Shadowing Practice: Yapping while I put away the groceries | HEB Haul - Learn English Speaking with Video

i hate grocery shopping i hate grocery shopping with a burning

passion i have always hated grocery shopping i hated grocery shopping

as a child i hated grocery shopping as a young adult

and i hate grocery shopping now as an old mother i

don't like it i don't like i don't like to plan

i don't i don't do grocery lists i don't do

that i don't do

that my mom always tells me you know do a grocery list make a menu of what you're gonna cook

that week and i don't do it i don't do it

and that's how she do it

which is great that's good for her i literally i couldn't be bothered to make a grocery list

and i know that sounds crazy i just be going to the grocery store

and i just be buying whatever it is i think i need

or like i'll have like a mental list like obviously like we're completely out of bread

or we're completely out of milk or something like

that like those things in my head yeah

but i'll just walk around the grocery store

and i will just buy what I need

but it is my preference to do the buy online pick

up in store the mobile order you know what I mean I didn't know

that HEB did the mobile order so I had been doing that recently

but all this I needed a lot of stuff uh we

hadn't we hadn't gone grocery shopping like a big haul it has been a minute

so we really needed to re-up on a lot of stuff

and I told myself you're gonna have to be a big

girl okay you're gonna have to go to the grocery store

and you're gonna have to suck it up

so I had every intention on taking my big old headphones

to go to the grocery store to be a responsible adult

and guess what happened guess what happened I absolutely forgot my

headphones at the house I drove up to the HEB I'm sitting in the HEB parking lot

and that's my routine after I sit in the parking lot

and I park my car I grab my headphones

and I make sure they're on

and paired before I walk into the HEB I don't have my headphones I don't have my headphones

and I don't live that far realistically

but the daunting thought of having to go back home to get headphones

and then to come all the way back to the H-E-B I thought

if I did that I wouldn't get back in the car

and I wouldn't go grocery shopping

and we needed groceries also it was like um I think

it was like 7 30 in the morning I intentionally went super early in the morning

because I don't like the big crowds because

when the grocery store is crowded I get really angry I get really upset

because people be stopping in the middle of the aisle people will bump into you

and then people like look in front of the stuff

that you need and they'll stand there for like 10 minutes

and I'm just like oh my god oh my god

so for me for my for my mental health you know

for me i have to go early in the morning so

if i had wasted time to drive back home to get my headphones oh my god

that would that would have just wasted so much time

so i i sucked it up

and i went inside the h-e-b pero it was really cool

because as soon as i walked in they had like um

the cinnamon um the cinnamon broomsticks i never seen them in broomsticks usually um in the halloween time

or in fall time you go to the grocery store like Safeway in Alaska they got like cinnamon pine cones

but here they had cinnamon broomsticks I didn't get one I wanted to get one um

but I wanted to I I thought I'd wait a little

bit I wanted I wanted to wait till at least October

before I make my house smell like cinnamon you know

so I didn't buy the cinnamon broomstick I thought it would be really cute

but I'm getting in October I mean I hope the hell

I'm in October I don't know I don't know I love HEB

and I love the fact

that everything all their Halloween snacks were out all of their

they had like halloween balloons all over the place they had

like their seasonal section was all todo de halloween any little brand

that was doing like a little limited edition halloween thing it was all out

so it was kind of cute to walk around you know

so i was getting everything that i needed

and i just i i don't know i wish i knew okay even

when the grocery store is empty i am mad i am

frustrated i am angry i hate going to the grocery store i hate grocery shopping

I always found it weird like i'll have friends that are like, oh my god I love grocery shopping.

This is my favorite time of the weekend.

I'm like, are you crazy?

Do you need help blink if you need help?

I just don't enjoy it I truthfully I don't enjoy it

when we were living in alaska and I was a manager at a makeup store Um, I was working nights and weekends, right?

So my husband Had to do all the cooking and grocery shopping

and I would I would argue that that was one of the best times of my life, you know because I would come from work, it would be like noon, not noon, it would be like 12 o'clock at night

or sometimes one o'clock in the morning and you get home and you got like a little

lunche that is in the fridge waiting for you to have someone else cooked

and then all the the pantries are full and the refrigerator full

because your husband did it all that was

that was the time of my life i loved

when i was working at night i mean i didn't love it

because i didn't see my family but at least

that was like the one bonus you know what i mean my husband did everything

but on right now my husband is working like crazy

so it's up to me to take care of the family

so even though even though i don't like grocery shopping i'm gonna do it

because i'm a grown woman you know what i mean you

know what i mean we gotta take care of our family

and sometimes we gotta do stuff we don't like to do

and for me that's grocery shopping pero i do like grocery shopping in texas versus alaska

because the prices down here are actually crazy

because in alaska a little thing of strawberries like them little um plastic containers of strawberries would be like $15 in Alaska, right?

