12.31.2008

Highlights of 2008


(in no particular order)
  • adopting Jelly Bean: 12.21.08


  • moving into our new apartment: 7.14.08


  • Disney World: 2.15.08, 2.29.08, 5.20.08, 5.29.08, 6.27.08 [my birthday, Keys to the Kingdom Tour], 7.31.08, 8.04.08, 8.13.08


  • James' Birthday = 1st tattoo! : 1.28.08


  • my 1st tattoo: 9.25.08


  • new jobs - me: 04.30.08; james: 5.01.08


  • generous Christmas: 12.25.08


  • 4-year Anniversary = Thai food, You Do the Dishes, *other: 10.30.08


  • "The Ellen Degeneres Show" at Universal: 3.29.08


  • vacation with my family (including visit to Cocoa Beach): 7.20.08-7.25.08


  • vacation with James' family (including first visit to Bubba Gump's): 8.05.08-06.08


  • getting my tooth replaced: 3.10.08


  • teaching at Weightman Middle School: 11.04.08, 11.18.08, 11.25.08


  • the discovery of my beloved D'lites: 8.17.08


  • discovering "Lost", thanks to the bum: 6.05.08


[me and my jelly bean]

Looking forward to:



  • New Year's Eve in downtown Sarasota with two of my FAVORITE people

  • listening to all of the songs from the CDs Amy gave to me as part of the MOST wondrous Christmas gift EVER :)

  • "Lost" coming back to tv in January

  • all of the award shows coming up

  • Ringling and ArtWalk on Thursday

  • seeing Julia on Sunday

  • NO WORK FOR THREE DAYS!!!

  • $5 admission at Lowry Park Zoo on the 11th

12.30.2008

For Bum, because it will not let me post a comment on her page:


darling bum,
i cannot wait for tonight
[alone, we are magnificent,
but together, we are
magnificently miraculous]

Inspired by "City of Angels"

I love the smell of:
  • Acqua di Gio
  • chocolate covered almonds
  • Victoria's Secret Pear Glace
  • Heavily buttered popcorn
  • Hawaiian Ginger body spray
  • McDonald's
  • Birthday Cake candles
  • scrambled eggs
  • Hollister
  • Pumpkin scented burning oil
  • James ****
  • Ma's homemade Almond Joy soap and Jacky's Rosy Cheeks soap
  • the front case at the candy store (full of chocolates and truffles)
  • Chinese food
  • watermelon lip gloss
  • a just-opened bag of Skittles
I love the feel of:
  • warm-almost-hot showers
  • fronting candy in the bins at work (I wear gloves, of course!)
  • shaggy carpet
  • James' rough hands
  • Crocs
  • pimple-free skin
  • cotton candy melting on my tongue
  • Casper licking between my toes
  • shaving cream
  • play-doh
  • riding the ocean waves
  • flannel pajamas
  • silky and velvety anything
  • emptiness in my belly
  • getting a pedicure (the massages and warm water are heaven!)
  • James' massages
  • Casper and Jelly Bean cuddled next to me
  • James' arms around me
  • leather journals
I love the sound of:
  • little kid giggles
  • British accents
  • the music at Disney World
  • "I love you" in any language
  • music on the radio
  • Casper howling

12.19.2008

What I REALLY want for Christmas:



  • tickets to "The Ellen Degeneres Show"

  • time off from work AND school--at the same time

  • unlimited craft supplies

  • a home with just J and I

  • a puppy! (or a cute dog!)

  • someone to buy my old laptop

  • annual tickets (or any tickets, really!) to Disney World

  • a job at a school

  • time and money to travel

  • and, of course, world peace.

12.15.2008

OBSESSED


check it:




LOVE

LOVE

LOVE


[i know you will, too]

If it starts with "P", "C", "B", or "S"...

