New Year's Resolutions.

You may have noticed that these last couple of posts have been pretty heavy in the photograph area. Basically, I am just now really discovering the greatness that is Photobucket. And also because I'm gearing up for my New Year's Resolution.

Pretty much every year I try to come up with a resolution. And pretty much every year I tend to break it. You see on the side over there where it says "New year, new goals"? Yeah, well sadly not all of those happened. But I've been thinking about what I want to do this next year for a while now and I think I've finally decided.

I wanted to do something big. And fun. And I've seen this idea before and really liked it, so I'm going to take it on.



That's right. Everyday, I take a new picture. It doesn't have to be much, just something to document the day. (Abby: "I bet 350 of those will be of your dog.")

So, if you want to follow my project, go here. It's bound to be fun.

Also, I have a few more things I want to accomplish this year:

• Start taking classes toward getting my art therapy degree.
• Start an Etsy shop. I have ideas. Now I just have to actually finalize them and get stuff together.
• Teach Luna how to sit. She actually knows "shake". Next is "sit".
• Make a quilt. My last semester, I bought a crapton of fabric for my projects. I'm pretty sure it was around $200 worth. And now I have a HELLLLLLA lot left. And I haven't made a quilt in a while, so I'm going to. Maybe it will be someone's Christmas gift.

I feel like this are all good and attainable. I'll fill you in when I complete/start/show you progress.

Happy New Year!!

Christmas pictures.

Here's some happenings from Christmas in picture format:

1. Present wrapping.
2. Abby and Luna bonded.
3. Luna went back to hating Abby again when we added more ribbons to her collar.
4. Santa came.
5. New game at the grandparents' house.
6. Mom got Luna a sweater that made her look really skinny with a large behind.
7. The children unwrapped a whole lotta gifts.
8. Madison (age 5) drew a face on the butt of the Pictionary man.
9. Taylor surprised me with a trip to Florida in April.
Note: that little piece of paper was wrapped in 2 large boxes. (And I just noticed that "Florida" is spelled wrong. Don't even care.)

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!!

Best way to eat ice cream.

It is also probably the weirdest. Just stick with me here.

1. Scoop ice cream into bowl.


2. Insert into microwave.


3. Microwave for 20 seconds.


4. Stir.


5. Enjoy!


My cousin, sister and I have been eating ice cream like this for a long long while. Everytime we would go out to our grandparents' house for the night (which was pretty much every other Saturday) we would always have a bowl of ice cream. And this is how we would eat it.

Yummmmmmmm....

Christmas!

I decorated for Christmas!





















I love Christmas!

Luna, however, hid away in the bathroom the whole time.

Making Christmas.

This isn't really my favorite song from Nightmare Before Christmas, but it's fitting.

I'm making it my goal of making everyone/mostly everyone's Christmas presents this year. Yesterday I sat and made a list of everyone I needed gifts for and started trying to figure out what to make them. Sooooo far I've got something for my mom, sister, and one other one figured out. Next week I hope to get started on them.

Alllllso, since it is now after Thanksgiving, I get to start decorating for Christmas! I always wait until after Thanksgiving. So next week I'm going to hit up some thrift stores and find Christmas decorations. And by "stores" I mean that I'm going to the best one on the planet that I've been going to since the beginning of time: Share and Care. I'm so friggin excited.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Oh hey.

I'm watching this right now.

No big deal.

One of my favorite pictures ever.

This is me on my 7th birthday.
Look at my excitement for receiving that fishing pole from my grandparents.
And let me tell you, I got a lot of use out of that fishing pole.

And yes, that is a Polaroid. Because Polaroids are awesome.

Meet Luna!

I got a puppy. I've been wanting one FOR-EV-ER and I finally live in an apartment that allows them so I got one! I adopted her from the humane society and she is really fun.


Her name is Luna. As in Luna Lovegood. Cause I'm a nerd like that. And my mom calls her Loony.


I've had Luna for a couple of days now, and here are some things I've learned about her.

