I know it's a crazy title...but maybe later you'll understand.

On a side note.....I've been seeing this infomercial for that Dragon Naturally Speaking software (wow, I remember when that first came out) ....anyways....sometimes I kinda wish I had that for writing blogs.  Meh, maybe I'll get it one day...

Went to karate tonight.....attended 4/5 classes, but only trained in the last one. And OMG did Sensei kick our butts!!!  I was finally not sore after the past few classes, so I was thinking I could just focus on doing katas or the techniques tonight.  Nooooooo, we started class and Sensei starts talking about the 'little monster'....I have no clue what he's talking about...but by the look of dread on everyone else's face....it can't be good.  Turns out the little monster is a smaller version of the 'big monster,' of course.  It's the 'warm-up' as he likes to call it....we do running, stretching, basics, advanced basics, and exercises that are just killer.  To the point where it's all mental and pushing through it because your body just doesn't work anymore....literally...my muscles just gave out.

But of course, Sensei's having a blast...so he sings "I feel good......."  We don't respond ...cuz we're dying.  He acts offended and tells us we're supposed to sing the "Na na na na na naa na" part.  We just grin a little and when he sang it again we finished the line for him.  He then sings "And I knew that I would...." By that time we're all grinning from the insanity of it all. The little monster took up about 25 or so minutes of class, and the rest we focused on some jiu-jitsu/grappling techniques. At the end he sat us down and told us how we need to always strive to find that silver lining in everything, even if you don't feel like it.  He has 3 kids (plus one on the way)...and said that he often sings when he wakes up and is getting ready in the morning.  Like most families, they are not always peppy, and even sometimes grumpy in the mornings, but usually by the time everyone leaves they at least have a pleasant smile on their faces.

It is so true that our attitude about something has such a big affect on our life. Even something as simple as making an intense workout a little easier to being able to get through seemingly never-ending financial/family problems. I've always thought of myself as a positive person, and I usually am.  If you have trouble being that way, being bogged down by the many things that can get you down in the world....just stop!  Hehe, it may not be that easy, but you can do small things to help. And guess what? Small things lead to bigger things, which lead to bigger things, and one day you may think "BAM, hey I'm a positive person! When did that happen???"

My challenge to you:
Find something each day that was maybe a little difficult, and figure out the positive from it.  If at all possible, do this during or immediately after the difficult time.  I bet in no time, you'll feel like those times you thought were so difficult won't be so bad. :)



I feel silly and a little like I should be throwing around flowers and talking about rainbows now....but I was just inspired to share the positivity. Hmm, and apparently Google thinks positivity isn't a word...interesting.


Anyways, I don't really feel like proofreading this thing.....so GL when reading it. I had more to write but it's on a similar yet different topic, so that'll wait for another day.


Peace out
-Jan

Sooo it's been a while since I've posted something here.  I've had some life changes, I guess you could say. If you know me, you know what they are, so I won't waste my time talking about it here, just know I'm doing really well. I'll give you the updates on me now.

I have plenty of art projects to finish for Christmas presents, once again....and nooooo I can't tell you since you may be getting one...duhhhhh! I'm practicing guitar almost every day still and just love playing. I know 4-5 songs and I can play for longer periods of time now...even my arm doesn't get as tired when playing. That is, unless I worked out beforehand, which bridges to another subject:

I started practicing karate again!  I'm so stinkin excited.  This was my LIFE before I moved to Indiana so I'm really happy to do it again. My body, however, is not so happy with me, but it's gonna get there.  I've gone 3 times so far...which for me is more like 10 classes...since I usually go to 2-4 classes when I go. Sensei doesn't mind, he says he's really glad I'm back, and is doing all he can to bring me back up to speed...and to get me to teach again, lol.  Just waiting for my body to catch up with my brain now.  I have relearned 5 of my katas, one is a weapon kata, and am working on 3 more. It's coming back quickly and it feels good to be working on something I know I can be good at. My muscles have been sore since I began almost 2 weeks ago but I remember the feeling and it will go away soon.


PICTURE TIME!

So here's a kinda blurry pic with my advanced brown belt (couldn't find a good one in my black belt)...good times :)

Advanced brown belt (2005)

While searching for FOREVER to find this pic on my mom's computer, I ran across some old pics of me I thought I'd share, too.

Easter pic?
Mom said I liked to use tools, apparently I was picking on him and measuring his belly)
One of my favs of me and Lorraine (12/24/03)

Jillie (1.5) and me (20) playing in the yard 8/15/04

From the Mitchell Family Reunion (10/23/11). Possibly  me and Kira's best pic together. :)



Welp, hope you've had fun down my memory lane.

laters
-Jan

As ya'll remember, I made a list of goals a few months ago.  One that I wanted to learn to play the guitar.  Since August 1 I have had one of my dad's acoustic guitars and have been practicing nearly every day.  The first week or two was more pain than playing, since you have to gradually have your fingertips 'calloused' to play. But the good news is that's much better and I'm learning some stuff faster than I thought I would.  Now that my fingertips are tougher (although not quite their toughest), I can play longer each day, and sometimes 2-3 times a day if I wish.  I'm still very much a beginner, but I'm now able to play a little without sounding terrible. So yay! :)


I actually started to learn on dad's electric guitar when I was 13 or 14, but then I got into high school, etc, etc...and it just fell by the wayside. One day, I may take some lessons from someone I actually have to pay, lol.  But for right now, the internet is a HUGE resource.  I also know a few ppl that play (including dad, duh), so I can always ask them stuff.  I can tell I'm getting better with chord transitions and hand placement.  Now when I play I don't have to concentrate so much and can just enjoy playing.

