Resolution Recap

So, I'm looking at my blog and see that I haven't blogged in such a long time!   There are some very significant reasons why I haven't.  Since my last blog, life has gotten really crazy.  One particular opportunity presented itself in July...Ryan and I almost bought a house.  Almost is the key word.  Needless to say, due to some deed issues, we didn't actually buy the house.  Looking back on that moment, it was probably a good thing that it feel through considering what would happen within the following months.  Long story short...financial problems occurred on top of all the stress from work and school.  One thing kept happening after another, including our washing machine going kaput!  It has been a very tough semester.  Anyway, I wanted to at least do a recap of my resolutions from the year so I can prepare for the upcoming year.

 New Year's Resolutions 2012

1) Go camping! Guess what...I've been camping twice in the past year!  No, I did not go camping at a campsite. Ryan and I went tent camping in the middle of the National Forest (somewhere between Unicoi and Jonesborough).  The first time was just the two of us, I believe in August.  It was a very enjoyable trip, even though it got really cold at night!  I proved that I could build a decent tent (without directions).  The second time we went, it was for Ryan's birthday.  We got to use our new, huge tent for that occasion.  That was a lot of fun too, despite seeing a black bear on the way to the campsite.  Anyway, I can definitely cross that off my bucket list!  I look forward to going camping when it starts to get warmer.  :)

2) Bake more.  Well..this definitely happened!  Justin and I were able to bake quite a bit over the past year.  We have done at least 3 paid gigs, participated in Battle of the Batter (fundraiser for the American Cancer Society), and have baked just for fun or small occasions several times.  I think we have gotten better at our baking.  I've gotten a little bit better at the decorating (Justin's still the best at it!).  Let me see...my favorite that we've done...probably our Peanut Butter Gone Bananas cupcake.  It was a chocolate cupcake, filled with Mom's banana pudding, topped with a peanut butter icing.  It was delish!  I can't wait for the upcoming year!  Don't forget to like JSquared Bakery Facebook Page!

3) Be more romantic.  Hmmm.  I'm not sure how to rate whether or not this resolution was successful.  Probably need to ask Ryan.  What I can say is that Ryan and I have gone through a lot over the past year.  Most don't know what I'm talking about because we keep our relationship pretty private (I mean who wants to hear about relationship ups and downs from a couple who have been together for almost a decade...no one!).  Anyway, I can say that we have grown closer to each other through this past six months going through all of the downs.  I may not have been more romantic, but definitely more honest and appreciative.  I've tried to be a better girlfriend, and I think that I might have been at least a little bit successful at that.

4)  Pretend to be the paparazzi.  Yes, this one is an epic fail.  Lol.  If anything, I'm Butch's paparazzi. 

5) Have a sit-down dinner party.  I give myself a half a point for this one.  I have hosted a few potlucks at the house for the Phi Sigma Pi Southern Appalachian Alumni Chapter.  :)  We have also had several people over for dinner (but we ate in the living room).  Our place is still too small to actually have a dinner party.

6) Don't just like it, do it! So I now have a Pinterest.  I don't really get on Stumbleupon too much anymore.  (I guess I could turn my Stumbleupon pages into Pins...hmmm...the possibilities)  Anyway, I have done quite a few things off of Pinterest.  See my Success Pinterest Board for all of the things I've done so far! 

7) Be more musical.  I'm still the singing superstar...in my car.  ;)  No points for this resolution.

8) Read a book or two or more.  I'm going to give myself half a point for this resolution.  I did end up reading Onward by Howard Schultz; however, I ended up using it as a reference for a class.  Now, I've been given the opportunity to read several books.  One of my classes next semester is an independent study course for my leadership requirements.  I have to read six books and write a ten page paper on each book.  My goal is to get through at least half of them before school starts so really I only will have one class that I need to focus on in the spring.

9) Share more about me.  I think I was fairly successful in this resolution.  Maybe not on my blog...but definitely in person.  I have shared a lot about my thoughts, feelings, and life to those around me.  Hopefully you guys have gotten to know me a little bit better. 

10) Blog at least once a week.  I think I did well the first few months, but like most resolutions, they tend to disappear after the first few months into the year.  This is definitely one of them.  I'm not even going to get a tiny portion of a point to myself on this one.

Drum roll please...6 points out of 10.  Not too shabby I don't think.  I did do most of the fun items on my resolution list (see, Christie!).  Now to ponder the resolutions for next year...Any thoughts?

New inSIGHT on life

I was in the third grade when I received my first "F" in school.  I didn't just fail the assignment, but I got a 0.  Now most people wouldn't actually be publicizing that their first "F" was received so early in their academic career, but for me this grade had a whole new meaning for me...a huge change in my life.

When I received the grade and after I wiped away most of my tears, I approached Mrs. Condra, my third grade teacher.  I remember asking her why I had received the F and if I was going to fail the third grade.  She was very kind and assured me that I wasn't going to fail completely. She told me that this was unusual for me to receive such a grade, but she had to give me a 0 because I didn't even turn in the assignment!  She also mentioned that there were a couple of other assignments that I hadn't turned in and that I would receive 0's on those as well.  Quickly, still holding back the tears, said, "What assignments? You haven't given any homework lately."  There was the answer.  Written in the homework section of the dry-erase board (high-tech for that time) were a list of homework problems that I did not see.  It wasn't that I was ignoring them.  I literally could not see them!  That was first day that I knew that my life would change.  (Side note:  She ended up letting me do all of the assignments and turn them in late for a slightly lower grade, an A-.)

