My never-ending quest to become a better person is continuing with my latest challenge: I'm trying REALLY hard to become more of an even-keeled person. Let me explain.

My family has always called me "high strung". As in, I get too excited/mad/angry about stuff and tend to respond aggressively. (i.e I get pissed and say stuff I shouldn't in the heat of the moment). It's always kind of hurt my feelings when people say that, because I KNOW I'm really emotional, and there's no way I can change that. Not gonna happen. BUT- I most definately CAN control how I respond to a situation...especially at work. There's no need for me to get pissed all the time. It just makes me nervous.

I'm also working on not gossiping as much. Let me tell you, it's HARD not to gossip when you work in a newsroom. I've been trying to let the gossip come to me, instead of it going in my ears and out of my mouth to the next person I see. Anyone who works in television news knows how challenging it is to keep your mouth shut when you just sooooo badly want to add to the nonsense that's being discussed in the newsroom. So there's that. (by the way, my gossiping isn't mean or malicious and I don't talk sh*t about my friends. It's mostly at work as in "did you hear ___ happened to ____ and __might happen if they don't ___?")

Anway, so yesterday I was trying REALLY hard not to add my two cents to Gossip Central, while letting petty insults thrown at me roll off my shoulders, all the while biting my tongue instead of spitting out the first snappy retort that pops into my head.

Can you believe THREE PEOPLE asked me what was wrong and why I was being so quiet? Apparently the old adage holds true for me: If I don't have anything nice to say, I don't say anything at all!

Yikes! Strapped for Time.

I'll admit it. Usually I have my blog post ideas a day ahead of time, and have even started writing them most of them, then schedule them to post at a certain time. Today, I got nuthin'.

So, here's a great website that I just discovered that's full of all sorts of articles about interesting stuff you never thought you'd be interested in.

MentalFloss

Happy Tuesday!

Becky's Happy Music Monday!!!

I've decided to enlist the help of my friends for Happy Music Mondays because my mind has been blank as of late. I texted Becky and asked her what song made her happy, and she said this one. AND Sunday was very rainy, too. So it fits.
Keep an eye on your phone in the coming weeks, you might be the one responsible for next week's HMM!

Weekend Recap.

Friday

Since Felix always pays for me and buys me dinner, and since we're not eating out the entire month of October, I told Felix to pick any restaurant he wanted to go to, and I'd buy him dinner. So we went to Sawa (It's a Japanese steakhouse) and we got some sushi rolls and hibatchi (I got steak and shrimp...yum!!). After dinner, we decided to do a little shopping for Felix (if he's in the mood to shop, who am I to complain? It happens so rarely!). We picked out some shirts for him, then we stopped at Handel's Ice Cream (best ice cream I've ever had. Hands down.) I got some Graham Central Station. It's graham cracker flavored ice cream with crumbled graham crackers, and chocolate covered graham crackers, and it. is. heavenly. After that, we were beat. We went home, watched a little TV, and were in bed around 11:30. It was nice, because we've been so busy lately and haven't had a chance to just relax!

Saturday.

Saturday morning it was cold and rainy, and I decided to make pecan tassies. Why? I've decided to make Christmas cookies for my co-workers this year instead of buying them gifts because it get ssoooo expensive, and I just don't have the money this year. The only problem is, I've never really made cookies before, because baking is just NOT my thing. So, I figured I should "test-drive" all my cookie recipes before I tried to make them during the holidays. This is how they turned out:

The ones up front came from the second batch, which wasn't as good as the first. I tried to use up all of the extra filling, which just resulted in them baking over. But they still tasted yummy!

After baking cookies, Felix and I headed to Brookville for a few hours to see my Aunt Dayna's family. It's crazy my cousin Katie is married and pregnant with her THIRD kid, and my cousin Josh, who is in the Air Force and I NEVER see, is married and just had his second baby. It was awesome to see everyone. It happens so rarely. I don't mean this to sound rude, but I always forget how much I like my family until I spend time with them! I wish everyone wasn't so busy and we could do it more often. I can't believe I forgot to take pictures! My camera was in my purse and I just didn't do it. Whoops!

