Being a Girl, Step One...

So, I generally suck at being a girly girl.  Though I very much want to be "pretty" in the sense that I have good skin, and clothes.  I don't want to be one of those girls who have to have their hair and makeup done everyday.  I want to be one of those girls who are pretty even when their hair and makeup are not done.

I have come up with a plan!...   I am going to start a skin care routine, shower at night so that I may put my hair into a braid for bed (This way it will be nicely curled/waved for the next day with out actually having to do it.)  and I will set up a "clothing album".

The skin care will be easy; wash face in shower, and put on a few lotions and potions.  And my hair takes hardly at time at all to braid.

Now, the "clothing album" is going to be the hard part.  My general plan is to take pictures of each items of clothing and jewelry and upload them to my computer.  I will then photoshop together outfits that I like.  Once I have everything set I will print them to a photo album.   The idea is that I won't be able to bitch about not having anything to wear as I can physically view multiple different outfit choices.  It will also help me to cut down on the time it takes to get ready for work or to go out.  Essentially there will be no thought involved.  I will simply have to open my book and pull from my clothes the pieces that are needed for that predetermined outfit.

I also hope that this will help me to cut down my closet.  Whilst putting together the book I will be able to tell which pieces I don't generally like as much.  And once the book is together I can keep track of which I choose to where most.  Thus in the end being able to get ride of the pieces that I hardly wear.

I hope that these little steps will cut back the time I spend trying to make myself "pretty" and will in the end boost my confidence in the way I look.

Nearly Ten Years Later.

Nearly ten years ago I was sitting in my junior high science class when all the TVs in the school turned on and started broadcasting a terrorist attack on our nation.  Four planes had been hijacked.  Two crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon, and one that the citzens aboard fought to save and crashed before it reached its target.  These attackes where organized by the terrorist group Al-Qaeda under the instruction of Osama Bin Laden.  For ten years the United States have been in a war against terrorist and searching for Bin Laden.  Today our president, Barack Obama, announced that we had found Bin Laden in a compound in Pakistan.  He sent in a team of Americans who tracked Osama Bin Laden, killed him, and took his body into custody.  A statement that the President made in his press release nearly made me cry... our team took great care not to harm civilians while taking out Bin Laden.  These are both events I will never forget; the tragic attack(s) upon our nation, and the killing of the man who did it.

Only Took 19 Months!

Nineteen months after moving in and only seven months before hopefully moving out and my entire apartment is organized for the very first time.  I have one small box of misc. things, and my bathroom draw left, but everything else is done.  Massive cabinet/storage unit in the living room, kitchen cabinets, laundry closet/room, bathroom closet and cabinets, hall/coat closet, my bedroom and walk in closet... ALL DONE!

I have a MASSIVE box to take to be donated, and tons of empty boxes to take out to the dumpster, but it's all done!!!  I am rather proud of myself.  I am generally a huge procrastinator, however I worked my ass off this weekend and accomplished all that I wanted to, if not more.

The apartment has been a disaster for a long time now... the kitchen was filthy, as well as the bathroom.  I haven't been able to sleep in my bed in weeks because it's been covered in random items.  My closet floor has been covered in a mix of clean and dirty clothes.  I am very surprised that I not only got it clean, but everything very well organized, and I was even able to rearrange my bedroom and re-do my closest.  It feels wonderful!  And just in time too.  I am leaving on vacation in two days, and there is nothing better then coming back to a clean house.

Russian Goodies

Went to the Russian store the other day with one of my coworkers (she is Russian)  She has warned me that most Russian stores in the area are not good to go to if you are not Russian as sometimes they will charge you extra.  Well this new store we found called "Moscow" is great!  The owners are so kind, the place is super clean, and they have an amazing selection it seems.  On our last visit I loaded it up on goodies with the help of the girl that worked there.  When Natasha (my coworker) and I walked in she stared talking to the employees and I wandered off towards the sodas. I don't generally do not like American soda, but for some reason I have loved all the Russian soda that I've tried.  Even the Kvass (not exactly a soda), which taste like a mix of soy sauce and beer has grown on me, and now I find myself craving it.  Natasha had told me it was like Russian rootbeer, well it's nothing like rootbeer!  The girl that worked there came over to help me and then she asked if I like candy and chocolate, well of course I said yes.  She showed me all the different shelves of candy (which you buy by the pound)  Explaining what they were, and gave me samples of her favorites.  She just starting picking stuff up off the shelf, unwrapping it, and having me try.  She also gave me a sample of ... well, I don't know what it's called... but it's pressed sunflower seeds sometimes with a flavoring.  I loved it!


