20 Years Young!

Hey guys, guess what?!

It's my birthday!!!

 

 

I am a whopping twenty years old today! Don't have a whole lot going on today - my friend is taking me out for dinner and that's about it. Skyping with my man tonight :) That's always something to look forward to. And so with that, it's time for the Friday linkups!

 

 



 

Linking up with Allie from Tales of a Twenty Something for the pits and the peaks of this past week!

 

 

Pits -

 

- So far I haven't gotten all of my weekly wishes accomplished, and it's Friday. I have two more days!

 

- I keep falling asleep on Dan! Seriously, it's getting really annoying for me. He says it's okay, but I don't think so. I don't mean to, but when you get up at 5:30 in the morning, it's hard to not be tired by 10pm. Last night he kept me up till 12:30 before I started dozing off. And then usually I end up falling asleep  before we can say goodnight. I'm a horrible person :(

 

Peaks -

 

- I upgraded my gym membership, as you can read from yesterday. And I'm super excited about it! I now have access to all of this cool stuff that I didn't really know about before. And I brought my sister to the gym with me last night to workout and I had a really fun time! Afterwards we both did the facemask thing for a mini girls' spa night.

 

 

 

- Obviously a big peak is that it's my birthday!! I'll take pictures tonight :)

 

- I'm getting together with my best friend for dinner at Chili's after I get off of work tonight to celebrate both of our birthdays!

 

- I got myself a laptop yesterday! So now I can actually blog and write at home. Which will be quite awesome.

 

- I found out I don't have to work tomorrow like I thought I did!

 

- Hopefully I'm going down to Chicago tomorrow with my mom and my sisters for the day. It's a thing for all of us to go down there and walk around. My mom has always wanted to live there and it's her favorite city. 

 

- Today for my birthday the girls at work are making tacos for lunch and one of the girls brought in eclair torte! Yummy. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures to post later :)

 

So overall, this was a better week than last week. Way more peaks than pits which is always wonderful! So to finish this post off, we're going to end with another linkup, #backthatazzup with Whit from I Wore Yoga Pants To Work!

 

 



  I have been jamming this gem all morning, and I hope you enjoy!          

 

Blogmopolitan Quiz!

Found this little gem today and thought I would share :) Linking up with Erin from Two Thirds Hazel for this cute little survey thing she had created. Enjoy!

Fitness Thoughts

So I'm really super excited after last night. Last year, around October I think, I joined at Planet Fitness and I kind of went on and off because it wasn't in the most convienient of locations for me. But recently they just built a new location right by my work so I've been going a lot more than I was.

I just had the general $10 a month thing where you just workout and that's it. But last night, I met up with my mom and her two friends to work out and they all went and upgraded to the special "black card" membership. Because it's only an extra $10 a month, I upgraded with them and I am sooo pumped now!

We only really worked out for about a half hour, and then spent around 2 hours checking out all of the awesome other stuff that they offer to black card people.

So as a black card member I can now bring a guest with me, which is going to be awesome for when Dan comes to visit because we've been talking about how we want to be that cool fitness couple that hangs out at the gym, and I can now go to any PF location around the country to work out. I can use the tanning beds, and the relaxation area. That's awesome, they have these massage chairs that are heavenly and this awesome hydromassage bed thing that is.. ohhh man so heavenly! It looks like this:

And all you have to do is lay there. Then these water jet things go up and down your body and massage everything and I nearly fell asleep. It was wonderful!

This is my favorite part. Aside from the tanning beds, they have this little beauty here:

It's called the total body enhancement, and I plan on taking full advantage of this. So instead of UV light like a tanning bed has, this has a red light, kind of like a heat lamp. You stand inside, the light comes on and the floor starts vibrating with whatever setting you pick. It can relax your muscles, or it can actually give your muscles a work out. So all of this combined helps with getting rid of cellulite, acne, stretch marks, and wrinkles! It's a natural lifter for your skin, so I won't have to worry about getting botox. (that was a joke) And overall, it's just good for your skin. I felt pretty awesome after I finished, and I only did the short beginner one.

