The Magnificent Seven

I have wanted to watch this movie since I first saw the trailer. I'm a little late to the watching of it. I haven't watched the older version either. I didn't realize until recently that this was a remake. I like all the actors they have in this remake.

I was folding my laundry and doing chores while watching it. Action movies, kind of like Hallmark movies, you can keep one eye on it and keep doing other things at the same time. It's about a town taken over by a rich miner. He's trying to scare them off the land (including killing a few towns people) to turn a profit. One of the women goes to seek out someone to help them stand up to jerk. They come up with a motley crew of guys and they take on all that money can buy. It's basically a western version of 300, but with 7. It was still a good action movie and I'll have to rent the older version too to compare.

Money is NOT the Root of All Evil. That's the Andrews Sisters

So I have a pet peeve. It is people misquoting things and acting all smart and self-righteous. When someone posts this, it takes all I can not to just drop knowledge. I will just write this one post instead of commenting on many posts. 

When you see this, you are confusing what the Bible says with a song by the Andrew Sisters. It's a catchy fun little song, and I love the Andrew Sisters. That song, does grate on my nerves though. The Bible does not say that money is the root of evil. Inanimate objects aren't evil. Not even the apple that got us all in this mess. It was disobeying God that brought sin into the world. 

The exact quote from 1 Timothy 6:10, "For the love of money is a root of>all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pang.">It's not even really the desire for money that is the issue, it's that the desire of money pulls you away from God and depending on his goodness and provision. You make money your idol and source of satisfaction; unfortunately, money (insert any other earthly thing) will never satisfy your need for God.

De-Stress

This weekend, when I was out walking and listening to my audio book, Titus lunged at something and I was caught off guard. I didn't think anything of it at the time. All yesterday, my whole left leg would go numb and just throb with pain. I did lots of stretches and yoga poses to work out my hip flexors, hammies, and quads. I did pigeon and it felt like heaven (probably the only time I'll say that) and I alternated between sitting and standing at my desk a lot. I got home last night, did my 3 walks, and then rested with my leg raised. Before bed, I also rubbed my leg from hip to calf with muscle "de-stress gel." It worked and I was able to go to bed like a little baby. 

Today, my leg was cramping up again. For some reason, I touched my low back and felt a jolt of pain. Ding ding ding. We have a winner and now I know why my leg hurts so much. It took my until this morning to link leg pain to back pain and back pain to Titus jerking my low back on Sunday. I targeted my stretches to my low back. It's still tender and my calf muscle is super crampy tonight. I'll have to resort to my muscle gel again, but I'm not sad. I'd love to have my back and leg feel like a million right now, but for needing muscle gel, this stuff is amazing. It smells delicious; it's a mix of rosemary, black pepper, lavender, and ginger. Most importantly, it does the job! And tomorrow, I won't have to ask my coworkers if they have a stash of icy hot. I can haul this to work with me and use it at my desk without fear of people being grossed out by the smell. 

What If?

So if you know me, know me, you know I like weird knowledge books. The book, What If: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions  by Randall Munroe is just one of those books. I loved it. I listened to it as an audio book, so I lost some of the math element that I could have worked better seeing it written out.
My favorite sections are the "disturbing questions" that have been submitted. I think my favorite one was how cold would your teeth have to be to shatter upon drinking a cup of hot coffee. His response was: "thanks for my new re-occurring nightmare." That reminded me of a friend that has a re-occurring nightmare of all their teeth being pulled out by gum.
This is just a great book of odd knowledge and math. I like math but I'm not good at science. I never took physics. I probably would have struggled but ultimately liked it. Just, if you're a nerd, you should probably check this book out sometime.

Braven

Whoa! I actually watched a movie...last Sunday. Life has just been so crazy getting ready for the house, I haven't been writing as much as I'd like to lately.

So Jason Momoa is yummy. I used to watch Battlestar Galactic just for him. When I saw this movie in the Prime free movies, I jumped at the chance. Last Sunday it was rainy and nasty all day long. I napped and watched Braven.

The premise is that Joe Braven, is a logger (in Canada?). His dad has been having memory problems since a traumatic injury and he decides it's time to confront his dad about it. He's got a little cabin out in the woods where he takes his dad to discuss these issues. One of Joe Braven's coworkers, the truck driver, is also smuggling drugs in a hollowed out log. The semi crashes during a winter storm, it's close to Joe's cabin. He stashes the drugs there for safe keeping, until he can come back. He is accompanied by all the big bad drug traffickers on a retrieval mission. Unlucky for them, Joe and his dad have already arrived.  The drug dealers just want to kill them and take the drugs, but Joe and his dad aren't going down without a fight. There's also another problem, Joe's daughter stow-awayed in the back of the truck and came to the cabin too. And, as you can see by the picture above, there is a big show down.

