Random Thursday Things

Here we are guys. Another Thursday. This week has felt rather long and arduous to me, but maybe that's just me. I'm rather excited that it is the weekend and I'm even more excited because fun things are happening. Let's get this party started shall we?

• I'm leaving early tomorrow afternoon to drive to St. George with Chilly and friends to go see The Little Mermaid at Tuachan. I am SO freakin' excited for this! I have been looking forward to this event ever since I purchased my ticket. woo hoo!

• I am also looking forward to getting some much needed sleep. I have been so exhausted this week and Alishka needs her beauty sleep!

• My trainer....is insane. He is kicking my trash. BUT I like it. Not going to lie. He's fabulous. I did my very first bench press yesterday. Granted, all I lifted was the bar (45lbs) and not even by myself, BUT! I did it!!! I feel really cool now. :o)

• The General Relief Society Broadcast is this weekend. I LOVE this broadcast. It always rocks my world. (someone else that I just discovered blogged about this too...her blog is AWESOME. go read!)

• I have noticed the leaves changing on the mountains...I think it is time to take a drive up the canyon! woo hoo!

• I am in a mood of anything fall. I think I need to make some fall-type foods and desserts. mmmm...yup.

• Remember how I was doing my challenge? Yeah. It is going SO well. I feel like I have more time to get things done and I don't just lounge around and read tv. Also, this will help me to read more. 

• I have been in a slight reading slump lately and as I visited Angie last night I picked up the randomest collection of books to read in the next few weeks. Definitely in a weird little reading mood.

• I have a new favorite band - Florence and the Machine. I realize they aren't that new, but I have recently discovered a love of their music.

• Also, I discovered this blog one day and totally went through and did the suggested things to my closet, MINUS a true remixing of outfits. I think I'm actually going to do a 30 for 30 Remix Challenge. I won't have prizes or anything, but I think I'll do it here - publicly showing my outfits and such. Maybe starting in October? Thoughts? Anyone want to tackle said challenge with me?

I think that's it for now. Wow. So many things happening and going through my mind! I'm pretty sure I missed a few things...but I'm tired of thinking.

Tender Mercy Tuesday: 38th Edition

So, today's Tender Mercy directly relates to my challenge post yesterday. I didn't turn on the TV yesterday. AT ALL. I was tempted to, but I never did. Instead, I read a book. Yup, one book in its entirety. I didn't plan on staying up late last night, in fact, I WANTED to get to bed early, but instead I stayed up reading  this really good book entitled, "Birth Marked" by Caragh M. O'Brien. Now, right now I'm wishing I had gone to bed and not stayed up to finish reading sid book, but at the same time I'm really glad I did. Here's the reason why: I feel completely justified in living up to my challenge this week. See, last week I would have just turned on the TV in the evening and probably stayed up just as late, but just laying around watching some random show. INSTEAD, after I got out of my shower from my workout I read a good book. I need to read more good books. I forget how much I love to read until I start doing it after a dry spell. So this is me, committed to my challenge and hoping it continues to bless my life like it did last night. :o)

In other news - I did assisted pull-ups on the Assisted Pull-up machine. I really liked that part of my circuit last night. :o) I don't think I mentioned it, but I got a gym trainer with my gym. He's great. He's really pushing me to become a better me and that makes me excited. :o)

And finally, I saw this today on Pinterest and I have decided that it is going to be my motto for the rest of the year. I think it pairs nicely with my word of the year. ;)

CHALLENGE

I am going to tell you all about a challenge I am giving myself. Why? So that I'll report somewhere and you can hold me accountable in a way that only you, the blogosphere can. :o)

This week (i.e. from Today until 9/18 - the next 7 days) I am going to refrain from MINDLESS TV WATCHING. 

What is "mindless TV watching?" I am defining "mindless TV watching" as that of turning on the TV to flip channels until something suitable turns on as "background noise." It might be something you've seen before, or it might be something you've always wanted to watch but haven't seen before. It could also be something that you saw the beginning, middle, end of but not the rest of it. How many of us do this "mindless TV watching?" Am I the only one? I always turn on the TV during lunch, while making dinner after I get home from work and on Sunday afternoons while I take a nap (or evenings while I work on a project). As I sat on the couch last night mindlessly watching TV trying to unwind from a long day of meetings I realized that I was wasting precious moments that could be better spent doing projects that are lying around unfinished, reading books that need to be read, or visiting with friends and family that I love. (also, this was partly spurred by the CES Fireside in which Elder and Sister Oaks spoke to the youth of the church. Sister Oaks' words really hit home for me several times.)

So there you go. I didn't turn on the TV when first stepping into my apartment today for lunch. Instead, I continued talking to my mom, ate lunch, and read one chapter from a church book and a few chapters from my fictional read for the week. I feel very accomplished. :o) I will only watch TV that I PLAN to ahead of time to watch. I won't just turn on the TV to "find" something to watch. So, pretty much the only thing that I will probably watch this week will be the BYU-U of U football game on Saturday night. ;) Bored on a Friday night and want to turn on the TV? I will either browse the TV guide online FIRST or I will do something else  better with my time because I have thousands of projects and articles to read that will be better for me compared to mindless TV watching.  If I want to watch a movie or something, I'll find one that I haven't seen in my drawer not waste my time flipping channels.

so here goes,

wish me luck!