Rockin' my body

I have to be totally honest -- I absolutely hate working out. The entire idea that I have to set aside time to run on a treadmill or go jogging just does NOT appeal to me.

That said, however, I like being active. I like dancing, riding my bike, taking walks and going hiking. Since I have an opportunity at work to get a discount on my health insurance when I put a fitness program together, I have decided to set a new goal for myself to get into better shape. I am tired all the time, and I want to have more energy.

So here's my goal: Work out every morning for at least 30 minutes. Since I am too cheap (and self-conscious) to pay for a gym membership, I'm going to start this off just by doing Just Dance 2. It's actually really good cardio, and I always work up a sweat doing it. We also have a swimming pool that I haven't even been in this summer (curse you, rain and wind), and we're right next to Murray Park. I have no excuses to sit around this summer.

Now that I've written it here, I want you guys to hold me responsible for my goals -- and I'll do the same for you. Maybe if we all stick together and motivate each other, we can all get those rockin' bikini bodies (OK, one-piece bodies :)) or just have more energy!

Here goes nothing!

Is that MY voice?

Happy New Year! 2010 is here, and I want to shout for joy... except that I currently have a sinus infection and have lost my voice as a result. So, after a quick trip to Wal-Mart (which is right next to my apartment) to buy a humidifier, rubbing alcohol, flossers (I've been reading too much about gingivitis lately) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (that was because I wandered around the store too long), I came home and have been bundled up on the couch ever since.

However, I did want to take pictures of the apartment, as promised, so I can show them to you all! I really am SO excited that I have my own place to decorate. Anyway, here they are!

I REALLY wish I could figure out how to make the pictures not go in that ugly layout, but I can't. Sorry. Please ignore the hideousness.

Anyway, that's my apartment! It's really cute, I promise. The pictures are kind of obscure, I know. We don't have the best lighting.

Now, on to the new year stuff. Supposedly, if you write stuff down, you're more likely to stick to it. Thus, I have decided to make all of you my witnesses as I vow to do these 10 things this year. Clearly, they are in no particular order:

10. Submit my manuscript to a children's book publisher!

9. Work out 5 times a week to actually achieve my rock-hard abs

8. Blog/write in my journal at least once a week

7. Watch a few more movies on the AFI Top 100 list

6. Read "Jesus the Christ" and "The Miracle of Forgiveness"

5. Freelance occasionally for magazines

4. Create more "domestic" stuff so I can one day actually become a respectable housewife

3. Balance my checkbook weekly!

2. Practice the guitar and get good at it!

1. Look for the good in everyone and everything

That's all folks, until the next blog post, that is. Hopefully it will now be weekly! And hopefully I will have a real voice and not just a cyber voice next time. :)

Seven before my man comes from heaven :)

So, since I'm still waiting to hear back on a job I applied for and currently working at the grocery store, I decided to post a list of post-college goals that have nothing to do with my major and are probably unrealistic. But hey, a girl checking groceries can dream, can't she? Here is my list of things I plan to accomplish before I reach thirty.

1. Make cute, modest dresses for taller girls. OK, I'm no giraffe, but I'm taller, at 5'8, than most of my friends, and it is HARD to find dresses that cover my knees, let alone hit the nicer part of the leg, mid-calf. I mean, let's be honest, ladies. Most women, if asked which body feature they liked the best, wouldn't say, "I have really great knees" or "I absolutely love my lower thighs." No. We "kneed" (pardon my pun) dresses that cover up the wrinkled, bony or pudgy parts of our legs and flow on us gracefully. And someone could make a fortune doing it.

2.Open a jazz club/cafe. Ever since Heart, Mind and Soul went out of business in Rexburg, there hasn't really been a good venue for musicians to play and people to come and just chill. I've had a dream for awhile to open a small cafe and play my own versions of standards on the piano and guitar and open it up for musicians all around the area. And, of course, we would serve my FAVORITE: Italian sodas. My mom's cinnamon rolls are pretty amazing, too.

3. Write a humorous novel about a girl who battles cancer. Sure, Erma Bombeck wrote funny compilations after talking to kids fighting cancer around the country, but I want to write a sarcastically funny book about a teenager who is trying to live a normal life while fighting a terrible disease. Most of the cancer patients fighting their battles at the same time as me are gone now, and I want to write a tribute to their own courage and humor in the face of a disease that crippled their bodies and eventually took their lives. I feel like it might be why I'm still around.

4. Write a screenplay and see it turned into a film. I have no idea if this one will ever come to fruition, but it would be pretty incredible to come up with a concept and then meet with directors to decide on actresses, locations, costumes and filming. I have my heart set on Natalie Portman for a lead. She's so graceful and versatile. Hugh Jackman could be in it somewhere, too.

5. Own a house (or a really nice apartment, depending on finances) and decorate it the way I've dreamed. I have quite a collection of vintage bottles and pictures, a beanbag shaped like a pair of lips, my personal photographs in frames and beautiful artwork done by friends that I want to showcase somewhere. The idea of having my own place and inviting friends over for dinner parties or just to watch movies or hang out really appeals to me.

6. Design Sunday shoes that are sturdy and cute. For some reason, I go through my Sunday shoes about every four months, which is not a normal rate. Actually, I know why: I walk too fast and not daintily enough for teeny tiny heels made for 90-pound models. But still, there has got to be a shoe out there that is attractive and able to withstand my determined, rapid walking. I think I'm going to have to do it myself, however.

7. Find a guy who doesn't mind that I have obsessive goals to accomplish. Even though my college bishop told me must have been killed in the war in heaven, my prince charming is out there somewhere, and he'll be ambitious and stubborn himself. I just have to find him in one of my many endeavors. Who knows? He might be a wicked film director.

marry me...but please give up your life first

I'm probably going to make some people mad with this post (look at me, actually thinking people are reading my blog), but I'm going to say it anyway. Most of the girls I have known who are engaged are self-absorbed, scatterbrained, and snotty. I've lived with quite a few engaged girls, and it seems that the moment there's a rock on the girl's finger, it's like her life has instantly zoned into MarriageandLove tunnel. Suddenly there's no time to clean, no time to actually speak to or get to know your roommates, no time to do anything but spend hours with a fiance or planning every minute detail of the looming wedding.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the phrase "I don't have time?" Well, I do. It means absolutely nothing. As my dad likes to tell me, each person has 24 hours in the day, and it's up to us to figure out what we're going to do with those hours. Saying you don't have time to do something is essentially saying that you don't feel like devoting any time to doing homework, working out, eating something besides doughnuts and chocolate milk. And I find it physically impossible that engaged women would suddenly find themselves in a situation with a shortage of hours in the day. Nope. Not possible.

Before you start to rip my head off, think about this logically. Do you really think that if you don't have time to clean the filthy bathroom now that you'll really have time once you're married? Is there something special about the wedding day that suddenly — BING — grants you more hours, like the time device Hermione uses in Harry Potter? Hardly. Suddenly, you've got another person to cook for and clean up after in addition to homework, church responsibilities, and (heaven forbid you forgo this one) a social life.

So if you're out there and engaged, don't complain about your lack of time because you're too busy choosing between taupe and lavender ribbons for the wedding invitations. We're all really happy for you. Really, we are. We can't wait for you to start a new life with the person you love for time and all eternity. Just don't blow off everyone and everything else while you're getting to that point.