About 2010.

Twenty. Ten.

This year has been one of the toughest of my 25 years. Truth be told, I have no idea how I'm still standing on two feet after the whirlwind of life-changing events that have happened in the past 365 days. It began with a sense of falling into a dark pit, with anxiety, with sadness. It continued on into neutrality. I was neither sad nor happy. I wasn't in a place relationally where I thought I should be. I wasn't in a professional position that gave me any sense of accomplishment or worth. I worried constantly about where my life was heading, if anywhere. I was totally in limbo. Not as bad as the pit, but not basking in the sunshine. Everything was speeding past me in fast forward and I was standing as a statue.

But then, come July, the halfway mark, things just jumped ship. Did a 180. Whatever you wanna call it, they changed. Like whoa changed. Give you a bit of whiplash changed.

All of a sudden, the tunnel that I'd been traveling through opened. The light shone. I could quit holding my breath for good luck.

In a week (yes, A WEEK)...

I got a new job. A job that basically put me on the track to exactly where I wanted to be in my career. Along with it came more job security, the benefits I'd been wanting, the responsibilities I'd been aching for.

The same week, I re-signed my lease. This time with confidence that I wouldn't have to worry about how I'd pay rent when my project ended abruptly at work.

And just as importantly, I met a boy. The boy. The one who swept me off my feet and and helped me take all of my burdens, bundle them up, and throw them away. The one who has shown me what I was looking for in a partner when I didn't even know what exactly I wanted.

It's ironic that this has been the year that has been filled with both the hardest obstacles to hurdle and the sweetest rewards. But after looking at it in hindsight, I realize that I've also filled this year with the most passion. Passion for love, passion for success, passion for life. Because of the hurt and the feeling of stillness, this fire lit under me and I delved into making myself the best she could be. I think that was the key. I had to concentrate on just me for a while before I was to be blessed with anything else. I'm not saying that my actions had anything to do with my great fortune in the past 6 months, but I do know that it's helped me to be more appreciative and perceptive about even the small things.

Isn't it funny when you add such a thing as passion to the recipe, things kind of work out for the best?

So, my new year's resolution for 2011 is this. To live even more passionately. To love the people around me with a burning fire. To give myself to my job in its entirety during working hours. To reserve my free time for God, for myself, and for others. To make the most out of the 365 days of 2011 that I hope I'm fortunate enough to be blessed with. I want to look back at the end of each year as I do 2010. I want to be proud and to be thankful and to smile at even the heartbreak because I know that each small, minute little step helped me to be where I am right this moment. Exactly where I belong.

Ain't no way there's gonna be a white Christmas...

Okay, call me Mr. Grinch, but I swore up and down we South Carolinians wouldn't see one teensy, tiny little snowflake on Christmas day. The boy was on a 12-year-old's rampage about how it was going to snow sooo much on Christmas and the Sunday after (and zomg Caralee we're going to make snowmen and snowcream and snow angels and everything else that we can possibly think of that uses the word s.n.o.w.!!!), and I just kept squashing his hopes saying that there's no way anything that amazing will happen in GREENVILLE. Go ahead and give me the worst girlfriend of the year award.

Alas, I'm sure you're aware, I was utterly mistaken.

I need a tan.

It's funny, though. There was already something magical going on this Christmas. I was so excited about staying at my parents' house and celebrating and spending the boy and my's first Christmas together, and the snow just added to it. It resulted in the re-arranging of many plans because of the road conditions (don't hate on us, notherners-who-can-drive), but it made way for relaxation time and snuggles and extra coffee. If you know me, there's not much else I love more. Especially coffee. Okay okay and snuggles. Pshwhatever.

Okay, maybe I just like snuggling with him.

And now. It is over. I'm exhausted from playing ping pong between families' houses and eating my freakin' weight in turkey and dressing (whyyyy did you pick a month after Christmas to have your wedding WF? I won't have lost my December gut by thennnnnn!!), but I am happy. And a little chubbier. But happy nonetheless. 

OOOOHHHH and also! I might've received a new camera for Christmas because of my incessant ranting on this here blog about my broken camera and my lack of motivation to take it to get fixed. I knew all that talk wasn't for nothin'. ;)

One last Merry Christmas, y'all. I sincerely hope it was fantastic for everyone! Now...enjoy a few of my favorite pictures from the holidays!

Yeah, I like to smell your butt. What of it?

The Fam.

Tree! I apparently am a failure at taking clear pictures. I'll get there.

My cookies. Remember, I'm awesome at Christmas.

The boy's cookies. I love him for many reasons. Cookie making is not one of them.

His redemption!! The pretty much ONLY good looking cookie he made.

I'm bursting with pride.

Buzz, can I sleep in your room? I don't want to sleep on the hide-a-bed with Fuller. If he has something to drink, he'll wet the bed.

Obviously, I just got done watching Home Alone.

And NOW I HAVE WATCHED EVERY CHRISTMAS MOVIE I OWN. Tragedy! It's Christmas Eve and I don't have anymore movies to watch!!

But, we won't dwell on the negative. The positive? It's Christmas Eve!!!!!!!!!!!!

For some reason, I'm so incredibly excited about this year. I'm excited about spending the night at my parents' tonight, about having the boy and I's first Christmas together, about waking up in the morning, opening presents and drinking coffee with my mom, about doing absolutely nothing tomorrow afternoon...about everything!! Side note: I hope we have biscuits and sausage gravy tomorrow. We always have that. I neeeed that. Calling Mom now....

Anyways, I know this sounds harpy, but I do want to take a minute to recognize WHY I have the chance to be so excited about the holidays. It's because my Jesus was born. And it is gift enough to be able to call Him mine. I don't know about you, but I'm gonna make sure to remember the real reason for the season, be thankful and celebrate. :)

Sugar plums and sparkles and sprinkles and everything else fabulous...

So remember how I told you I was going to bake and take pictures of it all and even mail you some of my goodies (okay I never said that) and it was going to be amazing? I know I failed at all that the first go-round, but hark. the. heralds. I proved you all wrong and baked the first of my Christmas goodies last night. Booyah.

Of course, this was after I spent $85 on baking goods, paper towels which were supposed to be on sale but weren't (haaate), a roast for beef stew tonight and moooore baking goods.

This is how all that turned out.

Santa came early and dropped off all this stuff because clearly he's evil and doesn't want me to fit into

any of my pants. Even sweatpants. Misery loves company, is what he told me. Jerkface.

So, anyways, my friend MR gave me this awesome recipe that she made for our ornament exchange last year. She was also nice enough to come chaperone me while I made it last night. It went a little something lik this:

Me: Is this good?

MR: Ummmm, not even a little bit. You have to crush them into tiny pieces.

Me: But my hand hurts...can I just let Sam chew them up and regurgitate them so they'll be small enough? I mean, if that's too gross, I guess I can chew it up myself.

MR: Let me do the rest. Get out of the kitchen.

Just kidding mostly, but she really was a great help, and gave me some awesome tips to make my sweet treat the best it could be. Thanks, friend!

This is what I sent the boy last night with an uber-cheesy "sweets for my sweet!!" type message. I swear, the later it gets at night, the more I lose my mind. I'm serious. That, my friends, was a corny message. And probably also why he didn't even bother to respond.

Still yummy, though.

After a lot of crushing and pretending to be the Hulk or a construction girl with a hammer (I smashed my peppermints with a hammer, yes), and me stressing out a little bit because chocolate is so testy when it's being melted over a burner, and the whole waiting game for the stuff to freeze, I finally came out with my finished product.

(A picture will go here eventually when I get on the ball and take one)

And yes, it is delicious. Especially since it has mine and Sam's slobber all in it.

