...it makes my heart go pitter patter...

I had a friend once that developed a personality test with his med-school nerdy friends (I type nerdy with love!). Their test involved, how do I say this... hmmm... excrement? Yeah excrement. If you HAD to eat this.... excrement... would you eat it baked, boiled or fried? It still makes me giggle and I was reminded when I did a little Facebook poll the other day about teen drama heartthrobs and peoples preferences. Could this be another personality test? What does it mean about us when we choose one character over another??

I decided a little pro-con list was in order... I am looking at (what I consider) three main characteristics as well as their enduring adorableness, all the following is anecdotal...

I am sure there are lots more heartthrobs out there and feel free to leave a comment with you favorite here but I am focusing on three, beginning with...

Officer Tom Hanson:

Ahhhh... Johnny Depp knows no limits.... He plays Officer Tom Hanson in 21 Jump Street.

Saxophone-playing bowling-loving Officer Tom Hanson, Jr. is a baby-faced cop with a bit of a sorespot over the constant teasing he gets regarding his looks from criminals and fellow cops alike. When this leads to a loss of temper after which his captain tells him he has a choice; he can get assigned to desk duty for a few years while he gets a handle on his temper and get a little older looking, or he can take part in a special secret project called Jump Street Chapel that takes young-looking cops, teaches them how to act like teens again, and places them in schools to catch perpetrators before they tun into hardened career criminals.

Hanson's not happy about the idea of participating in "fast times at Bust Your Buddy High," but he's wanted nothing more than to be a cop like his late father, and the idea of desk duty is far less appealing than than driving down to the chapel on Jump Street, and taking the assignment. By-the-book Hanson seems initially out of his element among the free-wheeling cops and captain of the Jump Street program, but his compassion for the kids he deals with on a daily basis soon distinguishes him--and gets him to break a number of regulations on more than one occasion--and he quickly becomes close friends with his fellow Jump Street cops, as well as his usual partner, Officer Doug Penhall.

Slightly edited from IMDB

Well, I am least familiar with Officer Tom, but Cathy this is for you! I am going to go with characteristics of Intelligent, Driven and Hot-tempered. Depp obviously has incredible staying power and still looks dreamy...

If you love Tom you may be a good girl with a taste for excitement. You like jazzy beats and a tough guy exteriors with well adjusted morally sound interiors. You like happy endings and clear boundaries along with immaculate bone structure!

Dylan McKay:

Luke Perry took on the role of Dylan McKay in the h-i-t show 90210 (or just 9-0 to those in the know). Dylan stole my heart with his nonchalant charm and deep meaningful stares (wink wink), not to mention his...

Enough about me, lets talk about Dylan!

"Mad, bad and dangerous to know. That was him and that's me." (about himself and his father).

Dylan's role on the show was initially that of the Anti-hero, and was often portrayed as a good person with personal demons. The character was reportedly based on James Dean's character Jim Stark in the 1955 film Rebel Without A Cause. Dylan is a true tortured, bad boy with a heart of gold.

He was a loner in high school before he developed his enduring friendship with Brandon Walsh. From these he found his first love, Brandon's sister Brenda, and they developed a meaningful relationship where they tackle numerous teen challenges, including sex, pregnancy and substance abuse just to name a few. He eventually cheats on Brenda with her best friend Kally while she is away for a summer. Dylan's life was fraught with drama including a felon father who is believed to die in a car bombing, alcohol and drug abuse and loosing the love of his life when someone makes an attempt on his life but kills her instead by mistake.

"Rule number one, the only person you can trust in this world is yourself."

Highly edited from IMDB.

I spent many an afternoon watching a 9-0 marathon and enjoying the scenery. Dylan's characteristics will be, Soulful, Protective and Rebellious. Luke is still looking good but we haven't seen him too much lately.

If you love Dylan you definitely have a rebellious streak and a love for deep and meaningful ambiguity. You love vintage style and live to melt the tough exterior of the tortured soul. You probably like the unexpected and a deep desire to heal the wounds of the world!

Jordan Catalano:

Annnd the youngest of our charmers is Jared Leto who played Jordan Catalano is the one season sensation My So Called Life...

