Friday, December 31, 2010

2010 in Review

This year has definitely had it's up and downs for me. Even though the majority of the year was great, I'm more than ready to say goodbye to 2010 and say hello to 2011. Actually, I'm welcoming it with open arms and hoping that it'll bring a new change (which I'll talk about soon I promise).

In 2010, I was fortunate to travel around the country and had a ball doing it!
Cincinnati
Gaitlinburg, TN & Los Angeles, CA with Evan Lysacek
Santa Monica Pier
Wizarding Wold of Harry Potter-Orlando
The Billiard Room in Graceland- Memphis, TN
The Cibola National Forest-Albuquerque, NM
Lorraine Motel-Memphis TN The site of MLK's death

Besides traveling, I celebrated my 26th Birthday and my Mom's Birthday as well...
I also got to spend time with wonderful friends...

Pullman Square

In the water at the lake

Fat Pattys

I can't wait to see what the new year brings!!!! Hope you have a wonderful New Year's Eve! 

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Theater Thursday

This weeks Theater Thursday featured movie is When Harry Met Sally.

With New Years Eve swiftly approaching, I instantly thought of When Harry Met Sally when trying to decide what movie to feature this week.

Maybe it's their friendship love affair or maybe it's the fact that the timeline of the movie spans over years but I love how it evolves and we get to see their lives. Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) begin their lives in NYC by traveling there together as complete strangers. Once they arrive in the city they go their separate ways only to reunite later in life. 

Once they come into each other's lives they un-expectantly become friends and start to mold around each other. When an unexpected event takes place it make them wonder if they're anything more than friends. If you've never seen this classic, then you must! 

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Game, Set, Match



Yesterday something occurred which caused me to stop, smile, laugh and then over analyze the crap out of it.

Remember the last guy I talked about on my What Not to Say/Do on a Date segments? If not, here is the story. Let's just say that after that "date", I had expected to never hear from him again. Well Monday afternoon rolls around and I hear my phone beep. I had a text message. I grab my phone and I see that it's him. Hmm... this is interesting.

He's asking me how my Christmas went. Game. I play into whatever game is now started and tell him how my Christmas went. I'm not completely rude and I have no reason to hate the guy (I actually think he's pretty nice). I ask him how his holiday went and he tells me. Then he asks me if I'd like to hang out that night. Say what?

I was working overtime that day so I tell him that I'm not getting off till the late evening and that if he wanted to hang out it couldn't be until later in the evening. He tells me that's fine and that I could just come over and hang out. Set.

I agree to the time and place and tell him that I'll see him later that night.

Literally 2 hours later, I get another message from him telling me that he has to cancel. That something came up for work and that he has to travel two hours to get the problem fixed. He also tells me in the text that maybe we can hang out when he gets back (not that night but another time). Match.

At first I didn't think anything about it. So ok, maybe he was bored, lonely, whatever and wanted to have someone to hang out with and thought of me. Sure that's fine and honestly maybe something really did come up. BUT what if it was all a game? Maybe after our last hang out, the fact that I never called him, never texted him, never had any contact what so ever made him feel like he was off his game.

So now I started to wonder, did he ask me to hang out just to see if I'd say yes and really had no plans of us actually hanging out? Well if so, then I clap my hands to him that's a great Game, Set, Match.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

A New Year



Is upon us and with it comes new possibilities. I've never been big on making resolutions but last year I set a few goals for myself. Last year my goals were the following: To read more. Well I read 44 books. I think that one was a success. I had never read that many books in one year of my life. The second goal I made was to pay off debt. This one was kind of a success. I started 2010 with owing on 5 credit cards and a car payment. Well now I owe on 3 cards and still have the car payment.

This years goals are simple.
-To continue reading. I never set a number goal last year. This year 50 books.
-To pay of debt! Have no credit card balances.
-To SAVE, SAVE, SAVE. I want to buy my dream home.

I also have another goal but I really don't want to talk about it on here until I know for sure or not if it's going to be a possibility. Around February I'll finally be able to talk about it. Until then, please cross your fingers and send me all your good luck!

Monday, December 27, 2010

A Christmas to Remember

This year Christmas was one for the books. I was fortunate enough to be off work, spend the day with family and as an added bonus Santa brought me everything I wanted and so much more!

On Christmas Eve, my mom and I went to see White Christmas at the theater. It was a really cool experience to actually get to see it on the screen. I wanted to sing along in my seat, but I was pretty for sure all the other patrons wouldn't have enjoyed it. haha! Later that night, we opened our traditional one present on the eve.

Remember when I blogged here and here about the Ugg boots and Fossil watch I was drooling over? Well guess what? It pays to blog...

YEP! I got both of them!

