harry potter challenge - day 9

least favorite male character and why?

source: from moviefone

ewww...lucius malfoy was such a creep!  i mean, i could have easily gone for tom riddle/voldemort here, but that's too obvious.  and peter pettigrew was a slime-ball, too.  but malfoy was slimey and cruel and rude and just evil.  i mean, he tried to kill harry just for losing his house elf!  who does that?!  he was rude and condescending to the weasleys, and - hello - nobody messes with the weasleys!  he was the one who dropped the diary in ginny's cauldron and kicked off the whole "heir of slytherin" debaucle.  and then in the end, he just ran away, disgraced. 

awkward...again

remember my "train friend" and how i told you things were starting to get really weird and uncomfortable between us?  well i have successfully avoided him since then, and i thought things had gotten better.  i mean, there were definitely some weird moments, but for the most part it seemed like i had kind of made my point and we were no longer "friends."  i had started getting on the train after him so that i could just sit before i reached him, and that was working for me.  i would hover in the back of the station so that we didn't interact on the platform.  there were a few occasions where (i thought) it was pretty obvious that i was avoiding and/or ignoring him.  i really thought that he'd kind of gotten the hint.

but then yesterday, i got on the train before he did, and after i sat down and had my stuff spread out all over the seat, he came by and said "can i sit?"  i didn't feel like i could say no, so i just moved my stuff.  he asked how i was doing, and i just replied "fine," then put in my earbuds and proceeded to read the paper.  i ignored him the entire train ride, and when we got to my stop, i just gathered my things and stood up without asking him to move or saying excuse me.

so then i was just mad.  like, i thought we had an understanding.  things were weird enough as it is (i really hate feeling like i'm in middle school again and trying to "freeze out" someone, like cruel middle-school-girls do).  but then you have to come back and try to sit with me again?  it almost felt purposeful.  i mean, i've clearly been avoiding you.  if you have to come and ask if you can sit with me, then clearly you're trying to force something that shouldn't be happening.  and that just makes us both feel awkward.  just let it go.  i felt really weird yesterday.

i have also noticed that since i started avoiding him, he's been parking near me.  here's what i mean.  at our train station, there is a lot right at the station, but it's small and it costs $1 in quarters every day.  but our station is right next to the genaurdi's and they let us park for free, as long as we stay in the far back corner and there are plenty of spaces for their customers (even if the store was totally full, there would still be room for us - the lot is huge).  so i have always parked at genaurdi's.  he has always parked in the lot.  but suddenly in the last few weeks, he's parking at genaurdi's.  which makes me really uncomfortable.  i basically now feel like he's a creepy stalker.  and now matt's starting to get worried, especially since he's now parking down at the genaurdi's lot.  he's worried he's going to start following me home or something.  i think he usually takes an earlier train home and i don't see him in the afternoon, so i'm not quite so worried about that.

i'm really not sure what to do at this point, short of sitting in an entirely different part of the train.  but i don't want to do that because i'm friends with my conductor (like, real friends, i've been at his house, he was at my wedding) and i like to sit and chat with him in the mornings.  but i may have to do that, at least for a bit, just to get my point across.  i'm just perplexed as to why he didn't get it already.  it's crazy!  

news notes

everything the hunger games movie left out - perhaps i shouldn't have read this before going to see the movie.  i'm preemptively disappointed now.

racist hunger games fans are very disappointed - seriously, what the fuck is wrong people?

passengers recount jetblue captain's meltdown - this is terrifying.

farm stays offer homegrown fun for families - when i traveled to australia with people to people back about a thousand years ago (15, to be exact - woah), we stayed on a farm in the outback for 2 nights.  middle of nowhere, about 2 hours from the nearest "town."  it was incredible.  i have never - and probably will never - seen so many stars in my life.  it was a really cool experience to see how a working farm runs.

veterans battle ptsd stigma - even if they don't have it - this is really sad.  i've had ptsd and it is difficult to function when it takes over you.  but there is treatment - successful treatment - available for ptsd.  and because such a small percentage of vets actually get diagnosed with ptsd, i think it's a shame that employers are using the slight possibility of it against them.

you decide: is the nyc department of education list of banned words 'absurd'? - in a word, absolutely.  someone please explain to me how the word "dinosaur" could possibly be offensive to anyone.  except maybe for the geico cavemen.

oh how pinteresting

is this, like, the slowest week ever for anyone else?  oy, i can't wait for it to be over!  anyway, it's wednesday, so that means it's time to link up with michelle at the vintage apple for...

source: from thevintageapple

have you guys seen this bucketlist tumblr yet?  i found it a while back and added it to my reader.  it pairs people's bucketlist wishes with really beautiful pictures.  i created a board on pinterest that i call "i want to..."  so for this week's oh, how pinteresting wednesday, i'm bringing you some of my top items on my personal bucketlist!

ideally, it would be this awesome bow necklace

there is actually a "circus school" in philly that offers this.  i really want to do it.

i'm pretty sure we'd be instant bffs

all he'd have to say is "always"

matt's goal is to open a microbrewery restaurant - i'll cook, he'll brew

in heinz field, obvi

bradley cooper.  rachel mcadams.  sandra bullock.  jennifer aniston.  daniel radcliff.  the list goes on...

meet them.  learn from them.

this seriously is on my bucketlist

i mean, who wouldn't?

so what's on your bucketlist?