Taken from Norman Binkley yearbook

The idea that I got to wear glasses was so exciting to me!  This meant that I would get to look smarter and have something in common with my 3rd grade crush (who is actually in the picture above, but he's not wearing his glasses because his vision was not that bad).  By the time I reached middle school, I realized that the glasses had to go if I wanted to fit in and participate in some extracurricular activities like cheerleading and track, so I got contacts during the summer after 5th grade.

Contacts (and glasses at night) weren't really an issue for me.  I was lucky that the contacts I had didn't really bother my eyes.  However, there were things that most people do not realize that I have experienced.  I have never woken up in the middle of the night or in the morning and been able to see my alarm clock.  I have always be self-conscious of swimming in fear that I'll lose a contact.  I literally cannot see any details of an object without it being at least two inches from my face.  I have never seen Ryan's blue eyes with my own true vision.  I have often poked myself in the eye while applying mascara, but it never really hurt my eye since I had my contact protecting it.  Since being in college, I have been worried that I would not be able to react properly in case of an emergency or during an intrusion because I could not see.  I've tripped over Butch several times because I literally did not see him.  These are just a few minor things that I've lived with for over a decade.  Many people don't realize what it is like to not be able to see, but honestly, it never bothered me.  I was just happy that I was able to correct my vision problems with glasses or contacts.  So, I wore contacts up until January of 2012. 

The last formal picture of me that I had with my glasses.

For the past four (almost five) months, you may have noticed that I've been wearing my glasses.  Most people, especially at work, think that I just got glasses.  However, I've worn them because my loving parents gave me the opportunity to get lasik surgery for my 24th birthday present.

Thursday afternoon, I received the surgery.  It was kind of funny because I was the only one in the waiting room who seemed excited.  There were about ten people in the back waiting room about to have LASIK or PRK (another type of procedure similar to LASIK) done.  Most of them were asking questions about this, that, and the other or anxiously tapping their feet.  I was just smiling and happily watching Shrek on the television, sitting in a comfortable chair decked out in my blue hair cover and booties. The nurse brought me back to a white room with the large laser machines.  At this time I wasn't wearing my glasses, so I can't really describe anything about the room or even how many people were there.  I laid back and Dr. Loden swiveled the table around under the first laser and put a section cup (I don't know what the official term is for it) on my right eye.  He held my head steady as the laser turned on.  My vision turned a little dark brown, but I could still see the light ahead.  He took the suction cup off and repeated the procedure again on the left eye.  That time, my vision went black temporarily.  Surprisingly, I wasn't scared or nervous when it happened.  I guess I was just still too excited.  Dr. Loden then swiveled the table around to the other side of the laser.  Right eye first again. He put what felt to be a metal device to hold my eyelids open.  I could see his tools gently move the flap of my cornea off to the side.  The machine then made several "dit dit dits".  During that time I could still see my focus light.  After the machine made it's last "dit", Dr. Loden carefully placed the flap back over my reshaped cornea and let it dry into place.  I would then see that the red focus light didn't really have such a large diameter as I originally saw it, but it was more the size of a pinhole.  The procedure was repeated on my left eye, just as quick.  After 14 minutes, Dr. Loden said I did great and that the surgery went perfectly.  The nurse assisted me up off the table.

When she started to escort me out of the laser room I stopped her.  She paused with the expression that I was about to ask her a question.  I smiled and pointed up to the clock above the door and said, "Does that say quarter til five?"  She grinned and politely said, "Yes, it does."  I laughed and said, "Good, because I didn't even know there was a clock there when I walked in.   Now, I can see it...and I can see you too!"  She laughed and said, "It's great isn't it!  Now let's get you back to resting those eyes a little bit before we send you home."  Once back in the waiting room, I had to sit with my eyes closed, which was the hardest part all day since I knew I could see.  When I opened my eyes, Dr. Loden came by to check to see if the flaps had remained in place.  Once I was cleared to go home, AJ, one of the employees, explained all of my do's and don'ts and called Ryan to see if he was close to the office to take me home.  Since I had still a few minutes, I began watching the Addams family movie on the television (Shrek was over by then).  I was just smiling.  AJ got my attention as said, "Ya wanna see something better?"  I said, "Sure!"  He went to the side and put the captions on the television. I smiled, "I can read it!" as a few tears streamed down my face.  Shortly I was escorted out to meet Ryan and I got to look into his blue eyes with my own eyes for the first time.

