On Working Out

Whew.

I am hoping this gets easier as I go.

I'm speaking of my newfound goal of trying to work out a few times a week. I started swimming this past Monday (the 19th) after work. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it, and I never seemed to be able to fit it in with my current schedule. But when there's a will, there's a way.

I really enjoy swimming. For being a cardiovascular workout, it really can be low-impact which is safer for my knee. I have a floating patella which means my knee cap isn't always in the right place and that can get pretty painful. When I was in high school and in an alternative gym class because of Marching Band, it used to be very troublesome. I was delegated to walking the track for 30 minutes three times a week because I wasn't really allowed to run. Besides, I don't run very well either but that's besides the point.

With swimming, I'm able to go as fast as I can and not kill my knee. I used to be on swim team when I was younger. I wish I'd kept that up, because I used to be able to swim more laps without getting as winded as I do now.

This is going to be an adventure, that's for sure. But I'm excited to try to keep up with this work out plan as much as possible. Currently, I plan on swimming two to three times a week and possibly doing weights an extra day per week but we'll see how that goes. I assume I will be in pain for most of the first few weeks of this!

On My Favorite Thing - Spending Money!

Let me just clear the air here... I LOVE shopping (not totally unusual I suppose, but I used to be the biggest tomboy and never enjoyed it much). For the most part. By that, I mean when I find items that are really cute and probably as inexpensive as possible thanks to my income. But luckily for me, there are places like Old Navy with affordable, cute pieces (my most recent adventure for a pair or two of jeans turned into a hundred-dollar affair, though I DID get quite a few things for that amount of money). There are also places like Burlington Coat Factory where I finally purchased my new winter coat for half off it's original $200 price tag.

I know, even HALF of $200 is a little more than half of my paychecks, but I decided that I was tired of having the same jacket I've had since oh, maybe 2004. Maybe even 2003, it was when I was still working at Build-a-Bear (that is an adventure of it's own!). What I figure when I'm shopping is if I wear it enough, it's worth whatever the cost is. I'm an avid watcher of What Not to Wear which is surprisingly useful. Even with not having been on the show.

But I'm quite excited about my new coat, I'll eventually have to take a picture. It's definitely cute!

Besides my Old Navy obsession, I also LOVE book shopping. There's nothing better then coming home with a new find. Or an old find, since I've recently begun reading the Harry Potter series. I'd never read it and figured it's about time to see what the hullabaloo was about (that word totally does not get used nearly enough!). So far so good, I'm on to book number three and enjoying myself so far. Once I get into a book, it's hard for me to put it down without finishing it entirely. It was the same with the Twilight series too. (I am an out of the closest book nerd if you've not been able to tell!)

Now that I'm rambling, I believe it's time for bed. Work comes too early on Sundays!

Change

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. - Barack Obama

Chances are, if you've previously read my blog, you know I support change, treating people as unique, and above all, I have a strong belief in Barack Obama.

I cannot believe that it's already his inauguration. My only hope now is that people can be patient enough to let him do the work that is necessary to fix our country. With most change, it's going to take time and I feel as though people will be quick to judge if it doesn't happen right away. But I think now, more than ever, it shouldn't matter what your belief is because we need to come together for a unity much stronger than any belief, and that's because we are the United States. Whether you're a democrat or a republican or affiliate yourself with no party, I think that Obama has the power to reunite us all.

I applaud his work, and that of the politicians before him who have given this nation a redeeming quality. Heroes like Martin Luther King, Jr and now Barack Obama show that it doesn't matter your race or your background. It's what you can do to make the world a better place.

One of my main goals in my life is to leave my mark on the world, whether it be because I've made someone's life a little bit better or because I've done something to put myself in the history books.

To those fighting for our country, fighting to make a change in this world, or even fighting to make themselves better: thank you - because it probably will never get said enough!

Making (and Keeping) a Schedule.

I finally set up a proper g-mail account for myself. I've been debating but I had heard of their calendar and their e-mail being really good so I figured I'd give it a shot. Mostly for their calendar.

