WE FINALLY HAVE A DINING ROOM TABLE!

After one complete month of searching, we finally have a place to eat dinner that isn't in our living room!  The place is finally coming together-- I can't wait to finish hanging things up!

I actually had to drive slightly out of town to get it and it was pretty tough to get the thing in my car, but we got it done!  The people we bought it from were extremely nice and helped me load it into my car.  And the cost?  only 25 for the table AND chairs!  Everything is in near perfect condition, I can't even tell that this thing has been used!

Well, I wanted to immortilize my cat Zuma today, but the table pretty much took up all my after work time.  That and scoping and pricing out wall art.  But now, we know exactly what we want!  Now just have to purchase.

So to come - Zuma post of amazingness (she is amazing, obviously), and am considering reviewing some of my favorite drug store makeup (because lets face it, MOST of us can't afford MAC... and we KNOW it's good already, makeup snobs!)  I'm a firm believer of the fact that just because it's in a drug store doesn't mean there is no way it is of good quality.  Obviously there IS crap makeup in drug stores, but I LOVE looking for a good deal.

until then--

wrote out a long blog and deleted it.  writing it out felt much better, and thats all I needed.  I think I'm going to post pictures of Zuma soon... and the Rihanna review that I've been meaning to do since I started writing this thing!  haha.

Til then--

DISNEY MOVIES EVERYWHERE!

I've watched Snow White and Aladdin just today alone.   I think Tony thinks I've gone insane.  I really can't help my obsessive tendencies, though.

Devastation today- my beloved cactus is dead.  Yesterday, he was lovely and green with a little new growth coming out of the top of him.  Today, he is shrunken, yellow, and mushy feeling.  But his growth was still green, so we cut it off and are hoping to try to replant him.  Hope, perhaps?

Today ended my loooooong week of work.  Amazing how working a full week during the holidays can somehow be more exhausting than 8 hours of overtime.  Hmm.  So naturally by around mid-day today when I was all by myself and had completed enough work to sit around and do nothing for a couple hours if I wanted (and still have high productivity), I started playing around with crayons.  Nothing too crazy, but you know what?  It's interesting to ME!

I just really wanted to use the red, which is why about 1/4 of the rainbow is just...red.  haha

A poorly drawn fish, but I still like him, so boo.

The fish seriously took about five minutes.  It also looks somewhat like a platypus, or an anteater, or something like that.

I've also taken a few scenic photos in the last couple weeks that I've finally gotten around to uploading.

Here's a shot from my back patio:

Sunrise - that's Tony's car over there warming for us <3

And these are from the front window:

If you couldn't tell, I'm fond of twilight

Pinks!

 I would just like to point out that right now, Aladdin is taking Jasmine on a magic carpet ride, and they are now singing together.  She went from being pissed at him to being charmed in a matter of 30 seconds... sadly that's girls for you.


I've been wearing one of my winter hates on a regular basis lately.  Best way to cover a bad hair day, easily!  I love this hat.  Seriously, like alot.

 

I'm probably listening to Lil Wayne, LOL

Waiting in the car while Tony places some bets, and being impressed with how great my hair looked.  It took about 5 minutes, and about 7 bobby pins.

 

Just a lazy Sunday morning...

And for good measure, the best hat in the world again, along with the best boyfriend.

... and an even lazier Thanksgiving evening :)

I might write something productive tomorrow.  After all my homework of course.

Until then--

Gah I'm still ridiculously busy!  Working over Thanksgiving was more exhausting than I thought.  I'll be glad for the weekend!  (and yes, I mean MY weekend again!)

An update on my fambam drama rant - I posted onto my group that anyone else who had hateful negative things to say can leave now and save me the time of removing them.  So far, its stayed quiet, and my cousin marked that she liked my statement, so I"m thinking I managed to get things under control again.  I <3 being admin.



