Age 2
Home Life
(Post started January 11, 2013) In an attempt to help me keep Resolution #1, I recently purchased a Jawbone Up.
Mint Green Jawbone Up
I have been entertaining the idea of purchasing a health gadget since the release of the failed first version of the Up and after the Nike Fuel Band. I’ve been reading reviews of the *new* Up, the Fitbit, and the Nike Fuel band. The Up and the Fitbit had the best reviews and after reading about Fitbit users having trouble keeping the clip on their person (the FitBit band is schedule to be released later this Spring) and the Jawbone’s array of colors, I chose the Jawbone. So far I have not been disappointed.
One of the things I love about the Up is the fashionable aspect. It comes with clean brushed steel ends and the band comes in a variety of colors. I happen to really like this Mint Green color.
I also really enjoy the App. It’s very user friendly and has a lot of helper hints that pop up when you first use the app. From the moment I pulled the Up out of the box to the time I had it synced to the app was about 5 minutes. It has great, easy to follow directions and using the Up is super duper easy.
So far I’m tracking my sleep, exercise, and the App has a great program for tracking food intake (you can actually scan bar codes and it adds that food into your log). Even if you cook a lot it doesn’t take too much work to add the individual ingredients into the App to calculate calories. It also calculates far more than calories. As you can see below, when you manually input a food it asks for all sorts of information. I’ve rarely had to input food however, as the bar code scan and the food library has THOUSANDS of entries! It’s truly brilliant.
More than just calorie counting
The analysis of my sleep was the most interesting to me. It shows how many times you wake up, your varying stages of sleep and I found it to be incredibly accurate.
Sleep Tracker
I have to admit, I love syncing the Up to my phone several times a day to see my progress.
(Continued Feb 14, 2013) After using the Up for a few weeks I’m still loving it. I’m not loving my will power, but I am loving the Up. The Up battery is supposed to last for 10 days, though, to keep it charged I’m plugging it in about once a week. It only takes about an hour to charge fully and it charges via USB.
Up until this point (pun intended) I haven’t done much to alter my diet or exercise. I’ve been tracking my baseline, which isn’t TERRIBLE, but it isn’t great either. One of the features I love the most are the comparison graphs. You can choose from at least a dozen points and compare them in side by side graphs.
Comparison Graphs
All in all, this is a fabulous gadget and seems very hardy (four weeks later of wearing it 24/7 and it’s still like new).
I’ve also learned that I eat too much saturated fat and sugar and I sit around too much (which I knew already) but the Up has a fantastic feature. It NAGS me. Like my mother. When I’ve been sitting for too long it vibrates as if to say “Hey fat ass get up and walk ’round the house a bit.” Also, I love the satisfaction of seeing the Calories Burned far higher than the Calories Consumed.
For me the Up might be the weight-loss tool I need. With a price tag around $130 it’s cheaper than Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, or a personal trainer and it completely satisfies my inner nerd.
“I guess riding the dog like it’s a small horse is frowned upon in this establishment.”
Riding the dog, while playing the keyboard, with an umbrella.
Every New Year people make resolutions. Some keep them, exceed them even, while the majority forget having made them halfway through the New Year’s Day hangover. Having been in the latter group for most of my adult life, I quit making resolutions a few years ago. I mean what’s the point? I’ll never achieve them and fast forward 12 months I will have realized that my life has gone nowhere and I didn’t achieve one goal.
2013 is a year of transition. It is said that the Mother energy is coming to Earth and this planet is about to start a new several thousand year cycle. 2012 was so god awful, 2013 has to be better. In fact, I’m going to make sure of it. So I’m making three resolutions, three promises, three goals. Whatever you choose to call them, I’m stating three things I want to change.
- I want to lose weight. I don’t care if it’s 5lbs or 50. I want to weigh less/have smaller measurements, be a small size this time next year. But I want to keep my boobs. I want to keep my fat boobs on a smaller body. (I mean… if I’m wishing, go big or go home amirite?)
- I want to be in a better place. This means spiritually, emotionally, financially. I want to be happier and more stable in every possible way.
- I want to explore my spirituality. This means going deep in to woo-woo territory. I’ve never been Christian and I’ve always been a bit of a hippie. This means exploring my gift of giving readings and to stop being scared shitless when I dream about dead people talking to me. Often people with anxiety are gifted and they don’t understand what is happening to them which causes the panic attacks. By exploring this I’m working to achieve #2 and #3 which will in turn help #1.
