Not Your Average Chick

Send your happy thoughts this way, please & thank you...

2012-01-27T08:00:00.001-06:00

The boyfriend has to have a procedure done this morning at nine AM and I'm a bit worried about it. The only people who know what's been going on with him the last few rounds of doctor visits are his immediate family and my immediate family. Nothing conclusive has been pinpointed or figured out so he hasn't wanted to say much about what's been going on because it could turn out to be nothing or it could turn out to be pretty major. He hasn't wanted to make people worry for no reason or just give out a bunch of the same news he's been giving out for years now. So, I'm sorry for being vague but out of respect for his wishes, I just can't say much about anything that's been going on.

Anyone who has known me long enough or read my blog for a couple years knows the boyfriend's young but has a history of having strokes. It's not that we found out the cause and I never blogged about it. It's just that they've continued being boggled about why an otherwise healthy guy in his twenties was having strokes and health issues like he has dealt with. It's a running joke that he's in his mid twenties now and has some of the health problems of a sixty year old. In over five years, they've yet to figure anything out despite dozens upon dozens upon dozens of tests being done. Dude just has to be mysterious in all aspects of life, I suppose, lol. It's insanely frustrating to know that something is obviously wrong and go through tons of testing and still come up with nothing. I can relate to that with my own issues but we won't touch that because we're not talking about me. :p

Anyway, back to the procedure going on this morning. Part of the point of this vague post is for me to be able to ramble about it a little bit because worrying about it so much and not being able to do or even really talk about it has been driving me insane the last few weeks. Also I just want to ask for happy thoughts, good vibes, good juju, prayers if you believe in them or whatever you think works to be sent Shane's way. I'm hoping it's nothing and everything turns out swell but we'll just have to see how it goes today.

Happy Friday :)
Have a good weekend, y'all.

Clearing out some monkey's from the attic 2...

2012-01-24T09:00:00.001-06:00

I've decided I like that title for brain dump type posts. So, thanks to my friends' grandma for giving me the phrase to use. Not that she'll ever see this because she thinks the internet is stupid and a waste of time. As she says, who needs a computer when you have alcohol, good books, 500 TV channels, bingo nights, gardening, a weekly poker night and knitting? Go Granny Go.

I kept seeing people talking about a show called "Portlandia" and didn't think much of it. Then a few of my friends were talking about how great it is. I was bored one night and saw it on NetFlix and decided to give it a go. I was ready to call it quits after the intro. I pushed on and hoped it would get better. I usually have to finish watching something once I start it, no matter how awful it is. I don't know why, I just do. Portlandia was one of those rare exceptions to that rule. I made it 13 minutes before turning it off and it felt like so much longer than 13 minutes. It was painful to watch it for even that long. I was so annoyed for wasting that time. I could have been reading one of my books, watching a documentary, cleaning the toilet or even watching paint dry.

I've also realized, if most people rave about how funny something is, I'm likely not going to agree. That's not me trying to be different or anything, that's just how it works out more often than not. Bridesmaids is a prime example of that. I don't know many others who didn't like it but I thought it was fucking terrible. There wasn't one thing I laughed at in that movie. I'm so glad I don't pay to see movies ever because I would have been annoyed wasting the money and time to sit through that.

Something that drives me crazy at Stars games is the lack of noise people make. I mean, you're not in a fucking library and some yelling and rowdiness is quite encouraged, really. Especially if fans for the other team are trying to start a "Lets Go Red Wings" (or whatever opposing team it is) chant in your team's house. It should really go without saying that if the opposing team's fans get a chant going for their team in your building, you drown them the fuck out by being louder than they are. Show some spirit, damn!

Speaking of hockey, I'm totally bummed I'm not going to the game tonight. It's Steve Ott bobble head night and I really want an Otter bobble head. So if anyone gets an extra one (looking at you, married couples and other couples that live together, lol) and wants to trade it for a Ribeiro or Morrow bobble head, let me know. ;)

I have a cut on the bottom of my left foot that's a little under an inch long. I have no freaking idea how it got there. I rarely walk around without shoes on and I think I would remember cutting my foot open and bleeding. I have no idea where it came from or what happened but it's really annoying. I'm used to having bruises I can't explain but cuts? That's just ridiculous.

I hate when I'm sitting in the living room reading or writing and I look up because I feel like someone's watching me only to see my boyfriend's cat sitting there, just staring at me. It bothers me. I think, even if I weren't seriously allergic to them, I wouldn't be much of a cat person.

I really, really, really love gummy bears. And fruit snacks. I always have a stash of these things because I love them that much. Gummy bears are awesome. I hate gummy worms, though. Those are just weird. Unless they're the really sour ones, I can deal with those.

I got an invite from a friend back in December to use Pinterest. I just set it up yesterday and really have no clue what I'm doing with it yet because I didn't really look at it once I got it set up, lol. If you're on there and want to follow me, let me know. I want some people to follow. You know, once I start using it. :)

I've been listening to this guy's music a lot here recently. I discovered him months ago thanks to Pandora playing his cover of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" on my Apocalyptica station. I decided to look up more of his work. I love the violin, it's such a pretty instrument. Here's David Garrett doing "Master of Puppets" by Metallica:

Happy Tuesday!

Sunday Stealing...

2012-01-22T16:01:00.003-06:00

Sunday Stealing
36. Have you watched American Horror Story?
Nope.

37. Baseball hat or toque?
Depends on where I'm going and how the weather is. I love both. And hats in general.

38. Do you shampoo or soap up first in the shower?
I tend to turn the water on first.

39. Wet the toothbrush or brush dry with the toothpaste?
Wet is better.

40. Pen or pencil?
Depends on what I'm doing. Most things, pen. Art, pencil.

41. Have you ever gambled at a casino?
Yup.

42. Have you thrown up on a plane?
Never. That would suck. Imagine if the plane smelled like vomit for an hour or so after you didn't make it to the plane's toilet and threw up all over the aisle or something? The plane would reek and everyone would be death glaring in your general direction.

43. Have you thrown up in a car?
Not that I can remember but I'm sure it's happened. Possibly as a baby or small child.

44. Have you thrown up at work?
Yeah, a couple times but that was years ago.

45. Do you scream on roller coasters?
Out of joy, yes. I'm loud and like to yell when I'm having fun, okay.

46. How many shoes do you have?
I have 4 pairs so 8 shoes.

47. Who was your first roommate?
Ryan. Unless you want to count when 21 and I shared a room as kids, then one of my brothers was my first roommate.

48. What alcoholic beverage did you drink when you got drunk for the first time?
Margaritas I think. Or shots. I don't honestly remember for certain, it was a long time ago.

49. What was your first job?
Working for my dad.

50. What was your first car?
A corvette. It was a really shiny, pretty blue color. Aww, Hot Wheels, I love thee.

51. When did you go to your first funeral?
When I was 19? Maybe 20. I'm not sure. It was my grandfather on my dad's side of the family and I hardly knew him.

52. How old were you when you first moved away from your hometown?
I've moved a lot so I don't think I've ever considered anywhere my "hometown" to be honest.

53. Who was your first grade teacher?
Mrs. Parsons.

54. Where did you go on your first airplane ride?
California.

55. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with?
The neighbor/friend who lived a few houses down the street. We were so cool, sneaking out of the house to go try the cheap whiskey he sneaked from his dad's private stash. Which is funny because I really never had to sneak out of the house but I did a few times anyway just to see if I'd get caught.

56. Who was your first best friend and are you still friends with them?
Anthony was my first best friend. And no, we're not still friends. The bad thing about moving around and changing schools so much was it was hard to keep in touch with friends as a kid so my friends changed a lot and I just learned not to get too attached to anyone. Which is probably why I still don't let people close to me easily, actually.

57. Where did you live the first time you moved out of your parents’ house?
In a 3 bedroom apartment with my friend Ryan.

58. Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day?
No one. I tend to just deal with it myself. If I really need to talk to someone then usually the boyfriend or Robert, Adam or Tyler.

59. Whose wedding were you in the first time you were a bridesmaid or a groomsmen?
I've never been a bridesmaid in a wedding. Lack of having many female friends does that. When my friend Jesse got married, he wanted me to be a "groomsmen" but his future bride and her parents who were paying for everything were not cool with that so it didn't happen.

60. What is the first thing you do in the morning?
Wake up.

62. First tattoo or piercing?
Ears. Aside from my ears, eyebrow. No tattoos.

63. First celebrity crush?
Christina Ricci, I think. I don't remember for sure but I think that's it. I always tended to crush on more attainable people instead of celebrities.

Happy Sunday!

The Simple Things...

2012-01-19T09:00:00.000-06:00

Swiping this from Hubman. I relate to most of them but there are a few I just rolled my eyes at. Of course. Most of these will bring a smile to my face most days. Enjoy.

The Simple Things In Life....

Someone telling me that they appreciate me or something I’ve done. Seriously, seems so small but causes such a warm feeling.

When you forget it’s Friday in the middle of your work day, then as you are about to leave you remember. It’s like a miniature brain orgasm.

Hearing a new song and knowing I’m gonna like it.

Sitting on the grass on a slightly windy, but aggressively sunny day, knowing that I have no obligations whatsoever for the entire day.

Waking up on a day where i don’t have to go anywhere, and finding out that its pouring rain.

If it’s not cloudy, then looking at the stars and feeling both infinitely small and and infinitely worthy.

Waking up in the morning and realizing that I still have more time to sleep and being able to go back to sleep.

Falling asleep to the sound of rain outside my window

Being in a situation where some psuedo-authority figure is yelling/mad at you. Then suddenly you realise as an adult you can just get up and leave with zero consequences.

Smiling at a girl and getting the smile returned.

Coming home from a long day and taking my pants off immediately.

When I was younger I use to love watching the rain drops race down the window. I still do, I guess.

Being at the grocery store and realising that I, as an adult, can buy nothing but ice cream for dinner and no-one can say shit about it.

Napping uninterrupted. Bonus if it’s dark and rainy outside.

The first twenty seconds of a bowl of Fruity Pebbles. I don’t care after that.

A good dog by my side.

I enjoy when someone says to me, “You look good today.” It really is the small things.

Happy Thursday!

Clearing out some monkey's from the attic...

2012-01-12T09:00:00.004-06:00

I hate the phrase "brain dump" for some reason. I'm not really sure what about it I don't like but I'm not a fan. Though, I don't really have a better snappy little phrase for it. Maybe I'll come up with one. Or not. A friend of mine's grandmother always has the oddest little phrases for things. Her phrase for a "brain dump" is "clearing out some monkey's from the attic." I've heard her use it many times but it still makes me laugh every time she says it or I think about it. It's not overly funny honestly. The way she says it is amusing. My friend asked her once what it meant or if she had any reasoning behind saying it. She replied, "Reasoning? Fuck if I know. You want a reason? Alright, I'm old and I say what I want and I think it sounds frogdamn cute. And if you had some monkeys in the attic, my guess is you would want those shit flinging bastards out of there. Thoughts taking up needless space in your mind are like those shit flinging monkeys, they got to go because if you leave 'em there unattended they're just going to stink the place up." That's not a typo, she says "frogdamn" and "frogdammit" quite often. :)

Making a status update literally every 10 to 15 minutes about how much fun you're having at a party is pretty telling on the fun you're not really having. There's a story there but I'm not getting into all the details of it. I'll say someone I know is trying to make an ex jealous by posting 4 or 5 status updates an hour whenever she's out at a bar, event, with friends, at a party, etc talking about how fun it is, how many hot guys are hitting on her, etc. This has been going on for a little over a week now, every damn day. I don't even check Facebook regularly and it's driving me crazy. She asked me about it last night, my opinion on if I thought she looked stupid and obvious, and I answered honestly. Huge blowup ensued and it got ugly. Anyway. :)

My dad is coming for a visit! He gets in town tonight and is leaving on Tuesday. I'm excited since I haven't seen him since September last year. One of the big reasons he's coming in to town is because my youngest brother is playing a hockey game at the American Airlines Center on Sunday. He's super excited. Hell, I'd be excited, too. He gets to dress in the same locker room as the Dallas Stars, walk their tunnel, set on the same bench they do and play a game on the ice in the building they play in. That's pretty badass. I'm happy dad will be here to see that and I'm excited for my brother, I know he's excited for it. :D

I have occasional bouts with insomnia. Which I'm going through currently. It sucks. I literally can't sleep until I'm exhausted to the point of not being able to physically stay awake anymore and then I don't sleep for long and it's a restless sleep. I don't take sleep aids because honestly, none of the several I have tried worked for me. On the plus side of that, with nothing to do late at night, I've gotten a ridiculous amount of writing done for a project I'm working on. I was worried about making my deadline at first and now I'm close to done with almost 3 weeks left still.

I like to look for the silver lining in everything. ;) I don't always find one but sometimes I do and that makes sucky things, well, suck less.

I'm excited for the Stars game on Saturday. I got tickets to the game as one of Shane's (the boyfriend has a name!) Christmas presents. I also got him tickets to the Lightning game on the 20th as well as some DVDs. He's so easy to buy for. Hockey tickets are always an acceptable and very much loved gift and I always benefit from that one, too. I got an extra ticket to Saturday's game so he could bring someone else, too. He's bringing a co-worker who likes hockey but I don't think she's ever been to a game before. I'm so glad he picked her because we've hung out before and she's super cool. I always get excited when I meet a new girl I can actually get along with because I don't tend to get along with girls very often. The last game we went to was on New Years Eve (you know, that one where the Stars outplayed the Bruins and won 2-4? ;D) so it feels like it's been forever since the last game I was at. I do realize two weeks isn't forever or even that long at all but it feels like longer than it really is. :p

One of my biggest pet peeves is not having consideration for others. I don’t think everyone needs to be prim and proper but most people need to get slapped with basic manners so hard that they never forget those basic manners, ever.

Here recently, I've gotten quite a few messages on Tumblr about gay marriage and why I support it. I have a feeling it's probably the same person but since whomever it is poses their questions under "anonymous" I have no way of knowing. Since my last two responses (here and here), the messages have gone from questions to outright hate mail, basically. I had 12 messages waiting for me in my inbox yesterday when I logged in. I deleted them all because they were rude, hateful and I saw no reason to respond to any of the garbage in there. They weren't questions or even just disagreeing with me, they were just name calling and talking shit. I can accept that people don't agree with my opinions on things. I also accept that as someone who is open about beliefs and rather vocal about the things I support, I'm going to have to deal with trolls like this one. I just think it's stupid. I'm hoping ignoring them will make them move on. That usually works. Until then, I'll just keep deleting all the name calling and anti-gay bullshit they throw my way.

People that do nice things for others "just because" without ulterior motives or expectations are awesome. People that do nice things for others "just because" only in hopes that they'll get something out of it presently or in the future fucking suck. People that do nice things for others "just because" but throw it in your face later on to try and use as a guilt trip or a manipulation tool really, really fucking suck. If you do that, you're an asshole.

Also? I'm not overly rebellious or defiant for the sake of not being told what to do (though I'm not the biggest fan of people telling me what to do, lol) but when someone tries to guilt trip me into something, it pisses me off and makes me not want to do it that much more. Even if it's something I'm iffy on doing, guilt trip me and that's it, not happening.

Looking at my blog stats recently, on top of comments and emails from you guys, it's ridiculous how many people come here and read the stuff I type out into the blogosphere. Ridiculous in a good way, mind you. Thanks so much for reading and thanks for those that leave comments and/or send emails or respond to stuff via Twitter. Y'all are awesome. ;)

Happy Thursday!

Orgasms & Q-tips...

2012-01-10T09:00:00.001-06:00

My friend April started a debate with a friend about how using a q-tip to relieve a really itchy ear was one of the best feelings in the world. Her and her friend were debating whether or not it surpassed an orgasm in terms of things that feel amazing. She ended up texting me for my thoughts on the subject which I happily supplied in heavy favor of orgasms over q-tips relieving an itch. I mean really, there's no contest, lol.

The question wound up on Twitter and no surprise most people went with orgasm over a q-tip relieving one's itchy ear. Honestly though, she's got a point with her q-tip defense. It feels fantastic when you have an itch inside your ear you can't get to and finally alleviate it with a q-tip. It's a wonderful feeling. It doesn't surpass an orgasm though, not even close. It did get me thinking of things that are simple but just feel great and possibly even surpass the awesomeness of a q-tip performing one of it's basic functions. So, I thought about simple joys that make me feel great and decided I'd put them up here. In no particular order..

-A shower after a hard workout, long day at work, sporting event, outdoor activity or anything that leaves you hot, sweaty and feeling rather filthy. Washing away all the grime and feeling clean, soft and warm? Fucking GREAT. That also works for when you're stressed and take a warm shower and feel lazy, warm and super relaxed afterward.

-Being outside in the cold and going inside, where it's nice and warm and then drinking and/or eating something warm. Especially coffee or a warm mug of tea (showing my bias) because both are so delicious. That feeling of heat warming your body from the inside out is awesome.

-Getting swept away in a really fantastic book. I know a lot of people don't enjoy books and reading the way I do but it's an experience for me. I get very involved with the characters, the storyline and pretty much every aspect of the book. It's like being in a different little world and it's one of my favorite feelings, ever.

-When you're in the car and have to pee but you're almost home or wherever you're going to and don't want to stop anywhere so you hold it for what seems like an eternity. When you finally get where you're going, rush in, and get to go, it's such a sweet, wonderful relief.

-Hugs. Especially when you're having a bad day.

None of that is better than the feeling you get from an orgasm but they all definitely top the q-tip for me. I'm sure there are more if I took more time to think about it but I'm really not bored enough to spend even more time distracting myself with the subject. At least for right now, haha. Though if any of you fine people have anything you want to add to my list (comments section yo!), feel free to do so. :)

Happy Tuesday!!!

Sunday Stealing: TNEM Part One

2012-01-08T17:45:00.003-06:00

Sunday Stealing: The Never Ending Meme, Part One

1. Song that always makes you sad?
"My December" by Linkin Park.

2. Last thing you bought?
Alcohol and food.

3. Last person you argued with?
The Lawyer but it was a pancakes VS waffles argument. Last serious argument was probably with the Boyfriend.

4. Do you put butter before putting the peanut butter on?
Nope. I've tried it before and didn't feel a need to do it again. I also tried putting a slice of cheese on a peanut butter sandwich because several people I know eat it that way so I figured I'd try it. Also didn't feel a need to do that one again.

5. One of your stuffed animals’ names as a kid?
Petersen. I was in a bad car accident when I was 5 and spent some time recovering in the hospital. I got a stuffed animal from the gift shop that I slept with in the hospital every night and I named him that after a character in a book I loved at the time. I kept that stuffed animal for so long.

6. Did you ever at one time own a Barenaked Ladies CD?
NEVER. I never got into their music.

7. Favorite day of the week?
FriSatSunday. What? ;)

8. Favorite sundae topping?
Chopped up Reese's peanut butter cups. I love peanut butter.

9. Did you take piano lessons?
I didn't. I play but I taught myself.

10. Most frequent song played?
Right now probably something by The Black Keys or Chevelle.

11. T.V. show you secretly enjoy?
I don't "secretly" enjoy anything because I don't get the whole being embarrassed or ashamed of something that brings me joy.

12. Would you rather play basketball or hockey?
I've played both, hockey hands down. Way more fun. :D

13. Date someone older or younger?
Older usually. Though, the Boyfriend is approximately two weeks younger than I am. He's the only younger person (males & females combined) that I've ever been with. Seems to be working out, haha.

14. One place you could travel right now?
Ireland.

15. Do you use umbrellas?
Sometimes, when I remember to grab one. Usually I don't. Luckily I'm not afraid to get a little wet.

16. Do you know all the words to the Canadian national anthem?
I do, actually!

17. Favorite cheese?
Depends on what I'm putting it on or in. I love a lot of different cheese. Gruyere, smoked Gruyere, chipotle Gouda, Pepperjack, sharp cheddar, blahblahIlovecheeseyaddayadda.

18. The Smith’s or The Cure?
I LOVE THE CURE.

19. Do you prefer blondes or brunettes?
No love for redheads? That's rude.

20. Best job you ever had?
The one I'm currently attempting to not suck at. Making money doing something you really enjoy is awesome and rarely feels like actual work.

Happy Sunday!

Stuff to think about....

2012-01-04T09:00:00.001-06:00

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“As time goes on, you’ll understand. What lasts, lasts; what doesn’t, doesn’t. Time solves most things. And what time can’t solve, you have to solve yourself” — Haruki Murakami

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“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” — Frank Herbert

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“Shallow men believe in luck; strong men believe in cause and effect.” —Ralph Emerson

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“Ships in harbour are safe, but that’s not what ships are built for…” —John Shedd

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Happy Wednesday!

New Year's Resolutions...

2012-01-03T09:00:00.002-06:00

I keep seeing posts about everyone's New Year's Resolutions so I thought I'd make a post about mine.

Ashly's 2012 New Year's Resolutions

As you can see, it's a pretty empty list. Entirely due to the fact that I don't make New Year's Resolutions. I never have and never will. The entire notion of it is silly to me. If you know on 12/31 or 01/01 what needs to be changed in your life, chances are you didn't just realize those were changes that needed to be made. I see no need to wait for a specific date to decide I need to do better at XYZ, quit a bad habit, set a goal for something, do this or do that. I'm regularly thinking and evaluating what I do in life and who I am, the way I act, the way I view things, the way I react to things, etc. That doesn't mean I obsess about this stuff all the time because I don't.

Why wait for a new year to change things, set new goals, to make your life and/or yourself a better person? There's no need to wait for a specific time to give thought to self-improvement and/or bettering your overall life.

"I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the years'." -Henry Moore

Happy Tuesday!

Stop glamorizing self-harm.

2011-12-30T09:30:00.004-06:00

NOTE: The images and content of this post may be triggering to anyone who has or currently cuts or participates in self-harm.

That people romanticize and glamorize cutting pisses me off. There's absolutely nothing romantic or glamorous about self-harm, so there's no need to be setting up such a pretty scene for a picture when you're slicing into your skin, hurting yourself.

Stop drawing hearts and flowers on your arms, thighs, etc around your bloody cuts. Stop taking pictures of your arms whilst undressed in cute lingerie. Stop the pictures of you and your friends cutting together, smiling and laughing. Stop trying to make it look artistic.

It's not cute. It's not funny. It's not art. It's not a fun activity to do with a friend. It's not sexy and exotic. It's not something that needs to be made to look whimsical and romantic or set up to look tragically beautiful.

I'm not being judgmental. I used to cut, a lot and often. I mostly cut on my thighs so no one would see them and sometimes on my stomach and upper arms. Anywhere I could keep hidden in regular clothes worked best for me when I was cutting because I didn't want anyone to see what I was doing. I wanted what I got out of it without having anyone know because I knew it wasn't healthy and wasn't good for me to be doing. I knew if people saw the cuts and the scars they would question how it happened because it's not fun, cute, silly, romantic, sweet, pretty or anything other than ugly, dangerous and harmful.

I hate seeing pictures like that pop up on my dash on Tumblr and hate seeing it on a blog as I'm browsing stuff on blogger, wordpress, etc. There's no need to try and glamorize cutting or any other form of self harm. There is no tragic beauty in what you're doing and a lot of people don't do it to get attention. By glamorizing it, you're only helping people who don't understand it continue to treat it less seriously and think of it less as a real problem. And that's not helping anything, only hurting even more and making it harder for people who wants to get help for it to do so because it's so often seen as a "cry for attention" instead of a real problem. So stop this bullshit.

TMI Tuesday!

2011-12-27T06:00:00.001-06:00

‘Tis better to give than receive…?

For this week’s TMI Tuesday why don’t you tell us:

1. What was your favorite gift that you received (gift giving holidays Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or heck even if you had a birthday in the month of December that can count)?

