Rich or Healthy?

Would I rather be rich or healthy? That's what Day 13 asks.

While I'm a fairly healthy person (Notice I didn't say health-conscious, which I'm not not much of...lol), I know I could always be healthier. I've seen some people answer that they'd rather be rich because then they could afford all the treatments to stay healthy. While I would love to be rich, I think being healthy is more important for me right now. We don't make much money at all, but we live just fine. If I could have perfect health - a straight back, perfect vision, and a body that works well, I think I would be very happy. I'm not saying AT ALL that I'm not happy now, but it would be nice to just feel great every day. I know this is attainable through healthy eating and exercise, and I'm hoping I can do this soon. I'm very grateful for the health I have now, though. =)

How can it not?

Day 12's task is to "write about one of your biggest accomplishment in life"

Rowyn and I on my first Mother's Day (May 13th, 2012)

How can it not be being a mother? It's still a new thing to me, and it's all I think about. My life has changed so much just because of her. We are only 4 1/2 months into this, but I just feel so complete. (not ruling out other children, though...lol) I can't think of any other time in my life that I've been so happy. I've been a working mother for the last 2 1/2 months, and now I'm going to be a student mother (okay, I couldn't think of what to call it...lol). It's not going to be easy, but it's going to be so worth it.

Ouch...

Day 11 is wondering about the worst injury I've ever had.

I was pretty accident prone growing up, so I've had a few good ones. LOL One broken wrist, three broken fingers, one dog bite, one torn ligament, one contusion in my head, 9 stitches in my knee, dislocating that same knee, hairline fracture in my foot (although the dr didn't think it was fractured, so he didn't x-ray it. I could tell you it was when it was still hurting over a month later!), and I'm sure there are more, I just can't remember. (do 2nd degree sunburns count as injuries? I've had a couple of those...lol)

Probably the worst one, though, was the stitches in my knee. It was right at the beginning of 7th grade. I was taking some dishes out of my room, and tripped and fell right on my glass aquarium lid. (Why was it on the floor? Why did I trip? Because I was 12 and my room was messy! Haha!) I yelled out to my parents and they took me to the hospital. The doctor gave me 9 stitches, and I got to go to school with crutches. (I think it was within the first week of a new school, too. So you can only imagine how I was known that year...)

I'd say the worst pain I've ever experienced (other than contractions...) is my back seizing up. I have scoliosis (my spine is crooked). This happens regularly, but one night when I was in high school, it seized up so bad, I was crying and almost numb from the pain. I felt like I actually had no muscle in my back. It wasn't any fun.

You're the inspiration!

The question for Day 10 (um... five days ago...) is "Who inspires you?"

After her first feeding of sweet potatoes. She loved them. =)

I know it's the obvious answer, but it's Rowyn. How could I not be inspired by her? She makes me strive to be such a better person, so that I can be a better mother. From the day she was born to today (19 weeks!), seeing her learn something new, figure out what she's doing, hearing her babble, and the best - smile at me, my heart just fills more and more for her.

Date night last weekend!

Kelly also inspires me though, he's such a good person, with such a good heart. He lets me know when I'm being mean, helps me with hard things, and makes me a better person. He's so fun to be around and makes me laugh. He's a really great father to Rowyn and a perfect husband to me. He makes me feel beautiful even when I'm not feeling well, or thinking I don't look that great. He works hard at making sure we are always active and out doing things.

I'm so lucky to be able to call both of them mine. =)

Yum?

Uhh, day 9 is asking me what my food philosophy is. I've got nothin'. I'm not even sure what a food philosophy is exactly. LOL I can tell you that I like junk food. Soda is my weakness. I've read about how soda is bad for you, but I still drink it. I have a major life change coming up in the next couple weeks, though, and I plan on a whole lot more than just my employement status changing. I'm going to start eating a lot more healthy, and trying to work out so I can lose the baby weight. I have already stopped eating fast food so much, so that's a start. I know that Kelly and I plan on making a lot of meals at home and those will be fairly healthy meals. I'm actually kind of excited about it. I may be 27 years old, but I kind of feel like it's just one more step to being a REAL adult! (haha!)

Sorry...

Yes, I'm aware it has a watermark over it. I typed "uncertain" into google images and this was my favorite. LOL

Day 8 is "How do you invision your life in 5 years?" I have an irrational fear of trying to predict the future. I'm even nervous about making plans for the next weekend because they probably wont work out. With school, I'm just taking it one semester at a time. I guess I'm always afraid of jinxing things, and I know that's not a way to be, but it's just how it always happens with me.

