Things that Happened in 2011

I'm not going to do a month by month post telling you what happened to me every month of 2011, because my life isn't that exciting. 

So I'm going to just tell you about the real stand out things that happened this year.

Chad and I started house hunting for real. And looked at about 20 houses. And still don't own one.

I bought my horse, Lad's Indian Princess.

Saw my first concert at the Gorge, and it was Zac Brown Band!

Chad and I finally live together (sure it's at my mom's house, but whatever).

I turned 25. And on that same day, Amanda Knox's murder conviction in Italy was overturned.

First year that Chad and I didn't have a Halloween party.

I participated in the Warrior Dash with Stephanie.

Chad's cousin got married and I caught the bouquet.

And last but not least, I BARELY survived Christmas. 

Here's to a great 2012 for everybody!

Ho Ho Homicide!

Last night was a party of epic proportion.

We went to a murder mystery party titled Ho Ho Homicide.

I've got a friend in my bell choir and her mom hosts these parties a couple times a year and they are always so much fun.

So what makes this one so much better than the ones in the past? Well, for one, it was Christmas themed. HELLO?! that makes everything better. Second, it was the first one of these parties that Chad has attended with me. And let me tell you, he was NOT excited.

I got off work yesterday and I FINALLY got home (side note, I definitely thought I was going to die driving home in a freak hail storm and basically slid about a mile through Snoqualmie before I came to a stop at the grocery store) and found Chad sitting on the couch in his work clothes with that "woe is me" look on his face. Poor little fella was SURE he was sick again and it was just going to be painful for him to go to the party.

Too bad, Chad, you have a fairly important role in this party, so you HAVE to go.

So, he hops in the shower, throws on his Budweiser sweatshirt and every so hesistantly agreed that we could leave. With beer and liquor in tow (since that's the smart thing to do when you are clearly dying of an infectious disease).

Anyways, it was a lot of fun, and Chad actually ended up enjoying himself. I had to practically drag him out of there. Although today he says it was stupid and he would never do it again.

We'll see about that...

11 things to end 2011

Thank God for the beautiful Sassy Vodka Panties.

(Those are words I never thought I’d write… wait. Who am I kidding?? How could I go my whole life without saying that sentence?)

Anywhoodle. She “tagged” me in her post today with this fun little get to know you type blog thingy. So here goes:

The Rules:

1.     You must post the rules

2.     Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog

3.     Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then set 11 NEW questions for the bloggers you tag to answer.

4.     Choose 11 people to tag, and link their blogs to your post. (don’t tag the person who tagged you, and you can’t just say that you are tagging everybody who reads it)

5.     Tell them that you tagged them.

11 Things about Me:

1.     I fracking hate whistling.

2.     My car is always ALWAYS a disaster area.

3.     I hoard tasks at work so nobody else can do them.

4.     I could seriously eat Chinese food every day and not get sick of it.

5.     I prefer hanging out with a small group of people rather than going to a party.

6.     My dad is in my dreams almost every night.

7.     I would love it if Chad made enough money so I could stay home and cook, clean, workout, and nap all day.

8.     I have a really hard time finding the perfect purse for any given expedition.

9.     I ring in a world traveled English handbell choir (and 98% of people have no idea what that is)

10. I love writing checks, and I balance my checking register with 4 different colored pens for different things.

11. I buy a lot of shoes and never wear them.

Answers to Sassy Vodka Panties’ Questions:

1.     What is the best job you’ve ever had?: Well, I’ve only really had two jobs in my life, so I’m going to go with FUNNEST job (since obviously my current job is BETTER than my last one, or else I wouldn’t have left there for here). My funnest job was working for Small Fryes. It’s a little burger joint in my home town and I worked there for 4 years. It was SO MUCH FUN most of the time. We played pranks, we made food concoctions, we deep fried everything… good times.

2.     What is your guilty pleasure?: Well, I posted about this a little while back and my guilty pleasure was McDonald’s. However, since then, I have eaten my weight in chicken McNuggets, so I’m over that guilty pleasure. And currently I have to say my guilty pleasure is Chinese food. Guilty, because it is a) usually fattening and b) expensive. Pleasing because it tastes like heaven.

