Psh. You KNOW I Can't do THAT!

blog every day in May, that is. Obviously I've already failed since I didn't do May 1st's writing prompt. And we all know that this baby WILL be here any day, so that's an automatic fail, too.

Oh, hey... speaking of which, does anyone want to make my blog less boring by entertaining the few people who actually read this blog? As in, does anyone want to do a guest post while I'm going through labor? It doesn't have to be baby-related (actually, people will probably love you if it's not, since I'm, ya know, gonna go a little crazy with the baby-related ish here in about 2 weeks). Email me. 

Now for the actual purpose of my post:
That's right, the challenge that I won't actually complete (and have already failed). Day two's prompt is this:

Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at. 

People, be prepared to be shocked and amazed - I am good at rambling. It's hard to believe, I know. I mean, you'd think you didn't just read that whole long spiel up there about guest posts. 

You should hear me on the phone - I have a gift, really, I do. 

Oh, you know what else I'm good at? Reading. I love to read. What's that? You do, too? Okay, well go ahead and vote for the book for Blogger Book Club during the month of May. Please and thank you. 

What classic should we read for the May book club pick?

The Great Gatsby

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Great Expectations

1984

www.poll-maker.com

Oh, and just an FYI, Amanda is going to be helping Kim, Kaylee, and me out with book club while I go take care of this little human I've been growing for the past nine months. She's a total life-saver. Word to your mother (and your brother, every other undercover tellin' you what to say...)

Yahoo! Q&A thinks I'm an Idiot. The Neighbors' Magical Night.

Hola!

So before I show you why Yahoo! thinks I'm an idiot, let me give you some background....

Last Wednesday was my birthday, and Mike surprised me by arranging for my best friend to come visit from out of town to surprise me. Once she was in town, she and Mike went and bought a ton of helium-filled balloons and some streamers to decorate the living room. Obviously one of my first thoughts upon walking into the living room full of balloons was, I can't wait to suck all that helium and sing ridiculous songs.

Because we are incredibly cautious and like to do our research, though, we turned to google for an answer to the ever important question:

And here's what Yahoo! Answers had to say.

"What a stupid question.

Who in their right mind would do that to their unborn child?

Source(s):

Common sense."

... apparently I was absent when they handed that stuff out. In other news, there's a giveaway here and another one three here. In other other news... I have a spiffy new blog of the month, and she's hilarious. I haven't ever lied to you before, so just trust me on this one. If you don't believe me, you can read her hilarity below... or go here to read the most hilarious skunk story ever.

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My name is Verity. . . it sounds like charity with a V.

Here's a few things about me:

I'm married to Jacob. I like to call him Jake, Jack, Jacob, J, J, Jay. . . all kinds of things. To me, it's pretty understandable who I'm talking about, but on more than 9 occasions, people have asked me if I feel badly talking about so many different men on my blog. When I try to explain that all these different men are really just the same, one man, they get weird and walk away. I don't know.

Another thing; like Alyx, I'm a November baby. We're clearly the best, but I'm biased.

I'm random. I feel like random stories are real glimpses of what people are like, so I love hearing about others stories! Indeed, tonight while I was in the bath, I washed my face and got a very unreasonable fear of something being in the tub with me, so I opened my eyes with soap on them, to make sure nothing was swimming with me. J did not appreciate me yelling for help with my burning eyes, but luckily they are fine now and luckily there was not something like a rat or roach swimming with me [Alyx here: ummm please tell me none of you have ever shared your bath with either of these creatures. I would scream and cry].

Also, I feel like I blog a lot about my neighbors. We live in a complex with 10 units, and they are rad. But the walls are thin. So thin that we hear many, many magical nights of our neighbors. Also, we used to knock on the wall we shared with our favorite friends. . . but now we just try to be louder than everyone at all times of the day and night. We'll open our windows and shout at 6 in the morning. We'll vacuum at midnight. I don't know. It's fun.

So that is me in a total nutshell. I never understood that saying. That is me in 3 paragraphs and a few sentences.

The end.

PS. Ending blogs is really awkward to me. [Alyx again: this is why I felt it was necessary to blog-stalk Verity and retrieve this glorious photo for your viewing pleasure. End awkward moment.]
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Now go visit Verity! I promise you... you will love her.

5 Things Bloggers Talk about in Emails. A Vacation to China.

Happy Monday!! 

