I'm a College Freshman!

Well it's official! Today is my first day of college! My class is at 5:30 and I am leaving work at 5:15. Tomorrow I have class at 8:30. I'm only doing two classes so I don't overwhelm myself, but I am hoping that next semester I can do more than one class. Then next year I am going to try and do 3 classes a semester and have my generals done spring of next year!!

I'm so excited and nervous. I'm excited to go school shopping, but not excited for how much the books are going to cost. That is making me sooo nervous! I've heard books can be so expensive! I'm hoping I can just get electronic books from Amazon or Google because they are a lot cheaper from what I can see.
Who knows?

I've also decided that I am officially looking for a new job.
Although, I don't know when. I am going to Virginia in Oct, and I don't know if I will get the benefits as I do now. I have great insurance and great benefits... but I don't like my job that I'm doing right now.

Either way! I'm excited for school.
What should I buy today?
hmmmmmmm

Things I Love Thursday!

Lately I've been super appreciating the 3DS that Skyler gave me for Christmas a couple years ago. I've been playing it like crazy lately! Other things I love: the smell of rain ; hearing the rain and thunder throughout the house ; the way that our cats growl at thunder and cars honking ; when i wake up early, even though it's a rare occasion ; that i've discovered filling in my eyebrows, now if i could just master it! ; lunch fridays with skyler! ; i lost my fitbit and they sent me a new one, so i'm getting back into the groove of wearing it ; how lovey and understanding skyler has been lately ; tubing down the weber river with friends and having a couple drinks ; skyler and i are eating healthier and i already feel better! ; skyler and i have been riding bikes lately and its awesome! ; i start school on monday finally!  and finally I love how great my french manicure is that i did myself! ;)

Things I Love Thursday

Walking on a freshly swept floor. 

When I wake up early and can relax before doing anything.

Sherlock, Top Gear, Game of Thrones, and Archer.

Going on bike rides in the evening with Skyler.

Watching Josh stream scary games.

When Skyler does sweet things like letting me chose where to eat every time.

Our Spotify subscription. I don't know what I would do without it.

Speaking of subscriptions, I love my IPSY subscription and Skyler loves his LootCrate!

That every time I start some 'diet' Skyler gives me reminders that I'm beautiful.

The fact that after 3 1/2 years Skyler and I still have an awesome sex life! 

Speaking of sex, we are huge Durex fans! They are so much better than Trojans in our opinion.

That I start school in a touch over a month! I'm so nervous though.

Skyler and my hammock! It's so comfy. I never thought I could love it so much! 

Reading the Saga comic series! I can't wait for issue #21 to come out!

How close I am to beating Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time.

and

finally

I love all the different times that Starbucks cuddles with me:

Considering a hair change for next month...

So right now my hair is... well.. I think it's just okay. I have a lot of split ends and I could really use a great cut. It's not that it looks bad, but I just don't think that long hair fits me. I think I look better with short hair.

This is about what my hair looks like right now:

Well.. this was taken 6/19/14, but I don't take a lot of selfies very often.. this is the most recent one I could that find that shows what my hair looks like.

This is from 2010:

I don't know if I want to go THAT short, but I definitely want to go short again. 

I love the color as well. Gah!! I think I'm just going to go back to that exact hair!!

Maybe I will go with a longer a-line though. Like, have the front of my a-line touch my collar bone and the back of the a-line underneath the first vertebrae? Well.. I guess I don't want a drastic a-line. 

Here are some photos of what I have in mind for the SHAPE and STYLE of the cut:

 

Here are some photos of the COLOR that I have in mind:

 

I want something that is a rich brown but that will have a hint of red in the sun. So pretty much if life were perfect I would have espresso with a hint of crushed garnet... but I can only imagine the cost o.0

For the "highlights" I want COLOR like this:
(I don't want highlights, I want what my old stylist called 'panels' which is pretty much just colored chunks of hair...)

 

I think I like the darker caramel more... but we will have to see.

I still have a month to think about this!!

The real question is, do I want to see my old stylist (45 minutes away) and pay her pricing (about $20-$40 more) or do I want to try my new stylist and pay her pricing??

UGH!
I've gone to my new stylist twice. Once I was super impressed and the second time was just EH. With Andrea I was always blown away by how much she got what I was saying and she always did an awesome job on my hair. The real question is if I want to pay.

Garcina Cambogia Post #1

Why is it that everyone is always wanting to go on a new diet? To lose that extra 15 pounds? I don't know, well I guess I could give you some news article about how there is an unrealistic expectation of women and how we need to look, think, feel, act and talk. I honestly am aware, but right now I'm just tired of feeling depressed all the time and I know that if I ever want to get off my depression medication I need to do something to help me improve, and my doctor has suggested this. Not that I was told to lose weight, but it is proven that being in the sun, being active and eating healthy all contribute to feeling better and happier.

