30-Day Challenge

Yes, I'm a thief, but you all knew that. I saw this on another blog and I loved the idea. So I stole it.

Day 1: Share a photo of you and a list of ten facts about yourself:

I love this picture of the Monster and myself.

Ten things about me:

1. I love to read. (Guilty pleasure- historical fiction/romance)

2. I gave myself the "nickname" Von Burglarstein (and no one actually calls me this).

3. I like anime and manga, though I haven't seen or read much in a couple of years now.

4. I love to paint. I haven't since the monster was born, but I'm hoping to pick it up again once he's a little older and I have the time to dedicate to it.

5. I can't bake to save my life, but I love to cook. I enjoy scouring the internets for recipes to try out and then tasting my new creation (since I never stick to recipes.) I love that Monster is eating table foods now, so he gets to taste a lot of what I cook (though he doesn't like half of it).

6. I love history (Western Europe,) and I should, since that's what I'm getting my degree in. I'm minoring in, and planning on continuing my studies in medieval studies, but I also like 17th and 18th century England and France.

7. I want to teach at some point, but I love being a SHAM. This is the hardest, most enjoyable, and most rewarding job out there and I don't know if I could give this up. At least before the Monster goes off to school.

8. I am technically Mormon, but left the church for reasons I can't really remember now.

9. I'm 76% certain that I was male in a past life.

10. I'm a coffee snob. I love coffee, but I'm very picky about how it should be prepared. There are cafes here in town I refuse to go to because they failed to meet my standards.

*Love-Love*

Approximately 1,733 years ago a guy named Valentine*was beheaded in Rome. In his prison he allegedly wrote a note to a girl and signed it "From Your Valentine." Somehow or another this note passing became what we now know as Valentines-Day.

Well Japan does things a little different. Feb 14th is a time for girls to "confess" to the boys that they like by presenting them with chocolates (usually homemade) and a note expressing their feelings. If the boy feels the same way, he reciprocates a month later (3/14) on what is called "White Day" where, as its name suggests, he gives her something white. So why did I tell you this charming little tale? Because this is how Nick and I celebrate V-Day.

So I had a dozen chocolate-dipped strawberries made into roses and a some balloons sent to his work, I'm going to buy him some Nike Free Runs (once we find a place that has some in stock... apparently they're popular), I "made" him dinner (I ordered take out) and made him watch Gnomeo and Juliet (it was awesome.)

I love Valentines-Day, and I absolutely love celebrating the way we do. Even though I don't get anything on V-Day I look forward to it for months. I LOVE having a day where I get to spoil the ones I love.

I am really looking forward to White Day. Not for gifts-- though that's exciting too (the white thing could be anything- flowers, diamonds, or a ribbon- so long as it's white, which adds a fun element of surprise)-- but for a second day that is completely dedicated to love.

*According to history.com, there were 3 possible St. Valentines who were martyred around 2/14. You'd think that the Church would have better records when it comes to those they canonized, but hey, who am I to judge? Oh yeah... I'm me.

Addicted

I've been addicted to a lot of things in my life-- crazy socks, hot fries, coffee, watches, Joss Whedon, coffee, historical fictions, cigarettes, tweezing, nail polish, more coffee, etc.-- but never has it been this bad or this hard to quit.

I'm addicted to soda.

Not just any soda, Dr. Pepper.

It's gotten so bad that I would rather stop and get a 32oz DP than a cup of coffee. It's way cheaper than Starbucks, especially since they're only a dollar at McDonald's (my evil enabler), but worse on my waistline (100 more calories than my old friend, the grande vanilla latte.) And that's if I limit myself to just one. I've always loved soda, but I never had more than 3 in a week and I had no problem going weeks without, but those days are over. I have at least one every day.

Today I hit rock bottom. I told Nick he could buy a pack of cigarettes (for himself) if he brought back soda number 3.5 for me (which he happily did.) He decided to quit smoking again this weekend and I ruined it. So not only am I dooming myself to an early death from diabetes, I'm asking for my husband to get lung cancer.