And you can choose what you want to expose. If you only want to work on your face, you don't have to undress. Or if you feel like going commando to get everything, that's cool too! I'm so in love and super excited for the next time I can use it!

So that's my little spiel for today. If you guys are looking for an awesome place to workout with awesome perks, check out Planet Fitness. I have never had a problem and I'm excited to keep working out there!

Have a fantastic Thursday!

LDLW: Skype!

Being in a long distance relationship is hard. Very hard. But I can't even imagine how people used to pull them off back  before technology. Today we're blessed to have all of this stuff, all of these ways to connect with our loved ones who aren't close to us. Nowadays we have texting and emailing and social media and IMing. But I think the most important resource we have now is Skype.

Now I'm sure I don't have to go over what Skype is, the majority of people know what it is even if they don't use it. But Skype is probably one of the best things that has ever graced the internet. You can see the other person and talk with them and for all intents and purposes, it's almost like being there.

When you're texting, things can get taken out of context. Even with phone calls, sometimes what the person meant is not how the other person takes it. Being able to see their facial expression, and hear how they're saying it, is the best way to go about it.

There are so many different things you can do together over Skype as well.

For example:

Have a dinner date! And the cool part about this is that you can either make the same thing and eat it together, or you can each make your own meal and do it that way. Light some candles, make it pretty and romantic and enjoy each other's company.

Watch a movie! Dan and I will bring Netflix up and pick a movie to watch, then we do a countdown to try and sync up the times (even though it doesn't always work that easily) and then we watch the movie together! That way we can still see each other, and we can talk to each other while watching the same movie. There are a few different ways to do it too. For example, Dan has a laptop. So he  will have Netflix open full screen and then when he minimizes the Skype window, a little guy pops up in the corner so he can still see me. I have an iPad and an iPhone, so I'll have him up on Skype on the pad and I'll watch the movie on my phone. Or flip flop, whichever. Or if you want you can have Skype on your device and watch the movie on your TV. Whichever works for you!

And for those lonely nights, it's always fun to have some sexy time over Skype. Let's be adults here, sometimes you need to. And doing it over Skype can be a whole new kind of intimate experience. This is, of course, if you're comfortable doing that. This all depends on how comfortable you and your partner are with this. And a plus side for us ladies is that it's okay if you forget to shave ;) Chances are they won't be able to tell anyway.

Or, you can just hang out together. Dan is, more often than not, working on his stuff for class so we'll have Skype going so we can see each other but still do our own thing. The other day we utilized this awesome thing called Grooveshark to listen to music together. He put a playlist together and then broadcasted it, and I was able to listen to the music he was playing. And it was all live! So if he skipped a song, it reflected to me too.

So those are just a few different ideas you can use. If anyone does anything else over Skype and you want to share, drop me a comment! I'd love to hear from you!

Have a great Wednesday!

An Inspirational Word

So I wanted to get a post up, but I don't really have anything to say today. Besides long distance stuff, but that's tomorrow! So just a few short things.

 

This was how I started my day! I wasn't in the mood for coffee, I was looking for something a little more.. juicy hah. Very descriptive, eh?

So I have a half day at work, and a girl from work and I are going to head it on up to Bath & Bodyworks to buy some lovely smelling things. So my inspiration words for today are:

And for a final thought, this song makes me want to just be a better person, and be the best I can be. After a relatively crappy night last night, I need this kind of pick-me-up. So enjoy!





Make it a great day!

Weekly Wishes

Happy Monday darlings! I hope your weekend was a great one!

Mine was a little up and down. But whenever I spend a weekend with my mom, that's how it goes. We went to the mall on Saturday and that was all good. On Sunday there was family drama but hey, gotta love 'em. The funny thing was that on Saturday at the mall, I only spent money on food. But later that day we went to WalMart and I spent.. way too much. We're just not going to talk about it, okay? Okay.

______________________________________________________

So today I found another link up to do with other blogs and I'm excited! I'm linking up with Mel from The Nectar Collective to do this coolio thing called weekly wishes. So here we go:

 

 

1. Find new ways to show my wonderful boyfriend just how much I love him! This one is kind of a given, but I'm going to make it a goal to start coming up with new stuff. I'm that kind of girl who likes to do silly little projects and write love letters and go all out for him. I haven't done anything like that in a while!