I also got tons of dvd's (which if anyone knows me, knows that I love), books and movie posters for my future home theater room. I was pretty excited! My bff Kristin got me a Sex and the City 2 cast signed poster. I can't wait to hang it on the wall! 

Once we exchanged gifts, we got ready and headed to my grandmother's house for the 2nd annual Christmas breakfast. Last year my entire family started doing breakfast together and opening gifts. I think we'll continue doing this for awhile. It's always so much fun! 
 
Uncle J with a shake weight & Uncle K with his I <3>

And what would Christmas be without the infamous couch photo... May I present the 2010 Christmas Couch photo! 

All in all it was a very Merry Christmas! Hope you had a wonderful one as well!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Festivus For the Rest of Us

Yesterday was Festivus and boy did I celebrate it! Don't know what festivus is? Well it become known around the nation in December of 1997 via the show Seinfeld. Festivus is a secular holiday celebrated on December 23 as "another way" to celebrate the holiday season without participating in it's pressures and commercialism. 
Instead of a tree, people have a plain silver pole. The best part of Festivus is something called, the "Airing of Grievances". The Airing of Grievances is when everyone participating is allowed to tell people how they've disappointed them during the year. And of course this is my favorite part of Festivus. 

If you follow me over on twitter, Jmomiller. Then you know I aired my grievances and it felt gooooood. I think it should become a monthly holiday. That would make life so much easier! So if you missed out on this year's festivus. Join in next year, it's totally worth it. I swear! 

As for today, it's Christmas Eve! After the 1o hours of work I'll be doing today, I'm headed out to see White Christmas on the big screen! A local theater is showing it and I can't wait to see it up on the big screen just like how it originally came out! Once the movie is done, we'll probably head home and get ready for Santa's visit! 

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve!! 

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Theater Thursday

Today is Thursday so that can only mean one thing. It's...
Since Christmas is this weekend, this is sadly the last post of the Christmas edition Theater Thursday. This week's movie is, Trading Places
Now, I know that most of you probably don't think Christmas when you think or hear about Trading Places but in my family you do. The movie takes place in Philadelphia at Christmas. It's the story of a rich, stock broker named Louis Winthorp (Dan Akroyd) trading places in the world with a street hustling bum, Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy). 
Unknowingly Winthorp and Valentine become an experiment to two bored, rich bosses- The Dukes. Winthorp losses everything he has and finds himself living with a prostitute (Jamie Lee Curtis) while Valentine inherits everything he's ever dreamed of in the world. It's not until they learn what's been going on that they join forces to get back at the Dukes.
If you've never seen this movie it is a must. It has some classic scenes and is actually very Christmas theme movie. So don't miss it this holiday season!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The Year of Reading

When I entered the 2010 year, I only made a few goals for myself. One of them was to read more books. I think I exceeded this goal. In 2010 I read a total of 43 books. I'm currently 100 pages into book 44 but I know there's no way I'll finish it with the busy holiday schedule over the next week. 

Out of all those books, I'd have to say my favorite read in 2010 was: The Hunger Games
I was mesmerized by this book. I just couldn't put it down, in fact I read it in one day. I keep hearing that there's going to be a movie and I can't wait!
The worst book I read: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
I know, I know. People loved it but I thought it was the slowest book ever. It took everything in me to keep reading. I thought it started out slow and ended slow. I read the 2nd book in the series and liked it a whole lot more but still didn't think it was great. I'll probably read the 3rd book in the series in 2011. 

The best new (personal) find: Sherryl Woods. Her books are amazing. No matter which series you decide on, they're all great! My favorites have been The Sweet Magnolia Series
Her books are usually light reads but they make you think about relationships in friendship and love. These books got me through the spring and summer. However, they made a little cynical on the love front.

Another great find for me was the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries.
Yep, I had never read any of these before but I love them! You can basically read one a night and they're classic and fun. It's like watching a little scooby doo mystery but with people and reading. 

Here's my complete list for books read this year: Mommywood by Tori Spelling, Dead And Gone by Charline Harris, Dear John by Nicolas Sparks, Official Book Club Selection by Kathy Griffin, The Lucky One by Nicolas Sparks, A Touch of Dead by Charline Harris, True Believer by Nicolas Sparks, At First Sight by Nicolas Sparks, The 8th Confession by James Patterson, Hothouse Orchid, Kisser by Stuart Woods, San Diego by J Smith, The Choice, The Girl of his Dreams by Nicolas Sparks, Feels Like Family, Welcome to Serenity, Home in Carolina, Sweet Tea at Sunrise by Sherryl Woods, Amazing Gracie, Slice of Heaven, HoneySuckle Summer by Sherryl Woods, Dead in the Family by Charline Harris, Uncharted terriTori by Tori Spelling, Lucid Intervals by Stuart Woods, Mending FencesThe Inn at Eagle Point, Flowers on Main, Stealing Home, Seaview Inn by Sherryl Woods, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larrson, The Mournful Teddy, The Clockwork Teddy by John Lamb, While the Clock Ticked, The Tower Treasure, The Secret of the Old Mill, The Mystery of Cabin Island, What Happened at Midnight by Franklin Dixon, The Secret of the Old Clock by Katherine Keene, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening & The Struggle by L.J. Smith, Elvis & Me by Priscilla Presley, Meet Me In Manhatten by Judith Arnold and currently Hard to Hold by Julie Leto

