{ a g a m e o f f a t e }

I think it would be a great idea if someone would make an online to-do list community type thing that has an app, too, but I guess it doesn’t exist. So until then.. I’ll post my list up here. I feel better if it’s published & I know one or two people (ie: all of my viewers, haha) can see it.

For tonight:
- Interval training
- Vacuum first floor
- Dishes
- Fold all of the laundry I just washed..
- Clean off nightstand
- Fill all aquaglobes & water outside vegetable plants
- Reset clocks (I blew a fuse last night, lol)

For the week:
- Mow the lawn
- Weed wack
- Order Butterfly Bushes
- Hang topsy turvy on hook
- Interval training at least 3 times (1, 2, 3)
- 100 situps at least 3 times (1, 2, 3)
- Clean desk off in utily room
- Check PO box
- Clean closet floor (ugh..)
- Take boxes to recycling center
- Take bag of clothes to Good Will/Salvation Army

That’s good enough for now.

As of last Wednesday, I became an Orange Belt in MMA (more Kickboxing right now)! I tested pretty well – I really only struggled with one punch. I honestly don’t think I ever learned it, but I’m starting to pick up on how to do it so that’s good. Please excuse my thunder thighs, I am working on them!:

I’ve been enjoying it this week, but next week I am going to learn more for an Orange-Black belt, and then focus towards Green! The belt isn’t really what I’m concerned about, even though I AM an accessories freak! I am learning so many self-defense moves in this class that I know will pay off if I ever catch myself in a predicament.

That was the high light of my week!

I’ve been meaning to update since Saturday, but every muscle in my body has hurt. I did Boot camp (Lindsay can tell you how brutalizing it is!) on Saturday, and then walked 2.5 miles because I wasn’t sore. Sunday I woke up and it hurt to laugh, walk, talk, you name it.. lol. That’s good though, that means it worked!

Today is the first day it hasn’t hurt to bend, so what do I do? Well since I had the day off (hooray for being overstaffed – I NEEDED a day off), I went to Zumba at 5:30 and Kickboxing at 7. lol @ my own stupidity, but I needed to prove to myself that I COULD push the limit and I did. I’m happy. tired & sore, but happy.

My kickboxing instructor gave me an award for endurance:

oh & this tank top used to be so tight on me, but as you can see, it’s hanging now!:

Tomorrow I am doing Zumba at home, Friday hopefully nooottthing because Saturday is rolling around & I’m going back to Boot camp. ugh. I can already feel the pain, haha.

I wish I could make a better post for my return, but I am completely exhausted today. On Monday nights, I take a Zumba class & today it depleted all of my energy! Don’t think I am complaining one bit, because I am not..! I actually kept up pretty well tonight, better than I usually do. The thing I struggled with was jumping. I ran on Saturday (I’m not used to running.. it’s been years since I have) so my shin splints were killing me today, but other than that, my stamina has definitely improved. Go me!

Well I have to finish straightening my hair & then it’s off to bed I go. I am going to work early tomorrow (as I did today as well) so I definitely need sleep. After work tomorrow, it’s bowling & then I have the first day off since.. November? I am finally going to catch up on grown up crap. HOW EXCITING.

Life is busy, but I am happier now than I have been in the last six months. I must be doing something right.

Something that really upsets me and has been on my mind lately is when people don’t take responsibility for their own actions. If there were less finger pointing, placing the blame on everyone else, and more focus on trying to make YOURSELF better, it would help. Is it easy to admit you made a mistake? To admit you aren’t perfect? To admit you could have hurt someone you care about? No, it’s not always easy, but taking a step in the right direction will not only help you, but maybe even the person who’s affected, and will also help you gain understanding of why and how this can be avoided in the future. Taking responsibility for your own actions.

Thinking back to less recent moments, the first to pop into my head is the first night I met andi. It’s only fair to honor a lady who is extremely strong, driven and just all around wonderful, and through her wonderfulNESS, I have met so many more incredible people. It’s only fair to appreciate all that is andi. No capital a, no y or ie, just andi.

I’m fairly positive she hates this picture, but it’s all I have from that night. The night of total confusion! The first night I recall being in downtown Detroit, walking in a pot hole the size of a crater, trying to find Hard Rock while nearly running into a limo in the meantime. Matt & I either heard a gun shot, or a car backfire, and that’s all it took for poor suburbia kids to go running back to the car.

I immediately called her & was like uhh NOT WORKING, is there another place?! lol. I was on Monroe, she thought I was IN Monroe – so cute.

I remember trying to find I-75, pulling over to look at a map, and a drunk homeless lady came up & started banging on the car window. I took off full speed in a parking lane, ran a red light, took a turn down 8 mile and miraculously found I-75.

We trucked it north, until we found a spot that everyone was familiar with.

I met andilox and Brian (who still has a piece of my heart, andi!), the future Chef of America. I remember her ordering a cherry Coke, specifically NOT a normal Cherry Coke, but her own way. and I thought it was such a cute thing, until the story of the salsa/ketchup bottle came into play.

All other memories aside, meeting her for the first time was so cool. We deemed April our month, though it’s been a few years since I last saw her. We grew into really great friends through the many years we’ve known each other, and I hope we continue down that same path. She’s a great person that anyone would be lucky to have in their life.

Love ya, loxy!

This has been a month of travel, which if you know me- you know how happy this makes me. Always a gypsy at heart, never staying in one place for too long, I am enjoying my current stance at work. Not only is a great escape at a better time, it’s dodging all sorts of problems that have been brewing, which I have, uncontrollably, found myself in the middle of.

Without going into much detail, the main stress in the month of August has been my job. I will not get dooced.

While being a wallflower in the midst of this, I have noticed changes in my personal and professional life – none of which I can talk about. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I really only open myself up to a few people. Sorry.

Someone once told me that you should bare no regrets in life, and since I heard that more than ten years ago, I have lived under that notion. I have very little regret, except one or two.. one being: I wish I could have met my best friend earlier in life. It’s crazy, how we lived so incredibly close to each other, yet we never knew each other until just before I moved. If I could change one thing, I would go back in time and fix that. So I don’t know if that’s considered a regret or not, but it’s the closest thing I have.

I can’t say this is my favorite, but it’s by far the most memorable.

When I had my drivers permit, my mom would take me to cemeteries to drive. One in particular, and the name eludes me, had hills and turns like most of the streets in a normal city, so it WAS good practice!

On my sixteenth birthday, before I went on the street by myself for the first time with my real license, my mom, cousin and I went to the cemetery so I could get used to the turns and hills before going out. I was so nervous that I kept driving around, for maybe a half hour.

As soon as I was ready to go on the street, we found an exit. It was chained up. We drove around, found another exit, that was also chained up. We drove around some more, found another car and followed them to see how they would get out – only to see them find a dead end as well. It turns out, the two of us as well as a couple that were walking around were all locked inside of the cemetery.

Thankfully, a cop drove by within 20 minutes and thought it must be weird if we’re all bunched up in the same corner, trying to get out. He made joke after joke before calling the caretaker, to which we finally got out.

And I actually have not been back to that cemetery or any that are locked up since.

As I shuffle through the memories that surface first- buying my first car, meeting Matt for the first time, my last visit with Krissy, my first road trip alone, being knocked unconscious in softball, getting engaged, being at the hospital when Courtney was born, hearing about Tyler being born, the day we took Cosmo home, moving into this house, our first camping experience, our first painting experience- my favorite memory is tucked away in a safe place. It’s very personal & I don’t want to publish the details for all to see.