Cooler

The weeks are getting longer as I'm looking forward to summer vacation despite the severe financial strain it'll put me under. We'll figure something out. Sigh.

Monday: I hadn't written any goals until a few days later. Must have been that tired. There was an incident at work and I got injured. Nothing too serious, but because it broke the skin and the nature of my work, I had to go to urgent care to get a tetanus shot.

That took a couple of hours and I'm super grateful that the SO was able to come pick me up because I (again) began to hyperventilate while getting a shot. I hate shots. He also took me to get some yummy food after.

Only it took hours to be able to eat it because phone calls to file work incident reports had to be made and then my mom wanted to hear more about what had happened. I didn't sit down to start my winding down routine until 8pm. I really love/need that time to reset my brain.

Because it had been pushed back so long, I completely lost track of time while virtually hanging out with friends and the SO let me know how late it had gotten when he realized I must have had no idea.

Tuesday: Was pretty tired (duh), but it was a better day. My injuries are pretty minor, the dozen or so bandages had been taken off, and the arm isn't too sore. Ate tons of soggy leftovers and my brain was mush by the time we got home from work.

All I remember is trying to stay awake while catching up on reading blogs and watching videos before I gave up and went to bed around 9pm. Still waking up a few times in the middle of the night for undetermined reasons. The SO has not been sleeping well/ much either. We're a cranky pair.

Wednesday: It's the beginning of May. Holy cow. I was still tired, it has been uncomfortably warm in the house, and still have a cough and drippy nose. What the heck?

Had a follow-up appointment right after school and the SO made time to take me. We also shopped around for a present for FMIL. Her birthday's tomorrow and we should be going out to dinner with a few friends this weekend to celebrate.

After more errands, we came home took a deep breathe, and got up on the roof to condition and prep the evap cooler for use again. It's been in the mid to high 90's lately and my room by far the warmest in the house with the two walls being shared with the garage (including the laundry machines), and then the backyard.

Didn't do much this time around, just sat on the roof hanging out as the SO worked on it. He was too tired and short of the extra patience it takes to explain how to do these steps. Well, explain it to me and my slow processing skills (which only worsens when tired). No one fell/ was pushed off of the roof, so we're good. :P

So, right now, there's a clean ceiling fan rotating above me, the cooler's pump churning behind me, and a working floor lamp beside me again. Summer is pretty much here. Besides the whole waking up at the crack of dawn part.

Here's a song that I wasn't very fond of at all until I began to listen to covers of it: Demi Lovato's "Heart Attack"

More Music

I have been pretty bummed out over personal things this weekend, so I can barely remember much more than that right now.

Friday: FMIL and I were going to go to Ladies' Happy Hour, but she ended up getting Strep and I'm sick yet again. I guess it's been a few weeks since I could breathe. It could be severe allergies thanks to the gunk being blown in the air. Not sure, a bunch of the kiddos at work at suffering from terrible coughs, extended headaches, and plenty of tummy aches. Can't remember what else I did that day besides crash when I got home.

Saturday: My head was really stuffy, but I did some yard work before the SO sprayed the house perimeters for bugs. I also worked in the garden and I promise that there will be a photo round-up sometime this week. My friend was ending a 125 hour live streaming marathon with two other hosts and I tuned in to help for the past few days.

Sunday: I have just had a quiet and overall sad day because it happens. For a number of reasons. Kitty has been very comforting and sweet company. It wasn't until the late evening that my spirits lifted a little again. I'm a little sore in odd ways thanks to the yard work I've done this week on top of being sick. Hope it ends soon.

Here are some videos/ songs that I've been obsessed with this week:

Urg Again

So FMIL has strep and I'm getting sick again. Didn't we just do this?

We're struggling to rest up and recover so we can make it to the Ladies' Happy Hour tomorrow. It's a place downtown that FMIL has been vying for a while now. Bah.

Rough week at work and I'm trying really hard to not complain aloud too much. It's nearly painful but will lead to healthier relationships with those around me. Maybe. You know, If I don't harbor as much anger inwards either.

I'm working on a plan. The SO is helping me out too.

