The Liebster Award...

My amazing friend, Aaron, recently nominated me for the Liebster award, a sign of appreciation and encouragement for bloggers with under 200 followers.  As part of the nomination, you're supposed to answer 11 questions they post for you, nominate 11 more bloggers (although I won't be doing that many), state 11 odd things about yourself, and post 11 more questions for those people to answer!

11 Questions from Aaron

1. What is your dream job?

My practical answer is something akin to teaching. My ambitious answer is either a writer or an actress.

2. Who, if anyone, would you like to meet?

I'm really hoping to meet Dan Stevens and Jessica Chastain this winter when I go to New York City to see the play they're both starring in.

3. What country would you like to visit and why?

I'd love to go to England. Fish & chips, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace in London, but also to see the English countryside & tour Highclere Castle. Because I'm a giant history nerd.

4. What are you most proud of accomplishing thus far in your life?
Oh, gosh, I have no idea. I try to stay humble... I'm pretty proud of being recognized as a good worker at my job - been given a raise, been told I could eventually run the store, etc.

5. If you could choose one exotic food to try, what would it be?
I'm not much for exotic food...I think I'd like to try sushi, just to say I've had it, but I'm not sure I'd actually like it. Raw fish seems a bit...odd...to me.

6. Do you prefer phone calls or hand written letters?

This is a tough one. I love letters because you can express so much on a sheet of paper, and that feeling you get when a letter arrives in the mail is just the best thing ever. But, there's also something about hearing a person's voice over the phone, especially when you haven't spoken to them in a while. So both?

7. What is your favorite park to go to?
I can't say that I go to many parks, what with the amount of work I put in during any given week, but I do love taking walks at the little parcourse near Bethabara park.

8. What is your biggest inspiration?
My parents - they both work so hard to give my brother and I a better life, which I knows sounds so cheesy, but it's true.

9. What is your favorite place to shop at?

Another toughie...I love shopping way too much for my own good. Right now, a lot of the things I'm wearing day-to-day are from American Eagle. I love shopping at H&M and Delia's for my special-occasion clothes, especially for dresses. In terms of non-clothing shopping, probably Target. I spend way too much time in there.

10. Do you have any siblings?

Yes, one 14-year-old brother by the name of Quinn. The bane of my existence, but also the sweetest guy I know.

11. What is your favorite class in school?

Right now, as a homeschooler, I'd say Language Arts. In public school, it was US History.

11 Random Things About Me

1. I claim to be a clean-freak, but really, I'm more of an organized-chaos person. I cannot keep my room clean for more than a day or two before there's stuff on the floor and papers strewn across my desk.

2. I love to write, although I never seem to finish anything I start. I have several original stories, dozens of fanfiction works, etc, all saved on my laptop, but nothing ever gets completed.

3. I an not ordinary in any way, shape or form. Case in point - my Christmas tree. White 3-foot tree with white lights, and electric blue, hot pink, and lime green ornaments.

4. I depend on lists, post-its, calendars, and reminders to keep me sane, especially since I started working. I have been known to forget things, or worse, leave them until the last minute.

5. I have a love/hate relationship with the holiday season. Some days, I am in such a funk, other days, I love the holiday spirit.

6. [Starting to run out of random facts...this is harder than I thought it would be.] I don't particularly like any sort of change. I have had the same phone for four years, the same two purses for about as long, etc. I do not enjoy learning new things.

7. I'd love to live in a big city at some point in my life. New York or LA or something cool like that, just to say that I have.

8. My impulse-buy weaknesses are dresses and shoes. I have way too many of each in my closet.

9. I cannot go a day without listening to music at some point. In the car, through my iPod, on my laptop, flipping to one of the music channels on tv...it's a bit ridiculous, actually, but that's me.

10. I have just rediscovered my love for origami. I made balloon ornaments and little boxes and things for under my little tree in my room.

11. I love when people make me laugh or smile unexpectedly.

Now, I know I should be nominating someone, and posting questions for them to answer, but I really only have one person besides Aaron who has their own blog and reads mine, and she's pretty busy at the moment. So, I think, unfortunately, I won't be able to pass this on to anyone, but I appreciate the opportunity all the same.

All Kinds Of Things Going On...

Oh, crap...so, it's been awhile since I last posted...whoops. I don't really think there's much to write about, but I wanted to get on here anyway and just post a couple of things, for posterity's sake.

