Another Happy List!

I apparently missed updating last Monday.  I was sooo tired that day.  I thought I had scheduled a post but I guess not.  Oh well.  Anyway, I've felt the need to make another "happy list" aka reasons to be happy about life.

1. My job is amazing.  I don't dread going to work (unless it's at 9 a.m. ... I'm not a morning person) and I love being there.
2. I'm getting paid more than minimum wage and I can ALWAYS make my rent.
3. I really enjoy my apartment - it's spacious and cute and comfortable.
4. I just got my hamster a new cage and it's larger and has more things to do in it - I think she'll be really happy with it.
5. My hamster is the most adorable thing in the world.
6. I have an awesome boyfriend who is always awesome.
7. I was not feeling very great last week but I've been feeling a lot better today and yesterday.
8. I got some awesome Black Friday deals!
9. I'm pretty much done my Christmas shopping (I love Christmas shopping).
10. I'm excited about staying meat-free ... although I miss meat ... I know it's a really good thing for me to do!
11. I got a new computer about a month ago (I've been needing one for a while) and it is gorgeous.
12. Christmas is in less than a month which means I get to go visit my family for a couple days.
13. I got to see fireworks today.
14. I watched a couple episodes of The Big Bang Theory today ... and I forgot how absolutely hilarious it is!
15. I have super awesome friends and family!

Tell me some positives in your life!

My Family's Approval

I think I try too hard to get my family to like me, or at least approve of me.  I have no problems with friends or other people.  You don't like me?  Oh well, it's all good, I will find someone who does.

But with my family, it is different.  I am the oldest of two daughters.  My sister is obviously the favourite.  She's successful in sports, something that I've never been good at.  She's smart (academically) but I was too.  I'm actually a lot smarter than her for the most part.  (Not to brag but I'm a 90 student and she's an 80 student.)   But I also worked hard and it paid off.

I've also always had more mature friends.  In high school, I hung out with the smarter kids.  It was nice because we could talk on the same level and stuff.  And we understood that getting an 80 on an assignment was disappointing!  But we did other things too.  We had campfires, pool parties, slumber parties, move nights, etc.  We would talk about boys and play goofy games.  Now, my friends are mature in a different way.  Common interests and same feelings on life.  I'm only 20 years old but most of my friends are at least a couple years older.  My sister, on the other hand, hangs around with a group of immature and weird girls.  They don't date, I don't think any of them have kissed a guy.  And they just do immature things and insult everyone.  It is just immature and annoying!  Yet my parents hate the idea of my friends (they haven't even met them) and love my sister's friends!

My parents seem to hate my way of life.  They insult me and my life at any chance they get.  I think that being loving and trusting is the way to be.  I trust everyone, I love people, and I try to be the best person I can be.  I want others to be happy, not just myself.  They just make fun of me for that and I'm not sure why.  I guess they like my sister's mean and negative attitude.

I am always trying to 'earn their approval'.  I try and impress them by making dinner.  I show them cute pictures of my hamster.  I tell them about my successes.  But it doesn't really phase them.  It still seems like I'm not good enough.

I try my best at everything, I always want to be the best, I'm scared of not being the best!  I think it kind of boils down to trying so hard to get my family's approval.

Blogs I Like Vs. Blogs I Don't Like

Obviously, if I comment on your blog, I like it.  But there are certain characteristics to blogs that make me like them or not like them.

1. Short blog posts.
I like posts to be longer than a couple sentences.  But ones that take me (what feels like) forever to read ... I don't enjoy it.  I just skip past it.  Usually I'll give a blog a few posts before I decide if they are too long.  The occasional "long" blog is cool.  But not all of them!

2. Good content!
This is different for everyone, but the content has to be interesting.  Stories about ... say ... woodworking.  I don't have an interest in woodworking at all, so I'm probably not going to check it out.  But if it has to do with one of my interests (baking, cats, music, friends, etc.) then there is a good chance I will read it.

3. A reason to comment.
If there is a question at the end, or a reason to comment, or even just a thought provoking blog post ... then I am more inclined to comment at the end of the post.

4. No music.
Music playing in the background drives me crazy.  Because it's probably music I don't like.  Not that I won't give it a chance ... I probably would.  But I'd rather click a link than have it automatically play.  I almost always have music playing off of my computer.  It drives me crazy when some other song goes overtop of my music!  It's cool if I decide to click on a link ... then I can pause my music and listen to another song ... but it is not cool when something automatically plays.

5. Not going overboard on the design.
A slow loading page is very annoying.  Having a classic, simple design without too much "stuff" there is my favourite!

6. Someone who responds back.
If you comment on my blogs, I will certainly comment back on yours!

7. Including pictures.
I don't have many pictures on mine ... unfortunately.  But having a few small pictures throughout your blog is really nice.  It adds to it.  There is such thing as too many pictures.  But a couple small ones are nice.

