Can there be a more annoying illness?

I've been sick for....1, 2, 3, oh right! SIX days. Six days people. I hate it! It turned me into a bigger slacker than I already am! I need to email and call so many people but I can't talk because of my throat, and I need to be focused when I email. Its like a mission for me to do my best when it comes to getting back to people. My wonderful friend back home sent me these hilarious fake tickets you can give people and I can't call her back yet! I got them like over a week ago! CRAP! Not to mention our friend from home is moving out to Ohio and coming here tonight! I need to get the entire house put together and make a nice dinner because we've been planning this for the whole summer! Oh yeah, my in-laws will be here next week as well so I REALLY have to have the place clean. What am I doing blogging!? It's time for this sick chick to domesticate!

Biggest Losers here we come!

Oh how we LOVE Biggest Loser! Sadly we won't have Tommy there every episode this season with us because he promised to be there for the finale. Its less than a month until the premiere but I'm going out of my mind with excitement. No other show makes us sit in front of the TV for 2 hours with our mouths open waiting with bated breath for the weigh in in the last 20 minutes. It also makes us rethink eating more leftover mac and cheese. Not that we eat that anyway. Not only does The BL change peoples' lives for the better, it engages the audience enough so they see the change they need to make too.

It reminds me of a time when we were skiiiiiiinny! Back in the day....

This was the only picture from high school I could find but look at us! Skinny!

One of those things I try to remind myself and Taylor about is that we are not in high school when it comes to weight. We don't do 3 1/2 hours of sports 5 sometimes 6 days a week. We can't eat whatever we want because our metabolism is slowed down a lot. We don't have moms that make breakfast, pack our lunches, and have dinner ready at 6:30 every night. BTW, this was a huge shock of reality for me personally just because I had to be the one to cook. If I did not have dinner ready, WE would not eat. Poor Taylor. I got it pretty quickly though. There were a few times Del Taco came to the rescue- sign, we miss you!

All of this really gets me thinking when we watch the show because of how people get to where they are today. They get stuck in a mentality that is destructive and they repeat the behaviors sometimes without realizing the damage they do until its really far down the road. Even after high school I was still eating the same way I did before. And believe me, I could eat whatever I wanted. Don't believe me? Ok, how's this? When I went to In-N-Out Burger, I would eat TWO double doubles, TWO orders of french fries, ANNNND a chocolate shake or large Pepsi. Yuck, that totally grosses me out now! I weighed 147 lbs as a six foot tall sophmore. Sickening I know. I would kill someone else if I knew they could do that.

Good thing times change! Good grief if I still ate like that I would be a contestant myself. Not to mention I'd be said because there isn't an In-N-Out Burger unless I want to drive at least 25 hours to the nearest one. We won't. That's where the show comes in. Not only does it make us want to giet off of our butts and go jogging like we have, it also makes me think about chicken and brown rice for dinner. Oh, it was so good tonight. Sure we could eat a lot worse but why would we when we've lost weight and just ran? Um, no. I don't think so. I always say a homemade meal is a happy meal. Not THAT Happy Meal!

Some stuff about US this time!

We have a follower! HECK YES! Haha! I really don't even know who reads our blog which is kinda weird but I read other people's blogs all the time and they have no idea either.

So! Since this blog as mostly been about me, myself, and Taylor SOME of the time, I've decided to do some investigative work and share some things about us that most people don't know. Let's say 25 things because that's the way FB does it!

1. We think every child, dog, and cat that we see is the most adorable thing ever.

2. The main argument we get into is about music. We can agree on Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam, and Coldplay. Everything else is questionable.

3. Whenever we get home at the end of the day and have eaten dinner, we literally collapse in the La-Z-Boy chairs and watch TV until we can't open our eyes anymore. Its soooo nice!

4. We love both sets of our parents, but they were making us fat back home! Its mostly our fault because we would eat too much of it. Currently we are missing out on my mom's lasagna, Taylor's mom's pot roast, Taylor's dad's spaghetti, and my dad's steak. MMMM....

5. We lived 5 minutes away from the beach for over a year and we only went during Carlsbad time. An hour away.

6. We have our kid's names picked out, of course it just depends on how many of each sex there are.

7. Taylor had no idea who my brother was when we met. (Enter Heavenly clouds opening with angels singing)

8. Neither of us like to clean. That one was a freebie.

9. We think people who use PCs are strange. Get a MAC people!

10. 100% Coca Cola people

11. Neither of us snore, YAY!

12. We have time limits for every person we know. Meaning there are certain people that have about 45 min until they drive us insane. Then there are those who have about 3 days.