 So yeahhhhh, havin fun doin that....just thought I'd tell ya.   But don't plan on me putting anything of me playing on YouTube or Facebook anytime soon ;)

Well, I'm off, I found another song to learn and I don't know all the chords yet.....
later
-Jan

Dad's guitar after I cleaned and polished it, isn't it beautiful!? (that's the couch in it's reflection)  And it's almost as old as me :)  I've decided that a guitar will be the first present to myself when I get a job. :)  I love this one, esp how it has the darker wood on the front also, not the typical blond wood.


This is quite a long post.....I thought of breaking it into 2...but I'm not gonna...


WARNING: this is describing my experiences with ADD/ADHD....everyone who may have this is different, since ADD can be quite complex, 2 people (even related) may have completely different symptoms. Since I'm in between insurance companies right now, I've had to slow down and eventually stop my medicine. You'll notice my thoughts may not be totally laid out or styled as well as usual...let's just say my English teachers ...and Lara would have MANY corrections on this one...

(20 min later....got sidetracked watching youtube vids, researching ADD symptoms)

Okay, so I'm already switching gears alittle bit...but I was gonna explain the symptoms of ADD, and how they affect you alittle different as an adult, but I found a really great website that does a realllllly good job at explaining this, so why reinvent the wheel.  You can start about halfway down the page where the header is:

Signs and symptoms of adult ADD / ADHD



But if you don't feel like reading, the main symptoms are:

1. Trouble concentrating and staying focused
2. Hyperfocusing on things of interest
3. Disorganization and forgetfulness
4. Impulsivity
5. Emotional difficulties
6. Hyperactivity and restlessness

I would say I have a lot of each of these....with the most severe in #1, 3, 5, and 6. And I just realized I listed most...lol.



So anyways, if you have read this site, you now know that true ADD isn't just a 'run it out' thing where there's excess energy, it's much more biological and in your brain than that.

(okay, so 1 hour later I'm back....I got sidetracked about researching what ppl say about ADD, etc)

Sooooo....um, yeah.  I'll give you some examples of how it affects/has affected me and some real life examples.

LIST:
There are many symptoms that I didn't notice or thought were just part of my 'personality'....till I was on medicine. 

So, this is a list of the ones I can think of off the top of my head:
Left the oven on, very poor writing skills (as evident here...), forget to shut/lock the doors/cabinets, difficulty concentrating, difficulty completing thoughts, careless mistakes, horrible procrastination, easily distracted, lost school supplies, fidgety, interrupted others, very talkative, a million thoughts at once and inability to grab and say one, thus difficulty when in conflict, organization problems, difficulty paying attention while reading/writing (pretty important in grad school), hard time remembering conversations and events, sleep problems from mind racing at night, and many more...too many to be able to write!


EXAMPLES:

Some examples of the things that most affected me:
I quite often 'zone out' even when trying to pay attention....so the first few words or more of a sentence I may not hear.  Now I am much more comfortable asking someone to repeat what they said.  I used to have to just miss big pieces of conversations, and it's quite stress-inducing.  So yeah, if I randomly ask you to repeat, it's not that you are boring me, or anything about you. I just sometimes need ppl to get my attention before they start speaking to me....and sometimes during, lol.

(15 min later.....I just finished writing the last part of this blog....)

Second thing:
I am/was quite incapable of being assertive.  ANY confrontation made my mind 'crazy' and my brain felt like it would just shut off.  I was unable to 'state my case' to anyone, ESPECIALLY any type of authority figure. Even if it was something stupid and I knew I was right, I just couldn't say it, so frustrating!  It has been this way my whole life.  While I am still this way to a big degree, I am much better than I used to be. 

Lastly (this one is kinda funny...but a great look at the chaos of my mind, lol):
This is a big one that I do alot.....I never realized I did it until about 3 months on medicine.  I still do it some, but only maybe 5-10% as much.

Let's say I'm getting ready to go somewhere.  Everyone has a basic set list in their head of what they need to do.  Welll...for me it's a little different. I get a phrase or sentence stuck in my head.  It may be the next thing I need to do, something I need to remember to bring with me, or just a random phrase or sentence.  Let's say I think of "The shirt is blue."  I'm wearing a blue shirt, but that's a pretty random sentence, ...and not that helpful with my routine.  So in my mind, I slowly say "The shirt is blue." I get stuck on it, and say it again and again....but it gets faster and faster and FASTER.  A minute later...all I can think is "The shirt is blue. The shirt is blue. The shirt is blue. The shirt is blue. Theshirtisblue.Theshirtisblue. Theshirtisblue. Theshirtisblue. TheshirtisblueTHESHIRTISBLUETHESHIRTISBLUE!!!!!!"   Yeah...so.  I've never heard of anyone else ever doing that....but that's something that happens to me.  Very weird.  
In every other situation, I cannot listen to music if I need to focus or concentrate. But when I'm getting ready, I NEED music or I do this the whole morning....driving myself nuts.  If you were there the morning of my graduation...you saw me go a little nuts.  I couldn't get to my radio, was trying to get ready with 6 other ppl in the house, and was stressed about graduating...it was a rough morning...mainly because I didn't have my music. Lol.....so,  sorry about that.

