-Penguins and Tupperware

Guys. I have a problem and I'm ready to admit it.

I.Love.Penguins. When I say that, I don't mean: " Oh, they're cute to look at" I mean if anything, anything, I see in a store has a penguin on it, it's immediately on my must purchase list.

As I talked about here and here as soon as Christmas hits, I have crafting fever. Honestly, it might be more accurate to call it the crafting plague, because nothing exists until I've had my fill of it. 

Needless to say, when I was in Wal-Mart the other night wandering aimlessly through aisles and aisles of Christmas heaven, I happened upon these beauties:

 

I was in love! Immediately I began thinking of all the different and delicious treats I could stuff into these containers. Including, Buckeyes, Reindeer Cookies, Chocolate Covered Gold Pretzels and Peppermint Truffles! 

Although I have to wait a bit before I can start on those projects (I don't plan on giving out these gifts until closer to Christmas) I have started several DIY crafts in the meantime for B and for my family! 

**all photos picture are personal unless otherwise stated!**

-James Bond and Christmas

As I'm sure I've talked about before, in addition to Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones, B is obsessed with James Bond.

Image via: www.google.com

After much debate, I finally just decided that he needed this now. So, although it is part of his christmas present, it's already in his possession! I know, I know, I'm a sucker. 

In all seriousness, he's been debating purchasing this set since it came out about two months ago,which meant I'd either have to convince him to not purchase it ( a dead giveaway) or come up with another idea. After much, much debate I decided the easiest way for both of us was to start Christmas a little early and let him have it.

To say he loved it would be an understatement. I'm pretty sure he sleeps with it under his pillow. (Only joking....maybe). 

However, after this change in plans, I've now added some DIY crafts to give when we actually do a gift exchange. 

As I've briefly(or not so briefly) mentioned in other posts, our birthdays happen to fall within a month of each other. For his birthday this year, I had made a Jurassic Park Card:

While I am obviously NOT a supremely talented artist, I'd like to think I did fairly well on the front! The T-Rex was more or less just for fun (; 

Part of a tradition I've had for a long time is hand-making cards for people. I love knowing that each card they get will be unique to them. For me, it's always been a way to show someone how much they mean to me. So it's not secret that his Christmas card will be made, not bought. 

Has anyone else started Christmas shopping early? Have you had to change your original plans?

**all photos in this post are personal unless otherwise stated**

-It's that time of year again...

Crafting season! 

You guys, I am seriously guilty of splurging in Hobby Lobby/Michaels/Jo'ann. Pretty much any craft store that's within reach is not safe from my crafting desires. So when Kat came home from IU and said, let's craft, I jumped on board as quickly as possible.

You see, earlier this week I won the best girlfriend, ever, award by gifting B with his early christmas present: The 50th Anniversary/Complete Collection of James Bond. He was elated, but also proclaimed that I was banned from purchasing any new christmas gifts for him. He said it was simply not fair for me to continue my purchasing when he still has no clue what to get me. Fair enough. I decided that crafting was a great way to have a handful of gifts for him and still play by his rules!

So off we headed to find our crafting needs. We first hit Wal-Mart for some of the simpler items, such as an adorable Penguin Tin I found to put delicious goodies in and some adorable take-out christmas baskets for friends/family.

We even managed to get distracted by cute hats and picture opportunities.

After finding the completely necessary items, we decided to head out to Hobby Lobby to continue our craft hunt. 

You see, Kat had an idea. Over the summer she had bedazzled, yes bedazzled, some felt signage for her cabin. This set off about a million bells in my head for potential gift ideas! 

The downside? You need hundreds of little jewels to complete this project, something that simply cannot be found in Wal-Mart. 

An example of our "craft-hunt" giddiness. 

We eventually found our jewels in Hobby Lobby......after several pitstops in just about every aisle in the building. Have you guys ever felt complete happiness. The term "tears of joy" was SO applicable today when I entered Hobby Lobby. Christmas Heaven. 

Anyways, now we're back and in our own little crafting world! But don't worry, I'll be sharing my first big craft adventure in another post so you guys can see how it's coming along!

For those who enjoy crafting, what are your favorite crafts to make? Does anyone prefer delicious food goodies over crafting?

-Black Friday: and the reasons I am not looking forward to it. 

