Being a Server/Life Lately

  I was intentionally cutting down on blogging as it was, but I've been working six days a week for nearly a month now, so it's been pretty low on my priority list. It's been a huge learning experience and kind of crazy at times. I've learned about the pains and the gains of being a server; dealing with people of all kinds, working hard and having a wonderful payoff or a very disappointing one.
   I've been really unlucky this week; several large parties decided not to tip me (they blamed it on their culture, being from another country, and didn't come back) and I was faced with an extremely rude customer who took my simple explanation of the menu prices in what I assumed was an innocent tone and threw it in my face and called me names until I burst into tears. On top of that, the owners (a married couple) have had problems that have affected the entire business and made it a very tense environment indeed.
  And yet, it would seem I'm one of the more useful and longer standing waitresses. They continue to tell me how well I'm doing and how much they need me and I can't help but stay. More than a few waitresses have worked less than a week (one, only a day) and been fired. I hope not to get too tangled up in it all and just keep doing my job every day until things around me improve.

We used Easter as our egg painting day.

   Besides all of that not much is going on. As of yesterday Michael has been in the Army two years. Towards the end of the year we'll reach the halfway point in his contract. If things keep going for us the way they are, it's highly doubtful he'll re-enlist and if all goes well we'll finally be able to settle down together in Arizona and likely never live anywhere else, which I'd be perfectly happy with.
  Without our family (once again), Easter wasn't a big deal. We hadn't painted eggs yet and I finally felt strange without it so at the last minute we decided to go for it. Our friend Ashley came over and did a few of her own, including a cute little drawing of us on one of the eggs. See it on my Instagram. She's so talented; much of her art looks just like Adventure Time!

  And here's us with Ashley! She's our only non-military friend, which kind of means she's our only friend. I've had a lot of trouble relating to any body lately; without kids and a southern heritage I don't really fit in with any of the wives. It's been really great to hang out with someone who knows how miserable this town is and easy to get along with.

  We went for a short trip to "Mount" Scott (poor excuse for a mountain I say, as an Arizonan) and discovered most of the trees were covered in ice! We were also accompanied by a pretty chilly wind. Despite it being officially time for spring, it hasn't quite arrived. We've had numerous thunder storms and weather below 50 degrees. Although, it does do what Prescott does and have one beautiful 70 degree day followed by a shit storm of unfriendly weather the next.

  Fitness wise, I'm working on losing this last bit of weight I desperately want to get rid of. I've been so tired lately but really determined to keep my routine, even if it means getting up before seven to make sure I get my workout in. I've been slipping food wise because it's a lot more difficult to eat right when you're too tired to make a meal. All I can say is I know I'm burning extra calories at work with all the running around I'm doing, and I still consciously correct my diet after I notice a bad meal or two. It's been a difficult adjustment but I'm doing what I can! I still believe I'll have made progress by the time we take our much needed time off to go home.
  Speaking of, it's getting closer and closer! Just over a month now and we'll be packing a ton of stuff for us and our pets and beginning that 15 hour journey home. We're anxiously counting down. It's going to be fantastic to be home for three whole weeks; it's all I can think about.
  That's all for now!

Finally, A Job

  It's been beyond stupid trying to find a job in this town. I gave up for a period of time because after every place I applied, called, and emailed, they hardly gave me the time of day before promising to get back to me and never doing so. And most times I checked available jobs, there were two options: Pizza Hut or Home Depot. Not very appealing. I just wasn't that desperate, I don't know.
  My employment status seems to come up in every conversation we have with anyone in our family or close friends at home. I know there's not that much to talk about per say, but do you know how annoying it is to hear "so are you working anywhere yet?" every. single. phone call. If I was, I'd say so pretty quickly, because it's news. But as if I didn't feel like enough of a lazy mooch who can't get a job, everyone had to remind me constantly that I wasn't doing anything.
  So stop the presses! It's finally happened!
  Anyway, I'll stop being sarcastic.
  We went in to this new Greek restaurant for a meal, and somehow I came out with a job. I noticed someone else coming in to apply and decided to give it a shot, honestly expecting to be shot down like everywhere else. But instead I was put on the schedule immediately! So that was really surprising.
  It's honestly one of the best places to eat here, for a few reasons. The first is that people just don't seem to care quite like they do in Arizona. Both the service and the food quality is just lower than expected. It's littered with fast food places, and it's hard to sift through them to find places that are decent. Even when we were recommended some place, we were still disappointed. But at this Greek house I suddenly find myself employed by, the food is handmade and authentic and amazing.
  The job itself is not even close to difficult. I haven't quite gotten a hang of the register, but I had my first table on my first day. I still remember how hectic things got at the resort restaurant, and knowing it will never be like that puts it in perspective. The place isn't even very big. As of now I have a pretty good feeling about it all. I'm still in that beginning crash course paperworking phase, but by next week I think I'll really have a hang of things.
  So that's that...I'm officially a waitressing food slave. But hey, the food is tasty!

