merry christmas eve.

Have a Merry Christmas Eve and a Merry Christmas when it's tomorrow.

I plan to stay home tonight and watch Home Alone and Futurama.

Drink some Mountain Dew. Snack on some kettle corn.

Last Saturday, as a giant group, we went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.
It was okay.
Then we walked around City Creek to warm up a bit and because what else were we gonna do?

But Christmas lights on a bare tree is one my favorite things and one of the prettiest things to me.

It never gets old.

I wish Christmas lights were on trees all year round.

Alysha on the left and me on the right.
If one good thing came out of 2013, it's that I became really good friends with Alysha. I wish everyone could have a friend like her.

Instagram: kaleena__

tomorrow never knows.

Ugh.

Feeling just a little freaking stressed. My brakes in my car are starting to act up. YAY. My dumb brakes were probably sensing that I was especially broke these days and thought, "omg, do you know what would be SO funny to do to Kaleena?"

Well brakes, that's not funny and I hate you. But thanks for making me not crash and stopping my car when I need it.

It's Christmas tree season!!

Do you know what my favorite thing is? When people have their Christmas trees up and on so when you are driving through the neighborhood you can see all the different trees in the living rooms.

Mmm.

Here is ours:

It took me almost two hours to put up the fake tree that only requires you to match the stickers on the branches to the appropriate areas on the tree "trunk"

But do you know how hard it is to stay focused when you have a sweet bunny boy dancing/hopping/scooting around your ankles and doing cute antics around the house?  Well it is tough. If he wasn't here, it would've taken me thirty minutes.

Taking a picture in an ornament reflection can give you a derp face. See?

Well, now I am off to the store even though I don't want to because Smiths at this hour is a madhouse but we are having lasagna for dinner and yeah. Bye.

thankful.

As much as I love the holidays and everything that comes with them,

(decorations, music, food, traditions)

part of me really doesn't like the holidays at all.

They kind of depress me. They always make me feel a little lonely.

 

I remember when I was about... 6 or 7(?)

It was around Christmas time and I just got done helping my mom stuff envelopes with Chirstmas cards. I went over to the window after to see the snow fall and I remember feeling really, really sad to the point where I almost cried.

I felt this way because as I watched the snow fall, I remember thinking and worrying about all the families who didn't have shelter or all the people who didn't have a family... basically everyone who wasn't fortunate enough to have a loving family and a warm place to live and sleep.

 

I have no idea why this was such a worry of mine when I was 6/7 aroud Christmas time haha I guess I've alway been a worrier.

 

To this day, those same thoughts I had that night still come up every holiday and make me sad. We donated some stuff to the Road Home last Christmas and was great to help all the homeless people in need. So this year I'm planning on doing a "Sub for Santa" and as much help I can so I can at least enjoy the holiday season without feeling sad for the less fortunate.

 

So even though the holidays can be stressful and busy... I am thankful for them because it reminds me to really put my own life, wants/needs, problems, etc into perspective and that it's not always about what you DON'T have, it's you need to be thankful for what you DO have.

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.

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.

this is the part where I start to feel depressed and mopey.

I'm sitting on the couch with our Christmas tree right across from me. It makes me sad to think that tomorrow the tree that has been lighting up our living room since November will just be in a box down in our building's storage room and it'll be January. 

I bet you she is thinking about January in this picture...

Because that's what I look like when I think about how December and the holidays are officially over and January is tomorrow.

I have a date tomorrow morning with some new shampoo that I am very excited to try. The girl in me still gets excited for new shampoos and make ups even when I'm feeling down.

R.I.P 2010

photo of the day # 76

Christmas sucks when you come out of the bathroom and Hitler has stolen your seat.

our christmas card.

Here is the runner up......

See that white circle in the middle? That is a snowball that snowman is throwing at you.

the cons to making ramen at 4am.

I know Reader, I didn't think there were any cons to making Ramen at 4am either. But there is...

Last night after Steve and I finished watching Elf (what's a Christmasgram? I want one!), I got an outrageous craving for Ramen. It sounded so good. I was going to wait til the morning, Ramen for breakfast? Why not. But the longer I went without satisfying my craving, the more afraid I was of things getting dangerous in our living room. So off to the kitchen I darted.

