Unread Kittehs and Jazzercise

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Caroline - Thanks for asking about Jazzercise. I too am still going about 3 times a week. I am totally loving it although my teacher kicks my butt! Are you guys doing the new "4 minutes" routine? wow, hard.

Apparently Ryka shoes are like the "official shoe" of Jazzercise and I am dying to get my hands on a pair of Studio D's.

Ryka Studio D's

How to be a Woman

I came across this in someone else's blog today and It really hit home with me.

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/05/how-to-be-a-woman/


1. Get to know your authentic self.
Discover the real you. Don’t blindly accept the role you were conditioned by others to fill. You have your own path to follow. Be your own independent person. Don’t allow peer pressure to force you into an inauthentic role.

2. Own your power.
Accept full responsibility for your life. Don’t live as a doormat, a sheep, or a victim. Stop giving away your power. You must accept that you’re the creator of your life and that no one is coming to rescue you. Many women stressed the importance of taking responsibility for your own financial future instead of leaving it in the hands of a spouse.

3. Find your voice.
Build the courage to express yourself authentically. Speak your truth. You deserve to be heard. If others react negatively, that’s their problem. Ask for what you want; you can’t expect others to be mind-readers. You teach others how you want to be treated — not by dropping hints but by telling them directly. If you don’t speak up for yourself, who will?

4. Find your tribe.
Consciously build and nurture a supportive network of positive relationships, including family and friends. Drop relationships that drain you; maintaining them is self-abuse. If you don’t like your current relationships, it’s up to you to change that. Surround yourself with good people who love you and inspire you. You deserve the very best relationships.

5. Practice self-care.
Avoid overwhelm by taking time to sharpen the saw. Give yourself permission to do what you enjoy. Demands from other people can wait. Accept that you can’t do everything for everyone. You can’t give to others when you’re empty inside.

6. Express your creative side.
Cultivate outlets for creative self-expression. Explore music, art, writing, poetry, etc. Build a business. Be artistic. Put your ideas into physical form.

7. Embrace conscious sexuality.
You and you alone must decide the role sex will play in your life. There are no right or wrong answers. If you want it and enjoy it, let that be enough. Different women had widely varying opinions on what kind of sexual expression they personally preferred, ranging from waiting until marriage to having guilt-free one-night stands. But the commonality was that they consciously decided and accepted what was right for them, regardless of how other people felt about it.

8. Be beautiful.
True beauty comes from the inside. It can’t be found beneath a load of cosmetics and surgical alterations. Recognize that you’re a beautiful person on the inside, and you’ll broadcast that awareness on the outside. You are beautiful.

9. Keep your heart open.
Regardless of how badly you may have been hurt in the past, keep your heart open. You’re stronger than you think. The rewards of love outweigh the risks of being hurt again. You’re here to express love, not to live in fear.

10. Become wise.
You are highly intuitive, so work on deepening your ability to trust your intuition. Keep learning and growing. In the long run, your wisdom will become one of your greatest assets, both as a way to meet your own needs and to help others. (Many women placed a very high value on developing their wisdom.)

update!

hey all,
Yeah I know I hardly post. Yet somehow I get angry when none of YOU guys have posted. Funny how that works huh?

I really don't have much to say. Life sucks for me at the moment. I'm 32, living with my parents, without a job and my husband left me. Not really winning any great achievement awards there.

I suppose overall I am doing ok though. I no longer spend my days crying and have started to do some new things.
- I have had 2 job interviews with a company that I like.
- I went to Jazzercise by myself last night, got a good workout, met new people and had fun
- Found a church I enjoy going to

Not really sure Columbia is where I will be staying. I definitely would consider a job in Greenville or maybe even Spartanburg. So if anyone lives there let me know of anything!

I would love to be able to find a group of Clemson loving friends that I can start going to the football games with in the fall.

So that's an update from me.

Baby Alyssa!

She is just 4 days old in this picture. She is a tiny 5 pounds.

Alyssa Katie

My brother and his wife welcomed their first child into the world yesterday. This is my parents first grandchild and they are so excited.

Congrats Jon and Allison!

update

Hey all,
Thank you to those of you that have emailed me lately. Yes as many of you assumed Mat and I are divorcing. About a month ago he told me he no longer loved me and wanted to end our marriage. As you can imagine I have been extremely devastated. I am currently trying to pick up and move on even though it's the most painful thing I have ever done in my life.

I have moved back to South Carolina and am currently living with my parents and looking for work.

Feel free to email me anytime.
Thank you for thinking about and praying for me.

Over You - Daughtry

Now that it's all said and done,
I can't believe you were the one
To build me up and tear me down,
Like an old abandoned house.
What you said when you left
Just left me cold and out of breath.
I fell too far, was in way too deep.
Guess I let you get the best of me.

Well, I never saw it coming.
I should've started running
A long, long time ago.
And I never thought I'd doubt you,
I'm better off without you
More than you, more than you know.
I'm slowly getting closure.
I guess it's really over.
I'm finally getting better.
And now I'm picking up the pieces.
I'm spending all of these years
Putting my heart back together.
'Cause the day I thought I'd never get through,
I got over you.

You took a hammer to these walls,
Dragged the memories down the hall,
Packed your bags and walked away.
There was nothing I could say.
And when you slammed the front door shut,
A lot of others opened up,
So did my eyes so I could see
That you never were the best for me.