After Felix and I left Brookville, we headed BACK to Ohio, straight to have dinner with our friends Wayman and Lyz. We didn't get there until around 9:00, but Wayman made his famous spaghetti sauce (SPICY!) and we watched the Penn State game. Both of us were exhausted, so we went straight upstairs when we got home and went to bed.

This morning Felix and I cleaned the ENTIRE house, and now we're headed to the grocery store. I'll come home and nap for a few hours, then it's off to work for one more week of ten hour days!

This just in: Looks like I'm going to Chicago over Thanksgiving with Felix to meet his other sisters! One weekend I'll be in Chicago, then the next we'll be in NYC with Steph and Rich! We're jet-setters, what can I say?

Caturday.

Fit Friday...NOT!

I'm putting Fit Friday on hold for a few weeks because I am SOOOO over obsessing about diet and fitness. I'm no longer counting points, adding up every calorie that goes in my mouth, or feeling intensely disappointed in myself when I skip a workout.
Instead, I'm eating healthy, and when I'm hungry, and doing workouts that I enjoy and that I don't dread. I've been doing this since Monday and I already feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, AND I've eaten healthy and worked out all week. Plus, I had a brownie and didn't want to kill myself, but I also skipped on the pumpkin creme brulee. It's all about balance, people, and right now I'm bored to tears with obsessing about all this stuff that stresses me out.

Soooo Fit Friday will return when I'm done boycotting it. I can't say when that will be.

A few things today:

1. I'm very excited to have gotten my first blog comment that disagreed with what I blogged about by someone I don't know. Look at yesterday's post and you'll see the comment from "Jennifer". Jennifer, if I do know you, please tell me who you are cause I can't figure it out for the life of me. If I DON'T know you, thanks for reading my blog!!! It's exciting that more than just my mom and few friends are interested in my writing.

2. "Cougartown", a new show on ABC, is friggin hilarious! I dvr'd it on Wednesday and watched it yesterday, and I'm hooked!! I laughed out loud, by myself, several times. My favorite line of the episode? "My uterus almost shot out!" Hysterical. Here's a clip:

AnnaLynne McCord Creeps Me Out.

There's something about the actress AnnaLynne McCord that really freaks me out. I believe she's supposed to be some sort hottie in the remake of 90210, but I find her almost repulsive.

I'm not really sure what it is. To me, she looks a little mannish. Like her features are WAY too severe, and she plays them up with WAY too much makeup.

Or maybe I feel like she's the epitome of what "hot" is "supposed" to look like, according to Hollywood. I feel like maybe some bigwig movie execs actually MADE AnnaLynne, then doped her up so she couldn't protest. Look at her eyes. She looks kind of "Stepford-Wives-Strung-Out" to me.

I know a LOT of people think she's super hot. But she scares me. Trust me, it's not jealousy. I'll be the first one to give credit where credit is due. (Umm, hello? Beyonce? Hot.)

And why is she ALWAYS SMILING THAT BIG TOOTHY GRIN? It irritates me, people!

It's official. I think she's a dude. Don't you think she has a certain Fergie-ish Man quality about her?

What if This is as Good as it Gets?

My friend Leah re-posted a blog on her Facebook last night that she wrote in September of 2008, and she said it was funny how very little had changed in the last year.

That got me thinking about MY last year, and how much has changed and how much has stayed the same.

Most everything has stayed exactly that same. And that's not a bad thing. Aside from the day-to-day bitches that EVERYONE has, I have a great life. It's nothing spectacular. It's definately not what I thought it was going to be, but maybe that makes it better.

I have a full-time job that I went to school for, that pays me enough that I'm slowing paying off debt and putting a little of it in the bank. I can take vacations and buy nice things. I'm toying with the idea of maybe going back to school in a few years.

This time last year, I had been living with Felix for just over three short months, and now, a year later, we're still going strong and madly and happily in love. I don't stress over the things I used to...like: "What if he hates living with me?" or "What if this doesn't work?". We've settled into that comfortableness that may not always be butterflies-inducing and exciting, but wonderful at the same time. He's my best friend and I still get excited to see him when he gets home. We rarely fight, and every single day I thank God that I have him.