Minutes later, I was balled up on the kitchen floor cradling my middle finger with a single solitary tear glistening on my cheek. Reader, I burned my middle finger on the stove burner. OUCH. Once Steve steve stopped judging me, he advised me to run it under cold water... which hurt so good.

Long story short, this is the most painful blog post I've ever typed because there is a blister on the middle finger and typing is different task with a blister involved. Despite the near death experience, it was a delicious bowl of Ramen indeed. Truly a Christmas Eve miracle.


Whoa... just glanced down to bottom left corner of my lap top... 12:14am which means....

CHRISTMAS.

Happy holidays!

and then i started blogging again.

In my absence, I lost two followers. Bless you, two little followers. I still wish you a happy holiday.

Honestly, it felt nice being away from my laptop... mostly Facebook, for as long as I was. The more I think about it, the more I want to light my Facebook account on fire.

Reader, guess where I was? drdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrddr (that's a drum roll) Las Vegas! I've never been before. It was.... excessive. Two and half days was all I needed to be there. I had a lot of favorite parts of the trip, like...

•  Our Star Trek themed hotel room at Planet Hollywood.
• Walking down the strip for the first time at 3AM. PEOPLE WATCHING!!!!
• The Michael Jackson dancer... however he wasn't really dancing.
• Finding my favorite color on a polka dotted scarf--for ten bucks.
• Eating.
• Eating. I know I just put eating, but I liked the food there so much, it deserved to be on here twice.
• The view from our hotel. 
• The giant piece of cheesecake that was almost the size of my foot, that me and Steve shared.

My most favorite part was when I ordered a forty dollar Crab Feast and Landry's Seafood House. It was a feast indeed. And worth the forty bucks. It was my Christmas present to myself.

My not favorite part was when we were stuck in traffic for 80+ hours... which converts to like 2 hours in reality. Gah.

Now, I play the waiting game with Christmas. I need to get in the Christmas spirit. Maybe I'll go drink some egg nog in a santa hat under a massive Christmas light display singing 12 days of Christmas or something... ANYTHING.

and just a few more christmas decorations.

We put the last up of our Christmas decorations. Which includes:

+Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.

+A Santa snow globe.

+A Christmas bell that plays 8 different carols.

Steve hanging his favorite bell... His Grandma had it ever since he was a baby (even longer!) and he gave it to him as a gift for Christmas last year.  Go Steve! You hang that bell!

christmas is almost over.

Do you see that? The mouse is in the 14th pouch! This is the little, handy Christmas calendar we have hanging in the kitchen. My Mom gave it to me. Me and my Sister's used to loooooove when it was our turn to move the mouse. I still do. I think one year my Mom put chocolates in there... I might be making this up though, it's a little vague.

I don't want Christmas/December to end. Do you know what that means? The ugliest and lamest month of the year is next, JANUARY. Boooo! What a truly awful month.

Leave it to me to miss Christmas already when it's only December 14th.

IN OTHER NEWS: I think I was insulted today. A guy at my work was trying to bribe my into doing him a favor (work related, get your head out of the gutter, pervert!) before I left for the day.
 

He - "If you do blah blah blah I'll get you a soda!" the blah blah blah's are for the sake of not boring you to death my work

Me - "I love free stuff."

He - "What kind do you want? Something diet?"

Me - "....do you think I need diet??" *I honestly didn't care, I get a major kick at making people think they offended me/hurt my feelings when I really don't give a crap.

He - "OH! No, I just thought.. well.. you just look.. in shape.. I..."

Me - "I changed my mind, I don't want a soda...."

Long story short I got TWO free sodas. Oh yeah.

bits of my weekend.

Two things I learned this weekend:

1. Dippin' Dots can cure a broken heart that was caused by a lost earring.

2. Working for a few hours on Saturday isn't THAT bad.

(above) just so you know, I was talking when Steve snapped this.
Also note, this would be the last time that blue hoop earring would be
photographed.

does santa have an e-mail address?

