December Me, Myself, & I

1) What was your favorite gift given to you as a child? 
Hands down my American Girl Doll, Molly

2) Christmas is almost here, what is that one Christmas song you could listen to on repeat?
Hanson. Absolutely Hanson

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Hanson on Grooveshark

3) What are a few items on your Christmas List this year?
Michael Kors watch
Work Clothes
A new TV
Cinderella on DVD...

4) Do you & your family have any special traditions? 
Every Christmas Eve we have a big family party, this year we've added a tacky sweater competition to it, and then we go back to the house and pile up with the babies to wait for Santa!

5) Which do you prefer, gift bags or wrapping paper?
Wrapping paper with big, gigantic bows, and glitter.


How Pinteresting!

Source: imgfave.com via Kasey on Pinterest




Making this. It's happening





Tuesday 10!

I'm figuring out these link things quickly, and they're fun! Also I like seeing a ridiculous amount of views, who wouldn't?


LenaBActually
Favorite Holiday Movies!! 
(I'm cheating a little because I already have my top 5!) 

1. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

2. Love Actually
Source: google.com via Kasey on Pinterest

3. Elf!
4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Source: google.com via Kasey on Pinterest
5. Christmas Vacation! 
 

6. The Polar Express - I used to love the book as a kid.. 



Source: imdb.com via Kasey on Pinterest

7. Harry Potter. I don't care that it's not all Christmasy, it's a Christmas favorite!!





8. Charlie Brown with his little Christmas Tree






9. Santa Claus is Coming to Town





10. Santa Clause!



Source: amazon.com via Kasey on Pinterest


There you have it! My Tuesday 10 Christmas movies!!

Funemployment 2012 Goals

Okay. So I figure I can either whine about being unemployed and how much it sucks to not know what I'm doing with my life, if I'm going to get that job in Atlanta, if I'm going to be able to afford to take myself to Disney's Be Our Guest for my [TWENTY FIFTH] birthday. Instead, I'm going to get shit done.

Source: ow.ly via Kasey on Pinterest


These are my goals for the December month of Funemployment (I get a couple of days to mope, right? right.)


  1. Find a kickboxing class, I'm pretty sure we have a gym membership. I'd like to kickbox back into my abs from high school. (really that's step 1 for finding a rich, handsome husband, am I right?)
  2. Clean, detail, and clean my car some more. 
  3. Overhaul the blog, somehow make it enticing for people to read (rumor has it you can make money this way, so I like to talk and I like to make money)
  4. Complete a pinterest project or two. 
  5. Clean & organize my teeeney tiny little bedroom. 
  6. Get my hair under control. Maybe a haircut, some highlights? Who knows. I need a change. 
  7. Go to Athens. Maybe more than I need to. But for sure, Athens. 
SO if you wanna, stick around and we'll have fun exploring unemployment together! Woohoo

Thanksgiving Pinspiration

I know it's late, I literally started this post on Wednesday and never had time to finish it!
 I literally laughed about this for at least 5 minutes. 









Source: wanelo.com via Kasey on Pinterest



so, I need that. 


Y'all, it's officially time for Christmas decorations. I would LOVE a wine bottle christmas tree! Too bad I threw my collection away before moving home!

Me, Myself, & I

So I stumbled upon this Me, Myself, & I linkup business, and I thought it would be a fun new thing to try. Plus, it led me to tons of fun new blogs to follow! I first saw the post at Comma with a K, but it's hosted by some lovely ladies!

 
1. What are your top 5 favorite movies to watch during the Holidays?
- Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
- Love Actually
-Elf!
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the older, cartoon one..)
- and obviously, it's not Christmas until you watch Christmas Vacation at least four times..
 



 
 
 
2. In the month of giving thanks, what are you most thankful for?
-I've already done the whole "30 things I'm thankful for" post, but I have to stick to my family. Without them, I wouldn't be the person I am today, and I wouldn't have the safety to fall back on and follow my dreams. 



 
3. If there was a quote or verse to describe your life, what would it be?



So, I went through all of my pinspirational words and quotes and even though I love love my inspirational ones about choosing to be happy and turning my can'ts into cans, this is my mantra. Some days, no matter how hard you try or how positive you are, you just need a good, strong margarita. mmmm
4. Who in your family are you most like?
I am just just like my grandfather. Stubborn, opinionated, loud, and a really big fan of macaroni & cheese with ketchup. Don't hate.
 
