01 July, 2008
Celebrate good times come on

Best summer ever! I just had to share another little moment of joy with you guys.

After much patience, prayer, research, frustration and a very nerve-racking meeting in which I stood up for myself, a few months later I have finally gotten the job offer I have been waiting on for SO SO long! I have been a contractor for over five years with the company I work for, and I am finally getting instated as a legit, full time employee with excellent benefits. WOOOO!

Goodbye crappy, worthless and expensive individual health insurance plan! Goodbye saving 40% of my income to give to the government! Goodbye unpaid sick days and time off! Good riddance to you!

Hello security, a retirement plan, very good insurance, tuition reimbursement and a bonus each year! Even though I may not stay in corporate forever, it’s such a big weight lifted from my shoulders to be able to get what I’m entitled to. Life just keeps getting better.

19 May, 2008
Congratulations, Jimmy!

Behold the latest graduates of the Virginia Beach Volunteer Fire Support Tech academy! Yes it’s official, I’m about to marry a hot firefighter type. Jimmy starts his new job at the shipyard today too. Good things are happening!

16 April, 2008
Birthday at the park

Ah birthdays. One year older, and now that I’m 26 I’m officially on the road to the big three-oh. I remember when I was younger, I thought that was so old.

Jimmy and Kyla took me to the park after work to hang out and go for a little walk through the woods.

I feel like it’s been forever since y’all have seen Kyla. She loves going to the park. So many things to sniff!

Northside Park is infested with those tree caterpillars. Creepy.

Birthday lasagna - my own recipe with TVP, whole grain noodles, mushrooms, no ricotta substitute whatsoever (as requested by Jimmy), Teese and Joanna’s vegan parmesan. This lasagna was so good it’s got to be wrong. I’ll be making it again. This was my first time trying the Teese and it was alright, but not worth the $7 or more in shipping you’ve gotta pay right now. I liked how it melted on top faster than Follow Your Heart does, but it still tastes like vegan cheese, and the Teese I grated inside the lasagna turned to complete liquid and was lost in the sauce. Next time I’ll just skip it.

The night ended with a trip to Lowe’s, chocolate soy ice cream and Law & Order SVU. Never better.

14 February, 2008
Happy Valentiniversary!

07 January, 2008
Thanks

I had a little work done. Is it obvious?

All joking aside, I just wanted to say, wow. I was overwhelmed by all the honest, brave, insightful, encouraging and pensive responses to my last post. I feel privileged that such an intelligent, self-aware group of people is reading my site. After reading all the comments, especially from people I know, I felt like I wanted to form some sort of Body Image Fight Club or something, where we can all get together and figure out how to ditch the negative self-talk and work on edifying one another. I guess I’m just trying to say, y’all inspire me.

I just have one more thing to say to you guys. Like my friend Sloane said to me, just relax and be yourself! It’s way better that way!

18 October, 2007
Strike that. Reverse it.

So it’s been a minute since I talked about school. Let me give you the update. This semester has taught me that I don’t want a degree in English Lit. I like the classes, I love reading new things, I like the brain workout, but it is just not for me.

When I originally decided to go back to school, I wanted to go for Psychology, to become a counselor. I wanted to work with women who have body image issues and eating disorders and help them put things into perspective and finally feel free from all that weight (literally and figuratively). I wanted to share my own experiences with food, weight, body image and eating issues and share the passion I have in knowing it IS possible to overcome the battle and actually enjoy your life.

But then practicality set in and I decided to pursue an English degree because my employer will pay for it when this hiring freeze is finally over and I get brought on as a full time employee. I thought my lifelong love for reading and books might be able to take me somewhere else. It just didn’t work out.

My goal is to get from behind this desk and work with people. To make a difference. An English degree is going to keep me right here in this cushy job. Which provides some good things like stability and lots of money, but isn’t fulfilling. How can I seriously dedicate half of my life to something I don’t really believe in, that isn’t giving me what I need? I know I have something better to offer.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking these past few months and pondering about this. Do I want to still try for counseling? That’s years of school and mountains of money. Do I want to try to become a nutritionist or dietitian? I’d basically have to get a second bachelors and a masters, which will take forever while I work full time. Then a friend of mine pointed me to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

As soon as I saw their website, I knew this was the place I needed to be. Their philosophy of preventative holistic dietary change instead of medicating with drugs resounds with me. Their faculty list is amazing: Neal Barnard (founder of the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine), Deepak Chopra, Dr. Joseph Mercola, Geneen Roth (who I LOVE and whose books on emotional eating made SUCH a difference in my life), Dr. Andrew Weil, plus a ton of others (and even Wildman Steve)!

