My Religion is Simple

I Kinda Want a Hot Dog

2012-01-27T16:19:00.000-08:00

I don't know if either of these top the first one I already shared, but they're still pretty funny. I hope they keep cranking them out because it's kinda like I'm laughing at myself.

Shit Girls Say - Episode 2

Shit Girls Say - Episode 3

And, by the way, isn't Juliette Lewis gorgeous?

Day 27: Lunch

2012-01-27T12:01:00.000-08:00

Day 27, January 27, 2012:

LUNCH

Because I'm home sick today I'm able to dine on an unusual mix of leftovers for lunch. My plate consists of black bean and tortilla bake from Wednesday night and potatoes and carrots from the Crock-Pot chicken dinner I put together yesterday morning before learning I had bronchitis and a temperature. Yay for germs!

And I washed it down with a nice glass of milk.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21 - 22, Day 23 - 24, Day 25, Day 26

Day 26: Color

2012-01-26T13:06:00.000-08:00

Day 26, January 26, 2012:

COLOR

Pink.

Pink is the color of the pajama pants I put on when I got home from learning that I have bronchitis. Yes, I was diagnosed with bronchitis during my second week of my new job. Nothing says awesome new employee like having to leave work early for a doctor's appointment and then to be subsequently written out for two days for bronchitis with a fever over 100 degrees. Let this be a lesson to everyone: if you have a cold that's lasted a month and a half, it's probably not a cold. It's like you'd think I had a penis for having waited that long to go to the doctor.

And, yes, I am wearing two different socks and one is inside out.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21 - 22, Day 23 - 24, Day 25

Day 25: Something You Made

2012-01-25T19:57:00.000-08:00

Day 25, January 25, 2012:

SOMETHING YOU MADE

This doesn't look very appetizing, but it sure tastes good. It's white chicken chili with rice. I didn't make it today, though. I made it for dinner last night and ate the leftovers today for lunch. Sorry, that's as close as I'm going to get for making something today unless you count making piles of paperwork, a reference binder or reservations for a sewing class. Because I made all those things today, too.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21 - 22, Day 23 - 24

Day 23 & 24: Something Old and Guilty Pleasure

2012-01-24T19:23:00.000-08:00

Day 23, January 23, 2012:

SOMETHING OLD

My friend Sheri gave me this necklace years and years and years ago. I wear it nearly every day. It's cute and it has sentimental value. The engraving on the back has all but worn off, but I know a dear friend gave it to me and that's all I need to know.

Day 24, January 24, 2012:

GUILTY PLEASURE

You'll have to ignore Doug in this photo. He sees ice cream, so nothing else in the world exists to him. My guilty pleasure... er, one of my guilty pleasures is sweets. Anything with sugar in it is A-OK in my book. This is a 100 calorie Skinny Cow White Mint Truffle ice cream bar. A Snickers candy bar also sounds good to me and, for that matter, so does a gooey cinnamon roll. Sure I feel guilt with each and every sweet I eat, but now I live my life by the directive of this fortune cookie: "Be good to yourself. Dessert three times per week is OK."

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21 - 22

QOTW: January 22 - January 28, 2012

2012-01-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

"I'll tell you this: the first 6 months, I was SO relaxed. I was Al Bundy, hands down my pants while sippin a brewsky and watching TV, relaxed. Guess what? That didn't make me pregnant! I know, hard to believe, right?" - Jen Knepper

Photo: Source
I've been reading Jen's blog since before Nick and I were even trying to conceive. I remember thinking how awful it must be for a woman who wants to have children to struggle to get pregnant. I remember thinking that I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. And here I am! Yay!

Jen's quote is from a post she did on what people said to her while she was trying to get pregnant. Like, the above was in response to people telling her to "just relax." I've gotten that one more times than I care to admit. I actually had someone tell me that "it's been proven" that if you just relax and don't stress about it, you'll get pregnant. I was pretty relaxed for that whole year and a half I was off birth control before we even started trying and that didn't work, so WTF, proven science?

Day 21 & 22: Reflection and Shoes

2012-01-22T14:12:00.000-08:00

Day 21, January 21, 2012:

REFLECTION

You won't believe how much I fretted yesterday over the thought that I had to do a reflection photo. I pictured myself standing in front of a mirror taking a photo of me taking a photo of myself. Annoying. But today it occurred to me that the prompt isn't necessarily a photo of MY reflection. So this one is another cheat photo. I took it a few years ago behind our house in the nature preserve. Right now it looks like a g-darn mess back there, but in the spring, when this was taken, it's beautiful.

