The Buzz of the season...

Well, I thought I'd write a really short post today. So, I always expect to have more time after school gets out, but it seems like I never do. Parties and babysitting the boys and shopping... See, no time. But I have to say that I love Christmas time. It is so much better the any other tim e of the year. I love it! Christmas lights, and gifts, and people showing Christmas Spirit by sharing the wealth, and of course, Christmas music. I LOVE CHRISTMAS MUSIC! I wait for it all year long. This time of year also makes me think about how blessed I really am. I have a good job, awesome friends, and a good family. Yeah, we fight, and some of us don't really get along, but we are always there for each other, and that's what family is all about. The truth is though, we should treat each other better. Have you ever noticed that we are so polite to people we don't even know, but to the people who really make a difference in our lives we tend to treat them worse. I am SOOOO grateful for my mom, who has taught me how to live like a responsible adult, and to have the Spirit with me always. SHe is the most amazing person, and the least selfish person I've ever met. I think that this season we should realize what we are grateful for, especially for the Gospel and Jesus Christ, and make the most of our lives!!! Anyway, that's my random thought for the day. Love ya'll!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Ahhh... Life

Well, my peeps, sorry for the lack of posts, but my life seems to get crazier and crazier. I plan to write more posts here soon, but as of right now, I lack the necessary time to say what I would like to say. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!!!

Go Cindi... GO!!!

This last weekend I had the opportunity to watch my nephews for the weekend, while my brother Brian and his wife went on a short vacation. Now first, I just have to say how much I love these boys! They are so much fun! Anyway, I just had something funny I wanted to share.

While I was watching them, we had to go a few places. I buckled them into their seats and off we went. Well, my baby nephew, Brendan (2), got so frustrated when we had to stop at a red light or when I wasn't going when he thought I should be. He would say, "Go Cindi... GOOOO!!!!!" Everytime he said it I laughed so hard, because he was so impatient. I realized though that sometimes we all are waiting on other people, and it irritates us. Well, I know that it irritates me sometimes, I don't know about all of you. Anyway, I also realized that sometimes we forget to enjoy where we're at, but we shout at the Lord, "GOOOO!!!!"

I know that life has it's ups and downs, and that sometimes I get so fed up with life that I just wanna sit down and say, "I QUIT!" It's then that I realize that a roller coaster wouldn't be fun if it didn't have both ups and downs, loops and swoops. To really enjoy something, a person needs to experience the opposite of that, or at least recognize that we wouldn't have a "good" without the "bad."

From now on, I will never forget my nephew saying, "Go Cini, GOOOO!!!" I will also try to never forget to enjoy the "stoplights" of life.

Fall is by far the BEST time of year!!!

Oh dear... i have so much to write about, but I have zero time to do so.. I've been very busy, and tired of course because of a lack of sleep, so this post is going to be short and sweet, and I'll try to post more details later. Fall is, by far, my favorite time of year. I absolutely love it. This Fall has been especially nice weatherwise (is that even a word?) Anyway, I've been having a lot of fun lately, and I'm not the only one. My good friend Emily got married, and Tammy and I threw her a bachelorette party of course. What is a wedding without a little mischief before right? Lol, no we really just went out to dinner, and gave her "fun" gifts, but it was a lot of fun. I got her 400 thread count Egyptian Cotton sheets. I thought it was the best gift ever, if ya know what I mean. Hehehe... Not to brag though... Lol. Here are some pics from that night.







I also got to have dinner with two of my good friends from the daycare I used to work out. The funny thing is that we all quit at the same time. Anyway, these girls are 2 of the people who helped me stay sane while working at that place. The kids were great, but the management was HORRIBLE! I don't even want to think about... ugh! Anyway, I went out with Lisa and Stacy to Winger's for dinner, and then we went to the mall. Which is so funny because I had already been to the mall twice, and that trip made it 3 times in 2 days. I know... I'm ridiculous. Anyway, we had some good times, found some ridiculous glasses, and partied with McCain and Obama. (Pics below)







My sister-in-law threw a Lia Sophia party, and I went to show my support. I had previously promised myself that I would NOT buy anything, but it was jewelry, and I'm just a weak human OK?!?! Don't judge me! Lol, anyway I spent a lot of money, but I got some really cute jewelry. (Pics below) I waited for my brother to bring my nephews back after the party, so that I could play with them. Bryson is always a blast to play with, but sometimes Brendan is a little bit of a Momma's boy. This time though he joined right in, and made me laugh so hard. He is such a character. I forgot how much I missed working and being with 2-year-olds, and he reminds me. I'm actually quite excited because I get to babysit them this whole weekend. I'm pretty sure that I can declare that I am the favorite AUnt, and if not then I am definitely my brother's favorite sister. Lol!




