Peace Out 2011

It's New Year's Eve!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! The first thing I think of when New Year's Eve comes around is the year my friends and I snuck out of my parents basement to go see some boys in a small town near by. Oh yeah, we were rebels like that...even though my mom knew what had happened before it even happened. How do Mom's do that and I hope I get that superpower too. Anyway, we were all 16 years old, made the 11 minute drive, awkwardly flirted and then were back home by 11pm (ya know, so we weren't on the road with all the drunks and crazies!) And then we drank Mountain Dew Code Red. I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this or not while drinking Code Red but we're convinced that it has either alcohol or some sort of drugs in it. Because our drunken level was a rising like crazy. And it was hilarious!!! We pulled it all nighter and were loud-cackling-screaming-hysterical-obnoxious 16 year old girls until the break of dawn. And I loved every minute of it. Oh the good ol' days...... :) 


Now New Year's Eve is like a whole different world it seems. Full of ridiculously priced drinks and cover at bars, lots of hoochie and slutty dresses and drunk dudes on the prowl. Umm no thanks. The other night we went out to celebrate my friend Hilary's 24th birthday and some bro asked me my name and then said, "Katie? Oh that's a beautiful name." To which I said, "and so is the ring on my left hand. You see those guys playing buck hunter over there? The one in the North Face is my fiance." And that was on the 28th...I don't even want to know how tonight would be downtown. Puke. Which is why Jordan and I are having a New Year's Eve Party!!!! Clearly this is a brilliant idea. We'll have our own beer and drinks, lots of good food and snacks, our closest friends with us and lots of games/music to keep us entertained all night. This is a win-win. No creepers. No slutty dresses. No dumb overpriced cab fares. And tomorrow, we all get to lounge and recover together while watching Sunday NFL ticket all day. I love me some football and lazy sunday with Jordan and our friends. 


2011 has been quite the year. Unlike others, I'm kind of sad to see it go but ready for 2012. So many things happened in 2011 that it's kind of mind blowing....Jordan and I participated in our last Dance Marathon as undergrads, we moved in together, got engaged and a puppy and we both started grad school.....my parents moved to Texas....my friend Marco moved to Egypt for a 2-year teaching position....I watched friends lose parents and grandparents.... As I sit here and I think, it makes me realize that I have been beyond blessed and lucky throughout this year. It has been truly amazing. And so far from the looks of it, 2012 is shaping up to be just as awesome, but will definitely be much more amazing and special. Jordan and I will be married in 7 quick months and I will officially become a wife (And the more I think about it, I realize my mom was right when she said, "I think you would be perfectly happy being married and having kids..." because this raging baby fever just doesn't seem to want to go away....yep. I'll post about that another day) Ok enough of that. I hope 2012 brings everyone plenty of love, happiness, good health, quality time with family and friends and many awesome memories. I'm looking forward to the future and am excited to celebrate 2011 tonight! May you all have a safe and fun holiday! See you next year :) 

Christmas Slump

Well I haven't posted since before Christmas....and now here I am. In a slump. There's something about all the excitement of being surrounded by family for days and feeling all of the love we share and endless deep belly laughs. And when it all suddenly comes to an end and I'm left sitting in the silence of my own living room by myself (because of course Jordan offered to work today, why wouldn't he?!) it just really sucks. So I'll recap Christmas to give myself a pick me up:


Best Part about Christmas: Having my whole family back together. Finally. With my sister living in Wisconsin and my parents in Texas, only my brother and I are left in Iowa so it makes family gatherings tough. But pretty bomb ass once we're all together. 


Worst Part about Christmas: Watching my whole family go back our separate ways. Let's just say that when Jordan and I pulled out of my Grandma's driveway on Christmas night after hugging my parents goodbye, I was a hot-bawling-sobbing-snot faced mess. For about half an hour. I determined that there's no worse feeling than saying goodbye to your own parents and not even knowing the next time you'll see them. I'm pissed that I took them living only 2 1/2 hours away for granted this long, damnit anyway.


Worst Christmas present: (I realize this sounds like I'm contradicting my previous post and maybe I am in a way...but keep in mind my parents only gave me one gift. A very practical gift. Everything else I got was just "stuff" which I'm sure I'll use/wear, but I could definitely live without it all) Ok, well maybe the stack of sweaters that are sitting on the counter with the gift receipts waiting to be returned would be a good place to start....although it's the thought that counts, right? But since I didn't get a new laptop which is really the ONLY thing I asked for and legit really need, I'd say opening up the two boxes I thought could have been a computer, was the worst. Tricking people at Christmas is just not ok. 


