Cheers Not Jeers

Well, look who showed up to class. Albeit, a little late but I'm still here. I had a fun night with Blake last night and you get to hear about it tomorrow. Today is all about showing love to some bloggers.

I was scrolling through my blogger feed the other day when I saw a tweet that caught my eye. I don't remember what the exact tweet was but it was for a link up celebrating bloggers. Casey from Aslan's Auspicious Albany Adventures is hosting a link up every Wednesday called Cheers, Not Jeers. It's all about celebrating bloggers. I knew that I was going to have to link up because everybody needs some love every now and then. =)

plus, it's a fun button!
I didn't know how I wanted to do this. I thought about listing some of my favorite bloggers, I thought about just choosing a couple to feature. But today, I think I'm going to focus on one blogger in particular.
 Jordan from Musings of a Twenty Something. 

I love this girl. We quickly became blog besties when we interacted. I was going to tell you when, but I don't really know. It feels like I've known her forever. 
We've bonded over our love of Luke Bryan, our man friends' families personal choices that are a little whack to us, our love for food, our shared Valentine's Day birthday, and all kinds of other things. Even though we cheer for different Texas football teams, we get along great. 
She's an inspiration to me too. She works her ass off to keep that figure she has. I told you that we both love food, so she works out hard. And I love it. I want to get myself in shape because of her. 
And there's her encouragement. That girl encourages me so much. Whether it's getting in shape, meeting my goals, or getting my adult drink on, she's always there telling me I can do it. And I appreciate that more than she knows. 
I can't wait until we get to blate someday. Hopefully that day is sooner rather than later. I should be in Texas in June girl!

See Ya August

It's Friday. I'm neither excited or disappointed about this. Weird right. My thoughts are jumbled today so youu're gonna get brain mush. Are you ready?

- My draft for my fantasy team is tomorrow. Did I tell you what the name was? Well, incase I didn't it's Tittsburg Feelers. Thanks to Sarah for the wonderful idea. And none of my friends that are playing know that I have a blog so they think I'm a creative genius. Thanks again Sarah! I've done thismuch to prepare for the draft tomorrow. I know, I know. How am I gonna win if I haven't even looked at anything. Last year's winner just picked hot guys and she won. I'm sure Blake is gonna sit me down and teach me way too much for my brain to handle tomorrow.

- Damn Texans beat the Cowboys last night. My blogland bestie Jordan loves the Texans. She's on cloud nine today. I told her not to get used to that shit. What's worse is that I heard the stadium was full of more Texan fans than Cowboy fans. AT OUR OWN STADIUM. Pathetic. I bet they're just pretending they usck this season that way when pre-season is over they can kick ass.

I shouldn't make fun of my own team but this is hilarious. Best caption wins!

- Why are my bills always due at the beginning of the month. My 3 most expensive ones are all due the first 3 days of the month. I'm poor for like a week and a half after that. And about the time I catch back up and think, "Oh, I can go shopping! Woohoo!" it's bill time again. Jeez, life is always getting in the way of fun stuff.

- I'm glad August is over. All it brought to the game was shitty weather. The first two weeks all it did was rain. I thought about building an ark. It's partially started in Blake's back yard. Then, after the rain it brought a terrible heat wave. See ya next year August. You suck, nobody's going to miss you. And while we're at it, let's just skip September and get straight to the good stuff - October! I have so much going on that month and I can't wait!

- If you follow me on insta or twitter than you know that my other blogland bestie Meg sent me a sweet little package. See, here in the middle of the flyover states, it's hard to get craft beer. We get all the trends last, after they're not trends anymore, and it's no different with craft beers. Meg had written a post about fall beers and one of them she loves is called Pumking. I just had to have some, and not to my surprise, you can't get any around here. So the sweet girl sent me a bottle! I've been holding out on trying it but I'll try it tomorrow. I need to know if I like it because I found other websites that will ship it to me. Can't wait for that!

- Work is sucking right now. Apparently when the kiddies go back to school nobody comes out to eat. And when they do they leave their wallets and their brains at home. Speaking of work, I know that you guys love work stories so every Wednesday I try and blog about some. Come check it out.

It's Friday and I need to back my azz up with Whitney. My favorite song off of Luke's new album is finally on GrooveShark. Thanks to whoever uploaded it. I tried but my iTunes is all fucked up so I couldn't do it. Enjoy. Peace out kids.

Drink A Beer

Dear Weekend, Thanks for showing up but you can just keep moving on. I work doubles all weekend. Womp Womp. I haven't worked all weekend long in a long while. And Erntefest is this weekend and I don't know if I can go. But I really wanna.

Dear Work, let's make some of that money ok! I need it. Oh, and thanks for acting like I was going to get my vacation check. Yeah, I didn't. I'm pretty irritated about that.

Dear Blog, we're in a rut this week. That's ok. Just gotta get out of it.

