Nearing New Year

New Years Eve was always a tricky holiday for me. I only remember going to one party ever and the other times I spent it at home with my parents, which wasn't bad, but it's hard to get the "midnight kiss" when you're watching the ball drop with your mom and dad.

However, since Sean and I have been married, we've created a tradition for ourselves where we go to a little town in the mountains and stay in a hotel where we watch movies, build legos, and eat food. Last year, Sean learned what gelato was (NOT coffee) and we narrowly missed a t-bone accident when an SUV ran a clearly red light. We also accidentally booked our hotel in Cedar City and had to change it last-minute and the hotel guy was super nice. 

This year, we've got a nice jacuzzi in our hotel room that is booked at the correct hotel, we've picked out our legos, and we're going to pick up our salt-water taffy, bottled sodas, reese's peanut butter cups, pickles... and whatever else we're going to want for our fun evening out. 

I'm excited! 

love, Ellen

It's Christmas Eve, Not Christmas Steve! volume 3

Hi all! Merry Christmas 2013!

I'm so excited for Christmas even though it doesn't really feel like it's tomorrow! Wild.

Yesterday, Sean and I had an excellent night. He was napping and I woke him up so he would be able to sleep at night and, as he was still waking up, there was a terrified sounding knock on the door. Sean got up and went to the door and no one was there, just an incredible gift basket from Kneaders (a bakery/cafe that's really popular around our area). It had some peppermint bark, a chocolate rice krispie treat, caramels, and bread and syrup to make their special french toast along with the recipe. We went through that and then noticed a $65 to Target! WHAT?! We were elated.

There wasn't any note to say who it was from, but I'm sure they know we appreciate it greatly and it's definitely one of the best Christmas surprises we've ever received.

We went out soon after getting this cool gift to buy our snake a Christmas rat and we decided to grab a fun A-Wing (Star Wars) Lego kit just because. When we got back, we noticed our grill was moved. Sean looked under the lid and what to our wandering eyes should appear but another Lego kit! It was the Beorn at Dol Guldur kit that I'd been looking at for a while. Turns out, our neighbors dropped it off for us. SO nice! So we turned on The Frisco Kid and put together our sweet Legos.

I'm so grateful for such cool neighbors and friends that take such good care of us. I can't wait to give Sean and my family our gifts. Giving get to be more fun than recieving the older you get.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a magical Christmas full of all the best stuff. You know.

 Merry Christmas! love, the Donners

ONE WEEK?!

Holy crap. Since when was Christmas in one week? I feel sorely unprepared even though I have like 80% of all the gifts I'm needing. And that 20% are things that I'm probably going to pick up tonight while we're out finishing our Christmas card rounds.

Everything just feels so... weird. I'm excited for Christmas and can't wait for it to come, but it doesn't feel like it's only days away, but months. I guess I've just been so busy not being busy that I've missed it. We've been to numerous Christmas parties (2 ward parties, 2 work parties) and still have a few to go. Tis the season, alright. Just weird.

Aside from all that, the Donners are doing well. Like I said, we're attending parties and have only seen The Hobbit: The Desolation OF Smaug twice. It's just been a good time. Anyway... I think I'm just feeling brief this month.

I'm off to pinterest to perouse the pages and pages of pretty pins. Either that, or to do another crossword puzzle because I'm an 80 year old woman... (not really).

love, Ellen

Arrrrrrrt

So sometimes, I find myself to be artsy. Earlier this week, I bought a couple canvases and some new paints so that I'd have something to do while Sean worked late a lot of this week. I decided I was going to paint one of Sean's pictures (Check out his facebook page here).

It's not far along, but I feel like it's pretty good. It's of a green apple on a green background. I only have the apple and stem done and part of a leaf but now I have a project for the next couple days. I love having projects. It makes me less crazy. I've done a few paintings in the past, but I've never really done any realistic ones. I really hope it turns out. It'd be really cool... plus I think it would go well in our future kitchen.

Speaking of art, my father-in-law is an incredible painter. We have one of his earlier ones in our living room of a fox and it's exceptional. He just put up his official website and you should check it out (here).

