Snapshots

My new life: Simply changing my diet and exercise

2011-09-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

Now that it's been a year since I completed my weight loss program and have successfully kept the weight and inches off, I felt like it was time to share my story.

Summer 2011 (Keeping the weight off for a year)

Last summer June-September I embarked on a weight loss journey that has been (I may cry) a life changing experience. I know that sounds cliche but to me it really was a complete change, physically, mentally and emotionally. I went from 163 lbs to 143 lbs by eating from the food plan of Bill Phillips Body for Life and the workouts from Beach Body's ChaLEAN Extreme .

Fall 2009 (With friends on a trip to Washington, D.C.)

May 2010 (The biggest I've ever been)

From photos of me in 2010 you can see that I was hiding my belly by repeatedly buying oversized shirts with a lot of detail at the face, and tons of fabric to cover my big belly.

One of my shirts even said "maternity" and I have never been pregnant!

After watching my roommate at the time go through several diets and weight loss programs, I discovered, one of them worked better than all the rest. She realized this too, but felt there was one small flaw, the food. We are both particular about our food, and so when she read the book "Body For Life" by Bill Phillips and compared his weight loss program to the one she had just completed, Beach Body's ChaLEAN Extreme, she realized they were nearly identical.

May 2010 (With my cousin at the NW Regional TV Emmys in Seattle, Wash. (This dress falls off me now))

So, as an experiment in the summer of 2010 we committed to the diet from Bill and the workouts from Chalene (I feel like I can refer to them on a first name basis now that I've spent days with their programs, and Chalene has talked me through many grueling workouts).

EXERCISE

My first weight lifting workout with Chalene was not easy, I will tell you. At one point during the tricep workout (a muscle I hadn't given much thought to before this) I screamed in pain, "I feel like I am giving birth through my arms!" My roommate laughed and I have learned to push through the pain, and focus on one of the many motivational quotes we stuck on the walls of our workout room, "Pain is weakness leaving the body," - Marines.

If you don't know much about the workout routines it was three days a week of weight lifting and four days a week of 20 minutes of cardio in short high intensity intervals. You could do this by following a workout DVD or by riding your bike outside, or jogging, or anything, you would just need to follow Bill Phillip's guide for cardio.

I personally loved this workout routine, I was able to change it up so it wasn't monotonous and I actually looked forward to weight lifting, something I'd never tried until last summer.

This pushing through the pain, helped me become stronger, not just physically, but mentally. This commitment took a ton of consistent journaling. Every day I would need to record what weights I lifted, or what cardio routine I did and rate my performance, mediocre or that I rocked it. I also recorded my meals that I ate each day, and even penciling in if I didn't keep up with my goal for that day and gave in and ate a cupcake or something else not approved. But then I would set a goal the next day to stick to my plan no matter what. I wrote down my goals and realized that my change was a process.

DIET

I loved the diet (six meals a day with a protein serving the size of your fist and a carb serving the size of your palm) and realized by just changing a few things that I purchase every week from full-fat to non-fat I could slim down in no-time and still enjoy the great tasting foods I've always loved. I also realized that I didn't have to give up my two most favorite foods, 1% milk and peanut butter, I never stopped eating either of these the entire time I was on my diet. To this day, I still make the meals from the Eating for Life cookbook. They are super simple, contain tons of veggies, and have 1/2 the fat of most meals. I've even taken some of the recipes and made them my own by substituting ingredients for others, or using a simple concept and turning it into a wrap, or a salad, or a casserole. I feel like I've grown as a cook.

MY LIFE

I worked for months hating my job, and doing nothing to change it. But after starting my weight loss program, I was able to see that if I set goals I could accomplish them, and if no one else was proud of my growth, I could be proud of myself for what I did. I was even able to admit out loud that I hated my job and needed a change (something I had held in for months). I started working towards new goals and trying new things, and holding true to the fact that I was going to get where I wanted to go, because I know that if I believe I can do it and I work at it, and push hard, I can accomplish anything.

In fall of 2010 I quit my job without knowing where I'd go next (for sure) but I felt like I was changing my life for the better. Now, nearly 12 months later I can tell you I am happier than I've ever been in my life. I enjoy exercising, something I used to frown upon because it took too much time and effort, and I never got results.

Now that I've seen that changing my exercise pattern and diet and change my body shape, I realize that I can change, and that I can be better.

I'm now working at a job that I love and many people have told me that I seem very happy (something, I realize they say now, because I wasn't happy then). I love that I get to see the sunshine and meet new people, and practice my photography skills and reporting abilities.

December 2010 (Just before leaving my old job and starting a new one)

If anyone out there is lacking motivation to change their workout plan, eating plan, or anything else in life, I'll be your coach. I'll cheer you on all the way. Because I realized that that's something that helped me the most. About 6 weeks into my 12 week body makeover, I was very discouraged. The books tell you that men see results within 6 weeks, while women don't see results until week 9. I almost quit the entire program that day. Then I remembered that in the book there was a phone number I could call at any time of the day and someone would help me if I was feeling discouraged, but as I went to dial, crying while sitting on the couch, I thought, "I don't need to talk to a stranger, I'll call my mom." Thank goodness I called her. She cheered me up by reminding me of my goal and how I told her I was going to stick to it no matter what. I appreciate that feedback so much, the sad part is all she had to do was repeat my own words to me.

