Welcome, 2009

2008 has been an amazing year for me. This year has been full of so much joy. I'm kind of sad about seeing it go, but expect that 2009 will bring joys of its own. I am excited about what is to come in 2009- as of right now, I only have a couple of things on the schedule: 2 weddings in the late summer/early fall, my 27th birthday in February and our one year anniversary in October. :)

I gave up on resolutions, per se, years ago, but here are some things I would like to accomplish over the next year of my life:

1) Save money. We are getting pretty serious about this now. We have set a budget and are taking steps towards this goal. Perhaps in the new year, I will provide weekly tips on budgeting that I've learned (I've been researching a LOT) and an update on how its going for us. I will say that our first "major" step has been to lessen our grocery trips to 2-3 times a month instead of 5-6. That means that when I went to the grocery on Monday, my cart was overloaded and I spent a heck of a lot of money. BUT, I went with a list (at least a list in my head) of what we might eat over the next month. The fewer times we go to the grocery, the less likely we will "impulse" buy (how many times do you "run into the grocery to pick something up" and end up with a cart of 10+ items?) and we will also be much less likely to say "we have nothing to eat,let's get a pizza..." at least for a few weeks. :)

We are trying to save money because we want to be financially better off when we have kids. We want to build our savings to $5000. Right now, I will humbly tell you that our savings is $7.22. So, we have a long way to go and are therefore trying to get serious about money. I've heard it several times regarding money, "there's never a 'good' time to have kids." Our response: "there has to be a better time than right now."

2) Eat better and exercise more. The above-mentioned grocery shopping will help this! We will be less tempted to stop for fast food knowing that we have a boatload of groceries waiting for us at home. I'm hoping that I can figure out my schedule enough at work to get into a regular exercise routine. I'm hoping that my bff and I can begin having our own "weight-watcher" type meetings in the new year which we've done a couple of times in the past.

3)Not let my work schedule consume me. I bend over backwards a LOT at my job and I will tell you that making my schedule work for everyone else has taken a toll on me and made me feel very out of control of my life. The new year will bring new craziness to my job, but I'm going to attempt to get into a more regular schedule and be firm about sticking with these scheduled hours. Once I can get that under control again, I look forward to using that time to spend with friends, exercising, relaxing or balancing our budget. :)

I hope 2009 brings much joy to your life. Have a wonderful New Year's Eve and be safe because...people are crazy, especially tonight.

122508

Here are pictures from our Christmas. It was a wonderful Christmas, one sure to go down in the books. We got to spend lots of time with our families and each other, got really fun gifts and gave gifts that people enjoyed as well. Here are some of our day's highlights:

Lots and lots of presents around our lovely tree :)



I received one of the coolest gifts EVER from Scott's parents- my very own dollhouse. :) It needs much work (like our actual house), but I'm totally up for that challenge! It's so cute! And, I was completely surprised- so, even better.





I made Scott business cards- its a joke between us- that he loved and has been passing out. Next time you see him, ask him for one!



This is the gift I worked hours and hours and hours on. I'm very happy with how it turned out & more importantly, Scott's parents loved it! Yay! I'll have to get a picture once its in its new spot.




Hope your holiday was wonderful :)

Some Pre-Christmas Pictures

These aren't from Christmas day, those are on their way and they are very fun. But here's some pre-Christmas funzies!




*Yes, Scott's mom was Santa for a fundraiser, thus, this picture. :)

Yumdiddlyyum.

I'm off work until Monday. AND my boss took the on-call phone so I'm SEROIUSLY off duty. YAAAAAY.

I am excited to get a good night's sleep tonight and then tackle the many things I have on my to do list which I shall share with you now:

*Cleeeeeeeeeeeean our house. It's kind of yucky in a major way.
*Finish handmade projects. (I really wanted these done on Sunday!)
*Bake amidst cleaning and projects and give cookies to our neighbors that watched our house while we were in Jamaica.
*Finish wrapping all presents.
*Take pictures once all presents are under the tree.
*Watch Dr. Phil (just because I can).

I'm going to post pictures of some of the projects I've been working on in the next few days.

Wishing you a wonderful (and SNOWY!) Christmas!

I'm glad I'm busy.

