4 Ways My Birthday Will Be Awesome

Let's talk about the ways my birthday (on the 22nd) will be awesome this year shall we?

1. iPhone 5. Rumored to start shipping Sept 21. I've got a 3Gs so I am a few versions behind. So ready for an upgrade!

2. New Justin Timberlake Movie. I don't care what anyone says. I love movies he's in and his music. Trouble With The Curve comes out Sept 21.

3. New Mumford and Sons. OMG I have waited so very long for this. Their new album Babel releases Sept 24th.

4. New Jake Gyllenhaal movie. LOVE him. End of Watch also comes out Sept 21.

#14 - What's in your purse?

Challenge prompt: What's in your purse?

Luckily, I just cleaned my purse out so there isn't much. Just my wallet, chapstick, and a granola bar.

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I want to save my blog from extinction. So I'm doing a 30 day challenge. I'll answer one of these prompts each day.

See prompt 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13.

Thanks for reading!

#12 and #13 - Someone I care about

Challenge prompt - Post a picture of something or someone that made your day special. Write about someone or something that you really care about.

I'm combining these two prompts because the answer is the same. TONKA! I love him so much it's disgusting. Seriously. I will never give him up for any reason, ever.

Tonka is a (almost) 4 year old dachshund. I thought he was a miniature when I bought him, he is not (obviously). He weighs about 25lbs.

Here's a few reasons I love him so much:
* He gets so excited when I come home a little pee comes out
* He loves tanning as much as I do. And he sits at the end of the lawn chair whenever I lay out.

Coolest dog shirt ever

* He howls.
* He bugs Marley to play alll day long.
*  He goes to bed at 9PM every night on the dot. Doesn't matter what I am doing. At 9 o'clock he is cuddled up under the blankets in my bed.

* He knows when I don't feel well and snuggles up next to me and will sit for hours.

* He loves eating ice cream. 

* He alerts me when something is out of the ordinary. Like when the ceiling was leaking. Or when  there was a spider. 

* He has no sense of boundaries and wants to give everyone kisses. 

He's my little buddy. He makes every day special and I always look forward to coming home to see him.

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I want to save my blog from extinction. So I'm doing a 30 day challenge. I'll answer one of these prompts each day.

See prompt 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.

Thanks for reading!

Posting to resume shortly!!

Sorry for the lapse in posts. This week has been crazy busy at work and I've been trying to do some cleaning out of junk in my room/closet/manyroomsfilledwithmyshitthroughoutthehouse. Plus, there's laundry. Oh and I've been reading a new smutty romance book. So, you know, I haven't had the time for questions. I promise to be back in a day or two!

#11 - I'd Rather Be Rich

Challenge prompt - Would you rather be rich or healthy?

I want enough money to do this.

With the many health problems I have suffered in the past and present, I think most people would think I'd prefer to be healthy. But I wouldn't. I'd rather be rich. Here's my logic: If I had enough money I could go to other doctors/specialists, get tests done, afford different medications, or come up with different treatment plans that would help or alleviate a lot, or possibly all of my symptoms.

For example my back. I have severe arthritis. It's not going to go away, it's only going to get worse as I age. I know this. But there are other treatments that could really help with the constant pain. There are some injects that I'd like try that may help a great deal with the pain for months or even years. I wouldn't have to take daily pain meds just to get up and around in the morning. These injections, with my worthless insurance plan start at $1000 for the first set. If I want sedation (which you do, when someone is injecting a huge needle into your spine) it's an additional $350. Additional inject sites may or may not be needed based on the relief you get from the first try. I can't afford that. And their payment plans are not a good option. I'll never be able to afford it, so I'll continue with the $20 pain pill prescription each month. But that has it's side effects.

My ears. There's got to be something causing the fluid retention in them. I haven't always had this problem. Luckily, I've found something that helps with the symptoms, but it's not a cure. And I can't afford to try anymore specialists and tests. It's just not going to happen.

My health problems may not ever go away, even with an endless supply of money. I just feel like I could make more attempts to get them resolved if I did.

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I want to save my blog from extinction. So I'm doing a 30 day challenge. I'll answer one of these prompts each day.

See prompt 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Thanks for reading!

#10 - Body Image in the Media

Challenge prompt - What are your thoughts on body image in the media?

That pretty much explains it. I don't like that stick-skinny is the standard for "beautiful" these days. There's nothing wrong with being skinny, some people are just built that way. But women of all shapes and sizes are beautiful too. Being a curvy girl myself, it's difficult to not strive for thin. Women (and men) should strive for healthy, not big or small. If you eat responsibly and exercise regularly you'll be the size your body should be.

