after a twoish year hiatus......i'm back. but i don't know for how long.

Geez, in reading (and deleting) some of my old posts, I realized that I'm pretty much the same person that started this blog in 2009. Cynical, sarcastic, bitchy........yep, I haven't changed much.

What's been going on since my last post in December of 2012? A lot, actually. Here's a quick summary of the last 26 months:

*Got married on May 11, 2013. Best wedding ever.
*Moved back to California in July of 2013. Not my decision. Still wish I lived in Arizona.
*Left my traveling job and went to work for the big red bulleye in November 2013. Eye-opening experience.
*Got a dog, Roxy our Golden Retriever in November 2013. She's awesome.
*Left the bullseye and went back to my old employer as a Store Manager in September 2014. Couldn't be happier.
*Put our kitty, Bubbs, down in December 2014. Saddest day ever.

There's a lot that's happened in between those dates, but those are the major milestones since my past post.

So why am I back? Well, due to my newish job, I have the time now, and have had a lot on my mind that I want to get out in the world. It may not be super interesting to many, but hell, I've got shit to say and this is a great forum to get it out, whether anyone reads it or not.

In January, I looked back on the last few years of my life and realized that I had missed out on doing things that I found fun. I was always working, or was tired from working, couldn't get the time off, etc. Living in Arizona was great, but I was gone nearly two weeks a month for work and didn't take advantage of all that amazing state had to offer. And I regret that every day - I didn't do or see what I wanted to in the 16 months we lived there. Regret sucks.

So this year, I wanted to change that. I didn't want to miss out on anything, especially those things that I loved - traveling, live music, sporting events, and spending time with my husband. I decided that I was going to do it all and have a blast doing so, and not regret a damn thing about this year. 2015 was gonna be the year that I LIVED like I always wanted. I'm not getting any younger, and with any luck, I'll be a Mom in the next year or two, so now's the time to do it all.

Travel? So far this year, I've been to Las Vegas with my Mom and Phoenix with my hubs. The hubs and I are going to Santa Cruz and Tahoe (twice) later this year, and I'll be heading to Kansas City, MO to visit a friend. These are trips planned up through September, and I'm sure something will come up for the Fall.

Live music? All I can say is I planned this year well........so many of my favorite bands are touring! Here's a list of what we have tickets to already, and I'm sure there's more to come. Again, this is just through September!
*New Found Glory - just went on 3/14. We had VIP passes, met the band, got caught up in the pit, got a crowdsurfer dropped on my head. Awesome.
*Yellowcard/Finch
*Kenny Chesney
*Dashboard Confessional and Third Eye Blind
*Dave Matthews Band (duh)

Sporting events? We attended two Spring Training baseball games while in Phoenix, and plan on buying tickets to at least 3 A's games. There's a Raider game we're eyeing (tickets are not on sale yet), and possibly a Sharks game in the Fall.

Spending time with my husband? Other than the Vegas and Kansas City trips, everything listed above is happening with him. LOVE.

This desire to live life and have fun was inspired by a song I've been playing on repeat since December - "Selfless" by New Found Glory.

 

"Living every day like it's my last, I can catch up on my sleep when I die"

More to come on this song later..........I've got a whole post on this band planned. :-)

Anyway, part of me living out loud this year is getting my opinions/thoughts/etc out there again. I don't care if anyone reads this, it's therapeutic for me to write and get my crazy ideas on paper, so to say.

So that's where I'm at. I'm gonna go broke this year having fun, but I don't care. I don't want to look back on my life in 10 years and say I wish I did/saw that.....I want to look back and say, wasn't that fun? Look at all the memories we made......isn't that what life is about?

Christmas in the Desert

The holiday season is upon us, but it feels different this year. I'm not around my family, I'm missing out on all the holiday fun with friends and my extended family, I have to ship Christmas presents to my brother and sister-in-law, and above all, I am able to decorate my house wearing a tank top and shorts.

