Monday, March 29, 2010

Costa Rica

So I really don't have that much to say, but I was tired of my last post being about a moron, so I decided to write about my trip to Costa Rica!!!

Here's what I know..I'll be there for 7 days and 6 nights and I can't wait!!!!

Costa Rica, HERE I COME!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Nothing worse than an under-educated conservative...

I try to keep my political opinions to myself. Honestly, politics aren't really my fortay and I think everyone is entitled to read/write/believe whatever they want. It's not my place to call someone out or accuse them of being wrong or anything else.

Recently, a friend of mine wrote a blog post on health care reform and it would benefit her family personally. This is a very dear friend of mine, and in being so, I know that she did not write this post lightly or without knowing the stance she was taking. I agree that we're ultimately going to disagree on the healthcare reform because the facts are, it's hard to swallow for some people. Some people feel like only the wealthy should be entitled to things like basic human needs. And they're verbal about it. And for a long time, my stance was, "It's their beliefs, what do I care." However, a very conservative person posted a comment on my friend's blog and it really irks me.

It irks me because the author perfectly epitomizes everything I hate about loud mouth, obnoxious conservatives or think they're beliefs are the answer and everyone else is an idiot. Read this.

The first thing that bugs me about him, is that he is insinuating that his bullet points are fact, when in FACT they are not. The second thing that bothers me about him is his tone.

I have a lot of friends on both sides of the debate. And I will gladly discuss this with them in an intellgient manner. What I can not stand are assholes like this guy who are not willing to listen to your side of a debate and are not willing to stop playing the defensive card long enough to listen to what someone else, with intelligent thoughts and beliefs has to say.

The other thing I can't stand about people like this guy are the way that they can be so American and so proud to be an American and then the instant things aren't going their way, they're quick to fly their flags upside down and denounce America and everything in it. It's not a secret that I am not a fan of the former president or of the war in Iraq/Afghanistan. BUT I have never commented on America as a whole nor would I ever do something as childish and disrespectful as flying my country's flag upside down.

To me, this is what's wrong with the beautiful country I live in. On the oustide we pretend to be a country that is accepting of others beliefs and ideas, but in reality, we're trying at every chance to denounce our fellow American's beliefs. We pride ourselves on being a democracy, but when democracy works, and we elect a President with a record number of voter turnout, we're quick to denounce him and everything he stands for.

Nothing is being shoved down anyone's throats. Health care reform isn't, the war isn't. It's all been very open and honest, in my opinion, and it seems to me that representatives on both sides of the party lines have voted for and against health care reform. If you feel something is being shoved down your throat, I suggest you talk to your ELECTED official.

Like my friend, my family is affected by a pre-existing condition. While it hasn't been an issue for us yet, it's only a matter of time.  This health care reform could help that. Additionally, I tend to be the victim of awkward illnesses and bad timing. This health care reform could lower the costs for me personally and help me not spend all of my money on prescriptions and treatments that are extremely overpriced as it is.

Maybe the healthcare reform won't help you personally....but maybe it'll help someone you care about. Maybe they haven't even told you how desperately they could use healthcare reform. But more importantly, who are you to say that anyone in this beautiful country should be denied anything? Aren't we supposed to be the land of the free? The land of opportunity? I suggest we find our way back to that or we will no longer be a beautiful country, and someone else will step in.  

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Random Update

So, the bathroom is done...though there are still a few things that need to be touched up. (But hey, the big stuff is done!)

Work is work...school has started again and I'm taking two classes this time, so that will be more challenging. Especially since one of them is Statistics and if you know me, you know I hate numbers. HATE numbers. Oh well, I can do anything for 12 weeks.....anything.

I want to go to Costa Rica. I'm trying really, really, really hard to convince the hubs that he wants to go too. It's not easy. Saving money is the screwiest thing ever. Oh well. Maybe he'll give in and we can get one last hoorah in before life.

That's really about all I've got. I'm going to change my blog picture to Costa Rica in hopes it will help my husband decide to go.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

In living color...

Okay, so, I'm in the process of re-doing my bathroom. Well, of stripping down the old wallpaper and painting and updating fixtures, etc. Something that needed to be done a long time ago but because I'm a procrastinator, is starting now.