I have wonderful friends who mean more and more to me as I get older, and I appreciate and enjoy every moment I get to spend with them. A few of them are having kids now, and it's amazing to see how everyone's lives are turning out.

I feel as though I'm closer to my family than I have ever been before. I talk to my mom at LEAST once a day, I see them as much as I can. I have the most ADORABLE nephew ever known to man (Here's a picture to break up the long monotony of this blog):

I have a great relationship with my sister (or so I hope!) Morgan, and I'm thankful for having such a wonderful family that I've managed to stay close to.

My weeks are filled with a comfortable routine that I've come to relish, my weekends are full of family, friends, and fun. I really don't have too much stress in my life, and if at this time next year my life is the same as it is now? I'll be just as happy and content.

The First Step is Admitting You Have a Problem.

I am a drug addict. I confess. I've tried to deny it for a long time, but after Sunday's episode, I've got to come to grips with my addiction.
Ladies and gents: I am disgustingly addicted to caffeine.
I never thought I had a problem. I wake up every morning, and drink a cup of coffee, but mostly because I read in Women's Health that coffee can help you burn more calories during your workout. Granted, you all know about my love for Dunkin Donuts Iced Latte Lite's, but that's because I like the taste. Right? Maybe not.
Ok, here's what happened: I stayed out REALLY late Saturday night (like, didn't get to bed until almost 4 am). I woke up on Sunday morning around 8:30 a.m. so I could see Talia for a little bit before Felix took her back to her mom's. Felix had coffee made, and I poured a cup, but left it sitting on the end table and forgot about it.
Fast forward to a few hours later, I decide to go to Felix's softball game to see our friend Lyz, and I was sitting there talking to her and realized I had a dull throbbing in the back of my neck and the top of my head. No biggie, I chalked it up to a few-too-many beers the night before. It got really hot outside, so I peaced out. I had to go to the grocery store, then try and sleep before going into work at 9pm that night. As I'm walking through the grocery store, I realize I'm feeling a little nauseous. And my head was starting to hurt worse. I grabbed what I needed, skipped Giant Eagle (yes, I go more than one place so I can take advantage of all the deals. What?), and promptly drove home. After I unpacked my groceries, I went upstairs to nap. I never really fell into a deep sleep, but drifted off for about an hour and a half. I wake up to an absolute MIGRAINE of a headache. Can't move my neck, it's hard to see, and I feel like I'm going to die. I'm sweating. I'm feeling sick to my stomach. I start to panic because I was CONVINCED for a few minutes that I had swine flu, and how would the station replace me when I'm producing BOTH hours of the morning show for two weeks while our other producer is off?
In my panic, I realize I hadn't had my cup of coffee that morning.
So, in one last desperate attempt, I brew a pot. I swear, after a few sips, my headache eased slightly. Half a cup in? Headache's almost gone and I'm not sweating. After a full cup, I feel almost 100%. By the time I got out of the shower a half hour later, I felt absolutely, completely better.
It's my caffeine addiction. I couldn't believe how SICK it made me. I can totally understand why meth and heroin and crack addicts relapse. If caffeine withdrawals are even a quarter of what drug withdrawals are, I'd totally be hitting the crack pipe again. No question.

Happy Music Monday!!

In honor of my ten hour work days for the next two weeks:

Weekend Recap.

I'm so mad. I finally bought a new battery for my camera, took it out last night, and left it at the bar/restaurant. We were the last to leave, so I'm sure it's still there, but it's not open on Sundays so I have to wait until tomorrow to call...all the while freaking out that my $200+ camera is gone. That's all the weekend recap you're getting today, folks. I'm beat and I start ten hour nights tonight and for the next few weeks. Grrr.

Caturday.

Fit Friday...maybe today I'll call it "Fat Friday"!!!

