Mid-November Season's Greetings

The house hunting has stopped. That's mainly because I just couldn't handle the thought of living with 4 other people. I came clean with Rachel one night a couple weeks ago and it felt.so.good to be honest with her. To my (major) surprise, she too wasn't growing majorly apprehensive about the living situation. That's when she and I decided it'd be best to get an apartment. But we've already found our ideal complex and *fingers crossed* we'll be moving in on December 9th or so.

I'm one of those people that detest Christmas before Thanksgiving. I'm every retailers nightmare (which is funny because I used to work retail.) Tom the Turkey needs to have his day. At least let the Detroit Lions finish their game before putting up the Christmas tree! Well, this year it's different. I mainly blame a co-worker who has a countdown in his office along with a Charlie Brown tree and the Pandora Christmas station playing all the time. Add in waking up to rain and I am in the Christmas mood. Pft! Where's the Charlie Brown? The Caramel Brulees at Starbucks?

"You sit on a throne of LIES! And smell of beef and cheese!"

And now I must share one of my many favorite moments from A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Lucy: You DO think I'm beautiful, don't you, Charlie Brown? 
[pause] 
Lucy: You didn't answer me right away. You had to think about it first, didn't you? If you really had thought I was beautiful, you would've spoken right up. I know when I've been insulted. I KNOW WHEN I'VE BEEN INSULTED. 
Charlie Brown: Good grief. 

I? Am totally a Lucy. I am. So let me be in the Christmas spirit. Let me buy the presents. Let me anxiously search for Elf, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Love Actually, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation along with the plethora of other holiday movies on TV. 

Have a great Tuesday :)

Fluff

In the midst of my TV marathon morning, I'm copying this from Katie at Loves of Life. I love her blog SO much and I aspire to have half the great writing style that she does :)

Guilty pleasure?

Harlequin novels. Don't judge. My friend Rachel and I get a kick out of going to the used bookstore and buying them. I will say that I do read the entire novel and not just the dirty parts!

Recent splurge?

Ummmm... makeup. I'm in love with good makeup. I'm definitely one who's comfortable splurging on Bare Minerals.

In bulk, I buy?

 I'm not a bulk buyer since I'm only shopping for one. But does chocolate count?

My go-to flower?

Roses. I love roses. I love all flowers except for baby's breath and carnations. Although, is baby's breath a flower?

Comfort food?

Chinese food. Unhealthy? Most definitely. But I can't get enough of General Tso's and white rice. 

For breakfast?

Pancakes or really super good muffins and coffee (duh!)

For dinner? 

Depends on my appetite and cravings (my cravings can be insane)

Love/hate relationship with?
My phone. I hate the battery life and the fact that sometimes it freezes up and takes a second to come back to earth but I love having my email, banking, Facebook, Twitter, and everything on my phone. I love that it's a Droid and that my calendar, email, documents and such sync with my Google account. Upgrading to an iPhone next year is going to be rough for sure.

Can't stop watching?

On Netflix (and TV): Private Practice, Mad Men

On TV: The Office, Grey's Anatomy, Parenthood, Glee, How I Met You Mother, Big Bang Theory.I feel like I have a few missing... but yeah... I love these shows.

Dreaming about?

Moving into a house. And having a Don Draper (minus the sleaziness) of my own.

Every girl should have?

A day off. Seriously, take a day a week to do whatever you want. Nails, sleeping, watching tv, doing what you like. Have a day to yourself... you need it.

My style in five words?

Comfortable. That's the biggest thing. 

I love wearing?

Yoga pants, toms, and a long cardigan. Perfect lazy day outfit without looking sloppy.

Dream job?

Being a chef or baker.

Duggars vs. Birth Control

I'm going to warn  readers now- I have a soapbox on the following topic that I'm blogging about. If I step on toes, I apologize but this is something that I'm pretty sure a lot of people believe.

The Duggars. I will be honest- I am not impressed.

Seriously, would Planned Parenthood please educate them about the repercussions of having 20 kids? Would Church and Dwight (parent company of Trojan Condoms) give them an unlimited supply condoms for the rest of their life? I respect that they don't believe in the pill, but there are so many birth controls options out there other than the pill: diaphragms, condoms, vasectomy, having your tubes tied. Yes, the 20 minute high that conceives the 10 months of pregnancy is great. But how can the Duggars consciously be okay with giving birth to 20 kids? How does Michelle walk into her doctors' office proudly? It's well known that her doctors advised her to stop reproducing because her body cannot support a pregnancy anymore. I often question if she has any say in her pregnancies or if Jim Bob (who believes overpopulation is a myth by the way) is pulling the "man of the house" card.