100

But down here, that same little box is like $2, sometimes $1.88.

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It's really crazy.

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The very first time, so when we moved to Texas, we drove down here, right?

103

We drove from Alaska to Texas through Canada.

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We drove, I think it took eight or nine days.

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I can't remember that whole, that whole journey was a blur.

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Anyway, we drive straight to our house and we drop off the U-Haul and then we go check into our hotel.

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We come back to the house

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and the very first thing I want to do I want to go to H-E-B

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because everybody and their mama talking about H-E-B especially

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when I found out that we're moving here the H-E-B

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that was the very first thing I want to do and now that we live here H-E-B is where it's at.

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I don't know how I'm gonna survive living anywhere else and I can't grocery shop at H-E-B.

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It's actually crazy.

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The I don't know I don't know what it is first of all the people

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that work there just seem happier which is fantastic

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um the stock they have is fantastic the HEB brand like

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you know like hello uh Walmart has a great value Kroger

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has the Kroger the HEB brand is lit I prefer the

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HEB the HEB brand over other things let me tell you

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something the tortillas the HEB oh my god oh my god

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if you ever have the privilege of going to H-E-B

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and buying the buttery fresh tortillas is the most delicious tortilla

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I'd ever had I'm gonna say it I'm gonna say it's the most delicious tortilla I've ever had they're

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so buttery and they're so delicious oh my god

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and I'm gonna tell you the truth sometimes I just sit there

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and I'll just eat the tortilla I won't do anything to

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it I'll just grab a tortilla out of the bag I'll just eat the tortilla

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but that's probably why I'm a little gordita

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because I would just be eating a tortilla as a snack

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and grocery shopping in Alaska was always like you never knew what you were gonna to get

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because you would go to the produce section

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and sometimes the the produce would be moldy

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or it would be squishy you know because nothing there's nothing grows up there

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so everything has to be shipped in

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so you literally like you it was almost not even worth it to buy like fruits and vegetables

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because sometimes they were moldy especially at the commissary the commissary

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had such a bad rap up there in alaska for nasty produce

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and nasty meat porque like it's already bad by the time you get it

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so that i love the lower 48 just because of convenience

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but i do miss alaska

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because this heat is actually insane i i cannot believe how

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hot it is like my car today said 107 i feel like

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that should be against the law like we need to arrest the sun

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or something because why does it have to be 107 why is it 107 in central texas

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and i'm having my friends in alaska posting pictures

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that is already cold up there yatana the aurora borealis up there and i'm just like i'm missing

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everything man i lately i've been in my feels about alaska

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pero texas well the lower 48 has the convenience you know

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everything is a lot more convenient everything is a lot closer

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you have the cheaper produce the cheaper goods everything down here is cheaper like

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if i um

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if i'm going to the grocery store the same things i'm getting at heb is going to be three

153

or four times the price in Alaska, pero also the amount of money you're making in Alaska is greater because when I was working in Alaska,

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I was making a good amount of money.

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I was working for the government when I worked in Alaska, pero you

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to not to bring too much into it

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but there was the federal hiring freeze right when we pcs

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so one of the benefits of being a government employee as a military spouse is

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that way whenever your your spouse pcs is to a different state

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or even a different country you're you have such a higher chance of finding a job there

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or just transferring your job because you already work for the the government

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so that's why military spouses are always like clawing at the doors like getting a government job is super competitive

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and my husband had been in for

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so long before I finally got a government job you know

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and so I was

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so grateful oh we're PCSing I'm gonna have a job waiting for me federal hiring freeze

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so I didn't I didn't have a job waiting for me

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so I I was like okay well I'm gonna do for money

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so I started working at the the eye doctor the eye doctor I was working at before I quit

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and the amount of money I made there I was

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so scared I was like this is not enough money pero

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once i started like living here gas is cheaper groceries are

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cheaper goods are cheaper our rent is cheaper compared to what our mortgage was in alaska

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and i was like okay i guess this it makes sense why i was making

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so little but it was still a little bit scary to see

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that number you know what i mean

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but like i've said before we're renting this house

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so this is not our forever home we're just renting it here

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while we're stationed here and this house i don't know

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if it's a texas thing or maybe just this neighborhood

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but you see like this is little rack here i had to put this little rack here um

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because this house has no storage there's no pantry there's a couple of cupboards

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but the cupboards i need for like my cups and my plates