As I set that up today, I began to realize how busy this semester of college is going to be. Even without really having a full class load, I have work 6 days a week, between two different locations for pharmacy technician, and yet another job in which I work one night a week. I am also trying to exercise a little bit more because I am out of shape. Terribly out of shape. Plus the time I need for homework and my online class, not to forget about the time I need to take care of my horse. After looking at this calendar, it seems every block of time is used for school, work, homework, or taking care of my horse which in itself sometimes feels like a full time job.

I begun to realize though that if I have a set schedule like this, I'm either going to blow it all off or I will follow it and things will go smoothly. As smoothly as they possibly can at least. I've figured that I don't even have to be up before 10 on most days. Which is relatively lucky. Or even if I feel the need to, I can work out in the mornings and be done by 9 at night. In either case, I've got some options even with this schedule I'm setting for myself.

I hope I can stick to this calendar. Because before it was hard seeing when I could fit everything in, but now that it's all laid out... Maybe it will make everything easier!

The Past Week

Wonderful school has started up again. I actually looked forward to the new semester because it means that I won't have to work a second job in the daytime anymore. Definitely a plus, as I did it for a few weeks during winter break and it absolutely was a bad idea. I mean, the money was somewhat nice but not enough to keep me wanting to do it for any length of time.

I've only got three classes this semester, mostly in part because I still have to work one job nearly full time in order to afford it. I pay for my own classes and my books, which can get pretty costly. Of my three classes, I luckily only needed two books but it was still $207.

At any rate, school is sure to keep me relatively busy, I've got an online course for Intro to Theater, Calculus, and Economics. I think this is the last semester I won't have to take any science courses, from now til the time I'm done with my gen eds I have sections of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics left.

After that, though, I'll be able to take my PCAT and start applying to Pharmacy schools. I can't wait for that.

On top of this, I'm trying to get to a few horse shows this year as well. I show AQHA, which is the association for Quarter horses, competitively, whether it be locally or nationally. I don't bring it up much because it's often hard to explain what exactly I do, and usually unless anyone's into the horse thing themselves. But I do have my own horse and she's pretty much a big part of my life at the moment. It keeps me grounded because it's something I have to work for as far as the showing stuff goes. She's like my rock, it's like having something or somebody to go to when you're stressed.

I digress.

The whole point of this post was to sort of describe why I haven't posted in the past week. Unfortunately, being busy with school and work apparently must take precedence when it comes to this blog. I am so not sure if I spelled "precedence" right. I hope so. But hey, if I disappear every so often, at least whomever reads this won't be TOO concerned!

A blog about food..

So apparently winter is officially hitting Chicago.

Not like it hasn't done anything yet already - December was quite snowy, cold, and icy to top everything off. Sweet.

Now it's the first blizzard of '09. Well, blizzard like conditions I guess. But I didn't come on here to talk weather.

My hometown finally got its very own Sonic! Is it bad that I'm this excited over a food establishment?

Perhaps.. but it's sort of nostalgia based.

When I was younger, the town my grandmother lived in had not one but TWO sonic locations. My family, both extended and immediate, always used to buy Cherry Limeades at every chance while in Newton for however long our stay was. Besides spending time with the family, a chance to eat at Sonic was pretty rare for us because the closest one to me was 3 hours away up until this past year. So seeing all of those Sonic commercials was pretty tempting.

The last time I saw a Sonic was while we were in Springfield one year for a horse show. However, I wasn't in the car that stopped at Sonic which was, again, tempting.

So now that we have our very own Sonic, my pockets and my diet are going to take a turn for the worse. Good thing I have another year-long gym membership - I'll definitely need to work out after all of this! (By the way, if you ever have the chance to have Sonic - they have the best Banana Cream Pie milkshakes!)

The Pros and Cons of iTunes

iTunes is amazingly troublesome. As well as entirely too convenient.

I could get into some serious problems while being able to do a one-click purchase and download right to my computer. And I am sure I do. In the end, I've ended up with an album full of songs I've never heard from an artist I've never even heard of. Which could go both ways. If I end up LIKING the band, it's definitely a good, sound judgment. However, it could go the other way too and I could end up hating both the album I've just spent 8 to 10 dollars and the artist to boot.

It's a no-win situation!

However.. these were winning choices in my book..

