The Extra Chic Section

I know...I'm the worst 5-days-a-week-blogger that has every happened to blogging. But I just...haven't had anything to say, and I try not to blog when it's going to be extremely stupid.  Occasionally, it ends up stupid anyway, but...that is beside the point.   
Lately, my days consist of working, a little bit more working, and...sitting.  I do a whole bunch of sitting. Isn't that so cool? Okay, it's not.  It's really lame. All of this working and dealing with money and just wanting to only take care of "business"y type matters, has really made me think about how much has changed in the past couple of years.  
If you ask my family about what I was like as a child, they would probably told you that I used large words and skipped the part of taking where I was hard to understand. I started using full sentences right away.  I've been wanting to just be a grown up since I was 10 years old.  When I played house, I wanted to be the mom, not because I liked to be in charge, but because I liked to be the adult.  When I was a lil' one, I had these grand delusions that being an adult was super fun.  It is not.  I want to go back to being this carefree kiddo with foam rollers in my hair...

Today, I got off work before the sun went down and I felt that was cause for a celebration.  For my day off tomorrow, instead of planning fun things, I'm going to the library to work endlessly on Army Homework for my promotion.  When did I get so boring?!  Dude...I'm so boring. Did anyone else turn boring? 

There is a possibility it was caused by the cold. The other day, I felt amazing just because I could wear a skirt outside. Mind you, it was 50 degrees and still freaking cold, but pretending it wasn't so dang cold made life a little better. I even put on sandals..

I got my sandals at Walmart (the extra chic section), My skirt at the PX during AIT, and the lunchbox in the 5th grade.  Yeah, I'm cool. 

Basically, I'm doing my best to soldier on (haha didn't even do that on purpose) throughout this crappy winter and being a real sucky blogger.  I hope everyone is having wonderful Presidents day!  

T'was a Tough Ruck

It is amazing how much of a difference a few changes in leadership can make in the world of the Army.  This weekend, while we were given  fragos pretty much the ENTIRE weekend (that basically means a change of plans) went really well.  On Saturday, we were given a time we needed to roll out, and amazingly enough, we were out of there right on time.  We put the pedal to the metal, went out to the field, ruck marched, ate some delicious MREs, went back.  In my honest opinion, it was probably the best drill we've had since I've been there.  It didn't matter what got thrown at us, we just did what we were taught. Adapt and overcome.  
Obviously, adapting and overcoming is my thing.  I love new. I love scary.  I love to be thrown into something and forced to sink or swim.  Doing that has taught me that sinking every now and then is okay.  When it comes to the Army, sometimes sinking is the only way that you learn. 

This picture was taken before we started rucking.  I was wearing a pack that was a little over 30 lbs weighed down by a dumbbell. Not the smartest way to toss some weight in there.  I've got a lovely bruises on my back where it was sitting, but it was effective I guess. To be honest, it was a tough ruck.  I haven't been feeling good, it was cold, the ground was either snowy and slick or muddy and slushy.  My boots were sinking into the ground and I swear, those guys were freakin' running. I had to run to catch up ten or so times.  That may not seem like a big deal, but when you're carrying 30 lbs, jogging for sec can really take it out of you!

Luckily, on the ruck back, me and the slow pokes got to set the pace so all those long legs did make it impossible to keep up.  I really liked doing this. It gave my platoon a chance to chat with each other while we were doing hard work. A huge part of being in the military is unit cohesion, and knowing the guys you work with really helps. 

I was seriously dreading this weekend, but it truly ended up being a successful one. I need to be less cynical about my unit and my training. Things are getting better and I should be proud to be a Soldier, reservist or not. 