The big pink brick is the pressed sunflower seeds (I choose to try the unflavored one)

The Soda's:

The dark brown beverage Natasha and the girl described to me as a Russian version of Cola... well one of the men who worked there disagreed saying that it's more of a pine nut flavored carbonated drink... I have since tried it and agree with both opinion, it tastes a bit like Coke, but a bit more organic. 

The golden colored beverage I was told is a soda also, but they didn't tell me what flavor.  I will post more once I drink it.

The clear beverage is a Russian seltzer.  I personally think it's the best mineral water I have ever tasted!

On to the candies!!!

Bottom Left Corner:  These are dried fruits filled with marshmallow and the covered in chocolate.

Tiny Candies Directly Under the Bottles:  These are fruit flavored hard candies.  They are sweet but not as sugary as American hard candy, and they are almost sticky.  Jeffrey really loves them.

Under the Tiny Hard Candies:  These are other hard candies.  I have yet to try any, but am looking forward to doing so.

Top Right Corner:  These are like bonbons.  They are chocolate covered with different fillings.  The girl at the store had me try the blue one, and said that all of them are different flavors... So naturally I got one of each!

Bottom Right Corner:  These are flavored marshmallows covered in chocolate.  I am most excited to try these!

To end off my field trip to the Russian store I got to try a new candy they had gotten in but not put on the shelf yet.  It was a chocolate covered cherry.  However, unlike other cherry chocolates this one is alcoholic!  I went to bit into the hard shell and everyone there starting motioning for me to stop and tilt me head back.  Once I bit in I understood why, the candy is filled with about a full shot of liquor and a tiny little cherry.  It was nothing like our "liquor" candies in America, where it's candy flavored with a bit of Kahlua or something.  This was almost pure alcohol neatly contained in a chocolate coating.  Needless to say, I want more!

Surprise!

Jeffrey's surprise birthday bowling party went amazingly.  He had no idea that I had planned a party and I would not have been able to pull it off without the help of our friend Jorge Cruz.  I was able to get all the supplies to Jorge early in the day and he went to the bowling alley 1.5 hours early in order to make sure we were able to get two lanes next to each other and to set up the table with the birthday banner and "cake" (Jeffrey wanted a cookie for his birthday so I got a giant 8" x 6" cookie and 60 bit sized cookies)

I started my planning two weeks in advance by contacting everyone to see if they would be available.  Then on Thursday March 3rd I took the day off from work for a doctors appointment.  When I got there we had to reschedule for later in the day, thus giving me time to run around and plan Jeffrey's party more.  I ordered the cookie(s), called the bowling alley to try to pay for and reserve lanes and they told me they couldn't reserve on weekends due to them being so packed (hence why Jorge went at 6 pm and we still didn't get two lanes together until 8 pm), I also text/emailed everyone with details.  On Friday night I told Jeffrey "by the way, tomorrow night we are meeting Jorge and his girl for a double date bowling"  at which point he tells me "oh, I've made plans for tomorrow"  FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU was all I could think.  Thankfully his were morning plans and it all worked out. I was even able to use the time he was out of the house to go pick up the cookie(s) and try to get balloons. Speaking of balloons, they didn't happen.  I walked into the party supply store, saw the balloons, and immediately remembered that they use helium and the worlds supply of helium is quickly being diminished.  So, I ended up getting a table "Happy Birthday" center piece. (side note:  the girl at the party supply store said to me "I thought we made helium"  *face palm*)

The plan was to get there at 7:30... well at 7:30 pm I was still trying to get Jeffrey out the door.  He was hounding me asking things like "are you sure Jorge is even there?"  by the time I finally got him in the car it was 7:50 and on the drive there he made me call Jorge to make sure he was on his way... I was having the hard time not cracking a smile and giving the whole thing away.  When I told him that "Yes, Jorge is on his way" Jeffrey started getting text from his other friends (who were all waiting at the bowling alley and texting Jeffrey inviting him to other things to throw Jeffrey off the trail of "surprise party")  One of the friends invited him over to hang out, and his house is in the south end of the valley and we were going to a bowling alley in the north end... well that upset Jeffrey, he started telling me that we need to meet up Jorge at a different bowling alley closer to the south end of the valley... Well, I was able to convince him that Jorge was almost to the original bowling alley and to just go there.  By the time we got there I was so thankful that I was able to get him there since he was making everything so difficult.