Day 22, January 22, 2012:

YOUR SHOES

If I were going somewhere today I'd probably be wearing these sneakers. They're old and they're dirty, but they're super comfortable. I got them for zip lining before our Mexico trip way back when, and I've been loving them ever since.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20

New

2012-01-21T14:37:00.000-08:00

Lord knows I'm good at jinxing things, so I've avoided saying anything until now. (Spoiler alert: I'm not pregnant. This post is not about a pregnancy.) I started a new job this week. I wish I could say it's a library job, but it's not. It's just as well, though. I'm happy with the move that I made.

I was with my last company for seven years. One thing that I had forgotten was how it felt to be the new person. There's that slightly nervous, somewhat uncomfortable feeling you get when you're new to an organization. You don't know the people, you're not familiar with how the company operates, and you aren't sure if you're allowed to hang stuff on your office walls or if you have to ask someone to do it for you. This week I thought back to how it felt to move to California when I was in the third grade. Back then, I had the same feelings. Imagine being in a new school, in a new town, where there's fog and seagulls and multiplication tables, and everything is a great departure from what you're used to. In Arizona there's heat and clear skies and cactus. I truly felt like the odd man out in Sacramento. Albeit, my third grade transition was much more difficult and much more emotional; I cried a lot and I constantly wanted to be by my mom's side. This time, I still want to be by my mom's side, but I have the understanding that everything gets better. Everything gets easier. Everything gets more familiar and routine.

Starting something new has made me realize that as great as I thought I was with change, I'm not. Don't get me wrong, I think I'm pretty adaptable. I can go with the flow and make the best of it. The feelings associated with the change are what surprised me. Sure, I knew I'd be nervous, but the uncomfortableness of it all caught me off guard. I realize now that I'm good with little changes, but sweeping, drastic changes probably aren't my forte. The challenge is to get over the new girl hump. And I can do it. It's just a matter of time, and I'm glad that I know that.

Photo: Source

Day 20: Someone You Love

2012-01-20T19:48:00.000-08:00

Day 20, January 20, 2012:

SOMEONE YOU LOVE

Love this man. Love, love, love him.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19

Day 19: Sweet

2012-01-19T18:49:00.000-08:00

Day 19, January 19, 2012:

SWEET

Chocolate covered strawberries.

Full disclosure: This photo is from two years ago. It was taken at my friend's bridal shower. I'm too lazy tonight to take new a photo. If I wasn't too lazy I'd still be too brain dead to be creative about it. Sorry. I still love you.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1- 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18

Day 18: Something You Bought

2012-01-18T19:17:00.000-08:00

Day 18, January 18, 2012:

SOMETHING YOU BOUGHT

I woke up this morning thinking there was no way I was going to buy something today. But, I did.

Nick got me a sewing machine for my birthday. I haven't used it yet because I wanted to take the classes that are offered by the retailer first. I haven't taken any classes yet because I've had a cold and wanted to be able to enjoy the classes sans cold and I also needed something to transport my sewing machine. My cold is gone, so that just left me with the no-carrying-case dilemma. Meissner Sewing is so close to my work, though, that I couldn't resist popping over there on my lunch break today. Dilemma solved.

This little trolley reminded me of a vintage Airstream. Plus, as the sales lady mentioned, it was featured in Threads magazine last year, so there's that too.

PS - I saw the cutest license plate frame in the parking lot of Meissner's. On the top it showed "I Heart Fabric" and on the bottom it read "Sew What?" Ha ha... I love it!

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17

Day 17: Water

2012-01-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

Day 17, January 17, 2012:

WATER

I rotate between a handful of different water bottles. The Klean Kanteen is my favorite. And this fulfills today's prompt since, I promise you, there's water inside that water bottle.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16

QOTW: January 15 - January 21, 2012

2012-01-16T10:28:00.000-08:00

For the longest time, I've had two favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes. I stumbled across another this morning. My older favorites are:

"In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

and

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but the content of their character." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Image: Source

And a new favorite...

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Personally, I think that racism and most forms of hatred, prejudice and discrimination can be attributed to ignorance, so when I read this quote it was a true a-ha moment. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a smart, smart man. I always wonder what other good he could have done had he not had his life taken away from him...

