Vivid Dreams

Somebody help me! My sleep has been interrupted the last week because of vivid dreams. Ever since I was little I would have very in depth, crazy dreams, so it's not a new thing to me. It's really just an annoying thing. It's like I'm awake all night and I toss and turn and wake up frequently feeling like I've hardly slept. It's almost like I can't get into a deep sleep.

This phase will go, I know. Since I've had it for years and years, I know that eventually the dreams will subside and I'll have boring or no dreams at all. It's just annoying now! I mean, Dexter woke me up at 12:55 last night and I swore it was 4am. It sucks.

But I guess I'm making it through the day :). I hit a slump while writing yesterday, maybe because the scene I was writing was boring to me, but I still made my word count of 1500 words per day. Today should be interesting, I have a big scene to write. I'm so close!!

I've also come up with a freelance article that I might pitch to a magazine. Scary! And I found a literary magazine to submit one of my old short stories - Problem: It has to be 1500 words or less and my story is over 1600. I'm going to see if I can rework it.

Brandon has been stressed at work, poor guy. They're expecting him to do things he just can't so it wears on him. He just doesn't want to disappoint anyone.

Life is good here otherwise. Been living the dream ;)

Today I was struggling to come up with something to blog about. I feel as though I should blog more, but I haven't done anything too interesting to talk about! Yesterday I did have a friend come over for a puppy playdate, that was fun. :) Anyway, otherwise life is going as normal and I'm writing a lot.

I actually wanted to talk about something political. Just maybe my opinion on it. I want to speak about abstinence-only education and how it is linked to the rise in teen pregnancy. You can find some information here.

Here's my view: Teenagers are going to have sex. There is no way to prevent this, other than locking them up (and then when they get out, they'll just go do it!). This doesn't mean all teenagers will have sex, not by any means. I'm just saying that many teenagers will have sex. They know what it is and they know how it works and they're in a rebellious, hormone-filled stage where anything goes.

The problem with abstinence-only education is that it isn't helping the teenagers that are having sex. That sex education teaches one thing only: You shouldn't have sex. That isn't effective for the ones who are already having sex. Those teenagers aren't getting the information on contraceptives and STD's and it's leading to a rise in pregnancies and abortions.

I agree that it is partly the responsibility of the parent to teach their children about the risks of having sex. And I agree that abstinence and the power of the word "No" should be taught in sex education as well. But I think that teenagers today should be learning about all the different forms of contraceptives that are available to them, and where to get them. They should be taught that sex is ok and a natural thing, but they shouldn't risk their futures by engaging in unprotected sex.

Abstinence-only sex education hasn't helped teenagers at all and hasn't helped the problem of teenage pregnancies. We need to take a step back and examine how we're doing things and change the programs so they benefit our children.

My Dexter :)

I think Dexter has the best personality. Maybe I'm biased though. ;)

I know exactly what type of mood he's in, even better than Brandon. I know when he's being mischievous (almost always!) and when he's hyper and when he's sad. I know when he's asking me for something, and I know exactly what that is most of the time. Sometimes it's food (even food he doesn't like, like lettuce...), sometimes it's to play, and sometimes it's to lay on the couch. Just today I was reading on the couch and he was laying on the floor. He sat up and stared at me. I looked at him and said "Alright, jump up" and he climbed right onto the couch and laid beside me to sleep.

I really love this puppy of mine. He drives me crazy but he's the light of my life! He keeps me laughing all the time and keeps me on my toes. I love when he gets excited about playing fetch or the look on his face when I say leash. Brandon loves him too, and Dexter worships Brandon.

We're such a great family!

I'm feeling energized!

I'm feeling energized and I'm feeling accomplished and I'm feeling excited about my future!

When my Dad and stepmom Kat were visiting I received my first issue of "Writer's Digest," a magazine for writer's. I put off reading it and when they left I dove into it. It's so wonderful! There are great articles about writing, about the craft, about publishing - really, all facets of it. I can feel it now, I can feel that my goal is attainable. I'm going to be a writer!

So then Thursday I got this idea for an article to write. It's about listening to your past to determine your future. I showed how I was stubborn and ignored my inclinations towards writing and history, but when I finally followed my heart it was the best thing for me. I think it's a fairly good article that I'm going to send off to people. How exciting!

