December Bucket List - Recap

December is over, so it's time to see how I did!

1. Read Voyage of the Dawn Treader before seeing the movie.
STATUS: fail
I ended up seeing the movie before I finished the book, which ended up being okay because the movie was different from the book. I started reading the book the next day, but I never got around to finishing it. maybe next month.

2. No cokes for a week.
STATUS: EPIC fail.
I'm so NOT a morning person, so when I'm working the 6am shift and I don't drink coffee, coke is the only option. gotta get some caffeine somehow! again, maybe next month.

3. Bake an apple pie.
STATUS: success!
I baked one on Christmas Eve, and I also made fudge for my co-workers. both were delicious, if I do say so myself.

4. Run 20 miles each week.
STATUS: fail
I hardly ran at all, buuuuuuut I did decide that since I failed miserably at this, I needed to at least complete part of my 23 Things list [not yet published]: run at least a 5k each month. So I'm running the Flashlight 5k in Lawrenceville tomorrow at 6pm. free long-sleeved t-shirt AND pasta dinner afterwards!

5. Have a family game night.
STATUS: success
When Memama and Pepaw came up to celebrate Christmas, we ended up playing a giant game of Phase 10 in partners. Pepaw got frustrated because he and Grant were losing, bad.   But he gets mad when he's winning because we always skip whomever is in first.. so he gets mad no matter what place he's in. I wonder where I get it from?

6. Complete 30 Day Challenge.
STATUS: undecided
I missed a few days when I was working all day or doing something with the family, but I've come close! I'll finish the month at day 22, so I'll consider this an overall success, despite not finishing 100%.

7. Unpack my boxes from Athens.
STATUS: success
finally unpacked the boxes so that I could get my super awesome Georgia Christmas tree. incentives tend to work well with me.

8. Print pictures to put in room.
STATUS: as of this moment, fail. however, I still have one day left, so I'll try to print them tomorrow and will update in 2011!
I have picked out several pictures that I want to print, but I've been too lazy to actually go get them printed. Walmart just isn't convenient to get to, but I dunno where else to print them. maybe Walgreens?

I wish this had been more of a success, but I did have a great month, so I'm not complaining. I'll get next month's list up in the next few days!

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30 Day Challenge: Day 21

Day 21: Picture of Yourself

I've gone through phases in my life when it comes to taking pictures. I used to ham up for the camera, then I went through a [looooooooong] period where I didn't want to take ANY pictures [middle school. typical]. THEN I went through a phase [where I currently am] where I don't mind taking pictures.. but I don't always want to initiate the pictures. So most of my pictures are pictures of me WITH someone else. I have one by myself from the past few months:

Island Party 2010

and one that I LOVE that I haven't shared yet, featuring one of my favorite people in the world.. Hubert! oh, and Katie, too ;] just kidding!

Katie, myself, & Hubert [the mascot for our volleyball team!]

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30 Day Challenge: Day 20

Day 20: Nicknames

I don't have a lot of nicknames. My name is already short, so it can't be shortened into a nickname. But I have accumulated a few nicknames throughout the years:

1. puppy: this is what my dad called me when I was younger. I have no idea why.
2. Lobster: this is my nickname from Melissa. we were talking, and I can't remember who said it, but this is how it went:
• person 1: -chit chat, says something ridiculous-
• person 2: haha you're such a lobster. I mean, loser!
• person 1: HAHAHAHAHA LOBSTER!
3. Ewok: Melissa, Alysha, and I were watching Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi. When the Ewoks are celebrating at the end of the movie, I started doing this RIDICULOUS dance. I've never seen them laugh so hard in my LIFE. Thus, the nickname was born.

Sadly, that's it. I wish I had more nicknames. Feel free to give me a cool nickname!

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30 Day Challenge: Day 19

Day 19: Something You Miss

I miss being a kid. I know I act like a 5 year old half the time, but I miss truly being a kid. Not having responsibilities. Not having younger siblings.. being the only child/grandchild was awesome. But when I was a kid, I lived in Albany, literally around the corner from my grandparents. I miss being that close to them. I miss seeing them whenever I wanted to. But I think that more than anything,

I miss Albany.

I miss Jimmy's hotdogs. I miss only having one Walmart in a thirty mile radius. I miss Chehaw Park. I miss Putt Putt. I miss Maryland Fried Chicken! I miss GARGANOS. I miss seeing Palmyra Medical Center's "Now you know, now you know, now you know. Palmyra Medical Center: Get to know us" commercials. I miss being able to ride my bike or roller blade without worrying about getting taken out by ten cars. I miss The Cakery and having to buy my birthday cake a week early and freeze it because the ONE week out of the year that they're closed is the week of my birthday. I miss the Albany Fair. I miss the "traffic" at 5pm. I miss Lake Loretta. I miss Slappey Blvd. I miss my home church. I even miss that tiny rinky-dink, one-story mall.

I know it's crazy. I live less than 5 miles from the biggest mall in Georgia. I'm surrounded by everything I could ever possibly want or need. But I want to go back to that small town where everybody knows everybody. I think it's just nostalgia, but I love going back to Albany every year. I miss it.

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Christmas came early this year..

My mom is a nurse, and she has to work one of three holidays each year: Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years. Well, Julia always has cheerleading nationals over New Years down in Orlando, so she has to trade for one or the other whenever her holiday falls on New Years, which it did this year. She worked Thanksgiving last year, so this year she traded with someone for Christmas. A few years ago, she worked nights instead of days, so she didn't work til Christmas night. This year, not so lucky.