13. We were delivered by the same doctor

14. Our favorite meal to share is from Mama Cozza's: garden salad with ranch, fried cheese (don't judge its freaking delicious!) and a medium pizza with pineapple. Did I mention our parents kept us fat :)

15. We both played basketball at one time in our lives, both centers.

16. We share an equal dislike for brusslesprouts

17. We don't care what you say, Heath Ledger was the most amazing Joker. EVER.

18. We want to become campground hosts one day. We are trying to work it out so we can do it while Taylor's in his post doc....we'll see

19. We know pretty much every line from the movie, "White Chicks." If you haven't seen that movie, watch it with us. You will like it more than you would have before, we promise.

20. We are not good at playing against each other. Its better if you just put us on the same team and let us dominate. Other wise we make some things difficult for you.

21. Both of us have a weakness for Rite Aid ice cream

22. Given the choice, we would always pick a Suzuki

23. We secretly chew bubble gum really loud because we know it would drive his dad crazy

24. Islands, we miss you. A lot.

25. We wish we could have gotten married at 16.

This is Taylor approved as well so its ok to post now!

An Episode with the laundry

I love laundry. There's something about getting all our clothes clean and then throwing them warm from the dryer on you when you get a chill. Of course its Summer right now so that's not really happening too much but I digress. I miss doing laundry over at my in laws. Not only did they have a great dryer, we would stay the night and get all comfy in our pjs and sleep in the guest room with the most comfortable bed ever. Not only that, but my mother in law would make us the most delicious dinner no matter what it was, and my father in law would make popcorn. YUM! Now this isn't just any popcorn. This is like old fashioned Jiffy Pop popcorn from a maker twice my age I'm sure. It was the lap of luxury and I cannot wait until our kids get to go over to Nana and Papa's because we love it and them so much.

So as you are getting that wonderful visual in your head, let me crush it. Sorry but its not like that now. Can you believe we have to pay for our own laundry? YIKES! We've been forced to deal with it because unfortunately we have to wear clothes. Fortunate for you though! So we (meaning I) have been doing well with it. Most of the time I have Taylor help me carry down all of it because I make it a priority to do every two weeks and that can be a lot at times. We've (meaning I've) had a good relationship with the duo. Other than having to pay it to wash my clothes, we haven't had one load turn into a disaster. Well that is, until today!

Over the past week the washer and dryer have been out of commission. Well it happened to be the same week that I wash all the sheets and bathroom rugs. Not too much of a hassle, but then you have to add in the extra week that the laundry wasn't done. That's a lotta laundry! I did a couple loads once the duo was fixed and everything was going fine. Then I ran out of quarters. I only needed one. Yes one quarter was not located anywhere in our place! I did have a Canadian coin but it says clearly and with a sharpie to make it official, "No Canadian coins." By the time I figured out that I didn't have another quarter, I had 2 loads of wet clothes in the dryer. Ok I'm cheap and I don't want to spend another $1.25 on another dryer load!

I left my wet clothes in the dryer (yes I know, super rude) and hauled butt over to Bank of America to get a roll of quarters. When I got back my wash was already done. Hmmm. Seemed fast but I figured I must have been gone a long time. I start to switch the loads and as I'm doing this I realize that all the clothes are sopping wet. Not damp, soaked! I couldn't figure it out so I just kept on with my business. Well it turns out that they both had tripped the breaker and stopped in the middle of their loads. Meaning they weren't done. Since they weren't rinsed properly, my pink robe had made everything look like a scoop of Sherbet ice cream. UG! Oh, and I forgot to mention. The laundry room is halfway in the ground and the window does not open. So its hotter than blue blazes!

Once I had realized the problem I had already switched the loads. I had to take my robe and wash it in the nasty sink next to the washer. Now I can get dirty and all, but this was gross. Plus a robe soaked full of water is heavy! I had another load but I figured since the last one was only blankets I just let it slide. That's what happens when you're on your 6th load and you could not really give a crap. I had started at 10:00am and I finished at about 5:oopm. I never think it will take that long but it always does. Mostly I forget that its down there. But then other times people actually take our clothes out of the washer and put them in my basket and wash their own clothes because they don't want to wait any longer. Whatever.

Days like this make me miss my in laws. It makes me wish I was a man and could go do Chemistry stuff all day while listening to my iPod without having to squeeze robes. On the other hand, I got to lounge in sweats while my hubbers is earning the dough. I got to do my Jillian Michaels workout without having to work it in my schedule. I got to be on the computer and eat lunch because we have internet-for free I might add. I got to fold laundry! I LOVE folding laundry! It could have been a pretty bad day. I won't let it. I was way too happy when I went to pick up Taylor because now he has clean underwear! The joys of life!

