A year ago yesterday, my best friend was born. I didn't actually meet her until 7 weeks later, but I loved her since the moment she was born. My best friend is my puppy Tillie. She has saved me in more ways than one. Before her, I was pretty cold, loved being alone, and spent a lot of time being sad. But for the past year, she has warmed my heart and helped me to become open and eager to enjoy the company of others.
Miss Tillie has the best personality. She is very sassy and not afraid to tell you exactly what she wants. She is a little boy crazy and loves her treats. She is also very protective of me. She lets me know when someone may be getting too close to our apartment, and she is willing to take on small dogs, big dogs, and even cows in order to protect me from harm. She loves to nap, and while I normally make it a rule never to be the back spoon, she is just so good at being the front the spoon.
While Tillie is very needy and ended up being close to the equivalent of taking care of a baby, her companionship has been invaluable. I am so grateful that I get to associate the holiday of love with my loving puppy's birthday.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wiiiiii!
So I made an impulse buy last week. I purchased my first ever gaming console. Yes, we did own the first nintendo when I was little, but that was my brother's and I got limited use, so it doesn't count. I got the urge after I spend evening at a friend's house play Just Dance 2. For those of you that know me, you know how much I like to booty shake, so I had a blast! Not to mention, I definitely broke a sweat and burned some calories. So I decided it was time to take the plunge and give in to the gaming world.
I purchased my Wii and then immediately purchased the Just Dance 2 game. Unfortunately, they were purchases from Amazon so I had to wait a week to get them, but they finally arrived yesterday. I have already mastered the choreography to 6 of the dances. I can't wait to bring my new moves to the dance floor this weekend. Well I don't know if XS is quite ready for the dances, but I will try to blend my old moves with my new moves.
The Wii also came with Wii sports and Wii sports resort. There are a ton of games on here that I can't wait to try. The only one I have done so far is sword fighting, which is a great way to get out a little aggression. Highly recommended. The only problem is I live alone. So playing by myself doesn't help me bring out my competitive side. I wish I could teach my westie how to play.
The Wii also came with Netflix access. But I have cheap internet which is not compatible, but as soon as I move up and out of Gainesville, my return on the Wii investment will be much greater.
I have decided to limit myself with the amount of gaming I do each day, even if it is a good workout. I don't want to be one of those "video game people". But for giggles you can think of me dancing and sword fighting alone in my apartment for around 45 minutes each day.
I purchased my Wii and then immediately purchased the Just Dance 2 game. Unfortunately, they were purchases from Amazon so I had to wait a week to get them, but they finally arrived yesterday. I have already mastered the choreography to 6 of the dances. I can't wait to bring my new moves to the dance floor this weekend. Well I don't know if XS is quite ready for the dances, but I will try to blend my old moves with my new moves.
The Wii also came with Wii sports and Wii sports resort. There are a ton of games on here that I can't wait to try. The only one I have done so far is sword fighting, which is a great way to get out a little aggression. Highly recommended. The only problem is I live alone. So playing by myself doesn't help me bring out my competitive side. I wish I could teach my westie how to play.
The Wii also came with Netflix access. But I have cheap internet which is not compatible, but as soon as I move up and out of Gainesville, my return on the Wii investment will be much greater.
I have decided to limit myself with the amount of gaming I do each day, even if it is a good workout. I don't want to be one of those "video game people". But for giggles you can think of me dancing and sword fighting alone in my apartment for around 45 minutes each day.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Loving the Public Library
When I was little, my mom and I would spend hours each week picking out dozens of children's books each week. In Elementary school, I was a top accelerated reader and always got my free pizza at Book It. I used to volunteer in my school library and when go through the stacks of novels and make a long list of books I wanted to discover and read. However, when I went to middle school, because I was reading so much earlier, I couldn't keep up with my accelerated reading goals and started to get punished for not getting enough points. Needless to say, once your punishment is to read more, you stop seeing it as something you really want to do everyday. I started back reading a little bit over the summers in college, but once law school started, the casebooks took the place of those novels and pleasure reading.
