i prefer my vacations sans water...

i'm back, after a whirlwind bachelorette weekend for one of my very closest friends....which included a midnight pit stop at a days inn for some zzzz's, cuz the 2 of us driving down to orlando from GA was NOT gonna happen.

also learned i'm NOT really a cruise kind of girl...not a fan of the actual motion of the ocean. love it on the beach....not so much being in the middle of it.

but we had TOO much fun, and i didn't get burned, which is basically a miracle for this super white girl.

there will be pics coming eventually, BUT i didn't take any, so i'll have to wait for the ladies to get their upload on.

should be back to my regularly scheduled blogging asap...missed you all!!

and the vodka sneaking went smashingly....smart water bottles were the way to go =)

drinking santana champ cuz it's so crisp

this is basically gonna be my life come thursday afternoon....



...okay, so i've never actually BEEN on a cruise. so i can't confirm or deny that 1) t-pain will be there or 2) anyone will offer up a nautical-themed pashmina afghan.

BUT i do know i'll be on a boat...for a bachelorette cruise!! HOLLAAAA. it's my first married-lady bachelorette party...so it should be awesome.

i'm trying to get my packing list in order....and i'm pretty sure i'm gonna be taking my entire closet. need casual clothes for during the day, dressy stuff for dinner, and then a change option for "going out" at night...

speaking of....anyone got tried and true tips on sneaking some adult beverages on board??

it's hard to be happy about something you don't like

if you're an only child, you might not understand this post. but if you're like me, and you've been blessed with siblings, especially sisters....you'll get it.

my little sis is not my best friend. never has been, never will be. because we're SISTERS. our bond is totally different than friendship...cuz she's gonna be my sister forever. friends break up, friends become enemies....but my sis will NEVER not be related to me.

we're 4 years apart, so we didn't really start being grown-up friends at all until i left for college...sure we played as kids, but we also fought like crazy.

now that we're close...i want it to always be that way.
who else but a sister can you convince to try on HORRID shiny leggings at target after wedding dress shopping?

anyways...this is the text i get from her last night...."James is officially registered to be a student at texas tech next spring....pew pew, pew pew pew!"

the "pews" are gunshot noises....texas tech is the red raiders. it's funnier in person.

but what's NOT funny is that texas tech is IN TEXAS. and yes, that's where james, the boyfriend is from. the boyfriend i can barely stand, for all his stereotypical ranger douchiness.

yes, he's a military man....and i hate it. i live in a military town...and i've lived my WHOLE life seeing dudes act like they're hot shit because they SIGNED UP TO DO A JOB. bravo sir...if you want to get applause for doing your job....be a pageant queen. don't act like because you're 19 and in basic training you've saved anyone's life.

what am i supposed to do if my ONLY sister moves hundreds of miles away?
it's not just the moving...it's the moving for him. for the boy who she's broken up with at least 5 times since the hubs and i started dating. the boy she's moved back into my parents house after fights at least 5 times too.....only to get back together a few days later.

if she was moving for herself...i'd still be sad, but i'd be proud of her. right now, even with not knowing if she's going....it just pisses me off.

this is the laugh i want to see on her all the time...and i don't with this dude. plus, he's got a kid AND a bat-shit crazy ex-wife. who stalks her on facebook, so she doesn't have an account....WHAT 23 YEAR OLD SHOULD HAVE TO NOT HAVE FACEBOOK BECAUSE OF HER BOYFRIEND'S EX-WIFE?! plus, they get into fights about facebook.