It's hard to describe the emotions and feelings behind being able to see, especially to someone who has never had problems seeing.  Yes, I was able to see with the assistance of glasses and contacts.  But it's completely different when you are able to see things with your own eyes without contacts or glasses.  The past couple of days have been awesome, even though we haven't done any special activities over the weekend.  I caught myself on Friday just staring at my sister during lunch.  I've never been able to see my grown-up sister with my own eyes before.  So, just be aware that if you catch me staring at you within the next few weeks, it's probably not because you have something in your teeth or on your face.  I'm just seeing you for the first time.  Another exciting thing is that all of the lights and even bright colors have halos around them.  I laughed yesterday while Christie and I were shopping because I saw a guy with a bright purple shirt with neon green letters that said "Legit" with the Nike swoosh underneath it.  I giggled and pointed it out to Christie.  She said, "Yea.  His shirt says 'Legit'.  Couldn't they have come up with..."  I said, "No.  The words are glowing, like in Ironman!".  So, again, bare with me if you see me fascinated with small, glowing objects.

All I can do is be thankful, especially to Mom and Dad for giving me the opportunity to really be able to see again.  Everything is a little bit brighter and a little more beautiful now that I can see it with my own two eyes.    :)  Time for eye drops.  Post again later.    

Vunerability

Ok.  So.  I'm going to write a blog post that's really putting me in a vulnerable spot.  Maybe it doesn't seem that way to anyone else, but it is to me because I haven't particularly talked about it publicly.  I have only expressed how I feel to very close people to me. 

Looking through the spring break pictures, frankly any pictures of me recently, are hard to look at.  I hate what I see.  Also, it's incredibly hard to know that others around me are so happy with the way they look, no matter what shape or size.  I commend them, but secretly I'm highly jealous.  Jealous that they are pretty.  Jealous that they are thin.  Jealous that they are just happy with the way they are.  It's not so simple for me. 

The point of this post...to get it out in the open...to have  a little accountability when I say that I'm done with feeling the way I do and I'm going to change.  It's going to be hard...I mean it has taken countless failed attempts already just in the past year.  So, if you're reading this, hold me accountable. Give me some tough love, even though a couple are already great at doing that.  Give me some encouragement.  Just be there.

This is me just a week ago.  I hate it.  I'm the heaviest I've ever weighed (well kinda, I did lose a pound this week but I blame illness); however, I'm the healthiest and most active I've ever been.

This is the last time I remember being truly happy with my body image.  Granted the night this picture was taken landed me in the clinic and on phenergam for the next three days because I didn't stick to my diet (practically starving myself by eating nothing that has carbs or fat), but this is when I felt comfortable in my own skin.  Happy to take pictures with anyone.  Happy to face the camera straight on and not at a side angle at an attempt to make myself look smaller.  I want this again...

But, I want this and still be able not to hate meal time!  I want to look and feel like this without having to beat myself up over a small chocolate craving.  I want to bake and cook and eat healthier and look like this.  Is it possible?  Am I just deluded into thinking that people can eat like a normal person by not cutting an entire food group (say carbs) and be able to look like this?  Okay, now I'm rambling.  I'm just frustrated.

I'm not asking to be the size of a super model or even the size of my beautiful sister...I just want to be happy...Oh well...I guess we'll see... 

Here we are again...

Here we are again...Thursday and no post!  Honestly, I just haven't been that busy, well anything interesting busy, lately.  I am super excited about this upcoming week though.  Mom, Dad, Christie, and I are going on a cruise!! :) (In other words, don't look for a post next week because I won't have internet access.)  I'm super excited.  I'm not sure what to expect because we are going somewhere we haven't been before.  I'm sure I will blog about it the following week. 

Short post today..but I do want to add that I want everyone to keep Ryan in your thoughts and prayers in the upcoming week.  He decided to forgo Spring Break this semester so he can get some serious research and work done on his thesis.  He is working on something fairly complicated (I won't even try to explain any details), but he hopes to accomplish this task by the time I get home from the cruise.  :) 

Happy Spring Break!

Too fast!

I can't believe that it is already been over a week since my last post!  The sad thing is that I don't really have much to talk about now, but I need to blog this week.  I guess I can give an update on how life is going right now.

This past week, much of my life have been dedicated to Phi Sigma Pi.  Last Saturday, another Brother and I held a seminar on how to be a good big brother.  Monday was Theta class' first initiate meeting and of course last night was the Chapter meeting.  All throughout this week I've been working on some of the logistics of starting an alumni chapter here in Johnson City.  Hopefully some news will come soon about good progress.

As far as school goes, it's been kinda slow.  I am ahead in one of my classes and right where I should be in the other two.  I know this is just the calm before the storm though.  I do have good news.  I get to tie in one of my resolutions and one of my class assignments.  Ya know that book I was planning on reading about Starbucks?  Well, I get to read it for class for some background information.  What's a better source than a book written by the former CEO and founder of the company!  Anyway, enough about classes.

Work is work. It hasn't been too busy or too slow lately.  I just finished a training session of the new web content management system for the university.  I'm kinda excited about it.  Yea, I know, I'm an ETSU pride nerd.  :)  Along with that, I'm debating on creating a Facebook page for the department.  Well, not actually debating, just thinking about what to put on there.  With registration coming up, I think this would be the perfect time for it.  Who knows?  If you have any ideas on what I should do, leave a comment for me.

