I'm Thankful...

So today being Thanksgiving and all, I thought it would be a great time to mention things I'm grateful for. 1) Family...I've spent every Thanksgiving since I was born with them and I never want to spend it with anyone else. Whether it's different sides of the family, I always have an awesome time. They are the people who I love and make me laugh until I cry. They'll even clean up the kitchen when we're done destroying it. 2) Friends...I wouldn't get by in life without them. We've shared both good and bad life experiences together and have had fun along the way. We've had the opportunity to teach and learn from one another. And I love the fact that they will bring me gatorade when I'm sick (Thanks Dee). 3) Kindness of strangers...in this time of need, I love the fact that people are willing to go out of their way to lend a helping hand. I encourage everyone to donate what they can to make this holiday season bright for a fellow neighbor. Be gracious with your time, monetary gains, food and even a...gulp...blood donation is always welcomed. 4) The stomach flu...you never know how much you take your health for granted until you're down and out with an illness. 5) Holiday movies...getting from summer blockbuster season to the holiday movies is long and frustrating. After wasting so much time and money on idiotic movies, I look forward to another wave of competent and entertaining movies. Well, I hope everyone had an fantastic Thanksgiving. I know I did.

Carrie Underwood

Wednesday night marked the 8th and final concert for the year. I'm so glad it was Carrie to finish out the year for us. I'm just so amazed every time I hear her extraordinary voice. Not only is she incredibly beautiful, but she can certainly entertain a crowd. This is why I love American Idol so much. Who knows where she would be today without that launching pad. She is a remarkable talent and I'm so happy that she can share that with us. Whoa, that's pretty sentimental for me. Anyway, D and I had and awesome time. And I'm sad now that since we bought our tickets to Europe, we have to hold off on buying anymore concert tickets. **Note** Although we saw NKOTB a few days before Carrie, I will be posting those pics at a later time. Sorry Etta:(

Quirky Tag

Thanks to Marlyce for the tag. I gave this some deep thought and I was having trouble deciding if I was being quirky or just plain OCD. I finally narrowed it down to 6. Although I probably could've filled it up to 20. Enjoy-

Quirk #1: I have to fold my towels in a certain way. This is not a problem at my house as I tend to do my own laundry. At work, on the other hand, it drives me crazy when they are folded differently. We have many towels coming through the spa and an entire group folding haphazardly as they please. I usually go back into the locker room and refold to my liking. Fold towel in half, and again in half, then into thirds. This looks so neat especially when they are stacked...trust me.

Quirk #2: I never sleep on my pillowcase more than once before I change it. Okay, let me clarify. I'll sleep on one side then the next night I'll flip it over to the unused side. After that it goes into the laundry. I have dozens of pillowcases since I change them so frequently. Since I'm a stomach sleeper, the thoughts of my freshly cleansed facial skin rubbing against dirt, oil, and hair product residue makes me cringe. And I can't sleep on couch pillows either knowing that other bodies have soiled them. Ew...I just made myself sick.

Quirk #3: I buy fruits in groups of 3. I really have no explanation for this one. Bananas, apples, oranges, etc. I must buy 3.

Quirk #4: I refuse to cook or bake with a timer. I think because my mom never used one it just was not instilled in me. I like to do things on my own time and not be ruled or controlled by the clicking of the timer. It gives me anxiety. I have burned countless meals and baked goods because of my stubbornness.

Quirk #5: I love pens. I can spend hours in Office Depot looking for a great pen. I was so excited at my last job because I was in charge of ordering office supplies. Luckily, I could get away with buying a ridiculous amount of assorted pens. My favorite is a 1.4mm bold ballpoint pen preferably in blue. My good pens are labeled with my name so I know whether you stole my pen.

Quirk#6: Every time I use milk I have to smell it to make sure it's not sour. Even if I open a fresh carton, I still must use the odor test. Sometimes I psych myself out and have to debate whether it smells a little off or not. Clearly, when milk is sour there is no question. Knowing this, I still am a slave to use this method instead of using the expiration date as a guide. I'm guess this stems back to elementary when I was at lunch and took a big swig of milk...it was rotten....and curdled. From that point on I would never taste it blindly again.