Oh you guys, it's that time of year again, holiday season. You know what that means? Retail Hell. Quite literally. 

You see, a while back, some crazy person invented this thing called Black Friday. For normal people, this means awesome savings, horrible crowds, and the ability to suffocate in otherwise large spaces. 

For us retailers, it means a slow, painful, smelly death.

What you experience as a heavy rush of adrenaline and deal making awesome, we experience as BO, pissy people, and piss poor responses to finding out a product isn't in stock.

"I'm sorry, that was a door buster and was gone as soon as we opened."

"So let me get this straight, something that is IN YOUR AD is out of stock? well that just seems stupid. I expect some sort of reimbursement for that product otherwise that's just poor customer service."

Like.....what? Really? 

Another personal favorite quote from last year:

"What do you mean you don't price match Black Friday prices? What do you mean you won't order it?"

Again, seriously? 

"So & So has it cheaper. "

'I would encourage you to purchase it there then, because we cannot price match BF deals.'

"Well, they don't have it in stock and they can't order it"

'Why can't they order it?'

"It's a BF deal."

OBVIOUSLY. or else you wouldn't be here.

Ugh. People.

Honestly. Sheesh. 

-happy thoughts; happy people

Happy Sunday!

Today I'm sharing a few of the things that make me happy and some random things I've seen over the course of the past week!

         

(image via: www.google.com)

Here I am, openly confessing my love, Taylor Swift is perfect. I love her hair. I love her makeup. I love her music. I just love her. Girl crush, no questions asked. 

(image via: www.google.com)

Blurry, but a love like Nancy and Ronald Reagan. How could you NOT admire them and their relationship. So much love. 

(personal image)

STL! We may not have won the World Series this year, but I could not be prouder to be a fan. 

(personal image)

SAY WHAT?! Driving home after work and what do I see, a plane! Well, a car dressed up like a plane. So random and so so so awesome!

-playlist: kittens and winter

This is pretty much my anthem for my car right now. Plus, how can you not love it with that kitten as the cover?!

-It's November


This is a PSA alerting all those who were not aware that it is, in fact, November. For some, this means no shaving. For others, no kissing as a result of the no shaving. I happen to love beards, so B is participating with a big *thumbs up* from me. 



In not so common news, this month is also known as NANO November. For those not familiar with it: National Novel Writing Month. Essentially the challenge is to write a novel of 50,000 words (or more!) in a month. 


So that's my challenge. Along with school, work, and my boyfriend,  I am currently writing bits and pieces of a novel. 


Which, by design, means you all will be the lucky pre-readers of my soon-to-be novel. I can't guarantee that any part of this will be in order, or that I'll write in the order it will officially be posted in. BUT, that's not the point. It's a book! It's an outlet! It's a creative energy!


But most important?


It's fun.

-it's okay: Thursday

For those of you who are new to the blog scene(or at least new to mine!) Thursday's are a time to reflect on things "it's okay" to do, to think, or to be pissed about. Enjoy (:

It's okay.....

 to lose friendships because one person is acting like a four year old. It just is. Regardless of how much is sucks monkey butt right now, I just have to remember that it will all be okay in the end.

to still not know what I want to major in. College is a time of exploration and that's exactly what I'm doing.

that the Dem's won again in this election. It's a headache, sure, but it'll be okay. 

that not everyone appreciates the value of respecting other people's opinions. Namely those people in my speech class who are disrespectful of my political opinion. My values are not your values, and I don't try to pretend like they are.

to be so in love with my boyfriend that nothing else matters. He's the one person who keeps me sane and for that I'm always thankful. 

to be sarcastic. Nobody appreciates sarcasm as they should anymore and frankly, I'm over people acting obnoxious because they don't get it. Not.My.Fault.

Welp! That about wraps it up for this week...I'm sure I've got a few more things I could add to that list, but we'll keep it short and sweet. 

X&A

-birds of a feather

Have you ever had one of those days where everything seems, well, perfect? For the first time in nearly a year it seems as though everything is finally getting back to where it's supposed to be. 


I have an amazing boyfriend and every single day with him I become more profoundly aware of this fact. B is my best friend, which is so important in a relationship. We spend hours talking about everything in our lives, ranging from complaining about work to our future plans. We've even been known to spend entire days just laying in bed watching our favorite t.v. shows or doing our own things(me doing homework and B playing video games). Recently, we've started looking forward to getting our apartment and starting our life together.  I can honestly say that I want to spend the rest of my life with this man and I cannot wait to start our lives together!

