's birthday weekend and she picked the restaurants and I blame it entirely on her that I ate our four times in four days. Plus, we had cupcakes, cheesecake AND ice cream for her birthday party. And my mom always has these little dishes of candy sitting out everywhere. Oh and -- Kelly gave me a box of girl scout cookies. Everyone was against me!

So this morning I got up for my Monday Morning Weigh In and cringed as I stepped onto the scale. The number was the exact same as last week, right down to the tenth of a pound. Was I bummed that I didn't lose even a tenth this week? Yes. Was I relieved that I didn't go backwards and gain back the glory of week one? Yes. Am I back on the horse today? Eh. Yeah. I ate some mini Hershey's bars at work today, but just had a bowl of raisin bran (yuck, don't ever buy it) for dinner. Tomorrow, it's all serious. But, it is my sister's real birthday tomorrow so I took the afternoon off to play with her and my mom around town. We're grabbing lunch somewhere and then SHOPPING. Unless this ice storm really comes in. In which case, they won't drive down but I will still take the afternoon off. Yay short days at work!

Besides eating like crap all weekend, we also painted Mark's dinning room, saw Bride Wars, caught up on Biggest Loser, watched the Duggar wedding (uh. train wreck! It was so awkward to watch) and brainstormed puppy names. My parents are getting two border collie puppies! I am really excited to meet them. I've always loved border collies. They are so smart and clever. They are only two weeks old right now, so they won't be getting them for a while still.

Alrighty. TIme for the Bachelor! Jason, you suck at picking potential wives.

Biggest Loser: Solo Edition

Well today was my first weekly weigh in. I stepped on the scale right after I got out of bed (well, I went to the bathroom first. Every little bit helps!) and shut my eyes, afraid to look. I just knew it was going to be the same. Or worse, go up. I feel like I did good this week, eating carefully and thinking about portions, but I just didn't think it was actually going to work. I squinted open one eye and looked at the number. I lost one pound!

I am elated. Seeing this tiny bit of results has boost my motivation back up. So i poured my one cup of cereal into a bowl and cut up an apple to start week two. Then I got back in bed because hey, it's MLK Day and I'm off work!

Two hours later, I'm back up and getting ready to start some laundry. I need to run some errands today as well. Nothing exciting. I need some Drain-o because my shower isn't draining well and I want to get a workout in before this evening. It's just nice to have the extra day to do the things I never got to this weekend. What I really want to do is go to the Galleria and shop. But no. I am holding out. Besides, I'm down to just under two weeks before I get to buy the iPhone. So I really need to save my pennies for the big day.

This weekend my friends Stephanie and Mark were in town from California. We got together with them Friday and Saturday night, and even hit up the Loon. I can't remember the last time I was there, but it didn't take me long to remember how strong its drinks are and how very smokey the air is. While we were sipping on straight rum and coughing through all the second hand smoke, we all decided that Mark will have a Super Bowl party for the game in two weeks. I sent the Evite out last night, before he could change his mind! I'm really excited. We've been dating for over two years and NO ONE has been to his house yet. Plus, Super Bowl Sunday is also iPhone Day! The countdown is on.

Cat Naps

Today is the coldest day of the year, as is true for most all of the country right now. Gus is opting to sleep the cold days away, but he does follow me around from room to room, curling up next to me for a snooze. He's such a cute little guy.

Growl... says my tummy

This New Year's resolution is leaving me very hungry. I am trying to be more conscious of what I eat all day and avoid the always-dooming mindless snacking. I "practiced" over the weekend and started my for-real-eating-better on Monday. I've done pretty good so far. When we had Blue Mesa brought in for lunch at work on Monday, I partook in the sweet potato chips, but then I had a can of fat free soup for dinner. Last night, I made a salad and loaded on the veggies, and then went to the Mavs game and resisted the jumbo pretzels that were calling my name. Today I ate my lean cuisine and pear for lunch, but didn't go grab a bag of Cheez-Its from the snack drawer in our office. But now that I'm back at my desk, all I can think of is those Cheez-Its. And how very hungry I still am. I'm doing this Biggest Loser style, with a weekly weigh in on Monday mornings. I just want to see some sort of decline. A half pound. Anything. Sure it will probably be all water, but if that number is lower come Monday morning than it was this week, I think I can stay motivated to try it for seven more days.

Exchanges

My sister got me a sweater for Christmas. It's silver and very cute. But, I already have one that is virtually identical to it, so today I took it back to JCP to exchange it for something else. I went to Valley View --- THE most ghetto mall in Dallas, but where else is there a JCP? -- and couldn't really find any clothing that I wanted. So i wandered into the Home section and got... a new digital scale. woo! as in to weigh myself. so exciting! I'm hoping it will make me motivated to lose weight and watch the numbers fall. Am I crazy? Probably.