reasons to be kind of excited for 2012.

As much as I wish 2011 didn't have to happen, it did. And as much as I'm hoping 2012 will be 1000000X's better than 2011, I know it will still have its bad times and things I already hate about it.

BUT.

Here are some goals of mine for 2012 that are making me excited.

+ I am going to learn a new word every day.
+I will stop the bad habit of picking my split ends.
+I will really try a tomato on a burger.
+I will drink more water than pop.
+I will take pictures of something everyday.
+Use my Instax and Diana F+ cameras more.
+Wake up on time... in other words... not hit snooze so many times AFTER I'm supposed to be up.
+Make more time to read after work.
+Make more crafts.
+Branch outside my comfort zone.
+Carry a mini notepad in my purse to write stuff on and draw on.
+Save money.
+Be better at texting back and answering my phone.
+Think of better resolutions.
+Eat more fruit.

Aaaaaaaand...

Another reason to be excited for 2012 is because my 2nd favorite book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is coming out in theaters on January 20th, 2011.

And ANOTHER reason to be excited for 2012 is because Beauty and the Beast will be playing in theaters in mid January! Sorry I don't have the exact date. I am too excited to remember it.

fortune cookies that don't have fortunes.

My favorite part about eating Chinese food is getting to read my fortune from the fortune cookie.

BUT

My not favorite part it when the "fortune" isn't a fortune.

I'll explain.

One time I got one that said,

 "You have friends when you need them."

That's not a fortune.

That's something I was well aware of before a cookie tried telling me.

I know there are a lot of bigger things to be annoyed by, 

but what better place to address this than my blog?

Here is my fortune from the other night:

I think that's a good fortune to get right before the new year!

wow. whoa. hmm.

Hi.

I can't believe how much has changed since last year at this time.

It seems like another life time.

From everything big to small.

Kind of makes me excitednervousscared to see where I will be next year at this time.

So nervous that I am combining words to make new words.

the pros and cons of dying your hair.

Pros:

I refresh the color I currently have.

I no longer have re-growth.

The dye somehow makes my hair unbelievably soft. 

Cons:

When I'm waiting for the dye to process and I'm carefully lounging around the apartment, I get the dye everywhere. On the walls, doors, toilet, the ceiling, on food, the floor, my shoulders, my neck etc.

So pretty much, if the new color of my hair doesn't tell you that I just dyed my hair, just look around the apartment at the dye stains and that should tell you.

Yesterday, instead of doing the laundry in the basement laundry room of my apartment building, I went across the street to 2nd Avenue Laundry and did it there. I'm going there from now on. 

#1 It's only 25 cents per load instead of the $1.00 a load that my apartment charges. 

#2 People watching. People watching. People watching.

#3 I just had fun sitting there with all the other local laundry doers. 

#4 I guess Brazilian Drum/Dance classes are big here in the Avenues. On the bulletin board where people post advertising, things for sale and classes, I saw a bunch of Brazilian Drum/Dance classes. Hmm..

Also, I went to Wendover yesterday. Wendover is basically a really ghetto version of Las Vegas. If Las Vegas had a child with Atlantic City.... it would be nothing like Wendover. Wendover is like a glorified gas station casino... but bigger. Anyway, I won $182!!!

Gambling is only fun when you are winning.

both photos by : me

finally, 2011 is over.

When I was coming up with this post, I first thought I should do.....

2,011 things I hated about 2011

Because honestly (and sadly) I could really come up with 2,011 things I hated about 2011. 2011 was the most rough year I've yet to live. But to avoid coming off as ungrateful and mopey and bratty, I will just do a normal list of all the great and not great events that happened to me in 2011.

-I watched Steve get surgery on his right eye. 

-I tried and became obsessed with sushi simultaneously. 

-Was awarded employee of the month.

-Went to Cortez, Colorado for the first time.

-Hiked to Delicate Arch in Moab.

-Turned 22.

-Was broken up with/had my heart broken. Ugh.

-Started my camera collection by purchasing the Instax Mini, Holga, and the Diana F+ as a gift.

-Went from blonde to brunette.

-Visted Los Angeles for the first time. Decided that city is overrated and I kind of hate it.

-Went to San Francisco. 

-Grew my wisdom teeth. (I think).
-Went on some first dates.
-Didn't become a better cook like I had hoped.
-Didn't try a burger with a tomato on it.
-Didn't win any contests.
-Got a new car! RIP Ford Explorer :(
-Saw a few free concerts at Pioneer Park. Decemberists, Bright Eyes, & Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
-I didn't get sick once! Not even my annual food poisoning I usually get on June 18th of every year.
-I got migraines about 2-3 times a week.
-Went out to Wendover a few times. Won $120 one of the luckier times!
-Saw the final Harry Potter movie.