So we celebrated on Christmas Eve instead. It was sad because we didn't do our traditional breakfast of sausage balls [my favorite!] and cinnamon rolls and juice, but we did go to a Christmas breakfast at a neighbor's house, which was fun. We went to the Christmas Eve service at church, then we came home and cooked dinner: fried turkey, Mom's famous dressing, macaroni and cheese, green beans, rolls, other things that Mom and Dad like that I don't, and apple pie. I managed to peel all of the apples without cutting myself, which is a huge feat considering that I somehow always manage to cut myself at work without realizing it. Perhaps it was the fact that we ate so much later in the day than usual therefore I was hungrier than usual, but everything was exceptional. Then, a Festivus miracle:

we cleaned the kitchen as a family.

It was crazy. I think everyone just wanted to get to the presents haha I made out this year. I wasn't expecting much of anything [except my jeans.. I was so excited about those! I doubled the number of jeans I own in one night!] Here's what all I got:

stocking::

• body washes from Bath & Body Works
• candy
• hair ties
• Go Dawgs fan
• 2 movie tickets [it took me all year to use the ones I got last year haha]
• garage door opener [I was so excited about this! I am so tired of having to get out in the pouring rain or freezing cold and punch in the codes to open the door!]
• striped bag from B&BW
• red watch

wrapped presents::

• 3 pairs of jeans from Gap, which we got for $30 the day BEFORE Thanksgiving. they're normally $70+, so it was a good deal haha
• black wrap
• grey and black striped wrap
• LONG pajama pants! pajama pants are never long enough on Mom and me, so she ordered some long ones from Old Navy. they are the same ones that I almost bought last week when I bought my neon pink fleece instead.
• iHome docking station
• short boots for student teaching
• Michael Kors pea coat!
• Jeopardy daily calendar
• Georgia clutch and key ring.. funny story here. Mom bought this for me LAST YEAR so that I could take it to games this year. she knew that she'd forgotten a gift for me, but she couldn't remember what or where it was. this year, she was looking for a candle, and she found it. WAY after football season.. oh well haha
• tickets to see Beauty & The Beast at the Fox!
• scarf set and a necklace with a family tree on it from Grandmom
• short Georgia Tervis Tumbler
• tall COLTS Tervis Tumbler!
• cassette tape for my car to listen to my iPod. I have one, but I'm not sure if the cassette is messed up or if the tape deck is messed up, so we shall see.

We did Christmas with Memama and Pepaw a few days ago. I got a puffy purple vest and an argyle sweater from them, and they gave me an early graduation gift too: a Georgia snuggie! It's really cute. When I opened it, though, I saw the back of the box first, and a picture of Florida fans in Florida snuggies was staring back at me. Needless to say, my face was one of slight shock. Pepaw was like, "Oh, you don't like it?" and I started laughing and turned the box to show him what I saw. We all started laughing.

It was a good Christmas. Of course, there was the traditional fighting, but luckily I wasn't too involved this year. It was mostly Julia and Dad. But it wouldn't be a holiday without family fights, I suppose.

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30 Day Challenge: Day 18

Day 18: Something You Regret

This one is surprisingly easy for me. I'm terribly tempted to write that I regret my relationship with Rylan, but I don't. It molded me into the person I am today. I know what NOT to do in my next relationship, if I ever have one, in order to avoid making the same stupid mistakes. I am stronger because of what I went through with him.

I do, however, regret the way I acted after we broke up. I was a wreck. I completely broke down and became that stupid girl who thinks her life is over because a boy broke her heart. Stupid. I couldn't eat for months. I came home every weekend. I cried and cried and cried. I had my first huge panic attack at a New Years party. I missed a fancy dinner with friends because I had to go to the doctor to get help. I became secluded and probably alienated so many people that could've become good friends. It was a bad time in my life.

And no offense to anyone who has acted this way.. it's just NOT me. I spent my entire life trying to be as independent as possible, and for me to suddenly throw that away because of a boy is ridiculous.

I wasted two years of my life trying to get over him. I regret that it took that long.

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30 Day Challenge: Day 17

Day 17: Something You're Looking Forward To

So, the popular answer here has been Christmas. But to be completely honest, I'm ready for Christmas to be over. Working at TRU for the past two seasons has completely destroyed my Christmas spirit.

I'm ready for December 26th.

But the reason I'm ready for December 26th is because I get to see my best friend. My best friend Janet lives in Boston, and I hate being so far from her. We rarely talk, and we've had a rough year, but she's my sister. She's having a get-together at Taco Mac on Sunday, so I get to see her! It'll be hard to share her with everyone else, but it'll have to do. It's better than possibly not seeing her at all. Plus there's a TRU work get-together at Chili's afterwards, so that'll be fun too. And I don't work that day. It's gonna be awesome. But mostly because I get to see my sister.

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30 Day Challenge: Day 16

Day 16: Dream House

I told April that this would be a hard topic for me. I really don't care about houses. I don't care about decorating. I'd love for someone else to decorate for me. It just doesn't interest me at all.

So I googled "dream house" because I don't have the foggiest idea what I want. And I found this:

Pretty, yes? I also wouldn't mind this:

I mean, hello! She has an ELEVATOR in her HOUSE. Who *wouldn't* want that?! I think it's pretty cool.