Damn, after working out for 30 days straight in August, I have TOTALLY gone downhill this month. Crazy work weeks, plus super busy weekends, plus fighting off colds and no motivation= LAZY.
I'm giving myself until Monday, then I'm going balls to the wall. I won't have any more excuses, except that I'll be working 10 hour days for two weeks, but that means I'm going into work at 9pm instead of 11pm, and there's no excuse for not having plenty of time to workout before that.
I think I also have to incorporate more fun workouts. Jillian Michaels' workouts are TOUGH,but what good are they if you dread doing them? I'm also done being so hard on myself for every mistake I make. If I slip up and eat a donut? Whoops, tomorrow is another day. I'm done beating myself up for enjoying life. So from here on out, I'm aiming for workouts I enjoy, and a balanced diet that includes a treat or two...or three. I've been trying to lose the same ten pounds for the last year, and it ain't happening, so something I'm doing now isn't working!

Aaaand since I haven't been very "fit" this week, I'm half-assing this Fit Friday, too. Maybe next week I'll feel more motivated. BLAH.

Recommended Website: Nataliedee.com

My Dad is Funny.

Last year for Christmas, we got Talia a blanket that came with this sleep mask. She never uses it, and I started to a few months ago to help me sleep during the day. I took it to my parents' a few weeks ago when I went home, and dad got ahold of it. If you know my dad's personality, it jut makes this picture that much funnier.

Exciting Day in the Valley.

All eyes are going to be on the GM plant in the Mahoning Valley today. Barack Obama is making a private appearance later this morning to talk about the auto industry and the economy. Glad I'm not working the afternoons today because when Barack's in town, my newsroom goes nuts. With all due respect, it also went nuts when John McCain came to the Valley during his presidential run. At least we're not (too) biased.

Happy Music Monday Update.

Sooo looks like my videos below have been removed from YouTube because of a copyright claim from Viacom. Oh well, if you're really that interested, it's on the MTV Website under "Most talked about moments of the 2009 VMA's".

Happy Music Monday and More!!!

Ok first things first. Last night I logged onto Facebook before work and everyone had a status update saying rapper Kanye West was a jerk, and poor Taylor Swift, and blah blah blah. I had no idea what the hype was about, so I did a little investigating reporting and saw that Kanye did this to poor Taylor while she was giving her acceptance speech for her very first ever VMA Award:



Poor Taylor. Later in the show, when Beyonce won "Video of the Year", instead of giving an acceptance speech, she called up Taylor Swift so she could have a do-over, saying she remembers what a big night it was for her when she was nominated for her first VMA award at 17-years old. Yet another reason why I love Beyonce. She's one classy bitch.

Anyway, after that debacle, today's Happy Music Monday goes out to Taylor Swift!! Here's her performance last night, just a few minutes after Kanye was a Creep:

Weekend Recap.

Another busy, but fun weekend is coming to a close! I just woke up from my weekly Sunday evening nap, and I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed because I'm pretty grumpy. Oh well, I have the season finale of True Blood to look forward to in less than two hours!

Anyway, Friday when Felix got off work, we headed to Brookville to see Bellefonte (the high school team my brother coaches) take on our alma mater. It's always a good game because Brookville's coach used to coach my brother, Zac...so it's kind of a like a student vs. teacher match-up. It was a great game, but cold and rainy! Bellefonte won in double overtime, by the way!! I always get so proud of Zac when I see him coaching:

Felix and I starting to get sick of sitting in the cold drizzle:

We stayed in Brookville Friday night, then woke up and met Becky and her family for breakfast. Morgan came with us too. It was a great time, but I forgot to take pictures. It's so cute, Becky's daughter Madeline (who's 3) always cries for me when I leave and I'm not sure why, but it makes me feel special. "I waaaant my ashweeeee!!!" Too cute!

After breakfast Felix and I hit the road for the second leg of our weekend trip, and headed down to Steph and Rich's house in Pittsburgh! We went on one of those sight-seeing cruises along the three rivers, and it was a great time!! In all the years I've lived in the area, I've never taken the time to go on one, so it was worth it. And yes, we're wearing the same hoodies we wore to the football game. We sported them all weekend long. What?

Steph and Rich on the boat:

Steph and I thoroughly enjoy how well Felix and Rich get along...here they're apparently making fun of some "knobby kneed" chick. Ohhh the things men point out and make fun of. No wonder all women have complexes about their looks.