Let's all cross our fingers that this week flies by, okay? Okay.

So here's the deal. I'm horrible at answering emails lately. But occasionally, I'll be okay about it and successfully have a conversation with one of you. I would like to present you all with a list of Things Bloggers Talk about in Emails. Names of bloggers involved in these emails have been withheld, because I don't want them to shoot me in the face when you all tell me how ridiculous we are.

1. Blogging Biker Gangs. Or something like that. It'd actually be a bicycle gang with spandex and geeky helmets and ridiculous shoes (the words "saddle sores" may have been in this conversation as well), but a bike gang is a bike gang, right?

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2. Having blog dates via skype. Not just Skype chatting, but taking a laptop to a restaurant while skyping a bloggy friend, and having a dinner date. Totally normal thing to do, right?

3. Reasons to get pregnant. This list is endless and full of absolutely ridiculous things. Apparently there are a lot of silly reasons to reproduce.

4. Books. Obviously. I realize that this isn't exactly ridiculous, but it might be ridiculous how often books just creep into conversations. Which leads me to remind you - we are still accepting book suggestions for October book club!

5. Exotic animals you'd like to pet. Maybe I'm just friends with weirdos (or I'm the weird one, which is more likely), but somehow, email conversations often get turned to exotic animals. Whether it's the ones I'd like to someday ride (ahem - elephant and kangaroo) or someday pet (tiger and koala bear), it's always a good conversation.

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Do you email other bloggers? What sorts of crazy things do you talk about? 

Maybe you talk about your travels, who you are, where you came from, where you want to go? Well, I don't think it's any secret that I'd like to go to China someday, but I definitely don't have the cash for a spur-of-the-moment vacation as I'm sure is the case with many of us, so I'd like to treat you to an imaginary, all-expenses paid vacation, courtesy of Natasha. Close your eyes and use that imagination!
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Hello adventurers! This is Natasha from the Picablocks. Thanks Alyx for having me today!

I'm a graduate-to-be from Malaysia, and I blog blocks - blocks of pictures, blocks of life. Photos are what drove me to establish this blog, and I think they are what keeps me writing.  Though I share mostly about photography on my little blog, today I want to talk about a Chinese festival - the Mid-Autumn Festival.

This festival, also known as the mooncake festival is celebrated by Asian countries. We celebrate it in Autumn, on the 15th of Ba Yue (August). But, like any other Chinese festival, the date of mooncake festival changes every year on the standard calendar. This year it's on the 30th of September.

To this day, how do the Chinese celebrate the day?

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At night children place candles inside specially made craft lanterns and run around the town in parades. 

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Mid-autumn festival is a day to spend with family. That night, the family gathers and we eat moon cakes, play with lanterns, and admire the moon. During the mooncake festival, the moon is the roundest and biggest of the whole year. It symbolizes this reunion. 

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We eat moon cakes. They are of all sorts of shapes and tastes.

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There are also huge lantern parades and exhibitions from different Chinese organizations. 

The Mooncake festival is a traditional chinese festival that preserves our culture, but the average Chinese people love it because of its warmth. It's that day that families and friends reunite, sit down, and talk about happy things while looking at the moon. 

It literally tops my favorite 5 festivals of all time!

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Have you guys ever been to a traditional festival in another country? I think it's amazing to step back and take a look at all of the different cultures around us. 

If you haven't already, you can stop by Natasha's blog to say hello! Don't forget to enter this giveaway - she's generously giving one lucky reader $50!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How to Lose the Fever - Baby Fever, that is.

HAPPY HOLIDAY MONDAY!!!!! 

I hope you're all having as fabulous a day off of work as I am! At least... I hope I'm having a fabulous day. I'm writing this ahead of time, and I'm no psychic, so who knows how my Monday is going!

Anyway. I occasionally catch the fever - you all know the one I'm talking about. BABY FEVER. It's everywhere, and I hear it's almost impossible to cure.

Lucky for you, though, I think I know someone who has found the cure, and what better day to talk about it than Labor Day? Get it? I knew you would, you all are just so smart.