Monday:  I finished the bulk of my Project Life 2012! I feel a little odd that I started with the most recent year and then planned to work backwards. Instead of seeing how my style improved over time, it would nearly be the opposite.

Well, only partly, because I wanted to use an older kit for the older years. I'm sticking to one kit per time period to reduce my choices. It really helped save time but I didn't enjoy only using my top three preferred journaling cards. 

I think I plan to revisit and refine the 2012 album after I finish the 2010-2011 album. They will probably be together because I don't have nearly as many pictures or notes. Once all of that is done, I'm thinking about indulging in more than one kit for this current year.

Still cannot believe I have an entire year done in a matter of a few weeks of chipping away at it! That is the beauty of these products.

Tuesday: Late night at the office, made the cover page for the next PL album, and then went to help a friend sort through her big ole book collection. She's moving in the next couple of months so it was preliminary packing and purging. Mixed in with furniture rearrangement for the same reasons.

Wednesday: Alright, here are the reasons why I was too cranky-tired to write yesterday. The laminator at work has a jam so badly that the rollers won't budge. I'm first in line to try to fix it because we've bonded. That led to a late night of very little progress. Still haven't been sleeping well, so was already cranky-tired when I came home.

I watered the garden but then attacked a row of overgrown bushes in the backyard. It makes it inconvenient to spray for bugs in that area (by FMIL's bedroom) and we got her blessing to get rid of what we needed (its roots are probably responsible for her bathroom shower drain not working for years now). Attacked it with a vengeance with the clippers and saw. It had desperately grown untamed in so many wonky ways for so many years that just clipping off some dead branches left odd-looking gapes a few feet away.

Didn't really care thought, I just wanted to destroy something and was trying my damnedest to channel my energy in a positive manner. I shall post pictures when I'm feeling better. I also did a ton of overdue laundry, tried to cook something new for dinner, took a relaxing long shower, and moderated a live-stream chat for a little while. Did I feel relaxed and calm after all of that? Nope. Only marginally.

I gave up and went to bed.

Thursday: Woke up today feeling cruddy in my head and throat. So many of the kids have been getting sick from the intense wind, allergies, and fluctuating temperatures. Only a matter of time until it hit us again. Tried to fix the laminator again and just hung out in the video live stream moderating chat for the past few hours because that meant I could help someone out without leaving my chair. :P

Here's a cover-song I just love right now (to make up for my ranting):

Re-evaluating

My mood was significantly subdued today after a late night of intense discussion within myself and aloud with the SO. Not that it was a bad thing, just draining in more ways than one.

Going to reflect upon my attitudes and subsequently influenced behaviors, especially how they are interpreted by others (as well as how it has affected them).

Thursday: I worked from the moment I woke up until when I dragged myself to bed early that night. Lots of various projects to work on for a few different classrooms and I was determined to get them done and out of way. It's yearbook time, there's standardized testing all of next week, and we're in the final stretch for the school year. Tensions are running high.

Friday: I had a rough day and did some of my social media assignment when I got home. Been trucking away at my Project Life 2012 and am well into the autumn season. We ran some errands that day too.

Saturday: The SO and I went out to lunch as an early celebration of our fifth anniversary of dating. It really does not seem like that much time has passed and we were both avoiding talking about how different we had imagined our lives by this point. It's disappointing, but there's not much use in griping about it. We'll continue to figure things out in the real world while daydreaming about our dream lives.

I attended a Project Astro picnic with FMIL across town. It was a few hours long but really fun. It's a partnership program between local teachers and astronomers and there was much fun to be had. We learned a few interesting things that we hope to bring to our school next year and saw some amazing celestial bodies during a one-hour Messier scavenger hunt. Telescopes were set up in the field and the random teams had to find as many objects as possible from different tickets. Nerdy fun is the best kind of fun.

At the very beginning, we found ourselves literally in the middle of a dust devil that tore up one of the tents and carried tons of the informative paper work and flyers at least 50 feet into the air. We saw it coming our way minutes before it hit and I couldn't do much more besides cover the top of my drink and sidestep behind the pavilion column and close my eyes. I just have a light scratch on my hand from some of the debris. We couldn't recover any of the papers, they were probably dropped off into a small rushing river once the dust devil hit the dense desert brush.