Dear Fantasy Football, you and I need to talk. You need to tell me what website to go to so I know what in the hell I'm looking for. I read Sarah's post but still, I need more. It seemed so much easier last year when manfriend was doing it.

Dear Blog Friends, I love you dearly. Sure do. Sorry if stuff around here is stale. It happens. Keep sticking around. I'm sure it'll be over soon.

Dear Luke Bryan, Thanks for the new album. I love it. But let's stick to singing, that rapping business you try is just not you. Leave it to Blake or the rappers. And announce your new tour dates already. I'm waiting mister!

Dear Target, Now that the kiddies are back at school I can shop in peace. I can't wait.

Dear Fall, I'm ready. I know I keep saying this. I only keep saying it because well I just want you to be here faster. Leggings, sweaters, boots, hot cider, pumpkin everything! And the holidays that you bring, the best! Please hurry now. This teasing shit where it's 55 in the morning and then 80 in the afternoon is for the birds.

Dear Pumking Beer, I'm so ready to try you. Thanks to my sweet bloggy friend Megan my dreams will come true!

And of course, it's time to #backthatazz up with Whitsicle!

Since Mr. Bryan decided to drop his album this week, I'll leave you with one of the good ones. If somebody would like to upload their album to grooveshark that would be awesome. I was going to but the itunes on my computer is stupid. It doesn't even have half of the songs I've bought from them in my library on my computer. Anybody know how to fix that?? Do I just need to sync them up again?

Pop Some Bottles

Who doesn't love to celebrate? Seriously? Whether we're celebrating being alive, birthdays, holidays, mini goals, accomplishing goals, or we're already just white girl wasted and we're celebrating that, we all love it. Don't pretend you don't love to pop some bottles!

So when I saw that my lover face Jordan had joined a link up called Celebrate Everything, I told her I loved it and I was gonna join too, a couple days late of course. Hopefully the link up is still open!

Here's what I'm popping some bottles about this week.

My aunt has been released from her cardiologist to go back to work after a year long battle with cancer. She won!

Megan is a craft beer lover and has been really awesome and given me some recommendations of what to try. First, I was gonna try RJ Rockers Son of a Peach. But my podunk little ass town didn't have any. None. I called 5 liqour stores (including a Macadoodles), 2 grocery stores, and a gas station, but couldn't find shit. So what did Megan offer to do...send me some in the mail! Bam. Love her. And I'm probably going to have to hit her up for her favorite pumpkin beer too! I'll look first though!

I've been at OG for a year. I got a nice little pin and the best part is that I should qualify for a bonus check. Bam! I can't wait to find out if I get it or not. And I got another raise from them also. It's only when I'm hosting but I'll take a raise. Hell yeah!

Blake got an awesome opportunity to go to Cincinnati with his job. He gets to go to Visa HQ to learn customer service for the brand of cards he represents. They only selected two people and he was one of them. When he comes back they're going to hire a bunch of people and he gets to train them on customer service. Hopefully this eventually leads to a promotion for him.

 I joined a fantasy football team. It's mostly dudes. So I picked the name Tittsburg Feelers. I love it. Because I love boobs. But you knew that. Need a name? Go visit Sarah, she'll help you out.

I'm going to see Blake Shelton and Keith Urban in October. Maybe Florida Georgia Line if tickets are cheap enough. Eeeeep! This will be the second time I've seen Keith. I LOVE him.

This weekend is tax free weekend here in Missouri. Best believe I'm doing as much shopping as I can. I'm a little too excited.

It's almost time for our annual summer party at Blake's house. Shit gets crazy. If any of you wanna come please do! I love your faces. =)

I'm Smiling

I'm smiling today.

I'm smiling because 

- It's my one day off this week

- I start server training tomorrow!!!!!!

- Cortney nominated me for a Liebster Award.

- Meg nominated me for a Liebster Award. 

- Apparently I'm doing something right here because people like me.

- I get to see Great Gatsby today. Everbody in my family knows how much I love the 20's. 

Parties, the clothes, the sparkles, ahhhh. And how much I love Leo.

Side story time...In the elementary school I went to, they always had 100 day. It was always the 100th day of school. The teachers always made us do something to commemorate the 100th day of school. Some kids glued 100 buttons to poster board, others did marshmallows, well, my daddy and I glued 100 different pictures of Leo to my poster board. Yep. And he never even stuttered a word about how a third grader shouldn't do that. He supported it! 

Just like this, but way cooler. 

Anyway...told you side story. Of course today I'm going to accept my awards from the fabulous ladies above! 

I know this is long. But there are some funny facts about me. Just saying.

The Way It Works

Acknowledge the blog that nominated you 

Tell 11 facts about yourself

Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger created

List 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers that you believe deserve some recognition

Post 11 questions for them to answer

 Notify them that they've been nominated

You can't nominate the blog that nominated you

(I just copy and pasted that from Cortney. I'm lazy like that) 

Even though I was nominated twice I'm only listing 11 facts. I have to save something interesting for you guys when my mind goes blank! 

