live moxie

(okay, I have noticed I like to do… after my title.  No idea why

Anyway, on to my original topic- Spiders.  I just went into the garage to check something and when I picked it up a nice little spider crawled underneath and got away from me.  Now I know spiders are not bad, they eat other bugs, etc… but I still cannot stand them!!  I know most of them are harmless but it is always my fear that I am somehow going to see one of the ones that is harmless, think it isn’t, not kill it and then get bitten by it.  I know it sounds a little far fetched but it can happen.

I live where we have brown recluse spiders.  Have you seen the bites those ones do if you do not get it treated or know about it?  One of my neighbors actually had to have plastic surgery because she was bitten by one.  I have been bitten by a “something” before and had  large bruise the size of half my thigh on my thigh, and to this day I still have no idea what kind of bug bit me.  :(  So bugs scare me a little bit.  I also thought it was appropriate given it is Halloween.

I had to hand out candy tonight and I wanted to dress up for the kids.  I was going to go out afterward but this is my first weekend where I have nothing (yup, absolutely nothing going on), so I think I just want to relax all weekend.  I do have some homework I could be doing though.  But I dressed up as a 50’s poodle girl.  I made my costume for probably under $15 dollars.  I went to the craft store for felt, made the skirt.  I used a black felt piece to make a scottie dog and I used those sequins that are strung together as the leash.  I also took $5 canvas shoes from Walmart and painted them to look like saddle shoes.  I had enough stuff left over to make my two dogs little skirts as well.  All for handing out the candy….  at least I get into it right?

Anyway, Happy Halloween!  I hope you get some R & R this weekend as well!

Okay, so I have not posted for a week.  I apologize!  I have no idea how the time got away from me!  Actually I do.  I went to Memphis this weekend for the first time.  I actually really liked Memphis.  I know it may seem weird that I am surprised but normally you hear about crime in Memphis and it is within the top ten cities in the country for crime rates.  But, like all cities, it has the good areas and the bad areas.  We went to Mud Island which is an adorable little peninsula right on the Mississippi River.  There is a bridge right off the Island that leads you into Arkansas.  Mud Island actually remind me of a little beach village.

I really wanted to go see the Peabody ducks. They walk at 5:00pm and we were going to be shopping then (my parents go for the shopping wherever we go. It normally decides if it is a good vacation destination). But I was able to see the ducks hanging out in the fountain. I really do not know the story behind the Peabody ducks, I just knew I wanted to see them. My sister actually thought I was taking too many pictures of the ducks and kept saying, “They are just ducks.”

Saturday night we ate at Big Foot Lodge. It is a very low key restaurant but I highly recommend it. It is the home of the 4lb burger. I am not a burger eater but this burger costs around $21 and if you can finish the whole burger and the condiments you get the burger for free. As we were leaving a family purchased the burger for the four of them to eat. If your whole family eats burgers, it was actually a really good idea. Big Foot Lodge also has really good desserts. We got the Smores which was actually a pot with a fire, marshmallows, chocolate bars and graham crackers. Everything you needed to make your own smores. I thought it was a really good idea to have something like that on the menu. We also went ahead and got the apple crisp, which was delicious. The desserts were also quite large for their price.

After we ate we went to the world famous Beale Street. We didn’t really do much, just walked up and down the street and went in some of the stores. It would be a great place to go with your friends or for a bachelorette party. On Sunday we were going to be driving home but we stopped at the Pottery Barn outlet. Outlets like that are always hit and miss. I wanted to find a lap desk like this. They did not have any there and said they hadn’t had them for a long time. I was able to purchase a white desk organizer that I had been wanting.

Other than my recent trip I have been pretty busy with school.  Grad school is exhausting and it surprises me that I get a lot of what I would consider “busy work” in school.  I am sure the teachers can prove that we are learning something from it, but when I already have so much going on I’d rather not do it. 

So has anyone heard of Ugly Dolls?  I am sure you probably have but I walked into a store today and they had an entire display of them.  I had to pick them up and they all have little stories.  The first one I picked up was named Moxy.  Of course I had to buy the little one and am just planning on placing her somewhere in my room or letting Pancake use her as a toy.  I actually heard that a lot of people use them as dog toys.  I think they are just pretty fun and it must be great to have the job that comes up with the names and stories.

