It's "Bean" A Long Time (Wink, Wink)!

Happy Saturday!

My Progressive Dinner

The Day She Fell In Love With Jake...

Merry Christmas Everyone!

California Girls

My beautiful friends, Lauren (a.k.a. Laureen) and Kaela, came into town for Christmas. We met up at Cafe Rio for lunch, and apparently we're all fans of the pork. Mmm. We talked about our future plans (yes, we all plan on being world famous hair stylists), and made fun of a few fashion transgressions happening in the restaurant. They both are so fun, and they make me laugh. I'm going to be living just four hours away from them when I move, so hopefull I'll be able to see much more of them. How about once a month? Can you commit to that, ladies?

I also went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks with the fam. Sitting on the very front row is not very pleasant. Funny, but not pleasant. Cute movie. I also happened to have a cute niece on my lap the entire time!

Goodbye, Adam

I'm not really sure what to write. All I know is that I'm sad. I dropped Adam off at the airport last night. We fought the entire time we drove. We yelled a lot, and then there was silence. He got out of the car, and walked into the airport. No kiss goodbye. I don't know when I'll see him again as I'll be gone to Arizona when he returns to Utah. Everything already feels so different. Everything is changing so quickly, and I'm not sure I like it. Part of me wants to stay here and just deal with mediocrity. I could stay here and make a life that I could be happy with, but it wouldn't be my best life. I refuse to settle anymore. It's hard to let the torture and bliss of our three year relationship fade away into an Arizona sunset. I love you, Adam. I miss you so much already, and it's only day one.

There Is No Arizona

For the past week or so, that d@#$% song by Jamie O'Neil, called "There Is No Arizona", has been playing in my head over and over. Seriously, several times daily. I was a little worried that this was the song my subconscious was choosing to sing. What if there is no Arizona? No Painted Desert? No Sedona? What if there really is no future for me there, and all of these expectations I have of my new beginning are hollow ones? What if I could fill the Grand Canyon with the lies I've told myself? I'm nine days away from the move, and with each passing day my anxiety gets a little more intense, which causes me to second guess my decision.

I did, however, have an experience yesterday that gave me a glimmer of hope. About two or three months ago, I had a dream in which I was insanely happy. It wasn't a weird dream where the people change and the plot changes constantly. It was just a simple dream, like a day out of my life. I was successful, loved, and content. I remember waking up from the dream feeling a little disappointed that I was still me and still living the life I awakened to. Well, there was a part in my dream where I looked into a dusty mirror. I would've thought nothing of it, but while I was cleaning Kacee's house yesterday, I looked up from my cleaning to see a dusty mirror. It was the exact dusty mirror I saw in my dream, with the exact hand prints, smudges, etc. I had this enormous sense of deja vu come over me, and I was reminded of my dream. I sat there for a minute in shock at the happenstance of the situation.

Did I really have a dream that foretold my future? Was this mirror my sign that I am making the right decisions in my life? Was this dream my confirmation that I am on the path leading me to my ultimate goals? It's hard to believe it, but I'd like to think that these coincidences are evidence of a happiness to come. After the whole dream replayed in my mind, and the deja vu subsided, I just smiled. A big smile. There just might be an Arizona.

Smooth As A Baby's Bottom

*Okay, Mike's butt might not be as smooth as a baby's bottom, but it was a good title anyway!

Mi Familia at Mi Ranchito

It's been a while since I've posted. I've kept busy working and spending time at Mike and Kacee's house. Sunday night I worked, and then headed over to the Bartholomew house. We opted to go out to dinner because of the dust debacle, and after that, Kacee and I got started on her Christmas cards. Monday I worked a double at the Meemers, and I worked a double on Tuesday too. Yesterday (Wednesday), I went and cleaned Kacee's house from top to bottom for a little extra spending cash.

In between the work, I have managed to have a little fun in my life too. I did catch the last episodes of "I Love New York 2" and "Tila Tequila: A Shot At Love", both very trashy shows, but both reassure me that I'm normal. (I wanted to post an entire blog devoted to the final episode of Tila Tequila, but then I realized the lameness of that notion, so I am going just give a quick opinion. Tila should've chose Dani. Dani was so cute and she was really in love with Tila. I'm very disappointed.) Last night I went and saw I Am Legend. It was not at all what I expected, but it was very good!