Christmas is crazy.

It just is.

I cannot even begin to imagine what it is like for my friends that have kids.

The thought of Christmas with kids is kind of good birth control for me right now. :)

Anyway, I'm wrapped up (ha!) with projects right now out the wazoo. Lots of things started and some getting finished (the big beast of a project has only about an hour left and that will be spent mainly peeling off the visible hot glue that isn't doing anything except being an eye sore and cleaning the project up (its dirty, you'll know what I mean when I post it) and then of course photographing it. I'm very pleased with this big project and I hope that the intended recipients will love it.

I feel like I've had a crazy productive day. If you know me well, you know that I neeeeeeever feel like I get anything done (probably because of the amount of projects I wrap myself up in!) But today I've returned items (after my gift ideas changed), ALMOST finished Christmas shopping (only like 3 more things) and nearly finished this big project. I watched a quarter of the Bengals game (who dey!) and the tail end of Home Alone. And I went to the grocery. And I've got the whole night ahead of me to finish the rest of my Christmas projects and bake cookies.

I hope your season is going splendidly!

Rejection

I haven't felt "rejection" in a while, but tonight my heart hurts a bit. I didn't get the dance teaching job. Unfortunately, the position I applied for (adult tap teacher) was not the position they actually needed filled (beginning hip hop teacher...so not me). They explained the classes they have open and we agreed that they weren't a good match for me (I wanted to teach tap, no tap is open). I guess its not rejection but it still feels that way. I'm sad. I'm glad we still have a week 'til Christmas so I'll have time to cheer up. I got to have dinner with my Dad and Scott and that was definetely helpful. It's nice to have people around you that you know care no matter how crappy you are feeling inside.

I have no idea how it went.

The end.

Thursday is it!

My interview for the dance studio is Thursday at 4:30.

I'm nervous, but excited. But I've covered that.

I just keep trying to remind myself that either I'll have a wonderful early Christmas gift or that if I (heaven forbid!!!) fail, I will have tried to do something that I love and not all that much would change from my day-to-day life since I haven't taught in a few years. (...But I would be so, so sad!) Hopefully I will have very good news to report to you very soon.

Annnnnnd I'm reaaaally glad the interview was not tonight. I worked an 11 hour day and feel very crabby/tired/not like I could interview remotely well. Or blog well for that matter. So I guess that's it for the evening. More soon.

A Livesay Family Christmas

Here's our family photo- Livesay side- for 2008. Note: there are 7 dogs and 6 people. 2= ours 3= Scott's parents and 2 are foster dogs. :)

Only a week and a half until Christmas day!

I'm hoping for a nice sprinkling of snow over the evening. Nothing too crazy as we will still have to work tomorrow :)

My top 5 revealed.

I must admit...these have changed greatly throughout the last few years of my life. But here they are, my top 5 celebrities I'm allowed to have an affair with should the opportunity ever present itself. ;)

#5 TOM BRADY

Ladies...if you aren't watching football, you really, really should be. The game is great as is, but is made even more great when quarterbacks like Tom Brady grace the field. (Sidenote: He's out on injury this season, I miss him greatly). Of course, I really actually don't like the person that Tom Brady is as I think his team cheats, but I mean...the uniform...well...him in it, that's all that I really care about.



#4 MATTHEW FOX

He's been a regular on my list since my obsession with Lost began. While I don't really get into the whole "wilderness" thing, it so works for him. He's so savage. Jiminy Christmas...




#3 ZACH BRAFF

I like quirky guys with personalities. If I went to high school with Zach Braff, I probably wouldn't find him attractive. But I didn't, and I think he's funny and sexy at the same time. Even those gigantic lips. Maybe ESPECIALLY those gigantic lips. He has recently replaced Dr. Cox on my list- not sure why, but that's just how the cookie has crumbled.




#2 ADAM DURITZ

Adam has recently lost his LONGHELD title as my number one. Maybe this is just a temporary switch, but I've sort of moved on... I mean, moved on enough that he's number 2 instead of number 1. Not moved on entirely...that'll never happen. His passion in his music and unique style are a big yes in my book. And I've always wanted a song written about me ie Angie Begins.




#1...drumroll please...