An Outcast

Once upon a time, I signed up to be a Soldier. After that I'm required to play Dragon Warrior one weekend a month.   Don't get me wrong, I love being a Soldier. It's totes the life for me. Oh my god...pretend I didn't say "totes" just then.  But sometimes, it's very aggravating.  I was supposed to get promoted this weekend, but then on Monday, I got word that I have to complete something else to do so. Well, of course, I didn't have the time or resources to do it, so I can't get promoted.  It's starting this weekend off pretty crappy, and it hasn't even begun. Oh yeah, and I'm nice and sick.  Cool. Whine. Gripe. Complain.  Now that I got that off my chest...   I was reading the blog "The Life of Bon" today. It's on my list of top ten favorites and I only just started reading it a few months ago, but it has very quickly grown on me. If you're looking for some good stuff to read, I highly recommend you check out her blog.  Well, today, I stumbled upon "GOMI" AKA Get Off My Internets. I just want to say...Ew. Personally, I have never received negative feedback from the things I've written (from the blog world...) My blog isn't "big" enough to be noticed by the general public. Plus I'm not married, I don't have kids, and in general, my life is...dull. I don't write about my clothes. I don't blog recipes. I don't have grand organizing skills or do the things that your typical "blogger"does. Okay...now I'm just feeling like an outcast in the blogging world. I should cut to the chase.  GOMI is so stupid!  I spent a stupid amount of time reading the truly awful things people say on there. It's so annoying. I understand that some bloggers...exaggerate the perfection of their lives. Sometimes they share things they shouldn't. But I swear, people forget that bloggers are human beings. We are all flawed individuals.  Sometimes, we don't realize the impact our words have on people until it's too late. Until we said words that couldn't be un-read. The only thing we can do is stop anyone else from reading it. I've written posts that presented backlash in my personal life. I removed the post and apologized to anyone it hurt.   My intentions were not to hurt feelings or make anyone mad. It was supposed to be a funny, easy to relate to, sort of post.  It wasn't received that way.  It happens.  Stop being so damn critical. And it's not just the internet that could do well not to be so judgmental.  Obvi.  I know you aren't all perfect people out there! I know I'm sure as hell not! I made tons of mistakes. I do the wrong thing (and typically not purposely) on a daily basis, so how could I expect someone else to have their shit together 100% of the time. I can't. so.....
Whoa, I swore a lot in there. Oh well. Go ahead, bring on the haters. 

Hidden Talents That Were Never Meant to Hide

Thank you to everyone who entered the "MercoBox" one day giveaway!  I'm so happy to see so many people in support of local businesses.  I had several people from out of state participate and it makes me so excited to see that. The internet has made this world so much smaller. My dad sends his products all over the world whereas back in the day, he was lucky to send a product to Ogden (we live about 50 miles south of there.) 
I would like to congratulate Michelle Fenton. She won the MercoBox. Michelle, if you are reading please contact me immediately!  Shopping local or from small businesses in general is by far the best way to do things, if you ask me.  I know that I would far prefer buy something from my neighbor than go to the Walmart for the same sort of thing. 
***

In case you didn't know, I'm a musician.  It has been a huge part of my life since I was in elementary school. One day at a music festival, I started playing the mandolin and I've barely put it down since.  I have learned to play the guitar, and I pretty much attempt to learn every song that I hear on the radio.  I suppose it's time for me to share this "hidden" talent with the blog world. Again. I don't know how this talent hides so much!


This first video was taken while I was living in Las Vegas. It's really dark because that is my dorm room...every light is on and you still can't see anything, but oh well. This one is me playing the mandolin.  This is a fiddle tune called Jerusalem Ridge. 

The Mumford and Sons Video was Christmas of 2012...I play it and sing it quite a lot better now these days, but I absolutely hate to record myself, so I didn't want to do a new video. This is my favorite Mumford song.  I hope you will enjoy it :) P.S. don't you wish my hair was still that long? I sure do. 

Music means more to me than most things in my life. Having it when I was lonely in Las Vegas was really important. It has given me countless opportunities to meet new people, have fantastic adventures and have something in common with people from all over the world.  

I'm one of those weirdos that love to listen to the radio. I feel like it gives me an appreciation for all different types of music and it helps me discover great artists.  I don't know why people hate the radio so much. Listening to it in the car is probably my favorite thing about driving.   I hope you have enjoyed my little videos! Maybe I'll post more in the future. But probably not. Recording myself really sucks. 

Thanks again to everyone who entered the MercoBox Giveaway! Don't forget to "Make local a habit"!