*all photos here are from perfectbucketlist on pinterest

i'm waiting!

anyone else hear this in your head when you read my title?


I'm Waiting.... Princess Bride

just me?  ah, well.

according to all my trackers and bbts and everything else, i o'd on friday 3/23.  af is due 3/6, so if it doesn't arrive by then, i'll poas on 3/10. so we're in yet another 2ww!  i don't know, but i feel good about this month.  i just checked, and if this is our lucky month, my edd is 12/12/12 - ha!  wouldn't that be crazy!

weekend at home

as much as i love our house and as hard as i've worked to make it feel like home, hershey will always be home to me.  to us, really, since matt is a born/raised hershey boy, too.  we grew up there, all of our memories are there, and our families (at least our parents) are all still there, too.  it is a quick 1 1/2 hours from our house, so it can easily be a day trip or a nice long weekend.  when i'm in hershey, all feels right in the world.  it's only 1 1/2 hours away, but it feels like it's lifetimes away from the chaos of my job and the busy-ness of the philadelphia area.  it's like going to a different world.

we headed home this weekend to celebrate my and my sister's birthdays.  we are 8 days apart (well, 3 years and 344 days), so we always kind of celebrate together.  at least, as adults we do.  as kids, we always had separate parties.

anyway, a couple of years ago, my mom, sister, and i started doing an annual spa day at the spa at the hotel hershey.  it is always a very nice, relaxing day.  we go in the morning, get one treatment, then spend some time in the hot tub, then have lunch, then lounge around, and then get our second treatment.  our second treatment is almost always a pedicure, because - let's face it - being at a spa and not getting a spa pedicure is just silly.  i usually get a cocoa massage, but a couple of times i've gotten the chocolate fondue wrap, which is pure heaven. this time i stuck with the massage, though, because i really needed someone to work out the knots in my back and shoulders.  i had a male masseuse for, i think, the first time ever.  before he started, he asked me what pressure i wanted.  i told him firm.  but once he started, it was a little too firm, so i told him and he adjusted.  as he was working on my thigh, i got a horrible foot cramp.  he stretched it out for me and it went away.  but it made it hard to relax the rest of the time because i had to keep changing my foot position to prevent it coming back.  towards the end, though, when he was working on my back, i finally relaxed, and almost fell alseep on the table.  i was very sad when it was over and i had to get up and put my robe back on.

anyway, after our massages, we went to sit in the hot tub for a bit and then we headed down for lunch.  they always have a pretty yummy buffet spread (just sandwiches and salads and simple stuff) and a ton of delicious desserts (hello, it's hershey - it's mostly chocolate).  my sister and i also each ordered a birthday cake martini, which was good but strong - i was feeling kind of loopy after it!  after lunch we went back up to the quiet room and just lounged around.  my mom and sister rescheduled their pedicures for earlier so they could get home and get read for our night out, but i held strong (and maybe was a little bratty) that i wanted to lounge around as much as i could and then go to my pedicure.  so they went down about 30 minutes earlier and just had a polish change and then headed home.  i went down and had my full 1-hour pedicure and i absolutely fell asleep in the chair.  it was lovely.  when the technician woke me up, i carefully drove myself home and started getting ready for the evening. 

mom and jeff had gotten us all tickets to the annual hershey symphony gala, so it was a nice dinner and dancing and silent auction.  as i was getting dressed, i told matt to find padfoot because we had to give her her evening dose of medication.  after searching for about 10 minutes, he couldn't find her.  then i started searching for her (makeup half-done, hair wet and in a towel).  after another 10 minutes, i started to panic.  i was convinced she'd somehow gotten out of the house and was lost.  i started to cry.  finally, while i was searching in my mom's bedroom, i heard matt yell that he'd found her.  she'd wedged herself in behind a bookshelf then couldn't figure out how to get out.  eventually she backed her way out (there was no way we'd be able to easily move the furniture to get to her), but it was kind of scary for a few minutes there.  i was totally panicked. 

anyway, i finished getting ready and we all drove over to the hershey lodge.  it was a really fun night out, and it was great to do something different.  we were all dressed up and fancy, and while we couldn't afford anything that was up for auction, it was fun to look at all the stuff.  i desperately tried to convince my mom and jeff that they should bid on the autographed picture of harry, ron, and hermione for me, but they didn't bite (starting bid was $450!).  oh well.  we had a great time, and i'm really glad we decided to go. 

