Katie: Unfiltered

Wanna know something really awesome?  Okay, I'll tell you. I got to work all week this week, and then, I get to have three days of Drill and go to work again on Monday.  I'm all about that workaholic life. Sarcasm. On the bright side, I got my planner last night that my mother got me for Christmas, so not only do I get to be busy, I get to have a visual aid of how busy I am too.   I can't wait to start filling this baby up with all of the details of my days.  In case you were wondering where I got it, it's a Plum Paper as recommended by Heather (The Life Unexpected) So far I love it. I'll keep you posted.  This weekend will be one of epic proportions I am sure. So epic that you won't hear from me again until Monday. But really, I only promise to blog 5 days a week...so that isn't really unusual. Sometimes I get so rambly on this thing. Maybe I should fix that....NAH. Well, as I am in high demand in this world, I must cut yet another post short. If you feel like getting a play by play of my weekend and you don't feel like you've had enough Katie in your life, I'd recommend you hop on the Twitter bandwagon and follow me.  It's like..."Katie:  Unfiltered" on there. That was supposed to be my super discreet way of saying "Hey, you, go follow my twitter account @kt_nay. It'll change your life, or maybe just your views of what I'm really like, one or the other.  Peace out, girl scouts.

Particularly Shallow Benefits

I know. It's 8:52 and I haven't blogged today. I'm a failure. But I'm still getting it done which makes me cool anyway, right?
Today I worked from 12:00 to 8:15.  I have trained for 2 days and today I was on the phones by my self making calls and taking calls.  I freaking love it.  I didn't have to sit in a class forever learning the same crap over and over, I don't beg the minute hand to move faster, and today my boss brought everyone in the office a Frosty. If that isn't a pretty good job, I don't know what is. I got my schedule for the rest of the month and I'm so grateful to be employed...I don't care if I have to pretend I'm a workaholic for a while. 
And get this, blog, you will never believe it, unless you occasionally glance at my tweets...I go on dates.  In the past few weeks, I've been on more dates than I even care to admit. I've seen nearly every movie that is playing in the theaters and I've been eating out like a whole lot.  For free. One major and particularly shallow benefit of the dating scene.  
I'm really enjoying it, I've been out with a lot of really nice guys and I'm learning a lot about myself and about guys...I'm busy pretty much every night. I love it. 
I feel extremely scattered right now and I don't even know how to put this post together...so I think I'm just going to stop.  Life is good 
   

Slim Jims Do Not a Lunch Make

First day of work! First day of work!
Okay, so the first day of work was yesterday, but I'm writing about it today, so the exclamation seems appropriate. 
Of course, I arrived over 30 minutes early. I knew there would be zero traffic yet I left a solid 45 minutes early anything. Facebook told me that it's a woman thing...So of course, I sat in the car and took several first-day-of-work selfies for days...
There are about four more similar to this...I'm cool. I know.
While the work wasn't hard, it was quite overwhelming to learn so much stuff. I was catching on pretty quick and I think it's going to be a good fit for me! I'm still excited about it, so that is a good sign. 
Unfortuantely, I wasn't smart enough to bring a lunch, or even money for a lunch...I ended up eating random things I found in my car. My lunch consisted of a Slim Jim, some sour gummy worms, and wint-o-green Life Savers. Whle I quite like each of those things, I think that I'll make sure I have a lunch today!

I get to go and play big-bad Army swoldier this weekend. It has been ages since I ran around in my combat boots, so I'm not totally broken up about it.  It's just a part of that life.  I may or may not have some exciting new about the Army by the end of the weekend, but I'm not quite sure yet. Just cross your fingers and hope for good things!

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful week, for now I must go, but you will see me again if I am not enveloped by the insanity that is every-day life.

Here's to not getting swallowed up in da real world.

The Solution Is Obvious

Yesterday...Yesterday was poopy. It did not go as I planned.  I was supposed to bake a chicken. I was excited because I've never baked a chicken. I wanted to try something new.  I planned on it being a mind-blowingly amazing freaking chicken. That didn't happen because while I was stoking the fire that would NOT stay, well, on fire, I pressed my palm into a nice hot fire poker. That pretty much laid me up for the rest of the day. It hurt. 

When my momma got home, she did some Googling on "What to do for a burn" The solution was obvious:  Put a tea bag on it.  Okay...Mabye that wasn't so obvious, but It ended up working pretty well. It drew the heat out and really made it feel much better.  So if you're looking for a home remedy for a burn, black tea works!  I also took a couple anti-inflammatories...they helped too. That also means that I didn't get to go to the gym.  That made me terribly sad. I was so pumped to go destroy the place.  Oh well, I guess I'll have to give it a go tomorrow!  No body said you can't start your workout on a Tuesday, right?
***** Today, I start a new job. I'm truly so excited. It's only the second job I've ever had, not including the Army, so it's a little bit scary.  I haven't had to start at a new place and learn new things like this in quite some time, but I'm willing and excited. Besdies, I've got 99 problems and 98 of them can be solved by monies. 

True facts people. True facts. 

In the coming weeks, I have a feeling that my life is going to start making me much happier. Having a schedule and a routine will completely change how things have been doing lately.  Even though everything has been a big old mess and real stressful being back home, I'm optimistic.