We had to separate two of our cichlids today because one was terrorizing the other.  And no, it's not a green terror.  It is, however, a Jack Dempsey.  What was strange was that the fish he was terrorizing was at least 2-3 times it's size (South American cichlid).  And he hid in the corner and took the abuse! Jack kept attacking over and over again (no, we are not more creative than naming our Jack Dempsey Jack), and we couldn't bear to watch it anymore.  So we moved Kahn (the South American) into the tank with our African Cichlids, which strangely, are really docile, which is not really one of their traits.  All three seem to be getting along so far--some fighting, but it was about 1 percent of the abuse Jack was giving Kahn in the other tank.

Well, that's all I've got for today.  I saw this video again today and remembered just how much I love it.  Katy Perry is really developing into a strong artist.  I have to admit, I didn't expect much when she first came out (I'm sorry, but 'I Kissed a Girl' had one hit wonder written ALL over it), but she has definitely proven me wrong.

So please enjoy 'Firework' by Katy Perry!







Until next time--

I don't want to leave this hanging with negativity so...

Please enjoy this fantastic Rihanna video.  I still plan on reviewing her CD, when I have time






Until then--

I am so fucking frustrated right now. Family drama.

My mother's side of the family consists of 9 kids (wide range of age difference!). Her oldest sibling, my auntie, took in a foster child before I was even born. We all have known her our whole lives as our cousin, but were apparently unaware that a couple of our other aunts did not consider her a part of our family.

My cousin lived with my aunt until she was an adult. When my grandmother was alive, she had all of her grandchildren's pictures lined up on the wall in order of age. She was included. Until the day she died, my grandmother considered her a part of our family. The day she died, things blew up.

The aunties of ours that did not consider her family made a huge scene about it at her funeral. Since that fight, we haven't had a family get together that wasn't organized by one of my great aunts for the ENTIRE family - (think hundreds of people). My other cousins and I ignored alot of this babble, partly because we were all still kids (Even me- I was a freshman in high school).

Flash forward to the invention of Facebook. Now, flash forward to the invention of Facebook Groups (where you can add members of your friends list to a certain group). I made a group called family, and added all of my family to it that was on my friends list, not only from my mother's side but also my father's side.

Today, one of my aunts posted the following:

"XXX XXXX (name withheld, considering I think she's been humiliated enough) is NOT a part of this family."

This infuriated me, b/c frankly, I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHO YOU THINK SHOULD BE IN MY GROUP! It's MINE! Key word is MINE!

But, I replied very nicely, and said, "I am not going to play the exclusion game here.  Sorry."

To which another one of my aunts replied back with a paragraph of how she thought this group was for "family" and not "family and friends and whoever else".

This set me off, along with a few of my other cousins, who assisted me in performing the bitch out of a lifetime.  I'm ashamed that these people are my relatives-- how is it that nine adults ALL over age 30 can't possibly figure out how to get along, when their children, totaling a number of 18 (and some with kids of their OWN even!) can ALL get along just fine?

It's just so disgusting to me that these people are acting like we have some sort of royal bloodline that needs to be preserved, and because my cousin isn't my aunt's birth child and my aunt never formally adopted her, that we should just forget about her because she's "not real family".

This really gets to me, because my father is not my biological father.  He is the biological father of my brother and sisters (except my youngest brother, who is my mother's and her ex's from after the divorce), but I was conceived before they were married, and my genes are from someone else.  This means that all the aunts and uncles on my dad's side I am technically not related to at all.  Even my brother and sister -- who are my dad's with his long time partner-- share not one drop of blood with me.  But all of these people are my family.  They are my brother and sister, my cousins, my aunts and uncles, my grandparents, and it hurts to imagine what it would be like if even one of them held the belief that I didn't belong because I'm not biologically his.

I feel for my cousin because of this, and I can't imagine how it must feel for her to really lack a strong family base, then be placed in a home where you are given all the love and attention you deserve to have, surrounded by family, only to have people decide that you aren't allowed to be a part of it.  My heart aches for her, and I feel like the least I could do is stand up for her.

She deserves it.

I've known about this video for awhile now but thought I'd decide to post it because I love it!  The song is "Right Thru Me" by Nicki Minaj, who I have been loving over the past year!  I had first seen her on Young Money's Bedrock video and was curious about who she was.

