Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice

Do y’all feel it in the air?

I DO! IT’S BASICALLY FALL NOW!

Sooo… I pretty much want everything flavored with pumpkin spice. C’mon Starbucks! Give us a release date for that PSL already! (Maybe September 1st?)

On the bright side, Dunkin’ has their stuff figured out this year.

Dog Mom For Days

Hello, beautiful people!

How long has it been? A year and a half? Life, man. It goes by so quickly!

Anyway… How have y’all been? I’ve just been enjoying this crazy thing called life one day at a time. I’m sure a lot has happened since you last heard from me, too. Let’s start with the two biggest things that happened:

1. I bought my first home! YAY! It was a really good experience and I’m ultimately glad I chose to do it. Boyfriend and I are now 5 months in and we are still loving homeownership, so that’s a plus! We took a bunch of video while we were going through the process of moving (and remodeling) so we are finally going through all the footage, cutting, splicing, and dicing our way into a finished product everyone (including y’all) will be able to eventually see. Our video editing software has crashed a few times, but it seems to be good now, so we are well on our way to something awesome!
2. We bought a puppy! This happened before the purchase of our home, but since this post will be about her, I figured I’d put it second on the list. She is ADORABLE! When we got her, she was just 3 months old, weighing in at a hefty 5 pounds. As far as breed goes, we are certain she’s part Rat Terrier. We were told she’s mixed with English Shepherd, which makes sense once you look at her, but I’m still not entirely convinced. We named her Hallie and she now is fully grown at about 15 pounds.

I’m sure I will give you a lot more background on her in a different post, but for now…

It’s crazy how we’ve had Hallie for a year now and I went from hating everything living (plants, kids, animals) to being a hardcore dog mom. Hallie is the most spoiled dog ever, I swear. I find myself wanting things now that I never would have dreamed of wanting before. For example, I really want this pair of friendship bracelets. You get one for you to wear on your wrist and another for your dog to wear as a collar. And also this dog mom shirt. It’s the cutest thing ever! I never wanted to be a mother to anything and now my dog is basically my child.

Another thing I reallllly wanted? A birthday party for Hallie when she turned one. A birthday party?! For a dog?! Yes. I wanted it. And it happened. She was the most adorable thing ever in her party hat and “It’s My Birthday” bandanna. Boyfriend and I made a buttload (yes, that’s an actual unit of measure) of homemade dogs treats, handed out goody bags for Hallie’s dog friends and even had Subway catered (for our human friends). Hallie had a birthday cake and the whole shebang. It was awesome.

Hallie’s First Birthday

So now, especially after that day, I’ve decided I’m a crazy dog mom and it’s totally okay. This is one of the few things that I really enjoy about being a millennial – They have embraced dog ownership full-force and I think it’s freakin’ awesome.

Some things I do for my dog, I’m well-aware are absolutely ridiculous, but I don’t have actual children so I feel as though these things are okay. Like what? Well, I just spent Saturday and Sunday afternoon this weekend at the off-leash dog run. She loves it there and I had nothing better to do, so why not go and let her run around with her friends? I buy her things, lots of things, just because she’s a really good girl and I want to reward her. She could be just sitting there and I’ll tell her how good she is. Ridiculous, right? For Christmas last year, we took her to see Santa and on Christmas morning, she had a stocking full of toys. On Easter, we took her to see the Easter bunny, but he was really creepy and Hallie hated him, so we won’t be doing that again. She has a sweater or bandanna for every single holiday or season. Why? I have no idea, but she looks super cute wearing them. Sometimes, I even go through the Dairy Queen drive thru to order a small ice cream just for her.

Oh, well. At least my dog will have a really good life. I’m okay knowing that.

These Memes, Though!

I’ll leave this here just because these memes cracked me up and are completely accurate: http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/memes-in-2015?utm_term=.at6qOx0r8R#.fkV2XAqnk4

Food & Silly Things

Prompt: Name and describe five silly things you do.

