A reason for the season?

Blogland, I'm blaming you for what is about to happen.  You see, when it comes to the Christmas season, I am usually about as eager to participate as the Grinch.  I hate the mandated 4-6 weeks of Christmas music.  I hate the crowds.  I hate the pressure of finding awesome presents for EVERYONE all at once.  And really, the idea of spending an entire year hoarding presents for one day seems just as awful as baring the crowds.

Source: Uploaded by user via Krystin on Pinterest

But a funny thing is happening to me this year, still weeks ahead of Thanksgiving, my most favorite of all of the Holidays.  I find my heart growing 3 sizes for that holiday which has been marked by stress and cheesy music for so long. 

Yesterday I found myself shopping eagerly for Christmas ornaments.  Yes, I am participating in an ornament swap.  But these weren't just for that.  These were the "oooooooh, this would look sooooooo cute on our tree" kind of thoughts.  Last year was the first time anyone has talked the grown-up me into a tree.  Ammon becomes as giddy as a little elf the day after Thanksgiving.  That man has as much cheer (after Thanksgiving) as any self-respecting Who.  But even he isn't getting super-stoked yet.  Nope, for that, I'm blaming all of you who have been mentioning Christmas subtly, and not-so-subtly since June.  You know who you are.  And it is all of you who are to blame for this:

Yes... yes that is a child's size XL snowman turtleneck, topped by the sassiest snowman vest this world has ever seen, compliments of the local ARC.  An 80 year old woman complimented it, just as I was snapping a photo to text to my co-worker.  And I knew right then, that this vest was a keeper for certain.  Because as it turns out, one of my biggest reasons for the season is tacky holiday wear.  I have determined this years that I love it dearly.  I may even wear holiday sweaters more than on our requisite "tacky Christmas sweater" day at work, because this was not my only tacky acquisition today.  In fact, the other acquisition might be even better.  But we'll save that other sweater for a rainy day, when we're all needing an extra dose of pick-me-up.

Move over, fashion bloggers.  I have the market on the latest and greatest in gently-used holiday wear.

Hair and Hangers

This has all of the makings of being pathetic and hilarious at the same time.  You see, I'm sick.  Like, the type of sick that has me calling in to work and then sleeping until noon.  The kind of sick that has me unwilling to move, and loathe to being upright.

Thankfully, it isn't messy sick.  Just the far more obnoxious fever, scratchy throat and a migraine tri-fecta.  When it came on Wednesday night, I told Ammon it might keep me home.  Deep down though, I didn't believe it.  As a matter of course, I do my best to avoid calling in sick unless I am losing a limb, exorcising a demon (Linda Blair, much?), or should be admitted to a hospital.  But there's something so debilitating about the migraine that supersedes all other illness and impairment.

Waking up on Thursday morning I was pretty sure that a school bus had driven over my head.  Being stubborn, I decided to get up and shower, with the hopes that it would help.  Oh how wrong I was.  I got out of the shower, and called my boss.  Sorry, I won't make it in.  Then I went back to bed, with wet hair.  So all day, I sported the sexiest look you ever did see:

If this isn't a ringing endorsement for the pixie, I don't know what is.  I had a picture with a normal face, but it looks sad, because it's against my better judgement to smile when I feel ill.  I am absolutely the worst sick person in the world.  I get dramatic, whiny, pathetic, and I want everyone to know I don't feel good.

However, one truly hilarious story came from this out of infirmity.  I was stumbling down the hall to the bathroom, and tripped over a hanger that was laying on the floor.  Ammon asked me to please not die.  I told him that he needed to stop leaving his hangers where they could kill me then, as it was clearly one of the ugly orange hangers that we own, and I refuse to hang up my clothes with ugly orange hangers, so the blame is firmly on his shoulders.

Yup, that happened.  I used logic based on the color of a clothes hanger.

My head is still hating me, so I leave off here.  Hope that you are all having a fantastic Friday!

The habits of highly cranky 75 year olds

How do you write your blog posts?  Do you write, then title, or do you tend to title, then write?  Me?  I'm most definitely a "Title, then write" kind of girl.  I usually know exactly where I'm going, and how I'm going to get there.  This week though, not so much.  In fact, there is no title as of yet to this blog post.  We're going to enjoy the journey together today, folks.

I just said "folks", like I'm 75 or something.  Also, I have a cat in my lap; again like I'm 75 or something.

Our office is still a mess, and I've only minimally started to tackle our hoarding issue.  Oopsie.

I'm not sure why I was making that particular face.  I think because I was trying to get the cat to look at the camera AND simultaneously hide our shame?  Either way, it's probably a good thing it's a lips-down shot.

