I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCKKKKK!!!

Hello friends!

Did you miss me?! Did you miss me?! I’ve missed you. It’s been a CRAZY holiday week/end! I had such fun spending time with my family new and old. We just got back from spending a few days in Wisconsin with Husband’s dad and step-mom. It was an interesting trip since we had some car trouble. Dumb car. 

I’ll have to write a post as soon as I get the chance and tell you cats what we all did on our WI adventures. (I found a REALLY cool import store and got a new pretty pink coin belt and fun arm doodads that I might turn into something else!) 

It’s going to be such a short post since my left eye is being silly and is still burning like crazy after I took out my contact. Plus, I haven’t seen my kitty since Monday morning, so I am going to get some fluffy cuddles in, watch something on the Nettyflix and enjoy being home. I will try my best to write something on either Sunday or Monday. Husband is playing with his super awesome band on Saturday night, and I have so much stuff to do beforehand. I just figured I would write a super short post to let you know that I am indeed alive and have not abandoned you because I got bored.

Have a beautiful New Years! Stay safe!

Woohoo! Christmas Movies!

Hello friends!
I had a bit of extra time and decided to make a super quick post! Okay, maybe not super quick. But yeah. I decided to do a list of my favorite Christmas movies!! I know, I know, so many people have done this, but I like making lists. Of my favorite stuff. I'm like Oprah. But unlike Oprah, you don't get my favorite things, friends. Maybe you would if I had as much moolah as she does. Anyways... Here's my top five favorite Christmas movies!!

5. Prancer
I absolutely love this movie. I watched it (like every other movie on this list) every Christmas. I am pretty sure that I when I was younger I wished that I would find one of Santa's reindeer like the girl does in the movie. It has it's sad moments, but in the end, everything turns out swell. Here's a trailer of it in case you have no clue what I am talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtIVmhmT9Bk

4. Mickey's Christmas Carol
I am not really sure why I like this version so much. It makes me happy. For some reason. Have a look at the trailer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCO4D7KTRtE

3. Home Alone 1 and 2
Shut up. I know, it's terrible and overly cheesy, but I still love it. Every time I hear the theme song, it always makes me think Christmas... It's so pretty. I always want to go for a walk at night while snow is falling and looking at lights when I hear this song. Have a listen. It took me awhile to find the "right version" so I hope someone listens to it! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kHH6LJpEbQ

Also, this song. I always think of this movie when I hear this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Nl4yPzE3U&feature=related
Somehow, the part of Minnesota that I live in has no snow. Again, proof that Ma Nature has lost it. No white Christmas for us, kids!

2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
This movie is freaking hilarious. Last year, I bought Husband the Ultimate Vacation Collection which had this movie, Vegas Vacation, European Vacation, and Vacation. I also found this ornament for Husband for our tree:
http://www.hallmark.com/Product/ProductDetails/1995QXI2849_DK
Awesome, right?

 Ahh... I love all these movies. But this one has to be my all time favorite. It shows how annoying family members can be, and how sometimes having them all under one roof can just be hell. But at times, you just have to laugh, because otherwise you just go insane. Aunt Bethany always cracked me up. I found her character so amusing and still do. And Cousin Eddie. You can't forget that loveable moron.
Here's a few of my favorite scenes with Aunt Bethany.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZBmiBKRTfo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZcZVugtF6w&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90eEVC50smY
They're all great...
And my number one favorite Christmas movie is.........................



SCROOGED!!!
I get such a kick out of this movie. It will always make me laugh. Especially the Ghost of Christmas Present.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak1dPU8uXiE&feature=relmfu
Just a little taste of how she treats our main character. That bitch be crazy.
This movie may even be one of my all time favorite movies. It's one of those movies that I will put on when I need to be cheered up, no matter the time of the year.
Anyways, I gots to get back to knitting a present. Christmas is only a few days away!! I will try to put up some pictures of our loverly tree soon!
Buh bye!!

My few weeks of happy insanity!

Oofta friends!

