Strange But True

So I did a post on Strange But True Facts back when I first started blogging, and here I am for a second edition. Welcome to Strange But True Facts: About Me Edition. Yup, since there are definitely some newer faces around here, I figured I'd let you all in on all sorts of weird stuff about me.

ONE. I hate lots of little circles all close together. It's a real thing I swear, and my Mom can't stand looking at them either. It's a fear called trypophobia. I can't even Google this to show you a picture of what I'm talking about because it is super gross and I literally will throw up (I'm not even kidding).

TWO. I must wear socks to bed. I simply cannot fall asleep if I'm barefoot. I know most people are the opposite, but it weirds me out to even think of sleeping without socks, you freaks! I feel like someone is going to reach up from under the bed and touch my foot or something. Probably because when I was a kid my Mom hid under my bed once at least 3 times to scare the crap out of me. Thank you Mom.

Yup this was pretty much my mom, minus the clown disguise

THREE. I’m super awkward at small talk. Like, I can't shut up and just let the awkwardness of a situation wash over us, I have to fill it up with words, usually super strange ones or with unnecessary detail.

       Example #1: My first day of work, a secretary asked me if I wanted coffee. Well, I didn't want to tell her that if I drink coffee in the morning it upsets my stomach (at least I didn't say that), so instead of just saying "No thank you" like a normal human being, I stuttered, "Umm, no, I usually just drink… water." WHAT? That is not even true, I don't even know why I would say that. She just stared at me and was like "alriiight."

       Example #2: Family friend walks up to me at church: "Hey Jess, congrats on passing the bar. Super exciting!" Me: "Thanks!... *Silence*...I am so happy and super excited about it. I got my application for the bar the day after I found I passed the bar exam so sent it in my application 2 days after that and I had to get it notarized and signed by an attorney who motions for my admission and pay $100 more on top of everything else they made us pay but I already got my bar card back and it's super flimsy and you'd think it'd be a little more substantial right but oh well I don't think they expect it to last long because it expires in July and then they will mail me a new one and...." *Blank Stare* Him: "Yes, interesting, oh look church is starting..." Blahh why can't I just STOP TALKING!

FOUR. I get embarrassed if I go to the mailbox and there’s no mail in it. Like I look around and hope no one is watching and judging me for being an unpopular loser who gets no mail. 

FIVE. I am a compulsive list maker, and I rewrite them multiple times a day, even if only one thing got crossed off. 

SIX. I wear my retainer at least 3-4 nights a week. I do NOT need my gap teeth coming back that I sported until I finally lost all my baby teeth and got braces from 8th-10th grade. I know it wants to come back and it tries hard so I will wear my retainer until im 85 if I have to!

Man, I sound super fun, want to sit with me? haha please tell me some strange facts about you so I don't feel like the only weirdo in blogland!

Getting Back on the Horse

So Saturday we went to look at houses, and fell in love with the first one we saw. We halfheartedly looked at two after that (one of which was awful), but we just knew we wanted to put an offer in on the first house. We had to do this right away because somehow, the seller's agent accidentally double-booked the house to be seen at 10am, so we were NOT the only ones looking at the house while we were there, and from the looks and attitude we got from the other people who were looking at the house at the same time as we were, they were interested too. In fact, they were downright rude and treated us like we didn't even deserve to be there. It was obnoxious.

We put a very decent offer down a few hours later, and apparently so did that evil couple. They must have put in a super awesome-er offer though, because the seller accepted it and rejected us, just like that. No counter-offer, no nothing. We were bummed, it was sad. It would have been nice to get our first offer ever accepted, but you know what? We're lucky enough to have the opportunity to buy a house, and we have to remember that. There is another house out there for us, and we already have a few lined up to check out this week/weekend. It just wasn't meant to be. But that doesn't mean I'm still not bummed. At least I have Olympic figure skating to cheer me up (I love it). Here's to getting through yet another Monday unscathed.

Wise Words of the Week- Family Edition

So I had an awesome time last night vlating with Miranda, Elizabeth, and Kelli. Sorry for the interruption last week, I am back and ready to go with some gems of quotes my family said this week, mainly while we were watching the Super Bowl! I think I made Mother Nature mad with my post from last week though, because we got hammered with a foot of snow and a major ice storm this week, causing us to lose power for 2 days boo! Then that groundhog said 6 more weeks of winter, which I could have predicted.. grrr. Anyways, let's get this show on the road!

"I didn't know that Rosie O'Donnell is the voice of the yellow duck in Mickey Mouse."