Things Luna likes:

• going outside
• her little lion toy
• stealing my body pillow
• watching tv, especially Harry Potter and Zefron movies
• sleeping all day and then getting up early in the morning

Things Luna does not like:

• her leash
• the sliding glass doors
• bathtime
  
• Taylor
• staying in the bathroom while I'm at work

Thanks to my friend Erin here, I've decided to make her a little charm to put on her collar. You know, to keep away the nargles. Or maybe a little radish charm.

Or both!

That time I got stitches from hide and seek.

On Sunday evenings, Taylor's family has a family dinner. This past Sunday, after everyone was finished eating, we played hide and seek. Don't worry, his 4 year old neice was the one to get the game started. As we were playing I was reminded of another hide and seek event. Let me share.

When I was a kid, I played outside a lot. One time, Abby (sister), another kid, and I were playing hide and seek. Now, there are a couple of ways people play hide and seek. We play it where there is a base and as soon as the seeker has finished counting and left base, you are free to leave your hiding place and run to base before they tag you.

Now, Abby and I were hiding inside the house while the other kid was outside on base (big tree) counting. When he finished his counting, he came into the house looking for us. Obviously, we went running outside. This is how it went down:

• Abby ahead of me. Goes racing out door.
• Me behind her, closely following.
• Screen door comes swinging back.
• I reach my hand out to push the door back open and continue running.
• Hand and door keep going in their opposite directions, hand going through window.
• Instant stopping of hide and seek race.

Seriously, I don't think I have ever seen my father jump up from his football watching quite as fast as he did that day. Since my dad was the only adult home, sister and friend had to go to the neighbor's next door while my dad took me to the ER.

After several x-rays, they discovered that I did not in fact have glass in my hand and that if I would have cut a centimeter deeper I would have hit a major artery. Goooood deal. Turns out, I did have to get a (1) stitch though. Baaaad deal. I hate needles. So much. My dad had to distract me by talking about the Royals game we were going to be attending soon.

So, this past Sunday when we were playing hide and seek, Taylor and I were hiding in the backyard, base in front yard. Then he suggests we just run through the house to get there faster.

And then I had flashbacks.

Plaid.

I went shopping today. And by "shopping", I mean I just wandered around stores awkwardly and looked at the stuff.

And bought nothing.
But, I happened across a load of plaid shirts. And that is where this story begins.

Now, I love me some plaid. I have for a long time.
Little Whitney sporting a nice plaid romper.

Way before these 2 made this little trend big.
Instigators of this plaid fad.

Now, for some reason I find it really hard to believe that these 2 buy their plaid new. I'm pretty sure they thrift store it up or bring out the shirts from their dad's closet (yes, KStewie too..).
However, you can purchase plaid flannel at big name stores. Let me just show you here.



Ladies, you see this shirt. It can be yours for $24.89. It was marked down from $39.50
Head on over to the Hollister website for more.

Now, the fellas have their options too.

This little number looks kinda like Robbie's up there. You can own it for $22.90 from your local Forever 21.


Now, see this:
Holla! KStew Halloween costume

8 bucks at the local thrift store.


Point to this story: Why are people buying shirts for $30 when they can dig through their parent's closets (trust me, I have..) and find them for free or hit up thrifty stores and buy them for cheap?

Am I right??
"Right you are, Whitney."

Thanks Al.

Thanks Hollister and Forever 21 websites for contributing pictures.

What's happening. (Hot stuff.)

It's been a good couple of weeks since I have posted anything on this here blog. I've been busy. And haven't had a whole lot of internet access. BUT a couple of things have happened, so I thought I would share.

1. My car died.

It was a tragic death.
The story: I was called into work early one morning a few weeks back. I hadn't showered yet, but threw on some clothes and mentally thanked my cousin for washing my hair the night before when she cut it. I was off to work, driving in the rain, when this chick stopped at the yellow light in front of me. While I tried to stop, the rain on the road didn't help and my car ran right into her.
Goodbye Joan.
So, now I am driving my mom's car and she just got a new fancy one. When I asked her the other day if I could drive it, she acted like I had asked the stupidest question on the planet.