5. What is your favorite drink order at Starbucks?
During the fall? Pumpkin spice, obviously. During any other time - usually something berry and fresh. I'm slowly but surely becoming addicted to coffee - so I'm trying to offset it with tea instead. Don't wanna stunt my growth, y'all!

Funny how some things change, and others stay exactly the same

I was looking over my list of 25 things I wanted to do before I turned 25 (you know, since I have like a YEAR LEFT. OH MY GOD.)

Some of those goals, really aren't even a little important to me anymore. Most of them are, and some aren't relevant simply due to the fact that I apparently cannot stay in the same place for more than a year..

I want to add that to my next set of goals - put down roots. I feel like a tumbleweed. I can't set fun goals like "go camping in the Sierra Nevadas" because I don't live in California anymore, and I'm not really itching to go back that bad. I'd rather travel elsewhere. I'd like to go to New York at Christmas, I will go to Ireland - I'd like to go in the spring when everything is lush and green. I'm a little worried I'd fall in love and never come back.

Oh, I also can't go to the San Diego Zoo. Maybe I'll go to the San Antonio one, that's close, right?

That's really all of the ones that have changed simply because I keep moving. I'm still determined to get a team together for the 3-Day, I'm doing everything in my power to get my hands into the Braves Foundation. A total hail mary if you would.

So I might sneak in there and change my 25 before 25 to reflect the fact that I'm a tumbleweed and have no roots. Change one of them to own a house. That's definitely a big goal. I want to be stable. I want to know that I'm not going anywhere for a long time. I want to be home. I'm hoping going back will be the first step in that direction.

Sorry this took a turn into the being homesick direction, these things happen.

Source: google.com via Kasey on Pinterest

Saturday Morning Pinspiration



 I will go to Ireland before I turn 30.





I'm pretty sure I have never looked forward to a Wednesday as much as I do this week

This isn't a political post.

Not that I have that many readers to be offended by my point of view, but I am just ready to scream.

Here's the deal, y'all.
83%  of the things politicians promise are to get votes. Yes that is a made up percentage, yes it's the one Barney uses every time. But seriously. If I read one more tweet saying "if you're voting for X candidate, you're ignorant and don't care about X, Y, Z inalienable human rights" I might delete my twitter. [okay. there's no way that would happen, we all know I'm addicted.]

You expect people to respect your opinions and the way you feel about certain things - you can't turn around and trash people for having their own. Maybe you could just try handling other people's political stances the way you're expecting people to handle yours.

That's it. That's all I have to say.
Source: google.co.uk via Sandra on Pinterest

Thankful



I


I want to do the whole "Things I am Thankful For" thing that everyone is doing on Facebook and Twitter. BUT I know if I do it that way, I will totes forget a day and then be all "oh I'm thankful for my lack of memory" or something clever that won't be clever, and people will laugh at me and say they're laughing with me... (but I know you're not!)

Anyways. So here I've just decided to make a list of 30 things I am thankful for. Even if it's cheating.