PS-If you found this post boring you should probably stop reading my blog. We will probably get more boring to you.

I've taken some aggression out on vegetables

I never thought cooking would become one of my passions in life. My mother is an a-ma-zing cook! Really, she has the best lasagna ever and it will beat your grandmother's. Well you know what I mean! Even though she is a fabulous cook, she didn't teach me anything. No, not one thing. Although I missed out on the cooking lesson train, it seems to be in my genes! Heck yes! Now I'm not just saying this to be conceded or anything. I only know that I can cook by all the, "Mmmming," and, "Omgosh this is so good," that I have been hearing. Its really nice. It makes me think of all the cooking in my life and where it all started.

From very early on in my life, I still remember I ate about 5 things. Really. Mac and cheese, grilled cheese, cheese pizza, happy meals, and spaghetti. I was an absolute stick until about 16 1/2 years of age when I made friends with fast food because I had a car. Our pantry was always stocked with only the best- Velveeta Shells and cheese. If I didn't want dinner, that's what I would have. The whole box. That totally grosses me out as I type this but its true. Its really hard to believe that my mother let me do that but that was pre-cancer, pre oober organic thing she's into now. I think the fact that I could stand to gain weight rather than lose made her not even think twice about me eating countless boxes of fake cheese.

Even though I had hamburgers and spaghetti with meat sauce, I really didn't like meat. Why would I want to eat meat when I had cheesy goodness every night to satisfy my calorie intake for a week? I don't even remember eating any kind of meat until I was visiting my cousins. My aunt and uncle are big believers in finishing what's on your plate. So naturally, they were concerned when I didn't really touch the food that they gave me. That was the first time I had ever had squash. And I remember eating chicken because they thought I would get sick or something if I didn't eat any meat at all. It helped a lot that Taylor is kind of a meat head so he taught me how to eat steak. The funny thing is that the same thing happened to my sister when she met my brother-in-law. She had her father-in-law's steak and was hooked!

So after all this time and teaching myself and learning some from others, I have a better relationship with food. Just the fact that I cook with onions is so weird. I'm really excited to meet more people so I can cook for them. Its like if someone thinks my cooking is good its equivalent to thinking my baby is cute. It goes hand in hand. I don't have a baby by the way.

Ug...

Too many times I rant and rave on blogs. I will forget all the people annoying the heck out of me right now (the numerous motorists with "Keep abortion legal" bumper stickers, can you believe it???) and write a happy blog :)

We went jogging tonight. Yes, me! We have been doing it for a little while now and I thought I was going to die last time. Not really but that's a Chenowith thing I say a lot. It was so hard just to run two minutes. Quit laughing! I know! But running has literally been a demonic thing to me all my life and I'm making it a God thing I can do. So this was big. As I was doing it last time I said things Jillian Michaels would say, "You can do this," "You're so strong," blah blah blah, I wanted to scream at the voice that I couldn't do it. Not today!

It was like I was running much less this time. Of course I was sucking air like I had been underwater for 2 minutes but I made it. We made it. And I didn't feel like dying. It felt so good to do it and do it so much better than last time. Now the next time we run its supposed to be 4 minutes. Hmm, oh boy! Not gunna happen. So we're repeating this 2 minute run/walk/run thing for this week and see how we do. Mind you I'm still doing Wii Fit and all that jazz. I like boxing and strength training. Its fun stuff! Taylor told me that they are coming out with another one in the Fall. Bless them!

In other news, things are moving along. Yeah, boring post I know. Not as good as the last one, I know. But I guess telling my successes makes me feel a lot better than ranting and raving. I will still speak my opinion. Don't ask me anything if you don't want me to tell you what I really think. Its gotten me in a lot of trouble at times, but most of the time people are surprised that I can actually give an honest answer. Of course I can! I just hate it when people ask for an opinion and they don't want it. They just want to argue that my opinion is wrong. Don't ask me then. Until next time, smile at your neighbors!

Nostalgia

When I think about the past, I really get down. Mostly high school things that still somehow manage to irritate me to this day. I've always said the best thing about high school was I met Taylor. That's it. Seriously. I hated my classes. Every year I had a teacher that made me feel like I wasn't important to them at all. Its like I made their life miserable just because I took their class. I was always a good kid, but somehow if I ever did anything wrong it was practically documented. To this day I'm still embarrassed because the attendance lady made me cry! Yeah, dirty old mean lady! Then there was other time I got a truancy because my mom drove off and left me at home. Another story for another day.

