Last night, I took my first pre-natal vitamin. I'm not pregnant, but I would like to be, hopefully next year, so I took my friend Erin's advice and started taking pre-natal vitamins.
It's a little weird imagining that a baby could be growing inside my sometime next year. However, the probability isn't great considering that I'm 37, soon to be 38. But I'm hopeful and willing to just put it out there. Yes, I would like to have a baby.
I'm a little worried that letting the whole world (all five of you!) know that I've taken a pre-natal vitamin isn't a good idea. What if I don't ever get pregnant and then everyone knows my internal organs are failures? Or worse, just stubborn!
I'm trying not to worry about it or focus on it too much. If it's meant to be, it will be. If not, there's always fostering or adoption.
Fingers crossed!
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Monday, November 05, 2012
BGG.CON may be BBQ.CON
In preparation for getting ready to head out to BGG.CON next week, I made a map of some new potential BBQ places to hit while in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
Here's a map which includes a few places that I definitely want to hit again:
Luckily, BBQ fits right in with the slow-carb diet that may or not be happening while I'm in Dallas on vacation...
View Places to eat for BGG.CON (mostly BBQ) in a larger map
Here's a map which includes a few places that I definitely want to hit again:
- Babe's
- LA Burger (for kimchi/bulgogi smothered French fries!)
- Hard 8
Luckily, BBQ fits right in with the slow-carb diet that may or not be happening while I'm in Dallas on vacation...
View Places to eat for BGG.CON (mostly BBQ) in a larger map
Sunday, November 04, 2012
Non-local trick-or-treaters
This post is a few days late, but here goes. As I was driving home from work on Halloween, I hit awful traffic, so ditched the freeway and took side streets to get home. I cut through the "nice" neighborhood that is only a few blocks away and it was JAM PACKED with kids, people, cars, everything. Normally, it's a pretty low key, quiet, uncrowded neighborhood.
What is the deal with people leaving their own neighborhoods and going to the "nicer" neighborhoods for candy? When we were young, we just went in our neighborhood. We never would've had our parents take us to a more affluent neighborhood for better candy. I guess the thought just never crossed our minds. We wanted to run around in the streets we were already familiar with and with people we already knew, not roam around a strange neighborhood.
Is it Robin Hood trick-or-treating? All I know is that if I lived in one of those homes, I'd be demanding addresses for kids when they came to the door. Not a local resident, no candy for you! Call me a grinch, but it just ain't right. Actually, instead of not giving them anything, I'd give them the lame candy and save the chocolate for the locals. A two-tiered system.
It'd be fine if you were there with people who live in the neighborhood. But they aren't. I was chatting with a woman at work who took her kids to a nicer neighborhood. She said they give out the king size bars instead of the trick-or-treat sized ones. Really? Really lame. Because I'm sure that's what kids need. King-sized chocolate bars. I'm not sure exactly what I hate about this, but it just seems so wrong. Like it's not in the spirit of trick-or-treating, but maybe it's just me.
What is the deal with people leaving their own neighborhoods and going to the "nicer" neighborhoods for candy? When we were young, we just went in our neighborhood. We never would've had our parents take us to a more affluent neighborhood for better candy. I guess the thought just never crossed our minds. We wanted to run around in the streets we were already familiar with and with people we already knew, not roam around a strange neighborhood.
Is it Robin Hood trick-or-treating? All I know is that if I lived in one of those homes, I'd be demanding addresses for kids when they came to the door. Not a local resident, no candy for you! Call me a grinch, but it just ain't right. Actually, instead of not giving them anything, I'd give them the lame candy and save the chocolate for the locals. A two-tiered system.
It'd be fine if you were there with people who live in the neighborhood. But they aren't. I was chatting with a woman at work who took her kids to a nicer neighborhood. She said they give out the king size bars instead of the trick-or-treat sized ones. Really? Really lame. Because I'm sure that's what kids need. King-sized chocolate bars. I'm not sure exactly what I hate about this, but it just seems so wrong. Like it's not in the spirit of trick-or-treating, but maybe it's just me.
SoCal Games Day #51
We held SoCal Games Day #51 at the Little White Chapel in Burbank today from 11 AM - 11 PM. We had a pretty good turnout, about 50+ people there.
A remarkable number right at the opening bell, which is a little unusual, but I think it was because there were two tables of Struggle of Empires happening right at the beginning, so all those guys showed up right on time to learn the game and play. All told, I think the teach took about an hour and then not sure how long each table took, but I think Jonathan's (the organizer) table took about 4-ish hours to play. My favorite part? The same group followed up Struggle of Empires with Hoity Toity, a very lightweight game. I guess they needed a palatte cleanser after a heavier game.
I played: Ticket to Ride Team Asia, Shogun (for the first time in over a year), Escape (the new Queen game), Industrial Waste, Time's Up! and Tichu twice.
Overall, had a great time. Tim and Heather came down from Paso Robles so Shane and Jon came down to have dinner with us. We had *awesome* Lebanese food over at Hayat's Kitchen. They were super-busy, so the service was slow, but that baklava is worth the wait!
