She's back...

Jillian Michaels has returned to The Biggest Loser.  The two seasons without her were the least inspiring to date.  Why was this?  The focus wasn't on the life-change, it was on the game and the prize money.  The contestants were greedy and no one whipped them out of that mind-set.  Jillian would never have stood for the game-playing and the whining that went on last season.  I am incredibly excited to witness her return.

Jillian always brings the focus back to the deeper issues surrounding the contestants weight loss; the reasons why the got fat in the first place.  By tackling these issues and helping the contestants overcome their fears, she teaches people that they are worth fighting for and helps them make permanent changes in their lives.  Jillian is an inspiration to myself, some day I hope to change lives just as she does today, starting with my own.

Here is a sneak peak:

Some Funny Before the World Ends

Hahahaha

Christmas Caroling w/ Brittany Snow from Brittany Snow

Love

God's love is the greatest love there is.  Here is what God has to say about love:

Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins

Romans 12:9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

Leviticus 19:18 Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. 

John 13:34-35 ESV A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another 

1 Corinthians 16:14 ESV Let all that you do be done in love. 

Whether you share my beliefs or not, please try to spread the love in the wake of tremendous evil.  Let's let our love shine brighter. 

A Word of Kindness

Something truly evil happened today.  It was a horrible, awful, terrible, disgusting, heart-wrenching, saddening, enraging thing.  This post isn't going to discuss why it happened or what could have prevented it, because everyone else in the world is busy doing just that for me.  I am so sick and tired of the political debates.  Yes, clearly there needs to be some new legislature, but do we really have to take every opportunity to argue with each other?  I saw some love in the world of social media today, but I also saw a lot of hate.  Everyone seems to feel the need to get their opinion out, make the point that their opinion is right, and tear down anyone and everyone who disagrees with them. Let's practice being kind instead of right for just a moment, please, I am literally begging.

So instead of joining in the debate, I've decided to have my voice heard elsewhere.  This horrible, evil event literally made me break down and cry uncontrollably today, I could really use a hug.  I am one person living thousands of miles away, not personally affected by what happened, and I am in tears.  I can't even begin to fathom how those personally affected are feeling.  They're literally going through hell, that's for sure - they've just experienced pure evil.  

To help combat this I want them to experience a tidal wave of love.  I want to start a campaign of love letters.  I want everyone who reads this to write one letter of support for a victim of this evil act (family members are victims too, almost more-so).  Write what you would want to read if something like this happened to you.  An example might be along the lines of:

Dear Incredibly Strong Person,

I cannot even begin to imagine what you are going through right now.  You've been through something that no one should ever have to experience.  I am truly and deeply sorry.  Although I can't understand what you're feeling, I want you to know that you're not alone.  You are loved.  I am sending all of my thoughts, love, prayers, and support your way.  You are not alone,

Sincerely,

Someone Who Cares

Just write from your heart and nothing you say will be wrong.  I would greatly appreciate if no one would take offense to anything I have written.  My intention is not to make anyone angry.  My intention is to start a campaign of pure love.  Put aside your personal opinions, political or otherwise, and let these people know that there is more good in this world than evil.  A lot of people have lost some (if not all) of their faith in humanity, let's do something to restore it.

Song of the Middle of the Road

Guess what Friends For the Fight Against Finals (FFFAF as you shall henceforth be called), we're halfway done!

Song of Finals

I like Fun.  Hang in there fellow students, the light is at yonder end of the tunnel.

Song of the Day

The theme of today is hopefulness, whatever you're going through, you can and will get through it.

Your Morning Funny

Enjoy

Movies I Need to Watch

Some classic (or almost classic movies) that I should probably see if I want to work in the film industry:

1. The Women
2. Psycho
3. Rear Window
4. In Bruges
5. Snatch
6. The Godfather
7. Gone With the Wind
8. Breakfast at Tiffany's
9. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
10. Roman Holiday
11. The Shawshank Redemption
12. Schindler's List
13. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
14. Jaws
15. North by Northwest
16. The Graduate
17. Bonnie and Clyde
18. It Happened One Night
19. Duck Soup
20. Network

Some Funny For Your Monday (it's a thing now)

My Christmas Wish List (for family/friends who want to know)

Christmas is less than 3 weeks away (crazy!), so I figured I'd get my wish list in writing.

