friday favorites and confessions

It's FRIDAY!!! And at 8:20 AM central time I can say it's a good morning. I woke up before my alarm, approximately 1 hour before it mind you. I've been waking up a lot lately at like 5:30 am. I think it's due to the sun coming up earlier, I'm not sure. I really need to take advantage of that extra hour in the morning, maybe start walking our dog, June. Or, here's a novel idea, get out of bed, fix some coffee or a good breakfast and maybe not RUSH around like a crazy person to get ready for work.

As we were leaving this morning Mike pointed out that Angus, our cat was watching us leave through the laundry room window I waved to him and of course all I got back was the "As if I care" stare. I know he does though otherwise he wouldn't be in the window. and yes, before you ask, he totally rules me.

Today was a great morning for listening to music on the way to work. As I posted last week during my random musings sometimes a song can make all the difference in my morning and day at work. It completely sets the tone. This leads me to today's favorite...

Pearl Jam's Wishlist. This song completely set the tone for me today, the tone of being thankful, hopeful and grateful.

via Harmonic Prospector

Wish List
by Pearl Jam

I wish I was a neutron bomb, for once I could go off 
I wish I was a sacrifice but somehow still lived on
I wish I was a sentimental ornament you hung on The Christmas tree,
I wish I was the star that went on top
I wish I was the evidence,
I wish I was the grounds For 50 million hands upraised and open toward the sky
I wish I was a sailor with someone who waited for me
I wish I was as fortunate, as fortunate as me 
I wish I was a messenger and all the news was good
I wish I was the full moon shining off a Camaro's hood
I wish I was an alien at home behind the sun
I wish I was the souvenir you kept your house key on 
I wish I was the pedal brake that you depended on
I wish I was the verb 'to trust' and never let you down 
I wish I was a radio song, the one that you turned up 
(Dear Eddie & PJ your wish came true to today!)
I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish
I guess it never stops...

I highlighted in bold some of my favorite lines from the song. Over the years four bands have been at the top of my favorite bands lists and they are AC/DC, Pearl Jam, Weezer and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Added to that list are many more but these four remain in heavy rotation. It's probably because in my years as a teen they were the most influencing to me. And while I played a lot of gangsta rap in my old Mercury Topaz, busting out the speakers, I can't really say it influenced me in anyway, other than maybe liking to drink and dance.  I didn't realize how much I enjoyed and loved Pearl Jam until I met Mike (my husband). He's a HUGE PJ fan! We hope this summer to catch them live it will be my first show!

And now I'm linking up with Leslie at A Blonde Ambition 

for my Confessions of the week!

visit her blog, snag the button and join in on the fun!

• I confess, I haven't worked out a single day this week. I just haven't felt like it. While I really love the Turbo Fire program, I feel like this second month is no thing but repeat workouts, because it is. Add to this I also wanted to take time to dye my hair last night, and the other night Mike came home with his new laptop, I just decided to slack. I've vowed I won't complain when my jeans don't fit though because it's my own damn fault.

• I confess, I'm anxious for True Blood to start (Leslie I'm happy to see you are too). I just hope this season is less SPOILER ALERT: Fairy oriented.

• I confess, I'm a bit disappointed that people haven't really said much or noticed my haircut, other than my co-workers. To me it's pretty drastic, but maybe it's not. Wouldn't you say about 3-4 inches is drastic?

• I confess, I might have went a bit overboard with yesterday's post about being denied the chance to do a giveaways I was offered. The person who contacted me emailed me back and said they changed their mind... now I'm on the fence about doing it all together. Flip-flop what?

• I confess, I've cussed out a few customers in my head this week. One in question doesn't speak very good English and I'm hoping that when he sounds like he's demanding me to write something down, he's actually just having a language barrier and doesn't know how to properly say "Do you need to write this down?" Instead he says.. "You write down!" in a rather demanding tone. It takes all the strength I have NOT to stab him with my pen!