(I got the bracelet in the first photo, the necklace in the second photo, and the earrings in the third one.)


I also got to see one of my best friends from high school, Jacey, and her little boy Ruger. Let me just say that Ruger is adorable, and it was so good to see his mom. (That is so weird calling Jacey a mom) We had a really good talk, but we were only able to see eachother for like 45 minutes. Hopefully, I'll see her again soon. (Do ya hear that Jacey? I mean SOON! Lol)

Last but not least, this last Friday we had our "FALL EXTRAVAGANZA." This was so much fun! First we went out to dinner, then we went to Thanksgiving Point to do the Cornbelly's corn maze. When we got there we realized that there was so much to do besides just the corn maze. There was a huge rubber trampoline, tetherball, the slide of death, rubber ducky racing, and much more. Needless to say we enjoyed ourselves. The "slide of death" is a slide that looks harmless from the outside, but is dangerous on the inside. Lol, Suzy and I, being our crazy selves, decided that we would race since the slides were right next to each other. Well, we both "pushed" ourselves to start us out, but we didn't realize how slick the slide was, so we shot out of the end like a bullet out of a gun. Except we both immediately lost velocity and landed firmly on our fannies. Both of us bruised our tailbones, but I think I got the worst of it. I haven't been able to sit right since it happened. OUCH. Here are some pics of that night. It was great.


Spencer and I. I wanted to be the farmer, and Spence was kind enough to let me. (I wonder if he realized he was a girl. Maybe that's why he has such a look of terror on his face. Lol)


The "slide of death." I told you it didn't look like much, but it sure hurts comin' out. Lol



Some of us on the "Victory Bridge" We made it through the whole thing without cheating thank you very much!!!


Me and Suz at dinner


Us mimicking a sign in front of us.




Me trying to act like a spy. That really didn't work too well, if ya know what I mean...


Work has been crazy busy, and I'm still doing Landscaping part-time. Luckily, that ends this month, so I will have more time to myself and more time to study for school. I think I might actually have a 4.0 this semester. YAY!! I know that isn't really impressive, but it is when you work almost 55 hours a week right???? Lol.

My quick blog turned into a half-hour project. Oh well. Anyway, I hope that will appease you all (cough cough Hali. Lol) for now. I will try to post more, I promise! Love ya'll.

My awesome trip to Washington!!!

Alright, so I thought I'd keep my promise to you all, and post about my trip to Washington this month. First of all, I just have to say how amazingly beautiful it is there. Here is a picture to convince you.



K, now that you are aware of how gorgeous it is there, I can move on. :) This trip also was my first time on an airplane. Crazy... I know, but it was. I quite enjoyed myself, but that was to be expected since we all know how much I love speed and roller coaster rides. Anyway, the flight was good, and when we got to Seattle we grabbed our rental car and headed to my brother's place. (Just so you all know, the first day it was just me and my other brother Brian, the rest of my family got there the next day.) This was my first time meeting Meg's kids, and let me just tell you how much I love them! They are so much fun, and I really enjoyed being with them. The first night we were thinking about getting a hotel room, but my nieces and nephew wanted us to stay there. SO, we had an awesome sleepover. I know it's basically bragging, but my nieces love me so much, that they made me sleep in the same room with them. They had Bill move everyone around so I could. I love being loved!!!

The next day my brother Bill took us on a drive to show us how pretty the area is. It is so gorgeous, and I really was considering staying there... hehehe. Later that night we had a birthday party for Jocelyn, who turned 5. This is where we had the party, and it is only a mile away from my Brother's place:




Yes, I wanted to stay there.. Now, you can see why, lol!