 

2. Get to the gym every day this week. I was all geared up and ready to do this last week, but I had that car problem and I only got there on Monday. Well now my car is fixed and I'm going to do it! I need to stay committed to this stuff or I'm never going to get anywhere.

 

3. Start working out a solid plan for moving. Dan and I are starting to talk about our future and talking about me moving out there, but I don't have any sort of budget worked out or anything. And I want to get out there as soon as I can. So I want to sit down and work out an actual budget so I can get a rough timeline of how this is going to work out.

 

4. Read a book! This might not seem like a big one, but I went from reading 1-2 books a week to... zilch. I haven't picked up a book in so long, and I'm craving it. So this week, I think I should grab a book and just read it. It'd be better than watching TV when I get home until I go to bed, like I've been doing lately. Although, I would looove to watch Mean Girls soon. I've been making one too many references lately.

 

______________________________________________________



 

So those are my goals for this week! I better get them done now, or I'm going to feel like a total failure if I don't. How embarrassing. I need to come up with some other blog ideas, but that's nothing new.

 

So anywho, I hope you all have a fantastic Monday!

 





Nutella Brownies

Bonus post for you lovely people today! I found this recipe online, and I think it's pretty great! If you're in desperate need of some chocolate and don't have all the ingredients to make those elaborate brownies, you can just use these three ingredients!

I now present to you... (cue the music)

So this is probably one of the most simplest recipes ever. You only need three (yes three!) things to make these delicious bars of goodness. Here's what you need:

And then the rest is real easy. Just mix it all up:

And then bake it at 350* F for about 30 minutes!

And enjoy!!

Hope you enjoy!!

 

Friday. Thank God.

I almost feel like jamming out to Rebecca Black's Friday, I am so happy. This has been one hell of a week and I'm ready for the weekend! And as I'm expanding and finding more blogs to follow, I'm discovering this pretty awesome thing that people do where they link up and talk about stuff! So that's what this Friday is going to be about. Shall we?

Since this has been such a crazy up and down week, I'm going to link up with Allie from Tales of a Twenty Something and talk about some pits and peaks of my week.

Pits -

- I brushed on this earlier in the week, the deal with my car. So the autobody place still has it. This is going on 4 days without a car now. So what happened is that whoever owned the car before I did replaced the ball joints, but they didn't do a good enough job. So everything in the area is a gnarled up and they had to order some new parts which is going to take my grand total up to about $625.

- This morning on the way to work, we ended up parked on the freeway. What normally would have taken us about 15 minutes to get to my work turned into a solid 50 minute adventure. An adventure where we came to a stop literally just after one of the exits we could have gotten off on and we spent 25 minutes getting to the next one. Keeping in mind that normally the trip between these two exits are about 1-2 minutes apart. Then after we got off, we discovered that a bazillion other people had the same idea we did. (that might be an exaggerated number) So it took even longer to get there. I ended up punching in about 5 minutes late. Which has ruined my perfect record for the last 6 months that I've been at this job.

- Yesterday I was just in this awful mood, for multiple reasons. So I was Skyping with Dan last night, and I was feeling better because he always makes me feel better but since I wake up at 5:30 every morning, I get tired and sleepy by about 10pm. Which I think isn't anything crazy. But he slept in until about 2 in the afternoon and he wanted me to stay up with him and listen to music. Which would have been completely awesome. If I wasn't so damn tired and crabby as it was. So I was up for a little while, but I ended up falling asleep on him. Then I woke up at 1am and ended up falling asleep on him again and now I just feel like a freaking schmuck.

Peaks -

- Since my dad was driving my car when it broke down, he has graciously offered to pay for it to get fixed. Which is so completely awesome I can't even thank him enough! But that's not going to happen until he gets his tax returns in the next week or so, so I have to put it on my credit card initially. But still, it's totally cool and I'm so grateful to him.

