Two of a Kind

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:34:00 +0000

I really have nothing to say. Nothing is really going on with us. Sarge is working more lately. His game is doing well and he is having more and more to do. I'm at home still. Still job searching, but no prospects.

I've been reading the Outlander Series (Diana Gabaldon) and I've been really engaged in that. I'm now caught up and I'm waiting for her to finish the next book and get it published! Her website says maybe next year. So I guess it will be a long wait. But now that I don't have another book waiting to be read, I think I'll clean the apartment. I have not been doing what I need to do so it's a bit of a mess.

So that's my plan. Exciting, I know.

Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:02:00 +0000

We survived Christmas and it was a great party! I got to spend time with all four of my nieces and three of them spent their Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at my mom's house.

They got their Christmas Eve Pajamas and we hung stockings and took pictures. The day was great. I got some clothes and jewelry and a coffee mug that looks like a camera lens (I've been using it often!). Tons of fun! Of course, the best gift was from my brother to my brother. He got this.

Which makes it pretty obvious what was inside. And my brother was thrilled! He kept quoting the movie the whole time! The brother who gave it enjoyed everything more than my brother who received it (I think). Then my parents presented the gifting brother with a small night light leg lamp of his own (in a wooden box with FRAG-ILIE written on it as well!). It was a lot of fun. Good Christmas and wonderful time!

Isn't not the camera

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 18:04:00 +0000

I edit my photos for a reason. First, because I shoot RAW and I have to. And second, because my camera is not nearly as complex as my eye is. When I see something, I can see such a wide range of colors of shades. I can balance highlights and shadows with ease. Its awesome. My camera has trouble with some of that. So, I take a picture using the settings that I think balance out most of the picture. Then I edit to fill in the gaps of the rest of the image. Like this picture.

The top was taken straight out of the camera (SOOC). If I didn't edit, that's the picture I would show you. It's cool, but it's pretty bland. So, I just looked at the shaded hill on the left and I set the picture so that it had the most detail and better lighting. And the rest of the picture was completely blown out! So I created a copy of the image. Then I adjusted the settings so that the hill on the right was shown in its best light. That made the shaded hill completely black. So I combined the two pictures in Photoshop so that I could have the best of both worlds.

Then I wasn't please with my color balance. The hills there looked cold and blue and the water and sky weren't as vibrant and not nearly as blue as I remember (Sarge actually accused me of being high because I kept talking about how colorful the sky and ocean were). So I created two copies again. One I adjusted so the sky and ocean were bright and vibrant and the other I warmed up so the land would look like the sun was over it instead of the moon! Then I combined those two pictures.

All in all, I probably spent around 20 minutes on that one photo. And that doesn't include any of the time it took me to set up and take the shot. But it wasn't my camera that captured the wow! It was me, just saying.

Happy Birthday to Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 05:23:00 +0000

Today I'm 26 years old. This past year has brought me my master degree (I graduated the day after my birthday last year and received my diploma sometime that spring.), a cross country move, and some needed soul searching time without a job. It's been an interesting year even if I can't bullet point all of those interesting things for you.

Since Sarge's cousin is in town, we've been doing a bit of eating and out site seeing, which is always fun if not a little expensive. We will definitely need to get back on track with our savings. Today we went hiking at Torrey Pines which was awesome!

It's always more fun to work your butt off getting somewhere if it's pretty! I hope my next year brings a heathier lifestyle including a better diet and more exercise! And I want to get better at hiking. I'd be a lot happier if I wasn't gasping and panting when I got to the top of the hill. And its more fun to be at the head of a group so you can enjoy the scenery while you wait, instead of constantly trying to keep up!

Envy

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:42:00 +0000

So, I've been monitoring this conversation on a forum about equipment envy. It all started when this one person couldn't believe that someone she met had an awesome set up (camera and lens that costs just under $4,000) and was upset that this person didn't know how to use it and didn't seem willing to learn.

