Flavor of the Week

I get sick of things very easily. I'm sure that when I was a kid I would play with toys for a few days and then throw them aside and want something else. I still act like this, especially with office supplies. I NEED (ok, I don't really need them, but I feel like I do..) new pens all the time! I have such the pen collection. Anyways, I am feeling this way with my blog background. I think I like it now, at least for tonight. The picture in the header was taken in my uncle's parent's garden in Germany. We spend a fair amount of time at their house and they have the most beautiful garden with a pond in their backyard. I spent so much time taking pictures back there I think they thought I was crazy. I hope we go there sometime this summer so I can take some pictures with my new camera! :)

I haven't been blogging as much as I had planned. Lately I've been in a funk. I'm falling behind in school, I owe money to a few different places (a mysterious bill from my school for $500, I thought loans covered that??), some appointments to go to (Endocrinologist, Psychologist, CT scan for my face), and to top off all of that I have to sleep for 15 hours a day.

I have been feeling sick for a few years. I originally had some not so pretty problems with my stomach. After lots of "searching" up there, the Gastroenterologist told me that he couldn't find anything wrong and diagnosed me Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I felt like crap. I went to see a General Practitioner who tested me for just about everything he could. I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism and very low levels of Vitamin D. I am now taking supplements to level out both of those and I still feel like crap. I need so much sleep (15 hours and I will still be tired) and I have gained so much weight (80+ lbs. in less than 2 years). I had a sleep study done and I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. I now sleep with a CPAP machine every night, which still doesn't make me feel better. I've seen an ENT to figure out why I am snoring (besides gaining weight) and to figure out why it's so hard for me to breath and I now have nose spray to take every night. Next week I have a CT scan on my sinuses to see if there is an underlying problem in there that is causing me some problems. In May I have an appointment with an Endocrinologist to see if he can uncover what is causing all of my problems. On top of all of this, I have anxiety, OCD, and depression (and I can't figure out the right medicine for it, so were in a limbo with that also).

I know I could have it a lot worse, but I just get so frustrated. I have seriously considered dropping out of school because I just don't have the energy to go to class and do my work. I don't do anything anymore. I hardly even leave the house! I'm sorry if I have annoyed you or offended you with any of this but I am at the end of my rope. I'm sick of seeing doctor after doctor and not finding anything out!

If anything I just said rang a bell with you (about some kind of disorder or disease) let me know. Both my doctors and I are frustrated beyond belief. Or if you have any suggestions about what could help, let me know.

Thanks for listening :)

What's that sucking sound I hear?

Oh, it's me. I really really really suck at making cakes, really.

And chocolate frosting?? I'm even worse at making that...

Poor Dan is going to have the worst birthday cake ever.

And all my comments are gone :( Does anyone have any tips on how to get them back?

New!

Yesterday I went crazy! I bought two pairs of shoes and a new CAMERA!



It's a Nikon Coolpix L110. I don't know much about taking pictures, but I really like to do it so hopefully I'll learn more and get better at it.

I wanted a cover for my neck strap (for the camera) but they are pretty expensive online. So I ventured out to the fabric store and bought some fabric.





These are the four that I picked. I thought they were cute. I used a different fabric for each side of the neck strap.

Here's the two different covers next to each other, then flipped over.





This is how they turned out.



I decided to put this one on the strap and I LOVE how it looks.




They were really easy to make and I had a lot of fun doing it. Let me know if you want one, I'll gladly make you one :)

MySpace 2

I did it! I cleaned my room. I feel like when my room is cluttered, so is my life. Now that my room is clean, my life will be too :)



I also hung up a poster that I have been attempting to flatten out for a few weeks now. My aunt gave it to me for my birthday and I lugged it home from Germany in my suitcase (hence the wrinkles).



It says "When we are together, nothing else matters." Obviously the meaning isn't from my aunts heart or anything (because we aren't lovers like that) but I like that artist so I was so excited to get that poster!

I bought some books today to bring on my trip this summer.



There's:
-50 facts you need to know: Europe
-Say You're One of Them
-Sarah's Key
-The Lost Recipe for Happiness
-The Tenth Circle
-The Time Travelers Wife
-The Alchemist
-Good Rabbitkeeping
-Little Knows Facts About Well Known Places~ Paris
-Dear John

So, I've got a lot of reading to do this summer. Sounds good!