We finally have a star and some ornaments on our Christmas tree so there's that... We only had to brave the crazy winter-drivers and Target Christmas-crowd to get them, but at least they're there, right? And Christmas can begin! I already have a gift for Sean on its way.

That's all. I'll keep you updated on the painting and have a picture of it when it's done.
love, Ellen

Thanksgiving! and other stuff

I know what you're thinking... Where is her Thanksgiving post? She went on and on about how great it would be and then leaves us hanging! I'm sorry... Does this make up for it?

Guys, it went just as I wanted it to. It seriously is the absolute best holiday. The food was delicious, the decorations were top-notch, my family didn't embarrass me (or anyone else)... it was just excellent.

Here are some pictures of my [awesome] decor all put together and Sean's pies that got nothing but praise all day long.

 This is the banner I made.

 A view of the table.

 The set-up.

 A place-setting.

 Sean's pies

 (top: Mixed Berry, underneath: Dutch Apple, left upper: Pickle Pie, right: Pumpkin, lower left: Pecan [aka the best one], center: Chocolate)

A canvas I painted and framed (with twine)

I love my family and I'm so grateful that I could be with so many of them on my favorite holiday. And, now that it's December, Christmas season can begin! (Even though I've been having to listen to Christmas music at work for the past few weeks...) Sean and I bought a real Noble Fir tree yesterday and set it up, complete with fleece blanket tree-skirt (made by just buying some cute fleece and safety pinning it. We set it on a table so the kitty won't have anywhere to pee under it. We don't have our decorations out on it yet because they're still at my parent's house... but at least we have the tree! 

OH! And, we bought a new couch and rug! Our whole apartment is new, it feel like. We went from an old crappy couch that was sagging so much on one cushion that you could use the other cushion as an arm-rest, to a brand new leather couch that is longer and nicer! (Thanks to Ikea) and a new rug that is orange and has spots on it. Even Erma Gerd likes it!

Yay!! Okay, was that a good-enough update for you? It should be...
love, Ellen

Winner!

Last night, I made it to 10,000 pageviews! Isn't that nice. I feel like I should do a giveaway or something but I have nothing to give... Maybe someday I'll have one but not today.

I feel like I've just been building up to Thanksgiving so much that I'm never going to actually make it. Here are some sneak peek phone pics of my decorations.

 This is a test of the place setting. I'm going to make the words on the side "I'm thankful for..." and the lines darker. Also there won't be paint brushes in the cups and it won't be on the floor. 

 This is a banner I made. I had Sean make the letters of vinyl and it's really cute.

These are tags. Instead of having named place settings, I just wrote cute little things on a bunch of tags. 

I also made this... art? It's on a canvas and I painted it and did it all myself. 

Anyway, I think this Thanksgiving is going to be a big hit. I'll take better pictures of the finished product. 

Yay!

Top 10+ Reasons Why Thanksgiving is the Best Holiday

Thanksgiving is one of the least anticipated holidays. It's all too often overlooked by Christmas because stupid radio stations and television channels start playing Christmas stuff too [expletive deleted] early. Here are my reasons why Thanksgiving is the best holiday.

1: It's a great reason to remember all the many blessings you have. 

2: All you need to do is cook a little something, show up, eat, and nap. 

3:  You don't need to buy anyone presents.

4: You don't need to dress up.

5: You don't have to go to church.

6: You get to see your family and eat their food.

7: Napping.

8: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

9: Turkey, potatoes, stuffing, and all the other fabulous goods.

10: Pie.

11: Leftovers.

12: (For some families) Football.

13: All the smells.

14: Just everything.

And if that doesn't convince you... I'm sorry.

love, Ellen

Two Weeks!

Only 2 more weeks until my absolute favorite holiday. I love Thanksgiving so much! It's such a great holiday because it reminds you of all of your blessings and you get to eat the best food. I don't have to buy gifts for anyone, I don't have to dress up... it's just an easy, fun holiday where I get to just relax, eat, and spend time with people I love.