It's a pretty typical action movie. Guy, against all odds, defeats bad guys and saves the day. It didn't mean that it wasn't entertaining. Hell, Hallmark movies are all the same and somehow, you can't stop watching them. The only thing I didn't like was how they so quickly glossed over the memory loss/mental health issue. There was a slight mention of it and then the problem is gone. Tied up in a neat little bow. No actually having to face the scarier issue of mental decline in a loved one. Having helped take care of my aunt with early on-set Alzheimer's, some days, it would have been easier to fight off the whole battalion of bad guys than to have stayed patient while trying to help her dress.

Independent Women

I have been working 10 hour days. 2 down, 2 to go. I'm tired and I shall go to bed shortly. Some days my job is a circus. I'm just so glad to be blessed with a way to provide for myself. I got my FabFitFun box today, one of my brothers told me it was such a waste of money. It's so nice to get "presents" in the mail when you're an adult, even if you bought it for yourself. I was like: no one else buys me presents, and if I bought it, then Miss Independent, go me! Lol. I think he was a little taken aback. Also, he probably didn't get my Destiny's Child reference. Lol/Ugh, I'm so old! I so remember when this was my jam in middle school.

 

Wake Me Up, When September Ends

Lol. I realize now that I wrote thinking yesterday was Wednesday. Ugh. It isn't the first time, it won't be the last. This next month is going to be a blur! It will be so worth it though. I'm going to bed here, shortly, and I'm going to try to do 2 10 hour days Thursday and Friday and try to get 5 hours in Saturday afternoon. Here's to hoping I can stay sane through it. I can't wait to close on this house! I'm also really excited for October (yay birthday) and November 1st (end of our busy season). Well, dulce sueños!

Toxicity

Some people should come with toxicity labels. Life would be so much easier if people did. I know we'd all be toxic, because we're all sinful and have fallen short of the glory of God, but there are those selfish people who will take from you and blame you when there is nothing left in you to take. Oh, the pain I could have been spared and the years I wouldn't have wasted.
I had someone come back in my life, declaring peace. The very next morning I'm being accused of screen shots of sending photos of other people to random people I don't know. It was like the time the person had told me they sent me a card by mail and I should have it the next day; but I didn't do what they wanted me to do 5 minutes later (it was close to midnight on a Saturday) and all the sudden they'd gotten the card back from the post office. Laughable. The stories don't line up. And that person got sick of me calling them on it.

These accusations got passed through a second person. I asked to see the screen shots of what I'm sending, so that if someone has hacked an account or created a false one with my information, I can take steps to protect myself. I then got called a selfish person for wanting that information. Even though that person also saw how there was no way I could know the person I had apparently sent the pictures too. It also didn't make sense how the person accusing me through this second person could have gotten screen shots from this other person, as the original/actual accuser isn't supposed to have contact with that person. *CONVOLUTED B.S.*  Did I suddenly revert to middle school? "He said, she said, that if he asked, she like, wouldn't mind and maybe if he likes her, she might like him. So you go tell him that."

I do not want to be a part of your drama! I am working on making my life better. And this person has recently found out that my life was taking an up turn. And bam, guess who turned up. After getting  all these accusations, I wrote a message back stating: "You stated you came in peace and you snuck in like the enemy. The only thing in life I've been stupid about is trusting you. No more. I'm closing the door on you." It felt so good and free-ing. I also deleted the person who passed along the accusation. If you're going to accuse someone and say there is proof you have, don't deny showing that proof. Or how about you don't be a pawn in the ridiculous game.

It's actually disgusting how many women I know are in/were in toxic relationships. Someone getting upset and freaking out on you because you said how you felt; it's not right. You should not have to walk on egg shells around your partner all the time. I'm not saying, you shouldn't be considerate of their feelings, but you shouldn't be worried about having all your things thrown out the front door and told you're pathetic and useless because the wind caught the door and it slammed shut.

I don't know, but maybe this is what healing feels like; to finally say, I may love you, but it isn't worth destroying my life or peace for you to never have peace or happiness. If you have a toxic person in your life, it is hard to loosen their grip on your life, especially if it's been years; but please, seek help. Contact me, I'll help you get help. Living hurting, afraid, or anxious because of someone else is no way to live your life.

