Strange addiction

I will admit that I am a big fan of T.V. and I watch plenty of shows that I am not proud of, i.e. Dog the Bounty Hunter. It's a white trash train wreck that I cannot bring myself to take my eyes off of, and I watch it every chance I get.

Brett, on the other hand, rarely watches T.V. at all. If he's watching something on T.V. it's for one of two reasons....we're either watching something that I want to watch, or it's the middle of the night and he can't sleep.

Recently Chaz and Shay have introduced us to something that has quickly become an exception to that rule.

Dexter.


 

We are both sucked into it's vortex and unable to break free. We only started watching it last weekend and we have already finished three out of the five seasons. It's bad.

The show is just so intriguing. Every single episode has something monumental happening, and the plot points are intense. I don't know what I am going to do with myself when it is over.

You knew this one would be coming....

You guys, I'm not sure if you know this or not, but its October!!  Guess what that means.....Halloween is almost here!  I cannot contain my excitement.  Shay and I are in full blown prep mode!

This years party theme is 'recognizable musicians' and let me just tell you, there will be some good costumes this year!  Here's a little preview of who will be attending:

 

Yeah, I know.  It's going to rock.  {pun intended}

My Way of Coping

August 13th was my mom's birthday. In the months approaching it, I was dreading each day that brought it closer. I am not coping well with her loss, and every time I think about her I want to cry. I just miss her so much.

I was trying to come up with a way to honor and remember her on her birthday, and I started brainstorming a few months ago. I wanted it to be something significant. Something that would make a lasting impression on my life, and help me keep her memory alive in my soul. My sister and I had been talking about getting memorial tattoos in her honor, but didn't really know what we wanted or when we wanted to do it. I picked up the phone one day and called my sister. "Let's do our tattoo's on mom's birthday!" That's all it took. She was in.

I had started looking at designs and finally decided what I wanted to do and found the artist that I wanted to go to, so Brett set the appointment. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! My sister did the same general design, but hers is in a different location and has color instead of just black and grey. I choose to merge two Celtic symbols that I loved because their meaning was perfect for what I was trying to represent. One is the Celtic symbol for motherhood and the female power, and the other is the Celtic symbol for the transitions through life and death. I think it's perfect! What do you think?

Normally, I'd go for a hot dog.

Anytime we barbecue and the person manning the grill asks me if I want a hamburger or a hot dog, I always say hot dog.  I have always been a fan of hot dogs, and for some reason hamburgers just don't appeal to me.  I have tried them on a few occasions, from a few different places, and just haven't ever been too impressed. 

While we were visiting Brett's sister in Reno last week, one of her kids suggested that we go to In n' Out Burger for lunch.  Knowing that I am some what of a picky eater, she left it up to me to decide.  That was the moment that I proclaimed the four words that made the head of everyone in the room whip around so hard to look in my direction that I am surprised no one ended up with a neck injury. 

I've never tried it. 

They all sat there staring at me like I had a penis growing out of my forehead, but they just didn't bear to break the news to me.  Apparently if you haven't eaten at In n' Out burger you are some kind of outcast.  Who knew?

After everyone was able to lift their chins up off of the floor we decided that lunch that day could take place no where else.  I had to try In n' Out for the first time with them, and they were going to make sure of it.  On the drive over everyone just kept raving about how good the food was, and how impressed I was going to be. I continued to listen to said raving, unconvinced that I would like it as much as they believed I would. 

When we got there I was blown away by how simple the menu was.  You can choose from a hamburger, a cheeseburger, or fries.  Not even an option to pick chicken nuggets!  How good could this burger joint really be?

I will take this opportunity to put my foot directly into my mouth.  It was good.  I was impressed.  So impressed that after we got home, I found myself craving a cheeseburger, animal style with a side of fries. 

Thank god that In n' Out has recently planted it's roots in Utah.

Solving life's mysteries

Have you ever wondered exactly what it is about your best friend that makes you love them so much?  You know that you get along well, and you know that you can always count on each other, but what is the one thing that draws you to each other and makes you best friends? I can tell you. 