Anyway, just in case you're suffering from a baby fever of 103, I'll let you read on for the cure. Just know before you start that this girl is awesome, and in case you need any more hilarity in your life, you can find her over on the sidebar under the "Blog of the Month" header.
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Hey all you beautiful people!  I am so excited to be with you today.  My name is Kristen, and I hang out over at This Radiant Life.  When Alyx first asked me about guest posting on Labor day, I knew exactly what to talk about.  You see, I have the fever, friends.  You know the one... where your eyes get glassy, your head is spinning, your stomach flip-flops, just because you see a tiny little being who can't even form a noise resembling any word in the English language. 

Yup, it's baby fever.  I have a chronic condition that I've been nursing for the last 2.5 years or so.  It's hard.  So, what better than to share with you my tips for avoiding baby fever?

Tip #1:  Avoid all cute children.  If you must be around children, make sure they're the ones that scream so loudly in the restaurant that you have to request to be moved to a different section.  Refuse to go visit your family on the grounds that their children are just too adorable.  I present to you exhibit A...

 My cousin's kid.  The cutest, funniest kid I know.  I have to avoid Southern California like the plague because of her.

Tip #2:  If you have to be around cute kids, ask their mothers about the labor and delivery of said child.  Make sure you get every last detail.  Don't let them leave out the part where they couldn't leave the hospital for a few days, because they had a hard time going poo.  Trust me, it will help.

Last, but not least, Tip #3:  Go buy a large size watermelon, and stick it under your shirt.  Carry it around for an hour, and see how it feels.  Then take a picture, and realize what a scary looking pregnant woman you would be if you were about to give birth to a watermelon.  Then cut up the watermelon, and give it to that handsome guy you just forced to take said picture.  If that doesn't cure you, I don't know what will.

And really, it was enough for us... until we'd eaten the entire watermelon, and my cousin had posted yet another awesome picture of her child.  It's a vicious cycle.

So to all you women out there who AREN'T pregnant on this lovely Labor day, I hope this post has helped you find one or two ways that you too can fight the fever.

Thank you again to Alyx for letting me litter her blog with my madness, and thank you for reading it!  To be a part of more of my crazy adventures, you can find my blog here, follow me on Twitter, or even Pinterest.  I would love to hear from you!

The Cubicle Chronicles. A PSA. And Chaos.

Why, hello there, friends. 

I hope you all are having a fabulous Monday - not working too hard, but not slacking, either (slacking gets you in trouble, right?).

First of all... My arms in this post? Soooo photoshopped. Haha, I thought you all would catch on to that, but I was mistaken. That is an incredibly buff man's bicep, not mine. Just an FYI/PSA/I can't believe you couldn't tell announcement.

I work in a corporate office. Wooooo. My office has cubicles, just like 99% of the offices out there. I have my own little cubicle, where I sit next to all of the other people in my department. I thought it would be fun to do a little series called The Cubicle Chronicles. It won't be a weekly thing, or on any set day - it will just be the days that I have something funny or interesting to share.

I thought it would be grand to introduce you to my coworkers:

I don't really have anything good for The Chronicles this week, but stay tuned - I'm sure there will be plenty as the weeks go on.

Oh, hey! You know who else writes her own little series of Chronicles? Mia. She's not in my cubicle chronicles, but holy balls, life would be awesome if she was. I mean, she is supermom in a world full of chaos, but I'll let her tell you about it.
Hi there, I'm Mia from The Chronicles of Chaos.  No, it's not a comic book, but sometimes I do feel like SuperMom!  I married my high school sweetheart, and we have 2 beautiful sons.  I have always loved writing (in any shape or form), but I started blogging to capture the chaos that reigns supreme when you have 2 parents who work full-time, 2 rambunctious boys, and a Black Lab who has never outgrown the puppy energy! And I sprinkle in some recipes, and other life ramblings in the mix as well.  Stop by and say hi sometime, I love meeting new people!
Mia is also giving away a Starbucks gift card here - have you entered yet? 

Weekends Bring Life Lessons. Husbands Expect Silly Things. And Something about Former Communists.

Goooooood Morning!!! 

I feel a little weird saying that, because I've started writing my blog posts the night before they go up... it's just easier that way. I hope you all are doing splendid. 

I also hope that my butt is freakin' tired when you're reading this. And it better not be tired from sleeping in, but from waking up early and hitting the gym for the first time in about a year. 

Yeah... I'll let you know how that goes. 

Side note: the MIL found a box of miscellaneous clothing in the garage, and I think my cycling shorts are in there. Happiest day of my life. 