Probably my Michael Kors coat (it's so warm!) or the lovely Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I seriously love everything I got this year although I feel like I got way too much stuff. (Not complaining, lol.)

2. What was the most practical gift that you received?

The coat. I didn't have one so a lot of nights I've gone out just in one of my hooded sweaters and been really cold because none of them were heavy enough.

3. What was the silliest, most fun, crazy or impractical gift that you received?

I didn't get anything silly. I got 5 new kitchen toys and those would be the most fun, for me anyway. The impractical thing would be that I got almost 20 different items from Bath & Body Works given to me. I won't need new body wash or lotion for MONTHS. So I guess that's actually practical in a way since I won't have to buy body wash or lotion for a long while, haha.

4. If you had a special holiday meal, what was your favorite food?

I didn't have one. The boyfriend worked, I saw my family the day before and my mom wasn't feeling well enough to come do anything Christmas Day so I stayed home by myself. I had a pretty awesome grilled cheese sandwich and an apple for dinner, though.

Bonus: Share the recipe of your favorite food from the holiday meal.

N/A.

Bonus, bonus: Whatcha doin’ for New Year’s Eve?

Going to a Stars game! They're playing the Bruins so hopefully the Bruins go back to Boston sad after their last game of the year. Then probably going to go have some drinks with the boyfriend and maybe some friends after the game. Not sure what exactly but there will be some fun had after the game! :)

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How to play TMI Tuesday: Copy the above TMI Tuesday questions to your webspace (i.e., a blog). Answer the questions there, then leave a comment below, on this blog post, so we’ll all know where to read your responses. Please don’t forget to link to tmituesdayblog from your website!

Happy Tuesday!

Medicated answers...

2011-12-23T09:00:00.001-06:00

If you missed it yesterday, the final Toys for Tots 2011 Fundraiser post is up. Pictures, details, story about a cashier that helped me out and such. Scroll down after this or click here to check out the post. And thanks again to everyone who helped in some way.

ONWARD! I have some random and not-so random questions to answer today. And I'm a little drowsy/loopy thanks to some medication right now, lol. Enjoy.

Make a list of 5 things that you can see without getting up:
TV, Apples to Apples, Stars calendar, NERF gun and a pirate hat.

Do you think they should make scented toilet paper?
They do. I think? I think that would be weird, anyway.

How do you style your hair?
I don't usually. I just leave it as is, lol.

What are you wearing now?
Green plaid pajama pants and an Ian Kinsler Rangers t-shirt.

Do clowns creep you out?
They do.

Who was the last person you hugged?
Boyfriend.

Are beans really the magical fruit?
I've never seen one play an instrument so I'm going to say no. Though if I ever saw a bean rocking out on a ukulele? That would be interesting. And weird, definitely weird.

Dog person or cat person?
Dog. I'm allergic to cats and not a big fan of them anyway.

When was the last time you changed a diaper?
A couple weeks ago. Not a fan. Glad I don't have kids.

What was the last thing that you purchased?
Presents for people. They might see this so I can't say what exactly.

If you could afford to go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Right now? Somewhere with a beach that serves drinks with stupid little umbrellas and beautiful clear water.

The last movie you've seen?
In theaters? I can't even remember. At home, I just watched "Battle: Los Angeles" yesterday.

Would you eat snails ever?
Not likely. Maybe if I was starving and hadn't eaten in weeks and my only chance at survival was to eat a big ol' batch of snails. Otherwise, not happening.

How do you feel right now?
Drowsy, from the medicine but overall I feel quite pleasant. Which is probably also because of the medicine, haha.

What is ONE TV show you really love?
Modern Family.

What's your go-to candy?
GUMMY BEARS. LOVE. Reese's are pretty good, too.

What instruments do you play?
Piano. And some drums.

What does your deodorant smell like?
Awesome.

Would you get laser eye surgery done to correct poor vision?
If I ever needed it and could afford to, probably.

What other languages do you speak fluently in?
Sarcasm. Seriously, it needs to count. Sarcasm is truly lost on so many people, I might as well be speaking a foreign language more often than not.

Look to your right, what's the first thing you saw?
A big bottle of delicious purple electrolyte perfection. Or as it's more commonly known, Gatorade.

Happy Friday!

ALL DONE! Toys for Tots Round 3 Final Pictures & Details.

2011-12-22T08:00:00.000-06:00

I got the pictures to cooperate so it's time for the last Toys for Tots post you'll see out of me this year. I know plenty of you guys were sick of seeing me post about it but it really is one of my favorite charities and doing the blog fundraiser is a great way to earn money to be able to donate a lot of toys for it. I do a lot of charity and volunteer work and it's always sad to see how much more is needed. At least with this particular charity, I can try to reach out to others and get some help with it so some kids who would have otherwise gone without got something to brighten their Christmas morning up.

The first year I did this, I ended up with 83 toys.

Last year was the second year I did it and I was beyond stoked when I ended up getting 105 toys.

This year actually turned out even better than last year did with a grand total of 132 toys.

If you're wondering what 132 toys laid out on our bed looks like, allow me to show you.....

It took a lot of creative piling and tightly bunching all the toys together to get them to all fit. It was only a minor frustration when I started laying them out and was almost out of space on the bed yet still had 6 more bags of toys to lay out. I stopped and had to push everything I already had out back. There are some toys you can't even see because I stacked other stuff on top of it. Then after all the stacking and what not, I ended up with barely any space left on the bed. The toys to the left that are almost cut off from view are at the very edge of the bed. I always forget how much work getting the picture proof is until I have to lay out and then bag up and box all the toys again, lol.

I didn't spend more than $10 on a single toy. Most were in the $5 to $7 range. Some even in the $3 - $4 range. I did a lot of price scoping when planning my shopping trips out to find good deals on toys. And as usual we got everything from dolls, action figures, cars, dress up stuff, pre-school toys, learning toys, arts/crafts stuff, legos, a few books, activity books, puzzles, random games, things that light up and a couple things that make obnoxious noises without the requirements of batteries. I try to get a varied selection of gender specific and non-gender specific toys in all age ranges. It's a lot of fun doing the shopping but also a lot of thought and planning goes into it as well.

That box is from a fantastic friend of mine. It's actually rather deep and has around $150 worth of stuff in it. I was quite happy when I got the box of toys to add to the stuff I had already purchased and super happy with the diverse selection of toys inside.

I break this down into multiple shopping trips. So it's not too overwhelming on myself, my helper (I bring along someone to help me shop. Last year it was The Lawyer. This year my awesome boyfriend Shane did it) or whatever worker that ends up having to ring up all the toys at the register. I always go late at night or super early in the morning so there's not too many other shoppers to contend with.

I also always buy the toys I'm donating with my own money first (pictured above) to kind of kick the fundraiser off in a way. Plus I think it helps for people to see I'm actually donating stuff myself and not just waiting for people to give me their money to go buy stuff. ;)

A cool thing for my first shopping trip was the woman working the register that late night (it was after 1 AM) asked what we were doing with all the toys. We explained they were for Toys for Tots and she said we were sweethearts. She had a problem with the register she was on so we had to take all the toys off that one and move them over to the lane on the other side. By then, we had 3 ladies come up who were all going on break and all buying sodas and Lunchables. We let them go ahead of us and the woman ringing the toys up ended up using her employee card to give us an employee discount on the toys because we were so nice and she thought it was such a wonderful thing we were doing. That gave me an extra $40 to spend on my next toy shopping trip and I was incredibly excited by that and so happy at her kindness.

Anyway, here is the slide show for the first big shopping trip:

And here is the slide show for the second shopping trip:

It takes some creative stacking to get the toys all neat stacked in the cart, too. Mainly I have some mild OCD so I need my shopping cart to be as neat and organized looking as I can keep it while I do this so I can easily keep count of what I have. Also so I can keep up with what kinds of toys I've got and what I still need to get. I like to be organized, okay. :)

We had so many toys, we couldn't fit them all in the trunk of the car even though the trunk is actually pretty deep and can hold a lot. So what couldn't fit into the trunk went into the backseat then we headed off to the Toys for Tots warehouse to drop the stack of toys off.

Here's another slideshow. The toys loaded up in the car and being dropped off at Toys for Tots:

I want to say thank you to those of you who donated. Whether it was $2, $10, $25, $50 or more; it doesn't matter. I appreciate it and I know the families that benefit from Toys for Tots doing what they do appreciate it, too. I have so much fun being able to do this. I look forward to doing this again next year, too. :) I also want to say thank you to everyone who posted on their blogs, tweeted links and otherwise ~~badgered~~ told their friends and readers alike about what I had going on in hopes of getting more donations. To everyone who donated or helped in some way... thanks so much! You're wonderful and I heart you. :)

If you want to go look through the photostream of all the pictures I took, just click here. I used all of the photos in this post whether they were posted separately or included in one of the slideshows but if you'd rather look at all the pictures on Flickr, have at it. :)

Thanks again to everyone who donated and helped out this year. That's a wrap until it's time for round 4 next year. ;)

Happy Thursday!

Toys for Tots Year 3: Update

2011-12-21T09:00:00.001-06:00

I will have the Toys for Tots post with pictures, final total, etc up (HOPEFULLY) on Thursday or Friday. I was going to do it last night but I spent all day busy and doing stuff. I was going for about 13 hours yesterday then I got home and was having issues transferring the pictures to my netbook. I was feeling too tired/stressed/drained to figure it out and just ended up frustrated and decided to just leave it alone for the night. Today will probably be busy but I plan on watching hockey and being lazy in the evening time. So, I should be able to work on it and figure out what the hell the issue is with the pictures not transferring. And if I can't, I'm sure the boyfriend will figure it out for me since he's awesome at things like that.

I do have one I got with a camera phone during one of the two shopping trips I did for the fundraiser....

Sorry it's kind of small. That was near the end of one of my shopping trips. I tend to break it down into multiple trips so I can take advantage of different deals and also so I'm not in line for an hour waiting on several hundred dollars of toys to be rang up. The boyfriend was amazing help this year and helped me on both trips and did the toy drop off at the Toys for Tots warehouse with me this year. I do have better pictures and plenty of them. Once I can get them onto my damp computer. Anyway, enough whining and bitching about that. :) I wonder how many people notice me randomly taking picture of the shopping cart as I fill it up with toys and wonder what I'm doing. In the three years I've done this fundraiser, I either toy shop later at night or early in the morning. Though, I've caught people staring and then looking away quickly but no one has ever asked me why I'm taking pictures of the cart as I shop. I'm such a curious person at times, there's no way I'd see that going on and not ask about it, haha.

I'm so thankful for everyone who donated this year to help me be able to get so many toys. And I appreciate all the help from people who put buttons on their sites, made posts about it, tweeted, put up links on Facebook, etc. So many people were such a great help and I really do appreciate it. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Toys For Tots Blogger Fundraiser: Year 3

2011-12-18T10:00:00.007-06:00

***NOTE: THIS POST WILL REMAIN AT THE TOP OF THE BLOG UNTIL I'M DONE WITH THE FUNDRAISER. Scroll down for new posts. :D ****

TOMORROW (Dec. 16th) IS THE LAST DAY TO MAKE A PAY PAL DONATION!!! ALMOST TOY SHOPPING TIME!! :D

EDIT: New update here! 16 days (as of 12/1/2011) left to donate.

EDIT: There's a new button (in two different sizes! ;)) you can use on your blog or in a post to help spread the word about the fundraiser. Scroll down or click here for the post and to snag the button. :)

Edit: I went over the weekend and got the first few bags of toys for the TFT fundraiser. If I got 7 toys for $38 here. It really doesn't take much to make a small difference in a less fortunate kiddo's life so come on! There's just 3 WEEKS (as of today, Sunday the 27th) left to donate. It's for a really good cause and $5 or $10 really will help out a lot.

Every year I donate some toys to Toys for Tots. I pick and choose other things to donate to as well through out the year. I don't think I can make a big dent of change in the world but I can do little things to make things a little better for other people. Be it with toys during the holidays, money for food, donating clothing, etc. I bitch about things that I wish I could fix but really, all that bitching does nothing if you're not willing to step up and do something to help make it better. So, I do what I can when I can to help out. It makes me feel good to know I've done something good and I help out with a lot of different things.

In 2009, I got an idea to do a Blogger Toys for Tots Fundraiser. I got the idea damn late it the year though so there wasn't much time to work with for Toys for Tots. I did it again last year in 2010 as well. And now I'm doing it again this year. Don't know what that is? Let me inform you before I get on with the rest of the post.

Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, an IRS recognized 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity is the fund raising, funding and support organization for the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. The Foundation was created at the behest of the U. S. Marine Corps and provides support in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding with the Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, who directs the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. The Foundation has supported Toys for Tots since 1991.

The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.

Like I said, I donate something every year. Sometimes in toys and sometimes in money. Sometimes more and sometimes less. Sometimes I don't have much money to spare but I do a little bit anyway because I know even if I'm hurting a little, some little kid and their family is hurting more. I prefer doing toys, though. I like going in to a store and picking out toys that I know will make some little kids happy. I never see the kids who get these but I always wonder if they liked what they got or if they were just happy for something, anything.

In 2009 and last yea r as well, I did a Fundraiser for Toys for Tots on my blog. The results were far better than I had expected in 2009 and they were amazing in 2010. I was beyond touched at all of the help and support I got. I got so many people who donated little amounts and it all added up to so many toys that I went and purchased. I take plenty of pictures and get it well documented on the blog because it's important to me (and lots of you!) to get pictures to show that I was doing as I said I would. I had so much fun going to get the toys in 2009 and 2010. This year, I'm doing it again and starting earlier in the year.

The final results from 2009: Here
The final results from 2010: Here

If you want to see more posts with more details and pictures, then just click here or go to the Toys for Tots tab at the top of the blog on the tabs section.

On the right side of this blog on the side section under my profile, you will find that there is a PayPal donation button there.
If you want to donate money to help buy toys for Toys for Tots, just use that.

I will take all the money that gets donated and go buy toys. For proof that I'm doing what I say I'll be doing with the donations, there will yet again be pictures of the toys as I buy them and pictures of all those said toys being loaded into the car and more upon being delivered to a Toys for Tots location near my house once I'm done with the fundraiser.

I know with the economy being what it is, things are rough for a lot of people (myself and my boyfriend included) BUT if you can spare $5 that would be enough. With $5 I can buy an action figure, toy cars, Legos, a stuffed animal, various kinds of dolls, PlayDoh sets and various other things. $5 will buy a toy and in some cases more than one toy. I can get 8 or 9 Hot Wheels cars on $10 so no amount would be too small. If 15 people donate 5 dollars, I have $75 and that will buy quite a few toys to brighten a child's day. You can do something to help and leave all the work up to me.

I'm not expecting a huge outcome from this because like I said, I know life financially sucks for a lot of people right now. If you can give just a little bit though, you'll be making some faceless nameless little child happy and doing something good. It's not that big of a deal to let go of $3 or $5 to a great and very worthy cause.

And yes, I know Christmas isn't about the toys and other presents but imagine being 7 and not looking forward to waking up Christmas morning because Santa couldn't bring you anything this year. It's a bummer.

If you want, please feel free to post about this on your blog with links and send people over. I would appreciate that quite a bit. If you do pimp this post out on your blog, email me after you do so with the post link so I can include you in a post that's to come later on. Also feel free to tweet about it or post it on Facebook. A few dollars from a lot of different people goes a long way. :)

This post will stay at the top of the blog for quite a while. Actually, it will be up at the top until the time I'm done with the fundraiser. The cut off date to take donations will be in December. Probably around the 18th but I haven't decided yet. I'll post an update on that when I figure it out.

There's also a tab Toys for Tots at the top of the blog if you want to go check out all the previous posts and pictures from the previous two years.

The tab just has pretty much what this post has plus links to the posts I did last year including all of the pictures as well as a donation link.

Have a good weekend, y'all!

Wherein I rant about bisexuality & narrow minded people...

2011-12-15T09:00:00.004-06:00

First: TOMORROW is the last day to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser. Once again, thanks so much to everyone who has donated or helped out in some way. You're all awesome, lovely, generous people. <3 Moving on...

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I was with a male friend of mine recently. He wanted me to help him pick out some new clothes because he was meeting his new girlfriend's parents for the first time and he wanted to look a little nicer than his usual ripped up jeans and a tshirt. I tried my hardest to get him to pick another female, any other female, because I hate shopping. And that was the reason he wanted me to go. He knew I would just want to get in, get shit taken care of and leave. So, I agreed and off we went in search of something he wouldn't be horribly uncomfortable wearing yet still look nice in.

In one store we went into, we had the amazing joy of running into an ex-girlfriend of his from a little over a year ago. We attempted to avoid her but she saw us and rushed over to say hello.

I had changed my hair style up since she had last seen me, which she noticed and had to comment on. The exchange went like this:

Heather: "Wow Ashly, your hair looks great like that. I like it all wavy and messy in layers."

Ashly: "It's usually wavy in messy but the layers is new to you. Thank you."

Heather: "You're welcome! And it really does look cute. And so you know I'm not coming on to you or anything so please don't think that."

Ashly: "Why would I think that?"

Heather: "Oh because if I remember right you're bisexual, correct? I just didn't want you to think I was hitting on you, that's all. No offense."

Except, shit like that is offensive. Or more so in my opinion, completely fucking obnoxious. It doesn't offend me so much as it just pisses me off but I do know some people that it does offend. Either way, it's a narrow minded and judgmental way of thinking. Of course, Heather isn't the first girl to jump to that conclusion and think I'll assume she's hitting on me because she said something nice to me. Or the first to assume that since I'm bisexual that I clearly just want all the vaginas everywhere all the time.

I hate the assumption that because I'm bisexual, I CLEARLY must want every woman in the world. So no woman can compliment me without me taking it as her trying to get into my panties and thus I can't compliment a woman unless I'm looking to get her into bed. Which of course I am doing that because she's a woman and being bisexual means I want every woman alive, okay.

It's ridiculous and it happens far too often. I'm very open about my sexuality and in doing so, I face a lot of crap for it. So sometimes when I compliment or just say something nice to another girl, it turns into awkwardness due to them acting weird about it because they assume I'm flirting with them.And I'm not talking random girls here, I'm just talking girls I know mutually through other friends and in a few cases people I thought were good friends. It's hilarious ~~in that "that's pretty homophobic and judgmental and not funny at all" kind of way~~ that me complimenting them is a come on. Whereas a heterosexual female could have given the same compliment and not a second thought would have been given about it after all the gushing over said compliment ended.

I don't flirt with every girl I see. I'm actually quite picky and don't find myself attracted to most girls. Which goes against another narrow minded misconception but we'll leave that one alone today because this would get pretty long if I attacked every stereotypical misconception about this subject. Trust me, if I'm flirting with you, you'll know it. I don't flirt with any female I already know isn't interested in girls anyway.

Just because I get a compliment from another girl doesn't mean I'm going to assume she wants me. I don't take it as anything more than it's presented as; a compliment. It's not that hard of a concept to understand.

I can compliment someone on their hair, a particularly badass shirt, a piece of jewelry, their overall appearance that day etc, and it doesn't mean anything more than that; just some truthful kind words given with no intentions other than to be nice. Just because I say you look pretty in something doesn't mean I'm attracted to you and want to send you into orgasmic bliss the first chance I get. It's highly unlikely that's the case and assuming so is pretty arrogant on top of being obnoxious, homophobic, judgmental and stereotypical.

Whew. Now that I got that out of my system for the time being.... Please feel free to comment with any thoughts or opinions you have. Comments are always much appreciated, especially on rants like these. :)

Happy Thursday.

And remember, tomorrow is the last day to get in a Toys for Tots donation. And thanks again to everyone who has helped in some way. Xo!

Two days left for Toys for Tots donations...

2011-12-14T09:00:00.001-06:00

There's only 2 DAYS left to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser.

I'm so close to hitting $500 in donations so I'm hoping I can get a couple more donations via pay pal or maybe some of the people in my real life will be able to follow through with their promises to help. Even if $500 doesn't end up getting reached, I'm super happy about the amount of money I've managed to raise so far. And of course I'm excited about getting to go toy shopping and then delivering them all to the Toys for Tots drop location.

December 16th is the last day I'm taking donations via paypal. :)

So come on, $5 or $10 isn't that much and it's for a great cause. Please help out if you can. Thanks to everyone who has donated and all who have helped spread the word thus far. It's greatly appreciated.

Even if you don't donate anything to my project here, I encourage everyone to give a little something back where ever they can. Be it donating a little cash to a good charity, picking a child off an angel tree, dropping a few cans of food off at your local food pantry/shelter, donating some old warm clothes you don't wear much or at all anymore. There are a lot of ways to help out the lest fortunate and most don't take much time, effort or a large amount of cash. Some are easy as making some extra room in your closet or kitchen cabinets. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Porn, omelets, sneezing & other stuff...

2011-12-12T09:00:00.001-06:00

Random thoughts post time! But first.... Oh yes, that's right.....

There are only 4 DAYS LEFT to make a paypal donation to the Toys for Tots fundraiser. Yes, only FOUR more days of seeing me talk about it all over the place, I know. I get tired of saying it but it's for a great cause so I do what I do, even if it's annoying. I was hoping I'd reach a certain number but I don't think that will happen since I'm still about $70 away from the number I was hoping to reach. But that's fine! I've still done well so far and I really appreciate everyone that has made a donation, you're awesome. :D And.... it's ALMOST TOY SHOPPING TIME! I'm excited. My favorite part of this is actually delivering the toys to the Toys for Tots drop location. I get super excited the whole way there and feel really happy the whole way home.

Now... Onward with typing whatever comes to mind. :)

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One of my friend's and I had a really weird discussion about porn yesterday. It was weird because we were talking about going to the zoo and that turned into him remembering something he saw once in a porn that made him almost throw up. It was fairly disturbing. I asked if he'd found it online again and tricked his boyfriend into watching it yet. Kind of like Rick Rolling someone in a really disgusting, twisted way. That will make them wish they could bleach the thought of it from their mind. I didn't even see it and I wish he'd never told me because the mental image is... bleh. And no, I will not say what it is because I can't bring myself to type it out in fear of thinking about it again in detail might make me throw up the scrumptious omelet I just consumed.

******************

By the way, speaking of omelets.... If you say the word "omelet" 10 times fast, it sounds really weird and you start to sound a little Russian.

******************

I always get amused when I say the words joint, blunt, high, bowl, smoke and papers in a conversation that has nothing to do with drugs and someone starts snickering at the double meaning in the word. Way to give yourself away there. ;)

******************

I get really tired of people acting like it's the end of the world because I say I don't want children. There's enough kids in the world. And really, there doesn't need to be a miniature version of me running around. Also, and most importantly, I have absolutely no interest in being a mother or raising children. I'll never understand why that's such a hard concept. I get the explanation of why it's so hard to understand from a societal standpoint but come on. I'm happy that so many people are super happy to have children and love being parents. Cool for you but that's not for me. Depending on how you broach the subject, I'll either quickly explain or Snarky McSnarkerson will roar to life. Most people fall into the "insulting" category with how they approach the subject so I don't often end up explaining. No big deal honestly because I shouldn't have to explain. You don't often hear people asking other people why they want to have kids and then going off on tangents about the benefits of not having kids. It's not like I hate kids, I don't. I'm even really good with most kids. I just don't want any of my own, lol.

******************

Sneezing in the middle of a cough is a really weird feeling. It doesn't hurt, it just feels awkward.

Sneezing in the middle of brushing your teeth only hurts if the toothpaste goes into your nasal cavity and comes out your nose. Also, on top of being disgusting and unpleasant, it gets pretty damn messy. It goes EVERYWHERE.