Summer 2007 (didn't look much different than high school)

Summer 2009 (Not too bad)

Fall 2010 (Just 2 weeks left of my diet and exercise program)

I encourage anyone who needs to smile a bit more, make new friends, get out and see the sunshine, or just wants to make some more tasty less-fattening food to try out what I did. It worked great and I still follow it 70% of the time. I can't imagine ever going back to who I was before. I don't like that stick in the mud. I like the new me.

Best Friends meet in Boise :)

2009-05-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

My first best friend at USU came to visit me this weekend! So fun! On Friday I was up to nothing = watching tv I had recorded, when I got a phone call from Tayna. :) We talked for about 40 minutes about life and that we both didn't have very big plans for the weekend when she suggested she drive up to visit! I was sooo excited! Four hours later she was at my house! We went out to dinner and then came back to my house and talked until midnight.

The next day I had to produce a parade in a nearby city. She came with me and sat in the production truck with us. She thought it was amazing but to me it was just another parade. I've now been here a year and 5 months and this was my year mark of parades. It was pretty stressful because the parade ended 5 minutes too soon. We tried to stretch people putting away their chairs into something interesting. After the parade we headed to my aunt and uncle's nearby and played with my cousins. We baked cookies and grilled hot dogs. We also played evvy-ivy-over and played with the neighbor's golden retriever. He was such a fast dog. We fed my uncle's horses and then came back and said good bye.

Next we headed to the shops! Tayna and I love to go shopping and that we did. We only hit up two stores but I think we got some pretty good sales. Notable buys, I got a new scarf and orange shirt and she got a cute t-shirt jacket and some fun earings.

We came back, ordered pizza and watched a movie. I fell asleep during the movie -- which Tayna normally does. Funny.

Yesterday she came to church with me and then she had to go home. I miss her already. Right now she's looking for a job so I don't know where she'll be in even a month, but wherever she ends up I plan on visiting her. Everyone needs a little bit of spontaneous fun with a friend who understands you completely. :)

I love you Tayna, and hope to see you soon.

Standing up for what you believe in

2009-04-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

This story struck me this morning and I knew I had to blog about it to share it.
At the Miss America pageant this year Miss California was asked a very difficult question.

She was asked "Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?"

This was her answer according to the article by Access Hollywood.

"Well I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. Um, we live in a land that you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage and, you know what, in my country and in, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman," Miss California Carrie Prejean said to a mix of boos and applause. "No offense to anybody out there. But that's how I was raised and that's how I think that it should be between a man and a woman."

The article goes on to talk about how one of the judges thinks she lost the competion because of her answer to that question.

First off, I don't think it was a "political" question at all. I believe it was a statement of beliefs.
She stood up for her beliefs and did a great thing for all of us who are fighting for the right to keep Marriage solely between a man and a woman. Great job a Carrie! You stood up for your God and mine when you stayed true to your beliefs.

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we believe "We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife." -- The Family: A Proclamation to the World.

On NBC's Today Show this morning she said she wouldn't have answered the question any differently, "it's not about being politically correct, for me, it's about being Biblically correct."

Thanks again Carrie! I'm sorry you're not Miss America but I don't think that question should have cost you the crown.

My Favorite Elphaba: Alexia Khadime

2009-02-04T01:25:00.000-08:00

So, If I didn't tell you yet, when I went to Germany I took a weekend trip to England where I saw the broadway show Wicked! It was amazing! And now that I've seen it live, I have fallen in love with England's Wicked cast. I never saw the show in America, so that may be why I'm biased but you should hear this girl sing who played Elphaba.

Her name is Alexia Khadime and she is brilliant at Elphaba. I can't wait to buy her album that she's working on.
She's got to be one of my favorite singers right now.
Check out her new song and video on her website.

New year, new goals

2009-02-01T17:27:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a while, not that I didn't want to just because I've been busy working and sleeping and not geting on my computer when I come home from work. But would you blame me? I'm at work for 8-9 hours a day just sitting in front of a computer.

Here's a letter I wrote, to send to missionaires about a month ago, but I never printed it or mailed it to anyone. I'll try to do that sometime this week, but for now it's my new blog post :) Enjoy :)

Dec. 28, 2008

Hey!

I’m sorry I haven’t written you in forever, and considering I write for my living there’s no excuse.
How have you been? What are you up to? I haven’t heard from you in forever!

I’ve been busy, but mostly with work, sleep and trying to cram too much fun into weekends.