1. I'm a south paw. Yeah, a leftie. And I love it.

2. I cry over almost any movie. Animal ones are the worst. 

3. I hate change. I just changed my lock screen for the first time in 2 years today. 

4. I've never been to the beach. We're trying to change that this summer.

5. I've said this before but new cupcakes are reading now, so...

I love boobs. True story.

6. I'm not modest when it comes to nudity. Not at all. 

7. I have 17 tabs up right now. And all of them are for blogs. Except for the blogger one. 

8. I love to dance. Whether it was dance team, in the club, or just being silly I love it. 

9. TV is my hobby. I love it. But I don't watch most of the shows all the other bloggers watch. I've never seen an episdoe of RH of anywhere, or the Bachelor/ette.

10. I have 5 tattoos and two piercings. 

Questions from Cortney

1. What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?

I don't really like ice cream. I know...I know. But when a craving hits about once a year, it's chocolate. Any kind but brownie batter is amazeballs.

2. Channing Tatum or Bradley Cooper?

Bradley Cooper hands down. Channing is nice to look at but his head is weird shaped. 

3. Your all time FAVORITE quote?

Something along the lines of "Sex is nature, I go along with nature." - Marilyn Monroe

4. If we were stranded on an island, what are three things that we'd most definitely need?

Seriously, this isn't fair. Ummm

- toilet paper, yes

- some non ending booze of course

- a camera that would never die because someday somebody would find out we were stranded and they would want to see what we did. Maybe.

5. What's one tip you could give about blogging?

Have fun. Seriously. Don't take it so seriously. That's when you make the best friends.

6. What's on your summer bucket list?

A beach and as many concerts as I can afford.

7. Do you have any funny/strange/gross/amazing hidden talents?

I consistently pop my right ankle. It's not a talent but it grosses people out. 

8. What's your biggest fear?

Failing. Hands down.

9. Besides mine (wink), who's blog do you read the moment you wake up?

Jordan

Steph

Whitty

Erin

Maggie

10. What's your biggest pet peeve?

So do I have to choose one, it's hard. I guess noises in general but more specific would be idiots talking with food in their mouths or chewing with their mouths open. Fucking nasty.

11. I'm throwing a party. What are you bringing?

Well myself of course! But a bottle of patron silver. Yep. 

And some champagne. I'm on a champagne kick right now.

Questions from Meg

1.) Who is your role model?

I have three. I can't pick and you can't make me! lol. My momma, auntie, and gma sharon. 

I could write why but you'd be here for the next year, or you'd leave and never come back.

2.) Whats your favorite book?

The Notebook

3.) What would your super hero name be?

Super Bitch - terrible, maybe but i can be really bitchy and piss people off with it very well. 

4.) Which real housewives franchise would you want to be on?

Yeah, umm I've never watched any RH. True story.

5.) What is your favorite place on earth?

The kitchen. No seriously though, I don't really know. Anywhere can be my favorite as long as I have my hoodie.

6.) If you could be anything what would it be?

A wedding planner. I think it sounds amazing. I love weddings and fairytales. 

7.) Whats one food you can eat for the rest of your life?

Tortillas. Pasta. Bread. 

8.) Whats one strange thing about you?

Ummm....I don't know. I think I'm a strange person all around. 

9.) What scares you?

Like inanimate things or real things?

Real - frogs, the news, children between the ages of 9-17.

Inanimate - failure, disappointing people, murder.

10.) Whats your favorite Crayola color? 

I hate picking a favorite color. I ate a macaroni and cheese crayola once when I was little to see if tasted like mac and cheese...it didn't. Pink, grey, black,....who knows.

11.) Whats one thing you have learned from blogging?

The best way to make friends is to comment. Comment your life away. 

My Nominees

Jordan Musings of a Twenty Something

Maggie Mess in the Making

Katie Dabbling in Dixie

Taylor Confessions of a Busy Busy Bee

Steph Insert Classy Here

Cayla Livin on Love

Kailyn Smalls the Blog

Kelley One Hot Southern Mess

Adriana Dog Hair is an Accessory

Alex Let Life be Like Music

Morgan Believe in the Sparks

My Questions

1. How do you feel about rock paper scissors?

2. Who are some of your daily reads?

3. What do you feel is your best trait?

4. What would you tell a new blogger about blogging?

5. What's the weather like today?

6. What's your favorite place to shop?

7. If you've been to concerts, which one was your favorite? If not, who would you love to see?

8. You can only watch two tv shows forever, what would they be?

9. Do you have any tattoos? Do you want any?

10. How has your day been so far?

11. What's your favorite sport? (anything you consider a sport, not just the usual ones)

And.....go!

Currently

It's Monday  cupcakes! Monday doesn't make me as sad as it makes most of you. It's because I work in the restaurant industry and it's just another day. When you don't get weekends off you don't know the difference.