Sneezing while gargling mouthwash is pretty unpleasant, too. That burns coming out of your nose. I also have the automatic reaction to try and vomit so I don't swallow a bunch of gargled mouthwash.

******************

Oh and last but not least; I have no clue on that aforementioned omelet theory. Though I wonder how many of you tried it after I said it. :D

Happy Monday!

One week left to donate to the Toys for Tots fundraiser...

2011-12-09T09:30:00.000-06:00

There's exactly one week left to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser. Yes, only 7 more days of seeing me talk about it all over the place, I know. I get tired of saying it but it's for a great cause so I do what I do. And my most recent donations were two separate $5 donations I received yesterday. Most of the donations have been small amounts and that's great, every little bit helps and it all adds up. So I'm super happy and love doing this each year.

December 16th is the last day I'm taking donations via paypal unless you email with a reason why you need an extra day or two which has happened several times before. It only takes a few dollars to help out a really great cause and I do all the toy shopping so you can donate toys without having to go shop for anything yourself.

So come on, $5 or $10 isn't that much and it's for a great cause. Please help out if you can. Thanks to everyone who has donated and all who have helped spread the word thus far. It's greatly appreciated. Several donations have come from a few friends pimping me out to people so really, I appreciate the help I've gotten from people with this.

It's almost toy shopping time! Hopefully I'll have a friend help me with the shopping again this year. The Lawyer was awesome and helped me with it last year. It's always nice to have an extra set of eyes looking for bargains and helping get pictures as I shop. :)

Even if you don't donate anything to my project here, I encourage everyone to give a little something back where ever they can. Be it donating a little cash to a good charity, picking a child off an angel tree, dropping a few cans of food off at your local food pantry/shelter, donating some old warm clothes you don't wear much or at all anymore. There are a lot of ways to help out the lest fortunate and most don't take much time, effort or a large amount of cash.

Happy Friday!

The Great Online Cookie Exchange Extravaganza....

2011-12-07T09:00:00.001-06:00

The Great Online Cookie Exchange Extravaganza, hosted by JZ, is today!

I have three different recipes I'm sharing today because I couldn't decide which one of the three I narrowed it down to I should go with. So, I'm posting Mint Chocolate Chip cookies, Frosted Gingerbread cookies and Peanut Butter M&M cookies. :) Enjoy!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1.5 tsp. peppermint extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup mint baking chips (If you can't find any, Andes mints chopped up work too)
Green food color gel or food color liquid

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars on high speed. Beat in egg. Stir in vanilla and peppermint extracts.

Mix together dry ingredients and add to butter mixture slowly. Stir until just combined.

Add in food coloring gel/liquid until you get the desired shade of green you want. I like using the gel because you get a more vibrant color and it doesn't effect the taste or texture but food coloring liquid works fine, too. Stir until well combined.

Fold in chocolate chips and mint chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a cookie sheet. (I actually use a small ice cream scoop.) Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove immediately and cool on wire rack.

You can also make these easier by using a package of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix instead of dealing with the flour, baking powder, etc. Just make the mix according to direction, add the mint extract, baking chips and boom. A little bit of a quicker and easier version.

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 large egg

Icing:

1 pound confectioners' sugar
3 large egg whites
1 drop lemon juice or vinegar

Directions

For the dough, add the dry ingredients (except sugar) to a mixing bowl and stir well to combine. Beat the butter and sugar, adding one egg at a time. Continue beating until the mixture is smooth. Beat in half the flour mixture, then stop and scrape the bowl and beater(s). Beat in the molasses, scrape again, and beat in the remaining flour mixture, just until combined.

Divide the dough into several pieces and press each piece into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least one hour or until firm.

Set the racks in the middle upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Roll the dough, one piece at a time, on a floured surface, just to make the dough flat and even, but not much thinner. Cut with floured cutters and arrange on the pans an inch or two apart. Repeat with the remaining dough. Reroll the scraps immediately; or press together, chill and reroll later. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until firm when pressed with a fingertip.

Cool the cookies on the pans.

Meanwhile for the icing, combine confectioners' sugar and egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat until combined. Add the lemon juice or vinegar and continue beating until fluffy. Use a paper cone or the snipped end of a plastic bag to pipe icing on the cookies.

Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup shortening (or butter for a flatter cookie)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 large bag of M&M’s or 3/4 bag of mini M&M's

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.

Ceam together the shortening (or butter), sugars and peanut butter. Stir in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Using a wooden spoon, carefully stir in the M&M’s.

Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet and lightly press down with a fork to barely flatten cookies. Bake for 10 minutes.

******************************************

Make sure you go see the rest of the Cookie Extravaganza participants!

Aisha
Alice
Ally
Another Suburban Mom
Ashly Star
Beau
Beth
Conina
Elysia
greengirl
Hedone
Jack & Jill
His wyld rose
Infidelity Chronicles
Jz
Kirsti
Krissy
lil
Linda Long
Little Monkey
Lola!
Mijena
mouse
Naughty Kitty
nilla
ponderouspet
ronnie
Rose
Ryan
Sara
selkie (her recipe here, her blog here)
Sephani Page
Serenity
shadesofblue
striving for peace
sin
Tempting Sweets
The Missus
undercovermetamorphosis
Viemoira

Only 9 days left to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser. I'm sure y'all are sick of seeing me talk about it but oh well. :) December 16th is the last day I'm taking donations via paypal unless you email with a reason why you need an extra day or two which has happened several times before. It only takes a few dollars to help out a really great cause and I do all the toy shopping so you can donate toys without having to go shop for anything yourself. So come on, $5 or $10 isn't that much and it's for a great cause. Please help out if you can. Thanks to everyone who has donated and all who have helped spread the word thus far. It's greatly appreciated. :D

Happy Wednesday!

Airing out that dirty laundry...

2011-12-06T10:30:00.001-06:00

Before I get into this post, I have two things I want to cover then we'll get to the dirty laundry, so to speak. First, thanks to everyone that commented, emailed, texted and tweeted me after reading my emotional mess of a post from yesterday. I appreciate so many people relating and reaching out. :)

Secondly.... You know what's coming.... Only 10 days left to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser. I'm sure y'all are sick of seeing me talk about it but oh well. :) December 16th is the last day I'm taking donations via paypal unless you email with a reason why you need an extra day or two which has happened several times before. It only takes a few dollars to help out a really great cause and I do all the toy shopping so you can donate toys without having to go shop for anything yourself. So come on, $5 or $10 isn't that much and it's for a great cause. Please help out if you can. Thanks to everyone who has donated and all who have helped spread the word thus far. It's greatly appreciated. :D

Now, on to the post.....

I have two friends that never fail to make a group outing awkward. He was my friend first but then she sort of just fell into that category by default of always being with him once they started dating. I used to have a lot of fun hanging out with them and inviting them out with other friends of mine. But... They've been together for quite a while and they've gotten to where they fight a lot. They have no problem airing out their dirty laundry in front of everyone. It's rare that I'll go out with them any more just because I know they will make snide, passive aggressive remarks to one another all night and then end up having a serious argument. Which in turn becomes them either ignoring each other the rest of the outing or spending it making snarky and at times, down right mean comments in each others' general direction.

It's flat out awkward and generally unpleasant being around two people who act that way all the time. That's too much drama for me so I don't hang around them often any longer. The female half of the couple noticed and had no issues asking about why I don't seem to like hanging out with them anymore. I told her bluntly that it seemed that way because I didn't enjoy being around them and explained very honestly why.

Of course, she didn't react very well to the blunt honesty I served up nor did she appreciate the answers I gave to the few questions she ended up asking. But that's not my problem.

I feel like personal and serious issues should be kept between you and your significant other. I don't mean you should never talk about it with other people. I have friends I bitch and vent to at times when I need to. It's good to have people to talk to when you need to about things like this. Whether it's to obtain advice or just blow off steam, it's good to have a friend or three you can vent to. I don't get why some people like to advertise all their personal problems to everyone be it by causing scenes in public constantly or posting something on Facebook or Twitter every time.

Once in a while, I get it. If it's something that's not a big deal, I can also understand. Like bitching about how your significant other always gets out a new roll of toilet paper but just sets it on the counter as opposed to changing out the empty roll. Or complaining about how they don't clean out the sink after they shave or any other little minor annoyances like that. But with these two, it happens all the time and it's rarely over anything minor. It might start that way but then they start dragging out the serious shit and that's where it gets really awkward and unpleasant more than it already is. They do the same thing on Facebook and Twitter as they do when they go out in groups to hang out with friends. Passive aggressive tweets taking shots at one another over social media or sometimes just openly taking shots at each other and putting all their business out there. I can tell you more than I care to know about their finances, bad habits, sex life and tons of other things just from having them argue in front of me and across social media as well. And that seems really unhealthy to me. And for a lot of people around them, it's just awkward and unpleasant to deal with. And makes them want to spend less time around said couple to avoid having to sit there staring at their phone or trying to make conversation with someone else whilst trying to ignore the argument going on in front of them over a dinner table in a restaurant. Or when it happens on Twitter, I just want to tell them to shut up and stop fighting on there, too. Instead, I mute them so I don't have to see that crap in my timeline but don't have to deal with two friends being butthurt over me unfollowing them. And I know some people would say to just drop them as friends and really, I wouldn't mind not speaking to her again but him, I adore. When he's not around her and he's acting like a more sane person. He's a really great friend, truly, and those aren't easy to come by.

I get pissed off at my boyfriend when we're out in public at times. Sometimes it happens when we're with friends or around family even. but I don't ever go off on him in front of anyone else, no matter how bad I want to or how pissed I get. Our problems are no ones business except our own. Which is also why I don't blog or tweet about our issues or the things he does that piss me off. I don't outright call him out or post passive aggressive crap on any venue of social media. That's between us and I don't need to tell the world when he's done something that pissed me off or acted like an ass about something. Much in the same way he never does that to me when I've acted like a jackass, pissed him off or lost my temper over something silly. I hate arguing in front of people because I don't want to make them uncomfortable and I don't like people being involved for the most part in my relationship problems. I understand that everyone else isn't like that and some people have no issues fighting in front of other people and letting everyone know what their problems are. I just really don't get that when it comes to serious and personal issues.

So if anyone is still reading this at this point, what's your view on this? Not my friends and not my boyfriend and I but just your general views on airing out your dirty laundry so publicly. Something you do sometimes, not at all, why, etc.

Happy Tuesday!

Excuse me while I get emotional...

2011-12-05T09:00:00.004-06:00

Excuse me if I end up rambling and not making much sense or repeating myself at all the further into the post you get. I'm a bit emotional and I can't really get my thoughts and words to cooperate with one another for the sake of being articulate. I need to write this out and emotions are messy, ugly things sometimes which I'm sure will be reflected in this rambling post. Anyway...

I was talking to a friend yesterday about Christmas type stuff. She asked me how my blog's fundraiser was coming along and I admitted it hadn't gone as well as the first two years. I wondered in part if that's because I just wasn't putting as much effort into it as I had the previous two years but that's not the case. Though, I almost didn't do it this year because when I thought about it, it seemed like I might not be able to get into the spirit of doing it. But, I'm glad I did because it's given me something good to focus on and doing it really does make me so happy and I needed something to be happy about during the holiday season. I love helping people and through this, a lot of families will get help during their financially rough holiday season. (Which by the way, there are only 11 days left to donate to the Toys for Tots fundraiser.) That conversation led us to the topic of presents for our friends and loved ones. We were talking about what we planned to get our families and in my case what I had already gotten for mine since I'm almost done with my gift shopping already. I really just wanted to get it over with and out of the way with as quickly as possible. Then we started talking house decorations and such. I started thinking about how this would be my first Christmas without Grandpa here. I forgot what I said exactly but it was something to do with decorations and my grandparents house.

Which caused this response from my friend....

"You know, you still always refer to it as your grandparent's house or your grandma and grandpa's place, right? But it's been almost 6 months since he died, don't you think you should just refer to it as your grandma's house by now?"

And the thing is, she wasn't trying to be rude or an ass. She was just asking because she was generally curious if I realized I still did that. And I hadn't really realized that because it was just the way I phrased it out of habit. She didn't even realize it might be an insensitive thing to say until I started crying. Then she was freaking out, apologizing and then crying herself because she felt so bad. She's never had anyone close to her die before. Her worse experience with death so far in life has been having to say goodbye to a few goldfishes before.

Maybe I should stop referring to it as "their" house but I don't. I still think of it as their house even though he passed away this summer. They lived there before I was born. It was their house long before I was even thought of, before my parents even knew each other. That's the house I spent many weekends, Spring Breaks, weeks at a time during Summer break and so on and so forth in. It's a place I grew up at and a place I spent a lot of time at. And it was "their" house for my entire life up until this passed June when he passed away, in that house. I spent 25 years spending time in that house and I've always referred to it as "grandma and grandpa's house" or "my grandparents house" and I cant seem to wrap my head around getting myself to think of it differently, even though he's been gone for almost half a year.

When I go visit my grandma, I say just that, that I'm going to visit her. It's not like I haven't accepted he's gone. It would be hard to be in denial about that after seeing his lifeless body at his viewing. I understand he's gone. I go visit my grandma and I still see so much of him there. Pictures, his chair, his room, his bed and tons of other things I've always associated with him. It's hard not to think of it as "their" home when there's sill so much of him there, including the urn that has his ashy remains in them, lol.

A few people told me the holidays would be hard. I thought that it would be difficult but I didn't really understand how it would feel. I got mad at myself on Thanksgiving because I found myself standing in my aunt's kitchen cooking and wishing he would be there to eat the macaroni and cheese I was making from scratch because he liked it so much. I almost cried while I was standing there melting the cheeses because I just missed him so much at that moment and wished he could be there for it. Then I was angry at myself for being upset because I sometimes feel like it shouldn't hurt so much still. And even though I know that's silly, I was grateful for that because I hate crying in front of people and that anger at myself kept me from bawling into the mac and cheese in front of my family. And I was happy for that for another reason; because it was my grandmother and my mom and my aunts and he was their father and they weren't crying. Maybe they wanted to but they were holding it together and making the best of the day even though I knew my grandmother was hurting horribly. I didn't want to be the one that set everyone else into a depressing mood or a crying fit.

Now as it's Christmas this and Christmas that all over the place, it's hard. I look at the Christmas tree we have in our living room and I remember the last cute little tree they had at their house and I wonder if my grandma will even bother with putting one up this year. I wonder if she'll stay with my mom and aunt or my other aunt for a few days so she doesn't have to be alone on the holiday. I thought about how I wouldn't have to get him any of the things he always wanted every year for Christmas but when I go somewhere and see any one of his favorite things, I wish I had a reason to buy any or all of them still. It hurts in such a deep aching way and sometimes, I don't know how to deal with it. I feel grateful that he's gone because he's not suffering in any way any longer. I want to laugh and smile because I feel so lucky to have had him around for so long, to have had such a good relationship with him, for him caring so much for us and for the good memories I have with him. And I want to cry because I miss him and it hurts that he's not around anymore.

I remember Christmas when I was 10. We lived in this two story house that had a tiny little front porch on it that held two chairs. My grandpa always sat outside on the porch for a while. He liked to just sit out there and watch the world go by and think. I remember that year I sat outside with him in a Tasmanian Devil t-shirt, a hideously ugly jacket that I thought was awesome at the time and track pants with a Santa hat on and asked him why he liked sitting outside so much when it was so cold. He said being outside was calming, relaxing. It was quiet and there was just nature and his thoughts if he wanted to think or reflect. Being out in the open air, seeing the trees, the grass and smelling those things was a nice place to be. I remember pointing out that it was icy and cold and you couldn't really smell anything besides cold. He laughed and asked me what I thought cold smelled like. I said ice cubes and he did a little half smile and agreed with me. Then I just sat out there with him for a long time and didn't say anything else until we went in to eat.

And it's memories like those that I try to focus on right now because I have plenty of good memories of him. And plenty of great ones from all the Christmases he was around for. The thing about focusing on the happy times though is knowing you'll never have more like them but trying to be thankful and happy that you had them in the first place. I often end up sad whilst thinking of good memories of him I have just because it makes me miss him. Sometimes I end up crying and a times it's out of pain and sadness, other times it's more of a happy yet bittersweet feeling.

Death is such a weird fucking thing to deal with.

Sunday Stealing

2011-12-04T15:05:00.003-06:00

Sunday Stealing: The Blue Memory Meme, Part One

1) If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?
How long do I have? Haha. I'd read the definition to the word "accountability" and then tell everyone to stop pointing fingers elsewhere when the blame for so many things is staring at the in the mirror every morning. It's pathetic how many things people are responsible for yet will blame on anyone or anything else given the chance. Step up and stop being such babies.

2) If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?
Can I just see my grandpa again? I'd give up the chance to meet anyone if I could spend another few hours with him.

3) You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?
FIJI!

4) What do you think about most?
There's no one subject I think about most. I think a lot and a lot of the times it's about varied and random topics. My mind is always a whirlwind of thoughts, lol.

5) You have the opportunity to spend a romantic night with the music celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?
Romantic? Pfft. I'm not big on romantic evenings, I'd rather do something crazy and fun, especially if I've only got one night.

6) You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?
I wouldn't. I almost drowned in a lake, had a gun held to my head & was assaulted during a robbery, almost died in a car accident and some other really crappy situations. But, I think all of those things helped me become the person I am now so even though they really sucked and some things I've gone through put me in a bad place for a while, I wouldn't take them away because then I might not be who and where I am now.

7) What's your strangest talent?
I can play air guitar and cook at the same time.

8) What would be a question you'd be afraid to tell the truth on?
I can't think of one. I'm pretty open and honest.

9) Ever had a poem or song written about you?
Yes on both accounts.

10) When is the last time you played the air guitar?
About half an hour ago probably. I play air instruments on an almost daily basis.

11) Do you have any strange phobias?
Who doesn't?

12) What's your religion?
None.

13) What is your current desktop picture?
Naked yard gnomes square dancing in the middle of a rain forest. Or maybe it's just a picture from a Dallas Stars game I took last month.

14) When you are outside, what are you most likely doing?
Jogging, rollerblading, reading a book, archery, photography, street hockey, sketching, baseball, walking somewhere that's close enough I see no point in driving to, drinking on a patio somewhere. I do a lot of stuff outside. My allergies hate me, by the way.

15) What's the last song you listened to?
"Bright Lights" by Matchbox 20.

16) Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?
Incubus. I have so many favorites it's hard not to list 20 bands/musicians right now.

17) What was the last lie you told?
"I'm fine, just really sleepy."

18) Do you believe in karma?
Indeed.

19) What is a saying you say a lot?
I have no idea. You'll have to ask someone who pays attention to the things coming out of my mouth.

20) What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?
I'm impatient a lot of the time. I'm very determined to get things done and go after what I want.

21) Who is your celebrity crush?
I don't have one. I don't pay much attention to celebrities and don't watch a lot of TV or movies and don't like most mainstream music.

22) Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word: heart.
Blood.

23) How do you vent your anger?
It depends. Sometimes I punch things, sometimes I yell, sometimes I go for a long walk, sometimes I rock out to really loud music, sometimes I write it all out.

24) Do you have a collection of anything?
Shot glasses from all the places I've visited. Baseball cards. Hockey cards. Batman stuff. Graphic novels.

25) What is your favorite word?
Depends on the mood I'm in. ;)

There are 14 days left to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser. I'm sure y'all are sick of seeing me talk about it but oh well. :) I posted an update on Tuesday so check that out if you haven't already. December 16th is the last day I'm taking donations via paypal unless you email with a reason why you need an extra day or two which has happened several times before. It only takes a few dollars to help out a really great cause and I do all the toy shopping so you can donate toys without having to go shop for anything yourself. So come on, $5 or $10 isn't that much and it's for a great cause. Please help out if you can. Thanks to everyone who has donated and all who have helped spread the word thus far. It's greatly appreciated. :D

Happy Sunday!

Silver linings aren't always easy to see...

2011-12-01T07:06:00.002-06:00

I have this habit of trying to find a bright side to something that annoys me. It keeps me from being in a worse mood when I'm already in a bad mood and often keeps me from being grumpy at all when my day has been sucking. It's easier to just let yourself be in a bad mood than to look at the bright side of something, or try and find a bright side at all. But when I let the bad stuff set in, it always seems to just keep rolling in and piling on, which I'm not a fan of. Honestly? Sometimes, there really is no silver lining and I let myself be pissed off about something. Usually, I'll find a plus side to something crappy and it helps me deal with it and not be in such a bad mood over it. It's also easy to let little life annoyances that really don't matter in the grand scheme of things put you in a bad mood. You know it's something insignificant but you can't always help what sets you off. Again, when that happens, I just look for the silver lining if there's one to be found.

I'll use a few examples from this morning.

Dislike: Being awake at 6 AM and my Keurig maker being injured. Being awake this early and no coffee? ACK.

Like: My Keurig is still covered under warranty so it's being replaced free of charge. Also, I can afford Starbucks this morning.

Dislike: That I woke up shivering this morning because the vent in our bedroom was shut thus not allowing any heat in and I get cold easily, especially when I'm not feeling well.

Like: That I have a comfortable bed and a roof over my head every night. And warming back up only takes opening the vent or snuggling under another blanket closer to my human heater boyfriend.

Dislike: That I have some rather unpleasant things to do today that I really don't want to do but will do because I'm responsible.

Like: That I get to go to the Stars vs Senators game tonight when we originally weren't going to be able to.

Dislike: I'm going on day 8 of fighting off a nasty sinus infection.

Like: That it's almost cleared up and I haven't had a fever the last 3 of 8 days. Which means that my supplements for my immune system really are working, slowly but surely because a sinus infection usually knocks me out for 2-3 weeks every single time.

Moving on from that. There are 16 days left to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser. I'm sure y'all are sick of seeing me talk about it and again, I don't care. I posted an update on Tuesday so check that out if you haven't already. December 16th is the last day I'm taking donations via paypal unless you email with a reason why you need an extra day or two which has happened several times before. It only takes a few dollars to help out a really great cause and I do all the toy shopping so you can donate toys without having to go shop for anything yourself. So come on, $5 or $10 isn't that much and it's for a great cause. Please help out if you can. Thanks to everyone who has donated and all who have helped spread the word thus far. It's greatly appreciated. <3

Happy Thursday!

Toys for Tots Fundraiser Update...

2011-11-29T09:00:00.000-06:00

I know a lot of y'all are sick of hearing about this but that's okay. Everyone has something they are annoying about, right? Right. At least one of the things I'm being annoying about is for a good cause. That makes it better, right? Right. Anyway....

I went over the weekend and got the first few bags of toys for the Toys For Tots Fundraiser. The last two years I've done the fundraiser, I always go a few weeks before the donation date expires to buy a few toys on my own. Kind of as a way to further enforce that's what I'm really doing. And also in hopes it will inspire at least a few more people to make a donation.

Here's the evidence of said purchased toys:

I got 7 toys for $38. It really doesn't take much to make a small difference in a less fortunate kiddo's life so come on! There's just a little less than 3 WEEKS left to donate. It's for a really good cause and $5 or $10 really will help out a lot. There are a lot of cool toys you can get for kids of all ages with just a little bit of cash. And again, I know this holiday isn't about the toys but when you're a kid, it does give you a little something more to look forward to and be hopeful for. I know the economy is rough right now but it really doesn't take much to help out here. Every little bit helps so donate if you can! :)

Happy Tuesday!

Sunday Stealing

2011-11-27T16:10:00.001-06:00

Sunday Stealing

1. Why did you sign up for writing your blog?
I was bored, I like to write, I like to interact with people and so it seemed like a good idea.