8. One topic per post.
Having like five different stories in one post is overwhelming.  If you have five different topics ... just make five different posts!  Why not?  It makes it easier to read ... and then the reader can stick with which posts he or she want to read.  Reading a jumble of posts in one post can be confusing and not very fun.

October 2011 Best Songs

I have missed a couple months ... but I'm back at it!  Okay here are my favourite songs for the month.

1. Chocolate Pumas and Firebeatz - Go Bang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2z3diZNNHo
Another great song for dancing.  Anytime I hear it, I have to get up and dance!  Wooo!  My current favourite song, by far!

2. Invisible Reality - Mysterious loppan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF9ynYF2NFI&feature=youtu.be
Different type of music ... but I love this song ... you definitely have to check it out if you want something different!!

3. Alex Kenji and Frederico Scavo - Get Funky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGmTC-pHpww
Another one of those songs.  :)  It is currently my second favourite song.  I am always ridiculously excited to hear it!

4. LMFAO - I'm Sexy And I Know It
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMMTIksFxbQ
I love this song just because it's hilarious!  I really love LMFAO ... they are so unique and fun!  I've actually seen them twice!  I saw them at Summer Rush 2010 (first time I was at a concert).  Then one day, I was just walking home from work, and I saw them at Much Music ... I just walked by and saw them performing so I went to see them ... it was amazing!!  They are also coming to the place that I work in a few weeks ... oh yeah!

5. Florence and The Machine, Mark Knight Remix, You've Got The Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY3rrKnZ58k
This was my favourite song for like ... a month.  Now I'm finally no longer obsessed with it but I still love it.  It really "starts" at one minute and 45 seconds.  I'm not really into the intro.  I don't even know what the intro sounds like.  My boyfriend has been like ... hey it's your favourite song ... if we hear it at a club or something ... and I don't know until it actually "starts".  Anyway ... awesome song!!

Recipe: Banana Bread

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour

Banana bread

1 cup sugar
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp salad oil
3/4 cup milk
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2-3 medium bananas)
1 egg


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Grease and flour 9 x 5 x 3" loaf pan.
Measure all ingredients into large mixing bowl.  Beat on medium for 1/2 minute, scraping sides and bottom constantly.
Pour into pan.
Bake for 55 - 65minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean.
Remove from pan and cool completely before slicing.

Suggestions:
Adding 1/2 cup - 1 cup of chocolate chips makes a delicious chocolate chip banana bread as well!

Being Secure

I used to be so insecure about myself.  If I was at home by myself, I'd think I was uncool and I should be with friends, like at a party or something.  Or I'd be self conscious about what I was wearing.  Maybe I should be showing more, or less ... either way.  But it is all the same thing, being insecure, self conscious, whatever.

It finally changed when I moved into the city.  Finally I had options.  I had things to do all the time.  I could go out whenever I wanted.  Tuesday night?  Wednesday night?  It doesn't matter, there is something I could be doing!  And now, even if I don't necessarily have someone to go with (say friends are away, boyfriend isn't around, whatever), I can still do something and I don't feel like a loser so much!

Now I feel comfortable turning down invitations instead of thinking 'this might be the only thing I can go to'.  Because there will be many more opportunities.

In fact, I'm finally comfortable staying home on a Friday night - by myself!  If I'm too tired or something, why can't I just stay home, watch a movie, relax, and go to bed early?  If for some reason I feel like going out, I can always just head out whenever, the buses and subway run forever, parties run forever!

I'm just so happy that I don't have to try and impress people by going out.  I can just do what I want to do and I don't have to worry about others judging me.  I can simply enjoy myself because I am secure with myself!

Happy Birthday To Me!!

It's my 21st birthday today!  I'm super excited to see my family (including my sister who lives in Michigan now due to university) and I get to hang out with my boyfriend all day today too!  It's going to be wonderful!  My sister's birthday is in two days too, so we get to celebrate twice as many birthdays!  I'm not sure what we're going to do today but it should be decent weather anyway!

And then tonight I get to go out to a party with some of my friends - woot!  I'm so excited!

Oh, and my sister's birthday card is hilarious!  I love making birthday cards.  On the front of the card, I edited a couple pictures so it looks like my sister (instead of riding on top of a cow), is riding on top of my pet hamster!  What can I say, I'm weird like that, but I know she will love it and think it is hilarious!  I may edit out her face and post the picture sometime though, it is too funny!

:)

One Month "No Meat" Challenge

I'm about three weeks into the "no meat" challenge.  My boyfriend and I decided to do this and try and live a "healthier" lifestyle this way.  Basically, we stopped eating meat a few weeks ago.  October 22 (or is it 23) is the end of our "no meat" challenge.

