Saturday Shenanigans

Hey y'all!I hope everybody's Saturday was fun! Mine sure was. I woke up kind of early, which was surprising since I stayed up so late watching Desperate Housewives (Hi. My name is Katy, and I'm a Housewives-a-holic.) But since I was up, I decided not to waste the day, and go hang out at the mall.

The mall is seriously my zen place. Seriously. I can spend hours there just wandering around. Especially if it has a bookstore. I think bookstores are my favorite places ever. (After Disney and Sea World. Ok. I have lots of favorites.) So I hit up Barnes and Noble first thing. :) I only bought two books, and they were both clearance! Score! I also bought some grandpa shoes from Payless, also on sale. I think they will be so cute with some shorts in the summer, though! :) Yeah, that is the sequel to The Friday Night Knitting Club. And you bet your booty I started it when I was eating my lunch at Chili's. Yes ma'am.

So, afterwards I decided to come home and read some more/fall asleep for a few hours. (See, I knew I would make up that missed sleep this morning!) Then it was off for a run!

Now. Let's just be honest here. I have been avoiding exercise like the plague. I'm talking nasty, gonna mar my skin with infected sores plague. And I can tell by looking at my body. Which just makes me sad. Plus, I love exercise, and the endorphins I feel afterwards. So enough is enough. I don't need to be Jillian Michael's, but I do need to do something. Every day. Even if it is as small as using my 5 lb weights for a 5 minute arm session. (Though, mostly, I'll just be running.) So here's the deal, and I need y'all to help keep me on track! From now until June, I'll be running at least four days a week. That's the rule.

Starting June 1st, I am going to do P90X Insanity, and I mean actually stick with it. It's a personal challenge, and I want to be able to say I completed it. Then once that is over, it's half-marathon training time. My half marathon (hello DisneyWorld!) is on January 5th, 2012, so I have plenty of time. But I have to actually work for it! So no more slacking. It's crunch time, and those bikinis aren't getting any more flattering. :)

I went on a run today, and it felt good. I mean, really good. I used my BIC Band (I have four, and I love every single one!) and ran 2.6 miles on the golf course. I saw cute little ducklings with their momma (and a goose?), but I couldn't take any pictures because I left my camera. Rookie mistake for sure. Here I am all sweaty.

I came home and made a post-workout smoothie, and it was pretty yummy. Ingredients are as follows:

+Silk Pure Almond (seriosuly yum.)

+Baby Spinach

+Raspberry Chobani fat free greek yougurt

+Be BUFF blueberries and cream protein powder (this stuff is the bomb dot com.)

+Frozen fruit medley of raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.

I use frozen fruit because it is cheaper, lasts longer, and if you use frozen fruit you don't need to add ice. Which is a good thing because I have the most frusterating blender on the planet. Seriously. It's cheap and doesn't blend very well. But it's only a temporary one to get me through barrack's living. (Hence why I bought the cheapest model!) I also steamed up some broccoli, (thank you Ziplock Steam bags!) and it was amazing. I love broccoli so darn much. I seriously inhaled the whole bowl of broccoli before even really touching my smoothie! Haha.

Well, it's off to play some XBOX, and watch some DH. Don't forget to enter my giveaway! I think I will choose a winner on Tuesday. Which is also the day I have my hair appointment. What? You don't think inch long roots are attractive? Yeah me neither.

Have a great weekend!

Fast Five Friday

Hey y'all!

Today was super-duper fun. Really laid back, but fun regardless!

Yesterday (sorry for no postage!) I finished up TAP class, and learned a whole bunch more useful wonderful information, so I'd deem the whole class a raving success! This morning was my 9 am 'show my face' time and then I was done with work for the day. My roommate had some stuff to do at the other base, so I offered to drive. I ended up reading in the car all morning (there was a wonderful breeze, and I was in Katy heaven.), and I finally finished Something Borrowed.

