The art of waking up

So I got about 10 hrs of sleep last night...and I wake up with a headache and big, dark circles under my eyes....how does this happen!??! Today is when I'm suppose to wake up refreshed and looking half way decent! So to remedy those problems I actually did my hair so that I wouldn't look completely terrible and then decided to take the dog on a walk so she won't be too mad when I leave for work and she's home alone for a few hours....I hadn't looked at the temperature for the day yet, but didn't feel like being cold for half an hour so I decided to break my winter coat out for the first time this year. So I get myself and the dog ready and we go outside and the cold air hits me like a brick wall....now that's how you wake yourself up! The first few breaths I took were those good deep ones when the cold air burns your lungs :) and I could see my breath every time I breathed out. My nose and ears quickly went numb and my hands stayed in my coat pockets the whole walk. A few minutes into the walk I decided to check the temp on my phone...and at 9 a.m. it was still only 25 degrees out!! I am glad that I didn't just wear my hoody like I'd planned lol! And while it might sound like I'm complaining about this experience I'm not at all...I love this weather and it woke me up nice and fast! I loved that I was walking through leaves and the ground was still covered in frost and the wind had that nice, cold bite to it! Now if it would just hurry up and snow!!! I want it to snow SO bad! The first thing I did upon arriving home was put a mug of water into the microwave for a cup of hot, mint tea, which I am currently enjoying as I write this blog :)

So the moral of the story is that while this morning started out kind of terrible it has slowly but surely improved and I am now wide awake, still have a slight head ache, but am in a much better mood...which is also partly due to my super cute doggie that comes running into my room when I wake up and cuddles with me and gives me good morning kisses...that animal is my life... and I wouldn't want it any other way! :) So I'm really contemplating working some serious overtime this holiday season....we're allowed to work overtime and so I'm debating working either 10 hour days on the 5 days a week that I work or working 6 days a week....maybe not every week but some weeks....cuz this month has been really slow at work so none of us are making a lot of money right now but we always get slammed and get crazy around the holidays so they need us to work more...so I could just make bank for about a month and a half and stick a bunch of it in savings and buy everyone nice Christmas presents!! ....and maybe lose my sanity doing it....but I never had much of that to begin with anyways... ;) I have wanted to go ice skating so bad the past few weeks!! I really want to go to the Minneapolis Depot, downtown Minneapolis and go ice skating...it's the best indoor place to go ice skating! I'm procrastinating getting ready for work and making phone calls right now...sadly I'm running out of time to procrastinate :P ..... and my stomach and growling at me and telling me how hungry it is...and a Starbucks breakfast sandwich keeps sounding more and more amazing...and so does a peppermint mocha....I shouldn't spend the money....oh man this is a tough call....where is my sister for intervention when I need her!? Oh yeah, she's working at Starbucks...maybe that's a sign that I should go there.... ;)