Before you ask, no, my heater isn't on, and no, there's no fire in the fireplace.....it's still damn warm here in the AZ!! Highs this last week were in the mid-70s, lows in the 50s. Where I'm from, this is spring/fall weather, not winter. Although I'm not complianing (I love warm weather), it just doesn't feel like the holidays.

The weekend after Thanksgiving, people were starting to put up holiday decorations around their homes, and most were in tanks, shorts, and flip-flops. It's a surreal sight seeing a man in a tank top, sunglasses, and sandals hanging Christmas lights and setting up plastic Santas. :-)

The BF and I put up our tree and the few decorations we kept (we purged a LOT when we moved) last weekend. Here's a picture:

Yes, those are legitimate gifts under the tree. I'm 90% done with my Christmas shopping. :-)

And as normal, my cat can't get enough of the tree. This year, he's more interested in eating the fake pine needles than climbing it. I hope they don't hurt him.....but he seems fine. :-) Because I'm obsessed with my cat, here he his! My Mom wants me to make this my Christmas card picture....I think she's right.

I can't be mad at him - look at that face!!

Next weekend, I'm taking the BF out to a holiday-themed event to try and get us a little more in the holiday spirit. I'm excited, cuz it's a surprise....he won't know what we're doing till we get there. :-)

Are you and your family/significant other doing anything fun for the holidays? I'd love to hear about it!!

And in closing, I'll leave you with the cutest picture ever. This is my brother and sister-in-law's puppy, Benson. I DIED when I saw this photo, it's too damn adorable!!

Happy holidays!

Engagement Pictures!

If you know me, you know that the BF and I were engaged last October. For some reason (mostly time), we held off on doing an engagement photo shoot until this October.........hard to believe we've been engaged for over a year. Time flies!!

We went home in early October to visit family and attend a good friend's wedding. While there, we managed to squeeze in a photo shoot with a family friend, Carol. She's an aesthetician by day, amateur photographer by night. She's doing our wedding photos too!

I've been hesitant to post any of these pictures (I can tell I've gained back the weight I lost last year, damn Arizona), but it's time. :-) Below are a few of my favorites!

All photos taken in and around my future in-law's house in Elk Grove, CA.

Yep, that's the date above...........only 6 1/2 months away!

Worst Things About Arizona

Now that I've lived in the goddamn hottest state in the country (not sure if that's entirely factual, but it sure as hell feels like it) for about six months, below are my complaints regarding the worst things about Arizona (in no particular order).

1. Arizona residents are the WORST drivers I've ever encountered, and I've driven in many states across the country. They are, hands down, terrible. There are two speeds here - 55mph and 90mph - nothing in between. People think it's perfectly acceptable to go slower than the speed limit in the fast lane and they refuse to move. They have zero concept of "merging", and I've nearly been run off the road more times than I can remember because someone refuses to let me in.

And forget it if it rains...........all hell breaks loose on the roads. People seriously forget how to drive. They go 20mph below the speed limit and hit the breaks for every little puddle. They don't turn on their lights - they use their high beams (no joke).

2. Shorts are acceptable attire on every female body shape and type. And not just bermuda/longer length shorts, we're talking SHORT shorts. I've seen more cellulite and butt cheek than I ever cared to see out here.

Same goes for tank tops - apparently the tighter the better here, and it doesn't matter what you look like in it, girls just go for it. Combine that with shorts so tight they look light boy-short undies, and that's the Arizona summer uniform.

I know that this may be an issue in other areas of the US, but I've never seen it to the extent that I see it in Arizona. Yikes, and yuck.

3. The weather is SO crazy in the summer. It's called Monsoon Season. It can be hotter than hell one day - hottest day this year was 114 - then the next day it's 105 and pouring rain, with 40% humidity. I'm used to 90-100 degree days, with mild humidity. The heat is actually bearable when it's pretty hot, because it's so dry. But when it's hot and humid, forget it. We hole up in the house with the AC blasting (our bill got up to $280 one month).