Here is the recipe, lucky dogs:

PEPPERMINT ICE CREAM SURPRISE

20 chocolate wafer cookies, crushed1/2 stick softened butter
1/2 gal. peppermint ice cream*** (see below)
1 c. confectioners' sugar
5 oz. evaporated milk
6 oz. chocolate chips
9 oz. Cool Whip
1/2 stick butter
Mix cookies and softened butter and press into 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan. Spread ice cream over cookies and freeze 2-3 hours. In saucepan mix: 10X sugar, chocolate chips, milk, 1/2 stick butter. Boil until chips melt - cool. Pour and spread over frozen layers. Freeze 3 hours. Top with 9 ounce Cool Whip. Freeze.
Defrost 10-20 minutes before serving. Serve with chocolate sauce drizzled over the top. Makes 15 servings.
***you can either buy peppermint ice cream in the store or you can make your own. what i did was buy vanilla ice cream and crush up peppermint candies and mix it in and add some peppermint extract and just kinda add it in small amounts and keep tasting until its to your liking.

Warning: don't read this if you're hungry...

Ohgoodlawd, I have found the pentultimate of all peppermint-chocolate recipes. I think. I haven't actually tried to make it yet, but with a picture like that and Food Network as the host website, I'm willing to bet at least my right foot that it'll be delish.

So the previous post about me baking stuff and taking pictures? Yeah, that didn't happen. I can't remember exactly what I did instead, but it wasn't that. It also wasn't trying to bake and making a mess and then telling you a funny story. It seems like it might've been more like having a couple friends over and trash-talking for most of the night. But I can't know, things like that get a little blurry.

Anyways, to make up for not actually doing my baking, I surfed the net today for good, Christmas-y recipes. As a generation nexter, I know I can always succeed at finding stuff on the Internets. Me = .5, Baking = 1. I'm catchin' up!

So here you are. My favorite thus far...

Chocolate Cheesecake Candy Cane Bars 

Chocolate, pictures, and utensils. But not really utensils.

I'm going to bake tonight. I'm also going to attempt to take pictures of it (even though my camera is still broken) and document it on here.

But then again, I might just make a complete mess of it and tell you a story, because somehow, I think I like that better.

Sadly, I'm not a photo documenter. If that's even a word. The red squigglies aren't underneath it, so I'm going with yes.

If you'd like me to start putting more pictures on here, you're more than welcome to fix my camera or, better yet, just buy me a new one. I think I like that last option. And once, again, if you do, I'll tell you you're awesome at Christmas just like me.

LH's Tree Topper - I figured I'd start off on a good foot with my photo-taking venture.

Things that have gone on this week...

• Did you know that there's really a bug called the woolly worm? I know this because we found one at work. Did you also know that you can look at the thickness of its black stripe on its back to see how harsh/mild the winter will be? I do, now! Also, according to THIS woolly worm, we'll be having a mild winter. I'm taking him home to see how right he is. If he's wrong, I'm squishing him. Jk jk jk. He's like the smaller, more easily tamable version of a groundhog. Fantastic.
• I am kind of awesome at Christmas. My tree has been decorated for weeks, I also put up and decorated the two trees at work and did LH's tree topper and wreath. ALSO, 90% of my presents are wrapped, which, if you're not so quick on the draw, means that I am d.o.n.e. with my Christmas shopping. Thaaaat's right. Be so jealous, all you late Christmas shoppers.
• LH and I are planning a Christmas party for the night before Christmas Eve. Tacky sweaters, gag gifts and dirty Santa. I need a gooood gag gift, so ideas are appreciated. I'll even tell you you are awesome at Christmas just like me. Give credit where credit is due, I say.
• My car.....is sick. Thankfully, I have a boy in the automotive industry, so I'm not paying as much as I should, but holy smokes MUST it happen during the holidays?!?! And during the time where I'm fronting a large sum of money for WF's bachelorette cabin?!?! I think it's because I'm so awesome at Christmas. I can't have it all.
• I've realized that if I can make it until 10 a.m. at work everyday, I'm golden. After that, one hour until eleven, when I kind of start kicking into lunch mode. Then one hour until 12, when the bosses leave for lunch, then I go eat at one. Get back at two and have three more hours to go, easy as pie. As you can see, I spent a good 45 minutes of my work day yesterday (between 8 and 10 of course) figuring this system out.
• That's all I got. Oh look!! It's 11:18. Almost time to go home!!

You Down with the OPP?

It's sad that we can't even cheer to that song at Clemson basketball games anymore...Yes, Oliver Purnell, I'm still a little bitter. But don't you worry, Coach, we've only lost one game (by ONE POINT) this season thus far, so you can go on with your bald self.

The boy is adventuring to the see the Tigers take on Michigan tonight. He's tickled pink. So is Brid because he gets to go with him since I politely declined because I have much more important things to do...like watch Glee. And drink coffee with JM and LH. I tell ya, I just keep showing you all how much my priorities are in line, huh? Thomas Green Clemson would be disappointed. Sorry. But not really.

I do miss being able to go to games whenever I'd like. Like freshman year, when the hall girls and I would religiously be at every baseball game to root on the team. Or maybe it was to see the baseball players in their cute little pants...probably. I had the biggest crush on the catcher, Casanova, that year. It really was destiny that we were meant to be, too. One day, I was in the cafeteria innocently filling my plate with pasta and this onion just catapults itself out of the basket the cafeteria ladies used to fill with "fresh" vegetables. Seriously, I was like 5 feet away from this basket and there was no one else to be found around it. It was an act of God, I say. Wellllll, A. Casanova himself comes flying to the rescue out of NOWHERE and picks up the onion (maybe he thought it was a baseball?) and places it gingerly back in the basket. Ummmm. Was he watching me? How did he see the onion? Nobody at Clemson University liked that pasta but me. He must've been watching me. Thinking, hey that girl likes Schilletter food! Wow!! She must be pretty awesome.

Then, I proceeded to suavely saunter up to him and tell him that we were, indeed, pledged to be married. Psyche. I stood there like a deer in headlights with drool dripping onto my tray. He gave me a weird look and walked away. I do have that gift of making most situations awkward if need be. This was no different. But anyways, yeah, I had an encounter with the Clemson baseball catcher. I think he loved me, if only for a split second. It was all because of the onion.

This is where I got this. I'd also like to say that all things worked out for the best. I have a fabulous guy now and Casanova plays for some team in Michigan and I do NOT do cold weather like that.

Thanksgiving...In a Nutshell.

Thanksgiving always seems to get cheated, no? This year, in strong opposition to all this (mind you, I'm a Christmas freak so this is a big deal), I left all of my fall decor up until this weekend. I only put up my tree and maybe decorated some...most....of it. But STILL, the Thanksgiving-ish stuff, there, too. They shared.

This year was very unique to say the least. I got a call from my mom Thursday morning saying that my grandfather was in the hospital, which totally changed every plan that anyone made. Aunt and Grandma stayed home from Raleigh, our trip to my granfather's house was cancelled, my mom went to the hospital so I came over hours early to finish up her cooking. Needless to say, it was stressful, but it worked out perfectly.

My grandma came over for an early dinner with us, I got to put my cooking skillz to good use (I know right? It's like I'm an adult now or something. Weird.) and we all celebrated together. Which is kind of what it's about, though, right?

I went to David's house for the first time this year, too, which was so much fun.

The biggest thing I've learned this year? Okay, the second biggest, because I definitely learned that God don't plan like I do. So second biggest....older people do. not. care. anymore. A short list of a few (keyword: few) things that occurred around the table.

•  A poor waitress from an unmentioned local restaurant got called a fat a**, from a woman who does not swear.
• A teeny tiny grandma decided to put her foot down (and fork straight up in her tightened fist on the table) on all of us who preferred to eat dressing and turkey rather than fruit - "to all you around this table who haven't cleaned their fruit plate, I suggest you get started now." - Yes drill sergeant! 
• The other grandparents brought their own dressing. Not enough for everyone, mind you. Just enough for the two of them. Because the pan for everyone else was obviously not good enough and why on earth would they bring enough for everyone else? Stuffing stinginess? Never heard of it, but I don't doubt anything now-a-days.

