Friday, December 21, 2012

Shopping!

8 magazines!

7 Books

5 camis, two tanks, two cardigans, and a scarf

                                                                               Ditto.

The clothes were a part of my Christmas gift from my boyfriend. The reading material was all my own doing. Haha. :)

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Working on a New/Better Year

Every year I vow to FINALLY lose weight. I put it off until a Monday or until the first of a month then the first of the year. Not now. Spencer and I started a weight loss challenge (by percentage of weight lost) yesterday (TUESDAY!!!). I won't be at my ideal weight by January first but I'll be a lot closer than I've been in years. This is real! I promise!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Pictures

Some Halloween-inspired nails. Purple with some orange polka dots that I made with my new nail dotting tools.

I also painted some clothespins! We use them as "chip bag closers" in my family so I just sat in front of the t.v. and watched the Mentalist while painting my little heart out. I made an "OSU" one for Oklahoma State University and then I made one for Ohio State University and my mother saw it and told me to make another for my Aunt Melissa. The first three, the OSU and Ohio ones, I attached a magnet to the back so now we use them to hold papers!

Spencer's aunt had made his parents a tile that had a quote on it. I was amazed at how cool they looked and so I asked her how she made them. Turns out she just put stickers on a tile. So, my mom and I got some sticker quotes from the dollar store and then she bought the tiles from Lowes. This is how mine turned out. :) I set it up in the living room. The stand was also from the dollar store.



Spencer and I made some Hello Kitty cookie. Mine is the one on the right his is the one that looks like a mouse. :) The other cookies didn't end up looking anything like hello kitty.

Lastly, I got some Hello Kitty footie pajamas! I love them!!!

Lexy

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Hey Good Looking, Whatcha Got Cooking?

Triple Threat Cupcakes- oreo bottom, cookie dough middle, brownie icing. I also bought some cute halloween cupcake liners and sprinkles. In fact this is the second time I used the sprinkles and I still have a whole bunch more. They were only $2.50 at Target (minus the chocolate chips). ;) Despite spending quite some time making these, I never did try them. I'm not sure how they tasted, but my family ate them up and my boyfriend even took a plate to his house to hoard away from my family.

Also, when using the recipe, it made entirely too much cookie dough mixture. I'm not quite sure what to do with the left overs.
Then, yesterday, I made Strawberry Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast. As you can see from the picture, on this particular 'sandwich,' I used waaaaay too much cream cheese. It was kinda gross. But I learned and started using way thinner layers and more strawberries and it became delicious. I do want to try it with syrup added though. I wish I had the strawberry syrup they have at IHOP. That would make this PERFECT!

I'll post links to the recipes I used, they are both from pinterest. See you soon!

 Love,
       Lexy

Monday, October 15, 2012

Happiness Update

It has been awhile since the first post for this blog. Because my first post was about my working on becoming happy, I've decided to readdress my situation.

The goals I made at first were good goals, however over time I have added more goals to cover other areas of my life. I know I won't be happy if I am only doing homework, cleaning, sleeping, and working out.

I've added new goals to my life which include starting up a hobby and trying to be more appreciative of my family and reading more.

In the terms of my first few goals, I have not been working out like I've wanted to. Here and there I do get a bit more exercise within my daily routine, but nothing that was planned as a workout. While reading Gretchen Ruben's book Happiness at Home, I begged to differ of her opinion about abstainers to moderators. In her book she writes that moderators tend to have issues creating healthy habits because the feel they can cancel their choices of putting things off until late. As a result she abstains from things instead of letting them in in moderation. So, no sweets for her! Halloween? NOPE! Christmas? NOPE! I felt like arguing with her from the moment I started reading that! How in the world could that be healthy? But then I realized, I'm a moderator! I SAY that I want to workout at least 3 times a week and then I put it off until the last three days of the week and something comes up so I'm not even able to workout those 3 timse. So, I push the plan to the next week. Instead of doing this I am going to go for Gretchen's all or nothing idea. I am going to plan on exercising daily. A simple walk counts and can be easily done. This way I KNOW that I have to have at least 15 minutes set aside daily to workout and I don't have the opportunity to procrastinate another day.

Sleeping had improved and then decreased, but now that Spencer has to work during the day, we actually go to sleep at night. We've been getting to sleep a little bit earlier now. This truly helps me feel like my day was more productive just by getting up before noon and showered. In addition, I don't have the need to take naps during the day.