- It's my best friend's birthday today! She's turning 21, so tonight we're getting together for dinner. And then since I'm still a youngun, I'm going home while she goes barhopping with other people. Sounds fun, eh? Still. It'll  be a good time and I haven't seen her in a few weeks.

- I'm linking up with Whitney from I Wore Yoga Pants for #backthatazzup Friday so I will stop talking about myself and get to that! Yes? Yes.

__________________________________________________ 

 



   

 

 

 

Have a great Friday everyone!

 



I'm The Kind Of Girl Who

In an attempt at reaching out and interacting with more peeps, I'm going to do this pretty spiffy thing I found today that everyone else is doing. I guess I missed the memo yesterday, but I'm going to make up for it today to try and get in with the cool kids. So here we go!

 

 

...believes in true love.

 

...believes in fairy tales and happy endings.

 

...loves action movies as much as I love chick flicks.

 

...gives more second chances than I probably should.

 

...quotes movies like it's my full time job. I've always got some kind of quote ready to go and sometimes my sisters and I have full conversations in just movie quotes.

 

...prefers paperbacks to e-books. There's just something about settling in with a good book and cup of coffee/hot chocolate/tea that just makes everything okay. The smell of a book is one of my favorite in the world, and you can't get that with looking at a screen.

 

...believes there's absolutely nothing that a good book can't cure. Or at least distract you long enough until you have to face the harsh reality.

 

...believes that birthdays deserve huge celebrations! Mine is coming up next week, and I'm going to go big. Not really, but I'm going to let every stinkin' person know that it's my birthday!

 

...will drive 7 hours to spend a day and a half with my boyfriend before I have to turn around and drive 7 hours back.

 

...is a hopeless romantic. Like literally, tell me anything slightly romantic, and I'll swoon.

 

...overthinks way too much.

 

...thinks sometimes I love too much or too deeply.

 

...wishes I would have become an archaeologist like I wanted to when I was younger.

 

...listens to a song on repeat if I really love it.

 

...loves to cook. And when I find something I like to cook and it tastes good, I'll make it every day for a month.

 

 

Have a great Thursday, peeps!

 



Long Distance Loving Wednesday!

So I'm going to start up a new thing that I'm going to call Long Distance Loving Wednesdays! Or, LDL Wednesdays. If you haven't figured it out, on Wednesdays I'm going to talk about long distance relationships. Whether that's just random thoughts on the topic or projects I'm making for my own man, all kinds of stuff.

So today I'm going to kick it off with the very basics of long distance relationships: how to make them work! There are a few very important things that go into successful LDRs.

1. Communication: This one is huge! Probably one of the most important things you need to have in your relationship is communication. In an LDR, you aren't physically together, so if something is bothering you, you need to talk about it! He/she is not there to see you, so they can't tell if you're upset unless you tell them. And trust me, keeping things to yourself and not talking about them can only lead to fights. It's best to get things out in the open and talk about them, otherwise you could have some serious problems. Yes, I struggle with this in my own relationship. And yes, it does lead to fights. And let me tell you, fights are not fun! In a LDR, it's very important that you are both okay with what's going on in the relationship. And if you're not, you need to talk about it. This also goes for just.. talking. Make sure to speak to your SO at least once a day. Even if you know you're going to be super busy and can't spend all your time talking to them, just letting them know is often very appreciated.

2. Trust: This is another huge one. The main reason some LDR's don't work out is because of doubts. If you can't trust your SO, then why are you in the relationship? Again, you're not around each other. You can't see them all the time, so sometimes you have no idea what they're doing. But if you have strong trust, that's okay. And if you're the person on the other end, and your partner is questioning you, don't get mad. It makes you look defensive and almost guilty. Reassurrance is huge if you're partner is having doubts. Because the sad truth is that it's going to happen. And as much as it sucks to say, it's natural.

3. Romance: Yes this is big too. Since you're far apart, and can't just have sex whenever you feel like it, you have to do something to keep that spark alive. It's good to do things together. It's important to take some time and spend it together. Maybe on Friday nights you have a Skype date where you watch movies, or you send each other pictures throughout the day to help them feel included. With whatever you do, you're only strengthening your relationship.