Jordan is one of the best-remembered characters of the show. He is good-looking, popular, and rebellious, a major slacker who constantly cuts class and is on the brink of being expelled (in part because he is nearly illiterate due to dyslexia). He is Angela's main love interest, and during the series they have an on-again/off-again relationship. He reveals his emotional depth in his songwriting ability and his occasional — and seemingly accidental — profound thoughts.

Jordan Catalano can't read. He's always leaning, putting Visine in his eyes, and running his hands through his hair. Meet him under the bleachers for a cigarette or at Tino's before the Buffalo Tom concert. If you're lucky, he'll pressure you into sleeping with him in "Red", his beloved car. His band, the Frozen Embryos never took off. He showed tremendous potential, though, in his cover of "I Wanna Be Sedated".

From Wikipedia and IMDB.

Jordan was easy to love, and hate, and we all know Jared Leto has aged BEAUTIFULLY! Jordan's characteristics will be.... Misunderstood, Complicated and Wanderer.

If you love Jordan you are very drawn to pretty things. You are patient and caring and can't turn down a hesitant yet penetrating stare rather than an eloquent speech. You like rock music and style and love to live on the fringe rather than show off in the spot light.

Where do you fit? Have any suggestions??

...living with intention, satya...

Sooooo much for a monthly post, but here yet again is my living with intention post about Satya.

This is the second in a series that began with Ahimsa, or nonviolence which is the first Yama (as explained in the aforementioned post...)  Satya, the second Yama, means truthfulness, both with others and with yourself.  On the mat, for me, this often comes up when I believe that I just can't stay in a challenging pose for one minute longer.  Then it is time to check in and discover if I really can't hold it for one moment longer or if in fact I don't want to stay in the pose.  If I actually go through this thought process the pose usually ends and low and behold I have in fact held the pose and lived to type about it.

Off the mat this can be practiced in numerous ways, most obviously while not telling lies to ourselves or others.  For me, living in a truthful way also means being myself.  This means that when I enter a room, or meet someone for the first time I am myself; not what I think the other person thinks I should be or what I think I should be.  For me to live in truth I need to keep my own wants and needs in mind and when I feel strongly about something to share that opinion rather than sit back and not "rock the boat."  I am the queen of not rocking the boat and as I have gotten older I have begun to liberate myself from this, I am not all the way there but I am on my way.  

I always see it noted when talking about Satya that truthfulness should never come at the expense of Ahimsa.  In other words regardless of a truth if it has the potential to be harmful to others than it may behoove us to keep it to ourselves.  This seems like a tricky balance because it also seems important to face difficult truths that may even be hurtful in the moment but will result in personal growth (this seems especially true when looking at personal truths but can also come when someone holds a mirror up to us that reflects something less than beautiful).  So how do we balance truth and nonviolence?  Is it OK to speak a truth that may be difficult to hear when we do it from an open place, a place from which we care deeply for the recipient of the truth?

Any thoughts?

...trying...

Since I left my job I have been trying to stay positive and motivated.  I have seen lots of jobs in the mental health field and it is sooooo tempting to apply for them, because I know there is a good chance I will at least get an interview, but it isn't what I want to do.  It is an amazing feeling to stop myself from applying and stop looking on websites that focus on small social service agencies and focus on were I want to go, rather than where I have been and where I expected to go for a long time.

I have been trying lots of little things to keep myself on track, my 30 day challenge to keep my spirits up, the new home office to make doing work as easy as possible and reading the Makeunder My Life: Design a Life with Intention.  I really like this blog- check it out.  It is also where I got this desktop wallpaper...

This is another tactic I have employed, each day when I turn on my little computer this is what I see.

I can only imagine that it helps- it is like a placebo... I believe it works so it does!

How do you live with intention?

...end week one of 30 day challenge...

I have finished my first week of my 30 day challenge (not a full week because March began on Tuesday), and I feel great, still a little tight (that kettle bells is tough!) but great.

Day 3: 5 mile Chastain Loop and Kettle bells with Sean and Trey.

The walk around Chastain is so beautiful right now as the first blooms of spring happen here in Atlanta while school is still being canceled for my folks in the north!