And, of course, me and Steph. Already set our next date...October 24th:)

After the boat, we went to the Cheesecake Factory. AMAZING place! I've never been there, and I was impressed. After appetizers, dinner, and cheesecake, we went to the new Rivers Casino, where we all lost around 40 bucks each. Then we headed back to Steph and Rich's house, where I promptly fell asleep on her couch while Felix and Rich watched THE Ohio State University game. At like 10:30. Man, I'm lame! But, I slept like a rock...I must've needed it! Of course, we had to wake up at 7 and hit the road so Felix would get to his softball game in time. The game was a joke. Felix's team was kicking so much ass, during one inning they went through the lineup 3 times. Both games stopped in the fourth inning due to a 20-run-mercy rule. I guess if I picked the right game to go watch, we were only there for about an hour and a half!

Caturday.

Fit Friday!!!

Ughhhhh I've been boycotting healthy stuff the last week or so, and am just now getting back into my routine.

My work schedule was sooo messed up, I wasn't sleeping, and then I'd eat crap because I didn't have any will power, and wasn't exercising (is it just me or do you seem to eat healthier the days you work out as well?). So I just started feeling lazy and rundown. BUT-the good news is, the scale has stayed the same, which is a HUGE surprise, because I felt for sure I had gained.

Speaking of the scale, Steph and I had an interesting chat (via unlimited texts) yesterday about the scale.

My heart literally starts HAMMERING before I step on it. She's terrified of it. Why do we let a friggin' number have so much influence on us? I know my mom waits all week to weigh herself, and her mood for the rest of the day depends on how much that scale moved. It's sick, really. We all know muscle is more dense than fat, so we might weigh more if we're building muscle, but really? that fact doesn't pop into our minds if we've been working their ass off for a week and the scale doesn't move. We're all obsessed with that number getting smaller and smaller. And I really don't think that will go away...although I am learning to not beat myself up over not losing. If I'm eating healthy and working out, I know I'm only doing something good for myself.

After hopping back on the workout/eating right bandwagon the last few days, I feel like a million bucks.

Now, I can't wait to go to Steph's tomorrow to eat at the Cheesecake Factory at Southside Works, arguably one of the MOST ridiculously bad restaurants ever. Ha! Guess I don't care about that number on the scale THAT much!!

That's it for Fit Friday this week. I have nothing. I'm still so rundown from lack of sleep this week, I'm not into internet research for anything more exciting. I'll try to be back on track next week, although my work schedule is only going to get crazier through the end of September and through October.

I'm a Texting FIEND!

Anyone who knows me, knows I hate chatting on the phone (unless it's with my mom, then it's an at least 25 minute phone call every day). So, my preferred method of communication is texting. My BlackBerry service plan with Alltel includes 750 texts for $9.99 a month, and up until a few months ago, that was PLENTY. But- Last month, I went to pay my bill online and my total was something to the tune of $142.oo. I thought it HAD to have been a mistake because my bill is usually $92. After investigating, I found I went WAY over my texting limit, and was charged .15 cents PER TEXT. Vowing to limit my texting, I paid the bill and forgot about it.
Fast forward to THIS billing cycle..I almost PUKED EVERYWHERE (seriously) when I saw my total for this month: $192.00. The culprit? Texts. GOD!
How do I text that much?! And I even use BlackBerry Messenger when I can, and that's FREE!
Anyway- in a panic (because something always seems to go wrong as soon as I get a little money tucked away), I called Alltel to update my plan.
I changed my plan to unlimited texts (an additional 15 bucks...but what's that compared to DOUBLE my usual bill?!), and the girl was super nice. Feeling brave, I said, "Is there anyway you can apply that to my bill that is currently due on September 23rd?" She did it! I never thought they'd go for that. Guess it's the bad economy. But thank god, because now I don't have to pay that ridiculous bill.
Text me!

New Year's is Right Around the Corner!!

I feel like I live my life anticipating whatever plans I have next, then getting through the gap of work days until those plans occur.

For example, I used the first half of the year looking forward to our Virginia Beach trip (with little things to look forward to break up the monotony of being a grown up and doing nothing but working). Now that the trip has come and gone, I'm now counting down the days until Felix and I head to New York City for 3 nights with Steph and Rich in December.


