I do like to read, yes I do

If you're interested in reading, which I hope beyond most other hopes you are, please check out this new Blog I've stumbled upon. There are these two ladies, with pretty much opposing tasted who read and rate books. Please check it out. For your own good.

Edifying and Edgy

Loving Your Body

I know that around the start of a new year a lot of people have the "resolution" to lose weight, myself included.

But is that really something I decided to do to get healthier, or to be more
Physically appealing? For myself, or for others?

Some part of me wants to be healthier; and to be honest I feel better, I'm sleeping more soundly, I wake up rested, I even crave healthier foods because I know how I feel if I eat something less healthy. But I didn't start exercising because I wanted to be healthier, I wanted to be sexier. To feel prettier when I looked in the mirror. To be able to wear more of the clothes I own, because I have gained too much weight since high school to fit into what I wore only 2 years ago.

Why is it that I, this confident independent girl, is so concerned about how she looks? Why do I care so much what my size says about my character? I want to say it's because I can't help it. That because I am constantly bombarded with images of woman who represent beauty that are the size of a toothpick, but I don't think it is. I think I pretend to think those women are beautiful, but In reality I see beauty in the eyes, in the face, in the love that flows from someone. That is where I find beauty. And I know in that way I am beautiful. I am worth taking a second look at. My beauty comes from inside me, so I'm happy. I just need to remember that sometimes when I look in the mirror and compare myself to an unrealistic body image.

About Regret

When you look at your life, what you are and what you aren’t; it’s more likely than not that you’ll regret something you didn’t do than some mistake you made. You’ll learn from a mistake, you’ll grow from it, and hopefully next time you won’t make the exact same one.
But what about the little life lessons we let slip by? What about all the times we “played it safe” and didn’t come out smarter or better for doing something different?

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you
didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from
the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover.
by Mark Twain

And if we look back, we may regret a silly mistake, but at least we made the decision to do something out of our comfort zone, out of the norm, out of whatever our mothers told us was acceptable behavior. We learned, we grew, and we became the people we are meant to be because of those split second decisions to defy our own “good” judgement.

I for one have missed out on things I know I’ll never again have the chance to do because I didn’t think it wise. And now, after looking at where I am and where I’ve been, I see that although it was best for me to have said no sometimes, I may have benefited more if I had just said yes. Even if only once in a while.

Curious as a cat

4) Show and Tell. What comes to mind first when you see this picture? Or, tell a story if it reminds you of one.

I have to do this backwards because the formatting keeps messing up.

This reminds me of the dungeons in a video game I play. They care connected by these old looking rope an dplank bridges. It's a very fun game. It's called Torchlight. My boyfriend bought it for me on thanksgiving. This also reminds me of a roller coster. I can't tell ecactly what it is, but it deffinatly does not look sturdy enough to hold a train full of people. Maybe it's a school project of sorts...


1.) Do you have a short fuse?
No, but once it's lit, gosh is it hard to extinguish.



2) Where is the most beautiful spot on earth that you've ever seen?
I went to the gulf of mexico once. It was amazing. We saw manatees and dolphins right up close. At night the sunset was the most beautiful thing. The water and the heat and the amazing atmosphere just added to the great beauty that is an oceans edge. I want to go back sometime. Just to be able to be around the people who live in that beauty all the time is something special. I'm a firm believer that is why the people drive slower in the south. They are comstantly surrounded by beauty, so they are less tightly wound.



3) How old do you want to live to be?
Old enough to never stop learning. Once I'm done learning and growing, once I have no more desire to better myself, that shall be the day I go.

Interested? Check out Curoius as a Cat

let's make it work

One of my favorite lines from Tim Gunn (Project Runway) is “Make it work.”


Simple, direct, and a way of saying what you’ve got is potential and it could be potentially bad, or potentially good. Either way, you’re the one who decides what the final out come is, so do it. Because no one else will.


There are a million different paths we can chose daily, and those simple decisions affect us in ways we can’t possibly imagine.


David and I are at the point in our relationship I refer to as uncharted waters (only to myself, of course). The possibility of drowning is up ahead, and so is the prospect of a discovering a new wonderful world. It’s up to us to navigate through the fog and haze together. We have potential, and now it’s up to us to make it work.

Getting Started!

Losing weight is hard enough as is.