My weekend was ok. I worked Friday and Saturday morning. Saturday night the boy and I went to his best friend's house to celebrate his engagement! Exciting stuff, seeing as how nobody in our group of friends saw him ever getting married. But it's still a secret I think. It was just them and us and we played P&A. That's president and asshole just incase you've never played. It's fun but people can get vicious and you get tanked faster than a fat kid can finish his cake. True story. They all had some moonshine and jager but I worked the next morning so I just had Bud Select. That shit is gross. Seriously. But we didn't buy the beer so I can't complain. We took some moonshine home so that we can drink some tonight seeing as how I don't work tomorrow. =) Sunday morning I had to work but had the night off. Which is nice, but I'm not making any money working these damn single shifts. My manager must be pissed at me for some reason because this week I have 3 days off. -.- I can't live on what I'm making right now. I won't say anything to her until I see the next schedule but if I'm screwed like I am on this one then finding a new job might be in the works. =( As much as I don't want to, I like the lifestyle I'm accustomed to. And it's not that elaborate or anything. Sunday night I went to bed at 730. Yup. It was great. I can't complain about being tired today. 

Source: etsy.com via Soniya on Pinterest

And that's exactly what I did! 

How about a Currently post for you guys! I love these posts and somebody needs to do a weekly link- up of one. If you know anybody that does be sure to tell me!

Reading

Technically nothing. I'm in the middle of 3 books, and I'm reading blog posts when I take a break from this.

Writing

This post. I need to start writing in my journal. But what I want to write goes hand in hand with what I need to read. 

Listening

To CMT country music morning. I love it. Except Carrie was just on and I just want to know what is wrong with that girl. And then Eric Church came on and I think "Jesus Does" is about him mama. If it really is, well good. I haven't read anything about it but there's not a woman who loves that much except your mama. 

Thinking

About my long to do list this week. 

How much I hate commercials and everybody needs to own a DVR. 

Where the hell is my dog. I let her out and left the door open and it's awfully quiet. 

Ooo...Luke is on tv. His Spring Break album comes out tomorrow. 

I heard the dog. She's ok.

Smelling

Nothing. I should light a candle.

Wishing

That to-do list would do itself. 

The commercials would be over. 

It was just a bit warmer outside seeing that I have the door open and it's kinda chilly.

Hoping

The evil boss lady doesn't work tonight. I'm not in the mood for her. 

Wearing

the Boy's Adidas shirt and a pair of pink "Support the Cure" sweats. 

Loving

My little dog 

The bagel that I had for breakfast

The amount of sleep I got last night

The boy because he surprised me with downloading the first half of season 3 of the Walking Dead for me so I can catch up =)))))) I love him.

Wanting

A new car. 

To see Luke's new video for Buzzkill.

To go workout. 

Needing

More hours at work.

To go workout.

To do laundry. Ahhhh. 

Feeling

Calm and happy. 

Peaceful.

Clicking

Between writing this and one of my bloggy bests blog to figure out what I should put on this post. 

Don't forget about my first giveaway!

Exciting News and A Giveaway!

Here lately, life has been kinda blah. Like seriously. It's been snowy/icy since last Thursday. Boo.

See what I mean. It's this way all across Missouri.

This is Jefferson City (the capitol) And that building way in the back is the capitol building. I've been there once. It was a few years ago. We were on our way to Columbia for a concert (de javu?) and we stopped. We participated in bathroom pictures of course. Who wouldn't want to take duckfaced bathroom pictures in the capitol building of their state?? 

So yeah, it's been a bore to be here. I've had extra good company though...you know my computer and my phone. Lawd thank you for the internet. Well, today as I was buying more concert tickets, I checked in to my blog and what to my wondering eyes did I see...well this!

100 followers! You guys are awesome. Seriously I'm so happy right now. I love all of you and thank you for helping this blog grow. I appreciate all your comments more than any of you know. And all my bloggy friends I've made, well, they are amazing too. It's such a surreal thing to have people from far and wide become really good friends. It's just so amazing. Thank y'all so much! 

I've decided that I'm going to do my first giveaway. It's going to be pretty simple, because well, that's how I like things. I'm going to be giving away a couple of my favorite things. This list was hard to come up with because my favorite things all have to do with tv/music. I'm a bum. I know

$5 Starbucks card// A redbull

Something glittery (i'm not sure what yet)/ chapstick

I love me some caramel apple spice from starbucks. I don't know how I'm gonna get redbull into a package, but I'll figure it out. See, I love glitter/sparkly/shiny things, and I think I have an idea of what it will be. Consider it a surprise, and I promise, it won't be a container of glitter! Last, but certainly not least, Blistex Raspberry Lemonade Blast. This is my jam. I really love this stuff. Soooo much. And who knows, I could end up throwing extra stuff in this box! 

To enter, just leave a comment telling me somethings you can't live without. Giveaway ends Wednesday March 6th! And thanks again for reading this blog of mine. I adore you!