I work at NBC NewsChannel 7 in Boise, Idaho I am the morning show producer. That means I write what the anchors read for the 5-7am newscast. I’ve almost been here for a year! I interviewed exactly one year and a week ago. So crazy! If you haven’t heard, yes, I did graduate in journalism—I went to school to learn what I do. Any other questions? Pretty much my life is my job, and then sleep, and food. I feel like a slave sometimes and I want to go back to school – where I was carefree. Maybe I’ll go back in a couple of years. Right now I’m treating my job as my master’s degree. I signed a 3 year contract up here so one year down two to go. I really do like my job, but I miss taking 5 different subjects a semester and learning something totally new every 4 months.

My highlights of my year are few but fun. I tried wakeboarding this summer, I sorta got up. I wanna try that again. I went to Germany this fall. (My cousin and her husband live there. He’s in the military. I figured, free place to stay and a tour guide!) I flew out by myself and met up with my cousins. It was a fabulous adventure. I went to Frankfurt, Germany, a little south west of there and then into France – just on the border. And one weekend there we flew to London, England and saw the Broadway Musical Wicked!. It was so fun! I also rode mountain bikes through the Black Forest, (If you’ve never been “real” mountain biking this is the place to go, it was hard but fun!)

I fly home to Utah to see my family every few weeks – about once every two months. I have cousins up here who live 30 minutes away so I visit them as well. They are super fun! I just spent Christmas with them. They treated me just like one of their kids. It was fantastic!

The day after Christmas my younger –not so little anymore—brothers flew in to visit me! Even though it was supposed to be a quick flight from Utah to Idaho, it took about 6 hours because their plane from Colorado was delayed in the snow. But thankfully they waited for standby and got on the last flight up Friday night.

I showed them the News Studio yesterday, they were impressed. Now my parents are coming up this afternoon—driving in a car to pick them up—and brining me random things I never moved up with – Like my yearbooks and my guitar—I know random –but they are big and heavy.

Well, as the new year is coming I’m looking back at my “year in review” and trying to think of things I didn’t do this year that I want to add to my list of next year.
1. I work the graveyard shift right now and have since I moved here 11pm –9am so that’s number one: get off the graveyard shift.
2. Read more books, I’ve gotten good at renting from the $1 rentals and watching any movie I want, but I really can’t tell you a book that I have read this year –that is sad.
3. I want to learn the guitar. Yes, I own one but I want to actually learn how to play it. I think it’s possible
4. I want to go to NYC! My uncle and aunt live there, he works at the institute building there, I so want to go visit!
5. I want to go up to some sort of mountains once a month. I live in Idaho, I should do more outdoor things now.
6. I want to buy my first car. I really want a jeep kinda thing—any suggestions? Right now I drive my grandparent’s old Cadillac. I love it and it serves me well, but my sister is about to get home from her mission and she needs a car, and I need something else.

I have a lot more goals but I’m not gonna bore you with them now.
Basically, I want to finally feel like I belong here in Idaho—or move on to somewhere that feels like home. Right now I feel like all this is just temporary.

We’ll see where life takes me.
I hope you are doing well on the mission. I need to study preach my gospel more and read more church books.

Have a Happy New Year and I hope all your dreams and goals happen for you this month and year.

Love ya,
Ranae :)

Christmas at Clarissa's

2008-12-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

So a few weeks ago my current roommates and I decided to decorate the house. It was quite a feat. Took most of my Saturday but it was really fun.

Here's a link to a bunch more picts :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028475&l=31476&id=122800723

We hung lights on the house, the big tree outside and then decorated a little tree in the house... and made a gingerbread house :)

This is my favorite Christmas song this year: All I want for Christmas by Mariah Carey.

Early Christmas at home

2008-12-17T11:29:00.000-08:00

I went home this past weekend for an "Early Christmas" to visit my family. And I got to go to a USU vs UVU basketball game where my brothers and I sat on the front row behind the basket and heckled the other team. We won of course.

While at home I also got to go to my nieces's first dance performance. She was so cute :)

and I got to see my old roomie McMac we had a great convo with our friend Manette. I love those girls :)

That night I went and visited my cousins who were watching "White Christmas" a classic if you haven't seen it. :)

The next day we had an extended family Christmas party.

Here's some photos from that.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028809&l=55c06&id=122800723

I love my family and wished I could have spent more time with everyone.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Napoleon Dynamite

2008-12-17T11:00:00.001-08:00

So, I love the movie Napoleon Dynamite.

The first time I watched it I hated it. But now I love it, it's so creative!

I just bought the movie and watched it for the first time since I think my freshman year of college.

I love that it was filmed just a few miles from where I went to school and that they have tours of Napoleon Dynamite things there now in Preston, Idaho -- although I've never taken the time to go there and see them.

Also, many people may not believe this but the "Happy Hands" club came to my high school the year before this movie came out and performed. We tried not to laugh at them cuz we were guessing they were serious.

This is my favorite song from the movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZGHTkmhxgQ&feature=related

HAVE A SWEET DAY AND DON'T ASK TO EAT MY TOTS!

Trip to Germany

2008-10-29T09:28:00.001-07:00

So, I haven't posted a blog about my trip yet, it took me about 3 hours to upload my photos, then put them on facebook and label them.
So for now, I'm sharing my facebook links to my picts.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027036&l=2961a&id=122800723

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027040&l=eb665&id=122800723

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027041&l=d3422&id=122800723

I'm going to Germany!

