Older, but not Wiser. The Guy on my TV is Smoking Pot... I Think.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY... to me!! 

I'm another year older, but not really any wiser. I like to get presents, but I also like to give presents.

You know who else likes to give presents? Some of my amazingly kind blogger friends!! And I've got a few awesome giveaways for you all to enter.

There will be three winners. You must complete all mandatory entries to win a giveaway. The Made with Love giveaway is open only to those with a US mailing address.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway
PSST.... You may want to come back tomorrow, because I may or may not be giving something away myself! :)

Favorite Things Friday

Happy FRIDAY!!! 

FINALLY. This weekend we are headed up to Sioux City to hang out with the in-laws, and I'm pretty stoked about it- it should be a good time. Plus, my Huskers will be playing Wisconsin, which should be a pretty good game. Hopefully.

Anyway. Time for my favorite things this week!

1. Smoothies. Specifically ones from Juice Stop. I'm not sure if Juice Stop is a Nebraska thing, but if it is, I will die if we ever move. They have like, 50 different types of smoothies to choose from, each one more delicious than the last.

2. Having a clean car. I used to work at a car wash, and my car was always spotless, inside and out. As it should have been - I did get free car washes and interior cleans (if I cleaned it myself, so really I just had access to all of our stuff). Now that I don't work there, though, our car got a little... messy. Today we had it washed and vacuumed it out, and it feels amazing. I love having a spotless car.

3. Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers. People. If you ever find yourself in Lincoln, NE, come to Raising Cane's. It's the most amazing fried chicken ever. Of all time. It's a little pricey, but oh, so good.  I really wanted some today, so we caved and went, and it was oh, so satisfying. Hit the spot.

4. Book club! I'm getting so pumped! So far we've had about 35 votes, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower is in first place. If that's not the book you want, don't fret! You can still vote.
Also... I want you all to know that you don't have to sign up anywhere to participate - no one should feel obligated - this is just for fun. I have, however, decided to start an email sign up for those of you who are interested in the occasional email with reminders as far as dates for link ups and google video chats. I will not spam your email, and I will never send out anything that doesn't deal specifically with book club. You don't have to sign up to participate - this is just if you want to.
5. Awesome points! For those of you that don't know, I have this little thing called awesome points. I give them out for random, mostly ridiculous things. Once you have 75,000, you cash them in for an awesome package! It's a surprise, and I won't even know what it is till I start putting it together. It's just a fun way for me to reward my readers for being, well.. awesome! It's better than a giveaway, because you don't have to be lucky to win them. It's up to you how many you get.

That being said... let's give away some awesome points, shall we?

All you have to do is guess which blogger is which. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. This is for 2,000 awesome points. If you get it partially correct, you get partial awesome points. Answers can be found by visiting blogs and looking in the about me section.

Kim//Erinn//Madison//Whitney

twitter//instagram//facebook

facebook//twitter//pinterest

twitter//facebook

Twitter//Facebook//Instagram

Blogger one: This blogger was in a sorority in college. Don't let that fool you, though - she says she's quite the nerd. She loves Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings. She loves music almost as much as her new husband, and though you wouldn't know it from her picture, she loves making ridiculous faces for the camera.

Blogger two: This blogger likes to bite off more than she can chew, which might make it awkward if you ask her a question while her mouth is full. She, like every other blogger, loves Harry Potter (are we sensing a theme here?) and Pokemon. She has a husband, a blog, and a really cute dog (I should be a poet). She loves to get her DIY on and stalk Pinterest for new ideas.

Blogger three: This blogger is a high school Spanish teacher who loves to travel. She just got an iPhone 5 and is also obsessed with Harry Potter. She probably also thinks she is dying at any given time, because she's a self-diagnosed hypochondriac. You may see her pull a ketchup bottle out of her purse.

Blogger four: This blogger can do one mean rendition of the chicken dance, electric slide, or macarena - whatever it is, she can do it, because she loves dancing. She has probably seen a moose (or ten) and maybe a polar bear. Or Russia. From her backyard. Anyway, she plays the sax (I said sax, not sex), and is really good at that, too. She probably loves Harry Potter, even though it doesn't say that in her "about me" section.

So who's who??? Visit their blogs and guess away! If you like what you read, be sure to visit their other social media so that you can stalk them forever.

Awkward & Awesome.

Hiiii Guys!!! 

In case you didn't know from this post, 

TODAY IS THE DAY!!!! If you don't know what day... you're disowned. Hunger Games, DUH!

Actually, while you're reading this... I'm probably in the theater. Yes, that's right, I'm scheduling a post for today so that I keep my little fingers from ruining the movie for everyone else. You're welcome. 

I almost never do awkward and awesome, but I figured, "What the hey. Anything is better than ruining HG for all those pretty people." So... if this a&a sucks... I'm sorry. But not really. 

Awkward. 

1. This video. I did debate putting this in the "awesome" category, though. I'm just that cool. 

2. Going on my first run after 6 months of not working out. Guys, I almost died (and not because I was running through the forest alone at twilight). I had an asthma attack, my knee swelled up to the size of a baseball (I'm actually not even supposed to run, but it's not like I have very many workout options here), and I tripped (on nothing) and flailed around for dear life. This is why I would rather bike 30 miles than run one, or swim 2 miles than run one. 

this person obviously wants Sonic to run like me. 