To lose one pound of fat, you must burn approximately 3500 calories over and above what you already burn doing daily activities. That sounds like a lot of calories and you certainly wouldn't want to try to burn 3500 calories in one day. However, by taking it step-by-step, you can determine just what you need to do each day to burn or cut out those extra calories. Below is a step by step process for getting started.

First, you need to know your minimum daily calorie intake needs for the every-day essentials, such as breathing and keeping your heart pumping. Click here to calculate your individual number. .

Mine is 1713 per day.

Next, calculate your activity level, or how many calories you burn on a daily basis doing your normal routine of walking, sitting, and the like. Click here for that.

It can tell you things like how many calories a day you burn brushing your teeth (7.372), kissing (15.52), or doing dishes (98.94). This calculator will help you figure out how many calories your burning so you can adjust your intake-output to lose weight.

After you figure out the normal calories you burn on a daily basis, keep track of how many calories you eat. If you'd like a place to keep track you can try this and see if it works for you, or just try a regular pen and paper. Writing down everything you eat is very important, that way you can have a reference for days you did well, days not so much, and how your weight reflected those eating habits.

Finally add it up. Take your daily calories plus the calories you burn with your everyday activities, then minus all your food calories. If your eat more than you use, you'll gain weight; if you use more than you eat, you'll lose weight.

Diets are not always cut and dry, and sometimes you hit a patch where you feel like you're not getting anywhere. But don't lose hope. As long as you keep trying and have the knowledge and resources, you'll get there.

If you'd like to check out some good at work work out tips, check out my other blog. I have a whole set of ideas for in the office at your desk exercises.

why women cry

Why Women Cry

A little boy asked his mother, "Why are you crying?"

"Because I'm a woman," she told him.

"I don't understand," he said.

His Mom just hugged him and said, "And you never will."

Later the little boy asked his father, "Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?"

"All women cry for no reason," was all his dad could say.

The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.

Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, "God, why do women cry so easily?"

God said, "When I made the woman she had to be special.

I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world,yet gentle enough to give comfort.

I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children.

I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining.

I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly.

I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.

I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.

And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed."

"You see my son," said God, "the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart - the place where love resides."

"we are family"

Nothing says family like sisters. Since the hair pulling and Barbi stealing has turned into late lunches and bottles of wine, our friendship has become a foundation on which I stand. Sisters are forever. Family is timeless. I heart my sister.
♥

I kind of crack myself up sometimes

I love Photo Blogs. There I said it.

However I feel like a total creeper looking at others photos, especially others families and friends and intimate moments. But some of these photographers are amazing and I want to see everything.

So I follow them, and I do it anonymously. (mouth full with that one)

So, here are some of my favorite photography blogs, in no particualr order, more to follow as I find.

http://shaespics.blogspot.com/
http://ericastephensphotography.blogspot.com/
http://kiddphotography.blogspot.com/
http://jennybayphotography.blogspot.com/
http://casienserio.blogspot.com/
http://ayummylife.blogspot.com/
http://marietaylor612.typepad.com/a_day_in_the_life/

Fun New Game

http://curiousasacat.blogspot.com/

1) Do you know any professional athletes? - Yes, Shawn Porter, he is an Olympic Boxer. I helped him pass Chemistry.

2) What one thing frightens you the most about growing old? -Being alone, losing my family and not having anyone be there.

3) Have you ever harvested fruits or vegetables? -Corn, one year my mother let me have a corn field. I was so cute, I remember protecting the dead stalks from the neighbor boys since I thought they grew back the next year through the stalks. Most delicious corn of my life.

4) Show and Tell. What comes to mind first when you see this picture? Or, tell a story if it reminds you of one.
This reminds me of Gilligan's Island, the episode where they find the radio active veggies and develop powers. This may have to do with the previous question, but that's what I think of.

"You may not get exactly what you want, but you may get something you didn't even know you wanted and that can be pretty awesome".

- Anonymous

Things I love about Ohio

I love that we have 4 seasons.

I love that I can drive almost anywhere I want to go in 15 minutes, or less.

I love how I can hear the marching band practices in the fall from my house.

I love that I can take walks at night and not have any fear.

I love that I can run into people who've known me since I was a baby

I love Swensons

I love that David lives 3 minutes away

I love that I could ride my bike to the pool everyday when I was a kid

I love that we have an Amish country

I love that no matter where you go it's a college town, so basically there is something at least moderatly fun everywhere

I love Cedar Point

I also love Kellies Island, which I'm very glad I am now familar with

I love the lake, and the pools, and the riverfront

I'm a happy camper here in Ohio, and although I'd like it to be warmer often, and I wish I could more places to have a second job closer to my house, I don't think anywhere would be that much better.

