Thankful for being a woman...not!

Well, today I planned to post my response to the Indie Ink Writing Challenge until I realized the challenge was due yesterday. I thought it was due today! I blew that one. So instead, I'm here to talk about being thankful for being a woman and PMSing (Ha!) which I meant to post yesterday for the Thankful Thursday link-up and forgot. (Sorry, Heather, for this not being a traditional 'Thankful' post! Hehe) What has been up with me these past couple days?! So this is a cue to the guys to stop reading, if they wish. It's not gross or anything, though...

Typically, my body reminds me that I need to take out my birth control (thus, starting my period) before my calendar does. I'm definitely thankful that I am 'in-tune' with my body, but how so? Well here's a list of completely stereotypical and unstereotypical things that fit me. The signs typically start 2-3 days before.

I know I've just posted a picture of this, but it's so good. I can eat an entire bar and have it be less sugar than a can of soda, and the bar is huge! (Think king size Hershey's bar?) 

I continuously gravitate toward the chocolate aisle at the store. I don't typically eat a lot of chocolate, yet I still end up there. That's when the light bulb goes on.

I cry over simple things, like the fact that it's not raining outside. If I'm going to be all crampy and tired, I would like the weather to be stormy outside, for some reason. Sometimes I'm so sad by the fact that it's sunny outside that I just cry.

I yell at my husband, but in the same sentence immediately say I'm sorry and that I don't know what's wrong with me. Again, that's when the lightbulb goes off.

I just want to cuddle. I'll call Vince at work almost in tears and say, 'I'm just having an off day. It's not bad or good, I just want to go home and cry while watching a movie with my head in your lap.'

I want to wear sweatpants everywhere. Everything else just seems tight and uncomfortable, and how can  say no to soft, sweet, inviting sweatpants?

I crave milk like crazy. I'd drink a gallon a day if organic milk weren't so darn expensive!

Do you ladies crave anything weird or do crazy things when it's 'that time'?

Really? You didn't see it?

I'm linking up again today with Brown Eyed Bell(e) and her Thankful Thursday link-up. 

What am I thankful for? I'm thankful that I am a great excuse to give to guys that hit on me: I'm married! Here's a short story from my first day of class.

Guy in class after talking about the tattoo on my arm: So, what does the tattoo on your finger mean?

Me: It's for my husband, his name is Vince.

Him: Your husband?

Me: Ya. That's also why, ya know, I'm wearing a wedding ring?

Him: Oh. Huh, ya. I see that now.

Me in my head: Haaaaaaahahahahahaah. Awkward. How did he see the tattoo and not the ring?

Thankful Friday

I'm thankful for good good good days like today. It's halfway over, but I haven't felt so happy and clear headed in weeks!

I woke up around 9:45 and stretched before getting up. Since I've been exercising a lot recently, it felt like the best stretch in the entire world!

I had gotten up a little bit before Vince left for a bike ride to Sedona, just in time to kiss him as he left.

I ate a little snack and then did the 30 Day Shred video. Today was supposed to be my day off from running according to my schedule, but I felt like I wanted to do something so I took advantage of it.

Roxanne likes to lay on my yoga mat when I pull it out, getting her dirty paws all over it!

Vince was supposed to take Roxanne on his bike ride, but the person he was driving with didn't want dogs in his car. Lame! So instead, I decided to go on a couple mile hike with her. There is nothing more happy than a dog running free in snow covered woods!

It makes me so incredibly good to see my dog run through the woods, it's her most favorite thing n the world. I feel bad that we don't take her out every day!

My shoes got super muddy...I wish I hadn't worn my nice running shoes!


We ran into a few dogs and I was SO proud of how Roxanne reacted. I'm usually stressed out when she comes upon other dogs, which she picks up on, but I was on such a happy high that I wasn't stressed!

After hiking, we came home and she immediately hit the bed while I made a snack of steak, cauliflower, carrots and onions over quinoa. YES, that's a snack. Now that I'm exercising so much I just eat, eat, eat! I'm definitely craving healthy food, though, which is good!