Ugh. I was displeased almost from like page 5. The trailer for the movie (which is what made me want to read the book in the first place!) looks super adorable, and like a girl who is genuinely caught between a man and her best friend and cares deeply for both. The book is about a selfish, shallow, self-victimizing woman (Rachel) who thinks because her best friend (Darcy) is self-centered (which she is) and that she has had a very "lucky life" and is prettier and more successful and because Rachel has let Darcy walk all over her for her entire life, that is okay to have a full blown affair with Darcy's fiance.

She doesn't even feel guilty. She just acts like because Darcy is selfish and self-absorbed, it's ok. I'm thinking, if she's such a witch, then don't be her friend. Anyways, it really kind of annoyed me. I still want to see the movie, because the movie makes it seem better, and definitely makes Rachel seem like a nicer person. So I recommend watching the movie, and not reading the book. I'm hoping I'm not just as disappointed with the movie.

Now. A movie I was super not disappointed to see? Fast Five. Holy cow. I love, love, love it. It's my favorite out all of them. (The only one I didn't like was number 2, though.) It was funny and entertaining, and actually kind of heart-felt. One thing it was not was realistic though. So if you are looking for a serious, could be happening right at this moment movie, please don't waste your money only to complain later about much it sucks. :) (That's a pet peeve of mine.)

Other than that, my day was spent playing Lego Harry Potter. Yup. I'm an XBOX geek and darn proud of it. :)

Off to play more XBOX and watch some Desperate Housewives. Thank you Netflix! I hope everyone has a great weekend! Tomorrow I'll take pictures, promise!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

My First WIAW!

Ok. I just want to forewarn everyone. I am stuck in the barracks for the next month with no access to a kitchen. So my meals are going to include lots of frozen meals/sandwiches/dry food. Just a warning!

Woot. My first What I Ate Wednesday! Little did I know that you are supposed to pre-ready this post to get it out a little sooner, oh well. Rookie mistake. Head on over to Jenn's blog for the WIAW veterans! :)

So anyways. On to the eats. :) Sorry my pictures are lame, I was at the mercy of my DROID phone (which I just adore, btw!) in a dark classroom. :)

Breakfast: Water and a Caramel Nut Brownie Luna bar. Seriously. I am in love with Luna bars. I cannot get enough of them. I should contact the company. Maybe when I have more followers! :)

Lunch: Diet Coke (not pictured), turkey and ham sandwich with fat free American cheese and spinach on a Whole Wheat (+fiber and flax) Sandwich Thin, Special K chocolate pretzel 90 calorie bar, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Chocolate Rice Cake, Mint Chocolate 60 calorie Jello mousse. (can you see a chocolate trend here?!")

Snack: Mrs. Field's Cookie Dough Delights. Super not healthy, but they are gone now, and were delicious. :)

I had some Mac-and-cheese for dinner, but no photo. Sorry! :)

Well, that's my WIAW! Next week I'll be far more prepared! :) Have a great day everyone!

And don't forget to enter my giveaway!!

Three Tangent Tuesday... And a Giveaway!

Oh. My. Goodness. I just finished The Friday Night Knitting Club, and let me tell you. It's fantastic. I mean, genuinely warm and lovely and moving and inspiring. I just spent the last few hours laying in bed crying my eyeballs out, unable to put it down. All thoughts of other plans for this evening flew right out the window.

I recommend this book so much. So so so much. I don't know if I can put it into words. So, not only am I going to tell everyone to read this book, but I'm going to give one away. So enter by simply leaving me a comment. Please link to your blogs/twitter/etc. You'll get extra entries, but it's not mandatory. :)

I just really want others to read this book. Haha. Now I need to read the two following books in the series. It's a series! I'm so excited. But I still think I'm going to put it on hold until after I read Something Borrowed (also in a series! Yeesh!) just so I can go see the movie as soon as it comes out! :)

Today was aight. (Don't you love that word?! Oh, it's just me? Ok....) More TAP class, all about the resume. Eeeek! I am so bad about bragging about myself and thinking up clever ways of making my experience sound earth-moving. Haha. Not looking forward to that, but I certainly got lots of sound advice, and a whole book to reference. I also learned that there are Veteran reps in every city in America that will help you with resumes, interviews, and job searches for free. Um, thank you Uncle Sam. :) Also learned how to negotiate salaries. More eeek! I'm such a wimp when it comes to some things. Guess I'd better get the heck over it. :)

