Before/After Pictures

I know the numbers of the scale have been great, but just looking at pictures puts things into perspective even more! I am not ashamed, anymore, to share my weight-loss stats! I started at 195...I wasn't going to get to 200...and right now I am at 152.4! My ultimate goal, to reach by June, is 140. I really love my new hair cut, but it's not looking like its full potential in the picture!!

When do we really grow up?

So lately I have been resenting the college atmosphere. Okay, I love the grad school atmosphere, but something about the younger students bugs me! Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to get on my high horse and say I'm better now that I graduated, but at what point do we focus on the reason we are in school?

Case and point:
I am terribly sick of using the computer lab in the evening when the athletic-type (wouldn't be surprised if they were the athletes of this campus...that's a whole new story) guys are in there together. When I go to the computer lab, I go because I have homework assignments on programs only the school has. I am there to work, and work hard so I can get out of there as soon as possible. Unfortunately, not everyone feels this way. I know this because, silly me, I chose a computer a few spots away from these rowdy guys. While trying desperately to concentrate on the task at hand, I was distracted by these guys who were on facebook looking at pictures of "hot chicks" and rating how hot they were...oh and if they could "score" with them. Oh it gets worse...after about a half hour of that, one of the guys got on the phone to someone else asking about the homework assignment that was due. He was getting all huffy and puffy over the phone, because, apparently, the caller on the other end was not going to give them the completed assignment as agreed upon. When off the phone, we went on and on to his buddies about what a liar the caller was, and he should've never bought him the shot the night before. Apparently the shot at the bar was the payment for this particular homework assignment. Why put such a large investment into something, like school, to cheat your way through it? This type of scenario has happened the last two weeks in our computer lab, with two different sets of guys.

Case and point number 2:
Why do the girls here feel the need to "doll" themselves up?? I guess I have felt pressure from the type of girls who go to school here since I started my freshman year. I know that this materialistic type of girl is everywhere right now, heck I see her every time I open up a magazine, but why do we make others feel inadequate if they don't meet these standards? I have recently become somewhat angry at myself, because I fell to this pressure. My biggest beauty peer pressure vice since starting school has been tanning. I don't know why, but for some reason burning our skin makes us beautiful! I admit that I like how I look better when I am tan, but why?? For this reason alone, I haven't gone tanning since the end of summer last year. So why am I starting to feel like I need to go? The only answer I have to this question is the poor effects of the typical hollywood stereotype portrayed everywhere...particularly in the media. I dare to be different, and have always thought of myself in this way. I hate that I fell for the trap set out by beauty experts whose job is to frame the way society thinks about beauty. Never have I felt more beautiful than I do now. I have made a complete lifestyle change. I will be happy, and I will no longer succumb to shallow standards ever again.

DISCLAIMER: I will avoid tanning beds, however, I will never avoid the beautiful sunshine outside...let it be summer!

Coming soon: Did I mention I chopped all of my hair off?? I will be posting before and after pictures (pre-weight watchers and pre-haircut)!

Other tag...

Okay so thanks Kristine, I am stealing your other 'tagged' post, it looks interesting enough!
This time it is different! Here's the rules:1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).2. Open the book to page 123.3. Find the fifth sentence.4. Post the next three sentences.5. Tag five people.

I'm a nerd...and the book closest is, of course, a school textbook! I actually enjoy reading it though, so here goes nothing:

In the months after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the number of witenesses representing fishing and environmental interests grew significantly, and oil company representatives were less prominent than they were in the policy process before the spill. Of course, as interest in the spill faded, the balance of forces returned somewhat to normal, but not to where it have been before the spill. (NEW PARAGRAPH) Groups that cannot gain a hearing in the legislative branch can appeal to executive branch officials.

Now that I bored everyone...I forgot to say HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

Okay, I'll bite!

Sorry, Kristine! It took me awhile to get to fulfilling my "tagged" duties! Here are my 6 things (I don't have six people to tag though...)