One negative: a guy peed on the floor in the men's room and I had to clean it up. Thank goodness Karl TOLD ME about it so it could get cleaned up. He also helped me clean it up, which was very sweet of him. Not sure who did it, but a message will be going on out the games day list tomorrow.
A remarkable number right at the opening bell, which is a little unusual, but I think it was because there were two tables of Struggle of Empires happening right at the beginning, so all those guys showed up right on time to learn the game and play. All told, I think the teach took about an hour and then not sure how long each table took, but I think Jonathan's (the organizer) table took about 4-ish hours to play. My favorite part? The same group followed up Struggle of Empires with Hoity Toity, a very lightweight game. I guess they needed a palatte cleanser after a heavier game.
I played: Ticket to Ride Team Asia, Shogun (for the first time in over a year), Escape (the new Queen game), Industrial Waste, Time's Up! and Tichu twice.
Overall, had a great time. Tim and Heather came down from Paso Robles so Shane and Jon came down to have dinner with us. We had *awesome* Lebanese food over at Hayat's Kitchen. They were super-busy, so the service was slow, but that baklava is worth the wait!
One negative: a guy peed on the floor in the men's room and I had to clean it up. Thank goodness Karl TOLD ME about it so it could get cleaned up. He also helped me clean it up, which was very sweet of him. Not sure who did it, but a message will be going on out the games day list tomorrow.
Friday, November 02, 2012
Slow Carb Diet
I decided to accept Tim Ferriss' challenge to try his Slow-Carb Diet.
I started on Sunday, so it been almost six whole days. I think I've maybe lost of couple pounds. More than that, a pair of pants that I rejected on Sunday as being too tight fit better when I put them on Wednesday. They weren't loose, but they fit better because my love handles are noticeably smaller. So that is happy-making!
I've never tried a low-carb type diet before because I love, love, LOVE carbs. Pasta, rice, bread, corn, potatoes, chocolate, anything really! But every time I've read Tim's blog post on it, I always wondered if it would actually work, so I decided to see if I could get through one day without carbs.
It was tough. I won't lie. It didn't help that I decided to start on a Sunday to see if I could get through a single day without sugar. Especially hard when I was going out that night for trivia at a bar with awesome garlic fries and poppers. But I made it through. Once I made it through that day, I decided to see if I could last a week.
And here we are, six days later. So, even though it hasn't been an official "week" yet, Tim's Slow-Carb Diet advocates having a cheat day and he recommends Saturday, so tomorrow is my cheat day where I can eat anything I want. I'm pretty sure I'll have a potato ball from Porto's and a Drumstick for dessert when I get home. I'll likely throw some chocolate in there at some point too.
The weird thing is, the first two days were tough. Sunday was the worst. Monday was a little better, but still tough. But since Tuesday, it's been fairly smooth sailing. I haven't cheated once and honestly, I haven't even been that tempted.
My meals have been looking something like this:
The nice thing is that I haven't been that hungry either. I haven't been really monitoring my portion sizes as much as I should've. I'll work on that next week. And I'll work on exercising.
One of the ways you can "earn" the chance to eat carbs is if you do a 30 minute resistance training workout. I bought some resistance bands tonight at Target for $10. I figure it's worth a shot.
I probably should've taken some "before" pictures, but I'm mainly just hoping my clothes fit better. I doubt it will be a long-term thing, but I'll just see if I can get through another week and play it by ear.
My ideal goal is to keep it up until Thanksgiving. With BGG.CON coming up, I'm not sure how that will work out, although we'll be in Texas where we eat our weight in meat each November, so it might not be too hard to stick with a low-carb diet. Dallas is the perfect place for that actually.
More than "losing" weight, I just want to feel better about how my clothes are fitting and so far, we're off to a decent start. If I throw in some exercise, I might be able to speed up the process a bit.
I started on Sunday, so it been almost six whole days. I think I've maybe lost of couple pounds. More than that, a pair of pants that I rejected on Sunday as being too tight fit better when I put them on Wednesday. They weren't loose, but they fit better because my love handles are noticeably smaller. So that is happy-making!
I've never tried a low-carb type diet before because I love, love, LOVE carbs. Pasta, rice, bread, corn, potatoes, chocolate, anything really! But every time I've read Tim's blog post on it, I always wondered if it would actually work, so I decided to see if I could get through one day without carbs.
It was tough. I won't lie. It didn't help that I decided to start on a Sunday to see if I could get through a single day without sugar. Especially hard when I was going out that night for trivia at a bar with awesome garlic fries and poppers. But I made it through. Once I made it through that day, I decided to see if I could last a week.
And here we are, six days later. So, even though it hasn't been an official "week" yet, Tim's Slow-Carb Diet advocates having a cheat day and he recommends Saturday, so tomorrow is my cheat day where I can eat anything I want. I'm pretty sure I'll have a potato ball from Porto's and a Drumstick for dessert when I get home. I'll likely throw some chocolate in there at some point too.
The weird thing is, the first two days were tough. Sunday was the worst. Monday was a little better, but still tough. But since Tuesday, it's been fairly smooth sailing. I haven't cheated once and honestly, I haven't even been that tempted.