This year, I'm in charge of the decorations (self-appointed) and I'm really excited. Since I'm not that great at cooking, I thought set-up and decoration would be the perfect job for me. I'm making place mats, silverware-tags, some cute/non-intrusive centerpieces... I'm really excited. I'm even painting a big canvas with the theme I came up with (because I'm crazy...) "Give Thanks, Eat Pie". I think it's pretty cute. I'll take pictures and stuff when I'm all done setting up and stuff.

Other than that, we've just been hanging out like normal. Like we like.
love, Ellen

Yahtzee!

I really have a great husband. He takes such good care of me.

Today, we went to breakfast and then Home Depot for a special light bulb and then got his car washed and then we get home and I ask him to pick up the living room while I'm in the shower.

When I get finished cleaning myself up, the living room looks nice and he's gone. I look out the window and what do I see? Not popcorn popping on the apricot tree... (Nursery song, anyone?) My car is gone. He's taking care of my poor old car! What a sweet guy.

We've also been playing a lot of Yahtzee lately. We get in game ruts where we play one game a million times. It's great.

love, Ellen

Today is a good day.

• Besides my retarded cat attacking my arm, causing me to bleed all over, today has been a great day. Considering my previous state of 'trying to get over birth control' and then 'cussing bad pms', I'm elated that today, I feel a lot better. I had a great day at work, I got a nice tip for a guy who realized he was becoming a regular, a guy complimented my dance moves (which I thought he couldn't see...), I got a little nap in, and I finally got around to cleaning the house. YAY!

• Now that I'm over it all, I'm ready to punch the world in the face. I want to get all the chores done and read books and all kind of things. And I probably will. 

• Last weekend, my mom and sister and I took a girls' weekend and it was well needed and deserved. We just hung out in a hotel and did our nails and a [terrifying paper] face mask and had food. There was a lot of giggling and boy talk. My sister is growing up TOO FAST. At the same time, I'm only 20 and I have a husband and a degree... so... I'm really one to talk. 

• This autumn has lasted forever and I'm loving it. All the pretty leaves and smells and sunshine. Even though it's cold, I don't even care as long as there is sunshine and no snow. And Thanksgiving is on its way! Yum. I love me some thanksgiving. 
• I like bullet points.
• That's all.

love, Ellen

Autumn Times

I've been a horrible blogger... neglectful, lazy... bums. I've really been wanting to take a picture of our apartment because it's actually super cute but I feel weird about it every time I'm outside because idk. We have a lovely maple tree in our front yard (however, come spring, I'll be wanting to smash it with all the axes because of its dropping of incredible annoying whatevers) that is currently dropping cute leaves all over, which I have been collecting for my Thanksgiving decor project.

I would run outside right now and do it but... it's raining and cold and I'd rather just stay here on my couch and type.

Last night, our church had a trunk or treat night and Sean and I dressed up as the Donner Party. Hilarious, right? Well, we ended up winning the costume competition and ended up running out of candy fairly early. I'd say it was a good night.

The only thing I'm not having a great time with is that Halloween hasn't even happened yet! I was so hoping tomorrow was Friday because my mom, sister, and I are taking a little girls' weekend away and I am way excited. I think I'll even be okay not sleeping next to Sean that night because I'll just be happy it's not Halloween and we're just relaxing and being hilarious because it's always a party with those two.

Oh, Sean's home and guess who took a picture of outside! Best husband.

See? Isn't it super cute and quaint? It is.

Time for dinner.
love, Ellen

Oops...

I've been really pretty bad about writing this month... Whoops. I couldn't tell you why... I've just been super lazy and... yep. That's it.

Other than sitting around napping, working at a donut shop, and doing general October stuff, I dyed my hair and I'm planning the decorations for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my absolute most favorite holiday. I love being around my family and eating all the delicious food and remembering all my blessings. It's just generally great.

My favorite holiday used to be Halloween but, as I've gotten older, it's been harder for me to figure out what to dress up as and what to do. I don't know anyone having a party and we live in an apartment where not a lot of kids come trick-or-treating. I have to (get to) dress up for work on Halloween but I have no idea what to be. I thought being Ellen would be funny (because... it would be) or I realized I have Snow White-esque hair and a new big red bow so I could be her, but I don't want to wear a dress to work and I don't have anything that would work with that. Any suggestions? Something easy and comfortable is preferable.