After all this, I hope that this will not deem me as a crazy person. I tag Etta, Sha, Logan, Aaron/Angel, FOF, Melissa.

Tag Rules: Link the person who tagged you
Mention the rules on your blog
Tell about six quirks of yours
Tag six fellow bloggers to do the same
Leave a comment to let them know

Hello...Happy Halloween...Boo.

First of all, I would like to congratulate everyone on a Halloween well done. I've looked at all the blog and facebook pics of you and your costumes and I'm really impressed with your creativity. I'm going to give a shout out to the Shepherds for their costumes. Of course, I love the Three Amigos, but since they were also hand-made, I'll give them a well-deserved round of applause too.

I had the unfortunate task of closing at work this year. I was sad that I had to miss KB and Cody's cabin party. I borrowed my costume from Fists of Fury and she helped me with my makeup. At her work, she could only paint her face instead of dressing in a costume. She was a half-dead...widow. That wasn't the look she was going for, but needless to say, that's what it turned out to be. Work was pretty slow as everyone was out partying with their friends and family. We had a potluck and chilled while taking about a million pics of each other. All in all, Halloween was Spooktacular! ha ha

Since Etta had such confusion, I'll clarify that she is Pippy Longstocking, not the Wendy's girl.

I Heart Jason Mraz

Here is yet another of many concert posts to come. I went to the Jason Mraz concert and was blown away by his amazing talent. Now I've been to my fair share of concerts and I'd have to say that this was top 5 material. Vocally, Mr. A-Z was incredible. He was right on the money and I feel his cd's don't do him justice. If you've never listened to any of his live material, I would definitely recommend it. Musically, the dude can play his heart out and is a remarkable songwriter. He has an awesome band to back him that elevated his sound to the next level. I love his witty, carefree, laid back, and kind personality. You can definitely sense his genuine appeal. Wow, I sound kinda stalkerish now. So in a nutshell, if you ever get a chance to see him live, go for it. Here are a few pics and a video. I wanted to include everyone's recent favorite "I'm Yours" but I'm too impatient to load the 5 mins worth of video. I hope you'll enjoy "A Beautiful Mess" instead.

Hoodies are so last year...here comes the Slanket

Wow...can you believe we lived all these years without the Slanket? In case you haven't seen the informercial yet, this product is a blanket with sleeves. This is such an ingenious invention. It's for those who like to lounge around, but need the freedom to do other things with their arms. How could I let such an idea surpass me? All these years, my arms have suffered the cold when I needed to pull out my crotcheting needles. Many, many times, I too have found blankets restricting. Of course I could just turn up the temperature in my house or even use a hoodie, but no that would be too difficult. The world is definitely a better place since the introduction of the Slanket. So go out an get yourself one today. Your arms will thank you. (or check out the poor man's Slanket...the Snuggie.)

Locks of Love - Month 1

This may sound like a long shot, but I've decided that I would love to grow my hair out and donate it to Locks of Love. I know, I know...I haven't had long hair since I was around 6. It was always just a dream of mine to grow out my hair...someday. I've never really had enough willpower to struggle through that ugly growing-out phase. Most of the people I have mentioned this to have laughed in my face. I definitely don't blame them. I figure if I'm contributing to a good cause and the fact that I love a good challenge, I would give my all to grow out this mop of mine. The chances of me making it to the 10 inches (in a ponytail) needed to donate are slim. I have a few friends who believe in me, but many, many who are placing bets to when I will just chop it off again. I regularly get my hair cut every 4 weeks and I'm about 6 weeks into it. This will definitely be a HUGE commitment for me. If you have any comments or dates of when I'll "fall off the wagon" so to speak, I'd love to hear them. I'm including a pic for the end of month 1 and wish me luck.