A little over a year ago, I started to go back through my old blog posts for the purpose of creating thumbnails for all my pictures.  The pictures in my old posts were extremely large, but re-sized for the posts, and made some posts take a while to load.  Now, every post has a smaller version of the picture that loads for the post and some have a larger version of the picture when you click it so you can see more detail.  I also re-sized a lot of the images so that they fit with my current blog theme format better.

During this process, I also edited a lot of my posts for consistency.  I added links to my friends’ and family members’ blogs (as long as they’re not private), links to outside websites, edited content, etc.  While I was editing my posts, I noticed that I use the word “so” and “well” a lot to connect two thoughts together.  I really need to come up with different words or a better way to connect thoughts together as I don’t always want to use the same words.  And, off topic, I need to learn to loosen up and not be so professional when I write a post.

Anyway, I’m really glad I’m finally done editing my blog.  It’s been a long and arduous task, but I’m glad I did it.  I feel so good about accomplishing everything I did with this project.

You’ve probably noticed that I’ve blogged every day this month so far.  I didn’t design it that way; it just kind of fell into place.  However, because I have blogged every day this month, I’ve decided to keep it up and see if I can blog every day this month.

I’ve only done this one other time, almost two years ago.  It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done (as far as my blog is concerned), and I told myself when I completed it that I wouldn’t do it again.  But, I’ve decided to do it anyway.  It’s the only time I’ll have the chance to do it once school starts.

Hopefully, it won’t be as hard this time around because I have two weekly memes–Wordless Wednesday and Friday’s Fab Five.  And, I have my Project 365 post each Saturday.  I only need to come up with something to talk about on the other four days of the week.  Wish me luck!

I’ve been doing this boot camp thing now for a little over two weeks.  I got weighed and measured today, but I wasn’t found wanting.  (What movie is that in reference to?)  I didn’t lose any inches off my waist this week, but I did lose another 5 pounds.  So far, I’ve lost 11 pounds total since starting boot camp!

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School starts in less than four weeks.  I’m getting excited and nervous.  I hope I can figure out a way to work working out into my hectic schedule.  I know I won’t be able to keep up with the five-times-a-week boot camp, but I’m going to try to go at least two or three times a week.  I don’t want to stop now that I’m in the habit of being more active.  Even though I feel like dying each day, I actually feel good.  Go figure.

This semester, I’m taking three classes again.  I’m taking Spanish to finally get my language credit out of the way.  (I love learning foreign languages, but I’ve been taking so many languages here and there that I’ve never completed the credit in one language.)  I’m also taking an intro to literature class since I never paid attention to literature in school.  I thought it might help me become better versed in the literature I need to know to do well in my major. Finally, I’m taking another religion class.  I don’t need to take anymore, but I wanted to take a class in between my Spanish and literature class so I signed up for one since there’s always space available.

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Thanks for all the feedback regarding whether I should split my book reviews on to a separate blog.  For now, I’ve decided to keep my blog in one piece.  I think with school starting in a month, I should keep things as simple as possible.  I might revisit the idea again in the future.

I really like my blog the way it is, and I guess this is all that matters.  However, I thought I’d get my readers’ opinion on the content of my blog.  I’ve read a few things here and there that say that blogs do better (i.e. more readership) when it focuses on one topic rather than a smörgåsbord of topics.  I’ve been thinking about creating a separate blog for my book reviews and leaving this blog for updates on my doings with Corey, family, friends, school, hobbies (other than reading), etc.  What do you think?  Do you think I should create a separate blog for book reviews?  Or, do you like the one-stop shopping experience?

This year is the year of weddings for my family.  I’ve already posted about two of my nieces’ weddings, Carlee and Cami, and two weddings in a year is already a lot for the same family.  But, it doesn’t stop there.  My other niece Kelsey just got engaged a little over a week ago.  She and her fiancé are getting married on September 10.  I’m very excited for her, and, at the same time, I really hope none of my other nieces or nephews decide to get hitched this year. I’d actually like to use some of my paid time off for vacation rather than weddings and/or sickness.

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I had my colonoscopy yesterday. The colonoscopy was a breeze just as everyone said it would be, but I never want to have one again.  The preparation for a colonoscopy is awful.  I felt so sick Tuesday afternoon and evening as well as most of Wednesday morning.