  1. My family, obvs. 
  2. My DG sisters. I know that I can always call them up and be like "you won't believe what this bitch did!" or skype while drinking our bottle of wine over whoever just got engaged. 
  3. My daddy. I know I said family already, but I'm thankful for my daddy twice. He knows I hate asking for money, so sometimes he just gives it to me. He always says it's a loan, but never makes me pay it back. He knows how to trick me into doing what I know deep down I have to do and how to help me feel better even when we both know I'm in a tight spot.
  4. My friends who weren't in DG, y'all are awesome too. 
  5. The University of Georgia. I learned so much OUTSIDE of the classroom. I gained so much, and I will NEVER ever forget it. 
  6. The beach. There's something calming about sleeping with the window open and hearing the crash of waves on the sand - I love it. 
  7. Rainy days. Y'ALL. I love rainy days. I don't love having to go to work on rainy days. I love rainy Sundays more than any other rainy day of the week. I love to lay in the bed with the windows open and listen to it storm. Maybe I really just have a thing for moving water.
  8. The lake! The lake is hands down my favorite place to get day drunk. It's totally safer than the ocean for day drinking, and it's so laid back. I love the lake. 
  9. Sunny, hotter than seven hell days where I have to work. There's NOTHING better than working a game where it's a zillion degrees to come home and jump in a swimming pool that is freezing. Okay, the water is probably like 68 degrees. But that's cold as all get out, y'all.
  10. Pools. I guess I need to be thankful for those too, because then I wouldn't like hot hot hot days. I have a thing for bodies of water, not sorry about it. 
  11. The holidays. The big ones. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. I love LOVE having nothing to do but eat tooo much food, watch either a football game or a baseball game, and spend quality time with my family. 
    1. I love that the babies are still young enough to be SO excited about Santa that we have to fight to get them to sleep past 5am and that we all get to camp out on the floor in one of the upstairs rooms. 
  12. Summertime. Even though my job is super summer intensive, something about the heat & the sunshine will always feel like freedom. It feels less like you have to worry about work the next day - even though you still do. It feels like it's totally legit to go on vacation for three days - it's Memorial day weekend! Whatever!
  13. Those cheesy claymation Christmas movies. I will never ever outgrow those ridiculous movies.
  14. College football. Do I really need to explain that?
  15. Every. Single. Morning. I am blessed to be able to wake up every morning. Every single day is a gift - so I always try to do whatever I can to make it a good one.
  16. The end of the day. Try as I might, sometimes the day defeats me - it happens to the best of us. So I'm glad I can come home, take a hot shower, get in bed and watch Friends reruns. 
  17. OH THE FACT THAT NICK RERUNS FRIENDS EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. 
  18. The simplicity of travel. I'm glad that it's easy to drive or fly just about anywhere in the country - living far from home & being in this long distance thing have made me so so thankful for the [relative] ease of modern day travel. 
  19. Having a job, for the next like... three weeks.. and the prospect of having one with the BRAVES in January. I would die, y'all, just absolutely die.
  20. Finding my NYE dress! Thanks LC!
  21. Cable TV/Internet - it's a blessing and a curse - but today I'm counting it as a blessing. 
  22. PUPPIES. Oh my gosh, puppies. And the way puppies smell and the little squeaky sounds they make before they master barking. How they're ALWAYS excited to see you, even if you wake up from a nap. Also how they'll always be puppies even when they're 15 years old, blind, deaf, and sleep almost the entire day. 
  23. Glitter. Isn't it weird how just a little sparkle can instantly make your day better? Sometimes I just want everything I own to have glitter on it, but I guess that might be weird since I'm knockin' on the door of being 24. (WHAT. I can't. I just can't.)
  24. Music. Baby, you a song you make me wanna roll my windows down and cruiiiiseee.
  25. Always, always, being able to go home. 
  26. Kraft Mac & Cheese. Without that, I'd probably starve to death. It's my go-to. In fact, I'm probably going to make some when I'm done with this. 
  27. Cheap, cheap wine that is surprisingly delicious. It's always a great surprise for broke girls like me. 
  28. TiVo. Where would we be without TiVo? Or google for that matter. 
  29. Quick phone calls that turn into two hours of laughter and plans for the future. OH AND SKYPE EVEN MORE SO. 
  30. My KitchenAid stand mixer! 




SO there you have it. 30 things I'm thankful for. I'm sorry if you don't feel like they're meaningful or whatever, but I like to keep them in mind - especially when I'm having a bad day. I like to say a little thanks to the Man upstairs for these things. I'm human, y'all, I will always want things I don't have. Like right now? I want a house, with hardwood floors throughout, a fenced in yard for my puppy, a big tree for a swing, and a swimming pool. I realize that I can't have that now, it definitely doesn't keep me from pinning all of the things it will have. I want to get married, I think I want babies, but right now? I'm really happy with what I have and where I am in my life. I feel like I'm discovering a lot about myself and it's awesome.

FRIDAY.

In the offseason - there's literally nothing I look forward to more than a Friday at 5pm. Generally the first thing I do is come straight home and open a beer.

Ugh, When Did I Get Old?

I went to make the title of this "more things to do before I turn 25!" THEN I was going to title it "More Things to Do in the next..." Did the math and realized I have one year, three months until I turn 25. I almost had a meltdown...





... okay maybe I definitely had a meltdown. Didn't I just turn 22? Like, last month or something? I don't like this, not one bit, not even at all.


Anyways. Here are these, from here. (PS. If you're not already following Thought Catalog on everything, you really should be.) I went ahead and italicized the ones I have accomplished thus far.



