Always, Always in a Bad Mood

Man, I am getting frustrated.  Any why is the only time I blog when I'm mad?  I figure I want to tell someone, but nobody would really care how mad I am.  Plus, I don't want everyone to just think that I complain all the time.  However, this blog doesn't support that theory.

Can I just make a list of the things that really irritate me?

First of all, it has always bugged me when people walk around with their Ipod and listen to music nonstop.  Yeah, I understand people exercising and wanting to listen to music.  I mean, I have to do that because I hate running and I feel like it passes the time faster.  But on the campus, around town, at Walmart, I mean, come on!  When I see someone get out of class and immediately put head phones in, I just think, can you really not take a 2 minute walk to your next class without music?  The real reason for my irritation is the girl that is sitting across from me in the hall is blasting her Enya and frankly it annoys me.

Next, I think I have a teacher that hates me.  She tells us things to do or when they're due, but suddenly she changes her mind after the assignment is in.  I really do like this teacher, but I am just getting really frustrated since I feel like I can never do anything right in her class.

Next:  I feel like I never get to see my kid anymore.

Next: I am sick of being sick.  I really think I am a hypochondriac, but the things in my mind are physical.  Some things have evidence of my sickness, but others don't.  For example, I was sick my entire pregnancy and people didn't believe me.  That may have been in my head, but throwing up wasn't fun.  Going back to my mission, I couldn't breath.  The Doc's couldn't find anything.  I'm a hypochondriac.  Then after giving birth, I got an infection (which I blame the hospital).  That wasn't just in my mind.  I had allergies for the first time this year and haven't woken up without a stuffy nose in months.  I got pneumonia.  That was real.  This is lame.  Plus I always hate the type of people that think they're sick all the time.  Now look at me.  I've become one of them!

Okay, so I have all these negative things that I feel are happening just to me, but I don't have a bad life at all.  I think my life is awesome.  I might write about something great in my life next time, but now is just my venting time.

Oh, and one more thing.  So, I have never been very good at exercising.  I have always been the type of person that burned calories by breathing.  That's how great my metabolism was.  Unfortunately, things change after having a child.  Each cookie I eat means +1 pounds for me.  I actually now have the desire to exercise.  For me, it's either exercise or update my wardrobe again.  I'm more motivated towards the exercise.  Ready for my pity party?  I can't because of my pneumonia.

Done complaining.  And my only wish is that the girl sitting across from me right now reads this.

And What Do I Do When I'm Mad?

I have some bad habits. I don't think the list is too long, but it could fill a page, single spaced, size 8 Times New Roman font. That doesn't matter though. I'm sure we'll hit on a lot of those habits throughout my blogging life.

But here's one that we can hit on today: Do you know what I do when I'm mad? Oh, you don't even want to know, but I'll tell you anyway.

Let me back it up with a very vague story so I don't feel like I'm gossiping or talking badly about someone behind his/her back: Someone, whom I have only met once, but contributed to part of my life for a year and four months, did something that just made me mad. I'm over it now (mostly), but let me tell you what I did during my three hours of anger:

When I'm mad, I don't like it when people get to me and I know that any situation can be dropped easily, but I really like to think about how mad I am. And this morning, that's what I did. Thought about how mad I was. I even called my sister in a stalkerish manner (4 times) and she has yet to call me back....

Next, I stare at myself in the mirror and think about how pretty I am. I figured that I'm gorgeous and the person that I'm mad at is ug. For some reason that makes me feel better. (Note: I would do this even if Heidi Klum made me mad)

After that, I bake. Today I already completely deep cleaned my kitchen for baking, baked zucchini bread, and am nearly done with my cranberry gem cookies. I'll tell you how that turns out.

Then finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I called my dad. He told me what I already knew: that I was being silly and should just drop it. I did. I'm over it.

Then I continued baking and wrote a blog post about my experience. (See Amanda, I said blog post and not blog)

I feel better.

Amber, This One's for You!

Confession: I watched Teen Mom, the show that came after 16 and Pregnant. The show follows 4 teen moms, invades their privacy, while giving me entertainment. Well, it's not really that entertaining, but the show makes me cry a little. I don't know if I cry because I feel sorry for the kids with some of the parents that they have to grow up with, or for the single moms that think that the only option that they have is to live off the government and stay home all day.

I feel like I am in a lucky situation. I have a kid; it's hard at times, but considering the joy that comes out of having a baby, it's not hard at all. I don't live by my parents or siblings that want to babysit constantly for free. I go to school too (and for more than just a GED). I don't sit at home all week because having a kid means that I need to stay home all day under house arrest. I have fun.

Ready for the part that bugs me? Here we go:

There is one girl on the show named Amber that is in such a closed world. Nothing that she every does is wrong, the entire show is pretty much just in her house because she thinks she can't go out, and she blames everything on just having to take care of her kid all day because that is a full time job. Now, that's true. Taking care of a kid is a full time job, infants take naps at least once a day so you can do some dishes.

Judging? Yeah, my bad. She actually is trying to work hard, but she has an "I can't do it" attitude.

But what can she do? Live off the government. Oh course! Don't contribute to society, your family, or your own needs, just have someone else do it for you!

Why, you say, do I have such bitter feelings about people living off government checks? Well, I was never really that mad when I made minimum wage at a part time job, but things change with real jobs. We are not rich by any means, but looking at my husbands paycheck and seeing how much gets taken out for unemployed bums that don't even care to look for a job, grrr. Now as for that teen mom living off the governments, all I have to say is, "Amber, this paycheck goes to you".

I shouldn't bag on her because she is actually trying now. Just those people who don't try. I'll admit it: I'll live off government assisted programs when my husband is in grad school. No shame in that. We'll eventually pay it back with the money that they'll take out of the paychecks later on. Government checks are temporary, not indefinite.

Anyway, no shame, no shame in taking advantage now. Just make a goal to not make it a permanent part of your future.

Give Me A Break!

Sometimes I think people where I live are just greedy! Of course, all my blog entries come from things that irritate me, so let me tell you the story behind the facts:

I need two things. Well, one is a need and one is a want. Need: bookshelf. I'm moving and the bookshelf in my current house is nailed to the wall. Want: a play mat for Olivia that has an arch of toys. Now, getting these things bran-spankin-new, bookshelf for $35 and play mat for $16. I thought that the perfect place to get these used items would be at a garage sale. Everyone is moving and getting rid of their stuff. If I got these things for a good price, I would just use them for the rest of the time we're in Idaho, then give them to DI when I'm done.

One Saturday, had 9 different garage sales that I wrote down from Craig's list. I went to all of them and even stopped at a few more on the side of the road. You know what?

WASTE OF TIME!

I may be a little more frustrated because every time I get out of my car, I also have to take the kid out too, a little harder than me just hopping out.

Oh, and here's why it's a waste of time. They had the things that I wanted. There are even things that I wanted that I saw at these garage sales, but didn't dare buy. You know that bookshelf I wanted? I didn't find the exact one I wanted, but I sure couldn't find one for less than $30 bucks. Give me a break. I'll spend the extra 5 bucks for a new one that I can transport in a box.

You know who the really greedy people are? College students with little kids! I'm not going to buy a used play mat for just 2 bucks cheaper than original price. Plus, I bet that play mat has been through all 8 of your kids! I'm sorry, but your kid's vomit on the play mat means that you should knock it down more than 2 bucks. Please.

Now, if I were in CA, things would be different. I bet I could find a gently used bookshelf from Crate and Barrel for 5 bucks. And children's clothing, I bet only used for one kid and it's all-you-can-fit-in-a-bag for $1. Now, that's what I call a garage sale.

Don't even get me started on how much they charge for stuff of the school's bulletin board. Man, everyone here is greedy.

If Only....

I know, it almost sounds like I'm going to share a poem with you. Hate to break it to you; I'm just here to share my opinion/fact.

If only the world thought like me. You know how much easier things would be? For example, here in Idaho (a little slower than most places in America) driving here is such a pain. When I am 300 feet away from a 4-way stop sign intersection and someone else is already there stopped, they always wait for me to stop at my stop sign before proceeding. You know, if they just thought like me, I wouldn't have to wait at my stop sign for them to go through. That goes for pedestrians too.

