Three-fer

Boy I am really stinking up the place at this blog challenge thing. Here comes 3 of them.

Day 8: Old Photo of Me.

This one will probably be slightly underwhelming, because I am living out of suitcases in Oklahoma, and all of my stuff is in our storage unit. And most old pictures of me are at my parent's house. Let's peruse my pictures and see what we come up with.

I got all of these pictures from facebook stalking myself. It was a delightful experience. You know, it's funny looking back on old pictures from high school or college and thinking, "I was so cute and skinny!"... when at the time I thought I was an awkward cow. Such time wasted! How sad. Now I will just move forward, secure in my knowledge that I am a babe, or at least I will think that I was when I look back when I'm 80.

 Carving punkins. I was such a cute little kid. Good thing too, because I think my cuteness and the fact that I went to bed at like 7:30 are the only reasons I made it to adulthood. My nickname was the Tazmanian Devil.

 Getting my ballet on with my little friends. I only remember 2 of the girls in these pictures. My first best friends!

 I remember being extremely self-conscious about my whitey tighties hanging out of my leotard. How embarrassing.

 Rachel and me. Gosh, so many memories. Our ballet teacher loooooved us! I don't remember much actual ballet during this time period, mostly just being ridiculous.

 And now we're in high school. This was for a choir thing that was 80's themed. I was super sick and had to sing "Take My Breath Away" sounding like a chain smoker. That was a sad time. But at least I looked totally radical in my belt and blazer.

 Aw, short-round and me on his first day of high school! Ryan is now 6 foot something and all studly, and serving a mission. I'm either a junior or senior in this picture... Can't remember. Love the pearl necklace with the t-shirt and ugly light jean shorts.

Senior year trip to NYC! We walked through a street fair and thought these glasses were hilarious at the time. Who knew we were spot on with future trends? We liked hipster glasses way before hipsters even knew they were ironically cool. Suck it, hipsters.

 And here's a picture of me and the Care Bear on our second date. I saw this picture and thought it wasn't very old, but holy smokes that was over 3 years ago! Time flies when you're having fun. And moving a lot.

Day 9: Piercings and Tattoos

This one will also be underwhelming, because I am extremely boring. I have my ears pierced. Sometime in the last few years, my ears decided to become allergic to everything on the planet besides white gold. I have a pair of diamond studs and a pair of white gold hoops, and that's all I ever wear. I can wear my other earrings for short periods of time, but if I wear them for more than a few hours, my ears get all nasty. Bummer dude.

I double pierced my ears probably 4 different times through high school/college. The rebellious urge would strike, but apparently only very slightly. I'd get my ears double pierced, feel all rebel-y, and then get bored and take them out after a couple of months. My earring holes close up really fast. My ears will still close up after a couple of days if I leave my earrings out. It's very strange.

I could never get a tattoo, because I tend to have ADD about things that I like. I can't imagine being 90 years old and being like, "Oh yes, I'm so glad I got this ice cream cone tattooed on my hip. It really represents me as a person, and the wrinkles make it look even more awesome." Also, I typically tend to steer clear of things that hurt.  

Day 10: First Celebrity Crush

Oh, how I loved the Backstreet Boys. When I was in elementary school, the cool thing to do was write the name of your favorite Backstreet Boy all over your Lisa Frank notebook. Which name did I have plastered over my glittery dolphin-ed folder?

It was very difficult to find a picture that captured the Nick Carter of my 4th grade dreams. Time really has not been kind to him. Yikes.

I was a major Backstreet Boy junkie. It was the great divide of my elementary school. You had your N'Sync groupies and your Backstreet Boy groupies. Like the sharks and jets. Only less knife fights and more squealing pre-teen girls.

Oh, Backstreet Boys. Oh, Nick Carter. You were my fire; my one desire.

A topic I can really get excited about.

Day 7: 10 favorite foods.

Anyone who has read this blog or knows me in person knows that I am a big fan of food.  Eat to live, not live to eat? Definitely in the latter category...