 

In the Bedrock video

The more I heard her and saw her, the more I liked her, she was crazy and fun and stood out from so many other artists.  I just can't get over her style!  Some examples below :)

From Complex Magazine

Trademark Barbie look

Both of the above photos from Honeymag.com

Just Stunning

I love her accessories and outfits in Right Thru Me, and also love the song.  Enjoy!








Time to get some more things done. This apartment is too quiet without Tony! Until then--

Today we got the last large fishtank from our old apartment into our new one!  Tony is setting it up now and I can't wait to have everything finally together.  I've been avoiding hanging paintings and what not because we didn't have all our furniture here.  I know it seems like we should be able to have everything situated in just a matter of a few weeks, but this month has not been the best for us--money and time wise!

First-- The night BEFORE our move in day I ruined my transmission which ended up costing me about $1,200 to fix.  Goodbye, apartment decorating money.  Also made it so I had to be to work early and wait to be picked up when done.  Not having your own car when you are used to it can be really inconvenient.

Then-- the first two weeks of the month were slow weeks for Tony's uncle's business, so even less money than we thought we'd have. (Tony works for his uncle who has his own carpentry business.)

Just when we started to worry though, things started picking up and Tony spent the last week working 12 hour days nearly every day.  He even had worked the Saturday and Sunday before!  By the middle of the week, he and his uncle had gotten another job in Aberdeen, three hours away, and Tony will have to be gone from early tomorrow morning until Friday or Saturday--yes, over Thanksgiving!  Sane thing will be happening next week.

Add into all of that time consumption that I am a full time business student (my Junior year, the hardest year for high school AND college) PLUS midterms for the quarter fell during this week on top of my full time job and still trying to have time to make dinner, keep the apartment tidy, exercise, give plenty attention to my kitty Zuma, and sleep, I'm going to give myself a pass for not having everything together right away.

But just think -- when it's FINALLY together -- all the art work is hung, everything in its rightful place, I'm finally going to have time to start reading obsessively again and finishing the painting series I started.

Speaking of art, along with my painting series, I have an idea for an open face box sculpture set that I can't wait to get started on.  I also am on the lookout for another jewelry box for the next in my closed box sculpture.  Ideally I'll end that series with seven pieces, but considering I've only finished two in the last five years, I don't see that happening any time soon.  Even when inspiration strikes, finding the time just seems impossible.

Well tonight, I'm going to go to bed by Midnight.  Since Tony is going to be gone all week, I want to surprise him by having our place completely together, and ideally be making our late Thanksgiving dinner when he arrives!  Feminists would scoff at this, but my goal in life since I was a girl was to be a stay at home mom, who paints and writes for additional income.  I've always wanted to be a mother-- I can't think of any job I have wanted more than I have wanted to have that.  Nothing in the workforce to me can possibly compare to that.  I only go to school and study Human Resource Management as a back up plan-- in case it just isn't in the cards for me to be that stay at home mom, or, if it does happen, and something happens to ruin the situation - divorce, death, etc, I have something to fall back on.  Not having anything of my own when I first ventured out in the world (and by first, I mean in 2008-- see last post) have made me determined to never be in that position again.  Somehow, I just feel destined that my job will be to be a mother and a mother only, but that I will still be successful doing something I love.  Since I love art, and writing, I can only hope that one of those passions develops into something that will work for me.  I don't think I'd be miserable working a 9-5 HR job, but if I had the choice between doing that and living comfortably, or being a stay at home mom living comfortable and writing and painting in her free time, obviously I'd choose the later.

But if I want to get to bed before midnight, I better sign off now.

Until then--

Ugh I've had no time to blog!  This week is the last week that we have to have our old apartment clean for inspection so I can hopefully get most of my deposit back.  It was really sad being there today-- I'm happy in my new apartment, but I couldn't help thinking about May 2008 that I first moved in.