(okay, now this is the last one)
So I just realized I do this...and thought it was kinda funny.  You know I'm always on my computer.  I usually have at least 3 tabs open at a time on my browser.  I just realized today that if I'm bored, on the phone, talking to someone, etc, etc...I will continuously click each tab and just go back and forth between all the tabs. Sometimes I do it really fast too...maybe I could make that some type of tournament game, eh?......I know, strange.

Needless to say all of these bad things were drastically reduced with medicine....such a relief and life-changing little pill.  I also had counseling to work on and implement some organization techniques that I still use to this day (lists/daily planner, actually asking for help, etc, etc).

The good:
There are some good things that came out of it: I can think out of the box when needed, had to ramp up organization skills to get around the disorganization of my mind. From all the difficulty I had with grad school, I've discovered how strong I can be, and how I have an incredible work ethic when I need it. I've always thought of myself as rather lazy with a poor work ethic, and now I can be proud of myself.

FINAL NOTE:
Now that I recognize my symptoms, having them come back is VERY difficult, and hard to describe. It's almost like slowly going crazy, except people going crazy don't usually have the luxury of seeing themselves actually go crazy. It's worse because I can recognize things now, and have no power to control them.  But hey, I know it'll get better soon enough.

All in all, going through all of this as an adult was very difficult, and almost cost me my dream career, but I think it's made me stronger. I have multiple family members now that have been diagnosed also, I feel like we have even more of a kinship now.  Jillie was diagnosed last year, and it's turned her life around too. I'm so glad that we were able to help her quickly. While she did have some problems, she didn't have to go through all I did. As I don't feel ANY medicine in my system anymore, I know this post was probably very difficult to read.  (and it takes about 6 weeks to get back in once I start again, sheesh) I have run-on sentences like crazy, I know....   But at least I know this: I will feel better again soon.  So next time you hear that a friend or their child has ADD or ADHD, try to remember that you can't just 'run it out' and there's so much more to it than that.  Maybe my experiences will help others be more empathetic?  I know it has definitely made me so.

I know this was a novel and a very confusing one at that......but at least I proofread....you don't even wanna know what it looked like before ;)
Peace
-Jan

But first: I think I have an idea for this blog.  It will help me not have novels for posts, and it may be more organized. I usually wait so long in between writing that I have a list of things to write about.  ....which is good, but I then tend to write much too in depth about each topic....making it a novel. I think I will try keeping an ongoing list on my to-talk-about-list...but only write about 1-2 topics at a time.  I know...epic 'a-ha' moment huh?  Hey, I'm not one for going as the crow flies....
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So, as I've been going on interviews and such...they always ask the generic: "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"  Hmm, if ya think about it, it's a good question. As I randomly pondered about this, I remembered a very old list of goals I had growing up.  It was no doubt a small school project that I happened to keep up.  Well, over time that's gotten lost or just thrown away.  A list of 'life goals' is very particular to each person. It depends on what you value, and what you want to achieve.  For me, I would say that my list is typically less of acquisition of items/material things and based more off of achievements.  I don't want to be overly ambitious (don't wanna be famous, the "best ever" at something, world known, etc, etc)...just kinda the basics.  So after some thought about what I want, and what really makes me happy, I'm attempting a list of short and long term goals...cuz it's more difficult to achieve a goal if you don't know what it is.  And yeah, I've left on past goals that were obtained.....cuz it's mentally healthy to see those things checked off! ;)  I tried to narrow it down to the bigger things. Quite a few are pet related....who knew.


Jan's Life Goals....so far


  • Obtain a 4 year degree
  • Masters degree
  • Have a fulfilling job as an SLP
  • Be more assertive/not afraid of possible confrontation (working on it)
  • Get married
  • Have kids (no 'only child' in my house, lol)
  • Learn to play the guitar...well
  • Learn a foreign language (Spanish or ASL)...fluently
  • Loose weight/gain muscle (working on it)
  • Maintain fitness
  • Eat healthy (comes with the job, heh)
  • Own a home
  • ALWAYS be creative...throughout life
  • Have an art/creative/fun studio
  • Go to Disney World (again)
  • Pay off student loans...hehe
  • Take singing lessons online or IRL (to not be so embarrassed during Rock Band and when playing guitar, lol..my poor future coach...)
  • Be generous
  • Go camping and/or down the river....a lot
  • Keep up with technology as I get older
  • Retire with HUGE nest egg :)
  • Be someone my nieces can look up to and get advice from
  • Always make time for family and friends
  • Take my parents to a big expensive dinner...and pay for it (that and many other ways to pay them back for doing without to raise me)
  • Travel to another country
  • Become a fierce cook in the kitchen (working on it)
  • Have a pet-filled home :)
  • Either fund or build a dog rescue...small or large scale...or at least foster and train dogs in need
  • Master positive training (clicker training)
  • Get back into Isshinryu
  • Swim with dolphins!
  • Grow a productive garden
  • Be known as a good person




and most importantly:


  • Be happy, and make others happy!

So that's it. Every once in a while I may add to the list or at least organize it better, but it's a start! :)

Laters
-Jan

I don't really have much to say but I wanted to post something.