My meals have been looking something like this:
- Breakfast - Scrambled eggs with sauteed onions and chives and a few strips of bacon
- Lunch - Spinach salad with chicken breast OR Mexican food (beans and meat, no tortillas)
- Dinner - Salad (Cobb), Shrimp Creole (without rice), smashed cauliflower, and more Mexican
- Snacks - Nuts, pickles, cheese, red wine in the evening
The nice thing is that I haven't been that hungry either. I haven't been really monitoring my portion sizes as much as I should've. I'll work on that next week. And I'll work on exercising.
One of the ways you can "earn" the chance to eat carbs is if you do a 30 minute resistance training workout. I bought some resistance bands tonight at Target for $10. I figure it's worth a shot.
I probably should've taken some "before" pictures, but I'm mainly just hoping my clothes fit better. I doubt it will be a long-term thing, but I'll just see if I can get through another week and play it by ear.
My ideal goal is to keep it up until Thanksgiving. With BGG.CON coming up, I'm not sure how that will work out, although we'll be in Texas where we eat our weight in meat each November, so it might not be too hard to stick with a low-carb diet. Dallas is the perfect place for that actually.
More than "losing" weight, I just want to feel better about how my clothes are fitting and so far, we're off to a decent start. If I throw in some exercise, I might be able to speed up the process a bit.
Thursday, November 01, 2012
NaBloPoMo 2012
Every year I toy with the idea of doing NaBloPoMo, which is the challenge to blog every day for the month of November. This year I should have absolutely no excuse because I can blog from my iPhone! So, let's just give it the old college try and see if I can even do it for a week.
Meanwhile, today I got a check-up. I went to have an echocardiogram done, a treadmill stress test and right now, I have a Holter monitor attached to my chest (insert joke here). The technicians who did the first couple tests said that, unofficially, everything looked normal. I hope that trend continues! I have to return tomorrow at 9 AM to have them remove and download all the information they're collecting for the next 16 hours.
Day one complete, but I reserve the right to add more whenever I want.
Meanwhile, today I got a check-up. I went to have an echocardiogram done, a treadmill stress test and right now, I have a Holter monitor attached to my chest (insert joke here). The technicians who did the first couple tests said that, unofficially, everything looked normal. I hope that trend continues! I have to return tomorrow at 9 AM to have them remove and download all the information they're collecting for the next 16 hours.
Day one complete, but I reserve the right to add more whenever I want.
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
My Jeopardy Episode
My Jeopardy! episode was online for a short while. Meanwhile, it was deleted from that site.
Here is a link to my episode.
Here is a link to my episode.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Me and Alex Trebek
Ir's me! With Alex Trebek! Tomorrow is the air date! Set your DVRs! Recap to be posted soon!
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
What is September 28, 2012?
Answer: The date I'll be on Jeopardy! I've been waiting for my promo photo of myself and Alex to show up so I can post it here, but so far, no dice. Instead... Here's my Hometown Howdy!
I apologize for the autostart. I tried to figure out how to just get it to show up and not auto play, but I failed to find it within five minutes so I gave up!
I apologize for the autostart. I tried to figure out how to just get it to show up and not auto play, but I failed to find it within five minutes so I gave up!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Licensed to Wed
Jason and I went down to the LA County Registrar's office to pick-up our wedding license. It's official, we are licensed to wed! The wedding is only five days away and I am finally starting to get excited about it. It all seemed so far away and work has been so all-consuming, it's been tough to muster up energy to focus on just the wedding.
Now, all the big pieces are in place and most of the shopping is done, we're just trying to tie up the details and get the apartment ready to have three guests! It's gonna get cozy!
My oldest friend in the world arrives tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to hanging out with her before my sister and nephew arrive on Thursday night. My mom and her hubby arrive on Friday as does my Main Man of Honor...
And then we get to set-up and prep for the wedding on Saturday!
*However, there will be one detour, which deserves its own post (to be published this week)... Just waiting for a picture to be emailed to me before posting the blog entry...
Now, all the big pieces are in place and most of the shopping is done, we're just trying to tie up the details and get the apartment ready to have three guests! It's gonna get cozy!
My oldest friend in the world arrives tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to hanging out with her before my sister and nephew arrive on Thursday night. My mom and her hubby arrive on Friday as does my Main Man of Honor...
And then we get to set-up and prep for the wedding on Saturday!
*However, there will be one detour, which deserves its own post (to be published this week)... Just waiting for a picture to be emailed to me before posting the blog entry...
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Rituals I miss: Reading the Lyrics Insert
Maybe it's just that I'm getting older, but as Jason & I put together our list of songs that we could potentially use for the wedding before the ceremony, I realize I miss something that I did religiously as a teenager...
Any time I bought a new tape (or CD in high school), I would unwrap it, and then take out the insert/booklet and read all the lyrics from start to finish. I'd then listen to the whole album.
I'm not sure why it is, but it's really hard for me to comprehend lyrics from just listening to a song. I'll listen to a song a hundred times and sometimes have no clue what it's about. The lyrics only make sense when I read them.
I miss reading lyrics!!
That said, I rarely buy CDs anymore. In fact, I hardly buy any music really. But if I did, where's my lyric sheet??
