Climb over my way, we will paint the town red, get a little crazy

Hey y'all,

I've been too busy to blog as of recently, (my spare moments have been taken by the diamonddash app in my phone) so today I leave you with a bit of advice and wishes for a happy new year! Good luck to all who are buying gym passes...

Watch out for nargles.

If I see one more chocolate, I am seriously going to hurl. I don't even LIKE chocolate! I just apparently have absolutely no willpower, because every time I walk through my parents dining room, or the lunchroom at work, I'm like "OOH, PURDYS!" and I stop and snack for ten minutes. Like some sort of wild animal grazing.

It's just chocolate that I've developed an aversion to, however. Throw some rum-eggnog homemade cheesecake at my face, and I am once again a human vacuum. Mana and Chris made seriously the BEST Christmas dinner I've ever had without a turkey this past Thursday! I'm talkin amazing beef in gravy with mushrooms, drool-worthy roasted lemon potatoes, and Greek salad, here. The cheesecake was the perfect finishing touch. It was so so so nice to have a sit down dinner with friends. It's something I haven't done much since everyone moved and Manda went away. Definitely makes me miss the good ol cooking lesson days, that's for sure! Though I did make French toast, bacon, and eggs for breaky this morning with Libby! If you know my sister and I at all, you're probably surprised it even turned out edible, but I have to say, once we sured out all the smoke and actually got everything in the table, it was really not bad. Not bad at alllll, so against all odds, i'm actually improving. :)

So anyways, the fact that I've probably gained twenty pounds and now have as much acne as a 13 year old boy who doesn't shower every day aside (curse chocolate): this Christmas was a wild success! My wonderful, wonderful coworkers let me take off from work at TWO! I was sooo incredibly excited! I hate driving in the dark, and I was so impatient to just get back to ol dub el. It took me like seventy trips in and out of the house past a ginormous, overly excited German Shepard with no respect for my space bubble to load the car full of presents! When I was unloading then at my parents, I felt exactly like how Santa must feel. It was kind of amazing. The moment I got home, my mum surprised me by making deviled eggs (my FAVE!) and she made me theee nicest air mattress bed a person could ever ask for! Score for not having to sleep on a shitty couch in the rec-room with no pillows and my brother! (September visit...)

Last night we had a faaaantastic turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and Manda and my grandparents came over! I got THE king of care packages from them! I couldn't be more excited that the whole month of January I won't be eating pb & j sandwiches made with stolen condiment packets from restaurants! My grandpa and Mana has the same conversation about seven times, and we spent the evening drawing and playing board games just like how Christmas eves should be spent in my mind! (After my parents finally relented and turned off the shitty reality tv shows anyways...heh)

We woke up early to open prezzies, me out of excitement, some of the others, (and I'm not naming any names here *cough* *mom* *hack* *snort*...) because Mason had to work at nine. I think it's safe to say that everyone really loved what I got them, and I'm sooo happy about it! I got absolutely stellar gifts too: my family must really miss me or something, because holy guacamole did they do me good this year! Mason ended up being a total little buggering liar face, and he didn't have to work at all, he just wanted to start tearing up gift wrap 20% earlier hahahahahahahahahahahaha. I nearly died it was sooo funny.

Anyhoo, I hope you all had a lovely festive time with your friends and families! It's that time which matters the most. Today I leave you with what is possibly the funniest thing of my entire life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VogjLauTNOk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Unfortunately i'm on the blogger app on my phone, so I'm not sure that that will actually become clickable, but make sure you copy and paste because it's well worth it, and I know you could all use a little laughter.

Cheers!

A partridge in a pear tree

Only four more days guys!! The time feels like its going by really slowly for me actually - I think because I've actually done all of my Christmas shopping and I'm saving the rest of my wrapping for Christmas eve so I can do it with my mum... Also because I CAN'T WAIT to be home! We're leaving on the 23rd as soon as I'm off work, which could be anywhere between 4 and 6. It's going to be a full car this year with Manda, her sister AND her sister's bf, so that'll be kind of nice, not least because j won't have to fork out quite so much for gas.

Anyhoo, just a quick post today, I'm just killing time at Honda waiting for my customer... Again... Gosh I love waiting. Love it. Who needs to be productive or get any real work dine anyways? Grrrfbbbthhh

So, alas, it is here that I leave you with an excellent Christmas recipe. Slightly out if character you think? Well... Read on :)



Christmas Rum Cake Recipe

Once again this year, I've had requests for my Christmas Rum Cake recipe so here goes!

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Sugar
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 cup Water
1 tsp. Salt
1 cup Brown Sugar
Lemon Juice
4 Large Eggs
1 Bottle Rum
2 cups Dried Fruit

DIRECTIONS:

Sample the Rum to check quality.
Take a large bowl; check the Rum again to be sure it is of the highest quality. Repeat.

Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.
Add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point, it is best to make sure the Rum is still OK. Try another cup just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 eggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the fruit up off the floor. Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit getsa stuck in the beaterers, just pry it loose with a drewscriver or whatchamacallit.

Sample the Rum to test for tonsisticity.
Next, sift 2 cups of salt. Check the Rum.