My homework or school life was also doing well until it wasn't! Haha. Like I mentioned in my last post, I was falling behind in International Economics. However, I have spoken with the teacher and am now on track to be catching up. Next week I plan on getting together a table to record all my grades that I have so I can see which classes I need to work harder on. It is my intention to get all A's this semester and I really believe I can do it. One thing I still need to work on is getting my homework done in a timely manner. I still wait until last minute to do EVERYTHING! This has an incredibly negative effect on my mood. I become cranky closer to the due date and then rush to get my assignment complete. Plus, I miss out on doing activities with my family and boyfriend.

Cleaning is one area that I have been doing quite well in. In fact, because of my cleaning efforts, my parents bought me an outfit! They really appreciated everything I was doing around the house. This is something I want to continue doing despite the fact that nothing stays clean for longer than two hours!

Now my new goals have actually added a lot to my happiness! I have wanted to start up a hobby, a productive way to spend my time. I've decided to craft, cook, and scrapbook. So far I haven't done any scrapbooking. However, I have crafted a few things which I've posted and I have cooked some new recipes that I haven't posted. Creating something cute or delicious is something I love to do. I feel so accomplished afterwards and it prompts me to be even more productive with my time. Energy creates energy. I have a whole bunch more crafting ideas up my sleeve along with some more recipes I want to make!

Appreciation is another big goal for me. I feel that I am not as close to some members of my family as I'd like. Or that they sometimes feel that I don't care enough for them. My parents do a lot for me and I'm incredibly thankful for that! I love them both dearly and I plan on doing small, simple gestures to show them how much I car. For example, I left a sticky note in my dad's car before he went to work. I later told my mother about it and she told me that dad loves that sort of thing. In addition, I've done it for my mom before and she loves it too. So, I plan on doing it more and in more creative ways. I don't know how yet, but it'll happen. This applies to Spencer too. Sometimes because I'm around him the most and am so comfortable with him, I take my frustrations out on him. He doesn't deserve that and I know it doesn't make me feel any happier to make someone else miserable. I've lately been paying more attention to people's feelings and I think paying attention is not enough, I need to learn to act certain ways because of it.

Reading books! I love reading books! Some time ago I decided not to buy books any more. This has saved Spencer money and time (he hates waiting for me to pick out a book from the store). Now I make weekly trips to the library myself. I've read quite a few books over the last few months and it was all (mostly) free. This is the way it should be! I'll be doing a post later on books.

For a while there, I was on the verge of falling back into my bad cycle of unhappiness. However, I feel like I have recieved lots of prodding from books, horoscopes, quotes, and blogs to put me back on track. Along with the fact that I know my family supports me 100%, I know that I need to put myself out there and try my hardest to accomplish the best I can. I deserve it and so do my parents and boyfriend.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Why do I Love October?



Spencer and I bought the newest Resident Evil. :) We've played the last two-player together, but it took awhile for Capcom to make another two-player game for Resident Evil. This one comes with three different campaigns. Right now, we are playing the campaign with Leon and Helena.

Playing Resident Evil freaks me out a lot, but it's a nice break from Call of Duty: Black Ops.


In addition, we've been watching an episode of season two Walking Dead everyday. I buy Netflix for 7.99 a month and we don't use it as much as I wish. Now, that we've been watching this I'm glad I still pay for it. I love Daryl. His character is really rough, grungy, crude, and rude, but I love him! Haha. Plus, I love that he uses his crossbow instead of a gun. Another GIANT plus... He's from my FAVORITE movie- Boondock Saints. :)

One more reason I love October- the weather. We've been getting rain, having cold days, trees turning beautiful colors, it just feels like there is a sense of relief in the world after all that heat and drought!

I'm off into enjoy some more!
                   Lexy

Friday, October 12, 2012

A Message from Above

"You have gotten so used to a bad situation that it has become the norm for you. That doesn't mean it's okay to linger in that situation any longer. Somewhere deep down inside you know that something is wrong, though you probably don't consciously acknowledge it to yourself or to others. It's time to face the fact, Aries. You deserve much bettre than what you've come to accept as you lot in life. First you need to come to grips with the fact that a change is needed. Then you need to get started making a change. You deserve it." Horoscope (Aries) 10/9/12

Wow. Sometimes I think horoscopes are just fluff, but this one really hit home. It is so true. Especially in the aspect of my International Economics class. I've really been slacking off from that one. I'm going to e-mail the teacher now and will force myself to go to the next class. I need to get back into control of this situation. My grades are important to me and one reason I tend to get depressed is if I fall behind in classes. I need to be proactive.