Anyway. 

I wanted to let you in on a few things that I learned this weekend. 

1. Skip-bo is a freakin' fun game. 

via

2. A lot of yard work gets done when it's cooler than 90 degrees outside. 

3. Netflix has amazing customer service - season 5 of Burn Notice is on there now, and they emailed us to let us know. 

via

4. Instead of being addicted to Coke 0, I'm now addicted to sparkling water. It's a start, right? 

5. Elsha, my August Blog of the Month freakin speaks RUSSIAN. Like, seriously. In her words, enough to get herself "out of jail." Like, hello. Seriously? So. freaking. cool. She's also really funny. And probably doesn't say, "like," or "seriously" as much as I do. And she has a rockin' sense of style. And just donated over half of her hair. And lots of other cool stuff, but you should probably just go check her out to see for yourself. But not till you read her post. She'll tell you lots more reasons that she's awesome. 

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Good Morning Fans of the amazing Alyx!!  I am so excited to be here, literally I think I wet my britches a little when I got the email. 

First things first, I'm Elsha from When Mine Became Ours, my little inspiration space in this big old world. 10 months ago I got my first big kid job, which happened to involve sitting at a desk and staring at a computer screen for 10-11 hours a day. Well after Husband noticed the life being sucked out of me he suggested I find something creative to do with all my extra time {did I mention that I commute an hour each way to work everyday? So much free time I tell you}. Hence, little blogger was born. 

This is a space for inspiration. It isn't about fashion, it is about whatever moves me, but having grown up with a professional costume designer as a mother no one can blame me for being interested in fashion. 

The Man and I just celebrated our 1st wedding anniversay {yesterday!} but don't let that fool you, Joe and I have known each other for....wait for it.....12 years now!  We met in our 6th grade math class where he told everyone he had a crush on me and I was dead set on hating him for the rest of my life. 

Obviously that didn't work out.  It wasn't until the day before he was supposed to leave for Japan for 2 years that I realized I was in love with him.  But I'm a Sissy La-la and didn't tell him.  So we wrote for two years as I pined after the boy on the other side of the earth.  When he got back I forced him to marry me and he's been trying to crush me in my sleep and break my nose with his super quick arms swings in the middle of the night ever since. 

I remember our first month being married, and all the madness that came with it.  Here are a few things I learned that my husband expected out of me that I didn't even know were possible during those first few weeks:

1. I should be able to lift a couch, walk, and take directions at the same time.  False

2. I should have a sense of humor he punches me in the face, steam rolls me, and then laughs in my face and I beg for air.  All at 2 o'clock in the morning, while he is completely asleep.

3. A wife should know how to cook a dinner besides granola bars and cheese sticks. Say what?

4. I have to talk about my feelings. LAME!

and finally

5. I should know the name, shape, family, and place of every tool in the whole entire world.  Which I don't, and he does.

Thank you readers, and thank you Alyx for welcoming me into your abode!

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You still have a couple days to enter to win a Starbucks gift card and Bath and Body Works gift basket here. 

Florida. Mickey. Disney. MOVING DAY!!!!

You guys. 

Oops... I didn't say hello! Sorry, and... hello! I'm just so excited because... TODAY IS THE DAY!! We are finally moving into our house. It has been a long, stressful journey (I feel weird calling it a journey, but my brain isn't working properly, so journey it is), but today we are becoming homeowners. 

This is the place. It's pee yellow with poop green shutters and a whopping 960 square ft with an outdated kitchen that may smell like old people (I'm lying... it doesn't smell like old people... or maybe I've just gotten used to the smell), but it's ours and we love it. It's the perfect starter home for us, and we are so thankful that things have worked out so perfectly. 

You can bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow's post will be full of ridiculous pictures of us holding our thumbs up next to the "SOLD" sign. Until then, I think you should just keep reading to the end of this post. 

You may see a little of my old pal Mickey. And a little of the most humid place on the planet. And a whole lot of one of my newest blog friends! Libby is awesome and has a super cool tradition that involves Disneyworld, but I don't want to spoil everything. 

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Waving hello from Florida, Homestead Florida to be exact which is about 30 miles south of Miami and about 100 miles from KeyWest. That's the same distance from KeyWest to Cuba. But you really didn't want to know that!? LOL Homestead to used to be nothing but farm land back in the 80's to mid 90's it's now grown to be a huge congested city. 