2008-10-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

So, after months and months of planning and saving and preparing... I am officially going to Germany, just as long as my ticket to get there is valid. I'll find out Sunday in at the airport.

I don't know no German, "Nine spreken ze Dutch" --(what I've been told that means, I don't know how to spell in German either).

I'm not going to Germany for Octoberfest or to practice my German, I'm going there to visit my cousin.
I'm going to visit my cousin and her husband who live there! I can't wait!
Even if I only go to one country in Europe I'll be happy.

Originally I reported I would be going to Spain on this trip to do some scuba diving... well, it turns out, due to scheduling problems, that it will no longer be possible to take a scuba trip. Maybe next year in Mexico. :(

Either way, I'm going overseas, scared to death but still excited.

See you all if I return, I may like it better there than the U.S.

I am Scuba Certified

2008-09-15T06:43:00.001-07:00

So, I realize I don't post on my blog very often but I have to blog about this!

$400 and two weeks later and I am officially a certified scuba diver! YAY!

I just finished my final two dives yesterday morning and yes, on my schedule I am still awake. Which means, I still feel like I'm bobbing up and down in the water.

I'm way excited though to go scuba diving in Spain when I go to Germany next month! I even have my international driver's license.

I can't wait for my huge adventure!

I took the dive class with two men in their 60's and a man in his late 20's. It was so fun!

I can't wait until I can actually scuba dive in clear water and see tropical fish!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

The Idaho Ranch

2008-07-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

Hey All!

I just posted some pictures of my first and hopefully not the last trip to my Uncle Layne and Aunt Betsy's Ranch in Central Idaho. I was just there last weekend and I wish I could have stayed longer. It's a beautiful valley of springs, with no trains, planes or automobiles anywhere.

The first day I rode up with Layne in my Cadillac. Once we got there we put a lazagna in the oven and then headed out on the 4-wheeler to sneak up on some wildlife. I took my camera and Layne couldn't find his binoculars so he settled on his gun with a fancy scope.

We found about 10 elk/deer. Also we came across a porcipine--but I was too flustered to get a photo in time.
We also saw an owl but the pict came out fuzzy.

On our way back from checking out the wildlife and checking on the sprinklers Layne shot three jackrabbits.
We came back, I was covered in dust from head to toe and my eyes were red. I took a shower and we ate lazagna for dinner.

I went to bed around 11:30pm and Betsy and the kids came in around midnight.
Jay, Daniel, Kimberly, Eli, Eli's friend Jake and Cami were all there.
In the morning I went and took pictures of Jay, Daniel and Layne shoeing two horses.

Then they went for a ride. I went back to the ranch and mowed the lawn, and was super hot afterwords--thankgoodness there's a built in natual swiming pool in the back yard!
I went and swam with Eli, Jake and Cami. We ran back and forth from the pond to the hot tub for about 2 hours! So fun!

Later we ate dinner and watched the Hannah Montana 3D concert on the Disney Channel.

On Sunday we went to church at the branch in the valley and then I came home, ate lunch and then took off back to Boise.
I unpacked, washed some laundry and then headed to work at 10pm.

I wished I was still at the ranch!
If you haven't been you should all go. If you need directions just give me a call!

I love you all,
Love,
Ranae

Here's the link again
http://picasaweb.google.com/Ranitabang/LayneSRanch

My Sister, My Great Example

2008-06-28T05:06:00.000-07:00

This is a note I wrote on Facebook on 11-12-2006

Today I’ve been thinking about my sister Katie.
Probably because yesterday I just turned 21. Katie died before she reached 21 years. That means I am older than she was—weird. It’s weird because I still think of her as older than me, still AMAZING and CUTER THAN EVER.

My sister Katie died in a car accident on December 31, 1998 on the way to our family’s cabin. My brother was driving the Station wagon and she was in the passenger seat. ~The rest of my family and I had traveled up the night before for New Years Eve and Dallan and Katie stayed back because Katie said she needed to take Dallan out to dinner for his grades, he had just earned his first 4.0 GPA.~

On their drive up, they rounded a corner with black ice, a three tanker semi-truck tried to swerve out of their direction. Katie’s passenger side of the car was hit straight on and she was killed on impact. They were both thrown from the car—through Dallan’s door. When the paramedics arrived on the scene Katie, or her body, had landed on a bank of snow and Dallan was sitting on the opposite side of the road.

Dallan survived with only a small gash on his forehead, but a severed bone above his left elbow. He later lost his bicep, from lack of blood, but his arm works amazingly well. He has since, served a mission, married and has three children.

After she died we made a movie of her, which I haven't watched in a while because I basically memorized it. It is a movie of her growing up. At one point we have family commentary, cuz at an FHE one night my dad pulled out the old camera, projected it onto the wall, had the family sit to watch it, and then filmed it with his new camera. It's funny cause you can hear all of us talking in the background. While we were watching it (mainly movies of my sister Katie when she was 2 years old) I, my 5-6-year old self would interject with the phrase "That's Me!"

