Can I just say that....

I LOOOOOOOOVED Iron Man 3!!!! 

Robert Downey Jr is still HOT and just a great actor!!!

Can't wait to watch it again!

No one is too old to read a Disney book

I purchased the first of the new chapter book series from Disney called "The Never Girls". It tells the tale of four young girls you are accidentally transported to Pixie Hollow. I just got book one over the weekend and I am currently getting ready to start Chapter 3. My co worker and her daughter read the book on a road trip recently and I am happy to report that BOTH mom and daughter are excited to read the second one. YAY!!

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I also took the plunge and decided to buy the first of the Kingdom Keepers series. I haven't started it yet, since I want to finish the above book first, but I am looking forward to this series as well. The first book tells the tale of young adults that get stuck in Walt Disney World after dark and they are being followed by Disney villains. There are currently 6 books in this series that have been published. 

 

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I am excited to read both of these series. This is definitely something that combines two things I enjoy ...reading and Walt Disney World. Once I have completed the books I will report back here with a review. Excited aren't you? I bet!!! 

Disney books.... they aren't just for kids, are they?

I went to the gym ... am I skinnier yet?

I have the worst mind set in that I think that if I do something once I will get the results I desire. Like going to the gym ONE time will make me lose all the weight that I have gained. This is a precarious way of thinking. It's almost like self sabotage. I KNOW that going to the gym or running more than once is necessary to lose weight and I KNOW that I need to practice at things in order to get better at them, but I don't always do it. And why? Who knows. I think that I get so caught up in my desire to be like everyone else and look like everyone else and have it "easy" that I assume by doing something once I am going to get the results I want, when the exact opposite is true. I know I have written here before about how other people make things I want to do look so easy, that I tend to forget that they had to work at it and I am only now seeing the results of their hard work and dedication. 

I miss Medifast. I wish that I could afford it again. Right now it would be like a third car payment and that is something we just can't afford right now. (Maybe after I get my raise with my new position) I remember how great I felt while I was following the diet and how easy it seemed. I know I may be contradicting myself, but I truly thought that I could do it on my own. Apparently I can't. I need guidance and I do better when I have it all laid out for me. Truthfully too, when I was on the Medifast I was taking a different thyroid hormone replacement. It was a more natural one and I truly believe 100% that it was a factor in the way that I lost the weight. But now the doctor is too afraid of the side effects to put me back on it. I have gained 15 of the almost 50 pounds that I lost in the last 2 years. I need to do something and clearly doing it on my own isn't working. I don't eat bad foods, I just think in regards to the food aspect, my problem is portion control. I don't stuff myself, but I don't always stop when I feel adequately full enough. 

I have clothes in my closet that I bought when I lost all the weight that I refuse to get rid of. They are reminders of how good it felt and how good I looked. I would give anything to get back to that place. I know I want to be there and I do try but I struggle with getting motivated and than staying motivated. 

This week I started Couch to 5k. Today would have been day 3 but I didn't go. Lunch wasn't sitting too well after work and I had no one to go with me. I need to not be so reliant on others to help me achieve the goal of being more fit, but it is just easier for me to do things when I have a partner. I don't want that to be an excuse, it's just he way I think it is for me.

But I do vow to this..... 

The Artist's Way

I have been struggling with my blogging as of late and at the suggestion of a friend I purchase The Artist's Way to help me to hopefully get back to blogging, or rather, start blogging, and writing, more religiously. I started it last week and to be honest I haven't kept up with it like I should. The main activity asked by the author is to participate in Morning Pages. 

Morning Pages are to be done first thing in the morning. I mean like you roll over grab your pen and paper and start writing. And frankly sometimes I can't even function or think until I am out of bed. They are three pages of free thinking, no formatted writing. I can definitely say that I haven't had a problem with that. My entries have been all over the place from relationship stuff to work stuff to home stuff. That is the beauty of it, there is no right or wrong way to do the Morning Pages. And the author suggests not writing the Morning pages on a computer. I would have to agree with that as well. There is something about actually writing it out with a pen onto paper that feels more cathartic and more effective then "writing" it on a blog somewhere. 

Although I fear that I haven't been doing it right. The author asks you to identify your creative enemies and frankly I don't have any that I can think of. I don't think that I have encountered anyone in my life that has halted me. If anything I have been surrounded by supportive and constructive people. I am my worst enemy and therefore I fear that I am on the only person standing in my way. 

I hope to get back on track next week. Hopefully this will help open the flood gates and help me be more creative. Fingers crossed!!! 

Our Corner of the World

Things have been shaken up around here. I am getting a promotion of sorts and Firefighter got a new job! 