Well I have rediscovered my love of reading. I guess it started when I was told that on my long 6 hour drives back and forth between SC and FL that audiobooks make the time go faster. Well after listening to these wonderful stories in my car, I realized that I could be reading outside of my car as well. I went downtown to go get my library card. There were soooo many books there, and I had forgotten how overwhelming it would be. So I just went to a standby authors name and got two books from her. However, the internet has made things much easier since the last time I was a public library customer. Not only can I search for good books on the catalog and find out whether they are available, I can renew books I have out, I can place books on hold and let them email me when they are available, and I can also download audiobooks to my ipod for my car trips. It is so great to finish a book and then get an email saying that your next book is ready to be picked up. I didn't even have to go searching in the stacks for it. They had it ready for me at checkout. Also, thanks to the good reads website, I can get book ideas from my friends based on their recommendations of the books that they have read.
I have just started Phillipa Gregory's queen books, and I think I am going to go read a chapter before I go to class, and maybe another chapter while I wait at the bus stop.
Well I have rediscovered my love of reading. I guess it started when I was told that on my long 6 hour drives back and forth between SC and FL that audiobooks make the time go faster. Well after listening to these wonderful stories in my car, I realized that I could be reading outside of my car as well. I went downtown to go get my library card. There were soooo many books there, and I had forgotten how overwhelming it would be. So I just went to a standby authors name and got two books from her. However, the internet has made things much easier since the last time I was a public library customer. Not only can I search for good books on the catalog and find out whether they are available, I can renew books I have out, I can place books on hold and let them email me when they are available, and I can also download audiobooks to my ipod for my car trips. It is so great to finish a book and then get an email saying that your next book is ready to be picked up. I didn't even have to go searching in the stacks for it. They had it ready for me at checkout. Also, thanks to the good reads website, I can get book ideas from my friends based on their recommendations of the books that they have read.
I have just started Phillipa Gregory's queen books, and I think I am going to go read a chapter before I go to class, and maybe another chapter while I wait at the bus stop.
Monday, January 17, 2011
A New Book Obsession
I have never perused the self help aisle of a bookstore, but recently I made an exception. I purchased Bethenny Frankel's book Naturally Thin. Let me just say that I have really liked this book. It is not a diet book, but a way to put yourself into a new mindset. It is supposed to be a mindset of how naturally thin people think when it comes to food. Basically saying, naturally thin people don't really think all that much about what food they can have or can't have. If you binge for a day, don't beat yourself up about it and stop eating healthy because you are ruined. Just be better the next day. Don't not eat foods that you really want to eat because you think you are not supposed to have them, just eat them, taste them and then you are satisfied. And...don't worry, you will always have a chance to eat fries so don't think you need to eat every last one.
So I took my new knowledge out to a restaurant for the first time. I did my best to follow her naturally thin rules. The restaurant was a brewery where they brew 8 different kinds of beers. There were four that I wanted to taste, so instead of ordering four pints, I opted for ordering 4 oz of each kind. Also, I really wanted the calamari appetizer. So I ordered it, had two or three pieces and then passed the rest around the table. The menu was large so there were many options for my entree. There were sandwiches, salads, pasta dishes, and what they are famous for which is their pizzas. I could have gone the diet route and ordered a salad, but salads are not always that healthy, and it really wasn't what I wanted to eat. So I weighed my options and I was down to a grilled chicken sandwich, shrimp tacos, and pizza. The sandwich and tacos came with fries, and I honestly didn't really want fries, but if they were there I was sure that I would eat them anyway. Also I think the pizza would taste much better than the other two options, so I went with the pizza. I got the mini mediterranean that was loaded with good vegetables. Because of the beer and the calamari, I got full really quickly. So rather than stuffing my face with the mini pizza (which did happen to be mini), I ate until I was full. I canceled my membership in the clean plate club, and didn't feel bad about not getting a box to take it home. Prior to this book, I would have taken it home because I knew I was going out and would want late night food. Instead, I offered it to a friend. It didn't go to waste and more importantly it didn't go on my waistline.
