Sup, Homie

Oh man. HIGH FIVE FOR FRIDAY, eh?! This week was a real beating. Like, mostly in a good way... but I'm so ready for some boo time with Ashley (and my actual boo, too, I guess. And also Casey) this weekend. Tailgating and football is just what the doctor ordered.

So... uhm... we're buying a house! I didn't want to blog about house hunting because I figured it'd take us forever and I didn't want it to be boring. Then I didn't blog about negotiating the contract with the seller because I'd jinx it. But now we're under contract so I figure that's enough commitment to blog about it. Now we're in our Option period so we're frantically setting up a bajillion inspections because we're new home buyers and are worried about EVERYTHING.

She's... a fixer upper. It has a great layout and it's huge... but... holy wall paper and popcorn ceilings.

But just look at that entry way with the vaulted front porch!

I'm chomping at the bit to get at that wallpaper. I feel like the before and after of this home are going to be sick. In a good way. Or as in I will get sick from the smell of vinegar while removing wallpaper. And after snagging it 9% below the original listing price (at $102/sqft), we're hoping inspections come back clean so we can bask in the glory of not getting robbed at gunpoint for a home in west Texas. Everyone cross your fingers and say your prayers for us please!!!

In other news:

Yoga last night was the bombdotcom. My beginner's series should actually be named "Old Man Yoga" which is a good thing. Little old men doing yoga in swim trunks is kind of the cutest thing I've ever seen.

I'm a Hufflepuff, according to Pottermore. I kinda figured I would be. I've always felt, in my heart, that I was a Hufflepuff. But that's not the news. The news is that DARYL IS A GRYFFINDOR! After I took the quiz he shyly said he wanted to take it and when he showed me the iPad with the Gryffindor Lion on it I freaked the hell out. "SCREEN SHOT SCREEN SHOT SCREEN SHOT!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOSH I can't believe I'm dating a Gryffindor!!!" Very exciting stuff.

Yesterday, the cashier at Subway wasn't sure where those paper bags for cookies were and I said "I think she keeps them in the cabinet under the microwave". And I was right. I mean... being a regular at a restaurant in Seminole, TX isn't that impressive. But I've taken it to another level. It is NOT okay for me to know that. I think I actually blushed. I never blush. I was so mortified. Why didn't I just keep my mouth shut?? Gawd, Arica.

Also, one of my major projects at work got delayed til the end of next year due to budget cuts. I just about kissed my boss on the mouth when he told me. Thanks, Big Guy in the Sky, for watching out for me. This was precisely the kind of break I needed to reassure myself I will not actually keel over and die in the next couple months.

And lastly, THIS VIDEO. Whaaaaa? Choreographed ab workout to a Beyonce song?? That's happening. Just as soon as I find some free time... which I'm guessing will be... in a month after we close on the house? Yea. Sounds about right. But how rad are those kids??

Hope everyone's football team wins this weekend (which is scientifically impossible and an annoying thing to write), unless you went to Texas State. in which case I HOPE YOU LOSE A HORRIFIC, EMBARRASSING LOSS!!!! Sorry, Dad. But it's true. We're comin' after ya.

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Currently

Watching - Football. All day every day. The new fall shows are slowly starting back up but I'm hesitant to get in to anything new. I'm patiently awaiting Homeland's return. Did anyone catch the lyrics in Jay-Z's new album about Officer Brody? Cracked me up. You're so gangsta, Jay-Z.

Eating - My green smoothies again. And I have a lesson learned to share. Just use the regular blender. Don't try to use the "smoothie" attachments so that it's already in the portable smoothie cup. Just use the big blender and pour it in your cup. It's WAY easier. Also, I've been using hemp protein and a little piece of me panicked about getting drug tested. But that's not how that works. Right??

Thinking about - A juice cleanse. I did the research (shocking, I know) and have settled on a BluePrint cleanse. But they're SO expensive. Like... buy your own juicer for the same price expensive. Should I just get a juicer? Would I really use a juicer that often? Maybe I just do a cleanse and see if I even like it? Ugh, white girl dilemmas.

Mad about - How slowly my hair is growing out. I mentioned Wenning a while back because Maskcara said that's what she uses to grow her hair out. I've also started taking Biotin. Like... I really want my long hair back. NEVER AGAIN. I always say that and then I do it again. BUT THIS TIME. I'm serious. I'm never hacking my hair off again. And as for a review on Wenning... It's weird. It's definitely taking some getting used to. It doesn't make my hair as greasy as I figured it would... and it feels nice and strong. And I can definitely tell it cuts down on frizzies. But I'm not 100% sold just yet with how expensive it is.

Reading - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Still. We only read on road trips... so it'll take a while.

Celebrating - Birthdays. My seester's was last month, then it was mine, then my dad's, then Kanye's, then Peyton's! I already ordered Peytonium's present! (It's a backpack. Don't tell her).

Isn't this just everything?! 