If this image speaks to you at all, then it's time to start cutting ties to the person that makes you feel this way. I used to pass this every month on my way home from paying our utility bills. I felt a clench in my gut because I knew this was exactly how I felt; but I loved the person so much. I didn't want to let go. I kept thinking things could get better. They never did. One day, the stream of hate from the person was so intense I actually started dry heaving. Their response: oh, you're going to try to fake puke to try to make me feel a little worse about myself; well I won't.

One day at a Time

I am literally so tired tonight. I am exhausted. I don't know how much longer I can do these 50 hour weeks. I guess I just need to take one day at a time. I was able to finish my home buyer course today. Next step is filling out all the mortgage paperwork. Yikes. I'm so nervous about that. There are so many steps to this; but I have to take it just like my 50 hour work weeks, one step at a time.

When I Get My Hands on You

The show that I want to see is my dreams. I've had so much drama recently. This is just something I'd like to remind you of...


We will all have to stand before the Judge of this world some day.

Also, why has this song been missing from my life?

Work It

Physical: My workouts haven't been very good recently. I'm getting some quick yoga in over my breaks at work, maybe some before bed yoga. Between working 50 hour weeks, working on mortgage and home closing things, my nights and days are busy. I keep telling myself it is going to be so worth it come October and I'm in my own home. 

Relationship: I was recently reminded why it's a good thing to not let someone back into your life. I'm all about believing people having the ability to change by God's miracles. This was like: talk to person, next day, accused of horrible things...not worth it. I've got too many amazing things going on in my life to risk it on one person. 

Career: Work work work work work, hit me with that OT baby.

Spirit: I'm so glad I have my study I work on, a preacher I like to listen to during my commute to work, and my great church and dgroup. I'm also just humbled beyond belief by the blessing this home would be in my life! I can't wait to share it with others!

Puerto Rico Rises

So I did a slightly crazy thing a few weeks ago. It was something on my mind and my heart for a while, but I was always slightly worried about what would people think of me saying this. I finally got over it and created a fund raiser for Puerto Rico.

Almost a year after Maria, Puerto Rico is still struggling. The debt crisis and the storm have forced many people to leave their homes. The main issue with damaged infrastructure, is you need money to repair it. Puerto Rico's debts being called to account leave it little to no money to put into repairing and rebuilding damaged roads, bridges, and buildings.

The island is full of amazing people with big hearts. If they can pull together to help each other recover after the storm, I think the whole country (maybe even the world) can join together to lift Puerto Rico from debt. Where the government won't help, we the people need to step up and take action.

I know the figures are astronomical, but lots of small actions by many can add up quickly. Think about donating that jar of spare change, a fiver, 10% of one paycheck; any amount can help alleviate what Puerto Rico owes. You can donate here and I will forward the funds on, or you can donate directly to the government. You must specify it as a debt payoff. I know it seems weird to attempt to payoff government's debt, but it is possible. Take a look at this article, it explains how it works.

Lastly, I suppose you want to know why I want to pay off Puerto Rican debts. I'm just a girl who visited the island and fell in love; with the culture, people, and island itself.

If you'd like to help too, you can donate here.

Home Buyer Course

I'm going to make this short since I'm exhausted. I'm going to be working 50 hour weeks through the end of September! It will be so worth it get handed the keys to my new home!  Which is part of the reason I'm up so late. I was working through Topic 1 of my Home buyer course. It's called Home Ready. If I take this course, I can qualify for a lower PMI (mortgage insurance). I was recommended it by the bank that pre-approved me for a loan. There is a cost of $75 but they stated they'd reimburse me for taking it once it was completed. Only like 8 more topics to go!

This first topic was all about Credit Scores and budgeting. Things I've had an eye on since 2009. Mom sat me down and made sure I knew how to manage a budget and could afford my expenses. I think she didn't want to have any of her kids land in any avoidable messes. I wish everyone knew about budgeting. It would be so nice not to explain to people that the majority of people get paid every other week and you have to plan for your bills.

It's been informative so far, but I've had all the basics on this first topic. I'm hoping to learn more and feel a little less scared/excited about home ownership. I know God wouldn't lead me down this path unless it was right. I trust the God has my back...and so does my family.

The Heir and The Crown

I've been listening to The Selection series by Kiera Cass. I've been enjoying the series. I had to go to books 4 and 5 as I am still on the waiting list for book 2! It's a cutesy YA novel series.

The daughter, and heir, of the original selection (books 1-3) is now in her own selection process. She's narrowing down a group of 35 suitors to a husband. At the same time, her country is experiencing unrest. She's trying to handle both the selection and keeping her country from falling apart. Talk about stress. 

The Selection

Favorite Song(s) of the week:

 ↑ Marcus is my favorite. His voice is like a balm to my soul.

