What Would Jen Do

BEACHIE is letting me cohost Follow Friday Four Fill in Fun!!

the statements are:

1.       I like to avoid ___ if possible

2.       ___ is a virtue I do not have

3.       Sometimes the _____________ are the ______________

4.       I think that _____________ are the best _____________
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MY ANSWERS

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1.       I like to avoid _confrontation__ if possible.  I am not confrontational by nature, under the right circumstances I will go Jersey Shore on someone but for the most part, I’d prefer not to.  

2.       _Patience for most people__ is a virtue I do not have.   I have a real hard time dealing with certain people.  If you are polite and nice and have common sense, then I can be so so patient.   When you are an idiot, patience gone.

3.       Sometimes the _people you think have the perfect lives____ are the _people who are secretly struggling with a lot. _

4.       I think that __dogs__ are the best __companions.  I mean, they just love you.  I wish I could be more like my dogs.  Just so excited for the simple things. We went on a car ride today that lasted all of about 15 minutes, but man were they excited as soon as i said ‘want to go for a ride?’  It was like they’d just hit the jackpot__

1. For Mother’s Day I _walked out the front door of my house and one second later heard a thud.  a bird flew into the second story window right above me and nearly fell ON ME.   after I got back from getting the mail, the bird was still a little woozy and flapping around in my doorway. so i couldn’t get back into my house.  then later i took my mom out to lunch and there was a car fire in the parking lot.  ________

2. What is your favorite dish that your Mom makes?  she makes this thing called (or I call it) tomato potatoes and really I have no idea how she made it.  I never even asked her, I just tried to recreate it on my own but it never quite matched up.  

3. Who are you a “Mom” too?  Mojo and Voodoo

4. What did you have for Mother’s Day dinner?  Wine, thin mint cookies and xanax. you think i’m kidding.

5. What is your fondest memory of your Mom?  I had a really good childhood, I have literally no bad memories of my mother as a kid, they were all good.  

Timothy Olyphant

I weirdly have a crush on this guy. I like him but I don’t, but I do.

ok i think i do.

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1. In the summer _i don’t go out much during the day, it’s way too hot.__

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2. I always _wiggle my toes___ when I_wake up and can’t fall back to sleep.  for some reason it’s like a calming thing and helps me get back to sleep. __

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3. Reading _DIY blogs__ makes me _think I can DIY.  (I can’t)___

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4. I like to live _in Arizona______ because _it’s like the safest state to live in and I don’t mean you won’t get killed here I mean no tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunami’s etc.   plus the freeways make sense and we’re set up on a grid system so it’s hard to get really lost.  Except for the awful heat and the fact that it’s a red state, it’s awesome here. ___

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1. What advice would you give a couple getting married? Don’t do it. 

2. If you could tell your 16 year old self ONE thing, what would it be? Think with your head and not with your heart.   And you are not fat (just for good measure)

3. What do you do to keep cool in the summer? (AC, windows, fans, swimming, etc.)  Ugh, don’t even get me started, it’s going to be over 100 this week.  My house has two AC units and a fan in every room.

4. What did you (or your wife) crave most while pregnant?  This one does not apply to me. 

5. Who is your favorite TV mom? Why?  Christine from New Adventures of Old Christine, because she’s HILARIOUS

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Kids and animals have it right.   They have the ability to relax, to go ahead and do what they feel like doing without worry.  There is nothing more important to them than what they are doing at the moment.  They haven’t learned to worry.

I am so jealous of people who never seem to worry about time.  To them it’s not ‘already 2pm on Sunday’  to them it’s ONLY 2pm on sunday.  To me it’s all ‘omg i have so much to do and it’s already 2pm’.

I read other peoples blogs and they say things like, I read a whole book after I got home from work.  Or that they got home and sat on the couch for the rest of  the night and drank wine.  Or they watched 5 episodes of One Tree Hill.

I don’t know what you do after you get home from work but 3 days a week I come home and work out for almost 2 hrs.  (don’t worry it’s not a consistent workout, this includes changing and rest time between sets) Then I take a shower, make dinner, clean something, feed the dogs, get everything ready for work the next day, clean something again, and then finally end up in bed.   On the days I don’t work out I take care of more things around the house that I didn’t have time to do on the other three days.

There are so many things I’d like to do but my brain for some reason won’t let me.  I always think there is something I SHOULD be doing.  Like cleaning, laundry, running errands.    My job while not high stress is very time consuming and brain consuming.   Not only do I have a commute of over an hour per day, my entire work day is go go go.  In my old position I had loads of time during the day to pay bills, keep up my blog, shop online, plan things.  But now I don’t have the time during the workday anymore so all that stuff has to be done later.

I do believe that I have the time to do the things I’d like to do, but that I end up filling my days with the things that I THINK need doing.

I would love to be able to read more.

I want to be able to spend the entire day watching an entire season of a TV show.

I want to drive 6 hours to san diego just to sit on the beach.

