Life Lately

Things that have been going on lately:

1.  Wedding Planning/Saving
This has been going surprisingly well.  We have managed to save enough to pay most of our vendors and more than half of our venue, which is really good considering we didn't  have much saved last month.  Also, we have started looking into registering at Kohl's and Bed, Bath and Beyond ... sadly, it is stressing me out, I don't know what we want or need.  We have finalized the guest list and have most of the addresses we need which means I will be ordering the Save the Dates soon and hopefully sending them out before Thanksgiving :)

2.  Working/Attempting to Work
My place of employment has decided that we don't need money so it is OK to just not give anyone any hours.  So I have two days this week and have been  unsuccessful at picking up shift because no one wants to give up what little shifts they are getting.  It is getting very frustrating.  That and Josh's work has slowed down a lot, too and he is only getting 48 hours as opposed to 60.

3. School
 School is going really well!  I love every single one of my classes.  All of my classes except for one are in the same classroom.  I also have 5 classes but only 3 teachers, which is great because I only need to get to know the test and grading styles of 3 teachers rather than 5!   I think my favorites right now are my CJ class because the teacher is nuts and I love it and also my Criminology class because we have had some great debates and discussions and the teacher is great.

4. Watching Too Much T.V. and Reading
In attempt to save for our wedding and honeymoon, I have been staying in a lot more.  This is frustrating for me but I have discovered a few new TV shows to try to keep myself entertained.  Season 7 of Army Wives is on Netflicks, so I watched that and I am slowly getting through OTH.  Also, Bones season 9 premiered last Monday so I was all over that!  And this week the final season of HIMYM is on.
I have also been slowly reading Inferno by Dan Brown.  I love Dan Brown, not because he is a good writer (because he is not) but because his stories are always smart and entertaining.  He is a very good storyteller.

5. Blogging
 Also because I am bored, I have been writing a lot more blog posts.  I have like 15 finished in my drafts!  I am really trying to get ahead in on my Travel Tuesday posts and so far it is going well.  I have the rest of my Italy posts done and am working on my France posts :)   I am also updating all of my pages on my menu bar at the top of the blog.  I have already updated a brand new and much shorter "About Me" page.  I am also working on my travel page because the uneven-ness of the photos is really bothering me.

Goals:

My recent goals have been:

1. Get back into working out:
This one has been going fabulously!!   Though I haven't really been to the gym, I did discover that my college has FREE Zumba on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the teacher is much better than the one I've been going to AND on Mondays and Wednesdays there are Pilates and Yoga classes!  Unfortunately, these are at the exact same time so I will go to one on Monday and one on Wednesday.  My sister is also able to come with me to Pilates and Yoga.

2. Finish school with all A's:
Considering that I have only had one quiz in one class, I am not really sure how this one is going.  I have done all of my reading and studying and I have printed all of my notes from blackboard, so hopefully that means that I will do well.
 

3. Save for the wedding:
See #1.

4. Find a Charity or Organization to Donate to:
I want to find a cause that I really love and donate $10 per paycheck.  I would love to do more, but unless I want to go without eating, this will have to do, for now.  Right now I am looking into local Zoo's (Baltimore and DC) and also National Geographics Animal Conservation.  I am also thinking of maybe finding a few and donating to a different charity each week.  I want to donate for the following causes: Diabetes Research (JDRF), Autism Research, Wildlife Conservation, Fighting Human Trafficking, and Education.  If you know any worthy charities fitting into any of these categories, please let me know :)

 
And that is what has been going on in my life for the last month. 

Photo's Only #1

Photos Through the Years

The Day My Life Changed

 *I am doing this one day early because I liked this better than Monday's topic and tomorrow is Travel Tuesday, which I just don't skip :)*

My life changed forever on July 11, 2009.  

The day started out pretty sad for me as I was leaving JMU behind.  It was already an emotional day. My family came to move all of my stuff out of my apartment.  My sister and I took one last walk around campus.  We then headed home.

I had my phone on silent the whole way home on accident but now I know it was a blessing in disguise.

I pulled up to my parents house and looked at my phone which had several missed calls from my friends.  So, I called my friend  Kristin first because she was the one who had called the most. 

That phone call completely changed my life. 

