Learning New Tricks

I feel like I haven't blogged in awhile. LOL. It was just yesterday. :) Guess I'm going through a slight blogging addiction at the moment.

Jeff and I attended the NHRA Nationals this afternoon for a few hours. It was a lot more fun than I'd expected. Post and pictures coming soon.

In the meantime, I thought I'd do a little SOC Sunday.

Today’s (totally optional) prompt: What new tricks would you like to learn or have you learned?

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What do I want to learn? As I recent MAT graduate, you'd think I'd be more enthusiastic about learning. *shrug*

There are a few things I would love to learn, though.

First, focus. I wish I had more when it comes to learning. Too often, I want the easy way out. Research is hard sometimes.

Second, I'd really love to learn more about the history of Vegas. This is for personal reasons, of course, but I also have an idea of how to take this learning to the next level. We'll see... I've just got to find that focus to really motivate myself to hunker down and research some really exciting facts and resources.

I'd also like to learn how to write better and express myself more succinctly with words.

I'd love to learn to menu plan. I don't know why I struggle with this so much. I love to try new recipes and foods, but I end up making the same things over and over again because I run out of time/ideas of what to make once dinner time rolls around. This, of course, also leads to eating out or ordering in WAY too often. Lame.

I'd also really like to learn some blogging tricks.

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This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes. 
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw. 
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible. 
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post (in the sidebar).
• Link up your post over at Jana's Thinking Place. 
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love. 

What new tricks would you like to learn?
Did you do anything new and fun this weekend?
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Comfy Cozy

After two months of posting nearly every day (sometimes multiple times a day), I took a full week off. I'm not going to lie.

It. was. nice.

But I'm back now, and hope to be able to post 3-5 times each week for the remaining weeks of October. I'll start out with a quick Stream of Consciousness Sunday.

Today’s (totally optional) prompt: What makes you feel cozy and safe?

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A hot beverage. A warm blanket. A good movie. Or maybe a good book.

Definitely some snuggle time with my guy (Jeff) and my girl (my pup, Sallie). 

Oh, yes! And soup. Definitely soup from the crockpot. Throw in some freshly baked bread. Mmmm...

Why does cozy and safe equate to fall and/or winter? Don't I feel cozy and safe in the spring and/or summer?

I do, but it's a different kind of safe, I guess. I more like freedom and exploring and trying new things. Fall and winter means coming back to a safe place. Recuperating until spring comes around again to try and explore and escape. Weird. I never really thought of it that way before at all.

I've always been a girl who enjoys all 4 seasons. Growing up in MN, there were 4 very distinct, almost picturesque, seasons. I loved them all, but as I've gotten older, I've really come to love and embrace fall. Spring was my fave growing up, of course.

Never been a huge fan of winter, though. Hence the move away from the cold MN to the warm weather of the Vegas desert.

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This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes. 
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw. 
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible. 
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post (in the sidebar).
• Link up your post over at Jana's Thinking Place. 
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love. 

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5-minute Rant

I'm linking up today with Jana from Jana's Thinking Place for Stream of Consciousness Sunday. The topic for today is about careers or majors and why we chose what we did.



This is my first time linking up, and I'm totally going to break the rules and do my own topic. Here we go... 5 minutes starting now...

As you know, I'm officially becoming a bike commuter beginning tomorrow. I'll be biking roughly 5 or so miles to work each way. Not bad.

Except it's all on city streets - only one of which (a very small section of the route) has an actual bike lane.

Now, I've done this ride a couple times already. Once for the job interview; once for the drug screen. The thing is... my husband has always gone with me. Yes. He biked with me to my job interview. Yes. He met my eventual boss. At least not until after the interview. :-)

Anyway, the plan was for him to ride with me tomorrow, too, and then bike back at the end of the day to bike with me home again. Well, something has come up and now he won't be able to come with me in the morning.

This totally freaks him out. He's so worried something will happen. Cars won't pay attention. blah blah blah.

We even biked a safer route this afternoon and tested it out. The thing is, it adds about 15-20 min to the ride - with one scary-ass hill with NO shoulder.

We've decided it's okay for me to ride the original route tomorrow morning.

The thing I hate about it is he wouldn't give anything thought to HIM taking this route, but he doesn't want ME to do it. So frustrating!!

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I promise to wear my bike helmet and be extra cautious!

What are your thoughts on bicyclists on the roads vs the sidewalks? Biking on the sidewalks seriously freaks me out! I avoid it at almost all costs.

Should I be nervous about riding tomorrow? I'm really pretty confident about it - despite the fact that I am not the most adept cyclist out there. I really think I'll be okay.
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SOC - It must be Fate, right?

Today’s Writing Prompt: What's your take on fate? Does everything happen for a reason? Are we in control of our own destiny?

No, I don't really believe in fate. Life is to be lived and experienced. I think fate is kind of a crutch for some people. Something good happens? It must be fate. Something bad? Fate.

Um. No.

Let's take responsibility for our own happiness or misery.