Happy Birthday To...

Happy My Birthday guys! I have to work today. Woof. So I left you in the very capable hands of one of my favorite bloggers Jordan from Musings of a Twenty Something! She has a great surprise in store for you today!

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I know you are expecting to hear a Happy Valentine's Day but today isn't just about love or chocolate or flowers (wait, it can be about chocolate...) because it's the fabulous Chloe's and my birthdays! And obviously that is more important.

When Chloe suggested we guest post for one another because we're birthday twinkies I got really excited! We met through this blogworld we've all grown to love and as we've gotten to know each other better, I've realized we have a lot in common.

Exhibit A:

We both have significant others in our lives who are of a different religion. It's an interesting journey, to say the least, and it was nice being able to vent trade stories regarding this unique circumstance. Obviously, they're both great guys but sometimes it's hard coming from different religious backgrounds. Regardless, we love them and they love us and that is what matters. Meet Blake and Dereck, the men who aren't afraid to call us on our bullshit and actually know how (or at least try really hard) to make us happy.

Exhibit B:

We both hate don't get Taylor Swift aka Tswift aka TSTFUPLZ. Look, #1) she is not a real country singer and #2) her songs get stuck in my head for days on end and it drives me crazy. Her songs are catchy as hell but seriously? She needs to drop the good girl act already because she's dated a plethora of guys over the past few years and then whined about them through her songs. Is this a genius way to become rich? Absolutely! Does it make sense that people still view her as an angel? Hell no. I just don't get it! Also: Dear Grammy People, I don't give a rat's ass about Taylor's reaction to every.single.thing. Please just focus on what's going on up on the stage or at least show us someone else. With Love, Jordan. And Everyone else in the world.

I rest my case.

Exhibit C:

We are both sassy. Fiery. Edgy. Cut through the bullshit, what you see is what you get, take it or leave type women. The first time I really we'd be friends was when she shared her OIL (Over It List) and included some things that I still love: chevron and "cray." (I actually don't think I own anything with chevron... shit. That just makes me even less of a blogger.) BUT we decided we could still be friends because #1 on that list is Taylor Swift and we bonded quickly over that one. We also aren't afraid to get down to the nitty gritty. Sometimes life gets tough and it isn't always rainbows and butterflies. Chloe shared her experience with deciding to see a doctor during a rough time in her life and I shared my experience with anxiety.

We also both really enjoy anything with carbs. This is one we try not to discuss so much because we're too busy trying to forget that little fact and get our asses to work out instead but this is about what we have in common and I know we both share a love for carbs! (Who doesn't really?)

Meeting and befriending Chloe has made me appreciate this blogworld on a different level. When I first started blogging, I never in a million years thought I'd make friends. I did it to write and to create what has basically become an online scrapbook of my life; basically I wanted a larger space than 140 characters. The support and encouragement I've found here has been something else.

Happy birthday Chloe. You are fabulous and I hope you have/had a badass birthday!

P.S. Hope it didn't get too cray.

Books & Letters

Last year, I did my first ever blogger swap. And I loved it! Ever since then I've been addicted to them but, as I said in my resolution post, I have to slow down on them.

This month I'm taking on the Books 'n Bloggers Swap hosted by the fabulous Miss Angie and Beth who came together to create Chaotic Goddess Swaps. This was the first swap I did and I got Angie herself as my swap partner. So of course, when I saw it was time to do the swap again, I was in.

The premise is real simple. You buy 3 books for your partner, one of your favorites, one that is on their wishlist (which is provided), and a book that you've never read that you think your partner would like!


So go sign up, maybe we can be partners!  And I have some Friday's Letters for you guys. Because blogger block is still in charge of my mind, but it's slowly fading.  Dear Boyfriend, I love you. Love love love you. Sorry for the mushyness but we're just so good right now. It feels amazing, no petty fights, no big fights, just peace, fun, and love between us. Can't get much better.  Dear School, You start Monday, however I don't go until Tuesday. And while I'm excited for you for the time being, give it a good four weeks and we'll be enemies again. At least I'm taking some fun classes and have an awesome schedule. I can't complain.  Dear Teagan, I miss you. This is my weekend with you and I'm going to spend at least 10 hours at work tomorrow. Boo. But on Sunday I don't work until 5. Which is a pointless time to go in but whatever. I just want you and me to hangout and do whatever you want to do.  Dear Car, I can't wait until this love/hate relationship between us is over. I hate that you have so many problems and cost me an outrageous amount of money for being such a piece of shit. I love how beautiful you are. Red and so pretty. You're very me on the outside and I love it. But I just can't handle you anymore. I have to get a new one.  Dear Job, BLAHHHHHHHH. I'm not feeling you lately. Could be because I don't have any more days off to look forward to. Could be because I can't get a decent paycheck to save any damn money. But I love most of the people I work with. I've made great friends =) Dear Tv, Thank you for coming back! I'll be doing a post Monday on what I'm most happy to see. I can sit on my ass and lose my mind in some tv. Mhm!  Dear Blog World, I love you to pieces! Thank you for giving me a hobby. I love my relationships with my bloggy friends. Those girls mean a lot to me and you all crack me up. I love your faces!