we clean up nice, don't we?

on sunday, matt and i went over to have lunch with his mom and brother, and then we stopped up at my dad's house briefly to pick up the fleece i'd left in his car last weekend.  then we hit the road.  once we got home, padfoot sacked out on my lap for the entire night.  i think she was exhausted from having such a busy and exciting weekend - 2-hour car ride, a new place, new faces, new adventures, getting stuck, and then another 2-hour car ride. 

all in all, it was a great weekend.  i love my family and enjoy every second i get to spend with them.  we'll see them again in 2 weeks for easter, and then probably not again until memorial day!  although i think matt and i will go to baltimore in april for the annual fell's point brew fest with my sister and anthony.  they've been bugging us for years to go and we can never make it.  this year we actually have tickets to see a show at the keswick, but matt said we'll sell our tickets and go down to visit them in baltimore instead.

i hope you had a good weekend, too!

harry potter challenge - day 8

8. what do you think would be your favorite lesson?


i think that i would love charms class.  learning all those cool spells like accio and alohomora.  amazeballs.

hunger games

let the hunger games begin!  i'm on the train right now listening to the soundtrack (which is awesome, btw).  i got a manicure yesterday with my hunger games nail polish, smoke and ashes.  i'm bringing the first book home for my parents to read so they can join is at the movie for my birthday.  we had a harry potter tradition, so i'm hoping to start a new one with the hunger games! 

and i promise this will be the last post about the hunger games. 

until we see the movie.

positive

you know what that is?  that's a positive opk!  time to get my bd on!

news notes

romney, santorum argue over english as requirement for puerto rican statehood - seriously, how is rick santorum still even in the running for republican presidential nominee?  this guy is the biggest asshat ever!  i do not understand how anyone (especially women) could consider him to be a logical choice to run this country!


study of the day: eating chocolate for breakfast is good for your diet - as a girl who grew up in hershey, i'm pretty sure chocolate is in my veins and i need it daily to sustain life.  kind of like oxygen.  so this article has convinced me to add a hershey's bliss to my yogurt at breakfast.  yup.

cpihl: hershey reigns again with 6-5 win over cumberland valley - hershey high school brought home the championship bears cup in high school hockey.  one of my very good friends (who played on our high school team) is now the coach.  so proud of him!  trojan pride never dies!

hines ward retires as 'steeler for life' - oh, my heart.  but i'm glad to see he's retiring as a steeler.  steeler nation will miss him.  he will always be one of my all-time favorite players.  i will wear #86 proudly for life.

peyton manning picks denver broncos; tim tebow's status unclear - definitely not a move i expected.  though in a sick and twisted way, it's kind of nice to see tebow knocked off his high horse.

jets acquire tim tebow from broncos for draft picks - man, lots of shake-ups in the nfl this week.  sanchez is not exactly mr. popularity, but tebow is so polarizing.  anxious to see how this plays out. 

goodell lowers boom on the saints - somehow i hadn't heard about this until this headline popped up on my igoogle.  wow.  i always kind of felt like sean payton was a little bit arrogant.  hard to believe they were giving defensive linemen bonuses for hurting players, though! 

hunger games

ack!  you guys, the hunger games movie comes out tomorrow at midnight!  while i'm super-stoked, i am not a midnight-showing kind of girl.  in fact, i usually wait at least a week to see the big releases.  i prefer to let the madness die down a bit.  our plan is to go next sunday - april 1.  matt is taking me to see it at the imax for my birthday, followed by dinner at p.f. chang's.  my mouth is already watering at the thought of the orange chicken.  i get it every time.  it's so good.

yesterday i went to the dentist and while i was sitting in the waiting room, i picked up the entertainment weekly with the hunger games cast on the cover.  inside was an article about the director, gary ross, and his approach to making the movie.  it sounds like he has a great respect for the books and is working really hard to make the movie reflect the story of the book.  he's making it about katniss and all her fierce-ness.  cuz, dude, she is fierce.  am i right?  anyway, a girl came in a few minutes after me and she was reading catching fire.  she saw me reading the article, and we sort of smiled at each other.  it's like we shared some deep dark secret.  we had a moment.

when i first started hearing about the casting for the film, i was kind of apprehensive.  i mean, liam hemsworth (gale)?  really?  to me, he is miley cyrus's boyfriend, and he was ok in the last song.  but i'm willing to give him a chance.  i didn't really know much about josh hutcherson (peeta), so i couldn't really form an opinion.  then i realized he played the son in the kids are alright and i realized he'd probably do well in the role.  i'm looking forward to that.  i also didn't know much about jennifer lawrence, but i know she got rave reviews for her role in winter's bone, so i have a feeling she'll do well.  the article i read said that she took the role really seriously and that she does a lot of her own stunts.

