5 for Five Link-Up!

 

It's Monday, so let's see how I did on my goals for last week...

1. Work out every day this week -  I worked out six of the seven days last week. Total success! 

2. Clean all the floors and ceiling fans in the house - I cleaned all the floors... but not the ceiling fans. I was halfway there.

3. Go to a Haunted House - Mr. Duh and I had a date night and went out for dinner and went to the haunted house. The 13th Floor was pretty decent. I've seen worse... but it was a fun date night!

4. Get all my school reading done - I finished my five chapters of reading and some of my homework, too. Yay!

5. Finally send out the "Thank You" cards for all my birthday gifts - Nope, I slacked off and didn't do this one. I did buy the Thank You cards, though. Does that count for something?

I guess that's 3.5 out of 5... that's not too bad, right? Maybe I'll do better this week!

Here are my five goals for this week:


1. Vote early - I'm leaving town next week and better get my vote on... or I won't be voting at all!
2. Carve Pumpkins for our front porch - Every year, Mr. Duh and I have a pumpkin carving night, but we have seriously been putting it off this year.
3. Clean the ceiling fans - See last week's goal.
4. Start gathering research for my Business Law Paper - I have a 10-15 page research paper due at the beginning of December, and I'd really like to get a jump on it. I usually wait until the last minute and it comes back to bite me in the butt.
5. Purge my closet - Since we are moving next year, I need to start getting rid of a lot of things... and I need to start with my closet! It's time to get rid of those things that I don't wear anymore. 

What are your goals this week? Head over to Fantastically Average and link-up!

 

Devil, Thy Name Is...

GLOBAL ECONOMICS!

I haven't been blogging very much lately, because of this evil mistress who requires all of my free time. My Economics class is officially the WORST class I have taken in the whole of my college career. The subject matter is dry and not even remotely interesting, but that isn't the worst part about it.

The worst part is the professor, whom I will call Dr. Magpie. Dr. Magpie is a very smart and semi-friendly gentleman... but he is a terrible teacher. He is hard to follow and doesn't full explain concepts. I have a four hour class with him every Sunday, and always leave class feeling confused and downtrodden. Then Dr. Magpie proceeds to give us homework assignments full of things that he didn't teach us in class. So, what do I do?  I harass him incessantly via phone and e-mail. It seems like I have to ask for help or clarification every other day on something involving the econ material. This class has been sucking up so much of my free time...

I'm not alone in my feelings either. It seems as though most of my classmates feel the same way... but whenever we express our concerns, we are met with this response, "Don't worry. You'll be fine." Ugh! I'm confused, doing poorly on my assignments, and have shed many tears over this class. I don't feel like I'm going to do fine!

I'm not the most confident person when it comes to many things in my life, but one thing I have always been very sure of is my ability to learn. I can usually master anything if I put in the work. Statistics? Hard, but passed with flying colors! Organic chemistry I & II? Awful and mind-numbing, but I got it! I just can't seem to "get" this graduate Economics class, and it's not for lack of trying. I believe that it is because I'm not being given the tools to succeed in this course, and it's totally out of my control. 

Since complaining doesn't help and crying definitely doesn't help, I'll keep on trucking and wait impatiently for December when this god-awful class finally comes to an end!

What is the hardest class you have ever taken?

5 in Five Link-Up

 

There is another great Monday link-up being hosted by Fantastically Average. You list five things that you hope to accomplish in the next five days. I'm all about setting and achieving goals (although I'm not always successful), so this link up is right up my alley! Head on over to her blog and link up!

Here are my goals for this week:

1. Work out every day this week - I'm hoping for three Crossfit sessions and two days where I work on my running. Gotta get ready for a 5K!

2. Clean all the floors and ceiling fans in the house - School has been so overwhelming that my house has gone to pot. I need to get this bad boy cleaned up!

3. Go to a Haunted House - It's almost Halloween. I need to do something to get myself in the holiday spirit! So, hopefully I can make it out to The 13th Floor this week. 

4. Get all my school reading done - I was a complete slacker over the weekend. I hope to have all my reading done so I can enjoy a small portion of next weekend. 

5. Finally send out the "Thank You" cards for all my birthday gifts - Seriously, it's been a month. I need to get on that.

Alright, it's time to get some things done! Let's see how this goes!!

The Edge of Seventeen...

 No, it's not a Stevie Knicks song... its a Monday Show and Tell Link Up! I saw this over at Mrs. K and Captain J, and decided to link up. My life has been so full of studying and things are so mundane lately, I figured a good link up might give me something interesting to write about! This week's topic is

"When I was 17..."

1. When you were 17, tell us what kind of car you drove, where you worked, and what you were usually up to on the weekends?

I drove a 1990 Plymouth Sundance, which was affectionately named "Limpy". It was a piece of crap car, but I loved it! I had a seasonal job working at a haunted house, and I also worked at Wendy's. On the weekends, we'd cruise State Street (classy), hit up the movies, or just go out and goof off. There isn't much to do in Salt Lake City when you are 17, especially not in 1998.

2. Show us a picture of you when you were 17 {roughly}.

This is a picture of me with my best friend (I'm on the right). We wore uniforms to school, so that's why we are so stylishly dressed!  