Life outside of school, work and Phi Sigma Pi...it's been busy.  Ryan and I are planning on doing our "spring cleaning" this weekend.  Lately, we've done a lot of talking about food now that we are both doing this nutrition plan.  We will see how that works out.  Did you get to read my last post?  Well, if you haven't, pause and go read it real quick.  It's important in regards to this next update.  The last post was about a house that Ryan and I looked at that was a lease-purchase.  Little did we know that the idea of actually doing it might have to be a reality.  Basically, our neighbors are inconsiderate jerks.  Unfortunately I'm not sure what the next step is.  I told our landlord that it is either they are evicted or Ryan and I leave.  I didn't think that it would be the latter, but I haven't heard anything from the landlord yet and he's not answering emails or phone calls.  :/  What to do, what to do?!  Just keep us in your prayers about this issue because I'm not sure how everything is going to pan out in the next week. 

I guess that's all for now.  I do have to do a couple of shout outs to people with big news from this week.  Congratulations to Danielle for getting the job!  Congratulations to Justin for getting into President's Pride and being elected as treasurer for the Initiate class!  :)

Too far ahead

One lesson that I don't think I have fully learned yet is when I need to realize that I'm too far ahead of myself.  Often times, okay most of the time, I jump the gun and make decisions or do things without fully thinking things through.  The odd thing is that I typically only do this in my personal life.  I'm pretty methodical about making decisions/plans-of-actions when it comes to work.  There's a lot more thinking involved.  However, in my personal life, forget it.  Most of the time I act without fully thinking about it.  Maybe it's because it's not really my job on the line. 

All I have to say is thank God for parents and thank God for Ryan!  Those three really put things in perspective for me.  I guess I've always been stubborn and insisted on learning things the hard way, whether it be burning my finger on the stove (I have a tiny scar on my thumb from when I was a baby), learning that secrets don't make friends in middle school (this remark means more to my mom and sister), or getting a 4-year degree in a subject that probably won't have a huge impact on my future now.  At least with my parents and Ryan, I haven't done anything incredibly stupid or irrational.  They keep me in check and grounded.

So, why am I writing this post?  Well...you now know a little bit more about me.  And to thank my parents and Ryan.  So, if you hear me talking about some crazy idea or some unrealistic plan for a 23-year-old, tell me to really think about it.  Or ask me questions that I should have answers to.  It'll save me some worrying/headaches/heartaches.  I'll try to do the same for everyone else too! 

When I was a kid...

I didn't have Facebook.  Facebook wasn't introduced until I was in high school and even then, you had to have a college email address to sign up for it.  When I was in middle and high school, MySpace was the big social networking site.  Even then, my Myspace was so boring that I hardly ever updated it.  All I can say is thank God that when I went through my little, rebellion stage of my life (8th grade might I add) I didn't have access to anything like Facebook.  Watch below.  Please be aware that there is cursing in this video, so if you are sensitive to it you might not want to watch it.

Now, I'm not going to pretend that I didn't talk bad about my parents when I was going through that stage of my life (sorry, Mom and Dad), but at least I didn't do it where hundreds/thousands/millions of people could see it!  And...I remember one time (and she may remember others lol) I talked back to my mom, but I never talked back to them the way this girl made it sound!  Even when I was mad at my parents, I still said, "Yes/No, ma'am/sir".  It was expected of me.  Now, as I grow up (wow this goes back to my last post) I have realized that parenting has changed a lot.  You can tell by the way high schoolers and new college students act.  Let me tell you, I would never get away with half of the stuff they get away with today, even if I tried as a grown adult!  I don't know; I guess the world is just getting crazier. 

I wanted this for four reasons.  First to say kudos to this father!  Second to thank my parents for raising me right!  Third, as my age group has begun to get married and have babies, I feel like videos like this should be preparation as to what's to come.  Let's remember how we were raised so things don't come to the way it is shown in the video.  Lastly, I wanted to post this for my future daughter and/or son.  Please someone out there show this video to them.  Let it be known that if they want to act crazy like this girl did, they are going to receive the same punishment.  The only difference: it'll be both Ryan and I shooting that laptop with a full box of ammo each! ;)

Happy Friday, everyone!

Too old

Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong decade. I mean I'm only 23 and I feel like sometimes I act or even have responsibilities of a 30 something year old.

Why did this feeling come up all of a sudden? Well it's a lot of things. For example, sitting in a meeting as an alumna and just watching others moving forward with an organization is just weird. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that I'm needed as a sounding board, but it's just weird. Also, escorting a student to the clinic because of a small chemical burn makes me feel like a mom. I mean, I am only a few years older than the student!

I don't know. Maybe it's also because people call me miss before my name, especially the graduate students in the office call me Miss Jillian and a lot of them are older than me. It's just weird.

I guess this is just a feeling that I will have to live with and forget trying to fight it. It's not going to change any time soon or as I get older. Just a thought.

No Flu

I thought this was cute and thought I should share.


Via: TakePart.com/Contagion

Craft Project

Hello, world!

I have completed a craft project in the spirit of Valentine's Day!  