Best Christmas present:  well my whole family being together is definitely number 1. But if we want to get technical and go with something tangible, I'd have to say my brand new Nimble vacuum from my Dad and Mom!!! I've already used it twice. I'm not sure if they're just trying to "domesticate" me so I'm ready to be a wife or what, but I'll take it. This vac is the BOMB! Turns out between me and Paisley, there's a lot of hair in our carpet that I never realized. Whoops. Anyway, here I am 24 years old and obsessing over a new vacuum and have been texting my friends about it left and right. I need some new hobbies....


I hope everyone has had a fun-filled Christmas and holiday season. It has been truly amazing this year to celebrate with my entire family for a few days and then we celebrated with Jordan's whole family for a few more days. So. Much. Family. We also celebrated the fact that this was my last Christmas as a "Cross" and next year we'll be married so I'll officially be an "Easton." Well at least my heart is full of love and I've never felt more blessed or lucky to have the families I have in my life. But ughh, I feel like I can't even leave the couch because of the obscene amount of food/treats/sweets/pop/beer that I've consumed over the past week. Guess I better put another Christmas gift to work this afternoon...a new kettlebell and Bob Harper workout! Bridal boot camp here I come......of course, that won't happen until I actually get up off the couch to put the DVD in. Shoot.

a Christmas rant.

Well so far my break has went something like this....I go to bed between 11-12pm when Jordan does (since he's working all week full-time...one of us has to be productive right?), watch a movie or read in bed until 1ish, sleep til 10am, then finish the movie or chapter I ended on. After Paisley and I have had enough of just laying in bed,  I figure it's time to change back into some sweats and a hoody then post up on the couch. All day. And usually fit a nap in somewhere between 2-4. I really don't know what my life has come to. So today I finally switched it up and after realizing that Christmas is only 5 days away, I finished all of my Christmas shopping. I got ALL of it done in ooh about 4 hours, including wrapping, if that even. Which makes me laugh because I know some people who have spent close to (and probably way more than) 40 HOURS Christmas shopping! Yes, you read that right. 40 HOURS!!!! That would be an entire full-time work week spent shopping. What?! I don't have the time (or money!) for that!! 


What is happening to Christmas?!! I don't get it!! Why do stores start putting Christmas stuff out at the same time as they set out the Halloween decorations and candy! It's beyond ridiculous. Not to go all churchy and "God-freak" on you all, but isn't the real meaning of Christmas the birth of Jesus? Do kids these days even know the story and how it all went down? It makes me sad and somewhat disgusted that some parents just think that Christmas is about the presents and Santa and the quantity of stuff they give, not the quality. Maybe I'm wrong here, but I honestly don't ever remember growing up like that or celebrating like that. Sure, my siblings and I all made "Christmas Wish Lists" but that's all they were. Wish lists. Because we could write down anything and everything we wanted knowing damn well that we wouldn't see half the stuff under the tree at any point in time. We went to a Catholic school growing up so we went to Mass twice a week, followed the Advent calendar and wreath and did different volunteer activities throughout the month of December...ya know, sing at the nursing home, read to elementary kids, ring the salvation army bell. Anyway, we gave our time is the point I'm trying to make. We did random acts of kindness because people remember those longer and those go a hell of a lot further than a Christmas tree full of the latest clothes and shoes underneath of it. I think people underestimate the power of acts of kindness. You don't have to look very far to realize that people everywhere are less fortunate than you or have it worse off. If you're reading this, you're already more fortunate and rich than countless people who can't even read or don't have a computer or access to the internet. 


So back to my point. Christmas and gift giving. It's outrageous and something has got to change. I'd like to think and tell myself this, and also my mom, that we're at the age where if we want something, we can buy it ourselves. If we can't afford it, we'll either save up for it or decide we don't need it that bad after all. Christmas to us isn't about the "stuff" or the gifts. It's about family and being together. It's about the memories and hugs and laughs and snuggles and good times that we'll all share over a few days that we all get to spend together. We all pile in the car and go to church together which gives all of us time to reflect on the year, our lives and be truly thankful for who we have in our life and what we are blessed with. I wish all families Christmases were like this. I wish that people would keep "Christ" in Christmas and not change it to x-mas or "Happy Holidays." All I know is that when Jordan and I have kids, I hope to teach them from an early age what Christmas is about. I hope our kids understand that there are other kids out there much less fortunate than them and to show them how rewarding it would be to donate their new toys to Toys for Tots or use their own Christmas money to donate to an organization that helps support kids with cancer. While I'm sure the massive overload of spoiling will still happen from the grandparents (because isn't that what grandparents are for?!), I hope that they would at least help recognize that just because they didn't teach their own kids these values, they would help us teach our kids what's important to us and our family. Gotta teach 'em and start 'em young right? I saw a pin the other day on Pinterest and thought it was so fitting for this time of year: 