And we also have this weather phenomenon called a "haboob". It's basically a giant dust storm, several thousand feet high and up to 20 miles wide. They form ahead of a storm, typically, and just cover everything in it's path in dust. I had the pleasure to drive through one last week, and it was like driving in fog - so weird.

The haboob I encountered in Gilbert, AZ.

4. People are SO rude. It depends on the area, but I've never encountered the sort of rudeness I see out here. It's not blatant, but it's rude in the sense that people really don't think about others. Some examples:

 -In stores, people will park their carts in the middle of the aisle, and then not move when you want to go by.

 -In store parking lots, people unload their carts and then leave them right behind someone's parked car. Seriously. I see this all the time. And they do it even if the cart return is 20 feet away.

 -If you try to cross a driveway in a parking lot, you'll wait for awhile before a car stops to let you walk across. You pretty much have to step out in front of a car to walk across and hope they stop for you - sometimes they don't.

5. The lack of fresh produce is such a disappointment. One of the first things I did when I moved here was find a nearby farmer's market. I went, and learned what an Arizona farmer's market is - booths of salsa, dip mixes, dog treats, bread, jams, etc, and if you're lucky, 1-3 produce stands. And the produce they sell is sorta uninteresting - carrots, lettuce, onions. No fruit, no seasonal items. It was such a change from the weekly farmer's market I'd hit up in Elk Grove that had an abundance of seasonal produce.

The produce sold in grocery stores is never very fresh - peaches spoil in 2 days, tomatoes spoil in 3 - you pretty much have to buy produce every 2-3 days for as close to fresh as you can get out here. Everything sold in the grocery stores is from California or Mexico, so you know those things have been sitting on a truck for days. 

6. The bugs. The disgusting, weird bugs.

Cicadas - giant beetle things (seriously, they're 2-3 inches long) that make an annoying shrill sound and live in trees. You never see them, you just can hear them all.night.long.

Crickets - the ones out here are brown and they jump. Their chirp is also different than that of the crickets I'm used to - it's more shrill and much louder. I have one that lives in our garage, I've named him Larry. He chirps when I turn on the garage light. I never see him, but I can hear him.

Lizards - little lizards/geckos are like squirrels out here. They're about 4-5 inches long and scurry around in bushes. We've got a few that hang out by our trash cans.

Scorpions - these are nasty little things. They just look evil, with their claws and turned-up tail. Ick. We found one in our house (thanks to Bubbs, he was playing with it) that was about 2.5 inches long. I made Mike kill it - I wouldn't get near that thing. Luckily, they're rare to find inside homes, so we think he was lost.

Random other bugs - we've encountered what looked to be a flying pincher bug, miscellaneous spiders I've never seen before, and cockroaches (not in our house, but some of my stores had an issue with them).

To be fair, I am also planning on a blog post regarding the best things about Arizona. Don't get me wrong, I like it out here. I do. But there are things that I am just not used to, and that's what's above. :-)

Have you ever been to AZ? What did you not like about it?

Observations of Arizona

So, if you're my friend on Facebook, by now you know that I will be moving to Phoenix, Arizona, in exactly 24 days. The fiancee got a transfer and promotion, but that involved relocation. Lucky for me, my company is also letting me relocate and keep my job.

Last week the fiancee and I spent 2 days in Phoenix finding us a place to live. During all the driving I did (since I didn't know where anything was, I ended up driving all over the city multiple times), I came up with some observations of the Phoenix area.

-Stuff is cheap. Or at least cheap compared to California. The house we found is bigger and newer than the duplex we live in now, and it's $300 a month cheaper. Gas is cheaper by about $.35/gallon. Cable is cheaper - nearly half the price we're paying now.