...then it's yummy!
For example:

P
  • pie
  • peaches
  • popsicles
  • pickles
  • pitas
  • pumpkin-flavored anything
  • peanut butter
  • Pepsi
  • punch
  • praline cookies
  • pound cake with ice cream
  • pancakes
  • pretzels
  • pudding
  • popcorn
  • pizza
  • pineapples
  • potatoes
  • pop-tarts
  • plums
  • pastries
  • parmesan cheese

C

  • cupcakes
  • chocolate
  • cookies
  • candy
  • cheese
  • Coke
  • chicken cacciatore
  • cucumbers
  • chocolate syrup
  • cinnamon toast
  • chalupas
  • cones
  • chocolate covered pretzels
  • cinnamon buns
  • cake
  • Crunch bars
  • Chinese food
  • cantaloupe
  • coffee
  • chocolate milk
  • cole slaw
  • cheesecake
  • cereal
  • Chips Ahoy
  • candy corn
  • cherry cordials
  • chimichangas
  • churros
  • chicken salad (homemade)
  • chicken nuggets/fingers
  • corn on the cob
  • chicken parmesan
  • coffee cake
  • Capri Sun
  • cookie dough

B

  • bubble gum
  • butterscotch
  • baked beans
  • burgers
  • baklava
  • buckeyes
  • blueberries
  • brownies
  • blondies
  • breadsticks
  • butternut squash fries
  • banana peppers
  • Blizzards
  • blintzes

S

  • stuffed mushrooms
  • slushes
  • soda
  • soup
  • salsa
  • stuffing
  • sweet potatoes
  • spinach
  • souffles
  • scrambled eggs
  • sprinkles
  • sandwiches
  • salad
  • Subway
  • shrimp
  • sauteed veggies
  • scones

See?

12.11.2008

I need to overcome my magazine addiction. Seriously.



Glamour says "Hey, it's ok"
  • to really want to get married super-duper bad.
  • to take a quick YouTube break at work. A sneezing panda can really clear the head.
  • to buy it without trying it on--especially if you're wearing more layers than a piece of baklava.
  • to laugh inappropriately every time Maury says, "Billy Bob...you ARE the father."

and I say it's ok

  • to eventually get tired of all the Christmas music.
  • to be more creative with the wrapping than with the actual gifts.
  • to look forward to time off more than gifts.
  • to miss your family and be glad you're not home at the same time.
  • to not be perfect!

Which leads me to Glamour's "Reasons Being Perfect is Overrated"

  • Have you seen the Venus de Milo? Awe-inspiring--and yet, missing two arms!
  • Avoiding chipped fingernails means no gardening, no pistachio eating, no "Heart and Soul" playing. Not worth it!
  • Well, it's exhausting.
  • Nobody interesting has perfect handwriting.
  • If you act like a professional all the time, no one will talk to you at the office holiday party.
  • Breast implants need replacing every 10 yeras or so. Just FYI.
  • Mutts are just the cutest!

Clo!

Chloe, I didn't know where to leave you a comment but you COMPLETELY made my day! I absolutely ADORE your blog(Sydney says hi); you had me laughing so hard!


Oh, woman.


I love you.


[and miss you every day :( ]

12.09.2008

Looking forward to...



  • a day off tomorrow!

  • making lots of plushes (that reminds me...i need to do lots of updating for my plush site!)

  • Ma and the fam visiting

  • finishing up (and giving out!) Christmas gifts

  • the Grinchmas celebration at Universal

  • "Winter" cleaning tomorrow (like Spring cleaning, ya know?)

  • picking up mine and James' pics from the portrait studio

  • wearing my new sweater

  • having my wedding reception at the SOUTH FLORIDA MUSEUM Spanish Plaza! :)

  • Christmas Eve and Day, of course!

12.06.2008

Today's Daily Snapshots

a lone plant at h&h nursery on sr 64

a few of my mother's colorful finds

me, pulling my mother's colorful finds

see below for explanation:

do not eat!

random bumper.


and finally! i found my wedding reception venue!

it.is.perfect.