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Dear Santa

Santa, I'm really hoping you can bring me all my wishes and dreams this year. I feel I've been a nice girl for the last   day or two 11 months. I know there's been times when I've been naughty but who hasn't been? And isn't that what karma is for? I feel the karma takes care of the bad decisions and poor judgement skills. So basically I feel there's always room on the nice list. Go ahead Santa, put me on the nice list... pretty please? I don't ask for much. 

I'd like to get a few materialist things but I'd really love to spend the day with my family, eat some good food and have friends reach out to me. Because in the end, I could be dirt poor and have nothing but still want for family and friends to show me they care. Lately, I've been struggling with that and I feel like I need it more than ever. It's never fun to feel forgotten, unwanted or unneeded. 

So Santa, if you could can you come through for me? Thanks. I'll work on being nice more of the year. 

Monday, December 20, 2010

Oh Fudge!

The only exciting thing of my weekend was getting fudge made! 
(Chocolate fudge)
I don't know what it is about this time of the year but the baking skills come out in full force!
As you can tell, the peanut butter fudge has already started to disappear. I baked chocolate chip cookies but they all got ate before I could take a photo. 

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for Christmas. I'm ready for the New Year and I'm ready to say goodbye to 2010 and welcome 2011. I have no idea what this next year holds for me but I have the hope that it's something amazing. 

Oh, guess what?! This is my 500th post! Want to ask me something? Anything? Go ahead! 

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Favorite Christmas Ornament

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I got this ornament earlier this year and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites! 

My love of travel can be displayed forever in the shape of a smores treat. 

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Theater Thursday


It's Theater Thursday and keeping with the Christmas Edition theme, this week's featured movie is Scrooged

AMC has been showing the Bill Murray version of Scrooged a lot this season! Each time it's been on, I've been finding myself watching it. His classic comedy with the holiday twist makes for a good watch. If you've never seen this movie then you're missing out on a Bill Murray classic and a good holiday movie! 

Having the basic premise of being visited by 3 ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future Bill Murray, who plays Frank a tv network president will attempt to learn the real meaning of Christmas. 

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

90 Miles an Hour


Does anyone else feel like they've been going 90 miles an hour lately? Because this is the exact way I have been feeling. 
Maybe it's because it's the holidays
Maybe it's because friends & family are in town
Maybe it's because I didn't start my Christmas shopping as early this year
Maybe it's because it's been balls freezing cold out & I just want to stay inside
Maybe it's because I got a got a slight promotion at work & now put in more hours
Maybe it's because my list of "Things to Do" just keeps getting longer & longer

I love Christmas but man o' man. This year feels like it's on overdrive and I'm barely hanging on for dear life. I need to wrap presents, finish buying presents, hopefully get some peanut butter fudge made and watch a few more Christmas movies. 

I did see one thing the other day that made me smile and stop....

That's right. It's Elvis wine.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Top 2 Tuesday

Top 2 Favorite Games!

I'm old school and still love my games to be board games. 
My First Choice...
I've always been a big fan of Clue. Who doesn't love a good game of Miss Scarlett in the library with the lead pipe? Or Mrs. White in the billiard room with the rope?

# 2
Mall Madness. This game could go on for hours! I loved it. I loved setting up the stores and hearing the prompts. I think this game helped add to my addition for shopping. I still have my vintage/classic version of this game. They have a new modern one but I'm still rocking the old school one from the early 1990's. 

Monday, December 13, 2010

What Not to say/do on a date Part 12

That's right, What Not to Say/Do on a Date is back! If you've missed any of the earlier editions they can be found here

Before I tell you about my most recent date, I want to go ahead and answer my most frequently asked question when it comes to these segments. Have all of these dates happened to you? YES! Yes, they have. I've changed the names to protect the dates but all of the events in them have happened to me on my personal dates. Now on to the date.....

If you remember in my last edition of What Not to Say/Do on a Date, I mention the date that never was. I had been somewhat fixed up by a co-worker and the guy seemed pretty uninterested. Well all of that changed this past week. 