This whole week I've been sticking to my goal of 1500 words a day. Yesterday I was sucked into a scene and just had to finish it... 2689 words later, and only a little over an hour, I was done. Wow! That's such a boost in confidence!

I've joined a few writing forums now, have looked into a writer's group here in Hawaii, and have applied to a good looking website to become a freelance writer. I'm taking control of my future and it feels so great. I have ideas and plans running through my head I can hardly sleep at night. This energy is coursing through me and I don't want it to leave!

Workout Day One

I started my Wii Active workout today! I haven't worked out since, like, November, so it was time for a change. I told myself as soon as Brandon started back up at work and my dad and stepmom left, I would start. Well, Brandon's four day weekend (thanks to MLK Jr. Day) ended yesterday and it was back to work for both of us today!

It was a hard workout! I did the medium-intensity and now I think I should've gone low-intensity... Well, I'm sure the medium was fine for me, I'm just a little wimp! :P Anyway, it started with a run in place (hurt my feet but I did it) and then continued to a combination of arm exercises and leg exercises. TONS of squats. My thighs and butt hurt. But it's a good hurt.

I'm doing the 30 Day Challenge on the Wii Active. Today is Day One... I should weigh myself and then keep track. I don't totally need to lose weight as much as maintain my weight. I'm back to eating healthier (does enchiladas count?) and I'm back to getting my schedule in order. Life is good!

Time to apply for jobs now...

The rest of the trip...

So Thursday was an easy day (ok, they were all easy days). First we went to Target to buy me some chair cushions for our chairs. We finally found some! We wanted to go snorkeling afterwards at Hanauma Bay but when we drove all the way out there, the parking lot was full. Frustrated and hungry we drove off in search of Subway. My lovely GPS brought us high on a mountain in a neighborhood to the supposed Subway where I promptly found it on my phone and we went to the real Subway.

After Subway we were going to drive to another beach to swim at. As we were driving by Hanauma Bay, though, the parking lot was open again! So we went right in. It was great to snorkel with dad (Kat went with dad afterwards since we only had two sets). I scratched my leg by accident on some rocks/coral, though it didn't hurt too bad. After a couple hours of swimming and sunbathing we went home and got stuck in horrible traffic!

Friday we wanted to do a hike. We decided on Manoa Falls down near Diamondhead (we were going to do that hike but the stairs would be too much for Kat's knees). It was a pretty hike! It was short and easy to do too. We wanted to go to the beach so we went to Hickam AFB... and found out there was a huge party going on so the beach was packed... Instead we just went home to do errands and laundry and hang out (it was already mid-afternoon anyway). It was a relaxing day!

Saturday was a busy busy day. Brandon started the day by bringing them early to Waimea Bay to watch the waves and surfers. I stayed home because of Dexter's puppy class. They went to shop and have breakfast in Haleiwa after the bay. Puppy class went great for me! We met up after the class and got ready to do to Kailua where we were going to kayak.

Kayaking was terrifying for me. I almost drowned once and since then it's been a big fear for me. The waves freaked me out and so did the close coral underneath. It was hard for me... I sea turtle scared me! lol. We saw a few of those on our trip around Kailua bay. We kayaked for a couple hours (Brandon jumped out and snorkeled beside us for a bit) before turning in the kayaks and heading home to clean up.

After cleaning up we decided to get dinner downtown. It was a Saturday night, of course, so it was horribly busy everywhere we went. We found a little restaurant with hardly any wait and decided to go there. After eating we went to the beach bar at the Hale Koa and listened to some live music. It was time to go to the airport after some time so we packed up and went there. Brandon and I got home about 11 o'clock!

It was a good trip. They were great guests! It's nice to have our house back. Now we need to catch up on all the shows we DVR'd during the week haha.

(As always, all photos can be found on our photo website: brandonchantal.shutterfly.com)

Jessica & Andy's Wedding

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So Jessica and Andy got married Friday, January 15, 2010. I haven't posted anything for it yet because I needed to steal some photos!! They look happy and great and the wedding went well. Brandon and I are very happy for them. :) We wish we could've been there, it would have been nice...

Anyway, my little sister is a big girl now! Haha.