Now, that didn't sound very eloquent, but if you were in the situation, you would understand how frustrating it is.

Okay, here's another example with pictures to help you understand. There is a huge sale at a store here and everything for the next week is under ten bucks. My sister likes the store, so I called her to look on the website to see if there was anything she wanted me to buy for her.

This is what she picked out:


And this is how I pictured the skirt on a human:

Pretty similar eh?

Her skirt was Ug. No offense to you personally sis, just your style in clothing.

If she could only see it my way, she would know that that skirt would look like a pair of parachute pants that accent the buttocks.

I have so many other examples, but honestly I just read what I already wrote and I almost fell asleep, so I won't bore you with anything else. However, I do want to get you excited on my upcoming fashion blog. My sister wants me to critique a few of her outfits. Just get excited for that!

No Desire? Bah! Yeah Right.

Out of the kindness of my heart, I offered to buy my sister some of these:

Let's take another look:

Her favorite candy. Delish don't you think?

And do you know what she said to that!

"No thanks, I don't even have the desire to eat those."

I couldn't help by roll my eyes in disgust. Who would turn down something like that?

Well, I did know that she and my mom were in a competition to see who could stay off sweets the longest. They invited me into this little game of theirs and even said the winner gets to go on a $50 shopping spree for a new outfit.

Now in my mind I'm thinking, "No sweets until someone breaks? Yeah, I don't think so. I'll be down $50 within the next week."

I lost a ton of weight after pregnancy, mostly because I was sick and didn't want to eat, but the doc told me that I need to eat more, increase my calories. Naturally I thought cookies, ice cream, and candy bars were the perfect way to add some calories to my diet. And then...

BAM! My rear got a little too big. Embarrassing enough, almost too big for my maternity jeans.

My kid has a nanny. And yes, she is a nanny. She and I are good friends and we decided to challenge each other in a no-cookie-or-ding-dong eating challenge. We gave ourselves one week. Whoever eats a cookie during that week has to make the other person a batch of cookies (I know, kinda defeats the purpose). Luckily my nanny ate a ding dong a couple days later and tried to hide it from me. Of course I found out. So we did double or nothing and added an extra week to the bet.

That was two weeks ago.

So, today I walked down the candy aisle because oddly enough it is in the same aisle as the bread. And you know what I said in my head? "No thanks. I don't have the desire."

I even made a Vegetarian Lasagna today.

And now I have to admit to my sister and mother that they were right. Eating more healthy foods feels better.

Just a little update: My mom and sister (more my sister) did end up eating those m&ms. Nearly the entire bag.

What Do Men Think? I Know All the Answers

Story: Last week in my Chinese class, instead of talking about Chinese literature we talked about the Honor Code at BYU-Idaho. Let me just give you my thoughts on it before I expound on what other people said. Follow it; if you don't like it, leave. That's about it.

The argument was about the same old thing that people argue about every time. Why can't I have a beard? What's wrong with wearing shorts? I'm 25 and unmarried. Why do I need a curfew?

I can't grow a beard, my legs are too hairy and white to wear shorts, and I'm married so I don't have a curfew. I can see how this can be frustrating to some people. But get this. You can grow a beard over your break, wear shorts on the weekends, and you get more sleep at night if you are in earlier. What's the big deal? Stop whining about it already. Go to BYU. They let everything slide there.

My teacher came in the next class period and told us a story. He was walking to his car and he saw a girl wearing a tight shirt that said "Bad Kitty" on it with a skull and cross bones. Combine those with jeans and she is technically dressed according to honor code. (However, I don't know if anyone has the audacity to wear that into a church building). In any case, modest fitting capris and a button up shirt is against the dress code. Hmmm....

Now, I am the only female in my Chinese class now. These gentlemen were talking about how girls kinda dress slutty without knowing it. One guy said, "If only girls knew what guys thought, they wouldn't dress that way". But don't worry; I know.

Okay, maybe I don't REALLY know. But I do know a few things. First of all, don't wear a low cut shirt. Guys eyes to a low cut shirt are like flies attracted to light. No matter where the fly is, he will always move to the light even though I'm standing there with my fly swatter. Maybe that was a bad example since I'm horrible with a fly swatter and never kill any bugs. But it's still a dangerous situation.

Don't wear things to tight. Nobody wants to see your skin folds. Now, unless you are anorexic, you have skin folds. Everyone does. And if you're anorexic, nobody wants to see your bones.

Short shorts and belly shirts? Don't make me vomit. College folk are too old for that "Fashion". It's out of style. Get over it.

So, I don't know what guys think and frankly, I NEVER want to know. And trust me, you don't have to dress like my grandma. There are still fashionable ways to look sexy but not a slut. I mean, look at me. Aside from my maternity pants, I am a fashion eye-con!

Okay, I'm An Idiot

So, I recently (by recently I mean the blog I just posted 30 minutes ago) complained about a couple of teachers that didn't allow me to add their class because of a 15 minute overlap. Well, I have a confession to make:

Okay, so there was another class, the same one, open on Tuesday/Thursday so now I can take all the classes that I need.

But, I'm not as big of an idiot as I sound. I could have sworn that class was just added. Maybe the school read my blog about how mad I was and added another class. Yeah, that must be the reason.

I was thinking about deleting the other post so I didn't sound like such a retard, but I figured someone will get a laugh out of my stupidity.

Okay, It's Time to Complain

Really mad right now. Okay, I'm not ridiculously mad. Just really frustrated. You know what really sucks about changing your major more than half-way through college? Signing up for classes. Usually people pick a major before they start college and take their major classes with their general ed. That way they can sign up for their major classes and fill in the gaps with the hundreds of general ed classes available. I chose to do it a different way.

Before I went on a mission, I completed all my general ed classes and took some classes in my Math major. When I came home, I changed my major to Biology and it has been a pain in the butt.

I love biology. But the thing that really is awful about being a biology major at my school is that signing up for classes is a pain in the butt. I could tell you the long story, but it will just make me really mad. Here's the short version:

After hours of trying to figure out my classes, I had the perfect schedule for me to graduate on time. However, two classes overlapped by 15 minutes! You know what that means? That 15 minutes of time has cost me and extra semester in college.

I'm trying not to be bitter towards the two teachers that shot down my proposal of missing 7 1/2 minutes of each of their classes. Big deal. I don't pay attention to the last 10 minutes anyway.

I'm done telling my story, but I'm still mad and rambling and venting helps me calm down and prevents me from swearing.

I went on a jog today. I'm out of shape.

I can't stop thinking about how mad I am. I need to calm down. I guess an extra semester will be fun. I mean, what's wrong with just staying in Rexburg an extra 4 months? I have an extra 4 months to update my "In and Around Rexburg" blog. And paying an extra semester of tuition? Eh. Lots of people go to college for 7 years. Oh, and don't forget the extra semester I get to pay for a nanny. I mean, I love having someone work for me. I'm finally a boss.

Okay, I fell better now.

My First Trip to Goodwill

This may come as a surprise to you, but I'm allergic to Goodwill. No really. I am.

I went on a nice trip to CA where I spent time with my fam. On a routine trip to Costco, I was forced by my sister and sister-in-law to stop by Goodwill. They promised me that we would only be in there for 10 minutes. Little did I know...

Okay, confession: I almost liked it.

So back to me being allergic. I really am. I couldn't stop sneezing, crying, and rashing up.

Confession: I actually bought stuff. By me buying stuff, I mean, I didn't have my wallet on me and my sister bought it and I totally forgot to pay her back. My bad Amanda. I'll get that money to you.

Moral of the story is, Goodwill is actually a good store. Now, in Rexburg, used clothes are not desirable because people don't donate their clothes until their worn thin with holes in them. However, Goodwill in CA? Not bad.

Okay, that story was really boring. Sorry.

What's wrong with me? Had a baby and now I tell boring stories about Goodwill.