I guess that's kinda true.....

Also, Taylor's niece asked me today "Why did your car wreck?" Honey, I really wish it hadn't...

2. I'm moving. Again.

My roommate moved back home. So that means that I have to find a place to live. And I did! It's a little studio apartment closer to my work and where my cousins live. My mom even came down and looked at it with me the other day.
This means that I actually get to set up and decorate a place of my own! I started going through my crap that is taking over the living room of my mom's place and put some things together. Like all my books and pictures and stuff. I still have a lot to go through.

3. I'm thinking about going back to school.

I just graduated in May. However, getting a good job with an art degree is really hard to do.

Trust me.

So I've been thinking of some other options. Here's what I've narrowed it down to:

a) Pastry school.
I've visited The Art Institutes- International and have even applied and been accepted to attend. They wanted me to start in October, but I just have too many other things going on right now. And I haven't even decided if this is the way I want to go.
But I love to watch food network and Chef Duff is like my idol, so I thought why not check it out.

b.) Art therapy.
This I've just gotten into looking at. I need to call a couple of colleges tomorrow and see if they have anything to offer me. But right now, I'm thinking I like this idea more and more. I mean, the pastry thing sounds fun and all, but I feel like I would really really enjoy the art therapy thing. I feel like it is geared more toward what I actually want to do. Which I don't really know yet....


So there you go. Some things that I have been up to. When I finally get to move into my new place (in a week or 2 hopefully) I'll have to remember to show off all my decor. Be getting excited. I am.

It's that time of year again.

A couple of posts back I talked about how I was wanting to cut my hair off. I called up my cousin and she chopped it right off.


Let me just say, it is soooo much easier getting ready in the morning. Little blow drying after I get out of the shower, some straightening of the bangs and sections, and I'm good to go. I am going to have her cut some more though. I want some layers so sometime soon that is going to happen.

Now, with this new haircut I had to come up with some Halloween costumes to go with it. I love Halloween. I don't really think I have anything to do this Halloween, but I enjoy dressing up so maybe I'll just hand out candy to little kids. Or I'll get Amanda talked into dressing up with me too.

Anyways, I've thought up a couple. I like a good cheap costume, so anything that I can make out of the clothing I already have is great. Here we go.

1. Judy Funnie

You know. Doug Funnie's sister. I really do miss this cartoon. But, here's what I need for this:

• purple dress/vest
• black leggings
• black boots
• purple hat
• sunglasses

Now, I have a purple dress, black leggings, and sunglasses. I just need the hat and boots. And I've been wanting boots for a while, so this just seems like a good time to get them.

2. Alice Cullen

Have the vest. Can get the plaid. Throw on my skinny jeans and black heels, and I'm good to go in that department. When I get the hair layered I can spike it all out and wear my pale makeup that I already have. This seems like the easiest costume.


Now, for if I want to get really creative, and more than slightly comical...

3. Berries and Cream Lad

This is the picture on my phone.
My little sister provides the best faces for face in hole creations.
If I had the costume, and the balls, I would totes wear this around for a day. But sadly, I don't think it will happen....

I don't cook....

..but I really, really want to. I want to be awesome and cook good things.

So, today I went and hit up the new thrift store that just opened down the street. I love me a good thrift store. While I was looking around, I found this find for a buck:
That, my friend, is a lovely little cookbook binder thing that allows me to add my own recipes. I thought the cover was really cute and would go well in the awesome vintage-y, whimsical future kitchen I have planned.

I actually hit up this thrift store twice today. The first time I didn't have any cash on me and was just going to kinda look around. Then when I found this, I decided that I had to go back. I was already planning a trip to the WalMarks so I could get some new iPod earbuds (since I can't seem to find mine) and some cash. And then I went back and bought this little puppy.

Now I just need to add the recipes. My mom made her cousin a family cookbook for Christmas this past year, so I'm going to raid her computer and find all the recipes she used for that and add them. As well as any other good recipe I come across. If you have any suggestions, throw them at me.