However, I don't foresee any of this happening unless I marry rich, because I'm pretty sure a teacher's salary won't pay for that.

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30 Day Challenge: Day 15

Day 15: Bible Verse

I have a few different favorite Bible verses. One is from my favorite book of the Bible, Job.

Job 1:21b - The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!

Another is from my other favorite book of the Bible, Philippians.

Philippians 1:6 - Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

But the one that I most want to share is the one that is most relevant in my life right now.

Philippians 4:6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I am constantly worrying about the future. Graduation is less than 6 months away. Then I have to try to find a teaching job in this economy. And with several of my friends in long-term relationships, talking about marriage/planning their weddings, and knowing what goals I have in my life [getting married, adopting], I am anxious to begin that chapter of my life.

Which is difficult to do without a boy.

Unless you're Sue Sylvester.

But that's besides the point. I need to NOT be anxious about these things, because everything will work out according to His plan, but it's hard not to stress sometimes. So much easier said than done.

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30 Day Challenge: Day 14

Day 14: A Picture You Love

I think it is a trend amongst my friends to be unable to come to ONE conclusion, so naturally, I have more than one picture that I love.

Rylan and I went to the Georgia Aquarium, and there was a line to go up into that little dome to be near the penguins. Since I would cut off my right arm in order to play with a penguin, I HAD to do it! It was incredible. The penguins were RIGHT THERE. I loved it!

Our SAO sisterhood retreat was in Greenville, SC, and our group of four had such a blast! It was kind of rainy all weekend, but we were prepared in our rain gear. We were walking through downtown, and Marissa grabbed her camera and yelled, "POSE!" and this is what happened. This is quite possibly my favorite candid photo ever. I seriously love it! It's got two of my favorite people in the world, Kelly and Ashley, in it!

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30 Day Challenge: Day 13

Day 13: Goals

I feel like I've done this before. Most of the things on my bucket list(s) are goals for my life. Like meeting Peyton Manning and Matt Diaz. But I'll reiterate them here:

• Graduate college.
• Get married.
• Adopt children.
• Run a half marathon. Particularly the Disney half marathon.
• Go skydiving.
• Own the entire Gilmore Girls collection.
• Get a teaching job.
• Go to a Colts game AT Lucas Oil Stadium.
• Meet Peyton Manning.
• Meet Matt Diaz.

Those are the main ones. And yes, the last two are serious. It will happen.

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December Bucket List - Halfway Point

Following Rachael's lead, I decided to do a little check-in on my progress!

1. Read Voyage of the Dawn Treader before seeing the movie. Task semi-complete. I saw the movie on opening night, but I hadn't finished the book. However, I'm almost done with it now. And I think it was better this way. The movie was better than the book. But I'm slightly biased.. Ben Barnes is gorgeous.

2. No cokes for a week. Haven't even started this one. However, I'm starting it tomorrow. From midnight tonight until midnight next Thursday morning, zero carbonated beverages. I will not fail!

3. Bake an apple pie. I haven't made an apple pie, but I have made Alysha's fudge to take to my co-workers tomorrow, particularly Jaime who's had a rough few weeks. Pie will still come though. The baking for the season has only begun!

4. Run 20 miles each week. Oh, man. This one is a huge failure so far. I haven't even done one mile yet. I am so ashamed.

5. Have a family game night. Not yet, but my grandparents come up on the 22nd, so we will probably have one then. The kids are still in school til Friday, and Grant has had finals to study for and such. I hope that next week will be more free.

6. Complete 30 Day Challenge. I'm working on it. I've done pretty well over the past few days, but I think I was too far behind to complete this by New Years Eve. But I'll get close!

7. Unpack my boxes from Athens. Just two more boxes to go! My room looks great! I had a little incentive to clean it: I needed somewhere to place my new Christmas tree! My mom, a Georgia Tech fan, bought me a black Christmas tree, some red and silver ornaments, and Georgia candy canes! So I cleaned and set it up!

8. Print pictures to put in room. Haven't done this one yet either. Once my check clears on Friday, I'll go to Walmart and print some out. Mom framed a picture of me and Grant from Thanksgiving, and I need to put pictures in the frames that Katie and Jordan gave me for my birthday! There's also an incredible picture of my bestie Melissa and her fiance..

it's too perfect not to put up, don't you think? I want to print this picture on a t-shirt and wear in on their wedding day.. I'd try to wear it during the ceremony too, but Melissa might kill me. Bridezilla!!

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30 Day Challenge: Day 12

Day 12: What You Believe

At first, I had no idea what to write for this, but upon seeing April's post, I decided [with permission] to "borrow" her idea lol

I believe that true love is first and foremost a friendship.

I believe that music can heal the soul.

I believe that there is no greater feeling that to get completely lost in a book.

I believe that Star Wars will ALWAYS trump Star Trek ;]

I believe that it is better to serve than to be served.

I believe that the people behind the scenes are just as important as the people in the limelight.

I believe that my mom's sugar cookies are the best in the world. Try them, and you'll believe it too.

I believe that it's better to be cold than hot. You can always put clothes on [or snuggle with someone], but you can't always take clothes off.

I believe in the power of the cross.

I believe that a smile can change a person's day.

I believe in Southern hospitality.

I believe that math makes more sense than poetry.

I believe that cats can sense when you're upset.

I believe that the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

I believe that at Disney World, everyone is 5 years old again.

I believe that it is better to forgive than to forget.

