Getting Healthy

I’ve just started a second blog called Getting Healthy. (It only has two posts so far.) I decided to create this blog because I need to make some major changes in my life. By focusing on my overall health–emotional, physical, and spiritual–I hope my life will improve. I’ve finally decided to start following my blog motto: “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” JK Rowling is a wise woman and I need to do exactly that–live rather than just survive!

This blog is mostly for me to document my progress and remember the things that have inspired and helped me become healthier. But, I hope it can help anyone else who may be feeling or going through the same things I am.

Check it out if you’d like to follow my progress.

Update: I have combined the blogs together. So, now all the posts that were on my Getting Healthy blog are on this blog.

Getting Ready for School

The first day of school is Monday. When I had three weeks until school started, I came up with a list of five things I needed to get done. I only accomplished one of them, albeit the most important. Oopsies.

  1. Finish watching LOST.
  2. Conquer Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
  3. Finish reading The Book Thief.
  4. Reread Shiver and Linger, so I can read Forever.
  5. Gather my sanity to get me through the next few months.

Now that I’m out of time, I don’t really care about the first four items. I’ll still do them, just during the semester instead of before. I’ll watch LOST over the weekends. After all, I only have 16 episodes left. And, I can conquer Zelda one week or another. After I get out of my reading slump, I’ll accomplish 3 and 4.

I had one thing that wasn’t on my to do list that I still had to accomplish. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to go back to school at all. BYU, the school I attend, doesn’t allow extreme hairstyles, which is anyone’s guess, but I was fairly certain my current color wouldn’t be allowed. Today, I remedied that and had my niece Carlee redye my hair.

Although I miss the purple … a lot, I really like the new color. I also love that it’s still a bit edgy, but within BYU’s rules. (The red isn’t quite as noticeable when it’s not in the sun.)

At this point, after I put all my supplies together tomorrow, I’m ready to go back and I’m quite excited about it!

ESFJ: Extroverted Sensing Feeling Judging

On Friday night, Corey and I went to our friends’, the Vigues, place to watch their kids so Ali could go out with Tyler for her birthday.  After they came home and the kids were put to bed, somehow we got on the subject of personalities.  Tyler has a book, Please Understand Me II, that uses the Myer-Briggs personality test to determine your personality type.  He tested Corey and me to see what we were.

Corey’s an ENTP–Extroverted Intuitive Thinking Perceiving.  When we read the description, it was him to a T.  There wasn’t a single thing written about that personality type that contradicted with Corey.  There was a lot of insightful laughing to be had.

At first, I was a cross between an INFJ (Introverted Intuitive Feeling Judging) and an ISFJ (Introverted Intuitive Feeling Judging).  They’re known as the Protector and Counselor respectively.  A lot of the things said about those types were accurate, but there were a lot of things that weren’t.  We figured that a good mix of both described me pretty well.  But, it got me thinking.  I tend to answer these questions with how I want to be or how I perceive myself to be, which isn’t how I actually am in most cases.  I decided to take the test again since Tyler let me borrow his book.

The second time around, I came out as an ESFJ–Extroverted Sensing Feeling Judging–also known as the Provider.  I was leery about this assessment because I don’t see myself as extroverted.  However, after reading about this personality, I realized that I really am extroverted, but I’m extremely self-conscious, as most ESFJs are, which makes me seem introverted.

Here are some things about my personality type, and if you know me well enough, you’ll see why this is a better fit than the other two.

  • Personable and talkative, bouncing from subject to subject
  • Restless if isolated from people (enjoy socializing and entertaining)
  • Fascination in gossip with local people or celebrities
  • Restive when talking about philosophic or scientific abstractions
  • Listen to acknowledged authorities on abstract matters and rely on officially sanctioned views to form their opinions and attitudes
  • Nostalgic and recount past experiences often
  • Pessimistic, expressing doom and gloom that’s sometimes contagious
  • Highly sensitive (easily wounded), but not reluctant to express emotional reactions
  • Quick to like and dislike, putting those they admire on pedestals and come down hard on the people and issues they don’t like
  • Have difficulty recognizing the shortcomings of loved ones
  • Conscious of appearances and others’ opinions of themselves
  • Crushed by personal criticism
  • Fond-hearted, sentimental, and observe birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays fervently
  • Take things in via their five senses in a literal, concrete fashion
  • Need approval from others to feel good about themselves
  • Weigh their values and morals against the world around them, rather than against an internal value system
  • Natural tendency to want to control their environment
  • Warmly interested in others
  • Prefer to do things in the established way, rather than venturing into uncharted territory
  • Controlling, overly sensitive, and imagine bad intentions when there are none
  • Warm, sympathetic, helpful, cooperative, tactful, down-to-earth, practical, thorough, consistent, organized, enthusiastic, and energetic

48 Odd Things About Me

I was sent this e-mail today from my friend Cami and I’ve decided to post it on my blog for all to read.