Day 16: Morning

2012-01-16T09:52:00.000-08:00

Day 16, January 16, 2012:

MORNING

Normally I drink The Republic of Tea's Good Hope Vanilla. This one caught my eye at Cost Plus, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's delicious. I like it more for the afternoon, because with a hint of chocolate I like to think of it as a dessert. You know how sometimes 3PM will roll around at work and you're craving sweets? This does the trick. Since today is a holiday all rules are out the window. Today is a Chocolate Chai kind of morning.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15

Day 15: Happiness

2012-01-15T18:13:00.000-08:00

Day 15, January 15, 2012:

HAPPINESS

Happiness is a lazy Sunday afternoon on the couch. (Among many other things, of course.)

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14

Day 14: Something You're Reading

2012-01-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

Day 14, January 14, 2012:

SOMETHING YOU'RE READING

I'm a rule breaker. I just finished this book, so get over it already.

(Doug was not happy there was a book in his food bowl.)

People have been telling me how good The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein is for some time now. In fact, when I was in the waiting room just prior to my IUI, two people told me some variation of "OMG, that book is soooo good." The funny thing is that I remember reading the book description when it was first released to paperback. At the time it didn't make it to my to-read list because the idea of car racing just didn't interest me. Sure, I LOVED Marley & Me, but this one? Eh, I'll pass.

But I was wrong. So wrong. If you never listen to anything else I say, please listen to this: run, don't walk, to go read this book.

What's not to love about this book? The Art of Racing in the Rain has a creative story line. It's narrated by a dog, which is totally unique, but the story is so much more than a discourse on Kibbles 'n Bits. Stein develops a story that leaves you hanging on the edge of your seat. He puts you through a whole gauntlet of emotions. I know it sounds cliche to say that I laughed and I cried, but I did. I laughed out loud, and I bawled my eyes out. It wasn't just that, though. I felt like I got punched in the stomach at one point. It was as if I had the wind knocked out of me. And the ending, oh the ending... It's expected on one hand and completely unexpected on the other hand. The ending is beautiful. It's magical. It's perfect. I'm just sorry I waited so long to read it.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13

Day 13: In Your Bag

2012-01-13T17:33:00.000-08:00

Day 13, January 13, 2012:

IN YOUR BAG

I'm not gonna lie. This is only a partial showing of what's in my bag. This bag can hold a lot of shiz, so I stuff it to the max. I omitted some tampons, some bracelets, some earbuds, and a whole lot of trash among other things.

1. Sunglasses
2. Avon Naturals hand sanitizer and lotion in cucumber melon
3. An unnecessary amount of chapstick
4. Orbit wintermint gum
5. Anthropologie gift cards
6. iPod (old school, but keeps on tickin')
7. Anthropologie wallet
8. Sample of Oro Gold Cosmetics moisturizing day cream
9. Empty pack of Clomid from my last cycle
10. Riiiiiicolaaaaaa cough drop (if you don't get it, you're probably too young)
11. Bullet pen (I stole from Nick. His friend made it for him out of a bullet.)
12. Dental floss
13. Dog toy my dad gave me to give to Doug and Moose
14. Cell phone
15. Bath & Body Works lip gloss, Benefit silky-finish lipstick in Skinny Dip, and Bare Escentuals lipstick in Parfait
16. Magic pills
17. Key chain

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12

Day 12: Close Up

2012-01-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

Day 12, January 12, 2012:

CLOSE UP

Don't you wish your housekeeping skills were as good as mine? Feast your eyes on a close up of my dust masterpiece. There's dust all over this sweet little Mexican senorita that we picked up in Mazatlan. That string of dust there is mighty fine.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11

Day 11: Where You Sleep

2012-01-11T17:33:00.000-08:00

Day 11, January 11, 2012:

WHERE YOU SLEEP

Why, yes, we let our dogs sleep in our bed. I'm sorry if that offends you. Actually, I'm not, but it sounded like the nice thing to say.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10

Day 10: Childhood

2012-01-10T19:22:00.000-08:00

Day 10, January 10, 2012:

CHILDHOOD

Early last year, I uncovered my old Spisk Spirals t-shirt in a storage box. It was from my days as an Olympic gymnast-in-training. I'm just kidding. But I was in gymnastics from the tender age of 5 to the ripe old age of 6. I think. I didn't find my leotard my mom and I walked forever to purchase, but this was still a nice, fun surprise. PS - This is a child size shirt and not meant for people or mannequins with ample bosoms (pictured above). So basically, I could still wear this if I wanted to.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9

Day 9: Daily Routine

2012-01-09T19:46:00.000-08:00

Day 9, January 9, 2012:

Daily Routine

Going to work is part of my daily routine. I sit in a cube in front of a computer for the better part of the day. Yep, good times. By the way, that Mary Engelbreit graphic in the background, the one that looks like it's Halloween themed, is from a calendar. I've had it for years and occasionally someone will remind me that Halloween is over. And I have to say look, mother-effer, I don't keep it because it has jack-o-lanterns on it; I keep it for the quote. At the bottom it reads:

"The best way to predict the future is to create it." - Peter Drucker

See? Worth keeping, huh?