MySpace (not the website)

For the past week I have had no idea what to blog about. This is pretty bad, seeing as it's only the second week of having a blog. Anyways, I was trying to think of something pretty interesting to write about and couldn't think of anything.

I finally had a decent idea (it's better than posting nothing). I'm going to show you my room! When I moved back home last year (from school) I decided I would take over my mom's "shabby chic" guest room. She was pretty sad, but I wasn't sleeping in the basement. I wanted to repaint it so it felt more like me, this is what I came up with.



Three walls are this blue color and the smallest wall is a medium grey color that matches the metal of my bed. I decided to decorate with some green (the squares are pieces of cork I painted green, but they look more yellow from the flash. Clearly I don't know how to take pictures) and I liked the look of metal more than wood.



This was a card that Dan gave me last year for Valentines Day. It says "iguana love you forever". The funny thing is that he gave the same one to me the year before (he didn't remember though). I guess it really reminded me of him. I framed it because I thought it was cute :)

So my room looks pretty decent. Okay looking decor for a broke college kid.

I always think it's so weird that everyones house is so clean. I feel like no one lives like that (at least I don't). Want to see the mess I live in? Caution, I could be on the show hoarders. It's bad.



Let's see, a chair from the kitchen, a random nightstand that doesn't even go in my room, clothes, dirty towels (seeing as I use them once and they are "dirty"), textbooks/homework, pens, makeup, lotion, a puzzle, A PUZZLE?? What? I'm not really sure what all is going on in there, but it is quite the mess. Do I make my bed? Umm, no. It's so much work up there by the ceiling to get the sheets and blankets tucked in. I don't remember the last time I made my bed. It is the hardest bed to make, EVER. I can't even get to my desk because there is so much stuff on the floor. How did I even let it get this messy??

So there you go. My messy room. I hope it makes you feel better about your room :) I'm off to clean it!

FAIL

The Shred was discontinued after two days. It just wasn't working for me. I got bored after two days and Jillian really irritated me. I know those are just excuses, but take em or leave em.

I went to a Weight Watchers meeting tonight and signed up. I think keeping track of the points and having a certain amount of points a day will be good for me. I like that it feels tangible and I can lay it out in front of me on a spread sheet. Plus the weigh ins seem like they would keep me on track. It's too early to tell, but hopefully it will work. I'll post my weekly weigh in results here so I'm held accountable here also.

I've changed my name on here and the url because I realized I didn't want people to be able to track me down. I have a facebook for keeping in touch with people I know. I like the feeling that I can say what I want here and no one IRL will know! I've already met some pretty sweet girls in the blog world and I think it's so fun! They have made starting this blog easy and have been very helpful. Thanks guys! :)

Day 2 & Ten Years

I did the shred again. It seemed harder than yesterday but I got through it. I'm sure my brother enjoyed watching me shake my thang while I did it (he was sitting in the living room with me, poor guy). Tomorrow is day 3. That's all I really have to say about that.

I got tagged by Robin over at Lolidots for a blog game. I have to write where I will be in ten years. I have been thinking about what I want in ten years and I honestly have NO idea! So, here goes nothin!

In ten years I will be xx years old. I will be happily married to Dan (for at least four years) with a kid or two but they won't be very old. I will have graduated from college and will be a kindergarten teacher in a bright, colorful, organized classroom. Dan will be making the big bucks in finance so we will be living in a new, big house in a developing, family friendly neighborhood. We will go to church (and enjoy it), the kids will make friends with the other kids there and we will have parties and play dates with other families. I will be physically fit and Dan and I will take our lab for a walk everyday. We will have a cat at home who is inevitably overweight and partially mental (like all of the cats I have ever had), but loved to death. My parents will both be living nearby, but not too close (sorry Mom!) and the grandparents will still be alive. I'll have hobbies like knitting and scrapbooking that will take up a lot of my free time. We will travel to a different place outside of the US every year just to explore the world. I will have excellent writing skills as I had posted on my blog every day for the last ten years (3,650 posts, you better be ready).

That's all I could come up with. I'm not sure how much of it will really happen, but that's for time to tell. Well, I'm off to bed, tomorrow is a study day! Goodnight!

Day 1

It's official, I've been SHREDDED!

Today was the first day. The workout was like The Firm (which I did last year) but shorter. It was hard, but short enough (20 minutes) to get through it. My boobs were everywhere though. I think I'll go look for a new sports bra tomorrow... they're going to hurt more than anything else.

