If It Makes You Happy..

I found this over on Boredom's Bounty and in lieu of recent posts on my part, I decided to play along. I'm not going to tag anybody, but if you do this let me know. So, enjoy :)


First the rules:
1. Mention the person who nominated you

2. List six unimportant things that make you happy

3. Tag six blogs, state the rules & notify them with a teeny comment on their blog

My list:

(1) My horse, Summer. She is probably one of the best investments I've ever made, because having a good ride makes my day.

(2) Hearing my favorite song come on the radio. Well, iPod as well, though obviously it's more frequent with the Pod. I don't sing or dance around anywhere else but in my car.

(3) Going out/seeing my friends. It rarely matters what we do, just the company is great.

(4) Taking pictures, my favorites generally include my friends.

(5) Reading a good book that you just can't put down. It's the ones where you can't help but to turn the page.

(6) Seeing a great movie. There are several I'm excited to see, especially the new Harry Potter flick and of course New Moon (I'm currently getting my Robert Pattinson fix by watching the Goblet of Fire. Sad, I know..)

Thank you to Boredom's Bounty for this!

Saturday Playlist

First thing first, before we get to the good stuff (well, I consider it good - I'm not sure what everyone else considers it).

I finally remembered/realized I did in fact sign up for a Twitter at some point. I don't understand it and possibly won't remember to ever update it, but there it is. On the left side. Yep.

And now, for your viewing pleasure... My Top Five Country Drinking Songs for today. (insert cheers? claps? booing?) Also, I seem to have a writer's block so you get a reason for the first one, but not the others.

1. How Am I Doin' - Dierks Bentley
I am in love with this man. No joke! Not only does he have some AMAZING country songs that are quite fun and above all, danceable.. but most can also be great drinking songs. And who doesn't love a great drinking song?

2. Get Drunk & Be Somebody - Toby Keith

3. Last Name - Carrie Underwood

4. Kerosene - Miranda Lambert

5. These are my People - Rodney Atkins

What are your favorite songs to drink to? (Country or otherwise)

The One Where I Stress Myself Out... prematurely

So I'm kind of bummed.

One of my best friends is thinking of moving.

I think I'm prematurely having an issue dealing with that. We've only known each other for about two years, since he started working at the same store I do. In that time, however, we've spent a boatload of time together. Immeasurable, I know, but it's true. We'd go to Friday night parties together on a weekly basis, saw countless movie premieres together, and drank a lot of alcohol together (just friends - it's definitely not like that for either of us).

I know it won't happen for awhile, but it still makes me incredibly sad. He would be going down to Georgia, which is quite a distance away from here in Illinois. Far enough to where I would see him only once, maybe twice, a year, if I'm lucky. Previous experience though tells me once he's gone, he's gone. Most of the times when people move away it's the same thing. Communicate every once awhile, and eventually you two stop talking. And it's like you fall off the face of the Earth.

And I know I'm giving myself unnecessary stress right now with this. It's sort of how I handle things, I tend to freak out at first but once it settles in I'm okay.

I guess it's better to be prepared though..

Gotta Love Mondays

I love Monday mornings in the blogosphere. Weekends get kind of lonely around here and it seems like everybody has something new to say on a Monday morning.

Which means that evidently I get to sit around in pajamas, eating ginormous bowls of Golden Grahams and watching some teenagers who make more than I do with their houses that are so much bigger than anything I've really seen. I know, I'm jealous.

Anyway, I've yet again managed to mess up school for this semester which means for the moment I'm just taking one class again. I don't know why I do this to myself, but I do. So now I'm going to get a second job and just work for the next few months. Pointless to waste money on classes I won't attend, so I need to get my spark back somehow. If that makes any sense.

Anyways, happy Monday! (is that even possible? I guess in my case, it is)

Weekend Update

Hoboy.

Friday night was a blast, I worked until 8 and then met up with L and her boy for dinner at a restaurant in Orland, which is roughly 20-something minutes away. The place we went has amazing baked potato soup and beyond that, everything else I've had there has been good too. I had Tortellini Silvania (I think that was what it was called, I really am not sure), which was sauteed chicken in a tomato basil sauce with spinach and the absolute best garlic bread I've ever had. Mine, of course, was sans spinach. But it was absolutely delicious. I also had a martini called A Peach in a Peartree which was some sort of Pear liqueur with Peach schnopps (I can't spell today) and cranberry juice. It reminded me of liquified alcoholic peach and pear Jellie Bellies with cranberry juice. Delish! But it was quite fun hanging out with one of my very good girl friends and her boy.