So let's dispel some myths

#1 Your equipment does not accomplish the task for you.

Your camera will not take an awesome picture if you don't know how to use it. The same with your Viking oven, your titanium golf clubs, or your Les Paul guitar. Your equipment won't do anything for you that you can't make it do.

#2 Just because you know a lot about a subject, doesn't mean everyone else should.

I have to cook to eat. But that doesn't mean I know everything or could even contribute to a conversation about cooking. And I don't care much. I have a nice set of pans that were a wedding gift. I don't use them to their full potential. And that's ok. I don't have to. So if you have a nice camera and want to leave it on Auto, that's ok too. Just don't expect your camera to take awesome pictures there.

On a side note, the reason auto doesn't take awesome pictures is because of averages. Average is plain. But it's also safe. So, if you don't tell your camera what you are looking for, it's going to go for an average. It will find the average exposure, average light temperature (or color), it will get as much in focus as possible, and it will take the picture that it sees fit. The problem is, the picture will most likely be safe and boring. When you tell it what temperature the light is, you get better color. When you tell it the exposure, what you want to see shows up in the picture. When you set the focus (I still use autofocus, but I tell it where to focus and how), you can make distracting elements in your picture fade into the background and your subject shine.

There's nothing wrong with average, except when you want WOW!

A new smile

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:05:00 +0000

Last week, I started on my Invisalign treatment. When I was in the 6th grade, I had braces. So I didn't expect Invisalign to be on my table, but hey, it is. My traditional wire/metal braces were only 6 brackets and I only wore them for 7 months. So I guess I got off too easy or something. I had a gap between my front two teeth and the very cute Dr. Johnson just pulled it together.

But what he didn't fix was my bottom teeth. Which I'm sure at the time weren't that bad. But there's a tiny bit of crowding there. I've noticed over the last few years that it gets to feeling a little tighter. And one of my teeth is being pushed sideways. According to my Dentist here, over several years of this, that tooth could crack. Then I would need a crown or partial and life would be much more difficult than if I just fixed it now.

So, here I am in Invisalign plastic trays. They suck. Not all the time, but when I have to take them out or put them back in, they suck. It's getting better. This is day 8. Last weekend was horrible for me. I took some Tylenol to get through it. And the first night I needed a muscle relaxer to go to sleep (the pill could have just knocked me out instead of working like it should, but I still got a good nights sleep). I had pretty much fully adjusted to them and then yesterday, the Dentist put on the buttons.

My buttons are made of the same material as fillings. He just put a glob on my tooth and let it harden. I really hate the buttons. At least right now. They hold the trays better and help in moving the teeth, which is good. But they make the trays 1000% harder to get on and off and one button in particular is driving me nuts! It's on my upper canine tooth, which is where my last bracket was way back when. That bracket spent most of its life caked in bee's wax to keep it from irritating the ulcers it caused. And this button seems to be nearly as irritating. It's quite rough when I take the trays out to eat (which probably helps me to get the trays back on more quickly) and irritates me. It's just not fun. It's also where most of my pain and pressure are when I put the trays on or take them off. (Same thing with the brackets before whenever they would tighten the wires).

I'm sure it will get better. And I'll be happy to have my bottom teeth in line and feeling better! And when all of this is over. I get a free Whitening Treatment! So I'm thrilled with that. I just have to get past my hatred of these buttons!

Also, I get to change trays on my birthday. So I'll probably be in a little pain then too. YAY!

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:06:00 +0000

This is the annual James Family Christmas Letter! Not that I actually sent out a letter. I just sent out a card. It looked like this.

But I figured that I could just recap the year and wish you all a Merry Christmas here. So here goes.

Sarge got a new job. He's working for a computer game company that moved us to San Diego. He loves his job immensely and I'm so happy for him. I'm still unemployed, but have been trying to enjoy life at home and baking (today I'm baking a Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread Loaf!!) and doing other domestic things.