1. Monetary donations for my 5 month scholastic excursion in the UK
2. Some wardrobe upgrades for the UK
• Boots 
• Knee high, dress boots, brown
• Ankle high, lace up, grey/brown/tan
• Sweaters (all types)
• Nice tops 
• Things that are cozy for winter in England
• Things that are cool for summer in Scotland
• Pieces I can layer
• Trousers/nice pants (can be skinny style)
• Leggings
• Button-down flannel shirt(s)
• Ballet Flats
3. Tazo Chai Tea Latte Concentrate
4. Gift cards are always appreciated
5. Heart Rate Monitor for running (I need a more accurate method for counting calories burned)
6. Good books
7. Good Music
• Band of Horses
• Alabama Shakes
• Florence and the Machine
• Anything you think I might like

That's a great deal more than I actually expect to receive so you have options and I still be surprised!

Song of the Week (and Monday/Tuesday of the week after)

because my school sucks

How to Survive Chick Flicks 101

I'm not talking about how to survive going to see them, I'm talking about how to survive if you ever get stuck living one (you lucky terd).  More realistically, I should probably discuss how to go on with life after watching them knowing that it's probably not going to happen to you (2 words: Ben & Jerry).

Basic anatomy of a Chick Flick:

1. Meet-cute
2. Attraction/repulsion => love/hate relationship
3. Friendship
4. More than Friendship (romance and shenanigans)
5. Secret-keeping
6. Height of closeness/love
7. Secret-outage
8. ANGSTY PART
9. Lowest Point => heart poured out
10. Happy Ending

Let us begin by discussing how to get into a chick flick situation:

1. Be some sort of cook/chef/baker
• Katherine Heigl is always cooking or baking and she attracts romance like a hotdog attracts seagulls
• Annie (Kristin Wiig) of Bridesmaids was a baker
• If you can cook, he knows you'll be able to make him a sandwich
2. Hang out in coffee shops or bars
• Hanging out in such places looking hot makes you look sophisticated and fun
3. Wear designer clothing all the time
• That's what the ladies in the movies do
• Can't afford designer clothing?  That's unfortunate, good luck finding love (<=sarcasm)
4. Be tall and leggy (Well I'm screwed at 5'2")
• Let's list all the tall people:
• Katherine Heigl
• Jennifer Lawrence
• Jessica Alba
• Anne Hathaway
• Jessica Biel
• Jennifer Aniston
• Cameron Diaz
• And the list goes on
• If you insist on being short you must be absolutely travel-size small, for example:
• Mila Kunis
• Kristin Bell
• Anna Kendrick
• Alexa Vega
• Natalie Portman
5. Don't be looking for love (perhaps you should even disdain men because you have recently been scorned by one)
• If you are looking for love, don't expect to end up with your crush (ex. 27 Dresses, Life as We Know It, pretty much any Katherine Heigl movie)
• You always end up with what you weren't looking for
6. Be clever, witty, and a little snarkasstic (snarky, smart ass-y, and sarcastic)
• Be able to role with his punches
• Outwitting him will never scare him off, it's actually very impressive
• Sassy is actually spelled s-e-x-y
7. Be clumsy or have some other adorable little flaw
• Pretty self-explanatory
• Ex. Jessica Alba's clumsiness in Good Luck Chuck
8. Be smart (as in intelligent)
• Emma Stone plays a law student grad/lawyer in Crazy Stupid Love and she got Ryan Gosling
• Mila Kunis is a successful business headhunter in Friends With Benefits
• Katherine Heigl is a successful entrepreneur in Life as We Know It
• Cameron Diaz works on Wallstreet in What Happens in Vegas   
9. Be confident  (or adorably shy if that's your little flaw)
• It's very intriguing
10. Be funny in actions or retorts
• This will increase your entertainment value making him more likely to want to know you
11. Have make-up tattooed to your face so you wake up every day looking like a Victoria's Secret Model (your hair must also be similarly perfect at every moment)
• No woman, in any chick flick ever looks ugly/un-made-up, what is their secret!?
12. Be a runner
• Nothing says sexy like being sweaty and out of breath

Now that we've got you into the situation, let's keep you there:

1. Start out as friends, become best friends
2. Go out for drinks
3. Go out to dinner and a movie (let him impress you with his restaurant connections)
4. Share ice cream
5. Watch sports together
6. Share clever inside jokes with each other
7. Don't be clingy 
8. Be totally ok with who you are and who he is (but still tease each other with stuff)
9. Do "bro stuff" with him - exercise, sports (participation), paintball, video games, etc.
10. Witty banter
11. Fun fun fun

Now comes the angsty part that almost ends your relationship, but ultimately leads to one of you pouring your heart out to the other and your happy ending. 