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I want to save my blog from extinction. So I'm doing a 30 day challenge. I'll answer one of these prompts each day.
See prompt 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Thanks for reading!

#9 Eat Responsibly

Challenge prompt - What is your food philosophy?

Hmm.. EAT!! Actually, I don't really have a philosophy. Eat healthy, balanced meals. Remove processed crap from your diet. And don't diet. Just eat responsibly. Maybe they should add that to all processed food wrappers and labels like they do with alcohol. I guess that's my philosophy. I don't always live by it. It's hard to eat healthy all the time, but I think if you're conscience about what you're putting into your body it will all work out in the end.

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I want to save my blog from extinction. So I'm doing a 30 day challenge. I'll answer one of these prompts each day.
See prompt 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Thanks for reading!

#8 - Get Rid of Credit

Challenge prompt - If you could rid the world of one thing, what would it be?

This is a hard prompt. There's so many things that would make the world a better place if they didn't exist. Pain, hunger, poverty, racism. I mean really, the list is endless. But I think for the purposes of this I'd have to go with Credit.

I hate the credit system. I think the whole thing is completely fucked and we should get rid of it. I hate that you have to "build up" credit by purchasing dumb, non-essential items from places like RC Willey. It doesn't seem right to me that I have to go into debt with TVs or couches in order to purchase a car or a house. I don't like the idea of "co-signers". Not everyone is lucky enough to have family that can/will co-sign for them. I hate the fact that if you have unexpected expenses, lose your job, or simply have a bad month financially your credit is completed fucked, for years, or some cases forever. I don't know exactly what a better system would entail, but what we've got now isn't working.

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I want to save my blog from extinction. So I'm doing a 30 day challenge. I'll answer one of these prompts each day.
See prompt 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7
Thanks for reading!

#7 - 7 Random Facts

Challenge prompt - Post 7 random facts about yourself. 

1. I can't eat in the dark. Even if it's only popcorn. 
2. I've been on the field at Fenway Park. Here's the story. 
3. I can touch my nose with my tongue. 
4. I can have converstations with Holli comprised of only movie and tv lines.
5. I've never been bowling.
6. Fight Club is my favorite movie.
7. I hate celery. It's just crunchy water. That's dumb.

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I want to save my blog from extinction. So I'm doing a 30 day challenge. I'll answer one of these prompts each day. 

See prompt 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6

Thanks for reading!

#6 - My Morning Routine -Fighting with the Garage Door

Challenge prompt: Write about your morning routine. 

Okay. Well, first it starts with the alarm clock at 6AM. Which SUCKS. I snooze for about 30 minutes. During this time, Tonka decides that he wants to be the cutest dog on planet Earth and sneaks up under my arm and rests his head on the pillow. It's very difficult to get out of bed with a cuddly dog that cute. After I drag my butt out of bed I jump in the shower. Next, I put on my makeup and do my hair with a variety of these 27 products. I've significantly reduced that number since that post. After hair and makeup I get dressed and head to work. Pretty typical routine for most people I think.

Except for this: my morning argument with the garage door. I HATE my garage door. I leave for work about 7:45AM and my house faces North. The glorious sun is shining just over the mountains to the East. This wonderful sun creates a glare that hits EXACTLY where the sensor on the garage door is. This pisses the sensor off and makes it think a little child is standing under the door. So it refuses to close. So every morning I have to back the car out, get out, walk through the garage and hold the closer thing down until the door comes all the way down. I then walk through the house and go out the front door. This is the most annoying thing I do all day. Pisses. Me. Off. But then I found a trick. If I move the garbage can sitting outside the garage door to a super special spot it shades the sensor and I am able to close the door with the opener in the car. You guys didn't know I was a genius.

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I want to save my blog from extinction. So I'm doing a 30 day challenge. I'll answer one of these prompts each day.
See prompt 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
Thanks for reading!

#5 - Something Yellow

Challenge prompt - Post a picture of something yellow

Holli got me this during a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, CA. It's a cute little notebook. I use to write stuff in at work. I love it! Isn't it cute?










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I want to save my blog from extinction. So I'm doing a 30 day challenge. I'll answer one of these prompts each day.
See prompt: 1, 2, 3, and 4
Thanks for reading!

#4 - I've Never Been Bowling

Challenge prompt - What's 1 thing that you've never done that most people have?