WHO GETS INTO FIGHTS ABOUT FACEBOOK?! this is not true life.

she is SO MUCH better than this moron. but she's my sister...i can't tell her he's a loser. she's stubborn, she'd never listen anyways.

and what about when the hubs and i start for real talking about kids? i spent my WHOLE life with my closest family only a 30 minute drive away, if that long...it's gonna suck if aunt robin is a plane ride away, instead of just a quick roadtrip.

anyone else hate their sibling's significant other?

i hate writer's block...

this is how i feel.....emtpy-headed. see those eyes? tyra would NOT be commending me for smiling with my eyes.

i'm just to....predictable these days!! get up, hang out with the pups, have lunch, work out, run an errand, come home.

repeat.

i feel like i'm letting YOU down, and letting myself down with literally nothing to write about....

is there anything you want to know about? read about? wish i'd shut up about?

it's a sad day for my 16-year old self

"new kids on the block had a bunch of hits"....but i never loved anyone from NKOTB. but i did love me some LFO as a wee one.

okay, i was 16...but still.
so sad day when u found out this dude, one rich cronin, original lyte funky one, died after a battle with leukemia.

i mean...yes, the song was lame. but we LOVED IT. i still kinda love it...and know all the words.


who DOESN'T like it when the girls stop by for the summer??

true story....my junior year in high school....LFO was in concert in my hometown. and me, and 2 of my friends went to WALMART, and stood in line for at least 2 hours...to meet them. i have a picture somewhere at my parent's house with each member of LFO. i was always a brad girl, personally.

but yes, i have gotten lyte and funky life and in person with LFO...and in case you were wondering, they opened for blessed union of souls.

most random. pairing. EVER.

so, rich....we salute you and your lyrical genius. plus, you dated jennifer love hewitt, and sang my favorite song of yours about her.

it's never been the same since then

for most people, this labor day is a day of being off work, enjoying one last warm-weather cookout, and celebrating the unofficial end of summer.

for my family, it's exactly a year to the day of the first morning we all woke up to the world a little dimmer, a little less fun, a little less sparkly.

the woman on the right, goofing off and posing with my mom is her sister, my aunt. my only aunt.

she lost her battle with colon cancer september 5, 2009.

it was a tough fall for my family, we had another close family friend pass away not long before my aunt did....my mom and my grandmother are still sad, i'm still sad, and we'll always have a little piece missing.

so hug your sisters tighter, tell your aunts you love them more than they know...because if they're ever gone, nothing will fill that space.

but i know that anytime i stop on the side of the road because i can't resist a yard sale, or a flea market, or the promise of treasures inside a thrift store...it's because of my aunt carolyn.

and despite her work for 26 years...i've NEVER learned to use my inside voice...and i think she likes it better that way =)

i need some space from the hubs

no, not like real deal, move out space....i need some bed space!!!

i know that a majority of you ladies are either in a relationship, or married...so suffice it to say, most of us have shared a bed with a boy.

and i don't know about you...but i'm all for the sleepytime snuggletime and everything...but after that....i want the bed to myself!!

it doesn't help we're hardly living large when it comes to our sleeping arrangements.

this is our bed, in our old townhouse. i LOVE the way it looks, i love that it's solid cherry, i love that my grandmother gave it to me and it's at least 60 years old....but i do NOT love how small it is!! it's a full-size....but an awkard full, since it's so old, i think it was before beds were standard sizes.

when i was living at home, it was perfect for me....i could sleep on my one side, and sprawl if i wanted to.

now, the hubs elbows me IN THE FACE at least once a week, sometimes once a night, because he's all arms and legs and joints and pointy, not padded at all man parts.

plus, he's a bed hog. now, i'll admit...when it gets cold, i'm a straight up blanket ninja...i'll have the whole thing stolen to my side in no time flat, without ever uncovering myself...leaving him to fend for himself.

but that's just temperature, not real estate!!! i don't like waking up in the middle of the night, feeling like i'm gonna topple off my side of the bed (and into the giant stack of magazines that one day will actually make it to the recycling bin).

eventually, we'll be buying a new house, and this will probably become the guest bedroom bed....even though it's heavy as all get out, i can't bear to NOT have it with me, it's too pretty!!

anybody got any tricks for keeping the hubs to his side of the bed, short of straight-jacketing him so his stupid elbows stay away from my pretty mug?

what do you hate most about sleeping with boys?