Don't Feed The Monkeys

I've been meaning to post this video of my little niece, Paislee, for a while. It makes me laugh out loud every time I see it. She's just like a little monkey in a zoo. We were eating breakfast one morning and she started grunting to let me know she wanted more food on her high chair tray. I'd break her off a piece of a Pop Tart, put it in front of her, and she'd snatch it right up! It was the funniest thing, and then I realized I could record it with my camera. Here's the little monkey in the morning!

Hee Haw!

I spent the night at Mike and Kacee's this last Tuesday night. We went to Hee Haw Farm and rode on the nativity hay ride. It was so cold outside, but I barely noticed because I had warmers in my gloves and shoes. Part of the hay ride was singing old school carols a capella, and none of us knew the words or the tune! I was impressed, however; Mike has a beautiful and soothing voice. After visiting with Santa, we stopped at Starbucks to warm up with some hot chocolate/lattes. It was a good time, and I'm so glad I got to spend a little more time with the family before I make my journey to Arizona.

Dead, But Clean Cut and Tan!

I had the most unproductive weekend ever. Friday morning I called up and old friend, Trisha, at Metropolitan Salon, to get my haircut. She did an amazing job. You definitely can tell a good hairstylist from a great hairstylist by the way they do a male haircut. While I was sitting there, I started seeing black spots, and my face began going numb. By the time I arrived home, those symptoms erupted into a full blown migraine. I ended up having to call in sick to work and spent the night in bed under my blankets, nauseated and in pain.

I do have a confession to make. I knew I had an hour or so before the migraine arrived in full force, so I put priorities first, and went tanning. While I was in the tanning bed, my eyes started hurting, my head started throbbing, and my hands tightened up so much that I couldn't pull my fingers apart. I thought I was having a seizure! I felt bad for the girl at the front desk who was going to find me dead and naked in the tanning bed. Ha ha! I made it home safely, and buckled down for the long afternoon/night.

Saturday morning Paige brought over little Bella to stay for the weekend. She was a little angel; however, she did pee on my bed and my pillow. There was a snow storm that dumped about eight inches of snow in my yard, so we stayed inside all day. We watched all six hours of The Starter Wife in a row, and napped on and off all day long.


Sunday, I went to the movies with Piper and saw The Bourne Ultimatum. Adam was kind enough to watch Bella while I was gone, and when I came home, she had a brand new charm for her collar and a Christmas sweater. She looked so cute!

All in all, I probably left my apartment about 4 hours in three days. Very unproductive, but so relaxing!

Shocking New Photo Surfaces

Luke in Singapore at the Geisha Ruby Night Club.

Yoshi

J'ai regarde' vos yeux et j'ai su que je pourrais vous aimer pour toujours.

Luke's Singapore Vaycay

When Luke heard his parent's were going out of town, he decided he'd take advantage of their absence. Rather than throwing a house party/kegger like most normal two-year-olds, he decided to spend a night on the town in The Republic of Singapore. It wasn't all he thought it'd be. The night clubs were seedy, and law enforcement is always trying to catch a tourist being unlawful. Singapore cuisine and not being potty trained is never a good combination. The jet lag, along with staying up so much later than 8 p.m. taxed his stamina. There was also an incident at the airport involving some sort of contraband, but Luke was reluctant to get into details. Luckily, Uncle Chaddy was there to bail him out of federal custody. I promised to keep it on the down low, if he was a good boy for the remainder of my baby sitting stint.

(I just learned a few more editing tips in Photoshop.)

It's Official!

I checked the mail right before I went into work last night, and there it was: the envelope containing my State Boards test results. I was on my way to work, so I decided I'd wait to see what awaited inside because if it was bad news, I didn't want it to ruin my entire night at wok. So, as soon as my shift ended, I went out in my car, took a deep breath, and tore it open. (Drum roll, please) I passed with a 95 percent! It's official, I am a licensed hairstylist.

I am so excited for the future.

America's Top Models

I told Paislee to give her best model look, and she decided to go with the pouty lip. Um, so why do I always look like Dracula in black and white photos?

Best (and Most Exhausting) Weekend Ever!

Kacee and Mike went out of town this weekend, and I was able to stay at the house for a few days and watch the little darlings (and the little shit, Miley)! We kept busy cleaning up messes, watching "shows," making art projects, cleaning up messes, reading stories, playing hide-and-go-seek, and cleaning up more messes. It was a good time filled with new cherished memories, and I learned a few things too:

1. I don't want to be a parent anytime soon. Being an uncle is okay for now.
2. I never want a dog.
3. I actually can function on four hours sleep.
4. Being a mom is a full-time job.
5. Patience is definitely a virtue.
6. I love my nieces and nephew more than anything in this world.