  The next couple of weeks are going to be just nuts. So, I apologize in advance for not posting until after the holiday season. (Maybe anyways) I am not complaining about the fact that I am going to be super busy. In fact, I am actually pretty excited about it! Tomorrow I work my morning job and in the evening I am hanging out with one of my besties, Lady S. :) Yay for getting together with someone awesome and wrapping presents together!! Wednesday I believe we'll be finishing up our shopping for Husband's WI parental units (his dad and step-mom) and I have dance class but after that it's going to be our Christmas party with a secret Santa gift swap! At a bar! At a fancy bar! It should be tons of fun!! Yay for more fun! Thursday and Friday I work my second job. Saturday I have my Mom's Christmas, Sunday we have Husband's mom's Christmas. Monday morning we will be leaving to visit the WI parental units. Then Husband will be playing a show with his super awesome band on New Year's Eve!
Sigh. I love this time of year. It's always insane, but I have always LOVED Christmas! I can understand why people hate it, but sometimes it really makes me wonder WHY they hate it. Is it the insane amount of crabby shoppers who fill all the stores and have appear to have no sense of personal boundaries? I get that. Have you guys seen the Walgreen's commercial? The one that shows a super busy store and flashes back to Walgreen's and how quiet it is? Well, there is this one guy who is starting to get upset in the super busy store and his Mom says something to him and he says "But everyone is BUMPING ME!"It makes me laugh because I get REALLY REALLY MAD when that keeps happening to me. There's usually a good string of curses that come flowing out of my mouth and God help the next person who gets in my damn bubble. I am ashamed to admit that one time when I was super dee duper grumpy because of exhaustion and hunger that I actually GROWLED at someone. It wasn't like the crazy person who thinks they are an animal kind of growl, but maybe more of a snarl. Whoops. Is it just me, or am I the only one who gets irritated about the constant being bumped into or forced to move by complete strangers?
Ooops. Sorry, I rambled again. Anyways, as I was saying, the extra shoppers is a good reason to not like this time of year. However, what really makes me flabbergasted are the people who just state on facebook that they just HATE this time of year. I always want to ask them why. I understand, families are hard to deal with, money is tight, yada yada yada... Husband and I were talking about this a few weeks ago, and he asked me why I love this time of this year so much. It's hard to really explain it, but I always get this feeling on Christmas eve or Christmas day. It's a peaceful feeling that I am loved and most of the people I love are there around me. The emotions in the air are different, there are smells of pine and cinnamon, people are laughing together, there's pretty lights everywhere. I love being outside with a friend or Husband in the cold weather and looking at a gorgeous front yard that someone put hard work into making it look pretty for others to look at in the dark. It makes me feel like I am in this amazing snow globe and that life is wonderful. It makes me so grateful for everything that I have. I make hardly any money, (Not even kidding here, I got my paycheck today and it was 55 bucks), I can't pay most of my bills, and life can be pretty hard. However, I can look just around my house and be thankful for several things. I have Husband who will love me until the end of the world and keeps me grounded and happy. A family who even if we drive each other nuts, we will go to the ends of the Earth for each other. Friends who can make me laugh at the times I most need a good chuckle. A home that is filled to the brim with crap, is really small for us, our stuff, and the cat, but it's home. Also, I have my little furbaby, Suki, who loves me.
Yes, I know that not everyone has these things. That's why I am thankful for them. People honestly need to quit bitching about Christmas like it's out to personally ruin their lives. I am not in any sense a very religious person, so don't expect me to start preaching to you readers. However, I think people need to take a step aside and just forget about all their bull crap and just be HAPPY for what they have, no matter how little it is and stop blaming a time of year for their own misery. I personally think that if a person is really that danged miserable, they have a thing or two in their lives that they need to change. Or at least FIND something to be happy about. Stop worrying about having to spend what little money you have on gifts for people you may or may not want to spend money on. Look at how much my paycheck was! I am beyond the poverty line, and I STILL love this time of year. Granted, I have someone who can help me pay the bills, but so freaking what. If you don't have anyone to spend time with on Christmas, or can't afford to go all the way home, make your own tradition! I don't know exactly what, but you know yourself better than I do, figure it out! After all, you can wait for someone to bring you happiness or you can go after it yourself. Make shit happen. It won't be easy, but nothing awesome ever is! Look at all the work people put into writing books, making movies, or video games.
My goodness.. Sorry for that little rant there, friends. I really should probably all the grinch-y people out there and just be happy. It'd probably make things easier than attempting to Cindy-Lou Who them all, huh?
Well, I had better get my butt to bed, early mornings can be so annoying.
Sweet dreams friends!

A few of my favorite things!

Yello!!
So, in a fun way of getting to know me more, I decided to make a list of my top ten favorite things! This is also my first attempt at putting pictures on a blog, so bear with me okay? I am usually pretty clueless when it comes to doing anything "advanced" on the computer.  I probably won't be putting pictures for ALL of my favorite items, since I am not quite that ambitious. Google, ya'll.  :) So, sit back with a glass or mug of something yummy and enjoy!