That's about it. As you can see, it was a pretty bleak and vanilla year.

blue christmas.

Just so you know,

it was a blue Christmas without you.

But Merry Christmas anyway!

what's going on in my life part 2

Update #1 - Yesterday was a big day. Not because I bought 80 pizza rolls from the frozen food section at Smiths... but because I finally signed up for health insurance on my own! Oh yeah. As of January 1, 2012, I will be fully covered. Health insurance is something everyone should have... but when you are a hypochondriac like myself and think you have every illness and symptom you hear, heath insurance is more than just a 'need'.

Update #2 - Today is Friday. Any other Friday I would be at work, but no, not today. This girl does not have to work until January 3rd!!! You probably think I have the holidays to thank for that, which I kind of do. But this week and a half break is the result of me having many, many, many vacation hours I didn't use throughout the year. So I am using them now.

Update #3 - We've been driving around the Avenues to see all the unique decorated houses in Christmas lights. We kept driving up and up and up clear past 13th Avenue. We turned a corner and saw this:

And believe it or not, I was only able to get HALF of the display in the picture. You can't really tell, but what they have on display is: multiple snowmen, multiple Santas, multiple nativity scenes, candles, palm trees, candy canes, penguins, carolers, etc. Basically if it's Christmas related and can be covered in lights, they have it. The owner came out and brought us candy canes, too.

fa la la la la! la la la la!

My cute, sweet, funny, thoughtful, adorable, any other nice word you can think of,  nephew Gavin had his very first preschool Christmas program.

It went as expected : and that means there were kids on stage, Christmas songs sang and parents armed with digital cameras and video recorders.

Halfway through, an America's Funniest Home Video moment happened... a kid on stage fell backwards out of his seat. I laughed first, made sure he didn't get a concussion and the continued to laugh.

Gavin's favorite candy is KitKats, so after he was done singing, I surprised him with a king size one. He loved it.

Fun fact: Sometimes in pictures, my eyes look like they are closed. Like the one above.

guilty pleasure #112

MTV's Teen Mom 2

That is all.

And the new one starts in ten minutes.
Whoop.

days like today.

Today was probably one of the most productive days I've had all month. 

After work I:

Crossed off most things off my Christmas shopping list.

Grocery shopped. - Went a little crazy in the string cheese section, 3/1.00. Talk about a deal of the season.

Cleaned the bathroom, my bedroom, the living room, and cleaned out the fridge and freezer.

Learned how to french braid my bangs. That's the way uh-huh uh-huh I like it! Uh-huh uh-huh.

Stubbed my toe.

All was done with a mud-facial mask on my face and my teeth whitening strips in; I am great with multi-tasking.

six months.

On December 27th, it will be six months since Steve and I broke up. Let me tell you, it has seemed like a lot longer than six months. When I think back to that day, it seems like another lifetime. I know I've said this before, but I'm sure that time functions differently when you have a broken heart. 

Even though Steve did break up with me and we remain close friends to this day, I feel with every piece of me I will never be able to forgive him for hurting me the way he did that rotten day he broke up with me. I have never been that hurt in my entire life. I will never understand why or how he could do that to me. That may sound childish and immature, but as of right now, I feel I will never feel the feeling of forgiveness for how he hurt me.

I've been okay recently. I haven't felt emotional or sad over our breakup and there are days when I don't even feel sad about what happened. The days where I feel sad and depressed for our breakup are getting more and more spread out and I find myself thinking about it/him less and less. This is giving me hope that I can finally be moved on once and for all. It does make me slightly sad that I am making myself move on from the person that I loved and was my future husband and said he would never leave me. 

I definitely went through the five stages of loss:

1. Denial and Isolation.

2. Anger. - I was in this stage the longest. Not only feeling anger towards Steve but I felt a lot of anger towards myself because I left myself believe it was my fault.

3. Bargaining.

4. Depression.

5. Acceptance. (I hope I am finally to this stage)

Here are my most favorite quotes about change, moving on, and letting go. Don't think I didn't cry while reading these quotes. I am after all, the queen of crying over everything. This post was incredibly emotional for me to write, but luckily, it has made me feel better.

“Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.” — Herman Hesse

“Change is never easy, you fight to hold on, and you fight to let go.” – The Wonder Years

“There are things that we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind. But keep in mind that letting go isn’t the end of the world, it’s the beginning of a new life.” –Unknown

“We need in love to practice only this: letting each other go. For holding on comes easily–we do not need to learn it.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell

Ugh.

when you have nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire.