Anyway, we went to my brother's wedding the next morning. Well, I didn't actually get to go in since I am not yet endowed, but I did get to hang with the kids, which was a blast. We walked the temple grounds, which were gorgeous, and then we were right outside when they came out. That night we had the reception at Meg's Dad's house. Meg married my brother, and is now my sister-in-law. Anyways, this is seriously the view from her Dad's house. This is at Gig Harbor. It is so gorgeous, and I am so Jealous.







Then we had a flight back in Sunday. I loved it. I would've posted more, but I thought I'd keep it as short as possible. Here are some more pics! Hope you love it half as much as I did!

Might as well enjoy the ride...

Today has just been one of those days. You know... those days where nothing seems to go right, but they're so bad it's funny?? Yeah, that's exactly what my day has been like. This morning I was quite late, mostly my own fault of course, but I had to run back in the house twice. Well, that wasn't a huge deal, but then I got to work and realized that my grapes had gone bad, then it was time to go to school, so I walked out of the office, and it was raining and freezing (OK, now that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but it was pretty cold) and I was wearing short sleeves. Parking at school today actually wasn't too horrible, so I guess not everything went wrong. ;) I got done with school, went back to work, and sat back down at my desk. Of course, all the merchants I spoke with were the horrible kind. The kind that are so dumb you really do wonder how they make it through everyday life. Then I decided to get gas on my way home, because I was pretty low. While I was getting gas I decided to wash my windshield. That's when I discovered a chip in it. I seem to have the worst luck with windshields because I have never been a whole year without having to get it replaced. Anyway, I went to get that fixed, so that this hopefully I won't have to get a whole new windshield before registration in March.

After that whole ordeal, I decided to come home and do laundry. This is the first time I haven't had a washer and dryer in my place, so I went to check out the facilities in my complex. Well, all of the washers and dryers were taken, and it was obvious that others were waiting for their turn, so I decided I might as well go to an actual laundromat and get the whole thing over with. Well, I packed all my laundry into my car, (believe me, it was a lot), and then I drove to a laundromat about 4 miles away. Well, I got there and realized I had forgotten to bring my detergent and softener. So, I drove all the way back, retrieved the necessary items, and headed back to do my laundry. Any normal person probably would have been frustrated, and deep down, I think I was, but I just couldn't believe the way my day had been going, so I was actually laughing all the way back to the laundromat. Let's just say that I realized that some things in life I can't control, and I need to make the best of them. So, here I am at the laundromat, waiting for my washes to finish so that I can throw them in the dryer. Life's great huh??? :)

....I'm Retarded

SO, I'm still figuring out this whole blog thing. Today, Tammy had to show me how to add "stuff" to the side of my blog, and I'm still trying to figure out how to post pics in my blog (Tammy helped me the first time, lol). You would think that since I work for an internet security company that I would know how to work all of the blog tools, but oddly enough I seem to be blog retarded. SO, please have a little patience with me, and I will try and get some awesome pics and posts going on. I have a lot to post about my trip to Washington last week, so stay tuned!!!

Real life realizations...

So, today I happened upon a facebook page of someone I know very well, or maybe I should say knew. I was so excited because this person and I haven't really talked in a while. But when I got on this person's page I realized that she has changed a lot from the person I used to know. We used to have carefree sleepovers, and stay up late talking. We laughed together, and, of course, even cried together. We hit our high school years (well I did first. I'm older by about 2 years.) and we didn't have much time to talk or hang out any more. I could even venture to say that she was one of my best childhood friends. Anyway, today as I got on her page I realized that we have gone in completely different directions. Things that are most important to me, don't even seem to be on her list anymore. To be completely honest, I was completely shocked. I was literally speechless and thoughtless. It's funny to think about where your life takes you, or where you take your life, and to remember how you got here. Today, I realized that even though I'm not exactly where I thought I'd be by now, I am so grateful for the choices I have made, and the life I have today because of that. I realized that no matter how bad you want to, you can't make someone else's decisions for them. I highly doubt this person is even going to read this, but I wanted to acknowledge how grateful I am for those long nights and giggling sessions. For the endless games of "banister sliding" and the amazing "soap racing." You have made a mark on my life that I will never forget, and I hope that I can always be there for you no matter what.

So much to write, so little time...