• I confess, I might have anger issues. Or it may just be that the whole world knows exactly how to get under my skin. I also have road rage issues, but they have dwindled a little bit since moving down South. OK, in honesty, I still have it 100%. I have a really bad mouth in the car.

• I confess, I am OK not having full blown Memorial Day Weekend plans. We went camping last weekend, so this weekend we may just take it easy, cook-out and possibly go kayaking.

• I confess, that it's only 10:36 AM Central time now, and I'm already jones-ing for a beer and 5:00 PM.

I hope you all have a happy weekend! Enjoy your extra day off and please remember what this weekend is all about, it's not just cook-outs and beer and sunshine or even the beginning of summer and it being "OK" to wear white shoes... most importantly it's about honoring our Military Men and Women!!!

CHEERS!

 

views from the weekend.

This past weekend was really laid back for Mike and myself. We took on the task of watching his youngest brother while his family was out of town for a wedding. Mike's youngest brother is 16 years old, so it's not exactly like we had to watch him like a hawk, but more like we had a pal to spend the entire weekend with. After a long week it was nice to relax on our front porch and spend time with him and his girlfriend and chat, grill out and enjoy the sunset. We had a great meal, and I guess the week had taken a toll on all of us because Mike, myself and his brother all turned in before 11 PM.

The next AM his brother had his own morning plans and Mike and I headed downtown for our town's annual Arts Alive Festival. I love this event because all our local artists are out in full force selling their creations to the public. I also enjoy the sites and sounds this time of year brings.  I believe that Mike took a few pictures during the event but the only one he posted on facebook was the one of our favorite little fountain downtown.

Views from the weekend, according to Mike's camera phone and tumblr

(feel free to follow and catch up with Mike on his blog and tumblr)

He and I also have a creative project up our sleeves for the future, we'll share more when it unfolds!

via jamofpearls tumblr

After running the roads for supplies Mike, his brother and myself drove out to the middle of nowhere to set up camp for the evening. When you get to the spot where we've camped you feel like you're at the end of the earth. Especially after all the people with really nice boats and 4 wheelers leave for the day. It was peaceful, quiet, warm and enjoyable. 

via jamofpearls tumblr

I would share with you exactly where this is, but then I would be forced to kill you. Teasing of course, but seriously this island in the image is one where Mike has announced we will flee to during the Zombie invasion. Yes, we've discussed, and planned this. So you see, I can't be going and telling everyone where salvation is, now can I?

The entire night was great. Good conversations, stories were told, laughs were shared and the only noise we could hear were crickets and frogs, that is until some local kids showed up at probably around 1 AM to party all night. I think I finally passed out at 3 AM once they left... only to be woken by the sounds of a wild creature rummaging through the camp site. We never keep food outside the tent but this little critter was on the look for something. The next morning when the sun came up his brother whispered to us to see if we were awake and if we could see the GIANT white armadillo outside our tent. GREAT... so that is what has been sniffing around all night (I was too paranoid to check).

Up and at 'em by 7:00 AM on a Sunday isn't usually my style but when you've slept on the floor of a tent, well barely slept, you're about to pee yourself, your stomach is rumbling, and your husband has left you in the tent without warmth you gather your self and you go sit by the newly stoked fire, and wait for breakfast.

Title: Man Food, a Feast for Ron Swanson • photo and meal via jamofpearls tumblr

Mike fixed his brother and I a feast consisting of left over brats from the night before, ALL of the bacon and biscuits over the fire.  If you are a vegetarian, I apologize for the site you just witnessed but I gotta say, when your tired, cold, and possibly a bit hung over from the beers by the fire the night before, this is just the ticket you need.

Mike, his brother and I packed up the camp and rolled back to town. Tired, dirty, and ready for a couch we all spent the rest of that day napping, watching movies (I love you Almost Famous), and later had Japanese Carry-Out for dinner. Mike and I passed out at 9:30 PM. I have to say it was a great weekend.

How was your weekend?

friday: confessions and musings

These weeks have been flying by. I can't believe it's Friday already. I usually hit a slump on Wednesday and think the week will never end and then all of a sudden it's 6:30 pm, I'm putting away groceries and realizing that soon it will be Thursday and the week is nearly over. And here we are, Friday.