This goes along with one of my resolutions: Don't just like it, do it!  I found this online and thought it was really pretty.  I currently have it in my office to 1) bring in some more artwork in my life 2) bring a different kind of light other than the fluorescent lighting above.  Anyway, it was a fairly simple project, but I think it looks awesome.

With a suggestion from my mother, I will take orders for a reproduction of this piece for a small price.  In addition, all of the proceeds from a sale of a piece similar will go to the Mission of Hope.  Please comment or email me if you would some more information about getting one!  

Valentine's Day: Love or Hate?

Note:  I am cheating this week, simply because I'm too tired.  lol.  Anyway, I wrote this post about two years ago and I think it is relevant for today with Valentine's Day coming up.  Please keep in mind that this is a re-post so not all of the events detailed are from my current life.  :)

Some of you may be confused by my title since most of the time when people see or hear the words "Valentine's Day" they often associate it with love, not hate.  I have come to see this slowly progressing to Valentine's Day as something regarded as hate.

Last Friday, one of my classmates was wearing a shirt saying "I'm so over Valentine's Day".  She said that she got the t-shirt at Target for $4 and she believes it's true.  My professor took a quick poll.  About 25% of people admitted to "being over Valentine's Day", the rest admitted to being indifferent to the holiday, and then there's me, who did not raise my hand at all.  I LOVE Valentine's Day!  I love every bit of it.  I am actually excited to work the weekend of Valentine's Day at the hotel because I get to help set up all that romantic stuff and see couples together.  Ryan and I are having a small, quiet Valentine's Day, but I will eat up every minute of it.  I send cards to family for Valentine's Day.  I will probably get my Littles something for Valentine's Day.  I almost bought cheesy Valentine's card that you give out in elementary school to all of my Preview students and co-workers (I still might!).  If I could get everyone a little note for the holiday I would.

Most people assume that I like Valentine's Day because I've been in a relationship for almost 7 years and that we are happy and very much in love.  This is not the case because I have always loved Valentine's Day.  Many people say that those who love/enjoy Valentine's Day are "disillusioned" by the Hallmark created holiday and that there shouldn't be just one day to say "I love you" or celebrate love.  Many people now regard Valentine's Day as "Single Awareness Day (SAD)" because they believe that the holiday is only meant for couples.

These three statements make me very sad.  First couple statements: Jillian, you only love Valentine's Day because you are in a relationship.  Valentine's Day is only for couples and should be renames "Single Awareness Day".  False!  Ever since I was little, my parents, my sister and I would always do something special on Valentine's Day.  Every one got cards for one another.  Chocolates and flowers were always exchanged and there was always a special dinner involved.  I distinctly remember one year that Mom and Dad gave my sister and I each a ruby ring in honor of Valentine's Day.  This day wasn't about love between two people in a relationship (husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, etc.).  This day was a celebration of love between family members for my family.  This Valentine's Day, even though I won't be at home to celebrate, we will exchange cards and maybe even flowers, but it will still be a special day to remember our love for one another as family.  For me, it also extends to my friends.  Many of my friends are considered family to me.  I also have another family of which it is completely acceptable to call each other Brother.  These special bonds, for me, are also remembered especially during this holiday.

Second statement: We shouldn't have just one day to celebrate love or say "I love you".  It should be everyday.  Ok.  True and False.  True, everyday we should take the time to tell someone that you love that you love them.  Makes sense.  However, why is it so bad that we have one day to make that opportunity so obvious?  I mean let's look at it.  All holidays are like this.  Why do we have one day to celebrate the birth of Christ?  What do we have one day to honor the crucifixion? Why do we have only one day where it is appropriate to dress up in costumes?  Why do we only have one day when its okay to wear green head to toe?  Why is it okay that we only celebrate the founding of our country on one day?  Do ya get my point now?  Having a special day doesn't mean that this is the one and only day that we should do anything. The holiday is more like an awareness day, and provides an opportunity to be "socially" appropriate.

So, back to the point of my Valentine's Day post.  On the weekend of the holiday (because most people are not even going to celebrate on the actual holiday since it is on a Sunday), I will be lovey dovey and romantic and extra loving and extra kind because I love that this is one day where I can do so and not be looked upon like I'm crazy.  I will greet every hotel guest with a smile and glimmer in my eye that they have to opportunity to spend a special day at our hotel.  I will hug and kiss my boyfriend and let him know how much I appreciate, love, and respect him.  I will call my parents, my grandmother, and my sister to tell them "Happy Valentine's Day and I love you".  I will let each of my friends that I see during that time how much they mean to me.  I will celebrate Valentine's Day with love not hate.  So, how will you spend your Valentine's Day?

Resolution Check

Since I've already posted this week, I figured it would be time to do a resolution check.  Here we go!


1) Go camping!  Well, we did have some pretty warm weather this past week, but it has definitely hasn't been warm enough to go camping.  I guess this resolution will be on hold until at least April.

2) Bake more.  I think this is somewhat of a success so far.  I have back about 3 dozen cupcakes already this year and at least one cake.  In the upcoming week, I have a plan to bake another cake with Justin.  Someone have any idea of what kind?  Just post a comment.

