The ABC's of me

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Now on to the post...

Want to know a little more about me?  Well, here you go!  If you fill out this survey too, please leave me the link in the comments below.  I would love to read it and learn about you too! :)


ABC'S of ME SURVEY

A - Age: 22

B - Bed size: California King

C - Chore you hate: Folding laundry

D - Dog's name: Sadly, I don't have a dog.  Well, I kind of do, but he was a family pet when I lived at home, and he lives at my mom's house.  His name is Max though and he is a cutie.

E - Essential start your day item: My alarm clock.  Otherwise I would probably sleep till 11:00 every day without meaning to.

F - Favorite color: Blue, Pink, and Orange.  Depends on my mood.

G - Gold or Silver: White gold.

H - Height: 5'4"

I - I am: a dork.

J - Job: Right now I have a seasonal position at a textbook store.

K - Kids: None.  I do however have a pet fish.  His name is Mushu.  He was named after the adorable dragon in the Disney movie, Mulan.

L - Living arrangements: I live in a tiny apartment with my husband (and Mushu, of course).

M - Mom's name: Kimberly

N - Nicknames: Riss, Rissy, Rissa

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: I had surgery on my finger once.  But I was a 1-year-old baby, so I don't really remembered if I stayed over night or not.

P - Pet Peeve: I have several!  Probably the weirdest one is that I hate it when people touch me with their feet.  For some reason I have always had this weird foot phobia.  I guess because feet are just so weird.  My sister has harassed me with this for most of her life.

Q - Quote from a movie: Once again, I have many.  A few of my favorites:
- "I love you Binky... but I don't have to like you right now." - Andie from "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days"
- "I caught you a delicious bass." Napoleon Dynamite
- "Alllllllllrightly then." Ace Ventura

R - Right or left handed: I'm a righty

S - Siblings: I have 1 fabulous younger sister, Darby

T - Time you wake up: 7:30 AM

U- Underwear: I'm not sure how to answer this.  Yes, I wear them.

V - Vegetable you dislike: Brussels sprouts.  But then again, does anyone like them?  I also don't like okra, which my husband (and all of his family) loves.

W - Ways you run late: Usually I just lose track of time.  For example, this afternoon I was almost late for work because I was doing my makeup and watching a fashion video on YouTube and forgot to pay attention to the clock.

X - X-rays you've had: I have had several.  The most interesting one occurred in elementary school.  I was playing this dreadful game in PE where my entire class had to grab hold of a parachute and shake it up and down.  We were each assigned a number.  When the coach called our number we would run under the tent and find another spot.  I'm not really sure how that sounded like a good idea.  When my number was called and I started running, a boy's large head collided my poor little nose.  Once I finally escaped the parachute, I was covered in blood, rushed to the nurse's office, and my mom was told that I had possibly broken my nose.  Thus, the x-ray.  By the way, my nose was thankfully not broken, but my shirt was ruined.

Y - Yummy food you make: I have a casserole that I make called "chicken and cracker casserole" that everyone (including my super picky sister) loves.  I also have a few recipes that I got from my Abuela (that means grandmother in Spanish) that are absolutely amazing including Spanish bean soup and spaghetti.

Z - Zoo favorite: I have always loved giraffes.  When I was younger I had an awesome stuffed giraffe named Giraffey, which we all know is a super creative name for a 3-year-old.  I also had a stuffed dog named Doggly Woggly.  I know that wasn't the question, but that tidbit was so interesting that I had to throw it out there for you.

If you made it this far, congrats!  Thank you for taking the time to read about me.  When I get tired (like I am right now) I get a little weird.  You probably understand what I mean from reading this survey.  I apologize.

Don't forget, if you take this survey yourself, leave me the link so I can learn about you too!

Out with the old, in with the new

"We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." 

-Edith Lovejoy Pierce

 Happy New Year!

I can't believe that it is already 2012.  Last year brought many events and changes in my life.  Because I did not get the chance to do it yesterday, I thought I would write a brief look-back post on 2011.

Looking back on 2011

January was an exciting month for me.  My husband (then fiancé), Travis came home from deployment shortly before Christmas 2010.  It is a little difficult to explain, but when you have been apart from someone for a year, you have to take some time getting reacquainted.