So even though I ate pizza and beer and calamari at a restaurant, I didn't feel bad about it. I really like this new way of thinking. I can eat whatever I want and that is kind of liberating. I will admit that over exams and the holidays I did a lot of excessive eating, but since I have been back to Gainesville, I have gotten down to a comfortable weight and well on my way to getting back to where I was last summer.
So I took my new knowledge out to a restaurant for the first time. I did my best to follow her naturally thin rules. The restaurant was a brewery where they brew 8 different kinds of beers. There were four that I wanted to taste, so instead of ordering four pints, I opted for ordering 4 oz of each kind. Also, I really wanted the calamari appetizer. So I ordered it, had two or three pieces and then passed the rest around the table. The menu was large so there were many options for my entree. There were sandwiches, salads, pasta dishes, and what they are famous for which is their pizzas. I could have gone the diet route and ordered a salad, but salads are not always that healthy, and it really wasn't what I wanted to eat. So I weighed my options and I was down to a grilled chicken sandwich, shrimp tacos, and pizza. The sandwich and tacos came with fries, and I honestly didn't really want fries, but if they were there I was sure that I would eat them anyway. Also I think the pizza would taste much better than the other two options, so I went with the pizza. I got the mini mediterranean that was loaded with good vegetables. Because of the beer and the calamari, I got full really quickly. So rather than stuffing my face with the mini pizza (which did happen to be mini), I ate until I was full. I canceled my membership in the clean plate club, and didn't feel bad about not getting a box to take it home. Prior to this book, I would have taken it home because I knew I was going out and would want late night food. Instead, I offered it to a friend. It didn't go to waste and more importantly it didn't go on my waistline.
So even though I ate pizza and beer and calamari at a restaurant, I didn't feel bad about it. I really like this new way of thinking. I can eat whatever I want and that is kind of liberating. I will admit that over exams and the holidays I did a lot of excessive eating, but since I have been back to Gainesville, I have gotten down to a comfortable weight and well on my way to getting back to where I was last summer.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Resolutions By the Way Side
I say by the way side because I feel like that is a saying, but if it is not, my bad. I simply mean that I have discarded mine. It is 16 days into the new year and my resolution is gone already. Good or bad? My resolution was to make better use of my time. As you have read before, I don't have a lot of obligations on my time these days. I attend class only 11 hours out of the week. I don't have a job or kids to take care of (other than my oh so needy Westie), so it seems like I should be taking advantage of all this time and do amazing things. Well to implement this resolution, I decided that I was going to stop taking naps, read my book alot more, exercise at least once everyday, and only watch two hours of television everyday.
Well I changed my mind. I don't know if it was because I wasn't following my resolution very well, or to the fact that maybe I have been thinking about this extra time all wrong. Rather than forcing myself to do things that other people think I should be doing, I think maybe I should take advantage of this time to be able to do things that I actually want to do. If I am tired, I have the ability to go lay on my bad and take a wonderful long nap (assuming Tillie is willing to let me do so). If there is a good movie on the tv in the afternoon, I should be able to watch it. If I don't feel like exercising everyday, I shouldn't have to. Now don't get me wrong. I don't actually plan on spending everyday napping and watching tv, but on certain days, maybe that is all I want to do. And, after this first week back at school, I have already started to plan a few new experiences for myself. I have signed up for a ballroom dancing class. Ten of us from my program will be learning to waltz, fox trot, cha cha, rumba, tango, and swing dance. I am super excited about this because I am head over heels obsessed with dancing with the stars and am still trying to come up with a way I can be famous so that I can be on that show. I also have decided to join the coed softball team with the stipulation that my team members are not allowed to yell at me. I played softball in the summers on the law firm leagues, but our team was pitching to us, and honestly, they were more about socializing than actually playing the game. But, my pink glove and I will be out on the field giving it our best effort.
So I guess, if I am going to say that I have a resolution, I plan to do what I want to do while I still can.