Firstly, I want to share a quick dream I had today when I was taking my enchanting Sunday nap....

I had a dream I had an app on my phone that could melt snow and ice on the road!

Nothing excites me more than seeing snowflakes falling from the sky. With that being said, nothing gives me more anxiety and stress than driving on an icy road with snow falling from the sky, so you can understand why this app would be useful to me. If I ever figure out the technology and skills to make this app, I will create it and I will make it FREE. You are welcome.

I drove to Boise, Idaho this weekend to watch the Utah State bowl game. We left on Friday afternoon and made it home safely around 1AM on Sunday. I was stuck in the backseat in the middle on the way there and back.

Things I learned being stuck in the backseat in the middle:

1. There is absolutely no place to move your legs to.
2. There is absolutely no place to rest your head when you want to doze off.
3. There is absolutely no place to rest your arms when you get bored of them sitting at your sides.
4. There is absolutely no room to adjust even a little.
5. There is absolutely no worse place to be than stuck in the backseat in the middle.

I don't have work tomorrow so you can imagine my happiness right now. Alas, I have ten finger nails that need desperate attention that I must go trim and paint.

Hope your weekend wasn't spent in the backseat in the middle, if it wasn't, your weekend was already better than mine.

an almost love story.

Today as I was sitting at a stop light on the way home from work and I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye.

It was a dark haired guy sitting in the passenger seat of a car, breathing on the window to fog it up. Once it was fogged, he drew a heart and smiled at me.

I was too shy to do anything back so I smiled and looked away and freaked out like a spaz the whole way home.

Story of my life. 

if you watch this video, it will be the best minute and nineteen seconds of your day.

A great way to sum up this video is....

I was talking on the phone and this video had me laugh so hard I had to hang up.

It's a 1:19 worth watching.

I'm guilty of saying/doing 100% of the things in this video.

it's december.... the last month of 2011.... when did that happen.

photo by me

2011:

You will forever be remembered as the year that I officially hate.

You will forever be remembered as the year that almost took away my optimism forever.

You will forever be remembered as the year that when something great happened to me, a bajillion of not great things happened right after.

You will forever be remembered as the year I had to get rid of my first car due to a transmission that was giving out even though I knew it didn't want to. :(

You will forever be remembered as the year that more awful things happened than good.
You will forever be remembered as the year that left me unimpressed.

And on a silly note...

You will forever be remembered as the year that came after 2010 and before 2012.

Ha.

bits of my weekend.

It's baaaaaaaaaaack.

'Bits of My Weekend' is finally back!

I wasn't able to do this weekly post for a while since my lame laptop refused to let me upload photos and after smacking my laptop several times, (the international action to take if an electronic betrays you and you don't know what to to do to make it work) I decided to give up. Laptop is still being lame, but I made the decision to just use the camera on my phone and just email the photos.

So now, you can relive my weekend with meeee.

This is me in my favorite beanie and trying a fancy setting on my phone.

That is our Christmas tree. See how there aren't any presents under it? Yeah, I should probably start Christmas shopping.

This is a cracker I wrote "I <3 U" on in spray cheese and then I remembered I didn't have anyone to give it to. But then I remembered if Reader was with me, I could give it to Reader.

 The Christmas lights in my bedroom.

 Just some lights downtown.

 Pancakes for dinner!

 Cinnamon rolls.... just cinnamon rolls.

Not pictured from the weekend:  I went to my friends, Tiffany and Alana's, housewarming party and it was a blast, but in the most sad way, I did not take any photos. However, while I was there, I did hear the most epic snore. Let's just say, when I first heard it, I thought it was a chicken/rooster outside.

this is a hat that i really want and would make a great christmas present.

Look how cute this hat is.

It looks like it would be easy to make and if I was better at making things, I would try it. But instead, I will just look at it and wish it was mine.

the one i love the mostest.

Yesterday was Jim Morrison's birthday.

:)

That is all.

what's going on in my life part 1

Lately. Here are a few updates on what is going on the world of Kaleena. Beware, you are about to be updated with a lot of nothing.

Update #1: I'm pretty sure I am teething. That means I am growing my wisdom teeth. My whole mouth and teeth area are ridiculously sore. I 100% completely understand why babies cry and scream when they are teething. Give me one more day and I will be screaming and crying with a teething ring.

Update #2: I had my worse migraine yet today. Not only did I suffer a migraine, but it came with an earache, back ache, and wanting to throw up.