I'm linking up with Ashley at The Sweet Season.

Your New Year's Resolutions Are Doomed To Fail

Writing the first sentence of a blog is always hard. ALWAYS. So is the damn title. And yeah, the title of this is negative, but it made you want to read didn't it?? 

I have a special guest blogger today...my dad!

He needs more pictures of himself. Gahhhh!

 I know...guest blogging, it makes you want to quit reading right here. But with that title how could you not keep reading?? It's long...just a forewarning. My dad is an amazing writer though (maybe I'm biased) so it's worth reading...just keep going. 

Here it is....

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A long- time customer of mine owns a gym. Every January 2 the gym is totally overrun by people who have been pretending they want to get in shape all year and have suddenly decided that it’s time to get started because the date changed. They tie up all the equipment, take up all the space,and monopolize the employees.

His regulars call the new comers ‘resolutionistas’. The regulars tolerate them because they know what happens- over the course of the month fewer and fewer of the new-comers appear. By President’s Day they have all faded away, and its back to the same old same crew again. Every year. Like clockwork.

The owner LOVES the resolutinistas. They allow him to overbook the gym during January, and they continue to pay their monthly fees long after they quit showing up. They’re the perfect customer. And then in April or May, when their significant other says “I thought you were going to get in shape this year,” they feel a little shame, and mumble something about how they are really going to do it next January. That’s the New Year’s Resolution Two Step- failing at whatever the resolution was, and then feeling shitty about the failure.

I probably sound like a bit of a prick, talking shit about people who are just trying to improve themselves. I’m not. It’s the process I hate- I hate New Year’s Resolutions. If someone were to track the nationwide resolution failure rate it would probably be 99.9995%. And each failure leads to someone walking around feeling like a shitbag, thinking “I’m never going to (lose weight/ quit smoking/ get in shape/ learn French).

There’s a better way. And there’s still time to get started.

January is a bad month to start anything new. We just finished a month long frenzy of calories and consumption- it’s doubtful there was much time spent in December on self-reflection, a requirement for changing habitual behavior or undertaking something new.

So that’s what January is for. I spend January thinking about one or two things I want to change or a new subject I want to learn about. And the number is important- if it is more than one or two things, you are guaranteeing failure. People who start the New Year with a laundry list of ten things they want to change about themselves shouldn’t even bother trying. Changing ingrained habits is incredibly hard; you are messing with the hard-wiring of your brain. And if you are trying to rid yourself of an addiction, whether it be heroin or hot dogs you are going to undergo a lot of pain. Trying to do that a learn the banjo at the same time is an exercise in futility.

Once you know what you want to do, refine it. Saying “I want to lose weight” or “I want learn to cook” is just dreaming. A goal has to have specificity- I am going to lose 25 pounds, I am going to reduce my body fat by 10%, I am going to learn to play jazz flute at a Jr. High level. You also need a deadline. If you are determined to lose forty pounds, great. But remember- it is going to be very hard. Without a deadline to give your goal a sense of urgency and a finish line you’ll never get there. “I am going to get a $200 a week raise by September 1, I am going to lose 15 pounds before bathing suit season, I am going to be able to bench 300 pounds by my twenty-fifth birthday.

Now we’re at the end of January. You have one or two goals, they are specific, and you know what the deadline is. Use the month of February to slowly establish the behaviors and habits that are going to get you to your goal by your deadline. Remember, you want your brain on your side in this. If you have been eating 2500 calories a day for the last 20 years and suddenly you drop down to 1200 calories all at once, your brain is going to panic. (This is why fad diets don’t work. Your brain senses the sudden large drop in caloric intake or elimination of essential nutrients and sends urgent ‘gorge yourself or die’ signals to all of your nerve endings. Will power is no match for three billion years of evolution. Smaller portions, less sugar and more exercise don’t cause your brain distress.)  Likewise, if you have being feeding your brain's receptors nicotine twenty times a day for ten years and suddenly stop they are going to react by withholding the release of chemicals that make you feel happy, healthy and wise. Rapid changes are jarring. If you make slow, daily changes you’ll get used to it and the change will be less painful

By the first part of March you have had enough time to begin your new behavior without alarming your body and brain. It’s all downhill from here, right? Wrong. Changing habitual behavior or learning new tricks beyond the age of twelve is haaard. It is going to hurt. There will be times you want to cry. There may be times you will cry. If you fully understand the price of your goal and find yourself waffling, it’s best not to pursue it, because you are probably not going to make it. It’s best to know early if it turns out you’re not willing to pay the price.

But if you are, here’s a path you can follow that gives you the best chance of making the finish line.