3) Be more romantic.  Well, hmm.  Really I should have Ryan do a guest post to check on this.  Well, since my resolution, Ryan and I have had at least one date night and another one planned for tomorrow.  This is awesome.  Some people may think, you live together...why do you need a date night?  We may live together, but we don't get to have that quality couple time that everyone thinks.  We have decided to have regular date nights so it's just us. :)

4)  Pretend to be the paparazzi.  Epic fail.  I haven't taken a single picture since my resolutions post.  I haven't even kept my camera in my purse.  It's awful!

5) Have a sit-down dinner party.  Nope.  I've gone out to dinner several times since my original post, but no dinner party.  We haven't had time to clean the house, well except this weekend (which I'll tell you later why I'm not cleaning today).

6) Don't just like it, do it! Another epic fail again.  I haven't even looked at Stumbleupon.com at all.  Maybe I'll get some inspiration for a cake from there.

7) Be more musical.  There's no doubt that I haven't stopped singing in the car, but that's about it.  :/  This one is going to be hard.

8) Read a book or two or more.  I got through Chapter 3 in Steve Harvey's book, but then I had to stop and read for class.  I have one whole book for class completed and today and tomorrow I'll finish another one for class.  If you are interested in business, the book I just finished is called The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement.  I found it pretty interesting and a really good book.  It would have been better if I wasn't so bitter about it being assigned to be read in its entirety in one week.  Oh well.  The next book I have to finish is called  The World is Flat.  It's another business book.  If you read last week's post, then you know I have added another book to this list, The Hunger Games.  Hopefully I can finish it by the time the movie comes out.

9) Share more about me.  I think that I've done that.  Just read me last post.  ;)

10) Blog at least once a week.  So far so good!  I had one slip up, but I made it up by writing two the next week.  Hope everyone is enjoying it!

Ok, now onto why I'm not cleaning today.  I did my first cycling class yesterday.  Last semester, I participated in a study that required me to workout once a day on a stationary bike.  I figured that I had gotten into the swing of working out at least five times a week now and that I should try cycling.  Boy was I wrong!  It was so awful.  My heart and lungs were keeping up just as in every workout that I've done lately, but my legs were killing me.  After the hours class, we did some stretching and my legs felt better...that is until I walked up the stairs of my house.  This morning my knee hurt so bad that the pain is at a level when I was on crutches last time.  Luckily, Advil, ice and elevation are working.  Hopefully a couple days of rest will kept me heal to get back into working out by Monday.

Enough for now.  Time for homework.  :/  Until my next blog!

Overwhelmed

Have you ever just had a moment where you are in the middle of completing a remedial task and stop and feel completely overwhelmed? 

Ok.  Well, about 30 seconds ago I was simply updating something on my calendar, adding a dinner to this Friday with some PSP friends, when all of the sudden I noticed everything else on my calendar.  Granted, whenever I look at any calendar, I typically see at least one other person's (if I'm looking at my work calendar, I see my boss's calendar and if I'm looking at my personal calendar, I see Ryan's and all of my family's calendars); but just now I noticed that I have soooo much on my own! 

So last week I realized I have two entire books (like 1000 pages) to read for class and I had just promised Christie when she visited that I would start reading the hunger games.  I have two papers due next week.  I have a new class to attend today, which will probably result in another reading assignment and probably another paper.  I am desparately trying to stay on top of my daily work-out schedule.  In the back of my mind, I'm thinking of all of the laundry and dishes I have to put up.  And naturally, I'm trying to have a life outside of school and work!

Oh dear!  I'm overwhelmed.  Now readers, don't be too too concerned, as I am the master of planning and multitasking, so I know I'll get everything done.  But just know, that I'm a little overwhelmed and I had to tell someone, so why not the world. Whew, that felt good to get all of that off of my chest.  Back to reading.


:/  I'll blog later when I have survived this week!

As promised...

As I promised in my previous post, here is the second post of the week to make up for last week.  This blog post is about the SOPA/PIPA concerns that I have.  What is SOPA/PIPA?  You must not have been online yesterday because all over the internet were protests and website blackout against it.  For example, Google put a black box over it's logo.  Wikipedia completely shut down it's site for the day.  About 25% of the friends on my Facebook feed had the same profile picture that representing what might happen if these bills passed.  Needless to say, I signed the petition against it.

To summarize, the SOPA and PIPA bills would allow censorship of the internet.  Now, please keep in mind that I'm not an expert on this topic, but this is what I gathered from all of the articles that I read before signing the petition.  While I would NEVER recommend Wikipedia for a source on a scholarly paper, I would recommend it if you want some more information about this topic.

Anyway, my thoughts on this is that these two bills could drastically impact the way we live.  Think about it...one simple example...this blog is something that could be censored if those bills passed.  A simple blog.  Something that I do in my spare time for enjoyment could be censored if say I put something offensive/controversial/remotely close to copyright infringement (say like posting a recipe).  My blog could also be taken down if a fellow blogger on the Blogger domain wrote anything like I said above.  Can you imagine that?  That's just one aspect.  Think about Facebook, YouTube, one article even mentioned Etsy would be majorly impacted by the passing of these bills.  That's crazy!

