Soldier, your friend, or your lover.

I love listening to Pandora. I am listening to a station called “New Year, New Me” and so far, so good. I haven’t updated in a bit, and I spent the last 2 days of my life reorganizing my closet, bookshelves, drawers, coffee table, and kitchen. It was a massive undertaking, and I missed my cousin’s facebook post of her engagement (which my parents BOTH mentioned, and said, “So you haven’t check facebook, then, huh?) but I’d like to think that I am in a better place for it.

Things I did:

1. Watched all the season 7 episodes of Gilmore Girls I hadn’t had a chance to see yet
2.Uuploaded to my computer AND facebook all the pictures of the past 4 or so social events that needed a camera
3. Threw away old receipts, pieces of paper with shopping lists on them, and some scribbled attempts of professing my love and asking Jeff for a favor in one breath sharpied on the back of an expired CVS coupon.
4. I also reorganized my shoes and thew 2 pairs out (including the red/purple/pink rubber clogs, SS would be happy to know.)
5. Cleaned all my sterling silver jewelry with some baking soda and tin foil and boiling water
6. Read the latest REAL SIMPLE magazine
7. Spent time cutting hearts out of red and purple paint samples for my East Coast ladies’ scrapbook.
8. Baked Jeff cookies for Valentine’s day
9. Cleaned out my bedside table’s drawer
10. Cleaned out every purse I own
11. Cleaned the bathroom.

Needless to say, I did a lot. And I am feeling better already.

Meanwhile, I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while. That was uncalled for. I’m working on it!!

25 Random Things.

Someone asked me to make a list of 25 random things about myself on Facebook. I figured I’d post it here, too, in case you were wondering…

1. I’ve been to China. I’ve been to the Olympics. It was wonderful.
2. I love lists more than anything. I make at least 2 lists a day. It keeps me sane.
3. Any band that you heard one hit from in the 90s is my fave. Third Eye Blind, Lifehouse, Gin Blossoms, Train, Sister Hazel, Better Than Ezra, Matchbox Twenty, etc., etc.
4. I’ve had stints of loving yoga, the elliptical machine, lifting, and Pilates. I love Billy Blanks, and I love kick boxing. However, despite all this, I always have a problem working out. But this year, I’ve decided if President Obama can work out every day, so can I.
5. I went to the Galapagos Islands once, and I loved every minute of it. I swam with sea lions, and with penguins. Wild ones.
6. Penguins are my favorite animal. Pandas are my sisters. We love the black and white together.
7. I love The New York Times and reading the news in general.
8. Crosswords are my love. I must start doing them more often.
9. Scrabble is my favorite board game. Sophomore year of college, when I went to Europe, I memorized all the acceptable 2 letter words. AA is one of them.
10. To go along with Lauren’s thinking, all my names have a double. JeNNie LyNN. And my confirmation name is MicheLLe.
11. I love hanging upside down from monkey bars. It’s great, and I’ve been able to do it since I was very small, and I hope to never NOT be able to hang upside down from monkey bars.
12. I love OnDemand, because I can watch programs about Hitler’s secret city under Berlin, and 17 minute NatGeo clips on the magnetic poles of the Earth and how they are reversing.
13. I love riding the train. I love fall colors, the ocean whizzing by, going through Gary, Indiana, and arriving at exciting places such as Chicago and New York City. I love train stations, too. Union Station with its gold benches, and Grand Central with its beautiful ceiling.
14. I bite my nails, which is a problem, but I can’t stand having any. They get in the way of cooking, cleaning, typing, playing piano, pushing buttons on my iPod, turning book pages…
15. I love reading. Love it. Mostly NatGeo, but also historical fiction, and recently the Twilight books, because sometimes you need a teen love story.
16. Speaking of reading: I dog ear. I make notes in the margins. How else am I supposed to remember what I loved? And I love reading other people’s books with notes in them. It is always exciting to know which part of a book someone else loved.
17. I organize my bookshelf by color. A friend had her books like that, and I saw them, and immediately knew that was the best way for me to organize my passion.
18. I love politics and history. I love presidents. I love world leaders; I love war novels, movies, and anything to do with cultures that are unlike my own. And I love to argue.
19. Photography is my creative outlet. I photography everything and nothing, and I love seeing other people’s pictures, and wondering what they were thinking and feeling when they took them.
20. I am an amoeba person, not a pie person.
21. I have crazy dreams a lot. Ask my sister. Or my BFF. Or Jeff. They happen all the time. Who knows why?
22. I like arts and crafts, knitting, sewing, and pretty much anything involving some glue, paper, crayons, and color.
23. I hate when people use “they’re” and “their” and “there” wrong. Same with “your” and “you’re.” C’mon, people. It really is easy to learn. I also detest Internet lingo. For this reason, I always type things out in text messages.
24. My favorite line of a song is, “Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you’re wrong.”
25. I am also always late.

The wisemen came, three made their way…

Happy close-to-Christmas, y’all.

I am sorry, I’ve been absent. I know, I know. I said I was going to do this right, write every day (or at least every other) and I’ve been slacking. But, to make up for it, a picture of my tree:

tree

Things I have been doing to keep festive:

1. Trimming the tree with stringed popcorn, balls of blue and red, icicles, and blue and white lights. Jeff also got a star to adorn the top. Perfect.

2. Getting ready for my holiday party tonight which will be a Yankee Swap. I am making peppermint bark, champange punch, and lots of snacks.

3. Figuring out what to make my ladies from home, who decided this year we were going to make homemade gifts. I’d indulge more, but they read this blog, and I did not forget that.

4. Wearing cute sweater dresses that are ALMOST too warm for this mild climate.

5. Enjoying snacks and realizing I am going to have to diet when I get back from the holidays.

I am thankful…

Today we make a list of things I am thankful for, on account of it being Thanksgiving Week.

1. My job letting me have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off

2. Living in a region of the USA that doesn’t have snow (because I am excited to have a mild-Thanksgiving)

3. Getting to go home in 26 days

4. James Taylor Holiday music

5. Spotting a celebrity last night who excited me so much I almost peed my pants

6. I finally signed a lease with Jeff. Thank God. We’re moving out this weekend!

7. Tomorrow I am going to read for 3 hours. And it is going to be my holiday present to myself.

8. Jelly beans from my boss

9. Friends scattered near and far that will make all my holidays that much better

10. You! For reading my blog and making me feel great. 🙂

11. This bench. And how it gives me hope to someday own such a cool bench.

12. Photoshop.

13. Boston in general, for having benches such as this in the first place.

14. A 20 lb turkey in my fridge waiting to be cook. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

bench