Yeah. I'm just glad none of them farted during dinner, since that one's happened before. Or nobody said that the green beans, macaroni and cheese, etc. was unedible, because that's happened before, too. So, all in all, I say it was a success. 

And...at the end of the day, we were all thankful. Thankful to have funny stories, to have family, to have friends, to have warmth, to have food and to have something to celebrate. 

Happy Late Thanksgiving :) And MERRY EARLY CHRISTMAS!!

Beware: Venting Session

I believe in fairness. Like, probably a little too much.

If you buy me something for $4.50 and I pay you back, you'll get $5 just because of the trouble I put you to. Still to this day, my mom spends the exact same amount of money on my brother and I at Christmas...down to the dollar. Which always ends up in one of the two of us getting random little Target dollar spot things in our stocking. It's precious.

I won't be put in the middle of a tug of war to see who gets to spend more time with me. It's not a competition, and it sure won't be a competition when I'm married with children. Especially during the holidays. All I'm asking for is some collaboration, and I get staunch refusal to even hear me out.

The pot calling the kettle black, in this instance, is exactly what's happening.

Heroes...

There's only two people whose ever died for me 

Laid down their lives just so I could be free 

They both went through hell bared crosses and shells 

And both got back up again after they fell 

They never pick a fight but they're there to pick up the pieces 

God only knows where we'd be without soldiers and Jesus 

To me they're both heroes for the path that they chose 

One fights for my life one fights for my soul.

- James Otto

Today is Veteran's Day. 

Now, I suppose that it's technically meant to honor the soldiers that have fought in the past, but I think it's really a day to celebrate everyone who has been and is currently fighting for my freedom. For your freedom. 

Two of my great friends are overseas at this moment and another is leaving soon, so I guess this time around, it hits a little closer to home. They are brave. Much braver than I could ever be, or would want anyone that I love to ever be for me. Having been close to a few in the armed forces, I know from experience that it's a terrifying experience to even consider the fact of that person leaving to fly halfway across the world. And it's even more horrific to think that they might not come back. 

Admittedly, I've never wanted it to be the people that I care about to have to go. Let it be someone else. It's selfish, I know, but I guess it's human nature to want to protect the ones that you love. The ironic thing is that they volunteer to do it. I'm not nearly the person they are for that. 

So, in short, I want to say thank you. To my grandfather for sailing on a ship through Europe during World War II, to all the boys men I know for going to Afghanistan in 2005-2006, to the ones there now, to the ones leaving soon and to the ones who will be fighting for my children and grandchildren. Words will never do my gratitude justice. 

I Hereby Swear to Never Eat Black Icing Again...

You don't even want to know what black icing does to you oh....about 1.5 to 2 days after you eat it. You know, on the other side of things. If you get my drift.

I put my Googling skills to good use on Saturday to make sure I wasn't dying, my organs weren't failing, and that I didn't need to make an emergency trip to the doctor.

Turns out, very concentrated food coloring is the culprit. Devil dye.

Just take my word for it, don't eat the black icing.

That's all I'll say about that.

Maybe I should dress like the man with long white hair in the store right now...

I need help.

I need a Halloween outfit.

Usually, I have my attire planned way in advance, but this year, I major failed.

On a completely different note, I drug out some old clothes the other night looking for some creative ingenuity to come bursting from my brain and tried on a specfic skirt that I wore around the age of 20. To all of my friends from that era: whyyyyyy did you let me wear that???? I just hope that I never dropped anything when I had it on because bending over is totally not an option in this loin cloth of a skirt.

Okay, anyways.

My ideas for cheap, homemade Halloween outfits are tapped out.

Help me.

At least so I don't have to dress as this....

Which is what I'll be if I keep obsessing over my outfit.

My hands are man hands now.

It has been an interesting 2 months at my job. We (i.e. my boss) decided that the entire warehouse needed to be remodeled. Annnnd I was JUST the person for the job.

So, in a nutshell, I've been moving stuff across 80,000 square feet for 8 weeks. I won't lie about it, it sucked. Bad. Like made me cry some days bad. I've picked up things that were way too heavy for me, gotten dirtier than I ever have before, and gone home completely worn out and sore.

But! We're almost done. And it really does look good. It's much more organized and eye-catching. And I'm starting to see the fruits of my labor, which is nice in itself.

Don't get me wrong, I do NOT want to move another stock pot, frying pan, storage box, or steam pan again in my life, but I have accomplished something huge. And that's pretty cool, I guess.

Saturday Smorgasbord...

• Tonight is my first NASCAR race. There's a few things thoughts that go along with this one, so we'll just make another little dotted list thing under this....ready? Okay.
• I don't know who to pull for.
• I heard there might be a pink car for breast cancer? I mean a pink car??? I'm pulling for that guy.
• If it's anything like the rodeo, I need to be dressing redneck so I won't be getting weird looks thrown my way the entire evening. "What's that prick doing here? Doesn't she know she don't belong?" Ouch. What those country girls don't know is that I grew up here, too, and can spit tobacco, shoot skeet and go muddin' with the best of them......
• Just kidding about the tobacco part, promise Mom.
• My birthday was fabulous!!! Dinner and fun times with friends. A trip to Asheville with the boy. Cake. More cake. Mooorrreee cake. Family time. Okay....it was awesome. :)
• Last night, we had the pumpkin carving contest. I don't really know if it was a contest? I mean, nobody won, but we had fun nonetheless. Below is my punkin. I'm not one to brag, but, that's pretty awesome, yeah? Eeeekk!
  

Okay, I'm out of time. Love everyone. Happy Saturday!!

On the 11th Day of October My True Love Gave to Me...A Caralee!

I broke out the Christmas music this week. It's October...everything is fair game. 

What is some of my favorite Christmas music, you ask? (I know you asked)

This.

They have a new album out, "Twist." Somebody can buy me that if they'd like. 

Eh hem. I do have a birthday coming up in oh....5 DAYS. ;)

JM had an Awesome Engagement Party, but I Think I'll Tell You About Taxis Instead...

Miss (soon to be Mrs!) WF came into town this weekend for J and C's engagement party. Which, by the way, was surely one for the books. Friday night, the girls got together to spend a few hours reminiscing about old times. Always a good time, folks. So, this story got brought up and I just had to share.

To begin, every once in a while, I find myself in the midst of a situation where I'm physically in the middle of things but not really that involved in it. An innocent bystander, if you will. Like the time I thought LT was gonna rip a girl's head off. Awwwkward. Or the classic times when somebody's talking about somebody else and the talked-about girl overhears and confronts the talker. Even more awkward.

But there are the ever-present hilarious times that I am sitting/standing there thanking my lucky stars I'm witness to what's going on. Like when we were in New York a couple years ago.

LH, WF, JM and I had celebrated our first night in the Big City in a very BIG way. We were on Cloud 9 and trying to head home. Mind you, this is after JM's umbrella turned somersaults down 5th Avenue and she had a major minor freak out moment on the side of the street. This was also after the random Irish guy we met tried to go home with us, we said no and he yelled something about peacoats and "fat arses" - side note: we're not really big girls. And JM's figure resembles something like a toothpick that got together with an hourglass one night and produced her - okay rant over.

Anyways, we call a cab and all jump in. WF on one side, me in the middle and JM on another side.....and LH in the front seat with the foreign driver. Well, if you know LH at all, you know the girl can literally talk to a brick wall for hours on end and walk away swearing it was the most liberating conversation of her life. 

So of course, she strikes up a chat with taxi man. Well, the conversation turns to football (no shock there). JM breaks out the camera and starts videoing, because if we know one thing, it's that this convo is about to take a turn for the worst. 

LH: So, you like football?

Taxi Man (in a thick Indian accent): Umm, I'm sorry?