2. Why did you choose your blog's name? What does it mean?
"Not Your Average Chick" is pretty fitting to me. I'm a little odd. :)

3. Do you ever had another blog?
The phrasing of this question kills me, lol. I've had other blogs for side project stuff but never another main one that's lasted long. I don't know how people manage to run multiple blogs and keep them updated regularly. Those people must have far better time management skills and better attention spans than what I have. :)

4. What do you do online when you're not on your blog?
Tumblr, fantasy hockey, sports news, twitter (though I rarely do that online, usually check from my phone) check out new music. Not much, honestly. I don't spend much time online, lol.

5. How about when you're not on the computer?
Read, write, cook, bake, play sports, watch movies, hang out with friends, hang out with family, ice skate, yoga, drink, see live bands, draw, photography, art, go to sporting events, etc.

6. What do you wish people who read your blog knew about you?
I can't think of anything. I'm pretty open and honest and what you see here is pretty much what you get in real life so I don't leave much to wonder about really.

7. What is your favorite community in the blogosphere?
I'm not really a part of any community. There are things about all the bubbles that I like and that drive me insane so I don't really have a favorite.

8. What is your philosophy on your blog layout?
I really don't have one. I feel like I might be a bit of a blogger slacker now, heh.

9. Tell me about your picture you use to represent you on your blog.
It's a picture of myself. I thought that would be the best way to represent me. Clever, right? ;)

10. Pick 3 random blogs from your blogroll and tell us about them.
I think you should pick three random blogs from my blogroll and go check them out because if they're there, I find them amusing or awesome in some way.

11. What features do you think your blog should have that it doesn't currently?
I'm fine with what I've got.

12. What do you consider the 10 most "telling" interests that we would infer from what you blog persona?

Hockey, baseball, baking, boobs, books, charity/volunteering, comic books, activism, music, cupcakes. I think? That would be an interesting question to ask someone who has read ones blog for a length of time.

13. Do you have any unique interests that you have never shared before? What are they?
Not particularly. Again, I'm really open about pretty much everything. Though if you're new here or haven't known me long, you might be unaware with my interest in serial killers and criminal psychology. That stuff fascinates the hell out of me. Also, I LOVE mythology. It's so interesting.

14. The best thing about blogging is all of the friends that you make, Beside from those folks, do you think your blog has fans?
I have a few. And I know they exist because they're not online friends I've made but people who pop up now and then with those awesome "I love your blog and check it for updates all the time" comments/emails. Those are always nice.

15. What's your current obsession? What about it captures your imagination?
Creating new ways to use pumpkin in recipes and figuring out foods that go with it. It's challenging and gets my mind going.

16. What are you glad you did but haven't really had a chance to post about?
Well if I tell you now, that just ruins my chance to use it as a future blog post. ;) Though any time I stand up for someone being wronged or stand up for myself and something I believe strongly about, I'm always glad I do that. Though I rarely blog about those instances.

17. How many people that first became a blog friend, have you met face to face?
Not many. I'm weird about meeting people off the internet. The whole safety issue and my general mistrust of people makes me overly cautious about that.

18. What don't you talk about here, either because it's too personal or because you don't have the energy?
I don't talk about family stuff a lot and I don't talk about my relationship with my boyfriend hardly at all. That stuff's personal and I don't like talking about my familial and relationship problems to very many people at all. Some things should stay private.

19. What's a question that you'd love to answer?
Thinking up my own question for a meme? Pffft. :p

20. Have you ever lost a blogging friendship and regretted it?
Nope. There's usually a good reason for friendships, online or in real life, ending. I like to learn from stuff and move on versus dwelling on things.

21. Have you ever lost a blogging friendship and thought, “Was that overdue!”
Nope, not at all.

There's a new update, including a picture, in the Toys for Tots Fundraiser post. Check that out. There's only 3 weeks left to donate and any amount will help. $5 or $10 really is enough to help out so please donate if you can. It all adds up! And if you don't know what that's about, please check out the Toys for Tots post. Thanks to everyone who has donated so far, you're wonderful. <3

Happy Sunday!

The holidays are rough sometimes...

2011-11-23T09:00:00.002-06:00

I'm feeling kind of odd about Thanksgiving. My grandfather died this summer, in early June. I saw him often and grew up seeing my grandparents all the time and spending lots of weekends and stuff with them. It's been hard coping at time with the fact that he's not around. Saturday, I went to my grandma's house with my mom and two youngest siblings. We helped her with the yard work because grandpa always kept up with it and she's not much for it. It was fun and felt good being outside and doing it together but I kept thinking about various things. Like growing up and watching my grandpa do the yard work. Or going back into his shed to pull out various tools we needed and thinking about how huge that shed had seemed when I was a little kid but how small it seems now. I stood in there for a minute looking at everything and felt sad knowing he'd never step in there again, those tools that were once all in a certain spot just "where ever" now because other family members who used them just put them back in no certain order. After the yard work, we played games while watching the Stars game on TV. No comments from the recliner in the corner of the living room during the game, he's not there to make comments about anything anymore.

We also talked about what the plans for Thanksgiving would be. Grandma isn't much on cooking because grandpa really enjoyed cooking. He did a lot of the cooking for Thanksgiving. Grandma never learned to do a turkey or a chicken because he always handled it. And in her words, "I'm in my 80's and don't care to learn the proper way to cook a damn turkey anyway." I hadn't even thought of it until she mentioned the cooking thing but this will be the first Thanksgiving I'll have been home for that I won't be eating something he cooked. I won't be watching him cook or pestering him for anything.

It's the little things like those things that really make me sad. Like having Thanksgiving dinner without him. Not having him at the table for any sarcastic remarks about anything. He didn't say a lot at times but when he did say something, it was worth hearing and really listening to. Up until the last couple years when he fell in and out of knowing what was really going on. Alzheimer's is a bitch and I don't wish anyone to every have to go through that or watch someone they love go through it. Everyone says the first year is the hardest when someone you're close to dies because it's hard to adjust to them not being around for all the big events and holidays they've always been around for. I'm doing better with it but it's still rough and I miss him.

We're spending Thanksgiving at my aunt's house in East Texas this year, which will be a first. Grandma said she didn't want it at her place because she couldn't stand to be there without him being there. An aunt had a suggestion to just go to a restaurant but my grandma doesn't do well around noisy places and I'm seriously hate the idea of going out to dinner on Thanksgiving anyway. So we're doing it at my aunt's house instead. I know there will inevitably be some sadness but I'm hoping everyone will focus more on the present and the good memories we all have of passed years. Whenever I get upset or feel sad or just miss him, that's what I like to do. I think about a happy memory of him or some of the good times we had. Which makes me miss him but it also makes me feel better at the same time.

I hope no matter where you go or what you'll be doing this year (if you celebrate) that you'll take a moment and be happy for all that you have. And I hope everyone has an enjoyable holiday celebration around people they care about. Though I know sometimes, that's a hell of a lot easier said than done because no one can drive you crazy like your own damn family can. :)

Okay that's enough rambling from me. One more thing really quick, though. I know y'all are probably sick of seeing it but that's too bad, I am annoying when it comes to raising money for causes/charities I take part in. :) There's just a few weeks left to donate to my Toys For Tots Fundraiser. It doesn't take much to help out! The majority of the donations I've received have been for $5 to $10. Every little bit helps and it's for a great cause. Click the link to check out the post to see more information, passed fundraisers and see the pictures! So, donate if you can please and feel free to post about this on twitter, your blog, tumblr, facebook; whatever social media you spend time online. It would be much appreciated. And thanks so much to those who have donated. :)

Happy Wednesday!!!

TMI Tuesday: What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

2011-11-22T00:00:00.002-06:00

Just under a month left to donate to my Toys For Tots Fundraiser. It doesn't take much to help out! The majority of the donations I've received have been for $$5 to $10. Every little bit helps and it's for a great cause. Click the link to check out the post to see more infortmation, passed fundraisers and see the pictures! So, donate if you can please and feel free to post about this on twitter, your blog, tumblr, facebook; whatever social media you spend time online. It would be much appreciated. And thanks so much to those who have donated. :) Now, on with the questions! :)

What’s Cookin’ Good Lookin’?

In the United States Thanksgiving is this week, so a lot of folks will be cooking up a storm in preparation. Many other holidays will occur over the next month around the world and everyone seems to celebrate with food, hence, the TMI Tuesday theme…Cooking.

1. Haagen-Dazs or Ben & Jerry’s?
I like both. Ben & Jerry's is awesome because they have some of the most unique flavors. If I want something simple like French Vanilla ice cream, then Haagen-Dazs wins out but if I want something funky, then definitely going for Ben & Jerry's.

2. What is always in your refrigerator?
Hmm. Milk, eggs, cheese, butter, Boar's Head lunch meat, yogurt, fruit, juice, carrot sticks and salsa.

3. What’s your worst kitchen disaster?
I dropped an entire dish of homemade lasagna once. It wasn't a small one, it was huge and serving 16 people. Broke the dish, had sauce and cheese and meat EVERY WHERE and all over myself. Thankfully it was just on it's way to the oven and not on the way out.

4. Favorite kitchen gadget?
This is so difficult for me! I'm in the kitchen a lot and love to cook and bake. So really, I have a ridiculous amount of gadgets and I have so many I love. To keep this short, I'll say I really love my KitchenAid food processor. It's so versatile and helpful. Especially here lately.

5. What was your last meal? Did you like it?
Sage roasted chicken and pumpkin risotto. And yes, I did. I was nervous about making pumpkin risotto but it turned out well. After this, I'll be making lemon poppyseed pancakes. Hopefully those turn out well. :)

6. What’s your favorite cookie?
Big soft sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies are my favorites. There's a place called Great American Cookie and I LOVE getting sugar cookies from there. They're so freaking good.

And I will be posting a cookie recipe via The Great Cookie Exchange Extravaganza! (See below ;)) As soon as I pick one I want to share.

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Instead of just telling us about your favorite cookie why don’t you share the recipe via The Great Cookie Exchange Extravaganza

Happy TMI Tuesday!

Is Mayonnaise An Instrument?....

2011-11-21T09:00:00.002-06:00

First, I want to do a quick fundraiser update. There's just under a month left to donate to my Toys for Tot's Fundraiser. Thus far, I've only raised about $144.00 for it. Which isn't bad because it's more than I started with and I'm happy to have that to work with for when I go toy shopping at the end of this fundraiser. I'm hoping I can get some more donations and get to at least $200. That would make it the lowest amount brought in but again, it's still better than nothing and will still make a difference to quite a few kids out there. It doesn't take much. Most donations have been for $5 and getting up to close to $150 off that isn't bad at all. So, donate if you can please and feel free to post about this on twitter, your blog, tumblr, facebook; whatever social media you spend time online. It would be much appreciated. And thanks so much to those who have donated. :)

Moving on to less serious and more possibly amusing things....

I find some amusing stuff on the internet. Tumblr in particular. So I'm going to share some things from there with some commentary from me. Exciting I know but I feel like doing it anyway and if you're reading this in the first place, I'll assume you're used to my nonsense. Or should be. Get on that if you're not, won't be changing anytime soon. ;)

BWA HA HA HA HA.

Ahem. I'm ignoring the less than perfect spelling in the first picture just because I get what they're saying. I would like to say that whole "pizza is a vegetable" thing is such a crock of shit, btw. Not that it needs to be said. It's not a fucking vegetable. If anything, it would be a fruit as they're basing it off it's tomato content and a tomato is technically a fruit. So, big fat fail there. Also, IT'S NOT A FRUIT NOR VEGETABLE. It's a combination of tomatoes, dough, cheese and sometimes meat and vegetables to make a tasty, tasty dish. Argh. I'm also super happy they don't have anything better or more important to discuss aside from shit like this.

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This is my exact reaction when a song I haven't heard in A REALLY LONG TIME comes on....

At first it's like, "Wait, this sounds familiar....."

Then you hear that one verse that makes you remember the song...

Then you.....

So accurate. I probably get too excited when I hear a song I used to love but haven't heard in years but I can't help it. Once recognition kicks in and I realize I still know all or most of the words, I rock the fuck out.
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That wouldn't surprise me. You know, if those objects all hard appendages and faces. A brain might be necessary, too. If they had all of those things, though, this would make PERFECT sense. Since they don't, I just have to accept that I probably need to pay attention to where I set stuff down. Or realize that these things all hide their appendages and smug little faces in front of me. Kind of similar to how Andy's toys only come to life when no people are around. I'm on to you; wallet, keys and remote!

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The only thing I have for this is that it's one of the fucking coolest pictures I've seen. Hockey is so awesome. So are badass photographers who manage to capture shots like this.

Happy Monday!

Wherein I answer random questions no one cares about...

2011-11-20T16:10:00.004-06:00

Questions stolen from Sunday Stealing.

Have you ever licked the back of a CD to try to get it to work?
Not that I can remember. I can't see how that would help anyway, haha.

What’s the largest age difference between yourself and someone you’ve dated?
10 years older.

Ever been in a car wreck?
One really bad when I was 5.

Do you have any friends that you’ve known for 10 years or more?
One. He's pretty awesome.

Does the number of people a person has slept with change your view/opinions of them?
No. That's really judgmental and stupid.

Are you a good tipper?
Yes. I think most people who have worked or currently work in the service industry are good tippers by default.

What’s the most you have spent for a haircut?
My shampoo, conditioning, scalp massage, hair treatement & hair cut costs me $50. And it's worth it. :D

Hair color you like on someone you’re dating?
I prefer darker hair colors. Or redheads if it's a girl.

Do you like horror or comedy?
There's a difference? Horror movies are so comical. It's like watching a bad comedy with a lot of blood in it. I'll take a good, legit comedy any day over the crap horror flicks.

Where do you want to live when you are old?
A house preferably but I'm willing to live in a condo on the beach somewhere if necessary. As long as I'm not a little old woman in a shoe, I'm good.

Who is the person you can count on the most?
Myself. It's not that I don't have other people I can count on for certain things because I do but I'm the most consistent person at coming through for myself.

If you could date any celebrity past or present, who would it be?
Pass. I'm seriously blanking for a proper response right now. I don't suffer from the celebrity obsession most of the world has so I can't think of any celebrity I'd want to date honestly, lol. Also, my boyfriend's pretty rad.

What did you dream last night?
Castles, laser beams, disco balls, Big Foot (or maybe it was Chewbaca?), bubbles, flying carpets, blood, gore, Elmo from Sesame Street, a talking psychic teapot, myself, some friends, Medieval knights, poisoned cookies and the most epic battle between vampires (think Dracula, not that Twilight bullshit) and people ever.

What is your favorite sport to watch?
HOCKEY. I love baseball and basketball, too.

What is your favorite alcoholic drink?
A free one. :D

Non alcoholic drink?
No but thanks for offering.

Have you ever been in love?
I have.

Do you sing in the shower?
No, I rock the fuck out in the shower.

Have you ever been arrested?
I've come close many times but never have been thankfully.

What is your favorite Holiday?
Halloween.

Would you ever get plastic surgery?
Probably not.

Have you ever caught a fish?
Yes. And I've been wanting to go fishing lately so bad because it's been a while since I last went. SOMEONE GO FISHING WITH ME, DAMN! :D

Just under a month left to donate to my Toys For Tots Fundraiser. I know the economy sucks which the amount of donations vs the amount of "I"m sorry, I can't this year but keep it up!" emails from people I adore have sent this year clearly reflects but if you can donate $5 even, every little bit really does help. :)

Happy Sunday!

Things everyone should know...

2011-11-17T09:45:00.002-06:00

And if you haven't yet, check out the Toys for Tots Fundraiser. Great cause, it only takes a few dollars to make a difference and all you have to do is make a few clicks to help out. :)

Happy Thursday. :)

TMI Tuesday: Formspring Follies....

2011-11-15T06:00:00.002-06:00

Formspring Follies

Today’s TMI Tuesday consist of Formspring questions pulled from around the Web. The NY Times called Formspring “An E-vite to Insults and Crude Queries.” I admit, I pulled the tame, less crude questions.

1. What is your favorite type of weather?
70 degrees. Nice breeze. Partly cloudy, blue skies. Great "do stuff outside" weather where it's not too warm or too chilly. Or I also really love when it's all grey skies, gloomy and raining all day. I know, quite the contrast but those are my two favorite types of days.

2. How do you sustain the motivation and energy needed to write erotica regularly?
I don't regularly write erotica. I don't get how people can do it every day or every other day. I mean there are only so many ways you can make sex sound more interesting and sexy than it already is. I think it's better to space it out and not drown people in it. And not over submerge yourself with it, either. Less is more sometimes. When it becomes normal and "oh, look another sex piece" then it kind of loses some of the lure, I think.

3. Do you like roleplay? What is your favorite scenario?
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Of course, I'm sure you weren't talking that kind of role play game but those are fun too and definitely don't get the kind of recognition Naughty School Girl/Head Master or Doctor/Nurse get. What? I'm a nerd. ;p

4. Have you ever been hurt so badly in a past relationship, that it has affected you for the rest of your life?
I haven't lived the rest of my life yet so I don't think I can say. ;) But as of right now, no, not really. All the bad stuff that I've gone through in relationships I've just used as learning experiences. Nothing has hurt me so badly that I'm still not over it yet.

5. What message would you want to put in a fortune cookie?
"Funny thing about that General Tsao's 'chicken'.... Oh well, you already ate it. C'est la vie!" Or more seriously... "Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself. -Harvey Fierstein" would be a good one.

6. How big is your dick?
12" of pure, hard, thick.... What, you don't believe me? I'll show you a picture that I absolutely didn't steal off the interwebz.

Bonus: I would like to know, do you have Formspring on your blog? Why or why not?
It's not linked to my blog but I have one. I get enough odd from having it linked to my Facebook and Twitter, really don't need the little widget on my blog to bring in more questions. Plus, I don't often remember to login and do the questions regularly, heh.

Bonus, bonus: What is the best or oddest formspring question you’ve been asked? What was your answer?
I'm just going to link you to a few of my oddest questions. Click the links if you care to see the answers.

what does ur shampoo smell like?

Have you ever touched - or wanted to touch - a live starfish? :o)

Do you like music to be on in the background during sex? If so, do you have favorite songs/artists? Is it different music than what you like when driving or working?

Do you think that in the adult version of Sesame Street, the blue muppet with a voracious appetite & famous eating phrases would be the pussy monster?

If you had to choose between giving up oral sex or cheese, which would you choose?

Have you ever considered have sexual relations with the Jack-in-the-box man? While he's wearing the head?

That's enough of that. Though, it was kind of fun going through there and seeing some of the odd questions I've received since having the account, haha.

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How to play TMI Tuesday: Copy the above TMI Tuesday questions to your webspace (i.e., a blog). Answer the questions there, then leave a comment below, on this blog post, so we’ll all know where to read your responses. Please don’t forget to link to tmituesdayblog from your website!

Happy TMI Tuesday!

Banana Nut & Honey Muffins.

2011-11-11T09:00:00.002-06:00

Banana Nut & Honey Muffins

Recipe makes 12 muffins.

What you need:

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
⅓ cup plus 1 tbsp honey
¾ cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1½ cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
⅓ cup whole or low fat milk

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour with the baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Use a whisk to combine, blend well.

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sugar and 1/3 cup of honey, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula if necessary. At medium speed, add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each egg. Beat in the banana and vanilla until blended. At low speed, beat in half the dry ingredients, add the milk, add other half of dry ingredients.

4. Fold in 1/2 cup of walnuts into the muffin batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin liners. I use an ice cream scooper because that makes it super easy for me. Sprinkle each muffin with remaining walnuts and a light drizzle of honey. Bake the muffins until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on a rack.

Enjoy!
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Have you checked out the Toys for Tots fundraiser yet? If not, please do! It's a great cause hosted by the US Marines and I'm taking donations to go buy toys for the third year in a row. Click the link for information and to see pictures from all the toys we've purchased the previous two years. Every little bit helps so if you can spare even $5, that would be more helpful than you realize. :)

Happy Friday!

Love For Lokomotiv...

2011-11-09T09:00:00.002-06:00

This is one of my new favorite wristbands to wear lately. For those who don't know, Love For Lokomotiv is in support of the sports tragedy that happened on Sept 7, 2011. 44 lives were lost due to a plane carrying crew members, hockey personnel, coaches and players of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team crashing. One of the players was a former Dallas Star and one of my favorite players, Karlis Skrastins. To show support for the grieving families, hockey wives and girlfriends from around the world have created the Love For Lokomotiv website in hopes of raising money for the families effected by the plane crash.

The Boyfriend and I got our bands at the last Stars game we went to. Some of the players wives and girlfriends had a table set up out in the concourse selling them. I actually love silicone wrist bands and have a ridiculous amount of them supporting various causes and some just for fun because I like them. Such as my Jack Skellington band, Super Mario band, Cookie Monster band, I <3 Boobies band or my Batman band. My accessory love for the bands combined with the meaning of this one as well as helping out a good cause made it impossible for me to pass on getting one of these.

I've seen several people complain on Twitter and a few on Tumblr about how they want a band but can't go to a game to get one. Going to a game isn't the only way to get a band, though. You can do it online which is how I'll be getting the pretty beaded bracelet for myself. Just click the donate link on the page if you want to buy a silicone band or one of the super pretty beaded bracelets and voila. Though if you can, you should definitely get your ass out to watch a game in person and support your local hockey team if you've got one to go see. Especially if that team is a 10-3-0 first place in the Western Conference and playing their asses off Dallas Stars hockey club. ;)

Happy Wednesday!

Random assortment of pictures....

2011-11-08T09:00:00.000-06:00

I love socks. I don't have many pairs of shoes but I have an entire drawer that's just full of socks. I also LOVE penguins. One thing that always bums me out about Winter apparel is the lack of penguins. Or I look in the wrong places. Either way, there needs to be more stuff with penguins on it. Anyway, I was at the store picking up a couple things I needed and walked by a display with tons of Winter themed socks. I was pleasantly surprised when SIX different pairs featured a penguin theme and even happier when one of them was a pair of toe socks. I wasn't thrilled with the amount of pink on the toe socks since I'm not a fan at all of the color pink but I really liked these and got them anyway. Aren't they cute?

I had some baking to do yesterday. Tahitian vanilla bean cupcakes. White icing is vanilla buttercream. Orange is orange flavored buttercream. All made from scratch. Baking is so fun. Want one? Lol.

I saw this next picture on an interior design blog I frequently look at. I've decided a small room or a little nook somewhere is a must in my future dream house. This looks so perfect to me. I'd love to be able to have a wonderful little spot like this to go spend hours reading books and relaxing.

I got this picture during the Texas State Fair. They did a really cool light show which was awesome for me. Fireworks, fountains and laser lights all cued up with some music pretty decent music. I totally enjoyed it and got a couple cool pictures of some of the action, including this one.

I collect rubber ducks. My newest acquisition to my collection is a rockin' little Halloween duck. Of course it's a pirate. :D

I'm done with the pictures now but before I end the post I want to say thank you to those who have already donated to my Toys for Tots Fundraiser. Also, thank you to those who have tweeted about it, posted on their blog about it, put it on Facebook, made posts on Tumblr and otherwise pimped the cause out. So to speak. I appreciate it so much! And if you post about it, make sure you let me know so I can come say thank you. :) Remember, even if you can only donate $5 it will go a long way to helping out. Every little bit helps! :)

Happy Tuesday!

Things That Make Me Happy...

2011-11-07T09:00:00.000-06:00

I've had a pretty rough time the last couple weeks, mentally and emotionally. I have a lot going on that's been hard to deal with lately and it's been wearing me down to where I've just been stressed and upset a lot. Which isn't normal for me because it takes a LOT to wear me down like that which ends up irritating me even more because I hate letting things get to me to the point of where I feel so down. Anyway, to combat some of those negative feelings, I'm going to make a list of some things that make me happy lately.