Point: before I painted, I wanted to frame pictures that I had taken of the flowers in my backyard so that I could look at them every day and remember why I love my house. But now, I'm not sure they're going to match exactly....so here's my question:

Should I convert them to black and whites so they match better, or should I just leave them and consider it art?

Here are a few samples:

So the colors are blue (not like royal blue or navy blue, or even a real dark blue....and brown.)

what do you peeps think?

Friday, March 5, 2010

random pics from my phone...

because we all need a little bit of entertainment in our lives:

 my very handsome little guy, Wilson.
Champions at Whilry Ball....I got 3rd, hence the finger, and was doing my skinny face! Ha ha
this is my inspiration board...it's helping me get skinny.
 
Me...contemplating something serious while driving down the road...probably like "why is the sky blue" ha ha

My beautiful little girl, Bailey! Isn't she the cutest?
Me and the bestest right before a Mavs game.
 
D I R K!!!!!! Love this guy! 

Ahh, Shiner Blonde. How I can't wait for you to return to my life.....I miss you. Love, Tiffany.


Anyway, thought you'd enjoy some random and totally stupid pictures. Minus the doggles and the bestestestest one.

"Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough."
-William Saroyan

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

You did what???????

This is my thumb yesterday as I'm trying to walk into Target to take care of some errands....Although the piece of wood sticking out of my thumb looks like a toothpick, it's actually a splinter from the wood handle of an umbrella that oh so generously decided to break while I was trying to open it. At first, I remained pretty calm and thought "hey, Target has a pharmacy, maybe someone in the pharmacy will pull this out for me." They refused. So, I drove to Care Now, an urgent care center close by. After waiting for about an hour, and starting to feel intense pain, the doctor finally gets a chance to look at it. Her immediate response is that she's not worried about the obvious big splinter, but the small splinters that are coming out of the top of my thumb. Right where my nail is broken, and where the blood dot is. 

She proceeds to give me three shots in my thumb (two just under the nail bed and one into the top) that literaly felt like someone was stabbing my thumb with a dirty needle, and then starts on pulling out the first splinter. Instead of just being able to pull it out and be done with it, she had to cut the skin around the splinter to get it out. Oh joy. 

She then moved to the splinter just under the nail. Which, before starting she had commented was the splinter that she was most worried about. Apparently inanimate objects, like glass, are okay to remain in your finger, but wood is an entirely different story. Luckily, the splinter came right out and she was confident that she got all of it. She did however have to cut my nail away to do it. Oh joy. 

Next she moved to the blood dot. This splinter ended up being the most stubborn. It was about the size of a hair and hurt like a b. It took about 20 minutes to get it out and she ended up having to cut the top of my thumb in order to do so.Oh joy. 

So, at the end of the ordeal, I have a sliced open thumb on the sides and on the top and I'm missing part of my fingernail. 

To top things off, I got a huge shot of antibiotics into my hip, and a tetanus shot. I will never forget the date of my last tetanus shot again!


 
This is what my thumb looks like now. It doesn't look all that bad and you're probably thinking it couldn't possibly hurt that bad, but let me tell you...it does. 

So I'm going to need all the "poor Tiffany"s you can come up with and I'm going to need them fast....

Monday, March 1, 2010

The best of friends....

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet"
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 2.2

Ahh good old Romeo and Juliet. Is there a sweeter love story than theirs? I think not.

But that's not what this is about. This is about best friends. And soul mates. And how all of them come together to form my support system and keep me sane.

Check out my totally awesome paint drawing to illustrate my garden of best friends and soul mates:

Okay, so it looks way better in paint, but here's the gist. The flowers are my garden....Janet, Michael, Colleen, Jennifer, Chellie, Grams, Dustin, Hilary, Danny and Dane. Each of them plays a crucial part in my life. The blue birds (by the bees, yes those are bees, and yes those are birds. don't knock my artistic ability)....are my TWEEPS! who let me vent on a daily basis and don't judge...mostly. :)

Here's a little bit about each of my flowers:

Janet - talk about the most amazing person you could ever ask to be in your corner. She is such a positive reinforcement that it's hard not to think she's amazing. She congratulates you when you're doing well and encourages you when you're down in the dumps. She's completely selfless and gives all of herself to everything she does. She's loyal and doesn't give up on something she believes in. I am thankful fate has kept us together and honored to call her my friend. :)

Michael - is my cousin. He's a wee bit older than me and unfortunately our paths weren't very intertwined until about 4 years ago. But, I love him nonetheless. He's also a very good person to have in your corner. Very level headed and passionate. He's loyal to a fault, but I try not to take advantage of that! :) He gives 110% to those he loves and his advice is usually dead on. I can call him when I'm crying, or when I'm jumping with joy and I believe he feels what I feel and celebrates or mourns with me.