Now I'm sitting on the couch blogging while Law & Order: SVU plays in the background. After I'm done here I'm going to finish cleaning the house a bit before I FINALLY send off Christmas presents for some family!


I linked up late...but at least I linked up!

Thankful for art!

I'm thankful for people in my town being creative! I went to coffee with a friend before my tattoo this weekend and we both fell in love with the new art that's been put up recently. It's something that's been on the rise in downtown over the past few years (although it's probably been around for a long time and I only started noticing it then!) and it's so fun to walk down the alleys and see new art.

I'm also thankful that I am a creative person. I'm quitting my full-time job in January to work part-time (in case you didn't catch that the other 5,000 times I've said it!) and I'm on a very limited budget right now. I've been making a lot of things for Christmas and I've made them relatively cheap but of high quality! I'm very excited and will post some more pictures after Christmas. Some people say they aren't creative, but I am SO thankful I can call myself creative!

The scarf I made for Vince with a handy iPod pocket built in at his request.

I don't like titles.

About a year or so ago I was talking to my grandma about my mom and how frustrated I got sometimes. She said that sometimes I just get caught up on all the wrong things she did as a kid, and that I can't get past them. My grandma then told me how my mom used to own a thrift store and pointed out the building where it used to be, since we were driving past it. What?! I never knew that!

She said that my mom was a very creative person and that she always found a way to do what she wanted, and that's absolutely true. It made me think about all the other good things I don't know about my mom and made me realize that she is more than just the person I've created in my mind.

Since then I've focused my mind on the serenity prayer and accepted the things I cannot change about her, which has led me to be so thankful for my mother.  I'm still not as close to her as I could be, but we still have time to grow. I've been able to accept that we are different in SO many and that helps tremendously, instead of just fighting it.

I was an 'AA kid' so I've spent many years of my childhood at AA meetings (which was actually super fun...what 10 year old doesn't love sneaking coffee and sugar?)  so I know the serenity prayer by heart and think about it often as I've grown into an adult. I typically leave the God part off because I don't believe in Him, but I think the prayer is still something that has helped me be able to accept things throughout life, and more recently, has given me to courage to make some huge changes in my life!

Thanks, Music

One thing that would be terrible to lose in my life is music. Everyone loves music! It's so enjoyable to go home and pick one of millions of songs to match your mood. It's such a simple fix to a bad day and a great background to a great day! These are two songs that I love love love and everytime they come on my iPod I can't help but to turn them up and belt them out. Vince loves to hate me in those situations!

The Capricorns - The New Sound
I  first heard this song in middle school or early high school and everytime I hear it I want to dance like a complete weirdo. I usually do!


Mika - Relax, Take It Easy
I feel like I've posted about this before, but everytime I hear this song I get shaky because I'm so excited to sing it! I feel like such a goof. If I could listen to this loudly every morning, I swear I would have so many more 'good' days!


Most of my music isn't so techno-ey (I like ska a whole lot more!) but I guess I've been in this kind of mood the past few days.

Already?

My Car I’m thankful for my Subaru that can romp through the snow. For a couple years Vince and I chose not to have a car and for the most part, it was wonderful. But riding the bus on snowy days? Sucked. The buses were always running WAY late, yet I would still feel the need to get to the stop on time just in case, and my stop didn’t have any kind of shelter and was on a busy street. That meant that I was always so cold and when a big truck would fly by snow would go everywhere and a huge breeze would freeze me to my bones. I’m thankful that I now have a car that can get me safely and warmly to where I need to go.

Medicine I’m also thankful for Zicam. Over Thanksgiving Vince got sick, and then he got me sick. When I have a cold I’m usually not the coughing type, my head just gets overloaded with gunk and my eyes get swollen and watery and my face feels like it’s going to explode. It hurts so bad! But Zicam came to the rescue this time and I love it. My cold isn’t totally gone but it helps a LOT with the pressure in my head.

