A - Z Blog Challenge: N is for . . .

For today's entry in the A - Z Blog Challenge I could have wrote about many things, but I was able to narrow it down to just 1 topic. I have decided to write about night. I am a huge night owl. I stay awake all hours of the night and seem to get the most accomplished when everyone else is sleeping. It seems that at night I am less likely to procrastinate, I'm sure it has a lot to do with the fact everyone else is sleeping and there is nothing on TV. My only major distraction at night is the internet. I waste alot of time on my computer. I enjoy clear night skies, where I can look at the stars. There have been many nights where I lose myself in the starry sky, hour can go by and seem like mere minutes. It's so fascinating looking up into the darkness, there are so many things to spot, stars, shooting stars, constellations, satellites, planets, planes and moons. It sure makes you feel small and make you wonder. My favorite part of camping is all the night activities. We always have a fire, which leads to great conversation and stories. Of course you can't have a fire without roasting marshmallows and making smores. My family is very tech friendly and we often watch movies around the camp fire as well. I often sleep with my bedroom window open, even in the winter. The cool night air is so soothing to me. While camping I love listening to call the night animals and insects. Their songs serenade me. I love watching thunderstorms at night. Since I was a child I would open my blinds/curtains and allow the flashes of lightening light up my room. Again it may be odd but I find the chaos of a storm very soothing. Of course having your window cracked, hearing the rain and thunder and having the lightening flash into your room tends to scare the dogs. Over time the learn not to be scared and will lay on my bed with me. Rusty would stare into the night sky with me and then eventually fall asleep. Oxie, gets scared during big storms and tends to find a save spot, under the bed in the semi or at the edge of the bed. The puppies are unsure what to think about storms. They have only been in 1 at night so far and thought someone was trying to get into the semi. Needless to say we had 3 guard dogs for about an hour and a half before they finally realized they could relax and go back sleep. Needless to say I am a night lover, and I would not change it for the world. 

A - Z Blog Challenge: M is for . . .

Just some of the DVD collection.

Movies - My boyfriend and I enjoy watching movies and over the years that we have been together our movie collection has grown. It started out with VHS' and slowly they've been replaced by DVDs. We are just starting to look for Bluerays. We have well over 300 movies and now some Bluerays added to the list. While most people rate movies on a 5 star system, we rate our movies by how much we are willing 2 pay for them. In the last 5 years I can remember buying 3 movies over $20, they were the Star Wars, the Rocky series on Blueray for my boyfriend and Avatar on Blueray for myself. We buy most of our movies from local pawn shops. We also shop the bargain bins at Wal*mart. We travel with roughly 12 - 15 movies with us, not included my Star Wars. Once we watch the movies on the road we bring them home to be switched out for something new.

Music - I do not silence. I know it weird but I don't. I have an over active imagination when it's quiet. I get paranoid, I swear I can hear everything. It drives me crazy. When I was a kid I'd sleep with my music on, even when I shared a room with my sister I slept with head phones in. Even to this day I have a difficult time falling asleep if there is complete silence. I leave my computer running at night for a little bit of noise. I get earaches if I leave my headphones in now, and leaving the TV or music on drives my boyfriend nuts. Besides at night I love to listen to music during the day and especially while working out. I have CDs, MP3s and also have an FM radio app on my phone. In the truck we also have had XM satellite radio and Sirius satellite radio. I listen all types of music, my different moods and activities choose which genre of music I'll listen to. From high energy dance to native. I listen to a lot of 80's music.

A - Z Blog Challenge: L is for . . .

Today's 'L' posting is about Live, Laugh and Love. I narrowed it down from a much larger list to these three words. It didn't seem fair to further reduce the list when these 3 words go so well with each other.
Live - Live life to the fullest. Life is to short to have regrets. Everyday is a blessing in this fragile world. Treat everyday like its the last. Don't wait until the last minute to accomplish your dreams and aspirations. Don't let fear keep you from trying something new.
Laugh - I think everyone should laugh so hard they cry and laugh so hard their sides hurt. Every life needs some humor it it, weather from funny movies, jokes, a book you have read or even a comic strip. Laugh, giggle, snort, snicker, enjoy yourself. Don't worry about being judged, express yourself. Make someone else laugh. Why be so serious all the time, there is no need to be so stressed.
Love - Love someone or something with all your heart. Don't be afraid of heart break, it restricts your emotions. I would much rather have loved with all my heart and lost it, then to have never experienced love at all. I believe in love at first site and loving unconditionally.

A - Z Blog Challenge: K is for . . .