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and like things like that

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so half of the cupboards is dedicated to like you know stuff you need for your kitchen

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and the other half is dedicated to like you know some food

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so i was like okay i'm gonna have a pantry

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so i have this little shelf here but also too like in alaska

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but honestly everywhere we've lived there's a coat closet as soon

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as you walk in your door right there's a little closet a coat closet this house doesn't have that

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and every house i've ever lived in in the living room

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there's another little closet it's usually for storage in alaska our

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closet in the living room was our little game closet like our board games

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and stuff this house doesn't have that

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and then in the other houses i've lived in in the hallway

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or somewhere in the hallway connecting all the bedrooms there's a linen closet

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and that's where you put your towels that's where you put

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your extra kikis that's where you put your pillows this house don't have

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that either this house don't have a pantry this house don't

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have a linen closet this house don't have this house don't have no storage or nothing

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so i'm like struggling for my life here trying to find

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things like trying to find how i'm going to store my stuff you know what i mean

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but i made it work this little iron shelf this was an arts

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and crafts shelf okay this was for my arts

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and crafts specifically fabric because i used to be really into sewing i'm not sewing much anymore

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because i'm very busy you know what i mean i would

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love to get back into sewing i would love to make sewing content

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if you would watch sewing content please let me know

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because i if i have an excuse to sew

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and i can film it and make content at the same time doing a hobby

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that i love that would be fantastic so

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if you would watch me sew stuff let me know but

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because i don't really sew

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that much anymore i was able to sacrifice this little shelf here

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but this little shelf here used to store all of my fabric

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but the lack of storage is driving me crazy

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but we made it work we are coming up on one year living in texas

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which is strange

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because i still find myself telling people we just got here

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from alaska it it does feel like we just got here

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in alaska oh we just got here from alaska we lived in alaska for five years right

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so we were supposed to only be up there for three years

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but we extended two times

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so the extension is you go to the military like hey

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we have this going on this this this can we stay day another year

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so we filed for two extensions the two of them got approved

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but we were in alaska too long the military said you

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gotta you gotta get out of here you've been here too long i was i was devastated to leave alaska

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so i'm from california i was born in pasadena right

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and we moved away from pasadena when i was like 11

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or 12 we moved to colorado

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and we lived in colorado springs i like i grew up in pasadena right

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but i never felt like a strong like like connection But also I was a child, you know, who's who's 11 or 12 years old thinking like,

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I feel this strong connection and I'm a Californian through and through.

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At least I wasn't going through that.

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Right.

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And then we went to Colorado and I just think I experienced

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so much life in Colorado and

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so many things happened I just had a bad taste in

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my mouth for Colorado I'm not the biggest fan of Colorado

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and when my husband joined the military or so we moved to Colorado

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when I was like 11

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or 12 right I go to middle school I go to

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high school I meet my husband in high school we're boyfriend

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and girlfriend we move out we get married he decide he want to join the army bam bam we PCS

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so then we moved to Washington state Washington state was beautiful

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I loved living in Washington the weather was fantastic the cost of living was okay

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and all of that was great

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but I wasn't like like like called to Washington you know like

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when we PCS that was like okay whatever I wasn't like upset about it

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and then we PCS to Japan and obviously I'm not gonna feel like I belong there because I don't, you know, I don't speak the language.

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I can't read kanji.

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I can't like read the science.

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So I never really felt like this is my home.

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Like I truly belong here.

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It was a wonderful experience living there, but we were there for three years and then we got Alaska.

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Never in a million years would you have ever convinced me.

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Oh my God, I'm going to cry.

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Never would you have ever convinced me that I would get

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that feeling of I belong somewhere and that feeling was going to be Alaska.

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I belong in Alaska, I'm telling you.

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And I didn't, we didn't even live in Anchorage.

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We lived in the interior.

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We lived in the interior.

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So we were in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.

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So we lived in North Pole.

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And I, I love the snow.

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And maybe it's just like a California thing.

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But the snow to me to this day is still magical.

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I love snow.

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I love to watch the snow fall to me it is

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still such a magical experience i love the snow i would rather be cold than hot

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because i can always put on another jacket i can always you know turn up the heat

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but here in texas i can only get

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so naked before i get arrested right and even

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if i'm like buck naked outside i'm still gonna be hot i would rather be cold

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because that's easier to manage i just the the atmosphere the

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environment yeah things are more expensive yeah things are harder to

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access pero I truly feel in my heart que Alaska is where I belong I love it

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so much pero I also feel in my heart

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that it's not the best place for like little little children

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so I am grateful that we are down here in the lower 48

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while my son is growing up

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because you know we're very active as far as like doing activities

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and you can only do so much out there

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that doesn't involve very very expensive things like a snow machine

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or atv or like a very cold rv things like that

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so we didn't want to invest in all of that stuff

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because we knew we were going to leave but

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when we go back we can definitely invest in

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that stuff you know what i mean but i'm i'm hot in texas

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it's hot down here i'm appreciative of the cost of living i'm appreciative of heb i'm very appreciative HIV.