4. Take Advantage: Yes, a long distance relationship can actually be a good thing! As much as it sucks to be apart from the one you love, LDRs do offer some advantages. Spend time with family and friends, spend time by yourself. Work on yourself. For example, to keep myself occupied while we're apart, I go to the gym and work out. It's a good way to distract myself, and I get a healthy work out out of it!

5. Visit Often: This is important. If you're able to, try and plan trips to see each other. Seeing each other every once in a while is super healthy for your relationship. You can spend actual time together, and it's a refresher for the relationship. It reminds you why you're making this journey together, and gives you awesome memories to reflect on.

6. Stay Positive: If you're going to mope around all the time, the relationship can become a little too stressful. I get that being apart from your SO really sucks, but you can't mope all the time! Be happy that you two are together and that you love each other enough to do this. I'm not saying that you can't have your down moments, because it's going to happen. But don't let it become such a constant thing.

7. Talk About the Future: I know guys don't always like to talk about this, but for people in LDRs, this can be the best passtime there is. There has to be some sort of shining beacon that you both have to look forward to, and talking about the future can be it. It gives you something to strive for, something to look forward to while you're stuck looking at your SO through the computer. Even if these future plans don't happen, that's okay. It's bonding time between the two of you, where you can get to know the other person better and find out what kind of future they have in mind for you.

That's it for today, lovlies! I hope some of this was helpful. I know a lot of different LDR blogs have this stuff on it, but it's a good first kick off post for LDLW.

I hope you have a great Wednesday!

Morning Mayhem!

So at 5:00 this morning my mom comes into my room and wakes me up, saying my dad is waiting for a tow to pick up my car. My dad picked up a paper route, and my car has a better heater than his truck does so I let him use it in the mornings, and he's always back before I have to leave for work.

Well apparently at about 4:30, my car died on him. At first he thought the transmission went, but after he got out and looked at it, he discovered that the front passenger was sitting perpendicular to the rest of the car. It had completely fallen off!

(I'm assuming this is what it looked like)

So by now I'm freaking out because I had to pick up my co-worker and go to a meeting together, except I now have no car to get us there. And her car was indisposed too, so we were both screwed.

By about 6 this morning they had gotten my car into the local auto body shop, and my dad called them. They hadn't looked at it too deeply, but the ball joint had snapped for sure. The man told my dad they were going to check it out to see if anything else had happened and they'd call him back.

In the meantime, I called my co-worker and told her I wasn't going to make it to the meeting. My grandpa called up and offered to take me to work, which was SO super sweet of him.

So currently, I'm at work. Carless. Waiting to find out what exactly happened to my car and how much it's going to cost. It's times like this I'm very glad I got an emergency credit card. My dad is all weird about me using it, but this is the exact reason why I got one. In case of emergencies. Because right now both me and my dad are pretty tight on money and there would be no way we could pay to have my car fixed until I get my taxes back. Sigh.

It's one thing after another, though. And it's so frustrating because I'm trying to save up to move out to Michigan. How am I supposed to save anything if I keep having to fork money over for stuff like this? I'm learning that being an adult really kind of sucks. What was I thinking when I was younger, wishing to be older?

Hoping you guys have a better morning than I did!

Michigan Dreaming

Yes. Yes I do. I did not want to wake up this morning! Plus I didn't sleep the best.. Anyway. None of that silly talk. My weekend went pretty well, I didn't do a whole lot. It was nice to relax, though. I don't get to sleep in very often, and this weekend I got to sleep in two days in a row! Wow.

So yesterday, Dan and I were talking more about me moving out there. But what we want and what I'll be able to do might be very different things. I'm only 19, going to be 20, and I'm looking at moving to a whole new state completely on my own. It's a little scary to say the least.

But it's what I want. What we both want. My only problem is that I was never a child who liked to save my money. I never had much growing up, so whenever I got money, I tended to go a little crazy with it. And now, I can hardly get my paycheck to last me till the next one. I don't know anything about moving to a new state. How much money I'll need, what I all have to do, etc.