Now shift the lemon ice and strain your nuts. Add one table and a spoon of sugar, or whatever you can find.

Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl away. Finish the Rum and wipe the counter with the cat.

Cherry Mristmas!!

Yellow diamonds in the light.

You know when you're just so tired that you can hardly hold your head up? Your eyes are watering and everything coming out of your mouth is just random sounds (or drool) and it seems like you're speaking in wingdings or something? That's me right now. It's probably not even safe for me to drive. We'd all better hope I don't get another call or somebody's gonna get a hurt real bad (you better all be thinking of russell peters right now). Anyhoo, the point of this post is to advise you that yes, even though it may seem like a good idea at the time, taking a trip back down memory lane to say... Grade 3, and having a three person sleepover in one double bed may not really be the best idea ever if you want to be sane for work the next day. Also don't throw in two psychotic cats that like to spend the entire night leaping on and off of you like a springboard to and from the windowsill, whilst alternately scratching their claws on the paint in your living room, duplicating the sound of nails on a chalkboard to a T.

Bet you wish you had my life.

My hands, theyre strong but my knees were far too weak

Do you ever wonder if maybe you're too good at hiding your true feelings from the rest of the world? Or should we all just be thankful that we're excellent liars?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBcMKwbMEcQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

You all did your snow dances! Good job! It snowed about a foot this morning; I actually woke up to the sound of shoveling and it put me in the best mood ever! I went outside with mittens and boots and a hat all ready to scrape the icy, goopy, freezing slushy mush off of Elliot, (you guys obviously know that this means I was rushing out the door ten minutes late with no coat, high heels and wet hair) and low and behold, the snow was already completely cleared off! My landlords are THE best! I often toy with getting the heck out of Dallas and moving into town because it would be way more convenient, but I totally don't want to move now! I might have to rethink the saving thousands of dollars and getting a roommate deal because how will i ever find this nice of people to live above me, ever again?! They even put a super sweet Christmas card in my mailbox! Made my day.

Today was an important day for another reason than snow, however! Today, I bought a planner. FINALLY! Seriously, I can't even handle life without them. I was going absolutely CrAzY. I need to write a daily to-do list or else I accomplish absolutely nooothing. I pretty much had a crack itch, like some sort of super drug addict. The first thing you think of when I say 'crack itch' is definitely a drug addiction, right? I think I should probably start saying something along the lines of a 'heroin itch' or a 'meth itch' because my dear mother thought I was referring to scratching my rear. Hm.

Tonight was our office Christmas party, and everyone brought an appy and a gift, and then we did an exchange - Brandi and I made cream cheese stuffed, bacon wrapped jalapeños and OMG were they ever friggin delicious. Hit of the party. (I'm totally lying, I'm at work right now, and we haven't tasted then yet since everyone shouldn't be here for like... Another 6 minutes.)

Anyhoo, I'm gonna go shake presents under the tree and drink palm bay now. Cheers!

nobody knows where to go, when you come to a fork in the road

Brotip #1383: The more you do something, the less value there is in what you're doing. (See: complimenting, tweeting, etc.)

Today I thought I'd share with you seriously the most stellarrrrr song that I discovered yesterday! Listen and love:  

Sooo, you all remember when I was whining and moaning and groaning (like four posts ago) about Manda abandoning me to go live in the more eastern, french type speaking region of our country? Well, believe it or not, the day has come that she is finally returning home! This Friday! I'm surprised, but it actually feels like the six months just flew by! I think having weekly skype dates and texting nearly every single day might have something to do with it, hah! Anyhoo, I'll be picking her up at the airport in like, two days! AHH! I guess this means I had better start wrapping gifts, hah. 

Did you all realize that it is actually Christmas in TWELVE DAYS?! Where did the time go?! I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I actually miss snow, because it must be what actually puts me in a festive, merry spirit, (that and food,) December just isn't the same without fluffy white falling from the sky!

Everybody bring on the snow dance!

Hello there, bloggity type people!

I apologize for the abandonment, I hope this doesn't bring back any bad childhood memories for any of you... heh. Seriously, though, I think this is possibly the longest time I have gone without blogging in my entire like... what is it... four year blog history?! Don't worry, I have faith in you all, I know you'll all be reading again loyally as soon as I start actually talking about something of importance!

Where to even begin? I guess I'll give you a little general life update.... I bought THIS: 

I named it Elliot, and he is basically the love of my life. Think six speed, manual trans with a turbo, and a 1.6L engine... So basically what i'm saying is that it gets the most fantastic gas mileage ever while still managing to kick some serious ass. Believe it or not, I seriously have already managed to put 12,000 kms on it, since August! Thats averaging over 100kms a day! I can just feel it depreciating in value by the second... KIDDING! :P But not really. I'm actually kind of so obsessed with this car, its almost disgusting. Seriously, for a while at every deal I did, no matter what dealership, I would seriously have practically sold the customers on the Juke before they even saw it! I'm pretty sure it made the sales guys a little antsy for a bit, because a lot of times the deal wouldn't be completely sealed by the time they actually got to me for insurance - believe it or not. Anyhoo, I'd take my customers out and show Elliot off to them like 95% of the time at their request, and man, not a lot of things make my day hearing something like "Man, I have to see this thing!"