He's never even made my top 5 list before.

And he's now number one.

JASON SEGEL

My crush began when we started watching How I Met Your Mother. Then movies he's been in. Now Freaks and Geeks (grrrreeat show!). And I might have had a dream about him the other night that may have lead him to the number one spot. He's so stinkin' cute.

Nervous Excitement

I'm so excited to be sharing with you that I've heard from the dance studio that I applied for and we are trying to figure out a time for an interview.

I'm SO excited. So nervous. So excited.

I have been out of the dance world for a few years, and I can feel it in every bone in my body. I have lost every ounce of flexibility, most of my leg/ankle strength and probably lots of technique as well. I like to think that its all going to come back and I think most of the technique will (like riding a bike). The flexibility...that's something I had been working on for years and years. The strength...also a product of years of dance. I'm hoping that all that I've ever learned and taught has "stuck" with me so that I can pass it on to others.

Ideally, I would've been keeping up with dance stuff- ie practicing a couple of nightsish a week since I left it a few years ago. That hasn't happened. I've gained lots of weight since I had a heavy teaching schedule, and that very much frightens me. I know that I'm still a very capable teacher, but I feel like its VERY hard for people to take you "seriously" in the dance world when you are overweight. Its odd, because looking back, I had several overweight dance teachers and never really thought twice about it. So maybe, just maybe, I'm making this a bigger deal than it is. I'm going to try to think that. It's a weird little thing...I know that I would/will lose weight if/when I get back into dance BUT I'm scared of getting back into dance (because of what OTHERS may think) because I'm overweight. I think the bottom line is that I need to dance again in some way or another.

Did I mention that the studio that I'm applying at is one of the top 50 in the NATION? Ummm...extra-intimidation.

But I feel reassured by my lovely support system. :) I texted the owner at the studio I used to work for and asked her to be a reference and she said "Sure, but I'm jealous. I want you back here." It was such a nice statement and made me feel like I'm worthy of this.

So...please send me positive energy. :) I'm nervous and excited and nervous and excited. I apologize for not making lots of sense during this post. My emotions are so up and down right now!

My Color Quiz

The answers that were on were DEAD ON... Kind of creepily so.

I took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Seeks success, stimulation, and a life full of exp..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

I think this is pretty fun...

I happened upon my old dance studio's website yesterday evening and found that my pictures are plastered on the main page! Fun! I've never even seen these pictures before, and not that they are supergreat or anything, they just take me back to those days (and that weight) of my life. Ahhh...





PS I have no idea why I have flip flops on, but it kind of bothers me. :)

It's Tagtastic. What?

I have been tagged by my bestie, aka ellesto. So here they are, 7 random facts about me.

1. I think the most uncomfortable situation on the planet is when I step in puddles and the bottom of my pants are wet and thus my non-socked feet are freezing for the rest of the day. Ugh, I feel yucky just thinking about it.
2. We have two Christmas trees. One is white (my "decorative" tree) and one is regular (our traditional tree).
3. I taught dance for 5 years and once had to make 15 costumes a week before our recital because the costume company didn't get our order to us. That specific situation was craaaaazy, but I miss dance terribly. (PS..big news... I applied at a local studio!!! Wish me luck.)
4. The first CD I ever owned, as a naive 13 year old, was Murder Was the Case by Snoop Dogg. This was an accident. I don't really know how it happened, but my parents got it for me, I tried to just go with it and listened to it, felt very scared by the words, and the CD was exchanged for Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill. A much better choice, even if I wasn't bitter enough yet to quite understand why Alanis was so mean to men.
5. From kindergarten through my senior year of high school I told EVERYONE I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. My senior year, I had a bad experience with a student teaching program my school did and therefore changed my proposed major to communication. I really, really wish I had majored in education and gotten my teaching license. It would've opened up lots of opportunities & I may someday go back to get it...
6. My favorite movies to quote include The Sandlot ("You're KILLIN me, Smalls!") and Christmas Vacation ("You serious, Clark?")
7. My car battery has died twice in the last month due to me leaving the overhead light on whilst applying make-up before work. Ooops.

There's some Angie trivia for you. Most everyone I know has been tagged, so I'll just tag my blogging husband! :)