"what we have is uncommon and I've never been happier"

As if that isn't reason enough to be happy,

School is finally starting to get back on track and sort itself out! After an awful semester taking classes through Ivy Tech, I've finally decided to attend another University with better credentials and is closer to home. I'm excited to take this leap in continuing my college education and hopefully finally decide on a major. Do you know how frustrating it is to know that you want to go to law school, but not to know what you want to do in the mean time? It's not like money falls from trees and law school is ridiculously expensive, in case you wondered. 


And even more reasons to be happy,

I recently moved up in my position in my job. As I've written here before, I was incredibly frustrated in my job and I was just about ready to move on. As I began the quest for a new job, that involved several fantastic interviews, before luck and the perfect timing combined to give me the opportunity to move into a new position with more responsibility. I'm thankful for this chance to continue growing in a company I love and admire. 



All in all, I guess you could say that despite the onset of dear ol' mister winter so early in the season, things have never been sunnier in Indiana! 


X&A

-30 days of thanks

November is a time for giving thanks, a time for reminding ourselves thoat in the middle of all this crazy holiday scrambling, we all have things to be thankful for!


So, I'll begin and update this post as each new day comes:


Day 1- I'm thankful for a warm home to come back to every day, there are others not so lucky.
Day 2- I'm thankful for my father. The first man I ever loved and the one man I know will always be there for me! I am a daddy's girl and I love my daddy more than anything.
Day 3- I'm thankful for my mom! Her and I have always had a combative relationship, but as I get older I realize we're more alike than I'd like to admit. Love you momma!
Day 4- I'm thankful for my brothers. They're silly,crazy, and stupid. But they're mine, and I love them.
Day 5- I'm thankful for my crazy, wonderful, super awesome boyfriend. He's the love of my life and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him!
Day 6- I'm thankful for my right to vote! There is nothing better than exercising my right as an American that allows me to remain free!
Day 7- I'm thankful for my job and the ability to work. I may dislike the long hours, but it's worth it in the end.
Day 8- I'm thankful for my grandparents. After recent events, I'm realizing more and more how lucky I am to have my grandparents and my great grandma by my side. They're always there for me and for that, I am thankful.
Day 9- I'm thankful for my cousins. Being one of two girls in the family(at least out of the cousins) has always been challenging, but the boys have always made it clear that they're always on our side. This knowledge is reassuring and comforting. I love you all. 
Day 10- As always, I am thankful to be a child of The Lord. For those who know me, I'm very internalized about my faith, but it's there and it's stronger than ever. I put ALL my trust in the hands of The Lord about eight months ago now and I have never been happier. Always there. Always faithful.
Day 11- I'm thankful for my pups. While other girls my age are married, having kids, or both, I'm content to have my puppies as my babies. I love them and their unrelenting love and adoration. 
Day 12- I'm thankful for my best friends. More and more I'm realizing just how lucky I am to have found my best friends at such a young age. Many people go their whole lives without knowing the kind of friendship I found at age 6. 
Day 13- I'm thankful for coffee. Days that test my patience can always be made better with a cup of holiday cheer! 
Day 14- I'm thankful for the lasting friendship and support I've found through work. I couldn't ask for a more supporting, loving group of people to be around every day. 
Day 15- I'm thankful for the opportunity to continue my education in a place that best suits me. I'm blessed by the chance to attend a university that is so focused on the students.
Day 16- I'm thankful for music! So many individuals will never know the pure joy playing, listening, and writing music can send throughout your being. I encourage everyone to take the time to immerse themselves in this wonderful art.
Day 17- I'm thankful for my ability to write. I would not be the person I am without this outlet and I'm thankful God blessed me with the ability to portray my feelings through words. 
Day 18- I'm thankful f

-new blog design, y'all ! 


I'm not southern, I just like to say y'all sometimes, okay?

I'm going to simply hang my head in shame because I've kind of fallen off the blog market for a little bit due to a few different factors: school, work, and life. Life being the most prominent reason for my lack of posting. However, I'm going to try and be more diligent about posting and make sure I make this a priority of mine! 


On a different note, I can hardly believe it's already November.