Simple DIY Cards

In need of quick and cute cards for Christmas? Don't waste money on the usual boring cards for the holidays... Seriously. It's easy to get that handcrafted look, I promise:

Pick up a package of blank notecards, some 3D scrapbook stickers, and you're all set. Choose a sticker design that is large enough for you to just place it in the middle of the card. Less is more... Don't cover each card with multiple stickers. Write your note on the inside and you're done!

The photo above is of the moving announcements that I made when we moved down here to Texas. For anyone who received one, you can expect this style of card for Christmas as well. Now, I just have to get around to making them!

Goodbye MINI

Yes, you read that title correctly. After 5 years, 2 cars, tons of events, and countless new friends, I am taking a temporary MINI-hiatus. And yes, it makes me want to jump off a bridge sad. I mean heck, I just bought Minja in January... and I nearly killed people fought hard to even get that car. He was my prize, the only thing that made trading in Moxie a little less painful. Now he's gotta go too and I get to drive a new Mazda 3 [insert less than enthusiastic and monotone "woohoo" here]. Does anyone actually get excited about buying a Mazda?

I know this is going to come across as a total "white girl problems" kind of post, but I don't care. It's really sucky and you're all just going to have to listen to me whine for a little bit. In the grand scheme of things, I'm aware that not having a MINI isn't the end of the world... I'm not THAT delusional. It just feels like I'm saying goodbye to a lifestyle and culture... and friends... and it's not just a car that's getting traded in.

Maybe whats getting to me is that this is kind of the final nail in the "moving" coffin: I've already left everything else behind when we moved to Texas. Family, friends, jobs, familiarity, and an area in which I spent my entire life. The MINI was really the only other big thing that I had up there, that came with me down here. Of course I know that I have Jeremy with me and that's most important... but regardless of how awesome our life is down here, it's still really, really hard to give up every single thing that I've come to know over the past 30 years. It's like walking to the edge of your comfort zone and saying, "Oh what the hell... and launching yourself out of it in a rocket ship."

Over the next couple of months I'll be finally able to turn this blog in the direction I've been wanting to take it from day one. Posts about decorating, and crafts, and cooking, and hobbies, and all other sorts of fun stuff like that. What does that have to do with my car? Its simple... money and priorities.

We moved down here for a better life, a simpler life, and a happier life. We came here to start a family and be able to provide for them in a way that just can't be done in New Jersey anymore. In the end, those desires all boil down to money. While we absolutely have a lower cost of living down here, we still need money to finance our dreams. This way of life that we're looking for is our number one priority... which bumps cars, and everything else, down on our list.

Could we afford to keep our MINI and BMW? Absolutely. But in the end, we don't live in our cars. They are an expense that can be minimized, leaving extra money left over for other things. Also, cars don't seem to matter down here like they do in New Jersey. Let me explain...

Where we're from its impossible to buy a new, 3,000 sq ft house in a nice neighborhood and a good school district, unless you have at least a $1mil for the house, and $30K to blow each year on property taxes. You go home at night to your 1,000 sq ft cape-style home that was built in 1950. As an added bonus, it hadn't been updated since the 70's, so you had to gut the house after you paid at least $250,000 for it to begin with. And don't forget, you're still forking over around $10K per year in property taxes on your .00001-acre piece of land.

So, since you can't afford to buy a big, impressive house, what do you use for a status symbol? Simple. Your car. I wish I had a video of what it looks like to drive down a street in some towns in NJ. You'll be in a little neighborhood full of tiny 2-3 bedroom homes and nearly every one has a BMW, Mercedes, or other luxury car parked out in the driveway (...no attached garages in those homes, by the way).

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with a small home... we looked at plenty of them before we decided to move to Texas. I am well aware that it's just how life is in NJ. It has never been a cheap area to live. Unfortunately, it has just gotten worse and has now also become one of the most uppity, materialistic, self-centered, expensive, and socially competitive areas in the country. Your car, your purse, your shoes, your clothes, your kid's stroller... if you can be judged by it, you will be judged by it in NJ. Life revolves around stuff.

Of course you'll find people like this in all parts of the country, but Northern NJ probably has one of the most materialistic societal groups in the nation. And I'm not saying that there aren't people or areas like that here in Texas, but this is what I see down here everyday:

Most people have mid-priced cars and trucks in the driveway garage of their home. A home which is spacious, newer, well maintained, professionally landscaped, impeccably decorated, and full of furniture that didn't come from Ikea. These homes are also full of families who don't need to work 24/7 just so they can spend their money on designer bags, luxury cars, and other over-priced and/or unnecessary items. What happens when people don't work all the time, or have a constant financial strain? They're less stressed and happier. They can spend time with friends, family, and their children. Heck, women can even be stay-at-home mom's without putting a huge financial burden on their husbands. People here have time and money for hobbies, relaxation, and vacations. Basically, they live a happier and healthier life.