-People are really nice. Like super nice. Everyone we encountered, from the hotel clerks to servers to the real estate broker, were crazy nice. And it was geniune. Nothing like the indifference of Californians (hell, I'm guilty of it too, it's okay).

-The weather was AMAZING. 75 degrees in early February. I can tell that I will love fall, winter, and spring in Phoenix - average temps in Fall are 70-80, winter 65-75, and spring 70-85. While I love the heat, I'm not sure I'm prepared for summers out there, where the average temperature is 110. Glad I drive a newer car with amazing A/C.

-People refer to their neighborhood by the nearest major cross streets. It's weird......if you ask someone where they live, they don't say "near [insert major landmark or shopping center]", they say "105th and McDowell". They may not live right at that intersection, but within a mile or so of there. Apparently everyone understands this and will judge you based on your cross streets.

-There is no shortage of Mexican restaurants in the area. Almost every shopping center has one, lots of non-Mexican restaurants have Mexican-inspired dishes, and everything was so GOOD. The fiancee and I were in heaven, as we both LOVE Mexican food.

-People are on the young side. The median age of Phoenix is 33 years old. We fit right in.

-There is so much to do. They have all four major sports teams out there (Suns, Diamondbacks, Cardinals, and whatever their hockey team is); Phoenix hosts baseball's Cactus League every spring; there are hiking trails, shopping centers, golf courses, race tracks.......you name it, Phoenix has it. Plus, the Grand Canyon is a 3.5 hour drive away, Sedona is about 2 hours away, Tuscon is 2 hours away - great for weekend trips!

I'm so excited for our new adventure, I can't wait for it to start!

Do you have any tips on things to do/see/avoid in Phoenix and the surrounding areas? I'd love to hear them!

Engaged!

Funny that my last post was about wedding advice and I wasn't engaged yet. BUT NOW I AM!

The BF proposed to me on Saturday night in Santa Cruz, CA. I was pretty darn surprised, as we had discussed marriage, rings, and stuff for years, but nothing ever came out of it.

We had gone to dinner in downtown Santa Cruz, and afterward, the BF wanted to go walk on the pier/wharf near the Boardwalk. I agreed, as we had never seen the wharf at night. Usually, when we go to Santa Cruz, we're going for a concert, so we always have somewhere to be at night. On this trip, we had nothing concrete planned.

So we're walking along the wharf when he suggests we stop to look at the ocean. We're leaning against the railing when he hugs me and asks "You know how we've been talking about marriage for awhile now?".

I say something like yes, we've been talking about it for years, what's going on? (I had several drinks at dinner, I was a little buzzed at the time).

Then he says, "So, will you?" and pulls out a ring box.

I stare at it in shock, then grab it and say something like "holy crap, is this really happening?".

The BF is smiling and says, "Yes, it is. Open the box!".

I open it, gasp in delight, put it on my finger and say an emphatic "YES!".

Six years and 1 month later, we are finally engaged. I couldn't be happier.

Here's the engagement porn, in case you were want some eye candy!


The ring! It's a 1-carat-ish moissonate stone with two black diamonds in a custom setting (designed by the BF and his jeweler)

Us in a self-portrait after the proposal. I can't stop smiling!

A couple frequently asked questions and answers:

Q. When is the big day?

A. No clue, but I do know we're aiming for next September.

Q. Why is your stone not a diamond?

A. I didn't want one. They're overdone. I acutally requested a white sapphire, but the BF's jeweler steered him in the direction of moissonate - it's a lab created mineral that is harder and more brilliant than a diamond. Not to mention less expensive.

Q. What plans do you have for your wedding?

A. I'm toying around with several different ideas, ranging from a modern country-themed wedding (think black, burlap, and white, but very simple) to a backyard funky music-themed wedding (think red, black, white with musical stuff intwined) to a wedding held at an aquarium. Nothing is decided, as I want the BF to have a say in everything.

Q. Did he ask your Dad?

A. Yes. I told him a long time ago that he needed my Dad's blessing before proposing. My Dad is all traditional that way. The BF remembered and did discuss this with him ahead of time.