I have literally been working every day. Like, I worked five and quarter hours last Monday, eight and three quarter hours last Tuesday, six and a half hours on Wednesday, three hours on Thursday, four hours on Friday, six hours on Saturday, five hours on Monday, and four hours today. It's been crazy.

Tuesday was especially tough, because I was originally only supposed to go in for two and a half hours to cover part of another girl's shift, but then, my manager called that morning and asked if I could work two and a half hours past my original time, and then, we were so busy that the owner asked if I could stay through dinner because they had family night and Jefferson Middle spirit night going on. So, I didn't even get a break, but one of the team leaders ordered pizza after the chaos had ended, so I got pizza instead.

Wednesday was funny...one of the guys that work there, Jonathan, put me on "Sorry Probation" because apparently, I apologize too many times when I bump into someone behind the counter, or almost hit them with the swinging door to the kitchens, or whatever. So, he was basically watching me like a hawk the whole day, making sure I didn't say it, and catching me when I did. It was hilarious.

I got called in on my day off on Thursday, to work lunch, and so I went in and worked front-line for three hours. Emily sent me back to the fridge to stock salad dressings for front-line and while I was back there, my manager caught me and told me that they were giving me a raise on my hourly wage, so that was awesome, considering that I've only been working there about two months. Also, I learned that "Sorry Probation" does indeed last more than one day, as Jonathan and Emily were still on top of catching me when I apologized.

Friday was supposed to only be a two-hour day. I got in at noon, and did drinks for drive-thru for an hour, which I'd never done before and was really fun. Basically, they have someone outside with a headset and an iPad-thing, and they take the orders outside. Then, you have someone inside making drinks, and they have a headset as well so they can communicate with the person outside, in case someone orders a half sweet, half unsweet tea (which comes up as "sweet tea, split") or a half tea, half lemonade, or if they want a fork with something that normally doesn't come with a fork, or want a gift card or whatever.

So, I did drinks while Nathan went outside to take orders for the first hour, and then I got sent to work front-line and my manager asked me to stay late...I think because the managers were interviewing someone and doing inventory and they were afraid they were going to be understaffed or something.

And so I spent my afternoon taking orders and restocking sauces and cups and occasionally checking the dining room and getting ice. Which leads me to my other funny Jonathan-related story of the week. He was in the back making lemonade, which, since our lemonade is fresh-squeezed, we make in the afternoons, and the ice machine is right next to the station where they set up to make the lemonade.

So, the first time I went back to fill the ice bucket, he dropped/threw a lemon rind at me. Every time I came back to refill the bucket after that, he would offer me another lemon rind, so I got a kick out of that. Oh, the little things that keep you sane at work.

I worked lunch on Saturday, and then hosted a birthday party for fourteen kids, and that was pretty fun. I housesat for Jeannie this past weekend, so I basically spent the weekend at her house, feeding the dog and the chickens and all that. I worked again on Monday, first doing drinks in drive-thru with Jonathan on headset outside, and saw Sylvia out the window, and then on window for a while, and then on front-line. Today, I went in for about four hours, and really just ended up doing front-line the whole day.

Oh! And I bought a car! Haha, so we've been looking around for a while, and my mom and my uncle went to look at one on Saturday, and the guy at the dealership let us keep it for the weekend to get the feel for it, and so, I went on Monday after work to buy it! It's a red 2003 Pontiac Grand Am, and it's pretty nice. So, I now have my own car! Yay!

Busy Thanksgiving Week...

Well, crap. I did not mean to go a whole week without posting. I blame holiday busy-ness... So, quick recap of what I did this week.

Anyway, as usual, I put in a ton of hours at work. Worked an eight-hour shift on Saturday, during which I worked two birthday parties (and thus got to be the kid-cow twice), and did a bunch of other stuff, and it's all making me so tired.

Thanksgiving was nice...we got up, watched the parade, had lunch, prepared some food, re-watched some of the parade, and then prepped for dinner. My aunt and uncle came over, and we had a great time eating and talking and all that.

We celebrated with my dad's side of the family on Friday, which involved a deep-fried turkey and a ton of sides and desserts and everything, and just chilling out and hanging with the family, which was nice.

So, I spent my week constantly checking Ebay...I put a set of dolls and some of their clothes up for auction, and figured I'd be lucky if one or two things sold. Well, two things sold within the first day, and then all but one of my eight listings sold! I had five outfit sets, one pair of dolls, and two pieces of furniture, and by the end, only one of the furniture pieces was unsold! So, I made about 250 dollars just from selling all my stuff, which is awesome.

