O Holy Night

This is a hillarious clip from South Park with Cartman singing "o Holy Night" and messing up the lyrics. This is not available on youtube, so you will have to copy and paste the link below to your browser.

http://www.shoutwire.com/articles/102009/Southpark_Cartman_O_Holy_Night.html

Any one up for a Cuddle Party?

I came across this new phenonmenon and found it quite interesting... Cuddle Parties: a place where adults can come together and explore affectionate touch and communication without it become sexualized. See www.cuddleparty.com

Sound wierd? Here's the website's response: "While coming together for an event such as this might seem a little odd, our need for contact, touch, and affection is proven. Affectionate touch is necessary for healthy immune systems, good mental health, and the development of our brains and nervous systems. It can reduce stress levels and help sick or injured people to heal. Touch is a means of communication with the people around us. Practicing welcomed, affectionate touch without sexualizing it can improve relationships of all kinds."

"This is the real weirdness: past the age of twelve or so, we're supposed to curtail our physical contact with other adults. As adults we STILL NEED TO BE HELD! Held, hugged, touched, stroked, caressed, piled atop on, reclined across, nuzzled, and affectionately massaged. Cuddle Parties are a place to begin exploring and reclaiming the sense of affectionate touch and play we naturally displayed and enjoyed as children, and that we need to be happy, healthy adults."

This is a true point, although I find cuddling with a bunch of strangers to be wierd and uncomfortable. But I could see a Mormon single party spin-off of this... where you could actually cuddle with people you know or would like to get to know :) I do agree with the need for affection in a good healthy way and I'm glad some people are turning to this rather than promiscuous-ness. But I have a hard time wrapping my mind around cuddling with strangers... it's just too intimate.

The site goes on to answer all the frequently asked questions surrounding cuddle parties. Some interesting terms:

FTCs: First Time Cuddlers
Puppy Pile: When a bunch of people crawl atop one another and cozy up, like puppies do just before they fall asleep
Cuddle Lifeguards: a select group of amazing individuals who are specially trained and certified in how to facilitate Cuddle Parties
Cuddle Caddies: Cuddle Caddies assist the Cuddle Lifeguards.They too are trained, but their training isn't as intense or long as the certification to become a Cuddle Lifeguard. Think of Cuddle Caddies as the flannel sidekicks of the Cuddle Party Dynamic Duo.
Spoon Press: See picture above

Very strange, very strange indeed.

Where should I live?

There's a fun website I was told about to find out the best place for you to live considering your tastes and preferences. I decided to try it out to see if SLC is the place for me. It wasn't even in my top 20. The website is www.findyourspot.com I tried to be as honest as possible and this is what came up... I'm not sure how accurate this list is. It doesn't take into consideration location of family. So Denver is my #1 spot... interesting because I've always been drawn to living in Denver. It is my birthplace. Maybe this is a sign? The only deterrant is the fact that I don't have any family there. But its definitely a place I could settle down in. I like the fact that it is close to the mountains and has all the out-doorsy stuff that I like. It has a strong LDS-based community without it being overwhelmingly LDS like Utah is. It has a plethora of ski resorts that actually provide great skiing deals to the locals (unlike Utah) and it has every major professional sporting team. Denver has a great downtown with great shopping and restaurants. Plus, I don't think it gets the nasty inversions during the winter like Salt Lake Valley gets.

1. Denver, CO
2. Seattle, WA

3. Carlisle, PA

4. Cinncinati, OH

5. Knoxville, TN

6. Charleston, SC

7. Kent, WA

8. Fort Collins, CO

9. Tacoma, WA

10. Jacksonville, FL


www.bestplaces.net is a site that shows you the cost of living in any zip code in the US. Handy for seeing how far your paycheck will take you in any of the locations findyourspot tells you is your place of compatibility.

Bigger

I came across this and it really resonated with me...

I feel like there is so much more that I am capable of than what I am currently doing in my life. There is so much more I can give. There is so much more that I want out of life...

Battle at Kruger

Ok, I just learned how to post a youtube clip to my blog. You got to check this video out... pretty freakin amazing...

21 days for new habit

How long does it take to actually form a new habit? The common response is 21 days. Studies have actually shown that if you practice a new habit for an average of 21 days, it actually becomes easier to do the new habit than it is to NOT to do the new habit. That's fantastic!!