1. Linkin Park - "Minutes to Midnight"
Overall, I have not given Linkin Park a fair shot. Sure, I've liked some songs they have done but never enough to purchase an album. But I did preview a few of them, all thirty seconds that iTunes gives you to hear. I really like the entire album though, there aren't any songs that I would say don't belong on this album. My favorite songs include "Leave Out All the Rest" which coincidentally appears on the Twilight movie soundtrack and "Bleed it Out" which is just a fun song to get me moving. "In Between" is also a good track, though like I said there aren't any I'd say I dislike.

2. Lady Gaga - "The Fame"
I've heard "Just Dance" everywhere, and I was curious. Lady Gaga reminds me of a sane Britney Spears, tied in with Pink and maybe a little Christina Aguilera. All of her tracks are very dance-y and she is VERY blunt. I really like "Poker Face" and obviously, "Just Dance." Unfortunately, I haven't listened to much else yet but it's very pump you up music.

3. The All American Rejects - "When the World Comes Down"
I hold a bit of a bias for this, because I've listened to a lot of AAR in the past, they are in fact one of my favorite bands. It STILL fits into the iTunes purchase category though! In any case, I love "Mona Lisa" and "Gives You Hell." I've found their songs also fall into the get you pumped category.

4. Three Days Grace - "One-X"
One of my iTunes finds, though I do think I've heard "Never Too Late" before I saw it on iTunes. No matter, it's a decent album. In fact, I still need to give most of it a listen...

But like I said, I usually end up with random things I haven't heard of before. Sigh. Time to turn on that shopping cart feature so I don't get stuck making a purchase I don't really want.

On a side note, and because I really don't know how else to end this post.. Less than 5 months until I'm 25! By less than, I mean a day under 5 months. Sigh!

With New Year's being a week ago, it's been sort of nice to take an introspective look as to what I would change and how I could better myself as a person. I feel there's only one thing consistent as people, and that's the ability to change. It doesn't matter if you feel there's nothing TO be changed because it's inevitable. You may not even notice it happening, it just does its thing and a year or even a month later you sit and realize how differently you've looked at things before.

I like change. I like the fact that even though we think we stop growing up at a certain point, it turns out we really don't. Who I am today may not be who I am a year for now, I know for certain a year ago this time I didn't know where I would be at as far as life goes. No one can really predict this kind of stuff.

Just six or seven months ago I was eager to trade my life in for a whole new one. As off-base as I was, I thought that with who I'd met was going to turn out to be special. Boy, was I wrong! What really blows my mind about it was how certain I was that it was my ticket out of here. Instead, I wasted several months on somebody who wasn't real, on somebody I put on a pedestal. Inadvertently, I too became a different person because of him. Because of an idea, really.

I bring this up because I feel that in the past few months I've become myself again, with an added bonus of a thicker skin and being a bit less naive. Changing yourself to be what someone else wants just seems so pointless now, it may be the one thing I possibly regret (I feel that in regretting anything makes it seem like you've made a mistake, however mistakes you learn from and therefore can better you as person). The one upside to it all is that I realized just how much I would lose in order to change my life. For one person.. idea.. whatever you'd want to call it.

What is my point? I've seemed to, per usual, rambled on and lost where I was headed in this whole thing.

I guess we just never cease growing up which is beneficial because everything around us is always changing, it just takes a bit more to see the change in ourselves.


"The more things change, the more they stay the same. I'm not sure who the first person was who said that. Probably Shakespeare. Or maybe Sting. But at the moment, it's the sentence that best explains my tragic flaw, my inability to change. I don't think I'm alone in this. The more I get to know other people, the more I realize it's kind of everyone's flaw. Staying exactly the same for as long as possible, standing perfectly still... It feels safer somehow. And if you are suffering, at least the pain is familiar. Because if you took that leap of faith, went outside the box, did something unexpected... Who knows what other pain might be out there, waiting for you. Chances are it could be even worse. So you maintain the status quo. Choose the road already traveled and it doesn't seem that bad. Not as far as flaws go. You're not a drug addict. You're not killing anyone... Except maybe yourself a little. When we finally do change, I don't think it happens like an earthquake or an explosion, where all of a sudden we're like this different person. I think it's smaller than that. The kind of thing most people wouldn't even notice unless they looked at us really close. Which, thank God, they never do. But you notice it. Inside you that change feels like a world of difference. And you hope this is it. This is the person you get to be forever... that you'll never have to change again." - Everwood.