I hated volleyball. There were the choice few girls who made me feel like I could push through and ignore the rest of the spoiled rotten losers (my COACH called us that!) I had to deal with everyday. It makes me so upset to think of what would have happened if things were different. I mean for goodness sake, its been almost 5 years! I should be over it but its difficult when you started a lot of games one year with a coach you liked. Then the next year you sit on the bench because a particular setter rules the team, including holding both new coaches' testosterone in her greedy little hands. (Oops, I said too much but really if she read this I wouldn't care) She killed my volleyball dreams big time.

I hated that everyone changed. Remember in middle school when everyone wanted to be vet and save themselves til marriage? Yeah. Didn't happen. I really try not to toot my own horn with that subject because boys lie but couldn't they have waited at least til the end of freshman year? Boy! I must have been the most naive person ever because once I hit high school I learned ALL and MORE than I wanted to know about sex, drugs, and alcohol. I'm still surprised to this day with the things people actually did in high school. This is still the girl who never got into trouble but all those same friends never did either. I cried a lot for them. I still do.

I hated that I was young. No one takes you seriously as a 16 year old totally head over heels in love with another 16 year old. The whole, "We're getting married one day," thing gets a HUGE eye-roll from most adults. Everyone just thinks its puppy love and somehow it won't last til graduation. Taylor and I were different. I would say both of us have that baby face but old soul inside kind of thing going on. We had respect for each other. We valued marriage as an ultimate goal. It was so so so hard to think we had so long to wait. I wanted to fast forward. Just get the time over with so I could be in another world with the person I loved. No one really understood but that's why having the situation so difficult made it worth it in the end. Watch the movie "Click" while you're at it!

I hate that I don't have some of my old friends. That's probably the biggest one. I don't know if I could ever say or do anything to make things right with some of them. Sometimes I wish I had the opportunity. And yet, I don't take it. I think about them every so often. I have to sometimes just to get it out of my system. They must think about me too. I think about slumber parties, pigging out on food because back then I was skinny and could eat ANYTHING, talks that went too late into the night. I miss taking pictures, watching our favorite show every week, knowing I had girl time to go to when boys were annoying. I miss the good times. I miss everything.

So yeah. I'm sorry for the depressing theme of this blog right now. I guess I got some inspiration when I read some of Taylor's emails from 2004. I know! I shouldn't dwell on the past but it makes me crazy sometimes wondering how things would be had they of been different. We'll see what the future brings.

My New Idea

I've decided I want to start a coalition. The wives that hate WOW. World of Warcraft that is. I love Taylor, but I hope he never reads this! Haha. Its not even bad either. There are a lot of women that never get time with their husbands because of that stupid game. I'm really selfish with him. I need his undivided attention most of the time. Which means when he "does a dungeon" or whatever he calls it, I can't be my favorite role. Um, really? I don't like that! The free month he got from a friend ends soon. I'm so happy about that. I don't even feel the slightest bit bad. That's really not like me to hate something he likes so much but that game needs to die! Trust me, I've tried to play. DUMB! No, make that super duper I cannot believe people actually PAY to spend hours of time on. There I said it. I hate WOW. Oh, I said it again...

I've had a sad, sad day

I've been in a horrible funk all day. I won't go into details. When I hear about terrible tragedies happening to people, it effects me. Like I can't not get it out of my head. I love reading other blogs. Mostly I like to read blogs that have to do with women like me, young and married. There's not a whole lot of us at my age. So I was reading about a woman in Orange County that lost her husband AND father-in-law in a plane crash. Mind you they had a one year old son AND she was pregnant with their daughter. OH GOD! It's one of those moments when you ask yourself, "How would I EVER do that? How could I keep living?" For me, it never really stops. I still have parts of movies stuck in my head from years and years ago. So this will probably keep poking my brain for a while. It really puts life in a different perspective. I absolutely love Taylor. I would give my life for him, he's going to be my babies' father some day, we have our life planned out together. This woman had her life ripped from her hands.

After crying pretty much all day, she has been in the forefront of my mind. I believe these types of situations happen for a reason. They force us to look at our own lives. The way we treat each other. The way we treat the most important people in our lives. When I read how wonderful her father-in-law was, wow. That really made the flood come. I'll say it once, and I will say it again. I have the best in-laws ever. Losing one of them would be like loosing a parent. They helped raise me. They believe in me. I love them! I will pray this situation never happens to me. This day, I will at least appreciate Taylor as much as I can. Even before I read her story I had always taken some precautions before to think if it was the last day I would see him. But this drives the nail in even harder. Because of this woman, I'm making an even more honest effort to love and cherish the life that God gave me. I will also cherish it because I know He can so easily take it away.