LH: You know. Football. (In a REALLY bad Indian accent and also 10 times louder and slower than need be) Aaahhh-mmeeerrr-eeeee-kkkaaaannnn Fuuuuut-baaawwwllll. 

TM: Ah. Yes. (Dirty look).

LH: Well, you ever been to Death Valley? 

TM: Pardon me?

LH: Dude! Death Valley!!!!!!!!! The greatest place on the face of this freakin' earth. Clemson plays there. They're the best football team in the ACC. HECK, they're the best team in all of college football. You gotta come. You gotta be there when they run down the hill. I mean, dude, it's freakin' awesome. It's like....so awesome.

TM: ................

Meanwhile, WF is next to me speaking in her "mean mommy tone" about how she just knows that we've passed that store eight and a half times and that "excuse me driver, don't you try to give us the run around, I know this city and I'll kick you straight to New Jersey if you try to jip us money. There it is again! The same building! Y'all, he's trying to take us all around to make more money!"

JM's cracking up. WF's obviously being Nazi tourist. And LH is talking this poor man's head off about a sport, team, stadium and place that he will forever vow to never be a part of because of this very night. Me? I'm in the middle of the backseat. Watching it all happen and feeling kind of sorry for the guy driving us. Also, knowing that he is, in fact, NOT driving us around NYC, he's driving twice the legal limit to get us to our destination and out. of. the. car. OUT OF THE CAR. 

I wonder to this day if he remembers us. Those little southern girls in peacoats with fat arses. My bet is yes.

I have seriously got to quit talking about boogers...

So, I'll admit it. I've been a little on the complainy lately. The job has been getting rough around the edges the last few weeks, and instead of just shutting up and toughing it out like a big girl, I've whined and cried like a gassy infant the entire time. Hey, at least I admit it.

I had to work this past Saturday because we're basically moving the entire showroom around. I, who value my weekends and like to stay on a pretty normal schedule, was not happy. Like not even a little bit. But, I hadn't a choice in the matter, so at 7:45 on Saturday morning I dragged myself out of my bed, put on yoga pants with paint splatters, a t-shirt, brushed my teeth (lucky for them) and headed out the door.

We worked for about 4.5 hours or so and got a ton of stuff done, which actually works to my benefit seeing as I'm the only one that's doing the move most days. So yeah, we finished, I left and pretty much just thanked my lucky stars it was over.

Welllll....

Then this morning, I walk in the door and my boss is like "so what day you want off?" I turned around, and fought the urge to look at him and tell him to eff off it was too early for jokes like that. Instead, I just said what?

What day do you want off for comp time for Saturday?

You for real?

Um, yes. I told you that last week.

(how in the heck did I miss this? I wouldn't have missed this.) Ohhh ok. I didn't realize. Well....can I take off my birthday?

Sure. Just fill out a time-off sheet and hand it in. Done deal.
----

This is where the chorus of angels started singing from the heavens. The gates started opening up in my head to a wonderful weekend of me welcoming in my 25th year. Eeeekk!

I guess there was no reason for me to be whiney in the first place, then, huh?

Lesson learned, God.

A Quick Tour of the Best Parts of South Carolina...

So here's how it went down when I answered the phone on Saturday morning...

Saturday 9:42 am
Ring ring....

Hello?

Hey babe. You ready for the game?

Umm, is that even a question? I accidentally cut myself shaving earlier and it literally bled orange.

Ooookayyy. Cough cough. Sometimes I seriously worry about you. Anyways, so what are you doing later tonight?

Besides celebrating Clemson's win? I dunno. I figured we'd hang out. Right? I mean, unless you have manly things to do like bush hogging or catching rattle snakes with your bare hands.

Caralee, seriously, you have lost your mind. I was gonna see if you wanna go to Charleston.

Tonight? Like, after the game? I dunno...I mean...sheesh. I'd have to get somebody to watch Sam.

Oh. Ok. Well it was just a thought. I'll see you in a few.

9:45 am

Hello?

Hey D. Okay, scratch that. I changed my mind. Let's go.

Oh gah. Ha. You sure? 

Yep. My parents will watch the dog. I wanna go..I think...wait...okay yeah I wanna go.

You're positive? I mean, you tend to change your mind like 104 times before you come to a decision.

Ugh. Um, yeah I knowww. Hater. Let's GO!

Sounds good! Have your stuff packed in 15 minutes. I'll be there to get you.

15 MINUTES?! Okay, fine. Eeeekk!!!

----------

So that's how it happened. We went from my apartment to my parents, to Clemson, to a birthday dinner and then to Charleston. We got there at about midnight. And it was aaaweeeesome. A full next day of the beach, time with the boo and his family, Hyman's, waterfront park and me getting to wear my new Jessica Simpson wedge heels I got for $13.00 (yes you saw that right. I'll only teach you my secrets if I deem you worthy).

Best Labor Day weekend ever!

I don't get why people don't like Seinfeld...

Seinfeld paved the road for shows like The Office. That's really all I have to say about that.

As you can see, my blog is fixed!!!! The fabulous Mrs. LJB came to my rescue and just did it for me instead of taking 10x more time trying to explain the whole process to me. Thank God for friends like her.

Saturday is....

SATURDAY IS THE FIRST CLEMSON GAME OF THE SEASON!!!!

Pumped. So incredibly pumped. Even though I haven't figured out what to wear yet. You know, I keep an eye out for orange apparel all year long, and it always ends up that I have nothing to wear to games. Whyyyyy? It's because I don't wear orange unless it's for a specific Clemson-related purpose. Therefore, I don't buy it when I do see something cute because I think "meh, I'll find something closer to football season." You'd think I'd learn from the error of my ways.

But seriously, y'all, let me tell you about the first game of the year. There's a buzz in the air that can't be expressed in words. Everybody's so excited and you can literally, physically feel it.

THEN. The cannon goes off and the team runs down the hill and the entire stadium is shaking like an earthquake that could blow the Richter scale off the charts. And you're screaming even though you can't hear yourself. And you're probably getting a little teary-eyed thinking about all the good college memories you had in the stadium. And you're nervous because kickoff is about to happen. And you're silently cursing the other team and laughing at them simultaneously because their tiny showing in the West End Zone is just pathetic.

It's amazing. I can't wait.

Two tickets, 45-yard line, with my boo. The true version of perfection. :)

Okay, I suck at html. I'm trying to re-design my blog. As you can see, I am so incredibly lost. LJB HAAAALLLLPPPP MEEEEE!!!!!!

I have tried to be like you and failed. Miserably. Call ASAP.

Until then, enjoy the pictures up top that don't match the background and that don't fit the text box. Eventually we'll get there.

P.S. If your initials aren't LJB but you know how to fix my mess, then feel free to call. Only if you have my phone number.
P.P.S. If you don't have my phone number, then I obviously probably don't know you, so send me a message via some other form of WWW communication. k thanks. I'll even take advice from non-creepy strangers.

I Can't Decide.

Okay, to start...I can seriously never make up my mind.

Should I wear heels or flats? Jeans or a skirt? Do I want pasta or rice? To get another dog or not? Which boyfriend to go out with tonight? (Just kidding, DC ;) )

Which leads me to my point...I'm in a conundrum. I can't decide if I'm ready for summer to end yet. I LOVE the summer - the lake, the beach, a tan (which I sadly lack at the moment), sundresses, flip-flops, ice cream, everything amazing - but I equally, if not a teensy bit more, love the fall.

WF and I have been discussing autumn the past couple weeks and her excitement comes from cardigans (olllld), flannel pajamas (even older) and smell-good candles. Now I may have just made fun of her, but I 100% agree with each one of these.

What I'm most excited about, though, involves bonfires, Halloween, the mountains, my hair looking better because of the lack of humidity, crispy air, the leaves changing and jeans with boots.

But see here's the thing. I know around January 2nd (after festivities), I'm going to start missing summer so bad I can taste the sea salt.