When we walked in Jorge ran up to us and bombarded Jeffrey with random conversation, at this point I noticed that our lanes weren't ready and that everyone was hiding the corner of the cafe trying not to be seen. Jorge managed to wrangle Jeffrey and me into the bar/lounge to get beer, and BS'ed with the bar tender long to make it so Jeffrey and I didn't get out beer until after they called the "Cruz party" out to our lanes (Jorge snuck out then to get everyone to the table at our lanes)  By the time we were walking out of the lounge I had to position myself behind Jeffrey so that he wouldn't see me trying not to smile or laugh.  He started walking down the back wall looking for Jorge and completely missed the fact that there was a massive group of his friends standing right there.  He only really noticed them when he got close enough and they all yelled "Surprise!"

I am so happy that I was able to pull this off and that he had no idea what was going down.  He was happy once he figured it out and that is the most important thing.

Compilation of Missed Events

I realize I am a bit late in posting this, but found some pictures and thought it would be fun to journal about.

1st off:  My Birthday Party

Some friends and I went out to sushi at a very trendy place called "Happy Sumo" It's a small and very busy restaurant so I made reservation for 8 people (their largest table) a week in advanced. I told everyone that the reservations were at 8:30 pm... they didn't show up until 9:15 pm... I was rightfully pissed. Well, Jorge felt awful, so he took it upon himself to buy the drinks... $200 dollar tab for drinks by the end. We then went to Area 51, the local "goth" dance club/bar and wow was it fun. By the time Jeffrey got me home I was tipping over while sitting on the bed... Odd thing was that I was fine while standing... I know this because no one believed I was drunk and they insisted I was sober and must drink more to celebrate my birthday, trust me I was not sober, I was not wasted but at the perfect level of tipsy... but sitting is when I would loose my balance.

Left: Bacon sushi
Right:  Jorge's massive amount of sushi.

And sadly I do not have pictures from the weekend after my party.  The dinner party was the week before my birthday... on my actual birthday we all went to a "Rave" at the Saltair (a concern hall in the middle of no where by the great salt flats.)  There was a band called Above and Beyond playing, so we went to hear them and hang out in the upstairs bar.  We generally spent the night looking over the railing at all the 18 year olds pretending to be drugged up.  It was a blast!  Two weekends in a row of me drinking... it seems so odd because I usually never drink.  I like being the sober one laughing at all the drunken shenanigans... but it was fun for me to be the one drinking for a change. Again though, no one believed I was drunk so they insisted oh keeping the rounds coming.  I am one lucky girl too... neither weekend did I get hungover.

2nd off:  Presents!

It almost seems like a tradition to me now... Jeffrey gets me jewelry as presents.   

Left: Diamond key pendant... 23rd B-day present from Jeffrey.

Right:  Artist hand made necklace... 24th B-day present from Jeffrey.

Left:  2010 X-mas present from Jeffrey.

Right: Profile view... Jade w/ diamond and amethyst accents.

3rd off:  Dr. Zefram Cochrane

Z baby dog is 1 year old.  He's grown so much but still seems so little to me.  When we first got him he could fit into my hand, and now we estimate he's about 10-12 lbs.

Left: After being woken up by the flash.
Right:  Cuddly baby dog.

Two New Blogs

Well, I found out I can't make a private post... So I created a private blog. (As you may have noticed from my previous post.)

In addition to my Private Blog I have also created a blog for my food adventures.

http://ciena-abottlemarkedpoison.blogspot.com

Horrible Week Continuation...

Private continuation of my horrible week.
http://cienasprivatelife.blogspot.com/2011/02/terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-day_26.html

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Week)