Anyways, enough about my freakish love for that big hunk of metal, I just thought of a serious question for y'all. (I can't believe I just used that word... "y'all"...what a terrible abbreviation!) For the last year or so, I have had a WEIRD number of random strangers come up to me and tell me that I look like like Alyson Hannigan. If you don't know who that it, you're not alone. I just found out that's her name like a few days ago. Usually, their wording is something along the lines of "You look like that redhead off of American Pie!" or "Omg you're the spitting image of Lily off of How I Met Your Mother!" I personally thought maybe it was mostly just to do with the red hair, but I asked a couple of people, and they actually seem to think there might be a real resemblance, so I've decided to attach a photo for your viewing pleasure:

Let me know what you think! I definitely think we all probably have a doppelganger out there somewhere, and so far, I guess this is the closest I've found! I just had to mention it because it happened AGAIN today while I was just standing in line minding my own business at Starbucks. 

Speaking of Starbucks, actually, I just want to say: I'm OBSESSED, and its breaking the bank!! So I've decided that after Christmas, I'm going to totally ban myself from fast-food, Subway included, because seriously, between that place and Starbucks every month, I could probably afford a mortgage payment instead of a tiny overpriced bedroom suite in Dallas. Jesus. 

Speaking of mortgage payments, actually... Remember how buying my car was supposed to be a "5 month plan?" It sort of turned into a one month type deal, so now I find myself again without a goal! And haren't many things I hate less than not having a goal, so here we are: Operation Buy a House. I know, I know, you're all like "WHAAAT?!" and "Niki, you just turned 20 like a month ago, get a grip!" and that I'm kind of in a hugely different place than a lot of my friends around my age, but really, guys, its never too early to get started, and its not like i'm going to run out and do it next week or something. If you think about it though, I just throw away $8400 per year! Practically into the air! I'm seriously actually BUYING my landlords' brand new Dodge pickup! That should be buying ME something, wouldn't you agree? Now, I won't get into all of the math of it, but I've been pricing and figuring and adding and subtracting and I figure its feasible. I've also decided that I think maybe its about time I get a roommate. You know, I've lived by myself ever since I moved out two and a half years ago, and I'm just kind of bored. Like sure, I'm going to miss walking around naked like 100 percent of the time, and its going to be weird to not always be able to have random dance parties in my kitchen, but I just kind of think that its probably one of those experiences I don't want to miss. Besides, maybe if I do that, I can cut down the wasting from to $8400 to $4200 a year, and really stack away some cash for a downpayment, you know? So anyhoo, I guess most of you know that I've been known to jump the gun once and a while, and here I go again...! I'm pretty sure I'm cutting the 5 Year Plan back into a 1 Year Plan... But I liiiike itttttt. I think it just feels good to really have a purpose again. Like seriously, I loooove my job, I loooove my car, I have faaaantastic friends, but it was time to aspire for bigger and better and greater and grander! Wish me luck! 

Speaking of my job, I kind of feel like we're sort of on the brink of something big. Just sort of in the middle of that somethingsgottagive phase, and it has only made me more motivated, because I feel like i'm one of the only people that really actually likes what I do, and is motivated to get better and it, and learn and sell and set goals. I want to be the person that everyone thinks is the best. I want to know the most. I want to feel confident with everything I do every day. Would you still take me seriously if you found out I was listening to Justin Beiber's Christmas album right now? HAHA. Don't worry, I switched it, and we're now onto a playlist which is basically a mix of The Black Keys, The Used, and As Cities Burn. Yep, that where my mood is right now. 

Has anyone else noticed that The Hunger Games are being made into a movie?! I am fairly excited, I just read the first one while I was in Mexico, and I actually think it will make a fantastic movie.  Actually I read like five books while I was in Mexico... I forgot how much I miss it, so I think I'm going to make a point of buying a new one every payday... OH YEAH... Guess what?!?! Yep, I went to Mexico! It was FANTASTIC! I went on my birthday, with the whole fam! That's a whole other blog post though, because I really want to be able to illustrate, but I don't have the pictures here, they're all actually on the work computer, and the whole ancient stupid chunk of plastic had the computer equivalent of a heart attack halfway through sending all of the pictures to my personal email today... Eff. Looking at all of the pics seriously made me miss everyone though, I can't WAIT to be back in WL for Chrismas even if it is only for like four days! Weeoo!

Anyhoo, this has really turned into like a huge novel.... Look forward to the Mexico sequel shortly! I'll leave you with three recommendations to fill your time with: 

1) Get Twitter. Because if you said something hilarious, you can bet I tweeted it, and wouldn't you want to know whats coming out of your mouth and ending up on the internet?

2) Check out TED.com. It will probably blow your mind if you have a few spare brain cells that you actually might like to stir into action. 

3) The Phillip DeFranco Show Everyone should know whats going on in this world from day to day, and c'mon, we could all use a laugh, or at least a smile. 

Go on, now. Click one!