Kitchener Public Library - I went to the library yesterday for the first time in over a year. I have been meaning to go, but it always ended up getting pushed down my list of things I wanted to accomplish. That is until yesterday. I spent almost 3 hours at the main branch, which is actually under construction.
They are expanding the main branch by 25000 sq ft. The first free library in Kitchener was in the town hall of Berlin (one of the towns names before becoming Kitchener) in 1884. The library was given a permanent location in 1904 and by then was known as the Kitchener library. In 1962 the library moved to its current location. The library was built to serve a population of 73 000 residents. I now serves 213 000 residents and that number is expected to grow to 250 000 by 2020. There are 4 community library branches throughout Kitchener, with a fifth one planned to open in 2016. The remodeling of the main branch is scheduled to be completed in 2013.
After my visit there yesterday I'm very excited to go back, I will not allow myself to push my library trip down my list. I did checkout 3 book, Exploring Native American Wisdom, The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories and Sherlock Holmes and the Ghosts of Bly. I'm hoping to finish reading at least one of them on this trip.

Konoronhkwa - I know to most people this looks odd, it almost looks like a made up word. Well it's not. It's how you say 'I love you' in Mohawk. I actually have this as part of my tattoo. My tattoo is for my boyfriend. He is Mohawk, of the wolf tribe.

When I get home again I'll add pictures to this posting. I which should be this coming weekend, more then likely sometime on Saturday.

Sunday April 17th 2011
I added the picture of my tattoo tonight and if I make it to the library tomorrow I'll take some pictures so I can upload them when I get home.

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A - Z Challenge: J is for . . .

I know, I know, the procrastination won today. I'm just getting around to doing my posting for Tuesday. I did have some what of a productive day. I went out for lunch, made a trip to the library, walked 1.6 miles and am now relaxing, working on my postings as well as catching up on friends postings and doing laundry. We leave for work in about 5.5 hours. We are getting loaded about an hour from the yard and then deliver it in South Carolina for either Thursday or Friday.  I'm trying to do my postings early, instead if doing them all when we get home. It will be so nice when I get the new phone and can blog every day. I'm rather enjoying this new hobby of mine. Thanks Marie for all the encouragement :)

Todays J posting is about a few things. Again I couldn't pick just one. Which doesn't seem like a big surprise anymore.

Journaling - I don't write in a journal as much as I use to, I tend to let my procrastination win. I use to write at least once a day when I was in middle school threw most of high school. I also use to write letters, to myself and to a few friends. It was just another way to express myself. It was years before I started writing regularly again. I stuck with it for well over a year before again my procrastination took over. So yet again I have decided to write again and express myself. I'm going to apply the idea of 100words.com to my journaling. The idea is to write one hundred words (no more or no less) a day for one month. Seems pretty straight forward, it's just a matter of accomplishing it. If I can accomplish writing one hundred words everyday for a month, then I'll do it again the next month.

Just Being Me and Journaling My Journey - These are titles of blogs written by Becky. I stumbled across her blog when I was looking for other people taking part in the A- Z Blog Challenge. It didn't take long and I had added her to my follow list. She stopped by my blog and is now following me. On my F posting she told me about her Journaling my Journey blog. It's her blog where she shares with her readers about her ups and downs on the weight loss journey. It's nice reading that you are not alone, and that everyone has good days and bad.

Junk - I like my friend Marie, suffer from junk everywhere. At times I can barely get to my desk let alone see my desk. I often wonder how I can anything accomplished. Who's kidding who, I do barely get anything accomplished. I'm very easily distracted and having all this junk around my room and on my desk gets very frustrating. My boyfriend describes me as a pack rat with s touch of hoarding tendencies. Like I really need those qualities added to my indecisiveness and procrastination. I can be very organized, but if someone messes with my system, and junk appears, then it doesn't take long to throw me out of whack. Once things start piling up, I find it hard to pull myself away from something else to tackling cleaning it and putting it back the way it should be. So tonight I cleaned my little corner where my desk is. Of course right now I have 2 laundry baskets on the bed in my spot, movies stacked on my dresser in front of the TV and various paperwork in a box. I moved my nail stuff back over to the bookcase and once again my little corner is kind of clean. I can see my desk again. Next time we are home I'll work on keeping my desk organized, clean off my dresser and the puppies kennel. The puppies kennel became the catch-all when we get home, everything seems to get piled up on it. I'm starting to worry it will collapse, OK it's not quite that bad yet.

Seems like I have a To Do List / List of Goals that has come out of this posting. They are :
1) Write 100 words everyday for 1 month. Starting April 12, 2011.
2) Keep my desk clean and organized.
3) Clean and organize on top and in front of my dresser.
4) Clean off the puppies kennel.
5) Don't let the not so important laundry pile up.
6) Fold and put the laundry away once it has been washed.