Bowling. I've never been bowling. I've played Wii bowling, but I don't think that counts. I'm not sure why I've never been. I guess it's just never come up when someone said "let's go do something". And after I had my shoulder repaired, I don't know that I could swing a bowling ball very well.

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I want to save my blog from extinction. So I'm doing a 30 day challenge. I'll answer one of these prompts each day.
See prompt 1, 2, and 3.
Thanks for reading!

#3 - Birth Marks, Scars, Tattoos, and Piercings

Challenge prompt: Do you have any birth marks, scars, tattoos, or piercings?

I have D: all of the above. Here are the stories:

Birthmark- I have a rather large, but barely visible birth mark on the top of my right forearm. A few years ago I was sitting at the kitchen table with my Mom. She asked why my arm was all dirty. I looked down, saw nothing, and asked where? She then pointed to the big 3.5 x 2.5 inch patch of darker skin on my arm. I proceeded to tell her how it's been there my whole life. Then I was mad at her for the rest of day. How can your own mother not notice a HUGE birth mark? Do you see it?

Tattoos and Piercings: I have two tattoos. And want another. They are addicting! So the first one I got in Hawaii many years ago. It's a dragonfly on my lower back (shocker) and the second is a small four leaf clover on my left shoulder blade I got earlier this year. Both hurt. I want more. Aside from my ears, I have one piercing. My belly button. I wanted to get my belly button pierced since I was about 14. Just after my 18th birthday I had told my then boyfriend that I was thinking of getting it done soon. We were playing pool one day and made a wager of sorts. If I won the game I'd get it done whenever I got around to it. If I lost I had to have it done that afternoon. I lost and we were at the tattoo/piercing shop within an hour. My first belly ring was a really cute dark purple. Getting it done didn't really hurt. The needle went through so quickly I didn't even notice. It was sore for a few days while it was healing though. I still keep the ring in my jewlery box. I don't think I'll get any more piercings, I just never really got into them that much. I considered getting a monroe once upon a time.

Scars: I have lots. Most of mine are from surgeries. I have a bunch of scars on my stomach. I had ovarian cysts removed (twice) and my gall bladder removed. One of the scars from the gall bladder reallllly bugs me because it's not centered on my stomach. It's just slightly to the left. Drives me nuts. I have OCD. There's also a pretty big one from my appendix removal. I've got a couple on my right shoulder from when that was repaired. And there's one on my finger from stitches. Good times under the knife.

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I want to save my blog from extinction. So I am doing a 30 day challenge. I'll answer one of these prompts each day.
See prompt: 1 and 2
Thanks for reading!

#2 - The Last Movie I Saw - Ted

Challenge prompt: What was the last movie you saw in the theaters?

The last movie I saw in the theaters was Ted. I went with Holli and it was hilarious! We were the only people in the theater so I think that made it even funnier. I love me some Mark Wahlburg! Ted had a few parts that were a little stupid, but I laughed my ass off most of the movie.

We've watched a handful of new movies since she's been here. It's nice to have a movie buddy. We also saw Magic Mike in the theater the day before going to Ted. Magic Mike was realllly good. The dancing in it was amazing! We rented 21 Jump Street (hilarious), Friends With Kids (good until the end), Man On A Ledge (suspensful) and Wanderlust (haven't watched yet) from Red Box.

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I want to save my blog from extinction. So I'm doing a 30 day challenge. I'll answer one of these prompts each day.
See prompt: 1
Thanks for reading!

#1 - My Favorite Part of the Day

Challenge prompt: What is your favorite part of the day and why?

Lunch is my favorite part of the day for a couple of reasons. One, I get an hour break from work. Two, I like eating lunch. And three, Phase 10. Everyday, four of my coworkers and I gather in a conference room and eat lunch together. Once we're finished eating we break out the Phase 10 cards and let out some frustrations. We keep track of everyones phases and points. With only about 45 minutes to play each day it ends up taking us 3-4 days to finish one game and since we love it so much, we added 10 more phases to make it Phase 20.  It's become one of my favorite card games and has been a great way to get to know my coworkers better.


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I want to save my blog from extinction. So I am doing a 30 day challenge. I'll answer one of these prompts each day. Thanks for reading!

Save the blog!

In an attempt to save my blog I am going to do the challenge below. Stick around for random stories and facts about yours truly. 