Katie always called me, a miniature her, or just like her. Being the youngest of 3 sisters all I wanted to be was myself. Me. Ranae. I never realized what a compliment that was until after she died. She is amazing. She is my example, in almost all the pictures with her and family I am sitting right next to her and that is something I never noticed until watching that movie today.

Two days ago I chopped a whole bunch of my already short hair off and felt like I would shock my parents. Most of this comes from my sister Katie who chopped off her hair a bleached it, and died it a bunch of times. My mom freaks out about those things. I was going to keep it a secret and surprise my mom for Thanksgiving but I couldn’t do that. So I told her yesterday on the phone.

Here is her "statement" found in her open scriptures on the side of the bed when we came home from our cabin:

“If it were my last day on Earth, this is the record I would leave. Make each day meaningful. Be there for others, stay close to the Lord, gain all the knowledge you can about the scriptures, the gospel - - the creations of the Lord. Smile often, give of yourself even if at times you feel you have nothing left to give - - and Always remember Christ and for His example and His atonement and strive each day to be like Him.? – Katie Bangerter Aug. 16, 1978 – Dec. 31, 1998. ---

I know I will see my sister again in the eternities, if only I live righteously enough to return back to live with her.She is my example. And so is Jesus Christ. I love them both and I look to them as my examples. I love the Gospel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know it is true. I love my family and hope to be able to live with them all again someday.

My Dad and her drew up a poster of priorities in life. I try to focus on those things closest to God on the list. It helps me organize my life.
--Ranae

Utah... my former home...

2008-06-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's official..
I miss utah.
I just surfed the web under utah tourism or visit utah.
I read over all the fun things to do there --hike to Timpanogos Cave, drive the Alpine loop, hike in Provo canyon or Sundance canyon, ride the Heber Valley railroad the list goes on and on...
All things that I have done and I took for granted.
I had a stinkin' mountain in my backyard!!!

This is a message for all ya'll living in Utah:
Take advantage of your mountains. Hike them, drive them, bike them, and just sit and enjoy them.
I know not everyone it going to do a crazy thing like me and move away from the mountains -- for a short time of their life just to try something new, but either way--enjoy what you've got!
There are so many people out there who have never seen snow, who've never seen The Great Salt Lake, who've never been able to say they can see a lake from their house--let alone 2 temples.
Love everything you have!
Go to the temple often, cuz you can. When you don't live in Utah or Utah county it's super hard to just walk into the temple.
Um so yea, I know there's mountains and lakes here in Idaho but they take a while to drive there and frankly they're not in my backyard.
So enjoy whatcha got!
--Peace out.
Ranae

RANAE AND POLITICS

2008-06-08T03:42:00.000-07:00

Why I am suddenly a politics person—and watch CNN when I never used to.
Ok, so just 5 months ago I would have been the last person you would see watching political television or anything to do with politics. But now…I’m addicted! I think it’s just cuz being a producer I need to know what’s going on in the world and nation and politics is big right now. So if something major happens I sure better know about it and put it in my show.
So, pretty much, no more MTV for me or even Reality television. I’m too busy catching up on the news. I sure hope I can afford cable sometime soon, maybe after the general election in November :) Don’t forget to come out and vote!

Things I've done and things I wanna do

2008-06-08T02:23:00.000-07:00

THINGS I'VE DONE

DANCE___(from age 3 to age 10. Sometimes I go country swing dancing and people say I'm pretty good at the line dances.)

SING___ (I love to sing I have been singing since preschool. I always raised my hand in primary to sing, and I was in choirs from elementary to college --and even today.)

PLAY PIANO___(I played from age 6 up until now and now I accompany my ward
choir—I don’t know how I do it, God gave me a talent.)

PLAY INSTRUMENT___(I play the Alto saxophone and the bass clarinet. I always wanted to be a trombone player but my sister said that it was a boy’s instrument.)

ROCK CLIMB___(I like rock climbing a lot although I’ve only rock climbed outside once in my life. Anyone wanna go?)SEW___(I really like to sew, I am glad I learned in 8th grade it’s been a big help for my younger brothers when their stuffed animals start to fall apart, I can make them look brand new.)

WRITE ARTICLES___(I’ve always been bad at writing, I don’t know how I thought journalism would be a good field for me. But here I am, I still misplace commas and don’t vary up my sentences much but I’m trying to be a better writer everyday. I think the happiest moment from writing articles was to see my name in the newspaper associated with something I wrote—and being able to Google my name)

PRODUCE TELEVISION__(Don’t ask me how I got this job I never knew when I was a little kid that when I said I wanted to write what the pretty people read that I would be given the title of a producer. It’s an important job don’t get me wrong but I just don’t feel that important… I’m just a kid who graduated college and got a job—two things which are pretty amazing.)

BECOME A PHOTOGRAPHER___(I always wanted to be a photographer since I went to the Glacier National Park. I took so many pictures with my camera of waterfalls –but when the pictures were developed, it just looked like a bunch of hills. I decided then and there that I would be a FABULOUS PHOTOGRAPHER if I just got a camera with Zoom in it. I took some photography classes in high school and then when I graduated I bought my first digital camera with the most optical zoom I could find. And ever since then I’ve been seen with a camera around my neck. I still have yet to print many of my photos though… I’ll do that soon.)