                         Love,
                               Lexy

Monday, October 8, 2012

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Nail post.

So, this is my first official nail post. Over the last week I actually did my nails more than usual. So, here are the last few nail looks before the halloween challenge and my first one with the challenge.
My first semi-sucessful attempt at taping.Obviously I need to work on that...

This was actually two polishes, a gray one and a shimmery purple. In the light is was really purple, but if I tilted my hand side-ways it was soley gray.

This is the design I used for my Halloween 'scary movie' challenge- Frankenstein. As a free-handing newbie, I'm quite happy with them! :)

I'm excited for the next nail topic!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Challenges

I love firsts! Today is October 1st in case you were wondering what I meant. J I just feel like it’s a fresh start each time! An added bonus- It falls on a Monday! I think that is absolutely wonderful. Monday is what I consider the beginning of the week and with it being the first, this is a perfect opportunity to start off with a clean slate. So, to kick off this week and month I wanted to post a quote:
“I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that the highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil. And who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.
A life of slothful ease, a life of that peace which springs merely from lack either of desire or of power to strive after great things, is as little worthy of a nation as of an individual.”
-          Theodore Roosevelt
This is just the kind of inspiration I need. I’ve been getting rather mopey and lazy as of late and this sheds some light for me. I need to get busy! When I get busy and accomplish things, I develop more of a positive attitude and get more enjoyment from my day.
That being said, I created a couple challenges for myself or went out and searched for some anyway…
First up is a nail challenge! This one is going to be so much fun for me! I love doing my nails and wearing my creations around town. Most people love my nails after I put some real effort into them. A bonus is that I also love October and all the Halloween-themed things that come with it. I’m a fan of the haunted houses and spook walks. I love carving pumpkins and eating candy. What’s not to love about October? I found this challenge Here. J

Next is my health challenge! I truly want to get in shape and I’m sick and tired of JUST saying it. I am going to start doing cardio at least three times a week and strength training at least twice a week. I want to fit into smaller clothes and start loving my body. My BMI is currently in the obese category which is not acceptable to me. I want to make being healthy a habit, not a period in my life. So, the actual challenge this month is to work out a total of five times a  week, drink 8 ‘glasses’ of water (64 oz), and eat at least one fruit or vegetable a day.
Craft challenge: For this challenge I simply need to do four crafts this month, about one for every week. Basically, I’ve been putting off my crafting and have tons of projects to complete before I move on to different things or add more possibilities to my plate. Plus, I’m running out of room to store all my supplies!
Organization challenge: I believe that this will be the hardest one of all, probably because it encompasses so much within this category. I need to get back on track with school. I’ve been missing a few days and haven’t been studying as much which is not a habit that I want to keep up. So, I need start organizing my time a bit better along with my essential materials to get through a day. I’ve made myself a couple printables to help keep up with my day. Have you ever heard of a home management binder? Well basically, I’m making a Lexy management binder. It is going to be great! But I’m still working on it. J I’ll show you it in the future. This focus of this challenge is to streamline my planning to accomplish what I need done without last minute freak outs.
Off to get happy,
                Lexy

Monday, September 24, 2012

Are you kidding me!?

So, I was watching a video on YouTube about couponing when suddenly this picture came up on my screen. It and sign that claims to be from the F.B.I. I freaked out at first, wondering what on earth I did. It accused me of a.) Using or distributing copyrighted material, b.) Accessing porn, child pornography, or zooaphila, and c.) Allowing someone else to do the above things either from my computer or a remote site still using my computer.

When I read that I was like, really? I'm watching YouTube, if anyone is to blame it is YouTube! But then I read on and saw that it was asking for money. My particular scam picture showed retailers that I could purchase a MoneyPak from. First of all, the government doesn't care about what kind of money you give them, so I knew that it was a scam because of the MoneyPak thing, second of all it mentioned specific retailers which I would think would be against the law because maybe not everyone has access to these retailers.

