So What! 6

Hi All!


3.5 more sleeps until I am driving to LAX with the Husband and heading home to Montana for Christmas.  I am so excited I could squeal, which I have.  I have also informed my boss of my work countdown hours.  Right now I have 21 more hours to work!


Today I'm joining Shannon for "so what" Wednesday!

So What...

• If I am planning on drinking wine and eating pizza tonight.  While the husband is away I will eat and drink!
• If I can't seem to blog every single day...it is my prerogative!
• That I didn't make a single batch of my family's famous Carmel corn.  It is time consuming and I have other things that I want to do...like drink wine and eat pizza
• If I have over 11 Hallmark Channel Christmas movies on my DVR.  They make me happy!
• That I clean something in my house every night after work.  It may be super OCD of me, but at least I've got a clean house
• That I wear a pony tail every other day.  It is SO much easier!
• That all of my besties live far away...at least I've got them!

Stay tuned for tomorrow all.  I've got a big post planned about a new documentary that came out that I have SO many things to say about.  The wine ( see above ) will hopefully help my anger fueled typing fingers.

Lowering My Stress Level 6

It has been a rough past 7 days for this gal.  
There has been no blogging (which is normally my outlet), little cleaning (again another thing I do when I am stressed), little cooking...pretty much I've gotten home from work every day and sulked.

Because of this I decided to do a post on what helps me get my mind off of stress and makes me happy.  Today I definitely need a reminder of some of the things that I love!

1.) My husband.  I kinda like him and when he is around he makes me smile!

2.) My FamDamily.  I love them, just looking at this picture makes me feel better.

3.) Friends.  When the Husband is away and the family live no where near me I have these gals to keep me company via the phone or in person.

4.) Photography:  While I may not be a pro I am learning.  While learning I've grown to love it.  It gets my mind off of life and allows me to be creative while captruing things I love. These are a few of my favorites!

5.) Christmas.  Tomorrow I am going to dive into my obsession love of Christmas.  Just hearing Christmas music, seeing Christmas trees or lights makes me so happy!

What helps you after a stressful day?  What makes you happy?

People of Facebook. 6

It's been awhile since my latest "People of Facebook" post.  To be quite honest not much has grabbed my attention.  Until the last few weeks...

Disclaimer:
    These people are not my friends and names have been changed.  These people are acquaintances that I am friends with on Facebook.  These statements, or lack there of, should not reflect on the type of person I am...enjoy!

_________________________________________________________________________

"Well I drank 63 red bulls in a week n a half n now there's none at work! Fml I want sum!"

In response to the above statement: "i used to drink it like that! i fricken looove redbull...and i never died lol...i use to drink like 5-7 10oz a day and then strawberi redulls all fkn nite for like 3 yrs straight n im still here muahahaha lol but for real tho when i quit drink redbull and alcohol i lost so much weight!! but people like u dont have that problem lmao"
(I had to retype that because the format didn't work. That was so hard to type as written. Lord help us!)

"Had Sooo much fun last night! No drama n me n my partner in crime(Nicole ) made it home safe n sound! Always a blast if Arnold Palmer puts it together!! Thanks a MILLI! ....Everything smells like liquor and nail polish! Haha! Ehhhh"
(How is this possible without loosing some brain cells?)

"So figured out my stalker! This new kid at work stole from me (long story). I called him on it and jus knew cuz I kn read people like a cosmopolitan magazine!! So he has already admitted he thinks I'm hott. THEN I catch him thievin! Gotta TRY and not look as dumb as u are after ALLA that huh??!? Geeze idi-ota!"
(Read people like a Cosmo?  This isn't saying much idi-ota!)

"Who tha F? There's flowers on my car, newports, blue red bull gum n candy. I should b like oh yay. But I'm like ok who tha F  is stalkin me? ?#CREEPY
(Oh how sweet, cigarettes as a love gift!)