A One Day Giveaway and a Trip Down Memory Lane

As promised, today, I am giving away a "MercoBox" by Merco Local

I told you about how I'm a huge fan of small business? Well, as such a fan, I see that Merco Local has been working hard to promote "mom & pop" shops more than anything I have seen online.  They work with local businesses who don't have a huge advertising budget to get their names out there. 

Merco Local recently started this awesome thing where they send out boxes filled with locally made products and gift cards. The box is filled with all kinds of good stuff and opportunities to "go local" instead of buying from chain stores and corporate giants. 

What I love about the MercoBox, is it shows how versatile local business is. It's not just "hand made" this and that, it's cosmetics, coffee, chocolates, soap, cleaning products etc. There is so much more to local business than what you might think.  These boxes give you the chance to give local a try.  

Merco Local sent me two of their MercoBoxes for free. One to keep, and one to giveaway.  I have an unopened box for one lucky winner. This giveaway will only run for 24 hours after the time posted.  That means that it will end about this time tomorrow morning.  To enter to win, please do the following. 

'Like' Chalk it up to Better Luck on Facebook 

'Like' Merco Local on Facebook. 

After you have liked them both, please comment on the giveaway post stating that you have liked both pages. I will choose one lucky winner from the comments and send them their very own Merco Local box.  It is recommended that only people who live in Utah enter to win as the products are from here, but anyone is welcome to join in!  

And just because I feel like I have been a Grade F blogger lately, I figured I ought to share with you some gems from my child hood. My mom was looking for a picture for my sister's Senior Baby Ad in her high school yearbook, so we busted out the bucket of old pictures. These two are my favorites. 

This was the year that I was all about the horses and where my rodeo queen dream began.  That was Christmas day a long time ago.  I got a saddle, boots, and other "cowpoke" things. I thought I was the coolest kid in the world.  The cowgirl dream has sort of gotten lost along the course of my life, but maybe some day I'll try to give it a major comeback. Probably when I strike it rich and have a huge home with 100 acres and a some stables that I simply must fill with a horsey or two. 

Please, feel free to make fun of this photograph for the rest of the day. 

Marathon Work Weeks

I know. I suck.   I'm on work day #7 of 15 in a row right now, so please, cut me a little slack. I'm exhausted. I feel like my life went from interesting and exciting to "Hmm...I did literally NOTHING worth blogging about in about 3 weeks." Cool. Well, I guess that is just how things go sometimes. I suppose I'm okay with it.  Do I really have any choice but to be? Not really. I mean, the most exciting thing that has happened to me lately, is I decided to change banks.    I missed the whole  SuberBowl. Which as it turns out, was probably a good thing.  I've never been super into football, but I just didn't want the SeaHawks to win. I'm a 49ers fan.  At least that is what I've been telling people for my whole life.  I think it's about time that I REALLY invest myself into the football thing and BE a fan.  
See? I'm so boring. ugh. well, I'm going to fix my hair to standard and get all ready for working marathon day #20985 I hope you all have a fantsatically cool day. Tomorrow, I'll be giving away a "MercoLocal" box. Come back to win!  It's a one day only giveaway!

You Know You Want It

Valentines Day is on the horizon.  Personally, I have never been much of a fan of the day.  I've only celebrated with someone I love once.  Even then, we spend it "together" but actually 600 miles away. I remember he sent me flowers and a little teddy bear. It was a very sweet gesture that was greatly appreciated.  It was a serious "awwww" moment that was quite a surprise, but it wasn't expected.  I'm just not into Valentines Day.  But there are people who are.  Because those people do exist, I have an exclusive and freaking awesome deal from the ever so fantastic Sassy Seamstress. 
As some of you might know, I've recently discovered a serious love for Star Wars. You can imagine how excited I was when I saw these throw pillows.  

Because I love you guys, my faithful readers, the first 7 people to order a set of these pillows will receive a free canvas with your anniversary like the one below.  In fact, I think I may order a set of those pillow for myself. Without without someone who tells me they love me. That isn't my mother or my sisters. 

The Sassy Seamstress has all kinds of great things in the works.  Keep a close eye on her Facebook Page and Twitter Account for deals and specials! You can also find them here! I am a huge supporter of local business and I always like to see someone with quality products grow. So put some capital back into the economy and support local and small business!