Had a sort-of job interview yesterday.  The job has pretty much been offered to me but it's sorta complicated as to if I should take it or not.  Big point being is that it's not consistent with work hours or pay....but too much to type so I'll leave it at that.  But I got a whole new outfit to wear for it.  So now I have interview clothes!  It's a light blue shirt and a black suit!.....yeah , even a nice suit jacket ....feels weird but actually pretty comfy.  MAYBE I'll take a pic and post it one day.


Needless to say we've been going to the Mall of Louisiana a lot recently, for shopping, etc. When getting my suit altered the other day, we ate at Wasabi Jane's in the mall. Since I got a large coke, she gave me this really cool coke cup!  When I told her how much I loved Coke, and the cup, she poured Stephen's root beer into a cup like mine!  What a nice lady!  So now we have 2 cups like that.


Earlier I happened to find a really cool Coke t-shirt at Target.  I think that's the only reason I like the color red, lol.  Maybe I should be a spokesperson or something.......


Anyways, that's all that's up with me...how's your week????




Laters
-Jan


Isn't that cool!!!!???!!!


Can't really see the shirt....but I like the pic.  It's a hand in the peace sign, and Coca-Cola in many different languages.

So, I'm listening to Kenny Chesney and updating you guys....
I've been meaning to update for a week or so....but haven't gotten to it yet...
For you newcomers reading my posts....they are much like my mind....just nuts! There's not usually any organization and I just ramble...I type like I talk, and grammar doesn't always come first here.  But hey, it's fun for me!   ...I have started to make a sort of outline before I write tho, so that helps.


Last Wednesday (July 13th) dad turned 51!  We went to Aunt Ne-Ne's for a pool party with the fam.  It was really fun and I was so happy to finally be able to swim!  LoriAnn had NO fear of the water!  She loved it!  She'd splash herself in the face...or dad would accidentally DUNK her....she'd get back up and want more! So I have a daredevil niece.


Dad had an appearance last Saturday with the people at Middendorf's...the best seafood place EVER. Stephen, me, and pretty much everyone else in the family came to help out....with everything from crowd control to selling merchandise, to helping take care of the kiddos (Jillie and LoriAnn). I had so much fun.  Lorraine and I eventually organized how we wanted everything, and we got to working!  We had a lot of fun talking with everyone and seeing the kids act so nervous around dad, and get so excited to see Ty there. Our plan was to end the event with eating there for dinner...but that was changed.


A man came up to Stephen and me (us selling the merch) and asked us for a pen and paper.....which we didn't really have!  So we were sort of picking with him...cuz he kept asking us for everything we didn't have (but usually people do).  He wound up using a piece of poster board we had for signs, and a permanent marker from dad's table.  Turns out he was trying to write down his number for dad.  The whole time this was going on...I was thinking that this guy looks so familiar...
Well...I finally heard him introduce himself as Mark Hall....and I knew why I recognized him!  If you know ANYTHING about Christian music....you know about the group Casting Crowns.....of which Mark Hall is the lead songwriter and singer!   I shook his hand and didn't even think about getting his autograph! DOH!
It was like opposite day...he was the giddy one that wanted dad's autograph, lol.


Anyways...he had come there to eat lunch and by a weird coincidence dad was there too!  He bought a shirt, dad signed it, and left to go eat lunch.  He and my sis were talking but I had other people to tend to so I sort of tuned them out.  Later she tells me he gave us seats to their concert that night!!!! Wahooo!!!!
We were all so pumped!  After the appearance we ran home and got ready.  Got there for 6pm......they saw our vehicle and ushered us to an awesome parking spot right next to the church it was held in, and sent us all to the 'backstage' area.  They gave us pics of the band to get autographed, we all got a CD, and even a t-shirt!  All 13 of us!  It was so awesome!  By the time we got the autographs, pics with the band, and t-shirts...they were already playing on the stage.....so we were ushered to our seats in front of everyone...to some good seats too!  I felt like a celebrity!  During the intermission the aisle was crowded with people wanted a pic/autograph with dad......still so strange...Yeah, so that was my awesome night! Pics below...except didn't get one yet of the awesome blue shirt I got ;)

Jillie and me waiting for the band!....Casting Crowns is one of her fav bands....


Mark Hall (lead singer) and me...really nice guy! But then again the whole band was.


Singer to the left....OMG she's awesome!  To the right on the guitar...


During the concert!


can barely tell....but he put on dad's t-shirt after the intermission!  Then talked about how we all met up, how cool!




Just last month dad was invited to meet Tim McGraw and watch his concert....We've always had some publicity with the farm: Road Rules did a piece with us, Britney Spears and family came to the farm one time......but I just never thought it'd be so centered on dad.  I think if anything, he's the perfect person for it to happen to.  With him, what you see if what you get.  He's worked hard his whole life and I'm so glad people are showing their appreciation. Not just for that, but for his personality too...which says more to me.  If there was one person who I would say couldn't be changed by "fame"...I would say it would be him.. Not that there wouldn't be TONS of friends and family to knock him down a notch if needed ;)


I've also ramped up my job search this past week.  I have another 'interview' for a PRN-type position on Tuesday....so yay.  Speaking of jobs.....Stephen has one now! I'm so excited....and less stressed now because of it!  I think it will show in interviews, and now I can be a little more choosy.....or take a PRN job (which can mean anywhere from 10-40 hours a week)..so I can make a little money while I wait for that 'perfect' job....or at least a full time one.