We finally have dental insurance, so I went to the Dentist and had 5 cavities. These were my first 5 cavities. He filled them and recommended Invisalign for my bottom teeth (they are the tiniest bit crowded) and I started last last week. I'll be in trays for the next 7 or 8 months. YAY!

Bella has enjoyed California's dog friendly attitude. There are several shopping malls around us that allow dogs in most (if not all) of the stores. So she frequently joins us on outings. Which is good because in Texas she only got that outing excitement and socialization at the dog park or Petsmart where she was scared by other dogs. This way she gets all the attention from people with minimal pet interaction.

I've joined a hiking group that treks through the state park on the shore just a few miles away from us. Each week we've gone out and taken a different trail and it's been a ton of fun! I've made some good friends that way and we usually end the day with a nice lunch.

If you are friends with me on facebook, you may have noticed that I'm doing a Christmas Challenge this year. I'm taking a picture each day of 'my Christmas." This includes normal stuff like the tree, decorations, etc. But it also includes things that I'm doing this Christmas, like packing or shipping my presents home.

I'm also on Pinterest, but I haven't been adding much (ok, none) new content. I'm mostly just repinning stuff I like from other people.

Love you all! May your Christmas be wonderful and if you celebrate other holidays this year, I hope that are great too!

Refocus

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 03:02:00 +0000

I'm really trying lately to refocus my life. I feel like since we moved, I've been forced to focus on what I don't have. Not necessarily our material don't haves, but we have been doing that. But my emotional don't haves. Like I don't have friends here. I don't have a job here. I don't have much of a life here. But focusing on what I don't have has caused me so much pain and difficulty that I just can't handle it anymore.

So I'm focusing on what I want to be. I want to be a caring wife and homemaker (regardless of what work I do outside the home). So I'm focusing on keeping this apartment clean, the dishes washed, the laundry managed. I'm focusing on building myself and my skills both in my hobbies and my life skills. I'm focusing on being a good person and altering how I see things and interpret them.

It's not easy. I spend a lot of my time correcting myself. But I'm working on it, and that's whats important. The other stuff will fall in line, eventually. I just have to be patient and trust that God is providing, which he is, consistently. I'd be lying if I said I didn't spend time imaging the things I could do if I had a job (like afford a new car, or a house instead of an apartment, or babies) but I know that God is taking care of us and allowing us quite a few luxuries in the process.

I still struggle, my bedroom looks like crap. But my living room is picked up and there aren't dishes in the sink for days on end. I cook most of the time. I walk nearly every day for at least 2 miles and I'm finding places to meet people and get to know others. So improvements are happening. Just slowly. And that's ok.

Lunch

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:22:00 +0000

Our lunch was wonderful today. Or maybe it was brunch since we ate at 11 and it's Sunday, and it was breakfast food. But either way, it was good.

Sarge and I like bacon and eggs. So I keep them around the house most of the time. We both like eggs over easy, but I tend to eat scrambled at home because I mess up at least one batch. But today, I saw a blog post for bull's eyes. And I thought it was a great idea! So I talked to Sarge and he agreed to try it out. The bread held the egg in place so it was super easy to flip. And they tasted great! I was so happy with the results!

I think in the future, this may be our standard way of eating eggs and bacon! :)

I'm done

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:53:00 +0000

I'm done comparing myself to others. This is my new philosophy. Anytime I'm unhappy, I'm going to ask myself why. And most of the time, it has to do with envy or jealousy. I can't run like so and so. I'm not as skinny as so and so. I can't cook like, I my house isn't clean like, My hair isn't like. And it's stupid. They also have challenges that I do not. I don't want their lives. I'm pretty happy with mine. So I'm done comparing myself.

I need to live my own life and find happiness in my own ways. This morning, I walked 3 miles in under and hour. There were all kinds of people passing me on the trails and I didn't pass a single person. But that's ok. I'm very happy with my 20 minute mile. And actually today it was a 19 minute mile. Which is 1 minute less than my overall average. So that's wonderful!

