My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up) - Fall Out Boy

This song just makes me want to move.

Does This Happen To You?

I find that if I drink iced tea with meals instead of soda, I drink a lot less during the meal. Does that happen to anyone else? Its not like I dislike iced tea, I love it. So why do I feel the need to drink less of it in comparison to soda? I guess its a good thing though. Iced tea has less sugar and junk than soda does, so that can help with my weight loss aspirations.

Travel Goal- Update

The traveling goal is coming along nicely. Heres a quick little list to keep track of where I've been, and hopefully I'll be able to write longer posts about them soon.

January 6th and 7th- Pismo Beach, CA

February 11th- Burbank, CA

February 26th- Los Angeles, CA

March 23rd- Long Beach, CA

March 30th- Anaheim, CA

April 21st and 22nd- Anaheim, CA

April 29th and 30th- Phoenix, AZ

We've got a few little trips to take this month, and after that its quiet until July :)

Teevee Time

The other day I was flipping through my Netflix queue, and found this show called The Colony. Neither my husband or myself remembered putting in there, so I just had to see what it was about. Let me tell you, I am hooked. Its pretty much a reality show, set in a post apocalyptic city. I'm only on season one, which was done in Los Angeles. Lately, survival preparedness has been on my mind a lot. I am currently reading a book called The Eleventh Plague, which is also set in a post apocalyptic world, which normally isn't my type of reading, but the scenario in the book doesn't seem so farfetched (the relatability of the situation is what got me interested in reading it). I was raised in a home where disaster readiness was stressed; living in California, earthquakes and wildfires are an ever present possibility. The bottom of our hall closet had all our supplies: bottled water, canned foods, a first aid kit, simple utensils (like a can opener, basic silverware, etc) and some basic camping equipment. Now that I'm a mother, I feel like its my duty to prepare for an emergency, if not for myself, then at least for my children. A year or so ago, my husband and I bought a couple of boxes of MREs, and got a lot of snarky comments about preparing for a zombie apocalypse. Its sad that people don't take survival readiness more seriously. With the way the world is going.... And thats basically how season one of The Colony opened- their Homeland Security expert basically said that its not a matter of if something (a natural disaster, an airborne virus, an attack from another country) happens, but a matter of when. And the show is supposed to show how our world can be rebuilt after it happens. There are a few things that bother me about the show though. The first one is the blatant advertising for Harbor Freight Tools. I can understand if you see their sticker on a crate in passing during a shot, but they focus on them for a few seconds at a time. Also, the warehouse that they're in seems a little too stocked. For a supposed post apocalyptic scene, there are a lot tools and things just sitting in there. The casting also bothers me. And its not the people, but the professions. The show starts by saying that these people represent a cross section of American people, but there are like four different types of engineers/scientists, a doctor/nurse combo,two types of handymen and a self defense instructor in the group. It just seems like the rebuilding would be a little different if there were just average people in the group, and not so many specific, creating professions. But overall, I think the show is great. It does show how things can be made with minimal or unconventional supplies, and the professionals (Homeland Security, a psychologist and an engineer)explain what the Colony is dealing with during different parts of the experiment puts a different perspective on the show. Overall, I'd give season one three and a half out of five stars and would recommend it to anyone who has ever thought about a post apocalyptic world.

A Career Goal

I am not even halfway through my externship, but I have decided to try to go to pharmacy school. It will take a long time, seeing as how I need a Bachelor's degree before I can even get into a pharmacy program, and I don't even have an Associate's degree. But it will all be worth it in the end, pharmacists have the earning potential that rivals a small time lawyer or a doctor. I'm not sure if I can do a Bachelor's through one of those fast paced schools like University of Phoenix, or if I should try to go to the California State University here in town. Either way, it will be pricey.

Sick of Being Sick.

It feels like ages since any of us in the house have been well. In just the past two weeks alone, we've spent about $800 for doctor visits, prescriptions, over the counter medications.... I've been bleaching our household surfaces like crazy, I should own stock in antibacterial sanitizers and soaps, and I wash all our sheets several times a week in scalding hot water. I don't really know what else to do lol.