Sportin' the Muffin Top

I read someone's blog the other day. She has a small child who is a month older than my little baby. She wrote about how she packed up her maternity jeans and was back in style with her human clothes.

I was super sick a few weeks ago and I lost a ton of weight because I didn't eat. That's why I'm nearly back to my pre-pregnancy weight, so I thought I would give it a shot. You know, try on those pre-pregnancy human jeans.

Bad idea.

I did every trick in the book. I jumped up and down to squeeze into them; I laid on my back with my legs in the air just praying that gravity would pull them down. Nothing worked. In the end, my jeans were barely pulled up past my knees.

Yeah, I got a little discouraged. But then I decided to try on one of my old skirts. You see, with skirts, I don't have to try to squeeze my thunder thighs into two little tubes. I can just give them a little room in a skirt. There is just one problem with wearing my pre-pregnancy skirts: the muffin top.

Tons of women that just gave birth have muffin tops. There are some exceptions like Heidi Klum who did a bikini runway show 4 weeks after giving birth. But let's face it, all that stretched out skin is hard to get rid of overnight.

Just when I was about to go into my deepest of depressions, I was reminded of a Seinfeld episode where Elaine talks about how much she loves muffin tops. Here's the link if you want to watch it.

Everyone loves a muffin top. Now I am ready to flaunt it around! Buyin' myself a bikini and heading to the beach! Boo ya!

There Just Isn't Enough Time in the Day Anymore

Wow has my life gotten packed with tons of stuff! I feel like there is just not enough time in the day to do everything that I want to do. I don't write "To Do" lists because I'm afraid I won't get everything done on my list, then I'll feel even more pathetic than I really am.

Why has life gotten so busy? Some may think it's because I have a new born baby and I'm going back to school with more homework than I've ever had. But you know what? I don't think that's the reason....

I know. It's netflix. Okay, netflix isn't even the problem. I'll tell you what it is. It's Monk. You know, the TV show. I'm addicted. I can't stop watching it.

It's like eating cheeze-its. You can't just have one cheeze-it and call it good. You need at least a handful. That's my problem with Monk. Can't just watch one episode. I have to watch... well, let's not get into numbers.

It's not even one of those shows where all the episodes are connected to each other. You know, where there is a cliff hanger at the end where you need to watch the next episode to find out what happens. Like Veronica Mars, or The Bachelor. I just really like the show and have to watch the next one.

Good news though. I'm halfway done with season seven. Just a few more episodes, then we're on to season 8, then I'll be done. Then I can get my life back.

Sounds pathetic? Yep. It is.

Yes, I Do Know The Smartest Person Alive

It's my brother.

No really; I think he really is the smartest person alive and here are just a few reasons why:

When my brother was in first or second grade, he came home and told my mom that he didn't like his teacher. Why? Because she wouldn't let him play the vocabulary game with the rest of the class because he would answer the question right before everyone else. I guess she didn't want the game to be all about Kevin.

He's the human google. I'm serious. And not just about a few select subjects, but about everything. We needed help the other day setting up our internet. Instead of reading directions, we just called Kevin and he knew how to do it step by step in great detail. See, human google. Investments? Call Kevin. You think you're sick? Call Kevin. What year did production of Captain Crunch start? Call Kevin. He knows it all.

Both my brother and I kinda play the violin. The first song I could play on the violin? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (or the ABC song, you choose). Kevin's first song on the violin? Pachebel's Cannon in D Major. And I needed sheet music for my song...

My sister and I always make fun of my brother and how smart he is. Mostly because we are jealous. When my sister was a young toddler, she swallowed a bolt and was without oxygen for a while. To this day, we think Kevin secretly put it in her mouth so that she would lose major brain cells. Otherwise, she would be smarter than he. Definitely.

Thing People Love To Do, But Are Too Afraid To Admit It

I'm not afraid to admit things that I do that are gross or weird, but love to do. I've come up with a very short list, but I'm sure that YOU will side with me on every point that I hit.

This blog idea all started with one idea. Now, I am going to go into detail that might offend some people. (I know my mother will claim not to know me after this story) Okay, here's the story. I have been taking a lot of baths because that is what the doctor said all women that just gave birth need to do. Sitting, immersed in water, I love to pass a little gas. Now, I don't know where the pleasure comes from whether it's seeing the bubbles, feeling them massage my back as they come up, or just knowing that my bum bum will be totally clean before putting my undies back on, but it's enjoyable.

Now go take a bath. You will love it too.

Then there are other bodily functions that everyone loves. I mean, who doesn't love picking their nose? I even use to eat the little things when I picked them out. Now, using a tissue is high on my list, but I'll admit, I eat one every once and a while.

Popping zits! Another great past time. I even have found joy in popping my husband's zits. Thanks to my last mission companion, Morgan Tolman (currently Foutz), I even enjoy having other people pop my zits.

Then there are the facebook sins that nobody likes to admit. Now, I'm not just talking about facebook stalking. I think every single person with a facebook account is guilty of that. I'm talking about the real stuff nobody wants to admit. For example, looking up ex's. All of them- ex-crushes, ex-boyfriends, ex-best friends. You know, looking them up to see what they are up to to see if you are cooler than they are... Hmm... that sounds a little negative when I write it down. But when I am in the action of looking up an ex-friend to see if my child is cuter than theirs, it doesn't seem so bad.

How about the looking up people on facebook to see if you look better than they do? Again, that sounds so negative. But when I was feeling down on myself about the width of my butt when I was pregnant, I would just look on facebook to see if anyone had a quadruple chin or banana fingers to make me feel better about my appearance.

Wow, I sounds like a horrible person. I think I feel bad about admitting all that. That doesn't mean I'm going to delete what I already wrote. I'm just showing the true side of me. I hope I still have friends after this....

Now, if you have something that you love to do, but have never admitted it to anyone, shoot me a comment. I'm interested in what you have to say. Don't be afraid of sounding like a total witch after typing it. I'm sure it will trigger something horrible that I do to make you sound like less of an evil psychopath.

The Five Websites I Can't Live Without (And Probably Should Be Ashamed)

Every time I open up my computer, there are 5 websites that I am just drawn to. Right when I open up a new google chrome window, I just automatically go to these sites before I go online for what I actually need. I guess I don't go to each one every time, but pretty darn close.

Here, let me share the love in no particular order:

1. foxnews.com: I don't know why it's the Fox News that I love so much, but that's the one I go to first. I just love online news no matter what. I hate watching news on TV because I feel like I have to watch 30 minutes of news when all I want to hear is one or two interesting stories. Therefore, I go online. I'm all about paperless things, so newspaper doesn't even cut it for me.

2. facebook.com: Many more mature people dis facebook. Either I'm immature or... I can't think of an or. Guess immature it is. I find facebook actually a very good tool. That is the way that I keep up with all the people that I taught in Taiwan, it's how I find out about mission reunions, old high school friends, and even school assignments. I love typing a question in my status that I am too lazy to google or need an opinion on and withing minutes, someone is there to share their thoughts. I think it's a great tool. Don't like it when people update their status constantly so that everyone and their dog knows what they're doing. There are some people that become a little too into it spending hours a day. I'll admit, when I was really sick and didn't move off my couch, facebook was up on my screen. But hey, I was sick.

3. coupons.com: I've posted before about how i love I am with coupons. Shall I reiterate? LOVE THEM! Boo ya! And I save more money that you do.

4. hotmail.com: I check my junk e-mail more often than my real one. Want to know why? All the coupon deals I get. There is a lot of baby info sent to me too. Granted, I only read like a quarter of those e-mails, but they're good.

5. blogspot.com: I don't know why I love blogging so much. I guess part of it is because blogging is my friend that I like to talk to while John is at work, or just complaining that I want to do. What I love more than writing blogs is reading them. Love my sister's blog, but she rarely updates it. It irritates me, but she claims her life is too boring to update it more than once a month. There is one blog that I obsessively check even though it shows up on my blog updates when she writes on it. You know who it is? Yeah, that's right: Keltzie Smith. Hands down the best blog that I read. She's HILARIOUS! Shout out to Keltzie. She makes ANYTHING funny. For example, she wrote a blog on marshmallows. Honestly, I thought in my mind after reading the title, mallows? What could be interesting about that? However I read it several times and laughed about each time. Anyway, Keltz, you're the bomb and you need to update your blog daily because you're that good!

