Friday, November 30, 2012

Toto, I Don't Think We're In Kansas Anymore

I've been living in Sacramento since the end of August. It's been over three months since I left West Virginia and to say that I'm missing my friends and family is an understatement. I'm not going to lie, some days are really hard and then others are easy. When I first got here, I was on a great work schedule. I was with people who were really friendly and made an effort to help me feel like I wasn't the new girl. The pace of work wasn't overwhelming and it felt like a great fit. Then we bid on new schedules and I got stuck with the only one left.

I've been on my new schedule since October and to say that it's been nice would be a big fat lie. Getting up in the morning isn't even the worst part. I have to get up most mornings by 2:15 a.m. and that's not because of my commute. It's because I have to be literally working at 3:15 (yes, you read that right... AM). The pace is grueling. I'll end up standing almost the entire day and speaking for more than half of it. I've had to talk so much at work that when I get off work, I don't even feel like talking to anyone on the phone to let them know I'm on the way home. 

The people on this shift... they make fun of my east coast accent. Most people in the beginning were like, "Oh that's cute, you have an accent that isn't from around here." However, some of these people like to pretend to mimic it as they talk back to me. Um... last time I checked this isn't 7th grade. Most of the time I shrug it off but at 3:15 in the morning it tends to rake the nerves a little bit. But as my mom has taught me, Smile at them and say nothing. Killing with kindness kids! For the majority though other coworkers have been nice or at least made the attempt to be nice to me.

Did I mention when I basically got forced to go to the morning shift that I was also losing money because of it? Yep! Sure am! The only days off with this schedule included a Sunday. Well that's all fine and great if you want a Sunday off but I don't. I've always worked Sundays. Want to know why? We get a little thing called, Sunday differential. AKA they pay more for you to work that day. I got my most recent paycheck and it was a noticeable difference. Home girl has bills to pay! When you are six figures in debt with a house payment, car payment and credit card bills then every dollar counts. Definitely during the holiday season.

Apart from the whole work thing making me almost cry on a daily basis. I'm just tired of being alone a lot of the time. I wish my family was here. I'm ready to see everyone and for them to be here. I don't have any friends here so I basically have become an expert cleaner and crafter. Do you live in Sacramento? Let's be friends and hang out! I'm trying to see the good in everything and strive to make the most out of this move. Some days just seem more hard than others. It could be because it's the holidays and that's my favorite time of the year and this year has been different. BUT I know that good things will come. I'll hopefully either get a promotion soon and if not maybe I'll even find another job that will allow me to sleep past 2:15 am and make twice as much money. Hey a girl can dream right? In the meantime keep me in your good thoughts.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Theater Thursday

It's Theater Thursday! What's Theater Thursday? Well it's a day (always Thursday) that you can pick out a movie that you love or something that you think others should watch that's out on dvd. Grab the Theater Thursday button, post about your movie choice and then come back here and link up! That way everyone will have some great movie ideas and choices going into the weekend. 


Christmas Holiday Edition
I love Christmas and movies so this is a great combination for me! For the rest of this month, my movies will be holiday movies! This week's featured movie is a Sandra Bullock classic, While You Were Sleeping
Sandra Bullock stars as Lucy, a single Chicago girl who works for the public transportation system as a token booth worker at the train station. It's during this time that she sees and meets Peter. Peter (Peter Gallagher) is a stylish, businessman who breezes through the station every morning saying hello and smiling at Lucy. Over time Lucy draws an interest in Peter but can't figure out how to start a conversation with him. She's attracted to him and wants to date him but can't figure out how to get that into a conversation. 

On Christmas Day when Lucy gets stuck working, Peter is the only passenger coming through. A few guys at the station start hassling him and knocks him onto the tracks rendering him unconscious. Lucy notices this rushes to his aid. When she gets to the hospital there is some confusion and she's introduced to Peter's family as his fiance. Much to her disbelief, Peter's family believes it because they haven't seen him in awhile. Lucy gets scared and doesn't know what to say. 

There's only one major problem... Jack (Bill Pullman). Jack is Peter's brother and while Peter remains in a como, Jack and Lucy begin hanging out. They start to fall for each other but Jack believes that Lucy is his brothers fiance and Lucy doesn't know how to tell them all the truth without upsetting them. Once Peter wakes up it goes crazy from there! 

If you've never seen this movie, check it out! Also don't forget to link up! 

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Welcome Home: The Kitchen

The house tour continues! If you've missed the other two editions you can check them out here...

Before I moved into the house, the kitchen had been completely re-done. They had put in new cabinets, stainless steel appliances and all new granite counter tops. They had also completely re-done the wood floors in the kitchen, dining room and living room. The hard work was done! Thank goodness. 
The Before:
  
After...
New wood flooring and all new cabinets
Those white owls are finding a new home now in the house
can you tell what I was making?
Stainless steel dishwasher because actually hand washing dishes grosses me out!
These postcards are a work in progress. I thought I'd put up one from all the places I've been and collected over the years of travels. 
There's a window in my kitchen but I have yet to get curtains for it. If you notice all of the canisters on my counter, they are vintage and from a 1970's collection called Merry Mushroom. I'm trying to get the matching curtains but they can be hard to find. Whenever they do come up online they can be really expensive! When I update the kitchen, I'll be sure to follow up on here.