Pretty ugly huh?  Yeah, that’s the point, haha.

On a COMPLETELY other note has anyone ever heard of the decals you can get for your house to stick on the wall?  When I lived in my apartment I had my initials made into a decal and put it on the wall in my apartment.  They are not meant to be reusable but I wanted to be able to take it when I moved home.  I was able to carefully take it off the wall and placed it on a piece of plastic that I had purchased at the craft store.  I was then able to put it up on my wall at home.

It looks like it has never been used and this is the first time I have put it up on the wall.  Check out SingleStoneCreations.  They do an AMAZING job on the vinyls and they have many of them that can be customized.  They sell their vinyls on e-bay, Etsy and their website. Check them out. My apartment complex actually had me order one for them after they had seen them in my apartment. They are a great way to change your decor around without painting.

I continue to stay up late when I’m exhausted?  Does anyone else do that?  I am sitting here typing this and playing on the internet and I can barely keep my eyes open!!  It is ridiculous!  I probably could have been in bed two hours ago but I continue to play on the Internet surfing random websites.  I need to learn to listen to my body and go to sleep when I am tired.  I always have to be going and I feel like I could be doing something else instead of sleeping.  Yeah, pretty stupid!

So has anyone heard of the MomAgenda’s? They are expensive but I just love them. They keep coming out with more product lines but they make the MomAgenda for moms and the MyAgenda for people who want something similar but are not a mom. The three main products are the MomAgenda desktop which is bigger and has a weekly view, the MomAgenda daily which has a day by day model and is smaller and the MyAgenda which has a week view and is the same size as the MomAgenda daily.

Now I have had the MyAgenda before but I have one pet peeve about it and it is pretty pathetic but I could style points. The MyAgenda does not come in pretty colors like the MomAgenda does. The MomAgenda comes in pink, lime green, blue etc.

So what does the style conscious person do who wants a pink agenda and also wants a bigger size one? yes, I buy the mom one and put a “Life is Good” sticker over the front. Of course inside each week it has a section that says “kids” but I just white it out and add school and whatever categories I need. Not only is it the pink that draws me to the MomAgenda, but also the size. I e-mailed the company and they said they had some new things planned for next year and they included my two requests. Which makes me excited.

In the technological world we live in I still have to have my paper planner in front of me and be able to look at everything and write things in. It is so much easier for me to have it in front of me instead of having to pull out the planner on my phone or on my computer.

I think today has probably been my favorite Monday in forever and all I did was work!  I mentioned on Friday that it was my last day of work.  So today was my first day of being “free.”  Obviously, I was not exactly free because I took a shift at Sonic because someone called in.  I got to Sonic at 6:00 AM!!!  6:00 AM is CRAZY and I know people do it EVERYDAY and I give them so much credit.  There are people that have no other choices and need to support their family and they will work any job so that they can give their family a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs.

Basically on that same note, it bothers me when people say they cannot find a job, especially people my age.  What they are basically saying is they do not want to work in the service industry to make extra money, they may think they are “too good” to work in the service industry or they are too lazy to work there.  I guess what really bothers me is that some people thing they are better than other people and that a job in the service industry is below them.   Yes, they may have a college degree but sometimes you may have to take a job to pay the bills that may not be your dream job.  But you have to start somewhere.  Who knows, you could begin working at the lowest position on the totem pull and work your way up to high management, it has happened a lot more than once.  I guess it just bothers me that my generation has this sense of entitlement and gets a bad rap from it.  I understand we are not perfect, I’m not perfect, no one is.  But it does make me mad how some of my generation acts.