Anyway...
love, Ellen

Don't tell Edna...

I understand it's been a while since I posted. There's no excuse, I just have been excessively lazy and haven't really had much to talk about besides being tired a lot, working at a donut shop, and watching the World Series with Sean (Go Tigers! (only because I feel like Detroit needs a little love)).

So the laptop I've had all through college is a Toshiba Satellite (who I named Edna) and it's been fairly trusty up until a few months ago. Recently, it has been having screen problems where it splits into three and the two side portions flip places. Also, it randomly shuts down and has a really hard time finding the wifi.

So the solution to my problem? I'm getting a new computer (hopefully tonight). I'm really excited, to be honest. I don't get new gadgets all that often and I tend to get the thing that is already out of date. I don't have a lot of money to spend on this computer, but I still think I can get something pretty nice for my money.

Did I tell you about the time I slammed my finger in my car door, got the donut shop job, went to the zoo, and hosted a dinner party all in the same day? Well, that was way back in August when Sean's mom was visiting. Now, my finger is fine, however the nail has started to grow off. It's really kind of gross actually. Then, on Monday, Sean and I were carving pumpkins. He did this:

Super impressive. And what I did was screw up a cute pumpkin. I tried doing a Twins logo as well but I cut the W too poorly and tried fixing it with a toothpick and ended up stabbing myself in the finger. Same finger as the car door. So, essentially, what I'm saying is that something somewhere has a secret vendetta against my poor right index finger. It's made it a lot harder to do the dishes as well as plenty of other things.

There's a lot of really annoying road construction in front of our house. They're doing things at very inconvenient times (i.e. rush hour) and in a way that makes me feel like the tiny shack of a shop that I work in is going to collapse on top of me. At least I would be crushed in a building with food so while I wait for someone to save me, I can still have nourishment (delicious, delicious nourishment...).

I put on a new fall smell in our wax melter deal we bought from walmart to make our apartment smell less like previous smoker and poorly done wet paint (from a year + ago...). I really love this smell. It's
called Apple Spice & Citrus from Better Homes. Yum.

I feel like this is a lot of rambling but what can you do? Nothing.
love, Ellen

Hi Hi Hi

Remember how I've been sick a bunch lately? It eased up just in time for our anniversary get-away. It was such a nice weekend of shopping and relaxing and just hanging out. I bought my first pair of yoga pants (ohhhh, yeah.) and some new bathroom digs (i.e. bath towels, a rug, and a new shower curtain), a hat, Sean got a bowtie, a potato masher, and some yummy tea. It was just a really good weekend all around. 

However, the night we got home, I threw up again. Ahh, my life. So what I'm doing is I'm going off my birth control pill. I think my hormones have just changed and all of the side effects are showing. I'm hoping this takes care of the problem though... If it doesn't, I'm going to go to the doctor and get it all figured out. 

Sean's in the kitchen (with Dinah... jk) making chicken noodle soup and it's so yummy smelling/looking. He's such a good cook and I love when he makes me dinner. 

So anyway, I'm gonna go eat. 

love, Ellen

Octobre

YAY! Guys, this month is awesome. I'm so excited for our 1 year anniversary and Halloween and everything! WOO!

I want to make all the cute decorations and put them around, the only problem is that we have no where to store them after holidays are over... rough life. But it's okay, our situation won't be forever. And we can still carve pumpkins and put up a wreath... and stuff.

We redecorated our house again. I really love changing things up ever once in a while because then it helps us get rid of some of our junk and leads to a little better feng shui. All we have to do is put up a few shelves, stop by Deseret Industries, and take a hutch back to my parent's. Ahh... clean house, happy life... or however that goes.

That's probably enough for today.
love, Ellen

Sicky

Just so you know, EXPLICIT FEMININE CONTENT TO FOLLOW.

