A Boredom Killing Blog Survey

While In San Francisco Oct 2013

 

"50 Questions You've Never Been Asked"

• 1. What's your favorite candle scent? Fall and winter scents
• 2. What female celebrity do you wish was your sister? Ellen Page
• 3. What male celebrity do you wish was your brother? Dylan O'Brien
• 4. How old do you think you'll be when you get married? Well since I'm married now, I'll tell you I really didn't think it would happen till I was closer to 24 or 25
• 5. Do you know a hoarder? Yes. Several. The kind of people where you can barely walk through their house they have so much stuff? It's frightening.
• 6. Can you do a split? Despite my improvements in flexibility the last year or two, no.
• 7. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike? I really don't remember. Maybe seven?
• 8. How many oceans have you swam in? Just one.
• 9. How many countries have you been to? Only Mexico unfortunately.
• 10. Is anyone in your family in the army? My husband, as everyone knows. 

  

  Lucky me

• 11. What would you name your daughter if you had one? Sofie, Sofia, or Amelia.
• 12. What would you name your son if you had one? Xaijah Quinn
• 13. What's the worst grade you got on a test? Failing it.
• 14. What was your favorite TV show when you were a child? Invader Zim
• 15. What did you dress up as on Halloween when you were eight? Wow I have no idea
• 16. Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Twilight series? All of them honestly. Harry Potter being the favorite. Duh.
• 17. Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent? British.
• 18. Did your mother go to college? Yes.
• 19. Are your grandparents still married? Yes both sets of them. They're kind of my relationship role models.
• 20. Have you ever taken karate lessons? I think I went to a few of my cousins to see what they were like but it wasn't a long term thing.
• 21. Do you know who Kermit the frog is? Of course I do, it makes me sad that some kids don't.
• 22. What's the first amusement park you've been to? Disneyland. 

  

  San Francisco was really cool

• 23. What language, besides your native language, would you like to be fluent in? Arabic. I studied it for a while. It's difficult but really beautiful.
• 24. Do you spell the color as grey or gray? I've caught myself doing either so I really don't know.
• 25. Is your father bald? Nope.
• 26. Do you know triplets? I know of quadruplets. I was in Brownie Scouts with them and they went to the same schools I did.
• 27. Do you prefer Titanic or The Notebook? Hm. I suppose The Notebook since it technically had a better outcome.
• 28. Have you ever had Indian food? I LOVE Indian food.
• 29. What's the name of your favorite restaurant? Thaifoon
• 30. Have you ever been to Olive Garden? hah, I work there.
• 31. Do you belong to any warehouse stores (Costco, BJ's, etc.)? Actually no.
• 32. What would your parents have named you if you were the opposite gender? My brothers name I guess. Kyle.
• 33. If you have a nickname, what is it?Short version of my name plus whatever people come up with on the spot. It's always funny. Chlo. Chlo Chlo. Chlobo, Chloboat, Chlomosexual, my friends just keep making them up.
• 34. Who's your favorite person in the world? My husband, definitely. I mean yeah that seems obvious but seriously. He's my best friend. He's there for me when no one else is.

  

  In Chris' sunglasses!
• 35. Would you rather live in a rural area or in the suburbs? Rural for sure.
• 36. Can you whistle? In fact I can.
• 37. Do you sleep with a nightlight? When I was little I did. But now I need complete darkness and silence to sleep.
• 38. Do you eat breakfast every morning? I have to. It ruins my day if I don't. I feel all sick and dizzy.
• 39. Do you take any pills or medication daily? Just the ones to prevent babies, not ready for that business yet.
• 40. What medical conditions do you have? Manic depression and anxiety. Some days are better than others of course but the combination of the two is a nightmare.
• 41. How many times have you been to the hospital? Probably less than five for anything related to myself.
• 42. Have you ever seen Finding Nemo? So many times.
• 43. Where do you buy your jeans? Ross, almost always.
• 44. What's the last compliment you got? That I have really awesome muscles, which was great to hear.

  

  October 2013

• 45. Do you usually remember your dreams in the morning?Yes, I have super vivid lengthy dreams often.
• 46. What flavor tea do you enjoy? Breakfast, detox, green, chamomile, sleepy time, blackberry...a lot of them.
• 47. How many pairs of shoes do you currently own?I don't know off the top of my head, but I don't wear hardly any of them and most of them I've had since high school or earlier. I should really get rid of them.
• 48. What religion will you raise your children to practice? I figured I'd tell them what several main religions believe in and let them decide what they want, if they want any of them. No way I'm dragging them to church, considering I don't go myself.
• 49. How old were you when you found out that Santa wasn't real?Strangely I don't remember. You'd think it be devastating but it wasn't, I just kind of secretly hoped he was still real for a while then realized he was more of a symbol than anything.
• 50. If you had to delete one year of your life completely, which would it be? Probably seventh grade. Just to make that whole middle school nightmare shorter.
• 51. Have you ever liked someone you didn’t expect to? I've liked people I knew I shouldn't, or hated them first, or knew they were bad for me and liked them anyway. Who hasn't been there?
  