Anyway, I wasn't able to exit out of it no matter what I did. I ended up getting on the iPad and looking up FBI scam. Tons of sites popped up with solutions for fixing it. I basically had to restart my computer in safe mode and manually go through my files and locate and delete the virus. It was scary because I could have deleted something essential to my computer. However, I didn't and I successfully managed to get rid of the virus.

I felt so accomplished, but also scared. How many people actually paid this fine in fear? Why do people have to scam others and steal their hard-earned money.

Even if you hadn't been doing the first two, the third allegation makes it seem like even if a virus or scam took over your computer and forced you to access these sites, then you were still responsible! How terrible!

The worse thing is, many of these scammers don't live within U.S. jurisdiction so they can continue scamming people and get away with it!

I've learned about some virus protection software that should help in the future.

Lexy

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Getting Crafty With It...

I've been wanting to try being a bit more crafty lately. I love the thought of creating something with my own hands and then using it! So, today I have pictures of two things I've made so far.

OSU no-sew blanket. That's my Chico 'modeling' it. Haha, honestly he's sleeping.

Spray painted Christmas tin. Which I eventually spray painted with orange glitter spray paint.


The final product. I wasn't prepared for how the glitter BLASTED out of the can. That's why it looks a little odd on this side. Oh well. Haha

I learned a couple of things about spray painting. First, spray in strips not random areas. Also, do coats otherwise spraying a lot of paint will make it run and you get a gross looking surface. I procrastinated so much on making the tin. I had all the materials for the longest time, but I couldn't get motivated to actually do it. Finally, I whipped it together and I'm content with the look. :)

Love,       
 Lexy

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Kitty- Cats!

So, Thomas is the Gonzales cat. He goes by Thomas, Tommy, Monster, Gorgeous Gato, Handsome man, Pretty kitty, and Pumpkin-doodle. Honestly, he probably doesn't go by anything... He just uses us as HE pleases.

First, he’s hamming it up for the camera. Then he decided I was taking too many pictures and started attacking the camera’s strap.

Lately we’ve been feeding and sometimes housing two cats from down the street. At first they were really cautious around us. Now they run into the house and make themselves feel comfortable. We don’t know for sure their real names, but I gave them Gonzales names.
We are pretty sure that they come over to our house so much because their own home has at least three small children and a dog. I imagine that it can be quite hectic over there. Plus, the food we have on the porch lures them in any time.
Here’s Herman. Sometimes if we don’t look too hard, we mistake him for Thomas. He is still skittish in the house, but loves to sleep on the couch.


Robin is a beautiful cat and is so little! He knows where the kitchen is and spends his time begging for lunch meat.


So those are the kitties. We aren't sure if the two "adopted" cats are fixed/neutered whichever one is for boys. They might not be allowed in the house for much longer! They are both beautiful cats though!

Thomas gets quite jealous sometimes. He will shun my mom and I if we pet the other two cats. He's getting a lot better, but he will absolutely NOT share a sleeping space with them.

We'll enjoy their company as long as they choose to grace us with it!

Monday, September 17, 2012

Focus.

I have a problem with trying to do everything at once. I want to be a straight-A student, a wonderful/helpful daughter, a fit and flirty girlfriend, a crafty girl, a great friend, a chef, a reader, a deep thinker, a homework helper, AND still be caught up on Glee. I want to do this all instantaneously.

A little while back, Spencer told me that I should only do one project at a time. He was referring to my crafting project. I said, "Okay," and quickly completed my first craft- a no-sew fleece blanket. Then I started on a tin can decorating project, started majorly cleaning the house, signing up for tours of museums, and getting new blankets to make, thinking up scrapbook pages to do, making giant lists of extra studying I could do, making workout schedules, getting applications... etc. I need to slow down. I mean today, I pulled into the school parking lot and the fell straight asleep! Not planned!

It seems like I am either in "Go, go, go" mode or just off. I need to find that happy medium.

Besides, I need to make time for my happy little blog here.

I've decided that I am banned from purchasing books, lotion, and clothes. At least for now. I also need to stop spending money on crafting things until I start getting some of my projects finished. The library offers many of the books that I wish to buy or they offer something that I'd be just as happy reading! I tend to spend big money on books and I never reread books. I'm not going to buy any more clothes until I lose weight. Finally, I have enough lotion to last me until my birthday in April at least and if you add my mother's lotion... I have enough to last me until my thirtieth birthday. Haha. :) I should probably stop buying make-up too. Except for my powder and foundation on a need basis. I just bought some foundation so I should be good for a while. But my powder is running out.