So yeah, things are starting to look up!  FINALLY!  We were getting a little scared for a bit. My TMJ and fingernails are proof!


Oh, and a new neighbor invited us to a crawfish boil!  Stephen has been wanting one for over 5 years, so we were excited!  It was good to, even for the end of the season.
I could only eat the crawfish...everything else was way too spicy




As you know I've been a little more creative and artistic since moving down here....or at least trying to be.  So I've been throwing around the idea of  cleaning up my computer desk (since I have the big desk again)...and making it a big painting station....for 40K, and paintings/projects.  We'll see.
Also, I have another 8X10 canvas that I need ideas for...Lara says Kira! Of course!, hehe....  but I'm still thinking.  Any ideas? Please comment.


Watched baseball tonight....she didn't think it was all that fun...




Sooo, rambled enough for now....I MAY have had some caffeine tonight...always a novel with these posts...
The song right now is "Back where I Come From".....feels like a theme song to me! :)


PEACE OUT!
-Jan

Hey guys,


Sooooo...I got the creative bug.  Instead of painting minis.....which is what I've been doing to the past year I think, I decided to paint on actual canvas.  I have future spots in my office for 2 8X10s, and decided to paint one of them, and kill 2 birds with one stone.


So I was jammin to music and wondering what to paint (just about the hardest part). When my fav band Paramore came on....and I had inspiration!  The song "Turn it on" came on, and the lyrics gave me an idea for this painting. I won't explain it to you, I'll let you decide what it means to you. I haven't had a painting actually have a 'meaning' since art in high school....


I took pics along the way with my phone, and I thought I'd share them here.  If you don't really care about the process, just go to the end of the post to see the 'finished' product, lol.  After years in art, and the past year painting minis, I sort of have it laid out how to paint things.  But I've realized (over the past year), that not everyone has painting knowledge like that (and I just wanna write another blog). Yeah, sooo...the pics are from my phone..which means the color can be quite off...so no, I didn't repaint old stuff (usually) it's just the phone being crazy. The last one you will be able to click on to see full size.




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Rough draft (got the pic from online)


Sent draft to computer and colored it in a bit with Photoshop.  I wanted a baby blue dress...then realized that it would be the same color of the sky...wouldn't work.


The sky...NOTE: color is horrible in this pic...    It's okay that the left side isn't all the great cuz it's gonna be painted over. 


Cliff added


Drew the girl in and overlayed with thin permanent marker.  I should have shown the process i did for this...it is NOT all free hand drawn, lol. I would say this one's color is most like how it is in real life. Decided against wings.... It was gonna be a fairy at first...then a princessy girl...then made it into just a reg. little girl.


Painted in her skin.  Quite difficult.  Lighter colors wouldn't hide the marker, so I had to use Vallejo paint (for minis) because of it's high pigment: I could cover up the marker without having thick paint. Once I figured that out, took 2-3 diff tones to do the shading...made them more like water color.


Decided on purple for the dress..less princess or typical girl color...starting to like light purple now (thanks Liz). Didn't like the line of highlight on the cliff, so I changed that a bit.


Finished piece.  Took my time doing the layers of the hair, and added dirt and small rocks falling off of the cliff with her and some dirt on her feet.  This is not my best painting, but definitely not the worst.  Hope you enjoyed my explanation.
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Maybe I'll do this for a mini one day...we'll see
-Jan


Pasted from a FB challenge (Thanks Mrs. Kelley)

Can you fill this out without lying? You've been tagged, so now you need to answer all the questions HONESTLY. 

1.What was the last thing you put in your mouth? nail....hanging pictures
2.Where was your profile picture taken? Cypress Mounds Baseball Complex in Baton Rouge
3. Can you play Guitar Hero? of course
4.Name someone who made you laugh today: uhhh, dad...../facepalm
5.How late did you stay up last night and why? 4am....cuz I woke up at 2pm...yeahhh
6.If you could move somewhere else, would you?  umm, Cherokee, NC
7. Ever been kissed under fireworks? yup
8. Which of your friends lives closest to you? oh gosh....they all live 750 miles away except Lance...which is 5 miles
9. Do you believe ex's can be friends?  meh, only have one serious ex...and NO
10. How do you feel about Dr Pepper? drank some tonight for the caffeine...but prefer Coke 
11. When was the last time you cried really hard? this past week
12. Who took your profile picture? mom
13. Who was the last person you took a picture of? dad, tonight.....all night was taking 'fan pics', lol 
14. Was yesterday better than today? mmm...no
15. Can you live a day without TV? have been for a couple of years
16. Are you upset about anything? yup, several
17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? of course!
18. Are you a bad influence? can be.....
19. Night out or night in? depends, I like both...but more of a couch potato
20. What items could you not go without during the day?  TP? lol.  Seriously: umm...lipgloss, and my phone
21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? LoriAnn
22. What does the last text message in your inbox say? Awwwww! Lol! (from Liz)
23. How do you feel about your life right now? mostly sucks, but will be getting better soon :)
24. Do you hate anyone? I try not to, but there are people I reallllllly don't like
25. If we were to look in your face book inbox, what would we find? Random fans of Dad trying to convince me to add them as friends.
26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass? of course!
27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before? hah, nooooo....
28. What song is stuck in your head? um, listening to music...so all are stuck in my head, lol (Paramore, Jack Johnson, Jason Aldean, Bryan White, Cee Lo Green on the playlist)
29. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m. ....Scared that something bad has happened to my family.
30.Wanna have grandkids before you’re 50? it'd be nice...but prolly not now.
31. Name something you have to do tomorrow? Job search
32. Do you think too much or too little? both...don't ask
33. Do you smile a lot? I try! I'm typically a positive and goofy person. It's worth it to have the wrinkles if it means you were happy ;)


Hope ya'll had fun reading.  Haven't done one of these things in a while. 
-Jan

Cooked jambalaya for dinner, Lance dropped by and ate some.  Around 11 Stephen ate his last popsicle...and he was very sad, lol.  So we both started realizing we were hungry....by midnight we were on the road!  Turns out there's a coffee shop called Coffee Call....they do coffee AND beignets! And they're open till 2am!