So much to write about, so little time... Ahhh, life is crazy, isn't it? Well, I'm going to try and do a quick overview of the last 2 months. Starting on the activities of July 18th. Well, first of all, I'm still working at Sec Met full-time. I like it for the most part, and it pays me well, so I really have no complaints about that. I'm also still doing Landscaping with my bro., and I love that. I just like feeling that I'm physically accomplishing something, even if it is just mowing lawns. Now, for the fun stuff. The 18th of July was a blast. Suzy and I got a group of people together and we had a party at her house. We played Twister, Curses, the M&M Game, drank "Mock-aritas", threw M&M's at each other, and then crashed in the living room to watch National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets. I had a blast. I love playing games and just having fun, so it was a great night.

Saturday, we got a group of us together and had dinner at Cafe Rio then we went and watched Batman. At dinner, it was just me and five guys, so you can imagine what kind of conversation happened there. Luckily, other girls came to watch the movie with us. We had a group of about 15 for the movie. I have to admit that I liked the movie, but it was a little too dark for me. I guess I just don;t like seeing the dark and disturbed part of humans. I just have a hard time with it. I must say though, that Heath Ledger did an amazing job as the Joker. I was quite impressed with his acting skills. All in all though, it was a very fun night.

So, on the 23rd I got my hair cut. Now it really wasn't that much, just about 4 inches, but I pretty much freaked out. I liked it at first, then my sister reacted to it, and then I started thinking that it was too short, and I felt like I had made a mistake. I have to say that I was being a ridiculous girl. I'm one of those girls that hates the girls that give us a bad name, but I acted like one for a night. Anyway, to make a long story short, I love my hair now. I love the layers, and the cut, and it's actually kind of nice to have it a little shorter.

On the 25th I went to a Bee's game with Blaine and Greg. I forgot how much fun it was to go to a real baseball game. The atmosphere is so cool, and I would so much rather be at a live baseball game, then watch it on TV. This was also the day that I realized that I will probably never understand men. They say girls are hard to read, but I say that they are just as confusing. At least most of them. Oh well, you live and learn right?

On the 26th Mona had their celebration, and I participated in the Talent show. I, of course, sang, and I ended up taking first place. It was a good experience, and I love performing in front of people. That night we had fireworks, and I have to admit that for such a small town, we sure put on a good fireworks show. Although, I bet that a large majority of our town budget pays for that. I don't care though. At least not right now. I love fireworks, and I love Mona so it was a good night.

The very next morning I went to register for American Idol (YAY!) It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I was expecting a huge line for registration, but I just walked in, and then got my papers and left. On Tuesday, I woke Up at 3 am (ugh) in order to get to SLC on time, by 5am. I really wish I had slept in longer because I didn't even need to be there that early, even though they told me I had to be in line at 5, liars... Anyway, I waited until 3:45pm to audition, and let me just say that it was a great experience, but I will most likely never do it again. I actually have a little less respect for Idol now because of the way they treated the whole situation. It was a lot of fun though. I got to do some really cool stuff, and now I can say that I did it. No regrets!!!

We had a party at Blaine's in Mona on August 2nd, which was a blast. Obe fo the things I love doing is watching movies outside, which is one of the things we did at Blaine's. It's just fun, and in Mona you can see all of the stars above you ahhh... Just thinking about it makes me happy.

Now, I'm not certain if this is my favorite activity this summer, but it has to be at the very top. Suz, Crow, Clay and I went to Lagoon on the 8th. It was a blast. All of us went on the Skycoaster, which is the ride that pulls you up to the very top, then you pull the rip cord and fall straight down. SO COOL!!! I then talked Suzy into going on the catapult with me. That ride is so much fun. They strap you into this big red ball then shoot you into the sky with 3 g's of force. It is so much fun. I have some pics, but they don't really give you the whole experience. I ended up buying the video of us, but its on old school VHS so once I get it moved to DVD, I'll put it on here so everyone can see how funny it is!

On the 16th I got a group together and we went to Applebee's for dinner and then we went to Trafalga. We raced on the GoKart track, and of course I lost. Suzy tried to cut me off, but she came in too soon and I totally t-boned her. We were stuck until one of the guys came and helped us out, but we both lost pretty bad. We also went to the batting cages and hit 50 pitches each. Well, lets be honest. I probably only hit about 20 of my 50, if that. The light above me wasn't working, and honestly, Softball isn't my favorite sport. I used to be good at it, but then I stopped playing when I was 13 and started playing tennis.

