Keep on the Sunny Side

Lately I have been spectacularly good at finding the negative in life.  I've turned into one of those annoying people who isn't really rude, but doesn't ever have anything positive to say.   It's getting to the point where I don't even recognize the positive any more.

I have so many great ideas about what I want my life to be like, yet all I really want to do is crawl into bed and sleep.  Forever.  Just sleep.  That sounds heavenly.  It is obvious that I am depressed, at least to some degree.  I'm not sad and unable to function; I'm just negative and 'blah'.  I continue going to work.  I occasionally get the kids something to eat.  I occasionally do a few dishes or sweep the floor.  I vacuum nearly every day and I put all the clean clothes away every week.  So see, I'm not completely non-functional.

Even my husband has mentioned this recently.  He has NEVER been the type of husband to tell me I'm depressed and do it in a jerky manner.  I'm not sure how to describe what I'm thinking of, but I've heard of husbands who do this.  So anyway, he's not like that, but he has gently suggested recently that I might consider maybe possibly going to a doctor to look into anti-depressants.  I was like "Why would I go to a doctor to 'look into' them?  They'll just prescribe them?!"  And he answered "yeah".  Oh.

I'm too deeply entrenched into the world of natural health to go to anti-depressants just yet.  I know what I need to do.  Exercise and eating better would make a world of difference for me.  I know this.  I've always known this.  Yet I still don't do it.  So will I start on my own?  Or is mine a situation where pharmaceuticals would help me get enough motivation to start, and then I could continue on my own?  It's something to think about for now.   

Also, apparently I'm supposed to be looking for the positive in things.  I have been practically bombarded by messages from every side about looking for the positive in life and being happy.  I'm reading a book called "Wake Up to a Happier Life."  Based on the title alone, it's obvious what kind of messages I'm getting from there.  Lessons at church are often about being grateful for what we do have and looking on the bright side of things.  A good friend gave me a Christmas card about me being a happy person.  I wondered where she got that idea, but it made me think about what my life would be like if I was really like that on the inside and the outside.  To seal the deal, today I got this quote by Bob Proctor in my inbox:

"Everything that happens in your life today will either appear negative or positive. Keep in mind whatever happens must have a positive side to it.

A large majority of the population seems to be mentally programmed to pay attention to the negative side of life and unfortunately, ignore the positive.

Make a decision right now that, regardless of what happens today, you are going to look for the positive aspect of what's happening. Remember... every cloud has a silver lining. Do this again tomorrow and the next day until it becomes a habit to see the positive in everything. You will feel better, you will be more productive, and you will have more friends."

So apparently I'm supposed to be positive and find joy.  I mentioned that last month, before NaBloPoMo.  Clearly I'm still not doing it, but I'm a little closer now.

Too Country? Nope, Too Practical.

I really regret not going to Brad Paisley's concert last year, and it looks like practicality may win out again this year.   You know how women are supposed to be offended if their husband buys them a cleaning implement or kitchen appliance for their anniversary?  Not me - that's the kind of stuff I specifically ask for.  The best gift I can ever remember receiving was my Bosch mixer, although it was from my mom when I graduated from BYU.  So when I look at the long list of things I want, I typically prioritize by practicality.  Brad Paisley tickets are on the low end of "practical".  Here's my unedited list of Things I Want or Think I Need, exactly as it is written on my secret scrap of paper [I'll save my editorial comments and explanations for a future post]:

Natural/mineral makeup and/or makeover
Spa stuff - massage, manicure, etc.
Chiropractic care
Contacts and/or glasses
Henna
Flexi-8's
Ficcares
hairsticks
Nursing bra
Clothes
Shoes
Food processor attachment for Bosch
Dillard's or similar gift certificates
Engineering scale
BRAD PAISLEY CONCERT tickets
Photoshop Elements
Digital scrapbooking instructional DVDs
silk sleeping cap or pillowcase
AV re:coil
robe

When I look at that long list of much more practical things, how can I even consider concert tickets?  Not to mention the other challenges of going to this concert, namely:
1 - It's an hour away, on a weeknight
2 - My husband would have to skip most of his sleeping time to go, and then he'd have to go to work right afterwards.  We might even have to leave early so he can get to work.
3 - I'd have to go to work the next day (but maybe this isn't really a big deal since I always stay up half the night wasting time on the internet)
4 - We'd have to get a babysitter who could take the kids until very late at night (but maybe we could get noise-reducing ear muffs and take the baby with us)
5 - I discussed the cost with my husband, and we agreed that we'd forego expensive Christmas presents (like concert tickets) and get a portable dishwasher instead.  We HATE washing dishes by hand.  I'm all for the old days, but not when it comes to dishwashers.  I love modern appliances.