I want to take nice long baths and not spend most of my time in there thinking about what needs to be done when I get out.

I want to get a pedicure and not feel like i wasted time or money on it.

Speaking of friends.   While in France I noticed that lots of people were meeting up with friends for a drink.   And then they left, maybe to go home or maybe to move on to the next place.   Either way, they spent some time just hanging out.

I also have a hard time going to the movies because it’s a big time commitment (not to mention expensive)

I want to spend more time playing board games. I even have some of these.  I have Carcassonne and have no idea how to play it.

I spend a lot of time stressed out and on some kind of schedule. I feel like I always need to be doing something productive.  I don’t spend a lot of time doing fun things anymore. I used to spend a good part of my life out having fun and not worrying about much.

Truthfully, I have no reason to not live that way again.   I just have to figure out how to shuffle some things around and stop caring so much about other things.  no one really cares how often I vacuum my house or if the shelves in the fridge are clean or if I ironed my shirt.

For a really long time I have been toying with hiring a cleaning service to come in once every two weeks.  I have a hard time justifying the expense, it would be more than my last raise.  And I can clean the house myself.

But maybe knowing that my floors are mopped, my toilets are clean, the windows were washed and the carpet already vacuumed and that it would all happen again, would calm me down.   That alone would make the expense worth it.

how great would it be to lay around on this couch

drinking iced tea

and spending all day watching movies?

1.  I wish __I had a sister.  but a good one who has her shit together and actually likes me.  not just some random sister for the sake of having a sister. _______

2.  If you could witness any event past, present or future, what would it be?  I sure would have liked to have watched Prince William get married.  (it’s the only thing I can think of right now)  I have a girl crush on the princess.  Speaking of Princesses.  I walked across the tunnel in Paris where Princess Di died in a car accident.

3.  Do you like to cook?  not really.  i have no passion for cooking.  I can do it, and I can do it pretty well but it’s not my thing.  I’d rather bake.

4.  What do you like to do to get exercise? I walk on the treadmill and then lift weights.

5.  How tidy are you?  as I get older i get less and less anal and ocd about stuff.  I don’t like clutter.  I like for shelves, walls, counter tops and the like to be mostly bare.  I like a made bed and towels hung up nicely.  I like for things to be put away nicely and organized.   but then i have moments where i leave trash all over because i don’t want to pick it up at that moment.  then later i’m all OMG TRASH and pick it up immediately.

Matt Bomer

look into his eyes.

Matt Bomer is currently on White Collar. I haven’t seen this show but it’s in my Netflix queue.

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1.       I can’t stand when people say _are you at lunch?  while i am sitting there at my desk visibly EATING MY LUNCH___

2.       If you are going to spout off ‘political facts’__ please make sure that you are spouting facts and not just ‘something you heard’ and decided was truth. it is very hard living in a state that hates the president SO MUCH just because he’s alive. 

3.       Call me a _party pooper__ because _I hate staying out late_____

4.       If I had a dollar for every time I heard _that the president isn’t an american_, I swear I’d be a millionaire by now.

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1. What did you wear to prom? Include a picture if possible.  I wore a black straplesss dress that if I remember correctly had a sequiny top and a poofy bottom.   It was 1992.   It was shaped like this one, but a little more 90s. 

2. Would you rather be on the biggest loser or a food eating challenge? The Biggest Loser, mostly to get the work out and eating tips. 

3. Done fave sonic drink? Refreshing summer drink? (Hey, Kristina…was that a typo, or some “done good” Southern thing?)  I don’t go to Sonic ever.   We went a couple of years ago and hated every second of it.    But as for summer drinks, can’t go wrong with the white wine spritzer. 

4. What was your first car, and what did you call it?  It was a blue geo metro and I called it  ’my first car’

5. What’s one thing your child or spouse does that sends you over the edge? I am going to refuse to answer this question. 

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1. Do you have any Mother’s Day traditions? 

• no.  I often feel bad because my mom and I don’t have things that we do together regularly.   This year I plan to take her out for lunch or something.
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2. Do you take a daily vitamin? Why or why not?

•I do.   I take a prenatal vitamin, no I am not pregnant I just like that they have more stuff in them.  I also take a Vitamin C and a hefty B12.

3. Do you wear perfume every day? If yes, what kind?

• I do not. Sometimes if I remember I spray on a body spray from bath and body works but most days I forget.   Also some days my nose is more sensitive to smells than others and if I put body spray or perfume on it could possibly trigger a big old allergy attack.

4. When you walk or run or work out outside – what do you take with you?

•I used to take walks outside.  I don’t anymore, now I exclusively use the treadmill.   But when I did, I took my housekey, a water bottle and the pepper spray that velcroed onto your hand.   One time pre pepper spray there was a big truck that kept driving by me really slow all shady like and I was SURE  I was about to be kidnapped.