Side note: When I was in high school, my mom gave me my first CD player. It was my big Christmas present that year. Between that and my subscription to Rolling Stone, which I read from cover-to-cover each month (that's another ritual that I miss), I felt in touch with music. I kinda miss that too.
Any time I bought a new tape (or CD in high school), I would unwrap it, and then take out the insert/booklet and read all the lyrics from start to finish. I'd then listen to the whole album.
I'm not sure why it is, but it's really hard for me to comprehend lyrics from just listening to a song. I'll listen to a song a hundred times and sometimes have no clue what it's about. The lyrics only make sense when I read them.
I miss reading lyrics!!
That said, I rarely buy CDs anymore. In fact, I hardly buy any music really. But if I did, where's my lyric sheet??
Side note: When I was in high school, my mom gave me my first CD player. It was my big Christmas present that year. Between that and my subscription to Rolling Stone, which I read from cover-to-cover each month (that's another ritual that I miss), I felt in touch with music. I kinda miss that too.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Seating Chart or Not?
The wedding is quickly approaching and now that the big pieces have fallen into place, it's now time to start focusing on some details. One of which, is whether or not to use a seating chart. Since the wedding isn't very formal, I wasn't sure if we should or not, but I think it will help relieve anxiety for the out-of-towners or the in-towners who don't know many of the other people who will be at the wedding.
So... I went ahead and made one. Since Jason and I are board game lovers, I think we're going to use pie pieces from Trivial Pursuit to indicate which table everyone belongs to. Unless of course, I can think of something better in the next week or so, but that's doubtful.
It's still open to revision, but I'm glad to have yet another to-do list checked off!
So... I went ahead and made one. Since Jason and I are board game lovers, I think we're going to use pie pieces from Trivial Pursuit to indicate which table everyone belongs to. Unless of course, I can think of something better in the next week or so, but that's doubtful.
It's still open to revision, but I'm glad to have yet another to-do list checked off!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Off the Market
As of a couple weeks ago, I'm officially off the market!
It's kind of weird really. At the start of this blog, I was married to my first husband and then over the course of events, got a divorce and then chronicled a lot of what was going on in my life, but especially my dating life! I wonder if that means the next step will be my married life? Seems like the next step...
Either way, my boyfriend, ISTJ, better known now as Jason (yes, the same as my first husband) asked me to be his wife! And as my friend Edward said... I took the "very old-fashioned" route and said, "Yes!"
The Boyfriend becomes the Fiance
On July 8th, we went out for lunch after church and then Jason drove past my exit (for the third time this week! We had a couple "false alarms" earlier in the week, but third time is the charm or so they say). Luckily, this time, it didn't involve Mulholland Drive!
Instead, we drove up to the Getty Center.
It was a beautifully gorgeous day with the perfect LA weather! The kind that makes you never want to leave LA! We went up to the top floor of the South Pavilion, which has an awesome view of the Los Angeles. There, Jason pointed out the various places around LA where we'd gone during our relationship, including Manhattan Beach, where we had a very long, tense walk just a couple months into our relationship, during which I came this close to breaking it off with him, but then didn't. Divine intervention?*
After recounting our various escapades around the city, the trips, the restaurants, the activities, he started with all the mushy stuff about how much he loved me (and many other sweet things that will remain private). He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I didn't have the heart to crack a silly joke. So instead, I said, "Yes!"
Here's a snapshot of the ring... I picked it out a few weeks beforehand, so I knew the proposal was imminent. We decided to go the non-traditional route ring-wise. It also has a matching necklace, but I haven't taken a good picture of that yet, but I love it just as much as the ring.
The Aftermath
Then we sent emails, texts, made calls to all the appropriate people. It was his parents anniversary, so that should make it easy to remember!
The After-Aftermath (aka: the Emotional Aftermath)
It's been weird. But in a really good way. I eloped the first time I got married, so the total time between "engagement" and "marriage" was about four hours. This time, it's gonna be a whopping 2 1/2 months! Since the first part of the engagement was consumed with my Jeopardy! obsession, I can now relax and focus on the wedding itself, which should be relatively simple and easy to plan. Mostly because I'm not a girly girl, so I have no big "wedding" dreams that need to be fulfilled.
Emotionally, I've been feeling closer to him every day. My day in the Jeopardy! studios was super-intense and he was there for me and so supportive in every way, which I completely appreciate. I'm in awe of his support and caring for me. It's a little unreal sometimes. Sad to say, but I haven't had very many people in my life that I feel like I can count on like I can count on him. My goal is to be the same for him. Someone he can depend on to be his friend, confidante and lover. I don't think that will be too difficult.
All of this just serves as a daily confirmation that I made the right choice in saying yes!
An "after" pic with our beloved Los Angeles in the background:
Looking forward to many more adventures!!
* Turns out I had a "love language" I didn't even realize I had! Acts of service! So, we were fighting over the dishes, but really I was feeling unloved because he wasn't helping me. Luckily, we got it ironed out...
It's kind of weird really. At the start of this blog, I was married to my first husband and then over the course of events, got a divorce and then chronicled a lot of what was going on in my life, but especially my dating life! I wonder if that means the next step will be my married life? Seems like the next step...