I got some great presents in the mail from Maggie on Monday.  I was so excited to see the pretties she sent.  Can you believe she was sweet enough to knit me a headband? 

I would really like to learn to knit.  Mostly because I can say "folks", drink tea, complain about noisy children, and knit, all while I have a cat on my lap.  Don't even try to convince Beckham that I am allowed to do anything without him.  He follows me around everywhere, like I'm Mary, and he's my little lamb.

Speaking of me being like Mary, my co-workers call Ammon "Jesus", because his first name is pronounces "A-men"... like the conclusion of a prayer.  As a result, they sometimes call me Mary.  Coincidence?  Perhaps.

Oh, and here's a picture of Ammon, with the homemade calzone I made for dinner Friday night.  I started the pizza dough from scratch on my lunch break, then came home after work and threw these guys together.  They were gooooooooooood

What?  Your man friend doesn't cuddle his food???

I've been trying to make this flow so far, and I think I did pretty well.  Except, I have nowhere to go from cuddling food.  I think I need to figure out a title, and take my little black sheep cat to bed with me.  Hope you are having the best Wednesday yet!

I am a glutton for running (aka punishment)

As it happens, on this particular Tuesday I have things to say, none of which could possibly be construed as a cohesive blog post.  Thus, I have 2 options:  1) Write an entirely random, non-cohesive post. 2) Leave you with one random thought, a picture, and a few words.

Well, daylight savings is kicking my butt, and I'm exhausted on this Monday night as I write this.  Option 2 it is.

These are the Strawberry Cheesecake pancakes I ordered from IHOP Sunday morning at 2am-ish.  They were freaking delicious.  In order to eat an entire plate guilt-free, one would have to run 10 miles, or bike ride about 20 miles.  And yes, I ate them all.  I wouldn't recommend this as a regular course of action to anyone, ever.  Unless you have the metabolism of a 15 year old boy... in which case, eat up buttercup.

I dare you to not crave these today.

What horrible food decisions do you find yourself making at 2am?

Ich Liebe

There are some days when you just want to cross your fingers, and hope and pray that everything will go smoothly for the upcoming week.  Today, I am certainly feeling that way.  It's going to be a busy week yet again around here!  Ammon and I had an awesome weekend, including dressing up for an extra fun Halloween party.

Oh yeah, we absolutely went as Oktoberfesters!  I was going to let the Bee do its thing again, but when we went to find Ammon a clearance costume on Saturday afternoon, we decided it was totally worth it to match.  So match we did!

And speaking of Germans... Kaylee over at All Things Bright and Beautiful nominated me for another Liebster award!  So first and foremost, a huge THANK YOU to Kaylee for the recognition!




The way it works:
~I tell you 11 random things about myself
~I answer 11 questions that Kaylee was dying to know the answer to
~I nominate up to 11 amazing blogs with 200 or fewer followers
~I ask those incredible bloggers 11 questions

So let's get started, yes?
Random:
1) Whenever I use a paper coffee cup, I have to make sure that the drinking hole on the lid is directly opposite the seam of the paper cup.

2) I sleep on the right side of the bed
3) I hate having my fingernails painted, but I hate when my toenails are not painted
4) I love to read... mostly urban fantasy and science fiction, because it's like a mini vacation from reality.
5) I almost never wear makeup, but I have a whole lot of it
6) I usually feel guilty when I relax
7) I get most of the nerd jokes on "The Big Bang Theory"
8) I love salsa.  I use it like most people use ketchup
9) In high school I was a volunteer skiing instructor for an adaptive skiing program
10) One of my lifelong dreams is to adopt/foster parent children with disabilities
11) We REALLY want to get a dog, but we can't because of our apartment regulations.  We're in negotiations between getting a boxer first, or a chocolate lab.

Kaylee's Q & A:
1) What is your favorite book?  To Kill a Mockingbird.  Scout is Awesome.
2) What is one thing you totally regret?  Not being able to see my family and friends as often as I would like... travel is expensive!
3) What is one thing you never want to forget? The moment that Ammon first told me he loved me.  So magical!
4) Where would you be right now if you could?  Probably visiting family and friends in California
5) What is your happy place?  Bloomington, IN, where I went to college
6) Have you ever cried over spilt milk?  Or anything else equally silly?  I am so unbelievably clumsy, so crying over spilt beverage went out the door a long time ago.  However, I do tend to freak out about some really ridiculous things.
7) Favorite blog and why?  The Coffeehouse.  I love reading about Tiffany's adventures with her Chocolate lab, Sherman.  Oh, and she has a husband with a million hobbies.  And she's hilarious.  I love her.
8) What would you eat for your last meal?  Barbecue.  Specifically, the feast for two from our local barbecue spot.  Yummmmmmmm