• 52. Is your life anything like it was two years ago? Two years ago Michael and I were on the verge of getting married. He officially proposed thanksgiving in front of his family.
• 53. Did you ever pass notes to your friends in school? Quite a bit. I kept a lot of them and as a result one day my mom found them and thought I was a lesbian.
• 54. Favorite part of your daily routine? Watching an episode or two of whatever show I'm fascinated with while I eat breakfast before I go to work.
• 55. Would you change your gender? Sometimes I really would. If I could be the opposite gender temporarily or switch at will I totally would. Permanently I'm not so sure. 

Finally Finishing The Alphabet Challenge

           Took me long enough!

W – Wishes

111. If you had three wishes, what would they be? I've done this before, but probably 1: the power to teleport 2: a billion dollars and 3: to no longer have anxiety issues or long term depression
112. Would you rather wish yourself to be happy, or your loved ones? my loved ones
113. Do you believe that wishes come true if you really believe in them? actually yes, thought is powerful. Sometimes by thinking something so hard you end up taking action to make it come true without realizing it.
114. Have you ever had a wish come true? If so, what was that wish? Absolutely, and it was really cheesy but I'll never forget it. I saw a falling star and wished for a second (and last) chance with Michael (this was when he told me he wanted to join the army and we broke up). So, that worked out.
115. Do you find wishing for things a waste of time because everything that’s meant to happen, will happen? Not necessarily, you can't always sit back and let things happen. Sometimes it's okay to wish for something, but you gotta put in an effort to make it come true, too.

Y – You

121. Are you more independent or social? independent
122. What is something that makes you very mad when you see it? ignorant tweets from dumb people who can't spell
123. Do you think that you have potential to do great things? yes, but I think I'm afraid of failing so I give up easily :/
124. Do you think people are born a certain way, or develop their personalities based on what they go through in life? nature vs nuture? I really think it's a mix of both.
125. Do you think people are generally good ? I'd like to think so, yes.

Z – Zest

126. Are you currently happy with your life? Why or why not? For the most part, yes. I got a new job and we have a short vacation fast approaching. We're slowly learning how to be adults.
127. Do you go on websites to get blog survey’s and quizzes like this one? haha yes, just when I'm really bored
128. When change occurs, do you get scared or are you excited for it? If I did not want or plan for said change it really scares me. I don't like moving, I don't like plans changing, or anything like that.
129. Do you like to try new things, meet new people? I actually love trying new food and I've been open to meeting new people lately, although all I really want to do is go home and connect with old friends.
130. What is the most motivational thing in the world? It's hard to say, but what's motivating me to get through this awkward time in my life is that once Michael is out of the army we can get a home in Arizona and live like normal people and be near our friends and family. I really can't wait for that.