Either way, my boyfriend, ISTJ, better known now as Jason (yes, the same as my first husband) asked me to be his wife! And as my friend Edward said... I took the "very old-fashioned" route and said, "Yes!"
The Boyfriend becomes the Fiance
On July 8th, we went out for lunch after church and then Jason drove past my exit (for the third time this week! We had a couple "false alarms" earlier in the week, but third time is the charm or so they say). Luckily, this time, it didn't involve Mulholland Drive!
Instead, we drove up to the Getty Center.
It was a beautifully gorgeous day with the perfect LA weather! The kind that makes you never want to leave LA! We went up to the top floor of the South Pavilion, which has an awesome view of the Los Angeles. There, Jason pointed out the various places around LA where we'd gone during our relationship, including Manhattan Beach, where we had a very long, tense walk just a couple months into our relationship, during which I came this close to breaking it off with him, but then didn't. Divine intervention?*
After recounting our various escapades around the city, the trips, the restaurants, the activities, he started with all the mushy stuff about how much he loved me (and many other sweet things that will remain private). He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I didn't have the heart to crack a silly joke. So instead, I said, "Yes!"
Here's a snapshot of the ring... I picked it out a few weeks beforehand, so I knew the proposal was imminent. We decided to go the non-traditional route ring-wise. It also has a matching necklace, but I haven't taken a good picture of that yet, but I love it just as much as the ring.
 |
| The non-traditional engagement ring designed by Symmetry (Greek designer)... 18K white gold, custom made with two raw diamonds, two blue sapphires and one pink sapphire |
The Aftermath
Then we sent emails, texts, made calls to all the appropriate people. It was his parents anniversary, so that should make it easy to remember!
The After-Aftermath (aka: the Emotional Aftermath)
It's been weird. But in a really good way. I eloped the first time I got married, so the total time between "engagement" and "marriage" was about four hours. This time, it's gonna be a whopping 2 1/2 months! Since the first part of the engagement was consumed with my Jeopardy! obsession, I can now relax and focus on the wedding itself, which should be relatively simple and easy to plan. Mostly because I'm not a girly girl, so I have no big "wedding" dreams that need to be fulfilled.
Emotionally, I've been feeling closer to him every day. My day in the Jeopardy! studios was super-intense and he was there for me and so supportive in every way, which I completely appreciate. I'm in awe of his support and caring for me. It's a little unreal sometimes. Sad to say, but I haven't had very many people in my life that I feel like I can count on like I can count on him. My goal is to be the same for him. Someone he can depend on to be his friend, confidante and lover. I don't think that will be too difficult.
All of this just serves as a daily confirmation that I made the right choice in saying yes!
An "after" pic with our beloved Los Angeles in the background:
 |
| Jason & Steph in the South Pavilion of the Getty Center |
Looking forward to many more adventures!!
* Turns out I had a "love language" I didn't even realize I had! Acts of service! So, we were fighting over the dishes, but really I was feeling unloved because he wasn't helping me. Luckily, we got it ironed out...
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Moving to a non-LA way of life
ISTJ (the aforementioned boyfriend) and I have been having lots of talks about our future over the last six months. One of the recurring themes has been whether we will stay in Los Angeles or move elsewhere. The top choices seem to be:
Nashville - His parents will be returning to Nashville in 2014, after completing their 14 year (by that point) mission trip to Venezuela. They'll be moving into their home that they've rented out all these years after a bit of renovation/updating. This, of course, makes Nashville a natural choice.
We'd have grandparents living locally, so that would be a great help and make it a lot easier for the grandparents to see the grandkid(s). Additionally, the cost of living is much more affordable, so it would put less stress on us financially to live a modest lifestyle allowing me to stay home to care for the babes. We'd definitely get more bang for our buck, real-estately speaking... >We would be within driving distance to many of the game conventions I love in the Southeast, which would make attending more affordable, if we could talk the grandparents into babysitting for a weekend every now and then!
The potential downsides: heat, humidity, making new friends (although I do know a handful of people there, but not that well), not being near an ocean, having a small-ish airport, not having 24 hour everything at my beck and call. Although, truth be told, it's fairly rare I need a grocery store at 2 AM, but when I have, I really have.
San Francisco - His job is in tech, so a natural choice. It's beautiful, cosmopolitan, the weather is aaaaawwwesome! How can you not love San Francisco filled with all its water and love? I love this town.
The potential downsides: It's really expensive to live here, which would make the whole staying-at-home-thing a lot tougher. Also, no family and only a few friends, so probably no support if we needed it for kid stuffs.
In a distant third...
Atlanta - My mom lives here, so we'd have family support. He doesn't love the city, but I know TONS of people, so friends would be the easy part. It's less expensive than LA, but more spread out so more danger of getting pigeon-holed in a weird little suburb somewhere and end up not close to anybody.
The potential downsides: heat, humidity, traffic, expensive real estate depending on the area we'd want to live in...
And of course, the
Staying in LA option - The weather is pretty awesome, we already have friends (although, they're not too kid-friendly for the most part), we know what we're in for, my rent is crazy reasonable because I'm the on-site manager. It's only $950/month for a good sized one bedroom in a decent and convenient part of town. We both have jobs, the beach is nearby, we have the world at the tips of our SPG Amex at LAX.