The Dallas Stars are 10-3-0 right now. They're first place in their division, first place in the Western Conference, second in the entire league and the first team in the NHL to reach ten wins so far this season. Hockey always makes me happy but seeing my team playing so well and winning makes me even happier. :D

The movies "Horrible Bosses" and "Gnomeo & Juliet."

Peppermint mochas & salted caramel hot chocolate from Starbucks.

Bubbles.

Getting to ice skate on a regular basis again.

New art supplies.

Sitting on the front porch enjoying the cooler weather, drinking pomegranate tea and reading a book. With the only noise being the sounds of nature and occasionally a passing car.

New friends.

Good friends that listen really well. :)

Pumpkin cheesecake. And pumpkin spice coffee. And pumpkin bread. And pumpkin candles. Pumpkin stuff everywhere!

The Black Keys.

Hugs.

Baking gingerbread cookies from scratch and making the house smell delicious.

POMEGRANATE TEA.

Overstuffed comfy chairs and super soft blankets.

The weather being cool enough for me to bust out the fuzzy socks and hoodies again.

So, what are some things that make YOU happy lately? :)

Happy Monday!

I like quotes, okay...

2011-11-04T09:00:00.001-05:00

I like quotes. Sometimes it helps to read a few sentences to put you in a better mood, give you a little kick of perspective, a small boost of inspiration, some encouragement or many other things. Sometimes I'm not reading them for any reason other than just because I enjoy them. So, I'm going to share some of my favorite quotes today. Hope y'all enjoy. And feel free to comment and leave a favorite quote or three of your own in the comment section if you want to share any. I never mind having more or seeing what words speak to others. :)

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself." -Harvey Fierstein

"Happiness depends upon ourselves." - Aristotle

"Life will bring you pain all by itself. Your responsibility is to create joy." - Milton Erickson

"Learn how to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that you want." - Jim Rohn

"When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." - Henry Ford

"Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action." - Benjamin Disraeli

"It always seems impossible until it's done." - Nelson Mandela

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"The greatest thing in the world is to know how to be one's own self." - Montaigne

"Nothing is more damaging to you than to do something that you believe is wrong." - Abraham

"Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong." - Peter T. Mcintyre

"Losing is a learning experience. It teaches you humility. It teaches you to work harder. It's also a powerful motivator." - Yogi Berra

"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The longer we dwell on our misfortunes the greater is their power to harm us." - Voltaire

"It's not what happens to you it's what you do about it that makes the difference." - Wilson Mitchell.

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." - Albert Einstein

"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards." - Vernon Law
"The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." - Ayn Rand

"If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse." - Jim Rohn

"Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are." - Niccol Machiavelli

"The best way to escape from a problem is to solve it." - Alan Saporta

"Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price." -Vince Lombardi

"The willingness to do creates the ability to do." - Peter McWilliams

"He who demands little gets it." - Ellen Glasgow

"It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself." - Eleanor Roosevelt

"The value of an idea lies in the using of it." - Thomas Edison

“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

That's more than enough for now, right? Right. :) Like I said before, feel free to drop a favorite quotes or three of yours in the comments section if you want to share.

Aaaand, if you haven't checked out the Toys for Tots Fundraiser going on yet, PLEASE DO! It won't take you long at all and it's for a super amazing charity so go have a look. If you choose to donate, I'd appreciate that even more. Every little bit helps so even $4 or $5 is a great help. Go check it out! Please and thank you!

Happy Friday, y'all!

Your opinion is clearly wrong.

2011-11-01T12:30:00.001-05:00

I've decided I hate when people say, "It's my blog, I can have my own opinion and GTFO if you don't like it." Not always but more often than not, I dislike that being said. Mainly because it's the person expressing their opinion on something, someone disagrees and then instead of having a rational conversation, they turn defensive and tell the person they're entitled to their opinion and they can get the fuck out if they don't like their opinion. The thing is, not everyone is always going to agree with everything you say. You want people to respect that you have your own opinions, you might not want to shut down and start throwing a fit just because they disagreed with you and learn to accept that people will believe and see things differently than you do.

If the person disagreeing is being an asshat, then by all means, go crazy if that's your thing. Shut them down and throw your fit if that's what you want to do. I've done that before to people acting like that. I don't go crazy and get all emotional and rampagey. I just kill it in a mature way and tell them to take their shitty attitude else where because I'm not going to try and have a rational discussion with someone who just wants to sling mud or tell other people why they're wrong. It's not okay to be an asshole and verbally attack someone just because you don't agree with what they're saying and it's not okay to bully them over it.

When someone if making a point that seems valid to them and nicely pointing out their issues with what you're saying in a mature and respectful way? There's no need to go on a rampage over that. They're just as entitled to their opinion as you are to yours. Opinions aren't fact and no one is the end all be all of thoughts and feelings. You have no right to tell someone the way they think and feel is wrong. You do have the right to disagree with them, just as they have the right to do the same with you. If you can't handle having someone objecting to your opinions or questioning them, you might want to rethink putting them out in a public forum.

Happy Tuesday. :)

I love Orange Chicken....

2011-10-26T09:00:00.003-05:00

For dinner last night, I made orange chicken for myself and a friend. I LOVE orange chicken. It's probably my favorite Chinese dish but I rarely order it because I don't often like it when I get it from restaurants. So when I have that issue with a food I really enjoy, I learn to make it at home. The recipe for the orange sauce is pretty easy so I thought I'd share it on here today. Food posts are fun, right? Right? Okay. ;)

Most chicken in orange chicken dishes is breaded. I don't do breaded chicken in mine most of the time because I prefer to use grilled or broiled chicken* instead. The exception being when the boyfriend is home and eating it, then it's fried. You can do it which ever way you want. Since the fried way is more popular, I'll go ahead and post that up.

Ingredients:

Chicken:

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-1/2” cubes)
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 eggs (beaten)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ cayenne pepper
Oil (for frying)

Directions:

Combine flour, pepper, salt and cayenne pepper together.
Dip chicken in egg mixture and shake in flour mixture to coat.
Deep fry chicken in small batches in a wok or frying pan.
Set chicken on paper towels.

Sauce Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons water

A few notes: If you don't have rice vinegar not a big deal. I've used apple cider vinegar and white vinegar before in a pinch. It doesn't make that much of a difference so you'll be okay to use either of those.

I use 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes because I like my food really hot. You can use more or less than 1/4 tsp based on how spicy you like your food.

2 teaspoons of orange extract works if you don't want to use the grated orange zest. (But why wouldn't you want to do that? Zest > Orange flavoring ;D)

Directions:

Pour 1 1/2 cups water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar and soy sauce into a saucepan and blend the liquids together well over medium-high heat.
Stir in the orange zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Mix well and bring to a boil.
In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water and mix thoroughly. Bring the sauce down to low heat and slowly stir mixture into sauce until it thickens. Remove from heat.

In your wok or skillet, pour the desired amount of sauce over cooked chicken pieces until fully coated.

I serve mine with plain white rice or occasionally (like last night) some jasmine rice. I also sprinkle a little more crushed red peppers on top as a garnish and ya know, because I love hot food, lol.

*Note: If you're going to broil the chicken instead of frying, soak the chicken pieced in a marinade for at least a couple hours before cooking them, it helps keep the chicken from being dry. 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic. Mix it all together, stir in the chicken pieces and let marinate in the refrigerator for about 2 hours in a covered container or ziplock bag.

I also made these snazzy little treats.....

That is indeed a cupcake with a chocolate filled center. It's like a Death By Chocolate cupcake. Which is what my friends call these, actually. I made a big batch of those for a friend for a celebratory get together he was having (yes, on a Tuesday. His brother, roommates and some friends were celebrating some amazing news & it was their only night they all had free to hang out together) and ended up with a half dozen left over. Which I offered to them since they all paid me to bake these and paid for the ingredients but they didn't want to extras for fear of not being able to stop eating them, lol. I might also end up posting the recipe for this with a few pictures of the process sometime this week if I find I have nothing else I want to blog about, lol.

Happy Wednesday!

TMI Tuesday

2011-10-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

TMI Tuesday time! I decided to play again today. Mainly because I wanted to do a Q&A type thing and this one was short and I liked the questions. This meme is always fun, I just don't always remember to play it. Anyway, on with the questions!

Not related.

A fun random image to go along with some fun random questions

1. Name 5 things you did more of before social networking (facebook, myspace, twitter, etc.)?

I don't use social networking websites very often. Twitter is on my phone so I only tweet from there when I've got nothing else to do. I can't think of anything I do less of because I don't spend much time on my computer. I still read, play video games, exercise, write, do sports, watch movies and sports, cook, hang out with people, draw, etc as much as I always have. *shrug*

2. Your house is on fire, what do you grab as you run out?

Netbook, purse, blackberry, keys, whatever else I see and can grab as I run out.

3. Are you a morning person or a night owl?

I'm a night owl but I don't hate mornings. I actually enjoy mornings for the most part and wake up easily. I also just really love staying up late.

a. What time did you go to bed last night?

Sometime after 2 AM. I couldn't sleep.

b. What time did you wake up today?

Early? I don't know the exact time frame because I didn't look at a clock until I'd already been up for a while.

4. A kid comes up to you and kicks you in the shin, what do you do?

Stop myself from kicking them back (well, hopefully, lol) and then drag, er, escort them back to their parent. Or I might yell something like, "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Then escort them off. If they kick me and run off, I'd probably run after them yelling like a crazy person. You know, to scare them and make them think twice about kicking a random person again. It's really hard to predict what I'd do without ever having it happen, lol.

5. What three things do you never leave the house without?

Keys, wallet, blackberry.

Bonus: Name a place that you visited last week that you’ve never visited before. Briefly tell us about the visit.

I went to a new French cafe for breakfast with a friend a few days ago. It was delightful and I had the best homemade croissants I've ever had in my life from there. I think I'm ruined on eating a croissant from anywhere else ever again because it won't measure up. Seriously, it was that good.

Toys for Tots Blogger Fundraiser Button!

2011-10-24T10:55:00.001-05:00

The lovely and absolutely wonderful Lilly sent me an e-mail this morning with a little blog present in it. She saw someone wishing for a sidebar button for my Toys for Tots Blogger Fundraiser: 2011 and like the great person she is, decided to make one for me. :D Which is great because I appreciate people helping spread the word about this. Thanks, Lilly!

or a smaller version....

Isn't it cute? If you want to use it on your blog sidebar or in a post, just right click and save the image to your computer. Then make the picture link back to my post for the fundraiser. (http://amorouschick.blogspot.com/2011/10/toys-for-tots-blogger-fundraiser-year-3_22.html) If you need help on how to get that done, you can always feel free to e-mail me and I'll send you instructions on how to put the linked button on your page or in a post. It's super easy. :)

amorousrocker [at] gmail [dot] com

Thanks again to Lilly for making the button for me!

And thanks to the few who have already donated and the people who have tweeted about it or made posts on their blogs for it already. It makes me so happy to be able to do this every year and it's great that so many of you help. I know y'all will be sick of seeing me post about this before it's over, sorry about that. But it's for a really great cause and every single dollar helps out. :)

Happy Monday!

A tale of the guy who couldn't pee in the cup....

2011-10-19T09:00:00.002-05:00

Warning: Gross and possibly offensive language/subject matter is ahead of you. Proceed with caution. If you end up grossed out or offended by anything, don't say I didn't warn you. ;)

I love my friends but sometimes the texts I get from them... I don't even know. And the conversations that spawn from random text messages? Here's one from yesterday, copied right out of my phone's inbox.

Guy Friend: "I need your help. Serious question here. I'm at the clinic and need to pee in a cup. I drank a couple bottles of water before I came but it's not making me have to pee."

Me: "Where is the question in all of that?

Guy Friend: "How much pee is a sufficient amount? I've only got like 1/8 of the cup filled. Am I good? If not, don't reply, just bring beer. That shit makes me piss like a racehorse."

Me: "That's probably not enough. Go ask how much they need for it to be sufficient. I don't work there, I'm not going to know."

Guy Friend: "I do not want to go ask how much pee I have to have in the cup. I'll look like an idiot. Can't you Google it or something?"

Me: "If you want it Google'd you should just use your iPhone. Don't be such a baby. They've heard worse and dumber questions before, you tool."

Guy Friend: "JUST BRING ME A COUPLE BEERS. I'LL BE ABLE TO FILL 3 CUPS IN ABOUT 15 MINUTES IF YOU BRING BUD LIGHT."

Me: "I'M NOT BRINGING BEER TO THE CLINIC FOR YOU. STOP BEING A TWAT AND GO ASK HOW MUCH FUCKING PEE YOU NEED IN THE CUP."

Guy Friend: "I'll just wait it out and hope the water makes me have to pee soon."

Me: "You take too long in there and they might think you're in there jerking off. I bet that would be even more awkward for you since you're scared to go ask about pee."

Guy Friend: "They're not going to think that."

Me: "Who takes this long to pee? What else are you doing in there assuming you're in there with your junk hanging out?"

Guy Friend: "You're not funny and they're not going to jump to that conclusion."

Guy Friend: "Great, now I can't even go ask how much pee I need in the cup because I'm worried they're going to think I was in here spanking it. Thanks. A fucking lot."

Me: "It's what I do. I get in your head and fuck shit up."

Guy Friend: " Why are we friends?"

Me: "No idea. Now seriously, go ask before they really start wondering what's going on in there. The longer you take, the more they'll wonder. They might even come knock on the door."

Guy Friend: "I don't want to go ask. I'm pretty sure this isn't enough but I don't know how much I need to squeeze out. Why didn't they tell me how much they needed before they sent me back here?"

Me: "If you don't go ask, I know where you're at. I will call and tell them you're in the restroom afraid to ask how much urine they need for a sufficient sample and have someone go back there to talk to you."

Guy Friend: "DON'T DO THAT."

Me: "Looking up their phone number now...."

Guy Friend: "Fine, I'm going to ask. Put Google away, jackass."

Me: "You better really be going to ask. Text me back and tell me how much you need in like two minutes or I'm calling up there."

Guy Friend: "Half a cup at least. They gave me some ice water with a few lemons in it."

Me: "Turn on the sink and listen to the running water. Or get on youtube and find a video of a waterfall or something."

Guy Friend: "This is ridiculous, fuck. I drank enough water and that water with the lemons was disgusting. I should be able to fill the cup by now."

Me: "Probably performance anxiety? Maybe some stage fright? Your urine is against medical testing and silently protesting?"

Guy Friend: "You're hilarious but not at all helpful here."

After probably 5 minutes, he sent me a picture of the cup full of his urine. I'll spare y'all the imagery there because I really could have done without it personally. Though he said it was in retaliation for me being somewhat of an ass while he was freaking out over the whole ordeal. And it was only pee, so not a big deal. We decided that given the nature of the testing (which I won't get into because he said I could post the conversation as long as I didn't say what it was specifically for or go into the story itself, which I wouldn't have anyway because it's irrelevant) he was probably just nervous and maybe a bit scared and that's what made a normally simple task quite difficult for him. Also, he's some how never had to pee in a cup before in his 24 years of life. Which led me to questioning if he's ever seen a doctor before, lol.

Happy Wednesday!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

2011-10-18T09:00:00.001-05:00

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I enjoy cooking and baking. It should also be no secret that I like to think of baking as not only therapeutic but also as a form of art and expression. I like coming up with ways to use bright colors, funky designs, etc.

Sunday night, I made the boyfriend chocolate chip cookies. I decided I wanted some mint chocolate chip cookies for myself and figured I could make a big batch and then give out half a dozen each to a few friends who have a mint chip weakness.

I posted a picture of the cookie dough for the mint chocolate chip cookies on Tumblr and Twitter. I had a lot of people from both want to know where I got the cookie dough because it looked awesome and they wanted to make it.

Then I had to go telling them that I didn't buy the cookie dough anywhere because honestly, I really hate store bought cookie dough. It just doesn't taste as good as cookies homemade cookies from scratch full of love, rainbows and other happy smiley stuff. Once I assured the people asking how easy it was to make, the recipe was requested. I figured I might as well post it on here so more people can snatch it if they want.

Here's how the cookie dough looked:

So, recipe time, yes?

CHOCOLATE CHIP MINT COOKIES

1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1.5 tsp. peppermint extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup mint baking chips (If you can't find any, Andes mints chopped up work too)
Green food color gel or food color liquid

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars on high speed. Beat in egg. Stir in vanilla and peppermint extracts.

Mix together dry ingredients and add to butter mixture slowly. Stir until just combined.

Add in food coloring gel/liquid until you get the desired shade of green you want. I like using the gel because you get a more vibrant color and it doesn't effect the taste or texture but food coloring liquid works fine, too. Stir until well combined.

Fold in chocolate chips and mint chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a cookie sheet. (I actually use a small ice cream scoop.) Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove immediately and cool on wire rack.

You can also make these easier by using a package of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix instead of dealing with the flour, baking powder, etc. Just make the mix according to direction, add the mint extract, baking chips and boom. A little bit of a quicker and easier version.

Enjoy!

Happy Tuesday!

Charity and some random rambling...

2011-10-13T09:00:00.001-05:00

The first paragraph here is really the only important one. Charity and helping out people in need is always important. The rest is just me rambling about nothing important at all but if you're here, you should read it anyway. K, thanks. :)

Important.....

I'm starting my Toys For Tots fundraiser on the blog here pretty soon. Get your donations ready, k? K. This will make the third year I've done it. Click here if you're new around here and want to see how many toys I was able to donate thanks to awesome strangers on the internet the previous two years. It's amazing how $2 or $5 from a lot of people can add up to so much and buy so many toys for kids in need.

And yadda yadda random stuff blah blah blah....

Running your hands under the water for two seconds doesn't mean you washed your hands. You just splashed them very briefly with water. Putting soap on them, then immediately rinsing the glob out soap out of the middle of your hands doesn't count either. How can people be in too big of a hurry to take 15 seconds to properly wash their hands? I swear, those few seconds won't hurt anything.

I hate when I say I'm allergic to something and then whomever I'm talking to wants to know everything else I'm allergic to. Or worse, when I say I'm allergic to something and they ask why I'm allergic to it. Really? Oh, I don't know. That's just the list of things I thought sounded scary when I was in the womb so I put my allergy requests in then and thankfully all of them were approved.

Angry sex > Angry cuddling. This should be self-explanatory. Maybe not the story behind it but why one wins over the other is self-explanatory.

Debates are two sided. Doesn't mean you have to reach an agreement or change your opinions but don't assume the other person has nothing worth hearing just because you've got your mind made up and already said your bit. If you don't want to hear another side and possibly discuss differing views, you should keep your mouth shut during a discussion instead of stating your opinions then getting pissed that people keep talking and still don't agree with you.

Those Kellog's cereal commercials where they use that line, "Go ahead, it's morning somewhere!" are annoying. Who says cereal is just to be consumed in the morning? I eat cereal more often at night than I do in the morning. It's like the best late night snack ever. Or if it's lunch time and I'm running late or just feeling lazy or nothing else sounds appealing, bowl of cereal. And when I don't want to cook, a bowl of cereal and some fruit makes for a rather quick and easy dinner. Obviously, I eat a lot of cereal. It's good. And if you only eat it for breakfast, I should probably never live with you. I'll eat your cereal before you have a chance to get to it.

Why is hating on Taylor Swift so cool? I'm not a fan of hers. Her music annoys me when I hear it out somewhere. I don't whine about her and trash her on a regular basis, though. Guess what I do? I don't listen to her music and don't pay any attention to her. If you haters dislike her so much, try doing the same. Expend some of that effort towards hating on something that matters. Like bacon. My bacon haters anonymous group is shockingly sparse. Five people and counting.

Now I am actually tempted to figure out the whole "make a useless Facebook page" about hating bacon to see how many people I can get to join. I'm pretty sure a lot of people would just join to tell me to fuck off and that I'm crazy because bacon r0xorz their s0x0rz lulz. Plus, that all seems like a lot of effort. Also, I'd have to be on Facebook for longer than 5 minutes to get it done I'm sure. So, that temptation didn't last long.

If the Rangers win tonight against the Tigers, that makes it their 4th win of the series. That also puts the Tigers out and puts the Rangers in the World Series for the second year in a row. If they win tonight, you'll probably hear me screaming and cheering. Even if you don't live in my neighborhood. Or the same state. It's cool. No need to be alarmed.

Happy Thursday!

Zombie Brew! Plus,,, Moneyball, Rangers & Stars!

2011-10-10T09:00:00.004-05:00

The Boyfriend got me a few things last night, just because he's awesome and likes to get me gifts randomly for no real reason. He got me two new paperbacks I've been wanting but have yet to buy myself and a new coffee mug complete with a zombie buddy! I know some of you might be unsure of what exactly a "zombie buddy" is since I wasn't sure until last night myself, heh. So, here you go....

Adorable, right? Okay, maybe not to most people but I dig it. Cute little plushy thing and a new coffee mug to go along with two new books. Awesome stuff, for sure.

Keeping with the theme here, here's a recipe for Adult Zombie Brew. Although this won't be going in the coffee cup. ;)

1 oz. Light Rum
1 oz. Gold Rum
1 oz. Dark Rum
1 tsp. 151 Rum
1/2 oz. Apricot Brandy (Or cherry brandy)
2 oz. Orange Juice (Or papaya juice)
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
1 oz. Lime Juice
1 tsp. Sugar
1 cup Crushed Ice

In a blender, combine all ingredients except the 151 with crushed ice. Blend at a high speed until smooth and pour into a Collins glass. Float the 151 rum on top and garnish with a maraschino cherry. To make it on the rocks, add all ingredients except 151 rum into a cocktail shaker with 1/4 a cup of ice, shake well, strain into a glass with 1/2 cup or desired amount of ice. Float 151 rum on top, garnish with maraschino cherry.

I love Halloween. It's by far my favorite holiday and even though most people only celebrate it for the one day, I pretty much enjoy it all month long, haha. :D

Aside from all of that......

The Boyfriend and I went to see Moneyball last night. Not bad at all. Kind of long and a little slow to get going but still a good movie. Even if it is about one of the teams I dislike most in baseball, haha. :D That's pretty much irrelevant. Even though the movie is based off the Billy Beane and the A's story, the movie is pretty much about the way Beane changed things up. Which I won't talk much about the movie in case any of you reading want to see it but haven't yet. Definitely go see it! Unless you don't like movies about sports, being the underdog, trying something unorthodox and attempting to succeed when everyone's telling you you're wrong.

Speaking of, RANGERS ARE IN THE ALCS! Game two was supposed to be yesterday but got postponed due to all the rain Arlington saw on Saturday night. I saw a lot of people bitching about it being postponed but I was happy about it. The field was too wet. Do you really want poor playing conditions to help dictate a game? Wet field means people could slip, slide and miss plays they normally would have made because of it. I don't want that happening and am happy they postponed the game. Texas won game one and now we need to win three more to go to the World Series for the second year in a row. EXCITING! :D

Also in sports, The Boyfriend and I are going to the Stars game tonight against Pacific Division rivals, the Phoenix Coyotes. We went to the home opener Friday night against the Blackhawks, where the Stars won in spectacular, energetic fashion. They played back to back with the Hawks, facing them again Saturday night, in Chicago. Goaltending was off and most of the team didn't play well. Adam Burish looked awesome (he did miss the game Friday though since he's been working on coming back from a groin injury) and he looks great player on Fiddler's line, in my opinion. They're both speedy and I like the chemistry they seem to have going so far. I'm hoping for a good effort from the team tonight. Yay hockey being back!

Happy Monday!

See me looking all "goth" and stuff...