I'm linking up as usual for Confessional Friday with Leslie & Random Musings with Shana so won't you join me? Snag their buttons and then link up on their blogs and join the fun!

• I have a very short commute to work. When I say short I don't mean like a half hour, I mean 5 minutes max and that's if I get stuck behind a slow driver. It used to be a bit longer when a traffic light was involved but I figured out an alternate route to avoid this stop light issue. I've noticed in the past few weeks that in the morning I usually have just enough time to listen to ONE song on my way into work. Most of the time I don't complete this song on my drive but I've noticed that certain songs tend to dictate my mood that morning. I use my ipod since most of our radio stations here completely suck. Some mornings while I'm flipping through the ipod on shuffle what seems like 20 times before getting to a song I like or want to hear, I usually get stuck listening to nothing inspiring and feel a bit moody walking into the door. Days like today though, all is right in the world and the first song my ipod plays is "Where is My Mind" by the Pixies. I turn up the volume and float to work singing along and it will guide me through the day in a great mood. Other mornings I might settle on something a bit heavier and often feel more aggressive when I get into the door. I always try to remind myself that I have better days if I play something happy. I'm working on this. In that respect, anything by Mother Love Bone makes me mushy, happy and calm. 

• I got my hair cut yesterday. It's the classic thing that women go through where I wanted it shorter, but not THAT short. To be fair my hair dresser wasn't scissor happy she actually cut it as I wanted. I actually thought it would be a bit longer when she showed me the first cut, but it's not. I wasn't in full on cry mode but I just don't feel like me. Let's just say my hair was down past my bra strap when I got it cut, now it's just below my shoulders. It's a huge transition. One I'm not sure I'm ready for. Well what is done is done, I will rock it and do the best I can. Besides I reminded myself there are women, and children and men out there who don't have hair, can't grow hair and would love to have what I have. And in the end, it will grow back! It's just shocking to go from a super long ponytail, to one that's barely 3 inches long. I hate that I dye my hair because I might have gone shorter if I could donate it to Locks of Love or another charity.

• Hair isn't usually a big deal to me, but I've been sort of hiding behind it for a while now. Since I've gained weight I sort of liked that my hair covered my "back fat" - today while getting dressed I got a reality check. Guess it's the kick in the pants I needed, or at least I hope it is.

• We are hanging with my youngest brother-in-law this weekend. Mike's parents are heading to CT for his cousin's wedding. I hate that we couldn't go but with our budget we just couldn't afford to go, and go home to visit my father this summer. We plan to go camping and do some grilling this weekend. Mike's youngest brother is really into food, and cooking, and learning about cooking/grilling so for us it's a win/win because we love all of those things. Having him here for the weekend reminds me that we really need to work on a guest room. He is really only the fourth person to visit and stay with us since I moved here about 8 years ago, but still. Everytime it does happen we either offer up OUR bed, or the couch. Most people take the couch but it still makes me feel like a horrible hostess, especially when it's my girlfriends. We have the spare mattress, and the bed frame we just need to invest in a new box spring... you know something that doesn't hit the "NEED" column of our spending.

