I'm a spoiled little girl buying a truck

I know I have lived a fairly privileged life, some may even say I'm spoiled. I realize this when friends my age talk about making their college loan payments and stress over filling out new financial aid papers in order to obtain further degrees, meanwhile, I've never paid for a class in my life, including the Master's Degree I am currently working towards that my father is paying for (I am buying my textbooks but he is paying tuition). My grandfather died when I was small and left my brother, cousins, and I more than enough money to go to school. It was so much in fact that I nearly outright paid for my first house with what was left over (the only part I had to finance ended up being $400 a month for 5 years and that included a new car payment as well.) That particular new car I never really had to shop for either. My first car was my grandmother's old Omni, then my parents bought me a new Cavalier for my HS graduation (with the understanding that I had to keep my grades up in college or I would take over the payments - I kept my end of the bargain and they kept theirs, I never paid a penny towards that car.) When I flipped that Cavalier (an accident in which I was deemed not at fault) my dad again stepped to the plate and found me a similar Cavalier, made the deal (after asking me if that was OK and it was what I wanted), then because I was also in the process of buying my first house arranged it with the bank to roll all of it into one nice low payment. I kept that Cavalier until last year when my husband decided to buy me a Jeep while he was deployed as a surprise for our anniversary. I've never had to deal with any of the "behind the scenes" money issues with buying a car, despite now owning my 4th car. My Jeep is the first time I've ever really had a car payment (remember, the second Cavalier was rolled into the $400 house payment).

Don't get me wrong, I know I have been very fortunate in my life and I appreciate everything that anyone has ever done for me. I don't expect my father to pay for things for me, but it is nice that he does offer. I have offered to try to pay him back on a few things and most of the time he refuses saying it is just nice to know that I was willing to. Growing up I didn't realize how much money he and Momma had. We shopped at Wal-Mart, JC Penny's and Sears for back-to-school clothes and my brother and I had to work in the orange groves on the weekends so we never felt like we were spoiled. However, we always had more than enough to eat, never went without, and when I needed a new $70 Speedo for swim team, or a new gown for prom (because I definitely couldn't wear the one I wore the year before) I got it. We didn't have a maid or anything like that. Heck, we didn't even have a dishwasher (mom would ask me why we needed one when we already had one as she pointed at me) or cable TV.

Hubby is now looking at buying a new truck for himself. I know, I know, gas prices are astronomical why oh why would he want a big truck? The answer is simple; No matter where we live or what he does for a living, you will never get the redneck outta the boy! He has wanted a big truck for as long as I've known him and now because the gas prices are so high, the prices on bigger trucks are really low since no one is buying them. The dealers are practically throwing them at us as soon as we say we are interested in a crew cab Titan. Due to my lack of experience with car salesmen, what I didn't expect is how freaking pushy they are! Yes, I know the stereotypical idea of a car salesman is for them to be pushy and lie, but man do they seem to live up to that! I understand that they are on commission and are just trying to make a living but someone needs to inform them on a little secret my grandmother told me when I was little: You get more flies with honey. Don't push me. Don't assume it is now a challenge because we said we are 'just looking today' and don't call me several times a day every day for a week to see if I still want the one we were looking at.

Lots of people, family and friends, are offering great advice on car buying which is good, because like I said, I'm clueless to this stuff. I'm not a newby car owner, just a newby car buyer. It almost seems overwhelming though. Luckily for me hubby is dealing with most of it since it is going to be his truck after all. All of this is boggling my mind! I've never been good at math and budget issues are lost on me. It takes all I have just to keep my checkbook balanced but then you want to throw in interest and all?? UGH!

Most of the time I feel all grown up and like a real adult, then we go to do something that everyone else has to do like buy a car and I feel like a little girl all over again... a spoiled little girl who doesn't know what's going on.

Wild Wild West

Hubby and I went to dinner tonight with some friends of ours. Afterwards, neither of us felt like running but we did decide to take a walk instead. This was great because we got to talk more than we do when we are running, and I notice a lot of things around my usual running route that I don't normally notice as I'm running past.