I didn't know she voiced Donald Duck either, probably because she doesn't! haha Taylor said this randomly one day, like literally out of nowhere, and as we were laughing about this later and telling the story, Savanna was like "I didn't know that either." Oh boy.

"How many wings does a chicken have?"

Also said by Taylor, as Brian was making wings on Super Bowl Sunday. Our answer to this question: "7, chickens have 7 wings, in a line across their back." bahahaha

"Well I was watching this hair-i-torial..."

Mom was referring to a hair tutorial, but kept merging the words together. This had us cracking up for awhile!

"Well, I need a new fish!"

Have you played Flappy Bird yet? Well I stink at it (my high score is 9, embarrassing), and my brother started playing it and he could only get to 7 like the first time he played and he was embarrassed that's when he said the above quote. We were like uhhh, Cory, you realize it's a bird right. "It is?!" The game is called Flappy BIRD. 

"I'm so excited to watch the Super Bowl game!"

Mitchell kept saying this, but then he gets to our house to actually watch the game and instead watched Adventures of TinTin and The Goonies on my Kindle Fire the whole time. He's all talk haha

"Well there's Canadian football..." 

"Isn't that rugby?"

I swear Taylor says the best stuff. We were discussing why they say the Super Bowl winners are World Champs even though they only play against American teams (I don't have an answer for that still btw). I said there's football in other countries too, but I don't think it's as popular, like Canadian football. And that's when Taylor asked if it was rugby. I swear my family isn't as ditzy as we seem hahaha

By the way, if you signed up for the Local Products Box Swap, your matches were emailed out yesterday! Let me know if you didn't get the email. Make sure you reach out to the swap partners ASAP :-) Have a great weekend everyone! 

I Want Candy

Yay it's Thursday already! I am super excited that it's Friday tomorrow! Also, I want candyyyy, a la Aaron Carter circa 1999. See my picture in the collage below, where I am about to lick the poor lady from Candy Land? That's how I feel right about now- I need it in my life! Random, I know, but what can I say? So am I.

Anyways, I'm also super excited to be part of this fun giveaway for - $120 to Crate and Barrel, $10 credit to House of Garland & $20 in ad space to Found Love, Now What. Have you entered yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Everyone likes to get free stuff!

Found Love, Now What / Pleas(e) and Carrots

Life According to Steph / With Love, Rachel / Petite Ramblings / Poppiness

Mice in the Kitchen / The Fairy Princess Diaries / House of Garland / Jade and Oak

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Super Easy Valentine's Heart Banner

So I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22 I love Valentine's Day (sorry, I know I've used that line before but it's just too easy!). I love pink, hearts, flowers, candy, etc. My Mom has more seasonal decorations than anyone, I'd bet cash money on that, and I've definitely picked up this trait. She's given me some stuff she doesn't use anymore for my own house, and I've bought lots of stuff, but sometimes I like to get a little crafty, so here's my latest creation: A Paint-Chip Heart Banner. It is super easy to make, I promise, and it only look me like a half hour! (I made an Easter one with bunnies last year, it's super cute too!)

Supplies:

- Pink paint chips (around 10-12)
- Hole punch
- 2 yards of ribbon
- Scissors
- Pen or pencil

Directions:

- Fold one of the paint chips in half, draw half a heart on it, and cut it out. You will use it as your stencil.

- Trace the stencil onto the BACKS of the paint chips you want to use. I did a mix of horizontal and vertical. Also, it's important to trace on the back of the paint chips so you can't see pen mark on the colored side.

- Punch a two holes in the top of each heart, then string them onto your ribbon a few inches apart. I bought my ribbon in the dollar bin at Target not realizing each design was only a half a yard long EACH, so I had to improvise and tape all 4 pieces together to make the ribbon long enough, oh well. 

- Hang your banner and revel in the compliments you will receive. Also, I obviously just use my trusty iPhone for pictures, and it was dark outside when I took the pics so the lighting was awful, oops!

A Ghost Story, Part 1- Kerry's Story

I'm feeling nostalgic for Halloween (what? I'm weird) so I decided to share a real-life, honest-to-goodness ghost story with you today. Back when I was younger, my best friend lived down the street. Okay, to be honest, she wasn't my best friend at the time, and she isn't my best friend now. Let me explain. I hated her from ages 1 through 3. We have home videos with me in the background throwing blocks at her head and head-butting her when our parents put us in a swing together.