3. When you were 17, tell us what you wanted to be when you "grew up."

My goal was to become a High School History Teacher. I also planned to be graduated from college and married by 22, and a mom by 25. Instead, I was academically suspended from college, ended up working in insurance, got married at 26, graduated with a Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice at 28. Now I'm 31, still working in insurance, getting an MBA, and I still don't have any children... Funny how things never work out like we think they will!

4. When you were 17, tell us the kind of boys that you dated. Did you have a type? Do you have a relationship you remember well? Tell us about it.

I only had one serious boyfriend in high school and we dated all through my Senior year.  I remember that relationship very well... It was full of fun, drama and craziness, like a lot of teenage relationships tend to be. We thought we'd be together forever, but luckily that didn't happen! We were way too young and not very compatible. He and I still converse from time to time and he's happily married with three kids now. I used to love "bad-boys"... you know, a little more alternative, trouble-making and edgy. Now I'm married to a straight-laced Airman. How things change!

5. When you were 17, tell us where you pictured your life 10 years from then. Did it turn out the way you expected it to?

I figured I'd be married, a mom, and have a career set in place. I'm married, but the other two haven't come to fruition yet... and I'm okay with that. I think if my 17 year-old self could see me now, she'd be most surprised that I became a military wife and I have left my hometown. That was something I would have never pictured for myself. I also would never have pictured myself getting two Masters degrees, so in that respect I exceeded my own expectations! When you are young, you think you can map out your whole life. Now that I'm older, I have no idea where I'll be in ten years! All I hope for is that wherever I am and whatever I'm doing, I just hope I'm content and happy.

 
 

Wednesday Walkabout!

It's Wednesday, which means it's time for the Wednesday Walkabout! This is a blog-hop where you can find other great blogs to follow! It's also a good way to see and be seen... Head on over to one of the hosts and link-up!

Happy Hump Day!

October and Me

Since leaving Utah and moving to Texas, October and I have had a strained relationship. The month leading up to Halloween was always full of hard work, fun, friends, and all-around good times, until three years ago...

When I was 15, I started working at a seasonal haunted attraction in Utah. I spent six weeks running around and scaring the poop out of people. I met some amazing people and fell in love with haunting. At age 18, I became Cast Director of the Nightmare on 13th Haunted House (the best haunted attraction EVER), and spent the next eleven Halloween seasons managing, developing and promoting one of the country's greatest haunts and working with some of the most fun-loving freaks in the world! It was a big, big part of my life and my identity.

My last Halloween season with Nightmare on 13th was in 2009, and it was my favorite season. We had orders to Texas, and Mr. Duh had already moved. Since I knew my time there was coming to an end, I savored every last minute of it. I didn't sweat the small stuff and just had a good time with all my amazing coworkers.

I have always said that leaving that job was the hands down hardest thing about leaving home. I know all my friends and family will always be there whenever I decide to return home... but I'll never get to go back to my job at the haunted house. I had to leave that part of my life for good, and I was not ready to say goodbye.

My first October sans-Nightmare on 13th was difficult. It was kind of like going through a bad break-up. I couldn't really face the fact that it was Halloween. I hadn't had a "normal" Halloween season since I was 14 years old, and I definitely felt something was missing. Seeing the Facebook posts of all my friends and coworkers was like a knife to the gut... I still wanted to be there participating in the haunted house festivities! I put on a brave face during October, but spent most of Halloween night holding back tears.

I'm now on my third October without the haunted house, and it gets a little easier each year... but it still makes me sad. I'm trying to get into all of the "normal" Halloween things that people do, like carving pumpkins, decorating my house, getting costumes, going to parties, and attending haunted houses. For the most part, it feels like filler... but I'm starting to enjoy it a little.

The saying about break-ups goes like this, "It will take you half as much time as the length of the relationship to get over the break-up." So, after a 13 year relationship, I should be back to normal in about 6.5 years... Three years down, and three more to go!

Mil-Spouse First Friday Fill-In!

It's another installment of the Fill-In! Thanks to Wife of a Sailor for hosting! I apologize for my blog absence... I've been unwillingly cheating on my blog with my Glodal Economics lass. That class is an evil, greedy mistress! I'm up to my eyeballs in Econ homework. Since it takes all my time, I haven't had much to write about, so God Bless this fill-in for giving me something to blog about! Here is goes:

1. What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed?

 I would have been magically morphed into an Economics genius, so I wouldn't have to spend every evening studying! I also would have spent more time with my husband... it feels like we haven't had any good couple time lately!

2. What was your favorite thing that happened in September? 

 I'd have to say my birthday; it was a pretty fun birthday! 

3. Sometimes I like to sit on my couch and eat ______ from a ______ with a _________. - Courtesy of Just Another Snarky Navy Wife

I like to sit on my couch and eat raspberries from a coffee cup with a side of 72% cacao dark chocolate! It's my favorite dessert!

4. What was your favorite childhood Halloween costume? - Courtesy of Random Army Wife

Hmmm... that's a tough one. My favorite costume was probably dressing up as a witch! As an adult, it's still a costume I love to use. 

5. What are you looking forward to in October?

One thing I am looking forward to, but I'm also not looking forward to, is the Tough Mudder in Austin. My husband, a couple friends and myself are signed up for the race this Saturday. I've done it before (in 2011), and I'm even more nervous the second time around... because this time I know what I'm in for!