Anyway, back on track, I sang in my ward on the 17th since I moved into a new place. It was kind of a "goodbye to you" kinda thing. Lol! I am really going to miss my bishopric though, and the stake presidency. They are both great!

I started moving out of apartment on the 27th, and let me just tell you all that I have way more crap than I realized. Moving took forever, and I had to put a ton of stuff in storage. I love my new apartment though, and my roommates seem pretty cool. Two of them are volleyball players just like me, which is so exciting!!!

Well, that's my synopsis of the last two months. I promise that from now on I will post more often. The reason I didn't before is because I didn't have internet at my apartment, but now I do, s I promise to post at least once a week!!!

Summer...

So, I've decided that I absolutely love Summer. Not because of the weather, ugh... But because I seem to have so much more fun in the Summer than I do during the other months. Now, I'm sure there are a few things that make Summer more fun. The most important thing is that Suzy, my best bud, is home for most of the Summer, so we get to play, A LOT! We do some of the craziest stuff, but it is always fun. The second most important factor is that I don't have to stress about school or homework, or any of that. I just go to work, and then I can do whatever I want. It's so nice...

Anyway, I just thought I would write about some of my Summer adventures today. So, I've already briefly talked about our work Summer Party, but I failed to mention how much fun I had. I was allowed to bring a guest, so of course I brought Suz. We started out with dinner, then I performed, then we had a raffle, which of course I didn't win a thing, and then we started to play. The party was at Veteran's Park in Provo, and they have these 2 huge water slides. One of them is called the Water Gator, and the other is called the Slide Winder. Me and Suz raced a few times, but the best was when I had the great idea of doing a train. At first, my plan was to go down the slide and then stop myself and wait for Suzy, but then I thought I would ask the lifeguard to see if we were allowed to double. I asked her, and to my surprise she said going down in twos was fine. It was so funny, because I was like a little kid again. We tried going faster by pushing ourselves, we laid down, we sat up, and we probably went on the slides about 40 times. It was so much fun!

Another Summer adventure was getting to go to the Collin Raye, Joe Nichols, Josh Gracin concert at UVU. It was a blast! Everyone who knows me knows that I am crazy when it comes to concerts and music. I love and enjoy it so much. Anyway, the concert was a lot of fun. We tried to get a big group together so we had Me, Suzy, Blaine, Clay, Greg, Stacy, Emily, Chris, and part of my family was there too. The concert was great, and I've decided that I need to buy more of Josh Gracin's and Collin Raye's music. After the concert there were fireworks, which were pretty good.

I have so many more adventures to talk about, but I will have to do that later on, so I can get back to work. Lol!

Life...

Alright everyone, I apologize for not writing sooner, but I have been extremely busy, and we currently don't have any internet at my apartment. I will give you the short and sweet DL. Right now I'm "Up yonder" in Orem. I'm loving it, and it seems to be getting better and better every day. Right now, during the Summer, I'm working 2 jobs. I work at Security Metrics full-time, and I do landscaping with my brother Brian part-time. In the Fall I'll still be working at SecMet full-time, but I'll be done with Landscaping and back in school.

My family is doing pretty well. Mom and Dad are still in Mona, and my Dad is still pretty much the same health-wise. Mom still works at UVU, which is nice because I get to have lunch with her every Friday. My sister Angie is remarried, and I now have two new nieces, who are both adorable. Skylee is 10 now, which is totally nuts. She's a hoot though. She's kinda at that stage where she isn't a little girl, but she's not a teenager yet either (thank goodness).

My brother Brian and his wife have two beautiful boys, Bryson, 6, and Brendan who just turned 2. They built their own house in Spanish Fork and I love it. Bryson is one of the smartest 6 year olds I've ever known, and since I worked at a daycare I've known a lot. He's quite the athlete too. It was funny because they put him in t-ball this summer, but the coach actually just pitches to him because Bryson is too advanced for the tee. Brendan is adorable. We just had his birthday party yesterday, and he was so cute. He's talking a lot, and is such a cutie, but he's still kind of a momma's boy.