That's all. Pretty pathetic eh?

PS I also love youtube clips of The Ellen D show.

9 Months, 9 Months: I'm A Completely Different Person

John and I have known each other for 18 months. That's right, 18 months. I'm not saying that we've been married 18 months, or even dating 18 months, but we've known each other for 18 months. Actually, we pretty much were dating for 18 months because we got together rather quickly after meeting each other. And why not? He has an adorable bald spot and I am just fun to be around. We were sure to get together anyway.

Now, if you haven't done the math already in your head, let me break it down for you. We have known each other for 18 months minus 9 months that I was pregnant equals 9 months not being pregnant. That's right: John has known me for 9 months not being pregnant and 9 months being pregnant. We knew each other 7 months before we got married, and two months later, I go pregnant.

I honestly have to say, I am a completely different person. I noticed this just days after giving birth. As you may have already noticed by many of my complaining blogs, I am not a very good pregnant lady. In fact, most of the time, I just complained and complained about everything being painful or being negative about something. Post pregnancy changed a lot of things. I still have all those hormones, but things have changed and let me tell you what:

I enjoy eating now. I can actually eat. Food has flavor. I'm not grumpy all the time; I don't have to pee every 45 minutes, driving is enjoyable without a big belly in the way, not every single person gets on my nerves; I actually have the desire to cook, the list goes on and on!

Mostly it's my mood that has made the big difference. I don't know how John was so supportive because I would have ignored me with that type of attitude. In fact, here's a story:

We went to the hospital yesterday to go see the lactation specialist. Surprisingly, my friend was there with her baby waiting to see the same lady. Along comes a guy from my ecology class whose wife also just had a baby and they were in the recovery area. He came walking out to get something to eat. He also knew my friend and her husband. I said hi and reminded him that I was the girl in his ecology class that didn't like him. (It's a joke. He would always answer questions first in class for quizzes that we had. I didn't like him because I was jealous he always got the first question) Well, obviously he remembered my dislike for me because there was very little communication between us. I turned to John and said, "I think I made a lot of enemies while I was pregnant". It's true. I did. Many people annoyed me and I was not afraid to let them know.

Maybe I should apologize to the people that I offended. Hmm, but maybe there are too many to count.

Now that John and I have been through the 9 month pregnancy phase, we are starting to count the days that he knows me as a non-pregnant lady. Let's face it, I am a completely different person. And thankfully for John, I am no longer pregnant.

Childbirth: The Pain, The Swearing, and A Beautiful Baby

I gave birth to a small child last week. It was quite the experience. Just for me to remember everything and for you to enjoy gruesome details, I thought that I would write the whole story down. Now, just to warn you, I don't hold back on the nasty details, so if you have a weak stomach, maybe this entry might not be the best blog entry for you to read.

To this day, I swear that the due date they told me was 2 weeks later than the real due date. So as my fake due date was approaching, I was the grumpiest woman alive. All I wanted was for the baby to come out and all I could do was constantly complain about it. On my last appointment with my doc, I asked if I could be induced thinking that he wouldn't let me unless there was a medical reason. He said, sure, pick a date. The next thing I know, we were scheduled to go in the following Tuesday.

Monday was my due date and the most miserable day of my life. Then I had to wait until Tuesday night at 8:30 before I could be induced. I called and texted almost everyone that I knew to complain just so that they would all know how miserable I was. Now, I would like to apologize. I'm sorry. It was a moment of weakness and I will try to never do that again.

Tuesday came and I called the hospital in the morning to check and make sure that the appointment was there and that there was plenty of room for me. They said, there probably will be, but I should call back at 6 to make sure. I was a little on edge after that, but still okay.

Then in the afternoon, I got a text message that said that my dear friend Jessica who was due at the end of the month was now a new mommy. I was so irritated that I still didn't have my child and she had hers. Don't worry, I'm not mad now that I have my kid, but boy, that was the last thing that I wanted to hear.

Six, on the dot, I called again to ask them if there was room for me. You know what they had the audacity to say! NO! They said they would call me when a room was free. I was devastated! I just wanted to go into labor and have the kid in the hallway. That would have satisfied me. Then to top that all off, my mom said, "Maybe Jessica stole your room". Not something that I wanted to hear.

Then at 8:28 I was blogging, on this blog in fact, comparing finding out that there really was no Santa to finding out that I couldn't give birth that night. Total devastation. Then the hospital called and told me to come right in because they were ready for me! Off we went.

When I got there, they hooked me up to everything and the nurse said that my contractions were 3 minutes apart, too close together to give me the induction medicine they were planning on giving me. I most likely would have had to go to the hospital that night anyway. However, at 11:30 they gave me pitocin just to speed things up. Pop in that Ambien sleeping pill, and I was out for the night.

Except for at 2 AM when Law and Order SVU came on.

6 AM and the doc came in to break my water. Lovely experience until 3 minutes later when the contractions started. I didn't cry, but that is when the pain and the swearing came in. I begged for the epidural and an hour later, they stabbed me and I was in heaven. I still felt the contraction in the front on my right side, but it was way better than before so I didn't complain.

The epidural made me really sleepy. I was knocked out until 9 when the doc came in to check me. He said I was fully dilated and it was push time! The nurse got the room ready and by 9:25, I was pushing my heart out.

About 20 minutes into pushing, I noticed that my back started hurting when the contractions came on. I told the nurse and she said that it was just pressure and nothing else. I believed her at the time, but 45 minutes into pushing was a whole different story.

My epidural completely kicked out! I don't know how since there is suposta be a constant stream of some drug into my body. Well, it didn't. I was in so much pain. Even more than when I got the epidural. That was the moment that I swore I would NEVER attempt natural child birth.

I guess the nurse didn't believe me or something. She said that was normal. Well, it was a lie. They called in the anesthesiologist again and she gave me another dose. Ten 10 minutes later she asked if I was still in pain and wanted more medicine. I just nodded because at that time I was hurting so much talking was just not an option. Five minutes after the second round of drugs was administered, I couldn't feel a thing.

It was around 11:30 by then. Nearly an hour of pushing without pain, then an hour with contractions from hell, then my last hour I couldn't feel a single thing. In fact, I had absolutely NO control over my lower body. It reminded me of the movie What Lies Beneath with Harrison Ford when he tries to kill his wife. Luckily, Harrison Ford had no access to my hospital room. I thought that my legs were bent for pushing, but they were super straight. Every time it came time to push, John and the nurse would have to lift up my legs.

Then at 12:15 the doctor came in. By that time, I had already been pushing for 2 hours 45 minutes. I was tired, but the epidural made me so tired that I would sleep between each contraction, so that's how I got my rest.

I had been pushing for so long without any progress that they decided to vacuum the kid out. They only had one concern: the baby had so much hair that they were afraid the vacuum would not stick making pulling the baby out a little harder. They tried anyway.

Turns out they were right. Not only were they right, but they put the vacuum on the baby's head and started to pull. When the vacuum lost suction, it sprayed blood everywhere. John learned an important lesson that day: don't wear nice clothes to the hospital when your wife is giving birth. We still haven't been able to get that stain out.

At 12:31 PM our little baby Olivia arrived. I was so happy, not that it was over, but that I was finally able to hold my little baby. The doctor did all the sewing up, but I couldn't care less. I just couldn't stop looking at my beautiful baby girl.

I asked the doctor if I could take a picture of the placenta and make it my facebook profile picture. He said that I could not only take a picture of it, but I could also take it home if I wanted to. I excitingly said "heck yes". I guess the nurse actually thought I wanted to take it home because she was ready to pack it up for me when she was cleaning the room. As lovely as it would be to keep my placenta, I decided a better place for it was in the trash.

That's my delivery story. A little long, but I think it is more for my benefit than for yours. I really enjoyed reading my friend Mackenzie's delivery story, so maybe someone will find my semi-interesting.