Post Birthday Reflection

Last Wednesday, I turned twenty-nine years old. It feels weird, that this is my last year in my twenties. I feel like I should be setting some special goals, or trying to squeeze in some time at bars or something. So far, twenty-nine has been spent doing my externship and dealing with illness after illness for me and my family. I feel drained and exhausted. I guess I really am getting old :) My birthday was pretty much uncelebrated in favor of my kids (my son's birthday is March 6th and my daughter's is March 13th, like me). I prefer it for the most part. I don't have any friends to celebrate it with, so focusing on my kids' birthdays takes my mind off mine. I did get an Ipod classic from my husband though (I've been wanting one for years) and tickets to see The Package Tour (NKOTB, 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men) in Las Vegas from my mother in law. I was super excited to receive them, until I found out that she is making it a family trip. Travelling with her is stressful, travelling with her where there's an abundance of alcohol is worse. Plus, shes supposed to be babysitting our kids, so we have to bring them to Vegas too. My daughter gets car sick in the heat, and the drive there is pretty much all desert so....its going to be a really stressful time. I'm trying not to focus on it right now though. A lot could happen between now and July, so maybe they (my mother in law, father in law, and sister in law) will have something come up and won't be able to go. One can only hope anyway.

Renaissance, is it making a comeback?

Not long after I started this blog, I was watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta (my favorite RH series. Orange County and Beverly Hills are tied for second). During this particular episode, Cynthia decides to host a pageant called Miss Renaissance. Nothing about her pageant said Renaissance to me, and I was worried that once people saw my blog they would think I got the idea from her (I didn't). And then, a few episodes later, Porsha says shes throwing a Renaissance themed birthday for her husband. It was actually based on the Harlem Renaissance , not the European one. But her party reflected the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance, so I didn't feel so uptight about it. I felt like I should be happy that Renaissance themes are making a comeback, this nation is long overdue for a cultural revolution, but instead I felt like the Real Housewives were stealing my idea. A silly notion though, since they have the platform to reach millions, and well....I don't. Anyway, this is my little disclaimer. I did not get the Renaissance idea from the Real Housewives of Atlanta :)

Goals: A Revision

I knew this would happen, just not so soon. The goals involving Project Life have been scrapped. Its going to cost too much, and honestly, I don't think I love the method as much as I thought I would. I'm more of a Smash type scrapbooker, just randomly putting things on a page. But I'm also a huge fan of traditional scrapbook layouts, and Project Life doesn't really support either one of those scrapbooking styles. Also, the getting in shape one is staying, but I haven't been doing so well with it. I have been fighting off various colds, flus, and superbugs since February. I am so sick of being sick lol. Not only have I been sick, but the kids have been as well. It leaves me zero energy to do anything remotely athletic. I get dizzy just from standing for long periods of time (like at extern). Yesterday was Reagan's last Mommy and Me soccer class, and even though we did minimal running, I thought I was going to pass out. It was horrible. The only upside to being sick for so long has been that I've been pretty good with my water goal. Soda upsets my stomach, and being sick makes me thirsty, so water is all I have. I will say though, I haven't lost any weight, which is surprising. A smaller appetite and all the water drinking, I thought I would be at least a few pounds down. Since I'm losing the Project Life goals, I thought I would add one. This one is pretty easy, its to travel more. Travel doesn't necessarily mean out of the country, or even out of state (we are getting passports this year though, so maybe....). It just means getting out of town more. And its going to be a pretty easy goal to achieve. We went to L.A. twice in February. This month we are going to Long Beach for Gavin's dance competition, and to Anaheim for Wonder Con. April brings seeing Paramore in Phoenix, Arizona. Then we're pretty quiet until July, which brings Comic Con in San Diego, a weekend beach trip for our anniversary, and possibly seeing New Kids on the Block in Las Vegas. Its always good to have at least one goal you know for certain you can complete, it makes you feel like the rest of them are possible :)

Happy Friday!