Monday, November 26, 2012

A Trip Back Home

I have been in California since August and was very thankful to go back to West Virginia for the Thanksgiving holiday. Luckily enough, I got the time off work and found a flight for a reasonable price. Oh who am I kidding?!? The flight cost me and arm and a leg but I didn't care because I could go back and see my family! 

Sunday I flew into Huntington and was immediately reunited with my mom. It felt so good to be back.. I can't even describe it. If you've ever been away from your loved ones for a long time then you know exactly what I'm talking about. 
 
 
My flight didn't get in town until really late so Sunday was basically a travel day. Monday morning, I hit the ground running though. I had been wanting to see Breaking Dawn Part 2 so...
The theater that we always go to has the best warm nuts during the holidays. I need to try to figure out how to get them year round! I could seriously eat them all the time! They are some type of pecan that's been glazed with sugar and cinnamon. 
After the movie, I headed to the first of two Thanksgiving dinners that I would be eating. It was filled with my favorites: hashbrown casserole, home made rolls, turkey skin, corn on the cob and baby red potatoes. My mom did a great job on the turkey! 
 
 
The next day my mom and I headed out to get our live Christmas tree. Usually we get it the day after Thanksgiving but since I was having to leave we got it the day before. We usually get it at a local place called Stewarts but they weren't getting their trees in time for us to buy it there this year. So after asking friends and getting some suggestions we actually found live ones at Home Depot! I had no idea they had fresh, live Christmas trees. We were able to get it up and decorated all in one day. Then it was time to eat another Thanksgiving dinner!
 
My time back in West Virginia felt like it went so fast. I was so thankful to be able to go home and see my entire family for the holiday. I got to see everyone, eat some good food and enjoy the time with them all. I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving 2012! Enjoy the season friends!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Sunday Social

Sunday Social
1. Name 4 jobs you've had in your life.
Sales Associate at A.C. Moore
Fundraiser for Marshall University
Aerospace Instructor at U.S. Space & Rocket Center NASA
My current Federal Job
2. Name 4 movies you would watch over and over.
Romancing the Stone
She's the Man
The Thomas Crown Affair
New In Town
3. Name 4 places you have lived.
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntsville, Alabama
Sacramento, California
I've only lived in 3 places!!!
4. Name 4 of your favorite foods.
Breakfast foods! Bacon!
Pork Chops
Baked Mac and Cheese
In-N-Out Burger
5. Name 4 things you always carry with you.
My phone
Gps
Wallet
travel size body spray
6. Name 4 places you have been on vacation.
London, England
Memphis, Tennessee
Orlando, Florida
Los Angeles, California

Hope you liked learning a little bit more about me! Don't forget to become a follower! The 800 by NYE Giveaway is going on right now! If I hit 800 by then I'm going to have a HUGE giveaway! 

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope all of you are getting to spend the day with family and friends and eating tons of turkey! Remember today is a day to remind yourself of the things you have to be thankful for. 

I'm thankful for...
My mom. 
My bff's Erica and Kristin. 
A job that allows me to pay my bills. 
Owning a home.
My uncles, aunts and of course my cousin Baby Olivia!

Enjoy the day! 

Theater Thursday will return next week with the first Christmas Holiday Edition!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Be a Follower!

I've been blogging steadily since the end of 2008. Over time, I've came into contact with some really great people through this outlet and I love it! I love getting comments from people, the support that's given on rough days, the thumbs up on photos and the congrats when good news comes. That's why I've decided that if I reach 800 followers by the end of the year aka on New Years Eve then I'm going to have a HUGE giveaway. 

I'm talking HUGE! 

So tell your friends! Tweet about it, blog about it. Instagram about it! If you tweet or blog about it, come back here and comment with the link and I'll save an extra entry for you in the giveaway!!! Trust me... it's going to be well worth it!!!

Friday, November 16, 2012

My Utopia is Treetopia.

I am probably one of the biggest lovers of Christmas. I can't get enough of the holiday. Every year I plan out my decorations, when I'll get my Christmas cards ready, map out where all of my Christmas trees will go and wait patiently till the time comes to start decorating. This year I was lucky enough to add a new tree to my household. 
from 
Have you ever heard of Treetopia ? I hadn't until about a year ago when I was surfing the web trying to find a unique Christmas tree. I was looking for something that would infuse the classic Christmas tree but bring something fun and unique to it... then I stumbled onto Treetopia. I got so excited!

I've added the Candy Apple Red Tinsel Tree to my collection and I love it! It's a pre-lit pink bulb, 4 foot tinsel tree and it's fabulous! It even has one of those foot pedals attached so you can easily turn it off and on. It literally took me less than 5 minutes to get it set up! It's branches were full, flexible and quality made. It even came with a storage bag for the off season. I could even see using this tree at Valentines Day because of the great red coloring!
They've got every tree you could ever think of and even ones you never dreamed could exist! Another great thing about their trees... they are pre-lit ! 
See what I'm talking about?!? Want an orange tree? They've got it! Want a patriotic tree? They've got it! Celebrate Hanukah? Well they've got a tree for you too!