More From The Exercise Diaries

  I haven't posted much about fitness in the last while because I felt like I hadn't made much progress. None worth mentioning anyway. But when I compared a picture from today to just two months ago I was so surprised! I knew some of my clothes felt like they had a little more room in them, but I don't own a scale. I still don't want one. I'm not a number and I don't want to get sucked into looking at it every day.  
  But holy crap! This is probably the most progress I've made since I started. It's been slower than I wanted it to be, that's for sure. Though I've been feeling up to more and more and doing things that challenge me, raising the bar all the time. It's about time it paid off. Michael told me this morning that one of the guys in his unit we saw this weekend said I'd lost a lot of weight. I don't think I'd seen him since sometime last year, but it was really awesome to hear.
  This week is the 20th week of my own exercise regimen. I've also been trying pretty hard to eat better. I hardly ever eat red meat and I've been adding tofu to certain dishes. Anyway, this is a recovery week, something I picked up from P90X. Every fourth week I cut out strength training and focus on cardio and core. On weeks that aren't recovery weeks, I dedicate certain days to certain muscles. Last week looked like this:
  1. Fire 45 EZ, Lower 20
  2. Elliptical 37min at Resistance 18, Distance of 1.178 miles, Tone 30
  3. Fire 60
  4. Elliptical for 23min at Resistance 18 0.729 miles, Hiit 20, Abs 10
  P90X Shoulders and Arms, 10lb weights, minimum of 15 reps each exercise
  5. Rest Day
  6. Fire 45, Core 20
  7. Abs 10, Stretch 40
So even though it's taken what feels like forever, it seems I'm finally doing something right. I still have a goal size I'm working towards, and I'm also hoping that going home for almost a month won't totally ruin me. It's easy to eat lots of fattening foods and be lazy. But there's also a lot more outdoor activity possibilities. We'll see how I handle it.

New Ink

  I've been wanting to get matching tattoos with my husband for a while. We keep talking about a ring finger tattoo but we can't seem to come to a firm conclusion, and he isn't sure about getting another visible tattoo while he's in the army. Finally I brought up the idea of the red string of fate. It's said that people who are meant to be in each others lives are connected by a long red invisible string by the gods. No matter how far away or how tangled the string gets, it will never break. It's kind of our promise that no matter what happens we'll be there for each other. So far I've always liked having Mikey in my life since the day I met him, friends or more. I'm happy with how they came out. Simple and cute.

  This one was all for me. I've been entertained by lip tattoos. I love what people choose to put there. It's something others won't see unless you want them to. I chose this phrase from a tv show I like, honestly. Archer. It's hilarious. I thought it was also a fitting phrase because I tend not to have a filter when I talk. It's my danger zone, and I don't care what you think.
  Pain wise, the toe hurt so much more. Getting my lip done was awkward for sure; the artist stuck a paper towel in my mouth to dry it out and had to get a pen to finally work in order to make the outline. Some parts of it I didn't feel at all, others I definitely did. Mostly it was just strange. The string I wanted done as soon as possible and cursed loudly all the way through it. But they're done! I'm proud of both of them.
  The only issue is inner lip tattoos don't always stay. It's a strange spot; they can often rub away just in the first few weeks. I'll just have to wait and see if I need to get it touched up, and if I do, if it'll be worth getting done over and over. Of course, it can also go the other way, and it may stay forever.
  I plan on getting a tattoo when we visit home as well later this year, but I'm not sure what. Tattoos are so addicting!