Now, I'm not saying that I'm never going to go out and buy another Coach bag or expensive car... that would be a flat-out lie. However, I don't feel the need to get these things like I was so accustomed to in NJ. I just don't feel the materialistic pressure down here. Maybe its all in my head, I don't know. But I do know that I live amongst very kind, respectful, and religious people here... and I know for a fact that those are qualities that have become almost non-existent in NJ.

So, now that I've probably lost all of you with my rambling, I'll return to my point:

While I am very sad to be losing my MINI, it is for the best right now. Sure, we could afford to keep it, but there are so many other things that I'd rather be spending that extra money on. Plus, owning a MINI right now just isn't as important to me down here as it was in NJ. Yes, I loved that car more than a person probably should, but I have big goals for my Texas life. And if I have just a little more money in my pocket, I'll reach those goals just a little more quickly.

So goodbye for now, MINI... its been a blast. Motor on.

Three Zero

Bah! I refuse to give up on this blog. My musings may be sporadic, but they are still there. I intended to post on October 23rd, and then bumped it to November 1st... now on the 7th I'm finally getting around to writing about the fact that I turn the big THREE-ZERO in, what is now, just over 2 weeks (November 23rd).

So, 30... that's a trip, right? Wasn't I just in grade school, or high school, or college for that matter? 30 years. 3 decades. Roughly almost 1/3 of a century. I could go on, but I'm sure you all know math.

What has gone on in my life in the past 30 years? Well, there was the usual: growing up, schooling, college, starting a career. I don't do anything half-assed though, so I also bought myself a few new cars over the years, got married AND divorced, left my job, moved halfway across the country to Texas, bought a house, bought a dog, found the absolute love of my life... I could go on, but then I'd just be bragging. Really the only things I haven't done are get remarried or pop out a kid. The kid thing can wait, I'm cool with that. I'm a busy chick. But it would've been awesome to say, "Yeah, I was engaged, married, divorced, engaged, and married again all before 30." Okay, so maybe "awesome" is the wrong word to use to describe that statement, but if you can't laugh at your own life, then you're pretty much destined to be miserable.

All in all, I certainly don't have much to complain about. I'm actually looking forward to 30. I wouldn't go backwards for anything. I'm more comfortable with myself now than I was at 25, 21, or 18. Sure, I've made enough bad decisions to write a fairly long novel about what not to do in life. But without those failures (and some were epic failures), I wouldn't be who I am today. And today I have the perfect combination of self-confidence and general lack of modesty to be able to say, "I love me!" And its true, I do.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things I would like to, and probably need to, change. Me and perfection don't really get along most times, but at this point in my life I'm okay with that. I've spent a good amount of time getting rid of all the bullshit and drama that infested my life... especially over the past year or so. It has allowed me to fully focus on me, my life, and what I need to do to be happy. And guess what? It worked. I'm happier now that I ever have been.

Honestly, that is the biggest and best lesson I have learned in the past 30 years. Cut the drama! Don't let other people bring you down, ruin your life, and/or get in your way. Someone has an issue with something that makes you genuinely happy? Make that their problem and not yours. Don't live your life walking on eggshells just to please those who take issue with your happiness. Ultimately, those people are unhappy with themselves and constantly feel the need to bring everyone else down to their level. Don't get sucked in. You're better than that, and don't need that kind of drama in your life. Even if you think that you will be totally alone if you cut out those who treat you this way... and truthfully, you might be for a little while... it will honest-to-God be more than worth it in the end. Trust me.

So now, in the last couple weeks of my twenties, I can honestly say, "Bring it on thirty! I'm ready for you." And anyone who takes issue with that, can kindly piss off.

One Month Later

So, its been a while, but I've been busy... busy working. Yeah, that's right. No more unemployment for me. I am now an active part of the Texas workforce. So how is it going?

Well... I really like my job! Its a lot different than what I was used to back up in Jersey, but I've adjusted. Its a very small office, but its a great group of people. Its going well, and I enjoy it. Other than that, I won't go into details. My professional life isn't something I tend to post about on blogs, Twitter, or even Facebook, but I figured I owed an explanation for my lack of posts over the past few weeks. So there it is.

