Yearly Stress

For the last few years (maybe more) I've not looked forward to - dreaded is too strong a word, but I think it's maybe leaning in that direction - car registration. The reason for this is my 1993 Honda Accord - which I will refer to as Green Magic (because it's magic that it's still running).

I love my car. It's unnatural how much I love my car because it's so old and who knows how long it will last (hopefully forever, that would be perfect). But really, I love my car. We have a long history together. My grandma bought it new, and a few years later took me to the DMV for my drivers license test. I took the test - and passed - in that car. I drove it senior year of high school when my parents bought it from my grandma and she got another car. I saw my sister scratch the tinting on the back windows with her cello when she'd load and unload it for school. My sister then drove it her senior year and then my brother bought it after his mission (the timing was perfect since my parents wouldn't have another driver in the house for a couple of years). After my mission I bought the car - with my sister - from my brother for $2400. The following summer I bought the half from my sister because she had gotten married in May. I've been the sole owner for about 9 years now.

I love this car.

But on to the stress.

I've actually been looking into buying another car. This past Friday I found what looked like some good prospects online and on Saturday drove out to see a few of them. I won't go into details, but just yesterday I figured out that the one I was leaning toward wouldn't be panning out after all.

I decided that I should take my car in for the safety and emissions check since my registration needs to be renewed this month anyway. I figured if it passed, it would buy me some time before having to get another car. I figured if it didn't pass I had a couple of more weeks to really search and find a viable replacement.

I took it in.

This is the stressful part. Over the years I've had to put some money into getting it up to standard. A couple of times it was tires (I had the alignment fixed earlier this year, so that should help in keeping me from needing to get new tires sooner than I should have to), and other times... I don't remember. But it seemed like I was almost always putting money into it to get it ready to register.

This year I really did not have high hopes - but I had lots of prayers! - for it, but I figured it needed to be done anyway.

I had a coupon for Jiffy Lube safety and emissions, so I went there. I took it as a good sign that when I told the employee who came out to meet me that I was there for safety and emissions he didn't just start laughing at me.

After waiting, then talking, then waiting again, the guy gave me this -

After hearing the reason I headed over to O'Reilly's and paid this (JL didn't carry the part or I could have gotten it replaced there) -

The super-helpful O'Reilly's employee (they really have been awesome at this location - and I've gone in more often than I would have liked - maybe they're awesome everywhere) went out and installed it for me and I went back to JL where they gave me this -

 Love live Green Magic.

 

So now, according to the state, Green Magic is required to run for at least another year.

That's what it means right?

I love my car.

Pact

Yesterday I was emailing this girl (lady? woman? if they're close to my age I tend to refer to them as girls... does that say something about me?) from our corporate HR in LA. In our emails it came up that we both had a long-time wish to go to Italy.

I mentioned that the older and singler I get the more I feel like I should venture out more on my own since I can't plan on a built in companion. But I'm worried that if I ever did travel somewhere alone that I would just hunker down in my hotel because I was too scared to go anywhere. Don't laugh. I've seen "Taken." I know what can happen.

She mentioned similar fears of her own and how being able to share the experience makes it more enjoyable than going alone - even if you aren't hiding in the closet of your hotel room. So we made a pact. I started it with 10 years. As in - "let's say that if neither of us has gone to Italy in 10 years, we'll go." She said that was too long. I adjusted it to 5, she countered with 2.

So there you have it.

It's a pact.

Through email.

Which means it has to happen.

I'm thinking we may want to try a domestic trip first to make sure that we actually like each other in person as much as we seem to through email. (:

Grandma is Merving

My sweet grandma was over for dinner a week ago. She was sitting at the table while we were getting things ready and Belle walked over to be pet. I asked Grandma if Belle was being nice to her (just for the record, Belle is always nice to Grandma). The following conversation ensued -


G: Oh yes! And I'm merving...

Me: ...?... what?

G: Merv- no, uhhhh, merving... no...

(by now we're both laughing)

Me: Nervous?

G: chuckles No...

Me: Murdering?

G: laughs No...

Me: Okay, I'm out.

G: Oh! looking very sure of herself -- MERVING!

Me: That's still not a word Grandma. But I love how sure you were! (as my sister said when I was telling her this story - points for confidence, for sure)

G: Oh, well... I don't know.


I tried to bring my mom in on the conversation and see if she knew - she can be a really good guesser when it comes to Grandma-isms - but she was lost too. And by then Grandma probably forgot what she was going to say anyway.

She's 89 years old. She'll be 90 in December. I just wanted to write this down before I forgot it because I thought it was so cute and so funny and shows that even though she gets frustrated with herself for forgetting words (in her third language!!!), she has a great sense of humor about it and doesn't let it make her unpleasant or unhappy.

She really is probably the sweetest and nicest person I know.

Here she is (with a fluffy Belle) when she was still living next door walking back home after dinner. One day I randomly picked Belle up and put her on the walker. Belle didn't seem to mind, and Grandma loved that she was pushing Belle. After one or two more times Belle started waiting at the bottom of the steps to be picked up and put on.

Cute Grandma!

Bones

I love the show.