Food Homemade Turkey Noodle Soup. I used leftovers from Thanksgiving and this was SO perfect for my cold, as well as Vince’s. I forget how easy-peasy it is to make this soup (and chicken noodle) but I am definitely going to remember to make more of it throughout the winter!

Diagnosis' And the last thing I’m going to mention today is how thankful I am that I know I have celiac disease. I remember SO many holidays as a kid that I just felt awful and couldn’t explain to my parents why. I would just be so sick and I’m so so thankful that I’m not this year. I’m glad I have the knowledge and ability to prepare delicious food for my family and that I can be a healthy happy person eating it.

Nontraditional

Everyone is the blogosphere is going to write a 'What I'm Thankful For' post today and I am, too. But mine? Will not be like anyone else's. Sure, I am thankful for my family, my friends, my house, etc. but I'm probably going to be over hearing about everyone's family by the end of the day and I'm sure you will, too, so I will spare you! Instead, I will write about the teeny tiny things in my life that I'm thankful for.

Strange Spoons This one is insanely helpful around the house and I love it to the moon and back. It's perfect for many things, such as scraping out little yogurt containers, eating an avacado, stirring my tea, and eating food when I am out of regular spoons.

Yoga Ball It's a great foot rest as well as a back stretcher, though I rarely use it for actual yoga. Vince enjoys bouncing the ball towards Roxanne and watching her get nervous.

Mason Jars I am QUEEN at breaking stuff. I just have to look at a nice expensive things and poof! it's shattered. Mason jars are awesome though and rarely seem to break. Luckily we have wood floors, which helps prevent them from breaking as well. I think I've only broken one in the past year! These are the only cups we have aside from coffee mugs and I love them. It's also super classy when our friends are over and we serve wine in them...haha!

What? How did those Twilight books get there?! Hehe I must admit that I got two of them from the libraries Summer Reading Program for free and the other two were $.50! 

Built in Shelves Our house is so teeny and it would be even smaller if we had to have a stand-out bookshelf. It's so nice to store books and some craft stuff on it! We also have built in shelves in the bathroom lining one wall (a whole 5 feet wide, our bathroom is teeny as well!) and it's kind of a catchall for stuff that won't fit elsewhere.

Electric Heater We have a behemoth gas heater in our living room that takes up so much room but doesn't heat the whole house. It just makes the living room like a sauna and the rest of the house freezing. It's nice to have this electric heater that I can move around the house with me that works super well. I highly recommend it, it's not too expensive and it great!

Pre-Thanksgiving Food That My Husband Made and Then Served So Tastefully I mean seriously, how can I not be thankful for him and a tamale with an over-easy egg?!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Things in life that have been making me happy and thankful:

Class - I have clinicals for my nursing assistant class on Friday and Saturday and I'm excited! What are they, you ask? Well, basically I go to a nursing home one weekend and the hospital another weekend and I do hands on experience as a CNA. It's not the most fun work, but at least I'll get my first experience in the 'medical world'. And I get to wear some ugly SUPER white shoes. (And ignore the less than awesome quality of the pictures, they're from my iPhone and somewhat poorly lit!)

Books - I am reading Jodi Picoult's book 'Perfect Match' and I love it. I've been reading a few other books recently but just haven't really gotten into them. But, as usually, I'm completely infatuated with anything Picoult writes!

Dates - I went on a date wih my man last night and it was fun! We went and saw a movie at the university here in town and there was a great discussion afterwards. More on that to come!

Salads - Vince and I have been eating massive amounts of sales the past few weeks and we've been loving it. I figured it that if I just prepare a huge salad at the beginning on the week I'm way more likely to eat it than if I just made a 'new' salad each time. It totally makes sense, I've just never done it before!

Christmas - Figuring out Christmas presents for people. I'm basically doing the same thing for everyone, but I'm personalizing it! I wanted to keep it cheap since I'm quitting my job soon, but still personal and nice.

Validation - Having people tell me they love my blog. I know I shouldn't need validation, but honestly, it's super awesome to hear every so often!