All things Christmas and random

So the other day me and a friend (who will remain nameless to protect the innocent) were talking and she was saying how right now would be a good time to have a boyfriend since another guy isn't quite getting the hint that she isn't interested...and he is....So I was of course trying to add to the conversation and said "Yeah, I could use a boyfriend too.... to....buy me cute, fuzzy teddy bears!" At which point my friend started laughing really hard and says, "Forget the teddy bears, what about dinner!" To which I quickly replied "Oh yea! Dinner...and teddy bears!!!" :) So there is my current logic for "needing" a boyfriend...at least the logic that I could come up with in a 2 second span lol! Speaking of boys...and beautiful ones at that....all I've been listening to since Monday is Michael Buble's new Christmas cd....it's beyond wonderful! He has an original song on there called "Cold December Night" and it's definitely one of my favorites! He writes the best songs...and this one is no exception...he wrote the most genius lyric EVER! It's on the bridge of the song and he says "They call it the season of giving, I'm here and yours for the taking (repeat), so kiss me on this cold, December night..." GENIUS! Why has no one ever thought of that before!?!?!?! Every time I hear it I get a big smile on my face because the amazingness of the lyric hits me every single time. Brilliant. And now speaking of Christmas.... I put my tree up in my room last night! :) It's my little 4 footer...but I love it :) It just has the lights and tinsel on it because I need to get some new ornaments to better match my bedroom here so I'm waiting til I have all of my ornaments to decorate it so that I don't have to rearrange and take stuff off....so it needs to be Nov. 1 so that all of the Halloween stuff will be gone and all of the Christmas stuff will be out cuz no one has their ornaments out yet :P I'm actually writing this sitting on my floor next to my lit up tree, while Christmas music plays and a pine scented candle burns in my room...pure bliss...now if it would just hurry up and snow!!! I want snow sooooo bad and NY and the rest of the East Coast got a bunch of it today...and I'm extremely bitter and jealous :P I also want a gingerbread latte...I've been craving one for at least a week now...another good reason for November to hurry up and get here! The other night I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep and thinking of how adulthood isn't all that it's cracked up to be...and I could only think of about 3 good things about being an adult...I will share those with you now: 1. On a rare occasion you have money to buy yourself something nice, 2. You can drive yourself where ever you want to go and 3. You don't get grounded for saying rude things to people...I'm sure there are many more perks to being an adult than that...but late at night and half asleep that was all I could come up with...so there you have it. I love DSW because they always have fabulous shoes and a rewards program but the problem is that since I'm enrolled in their rewards program I keep getting all of these fabulous coupons and deals and it makes me feel like I MUST take advantage of the coupon and/or deal and go buy another pair of shoes!!! This is simply unfair...especially since I shouldn't spend money...so I am currently exercising great self control and NOT using my 2nd $10 off coupon that they sent me.... yes that means that I used the first one, BUT I did need a new pair of brown flats, so it was used out of necessity. See I was able to justify it...and now I have a fabulous, new pair of brown flats :) being a girl is so wonderful sometimes....most of the time it's just awful, but times like that it's pretty grand ;) So I'm trying to decide if I just want to stick with bulb and snowflake ornaments for my tree or if I want to try to find silver Eiffel Tower ornaments and use those too to go with the Paris theme in my room.....hmmmmmm......decisions.....oh boy I need to go write my Christmas list so that my family can buy me wonderful presents ;) For once I'm having an extremely hard time writing a Christmas list...this never happens to me! I'm the kid  that wrote the 10 page, size 8 font Christmas list! (No joke, ask my siblings...they still make fun of me for it to this day.... *sigh*)

Welcome back Abby :)

I'm baaaaaccccckkkkkk!!!!! :) Hello from Abby and Sadie! It's been a long time...and soooo much has happened but I'm not even about to rehash the 3 most amazing months of my life that I spent in France...you can read my other blog to find out about those...but now that I'm back home and back into the groove of things I'm feeling more and more Christmassy every day! (You knew this was coming sooner or later...it's fall and when fall comes Abby gets obsessed with Christmas) This really has been one of the nicest falls we've had in a while. And while fall is my favorite season, Christmas is my favorite holiday with winter being a close second for my favorite season...sooooo I've decided that all I really want to do this winter is go on my first ever for real sleigh ride. Not one of those "sleigh rides" where you are pulled in a hay-filled wagon by a couple horses...that's a hayride. I want to go on a for real sleigh ride! I've wanted to ever since I was a little girl (dream inspired by Little House on the Prairie books lol)....sadly  it's never happened :( I want to go on one and get to sit in the sleigh, low to the ground with a big, warm fuzzy blanket over me and a horse or 2 pulling me across the beautiful white snow! *sigh* hopefully this dream will come true one winter of my life....
So the other day I was wishing I was one of those beautiful, rich girls with the fabulous wardrobe, lots of friends and the beautiful boy friend.....until I quickly realized that if I was that girl, everyone would simply love me because of my looks and my money...that having that fabulous wardrobe would mean having waaaayyyy too many choices every morning...so I have since then decided to be content with being normal, average me...that way I am guaranteed that my friends love me for quirky old me...according to all of my family and friends my wardrobe is already big enough ;) and whenever that beautiful boyfriend does eventually come along he won't just like me cuz I have a pretty face or a lot of money...but he'll like me for me....weirdness and all :) So this is the face that I make to all of you people out there striving to be Barbie doll or some other ridiculous, unattainable person :P Jesus wouldn't have made you if He didn't like you. So there.
Have I ever mentioned that the N'Sync Christmas cd makes me smile no matter what?!
I have been on a rather creative kick lately and am embroidering robots on my t-shirts....and now on a t-shirt for my manager cuz she loved mine, and my mom wants Christmas themed dish towels for her kitchen so if I can ever find Christmas transfers I'll be making her those too....I always feel like an old lady whenever I say that I embroider lol! So it's always been one of my little secrets that I never share cause people are like "You do what?!..." They just don't know that it actually means you can make your clothes look way cooler by putting things like robots on them :)
I bought new comforters for my 2 twin beds in my room...now I can get rid of my striped comforters that look like they belong in a 12 yr old boy's room....which I can't say much about since I did pick them out....granted that was 6 years ago and at the time they were one of the few blue and brown options out there...I guess that's what happens when a girl makes her room colors that are commonly thought of as "boy colors"...that's just sexist. So now I'll just go to JoAnn's and buy pretty blue and brown fabric and make covers for the white comforters that I just bought! Look at me being all crafty! Who knew!?
Well as fun as writing a new blog has been I'm completely exhausted and about to just die right here on my bedroom floor...which would be tragic...then I'd never get to enjoy my new comforters....or any more N'Sync Christmas music...or go on that sleigh ride that I've been dreaming of for years....or eat more chocolate....ok for real I'm going to bed. Good night world.

