Dec 28, 2008

My Latest 'Kevin' Adventure


My Kevin is my biggest adventure yet, everyday with him is something new and different. There are some days when nothing notable happens. Then, there are days like Friday where I start out shaking my head and rolling my eyes, but end up laughing hard.

Over the past week, we have a an enormous amount of snowfall in the area (about 2 feet to be exact). Finally on Friday, the snow began to melt and the roads began to clear up a bit. However, there was still a bit of snow and ice on the side roads and in parking lots. The snow plows had been extremely busy and therefore snow piles were everywhere as well.

Kevin and I took a trip out to the Home Depot to pick out a new glass stove top. Side note: we have driven everywhere this last week in a 1987 Suzuki Samurai due to the snow, seems it is the only reliable car. So, we took the Sami to the Depot and my adventurous Kevin thought it would be awesome to park on a huge snow hill. He drove at it full speed and stopped perched atop a small snow hill. I was a bit annoyed at first because I didn’t have any boots and where he parked was surrounded by water. He was super proud of himself and had me take some pictures of the event.

We then went shopping in the store for about half an hour. When we came back out, it had started to rain. Kevin went to get the car and was going to pick me up by the front door. I grabbed his camera and said “no way, someone has to document this!” He went for the car and I took some awesome pictures of his attempts to rock the Sami out of its now stuck-on-the-snow-hill position. I tried to hold back my laughter as he struggled to get the car on solid ground. Finally, he climbed out of the car and sadly declared defeat with a pathetic “I think I’m stuck.”



Luckily, he had a car kit in the back with a tow rope in it. He attached the rope to the front of the car and waited for someone to come to our rescue. Help arrived in the form of a good Samaritan with a hitch on the back of a large truck. The kind gentleman pulled the Sami out with no problem. He didn’t even belittle Kevin or think it was strange that he was on a snow hill to start with. Actually, I think when Kevin said, “I think I had a little too much fun,” the guy just shrugged and replied, “that happens.” He was neat.





Kevin was in good spirits the whole time; he was laughing and having fun with it. That’s what is so great about this guy, he is adventurous and even when things don’t quite turn out the way he plans…he is able to laugh at himself. He is an awesome adventure and there are very little dull moments when I am with him. I never know what to expect, but we always end up laughing. I hope to have many more wild adventures with him.

Dec 27, 2008

Kitchen Project


I love projects, they make me happy. I love the challenge of starting something new, making changes, and being proud of the finished product. Home improvement projects are some of the best, because you are taking something you don’t like and figuring out how to make it better. Picking out colors, tiles, carpets, appliances, and so on can be a lot of hassle or a lot of fun.

I have never had a house before, but whenever I go to other people’s homes, I am always thinking of things I would do differently. I now have a Kevin, who owns a home, which needs a lot of work and I’m not afraid to tell him. He is a great guy and knows his home needs some work, but he needs a little motivation…which is where I come in. I have already re-organized most of the house so that it is more “user friendly”.

Our latest adventure actually started when Kevin blew out one of the switches on his stovetop. From there we decided if we were going to buy a new stove top we should upgrade to a nice glass stove top. Since the whole kitchen is circa 1970, we decided we should upgrade the rest of room as well. We have to start small because home improvements cost money. All the doors and cabinets in the kitchen are a very ugly yellowish-greenish color, and that needs to go first.





We started small with the just the island where the glass stove top would be going. We spent the day removing all the doors and drawers from the island and painting them. First, we sanded them all down and cleaned up all the years of crap that was gooped on them. Next, we gave them a primer coat of Killz to cover up the old paint and muck we didn’t get to come off. Finally, when the Killz dried we added one coat of white paint. The difference was shocking when we looked from the completed island to the old yellowy cabinets along the wall. The white really brightens up the kitchen and we have only done a small portion.



It was a very productive day for us and we have only just begun. Kevin plans on re-doing all the counter tops with black granite tile and the floors with hardwood. We still have to do the rest of the cabinets in the kitchen so that they all match. It’s a large project, but I can’t wait to see the full finished result, it will look amazing.