Letters R and S

R – Respect

86. How do you show respect? When I don't argue and I go out of my way to do what I'm asked.
87. What can someone do for you to lose all respect for them? Not much, honestly, if it personally affected me. It depends though. It might just take a conversation and an act that counteracts whatever made me lose respect for you. But in most cases I never really gain it back.
88. Do you respect your teachers, parents, and other authority figures? If they seem intelligent and confident, yes.
89. When you are disrespectful to your parents, what is the punishment? Used to be I'd be grounded, get my cell phone taken away, wouldn't be able to go to whatever party or friends I was invited to.
90. If someone is mean to you, are you mean back or do you kill them with kindness? My first impulse is to be mean back. But now I stonewall, meaning I don't do anything and just let them wear themselves out.

S – School

91. If you are still in school, what grade will you be going into? I don't even know anymore. I haven't been in school for a while. I'm at a strange point in my life where I'm not sure what I want to do.
92. When will you graduate high school/college? Couldn't say.
93. After high school, what did you do/are you planning to do? I originally wanted to be a therapist. Now I'm thinking about being a fitness instructor. Maybe I'll do both? No idea.
94. Do you like or hate school? What do you like/hate about it? I actually like school. It's just enough stress (usually) to motivate me.
95. Have you ever been suspended, expelled, or dropped out of school? I guess I kind of stopped going to college. But only since I moved to Oklahoma. I left my last school with notice and did it right, I didn't enroll and abandon it. I've never done that. 

   Stole this from Tumblr. I feel like there can be a fine line between judging someone and losing respect for them because of something they did, but I have a hard time respecting someone who can't be strong enough to respect themselves. Obviously I don't judge race, sexuality or religion, but I'm just so disappointed by people who can't seem to leave a situation that makes them unhappy. I know it can be hard, especially if it's something you're comfortable with/incredibly used to; change is scary. But if you're unhappy and can't seem to fix it, why force it? I can't stand seeing people just letting themselves be unhappy because they think its some kind of sacrifice just to have something stable. Find the strength to walk away, because you know you deserve better.

  That's my blurb on respect for the day.

February via Instagram

Classic Valentine's Day treat/Hubby bought me my favorite flowers/Our own s'more station at a restaurant in OK City

  I don't know why but for some reason February really zoomed by me. Michael doesn't agree, but I think it's because this month was actually fairly eventful for us, and you know what they say about time and having fun and whatnot.

My first buffalo sighting/The Parallel Forest/A really sweet spot to relax

  This month I admitted to enjoying Oklahoma a little bit. We finally made a friend who has been showing us the sights and introducing us to new people. We had a great Valentine's Day weekend. Finally, we got out to see the nature side of Oklahoma, too. Of course it all involved driving away from the town we live in, because even the locals admit it's not a great place.
  We went a little nuts after the tax return and bought a ton of camping gear because, and I am SO GLAD to be saying this, we are officially going to Supai in May! The leave packet is in and we will be in Arizona for a few days short of a month and it takes a lot of strength to push down the excitement until it gets a little closer.

Boyish 80's haircut/Feeling confident

  I also got the balls to chop off most of my hair this month. It was over twelve inches, I checked. (That's what she said, right?) Anyway it was a huge relief and I wish I'd done it sooner! I thought I'd be weepy and regretful but I can honestly say I'm so happy I did it. It literally took weight off my shoulders (you wouldn't believe how thick and heavy my hair was) and seeing someone different in the mirror has really perked me up. Everything is easier without all that hair in the way.

First attempt at the longest cardio class/A really long workout day/Loose pants are fun

     This month has been really good for me fitness wise. Just when I felt like I may be reaching a plateau, I decided to crank it up and challenge myself yet again. This week was one of the roughest so far, and I plan on repeating it. My workouts have been well over an hour and if I'm not satisfied I'll keep going. I tried the Fire 60 class and made it to the end, struggling at first but reaching a second wind and being proud by the end. I'm starting to see some serious results week by week, and I think I can see my goal in the next month or two. When I started working out last year, I was having trouble with a lot of things; I couldn't even do a few pushups on my toes. I've made so much progress, it's ridiculous. I can tell when I reach my goal size, it'll probably be the best shape I've ever been in. I just hope I can keep up good habits while I'm on vacation.