GET A REAL JOB__(YAY I no longer have to choose between working at Domino’s Pizza or working retail. Thankgoodness )

RIDE A 4 WHEELER__(I love that my family has 4 wheelers that I can pretend that I am invincible on.)

RIDE A SNOWMOBILE__(I’ve ridden snowmobiles twice—but I’ve never driven one—anyone want to give me a chance?)

GO BACKPACKING__(I backpacked 10miles through the grand canyon for spring break 2007 it was awesome! It was hard, and painful and a beautiful trip.)

THINGS I'VE ATTEMPTED

RUNNING FOR STUDENT GOVERNMENT__ (I beat out 15 other contestants in the primaries--in Junior High but I didn't win in the big election. I still think it's cuz the band was out of town that day.)

ROLLERSKATING___ (I tried roller skating twice. My cousin Jayni and my best friend in elementary school both had rollerskating parties for their 3rd grade birthdays—however old you are when you’re in 3rd grade—both times I went I could stay up on the things. And at my cousin’s party my aunt and uncle felt sorry for me so they each grabbed one of my hands, thinking this would somehow help me get over my fear, and pulled me around the rink until I fell and almost cried. Since then, I’ve been terrified of rollerskates or rollerblades.

TRYING OUT FOR A SOFTBALL TEAM__(I went to all the pre-tryout practices at 5am for about a month. And then when tryouts came I realized I was afraid of the softball and not cut out for that sport. So I didn’t go.)

TRYING OUT FOR CHAMBER CHOIR___ (I tried out, I got nervous, and even though I didn't make it, everyone in chamber choir treated me like one of the group --and I got to be a Section leader anyways--which is what I really wanted to do. What can I say, I like being in charge.)

TRYING OUT FOR JR HIGH JAZZ BAND__ (I've never been in a jazz band although I play the alto saxophone. That’s the end of that story.)

GET UP ON WATERSKIS__(Yes, I have been boating many times and tried to get on waterskis a couple of times—both with my great and fabulous cousins next door the Apples. They are so nice at letting you try and cheering you on, but I just need to learn how to hold my position and stay there. I think I need to keep my elbows stiff…maybe next time.)

SUCCESSFULLY SNOWBOARD DOWN A MOUNTAIN__(I’ve been snowboarding 3 times but each time I’ve learned something new. Hopefully I will take lessons this winter and perfect the art of sliding down a hill while standing :)

SUCESSFULLY RIDE A BIKE FAST DOWN A HILL__(I have always been terrified of riding a bike down a hill. Hills scare me cuz I speed up and I feel like I can't see, maybe that's also my problem with snowboarding. And I always have that underlying fear that I will hit a rock and fall over the handlebars.)

THINGS I WANNA DO

GO HANG GLIDING__(I’ve always wanted to do this. People near my house have jumped multiple times off the cliff on the point of the mountain. I’ve always wanted to be one of those jumpers—maybe someday when the wind is fair I will sail through the skies.)

ATTEMPT SCUBADIVING__(I’ve always had a secret desire to learn this, if for nothing else but to photograph underwater. Have you ever been snorkeling? If you have and haven’t been scared for you life, you will understand that you want to learn how to scuba dive—I think that diving would be a much safer option than holding onto a boogie board as a flotation device.)

MAKE A CALENDAR OF MY OWN PHOTOS__(I have already set aside some of my favorite works of photography to be compiled into my own calendar. I’m thinking of making them for this Christmas so I can give them out as gifts! Wish me luck ;)

GO TO EUROPE SEE ITALY__(I’ve purchased my ticket to Germany to visit my cousin and her husband. I can’t wait to experience for myself all that Europe has to offer.)

GO TO AUSTRALIA__(I don’t know if it’s the kangaroos or the amazing movies they have that are filmed in Australia—or their amazing accent, but I’ve always wanted to go there. My roommate is planning a trip there for next summer I hope we can both go. Last night two television shows were on about Australia. I think it was a sign.)

GET MARRIED__(Yes, no single girl wants to admit it but we all want to get married sometime in our life. I just don’t know when it’s gonna happen for me. I’ll just have to keep trying to get asked out on dates and be funny.)

OWN MY OWN CAR__(Ok, so I love my grandparent's Caddie but I would also love to have a car that screams my own personality. I think this is an Idaho thing where everyone drives new cars. I want a new one as well, maybe someday.)

OWN MY OWN HOUSE__(Someday I want a house, with a backyard that has grass and a big garden to plant tomatoes and whatever else I want.)

BUY A COMPUTER AND AN EDITING SYSTEM__(I’ve been talking about this for years—ever since I decided to go into journalism, my freshman year of college, I want my own editing system. I don’t just want A editing system but I want THEE editing system, “Final Cut Pro.” But everyone knows you can only buy “Final Cut Pro” for a Mac and I am a PC user. So basically the reason I haven’t bought an editing system yet is because I can decide if I want to buy a Mac or a PC it’s a neverending debate!)

