I Now Live At The Library...

Remember when I used to blog every time I had a thought in my head? Yeah, those were crazy times...

I was funny, and articulate, and sometimes passionate about things. I still am really... I just feel less like sharing it with the world these days. I'm trying to keep my public profile simple - but honestly - my life is still whacky.

I've been spending my evenings in the library because I can't seem to focus on studies at home. As soon as I get home, all I want to do is vegetate by social networking, and you-tubing, and BBC i-playering, and silly stuff really. Before I know it, it's 9pm, and I haven't done a thing, and I never get around to Yoga like I want to.

So, yeah - the Library and me, we've become good friends. 2 hours after work every day, that's the ticket. I'm enjoying my studies, I must say. I think it's really important this time around to study more regularly so that it's fresh in my head. I'm pretty lucky with this module that there's no tests. There is however - 7 tutor marked assignments. 7!!! The first is due on the 29th of October.

There is a downside to this library haunting mind you... it means I get home at 8:30-ish... then I take my down time, and before I know it, it's 11pm! But, at least I've gotten some good study time in. Still no Yoga mind.

It's terribly rainy today. Really, really rainy. My cold is getting worse AGAIN! My ears are plugged, and all I seem to be able to do today is complain. But, other than that - everything is sunny and bright in my life. :-)

On a Yoga High... finally

I am writing this post on a high - a Yoga high...

What on earth is wrong with me? WHY have I been putting off doing Yoga for 3 or 4 months?

I compare myself (as a PCOS victim) to someone who has bi-polarity and having been on a medication for some time, feels so good that they think they've been cured and that they don't need the medication any more. Therefore they go off of it, and over time, life becomes miserable again - a series of highs and lows.

Well, as a PCOS victim, and as someone who never has normal hormonal balance in their body, I have to say it is quite a similar situation with me and Yoga. Goodness me, I even feel my deadly cold (+ Asthma) waning as a result of the good hormones coursing through my veins. I read once, that this is the reason Yoga makes us feel so good. The positions we hold have a way of squeezing our glands, and therefore making them release the hormones that make us feel so much better. At the same time, it builds muscle tone, and just overall feels good. I also have noticed that my back pain has vanished. What a moron I have been to put it off for so long, when it makes me so happy.

Well, I hope I can continue to remember how good it makes me feel, and do it every day. (as mentioned in the diet plan - see above) I haven't been stalwart in my dieting as planned, and also I find myself struggling to walk to work every day. (back pain - due to old-agedness) So, if I can commit myself to one hour every day of Yoga, I think I can see some results - in every aspect of my life.

Oh, how silly we are - people...

Check out this fantastic video that my Cousin Claire shared on facebook...



Claire is in fact the owner of Leeds most exclusive Personal Training and Pilates Studio - "Equilibrium Health Personal Training and Pilates" so, if you're in Leeds or the area, do go and check out her studio... http://www.equilibriumhealth.co.uk/

I wish I was half as fit as our Claire. But, I can get there, with persistence.

Gonna Fly Now!

Well, here we are in September, and an entire month has gone by without my posting much at all. To be honest, there wasn't much worth posting about. I got sick, and I was also a little depressed. Well, ok - more than a little. I've been on a bit of a roller coaster. Long story short, I've decided to completely block out any well-meaning "feel good" advice, and just cling to my faith and personal relationship with God. The thing is - life has never been easy. It's always been an uphill battle for me. (for most of us I wager) No one ever promised that it would be easy though. I'll tell you what, this may seem silly - but a friend of mine posted this video on Facebook this week...



Besides re-instating my childhood love for Rocky movies, this wee speech gave me a bit more strength to carry on. It's very true you know, life is always going to knock us back; but it's up to us to take the knocks and keep moving forward. "That's how winnin' is done", and believe me - Rocky knows! (that is if Rocky were a real live person, but his character is based on many inspirational people who are real) Who doesn't love an underdog? I am a sucker for an underdog. You know why? Because I AM the freakin' underdog. If I can just stop feeling sorry for myself, and move forward despite the hard knocks of life - I can win too. Truth be told, I don't really have it that bad compared to most people; but then our trials are ours for a reason - because they are hard for us. I think that's the whole purpose of life, isn't it? To endure through trial.

Yeah - so - I've become very philosophical over the last week or so. It's about time too, because I was really getting tired of self-pitying. It gets old after a while.

School starts soon. Yay! I'm looking forward to starting my new module and immersing myself in something new. It's time to put the summer behind me.

Dieting again...

Well, here I am - dieting again.

I know - it seems like I'm always dieting. This time, I've decided to avoid all creativity, and generally stay away from unknown tactics.

I've decided to do what I did before - you know when I lost 110 lbs.

It seems to work for me. I think, in essence - I'm lazy when it comes to dieting. When I get home, I'm tired of work, tired of doing everything really, and therefore, ready-made meals (as unappealing as they are) seem to work for me.

So - yeah, I'm replacing meals with high protein, high fibre shakes again.

In fact, I've worked out a step-by-step programme that's tailored to me and my needs right now. I've listed them at the tab at the top which says "New Diet Plan".

So, you can go there, and see what it is I'm doing.