Earlier in the week when I started this post, I was waffling.  The biggest thing is the dishwasher.  I could buy the tickets and have one fun night.  Or I could put that money towards the dishwasher and be 80% free from dishes from here on out.  We were thinking that we'd be spending $300+ for the dishwasher.  But yesterday I found a NEVER BEEN USED nearly-new portable dishwasher on KSL.com for $75!!  Of course it was gone by the time I found it, but if one popped up, another will come along eventually.  (I hope). 

Oh and by the way, I've made my choice.  I'm throwing caution to the wind and ignoring the consequences - I'm buying the tickets.  Tomorrow morning, 10 am sharp.

Is It Raining At Your House?

I went outside to go to work and it's raining!  Glorious rain!  I love rain.  I think rain is the biggest thing I miss about Houston.  Houston gets an average of 44" of RAIN per year.  And it's usually warm rain - wonderful for going outside and getting soaked in.  My area of Utah gets 15-20" per year, but that includes the rain-equivalent of snow, so really, not much rain :-( 

There's one big downside to this rain.  It's all going to turn to ice.  A solid sheet of ice under several inches of snow.  That will be fun. 

It Never Woulda Worked Out Anyway

To the person who stumbled upon this blog by Googling "defrizzer": You are at the wrong place ---->

Oh My (Stinkin' Heck) and a Side Note

OMSH is hosting a funny face contest. I had absolutely no intention of participating, because I figure that the fewer pictures of me there are on this blog, the better. But then my 3-year old went crazy with the camera, and I ended up with a funny face picture. So here it is:



I was messing around with the special effects that came with the camera software, and I thought this one was especially fetching:



Side Note: I found out today that based on my page views, I could make 75 cents per month if I added BlogHer ads to this blog!!

Side Note 2: I have got to get up to date on photo uploading and handling. I think I am doing it a very old fashioned way. I open the picture in my free software program and save it once in a relatively large size and once in a smaller size. Then I upload both to Photobucket. Then I add the small image to my post using HTML, and point the href tag to the larger picture. I'm doing it totally weird, huh?

Let me try the Blogger "add image" button:
Whoa! It added 5 lines of nasty looking code to this post. Yuck. I don't like it because I don't know what the code is doing, exactly. I do like how it allows the picture to be in line with the text. But I'm sure I could learn that fairly easily. Or not. I just checked a couple blogs, and they don't do that in-line thing. They maximize the picture width to cover the full width of the text column on their blog.

I just remembered that the reason I got on to the computer in the first place was to upload some pictures of some stuff I'm selling on KSL.com. Oops.

Which famous person are you?

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Hope for America

I have added two new banners to this page. I urge you to check out Ron Paul and see for yourself what kind of candidate he is. Check out the library as well as the main campaign site.

I heard third-hand that the State Department has said that Ron Paul supporters are threats to national security. That actually makes a lot of sense. The stronghold the federal government has on our nation would be destroyed if Ron Paul was elected president. I can see how they would feel that their power is threatened by Ron Paul and his supporters :) So count me in as a threat to national security.

NaBloPoOops

A few weeks ago, I said there was NO WAY I was doing NaBloPoMo. On Thursday I changed my mind, and figured I'd at least give it a go for a few days. But then yesterday I forgot to post! I guess at least that takes the pressure off, so now I only have to post if I really want to.

Three Rants, One Resolved (kind of)

1) Our easy listening station is playing Christmas music already! If I'm not mistaken, I wrote about this last year. This year, it totally took me by surprise. It can't be November already! I remember when I was a kid, time went s o o o o s l o w l y y y y y . Now it ZIPS by.

2) Why do big huge SUVs slow down to a crawl to go over speed bumps and through dips? What is the point of having an SUV if you can't barrel through bumps and dips at full speed? Surely if your Hummer suspension can handle off-roading, it can handle a little dip at 25 mph.