The 4 Gift-Giving Rule:
-one thing they want
-one thing they need
-one thing they wear
-one thing they read


Brilliant. Thank you, Pinterest. You did it again. I should pass this along to those 40-hour shoppers for next year. And I have already mental noted this for the future. And to wrap this up, just because Christmas is this weekend and the festive music will stop on the radio and the gift giving will come to an end, doesn't mean the gift of time and gratitude needs to stop. Volunteer at the local hospital. Read to kids at the library. Give blood. Take your neighbors dog for a walk. Donate to a charity you support. Smile at someone you cross paths with. Do something, anything.  A little boy in Dance Marathon once said, "an act of kindness, big or small, is the greatest gift of all." If a five year old knows that, what's wrong with the rest of us?? Just think of how much better this world would be if we all put someone before ourselves first, even if just for a day or a few hours. Make it a New Year's Resolution if you have to. Eventually, we'll get Christmas back the way it used to be. Until then, enjoy all of the time with family and friends, embrace the moments together and spread the love around to those who might not have as much. And remember: count your blessings, not your problems.

give me a break

I have officially been on "Winter Break" since last Wednesday until January 17th. That is 5 weeks. 5 WEEKS. What in the hell am I going to do for 5 WEEKS?!!?!?!?!!!!! I'm going crazy just thinking about that.... First off, I'm going to be sleeping in. Although my body now only lets me sleep in until 9:00, sometimes 9:30 if I'm lucky. Maybe over break I'll acquire tons of motivation to start working out. I mean, I have 5 weeks to come up with a routine and start getting my sweat on. After all, that size 2 wedding dress hanging in my closest isn't going to wear itself! Or maybe I'll start catching up on scrapbooking....or read a new book series (I just finished all of The Hunger Games recently. I recommend the series to everyone. Read them. Love them. Get pumped for the first movie to come out in March!!!!)....bake and cook some tasty treats and meals....lounge and cuddle on the couch all day with Paisley. Clearly, my possibilities here are endless! Realistically, the amount of time I'll spend napping/laying on the couch/watching movies/snuggling with Paisley could be scary. But since I just officially finished my first semester of grad school with stellar grades and have made it through 4 months of wedding planning and puppy training without entirely losing my mind, I think I deserve to kick back and relax for all it's worth! The things that I know I will definitely be doing over break are:


1. Celebrating Christmas with my whole family all together and then celebrate with all of Jordan's family. I love family get togethers so much and I can't wait for Christmas just to see my family!
2. Drinking the two bottles of wine I have on the counter. They've been staring me down the past few days and I think it's time that I enjoy them. Maybe I'll get the new wine glasses/bottle opener I asked for which means I'd have no choice but to drink them.
3. Making our guest book for the wedding. It's going to be a photobook with fun tid-bits and stories along with lots of pictures, duh. And it's going to be the bomb.
4. Decorating a mailbox that will be used for our cardbox. Unique and DIY is the theme of our wedding. So again, it's going to be the bomb.
5. Enjoying and loving all of the down time with my fiance. Sometimes the stress and routine of school, work, and balancing our families gets both of us acting all sorts of crazy so I'm looking forward to lots of lounging and laughing with Jordan. 


And on that note, Jordan just said we're going to a movie at 9:30 tonight. Yay for a surprise date night! And an even bigger yay that I get to pick the movie! I have a feeling these 5 weeks will probably just fly by but either way, I'm loving break already :)

dry shampoo

The amount of dry shampoo I have used this week is almost disturbing. Almost. But not entirely. 