No decisions have been made, or probably WILL be made for at least a year or two, but just putting all this down as a kind of note to myself.
After having spent the last few days in Dunwoody (suburb of Atlanta) with my mom, it's been so nice to go to Costco and not wait in a HUGE line or sit in traffic while just trying to get in a parking lot. The less dense population is kind of nice. I feel like I have room to breathe!
Check out this lack of a line at 4:50 PM on a Tuesday afternoon!
I'll have to update this as more options/thoughts come up as to if or where we'd move, but these are the main options at the moment.
Nashville - His parents will be returning to Nashville in 2014, after completing their 14 year (by that point) mission trip to Venezuela. They'll be moving into their home that they've rented out all these years after a bit of renovation/updating. This, of course, makes Nashville a natural choice.
We'd have grandparents living locally, so that would be a great help and make it a lot easier for the grandparents to see the grandkid(s). Additionally, the cost of living is much more affordable, so it would put less stress on us financially to live a modest lifestyle allowing me to stay home to care for the babes. We'd definitely get more bang for our buck, real-estately speaking... >We would be within driving distance to many of the game conventions I love in the Southeast, which would make attending more affordable, if we could talk the grandparents into babysitting for a weekend every now and then!
The potential downsides: heat, humidity, making new friends (although I do know a handful of people there, but not that well), not being near an ocean, having a small-ish airport, not having 24 hour everything at my beck and call. Although, truth be told, it's fairly rare I need a grocery store at 2 AM, but when I have, I really have.
San Francisco - His job is in tech, so a natural choice. It's beautiful, cosmopolitan, the weather is aaaaawwwesome! How can you not love San Francisco filled with all its water and love? I love this town.
The potential downsides: It's really expensive to live here, which would make the whole staying-at-home-thing a lot tougher. Also, no family and only a few friends, so probably no support if we needed it for kid stuffs.
In a distant third...
Atlanta - My mom lives here, so we'd have family support. He doesn't love the city, but I know TONS of people, so friends would be the easy part. It's less expensive than LA, but more spread out so more danger of getting pigeon-holed in a weird little suburb somewhere and end up not close to anybody.
The potential downsides: heat, humidity, traffic, expensive real estate depending on the area we'd want to live in...
And of course, the
Staying in LA option - The weather is pretty awesome, we already have friends (although, they're not too kid-friendly for the most part), we know what we're in for, my rent is crazy reasonable because I'm the on-site manager. It's only $950/month for a good sized one bedroom in a decent and convenient part of town. We both have jobs, the beach is nearby, we have the world at the tips of our SPG Amex at LAX.
No decisions have been made, or probably WILL be made for at least a year or two, but just putting all this down as a kind of note to myself.
After having spent the last few days in Dunwoody (suburb of Atlanta) with my mom, it's been so nice to go to Costco and not wait in a HUGE line or sit in traffic while just trying to get in a parking lot. The less dense population is kind of nice. I feel like I have room to breathe!
I'll have to update this as more options/thoughts come up as to if or where we'd move, but these are the main options at the moment.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
What's the opposite of June gloom?
I just re-read my resolutions for 2012. So far, I'm doing okay with them, but as always, there is room for improvement. The savings have been hit by the items below...
June has already shaped up to be quite an awesome month. Some of it I can't talk about just yet, the other fun stuff that has happened the last month...
First, I finally got a better phone! An iPhone 4S to be exact. I love it so far, especially for Siri and the camera.
I also paid off my last student loan. I'd been toying with the idea of paying it off for a while because I had the money in my savings account, but I felt more secure with having the money in the bank, in case I needed it. I've been listening to Dave Ramsey lately and a woman, who is in my exact position called in, and he advised her to pay it off and rebuild the savings, so that's my plan. I have a couple bonuses coming in over the next six months, so I will put those towards my savings account.
I also took a bit of my savings out and invested it in my Vanguard account in a balanced mutual fund. I figure that it's got to be better than only earning 0.80% in my online savings account, right? So far, I've lost about $15 over the last few weeks, which isn't too bad given the volatility lately.
I've recently sort of taken up very casual golfing and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. So far, I've only played maybe a half dozen times, and most of those were at par 3 courses, but I love it. I have a really old golf set that I got for free off of Craigslist, so I might splurge when I get my first bonus in July and buy a new set. If nothing else, I really want a newer putter. I'm going golfing before work tomorrow at 6:30 am, so that's why I thought of mentioning this.
I'm also getting ready to head off to Atlanta for a few days of hanging with my mom and then gaming at the Oasis of Fun! I missed the Fun last year with my brother coming to LA to stay for a year, but now I'm ready to get my par-tay (and HANABI!) on!!
Life, in general, is going pretty well right now and I'm really happy. My job is SO busy lately, but not in a terrible way. Things are going really well with ISTJ as well, so I'm thrilled about that. It's been almost two years and I'm so happy with how our relationship has progressed. He's proven to be so awesome in these quiet ways that I just love. I've realized that integrity is underrated. I'm not sure if it's just in LA, or just in the 21st century, but it's something I just adore about him. It's pretty irresistible. As someone recently remarked, "how can you not love someone who is that secure?" My point exactly.