Favorite Quote(s) of the week:
"Welcome to the real adulting."
"Did you even sleep last night?"
All of the congratulations from my friends.

Favorite thing done this week:
Getting pre-approved for a loan and a house offer approved

Favorite show/movie of week:
Adulting

Favorite thing read:
The Selection by Kiera Cass

Favorite event:
House visits

Most inspired moment:
Putting in an offer on a house.

Thought(s)/Epiphany (ies) of the week:
If roles were reversed, everyone would be encouraging me to go after what I wanted; but since I'm the girl, I'm told to leave what wasn't already given to me. Why can't I fight for what I want.
I need to work more overtime while I can!

Weirdest dream:
I got a house; someone was crazy enough to give me adult responsibilities. Oh wait, yeah, that really happened. 

Adulting

I have done so much adulting today. Loans, home visits, home offers. OMG! It's so confusing. And I feel little fluttery panics starting in my chest just thinking about it. I could have an accepted offer on a house within the next 2 days. Holy Guacamole! Am I ready for adulting? I don't know. It's all so exciting and terrifying all at once. All other areas of my life are temporarily side-stepping as I look into this first step of being a grown up all on my own. I mean, I've rented before and lived separate from my family before, but this is my first purchase! It's BIG news. Deep Breaths.
Whatever happens, I know that God has His plans for me. He's got my back no matter what I face. I also have an amazing family and parents that have walked with me every step of this process. I'm a pretty lucky gal.

#Blessed

As I sit here, petting Toby, and listening to an audio book; I'm just feeling so blessed. I've been thinking recently about something my ex told me: "Having your life destroyed gives you a blank slate to start over." I've been thinking about it since I listened to a book where the wife got cheated on; her mom tells her, you have the ability to start from scratch again. I know I've been clinging to the pieces of what I had so tightly that all I do is cut myself with the tiny shards. It's a scary, big decision with how you want to rebuild your life. I don't know what to do since my imagination has always been active, it seems like I have a new construct every other day. As yoga teaches me, several small choices make up a large choice. I'm going to be working on focusing on how to rebuild myself into the woman that God and I want me to be. And that makes me blessed.

Home Buying

So I am in the processes of trying to buy a home. It is interesting, exciting, and also so confusing!! Something looks so cute and perfect from the outside, but the hidden back corner of the house has a guy wire that is holding the house up. The house I saw on Monday was leaning so badly, it has a cable anchoring it to the ground. It totally depressed me because I loved everything else about the house.

It was similar to a house I looked at back in March. It was a perfect size for me, in the country with a giant yard; however, the house was like 10ft from the county highway and it was a complete gut and redo job. The garage was also falling over. Another house I looked at that same day was far too big for me with very little yard.

I have another house showing scheduled for this Thursday. I'm hopeful for this house too. It's got it's pros and cons. It's on a busy street, both car and pedestrian traffic. This is not good when you have a deaf dog that is petrified of other dogs. If I get this place, I may have to drive us to the current place I typically walk him. Pros are: a garage, 2 rooms, large yard, and it doesn't have a cable holding it upright!

Some advise on home searching.
1. Take people you really trust with you.
2. Take someone who knows something about houses/construction
3. Don't get your hopes up too much about any one property. You get your hopes dashed when you find out the house you were already calling "my house" is held up by a string.
4. Be willing to compromise on things.

Legend-wait-for-it-dairy

So I read Legendary by Stephanie Garber. I read it so fast. I didn't want to put it down. It left so many questions. And I can't wait to get my hands on the next book. There were so many twists and what ifs! Was it all real or was it a set-up? Who really is Legend?


The second book is a second installment of Caravel that was set up for the queen's birthday. The Fates have started to come free. They want Legend and Legend wants them. Tella is set on a mission from the Prince of Hearts to find the true name of Legend. She is torn between keeping her word to the Prince of Hearts in exchange for information on her mother who disappeared when she was young and winning the heart of Dante. Dante, he's the dark, brooding, bad boy from Caravel.

I can't say enough good things about the book; just go read it.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I haven't had a spare moment for tv or movies this week. I think I honestly watched about 20 minutes of a Caribbean Life episode on HGTV before I became jealous and needed to leave to be productive.

I did watch a "show" of sorts this Friday. I went to a Mallards Baseball game. It was an event. I had been up since 5:30am, so I was tired, but the company was good and the game was close. The Mallards were leading at the beginning and half-way through, the other team started to get run after run. The game itself was very interesting. They also had little games between each inning; but my favorite part (aside from the company) was Colt, the bat dog. He was so adorable, running out and grabbing the bats. He scared the umpire almost every single time.