Their graduates (a famous one is Healthy Chef Alex - Morgan Spurlock’s wife who had to detox him after the making of Super Size Me and ended up writing a book about it) do everything from opening their own wellness centers to private health counseling to working at high end doctor’s practices as nutritional counselors to being personal chefs and meal planners. The school is in New York City but the beautiful thing about the program is that it’s on weekends. It consists of 10 weekends from November through June, along with online participation and locally organized study groups. I would fly up to NYC on Friday evening, go to school Saturday and Sunday and fly back Sunday night. Hopefully I can bribe some of my friends into letting me crash with them to save some money.

The curriculum sounds so interesting and engaging. I can’t wait to learn more about something which I am so passionate about.

My plan: keep my current job, save money like crazy, go to school. When I graduate in June 2009 I want to quit this job and go to work with a massage therapist, wellness center or yoga studio offering holistic health counseling. I will probably do some individual counseling on the side and try to build up a clientèle. I’d also like to teach cooking classes and offer some small health seminars locally. Then eventually I would like to open my own private counseling practice, helping women with weight or eating issues get their lives back and get truly happy through changing their diet and lifestyle. I will offer holistic nutritional counseling, personalized food plans and may even do some vegan catering.

I feel so good about this decision and have full support from Jimmy and my family. I am SO excited about having a direction for my career that I finally feel some peace about. It’s going to be a big change but I’m so ready!

29 August, 2007
First day jitters

The first weeks of fall semester classes are always so insane! The traffic is worse than ever, and they decided to pave Hampton Blvd. this week, of all times, so half the lanes are shut down! Crazy!

I’m stoked about going in the evening because my parking pass is $50 cheaper and I get to park anywhere I want, including faculty lots. Still I was 10 minutes late to my first class because I thought the arts & letters building was the education building. Doh! I felt like a freshman again haha.

This semester is going to be hard hard hard and fun fun fun. My first class, Intro to Research & Criticism, is a class where we are going to learn to write research proposals as well as critical essays. There’s also a bit of theory involved and it sounds very heady but I’m sure I’ll wrap myself around it once I start doing the assigned readings. We only have three assignments for the class: a critical analysis essay, a research proposal and a final exam.

My other class is African American Literature. I am really looking forward to this class! My teacher is young, energetic and full of passion for the subject. I think she is really going to push us. Last night we talked about everything from Lil’ Kim to Mike Tyson to On The Road.

We have loads of assignments though, including a lot of response essays, and TONS of reading. I’m glad though, it’s going to push me to read stuff I wouldn’t normally have picked up otherwise. We also have to watch several movies for the class and some of the “reading” assignments are listening to songs, poetry readings, etc. on a CD that came with our textbook. We also have assignments like, “have read: Notorious B.I.G. Things Done Changed, Eric B. & Rakim I Ain’t No Joke and Nas NY State of Mind.” Ha!

In addition to all the reading we also have group projects, of which I am the leader since I’m a grad student, and another research proposal. Sheesh! I’m looking forward to school again though, and stretching my brain. It needs a little dusting off.

*image courtesy of wee wonderfuls*

21 August, 2007
Back to School!

I almost forgot to tell you guys, I’m going back to school! Time to start on ye olde Master’s degree. I’ll be heading back to ODU and getting it in English Literature. I think that’ll make a nice complement to my Bachelor’s of Fine Arts (graphic design concentration, if you didn’t know), and I’ll get to hone my writing skills and delve even further into my love of books.

My classes start one week from today and I’m taking:

ENGL 600 Intro to Research & Crit
ENGL 565 African-American Literature

Since my background isn’t in English, I’m waiting to get some courses under my belt before I officially apply for the program. I’ll probably do that next fall. I spoke to the program director and he told me to not worry about anything but graduate level classes if I think I can handle them (duh) because I’ll save money not wasting time with undergrad courses (even though I don’t have very many undergrad English courses). These will transfer straight into my degree when I’m accepted to the program.

