Some Random Stuff

Okay, now for a very random post. It's still my Christmas break, so lots of Random stuff is going on.

Random Topic #1: Marley and MeI received this wonderful little book from Luke for Christmas. I read it in four days, because I wanted to hurry up and read it so I could go see the movie. I always like to read books before movies, because I usually like the book more, and I don't want the movie to ruin it. Anyway, on Sunday night, I sat on my couch (while Luke was in bed sleeping) finishing the last five chapters of the book. And balling like a baby through every page of those last five chapters. It made me very emotional, but it was such a good book! Luke and I are probably buying a puppy this summer when I'm off work and can pour all my time into training it, so I felt an extra special connection to the dog, and to the newlywed couple in the book.

I had planned to go to brunch and then the movie "Marley and Me" with my Mom and sister the next day. I thought that I probably wouldn't cry much in the movie since I knew what was going to happen. I was wrong. I cried. And it wasn't just like a solitary tear or two here or there. It was like full out balling. I literally was shaking from trying to muffle the violent sobs that were about to break from my body. I have to admit that I even cried a little on my way home, too. Even though, again, it made me so emotional, I think it's one of my new favorite movies.

Random Topic #2: My super-cat

When JC was taking pictures for our Christmas cards the other night, he had fun taking a few of Gabby. Here's one that highlights some of her crazy skills.

She can get some serious air when she wants to. Our friends have begun calling her Lebron or L-Train for obvious reasons. I told everybody that we should photoshop a sky behind her, and a superman cape on her back. Our friend Michael decided to put his own twist on the picture, so here you have it. Just call her Lebron.
If you're a Scrubs fan like me (Luke and I can probably quote every episode, word for word, and we own them all on DVD) this will remind you of when Turk photoshopped Izzy in a photo exactly like this! So that's two reasons why I think it's awesome :-)

Random Topic #4: New Year's Eve party food

I'm a little bummed this morning. We have our annual New Year's Eve party at our friends' house tonight, who also happen to be our neighbors now (total, AWESOME coincidence when we moved to our new house) I was planning to make this delicious looking caramel cake from Reeni's blog. However, as I look out my window this morning it has become a winter wonderland out there, and it's still coming down. While it's beautiful to enjoy from inside, I'd rather not venture out onto the snow/ice covered streets to go to Giant Eagle to buy all the ingredients I need. Oh well, it would have been amazing :-/ I will just be boring and make some brownies or something, because I do have all I need for that. Or maybe I'll be a little more adventurous and try some crock pot chocolate cake. I've had the recipe for awhile, and in the picture it looks unbelievable. I'll let you know how it turns out if I do end up trying it.

Random Topic #5: New Years Resolution

So I don't usually do the whole resolution thing. I always just end up forgetting about it around January 6, so why bother? I haven't worried about it in the past few years, but this year I think I need to make some changes. Two specific ones.

Resolution 1: To stop procrastinating! I always get things done, and I usually do them to the best of my ability, but I usually do them under pressure because of my own foolish procrastination. I simply keep putting things off until I can't anymore. And I'm going to try to stop that! I have a feeling this is the resolution that's not going to be kept. But I'm going to try!

Resolution 2: To work out 5 days a week. In high school I was one of those lucky girls that seemed to have a crazy fast metabolism. The only physical activity I took part in was dance. During the summer we had crazy practices for danceline (we danced at football games) but in the winter I would just do ballet classes once a week. So at least in the wintertime, I was not getting much exercise. I ate whatever I wanted, and stayed between 98 and 103 lbs all four years of high school. Somehow, my body has changed :-( In the past year alone, I gained a whopping 20 lbs. For someone who is only 5' tall to begin with, that's a lot of weight. I haven't changed any of my habits though, so it's no mystery why this is happening. So it's time for a change!

Luke works for the city, so we have a lot of awesome perks through his job. One of them is that we can get a free membership to the community center! (a huge, beautiful, new work-out facility in the city where he works). He's had this job for 6 months, and we have yet to step foot into the community center! I know, how bad is that? I'm going to start going after New Years. I will probably go after work, and it's about 20 minutes away from the school where I work. So when the weather is bad, or when I have 5 million things to get done, I won't feel like going. That's why I want to look on Craig's List and find myself a treadmill or elliptical machine. Luke is against this idea because he thinks it's stupid to buy it when we can go to the gym for free. I still really want one though! And we have plenty of space for it in our attic room.

For now, though, I'll plan on going to the gym. I'm getting my mp3 player stocked up with some awesome work out jams to get me pumped up. And it will probably be really embarrassing the first few times I go, because you have no idea how out of shape I am right now! But I just want to be healthy, and I'm sick of not doing anything about it! So I'm praying I can stick with this!

Wow, how's that for a monstrously long post?!