Outside of work things are also going well, although I tend to feel like something of a novelty down here. As soon as I open my mouth people can tell that I'm not from Texas. Its then a game of 20 questions about where I'm from, why I'm here, and if there really are people like the ones on Jersey Shore. And of course, during the conversation the other person will constantly point out words that I say with a Jersey accent... I understand that I say TAWK instead of TALK. And I would bet money that I'll never pronounce it differently, so lets move on with our lives. I think y'all TAWK funny too.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that I feel like an outsider because that sounds too negative... like people shun me because I'm a northerner. That absolutely doesn't happen. Everyone across the board gives me a friendly, "Welcome to Texas! You're going to love it here." No one has told me to go back to NJ... yet.

I guess I just feel like a curiosity... And that's honestly the reaction I get. People are curious about how we live, work, act, talk, etc. As many rumors as we hear about the South, they hear the same amount about the North. And, unfortunately, everyone equates NJ with the Sopranos and Jersey Shore, so that results in a lot of questions in itself: Am I Italian? Why aren't I tan? Why don't I have big hair?

I really don't mind all of the questions... most times they're actually quite amusing. Its just odd not fitting in. I knew it would take time to adjust to a new house, new job, new town, new climate, etc, but I guess I just didn't realize how many differences there really are. Its not like I moved from NJ to NY or something. Its NJ to TX. North to South. Guido to redneck. Okay, maybe not so much that last one, but you get the point.

Don't get me wrong, I do absolutely love it down here and have no plans of ever moving back north. I'm just surprised by the amount of differences and the length of time its going to take to adjust to all of them. What also surprises me are the things that make me feel homesick at times... Facebook posts about going apple picking, photos of autumn foliage, MINI events that I can no longer participate in, even the difference in food can get to me some times. (Tip: for the love of all things good and holy, DO NOT attempt to eat pizza, Italian food, or bagels anywhere outside of the NYC area)

Granted, I'll be BBQ'ing while the majority of my Facebook newsfeed is bogged down with complaints of cold weather and snow in a couple of months, but still... gloating about the weather doesn't always make the transition easier. In the end, I'll adapt. There will always be things that I miss, but I can already tell that there is far more to love down here.

Love

Everybody thinks they know what love is at some point in their lives... and usually the first time (or few) that love turns out to be wrong. It's not to say that the two people "in love" don't care deeply for one another, but circumstance tends to play more of a role than genuine love. Whether the two people have fallen into a comfort zone which they are afraid to leave, or some other outside reason keeps them together... Regardless, the love isn't true.

I should know. I've been in enough bad relationships to write a book. Hell, I even have a past marriage to add to that list. Since hindsight is 20/20 I can clearly see that the "love" was merely misplaced emotions, convenience, and fear of being alone. Perhaps my ex-husband would tend to disagree, but for me it wasn't real. That wasn't where I was meant to be in life, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself otherwise. So I left. And now... I've found love.

Every relationship starts out with that feeling in the pit of your stomach. The butterflies when you see the other person and the desire to spend every second of everyday with them. Everything is fun, and good, and right with the world. People will tell you that this fades over time, and that it is "normal" for this to occur. From the things I've been told in my life, that's just how love grows. It turns from puppy dogs and butterflies, to sitting on the couch and being pleasant to each other, almost out of courtesy. I hate to break it to everyone, but THAT ISN'T TRUE LOVE!

How can I be so sure? Because I've been there. I've had the complacent, lackluster, supposedly "normal" love. You don't need to settle for that! Now I'm not telling everyone to break it off and go find someone else if you happen to fit into this general description. Some people are okay with that kind of love, and that's fine... but that's not me. I want the love story, the happiness, the constant butterflies. And thank God, I found it.

Do you know what's it's like to look forward to the end of the day because you can't wait to see your love again? And no, it's not because you need him to do something around the house... you just want to be with him, and talk, and laugh, and hug him until your arms are tired. That is every single day of my life, and I love it. I love, love.

Love is easy to maintain, but difficult to find... I understand that. Like I said, I've settled before. Then I was knocked off my feet at the most unexpected of times. Everything was so wrong in my life, but there was this love just shining like a beacon that I couldn't ignore. And it hasn't flickered or faded, it just grows stronger with each passing day. It's like nothing I have ever experienced before, and I just know that this is it. This is real. This is what love is meant to be.