My list doesn't seem that big a deal when it's written down on the computer screen. I just need to put my mind to it and not let procrastination win. Everyday is such a struggle, some days are worse then others. Like today, I finally made it to the library. I have been telling Marie I have been wanting to go for over a month. I do get a lot accomplished once I get the ball rolling, it's just a matter of getting motivated enough to get it started. Here's to getting motivated. Maybe I wont wait until next time home. I think I'll set a timer for 10 mins and see what cleaning I can get accomplished. Wish me luck.

A - Z Challenge: I is for . . .

Ida May Lidster. Born to Roy Eugene Lidster and Mabel Madelene Burley on July 19th 1935. She married Walter Orvil Hodge on December 9th 1955. They had two children together and 2 grandchildren. She passed away on July 5th 1993 of a massive heart attack and is buried in Trenton, Ontario, Canada. 

She was many things to many people. She was a daughter, niece, wife, mother, grandmother, co-worker and a friend. But to me she was more then just a grandmother. She was my world. I spent a good majority of my time with her. Every waking moment I wanted to be with her. She spoiled me rotten but I was the first grandchild. If you have read my other postings then you know that she influenced my everyday life. It'll be 18 years this year that I have not had her in my life. But everyday that passes, I think of her, I remember her, I talk to her. I remember all the little things. I remember her getting upset with my sister and I for running around the camp ground in our bare feet. I remember her getting upset when we wouldn't get out of the pool right away for lunch, I remember having tea with her before bed. I remember her getting upset when my bangs would go into my eyes, she would tell me she was going to cut my hair off. She bought a stock in hair bands. I remember how upset she was when in grade 2 I came home with a mullet because I wanted my hair cut like my daddy's but didn't want to cut of the length. Of course I had no idea what a mullet was, but boy she was less then impressed. I remember her cooking the best meals. I remember her always wanting to know about my day and I remember her encouraging me in whatever my little adventure of the day was. I remember all the quality days that we had together.

A - Z Challenge: H is for . . .

Hobbies, there are so many hobbies that someone can have. In today's entry I'm going to write about my hobbies.

Outdoor Hobbies
I love spending time outdoors. Some of my favorite things to do outside are go camping, go for a bike ride, play softball, take pictures, gardening and go to yard sales, flea markets and farmers markets. I enjoy travelling and am a huge day dreamer.

Each year I go camping at least once. It's a family affair, which includes my dad, his wife, her kids and their families, my sister, myself, my boyfriend, his kids and their families. Last year I even brought my dog and this year I'll bring my dogs and my sister is going to bring her dog also. It's a lot of fun and a very laid back weekend.

Up until last year, I hadn't been bike riding since I was a child. For my 27th birthday I got my bike. It has become a hobby to see where I will go on my adventures. To further my outings I need to get a bike lock and lights.

I also play softball. I have played on a recreational team and in a few tournaments. I do enjoy playing, but am often to hard on myself and get nervous. My boyfriend and I have been collecting softball bats and at one point we had over 50 bats.

Photography is another one of my hobbies. I mostly take landscape pictures and other nature pictures. I find the outdoors beautiful and try to share what I see. I have been thinking about creating a picture book.

Recently I've become interested in gardening. I love the idea of actually growing something, being able to watch the beauty of flowers form and to be able to grow produce to eat.

I really enjoy going to yard sales, flea markets and farmers markets. I the passion for one mans junk is another mans treasure was instilled in me from my nanny. While spending the summer with her I got an allowance and every weekend we would look around the community for all the sales. Its amazing what you can find and the deals you can get.

Indoor Hobbies
When I'm not outdoors then clearly I'm indoors, I have many hobbies that involve being inside. Besides cooking and baking, I also collect cookbooks and recipes. When indoors I like to craft and game. I enjoy reading, writing and blogging.

I really enjoy cooking and baking. My boyfriend thinks I own every cookbook ever printed, which is untrue. In his defense I do collect them. I enjoy trying new recipes, weather cooking for 2 or 20, cooking is my passion. Finding new recipes is so much fun for me.

I also love to craft. I have many crafts that interest me. Again Nanny was the one who introduced me to crafting. Beside cooking and gaming it gave us something to do together. I have to admit spending time with my nanny was my biggest hobby. I was her biggest fan, and she was my everything.

I'm new to blogging, but it is quickly becoming a hobby of mine. Weather I'm reading other peoples blogs or writing my blog entries, it's all fascinating. I also enjoying reading non-fiction and fiction, along with magazines. I enjoy writing poems, stories, lists, just writing in general.

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A - Z Challenge: G is for . . .