2011-10-06T09:00:00.001-05:00

So, I found some old pictures of myself. Actually, they're only a couple years old so they're not that old. Anyway, I sometimes get in a mood and dress/do my make-up in what would be considered the "goth" look. While I never labeled myself or considered myself any one thing since I'm too multi-faceted to fit into any one group and would hate to be stuck in that kind of box anyway, I do get why people pinned some of the labels they did to me. It didn't make it less annoying, however. I don't understand people's obsession with labels and needing themselves and other people to fit into a certain category. It makes no sense. I digress. That minor rant really has little to do with this post.

I don't wear a lot of make-up. My make-up consists of eyeliner, mascara and either lip balm or clear lip gloss. Eye shadow if I'm going out somewhere like dinner, an event, etc. That's how I like it, less is more. If I wear any at all. I never got into lipstick. I figure my lips are a nice enough color, why bother wasting money on lipstick to make them a different color? Especially when it's going to rub off in a short matter of time and need re-applying anyway? Too much effort. Though, I do own one color of lipstick and that would be black. Yes, present tense because I some how never seem to run out of the stuff. I think I was 13 the first time my mom let me get a tube of black lipstick. I was a tomboy and didn't have any interest in wearing make-up when I was a little girl or a teenager. I remember my mom did some girly make-up on me once to see if I liked it and wanted to start wearing it. I wasn't a fan and couldn't wait to wash it off and head back outside to play basketball. But once I discovered all the black, I liked that though. I went through a bad time where I was going through a lot and I liked everything to be black. I felt dark and gloomy and wanted to look the way I felt. I had issues. Real issues not just whaa my life sucks teenage angst but whatever, that's another post for another day.

Now if I do the goth make-up, it's not because I feel it's fitting. It's just because I dig it and it's fun. Ironically, when I do the goth look, it's usually for a party. Or bar or some event. And I end up annoyed because it requires quite a bit more make-up than I'm used to normally wearing.

Nifty right? I hate wearing foundation, powder or any make-up on my face so doing it to get the desired effect of pale is annoying as hell but once in a while, it's still fun to do. I'll probably incorporate the look into my Halloween costume some how this year. As soon as I figure out what I'm dressing up as and what the heck I'm doing for Halloween, heh.

Happy Tuesday!

Random thoughts runneth over...

2011-10-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

With all the remakes of movies they've been doing lately, I'm dreading the day I see a trailer for the remake of The Breakfast Club. I swear, they better not ever remake that movie. It's perfect the way it is and I love it. There's really no need for it. There's also no need to be remaking old movies anyway. Hollywood needs some creativity sparking or something if the best they can do is remakes of everything and, comic book movies and blood and gore movies with more tits and ass than blood and gore. Not that I mind the comic book movies, really. Though as a comic book nerd, I tend to critique the hell out of the story lines in the movies and that tends to ruin it for me. ;)

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I'm going to see one of my favorite bands in concert tonight. OPETH. Hell yeah. For those unfamiliar with their music, well, if you don't dig Swedish melodic metal, you might not like them. I however love and adore them. I've seen them once before. They're new album came out recently and I'm super excited for the show tonight. Going to concerts is one of my absolute favorite things to do. Right up there with going to hockey games and baseball games. Anyway, his voice is beautiful to me. I listen to Opeth a lot when I need to relax but they're good any time. I'm so freaking excited for tonight. :D

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The Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday and ended that series. Rays are done for the season and the Rangers move on to the ALCS. We'll face either the Yankees or the Tigers, depending on which team wins their series. I'm excited. I love baseball and playoffs are so exciting, nerve racking, emotionally distressing and fun. I'm just so happy the Rangers made the playoffs again this year and I'll be even happier getting to watch them play in the World Series again this year. :D What? I'm optimistic. ;)

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Also, THE DALLAS STARS START THEIR REGULAR SEASON ON FRIDAY! HOCKEY IS BACK! YEAH BOY! I'm excited by that, too. Obviously. I can't wait for the game on Friday. I went to two preseason games and while those are fun, they're not near as awesome as regular season is. The fun of preseason is getting to watch a lot of up and coming guys playing and watching some of the young guys progress as players. Definitely saw some guys with exciting promise during preseason and I'm sure several of them are going to do great things once they get some more experience under their feet. Another thing that I'm excited about for Friday? I get to use the awesome new camera the boyfriend got for me to take some awesome pictures during the game. If I remember to. I get to busy watching, sometimes I forget to take any pictures of the action. YAY HOCKEY!

------------------

This is still my favorite thing I've overheard in a bar:

Guy: "Stop being a vagina! Shut it!"
Girl: "Fine. Don't expect it to open once we get home though, asshole."

Seriously. I still laugh when I think about that and it happened a week ago, haha.

------------------

My boyfriend is awesome. He got me half a dozen of my favorite sugar cookies from a cookie shop at the mall I freaking love. They're the best sugar cookies I've ever had and I haven't had any in the longest time. I love that he surprises me with little things that I like instead of getting stupid little cliche things.

------------------

I really miss our dog. She died back in July so it's been a few months. I saw someone yesterday walking their dog and she looked a lot like Akasha. It made me really sad. Sometimes, I sit out in the backyard on the back porch steps with a book and wish I could just have her back there again. Sneak her a treat for no reason or something. Or I'll be laying in bed and hear the roommates dog barking or the neighbors' dogs making noise and I'll think about how she was such a good dog and never made a lot of noise unless there was a reason to. Sometimes I look out the kitchen window into the yard and think I'll see her out there running around or playing with the roommates dog or just laying out under the trees in the shade. It's weird how the mind works sometimes. It's like I forget she's dead for a few seconds and then it sinks back in. It's not that I forget really, it's just that I don't think about it. I'm kind of anxious for a new dog now but at the same time, I'm not really ready for a new pup and I know the boyfriend isn't either. Hopefully sometime soon that will change, though. I miss having a furry buddy.

------------------

Soon, my hair will be a lovely burgundy color again. :D I might even post pictures. I love having dark red hair. I might wait until after Halloween to do it, though. Depends on what I decide to do for my favorite holiday.

Happy Wednesday!

Breaking up is hard to do

2011-10-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

No no no, the boyfriend and I aren't calling it quits. That's just the theme going here for these questions. ;) I decided I would give this meme a try. I've seen it around a few places and I'm also kind of bored and unable to fall asleep right now. 3:30 AM is not my friend today, apparently. Anyway, on with the questions!

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

This week’s TMI Tuesday idea is from Heelsnstocking

1. What’s the worst reason you have been given for breaking up?

I've never honestly been broken up with before. One time with an ex-girlfriend, she was moving and we decided to mutually end it because of the distance being an issue. I was 18 and didn't think that sounded like fun. Another time with an ex-boyfriend, I broke up with him and then he ended up angry because he had intended to end the relationship and was mad that I beat him to the punch. So, I guess that's not a good answer since I'm always the one that did all the breaking up, lol.

2. What’s the worst reason you gave, to someone, for breaking up?

I'm always just honest with the person. I'm a very blunt and honest person so I've never given a pitiful excuse or told a lie to break up with someone. Usually I just said it wasn't what I wanted, wasn't working out, wasn't going where I wanted it to go, wasn't interested in dating anymore, sorry but didn't realize you were such an asshole, etc etc etc. Something along those lines depending on what the reason was.

3. Have you ever engineered the end of a relationship e.g doing something you know will put the other person off? If yes, what did you do?

No. That's pathetic, mean and more than a bit cowardly.

4. Have you ever stayed with a partner just because you could not bear to end it?

No. I get to the point where I'm done and that's just it, I'm done. I'm not the most emotionally inclined person so I don't have a hard time severing ties to people most of the time.

5. Have you ever encouraged a friend to end a relationship? What happened? Are you still friends?

Yes, a few times.

Once because his girlfriend was abusive verbally and physically and she was also stealing from him and just using him for his things. He ended up seeing she was bad news after she pawned his PlayStation and he ended it then. We stayed friends.

Another time because the girl's boyfriend was cheating on her with a girl that worked with me. My friend found out and stayed with him a while. He started treating her worse and spending more time, money and effort toward the girl he was cheating with. I constantly told her she shouldn't put up with that and she could do so much better. We stayed friends after she dumped him finally.

Bonus: Have you ever been the cause of a relationship to end? Tell us about it.

Sort of. It was accidental, though. I was fooling around with a guy I'd met at a beach party. We slept together a few times. He had told me he didn't have a girlfriend and I found out a couple weeks in to our casual physical relationship that he did have a girlfriend since she showed up to this apartment unannounced one night. Big drama there but she believed me when I said I had no idea he was involved with someone. I wasn't looking to date him nor do anything more with him other than hang out at his apartment and have fun so it wasn't a big deal for me personally aside from just being pissed off that I'd unknowingly helped someone cheat. I have a rule that I never get involved with someone who has a significant other that's looking to cheat. I don't care if they're just going to cheat with someone else, I'm not going to be the person that enables them to be cheating. I don't care what they're reasons are, I refused to ever knowingly be a party to that kind of thing. It's just so wrong and really shitty to do in my book. Anyway, they ended up breaking up right in front of me and that was that. I ended up taking that girl to a party with some of my friends that night because I felt like an asshole and wanted her to have some fun. We even hung out a few more times after that before she moved for a job relocation.

————-

Happy TMI Tuesday!

Body image hypocrites....

2011-10-01T14:10:00.000-05:00

On Friday, I got unfollowed on tumblr for my reply to this girl's post. Which I don't care because I don't want to follow or have someone following me who can't handle an opinion disagreeing with their own. Also, I really don't care when people unfollow me on tumblr (or twitter, or my blog or anywhere really) because follower count isn't important to me. If someone doesn't enjoy what I post, then that's fine and adios. My reply to her post is the big paragraph, in case you couldn't tell. In case you have a hard time since the text on the image isn't too large....

Her post: "if i was a guy, i'd want my girl with curves. who wants a bag of sticks?"

My reply: "You know some girls are naturally skinny despite efforts to put on weight& wish they had curves. It’s not always due to diet &exercise to stay that way & it’s just as insulting to call a skinny girl a bag of sticks as it is to call a curvy woman fat."

I posted this on my Tumblr on Friday but I want the post on this blog, too.

This post is in no way directed to the girl of the original post. She can have her opinion all she wants and I don't want to start any bullshit drama. The post itself did set me off and spawned this rant, though. It's aimed at the general public and in no way meant for only one person.

Things like the girl's post piss me off. It's just a couple lines but it was enough to annoy me because I see crap like that often. Everyone wants people to accept curvy women and not make them feel shame for not being thin. People want fat to be accepted by society without making people feel guilty or ashamed for the way they look. And I'm all for that. I hate that people put so much emphasis on weight, height and how a person looks in general. Our society as a whole is disgustingly judgmental and it makes me angry.

That goes for skinny, too. I see so many voluptuous and overweight women making fun of skinny women. Accusing them of anorexia, bulimia, starving themselves dieting ridiculously, etc. Making fun of how hard they must have to work out and how little they must eat. It's disgusting and just as bad as someone who makes fun of someone for being curvaceous or overweight. I know several skinny women who would give up a lot if they could gain weight and become curvy and they don't never eat and don't exercise obsessively to the point of being unhealthy.

Yes, I know being thin is what you get bombarded with in our society. TV, movies, advertisements, blah blah blah. Stop paying attention to it all. I'm not a size 3 and never will be and guess what? I don't feel bad about myself for it and I sure as hell don't care if some idiotic person decides they're going to judge me based solely on how I look.

Why be catty towards someone for being skinny? Why put them down? It's not any better than someone assuming a curvy or overweight person is lazy, never exercises, only eats junk food, etc. You don't want people saying hurtful things and judging you for how you look but then you turn around and do the same thing to someone else for being thin? And for out? Jealousy? Insecurity? Because you're preference is a larger size? You're not better than the people who make you feel like shit for the way you look.

Fuck. You.

You want all of this to stop? To stop being such a big deal? Stop being part of the problem. Stop wanting people to accept one thing while you make snide remarks about another. You're really no better than what you're fighting against. It will never not be an issue as long as people keep preaching for tolerance and acceptance of all standards of what's beautiful yet continue to single out and tear down others.

Lightning strikes...

2011-09-30T09:30:00.001-05:00

Last night was the final preseason home game for the Stars and I last minute ended up going to the game. The Stars beat the Panthers 7-1. It was a pretty awesome game though I suppose any game where the team I love is kicking ass is a good game. I'm really excited for next Friday for the home opener. The first regulation game of the season is always one of my favorites of the year, no matter what. Just the excitement in the air is enough to put me in an instantly better mood. Though, this post isn't about hockey really so I'll stop there before I get carried away.

Anyway, when I parted ways with friends and headed outside the AAC, I was surprised to see it had rained. The things I miss while I'm inside a cold building watching ice hockey. It had stopped raining but the lightning was still going strong. It was gorgeous. I love lightning. I could sit and watch a good lightning show for hours in all honesty. It just love watching all the different patterns as they flash across the night sky.

I was waiting on a friend to get back to me about possible post-game plans and I never mind waiting a few minutes for some of the parking lot traffic to clear out. So, I grabbed my camera phone and started trying to get pictures of lightning hitting the Dallas skyline. It's hard as hell to do on a camera phone, especially since my current one doesn't have a multi-shot feature like my previous phone did.

I did manage to get a couple good ones. Though I stopped trying after a while and just sat in the car enjoying the sky being lit up by bolt after bolt.

Lovely, right?

I think so anyway. :) I just wish I had remembered to bring my Canon with me to the game, then I would have had it to take better pictures of the lightning with. C'est la vie.

Happy Friday!

Run For Your Lives! Zombies are coming!

2011-09-26T10:00:00.001-05:00

Run For Your Lives!!!

No seriously, run. And jump. And climb. And crawl. Then run some more. You get the idea.

Run for Your Lives is a 5k Obstacle Course.... that also happens to be infested with zombies. Seriously. I'm going to snag a couple paragraphs from their website to explain it.

"Protect your brain and run for your life. This is one race where your legs giving out are the least of your problems. Run For Your Lives is a first-of-its-kind event, one part 5K, one part obstacle course, one part escaping the clutches of zombies — and all parts awesome.

Runners will navigate a series of 12 obstacles throughout a 5K course in an attempt to reach the finish line — all while avoiding zombies. At the end of this adventure race, you get to celebrate survival (or zombie transformation) with live entertainment and music, local celebrities, vendors, food, and of course, beer!"

They luckily have a Texas date but it's in Austin. No biggie, that's only a few hours drive from Dallas and it's not until December 15, 2012. Unless they add a Dallas date (they're announced they have more dates to be added later) I'll be in Austin because I cannot resist this. How could I pass up something like that? I just hope I'll be able to find someone who wants to participate with me because I'd be annoyed if I had to go off and have this much fun by myself. Though I'm not missing it so y'all better believe I would.

Check out the website for more information, take a look at the gallery, see if your city or one near you is going to be invaded, etc. Their website has lots of information on there. :) And if you're someone I actually know in real life (because a lot of those types read my blog when I manage to post now, lol) want to do this with me next year, let me know. :D

Happy Monday!

Ranty McRanterson....

2011-09-23T11:52:00.001-05:00

It never ceases to amaze me how people think that what goes for them goes for everyone else. That narrow minded way of thinking just makes no sense to me.

"That's an easy decision to make, I don't understand why you're struggling. You just have to do this, that & boom, you're done."

It's always easier to say what you would do in a situation when you're outside of it & not really going to be affected one way or another.

"That's not important. Don't focus on that."

Who the hell are you to presume what should and shouldn't be important to anyone else? You have no right to tell someone something shouldn't be important to them just because you see it as unimportant and irrelevant.

I could go on all day with examples but I won't. I just hate when people only see things their way and then cause a fuss when someone doesn't see it their way. Afterall; there couldn't possibly be more than one way to view things, how dare you disagree and have your own opinions? Silly people! People get way too caught up in who is right & who is wrong when most of the time there is no absolutely concrete real right and wrong.* It's just perspective and what works best for the individual based on their likes and beliefs.

*And no I'm not talking right and wrong like robbing a bank, mugging an old lady, standing in to defend someone being bullied, pushing the annoying guy at the bus station in front of a moving car, beating a child, rape, violence, murder, etc. There are definite right and wrongs there but I'm not talking about things like that here.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

I forgot how much I love art....

2011-09-15T09:00:00.003-05:00

I've loved art since I was a little kid. I used to draw all the time. I always loved coloring books. I liked to paint. I liked to be able to use a few materials and make something fun come alive on paper. It was one of my favorite things to do and I could sit there coloring and drawing for hours and be happy. I loved getting art sets for Christmas.

When I couldn't find the words I needed to express what I was feeling, I'd express my emotions through art. I doodled when I felt anxious. When I was feeling something but didn't understand what, it would be frustrating because I love writing and that was something I used even when I was young to clear my head and feel better. Sometimes, I didn't know what was bothering me and I couldn't even put words to it in my head. When words failed, I had art. I could sit there and just let my hands work over the paper and afterward, I'd feel better.

Art class was one of my favorites and the one I paid the most attention in. If I could have had Art class, History, English and gym all day, that would have been awesome for me. It doesn't work that way, though. I remember a lot of the work I did in art classes in school ended up staying in school because my teachers wanted to use them as examples. It was always cool to see something I did in a classroom being used to illustrate to other students what the point of a project was.

For some reason, which I don't even understand, I stopped drawing, sketching and painting for several years. I've got crayons and colored pencils at home. I use them to draw goofy little things once in a while but mostly, they just sat there untouched and I didn't even think about why I wasn't using them.

I was in a crafts store a few months ago with my friend, The Lawyer, and ended up wandering down several aisles full of art supplies. Sketch pads, chalk, charcoals, colored pencils, paint brushes and tons of other supplies. I found myself standing there looking at things that had once been such a regular part of my life, so familiar and comforting to me, and wondered why I had stopped using art as a form of expression and an outlet. I've never stopped writing so why did I stop sketching and painting? I didn't have an answer for that. So, I picked up a sketch pad and some pencils and promised myself I'd use them later.

I did, too. It felt good to put pencil to paper and create something again. It's fun to watch the lines and curves forming on the page into something more. It's comforting and soothing in a way, too. It's therapeutic in the same way that writing is also therapeutic at times. It's another little thing that makes me happy and I enjoy it greatly. Now, I just have to remember not to let it get away from me again.

Happy Thursday!

Despicable Me, Blackhawks, Gummy Bears & other stuff...

2011-09-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

Brain Dump Time...

Despicable Me is an awesome movie. It never fails to make me laugh. Also, I don't care how old I get; I will always dig cute animated films. Especially films by Pixar. Love. Love. LOVE.

The home opener for the Dallas Stars is October 7th. Against the Chicago Blackhawks. We have tickets in pretty good seats in the lower bowl. So excited. I'm definitely ready for some time at the AAC cheering and yelling my head off for my boys to kick some Blackhawk ass. :D Then we play again on the 8th, against the Blackhawks again. Only that game will be played in Chicago. What a way to kick off the 2011-2012 season.

I think I'm addicted to Yummy Earth Organic Gummy Bears. I love gummy bears as it is but those are really damn delicious. I haven't had any in 3 weeks and I've been craving them like mad lately, haha. I need help.

By the way; NOT EVERY NEW MOVIE THAT COMES OUT NEEDS TO BE IN 3D.

I love Trident Layers gum. Sweet Cherry + Island Lime might be my favorite gum ever. I hate cherry limeades (you hand squeeze thousands of limes and makes thousands of cherry limeades and see if you want to keep drinking them though honestly I never cared much for them in the first place) though so I'm happy the cherry lime combination wasn't totally ruined for me. ;)

I will never understand people's obsession with celebrities. I don't get why people care where they shop, who they date, what they eat, what kind of car they drive, what music they like, what they do for fun or any of that stuff. I care about those things in family, friends and my boyfriend. Or when I was single, potential guys or girls I might be dating. I get that people want to be able to relate to them in some way and think it's cool to have things in common with their favorite celeb or athlete. For me, I don't know them, won't ever know them and don't give a fuck about what goes on in their personal lives because it doesn't affect me, have anything to do with me or really even interest me. I have enough going on with myself and the people in my life, I see no reason to keep up with someone I don't even know. I just don't get it but to each their own. :)

I hate cotton candy. I also hate hot dogs, bacon, corn dogs, peas, pea soup and grapefruit. Okay, that's a lie. I love grapefruit but I'm allergic to it so I can't have it or anything with grapefruit juice or flavoring. That makes me sad because it's delicious. The rest of that stuff I listed, I really do hate all of that gross junk.

I love plaid.

Very little makes me happier than ice skating or rollerblading. It clears my mind and it's a lot of fun. Not to mention good exercise. I feel so centered when I have a pair of skates on my feet and I'm gliding over the ice or across pavement.

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Happy Wednesday!

It's been three months since he died...

2011-09-09T09:00:00.001-05:00

Today makes it three months since my grandfather passed away. Anyone who read that post or anyone who has followed me or known me long enough knows how important he was to me.

I know how lucky I was to have such a good relationship with him and I am thankful for that and thankful for all the good memories of him I have.

It's still hard to think of him as being gone, though. Since he passed three months ago we went through what would have been my grandparents 64th wedding anniversary (less than a month after he passed), my grandmother's birthday and what would have been my grandfather's birthday at the end of August.

I think the first year will be the hardest because it's all the firsts he won't be around for. It's just weird to not think of him being at family events or not talking to him when I talk to grandma. Him not being there when we go to visit and just lots of things to get used to.

I know with time it will get better though. At first, lots of things made me cry. Certain songs that made me think of him would get me tearing up. A few times watching Rangers baseball games made me cry. I'd see things, smell things, hear things and think of things that reminded me of him and I'd cry. It hurt a lot and I hated that it made me cry so easily because I'm rarely brought to tears by anything. One night, I was laying in bed with the boyfriend and something he said reminded me of grandpa and I just started sobbing. He laid there with me, rubbing my back, letting me cry, getting me tissues, getting me water, hugging me; generally being the supportive and amazing man he is. He understands how it feels. His grandfather was his father figure and him, his mom and his little sister lived with their grandparents until the boyfriend was 17. Then they got a house a quarter mile down the street so they would still be close.

Three months later, though? Things make me sad, things make me miss him, I get emotional sometimes but I don't cry over everything any more. Things don't even get my eyes watering very often any more. I don't feel bad about that because it's a good thing. It's good to take time to grieve and mourn but you have to be able to move forward, too. It doesn't mean you're forgetting or caring less but you can't stay stuck in grief and sadness because it will consume you and effect you and people around you negatively. Your life can't stop because you lose someone you love.

I'll always love him and always miss him. Some days are still hard but, I know it gets better with time. And I'll always have the memories of all the great moments and happy times I had with him.

Why your Facebook status about breast cancer awareness annoys me...

2011-09-05T13:50:00.001-05:00

If you have Facebook, you've probably seen a status or two or twenty that looks like this; "I'm 6 weeks and craving Chocolate Cake."

The first one I saw was posted by my cousin's fiancee. I freaked out a little and asked my little sister if Bride To Be was pregnant or what the hell was going on. She told me no and said it was one of those stupid Facebook things, like when they posted the bra colors. Then I started seeing more "I'm 12 weeks and craving Lasagna" popping up all over the Facebook much to a lot of people's confusion. A Twitter friend posted the explanation to what it was yesterday and I was finally fully clued in to what was going on.