1. Pancakes must be eaten in stacks of three. I have no idea how this started, but I can’t think of anything (in relation to breakfast) more glorious than three evenly-buttered pancakes stacked on top of one another. But that’s not all! To get the perfect stack of pancakes, the syrup also has to be poured in a certain pattern. I always pour the syrup over my pancakes using three horizontal stripes, followed by three vertical stripes. (As I’m typing, I am feeling the sudden urge to post a YouTube video about this because I’m sure there is so much pancake injustice going on right now). I promise you, if you eat pancakes this way, you will never be disappointed with how they taste. The even-buttering makes it so that no one layer is too greasy, and the perfect striping of the syrup is to ensure that you can actually taste the pancake instead of drenching it in liquid sugar.
2. Hash browns are best covered in syrup.  Speaking of proper syrup practices, I don’t really care about the way in which syrup is poured over my hash browns, as long as it’s there. I’m pretty sure I began doing this when I ordered pancakes with hash browns and some other side at restaurants (probably toast and eggs). My syrup would drip off the sides of my pancakes, onto my plate, and slowly work its way into my hash browns. I used to just eat them with the leftover syrup from my pancakes, but after a while I think I just decided hash browns deserve their own syrup. It’s the perfect combination of potato and sweet goodness. It’s incredibly delicious. Here’s the problem: I always have to ask for syrup to be brought to the table after my food arrives. Why? Does everyone really eat their hashbrowns dry?! That’s disgusting! And please, please do not tell me you eat hashbrowns with ketchup. They are not french fries! We are at breakfast, people. Act civilized and put syrup on your shredded potatoes.
3. I have a specific order for each fast-food restaurant I eat at. McDonald’s? That’d be a #1 – Big Mac meal with a medium Coke. Taco Bell? Hello, #9 – Crunch Wrap Supreme with a crunchy taco and large Pepsi. Subway? Now this is the big one because I’ve been ordering the same sandwich since I was about 8 years old and I go there a lot. For this order, I get a 6-inch wheat sub with ham and American cheese. The veggies are lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, black olives, banana peppers, and light mayo. I also get a meal – but I switch it up with the chips and cookies. I have a chip and cookie preference, but it gets a little complicated as soon as my first chip choice (baked sour cream and onion Lay’s) is out and unavailable for my taking. Anyway, a medium Coke goes with this order. I do this mostly because it’s easy and I never have to think about what I’m going to order while I’m in line. When I get up to the counter, I can immediately order without indecision. I also feel like I will be disappointed if one day I chose something different and hate it. Then I’ll just want to take it back and get my usual.
4. I order tomatoes on my Subway sandwich and always pick one off. Subway employees put three tomatoes on my 6-inch sandwich. I started picking one off because when I put the sandwich up to my mouth to eat, the bottom tomato would start to slide out of the sandwich every single time. So, I would just pick off the bottom tomato and go on my merry way. Now I think it’s just habit. The tomato at the bottom of my sandwich always gets tossed aside. I should probably just start telling the Subway people to put two tomatoes on my sandwich, but now it’s tradition. So I guess the bottom tomato on my sandwich is forever doomed.
5. Dairy must NEVER be shared… EVER. This may be the silliest thing I do, but my milk and ice cream is for me and me only. I have no logical explanation for this, so I will just leave you with it as is.

Ew… Puke. Ew!

Looking back, all of these deal with food… I promise, I really am not that picky. Some foods just have rules.

Hey, it’s a New Year!

Where to begin…

First, let me just say that I have (almost) not written a single word since December 2014. That is so sad! With my profession not being writing and with college no longer pushing me to write, I just kind of fell out of my routine. That is depressing. So… even though I’ve never been a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions, I guess I will make an effort to write more this year. I know, I know…proper goals are supposed to be “SMART” (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound). Yeah, yeah. I am mostly shooting for attainable here. Even if I only write a handful of blog posts this year, it’ll be better than last year. I just need some words to have contact with a page; get all the rust out and the gears turning up there.

I will also have to admit that I got plenty of writer-y things for Christmas, like 365 writing prompts (okay, that one was from me and to me…don’t judge). But I also got 500 writing prompts from my sister as well. According to my calculator (because I can’t math), that’s 865 writing prompts that will go totally unused if I don’t start writing something.

On a somewhat related note to the writer-y things I received for Christmas, I will also be working on my calligraphy skills (fancy, huh?) and might post something cool if I can get my hand to do the right thing. So there’s some excitement to look forward to. YAY.

In my next post, I’ll delve into something a little more interesting (hopefully), but for now Happy New Year, everyone!

And That’s a Wrap…

No big deal… but I am officially a college graduate, guys!

No more class. No more studying. No more school.

I can’t believe it. I have so much free time now that I don’t know what to do with myself. I jokingly tell everyone that I’m a jobless bum, sometimes interchangeable with nomad. Same thing. While I have been searching for jobs (because let’s be real, I do need money), I have been enjoying some time off. I can do whatever I want, when I want. School no longer dictates my day-to-day life. After 16 and a half years of schooling, that is so weird.

There’s just so much freedom! I need to pick up a few regular hobbies and find some things that I enjoy doing again because I have so much time to fill (between filling out job apps, of course).

And yes, graduate school might come later down the road, but for now, I am done.

Here are some memes that summarize how I feel about the whole thing:

The Bugs!

The other day, my sister came into my room dying laughing because her co-workers had shown her a Vine video at work, so of course she had to show it to me. She was already crying when she came into my room because she was laughing so hard at this video, so I assumed it had to be good. She showed me it and I laughed a little bit, but I definitely was not crying… until a day later when the hilarity of the video hit me all at once.

Most of the time, I get home from school late at night. And yes, I am one of those people who is scared of the dark. Okay, not of the dark per say, but what’s in the dark. I’m always afraid of someone jumping out from behind a corner or a big dog running up to me or something. So anyway, I pull in my driveway and of course, it’s pitch black. I get out of the car, gather up my backpack and laptop bag, and close the car door. I have a little remote on my keys to lock my car door, so when I push it my headlights flash and my doors lock. Sometimes, I just keep hitting the “lock” button until I get to my front door so that I will have a little bit of light from my headlights as I’m walking.

This particular night, I wasn’t feeling as scared, so I just clicked the “lock” button once and went on my way to the front door. As I was rounding the corner to get to the door, all my fright hit me at once. I started a slight jog, but by the time I got to the door, I was in full panic mode. Like I said, I hate the dark.

My front door has an electronic key pad, so in all my fear, I was trying to hurriedly press the right numbers on the pad, but of course, I was trying to do it too fast, so I was missing numbers and getting the wrong combination. I got the wrong combination like three times, so I tried to slow myself down, breathe, and just get in the freaking house.

When I finally got the right combination, I practically busted the door down. At that point, the video my sister showed me hit me so hard, I started crying out of laughter. It was probably quite the sight to see.

All I could think was “THE BUGS!”

Disclaimer: The more you watch this video, the more you’ll get a kick out of it.