Update #3: I have been licking Nutella by the spoonfuls.

Update #4: I am currently obsessed with ................ Big Macs. No idea where this obsession came from.

Update #5: I am really happy lately. I like this.

Update #6: I hung some pretty Christmas lights in my room and I sleep with them on. This is my favorite, sleeping with the pinkish dim in my room from the Christmas lights. I probably will leave them up after Christmas.... maybe.

i'm still a big kid now.

I feel like an adult when...

-When I get paid, I pay all my bills and grocery before I go browse Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

-When I do the dishes right when I'm done using them, instead of letting them pile up.

-When I wake up the first time my alarm clock goes off so I can get to work early... instead of hitting snooze 7 times to get a few extra minutes of sleep.

-When I find myself looking at the recipes in magazines instead of ways to get my hair to do a woo-hoo looking thing.

These aren't big things, but they are still baby steps.

and that's why you always go the speed limit.

Last Saturday night, I was driving home. I was just happily driving along, listening to 'Nsync's Christmas album... I was about two minutes away from my apartment when I saw those upsetting blue and red lights flashing in my rearview mirror. I hate that feeling you get when you see those lights are right behind you and you slowly pull over. Ugh. Double ugh.

The officer basically told me I was going ten over the speed limit and blah blah blah. Officer Loveitt was pretty belittling for how handsome he was. I angrily signed my ticket, agreeing to comply with paying and all that nonsense and wondered if the cop would have been more understanding if I told him I was pregnant. But I've watched Cops on TV many times, that never works.

I had 4-14 days to pay the ticket before I would receive a warrant for not obeying. So this morning, before I forgot, I went to the website listed on the ticket to pay. I never knew what dying a little on the inside felt like, til I saw the price of the ticket.

$90.00.

....$90.00.

$90.00!!!

Because I was/am an idiot and felt like I needed to drive a little faster, I now have to pay $90.00. Reader, it costs $90.00 to be an idiot these days.

pinkish-purple everything!

I tried a pomegranate for the first time in history last weekend. Reaction: enjoyed it.

I didn't know so much effort and work was required before I got to eat it.

If you are looking for a fruit to eat that won't stain your entire kitchen, clothes, fingers, face, house, dog, Christmas tree etc. a pinkish-purple... then you shouldn't eat or peel a pomegranate. Things you didn't even know you had will get a pinkish-purple stain on it.

so many books, so little time.

I did not go to bed until 6am. I spent the night and the wee hours of the morning playing Mario Party with friends. Whenever I go to bed that late, I always think I am going to sleep until like 4pm or 5pm... but I woke up at 10am. I was surprised, and then something happened that I can vaguely remember and then I woke up at 1:30pm.

Playing Mario Party with friends all night is highly recommended. I think that is the first time in history that I spelled 'recommended' correctly on the first try. If you plan to play Mario Party with friends all night, make sure you have lots of treats so you don't have to keep going to the gas station to get more.

After I woke up, I spent 100% of my day on the couch reading. And if you ask me, that is 100% how every day should be spent.

“You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.”
― Paul Sweeney

why i wish the wind wouldn't exist.

Reader, I hate the wind. If I knew how, I would kick the wind in the face. If I think really hard, I'm sure I can give you close to ten days that have been ruined by the wind. In fact, I'm pretty sure the days where I have a good hair day, is when it's windy outside. So the good hair day lasts only mere seconds before the wind destroys it.

Wind, in my opinion is the worst weather condition. Not only is it the worst, but it also spoils my other favorite weather conditions. For example:

Snow is awesome. But if it's windy when it's snowing? Snow is no longer awesome.
Rain in wonderful. But if it's windy when it's raining? Rain is no longer wonderful.
Perfect still days are lovely. But if it's windy when it's a perfect still day? It's no longer a lovely day.

There has never been a time where I felt the wind blowing and I thought 'you know, I really enjoyed that.'

Brushing your hair after it's survived in the wind is probably one of the most painful things that can happen... to your hair/head.

I'm aware this is full of complaining, but I don't complain much and I really just hate the wind.

It was pretty windy the other night and it blew over a bunch of trees in our neighborhood. Some houses didn't even have power for a few days. See? The wind is awful.

so this is christmas.

I am sitting at work drinking a Red Bull I got at the store (2 for 6 bucks, that's something you take advantage of no matter what it is) and I remembered I have a picture of my Christmas tree to show.

The tree that I haven't named yet was put up on Sunday night while the Simpons was on the TV in the background.

It only took one hour to turn the living room into a holiday-less living room into a... living room with a Christmas tree. Ha ha

I think it looks TREE-rific.