"Jus wanna throw this out there... had a friend who did tha dirty dirty to a good friend. Broke many girl codes and she got ANOTHER chance.... she blew it BIG TIME. My question is, how can u be a liar, sneaky Dickens, HORRIBLE friend, then act OBLIVIOUS when we won't hit u up??? Damn u a fool!"
(Never break this gal's girl code!)

There you have it.  Now go out into the world feeling a whole lot better about yourself!

The J. Family Visit! 3

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend!  

I've been busy entertaining my mother-in-law and brother-in-law since last Wednesday...here is what we did!

One: Rams and his Mom carved up the turkey
Two: my looker of a husband
Three: Grizzly and Roscoe supervised the cooking process and made sure none of the food was poisoned by stealing a few bites here and there.
Four: The finished project.

Five: On Sunday we headed down to San Diego to have breakfast and go visit the USS Midway.  This is the family in front of one of the old planes.
Six: The ship is HUGE
Seven: Do I really need to caption this?
Eight: My brother-in-law 

Nine: Family Picture
Ten: Sunset behind the helicopters
Eleven: So neat
Twelve: Final family picture of the trip

That is what has been happening at JayBird's Home Base!  Hope your was fantastic as well!

Exhausted Breakdown 5

Have you ever been so exhausted and overwhelmed with life/work that you just need to break down and scream and cry and sleep?

That was me yesterday.  Crying, sniffling and all the ugliness that happens intbewteen.

There has been little sleep, stress, missing the husband, holidays coming up and it all hit me yesterday at work when I was assigned a simple task.  Normally I would have taken this task with a smile, but yesterday it just pushed me to my breaking point.

I made it all the way home.  Once I saw the husband I couldn't take it any longer...I just cried.

Sometimes I feel like life gets overwhelmingly tough and all you can do is let it out. 

After my complete break down I went to sleep at about 8:30 and didn't wake up until my alarm sounded at 6:15am. 

I woke up this morning with swollen eyes and a little better outlook looking forward to Thanksgiving!

Who has experienced this? 
What brought it on? 
What do you do to help you through?

On another note, so excited for tomorrow.  I hope you all have a fantastic day!

Itty Bitty Body Part 6

Who watches The Voice?

I love the show but there is one little huge aspect about this show that I can't overlook.

What is it?  

It is not that Adam Levine is a hunk, or that Blake Shelton is pretty much the perfect version of who I'd want for a Cousin, or the fact that Christina has lost SO much weight that she looks amazing.  

It is the size of Ceelo Green's hands!

They are tiny.  So tiny that it is all I can focus on when I watch this show.  He is a big guy with little hands. 
Please do not take this post as I am being mean or making fun of him. I just really think he has small hands. If it makes you feel better I have man hands, for real!

Exhibit A:  Please notice the size of his hands in comparison to the rest of his body.

Exhibit B:  Seriously...do I need to explain myself any more than I already have?

If I were on CeeLo's team I'm not sure I could last.  
He would shake my hand and I would want to hold onto his hands to make sure they were real.  
If he was coaching me I would continue to stare at his little bitty hands.
If I met him I'd probably do a size comparison.  This would make me feel more manly than I already do and I'm sure would not make him happy either.

They remind me of a skit on SNL with Kristen Wig where she plays a lady called Dooneese. Watch this and see what I'm talking about - you will completely agree!




Am I the only one who has noticed this?  
Please tell me I'm not going crazy!

Tag - I am it! 4

Good Monday Morning All!

I would normally do a weekend post, but we didn't go much this weekend.  It seriously consisted of gorocery shopping, putting up Christmas lights, cleaning in preparation for the inlaws arrivals and sitting on our butts.  Nothing really picture worthy...accept this one...this was picture worthy!

Today Stephanie tagged me in her post.  This is a wonderful little way to get to know everyone a bit better. 
Here I go.

1. What is your favorite type of music to listen to?  To be quite honest when I'm driving I rarely listen to music, it is usually talk radio.  However...if I do listen it will be to Country or Christmas.  My BFF is Carrie Underwood, so she is usually my first choice.