5 "unimportant" things that make me happy:



  1. Magazines

  2. Fruit gum

  3. When James takes me to/picks me up from class

  4. Free stuff

  5. Blogs

12.05.2008

Why do we marry?



  • The wedding day is supposedly the *best* day of your life

  • To have a best friend who can be there for you and with you 24/7

  • Sex without guilt

  • Support: financial, social, emotional

  • To be part of something bigger than just yourself

  • To build a new family

  • To have someone to share a home with

[what if everything went according to plan?]

My 12 Days of Christmas



  • On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me
    an annual ticket to Disney.

  • On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me
    2 cute little puppies (and an annual ticket to Disney).

  • On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me
    3 new black dresses.

  • On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
    4 white canvases.

  • On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
    5 acrylic paint bottles.

  • On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
    6 pack of stickers.

  • On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me
    7 days of vacation.

  • On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
    8 d'lites gift cards.

  • On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
    9 airplane tickets.

  • On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
    10 unique journals.

  • On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me
    11 fruit shaker gumballs.

  • On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
    12 months peace of earth...

12.02.2008

This takes courage to post [but not to write]


I could've been in love with a lot of people. I'm not talking about idols or ideals or celebrities or out-of-my-league-prep-boys -- I'm talking about all the real guys who might have been Mr. Right if they hadn't shown up at wrong o'clock. I was either too young or too shy or already in love. I'm still madly in love with my fiance, but I do like to entertain the notions...

Of them all, I wonder the least about Sam. When I imagine what a future with him might have been like, the results are never pretty--Sam would be far too awkward to touch me and far too practical to know how to love me. That's okay, though, because James stepped up to the plate when he didn't, and I'm pretty sure that's a sign.

There was also Dave. I remember he hated me when we were children, but years later, as teenagers, he turned into a flirt who entertained my sisters and I. We rarely saw each other, but we loved each other's families so much that it could have worked. To have your best friend as your sister would be a grand thing. I suppose the complications would've been too many, though, and besides--my heart still belonged to James.

And finally, perhaps the most almost-head-over-heels I've been was for Ahmad. I can name right now all the reasons why it couldn't have been--I was engaged, he had a girlfriend, I was in college and he was in high school, his father was Muslim and I'm Christian--but, oh. I could have loved him forever. He was so tall and his hair was crazy curly. He was adorable, really. And hilarious. And entertaining. And artistic. And a musician. And sensitive (I know!). We met at Publix--I was a cashier and he was a bagger. After the first time we worked together, he wanted only to bag for me and I was perfectly okay with that. I actually looked forward to work if I knew he would be there. When I bought blueberries on our lunch break once, he teased me about it and chucked a couple at the break room ceiling. For Christmas he gave me the colored sketch of the basket of blueberries he planned to paint me. I told him he didn't need to--the sketch was extraordinary enough by itself. In the end, I moved away and that was that. He was somehow awkward and perfect at the same time, and I could have given him the world with my love. But my love was already promised to another, someone I adore and someone who loves me and makes me happier than I could ever make myself. He can never know about the others, the almosts and what-ifs, because it would break his beautiful heart, and that would break mine, too.

Determined not to let the shitty stuff get me down...


...so here's a list of everything that went RIGHT today:


  1. I didn't have to prepare a lesson today (I got to sit back, relax, and observe the magic)

  2. I didn't have to pick anyone up/carpool so I got to leave the house later than usual

  3. I turned in all of my Middle School Teaching Methods assignments--so now I'm DONE!!! :)

  4. I got to talk with Dr. Daniel about my experiences in the classroom and how I just might become a middle school teacher instead...

  5. I wore a new dress (with black tights, of course!)

  6. It was a good hair day

  7. James did the dishes without me asking him to (yay! finally!)

  8. I found a quarter by my seat in my Social Foundations of Education class

  9. Work was short

  10. My drink mix was more delicious than usual

  11. The day is not even close to its end! [to be continued...]