I will kick this habit like I kicked most of the rest (who could ever give up coffee, cheesy novels, Swatch, or Buffy?) and I must do it now. The monster deserves parents with will power.

Apple Pucker's Surly Older Brother

Just in case you didn't know, my husband brews beer. Great beer. Wanting to branch out a little bit, he (with my constant urging) decided to brew some apple cider. Thankfully, my mom lent us her fancy apple-peeler that made our work much easier-- yes, our work. Nick usually brews on his own (I just enjoy the end result) but I helped this time (i.e. I cut the 15 pounds of peeled apples into quarters and tossed them in the giant pot. Very helpful.) No matter how hard we worked, what could possibly be better that homemade organic apple cider? Nothing, right?

Brewing day. Even the Monster was excited!**

We were wrong. So, so wrong!

Instead of getting yummy apple cider we got apple liquor. Hard ass, super sour liquor. Think Puckers, only thicker... and surlier. One big swig (remember, I was expecting cider) and I'm buzzed. Words cannot begin to describe my disappointment.

Here's a picture of the four bottles of DOOM! Yeah... 15 lbs of apples and all we got were four stupid bottles.

** Sorry about the giant picture, I stole if from Facebook.

Time to Celebrate!

The hubs and I just completed our second "Fit Test" with our amazing trainer.

I've only lost 2 pounds since November, but...

I've lost half an inch just about everywhere

I've lost 14% body fat

I am slightly more flexible in my hips

I cut my mile by five minutes... and I haven't run at all since the first test! (I work out on the elliptical.)

I'm so excited! I'm still wearing the same size and my goal is still a long way off, but seeing actual results have totally made my week!

Of course the Taco Bell burritos I just ate probably undid the weight part, but they were yummy.

Resolutions

I don't usually do resolutions because there are only so many years you can say "this year I resolve to lose weight" and then fail before just giving up on the whole she-bang, but this year I'm going to give it a shot again.

I still want (really need) to lose weight, but that's not my resolution. For 2011, I resolve to take my stupid pills. That means daily and the full dosage. Both of them. It's time that I get both the PCOS and PPD under control.

I hate the metformin-- it tastes like how I imagine fruit-flavored bubble gum from the underside of a chair would taste-- and it means that I have to diet or I'll get sick. So good-bye greasy, fatty, and possibly carby foods that I love so much! The plus: by stabilizing my hormone levels, I will lose weight.

I also hate having to take anti-depressants. Really, I feel that taking them means admitting that I'm not as super-happy as I try to make people believe I am. The truth is that I'm happy, but not nearly as happy I could be and it effects the people around me.

My goal for 2011 (since it's not really a resolution... or maybe it could be, but I'm calling it a "goal" instead):

To finally make my children's book on Norse mythology. I just have to sit down and do it. I'm not sure if I will just go with some one the better translations of the Norse poems I already have or translate myself yet, but I'm determined to actually do it. Now I just have to decide which poems/myths to choose.... and start drawing. As I create, I will post on here, though I will not post text or actual pictures incase I decide to try to get published.

Good luck to those making resolutions!

And then he fell...

Christmas wasn't the most joyous occasion since Nick, monster and I all had the stomach flu, but just as I thought we were in the clear on Monday morning and was looking forward to the final week of 2010, the monster fell out of his crib, right through my hands and head first onto the tile. His shoulders absorbed most of the impact, but his head still hit the ground and, seriously, words cannot describe just how scary that one second was.

I rushed him to the ER that is, thankfully, only a few minutes away. Four hours later he was given the A-OK (much to my relief) and we were able to go home, however we are both suffering from a form of PTSD. I'm even more paranoid than I was before, and he is afraid to wander as much and little falls-- from standing to kneeling, for example-- really freak him out. The past two days have been full of cuddling, encouraging, and (I hope) some emotional healing. It breaks my heart that my super confident baby is afraid to do all the silly things he loved to do and my mom-esteem is in the negatives now. I can only hope that he'll be back to his usual self in a couple of days and that my nightmares go away.