I've always been really into working out and being healthy, but the past few months I've gotten into a slump and made plenty of excuses for not going to the gym. I actually dreaded going to the gym. Looking back, I can see how this really effected me physically and emotionally. I was in a relationship and so going to the gym took a back seat. Now I see there needs to be a balance in all things.

Making a commitment to run a half marathon (Nike's Women in San Francisco) in October, I decided the time of slacking off needed to come to an end. So a couple of weeks ago, I started going back to the gym. I really dreaded going back and it took a lot of discipline to go to the gym every day. I was surprised at how out of shape I had become. I stuck to it and grudgingly would go and "put in the time." It has now been only a couple of weeks and I cannot believe how differently I feel! I feel so much better and I feel like a weight has been lifted (no pun intended) from me emotionally. Exercising is truly theraputic. Now, amazingly enough, I look forward to going to the gym and "clearing my head" through running. I love the rush I get after I push myself to go just a little further on my runs. And even on days where you really don't feel like going, you never regret that you did once it's all over. Only 14 days and a new habit has been restored!!! This has really instilled in me just how effective and necessary exercise is for over-all well-being. I've always known the importance of exercise and now I remember why i've been so devout in my exercising in the past.

Here's a quote that I like:

"If you keep doing what you've always done, then you will keep on getting what you've always got."

Here's to new constructive habits!

Diet Coke... the deceiving drug

Hello, my name is Sara and I'm addicted to Diet Coke.



Coke adds pep to life... Just for the taste of it. Only one calorie. What an appealing slogan for those of us who count our calories and who just plain and simply get tired of drinking water and look forward to drinking something with a lot more pep and appeal.

For me, Diet Coke became the serum of life. I knew I was in trouble when I was drinking a lot more diet coke than I was water. I think my addiction started in my college days. I loved the kick it gave me. It had became a ritual in my life and a way to reward myself without feeling guilty. Back then, there was no talk about the harmful possibilities of consuming large amounts of Diet Coke. I know that my addiction now is a lot more mild than it has been in the past but the threat of relapse is always looming.

With a quick search on the internet, I found a large group of (mostly) young addicts who have congregated online and submitted their struggle with the unsuspecting drug of choice: Diet Coke and how they have become consumed with their addiction. Pretty scary. I am surprised at the real absence of talk in womens health magazines and other media of the addictiveness of Diet Coke and the health ramifications it causes. Reading some of the first-hand accounts of people's addiction to Diet Coke, makes me very uneasy about the long term effects of guzziling liters of this drink into our systems.

So here's my tribute to Diet Coke and my wish to someday be able to completely drop the habit...

Diet Coke: You have me at the sound of the soda can hissing. You are so tantilizing and refreshing. You make me happy when I'm sad. I love you when you are ice-cold, on the verge of freezing, with a twist of lemon. Nothing could be better. I've tried to quit you... but I always end up coming back. You have a fierce hold over me and I can never quite shake you. For you, there are no substitutes. I've tried to ween myself from you because I know the ramifications of my addiction to you. You are bad for me... you seep calcium from my bones... you are like a poison to my body... I hear you even cause cellulite! Asparatime makes you poisonous and I'm worried about the long-term effects. But no matter how I've tried to quit you completely, I always come back for more. Nothing is as refreshing as a cold, extra-carbonated fountain drink of you and you will always be my vice. I am encouraged that I have been able to limit your control over me to 1 drink a day and I'm hopeful that I can can continue to decrease my consumption of you. You are sly though... if I am able to cut myself off from you, the moment I let you slide back into my life, you build up your presence and I am unable to restrain my consumption of you. Oh you are quite cunning!

So those of you who share in my addiction and have succeeded in prevailing over it, please give me your suggestions.

From one addict to another.

Turning a new "technology" leaf

So I've never been much of a journal writer... and that's something I always wish I would have done better... especially since I'm old enough to have gained many life experiences that have sculpted me into who I am today. I have to admit, with all the blogging that's going on these days, I've been overwhelmed at even trying to get into the blogging world. However, I've been inspired by some friends' blogs and am attempting to start my own... mainly, so I can have some sort of an archive of my thoughts, experiences, reflections, etc. So I wish myself luck with this new endeavor.

Drama to come...