Updating.. no creativity for a title

I've been avoiding my bloggerness like the plague for the last few weeks but I have updates now! In work news, I am the June Employee of the Month! It has provided a much needed boost to my work morale. I still need to take my picture for the wall but I am tempted to submit this picture instead...

This will never happen but it's worth a try!

I spent the 4th with my family at a Collins Lake campsite. It was amazing and exactly the refresher I've needed. We water skied, swam, ate, swam some more, and rented a paddle board and kayak for six hours. The paddle board was AWESOME! Talk about a full body work out! I rowed the paddle board from the rental beach area to the beach in front of our campsite. Then when I got close I made my first attempt at standing. (Thank you, BOSU ball for helping me with my balance!) I was able to stand right away but balancing AND rowing... whew... that was tough! I fell off quite a few times but it was so worth it. It was even worth the shoulder and back soreness the next day. Don't worry, I was still able to brush my hair and put it in a ponytail.

Water skiing was great also. I've been skiing on doubles since I was 11 or 12 but I haven't done it in a few years. I got up pretty easily so I decided to ditch a ski and ski on a single. I've had successful single ski trips a couple of times before, so I figured it would be easier than it was. Let's just say I cleared my sinuses with lake water. I had some good attempts but just got too tired to continue. Oh well, there's always next time!

My husband wasn't able to come on the camping trip because he was getting pigs for his FFA students. Literally 5 minutes after returning from my trip, we headed to the farm for some quality pig time. The pigs are pretty cute when they are younger and they are still curious enough to wonder what I am ("are YOU my mom?!). My cell phone almost got eaten but I did make it off the farm with some cute pictures. As much as I want to hate the pigs for taking my precious little Brian time, it's hard when they are so freakin' cute.

Obviously not a pig :)

For the camping trip, my Aunt brought along her copies of The Fifty Shades of Grey (Books 1 and 2) and I unwittingly started reading them. I finished both books in two days and went on to finish the third before I had to go back to work. When I read books, I become an obsessive reading addict. It's normal for me and this experience was no different. It wasn't until I was done with the series that I realized how much I despised the books. Yes, I devoured them but they made me so  mad. 1) Not many people have that much sex. 2) When hearing about my friends and their "first times", the word orgasm has never been mentioned. 3) Someone who is scared of their boyfriend/husband needs to leave said boyfriend/husband. 4) Fan Fiction writers should not be allowed to do what E.L. James did (see more below) because it is wrong.

During the reading experience, we did a little photo shoot

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Fan Fictions and I've even written a couple. There are a lot of talented writers who write fan fics and who spend a lot of time in the FF world before diving into their own writing projects. Some of the Twilight Fan Fictions are better than the original novels. Now, if you didn't know, E.L. James made a killing selling a trilogy that started out as an Alternative Universe Fan Fiction (AU FF) for the Twilight series. The AU FF was called Master of the Universe. The similarities between the FF and the published series are... astronomically high. (If you don't believe me, check here.) It's kind of ridiculous and sort of embarrassing that she was allowed to publish these books. I don't have a protective bone in my body when it comes to the Twilight series, I just think that this kind of messes things up for FF writers who are remaining "honest". And I guess that is the end of my rant.

Now I have a confession and something I want to get off my chest. It's personal but it needs to be done! It's the main reason I was staying away from blog writing. I actually spent a good portion of June writing blog posts for a Mom/Pregnancy/Trying to Conceive website. No, I'm not pregnant. Am I aspiring to be at some point soon? Sure, that was the point of the blog posts. Despite the chance of compensation, I decided that it wasn't for me. I really enjoyed writing the posts, the responses they received, and the fact that I was helping a hoard of people. What I didn't like was that it made me obsessive and I ended up heartbroken. I got so invested in what I was writing/what I was feeling that I just forgot that sometimes these things end in disappointment. I didn't want to be disappointed. It was tough but I'm glad I stepped away from the project. I feel much, much better. (P.S. I'd prefer if anyone who knows my husband personally not mention this to him. I've had a hard enough time trying to convince him we are "ready" and outside intervention is not going to help my cause... at all! :) thanks!)

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