Aphi's favorite part of the loop...

The Kettlebells was less of a workout today because Jack worked with us a lot on technique which for Sean and I was super important. We learned the Turkish Get-up, silver-back dead lift, swings and the goblet squat...

Trey should stop looking so excited (he skipped chest day at the gym for this, a real sacrifice... thanks Trey!)

Day 4:
Yoga and a one mile fast run (well fast for me...)

Day 5:
Kettle bell workshop with Sean, John and Jack: Another day of basics, Jack is super knowledgeable about body mechanics and kettle bells and I think we are all on the same page now and ready to move and shake. We did get a workout in at the end and those little weighted balls are unrelenting!!

Day 6:
5 mile loop and Yoga at Peachtree Yoga with Daniela who is also a pranic healer so as you can imagine we did lots of breathing... it was a nice class, my first with her, I would definitely go back!

So Here we go into my first full week of the challenge... I will check back in on Sunday!

Have a great week everyone!

...seven months...

Tomorrow will be the seven month anniversary of my very first post.  It is a little landmark I just thought about today when I was looking at my stats and smiling a big smile!  Blogging has been a fun way to reach out to my people and keep me engaged during a difficult year.  I really do appreciate all of you that have read my little posts (or posty-posts for the Espinoza's out there)...

Atomic Girl is definitely a little meandering but I am trying to find my groove and direction.  Here's to seven months, we'll check back in on September 7th 2011 and see where we are!

All comments/ suggestions welcome!!

...Fitness challenge, 2 days down...

Well my legs are really still but my spirit is strong!  Don't let the strip mall fool you, everything in Atlanta is in a strip mall, and Oni Fitness is a fantastic new space in Vinings...

This is where I just started teaching some more classes, and where the start of my challenge began in a kettle bells class with Diane and wow.

Day 1:

We had a good class size and some fun music and we just went to it.  It was my first time and I used the lightest weights which I believe were 18 lbs.  Here is a little more info on Kettle Bells, it was my first class but it won't be my last!  Apparently there is a little bit of a fad doing this at home with a video but I definitely think at least in the beginning having an instructor is great to help get the form down...

We moved through three sets and I felt myself fatiguing through each but I made it through just fine... I though later that night that I felt great and headed over to Peachtree Yoga Studio for my regular Tuesday evening class with Todd (which is always a challenge, fun and deep.)  I felt a little more tired than usual but the class was great.

Day 2:

I woke up on Wednesday though and wow, good morning stiffness.  My arms were totally fine but everything from the waist down was totally seized up!  I immediately got out of bed around 7:30 am and fed the pup and then walked the Chastain Park loop from our house (about 5 miles).

This is an Atlanta Gem with a golf course, horse riding, tennis, trails, a school, art center, sports fields, a babbling brook through the middle and walking and biking lanes.  It was a great start to the day but I found my legs even more stiff afterward!

I tried to do some stretching to no avail and then jumped into a salt bath which was fantastic.  I was able to stretch more after this in preparation to teach a class at Oni at 6pm.  That class went well and I got in a few stretches myself.  I was feeling good so I stayed and had a short private pilates class with Shelley (from Oni).  This was also my first pilates class and I now understand on a whole new level why people swear by the ab strengthening series!  It was great and I think it will make its way into my life as it targets your abs in a way yoga doesn't and help them learn to fire which took all the strain out of my low back (my problem area). 

This brings me to the end of day two, with glorious stiffness and a happy mind.  I am taking another kettle bells class today with one of the owners of Oni- Jack and I am dragging some friends along...

While I cannot tone anyone's butt from afar (Laura Kramer), you are welcome in Atlanta!!  Come visit and we will work it out!

...design challenge: office remodel...

I mentioned the other day that I was doing a design challenge to build a home office for Sean (me;).  My goal was to obtain everything, or at least most things used and to spend under $150 for the entire thing.

My one big mistake was that I forgot to take before pictures!  I think I actually did take some but lost them when my computer crashed.  But it was a small room painted matte tan with piles of paper in the corner, an ironing board and one metal shelf that held my entire graduate workload along with some other random mess, overall not a very welcoming room.  I began with painting, I wanted it to be a surprise for the man-friend so I did it while he was in Charleston for a weekend.  I painted it a soft creamy white, and then it sat for a few weeks still a mess but with nicer walls!