If you would like to see more pictures and/or follow our progression click on the link and prepare to be amazed.
More Pictures

Dec 22, 2008

Organized Guru


I have a slight obsession with organization and cleaning. I first started hanging out with the Miller clan, by that I mean, Kevin and his roommates. When I first starting coming around this house, which is run by three bachelors by the way, I walked into the kitchen and almost had a heart attack. Junk drawers everywhere, food in awkward places, cans and all the food anywhere it could fit. It was too much for me, so I asked in my nicest voice if I could re-organize the kitchen. Kevin sort of shrugged his shoulders and gave me a strange look and said "go for it." Little did he know what I meant by organize.



I took everything out of the cabinets and put it on the counter. Next, I wiped all the shelves down, they were looking a little worse for wear. Then, I started grouping all the can foods together. For instance, I put all the vegetables like corn, beans, and olives together. I put all the soups together, all the rice together, all the box foods together, and all the pasta items together. It was pretty brilliant and made it so much easier to find things.

Kevin was so amazed he declared a week of a "cabinet diet", which basically meant we would only eat meals from food from the cabinets. It went over pretty well and got rid of a lot of the canned foods that had been sitting around idle for months. All in all it was a pretty successful overhaul.



I got a little bit of crap from everyone, declaring I was a little insane and obsessive compulsive. In the end, I think I made everyone's life a little easier and made the food more accessible and easy to find. I love that kind of stuff. I wonder if they have jobs out there were you just organized people and make money doing it.

Dec 21, 2008

Let it snow.


Interesting weather we are having in Washington State this past week, snow. Famously known as the ‘rainy’ state, we are being dumped on in a whole new way…snow and lots of it. It all started late Wednesday night, December 17, the snow came down and covered our entire state in a blanket of white. Many people have been left stranded in their homes, unable to even get the cars out of the driveways. This is the strangest weather we have had in a long time; I don’t remember the last time it snowed so hard here. I measured this morning and we were up to six inches, but now its coming down hard for round three. I seem to have lost my car somewhere out there in the snow,



and its slowly creeping up our front porch steps.



Will we have a white Christmas this year? It would be the first in a very long time, I remember one slightly white Christmas when I was younger early 1990s or so. I have been getting a little restless from being all couped up in the house. I need to search around from snow gear and then go outside and sled or build snowmen or something. Being stuck inside is never a good thing. I haven’t been to work since the snow started and its beginning to look like I won’t be going back until after Christmas if this snow keeps up.

Dec 17, 2008

Making Changes

I am trying to expand my horizons once again, and I'm using that line a lot for some reason. Anyway, so I am trying to get into writing and maybe even doing it as a full time gig, which would be my heart's desire. I have been looking at some sites where I can write and get paid to do it. It may not be not be very much at first, but if I can improve my writing skills, that is a good start for me.

I have also enrolled in some writing classes that start Winter quarter. I'm pretty excited about those as well. I'm taking a basics grammar class, a fiction writing class, and a mystery writing class. They should all be entertaining and teach me better writing skills.

I'm trying to work more on my novel too. It is about half-way done and if I would just commit to working on it an hour or so a day, I could finish it. I could finish the rough draft anyway, and then work on the editing process.

All in all I'm pretty excited about where writing can take me. Its something that I always wanted to do and always loved to do, but didn't have the time while working full time. If I could get paid to write, then it could become my full time job, and I would be more motivated to write my stories. I'm looking forward to all the things to come in the New Year.

Dec 15, 2008

Epiphany

I know in my last blog I moaned and cried a lot about my job, and yet I'm still here working the same thing. My fault, I need to expand my horizens and get out there more. I have to spend 40 hours a week of my life here, so I might as well be doing something I like right?

So, I had an epiphany while looking on Craigslist for jobs. I don't think I like being a counselor because I'm a results person. I like to be presented with a problem, then come up with solutions, and then solve the problem and move on. With people, things take time and you may never see results or they may take months or years. That isn't good enough for me. I like things a little more instant and I like knowing that my hard work pays off. I don't like the odds in this field, most of these people don't care enough and I feel like I am wasting my time and energy.

So, my problem: I'm a results, problem-solving girl. Counseling=lots of problems and no way that I can be assured I will ever solve them.

Every other area of my life is awesome and I'm actually quite happy these days. I had a small bump where I let the job get the best of me, but I have an awesome support network and a man who loves me, and a rocking family. Things are looking up and I'm going to be happy, but I'm not going to be happy doing something I don't like.