Want to avoid that? 
Absolutely, under no circumstances, are you to keep any secrets from him.  Be open and honest in everything; he'll surely understand.  If he kept a secret from you, listen to what he has to say with an open mind and try not to be too emotional.  However, if you must put some distance between the two of you be comforted in the knowledge that he'll probably chase you down and pour his heart out to you when you're at your lowest point (so no worries). 

The End.

Note: Don't take any of my suggestions too literally, most of them are dripping with sarcasm.

This Friday is no longer magnificent. . . . . .

Today was a pretty good day for this stressful week.  I got up, fed my horse, went to school, worked out, came home, relaxed a bit, then took my brother to pick up a friend.  On the way to pick up said friend, I managed to hit a curb and blow a tire on my car, a car I had just put gas in. . . . . .holy shirt it's the curse (sorry, my mind just blew).

Every time I fill a car with gas it breaks; I'm cursed, I'll never be able to fill another car.  My first car crapped out for it's final time as I was driving back to school from a gas station after filling it.  The check engine light came on in our other family car right after I filled it.  I literally filled this car at 2:30pm today and thought to myself (jokingly) "that was expensive, it better not break" and it just did.  God does have a sense of humor, haha, very funny, I see what you did there.  I'm gonna go have a mental breakdown now.  fml - feeling majorly low.

Seriously though, this week was exhausting with final papers, pre-final exams, and projects to do.  So I'm already feeling worthless, then I go and wreck a car (tire), I suck so much at life that I can't even drive properly.  I really just want to crawl into a deep dark hole and cry.  You cannot possibly fathom how angry I am with myself at this particular moment in time.   

Song of this Magnificent Friday

This week has been exhausting; I'm glad the school part is over.  Working 7-11:30am tomorrow morning, and singing 7-12pm on Sunday morning, then the dead/hell and finals week mash-up begins.  In honor of this horrid mash-up, here is a good mash-up for your listening pleasure (I know I posted it before, but it was a while ago; you'll live).

Song of December 6th, 2012

Five for Fighting!

Song of this Crappy Day of Writing Papers

Bon Iver everyone, enjoy

Some Funny For Your Morning

Laughter is better than Folgers.




Hopefully your day is just the slightest bit happier now.

Biggest Dilemmas of the Day

To describe how completely boring my life is, here are questions that plague me on a typical day:

1. Should I get out of bed, or just lay here for a little while? - bed is warm, room is freezing
2. What should I wear? - can take over an hour, the cold doesn't help
3. What should I eat today? - I'm surprised the fridge door hasn't worn off
4. Do I feel like putting any effort into my appearance today?
5. Do I want coffee? - it either costs money or effort, do I have enough of those?
6. Skinny jeans or regular jeans - skinny jeans are the only clothing item that can make you feel skinny and fat at the exact same time
7. Should I take my computer to school with me today? - it's a lot of work to pack up
8. Should I take a snack or eat at school?
9. Money or effort?
10. Hair up or down?
11. Get up early and work out, or work out after school? - working out is not an option so at least I don't have to worry about that
12. Am I forgetting anything? - probably
13. Am I ok with that? - I suppose

There is no excitement in my life.

#GoingLimeForLyme

Yes I like the hashtag thing, it's fun, I think I'm going to use it whenever I find a cause or foundation I want to support.  Anywho, for those of you who don't know (which is probably none of you), my sister has Lyme's Disease which is a very debilitating and frustrating tick-born illness.  She recently started a new blog getting the info out on Lyme's and spreading awareness.  If you all could take a moment and at least glance at it, please do, if not, here is a snippet:

Lyme disease is known as “the second Great Imitator” for this very reason. It appears in each person differently and affects them differently as the bacteria progresses in their system. For me, it has attacked my nervous system, including my brain and my heart. Pain is something I have grown accustomed to, but I refuse to let it stop me.

Click here for more info: Going Lime for Lyme 

Educate yourselves please:
Here is a list of symptoms from the Tick-Borne Disease Alliance
•    Fatigue
•    Low grade fevers, "hot flashes" or chills
•    Night sweats
•    Sore throat
•    Swollen glands
•    Stiff neck
•    Migrating arthralgias, stiffness and frank arthritis
•    Myalgia
•    Chest pain and palpitations
•    Abdominal pain, nausea
•    Sleep disturbance
•    Poor concentration and memory loss
•    Irritability and mood swings
•    Depression
•    Back pain
•    Blurred vision and eye pain
•    Jaw pain
•    Testicular/pelvic pain
•    Tinnitus
•    Vertigo
•    Cranial nerve disturbance (facial numbness, pain, tingling, palsy or optic neuritis)
•    Headaches
•    Lightheadedness
•    Dizziness
•    Mysterious migrating symptoms that seem to come and go
•    Cyclical symptoms

Song of the Day

Who remembers this one?  It's not that old so you really should know it.