Love is going to give me horrible wrinkles from laughing everyday. Love is going to tear me apart when he's gone. Love is going to make my heart nearly burst out of my chest with the simplest of gestures and words. Sounds terrible, right? It's not. It's the most wonderful, amazing, unexplainable, feeling in the world and I am lucky enough to live it every single day. That is what love is meant to be.

I'm not entirely sure what I meant to accomplish with this post. I think I intended for it to be about how hard these past two weeks have been while I've been in TX and J has been in NJ. The whole thing about love was just going to be my opening, but see how love just takes over sometimes? While these past two weeks have truly been a long, and arduous test for me, it has opened my eyes to how important J is in my life.

Now that's not to say that I'm entirely unable to be independent and/or function on my own... but J and I have had a very unconventional relationship from day one. We have been able to spend nearly every day together since the beginning. While this would cause an unhealthy dependence for some, for us it has just worked. Maybe it's because we both knew what we were looking for after negative life experiences. Maybe we just agreed on more than we disagreed about. Maybe we were just meant to find each other when the timing was right. Whatever the reason, it works for us.

I've known for a long time that he is who I'm meant to be with, but this extended absence has served to firmly reinforce that in my mind. This is not to say that from now on we'll never fight or argue because I have validation of our love... I'm sure that couldn't be farther from the truth. We're human, we will have disagreements. That's life. But being able to take a step back and look at our lives separately, versus our life together, has served a much greater purpose than him simply finishing up another couple weeks of work back in NJ.

I can't fully explain what it has done, but it's good. As difficult as it has been for me, in the end it will be a positive experience. One which I may not see the full extent of until much later on... Or at least until after he comes home tomorrow.

All in all it has been a rough couple of weeks for me. New home, new state, new job, new life... all starting at once without my rock, my support system, my other half. Sure we talked and used FaceTime everyday, but it's not the same. I'm counting the hours until he comes home, the solo part of this journey is over. However, the experience isn't.

I never once doubted our love, but I think the old saying is true, "absence makes the heart grow fonder." And now I really understand why. Sometimes it takes more than the 8 hours each day that we're apart due to work, to really make me see just how important he is to my daily existence. This might not change how much I love him, or how I've always known this was meant to be, but it has provided me with a reaffirmation of my feelings and a sense of respect for our life together. It's not something to ever be taken for granted, because I now know how much it hurts when he's not around.

I've always enjoyed every day that we've had together, but now I have a much greater appreciation for that time. I'll still spend my days counting the hours until we get home and can be together again. And I'll still have butterflies, and want to hug him until my arms are tired... Like I said, THAT is true love. But now I'll cherish those moments together in a way that I couldn't before. Love has changed my life for the better, and I have to hold on to every moment...

Photo Home Tour

I consider us very fortunate with regards to our new home. As the "before" pictures will illustrate, there are very few changes that need to be made immediately. New kitchen appliances will be our first adventure, most likely followed by a new sink and countertops. Other than that, for right now the majority of other changes involve nothing more than switching light fixtures, faucets and knobs (too much brass, yuck!). Even painting can wait since we're kinda digging the neutrality of the current color scheme. It brings out our dark, hand-scraped wood floors. Of course we will be able to nit pick and find a long list of little changes that we'll make here and there, but overall we really lucked out. We can honestly live with the house as-is (white appliances and all) until we're settled and ready to tackle some projects.

So please enjoy this little photo tour of our new place before projects, before painting and even before furniture! I'll try to post pics in such a way that you can get a feel for the layout of the home, but it's a little difficult with a not so wide lens and a not so narrow floor plan. I'm hoping to get a short video tour up as well, but no promises with that just yet.

Anyway, here we go... A photo tour of our home:


Welcome to our new home!



Please come in, as you can see our living room is directly ahead.


If you turn around you will see our office to your left...


...and our dining room to your right.


Let's go down the hall, past the office, and check out our master bedroom...


...and our master bath (that door in the back is our walk in closet).


We're both thrilled to have a jacuzzi tub!


If we go back down the hall, past the dining room this time, you will see our guest bath...


...and our laundry room.


Let's slip through the doorway into the kitchen. (please excuse the mess!)


You'll notice our great walk-in pantry on your right.


If you walk towards the breakfast nook and turn around, you can really see just how much cabinet space we have...


...and the awesome double oven plus even more cabinets!!


If you go past the stairs, you'll be right back in our living room!


Now let's head upstairs.


At the top of the stairs, you can turn right and go into the first bedroom.


This room shares a full bath...


...with the second bedroom at the top of the stairs.