Okay, I guess I’ll step down off my soap box, but it is a blog for my opinions, so that is what I give.  It is great having an outlet where I can let loose and let my opinions be known.   After I worked at Sonic (only until 9:30) I went to baby-sit at 10:00 until 3:00.  I am so glad that I can baby-sit again, I have missed it.  I honestly feel that my calling is to work with kids.  Working behind a desk from 8:00-5:00 was horrible for me.  I love to be on the go all the time and doing that did me no justice.  But again, it was a job and it was a good job and I am thankful for the experiences I gained while working there.  We have to try things out before we find out what we like and what we do not like.  I honestly do not think anyone can come out of college knowing for sure what they want to do.  More than likely they have not had a lot of experience with it and are basically finding a job in a field that they think they want to be in.  For me, I always have wanted to work with children and teach.  I just took the more practical route of a business degree and always planned to go back to graduate school for education, I just didn’t know it would be so soon.

But I think everything works out for the best and I am more than ready to start this new chapter of my life.  On another note, Gossip Girl is on today.  It is my all time favorite show.  I know it is basically a show about stereotypical upper east side high schoolers, but that is what I love about it!  The characters are so well defined, it is just a very well written show.  Also the premiere of Samantha Who is on today and I LOVE that show as well.  I don’t have a lot of time to watch tv, but these are my two do not miss shows.  I cannot wait to see how they begin this season of Samantha Who.  I honestly want her to get back with her boyfriend, I cannot think of his name right now.  But I have always wanted her to get back with him, all of last season.  So I cannot wait to see what they have in the cards for them this season.

I must be going now.  As Samantha Who is going to begin in about 10 minutes.

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.

I absolutely love this quote.  Now you may not be an animal lover but animals are amazing.  Animals have thoughts, feelings, emotions etc just like people and they are amazing at sensing danger and your feelings.  I cannot imagine not having a dog in my life.  I have always had dogs from when I was a baby, and there is nothing better than the welcome home tail wags and kisses you receive each day.  You can be gone to the mailbox and you get the welcome all the same, they are just happy to see you.

I have since moved back home because I am going to grad school and we have our family dog.  Her name is Bailey and she is very smart.  I also have my dog named Pancake.  I don’t know if there are two dogs who can be more different.  Bailey can be very sneaky such as taking bones and hiding them.  Pancake has a pink bed that is her absolute favorite and recently Bailey has been lying in it just so Pancake can not. 

Now I love them both but it does make me mad when Bailey does it just to annoy Pancake.  They also both sleep in my bed with me (very tight quarters, let me tell you.  Two stretched out dogs… and its a TWIN!).  But Pancake is my dog and she is a very special dog.  Haha, I know most people think their dogs are special dogs and people with dogs are quite attached to them but that doesn’t make Pancake any less special!

I adopted Pancake this summer from a shelter.  She was actually a puppy mill breeding dog.  It makes me so mad that people treat dogs and puppies the way they do.  They breed and breed them and then a lot of times they bring the mama dogs to shelters because they are done breeding them and do not need them anymore.  It honestly makes me sick that someone can treat an animal like that.  Now I don’t have a problem with a dog having puppies but when you overbred a dog they can get quite sick and most of them die before anyone knows what is wrong with them.  The puppy mill dogs live their lives in cages and never know anything better while their babies are sold for a huge profit.  I just think there needs to be much more regulation when it comes to breeding.  But that could be a completely different blog.

Anyway… back to my Pancake story.  The poor little girl shook the entire car ride home.  She looked like she had maybe just had some puppies and she was not treated right.  She slept in my bed the first night and since then she has been attached to my hip.  The first few days if I left she would sit at the door until I came back.  She still does that, but she will realize I may be gone longer and she will then go play.

 She also had no idea what playing was.  It took about a month and a half and one day she started chewing a toy I had bought for her.  Obviously a HUGE milestone!  She is now a big player and loves any toys she can find!

 Pancake was also a really sick dog when I adopted her.  When dogs are overbred their insides can become filled with tumors and cancer and cysts and thankfully I scheduled Pancake’s surgery pretty soon after I adopted her.  The vet said that she would have been dead in a month if I had not adopted her because of how messed up her insides were.  Sadly, as I mentioned this is common in dogs used for breeding.  I do not want to think of how many dogs die because they are not taken care of.