So now that I've told you all about Treetopia , I'm sure you are wishing you had one right now for the Christmas season. Well guess what?! You can win one! 
 
Treetopia is having a Facebook contest called Treetopia Secret Santa Sweepstakes and one winner can win not just one but two trees! One for yourself and one for a friend. To enter all you need to do is be a Treetopia Facebook page fan, then provide your name, e-mail address and the name and e-mail address of your friend. You also get to choose from a list of which trees you'd like to win. Winners will be drawn randomly. The contest is going on now and ends on November 29, 2012. 
Good luck! 

*Disclosure: I was given the Candy Apple Red Tinsel Tree free for product review. However, all opinions are my own. 

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Theater Thursday

It's Theater Thursday! What's Theater Thursday? Well it's a day (always Thursday) that you can pick out a movie that you love or something that you think others should watch that's out on dvd. Grab the Theater Thursday button, post about your movie choice and then come back here and link up! That way everyone will have some great movie ideas and choices going into the weekend. 

This week's featured movie is, Dutch
Dutch is a hilarious movie that takes place over Thanksgiving. Since that's next week, what a great time to watch it! Ed O'Neill stars in this 1991 comedy as a meat-and-potatoes construction worker. Who attempts to stay firmly in his girlfriend's good graces... by retrieving her preppy son from boarding school in time for Thanksgiving. He has to go all the way from Chicago down to Georgia to retrieve him. Little does Dutch (O'Neill) know that Doyle (Ethan Embry)  is a 12 year old nightmare. 

Doyle is stuck up, sarcastic and feels entitled to whatever he wants when he wants it. Basically he's your basic nightmare and to Dutch he's going to keep him busy all the way to Chicago. He doesn't want to spend the holiday with his mother and just really wants to see his father who's mega rich and has divorced his mom. He feels that Dutch coming to get him is a sign that his mother is getting serious with another man. So he takes it upon himself to show how much of a nightmare he can actually be. 

Will they both make it back to Chicago for Thanksgiving in time? Better yet... will they even make it back in one piece? Watch this great 90's holiday film to find out. Ed O'Neill definitely keeps you laughing that's for sure! 

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

A Doll Baby

Last year we got a new addition to our family. My uncle Kenneth and his wife Amy had a baby. They named her Olivia and so she became Baby Olivia. 

Look how cute she is... this was on the day she got sent home from the hospital. 
Then of course there's one of my favorite outfits they put her in during those first few days. 
Then there's me fawning all over her. I like to think of myself as the baby whisperer. I could always make her laugh and smile. 
And then there was her cuteness overload as the holidays and seasons came around. 
First Christmas
Summer swim wear
Halloween
Christmas 2012

I mean really?!? Isn't she just so cute?! Well of course she is! But tell me one thing... How in the world did she already turn one year old this month? 
Time is just flying by. Clearly she got the genetics of our family loving food...
Happy Birthday Baby Olivia!
Can't wait to see her and her little outfits for the holidays! I'm one proud cousin. 

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Welcome Home: Guest Bathroom

I first moved out here at the end of August. Since then I've been trying to unpack and get settled in. It's amazing how much stuff you have to do and buy to get a new house in order. It's been over two months and I'm still not even near being complete. I've got so much to do still in the house and in the backyard. Once Josh gets here we're going to go to work on the backyard and stain the fence. 

You have to start somewhere so why not the guest bathroom? The house has two. Here's a photo of it right before I moved in.
Then I started to finally get a few things in there....
Coming in from the hallway. I love the stone floors and the stone shower. The tub is actually a Jacuzzi tub which I have yet to use. When Shayne helped me move out he accidently turned it on and we couldn't figure out how to shut it off. Ha! I might want to figure that out. 
 I've kept the color scheme the muted tan since my owls are vintage it works out well. 
 The mirrors and sink are a darker cherry wood. The finishes are stainless steel. 
 This bathroom is really large and this wall is huge. Since it's the wall that faces the shower, I might add something else to it besides the one owl. I wonder if there's a third owl out there to match the set? 
 
This is the view from the hallway going into the bathroom. I literally just put those photos up yesterday and I can't decide if I like them there. It's all the medals from my competitive twirling days and my photos from my collegiate majorette years. I mean we all need a little shrine right?
Stay tuned for more of the home tour!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Weekend Review

First of all thank you to everyone who has or is serving. I'd like to shout out my grandpa who served.
This weekend turned out to be a full blown holiday fest for me. I watched Christmas movies all day on Sunday...

Put out a few more Christmas decorations like my Christmas Owls...
I also put up a brand new Christmas tree. It's tinsel, candy apple red with pink lights. Here's a little sneak peek till I do the full post about it.
I'm attempting to turn my house into a Christmas oasis. Every day that I'm off work, I've been getting more decorations out of boxes. I also made my card wall...
I got my like vintage Santa sign up as well...