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7, Day 8

Day 8: Your Sky

2012-01-08T17:54:00.000-08:00

Day 8, January 8, 2012:

YOUR SKY

This is the view from the nature preserve behind our house around 5PM PST.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day 1 - 6, Day 7

QOTW: January 8 - January 14, 2012

2012-01-08T10:12:00.000-08:00

"You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done." - Kenny Rogers

Photo: Source
You guys, we played poker for my father-in-law's birthday last night. Guess who won? Yours truly! I'm not gloating; it's just a nice stroke of luck for a gal like me.

Day 7: Favorite

2012-01-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

Day 7, January 7, 2012:

FAVORITE

My favorite pastime is reading. Sometimes there is nothing more satisfying than curling up with a book and consuming yourself with a story. I love, love, love finding a good book and the feeling you get when all you want to do is keep reading. It can be both wonderful and frustrating since real life sometimes demands that you put the book down and go clean the g-darn bathroom.

More on the photo-a-day challenge here. By the way, I'm only committing to a month of photos. A year's worth of photos would surely kill me. Also, it would be annoying for everyone to see just how many categories I can justify putting Doug and Moose into. Things I adore? Doug and Moose. Happiness? Doug and Moose. Favorite? Doug and Moose. Cutest? Doug and Moose. Most likely to succeed? Doug and Moose. So, you see, I'm really doing everyone a favor.

Photo-A-Day Challenge

2012-01-06T18:36:00.000-08:00

I came across this on my friend's blog, and I'm happy to say that I love a good blogging prompt so count me in!

Image: Source

I'm a little late getting started, so please forgive me. I'll do all my catching up here and then going forward I promise to be punctual. Here goes nothing:

Day 1, January 1, 2012:

YOU

I've found that some people cannot take enough self-portraits. I'm not one of those people, so this one is really hard for me. I hate photos of myself, and I hate taking photos of myself. With that said, I cheated on this one and used a photo of me I already had in my cell phone. It's from my husband's office holiday party. My friend took it right before we went into a photo booth (you know, the kind with all the funny props).

Day 2, January 2, 2012:

BREAKFAST

Listen, does it get more exciting than a photo of a bowl of Annie's Cinnamon Roll Bunny O's? OK, so it doesn't really compare to the post-fertility testing blood draw breakfast, but such is life.

Day 3, January 3, 2012:

SOMETHING YOU ADORE

Duh! Doug and Moose. Sorry, I couldn't pick just one. That's like picking your favorite child, right? We bought these beds for them for Christmas. You're right when you say that Doug looks a little crammed in there. I purposely picked out a smallish bed that he can snuggle into since he LOVES to snuggle and burrow and do all sorts of small dog things. Moose's old bed was too small for him. This one still looks small, but only because he only lays on one little corner of it. I encourage him everyday: USE THE WHOLE BED, MOOSE! YOU CAN DO IT!

Day 4, January 4, 2012:

LETTERBOX

Exciting!!! We have one of those community mail boxes, for lack of a better term. You're looking at our sweet little letter box that's usually full of junk mail. Like, oodles of junk mail. Oodles and oodles of it.

Day 5, January 5, 2012:

SOMETHING YOU WORE

Flats... I usually wear flats to work because it's easy. You know I love heels, so I'm going to have to change that.

Day 6, January 6, 2012:

MAKES YOU SMILE

Lots of things make me smile, so this one is hard. Babies, for example, now babies make me smile. When a kid says something completely off the wall (i.e., "the darndest thing") I smile every time. My dogs totally make me smile, but I can't make every photo about them. I could go on and on. When I was making dinner tonight, I had an "a-ha" moment. Surely, anyone who knows me or who has ever read my blog knows that I LOVE food. Food makes me smile. Specifically, delicious smells in the kitchen make me smile. I came home the other night and Nick was making black bean and tortilla bake for dinner and I smiled because a delicious aroma of cilantro, onions, and sauce hit me when I walked in the door. So I offer a photo of tonight's dinner: ground chicken and spinach cannelloni. The smell was smiling inducing and it didn't taste too bad, either.

That's it, my friends. I'm done sharing day 1 - day 6. Stay tuned for the rest of January's photos...