Lesson Learned

I've noticed that good advice always comes at the worst times. And by this I mean that we get great advice from people who love us and just want to help us when we are most stubborn and have out ears most shut.

So needless to say we don't learn a thing until all is said and done, we've made our mistake, taken the hit, and learned that sometimes we would have saved a lot of struggle if we had just listened to so-and-so's advice in the beginning.

However, I am firmly aware of the fact that the lessons I learned most from are from the mistakes I myself made because I felt the actual pain and anguish, instead of hearing some vivid story from back in the day. And although I would like to give bits of my hard earned advice and "wisdom" to people out there, I know that the hardest lessons are the ones you have to learn on your own; and no one can tell you anything that will prepare you like a first hand experience.

Why then, you may ask, am I still going to offer you my advice? Because I love you, all of you. And for the good of mankind I share my knowledge with the world. Even if it lands on barren soil. Some day you'll see what I was talking about and maybe, just maybe, I can make getting there that much easier for you.

-Don’t settle, whether it be in love, friendship, a job, or school. But also, don’t deny your feelings. You have to do it wrong before you will be able to do it right, and you have to experience the bad before you can recognise the good.

-Friendship goes both ways, and if you feel like you are being used or taken advantage of, you probably are. If you are too afraid to stand up for yourself, you must accept that people will keep walking all over you. You have to learn to pick your battles, and no one will fight for you if you don’t.

-It’s okay to cry. Crying is not a sign of weakness, its a sign that you have accepted that you are overwhelmed, and when the crying is done, you can begin to solve those problems.

-Don’t be embarrassed to ask for something, no matter how capable you think you are, you cannot do everything, and no one expects you to.

-When it’s time, let go. Holding on to something that is no longer there just brings more disappointment, more pain, more confusion. Holding onto something that was never there is just stupid; but, unfortunately, you have to learn things the hard way. There is no easy way.

-Trust that you will come out of every situation a better person, because you will; and trust that everything happens for a reason, because it does. Above all, trust in yourself, because if you can’t rely on yourself then you can’t rely on anything.

I wouldn't go back, not for all the money in the world.

The other day my best friend and I were talking about being a little kid and the silly things we thought.

I know I remember having silly thoughts, but at the time they were so logical to me.

Being a kid is funny. Remembering things after you’ve grown, makes it a lot funnier.

I remember when someone would drop their lunch (or forget it) and they would start to cry because they were so hungry and they had nothing to eat. Then, when a teacher would see them crying, they would give them lunch from the cafeteria and be that kids hero for life. No wonder everyone loves their elementary school teachers. They solve such huge problems, with little to no effort.

On new years David and I decided to buy (among WAY too much alcohol) sparkling grape juice to toast with as a joke since we figured we’d be plenty intoxicated by then and a glass of juice would do us some good. Well, as 11:55p rolls around, I asked if he remembered how cool we felt when we were younger drinking sparkling grape juice pretending it was campaign. Everyone did it, it was one of the fun parts of being a kid on new years, aside from being allowed to stay up late.

I remember being in 4th grade and telling my mom that the 1st graders were getting smaller every year. She insisted it was me getting bigger, but to me I was the same size. It was them that were smaller.

I also remember, even after sex ed (I went to private school, sex ed was basically an abstinence class mixed with a ”your changing body” class) that I thought “fertilization” was the boy peeing. When I learned it wasn’t pee I felt so stupid. Even now I feel stupid for that thought.
Recently I found a diary from grade school. I talked about being in love with 3 different boys on 3 consecutive pages. At least they got different pages, right? I destroyed that diary. It was painful to read, and my hand writing was atrocious. Not to mention I had drawn mermaids all over the whole thing, badly. I was a strange bird.

Once I accidentally kicked a kid between the legs, and thinking I was going to be expelled from school for doing it. I was at the top of the play equipment and did a somersault to the bottom, where a boy had moved to in the process. My imperfect landing got him a kick to the groin, with lots of momentum. I was in 1st grade. I was crying because he kept saying he would get me expelled. Obviously I didn’t even get in trouble since it was an accident; but I was scared for a few recesses after that.