Also went grocery shopping so I could make my lunches the rest of this week.The only remotely non-fast-food-like thing to eat has been Subway. And while I could (and would!) eat Subway every single darn day of my life, it is getting expensive at $10 a day. So I have a lunchbox (an impulse buy when I first got back to America- it is SO CUTE.), and I figured it was past time to put it to good use. :) I'm actually pretty excited even though I only have two mor

e days of class left, and it's back to 15 minute work days. (Yeah, you read that right. And, no. The military is not normally like that. I wish.) So I will be participating in WIAW, as I've been promising for like two months now to the lovely Jenn. Though she probably won't believe me until it actually happens tomorrow! :)

Anyways, enough babbling. On to TTT!

Three Tangent Tuesday

+ I can touch my tongue to my elbow. Yup. Sure can. I was in a tech school for the Navy and one of my classmates was going on about it is physically impossible to do, wh

ich meant that everyone immediately tried. Except me, I was far too nervous at first, having fallen for the 'Smile Like a Donut' trick once before. (Think about it.) But, alas, watching all these people fail, I gave in and had to try. It was super easy for me. So I immediately proclaimed him a liar, and he made me prove it to him, and was all flabbergasted. So now it's my neat little parlor trick. :)

+ I always flip a new quarter over to see the State. Every. Single. Time. I am like a little kid,a nd love the surprise of which of the 50 States (and now commonwealths) I'm going to find on the back of those silver coins. :)

+ One of my nicknames is Socks. I love, and I mean love fun, funky, flirty, skull and crossboned

, knee-high, bright colored, mis-matched, crazysauce socks so flippin much. I started dating a guy a long time ago, and his housemate had such a hard time remembering my name (he was quite inebriated most of the time) so he dubbed me 'Socks' because of my socks. It caught on. Here are some pictures of me in some of my fun socks. :)

Playing Monopoly on NYE 2009. Like a boss.

Ok, I found more, but they definitely have people who may not want to be on the blog in the photos, so I'll have to respect that. :)

So, I hope everyone has a great day! Don't forget to enter the giveaway! :)

Got a Serious Case of the...

....Mondays.

I mean, for real. Maybe because it was a lack of sleep last night. (I always sleep terribly the night before an important appointment, or what not.) Maybe it's because even though TAP class was full of super helpful information, it was a long day of lectures with a very early start. Needless to say, I went home and took a nap fully expecting to go for a run and start Jillian Michael's Six Week Six Pack today. Did not happen.I started the 6-Pack video, but I quickly lost (can you lose something you never had?!) the motivation to continue.

So I'm just chalking it up to being tired and slightly irritated. I am irritated because I went on Thursday to start the internet in my room, and they said it would be hooked up by Monday at the latest. It's Monday and I'm still using the common area. I'm even more upset because all the have to do is authorize the connection, since we have the service running into the jacks at all times. But I didn't get home until after they were closed, so I have to call tomorrow. I'm not paying for a service I'm not receiving. Ugh.

So here I am in the common area in my pajamas. Yup. That's right. I am in bright purple/teal (one of my favorite color combos!) plaid pajama pants. That makes me smile. :)

TAP class was really nice actually. The facilitator in the morning was wonderful, full of really helpful information about the job market and things we need to be focused on and resources available to us. I was very impressed, and it even made me less annoyed to have such an early wake-up call. Haha. The afternoon facilitator wasn't as wonderful. The room was not well air-conditioned, very stuffy, and right after lunch, and I felt she spent too much time on personal stories than helpful information. Which wouldn't have been so bad if I wasn't spending more energy trying to stay awake than listen and absorb the information. I wasn't the only one who felt this way either. So I wasn't nearly as impressed with he afternoon portion.

Tomorrow it starts at 8 am, so that is much better for me. :) Still might have to grab a Starbucks, though. I plan on getting a early start on bed tonight, though, so I should be much more rested tomorrow. Regardless I am exercising. A nice run is exactly what the doctor ordered. I wish I hadn't left my yoga DVD at my best friend's in Florida. I was VERY fond of it. Haha. Oh well, it's just a month.