As we were walking, a guy ran past us, rather quickly. Great form, great pace, great runner. I laughed and mentioned to Hubby "He runs faster than me" with a fake pout lol. Hubby agreed that the guy also ran faster than him. I then mentioned that I wouldn't feel safe running at that time of night alone. Perhaps it is because I am a woman, or perhaps it is that I know I'm not that great of a runner and therefor wouldn't be able to outrun any would-be attackers. Hubby again agreed and mentioned that the guy looked like he was in pretty good shape and could probably take one attacker then sprint off. The problem would be that he would then have to change his running route because people nowadays can't just admit they have been bested and leave it alone, they now wait with a gun and extract a ridiculous pay-back.

This lead to a discussion about how similar life today is with live in the Wild West. I had never thought about that before. We always think about days gone by as being simpler, easier, more moral life...but if you really stop and think, we aren't far from life in the wild wild west.

Everyone seems to own a gun. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I have a gun, my husband has several and we firmly believe in the right to bear arms. Besides, if you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have them, right? But there is similarity number one, anyone who wants a gun can easily get one.

The second similarity is that people will shoot you to save their honor. If you called someone a cheat in the wild west, they would most likely at the very least start a bar fight and proceed to beating the crap out of you or at the worst shoot you. If they caught you cheating, they would more than likely skip the bar fight and go right to the shooting. You were rude to my woman...BANG. You stole my horse...BANG. You run off with my daughter...BANG. Not much different from today, or at least it's getting there. People don't leave well enough alone and they can't stand to think that they were dissed or bettered in some way. Tit for tat, round and round we go, and no one wins. Too many people try to take the law into their own hands or worse yet, retaliate in the worst way when their feelings are hurt.

Off and running (literally)

Well I did it, I woke up and ran again this morning! YAY! My ankle feels great. So far so good...

I got sucked in.... again!

"Hello, My name is Cole, and I am a Harry Potter Addict."

The other day someone asked me a question about something that happened in the 6th Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince...and I couldn't remember! A professed Potter-nut-case, who ha read any of the given HP books at least 4 times (four being the least, the newer ones, the older ones I have probably read more around 9 or 10 times.) I was so boggled by the fact that I couldn't remember that I, of course, had to sit down and start reading HBP again. Well, as fate would have it, HBP turned into also reading Deathly Hallows and then starting over again with book one. I'm now most of the way through book two (Chamber of Secrets) with no end in sight! I know me, will go all the way through to the end of Deathly Hallows again before I stop :)

By the way...an update on my ankle: I still haven't tried to run on it again, part worry that it still twinges a bit and part laziness. I'm am going to attempt to get my lazy butt outta bed tomorrow morning and go for a jog. No promises but I'll TRY ;)

Time to start training again

I woke up this morning and decided that I should go for a short 2.5 mile run so I put my shoes on, wrote Hubby a note, and took off. Although I have done marathons and triathlons in the past, I have done little more than sit on my butt for the past few months, so I need to get my butt in gear. About 1/2 mile down the road, my foot hit an uneven piece of road and down I went! After of couple of seconds of "Man, what just happened?" I picked myself up...hobbled a little, then walked a few steps before finally tentatively trying to jog again. After a while my ankle didn't bother me too bad so I picked it back up to pace.

I made it the 2.5 miles, but not nearly as quickly as I would have liked, or that I would have been able to even just a few months ago. Blame my ankle, or just blame the fact that I have been LAZY and not ran at all in the last 2 months (I have however gone for a couple, but only a couple of 1000yd swims). Guess I have some work to do! My ankle didn't bother me too bad at all once I got going, until I stopped running and came home...OUCH!!

So as I sit here with my leg propped up on pillows and ice on my ankle, I have decided that despite my current pain, I am signing up for a few races. The first two are virtual races, meaning that I strap on my Nike+ and my iPod and hit the road wherever I happen to be on the dates of the races, then just sync it all when I'm done.

The Human Race, a 10K (6.2 miles) is August 31 and benefits either the Lance Armstrong Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, or the UN Refugee Agency. Even though all of them are worthy charities, I chose the Lance Armstrong Foundation since my biggest wish is for someone to find a cure for cancer - Hopefully in time to save my dad! This should make a good training run for my second race.

