The One With the Personality Test

In continuing on with Blogtember,  I took this personality test over the weekend.  I tested as the ISFJ personality type which surprised me in absolutely no ways at all.

First of all, this is totally me.  I feel like they hit the nail on the head, so to speak.  I'm the generally introverted, largely in my own head, type of person.  I think a lot.  I take great pride in being needed, and I don't like to divulge anything that might make someone feel bad for me or otherwise uncomfortable.  I mentioned the results to Nick and he just smiled.  Apparently, he agrees.

They say that people of this personality type struggle with feeling unappreciated.  My first thought was no!  I don't!  Nick tells me how much he appreciates me on a daily basis!  But that's just the thing.  This really is a testament to N and how well he really gets me.

I'll have to thank him especially for that.  That wonderful man of mine.

When I think back on it, though, I remember those feelings of un-appreciation at my last job.  Which I hear, is just me being me!  I am not saying that they were warranted, just that they were there.  They followed suit and all.

And oh my, I am blaming things on my personality.

Another thing, I have a few close friends.  This has been true throughout my whole life.  When I was younger, I thought this was just because I was painfully shy.  I would get to the point where I hoped that I didn't have to talk to anyone in my classes!  The horror!  As I have gotten older, shy really isn't the word anymore, I'm just "quiet."  I choose what I want to say carefully as to emphasis exactly what I mean, without the superfluous words.

And instead of feeling like a have a few close friends because I am shy, it's because I have faith and I let things fall into place.  You just naturally click with some people.  And with others, things feel more forced.  I don't have the social energy to nudge a friendship into being.  If it doesn't fit naturally, chances are it will just make me feel anxious, like I am needing to provide "upkeep" on something.  Friendship should be effortless.  So, the friends I do have, they are perfect little corner pieces, and sky pieces that fit into whichever piece I am, ya know.  That's a puzzle reference.  Just to clarify.

This has been interesting in the blogging world.  Maybe we'll take twitter for example, I am tempted to just sit back and read the conversations.  This works in the real world, just being there, listening.  Because you are there, you've got a body in the situation and you have presence!  Online, if you aren't participating, it's as if you're not there at all.  Presence just isn't as passive behind that computer screen.

And a quick side note to say that I don't feel like this whole thing applies to my blogging personality, per se.  There should be separate blogging personality quiz because I don't even know about these things.  Or maybe this little ole thing is tweaking my personality in little ways... but that's for another time entirely.

 

Why I'm Doing the Whole 30

So there's this book that many of you have probably heard about called It Starts With Food and the Whole30 program it outlines - I am naturally late to this party.  I first heard about this via What I Wore and was intrigued.  What struck me was that while this may seem new-agey at first, it really is just down to basics, back to goodness, whole eating.  Which I liked.  I am fairly traditional and don't like things that are gimmicky or are unsustainable for any length of time.

Even before reading this book I knew about the surface benefits of whole eating.  Of course it is healthier, eating veggies and real meat trumps greasy mexican food any day of the week - nutrition wise that is.  Upon reading though I got to understand what I thought might be the case - eating well can help cure a multitude of ails.

While weight loss is a positive side effect, that wasn't my primary goal in considering this new style of eating.  When it really got down to it, I was most impressed with the psychological benefits.  (I won't get all into the nuts and bolts of it but if you are even a bit interested, I recommend the book, even just for an enlightening read.)

I am not overweight but I am none too versed in resisting cravings.  I will almost always give in to sweets and greasy food.  What has started to plague me lately was how intense these cravings could be and how powerless I felt against them - this worried me.  I wanted the mental veracity to tackle these bad boys - if you will.

Additionally, coming from a background where I can understand the effects of depression and anxiety, I was intrigued by how a change of diet could improve one's mental health.  Could simple, good, whole foods really help to tackle something that can be so debilitating?  Something that is so often treated with prescriptions?  I was impressed.

After reading the book front to back in a day (okay, I did skip the few mildly science heavy pages) I was highly interested in trying this out for myself.  After all, it couldn't be worse than I am eating now, right?

So this is what Nick and I are doing for the next 30 days.  It'll be tough considering our work schedules but we have worked hard and developed a plan and we're gunning to get started.  And naturally, I will keep you updated.

Have any of y'all tried this?  How did it go for you?  I'd absolutely love to hear all about it.

photo via

Life Lately, According to My Instagram

Hello everyone!  I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend.  I definitely did seeing as I spent it celebrating the fact that my flu was gone!  And trying to take some pictures since last weeks I-can't-get-out-of-bed-I-hate-the-flu left little time for actual picture taking.

This week I have the wonderful opportunity to join up with Life on Leroy and The Weekend File and be a co-host for this week's Life Lately Link Up!  Thank you ladies!  Now let's get to the goods...

My little Ellie in her dapper little bow-tie

The snow as it was just starting!  Man alive, I looooove snow, you guys.

The weekend attire.

I found a seriously old copy of White Fang as we were antique shopping.  Score.

I finally got around to unpacking and realized that I have an unusual amount of blankets and pillows.  #ineedhelp

And this, ladies and gents, is the only picture I took during the flu week.  My dog really cares about me - puppy kisses all around.

So, what is your life looking like lately?  Let us know and link up!


Link up Rules:

1) Follow your hosts via GFC.
2) Follow your co-hosts via GFC.
3) Link up your life lately posts or any post about your life.

Here's to You, Flu

I’m sorry for being expectantly absent.  It seems the flu bug bit and rendered me unfit to blog, or even communicate with people for that matter.  Unless of course you wanted to hear me rattle on about my weird dreams or experience my complete lack of hygiene.  If that’s what you came here looking for, then I’m your girl.  If not, that’s cool too, we’re still friends.  And honestly, that’s probably why we are still friends.  Yay for us.

Since we’ve got that all ironed out, you can expect me to be back in high spirits tomorrow… just in time for the weekend.  Come to think of it, I’d like to thank this particular flu for finding me.  You’re not just any ole flu, no.  You’re cool, and you’re down with how I roll.  You took me out during the workweek, which was inconvenient, sure, but no one said being with you was easy.  Like the considerate virus you are, you dropped me off on Thursday afternoon, feeling better for the weekend.  So here’s to you, if I had to get the flu, I’m glad it was you.

image via