Dec 9, 2008

Ho-Hum (huge sigh)

Have you ever noticed that when you are unhappy with one part of your life it brings your whole attitude down? Well, that is the story of my life right now, my happiness seems to have drained away to….some tropical island without me. I hate feeling miserable, I hate feeling like I just want to cry, and I hate feeling helpless to do anything about it. My current problem…the job. I know it sounds lame and pathetic, but it’s a huge part of my life and I hate it. Its where I spend most of my time, energy, and life…so it makes sense that one should like what they do right? And if one does not like what one does, they should change it so that they may feel some sort of joy again. My motto has always been “if you don’t like it change it”, easier said than done I guess. Its hard right now to just change, especially when I have no idea what I want to do. I just know it isn’t this.

I thought I wanted to be a counselor for a really long time, and it was all I wanted to do. Now, I’m doing it and I don’t like it at all. The people are great (well most of them), the job isn’t really that hard. It can be a huge strain emotionally sometimes and there is a lot of paperwork to be done, but it lacks the hard core challenge that I need to keep me going. I live for change and I live for challenges and I die with monotony and being reprimanded for stupid little things (like grammar errors or something). Don’t get me wrong, I think I’m really good at what I do, I just don’t love it, and if I don’t love it then I’m not happy.

This unhappiness leaks into the other areas of my life and I find it hard to fight the depression that comes with my discontent. I find it hard to find the joy in little things, like I use to, and I find I get annoyed and pissed off at stupid trivial things. This sort of ‘depression’ as I’m going to call it, pushes people away and I don’t mean to, but I just go around and around with myself as I struggle for some clarity. I feel like I’m on this internal quest, looking for something, and finding nothing.

It leads to a pissy, discontent, passive-aggressive attitude. I just have to struggle through and try my hardest to not hurt other people, while trying to figure myself out.
I don’t know how much longer I can stay here, but I’m not really sure what else to do. I’m too independent to rely on anyone else for my security with money and such, and I have to be able to support myself and pull my own weight.

I need to get some things paid off and that is the real hold-up for me. I would hate to quit this, try something else, and continue on this unsatisfied journey forever. There has to be something out there that will satisfy me and keep me happy. I’m not the kind of girl who can sit at home all day, everyday.

I know I will figure it out, but until I do this is my story and this is my attitude and I’m sorry if I hurt anyone, I don’t mean to. I tend to go inside myself for answers and it makes me a little unavailable on the outside and enthused about things I would normally be enthused about. I will work on it and try to be a normal human, but this is my inner struggle and I’m not excited to feel this way. It seems like I am in this negative place way to much.

Dec 4, 2008

10 lbs in 10 days

The Holiday season is upon us and tis the season for Holiday parties and New Year's Resolutions. I'll wait for the resolution part until 11:30pm on Dec. 31. For now, I have a Holiday party to worry about. For the first time…well ever, I'm dating someone who actually has a Holiday party to attend. Kindly, he asked me to accompany him. Then, he added the PS: you will need to get a dress (yikes, what are those). First of, I don't think I've worn a dress in….I don't even know how long. Second, I had to find something that accentuated the parts I love and hide the parts I don't. Ladies, you know what I mean. Now, the Holiday party is less than 10 days out and I'm freaking out. I want to look really good in my dress and there are a few parts of me that I would love to get rid of. So, I sat down at the computer yesterday (during work of course) and googled the internet under the topic 'lose 10 pounds in 10 days'. If you know me at all, I'm picky and I have to be able to eat, so no fad diets and no starving myself. I finally found a good one, that is more like advice on how to lose weight fast. Here are the ten tips I was given:

1. When you wake up, exercise (to get your metabolism jump started, 15 mins is all it takes)

2. Always eat breakfast. (again with the metabolism stuff)

3. Snack. (small quantities all day, don't give your metabolism a chance to stop working)

4. Drink a lot of water.

5. Drink green tea. (Green tea speeds up your metabolism and helps you lose weight).

6. Don't eat after 6pm (this one is tough since I get off so late)

7. Exercise at night (this time for an hour or so)


8. Drink Apple Cider Vinegar before bedtime. (drink two tablespoons of ACV in half a cup of water) gross, but I'll try it.

9. Get at least seven hours sleep.

10. Increase exercise time on the weekends. (30 in the morning, 90 at night)

Of course, there is some stuff about eating healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables, cottage cheese, and nuts; instead of a bag of chips for your snack. So, that's the plan, I'll try it and see if I can't lose 10 pounds in 10 days. Actually, its more like 9 days now. I will keep a running log to keep those who might be interested posted.