Well I changed my mind. I don't know if it was because I wasn't following my resolution very well, or to the fact that maybe I have been thinking about this extra time all wrong. Rather than forcing myself to do things that other people think I should be doing, I think maybe I should take advantage of this time to be able to do things that I actually want to do. If I am tired, I have the ability to go lay on my bad and take a wonderful long nap (assuming Tillie is willing to let me do so). If there is a good movie on the tv in the afternoon, I should be able to watch it. If I don't feel like exercising everyday, I shouldn't have to. Now don't get me wrong. I don't actually plan on spending everyday napping and watching tv, but on certain days, maybe that is all I want to do. And, after this first week back at school, I have already started to plan a few new experiences for myself. I have signed up for a ballroom dancing class. Ten of us from my program will be learning to waltz, fox trot, cha cha, rumba, tango, and swing dance. I am super excited about this because I am head over heels obsessed with dancing with the stars and am still trying to come up with a way I can be famous so that I can be on that show. I also have decided to join the coed softball team with the stipulation that my team members are not allowed to yell at me. I played softball in the summers on the law firm leagues, but our team was pitching to us, and honestly, they were more about socializing than actually playing the game. But, my pink glove and I will be out on the field giving it our best effort.
So I guess, if I am going to say that I have a resolution, I plan to do what I want to do while I still can.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Where Do I Go From Here?
So I know I said I wasn't going to focus on my career anymore...but this is all very new and scary for me. The area of law that I had planned to specialize in since undergrad, and most of my legal career has been devoted to is slowly becoming obsolete. I am currently spending another $30,000 to kick up my specialization in this area to the next level. So...with my savings currently dwindling faster and faster and no hope for a job in this specialization anytime in the near future or even in the next 3 years, what should my next step be?
I mean I guess it would be silly to stop working towards my degree. Maybe things will change in the practice area. Maybe Congress will figure out that at some point they are going to have to raise revenue to reduce the deficit. I have already spent $15,000 dollars on the first semester. I have signed a year lease in Gainesville. I could really use that student loan money. Also, I have already told EVERYBODY that I am getting a masters in tax law, so if I stop there will be the whispers about me being a quitter.
But since I have NO money except for borrowed funds to pay rent, gas and groceries, I have to figure out at some point how I am going to get a paycheck eventually. So if I continue my job search, what kind of job should I be searching for? Should I keep lying to myself that I am going to be a tax lawyer? Should I try to get a different law job and fake being good at litigation? Should I plan on starting my own law practice to further myself in debt and starve for the next 5 years living with my parents? Should I go back to my undergraduate degree and become a banker or do something in Finance? Or should I just be an aerobics instructor?
I don't know what to do. I know I am not supposed to be focusing on this, but I feel irresponsible for not having some sort of plan of what I am going to do with my life. HELP!?!?
I mean I guess it would be silly to stop working towards my degree. Maybe things will change in the practice area. Maybe Congress will figure out that at some point they are going to have to raise revenue to reduce the deficit. I have already spent $15,000 dollars on the first semester. I have signed a year lease in Gainesville. I could really use that student loan money. Also, I have already told EVERYBODY that I am getting a masters in tax law, so if I stop there will be the whispers about me being a quitter.
But since I have NO money except for borrowed funds to pay rent, gas and groceries, I have to figure out at some point how I am going to get a paycheck eventually. So if I continue my job search, what kind of job should I be searching for? Should I keep lying to myself that I am going to be a tax lawyer? Should I try to get a different law job and fake being good at litigation? Should I plan on starting my own law practice to further myself in debt and starve for the next 5 years living with my parents? Should I go back to my undergraduate degree and become a banker or do something in Finance? Or should I just be an aerobics instructor?
I don't know what to do. I know I am not supposed to be focusing on this, but I feel irresponsible for not having some sort of plan of what I am going to do with my life. HELP!?!?