The goal of this is that we see an end.  Giving up meat for a month ... that doesn't seem that bad, does it?  I mean, most people could do it if they set their mind to it.  Ahh, it's just a month, there is an end date, so not a big deal.  But the goal is that, by the end of the month, we will realize that it's easy and healthy to give up meat and we will not eat meat again.  However, if we notice ourselves getting unhealthy or something, we will figure out what we need to do and possibly start eating meat again.  Or even just eating meat on special occasions.

I've always loved meat, to be honest.  Mostly chicken and turkey.  My mouth is literally watering while thinking of this.  Thanksgiving (which is in mid to early October for us Canadians) was very difficult for me!  My whole family eating turkey and me ... not so much!

I've realized that I really REALLY crave meat.  A ridiculous amount.  I've tried to eat veggie burgers to satisfy my craving but that is not very successful.

There are actually a number of surprisingly good vegetarian recipes out there.  My boyfriend and I have tried making a few different "dishes" and some have been pretty successful.   It is kind of cool though, what else is out there!  I like experimenting with different recipes, I just miss the meat!

But I'm going to hold out for another week!  On my birthday though, it ends, and I guess we will see how things go then!

Birthdays!

Okay, you may have guessed it, but it is my birthday in a couple weeks!  I'm so excited about it!  Everyone always tells me that I won't be as excited about it soon enough.  I don't know though, I am excited every year.  I love a reason to celebrate, I think that's all it is.  Oh, and the attention has to be on me, hah!

Birthdays are fun.  I remember when I was younger, I'd have my classmates over to my house and we'd play games and I'd get lots of presents and we'd have "swamp water" and birthday cake!  Now I will go out with some friends to a party or club or something and then I usually have a "birthday dinner" with my boyfriend and family.  I like that it is another reason to spend time together, right?  And I'm always ridiculously happy on my birthday because, hey, it is my birthday!

What did you do for your last birthday?

Going "Home"

I hate it when people are always "when are you going home to visit your parents?"  I'm always like ... I don't go home to visit my parents ... I live at my home.  My "home" is not a place where I used to live, it's the place I currently live.  I don't even visit my parents all that often ... once every month or two.  Technically that address is my "permanent address" and the one that is on my license and stuff but that's just because I'm not staying in this location for very long and it is a pain to change addresses every few months.  So I'm not going to until I am going to stay in one place for at least a year.

That being said ... I didn't even feel "home" in that place when I lived there.  It's just not a "homey" feeling when I'm there.  It's just a miserable place!  A place where I feel awkward and just like something isn't right.  Thus why my home is the place where a) I live, and b) I feel at home.

It's almost Thanksgiving so people have been like "are you going home for Thanksgiving?".  My answer "yes I'm staying at home" meaning MY HOUSE not my parents house.

I don't even understand why people think it is "going home" because I haven't lived there for a few years.  I guess I get when I was in college / university.  But when I'm living somewhere else for a job or basically for anything that isn't school, I don't see why it isn't my home anymore!

All in all, I wouldn't visit home ... I live at home!

Some People Have Crazy Luck

So there are some people and things just "happen" to them.  I used to lead a super uneventful life.  One of my previous bosses ... things were always happening to her!  I always said to myself ... how does all this happen to her?  Most other people I knew ... "things" didn't happen to them.

What do I mean by things?  Well like ... pipes leaking, car breaking down, winning prizes, old exes coming into their lives, getting picked to go on stage, being scammed ... I don't know, just random things like that!  A combination of good and bad things.  But things that are relatively "big".

I'm pretty sure this has become me now.  Things just keep piling up!  I don't even know where to start anymore.  I can't say much here BUT I got some crazy information today.  It added to an issue that has been going on for a while.  Just more stuff to pile on to it!  Of course, it is very rushed too.  "Gotta be done asap"  Ahh, tell me about it!

Sometimes I think ... oh wouldn't it be nice to have a calm, simple life.  Excitement can be good, for sure.  I love it when it's all good, positive, exciting things.  That's nice!  BUT it never seems to work out.  When life calms down, I'm like "ahhh well isn't this unique" and then the next day something happens again!  There is never a break!

The thing is, it's not necessarily "only good" or "only bad".  There are tons of good things that happen as well as bad things!

Crazy, crazy!

Lifelong Habits

Good or bad habits ... Do you have any?

I have one that may get me made fun of!  I always HAVE TO sleep with my stuffed animal bear at night.  It will take me hours longer to get to sleep if he's not there.  If I'm sleeping somewhere else for a night, I use a blanket or pillow or something to replace him because otherwise I just can't sleep.  Even when my boyfriend is over, I still need that bear!

Another bad habit is biting my nails.  If I'm stressed or worried or anxious, I will bite my nails constantly.  I try so hard not to!  But the second I stop thinking about it, I'm biting again!

I definitely have some good habits too!  Like:
- looking both ways before crossing the road
- locking the door behind me
- putting my seat belt on in the car
- washing my hands after using the toilet

What are your habits?  Good and bad?