I'm currently reading The Friday Night Knitting Club, and so far I am very impressed with it. :) I also really want to start Something Borrowed before the movie comes out, since the trailer for it looked really good. I really like Ginnifer Goodwin, and John Krasinski. So I'll probably start that as soon as I finish with TFNKC.

That's about all for now. :) I'm trying to think of my Three Tangent Tuesday facts, since that will back tomorrow! :) I hope everyone has a great day! And if you haven't already, don't forget to 'like' Katy Tackles Life on FB, and follow on Twitter! :) The buttons are on the side!

Catch-up!

Whew!

I figured out some of the bugs, so now I can really catch y'all up!

First off, yes, Shane and I are no longer together. It was a difficult decision to make, but I believe the right one. However, it is still a sad fact of my life, and I'd rather not talk so publicly about it.

So, I'll talk about what's going on in my life now. I'm back in Virginia, and totally not loving it. Haha. No, it's ok, just kind of lonely. A good friend of mine from Hawaii was here visiting his sister this weekend, so I got to meet his whole family, and they were super nice and inviting. I had a really good time, and hope to hang out with his sister and her family again while I'm here.

Anthony and I

This next week I start what is called "TAPS" class. It's a transitioning class that every service member is supposed to take, to help prepare us to going from military life back to civilian life. The idea is to help us write our resumes, find out how to translate our military accomplishments into something the civilian sector can understand, etc. Every TAPS class I've ever heard of has you wearing Business attire. Except this one. Uniform it is. Ugh. I bought some new cute business clothes, too. Oh well. I'm more upset at having to be there at 6:30 am. Especially since I'm on a different base, and don't know how to get there. So I have to leave earlier to account for getting lost/traffic. Wish me luck! :)

I am becoming an old pro at going to the movies alone! Ha. I saw Arthur earlier this week, and today I went and saw Water For Elephants. I kind of like doing things on my own, it's very new for me. Kind of lonely, though. I will definitely be glad to be back in Jacksonville! :) I'm running a race the day after I get out of the Navy, and I'm super excited about it.It's called the Never Quit Beach Fest and I'm super looking forward to it. My best friend and her family are doing it also. :)

Well, I'm off for now. I have to finish laundry and get some sleep, since I have such an early wake-up call tomorrow. I'll be back with pictures of my first day of TAPS! :) Have a great day everyone!

New Blog, New Plans

Hey y'all.

So. New blog. Yes.

I had to change the blog, because Shane and I are no longer together, so runnin' to the altar just would not work anymore. So please bear with me during the change process, since I'm having some difficulties. Like why I can't edit my pages.... But that's my issue.

So how is everyone?! I've been sans internet for a while (I'm actually writing this from a laundry room...) so I haven't been able to post. I have tried keeping up with blogs from my phone, but it's not as easy without my blogroll feed. So I'm sorry if you haven't been feeling the Katy love.

So, Katy Tackles Life is the new place to be. I chose this name because that's exactly what I'm about to be doing. At 24 I am completely throwing everything I am used to and was planning to the wind, and basically starting over. Whew. I'm terrified.

And really, really excited. So, we'll see how it goes, and hopefully y'all won't leave me with all the blog-changing confusion!

Let's see.

Happy Easter everyone! I hope everyone's was wonderful. I am in Virginia, and only know like 4 people, so mine was kind of lonely. I spent Saturday with a good friend of mine's family, but he was only visiting, so he left today. I went and saw Water For Elephants today! It was so flippin good! I was so tearing up! Usually I am not happy with a film adaption of a book, but I was with this one.

Haven't been up to much. Just making appointments for getting out of the Navy. In less than a month I will be unemployed for the first time in my adult life. Holy cow is that almost overwhelming. And by 'almost', I totally mean 'so overwhelming it make it hard to breathe sometimes'. Whew.

Anyways. I'll be getting back to trying to fix this new blog, and make it as fun and pretty as my last one. Hope everyone has a wonderful day, and will follow me! :) I did add a Twitter button!