Who's with me?

Oh yeah, Sarge took my picture last weekend. I'm really happy with it.

Movie Review

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:32:00 +0000

Moneyball

Sarge and I went to the movies tonight. We walked into an empty theater. Just before showtime we were joined by a few others.

Brad Pitt was cute (as always) although a little 'dirty' looking, maybe. Its hard to say, definitely looks older than he did in Interview with a Vampire, but quite frankly, he should.

The movie was good, enjoyable, and made me think some. Baseball fans, like Sarge, will like the superiority they feel when they know the names of people in the movie. That is especially true if they attend with someone, like me, who doesn't classify as a baseball fan.

Moral: Baseball is Romantic, and I believe it now, it is.

I want to cut my hair

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 01:56:00 +0000

I have long hair. I haven't always. But this is definitively the longest my hair has ever been.

Four and a half years ago, I cut it off! I was so hot and summer hadn't started yet. The only way I could survive the heat was if my hair was in a bun (and it never looked right in a bun). So much of it was damaged from perms I had in college (I don't care how 'not in style' perms are, if they weren't so damaging, I'd still do that to my hair). It was bad. So I cut it. I knew that I was getting married (what I thought was about 15 months into the future) but I figured that was enough time to grow it out to a style-able length if I didn't like it short. I had just barely enough hair to donate to Locks of Love. Something close to 10 or 12 inches. This picture was taken in August after I cut it in May.

Well, now it's long again. I'm tired of fixing it. I'm ready for a short hair cut. About a year or two ago, I thought about cutting it, but I hesitated. I didn't want to look chubbier. I had definitely put on some weight and my face showed it. My long hair, however, cuts it down little bit. i'm not SO chubby. So I was afraid to cut it because it seems like every time I do I feel chubbier and that was definitely the case the last time I cut it.

But then, one day I was watching What not to Wear. And this heavier set gal (not really fat, but definitely not what I would classify as skinny. Truthfully, she was pretty close to my size) got this amazing bob style haircut that shaped her face and made her cheeks look skinnier, not chubbier. I was sold.

So I've been looking for bobs that I think would work for me. I'm not a stranger to the bob. I've had several different cuts over the years and I really liked most of them. I just have a habit of growing out my hair.

I was something with side sweeping bangs. Kind of like this

Courtesy of Google Images

or this

Courtesy of Google Images

and I think about the length of those two. I want to donate to Locks of Love again. I want to give all I can. But my guidelines for my haircut are

1. I can't look like a boy. Sarge doesn't look boy cuts on girls (or vise-versa for that matter) and I really don't either. No pixie cuts here.

2. It has to be easy to style. I'm a no mess kinda girl. I like to wash and wear. I don't use my blow dryer much. Most days I'm lucky if I brush my hair. I do when I leave the house, but that's pretty much it, brushing and pulling it up or back in a clip or rubber band.

3. Easy upkeep. I don't want to be back at a stylist every 2 weeks.

I think a bob is right for me. I just have to be ready to do it. The only real part of me that doesn't, is my ego. If I cut my hair now, I can't run into anybody who will care. No one will say "OH! Your HAIR!" And I like that attention. So maybe I'll do it in December just before I go home. That way I can get the attention I'm craving :) Until then, I'll scrutinize.

I'm not perfect, But am I supposed to be?

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 03:55:00 +0000

On NCIS, Gibbs has a series of rules that he lives his life by and that he teaches to his team. One of them is "Never say your sorry." Of course, that rule has been around for a long time. Saying sorry is a sign of weakness in some people's minds.

Not mine.

Saying sorry is a courtesy. That may not be the right word. It's important though. Sorry isn't an admission of guilt or taking responsibility (as a lot of people use it for). It's an expression of empathy. I wouldn't want that to happen to me, so I hate that's its happening to you. I bump into someone in the store. I'm sorry. I'm late meeting a friend for coffee, I'm sorry. Someone tells me their grandmother just died, I'm sorry. It has its place.