I know I mentioned pictures. They'll come some day!

Love,
 Lexy

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Taking a pause.

My cleaning, homework, and crafting motivation is dying. I have not been very motivated to do much. However, I'm not too concerned because I've had a relatively busy weekend and would love nothing more than just relaxing.

I've been to spectate Running the Streets 5k, Cathlene's cheerleading, played at the casino, purchased a camera, and completed some last minute homework assignments.

I suppose I don't need to be on go all the time.

Anywho, look forward to some pictures in the future!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

A Little Shopping

What makes any girl a little more happy? Shopping of course!

After buying my boyfriend some shoes for his birthday, I took a two hour nap. Then went to class and straight to Wal-Mart. I picked up some black spray paint, an Oprah magazine, and looked at the prices of the fleece.

Off to Hobby Lobby, I picked up a COWGIRL stencil and some orange glitter paint. I also took down a metal Cadberry container from our top cabinets. So, I'm primed and ready for my project! I'm pretty excited. :)

I've done very little today. I have picked up an application for Candy Craze which is in the mall. The kitchen and dishes are clean now to.

That concludes my happy little post.

I'm off to read O!

 Love,
   Lexy

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

What to do?

So, I have been wanting to develop a hobby that does not consist solely of reading. I love my reading, but it isn't hard for me to incorporate it into my day. I want to do something that yields results of some sort. I would like to start crafting, cooking, and exercising.

I'm really getting into Pinterest again and the crafting ideas just look great. I'm already thinking of great Christmas presents that Spencer and I can give that won't be too expensive. I'm actually pretty excited because it will save us a lot of money. I made an OSU fleece blanket today! It's my first official craft during my happiness project. I'm currently covered up with it. I'll post pictures later. I'm can't wait to start my next project- it'll be even easier that this, though! Haha, and Spencer made up a rule that I have to finish one project before I start another. I think that that is a good rule. I tend to hop from one thing to another because of boredom, but if I focus I can get things done!

Also because of Pinterest, I'd like to get into cooking. I would love to learn how to cook more than just desserts! XD Haha. I do know I can make some yummy desserts, but that isn't very healthy. I just think I'd feel more mature if I knew how to cook meals that don't come from a box. Plus, I've noticed that after I cook, I don't feel as hungry.

Lastly, I want to develop exercising as a hobby. I'm starting to walk 30 minutes a day to get into the habit. Tonight's walk wasn't that great, but I plan on walking in the mornings anyway. Eventually, I'd like to start running, but for now I just want to get into the habit or moving. In the end, I hope to lose some body fat, gain some muscles, and drop a few sizes. I'll do a more in-depth post about this later.

I'm still thinking of possible hobbies to try. In the meantime, I'll just focus on these.

Love,
      Lexy

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

John's Birthday

John is my godfather. He's been my dad's best friend for about twenty five years. His birthday was Monday, August 27. Anyway... I just wanted to give a quick little update about what we did. :)

Monday is actually a pretty busy day for the whole family so it wasn't until later on that night that we got to do anything together. We ended up going to the Red Apple Bowling Alley and playing a couple of games. Cathlene and I played some arcade games and won a whole bunch of tickets.

Afterwards Spencer and I went to Wal-Mart and he bought John a cookie cake. So we ate some of that and ended the night with Sequence. Sequence is a board game where you have to get five in a row. My family really likes to get competitive with it.

That's all!

Love,
  Lexy

Monday, September 3, 2012

Cleaning Progress

Over the last week or two I've been doing some major cleaning.

Clothing
Because I live between two houses (my parent's house and my boyfriend's place) I'm constantly unsure of the whereabouts of any clothing that I am currently not wearing. To solve this, I decided to move all my clothes to my boyfriend's place and just bring 5 outfits a week over to my parent's house. I washed a lot of laundry and even managed to get my boyfriend to go through his clothes to get rid of stuff. I managed to weed out things I wouldn't/couldn't wear so that we ended up splitting his closet right down the middle. We've even split his dresser in half too, but I secretly have one whole drawer empty in it. Like Gretchen in The Happiness Project, I feel so liberated by knowing I can shove anything in that drawer to pick up last minute if someone comes over.