My brother Bill is getting re-married in September as well. His fiancee is a lot of fun, and she has 2 girls and a boy, so I will soon have a total of 5 nieces and 4 nephews. We got to see Zach, 6, this last weekend, which was great, and he is a very cute little boy. I was a little shocked at his bad behavior though.

Alisa is still in Orem with me, and I will live with her for about 2 more weeks. After that I'll be moving into the Glenwood apartments in Provo. I'm really excited for the new experience.

Now, onto me again. Lol. Life has been really good to me lately. I've been working hard, but also enjoying life. This last week was the Ute Stampede down in Nephi. I went with Suz, of course, and I had a blast. We went on the Zipper after the rodeo, and I had forgotten how much I love that ride. I flipped 9 times in a row. It was so sweet! On Friday, my company was having our Annual Summer Party, which was a blast. I'm trying to get ready for American Idol tryouts (YES, I'm trying out) so, I got to sing at the party. It went really well, except the speakers didn't work right, so I ended up singing a cappella, which actually ended up being alright. Well, I have to get back to work now, but I promise all of you that I will write again soon with many more updates. TOODLES!

Volleyball...

Today, I thought I'd write about one of my passions: volleyball. I love volleyball, and how competitive it makes me. I also sometimes dislike how competitive it makes me. I had the opportunity to play volleyball in high school, and I loved almost every minute of it. The only time I didn't love it was when I made a mistake, or we lost a game we should've won. Besides that, I absolutely loved it. I have so many memories from volleyball, from being All-State to making life-long friends. One of my favorite memories is actually an event that took some time to progress. My Senior year of high school I was at the top of my game. I was playing extremely well, and getting recognition for it from my coach and other teams' coaches. I felt great.

One day I was scrimagging with my team and I went up to block. While I was in the air one of my teammates came under the net, so when I came down I landed on her foot and my ankle had completely inverted. I immediately thought that I had broken it because I heard a very distinct snap. My teammates and coach helped me to the side of the court where I laid there with my leg elevated and ice wrapped around my ankle. At this point I actually started to cry. Not because of the pain, but because the reality of this event had finally hit me. I realized that if my ankle was injured badly enough that I would most likely be in a cast for the next 2 months. Just long enough to keep me out until the season was over. I was devastated. Actually, devastated might even be a bit of an understatement. Anyway, that night I went to the emergency room., and the doctor on staff took an X-ray. He examined it and told me that my ankle wasn't broken, but I had torn some ligaments. He then told me that I would be able to start working back into volleyball after a week, and should be able to play in a game in 2 weeks. I was ecstatic.

I waited a week, doing everything the doctor told me to, and then I started doing physical therapy and trying to run in practice. I was in a lot of pain, but this is something that was worth it to me to work through the pain, so I did. Two weeks passed since I had been injured, and I was planning on playing in the game the following day. When I got home from practice my mom told me that the Radiologist at the hospital had found a break in my ankle bone, and told her my doctor had been informed and expected to see me the following day to put a cast on. I was upset, but determined not to let this affect my season.

The next day I went to the doctor, told him I would not wear a cast and planned to finish out the season. He explained all of the risks I would be taking and what affects this would have on me in the future, and I explained that this was something I had to do. I don't know how I did it, but I got out of that office without a cast, and just a boot. My doctor told me to wear it whenever I wasn't playing volleyball. Anyway, to make a long story short, I worked through the pain, and I got to finish out my season. It was awesome, and I got All-State recognition for it. One of the worst possible things had happened to me, and it turned out to be a blessing and a lesson. It taught me that nothing that's worth having in life is easy to get. I don't think I would've realized what a blessing it was to be able to play volleyball with my team, and that working through the pain was worth it. Throughout all of this I had support from my family and friends, and I grew up a little as well. Even though I never want to go through that again, I am grateful it happened.

Being sick... Ugh

I've officially decided that being sick is absolutely horrible. For the past two weeks I've been extremely sick. It got to the point where I couldn't even be comfortable watching TV. It's been a while since I've been that sick, so I had forgotten how much I hated it. Before getting sick, I was thinking how nice it would be if I could miss work and school, and just do nothing.