I look so sweet in my bonnet but the back of Danielle's head probably says otherwise

But eventually we became good friends. Except not now, because I think she is like a top-secret super spy or something.. where was I again? Oh wait, okay, the ghost story. So for those of you who are still reading, Danielle lived down the street from us and her mom Kerry was my mom's good friend too. Well, the town we lived in was supposedly (according to elementary school legend) built on an indian burial ground, so of course haunted, OoOoOoOo. Except that in spite of my previous sarcasm, Kerry and Danielle's house seriously was haunted. Here's how I know:

Number 1. Danielle was an itty bitty baby, and Kerry's husband Dennis was away on business (he was in the military). While he was gone, she sat her wedding ring down next to the sink one time while she was doing dishes. She washed washed washed, then went to get her ring, and poof, gone. Kerry actually turned her whole house upside and never found the daggone ring. Before you say "okay, duh, the ring obviously fell into the sink and went down the drain.."

Because a few days later, while Kerry was doing the dishes, she looks next to the sink, and BAM!! there's her ring, right where she left it. Except not, because it was missing from that spot for 3 days, then miraculously appeared.

Number 2-A. Kerry's husband was away again, and Danielle was still not at walking age (this information is pertinent because this way you know it HAD to be a ghost). Well remember Keds? Those stylish plain white canvas shoes that all 90s moms wore (okay, and I have a really cute pair from Kohls.. don't judge me). Anyways, you could wash those puppies, so after Kerry washed her Keds, she stuck both shoes in the dryer. Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump, the dryer double thumped. Until it didn't. Kerry went to check the dryer, and ONLY ONE SHOE WAS IN THE DRYER. I know some of you Know-It-Alls will be like "duh, the shoes were heavy and the shoes knocked the dryer open and one flew out. Except actually when Kerry went to check the dryer IT WAS STILL RUNNING. So how could one shoe have gotten out, shut the dryer door, and started the dryer again? That's right, it couldn't.

Number 2-B. So later that day, after Kerry took her one shoe out of the dryer, mystified, what does she hear, but thump-silence, thump-silence, thump-silence, the dryer single thumped. Yup. The other shoe was in the running dryer, by itself. Freaked out yet? No? I've got more..

Number 3. A candle lit by itself. Pretty freaking scary slash dangerous if I do say so myself.

Number 4. Dennis was away again (pretty freaky how all this stuff happens when he's out of town, huh?) and Kerry was giving 3 year old Danielle a bath. They hear a voice downstairs call, "Kerry? Danielle?" Danielle called back "Daddy!!" and got super excited. Kerry quickly grabs Danielle, wraps her in a towel, and they rush downstairs thinking Dennis got back early from his trip. But Dennis was not there. Dennis called to say goodnight a few hours later and Kerry asked if he had stopped by the house at all earlier, to which he replied, "No, why?" Oh, no reason..

Hearing Twilight Zone music in your head yet? Come back next week for Part 2, Carolyn's Story (Carolyn and her husband were the owners of the house after Kerry and Dennis).

February Goals

So of course it is snowing like crazy again today, with at least 9 inches coming, and that groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter! I can't take it anymore. So while I'm figuring out if I can even make the drive into work today, I will leave you to see how I did on my January goals.

1) Workout at least 3x per week. Well, I did 2 out of the 4 weeks but this really wasn't my fault. I was sick as a dog with strep and a sinus infection and could barely function for 2 weeks, so I will give myself a pass but I definitely need to work harder this month to make up for it. 

2) Come up with a weekly blog series. CHECK!! Wise Words of the Week, for the Win! (I like alliteration, so sue me). Check out the latest edition here (I may or may not have skipped this past Friday).

3) Stick to a budget. Well, uh, this has yet to be determined. I purchased a few gifts for people in advance this month (what can I say? I'm a compulsive planner) so that may have set me back. Other than that, I really didn't make any unecessary "me" purchases. We probably could have done a lot better in the eating out department, but we can work on that.

Well, January wasn't a complete failure. Let's keep February's goals short and sweet.

One. Lose 6 pounds. For real this time. Let's do this. I need to win mine and Brian's weight loss contest so that I can make him get a pedicure and I don't have to go to a Devil's game. I am going to work out FOUR, yup, four times a week, as well as eat much healthier (no junk food except as a treat on a weekend), which should help me reach this goal. Also, I decided to jump start by doing a raw food week today through Friday, ahhh!

Two. STICK TO THE BUDGET! We are super duper trying to buy a house right now, and therefore we seriously have to be good this month and the rest of the months forever and ever.