'tis the Season....

..For forgiveness.

I'm starting to think that I recommitted to this blogging thing at exactly the wrong time. I'm finding it a bit difficult to blog on a regular basis when I have no internet.

That's right. NO INTERNET!

Some of you may be asking, "how do you survive?"

I'm actually finding it kind of nice. Instead of spending my time on facebook, and watching stupid pointless (*cough* adorable) kitty cat videos, I've been working on my house, doing some crafts here and there, catching up on my reading, and actually making food for myself...even if it's a simple as a breakfast sandwich.

This one's got egg, pepper turkey, and mild cheddar, toasted on rosemary and olive oil bread with a slather of honey mustard. Yum!

So here is an update of my past week..

It snowed... A LOT.

This picture was taken after the first snowfall...since then we've had more than 10 inches, and I'm miserable about it.















However, I have crossed a couple of things off of my "Things to do before Christmas" list.

Invitations to Christmas dinner sent out- Check

These where actually sent out a while ago (when I still had my Thanksgiving nails) Shaped like a house due to the fact that this will be the first Christmas in the Old House in forever..and not very many people have seen it all re-done and being lived in.

Christmas tree up and decorated- Check

Last week I went to pick out Christmas trees with my lovely friend Jen, and her family. I always get a real tree, but this was my first time actually going to the tree farm to pick it out. There where so many to choose from!

I think I picked a good one though. It turned out to be a little tall for my living room. But we got it all cut down to an appropriate size, and Brandon came over to help me decorate it. It's a little bare in a couple of places, but I still have a few ornaments to put on it.

It makes my living room feel so cheery and festive. I love it!

This year I've also been a bit obsessed with sparkly things, glitter and such..so I just got a big pack of super cheap dollar store Christmas bulbs and then added my own sparkle to them. I love the results.

For some of them I glued on little fake diamonds (left) and others I just coated in white and silver glitter (right)

  I want to add on a couple more of the diamond coated ornaments. They look so pretty near the Christmas lights.

A few things that I love..

1. I love reconnecting with old friends. I got a message today from someone that I was really close with in college, but haven't been in touch with in a couple of years...and it really kind of made my day.

2. I love making other people happy.

Back Story:
There's an older couple who stay at our hotel quite frequently. They called a couple of days ago to let us know that they were coming this evening, and while I was on the phone with them, they mentioned to me that they were actually getting married today. Now they're really the nicest people, so I figured we should probably do something special for them since it's their wedding day and all.

So I made them a little gift basket to give them at check in. (Note: this act was slightly selfish, as I am constantly trying to find excuses to do anything wedding related)

(ignore all the stuff on the counter behind it)

(In case you're wondering why there's a dog bone, it's because they have an adorable little, extremely well behaved dog that just follows them everywhere they go)

But whether the act was selfish or not, it made them smile. So mission accomplished.

3, 4, and 5.

THIS

hahahaha my new phone case. Let me explain.

I've already mentioned my weird obsession with phone cases...and considering the number of cats I have, I'm sure you can figure out that I love them too...but the third thing that I have a secret love for...animal puns. hahah I literally laugh every time..no matter how stupid..I just can't help it. I mean seriously now..try not to laugh.

aaahahahaha it never gets old!

And now something I don't love: Slicing open my baby toe. yeah. That just happened. I was going to post a picture, but it's far too gruesome

P.S. Shout out to my cyber stalkers. You know who you are ;)

Last day..

My last day of work was nice. The calls weren't too horrible, and my supervisor bought me a cookie cake and let us sign out of the phones a little early to enjoy it. And after work a couple of my co-workers came out with me for some fries, and a fun goodbye. I'm glad to see that everyone is going to miss me. I'll definitely miss my co-workers. Honestly, part of me will miss my job as well. Definitely not being on the phones all day. That's something I can live without for sure. But I really do enjoy being good at my job, and this job was something I was really good at.
That's okay though..I'm sure I'll get really good at my new job too, once I get used to it. Not to mention, I'm excited about my new (more flexible) hours. I can't wait to have at least a little bit of my life back.