For this posting I have decided to write about gaming. I love gaming, and have so for as long as I can remember. There are many types of games to play, card games, board games, console games, computer games and online games to name just name a few.

As a young girl I use to look forward to rainy days at the trailer with my nanny. We wouldn't let the rainy weather outside put a damper on our day. We would craft and play games. We would play tic-tac-toe, hangman, connect 5, mazes, word searches, puzzles. We would play card and dice games too. We also had an original Nintendo. It was fun to relax and play games.

As we got older we had more board games and a few different console games. You never forget the fun that you had playing all the different games. So many memories have stayed with me over the years. One of my favorite memories is of Nanny playing Mario on the Nintendo, she was more fun to watch then actually playing the game. She would work her way to the edge of the sofa over time. When she wanted Mario to jump, she would jump, when she wanted Mario to run, she'd lean in that direction. She always had so much fun, and so did I watching her.

Now that I'm older I play more computer games, online games and console games. I have countless games I play on Facebook. I enjoy the Facebook games because the are free and there is no limit to the ones you can play. I also play World of Warcraft and Star Wars Galaxies online. These two games are computer games that you have to buy and pay to play online. I still play Spider Solitaire. I have a Nintendo DS and a Nintendo Wii also that I waste countless hours playing.

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A - Z Challenge: F is for . . .

So for those of you that stop by my blog have probably noticed that my procrastination rules my life. Can't say I didn't warn you, my blog title describes me to a 'T'. I'm only a few days behind on my entries and am hoping to get caught up this evening. I did manage to get motivated this evening and get some exercise. I biked for 7.4 miles in 68 minutes and I also walked .8 miles and 19 minutes. I'm sure I will be feeling it tomorrow. Once I actually get motivated it's amazing what I can accomplish, it's just a matter of actually getting around to doing anything. So here I sit at my computer, with my 1.5L bottle of water and  my hot chocolate. I have the TV off to avoid getting lost in another rerun or movie I have already seen. I'm determined to get caught up tonight. For the letter F I have chosen to write about fitness.

I have struggled with my weight all my life. I was always the chubby kid and at 5 feet tall it wasn't flattering. In 6.5 years I gained 60 lbs. I would lose some and gain it back. At my highest point I was over 210 which again is hard to carry on a 5 foot frame. Yes, I haven't grown any since before I was a teenager. I believe I stopped growing when I was 10 or 11.

Since the beginning of the year, I have been trying to increase my fitness level. I have started working out more and have been more focused on eating healthy. I have been walking more and not that the weather is nicer I went for my first bike ride of the year today. It was so nice to get out. Dinner tonight was veggies and dip with a large garden salad with some ham. But I am in the mood for some chips so once I have done my writing for today and I still want a snack then I'll get a small bowl. But I did get a hot chocolate as a treat tonight.

I remember when I first got my bike last year for my birthday. I could barely ride around the block. Now I can bike for miles. I really enjoy getting out and going for a bike ride. I have been trying to find different routes to travel. I think that's part of the fun. I have a app on my phone that allows to to track all my workouts and post them on facebook and twitter. It's called Cardio Trainer. I love using that app. There is so much to choose from. I have also been walking more with the dogs. I try to walk a mile a day when I'm out in the truck, and walk about the same when at home. I'm also looking into going to the gym or local YMCA to go swimming and maybe use the gym equipment.

I weigh myself once a month to track my weight, if not I become very obsessive. I started out 2011 weighing almost 210 lbs as of April 1st I was down to 192. I'm hoping by my May weigh-in I'll be under 190. I'd be nice to weigh closer to 185 but any loss at this point would be a great success in my mind.

A - Z Challenge: E is for . . .

I'm really enjoying this challenge. It sure makes you think about what you want to write about. With so many choices, it's hard at times to choose. Today's topic is one of those hind site is 20/20 things. For today's entry I have chosen Education.
When I was younger I couldn't have cared less about my education. I was letting other events in my life, effect my everyday activities. I changed schools a lot, which isn't to uncommon for a military family. But I do not come from a military family. I changed schools 4 times before high school, and then moved again so I couldn't even go to the high school I wanted. I had a hard time making friends and the ones I did make were more like acquaintances. I began making foolish decisions at a young age. At age 17, I dropped out of high school, half way threw my senior year. I don't believe I received any credits from that first semester.
Life sure changes your perspective. Now that I have been out of school for some time. I regret not at least getting my high school diploma. Was it really that important to drop everything, to just give up on myself? I seem to be asking myself this very question a lot recently. So I have decided it's never too late to go back to school. I'm looking into taking correspondence to get what credits I do need. From there I may even looking into taking some college courses. So after all this time I finally realize how important education is. I am going to finish my grade 12.

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