Life is good...Today.

Patience You Must Have

Although I will admit that I'm not particularly into that whole "New Year, New Me" thing, several new things have already found their way into my life. 
For example, my Sony internet consol I have for my TV stopped working fantastically, so I had to resort to watching stuff other than Netflix. Oddly enough, instead of whipping out a DVD player, I uncovered some "Special Edition" original VHS copies of Stars Wars episodes IV, V, & VI. Don't judge me. I hadn't ever seen them before. So I hooked up the VCR and watched them all. 
Instantly obsessed. 
Hopefully my mother will be kind enough to get me I, II, and III tomorrow so my obsession can be fed.
I can stop being so bored because--drum roll please--I got a job! Starting this week, I will be working at financing company. I am beyond excited about it and I cannot wait to be working again. I feel so...broke. I feel that way because I am.
I'm starting a new 6-days-a-week gym routine as of today.  I've been pretending that I'm bulking and eating like crap and doing this whole two milkshakes in one meal. Yep, I started my meal with one and I ended it with one...Not so cool. I also decided to crack down on my "resolutions" and quit drinking soda. I drank my last one with my lunch yesterday. It was a sad but necsessary moment if I really want to get into the shape I want.  bye bye milkshake...bye bye delicious. 
  And saying goodbye to the ever so delicious two milkshake meal is only the tip of the iceberg of change. Not necessarily enormous changes, but change nonetheless. While I don't want to be all cliche and say that "New Year, New Me"  bullshit I'm kinda feeling like a new me anyway.  I was so sure that life would stay gloomy, but I learn from Yoda "Patience you must have". Yoda was right. 

I still have some ad space available for half off, so be sure to check that out over here. Start your new year off right! Start it with me :) Watch for some giveaways and other fun stuff!  

Saying Goodbye to December's Sponsors

My sidebar is looking pretty bare because I've said goodbye to all of my awesome sponsors. Sadly, I didn't get to give them all as much attention as I wanted to. The month of december ended up being far busier than I would have liked.  I just want to be sure that you don't miss out on all these great people have to offer. 

To sponsor this blog, please check out my sponsor page. All ad space is currently 50% off. 

Headliner

Krafts for Kuties is a small Utah business run by a good friend of mine. She makes some of the most amazing hand-crocheted crafts that I have ever seen. Her prices are rock bottom and her products are amazing quality. To learn more about her business check out her facebook page

facebook.com/kraftsforkuties

Kylie's blog is definitely among my favorite blogs to read. She writes about her life and always has some insiteful things to say about life. To learn more about Kylie, I suggest you start here.  Her blog is definitely one you should add to your list of "Must reads"

Blog │Facebook │Twitter│Instagram

Ashley is the author of American Honey. I would consider Ashley my best bloggy friend. We trade blogging secrets and help each other out when we need it. She is engaged to a handsome airman and has an extremely exciting life ahead of her. I love to read about her life, drool over her recipes, and be inspired by her good attitude. She has faced a lot of challenges, but she is always positive about it. She has a the sort of blog you can read forever and never get tired of it!

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Oh the Rambling of a Marine Wife...Kara's blog was one of the very first blogs that I started reading. I am pretty sure that I creeped all the way back to her first post and read her blog from day one. I learned a lot about blogging just from reading hers. She lives the exciting life of a military spouse.  She's a mom, but you won't find yourself wishing she'd talk about something besides her kids. She always blogs about fun and interesting things has great product reviews and is certainly not your average "mommy blogger". I vote you absolutely give her blog a shot.

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I only just barely started discovering the plethora of Utah blogger.  This was one of the first ones that I found. I was so happy to have a couple of "Utah bloggers" on my sidebar for the month of December. I enjoyed reading and entering a bunch of her giveaways. This blog definitely got a long term follower out of me and I hope it will do the same to you!

Check out Utah County Moms!

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Rearranging The Pieces

With this new series, I almost forgot that I should be sharing one of my own stories too!  Seems how all of these little incidents that I've had make up the name of this blog, I should probably tell you about how I've "Chalked it up to better luck".

Well, as you may or may not know...I'm a member of the United States armed forces

Da Army to be exact.

I'm a Soldier in the U.S. Army Reserve. While being in the Army isn't exactly what I had planned for myself, it ended up working out quite well. I really enjoy being a Soldier. Originally, I wanted to be a Marine, but I got into a little bike accident that brought the dream to sudden stop.  I broke my arm and I broke my dreams...

Instead of letting it hurt me though, I picked up the pieces and I rearranged them. When I was finished, the picture looked a lot different than when I started. I changed my perspective, I changed my goals and before I knew it, I was shipping out to Basic Training for the Army. Something I thought would never be possible.

Now, I encourage everyone who isn't exactly sure what to do with their lives to consider the military. While it isn't for everyone, it is for a lot of people, even if it doesn't seem like it at first.  For me, it's exactly where I fit best. I am glad that instead of allowing my broken arm to bring my dreams to a complete halt that I worked towards something new. You know what they say, when one door closes, another door opens. I suppose you just have to keep an open mind and hope for the best.  ***** If you would like share a time when things didn't go exactly as you planned, but it all ended up fine in the the end, please contact me at katherine.c.nay@gmail.com to be a part of the "Chalk it up" series.