1. Write your goals for the month.
2. If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?
3. What was the last movie you saw in the theaters?
4. If you could rid the world of one thing, what would it be?
5. Post a picture of something or someone that made your day special.
6. If you could live in any time period of the past, when would it be and why?
7. If you could spend 15 minutes with any celebrity, who would it be and why?
8. How do you envision your life in 5 years?
9. Write about someone who inspires you.
10. What's your food philosophy?
11. Write about the worst injury that you've ever had.
12. Write about one of your biggest accomplishments in life.
13. Would you rather be rich or healthy?
14. Do you have any birth marks? Scars? Tattoos? Piercings?
15. What was the last good deed you did for someone/someone did for you?
16. What's 1 thing that you've never done that most people have?
17. Post 7 random facts about yourself.
18. Post a picture of the most embarrassing article of clothing you own.
19. Write about something or someone you really care about.
20. Write about the best or worst date you've ever been on. 
21. What are your thoughts on body image in the media?
22. What are your 3 biggest pet peeves?
23. What is your favorite part of the day and why?
24. Who was your childhood celebrity crush?
25. What's in your purse?
26. Post a picture of something yellow.
27. What was your most memorable vacation.
28. Write about the last dream that you remember having. 
29. If you could be famous for one thing, what would it be?
30. Write about your morning routine.

Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy

Warning: These books are HIGHLY smutty! They are not for the easily offended. SERIOUSLY. If they were a movie, they would be whatever is two ratings above R. So don't cry if you read them based on my recommendation and are offended. Okay? Okay.

I loved these books! I read all three in less than a week. The first one (Fifty Shades of Grey) is available in print and ereader versions, however the last two (Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed) are only available on ereader type devices. Print versions release on April 17th.

So, I loved these books. Don't judge! I saw an article about the first one in Entertainment Magazine or some other rag and it peaked my interest.  The story is of Anastasia Steele, a recent literature graduate who does an interview with Christian Grey, an extremely wealthy entrepreneur based in Seattle. He has a very painful past which he copes with using controlling behavior and sexual habits. They fall in love; steamy romance and conflicts ensue.

They are fairly quick reads at 356, 373, and 456 pages respectfully. The biggest thing that bothered me with these books was the repeated expressions and thoughts of the main character. She seems to use the same descriptive words continually through out the books and that does get a little irritating, but since it's a smutty romance novel so you can't really expect profound terminology. Also, I didn't even know they were a trilogy until the last page of the first book. Side note: everyone should be proud of me for not reading the last page first. I almost always do.

I set a Goodreads Goal of finishing 12 books this year. To some that may not seem like many, but I have set the same goal in the past and failed horribly. I am happy to say that these books put me at 7 so far for the year, 4 books ahead of schedule! Go me go!

2012 Reading Challenge

Meagen has read 7 books toward her goal of 12 books.

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7 of 12 (58%)

view books

Update

Well, I am slacking on blog duty. I wish I could say it was because I am super busy doing awesome things. I've just lost the blog magic. So an update since I last blogged.

I got a super cool (and delicious) surprise on Valentine's Day. The card had the same message as last year.  I honestly have no idea who this stuff is from, but it pretty much makes my day. 

I went to the 12:01AM showing of The Hunger Games. I loved it!! I didn't take any pictures though because I didn't think about it. Also, because it was so hot in the theater I was a sweaty mess.

I broke out my sewing machine and I've been working on a few projects. I plan to do a post of them once they are completed. I am bound and determined to become a decent seamstress!

 

I discovered Draw Something. Here are a few best of's..

    

Breathe You In

This album is magic. This is my favorite song:

Breathe You In
Dierks Bentley

I've never been the kind
to bear my heart and soul.
Yeah, I've always taken pride
in stayin' in control.
I told myself I'd never fall too deep.
But girl you came along
and made a liar out of me.

I'm as gone as I can be.

I wanna breathe you in,
I wanna be so close,
You can wear my skin
Like a new set of clothes.
So you can't even tell
Where you end and I begin.
I wanna breathe you in.

Your silhouette
And moonlight on the wall
As you crawl across the bed
Beats all I ever saw.
The smell of your hair
Falling on my face,
Those red wine kisses,
Give a buzz with just one taste.

Girl you blow me away.

I wanna breathe you in,

I wanna be so close,

You can wear my skin

Like a new set of clothes.

So you can't even tell

Where you end and I begin.

I wanna breathe you in.

Again and again and again,

Until the sun comes up.