Welcome to the desert, where even the air is trying to kill you.

An exaggeration, but you get the idea. Sigh. It was kind of cool if it weren't so much of a bummer to the enthusiastic and kind astronomers present.

Sunday: The SO and I stayed up all night having in depth discussions about the future of humanity, the present state of things around the world, renewable energy, our lives, the crud in our lives, our personal future plans, the human psyche, and so much more.

It was intense, had its ups and downs, but I am ever grateful that we have the right kind of patience and thoughtfulness with each other to have such discussions. I appreciate being in a relationship that challenges me on a mental, physical, and spiritual level. All the other ones too. There are way too many to list, lol.

We're some of the lucky ones.

In other positive news, I'm part way through December 2012 with my Project Life and feel that my next step will be tackling 2010-2011 after. I do not have nearly as much documentation, memorabilia, or photos from those two years, but will do the best I can to get as much recorded as possible. Or at least something recorded. Something is better than nothing! :)

Trying really hard to change my attitude. I have been full of anger for several months now, as continuously recorded in this blog. That's not the person I am or want to be. At least, not anymore. I need to get back to where I was at my highest, so as to continuing growing as a person from there.

Just to share a song that's been stuck in my head, among other ones:

Vacation Mode

I'm on Spring Break right now, so time and dates don't mean a huge amount to me.

Thursday: I don't remember much from this day. I didn't write anything down like I have been trying to do each day. Chalking it up to being worn out after a long day at work and looking forward to Friday. Pretty sure I vegged out to YouTube videos and watching the SO play some video games before turning in early.

Friday: I was super excited that it was the last day and was very inspired by watching some of the classes perform what they've learned in their Taiko Drumming class. Was holding back tears of joy during the entire presentation. I began to hunker down with tackling some more social media management with the free time that comes with being on vacation.

Saturday: Woke up late and delved into my freelance work of reviewing YouTube videos and making sure things were kept consistent. Got to love Skype meetings. I did a tiny bit of Project Life. Better than nothing, right?

Sunday: Spent all day working on a live stream. Did take a break to have dinner out with a friend and the SO so I'm full of yum. It doesn't make for great blogging but it took up a lot of my time lately, lol. Here are some music videos that have made me happy lately!

Oh Yeah!

I opened up my blog because I was finally settling down to finish my Project Life layouts for April of 2012 and then I remembered it was Wednesday. Hooray! I had remembered all day long and let my brain go to mush the moment I got home. Wonderful.

But, I'm here!

Monday: Uh, I think I was just getting into the swing of things and happy that I made it through the first day back after a long weekend.

 Little Mister has loved his new trick of asking for help to get under the covers. I uncovered him from this warm pile of fuzzy pink robe.

Tuesday: We ran a few errands today and I wasn't in the greatest of moods (while forgetting my bits and pieces all over the place), but I took that bug that the SO somewhat planted and wanted to cook something new.

After being distracted by the internet, I decided on a pan-seared steak because I really wanted a steak. We've been discussing my strong desire to get a little grill. I miss grilled food so much from my mom and the SO is great at it but we haven't had access to a grill in over a year. I'm a meat-lover, need I explain more?

 

 I bought two steaks, but I ended up having enough to chop it into three bits and shared some with FMIL too.

 This was supposed to be a shallot and parsley butter sauce and it ended up being red onion and chives because that's what we had. Plus butter and a hint of lemon juice. I tried it on its own and was super skeptical, but drizzling a bit on each piece of steak was quite pleasant!

Now, I feel like I can passably cook steak. Whoa. There's still a whole 'nother one waiting in the fridge. I'm hoping to save it for Friday or the weekend as a reward for making it through the week. :D

Wednesday:

My baby brother is turning 21 years old tomorrow and I'm having a mild freak out. It's not that I feel as if he's not going to be responsible, he's much more level-headed and calmer than I am and we both don't enjoy partying, I just can barely process that he's pretty much a grown-up. I stopped counting how old I was after 19 and he's perpetually between the ages of 9-12 for me.

