Pretty in the '80s.

Although I was born in 1983, I still missed a whole host of classic 80s films due to the fact that I was just too young to even care. Films such as 16 Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink. To date, I have seen all of The Breakfast Club, most of 16 Candles (I keep catching it on TV after it's already begun, thus missing the beginning as always), and now for the first time I am watching Pretty in Pink. I quickly realized that the guy whose friends with Molly Ringwald's Character plays the brother with the son on Two and a half Men. I also quickly realized that the writers of She's All That stole the plot line from Pretty in Pink. Really, has Hollywood ran out of good ideas already?

Anyway, back to the film. Here I am watching it on AMC and it's the scene where Molly's character is taking two pink dresses and creating her own. They show the drawing and I'm thinking "this can't be what she's really designing." Then she walks out and bam! it was the dress she was designing. I had to immediately remind myself that this movie was made in 1986 and is only reflecting the style of the times. Such beautiful fabric but that dress was only pretty in the 80s. There is no way I would ever wear a dress that didn't accentuate my wonderful curves (I'm not talking fat rolls either).

Anyway, the movie is cute and I wish I had seen the first half (I stumbled upon this one while channel surfing). Maybe someday I'll go crazy and buy the DVD. ~_^

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In recent Navy news: I just did my Swim PST with my recruiter and passed. I swam 500 meters in 12'30''. It had to be done in under 14 mins. I'm stoked!!! All I need to do is work on the pull-ups and push-ups and I'll be qualified for Search and Rescue. ^__^

A New Home

I've been on here for a few months now and while I haven posted very often, I am slowly starting to make this my new blog home. For years I've been on Xanga. I even have a lifetime premium membership that I paid $100 to get. However, according to a famous blogger who calls himself thetheologianscafe, Xanga is starting to circle the drain. I can totally see it happening too and it makes me sad. All of those who I used to read have moved on to other blogging sites or quit altogether, forcing me to find new people to read. Feedback on my posts went from 20-30 a day to less than 1 a week on average! In the past I would read popular bloggers and they would read mine and comment, now when I read and comment on todays popular bloggers, I'm lucky if they even visit my site. The Xanga team has gone from 18 employees to 7 in less than a year and the content and function of the site is getting worse by the day. So now here I am on Blogger trying to make a fresh start.

Blogger is different and at the moment difficult to personalize. I'm having to learn new ticks and HTML codes and his is not fun. However, I do not forsee blogger going down the drain anytime soon so log as it's owned by google. Who knows, all that goes up must come down eventually. Until then, blogger looks to become my new home.

One thig I won't do is spend a dime on this site. I've had to learn that the hard way, unfortunately.

In the Navy

I have just recently joined the Delayed Entry Program (DEP) in the Navy. I am scheduled to "ship out" as they say on November 3. However, for the past 2 years I've been preparing and training for the military. Of course, in the beginning it was for the Coast Guard but as you can tell by the title, that has changed.

Anyway, on Tuesday (I was supposed to do this the previous Friday but it was cancelled at the last minute) I did a mock PST with my recruiter so that she could see how much I have progressed. I am hoping to change my job to Rescue Swimmer before I ship out and in order to achieve that I must past the PST for that job. My reqs are as follows:

Run 1.5 miles in under 12 mins

Push up 35 times or more in under 2 mins

Sit up 50 times or more in under 2 mins

Swim 500 meters (10 laps) in under 14 mins

Pull-Up 2 times (or more if possible)

My run time was the best in the bunch. On a flat surface (I had been training on hilly terrain) I clocked in at 10 mins!! A big shocker for me since I was expecting my time to be longer.

I was able to do 52 sit ups but as for my push-ups, I almost did 35. I was on the 35th one but couldn't lift my body the rest of the way. Also, as it turns out I do not go all the way down to where my elbows form a 90 degree angle, so I need to work on that.

I already knew I could not do the pull-ups. I have recently purchased a pull-up bar for my apartment and for the past couple of weeks, ever time I passed it I would attempt to do some pull-ups. I've improved some but not to a full one yet.

We didn't do the swim because the pool wasn't open at 0800 so on Monday at 1200 we will be doing that. I know I can swim well but I don't know how fast I am. Also, now that I am officially finished with college (as of yesterday at 1802!! Woot!) I can no longer use my University pool to practice. I just hope I do well and in under 14 mins.

So I am almost there. I just need to work on my push-ups, pull-ups, improve my sit-ups, and find a swimming pool to swim in. Maybe the local YMCA will give me a DEPper discount. ^_^

(Horray for me for finishing college!! It took me 7 years to get that B.A. but it was well worth the trip.)

It's a Small World After All...

Today I was checking my Facebook on my iPhone and noticed I had a message from TJ. He asked if I knew JF who asked about my brother Malcolm and talked about the Homestead. I was shocked to see that they knew each other. Of course I knew JF and I knew his sister KF! I haven't talked or seen them since they moved!! We were once next door neighbors back when I was in grade school.

Anyway, I looked them up on FB and friend requested them. Back when I went to Memphis, my close friends and I started to see a trend. U. Memphis's student population is about 20,000. In my mind that is enormous! I am from a town of about 2,000 so anything more than that seemed overwhelming to me and to this day I am still shocked at how many connections I had at that school. First I met Kara, who knew Tanya, who knew this person, who knew this person, and so on. Then I became friends with Jan who knew Tanya, and so-n-so, etc. Then I met another person who knew many more people including those I was already friends with. Before I knew it, I had some sort of connection with EVERYONE at Memphis! While to those who are from bigger cities and towns, this doesn't seem surprising, but for me it's still a shocker. I still get really excited when a friend of mine knows another friend of mine and it is through that connection that we are brought back together. Just like with TJ and I and our now mutual friends JF and KF.

This world seems so big until a moment like this happens. Plus, now thanks to the social networks our world is becoming even smaller. I wonder if I'll ever find my oldest friend Steph Webb? If so, I think I'll pass out. Ok, maybe not but I will be extremely excited. :-D

To Assume makes and Ass out of U and Me.

Sometimes I'm afraid to talk for fear that I'll be accused of being prejudicial.

I am always carefully choosing my words because the one thing that I am NOT is prejudicial. I love people of all ethnicities, races, faiths, sexual orientations, etc. However, I've been in a few situations where people I work with or talk to will take what I say and twist it so that I sound like the bad gal. As a result, no friendship is formed and more negative feelings are spread. It bothers me that I cannot say what I wish to say without having to worry if it will be taken the wrong way. (and I do not mean to say that I want to say borderline prejudicial comments. That is not in my nature. I just don't want my words to be twisted to mean something totally opposite of what I really want to say.)

I cannot help it that I'm white, just like others cannot help it that they are black, tan, brown, yellow, red, gay, straight, etc. I am not responsible for the actions of others in the past but for my own actions in the past, present, and future. I have never committed a hate crime, shouted out hateful words towards others, or condemned anyone for being different than me. I have never advocated for the restriction of human rights but rather fought for all people to have the same basic human rights as everyone else. I will proudly stand by my sisters and brothers and fight for their right for gay marriage. I will stand by anyone who is being wronged and help them rise above the hate and prevail.

I just wish that those who are classified (by the government and society) as being part of the minority will stop assuming that because I am white that I secretly hate them for being different. If you give me a chance you will learn that I am far from hating you for what you are. If I don't like you it will be because you did something hateful or hurtful that makes me not like you. What you look like or who you date is of no concern to me.

Just let me show you who I really am.