the casting i thought was totally brilliant?  woody harrelson as haymitch.  he will be perfect.  according to the article, he turned it down at first, but once he read the books and realized how much depth he could put into the character, he was hooked.  he said that he had a hard time with not playing haymitch as a total drunk - he had a tendency to want to over-do it, but the director had to keep reigning him in.  and then when i heard they cast lenny kravitz as cinna, i was floored.  i love it.  i think he'll be incredible in this role.  remember how great he was in precious?  i can't wait to see him bring cinna to life.

ross said that he chose to film the games without a lot of gratuitous violence, and i'm glad for that.  there is so much more to the story and the games than straight violence.  he indicates that he shows more of the fear and anxiety than then actual bloodshed.  apparently, it's still too violent for some, but - it's pg-13 - parents should use their own discretion.

i'm also really looking forward to the soundtrack, which i meant to download last night but somehow totally forgot.  the first song released was "safe and sound" by taylor swift, and it is a beautiful song.  but looking at the rest of the listing, i can't wait to get my hands on it.  arcade fire, the decemberists, glen hansard...be still my indie-loving heart!



do you have plans to see the hunger games?  what are your thoughts on the cast?

(almost) wordless wednesday

linking up this week again with the fabulous michelle over at the vintage apple for oh, how pinteresting wednesday.

source: thevintageapple

source: thisisnthappiness via francois on pinterest

a hunger games wedding shoot!  [source: greenweddingshoes on pinterest]

source: i-sopod via shelby on pinterest

source: tumblr via audra on pinterest

source: mybakingaddiction on pinterest

source: homeconfetti via abbey on pinterest

this works!  i used it several times for this post alone!  [source: graphicsfairy on pinterest]

happy hump day, friends!

resurrecting the past

i saw this article yesterday morning at mental floss, and it got me thinking.  i decided to try to come up with my answers to the 4 questions posed in the article.

1. what are some educational family outings you loved, either as a kid or as a parent?  for me, my favorite will always be the museum of scientific discovery in harrisburg, pa.  i was obsessed with going there as a kid.  sadly, it no longer exists and was replaced by the whitaker science center (i have not been there yet, except to the imax theater once to see harry potter).  the museum of scientific discovery was amazing.  there was this light box that you could stand in and it would freeze your image on the screen.  it was so much fun to come up with silly poses and try to have the most ridiculous pose possible.  they had so many great interactive exhibits, it truly got me interested in science.

2. what are some places or events you fondly remember attending?  well, of course, hershey park will always hold some special memories for me.  i also always remember going to the local pool.  with my family, my friends, our babysitter.  i always had a great time.  diving boards, adult swim, handstands, and, of course, years of self-esteem issues and feeling terrible about my body in a bathing suit.  ahhh, middle school.

3. if you were put in charge of such things, what defunct brands would you bring back from the dead?  remember clearly canadian?  i would totally bring that shit back.

source: awesomehq

4. what would you pay double for to get right away?  i'm not sure there's anything i really want that badly.  not to mention, i think that waiting for something is good for you.

girl's weekend

matt went away this weekend for his annual guys' weekend with his best man and a bunch of older guys.  they rent a cabin in the poconos and...do boy things.  so usually i take that opportunity to fully divulge in my secret single-girl behavior.  ie, i watch movies matt would never watch, eat crap, and drink girly drinks.  this weekend, i'm still trying to eat a bit better, and since our house is currently devoid of fun drink ingredients, i've only had a couple glasses of red wine.  but i definitely watched a ton of non-matt-approved movies.

first up, martha marcy may marlene.

source: screenrant

wow.  elizabeth olsen was incredible in this.  definitely a really good movie, and i actually think this is one matt would enjoy.  it was a bit of a psychological thriller, waiting to find out if she makes it in her "new world" away from the cult.  i was a little disappointed with the ending, though.  i won't spoiler-alert, but it left me asking, "wait...what?!"

next i watched twilight: breaking dawn.

source: teengossip

ok, i am not a twihard, by any stretch of the imagination.  it's the opposite actually - i just do not understand the draw of this series.  the relationship between edward and bella freaks me out - it's so intense and yet so awkward.  it feels like they are just not comfortable with each other, at all.  i don't get it.  but i keep watching the movies, hoping that maybe i'll get it.  still no.  for the movie-watching purpose alone, i did actually like this movie, although i was disappointed with the big sex scene.  seemed kind of anticlimactic to me.  i mean, who hasn't broken a bed once or twice?  [yes, i did.  i might tell you about it]

saturday morning i watched my week with marilyn.

source: teasertrailer

i was blown away by this.  10 minutes in, i forgot that i wasn't actually watching marilyn monroe.  michelle williams was just phenomenal.  i have loved her since her days as jen lindley, and it's so thrilling to see her doing such deep roles.  i also totally forgot that emma watson was in this, and squealed "ooh, it's hermione" when i first spotted her.  anyway, this story made me love marilyn but broke my heart at the same time.  genius.