I had been scouring craigslist for a table to use as a desk and each time I e-mailed someone I never heard back from them.  I waited until Sean went to Florida for a weekend (he abandons me a lot) and after my Saturday yoga classes I found a table that had just been posted, called and immediately went to pick it up.  It was not my most favorite, it was a laminate top, solid wood legs and some random holes drilled in the top, but it was a nice shape and cheap so it fit into my budget- sold!!

 Here it is as I put it together on our patio, it is definitely sturdy and you can see where I began to patch the drilled holes with wood filler...

 

The holes before...

 

 The holes after, I put the filler in really thick and then sanded it down later in the process...

 All put together, at which point I began to think about how much easier it would have been to get into the house and up the stairs if I have waited to put it together...

 Viva Cindy came over and helped me to cover this bad boy in spray paint.  I visited my neighborhood Ace Hardware and they recommended a spray paint that is used for plastic and metal since the top was laminate, it has some kind of adhesive already in the paint.  I went through two cans and got the legs well but the top was just eating up the paint and not getting very good coverage.  Cindy was adamant that I should use a roller on the table top so at this point we carried the table upstairs together and I let it cure for 24 hours before beginning the process again...

 This is the table in its spot, you can see how the top is not so fully covered here...

 I saved some money here by using the gloss white paint we used for the molding in our house to roll the table top about 20 times, until it had a nice solid looking shine to it... what a difference...

Then I went to goodwill and a couple other places looking for office supplies but I didn't find anything really so I ventured over to target and got the cork board, lamp, boxes (for .82 cents on clearance) and the shelves.  I had hunted for shelves all over craigslist and they were all about 30 dollars, they were solid wood but then I would have had to buy paint for them and this nice white bookshelf from target was $29.99 so I went for it...

I can't say it was a breeze to put together, nor will it last a lifetime, but it looks nice right now and certainly does the job!

Behold the table with the finishing touches on it, I did use a very fine sand paper after all the layers of paint to smooth it out and that also helped to make the top less tacky...

I really like the lamp (target) and the geode (tj maxx)...

The geode actually put me $10 dollars over the budget but isn't it worth it???!

I feel so official now when I am job hunting...

Aphi likes to keep me company...

 

Although, she may love the sun more than me....

Here it is!  I came in around $160:

Wall paint:  Valspar $25

Table:  Craigslist $60

Spray Paint: 2x $5.99

Geode:  $8.99

Shelf:  Target $29.99

Lamp:  Target $14.00

Cork board:  Target $5.00

Green Boxes:  Target 2x $.82

TOTAL:  156.60

...30 day challange...

Well I have gone and done it.

I was not happy at my job for a number of reasons, and it was not at all leading me towards my career and personal goals and so I made the choice to resign.  It is daunting to enter the world of unemployment again but Sean and I have gone into it with open eyes, clear goals and a much more positive attitude.  It is amazing to think that I was in this exact spot one year ago- where did an entire year go and I am in the same place?!?! 

Well, in order to help keep myself sane and positive I am beginning a 30 day fitness challenge.  I wanted to do something that would motivate me to blog and live and stay happy and tone my gluteal area... yeah that last one is key...  At first I thought I would join the 30 for 30 challenge that I think is great from Kendi Everyday- check it out, it would be a great challenge, but I felt like I needed something more...

Not to be outdone by Dean Karnazes (who is currently running across our country!), I am embarking on the challenge of one class a day for this entire month.  I will be partaking in yoga (yay), kettlebells (today is my very first kettlebell class, tune in tomorrow for details), and pilates (matt and reformer, neither of which I have done before!).

I am still going to keep doing the things I do, but I am also going to get out of the house every day and partake in some sort of group activity to keep sane (and tone up a bit).

Still unsure if I will do a weekly wrap-up or check in each day- I think for this week I will check in daily and then resort to the weekly wrap up in homage to 'fit fridays'.

Check out Oni Fitness Studio which is where I just started teaching and where I will be taking a lot of classes!  Wish me luck!