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But I belong in Alaska.

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Those five years in Alaska changed my life.

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They changed my brain chemistry.

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They changed everything about me.

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I miss Alaska every day.

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We've been here in Texas for a year.

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I think about Alaska every single day.

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And especially now because it's so hot, I keep thinking, oh my God, I wonder how everybody in Alaska is doing.

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But never in my life have I ever felt like I belong somewhere

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and I got that feeling when we lived in Alaska and

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that feeling came very quickly and

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so whenever my husband retires he also agrees we want to end up in Alaska

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so I'm very grateful that we both agree

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that we want to end up in Alaska

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and I think the funniest part of all is like

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when people hear like oh my god you lived in Japan how was

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that like like I not that I don't want to talk about it

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but like I'm like Japan I live I lived in Alaska

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that's way to me that's way more interesting let's talk about Alaska I just I love it so much

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but oh this was my little grocery haul I am pooped

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I am tired I never want to do it again

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but oh you know you got to

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because you know you're a responsible adult with like responsibilities but oh thanks for watching

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Yapping while I put away the groceries”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: alaska, grocery, shopping. This video has 315 sentences and 3651 words to shadow. The speech runs for 16:44. The speaker talks fast, about 218 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
grocery noun	/ˈɡɹəʊ.s(ə.)ɹi/	Retail foodstuffs and other household supplies.
tortilla noun	/tɔɹˈti.ə/	A type of Mexican flatbread made out of cornmeal or flour.
closet noun	/ˈklɑzɪt/	A small room within a house used to store clothing, food, or other household supplies.
headphones noun	/ˈhɛdfoʊnz/	A pair of cushioned speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound.
cinnamon noun	/ˈsɪnəmən/	A small evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka and southern India, Cinnamomum verum or Cinnamomum zeylanicum, belonging to the family Lauraceae.
sew verb	/soʊ/	To use a needle to pass thread repeatedly through (pieces of fabric) in order to join them together.
shelf noun	/ʃɛlf/	A flat, rigid structure, fixed at right angles to a wall or forming a part of a cabinet, desk, etc., and used to display, store, or support objects.
broomstick noun	/ˈbɹum.stɪk/	The handle of a broom (sweeping tool); (sometimes) the entire broom.
pantry noun	/ˈpæntɹi/	A small room, closet, or cabinet usually located in or near the kitchen, dedicated to shelf-stable food storage or storing kitchenware, like a larder, but…
appreciative adjective	/əˈpɹi.ʃətɪv/	Showing appreciation or gratitude.
cupboard noun	/ˈkʌb.əd/	A cabinet, closet, or other piece of furniture with shelves intended for storing cookware, dishware, or food; similar cabinets or closets used for storing…
haul verb	/hɔl/	To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or oxen, or a motor vehicle.
spouse noun	/spaʊ̯s/	A person in a marriage or marital relationship.
buttery adjective	/ˈbʌt(ə)ɹi/	Made with or tasting of butter.
commissary noun	/ˈkɑ.mɪˌsɛɹ.i/	A store primarily serving persons in an institution, most often soldiers or prisoners.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
go back verb	To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
grow up verb	To mature and become an adult.
walk around verb	To walk with no planned destination; to meander.
drive back verb	To force someone or something to retreat or move away; repel.
drive down verb	To cause or force a price, quantity, rate, etc. to decrease.
drop off verb	To fall asleep.
find out verb	To discover, as by asking or investigating.
get out of verb	To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

I'm like, are you crazy?
Do you need help blink if you need help?
At least I wasn't going through that.
I can't like read the science.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have always hated · has been · I've ever had
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	be bothered · is lit · be shipped

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 153 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shelf /ʃɛlf/, appreciative /əˈpɹi.ʃətɪv/, squishy /ˈskwɪʃi/, intentionally /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/
Long words — get the stress right: appreciative /əˈpɹi.ʃətɪv/, commissary /ˈkɑ.mɪˌsɛɹ.i/, refrigerator /ɹɪˈfɹɪd͡ʒ.əˌɹeɪ.tɚ/, devastated /ˈdɛv.əˌsteɪ.təd/, intentionally /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like grocery, tortilla, closet.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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