On another note, I've been in a pretty bad mood all day. I'm in a youth studies class and we have a lot of speakers come in and talk to us about problems that the kids today suffer with. Well, a 15 year old girl who has dealt with gang prevention was going to come chat with us next week. She was 15 years old and already advocating for eliminating gang violence in her neighborhood; no doubt this girl was going to go on to bigger and better things. Well, we get to class today and the teacher was pretty quiet (which is not like him). He procedes to tell us that the girl who was going to come talk to us next week was killed by a gang member.

What has this world come to? I don't feel like I live in a bad place (Twin Cities, MN). I ride the city bus to school and feel fairly safe on it. Here is a girl trying to better her community by actively trying to eliminate gangs in her area and she gets shot. And by a gang member no less.

Pardon me, but this world is fucked up.

Goodnight.

Germany

I suppose since yesterday I wrote about Sweden, I should write about my trip to Germany, with pictures of course! I went to Germany to help out with my aunt, uncle, and cousin again but this summer my aunt had a knee surgery, so I was doing a lot more work. I took M to kindergarten (which is preschool in Germany) and other places. My aunt couldn't drive so I was in the drivers seat. It was especially nerve-wracking when I had to drive in big cities, German drivers are crazy. The pictures of the flowers/garden are from my uncle's parent's backyard. It it so pretty back there!

So, there's some of my favorite pictures from Germany. I didn't really get any pictures of any landmarks or touristy (is that a word?) things because when I went I wasn't a tourist. I lived there, went grocery shopping like a German, went to the German doctor (for an ear infection), and took my aunt to German physical therapy. I have been to Germany two other times (once for the same aunts wedding and another time for an exchange during high school) so I have been a tourist there before, so it was pretty cool to live the life.

Well, I'm off to buy the 30 DAY SHRED. I figured for $8.99 I might as well try it, Lord knows I need it! I'll be posting to let you know how that goes...

Sweden

I went to bed so excited last night. My mind was flowing with ideas of what I could write about on here so I grabbed a notebook and jotted everything down. There are so many things I want to write about today and so many pictures I want to post. I couldn't decide what to post; my pictures from Germany or Sweden, or from when I took Sheldon (my bunny) outside today?? Should I tell things about my life?? I just don't know!

So, I think I will tell you about my trip to Sweden (or two trips). The summer of 2007 and 2008 my aunt Nicole and uncle Jochen invited me to Sweden (where they were living) to nanny for them. They have a son named M who was born in late 2006. They lived just a few blocks away from the beach and it was always deserted there! Their neighborhood was full of trees with gravel roads (it looked like a state park) and you couldn't see the neighbors. They lived in a beautiful house with a wonderful backyard to play in all summer! My best friend was in Denmark at the same time that I was in Sweden so we met up in Copenhagen and had a really good time!

A year later, I went back to help out again. M kept growing and we had even more fun that summer. We flew to Stockholm for a weekend and drove to Germany to buy some wine (because the wine is a lot cheaper in Germany, and it tastes better).

I'll do a post soon with photos from Germany this past summer.

New

Hey everyone (anyone??...) I'm new at this, as in this is my first post. I guess this blog is to share my "adventures" but I'm not sure how that will go.

I'll tell a little about myself. I am a 19 year old (20 in April) living in Minnesota. I go to college full time (currently for Psychology, but it could be changing shortly to Education). I plan on graduating in 2012 but if I change my major that might not happen. I went to a different college last year and decided to leave all of my dear friend there for a new school, for new beginnings. I also work with an eight year old boy who has autism- Alex. I have become very interested in psychological disabilities and hope to do something with it later in life. I have a boyfriend named Dan and we have been dating for about four and a half years (since sophomore year of high school)! Seems so crazy that it has been so long, but it's a good thing :) I really enjoy watching LOST, Grey's Anatomy, & Private Practice. For the past three summers I have been a nanny for my Aunt and Uncle in Sweden and Germany, and I recently found out that I am going back to Germany on June 10. I hope to take lots of pictures there and post them, so that should be fun! Otherwise, I'll post pictures from my daily life and from the past (some trip pictures) to bring back the memories.

That's me, in a nutshell. Hopefully as this goes on you will get to know me better, and I hope to make some new friends on here! :)