I remember pretending to be that blind guy from Star Trek with my headbands, and getting my name on the board in kindergarten for it. My best friend at the time thought it was hilarious, so we both got in trouble and had to sit out for 5 minutes at recess for laughing in class.

Also, instead of getting your name on the board with check-marks after you were bad again, my kindergarden teacher wanted us to practice writing our names, so we would just write our name on the board two, or three times depending on how much we misbehaved.

I remember a weird boy in preschool used to use my toothbrush all the time, and the stupid monitors would let him because they weren’t labeled with our names. Now you have to understand, when I was younger I brushed my teeth probably 10 times a day. I loved doing it, and when I had to be at preschool for a whole half of a day and I couldn’t use my toothbrush because of some boy, I was very upset.

Anothe boy in kindergarden would steel my pencils and chew on them. Not just the end but all over them. My mom would give me a new pencil almost every day because I came home crying, over a pencil. They were the cool big ones, that are fatter and easier for a child to hold; but still. Oh the big problems we had.

I had a teacher who told us Goldfish crackers would swim around in our stomachs if we didn’t chew them properly. That one followed me till I learned about stomach acid. I hardly ever chew them anymore.

I recently read a book about the brain. It talks about human development, and how children don’t have the capacity to think about the future as we do yet; because that lobe of the brain develops last and you have to learn to use it as you grow. It’s interesting, because we try to teach children about consequences when they literally can’t fathom that concept yet. It’s also why children want to be things like dinosaurs, and purple rugs when they grow up. My little sister anted to be a crossing guard and a reign deer. They see life as it is, and it is to them a place full of possibilities. Not limitations, and not change. Children are funny. I’m glad I was one, and I get to have those memories, but I’m even more glad I’m past that.

It really is the thought that counts

As a young person, I'm perpetually broke. Not a surprise, most people now-a-days are somewhat broke.

But giving gifts is something that should have little to do with how much you spend, but rather how much time you spend thinking about the gift to make it special for the person.

Being thrifty, and getting an idea in my head I gave my mother one of her favorite gifts three Christmas's ago. My family all thinks this is weird, but I love it, and so does my mom. She says that if the house is on fire it's the only thing she is grabbing, because she loves it that much.

These are my sisters any my eyes, in order of age. I'm in the middle.

(I need to start bringing my camera places, because the one on my phone takes such crappy pictures)

But there you have it, the best gift I ever gave.

I'm thinking in a few more years I'll make another one, so you can see how we've grown. If my sisters will let me.

Things I'm bad at

People are always talking about honing skills, becoming better at what gifts we have...

Well, what about the things we just aren't good at, at all??

Here is a list of things I've decided to stop trying, because I was not made to do them.

Sports. When I was younger they were fun, but then I grew boobs and now I can't run for beans. It also has to do with the fact that I'm not competitive at all. And don't so much care to win, so I don't really try my hardest. It's just not in my nature.

Dancing. I like it, I have fun when I do it. But ask me to memorize a routine, and try as I will, I just can't. Put me in the back, that's a good plan.

Composing. Most musicians love to write music, and they always have a tune they are trying to get out. Not me. I see music like it is. When comes to writing my own I've not got a thing in my head. I'm quite poetic, and can write lyrics to something; however, I can't write a tune more complex then a few bars. It's just my brain.

Building things. I just am not interested in the way things work, so therefore have not got the ability or room in my brain for that sort of thing. That's what specialists are for, I'll keep that mentality forever.

There you have it, my short comings. I think it's good to admit what you don't have the capacity to do. That way you can focus on your actual abilities, instead of living in a dream world.

Denise's Law(s)

If I could make a law it would have to be that you take a driving pop quiz (ie: your driving skills, or lack there of, are evaluated when you least expect it). And if you do things like ride someones tail, change lanes, or multiple lanes without signaling, speed past someone then cut them off only to have to slam on your breaks immediately because the person in front of them is going the exact same speed...

well you get the point.

If you are a bad driver you should be fined, and if you are still a bad driver, you should have to ride the bus.

Not that I don't like motorcycles, but...

As I peruse the blogspot I have found it very difficult to find blogs that aren't just big adverts for a certain salon, or motorcycles.

Not that I don't enjoy a good ride now and then (weather permitting, and with a helmet too!) but I don't care how many CC's your engine has, or what new fantastic tires you just purchased.

I wish there was a better search format for this site, other then the next blog thing.

Am I missing it??