The Closet
Spencer helped me sort through a hall closet at my parents house. I really wish I could have gotten a before and after picture. The thing was filled to the tippy top and I filled two industrial sized trash bags, three boxes, and still have some stuff next to the closet to get rid of. We had computer boxes, tv boxes, shoe boxes, an old computer monitor, paint cans, paint brushes, tack strips, screw drives, luggage, a bike pump, sand paper, sanders, power tools, trimming, razor blades, marbles, washers, facets, outlet covers, lightswitch covers, and SO much more.
Then I moved in my stuff. :) I have a couple shirts in there, my two boxes of random stuff, a six shelf hanging organizer, my over the door shoe organizer, my backpack, and a shelf unit, and lastly a three piece drawer thing. The closet door won't close though because of my shoe organizer. I don't care though. I'm just glad I have most my stuff out of the living room.

The Dining Room
Our dining room used to be lined with boxes from wall to wall. I basically threw everything away or compacted like things into a few boxes. The boxes that were now emptied got used to clean out the closet (above). Then I swept and vaccuumed. This was such a back breaking thing to do, but I know my mom will appreciate it when she has to work with the kid she watches in there.

The Kitchen
After making Spencer's birthday "cake," I decided to do the dishes. With the dishes comes cleaning the counters and sweeping the floor. My kind and thoughtful brother helped me decide on mopping the floor by smashing my Diet Dr. Pepper (accidentally) to the ground. Sooo, I mopped the floor as well.

Bathroom
I haven't done much in the bathrooms. So far I've only cleaned one toilet and cleared off some sink space. Plus, I put my laundry hamper in the bathroom so that we won't have a giant pile of clothes on the ground. :) I hope it keeps things from getting so soggy.

My next goal is to take the rest of the stuff out to the garage and bring in some pillows.

That's all for now. :)

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Things that Make Me Happy...

  1. Spending time with my family (when they are all getting along)
  2. Going for walks
  3. Finishing a to-do list
  4. The smell of clean laundry
  5. Playing Call of Duty Black Ops
  6. Feeling like a good girlfriend
  7. Feeling like a good daughter
  8. Feeling like a good sister
  9. Spending time with my kitty-cat
  10. Taking the dogs for a walk
  11. Making people happy
  12. Getting E-mails from friends
  13. Feeling cute
  14. Making something that people love (as in desserts)
  15. Having cleaned a whole room
  16. Finishing a book
  17. Going to the library
  18. Reading Magazines
  19. Turning in homework on time
  20. Meeting new people/making new friends

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Introspection

Wednesday I had two assignments due- An International Economics assignment and an Employment and Labor essay assignment. I waited last minute to do both when I've had ample time to do them during the last few days. I barely completed them with time to spare. It was definitely stressful and rushed. Doing these assignments last minute as opposed to ahead of schedule like I had been doing really forced me to notice how it affected my mood and my day.

I had to leave an hour early for school to have access to a printer and computer. In addition, the computer lab was almost full when I came and everyone was printing things. Running out of paper in the printer was a major concern of mine! Luckily, I managed to complete the homework and get to class right on time. However, my papers were not stapled, my graphs were not as detailed or professional as I'd like, and I'm slightly worried that I did not provide enough evidence for my answers.

My last assignment was due at 11:59pm on Wednesday night. I was required to write an essay that was about unions. I had neither read the chapter, nor written an essay like it. I had to quickly do research, help my brother with his math, entertain my godfather, eat dinner, and write my essay. It was incredibly distracting! That essay could have definitely been better and I should not have waited that long to do it. It's like Murphy's Law- what can go wrong, will go wrong. Everything and everyone wanted my attention during the final hours left until it was due. I BARELY was able to turn it in.

This is definitely a lesson and a warning. I need to be more attentive to my schoolwork and stay ahead. I make plans in my planner but do not follow through at all. I'm going to make an extra strong effort over the next few days to catch completely up in all my classes and get back on track.

I can do it!
       Lexy

Friday, August 24, 2012

Second Week Of Fall Semester

Update on my goals... I haven't been getting the sleep like I've wanted. In fact, it is like my family is conspiring against me. Because I don't have a room, I don't have any quiet place to escape to and the noise of the T.V. definitely keeps me up. So do the lights of the T.V. But it is around 10pm that they decide to come out and watch a movie or play games. Kind of annoying, but at the same time I like spending time with them. Last night, however, I only got four hours of sleep. That is definitely NOT good.