10. Candy... Oh my goodness candy. I am not quite a choco-holic, but a full blown fruity/gummy addict. I have to be supervised in any candy store I go into. A friend once told me that I am very much like a five year old with an allowance. I always have a stash of candy of some kind squirreled away. Mmmm.... Sour Patch Kids... Yummy... *Drooly faced me* AHEM.. Sorry.

9. Celestial Seasonings tea! (Just about any flavor)
Oh my god, I could live on this stuff , I swear. I have been drinking it since I was probably around 5ish. That's about twenty years of amazingness! My favorite flavor is the Cinnamon Apple Spice. I stopped drinking it for a year or two because I was bad and was drinking a crap ton of soda. I have recently gotten back into drinking it more and more after I quit smoking and realized that some sodas just tasted kind of funny. I love all of the flavors I have tried, but it's been quite awhile since I have most of them again. (Hmm... Experiment for the blog you say? OKAY! I will tell Husband immediately that I must buy as many tea flavors as I can for an experiment since it has been demanded by you, my loverly readers.) Except that Kombucha crap. Nor the laxative tea. No way no how.
Here's their website in all their glory...
http://www.celestialseasonings.com/

8. Nail Polish!
Yep. I love this stuff. So pretty, and all the different things you can do with them. It's amazing. I have a basket filled with different bottles of nail polish that I pick up from Wal Greens. I have a habit of picking up a new color pretty much I go in there. Thank god the stuff I usually get is only 2 bucks a bottle. It's pretty nice-ish stuff too! I never tend to wear mine for very long, since I like to change it up so much, but the brand Sinful Colors has some great colors that works pretty well! Check out some of the colors they have on the walgreens website!
http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/sinful-colors-professional-nail-enamel/ID=prod1550389-product


7. Baking cupcakes!
I really enjoy making these cute little cups of goodness. I always like testing out new flavors and mixing up different kinds of frosting. I think my favorite so far has to be my blueberry cupcake with a cotton candy buttercream and pop rock sprinkles. My tummy is growling just thinking of them. Or maybe it's my White Russian cupcakes... Yep, I put booze in my cupcakes! Did you know that there's a few books out with recipes for boozy cakes?! I didn't until a month or so ago. I put it on my wish list, so we will have to see if Santa brings it for me. If not, I can always wait until I have extra money. I really love that cupcakes are the biggest rage at weddings. My cupcakes even made an appearance at my wedding in September this year! I made just over 300 cupcakes (I think about 5 or 6 flavors), had about 5 or 6 different frosting flavors, and a variety of different fun sprinkles. It was a fun DIY cupcake bar that seemed to be a pretty big hit.

These are pictures of the cupcake bar taken by our lovely photographer, StudioMona. So dreamy looking...


6. Belly Dancing!
Do I really have to explain why? Go to youtube, and check out a few videos. Amazing.


5. Muppets!
I love them. They're so cute! We went and watched their newest movie recently with Husband's dad and step-mom and totally loved it!  Husband and I even had muppets made from the WhatNot workshop at FAO Schwarz's website for our wedding!

Here they are! And me! Aren't they CUTE?!!!
Also, if you want to see what you could look like as a muppet, go here!
http://www.fao.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=3808780&affcode=126372&searchdef=2194048&k_clickid=51728007-08c5-1549-eb0e-000021c4423d&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=FAO_Non-Brand_Stuffed%20Animals_Muppet%20Whatnot%20Workshop&utm_term=whatnot%20workshop&002=2194048&006=8124018083&007=Search&008=&009=e&012=whatnot%20workshop&021=8770164649


4..My Little Ponies: Friendship Is Magic!
Duh. Here, I am going to include a link of the pilot episode. WATCH IT!!! Okay, that sounded pretty bossy.. I am sorry. But seriously, watch it, it is melt your face off adorable. I wanna squish them they are so cute!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-HTcaC4KwM

3. Suki, the kitty.

This will not be the last time that I force you to share in her cuteness. Suki is my loud mouthed, sassy, fluffy adorable kitty.  As I told you in the last post, she is horribly spoiled even though she is incredibly naughty. In fact, shortly after I leave for work, I get a phone call from Husband saying that she has broken into the bag with her presents and had stolen her catnip banana! (Hehehehe... BANANA BANANA BANANA) Sigh. She's lucky she's cute. 

 This is when she's her cutest. Even if she does hog the bed... Or the couch like she is here.

 Sweet little fluffykins.

 Suki standing on top of Husband's band.. stuff.

Bwhahahahahaaaaa... That's what she'd be saying here... Creepy picture, right?