I had broken up with my ex-fiance only a month and a half earlier and it was the first time I was moving into a place of my own--well, with my new roommate at least.  My friend was looking for a new place to live too at the time, so we decided to live together.  But her lease wasn't up until the end of June, so I had a month of the apartment to myself.  When I moved in, I had an air mattress, my lap top, a desk and TV I had bought from Walmart and a wood storage table to put all my art supplies inside.  There was no furniture in the living room, and I wasn't going to hook up Cable and Internet until my roommate was moved in, so my entertainment included my books, the first season of Weeds and the first three seasons of The Office on DVD, a handful of movies, and my art supplies.

Also during this time, I was freshly into a new romance, and was just starting to meet and get to know his friends.  It's hard for me to try to describe the words I was feeling at that time.  Maybe exciting?  I'm not sure.  I just know that when I look back, I can feel those same feelings again.  I can smell the same fresh spring smell, I can remember how good the weather felt outside.  Most importantly, I think about having my best friend  right down the street.

Boo, (my bestie) me, and Tracy (my roomie)

Life is so different from how it was then.  But it can't stay the same, everyone knows that.  By the end of my stay 2 and a half years later, we couldn't wait to get out.  My new apartment though, is a new adventure.  Now, I just need to finally move in.  I think I'll need to finish getting my art hung up to do that.  It's time to move forward, but when I remember that place, I'll remember how it was when I first moved in to my last home.  That feeling is the best feeling in the world.

Till then--

 FYI, if you haven't read the books, and you haven't seen the movie, and you DON'T want to know whats going to happen...  try to ignore the next paragraph as well as you can.


I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows today!  I can't believe that its almost over... I've been reading these books for years, and when they started making the films I was excited that after the final book came out that I'd still have the films to look forward to.  They did an awesome job of following the book, and hardly any of the plot was changed, so making the final book into two movies is definitely paying off.  I kind of wonder how someone who hasn't read the books is following the story, because the final book, particularly the ending, is pretty complicated to understand without alot of the detail given in the book - at least I think it would be.  Any time I've tried to explain the series ending to people who wanted to know but hadn't read the books, it seemed impossible to explain that Voldemort kills Harry, but that he isn't actually able to kill Harry because Harry's blood was used to gain him a body (Goblet of Fire).  However, Harry can't destroy Voldemort until Voldemort's killed him thanks to the horecrux he accidently made the first time he tried to kill him.  At least the movie will do a much better job of explaining the concept, because I can't seem to do it without writing my own novel!

Copyright Warner Bros.

 

I then spent the next four hours doing homework.  Talk about anti-climatic.  At least the weekend (my weekend) is almost here!  

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS.

While on Facebook today, I noticed one of my friend's status that said that the Westboro Church is going to be protesting HERE, in Sioux Falls, this weekend.

If you don't know who these people are, they are a "church" which consists of mainly members of one family that is horribly offensive.  They disgust me so much, that I'm not posting a picture, I already can't stand knowing the pictures I've seen thusfar.

I'd like to point out -- please don't visit this group's website (I'm not posting the link, but Google can take you almost anywhere).  The more traffic they receive, the more money they make, at the expense of the curiosity of those who do not agree with them.

Basically, if you are American, these people hate you.  (Canadians, you are not exempt from this, they hate you too.)  They hate you because the the government itself does not actively persecute gays and lesbians, and therefore, all Americans are going to hell.  In fact, they hate any country that gives basic rights to gays.  (See Canada?  They hate you too.)  They believe that our country is being punished because of this, which is why we we were attacked on 9/11/01, why we're at war, and why so many soldiers come home in caskets.  (My second military related post in two days... hmm).  They have signs that rejoice those deaths and pray for more of them.  And where do they hold up these signs?  In front of other churches, and even more disturbingly, at military funerals of soldiers killed in combat.