   So even though February had a slow start, it really picked up until suddenly it was Valentine's Day, and now March is just a few days away! I really hope this keeps up. May cannot come sooner.

Warm Bodies; Book vs. Film

  I heard a few months back about this movie coming out, and also heard there was a novel first. Naturally, I ran out to buy it and read it so I could eventually compare the two. Because...that's what I do.
  If you still don't know anything about Warm Bodies, it's a twist on the usual zombie tale by Issac Marion. The main character is in fact a zombie, who calls himself R (since he can't remember the rest of his name) and has thoughts and very suddenly feelings for a living girl after eating her boyfriend's brains. Whoops.
  I thought this story was just adorable. It wasn't like anything I'd ever read before; it was funny and had some heartwarming themes. It's also a pretty short read, around 200 ish pages (hey, I think that's short!) and it's the kind of book I'll be reading multiple times.
  I've heard people babbling about it being somehow related to Twilight, or it's "the new Twilight" or whatever bull honkey, perhaps just because Summit is attached to the film and Stephanie Meyer has a short blurb quote on the book. It. is. not. The writing style is better, fresher, and there are no awful terrible messages about forced/abusive relationships. So let's just not go there.
  I was way excited for the movie. I was expecting them to leave things out and change things, as is the way of book to film transitions, and that did happen. But it was still a cute movie on it's own. It lacked a few things here and there (which I'll bring up) but overall it wasn't a big let down and I still really enjoyed it.
 So brace for spoilers! I'm about to list differences.

  1. There is so much more about the two separate societies they probably didn't have time to cover in the film. The zombies are a little more life like than it showed. They have their own customs. R gets "married" after bumping into a girl and the Boneys decide to pair them permanently. They are even given two children to look after (nodded to in the film I believe by the two kids he passes a few times). New zombies and zombie children are also "taught" how to hunt in a small arena with a live person. This is paralleled by the living society, where people still get married and are taught how to kill zombies at a young age.
  2. The living society didn't block off part of a city in the book as they did in a movie. I think there were quite a bit less of them; they built a small town inside of a stadium. Buildings where constructed out of scraps of other buildings and streets were labeled with pictures instead of words for children who hadn't learned to read yet. In the movie it was this huge area with what was obviously a class separation due to over crowding. The leader had a big fancy apartment, while others lived in tents. Plausible I guess but not sure why the change.
  3. As with most book to films, a lot gets left out or changed about the characters. R's best friend M is actually a huge bearded man, who happens to still retain a sexual perversion and still manages to "have sex" with zombie women. His body parts frequently fall off. They made his development kind of quick in the movie but it makes a lot more sense in the book. Perry is not the jock gone douchebag he appears to be in the film. R eats quite a bit more pieces of his brain and Perry almost becomes a second voice in his mind. He encourages R, roots for him to go for Julie and get better. The memory of Perry dying is unpleasant, but doesn't revolt R into spitting out the piece. Julie is even feistier in the book, but she also takes R to the grave site of her mother and we hear a lot more about her life. Julie's friend Nora is a darker skinned Ethiopian girl missing part of one of her fingers. She is sassy, most definitely, but with more dimensions than her Caucasian film equivalent.

  4. The big finish of the story happens a bit differently than in the film. Julie's father believes R's disguise temporarily and he hangs around longer in their city. It's only during a rainy night when R is thinking about how hungry he is that a guard notices him and R can't help himself. He's just gotta eat the guy, which sets off the alarm after his body is found.
  5. There is a big battle in both renditions. R and Julie do a lot of running around from the Boneys and Julie's father after he realizes R isn't living. But Julie is pretty hesitant to kiss R. This seems like a sure way to get infected. They talk about it before they get cornered and Julie decides "fuck it" and does it anyway. I don't remember them being a pool when it happens, but maybe it does.

  Those are the main differences I can think off without finding specific passages from the book. There are little details left out, the things that don't quite matter as much, like certain things R collected on his plane, or the music he chose to convey his feelings, or what Julie ate when they went looking for food. Picky stuff. It's just really interesting to me to find differences and details in books and their films. If you've seen the movie but haven't read the book, do it! It's fun to see the world expanded and find out new things people don't know unless they've read it.