My name is Libby and I blog over here. This is my first guest post and I must say, I'm uber excited. Although, I must confess I'm a bit nervous too...I think I've typed this line over a hundred times, have stared at my screen for atleast 30 minutes, tapped my fingers, scratched my head and still my brain is blank.___________

  

Over in my little cyber space I blog about my life, my nieces, my honey, my bestfriends, my travels, my addictions and my obsessions with lists, and soon DIY projects.

This is me...

 I'm an Auntie to these 4 beautiful little princesses 

and these 2 little princess live with me.

 My heart belongs to this handsome fella

& I've loved this guy since I can remember.

Be sure to stop by, introduce yourself, and let's become friends!

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Make sure to stop by Libby's space and share your favorite Disney experience. Or, ya know, just say hello. 

Mondays. Pity Parties. Keyboards. Craftiness.

Heyyyy yooouuuuu guyssss!!! 

Yeah, yeah, I know - the Goonies greeting gets old, but I don't care. I still think it's awesome. Anyway, I hope that none of you are suffering a case of the Mondays, because if you are... that's just really unfortunate. I actually have a cure for you, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I don't really have a case of the Mondays, but what I do have is a case of the "I-miss-living-abroad-days." Yeah, I just made that up. I look at pictures like this one and I just wanna throw myself a big old "I miss Europe" pity party. 

So... excuse me while I go throw a pity party. Before I leave, though, I have your cure. ESPECIALLY if you like awesome, pretty, easy, and crafty things & people. Umm... minus the "easy" part and plus the "expat living in Japan" on the people end. 

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Hello to Alyx's lovely readers! I'm Sue, the girl behind As It Seems. I'm a wife to Aaron, a puppy-mama to Twink, and a lover of life and pretty things. I love photography and travel and I write about everything in my life. The good, the bad, and the ugly. And of course I love to make new bloggy friends so you should definitely say hello to me! I think of myself as anti-creative. I love creative projects and ideas, but I usually find some way to mess them up really badly. However what I'm about to share with you even I couldn't mess up!

Did you ever notice how boring keyboards are? I've seen a few fun ones flying around the internet but I'll be honest- I love the simplicity of a small, wireless Apple keyboard. That doesn't mean I don't want a little creativity thrown in there. I also didn't want something permanent. My blog is proof of how often I like to change things up! The solution? Washi Tape. my.favorite.thing. And since I'm super cool really lucky, I live in Japan and can find it at any stationary store.

I was lucky enough to find lettered Washi Tape & I stuck with green & pink stripes as the alternates. I also didn't do the entire keyboard but I can always change that in the future.

And the best part? It doesn't leave sticky residue. When I get bored of this design I can peel it off. Or use my other Washi Tape to make a completely new design. The possibilities are endless. Like I said, my.favorite.thing.
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I don't know about you guys, but now that I'm done throwing myself a pity party (which may or may not have included eating strawberry cheesecake ice cream & cuddling with my cat), I'm going to hunt down some washi tape to make my keyboard pretty. You should all do that after you visit Sue and see what other cool stuff she gets up to. 

Guess Who's Back, Back Again. Baby Fever. Hamsters.

YO MAH HOMIE G GANGSTA FRANDS!!! 


It is so good to be back. I have been up in the Black Hills (that's in South Dakota for all you non-savvy geography folks out there) since the 4th, so if you've been missing my comments and email responses for the past 5 days, that's why!

I'm glad to be back, and I get the feeling that today is going to be full of catching up on blogging because I've missed a lot, so here's a couple of pics of me looking like a sweaty monkey and one pic of the most beautiful placed on earth to keep you company while I'm reading the million posts that I missed.

Sorry for the iPhone quality! Better pics to come!!

Oh, and guess what else I have for you today?! Something awesome (duh, only awesome things happen around here). You can find this something (or someone) on my right sidebar for the whole month - her name is Shane and her blog is Whispering Sweet Nothings. She wrote that one post about the ten blogging commandments and is an all-around cool chica. She's also pretty funny, but don't take my word for it - find out for yourself!

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Hello loyal EIANA readers! Now we are all well aware that Alyx is beyond hilarious. Which is why am honored stunned she trusted me to take over the stage for ths day. Well, here goes nothing.

Now I have a confession to make.