2. Who is/are your favorite blogger(s)?  This one is pretty easy.  Stephanie from Lattes and Paw Prints because she is my bestie in real life (Carrie is my bestie in my imagination).  Nadine over at Life By Nadine Lynn because she is my other bestie.  I also enjoy Kate at The Small Things Blog because she taught my how to curl my hair - for real - I just learned - see here. I also love Whitney at Keeping up the the Cypert because she was my first read.

3. Would you rather live without your favorite drink or favorite food? Why?  I would rather live without my favorite food I think.  Why?  I'm not too sure, but I'd much rather drink my calories that eat them.  I love my coffee and tea and beer and wine!

4. How did you meet your significant other? We have different versions of how we met so I'll tell you the right one, which is mine.  We met our first week of College at freshman orientation.  I think we met doing some lame activity which involved rock - paper - scissor - fire.  I remember thinking he was cute until he talked and I couldn't understand him!  But a few weeks later we met again and hit if off.

5. Why did you start blogging? I started blogging because it seemed fun and I wanted a way to write about the crazy stuff that I see on a daily basis.  I'm glad I did because I have met some amazing people along the way.  It is pretty fantastic!

Now I have to tag some people:
Go ahead Ladies!

Nadine at Life By Nadine Lynn
Laura at Girl in Flight
Kathy at Vodka and Soda
Margaret at Life After Athens


Have a fantastic Monday everyone!

You're My Person! 4

In the last few years I haven't had a girlfriend that I feel like I could tell just about anything to.  I probably haven't had this type of relationship since college. 
I always feel like something is lacking in my life when I don't have that bond with someone (other than the husband of course)

Enter into the story this blog of mine...
Thank goodness for this thing.

I finally have met two people in this blog world/real world that are absolutely amazing. 

It was hard for me at first to admit that I was having this type of friendship with people I have never met in real life before.  But who the heck cares? 

 If it is right...it is right!

Let me introduce you to the one of these amazing girls who I like to call my bestie...Stephanie!

We talk about everything and anything.  I send her pictures of my fingernails to see if they are ok...we text all day every day and I value her friendship so much!
If only we didn't live on opposite ends of the country...I think if she lived in the same state we would probably be sister wives.

I love her to death and thank this crazy blog world for bringing us to each other!

Stay tuned for Nadine in a few weeks - she's the other one I love!



Have any of you met your besties through blogging?!

Butterball 2

Traffic.
LA Traffic.
Blah.

There isn't much else to say about my commute to and from work or to and from anywhere else in this area we call Los Angeles.  I've learned that to make it bearable you must listen to something on the radio/ipod/cassette player that makes you happy and that helps the time go by.

While driving home from work last night a "song" came on the radio and a pretty chime sounded in my head. I thought I MUST introduce you all to my favorite morning radio show (other than non-stop Christmas music) that I love and can't go a day without listening to.

Meet The Dave Ryan Show.

photo found here

This is a show based out of Minneapolis that I would listen to every morning when I lived there.  Now that I'm not in Minneapolis I still listen to them on iHeartradio.

I started to love their witty humor, fighting and randomness that happens on their show daily. While some of the bits are a little bit pointless, I still love listening to them every morning.  I get my gossip, drama, laughs, eye rolling stupidity all in the same place!

If any of you are fans of radio morning shows, you should definitely check this out.  I promise - or almost promise - that you won't regret it.

Here is the song that made my head chimes chime.  To the tune of "Wrecking Ball" here is "Butterball".

Hope this puts you all in the Thanksgiving mood...

The Story of my Scar 4

Lately a lot of people have asked me about a scar on the left side of my face.

I never think about this scar because I've lived with is for 25 years of my life.

Here is the story.

In October of 1988 my preschool went on a field trip to a local pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins.

