A Blessing

I stumbled upon "The Thankful Project" and love the idea! I am also totally cool with the fact that there is no way in hell I will be blogging every day for any reason. That said, I want to participate throughout the month (and by month I mean the last 16 days of it because I'm a slow starter).

November 14: A Blessing

Just one?? It's so hard to narrow down! I am overwhelmed every day for all the blessings I get to enjoy in my life.

When I read the word Blessing the first thing that pops into my head is "Bart". As I write this he is making dinner- Homemade Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowls. Why? Because I can't eat normal Teriyaki sauce. He has fully embraced my health issues and has made everything easier. I am thankful for Bart every.single.day. for the love and service he shows me.
(side note....it smells amazeballs and I'm starving)

25 Before 25

Happy happy birthday to me! I'm 24 which means I'm FINALLY old enough to make a 25 Thing to do Before I Turn 25 list! Yay! Here you are (in no particular order)

1. Graduate college [x]
2. Make something off Pinterest
3. Have a girls weekend with mom and sisters
4. Run 2 half marathons or 1 full one
5. Have a baby (or be prego with one)[x]
6. Pay for a stranger's meal
7. Try 10 new recipes and share them with YOU
8. Write a letter to someone I love [x]
9. Visit a beach
10. Get a raise [x]
11. Go to 3 LDS Temples that we haven't been to yet
12. See the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform live
13. Paint a picture and hang it on the wall
14. Give someone a Book of  Mormon
15. Make a new friend
16. Hike Timp (and learn how to spell out Timp.....)
17. Spend a weekend completely unplugged
18. Eat a piece of cheesecake [x]
19. Read 12 new books (1 book a month-ish)
20. Have a new couple over for dinner
21. Go to a play [x]
22. Go 80's dancing
23. Dominate my Hashimoto's check up/tests [x]
24. Get a legit hair cut (not one I do myself)[x]
25. Learn how to hem pants (because as Bart puts it "I'm 4 feet tall").

Basketball, Football and B-Day Ice Cream

Yesterday at my birthday dinner I couldn't have my free birthday ice cream. I almost cried.

I ate WAY too many potato chips on the road.
(but I don't care too much because I was denied all the goodness of sugar and candy that belongs on a road trip)

"Blink" is a totally interesting book about your subconcious and how we aren't in as much control as we think we are.

Sometimes the only pictures I want to take are selfies with Bart

Here was my weekend: Friday night go to dinner because we have a coupon (booya). Come home to watch Aggie Basketball game. Do homework and laundry. Wake up Saturday and drive to Vegas. Go to Aggie football game. Sleep. Drive home. Go to birthday dinner. Sleep...hello Monday.

I told Bart that going to dinner and then sitting on the couch to watch basketball does NOT count as a date. He looked at me confused and continued to watch the game. Silly boys.

2 Cents- But Really, Marriage Isn't for You

A few days ago a blog post called "Marriage Isn't For You" surfaced on Facebook and made its way across cyber space. Initially it was only positive things being said about this article. When I read it I thought it was great advice. Some of the advice I got in my own marriage ceremony was always focus on the other person's happiness and your own happiness will follow.

Within a day other articles surfaced saying this guy was wrong. Marriage is about sacrifice, but you can't give up your own wishes and dreams to do it...which brings me to my "2 Cents" on this article: "Why Man's 'Marriage Isn't For You' Essay Misses the Mark"

One specific part of the article bothered me,

"The message can also be confusing to women, innate providers to begin with, says Bonior. Culture encourages this maternal instinct from childhood by giving little girls dolls to care for, and this mentality often carries over into adulthood, sometimes to extreme levels. We already know that women do the lion’s share of chores and childcare, but they work longer hours outside the home, too, according to a recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center. The average number of hours per week that men spend at their jobs has declined from 42 to 37 between 1965 and 2011. Meanwhile, women have increased their office time from 8 hours to 21 hours. “If women are taught to further put their personal needs on the back burner, what would their lives look like?” asks Bonior."

blah blah blah blah blah

Call me a woman hater...but SERIOUSLY? get over yourself ladies. From my personal experience putting your partner's needs first doesn't limit your own happiness. it doesn't take away your chance to fulfill your dreams. it doesn't mean put your own life on the backburner. It means creating a life TOGETHER. If you are putting your husband's needs first, and he is putting your needs first, then technically both of your lives are going exactly the way you want them to.

