My little girl is growing up. :(

Come on Dec 9th!

LOTS of things going on: last minute papers, quizzes, exams, Thanksgiving, two sets of friends coming into town two different days, studying for finals, attending concerts so I can write aforementioned papers, packing up all the doc offices at work, two birthday parties (in ONE day, no less!), and then finals begin on Dec 6th. The very same day that my office is scheduled to move into our new offices. No fun. At least I have one final per day. My scariest one is Dec. 7th. I'm terrified of that one.

Once my last final is over Dec 9th at 12:30pm, I'm going to be one happy girl. I might even partake in a few tasty adult beverages. Well, after my final, I have to go back to work, so those beverages will be after 5pm when I get home. :)

Asleep at the kitchen table.

Vintage Christmas Toys

Christmas is coming up and this year I am even more excited because Bayley is almost THREE which means she gets cuter toys! I am SO getting excited to get her things for Christmass 2012 because she'll be big enough for some amazing toys that I wanted as a kid.

The first one was the Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine. Now they're called vintage. Guess that means I'm vintage, right? :) I LOVED this toy and will totally get one for Bayley when she's a little older.

The second one is one that I never got, but it seemed like everyone else had one: the Easy Bake Oven. They have made a comeback and they're newer and fancier than before, but something makes me want the vintage one. Joe found one at a yard sale several years ago and bought it for me. The only problem was that parts were missing and I had nothing to bake. :( We ended up donating it to Goodwill or something.

Do you have any toys that you wanted as a kid and will now buy for yourself? Or maybe for your kids?

My Big Three.

My Big Three are: Finances, Education, and Fitness.

Those are the things that really need attention in my life. We have some debt. It's a lot to me, but to other people I'm sure it's not much. I'd like to get rid of it, so I've begun new repayment plans and hope that within a year or so it's gone. Well, my husband's student loan repayments are just now kicking in, so that'll be a loooong time but the rest can be paid off within a year if I'm diligent.

School is a thorn in my side. I never finished my degree because I changed my major several times and I just couldn't afford to finish in 4 years. I was working to put myself through and I was not eligible for student loans. Now I'm back in school with loans and working full time with a toddler is H A R D. If I was a better student, I'd probably do a lot better but I am just sick to death of school. I love it in theory, but the actual work sucks. Maybe I should change my major to something I enjoy studying, but I've changed my major so many times that I feel like I shouldn't. I can't afford to be in school forever and my options are limited to mainly online classes.

Fitness. You've all heard it many times from me before. I seriously need to lose weight. I know working out will make me feel better. I'm stuck in that rut of "I'm too tired to go workout." I need to just make myself go. It gets easier after I've done it a few times. It will make me feel SO much better. I know, I know, I KNOW. Seriously. I do.

So, I'm making progress on two of my three. Now I just need a nap before I work on the third. :)

Duck Face.

Am I the only person who finds the "duck face" photos of teenagers totally ridiculous? You know the ones... where they pucker up their lips and make googly eyes for the photo? I HATE THOSE!!

Anyway, as I'm on my way to daycare to get Bayley, one of her teachers (who I absolutely adore) sent me a photo.

Behold....the Duck Face.

Of course, it's much cuter because it was totally unplanned and she's TWO. :)

Fiver.

I have almost totally stopped blogging. Sad. And even sadder is that a lot of bloggers I read regularly are doing the same. I guess it's how it goes. If you have something major and life shattering, you blog; otherwise you just live your life. My life isn't earth shattering, but I'm going to attempt to blog more regularly again. I have made some incredible friends along the way and we actually talk via FaceBook and we text, and sometimes call. YES! I am a normal, sane person. For those of you who don't live in the South, I'm told I have a cute accent. Whatever. I don't find Southern accents "cute" -- I think we usually sound lazy and retarded. HAHA! Just kiddin', you peeps from Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, etc. I think YOUR accents are cute. ;)

So... lemme see... let's kick this back off with 5 things about myself that you may not know... and if you are still reading my little blog, will you PLEASE comment and tell me 5 about you? Pretty please?

1. I am secretly competitive. I may not always show it, but inside, I am trying to beat you to the checkout line.

2. I have always been very dorky. I'm the girl who is nice, who makes friends, but inside I am in awe of a lot of the "cool" people. I try to think of witty things to say, super intelligent remarks to make, and just give off the "Joe cool" vibe. Doesn't work 99% of the time and I sometimes feel like Bambi when he was trying to stand up for the first time: goofy and awkward. :)

3. Despite this goofiness/awkwardness, I really do like myself. I think I'm a genuinely nice person who is a good friend, wife, and mother. "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!" ~Stuart Smalley

4. Movie quotes are beyond me. I remember the gist of the movie, but can't for the life of me remember something word for word. My husband and best friend both are incredible with watching something one time and then being able to turn around and quote a funny line from a movie. I just look at them like a deer in headlights and they get somewhat frustrated and say, "GYAH!! That's from (insert movie title)!! You don't remember that?!" But hey, I'm great at math and they aren't. So there.

Thanks and have a great day! :)