But they're not coming to Sioux Falls for a funeral.  They're coming here to protest at the Cathedral.  There here to protest the CATHOLIC CHURCH. (Yes, one of the strictest sects of Christianity around.  Really.)  What's baffling to me about this is that they have also this extreme hatred toward Catholics and Jewish people alike (I'm not even going to start on the disgusting things they've said about the Holocaust).  They specifically go after the Catholic church due to the string of scandals that erupted around the turn of the century.  I  can't think of anyone who isn't appalled by what happened there, point blank.  But according to this cult, the mistakes of the few apply to everyone.  In their eyes, ALL Catholics are going to hell, not because of their own actions, but because of the actions of others.  Anyone whose been to at least one church sermon in their lifetime knows that this is NOT how Christianity works.  You are responsible for your own sins, and not those of anyone else, just like no one else is responsible for the sins you commit-- thats all on you.

I'm going to get religious here. (well actually... this whole post has been and will be about religion. hah). When you claim yourself as a Christian, you claim yourself as a sinner who wants and needs the forgiveness and guidance of God.  This cult treats everyone as the opposite - that to be a Christian, you must be sin free, and once you commit a sin, you are doomed and cannot be forgiven.  It's EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE as what Christianity represents!  The point is that you can go your whole life "living in the dark", but no matter how long you were there, when you choose to "live in the light" and genuinely ask for forgiveness in your heart, He forgives you, because he loves you.  This cult lives by the belief that God hates you.  That's probably the most offensive thing to me, how can these people claim that God does not love us, that his promises to us through the death and resurrection of Christ are now null and void, and consider themselves Christians?  Their beliefs invalidate the core belief of the Christian faith - that Christ died for our sins for our salvation -- and that God allowed his only son to be sacrificed because of his love for us.

I think its clear by the fact that they are the antithesis of what Christianity is, and that they spew hatred and spread hurt and darkness through the world that they are the evil we have been warned about.  But one thing that they will never succeed in is doing the devils work-- convincing the world that God no longer loves us.  How they don't see just how absolutely blasphemous they are being is very, very sad.

 ***FYI - this was written yesterday!  not kidding, i really am busy... alot!***

I was productive today!  I finally got my shoes, scarves and belts organized and managed to sneak in a tae-bo workout as well.  Now there are just a few things left to do... finally.

I'm really excited for the most recent installment of the Harry Potter movies.  I've been an avid reader of the books since middle school, so every time a movie comes out I pretty much act like I'm thirteen again.  I hope they do a good job with the film - considering how long it took, they better!

I wanted to talk about Rihanna's new album, "Loud", but I haven't had a chance to hear the whole thing and want to be able to give it my own review.  Coming soon... I guess?

Tonight was Cutthroat - The Challenge, and for the first time the final battle (Goulag? I'm not sure how to spell this, so "final battle" it will be on this blog).  I can't help but feel bad for Camilla through the past few episodes - the girl can't seem to do any right in Tori and Brad's eyes - who, by the way, spend alot more time bitching about Camilla than they do succeeding at challenges.  So when Camilla was paired up with Laurel to fight it out in the final battle, it seemed too good to be true that maybe, just maybe, Camilla can send the raging bitch home so I don't have to listen to her say "annoying" TEN THOUSAND TIMES in the most annoying voice I've ever heard.  I can't believe they've managed to cast someone that I dislike MORE than Sarah, which is funny, because it seems like Sarah is Laurel's only friend in the house.  That's where negativity will take you, right?

Photo from MTV.com

A soldier in Iowa received the Medal of Honor today - something that hasn't been awarded to someone who was living since the Vietnam war.  Army Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta ran into a "wall of bullets" to pull another soldier who was wounded in the leg to safety, and then went BACK again and saw another one of his comrades being carried away by enemy forces.  He shot the two men carrying Sgt. Joshua C. Brennan away, killing one and injuring the other, and carried him back to cover, attempting to resuscitate him.  Unfortunately, Sgt. Brennan didn't make it.  Army Staff Sgt Guinta was shot twice, but one of the shots hit his body armor and the other his weapons.

I was so moved at the idea of what this man did for both of those men.  Had he not taken action to ensure that Sgt. Brennan was not taken by the Taliban, his family would bear the grief of not knowing what happened to him, and more than likely, he would have suffered far worse before dying.  Honor deserved.