1. Make peace with your parents. Whether you finally recognize that they actually have your best interests in mind or you forgive them for being flawed human beings, you can’t happily enter adulthood with that familial brand of resentment.
2. Kiss someone you think is out of your league; kiss models and med students and entrepreneurs with part-time lives in Dubai and don’t worry about if they’re going to call you afterward.
3. Minimize your passivity.
4. Work a service job to gain some understanding of how tipping works, how to keep your cool around assholes, how a few kind words can change someone’s day.
5. Recognize freedom as a 5:30 a.m. trip to the diner with a bunch of strangers you’ve just met.
6. Try not to beat yourself up over having obtained a ‘useless’ Bachelor’s Degree. Debt is hell, and things didn’t pan out quite like you expected, but you did get to go to college, and having a degree isn’t the worst thing in the world to have. We will figure this mess out, I think, probably; the point is you’re not worth less just because there hasn’t been an immediate pay off for going to school. Be patient, work with what you have, and remember that a lot of us are in this together.
7. If you’re employed in any capacity, open a savings account. You never know when you might be unemployed or in desperate need of getting away for a few days. Even $10 a week is $520 more a year than you would’ve had otherwise.
8. Make a habit of going outside, enjoying the light, relearning your friends, forgetting the internet.
9. Go on a 4-day, brunch-fueled bender.
10. Start a relationship with your crush by telling them that you want them. Directly. Like, look them in the face and say it to them. Say, I want you. I want to be with you.
11. Learn to say ‘no’ — to yourself. Don’t keep wearing high heels if you hate them; don’t keep smoking if you’re disgusted by the way you smell the morning after; stop wasting entire days on your couch if you’re going to complain about missing the sun.
12. Take time to revisit the places that made you who you are: the apartment you grew up in, your middle school, your hometown. These places may or may not be here forever; you definitely won’t be.
13. Find a hobby that makes being alone feel lovely and empowering and like something to look forward to.
14. Think you know yourself until you meet someone better than you.
15. Forget who you are, what your priorities are, and how a person should be.
16. Identify your fears and instead of letting them dictate your every move, find and talk to people who have overcome them. Don’t settle for experiencing .000002% of what the world has to offer because you’re afraid of getting on a plane.
17. Make a habit of cleaning up and letting go. Just because it fit at one point doesn’t mean you need to keep it forever — whether ‘it’ is your favorite pair of pants or your ex.
18. Stop hating yourself.
19. Go out and watch that movie, read that book, listen to that band you already lied about watching, reading, listening to.
20. Take advantage of health insurance while you have it.
21. Make a habit of telling people how you feel, whether it means writing a gushing fan-girl email to someone whose work you love or telling your boss why you deserve a raise.
22. Date someone who says, “I love you” first.
23. Leave the country under the premise of “finding yourself.” This will be unsuccessful. Places do not change people. Instead, do a lot of solo drinking, read a lot of books, have sex in dirty hostels, and come home when you start to miss it.
24. Suck it up and buy a Macbook Pro.
25. Quit that job that’s making you miserable, end the relationship that makes you act like a lunatic, lose the friend whose sole purpose in life is making you feel like you’re perpetually on the verge of vomiting. You’re young, you’re resilient, there are other jobs and relationships and friends if you’re patient and open.



Read more at http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/25-things-to-do-before-you-turn-25/#OJKHUWdSS40W6luj.99 

Wanna Know a Secret?

So, this is something I haven't really told anyone. I have told those really close to me, but I didn't really think it was something that needed to be broadcast. Apparently, others had a different idea - so I thought I'd work my stress out here.





I'm moving back home in a month. That's right, the end of November. 

I still have vacation days, like plenty that I was saving for Christmas, so maybe I'll leave earlier. I'm currently in the running for the Atlanta Braves Community Affairs trainee position. Which is my absolute dream. I find out this week if I've made it to the next round of interviews, and I'm doing everything I can think of to keep from stressing about it. I told everyone I needed to tell how my interview went immediately after so that I didn't keep replaying it in my head.

Before you ask, I made sure to stay away from 'dream job' and instead discussed how it was my goal  and what I had been working towards.

The toughest question was "why do you want to give up a full time position for what is essentially an internship?" I wanted to explain that it was a gut feeling, that I know it's what I want. Instead I explained that it was, in fact, a step forward.

Y'all. I know this is where I'm supposed to be. My heart is forever in the Peach State, and all of the other cheesy ways I could possibly say that there's nowhere else I'd rather be. The important people in my life support this decision, and I could not appreciate it more.

