Ch-ch-changes

Yikes, I haven't posted since October! I have lost 43 pounds since then. Can you believe it? I owe it all to being vegan and My Fitness Pal. No scam diets or starvation, just calories in, calories out and healthy, ethical eating.

Before: 162 pounds. After: 119 pounds. Lost over 9 months!

I'd still like to lose another 4-9 pounds, but I'm just so thankful for where I am right now. I feel more beautiful, stronger, and more athletic. Before, I struggled to run a 10 minute mile. Now, I am effortlessly running a 8:30 mile! I bet I could run faster if I tried. 

This summer has been going excellently. I'm working at my job as a supervisor now and I think it agrees with me. Having responsibilities and looking over other employees has boosted my self esteem, and I feel like I'm able to work with people in a constructive and friendly manner. Also, my husband and I are moving to an apartment close by which I'm pretty excited about! We got it for an amazing price: $1400/month. That sounds exorbitant for most anywhere else in the country, but for Pasadena that's a thrifty price!

As a "side-effect" of my lifestyle change, I'm spending less money on food and restaurants. And to be more frugal, I've double downed on my thrift store shopping as opposed to going to Target or Marshall's for my clothes, which cuts down on my spending. My goal is to pay off one of my student loans by this year's end, which should be easy because I only have about $2,000 left to pay.

June Update

It's June, y'all! School's out for summer and tomorrow I start my summer job. Also, I'm getting married on July 23rd! Yayyyyyyyy! I'm excited, but also just ready to get it over with, as bad as that sounds. We've been engaged for well over a year which is much too long in my opinion. I wanted to get married last summer, but Matt didn't want to because his sister just had her baby. It's funny though because now he regrets not getting married last year! Oh well, live and learn I guess. You can't go back in time, so there's no point in dwelling on the past-- just correct your mistakes for the future.

Also new: apartment shopping. It's stressful, but it needs to be done. The housing market is super competitive here in SoCal, even though we're only renting. We submitted applications for one place already but I doubt we'll get it because Matt has no credit history! I have a great credit score however, thanks to my student loans. I guess that's one thing they're good for.

That's all for now!

The second half of my 50% Spring Break starts tomorrow

I'm only working one job this week, yay! Well, at this job (the SPED paraprofessional job) I work for 3.5 hours as my regular "set" job, and I often have the option of substituting for a para job at another school (or my own location if need be) so it's technically a separate job. So if you want to be technical about it, I work 3 jobs. Whew! It can be tiring, but I'm so thankful to be able to work.

My jobs are wonderful and I love helping children. My goal is to eventually become a special education teacher, although I need to pass some exams first, starting with the CBEST, which I've heard is pretty easy. Either way, I ordered some books on Amazon that will help me prepare for the exam so I can make a high enough score on all parts of it.

I ordered the cats a kitty cat condo and it arrived on Saturday. My cats LOVE it. I bought it on Amazon as well.

Yay! Catnip! Now we can act like crackheads!

Have a Happy Easter and a great week, y'all!

Happy April!

I started my month off Wednesday quite hilariously. At the Chinese school I work at, I gave my students a "pop quiz" that consisted of questions from Matt's physics qualifying exams for his Ph.D. My kids are in elementary school and their reactions were.so.freaking.funny. Oh my gosh, it was one of the most hilarious moments of my life. Then I have them Oreos with toothpaste filling. One boy took a bite and then spit it out, lol. The other kids caught on after they saw him do it.

Sadly, I don't have one full spring break week. Instead, I have two 50% spring break weeks, since I work for two different school districts. This week, I only had to go to the Chinese school job. Next week, I'll only have to go to my special education job.

Have a great weekend!

I've started working out again

Yay! I finally got motivated and I joined a gym. I've been twice this week already, and my goal is to work out at least 4 times a week. That seems pretty good for weight loss, right? The only thing is, I don't have the stamina to work out for very long! :( I ran two miles in twenty minutes on Monday but when I was done, I felt so weak and sick to my stomach that I thought I was going to vomit. I'm hoping that the more I push myself, the more likely that feeling will go away!

Last night, I had an easier workout of riding a bike machine for 6 miles and then lifting weights, so I spent a total of about thirty minutes working out. Is that bad? I don't even know anymore. When I was in high school, I'd have to work out for three hours, five days a week because I was on the soccer team. I don't have that much time to dedicate to working out! I hope I can still lose weight though. I want to look great in my wedding dress :D

After my first workout. Don't I look so thrilled?

Anyway, that's what's new in my life these days. OH WAIT! I forgot to mention that I got a second job, and it's in special education!! It's so amazing and I love it! It can be pretty difficult some times, but I don't mind at all. I started on the 5th and I'm getting a lot of great, hands on experience with kids and learning how to handle certain disability-related behavior issues. I am very grateful for this job!

Have a great rest of the week :)

Don't be lazy like I was this past week

Or else you'll have to spend four hours getting everything done! Whew. I just did four loads of laundry, folded and put them away, hand washed a sink full of dishes (not having a dishwasher is the worst!) vacuumed, took out trash and recycling, cleaned the litter boxes, swept the kitchen and back room, and a bunch of other stuff. On the bright side, my house no longer looks like a giant rat's nest. Yay! Okay maybe I'm exaggerating but it was pretty bad.

I had the day off today, but I go back to work tomorrow.  I really enjoy my job and I love seeing my kids every day. On Friday we all played Monopoly and it was great. I never realized how much math is involved in that game, and it's great practice for my early elementary aged kids.

