200 Posts!

I am now completely out of yesterday's fug and well on the way to my version of normality, hooray! And this is my 200th post, which came as a shock to me! Have I really written that much? Big, BIG thanks to those of you who've stuck it out from the beginning. And to all my followers and lurkers, I love you too.

So this 200th post present will be the same as my 100th post present - a hand-selected, personalized postcard mailed from merry ole' England! (I realize I'm in Georgia now, so you'll all have to wait till next week for your postcards, but it's a postcard from England, man! It's worth the wait.)

Please leave me a comment and let me know if you want one. If I've already sent you one, then I have your address and if not, you'll need to email me at ukyankoz (at) gmail (dot) com. And, unfortunately, this puts you on my mailing list, which means pretty much wherever I go in the world, you'll get a postcard. (This could be really cool! P is promising me a honeymoon when I get back!)

One more thing - you will notice a new button on the far right column, about 'happying up' the internet. I found it at Becoming Something, my newest blog stalkee. Definitely go read about this woman, she seems really cool! Anyway, the 'happy up' button reminds me to post 5 gratitudes at the end of every post. I'm excited for a daily reminder of what I have to be thankful for! Go get this button and start happying up the internet!

Gratitudes:

1. The Spirit of God, which makes my heart happy.
2. My loving husband.
3. My family.
4. Temples.
5. Forever families.

Laziness to the weltschmerz factor.

P.S. This is my 199th post, seriously. I hope my 200th will be a bit perkier...

Okay, so today I have checked out of life. I have parked my arse on the couch with the laptop and remote controls. I'm not checking back in until I'm in a better frame of mind, or until the world looks like a better place.

PROGRESS REPORT

Productive stuff done today:

washed face
put on pajamas
put 1 load of laundry into the washer (am working up energy to transfer to dryer)
wrote a post for Modern Molly Mormon, started on another
post to my blog (work in progress)

Non-productive stuff done today:

went up 1 level in Farmtown on Facebook
bought new ingredient for Restaurant City on Facebook
answered emails and messages on Facebook

Food eaten:

1 bowl cereal
1 bowl Edy's Fudge Tracks ice cream
10 taquitos with salsa
2 large glasses water

Movies watched:

National Lampoon's Vacation
Clue
Pride & Prejudice (LDS version)
Bridget Jones's Diary (work in progress)

MARKS OUT OF 10: 0.5

Someone send United Way. I am in a BAD state. Off to tackle dryer and fetch more ice cream.

Laziness.

Jeez, what is my problem?? I'm overdue for a linky love post, and I'm having all kinds of fun with my family, and I know you all are doing amazing things on your blogs, but somehow the effort of clicking my mouse and typing is just.......too.......much.....

So I'm still out there, still laughing at or with you, and normal blogging should resume soon - I do have a Princess birthday party coming up, and I have to share with my 2-year old niece...I'm curious how that's going to turn out! (We're playing 'pin the tiara on the princess' - no joke, I swear we bought the game at Michael's, I can't wait!)

Bear with me, and check out my new button! The amazing April from April Showers did it for me, and I LOVE it! Now you can have my digitally reproduced face smiling at you all over the blogosphere!

Whorishness.

Thank you all for your life lessons and advice, I loved it all! If you haven't read the comments from my last post, go soon - I have some very smart friends!

Now, the title of my post - the really, really ridiculously good-looking and super-talented April from April Showers is giving away a free signature OR a free blog button to everyone who wants one between now and Sunday night! Go go GO NOW and leave a comment to get one! I'm getting a button - I'm not only a comment whore, I'm a general attention whore too. Thank you all for enabling me.

My Birthday! (Subtitled: I'm Getting OLD)

Today is my birthday!

And I feel old. I know I'm not old, but I feel old. I had a mild rant on the phone to my brother: 'You have to SAVOR your 20's! I'm almost too old for Old Navy! I'm not in college anymore, I have to GROW UP! I'm looking at wrinkle creams, for heaven's sake, I can't handle this!!'

For my birthday I want 31 life lessons and observations. I have a feeling the depression fug will only get worse as the years go by, so I will keep this as a tradition to help me remember why growing old is worthwhile even though I can't wear hot pink t-shirts that say 'I Made Out With Your Boyfriend'. I'll start off with as many as I can think of, and ask my lovely readers to leave theirs in the comments...

1. If you want to wear hot pink t-shirts with stupid sayings on them, feel free.

2. Whenever you can, roll down the window, turn up the music and sing at the top of your lungs.

3. Have dessert - it's worth it.

4. Don't be so self-conscious that you stop having fun. No one is watching you and if they are, you probably don't know them and will never see them again.

5. You can absolutely do what you don't think you can.

6. If you decide to blame God for the bad stuff, remember to thank Him for the good stuff too.

7. Don't judge. You have no idea what the other person is going through.

8. Don't be afraid to stand up for yourself.

9. Take pictures.

10. Write in a journal.

That's all I can think of right now - over to you guys!

Big Plans Ahead!

Big stuff ahead, I'm so excited!

Saturday I do my Cancer Research UK's Race For Life in the morning. (You can still sponsor me until August 1st, just click on the box on the top right corner of the page!) I'm very ashamed to say I haven't trained at all for this, boo on me. I'm still confident I can do it - it's open to runners, joggers, and walkers, and one of my new friends in my new ward (congregation) is also walking it, so I'm happy to tag along with her! I walked the 3 miles to Llangian and back earlier this year without much difficulty while visiting Nain, so I'm not worried! P has promised to be there to cheer me on and (though he doesn't know it yet) take loads of pictures of me before and after the race! (I promise to post pictures!)

I set what I thought was a very ambitious target of £100 to raise for my walk, considering I didn't know many people here to sponsor me, but my friends and family have completely blown that out of the water, and I am so grateful! You all are wonderful!

After the walk, I'm going home to shower and change, load up the car and....

drive up to Wales!

Yes, I'm going again! I'm excited to see if I can do it again even better than before! The idea of driving on the motorways for so long still makes me nervous, but I've mapped out a route where I'll still have cell phone reception, so I can call either P or my mom or my brother if I get scared. I'm cleaning out the car today and tomorrow and shopping for favorite snacks for the drive. Just my luck, though, the CD player in my car tanked last night, so I only have the radio. So I'm going to have to take my iPod docking station with a sackful of batteries. Not ideal, but it will be fine! There's no point buying a new radio system when I'm getting a new car soon...

P will meet me up there on Sunday, and early, early Monday morning we drive to Birmingham for me to

catch my flight to Atlanta!

I'm spending 2 weeks at home with my family and friends, and I'm so excited! P noticed I had been feeling a bit homesick and found me a good fare to Atlanta. If anyone wants to meet me there, they can try Old Navy, Payless, Walmart and antique shops to find me! Plus, it's my birthday on the 18th, and I'm gutted I won't be able to see my sweetheart, but I'm planning on drowning my sorrows in red velvet cake with cream cheese icing. My cutie-pie niece Hannah has her birthday the next day and I'm hoping her mom will bring her up for a princess party with me (hint, hint Kimberly)!

(P has promised me a long weekend away when I get back - can't wait!)

So I think that's enough excitement for me for the next few weeks! I know my life is unbearably amazing, but try not to hate me - remember that under the glamorous weekends in Paris, my lovely English cottage with its beautiful roses, my handsome husband and his sexy accent, and my enviable new job, I'm just an ordinary person like anyone else!

Awesome!

I stole this from this new blog I found and I think I'm going to have to find a way to get this poster - it's truly awesome!