I remember picking out my pumpkin with my Mom and other classmates and wheeling them in a wagon to the barn to weigh them.  We were in the barn when I saw a German Shepard outside laying in the yard.  
Even at 4 years old I was a an animal person...so of course I asked my Mom is I could go pet it.
The owner of the pumpkin patch said the dog was nice and it was used to being pet.
I went to pet it with a few other classmates.

I knelt down in the grass near the dogs head.  
From my memory I went down to kiss the dog.  
From other's memories I was just petting him.

All of a sudden I was bit in the face.

I don't remember much after this but seeing green blood on my pink jacket.  I swear that I saw green blood.  Now I know this isn't possible.  I remember getting into the backseat of a car with my mom.

After this I don't remember much, so it is a good thing I have pictures.

This picture was not to soon after arriving at the hospital.  I think this was after my reconstructive/plastic surgery.  The dog was about 0.5mm from blinding me on my left side.

It took 112 stitches to put me back together.

This is the day I left the hospital.  I vividly remember asking my parents to bring my favorite red polka-dot dress for me to wear home.

The stitches were finally removed.

Now I have a scar to remind me of that day.  

I'm not afraid of dogs at all.  My mom said the same day I got out of the hospital I walked up to a strangers dog and immediately starting petting it.  I definitely didn't learn my lesson.

There is the story of the scar on my face.  Some people say I should see about plastic surgery to help reduce it, others have said I need to try a cream. I don't want to, this is part of me now.  

I can't imagine my face without it.

Weekend Adventures 3

Happy Monday all!  Can you believe there is ONE more Monday until Thanksgiving?!  


Here is a little of what I was up to this weekend.

One:  Roscoe and I had some cuddle time on Saturday morning while Rams slept in.  We enjoy our lazy, blanket covered times!
Two: Rams and I ventured into Pasadena on Saturday afternoon for some lunch.  We went to one of our favorite Chinese places, Yang Chow, for some of their famous "Slippery Shrimp" and some other deliciousness!  
Three:  After lunch we went to try out a new bakery in the next city over.  The lines was insane and the desserts were amazing!  If you live in the LA area you need to check it out, it is called Porto's Bakery.
Four:  It was a little chilly in the Southland this weekend so it was a perfect time to finally use our fire pit that we put in this summer.  I thoroughly enjoyed sitting outside and reading by the fire.
Five: My parents installed a camera at our cabin in Montana.  It is known as "The Cabin Cam".  This is what I saw...it made me miss home SO much.  I seriously sat and watched it snow for a good 10 minutes.
Six:  I found some sort of dropping out by our pool equipment this weekend.  I don't know what it is, but we will see if we have mouse.  If not...on to the next step...which I have no clue what it is.

Last but certainly not least I found Christmas music on the radio while we were driving into Pasadena.  I had to document this and show you all how extremely happy I was about it!  

Enjoy!

JayBird has Landed! 2

Hey all, it's been a bit...well more than a bit...but we won't get into that.

Let me catch you up on what I've been up to the past few months.

Ramesh's 30th Birthday was October 12.  We decided to head to San Diego for the weekend to celebrate the big day! Here are a few photos to commemorate the occasion.
-Heading to dinner.  I got dressed up (kind of) so I had to get the obligatory selfie!
-Rams and his Birthday dessert
-Walking around the Gas Lamp district
-My Birthday dessert for Rams

During the weekend San Diego trip we went to see a Colts vs Chargers game.  The Colts are Ram's team, so this was super fun for him (and me).  Although the Colts got their butts kicked, it was still fun!

-My Mom came for a long weekend to visit.  It was fantastic.  

-My favorite festive liquor has come out and I had to buy some.

-New shirt courtesy of my Mom and Anthropologie

-I broke out my fall boots and finally found something to wear with them.  What do you think?

-I got to spend a bunch of time with one of my best friends in CA, Nicole...we kinda like one another.
-Cuddle time with Grizzly Bear.
-My hair before my cut/color...it had been since last March :(
-My hair after the cut/color.  Chopped off about 3.5 inches and it feels soooo good. (Can you tell I love my new shirt)

There you all have it.
My last few months in pictures.