Now the post pregnancy pain: not bad. Sore private parts, uterus pain, and hemorrhoids, but what lady doesn't have those things after giving birth?

Here's the link to our family blog to see pictures. Oh, and please comment. I love getting compliments on my child.

What Would You Do? Helping Us Become Better People

There is a new show that I love to watch. Don't worry, it's on Hulu, so if you are reading this blog, you can watch it yourself. It's called What Would You Do?. John Quinones, a reporter for ABC, sets up different scenarios that we might come across everyday. Then, with hidden cameras, he records the reactions that real people have.

For example, they did a scenario where a little girl was at the park with her nanny, then her nanny went to the bathroom as a stranger came up and asked the little girl to help him look for his dog. The little girl, stranger, and the nanny were all actors. They did that to see how many people would step in for the child's safety.

Another scenario that they did was having a man go to a gas station and ask around for people to give him gas so that he could get home. They change the scenario up by having it be a man with a cheap car, a woman with a cheap car, and a woman with a big expensive, bran new gas guzzler. It's interesting how differently people get treated.

It has really gotten me thinking to what I would do in different situations. I feel like I would stand up for people when I see the first scenario, but then when they change it, I wonder if I would still do the same thing.

For example, a guy and a girl were at a bar. The guy was major, hard core hitting on this girl that was dressed nicely. A lot of people told the guy to back off because the girl wasn't interested. I think I would have done the same thing. Then when the girl dressed more provocatively with a really low cut and short dress, fewer people were willing to help.

I think I would have helped if she was dressed modestly, but dressed like a slut, I don't think I would have helped her at all.

So, I reflect more and more on each situation to see what I would do. The situation of the girl at the park, I would definitely step in and not let her walk off with a strange man. One guy at the park said that no single men go to parks unless they're there for a bad reason. Only men with families go there.

Then the gas situation. I think I would help out if the person had a crappy car, but if they came in a new 2012 sports car, I wouldn't even think about giving up money for gas.

But there was on guy that did help out the woman that asked for gas who was driving the big new SUV and he not only bought her gas, but he helped her put it in. He came to the USA 2 years ago and only makes 300 bucks each week, but he was willing to spend 20 bucks to help this lady out. What a guy. He was willing to help her out, but I would have said no in a heartbeat.

All these situations, I think I would do in a heartbeat, but really if I were put in that situation, would I have done the same thing? It gets me thinking, you know? There are so many different variables. Like, if I woman was being abused by a boyfriend in a park, would I start yelling to get him to stop, or just walk away afraid for my own safety. Calling the police is an obvious thing to do, but would I make a distraction long enough for him to pause or what?

Watch the show. Just think, What would you do?

Everyday is a Dilemma

What is my problem? Someone tell me because I don't even know! I know I'm pretty pathetic, but I don't know if I should be pathetic because this thing stresses me out everyday, or because it is THE thing that stresses me out everyday. Let me give you a little more detail.

Every night before John comes home for work, I start thinking about what I need to cook for dinner. Now, here's the dilemma: I NEVER know what to cook for dinner.

Not only do I just not know what to cook, but it actually stresses me out! Of all the things that anyone has to worry about through the day, what to cook for dinner is my biggest worry.

I never use to have this problem. I don't know if it's an "I'm pregnant" problem or a "newly married" problem. Let's face it; I've been pregnant almost the entire time that I've been married.

I think it's an "I'm pregnant" problem because John never cares what we have to eat. He'll eat anything, so I don't have to worry about cooking something that he isn't going to like.

And it's just me. Let me tell you, my family for sure would starve if it weren't for Kuki's Kookbook. I love almost everything that she has put up. In fact, I can't even think of a time that I have cooked something that she posted that I didn't like.

Then there is my sister who always gives me ideas about what to cook for dinner. However, I turn all of them down. Not because they are too healthy or require effort to make, but because I just can't decide and nothing ever really sounds good to me.

So please, tell me what I should cook for dinner. If I turn your idea down, don't be offended. Just blame it on me being indecisive. However, don't let that discourage you from dropping off suggestions. I need them.

Ellen D- My Inspiration

I always say that Ellen DeGeneres is my favorite lesbian. She's hilarious and if you don't think so, you just haven't watched her show before. I don't do the whole TV thing, but I do youtube some clips of her show.

My very favorite thing that she does on the show are celebrity pranks where she puts an ear piece into a celeb's ear, sends them somewhere, and they have to say everything that Ellen tells them to say. It's hilarious. This one is my favorite: Dennis Quaid<-- it's a link.

But that isn't the point of my post. There is another section that she does that is called "What's Wrong With These Photos Photos". Here's a little sample: Hilarious Photos

I now have a new goal in life: to take a picture that will be worthy of Ellen's "What's wrong with these photos photos" section of her show. In hopes that I did have something, I started going through all my old photos. I started with just photos from Hong Kong because I figured there would be some weird Chinese-English translation that would be worthy of her show. Unfortunately I couldn't find any.

That's okay. Instead, I looked through the pictures that I took from my last trip to Hong Kong (which was about 5,000), and I went through and picked out a few that I just wanted to comment on. Some are funny, but some are just interesting. Most of the time when I read blogs, I just look at the pictures because I think the writing is boring, but then on my own blog I don't put any pictures up. This is the time for me to make up for that.

Sorry if they're really not that exciting to you, but I like the story behind most these pictures.


First of all, who would want to eat this? And second, why was it on my plate? I don't even remember this or if I ate it or not, but it's just terrifying. Lot of people in Hong Kong like it though.

Next:


I guess Hong Kong is getting so overpopulated that they are starting to cut their buildings a little too close to nature. This is a very large tree that my father is standing next to, but all that behind him are the tree's roots. Neat.

Now, these next two pictures, I actually thought about sending to Ellen:


This is my father in the airport carrying my mother's blue flowered bag. I thought that it looked a bit fruity, but making fun of someone's appearance saying that it look a little homosexual didn't seem appropriate to send into The Ellen Show considering she is a homosexual herself.


This one I actually thought would make it on her show. Unfortunately, she already had one just like it.


What does "No Hawking" mean? I could look up the Chinese, but I choose to be confused.


Let's face it, I'm not the best artist in the world. When I was in Kindergarten, my sister drew a frog for me for my homework. It looked good, but not believable that a Kindergarten kid drew it. I flat out lied to my teacher and said that I drew it.

Still feel bad about that.

But at Hong Kong Disney, when I thought I was waiting in line for a ride, I was really in line for a drawing class. I drew the Pooh bear and I am so proud of it. The entire presentation was even in Cantonese, so that makes me extra proud. Had to put it up.

Whenever my family stays in a hotel, we love to jump on the bed. My father and I decided to take some pictures:


Me


My father trying to imitate me. Not as graceful, but he did get more air!

Next,
when we were in Hong Kong Disney, we went on several rides where they took pictures at the end. My father always likes to think of new ways to pose for each of the pictures. We've done the look bored, orange peel face, chatting on the cell phone, you name it, we did it.

In these next two photos, we planned on doing the "I'm terrified of this ride" face. Either my parents didn't know where the camera was, they didn't remember, or they wanted me to look like the fool. Well, I guess the succeeded.


Space Mountain Terror


And then there is the terrifying Winni the Pooh Bear ride.

Lastly, there really is something wrong between these two photos. Try to see if you can guess:



You got it?

Well, let me give you a hint: the guy massaging my father's feet is not wearing a mask, however the guy massaging my feet is! What! What's up with that! I do not have nasty feet and they are definitely not as nasty as my fathers!

I was offended when I came across this picture.

That's all for now. Hopefully someday I will be able to send in a picture to Ellen and she will put it in her show. That would just make my day. In the mean time, I guess I will just have to carry my camera around everywhere and look for the perfect opportunity!

My Dream Jobs

I have two jobs that I consider to be my dream jobs. These aren't jobs that I really want to pursue, but that I more like daydream about.

Since this blog lacks pictures, I thought I would throw some up today. Here's my first dream job:


This might not exactly portray what I dream of doing, but I typed "Radio DJ" into google image and this is what came up.