Craving - YOGA! Based on my Lori's recommendation, I started following a couple yoga pros on Insta and it makes me so excited to get started on my beginner's yoga series D got me for my birthday. My first class is Thursday and I'm SO excited. I mean, I can already do the splits when I'm drunk and someone says "I bet you can't do the splits". Before you know it, I'll be doing this!

Making me Happy - The Nutcracker - YOU GUYS. I'm going to be in my community ballet's production of The Nutcracker this winter!!! I had a friend post about auditions on fb and I commented about how I would absolutely audition... if I'd ever danced in my life. And she informed me that needed non-dancers to participate in the dinner scenes and play the roles of the parents of the children. At which point I realized I NEEDED to be in this show. D gave me exactly the reaction I was hoping when I told him. He GASPED and said "OH MY GOD. YOU HAVE TO DO IT! YOU WOULD LOVE THAT SO SO MUCH!!!" and I was like, I know, righhhht??? Because sometimes, when I wear Toms, I like to pretend they are ballet slippers and I dance around in a robotic ballet kind of way and sing the Nutcracker song and pretend to be a Nutcracker. Mostly in Sam's Club or airport baggage claims. You know... places with lots of space. ANYWAY! I got an email yesterday saying I was chosen to be in it. Costume fittings are in early October and then we start rehearsals shortly after and THEN! There's a PHOTO SHOOT for the program. This is all just too much. I'm so excited!

I mean... if you can't have normal friends, it's best to have ridiculous ones like her :)

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Twenty Six

Yesterday was my BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRTHDAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY Everyoneeee!!!

I am not one of those girls that will coyly not make a big deal about her birthday. There is absolutely no chance D will ever forget it because I talk about it constantly for about a month prior. I told everyone I ran in to at work yesterday, "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! Do I look more capable and mature??"

So yea. I'm not shy about planning my own birthday events, either. If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.

So I decided that last weekend, we would celebrate my birthday in Lubbock (since we were going to be up there anyway for the football game on Thursday night (WHICH WE WON, Wreck 'em!)).

Here's how my Friday early-birthday celebration went:

• Up early (much to D's chagrin; he stayed out late the night before catching up with an old frat brother while I went back to the hotel and got my required 8 hours) for breakfast at IHOP. I ate an omelette AND pancakes. YOLO. 
• Texas Tech women's volleyball game.

Hahaha this makes me laugh for some reason. 

• Met D's mom for lunch but since I YOLO'd at breakfast, I wasn't too hungry so D and I shared an order of fajitas. No mo YOLO.
• Scheduled nap/watch TV in the hotel time. This is critical to me not having a meltdown mid-afternoon. Know thyself.

• PUPPY TIME. I decided I wanted to spend the afternoon playing with the puppies at the local animal services shelter. We had a mild issue with the fact that I don't know East from West... which meant we drove across Lubbock... then BACK across Lubbock to exactly where we started. At which point we still couldn't locate the shelter because of the terrible directions they give on their website.But we DID end up finding it. Eventually.
• The City of Lubbock Animal Shelter is SUPER nice and they just let you play and play and they aren't pushy or restrictive, which I appreciated after my last few encounters with adoption agencies. But none of the pups were quite right. We're going to try again next weekend.
• Ice cream. Coldstone The Pie Who Loved Me is just... I die. It's the best.

The Pie who Loved Me

• Made a stop at my favorite tattoo parlor to get my ear pierced but I apparently happened upon Sorority Girl Belly Button Piercing Happy Hour or something. And ain't nobody got time for that. So we left.
• Hotel to get ready
• Birthday dinner at the Funky Door! It was tres fun! They have wine sampling dispensers and Cashley and Lori and Andy were able to join us. We ate and drank and chatted and it was splendid. 

Birthday Booze!

The girls. There were boys there too... but they're less photogenic.

• Bed. Because it's MY birthday and my idea of a good night is dinner with my closest friends and then sleep.  

Then we got up early on Saturday and headed back to Midland.

Saturday was spent watching mas football and doing Pinterest projects.

I'm usually not big on halloween decor. But this was fun to make!

Sunday, I planned a birthday breakfast with my familia at Cracker Barrel because breakfast is the best.

The seester.

The mama and the daddy. Don't I look so much like my dad in this picture?? And ch-ch-check out his Gandolf beard! It's coming along, eh?

And then, before I knew it, it was Monday and my ACTUAL birthday and time to go back to work because I'm a grown up and I took Friday off so I couldn't take Monday off.

And D SWEARS he didn't know the exact type of perfume I wear but was able to identify it in the store by smell. I mean... I'm skeptical but I'm going to go with it because that's very romantic if it's true.

Also, he got me yoga lessons at the studio I've been wanting to try! I'm WAY excited about that! 

Time to get ready for Wanderluuuust!!!

My birthday haul also included a kettlebell, jump rope and foam roller, a Hello Kitty thermos, the Luv AJ Studded bracelet I'd been eyeing, cast iron skillets, an 'A' initial necklace, and fancy tupperware for my salads for lunch! :D 

I'm a pretty lucky 26 year old. A BIG OLE THANKS to everyone who helped make it special! XO!