So I've decided (for once) to make a point to live in the moment and enjoy the last few balmy evenings and sunny Saturday afternoons by the pool. I'm gonna wear the mess out of my sundresses and flip-flops until they fall apart.

....And of course take advantage of every single Waffle Cone Wednesday at TCBY until I'm required to have insulin shots.

You mean they have the same birthday?

JM and her future forever-I-do man have the same birthday. Isn't that weird? I think it is. People used to tell them that was bad luck. Well, here you go, folks. They're getting married...silly superstitions.

We went to supper tonight to celebrate their birthday...is it birthdays or birthday? I mean, it's the same day, but two people. HB...lemme know. I know you have some kind of crazy, English-language based explanation for this that I probably won't understand...which is probably why I was never project manager at good ol' 10Best.

Speaking of, I miss my 10Best ladies...don't get me wrong, I love my new job. I love the people there. But with my 10B ladies, man, I could tell them anything. Whether it was me maybe wetting my pants a little because something was soooo funny on Saturday night or telling them on AIM I was sitting in my little corner cube shedding a tear or two because whatever it was -- *time out: now when I say that I mean that I was either crying over something for real serious, the Dawn dish detergent commercial with the baby animals (omg tearing up now over that one!) or it was one of those uber-girly moments when they told me I was being retarded and way over-emotional and to "dry it up, you sap" -- was just so dang sad, they were there for me. And still are :)

So yeah, anyways, supper tonight. Some of the classic Blue Ridge boys were there, and in true form, they did not disappoint on the entertainment front. Below are just a few quotes overheard at the dinner table this evening:

• Referring to the little squirty man the cook always has: "He just peed on me!!" -Mr. Hannigan
• "If I'm a slut, then what does that make you, Turner, a prostitute?" -LH
• "Nick, they're about to make y'all a cake." "Don't speak to us in that manner!"

Okay, now for real, these probably aren't even funny to you (if anybody?) readers. But it was hilarious. I didn't stop laughing. Even with the embarrassment of the manager calling us drunk (we weren't) and the fact that pretty much everyone in the restaurant thought we were hoodlums that did not belong in public, it was a total winner of a night. Happy Birthday August babies!

P.S. Nobody took pictures!

P.P.S. I still haven't gotten my camera fixed :/

P.P.P.S. Do you think maybe it'll just magically fix itself if I wait long enough? I'm going with yes.

Have you ever had an item of clothing that you just absolutely adore? It's stylish, it fits super well, it goes with a lot of stuff. Well, I have this yellow shirt.

It's the first yellow shirt I've ever bought, and I omggg love it. Love it so much I've worn it four times since I got it a couple months ago. And wouldn't you know that every time I wear it, somebody takes my picture. I realized this last night when I wore it to CH's engagement party...I put it on (again) with my matching super-cute skirt and coordinating pumps and walked out the door.

Wellllll, LH was put in charge of picture taking, which meant, of course, that I was a part of the 1-2-3 cheese! all night. Totally fine by me, considering I might be an attention whore. Then I realized that these would probably be posted on facebook, just like the other three events where I donned the infamous yellow shirt.

I saw Miss AC at the party and had to address the whole "yeah I was totally wearing this exact same outfit the last time I saw you" problem, but she just laughed it off. Apparently she has a dress she calls Old Faithful, because she wears it to literally everything. I feel much better after hearing this.

So basically, I just wanted to write this and let you know that I do actually own other articles of clothing, but you'll be seeing that one piece popping up pretty frequently in the next few weeks.

It's Fun to Have Stuff To Do...

My daily planner is basically my life. I've harped on this before, and it still stands true. Without that thing, I can't get through the day. 

So, as I'm flipping through it the other day, I realize that I have pretty much every weekend booked with something to do until after my birthday...in the middle of October. Sheesh.

It does make me realize, though, how wonderful it is to celebrate. Weddings, birthdays, family time, God, you name it.

I'm so fortunate right now. 

Tomorrow, we're celebrating my parents' birthdays. I'll save them the pain of telling ages, but I will say that I'm so thankful to have them. I went to their house Monday to do cake and ice cream for my dad's big day, and I looked at him and realized that it's a miracle he's here. It's a miracle that he was standing in the kitchen dancing with me and singing completely off key. It's stuff like that I'll never forget. And it's stuff like that I'm looking forward to in the future. My daddy and I will totally be dancing goofily to something like "Wooly Bully" at my wedding, Lord willing. And I can't wait. :)

Do you ever feel like you have a booger but you can't check out the damage because you're scared you'll get caught picking your nose?

That happens to me.

This one time, when JM and I were living in Charleston, we went to the beach with some friends. Mind you, these were guy friends that we were probably trying to impress, which, if you're a girl, you know that looking like the complete version of perfection is not an option in these situations.

Anyways, we're playing in the ocean, looking cute as buttons and this humongous wave comes and knocks everyone over. It was that kind of tumbling in the water deal where you can't tell which way is up or down. Well, I finally found Up and popped out of the water giggling and *trying* to look like it was no big deal that what just happened probably made me look like some sort of beached octopus. I systematically checked everyone before surfacing...bikini bottoms: check, top in place: check, hair out of my face: yep. All systems go.

So yeah, I come up and everybody takes a two-second look at me and starts howling with laughter? Whaaatttt??? My so-called best friend was laughing so uncontrollably that she couldn't even tell me what was wrong. I'm scrambling. Then, I found it. This monster of snot running clear down my nose to my chin. Annnd then...I was at a loss. How do you make a lugey look cool? Answer? You can't. You just wipe it off (yes with your hand because the only other option is seaweed and that....is not okay) and try to laugh with the rest of them.

I was mortified. Thankfully, it broke the booger barrier with those guys. But wow, it does suck to be the martyr in that situation. You got stories? Tell 'em in the comments!

Saturday Smorgasbord...

Here we are again. Saturday. Amazingday.

• First off, whatever thing I used to get my blog design has erased it! Why? I don't understand? Did you, Blog Background Person, decide you don't like me anymore? I mean, I'm doing free advertising for you. Whatever...your backgrounds stink.
• I'm happy :) I really don't want to jinx myself, but things are going splendidly at the moment. I couldn't ask for more.
• I need shag lessons. I know the basics, but that don't mean I'm good. Or even decent? I guess when it came down to the dancing talents, God decided I was already wayyy too perfect, so he nixed that part. Anyways, WF's wedding reception will have a band. And lots of dancing. And I need to be a part of that...I HAVE to be a part of that. Ideas on shag dancing lessons?
• T.J. Maxx. Enough said. Two pairs of pants, two shirts and a pair of OMGGGG-awesome shoes for $99.00. Just call me queen of the sale.
• I really need to paint my nails. What is up with nail color lately? It chips on day one. Does this only happen to me? I can't even know, but seriously, I don't have the time or the motivation...or the patience...to paint my nails and then sit there doing nothing while they dry. Speaking of, I think somebody told me the other day they make nail polish you can just peel off now? I need this. Asap.
• What's up with the Wiener dog? He's sleeping. Borrrrinnngggg. Although, he met a new person this week and low and behold, he liked him in about 2.5 seconds. This is unheard of. And to top it off, he seriously, like, loves him more than he loves me. I feel betrayed. Who is it that feeds, waters, plays with him, takes him to go potty and everything else that a good dog-mother should do? That's me. Me!
•  Annnnd now I'm off to shower, eat hamburgers and see D's new house! Yay Saturday!

Just call me the snake that's shedding it's skin...

I don't even know what kind of mood I'm in....happy? Excited (wait, this might be because The Bachelorette is coming on tonight)? Oh wait I know....new. Well, newer. P.S. this is kind of sappy, so if you want a laugh, tune in at a later date. Oookay, now that we've gotten that out of the way...

Lots of things have happened in the past year. Lots of fantastic things, and a good many suck-my-toe-life-i'm-mad-at-you-right-now things. And....I'm totally okay with it all. I really hate throwing out cliches, but sometimes, it has to happen, so brace yourselves...pause....what doesn't kill you always makes you stronger. Cringe. I know right? And if it ain't the truth.