saturday night brought me footloose.

source: mattsmoviereviews

matt made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that he would never see this movie.  he likes the classic and that's that.  but i was curious, so i took the opportunity to watch it while he was away.  truth?  if i hadn't known the first one existed, i probably would have loved this movie.  it was (in my opinion) exactly like the original.  down to using the same lines and the same music.  it was a lot of fun.  but nobody will ever be better than kevin bacon.

and the last movie for the weekend was the descendents.

source: impawards

i debated about renting this because matt actually wants to see it.  but i went for it anyway because...well, i felt like it.  and nothing else was striking my fancy as i stood perusing the blockbuster box.  anyway.  holy sad movie, batman.  i don't know about  you, but sometimes when i watch movies, i put myself in the position of the characters, and it makes movies like this hard to bear.  despite the ridiculous amount of tears i shed, i really liked this movie.  george clooney was incredible, but shailene woodley wowed me.  i'm really looking forward to more from her. 

all in all, i had a really nice, relaxing weekend.  i ran some errands on saturday, weeded our gardens to get them ready for planting, and snuggled with padfoot.  my most exciting purchase?  i stopped by ulta on saturday and picked up a bottle of nail polish from china glaze's hunger games capital colours.  i was torn between smoke and ashes and harvest moon.  ultimately i went with smoke and ashes.  i'm planning to get a manicure later this week before our trip home for the weekend.  hopefully it'll still be in decent shape when we go see the premier (probably on sunday april 1 - we don't do opening weekends!)

on sunday, my dad came down.  we went out for lunch at anthony's coal-fired pizza (it's reaaaally yummy) and then we went to the driving range.  it's been a while since i've played, and i would love to play in matt's family's golf tournament this year, so i need to get out and start practicing.  for not having hit the ball much in the past 2 years, i did pretty well.  it helped having my dad along.  he's an excellent golfer and very patient coach.  i definitely look forward to getting out on the range again and perfecting my skills.

after dad left, i turned on the food network and gave myself a facial.  and then i dyed my hair.  i know most people usually go lighter in the spring, but i felt like going darker.  so it's a nice, pretty, dark brown now.  my hair takes color very well and my skin tone can support pretty much any color i've thrown at it.  and believe me, i've tried a lot - strawberry blonde, super-dark brown, bright fiery red, and deep dark auburn.  i've gone every color but pure blonde and black. 

i've enjoyed my me-time, but i can't wait for matt to come home.  i miss my honey!  what do you do when your so goes away and leaves you to your vices?

harry potter challenge - day 7

7. your favorite female character, and why

source

minerva mcgonigall.  there were so many strong female characters, it was really hard to choose.  i love that j.k. rowling gave young girls so many options of strong female role models to choose from - professor mcgonigall, molly weasley, ginny, luna, hermione...even silly old professor trelawney.  she may have been strange but she stood by her strangeness and embraced it.  professor mcgonigall stood up for what she believed in.  she stood her ground when umbridge threatened to undermine her.  she stayed loyal to the order and loyal to harry.  to the very end.  and yet she was fair - she punished harry when necessary, never giving him special treatment.  her scene in the final movie, when she mobilizes the statues to guard the castle, moves me to tears every time.  she clearly loves her job, loves her students, and loves that school.  she was one of the first characters we met in the series, and i loved her from the start.

pinteresting smiles

it's been a rough couple of weeks.  last week with my emotions all over the map and not sleeping was really tough.  this week i'm finally sleeping like a normal person (which means that i definitely blame the full moon, mercury in retrograde, and solar flares for my funk), so i'm feeling rested and more calm.  but work has been tough, too.  i love my job, but sometimes the patients and families can be very irritating.  and it's especially frustrating when the medical interns and residents refuse to listen, which this particular year seems to excel at.

so for this week's "oh, how pinteresting wednesday," i decided to just pin a few things that put a smile on my face.  some are silly, some are sweet, some are just really amazing-looking desserts that i want in my belly right now.  enjoy, and here's to a smile-full wednesday!

source: from alowcountrywedding via abbey on pinterest

source: via kayla on pinterest

source: via bee on pinterest

source: from crumbsandchaos via ashley on pinterest

source: from livlifetoo via kim on pinterest

source: from etsy via abbey on pinterest

source: from tasteofawesome via erin on pinterest

hope you guys have a great rest of the week!  link up with michelle at the vintage apple for oh, how pinteresting wednesday!

source: thevintageapple

oh, that martha!

did you guys know that martha stewart has a healthy lifestyle magazine/website now?  i just discovered it via facebook update from skinnytaste.  matt and i have been loving the recipes on skinnytaste for months now, if not longer.  i don't even remember how i discovered gina and her concoctions of skinny yumminess, but i am so glad i stumbled across her website.  not only are the meals delicious but they are almost all under 300 calories.  i have been cooking almost exclusively from her recipes for at least a year, and we have yet to be disappointed.  i've even made some of her desserts, and they were delicious.  she keeps coming up with new ways to make your old favorites so much better for you!  and most of the recipes are easy to follow and can be prepped, cooked, and plated in well under an hour.