Good lookin' guy eh?

No, but really. Just imagine how much fun it would be to be a DJ on the radio! I'm not talking about the ones that really care about what songs are being played, but the fun ones that do the morning shows. This has been my experience with morning shows:

I worked in a doctor's office before I got married and I was just alone in my own little office and never communicated with anyone. So what did I do? I did my typing thing and listened to the morning DJs. They would always play games to see who was cheating on whom, discussed celebrity gossip, gave their opinions about everything, and would get the listening people all irritated so they would call in. I just love listening to people argue on the radio and such. I want to be that person. It just sounds exciting.

Here's my other dream job and the more interesting of the two:


I want to be him.

I love watching America's Most Wanted. They have the episodes on Hulu if anyone is interested. My goal is to someday call in and give them a tip that helps them catch a bad guy.

The more and more that I watch America's Most Wanted, the more and more I want John Walsh's job. The only thing that bugs me is that he always called the bad guys "cowards". I mean, they are and everything, but it gets annoying. He needs to look that word up in the thesaurus and learn something else to say.

He just does super cool things all the time like go and look for the bad guys, but he's totally protected. Then he gets to shoot guns with the police men and chat it up with detectives. Most importantly, he gets to be on TV! Love his job, but it's not like I'm going to apply for it when he retires or gets shot down by a drug cartel. Just think it would be interesting to do.

Wonder how much he gets paid.

So, these are my dream jobs. I think they would be super fun, but I like what I do now: sit around all day waiting for this baby to come out. It gives me time to daydream about my dream jobs.

Please Tell Me I'm Not the Only One

I love going to church on Sunday and just sit and listen to the speakers. Occasionally, there is someone that gets up to the pulpit that speaks that I tend to tune out, but for the most part, I really enjoy listening to what people have prepared. That is, until last Sunday...

I babysat two kids during the day while their mother was out of town. I had a lot of fun with them and they are two very outgoing kids. However, during church, they rarely sit with their parents. They mostly sit with other people and play with them, or play with their toys or color and chat with them. For the most part, it looks like these people that sit with the kids enjoy their company during Sacrament meeting. Now, this has me asking the question, "Am I the only one?".

One of the kids came up to sit with me on Sunday. He took out all of his toys and wanted me to play with him. Now, maybe I'm just not good with small children in large meetings, but I felt like he was talking really loudly around me and that everyone was looking at me to quiet the kid down.

So I did the only thing I could think of: I ignored him.

A few minutes later, he packed up all his stuff and went to another bench where other people were sitting and bugged them. They liked it.

But really, am I the only one that doesn't like other kids sitting with me?

And this got me thinking of other things that I don't like that other people seem to embrace.

Foods for example like ketchup on eggs, butter on pancakes, fries dipped in a frosty, or ordering salad as a main dish. Does everyone do that?

Then there are fears like spiders and germs that completely paralyze me. But everyone else in my presence seem okay with killing spiders or not washing their hands after picking their nose.

There are things that I do that people think are weird. For example, I can watch a movie that I really like 2 times/day for a week and still not get bored of it. I also enjoy watching people play video games, but I don't really like to play them myself unless it's Kirby or Donkey Kong on the good ol' Nintendo and Super Nintendo.

I don't drink, but I really like the smell of beer and un-smoked cigarettes. Heavenly smells if you ask me. Then I get confused when people tell me they like the smell of coffee and gasoline. Why? Why do you like those smells? It makes me gag.

Okay, so there is one thing that I use to completely disagree with and never understood why people did it. I use to judge people who watch The Bachelor. I use to think, "am I the only one that doesn't watch it?" Now I have conformed to the general public.

Please comfort me now and not let me think that I am a total freak. And if I am, so what. Don't be judgin'.

Everyday's the Weekend: A Glimps into Retirement

It all started the other night when I turned to John and said, "John, what day is it tomorrow?"

He kindly laughed in my face, said it was Wednesday and sarcastically said, "what, is everyday a weekend for you now?"

Well, yeah. Pretty much.

How do retired people do it? I don't mean every retired person. I mean, the really REALLY retired people that didn't plan for retirement when they were younger, have no money, live off social security, and only go to the grocery story once a week?

John always says that he should retire now so that we can start our retirement traveling. The only problem is that our retirement fund isn't exactly where it needs to be for us to live for the rest of our lives.

Okay, back to my "everyday being a weekend" topic. So, all the days blend together for me. So? At least I remember when I have my doctor appointments.

Question: Do I ever get bored or lonely? Nope. Not really.
I might occasionally, but then I just call my sister on Skype, have a 12 minute conversation with 2 hours of laughing at each other.

So, I've been thinking of ideas of things that I am going to do when I am retired, assuming that I'm independent and don't need a 21-year-old college punk to wipe my butt.

First, I'm going to travel everywhere. Keep in mind, I don't want to be the kind of person that waits to do all of their traveling as an old childless woman. When I was growing up, we traveled everywhere. It was super fun except when we would be driving and my brother and sister would breath on me or complain that I was taking up "the whole back seat". However, when I retire, I want to keep the traveling up.

Second, I am going to do everyone's visiting teaching in the ward. Well, maybe just the visiting teaching for the pregnant ladies that are bums who sit on their couch all day updating their blogs (me). Gotta help relieve their stress somehow.

Third, is a must: I WILL watch all seasons of Threes Company again. What better time to do it than during retirement!

I guess retirement is still a really long long way away for me. I mean, look at my parents. My dad is SUPER old and he's still not retired. I'm sure if he didn't love his job he would look to retire earlier.

The moral of this rambling is, I hope that John hates his job when he's in his late forties/early fifties. Then we can start retirement extra early! Just look at all the things that I already have planned! Retirement is GREAT!

Why Am I So Annoying?

I have about a million pet peeves. I get annoyed easily with things that people do and when I do get annoyed, I always let loose and let people know that they are being a bugga-boo. I was chatting it up (with my sister of course) about things that super bug me, but I realized a lot of things that bug me that other people do, I am guilty of doing it myself but at an even more annoying level.

So, let me share with you some of my flaws. Up until now, you may have thought that I was just a perfect person that could do nothing wrong, but since I always bag on my sister, it's about time that I let loose about some of my bad habits that bug me about other people but I often do myself.

Let's keep it to a minimum shall we? I might be able to go on all day.

1. Sniffing a stuffy nose- when other people sniff their drippy snot, all I can think is, "blow you nose already"! I've had a stuffy nose for the past few days and I never grab a tissue to get rid of all the snot.

2. Asking questions during movies- It's annoying enough when people talk during movies, but it's so annoying when I am watching a movie and someone with me asks questions about the movie: especially when I haven't seen the movie either. However, I think I am the WORST when it comes to talking during movies. Sorry to my dear friends and family who watch movies with me... especially John.

3. Go out in public wearing pjs- Whenever I see someone out in public (especially Walmart) wearing pjs or exercise short, I just think, "did you not have 2 minutes to change into real pants before leaving the house?" Guess not. But guess who wears basketball shorts and a baggy shirt in public? Me. Since I put a floor length coat on when I go outside, I justify that as okay to go out in public. However my 9-month pregnant belly doesn't allow me to zip up my coat, so everyone can see my embarrassing outfit.

4. Chipped nail polish- Just re-polish your nails dude. Finger nail polish doesn't bug me as much as toe nail polish. If you don't have time to polish your toe nails, wear shoes and socks. However, do not look at my feet right now.

5. People that complain about problems to a person who can't fix them- I can't help you if you are ugly or fat, so don't complain to me. Oh, but I am sorry that I complain to you about it.

6. Crybabies- Overly emotional people get on my nerves. Now, I don't want to offend people, but when people cry over "being in love" or something mushy like that, I naturally roll my eyes and tune out. Now, I am just a crybaby now because of pregnancy hormones. It's just a pet peeve that I am currently guilty of doing.

7. Waddling pregnant women- I don't know why the waddling of pregnant women was so annoying before, but it bugged me. My waddle is more like an gorilla limp.