And life definitely does teach some lessons. Especially when you don't want to learn them and you'd rather just continue skiing down the slope of Life As We Know It all angel-like and giddy.

I feel like I'm finally seeing the light at the end of a couple tunnels here lately, and it's so refreshing. Since I'm at this point, I'm also able to look back and analyze a few things I've learned.

First, everybody's path is completely and totally different. When I was in elementary school, I just knew I'd be married at 22, have babies at 24 and be this successful business person that also somehow managed a functional home life. Oh and I'd be a size 2. Hmm. Reality: getting married at 22 (unless you're somebody like LJB) is not a great idea. Looking at how far I've come in that last three years (almost 25? SCARY), I can see that I needed to grow by leaps and bounds to ever be ready for a commitment such as marriage, much less with kids involved. It's okay to not be married out of college. It's okay to take some "me time" and figure things out. Somebody told me once that you can't give yourself to another person unless you know what you're giving. I remembered that for a reason. Also, I've never been a size 2, so this notion was so lofty that my body, probably even then, laughed out loud at me. :)

Second, it takes a lot of time to get where you want to go. Impatience is one of those things that we're ingrained with from birth, it seems. I want this NOW. I'll do this NOW. Let's go NOW. Me? I'm probably the worst of all. It took me two years to get into a professional position where I feel like I belong, where I'm in my element. I've been praying and pleading for this moment for a long time. But in the whole scheme of things, what's two years? I know now that when I look back, I'll be thankful for having to want for something so badly that I'm willing to put the sweat and tears into it to making it great.

Third, who even cares what people think? This is kind of a two-parter. I've never been the person to get upset if someone doesn't like me for what I say. I've always taken pride in the fact that people don't have to wonder if I'm telling the truth, because like it or not, I usually do. Check that lesson-learned off like four times. Got it down pat. I have learned, though, that people will do what they want. Wasting my breath telling somebody what I think about a situation or a relationship or a decision doesn't do much good. Call me insensitive, but I no longer give advice unless it's asked of me. It's too much energy for me to care so much and then have my words thrown by the wayside. Do as you will. I'll love you anyway.

Fourth, the ones who have stood the test of time are worth more than gold. There are a few people in my life that have been by my side when it counted. If you'd asked me a couple years ago about what that meant, I'd have said that it's friendship rule number one. People break the golden rule of friendship all the time. It's the ones who don't that you have to love and appreciate. I've realized lately how much it means to have people surrounding me that are judgment free and 100% loving and supportive. I've made my mistakes. I've not always done the right thing. But they love me anyway. I know now that if I hit the lottery one day, I couldn't pay to have people like this in my life....although, a little cash money might help keep them around ;)

And last but not least. God is seriously a bomb-diggity event planner. It's really hard for me to "let go and let God", but if anything the past few years has taught me, is that He knows WAY better what's best for me than I ever will. There's been so many times I've just known that this or that was supposed to happen, but it didn't. There's been so many times that I've sat in bed telling God what needed to and should happen....but it didn't. My mom always says that God never says no, he either says yes or wait.  I'm tremendously thankful that He told me to wait. It's the best feeling in the world seeing the puzzle pieces fall together in the complete opposite way than I was so confident would happen. :)

I Got A New Job and I Choked on Water...

So today was the big day. The new job. 


Let me start by saying I didn't sleep last night. Like, barely at all. I finally fell asleep about 1:30, woke up at 3:00 to Sam making creepy noises in his sleep, woke up again at 4:00, again at 5:30 and again at 6:11. It was over after that. Needless to say, I'm just thankful I wasn't delirious enough to call the boss the wrong name or let drool dribble down my chin and onto the computer today. Thank the Lord for small big favors.

I couldn't get it all right, though. I got home this evening and drank a sip of water, which proceeded to go down the complete and total wrong pipe and returned with brute force back up my throat and out of both nostrils. I don't know why I'm always by myself when things like this happen (or when I hear people in my apartment complex doing the dirty. Why am I always alone for that? It's not right.), because I feel as though someone else would thoroughly enjoy my pain. But alas, it was just Sam. And he was more concerned about the wheat crackers I was eating. Fattie.

So yeah...the point of this story? (Delirium kicking in) My job! It went really well. I met everyone, filled out my paperwork, got some computer training and went to a shoot for a video for the website. I'll be in these videos soon. GASP. I know right? Scary. But, we all know I love to be the center of attention, so I can't say I'm not excited ;)

Until next time...

Annnd she's off!

Yep. Off alllll week! Let me just tell you how nice this is...

I've spent the past two days cleaning out stuff. Crap. Junk. Whatever you wish to call it. Here are a few things I've come across...

• Dried roses from sometime in high school that I totally thought were going to be made into potpourri at my and so-and-so's wedding. Who even gave these to me? Can't remember. Apparently not my future husband.
• My Clemson baby booties - I've been a Tiger since birth, y'all. It's nice to know I've been raised right.
• An old digital camera box - good thing I kept up with the box since I lost the camera about three years ago. Responsibility, folks. That's what it's all about.
• Old Halloween outfits - ummm pumped is all I can say about this. Wanna come over and play dress up?
• Journals galore - I've had a journal since I was in like 4th grade. I spent the majority of yesterday reading them all.

Through reading these journals, I've found that I was really a nice person. In one elementary school entry, I remember being FURIOUS at this one person, and I wrote about how much I was upset and that I hated him. The next sentence went something like, "well ok I don't hate him, I'm just really angry with him." What?! I felt so bad for saying that I hated him that I immediately re-nigged the comment. Probably because you're not supposed to hate people. So Momma says. Still super sweet.

No wonder people love me so much. ;)

Anyways, I'm heading to Charleston on Thursday with some mighty fine ladies to get in some good r & r before WF and MD's engagement party on Saturday. Whoop! Also, Mr. Ben is my date, that handsome stud. AND if you don't know who he is, you should probably read this. It's really too bad he couldn't have competed in the Miss SC Pageant. He'd have won by a landslide.

Why yes I will do it myself thanks...

I never pick the right time to make the larger life choices.

It's almost like when I know I'm heading into some deep, unknown water, I get all "I'm going to do this by myself and I want my entire life to be different, not just this one thing, because whyyyy on Earth would I just stroll into a new situation when I could jump headfirst without thinking that the said unknown and dark pool may be not be a standard 8-foot pool where you DON'T hit your head and break your neck, it might be one of those 5-foot hotel pools, which will surely bring destruction."

Yeah. That's me. Bring it all on at once.

One day I'll realize that I can't take on the entire world.

_______________

On a totally different wavelength, this is just too good for me not to share. She'll kill me for this, which is why I'm not even daring to mention her initials, but it's classic. Please know going forward that this lady is one of the best spellers I know. Except today.


Daily E-Mail:
Me: You have to be back from lunch by now.
Her: See.
Me: See? Did you mean si? I think you meant si. Like the spanish yes. If you did, I'm going to laugh so hard at you.
Her: I meant si. As in Spanish for yes.  And you can laugh all you want but I will once again remind you that I took Latin.  Latin which is an unspoken, dead language.Also, I hate you.

I can't quit laughing.

Saturday Smorgasbord...

As I said, it's been an interesting week, but good overall. At the moment, I'm sitting on the couch getting up enough motivation to cook some supper so I won't meet my doom by starvation. I kid. Maybe. Wanna know my thoughts? No. Here they are anyway.