I am currently in the hiring process for two other jobs that I wanted. I have no idea which one to pick, because one pays more, but the other one offers more hours. Also, the one that pays more would allow me to keep my current job. It was only a few months ago I was so desperate for a job, but here I am!

Have a great week everyone :)

Sometimes, a title isn't necessary

I'm cringing at my last post, but I think I just needed to vent. Depression really is not fun. But on a brighter note, I've been feeling great lately! I finally got a job! Granted, it isn't a full time job, but it pays really well per hour and I love it.

A little rant here... but I hate cooking so much. Or perhaps I just hate doing the dishes that are a byproduct of the cooking. I have no dishwasher so it all must be done by hand, and Matt sure as heck ain't going to do it so I do it all.

I've been having a sore throat lately. I'm pretty sure I got it from Matt because he's been pretty sick and he won't go to the doctor, despite my insistence. How annoying is that? I don't understand why men must be so stubborn all the time. I swear, it drives me up the wall. But that could be my grouchiness from the sore throat talking.

My Blog and Thoughts on Education

Sometimes I like to look at my ClustrMap of this blog and see where the visitors that come here are from. Then I feel kind of sad when I realize that the vast majority of visits are from myself, but I suppose it's my fault, since I don't really put this blog out there. Maybe if I decided to dedicate this blog to vegan cooking and/or baking I'd get more hits. But then I realize that cooking really is a chore when you do not have a dishwasher, and I'm also kind of lazy soooooooooo.... it doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon.

And you know what I just realized? I basically got an M-R-S degree. Political Science. And I currently work a low paying job, and I am engaged. I have not done much worthwhile from my time in college besides meeting Matt and that sucks. So I decided to do something about it and get my Masters degree! I may start next winter if I can work this all out. It would make it easier to find a job, plus I'd look better next to Matt who is getting his Ph.D.

Happy New Year!

Hello all, sorry for the lack in updates! I just haven't gotten around to it. I've been busy, and when I'm not busy all I want to do is sleep and go out and explore.

Matt (my boyfriend) came to visit me in LA for Christmas, and I really enjoyed spending time with him. I miss him a lot, since I basically jumped from seeing him all the time, to never seeing him. We got to go around Los Angeles and check out different areas. We even went to a really dangerous area to donate some cat and dog food to a non-profit vet.

Since December 26th I have been working and I'm so tired of it. I just need a day off to myself. I'm sleep deprived and I just feel so rushed and generally exhausted. I was in West Palm Beach from the 26th-30th and then I was in Ft. Lauderdale from the 30th until I left for the Bahamas on New Year's Day. I did not get to do anything in West Palm Beach or Ft. Lauderdale. I'm in The Bahamas right now and it is beautiful here, the only downside is that I'm here for work so I won't get many opportunities to go out and enjoy the resort (Atlantis).
The scenery alone is breathtaking. The water here is clear, but from a slight distance it has a gorgeous turquoise tone to it. It's one of the most beautiful sights I have witnessed, with it rivaling Monterey Bay, California.

I'm off to bed, but I hope to have some fun tomorrow at this lovely resort.

Back in Los Angeles

I've been back in LA since Monday the 2nd, and all has been decent. I've been working every day since then, but I do have today off thanks to some rain which cancelled some plans. I really enjoyed Las Vegas, and I liked walking up and down the strip, though I did not enjoy seeing the prostitute advertisements that people were passing out! It was pretty funny that they only handed them out to men, though. Every time I walked by one of them, they ignored my existence. Good. But the casinos were pretty impressive, and I got to take a picture with a bunch of birds on my head.

I was a little worried that they would crap on me. They did not.

 The next day (I think it was Saturday) I went with my aunt and cousins to a lion habitat just outside of Las Vegas and I GOT TO PLAY WITH THE LION CUBS!!!!! They were so cute and fluffy and soft and adorable!! I wish I could have kept one!!!! 

 This definitely made me miss my kitties back in Arkansas, but at least I have my Stacy.

Since I have been back, I have done a little bit of shopping. On Tuesday I went to Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods. I learned the hard way to never, ever go back to Walmart AGAIN. I only went for my prescriptions, and I swear I thought I was going to get mugged, but then I remembered that I drive a 13 year old car and looked like crap, so I felt better. Yesterday I went to Ikea and bought a desk and some little things for around my apartment to personalize my space a bit more. I'll post some photos once I clean up my apartment, because it is unfortunately a bit of a wreck at the moment. 

I've really missed my boyfriend Matt lately. This Wilco song came on my playlist the other night and I thought it was so appropriate and that it really showed my feelings about my life right now. On a different note, I found out that Jeff Tweedy of Wilco will be performing near me in LA for a few dates, but as my luck would have it, the shows are all sold out. Maybe another time.

On the Road

Since Sunday, I have been traveling for my job. I flew from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, which was a fantastic city. My only regret is that I did not get to stay for longer. I went to Temple Square and enjoyed the beautiful architecture, and the missionaries around were very helpful. I also went to the City Creek Center, which was a large, beautiful mall.

The Temple with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in the foreground.

On Tuesday evening I left for Las Vegas, and I am here until Monday. Honestly, I think Vegas is a little overrated. Everything just seems so fake and the cigarette smoke is unpleasant. Also, the tap water here tastes absolutely awful, what is up with that?! My hotel has a movie theater in it, so I may try to see Catching Fire. 

I really miss my dog Stacy though. I may call the boarding facility tomorrow and check and see how she is doing.