It's Go Time

Last week I called the salon where I ordered my wedding dress and, to my delight, I was told that my dress had come in and I could come in for my fitting a week later, which just so happened to be yesterday. I met my mom and aunt at the shop and minutes later I was in a dressing room pulling on the dress of my dreams. I called the sales girl into the room to zip the dress and, much to my chagrin, the zipper didn't get very far. My biggest wedding-related fear had just come true. I couldn't fit into my dress! Obviously, something had to be done.

When a lot of people want to lose weight they drink more water, stop drinking soda and cut out snacking. But what do you do when none of those things are options? I already drink nothing but copious amounts of water and I don't snack more than a handful of peanuts mid-morning so that I make it to lunch. And I already exercise a good amount.

I'd been hearing a lot about this apparently miracle workout that helps you lose all sorts of pounds, not to mention inches, in a short amount of time.

When I got to the gym today and realized I'd left my iPod at work, I went straight to Barnes and Noble and picked up a copy of the Shred. After I got home, took Ginny for a quick walk, put Ginny on the balcony with her food and then 3 minutes later let Ginny back in because she was barking, I starting Day 1 of Level 1 of the 30 day shred. How did it go, I'm sure you're asking? Let's just say this dry, vampiric pale, optimistic girl wearing a t-shirt from second grade is how I began my workout with Jillian.

And this red, splotchy, soaking wet, water chugging girl is what I was reduced to after Jillian was through with me. Lovely, eh?I'm used to running and keeping up a steady cardio pace for at least 30 minutes. And here I was after 20 minutes, panting and in misery. My legs aren't burning too bad but my arms are screaming for mercy. Hopefully this, along with the healthy diet I'm planning, is just what I need to drop a few pounds and fit into that dress without havin to get it let out. Somehow I don't think that would do much good for my self-esteem. And hopefully Ginny gets used to the jumping around because having to avoid her while doing jumping jacks requires just a little more coordination than I posess.

Anyone have any miracle weight loss tricks I can put to use?

I'll Tell You What I Want What I Really Really Want

I like to cook. I like creating things and serving them to the people I love. I like that it's kind of like a little science experiment when I add different ingredients together and change flavors around. But do you know what I don't like? I absolutely HATE prepping fruits and vegetables for both cooking and raw consumption. I might consider giving up the rights to name my first born child if it means I never had to chop another onion, mince another garlic clove, peel another potato or slice another watermelon as long as I live. I might have daughter named Princess Moonbeam Eclipse, but I'd have cramp free, sticky-free hands. I used to scoff as my mom used an electric chopper to prepare onion and pepper for spaghetti and meatloaf, but now I realize that that little chopper was totally the way to go.

My hatred for all things chopping, peeling, slicing, dicing and mincing is part of why I was so looking forward to creating our wedding registry. My goal was to make this part of my life as easy as possible. Among other things I'm looking forward to...

Chef 'n Garlic Zoom. You put the clove in the little gadget, roll it across a flat surface, and chops it right up for you.

Zester/Grater. Because it's really hard to add lemon or orange zest to something without a zester. Serrated knives, despite what I thought in a sudden burst of not-genius, are not a substitute. An apple wedger. The word doesn't even BEGIN to describe how much I love these things.

And of course, a good ol' food processor so that I can chop everything I could ever want to chop and grind oreos and graham crackers for pie crusts. Yes!

So I still havent figured out how to make slicing a watermelon easier, but I guess I can deal with that for now.

Do you hate fruit and veggie prep too? Is it, like me, your most-hated kitchen chore, or is something else even more loathsome?

Beauty is truth, truth beauty

And the truth is that my hair is suffering from a beauty deficiency.

I am so unbelievably sick of my hair. Just four short months ago it looked like this as I was trying on a bridesmaid dress.

And now, well a week ago, it looks like this.

It doesn't look a whole lot longer, so I guess it's the kind of thing that only I notice. But it's feeling scraggly and gross. But I can't cut it until after the wedding because otherwise I'm about 100% sure that too much will be cut off and I won't be able to wear my hair in the wonderful low side bun that I'm pining for so hard. Also, I refuse to pay $40 for someone to cut off a millimeter of my hair and try to convince me that the "clean up" was worth it.

But now, we have the biggest issue. Just look at those bangs! I'm seeing more and more forehead every day as I have to sweep them further and further to the side. And there's absolutely no reason for this to be happening. I can't say that I can't afford a haircut right now because bang trims are free at my salon. No, the reason they are getting maddeningly longer every day is that I am too lazy to make an appointment and haul my butt to the salon. My goal is to get them cut and re-shaped by next week. If I don't achieve my goal it's gonna get real ugly real soon.

I am.

I am at work.

I am at work and I'm blogging.