June has already shaped up to be quite an awesome month. Some of it I can't talk about just yet, the other fun stuff that has happened the last month...
First, I finally got a better phone! An iPhone 4S to be exact. I love it so far, especially for Siri and the camera.
I also paid off my last student loan. I'd been toying with the idea of paying it off for a while because I had the money in my savings account, but I felt more secure with having the money in the bank, in case I needed it. I've been listening to Dave Ramsey lately and a woman, who is in my exact position called in, and he advised her to pay it off and rebuild the savings, so that's my plan. I have a couple bonuses coming in over the next six months, so I will put those towards my savings account.
I also took a bit of my savings out and invested it in my Vanguard account in a balanced mutual fund. I figure that it's got to be better than only earning 0.80% in my online savings account, right? So far, I've lost about $15 over the last few weeks, which isn't too bad given the volatility lately.
I've recently sort of taken up very casual golfing and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. So far, I've only played maybe a half dozen times, and most of those were at par 3 courses, but I love it. I have a really old golf set that I got for free off of Craigslist, so I might splurge when I get my first bonus in July and buy a new set. If nothing else, I really want a newer putter. I'm going golfing before work tomorrow at 6:30 am, so that's why I thought of mentioning this.
I'm also getting ready to head off to Atlanta for a few days of hanging with my mom and then gaming at the Oasis of Fun! I missed the Fun last year with my brother coming to LA to stay for a year, but now I'm ready to get my par-tay (and HANABI!) on!!
Life, in general, is going pretty well right now and I'm really happy. My job is SO busy lately, but not in a terrible way. Things are going really well with ISTJ as well, so I'm thrilled about that. It's been almost two years and I'm so happy with how our relationship has progressed. He's proven to be so awesome in these quiet ways that I just love. I've realized that integrity is underrated. I'm not sure if it's just in LA, or just in the 21st century, but it's something I just adore about him. It's pretty irresistible. As someone recently remarked, "how can you not love someone who is that secure?" My point exactly.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
New Movies (and TV) for 2012
I'm planning on just consolidating all my movie watching and completed seasons of TV shows of 2012 here...
- The Apprentice S1 - My boyfriend and I love some reality shows and this is one we can both agree on. We wanted to go back and watch the beginning to see how it all started and see the infamous Omarosa on her original season. We were not disappointed! It definitely had a lot of "first season" qualities (lots of bad audio dubbing, some awkward challenges), but I loved some of the challenges and I liked that it showed the cast out and about, at restaurants, drinking, having fun, not just the competitive stuff. Also, man, I *really* miss Carolyn Kepcher, who is (by far) my favorite person on the show. I love her comments, which I always agree COMPLETELY with. She is not free and easy with the compliments, so if she says something complimentary about someone, she really means it. I miss her. *sigh*
- The Muppets - It's been so long since I saw a Muppet movie/show that I honestly forgot there was going to be singing in it. BUT, it was fun, nonetheless... The songs were funny (and short), so perfect for my ADD. We saw it at the Academy Theater in Pasadena too, where procrastination can be rewarded in the form of a movie ticket for $3/each and delicious popcorn for only $3.25.
- Terriers - OMG. With so much bad TV out there, I don't understand how good TV like this gets BURIED by who the hell ever gave this show the stupid name. From the name, you'd have *no* idea what the show was about - it's a buddy/PI/mystery show. The main actors are great, the plots are interesting without being toooooo detailed and complicated. It's just good. I have no idea what the back-story is on this show and I wonder why it didn't get the fan following that it seems like it should have. I would highly recommend this! It's available on instant streaming Netflix, which may be the best invention ev-er. Well, right after TV on DVD. THEN, instant streaming...
- Morning Glory - Cute movie with Rachel McAdams and Harrison Ford, who is grumpy as can be. I'm not sure why I like the grumpy ones, but I liked him here. I love her smile. And I can't believe I haven't watched a movie since the Muppets, but that may be correct! Just started Mad Men, S1...
- Mad Men - I should've updated this sooner because I'm already on season 3. It's surprising how fast it flies by... This show is so tragic. The overwhelming sadness of pretty much all parties involved is strangely compelling. Everything is beautiful on the outside, but the characters all seem somewhat empty on the inside. After watching this show, who would ever want to get married? The men are drunks who cheat because they're trapped in an existence and life they don't seem to want or value, unless it's threatened to be taken from them. I'm so thankful I wasn't born back then. The chauvinism is mind-blowing! But I love it, even though I don't love all the characters. It's quite addictive. Why I never watched the S1 set that was loaned to me years ago, I'll never know, but thank goodness (again) for Netflix streaming! A lazy woman's friend... Update around 6/1/12: Finished all seasons (1-4) available on Netflix and loving them. Will probably splurge for the iTunes pass for the current season.
- The Hunger Games - Read the book right before seeing the movie and loved the book. The movie was pretty true to the book, so no complaints. It was exactly what I expected.