Plan of Action

The Plan:

Goal #1 Read 20 books.
That's all on me. I have plenty of books that I've bought but have yet to read. Now I just need to find the time to squeeze in leisure reading.

Goal #2 Work on Project Life weekly and Goal #2.1 Keep up with Project Life until the end of the year.
I have a tendency to start projects but never finish them. You might even see that with this project. But my goal is to keep up with Project Life for the entire year. I think it will be neat for the family to have a scrapbook like that. And so I don't get overwhelmed with it, I'd like to work on a layout weekly.

Goal #3 Get in shape.
I always set weight goals, and I never meet them. Then I get discouraged and give up on losing weight completely. With just focusing on getting in shape, I can lose weight but not get discouraged if I'm not meeting a mark. I hope to just add little extras throughout my day to get me moving. And once I get stronger, the more I'll be able to do.

Goal #4 Drink 79.5oz of water a day.
Sounds like a lot, but I need to cut out the soda. I drink a ton of soda right now. I'll probably keep a tally in the beginning so I can keep on track. 79.5oz is about five 16.9oz bottles of water. Should be easy (I hope).

Goal #5 Get and stay on track with my gluten free diet.
Last October I was told that I have a gluten sensitivity and should get on a gluten free diet. Gluten free food is really expensive and it doesn't really fit into my family's budget. But I do notice a change in how my stomach feels while I'm eating gluten free foods. So I'm trying to stick with it. And gluten free portions are so small, I might even lose weight just from the dietary change :)

Goal #6 Do more fun things with the kids.
That's pretty self explanatory. I want to do more fun things with my children. It will make them happy, which will make me happy. We will bond and they can have fun stories to share with family and friends.

Goals

I've wasted this month really, as far as goals go. For starters, I've been thinking about what the goals for this project should be. Something attainable, doable, available. So here they are, the goals:

1) read 20 books
2) work on Project Life weekly
2.1) finish Project Life at the end of the year
3) get in shape
4) drink 79.5oz of water a day
5) get and stay on track with my gluten free diet
6) do more fun things with the kids

These are my starter goals. If they start looking easy, I'll change them. And if I think of anything else, I'll add it. The project is flexible like that :)

Why hello there, 2013. How lovely it is to meet you.

The first time I ever heard of the word Renaissance was in history class. It was the making of a new era; new ideals, new artists... an awakening of the world if you will. I thought that was so neat, and it made a lot more sense as to why my favorite antique store was named that. I didn't hear about the Renaissance again for a long time, until I was about 15 years old. I was reading a teen girl magazine right before the holidays, and it had this article about what type of girls guys wanted as a girlfriend.  There was a whole list, but the one that caught my eye was Renaissance girl. The girl that could throw a football and teach you about art, and take you out to awesome, obscure restaurants (think Rachel Leigh Cook in Shes All That, Julia Stiles in Down to You...any quirky girl meets studly guy movie situation really). That year, I made it a resolution to become that Renaissance girl. I abandoned it though, once it hit me again that real life high school is not movie high school, and that the guys all really went after the hot cheerleaders and that's about it.

I tucked the idea in my diary and never looked back, until 2011. I vowed to rap up 26 and go through 27 improving myself, making myself someone that everyone would want to get to know and hang out with. And I named my plan The Renaissance Project. This attempt came more from a lack of friends then a lack of boyfriend. I started it off pretty well, I met the goals I set for myself, felt a little more fulfilled. Then my grandma passed away on January 6th. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I tried to keep up, telling myself that I had to finish something in my life. But by March (our shared birthday month), I was just too depressed. I missed her like crazy, and I gave up. I felt disappointed in myself, angry at myself, sad at myself. But depression is an evil thing, and I didn't really know how to get past it.

This year I am once again starting The Renaissance Project. I found in 2012 that I accomplished more than I thought I could and it inspired me to try again at some of the things I truly want. So that's what this blog is for. To share my goals and keep track of my progress. I hope you'll stay along for the journey, I could sure use the company.

Here's to a bitchin' 2013,
Amanda