Talk to my mom for a bit tonight and we're still hashing out the details of what's happening for the rest of the year in terms of travel. 

I will be working on Project Life this week! Rawr! Been catching up on YouTube, still weaning myself off of the social networking marketing I was working on, and have been reading my friend's book.

Also, I've been obsessed with this concept and being brave enough to dance a happy fool in public. This playlist has made be laugh hysterically despite being so cranky lately.

Off The List

We've been having a hard time getting a good night's rest lately (besides on weekends) and I think it's starting to really catch up with me. Memory is getting a bit blurry.

Past two days have brought wind, rain, and cold weather upon us and it is driving every one a bit bonkers. I think I'm getting better at keeping work at work and enjoying my time at home and having a life outside of that. Slightly feeling under the weather and lethargic but I'm plotting in the mean time.

At least we got a few things done and off of the checklist today. Took care of an old botched tax return, just in time for this year's paperwork to come in. Joy. I took care of my current wardrobe, more rearranging than re-doing. Well, minus putting away those sundresses. Haven't tackled the stored stuff, but that can wait until I need to switch to warm weather again. Even got started back on Project Life 2012 March again last night.

I'm struggling a bit with how to balance the stories I want to tell because I can't seem to plan out the big picture in my head. I don't want to just scrapbook what's happened in the past few years, I want to scrapbook who we essentially are. I think the biggest problems with this are that there isn't much documentation of who we are prior and that I'm still very much defining myself to myself now.

So far, I'm treating it as a challenge and trying to not be so hard on myself if I don't get every single historical epic saga on the very page I'm working on. Could endlessly talk about myself- not that you knew that already or anything. :P I'll fit in the cute details and back stories in eventually. If they're important enough to me or us to tell over and over again and remember, then they'll always be there and relevant again. For another day, another page. It'll all make it's way onto those pages some how.

The other little issue is having images to go with these stories, events, and memories! Ahh! I thought I've taken so many pictures, but going through them now- not even close! At least, it doesn't feel that way. But, from what I've read, the more experience I get with photographing, scrapping, and living, the better I will get at them all. Man, I'm going to be an expert at this stuff by the time I get to start my own family. *Snort* Like it's going to get any easier when to document while changing diapers, packing school lunches, or cleaning up barf in bed.

I think the next projects are sorting paperwork and cleaning up the residual mayhem from the holidays. Also known as, everything I grabbed out in a hurry for everything that happened and didn't have the energy to put away in the aftermath. Mostly bring what order I can to my stuff again. Before purging as much as I am comfortable doing.

Found these two videos today. They make me sigh in exasperation but giggle at the same time. Enjoy!

Good Idea

I'm working more on having a work attitude and a home attitude. Keeping them separate is a big part of that. I think that would lead to having a healthier and more positive outlook on both.

Doing much better with my sleeping patterns but am still lacking the energy to keep up with life. That I find a bit dumb. I'm doing a bit of catching up since coming home, but once that's all settled, my goals are to systematically de-clutter my collection of collections & hobbies.

That and get back onto Project Life! I have some pictures and stories to add to the current year and I was really on a role with last year's album. Kind of amusing because I made it to February and that's just around the corner again. Keeping a positive attitude about reminiscing. While I may not record the nitty gritty and gripes I had at the time, I can remember by looking at the happy pictures. In time, those good and everyday moments will be much more appreciated. I can live the lessons I learned from all the accompanying crap, lol.

Made it back home on Monday afternoon, spent the rest of the day resettling and then all I wanted to do was sleep in my own bed. Kitty has been grateful to be back in familiar surroundings and is drinking well again, thank goodness.

It's been back to work as usual and readjusting to that early schedule again. I don't think my body was meant for waking up before 10am. That's just my natural timer when it comes to the sun. If I could somehow find a school that started later, it would be awesome. One could dream, right? It's right up there with flying unicorns that shed glitter that's easy to wash off.

Taking it one day at a time still and getting pretty tired of dry coughing for a month now. I did see a video about the current flu epidemic that I thought was informative and fun.