So this one will take some serious thought. I like a lot of foods. And I'd hate to decide on a list of 10 of my favorite foods, to be forever recorded on the internet, only to realize that I neglected to mention something delicious. Because I am wordy and like to ramble, I am providing not only my 10 favorite foods, but explanations as to why I love them so much. I've decided to add pictures, so that everyone will be drooling by the time they finish this list.

1. S'MORES. I love s'mores. I love s'mores flavored things. I like s'mores PopTarts, s'mores ice cream, s'mores granola bars, s'mores cookies. But my absolute favorite is a good ol' fashioned campfire s'more. 2 honey graham cracker squares, 1/2 of a bar of Hershey's (don't be stingy and do a 1/4. Live a litte), and 2 marshmallows, al flambe. I like to slow roast my marshmallow to ensure maximum gooeyness, and then set it en fuego before smushing them between the chocolate and graham; combined to create the most delicious confection known to man.

Hello lover...

 2. Diet Coke. Is that a food? Whatevs. I think everyone has heard me sing its praises quite enough. But I shall declare it again: I love it. I recently purchased a 10 lb bag of Sonic ice to accompany my nightly glass of Diet Coke, and it was one of the best purchases I've made in my life. For those curious (and I know everyone is), here is my order of preferences when it comes to DC: Fountain drink, can, bottle. Bottle is really only a last resort.

Sweet Nectar of the Gods

3. Chips and guac. Homemade guac, please. I make some mean guacamole. If I don't have guacamole, I'll also settle for chips and fresh salsa. Mango salsa, pico, or this awesome bean/corn/tomato/avocado/onion concoction that I make. Goes best with a big bag of chips, some friends, and long conversations.

I want that.

 4. Ice cream. Preferably Blue Bell. I enjoy pretty much every flavor. But most especially: Peaches and Cream, Pralines and Caramel, Cookies and Cream... Oh I could go on and on. I like ice cream way too much, and I can't have it in the house unless people are coming over to eat it, because I will eat it straight from the carton for breakfast.

Oh hey there cutie...

 5. Fruit. I can't get enough of strawberries, watermelon, kiwis, mangos, pineapple, cherries, grapes... I love 'em all.

The one thing on this list that is healthy... Hey, it said my favorite foods; not the foods I eat most often. Sadly, they are not the same.

 6. Potatoes. In all of their various forms. I love them so much, I'm going to write a poem about them.

French fries, steak fries
And twice baked, too
Mashed and scalloped,
I love you.

Potato wedges,
Oven bak-ed,
Loaded with toppings,
Or simply naked.

Cheesy baked potato skins,
Can't forget the tots,
Au gratin, and casseroles,
Potatoes, I love you lots.

Finding an attractive picture of potatoes was difficult.

7. Cookies. Only homemade. Well, okay, and the occasional oreo (or 12). I won't lie... I usually like the cookies I make the best. I just make 'em how I like 'em! I like my cookies to be chewy and soft, but not cakey or fluffy. I'm a cookie snob. Try THESE cookies. They will change your chocolate chip life.

Cookie Perfection

8. All Mexican food. We eat something Mexican themed at least twice a week, probably more like thrice. I like spicy.

Yummmm.

9. Buffalo flavored things. I like Frank's Hot Sauce on almost everything. And I love me some super hot buffalo wings.

I love you, even if you do give me heartburn.

 10. Sour candy. I can't resist Sour Patch Kids. And don't even get me started on Sour Patch Watermelons. It doesn't have to be sour, really... I love all fruity and gummy candies. I like chocolate, but this is where it's at for me. I can't wait to have kids and steal their Halloween candy.

Oh boy oh boy, I love these little buddies.

 Man, I sure like a lot of crappy foods. This list made me very hungry. I haven't eaten a large majority of the foods on this list in a while, and it is making me grumpy. I'm getting some Sour Patch Watermelons at my earliest convenience, and I must recommend that you do the same.

In which I talk about how great I am

Day 6: 3 Personality traits I am proud of.