So, what's the purpose of this post.  Well, if you value the content of the Internet and the freedom of speech, sign the petition!  Just Google SOPA/PIPA or look at a "Stop SOPA" Facebook profile picture to find out how. 

Ahhhh!!

So, I've noticed that a lot of my blog titles are "Ah!" or some version of them.  Typically, the title means that I haven't gotten to post in a while.  Since my resolution is to blog at least once a week, I post twice this week.  (Oh, dear, it's already Wednesday!)  Anyway...I did start a draft of a post last week, but I ended up deleting it because it wasn't very good.  haha!

So this post is essentially to tell you about my awesome, long weekend.  Christie came to Johnson City for the weekend and we had a fantastic time!  Her previous trips have almost never been as fun simply because I didn't plan anything.  :/  Granted, I had to work most nights and weekends, but this past weekend I actually didn't have to work! 

Back to what we did.  Friday, she came up and the first thing we did was go look at a house that Ryan and I thought we were interested in buying.  Talk about misrepresentation.  Let's just say that at least half of the doors that we tried to open resulted in the door knob in one of our hands!  The agent showing us the house knew nothing about it and didn't even know how to open some of the doors!  Two tips for someone trying to sell their house.  1) Hire a real estate agent that cares about knowing what your property is about.  2) If you're trying to sell your house, don't leave all of your junk all over the place.  It might just say to your buyer that you're a hoarder.  (Yea, this house looked like a hoarder lived in it.)  After the house adventure, we had dinner at Miso's and went back to the house and watched some TV.

Saturday was another eventful day.  We ate brunch at IHOP.  (Thanks, Christie, for the sneak attack and paying for it!)  After that we went shopping at Target, my favorite store ever!  We then watched Beauty and the Beast in 3D!!!  Can I just say, it was better than when we watched it when we were little!  I found it pretty amusing that the audience was composed half of families with young children and the other half were college students our age.  It just goes to show you how much Disney impacted our childhood.  :)   After the movie we headed to Baileys for dinner and to watch the Broncos vs. Patriots game.  It was a lot of fun.

Sunday, Christie and I went shopping!  We shopped til we dropped.  She got a couple of cute things from Charming Charlie's and I got an awesome purse!  (If you see it, you'll be jealous.)  After shopping we went to meet Ryan, Cat and Keith and went downtown to the Charles to attend an event called the Pie Wars.  After having one round of pizza tasting and a couple of hours mingling, we ended up leaving early and went o Baileys for a little bit of trivia. 

Monday was the day that Christie had to leave.  :(  We had an awesome breakfast at Panera, where we saw that realtor!  After breakfast, Christie went home.  The rest of the day, Ryan went to his lab to do some research and attend a meeting and I deep cleaned the living room, did a lot of laundry, and started re-organizing the kitchen.

Well, since I'm posting on my lunch break, I guess I should eat lunch before it's over!  Sorry for more of a recap post.  I just had so much fun and was so happy that my sister got to visit.  I secretly (well not anymore) hopes she goes to ETSU for PT school so we can hang out more!  I'll post another blog later this week.  Readers, if you don't see something by Friday evening, someone better comment/email/text me to remind me to do so.  I need someone to hold me accountable!  :)

New Year's Resolutions 2012

Okay. Well, it appears that my last post was viewed at least 20 individual times, so I know some of you out there are reading it. However, only two people commented! Since those who commented are the two most important women in my life, I will go with what they suggested...list time! (Christie, I'll do my best to have fun with it.)

Like the past two years, I will have 10 resolutions and they are in no particular order. All of you need to make sure that I keep them! Here we go.

1) Go camping! I had this on my resolution list last year, but I never did it! Ryan and I have the equipment to go, so dang it even if it is in my backyard or living room, I will go camping!  lol

2) Bake more.  As many of you know, one of my goals (especially for in the next couple of years) is to open a bakery with Justin.  I've already started the business planning side of things (well learning about business and starting a business plan), but I need more of the baking aspect!  Justin and I have been baking and decorating a lot since last year, but this year we (well I know me for sure) need to bake more.  I have lots of recipes and I have only really tried a few.  I also need to refine a few recipes.  Speaking of which, has anyone been watching 2 Broke Girls?  I have and I love it!  On the most recent episode, Max revealed that her cupcakes have always been from a box.  That used to be me!  You can ask anyone who has ever had a cake or cupcake of mine that came from a box...you wouldn't even know, and I've heard they are pretty delish (I'm trying not to sound too conceited but it's not working)!  Anyway, I want to make delicious sweets without the box mix and from scratch.  Eventually, I will be like the bakers on Food Network and bake from scratch without a recipe.  Now, how can all of you help me with this resolution?  Request a sweet from me and/or volunteer to eat whatever I bake!  The hardest thing for me in terms of practicing and trying new recipes is that Ryan and I cannot eat a whole batch of cookies/brownies/cupcakes or a whole loaf of bread or a whole cake every time I want to try something.  If you volunteer to be my guinea pig, I will give you what I bake!  (Trust me, get it now while it's free because eventually it'll cost some money.  :)) Or, if you want to order something specific from us (we did a 300 cupcake gig for my parent's anniversary party), let me know too!