All three of these goals are linked. If I succeed and make progress in one aspect I will succeed and make progress in all three which will lead to a happier me.
2013 is the year of happy.
Sometimes in life you’re just stuck. I’ve been in a rut since December of 2009. My life is seemingly going nowhere. I’ve applied and interviewed for some awesome jobs. A few required a move across the country, but nothing came to fruition. I’ve had a couple jobs in the last three years, my favorite being with HP working on the Medi-Cal account. However, all of them have been temporary. None have been stepping stones. I’ve entertained the thought of internships, applied for a few, but again nothing has come of it. So I continue, doggedly putting one foot infront of the other, trying to use this time to better myself, to learn new skills, but eventually, I have to wonder WTF AM I SUPPOSED TO BE DOING AND WHY AM I STANDING STILL.
My Facebook feed is filled with weddings, engagements, awesome job offers/acceptance, cross country moves, amazing European travels and I’m here… not blogging because my life is so mundane.
There are two clichés that come to mind: Good things come to those who wait and Good things come to those that work their asses off.
I’ve done both. Which is correct? There’s another school of thought that states: All in good time.
Well guess what? I’m ready to move on. Three years of treading water and I’m ready to move on. I’m ready to start the next chapter in my life.
So I decided to make an opportunity. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I do know social media and I can teach it to others. So far, I’ve had zero interest despite posting the fliers around town. Short of taking an expensive ad out in the local paper I’m stumped.
But here’s my course of action…
I haven’t been writing lately, or posting at all. I have this thing called “Writer’s Block.” I’d like to say that I’m uninspired or not feeling creative, but that simply isn’t true. Lately, the creative juices are flowing and I can hardly stop the ideas from coming before I finish the project I’m currently working on. Whether its my new custom stitch markers (coming to a NatInDesign store near you), custom knitting needles (these make knitting sexy), or ideas for a possible business (sadly lacking capital to make those dreams come true); I am all over the board where creativity is concerned. I suppose I didn’t know how to make this burst of creativity fit aggirl.com.
I feel that I am is all over the place lately and that is A-okay. Aggirl.com doesn’t need to have a purpose or direction, it has a voice; my voice and my direction. I AM aggirl.com and if I’m a hot mess, then the blog will be also. I started this blog with the intention that it be about agriculture, but agriculture isn’t my life (*gasp*). In truth, the “ag” in aggirl is just a fraction of who I am. So, for now I’m a mess, I have the 1000 pieces of my life in a pile on the floor and I’m trying to fit together the puzzle that is me without having the benefit of working from the picture on the box.
In the spirit of putting together my puzzle, I want to step outside my box of crazy and I want to see what you, the reader sees. I want to know this: What do you, the reader, want to know about me, the blogger?
Some of you may know me better than others and any topic big or small is fair game. Nothing is too personal or too trivial. Help me break my writer’s block, give me topics to write about that you want to read about.
As incentive I’m going to do a giveaway (oh snap!) I made these awesome felted soaps yesterday. 
The soap is from a local shop Body Basics (go local business) owned by CC’s current lessor Cecelia. She is also the person who taught me how to felt soaps! These are my first creations (see so much creativity flowing out of me), and I’m giving both away. As I come up with awesome things, I’ll be adding to the giveaway list (such as custom knitting needles and stitch markers).
How to win!
This is clearly the most important part. Leave a me a comment telling me what you want me to write about. It can be personal, it can be political, it can be agriculture related, it can be about my favorite TV shows; nothing is too personal and nothing is off limits. Comment with a blog idea and let me know if you’re a knitter (I don’t want needles and stitch markers going to someone who doesn’t knit and therefore not have a use for them). I’ll draw for the winner next Thursday
Update: Bunny died 
Dogs found this baby cottontail last night and spent a good half hour torturing it before we discovered them. Seems to be unhurt, but was/is in shock. 
- Last night, barely moving or breathing.
This morning, breathing evenly, more movement.
Still hasn't eaten or drunk water, but doing much better.
I’ve never been one to be bitter about the economy or ungrateful for the life I’m living. However, Monday I was both.