So I'm on my period and it has been one of the most gnarly periods I've ever had - cramps, moodiness, headaches and bodyaches... the works. I couldn't sleep last night hardly at all. I was so sick and uncomfortable... it was a nightmare. I got up at least 3 times before Sean just got up from bed and came and gave me a good hug. I started crying, of course. We sat on the couch for a minute and then decided some Midol would be nice so we threw on some clothes and ran to walmart and grabbed some meds and a 2 lb bag of redvines (for Sean because he deserved it).

We got home and put on Return of the King and tried to sleep. We tried so hard to fall asleep and then I went and threw up and then Sean had to go to bed or else today would be a disaster for him. I turned off the movie and followed him in. I was so uncomfortable and I had the feeling that I needed a blessing. We both got up again (at this point, it was about 3:30 in the morning) and Sean gave me a blessing and then I gave him the biggest hug I could ever give him and I cried (again) and told him how much I appreciated him.

Guys, I seriously have the BEST husband. I love the bajeebers out of him. He's so dang handsome and nice and sweet and goofy and my best friend.

I'm so excited for this weekend because it's going to be SO fun and I love being able to get away with Sean. We're going to just relax and explore Salt Lake and it's going to be great. I just hope I don't feel gross... at least Aunt Flo won't be in town that weekend. phew.

Anyway, Happy Almost October!
love, Ellen

Saturdays

YAY! A few days ago, my work friends and I figured out a better schedule for us and now I have Saturdays free! Hooray! Now I have a night that I can go to a movie or stay up a little later with Sean and then enjoy a morning together besides Sundays (which are okay, but will soon end in January) and have some Mickey-D's breakfast. Mmm... breakfast burrito's.

Speaking of Saturdays, only 2 more until Sean and I have been married a whole year! Some people say the first year of marriage is the one where you learn the most about your partner by fighting and stuff. Not to say that Sean and I never fight, but we've definitely learned more about each other sans bickering (mostly). I think it's just that we feel so comfortable with each other that it doesn't matter that I don't squeeze the toothpaste a certain way or that Sean never picks what we have for dinner, we just know each other's love languages and have learned how to work our problems out without much strife. It's really nice.

In any way, I love him and I'm just really glad he's in my life to take care of me and entertain me.

love, Ellen

Sixties and Down

You know what's a great time of year? When outside has a chill and inside has autumn-y smells. Yum. At work, people have been requesting pumpkin and apple spice cakes left and right. So great!

It's been a little weird because I've been getting pretty cold and Sean's still wearing shorts and tee's. I'm wearing a sweater and long pants and socks and I'm still considering putting on a warm blanket and watching a movie.

I got Sean a really great Anniversary gift! (I accidentally typed Mother's Day before realizing I'm crazy and correcting myself.) I can't wait to give it to him, he's going to love it, but for his own safety, I'm going to keep the identity of it a secret until 2 weeks from tomorrow. Hooray!

Anyway, it had been a while since I posted so I thought I'd just say a little something.
love, Ellen

Spying and Stupidity

Hi, Guys! Okay, so... Sean showed me a video and it's BRILLIANT. Now, I have no idea why, but it seems like I've been more interested in politics and why people need to care less and listen more. I won't say too much because this video pretty much says it all and with better sound effects.

Enjoy:
(Yes it's a link... just click on it. sheesh...)
http://www.cracked.com/video_18639_4-reasons-to-stop-freaking-out-about-nsa.html

love, Ellen

Something called Vine

Somehow, I've managed to make all my posts in September start with the letter S and I'm totally digging it, so I'm gonna try and keep it up.

Anyway, I got an email a little while ago asking me to promote a thing for the Property Brothers (who you might already know that I totally love). 

I'm just gonna copy and paste the message because it's a little difficult to paraphrase.