To the left of the stairs, you can see that we have a bright game room...


...and balcony overlooking our living room.


The game room shares this full bath...


...with the third bedroom upstairs.


Let's go back downstairs now...


...and take a quick peek at our backyard...


...and the detached garage with covered breezeway to the house.


If you walk down the driveway, you can really see how pretty our street is.

So that's it... Did you enjoy the tour? Please feel free to visit any time. We'll have plenty of room for guests once we're all settled. Thanks for stopping by! See y'all soon!

10 Years Later

I've never really told anyone just how much 9/11 affected me. Maybe it's because it's not an easy thing to put into words, or maybe I just wasn't ready... maybe I'm still not.

I don't have immediate family or close friends who died that day. The people I knew were acquaintances at best. However, everyone that died that day was somebody's friend or family... and those are the people I know. People in my life lost parents, siblings, close friends and family members that day. Watching their suffering was worse than if I had to endure the loss of someone close to me. How do you console a person whose loved one died because of a so-called "religious war" in which they weren't even involved? How do you tell someone "it will be okay" after the entire foundation of our nation was rocked by a terror attack on our own soil? How can you make anyone feel completely safe again, when even you still cringe at the sound of a low-flying plane to this day?

I know I'm not the only one from the NYC area who feels this way. I also know that there are people who were affected in far worse ways than myself, so please don't think I'm saying "woe is me" or looking for pity. I was one of the lucky ones... as lucky as you can be in such a gruesome situation, I suppose. The pain I feel is rooted in empathy and fear, as opposed to physical pain or the loss of a loved one. This is my story of 9/11:

I was away from home at the University of Scranton in PA. It was the start of my sophomore year, and I had my first class of the day at 9:00am. I was meeting a friend who had class with me, and I was running a little behind since I woke up late. As I was rushing around my friend calls up to my room and tells me to put on the TV... He said that he saw on AIM (dating myself here), that a friend who went to school at NYU had an Away Message up saying that a plane hit the WTC. At this point I'm thinking it was a little Cesna that accidentally flew into one of the towers... then I turned on the tv.

I won't go into details about my emotions during the morning, as I'm sure you can all guess how I felt. I will say that it was a combination of sadness, shock, disgust and disbelief that I hope to never have to experience again. I will also leave out the details of the horrible things I saw that morning on the news, since it was being broadcast uncensored and in real-time. They are things that are seldom replayed because of their gruesome nature... as well as out of respect for the families of the now deceased.

One memory that I will share.... At the point when the first tower fell I was watching a news feed that showed the towers from the air, but the commentating reporter was on the ground. She kept saying that there was an explosion, but I clearly saw the tower fall. She kept repeating herself over and over to the point where I started nearly yelling at the tv, "It didn't explode, it fell! It fell..."

Everything went silent after that. We turned off the tv and walked up to the student center. I don't really know why. All we did there was go through the motions of trying to eat breakfast, while silently seated around the tv in the cafeteria. We were in PA, but a large amount of students were from the NY/NJ area around the city. The second tower fell while I was there. We all remained silent as we watched, trying to cry as quietly as possible... if the tears even fell at all. It was such a surreal experience that the sadness almost didn't even register. People either wept, or sat silent with a blank, vacant expression that is still haunting to this day.

The campus was silent that day. When people spoke it was in almost a whisper. It was as though we were afraid any noise would break the trance that we had all fallen into that morning. People walked around like zombies... some going through the motions of their daily routine, some just wandering or sitting and staring off into space. Most never went to class that day. I heard from those who did that some of their professors just stood up and dismissed everyone, but no one celebrated like they normally would when getting out of a class. Everyone just stood en masse and slowly filed out the door, barely saying a word.

I eventually got in my car and drove home. The school told people to not leave, but I really could've cared less at that point in time. The highways were littered with little American flags that had blown off of cars. Every house had an American flag hung out front, some on flagpoles, and some just attached by any means possible. There was still an eerie silence in the air.

I went down to Edgewater to visit the memorials along the Hudson river. I could still see the pillar of smoke climbing into the sky from the rubble. The area was usually filled with people smiling for cameras so they could get a nice picture with the skyline in the background. Even I had done it many times. That day there were people taking pictures, but no smiles... no one posing for the perfect shot. Just emotionless faces behind cameras with their lenses pointed toward the empty sky where the towers used to stand, now replaced by a plume of smoke. I have my photos from that day. I still don't know why I even took them. In the back of my mind I knew that it was history in the making, but I also knew that I would never look at them again... and I haven't. They sit in a box, developed and printed, but unseen.