Saturday ended up being relatively crazy. I had to work from 9 to 12:30 at the pharmacy and then went riding afterwards. We dyed eggs for Easter, which was ridiculous because I managed to pick out the two hardest dying kits ever. One was glittery, the other had this foil paper that you transferred onto the eggs with glue. That pink egg on the left took damn near an hour to do because of this. But it does look sweet.

After the egg dying, I ended up going out with quite a few people from high school plus the people we've added on over the years. I don't get to see these people enough, so it was a lot of fun. We ended up at an Irish pub, where we took a lot of pictures, drank a lot, and overall just had a blast. It was fantastic. We were there until they closed, and after I dropped one of my friends off we went to another bar that was open until 2. I bet a guy I've known since high school that I could do an Irish Car Bomb faster - I'm insanely competitive when it comes to things like that. I lost miserably the first time, but the second time was much better. E told me later that had I had a better start, it would have been much closer. Definitely a ridiculously fun evening though.

Today I'm just lounging around, there isn't really anything planned for this evening anyway. Actually, I think a nap may be in order. Have a Happy Easter!

Saturday Playlist Part 2

You know the drill, if you've read last week's musical post. Just a little different, as I'm dropping it to a 5-song list.

Anyway, without further ado, my favorite songs for this past week.

1. Unstoppable - Rascal Flatts
I absolutely LOVE Rascal Flatts. They were one of the first country bands I listened to, I've seen them several times in concert, and each CD is absolutely amazing. The new one is definitely no different!

2. The Climb - Miley Cyrus
I know, I know. I'm not a huge fan of her but I love this song. It found its way into my head and, like the girl who sings it, just WON'T go away!

3. That Song In My Head - Julianne Hough
I absolutely adore this one - it's super cute, super fun, and super catchy. The song ultimately reminds me of summer.

4. One of the Boys - Katy Perry
Another catchy one, lol. It reminds me of me - I've always been a tomboy. Jeans, hoodie, and my pink-striped Adidas sneakers are my thing. With, of course, a ponytail. However, I don't exactly want to be looked at that way, not by anybody in particular by any means but now I do try to dress a little better especially while out. I still sometimes feel like I'm just playing dress up like when I was younger, but hell it's a start.

5. Stand - Rascal Flatts
An older song, yes. But it's about being strong and standing back up even when things seem tough. And even though lately I really haven't had anything major happen, this song reminds me of times that were tough but by being strong and not giving up, everything got better. I like finding a story in something, whether it be music or photos.

Time to get ready to go out. Have a Happy Easter everyone!

More girlyness

I'm soo excited. The clothes I ordered on Sunday came Tuesday - I was sort of shocked. But apparently Kentucky is just a day's drive from Chicago.

Wait, did I really just type that?

When the hell did I become such a GIRL? I'm the tomboy - jeans and a hoodie, with my adidas with the hot pink stripes. Or cowboy boots, as the need arises.

At any rate, tonight was quite successful. Even though I have to be up and functioning in the next oh, 6 or 7 hours, it was a blast. I think I'll start singing "It's a Small World," because after all, it really is. We went line dancing tonight, which was okay - I was sort of bummed about some things but we ended up going to the bar we went to on Thursday. As it turns out, a friend of a friend of a friend was having a birthday party there too, and of course one of the guys I went to junior high school with was there. Random? Haha oh yeah.

I find it odd that of all places, I end up running into somebody I know at a random bar. A bar that's 40 minutes from home. Really? Oddly enough, he works at the same restaurant as the guy who we met on Thursday night. I'm starting to believe Tex (the guy from Thursday) was just trying to be nice, which really doesn't surprise me. Oh well.

Anyways, I'm really not sure why I'm still up. Or, why I woke up at 8:30, seeing as I got to bed at 3 in the morning. Something tells me a nap is in order after school. Have a good day!

This is from last year, but I love it. Sideways or otherwise.

Ch-Ch-Changes

New layout/colors/etc.

I kinda like it. It's super-girly on my part but hey, whatever. I love the combination of pink, black, and shades of gray. And it's far less boring than this used to be. And, since it sounds like a lot of you all enjoyed the most recent post with pictures, I'm searching through the ones we have here. Now I just need a scanner.. hmm. Or batteries for the digital..

Coming Soon: More photos, ranging from more wannabe-artsy NYC ones to ones I took in Hawaii (with a disposable camera!), plus other ones I just really liked when I found them - mostly because they mean a lot to me.

For now, I'll leave you all with this shot I took last summer of a flower we had hanging around outside. It's my current desktop on my computer.

Perhaps I'm better with this photography stuff than I originally thought.. (I'd really think that if not for the fact that I know this shot was one of like five billion.)