TREE-mendous.

I really love decorating trees. So if you need some help or just want a buddy while you decorate yours, I am your gal.

thanksgiving break has officially ended.

If I could insert into this post to let you know how devastated I am to be back at work and no longer enjoying the long holiday weekend, I would insert it here. Thanksgiving break officially ended when my alarm was making that known-around-the-world alarm clock sound at 6:45am. But all long Thanksgiving breaks must come to an end I suppose.

This holiday weekend, I was all mixed up on my days, it was madness. On Wednesday I thought it was Friday. On Thursday I thought it was Saturday. On Friday I thought it was Thursday. On Saturday I thought it was Friday again. And on Sunday I knew it was Sunday, but I was hoping it was Saturday still.

I think everyone who knows me, knows I am thankful for and appreciate the little things, and I express that daily... hourly sometimes, depending on how many emotions I wake up with that day. But here is a list of things I am always thankful for. I'm not sure if this list is going to be long or short, so here it goes...

1. My job. Through my endless complaining, there is a great deal of gratitude for this job.
2. My health.
3. My family, friends, parents, dogs, people in my life.
4. My home.
5. My bed.
6. My shower, toothbrush, toilet paper. People around me are thankful for those too.
7. Music.
8. Books.
9. My hearing and my vision.
10. My ability to be constantly feeling. Even the sadness sometimes, I am thankful for that.
11. Dogs. Dogs. Dogs.
12. Food.
13. The internet.
14. Laughing & sense of humor.
15. Favors.
16. My car.
17. My emotions.
18. My legs.
19. Heaters, blankets, socks, mittens, coats.
20. Grocery stores.
21. My patience.
22. My optimisim.
23. Sugar and candy.
24. Hugs.
25. To still be alive.
26. Cameras and photos.
27. Movies.
28. Nice people.
29. My hair and teeth.
30. My blog/other blogs/blogging people/blogging community.

thanksgiving break has officially started.

As of right now, I am officially on my Thanksgiving break... from work. I don't have to work until Monday. That is FOUR whole days away from a place I just waste eight hours of my life each day.

Soooo right now:

-I am happy I got to leave work at 4pm instead of 5:30pm.
-I am hoping it was twenty minutes into the future so the cinnamon rolls I have in the oven would be done and I could eat the leftover frosting!
-Sitting on the couch in my pajama pants watching my #2 favorite movie of all time..... Garden State.
-And after this, I will be dying my hair. This time: Deep Auburn. I'M TYPING IN ALL CAPS SO YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS IS CODE FOR I AM EXCITED!

(above image from Garden State)

I wish every week was like Thanksgiving break.

just a girl in a hat.

That is a picture of me wearing a hat because I refused to do my hair today.

My day started at six AM. 

I'm okay with that, I surprisingly enjoy early morning time.

In a perfect world where I didn't have to work and I could somehow survive with zero income, I would wake up early everyday. Early as in before the sun rises. I would go for walks around the Avenues. I would get ambitious and make pancakes and french toast. I would start doing yoga just so I can tell people I wake up early and do yoga. And yoga is just cool anyway. I would make a nest on the couch and read the newspaper and/or books. If I had a dog, I would take the dog on a walk.
I would this all before the sun rose!
 I just don't like waking up early the days I have work because It's like waking up early just to go to a place you don't really want to be at. 

sundays are cool.

I like to think that If I was a day of week, I would be a Sunday. Because Sundays are cool. But I would mostly likely be a Monday... because Mondays have every potential to be cool... but they end up being annoying and too much to handle.

Here is a glimpse of my Sunday:
-Woke up.
-Laid in bed wondering if I was going to fall back asleep.
-Did not fall back asleep.
-Walked out to the living room.
-Five minutes later of staring, the little messes are still there. And I decide I have to go to the grocery store. I consider grocery shopping a hobby because I love it so much. But grocery shopping on a Sunday morning? AMAZING. It's my favorite.
-Come home and eat and eat and eat and eat.
-Go to Amazon.com to buy Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk, swallow disappointment when I see Amazon knows of no such book.
-Browse internet.
-Browse internet.
-Browse internet.
-Browse internet.
-Shower.
-Decide I need a haircut. Tuesday will be a great day for this.
-Decide to take nap. Nap taking takes place.
-Wake up, feel need to update blog on how much of nothing took place today but for some reason I still love days like today.

things i didn't know i wanted until i saw them.

A bunny kiss.

In case you missed the cuteness in the first picture, here it is again:

If "Santa" is reading this... I want a bunny for Christmas.

so many dippin' dots, so little time.