Where it doesn't belong is after my creations. I am not perfect. Never have been, never will. Not even close. And that means that I can't create anything without flaws either. My creations are flawed just like I am. And that's ok. So when I post something, I don't need to apologize for its lack of perfection. I created it, its implied.

Remember that when you get ready to share something. Don't apologize for yourself. Its a waste of time and does make you look weak. And you definitely shouldn't weaken yourself before sharing a creation.

At my great aunt's funeral, the preacher talked about her hobbies. She loved to cook, sew, craft. She was a creative person. She made something out of nothing. The preacher said that she was like God. When she baked, she took ingredients and she created something new and something wonderful. The same when she sewed. And it didn't matter that her creations weren't perfect, neither were God's.

Doggy Alarm

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:39:00 +0000

I'm tired and I shouldn't be. Since the gym is closed this week, I haven't been setting an alarm. So I sleep in a little (and it feels so good). But this morning, Bella Mia decided that she was the alarm. She started barking and growling at nothing around 7:45.

I told her she needed a snooze button if she wanted to be the alarm. That we hit the snooze button in the morning. So she curled up in my lap and around 8 started doing it again.

Seriously?!?!

So now, I'm ready to start the day. Which should begin with a bath. And then maybe, just maybe, will include some cleaning of the apartment today. Including putting the table back where it belongs.

Who would have guessed?

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:42:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I started working to change myself for the better. Not great big "I hate myself" changes. But the kind I should be making like washing my face every day, taking my vitamins, exercising, stuff like that.

Well, my apartment complex's fitness center has been great. It's not too far away (like it was in Denton, too close to drive too far to walk unless the weather was perfect). But it's closed this week. And I'm SO off! I want to exercise there. I want my morning bike ride and my strength training. But they are doing maintenance on the pool and fitness center this week and it's closed.

I'm absolutely amazed at how much of my day is wasted now. Just because I'm not getting up early to work out. I feel lazy. It's hard to find motivation for stuff (even laundry) just because I didn't work out. It's impressive to me.

Ok, so I'm going to leave the computer now. I need to fold said laundry, start a new load, and eat my afternoon snack! Farewell!

Relationship Subbing

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:27:00 +0000

This morning I was watching the Today show while I laid in bed. And this story came on about how women are staying single and they are empowered and yada yada yada.

I get the sentiment. It's better to be happy and single than married and miserable. They made some comment about not marrying down, but staying single and successful. I get that. If you can't find a man supportive of what you are doing with your life, you don't need to settle!

But I do think the women they interviewed missed something. She said that she had a close family network and close friends, so she didn't need a husband. But friends and family don't take the place of a spouse. And you shouldn't treat them like they do.

For example, I dearly, dearly love my best friend K. (She just started a blog about her son, you should check it out.) I spent several afternoons with her over the last year. We hung out, supported each other, loved on each other and made sure the other one was eating. I was even in the delivery room when her son was born. But I wouldn't move across the country with her. I did my husband. It hurt to leave my close network of friends and family behind, but I know its worth it. My husband can fulfill those roles while I get my network up and running here. And then if we move again, I'll just rebuild my network again. My network doesn't move with me. But my husband does.

That relationship is so valuable. I'm not saying that you need that relationship to be happy, but don't think that anything can replace it. Sarge doesn't replace my friends and family. He supplements when necessary. And friends and family can't replace him.

So don't fool yourself into thinking that when you give up something that you can sub whatever you want in its place. You can't fit a square peg into a round hole, not that you always need the round hole, but I do.

Discouraged

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 02:40:00 +0000

I have felt so discouraged lately.

I can look forward to something, and then it turns out that it didn't fulfill my needs. It's happening all too often lately.

