Ready or Not, Here I Come....

So I've been roaming the blogging community lately. I'm fascinated by how many people are actually making a living out of being a blogger. These people are actually getting paid (by advertisements) to write about their everyday nonsense. The key, I think, is the fact that they aren't just spewing nonsense, actually.... most of them have fantastic things to say! Nevertheless, I remain shocked to know these people are making some dough on what they love to do... write and state their opinion. NOW, you and I both know how much I love to do both those things, so you could see how this might appeal to me!

No, I'm not adding advertisements to my blog. I'm not even going to consider myself one of the bloggers, but I WILL say that: I have noticed one very obvious similarity in all their blogs, which intrigued me...

All of these very popular bloggers are brutally honest about everything. Details you never wanted to know about a person, there they are, for all to see! Have you ever read The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy? (I highly recommend it, by the way, along with The Girlfriends' Guide to the First Year of Motherhood.) Well, if you've ever read anything by that author, you'll agree with me, she's 100% honest about everything. Details you never wanted to know about a pregnant person, there they are, for all to see! She's a very popular author.

This got me thinking.... all my life, people (outside my family unit) have always told me what they love most about me (possibly the only thing they loved about me) was my brutal honesty. What-you-see-is-what-you-get mentality, that was me. These days, I'm not sure that's so true about me. As I get older and start mastering The Great Filter (fil-ter: noun - to act as a filter for; to slow or partially obstruct the passage of: "The woman's social skills helped her filter her words to create a comfortable conversation."), I am learning to make people feel comfortable around me instead of shocked and offended. I know, you've fallen off your chair. I'll give you a moment to get back up and find your place in the paragraph. Ready? We'll continue... This is not because I've sold out, people! I know now that you're stable again, you're thinking, "Wow, what a sellout."

Honestly, it is an attempt to make myself an employable person. I'm terrified of the workforce after these last 4 years of SAHM-ing (Stay At Home Mom-ing), and I am attempting to prepare myself for a successful career as a WM (Working Mother). It turns out having a job means kissing butt. ha! Perhaps I would have done better in school if I'd known that all along? I could have charmed my teachers or something. ;) j/k, We all know I couldn't have done that, even if I'd sold my soul.

THE POINT IS, my honesty and brutality was a positive attribute I posessed, and I'm uninterested in losing that part of me. Perhaps it's possible to do both!

One time, when I was a wee lass of twelve, I had a teacher named Mrs. Somebody (can't remember her name for the life of me). She used to say, "Put your ___ hats on; we're going to do some ____." (Insert helpful verb/activity of your preference. i.e., "thinking; reports".) I remember thinking (sometimes aloud), "How can this woman stand here and speak like such an idiot? First of all, what does putting on a HAT have to do with changing the way you think? SECOND of all, as if we could just switch to some other kind of thinking!" I really felt this way, folks. I've been plagued my entire life with an inability to compartmentalize my thoughts/actions/frustrations/etc.

NOW, at the ripe old age of 23, I think I may have discovered a way to do more than one thing without damning myself to Hell for "selling out". SO, while I work on my friendly skills at work, I'll be moving back into the category of brutally honest (which we'll call BH for the sake of cutting time), when I am speaking to you.

In the spirit of Brutal Honesty, I'm posting some BEFORE pictures of myself in the hopes it will:

1. Prove my commitment to my new BH plan,


2. Motivate me to work harder at my goals, as you all are seeing me for what I really am, and finally....


3. Inspire others to be BH in their own lives, and all that other cheesy nonsense you'd probably rather hear from Oprah.

SO HERE YOU GO! I have 80 days left in Kansas, before the Big Move back home, and I'm determined to get back into shape. This is what I call "Utah Standards." When I'm in Kansas, I'm a lazy bum about my appearance, because almost every Kansan I ever see could be classified as THE UGLIEST PERSON I'VE EVER SEEN. No exaggeration here, people. They are literally so revolting I can barely stomach looking at them. (Now that's BH for ya, eh?) The standards I set for myself in Kansas is far lower than my Utah Standards. So here I go, taking the first steps down the yellow brick road toward home. Because in The Land of Fruit and Honey, the people are beautiful, and the standards are high.

There's truly no place like home.

In case you want to know what my reaction was to this number, here you go:Before you start freaking out about how "128 is so not fat" blah blah blah... my scale is like ten pounds kinder than it should be. Steve gets weighed at work, and he says ours is off about ten pounds... so yeah.

I don't care how much you're into a big booty, this one is getting completely ridiculous. The purpose of this picture is to prove how much work gets done (or doesn't get done) on my lovehandles/hips. It's going to be my main focus when I work out, even though my stomach needs some attention... my hips are just about to put me over the airline limit. (j/k)


OK So I know this wasn't the best shirt to show what's going on with my stomach, but guess what ELSE I discovered when I was posting these pictures? MY CHIN. I could literally never eat again because of this picture. DISGUSTING. It absolutely must go.

So there ya have it. No comments necessary (I'm not fishing here, and it's not an open invitation to comment on how I've let myself go, lol)... but in the spirit of BH, now you know. (ew.)