Plus, I've never lived on my own before. So I'll be moving out on my own for the first time and it's going to be in a different state. Just, ya know, a little nervewracking.

Of course Dan's suggestion was to get a loan. Which would be great, if I didn't have to pay it back. But still, I'm going to keep that in the back of my head.

So today I'm going to spend my free time at work looking up apartments over there and checking out what kind of jobs are over yonder.

Have a great day everyone!

Twenty Things You Didn't Know About Me

So I really got this idea from one of the other blogs I follow, but I thought it was a good idea. For days when I'm trying to figure out what to write about, doing stuff like this is a good way to go. It's simple and it only requires me to think about, well, myself. So anyway, here we go!

1. I'm left handed

2. I have four younger sisters, no brothers. Yes, I know, my poor father.

3. I have two dogs: a Boxer/Jack Russell Terrier named Harley, and what we think is a West Highland Terrier named Westie. Westie was a stray that we took in. 

4. I went to a Lutheran elementary school from grade 2 to grade 8.

5. My parents are divorced, and my dad is remarried. So in that mass of sisters, one is a step-sister and one is a half sister. But we never count it as that - we're sisters. 

6. I come from a line of bakers, and it's one of my favorite hobbies.

7. I'm a fangirl. I get very emotionally invested in books, and sometimes movies/TV shows. But mostly books. They have a cruel way of ripping out my heart and crushing my soul.

8. I have one tattoo on my foot. It's the infinity sign with the words "Faith, Love and Pixie Dust" written into it. I'm planning on getting at least one more with my sister once she turns 18.

9. I'm highly allergic to cats. Like, break out in hives, I can't breathe and have to go to the hospital kind of allergic. Which sucks, because Dan wants to have a cat. 

10. I like role playing. That sounds bad, I know. I'm one of those weirdos that join role playing sites, make characters and then plot with other people. I love writing, and I've been doing it for years to keep up my writing and creativity. Plus, I've met some very awesome people doing it!

11. I currently work in a credit union as a MSR (member service rep) and I absolutely love it. I've been there for 6 months, and I think it's something I would like to make a career out of.

12. I was born and raised in Wisconsin, and I've never been very far from home. Before Dan left for college in Michigan, the farthest I've ever gone from Wisconsin was Chicago. Now I've been to Michigan a couple times, but never out of the country.

13. Wanderlust should be my middle name. I want to travel all over the place. I want to be that person who is always going places and seeing things. My ideal vacation would be to go backpacking across Europe. 

14. Before I die, I want to write (and actually finish) a novel and have it published.

15. In about four months my dad is going to be moving. And I'm absolutely terrified because I don't know where I will be living after that. I want to move out to Michigan to be with Dan, but I don't know if that's going to be possible right now. 

16. I'm very paranoid, about everything. Like, I'm scared that while I'm on a rollercoaster, it's going to fly off and I'm going to die. But I don't let that stop me from doing stuff like that.

17. I LOVE musicals. Phantom of the Opera? Oklahoma? Grease? Yes, please! 

18. I'm terrified of being alone. One of my biggest fears is that I'm going to be that lonely old lady who has no one but her dogs. And to a lesser extent, I'm scared at the idea of living by myself. Not because I don't think I can do it, but I come from a big family where I am never by myself. I don't know how I'm going to adjust to that. 

19. When I was little, I wanted to be either an archaeologist or a spy for the CIA.

20. I can quote just about every line from every Disney movie ever made. My sisters and I often have conversations in only movie quotes. It doesn't stop at Disney though, I can quote a whole bunch of other movies too. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day all you lovebirds! And even if you don't have a Valentine, don't worry! Valentine's day isn't just about romantic love. Show someone else you love them - a parent, sibling, friend, neighbor. Whatever! It's a day of love, but all kinds of love!

I'm looking forward to a nice long day at work. Yippie. But Skype date tonight with my man! Maybe we can watch a movie together over Netflix or something while we talk about all of our future plans to close the distance. It makes for great conversation, it really does.

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful and lovely Valentine's day/Friday! Lots of love to you all <3