I am at work and I'm blogging and listening to Good Charlotte.

I am at work and I'm blogging and listening to Good Charlotte and reading wedding blogs.

I am at work and I'm blogging and listening to Good Charlotte and reading wedding blogs because I have absolutely no work to do.

I am at work and I'm blogging and listening to Good Charlotte and reading wedding blogs because I have absolutely no work to do and no one will give me any work.

I am at work and I'm blogging and listening to Good Charlotte and reading wedding blogs because I have absolutely no work to do and no one will give me any work so I will likely not close the required 104 claims in the required 13 weeks.

I am at work and I'm blogging and listening to Good Charlotte and reading wedding blogs because I have absolutely no work to do and no one will give me any work so I will likely not close the required 104 claims in the required 13 weeks and I will not get my raise.

I am at work and I'm blogging and listening to Good Charlotte and reading wedding blogs because I have absolutely no work to do and no one will give me any work so I will likely not close the required 104 claims in the required 13 weeks and I will not get my raise and Paul, Ginny and I will have to live in tiny apartments for the rest of our lives.

I am at work and I'm blogging and listening to Good Charlotte and reading wedding blogs because I have absolutely no work to do and no one will give me any work so I will likely not close the required 104 claims in the required 13 weeks and I will not get my raise and Paul, Ginny and I will have to live in tiny apartments for the rest of our lives and I am not pleased.

That's How Trista Sees It

FYI: I am not being political. This has nothing to do with liberal vs. conservative. I am not defending the word of our president. I am simply explaining my point of view.

I recently read this article and it got me thinking. If you don't have time to skim or you don't feel like opening it, the overall idea of the article is that President Obama and Secretary Clinton have used the term "freedom of worship" lately, instead of the "freedom of religion" that we're used to. The author was pretty upset about this and said the following.

"Let's be clear, however; language matters when it comes to defining freedoms and limits. A shift from freedom of religion to freedom of worship moves the dialog from the world stage into the physical confines of a church, temple, synagogue or mosque. Such limitations can unleash an unbridled initiative that we have only experienced in a mild way through actions determined to remove of roadside crosses, wearing of religious T-shirts and pro-life pins as well as any initiatives of evangelization. It also could exclude our right to raise our children in our faith, the right to religious education, literature or media, the right to raise funds or organize charitable activities and the right to express religious beliefs in the normal discourse of life."

I can't help but disagree with the writer's point of view. To me, "freedom of religion" means the freedom to say, "I am Christian/Jewish/Muslim/Buddhist/Islam/etc., etc., etc." "Freedom of worship," on the other hand, is the freedom to practice that religion. It's not just your freedom to attend a religious service. I do not worship only when I walk into a church. I worship when pray. I worship when I loo at the mountains and realize how they came to be. I worship when I read the bible.

There was a kid who went to my high school. This kid was Muslim. And my high school was in a small, rather close-minded, southern town. This kid was the only Muslim student at my school. During a Muslim holiday for which he was to wear his prayer cap (I'm not sure which one), he was repeatedly told by teachers to remove his cap because "head coverings" were not allowed. Even after explaining why he was wearing his cap, they still made him take his cap off.

Yes, this kid had the freedom to say that he is Muslim and observing a religious holiday. He did not however, have the freedom to worship the way he wanted or was called to.

So that's the way I see it. Freedom of worship is much more accepting and tolerant than the current freedom of religion. If you disagree, please tell me why. I really am interested in hearing a different points of view and the reasoning behind it.

Come to Me, Fall

Today's heat index was over 100 degrees and I am pining oh so hard for fall weather. I want to smell the fresh, crisp air that you only get in the fall. I want to take Ginny for long meandering walks and not worry about her dehydrating.

I want to go for a drive and see this...

I want to go out in jeans, Chucks, and this (which Paul kindly surprised me with on Saturday!)...

I want to carve a face on one of these...

I want to sit outside and enjoy one of these...
I want to marry this guy...

And damnit, I want to open the sunroof and roll down the windows and not need air conditioning!

The Simple Things

When I was growing up, some of the easiest things for my mom to make in the kitchen were hardboiled eggs, mashed potatoes, and any sort of meat in a frying pan. But the first time I tried to do any of that, I completely failed! I realized that I had absolutely no idea how to boil an egg, which is ridiculous. I had to call home the first time I boiled potatoes. And to this day I CANNOT fry meat to the point where it is done on the inside and a perfect golden brown on the outside. And I'm frustrated. I love to cook, but I hate running to google every time I need to do something because I've forgotten how long it should sit on the stove and at what temperature, and that's just ridiculous. I'm sick of eating too pink or burnt meat and having to look at a recipe every 10 seconds. Could we just jumpt to the part where I know what I'm making and I don't have to reference the expertise of someone else? Thanks.