I learned today that besides the three days I have off work for our NYC trip, I have three more vacation days to burn before the end of the year. Our company policy is use 'em or lose 'em. We don't get paid for them, and they don't rollover.


All day I've been trying to figure out when to take those three days...and how to break up the months until NYC with my little plans from week to week to keep me sane.


Beginning September 21st, our 6pm producer is going to be gone for a month, so our executive producer has asked me to fill in for two weeks, and our other overnight producer to fill in for two weeks. To me, this sounds like a vacation!!! TWO WEEKS OF SLEEPING AT NIGHT!?! And working normal people hours?! I don't care how hard the job is, I'm looking forward to it!! So, it basically means I can't take off the entire month of October because we're down a producer and there is no one...and I mean NO ONE to fill in. For now, I'm counting down until the weeks I fill in at 6pm because I'm looking forward to sleeping at night for two weeks.


After that, November is here. I'm thinking of taking my three days the second week of the month.


When I come back from that, I'll have two weeks or so of work until it's time for NYC. Then, of course, comes Christmas shortly after that...then New Year's! I feel like the rest of this year is going to fly by in a blink of an eye, and I'm so glad I have lots of little things planned in the meantime to get me through and to look forward to!





PS- If you didn't see the comment Pat left on yesterday's post, he was making fun of my "yet to be seen" pink fish. Well, we're making progress. LeeLo (yes, I decided to name her. I can't have a dog, so I'm compromising) is getting hungry, so she's starting to peek her head out of her hiding spot. This is what I managed to get today...after zooming in on my phone.



See, Pat! There's a real fish there...Felix did NOT get me a rock! :)

Another Day, Another Dead Fish.

Felix adores his fish tank. He keeps it immaculately clean, and it's basically his pride and joy. I don't go near it, but I think it's pretty. Yesterday, he woke up to find his biggest fish half floating, half trying to swim around. He's been messed up for a few days now and Felix was waiting for him to die. He had this guy for SIX YEARS! Not like he was SAD it died...after all, it's just a fish. He threw it in the dumpster. Which makes me mad because I think he should at least smack it on the pavement and actually KILL it before tossing it in the trash. He thinks I'm crazy for thinking that. Ummm, a quick THWACK and it's lights out? Or how about I suffocate you in the hot burning sun until you finally die? I'll take the quick and (almost) painless death.

Anyway, I've been getting on him for awhile now, jokingly telling him I want a pink fish. So, yesterday, he and Talia went out and searched high and low, and found me one! Here's a picture, but he's still shy until he gets used to the tank...look at the hole in the big rock, he's hiding back there.

Felix is having a streak of "awww that makes Ashley's day" moments this week. I'm a lucky girl!

Happy Music Monday!!!

Yeah, it's probably not appropriate to dance with a stripper pole on the Teen Choice Awards, but hey, this song is SUPER catchy. As much as I hate to admit it.

Weekend Recap.

This holiday weekend has been exhausting, and it's not even over yet! Here's what I've been up to the last few days:

**Worked all night Thursday night until 7 am Friday morning. The Midday producer called off, so I stayed to produce that show until 11am. Went straight from work to the Canfield Fair to work at our tent (we get extra vacation days for working it). Worked at the fair until 1:00, came home, took a MUCH needed nap. Felix woke me up after 3 hours to go get dinner with him and Talia. We went to Chili's, came home, I took a shower, packed my stuff, and drove to my mom's house. FINALLY went to bed around 11:pm Friday night.

***Saturday it was up at 6:30 am to get ready for our yard sale. To my dismay, I realized my mom doesn't have a coffee pot. Drove into Brookville (A 15 minute drive...that's country livin' for ya. Not used to it since Dunkin' Donuts is literally 2 minutes away from me) to McDonald's to buy coffee. Came home, mom and I worked our asses off (I wish I meant that literally) to set up for this yard sale...proceeded to sit outside for the next 7 or so hours, selling our crap. Felix and Talia came down for a few hours and for dinner (dad made steaks on the grill...fantastic dinner and I didn't have to pay/ cook!! SCORE!). Finally took a shower. By the time we all settled down, it was 10 o'clock and I couldn't keep my eyes open. Slept until 7:30 this morning, went back in for coffee at McDonald's, back out to the house to set up yard sale stuff YET AGAIN. By then it was 9:30, hurried up and got dressed, drove into Brookville AGAIN, got gas and a snack, went to Nicole's to meet her new little boy Adrian (adorable, by the way), left there at 11:30 and drove back to Ohio. EXHAUSTING few days, to say the least! But- It was worth it. I made $120 bucks at the yard sale, and I came home to these as a surprise from Felix and Talia:

Just out of the blue! For no reason. I must be doing something right!