8. People who think they're funny when they're not- take my blog for example: everything I write on here I think is just pure genius comedy, but you know the truth.

I often use to ask the question, "If I were someone else, would I be friends with me?". Hopefully I would be, but after looking at all the things that I do that bug me, maybe I wouldn't be.

Oh, and just for the heads up, I hate the word "random". Big pet peeve of mine that I don't use, but you should know so you don't use it in front of me.

Melinda's Medical Advice: Adult ADD

The other night, my dear sister started typing a lovely message for me on Skype. Now, although my sister is older than I am, with children, already graduated from college, and has more life experiences, she ALWAYS comes to me for intellectual insights and advice. The latest: she is taking advantage of my biology knowledge and wants me to give her a medical diagnosis.

Of course, the first thing I do is go to my most reliable source: wikipedia.com Actually, my sister referred me to an article that she had been reading about Adult Attention Deficit Disorder or ADD. Now, just for her embarrassment, I thought I would break down each of these ADD components to see if she really does have adult ADD:

1. Procrastination: My sister has lived in her current house for something like 3 years now. Recently, she told me that she has cleaned all her windows and was in awe that clean windows allowed for her to see out of them. She has been meaning to clean the windows regularly since moving in, but just three years later did she start cleaning them.

Let's see, procrastination? Check!

2. Indecision: Now, the style guru that I am, who wouldn't want to ask for my fashion advice? But my sister, just can't figure out these outfits on her own. Luckily, modern technology allows her to send picture e-mails or Skype so that I can approve of her outfits and make a decision for her.

So, symptom #2? Check!

3. Avoiding tasks that require sustained attention: While I was spending my time researching and asking questions so I could properly diagnose my sister (w/ or w/o ADD), she kindly said, "oh well, I've lost interest in my diagnosis. what are you guys talking about?" (copied and pasted from Skype)

Short attention span? Check!

I guess that seals the deal! She has Adult ADD.

Okay, so maybe I was a little rough and perhaps exaggerated some of her "symptoms". I really don't think she has ADD, but it's always a blast making fun of my sister's habits.

*Note: If you believe that you suffer from ADD or ADHD, feel free to ask me in the comment section of this blog. I will gladly give you my opinion.

Why Husbands Feel Pregnant Too

I am a really really bad pregnant lady. Some women don't get sick or moody during pregnancy and enjoy every minute of it. On the contrary, I feel like I am on the worse end of the pregnancy symptoms, but I'm not the only one. Here are some symptoms I feel and how my husband feels them too.

1. Constant urination- I urinate about every 30 minutes during the day and at least every two hours during the nighttime. However in the middle of the night I don't flush the toilet because I figured it's liquid, I can't see it because it's dark, and the sound of the flush wakes me up.

I have a nightlight in my hallway, so when I open the door in the middle of the night, it lights up our bedroom. Then when I get back into bed, I always kick John and toss and turn for 5 minutes before I can fall asleep again. Poor guy. I know I wake him up in the night because he either stops snoring or moans a little, but he never remembers in the morning. I guess that symptom doesn't effect him as much.

2. Snoring- I was never one to snore before pregnancy, but now I snore louder than a freight train.

Poor John; the only time I snore is in his ear.

3. Tired ALL the time- I feel so tired all the time and I'm just immobile that I just sit in the house all day. It's not that fun. Sometimes, I can't even have people come over because it just stresses me out, or I will just be too tired or too sick to entertain anyone (remember I always have to be the center of attention).

With me being tired all the time, that means that John doesn't get to go out as often either. I mean, he can if he wants to, but being freezing cold where we live, going out all alone is lonely. Plus, after going out on our fun adventures together, him going alone would just be boring. Then I would cry that I was home alone while he did all the fun stuff. Poor husband. He has to deal with this pregnancy like I do.

4. Don't even get me started on mood swings. When I start getting in a bad mood, I try to exercise or move my body, but then I am just so tired and my lungs are so crowded that walking to the bathroom is more exercise than I even want.

And something I learned when I was younger, when mom is in a bad mood, everyone is in a bad mood.

5. My back constantly hurts. John has to massage it daily or I cry and can't sleep.

My back hurts equals his hands in pain from all that massaging. Then when I found out that massaging helps keep the feet from getting fat and swelling, he had something else to massage.

At least my feet are still cute.

Even through all my complaining, I'm surprise John doesn't complain at all because he certainly has a lot of things that he could complain about. I still have my smashed lungs, feelings of being fat, itchy stomach, laziness, grumpiness, extreme heartburn, soar ribs, occasional inability to walk, constant crying, and often a lopsided stomach.

John, on the other hand, has to clean the bathroom, make his own dinner most nights (grilled cheese or nachos), do the dishes, switch the laundry, take out the trash, constantly fill my glass with water, and listen to me whine all the time.

I'd say, he's got it worse than I do.

The Self Esteem of Melinda

I felt the urge to blog today because I have a friend that updates her blog every day. Every time that I read her blog, I feel like I need to update mine. Of course, I asked my sister what I should blog about. She said that I should write about how I went from a shy little mouse to a bold (over) confident woman. Well, here I go.

I never ever talked to people when I was younger. I distinctly remember always hiding behind my mom when anyone came to talk to me. At home, I was loud. Some would even say annoying, but in public, it was a completely different story.

When I was a month away from my 6th birthday, I remember going to my friend Mackenzie's 6th birthday party. I was really excited and still to this day, I remember sitting in her living room thinking to myself, today, I am going to talk to people. And that's what I did. Not only did I talk, but I talked A LOT. Well, a lot for me.

Little did I know, Mackenzie, the birthday girl, was just as shocked of my talking as I was. Years later, her mother said that that birthday party, Mackenzie ran up to her mother and said, "Mom! She talks!"

I would like to say that that was the day that changed my social life forever, but after that party, I reverted back to my shy ways.

Then I think in Junior High School, it all changed. I don't remember a certain time that I decided I was going to be outgoing or a certain situation that opened my eyes to the world of talking to people, but Jr High was different. I'm not going to lie. Even ask anyone that knew me at the time. I was ANNOYING! Drama was the vocab word of the year and everything in my life centered around drama.

It's similar to most Junior High School students these days. I think walking into a Jr High, most of the kids are loud and annoying just like I was. That's the time to change. A new school, new people, and teachers. I worked at a Jr High for several years after I graduated High School and I could tell which students use to be shy, but were trying to shed that image. Unfortunately those who were born shy (me) turned annoying instead of those who were just naturally outgoing and friendly.

Luckily that changed.

Maybe it didn't change that much. For some reason now, I feel like I have to be the center of attention constantly. Not with new groups of people, but with my friends. It's a natural thing now. I don't try to be. I just always have something to say or an opinion about something and for some reason, I think every cares what I have to say.

It's all about self esteem. I wasn't exactly high on the "hot or not" list when I was younger or a teen. I wouldn't say I had bad self esteem, but it's not like I thought I was "God's gift to men" or anything. When I started looking in the mirror and started quoting Stuart Smalley from Saturday Night Live, I became more outgoing. Just say it with me now:

"I'm good enough; I'm smart enough, and dog-gone-it, people like me." <-- click on it to say it along with Stuart.

So now, I am overly confident and not nearly as shy as I was as a child. And that's my life story. Hopefully my children won't turn out like me, but if they do, I will show them youtube clips of my dear friend, Stuart Smalley.

Valentine's Day

As of right now, I have absolutely no idea what I am going to write, but I just feel like I'm obligated to write about Valentine's Day. I feel like it's important to write about days like John Ritter's brithday, John's Ritter's death, and other important days that fill my calendar, so why not write about the day that people either love or absolutely despise.

Surprisingly, growing up, Valentine's day was one of my favorite holidays. I have no explanation why, but I really liked it. I don't even think I ever dated anyone on Valentine's day until I met my husband. It was just a day where everyone was always happy and most importantly a day where I would get candy from my teachers in grade school.