To clean out your body, the doctor makes you drink magnesium citrate, a saline laxative.  The normal dosage for someone who feels constipated is between six and a half ounces and 10 ounces.  I had to drink 30 ounces on Tuesday, 15 ounces at 3:00 pm and the other 15 ounces at 9:00 pm. When I first started to drink the stuff, I was okay with it; it had a nice lemony flavor.  After six or seven ounces, it started to make me sick.  The flavor’s so concentrated and it’s so sour that your body just wants to reject it (and you’re not allowed to throw it up).  When I had to take the 9:00 pm dose, I thought I was going to cry.  I never want to have a colonoscopy again just for the sheer fact that I don’t ever want to drink magnesium citrate again!

After my experience with the magnesium citrate, I don’t understand how people willingly go on a colon cleansing diet.  I know they may not drink magnesium citrate, but they still drink something similar to it that produces the same effect.  I’d never willingly put myself through what I went through.

As far as the results of the colonoscopy go, I don’t have Crohn’s Disease.  But, I don’t really know anything more than that.  I have to schedule an appointment with my gastroenterologist in a couple of weeks to go over the biopsy results.  More than likely, his suspicion of it being SIBO is right, either that or IBS.

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Because the first half of the year’s over, I thought it’d be good to check in on my yearly goals.  I haven’t been doing as well this year as I did last year.  But, maybe if I take a look at them again, it will help motivate me to do better.

In 2010, I want to:

• Continue to improve my relationship with Corey.
• Read The New Testament.
• Go back to school.
• Read at least 35 books.
• Lose another 30 pounds.
• Go to church regularly (every week).

I feel like my relationship with Corey continues to improve and grow each day.  There are days when it feels like I’ve (we’ve) taken 10 steps in the wrong direction, but we’re still trying and I know that’s all that matters and it will be a lifelong process.

I’ve had a hard time consistently reading The New Testament.  I love reading it, but I don’t understand it as well as I do The Book of Mormon.  It doesn’t seem as clear or as easily understandable so I struggle to read it each day.  I go in spurts.  I’ve finally finished the Four Gospels and I’m now in Acts.  I don’t think I’ll get through the rest of The New Testament by the end of the year, but I’m going to get as far as possible and I’ll continue to read it until I finish it next year.

School has been going well as most of you’ve read from time to time on my blog.  I’ve been enjoying my break for the past few weeks and I look forward to starting a new semester at the end of August.

As soon as I started school, I knew reading at least 35 books would be difficult to accomplish.  At this point, I’ve only read seven books.  I’ve counted both of the books I read for my English classes.  I did read a ton of short stories and essays for both classes, but I haven’t really been able to track them.  Even though I haven’t read very many “books,” I’ve still read a lot.  I hope to read at least 10 books during my break, but I’ve been so busy with other things that I haven’t even finished one yet. Hopefully, I can remedy that soon.  I’m actually tempted to put The Lord of the Rings aside for now and reread some of my favorites just so I can read.  But, I really want to read The Lord of the Rings.  Maybe, instead of trying to accomplish something numerically this year, I just need to make a goal to read certain books.  If I did that, then the books I’d want to read this year are:

• The Lord of the Rings trilogy
• The Hobbit (done )
• Elantris (done )
• The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (done )
• Pride & Prejudice
• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Mockingjay (this includes rereading The Hunger Games and Catching Fire)
• Clockwork Angel
• Linger (this includes rereading Shiver)
• The Lost Saint (this includes rereading The Dark Divine)
• Matched

Losing 30 pounds hasn’t gone so well either.  Once I started school, I kind of let this goal slide.  And, unfortunately, I’ve gained back a lot of what I lost last year.  I’m trying not to feel guilty about it because that’ll just make me not want to do anything about it.  Right now, it’s tough because of all the health issues I’m dealing with and trying to figure out what I can and can’t eat.  I’ve made a decision that will help remedy this problem and help me get back on track.  People with SIBO and IBS usually do better on a low-carbohydrate, high-fat (good fats) diet.  Because of this and the fact that I’m borderline diabetic, I’ve decided to stop eating sugar and refined carbohydrates or starches.  I’ll concentrate on eating proteins and vegetables.  (My mother-in-law has been doing this for a while now and she’s lost quite a bit of weight and feels better than she ever has.  She says she doesn’t even crave sugar anymore either.)  I want to wait to change my diet until after I talk to my gastroenterologist again just to make sure it’s not going to create more problems.  If he gives me the green light, then that’s what I’m going to do.