The first thing she asked me was if I was driving, this is when I knew something was wrong.  At first I couldn't understand what she was saying, she repeated herself three times.  Then she took a deep breath and I heard it "Brent died".   She told me he had been in a motorcycle accident earlier that morning. 

I didn't hear anything after that.  

My friend was gone.  Heather's boyfriend was gone. I had just seen him on the 4th of July.  We had just hung out.  He is only 20 years old. 

That day and the days that followed were a blur.  But after that week, a lot of thoughts settled in.

My friends and I were faced with the loss of a friend who was our own age.  Someone we thought we'd see grow older.  We were faced with our own mortality.   I was faced with the only regret in my life.

On July 5th a local town has fourth of July fireworks and a carnival.  I was supposed to go with Heather, Brent and Brent's cousin, Chelsea.   I ended up calling Heather to tell her that I was just going to head back down to JMU instead of going, that way I would get home at a decent time rather than 1 in the morning.  That is my only regret in my life, that I did not go to the fireworks.

This decision completely changed my life.  Now, if my friends ask me to do something, I say yes and I do it unless I have to work.  It doesn't matter if I really don't feel like going or I'm tired or whatever.  I go, I take full advantage of the time I have with my friends and I spend every minute I can with them, especially now that we all live in different places.

We all miss our friend every day, but I am happy for the time we all got to spend together.

Some Useful Advice: Being "Drug Free"

When I left JMU and couldn't find a job, I decided to go back to school and pursue a degree in Nursing.  That didn't work out because I hated it, I was only doing it because I knew I would get a job with that major. 

However, I am glad I took Anatomy and Physiology before figuring out that nursing wasn't for me because I learned some life changing lessons from my Professor.   He is a medical doctor who is very intelligent and very up-to-speed on medical research.   He told us the truth about a lot of things that we are often lied to about because companies want money.  Some of these things I already knew and some I didn't.

  The one thing he taught us that really stuck out to me was that Americans have no tolerance for pain.   Americans have a problem, we take medicine for EVERYTHING!  

Head hurts? Take Tylenol.  Tummy hurts? Take Pepto.  Back Pain? Take Aleve.

This is NOT GOOD!  When we take medicine for something as simple as a headache, we are not letting our bodies fix the problem and are therefore causing our bodies to be weak.  If we take medicine at the first sign of a cold, we are not letting our immune systems work.

Our immune systems are just like any other system in our bodies.  In order to be stronger, it needs to be stressed.   He told us that he had been "drug free" for 6 years (this was 3 years ago).  This really struck a cord with me as I thought back to my senior year of High School when I felt like I was taking Motrin every other day for headaches.  I decided right then and there that I was going to be drug free, too.  And be more careful about what I put in my body. 

I have been drug free for the past 3 years and I have never felt better.  When I get sick, my sickness doesn't last as long as everyone else because my immune system has been stressed over the past 3 years.  For example, Josh got sick on new years with a cold that lasted almost 3 weeks.  I caught this cold about a week into his and I was only sick for about 3 or 4 days and it never got as bad as Josh's.

Now, instead of popping a pill when I get a headache, I take a nap.  Usually when I wake up, I feel fine.  If I can't take a nap because I am at work, I drink a lot of water and suck it up until I get off.   If my back hurts, I try to stretch it out, usually that works.  

Now, I am not saying that all drugs are bad.  If I were to get an infection, I would certainly take an antibiotic because infections are a whole different breed.   Also, if I were to ever have a headache or stomach ache that lasts for an extended amount of time, I would obviously seek medical attention.  However, we really need to look at what we are putting into our bodies and be aware of the effects. We need to take a proactive approach to our health care and treatment.

At work, my coworkers know that I don't take any medications and a good bit of them just don't get why.  So, I was really excited when this news story came on the TV.  It is about how Tylenol is actually one of the leading causes of liver failure due to the ingredient acetaminophen.  I was not excited that this has happened to people but because I was able to show my coworkers why it is important to be educated about these types of things. 

I could go on and on about this topic as it is something I feel very strongly about.  So, if you really want to know more about living drug free, please email me because this post is just the tip of the iceberg. 

So my useful advice, next time you have a headache, let your body fix the problem.  You do not have a headache because of lack of medication, you have a headache for another reason and your body will fix itself.