Yesterday I gave the dogs a bath, mopped the back porch, cleaned up some garbage, folded mine and Cathlene's laundry, swept the front porch, washed the cars and tidied up the living room a little bit. So my tidying up goal is going pretty well.

Today Spencer and I took the dogs on a walk. I think we went on a walk on one other day this week. So, at least that's twice this week! We walked them over to Sasha's place and they played with their dogs sort of. So there was: Fiona, Toasty, Lane, Timber, and Cocoa! Haha. It was such a cute pack! :D I should have taken a picture. But this KIND of counts as doing something not with the family. I mean... eventually Sasha will be family... but not yet!

I think I've been doing pretty well about relaxing. At least, I haven't been getting super down about things and I've been relatively active and friendly. It's amazing how much better my life feels now compared to how I felt at OSU.

I've also been doing my homework and reading my books. However, I only received a 50% on my first International Economics quiz. :( I studied for it too! At least I know what the questions will be like now, though so that's good.

I applied at Food Pyramid this week with Junior and Tracy. There were sooo many people there. I'm not getting my hopes up about it. I think it would be nice to have a bit of income. The little bit that I saved from last year is dwindling with Netflix, Tanning, and Phone Card reductions. The tanning one is especially stupid! I don't even live in Stillwater and they never answer when I call! RAWR!!

Lastly, I recently went to talk to a professor about an assignment and she eventually introduced me to an advisor. Together they managed to get my Statistics class from OSU to transfer over to RSU by having the department head approve the transfer! So, I dropped my Statistics class and now I have to add this Employment and Labor class to stay full time. However, the normal drop/add deadline has been reached so I have to get his signature and do everything the hard way. :( I have to wait until 1:00pm to do that though. So, I'm just sitting here. I'm excited though! This will help me move along faster.

I've also read a whole bunch of Wuthering Heights. I'm struggling to NOT finish it because I don't want to get too ahead of Jori and ruin in for her. It is so good! And now I see the strange behavior that Heathcliff has and why the introduction talked about it so detached and un-understanding. He's a freaking crazy man. Catherine and her daughter Catherine are both odd, spoiled people too. So many crazy, self-absorbed people living so close to each other! They all deserve each other I guess.

That is a rough idea of what I've been up to this week! :)

                      Hasta luego!
                           Lexy

Monday, August 20, 2012

Lovely New Blog

I realized that I prefer to type more than I do write because it goes by much faster. So, I've decided to make a blog!

My hopes with this blog is that I will be able to record my life, the ups and downs, so that later on I can come back and see how things have changed. I may even pass the link on to people I know so that they can stay up-to-date. :)

I'm starting my second week of school at Roger State University as a Human Resource Management Major. I love the idea of becoming part of Human Resource Management. Prior to RSU, I attended OSU as an Accounting major. I had come across many obstacles with that route. First, I wasn't that talented in Accounting. Second, I didn't react well to being separated from my loved ones for that long. Lastly, the cost was immense!

I'm hoping that I can live a more balanced life by going to RSU and staying in my hometown with my family.

Wuthering Heights is turning out to be a great book. The introduction, for me, made the book sound like it was going to be dull or... strange. And while some of the actions of the characters are strange, it is by no means out of the ordinary in modern times. I wish Heathcliff and Catherine were able to be together during life, however maybe they deserve to be constantly separated due to the fact that they are arrogant and ill tempered. I'm actually reading this book with Jori as part of our 'book club.' I wish she wasn't so tied up with her proceedings for Spain so that we could discuss the book more, but she needs to set her priorities straight and the start of her Spanish adventure is quickly approaching.

One more thing I did want to mention is my 'Happiness Project' which I decided to undergo due to a book I've been reading cleverly called The Happiness Project. I've come up with a few goals that I want to work hard towards achieving that I think will increase my happiness overall. They are as follows:
  1. Get 8 and only 8 hours of sleep a night. (Bed by 10pm, wake by 6am)
  2. Exercise daily. (Morning walk, workout during the day)
  3. Engage socially. (Do something AT LEAST once a month with non-family members)
  4. Finish homework in a timely manner. (Work during down hours at school)
  5. Clean regularly. (Tidy up areas around the house every so often)
  6. Relax. (Learn to quelch any random feelings of anxiety.

Thanks for reading,
                Lexy