My last full day in America

So today was my last full day in America...I fly out tomorrow for France, where I will live for 3 months....this is a bittersweet thing. I will miss my family and my poor dog who will not understand why I have left here and will therefore be the saddest one of all (which utterly breaks my heart...no joke) She has been sad ever since she saw my suitcases come out yesterday :( I wish I could just take her with me! The whole thing still seems unreal...it hasn't really hit me yet that I really am flying out tomorrow...I thought this day would never come it just always seemed so far away. But I prepared myself for being bereft of American food...I ate hot dogs today, for dinner we had grilled chicken, baked beans, grilled corn on the cob and salad, I had a Rolo McFlurry from McDonalds and then to end the day I had none other than Taco Bell for my fourth meal ;) My first time eating Taco Bell since I left school and it sure tasted good :) I had to get my fill of it before I left...3 months without greasy, cheap Mexican food is a long time...lol! I hate that I can't take my phone with me...I'm going to be lost without it...I'll have a phone, but it won't be my phone and I won't be able to talk to or text my friends from it because it's just gonna be a pay-as-you-go phone that I'll just use for contacting people in France prolly. Thank God for Skype! It's funny how attached we get to our little electronics...I mean what will I do without Facebook readily accessible to me every second of the day!? lol! I had the dreaded revelation the other night in the shower that I will have to cook for myself for 3 whole months! I don't hate cooking, but I don't exactly LOVE it either. I like to do it, but not necessarily every single day...and besides I've been at school for 3 yrs now and haven't exactly gotten to hone my cooking skills. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fabulous cook, but I only have a couple recipes actually memorized and I don't know how accessible all of the ingredients we use here in America will be in France...or how expensive...so we will see how this excursion goes. I really don't mind cooking it's just a daunting thought....you better believe I will be spending a lot of time on Bon Appetite's website finding new recipes to try so I don't get bored with my food! lol! Well I gotta get some sleep so I can tackle all of the last minute projects before flying out tomorrow afternoon! I shall try to keep you updated! Au Revoir!

Random happiness

It's all winding down...I'm halfway through my last week of actual classes, we had Sr Chapels last week...I was hardly nervous when I gave my speech!...shocking, I know...me queen of nervousness :P If I could change one thing about myself it would prolly be that...my nerves ruin everything :P oh well....so yes, I also sang alto in Sr Chapel...so weird...I mean I can sing it, but have never had to here! I've done it a couple times at home...but so random...oh yay I'm going to go pick up my grad announcements! They're here...I'll be back....

I'm back!! I def ran to the front office...got my packed and then proceeded to skip gleefully down the hallway and couldn't wipe the stupid grin off my face...I'M GRADUATING!!!! Only a week and a half left!!!! AHHHHH!!! I can't wait!!! in case you couldn't tell...I'm a little excited about this :)

Anyhoo, so yesterday I led worship in Chapel and am so glad that it is over with and that I will never have to do that again. It was rather intimidating...and waaayyyy out of my comfort zone because I'm used to leading from the piano and I wouldn't  let myself, so I made myself stand out there on the platform and lead, to just increase the nerve factor....why do I do these things to myself?...because I'm a Nazi...even when it comes to me...and I make myself do things that I know are good for me and that will challenge me and help me overcome my fears...I should be nicer to myself ;) In other news, there's only a month and a half until I leave for France!!! WHOO HOO!!! The money is slowly but surely coming in and I know Jesus is gonna provide for me! He opened the doors for this trip and everything has fallen perfectly into  place so I know it's His will, so if He wants me to go then He'll make a way for me to get there! I just can't wait to be there.

This weather needs to make up it's mind...it was so amazingly beautiful out Monday so I went to the canals with Kristen and we walked the whole way around and then went to target and go Izze and I got fruit snacks too :) And then last night it stormed like crazy all night long (which was absolutely wonderful!) and then today it's cloudy and cold :P I want it to be warm and sunny!!!!! Anyhoo, I'm off to buy Toby a bday present cuz he turns 22 on Fri! yay!!! Happy birthday to my bestie!! (who just happens to be the best bestie ever and who got me an amazing Polar Express set...it has the book, a cd, a tape and a bell!!! It made my day to say the least) Au Revoir!