We went there, I got some beignets and a cafe au lait.  Best part?  It comes already mixed, you just go to the coffee thing and pull the lever....awesome.  So I started to add sugar....and it just wasn't getting sweet.  If anyone knows me, they know I drink coffee milk.....and very sweet. So I must've added like 10 packets of sugar (stirring with a big straw all along)...and it wasn't getting any better.  After eating my sugary beignets, I decided to go for the sweet n low.  Wellllll....4 packets and my coffee was PERFECT!  I am comparing it to Community Coffee.........don't tell dad.


We finished up there and headed to Wal-mart, which was in the same parking lot.  I drank most of the rest of my cup there. Leaving wal-mart and stephen is telling me how I can't actually taste the coffee since I have so much sugar in it.  I disagree, of course, but I digress.....I finally realized what happened.  I got to about 1/3 left in the cup.....and suddenly my coffee was more like syrup.  Turns out the stirring I was doing just wasn't enough, and all of that real sugar just settled to the bottom!  Due to the sugar high I was already on from the sugary beignets and the coffee I already drank, I decided to not get diabetes and threw the rest away.


Um, yeah. So I'm home now and deciding what to do till the sugar gets out of my system.  Decided on the blog ...but now that's almost over.


ummmm....OH
So I found an old email of a free 10 day trial for WoW...which is awesome since I had to cancel my subscription since we're broke.  That ran out today...boooo!!!!  BUT last week I got another email for another free 7 days!  I'll prolly start that Saturday...so how cool!


Umm...I promise I have not been drinking!  But sugar can mess you up! Pair that with not really having a set schedule to take my ADD meds.....and forgetting to take them alot.....and you've got some trouble.  I've just started to notice it, even tho I've been really good the past few days about it.  The stuff I take isn't instant, so you have to take it a while for it to take effect, thus, it takes a little bit of you not taking it for you to notice.


No, I still haven't finished unpacking the house....or my office. That's really the part I need to finish the most...since I'm there most of the day.  But EVERYTHING is so much more fun when you have stuff that's not so fun to do.


Sooo...what else.....
Applied to a part time job for SLP...hopefully I can get an interview with them....
I also applied for a state job in Hammond like 3 weeks ago...still in the process....they just go really slow....I've been approved to actually be reviewed, they've confirmed my XP, etc, etc....
Other than that, the job search has been quite the bust.  I've called so many places, including hospitals, SNF's, clinics, and just random healthcare places.  I'm ready to work people,.....let's do this.


Thanks to everyone who's been helping us out (financially, emotionally, etc, etc) the past month since we've moved. Couldn't have done it without you!  Even letting us borrow a car with a/c in this horrible La heat, even just to run to the store.....we've been so appreciative.  And humbled.   I know this, I will never scoff and people hating the heat again.  I time EVERYTHING around when the coolest part of the day is now, lol.  Hence our midnight wal-mart runs, etc.  It's just not fun to be in a sauna to go anywhere.  But enough complaining...if that's what that was.


This is getting to be a looooong post.  Imagine if you were here!?  I don't know if you would have ears, I might have talked them off by now!


Oh, stuff for dad is going well.  The whole Swamp People thing is.....different, lol.  I was with mom and dad in Sam's the other day...and a lady wanted a pic of him and mom.  That day I was sort of the designated picture taker.  They'd ask for a pic...i'd say "I can take it if you wanna be in the pic with him"  Then they'd giggle and have the biggest grin, lol. Well, anyways, this lady was like, oh nooo....but I want you in there too.    Wait...what?  Me?    This lady took a pic of me, mom, and dad.  ...That was a first.  Sooo strange.  Suddenly the spotlight was on me too, cuz when I went to go sit by dad....I noticed that EVERYONE in the checkout lines were staring at us!  Not a comfortable situation for me.  But, yeah...that Sam's trip showed me just a little bit of what life is now like for dad.


OMG Jan, you really need to stop rambling!  ....did you notice I added another Label to my blog.  Rambling...for posts like these.


OH, and last thing...one day soon, I will take a little vid of a walkthrough of the house and post it to my youtube channel.  I'll post the link on this blog.


Random cute pic of my Kira girl!:







Okay....so my hands are tired now....I think I'll let you rest
laters!
-Jan

Before I give you 'my' horoscope for today, let me explain.  I DO NOT think that signs and horoscopes are real....However...  I do believe that there is some truth to them.  I don't mean all the stuff about stars aligning and what-not.  I think the different signs are just different personality types.  So for each personality, you have certain ones that are more or less compatible, and have certain tendencies.