On Wednesday I got a call from said co-worker telling me that the dude wanted me to call him. If you know my co-worker, he won't give out people's numbers. He just won't. So I said alright and he passed his number along to me. I didn't really want to call the guy because hello, he snubbed me at our initial meeting. So for me to call him up out of the blue did not seem appealing to me. However my interest was sparked since apparently he had told my co-worker to have me get ahold of him. So I did the easiest thing. I sent him a text. 

I got NO response. I was annoyed and done. Turns out I texted the wrong number, oops. So I just called him, got voicemail, left a message. To my surprise the guy called me back within 10 minutes and we set up a hang out/date. The date rolls around and it's going great. The first hour we're having great conversation. Things are clicking and we're getting along. Then it happens. He drops the question, 

So what are you looking for?  
I hate this question. No matter what someone says, it's awkward. If you're a girl and say, "Oh I'm looking for a relationship" well then that turns you into a needy girl who instantly wants to get married. If you say, "I'm just looking to go out and have fun." well then you become an easy hoe that can be used. No matter what, this question is a land mine! 

He answered his own question before I could even respond. He doesn't want to be in a relationship and he isn't looking. Um... ok that's great. BUT why go out on a date? Awkward. 

I'm not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed because he seems to be a really nice guy. Obviously, he's honest.

Friday, December 10, 2010

The Infamous Christmas Couch Photos

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Family Christmas Photos
Each year on Christmas my family converges on my grandmother's house for the day. The 8 of us pile around a table meant for 6 and stuff ourselves silly. Then afterwards we'll move to the living room and watch a Christmas movie. 

This is usually when we take the famous couch photos. What's the famous couch photos, you ask? Well it consists of a small couch made for maybe 5 people maximum (honestly I'm being generous in estimating that five people could fit on it comfortably) and when eight people pile on top of it any way possible and proceed to pose for photos
Wanna see the evidence? Here's 2 years worth of the famous Christmas couch photos.  
Christmas Couch Photo 2009

Christmas Couch Photo 2006 
(As you can see my uncle had just got engaged)
I've got a photo like this for every Christmas since 2006. Funny thing is we've never planned the photo, it's always just happened! 

Thursday, December 9, 2010

A Trip & A Disaster

It's Thursday & around here that would normally mean it's Theater Thursday but this week has been anything but ordinary so I'm going to share with you the events of what's been happening.

The Trip...
On Monday, I drove 4 hours north (outside of Pittsburgh) to visit one of my BFF's Kristin. We hadn't seen each other since she came in for our boating day back in August so we were way over due. 

(The bff Kristin)
We spent the evening playing Glee Karaoke on Wii and eating dinner at Buca Di Beppo. Have you ever ate at one? It's amazing!!! 
They also have some very interesting decor....
As you can see the walls were colorfully decorated with all Italians and Catholics. I highly suggest finding one of these establishments because the food was amazing! They serve everything family style so the portions are pretty large. 

After dinner we headed back to the house and exchanged Christmas presents. I would show you pictures but we forgot to take any!! I will say, Kristin out did her herself and she got me some really awesome gifts! 

Originally, I was going to stay there Monday and Tuesday but Monday night I got some news that made me get up Tuesday morning at the crack of dawn and drive home.

The Disaster...
What started out as a small plumbing issue at my house on Sunday quickly escalated to a full out disaster/emergency situation. Sunday evening we noticed that anytime the shower was running or clothes were in the washer, water would come spewing out of pipe in our basement. Um...not good but with all the crazy rain here we thought, "Oh the city sewer, where all the water goes must be backed up." Uh, wrong! It quickly went to, we can't turn on the water whatsoever or it's going to flood our house. 

We called a plumber and it turns out they needed to root it out. Wrong! Turns out as they were trying to root out the pipes that they realized the pipes had collapsed. Have you ever had a collapsed pipe in your house? No? Oh well let me tell you, it isn't cheap to get it fixed! Plus who's going to come on a Sunday to work on that?!? So Monday morning, we get someone to the house and they get 100 feet out with rooting. They hit a giant tree root. Problem solved... not! That's when we got the news about the pipe. Well then they had to dig a giant hole out in our yard. The hole was 7 feet deep. Nope, not kidding.

So they get to the pipe and they realize what they dug to was not what needed worked on. They realized they were going to have to jack hammer our concrete basement floor to get to the pipe. All the while, we have NO water in our house. After 2 straight days of working non stop, it is finally fixed and didn't cost us a small fortune. Big thanks to my cousin Alex, my uncle Jonathan (who came in from DC), my other uncle Kenneth and Shayne and Scott. Without them it would have cost thousands of dollars.