Well. I feel awkward about this. What if I write this post about how I like that I'm funny and someone comments, "Um... I really don't think you're funny at all." That would just be embarrassing. ...For that person, because then the whole world wide web would know that they have a terrible sense of humor. However, I am the expert on being me, so perhaps I can safely diagnose my 3 best personality traits.

1. I am extremely forgiving. Almost to a fault. On those rare instances where my dear husband is a pain in the hiney, I attempt to be mad at him. I will sulk around the house and try my best to look wounded. But then something will happen that I want to tell him about or I will want him to play MarioKart with me, and I forget entirely that I am mad at him. I am incapable of holding grudges. I don't like an tension or awkwardness, so I tend to just forgive and forget and move on with life. I heard a quote once, something along the lines of: "Holding a grudge is like drinking poison, and expecting the other person to die." The way I see it, being angry just takes a lot of effort, and I am really lazy. Being happy is easier.

2. Along those same lines, my default emotion is to be happy. Unless something is actively causing me to be unhappy, I'm usually just in a good mood. I don't get bogged down very easily. Again, for me it takes effort to be unhappy. And I don't have that kind of attention span. When something is bugging me, I will indulge in a few moments of complaining and self-pity, but there are things to do and places to be! I don't want to sit around and be sad. Sometimes when I'm feeling like life is ganging up on me, I will decide to be in a bad mood. I will walk around like the poor victim of a life of continual heartbreak. I'll walk around the grocery store, imagining I'm the heroine of a sad movie about someone who ruined dinner and her husband didn't even help do the dishes. It would be a very sad movie, with very sad music. And in this scene I am walking around, feeling completely alone in this crowded grocery store of people who don't even know the agony of my tragic life. But then I will see a puppy or someone fall off of a treadmill or have an ice cream cone and my whole bad mood will be ruined.

3. I think (and hope) I'm a pretty compassionate person. I really like people, and I feel like I am pretty decent at understanding and helping. Sometimes the amount of empathy I feel is kind of ridiculous. I've spent hours reading some stranger's blog about how her son and her husband both died within 6 months of each other, and I cry and cry just imaging her heartache. I don't even know her and I want to go to her house, give her a hug, clean her kitchen and make her dinner. I just can't stand it when other people are sad. Whenever any member of my family is sad, I just want to feel their sadness for them and take it from them. I'm still struggling in the whole being helpful to those that I feel compassion towards, but I'm working on it. Perhaps I should start by having more compassion towards people who fall off of the treadmill, instead of laughing at them.

My guilty pleasure

Day 5: My guilty pleasure

Hmm. This could be kind of difficult, because there are a lot of things that I do that I probably should feel guilty about, but I really don't. Like drinking Diet Coke. I know that I will probably die of artificial sugar induced cancer, and I'm well informed on all of the not-extremely-well-documented-or-researched ill effects of diet carbonated drinks, but gosh darn it I love that stuff. And I really don't feel very guilty about it.

I'm having a hard time coming up with a guilty pleasure. I probably just need to feel more guilty about a lot of things I do. Drinking orange juice straight from the carton? Don't feel guilty. Enjoying the occasional Crunch Wrap Supreme from T-Bell? Zero guilt. Watching an entire season of America's Next Top Model in one weekend? My guilt-o-meter is barely flinching.

I would have to say my main guilty pleasure would be my choice of reading material. My husband jokes that he can always find me in the young adult section of the library. I don't like to read books with a lot of smut and language, but I also don't always want a book that is challenging and difficult. Sometimes (99% of the time) I just want to read what I call "fluff". So yes, I read my fair share of angsty teenage drama books. And when I'm at the gym or airport reading these ridiculous books, I feel embarrassed, and I would like to hide my book inside the cover of some smarty pants book. I think I just might do that. I also enjoy reading People magazine, but reserve this guilty pleasure for airplane flights.

But hey, at least I'm not reading 50 Shades of Grey. When I first heard of the book, I did a little google search to see what it was about and GOOD GRIEF women! What on earth? If I were sitting next to someone reading this book, I would feel extremely uncomfortable. I wanted to dip my computer and my eyeballs into a bucket of Lysol to cleanse away the book excerpt I saw. And then I saw this hilarious Ellen video. (Warning: This video is a little naughty... She is making fun of a book that is a LOT naughty.)

