It's been a while...

HIYA!

Life gets busy, but I am back!
A lot has changed in the 2 months I have been MIA.  First of which, I had to stop toilet training the cats.  Now, that does not mean I am giving up on it.  When I punched out the fist hole, Belle did not take to it well and began peeing everywhere.  I realized that I did kind of jump into it quickly, so I decided to go back to the start.  We went back to the litter box, and I hate every second of it.  I have just recently moved the litter box into the bathroom, so they can get used to actually going in a different room.  The next step - in a few weeks+ is to take the lid off of the box, so they can get used to going out in the open.  Following that - in a month+, we will move back to the CitiKitty, which will begin on the floor.  We will move on from there at whatever pace they need.  Hopefully it is within 550 days.

550 days is not that much to complete the rest of my goals.

I am finally Graduating!  On May 22nd, I will walk across that stage and receive my diploma from American River College.  I will have two AA Degrees:  Music Business and Liberal Arts.

I was accepted into Sacramento State last month, so I will be continuing my education there, where I will be working on my BA in Communications with an emphasis on Public Relations.
I am very excited to get started on this next chapter of my life, but I am also extremely scared.  Up to this point, I have not needed to apply for loans or had to pay any ridiculous amounts.  Sac State will definitely be more expensive, but I am prepared to get all of the loans and grants necessary to get to my goal.
After paying all of this money, I will definitely be motivated to move past where I am working now and onto my goal career.

I can't wait to get there. :]]

One goal that has been completed is the goal of playing disc golf.  I definitely thought this was going to be boring.  While I am not at all good at it, I did have a lot of fun playing with a few friends at a birthday party.  It is a neat game, and I guess I can see why some people enjoy playing it often.

Book updates:
I finished the Hunger Games series!  The first book was the only one on my list, but I couldn't move on without completing the entire series.  The next book I will be reading is "The Lucky One." Review to be posted next week.

Upcoming events:
Babies!  Not my own, of course, but a few of my friends are having little ones and I am just so excited!

Weddings!  I have been asked be part of two weddings!
Ariel is getting married in July, and I have been asked to be a bridesmaid.  Our blue dresses are gorgeous!  Definitely a dress that I will be wearing again and again!  I am very excited to see these two tie the knot!  What a better way to continue your first relationship. :]
Nikki is getting married to her absolute best friend, Jesse.  Seeing where Nikki has come from, I am excited she has found someone who can make her smile the way that Jesse can.  The minute he entered her life, everything changed.  I am honored to be a part of this bridal party and cannot wait to see it all develop and come to fruition this November.

With all of these wedding, it is about time I get in shape!  I also have a weight goal in my Day Zero Project, and what better time to start?
I would like to introduce to you, Jamie and Mike who are the trainers of the Dungeon!  I started working with Jamie last month, and things have really began to change.  I have not done any official weigh-ins or measurements since starting, but I know I have lost some inches.  Pants and shirts fit more comfortably, and I feel a lot more healthy.  I am pushing myself as they are pushing me to complete these fitness challenges each and every week. I have also been given a meal plan, which I have been following, but could probably follow a bit closer.  It is tough to eat as many times a day as I am being challenged to do, but it is absolutely worth it.  I feel great after my workouts, even though I sometimes cannot move.  HAHA!  Along with all of this fitness madness, I am making friends who are encouraging and changing as well.  I love to see all of their progress, and the motivation in the Dungeon is like nothing I have ever experienced.
I can't wait to go back each week!
If you are looking into changing your physique, I urge you to check out Jamie and Mike at In An Athletes Soul on Facebook.  It will change your life.

Next blog will be up on Monday and will include a Lifetime Movie Challenge - because I know you all miss it. :]

In other news:  "Topanga was named after a canyon in California that hippies would frequent."
(Follow Girl Meets World on Twitter)

-jennilea

We Made Ice Cream

Happy New Year (a wee bit late)!

This year has already been full of all kinds of awesome.

This weekend, I was able to knock two more things off my list.  Spontaneous road trip, and spend a night in a hotel for no reason.
We decided to go to South Lake Tahoe. It was snowing, so that was pretty cool.  We even got to make a little snowman friend.  This was the first, legit, snowman I have ever made.  I love the snow. :]  We also had a snowball fight, which was awesome!  While we were playing, I saw the most perfect, amazing snowflake land on my jacket.  I know snowflakes are supposed to look really neat, but I have never seen an actual snowflake more than just a tiny dot.  I tried to snap a photo, but it melted too fast. It was really beautiful though.
We also did a little bit of gambling!  I turned $20 into $70, then lost it all.  It was a magnificent failure.
Overall, the this trip was absolutely amazing!

Other items we were able to do, from my list:  I made ice cream in a bag! The recipe was simple:  milk, ice, sugar, salt, and vanilla.  We thought it would be fun to make mint ice cream, instead of vanilla, so we used mint and added chocolate chips.  Our ice cream turned out ridiculously minty - what else would I have expected.  It was insane though.  Good, in small amounts. I could not even finish the photo you see above.  I would like to try this out again, but with vanilla.  Or maybe vanilla and a small amount of mint.

I have completed 58 goals!  More than half way there! 

I started my new puzzle, cats already destroyed it.  Nothing new there!  Hopefully, my new setup will prevent that from happening in the future. I am doing the puzzle on a piece of cardboard which I cover with more cardboard and set in my closet.  I am sure they will figure something out to mess with it though...

Nikki found this photo to describe my life...

Nailed it.
Last Friday, I joined the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District Biologists in the annual Christmas Bird count! Rawge and I got started on an early and frosty morning!


Speaking of early and frosty, he and I also decided we would make a bet!  On Instagram, he posts these amazing photos of wildlife, but hardly gets any "likes" at all, while I can post a photo of my cat on the toilet and get dozens of "likes."  I told him it was because he was not adding in the right hashtags to get his photos the attention they deserve.  We both decided to take a photo, in the frosty morning and see who could get the most "likes."  Needless to say, with all my hastags, I won.   This was actually one of the nicest photos I have ever taken.  I am proud!

Now, back to the bird count!  I had a lot of fun seeing all kinds of birds I had never seen before, as well as a few of my favorites, including Killdeer!  I did not get to take any photos of them, but Killdeer are perhaps on of my most favorite birds.  Not because they are absolutely gorgeous or anything, but because of their personality.  If a predator is going after it's nest, Killdeer will fake a broken wing, flop around on the ground, and make a sound of distress in order to get the attention of the predator.  If that won't get it's attention, they will come closer to the predator and make a louder noise to draw attention.  The predator will see the bird, and think it is an easier target because it is injured.  Once it has lured the predator away, Killdeer will suddenly "heal" and fly away.  They are just so neat!

The major sight of the day was a Bald Eagle!  They had never had an adult Bald Eagle ever make an appearance in the area, so it was really exciting.  Hard to photograph though, because we were so far from it.  Luckily, we had a scope, so I was able to, carefully, take a photo through the scope with my phone!  He was a neat little guy.  I had never seen one before (apparently they are rare to see - as they were close to extinction), so it was pretty spectacular.  Fun times!

Upcoming goals:
I have decided I need to start classes, to get scuba certified, in the next few weeks.  I realized, I need to be scuba certified in order to swim with sharks.

Finally, we are planning a wee trip to New York at the end of the year for New Years Eve!

I have an exciting year planned out!

In other news:
"In 2002, the average user spent 46 minutes on the Internet a day - In 2012, the average user spent 4 hours on the Internet everyday"
(Follow UberFacts on Twitter)

-jennilea