Well, it's been a rough week.  Friday Feb 18th was a long day at work, made worse by the fact that I sliced my finger open. I was using a tape dispenser (the type you use to tape up boxes while moving) and it slipped and cut open the top of my middle finger.  I put a bandage on, but by the time I turned around to throw away the wrapper it was already soaked through with blood.  I put a new bandage on and layered it with a second; in just a few minutes both were soaked through.  With how it was bleeding maybe I should have gone to the doctor to have it stitched up.  Then on Saturday my car died right after starting it.  Jeffrey checked everything and it seemed the fuel pump had died as there was no fuel coming out of the line in the engine bay.  When Jeffrey called the auto shop the informed us it would be $320 to fix it, but only $110 if we brought in our own pump.  I had Dad pull the pump out of the Accord he doesn't drive and bring it to me.  It was sealed up in a bag and it still made my purse, book, and wallet smell like gas. One week and two airing outs later I am still trying to get the smell out. Well the next morning I put the pump in the car and had it towed to the shop.  When I called them they said that the pump didn't fit.  I then went through a hassle to figure out a different used pump so I wouldn't have to spend over $200 on a new one.  By the time I found one and called the shop back they told me they checked the original pump and it worked fine, so they ran a compression test and I only had 40-50 psi in each cylinder.  New head time for my engine.  $1100 if they rebuild or $600 for labor if I brought in a head myself.  Well f*** that!   I had the car towed back to my apt complex (by the time this all went down it was Thursday, meaning I had 3 days of stressing over the car.)  So when all is said and done I spent $110 on the labor of them doing all the tests, and paid for two tow trips and my car is still non-functional.  Then on Wednesday night I made the stupidest move of my lift!  I tried to make dinner, however I was a little distracted and I took the chicken out of the oven to turn the pieces over and I forgot that it was scalding hot by the time I went to put it back in... Resulting in my grabbing the casserole dish with out hot pads and burning both my hands.  My left was generally okay, an hour after the burn it was fine and the blisters that were forming went away.  However, my right hand did not fair so well.  The blisters on my pointer and ring finger also went away after a few hours however my middle finger was so painful that I was thinking of going to the hospital.  I eventually took a Loritab and forced myself to sleep.  I had my hand on ice for hours at this point and had to keep it on ice in order to deal with the pain.  Any time my hand rolled off the ice pack for the first two hours of being asleep I would almost instantly wake up due to the searing pain.  OH!  Lets not forget that Jeffrey was climbing into bed and didn't know my hand was under the blanket and knelt on it... I woke up almost screaming and pulling my hand back as quickly as possible.  Surprisingly that pain was not as bad as just letting the burned hand sit with out ice on it.  On to Friday, it was going pretty well until I almost gave myself a heart attack realizing that I only had one week of my birth control left and my prescription was up.  With no car I was trying to figure out how the hell would I be able to make it the 30 miles to my doctor and if they would even have an opening with such short notice.  Well, the first good thing all week then happened.  I found a gynecologist with great reviews that was near my house, on a bus route, and was accepting new patients.  I crossed my fingers and called them to see if I could be squeezed in.  The receptionist said that they had openings on this up coming Thursday!!!  Now, not only do I get to talk to a specialist regarding my BC, the reactions I've had to previous ones and the results on my unstable mood swings, but I don't have to go to Planned Parenthood anymore.  Don't get me wrong PPH was great when I didn't have health insurance, it was cheap and I even got discounted BC because I make so little.  Well now that I have insurance I am excited to go to a specialised doctor and be able to discuss all the problems I have, like odd periods, my cysts, etc.  One more "good"  or potentially bad (we're yet to see) thing happened to me.  Dad was able to put a pump back in the extra Accord and loan it to me.  I am not going to take it to work every day.  I do not trust it to make the 30 mile drive twice a day.  The car does not run well and the tire is making an odd noise, but it will be useful for the day of my doctors appointment.  I may even be able to schedule the dentist on the same day and knock all my health stuff out at once.  Well that wraps up my rough week (One other horrible thing happened, but I think I will write about that in a private post, just in case anyone does actually read my blog.)

Jeffrey's Birthday Bash!

I'm trying to plan a bit of a surprise birthday for Jeffrey.  My plan is to get all his friends together for bowling, maybe some snacks and beer, and to have a giant cookie cake!.  I may even try to make an awesome decorated cake myself, either a Mario cake, or a "rage" Reddit cake.  OH! I'm so excited.  Though I know not to get my hopes up until I see what everyone schedule is like.  But I'm sure it will all work out. :-)

A New Adventure

I'm starting a blog, as you can clearly see.  I am not sure why, but hopefully it will be something to help me document my successes and failures in life, and something that will help me learn and grow.  (Yes, I am aware of how cheesy that sounds)  So far I am off to an awful start... my layout is bad, my blog name/title is bad, and while writing my first post I am already becoming upset with myself... but I like it, so here's to hoping that everything will work out.

OH! And I had decided that on my 24th birthday I would get myself together.  Well I've been 24 for 1 week now and so far I have not done my laundry, cleaned the house, or finished my room's spring cleaning. (As Dad used to say it looks like "tornado Chelsea" has gone through my house.)  However, I had set a goal to make dinner every night and to pack lunches for Jeffrey and myself to take to work, and so far I have pretty much stuck to that.  Maybe I shall post my food adventures on here, I might even be able to see some progress in my cooking abilities if I keep a record of my efforts.

Lets see how long this blog lasts, and I hope that it doesn't turn into the journals of my past that every time I try to read I start to cry.