This is nothing new or a secret by any means so I'll just throw this out there right away....I don't shower every single day. And I love using the go-to line of, "well it's not good for your hair and it dries out your skin!" Which is all entirely true especially as the air starts getting colder and drier outside. It takes my obsession with chapstick and putting on lotion to an obsessive level. Anyway, back to the point. I don't shower every day. And I don't see anything wrong with this. I wake up just as easily in the morning by being attacked by my puppy and brushing my teeth so a blast from the shower would just make me mad and cold. I didn't realize my obsession with dry shampoo, especially this week, had gotten so out of control until this scenario happened today: I got home from taking my finals. Facebooked for a while, emailed some people and then crashed on the couch for a solid two hours. Then I woke up and it was like my hair had a mind of it's own. A lemony smelling, semi-rough but semi-smooth feeling, mind of it's own. It was half sticking up and half teased exactly how I did it at 6:45am. And it was almost greasetastic in some spots. Like the in-between stage where you debate about if you should shower or just use more dry shampoo. Who's with me on this one? Clearly, I've experienced this more than once. No shame here. That's when I have a "hat day" and after that, I give in and shower. I don't even try to hide the dry shampoo anymore in the back of the bathroom cabinet from Jordan. He knows I can go for days without a shower. And still loves me for who I am. And like I said earlier, I hate sweating. I don't ever work out. Why shower? I personally, being a girl and all, think it's a pain. Gotta wash my hair, dry it, restyle it, yadda yadda yadda........and then while showering, it always reminds me that I should also probably shave my legs. Yikes. Actually, make that yikes times a million. Whoops, my bad legs. Sorry for also ignoring you the past...oooh I don't know, 2? 3 weeks? Shoot. The things girls go through, it's exhausting I tell ya. At least I  have clean underwear for every morning, with or without a shower. 

the wrath of finals

Whoever thought of finals can shove it. They are so not necessary. In fact, I'm convinced that they're evil. Finals turn me into something I'm not. A stressed out, on-edge, snappy, moody and irritable person for days. This in a nut shell, is not me, mind you. Sure from time to time things might stress me out or make me moody, but finals puts me on a whole different level. It's ugly. And I don't even know WHY is the thing. It's not like these final tests are a surprise by any means. I've known when they will be since August. Which just makes me that much more mad with myself for getting so worked up over them. I feel like Nancy Kerrigan after she got smoked in the shin whenever finals roll around at the end of each semester....wwwwhhhhhyyyyy wwwwyyhhyyyyyy whyyyyyyy?!?!?!?!?!!!!

I feel ya Nancy. I once got hit in the eye while playing hockey.
I'm sure this was my same reaction.

Needless to say, it's only Monday and I'm SO over finals week. Thank the lord that I'm done first thing Wednesday morning. By all means, I am not a morning person but I will take a 7:30am and 9:45am final ANY day over a 4:00pm or 7:30pm final. No way josé. And besides my own finals, I can't wait for the class I TA to have their final either. What's with all these students blowing up my email the past two days saying "help me understand this...where is this information at...when is our final and where at?!" What I wanna know is just how big that rock is that they've all been living under all semester apparently, holy smokes!! If you have a final in less than 12 hours and you don't know where it is, you have much bigger problems than not knowing two vocab words. While they just add to my stress because of course I put off my own studying to answer their emails, at least I know I have my own shit together. And because of that, I can rest easy tonight. That is if all 15 pounds of Paisley doesn't try to hog the bed again...

sry 2 bother u

I woke up this morning to an email from a student in the class I am a TA for. This email is no joke. The student, who shall remain nameless, really sent it to me:


katie,
     sry 2 bother u. i jus saw my grade for my paper & im wondering y i got such a bad grade. thx


Umm...seriously?? Is this kid for real? Well, sadly he is. Because he resent me the same email twice. Apparently, his first email sent at 12:30am that I didn't reply to wasn't good enough so he resent it at 10:30am. Ridiculous. I don't even know where to start with explaining to him why he got the grade he did. What I really want to do is contact his high school English teachers and ask why they gave him any passing grades to obviously teach him/allow him to write the way he does now. Awful.

  I'm dealing with a bunch of babies around here.

It seems that what "they" (whoever they might be...) have been saying over the past 5-10 years really is true about the dwindle down of our education systems. Blame text messaging, blame instant messaging, blame the media, the kids friends or whoever you want. Clearly something is happening here. And it is not good. It's one thing for this kid to send me an email using short hand and slang language. Fine, that I can deal with. But when he and plenty of other students also use that same short hand and slang IN THEIR PAPERS....that is NOT ok! And then for them to be pissed off at me when I give them a C- grade for their papers. Get outta town punks. Go back to high school, learn how to write a paper and then come back when you're ready. Mind you, this class I'm a TA for is a general education course. It shouldn't be hard!! If they think I'm a hard ass or a bitch, have fun the next three years taking classes for your major. Good luck to you future 5th and 6th year seniors who can't pass a class because you can't write a paper. Don't blame me. Blame yourself. Kudos to all the teachers in any grade level, no matter the subject. You can only do so much each year with all of the education funding cuts happening all of the place, I get it. I guess it's true that you can only help someone who is willing to help themselves. And I guess this group of freshmen are learning that the hard way. Welcome to college, kiddos.