Social Media, Man.

Snapshat seems so vain...like, you're pretty much just sending people pictures of you and what you're doing. That seems so bizarre to me. I've been told I don't "get it" because I'm in a long term relationship, but from what I've heard that its pretty much a way to get single ladies to send you nude pictures since you can't "save" the pictures. Screenshot does exist on phones these days, ladies.

I guess I can't say much. I'm on instagram which is basically the same thing, but to everyone, so I'm not getting those dirty pictures out and about. I mostly post pictures I'm proud of following the previous five of my cats.

Social media is just weird in general. Think about those words: Social Media.

The definition on dictionary.com is "websites and other online means ofcommunication that are used by large groups of people to share information and to develop social and professional contacts." However, when we look at the words apart... Social: "seeking or enjoying the companionship ofothers" and media "the means ofcommunication, as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, that reach or influence people widely." Basically, what I'm getting at is social media is kind of....weird.

Those last five words of the definition of media, "reach or influence people widely," stand out to me most. When it comes to social media, we share the moments that we want others to see. We share the party pictures, visiting important momuments, summer adventures, and the moments that make us and our sigificant other seem flawless. The people on your facebook, twitter, instagram, and whatever else is out there...they don't see the moments you were crying in the bathroom because your crush was paying more attention to some other girl more than you, when you got lost on the way to said monument and almost cried because unfamiliar places scare the living hell out of you, when you got too drunk to make it to the toilet to vomit and puked all the way down the hallway, or that big fight that you and you're S.O. got into when you were being a complete bitch at the party and didn't realize because you were too fucked up to function.

When I drink, I become sort of a facebook stalker (don't judge me). I'll scroll through my updates like we all do and think to myself, "I wonder what they're up to." Then I tend to go to their page, look through they're updates from the last three months, go through their pictures, and see what their work/relationship history has been in the last 6 months. Often, I find myself jealous at first. "Look at the parties they've been going to; They look like a riot." "Man, they've been together for 3 years and they still like they love each other to no ends and couldn't stand to spend 5 minutes without each other."

Then I step back and distance myself for a moment and look at my own Facebook profile. Then I realize "Holy shit, They're no better off than I am." When you look at my profile, it seems like I have had no bad moments in the last..several years. I have pictures of good times at the bar, house parties, small shindigs, perfect photos of Lancelot and I going on adventures, and updates that depict how great life is going for me.





Don't get me wrong. Lancelot and I get into fights about who is going to clean the litter box, I've been the girl crying in the bathroom, and financial situations haven't always been the easiest on us. When I look back on it all though, I realize I'm one lucky lady. Lancelot and I hardly ever fight, I'm always making new friends, and I get the opportunity to have spontaneous fun experiences more than most.

 So, I advise you, next time you use some form of social media, don't judge you're life by it. Everyone has their struggles and their bad moments, but no one ever takes photos of those; If they do, hardly anyone is cruel enough to actually post them. What you see online is not what actually what's going on, it's the very best of it.

As 90's kids, we expect so much more from life because the internet has tought us that. Don't use that as discouragement, use it to make something bigger and better than everything you've seen. Go to college, travel, make a difference. Don't sit around taking pity on yourselves. Use it as inspiration to make the things you see online everything you can (and hopefully will) be in your lives.

I wish the best of luck to all of you!

2 Weeks In--Still Far To Go (Weight Loss Progress)

I'm back with good news.

Lance and I are making wonderful progress.

In my last blog, I explained to you all exactly how we are "dieting."

We haven't completely given up on everything we love and replaced it with only fruits and vegetables.

We just cut down, made ourselves more aware of what we were putting in our bodies, and started to exercise.

Now, you get to see the results!

Our bodies are by no means where we want them to be, but it's great motivation to see how much progress we have made in just two weeks. It just makes us want to push harder and keep going at it knowing that it is possible to get to where we want to be.


Since we've been eating better and exercising, we feel so much better.
We have more energy.
We sleep better at night.
It's a win/win situation.

Here are the full progression photos for both me and Lance.

I can't believe how far we've come in just two weeks; We're going to keep going at it and just get better and more fit. 

I'll make sure to update a little more of how we're achieving this later this week.