Anywho. I do feel a bit guilty/embarrassed about my reading selections, but not nearly as embarrassed as some people SHOULD feel... Perverts.

20 Fascinating Facts About Amy +

I'm already a day late on this thing. I think I will include both days in one post. That might be against the rules. I don't care. You're not the boss of my life.

Day 2: 20 Facts About Me
Here comes the first 20 facts about me that I could think of, in no order of significance.

1. I really enjoy annoying my dog. Favorites include hiding from her and scaring her when she finds me, and getting her so excited about going on walks that she jumps about 10 feet straight up in the air, and scaring her with the vacuum.

2. I'm kind of obsessive about cleaning out my ears. And if I see earwax in someone's ears, it takes physical restraint to not grab a Q-tip and go to town.

3. I really like pickles. Only of the dill variety. Sweet pickles are the devil.

4. I hate being hot. In my opinion, you can always put on more clothes, but you can only take off so much... The only exception to my hatred of being hot is if I am swimming. But if I'm not swimming, I want to be sitting inside and praising the inventors of air conditioning.

5. I am currently watching a show called "Too Cute" on Animal Planet. It is a show entirely about puppies and other cute animals. It is amazing. And now I'm going to go adopt every puppy in the world.

6. I have a really deep belly button. It's absurd. And I HATE it when my husband pokes my belly button.

7. I make a weird "thinking face" that my whole family makes fun of. I squint my eyes and kind of look off to the side, in my own little world. This often accompanies day dreaming, and the running narrative that plays in my head.

8. I can't cross my eyes. When I try, one of my eyes goes all crazy and zooms to the wrong side. It's kind of freaky.

9. I really like lists. And my planner. I can't function without these two items.

10. I haven't thrown up since I was 7. Because of this, I have developed a major phobia. It's pretty bad. Just the mere mention of someone feeling sick gives me heart palpitations. I kind of wish I would just throw up one of these days so I will get over it and stop being a such a weenie about it.

11. Jeans and a sweater is my favorite thing to wear. Spokane will be heaven.

12. When I was little, I used to wish that I was a midget. I was a very strange child.

13. I like animals, but only selectively. I like 1 out of every 100 cats I meet, and I tend to only like bigger dogs. I would have no problem drop kicking most little yippy dogs across a football field. Mostly I like baby animals. I also really like steak. I like to pretend that my meat grows on a tree.

14.  I have the culinary palate of a 4 year old. Yes, I eat normal grown-up food normally, but if left to my own devices (and with no negative health results) I would subsist entirely on sugary cereals, Lunchables, frozen burritos, goldfish, cookies, fruit, and ice cream.

15. A list of foods I would rather starve to death than eat: Mayonnaise, Ketchup, Baloney, Hot dogs, Cottage cheese, and soggy cereal.

16. All I can think of is food things. I don't like milk, but I really want to like milk. Every month or so, I take a sip to see if I've started liking it, but I never do. I only pour enough milk on my cereal to prevent shredding the roof of my mouth, and I tip all of the milk off of each bite before I eat it. But oh I want to like milk. Drinking a glass of water with a big fat brownie really leaves a lot to be desired.

17. My toenails are always painted. And I can't stand having long fingernails.

18. I have extremely detailed and complex dreams every single night. And I always remember them. A couple of nights ago, I dreamed that I gave birth to a 6 year old. I was trying to decide what to name her, but instead I just asked her what her name was, and that was that. I was depressed that I didn't get to enjoy any of the baby and growing up things.

19.  I am a combination of social and anti-social. There are times where all I want to do is be surrounded by people, and there are a lot of other times where all I want to do is wear sweat pants and be an absolute sloth.

