2008 Was Great

In January, I got my Rebel, and R and I went to the West Bottoms to take photos.



In February, we went to Chicago to see a Bull's game, some beluga whales, and Wicked. R turned 28 there, and I froze.




There was also an eclipse in February.


In March I celebrated St. Patrick's Day with friends.



I also went to a bachelorette party in March.


In April, I finally saw Roller Derby for the first time.


In May, R and I went mushroom hunting...


...R had his art shown at First Fridays...

...I hacked off my hair...

...R and I saw The Cure from the 4th row...



...I went to another bachelorette party where everyone wore pink...


...two weeks later, I went to another bachelorette party...


In June, R and I went to Salina for a wedding...




...Two good friends married each other, and I took photos at their rehearsal...



In July, R and I went on a float trip...


...we celebrated the 4th of July...

...and started looking at houses.


In August, R and I went to Branson...




...didn't get a house we wanted...


...and my computer crashed.

In September, Scott joined R and I at a Wizard's game...


...and I saw David Beckham...

...and R took me to my first NASCAR race.



In October, I turned 27.


R made me dinner, and I celebrated with my friends...




...we found our future home...

...got my boyfriend to dress up as David Bowie from Labyrinth, and since my Sarah costume didn't work out, so R turned me into a zombie.


In November, R and I went to another friend's wedding...

...and started work on the house.


In December, I got engaged...


...found the pickle ornament while taking a photo(in miniature size, this year)...


...introduced R to my family's crazy crown-wearing Christmas tradition...


...and had my entire family home for Christmas this year.


This year was pretty...pretty...good. Cheers to 2009!

I'm all for Obama, but...

...I find this book a bit strange. I saw it at Barnes and Noble on my way out of the store. A bit dramatic, aren't we folks?

Super Powers

My fiance' comes with flying powers. Sweet. What can yours do?

Check It Out!

Hello readers. I've updated the right side of my blog with some new things. You'll notice, that you can now see when people make new posts, and how long its been since someone has posted. Take the time to look, has it been awhile since you've written something so I have entertainment? You secret bloggers have escaped this time...

I've also added a new blog by yours truly. "Adventures in Wedding Planning". EEK! Sounds frightening, yes? It will surely be a hit.

I've also got a link where you can choose to follow my blog. I haven't tried that out yet. Not sure what it does, but you should probably go ahead and click on it.

Cheers.
Management

I Have a Fiance!

As most of you have surely heard by now, Rusty and I are engaged! Whoo-a-hoo! It was completely unexpected, and we're so excited! Not only do I get to keep my perfect match, but I get a pretty ring, and a few parties to boot! I'm already excited to get this show on the road!

In short, the proposal went a little something like this:

-We watched It's a Wonderful Life and had a little champagne, like we always do for Christmas.
-I tried really hard not to cry at the end because my nose was feeling stuffy, and I didn't want to make the situation worse.
-Little girl at the end says "Everytime a bell rings, and angel gets its wings!"
-Movie ends.
-Rusty pulls a bell from under the bed and rings it and says "Every time a bell wings, an angel gets a ring."
-I sarcastically reply, "Yeah, yeah, a ring, right..."
-BAM! Rusty whips out an open ring box with something shiny, but I'm in a fit of tears, excitement, and screaming before I even get a good look at it.
-Rusty asks me to marry him, I,of course, say yes.
-I finally get a good look at the ring, and it is beeeeaaauuuutiful!
-Engaged! Ta da!

It still feels pretty surreal. I can't stop looking at "my precious". It's so sparkly, and R picked it out all by himself. I'm impressed.


Its been fun telling people I'm engaged, but the clip below pretty much sums up how I felt telling my parents about our engagement. Let the planning begin!

Don't Mess With My Brother and I...

...because we are bad ass.

Dear Walgreens Girl:

Thank you for your personal tip and referring Static Guard to me for my staticky hair, when you could've insisted that the hair product you showed me for $15 works really well. Instead of being electronically charged, you showed me to a bottle of Static Guard, and all I have to do is spray it on my brush, and brush my hair. No more crazy floating hair. Thank you, thank you, thank you...

I'm Making My Boyfriend See This With Me

Eep! This looks incredible. Hooray! Hooray! It's basically going to be awesome because Henry Selick directed it, and he directed Nightmare Before Christmas. February 6th!

Books! Books! Books!

I need to shop for books, but am not able to. I have a list that's growing, so I feel the need to write them here so I don't forget or lose them. I shouldn't even make a list until I finish the ones I have. I have a whole stack right next to me to read. This post is about to get boring...for you.

For Fun-I swear I read grown-up books:
-Coraline
-Twilight Series (b/c everyone's making such a big deal out of it, my curiosity is piqued)
-The Sookie Stackhouse aka Southern Vampire Series (Thank you, True Blood, you've caught my interest)
-The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling
-My Lobotomy by Howard Dully (one of these things is not like the other)

Recommended by Professors:
-Talking and Listening Together: Couple Communication by Sherod Miller
-The Last Victim: A True-Life Journey into the Mind of the Serial Killer by Jason Moss
-Becoming Anna: The Autobiography of a Sixteen-Year-Old by Anna Michener
-The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans
-Cutting: Understanding and Overcoming Self-Mutilation by Steven Levenkron

Demon From the Ninth Level of Traitors and Murderers

Patton Oswalt makes me laugh. A lot. This is my favorite:

You can listen to the slowed down version of Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas song HERE.