It's supposed to be to raise awareness for breast cancer. Yes, you read that right. "I'm 8 weeks and craving Mastodon Meat" is to spread awareness for breast cancer. I get the premise. You post something like that, people who don't know what's going on are going to be confused and ask about it. It SHOULD get people talking. It's something the women are passing around to women only, though. I had someone forward me the message a little while ago so I could read exactly what it says. I'm apparently not one of the cool ladies who gets messages about these types of things from the women on my friends list. I'm kind of happy about that, actually. I digress. Here's the message going around:

"Ok pretty ladies, it's that time of year again, in support of breast cancer awareness!! So we all remember last years game of writing your bra color as your status?.....or the way we like to have our handbag handy? Remember last year so many people took part that it made national news and, the constant updating of status reminded everyone why we're doing this and helped raise awareness!! Do NOT tell any males what the status' mean, keep them guessing!! And please copy and paste (in a message ) this to all your female friends to see if we can make a bigger fuss this year than last year!!! I did my part... now YOUR turn! Go on ladies...and let's have all the males guessing! It's time to confuse the men again (not that it’s really that hard to do :)) Everyone knows it makes their brains work wonders on what we're talking about!! The idea is to choose the month you were born and the day you were born. Pass this on to the girls only and let’s see how far it reaches around. The last one about the bra went round all over the world. So you'll write... I'm (your birth month) weeks and I'm craving (your birth date) as your status. Example: Feb 14th= I'm 2 weeks and craving Chocolate mints!! 1-Skittles 2-Starburst 3-Kit-Kat 4-M&M's 5-Galaxy 6-Crunchie 7-Dairy Milk 8-Lollipop 9-Peanut Butter Cups 10-Meat Balls 11-Twizzlers 12-Bubble Gum 13-Hershey's Kisses 14-Chocolate Mints 15-Twix 16-Reese's Fastbreak 17-Fudge 18-Cherry Jello 19-Milkyway20-Pickels 21-Creme Eggs 22-Skittles 23-Gummy Bears 24-Gummy Worms 25-Strawberry Pop Tarts 26-Starburst 27-Mini Eggs 28-Kit-Kat Chunkie 29-Double Chocolate Chip Crunchy Cookies 30-Smarties 31-Chocolate Cake"

I know, I probably just committed some kind of crime against womanhood by spilling the beans to all those silly men who apparently all have such small brains and confuse so easily, but whatever. The snide, demeaning and catty overtones toward the general male population are annoying but I have other issues with this whole thing, too.

Like I said, I get the premise. You post something like that, people are going to wonder what the hell is going on. People are going to comment and ask what's going on and thus get people talking and sharing about breast cancer. The premise of it is great. The problem with that? Most people don't answer you to tell you what it is and most people don't end up talking and sharing about breast cancer.

"I can't tell you, it's a woman thing!"

"I'm not pregnant but you can't know what it is because you're not a woman! Hehehe!"

"Woman commenter, I'm not pregnant but I'll message you and explain so you can take part in it, too!"

"It's a secret so I can't let the cat out of the bag yet!"

Or if you can get an answer from someone explaining what it means then this is the simple reply you'll probably get, "It's to spread breast cancer awareness."

Often at this point, no more is said. If the person responds back or a different person says something, it could turn in to a conversation about how freaked out the person was thinking X was pregnant. More often than not, from my days of watching this, the conversation goes in a different direction that has nothing to do with breast cancer. Or no further conversation is had at all. Twice, I did see two people say it was for breast cancer awareness and were met with the question how this spread awareness. Both questions were answered with, "I don't know" and "I don't know but it was fun to do!"

You don't often see it turning into real awareness. You don't see any helpful information coming from it. Not a lot of talking and even less sharing and helping. There are REAL ways to spread awareness and a lot of them are as simple as posting these confusing Facebook statuses. One of the best ways to spread awareness about something is to ACTUALLY FUCKING TALK ABOUT IT. Not just say "we're raising awareness" because what are you really doing there? Raising awareness about.... awareness? Ooooh. Helpful.

TALK ABOUT THE ISSUE AT HAND. Donate time, donate money. Offer up links for people who don't know how to go about donating their time and/or money. Sign up for a walk or run* or other event. Find out about a walk going on and tell people about it. Contact an organization putting on a walk, run or other event and ask about getting fliers or other ways to help promote it. Talk about and encourage exams. Offer up information on where to go for exams. Volunteer with a local organization that is dedicated to breast cancer research and awareness. Start your own campaign within your community. Offer up links to websites with accurate and relevant information so people can learn more about the disease, things to look for, self exams, etc.

My grandmother has breast cancer and another person in my family may also have it. We're not sure yet because she only recently visited the doctor my grandmother has been seeing. I know other people effected by it and I know a wonderful woman who has died because of it. When my grandmother started going through her treatments for it, it made me worry for myself. I did self-exams but I was worried and thought about early detection. So, I found a clinic that wasn't too expensive and had an exam done. Early detection of it is what's helped several women I know be able to beat it and carry on with their scars. I'm fine but I felt better really knowing I was fine.

I've volunteered, I've donated money, I've spent time helping promote events. I know most people would rather just post a status on Facebook and think they're helping because it's easier but if you're going to do that, at least post some links or information for people. Something more than spreading awareness about awareness would be more helpful and only takes an extra couple minutes. You can take that time away from Farmville or reading every single mundane update about what someone did today, right?

Another thing that irritates me over the whole thing is the effort spent to leave men out of this because really, this thing is more about playing a silly little trick on all the easily confused men in your life, right? Lets have a laugh and leave them in the dark, hehe.

Do people think men don't need to be made aware of breast cancer? Men apparently don't have mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, wives, girlfriends, fiancees, female friends or any women in their life apparently. So it wouldn't make sense for them to be aware of something so serious that could possibly effect a woman in their life or something that they may already be dealing with.

Also, while it's not as common, men can get breast cancer too. It's much more common in women but it does occur in men also. They can be effected by it through loved ones and people they care about or as personally as being the one with the breast cancer. Leaving men out of real awareness is ignorant. Or in this case, petty and childish.

There are tons of real ways to help with breast cancer awareness (and other diseases, too) and a lot of those ways aren't difficult and don't require much more time and effort than playing around on Facebook does. Here are some links to websites that can give you information on breast cancer, ways to help outside of donating money and much more.

National Breast Cancer Foundation
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
The American Cancer Society
BCA

If you want to look for something local you can do, there are message boards/forums on several cancer related websites. Look there. Or, you can always use Google to find a local event, organization, etc.

Note: *Walks & runs are helpful. A lot of people think, "what does a stupid walk for cancer do?" but it does a lot. Walkers take pledges and the donations go to whatever organization that the walk is affiliated with to help fund research, pay for equipment and plenty of other things. It also offers a sense of comfort and/or camaraderie for people who have gone through breast cancer and survived, people who have it and are fighting it, people who have lost someone because of it, etc. For a lot of people, dealing with something that effects them or someone they love so seriously is made a little easier by having people who have been there and really know everything you've gone through. So, walks are good for a lot no matter what the cause is. They raise awareness, they raise funds for research and they help people.

Wayne Gretzky was a yard gnome assassin.

2011-09-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

1. What's for breakfast?
Yogurt and fruit or cereal usually. Sometimes waffles if I'm feeling generous.

2. Do you read a newspaper daily?
Nope. I watch the news regularly and read news every day.

3. What do you do when you can't sleep?
Yoga. Read. Draw. Write. Go for a jog. Sex. Think about random things that amuse me. Plot against my enemies. Depends on what I feel like doing.

4. Say a word that sums up your mood.
Indifferent.

5. Do you remember your dreams?
Most of the time.

6. Name something from your dream last night.
Wayne Gretzky was a yard gnome assassin. His favorite weapon for slaying a troublesome yard gnome was a flame thrower but he had other methods including a sledgehammer, shotgun, crossbow, hammer and a few others.

7. Name a food that describes you.
I don't know. I asked the graham cracker I'm about to eat to describe me but it just laid there saying nothing. Thinking the rest of the food in the house is going to be pretty mute as well. Go figure.

8. Today you are wearing:
Clothes. Same as every day.

9. What's in your pockets?
Gold, jewels, an eye patch, Jell-O, bowling shoes and throwing stars.

10. Did you sing in the shower today?
I sing in the shower every day. Some days I even give myself a standing ovation.

11. What's the last song you heard?
I don't remember, something awful playing on the station that was on in the car I was riding in. I was blocking out most of the terrible pop music, for the sake of my sanity.

12. Looking forward to the holidays?
As much as I usually do.

13. Where do you want to be this instant?
Sleeping. Or in Fiji.

14. What's for lunch?
Whatever I feel like eating when lunch time arrives.

15. What's something you would like to do soon?
Win the lottery. I suppose I'll have to play first.

16. Reading anything now? What is it?
This question. I'm not seeing much need in multi-tasking to read a book while I read and answer these questions.

17. What's for dinner?
I'll figure that out when dinner time rolls around. I'm not the biggest planner.

18. A favorite part of the day is:
Shower time. I love that fresh, clean, relaxing post shower feeling. Especially after a long day/night at work.

19. Are you happy?
Totally.

20. What's the longest shift that you worked at a job?
16.5 hours. At a job where I had to be on my feet and moving all the time. It was my least favorite shift ever but at least it went by fairly quickly.

Books, baseball, cooking, Weeds, etc....

2011-08-23T09:00:00.001-05:00

Some things I'm loving right now....

Mixing equal parts apple juice, cranberry juice and pomegranate juice together. It tastes so good. And if you add liquor, it tastes even better. ;)

Tea Tree Oil Cooling Foot Scrub by Earth Therapeutics. I'm on my feet a LOT. I use this stuff a few times a week to keep my feet smooth and to help them feel better. This stuff soothes my aching, sore feet while also exfoliating them. Plus, it's only $4 at Target.

Weeds. The TV show, not the things that grow in the ground. The Boyfriend started watching it on NetFlix (on season 1, no cable so we had never seen it before) and I ended up getting sucked in to it. I love a lot of the characters and find the show pretty amusing so far. Though, we're only on season 2 for now so we'll see.

Burt's Bees Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil. It makes my lips feel awesomely soft and it smells good.

NetFlix. We don't have cable and I don't like most of the crap shows that come on network TV. NetFlix has movies, documentaries and shows I'm missing on Discovery and Food Network by not having cable. Also, Power Rangers, the original stuff. Totally reliving childhood with an episode here and there, lol.

Cooking. I've been stressing and worrying over a lot of things lately. Not to mention emotional stuff over some recent deaths that I'm still working through and other issues going on, I've just been having a rough time lately. Cooking is insanely therapeutic for me. I love being able to take a bunch of ingredients, put them together and create something that smells, looks and tastes wonderful.

The Rangers shutting out the Red Sox last night, lol. I hate the Red Sox. Any time we beat them makes me smile. Shutting them out makes me smile even more. Now if only the rest of the games in this series (and the next one, and on and on) go well for the Rangers, I'll continue being happy. Yay winning.

People sending me books. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE to read. I started a book exchange with a few friends who live out of state now and a couple people off Twitter. We send books around to each other and I've gotten to read a couple really good ones so far. Totally one of the best ideas I've ever had. :D

Happy Tuesday!

Allow me a moment to be sappy, it doesn't happen often...

2011-08-16T09:00:00.003-05:00

As I'm typing this, I'm rather heavily medicated. You've been warned.

I've been pretty sick the last few days. Sunday, the boyfriend had the day off from work so I spent all day in bed and had him home taking care of me like the awesome boyfriend he is. He got some stuff for me Monday before he went to work and my mom ended up bringing me some stuff at 11 PM. Mind you, my mom has to drive 2 hours from her place to get to where I'm at then another 2 hours to get back home. I do appreciate her doing what she does for me.

I hate getting sick. I have a weak immune system due to low white blood cell count. I've tried a lot of different ways to boost my immune system but none have really worked so far. And I'm talking years of trying different things, not just months. I've had this issue since I was a little kid. It sucks. And I stay away from people that are sick as a general rule because when I get sick, I'm down for days even when it's not something serious. Which ends up irritating the hell out of me because I hate laying around doing nothing and feeling like crap and not having the energy for anything. Hopefully I can kick this crap in the next day or so and get back to being my normal self. :D

I have to say though that I have some really great people in my life. I had several offers from people willing to bring me soup, juice, Gatorade, Kleenex, medicine, cough drops or anything else I needed. Granted, my boyfriend had me taken care of and made a couple runs to go out and get stuff for me and my mom brought me some soup, Sprite, medicine and Jell-O as well. So, I'm covered. Still, it made me smile that I had people that I knew weren't just offering to be nice but were offering because they wanted to make sure I had everything I needed. In the past, I've had people offer to do things yet if I actually wanted to call on them for help, they would suddenly be busy or have a reason why they were unable to do what they had just offered to do minutes prior. I know without a doubt the few people who offered to bring me stuff or risk their health to come keep my sickly self company weren't just offering; any of them would have brought me what I needed if I wanted to take them up on their offers. It's nice to know you have some people in your life that you can count on. And even better knowing they care enough to offer things when you need them without even asking for them. It's the little things that make me happy, obviously. Thank you to those people, I appreciate the offers and the concern.

And I appreciate the well wishes on Twitter and the people sending me goofy stuff and jokes to put me in better spirits. That stuff really helps, too. It's so nice to know so many great people in the world, in real life and online, too.

It's always good to let the people in your life know how wonderful they are and how much you appreciate having them around. Whether they're family, friends, a significant other, online friends or what have you. There are so many unique and interesting relationships in my life and I'm happy to know so many good, kind, caring people. Even if I don't get to see or talk to some of them as often as I would like to. I still need to take more time to let them all know that I appreciate the times they've been there for me and how much I enjoy having them be a part of my life. I don't think people do that enough which is sad because it takes so little time to tell someone how great they are and how happy them being a part of your life makes you. I'm guilty of that because I'm just not an emotional person. I tend to come off and rather detached more often than not and it's not that I'm cold and uncaring, I'm far from it, being emotional just makes me uncomfortable. I much prefer logic and things that don't involve gooey messy emotions and warm feelings. :p

I really think it's the medication bringing it out from me tighyt because I'm not normally so sappy, lol. Anyone who knows me well enough can attest that me being emotional or sappy just doesn't really happen. It's all good, though. Once in a while, it can happen I suppose. :D

I've got some great antibiotics now and they should start kicking my ass back into good health. Sooner rather than later, hopefully.

Happy Tuesday!

R.I.P. Puppy Love

2011-08-11T09:00:00.002-05:00

I talked about this on Twitter a little the day it happened but didn't feel like blogging about it at the time. I do now.

July 29TH, my boyfriend's dog died. She was 7 years old. She suffered from a stroke, went to the vet, was doing better and recovering, then had another stroke the following morning she couldn't recover from and died. It was sad. My boyfriend called the vet right when their office opened to see if we could pick her up that day since she had been doing much better and we were supposed to be able to bring her home. Instead, he was told she had died just a few minutes prior to his call.

Her name was Akasha and she was very much a part of the family. He was crushed. I was upset. I met her when she was 2 and she was such a beautiful dog. She was loyal, protective and sweet. They say dogs often take on the personalities of their owners and I believe that given that a lot of her qualities were similar to that of traits my boyfriend has.

The boyfriend raised Akasha from the time she was a puppy. Here's a picture of her when she was a little gal.

I feel so bad for the Boyfriend. I know he misses her a lot and he was expecting her to come home, not pass away. He got bummed out being near the pet toys in a store the other day. Death is always easier when you know it's coming though it still sucks. When it's unexpected, there's that painful shock that stings along with the pain of losing something special. Hope and relief are a real bitch when it falls through.

About a week ago, I was looking out into the back yard and started crying. I was so used to standing there for a few minutes watching Akasha doing various things out back there. It was weird looking out there and not seeing her.

It's been strange. I always thought of her as "my boyfriend's dog" and I didn't realize how much a part of my life she had become in the 5 years that we've been together. I miss her, definitely more than I thought I would.

She didn't bark a lot, only when someone unfamiliar came near or at other animals that came near. Now every time I hear a random noise outside, I wonder what it is because she's not out there to scare off or take on the threatening stuff.

It's weird not having a dog around who's instantly happy to see you. That will cheer you up so fast, honestly. Bad day but then you see your dog who's got their tail thumping and tongue wagging around because they're just happy to see you.

Though I'll be honest, I'm glad she won't be in any kind of pain any longer. She had a couple minor health complications before the strokes happened that she was taking medication for. So, at leas she isn't hurting anymore.

I know a lot of people don't understand because to some people, pets are just pets, not a part of the family. Other people do understand. You train them, teaching them how to behave and how not to behave. You feed them, bathe them, play with them, take them to the vet when they're sick or hurt, miss them, care for them and love them. I do want another dog, just not any time soon. And I know there's no way my boyfriend will be ready for a new pup any time soon either.

Verbal abuse is still abuse...

2011-08-03T09:00:00.005-05:00

I saw that image several months ago and it made me feel so terrible. I saw it again a couple days ago and decided I'd do a blog post about it. I have seen and heard a lot of people say that verbal abuse isn't really abuse. They're just words. No one's really getting hurt, right? That's wrong. Verbal abuse is still abuse.

As an adult, I don't give a shit what people say to me and about me most of the time. Call me an idiot? Call me a slut? Call me a bitch? Tell me I'm useless? I won't believe a word of it because I'm not, so what?, I can be and I'm definitely not. I know who and what I am. I'm a very strong person and I don't let people get to me easily. I don't honestly care what most people think of me, either.

That wasn't always the case, though.

When I was a little kid, I was more susceptible to the words around me.

You tell your child, "You idiot, what did you do that for?!" because they did something stupid. You lost your temper. You said something dumb. You know your kid isn't an idiot. You just said it out of anger or frustration. Your child might roll their eyes or not say anything.

I remember when I was young, I'd glare or roll my eyes. Then I'd be sitting in my room drawing and listening to music or doing something. And words would creep back into my head. I'd tell myself I was the opposite of what had been said but there was always doubt. Always a small part of me that soaked it in and thought, well maybe that's true, maybe I am...
I wasn't verbally abused. My parents weren't constantly telling me bad things or talking down to me. Once in a while, they would slip out of frustration or anger and say something hurtful that I assume wasn't really meant. It would bother me even though I acted like it didn't. I would always have that small nagging voice in the back of my mind that reinforced hurtful words I heard.

I was different from the girls in my classes. I went to a different school damn near every year. Sometimes I'd stay somewhere two years. I was always different. I had a weird sense of humor, was a major tomboy who really only cared about sports, LEGOS, action figures and horror stories. I was fascinated by things that were probably a bit morbid for a kid to be interested in. I didn't always fit in but I always had a few friends anyway. Then I had the rest of the kids who said mean shit to me thought most of that didn't start until 5th grade. It's no surprise to anyone who knows me or who has read my blog long enough to see pictures to know that I have a huge rack. And I've had large breasts all my life. I never wore a training bra, I just got thrown right into the real thing. In 5th grade, I had at least 3 times more boobs than any of the other girls in my classes. Which sparked a lot of animosity from literally every girl in my class. I think 5th grade was one of the worst yet best years ever. That was the year I had to put up with more shit from kids at school than I ever had before but that was also the year I started learning to not let what people said about me and to me get to me. Thankfully, I was also taller than all of them, had broad shoulders, played hockey on a mostly male team as well as played other sports; so none of their picking on me every came in the form of physical torment. That didn't make the other crap any easier to deal with at first. It sucked hearing groups of girls talk trash to and about me every single day, it sucked having them write stupid notes about me and spread stupid rumors. But it also worked in my favor because I decided I'd never be like that and that I'd stop letting people's opinions of me matter. I knew I wasn't any of things they said I was and that was enough for me. I knew I never wanted to be that kind of mean, petty person either. And the less I cared, the more it pissed them off. Which after a while just became amusing to me.

You might not realize you're damaging or hurting someone when you say something terrible out of anger, frustration, etc. You might not even remember saying it later. You might not give it a second though. A week later and you probably won't remember at all. It doesn't mean the person you said it to won't. It doesn't mean that words don't hurt and don't leave an impression. Especially on children. They haven't learned to blow it off. They haven't learned that people don't always mean what they say.

There's no reason to ever make a child feel stupid, useless, ugly, unworthy or anything else that's negative and hurtful. It doesn't mean you shouldn't tell them when they've done something wrong but don't call them names to get across a point whether they did something wrong, made a mistake, didn't do well on a test, their team lost a game, etc. Don't belittle them, don't call them names and don't make them feel like a piece of garbage because they don't deserve that. No one deserves that.

Even if they act like they don't care or act like it doesn't hurt, even if they roll their eyes or stomp off, they're going to think about it and the words are going to be there lurking in their young minds.

Verbal abuse can be just as and sometimes more damaging than physical abuse. Emotional wounds often take far longer than physical ones to heal. Though there are plenty of emotional ones that come along with the physical but that's another post entirely. So next time you're angry, upset or frustrated, take a breath and think about what you want to say and how you need to say it. You don't need to sugar coat things but being verbally abusive isn't the answer. It also teaches them to react that way and that will stay with them and grow with them as they get older and then it will likely just keep going. That's not something you really want to pass on and spread to the world. That's something the world needs a whole lot less of.

50 Yummy Smoothie Recipes...

2011-07-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Some of these would be rather unhealthy but delicious nonetheless.

1. Banana Blend 2 bananas, 1/2 cup each vanilla yogurt and milk, 2 teaspoons honey, a pinch of cinnamon and 1 cup ice.

2. Strawberry-Banana Blend 1 banana, 1 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup each vanilla yogurt and milk, 2 teaspoons honey, a pinch of cinnamon and 1 cup ice.

3. Strawberry Shortcake Blend 2 cups strawberries, 1 cup crumbled pound cake, 1 1/2 cups each milk and ice, and sugar to taste. Top with whipped cream and more strawberries.

4. Triple-Berry Blend 1 1/2 cups mixed blackberries, strawberries and raspberries with 1 cup each milk and ice, and sugar to taste.

5. Raspberry-Orange Blend 1 cup each orange juice and raspberries, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1 cup ice, and sugar to taste.

6. Peach-Mango-Banana Blend 1 cup each chopped fresh or frozen peaches and mango, 1 cup each plain yogurt and ice, 1/2 banana, and sugar to taste.

7. Honeydew-Almond Blend 2 cups chopped honeydew melon, 1 cup each almond milk and ice, and honey to taste.

8. Cantaloupe Blend 2 cups chopped cantaloupe, the juice of 1/2 lime, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 cup water and 1 cup ice.

9. Carrot-Apple Blend 1 cup each carrot juice and apple juice with 1 1/2 cups ice.

10. Spa Cucumber Peel, seed and chop 2 medium cucumbers. Blend with the juice of 1 lime, 1/2 cup water, 1 cup ice and 3 to 4 tablespoons sugar or honey.

11. Kiwi-Strawberry Blend 1 cup strawberries, 2 peeled kiwis, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 cups ice.

12. Cherry-Vanilla Blend 1 1/2 cups frozen pitted cherries, 1 1/4 cups milk, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, a pinch of salt and 1 cup ice.

13. Tangerine-Honey Peel and seed 4 tangerines, then blend with the juice of 2 limes, 1/4 cup honey and 1 cup ice.

14. Apricot-Almond Blend 1 1/2 cups apricot nectar, 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt, 2 tablespoons almond butter and 1 cup ice.

15. Grape Blend 2 cups seedless red grapes with 1 cup concord grape juice and 1 1/2 cups ice.

16. Blueberry-Pear Blend 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries, 1 chopped pear, 1 1/2 cups each maple or plain yogurt and ice, and sugar to taste.

17. Banana-Date-Lime Blend 2 bananas, 3/4 cup chopped pitted dates, the juice of 1 lime and 1 1/2 cups each soy milk and ice.

18. Peach-Ginger Blend 2 cups frozen sliced peaches, 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, 3 tablespoons brown sugar and 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger.

19. Grapefruit Peel and seed 2 grapefruits, then blend with 3 to 4 tablespoons sugar and 1 cup ice. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

20. Pomegranate-Cherry Blend 1 cup frozen pitted cherries, 3/4 cup pomegranate juice, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, a pinch each of cinnamon and salt, and 2 cups ice.