I believe that work is more fun if you have great coworkers.

I believe that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.

I believe that I should have grown up in the 80's rather than be born then.

I believe Imitrex shots are God's gift to migraine sufferers.

I believe that it's better to be with a few close friends than in a crowd of people.

I believe that New York City is the most magical city on Earth.

I believe that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

And I believe that you'll never shut down the REAL Napster.

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30 Day Challenge: Day 11

Day 11: Your Favorite TV Shows

Oh, man. This is gonna be hard. I'm gonna break this into two categories: still on tv and no longer on tv. And there will still be way too many in each category. I'm slightly addicted to television, if you didn't know.

Still On TV::
Glee
I wasn't so sure about this show at first, but I watched the Madonna episode, and I was hooked! I'd always liked the music, but I immediately caught up on the season thanks to Emily, and I haven't missed an episode since!

Parenthood
HOLY CRAP I LOVE THIS SHOW! This is one of the best shows I've seen in a LONG time. I especially love the family line of the kid with Asperger's Syndrome. My cousin has Asperger's, and while every kid is different, even with the same type of autism, it's cool to see that on national television. It is an issue that needs to be out there. Plus it's funny, it's emotional, it's something that everyone can relate to. If you haven't seen it, you need to.

Criminal Minds
Oh, where to begin? First, Matthew Gray Gubler and Shemar Moore. Yes please. Plus it is just wicked how they can analyze the situation to find the killer. It's so cool, yet some episodes are so intense. It's another show that I've seen every episode multiple times, usually at night on ION or A&E.

The Mentalist
Um, Simon Baker is hot. And Australian, though he speaks with an American accent in the show. He is wickedly amazing, using his skills at reading people to help solve cases all while trying to catch the serial killer who murdered his family. It's SO good. I don't think I've ever seen an episode I didn't like.

Survivor/Big Brother/The Amazing Race
Basically I love reality game shows. I missed a few seasons of Survivor and TAR, but I've seen every season of BB [except season 10.. BORING] since the beginning. The social game combined with the physical game is just classic. I love it!

So You Think You Can Dance
If I could have any talent, I'd be a dancer. They can move their bodies in ways that I can only DREAM about. My favorite [serious] dance ever was the Park Bench from season 2.. I still get chills. I also loved the first dance that Alex and Allison did from this past season to "Alleluia".. SO GOOD. I've been to two tours, once on the front row, and waited in freezing cold weather for autographs and pictures. Totally worth it.

Big Bang Theory
I could laugh at this show all day every day. Funnily enough, my ex boyfriend and his best friend were exactly like Leonard and Sheldon. My ex looked like Sheldon but acted like Leonard, while his best friend looked like Leonard and acted like Sheldon. I wish I was kidding. It's funny on tv.. not so much in real life.

The Vampire Diaries
Guilty pleasure. I have a standing tv date with Jordan every Thursday at 8pm. We live too far away to get together and watch, so we FB chat during the show. We're both more than slightly addicted to Ian Somerhalder, though I'd take ANY of the guys on the show. LOVE it.


No Longer On TV::
F.R.I.E.N.D.S
CLASSIC. I love this show. I've seen every episode multiple times. I could quote just about any episode you want. My favorite episode is "The One With All The Embryos" where Monica and Rachel compete against Joey and Chandler for the apartment. Phoebe and Chandler are my favorite characters, but they're all fabulous.

Gilmore Girls
Oh. Em. Gee. If I could live the life of ANY tv character, it'd be one of the Lorelai Gilmores. Probably Lorelai rather than Rory, but I'd take either. Again, I've seen every episode at least 10 times, and it never gets old. If I have nothing to do at 11AM or 5PM, I'm turning on ABC Family and watching, even if I watched the exact same episode the night before. It's just so GOOD!

Seinfeld/M*A*S*H
These are classic Daddy-and-me shows. I grew up watching them with my dad. I've probably seen all episodes, though I don't remember these like I do the first two shows.

Scooby Doo
Once again, I've seen every one of the original episodes, along with every Pup Named Scooby Doo, 13 Ghosts Of Scooby Doo, and New Scooby Doo Movies [my favorite was the Sandy Duncan one where they helped her film her new movie]. I still watch this show when it's on Boomerang, though I refuse to watch the new Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated.

Boy Meets World
This show was just epic. So funny, so serious, so amazing. Who didn't want to date Shawn Hunter? Or have Mr. Feeny as a teacher? I loved the seasons where Shawn lived with Jonathan Turner, mainly because he was hot too haha

Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel
The original vampire phenomenon. I actually just started re-watching this on netflix over Thanksgiving break. Some of the later seasons of Buffy got a bit ridiculous, like when she came back from the dead, but until then, it was great.

The Agency
A fabulous show about the CIA. This show just all-of-the-sudden ended. They had a great season finale.. that ended up being the series finale. But it left so many unanswered questions.. I still watch some of the actors from that show on ANYTHING that they do, particularly Jason O'Mara.

LOST
I was so reluctant to this show at first. I tried a few episodes during the first season, but I just couldn't get into it. Then, before the fourth season aired, the writers' strike occurred. There was nothing new on tv, so before the season aired, they showed a recap episode that briefly told what happened during the first three seasons. I watched from then on, and I was hooked. I borrowed seasons 1-3 from a friend and caught up after I finished season 4 [and yes, it was confusing], and I was a loyal fan until the final season. It got a little bit ridiculous, but I stuck with it. But the finale.. I just didn't understand. Still don't. I thought it was a bit of a cop-out.. sort of a "we-don't-really-know-how-to-tie-up-all-the-loose-ends-so-we're-gonna-end-it-like-this" finale. Lame. But I'd still watch the entire series again.