3.  My German. I haven't spoken German in forever. Anyone wanna practice with me? It's bad, though. 

via

4. Forgetting to tell my ride to work that I didn't have to work this morning, and then running outside in a tshirt (without a bra) and sweats (pretty much forbidden in Germany) to tell him, "Oh, yeah... I forgot to call you...

5. Always having to do things in groups of five even if you have nothing else to say. I believe this is self-explanatory. 

Awesome. 

1. I am probably watching the Hunger Games right now. Nuff said. 

via

2. This video. I was going to put it under "awkward", but I decided that "awesome" was the better choice. 

3. Freakin' Spring and Sunshine! Holy amazeballs I love this weather! 

4. Playing Hunger Games in the Forest with Husband. No, we did not kill each other, but we did run around with sticks. Yeah, we're freaks. And yes, you're invited to come to Germany and play with us. 

5. The 3 blog designs I've done this week. I think they're pretty freakin' rad, if I do say so myself. You can click the picsies and they'll take you to the blog so you can see the designs "in action" (and check out some pretty amazing bloggers at the same time)!

Happy Hunger Games!! 

What It's Like. (Awkward and Awesome Part Two)

Greetings, Bloglings! 


Remember that one time I told you about all the awkward stuff you would see if you were a creepy stalker fly on our wall?
Well, this is part two of that post, which means this is all the awesome stuff you would see/hear. Oh, and sorry for the crappy webcam pics. Mikey-poo is taking a nap, and I don't want to bother him to take my picture. 
1. Little love notes left on computers because we're too lazy to use a pencil and paper. 

2. Hubby singing at the top of his lungs. Dude has an amazing voice. I find it comparable to Josh Groban's. He hasn't ever had any professional training (hard to believe, right?), but he is fantastic. 3. Lots of diet coke, poured into jars instead of glasses. I realize our obsession with this beverage is probably borderline unhealthy, but I think it's awesome that our fridge is always stocked, and that I can offer guests a nice big jar of cold diet coke. Mmmm, refreshing. 

4. Laundry waiting to be folded. I like to think of this as awesome because it makes me feel better about myself. No, I didn't take a pic of my awesome piles of laundry... I don't want to be judged. :)
5. PRETZELS!!! I freakin' love pretzels. Mmmmm. Add a little PB and you have my favorite snack! 

Dear Parents.

What's crackin' mah homie G's? I know... I should probably just channel inner valley girl and be like, "Hey girl, hey!!" But I just can't do it. 
Warning: this is kind of a long post, so if you don't read the whole thing - I won't hate you. Or blame you. 
Anyway, I was looking through some pics of the cruise that my parents just went on, and I realized that I really miss those two lovebirds. I mean, how could I not? See how cute and lovable and missable they are?? 

Dear Parents, 
I'm gonna start off with the mushy gushy stuff so that it's over fast - like ripping off a band-aid, only instead of hurting, I'm sure it'll make you smile and feel all nice inside. You guys are the bee's knees. You're sunshine on a cloudy day. You're like big strong Amazon people (<-- Okay, I realize that's not mushy, but I thought it had a nice ring to it). You are two of the most amazing, talented, loving, caring, and patient people that I have ever met. I love you guys. Oh, and you're weird. I like that you're weird, because now I know where I get it! 

DUDE, MOM (we always joked that that should have been her name, because half the time us kids would greet her that way). Thank you for putting up with my witchy 13-14-15-16-17-18-year-old self. I commend you for your patience and love. I would have probably smacked my smart-butt face more than once. You have a lot of self-control. I know we butted heads a lot as I was growing up, but I am so thankful to have you now not only as a mother, but as a friend. 

Thank you for acting as a chauffeur until I got my license. Thank you for allowing me to drive, even though it probably scared the living daylights out of you. Thank you for supporting me in all of my endeavors - even the ridiculous ones. You knew I would be too gangly and giraffe-like to ever be a gymnast, but you bought me that leotard anyway, because 5-year-old Alyx was convinced that gymnastics was for her. Thank you for believing in me, and encouraging me to get an education. Thank you for setting that example for me - you are smart, beautiful, strong, successful, and the best mom ever. PS: what the heck is this fuzzy thing you're wearing??? I forgive for this fashion mishap, because I'm sure in the early 80's, this was hip/cool/rad/awesome/whatever word they were using back then. 

DADDY!! To this day I am a daddy's girl, and I am proud of it. I get my competitive nature from you (which, let's be honest - it can get a little extreme, but I like it), and I think I get my freakish height from you, too. Thanks for that - because of you, I can always reach the cookie jar. Seriously, though. 

Thank you for teaching me how to drive (even though one time you were asleep and I almost hit a deer and slammed on the breaks and you woke up thinking that you were going to die - sorry about that). Thank you for helping me with my math homework, thank you for encouraging me to go to college and get an education. Thank you for humoring my 5-year-old leotard-clad self and teaching me how to do a cartwheel. Thank you for serving your country for 25+ years. 

Thank you for loving me no matter what, thank you for the snuggles, and the bear hugs. Thank you for never letting me settle for less than I deserved. Thank you for putting up with the phone call a day for the first three years I was away from home, and the 4 phone calls (at least!) a week after I got married. Thank you for being a great father and a great husband to my mother. Because of you, I knew what kind of man I wanted to marry (obviously the kind that tries to throw his wife off of the cruise ship).

You guys have shown me that marriage isn't always easy, it isn't always fun, and there are plenty of struggles, but it is so worth it. You are still in love after almost 28 years and 4 kids. You are awesome, and I can only hope to be like you someday.