Forget Olympic gold medals and move over Presidential Medals of Honor; there’s a new, truly valuable prize in town.Jonathan and Drew Scott are best known as the stars of several HGTV hit series: “Property Brothers,” “Buying & Selling” and “Brother vs. Brother.” What many don’t know is they also make for an attractive double bobblehead. Now, the Scott Brothers are offering up these autographed, jigglely objets d’art to 10 of their fans who create the best* Vine videos demonstrating or explaining why they, out of all the billions of their fans in the world, most deserve to own these signed treasures.All your readers need to do is create a Vine video and upload it to Twitter using the hashtag #ScottBrosBobble. Jonathan and Drew will be looking for that hashtag and sharing the videos on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr as they decide on the 10 winners.We’d love for your readers to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so please let us know what further information or artwork (including less silly photos) you need for your story. And, thanks!* “Best” will be decided in a completely arbitrary way by Jonathan and Drew Scott themselves and their decisions, no matter how seemingly illogical and capricious, will be final.The contest closes October 1, and winners will be notified shortly after.

Because I don't have Vine (more specifically can't due to my having a Windows 7 phone, same with Instagram and plenty of other apps), I won't be participating, but if you want to, go for it! Here's a picture of the bobble heads (which are pretty neat). 

Good luck!
love, Ellen

Storms and String Cheese

It's been super rainy here lately and I'm loving it. I love listening to the pitter-patter on the windows and the thunder and I love being able to wear long pants and sweaters without having to bundle up or over heat. And the smell! Mmm... it makes me want to leave the windows open, even though it might get my house wet.

Also, lately, I've been really bad about eating lunch. I get off work either at 11 am or 2 pm and then I come home, take a nap, and completely skip eating. Then, when dinner rolls around, I realize I've only had a handful of donut holes and a string cheese. I think I need to just get a bunch of microwave meals, lunch meat and bread, and whatever else I can just whip together without much thought.

There's a secret that goes along with this, though. I love reading a recipe and then figuring it out myself. I made a marinara sauce about a month ago from scratch with little help from a recipe. I took some fresh tomatoes from our community garden and then a can of diced tomatoes as well as a bunch of basil, some thyme, a pinch of cayenne powder, and some olive oil and it was delicious. A couple days ago, I made shells and cheese by whipping up a roux and then dumped in a bunch of cheese and some salt and pepper and the cooked noodles and that also turned out really well.

I think the problem with it is that I don't have enough faith in my cooking. Sean always says it's good... Who knows.

Anyway, now I'm hungry so I think I'm going to go heat up some leftover shells and cheese (which is weird because I don't like leftovers. We'll see how it goes).

love, Ellen

PS! Check out Sean's new blog! He's writing movie reviews just for you! If there's a movie you think we should see, let me know!

Sleepy

Working in the early morning hours has taken a toll on my sleep schedule. Mostly, I haven't been writing for the past bunch of days because I've been working and napping. The plus side is that I get plenty of donuts.

It has been really overcast here lately and I love it. Rain and the chill are so comfortable. I love to be home and having it be autumn-y outside. The only sad part is that it means winter is on its way. Winter is the worst but the autumn is great. It's going to be weird not going to school this winter, I don't know how I feel about it. I'll probably read some books and do some art and stuff. Who really knows.

Sean and I went to Comic Con on Saturday and it was a mad house! It was fun though, we got to see a bunch of interesting costumes, William Shatner on a golf cart, Soup Nazi, Bofur the Dwarf (as a human) and a creepy princess Leia wearing the scant outfit who recently gave birth (saggy boobs) and had her high school-age son follow her around (it was weird). Next time the Con comes around, Sean and I are definitely taking the Friday off and bringing enough money for stuff. Lesson Learned. However, it was still fun and we did things like

Twerking in front of Gollum

Posing with #10 (cardboard cut out)

And gawking at this Azog.

Anyway, it was great and we're definitely going again. 

love, Ellen

Something September

Hi, guys.
It's kind of weird not writing under the guise of a blog-a-day... and Ellie showed me this link to a "Blogtember" deal and I might do it. I did this blog's Blog-A-Day May and it was pretty fun and I found a couple new blog friends doing it, but at the same time, I don't know if I want to just be known for doing challenges.

I think I might check the challenge and do a little of it every day but idk if I'll do every day. There's my disclaimer.

Today's prompt is: "Describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are."

I was born in the nice part of a city known for being kind of ghetto. From there we moved back and forth from there to another small town on it's way to big city. I think all this moving around is what made me such a grown-up so early on, because I had to learn that figuring out my identity was fairly important in introducing myself to the new classes and situations. 