5. Repeat question. Summarize your week.

In the beginning of the week we were in Paris.  We got home around midnight Wednesday so yesterday was our first day home.  We basically got right back on schedule with the sleep and I spent yesterday doing laundry and cleaning up.    Today I still have more laundry and more cleaning.

We spent the last week in PARIS!!   I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures, but did manage to snap a few on my cell phone.

This was the view from our balcony.  We rented an apartment right in the heart of the city.

As you can see from the first picture, the weather was cloudy.  it was scheduled to rain all week but we managed to have 3 very nice and sunny days.

This one is straight out of the balcony.  The tower would be to the left.  All of the windows in the apartment faced the tower so you had a view of it no matter what room you were in. This was the main reason we rented this apartment.

Here is a partial mirror shot. One of the walls in the living room was mirrored.

We did A LOT of walking, i mean A LOT.    Paris is so easy to walk around and the busses and trains are some of the best in the world.

We went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa and Venus De Milo.

Since we were right in the heart of the city there were many shops and restaurants within walking distance.  We did a bit of grocery shopping since we had a full kitchen and ate some meals at home.   I now see the appeal of this kind of city living.  Being able to walk to so many places and not have to drive is so convenient.

People in France definitely seem to live their lives at a different pace.   No one seems grumpy or frantic. Driving out there is horrible but there is no road rage, no accidents, people just drive and if someone cuts you off, well that’s just how it goes.   Dogs are so well mannered and well groomed, people are friendly.   Men are also VERY affectionate.  Always touching and kissing their girlfriends.   I saw so many girls like UGH and pulling away.  But then it did leave me thinking that affection is under rated here.

I planned this trip around May Day, not realizing that it was happening.  That’s their version of Labor Day.  Lots of stuff is closed that day so that put a crimp in our plans.   We never made it to Versailles as planned but did make it to Euro Disney.  ON MAY DAY.  so while that wasn’t an ideal day to go, we (or at least I) had loads of fun. Disney isn’t husbands cup of tea, but I love going.

I can’t figure out how to add video, so not sure if this will work for you.  When the sun goes down the tower sparkles every hour on the hour until about 1am or so.

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it was a little stressful being in such a popular city with so many (stinky) tourists who don’t understand personal space.   Now i’m dreaming of taking a beach vacation where people just lay around and don’t bother each other.  any suggestions????

In the past few weeks:

my 9 year old goldfish sushi died.   I changed his water and then noticed that his bowl was leaking so I had to transfer him to something else. I think it was all too traumatic for him and he went downhill fast.

I accidentally squatted 125lbs instead of 105.  I figured out my mistake very quickly but decided to go ahead and give that weight a go.  It didn’t go very well.  That was a lot of weight to jump up, but now that I know my body is actually capable of that at a few reps, my goal is to get up to 125 a lot sooner as a regular weight.   At the rate i was going, it was going to be a few more months until I got there.

I now weigh about 2.5 lbs less than what my drivers license says I weigh.   That weight hasn’t been true in years!!!  I had my original license for 12 years (at that point they make you take a new picture) and that one said I weighed 120.   ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY!!!!  that one obviously wasn’t right for about ten years.  That’s what happens when you get a license when your metabolism actually works.   I added a few lbs when I got my new license but even then it wasn’t totally accurate.

On that note, I can now dead lift about 8 pounds more than I weigh.

It got up to over 100 degrees here last week.  ONE HUNDRED +.   ugh

I have half heartedly been preparing for my trip to Paris.   I took two weeks off of work but will only be in Paris for one.  I refused to tell even my employees what dates I’d be out of town because the back up supervisor has permission to text me with anything stupid they do if i’m in the states and I didn’t want them knowing when I was gone!!  I know how mean that sounds…

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1.  Tomorrow I am __Going to one of the Disneys. tell you which one later___

2.  When is your birthday?  August 12th.  It’s the one day of the year I get my husband to go to golden corral for dinner

3.  What are you currently excited about?  omg I am excited about Disney tomorrow and then something else I’ll talk about later too

4.  Do you have any secrets? Of course I do.  And obviously I can’t tell you here what they are

5.  What do you normally eat for lunch?  3oz of meat and some vegetables. I know it seems strict but it’s the right amount of food for people. And that’s only during the work week.

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1.       I never _Go to the salon__ when I ___get a haircut. My husband cuts my hair

2.       I used to _Run_but I stopped  I am not good at it I don’t have the lungs for it

3.       My favorite picture of all time is of  my husband and I at our wedding. He had it made into a zombie pic of us. Id show you but I am on my iPad. Go to my about me page I think it’s also there. __Also there is a pic of my two dogs on that page.  It’s my fave of them____

4.       When it gets dark I think about ____Watching scary movies ___________

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Dont forget about

Shirtless Friday!!!

Ok I wrote this from my iPad and what should have taken me about five minutes  took  forever.   Copy and pasting from one site to this one is hard.  I’m not even going to try and do the other two hops I normally do on Friday.