• The groin is still pulled. It's healing, though. I think it might be the way I'm sleeping? I need to call one of my nurse friends. AB? Can I get a holler from Fayetteville puhlease?!
• What's up with the Wiener dog? He's under my bed at the moment, where he's sketchily been for the past hour. I think he's up to no good. He IS losing some weight, though, mainly because of his new healthy diet dog food. Also he woke me up at 6:00 am Wednesday morning crying and holding his back leg at an odd angle. Scared the daylights out of me. It was a cramp, though, I believe, because he's fine now. Whew.
• I got new deck chairs!!!! They're the Adirondak ones that probably everyone will be jealous of. P found them, picked them up, stained them and is currently putting them together, all for little ol' me :) I'm so excited!
• I'm thinking breakfast for supper. It's Saturday, so on principle, I don't have to eat vegetables if I don't want to. Take that, spinach.
• Okay, so I have this bamboo plant (thanks again P!), but I've found myself in a conundrum. I do not have a green thumb. How do people know when to water and when to not? How much is too much? Too little? I need to take a plant 101 class. But, then again, I don't like failing things.
• Ohp! The Wiener is back on the couch. Where you been little one? He's licking his chops. Not a good sign.
• Mmm. Clemson lost last night. I don't want to talk about it.
• And last, but not least, I need some July 4th plans. I'm thinking fireworks, grilled burgers, cold drinks and cornhole. But that's just me. 

How Many Different Names can I Make up so I Don't Have to say the V Word?

First off, let's just say it's been an interesting week.

It's my second to last week of work, I seriously sucked it up at softball on Wednesday, and the Wiener dog is on his new "healthy weight" dog food, but otherwise, it's been a great week. Except when I woke up with an earache this morning, which just kind of added to my already apparent pain because I pulled my groin on Wednesday.

Yes.

You heard right.

I pulled my groin. Which is basically like saying I broke my hoo-ha. And it hurts, like, wayyyy bad.

I have no idea what happened. I woke up Monday with a dull pain, but it wasn't noticeable enough to worry about. It went away by Tuesday, so I did some P90X yoga and went on my merry little way. No biggie. Well, apparently my cooch had something otherwise to say about that. Wednesday, before my softball game, it started hurting a decent amount. Kind of like it was saying "Yo, Caralee, I'm kinda struggling down here at the moment, so are you sure you wanna play softball? Because I really don't think you do." But I did anyways, of course.

Yeah, well, that just made her mad (I can't believe I just called my tooch a "her" and made her talk in the last couple sentences). I got done playing and the adrenaline wore off and all of a sudden OHMYGAH WHAT IS THAT PAIN NEAR MY HOO-HOO?!?!?! I stumbled to my car from the field and sat down (with great pain) and tried to figure out what just happened. I still don't really understand? I mean, yeah I ran some, and yeah I caught (and missed) some balls, but really? Is that so deserving of all this?!

Needless to say, since, I've been wobbling around like some 80-year-old that needs a walker, but refuses to get one.

And, also. If somebody has the nerve to ask me why I'm walking as if one leg is longer than the other, what do I even say? "Shove it. I have a pulled groin and if you don't want to know how it feels, then I suggest you go on wit ya bad self". Ha. Yeah, right.

Off to see the Wizard...

Life is so funny.

Shockingly, belly-jiggling funny, sometimes, and sarcastically, bitingly, kick-you-while-you're-down funny, at other times, but humorous nonetheless. This past couple weeks have been made of the funny life moments where I've taken a step back, looked, studied, and given that little chuckle that always means, "hmph, you did it again. I sooo wasn't expecting this and yes, I'm flabbergasted."

I've been offered a job at a different company. Needless to say, I'm taking it. My life is changing. Everything is completely unknown. I don't even know how to explain my emotions at the moment, because I'm all together excited, happy, nervous, terrified, motivated, sad and nostalgic. I'm like the poopy brown-grey color that happens when you mix 10 different bright hues together.

I'm most excited, though. A new challenge, new scenery, new horizons, new goals.

I told JM a few weeks ago that I had a feeling something good was coming. :)

The Time I Almost Accidentally Killed My Brother...

Okay, who has siblings? Like, pretty much almost everybody, so you'll get my drift when I say this. Siblings do not always get along basically because of a few simple things: they live together, they see each other everyday and people, in general, get on each others' nerves. Especially my nerves.

Needless to say, I was the eldest sibling, which gave me the power to control a lot of what the little bro did. Especially during his toddler and elementary years. And it's true, I wasn't all that nice to him but I've apologized a million times for pinning him on the floor and pouring water in his face, for slapping his arm as hard as I possibly could when he said he was going to tell Mom that I said "ass" (he never told her, by the way, adding to the fact that he's pretty awesome), and for telling him his "My Buddy" came alive at night and was going to haunt him.

This one time, though, takes the cake. And I didn't even mean to.

One year for Christmas, Santa left us a trampoline outside. Imagine our delight as we squealed and ran out there in footy pajamas to jump on it in the freezing cold. We were ecstatic. That also happened to be the year of Space Jam, and for those of you who don't remember, that soundtrack was the best, and probably still is, album of allllll time.

Well, one day, I decided that D and I were going to create the absolute best trampoline choreography to go along with the soundtrack, because we were totally going to be famous once the critics saw how we could jump, do splits, front flips and high-fliers at the EXACT same time. It was a circus act in the making, kids.

As we were doing this, I told him that during the "Welcome to the Space Jam, Space Jam, Space Jam" part (you totally know what I'm talking about), that I'd fall down on the trampoline as hard as I could so he could go flying even higher in the air (once again, everybody knows what I'm talking about).

So I'm jumping as hard as I can to get some good leverage and then BOOM I come down butt-first on the trampoline. Except....there wasn't enough buttage on the bouncy. Something was in between me and the trampoline. OMG it's the brother's head. I fell on my brother's teeny little 6-year-old head.

He got up and started running around in circles on the tramp, crying like he had something lodged in his throat. I wish you could hear it, really. I was convinced he had brain damage. All I could think of was that I might've killed my brother and we weren't going to be famous for trampoline choreography anymore, we were going to be famous for a freak accident that left my brother with a defected voice and running around in circles 24-hours a day.

Thankfully, he's fine. I think. I'm pretty sure. But I'll never forget the day that I thought I squished my brother's head like a pimple.

How Good Nights Become Great Nights...

I'll be the first to admit it...lately I've gotten old.

If it's a week night, then you can assume that I'm sitting at home, doing yoga, working, cooking, watching a movie or hanging out with P or the girls. I'm the one that has my weekly shows and needs to watch them so I won't get off schedule. Oh wait...I think that was college, too? Scratch that.

Anyways, last Thursday, I get numerous calls saying "Ohmygosh coooommmmeee to the Lee Brice concert tonight!" I thought about it, then thought about the fact that I had a full work day ahead of me and politely told them all I'd think about it.

I thought about it.

Then it hit me. I am 24 years old! I am in no shape or form old (except for the fact that 2 beers gives me a hangover now, I can't sleep past 9:30 on a Saturday and I seriously enjoy grocery shopping). I am going to that blasted concert.

So I call JM, PM, LH, DH, JW and everybody else I can think of and relay the message. CONCERT! Oh, and I feel like I should mention that concert tickets were $12 and you got a free Lee Brice CD with admittance, and if there's something I absolutely cannot pass up, it's a good deal.

Everybody ended up meeting at the Blindhorse with a few other old friends in tow and we had a blast. I tried so hard and semi-failed learned to line dance, did some sort of weird jig because I couldn't line dance and DH caught it on camera (then proceeded to put it on Facebook...you for real?), sang my heart out to "She Ain't Right" and all out had a blast with tons of friends.

So in short, I was twitchy-eye tired and headachey the next day at work, and I came home and really felt the need to nap, even though it was Friday, and spent the most part of the evening watching Pirates of the Caribbean, but it was so totally worth it. What could have been a good night at home watching primtime television became a great night of friends and fun. I call a win.

Please ignore BWand JM since they felt the need to be weirdos.

Ain't that Crazy?

So I was going to write Tuesday and nothing hit me. Other than a story about the time Jamie and I got caught sneaking in her parents' house at 4 am.