I go to church fairly regularly, but not as regularly as I should.  It’s something I still need to work on.  I love it when I do go to church, but I have a hard time talking myself into going on some days.  Since I’ve been put into Young Women, I’ve been doing better.  This last month was a little sporadic because of family gatherings and being sick, but I’ll keep working on this.

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My blog hit another milestone a couple of weeks ago.  I was so busy with everything I completely forgot about it.  My blog is now three years old!  It’s hard to believe I’ve had enough to say to keep my blog going for three years.  But, with this being the 641st post, I guess I’ve had a lot to say.

Thank you for helping my blog be as successful as it has been.  I really appreciate your comments.  I’ve started to learn not to expect comments and realize that I’m doing this for me more than anything else, but it’s still nice to have the comments I do get.

While I’m waiting for Froggarita to post today’s Friday’s Fab Five, I thought I’d talk about a little something new to my blog.  I realized while looking at other book blogger’s blogs that when I review a book, I don’t ever give a straightforward rating.  I talk about how much I liked or disliked or was indifferent about a book, but that’s it.  I know for some that might be a great way to read book reviews, but then for others, it may not be very helpful.

I’ve decided to add star ratings to all the book reviews I do from here on out, and I’m in the process of adding those ratings to all my old reviews as well.  I’ve already added ratings to the Book Reviews page.

You need to be aware of how I rate books because they may not make sense to you.  When I give a book a star rating, it has nothing to do with its literary value, meaning how well it’s written.  I rate books purely based on how much I enjoyed reading them; it’s as simple as that.  Even though I think a book like Fahrenheit 451 is very well written and has important social implications, I still only gave it two stars because of how much I enjoyed … er didn’t enjoy … reading it.  My rating system is as follows:

	I use this prestigious rating only for books that belong on my Favorites shelf. Books on my Favorites shelf are books I can read over and over again.
	I use this rating for books I liked a lot, definitely recommend to others, and I will read again.
	I use this rating for books I liked, which I may or may not recommend to others and I may or may not read again.
	I use this rating for books I didn’t like, but I’m glad I took the time to read, may or may not recommend to others, and I will probably never read again.
	I use this rating for books I absolutely detested, do not recommend to others, and I will never read again.

Anyway, I hope this will be helpful to those of you who read my reviews.

My friend Kayla and her sister Shauna, over at 1 + 1 = FUN, tagged me to receive the Beautiful Blogger Award. Thanks so much for passing this award on to me!

Kayla and Shauna have their own private blogs, but they felt like they were missing out on the fun that blogging can be.  They decided to start a public blog together–they didn’t want to maintain two blogs so they settled for maintaining one and a half blogs. Anyway, their blog is a lot of fun to read because they’re hilarious and they always interact with the reader, something I’m not very good at.  I definitely recommend checking it out!

The rules of the award are: list seven things about yourself, link back to the person that gave you the award, and pass the award on to seven other bloggers.

I’m going to attempt to tell you seven things about me that you don’t already know.  The key word in that previous sentence is attempt as you probably know more about me than you ever wanted to or thought possible.

1. Even though I’m a cat lover, I have always wanted a small dog but not enough to not have a cat.
2. I want to breed llamas.  If I ever get the chance, I’d name each llama with an L name and pronounce it like there’s a double L (e.g. L-larry or L-lucy), and I’d make my own yarn from them.  Until then, I’m content with naming the llamas in the surrounding neighborhoods.
3. I love to play with Slinkies, but inevitably I always do something to get them tangled up.  I’m not allowed to play with them anymore.
4. When I was nine, I dreamed that my brother-in-law Brett murdered my entire family.  I wouldn’t go near him for three months.
5. I’m a scary movie junkie, but only if I’m not alone or won’t be alone within the following week.
6. I didn’t learn how to whistle until I was in high school, and I still can’t whistle a tune because it’s barely more than just air being blown out of my mouth.
7. I hate tire swings, or anything that spins in circles for that matter, because they make me sicker than a pregnant woman in her first trimester.

I tag the following seven bloggers:

1. Andrea
2. Aymee
3. Brodi–You don’t have to post seven things about you because I know you still haven’t finished your list of 25 things.
4. Christie
5. Jenifer
6. Luisa
7. Rachel

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