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Dog Days of Summer

Okay well... this blog got long. Brace yourselves. I'm feeling wordy today.

So... I'm a responsible person. I have a job. I paid my taxes once. Can someone please explain to me why I am having the absolute most ridiculously difficult time adopting a dog?!?

Daryl and I agreed that Kanye needs a brother or sister to grow old together and play together when we're at work and just be best friends forever, partners in crime, tweedle dee and tweedle dum. And with my birthday coming up, D offered to get me a dog for my birthday! 

Hooray! BEST PRESENT IDEA EVER! Could not be more over the moon! 

So! First, my application was immediately turned down by an Italian Greyhound rescue organization because Kanye isn't fixed. And they will not adopt to anyone with an un-altered dog (even though all their dogs have been fixed) for any reason because it "goes against the spirit of rescue".

So, since we really don't want to snip Kanye, for fear it'll change his personality and because my mom wants to let her dog have a litter of puppies with him first, I went on to a Yorkie rescue agency. I got turned down from them after sending in my application, sending pictures of my brand new fence and a phone interview... because Kanye isn't fixed AND because D and I work full time (because somehow double income is undesirable for a dog).

Sorry, cute puppy, you must stay in your shelter. The people who wanted to adopt you have JOBS! Yuck!

I mean, whatever. I was fuming, but WHAT. EVER. Keep your Italian Greyhounds and Yorkies. I'll just go to one of those adoption events at Petsmart! They shoot dogs out of t-shirt cannons at Petsmart, right?! RIGHT?! Wrong.

I walked in to the Petsmart last weekend while we were in Dallas, after finding a cute little mix breed pup on Petfinder.com that would be at the event. A small group of older women all in matching shirts with "DFW Pet Rescue" bedazzled across the front were standing off to the side talking. I did not bend down to pet any dogs. I stood patiently waiting for them to be done talking so I could ask about Wiley, the dog I had come to meet. Finally, I squatted down outside the pen to look in and a woman stopped talking to the group, swooped in and informed me "Be careful, he might bite." Uhmmm not a selling point, lady! I stood up and asked about Wiley. "Has he already been adopted? Will he be here today?" and I was informed that "I should have put in an application online prior to coming to an event. AND a home visit is required so I wouldn't be able to take him home today anyway". So I explained I was in from out of town and was hoping to just meet Wiley and maybe I could fill out an application because we're in the DFW area often and I could pick him up another time and she said, "OH! Well, we will not adopt out to anyone outside the DFW area. It's a rule". 

Oh, sorry Wiley, you must stay in your foster home... until they can't keep you anymore. And then who knows what will happen.

At this point, I had reached the end of my pet rescue mean girl volunteer martyr rope. I was hungover from the night before and I could have gone one of two ways on the emotional spectrum. Lucky for her, I calmly told her that I wished her luck placing the dogs, although with the restrictive rules, it sounded like it's going to be pretty difficult. And then I walked away and was sobbing by the time I was in the next aisle. 

WHO KNEW a perfectly responsible, capable adult would have trouble RESCUING a damn dog!!! Do you know how easy it would be for me to buy some teacup teensy purebred yorkie?! The very thing rescue programs are battling? DO YOU KNOW how easy that is, rescue people?! A heckuva lot easier than putting up with your non-negotiable attitudes! I understand rules. I understand the cause. I EVEN understand checking in to dogs that aren't fixed and why they aren't fixed. But at what point are all these rules counterproductive??

God forbid this be the fate of one of their shelter dogs. He leads such a rough life!

Now, I must give a shout-out to the next rescue program we visited Canine Soulmates Rescue. A glutton for punishment, I insisted on visiting one more Petco before giving up for the day. I walked in SO gun-shy of being harshly rejected but the friendliest woman I've ever met basically met me at the door of the store. I asked about Oscar, the dog I was hoping to meet and her eyes lit up! She was so excited that I was a serious adopter. Oscar wasn't at the event yet but she let me hold all the dogs while I waited, texted Oscar's foster parents to make them hurry up, showed us pictures of her dogs and kids and was just everything I thought animal rescue would be like. When I saw Oscar, MY eyes lit up. He was the cutest little terrier you had EVER seen. EVER. I snuggled him and he held on to my shoulder for dear life. Unfortunately, he was VERY skiddish. The exact opposite personality we were hoping with due to our confident dog at home. He wasn't very friendly with the other dogs and wasn't interested in Daryl at all. It wasn't a good fit. Which I'm pretty sure his foster dad was happy to see. He basically told us he didn't want to give him up. Which was great to see. 

OSCAR! So cute but not the right fit for us.

So if ANYONE is interested in adopting in the Fort Worth/Hurst area, go to one of Canine Soulmate Rescue's events! They're good, kind volunteers, excited about their cause and willing to bend over backward to help their dogs find forever homes. 

So... the search continues for the perfect brother or sister for Kanye to teach all his tricks!

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