Then I was going to write yesterday and then I had to go celebrate my grandma's 80th birthday. BTW, whoa! Go Me-mother! Still driving, talking smack and looking as cute as a button.

Tonight I was going to write (I guess technically I am?), but then I decided to go party with Lee Brice at the Blindhorse. I'm gonna 'love like crazy' while people are all 'she ain't right' because 'happy endings happen all the time.'

Don't be jealous that I just incorporated three of his biggest songs into one sentence.

Saturday Smorgasbord...

This week, my Saturday Smorgasbord has more of a theme. Still a list, so no worries, but a thematic list. What Not To Wear. Let me just say that I am, by no means, a fashionista. Let me also say, though, that I am well aware of a few rules that should be followed by everyone. all the time. Here are a few no-no's that I've noticed the past few months...

• High socks - socks are meant to shield the feet from sweaty, grossy, stinkiness. They are not mean to be a fashion statement or, oh my gosh kill me, worn with sandals. I cringe at the thought of the toe-sock/Birkenstock era. There are plenty of socks nowadays that are made to slide right below the ankle bone and stay perfectly in place at the line of a tennis shoe. Take this advice and run with it. Ha literally. 
• Belly shirts - seriously? We are no longer in the Clueless day and age, which means showing off your abdomen, no matter how svelt it is, is not acceptable. I saw a girl the other day who had her t-shirt rolled up and tucked neatly around her bra. You kidding me? Who told you that looked hot?
• Scarves with everything - a scarf is super cute, I'll admit. But it's just lazy dressing if you don one with every outfit during the winter months (and in some cases, the chilly spring nights, too). Have people forgotten that necklaces have a purpose, as well? I mean, come on. Your neck can't be that cold.
• White jeans - ugh. Unbenownst to most people, they actually do make white pants that aren't jean material. Take heed, people. Jeans are blue. That is all. Blue.
• A Yes-Yes and another jean comment - this isn't so much a rule for everyone, as it is me. I don't pinch pennies when it comes to jeans. Good jeans are incredibly important. It's only right that they fit correctly, look good with flats or heels and don't do that muffin-top thing. A good pair of jeans can last years on end (as long as you don't lose or gain a ton of weight) and are well worth the money.

Any more? You tell me.

It's Very Spooky In Here...I Ain't Playing No Games and Other Disney World Memorabilia

Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag now...

I went to Disney World.

And omg it was so incredibly awesome. The four of us gracefully leapt through the turnstiles (or somehow managed to clumsily fumble our junk through them without getting caught in between the bars because that's totally embarrassing....not that it's ever happened to me. Okay, maybe once. Or twice.) into the Magic Kingdom  and instantly turned into the 6-year-old versions of ourselves, complete with Cinderella outfit and crown.

Now, let me just tell you...going to Disney World with the most obsessed girl on the planet has it's positives (yes, that's you WF). Read below...

• We had a military-styled plan of execution for our every step. Whether it was going to Space Mountain upon entrance to get our fast passes or hitting one of the better shows exactly 2 minutes and 47 seconds before the clouds started moving in. Yes. It was that serious.
• WF acted as house historian/vacation planner/tour guide/that always weird person full of random knowledge that leaves you thinking how in the world does she even know this? throughout the day. Kind of nice. I now know more about the place where dreams come true than probably 90% of my age bracket.
• She knew where every bathroom was in the entire park. I really don't have to elaborate on this, because if you know me at all, you know that if my bladder size were compared to a food group, it'd rank somewhere between a green pea and a brussel sprout. Don't judge me.

Everything went swimmingly. We hit up EPCOT on Monday to avoid the Magic Kingdom/Memorial Day crowd, and toured each of the worlds ('cept Canada, cause who really cares that much, eh?), bought entirely too much stuff, ate constantly and figured out that Norwegian people are, like, seriously gorgeous. All of them. It's just not right. 

Tuesday, we slept in, went to the pool - which had a 125 foot waterslide BY THE WAY - and drank fruity drinks while we got our tan on. I don't know about you, but I have a good feeling that heaven will be something like this experience when I get there.

Tuesday night (p.s. I'm sitting here thinking about how long this post is going to be right now...sorry in advance, but it will be fabulous), we ate at the Rainforest Cafe and did a little shopping downtown, where I got a free sketch of Mickey. That's a story for another time, though, because I don't really want to shine the spotlight on my awesome people skills, we're talking about Mickey here.

Wednesday was Magic Kingdom, and what a kingdom of magic it was. We did all of our favorites rides once, if not twice, got really tired at about 3 pm, died a little, and then got our second burst of energy (thanks to the fact that DISNEY IS BUILDING A NEW AREA IN THE PARK STRICTLY FOR THE PRINCESSES FROM EACH MOVIE. Scream!) and finished out the day watching shows, eating more, and riding Space Mountain one more time....with WF howling in my ear the entire time. 

It was definitely a trip for the books. 

Now, not everything could be completely perfect, so I did lose my mind at about the 5 hour mark of our trip home and gained a pound or two and forgot my pillow, but hey, whatever, dude. We went to Disney. End of story. 

Oh and I so didn't make out with Aladdin. For the record.

Saturday Smorgasbord...

• Why is it that when I have the most to do, I write in this? Professional procrastinator? Aiyup. Wait...professional means I would get paid...scratch that.
• I really need to learn to change my own car oil. That mess is a racket. "Ma'am, you might want to look into getting your shlama-shlama-automocar-really-important-thing changed." Do what? You liar. I dunno, maybe it's worth the money to not have to clean grime out from underneath my fingernails.
• I'm going to Disney World tomorrow! You tired of hearing about it yet? Nah, I didn't think so.
• I really wish my camera wasn't broken. Yet again, procrastination. Wolf Camera is not that far from my house....mapquesting now. Lies. It'll have to wait..
• What's up with the wiener dog??? He's still kind of fat. We're working on it, though. His underneath side isn't dragging the ground anymore, if that's anything. He is going to my parents for the week, though, so we'll be back to square one by Thursday.
• More wiener dog...just can't get enough: Sam's been up to this game of hiding his bones lately. I don't know if they've taken on some magical importance in the last few weeks or what, but it's incredibly entertaining. 
• Step 1: Give Sam a new bone. Where are the others? You're asking the wrong person.
• Step 2: He plays with it for a minute until I get busy with other things.
• Step 3: I lose interest and start doing other things.
• Step 4: The Wiener cuts his eyes all suspiciously at me to make sure I'm not watching, then proceeds to go into another room to start his hiding The Bone ritual.
• Step 5: I sneak into the other room to watch him methodically hide said Bone in the sneakiest spot so that only he will know where it is when the time comes that he wants to use it for it's actual purpose...chewing on it.
•  Oh and, my Corey Smith plans got botched big time last night. Mother Nature decided to bring the works down out of the sky. Rain, thunder, lightning, hail, everything. Thanks, summertime. I love ya, but not when your hissy fits mess up my plans. 
• Let's end this on a good note, though. I might've stayed up until 1:30 this morning watching movie clips from Disney movies. I say it's all good preparation. Oo de lally, Oo de lally, gahlee what a day!

Love to your mother.

On a Completely Different Wavelength...

Now that I'm done throwing myself a pity party, let's get down to the good stuff.

It's 6:15 pm...I should be in the shower right now because I'm on schedule to see Corey Smith at Freedom Weekend Aloft tonight!

Corey Smith reminds me of the South, of Clemson, of summer, of bare feet and whoaaa good times. I fully expect for him not to let me down this year.

Seats saved - check. Cold beverages - check. Loud friends - double check. Cute and breezy sundress - um duh.

I can't think of any better way to usher in the summer season. Except maybe with a trip to Disney World. OH WAIT. I'm doing that, too. :)

P.S. Do you think if I smiled real cute at one of the hot air balloon drivers (do not judge me for calling them drivers until you can give me the formal name), he'd take me for a ride?