I’m Swiss. For me this is an identity. In encompasses who I am and the way I was raised. Though I can trace my maternal grandfather’s roots back before the revolutionary war, I’m not a Patriotic person, that however, is a story for another day. My maternal grandfather, or Opapa as he was known to the younger generations, was an Italian American. He served in the first World War, became an American Diplomat and married a Swiss woman. He died before I was born but his younger brother I knew and loved as “Uncle Rudolph.”
My first trip to Europe and Switzerland I was about 2, I have vague memories of that trip, but I continued to see my European family every other year until I was 16. After that, 9/11 happened, the economy tanked, and this country just went down the toilet. My parents got divorced, I graduated from high school and the purse strings got tighter and tighter and tighter. Vehicles were sold, horses were sold, recreational vehicles were sold, and plane tickets to see family were out of the question. It was okay though, everyone was suffering, everyone was paying their dues, eventually I’d see my family again.
My cousin is getting married in September, and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to scrimp, save, and hoard money for one last trip to Europe to see the eldest generation. I was wrong. I’m bitter and I’m angry. I love my family and it irritates me that my family has sacrificed so much and rolled with the punches and I was unable to see my Uncle one last time. The generations are moving up the ladder and it’s difficult to think in a modern world with new technology an email or a skype chat is the closest I can be to family far away.
My great uncle was a wonderful man. He was generous, kind, and gentle. I will always remember sitting in the library, sipping a ginger ale conversing with my Aunt Jackie and Uncle Rudolph, in the Wohlen House.
I’m a Taurus, a steadfast loyal creature of habit. I go to bed around the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. I’m a “nester.” I believe in making spaces my own and nothing throws me off more than sterile rooms and waking up at the wrong time or other variations from the routine.
Which is why just as I seem to get comfortable in a routine life throws me a curve ball. This past week I got a few really awesome curve balls right to the head.
First, was a surprisingly good opportunity. In October, I decided there wasn’t any reason at all why I couldn’t find my dream job. So I went directly to the source and applied for positions at SmartPak, Ariat, and other equine related companies. No matter what position I applied to at SmartPak my resume seemed to be bounced back within moments of submission, telling me I wasn’t using the right format, keywords, or other criteria and the system was rejecting it. So I called HR <<< Me being proactive. Damnit I deserve good things! I spoke with someone in HR who looked over my resume, suggested some changes and passed it on. Next thing I know, I was asked if I was able to do a phone interview. Um, yes. OF COURSE I’m able to do a phone interview. It’s scheduled for March 22. (Prayers, good/positive thoughts, Interpretive dances and other forms of luck accepted at this time). SmartPak is of course, based in Massachusetts and I’m a California girl. I’d be moving 3000+ miles away from the only home I’ve ever known, away from my horses, friends, and glorious sunshine, to an expensive area near Cape Cod and Boston where I don’t know anyone, it gets really cold in the winter, and it snows. Of course I’ve never wanted anything more in my entire life (except to win the lotto and start a horse rescue… that’s still #1). Off I went researching the area, tax rates, living situations etc. I believe in being informed. I also believe in seeing myself where I want to be. So, I now see myself in Plymouth, MA in a studio apartment with my dog dressed in everything I own because it’s effin’ cold and snowing. Life make that happen please. Positive thinking like this often leads to disappointment as my visions often go up in smoke, but it only takes once for it to work. I’m still hopeful.
The second curve ball was less awesome. My trainer of 10+ years and I had a disagreement about what should happen with my horses. She wanted to use them for her clients and if her clients didn’t want them I should find people to lease them who wanted to be her clients. Basically, she wanted to use my awesome well trained horses for her gain which meant, I was still paying most of their expenses and unable to ride them at all. Say what? I don’t think so. I told her I felt bullied (which I did, I think those types of power moves are bullying at its finest), and she asked me to GTFO of her barn. At which point Gibbs’ former owner tried to reclaim him (Um what?). Saturday was stressful to say the least. However, I know have CC leased (from my house now), and I can see both horses out my window when I wake up in the morning.
Moral of the story: Change is good and everything happens for a reason. It’s uncomfortable, it’s scary, you never know if you’ll come out on top or hanging onto the edge of a cliff with your fingernails, but in the end what’s meant to be is.