My sign is supposed to be a Leo...I've never really felt like one, so a while back I researched all of the signs and it seems I am dead-on a Pisces.  Stephen happens to be dead-on with his actual sign: Virgo.  Of course, people can be mixes of two or three signs, but just so happens I am only one.


So a couple of months ago I downloaded a horoscope app for my phone.  I get a daily horoscope that I read about 50% of the time.  Well lately, it's just been crazy...     It's like it knows what I need to hear, lol...like it's sent specifically to me!  Neat..   Anyways.  That's my take on horoscopes and signs.


Here's some of mine from this week...


Pisces Jun 26 2011
You may be feeling defeated, Pisces. You have put great effort into something, and yet it feels as though your hard work and your opinions have not been respected. You may be at a point where you just want to let go of the reins and let the chips fall where they may. But you still have control here. You can still make a huge difference in the outcome of a special endeavor. Sometimes - out of insecurity or disillusionment - you give up too easily. In this case it could mean an unnecessary loss. Grab those reins and get back in the saddle. 


Pisces Jun 28 2011
There is a window of opportunity that is slowly opening now, Pisces. Right now it is only open a tiny crack, but through it you can feel the breeze come flowing in. It feels good, doesn't it? You can expect more of those good feelings if you will only pry open that window the rest of the way and jump through it with abandon. You will soon have a chance to make a huge difference in your life, but you will need to seize an opportunity the moment it is presented to you. Don't make excuses, make progress. 


Pisces Jun 29 2011
It can't hurt to smile, Pisces. Even though you may be feeling pressure when it comes to your financial security, and you are worried about how you'll pay a bill or make ends meet, you can never go wrong by embracing a happy attitude. In fact, if you can try to imagine your future as being more secure and carefree, you will draw someone into your life who can help you get back on track - either through mentorship, financial assistance, or by offering a connection to a better job or source of income. 


Pisces Jun 30 2011
If you are stressed now over a money matter, then giving in to that stress can only make it worse. When you worry and imagine the worst, your anxiety draws more trouble to you. But when you exude happiness and a hopeful outlook, you repel negativity like a force field. That's not to say that little things can't go wrong, but in time your positive energy will win out, and you will change the course of things. Even though you may have some troubles or challenges now, there is hope and good fortune on the horizon. Think of that instead. 


Pisces Jul 1 2011
You may be feeling as though you have no control over your own life, Pisces, but in fact - other than the universe - you are the ONLY one in control. That means you have the power to change your life. Of course that also means you have full responsibility for what you do and for what you don't do. That's probably what you are afraid of now. You may be worried that if you attempt to get a derailed aspect of your life back on track - and you fail - that others will look at you as a failure. But the only way you can fail now is not to try. 


Anyways, just thought I'd share.


Speaking of Pisces....Liz is also a Pisces (IRL and personality)
Me and Stephen were shopping in Winn-Dixie the other day and I saw this...had to take a pic of it and send it to her cuz it's her fav color and reminded me of her...awwwww....(pic doesn't do the color justice, btw)


I know I'm crazy....but that's why ya'll love me right!??! hehe


laters
-Jan

......you have too many status updates you wanna put on FaceBook.
(my version of the "you might be a redneck")


Let's see...
So no job yet for me, which sucks big time.  So this means my sleeping habits have once again gotten way off.  And now my typical day is wake at noon, eat lunch, eat dinner/meal around 5, and eat last meal around 9-10pm to sleep at 2-4am...  yeah, so that's not so great....

But todayyyyyyyy.....I woke up at 7:30 cuz Stephen had to get up early.  I decided to stay up *shock* and get some things done outside while it was cool out still (less than 80).   I walked Kira, sprayed the inside and outside of the house for bugs, and did the dishes...was gonna spray for weeds but the directions are crazy for Louisiana weather...and I'm also afraid I'd kill all the good plants instead of weeds too...so I guess I'll have to weed by hand another day.

So yeah, pretty productive so far, and that was only in an hour. Hopefully I will keep this new schedule for sleep.

Didn't eat breakfast yet...mainly cuz all the bowls are in the dishwasher, lol.  I find I'm wanting my leftover Chinese food. Seems not only can I wake up and eat.  But now my body can handle lunch upon waking, so now that's what I want.  Just another odd thing about me, I guess.

The house is getting unpacked fairly nicely.   I have my office almost set up, and I would say the house is maybe 80-85% done.  Soon, I will post a vid of a walkthrough on youtube for you northerners ;)  I will say this house is AWESOME!  I like the layout, the colors, the outlets, the dishwasher, the A/C!!!!, the garage, the HE washer and dryer!, the closets, a pond in the back yard, 18inch tiles in the living room/kitchen, etc, etc...  Being only a year old, it's such a nice change from the 100 year old houses in TH, lol.  The outlets are all grounded! Haven't had that for 4 years!

Umm...what else...

There's a new..ish  MMORPG coming out.  I'm actually starting to want something other that WoW...and something that maybe Stephen will play also...so there are a couple of MMO's coming out, but we're getting excited about a particular one: Guild Wars 2.  I actually got Stephen Guild Wars 1 for his birthday the year it came out....he thought it was okay, I didn't really enjoy it.  But this 2nd one is supposed to be way better.