She will do anything you ask her to, and have a hell of a time doing it. 

I was at the mall with Shay and Ashley a few months ago, before little miss Hadley was born, and as we were walking through the food court I asked Shay if she would ride the carousel with me.  I know that it sounds ridiculous, that two grown ass women would ride a children's carousel in the middle of a crowded mall, but I was serious about it.  What's wrong with acting like a little kid sometimes?  It keeps life interesting. 

Of course, as I knew she would, Shay agreed.

Ashley and Hunter joined us for the ride, but I am almost sure that Ashley wouldn't have been so willing to join us if Hunter hadn't been there.  It may have taken a little more coaxing.  Shay however, did not hesitate. 

This is why she is my best friend.  I love her.

Another step forward

Ever since I found that letter last year I have been trying to find the courage to make contact.  With the help of a new colleague I was able to find another physical address that I could attempt, as well as a p.o. box, and with the new information in hand I decided that I should just go for it.  What the hell, right?  I figured that the worst that could happen would be to never hear anything back, and everything would remain the same.  I would continue life not knowing, but at least I could say that I tried. 

So about two weeks ago I wrote him a letter and stuck it in the mail.  After I had dropped it into the box, knowing that it was irretrievable, I felt a little bit nervous.  Nervous, but confident that I was making the right choice.  Two or three days later, that same envelope that I had sent away was back in my hands with something new written on the front...."return to sender, not at this address."  Fuck.  I had a feeling that would happen.  So I opened up the envelope and took the letter out leaving it as a hollow, worthless carcass and grabbed a fresh new envelope and scrawled the next address from my list onto its blank surface.

After about a week I had gotten to the point where I wasn't anxiously checking my email every hour, or running upstairs to see if someone had checked the mail on a daily basis.  I decided that I was just going to relax.  If I was going to hear something it would probably be a while, so there was no sense in thinking about it all the time.

You know that old saying 'a watched kettle never boils'?  I believe that statement to be true.  Almost in the exact moment that I took my eyes off of the kettle, it started boiling.

I am not joking. Almost literally, the day that I decided not to worry about it anymore I got the response that I had been waiting for.  Brett and I were sitting on the couch after we had gotten ready for bed, and I was just going to make sure that my alarm on my phone was set to wake me up the next morning.  This is something that I do every night that drives Brett completely insane. If it went off yesterday, it will go off tomorrow.  Just when I had entered the password into my phone I noticed that little red circle above my email icon, indicating that there was an email in my inbox waiting to be read. Just one. I tried to convince myself that it was nothing, that it could easily wait until morning and proceeded to make sure my alarm was, in fact, set to go off at the crack of dawn and wake me for work.  Of course it was set, just like Brett always tells me. 

I couldn't resist though, after I triple checked my alarm, I clicked on my email icon and there it was.  An email from someone, that until a year ago, I didn't even know existed.

Don't text and drive....

You also shouldn't text when you are sitting in traffic not moving. I learned that lesson the hard way today. I was sitting in traffic today on my way to work, and heard a concert anouncement on the radio for a band that I love. Since I was at a dead stand still I decided to send Brett a quick text to tell him how excited I was.

"Aaaahhh! 3oh!3 is coming in concert!"

That was all I said. Some idiot apparently saw me sending the aforementioned text message, while I was sitting in traffic not moving, and decided it was necessary to call the police to inform them that I was texting and driving. About ten minutes later I saw red and blue lights flashing in my rear view mirror.

I don't know how much the ticket is going to cost yet, but I can guarantee you that we won't be at that concert when it comes around.

People are assholes.

The true definition of shindig

This year for my birthday Brett had some elaborate plans, and they were all top secret.  I am not the type that does well with waiting for surprises, whether it is waiting to surprise someone myself or knowing that I have a surprise coming my way.  I am what you would call, impatient. 

In the weeks leading up to my birthday I was freaquently asked to leave the room so that Brett could discuss the pending birthday plans with his sister, or not to enter the garage due to the construction of a super secret birthday gift.  He was working on projects, making plans, and doing a VERY good job of keeping it all secret.   The suspense was killing me. 