Stay tuned next week for some actual real blogging from this gal.  

I've got quite a bit I'd like to write about!

What do you want to be? 4

 

For people that know me well they know I am one of the most indecisive people out there.  It is hard enough for me to decide what to wear, what I should have for lunch, what I should do tonight - how am I supposed to decide what to do with the rest of my life?

Yes,  I am 9 months away from being 30 and still have no clear direction as to what my career should consist of the for the next 35 years. 

Since the 3rd grade my dream has always been to train whales and dolphins.   I dabbled in this for a bit, and realized you can't live on their measly salary (I really didn't want to have to eat Ramen for the rest of my life).  I would have loved to say that I'm not in it for the money, but at some point realism has to be a priority. 

My next choice was music.  I'm not tooting my own horn - or I will since I've got one - but I am naturally good at music.  Why not major in music I said?  So I did. 
But I fell in love - moved to a different state and that was the end of my life as a musician.
 
With no more music I got back into animals and went to school for Veterinary Technology.  I worked in the field for a bit until I hurt my back - so that was unfortunately the end of that chapter.
 
Fast forward to the present day.  I work with the Doctors who created Proactiv in their new skin care line "Rodan and Fields Dermatologists".  I love their products, so it is pretty simple to be involved in the company.  I've been doing a lot of administrative/managerial work.  I am ok with this for now, but I still desire a career. 

 
Here in lies my problem. 
What do I want to do? 
How are we supposed to decide what to do with our entire life?
I don't understand how someone can limit themselves to one specific area of work.  I want to teach and nurse and so many other things but I can't narrow it down to just one. 
How do people do it?
 
Another issue I have with this is the opinions people have of people like me.  I get the feeling that people think I'm not smart, not determined, not a good worker because I don't have a clear direction for my working life.  Just because I don't have a 'career' doesn't mean I don't work my ass off.
 
Indulge me please with what you all have decided to do with your lives, and how you came to the conclusion that this career was IT. 
 
I apologize for the mishmash of paragraphs and thoughts on this post, but it was hard to narrow what I was trying to say in an organized lay out.

FALL 4

Fall is happening people and I'm quite bummed that I am not experiencing the love and joy of the fall weather like all of you lucky ones in the northern/Midwestern half of the states.  Unfortunately I don't get much of the hoodie weather, campfires, crunching leaves, crisp air that I'm used to, and to be quite honest isn't fair

But...one thing about fall that I DO get to experience is the new TV line-up.  Here are some of the shows I'm so ready to watch.

1.) Grey's Anatomy.  Thankfully Stephanie let me know that the season premier is in 10 short days.  If not for her I would have missed this super life-changing premier. Does Webber die? What happens with April?  Who will come back as a ghost (I hope it is little Grey)?!   I even have a texting date with Stephanie to ring in the excitement.

2.)  Parenthood.  This is one of my favorite shows ever.  It is one of the only shows that I want it to go on for way more than an hour.  I always laugh and cry during this show.  I want to be a part of their family every time I watch!  If you haven't watched this show yet, put it on your list asap!

3.) Nashville.  Not only is the music amazing, so are the story lines.  I am falling more and more in love with the two country singing sisters that are on the show.  If you like country music, romantic drama, car crashes and more - tune in.  Heck, even if you don't like those things watch this anyway!

4.) New Girl.  I don't laugh out loud very often, if ever, when watching television...but this show I crack up. I crack up enough to make me ugly laugh - that in itself is a reason to tune into this show.  Plus I'm completely cheering on Jess and Nick.

5.)  White Collar.  Other than loving to look at Matt Bomer, I just like this show.  The story line is great, the chemistry of the cast I love.  If you like the crime like dramas, you would like this show.

This is only 5 of the shows I'm looking forward to, but there are SO MANY MORE good ones that are premiering soon. 

What am I missing, or what should I make sure to schedule on my DVR?