Sherri's Favorite Things

So, I had a bit of nostalgia today and was looking at my old posts from my first year of marriage in 2008. Oh my gosh life has changed. Have I changed? Hmmmmmm, difficult question.. Probably. I'm still slightly cynical, even tempered, working full-time, witty, and sometimes sarcastic. Otherwise I guess I am different. Marriage and motherhood does that to you.

Anyways, I found an old blog post about some of my favorite things in 2008.. and now I want to update my list. It was mostly kitchen stuff back then. So, here we go 10 years later...

Favorite Food Items:

Crystal Lite Pure Energy
Stevia-sweetened drink with caffeine. Delicious.

Kirkland brand protein bars.
It took a while to get used to the taste, but they have actual chunks of chocolate and are a good source of fiber.

Favorite Kitchen Items:

KitchenAid mixer..
You'll be my baby for always and forever.

Swissmar peeler.
This thing is CHEAP but freaking amazing.

Favorite Electronic Items:

Orbi wi-fi router
We got this for our new bigger house, but started using it already. It is wayyyy better than a wi-fi extender.

Qustodio app
It helps with internet safety on mobile devices and gives me peace of mind.

Favorite Home Items:

Ecobee Smart Thermostat
I'm so excited to use this in the new house for energy efficiency and the programmable/smart options!

Frigidaire upright deep freezer
We had to replace our old one in October, and this freezer has a ton of storage and keeps food super cold without frostbite. FYI, not my freezer. I mostly freeze my own meals and food I make, and of course the giant bags of vegetables from Costco.

Favorite Clothing Items:

Athleta hybrid tights
This are beyond comfortable and have a lot of support for my post-baby belly. I got the ankle-length tights, and guess what, they're exactly the right length for my stumpy legs.

Bandolino velvet flat wedges with bow
Again, super comfy, pointy-toe shoes with a little bit of a heel. Totally my kind of shoe.

Favorite TV Shows:

Black Mirror by Netflix/BBC
Dark, astute, relevant, creepy.. We love this show (although Season 4 was really lacking).

The Great British Baking Show by BBC
So relaxing--I love the things they bake and I love that it's not the typical ridiculous competition shows that are on Food Network.

Makeup Items:

MAC Matchmaster foundation
Nothing else compares on my face, and I mean it. I've been around, and now I've found that it's the only one for me. I've been wearing it for almost five years now.

CoverFX Highlighting palette
I couldn't pick just one eyeshadow palette, so I decided on one for my face. This thing is amazing and gives me all kind of glow.

Anyways, I thought this was kind of fun. Maybe I won't wait 10 years next time to update.

Insecurities

All right, so I've been putting off this blog for a while.. Not because I've been too busy, but because I've been thinking about how I want to word this blog. I've also been exhausted from work (this flu season has been CRAZY at the hospital). So, I apologize for the lapse of time between my last blog and this one.

Graham and I were talking about our insecurities recently, and that many of our lives' problems stem from these. Graham's main one is that he wants people to think he's a good guy, and that he wants people to think only good things about him.

My insecurities are that I'm not enough.

I'm not thin enough

I'm not pretty enough

I'm not smart enough

Part of this comes from my parents' obsession with weight growing up (sorry mom). My mom and dad often focused on losing weight, being healthy, and eating healthy food when I was young, and even now. I can't blame this on my parents though, although this obsession with weight and health did contribute partly to my insecurity about myself. I was always self-conscious about the way I am or the way I look, even when I was young. If you read my journal from early on, I was always focused on which boys liked me, didn't like me, or how few friends I had. I was one of the smart kids in class, and one of my journal entries when I was only 12 years old focused on the fact that nobody called me unless it was a question about homework. I was overly concerned about my appearance, whether or not it was regarding my social status or my looks.

I was obsessed about boys even from an early age, and I even had a few "boyfriends" in elementary school. However, in junior high, the awkward social times and awkward looks hit. I had braces, a long face, and lots of freckles. I liken my junior high face to Butthead (as in Beavis and Butthead). I had a huge crush on a boy in junior high, who didn't even know I was alive until someone told him that I had a crush on him. When a girl from church asked him if he liked me, he replied, "hell no!". And, that's when my complete and utter insecurity about my attractiveness to the opposite sex began. When I got my braces off in 8th grade, I immediately felt more pretty, but some boys in my classes (including one I had a crush on) started calling me "Mrs. Ed" (as in Mr. Ed, the HORSE), and saying "it's all in the teeth" (meaning I had big teeth and a long horse-face). Man, this is all sounding extremely terrible when explained all at once. The "Mrs. Ed" and "it's all in the teeth" comments continued periodically throughout high school. In fact, one of the boys actually wrote it in my senior year high school yearbook. Even though I was a cheerleader, I wasn't popular, but I had my own group of friends. I was in all of the honors and AP classes, and I participated in weekly church activities, but I never really felt like I fit in anywhere. I had a boyfriend my junior year of high school, but that was the only year where I actually got asked to a dance.