With my work schedule, I’m glad most of the grad courses are in the evening and only once a week. This semester I’ll be at school on Tuesdays from 4-10pm. I need to go this weekend and buy books! Who else is starting up school soon? What are you taking?

13 August, 2007
Happy Birthday Jimmy!

Saturday was Jimmy’s 23rd birthday, we had an awesome weekend. The weather was perfect after a week of over 100 degree, hazy days. It was sunny, breezy and in the low 80s. Perfect for a little walk.

Saturday morning I went for a run while the birthday boy slept in, then we did some yard work (don’t yell at me for making him do yard work on his birthday, it was his idea, turned out to be a perfect day for it though). Nothing like getting up early on a Saturday and raking your dirt. Haha I hate my yard.

Afterwards, we drove around Ghent for a bit and headed over toward Stockley Gardens. We decided to stop and walk by the river for a while.

We parked and walked through a neighborhood where all the houses look like castles and there is a ton of gorgeous, old architecture. We pretended that the Jaguars and Benzes parked on the curbs were ours and that we had just finished manicuring our perfect lawns.

It was such a gorgeous day and I loved seeing this part of the city that I’d never explored before.

Later that evening we headed to Katana Japanese Steakhouse in Ghent with a bunch of our friends to celebrate. There was good times and much slicing and dicing and throwing of shrimp.

We also saw The Bourne Ultimatum (a little disappointing) but overall it was an awesome day. Yesterday we went over to my mom’s and my family gave him a huge gift card to IKEA!

Happy birthday Jimmy! I hope 23 is one of the best years for you.

11 July, 2007
Green Living Tips

Ravelry’s new groups feature is up and running and I’m loving it! I started a Veg*n Craft*n group, and also joined a really cool one called GreenCraft which is all about sustainable crafting, earth-friendly yarns and green living.

I started a post so people could list their “green living tips” and thought I’d share them with you guys. Feel free to post your own eco-tips in the comments of this post! Here are a few that I think are particularly easy to incorporate into your everyday routine.

1. When you walk in the house, go through your mail right away and recycle the junk mail, including responder cards tucked inside magazines. This helps cut down on clutter AND gets paper into the recycling bin.
2. Bring your own bags! Every time you go to the grocery store, you bring home more plastic bags. You probably even save them, but after one use, they most likely end up in a landfill anyway. I bought these Envirosax bags and I LOVE THEM. They are durable, waterproof, hold about 3x as much as a grocery bag, and I get compliments on them every time I bust em out at the farmers market or health food store. You could also make your own, but I know myself and I am a procrastinator. I highly recommend these.
3. Go vegetarian (or even better, vegan)! This is the single most impactful thing you can do as just one person to make a difference for the environment. Here are some links with more information:
   Meat and the Environment — Would you ever level 55 square feet of rain forest for a single meal or dump 2,500 gallons of water down the drain? Maybe you would.
   Vegetarian is the new Prius — The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.
   Tip the Planet — Environmental reasons for becoming a vegetarian
   Going Vegetarian and Vegan, a Sustainable Choice — has some good tips about how to gradually adopt a veg diet
4. Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer. Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.
5. Try out reusable menstrual supplies: Diva Cup (I use this one!), the Keeper, cloth pads, etc. These fall under my “great for the cheap and lazy” category. I love not having to run to the store for tampons! Not to mention, I was really grossed out when I discovered that tampons and pads are not sterile. More on menstrual cups here.
6. Shop local and eat seasonally! Buy from local farmers markets when you can. So much oil/pollution/etc is caused by the crazy transporting of food all over the US. Why eat tomatoes in February shipped from Brazil when I can just wait til they’re in season in Virginia. You’ll get an infinitely better tasting product and you’ll be reducing your footprint on the earth.
7. Really think before you buy something new. Scouring Craigslist, Freecycle, yard sales or thrift stores is way more fun anyway! Also, if you have things you don’t need anymore, freecycle them instead of throwing them into a landfill.
8. Use cloth! Stop buying paper towels, disposable cleaning cloths, swiffers, paper napkins, etc. Cut up old t-shirts for rags, use a regular old broom and mop or microfiber cloths for cleaning. Make napkins out of that awesome vintage sheet you saw at the thrift store.
9. Compost. Vermicompost if you are in an apartment or a small space. It both returns good nutrients to the soil, keeps stuff out of landfills, and reduces the energy costs of moving around trash.
10. Don’t buy commercial cleaning supplies like Mr. Clean or Comet or Windex. Most of them are WAY too strong for what you’re using them for, and if you have pets or kids, not so safe since pets and kids lick every available surface. Here are a few things I use for cleaning (SO much cheaper, too!)
    • 1 part white vinegar to 1 part water: put that in a spray bottle and use it to clean windows, glass, countertops, etc. A great all purpose cleaner. You can also make a bigger batch and mop floors with it.
    • 2 tbsp dishwashing liquid to 2 cups water: a great quick cleanup for spills that water alone won’t treat
    • baking soda and vinegar plus warm water: use instead of Drano
    • lemon juice or vinegar: get rid of soap scum. way gentler on your hands than Tilex or whatever. also good for polishing stainless steel sinks.
    • baking soda mixed with some dishwashing liquid: make a paste and use this to clean your porcelain bathroom fixtures