Having said that, my weight is something I have been struggling with since last August. (While I have always been subconscious with my weight, I was by no means "fat". I just relied too much on how models looked..) Before I started working at the credit union I was a size 4 jeans and a small shirt. Ever since starting at the credit union I slowly moved up until now, where I am a size 8 (sometimes 10.. mainly on my period) and between a medium and large. This is all because I became a lot less active, especially when I moved to the contact center. I sit all day, no matter how much I try to move I typically don't do more than 2,000 steps all day. By that I mean, when I walk as much as possible all day long I am lucky to hit 2,000 steps a day. Either way, in August I had a breaking point. I had just gotten the Mirena out and so my feelings were out of control and it was right when my depression was really starting to get bad but I didn't think it was worth getting help for. So I ate, and I ate some more and I slept. I did a lot of sleeping. I didn't have the energy for everything and finally something clicked and I decided I wanted to do something. So I had Skyler take some pictures and I've been unsuccessfully trying ever since. I've had more downs than ups, but that doesn't mean I can't climb still. My depression is getting under control, especially now that I am more active and the sun is out all day, and Skyler and I are finally communicating on a great level to the point where I feel ready and stable enough to take a step forward and really focus on myself.

What this is all winding down to is that I caved and bought my first diet pills.. while they are advertised as 'supplements' it doesn't take away from the fact that they are supposed to help me lose weight. By that I mean I purchased NatureWise Garcina Cambogia. Since I am an Amazonholic, I got them for $33.64 with free shipping.

While I am absolutely sure I could have found them for cheaper, they were an impulse buy on a depressing day when I just didn't care at all. So today I took my first pill, well 1 pill at least 30 minutes before each meal, and so far I've noticed that I have an extreme need for water, and that I've been gassy. I have read about both of these online, so this was expected, but it doesn't make it easier.

Maybe tomorrow will be easier. Maybe it wont be. Maybe I just need to get through the day. 

I am going to be working out more and trying to maintain myself better and be more active. Today I stood and actually washed the dishes instead of throwing them in the dishwasher and watching TV. I swept and cleaned the litter box and just tried to not sit down in general. It was a good day, but I seriously need to actually move. So I need to work on that before I can expect to see real (if any) results. 

As for right now, lets start with the beginning information.

I need to up my water intake, eat healthier and start being more active. I am taking 1 pill before each meal until next Monday, when I will start taking 2 pills before each meal. 

I think a big thing for me is that I need to get up in the morning. No more sleeping in until 8:17 when I need to be to work by 8:30. That could easily be a big contributor to my depression. When I wake up and do things I feel better through the entire day. As long as I am up I feel great. I don't want to get up and clean, or get up and stare at facebook. I want to get up and go for a walk or do some yoga. I want to do something that will make me feel better. 

Hopefully starting off with these things will get me started and help me see some progress. To help me see the changes I am going to keep track of my measurements. I don't want to do weight alone, but I will keep track as well for the sole cause of seeing if I maybe gain any muscle (going off the assumption that if my inches are going down but my weight is either not moving or going up instead of down) I want to be able to see that difference too, even if its not right away. 

So as of today, right now, here are my measurements:

Upper arm: 10 1/2"
Under boob rib cage: 32 1/2"
Waist: 33"
Belly button: 38 3/4"
Hips: 38.5"
Upper thigh: 24"
Calf: 14"

Weight: 151.0 lbs

(I am doing so many measurements to catch any sign of progress as a motivator. I know change isn't instant, but sometimes any indication of change is a big help.)

Things I Love... Friday?

I'm sorry. I didn't do this yesterday because I was so damn stressed about tomorrow.. but this is going to be a great post because tomorrow is the big day for the baby shower and basically all of my stress has gone away! So let's get started:

The fact that I just got my canon to focus again!

Taking pictures (you probably guessed that ;) 

Traveling with Skyler

When Skyler and I trade CD's while driving

Going to the movies.. well.. mainly the popcorn from the movies

The fact that my "in-laws" are so awesome! Tim got me a Minolta he found at a garage sale!!

That exciting feeling when you develop film and you find pictures that you forgot you took

The ones that you didn't know you took... because you didn't and it turns out Skyler did ;)

Those photos that you thought wouldn't turn out good but they end up the best

Finding those cute butt videos Skyler takes because he forgets hes recording

Riding bikes with Skyler :) :)

When Skyler and I are falling asleep and I know he is about to sleep because he takes on final breath that is in through the mouth and out his nose

I guess this whole week (well... basically a long long long time) I've been really lucky and thankful to have Skyler around. 

I love you. 

Thankful Thursday

I love that Skyler and I go to breakfast on his last day of graveyards and for lunch when he is on days.

For the ads that come in the mail so I can "price match" and get cheap food.

For discovering coconut oil and its million uses.

When I go on my runs daily and I feel great and notice changes in my body. 

Music such as Tegan & Sara, Passion Pit, Two Door Cinema Club and Bombay Bicycle Club.

Cake and ice cream. I've been loving cupcakes lately. YUMM

The morning yoga stretches that I do, WHEN I do them!

Laura, my GF in VA, and her awesomeness. 

The fact that Skyler and I have a joint checking account and I get to manage all the bills and it feels great that he trusts me to keep everything in order. 

Lately I have been absolutely thankful for my two Bengal cats, Starbucks and Amazon. I've been having a hard time lately and they have definitely picked up on it and have been a great comfort. 

Starbucks giving me some cuddles

Amazon exploring