2. My friends and family!

You know who you all are! I'd put pictures of you all on here, but that's way too many people to ask at this time. You all rock my socks.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANDDDDDD MY NUMBER ONE FAVORITE THING IS:

HUSBAND!!! 

He puts up with my insanity, my grumpiness, and all of my quirks. He deserves a big ass cookie and a shiny medal. Or something.

 

Have a good weekend everyone! I have a busy weekend of making cupcakes for the first family Christmas gathering and hanging out with one of my brothers (hopefully). I'll try to take pictures and make a post later!

Dancey Wednesday

Hullo!
 Well, kids. I think Mother Nature has completely gone and lost her shit. Seriously. It's the middle of December and it's 37 degrees, and it has been RAINING ALL DAY. In Minnesota. Crazy, huh? Not that I am complaining. I seriously LOVE rainy days. It's one of my favorite things ever. In fact, I am one of those weirdos who gets grumpy if it's sunny too many days in a row. I just hope we can get a light dusting in time for Christmas! It just doesn't feel very Christmas-y to have a brown and slightly greenish Christmas instead of the white ones us MN people are used to. Sigh.
Anyways, how has all your days gone? Good, I hope. Mine went fairly well. I did more Christmas shopping with Husband, it was only a tad more successful than the last trip yesterday. We picked up some presents for the cat. Yep. We're those  kinds of people. We didn't get her anything last year and felt really bad about it, so we just got her a new scratching post, a few more peacock feathers, and a new catnip banana. ( The word banana is fun to type! BANANA BANANA BANANA)
Husband also was super sweet and got me something REALLY cool! It's a MLP:FIM playset!! It'll look nice to the figurines (Okay, they're really toys from Wal-Mart) that he has already gotten me.... Check out the ones I had before today!
http://www.hasbro.com/shop/details.cfm?R=BD9F1914-5056-900B-1001-42C24C3CA542:en_US

http://www.hasbro.com/shop/details.cfm?R=BDA45DB1-5056-900B-10B8-E3AD944DE446:en_US

Yep. Aren't they cute?! This is what Husband bought for me today!
http://www.hasbro.com/shop/details.cfm?R=D0F8485D-19B9-F369-10D7-A98580E3C94D:en_US

Granted, I already had a toy of Twilight Sparkle, but it had Pinkie Pie! And Spike! And Princess Celestia! And Applejack! I guess it doesn't really take much to make me happy. Ponies. I love them. :)
So, after all that shopping, I had just about enough time to come home, get dressed for dance class, and get there. We were missing a few dancers, but it was a fun class anyways. We worked a lot on our stick dance. I swear, I will get things down, and then when the level 2 dancers come in and watch us, I get all flustered, start over thinking about what it is I am doing, then wind up missing steps and doing wonky ass things with my hips.     Le sigh. We got cds of the music tonight, so that just means I can practice it more when and where I can! I would love to be able to practice it at home, but we have a SUPER teensy place. I mean, if I stretch while standing in the living room, I have to be careful so I don't whack my hand on the ceiling fan. We also have a lot of crap, so there isn't a whole lot of empty floor space. Hmm... I just recently joined my local YMCA, so maybe I can find an empty gym sometime and practice there. Sorry, I got a little distracted there. I have a tendency to ramble quite a bit, so humor me folks, I usually get  back to the point.
Well, I just figured I would write entry. I have to work at my morning job as well as my late afternoon job, so I can't stay up late knitting and cruising pinterest. :( I think I am going to go brew me some tea, take a bubble bath, watch an episode of Cheers on the nettyflix and go off to dreamworld.
Goodnight Never Never Land!
P.S. Hopefully those links work, I really have no clue how to do much of anything on here, so I will make Husband teach me how to do those things. :)

Mm... Eggnog shake.