#LoveIsLouder

I recently stumbled upon this amazing organization that deals with issues that are near and dear to my own heart.  I would like to find a way to support this organization and spread the word around my university (possibly through a concert), but first I'm just going to get the information out there.

Here is a description, taken directly from the website (hope that's ok):

"Love is Louder was started by The Jed Foundation, MTV and Brittany Snow to support anyone feeling mistreated, misunderstood or alone. It’s hundreds of thousands of people just like you who have turned this idea into a movement.  A movement of all types of people who have come together to raise the volume around the message that love and support are louder than any internal or external voice that brings us down.

Individuals, communities, schools and organizations have embraced Love is Louder as a way to address with issues like bullying, negative self-image, discrimination, loneliness and depression.  Even as we work to stop negative words and actions that hurt us, we can strengthen our abilities to cope with hard times, focus on the positive, support the people around us and reach out for help if we need it."

This is a link to Love Is Louder's website, click for more information.

We Accept the Love We Think We Deserve

First off, Perks of Being a Wallflower is a spectacular movie (and a fine book, I'm sure - I'm slightly ashamed that I've never read it, but I'm sure I'll read it eventually), excellent story, filmography, etc.  FAN-tastic!  In case you don't know what it's about, here's the summary from IMdB:

"Based on the novel written by Stephen Chbosky, this is about 15-year-old Charlie (Logan Lerman), an endearing and naive outsider, coping with first love (Emma Watson), the suicide of his best friend, and his own mental illness while struggling to find a group of people with whom he belongs. The introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors, Sam and Patrick, who welcome him to the real world." 

But, I've already reviewed the movie, so let's not do that again; no, this post is going to try to get at the heart of what the film is about: Love and Acceptance.  So I'm going to share my oh-so-very-clever insights about these important aspects of life with anyone who cares to read this, here goes.  (Fair warning: insights are not necessarily answers, they're more like food for thought, hope you're hungry.)


Love is a necessity for life.  Don't believe me?  Think of everyone you love and everyone who loves you, imagine life without any them.  (Sufficiently depressed?  Here's an adorable picture of a puppy to make you feel better.)  Luckily for you, you do have those people (and hopefully God, who LOVES YOU REGARDLESS of who you are and what you do - there is nothing you can ever do to make HIM stop loving you) in your life, feel comforted (not a suggestion).  However, you need to love yourself too.  "We accept the love we think we deserve."  If we don't love ourselves what does that say about the love we think we deserve.  Think about it for a minute "If I don't love myself, clearly I must think myself undeserving of love.  Then why is the love and acceptance of others so incredibly important to me?"  Because we need love to live.  If no one loved us and we didn't love ourselves, then what do we have to live for?  (Look at the puppy!  Better?)  Love is what makes life worth while.

We all know that bullying is bad (and if you don't bam I just told you, now you know, stop it or I'm gonna drop the bow), we should treat others with respect, don't judge lest ye be judged, use "the Golden Rule," etc.  We've all heard these things before (hopefully) and put them into practice in our daily lives (once again hopefully).  We don't call other people names, tell them they're fat, call them worthless or weak, tell them they need to figure they're life out or they'll never be anything, tell them they need to work harder, tell them they're not good enough for something or someone; no, these are things we reserve for ourselves (well, probably not all of us, but a lot of us).  Why do we treat ourselves worse than we treat other people?  Shouldn't we at least give ourselves the same respect that we give to others?  We have to take care of ourselves if we want to care of others (kinda like the whole plane crash scenario where you have to put on your own oxygen mask before you put oxygen masks on your kids)  We are backwards bullies, and it's just as bad as being a normal bully (in this situation the golden rule doesn't work because we're treating ourselves like crap).  We are a million times harder on ourselves than we are on each other.  We put so much stress on perfection in our own lives that we turn into hypocrites when we try to encourage others.  So how do we overcome this major flaw?  I don't know.

Now you might be thinking "well that was a pointless paragraph" (funny, I was just thinking the same thing).  On the contrary though, hopefully it made you think about how you treat yourself.  If not, take a moment and think about who the last person to say something mean about you was (i.e. last person to call you fat, tell you you're not good enough, call you a loser, etc.).  Was it you?  If it wasn't you, let me be the first person to tell you that whoever said those nasty things to you is an @$$hole and very, very wrong.  You were made to fill a purpose that only you can do, you are special, and you are amazing, don't let anyone (even yourself tell you otherwise).

Music Break!!!