another reason i love skinnytaste is because it's connected to my new favorite obsession, ziplist.  you guys, ziplist is amazing.  ok, here's how it works.  you find a recipe you like on skinnytaste.  you click "save this recipe."  it pops up a box asking if you want to save it to your recipe box or to your list.  let's pretend you're looking for recipes for your weekly shopping trip, so let's save it to your list.  it saves the ingredients it thinks you need, but gives you the option to add/delete other items from the recipe, too (like it assumes you don't have nutmeg but you do have salt, but since you do have nutmeg you can delete it from your list).  once you've put together your list, you can view your list by category or - get this - by store!  you can put in your local grocery store, put the aisles in order, and - bam! - your list is organized and you can be in and out of the grocery store in 15 minutes flat.  they also have a recipe clipper button that you can put right on your browser so that even if you're on a website that doesn't have a ziplist button, you can still save the recipe.  man, what will they think of next?!

anyway, today, gina (the genius behind skinnytaste) posted on facebook that she's loving martha's new magazine, whole living.  *record scratch*  say what?  of course, i scooted my little butt right on over to whole living and had myself a look-see.  tips for fitness, healthy recipes, balancing your life, stress relief...all from the queen herself.  i don't subscribe to too many magazines (i don't like the clutter), but i am definitely going to to subscribe to this one!  oh, and guess what.  martha's recipes are connected to ziplist.  woopie! 


*i swear, i was not paid by any of these websites or companies to promote them.  i just seriously love them this much.*

harry potter challenge - day 6

6. what house would you want to be in?

source

the house of ravenclaw values intelligence, creativity, learning, and wit.  i like to believe that the sorting hat would put me into ravenclaw.  i always enjoy learning new things, be it just researching random things on the internet or learning how to make a new craft.  while a lot of people finished college and were done, i was looking forward to continuing school.  i love being in an academic setting, surrounded by people learning.  i enjoy being creative.  since the introduction of pinterest in my life, i have taken on many of the projects and relished making our house prettier.  one of my favorite characters of the series is luna because she is so naturally intelligent.  while hermione was obviously smart, she studied to become that smart.  luna just was smart.  and she was funny. 

here are the qualities from the other houses:

gryffindor - courage, bravery, loyalty, nerve, and chivalry.  while i would love to be in the same house as harry, ron, and hermione, i know the sorting hat would not place me in gryffindor.  while i am loyal, i am not courageous and have little nerve. 
hufflepuff - hard work, tolerance, loyalty, and fair play.  i was torn between ravenclaw and hufflepuff, but in the end chose ravenclaw.  while i certainly value tolerance and loyalty, i have to be honest in saying that i don't value hard work.  not to say that i don't work hard, but i prefer to think that i'm naturally intelligent and don't need to study hard to be smart.
slytherin - ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness.  i am not cunning.  i don't have a cunning bone in my body.  and i don't really think of myself as a leader. 

*source for house values - hogwarts on wikipedia

sleep and ttc

i'm not sure exactly what i'm feeling right now.  i'm so tired, i think i'm a bit numb.  i have been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately.  i wake up in the middle of the night and it takes me [what feels like] hours to fall back asleep.  this morning, i woke up around 3:45 and laid there tossing and turning, trying to convince myself to fall back asleep.  i didn't feel tired, though.  plus, i had absolutely horrible cramps and couldn't get comfortable.  so at 4:30, i gave up and got up and went downstairs.  i sat down there watching jersey shore and cuddling with padfoot.  minus the actual getting up and getting out of bed, this has happened pretty much every night this week.  needless to say, i'm completely exhausted right now.

this week has been nuts at work.  we completely blame the full moon on crazy moments at work, and this week is no different.  plus with the solar flares throwing off magnetic fields and then apparently mercury is in retrograde...?  now i don't claim to know much about astrology but i do know that mercury in retrograde is some bad mamma-jamma.  so, yeah, this week has pretty much sucked the big one.  by wednesday there had already been 11 psych placements in the hospital  that we knew of.  there have been at least 3 more since then.  that is definitely not normal. i have no idea if that's what's affecting my sleep this week, but i kind of hope it is so that i can get back to my normal sleep pattern soon.  i can't take much more of this. 

it's also upsetting me because i can't keep track of my bbt.  you're supposed to take it at the same time every day, when you first wake up, after you've been asleep for 3 hours straight.  that is not happening.  so i haven't taken my bbt in a few days.  i've decided that i'm going to get an opk now and try things that way this time around.  one bright note - my predicted o-date changed, so matt will be home for the "important" part of the cycle.  not sure why it changed, but whatever, it did, so we'll hopefully have a better chance at taking advantage of the fertile window.  with the opks, that should help nail it down a bit, too.  i'm hoping that will make up for the lack of bbt patterns.  i found a set on amazon that includes 40 opks and 10 hpts for $10.  i'll take it. 