Yeah, so as you can see, I have no life haha I just love tv. There are so many good shows! So many bad shows too, but mostly good shows. Our DVR is almost always full because we can't watch them all at once! And I'm always up for suggestions. I think Bones will be my next endeavor via Netflix.

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30 Day Challenge: Day 10

Day 10: Something You're Afraid Of

I have several things that I don't like [spiders, snakes, bugs of any kind ESPECIALLY flying ones, public speaking] but there is one thing that I am AFRAID of:

being alone.

I don't mean being alone in my house when nobody else is home or even walking along a dark street alone [though I know other people would be afraid for me]. I mean not finding someone to love me. I always thought that there was one person out there for me, and I'm terrified that I had him.. and lost him. I am afraid of never finding another guy who wants to be with me.

Which I realize is stupid. But it's true.

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30 Day Challenge: Day 9

Day 9: A Picture Of Your Friends

I am gonna have several pictures, because I don't have any real group pictures of all of my friends. Not recent ones, anyways.

home::

Melissa & I at Six Flags.. I love that Granny is throwin' up the deuces

Alysha & I goofing off with her new Macbook Pro

Stephanie & I at Collin's knighting ceremony with our new "grandfather"

Janet & I at Turner Field for the Georgia/Georgia Tech baseball game.. she always makes funny faces and I'm left smiling, so I pulled a fast one on her

UGA::

oh yes, you should be afraid. be very very afraid. Katie & I could take you OUT.

part of my EDMS cohort. I wouldn't have made it through the past two years without them!

my roommates Courtney & Ashley from last semester. these girls are my heart!

I was gonna put some pictures of my friends from work, but I couldn't find any that I really liked. So this is it for now!

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30 Day Challenge: Day 8

Day 8: A Place You've Traveled To

I haven't traveled to a lot of places in my life, so this was pretty easy to pick. I've been out of the country once, to Grand Cayman and Cozumel, but that was a weird trip.. so I won't write about it.

My favorite place that I've been to is Chicago!

NAVY PIER!

Two words: NAVY. PIER. YES PLEASE! Wish I still had the picture of the navy guys that we asked to take a picture with.. I should find out who has that.

Christian, rolling down the hill in a trash can in the park

Our church youth choir went in June after my senior year of high school. I went with several of my closest friends, and it was awesome. We got to sing some awesome songs at several places around Chicago, including the zoo. We somehow convinced Christian to get in an empty trash can and roll down a hill. I believe it had to do with a triple dog dare?

Gino's East!

My favorite part of the trip, other than the aforementioned Navy Pier, was Gino's pizza. I underestimated the awesomeness of Chicago deep dish. Never again. That was single-handedly the best slice of pizza I've ever had. I even convinced my mother to go there when she and Dad went to Chicago in November. She had nothing to do for a day, so she went to Magnificent Mile, and she had lunch at Gino's. She loved it. Best pizza ever.

seniors at Gino's

It was a great trip. I can't remember any horrible or even remotely unpleasant part of the trip. And I want to go back SO badly. Chicago = love!

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30 Day Challenge: Day 7

Day 7: Favorite Movies

I've been SO excited about this post! This is in no particular order, with the exception of the first movie:

The American President

If you haven't seen this movie, YOU NEED TO. I own it. It's fabulous. Every time this comes on TV, my family and I stop everything and turn it on. Even if it's in the middle, and ESPECIALLY if it's at the end.. "My name is Andrew Shepherd, and I AM the President!" gah SO GOOD. Our favorite part is when the President wants to get flowers for Sydney, and he tells one of his SS agents to stop so that he can hop out and go in. The agent says, "You're gonna hop out, Sir?" and Michael J. Fox kind of stutters, "No, he's not hopping. Sir, no hopping!" so my family always goes, "no.. no hopping. There will be no hopping!" which probably isn't funny to ya'll, but we crack up every time.

Inception

HOLY MOLY. Usually when there's this much hype, I won't go see it, but I wanted to see this one. I'm glad I did. SO GOOD. I want to watch it again and again. I have a feeling that this will be like Ocean's 11, where I discover something new every time I watch it. I still catch stuff that I've never noticed before with Ocean's 11, and I've probably seen it a hundred times. It was fabulous. This was when I realized that Leonardo di Caprio is one of my all-time favorite actors. Wow.

Monty Python & The Holy Grail

I LOVE THIS MOVIE. It's slapstick humor, and it's hilarious, especially at 2AM. So many quotes, so little time. If you haven't seen it, I'll let you borrow it. It's fabulous.

Sleeping Beauty

My favorite Disney princess movie, and I don't really know why. It just is. I love it. I love all DP movies, but this one is just something special.

Newsies

Christian Bale + musical = win. My old friend Nicole showed me this movie, and I fell in love. I could never find the DVD, but I always looked for it. One day, Rylan called and asked if he could come over really quickly because he had something for me. He brought Maple Nut Goodies [one of my favorite candies] and the Newsies DVD. He found it for me because I wanted it so badly. Gah it's SO good! April and I bonded even more when I found out that she not only knew about the movie but loved it as much as I do.