Looking back, I can replay every minute in my mind. Stupid details of what I did that morning are crystal clear... so are the horrible things I watched unfold on my tv. To this day I cannot watch the footage without crying. The same nauseas feeling sits in the pit of my stomach as the second plane hits, then it remains even once the tears start as the first building falls. There is no way I can detach myself from what happened. I can't watch the footage without the feelings from that day coming back. I can't even begin to imagine how those who were there, and those who lost loved ones must feel. Simply seeing that many lives extinguished in seconds as the buildings fall is something I will never get over. I can't even begin to know how it must've felt to watch your spouse, child, family or friend perish that morning.

Now, 10 years later, I'm aware of many small miracles that also happened that day. Everything from people surviving the collapse, to friends oversleeping and missing their train into the WTC. However, the loss of life is still almost incomprehensible to me. All the death and destruction as a result of a terror attack on our own soil... It still frightens me in a way that nothing else ever has. All I can do is pray that others feel the same sadness, fear and disgust that I do, and that they turn it into a way to prevent this from ever happening again. If we do not know and learn from our history, we are doomed to repeat it. I cannot handle a repeat. So please... Never forget.

 

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Moving

Moving is hard. Anyone that says otherwise is either a liar, or someone that can afford to pay people to pack, move, unpack and take care all the other billion moving-related details for them. Moving is even harder when relocating halfway across the country. Actually, that last sentence makes what I'm doing seem extra crazy...

Halfway. Across. The Country. What?! Have I really become one of those adventurous people that I always envied? You know the people that I'm talking about... The ones who pick up their lives, leave everything they know, follow their dreams and trust that their hearts will lead them in the right direction.

Actually, I guess that is me. After spending two and a half days driving from NJ to TX, I can safely say that we had an adventure. An adventure that ended with us turning a key to unlock the door of our new home, and then J carrying me over the threshold.

At present I have no TV, no phone, no internet, no furniture, no stuff, and most importantly... no J. He flew back to NJ the day after we arrived to finish up his last couple of weeks at work. So you can see why I've been MIA from my blog for a bit. I'll provide a more detailed post with plenty of pics after our internet is installed tomorrow. Until then, I'm going to get some sleep and hope I don't get carpal tunnel from typing this post on my iPhone.

 

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Hurricane Irene Aftermath

New Jersey gave me a fond farewell during my last weekend as a NJ resident. It is currently 5:00pm on Sunday and we are about to experience the tail end of Hurricane Irene. It'll just be some minor wind and rain for a couple of hours, but I'm sure it's the last thing the communities that flooded overnight will want.

We're staying at my parent's house in the interim between moves, and their town went mostly unscathed. Aside from some trees coming down, and power being out for half a day, we fared extremely well compared to some other places in the NYC area.

However, J and I like to keep a sense of humor about about things, so we had a fun time taking photos of all the damage incurred on my parent's street...

There were dirty BMW's...

 ...and rogue leaves everywhere.

 There was epic flooding...

 ...but luckily the neighborhood's witch problem was solved.

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Hey Y'all

...or is it "howdy y'all?" I guess either way is better than the standard northern Jersey greeting of, "Hey, whaddaya lookin' at?"

So this is it, my new blog. And this is the new blog post where I will swear to update this religiously and not let it fall into obscurity like all my previous blog attempts. This is the one. The one that redeems me from my self-proclaimed title of "failed blogger." Really.

I'll save everyone lots of reading and just cut to the chase. This is probably the most self-centered blog that I have ever attempted to write. It isn't about crafts, or MINI Cooper stuff, or even recipes. It is simply about me. Of course, to write something about me will inevitably include crafts, and MINI Cooper stuff, and recipes, but this is inherently different.

Since it is official that I am leaving my little nest in New Jersey and migrating south, I have decided to start a blog to chronicle the adventures I will be facing in my new life as a cowgirl Texan. While all of you may be atwitter over the word "adventures," I assure that my life is in no way glamorous. The biggest adventure I have on a weekly basis is to see how wrinkled the laundry is that I forgot in the dryer four days ago... crap, be right back.

So this is it. My little piece of the web where I can write about my life, post pictures, share ideas... my own little facebook page blog. For now I will leave it at that. I want to let this develop on its own instead of trying to box it into any specific type of blog about anything in particular. It's just me, my mind and my journey to find a better new life as a Texas girl.

For now though, I gotta go finish that laundry... or leave it in the dryer. Whatever.

 

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