So on that note, here is my photo for today.

                               Day 6: A Challenge

Taking care of so many adorable kittens

Road trip

I know I haven't posted in about a week, but there's good reason for that. I went on a road trip with my boyfriend, and one of our friends up to the mountains to visit my brother, and my cousins. (Our friend conveniently lives in that area as well) I left late afternoon on Friday, and just got back last night. It was a lot of driving, but I had fun. So as usual, let me see if I can just sum it up, as opposed to going on and on.

Friday: Drove for 6 hours. Planned on stopping half way at a Chinese restaurant that I love going to every time I'm in that area. Missed my exit. No Chinese food :(
Stayed the night at a friend's house about an hour and a half away from my cousin's so that he could spend some time with his family.

Saturday: Left my boyfriend and friend to have some guy time and enjoy their Saturday hockey game. (my boyfriend was not happy with the results of the game) Drove to my cousin's house where my brother, cousins and I went into town and enjoyed a nice pizza. Stayed the night at their house. Played cards, ate snacks, and had some good old fashioned family time.

Sunday: Drove back to my friend's house to pick the two of them up. Returned to my cousin's house to pick him up. Drove an hour to my brother's girlfriend's college. (an all girl school much to the delight of my friend.) Officially met my brother's girlfriend, and had a really lovely lunch at a tiny little diner called Manory's. If you're ever in Troy, make sure you eat there. The staff is incredibly nice, and very interactive. (plus the food is good.) All together a very enjoyable meal. We then went back to the dorm lounge and played cards. We stayed the night at my friend's grandpa's house, where we spent the whole night playing pool in his basement/man cave.

Monday: Drove home. Didn't miss my exit this time. Drove to the Chinese restaurant. Found out that it's out of business. No Chinese food :(
When we got back home though, my boyfriend took me out for Chinese at a different place. He's sweet.

So that was my weekend. I didn't take very many photos over the weekend, but here are a couple from my trip.

Mountains. Not the best photo as it was taken from my car window.

My very musical cousin playing his guitar for me

My brother's crazy cat. Her name is Demon, and her eyes always look like this.

My cousin is a Cat-whisperer.

Complain complain, and blah blah blah

Yesterday I got sent home from work because I'd lost my voice. It's much better now, but yesterday I sounded horrible. Unfortunately there isn't really anything that I can do at work with no voice, considering the fact that I just take phone calls all day. So shortly after arriving at work, I was off again.
Since I felt completely fine (other than a slight sore throat) I decided that I was not going to waste my day off. So I drove to my old college to visit my boyfriend, and my friends who still attend there.
Boy do I miss being at school. I had forgotten what it felt like to be so carefree. We just hung out in the dorms, went to dinner, and then I went to watch everyone play an intramural basketball game.
As I sat on the floor of the gym, and looked around at all the people playing, and running, or just sitting in the cafe, and the lounges talking and watching tv, I had the crushing feeling that my life will never be like that again. All the memories of living on campus and living that life every day came rushing back, and it made me incredibly sad.
I just want that life again so badly. I want to be able to see my friends every day, and spend time with them, even if we're just sitting around doing nothing. I am just so miserable working 8 1/2 hours a day, and hour and a half away from all the people I want to be spending my time with. I don't even get out of work early enough that I'm able to see anyone during the week. I know this is what life is, but it just feels a little unfair that I wasn't able to stay at college for my full 4 years. I would just like to be able to have that time like all of my friends do.

Some day I'm going to go back to school. Or at least find a job that will make me happy, and allow me enough free time to be able to see my friends, and my boyfriend, and give me a little bit of time to have hobbies. I just need work to not be the only thing in my life.

Happy is...

"THREE GRAND ESSENTIALS 

TO HAPPINESS IN LIFE

are something to do,

something to love, and

something to hope for."

- Joseph Addison

Read this quote today on bellaMUMMA She always posts such inspirations!