The second race I signed up for is the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon (13.1 miles) on October 19th. This race benefits Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training that I have done so much work with. I ran this last year with Cathy, a friend from my triathlon team, and it was a blast. Instead of a typical 1/2 marathon finisher's medal, we received Tiffany's Key chains. Unfortunately they weren't the sterling silver key chains I was hoping for, but it was still a pretty cool finisher's gift.

I'm still thinking about signing up for a local 1/2 marathon in November, but we may be gone on a family camping trip for Thanksgiving so I don't want to sign up for it until I know for sure I will be here to run it. Then of course, there is also the Disney 1/2 marathon in January!! :)

I also stepped on the scale, my mortal enemy, for the first time in a while and WAS NOT pleased with what I saw at all. YIKES! My brother's wedding is in a few months and I'm in it...so guess that is yet another reason to get my butt in gear!

Happy 4th of July!

I hope y'all are having a fantastic Fourth of July! Bring on the BBQ chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, potato chips, potato salad, baked beans, pass me a Diet Coke, and make sure you get a good seat for the fireworks tonight!

So what are some of the things that immediately make you think of the Good Ol' USA? There are a few obvious answers such as the Stars and Stripes, the Pledge of Allegiance, the Star Spangled Banner (which always brings goosebumps and a lump to my throat), and seeing our men and women in uniform. What about yellow ribbons and eagles flying majestically through the air?

What about a rose? Not many people know that the rose is our National Flower, but it is, Ronald Regan made it so saying, "For the love of man and woman, for the love of mankind and God, for the love of country, Americans who would speak the language of the heart do so with a rose."

How about an oak tree? Yep, that is another national plant. The oak leaf can be seen on many military insignias such as
Air Force, Army, and Marine Rank for Major and Lt. Colonel and the Navy Rank for Lieutenant Commander and Commander.

So as you are thinking about all the glorious symbols of the United States, don't forget the green ones: the rose and the oak tree!

Now, for a pop quiz! I know how everyone loves those! ;) Seriously though, test your knowledge about the history of the Declaration of Independence and check out http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/dec_indep/quiz/ to see how well you can do. Come on! It's a kid's quiz...it's OK, you can do it, I swear! I did pretty good. Had it been a real test, yes I would have passed. I was surprised at some of the answers though. I didn't know which president was born/died on July 4th, but other than that I did pretty decent! YAY ME!

Here is another quiz you can take as well: http://www.livescience.com/php/trivia/index.php?quiz=independence-day I may not be ready for office, but I can vote! :)

PS...Yes, that is my kitty in the picture next to some flags I have out on display :)

I saved 45 bottles from the landfill

My husband and I love camping, hiking, and generally just being outdoors. My husband is also into safety, security, and disaster preparedness. He believes, not unreasonably, that we need to have supplies if a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, occurs, so we have a hurricane box filled with with all of the things we were glad we had when the last hurricane wiped us out for several weeks and a few things we wished we had. However, we also each have "3 day packs." Basically, a backpack with enough food, water, and supplies to last in the middle of nowhere for at least 3 days. I guess it is his military training kicking in, but I'm not complaining too much. Better safe than sorry. I'd much rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. It is because of this resent decision to have 3-day pack packed and ready that I decided I needed another pack and headed out to Bass Pro Shop, Dicks, and a few other stores to poke around and see what they had.

I am also "light green" as one of my friends would put it. I'm not a complete Eco-friendly "dark green" tree-hugging kind of gal, but I do my part. I reduce, reuse, and recycle whenever I can, but I also drive a small SUV. When given a greener choice vs a not so earth friendly choice I will gravitate towards the earth friendly solution, but I don't refuse to buy or use something if it isn't certified organic and packaged minimally with only 100% recycled materials. However, I saw this pack and fell in love with it! It is a great pack, large enough for everything I would need for a week with the family in the Everglades or a 3-day hump through the woods at the end of civilization as we know it (not the end of the world, 'cause hey...I don't plan on sticking around for that if you know what I mean), but the coolest thing about this pack is that it is made out of recycled water bottles. 45 water bottles to be exact. It doesn't feel like a plastic pack, it actually feels exactly like nylon, but it has 100% 450d Recycled PET body fabric and 100% 840d Recycled PET reinforcements. I don't know exactly what 450d and 840d mean (if anyone would care to enlighten me, please leave a comment!) but I know that PET fabrics are made by chipping plastic bottles and melting them. The melted plastic is then run through very small holes and hardens into yarn/thread which is then sewn into fabric. Pretty cool huh?