I was lucky enough to eat some Dippin' Dots today.

So this means today was a good day.
I got flavor: Strawberry Cheesecake.

When I get married...

there WILL be Dippin' Dots served at my wedding.

some dance to remember, some dance to forget.

Question: 

Kaleena, what are you bad at?

Answer:

Well, everything. But mostly, I get inspired on an hourly basis and I am awful at acting on the inspiration in the way that I just don't know how. So it all goes to waste.

Question:

Is there a better feeling than painting your finger and toe nails after weeks of staring at the sad remains of the nail polish that hadn't chipped away yet when you were sitting somewhere bored?

Answer: 

Basically... no.

Question:

Could you be more thrilled that the weekend starts tomorrow?

Answer:

Absolutely not.

Question:

Why are you still awake and not in bed?

Answer:

Because the internet happened, that's why.

Question:

Do you freaking love the internet and all the silly videos and pictures on it that make you laugh so hard you have to hang up the phone?

Answer:


Freaking yes!

Question:

Did you just give yourself a Q & A?

Answer:

Definitely.  Because I am crazy.

the storm.

"And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about."

Haruki Murakami 

today i am thankful for medicine.

I had a really good day yesterday. These days, I qualify "good days" as the ones where I don't get hurt or killed. This good day of mine was pretty much destroyed around 10pm when I got yet ANOTHER migraine. Since I don't like taking medicine unless I really really have to,  I curled up on the recliner chair and fell asleep watching Fraser, hoping this would cure the migraine. But nope. I woke up like an hour later feeling worse and stumbled to my room to sleep.

I woke up this morning pretty much expecting to be gone but the pain mulitplied over night and I just laid in my bed hoping that maybe if I concentrate on my ceiling really hard, it would go away; that didn't work either. So I finally took an Excederin and the migraine left me alone.

LESSON LEARNED: Instead of being an idiot and waiting til I desperately need the medicine, just take medicine when I first feel the headache.

Here is a picture I took (and a reason) why I love this time of year and sunsets:

a whole lot of nothing can happen in a week.

So not eventful. But I still liked this week.

Monday - We go see the movie, Tower Heist. I go into the theater with zero expectations and leave the theater still laughing and ready to see it again.

Tuesday - I meet my Sisters at Subway for dinner. I try cucumber and tomatoes on a sandwich and become more obsessed with my nephews and nieces.

Wednesday - I go visit my friend, Dustin, who works at the Radisson Hotel downtown. We watched Llamas With Hats together on Youtube. While I was there, I decided I really want to work at a hotel.

Thursday - I wake up. I go to work. I come home from work. I don't do the dishes even though I should. I go to bed.

Friday -  I call in sick to work because of a migraine. I feel better around six PM. I go on a date with this guy again... we went bowling, he beat me and then we spend a few hours talking and people watching at the bowling ally.

Saturday - I go to TWO football games... BOTH involving snow. I stood a total of six hours outside this day, in freezing temperatures and snow. Later this night, I eat a piece of chicken with only a knife (cutting with it and taking bite with it) because I still haven't done the dishes.

Sunday - Harry Potter marathon on TV.

“People are screwed up in this world. 
I'd rather be with someone screwed up 
and open about it than somebody perfect 
and ready to explode.”
 
― Ned Vizzini, It's Kind of a Funny Story

the cons of winter.

Winter is my second favorite season. I like the Winter because:

• The snow.
• I look better bundled up in winter clothes than I do in summer clothes. Take my word for it.
• I think winter clothes in general are cuter. Like scarves, hats, boots, sweaters, etc.
• I don't like Summer heat.
• The holidays.
• Being a hermit is more fun in the cold.
• I just do.

However, there are two very huge things that are really worse than death that cannot be avoided in the Winter. And they are:

My jeans getting wet at the bottoms.

The days when I don't wear boots and the snow/sleet get the bottom of my jeans wet. My days and life feel so miserable when this happens. It leads me to start complaining about everything. Also, as I was Googling that picture, I found out that there is an actual Facebook fan page dedicated to hating when the bottom of your jeans get wet. I'm not alone!

Scraping the snow and ice off my car.

Does this count as a chore? If it does, this is 100% my most hated chore. Life would be complete if I would never have to do this again. 

story of my life.

three solid truths.