I Wish I Could...

One of the things I wish I could do better is photography. There's nothing better than an amazing looking photo to document a moment. I scouted my computer for some of my favorite photos that I've taken. So.. here goes...

I recently found this photo sitting on an old photo uploader site I used about 2 or 3 years ago. Sadly, these pictures are on a computer that crashed, so I have no idea if they're saved elsewhere. Which is the one downside to all the digitalness. Once it's gone, it's gone. At least with the old school cameras, you had the film. Or, if you're like me, everything you printed also got put on a CD.

But that's completely off topic. This photo was one of many lost NYC pictures. I can't remember exactly when I took this but I remember doing a bunch of bird shots (okay I'm kinda weird too). If only because a lot of them stood still while I took the photo. But I absolutely love how it turned out, with the colors and the water and the bird flying through.


This one I did of my dog a year or so before we had to put him down. I believe he was 15 or 16 at the time this shot was taken. We had this guy for about 15 years of my life, we got him when I was 8 and it was just this past October or so when we had him put to sleep due to poor health.


Obviously because I'm in this one, I didn't actually take it. But this was taken the week after I got the horse I own currently. :)

So there you go.. Some photography from my archives.

Saturday Playlist

Something new! My current must-play songs of the week, a little late tonight, but here nonetheless.

So, here it goes... my top ten favorite songs for the past week. (drumroll, if you will)


1. Sweet Thing - Keith Urban
From his new album, it's just so catchy. Keith Urban is one of my favorite country artists, because he is so amazing to see perform live. I wish I were seeing his concert this year when it comes to town but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. But I've seen him about 3 times, most recently with Kenny Chesney and he's one hell of a performer - one of the funnest concerts I've been too.

2. Gives You Hell - All-American Rejects
AAR has been one of my favorite bands since I first heard Swing, Swing (way back in God knows when). This song just happens to be fun to sing along with and to blast. You know, windows down on a gorgeous spring day.

3. Jai Ho (You are my Destiny) - Rahman & Nicole from PCD
I really am not sure why I like this song, I know it's from Slumdog Millionaire but I've never seen the film. I think it's because I heard it on the commercial and found it. It's just so super catchy. I like the chorus, pretty much.

4. You'll Be There - George Strait
I know this is an old song, but I'm picking it because we got the tickets for George Strait today. He's playing a Chicago suburb venue in May and I cannot wait to go see him. Plus, it's the start of the summer concert series and while I won't get to go to many this year, it means having a fun evening with a bunch of my friends, drinking beer and having a kick-ass time together. And getting Bdubs (Buffalo Wild Wings) or Denny's afterwards.

5. Come On Get Higher - Matt Nathanson
Another song where I can't get the chorus out of my head to save my life. Actually, I first heard it on a ring tone of my friend's phone and then downloaded it today.

6. Down in Mississippi (& Up to No Good) - Sugarland
The kareoke song we sang the other night. Well, tried to sing. I never knew it very well, and I wish we did a different song. I like it though, after butchering it the other night. Gotta love drunk moments like that!

7. Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
An older song, yes. It's also one of my favorite songs to do on Rock Band, oddly enough. The drum part anyways.. But overall it's one of my favorite songs that I can't help but to blast while driving around.

8. Poker Face - Lady Gaga
This became one of my most used ringtones on my cell (along with Gives You Hell). I just love it. End of story!

9. Thank You - Keith Urban
Another new song of Keith's. I love songs that gives me the chills, which tends to happen a lot with some country artists (Toby Keith, Tim McGraw) along with other artists too. It's about finding that person that makes the world shine just a little brighter, obviously a tribute to Nicole Kidman. Anyway, it gives me chills and that's why I like it.

10. Dead and Gone - T.I. f/ J. Timberlake
I LOVE this song. Absolutely LOVE it. Again, I'm not entirely positive why, though it again is pretty freaking catchy.


I have a pretty eclectic taste in music, looking back at this list. Perhaps a little odd, and mostly country-fied.

What are some of your favorite songs?

Drunk Blogging?

Hoboy.

I totally just came home from a night out and this is definitely considered drunk blogging.

Which means I may or may not remember this tomorrow.

But I totally deserved a night out, because it's been nothing but work, school, and riding lately. So excited to get out. So I went dancing. And did some karaoke (which was awkward seeing as it was supposed to be a duo but um... yeah about that). And met a guy. Sort of.

Which is to say in the midst of being a third wheel, I somehow gained a Texan friend.

I wonder how this is gonna go, I got a number though. Which I think is good.

Or not. He could have just been being nice. I'm new at this, in any case...

Have a good night! Er.. day!