Oh! So, we're officially going to my aunt's in NY for New Year's, and we're officially going into NYC for a day. Because we stayed up until one in the morning Thanksgiving night (after all the turkey and pie and stuff) to buy show tickets. So, we're going into the city on Wednesday, January 2nd, and my mom let me convince her to let us see two shows, if I paid for the tickets for one of them, which I was so willing to do.

So, we're seeing War Horse in the afternoon, at Lincoln Center on 65th, which I am so excited about, because 1) I loved the movie, and 2) I cannot wait to see the puppet-work. And then, we're planning on having dinner in the theater district, and then heading the the Walter Kerr Theater on 48th to see The Heiress, which I am really looking forward to because of the cast. One of the actors from Downton Abbey, Dan Stevens, is playing one of the leads, opposite Jessica Chastain in her Broadway debut, and I don't think there's any question that we'll be hanging around afterwards to try and get autographs.

Um, I think that's all the news-worthy stuff going on right now. I'll try to post again soon...I have Thursday off from work, so maybe then?

Making Some Money...

Well, so I've actually got a few things to blog about, so yay!

Work has been crazy. Like, I worked Thursday, which was Spirit Night for Jefferson Elementary, so it was busy. And then I worked Friday, and Jessica asked me to drive to the Stanleyville Chick Fil A to get shake base and ice cream mix and forks. And Saturday was just, well, crazy. I was scheduled from 8:00am to 2:00pm, and I got there and Jasmine asked me to do a few things (cut lemons and make a few brownie sundae cups) and Byron asked me to make a gallon of unsweet tea and change the trash.

And then Sandra, one of our marketing ladies, asked if I would be interested in learning how to do birthday parties, and I said yes, so she showed me what the party applications look like, and how I should set up the dining room (there was a party going on that morning), and I helped her with that. I made drinks, and brought out food, and then made ice cream cups for the kids. And then I got to suit up in the kid cow outfit and go out to greet the partygoers, which was kinda awesome.

So, I'm now officially doing kid cow, so if y'all happen to stop by one day (like this coming Saturday, because there are a couple of parties going on), and the kid cow is out, it just might be me inside. Also, I got hugs from Sandra and a high-five from Mr. Moore, the owner, because I'm now doing kid cow.

Oh, yes, and Saturday was busy. There was some basketball tournament going on or something, so we kept getting bus-loads of kids coming in. I was working front-line for one rush, and then Tyler and I did dining room for the afternoon, which was insane. It was just a matter of maintaining the dining area - cleaning tables the moment someone got up to leave, restocking the condiment bar, taking out the trash.

Also, yours truly can still fit inside the tunnels in the playplace. Yep, I was cleaning the dining room and some lady came out of the play area to tell me that her daughter was up in the top part and was scared to come down. So, I climbed up inside, and helped her down the slide, and I spent the rest of the day laughing because it was just such a random thing. I ended up staying 45 minutes past the end of my shift, just so I could clean some trays and stuff like that. When I finally got home, we chilled for a bit, and then went to the mall for a few things before going to Coppola's for dinner, and then, I just basically crashed when I got home.

Today was fun. I got up, got ready, and then we went to the grocery store. We did our Thanksgiving shopping, picked up McDonald's for lunch, went home, put the groceries away, ate, and then I started on my project for the day, which was putting some stuff on Ebay. So, my mom and I put together a couple of pieces of posterboard, and I got to taking pictures, and then uploading, cropping, and editing.

And then, I finally started making my listings. So, in total, I had eight separate listings - one set of dolls, five outfits, and two pieces of furniture. The best part of the evening came when I listed a set of holiday outfits for the Bitty Twins I was selling. I got the listing confirmation email at 7:14, and by 7:17, someone had hit the "Buy It Now" button on it and it was sold.

So, I spent the evening listing things, and then printing the shipping label for my sold outfit set, and we'll be taking it to the post office tomorrow. And with one bid already on the dolls, I know I'll be selling them too. I'm hoping everything sells, both for the money and for the fact that I can get them out of the house.

Alright, so this week...I'm working Monday and Wednesday during lunch, and Saturday 8:00am to 3:00pm. Thanksgiving with my mom's family on Thursday, my dad's family on Friday. Other than that, not much going on, but I've got a mile-long to-do list, so that should keep me busy.

Working And Shopping...