If he does, I would send him an e-mail saying...

All I want for Christmas is:

Eric from, The Little Mermaid, for a second boyfriend. 

Eric was my very first crush in life. And I agree with you Reader, it is strange I have a crush on a cartoon.

Steve, you're still my #1.

december.

Goals and to-do list for this month:

-Read the newspaper more. Even though it makes my finger tips black.
-Get my Christmas shopping done before December 23rd.
-Donate a turkey/food to the food bank.
-Fill my gas tank before it gets on the E. My car loves me, so I should love it back.
-Send out handwritten Christmas cards.
-Stop comparing myself to others.
-Only drink two Capri Suns a day... instead of six.
-Not buy a President chia pet. (have you seen those? wow).
-Continue to eat that yummy peppermint ice-cream in our freezer. I hope it's still there... I may have eaten it all.
-Get more peppermint ice-cream if that other one is gone.
-Make realistic new year's resolutions.
-Build a snowman family in the snow.
-Get my hair done, my regrowth is humiliating!

introducing, the christmas tree.

Nothing says Merry Christmas like a tree with a half filled DVD rack next to it. And my OCD is torturing me, I want to claw through my computer screen and close the other side of those blinds. Gaaaahh!

Hi, Steve. I can see you through the tree.

what kaleena's happy about:

+Utah beat BYU last night. I'm still overjoyed. You know how it feels when you wake up on Christmas morning? Or your birthday? Yeah, it felt like that this morning.

+I'm cuddling on the couch in a snuggie. Snuggies are probably my number one guilty pleasure. I mean, it's blanket with sleeves. 

+Our Christmas tree is up! It's been making our apartment Christmas-ee since Friday. I finally got to hang candy canes on for ornaments. (I couldn't do this when I was little living with my parents cause we always had dogs. Dogs that would ruin Christmas by eating the candy canes off the tree).

[Pictures soon.. er, of our tree... not the dogs ruining Christmas].

+Chewy Gobstopers. While desperately rummaging through our pantry this morning with a crazy look in my eye for breakfast ingredients (which was not successful) I found a box of chewy gobstoppers. Not only yeah... but hell yeah!

+It's snowing. Yeah... it's snowing.

+New cell phone. I'm getting a new friend for my front pocket on Tuesday. Well, according to the Fed Ex website, I should have it on Tuesday.

We went to Bonwood Bowling last night. Normally, I wouldn't be sharing this with you Reader, because it was an atrocious night for bowling scores... but something very exciting was at the Bonwood Bowling ally. No, it wasn't the 17 year old boy who weighed 110 lbs wearing a white polo that went down to his knees with sleeves to his forearms... but it was JOHN STOCKTON!  If you don't know who John Stockton is, then my heart breaks for you. 

Everything from his purple polo neatly tucked into his jeans from not one hair on his head out of place. It was truly John Stockton.

photo of the day #64

Nobody hates Black Friday as much as this kid.

this is what some of my thanksgiving looked like.

Meet, Jordyn. She was under the table keeping my feet warm. Every few minutes she would come out and say hello. She says hello by looking at you straight in the eyes and demanding a bite of your food.

what kaleena is thankful for.

Kaleena's list of things in no particular order that she is thankful for:

• Good health.
• Steve.
• My two older sisters, parents... friends.
• Laughing and things that make me laugh.
• Our little sandwich griller... thingy.
• Hot water and clean water.
• Silly texts and emailing.
• My fantastic memory.
• Our apartment.
• The Neti Pot.
• My intelligence and understanding.
• My job. It can be bleak, yes, but it's a job.
• Our growing movie collection. Cheers to Amazon for CHEAP movies and shipping!
• The microwave.
• Blankets, socks, pillows and my Puffy.
• My iPod and Canon camera.
• Forrest Gump.
• My followers.
• Scientific research.
• Science.
• Door locks & security.
• Harry Potter!
• Books, ability to read, literature. 
• Surprises.
• Cheese fries, pickles and cereal.
• Food.
• Puns.

Happy Thanksgiving