20. I am also a bizarre combination of lazy and hyper. I love to run, take my dog on walks, dance around the kitchen, and I am generally pretty energetic and hyper. But sometimes I'll be sitting on the couch and want to get a drink or get the remote or something, but getting up sounds entirely too exhausting, so I will sit there in discomfort and whine about it until Cary gets tired of hearing about it and gets me some water. Thanks, Care Bear. You're a peach.

I bet your life feels enriched, now that you know all of these important and inspiring things about me.

Day 3: (Skipping, because I don't got no business.)

Day 4: Earliest Childhood Memory.

This one took some digging. And I came to the conclusion: I must not have been a very observant child, because I can not remember a single thing until the Hat Parade at my preschool. I must have been 3 or 4. We all made hats, and then had a parade. Hence the name, Hat Parade. My hat was made of a paper plate and a paper bowl, stacked on top of each other. And then I think I must have poured a whole bottle of glue on it, and dropped sequins, pipe cleaners, and confetti onto the hat until I felt satisfied. I was very proud of that hat. When I see pictures of this event, I see all of the other preschoolers with fancy hats that they most definitely did not make by themselves, but at the time I was not the least bit concerned. As far as I cared, my hat was the most majestic piece of head wear to ever grace the PCBC Preschool parking lot. My mom came to watch, and I'm sure she's never been more proud.


Tomorrow (or the next time I write): My guilty pleasure. Try to contain your excitement. It's going to juicy.

Lame and cliche attempt to blog more regularly.

I'm doing one of those 31 days of blogging dealios. Yes, they are kind of lame but I am really lacking in blog fodder these days. My day-to-day just does not particularly lend itself to captivating blogs. Let's take a quick walk-through of my life these days:
7:30 Wake up and walk my dog.
8:30 Come home and read everything that there ever was on the internet. Perhaps flip channels. Procrastinate going to the gym. Maybe I'll paint my toenails. Do whatever chores need doing. Bother Abby while she's napping.
10:30 Grab a book and lay by the pool for a bit. Or go grocery shopping or something.
11:30 Drive on base and stop by the library. Head to the gym and work out forever.
2:00 Engage in my only productive activity of the day: Teach swim lessons two of the most precious little girls on the planet. Photo evidence:

Cute Kylie bug.

4:00 Procrastinate showering
5:30-7:30 Research housing in Spokane/Nursing school info/Scholarship and student loan stuff/possible employment and get really frustrated and decide to just quit and live in my car (which is now a much more viable proposition, seeing as we have the Rav 4 instead of my Honda Civic). Eventually decide that would be a bad idea, and do more research. Perhaps do some light stress crying. Angsty and dramatic phone call to parents optional.
7:30 Make dinner and hang out with my cute husband, as long as he isn't sleeping in preparation for a middle-of-the-night simulator flight.
11:00 Go to bed and start the whole process over again. It's a hard knock life.

I've decided to embrace the lazy summer, because I've made a pretty big step in my life and applied for nursing school at Washington State University, to hopefully start in January. I have 2 pre-reqs to take, and I'm taking them in Spokane starting at the end of August. So, I'm enjoying my lazy summer and refusing to feel guilty about it.

So, there. And it's my blog so I'll do a blog challenge if I want to. Perhaps it will just get me in the habit of blogging often, in which case I would consider it a success.

I stole this particular challenge from a friend's blog that I stalk occasionally follow. If anyone else out there feels like writing in their blog everyday for a month with strange prompts from this challenge thing, you could do it too and it would be like a thing. It would be radical. I don't have a business, so I'm skipping number 3. So really, it's a 30 day blog challenge. And I just remembered that I'm going on vacation in a week and a half, so the chances of me actually fulfilling this all in 30 concurrent days are nonexistent very slim  Oh well. I do what I want.

 Ok, so I guess it is introduction time. I am pretty sure that 90% of people who read this blog actually know the real life version of me. But not my viewership in Cambodia, because I don't know anyone in Cambodia. So to those in Cambodia, and those who found my blog through bizarre google searches, here's an introduction to yours truly.
This is me:

 And this is my husband:

 And this is my dog:

And we are all pretty weird.

Tune in tomorrow for 20 Fascinating Facts About Me. It's going to be wild.