3.     What is your least favorite book you had to read in school?: Well, this is a tough one because I really like reading and I have always found that I end up enjoying most books for some reason or another. But, I do remember one book that I couldn’t get into in high school, and that was The Things They Carried. I still have it to this day because I think I would probably enjoy it more now than I did when I was younger.

4.     What is one talent that you wish you had?: I wish I could play the piano. And sing. But not at the same time like Alicia Keys. I had a piano growing up and I loved tinkering away on it, but there was only so much that I could teach myself with the books we had. And singing is just nice. It would be nice to sing in the car and know that I don’t sound like a complete ass.

5.     What is the most embarrassing thing your parent(s) have done?: Hm, I am really not sure. I don’t really know of anything they’ve done that has really embarassed ME, but I am pretty sure my mom has done that have (or at least SHOULD have) embarrassed her.

6.     How often do you wash your hair?: Every day, if I’m being seen in public. I have a lot of really fine hair, so if I wear it down, it gets greasy really easily. And if I wear it up, it just gets OUT OF CONTROL.

7.     Who has influenced you most?: Well, it’s really cliché to say my parents, but it’s kind of the truth, don’t you think? I mean, your parents teach you things, like how to be a decent person and all that jazz.

8.     When did you have your first kiss?: I’m sure in elementary school sometime. But as far as a REAL kiss, like, with a boyfriend, it was probably in 9^th grade.

9.     Where do you want to go on vacation next?: My next big vacation I want to go to Florida! Disneyworld and Harry Potter Land (as I like to call it) are screaming my name!

10. What can you not leave the house without?: My cell phone usually. I absolutely despise talking on the phone, but it is definitely handy for text messaging, checking facebook, e mail, twitter, etc. And playing games. And telling time. And for emergency, clearly.

11. Why did you start a blog?: This, my dear SVP, is an excellent question. I started my blog mostly as a tool for support and to talk about my weight loss journey that I have been on for what feels like my entire freaking life. But gradually I got sick of talking about being fat (and I’m sure people get sick of hearing people talk about being fat), and moved on to other topics. Like Pinterest. And books. And recipes. And general life stories.

Now, this is where I am supposed to ask my 11 questions and pass it on to 11 other people. But that’s not going to happen, sorry friends. I just plain don’t have 11 questions that I care to ask 11 people… I feel like I would want to send a separate set of questions to everybody because there are different things about different bloggers that require questioning.



It's Okay... to be absent from my blog

 

It’s okay… to drink straight from the bottle of sparkling cider in hopes of nobody else wanting to drink any.

It’s okay… to be really scared about working out with Chad’s cousin because she is going to kick my ass in the gym.

It’s okay… to kind of like it when the boss is out of town because I can do things at my own pace without being scared she is watching my every move (not that I am really scared she does that anyways…)

It’s okay… to be kind of upset with the movie Water for Elephants because they left out the whole important part about carrying the water for the elephants. If someone hasn’t read the book they aren’t going to know how the hell the title makes sense!

It’s okay… to FINALLY see an attractive side to Robert Pattinson after watching Water for Elephants.

It’s okay… to be planning the order in which I am going to purchase all the Christmas gifts people didn’t get me.

It’s okay… to have a hard time not getting a loan to buy a horse trailer. All I wanna do is ride!

It’s okay… to miss Christmas music already.

That’s all kids! I haven’t really blogged this week because I’ve been working on getting caught up with life… and other people’s blogs. I should be back to normal next week.

WHOOP WHOOP!!

Just wanted to hop on over here to share with you guys that I won my FIRST EVER blog giveaway!

I won the FINAL giveaway of Mrs Monologues' holiday giveaway extravaganza and I had to yell out and fist pump with excitement, causing Chad to think I won a million dollars or something.

Anyways, if you feel the need to see the post announcing my winner-ness, go here.

Man oh Man...

It's time for a Christmas recap post. We had a lot going on for Christmas, so I am going to try to keep things short and sweet.