Well, its time to get to bed, yet another day tomorrow and there's still things to be done.  Busy busy busy... as always.  Still haven't watched Gossip Girl.  Must get on that!

Until then --

The weekend is over, and it was  back to work today.  My work week runs from Tuesday to Saturday, because of school, and the fact that I absolutely hate Mondays (cliche).  So, I try to schedule all classes for Mondays, because working until 6:30 7ish on Saturday is not as bad as it might seem.  I mean, I could be waitressing.  Yikes.

Finally busted out my scarves again since moving.  For some reason, they were the last things unpacked.  Okay, so maybe they aren't completely unpacked yet.  In fact, just the one I wore today is unpacked, if you can even count it as unpacked --its going right back into the box.  I'll hang them tomorrow.  Maybe.  I've got a few scarves :P  The one I wore today is my favorite. It's not just leopard print -- it's SNOW leopard print!  I found it at Plato's Closet for about $4.00.  <3









My Scarf!  Also featuring my current favorite ring - a silver alligator with green gem eyes.  The ring is stretchy too so it's really comfortable to wear.  I bought it before my last trip to Phoenix. Sigh. I miss Phoenix.



Work was pretty much work today.  I'm one of those people who really doesn't hate her job.  Things other people find boring - namely, repetitive paperwork - doesn't bore me most of the time, so the job is a pretty good fit while I'm going to school.  But one awesome thing that happened at work today was that a couple of my work friends who had been approved to work from home, are in office all week!  It's good timing, because last week was the very first week that one of the last good work friends of mine moved to work at home.  The job I do doesn't really work to be able to move to work-at-home, and I like the task I do enough to stay in office to do it.  Plus, I kind of like having somewhere to go during the week, I don't get ready just to look at myself!  (OK, sometimes, maybe! hahaha)

Another eventful thing was that another co-worker of mine made the most DELICIOUS brownie EVER!  Later she told us that the brownies were made with Oreos... no wonder!  It was topped with white frosting too.








Yum!

The rest of the day was pretty boring.  I avoided finishing unpacking yet again, spent a ridiculous amount of time playing with Zuma (my cat), made baked tilapia for dinner, and watched 16 and pregnant while simultaneously setting up this blog (yay for first posts!).  Also skipped my tae bo workout.  Wow... now that I write it out, I seem REALLY unmotivated!  PLUS after eating a brownie today... ugh.  I'm definitely going to make tomorrow be a much more productive day.


Things I have left to do in the apartment:
1) Organize my shoes. (yikes.)
2) Organize my scarves and belts (double yikes.)
3) Organize and redecorate bathroom (meh.)
4) Hang paintings and put out decorative stuff

The last one is the thing I'm most looking forward to -- its so BARE in here!  I can't even bear to take a picture of it.  It feels like when I first moved out on my own and I didn't even own any furniture.  For someone who has spent the entire day doing nothing, I feel really, really busy.  :/

Things on my mind:

The season finale of Weeds was last night.  It seems like alot of people were disappointed in it, which surprises me, because I thought the whole season was kind of slow building up to the last scene of the finale episode.  It really reminded me of the end of Season 2 when there were about two different gangs in Nancy's grow house aiming guns at her.  I had that same feeling of - "How in the HELL is she going to get out of this one?".  Once the show was over, I got immediately concerned that the show would end this way PERMANENTLY.  But the show's Wikipedia links to a source that says the Shotime has ordered another season of the show for 2011.  So, the nine month wait begins.








Right before the ending I completely did not expect!

Also, Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement today.  All I have to say is - finally!  Even though I'm an American, I've been strangely fascinated with Kate when she first started dating Wills.  There is just something about her that makes me want to read about her-- I can just IMAGINE that wedding!  I read that Prince William gave her his late mother's engagement ring.  Gah, so touching!








Prince William and Kate Middleton



Well, I've got more things on my mind - HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS THIS WEEK!  Rihanna's new album!  The ever slowly developing season of The Office.  But this post is long enough.  Tomorrow, I'll probably have another great deal of nothing to talk about. :P

Until then <3