I am so blessed by the people I have in my life, I don't know where I would be without their support.

What's [p]Inspiring Me Lately

I know. I'm the worst. Here you go:





Actually. I think I'm just going to elaborate on this one, how's that for something new?

Today a nice gentleman gave me a free drink with my lunch because I had such a big smile on my face for a Monday. I didn't even realize that I was smiling (which should come at no surprise to anyone who has been around me when I'm hungry - ha). He told me it brightened his day. He's not the first person to say that to me lately - and it generally makes me smile a little bigger.

I've had a lot going on - and I thought it was bringing me down - but hearing someone I've never met say something along the lines of "you brightened my day today" or "I wish I could be that happy" really makes all the difference. Once I realized that taking the positive of each day & focusing on that could change the entire course of the day - I latched onto it. I've been working on that since, and I don't plan on stopping.

Today, for example, started off with a phone call that put me in a good mood. I was then productive with the rest of my morning until now regardless of the snares and setbacks I've run into just today. Regardless of the negative energy in this small work space, regardless of anyone being rude or cutting me off on the way to work, today is a good day.

So, everyone, smile at a stranger today! You'll never know the impact that small act has on someone else's day.

[P]inspiration

Here's what's inspiring me lately!!




Source: lululemon.com via Kasey on Pinterest




Weekly [P]Inspiration

Look at me, two for two on weekly Pinspirations! Here's what has gotten me through this week!






Source: xokym.com via Kasey on Pinterest


Source: flickr.com via Kasey on Pinterest


Source: behance.net via Kasey on Pinterest


Don't Be an Ass.

Okay. So I'm in love with my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Recently, a little bit of homage to My Drunk Kitchen caused me to leave the flat beater on instead of storing it separately. Slight mental lapse, now I can't get it off. Odds are something is in there and I just need a solid afternoon of trying to loosen whatever has it stuck. 

Obviously, with it being the 21st century, my first impulse was to google a solution. So I find a website where I see tons of other people have had this SAME problem, awesome. I find one that's a surefire, if I have time to get Wesson Oil, which, who knows. Then, THEN I see this asshole: 

Yes. He did COPY AND PASTE THE INSTRUCTIONS from the Kitchen Aid Manual. HAVE MERCY. I never would have thought to look there on how to get the damn thing off. What on earth would silly women like us do without this guy? Honestly. That's really all I have for y'all. Happy pay day!!

Weekly [P]Inspiriation

My lovely friend Jen has this as a feature on her blog (along with her weekly guilty pleasure workout music...) and I'm totally going to hop on board. So these are the things I've come across, felt the need to pin, and share. Generally, these things become doodles on Post-Its around my office to get me through the day..








Source: etsy.com via Kasey on Pinterest

On Wednesdays we wear pink..

and then sometimes, on Friday we all accidentally match. Obviously, it worked for that walkoff win in the 11th.


Always Improving

So things have been a little rough around the edges since the season started, and with us being 9 games away from the halfway point, I'm taking some inspiration from here and applying it to my life. I'm also adding some of my own ideas to it.

Be more thankful. I've started writing (err, doodling in marker on half a notecard) something that I'm thankful for every morning. Right now I'm keeping them in my desk for when I feel sad, but I think I'm going to decorate a jar for them so I can have it on my desk as a constant reminder.

Start noticing and living in the present. – Right now is a miracle.  Right now is the only moment guaranteed to you.  Right now is life.  So stop thinking about how great things will be in the future.  Stop dwelling on what did or didn’t happen in the past.  Learn to be in the ‘here and now’ and experience life as it’s happening.  Appreciate the world for the beauty that it holds, right now.

As cheesey as it is, I'm going to start taking time to note that the present is a gift (that's why they call it the present!) I have a lot to be thankful for, and God put me where I am for a reason. I have to step back, be thankful, and open my mind to find out what that reason is for.

And lastly, I'm going to start taking more pictures, obviously to make my blogs more fun, but also because memories are precious, and my scrapbook has a lot of empty pages to be filled!

Happy Spring Y'all!!

Sorry I've been MIA. With work, a super timely upper respiratory infection, and opening day IN FOUR DAYS, it's been hectic. However! Starting next week I'm going to do my best to do like a weekly recap with photos!

I made some kickass cakes in mason jars tonight

Well, they look & smell kick ass. I will take them to work tomorrow and see what the boys think of them. Here is a picture though!