Right, so I'm doing this now, so that I don't have the pressure to blog this Saturday, because I'm going to be working the next few nights, as well as Saturday morning/early afternoon.

Unfortunately, I don't have much to say, other than that I've been working. I put in just over 30 hours over the past two weeks, and am set to put in about 20 hours just this week alone, so needless to say, I've been busy with work. The highlight of my day today was Sylvia coming in, which was awesome! I love when I get to see a friendly face!

Also, the owner of the restaurant was in today, and told me that he was very pleased with the way I've been working, and that he's happy that I'm with the company, and that also made my day because when the owner notices, then you must be doing something right. So, today was a really good day.

Oh, I went shopping on Monday. I worked during the day, and came home to find a 40% off one item coupon from H&M in my email, good for three days only, so I convinced my mom to take my brother to the mall (we had to go to Pier 1 anyway to shop for ornaments), and so, I got to go shopping. I picked out a dress (see below), knowing that I needed something for the Chick Fil A employee Christmas party.

I wanted something a little more conservative than what I had in my closet, knowing that I'll be around my bosses and the managers and the owners and everything, and so this is what I picked out. Also picked it out because I won't have to worry about finding a necklace to go with it, because of the jewels on the collar. I always have trouble picking the right jewelry, so this helps a ton.

I'm thinking of wearing it with either grey or silver tights, and the shoes that I'm wearing in the picture (which I know you can't really see) - my grey heeled ankle boots. And with my coupon, a $40 dress only cost me $25 including tax! So, I'm pretty happy about that. (Also, I've noticed that I'm more likely to buy things now that I've got a consistent paycheck coming in every two weeks...gonna have to curb that habit.)

I think that might be it for now, actually. Well, I got something written, at least. I'm working tomorrow (Thursday) from 4:00 to 8:00, Friday from 5:00 to 8:00, and then Saturday from 8:00 to 2:00, so that should keep me nice and busy for the time being.

I promise I'll post again soon! I'm getting better at getting stuff written and posted...it seems like Wednesdays and Saturdays are better blogging days for me, so maybe I'll be able to start posting twice a week, which would be really awesome. :)

Has It Really Been A Week Already?

Ugh, where is my life going to? Another week gone by, and since when is it November? What is going on?

Anyway, I'm still doing this whole working thing. I'm tired...I've been putting in 12-16 hours a week for six weeks now, and it's starting to wear me down. Not much, but just enough where blogging takes a backseat to getting some sleep or kicking back on the couch for the evening. I've made more milkshakes than I can count, especially since Monday when we started selling the peppermint chocolate chip shakes again.

I've already seen a couple people I went to Hanes with (Maggie, Caroline, and Christine), and Mrs. Hudspeth was in last week. I've also seen my neighbor from down the street. And I've seen my mom's co-worker Jeannie out the drive-thru window.

Today was crazy, though. I went in at 11:30, worked the dining room until 2:00, took my break, worked the front-line register, restocked some stuff, checked on dining room, worked front-line, and then got asked to stay late because one of the guys was coming in late, so I worked front-line, did some bagging, some drive-thru window, some dining room, and then got to go home at 6:00 instead of 4:30 when I was scheduled to leave, but Jessica was so thankful that I stayed. She said I saved the day...lol.

Anyway, so I came home, had barbeque sandwiches for dinner, and then watched a little tv, cleaned Ella's cage, and then chilled out. Poked around on Ebay, and realized that I probably should make an account and get to selling my old Bitty Twins dolls and outfits, since they're all retired, and I could probably get close to retail price on all of them, especially with Christmas coming up.

Um, other than that, not much going on. Except trying to plan for our New Year's trip up to my aunt & uncle's in NY, and I have got to start looking at Broadway shows. And making a Christmas list. And getting that stuff up to Ebay. And cleaning my room. And...ugh, I've got so much to do.

More Music...

So, I think I promised more pop-based songs for this post, since my last one was so full of alternative. Although, this may turn into a hodgepodge of whatever comes to mind, not based solely in one genre.



Die Young - Ke$ha. I cannot get this one out of my head, and I have no idea why.




Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons. I love their sound...especially the banjo. And the lyrics (well, besides the obvious over-use of a certain curse word) are very pretty.





Skinny Love - Bon Iver. I don't really know where this one came from, but I love it because it's pretty. I can't decide if I like this one better, or the version by Birdy...they're both pretty.




Alright, I think that's all I've got for now. Expect a new post sometime soon. :)