The fact is, you both change, even if you don't realize it.  Although it is a little odd, it is still a wonderful feeling.  Every time you are together you remember what it has been like for the last year.  Sadly, we still lived in different cities at the time, so we visited each other as often as possible, but because I was just beginning a new semester at my university, we were not able to spend as much time together as we would have liked.  The next few months did not pass by as quickly as I would have liked.  I was incredibly busy with school, packing, and finishing my wedding plans.  Finally the spring semester ended and I became even more overwhelmed with the preparations for our wedding.  After what seemed like forever, our wedding day finally approached.  It was definitely the happiest day of my life.  It was such an amazing day, and I couldn't stop thinking, "Oh my gosh.  It is finally happening," (after all, we had been engaged for a year and a half).

We spent the two weeks following our wedding on the beautiful island of St. Lucia.  It was such a beautiful place.  It is difficult to describe how wonderful those two weeks were.  I was finally married to my prince charming and relaxing away the stress of the previous year and a half on the most beautiful beach I have ever seen (and coming from a Floridian, that's saying something).

Once we came home, we lived in Travis' hometown for about a month until we found a place to live in my city.  We finally found an apartment and moved to the city.  Since then, we have had a lot of fun getting used to the married life.  In August, I started this blog.  I have had a lot of fun so far, and I am excited about working on my writing, and hopefully gaining some new followers along the way.  Although I don't have many followers so far, I have had people read my blog from countries all over the world, including Russia, the Philipines, Germany, Zimbabwe, Australia and several more.  It is such a wonderful feeling to know that my words are being read.  So a special shout out to my international readers... THANK YOU!  (P.S. I would love to hear from you!)

This December, Travis and I spent our first Christmas together bouncing around from house to house and visiting family.

My fabulous sister and me baking

Max and me on Christmas Eve

On December 31, we celebrated at my mother's house with family and friends.

I have big hopes for 2012.  2011 was such an incredible year that I am excited to see what the future holds for Travis and me.  I begin my second internship in a few weeks.  I can't wait to put what I have learned in school to use.  This fall I will be graduating.  Between those events, who knows. :)

How did you ring in the new year?  What was your favorite event of 2011?  I would love to hear your thoughts!

Well, that is all for now.  I hope you all have a very happy first week of 2012!

Never Forget

Photo found at History.com
Photo Credit: Yoni Brook/Corbis

On September 11, 2001, as I walked into the girls locker room at my middle school to get read for my first period PE class.  The first thing I noticed was that no one was getting changed.  One of the boys' PE coaches came into the locker room visibly upset.  He and the two girls' coaches went into their office and started talking.  The coaches came out and turned the television on.  That is when I saw what was happening.  I saw the smoke billowing out of one of the World Trade Center buildings.  I sat there, transfixed.  I couldn't really understand what was happening, but I knew that it was bad.  I found out later that the boys' PE coach's brother was a New York Fire Fighter.  In second period my mother, like many others, signed me out of school.  I remember walking quickly down the hall knowing that if my mother had signed me out early and if she was that worried, whatever was happening was really, really bad.  Later, at home, I remember watching the footage on television.  I still didn't completely understand what was going on, but I was scared.  I remember watching the footage of the rubble.  The billowing smoke.  The flames.  The people with no choice but to end their lives.  The crying.  It was a lot to take in for a seventh grader.

Even though I did not lose a love one on September 11, I cried along with the rest of the country.  The biggest impact that 9/11 had on me, was that it was the day that my husband decided that he was going to join the military.  At the time, he was only in eighth grade.  Since we met, I have had the opportunity to meet many brave soldiers who love our country and will do whatever it takes to protect it.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those who lost family and friends on 9/11.  My heart breaks for you and what you are going through.  To those who serve our community, fire fighters, police officers, and other first responders, I am so thankful to know that there are so many who are willing to help me if something happens.  To those who serve in our military, I sleep better at night knowing that you are out there protecting our country and defending my freedom.

Never forget to be thankful.
Never forget what happened.
Never forget those who lost their lives.

I will never forget.