1. I get incredibly OCD about many things...particularly cleaning/organizing and my school notes! I color code my closet! I have two closets for my clothes (one for tops and one for bottomrs...and they are all color coded)! I am a freak about my notes for school being neat and organized (with many many bullet points to bat!) If I am at home taking my own notes by hand, Josh will make fun of me, because many times I have to tear the paper out of the notebook and start over! Plus I like to use only black gel pens...don't ask me why....

2. I get emotional easily! (ahem...grandma...your fault??? haha!) I cry about tv shows, movies, new babies, special moments...everything! I am the typical girlie girl...that cries too much!

3. I want a pet so bad right now! I wanted a pug girl, and I would name her Lola. I still want a pug because I think they are so darned cute, BUT I decided I want to get an animal from the humane society when I can because I know the pugs will be taken, but there are so many other animals that need a home. Now, if I could only afford a house or find a place that allows pets....

4. I pathetically follow the tabloid gossip! I know, I know...that's what's wrong with the world today, but I can't help it! Whether it is browsing the tabloid headlines in the line at the store, purchasing, or persuing the internet, I have to find my fair share of gossip. And I still secretly feel sympathy for Britney Spears. I think she is not doing her job as a mother, BUT I think living under a microscope has gotten to her. She really needs help before something tragic happens!

5. I am much too responsible for my age. I should be careless, fearless, and risk-taking (I hear...), but I am the girl in the crowd worrying about the consequences of my actions CONSTANTLY. I am probably known as the boring girl or "mom" around my friends, but I am pretty set in my ways. There are many times when I would rather stay at home than go out...I have always been a homebody though! Staying home playing board games and watching movies or going out to the bar (and dealing with a headache tomorrow)...I'll usually choose the first option. But every once in awhile.....

6. I am and always will be a summer girl. I dislike, very much, the winter and cold air!! I don't mind SNOW before Christmas....but after that it can melt. I don't really know why I'm still living here! HAHA!!

Good-bye January...Hello (cold) February

So before the new year, I made a calendar for my office. I was intending on putting the pictures of each month up monthly, but, as you can see, I'm a bit behind....SO you get two for the price of one!

My Diploma...

..finally came in the mail! What a relief! I truly have graduated...and I have proof! YAY!! (Sorry the picture is kind of poor quality)

The green medal on the left side of the frame (just hanging on the corner) is the honors medallion that graduates received if they qualified (I graduated Magna Cum Laude, which is the second highest honor). The tassel that is hanging in the frame is considered "drab orange," which is the color that indicates the School of Public and Business Administration. To be honest, I would call the color tan or dark tan. May parents bought me this beautiful frame as a graduation gift. It's now hanging on the wall above my high school graduation picture and tassel!

New TV

I know it's been awhile since I've posted! Today I will post a few different things to make up for it! Josh and I have been looking to get a new TV (ours was going out--it was may parents old one and probably 20 years old)! For Christmas, my parents gave us a very generous gift card to wal-mart (could be used at Sam's Club) to buy a tv. We had wanted to use the figt card and spend a little extra money to get a nice one! Well needless to say the tv was put to the back of our minds with my car problem. However, a few weeks ago, we went to Josh's work holiday party and he had won a few hundred dollars off of pull tabs! So he used that money, the gift card, and some of this paycheck to purchase our tv! We had actually done a lot of research into flat screens, and knew the good brands to look for and good prices for the size of the screen. We went into Wal-mart just to check their selection, and they had a 37" RCA for $699 (more than I wanted to pay, but a very decent price for the size)! We asked someone if they had anymore in the back, as the shelf was empty, and we were told they were sold out. After talking his manager into selling us the floor model, we got a 10% discount on the tv, and, better yet, it had only been on for 3 days! Needless to say, Josh made us rush home Sunday for the "big game" on his big screen!