Kira's acclimating better to the move.  She seemed depressed for the longest time when we first moved, but I think she's getting used to it now.  Doesn't enjoy the heat so much, but loves outside and all the running room. And for those of you who know Kira, you know she hates slippery surfaces...so I was afraid that the tile floors everywhere would be horrible for her, but they're slightly textured, so no scaredy Kira. Yay!

So, the past few days have been a little crazy, one day awesome, one day horrible, but I have a good feeling about the near future and the whole job situations. But anyways, hope everyone is doing well.  For those of you near or far, please feel free to come visit anytime :)


so I took a few pics on my phone realllllly quickly just to show ya the living room/kitchen area.  Bad quality but they work.




I gotta go make some calls, so ya'll be good.  .....maybe I'll eat my chinese now...and the cereal for lunch, lol...

TTYL
-Jan

So as I've said, It's almost time.....can ya feel it?  I can, it may be one of the reasons I'm up till 3am.
There's something in the air...a sort of electricity. I hope it's the good kind ;)


Almost time for graduation.  The end of grad school, and the beginning of being able to earn money for all my hard work instead of paying someone else to give me work, belittle me, and make me think I wasn't good enough.  Bitterness aside, I learned a lot in school.  My supervisors for my internships were awesome, and taught me how it will really be when I get my first job. Sure, it may be hectic, but the whole being overwhelmed thing doesn't scare me as much anymore....another sarcastic thanks to grad school.

I got my cap and gown the other day and tried it on when I got home.  It felt so weird to wear the gown again, but felt reallllly good.  And the Master student gowns are so fancy!  I'd have taken a picture but I don't wanna show you who will actually be there to see it.  I will send a FaceBook invitation soon to those who will be in Indiana for the get-together that will happen that day at my house.  I have a candle that was given to me at orientation to my program....a small candle that was there to remind us not to burn our candles at both ends.  This became a joke later.  But anyways, when I get back from graduation I will light that sucker till it burns out!!!!




As for updates on me, I'm enjoying my time off.  I had a Wine/cheese tasting party and sleepover with me, Lara, Anna, and Liz a couple of weeks ago.  We had a great time!  Anna brought her pup, Penny. Penny and Kira had such a great time together that we decided to get together last weekend as well at her place.  She took me to the most awesome chinese food place in Danville, and we even got some frozen custard, yum!  BTW, they should rename custard.....that word is so disgusting....
 Anyways, they had a great time together (as did Anna and me), and they were zonked out by the time I left the next day.  Go to http://www.youtube.com/user/speechjan to watch vids from both weekends.




Next few weeks will be a little crazy.  May or may not keep ya updated.  Can't wait till Saturday so I can see my sis again! I'd give you all the countdowns but it'd take forever to type!

18 days till I graduate! :)

-Jan

So, I'm sitting here listening to Jack Johnson and writing this. I was all excited to write this post....now that I've started...I can't remember the topics I was gonna write about. Heh, I'll try to remember....

Oh, for those of you  who like fun games where you don't really die, but you get to work your mind some, I suggest Cloning Clyde.  I recently bought it from Steam for $4.99!  I'm on level 18 of 42, and it's so fun. It's a little easier to play it with a controller, so I'm using our usb xbox controller that can also be used for the PC.


Tomorrow starts my last week as an intern. It's 12 weeks total, and it's gone by so much faster than I thought (thankfully).Lots of big plans in the next few weeks, shooooot, months.  I'm happy to finally look forward to things instead of dreading the next semester.  I have never been to hell..but that's what I would say is the closest that going to grad school has been like for me, due to many reasons....and I'll be glad to be finished.  Although I have to say I've really enjoyed my off-site experiences, and am sad that I don't/won't get to see those 2 supervisors every day like before.

OH, Season 2 of Swamp People is starting this Thursday on the History Channel, don't miss it.  Friday, the Cabela's store will have t-shirts of dad and some other Swamp People to buy! April 11th the Bass Pro Shop, Gander Mountain, and Academy will have them too!  That's right Hoosiers,  you too will be able to get them from Gander Mountain in TH. :)    Mom and dad will also keep some stock on them for friends and family and stuff to buy straight from them....so you can wait and get it from them when they come up in May if you do want a shirt. I think we're also gonna sell them (along with autographed pics, etc) online on his website.

I've been watching Scrubs on netflix alot.  It's a cool series, and I like most of the characters. I see a little of myself in many of them.  For any of you who watch, you know how J.D. is always daydreaming, and has like these mini-skits in his mind all the time?  I find I do that, too! Not quite in the way he does, but I do play out a lot of scenes "in my mind."  Yeah, so if I ever look like I'm thinking about something, and you ask me what I'm thinking about, there's a chance I'm doing that....     The show is a weird mix of comedy and drama. They play a lot of practical jokes and it just makes ya wanna stay like a kid forever.  Ya know, laugh more and all of that.

Oh, and if you want to be automatically notified when I post, just send me your email.  I can only do that for 10 people for some stupid reason....but I only have 6 so far.  Also...if you'd like me to take you off of the email list, just let me know.

Still don't think that's really what I wanted to talk about....but now I'm tired of typing.
I'm out

About Me

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I have a Masters degree in Speech-Language Pathology, I am also a photographer, daughter, dog-lover, painter, tech-dependent, procrastinator, I am sort-of outside the box...not that I try to be, and many more. But most of all, I'm easily distracted ;)

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Jan Mitchell 2010. Powered by Blogger.

Copyright 2009 - Oh, that's shiny....and LOOK, a distraction!