As I said, it's not ideal - but it seems to be what works for me. The only reason I gained 60 pounds of it back is because I changed my lifestyle again. I ate things that weren't good for me, and became sedentary. That's simple enough, of course I'm going to gain weight with that combination. It didn't help that I completely uprooted myself and moved to another continent.

So - whether or not you approve of meal replacements, it doesn't really matter, because as I said, it works for me.

Will keep you posted about progress. (for good or bad) Watch the tab at the top that says "New Diet Plan" - where I will log my weight over the next 6 months or so.

Not Sure What to Title This One....

Hi Everyone...

Well, I know it's not Sunday, and yes - I did miss last Sunday's post. My apologies for that. I shall try to do better in the future.

Here's the news for today...

I'm a singleton again. I won't go into too much detail, but long story short, the Barenaked Ladies are right - absence does make the heart grow fungus.



The rest of the song has nothing to do with what happened to Andy & I. The distance was hard though. I think it was really easy for us to forget what it was like when we were together, and therefore it dwindled.

Never mind... as hard as it's been this week - onwards and upwards.

Andy is my friend, and in fact we still keep in touch in some small way every day. So, that's positive. We're just moving on.

Overall, a good learning experience in feelings and relationships.

Moving on from that topic...

I've become slightly idolatrous over this item...



The HTC Desire... An Android operating system smart phone with amazing capabilities. With everyone around me all of a sudden getting i-phones and the like, I find myself coveting this little beauty. The only trouble is, that I'm still very much on a contract until February 1st. If you know anyone who wants a Sony Ericsson K770i for about £108, or wants to take over my contract - let me know. This offer only applies to people who actually live in the UK of course.

Meh, I'll just have to be patient. In every aspect of life. :-/

Hope everyone is well. I'm doing quite well today considering I've had some serious heart-ache this week. Everything happens for a reason, and I'm grateful for the experience.

mormon.org Re-vamp

So, I don't know if you knew this or not, but; my church website has been re-vamped, and it looks fantastic. Just look at this...



The new website very much focuses on the members of the church now. I think this is a great idea, because the best thing we have to offer really to the world (besides the most important things, such as truth, salvation through Jesus Christ and happiness) is our people. I mean there's still the most important things on the site - such as the doctrines of the church, and what's important to us, and how to get in touch with missionaries, etc. There's also a way to chat online to missionaries and get answers to questions. I think it's brilliant.

There are individual profiles on members of the church throughout the world. Here is my profile...



which can be found here... (link)

Here is Andy's profile...



which can be found here... (link)

I think this is a fantastic tool for getting the message out with regards to what Mormons believe, and what they are like. As many of you know, I'm a pretty average, every day sort of girl who tries to live a clean life, and does my best to help people. I'm not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, but I do try to be my best. I have incredible flaws, but I suppose that is normal. I think, though - that helps in getting people to see how normal we are. In fact, normal is hard to come by these days. If I'm honest, that's one of the things that attracted me to Andy - his level of normal-ness. I love that. :-)

On an un-related note, I've started another blog. (like I have time to keep this one up, let alone start another one) It's entitled "Hidden Dundee", and can be found here... (link)

I just really felt that I've been learning enough quirky things about the history of Dundee to start a whole new blog. It will give me a chance to do some research as well. There's that many interesting things, that I can actually do a fair number of posts without running out of things to blog about. So - there you have it.

A Bit Distracted...

You may have noticed that I've been a bit boring lately in my blogging. I think it's because I'm a bit distracted and for the most part my thoughts have been focused on feelings, hearts, and everything sappy one can imagine. I guess it's a sign that I'm pretty happy. I mean, I'm mostly happy. I just think that it's a bit difficult to have a long distance relationship. It would be a lot better if we could see each other every week-end. However, our schedules make that difficult. Andy works a different type of shift every week, and his visits often depend on whether he's on earlies, or lates. He was here this past week, but now I won't see him for a month! The time he was here though, was lovely. We always enjoy our time together. Well, there you have it though - my excuse for being a bad blogger... a bit distracted.

News?

Well, I finished my first University Course last week. That was a relief. I won't receive my result until early September though. I'm sure it will be fine, it's only a 10 credit course. I begin real live University courses in October. That will be great. I really enjoyed the wee course. It was really interesting. It felt a bit like High School Biology, but as I said - it was a 10 credit course; not worth much. It did get me into the right frame of mind though, and helped me to think about what I need to work on for my next course.

Primary is great. We are finally getting callings filled. :-) People keep moving into the ward left and right. I'm loving it. I think it's often about timing with filling callings. Have I told you I love the kids? I love them. They are fantastic.

I finally put curtains up in my flat. People can now no longer see into my flat at night. If they were looking, they wouldn't have seen much anyway because I'm higher up than all the other flats in the area. However, last week, took a quick trip to IKEA (not so quick!) on the bus which included taking the megabus to Edinburgh and then taking a Lothian bus to the outskirts of Edinburgh. Lucky for me there were better quality curtains on sale than the ones I went there for. They were cheaper too! (£2.99) I do like the IKEA sales.

That's about it for news. I don't really lead an exciting life. I mean - it's exciting to me, but I have nothing that I can report. Life is just generally good. Take my word for it.

I do miss my Andy though...