I hope these tips are helpful to someone. Please feel free to add your own!

17 April, 2007
I’m so sorry

My hearts go out to the students, faculty and families at Virginia Tech. Our family has close connections to the school. My brother Noah’s girlfriend Allison is an engineering major there and my sister Grace’s boyfriend Andrew is a pharmacy major. Noah and Grace were on campus visiting them the day before the shootings took place. They are all ok, but many more are not.

Please everyone send prayers, thoughts and good vibes toward Blacksburg in this confusing and awful time of grief.

26 March, 2007
I’m Baaaaack!

New Zealand was terrific and gorgeous and wonderful. I’m horribly exhausted and my hatred of flying and airports has been thoroughly renewed. I had a great time, met some awesome people and saw beautiful landscapes.

I’ll post other updates as I can. I have lots of photos to share.

While I loved New Zealand, I just have to say it is so good to be back in the land of America where the drinks are cold, the men are hot and a bowl of cereal doesn’t cost fourteen dollars.

27 November, 2006
Happy belated Thanksgiving.

The demon dog says, “Happy belated Thanksgiving. I hope you ate as much turkey and ham as I did.”

This weekend I ate, hung out with family, watched movies, ran, went to the gym and bagged 507 gallons of leaves. See?

Talk about a full-body workout. I didn’t go shopping at the mall or any stores this weekend. My mom and I thought we’d be clever, avoid the crowds and hit up a craft show instead. HA! Apparently 5 zillion other people had the same idea. The pavilion was packed. I had a good time shopping with mom though. She bought me some handmade soap that smells great, and I got some garlic mustard and salsa. Apparently the hot thing this year is bracelets made out of spoons and forks. Don’t ask me, I’m just reporting back.

I didn’t even take any pictures of the Thanksgiving feast, what a bummer. Speaking of food, I’m quitting weight watchers. Yeah, after almost a year on it. It’s not doing anything for me anymore except making me obsessed over the number on the scale, and I have NEVER been that person.

It’s treating the symptom (food) instead of the problem (feeling like a failure when the number on the scale doesn’t go down, and then binging as a result). I need to deal with my relationship with food instead of trying to stick to a diet and being so controlled by a number. I’m sick of it.

It did help me learn about portion sizes and what foods fuel my body most efficiently. Now I know how to eat, and what I should eat. I’m going to work on the issues behind what makes me binge, try to deal with that, and really focus on fitness. I’m committing to this training program for the half marathon, and I’m going back to lifting weights, because I felt the best when I was doing strength training in the summer. I’m gonna do my cardio funk on Wednesdays and rest on my rest days. And the weight will come off. It’s not a race.

Anyway that’s what’s up with me lately. Oh yeah, and a lot of knitting. I need to post pictures of that sometime. What have y’all been up to?

11 September, 2006
Scheduled!

Next Saturday, September 23, I’m going to Inkwell in Winston Salem, NC, for the first sitting for my chestpiece! I’m getting tattooed by Ashley Love and Steph is coming down to visit and go with me! Second session will be October 7th, Jimmy will probably go with me to that one and might get some ink himself.