Jobs; Out With The Old, Etc

  Last month I finally decided enough was enough; I had to get away from that awful job at that Greek restaurant I stuck it out as long as I did simply thinking the length of time would look good on a resume, but I sacrificed a lot just to have a "steady" job. I know I wrote about some of my experiences there before, and in reality I should have quit a whole lot sooner. I do not recommend working at a small family owned business unless they really have their business in order and know exactly what they're doing; not to mention are kind people, as opposed to abusive gay haters who will expect everything from you and tell you to your face your feelings don't matter as long as you just keep working for them.
  I want to keep this to a minimum, despite the fact that I could go on and on. My status there was indeed like having an abusive relationship. I became the only dependable employee with the most availability, and  even though they gave me weekends off my boss would not let me forget this and waved it over my head on several occasions. If no one else could come in on a weekend, it was unspoken that I was expected to. I felt so much pressure to do everything right all the time and took blame for things I didn't have to; worked alone most of the time and was witness to many screaming battles between the owner and his wife, who would leave in a fit even after offering to relieve me of my shift.
  Good days were good; when everything ran smoothly, there were no mistakes on my or the chef's (boss) part and we actually joked around once in a while. Although being a small business in a sketchy part of town I was lucky to make $50 bucks in a shift. I usually brought in roughly 30 a day from a seven to eight hour shift, two or three of which sometimes involved me doing absolutely nothing but waiting for customers. I went many extra miles and took care of as much as I could, making sure everything was stocked, cleaned, counted etc. I did whatever they asked, including making grocery lists and sometimes going to the store to get an ingredient the chef needed.
  Why all this for such little money? (Did I mention server wage here is 2.13/hr?) I really don't know sometimes. I guess I pitied the boss' wife, who was actually a really sweet woman intent on staying with this horrible sexist unappreciative man and sometimes reminded me of my mother. But the bad days were really bad. I got yelled at in front of customers, as did his wife; most employees quit in the first few days, most leaving in tears, and I was left to pick up their too-soon scheduled shifts. I suppose I learned a lot. I learned the job itself quickly. I learned how to talk to strangers and get them exactly what they need and want to eat. And yet I kept putting up with being treated badly. I stuck it out out of some sort of twisted pity or something.
  When the bad days started outweighing the good, I realized I had to get out whether or not I had another job. However, I started looking immediately, and waited about a week after applying for a handful of jobs before putting in my notice. My boss called me into his office and, with minimal eye contact, did his best to apologize and asked me to stay and "start over." In no way was it tempting. I almost laughed. But I wanted to quit with dignity. I wanted to be kind where he hadn't and I didn't want to storm out and leave things badly. So I thanked him for giving me the opportunity to learn so much, but told him I had to move on.
  I believe it was the same day or shortly after when I got a call from Olive Garden and had landed an interview. My boss had been making comments he thought appropriate or somehow comical, like "you're not going to get hired right away" or "you'll come back, you'll see." So, on the day of the interview, when the GM shook my hand and offered me the job, I went straight to the Greek house and handed in my shirt. It felt fantastic. I made it, I got another job and left this horrible one as smoothly as I could.
  Olive Garden training was extensive. But finally, I'm in a place with many people I get along with, and managers who are humans and treat employees as such. There's always someone to turn to for help who is willing, and everyone knows what I'm going through just starting out. It was of course a shock to go from a small time restaurant to a big one, but the environment really makes up for the chaos of the job. I feel safe. I'm already making more money in fewer shifts and hours than I was at my last job, and I'm still not on a full section yet. I'm hoping to work here for a long time, probably transfer when we move home again, and not have to quit unless I'm unchallenged and unhappy again. I'll be going back to school one day and working towards a career of course, but in the meantime I hope to make this a steady long term thing!

Before and After

  Hello blog world! I haven't been around since June and that's been okay with me. For a while there really hasn't been anything worth blogging about. Things are mostly the same here. I go to work, Michael goes to work, we figure out what's for dinner, watch some shows and go to bed.
  But there have been some recent changes worth talking about, including the new workout program I'm halfway through that has seriously whipped me into such shape I've realized I hit my goal, and am now working towards that last little bit that'll leave me in the best shape I've ever been in, period.

Excuse the messy room, but otherwise check it!

  I started logging workouts in September 2012. I hadn't found any programs yet, and I was trying, but it wasn't sticking. I started doing P90X and it was hard but by the end I knew I had accomplished something, even if I wasn't near my goal. It had really gotten me started and I was beginning to enjoy working out. I picked up little habits along the way and this year it snowballed in a serious way, and I noticed a big difference from January to March alone.
  I've slimmed down so much. I can't describe how miserable I was before when my clothes were too tight, I always felt sluggish and weak; now I feel the complete opposite. My clothes are loose, I'm strong and my stamina is ridiculous. My day doesn't feel right if I don't workout. I'm lifting weights, doing exercises that were next to impossible a few months ago and always trying to improve. Not to sound like a commercial, but I have to thank Chalene Johnson and her Chalean Extreme program. Turbofire was good in a different way. It helped me shed some fat for sure. But then I plateaued and I needed something new.
  Chalean Extreme has three phases over three months: Burn, Push and Lean. I'm currently halfway through the Push phase. Each phase consists of four weeks of three weightlifting circuits, two cardio days and one specific ab day (added to a cardio day). You work on endurance, flexibility and strength. It's really working for me!
  I want to jot down a quick disclaimer, I'm about to post two photos that make me semi uncomfortable, one being because it's the worst photo of me I have right now. I hadn't started working out yet, I was all chunky and awkward and I hated it and didn't have the motivation to stop it yet. The second I took the other day and I look fucking fantastic, but I am a little half naked. Who cares, it shows how far I've come!

  The angles are different, yeah, and one is closer up and you can't see my legs in the first (but I'm seriously okay with that because ugh) but I mean damn. I've come a long way. It's taken me over a year, but it's been worth it. I'll tell you one thing I'm definitely due for some new pants. I have a bunch of all difference sizes and at the moment none that fit me perfectly. Most are too big. It feels kind of great though. Two and a half sizes gone, tons of muscle gained. Super excited to see how I look after the Chalean Extreme challenge!