Star Wars

I can't pick just one. I've tried. They are all equally amazing, particularly the original trilogy. I grew up a Star Wars fan because of my dad and my uncle. My uncle to this day gets a Star Wars lego set from my grandparents for Christmas. He collected every single can when Pepsi did the special cans a few years back, even the super hard to find ones. George Lucas is a BEAST.

Mary Poppins

Anything that Julie Andrews was in is a favorite, but Mary Poppins is my favorite. Oddly enough, I used to hate this movie, but not anymore. I want to dress up as Mary Poppins in the white and red outfit when she goes into the painting for Halloween one year. Rylan wanted to be Bert, so that would've worked out well lol

Harry Potter

I love these movies almost as much as the books. They bring my characters to life so wonderfully! Snape is probably the most perfect character possible. But I could be saying this because of my recent discovery that Snape is my favorite. Scoff if you must, but Harry would not have succeeded without him.

The Italian Job

I never would have expected to like this movie. I could care less about cars, and that's what everyone kept raving about. However, I finally watched this with Nicole one day, and I was hooked. I want a Mini Cooper. And a Mark Wahlberg. Or a Mark Wahlberg IN a Mini Cooper. But seriously. It's action. It's comedy. It's got a tiny bit of romance. It's got a KILLER cast. I mean, Mark Wahlberg, Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, Seth Green, Mos Def, Donald Sutherland, and Edward Norton, all in one movie? It's like Ocean's 11, but BETTER. Yeah, it's THAT good.

Well, this is only scratching the surface. Some honorable mentions: Mulan, Meet The Robinsons, Anastasia, Power Rangers [don't judge me], Air Force One, Time Line, Footloose, Hitch, Miss Congeniality, Batman Begins/The Dark Knight, V For Vendetta, The Wizard Of Oz, The Little Mermaid, Stardust, The Princess Bride, Kingdom of Heaven, LOTR, Get Smart, The Proposal, and tons of others that I can't even think of right now. I love movies. SO much. So if you ever need an idea for a gift.. that's a good one. Because I believe that you can never have too many movies.

P.S.- Please feel free to list your favorite movies or any movies that you think I may have accidentally overlooked. I reserve the right to append (is that the right word? CHANGE) this list lol

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30 Day Challenge: Day 6

Day 6: A Picture Of Something That Makes You Happy

I've been trying to decide how superficial I want to be with this blog. I could go with something that everyone would expect:

my man, Peyton Manning!

Matt Diaz with his son [right] and daughter [left]

or something potentially unexpected:

curled up by the fire with a good book and apple cider

But I decided to go with:

family tree

We took this picture on Thanksgiving. We always take pictures in Memama's backyard, and a few years ago we had all of the kids climb a tree in the basin and take a "family tree" picture of Greatmama's great-grandkids. So this year we decided to do a family tree picture with our family. The picture turned out GREAT. Everyone is smiling, even Grant [and without his usual Asian eyes!] and it was fabulous. Mom decided to use this picture instead of the beach picture for our Christmas cards [which I am SO thankful for.. I look better in black and jeans than in white and khaki]

It makes me happy because this was the first time that we've ever been together on an actual holiday and not argued. Julia didn't want to do pictures, so she got upset later, but there were no major blowouts. First time ever, I believe. Holidays are always rough because I know a fight is coming eventually, but they're still my family and I love them. And I wouldn't trade them for the world. Though I would change Julia's attitude most days.

In other news, tomorrow will probably be my favorite blog. It will also probably take me forever to write. I have too many favorite movies. It's a curse. But I love it!

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30 Day Challenge: Days 4 & 5

Day 4: Your Parents
Day 5: Your Siblings


Well, I've written about my parents for the 30 Day Meme, so I'm cheating and skipping that one. Instead I'm writing about my siblings today.

My brother is 17, 6 years younger than me. We used to hate each other. Like, seriously loathe each other. My parents always said that we'd become best friends one day, but I never believed them. Dad was an only child, and Mom has a less-than-ideal relationship with her siblings. But when I went off to college, it was like Grant realized, "Oh. Now it's just me and Julia, and she's the favorite because she's the baby. Crap." So we became friends and teamed up to take out the baby.

Of course, I'm kidding. Kind of. We do seriously team up against Julia quite often. She's a tad bit spoiled.

Grant is an amazing swimmer. He swims fly, back, and free, and he's finally the top of the pack as a senior! He's .08 seconds away from a state time in fly, and he's about half a second back in backstroke. This is our year! He's finally motivated to do well and try his best, and he gets upset when he doesn't do well. He used to not care. He still doesn't care about school, but he does eventually want to be an engineer. That's better than his original goal of trashman.

My sister will be 13 on Saturday, and I'm still not sure that we're related, except for the fact that our baby pictures make us seem like doppelgangers. But we are polar opposites. She is perky, clothes-and-shoes-obsessed, and athletic. And not musical, though she wants to be. She does cheerleading, plays golf, and wants to run cross country and track in high school. She doesn't eat anything but mac and cheese, bread, pizza, and cereal. And I wish I was exaggerating. She has admitted to being terrified of getting fat, but Mom and Dad don't think it's anything serious. She eats a lot.. just not anything healthy. All carbs and cheese. It's not fair, really.

Basically I'm just extremely jealous because she's all of the things I'm not. But I'm okay with who I am.. I just wish I was her too. Which makes me sound more emo than I intended. It's supposed to be a joke. I promise :]

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so I might have had a date today...