I’m so excited!

29 June, 2006
Planning

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and planning lately regarding tattoos. I think I’m finally ready to begin some work.

My first piece is going to be a fairly large traditional-style chest piece. I have scarring from surgery that I had five years ago and because of that I never wear shirts that show cleavage at all, despite my extremely gorgeous boobies. I have the option of getting ANOTHER surgery to fix the scars and make them smaller, but I don’t want to do that. New scars are better than old scars? Nah.

I’m a big fan of the idea of reclaiming parts of your body that you dislike by getting them tattooed. I hate my knees, I always have since I can remember (I have dark pigment on my knees so it always looks like they are dirty), and I have wanted to get them tattooed for a long time (traditional flowers). I also want to get my armpits tattooed (hate those too). I have friends who have gotten tattoos to help accept their body as it changed during the process of recovering from an eating disorder, I know of someone who was paralyzed from the waist down at a young age and decided to get tattooed on her feet to help her accept her new condition.

Anyway I’m ready to do it. I’ve been talking to Fred Pinckard at Salvation Gallery in Richmond, who has covered scars on a guy I know. Next time I’m in Richmond we’re going to meet and talk about getting this done. I’m still forming ideas about it but I know I want a traditional lock/key combo with wings reaching out toward my shoulders, and probably a banner with some sort of wording about being drug free. I don’t know what I want it to say yet but I don’t want it to scream STRAIGHT EDGE TIL DEATH or be cheesy. I still have a lot of thinking to do.

Anyway, here’s the start of a new category. Wish me luck.

02 June, 2006
Concise

I’m neglecting this relationship website cause I’m busy these days. Life beckons. Work, gym, dog, being brought to tears by Samantha & Smith on Season 6 of Sex & the City. Just so you guys know.

Real update Monday, I hope. Don’t hate me?

12 April, 2006
Summer Reading List

Today Alicia at Posie posted her spring/summer reading list, and I got really excited to do the same. I love going to the beach, and since most of the time we go to Chicks Beach where there are no waves (I don’t like to swim unless I got some waves to play in), I just lay in the sun and read.

Right now I’m finishing:
The Blind Assassin — Margaret Atwood
The Bonesetter’s Daughter — Amy Tan

In my queue to buy:
The Kite Runner — Khaled Hosseini
The Mermaid Chair — Sue Monk Kidd
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books — Azar Nafizi
Prep — Curtis Sittenfeld
The Joy Luck Club — Amy Tan

Started these but didn’t finish, will finish this summer:
The Secret History — Donna Tartt
Appetites: Why Women Want — Caroline Knapp
Drinking: A Love Story — Caroline Knapp
I Know This Much Is True — Wally Lamb

So, what’s on your list this spring/summer?

Also, where do you read? I read on my lunchbreak, sometimes late at night on the couch if I’m out of Law & Order: SVU episodes to watch & knit by, I listen to audiobooks in the car and I also read at mom’s on Sundays sometimes.

30 March, 2006
Reading Update

Well I finally finished the amazing and heartbreaking The Time Traveler’s Wife. It has rocketed into my top five favorite books ever. Yes, it’s that good. I also read The Handmaid’s Tale which has compelled me to read everything Margaret Atwood’s ever written. So I’m on to another of hers, and also picked up a little book put out by one of my favorite online communities, Apartment Therapy.

So, people. What are you reading these days?

10 February, 2006
Whoa!

Jimmy gave me my present early. It’s our third anniversary, kids. Isn’t it gorgeous? It’s my first piece of real jewelry.

I think it totally suits me, although I’m an awful photographer and couldn’t get one of me wearing it. This picture does it no justice. It has 19 diamonds in it, and it’s white gold. I love it.

The man can pick out handbags and jewelry. I’m keeping him. I love you baeba! Thank you!

06 February, 2006
Wherein Brad gets his way

I changed my RSS feed back to include the whole entry. My whole plan of not getting people to comment on the LJ feed because they wouldn’t even see but a few words of the entry didn’t work, because someone still left a comment. Ha.

Livejournal people, comment on the actual site. Click the link above the words. This is the last time I’ll make this plea, after that I’ll just deal.

PS this book is awesome. I’m 3/4 of the way through it and now I want to go see the movie. Who wants to go with me?