My Toxic Relationship: Volume 3

With the new year brought my friend Michelle and I to "Look Hott." So, we started working out almost every day until the Snowpocalypse hit. I was feeling great! I even discovered Endorphins. After the Snowpocalypse (in which we feasted on cookies and Goldfish crackers), we started getting back on track and things were great. I was happy, and we were able to run longer distances before we give each other that "I am dying and if we don't stop walking NOW my lungs will fall out of my chest and I will die" look.

It was a Wednesday, and I spent the day trying to figure out a good work out plan for us to "get hott" and was learning all about exercise that burns fat vs. exercise that is good for your heart. Thursday, we decided we needed to have an intense ab workout day. We had previously used an iPod app on her phone that is for ab workouts, but just a few exercises. We decided that we would do the whole thing. We were dying, but had the mutual support of telling each other "We are gonna be hott!" and "just 10 seconds left!", our faces red and veins popping out on our foreheads. We made it through the work out, feeling very proud of ourselves, but not feeling much of our bodies. That was okay though, because we would be resting for the next couple of days.

That day, I was headed home for the weekend for a doctor's appointment. My parents had bought themselves an elliptical for Christmas, so I planned to give that a whirl over the weekend, as well as a good jog or two around my neighborhood. I used to love biking/running around that neighborhood, so it was sure to be a great weekend.

I stopped at the doctor's office on my way into town, battling the horrible construction that has taken over my hometown. After, I was going to meet my "neighbor" while she worked on maintenance at her friend's bar. I was excited to get to hang out with her and see a bar during daylight. The appointment went very quickly, and I was going to call Molly when I got to my car to avoid being kidnapped due to phone distraction in the parking lot. It was the first great day for Spring weather, and it was gorgeous outside. However, gorgeous spring weather also means bright sun combined with high pollen counts. This is the perfect recipe for a good sneeze.

It was all in slow motion: Sun.....oh, a sneeze is coming..... "ahhhh---choooooo"......bend to allow absorption of sneeze force.... ***CRACK***......start un-bending...... "Oh Crap!".......*tears*.....walk to car..... attempt sitting in car........ success, followed by bawling......

I was a crazy woman, sitting in my car (turned off), crying and holding my rib cage. I thought I had broken my rib. I wasn't sure if I needed to go back to the doctor, and debated for a few minutes. After feeling myself up and deciding that everything felt like it was in its proper place, i continued on home. I cried the whole way and felt entirely pathetic.

My Toxic Relationship: Volume 2

This bruised rib hindered my goal of working out (especially swimming) on the days I didn't have class. But that was okay, because the bruised rib was to heal in roughly 3 weeks if I didn't exert myself. So I didn't. I laid around, didn't run, and didn't play intramural sports. After 3 weeks, the pain was much less, but still there. So I still did nothing.

By dead week I had successfully not worked out in a very long time. Since it had been a couple months, I decided to spend a study break doing crunches. Nothing bad, just 25. No pain- I was happy. I thought the rib had finally healed. Then the next week, I studied at my desk for finals for HOURS. All of a sudden, the pain was back. Go figure that crunches didn't hurt my rib, but studying did. (I decided it wasn't the crunches that caused it because it had been over a week after that my ribs started hurting again, but it probably contributed. I needed to convince myself I could still exercise.)

I got through finals week with the pain, cursing my ribs more than finals. And trust me, finals are very curse-worthy. The pain subsided once again during my laziness over Christmas Break. I even went Zip-lining in Costa Rica---no pain! I was a happy camper and so glad to be myself again.

Oh, but how wrong I was...

My Toxic Relationship: Volume 1

So, as a couple of you know, I have been in a really bad/toxic relationship for a while. I thought I would spend today telling the rest of you about it. It is something I have been struggling with for quite a while. Hopefully writing all about it here will help give me more strength to get through.

I will start from the beginning:

In early October, I had the unfortunate 3-week-long-cough-that-won't-go-away-n0-matter-what. It lasted a little bit longer than 3 weeks, but the intensity was much less after that. My poor roommate had to hear me hack up a long approximately every 2 minutes, ending with me running away to the bathroom at least once every 30 minutes. Sleep was horrible, and by the end of the 3 weeks my morale was low. Coughing even just made me cry sometimes. One time when I was visiting boyfriend I actually did start crying. It was ridiculous.

At the end of the third week, I developed muscle pains- first on my lower right ribs, then lower left, and it continued making a full circle ending with my lower right (back) ribs. About the time this pain went away, I noticed another pain- this time in my upper ribs. I thought this was the same muscle pain- but I was wrong. After a couple days the pain was worse and it hurt to bend my upper body, cough, or sneeze. After careful web-diagnosis and confirmation with my dad(he is a doctor), I had a bruised rib.

Love Letter

Dear Love,

I am not sure how

I am to feel about you.

I think I like you.

However, I have

A few words to say to you.

You best' listen up.

From friends to lovers,

You come in different forms.