Christmas Eve:

Got up kinda early so Chad and I could finish up our shopping (barf). His cousin tagged along.

Christmas eve dinner at my house... Prime rib, mashed taters, etc. BOMB. 

Taco dinner at Chad's dad's girlfriend's house. New tradition, I hope. Presents from them also. Favorites: Water for Elephants DVD and The Band Perry CD. Whoop Whoop!

Christmas Morning:

Up early! Gifts at home. Too many to list them all... But here's some of the stand outs:

Those are the standouts. Among other things like a hiking book, cook book, calendars, etc.

Breakfast at Chad's grandma's house. Mimosas. Lotsa food. White elephant gift exchange. 

"Dinner" at Chad's other grandparents's house. More food (which I didn't have room to eat). Delicious desserts. A little dog named Gizmo.

To Dustin and Hayley's to give Mason his Christmas presents!

We got him the Kung Fu panda movies, as well as a Cars race track thingy. 

Please just TRY to tell me he isn't the cutest fracking thing you've ever seen in his Christmas jammies!

(Watching the Fox and the Hound on the travel DVD player I got him for a plane ride earlier this month. "Puppies!" he says and points to the screen.)

(Having his MiMi push him around on his new big boy bike that looks like his dad and uncle Chad's dirtbikes.)

Anyways, after that, I ended up coming home, rather than going to my uncle's house, so I could take a nap. I've been sick since Friday morning, so I was just too exhausted and full and feeling crummy to make it to another event.

So, my bloggy friends, that was my Christmas weekend... I hope everybody got what they wanted and had a fabulous holiday with their friends and family!

Negative Nancies

This is the holiday season, am I right? 

The season of good cheer, generosity, and good feelings.

So why are there so damn many negative people out there???

This isn't just something that goes on during the holidays, obviously, but I can't help but notice the contrast between the good and bad things right now.

In one story, I read about an anonymous donor calling up and paying 6 families' water bills for the next 3 months because they can't afford them, or the hundreds of people going in and paying off Walmart layaway accounts for people so their kids have presents under the tree from Santa on Christmas morning. Or even the story about a lady who donated hand made teddy bears for ambulances and fire trucks to carry in order to soothe children in times of trauma, EVEN WHILE SHE WAS DYING OF CANCER.

This is so awesome, it makes me want to cry and wish I had the money to do things like that.

But then, I see another story about 3 kids getting into a car accident and how alcohol may have been a factor. 

Tragic, but all too common.

What still shocks me is the awful comments I see under these stories.

"They got what they deserved."

"A result of bad parenting."

"They should get the maximum penalty for this."

Or an anonymous comment on a blog post.

"This gets my award for dumbest post, or longest post with the least amount of content."

What the hell is wrong with people?

I guess what I don't get is how you can be so rude and inconsiderate of someone you don't even know. If you don't like something, keep it to your fucking self (excuse my language, I try to keep the swearing to a minimum on my blog, but this kind of shit really gets to me).

You don't HAVE to read things that don't interest you.

You have the right to your OPINION. 

But the minute your opinion comes out in a way that targets someone's feelings, or is intended to be hurtful to someone, you cross a line from decency to being a full on douche nozzle.

Anyways, sorry for that rant, but I have been seeing a lot of really upsetting things lately, and one of the things that I really REALLY feel strongly about is intentionally being hurtful or bullying someone. NOT COOL. It really harshes my flow and I would prefer that other people's bad juju would stay out of my atmosphere.

Pinteresting People

Today for Pinteresting Wednesday, I am going to show you guys the pins from my "People I Enjoy" board.

First up, my homegirl Brit. Don't hate.

Source: jillian-jiggs.tumblr.com via Carly on Pinterest

Channing Tatum

Source: jills-world.blogspot.com via Carly on Pinterest

Oh K Cav... I love your bitchy ways. And you're gorgeous.

Source: weheartit.com via Carly on Pinterest

MK & A

Source: google.com via Carly on Pinterest

Last but not least, the object of my Lust... Urijah Faber. We can tango in the octagon anytime you want... CALL ME!