I am going to be a surgery/ancillary scheduler. (And I haven't even been there one year) Doesn't that sound thrilling? Actually, to me it sounds intimidating a little. I mean, surgery is a big deal and I am going to be scheduling and coordinating with doctors and hospitals and all that jazz! First I am going to start off scheduling injections and nerve conduction tests and eventually I am going to have my own doctors to schedule surgeries for. And you want to know what the most exciting part is?? THE RAISE! I am apparently going to be getting a decent raise. More than my supervisor expected! WOW!!!! And on top of that, today at the staff meeting it was announced that I was the employee of the month for March. That got me $100, a snazzy parking space and an entry for a drawing for a cruise for two at the end of the year. EXCITING!!! I can't wait for the new position to kick in. They are trying to replace me at the check in desk, and let's face it that is going to be a challenge (haha), and once that happens I will be able to make the transition. A few other good tidbits I want to share... I am going to be getting a part time where I can work from home (yay) and I am going to be photographing a wedding in June. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I am grateful that I had the experience from the previous wedding which has given me a bit more confidence. I need to get out there and practice more with my camera. I am debating about whether or not I want to borrow a full frame camera from my wonderfully, awesome friend who is a sports photographer. (wink wink)

So firefighter got a new job! Recently he was put in a position where he felt like he needed to leave the transport company he was working for. Thankfully something else was available for him to walk right into basically. He isn't getting the same number of hours but the pay rate is the same. He is working at a facility with patients that have sustained some sort of brain trauma and they are either rehabbing or they need constant care and coverage. I really wish that things didn't have to change for him. He liked his shift and his partner, and now this new position that he has is so boring and I was afraid of that. Needless to say the job hunt is in full swing for him.This has been a rude awakening. When he was in school he was told jobs would be easy to find and that is so not the case. He has had nothing  but trouble finding somewhere to find gainful and respectful employment. Not that he wasn't working somewhere respectable but it wasn't what he wanted and he wasn't getting paid what he should have been. He is trained to save people's lives and he makes less than I do. What is the matter with that??? UGH! I could go on about how unfair it is but 

So that is what's going on in our little corner of the world. What's new with you???

Baseball is back!!!!

Well.... almost! 

Last weekend to kick it off we attended the Tampa Bay Rays fan fest at Tropicana stadium. I was very excited about attending for the first time. Although I think I was expecting it to be something different than it was I am still glad that we attended. It was super cool to have an opportunity to walk on the field and just walk all over, like we owned the place.

This what the "grass" looks like up close and personal. I think it was last year that they went to astroturf. My brother in law was able to get dirt up from underneath the turf! HA!!!! 

There were lots of things to do there for the younger kids. There was a video game station, a pitching station and a hitting station as well. Some lucky people got to play MLB against David Price. Of course we left before I got to see that happen. DAMMIT!!!

One of the coolest things for me was the clubhouse tour. It was so neat to see where they get ready for games.

All the players and managers have their own chairs and mailboxes too! Maddon's mailbox was overflowing a bit!! Hee hee!!! 

And of course the highlight of my day was seeing this guy..... 

MATT JOYCE!!!! OMG... such a cutie and a good ball player too. Don't worry I don't just appreciate his good looks. 

I am looking forward to going to a handful of spring training games. I remember last year at this time I was able to go and watch a full squad practice. That was AWESOME and I wish I could have done it again this year, but ironically enough it was the same day as fan fest. Didn't understand that at all. 

Who else is glad that baseball is back? Did anyone else attend a fan fest for their respective teams?? Please share!!!! 

One year ago....

One year ago this month I was let go from my job as a legal assistant for a family law attorney. 

It was the BEST thing that could have ever happened to me. That job was draining me. I didn't believe in what we were doing and I didn't care for the way that she was practicing or the way she was treating her associate and myself. She worked from home 90% of the time and didn't always help the clients the way that it seemed she should. She would also make me lie to clients and I was uncomfortable with that as well. All in all, I was disenfranchised with the whole idea of what the law stands for and represents. Its not fair. I do not feel that it provides justice for the victims, at least not for the people that we were representing, people getting divorced. It's all a matter of interpretation, or manipulation, and the lawyers job is to present their idea of what this certain law is saying. Now don't get me wrong the law did work in our favor sometimes, but not always. Such is life though. And it was getting to me. Seeing people come in and tear apart families and 20 year marriages, just got to be so disheartening. I became jaded and well, I am a romantic. Bottom line is that it wasn't the right place for me to be.   

I didn't go back to work right away. I stayed unemployed for about 3 months and it was also one of the best things I could have done for myself. It was a good mental and physical break. I hadn't stopped since dad passed away. And I was in such a negative place with that job that I had fallen into a depression of sorts. So the time off was necessary. While I was unemployed, I wanted to find something to do to make it so that I could work from home. But I don't have a strong enough passion for anything to make a living working from home. So I went back to work. And to be honest I didn't go on a lot of interviews. Only one! 

That's right... 1! 

And I got the job!! 

Now.... I am so happy. 

I love where I work and for the most part, I really like the people I work with. I went from one extreme to another ... leaving the legal field and entering the medical field was like night and day. And now I can't imagine it any other way. I have been there about 9 months and I am going to be getting a new position already. YAY!! And while my previous employer was good to me in some ways, these people are good to me in other ways. They have had an employee appreciation week since I have been there, we all received gift cards at Thanksgiving and Christmas and for Valentine's day we were provided with pizza and other goodies. And now they are offering an employee of the month program where you get $100 and your name is put in a pool to win a cruise for 2 at the end of the year. Plus there is room for growth. Can't say the same about the other place. 

A year can bring a lot of changes, both good and bad, and I have to say that this year has proven to be nothing but good things! What changes have you seen in the past year? Were they good or bad??