Now, the nightmare isn't over. I'm off to sleep for a few hours, then it's off to work all night again. Working till 7, coming home and napping until 11:30 a.m, back out to the Canfield Fair until 5 pm, then back here to nap again before another night of work!

Whew! I've been dreading the busy-ness of this weekend for a month now, but it's almost over! And it was great to actually spend some time with my mom and sis without being rushed to go somewhere else. Definately worth the hustle and bustle, but I'm not gonna lie when I say I will be RELIEVED when this long holiday weekend is over!

Caturday

This is in honor of spending the weekend at my mom's house. The last time I went home, I walked into the dining room to find a large pile of cat barf. On the bench for the dining room table. Gross. (Yes, mom, I know you were at work at the time, and NO I'm not blaming you..I'm blaming your barfy cats!


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Fit Friday!!!

Ok, this is going to be a VERY rushed post. I have a horribly busy 4 days ahead of me, and I'm pretty sure only two of those nights include sleep.

30 DAY SHRED
So, here are our final thoughts on the 30 Day Shred Challenge.
I'm sorry there aren't pictures today, but I'm trying to get this done at work before the Canfield Fair takes over my life, and believe it or not, trying to get all those pictures lined up perfectly is NOT something that comes easy to me, so we're skipping it today!

Ok, so I'll go first.

ASHLEY
I'm soooo glad we did this challenge. I only lost two pounds, but I've definately tightened up, and most importantly, have gained a lot of confidence. I know it sounds cheesey, but I NEVER thought I would work out for a month straight (I only missed the VERY. LAST. DAY. Long story, but basically I was exhausted and fell asleep)! My core is way tighter, and I've lost some inches in my hips, waist, butt, and chest. I can do push-ups, which is amazing in itself!! All in all, I think the Shred is a good way to get motivated, but I also think you need longer than a 20-minute workout to really see a difference...and I didn't like doing the same thing ten days in a row. (If you read anything about strength training, you're NOT supposed to work the same muscles two days in a row...which you do. ALOT.) Other than that, I have NOTHING bad to say about this challenge. Plus, I found a group of girls who can encourage me to workout via Facebook which is the biggest help of all! I love my new found workout buddies!

BECKY
So my final impression of the 30 Day Shred is this: I didn't totally care for doing the same exact exercise 10 days in a row for 30 days, but it did keep me really motivated to keep going that all you ladies were doing it with me. I did miss a couple of days due to a crazy-hectic schedule, but I also added additional workouts on some of the other days, so I feel like that sort of evens out. :) As far as results, I didn't end up with the six-pack abs that Jillian kept talking about during the 3rd phase, but I do have some nice definition in my arms and legs and I can really tell a difference in my core strength. Just a littel bit more (and, sigh, a little less beer) and I can probably have that 6-pack. I'll have to measure later to find the end results, but I have to say I am so incredibly proud of all of us for keeping up with it for 30 days.

LAURA
After doing the Shred for 30 days, I have definately noticed a difference. I enjoyed Level 3 the most, but towards the end, I tweeked my shoulder doing the traveling push ups. I have a snow boarding injury from a few years ago and I could tell throughout the shred that my shoulder was getting tired, but also that it was starting to build up some muscle. I worked it too hard though, I physcially wasn't able to do the last few days of the shred. I started running the last two weeks though, I have noticed that I can run for longer periods of time and don't cramp up like I did before. I am definately stronger and noticing some definition in my arms and obliques. Overall I feel better, and its nice to get into a work out routine. I've definately started setting goals for myself over the next few months, and hope to run a 10K in Oct and Dec. It's been great going through The Shred with these girls and everyone has done a great job keeping each other motivated.