Why aren't you more clear?

The name of the game

Is not ever our control.

Give us a break, please!

This is my own life.

I won't let you control me.

Please- let me decide

How I want to feel.

You always sneak up on me--

Restraining order!

I do like you though.

You make my life more fulfilled.

And give me candy.

Love,

Katy

I wrote this Haiku after one to two weeks of trying to figure out who/what I wanted to write my love letter to. If you know me, you know I love Haiku. I feel like it may be a regular addition to the blog.

This is part of For The Love Of Blog's Love Letters feature. It has been a lot of fun reading people's letters, so you should check it out!

Life Lessons

Over the weekend I worked on some applications for school, and had to write a few short essays. One of them asked about life lessons, so I decided I would share it with you all. :)

You are asked to author a small book entitled Four Lessons of Life. What would you include and why?

Life is complex, and there are lessons around each corner. Lessons alone have created an enterprise of “Self-help” books that attempt to teach people how to live right. Some of these are with specific day-to-day actions, but others are less structured, covering a wider range of possibilities. I believe that the broad lessons are the most important, as they are adaptable to many types of people across many generations. The lessons I have chosen are what I feel are the most important things I have learned in my life thus far.

1. Life is beautiful, and we should appreciate the simplicity that it offers.

As I said before, life is complex. This is no surprise, but how do we keep that complexity from taking over? We can do this by remembering the little things. Life is beautiful, and we discover this as infants. At first, we are amazed by things such as our voices and the ability to walk. Later, we view the whole world as our playground. Somewhere along the way it seems that we lose this. I remember at time when I looked at each flower and thought it was the best flower. At a point later on, I realized that it took extravagant flowers to catch my attention. Even in our darkest times, it is important to remember the little things. This can range from flowers to simple moments with the ones you love.

I have had some amazing opportunities in life, such as travelling abroad and acting in High School Plays. However, my favorite memories are the times when my friends and I laughed for ten minutes, or were able to line-dance spontaneously with people from another culture. It wasn’t the planned events that made those amazing opportunities worthwhile; it was the little things that accompanied them. Especially in difficult times, it is important to remember these little things. Each little thing adds up, and can help create great happiness. The most powerful “little thing” that I know is the power of laughter. When unpleasant situations arise, it is easy to get bogged down. However, finding something to laugh at about the situation can make you, and those around you, enjoy the experience much more. Laughter is contagious, yet it is such a simple thing.

2. Being a good friend is invaluable.

Growing up, I was more dedicated to my friends than I was to anything else. I feared losing my friends, and would do whatever it took to please them. In high school I realized this, and started trying to do things for myself instead. It was a rough time- but helped for what was to come in college. I came to OU without any of those friends, but I found I would be making amazing friends in the years to come.

I have experienced some tough times in these past few years, and my friends were always there even when I didn’t ask them to be. My friends have also had tough times, where I was able to help them. I have learned that friendships themselves have rough patches, but that you should not throw the friendship away. Before college, I tried to be the perfect friend by never upsetting others. Now I realize that true friends push each other to be the very best each other can be. Being a good friend means being honest, real, caring, and supportive. Every day I am inspired by my friends to be greater at life, and I aspire to do the same. Being a great friend will bring many rewards to life- new opportunities, help when you need it(and even when you don’t), and something to make you smile. When you act as a great friend you will reap in kind.

3. To be successful in life, sometimes you have to do things that you don’t want to do.

In life, we are given opportunities every day. Opportunities can come in big or little ways, from going to eat with a new friend or applying for a competitive internship. However, some of these opportunities are masked with something difficult. An example of this: In school, we have the opportunity to earn a great education that will stay with us for a lifetime. However, this may require a lot of hard work in the form of essays and reading. Many scholarships and awards are under-utilized because it takes extra work to apply for them. However, humanity would not be where it is today if our ancestors didn’t work hard.

Personally, I love getting to relax and watch a movie on the couch. However, I have to remember that I cannot live life ‘sitting on the couch.’ It is important to realize that there are countless opportunities out there for each person, and we are lucky for it. In my years, I have come to find that I am the only person who can hold me back. We should not take for granted the opportunities life brings us, and remember that a little extra work can go a long way. We can continue to make this world a great place if we never give up. It is important, though, to let yourself have a little time to watch that movie on the couch- just to give yourself a break (a reward for being so great, if you will). So, don’t sit on the sidelines of life because it is easier. It will be a brighter day when you are in the game.

4. Never stop learning, and turn that knowledge into wisdom.

There are thousands of lessons in life. There are lessons about friendship, relationships, family, school, spirituality, and more. It is difficult to say just which ones are the most important. These lessons are crucial to the rest of our lives, and to only have 4 life lessons would leave us empty handed. The lessons we learn effect each phase of our lives in different ways. And so I leave you with this last lesson: Never stop learning lessons. We gain knowledge every day, but we must remember to turn that knowledge into wisdom. My oldest brother always tells my family, “If you lose in life- don’t lose the lesson.” This is the wisest thing that I have ever heard him say, and it has stuck with me for many years. We can continue learning these lessons by reflecting on ourselves frequently. It is easy to get distracted by the hectic schedules of life, but if we take time to reflect and learn lessons continuously we will be wise beyond our years.