AFTERTHOUGHTS
Okay, so this whole long rambling started out just as a list, but then I decided it needed some back story. So if this got a little long, it was your time you wasted on reading about my life :) I really hope you don’t think it was a waste of time.

The Joys of Working Graveyard

2008-04-08T08:27:00.000-07:00

Some of the perks of working graveyard.
I'll list these not in order of importance but just the order of when I think of the subject.

1. I work when everyone is sleeping so therefore I don't talk to people much. Because of this I end up talking to random people on my cell phone for hours on the weekends, or when I decide that going to bed before Noon is overrated.

1.5. It's hard for me to wake up "at night" especially when I go back to bed from 9p.m. to Midnight. Yeah, as you probably guessed, I don't wake up at midnight. My shift starts at 1a.m. therefore I wake up at 1a.m.. Therefore my hair and my makeup suffers, and my co-workers suffer seeing me at "my best." Like today when I came to work. I woke up at 1a.m. (I showered the night/day before) ran to the bathroom, washed my face, brushed my teeth, pulled my hair into a ponytail, got dressed, grabbed my container of juice along with a tuperware full of milk, and a box of Chex Cereal and ran out the door. I walked into work fully thinking I was totally okay, 15 minutes late as usual (I think my clocks are off) and sat down. Did you see anything I missed?
Yup, you guessed it! My makeup!
Yea, didn't wear it today. I'm going with the natural look. I think it's a good look... for today. Tomorrow I'll make sure I don't forget to put on my face.

2. I'm a normal person and when I get off work I just want to go catch a flick or go out to eat... too bad for me that the theaters and restaurants are closed for "dinner entrees" until "dinner time." Therefore if I want to eat at Little Ceasers, Red Robin, or McDonalds I have to eat it for breakfast. LAME!
A week ago I went to McDonalds with the full intention of ordering one of their new breakfast burritos--with french fries on the side. Yea, as soon as the words fries came out of my mouth the woman at the receiving end of the microphone said "I'm soo sorry mam but we don't serve french fries for at least another two hours. Would you like two hashbrowns for $0.99?" I agreed on the SUBSTITUTE. A lame substitute, but fattening potatoes nonetheless.

3. When I respond back to posts on facebook people wonder why I'm up at 4am and wide awake.

4. I call friends at 9:30 in the morning and want to chat for atleast an hour. Instead I get their voicemail because they are in class.

5. When people call me at three in the afternoon it makes me angry. One, because it wakes me up and two it's 3 a.m. to me! How happy would you be to get a phone call at 3a.m.?

6. When I don't wake up to go to Kung Fu or Tai Chi I feel bad. You should not have to decide between sleep and exercise, especially when your exercise is fighting people. ;)

7. Oh yeah, this was about work. When I try to write stories at three in the morning my writing becomes a bit lazy. I'm surprised the newscast even turns out as good as it does.

8. At about 5a.m. when our show starts I start to wonder if my job is even important.

9. Ok, so I thought this blog was going to be a lot longer, but alas, it's the end of my shift and I'm tired and upset that I'm not gonna get a Little Ceasers $5.00 pizza after work, so I'm going to end this entry.

10. Thanks for listening. I hope this shift ends soon, but there are some good things about working when it's dark. When I come up with some I'll write a new entry.

WHERE DO YOU PICTURE YOURSELF IN FOUR YEARS…

2008-02-26T10:28:00.000-08:00

a story of jobs past and present

A group of high school journalists came to our station for a tour today. They all crammed into our newsroom for our morning meeting at 9:07. They were students from the local high school who write for the newspaper or do video production. My boss asked them what they all wanted to do, if they wanted to go into journalism or not. About five of the 30 students raised their hands to say, “yes I see my self in the news business.” For the other 25 they had no clue what they wanted to do for a career. Which made me wonder, where did I picture myself in the future when I was in high school? If someone had told me four years ago that I would be working for a TV station hundreds of miles from home, I probably wouldn’t have believed them. Really.

When I was in high school the farthest place I wanted to go to college was BYU. That way I could live at home and commute to Provo. I thought this was the best plan because I would save money and never have to grow up. The farthest away I planned on working was Salt Lake City. I didn’t have high hopes for far away dreams.

Four years ago during my senior year of high school I had just started my first job outside of working for my parents. I worked at Eatza Pizza. It’s a pizza buffet place if you didn’t know. What drew me to the job was the t-shirts they wore. They looked cool. Sad to admit, that’s what I base my judgments about most things on, appearance. Does it look comfortable or not. I didn’t worry about the long hours, smelling like pizza everyday, or gaining weight from eating my favorite chicken alfredo pizza on my 15 minute breaks. Nor did I worry about only earning minimum wage.
Boy was I dumb.