Well, I never saw it coming.
I should've started running
A long, long time ago.
And I never thought I'd doubt you,
I'm better off without you
More than you, more than you know.
I'm slowly getting closure.
I guess it's really over.
I'm finally getting better.
And now I'm picking up the pieces.
I'm spending all of these years
Putting my heart back together.
'Cause the day I thought I'd never get through,
I got over you.

Well, I never saw it coming.
I should've started running
A long, long time ago.
And I never thought I'd doubt you,
I'm better off without you
More than you, more than you know.

Well, I never saw it coming.
I should've started running
A long, long time ago.
And I never thought I'd doubt you,
I'm better off without you
More than you, more than you know.
I'm slowly getting closure.
I guess it's really over.
I'm finally getting better.
And now I'm picking up the pieces.
I'm spending all of these years
Putting my heart back together.
Well I'm putting my heart back together,
'Cause I got over you.
Well I got over you.
I got over you.
'Cause the day I thought I'd never get through,
I got over you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C_oHwLcivY&feature=related

life.

my life will never be the same.

check in

hey all,
I just wanted to take a second to thank those of you who have reached out to me during this time. It really means so much to me. I have had some great emails and several really nice phone conversations with you guys.

Thank you for showing me good friends make such a difference in life.

stuff.

I cannot begin to tell you how hard it is to separate and pack up 8 years worth of stuff.

pictures, wedding mementos, disney souvenirs all make me cry uncontrollably.

News

Hey all,
I have some news I need to share with you all. I don't feel right posting about it here so please drop me an email at justmelanie75@gmail.com so I can reply back to you.

Thanks.

meeting new people

hey guys,
I really need to meet some new friends in my area. What are some things you guys do to meet new people?

new layout

I don't really have much to say I just wanted to show off my new pretty layout I found at suckmylolly.com.

Mat and I had a vacation that wasn't this week thanks to the snow. I promise to post more about it tomorrow I just don't have it in me tonight.

Here's a link to the 6 whole pictures we took.

Wednesday Dribble

hey all,
I realize I need to do my part and update more often. I really enjoy reading everyone's else entries so I should do the same!

I am having a blah week this week. Maybe it's in the air. I noticed that Kristi is having a hard week too. Nothing bad really just kinda down.

I have got to get back to exercising again. We were doing so well until we got sick and then it has been hard to re-motivate ourselves. Also next week I must plan ahead so I have healthy dinners ready to go.

So it looks like Obama may beat Clinton. Hey I'm still surprised McCain is a front runner. I was hoping a woman would make it into the white house. I guess we shall see. I will have to take some time and learn more about the candidates but overall I just feel we are ready for someone new.

Thanks to Lauren, Andrea and Kerri for suggestions on my last post.
Lauren - We did get a monitor. I look forward to trying it out!
Andrea and Kerri - They actually have that book at my library so I hope to pick it up this week.
Kerri - Thanks for the site recommendation. I went and started my charts!

Ok well I will put you guys out of my random dribble misery! Plus the longer I stay up the more tempted I am to eat chocolate!

Happy Valentines Day

Hi Everyone,
Wow you know I'm such a slacker. About 2 weeks ago I went out and bought v-day cards. They are still sitting wrapped up on my kitchen counter. UGH.

Sorry I haven't been posting here much lately. I have been more active over on my food journal since I am actively trying to eat better so feel free to check out my entries over there.

Still no word on the pregnancy front. Mat is getting more frustrated than I am. I am looking into getting a Fertility Monitor to help out. Anyone else ever used one before?

land of the living

Wow, it feels so nice to be returning to the land of the living. That cold just held on and on. Mat is a day or so behind me but we are recovering. Now just back to the usual daily grind. We haven't been to the Y in over a week. I am hoping by Tuesday or Wednesday I can stop coughing enough to go.

Mat took me to see Juno yesterday. I had been really wanting to see and I am so glad I did. I loved it. I highly recommend it to you.

In our quest to start eating better I spent a few hours today planning meals for the week, grocery shopping and just prepping to have everything ready this week. I feel quite accomplished! If you feel like reading more about it you can check it out on my food blog.

Well little miss gracie is growling at me so I am going to go see if I can figure out what she needs.

Have a nice week!

flu

I am pretty sure I have the flu and at this moment I feel like death.

update: so no flu but I do have an upper respitory infection. I still feel like death.

justmelanie...food!

hey guys! Just wanted you to know I have been spending a good bit of my posting time lately over at my food blog. Just wanted to remind you I have both!

http://justmelaniefood.blogspot.com/

Tuesday Blues

I am so bummed that Heath Ledger died. It's not like I knew him personally or anything but somehow I just find it so sad. Perhaps it was because it was so young or that he has a little daughter or because he happened to star in one of my all time favorite movies (10 things I hate about you).






Well I didn't have to work today but I sure didn't have any fun either. I spent 3 hours at the dentist having a crown and a filling done. Both of which they had to go back in and give me more shots to numb me. Glad it's over now but definitely not pleasant.

Then I took Gracie to petsmart to get her nails done and she decides to poop there. Yeah me!

Mat and I went to the Y tonight and I managed to get in 30 minutes of cardio. I was hoping it would help my attitude but no luck. I have been grumptastic this week.

I think I am going to go hop in bed now before my attitude gets any worse.

Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 6 year wedding anniversary. Wow, 6 years! That blows my mind.

I scanned and uploaded a few wedding photos.



Click the photo for a few more!