my lack of sleep also puts me in a shitty mood and can be a trigger for my migraines.  so far it hasn't, and thank goodness it's the weekend and we don't really have any plans so i can crash whenever i feel one coming.  i just hope it all passes quickly because i'm pretty sure not sleeping is stressing me out about the bbts and not being able to get accurate bbts is stressing me out which is causing me to not sleep.  vicious cycle. 

news notes

govt. agencies, colleges demand applicants' facebook passwords - yikes.  not that i really have too much on my facebook page that i'm ashamed of, but this is definitely something to think about if/when i ever decide it's time to try to find a new job.  i'm not really sure i agree that this is entirely legal.  i'm anxious to see how this plays out in the courts over the next several years, becuase you know someone will bring a lawsuit or something up soon.

before firms use 'facebook score' to screen applicants, stop the insanity -well, this is just crazy.  i can maybe understand asking for your facebook password, but using a facebook score to determine if you're appropriate?  how is the score configured?  do you lose points for swearing?  for being outspoken on your political view?  i definitely don't like this idea.


steelers cut former super bowl mvp hines ward -this completely breaks my heart.  hines ward was the heart of the steelers team, and it hurts my heart to see him treated like this.  he lived and breathed black and gold.  it's not fair to force him off the team.

the bechdel test - i have been thinking about this since i read the article on monday, and i am having a really hard time coming up with a movie (other than bridesmaids) that passes the bechdel test.  can you think of any?


how npr became a hotbed for female journalists - this is why i love npr.  well, one of many reasons. 

flyers scout leads initiative to keep homophobia out of nhl - well done, flyers scout! 

why don't men in favor of birth control speak up? - i have wondered this from the beginning of this argument.  i mean, many more women need to speak up, too, but heaven knows that men get listened to.  where are all the men who don't want their wives/girlfriends/one-night-stands to get pregnant?  where are all the men who watched their wives/girlfriends/friends/daughters suffer from ovarian cysts or cancer?  why aren't they sharing their voices?  you know why?  because in the end, birth control is a woman's problem.  "it's your body, you deal with it."  sure.  it's our body until we get accidentally pregnant, then all of a sudden you want to tell us what to do with it.  am i right?

colts announce they're releasing peyton manning - i am significantly less affected by this than by the release of hines ward.  but i do wonder who's going to pick him up.  i hear a lot of chatter about the arizona cardinals being very interested.  not that i'm a cardinals fan, but i am a larry fitzgerald fan (he was pitt's wr when i was there for grad school and i got to watch that man make beautiful plays every saturday and it was amazing), and i think that would be a killer combination.  fantasy owners should definitely pay attention to that pairing.

mood

i am in the shittiest mood ever.  i am cranky and pissy and just plain miserable.  i really need to just go home and go back to bed.

i think a lot of it has to do with the fact that my bbt dipped this morning, which is a sign that i'm about to get my period.  which means, of course, that i'm not pregnant.  i still don't have my period, so i guess there's some hope yet, but i'm feeling terribly pessimistic this morning and have pretty much convinced myself that af will be arriving any second now.  to make matters worse, matt is going away on his annual guys' weekend trip on the weekend right before my o day...you know, the most fertile days of my cycle.  he gets back the day before my predicted o day, but i can tell you right now that bd'ing will not happen that day, and probably not the day after.  guys' weekend means a weekend full of boozing, and he usually feels like shit for the entire week after he gets home.  so i can pretty much guarantee that we're not getting pregnant this month, either.  yay.

i just never thought it would take this long.  i mean, i've heard all the stories about people who try for a year or longer, and i always knew in the back of my mind it could take a while.  i just never thought it actually would.  a few years ago, we did get pregnant and it happened because i had to skip my pills.  for a month.  in one month off the pill, we got pregnant.  obviously, the pregnancy didn't last, but that's a whole other issue that i'm not going to get into right now.  maybe some day.  and i know it was 5 years ago and my body was much younger, but still.

i know it's only been 4 months, but it feels like an eternity.  now that i'm ready, i'm ready.  i just want to get pregnant and have a baby and start our family!  in a way, it feels like my body is betraying me.  i'm sad and i'm angry.  i have so many emotions coursing through me, i feel like i'm going to explode.  every little thing feels like a personal attack or like someone has set out with the sole purpose to piss me off.  the intern who can't understand why i didn't see a patient because i spent 1.5 hours of my life wasting my time in rounds today?  yeah, totally bit his head off.  doctor told a patient she can get a cab voucher from us, even though she lives 20 blocks away and could totally afford to pay for a cab herself?  yep, just bit that intern's head off, too.  all these emotions are cranked up inside me and i feel like i'm either going to burst into tears or punch someone.  i'm giving myself a headache, and i feel like if i don't calm down soon, i'm gonna go into full-blown migraine meltdown mode. 