Laugh amongst yourselves.

Weekend

Blah, blah, blah, sushi, blah, blah, blah, Arrested Development, blah, blah, blah, wine, blah, blah, blah, dream where I tried to "pop a zit" on my forehead, and part of my brains started to come out, and I had to push them back into my forehead, blah, blah, blah, fondue and friends, blah, blah, blah, origami crane making, blah, blah, blah, pajamas, blah, blah, blah, snow and hot chocolate, blah, blah, blah. That about sums it up.

Sad Pickle

Sadness of the day:

Entering a contest to name the next sale at one of your favorite clothing sites, by telling what odd holiday traditions your family has, writing about the pickle ornament your parents hide in the Christmas tree every year, and getting an email with this ad


YES! You've WON! $50 gift card, awesome! Hooray for PICKLES!

So, you go to the blog to confirm you've won, and there it is. You see it. Your name(which in this case, is Megan)! LAAAA! PICKLES! "Megan won the contest, blah blah blah." And then you see it. The quote from the comments page. "Wait", you think, "...this doesn't sound familiar. My family doesn't have FIVE Christmas trees(actually that's debatable) that my parents try to hide the pickle in."

Sigh.

I went to the comment section b/c it said that this "Other Megan" had posted about the pickle before me(well, first of all 4 of us who had a pickle tradition, out of 32 responses), when I was sure I had the first post about the pickle. Son of a....there it is. "Her" comment, Right. In. Front. Of. Mine. Posted a whopping 20 minutes before me. Damn. I knew I shouldn't have dawdled on my answer...

I did NOT win.

And I am sad.

My Messy Room

I've been trying to clean my room all morning. All the clothes are in my closet, but miraculously, there are still things on the floor. In my defense, those "things" are three target bags full of trash or things I just need to get rid of. Like ten black socks who don't have a match, but they have been residing in my sock drawer for quite some time. Or maybe that unopened "Chopin for baby" cd that you have no idea in hell where it came from, but just discovered it in your closet.

Instead of focusing on the floor business, I decided to attack my closets. Yes, that's meant to be plural. Two small closets on either side of my room. Were twins supposed to have lived here? One big walk-in would've been sufficient, builder of my home. Instead, the walk-in is in the room next to me, not being used, but I'm not allowed to use it.

Anyway, back to my closet(s). Something strange overcame me, and I began to organize(procrastinate). Not just the typical "dressy clothes on one side, and everyday clothes on the other." Oh, no. I organized(procrastinated) by putting my everyday clothes in order of jackets, sweatshirts(all three of them), cardigans, sweaters, layering tanks, tees, long-sleeved tees, short-sleeved button downs, long-sleeved button downs.

Sometimes I get caught up in details that really don't matter. I mean, let's face it, this set up will probably only last me a week or two at most. The fact of the matter is, I change a lot. On a typical day, I don't give myself enough time to find an outfit, hate it, hang it up, and find something else(repeat 2-3x). However, I do this anyway. I just skip the "hang it up" part, which results in my room looking like it threw up clothes all over itself by the end of the week.

And this entry? Procrastination. There are things I can still do to my room, but I just don't want to. Sigh. But I will, because I hear cleanliness is next to Godliness. Which evidently means I'm Satan's second cousin twice removed or something. I forget the connection.

Adventures in Home Ownership

The time has come to share some house photos. I know many of you have been eagerly awaiting to see the house that will one day be R's and mine. I warn you, it ain't pretty....yet. Especially the ugly blue color on the house with red shutters. And the siding, oh the siding!

The first set of photos are a few that I took in its original form. The second set is what we have done to it so far. Just remember the words "great investment", "potential", "cute neighborhood", "great location", and everything will be okay. Words of encouragement are also welcome. A lot of time, work, love, and HGTV will make this home great!

In the beginning, there was ugliness(and a big mess). Set one photos.

And then there was paint. Set two!

Shopping Makes Me Crazy

I want this lip gloss.

I want this blush.

I want just about everything from this online store.

I want to decorate with creepy little hybrid sculptures from this store, especially with Sir Magic Poo.

Sigh. One of these days I will not be a poor graduate student. I'll be a mildly less poor therapist instead.

Awesome vs. Not Awesome

Awesome: This orangutan video by the Joe DiMagio of Awesomeness(aka Ringo) himself. He shot it, he made it, I'm forever jealous that he got to play with orangutans. It reminds me of my own encounter with "the others" back in April.

Not Awesome: Strangers approaching you on Van Brunt while you're at a stop light, politely waiting to turn left, and knocking on your window to ask for some money. First of all, you're not going to get money from me...b/c I have none. But you will definitely not get money from me by scaring the crap out of me.

Awesome: Getting a 100% in both classes for the semester. Sweet.

Not Awesome: Having three more semesters before graduation.

Awesome: Having dreams about being in a field with little yellow puppies climbing all over you and licking your face.

Not Awesome: Having a dream that there's a strange bump on your stomach, and when you squeeze it, lots and lots of spider web stuff comes out, and then a big, grey, squishy spider with two big black oval eyes also comes out with it. Super not awesome.

Awesome: Weekends

Not Awesome: It's only Wednesday.