Each day the week of my birthday I recieved a different gift*.  It made each day so exciting to look forward to!  All of the gifts were amazingly thoughtful, and so much fun! 

Then the big day came.  The gift that he gave me on my actual birthday was something that I had been wanting for a really long time, so I was so excited to get it. Then when I found out that we would be venturing to the Schlange's house for dinner that night, I immediately packed it up so that we could all enjoy it together.  The dinner plans were, as I thought anyway, last minute and I couldn't be happier that I would be spending my birthday evening with my three favorite people.

When we arrived at the Schlange residence, to my surprise, the entire house was decorated with balloons, streamers, confetti, and a huge happy birthday banner.  I was a little shocked at how overboard Shay had gone to decorate the house just for the four of us to have dinner.  But then again, she always does this kind of stuff, so I didn't think much of it at first.  When I got my new job she decorated her house and baked me a cake to celebrate over pizza.  She's a rock star.

That's when they sprung it on me.  I wasn't just there for a little birthday dinner after all, on the docket for the evening was a surprise Mardi Gras costume party.  Do you even understand how cool that is?  A costume party in the middle of March!!  It was such an amazing surprise.  They even had costumes ready and waiting.  They seriously thought of everything.  Costumes, masquerade masks, food, music, drinks, and a long list of guests.  Remember how Shay wasn't allowed to buy me anything for my birthday since she paid for me to have my nose peirced on New Year's Eve as an early birthday gift?  She found a way around it.

The night was amazing, and we met a lot of really fun new people.  There was only one situation that got slightly out of hand, and lets just say that Brett and Chaz may have had to physically remove an inebriated neighbor from the premesis.  Other than that, the night went fatastic.

Who could ask for a better birthday?  Not me!  I wish I could turn 25 everyday!

*In case you were wondering....

Monday - UVU hoodie {So Cute!}

Tuesday - Tickets to Alice and Wonderland along with the book {Such a good movie}

Wednesday - Awesome new jewelry holder for my bedroom

Thursday - A trip to Colr Me Mine in Orem to paint ceramics {SO fun!!}

Friday - The Sims 2 Castaway Wii game

Saturday - Nintendo Wii

Don't sweat the small stuff

{photo from Flickr}

Since returning to work I have learned to embrace an old nemesis. I have allowed it to accompany me throughout parts of my day, and have even learned to appreciate it.

When I originally started commuting across the valley three years ago I loathed the distance that I had to travel, and amount of traffic that I had to deal with on a daily basis. I used to bitch and complain constantly about how terrible the drive was.

After being unemployed for three months, however, I woke up last Monday to set off for my first day at my new job and I was actually looking forward to the drive. I know now that I was being selfish before to complain about how much I hated the commute that I was forced to make every day, when instead I should've just been grateful that I even had a job at all.

It's amazing how monumental we make the small and insignificant little things in our day to day lives seem.

I am going to try my hardest from now on not to focus as much on the little things that I usually allow to crawl under my skin and annoy me, and instead redirect the energy that I would normally spend dwelling on said frustrations into reminding myself that I am so fortunate to be where I am in life, even though it’s not what I would consider an ideal situation.

Lost and found

The intensive searching has finally paid off, and in seven days I start a new job.

After I lost my job I felt worthless. I felt like nothing was ever going to be okay again, and I was terrified. I had no idea how we were going to make it through such a mess. Despite all of the encouragement I was receiving from everyone around me, I couldn't convince myself that we could handle it. I tried my best to hide the fact that I was panicking inside, and keep a smile on my face, but it was tough. Everyone else seemed to have confidence in me, but for some reason I just couldn't be confident in myself.

It took a while for these feelings to subside, but eventually they did.

I think that once I realized how much Brett and I had already been through together, I started to gain the confidence that I had been looking for. I am so excited about this job, and I think that it is going to be a great change for me. I loved my last job, and I will definitely miss it, but I can't wait to see what great opportunities this new job will bring.