I quit that job within six months and got a job at another pizza place, Domino’s. I worked there FOREVER! – The rest of high school and then summers for my first two years of college. I got to know the place really well. I actually liked going to work and working hard. I learned how to do everything there, except how to deliver pizzas. Even when I turned 21 and was old enough to deliver, and could have taken a pay raise, I didn’t. I stayed inside smelling like pepperoni pizza and melted cheese.

My last summer there I told everyone I wasn’t going to be back for my junior year summer because I was going to get a newspaper internship somewhere. I did get an internship, but not too far away, Roosevelt, Utah two hours from my home town and 30 minutes from Vernal. Wow! I would have never pictured that in high school. I met some great people out there and got used to working for a weekly paper. But it was easy to like it because I was only there for the summer. I wrote some fun stories about a local taxidermist, another about road kill and one about a man who dresses up as Teddy Roosevelt as a career. Good times in Roosevelt.

My final semester of school in Logan, Utah was a great one, I got close to the best grades I’d ever received. All of my homework was combined into one messy folder, and I skipped class more than I ever did during all of college. I worked two jobs, one at the school newspaper and one videotaping the athletic events, and I produced newscasts for aggie television while running media for the LDS Institute. I was busy and I loved it.

Around November I thought I should start applying for REAL jobs. I didn’t want to travel too far, but I was willing to travel out of state. At a football game against Boise State I met some people from a Boise production crew. They seemed pretty nice and told me that I would have a good shot in the business. I liked their attitude and so when a job opening in Boise came up, I applied.

One month later I was interviewing for the job and one month after that I moved into my house in Idaho and was being trained on the job. I would have never guessed I would be bopping along in a major TV station. I almost pinch myself everyday as I skip through the hallways of our station like a little elementary student at school. I don’t’ feel anywhere close to qualified for the job, yet here I am.

So, if you asked me today where I picture myself in four years, I can safely say, I have no idea. I don’t plan too far into the future, mostly just four months. By this summer I’m sure I’ll be sick of this job and wishing I could go on an African Safari or something, but all I can imagine for my future now is hopefully get off of this crazy night shift in a year and moving on to bigger and better things… and possibly more experiences with amazing people.

Setting up this blog thing

2008-02-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

((Editor's note: Manette, after you read this blog you may be wondering why you told me about this online posting center.))

Friday, February 15, 2008
10:25 am
So, today I'm signing up for a blog and i have to think of an amazing name cuz, it's gonna stick with my blog forever!
I'm so nervous and don't know what to title it.
This is gonna take me a while. I could write a whole blog just about this.
10:35 am
Ok, so it's been 10 minutes. I know this is lame but I've got to think of something good.
I just browsed through Manette's and some of our mutual friends blogs and they all look fantastic and amazing.
Sigh.
I guess I'll just have to start doing what writers do when this happens... write until something comes out.
Life through the camera lens
Love, life and movin' on
Shoot, shot and sew... (I made up this one cuz I was thinking of basketball, shooting pictures and sewing)
Ranita's grand adventures
Ranita Bonita (ooh, I kinda like that one)
"topic...If you could describe Ranae in one word what would it be?"
(This would all be so much easier if I wasn't home alone trying to think this up. Manette, you never told me about this part of setting up the blog! This is the hardest part. Oh, yeah! You told me I could call you if I had any questions... I'm gonna call you :) Dialling Manette's phone...
10:48 am
She didn't answer. In case you're all wondering... I've heard this is normal for Manette, but this hardly ever happens to me.)
Ok, so here I go again with my list.
p.s. I'll probably never post this blog, it's soo lame.
Seek and ye shall find
Write warrior write
(Ok, just so ya'll know, I have been up for 13 hours now, and I'm kinda not here now.
I think I'll take a nap and finish naming my blog later)
Ok, think I've got it... but it's pretty cheezy cuz I try not to put my name into things like this.
Random thoughts of Ranae
Ranita's randomness
Ranita's big list
Ranita's ramblings
Ranita the rambling writer
11:06 am
I really just want to be done already.
Ranita takes a dip
Ranita writes a bit
Ranita writes a lot
Ranita talks a lot
Ranita takes a shot
Ready, aim, Fire
Shoot there it is
Freak! I'm a blogger!
Ranita the frogger
Frogger the blogger
ranita in the seat
ram-a-lama bang bang!
things to share (I like this one)
hop, duck and snap
snap, hop and BANG!
snap, crop, BANG!
Snapshots ( I think I like this best! )
Snapshots worth saving
snapshots worth sharing
Snapshots
ok, it's now 11:16 and I'm done
Almost an hour!
Ok, so now it's taking forever to set up
we'll see how this goes.
So, believe it or not, but when I was choosing a template for my page--I chose the template that looked the most like me... and guess what the name of it was????SNAPSHOT!
Wow, this is creepy!
So, here we go... for lack of a good first blog, here's this one. I'm gonna post it.
My first adventure on this new blogging trip!
p.s. I just ran this through spell check and I only misspelled one word.. creepy! That must mean I'm a good speller.. maybe.. maybe not.
--OK BYE.

p.s. After I signed in... I found out you can re-name your blog anytime... which I figured of course.. but I'm just a perfectionist who wants things to be perfect :)