Well, I got my wish, except for the fact that I couldn't watch TV or read because I felt so horrible, and it hurt my eyes. The whole time I was sick, I was wishing I could be at work, doing something, which I find completely ironic. I do love work, but I also love having some free time. Unfortunately this wasn't really free time, it was more like designated sick time where I couldn't do anything that I wanted to do.

I got so sick, that I finally forced myself to go to a doctor for the first time in 3 years. I have to be honest though, I really hate going to the doctor. Anyway, I finally went, and he told me I had a sinus infection and Sinusitis. He wrote me out some prescriptions, and told me what I needed to do. I had to go the store and get my prescriptions, which was a huge task for me that day.

I also need to say that Wal-Mart could possibly have the slowest pharmacy in the world. OK, so that is probably an exaggeration, but that is how I felt that night. I waited for almost an hour, while being horribly sick. Anyone who has been through something like that knows what I am talking about. So, I walked around the store, doing my best not to pass out, while I waited for the pharmacist to fill my prescription. I also purchased some Nyquil, and other things to help the rest of my sickness pass as smooth, and pain-free, as possible.

In the process of being sick, I lost a weekend of fun, two work days, which amounts to about 200 dollars lost, and a day of class. I learned that being busy isn't a bad thing while you're healthy, and that I should be thankful for every moment I have, even if it's while working or going to school. I need to remember to be grateful for being healthy, especially since I know so many people who are chronically ill.

Anyway, the whole point of this is to warn everyone to be careful what you wish for, and to be grateful for everything you have!

The Office

Today, I thought I would write about my office, and how great the people I work with are. I enjoy coming to work, and I've attributed that to the people I work with. I thought I'd start by saying we could possibly have the coolest compliance team ever. We have three teams in the compliance room. There's Pimp My Data, also known as the Early Morning News team, then there's the Outbound team, also known as The World News Team (which really doesn't make sense because they focus on the people in the States while we focus on people in the UK), and the Afternoon News Team.

"Pimp My Data" is the team I'm on. Tom, Zach and Chad get here at 2am so they can speak with the UK, and then Tammy, Emily, Mike, and I come into work at 5am, and Stephanie comes in at 5:30am. Tom is the newest member of our team, and he is hilarious. He can make the funniest voices ever, and makes the best jokes. Even though he's from Idaho, he's still pretty cool! Lol. Zach is new too, he's fun but seems to be asleep more often than not. Chad is great, and he's also from Idaho, but he's fun to work with too. Tammy is our team leader, and we worked together in the past at a daycare. In fact, she's the reason I got the job here at good ol' Security Metrics. She's hilarious, and can do one of the best "black lady" impressions I've ever heard or seen. We call her CICOTW (kicktow) which stands for Chief in Commander of the World. She is a great team leader and is a lot of fun to be around. Emily is awesome too. She's my "partner in crime" whenever I do something crazy, like making snow angels in 6" of snow without shoes on in the parking lot. She can make anything funny, and is really easy to talk to. She's always dressed the best too, which is so funny, but she always looks nice while the rest of us just kind of show up. Mike is another story. He pulls hilarious pranks on everyone, including sending weird phone calls to our phones. Stephanie and I got off to a rough start. I'm pretty sure she really didn't like me there for awhile, but I think we've gotten past that now, and she's fun to be around too. She has 2 dogs, one's a giant, and the other is a cute little mini schnauser. The best thing about our team is that we can just laugh and joke around with each other all the time.

"The World News Team" consists of Dallin, Kelin, and Joe. Dallin is the team leader in that group, and he could be one of the funniest people I've ever met. Literally. He's been kind of upset since Hog Posh disappeared, but still has his sense of humor. Kelin and Joe are both pretty funny too. They have a team mascot they call Hog Posh, and Tammy, Emily and I kidnapped them and demanded a ransom. It was hilarious the way they reacted and the way it all played out. Joe is the "shred Nazi" who never lets anyone shred anything unless they ask him. It's really funny, but he does sit right by the shredder, so he thinks he has some right to control it, in a funny way. The whole team is sarcastically hilarious, and I love it.