One tradition that I love is Valentines. It was only good in elementary school when we were forced to give a Valentine to everyone in the class so that nobody would feel left out. Everyone would always get one, but I remember Julia Erickson always got the pretty homemade ones from certain admirers in the classroom. All the girls knew that every boy had a crush on her, so we weren't jealous at all. We were content with what we got.

I tried to research Valentine's Day online, but then I got really bored after reading the first paragraph on Wikipedia. I'm not really sure why we have V-day, but I remember watching the movie Valentine's Day. You know, the movie with all those celebrities and stuff. I hated that movie. I watched the edited version, got mad at myself for wasting almost 2 hours of my life watching it. Then I watch the last ten minutes unedited once and boy, it became scary. Okay, the point is, don't watch that movie.

Though I don't have any strong feelings towards V-day, I am going to make sugar cookies. I got cookie cutters a long time ago and never used them and I have been waiting for the day that I wasn't too lazy to get off my rear and make them. Today must be the day even though I am procrastinating with my blog writing. I don't have any food coloring, so it's not like I'm going to have nice pink and red cookies. Just white, but I just want sugar in cookie form, so it works perfectly for me.

Oh, but can I tell you the one thing that I do hate about Valentine's Day? I hate it when it is referred to as "Single's Awareness Day". It bugs me like crazy. It bugged me even before I was married, so you single people, don't try to pin the negativity on me. When I was single, I thought every dateless Friday night was Single's Awareness Day and that Valentine's day was just a good reason to chill with my female friends at Cold Stone. That's the reality of it.

Well, Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. Make sugar cookies and stuff your face with chocolate. Even better, go to the store tomorrow morning and get all the chocolate that's half off. If you do that, Valentine's day will be even better tomorrow.

How I Became the Richest Woman in Idaho

Okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration.... I may not be THE richest woman of the good ol' pan-shaped state, but I sure have saved a TON of money in the past few months. It's no secret. Even YOU can do it.

Unfortunately, I feel like this topic just totally goes in one ear and out the other for the single folks out there. Also men and lazy people seem not to pay much attention to this topic either. But let me tell you, follow my advice and you will be RICH. The Secret?


Coupons Coupons Coupons;


Sales Sales Sales.

So, it's really just two words repeated multiple times.

My proudest shopping moment was just a few weeks ago when I went to Albertsons because they did have the Sales Sales Sales that I needed. I spent 26 bucks and saved 76 DOLLAS! HOLLA! Okay, I never say that, but it seemed appropriate for the success story.

I have to admit, it does take quite a bit of time to search for these savings. I just bought three expensive things for baby preparation online, but it took me about 4 hours to research everything to make sure I was getting the best quality and price.

Worth it? Well, considering I am unemployed and don't supply any of my family's income, it was definitely worth the time. Heck, I'd call it my full time job. If I can't make money, I'm going to save money.

There are many methods to saving money, but here is a list that helps ME to save money and will most likely help you.

1. Join a few coupons sites. You will get manufacturers' coupons sent to you via e-mail. I only really use one. Here's the link:
http://www.couponmom.com/
I get these coupons e-mailed to me, then I can print off whichever ones I want.
Another coupon thing that I really like is this:
http://www.shopathome.com/ It is something that you have to download to your toolbar and it was a bit of a pain to do that, but it is so worth it. It has a place with a bunch of coupons, but my favorite part is whenever I google something, the toolbar comes up with coupons for whichever site I just googled. For example, I was just looking at amazon.com for baby stuff and in my toolbar there is a link to amazon coupons! It's great.

2. Here's my rule of thumb on coupons and saving money: if you don't already buy the product, don't print or even cut out the coupon.
Don't be tempted with buying things with coupons that you usually don't buy. First of all, you will end up spending more money because you will be buying things that you don't really need or just wanted to try, but weren't completely satisfied. It even saves you money on printing out the coupon or saves you in the long run from carpel tunnel from cutting all those coupons.

3. Go to WalMart. I thought it was white trash for so long, but WalMart is the best. They have everything at great prices in the first place, but they take ANY store's coupons. I got a Target ad with a lot of good deals for $2 or $3 off, but I used them at WalMart with WalMart prices plus the 2 or 3 bucks off. Then that saves you driving around to a bunch of different stores with a bunch of different sales.

4. Use coupons in conjunction with a sale. In all honesty, that's the only real way to make it worth it. If you ever had a bunch of coupons at a store, you might notice that the store brand is cheaper even with the name brand and it's coupon. When using it with a sale, you can even get things that you want for pennies or even for free.

The only exception to this rule is Cheez It. Let's face it, the store brand always tastes gross.

5. I hate junk mail in my e-mail box more than anyone. Fortunately I have a junk e-mail address that I use to sign up for stores to send me e-mails. They have so many promotions through e-mail that you can get tons of stuff for free with samples, free shipping, or wild internet discounts. I end up getting like 50 e-mails a day from a bunch of different stores. If I have no desire to get anything from the store at that time, I just delete the e-mail. Its not that hard, but it is worth the money that I've saved.

Oh, and get free samples while you're at it. It's better to try a sample size than buy something on sale that you've never tried before. Lots of websites mail out free samples. Just check.

6. Get as many ads mailed to you as you can. Then you can see all the sales the stores have. See: You can always look online, but having a paper add is good too. My favorite part about this is that I actually get stuff in the mail now. It makes me feel a little extra special.

7. This isn't for everyone, but if you have the discipline in saving money and set a budget for yourself, get a credit card that gives you points or cash back on your purchases. We got a new credit card with a new bank account 6ish months ago and have already made more than 300 bucks cash back and all because we swipe our credit card. This really doesn't work for everyone, but if you can use a credit card like you spend cash, go for it. If you need suggestions, drop me a line yo.

Oh yeah, and I just wanted to add that I get redbox movies ALL the time time. You know what? I haven't paid for a movie in over 6 months. You know why? I get free promotion codes all the time sent to my phone, or other free code that I find online. Never have to spend money at redbox again.

Wasn't that fun! Talking about coupons makes me so excited! I should total up how much money that I save each month with my smart shopping. I bet I save more money with research than I would if I didn't use coupons and had a part time job.
Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but it always feels good to save money.

Is the Mani-Pedi Always This Way?

Have you ever gotten your nails done? Hands? Toes? Anything? I've gotten those fake french tip nails twice before: once for Senior Ball and again for my friend MacKenzie's wedding. It was a nice bonding experience with my girlfriends, but something was the same each time that we went: the workers were all Vietnamese.

Yesterday for the first time in my life, I got a pedicure. As with the previous two times going into the nail salon, the lovely ladies that were pampering me were Vietnamese. I consider myself pretty good at understanding people with thick Asian accents, but boy was it hard this time. Plus, since I went alone, I didn't have my girlfriends to talk to right next to me.

Watch this youtube video and it will give you a glimpse of what I went through yesterday...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsWrY77o77o

See what I went through?! Plus it's hard to say no to things that they say because they make it sound so good. Then when you see their small children running around the store because they have nowhere else to go, I just feel sorry for them and feel like I have to say yes. Luckily, I still got away with the minimum.

恭喜發財! Happy New Year! I Don't Live in Poverty Anymore!

Today is Chinese New Year and the start of the year of the Rabbit! My child will be a rabbit.

New tradition: Now that my sister and I aren't the richest people in the world and can't fly to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year, we decided that every year on Chinese New Year, we are going to eat Chinese food. In reality, both of us probably make some sort of Chinese food ever week anyway, but that is going to be one day each year that is a Chinese food MUST!

PS I know this sounds silly, especially as a "half-breed" and eating it 3 times per week as a child, but I don't know how to make fried rice. Pathetic eh?

As for the "I don't live in poverty" part of my title, there is a reason behind it. John and I made a mistake while we were gone. To make a long story short and to try to keep me from sounding like an idiot, we had no running water in our house this week. Luckily, we have kind neighbors that let us shower at their house. Today, we went down to Utah again for a business trip and came back tonight, turned on the water in our tub, and 10 minutes later, the water started flowing! We have running water!

Now I can do the dishes (in the bathtub) and possibly shower (in ice-cube temperature water). Life is grand ain't it!

As for the rest of the night, Happy New Year!