 "Putting the other person first" doesn't eliminate the idea of compromise, it just helps with it. Who wants something more? what is better for the family? That is the decision you make...whether it was your first choice or not. The door swings both ways and the less selfish YOU are in YOUR marriage...the happier it will be. 

This has nothing to do with women's rights and equality in the bedroom. It's simply one man's opinion of what it takes to have a successful marriage. and I happen to agree with him. 

Loving my husband with all I have, focusing on his needs, helping him accomplish his dreams and making him happy doesn't make me less of a woman. it doesn't degrade me or undo all the things women have worked for. 

When I married him we committed to making each other happy, and focusing on each others needs...and loving each other. 

so yes...marriage isn't for me.

2 Cents: Worst Health Habits EVER

I have been looking for an article to give my 2 cents about and haven't really found anything too exciting. I haven't been in the mood to blog lately so I'm trying to get over the hump! I stumbled across this article: The 7 Worst Health Habits Ever and it got me thinking about bad habits...health...and bad health habits.

Ever since I was diagnosed with Hashimotos  the word "health" has taken on a whole new meaning. It is much more personalized than the magazines make it seem. I have stopped looking through Shape and other magazines as they make their way to my desk because a lot of what is in those stories don't apply to me (ex. Potato Chips with sea salt is a better snack for me than a whole grain piece of toast with jam.) And if they do apply, chances are I'm already doing that really healthy habit.  Reading this article I was happy to see that the bad habit I need to break is flossing more. I probably floss 5 days a week and then whenever there is something clearly stuck in my teeth (thanks carrots). Note to self: floss more.

There is always room for improvement when it comes to health and for me I could sit on the couch less (a habit I acquired while I wasn't able to exercise...and realized I actually really love sitting on the couch) and strength train more. Go out and run hard and fast instead of take it easy. Eat even MORE veggies.

I guess my point is that this article is overly broad and kind of stupid. In my opinion there are worse habits than these listed and habits that are bad for some, aren't always bad for others.

COMM, MUSC & ENGL

6 more weeks of class! 6! Which means I need to get going because I still have 16 more classes to review before I finish...

Summer 2013. COMM 3640-Writing for New Media. Grade: A

I almost managed to make it through college without taking Summer classes...Once I realized I could finish in 2013 I decided to suck it up and take a few. This one was online so it wasn't so bad. I liked the way my professor organized the class. Discussions, quizzes, assignments. That's it! For my final project I created a Twitter Account. The requirements included regularly tweeting, finding a topic that could appeal to a specific audience and engaging with that audience. I was only a few months into my Hashimotos treatment so that was the main thing that occupied my mind. Turns out there is a big following out there when it comes to health, thyroid disorders and Hashimotos. The professor had us each create our own rubric to grade us. I made a good chunk of points go toward getting more than 50 followers (in 1 month). She messaged me and told me that was a lofty goal and to maybe aim a little lower...I of course became determined to succeed! I had over 100 followers by the time she graded me. Hence the A.

I think "new Media" is kind of a stupid term these days. Anyone who is in college is use to the media everyone is using and it isn't really "new" to us. I understand why the older crowd calls it new...but I would say my generation just calls it media. Either way, I learned how to write for it...whatever that means!

Spring 2012. MUSC 3600- World Music. Grade: A-

I needed an art credit. World Music fit my schedule. It was a class with 700 students in a huge auditorium. Participation was based on our Clicker answers. It could have been a disaster...but our professor made it work. I really liked how she approached each new chapter. Every section we started out listening to a piece of music. We listened to the song uninterrupted..unsure of what we were listening to. Most of the time it just seemed like noise. and not pretty noise. The kind of noise you turned off immediately. However, throughout the lectures she would break that song down and explain what we were hearing. She would teach that certain noises and instruments meant different things. That there really was a meaning behind the madness. Then we would listen to the song again. It was completely different. I could pick out the different instruments and I understood what I heard! It was a genius way to teach this class and I really enjoyed it.

Fall 2010. ENGL 2010-Intermediate Writing. Grade: A

My second and last required English class. Almost sucked as bad as the first one. I wasn't interested and my papers usually showed it. I remember a few annoying people in the class...and my professor telling me I could do better...but I got the A and moved on. Go college!