But I'm also discouraged online. I post in forums or on facebook or on twitter, but everything I post is lost in the background. I can post something that I think is truly interesting or beautiful and it feels ignored entirely. Facebook is even doing it to me (and I mean Facebook, not my friends on facebook). I'm losing it. Slowly.

I need to reach out and be caught by something.

San Diego ClickinWalk

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 17:44:00 +0000

Yesterday was the ClickinMoms ClickinWalk. I had a ton of fun. I met some great women and got to enjoy a few hours of photography with like minded people. It was awesome.

I learned 3 things while working on these pictures today.

1. In the event that my picture contains tons of colors, I end up making it black & white. Not sure why, but that's what happened. Usually I love color, I tend to over saturate. But apparently, when its really like that, I prefer B&W.

2. I've been using my presets in Lightroom wrong. I thought they were too bright, I was doing them too late. I'm going to have to rework my workflow!

3. The print tab in Lightroom is a powerful too for web boards. I just have to figure out why some of them have lines around some pictures.

And I'm back

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:29:00 +0000

I've been in hiding for the last week because my parents were in town. And other than I wanted to spend more time with them than online, they were also staying in our guest which just happens to be our office. So the computer wasn't accessible for long periods of time.

We had a blast this week. We went out a few times, but I also cooked. We went shopping. And I actually drove everywhere we went without Sarge. He continued to work his normal schedule. This week was busy for him, so he couldn't take the day off, but we made due without him just fine. He was available for everything fun he wanted to do (like going to the beach) but he was busy whenever we went shopping (maybe he really wasn't busy, he just didn't want to go). All in all, it was fun. I hope to share some of the pictures I took this week as I edit them.

Today I wanted to share this one my dad took while we were at the beach.

Timelines and my future children

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 23:15:00 +0000

So I finally watched (part of) the video from F8. So now, I know about timelines. I think they are kinda cool. But I started to wonder.

Of course, moments like having children are going to appear on your timeline. That has to be some sort of keyword. Babies are important. And I think I heard that your timeline will build off of your friends' timelines. So I guess that means after I have children, and let them have a Facebook page of their own, that it will come from a majority of my timeline.

It's interesting to think about. All those embarrassing pictures that parents love, those kids will never be able to escape them. They didn't post them. Hmm, maybe this is an interesting punishment.

Meal Planning

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:33:00 +0000

One week from today, my parents are coming to town. Sarge and I have been excited for this since they told us the date. They'll be our first guest in the apartment and in San Diego. I've been working on details since then, like where are they going to sleep, how everything will work, etc. Since the new couch was delivered, things have been seeming more real.

I've given some thought to our menu for the week, but nothing serious. Then this morning, I woke up with the sudden urge to write it all down and start getting a grocery list together. After all, Friday I'll need to go pick up the bulk, if not all, of the groceries. And before then, I'll need the complete menu with recipes.

This morning, after a little struggle on my part to come up with a few last meals, I finished off with 11 lunches and dinner, 3 meals out (In & Out, a Steakhouse, and a Seafood place), and 5 breakfasts. I feel confident in my ability to make all of these meals. I still need to create the recipe cards for most of them and then figure out side dishes, but it feels nice to know that I won't have to pull any meals out of my butt :)

Wants

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:30:00 +0000

There are so many things that I want. I want a massage. I want to fix my teeth. I want a haircut. I want to get Bella's hair cut. But since I don't have a job, I need to balance all my wants (which means say no as often as possible). But I really want a job.

We've been tight on money before. We aren't there now. But we don't have extra now either. We made due for a long time with stuff and we've been cashing on on that waiting lately. The problem with stuff is that it piles up. And you never really stop wanting. Like today, out of no where, I decided that I really wanted permanent makeup (at least eye liner). Granted, I've considered this before. I feel confident that when I get a job, this is something that I'll do, but I have no idea why today it was so urgent to get it done.