I think we are in control. We can choose to be happy.

Yeah, sure. Sometimes bad things do happen to good people. Sometimes things happen that are beyond our control.

But even when that happens, we can choose how we react to it.

I don't think I would like to live in a world that was pure destiny or fate. Why would I work hard to achieve my goals or dreams if nothing I did made a difference?

Would I even have dreams or goals?

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Now it's your turn! Here are a few rules:

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

SOC - Goodbye, goodbye

Today’s Writing Prompt: Write about something that you unexpectedly had a hard time saying good-bye to.

Today's topic was the kind that really gnawed at me. I knew there was something somewhat recently that I had to say good-bye to and it made me sad, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was.

Was it our car? We've been living car-free since Aug 2010. I knew it would be difficult, but I didn't really have a hard time saying good-bye.

So that wasn't it.

I racked my brain.

Finally, I asked my husband what he might remember. Our first apartment? Not really. Our apartment in Brooklyn? No.

And then I remembered our electric piano.

We sold it a few months ago. I didn't play it very often, but I just liked knowing it was there if I wanted to play or attempt to play.

I grew up taking piano lessons. I can't say that I loved it or that I was particularly fantastic at it, but I could get by. I played in a few recitals and competitions in high school. It was fun.

Deep down, I really believe that music can be so beneficial in our lives. I think that playing the piano is an excellent skill. It's impressive when showing off.

I miss our piano at times.

But I know we'll have another one some day.

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Now it's your turn! Here are a few rules:

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

SOC - Ahhhhh...

I'm linking up with Fadra's


Today’s Writing Prompt: Describe, in detail, the way you like to relax.

In detail? I don't really know.

In general? I'm pretty easy to please.

I could relax by:

simply vegging in front of the TV watching a favorite show or a movie.

reading through my favorite blogs.

reading a book.

going for a run or to the gym.

taking a bubble bath. maybe with some glowing candles.

I don't really need anything to relax for me.

I'm not really a comfort-food or drink kind of chica.

I mean I do tend to eat a lot, but not really as a way to de-stress or relax. I just eat because I'm hungry or because it's there. Unfortunately, it's sometimes too often the latter.

Relaxation can come in various ways, I suppose.

I kind of prefer the escapist way to relax. Mind-numbing. Not needing to think. Or laughter. I love to laugh!

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Now it's your turn! Here are a few rules:

Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.

Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.

Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.

Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.

Link up your post.

Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

What are your favorite ways to relax? How did you relax this weekend?

SOC - Sunday Mornings

I'm linking up with Fadra's

Today’s Writing Prompt: How did you spend your Sunday mornings growing up? What are some of your favorite memories?

Most of the time Sunday mornings were filled with chaos as we all got ready for church. Luckily for us, church was only about a 15 minute drive, there were usually up to 7 people who needed to get ready and only two bathrooms. There was generally a feeling of rushing around trying to get showered, dressed, and breakfast eaten. It wasn't so bad. Church wasn't until 10am, so at least it was a little more time for sleeping in than during the week when we'd have to get up earlier to do all the same things in order to catch the school bus.

These were mornings with my mom.

On infrequent visits with my dad, I have many memories of pancakes on Sunday mornings. He wasn't a church goer for many years. When he started back to church, then the pancake morning were relegated to Saturday mornings. I loved those mornings!

He taught me how to make pancakes, really. I used to love helping out in the kitchen. I remember flipping the pancakes when all those little bubbles started breaking. I also remember being in charge of making the orange juice.

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Today's 5-minute Stream of Consciousness post went by really fast. I feel I could have probably gone on and on. Perhaps that's better for you all that I had to stop at 5 minutes. :-) I really didn't think I'd have anything to say on this topic, so I was caught a little off guard when the timer started chiming.

Thanks for a great topic today, Fadra!

Want to give it a try? Here are a few rules:

Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.

Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.

Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.

Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.

Link up your post.

Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

SOC - Winter

I'm linking up today for the first time with Fadra's


Today’s Writing Prompt: How does winter make you feel and what do you do with those feelings?

Winter makes me feel cold and sleepy. It's gets so dark and dreary here in MN. Somedays I just want to curl up and sleep all. day. long.

Of course, there are wonderful things about winter. Like hot chocolate and warm cookies.

It's been a pretty pleasant winter so far this season, and I'm not entirely sure how this bodes for the remainder of the season. If it's nearly 60°F in early Jan, what will it be like in mid-March? Will it be super cold or will summer come early?

I've always been the type of person who would much rather be HOT than COLD. I know, I know. If you're cold you can always put on more clothes or wrap up in a blanket. yada yada yada.

BUT I'd much prefer to wear little and sweat a LOT.

Maybe I'm just weird that way.

This will be my last winter in the frigid north, though. I'm very excited to live in an area with much more temperate weather in the coldest months. I'm looking forward to beaches and diving. And RUNNING outside. all year long!

Want to play along? Here are a few rules:

Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.

Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.

Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.

Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.

Link up your post.

Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.