- Hot Tub Time Machine - Silly comedy filled with lots of 80s and nerdy references (due to the time traveling). I heart John Cusack, so thought this was pretty cute, although the ending was a little lame, but still okay.
- Downton Abbey - SOOOOO good! Love all the historical aspects, even though I have NO idea how accurate they are. We blew through the first season on Netflix in two days. There are only 7 eps, so it's not too hard, but we totally enjoyed these. Love the clothing, the different lifestyles. I want some servants! "What is a week-end?"
- Ted - Went with Mike to the DreamWorks free movie Monday on 7/30/12 and enjoyed the new Seth McFarlane movie, Ted. If you like Family Guy, you'll love Ted. not safe for kids. AT ALL.
- 30 for 30 - Watched the one about how athletes go broke within a year or two of getting out of whatever sport they play. As someone who is into personal finances as a topic, it's fascinating to see how much these guys spent on crap that didn't have value. It was sad too to see how people just tried to take advantage of them every step of the way. From their friends, family, management team, everyone! Women trying to get knocked up because they think it's a payday. Fascinating.
- Moonrise Kingdom - Watched this as a screener with Doreen on 11/8/12. Loved this movie. It's so sweet and touching in its innocence and capturing how everyone wants to be loved. Having that steady love can be an amazing thing.
- To Rome with Love - Also watched this one with Doreen on 11/8/12. It had an amazing cast and full of love mishaps and adventures. I haven't seen hardly any of Woody Allen's older films, so not sure if they all have a fantastical quality about them. I saw Midnight in Paris last year and loved that, partly because I love Paris and the film was gorgeous, so I thought I'd like this. I did. Rome looks beautiful. Loved the acting and the little stories. The worst part for me was Woody Allen himself. I didn't hate him, but I just wanted him to stop talking. Ugh. Why does he put himself in all his movies?
- This is 40 - Funny, but not nearly as funny as Knocked Up. Maybe I'm not old enough to really appreciate this movie?
Friday, January 06, 2012
"Resolutions" for 2012
I'm not making absolute resolutions, mainly because they don't work, but as I make decisions about little adjustments I'd like to tweak in 2012, I'll post them.
The first being, I definitely want to post more on the blog and take more photos. I've been lax about this the last couple years for some reason. As a result, I've missed out tracking lots of exciting stuff that has happened this past year.
I'm also reviving my "floss more often" goal that I started in 2007 to floss more often. I've already flossed twice this year, so I'm already doing well!
I need to exercise more. This is, of course, the most common of all resolutions, but I need to do it. Luckily, ISTJ wants to exercise more too, so that should make it easier to achieve. He's far more disciplined than I am. He flosses every night. Which, on the surface sounds boring, but if you think about the dedication it takes to floss every night, it's kinda hot. I'm also looking forward to being with a man that has all his teeth.
I need to rebuild my savings account. After being unemployed for nine months and then having the sales job last year, I've managed to eat through a good chunk of my savings. I would like to rebuild that. I haven't set a firm goal on this though, so that is the next step.
I would like to get back to volunteering more. Whether it's "official" volunteering with a non-profit, or just helping friends with life stuff, like helping them move or just being there when they need company.
I'm looking at my calendar for January and it's fairly free. I only have activities planned for about half the days remaining in January and I'm kinda digging that. It'll be easier to exercise and be rested for work if I'm not overextended.
I'm also toying with the idea of tracking all my game plays again. So far, I'm 100% for 2012!
I'm also thinking about tracking my movies watched in 2012. I enjoyed doing that in 2007. The question is, is that too 2007?
These are the various items I'm pondering and not necessarily "resolutions," but things I'm considering tweaking.
Updates as they progress!
The first being, I definitely want to post more on the blog and take more photos. I've been lax about this the last couple years for some reason. As a result, I've missed out tracking lots of exciting stuff that has happened this past year.
I'm also reviving my "floss more often" goal that I started in 2007 to floss more often. I've already flossed twice this year, so I'm already doing well!
I need to exercise more. This is, of course, the most common of all resolutions, but I need to do it. Luckily, ISTJ wants to exercise more too, so that should make it easier to achieve. He's far more disciplined than I am. He flosses every night. Which, on the surface sounds boring, but if you think about the dedication it takes to floss every night, it's kinda hot. I'm also looking forward to being with a man that has all his teeth.
I need to rebuild my savings account. After being unemployed for nine months and then having the sales job last year, I've managed to eat through a good chunk of my savings. I would like to rebuild that. I haven't set a firm goal on this though, so that is the next step.
I would like to get back to volunteering more. Whether it's "official" volunteering with a non-profit, or just helping friends with life stuff, like helping them move or just being there when they need company.
I'm looking at my calendar for January and it's fairly free. I only have activities planned for about half the days remaining in January and I'm kinda digging that. It'll be easier to exercise and be rested for work if I'm not overextended.
I'm also toying with the idea of tracking all my game plays again. So far, I'm 100% for 2012!
I'm also thinking about tracking my movies watched in 2012. I enjoyed doing that in 2007. The question is, is that too 2007?
These are the various items I'm pondering and not necessarily "resolutions," but things I'm considering tweaking.
Updates as they progress!
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