I gots the baby fever.

Okay, so I'm only 20, but hey, biological clocks start ticking earlier and earlier these days, right?

{see pinterest board: kiddos}

All these mama bloggers out there with the cute baby bellies are givin’ me the fever.

Then the ones with 9 kids and counting showcasing darling pictures of their tykes with spaghetti sauce all over their noggins or crayon masterpieces gracing their family room walls (Cute, right?)

I mean, if you can disregard the late night screaming, getting slim to nil hours of shuteye, the poop, and the fact I would have to push it out myself (ouch), they are pretty adorable creatures.

I've even started brainstorming names. This list began as a freshman in high school, scary I know. I made the executive decision to name all of my girls by boy’s names. (To make them suffer through childhood like their mama) haha, kidding, my name is rad.

Girls: Dylan, Ryley, Ashton, Avery, Blake, Kylar, Brooklyn, Nevaeh, Jayden, Audra, Khia, Kamdyn, Addisyn, Aidan, Kyle, Cameron, Eden, Kai, Kayden, Payton, Collette

Boys: Braison, Taylor, Brody, Callaway, Clayton, Cole, Dalton, Kiel, Ayden, Brayden, Alton, Karson, Alden, Brady, Corbin, Keaten, Carmen

Disclaimer: Hipster baby names may or may not have influenced some of these.

After I saw Cheaper by the Dozen at the ripe old age of eleven, I was determined to one day have twelve kids of my own. Just for funsies.

What will your baby look like? Simply upload a picture of yourself and your hunny (Or Ryan Gosling, whichever you prefer) I chose the latter.

Can we say Yikes?

Okay, so I realize I might not be ready to carry a beach ball for 9 months and then raise it for 18 years to eternity. So, for motherhood prep, I figured maybe I could get a puppy or a hamster.

Well, puppies are expensive and hamsters smell.

I decided I’d just start with keeping a bamboo plant alive. water + sunshine = happy vegetation.... right?

Wrong. Say bye bye to Ralph.

Signs you are too young for a baby:

1. You spend 87% of your time on a college campus.

2. You don’t have $100 cash monay in the bank.

3. You can't even take care of a pet.

4. Or yourself.

5. Or a bamboo plant.

Perhaps I should hold off a while longer? Thoughts? Concerns? 

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LOL, Shane, you are so not alone - I have killed every plant I've ever touched. Mine don't even get names because then I'd feel like a serial killer. At least my cat is still alive.

Don't forget to stop by Shane's corner of the blogosphere! Note: isn't it odd that I just said her "corner" of the "sphere?" Anyone else think so, or am I just cray-cray? It's the latter, because I can't believe I just typed "cray-cray." Shoot me now. 

Cure for the Mondays. Vietnamese Cats. Cool Hats.

Hi friends!! 

It's Monday, and I hope that none of you are experiencing a case of the Mondays, because those really suck. Like, hardcore. 

Anyway, if you are experiencing a case of the Mondays, I have a quick fix for that. Get a sister-in-law who is an extreme couponer. I have me one of those, and she is awesome - she's even going to teach me her ways. See? I have a binder (and a pimple the size of Texas next to my mouth). 

It's pretty incredible to see the kinds of deals she gets, and she is so good about the way she does it, too. She never clears the shelf, only buys stuff that she will actually use or can donate, and doesn't resell any of it for profit. I know a lot of extreme couponers aren't very ethical about the way they do things, and she is - I think it's awesome. She got a bunch of packs of Venus razors for pretty much nothing, and shared the wealth. I was pretty excited. 

Moral of the story: when you have a SIL who gets awesome deals and is generous, she will share the wealth and it will cure your case of the mondays. 

On a totally unrelated note, I know a girl. Her name is Emily. She has a kitty that is almost as cool as mine (come on, mine has thumbs - totally unbeatable... or maybe not, since her cat is Vietnamese. We'll call it a tie). She is hilarious. She has a Canadian accent (don't let her tell you otherwise). 

Oh, I totally forgot to tell you - she lived in Vietnam for a while. How freaking awesome is that?! Answer: very awesome. 

But... since I don't know anything about Vietnam (except that they wear cool hats), I'm going to let her tell you about it. 