Love - A dog and a husband that love to cuddle each other.

It seems like the easiest post of the week is Thursday, because I have a 'specific' topic to post on! I really need to get back to specific things on specific days like I used to so I can get in the groove of writing/blogging again...

Lovin' it...

Winter Days I'm thankful for cold, cozy days with pretty fall leaves that are...falling, and falling fast! I'm pretty sure this tree in my front yard doesn't have any leaves on it anymore.

Over the past few weeks I've really enjoyed the walks I've taken Roxy on. It's been pretty cold, but there are those days (especially after it's snowed) where the weather seems insulating, almost warm and inviting in it's own way. I've tried to not have the mentality of 'Damn, it's going to be cold outside, I don't want to do it!' and instead I just bundle up, making sure I'll stay warm.

My Body I'm also thankful for hands that are creative and am so thankful for a healthy body that allows me to do SO many incredible things. I take it for granted a lot of times, but like my 'Aha!' moment with nursing, I frequently get 'Aha!' moments with my body. I know some day I will grow old and my body won't be as well, so I hope I can continue to focus on all the good it does me right now, such as making scarves for Christmas!

Roxanne I can honestly say I never thought I would be able to love an animal this much. I always thought it was silly when people said they loved their dogs or had bumper stickers that said 'My heart belongs to {insert dog breed here}' but honestly? I've considered getting one myself! I love this little lady so much and, barring any health issues, I'm glad I'll be able to have her around for another 16 or so years!!

Are you thankful for anything? 

If so, leave a comment or link up with some other bloggers!

Thankful Thursday...barely!

I am SO thankful to spend every Friday with my niece. She is the cutest thing, and I'm so glad that I get to have a relationship with her that's unlike a lot of peoples! Sometimes it's frustrating to not get everything done I want on my day off, but it's an amazing thing to see how fast she is growing and be there to support her with each new goal. At the moment she really loves feeding herself, which is messy for me but joyful for the dog!! (Also, I just read the post I wrote after Alyla was born that is a letter to her and I can't believe how small she was! OH MY GOD.)

Thankful Thursday

This is a short one...but I'm so thankful to finally have pictures with me and some of my favorite ladies!!

 Tulasi Devi Photography and Design

Tulasi Devi Photography and Design

Link up!

Thankful Thursday

Heather of Brown Eyed Bell{e} does a Thankful Thursday link-up every Thursday, and after learning about it through Sara's blog, I decided to join up! If would be great if you did it as well and linked up to her blog and then let me know!

One thing I am insanely thankful for is that I have a husband who respects the hell out of me. I honestly cannot remember a time when he has spoken rudely to me (aside from when we are already bickering!) or ignored my opinion.

Every day at work, in the grocery store and just walking down the street I hear people treating their partners horribly. The other day I heard a lady request a library material for her son and the husband walked up to her from where he was standing and said, ‘Hell no. You're not getting that.’ She immediately changed from the bubbly person she walked in as and turned into a deflated embarrassed person. When she asked why they couldn’t get it, he folded his arms across his chest and said, ‘Hell. No.’ and walked away. I looked at her with an empathetic expression and asked her if she still wanted to request the book. She sheepishly said no and with her head down, walked away from the desk.

While I felt so incredibly helpless towards this lady and wished I could do something for her, I was so incredibly thankful that I would never be treated like that. I am married to someone who is so sensitive in what he says that I feel like a royal bitch pretty frequently. It’s not a bad thing, though, because it makes me think about the words I speak to him, as well as other people.  

I’ve admitted many many many times before that I am not always a nice person. I snap at Vince way too often and I can say some extremely harsh things. I ultimately feel horrible about it, but that doesn’t always prevent me from saying things. To have someone like Vince be there to balance me out is such a blessing and on this Thursday I am definitely thankful for him and thankful that he puts these thoughts in my head so that I can better myself.

I'll still probably yell at the dog though and occasionally scream that I hate her when she messes up my bed...