Take A Picture, It Will Last Longer

I could not let February end without blogging at least once.  At least I broke last year's record.  :-)

I am completing three photocentric challenges tonight: #7, #10, and #11.

#7 - A photo that makes me happy.

This photo was taken a few days before Halloween last year.  It makes me happy because four of my favorite people are in it (at least partially...), and obviously, we were having a really good time.

#10 - A photo taken over 10 years ago of me. 

I am not sure where or when this picture was taken, but I know it was more than 10 years ago.  I think I kind of look like Freddie Highmore.

#11 - A recent photo of me.

A new friend took this picture a few weeks ago.  We found my doppelganger!  I still have the bottle, and I display it proudly.

New Beginnings

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday.  I did, despite spending way too much money, as well as a few unfortunate mishaps.  It was my first time hosting an adult party on New Year's Eve, so I learned a few lessons, but I enjoyed celebrating the end of 2011 with good food, drinks, and friends.

I have not committed to any resolutions (yet), but I do intend to blog more.  I also plan on excercising more and watching what I eat, not to lose weight, but to stay physically healthy.  I will post a list of my goals, if I get around to making some.

A lot has happened since the last time I posted an actual update.  I went on three vacations (New York City, New York; Oceanside, California; and Capitol Reef National Park, Utah), I turned 27 (no, I am not looking forward to turning 30), I put my cat down (Sean did a good job documenting his life on his blog, Cocoa (1996 - 2011): Tribute to a FAT CAT!), and the person who broke into our house was caught (but nothing was recovered).  The biggest change happened more recently.
 
As most of you know, Sean and I are no longer together.  I do not enjoy airing dirty laundry or posting passive aggressive comments on a public blog/website such as mine (at least for now; I may make it private, but I would rather not do that), so I will not say anything more about this, but if you want to know why (from my perspective, of course), I would not mind explaining over dinner or drinks.  I will say I am certainly sad the relationship (including, it seems, the friendship) ended, but I am not depressed, and for the most part, I am happier.  The good that has and will come of this experience far outweighs the bad.

This year will definitely be full of "new" -- new people, new places, new adventures, new opportunities, new beginnings -- and I am looking forward to it.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I know you are thinking, "Christmas is over!"  Tell that to Mother Nature.  It snowed a lot last night, and it has been snowing again today.  Besides, the title is appropriate for blogging about Christmas, which I was going to do last time, but we had company.

Anyway, I woke up around 8:00 AM on Christmas and nudged Sean awake.  After I woke Mike up, we opened the presents under our tree.  Sean bought me an iTunes gift card, Up In The Air on blu-ray, a Nintendo Wii, an extra Wii Remote and Nunchuk, and two games: Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Bros.  We set up the new system and washed the dishes (because who wants to leave dirty dishes in the sink on a holiday?) before going to my parents' house at 11:00 AM.

We ate a yummy brunch and then opened more presents.  My grandma gave me various knickknacks, my stepmom and dad bought me a Walmart gift card, and my sister bought me Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Tooth Fairy on blu-ray (it was a two-disc set...).  We then played a quick board game before going to Sean's parents' house around 2:00 PM, where we opened even more presents (Sean's dad gave me Telestrations, and his parents bought me a nice watch and a bottle of wine).

After eating lunch, we exchanged white elephant gifts (I ended up with the present I bought, a rip off bikini, which I gave to Sean).  We then played Scene It? Star Trek, as well as Telestrations, which ended up being funnier than I expected.  Around 7:00 PM, we went home.  Sean played with his new camera, and I played the Wii.

Christmas didn't end there, though.  A few days later, I bought myself a Nintendo DS Lite, a DS Lite Zip Case, and four games: Golden Sun, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, and New Super Mario Bros.  Sean bought himself gifts, too.

It was, among many feelings, sad Mom wasn't here to celebrate with us, but all in all, it was a good Christmas.

2010 Christmas Wishlist

Here are some things I want for Christmas this year, categorized and roughly in the order of importance.  I only want new, unused items, please.  I'll add to this list as I think of more stuff I want.  There are more items on my Amazon.com wishlist, too.

Electronics:

Nintendo DS Lite w/ DS Lite Zip Case
     Golden Sun
     Golden Sun: The Lost Age
     Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
     Suikoden Tierkreis
Nintendo Wii
     Super Mario Bros.
     Super Smash Bros. Brawl
     Just Dance 2
     Mario Kart w/ Wii Wheel
     James Bond 007: GoldenEye
64GB iPad with Wi-Fi
Blue 16GB iPod Nano

Gift Cards:
iTunes Gift Cards
Amazon.com Gift Cards
Ruth’s Chris Gift Cards
Fleming's Gift Cards

Miscellaneous:
Clothes (Pants: 32W 32L; Shirts: Medium)
Wallet (preferably black and leather)
Watch (something dressy, like this or this)

Board and Card Games:
Telestrations
The Settlers of Catan

Movies:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid [blu-ray]
Up In The Air [blu-ray]