More Tattoos For Me

 If you're familiar with Adventure time, you may or may not have heard of a little YouTube only series called Bravest Warriors. It's a series of super short episodes with the same random (but with more freedom of creativity, since it isn't on a network) awesome comedic style. It doesn't take long to catch up so I highly recommend it! This is a little character named Catbug from the show. Before you go judging me for committing so hard to a cartoon character on an internet show that only has one season so far, let me explain.
  Catbug does actually represent a lot to me. I've been trying to think of how to get a ladybug worked into one of my tattoos for ages, and all I could think of was a little one on a flower petal of a much larger piece, making it more of a side note than a main attraction. I lived in Oregon for two years as a child and it's where some of my first memories reside. We had lots of vibrantly green plants and there were always tons of ladybugs around and I found them the least frightening and cuter of the bugs I'd seen in my few years of life. I just remember the smell of rain and being really excited to have a ladybug in my hands.
  And the more obvious element is the cat; I've always had at least one cat in my life since I was born. So this adorable little character embodied two of my favorite elements of my childhood. I decided what better way to remind myself to be happy and retain a childlike sense of wonder than with something like that?
  It came out great, so vibrant, although this time the healing process was really rough! He still looks pretty good but I'll no doubt get a touch up when I go home again.

  Yet another piece of my childhood is Sailor Moon. I had been playing with the idea of one of Usagi's talismans but it hit me one day that she isn't necessarily my favorite or the one I relate to the most. In fact Sailor Mercury is. People thought she was weird for being smart and isolating herself with her nose in books and technology all the time. Mercury also happens to be the planet of my star sign Gemini, so I had my artist work it into the handle of Sailor Mercury's first wand.
  It also came out wonderfully, though healed rough, and reminds me to strive to be a strong (and maybe a little magical) woman. I love that so many types of girls are represented on the show. Be who you want to be and you can still kick ass. Bake cookies, be a lesbian, be a ninja, who cares? Pretty great message.
  I believe that makes 13 tattoos now. Oh man. And I still have so many plans!

Oh Yeah This Blogger Thing (A Lazy Update)

Once I got back to Oklahoma you may or may not be able to understand the fact that I had no urge to use the internet. For the few days I had before going back to work I sat in a puddle of self pity, lazily posting on instagram and hardly leaving my couch. (Although I have at least attempted to get back to exercising, more on that later.)
And of course once I was back to work blogging just wasn't appealing at all. It was a busy week back; I brought home over $200 which was undoubtedly nice. Oklahoma drained me pretty hard and I haven't been able to get away from my own thoughts, but work keeps me busy and when I'm not stressing about it I know it's good for me.



My favorite bits of being home can mostly be represented by the pictures I threw up on Instagram. From best friend reunions to giant smoothies from Robeks, I was pretty obnoxious about every little thing.

I turned 22; rewarded myself with lots of fruit and a second new tattoo during my trip. (Also more on those later.)

  I learned how to shoot all of these guns with my cousins. Having never shot before it was a pretty eye opening experience, and also pretty fun. Turns out I enjoy revolvers and shotguns, and will probably end up buying my own someday soon.

  We enjoyed a 50's themed party thrown by Michael's parents (during which Michael looked adorable, winning the costume contest). I finally met the new addition to the family and spent a lot of time playing Cards Against Humanity.
   There was usually something going on just about every day, even if it was just having dinner with family or being lazy with friends. I did however spend a day on the Cook's couch after a very sick night I blame on some bad fish. At least I wasn't sick in Oklahoma by myself with no comforts of home.
  Anyway, after all that it's been a real let down being back "home" again, trying to adjust to once again having little to no social life outside of work where all I do is wait for Buffy comics to come in the mail and play Fire Emblem on my 3DS like it's the only (but really really good) game in the world.
  I may make separate posts about my new tattoos and review some games for fun, we'll see.

Some Supai Photo Favorites/Home Again

  As always, Supai was a worthwhile experience. I took over 600 photos, and that was before I dropped my five year old camera in the water. Twice. I was just insanely photo happy and even though I took a lot of stereotypical photos that everyone takes, they're still my photos and I'm really happy with how a lot of them came out.
  Being exhausted from hiking helped me get the best sleep I've had in weeks. I was so stressed working all the time and worrying about our trip I was incredibly sleep deprived. I was responsible for my friend Justin's first experience with Nutella; we all ate a ton down there. It was great to slow down, be in nature and play games with friends and family.
  It's just great to be back in general, but I have this constant feeling like I need to be up moving around while I'm in town. Like must. keep. having. fun. I have to remember I'm here for a while. We've mostly just been hitting up our favorite restaurants. It's all about the food. Although today I bought myself a new phone case and some shorts because the ones I brought with me are ancient, so I threw them out. Felt good.
  I know it's going to be hard to go home, so I'm just trying to enjoy the now!