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Lists of Good Intentions
"What are your hobbies?" has always been an awkward question for me. I don't really having any fun ones like sailing, horseback riding, etc. or even pathetic ones like knitting or scrapbooking. I end up responding with reading and working out...but what I really want to say is that I watch a lot of TV, eat too much, and drink with my friends. However, I think I may have figured out what my hobbies are. I love planning and making lists. I have excel spreadsheets that plan my life out in 30 minute intervals and goals for myself for months and years in advance. I also enjoy reading magazines and internet articles about health, exercise, and nutrition. I love knowing of ways that I can make myself better, live longer, and overall feel healthier.
However, I don't actually act on either of these hobbies. I may do the first couple of things on my lists, but I get distracted on the other ones and do something else. Then I get distracted making a modified list. If you looked at my excel spreadsheet for exam studying, you would think there is no way that she doesn't ace these exams because she has thoroughly studied every little bit of material that was covered in the class. However, instead of sticking to my list, I end up watching tv, eat too much, and drink with friends.
Also, if I told people that my hobby was nutrition and fitness, they would take one look at me and figure I am lying. I don't exactly have the body of someone who treats her body like a temple and I am not one that really lives an active healthly lifestyle. I read these articles and take mental notes of things that I should be doing to be healthier. Also, I don't mind telling other people of ways to be healthier, but instead of acting on them, I end up watching tv, eat too much, and drink with friends.
So last night...what did I do? Well I didn't go out drinking with friends because it is almost time for my last exam. But...I did stray from my exam study schedule excel spreadsheet, and I sat down and read about 6 or 7 Shape and Self magazines. They were chocked full of workout routines, healthy recipes, and general ways to live a better life. So what did I do next? I sat down and started making lists of ways I can be healthier next semester. I planned a gym/P90x schedule. I fit in time each day to take my dog on a 30 minute walk. I planned how much tv time I am going to allow myself each night(because people who watch more than 3 hours of tv a day have much higher % chance of dying of heart related problems). I planned when I will do my ab workouts(I will get that six pack that those girls have in the magazines). I made a list of healthy breakfast and lunch ideas that I should be eating during the week. I even planned when I will be drinking my 8 glasses of water a day (Jennifer Aniston drinks 100oz of water a day). So, if I finally stick to my lists and schedules, I am going to be a bad ass healthy woman...lets just hope I don't instead watch tv, eat too much, and drink with my friends (well maybe not drink too much with my friends).
However, I don't actually act on either of these hobbies. I may do the first couple of things on my lists, but I get distracted on the other ones and do something else. Then I get distracted making a modified list. If you looked at my excel spreadsheet for exam studying, you would think there is no way that she doesn't ace these exams because she has thoroughly studied every little bit of material that was covered in the class. However, instead of sticking to my list, I end up watching tv, eat too much, and drink with friends.
Also, if I told people that my hobby was nutrition and fitness, they would take one look at me and figure I am lying. I don't exactly have the body of someone who treats her body like a temple and I am not one that really lives an active healthly lifestyle. I read these articles and take mental notes of things that I should be doing to be healthier. Also, I don't mind telling other people of ways to be healthier, but instead of acting on them, I end up watching tv, eat too much, and drink with friends.
So last night...what did I do? Well I didn't go out drinking with friends because it is almost time for my last exam. But...I did stray from my exam study schedule excel spreadsheet, and I sat down and read about 6 or 7 Shape and Self magazines. They were chocked full of workout routines, healthy recipes, and general ways to live a better life. So what did I do next? I sat down and started making lists of ways I can be healthier next semester. I planned a gym/P90x schedule. I fit in time each day to take my dog on a 30 minute walk. I planned how much tv time I am going to allow myself each night(because people who watch more than 3 hours of tv a day have much higher % chance of dying of heart related problems). I planned when I will do my ab workouts(I will get that six pack that those girls have in the magazines). I made a list of healthy breakfast and lunch ideas that I should be eating during the week. I even planned when I will be drinking my 8 glasses of water a day (Jennifer Aniston drinks 100oz of water a day). So, if I finally stick to my lists and schedules, I am going to be a bad ass healthy woman...lets just hope I don't instead watch tv, eat too much, and drink with my friends (well maybe not drink too much with my friends).
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