These lessons I have learned are some of the most important I have learned in 20 years. I believe these lessons can carry over into all areas of life, and for many years. But there is one more that I did not mention, and that is: If you are a Sooner, you made a great decision.

Angry British Woman

Last night as I was updating the look of my blog, I discovered a new way to deal with frustration. I know I said in one of my Costa Rica posts that I learned to just laugh at things- but this is better. Sometimes no matter what laughing just doesn't work too well- or it makes you insensitive.

I really don't know why I did this, but I started yelling in a British accent. Normally, I am not the best at British accents, even after practicing them all the time for a play in High School (Didn't get a lead role in that one- proof I just stink at British Accents). Then the yelling in British just became very fun and reminiscent of the scene in Anchorman where they start yelling and Steve Carrel yells, "I love desk! I love lamp!" Actually, those things were yelled last night as well. Kaitlin, Mallori and I had a ball. Kaitlin and I ended up weirding out some of the other girls, but I think they were just jealous of the fun we were having. :)

Given, I wasn't really that upset- just frustrated with technology (which I still love and we resolved our problems later). But next time I feel angry- I shall yell like a British woman to express myself.

BLIMEY!

The Infamous "Hawaiian Punch" Incident

Setting: My kitchen

Age: 3

For many children, colored drinks are a sugary dream that you can only wish to get to taste. I was one of these children. Being 3, the only fruit punch I ever had was in the form of Triaminic. I don't do well with liquid medicines, so this was not a fun trade-off for me. (Did anyone else have to take the pepto-bismol looking medicine that was "bubble gum" flavored? Traumatizing!)

One day, the two sisters were in town and unloading groceries with my 3 brothers. As you can imagine, we go through a ton of food. My siblings discovered that my parents had bought the Family Size bottle of ketchup, and decided to have a little fun.

When I was little, I enjoyed going through the groceries and pretended I was the cashier as I de-bagged everything and put them back in the shelves. As I was pretending to do this in my merry little world, my brothers handed me a bowl filled with red almost-liquid. The fact that the red almost-liquid was in a bowl should have been a warning sign, as well as the fact that it was almost-liquid. However, my three year old mind had no idea what was to come. When they handed me the bowl, they said, "Here Katy! Have some Hawaiian Punch!" I was ecstatic. I, 3-year-old Katy, was going to get to have Hawaiian Punch. I didn't even think about my lack of trust for my siblings- I went for it! I ate the whole bowl, with a spoon I believe, in record time. I was so happy- I was on Cloud 9.

Years later, I was told of this story as "The Time Katy Ate a Whole Bowl of Ketchup." Little did I know that it was not Hawaiian Punch, but that it was the majority of a Family Size bottle of Heinz 57.

Surprisingly, I still like ketchup.

Goodbye Endorphins, Hellooooo Snow!

So, my last post was all about how amazing I felt. Ironically, hours later I received some bad news which put me in a funk for the next few days. (I will not be an officer for my sorority during my last year.) I have become a good friend with rejection the past year, but this one was just a tough one. I love my sorority, and it hurt that I would not be able to serve it in that way. Also, my previous rejections were not from my friends- but from the mysterious "they" who don't actually know how amazing you are. "They" don't know what they are missing. "They" are stupid. "They" . So- I spent a few days being bitter, which is not normally my style. It was nice though, because I was able to make some fun jokes about it all, and ended up using my bitterness to laugh at the situation.

Friday night was my brother-in-law's retirement party from the Edmond Police Department. I got to see most of my family, hang out with my nieces and nephews, and get a free meal from my Pops. Saturday I went with Mallori to the Men's Gymnastics meet- and they are freaking AMAZING. I am very impressed with the power they have in their short bodies (reasons I will never date a gymnast- I am 5'10"). The rest of the weekend was filled with sorority shenanigans.

Now- as I am sure everyone knows- this week has been the SNOWPOCALYPSE. Dun dun dun!

I don't have Monday or Friday classes, so I will have been out of school for 11 days before having class again. I am afraid of what is to come when class resumes, but I have enjoyed getting to be lazy this week. Michelle and Katy boot camp has been put on hold, so the Endorphins are low. However, I have been able to stay happy with Goldfish, Cookies, Nilla Wafers, and 80s movies. Right now I am in debate as to whether or not I start reading The Hunger Games or if I start working on my classwork. Oh- decisions, decisions.

I think I am going to start posting random stories about my life. I used to write them up in Microsoft Word just for fun, but those have all been lost. Lots of shenanigans occurred in my life (due mainly to my 3 older brothers), and I think they would be lots of fun to share.