Hello friends!
 Today has been a pretty good day. I got to sleep in since I didn't have to work my morning job, did some shopping with Husband for Christmas, hung out with one of my bestest lady friends and watched some good shows. Well, good shows to me anyways.
 I will admit it, I am a Gleek. The show has sadly been not as awesome and I have to say this Christmas episode has probably been the best episode of this season. It has become so dreadfully boring and the same characters bitching about the same things OVER AND OVER again has gotten really old. Although, yes Mercedes and Santana, Rachel has gotten really annoying and needs to stop talking. And singing all those solos. But still, I don't want to hear you constantly complaining about it.
New Girl was also pretty good. Zooey Deschenel (Sp?) is such a dorky cutie pie in that show! I am glad to see that there is a show where the main character is a complete weirdo and everyone loves it! Now, if only that show was on when I was in high school. I could say, "Hey, look at that girl! See, weird people are cool!"
 Raising Hope was also pretty awesome too. It was also their Christmas episode, but they didn't make it overly Christmas-y. It was pretty comical, but had also had their amazing "OMG that is so disgusting and wrong, WHY CAN'T I STOP GIGGLING ABOUT IT?!" moments. Which includes a half naked Burt (who in this no baby Hope world has long hair and a sweet 'stache) is rubbing oil on his chest for his online dating profile and a grotesquely overweight Virginia is still chain smoking and needs a "cough rag". At one point, Virginia coughs into her rag, looks at it, throws it at Jimmy and says, "Jimmy, get me another cough rag, I can't find the white spot on this one anymore." BLECK!! Oh god, I have never been so thankful that I quit smoking then at that part. But, it was pretty damn hilarious. If you haven't gotten the chance to watch this show, DO IT! Give it at least 5 episodes, too. At first, I was really weirded out by it. But, it slowly grew on me and now I just love the show. It's created by the guy who created another amazing show called My Name Is Earl. There have been a few episodes where some of the actors from MNIE appeared. I always get strangely excited about it, too! Cloris Leachman's character is always a hoot, too.
Now, I am home and I tortured Husband into going and getting me an eggnog shake from McD's and after I get done writing am going to go read some fascinating belly dancer's blogs and checking out what's new on pinterest every ten minuteswhile knitting. Hmm.. Maybe I shall go make myself some yummy tea since I finished the shake in like 3 minutes flat.. Sleepytime Vanilla or Cinnamon Apple? No work in the a.m. again for me! Yay for being able to stay up late!

Hello Friends!

Hello to all you of you real and imaginary folks!
I have been reading blogs for the past year on varying subjects and have been completely addicted and fascinated by them. I figured it was probably about time I started my own. Who knows if anyone will actually wind up reading this or not. So, HELLO if you are! I have no clue what I am really going to write about, so it will probably wind up being super random posts.
This could get interesting.
Well, I supposed I could tell you something about myself. I am a twenty-five year old lady who loves to read, crochet, knit, belly dance, listen to music, singing random songs about the weirdest stuff, and hang out with my hubby and friends. Also, annoying my fluffy kitty is always a great joy of mine. Don’t worry, I never hurt the poor girl!
Anyways, back to the knitting and crocheting. I am pretty bad at it. I can’t do much beyond the most basic stitches, can’t for the life of me understand what it is they are wanting me to do with a pattern and get mad at YouTube videos. I try my best though. People seem to like what I can make, so that works for me.

I am not that great at belly dancing either. I have only been doing it a little over a year though, so I hope I can get better with that hobby the longer I do it!  I am currently taking a level one class at the local dance conservatory and it’s taught by the creative director of the local belly dance troupe and the other.. person. I don’t remember exactly what she does, but I know she helps doing the choreography. ( That is a horrible sentence, I know, but so what?) It’s a lot of fun. Hard work and sometimes puts me in my uncomfortable zone. But, that doesn’t take much since I can get pretty awkward when I am caught of guard and people are looking at me. Which, I am sure, can be pretty hilarious at times. But anyways, we are currently learning a stick dance with one of our teachers. It’s quite the interesting dance! Learning it so far has proven to be quite hilarious at times, and almost dangerous at others. If you knew me, you would have an idea why. Let me tell you, it’s not easy to try to make your feet, hips, arms, chest, stomach, and fingers all do something different at the same time while holding onto a stick! Ahh… It makes me smile just thinking of how fun it is. Did I mention the spinning? There’s spinning too!
Oh yeah! I almost forgot about my obsession with cupcakes!! I make pretty damn good ones and I almost always make my own frosting too! Including a cotton candy buttercream that’s pretty much to die for. Yum. Here’s my first weird quirk for you. I love baking, but I am really not that into eating them. I’ll have maybe one or two of what I made, but usually give most of them away. Goofy, huh?

Oh dang. I also have another obsession. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Gaaaahhhhhhhgggg. I just love me some ponies. I can never really decide which one is my absolute favorite. Maybe Pinkie Pie? Fluttershy? No. Rainbow Dash…. They’re all so danged adorzable!!! Can’t forget about Spike either. Who doesn’t love a baby dragon?!
That’s the thing friends. You will find that I am probably one of the quirkiest (most quirky?), most neurotic people you will ever meet. Sure, they’re mostly quirks that a lot of people have, but not that many people have ALL of them together. Right? Maybe? Hmm.. I guess we will see if anyone actually reads this! 

Well, hopefully I can actually stick with this whole blogging thing!

Adios!!

Rachel