3) Be more romantic.  This one may come across a little strange.  Shouldn't guys be the ones who need to work on their romance?  NO!  I think women need to be more romantic too instead on focusing on dropping hints about how they want their significant other to be romantic.  I have noticed that as Ryan has started an official graduate school program, we pretty much see each other in passing during the week days.  On the weekends, we both catch up on much needed sleep and often we have errands that we have to run.  Anyway, basically, I want us to be able to spend more quality/fun time together and for me to be romantic too!  He doesn't always have to be the one to fix dinner or surprise me with flowers.

4)  Pretend to be the paparazzi.  Once upon a time, I used to love taking, posting, printing and scrapbooking photos.  Now, you're lucky if I have a camera with me.  I want to get back into taking pictures and finally fit into my Asian stereotype (ya know the people who wear cameras around their necks to take pictures of anything and everything?).  So...the goal is to bring my camera with me everywhere.  Maybe I can even do a photo blog post!  Who knows.  How can you keep me accountable with this resolution?  Ask me to take a picture of me and you!

5) Have a sit-down dinner party.  Yes, I'm cheesy.  Ryan and I love to entertain. We have had people over all the time to watch TV/movies, game night, knit 'n bitch, etc., but there has only been one occasion since we moved into our house (3 years ago) when I remember that we sat down at a table and had an entire meal together with Kristina and Emmie (Easter of last year I believe). I want to have another where I cook (Yes, that's right, where I cook and baking a casserole does not count) and we all sit around a table and eat!  Who's with me?

6) Don't just like it, do it!  Ok.  Tell me that you don't have a Stumbleupon.com or Pintrest.com account.  Don't know what it is? Look it up and get addicted!  Anyway, I have a Stumbleupon account and have over 150 liked pages.  Most of them are recipes and craft projects, where others are related to business and wedding stuff (you can never plan too far in advance).  However, out of all of those pages, I can honestly say I have done only one.  ONE!  It was a recipe for cheesecake strawberries.  Anyway, it's time to actually do what I liked.  I guess it's time to actually pick up sewing.  ;)

7) Be more musical.  Many of you may not know this, especially if we met in college, but I am a classically trained flutist and I used to sing in choir (yea, back in middle school, but I won a couple of awards so I think that counts).  Anyway, since I moved to Johnson City, both have seemed to disappear in my life.  I still have my flute and plenty of sheet music, but the last time I played was a couple of years ago.  As far as singing...well I sing in the car...when I'm by myself...and on the interstate...when no one's looking.  Yes, I'm a nerd, but I don't know why I've become so shy when it comes to singing.  Anyway, back to the resolution.  I want to pick both back up.  But, I'm not making any promises for karaoke!

8) Read a book or two or more.  Most everyone knows that I hate to read.  I have never liked reading and I doubt that I will ever be a book worm.  The only time I ever read is for class or work, but never leisure reading.  Even the blogs or articles that I read online have some sort of purpose, not just for fun.  Anyway, I have two books that are sitting on my shelf that have been loaned to me.  One is Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey (from my mom) and the other is Onward by Howard Schlutz (from Christie).  My goal is to have the first one read before the movie comes out.  I would like to finish the other one before the summer begins, but that might just be a book that I bring on the plane to the Philippines to read.  If I finish both before the summer, then I guess I can start reading those other books that are currently collecting dust on my bookshelves.

9) Share more about me.  One thing that Mom posted in her comment is that blogging for her is more soul-searching.  There are several reasons why people blog...to post updates about family news, practice writing, and give people an opportunity to get to know who the blogger is.  I want to do all of the above.  A couple of weeks ago, I read through a lot of my old posts.  My tagline even says, "a narrative of a college grad".  Anyway, since now I have to manually post a link to my news feed on Facebook (dang you new Facebook!) I want to provide an opportunity to be real and for people to get to know me better.  That'll be a little difficult because I'm fairly shy and keep a lot to myself, especially how I feel and think about certain things.  I'm going to challenge myself to be a little more open and hopefully have all of you get to know me a little better.  That leads me to my last resolution...

10) Blog at least once a week.  That's right...I was specific on this one.  The last two years I put blog more, which depending on what you define "more" as could mean anything.  Once a week, at least.  I'll even add not to include a post that only does a resolution check does not count!  This one I really need someone to hold me accountable!

There ya go.  I have 10 resolutions.  Hopefully I can keep them all!  I thought of an idea while in the waiting room at the doctor's office today...does anyone else want to start a blog or continue blogging?  When I was   thinking about blogging, I looked into an option to get daily prompts for some inspiration for blog posts.  I didn't find any that actually stuck to a daily or even a weekly blog post prompt.  Anyway, I would be interested in typing up some random questions/prompts for a daily/weekly blog post.  However, I don't want to do it if no one is going to blog.  Okay...convincing time...If you started a blog 1) it would give you something to do when your bored 2) it will help your writing in general 3) it would allow me and others to get to know you better 4) it'll be fun!  Let me know if you start one and I'll add you to my blogroll ->

Okay.  That's enough post for now.  Check back next week for a blog post!