This is also a song I recently happened upon and am in love. The lyrics don't necessarily apply to me right now because the SO and I have heavily bonded within the holiday madness, but I deeply appreciate the raw emotion Pink puts into her music.

Oye, I just realized I need to change my signature soon. :P I think that my kitty has the best idea right now about snuggling up in our bed.

New Schedule

Erm... I didn't quite process until earlier today that it was Wednesday and that posting today would coincide with the new schedule I set myself with the resolutions I talked about yesterday.

Lol, it doesn't quite feel like I'm not posting daily yet, does it?

Got up early for the second time this vacation (not voluntarily this time) and set to work hunkering down and backing up all of my documents and photos. It's been a few months since I made the time for something that's so important to me.

The last time I completely did it was March of last year and I did the bulk of my miscellaneous files (of which I have money because I haven't completely categorized them yet) back in June and July of this year. That's kind of scary since I would be torn if I lost these files.

Being more diligent with keeping my information safe should probably go on that important list, hm?

My family and I cannot believe that I've had this brand new big ole external hard drive for a few weeks now and haven't gone crazy with it yet. What I've worked on today was backing it up onto my original external, then I'll transfer the organized files from there onto the big boy. Hmph. That... doesn't sound quite right. >_<

I remembered to start avidly using my planner today. It's only two days into the new year... Whoops. I'm doing something new with having a side of each day dedicated to my To-Do list and the other side for my To-Done list. Lemme tell you that I like the latter side much more. I'm recording memories there too so that'll help match up with pictures when I get around to scrapbooking this year.

Maybe one of these days I'll be caught up. That's keeping in mind that I want to retroactively scrapbook the past few years with Project Life. I can feel the apprehension creeping up on me and am mentally beating it back with a large studded stick.

This song has been stuck in my head for the past day in between the Big Bang Theory clips that I've been watching online. It pretty much sums up the more positive spin on how I've been feeling.

Later on today, the SO and I plan to see The Hobbit movie later with most of his family. He's been very much looking forward to seeing it and it's been ages since we've been to a movie together. I should probably load up on caffeine prior. I'm proud to have not needed any yet! Started the day off with a bowl of fruit, yogurt, and cereal mixed together. It was a delicious snack that I had last night too.

2012: Year In Review

It's finally here. The end of 2012, when the world was supposed to end about half a dozen times. We're battered and weary but still here!

Here is what I had to say and share at the ends of 2010 and 2011.

I wanted to focus on, well, focusing and just doing. Big ole flop due to unforeseen bouts of absolute rage. I have been very blessed by karma and good fortune out of many a rough spot this year too. However, resolutions and whatnot will come tomorrow. Time for the nostalgia!


Here is Pantone's page about the Color of the Year: Emerald and here's the press release page about it.

DJ Earworm has cranked out this mash-up of the top songs of 2012- "Shine Brighter":

JibJab's Look Back on 2012:

 YouTube's Top Videos of 2012:

Also, two articles: New species of animals discovered in 2012 and Weird News from my home state of Florida. Cannot say that I'm terribly proud of the hot mess-ery.

I commend you for carrying on after this point as it's time for my monthly reviews! These are in no particular order and obviously vary in importance and meaning. Looking back on a lot of this there were time that I didn't document exactly what was going on in my life, but it reminded me of what was happening. It made me much more determined to document the realities with my scrapbooking while I cut back on putting up a sugar-coated front.

January: 

I took down my cherry tomatoes, perfected my cake pop- Oreo truffles techniques, and tried to make some resolutions about limited myself to strict time periods (what a laugh). I worried about how to streamline every aspect of my life, was still working for Stampin' Up! for a few more months, and started delving into my family's vacation scrapbook in earnest.

I discovered my blog's issues with Picasa's photo storage that took weeks to sort through and fix, harvested my herbs that were going wild while starting off some new seeds, planned my own Lunar New Year of the Dragon dinner, and did cultural presentations in each of the classrooms.