  1. Do you like blue cheese? No, that’s gross!
  2. Have you ever smoked? No
  3. Do you own a gun? No
  4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? I don’t add anything to my drink, but I order a grape slush.
  5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Depends on which doctor it is…
  6. What do you think of hot dogs? I like corn dogs, but I don’t like hot dogs because they make me sick to my stomach.
  7. Favorite Christmas movie? The Nightmare Before Christmas
  8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Milk
  9. Can you do pushups? No
  10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? Earrings
  11. Favorite hobby? I have lots of them, but I guess reading and maintaining my blog are my favorites right now.
  12. Do you have ADD? What was I doing? Just kidding, no I don’t. I’m more OCD than ADD.
  13. What’s one trait you hate about yourself? Self-destructive tendencies, meaning I blame myself for everything and I always talk down to myself.
  14. Middle name: Elyse
  15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: I’m tired, I’m bored, and I wish people would look at and comment on my blog more.
  16. Name 3 things you bought yesterday? Muffin, haircut, and hair dye
  17. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, Gatorade, and milk
  18. Current worry? Family drama that may ensue this weekend
  19. Current hate right now? Microwave in my work’s break room. I bruised my finger on it.
  20. Favorite place to be? With my family and/or friends
  21. How did you bring in the New Year? Playing games and watching Michael Jackson music videos at Becky’s awesome New Year’s party!
  22. Where would you like to go? Japan
  23. Name three people you want to do this on their blog? Amber, Megan, and Meagan
  24. Do you own slippers? Yes, but I rarely wear them.
  25. What song makes you happy? “The Elephant Love Medley” from Moulin Rouge
  26. What year would you go back in time to? 1993 to prevent a certain event from happening to me, or to resolve the issue the way it should’ve been resolved in the beginning.
  27. Can you whistle? I try, but it’s sad.
  28. Favorite color? Lavender
  29. Would you be a pirate? As long as Captain Jack Sparrow were my captain
  30. What songs do you sing in the shower? There are three songs that get into my head the most often and that’s what I would sing. The songs are the theme from Disney’s Robin Hood, “Yellow Submarine” by The Beatles, and the Oscar Meyer wiener song sung about my Darth Tater Mr. Potato Head. It goes like this: “My potato has a first name. It’s D A R T H. My potato has a second name. It’s T A T E R. I like to play with him every day and if you ask me why I’ll say: ’cause my Darth Tater has his way with P O T A T O yay!”
  31. Favorite girl’s name: Mackenna
  32. Favorite boy’s name: Nethaneel
  33. What’s in your pocket right now? Lint
  34. Last thing that made you laugh? Some screenshots of made up, but plausible, Windows Vista errors
  35. Last thing that made you cry? Someone telling me that I hurt some people’s feelings by something I had posted, trying to be funny not mean, on one of the online forums I belong to.
  36. Worst injury you’ve ever had? A really, really bad sunburn
  37. Do you love where you live? Yes
  38. How many TVs do you have in your house? 2
  39. Who is your loudest friend? Besides myself, Danylle, Amber, or Lauren; but, I like loud people because they’re usually more fun!
  40. How many dogs do you have? None, but I have 3 cats.
  41. Does someone have a crush on you? I have no idea.
  42. What is your favorite book(s)? (You asked for it)–Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Host, Dune, Dragon Prince, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass, You Are Special, and Fox in Socks
  43. What is your favorite candy? Strawberry Twizzlers or Nerds
  44. Favorite Sports Team(s)? I despise sports.
  45. Your favorite meal? Anything Japanese, especially sushi!
  46. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Sleeping in the car while Corey was driving home from Aymee and Dave’s.
  47. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Do I have to wake up now?
  48. Do you have any odd habits? Yes, but I’m not divulging them to anyone!

Ode to LeAnn

My other sisters and brother are probably going to be jealous or sad because of this post. However, honestly, I think LeAnn, other than a couple of my nieces and my in-laws, is the only one in my family that reads my blog. When I was writing the post 101 Facts About Me, I had a hard time coming up with things and realized (now) how much I can’t sum up my life in 101 things and how much I forgot or overlooked. A few of those things, in particular, are regarding LeAnn. I decided to come up with a non-exhaustive list just about her and me.

  1. Having Fun with LeAnnWhenever I had a nightmare or got scared at night, LeAnn always let me sleep with her.
  2. Some of my favorite memories when I was younger include hanging out with LeAnn. We used to go to the mall and movies together, have fun out in the yard, go to the roller skating rink, and lots of other things too.
  3. When I was six or seven years old, LeAnn taught me how to play the top hand of “Für Elise.”
  4. When I was about seven or eight years old, I was running down the hall in my house and LeAnn tripped me. (She didn’t do it to hurt me; it was a “just for fun” kind of thing.) After I tripped, I went sailing into the corner of a wall. Amazingly, I wasn’t hurt. The wall, however, wasn’t as lucky. There was a huge dent in it. We joke that I have a really hard head.
  5. LeAnn joined the Marines when I was in the 4th grade and when she was sworn in, I was also unofficially sworn into the Marines because I wanted to be like her.
  6. When I was about nine or ten years old, my childhood cat, Gus, was sleeping on LeAnn’s bed. She told me to leave him there while she used the restroom because she wanted to sleep with him.  But, I did too. While she was in the restroom, I snuck Gus out of her room and into my bed and hid him under my covers while I pretended to be asleep. She went back down to her bedroom and noticed he was gone. I heard her yell, “JENNI!” She came up to my room and asked me if I took him. I told her no. Even though I don’t think she believed me, she just walked away and let me sleep with him.
  7. When I was a junior in high school, LeAnn lived with us for a few months because her husband was overseas in Okinawa. She, my mom, and I were talking in the living room when she decided to attack me with a newspaper. I got newspaper print all over my face.
  8. One of my favorites memories is staying up with LeAnn to watch Quantum Leap when she was living with us in my junior year.