As for now, know that anyone can do this and you can see the results here.



Also, this is what MyFitnessPal just told me:

www.myfitnesspal.com

So...I'm pretty motivated to make everyday like today as far as calories and exercise goes.

A Year Ago Today

People change a lot in a single year. For me, every year I have changed an extraordinary amount. Each year my relationships with friends are a little or even a lot different. Usually I lose and gain friends over the course of a year. I stop hanging out with some and lose touch while others I become 10 times closer to.

Today is Lance's 23rd birthday.
A year ago today, Lance was just turning 22.

You want to know what we did?
We went up to Huhot with his family, then he drove me back to my apartment so that we could spend the rest of the day packing. That's exactly what we did. We stayed up talking and packing up my apartment and driving thing to the storage shed and to my mothers all day and night until the wee hours of the morning because I had to be out by February 1st.

I made Lancelot pack all day on his birthday.
So what did I come up with this year, you ask?
Well, today I made him be my personal crutch and help me walk around Wal-Mart and Save-a-lot.
I told him that he can only imagine what I'm going to think up for him to have to do next year on his birthday.

In any case, he is an absolute doll. He's always taking care of me and helping me out on his birthday.
I did make him some cinnamon rolls today, though. :)


This was the closest picture I could find. It's actually from Christmas of 2011, but I took next to no pictures January of 2012.

Then, here's Lance and I on New Years Day This Year. <3



_________________________

On the beginning note, a lot changes in a year.
A year ago today, I would have never suspected I'd be where I am.

That was part of my extremely tough ten months of my life.
Here is where I thought I would be in January 2013 in January 2012.

I thought I would still be working at Hunts.
I thought I would still be dating Charles.
I thought we might even be engaged.
I thought that I may be pregnant since we had originally planned to try for another child.
I thought that I would be in another apartment and maybe going to college.
I thought I would still be an only child.


None of those things are true.


My Mother told me a few months after January 2012 that she was in fact having the child that I thought I would be carrying that year. Charles and I broke up a month and  a half after he got out of jail. I am not pregnant. I am not in college and I'm now working at Accent.

You know what I have to say about that?
I am so perfectly happy. I have such a wonderful life.

Although I miss Hunts very much some days, I'm happier at Accent. I loved the people there, but some of the rules got a little bogus. I mostly quit because we weren't allowed to have our cell phones and I needed mine to keep my sanity. Plus, walking home from work every night since I don't have a car really gave me the heebie jeebies. Plus, I really enjoy working with Lancelot.

Lance makes me a very happy lady. Really, he does. Even when he screws up, it takes him less than five minutes to apologize. We sleep on the floor because it reminds us of old times. He introduces me to all sorts of new TV shows, gave me that extra push to learn guitar, and is extremely patient with me. He makes me a better person. That's what I really want in someone is just for us to be happy and to make each other better people.

I may not have the child that I believed I so wanted, but that's okay too. As much as my female hormones keep screaming "baby! baby! baby!" in my head, I know better. I don't want a baby right now. I'm 20 years old. I've got another 3 or 4 years minimum before I even really want to consider it. I'll only be this young once. I want to be able to stay up until 3 am and decide to go to wal-mart because I really want some goldfish crackers. I want to be able to spend money on yarn to crochet things. I want to have the free time to crochet. I don't want to have to find a babysitter anytime I want to go out of my friends. Most of all, I don't want to deny my child of having a full-time committed mother because I'm too busy caught up in my own life feeling like I never got the chance to be young.

I'm really happy for my mother. I now have a beautiful baby sister and she is the most precious little girl in the world. My mom gets the chance to raise a daughter the way she would have wanted. A full-time mother who already learned from the mistakes of her first daughter. Being the second kid is like being the second pancake. The first one, you just try your best and hope it turns out alright. By time you get to the second one you realize what you did wrong with the first one and take this opportunity to fix it and do it right the second time around.


I lost a lot of friends through my break-up with Charles and I gained a lot of new ones both through Lance and the experiences I had during those 10 mysterious months.

My world is nowhere I thought it would be, but I think I'd much prefer this one.
I can only imagine where I'll be a year from now.
I'll be in a new place and my sister will be 16 months old.
God knows what else will be different.