plus, the full moon is on thursday, and that means the hospital is about to take a visit to crazytown, and i'm not looking forward to it.  seriously, patients go nuts around the full moon.  it is 2 days away, and i have 4 psych patients on my floor.  psych placements suck the life out of you.  just one psych placement can take 4-6 hours.  i am looking at probably 2, if not 3, placements.  already.  it's gonna be a fun week.

i need to go home and snuggle with my cat before i hurt someone.

nursery thoughts - owls

ok, so i know we're not pregnant yet.  but this is what i do.  when i'm starting to think about the next "step" or our next big project, i start kind of obsessing.  so it should come as no surprise that i have many many thoughts about our future little one's nursery.  while we definitely intend to find out the gender of the baby in order to help with decorating and clothing and registering and what-not (and also because i'm the most impatient person in the world), i still think we will forgo the "traditional" nursery colors of blue/pink for more fun colors.  at this moment, i'm picturing orange for a boy, and maybe even for a girl.  orange is a great gender-neutral color, and can be made more boy-ish with accents of blue and green, or more girl-ish with accents of pink, yellow, and grey.  like these:

source: designseeds

source: designseeds

aren't they pretty?  i'd probably do the bottom one without the super-girly pink, though.  make that a pale yellow, instead.  i could probably find a design seed palette that exactly matches what i'm looking for, but have you ever perused that sight?  it's a bit overwhelming.  but an amazing resource.

anyway, one theme i keep being drawn to is owls.  i just think owls are the most adorable things ever.  here are a few things i've found around the interwebs that i would completely freaking love to use in an owl-themed nursery.

source: from skiphop on pinterest

source: from projectnursery on pinterest

that top bedding set is my favorite.  bonus - it's bumper-free!  i love the colors, and i loe the decals on the wall behind it.  i may just copy this nursery completely (especially for a boy).  i like the bottom one, too, but it is a bit too busy for me.  i do love that quilt, but it's a custom-designed etsy piece, and the shop is no longer accepting orders.  booo!

source: from etsy on pinterest

source: from etsy on pinterest

 

source: from etsy on pinterest

some super-cute wall decor ideas.  i really love that decal, and if we end up going with an owl theme, i will most likely purchase that last print.  just too cute.

source: from whorange via bee on pinterest

source: from landofnod via bee on pinterest

i am totally smitten with these nightlights.  ok, the campfire isn't technically a nightlight, but how cool would it be to use it as one?  for a woodland-theme nursery?  oh, and that owl nightlight is just too pretty.

so that's one idea i have for a nursery.  i have so many others, and i'll share them with you over the next few weeks/months/whatever.  you're excited, i can tell!

awkward

so i take the train to work every day.  can i just tell you how much i love taking the train?  in the morning it gives me a chance to mentally ready myself for the day.  and in the afternoon?  oh, that afternoon train ride is heaven.  septa has this program called quiet ride, where the first car of every train is the quiet car.  no cell phones, no talking, and if you listen to music, it has to be low volume so your neighbors can't hear it (i can't tell you how annoying it is when you can hear someone's music over your own).  i always sit in the quiet car on my way home.  even if there are no seats, i will stand rather than sit in a regular car.  it is the perfect place to unplug and decompress from my day.

anyway.  after riding the same train for 5 years, you start to make what i lovingly refer to as "train friends."  there is a guy who used to share a seat with me every day, and eventually we started talking.  we've been sharing a seat and talking for about 2 years now, but i have no idea what his name is.  i prefer it that way.  for a long time it was nice to have a buddy on the train.  we didn't talk about anything of substance, really.  mostly about sports or funny stories we heard on the news.  but lately it's gotten weird.  he's started acting like, i don't know, like we're actual friends.  you know how when you're friends with someone, and they're trying to get past you, you might fake-trip them or hit them as they walk by?  it's a silly little gesture, but to me, it's something reserved for people that you're on a more intimate level with.  well, he started doing this to me.  i usually sit on the inside of the seat, even though i get off the train first.  so he has to get up to let me out at my stop.  in the past few months, this moment has become uncomfortable for me.  there has been a few times where he's hit my back as i walk by, dangerously close to my ass.  he's married, and i know he knows i'm married, but i definitely feel like he's flirting with me.  and i really am feeling skeevy about it.  it's gotten to the point where i feel relieved when he's not at the train station because i don't have to deal with it.  this morning, he got on the train way ahead of me, and i acted like i didn't see him and sat by myself. 

i'm not really sure what i should do.  avoiding him seems to be the easiest thing, but it's certainly not the most mature option.  part of me feels like i should address it, but then, what if i'm way off base?  then i'll just feel like an asshole.  what do you think i should do?