Today at work, I was asked to be Geoffrey's [the Toys R Us giraffe] handler, which means that I walk around with whomever is in the Geoffrey suit and make sure that they don't fall or walk into things.. or that kids don't attack him/her. Pablo was Geoffrey, and we had a BLAST. He is hilarious, even without saying anything [because obviously giraffes don't talk]. So afterwards, we talked about getting milkshakes because it was so hot in the suit, so we went to Steak & Shake on our break. We went and had a good conversation about family and sports and school and such. We went up to the front to pay, and the lady said, "Okay, that'll be $11.52." I was like, "oh, no, it's separate tickets." and he goes, "no it's not" and shoved his card towards the lady.

I didn't know what to say.

Nobody has ever paid for me, except a date. All of my friends always tell these stories about how their guy friends never let them pay for anything. I only have one guy friend like that, but half the time he's broke so I won't let him pay. Oh, and Henry at work. He always offers to get me something when he goes on break [fries, drink, etc] and he got me cough drops when he saw on facebook that I was sick. But other than those two, nobody has ever done that for me. I almost stroked out when Jake paid for fries for me at Chick-Fil-A one time and told me not to worry about paying him back. But I thought it was just him being a nice guy.

Then he texted me tonight. He got suckered in to staying late at work, so he texted me when he got home. We just talked for a few minutes, then he sent me this:

"We should go eat again sometime when we don't have to be back at work."

So now I don't know. I'm finally getting a good group of guy friends again after.. well, after whatever happened. That's another story. But the guys at work are so great. Derek, Henry, Pablo, ROB,  Brandon, Joseph, John.. everyone. I love them to death. I finally don't just get treated like one of the guys, but I don't want to worry about boys right now. Not there. Does that make sense? I don't know. I know I tend to overanalyze things because I worry like no other, but I really don't want anything to get messed up here. We have a great groove at work, and it needs to stay that way.

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30 Day Challenge: Day 3

Day 3: Your First Love

This is the hardest thing for me to talk about in my life. I've only had one boyfriend. He was the first guy who liked me back, my first slow dance, my first date, my first kiss, my first 'I love you', my first Valentine, my first love.

senior breakfast -- May 06

He was the first guy that I ever considered marrying, the first guy that told me that he wanted to marry me, the first guy to ask to spend the rest of his life with me.

one of my favorite pictures ever. I loved this pirate statue!

And he was the first guy to break my heart.

Christmas party with our high school friends -- Dec 06

For my previous blog challenge, I wrote about him in great detail, so you can read it there. For now, I'll just wrap this up with some of my favorite pictures of the two of us from a much happier time. [I know they're small, but you can click to enlarge them]

first picture together, D-Now -- Mar 06

first dance, senior prom -- Apr 06

senior prom -- Apr 06

lifeboat drill.. he was Rose, I was Jack. I got jipped -- Aug 06

formal dinner on my senior cruise -- Aug 06

my first ever college football game -- Sept 06

Chick-Fil-A Bowl, UGA vs VT -- Dec 06

SAO semi-formal -- Nov 07

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December Bucket List

I got inspired by Rachie, who got inspired by Kay, so I'm going to do a December bucket list.

1. Read Voyage of the Dawn Treader before seeing the movie. The movie [with BEN BARNES] comes out on the 10th, so I should read quickly! Alysha and I are hopefully gonna have a date night to go see it :]

2. No cokes for a week. It's been SO hard for me to do. I'll do it for a few days, then I'll have a really bad day or I'll get a REALLY bad headache from caffeine deprivation, so I'll have one. I know that it's almost impossible to cut cold turkey, especially around the holidays, but I'm gonna try.. for one week. Then maybe I'll decide that I can have 1 or 2 cokes per week, Sunday to Saturday, or something like that. But none for now.

3. Bake an apple pie. I love apple pie, and it's pretty easy to make. Maybe I'll make several and share with friends, neighbors, and/or co-workers.

4. Run 20 miles each week. And by run, I mean walk/jog/run. Now that the semester is over, I can actually justify going to the park instead of going around my neighborhood. And the park is so beautiful that I want to just keep going and going and going! So it'll be easy to do 3+ miles each day!

5. Have a family game night. Our family is constantly going, between swim practice, cheer practice, Wednesday night church, Mom working, Dad travelling, and early morning and after school meetings/homework help.. so when we're all together, we're resting and usually watching tv. But one night, I want to play games instead. Julia got The Amazing Race for the Wii, so maybe we could all play that?

6. Complete 30 Day Challenge. This means that I have to blog more than once every two weeks. More like once every two days. And then some. AKA I need someone to be like, "Lynn, have you blogged today?" Any volunteers?

7. Unpack my boxes from Athens. Yeah, they're still sitting in my room beside my bed. From August. I just haven't been motivated to mess up my room to organize things before putting them away. But I need to before Mom has a duck.

8. Print pictures to put in room. I have zero pictures up, and I just got two new frames for my birthday from Jordan and Katie. Therefore I need pictures. I also am newly addicted to Mod Podge. So I want to print some pics to mod podge a canvas for my room as well.

I wanted to do 10, but I couldn't think of more. So we'll do 8 this month. I'll update this list in January with "pass" or "fail" and make a new list for January. You should too!