So, from all of these years (very formative years, mind you) of insecurity, I still have issues about being attractive to the opposite sex. Even though I'm married, it's still a struggle for me. When I was younger, if some boy even showed a minor interest in me, I would definitely take note and they were more attractive to me.. just because I thought they might like me. Kind of ridiculous. Eventually, I grew into my long face and it filled out a little, and I think I've definitely gotten more pretty as I've gotten older. But, these insecurities remain, even after all these years. It's especially evident when I go back home. When I go back to Folsom, I feel like I return to my old, insecure, high school self. Now that I'm up here in Washington, I feel like I've made a name and home for myself, no matter my history. Obviously, with my recent foray into fitness and beauty, I've become a bit more obsessed with my appearance, which may or may not help with my insecurities. I can only hope that one day I will be less concerned about my outward appearance and more concerned about who I am on the inside, no matter how cheesy that sounds..

And now, for your viewing pleasure.. some awkward pictures of myself growing up. I had a lot of fun picking some of these out.. previously unpublished on Facebook or anywhere else!

Look what my school district gave me when I graduated high school. Adorable, right? I mean, a big gap between your two front teeth and freckles are cute only when you're 10 years old.

 Oh, the braces..

Me and my best friend, Heather, in 8th grade after I got the braces off. Can I go back in time and remove the white eyeliner and copper lip gloss? Oh, and in case you were wondering, we were wearing tank tops, but they're hard to see. You would not believe the rumors that went around our school..

 Freshman year homecoming dance. Not fun.

Junior year of high school, when I used to rock lighter hair.

My first day in my college dorm.

My last day at BYU!

Me now.. flirty, 30, and thriving..?

FYI, this post is not a "pity me" or "compliment me" post. It's just a big part of who I am and why I am the way I am.

Obsessions

So, these are my latest obsessions (I mean, in case you were just dying to know)

1) The Kindle app on my phone. Holy cow, this is dangerous. At first, I didn't think I'd like reading a book on an electronic device, but it makes it quite handy and easy to read late at night in my bed.

2) Related to #1: Books. I've forgotten how amazing it is to read. I've always been a big reader. I love psychological thrillers, murder mysteries, horror stories, sometimes sci-fi, but no sappy crap. Blech. There's nothing worse than a love story. I don't mind them as movies (one of my favorite movies is "He's Just Not That Into You"), but not as books. They don't keep my attention. I also hate fantasy books. In sixth grade, my teacher was concerned I wasn't reading enough age-appropriate stories for my age (Whatever! I was reading Michael Crichton in 4th and 5th grade. I was also reading horror stories, too, but she didn't have to know that.), and recommended several fantasy stories for me to read. My mom picked some up for me, and the recommended story about mice as pirates or something held my attention for all of 10 pages. It was the same thing with "The Hobbit", which was on my Honors' English summer reading list in 10th grade. I did get introduced to "Ender's Game" on the same reading list, however, so it wasn't all for naught. Anyways, since I got the Kindle app, I've downloaded and read four books; three books in a week's time. My two favorites have been "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn (which I have read twice now) and "Doctor Sleep" by Stephen King (the sequel to "The Shining"). I loved both of these so much.. I would probably read Doctor Sleep again, too.

3) Birchbox. This is a mailed, potential monthly subscription box that provides 3-5 beauty products per month, depending on your own preferences and beauty concerns (skin, hair, nails, etc). You can sign up for one month at a time, or a yearly subscription. It was so fun getting one box with five products in them that they had chosen for me. I received spray hair detangler/conditioner, lip balm, microdermabrasion exfoliator, makeup foundation, and a lip/cheek stain. If you sign up, it's about $8-12/month.



4) Fresh soap. Have any of you been in or seen a Lush store at the mall? I always wondered what the heck was in this store, as it looked kind of like a comic book place, or a kids' store. I heard about this soap called Demons in the Dark, and it blew me away. It's a fresh-smelling, minty soap that I've fallen in love with. Be ye forewarned: they will heavily try to upsell their products. They gave me a hand treatment, including a cleanser, exfoliant, and lotion, which were amazing, but super expensive. They're handmade, cruelty-free products, but I can't afford to spend $40/month on body products. I walked away with the soap and felt lucky.

5) Leapfrog learning videos. Carter received this one for his birthday, and has watched it nearly every day since. It's his obsession (obviously not mine), but it has taught him the sounds that the letters make. It's awesome.