There a three solid truths in life that I am confidant in knowing they are true:

1. You will notice a certain object laying around your house every single day, but when the time comes that you actually need the object, you can't remember where you saw it.
2. I am always a very tired girl when I'm a work. I can only concentrate the image of me in a ball in my bed; but when I finally get home in my bed, the sleepiness has been replaced with mass amounts of energy that I don't know where to direct it to.
3. Whenever I want time to crawl, it goes by too quickly. Whenever I want time to go by quickly, it will go slower than tar going up Mount Everest.

Today, I was so busy at work, I e-mailed Shandey (my sister) to bring me a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger from Wendy's after she gets off work. She kindly accepted my request. Not only did she come with Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers, but she also surprised me with a mini chocolate frosty. This was great news because my belly had the rumblies that only Wendy's could satisfy.

And now, before I go to waste more time on the Internet... I leave you with this thirteen second video that I highly encourage you to watch. It's only thirteen seconds. It does not disappoint.

pretty please.

Tonight, I am really wishing that my laptop would not be idiotic and let me put my memory card in it to upload my photos that I have taken over the last three months. I really miss the days when I could take a picture of something pretty or ugly or funny or stupid and put it on my blog to remember forever. But now I can only do it from my phone camera. And my phone camera is not the kind of camera you want taking all your photos you want to remember forever.

One day, when I can upload my real photos, there is going to be an overload of photos. A photopocalypse. Get ready.

why dogs make me happy.

How many Butterfingers can you eat before you get sick of them or feel nauseous in the tummy? I don't have that answer for you Reader, because I just ate a whole bag of mini Butterfingers in two days and I did not get sick of them nor feel sick myself. And if you are judging me for eating all those Butterfingers, I just do not care because Butter fingers are awesome. Not my number 1 choice, but still awesome.

Up until this point in my life, I'm pretty sure my #1 love/interest/passion/hobby/obsession in life is: DOGS. I'm being 100% honest when I say I could watch dogs play for 24 hours straight and I would not become bored once.

So where did this post come from? Well, when I got home from work today, the Beagle dog that lives across the street from my apartment building was wearing a hat. A HAT. Everyone should get to see a Beagle wearing a hat sometime in their life. That simple thing made me so happy.

aunt kaleena.

In three pictures, I am going to show you three reasons why I love being an aunt. Especially the aunt of these sweet boys, Gavin and Jackson.

 (above) Me and Gavin.

 (above) Silly Jackson.

(above) Silly Gavin.

I am so lucky to be their aunt. You won't find any other boys who are as funny and sweet and these two. I just love them so so so much, it hurts.

ALSO.
Let it be known tonight at Subway, I tried a bite of my sister's sandwich that had TOMATO and CUCUMBER on it. I liked it a lot considering how much I hate tomatoes and cucumbers. I can cross "trying a sandwich with tomato" off my new year's resolution list. 

buncha quarters.

Usually when people get quarters back from a transaction, the think 'Oh cool, quarters, I will probably lose these.'

But I look at them and think 'Oh cool! I get to do laundry with these!!'

That is not a sarcastic statement either.

So I will spend tonight doing laundry.

in reality and dreams.

“I regret that it takes a life to learn how to live.” 

jonathan safran foer

Over the last few months, I've been learning a whole lot about myself. I don't know if it's just that I'm at that age, or that I just got over a break up, or what, but I have been becoming more aware of myself and my likes, dislikes, habits, preferences, etc.

It seems silly. I think that because I live with myself for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, I would already know myself pretty well.

Here are some things that I have recently realized about myself and just some thoughts I have:

1. I have no idea what I want in life. Some days I am like, "I WANT TO GET MARRIED!" other days... "MARRIAGE IS PROBABLY THE WORST THING SINCE THE JR. BACON CHEESEBURGER GOT TAKEN OFF THE DOLLAR MENU AT WENDYS!" But when I really think about it, I think I like the idea of marriage... I don't really like what marriage has become in this day and age. There is also a good chance this is all my ignorance on marriage speaking here.

2. Sometimes the idea of me ending up "alone" doesn't bother me and send me into an anxiety attack. I would be completely fine with this, as long as I had a close group of supportive, caring friends and a steady job I enjoyed doing. 

3. I am grateful that I can really notice and appreciate "the little things" on a daily basis without having to remind myself or having someone else remind me. As cliche as it sounds, (and saying how cliche it sounds is cliche) the little things are really what matter. 

4.  I like blogging and am shocked I am blogging almost 2 years after I started... mainly because I suck at keeping up on things I start. I started blogging out of sheer boredom but I am happy that I did because it is a great way to document the things I'm thinking and doing (or wish I was doing). 