The Afternoon News team consists of Chris, Randi, Laurel, Devon, Dave, Larry, Jordan, and Whitney. Chris is the team leader for them, and he is pretty funny as well. He's a democrat, and I'm not, so sometimes we butt heads, but most of the time we get along great. He's a very strong Hilary supporter, and I am definitely not. Merchant also tend to think he's a woman, so when they call back and ask to speak with Chris, and we say he's a man, they say it was definitely a woman. We all laugh about that, just because it's funny, and Chris is a good sport. Randi, who is married to Chris, is a very timid, quiet girl. She has a cute personality, but she tends to keep to herself most of the time. Laurel knows how to get really good water that supposedly helps put your body's PH back to where it should be, but besides that she doesn't really talk much.

Devon is "the shiz." No, really, he is a lot of fun to be around. He can make a joke out of anything, and tends to be a little out of control when it comes to girls. Lol, not really, but the girls do love him. He will be going on his mission this year, so I'm preparing myself to be sad, but until then, we enjoy him a lot. I don't really get to see Dave that much, but he's a cool kid. He's really tall, 6' 6", and is really good at vollleyball. He hits so hard that I actually get scared and shield myself instead of going after the ball, which is a very rare event. Larry is kind of like the guy that does whatever he wants. He is really funny though, and adds to how much fun it is here. Jordan is hilarious. He's the only guy I've ever met who knows so much about cooking. He's funny, and is good at making something serious into a joke, which can be very helpful around here sometimes. He's getting married in March, but still isn't too boring. Yet... Lol. Whitney always works the late shift, so I very rarely see her, but she is an awesome girl too. It's really funny though, because she has a hard time sitting still sometimes. She will get up and move around even if she's on a phone call. I laugh every time, because it is so funny.

I also can't forget to give a shout out to Abby. She isn't exactly apart of the compliance team, but she works in our room, and is a lot of fun. She's just a part-timer, because she's going to school. Abby tends to bring a lot of drama with her when she's here. Not necessarily bad drama for the office, but her life has some dramatic moments in it that we all talk about and discuss. She has a fun personality and helps bring some spice to the office.

The people here love to tease me, especially about my "holey hoodie", but they make me feel like Security Metrics is a second home to me. Heck I could even shower here if I needed to. Lol. I feel like I work with some of the best people in the world though. We have fun, and do some ridiculous things in the office. I really think that we are funnier than "The Office." Anyway, I just thought I'd blog about how much I love "my office."

Reality shows...

American Idol is a household name now. I don't think I've met anyone recently who didn't know what American Idol was, and how the season was last year. But at the beginning of each season I find myself being more and more bothered that making fun of people has become America's new favorite past time. Last night I happened to see the last few minutes of auditions in Philadelphia
I will, of course, admit that I love American Idol, but I love it for a different reason than many people. I love American Idol for the quality singing competition that it once was, and hopefully will be this year, and not for the horrible singing auditions at the beginning of the show, or even Sanjaya's horrible performances from last year.
It seems to me that we have become a society bent on pointing out others failures and weaknesses, instead of pointing out their strengths or positive attributes. Now, I will also admit that some of the people who audition for American Idol are completely ridiculous, but it bothers me that what sells here in the US is making fun of people. Do I laugh when these ridiculous people get on American Idol, of course I do. But how would I like it if I was shown on TV having people make fun of me? Frankly, I wouldn't.
I also understand that these people bring this type of ridicule on themselves, and they should know better than to embarrass themselves in front of the entire nation, but it still makes me wonder what this society has become. I don't think that God meant "make fun of others" when He commanded us to "love our neighbors." Anyway, I'm not trying to preach, or tell people that they're bad people for making fun of these people, because I do it to. This is just something I've been thinking about and wanted to share some of my thoughts on.
I also wanted to write a little bit about the Biggest Loser TV show. I really think this show is great, because it shows extremely overweight people that there is hope and they can change. It also shows people that losing weight isn't easy, and sometimes it isn't fair. So many Americans today want the "lose weight quick" scheme, or the easy way out. Let's face it, wouldn't we all love that?? But the truth is, it just doesn't work that way, and we (including me) need to realize this. I really need to learn to discipline myself more than I am right now. I need to learn to stay on my diet plan, even when I feel like eating a king sized bag of M&M's, and I need to make myself workout even when I'm exhausted (which is pretty much every day, since I wake up so dang early). Anyway, the point of this is to show that I am grateful for The Biggest Loser TV show. Kinda Ironic... Lol