I'm Proud to be an American

I saw one of the most amazing and moving things ever yesterday. I was driving to America's apartment, which is approximately an hr's drive away, and about 15 minutes into my drive on 465 E I see a cop car with it's lights on in front of a mass of motorcycles, clearing the way for them...for the next 45 minutes I drove past nothing but motorcycles, a solid line of them coming towards me on the opposite side of the highway....they were still coming when I got off my exit. Almost every motorcycle had an American flag, big or little, flying off the back of it. Every on-ramp to 465 W was blocked off so that no traffic could interrupt this flow of motorcycles. Obviously I was rather confused at first. Especially when I saw that on every single overpass that I drove under there were at least 2 emergency vehicles parked on it (fire trucks and ambulances) with other cars lined up along it as well and a solid wall of people standing along the overpass waving at the motorcyclists and each overpass had at least one American flag draped down the middle of it. Every farm that I passed had the family in their truck in the field up against their fence watching and waving as the motorcycles drove past, there were cars pulled over on the sides of the road doing the same...and many of these people had the mini American flags and were waving them as well. I realized about 15 minutes into this procession what was happening....half way through this mass of motorcycles there was  one motorcycle with a box-type thing attached to the back of it with glass sides and an American flag draped over it...and inside was a casket....all of these thousands of people (and there were literally thousands...imagine driving for 45 minutes past nothing but motorcycles and most of them having 2 people per bike...and they weren't driving slow) had turned out for the homecoming of a fallen soldier. Obviously he must have been a biker....but the amount of people on every overpass and on the sides of the road and in the farm fields was amazing...It honestly almost made me cry...I can't even begin to describe how powerful and amazing of a display of love and respect this was....it made me truly proud to be an American. The fact that an entire interstate had to be shut down for a couple hours and that thousands upon thousands of people would get on their bikes and spend an entire Friday afternoon/evening honoring a fallen soldier is pretty amazing. I honor and respect each and every one of our service men and woman and can't thank them enough for everything that they do for our country. God bless America!

Sr Recitals and Baseball

My Sr Recital is tonight...do I feel prepared? Not really... am I nervous? Not yet... Will I be? Oh dear Lord, YES! And this is why I bought a bunch of bananas a couple of days ago....Bananas naturally calm you down, therefore I will eat the whole stinking bunch before my recital and hopefully will be in a coma-like state and not be nervous...which I know is all just wishful thinking, but it would be nice if it would actually happen! I can't wait for tonight to be over! I plan to thoroughly enjoy myself tomorrow and have a little bit of fun to reward myself for all of the torture that Sr Recitals put you through. I can't believe I'm graduating in less than a month. There's 2 weeks of classes left, a half week of finals, our senior trip to Chicago, packing, grad banquet and then graduation. And then the drive home! Which will be ended by driving straight to Hyland's cd release party/concert if I have my way :) I must support my friends!!! I think my parents might actually go for this plan too...they're pretty cool parents if I do say so myself ;) So much to do, and sooooo little time...makes me want to have a panic attack, or just curl up in the fetal position in the corner and not move until graduation...but if I did that then I wouldn't be graduating and would therefore defeat the whole purpose. I want to go shopping for France. I want to be care and worry free and just enjoy life for a little bit....instead of worrying about homework and grades. I can't wait until I'm back at the University of MN where I don't care if I make a 4.0 GPA because it's virtually impossible to do there. And then I'll be living at home and taking French everyday, and working at the PetSmart that I actually like working at, and eating good food, and playing with my doggie every day...and yes I did write a thank you to my dog in my Sr Recital program :) She's important too!!! What I really want right now is for this stupid dislocated rib to go back into place. It is annoying...and painful. :P Can we talk about all of the anger and bitterness I now hold towards Nick Swisher for sliding into and breaking my poor little Nishioka's leg!? He's just a tiny little guy from Japan trying to learn how to play 2nd base since he was always a shortstop and you're gonna do that to him!? After he was doing so good and making his wonderful little MN Twins debut!? You ruin everything Nick Swisher and if it was ok to hate, then  I would prolly hate you. .... but we'll just have to settle for strongly disliking you instead since Jesus said I shouldn't hate. I should never allow myself to go on the Twins website and look at all of the new shirts and jerseys...it makes me want to spend a LOT of money!!!! cuz apparently I don't think there's such a thing as having too many Twins shirts, jerseys, or hats :) I just love them so much! And I hate that I'm going to miss most of the season when I'm in France....but I'll be in France...sooooo I'm not really that bitter....I'll just have to buy MLB TV for my laptop! Yay!