5. I pride myself on being a nice person. I can stand up for myself and be mean if I have to... but 99% of the day, if you talk to me or approach me, I will be super nice to you, regardless of the kind of day I am having. So I get highly offended when people don't treat me the same way back. I don't get offended if they are mean, I get offended because I KNOW I wouldn't treat them that way. Does that make sense? I am kind of crazy.

That is all for now.

four things that don't make me mad.

1. These pictures I took this morning.

2. Snow.

3. The weekend.

4. Being warm.

Those four things are basically what is happening right now, so I am happy and not mad.

photos by: me

SNOW yeah, baby.

photo by: me

That is a picture of falling snow and a lamp post.

I was pretty happy to see snow falling from the sky.

We went to a basketball game tonight, and as we were walking out, we saw it had been snowing. 

I caught a snowflake on my tongue.

I love the snow.

Even if it makes my hair go wet, flat and wavy. 

I got to leave work early today. 

Very few things are more pleasing than hearing you get to leave work, a place you don't like spending mass amounts of time, early.

I could be having an awful hair day, have no feet, hungry, wearing soaking wet clothes.. and none of this would matter as long as I would find out that day, I would get to leave work early. 

panda attack!

This is me.

This is me with a panda bear as a warm, fuzzy hat.

This is me loving panda bears so much, I got one to wear as a hat while I was in San Francisco. 

This is me telling you that it's not made from a real panda bear, just yarn and wool. 

in a perfect world.

In a perfect world... I would be as productive as I was today every day at work.

In a perfect world... I wouldn't be so awkward in groups of people. I don't care that I am shy, I just need to not be awkward.

In a perfect world... I wouldn't be hungry right now and I would eating instead of typing.

In a perfect world... It would be this time of year, all year long.

In a perfect world... I would take more road trips.

In a perfect world... people wouldn't use their Facebook as a personal diary.

In a perfect world... other drivers would not upset me every time I am driving on the road.

In a perfect world... I would still have some leftover Halloween candy to eat.

In a perfect world... people would use the world "literally" correctly.

In a perfect world... Jim Morrison would still be alive and I could get backstage passes to a Doors concert.

november.

I can't believe it's already November 2011. I know people say things like this every month/year, but seriously. It honestly seems like New Years Eve was last week.

When I think back on 2011, there are only a few memories I like and want to remember... other than those few happy memories, I hope 2011 will burn in hell... or something else drastic.

Here are things that happened this year that I did not like:

-I turned 22.
-I was dumped.
-I had my heart broken,
-I didn't get a new job that paid $100 per hour.
-I had to get rid of my first car, my 1993 Ford Explorer.
-I was sad a lot.
-I didn't get to go to Harry Potter 7 Part II on opening night.

And a few that made the year tolerable:

-I got a new desk at work.
-I went on some fun dates with some fun guys.
-I went to L.A. and San Francisco.
-I went from blonde to brunette.
-I got a Diana F+ camera, a Holga camera and an Instax camera.
-Made new friends

So yeah, I already have a lot invested in 2012, I hope it doesn't let me down like that good for nothing 2011 did.

“It's the tragedy of loving, 

you can't love anything more than something you miss.”

― Jonathan Safran Foer

halloween gone wrong.

For Halloween this year, I decided to be Leela from Futurama:

The biggest reason is because Futurama is one of my favorite cartoons and it would be a super easy costume to put together. Oh and I have a huge crush on Fry. I mean look at him, he's adorable:

Anyway, I was dressed up as Leela last night and I sadly don't have any photo evidence that I dressed up as her. I was freakin' excited for this costume but nobody knew who I was... probably cause I had two eyes instead of just one eye like Leela has. Everyone thought I was Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgram vs The World. Since I have a huge crush on Fry, part of me was hoping some guy out there in the big world was going to dress up as Fry and we would accidentally bump into each other and then it would be a match made in heaven. How cute would that story be? Maybe next year.

cold feet.

I bet when you read the title of this, you thought I was having commitment issues with something in my life. But nope. I just have unbelievably cold feet right now and they have been freezing all day.

So far, every day this week, I have had the thought...

I am going to clean my entire bedroom tonight and clean out my closet.

And so far, every day this week, I have...

Not cleaned my entire bedroom or cleaned out my closet.

I'll just have to hope it will eventually get done when I have one of those moods attack me where I want to clean the whole apartment, apartment building, neighborhood, city, state, country, world, etc. 

IN OTHER NEWS: Look what came in the mail today:
 

 My new Urbanears headphones that are my favorite color! Of course the first song I played for them to hear was Light My Fire by The Doors. I never want to take them off.... Even if they hurt my ears cause they press my earrings into my head in an uncomfortable way.