Moving right along, let's talk about acceptance.  We are constantly searching for acceptance: college acceptance, social acceptance, job acceptance, acceptance in relationships, peer acceptance, and especially self acceptance.  Speaking from personal experience, self acceptance is the acceptance I both desire the most and am denied the quickest.  We all want to be comfortable in our own skin, but some of us don't know how to love or accept ourselves.  What is self acceptance exactly?  Is it just saying "Hey self, you're pretty cool, I guess I can live with you" I hope not.  According to Wikipedia, self acceptance: affirmation or acceptance of self in spite of weaknesses or deficiencies.  I think this means, not trying to change yourself to fit an ideal you have in your mind, but rather just admitting that this is who you are and deciding to embrace that (not just be ok with it, not just live with it, full on give it a hug).  That is a really hard thing to do, but it's not impossible.

We do in fact accept the love we think we deserve.  If we don't love ourselves it's like having your kidneys fail, you need someone else's to help compensate.  When this happens we set low standards for the kind and quality of love we are willing to accept.  It's a downward spiral and it requires help to reverse.  If you know someone who is going through something like this, I seriously encourage you to let that person know that they are loved and that they can get through whatever trial they're facing.  Honestly the best gift you can give a person struggling with these issues is love (and support, so I guess that's two things).  There is a wonderful foundation called Love is Louder created specifically "to support anyone feeling mistreated, misunderstood or alone" (which is kind of what I just ranted about).  It can help you if you're struggling with love and self-acceptance or you can use it to help others.  I encourage you to check it out.   

So that's my schpeel on that, hopefully you're not bored or scoffing about how poorly written it is (if  you are, you should have just stopped reading when you initially felt those feelings of malcontent).  The end. 

Song of This Fantastically Horrid Monday

Once again, enjoy my musical emotions.

Song of the Day

It's a repeat, but this is the mood I'm in and I express myself through music so open your ears and enjoy.

DOGS!

I really want a dog, it's like being baby-crazy, but for a puppy.  It's the most stressful time of the year (only a week and a half left until finals) so some friends and I went to Petsmart the other night to look at adorable animals and bring our stress levels down a notch.  While there we got to pet PUPPIES (we were literally going up to random strangers and asking if we could pet their dogs, I think we may have interrupted an obedience class): 2 huskies, a cocker spaniel, a chihuahua, a yorkie, and a schnauzer.  It was awesome and, of course, now I want a dog, my life will not be complete until I have one (and it won't be a possibility for at least another year).  Anywho, like a crazy person, I have been taking quizzes about which breeds would be best for me and doing a little research on the ones I like (which is bad because I should be working on finals stuff).

Here are some of my top picks:

• Kuvasz
• Anatolian Shepherd
• Australian Shepherd
• English Setter
• Akita
• Samoyed
• Border Collie
• Dalmation
• Siberian Husky
• Alaskan Malamute
• Belgian Tervuren
• Bernese Mountain Dog
• Shetland Sheepdog
• Boxer
• Springer Spaniel (English or Welsh)
• Finnish Spitz
• German Shepherd

And have now narrowed down the ones that could suit my proposed future lifestyle (which includes apartment living and long jogs) according to Purina:

• Australian Shepherd
• Samoyed
• Dalmation
• Siberian Husky (given lot's of exercise)
• Shetland Sheepdog
• Boxer
• Finnish Spitz
• Springer Spaniel
• German Shepherd

Cost of owning a dog (let's be honest):
Let's use the scenario that I purchase a Siberian Husky (my dream dog)

Purchase price:

1. Adopting a puppy/young dog from Taysia Blue Siberian Husky Rescue: $300-350
2. Buying from an AKC certified breeder in my home state: $300-400

Vet bills:

1. Adoption Organization takes care of the major veterinary needs
2. Initial visit for a puppy: $175-200
3. Initial visit for an adult dog: $60
4. Spaying/neutering: $60-150
5. An average year (non-emergent visits only): about $450

Stuff I'll Need:

1. Bowls: $20 (you need 2)
2. Beds: $20 (puppy) - $60 (adult)
3. Bissel Spot Vac (for cleaning up messes): $129
4. Stain/Odor Remover Spray: $7.50
5. Collar: $15
6. Harness: $17-60
7. Leash: $15-20
8. Toys: $20-50
9. Grooming tools: $25
10. Siberian Huskies for Dummies: $10
11. Pooper Scooper: $15
12. Crate: $70-150

Food: $25/mo = $300/year
Training: $80-200
Total Cost: $1,278.50 - $1,811.50

So once I have that much money saved up, I can get a dog. . . . . .that won't take long at all.