Swingin'!

Day seven of the challenge asks: "If you could live in any time period of the past when would it be and why?"

Well, my immediate answer is the 1940s. I think the answer should be what decade we would want to live in, because I could technically say that I would love to have been a teenager anywhere between 1900-1950. LOL There is SO much variance in that time period, I need to choose one. 

While I love all the pretty dresses of the 1910s (think Downton Abbey - This is a great article on the clothing for the show.), I love the era of the 1940s. The fashion was great, the music was excellent, the movies were awesome and the swing dancing was fun! I was a swing dancer in high school, and although I didn't compete or anything, I had a blast doing it. I love listening to Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, ect. The movies! I can't even pick one! Meet Me in St. Louis, Singing in the Rain (okay, I know, that's from 1952, but still! LOL), Wizard of Oz (again, that's from 1939...lol), Casablanca, It's a Wonderful Life, ect - see! I can't pick one. I just love it. LOL I used to always say, I should have been born when my grandparents were born - 1925 and 1927 so that I could have been a teenager in the 40s. =)

Frank =)

Judy Garland

Look at that swing move!

And the most important -

My grandparents on their wedding day June 1st, 1948. =)



Fame!

For day six, the challenge asks - If you could spend 15 minutes with any celebrity, who would it be and why?

I think I would probably choose Jennifer Garner. She just seems so down to earth and I've loved her since 13 Going on 30. (One of my favorite movies!) It's like she's not even a celebrity.

Sorry, I couldn't decide which picture to post of that movie... LOL

(If I could choose a 2nd person, and it could be at any age, I'd have to say Newsies era Chirstian Bale... hehe!)



Oh, and to add a note - I met Jodie Foster last week! She stayed at the hotel I work at and I checked her in. I never acknowleged to her that I knew she was Jodie Foster, becuase it was 1am, she seemed tired and stressed from traveling with her two boys, (And hardly looked like the Jodie Foster I know from Hollywood.) and she was checking in under her given name (thank you wikipedia!), so I just let her go. I wish I could have been like "Hey! You're Jodie Foster, let's take a picture together!" At least I can say I've kind of met her, though... LOL

Obviously!

Day five is to post a picture of something or someone that made my day special. This is an obvious one for me.

Rowyn is getting so big and learning new things every day! We were grocery shopping at Rosauers on Sunday and as she was being carried by Kelly, she was blowing raspberries, spit bubbles and grabbing her toes. She cracks me up and I love it. Kelly is also in the picture and he makes my day special, too. He's such a good husband and father, I'm so lucky to have him. =)

Get it out of here!

Okay, the weekend is over and now I need to get back into the challenge!

Day four's question is: If you could rid the world of one thing, what would it be?

There are so many things the world could do without. I personally hate scorpions. Can we get rid of them? (and I don't even have to deal with them in Idaho!) I would normally post a picture of one, but I dislike them so much, I don't want a picture of one on my blog.

Okay, but really, to get serious, I think hate would be nice to get rid of, but I would love to get rid of school debt. (Thanks Michelle! She gave me the idea when she wanted to get rid of Sallie Mae) I know it's a silly answer, but why do we have to go into debt for bettering ourselves? I really don't have a lot to go into with this answer, but I think anyone who has ever had to deal with paying off school loans, like I have (and mine weren't even that bad!) would love to just get rid of them, too!

You sunk my Battleship!

Day Three: "What was the last movie you saw in the theatre?"

Since we have a new (ish) baby at home, it's been a while since we've gone to the theatre. The night before my water broke (before I actually went into labor!), we saw The Hunger Games because we knew it'd be awhile before we would be able to see a movie again.

It took us 3 1/2 months to leave Rowyn with a sitter (Kelly's mom) and go see a movie. We ended up just going to the dollar theatre to see Battleship, but it was still something we were able to do, and do with Rowyn. We went to Olive Garden beforehand, just because we like to go, and we hadn't been since April, which wasn't a great experience. (It was our one year wedding anniversary and we had an 11 day old baby with us who screamed and cried the whole time we were there!)

Battleship was okay. I'd call it a renter so you can watch it in your pajamas and maybe even do something else while watching. LOL

*I wrote this Thursday morning, and scheduled it to post on Friday just after midnight. I probably wont do days 4 and 5 until Monday night when I'm at work...Just so you know, because, I know that you are really looking forward to all of my posts. ;)

Advice for a Newborn.