I often shiver whenever a woman does whatever her significant other tells her to do. It makes my skin crawl.  I'm a mild feminist. Maybe medium (depends on the topic.) I used to be one of those girls that always dreamed of having a nice Prince Charming. I dreamed of cooking his meals, doing his laundry, having his babies, and being a June Cleaver. Thankfully, something between the ages of 19 and 22 knocked some sense into me. Maybe it was that first big girl decision I made: birth control. Maybe it was separating myself from the Christian faith and reexamining everything I'd been taught. Maybe it was moving out of my parents' home. Do I blame everything on one of these events specifically? Absolutely not. I grew up in a home where I was loved, I grew up with parents that supported my decisions (even though it might have taken a while to settle), and parents that I know will always be there for me.

I love kids. I really do. I will volunteer to watch a kid anytime. Do I myself want to have my children of my own? I used to ALWAYS answer this question with an emphatic yes. But lately I'm so hesitant. The fact that I'm 22 has a lot to do with that thought but there are so many kids out there who don't have a family.

Why don't the Duggars adopt? Or at least foster? Do they really, honestly need to have 20 biological children? What kind of example are they setting for their children? The boys are being raised to create lots and lots of babies with their stay-at-home June Cleaver wives. The girls are being raised themselves to be the June Cleaver model. They are already raising their siblings as if they were their own children. If you watch today's episode from The Today Show where the Duggars announced their "surprise" Jim Bob and Michelle are not holding any of the babies. Their daughters are. That disturbs me.

There's a line between having a nanny for a few kids, but if you're resorting to having your teenage children assist in raising your younger children? Maybe it's time to reconsider your methods of pro-creation.

In Which the U-Hauls Bring Down My Spirits

After living at camp for well over 9 months now, it's starting to wear on me. It's hard to separate work and my personal life. At the moment, it feels like it all mushes together. Which, truthfully, it does. While we were vacationing in Delaware, my friends and I decided it was time to search for a place to live.

What started as 3 has turned into 5. Am I worried that we'll all walk away from this hating each other's guts? Yes. Somehow, the mix now includes one of my friend's fiancee and then one of the crew trainers that my 2 friends refer to as "their son" because he's.... well. I'll stop myself short.

But I'm excited for the new adventure. I've never had a house of my (sort of) own. It's always been my parents'. But I'll have my own kitchen that I can cook in. I've already started plotting meals, ranging from sushi to italian to soups to big (sort of) holiday meals.

I'm excited to be in a house where I can try my best to not talk about work because guess what? I'm not in a work setting all the time now.

The downfall of all of this is the hunt. We had our list of prospective houses and last weekend drove all.over.Huntsville to look at these properties. Every single house we liked had a U-Haul in front of it. We'd play the game of "In? Or out?" and all of the U-Hauls were for moving in purposes. Insert sighs of frustration here.

Yesterday, my friends called me and ordered me to put some decent pants on and meet them at the gate in 5 minutes. Begrudgingly, I did even after I reminded them that I have no money for food (apparently this wasn't a food run, but alas they found another house, sans U-Hauls in the driveway.) So as we're driving to our destination, they tell me all the cards that I better not pull (safety, cost, size, kitchen, etc) because they love this house and were hoping that I would too. I felt good about the main road we were driving on, but was still apprehensive (and cursing them for making me switch pants because I was getting bad cramps.) I was moaning about cramps and craving chocolate when they pulled into a neighborhood by the huge lake in the area. I (sort of ) quieted down. There were people running... with their dogs. Ok, maybe this wouldn't be so bad. There's clubhouse... with a pool. Score? We turn onto the street leading to the street where the house is. My friends tell me there's no a single space related street in the neighborhood and I'll sound posh when I say the street name. Sussex. Win.

We pull up to the house and it's cute. It has a yard, isn't on top of other houses, doesn't have the look of "I was built in the 70s, can't you tell?", is safe, and? I can finally get a dog! I (literally) grew up with dogs who both died when I was in my teenage years and have been wanting a dog so bad since I was 19. My mom put her foot down on the "no more pets" rule though, so I had to be content. But now? I can get a dog. But not a puppy. There's a whole other list of reasons why on that one.

They (my friends) see the house today. Questions are prepared, I'll be having my fingers crossed. I'm bummed that I won't get to see the house, but I have to work, and well... you have to work to make the money to pay for the house, right?

Right.