yesterday.

My guys during our road trip for Christmas

Yesterday I did something that I have wanted to do for about a month. It was something that I've never done in my life and never thought I would do.

I quit my job. Without notice. Without putting in my 2 weeks. Without shame. Without guilt. Without caring what this meant for my employer. Without finding another job to take its place.

I pride myself on being a really hard worker. I always give a full effort at everything I do while on the clock. I am always the one who looks for something else to be done when it is slow. That is why I never imagined myself quitting on the spot without giving 2 weeks notice.

But I was done. I was frustrated and fed-up and annoyed and angry and stressed out and tired.

A part-time, minimum wage job should not bring up all of those feelings. A salaried career? Maybe. But not working as a sales floor team member at Target for $9 an hour.

So I quit. I talked it over with my husband, weighed the pros and cons of not having my (minimal) income for the next little while, and we both decided that my sanity and health are worth more than the few hundred dollars I would have made if I stayed another month or even a last two weeks.

As we drove back home from dropping off my resignation letter, Alex started humming the song "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas. It was sort of prophetic song for him to choose because within hours of that car ride, we signed a contract for an apartment in Portland and solidified (finally) our move up to Oregon. So it was a good, good night for us. And a good, good day for us too.

book review.

I love books. That is pretty much all I can say about my love of books. I just love them. But I don't love not having money to spend on books.

But I have found a way to combat that too! Blogging for Books is a website that I signed up with recently. They will send you a book of your choosing (FOR FREE) and all you have to do is read it and write a review of it on your blog. Easy peasy.

So here is my first book review. I read Inside the Criminal Mind because as a sociologist, crime and motivation has always interested me.

Inside the Criminal Mind by Stanton E. Samenow is an interesting look into the inner workings and thought processes of a criminal. This research gives a completely new perspective on the study of why criminals behave the way they do.

The main research idea behind this book is that the criminal motive is not based on nature vs nurture or that societal pressures mold a person. There is a lot of contrary research to combat these theories. Samenow is proposing that the criminal mind is complex and conscious; he is saying that there is such thing as a criminal personality that can be identified by observable factors. 

First published in 1984, Inside the Criminal Mind is now in its third edition and is including new societal norms into the basic ideas and conclusions from the first two editions. The addition of cyberbullying, the Internet, drug trafficking, and terrorism have all broadened the basis of Samenow's research and brought it up to date for our society. Samenow establishes that the criminal mind has not changed and does not evolve, rather "society provides new avenues for the criminal mind to express itself" (xiii). 

I have personally studied crime and read other research about the criminal mind and motivations. This book is definitely one of the better ones that I have encountered. Samenow presents his research in a logical and organized way while explaining theories and ideas in understandable terms. He simplifies everything so that those of us without a PhD can still understand and form an opinion on what he is saying. It is an easy read and very interesting to delve into the minds of actual criminals. 

**I received a complementary copy of the book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.**

lists.

I am a constant list maker. The Notes app in my phone is full of lists that I've made about everything. I have daily task lists, Christmas lists, book lists, movie lists, travel lists, food lists, recipe lists, grocery lists, quote lists. You name it, and I've probably put it in a list.

I have noticed that as the holiday season has gotten underway in the past few weeks, and I have picked up a lot more hours at work, my list making has increased. It's not just because of Christmas gift buying and preparations for moving in a few months. I realized that when I have days off from work I rarely get anything done if I don't have a list. So I constantly make new daily task lists so that my days off aren't spent mulling over what needs to get done and when and instead are spent actually crossing items off my list. I am highly motivated by the cross-out (I made epic homework lists for school and Alex would constantly make funny of me when I would smile and scribble an assignment out. He also endlessly mocked me when I forgot my hardcopy lists at home and would make him send me a picture. Then I would make a list of the items I needed to cross off my hardcopy list when I got home. My life is an endless cycle of lists and crossing off).

For me, lists create a sense of calm and structure, since I can't really rely on my mind for either of those. Lists also help increase my personal feelings of self-worth and self-esteem. It's much easier to feel good about myself when I spend a day off from work doing things like laundry, shopping, and gift making instead of watching TV and painting my nails (though both of those things are sometimes included in my lists).

My Tuesday list:
Finish making christmas presents
wrap presents
laundry
vacuum
last gift shopping (components)

Obviously my lists make much more sense to me than anyone else, but that's all that matters right?

christmas.

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year because I love to give people gifts. I actually really like trying to figure out what to give people and coming up with really unique gifts.

My husband hates it. It stresses him out and makes him really anxious. He is always trying to find the perfect thing to give someone, that is full of thoughtfulness and meaning, and will make them cry or laugh or say "this is perfect." So pretty much he is never satisfied with what he chooses.

I always try to get gifts early and be done with all my shopping early in December. I don't like to be the Christmas Eve shopper looking for anything that I can find for someone. I am sometimes the Christmas Eve wrapper because the wrapping I let get away from me.

My husband doesn't like this about me. Because I make him shop early too. I know that he is going to buy any present for me at the last minute and that is just something that I will need to learn to live with, but I can force him to shop early for everyone else on the list.

That was our day and night yesterday. We went to a few stores and picked out a few things for his mom and step-dad and then brainstormed some ideas for his brother and went home to find it online. He stresses out really easily so most of our online shopping was spent with me saying "he will love that" and "just breathe" and "oh my gosh just buy it" when he second guessed every item we put in the shopping cart.

All in all we got a bunch of really cool/cute/manly/wonderful/thoughtful/awesome gifts for his family. Like I said, my shopping is already finished, so this was all shopping for his family. I think it's important for Alex to be involved in picking out things for his family, especially his brother because just the act of him caring enough to shop for them is meaningful.