So, here's my wish (and prayer): I want a job, a good job where I feel valued and fulfilled and make enough money that I don't feel bad about getting Invisalign for my teeth and eyeliner tattooed on and buying Sarge a Jeep (oh yeah, let's throw in selling his truck too).

I know these are just wants. My needs are cared for. God is providing and taking good care of us. But I still want a job. I want to contribute to my community and my family's fund.

Fashion

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:46:00 +0000

I'm not a high fashion person. I've never been over the moon for designers or name brands. I definitely fall into the 'bargain shopper' category and don't mind last season's wears.

That said, I have been making a conscious effort lately to ensure that I dress better. Not necessarily that my clothes are worth more or that I paid more for them, just that I look like I'm worth more. I'm trying to improve my self-esteem in every way that I feel inadequate and my wardrobe says I feel inadequate.

I don't want to drop a lot of money now (or ever) on clothes. Unless the people are What Not to Wear want to come over and clean out my closet then pay to replace it, I'm all for that. But since I'm bankrolling this project, it's cheap city.

My first step was to clean out my closet. I got rid of a lot of clothes (50 something items). Ok, got rid isn't quite the right phrase. I boxed them in and put them in the spare room with the extra kitchen wares. Since I was quite vicious in my tossing out and I don't really *know* what all I'm going to need here, I decided to hold onto the clothes for a little while, but get them out of my closet. If I think if something that I want to wear, or need something, I'll just get it out of the box.

Now, I'm trying to put outfits together. This is a slow process. Especially since I'm not putting them together for anything in particular (still no job) it's all about what I like.

Today, I signed up for Pinterest. And the thought crossed my mind that I should build some of my fashion thoughts into a board. Except, I apparently hate fall fashions this year. I hit a few boutiques yesterday while Sarge got a haircut. I liked stuff there. But online, those outfits look awful. And I don't enjoy this process enough to comb through all of the items individually (especially when I doubt I'd pay for them anyways).

So here I sit, beaten by the internet. I found a few outfits put together by other people even. Then I couldn't find the items they used. Suck again...beaten...going to cuddle with Bella and give up on this today. This week is about cleaning and finishing up this apartment. New couch arrives on Thursday and I hope to be so proud of my apartment by then that I take pictures of everything and post them here. Let's hope!

Flora

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 03:31:00 +0000

Today I took my new camera out for a little nature walk. Granted, I only walked around my building, but I had enough nature to photograph there. Maybe some day I'll be able to catch a few shots of the bunnies.

KWIM

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:16:00 +0000

There are few things that get under my skin. Certain phrases do it though. Some are rooted in deep childhood insecurities and some are just annoying, especially when misused. KWIM is one of those.

It's an internet acronym which means "Know what I mean" and while that question insinuates an interest in ensuring your audience understands you, it's a mute point since you aren't really waiting on an answer. It just shows insecurity and a lack of understanding yourself.

Don't ask questions that you can't get the answer to.

Now, on to the second things that truly annoys me about this phrase. If you use this in a post that is well developed and otherwise uses proper (or close to) grammar, spelling, and syntax, then I am well aware that you didn't not type your post on a phone. Texting is a great time to use acronyms because you have limited space and typing on phones sucks. Even on an iPhone. However, those long rambling posts with KWIM and other unnecessary acronyms weren't typed on a phone but on a computer, and typing KWIM is being lazy. Not to mention as I stated above, you don't really want the answer to that question, so why type it anyways.

As a disclosure, KWIM is just the most recent acronym to annoy me. When I was student teaching, I spent 15 minutes in class ranting about IDK after grading a quiz. I even imposed a rule after that incident that if students wrote IDK on a quiz or test again, not only would the question be wrong, but I would deduct points. I don't think there is anything wrong with admitting that you aren't sure of an answer or that you don't know, but when there's no downside why not take a guess.

Now I will step down off of my soap box and return to my normal life because I know have that off my chest, until the next time I read it....