While at this new store, I also found a really old Singer sewing machine for $20. I was really tempted to buy it. It probably doesn't work anymore, but it was cute and I would have displayed it nicely. I may have to check in on that sometime..

Mega Extreme Spoons.

Sometimes I start to write a blog post and then just save it as a draft, thinking that I will come back and take another look at it before posting it. And sometimes I forget about those posts and they never get posted. As I was looking for something to write about tonight, I decided to look back on my past posts and those that somehow managed to just be drafted. This is one of those. Please enjoy from a time when I was thinking on little sleep, lots of stress, and apparently fumes from sculpture class.

__________________________________________________________________

I was sitting outside on the patio things by the sculpture studio working on my project when the greatest idea I have ever had came to me. As I sit there, sealing my sculpture with this sealant that had a lot of fumes, I see people on the quad running a muck and getting all muddy. And that is when it hits me.

We've all played Spoons. Or, if you are Kaitlin, you haven't. (If you haven't, look up the rules.) Regular spoons. With them placed directly in front of you for easy reach.

Then, if you want to up the difficulty (and chance of breaking a bone), you play Extreme Spoons. Same regular spoons. But this time, they are located in a different room of the house. Now you have to race to get your spoon (and maybe trip over a few people/things in the process..).

And now, I introduce Mega Extreme Spoons. Here's the concept: On campus here, we play the card game outside on the quad (the large open, grassy area in the middle of campus). The spoons, however, are located in a pre-determined building. Now you have to sprint across campus. Dodging people on their bikes. Trying to not trip over that one loose brick in the sidewalk. And finally reach the door to the building that holds what you want most: that nice, semi-shiny, hopefully clean spoon.

I'm a friggin genius.

I need your advice.

I'm thinking about cutting my hair off. I've had long hair for a while now. It may be time for a change.

Soooooo, here's about how long my hair is now:

Ahhh Erin's graduation...

And here's what I think I want to do:

Just kidding. Totally freaked you out didn't I?! (Don't worry, this freaks me out too.)

Ok, in all seriousness, I'm thinking about something like this:

(Is this that chick from The Hills?? I don't really know..)

I haven't really decided yet. I've been wanting to do something different with my hair for a while now. And this just seems like a good idea.

Now I need people to talk me into it. Or out of it if you think it's a bad idea.
My cousin says I should do it.

Wedding of the Decade.

My mom got married on Saturday. It truly was the wedding of the decade.

Because it took a decade for it to happen.
But it was such a fun and good time. I love it when my family gets together.
I have a great family.


Please note that this isn't all of us. I think my cousin counted up that there were 11 of us missing. This includes my grandparents and my grandpa's siblings, all of my mom's first cousins, and then all of my generation. Plus a couple 4th generation youngens.
And we still all get together every holiday and every Father's Day weekend we all go camping.
This is why I love family.

Anyways, the wedding went great. I remembered his ring and the marriage license.
That was my part. And actually signing the marriage license.


Apparently I sped walked down the aisle. I wouldn't doubt it.
I get weirded out when people watch me.

Reception and dance were loads of fun.
My college roommates Erin and Kaitlin came and apparently even coordinated their outfits.


Their first dance as husband and wife was to At Last by Etta James.
It was a secret that Mom had planned. Since, like I said, it took them 10 years to get married.
You thought I was joking weren't you?


My grandpa even got to dance a song. For those that don't know, he had to have surgery to get 2 toes removed about a month or 2 ago, so we weren't sure if he was going to be up and moving on it by the wedding or not. But he pulled through and danced a song with Mom.

New step-dad's favorite wedding dance song is the YMCA. Obviously, it is pretty cool.

All in all, good times were had by everyone.
My legs literally hurt for 2 days from all the dancing. Even after I took off the shoes.
Totally worth it though.

Just cause I'm a big fan of candid pictures.
Ignore that beverage in front of me. That looks like it is on display in some sort of ad.