Stay tuned for further wedding details! :-) I'm hoping to post all of the big decisions (venue, date, wedding party, theme, etc) on here.

Our Vacation - Day 5

Our vacation ended in Seattle, doing more touristy stuff.

We Google-mapped the walking distance between our hotel and the Space Needle, and found that it was only 1/2 mile (17 minutes walking) away. We decided to walk there to check out the area instead of driving and parking. Our $18 parking fee from the day before at the waterfront, and the $24 charge to park at our hotel sort of ruined the driving for us.

We hit up Starbucks on Lake Union for iced tea and a snack, then started our walk. What Google Maps didn't tell us that our route was not pedestrian-friendly. We ended up with a short detour so that we didn't have to walk through a tunnel that smelled of pee and beer.

The Space Needle is in a park right in the city. I think that some of the photos of Seattle are misleading - I always thought it was near the water. It's definitely not. Also in the same area are the Science Center, Children's Museum, Experience Music Project, and the Monorail.

We hit up the Space Needle first, as there was no line at the time. Good call on our part, as when we left, the line had grown to 40-ish people long!

The elevator ride to the top is a little freaky - the front of the elevator is glass so you can see out as you're flying up to the observation deck. Yeah, a little scary. But once at the deck, the views were incredible! You can pretty much see the entire city from up there. It wasn't windy or cold at all - quite pleasant, actually. And there's a Starbucks up there too. :-)

Views from the Space Needle, and us on the deck!

Afterward, we wandered around the gift shop and bought a souvenier magnet. (We collect magnets from places we visit. Cheap and useful). Then we headed to Experience Music Project.

Experience Music Project was AWESOME! I would not recommend it if you're not into music. But I totally am, so I was in heaven.

It's sort of like an interactive museum. You can rent IPods downloaded with information on the exhibits to listen to as you wander, sort of like a self-guided tour. There are areas to where you can play musical instruments or DJ (which we did, and did badly), record yourself on stage and take home a DVD of your kareoke performance, and so much more. The "guitar tornado" (as I call it) was pretty dang cool too.

Guitar tornado!! :-)

The BF DJ-ing, haha.

The current exhibits on display are Jimi Hendrix (whom I've loved since middle school, when I was finally introduced to him), and Nirvana (one of the greatest bands of all time). The Hendrix exhibit included - some of his guitars that he'd smashed or lit on fire, costumes/stage outfits, copies of his lyrics written on hotel stationary, and lots of photos with him and other musical artists of the 1960s.

The middle photo is one of his songs written on hotel stationary. The bottom is some of his smashed guitars.

The Nirvana exhibit was amazing. They had everything displayed - the band's instruments; concert posters from their early years; lots of old photos; set lists; quotes about the band and from the band members; videos; even a place where you could record yourself talking about your memories of the band. I almost did that, but thought that it would come out dumb. :-)

Top to bottom: Quote about Nirvana; Nirvana concert t-shirt that was torn off of a fan at a show (and Kurt actually gave that fan a free shirt because it was ripped off him); giant photo of the band in the early years; me with the exhibit sign; set list from the MTV Live show in the 90s.

There was also an exhibit on the evolution of the guitar. It was cool to see how the guitar evolved from a crude wooden instrument to the guitars we see today.

After we left EMP, we ate fish'n'chips at the food court and decided to take a monorail ride. Totally not worth it. We were thinking it was like the monorail at Disneyland, that took you around everywhere. Nope. It goes straight to a mall and back. Slightly disappointed. :-(

We had some time to kill, so we wandered around the park, checking out some of the sculptures. Then we headed back to the hotel, grabbed our car, and headed to the airport for our flight back home.

The BF and I had a great time on our vacation, although I wish we had more time in Seattle. I think that there was so much more to see and do that we didn't get to. I think we'll end up back there again someday!