Source: google.com via Carly on Pinterest

That's all for today kids. I've been crazy busy, so I am actually scheduling this post in advance, in case I completely lose my marbles and end up MIA from the blog for a few days trying to regain my sanity after the holidays.

Argh!!

I haven't posted for a few days, which feels weird to me. So I decided to pop in for a minute to let you know what's been going on in my life.

Sunday Night: Bell rehearsal went well, rang all our songs for our Christmas concert and Christmas Eve service. Then went to neighbors Christmas party. Had wine. Ate food.

Monday: Had anxiety attacks all day at work. Felt like I was getting a cold. Stressed about Christmas stuff. Took a sleeping pill.

Today: Woke up with a sore throat. Awesome. Went to work, had more anxiety attacks. Put together a final shopping list for my last minute Christmas gifts. Got off work, headed straight towards my sister's house for family dinner night. Stopped to get Chad's last two Christmas gifts. Ate dinner. Played a game (which i didn't want to because i had SO much stuff to get done). Came home. Baked cookies for tomorrow's cookie exchange/breakfast potluck/sweater contest at work. Also put together a GINORMITRON batch of hashbrown casserole for the potluck so all I have to do is pop it in the oven in the morning.

So, that is a brief recap of what is going on in my life right now. I'll hopefully be back tomorrow sometime between work and ANOTHER bell choir rehearsal to blog again.

Awww, you shouldn't have!

As I was going through my google reader today, I see that Alison over at The Life of Two SoKools won the Versatile Blogger award! This makes me happy because a) she is very sweet and I love reading her blog, and b) she's a fellow Washingtonian!

Then, as I am reading her post, I see that she nominated yours truly for the award also!

Yahoy! This makes me happy. Thanks so much Alison, you are amazing!

Now, the rules are as follows:

1. Nominate 15 other bloggers that you think deserve the award

2. Let those bloggers know that they rock and tell them you awarded them!

3. Share 7 random facts about yourself

4. Thank the blogger who nominated you

5. Add the Versatile Blogger picture to your post and/or blog.

So, I have already thanked the fabulous Alison for the award, so I will just move right along. The blogs that I will be nominating for the award are...

1. Jessica over at Stilettos and a Fishing Pole

2. Nicole at Sizzlin' Savages

3. P!nky over at P!nk Persistence

4. Megan at Mackey Madness

5. Melina at It Just Feels Right

6. Stephanie here at A Few French Fries Short of a Happy Meal

7. Brittan, the Babbling Brunette

8. "The Mess" over at BEAUtiful Mess

9. Megan at Greetings from Texas

10. Mrs. Monologues 

I know, I know, that's only 10. But, honestly, those are the people I want to award it to. There are other people I would give it to if they hadn't already gotten it from someone else in the past. 

Next up, 7 random things about myself.

1. I don't like to share my things, particularly office supplies (like highlighters... people use them the wrong way and get the tips all effed up.)

2. I don't do well in highly social situations... I don't like talking to strangers.

3. I crave savory food more than sweet food.

4. I despise having to drive places. Being in the car for more than 20 minutes tends to make me batshit crazy (unless we're going on a real road trip, then it's okay).

5. When I get those super positive Christmas letters from family, I feel the urge to write a really pessimistic one and send it back so they stop rubbing it in my our faces that their lives are perfect.

6. I only like to drink water if it is ice cold (unless I am DESPERATELY thirsty, then I make do).

7. I started a Twitter account (@Carly_Ann_13) because people told me I would like it. But I really don't.

That's all for that, kids. 

Good Times.

It's that time of the week again when I tell you all about my weekend.

Friday night was pretty mellow. I got off work early and my mom and I went to Costco. What. A. Nightmare. There was children running all over the damn place, and my mom, of course, wanted to wander up and down every god forsaken aisle to show me Christmas gift ideas. Anyways, after that, we came home where Chad and I had frozen burritos for dinner (BAD IDEA) and then we went over to our friend Dustin's house to hang out. We played some Skip-Bo with Dustin and his mom, and ended up not getting home until after midnight (which is a late night for us, haha).