3) Last year I didn't buy tickets to the Brad Paisley concert because we were kind of low on cash. I figured I would just go this year. In retrospect, that was kind of dumb, because last year I should've realized that I'd have a newborn by concert time this year. A few months ago I started looking at tour dates, and it seemed that Brad Paisley wasn't coming to Utah this year. I was QUITE annoyed (that is the rant part). However, he apparently IS coming, on January 24th-ish - at least that's what I remember from the radio - there's nothing about it on his website yet. That doesn't quite solve the newborn problem though. Baby will be 5 months old by then, and I leave him every day for work, so in theory, I should be able to leave him long enough for a concert. But ideally I'd go to the concert with Husband, and he's the one who stays with Baby while I'm at work. My mom is probably afraid to tend him while he's that young (are you, Mom?), but maybe I can find someone else. We'll see.

Edited to add:
I've got to get more creative! I'm totally recycling posts from last year. See, I wrote about Brad Paisley here, and I wrote about the Christmas music (and Brad Paisley) here. Blogging appears to bring out the teenage girl in me - I really don't gush about Brad Paisley in real life, at all (seriously).

?

Well, I've successfully managed to not post for nearly 9 months! The good news is that in that time, there has been progress on the problems I mentioned in my last post. Namely, two Chipotle restaurants have opened up less than an hour from here! I guess I wasn't craving it all that much though, because I haven't gone yet. I'd still rather have Texadelphia cheesesteaks and Don Carlos queso.

In order to tell how far away Chipotle is from me, I had to put it into Google Maps. I figured I'd be lazy and leave off the city/state and just use the zip code. So I put my address in the 'from' field and 6924 South Park Centre Drive, 84121 in the 'to' field. What did Google do? It gave me a location in HOUSTON. Of all the places in the entire country/world, it chose Houston. Interesting.

I'm thinking of doing NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month or something) again this November. But I still feel extremely inhibited when writing about important or personal things, so I'd be posting a month's worth of drivel. I could write about my hair for a month. That would be fun for the guys who read this. I could do hair growth progress, a history of my hair, hair routines, hair products, and hair styles. The possibilities boggle the mind.

Holding On to You

When we left Houston, I regretted that I had not tried many of the thousands of restaurants in the area. However, I am grateful now, because I'd have probably found lots of good ones that I'd really be missing now.

There are several restaurants and foods that I am missing the most:
1) Texadelphia cheesesteaks, particularly the Mustard Blend sauce
2) Chipotle burritos (1450 calories each!)
3) Ninfa's and/or Don Carlos' queso and fajitas

None of these restaurants exist in Utah.

I have located two Utah restaurants that are known for their cheesesteaks*. One is in the Piper Down Irish pub in Salt Lake City, and the other is Philadelphia Sub Shop in Clearfield. I will most likely be disappointed if I try them, because I am craving Texadelphia's taste, and nothing else. I can also guarantee that neither will have Mustard Blend sauce, which is the most important part of a Texadelphia cheesesteak. I have found a couple sources on the internet claiming that the ingredients for the sauce are mayonnaise, yellow mustard, Gulden's spicy mustard, Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce, honey, and water. I'm going to experiment with the mustard blend sauce and then maybe I'll take some with me to the cheesesteak place in Clearfield someday. I knew before I left Houston that I needed to buy at least two jars of Mustard Blend from Texadelphia, but I forgot about it :-P If my experiment doesn't work out, I'll order some or have my Houston co-workers send me some.
* I understand that places like Subway and Quizno's have cheesesteaks, but they seem to have pretty consistent bad reviews.

I've tried New York Burrito, which seemed to be similar to Chipotle, but it wasn't even close. The basic idea was the same, but the burritos were small, and the ingredients were tasteless. The guacamole tasted like it was made from a powder.

I tried the fajitas at Bajio Mexican Grill. They were OK, but they weren't anything like Ninfa's/Don Carlos. Ninfa's/Don Carlos fajitas are simple Tex-Mex fajitas - flour tortillas, steak or chicken, onions/peppers, pico de gallo, guacamole, and sour cream, with beans and rice on the side. Everything is fresh (the key) and flavorful, but none of the flavors are overwhelming. Bajio Grill's fajitas had a bunch of strong flavors all competing for attention, which made everything kind of gross.

The final thing I need is queso. I have found a bunch of different recipes for queso, so I'm sure I'll find one that is satisfying. I used to melt Velveeta and add canned jalapenos and thin it with milk, and that worked all right. However, I want to find something that uses real cheese instead of Velveeta.