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...and this is not going to be a post about how awesome I think Canada is - sorry about that!  I know you all needed to know that we drink milk from a bag (or a sleeve) and that our national animal is a beaver.  I shall save those gems for another day.  Because today I want to share something else with you.  For two years I lived and worked in Vietnam.  In Ho Chi Minh City (or to some Saigon).  As an English 'Teacher' - basically as a conversationalist.

 These were probably two of the best and interesting years of my life. In case you are wondering Vietnam is unlike Canada.  In some ways Vietnam is unlike anyplace I have ever been. Let me explain.
1. The traffic doesn't stop.   The traffic in Vietnam is chaotic. Organized but CHAOTIC.  In the morning. In the afternoon.  In the evening.  All night long.  There are people going everywhere all.the.time.  People on foot.  On bikes.  On motorbikes.  In cars. On buses.

Maybe this picture isn't providing you with an accurate picture.  It's like this EVERY DAY.  And I think it's awesome.  Try crossing the street.  I did. And got the t-shirt.


2. Siestas are normal - and encouraged. It's not unusual to go to a shop and find an employee sleeping amongst the rack of clothes.  Teachers sleeping under their desks.  Construction workers - taking a snooze to beat the heat.

   3. Bikes are just as good as a pick up.  It's not unusual to see a family of 5 on a small scooter.  Or to see a someone balancing a large flat-screen on the back of their bike.  Heck I used to carry at least six grocery bags home while holding on for dear life.  It's so normal that there was a book published called Bikes of Burden.

4.  Water buffalo are mans best friend.  Maybe not in the city - but in the countryside everyone and their grandma owns a water buffalo.  They are the pugs of Asia.   

5. And once you've been there long enough - you can't help it but immerse yourself in their customs.  Their style of dress.  Before long you are flashing peace signs at the sight of the camera. Fishing for crabs.  And sporting a non la {conical hat}.  

And that's about all the nostalgia I can handle.  I seriously miss this amazing country - as odd and different as it is.  If you ever have the opportunity to visit - do it!  Tell them Emily sent you.   Thanks for reading - or at least looking at my awesome pictures.  And if you're into it - hop on over to Hope Squared and check out my corner of the interweb.  But only if you want to. 
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Believe me - you want to. This girl has ridden a freaking elephant (aka my dream... and number one on my bucket list). And she's hilarious (I've said that twice now, so it must be true... it is). And she's obsessed with her cat (like me... because all the cool people are).

PS: I had to choose a new giveaway winner. SARAH FONTENOT, it's you. Please contact me within 48 hours to claim your prizes!! 

Wishes are not just for Birthdays.

Yo ladies (and gents, if you're reading)! 

Let me just tell you how much I am loving the warm weather and sunshine. I fully plan on spending the day outside. Or doing something fun. I'm not really sure yet. Maybe all of the above. Anyway, today I was thinking about how awesome it would be to have a genie to grant me three wishes (don't ask me why - I'm not sure why these things happen in my head).

Basically, it would be awesome. You know what's even more awesome, though? The things I'd wish for. 

1. An all-expenses-paid-all-around-the-world trip. I'd hit up every country. It'd be awesome. I'd take bajillions of pictures, and I'd never lack blogging inspiration again. 

via

2. A money tree. Sorry, guys. I hate to be this materialistic, but moolah is important, and a money tree would be frickin' awesome. Can you imagine a life where you never have to worry about bills? Amazing, right? 

via

3. Harsher penalties for parole violators. If you know what I'm talking about, comment below and we'll be besties.

And... now you can read all about one of my bloggy friend Amy's wishes! 

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Hi Everyday is a New Adventure readers! I'm Amy and I blog over at Amy and the City! I'm from Melbourne, Australia and blog about all things going on in my life.

I'm just popping over today to show you what is on my shopping wishlist at the moment, most of which are just far far away in my dreams.

Okay enough chatting, go ahead and check these babies out!

So what did you think?! I am so in love with it all! If you like what you see you can check out some of my other clothing wish lists right HERE at on my blog! Or you could just read a little bit more about me! Thanks so much to Alyx for letting me take over her blog for the day!
Love Aim xo
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Isn't her sense of style so fun?! I think I am totally gonna need one of those maxi skirts, stat!! And how awesome is it that she lives with kangaroos (okay, she probably doesn't live with Kangaroos, but she lives in Australia, so she lives closer to them than I do)?!


PS: Don't forget to enter the giveaway here!