I also started working on classroom websites and now am the school's webmaster, began a mild obsession with beauty products and YouTube beauty gurus, and I created a system of organizing and keeping receipts this year.

During a brunch with a dear friend, I pulled three Angel Cards to reflect upon for the year: "Exploration" - "Balance" - "Forgiveness". While I kept that in mind for a few weeks, I totally lost track of that later on in the year, and looking back now- It was incredibly relevant and poignant. 

February: 
I was immersed in the BoardMaker program at school making communication schedule booklets for several students, worked my butt off helping out with the annual spaghetti fundraiser, learned about Project Life, vaguely watched the Superbowl while playing Mario Party (as per tradition), and started crocheting food-themed treats and made candy-treats for the staff for the snowy Valentine's Day we had. That was also Arizona's 100th birthday.

While working in the garden, I discovered two types of bug eggs popping up underneath the leaves of my plants, and started planting beans and peas. My best friend, baby brother, and I started getting back into an old favorite game of ours- Maple Story. My brother turned twenty and I flipped out just a little and I became mildly obsessed with RuPaul's Drag Race. Our cat's grass obsession reached an all-time high and there was a leap year.

My family's dog was lost but found and rescued after a week-long of turmoil. She is with a great new family now that loves here very much.

March: 
I made Simply Adorned inserts for a friend and was super grateful for random acts of kindness at work. There was the anniversary of two years of blogging around which I reorganized the tabs and features, spring had sprung in the garden while the lettuce was ravaged by some critter, and we added strawberries to the mix.

The SO's bike was made road-ready again, we worked on various plumbing and other household repairs, there were tornadoes across the middle of the country, and the NCAA tournament was lackluster when our home team was knocked out of the running very early on. We also splurged on updating some computer parts and I got a graphics tablet.

Seed catalogs rekindled my hope in the garden followed by flowers appearing, we took care of a pesky wisdom toothache, I went to zoo on a field trip with the kids, and I crocheted armies of cupcakes with my best friend when we started the battle of the care packages.

April: 
We were obsessed with Sims3 and some expansions, our kitty's sister got into a fight with a feral cat, the peppers were being eaten from my garden, the herbs flourished, the lettuce was thinned out, started garden vlogging, and celebrated Easter with my sister-in-law with some deviled eggs shaped like baby chicks. I was itching to reorganize my room (amongst other things) and celebrated four years of dating with the SO at a fifties diner

I started working and volunteering more at school, becoming the guard of the laminator, made a Flat Stanley display about plants and cultivated a front display all about the beloved book character at school, it reached 100 degrees, there was a volunteer breakfast, and we treated ourselves to luxurious haircuts.

There was a mini garden haul, an attempt to reseed a few old favorites, and while planning out my trip to Florida and FMIL's birthday celebrations, I was reprioritizing my life yet again.

May: 
I tried to make my first crochet project from scratch- a hooded kitty scarf, finished up some classes, vlogged a little bit with our kitty, and took FMIL to Kartchner Caverns.

Then, I headed to Florida for the majority of the month during which I took off to Cape Canaveral the next day, then to Tallahassee where I attended the wedding of two friends from childhood, the drama of someone else's family showed up on our doorstep, my brother and I took field trips around our neighborhood, had a reunion ten years in the making with middle school friends, went on a road trip with my brother to visit friends around the central part of the state, and then headed back to Tucson.

June: 
Switched around my wardrobe, we became obsessed with Diablo 3, reorganized my beauty storage, had a few wolf spider visits, replenished my card stash with newly released color products while planning out this year's Christmas cards in earnest, and we prayed for those affected by the wildfires in New Mexico and the flooding in Florida. 

We played a lot of Mario Party, got up to 110 degrees, cat-sat for our sister-in-law while she was away, and nearly blew a gasket over our internet issues. I thought out my collection of earring storage, learned about my one of five love languages, the garden was picked on by quails, realized that pain was a big part of adulthood, started making clothing accessories out of yarn, and helped a friend reorganize her office.

I also kept plugging away at that family scrapbook, FMIL went to visit family, and we Skyped with them. All of us kept the victims of the Colorado wildfires in our thoughts.