• I know I've discussed getting a handle on my finances etc on here, but have I discussed my WANT VS. NEED plan? I've been trying my best to not spend any unneeded extra money. We are saving  up for our trip to visit his sister this winter and that is where the bulk of our extra spending money will go. Then next year it will ALL go toward the greater good of getting out of debt. Add to that every other red cent I earn this year is going towards paying off debt. If something is not a serious "NEED" I will not spend my money on it. This includes clothing. I don't NEED anything. Now if I got a hole in my best pair of jeans, and didn't have a back-up pair then yes I will purchase some new jeans, but I will not go purchase a new pair just because I want them. I had a heart to heart with myself at American Eagle last weekend when they had some great "boyfriend" jeans on sale. They are my favorite but I talked myself off the spending ledge and reminded myself I didn't NEED them, I simply wanted them. All our money is currently going to bills, food, gas and that's about it. It's a new way of living for us but we've lived in excess for so long it's time to pay the piper and get back to basics. It's oddly enough a freeing feeling. I've never been trendy, but I did make a lot of purchases in the past that just really didn't do much for me. Items I wore once, used once and then never touched again. Things that didn't enrich my life as much as I thought they would or items I had to have that instant or I thought I might "die". None have added up to the expectations I had for them. This helps me to remember and be mindful of my spending.  It's sort of nice to let go of materialistic means and remember that the most important things in life, aren't things. Not preaching here, just reminding myself that I won't die if I don't get the latest new purse or perfume or go hog wild with all THE SHOPS items at Target (which in retrospect after seeing the collections was a ton of hype for nothing truly impressive, in my opinion). I'm sure when I'm debt free... I'll go on a rewarding spending spree, but hopefully I will be a bit more wise about my purchases! And not repeat the cycle. What I mostly want out of all this is money to travel, to see things and to have fun experiences, not collect more crap to hoard in my home. I've started to feel that experiences, stories and photos of these times are more valuable to me than most items I have "collected" in my home. No worries I'm not going off the grid... promise!

Time to step into the confessional booth... GUILTY PLEASURES!

I really wish I had a confessional booth, it was always my favorite part in Real World and I guess most of the reality shows of today.

Speaking of Reality Shows I have a new guilty pleasure in the form of reality TV it's Southern Nights. I may have talked about this, I can't remember but I know I mentioned it to Leslie because she too is obsessed with the show.  Basically the show is a spin off from the only "dating" show I will watch, Sweet Home Alabama. (I refuse to watch the Bachelor/Bachelorette) The cast offs, and former contestants are living together in an amazing home in Savannah, GA.  Clearly like most reality dating shows, it doesn't seem like finding true love stuck for the first contestant Devon (front and center on the couch below with blonde hair). She is on this show, "dating" a guy back home and chasing a former flame from her time in the Sweet Home Alabama Bachelorette chair. (He's the dude next to her in the picture who crawls in her bed every night). Bottom line this girl is a player, but she pretends she's the victim, sweet and innocent. I've heard rumors saying quite the opposite that she's not the sweet angel she plays on TV or at least wasn't while attending the University of Alabama. Yeah, I got connections and know the dirt, ya'll!

Courtney, Tristan, Cody, Tex, Flex, Cassie, Jersey, Kristina, Collin & Devin
(Tex, Flex and Jersey clearly aren't their real names but I don't care enough to figure out what they are)
Southern Nights on CMT Cast • via google

This is a HORRIBLE photoshop job on this promotional poster but, it fits with the cheese of the show. All these kids do is drink, party, and sleep - the producers have of course added in the drama and romance for us so we won't get bored. Yes, I watch this, all the time. They are a bunch of 20 something city and country kids mixed together in the house. It's like Real World, only CMT-ed up. And I'm living vicariously through them because years ago I seriously considered sending in a video to MTV to try out for the Real World. It was a dream of mine. Aim high girl.

I'm so into this show I DVR it. Mike can't stand it and often jokes that I need to stop watching these shows with sassy Southern girls because I'm starting to become a sassy Southern girl. Which makes me giggle because let's face it, I am SO not. Especially since my favorite cast members are from Kansas and Orange County (Cassie and Kristina aka O.Clicious), and Courtney is the Country girl I most like. I also love and my favorite dude on the show is hands down Cody. He's a real cowboy, rodeo man and has the best "southern-isms" to describe any situation. My favorite thing he says is, "It's fixin' to get ranchy!" Which I assume means "raunchy, dirty, messed up".  He's dating Tristan on the show. They were both former members of Sweet Home Alabama casts, but have known each other for years and lived near each other. They are the cutest couple ever, but I sort hate that we can't see his "wild side" since she keeps him on a short leash. But he's a doll.

Does anyone else other than Leslie and I give into this shows siren song?

So there you have it musings and my confessions of the week! I hope you all have a great weekend!!!