The pack wasn't that expensive either. Now, it wasn't the cheapest backpack I've ever bought, but it is by no means the most expensive pack we have in this house. In fact, it was fairly reasonably priced when compared to other packs of the same size and quality.

Even though it is way too hot to be doing too much strenuous exercise outside in the middle of the day, I am really itching to use my new pack!

Parking Issues

Why is parking such a hassle? I mean seriously, I get more "road rage" in a parking lot than on the actual road. I understand, especially in Florida, that the prime parking spots include anywhere with shade and close to whatever destination you are trying to get to. But WHY oh WHY do people think they can't park if they can't get to one of these prime spots? What is the point, especially in these days of high gas prices, would you drive around for 20 minutes looking and waiting for one of these prime spots? It just makes no since. PARK ALREADY!

Today, at Wal-Mart of all places, I was nearly killed. OK so maybe it wasn't that bad. More like my Jeep was nearly dinged because the woman in the car in front of me pulled 1/2 way into a space, then suddenly must have seen a better parking spot 20 feet closer to the entrance. So rather than sucking it up and pulling the rest of the way into her spot and walking (gasp!) a bit further, she quickly throws it into reverse and zooms out in order to get to the closer spot before anyone else can, forgetting(?) that I was right behind her. Was it really that important that she save a few steps by parking in a spot 4 spaces down? She wasn't elderly or handicapped in any way that made it appear as though walking was difficult for her or caused her some hardship, so what was the big deal?

And no, it wasn't that I wanted the closer spot, I hadn't even seen it yet. I was actually planning on parking in the spot on the other side of where she originally pulled into, I just didn't want to be bumped into.

In conclusion, save some gas and get a little exercise...just park!

I am

I am
A wife
Who loves her husband
And is more proud of him than he will ever know.



I am
A daughter
Who loves her parents
Even when she doesn’t agree with everything they do.



I am
A sister
Who loves all of her brothers and sisters the same
Be they biological, adopted, step, or in-law, we are all family.



I am
A friend
Who will never forget the friends she has left behind
Even though she doesn’t keep in contact as much as she really should.



I am
A teacher
Who loves and cares about her students
Even the ones other people have written off as impossible.


I am
A Christian
Who believes with all her heart
But doesn't always like the alarm clock on Sunday Mornings.


I am
A student
Who is making straight A’s
And wonders how I’m getting better grades now than I did in my undergrad.



I am
An athlete
Who loves being active and in shape
But gets lazy and doesn’t work out when she should.



I am
A dog lover
Who instead has a cat
That thinks it's a dog and is the coolest cat in the world.



I am
A girl
Who knows exactly what she wants
But can’t make a decision on where to eat or what to wear.




I am
bored
And wonder if anyone will read this
But I'm going to post it anyway :)

Face Your Pocket

I saw a link to this website the other day and thought it was interesting. Granted I can’t read Russian (Maybe my cousin Jennifer could help me out with that), but on the English version it says that it is a project to gather pictures of people putting random things that they carry around with them, either in their pockets or purses, on their scanner then putting their faces on the scanner as well, so I thought I would give it a try. I decided to dig around in my purse and see what I found that may (or may not) be interesting. Does it give some deeper insight into my life or personality? Who knows, but I was bored and this is what I did instead of my Linguistics homework (Maybe Cousin Jennifer could help me with that too!).
Let's see, I have my squished face, the wallet my sailor hubby gave me, 3 tubes of lipstick, a 500 yen coin, 4 huge safety pins, a dollar bill (all the American money I had), my thumb drive, BC Headache medicine, moist towelette, a kaeru (means both "frog" and "return" in Japanese. It is supposed to bring a traveler safely home), butterfly clip, hair tie, sharpie pen, and 3 patriotic charms. What can it all mean? Anyone have any great insight into me now, other than I must have a cluttered purse and I'm broke? Perhaps there is a reason that my thumb drive with all my my graduate stuff from all my classes so far is above my head next to the headache powder? Things that make ya go Hmmmmm.....

Now that I'm done with this I guess it is on with the homework. It isn't really that hard, I like the class actually, just needed a brain break and thought this would be fun!