July: 
I began a obsession with crochet oceanic creatures, started playing with my Nintendo DS again, and freaked out when my brother had car issues while my folks away on their first cruise. Our Independence Day was the coldest we've had in a while, we found a snake or two in the yards, I made a file of my friends' favorites, we discovered Twitch TV for online game streaming, and had a fun discussion with my sister-in-law about rock-climbing.

We also found a bunch of bugs inside and ended up taking care of that, harvested peppers as they ripened, became obsessed with Terraria, and the monsoons started. I embarked upon organizing the family recipes here, there was tarantula that kept coming back, and a new classroom fish and kitten were introduced.

Our hearts dropped when we heard about the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado.

August:
The pets were introduced to each other, the garden began to recover with the monsoon rains, our internet issues continued as we said goodbye to one of our new friends, I was obsessed with learning about the Vlogbrothers, and we watched the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, land on the red planet.

I started subbing again at school, we got ringworm, the garden began wilting in the heat, was sick during my birthday, digi-scrapped a whole bunch, moderated stream chats, and I was hired on regularly has a consensus aide. That initially led to lots more communication booklets and making a bug observation book for the kids.

The tropical storm Isaac neared Florida and I started to fret a little with the media hype but my friends there reassured me that everything was going to be fine.   

September: 
I crocheted owls, finalized plans about our Christmas cards, our kitty caught an upper respiratory infection, realized I was working for free for the time being, the tomatoes and peppers continued to ripening, and I continued stockpiling yarn gifts again. 

Skyped more with my closet of friends, reaffirmed my thoughts on marriage, finished up the Florida scrapbook album, reflected upon an end of era with my WoW playing as the new expansion came out, and went on fall break.

I found out that one of my high school mentors, who inspired my degree, had passed away after battling cancer.

October:
We had to get a new fridge, the weather began getting chilly, I finally made the Christmas cards, had my hours doubled at work, reorganized my beauty and nail polish storage, wrote up a story for my Flat Stanley adventures in Florida, and reorganized around the house some more.

I began extensive note-taking inspired by my new obsession of Project Life, updated the garden monthly summaries tab here, and watched tons of shows on Hulu with the SO. There was a field trip to the Sabino Canyon, I gave my teenage self some beauty advice, assembled the Florida album, created a master plan about growing up, carved pumpkins at the last minute, and created a bunch of cards.

The hurricane- super storm Sandy devastated the New England area.

November:
I started finding something different I could be grateful about for each day of this month, started walking home as part of my bigger plan to grow as a person, harvested the last of the major bits of peppers and fruits from the garden, went to a fun baby shower, became determined to document more of life, largely failed at my walk home, and majorly bonded with our kitty.

I found some of the joys of using Evernote, began to receive and send packages, worked earnestly to control my temper, lined up a ton of creative consulting jobs that nearly all fell apart, reviewed a bunch of beauty products from throughout the year, wrote the Christmas cards, and went to two Thanksgiving dinners- one of which was vegetarian. 

The garden was prepped for winter weather, started up some new seeds indoors, and obsessed over dancing musical Christmas light videos online. Walking home got easier with a simplified route that came with long phone conversations with my brother and mother, and thought extensively about what I wanted to do in the new year when I got my new planner.

December:
I got sick more often (it happened to coincide with when the students would get ill, imagine that), began to winterize the evaporative cooler on my own, finalized the cards and wrapped up the gifts as they arrive, and commenced cooking new recipes again.

I went to the bi-annual street fair, began getting gifts early on, the SO and I began planning out home renovations in the next coming months, made cake pops for the staff, went to the staff holiday party, and learned about a family illness and the appointments, fretting, and treatments that go along with that.

There was a terrible shooting in Newtown, Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary that rocked the nation and the world. 

There was much baking of holiday treats, was sick for much of my vacation, watched many YouTubers participate it in Vlogmas, played many hours of Dokapon Kingdom and Super Mario Galaxy with the SO, spent Christmas with the in-laws, the SO and I went on a road trip to meet up with a friend, and wrapped up the year by reflecting upon the past twelve months.