9) You're stranded on an island. You can bring one celeb, one food item, one song to listen to and one other random item.... go! oh, and why?   I would bring Mindy Kailing, because she's sweet and hilarious; bulk rice and beans because they don't go bad, they're nutritionally complete, and easy to cook; "Call me Maybe" because that song just makes me so darn happy, and if I'm going to be stranded I need to be happy; and a blanket.  I can not sleep without blankets, no matter what.
10) How long did it take for you to answer the last question?  Two minutes.  Total gut instinct.
11) What movie are you most excited about seeing before the year is over?  "Wreck it Ralph".  I have been obsessed with seeing this now for months!

My nominees (only 6, because 11 is a lot):
1) Elsha at When Mine Became Ours
2) Kristina at Everything Changes
3) Whitney from The Middle of the Street
4) Allie from This & That
5) Maggie from Finding Myself
6) Heather from The Life Unexpected

My Questions:
1) What motivated you to start blogging?
2) If you had to choose between Top Ramen and Kraft Mac and Cheese to eat every day for the rest of your life, what would you pick?
3) What is your favorite memory of 2012 thus far?
4) If you could have any exotic animal as a pet, which one would you choose?
5) What is your favorite family tradition?
6) What is your favorite childhood book?
7) What blog do you make it a point to read every day, even if you don't read anyone else's blog that day?
8) What is your favorite leftover halloween candy?
9) If you had to participate in some sort of long distance iconic event (long bike tour, marathon, sailing around the world) what would you choose and why?
10) If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose?
11) Give me three words that you feel sum you up well... no explanations of the words!

Thank you again to Kaylee for honoring me with the Liebster!  Have a great day, all =)

Fall swap!

I need to thank the powers that be, first and foremost for allowing me to make it as far as Friday this week.  It was a stressful week at our house... but we made it, and I'm gazing lovingly at a 3 day weekend now, so I would say that all in all, it was worth it.

A little while back, I decided to participate in a fall swap.  What I loved about this particular swap was that they asked all of us to identify our favorite aspect of fall, and then they paired everyone up based on their answers.  My favorite?  Food.

I  was lucky enough to be paired up with Carrie, the Frugal Foodie Mama!  We were encouraged to email back and forth, and get to know each other better.  Honestly, getting to know new bloggers is half of the fun of swapping for me!  Some of my favorite people in all of the bloggy world I met through one swap or another!  After a little bit of emailing, we sent our boxes off.  I am so thrilled to show you the goodies I got!

She sent me the cutest fall themed package ever, including cute little glittery leaves (totally for decoration, but I loooooove them), pumpkin gingerbread white chocolate biscotti, Carmel Apple Cake flavored coffee, homemade apple butter, fall-themed tissues, and a sweet little cookbook from a local area group!

Can we just talk about that coffee for a minute?   It's like heaven, guys.  So, so, so good.  I think it sat for 2 days in the house before I couldn't stand it and had to dig in.  I'm also excited for the apple butter... I usually only have my mom's, which is a 3rd generation recipe, but it's different than most.  I'm thrilled to try something a little different!

I can't tell you how awesome Carrie and her blog are... you need to experience them for yourself!  She posts some incredible recipes, including her apple butter recipe, and slow cooker apple butter pork chops!  My food pinterest boards get excited whenever I go visit her blog these days... because those boards get full.  Go visit her and fall in love too ;).

Thanks again to Carrie, for being an awesome swap partner.  It was so fun getting to know you, and getting to swap some really fun stuff!

It's Thursday.

Because it's Thursday, I'm really good at making some astute observations.  We all know how much I hate Thursdays

I have a lot to say, but I'm not spilling the beans here today.  I'm sharing the story of Ammon's and my first date over on our wedding blog.  That story is pretty funny.  You will giggle at my expense.  Everyone does.

Head on over to read how November 1, 2009 forever changed our lives.

If you don't like sweet, funny stories, well, I have a picture for you.  Everyone in my office dressed up yesterday for Halloween, and we documented it on camera.  You're welcome.

Yup, I'm a Bee, I'm a Bee, I'm a I'm a I'm a Bee.

Did you dress up?  Does your work encourage such tomfoolery?

Smile, it's ALMOST Friday... which is the worst statement ever.  Don't smile.  Just duck your head, and pray for Friday to come quickly with me.  If we all do it, maybe time will go faster.