A Better Mail System!

A few days ago, I happened to be at home. Presumably playing Lego Batman on the Wii because, let's face it, that's how I roll. I should mention, too, that I am still living at home.

The mail system here at home is basically non-existent. Whomever brings the mail in does not always get it from point A to point B so it usually ends up getting piled up somewhere, only for me to find it a few weeks after the fact. Speaking of, I STILL need to pay that stupid bill I've probably lost again. Oops!

I digress. So my parents came home that afternoon, and said, "Guess what we got, Katie!" They immediately pull out a "mail box" of sorts, to be hung on my door so that way my mail actually GETS to me instead of floats around the house.

The only thing I wish is that I could have gotten one of those cool stand up ones to place by my door. How awesome would that be? (maybe it's just me who thinks this). Anyway, like something with those little flags you put up when there's mail inside. Like I said, maybe it's just me, but anything to get the mail faster works for me.

Ranting about Reality TV.. sort of.

Woohoo another post! Let's hope it's less worry about what I intend to say than it has been lately. Perhaps, too, I'm ready to go back to school - I couldn't even remember whether that was a than or a then moment. One more week of winter break, gladly - and this week I'm only doing two long days instead of four. Thankfully! (See, saying no helps me out a bit)

In any case, I've been quite content to sit in front of the television as much as possible this weekend. Partly due to the fact I haven't been feeling so well, partly also because I have been bored and finally had nothing better to do. This, of course, was in between rereading the Twilight series. I'm about to reread the fourth book, though my copy of the second book is still somewhere out there at a friend's house.

Anyway, its odd seeing how many reality shows are now out there. In the past few years, it seems like more and more reality TV took over the scripted shows.

This wouldn't be such a big deal if not for the fact that we're on the THIRD series of "A Shot of Love." As if Tila Tequila wasn't enough, now it's twins looking for love? Who both happen, again, to be interested in both male and female? Which by the way, the first time around it was quite amusing to watch what happened when they figured out they were all after the same person, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to sit through another cycle of this. Wait, cycle is America's Next Top Model (which I do have a weakness for, so sue me).

What I'm concerned about is this Brody Jenner reality show. I could handle him on the Hills, he's nice to look at to be sure but a reality show about finding HIS best friend, er, bromance? Are we kidding? I guess Paris had her turn, so it must be time for the male population to respond. The only thing that keeps me entertained with this Bromance thing is to see how many words they can put "bro" in front of, such as bromance, bromosexual, and broathlon. Secondly, there is a guy on that show that absolutely amuses me due to facial expressions alone. However, I can't really remember his name right now.

And, another point - Is Ryan Seacrest taking over the world? I've seen a few reality shows that show him as a producer. Seriously?!

At any rate, I don't exactly despise reality shows but there are some that just need to end. Now, preferably. However, I'm completely aware I will be sucked in to the whole thing as per usual.

To blog, or not to blog...

I can't believe it's 2009 already. Seriously? Where does the time go?

It's hard writing a blog when all you really do is work and work and work. One of the downfalls to working two jobs, plus that whole I can't say no thing. New Year's Resolution? I think yes! Er.. Anyway, I think I concentrate on what other people think of me to where I forget to take time for myself.

But with the working, I don't come up with much as far as anything to say.

The only other thing I've done lately is play a ton of Rock Band 2. So, not much there either.

New Year's resolution #2? Finding more things to blog about. I'd like to have something people want to read, instead of me complaining and being nostalgic all the time. I could talk about my new-found Twilight obsession, but that too would get boring. I need something exciting to happen.

Finally, the third New Year's resolution I intend on sticking with is being more outgoing. I know from what people DO tell me they see they like. I need to reword that. I mean, once I open up, people like what they see. The difference is showing people that fun side of me first. I am shy by nature, so being open and being honest about certain things scare me.

Oh there is one more. I need to stop worrying about what people think of me. This ties into #3 the more I think about it but I like to worry and fret about whether or not people like me, but it shouldn't matter. What matters is if I'm happy, and if I like what I'm doing. The only people who should matter are my friends, and they shouldn't mind what I do so long as it's not harmful to them or myself.

So there you have it. My New Years stuff in a nutshell. Happy New Year!