A quick note about Chloe’s Dad- I live out in the wilds of Northeast Oklahoma with my wife Brandy, our dog Baylee, and four cats. I’m blessed with the visits of three daughters and two granddaughters. I work for a company that help’s locally-owned businesses manage their electronic payments. This month I am starting a new business, B&B Midwest that will continue to provide that service, plus several others. You can read my business thoughts at my blog, SEKcreditcardguy.blogspot.com.

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There ya have it cupcakes, my first guest post, from my awesome dad! Yeah, it may have sounded negative at first, but the man has a point. And I haven't started any of my resolutions. How about you? I mean there are a couple I've done - but for the most part this hits the hammer on the head. (That's a saying right?) So I'm taking the rest of January to gather my thoughts, write it down, and make a plan. And if you haven't really started either....well now you know that it's never too late! 

Let Me Tell You A Story

Yep, I'm gonna tell you guys a fun little story. One that tells why I'm tired of facebook, even though I won't delete mine.

It all started on what was technically New Year's Day. Boyfriend and I left our party t 12:30 because we're lame and old awesome like that. We get home and I grab my laptop play on fb or awhile and go to bed. See, while I'm on fb I'm editing my "about me" ya know...because I don't work at Pizza Hut anymore and I just think people care I should make it known that I'm now at Olive Garden. So I did that, whatever. And I decided to list my wife as family as my wife. I put my laptop down and go to bed.

ZZZZZZzzzzzzz....I slept good too.

I come home New Year's Day morning and walk in the door and of course tell my momma Happy New Year. That's when shit got crazy. She looked at me said Happy New Year and Congratulations. I give her a wtf look and say what. She repeats "Congratulations!" I said..."for making it to 2013? Thanks, I didn't think I could do it either but here we are." That woman looks me straight in the eye and says no...you got engaged!!! I got WHAT???? According to fb somehow boyfriend and I had now gotten engaged. Not once did I ever change our relationship status. I didn't even touch it. Now isn't that odd??

I started off the New Year explaining to people that no, we aren't engaged fb just has a mind of it's own. People were already congratulating me and I'm just in shock...Had to fix that immediately.

And besides...fb won't be the first people I tell...it will be you guys of course!

*mustaches added to protect last names*

That's my funny story for the year. Yeppers.

Have you guys noticed my wonderful new page! I simply adore it. Whitney from WhitSpeaks did it and she did an awesome job. She got me down to a t! It was such a simple process and she was so sweet. I didn't even know what I wanted but she got the job done. I still need to send her a pic and a blurb for my about me on the home page but I suck at writing those. Anybody wanna do it for me? I'll let you! There will be more pages to come such as an about me and sponsor page maybe??? We'll see! But definitely an about me.

Have a great Thursday cupcakes! And be sure to check out Whitney if you're looking for a new design!

Blogging Resolutions

Blogging Resolutions

This little blog will be getting a makeover. It's been a year since this little blog started and now since I've enjoyed it so much and know I will continue...I'll be shelling out some bucks for it to look pretty!

I'm going to start buying ads! I would love to sponsor a few blogs this year. I'm ready to start getting to know my bloggy friends more and networking. Getting my name out there and making friends? Hell yes please! Plus I get to help out some of my favorites. =)

I'm only going to be participating in one swap a month if I do any. I have to make sure it's actually one I want to do. I'm going to get better at them. And having more than one to remember is some hard damn work for this girl. Hopefully later in the year, I'll be ready to tackle two. The only way I see this happening is if I've already joined one and I see another one I absolutely love and I've thought for a couple days about it.

I'm a lurker...I hardly ever comment but I read daily. I know how much I love comments so I will be commenting more! =)

Cara Box Reveal

My my...I know I posted late on Wednesday and I'm posting late tonight, however, it's been a long week over here. Hopefully everything works out by Monday. (That's extreme wishing). But today was the last day for Miss Kaitlyn's Cara Box Swap Reveal and I needed to post. This was an awesome swap. I really like the meaning behind it and I like her rules. Check it out!

I got partnered with Alex from Dear Genevieve and I love this girl! No kidding, we've become really good friends through this whole thing.

The theme for this month's box was childhood. The problem was that neither of us could think of anything from our childhood that we could send each other. So we just agreed that maybe the theme wasn't for us and to do our own thing. Unfortunately, my box got sent back to her for some reason! She's gonna send it out again tomorrow. But, she did send me a picture of some of the items in it!

Somehow we decided to do the same theme without telling each other. Our theme was relaxation. We both have young kids so it just seemed appropriate. I'm excited to see this stuff in person. Oh, and there are things she included that aren't in this picture so some things are still a surprise! 

Look At This!

Good Morning Cupcakes! Hope y'all can quickly adjust to going back to the daily grind! And I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend! I missed this spot and thought about you all alot but so much was going on that I just couldn't bear to open my laptop. We have a lot of catching up to do. This post will probably be all over the place.