And there are so many things I love about this clip -

Puppy Playtime

There are a lot of things I've wanted to blog about. Some of them have happened so long ago that I doubt they'll ever make it on here - including some trips from almost a year ago. Sheesh.

Anyway, today my friend's one year old (or almost one year old) goldendoodle (same breed as my Max) came over and they played. For five hours. I think they were both pretty exhausted by the time Atlas went home. Belle was exhausted too, but only because she wore herself out barking at Atlas. She barked so much that I went hoarse from yelling at her. I mean - YELLING. I mean - I can't remember the last time I have yelled like this. Maybe at a BYU football game. Maybe. (She did eventually stop the incessant barking and brought it down to an occasional bark - just so I'd know she was still unhappy about the situation. Rotten little thing.)

Anyway, I decided to grab my nice camera for the first time since Christmas and take some better-than-iPhone pictures. Since they were moving so fast, my iPhone pictures would come out fuzzy a lot.

Belle pouted and tried to pretend Atlas wasn't there.

Cute dogs! Fun day.

So, It's Been a While...

(is now a good time for me to admit I'm never quite sure when to use "a while" and "awhile"?)

I'm way past the years of even thinking of apologizing for not blogging. Mostly because nobody cares, so there's nobody to apologize to. (:

Looking back at my last post... yikes. I did it all wrong.

I want to form those habits. Habits take a while (again - "awhile"?) to form. It would have been fine if I had outlined a timing for when I was planning on incorporating these habits - one. by. one. Not eleven by eleven.

This is my way of saying I burned myself out and by myself out quickly.

So I'll be revising, replanning, rethinking, and then starting again.

No worries.

Also, I'm going to think of goals, not just habits, that I want to reach this year.

Stay tuned.

If you want to. (:

Another New Year

It seems like every year goes by faster than the one before it.

I don't think I posted any of my goals last year (a quick look back reveals that I am correct in that thinking) and honestly can't remember if I really ever set any.

Oops.

So now, because I started setting them on Sunday, and starting tracking them that same day, I figured I'd list them out here.

According to the SMART goals thing, goals need to be:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely (given a time-fram)

According to the top 10 steps to set and achieve your goals, goals need to be:

Specific
Simple
Significant
Strategic
Measurable
Rational
Tangible
Written
Shared
Consistent w/ your values

According to something else that I read that I can't find right now, most of what I have chosen to focus on this year is more habit-forming rather than goal setting/achieving.

Whatever.

Here's what I want to do this year -

- Don't watch more than an hour of TV/one movie a day

With a netflix account (I finally grew up and got my own instead of freeloading off my sister's), I have experienced how scary easy it is to go from one episode to another andanotherandanother until the whole evening is gone and I did nothing more productive than... well, nothing. There is really nothing redeemably productive about those occasions.

Thus the limit.

The one caveat is that I can watch more than that if I'm doing something productive (i.e. cleaning, crocheting, etc). Although during those times I would probably be better served listening to music or audio books or something.


- Read scriptures 15 minutes a day

Inspired by my sister, I've really got to get back in the habit of regular reading.


- Pray

Similar to the above. I haven't made this a regular part of my day. That needs to change.


- Meditate/do yoga

I found a sweet app for my phone that guides me through meditation. I also have a pocket yoga app which is pretty sweet too. Every time I end the day with meditation, I fall asleep very easily. That keeps me motivated to meditate. (:

Here's an article on meditation. If you don't look at all of it, make sure you check out the 'how meditation affects you' section. Very interesting.


- Exercise 15 minutes a day

Okay, nothing earth-shattering by any means, but if it means I'm doing something active each day - even if it's not a whole lot - it's better than nothing.


- Walk dogs four times a week

The poor pups don't get out very much in the winter. But that was actually what I had in mind when I bought fuzzy boots. Yeah, it's bitterly cold some days, but if I bundle up enough, I can survive a quick - or slightly longer than quick - walk. And mixed in the bitterly cold we get some beautiful days that I need to make sure I take advantage of (yesterday, almost 50 degrees!).


- Do service once a week

Just trying to train myself to look regularly for opportunities to help others.


- Go to temple twice a month

Outside of my temple shift when I work in the baptistry once a week, I haven't been to a regular session for a very long time. I figured twice a month isn't too much to try for.


- Post on wordpress picture blog daily

I just started this blog today and decided to try a different format (after first checking to make sure that wordpress had apps for iphone - makes posting so much easier!). I'm hoping to post one picture a day. Go check out my first picture (posted today, so there will be a second picture posted today too). (:


- Do something social once a month

Okay, again, nothing earth-shattering, but I am not the most social creature. I figure if I want to get married (which I do... I think... most days anyway) then I'm going to have to be social in order to meet someone. So here goes...


- Do something that scares me once a month

This is maybe the one that I'm the most excited about (though I'm looking forward to each of these). Inspired by Walter Mitty, I want to do more, experience more, be more. I'm starting this month with quitting my job and starting a new one. Both things which scare me, but I'm looking forward to. If you have any ideas for me, let me know. I want to put a list together so that I can plan ahead and not have to frantically look for something that scares me on the last day of the month and end up doing something stupid. Something like... streaking... or something... (:


With help from the habit list app, hopefully I'll be able to stay on top of these!