Mmm

Again and again and again

I can't get enough

I can't get enough

I wanna breathe you in,

I wanna be so close,

You can wear my skin

Like a new set of clothes.

So you can't even tell

Where you end and I begin.

I wanna breathe you in.

Fridge

Fitness and Nutrition Update

So I wanted to give everyone that still reads this an update on the fitness and nutrition changes I've made. We got a new gym a few months ago (Planet Fitness) in Orem about a mile or so from my house. As soon as I saw the 'coming soon' signage I knew I wanted to join. Well I did it. And I've been going almost every day. And I'm freaking in LOVE.

When I was taking prednisone for my ears everyday I gained close to 50 fucking pounds. Anyone that has been on that for an extended period of time knows it's inevitable. There's nothing you can do to stop it, don't even try. Anyway, the extra weight on my 5'3" frame is obviously not a good thing. I had this idea in my head that once I stopped taking it the weight would come off on it's own naturally. It didn't. So I faced it and made a choice about a month ago and I knew the only way I would start to look and feel normal again was to work the weight off through the gym and change my diet. So I bought a gym pass and am doing just that.

Originally, my goal was to just get my ass to the gym 4 times a week. But now, I go in with a purpose and push myself a little harder each day. I have tried all of the cardio machines available. I've never been a big fan of the bikes and the treadmill is hard on my joints. I landed my heart on the Arc Trainer. I LOVE it. The first time I got on it I did 5 minutes and thought I was going to DIE. 2 days later I got back on and went 20. And now I am doing no less than 35 minutes each time. It is super low impact on my joints but it burns calories twice as fast as the treadmill or elliptical. If you've not tried one I seriously recommend it. I am dripping in sweat when I get off that thing. It's magic. In addition, I am doing the 30 min full body circuit training they have set up 3x per week. That's good too and I feel my body (especially my back) getting stronger.

As far as my diet goes, that has completely changed. I used to eat 2 maybe 3 meals containing tons of processed crap a day. I've cut out everything processed. My diet consists of mostly fruits, vegetables, and whole wheats and grains. And I eat 5 small meals/snacks a day. I didn't (and don't plan to) cut out Coke and Dr. Pepper. That's not a realistic goal for me. I just seriously cut down. I have one can with lunch. I keep track of all my food intake and exercise on MyFitnessPal.com. Since I've made these changes (roughly around the 4th of January) I've lost 8 pounds. Go me go! I am sleeping a bit better at night and I don't eat based on emotion or what 'sounds good' anymore. I think of food as fuel now and it's changed everything. I'll do another update in a week.

In the last week....

I've fallen in love with these things!

  

Gym Magic

Blogger Tips Tutorial

So I seem to get quite a few inquiries each time I redesign my blog on how I do it and if I have any tips to give. First off THANK YOU! And it's got me thinking I want to put together a tutorial with tips and step by step instructions on how to create cool headers with cute fonts, how to add stat counters, pages, etc. This would be specific to the Blogger (Blogspot) platform because this is what I use. I am thinking of a video tutorial and/or instruction manual with screen shots. Would you guys be interested in something like this? Also, would you pay cash monies for it? What other things would you be interested in learning how to do with your blog? Let me know what you think in the comments or on my Facebook page.

Welcome 2012: Magic

Hello 2012! And welcome to my newly designed blog! I'm really excited for the new year! Instead of coming up with a list of resolutions on ways I will improve my life over the next year, I've decided to participate in the one word focus challenge I've seen going around the blogosphere. Basically, you pick a word and focus on it throughout the entire year. I debated on several words the last few weeks: warmth, strength, happy. But ultimately I decided to go with the word magic.

The last few years have been rough for me. I have focused more on all of the negative things around me more than ever before. Moving forward I want to focus on the more positive things in my life: things that make me smile, things that make me happy, things that are good for me, things that are magic. I'm going to do my best to post at least once a week on the magic in my life, but if it doesn't happen then so be it. I'm also going to be trying to do more book reviews.

So, to start things off, the weather right now is magic. Seriously. It's January and 43 degrees! It's been like this for weeks! No snow, no freezing my ass off when I get in the car, ahhh I love it!

Magic  is all of my shows starting up again after the holiday break like Biggest Loser, and Grey's Anatomy. Magic is falling in love with new shows like The Walking Dead and 2 Broke Girls.

It's been fun seeing everyone post about their resolutions and if you don't have anything in the works yet think about doing the word challenge. It's not as overwhelming as a big long list of things to do! Happy New Year everyone!