My Thanksgiving was really good. It was spent with my dad's side of the family and for once we all managed to get a long. See, that's a miracle. We're all outspoken and a little crazy so yeah, good deal for us. I drank some wine (maybe more than I should have) and it was delish! The food was really good. I don't like turkey and this turkey was the most moist flavorful turkey ever! I didn't take any pictures though. Sorry. Thanksgiving night wasn't the best though, my fur-sister had to be put down that night. I feel so sad for my dad and step-mom. Lucy was only 6 years old and she was amazing. There were lots of tears shed when this decision was reached. Until I see her again, I'll be seeing her in my dreams.

Teag and me. I did actually get one picture!

I was also a crazy and went out to Black Friday shop Thursday evening. The fact that it was on Thursday evening irritates me but that's a different post for another day. I took the wife, boyfriend and mi madre. We hightailed it to our local Walmart about 730. Sales started at 8 and I pretty much got what I wanted. I can't complain. Except some guy duped me and handed me the wrong season of TrueBlood. -.- That shit sucks. Boyfriend's crazy ass sat in line for a tv for almost 3 hours. He got it though! Not that we needed a tv. What is it about guys that they don't want something unless it's on sale? We don't need the tv. At all. But it was cheaper than normal so he HAD to have it. Whatever. lol. I looked at my receipt last night and learned that I didn't get some deals like I thought I did. So next year I will be doing more research because I spent way too much money to not get good deals.

Yeah I look like hell. Please excuse mr photo bomber back there!

Now, onto some awesome bloggy business! Awhile ago the awesome Natalie who runs Oh Emm Gee had a mug swap. I got paired with Annie at Annie Mayzing and she sent me the cutest mug!

isn't this cute! She made sure my package was fun to look at.

My adorable mug =)

A cute message on a clover shaped card...she paid attention ;)

and the teas she love that she gave as favors at her wedding

Thank you Miss Annie! And thanks Natalie! It was fun.

Kailyn at Wandering Free  and Jessica at Living My FairyTale decided that they would start a bloggy bookclub. I was super excited when I read about this idea so of course I signed up. We're reading Heart on a Chain. It's interesting. I had wanted to read it before this so again, I was excited. My review will come on December 17! Come link up for the next book =)

I think that's all for today cupcakes! Maybe I'll have an actual post tomorrow. lol. 

Blog Love

I have so much I want to post but because of the holiday I want to keep it light and fluffy Unlike what my stomach is going to be on Thursday...well, fluffy yes, but light, don't think so.

I really couldn't think of anything to post today and I've been up for two hours thinking about it. While being up I've watched CMT all morning. Love my country music. See I don't have a radio in my car (I told you gys it was a pos) So, I'm not up on all the songs that are popular. It makes me sad. However, CMT keeps playing the same damn videos. I'm pretty sure that other songs are popular besides the new Toby Keith song. It's good but come on. If they want to play something on repeat I would love to watch Luke Bryan ask me to stay and kiss tomorrow goodbye with him. I don't mind.

Source: 25.media.tumblr.com via Chloe on Pinterest

Laawwwdyyy....

Anyway...I decided that I would send out some blog love today! I have a whole bunch of ladies that I love that you should check out.

We'll start with the beautiful birthday girl herself! Stephanie at Bourbon and Glitter is awesome! I adore this girl and all of her awesome weekend adventures. Shit, sometimes they're not even weekend adventures....they happen during the week! Well Go tell Miss Steph happy birthday and go read about her first birthday celebration!

Then we have the fabulous Mandy from Pretty Little Endeavors! This girl is so hilarious. She blends sassy with some fun and she rocks! I can't even put into words how much I enjoy this girl and her blog. Right now I'm featured in a giveaway she's hosting! I'm giving away a $15 to Olive Garden. Go check it out. And read read read on her blog. You won't regret it!

This girl and I have A LOT in common. We didn't realize how much somebody could have in common with other bloggers. Our favorite thing is that we share the same birthday! How fun is that right. Oh, and I forgot to mention that our birthday is Valentine's Day. Yup. Sure is. Jordan at Musings of a Twenty Something is my birthday twin. =) I've really enjoyed getting to know this girl. And she's a hoot. She always has the best food porn on her blog. I'm not sure why the restaurants I go to eat at don't ever look that good but I just live vicariously through her! Love this girl.

This girl and I just got paired up for a cara box together! We've struck up quite a friendship and I really enjoy talking to her. Alexandra from Dear Genevieve is a fellow momma who I can actually agree with. I always see all these blogs about how perfect these women and their relationships/kids are. And while I admire that, I really like to see the nitty gritty from people. And this girl has it all. Plus she shares my love of Luke Bryan. She gets me! lol. 

And these girls are awesome! I love them all. Hopefully they don't think I'm nuts for posting this because I totally didn't ask. Oops. Everybody can use some free advertising though! Check them out and tell them I sent you!