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30 Day Challenge: Day 2

Day 2: Meaning Behind Your Blog Name

So the reason this blog took so long is because I don't actually have a blog name. It's been "SRSLYlynn" just because of where I used to be hosted [srsly.nu], but I wanted something real. I thought about using a song like April and Ansley, so I started thinking of my favorite songs.

Somehow, "Love Shack" didn't seem appropriate.

So I went through my iTunes library and started listing some of my favorite songs:

1. Joyful Noise - Flame
2. Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
3. Blemish To Beauty - Kristen MacDonald
4. Gold Digger - Kanye West
5. Running Just To Catch Myself - Mark Schultz
6. Holding Out For A Hero - Bonnie Tyler
7. Gravity - Sara Bareilles
8. Slide - The Goo Goo Dolls
9. Shadowfeet - Brooke Fraser
10. The Mixed Tape - Jack's Mannequin
11. Scream [yes, HSM3]
12. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
13. In Love With The 80s - Relient K
14. Dancing Through Life - Wicked
15. Girl Next Door - Saving Jane
16. When The Stars Go Blue - Tyler Hilton & Bethany Joy Lenz
17. Empire State Of Mind - Jay-Z
18. Little Miss Can't Be Wrong - Spin Doctors

And as much as I wanted to go with Little Miss Can't Be Wrong, I decided on Livin' On A Prayer. It's one of my all-time favorite Bon Jovi songs, plus it's got a double meaning regarding my faith, so it's a winner.

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30 Day Challenge: Day 1

Day 1: Introduction, Recent Photo, and 15 Interesting Facts

INTRODUCTION
I saw Daniel start to do this 30 day challenge, and slowly but surely, most of my friends with blogs joined in. So I finally decided to cave and do it, even though half the time I don't have time to BREATHE, let alone blog. But I'll make it work!

RECENT PHOTO

Emily & I, tailgating at the Idaho State game on my birthday!

15 INTERESTING FACTS
I've done a few of these before, but here goes:

1. The only Beatles song that I like is "Let It Be," and that's only because I heard the Dave Barnes cover of it. People are generally surprised by this, especially because of how wide my musical taste is.
2. I've had 10 surgeries in my life: 4 sets of tubes in my ears, a tympanomastoidectomy [basically my right eardrum burst and was rebuilt], two surgeries to remove a dysplastic nevus [basically a raised mole on my leg that could have become cancerous later in life] that was ovular in shape on the back of my right leg [8 inches long, about 5 inches wide - I still have an 8 inch long scar about 1 cm wide which feels no sensation], adenoids removed, wisdom teeth, and my jaw surgically broken and expanded. Pair that with my super small veins that like to roll, and needless to say, I don't like hospitals.
3. We moved around a lot, so I went to 8 schools in 9 years, including 3 different high schools. But no, I'm not an army brat; my dad's an engineer. Go figure.
4. I can't hear a song without singing. I don't care if I'm in public, in a car with people I don't know, whatever.. I have to sing. Even if I'm sick as a dog, I will try to sing until my throat gives out.
5. I'm dying to go skydiving someday. I have a feeling that I would chicken out once I got up in the air, so someone might have to give me a little nudge, but I want to do it. I also want to bungee-jump, but not as much as I want to sky dive.
6. I'm addicted to games, especially card games. My current obsession is Nerts, but I also love Phase 10. Oh, and Skipbo. And Euchre. And Rook. And Spades. Yeah.
7. I want to teach middle school science. I have such a heart for that age group, and I can't wait to be around them all day every day! The irony here is that I always hated science, although now that I think about it, I did take two extra sciences in high school. Then I got to college and thought I was done. Each semester, I thought, "This is it! The last science class I'll ever have to take!" But then the next semester I would take another science class.. and then another.. and then another. My last science class was my Earth Science For Middle School Teachers class last spring, and I thought I'd die when it first started. The more we learned, however, the more I fell in love with it. And now it's what I want to teach! Earth science or physical science.. I could live without life science though. Blech.
8. I can't stand silence. I have to have some kind of noise going on when I study, which my parents think is absurd. But my calc 2 professor let us listen to music during our tests.. I made high A's on all of them. Coincidence? I think not.
9. I hate Macs. With a passion. But I'm so sick of spyware on my computer that I will be purchasing one as soon as possible.
10. I have tried to give up Cokes, but I can't. That is my one weakness when it comes to food.
11. Sports are my life. Football and baseball = LOVE. I would give up my right arm to meet Peyton Manning. It is my dream to see them play in the Lucas Oil stadium. I would also die if I ever met Matt Diaz. I am his biggest fan. -sigh-
12. I can quote almost every F.R.I.E.N.D.S episode. Phoebe is my favorite, followed closely by Chandler. I could also act out The American President, Monty Python & The Holy Grail, Miss Congeniality, and every single Disney movie. And I know all of the words to "Whoomp, There It Is," "Baby Got Back," and "Can't Touch This." And yes, I am proud of this fact.
13. I am newly obsessed with running. I don't go as often as I'd like because I only like to run in the morning, and I work almost every morning.. so yeah. But I love it when I get to go!
14. I hate to shop. I especially hate to shop when I have certain things that I have to buy [ie. red shirt for work, dress for formal, etc] because I can NEVER find what I need, especially not at a good price.
15. I have a terrible time getting to sleep. No matter how early I get up, I'm never tired enough to fall asleep until around midnight. I'll get in bed, lights off, and just lay there. This makes it very difficult to get up at a decent hour in the mornings.

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