21. Chai Blend 1 1/2 cups chai tea concentrate with 1 cup each milk and ice. Sprinkle with chai spice or ground cinnamon.

22. Blueberry-Banana Blend 1 banana, 1 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk, 1 tablespoon each honey and lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract and 1 cup ice.

23. Creamy Pineapple Blend 2 cups chopped pineapple, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/4 cup milk, 2 teaspoons honey, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, a pinch each of nutmeg and salt, and 2 cups ice.

24. Watermelon Freeze 3 cups cubed seeded watermelon until hard. Blend with 1 cup cubed fresh seeded watermelon, the juice of 1 lime, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 cup water.

25. Pineapple-Coconut Freeze about 2 cups coconut water in 1 or 2 ice-cube trays. Blend 2 cups each chopped pineapple and coconut ice cubes, 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 tablespoon honey and 1/2 cup coconut water.

26. Apple-Ginger Blend 1 chopped peeled apple, a 1/2-inch piece peeled ginger, the juice of 2 limes, 1/4 cup honey, 1 cup water and 2 cups ice.

27. Black Raspberry–Vanilla Blend 1 pint blackberries, 1/2 cup raspberries, 1 cup vanilla yogurt and 1 tablespoon honey.

28. Creamsicle Blend 3/4 cup frozen orange or orange-tangerine concentrate with 1/2 cup cold water and 1 cup each vanilla ice cream and ice.

29. Mango-Acai Blend two 4-ounce packages frozen acai berry puree, 1 cup chopped mango, 1/2 cup orange juice and 2 cups ice.

30. Spiced Pumpkin Blend 1/2 cup each pumpkin puree and silken tofu, 3 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, a pinch of salt and 1 cup ice.

31. Mexican Coffee Blend 1/2 cup chilled espresso or strong coffee, 1/2 cup milk or almond milk, 3 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon almond extract and 1 1/2 cups ice.

32. Vietnamese Coffee Blend 1/2 cup chilled espresso or strong coffee, 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk and 1 1/2 cups ice. Top with chocolate shavings and/or chocolate syrup.

33. Banana PB&J Blend 1 frozen banana with 1 cup soy milk, 1/4 cup each creamy peanut butter and wheat germ, and 2 tablespoons seedless strawberry or raspberry jelly.

34. Peanut Butter–Apple Blend 1 chopped peeled apple, 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter, 2 tablespoons flax seeds, 1 1/2 cups each soy milk and ice, and honey to taste.

35. Pomegranate-Berry Blend 1 cup blueberries, 3/4 cup each beet juice and pomegranate juice, 1 cup ice, and honey to taste.

36. Cucumber-Kale Blend 1 1/4 cups vegetable juice, 1/2 peeled cucumber, 3 kale leaves and the juice of 1/2 lemon.

37. Pineapple-Mango Blend 1 cup each chopped pineapple and mango, 1 cup coconut water, a dash of ground allspice and 1 cup ice. Sprinkle with toasted coconut.

38. Peanut Butter–Banana Blend 1 banana, 1 cup vanilla yogurt, 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/3 cup milk, 2 tablespoons malted milk powder, 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder, a pinch of salt and 2 cups ice.

39. Green Tea–Almond Brew 1 1/2 cups extra-strong green tea; cool completely. Blend with 1/3 cup almonds, 1/4 cup honey and 1 cup ice.

40. Chocolate-Banana Blend 1 banana, 1 cup chocolate ice cream, 1/2 cup milk, a pinch of salt and 1/2 cup ice.

41. Chocolate-Raspberry Blend 1 cup each chocolate ice cream and raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar and 3/4 cup each milk and ice.

42. Strawberry-Maple Blend 2 cups strawberries, 1 1/2 cups milk, 1/4 cup each maple syrup and wheat germ, a dash of ground cinnamon and 1 1/2 cups ice.

43. Chocolate Chip Cookie Blend 1 cup each vanilla ice cream, milk and crumbled chocolate chip cookies with 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips. Top with a cookie.

44. Oatmeal Cookie Blend 1 cup each vanilla ice cream, milk and crumbled oatmeal cookies with a pinch of ground cinnamon. Top with a cookie.

45. Birthday Cake Blend 1 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream, 1 crumbled vanilla cupcake (unfrosted), 1 cup milk and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. Top with sprinkles.

46. Black and White Blend 3/4 cup each vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream with 1 cup milk and 3 crumbled chocolate sandwich cookies. Top with a cookie.

47. Lemon–Poppy Seed Blend 2 teaspoons poppy seeds, the zest and juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 cup plain yogurt, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/2 cup each milk and ice.

48. Apple-Spinach Blend 2 cups spinach, 1 chopped peeled apple, 1/2 cup silken tofu, 1/4 cup each soy milk and orange juice, 1 tablespoon each wheat germ, honey and lemon juice, and 1 cup ice.

49. Veggie Blend 1 1/4 cups tomato juice, 1/4 cup carrot juice, 1/2 peeled cucumber, 1/2 celery stalk, 1/4 cup each parsley and spinach, and 1/2 cup ice.

50. Mint-Jalapeno Blend 1/3 cup fresh mint, 1 seeded jalapeno pepper, 2 1/2 tablespoons honey, a pinch of salt and 2 cups each plain yogurt and ice. Top with toasted cumin seeds and cilantro.

You're not fuckin' perfect & that's okay....

2011-07-29T09:00:00.003-05:00

I wrote then posted this to my my Tumblr yesterday but wanted it here, too.

I hate when people try to cheer someone up or encourage them by saying, “stop, you’re perfect the way you are.” If that person is hating things about themselves, telling them they’re perfect that way isn’t the best way to make them feel better. Also, they’re not going to believe your cliche false comment anyway. No one is perfect. You want to really help? Tell them actual positive things that aren’t stupid.

Tell them they have a great sense of humor and you love how they make you laugh.

Tell them how you admire how creative they are.

Tell them how smart they are.

Tell them how they make the best cookies you’ve ever had.

Tell them they have pretty eyes.

Tell them you love the way they tell a story.

Tell them they’re stronger than they think they are.

Tell them something that’s TRUE and not something that reeks of fairytale happy ending bullshit.

That way when they think about it after you say it, they know you’re being genuine. And maybe, they’ll start to believe it and you will have actually helped them a little bit.

Telling someone they’re perfect to try and encourage them is just so stupid and unoriginal. Thinking up something specific about them that you like or think is great might be harder but it will mean more.

Happy Friday!

Microwaves, hockey pants & other random stuff...

2011-07-28T09:00:00.004-05:00

I really dislike when people don't clear the remaining cook time off the microwave when they pull something out before the time is up. It doesn't piss me off but when I see it, I want to smack that person. All you have to do is push another button. Takes a second to do it, lazy ass.

You know those stupid looking pants that have words like "slut", "juicy", "shake it", "princess", "bite me", etc written on the ass? Imagine if CCM or Easton started making hockey pants with that kind of crap on there. Now imagine NHL players wearing them. That would be horrible. And amusing. More awful than amusing, though. I couldn't take a guy with "SEXY" plastered across the ass of his hockey pants seriously. Especially if there's glitter.

I love those lawsuit commercials that state, "If you or someone you love have died from...." Really? Okay then.

I hate using public restrooms as a general rule but sometimes, there's no way around it. I do love that more and more restrooms in public have the bars on the bottom of the door so you can push it open with your foot or leg as opposed to touching it with your freshly cleaned hands. It's disgusting how many people walk out without washing their hands. Also, you can always tell the people who aren't going to wash their hands most of the time because they're the ones bolting out of the stall so quickly you'd think there's an evil flesh eating fire breathing monster about to come rolling out after them. Of course, that only happens in crappy movies.

Trying to put a dry sports bra on an already sweaty body can get pretty tricky.

Every time I hear about a gorilla or other primate escaping from a zoo or even getting out of their areas, I'm always certain that the revolution is about to start and get a little apprehensive about it. This irrational fear I've had for years is why I don't want to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes. My irrational fear being true on a movie screen for 2 hours is only going to convince my irrational mind even more that they're going to bust out and fuck our shit up one day.

The directions on my face wash bottle are so helpful. The final step tells me to "rinse thoroughly only using water" which is a relief. I was contemplating rinsing with the mouthwash or getting some orange juice for the job. So glad they clarified water would work best.

I'm also very pleased my deodorant package informs me not to orally ingest it. I might have gotten saliva confused for sweat and tried to glide some across my tongue if not for that helpful little tip.

I don't think there's a song more overdone by cover bands than "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. Not even anything Bon Jovi has that one beat.

I think that's enough from my mind today. ;)

Happy Thursday!

Friends With Benefits...

2011-07-26T15:52:00.000-05:00

In celebration of me landing the cool new job I was so hoping I would get, the boyfriend took me out to dinner last night. We ended up going a couple hours later than intended because some stuff came up. No big deal. We went to a place that serves awesome smoked brisket tacos (among other things that are possibly awesome) that also has a bar with sports on so we could check out the Texas Rangers game while we ate. If you were curious, the Rangers beat the Twins 20-6. Okay, I know y'all weren't curious and some of you already knew but, I like saying it.

Anyway, after dinner and the game, we went to see a movie. We decided on seeing Friends With Benefits. Which to me just reminded me of No Strings Attached because hey, the principle is pretty much the same same. So what did I think of FWB?

I like Justin Timberlake as an actor even though I think his music is terrible, I love Mila Kunis despite the whole "her voice can get shrill and annoying" thing and I find Woody Harrelson to be an oddball and amusing as hell. So I had that going for me when going in to it.

It has it's funny moments and did make me laugh several times. I don't recall being bored during the movie ever which is something that tends to happen with me a lot during movies. I prefer doing more active things so movies tend to The dialog between the characters is entertaining. All the different characters and their relationship dynamics are amusing and there are a few parts that actually made me sad. Though, the sad parts had nothing to do with Dylan and Jamie's (Timberlake & Kunis) status and everything to do with Dylan's dad suffering from Alzheimer's which made me think of my grandfather who recently died & had Alzheimer's. And yes, I know it's only a character in a movie but it's a real disease and I've been affected by it. I digress.

In comparison to No Strings Attached, I laughed quite a bit more during Friends With Benefits. I also liked the characters in FWB more. I also found it to be a little bit less cliche and more realistic in terms of how the stages for friends who end up fucking go. I've had several of those relationships in the passed and only one of them ended well. That's another story for another day, though.

Overall, I liked the movie for the most part. I wouldn't buy it or set out to watch it again on purpose but if someone else asked me to see it again, I'd probably go with them if I weren't busy doing something else. Or fast forward a couple months to when it comes out on DVD, if someone popped it in in front of me, I wouldn't bitch and moan and beg them to turn on Sports Center. Or Discovery Channel or Phineas and Ferb.

Keep in mind when reading this, I'm not a fan of romantic comedies. Or romantic anything. I very much prefer my comedies to have very little or no romance at all in them. And most of my favorite movies have explosions, sci-fi characters or enough twisted mind fuckage to leave me contemplating shit for at least an hour after the movie has ended. I knew or at least assumed I knew going in to FWB how it would end up. And as the movie went along, I made predictions in my head because it's like every other chick flick in it's cliche predictability. I don't try to sit there and pick it apart, it just happens when what ever is going to happen seems so obvious. Which is why I don't like romantic comedies or romance-y movies in general. Though I won't get into all the reasons why I don't like chick flicks usually because there's a lot of reason. And none of them have to do with me being bitter about love and relationships. More so, I'm not a very emotional nor romantic person so I just want to laugh at the ridiculousness of most of those movies. Anyway...

As long as you go into it expecting a chick flick that's funnier than most other chick flicks and not expecting more of it than that, you're good.

Happy Tuesday!

Allow me a few minutes to rant....

2011-07-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

People who can't be happy when something good happens to someone in their life annoy me. Maybe instead of being bitter that good things are happening to someone else, you should look at yourself, the way you act and the choices you're making and figure out why good things aren't happening for you. Also, you can't progress if you don't try. Things aren't handed to me, I work hard for them. I also go out and try my ass off for things I often don't get but I don't let that get me down. It sucks but you can't dwell on stuff like that. You also can't just sit on your ass whining and hoping that your pity party will pay off in some way. I'm ambitious and determined and will always strive to get what I want and that's why things happen for me. I don't "get lucky" to have them happen, I work hard and push myself to make them happen. Very little just comes to you, it has to be earned.

~*~
I don't have children. I have a lot of plans and things I want to see and do. Having children has never been something I wanted. I don't want to alter my plans and don't want to give up anything to have a child. If I did accidentally end up pregnant, I would alter my lifestyle and change some things and take responsibility for it happening. For now, I don't plan on having a child. I cannot stand when I see people bitching about what they don't get to do anymore because they have kid(s) because it's common sense that your life will change. They cannot take care of themselves and that's your job as a parent. I understand that being a parent is hard work. It's stressful and time consuming. I understand parents need breaks from time to time and need "adult time" to do fun stuff or enjoy their hobbies. When I see adults complaining because they don't have every weekend free, they can't do this, they can't do that, blah blah blah and see it happening on a very frequent basis? It pisses me off. Why the hell did you have kids if you didn't want to give up part of your life and freedom to go and do what you want when you want? No one made you have a child or start a family. It's not like the kid just showed up forcing you to drop what you're doing and take care of him or her. If you do whine from time to time, it's understandable. Whining on a daily or even weekly basis about what you don't get to do anymore? After a while, all that constant complaining is annoying. And makes you look like a selfish asshole. Don't want to give anything up? Don't have kids. Otherwise? Grow up. Children don't ask to be brought into the world, they shouldn't be neglected or punished for requiring your time.

~*~

It's not hard to use a turn signal while driving. I am going to be annoyed when you swerve over into my lane without a turn signal. In fact, I would probably slow down to make room for you to get over if I saw you were trying to change lanes. Of course, I'm not psychic so without a turn signal, I wouldn't know that's what you're doing. If you're about to slow down a lot to make a turn, use your freaking turn signal. Put down the cell phone, coffee, news paper, lip gloss, etc etc etc and use your damn turn signal when you want to change lanes or make a turn. It takes a few seconds and really, it's not that difficult to use.

~*~

Also, when you're driving in traffic; speeding up on my ass and honking your horn, flashing your lights or just riding my ass isn't going to make the other 30 cars in front of me go any faster so I can go faster. It's also not going to make me move into the lane that's going even slower so you can just get a whole car length ahead of me. It's not like I'm driving super slow just to be annoying while other cars whip around. I'm in this long stupid line of cars as we all head in the same general direction. Believe me, I don't like going 40 when the speed limit is 65 either.

~*~

I dislike when people you live with have no respect for other people's belongings. You want to use something of mine? Cool, ask and I'll more than likely let you use it. Use something of mine without asking and end up breaking it? That sucks and you should replace it instead of putting it back or just throwing it out and not even telling me. You think I'm not going to notice something is broken when it worked fine last time I used it? You think I'm not going to notice something I had that's now missing? Accidents happen, just replace what you broke/lost and stop using my stuff without my permission for fuck's sake. It's not that hard to ask a question, especially with modern technology. If I'm not home, permission is only a text message away. And some things I don't even want permission for, like most of my kitchen tools. I do expect my stuff to be treated respectfully and I do expect people to act like mature adults and replace things they break. It's not asking too much at all.

And that's all the ranting I'm doing for today. Despite what all this ranting would imply, I'm in a fantastic mood today. :) I was on standby for jury duty and did my phone call at 11 AM and happily found out I would not be needed today or needed again so I'm off the hook this time. Hooray! Also, I had a second interview early this morning for a new job that I really wanted and I got it! So I'm in a really good mood today but just had to get some of the things that have been on my mind lately out of there and into the blogosphere, hehe.

Happy Monday, y'all!

Ginger lemon chicken & rice....

2011-07-22T09:00:00.002-05:00

Ginger Lemon Chicken and Rice:

INGREDIENTS (serves 4):

* 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
* 3 1/2 cups rice (brown or white works fine)
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon sesame oil (can use canola or vegetable oil)
* 3/4 Cup thinly sliced onion
* 2 Tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger, divided
* 1 cups zucchini sliced in 1/4 inch round slices
* 1 1/2 Cups broccoli florets
* 1 Cup carrots sliced in 1/4 inch round slices
* 1 Tablespoon minced fresh garlic
* 2 Tablespoon honey
* 3 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
* 3 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
* 2 Tablespoon water
* 2 teaspoon cornstarch
*Zest from 1/2 a lemon (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

*Cook 3 cups rice according to packaged direction and set aside.

* Combine remaining garlic, minced garlic, honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, water, cornstarch and lemon zest (optional) mixing all ingredients together until well combined. Set aside.

* Sprinkle the chicken with black pepper.

* Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.

* Add chicken, onion, and 1 Tablespoon ginger, and stir-fry 4-6 minutes making sure chicken is cooked through.

* Add zucchini, carrots and broccoli florets and stir-fry for 3 minutes.

*Stir honey ginger lemon sauce mixture a few times, then add to the pan, stir fry for 4-5 minutes.

You can leave the rice and stir fry mix separate and serve the chicken and vegetables on top of the rice. Or just add the rice right after you add the sauce mixture to the pan, stir fry for 4-5 minutes.

Also, garlic powder and ground ginger can be used as substitutes for the minced ingredients but it won't taste as good, lol ;) You can use different vegetables, too. Or do no vegetables if that's how you roll. The picture above also has 1/2 a cup of squash thrown in there so I could use up the rest of some left over squash I had in the refrigerator. Worked out fine.

Happy Friday!

Intoxicated blogging of drunken musings...

2011-07-16T10:00:00.001-05:00

I think about pretty random things when I'm sober so no surprise I think up things just as random whilst intoxicated. Last night, we had a wedding/reception to go to and then a birthday celebration after the reception. I had some alcohol at the reception which I ended up with by random people buying me drinks because the bar was cash only and I only had my card on me. I'm not a mooch, people just like me for some reason, haha. We left the reception around 11:30 and headed to the birthday celebration at a bar about 25 minutes away from the reception location. I had 6 tuaca bombs during the hour and a half we were with the birthday boy, his wife and some mutual friends. And that's when my brain decided to kick into overdrive and start ruminating things that were a combination of silly, random, senseless, insightful and just plain weird. It happens. More so when I'm drunk. Off topic here but no worries, I didn't drive at all. The boyfriend did and he didn't drink at all. That's how we roll, one drinks and the other stays sober but I digress.

I was talking to my buddy The Lawyer when I had a random thought pop into my head. I haven't heard this song in years so I'm not sure why this thought came to me but whatever. It was there. I mentioned it to my boyfriend but I'll be damned if I can remember what his response to it was. However, bringing the thought to The Lawyer's attention proved to be more fun. Here's the conversation that followed....

Me: "You know what's wrong with that hips don't lie Shakira song?"

The Lawyer: "Everything?"

Me: "Okay maybe because I hate that song but hips don't lie because they can't speak, so it would be impossible for them to lie anyway. You know, taking the lyrics in a more literal context than they were meant to have."

The Lawyer: "Haha, man.. How weird would talking hips be? Imagine if they did talk & bitched at you for food you were about to eat & clothing choices you made."
Me: "Or if you're about to have sex with someone new & they start protesting."

The Lawyer: "Haha, that might be a total mood killer depending on what your hips start saying."

Me: "OH GOD THE LAST ONE WAS BAD ENOUGH BUT REALLY, THIS FUCKING GUY/GIRL IS THE BEST YOU COULD DO? GIVE ME A BREAK, REALLY, IS THIS HOW DESPERATE YOU ARE NOW?"

The Lawyer: "Hahaha. Holy shit dude. If hips are that brutally honest, it's a good thing they don't talk."

FYI, if hips could talk then mine would totally be that blunt & brutally honest, lol. Though on the off chance they just started saying mean stuff for the hell of it, I'd have to smack them around for being bitchy to me or my boyfriend. If they're talking shit to anyone else, well it would depend on what they were saying and to whom they were saying it to.

This has been a post. Thank you and goodnight. Or good morning by the time y'all actually see this.

Happy Saturday!!! :)
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Rocking the Harry Potter look, sort of....

2011-07-14T10:00:00.001-05:00

These are my awesome Harry Potter style 3D glasses. I got them last night when we got to go to a special 7 pm screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 courtesy of my boyfriend's awesome job. He does IT work for Cinemark & gets the same perks as Cinemark Corporate employees do. So for big movies, such as HP, they do special early screenings for corporate employees.

No worries, I won't say anything about the movie other than I totally enjoyed it overall. & I kept my 3D glasses because I think they're rad, haha.

Something weird but cool is we weren't supposed to bring phones into the theater. They had security for Warner Bros standing along the walls in the theater watching for phones & recording devices. Anyone caught with one out during the movie would be thrown out & get into some trouble. Funny because as soon as they announced that, the few people who had phones out put them away immediately. And for the first time in a long time, I didn't get annoyed by someone in front of me having their phone out texting or on facebook or doing whatever during the movie. No phones going off in the middle of a scene because some jackass forgot to turn their phone on silent. No one taking a call and then rushing out of the theater. I wish theaters could more strictly enforce the rules about not having a phone out during a movie, it is annoying.

Oh, yes, I am aware that I do not pull of the Harry Potter look very well. I don't care, I look dashing, in a dorky kind of way. Also, my hair is back to black again. That's also a somewhat new hair cut I've got going on there. It's grown out a bit since I had it shortened up for the summer but I like it. Shorter and in layers is much more manageable plus feels better not to have super long hair in the Texas heat.

Happy Thursday!

Look at my mask...

2011-07-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

I decided recently that I'd do something I've never done before. Calm down, it's not that interesting. I was in ULTA the other day getting shampoo and a new hair dryer and they had these facial masks for $1. I take really good care of my skin but I've never used an actual facial mask before. I saw a bunch for $1 so I looked through them all and picked one out. I went for Fruit Smoothie by Montagne Jeunesse.

Last night, I decided I'd finally break it out and give it a try. I read the instructions a couple times just because I wasn't really sure what to do with it. I don't care if that makes me sound like an idiot, go ahead and chuckle. I'm not the spa day kind of girl nor am I the pamper myself at home kind of girl so this was foreign to me. :p

I opened it up and the stuff smelled really good. It has a blend of raspberry, mango, apricot, peach and pomegranate in it though so it better smell delightful. The stuff is really thick and I only needed to use half the package to cover my entire face in a thick layer. It didn't feel sticky or oily. I didn't really like the way it felt as it hardened on my skin, though. It felt so weird to me. I mused on Twitter about how my face felt like it was frozen in place and wondered if that's what getting Botox felt like. My mouth was stuck like this for the 15 minutes it took to dry.....

I had to fight the urge to wash it off early just because I didn't like how it felt on there. It wasn't unpleasant or painful, just weird for me. When 15 minutes were up, I headed to the bathroom. I admit I was a little unsure on whether I was supposed to just splash it off and work it with my wet hands or use a wash cloth, lol. I just worked it with my finger tips and it came off super easy with warm water.

My skin felt super soft and smooth afterward. And smelled really good, haha. The scent of that stuff is pretty strong but it didn't irritate my skin which is awesome because I have incredibly sensitive skin. We call it "expensitive" because the products that don't irritate me tend to be a little passed what's on the cheap and affordable side. I have to be really picky about the products I use so I'm always apprehensive about trying new stuff.

And no, this isn't a product review, obviously. You know, since I paid a whole dollar for the stuff. Though normally, they're priced at $2.29 for the little packet so hooray for stuff being on sale. I just wanted to share my experience since it was a new adventure for me, haha. Not sure if I'll ever use a facial mask again beyond finishing what's left of the packet I used tonight but it was definitely interesting.

Happy Monday!