Colleen - ahh, my saving grace. Colleen is my rock. She's my go to when my life is in shambles. She not only understands my neurotic moments, she can talk me out of them. I am positive that without her, my life would be so much more chaotic and days would be completely different. She too is an amazing person and has strength like I've never seen.

Jennifer - Jennifer is my co-worker, but has certainly developed into one of my very best friends. While this list pretty much includes everyone I would call a best friend, she certainly deserves the designation in her description. She too can talk me out of my neurotic moments and is far more level headed than me which helps because sometimes I need someone to bring me back to reality. She's also loyal and one of those people you'd rather have on your side than against you. Best of all, we laugh a lot. And laughter soothes the soul.

Chellie - holy geez. My alligator. We've called each other gator for a long time now. I think it was to protect our identities online, but it's not like I'm using her last name, so we're good. Music brought us together and continues to be glue for our relationship. We share the exact same taste in music and aren't afraid to bust out a little Journey at the top of our lungs during happy hour. (Everyone should, btw). She's another saving grace because when I feel like the weight of the world is crushing my lungs, she knows exactly what I'm talking about and can make me laugh so that my mind is no longer on the crushing weight. We often laugh until there are tears in her eyes (I don't cry when I laugh) and I can't breathe. I love it.

Grams - ahh grams, how I love thee. My grandma is the best and that's all there is to it. She's funny, witty, smart, compassionate, caring, and every other thing you could ever want in a person. She's a perfect 10 in my book and I love her to death.

Dustin - my very very best friend. And the hubs. He doesn't always understand what I'm going through, but he does his best to help me through it. He's my rock, my soul mate, and the keeper of my heart. Not every person gets to marry their best friend, and I certainly consider myself lucky for being able to do so.

Hilary - oh geez I don't think a little blurb about Hil is going to be enough. Hilary is my other very very best friend. We've been through hell and back together and she's never once faultered by my side. We've had stupid fights like sisters sometimes do, and we've always managed to come out stronger than before. She is so, so passionate about life and the ones she cares about, it's admirable. She's funny, smart, and talented. She constantly amazes me with her ability to adapt and to persevere through all kinds of crazy situations. I love her dearly and I would be lost without her 99% of the time!

Danny - Danny has been my friend for a long time. We've gone through peaks and valleys with out friendship, but he's always been there for me. He's listened to me scream and cry and he's listened to me be overjoyed. He's compassionate, and has thoughts and ideas that amaze me on a regular basis.

Dane - Ahh, my Dane. I would imagine Dane will be surprised to find his name on this list. But he deserves it. Dane help save me. Dane was the friend who was there for me when I was confused and being stupid and not at all making choices that would benefit my life later. He laughed about it with me, and helped pull me through all while not juding me for being a complete moron. We've drifted over the years, but I can still call him and spend an hour on the phone playing catch up and lauhging at all the stupid things we get ourselves into. He recently abandonned Texas, but I have a feeling there will be lots of trips to see each other. Especially because his new wife is awesome!

The title of best friend is kind of limiting. If you say "one of my best friends" you sound kind of silly, because how many do you have, right? well, the truth is, I have a lot. 10 to be exact. 10 people that I consider my very best friends and my go to people. 10 people I would put my life on the line for. (obviously I'd put my life on the line for my family, but these are my "other family"). I am so lucky to have a list of 10 people that I can turn to in crisis and in need and feel like they understand me 100% and they're not judging me, but truly looking out for my best interest. I often feel like best friend isn't an appropriate title for them because they're really more than that. They're part of my family. And my life is forever changed by knowing them.

This seemed appropriate:
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.
~William Shakespeare