Technology

Happy technology day here on the Photo Challenge! I'm super excited about this one because I just got this today!!!!!!! (<---You can tell it's legit excitement because there are so may exclamation points.)

It's true folks, I have joined the tablet generation! I am the proud owner of a Nook HD+. I've wanted one for a while now, but I couldn't decide what to get. Did I want a Kindle Fire, or should I get an  Android tablet and download the Kindle app? I have seriously been having this conversation with myself for the past 5 months. Any time I would decide one way or the other, something would happen to change my mind. Really, I was leaning towards buying a tablet and getting the app, but which tablet??? And if anyone knows me, they know that if I can't make a decision about something, I just won't. Either I'll get both or neither. I'm odd like that.

So today, Amy and I were out running some random errands when I stumbled across the Nooks as Target. I had not even considered them in the running for what I wanted. However... On the display it had in big, bold graphics that the Nook now supported to Google Play store. So... I can get all of my fabulous Android apps? I can even download the Kindle app? On a 9" HD screen? For $150? Yes, please!

Although, apparently a lot of people recognized what a great deal this was because the local Target was sold out of them. The nice Electronics guy called another store, but they were sold out, too. Amy and I were walking out to her car when I decided to try calling one Target that people kind of forget about (I have an option of 4 different Targets, all within about 25 minutes of my house), and voila! They had 3! Amy and I drove out there and now I have my tablet. See? All of my decisions should be that quick.

Something new

Ah... something new for the photo challenge... Well, I should have taken a picture of the new tank top I got to wear to the UT game today, but I forgot. So we will discuss the newest thing I have. This sunburn. 

Ow

Yeah, I know. I totally flaked out on sunscreen today. Unacceptable! I have two perfect arcs on my shoulders from the racerback of the tank I had one. Luckily, it doesn't hurt too badly. It's tender, and it's kind of radiating heat, but nothing some aloe can't help. I'll have to post more about the game tomorrow. Right now I'm quite exhausted and need to get to sleep. Good night!

Childhood Memory

The challenge for today simply said "childhood memory." This was actually quite easy for me for me to choose. Overall, I had a pretty good childhood, (or at least I thought it was good at the time, which is really all that matters), but for some reason this one always sticks out to me. 

Yep, pickles. I. Love. Pickles. When I was a kid, I would drink the brine straight from the jar. Don't judge me. Anyway, that's not the exact memory I wanted to share. The one instance I'm thinking of happened on my 7th birthday. We didn't have a lot of money when I was growing up. We were on government assistance for a little while, right after mom became disabled, but my mom did a great job of making sure I didn't want for anything (or even know we were poor until I got my first job and realized how much stuff costs). Anyway! That is all to say that I learned at a young age to appreciate a gift that had a lot of thought put into it, even if it was somewhat unconventional. 

So, for my 7th birthday, my sister got me a gallon of pickles. Are you kidding me??? That was the best present EVER! If you know my relationship with my sister, you understand why it's so odd that it is my favorite childhood memory. She put some thought into that one and got me something she knew I'd really like. And finish in 3 days. 

I should also mention that I also got a swing set for my 7th birthday. But I forget about it until I think about eating a pickle while waiting for my brother to finish building it. The pickles are what I remember over a swing set. Seriously? How much do I love pickles?

Someone I love

Here we are on day 6 of the Photo Challenge! Today's subject is someone I love. That's not much of a challenge, now is it?

I'm a little partial to Mr. Wonderful, himself. I feel like these pictures pretty accurately represent why I picked him. 

1. He's magic! His friend competes in Strongman competitions, and he was playing around with one of the weighted balls. Really, I'm just impressed with the fact that he is willing to try new things with his workouts and really cares about his health and fitness.
2. He's a model! This one was taken when he was asked to to a charity fashion show. He was making a Zoolander face, but I think he actually looks really handsome. I love the fact that he's always willing to help out and he looks good doing it. :-)
3. We have fun together! This one was taken while we were waiting to go to our seats at the Tennessee Theatre. Not only does he take me to the theatre, he makes goofy faces with me beforehand!

Of course there's more than 3 reasons why I love G, but these are just some of the reasons I have picture evidence for. ;-)

The final straw

Words cannot describe how upset I was just a mere hour ago. I couldn't find my fitbit. I knew I had it on earlier when I was running errands with mom, but I couldn't find it in my pocket when we were at church. I figured I accidentally left it in the jeans I was wearing earlier since I changed pants before we left. Nope, not there when I got home. Not in my chair, my purse, my computer bag. Not in my car, the key basket, or on my bed. I tore my room apart looking for it. Then I decided to go look in the car one more time.... and I found it. 

A moment of silence, please...

It must have fallen out of my pocket when we left for church and I backed over it. I barely made it into my bedroom before I started sobbing uncontrollably. See, I had already convinced myself Greg was going to be mad at me for losing it. Which, if you know G, you also know how ridiculous that is. He doesn't get mad at me. Frustrated? Yes. Annoyed? Of course! But mad? No. But I had already convinced myself that he was going to be MAD at me. Yelling and all kinds of bad things. So when I found it so completely busted, I just lost it. 

In the midst of my hysterics, I started questioning what was actually going on. Yes, I was upset over breaking my beloved fitbit, but it's just a toy, really. And I knew G wasn't actually going to be mad at me. It was an honest accident. So I prayed that God would help me calm down and figure out what was really going on. 

When I could breathe again, I finally realized that this was just the final straw in a long line of things that have been breaking my heart lately. None of them to do with Greg, Amy, or any other loved one. But still, my heart has been slowly cracking for the past 3 months and today was the day it finally fell apart. So I'm praying for God to help me find the road to putting things back together. 

There are some changes coming. I think for the better, and mostly I'm excited, but I think life is about to be different... hopefully soon. 

***As I logged on to my laptop to post this, I discovered that while the display is broken, my fitbit is still tracking my steps and syncing to the computer. That means I can still use it, I won't know how many steps I've taken til the end of the day. Whew! A bright spot!

My favorite color

It's time for day 4 of the Photo Challenge with Amy! You can see her posts here, and you can look at my other posts in this challenge here. Anyway today's challenge was my favorite color. This is actually kind of a difficult one to answer. Generally, if someone asks me my favorite color, I'll say teal or turquoise, but really, it changes. It's not because I don't have one, it's because it's fluid. Literally. My favorite color is water.

[source]

Obviously not clear water in a glass, but my favorite color is that blue/green of a crystal clear body of water. And just like water, it changes slightly from day to day. Sometimes I like it more to the blue side, sometimes more to the green.  For a Taurus, I'm awfully wishy-washy.

Clouds

Today's subject for our Photo Challenge was Clouds. I found it kind of funny that today's subject was clouds since we had a torrential downpour sweep the county last night. No joke, I woke up at 3:30am thinking that there was a semi driving past my house (if you knew where I lived, you would understand that's a little crazy... it was early, ok??), but nope. It was thunder. About 10 minutes later the thunder was so loud and so close that it literally shook my bed away from the wall. The lightning was like a constant strobe light outside my window. I started getting nervous about the pecan tree that is right outside my bedroom. But (obviously) I made it through.

So this morning when I got to work, this is what the sky looked like:

So pretty and fluffy

They look so innocent. Clean and pillowy, just floating along behind the bringers of doom and chaos from yesterday. You're not fooling me, clouds!