Day two of the challenge is "If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?"

I honestly don't know. LOL I just had a baby four months ago and I can't think of one thing I would tell her to take with her through life.

But really, I think that I would tell her not to worry about what other people think. I know it's not easy, and especially when you are a teenager, it's what everyone seems to worry about, but it doesn't matter. I might be almost 28 years old, but going back to school is making this hard. I'm going to be in classes with 18 year olds and here I am worrying about how my back pack looks, and if I'm too old to wear skinny jeans. Do you really think everyone is going to notice my back pack or think I'm too old for those skinny jeans? No, probably not. And if they do, they more than likely wont let me know.

In the end, you need to be your own person. This is something I learned in my mid-twenties, and would have loved to learn it when I was 13. I may have looked like I didn't care what people thought in my sparkly jeans, fire red hair and jelly bracelets all up my arms, but I did. (I sure had fun dressing like that, though!) I really hope Rowyn can be who she wants to be, and enjoy it.

Here are a few of my senior pictures for fun. (yep, I'm a nerd.)

Let's attempt a challenge!

So, my wonderful group of friends that were all due in April like I was decided to do a blog challenge. I've seen a few of you do them, but I didn't think I'd have the time or motivation to do one. Well, I can't promise much, but I'll sure try! Here's the challenge. (Yeah, yeah - we are doing a July one, but who cares!)

Today (Well, technically yesterday) we needed to write our goals for the month. August 2012 is turning out to be a big month for me, so I have a few important goals. The big news is that I'm quitting my job in the hotel industry that I've had for over 5 years to go back to school!  I have been anxious to go back to school for a couple years, and it's actually one of the things that helped Kelly and I decide to do other things, like get married and have a baby first. So, I'd say the original decision was a good one. =) It's weird to leave a job after over 5 1/2 years with the company, but I gave them about 5 weeks of notice because I was able to. I have two more weeks left, or technically 6 shifts. =)

Rowyn helping me announce me going back to school. =)

This gives me many goals to work on this month:

School Goals

• Make sure I have everything I need for going back to school - notebooks, binders, back pack, a working computer (haha - I think I'll be spending a lot of time in a library until we can get one, probably on Black Friday)
• Get ready to focus and work really hard. - I wasn't the best student, but I need to work really hard and get really good grades because I'm hoping I can get my bachelors in Early Childhood Studies and then get my masters in Speech Pathology. It's not going to be an easy program to get in to, but it's want I ultimately want to do.
• Work on a schedule that will help Rowyn. - I've already scheduled my classes so I can go to school after Kelly is off work. I can be with Rowyn in the mornings, and then go to school in the afternoons, and then we can spend time as a family in the evenings. (Then I can do my homework!)

Non-school goals

• Get Rowyn sleeping in her own room by herself! - Rowyn has been in her crib in her own room for a month now. But, we sleep with her on a mattress in the room. Whoops. She still wakes up a couple times a night, but a quick insertion of the pacifier helps her to go back to sleep. It's such a quick fix, it's going to be hard to have to get up and go down the hallway when she starts to fuss in the middle of the night, but we are going to start working on it soon!
• Really work on saving money. - We have been saving money, but when I quit my job, it's going to be a lifestyle change for us, so we are going to have to do some adjusting. (not eating out so much!)
• Learn to cook more! - This goes along with saving money. We are really working on learning to cook more meals at home, and we are enjoying the things we can come up with. =)
• Lose some weight. - I'm not one who loves to work out or even eat healthy, but I've noticed some weight loss since we've been eating at home more, and I'm hoping that I can get myself into an exercise routine very soon.

So it turns out I have a lot to do this month.... Maybe one of these goals should be not to be so wordy and work on shorter blog posts. Haha.

 

The last four months have been so fun with Rowyn! I don't have a lot of time to go into details, but I will post a few of my favorite pictures. =)

Rowyn was two months here. I love this shirt and hope it'll still fit when it finally cools off!

A collage I made of her first three months. I'll be taking her four month picture this weekend!

Rowyn's nursery. We have the changing table in the corner under the mobile now. I need to take an updated picture!

Four generations! Rowyn finally got her meet her Great Grandma when she was just over three months old. =)

My beautiful girl. Love her. =)