What amazes me so much about rescue animals is their ability to love.  Rescue animals have been through a lot and no dog deserves to go through that.  But they have this ability to love their caregivers even after they have been mistreated.  As I said Pancake is attached to me and I could not have asked for a better dog.  She is such a snuggler and I honestly feel (and this will sound really corny) but we were meant to find each other!!  She is a snuggler and she just makes me happy.  Now as a grad student I really have no extra money, but I would not trade Pancake for anything.

She leads a tough life, doesn’t she?

 She is pretty spoiled, can you tell?

Although, does anyone have any leash training tips?  Pancake is actually scared of leashes and will begin to shake (obviously what she does when she is scared) when I try to take her on a walk.  She does not run away from me and will follow me when I try to take her for a walk, but I would like for her to use the leash.

Not only is Moxie describing my life right now, it is also a soft drink.  That is where the “Drink Moxie.  Distinctively Different” comes from.  Moxie is basically a New England drink and a lot of people do not think it tastes good.  My grandfather, “Papa” has drank Moxie my entire life.  So not only do I obviously love the word but it reminds me of my grandfather as well.  Moxie began in 1876 in Maine.  It has a really strong after taste and that is probably why a lot of people do not like it.  Basically, it is one of those acquired tastes.

Well, I am sure you all wanted to know that.  Really I think I just wanted to share it.  Moxie is moxie, what can I say?  I even have a necklace that says Moxie, basically to let me know to live my life instead of just sitting back and watching it go by.   How many people do you know that act like that?  I cannot stand it!  It almost makes me, no I take that back, it does make me want to go smack them.  So many people wait for opportunities to come to them instead of going out and making opportunities happen.  I know it is easier said than done but it just makes me so mad.  If you are not happy with your life instead of complaining, go and change it!  Complaining about everything and saying that no one understands you, you can’t please anyone etc. is not going to do anything!

I almost begin to think that some people want to live in negative environments and want the attention on them.  Then they tend to be mean to you if you are living your life and making things happen.  It stinks but sometimes you just cannot have all of those negative influences in your life.  I would much rather be happy and look at the positive things that are going on (even if it is only two things out of fifty) than dwell on everything that is going wrong.

Now do not get me wrong, I know you cannot always be positive.  I worry all the time about random things, but having all of the negative influences in my life doesn’t help me any.  I try to channel my worries out through things I love doing.  I love to take pictures.  I take pictures of anything.  I also love trying to get a different angle on a picture, or focus on something different than what you would normally focus on.

Wow, did I switch topics or what?  I have so much I want to get out.  I think I am really going to like blogging.  I love to write and it is just such a great outlet.  I really cannot say what is going to end up on this blog.  Most likely my thoughts, pictures, things I find online, probably some boring days, and basically just be about me trying to find my way in this world.  How cheesy is that?  But what other way can you say it? 

Moxie according to American Heritage Dictionary is; 1. The ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage.  2. Aggressive energy; initiative.  Moxie basically describes my life right now.  I have so many things going on and feel that I am being pulled in so many directions that I just need to live day by day.  I have had my “real girl job” in business for a year now.  I went to school for 4 years in something that I do not want to do and it took courage to admit that.  In August I began graduate school for education, something I have always wanted to do.  I just quit my “big girl” job, moved back home and am currently working by baby-sitting, graduate assistantship, and at a restaurant to pay off what I owe and continue to pay my bills.

Basically I’m at the point where all 23 year olds are, which sadly does not make it easier to accept.  Not sure where I am going and just living each day.  This blog is just going to be my life, my outlet.  It will include shopping finds of things I cannot afford, photography, randomness that I find on the Internet and basically anything else that I feel I want to include.  I welcome all comments and e-mails and hopefully through this blog I will continue to keep the Moxie in my life.

You may not agree with everything I write, you may not like everything I write.  But it’s my life and I think people need to speak up more for what they believe in and share their ideas without being scared that someone isn’t going to agree with them.  How boring would life be if we all agreed with everything everyone said?  Pretty boring :)  Writing is an outlet for people whether other people read it or not.

Welcome to pieces of my life.  Living with Moxie.