ANDREA
I can admit, I wasn't expecting to see such big results now that I'm done. A lot of people at work say they can tell I've lost weight...and that is a good feeling! I wimped out during level 3, even though this was the cycle I enjoyed the most. My work schedule has recently been flip-flopped. Instead of working 2:30pm - 11:30pm, I now work 2:00am - 10:30am. I won't lie...I missed 4 days, and trust me, I felt very guilty that I slacked off.
Either way, I still have my newly developed muscle tone, and I am stronger than I was before we started the 30 Day Shred. In all, I lost a total of 14 pounds!
And I'm going to keep up my routine in hopes of losing a total of 40 pounds total! Thanks for keeping me motivated every day and I'm proud of the other girls for sticking with it...even though Jillian's own motivation style (isn't that right, buddy?) got pretty annoying sometimes haha.

STEPH
I missed 3 days this cycle. I can't say that it was out of laziness, we've just been incredibly busy. As far as the shred goes... I feel more energized and my pants fit better. Everyone has been telling me that I look good and they can tell I've lost some inches. I won't say weight, cause to be honest, I hate stepping on the scale and I really don't care what my weight is as long as the inches are shredding off (no pun intended). I haven't measured yet, but I've lost at least 3 inches around my thighs and an inch or two around my waist that I know of.. Rich and I were wrestling around (yeah, still do it after being married for almost a year) and he told me I was definitely stronger than before. He also said that I've lost a lot since he can really wrap his arms around me now... I'm scared to think how much bigger I was before... ekkkk. that and my husband always knows just the right things to say. HA!

There you have it, folks! Our first Fitness Challenge was a success!

Now, we all need to kick our asses into gear, because I'm pretty sure we've ALL slacked at the beginning of this new challenge. Let's get our sh*t together, girls!!!!

Wal*Mart B*tch Slap!

Ok, so we've all been there. Walking through Wal*Mart, minding our own business, when the incessant screaming of a child is enough to make us lose our minds. I think we've all thought to ourselves, "That kid needs SMACKED!"

Well, this dude in Georgia did just that. To someone ELSE'S kid.

Here's the story:

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (AP) _ Police say a 61-year-old man annoyed with a crying 2-year-old girl at a Walmart slapped the child several times after warning the toddler's mother to keep her quiet. A police report says after the stranger hit the girl at least four times, he said: ``See, I told you I would shut her up.''
Roger Stephens of Stone Mountain is charged with felony cruelty to children. It was unclear if hehad an attorney and a telephone call to his home Wednesday was unanswered. Authorities say the girl and her mother were shopping Monday when the toddler began crying. The police report says Stephens approached the mother and said, ``If you don't shut that baby up, I
will shut her up for you.'' Authorities say after Stephens slapped the girl, she began
screaming.

Now, this dude looks like a scary, mean old man. And he hit the kid like, four times. So that's innappropriate. BUT- wouldn't it be kinda funny if it was like a nice, old grandpa-looking guy, who swatted the kid on the butt? Seriously. I'd laugh.

Reading Recommendation!

I'm not gonna lie. Totally forgot to write my blog for today...which leaves me struggling for a topic before I hit the hay for the night (day?). Probably the only person who is going to appreciae this post is Steph R because she reads the same type of books I do, and we seem to NEVER disappoint each other when it comes to reading recommendations.





ANYWAY, if you were a fan of Twilight, you may have already heard of this book. During a lot of press for the movie, author Stephanie Meyer said her current read was "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. So, us Twilight freaks out there all ran out and bought the book. I think Hunger Games is 2873 times better than Twilight. The book has NOTHING to do with vampires, and doesn't even have anything to do with Twilight, really...except that the author loved it.

Anyway, go read this book. Then, when you're done, you'll be wanting more...and you're in luck! Yesterday, the highly anticipated sequel "Catching Fire" came out. I can't wait to head to the bookstore ASAP to pick this book up.

So there you go, I couldn't think of anything to blog about, so you got my reading recommendation. Happy Wednesday!

Happy Birthday Talia!!

Talia turns ten years old today!! I remember going to her 8th birthday party two years ago! My, how they grow up so fast!

*tear*


Happy Birthday!!!