Saturday morning, I did some cleaning around the house and re-organized some cupboards. I did a little gift wrapping and caught up on some DVR recordings. Then Chad and I headed out to Renton to do some Christmas shopping. Chad dragged me around Dick's Sporting Goods for about an hour and we only walked out of there with 4 different things. I had to remind him that we weren't shopping for HIM, we were shopping for gifts for other people. After we finished up there, Chad took me to one of my all time favorite restaurants, Chang's Mongolian Grill. Seriously, I was so SO excited. I love that place, and the only time we go is on my birthday, it's that much of a special restaurant for me, haha. As we are getting out of the car, this is what was said:

ME: This is just the best surprise! Thanks for taking me on a date babe!!!

Chad: It's pretty sad that you think this is a date.

ME:  Gee... whose fault might that be??

Anyways, we stuffed our faces like this...

... and headed back to Fall City.

We went back over to Dustin's house and I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that my friend Hayley was there! Her and Dustin have been dating for, like, 10 years or something. It works out nicely because Hayley and I have been really good friends since we met in high school, and Chad and Dustin have been best friends since elementary school. Chad and Dustin are practically joined at the hip, but Hayley and I barely get to see each other anymore because of our work schedules and she is going to school. So it was nice to FINALLY get to spend some time with her.

Anyways, the boys looked at coyote hunting videos on YouTube for a while and Hayley and I played with their little boy Mason.

(Note: These pictures are from a different night... not that it probably matters to you)

Mason and his daddy

Mason playing trucks on my leg.

Mason doing a sneak attack on Chad from the back... he LOVES rough-housing with Chad.

Once Mason went to bed (after watching his current favorite movie The Lion King), the 4 of us played more Skip Bo. Then, Chad and I came home to hit the hay.

That is pretty much the excitement of my weekend. Today I slept in becuase I didn't sleep all that well last night. So now I am feeling a little rushed to get soem cookies baked for a Christmas party tonight and get my laundry and all my other chores done before I go to bell choir rehearsal.

I hope everybody has had a good weekend, I know I did.

JERKS!

Well, I woke up this morning and was determined to have a good attitude.

It’s Friday, I’m getting off work early, and I have a Christmas party to go to tonight. YAY!

I get to work (I work at a credit union, for those of you not in the know), I pull open my e mail, and am THRILLED to see that there is only one report of potential debit card fraud. CAN THIS MORNING BE ANY BETTER?!

I open it. What do I see?

MY OWN NAME AND DEBIT CARD NUMBER.

That’s right folks, some asshole got their hands on my debit card number and proceeded to do a little Christmas shopping. ITunes. Blockbuster. YourMovies.com. A JAMES PATTERSON BOOK CLUB!

This reminded me of that episode of Friends where Monica’s credit card was stolen and she was appalled by the fact that someone was not only using her identity and spending her money, but they were doing it BETTER than she was. (I only say this because I love I Tunes, movies, AND James Patterson).

Moral of the story, even though I don’t have any money in my checking account right now, I will not be able to finish my Christmas shopping very well because I won’t have a new card by the time I get paid again next Friday.

BOO HISS!

I know James, I couldn't believe it either...

A couple days late...

So, I'm a couple days late with this post, but I got really carried away blogging about other things, but I am here, ready to give this my FULL attention.

I participated in Megan's ornament swap, and was paired with Lindsey over at Our Lovely Life. She is just so dang cute and sweet, it almost makes me sick (not really, but you get what I'm throwin down).

She sent me 3 great ornaments... when I opened my box up, this is what I got:

(disclaimer, please don't judge my photography skills... taken with my phone with no flash. this is why I need a new digital camera for Christmas...)

Two super cute pink cupcake ornaments and a red "Santa Ball" that says, well... you can read what it says :)

Anyways, I just adore these ornaments, and I wish I had a tree of my very own to put them on. I don't wanna put them on my mom's tree because I don't want her to "accidentally" pack them up with HER Christmas stuff. 

So, for the time being, they are going to be on display wherever looks best at the moment, and then safely tucked away with all the other ornaments I treasure too much to be touched by the general public.

Thanks so much Lindsey, you were so dead on with what I like!!