When I was 9, we finally bought a house in the same school boundaries as our last duplex and that was nice, not having to make new friends from who I went to school with. My parents are still living in that house with my sister who is on her way to college in only one year (wowza) and it's a pretty nice house where I got my own room and shared a bathroom with my dad. 

These people I lived with for 18 years are a looney bunch, but I love them. When Sean and I were visiting yesterday for Labor Day, we hung out in a very green-painted room and watched TV and then had delicious dinner, all the while cracking jokes and cheering on the American Ninja Warriors competing for 1/2 a million dollars. My dad loves cooking and so does my husband, luckily. 

Since February 2012, I has turned to We. Sean has joined the bunch of crazies and I couldn't be more grateful. Ever since we were put in with a big group of 18 mo. to 3 year olds at our church, we've been talking about parenting styles and how we want to raise our kids. I'm never afraid to say my ideas to him because he always agrees and then adds to it in some way. I feel like we're going to be great parents in a few years. 

And that's all, I think.

There was another thing aside from the blogtember thing... 
OH. I'm thinking about selling my artistic abilities for money. I'm not totally sure yet though because it's hard to come up with money for supplies and stuff. I'm thinking of having people send me black and white photos of them (the higher the contrast, the better) and I'll send them that picture in a 11x14" drawing, like the one from my last post unless they want it bigger and then charging some money for labor, shipping, and supplies. So maybe like $4 for supplies, however much shipping is, and then $10 an hour for however long it takes me (promise, I'm honest). 
Let me know what you think and I'll see how well it would do then decide. 
Thanks!

love, Ellen.

Day 31: Proud

I think my proudest accomplishment this month is probably that I got myself a job and only missed a couple days of this blog. Woo! Oh, also, remember that drawing I said I was doing? It's really good. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty proud of it.

Here's a picture of it:

It isn't the best picture, but it looks good in person. Promise.

It's supposed to look like this:

I'm thinking about going over it with charcoal to make the black parts black and not pencil-y. Idk, yet.

Anyway. Happy End of the Month!

love, Ellen

Day 30: Family

I am the oldest of 2 girls. My little sister is named Abby and she's a Senior in high school. We have a mom and a dad who are pretty cool and they take us to cool places like Oregon. 

For my senior trip, we went to the coast of Oregon and had an excellent time relaxing, seeing the sites, eating incredible food. You can read all about it HERE. I was having some boy troubles then, but it didn't stop me from enjoying a vacation with my family.

Since then, I've added so many more people to my family just by falling in love with one guy (who, btw, isn't the one from the troubles). Now I have a husband, 4 brothers-in-law, 5 sisters-in-law, and a new parents-in-law that I love spending some time with. My family tripled in size over night. I don't get to see them all at once because they all live in different places, but I get to travel around and see them, which makes it double fun. 

I love my family and I'm so grateful for all of them. Yay! 

love, Ellen

p.s. Since Sean got some new movies yesterday, I got new pencils and canvases to draw with! So I'm working on a project and I hope it turns out. It's looking pretty good, so I think it's going to work. 

Day 29: Hobbies

I don't have very many hobbies that I do regularly but there are tons of things that I like doing.

If I had the time and supplies, I would love to take up embroidery. I've done it a few times but I think I would be pretty good at it and would like doing it. It's something I can put down and pick back up instantaneously, which I like, and it can travel with me fairly easily, I think.

I also like doing art. If I had a place to do it and store it, and the money for all the supplies, I would love to learn how to paint, draw, and sculpt better.

I also like baking. I have a few signature recipes but at the same time, I hate heating up my tiny apartment and I never eat all of the things I make.

I've mentioned before that I love organizing. It's kind of a hobby, I suppose but at the same time, it's an obsession.

I love music. I can't wait til Sean and I have a house so I can have my piano and cellos and Sean's guitars and my ukulele and all of our vinyl and CD's around me. I'm not that great of singer but I can learn.

Something else I love doing and I'm actually pretty good at is wire-bending. Weird, right? Sometimes I think I should do it as a business. I've seen things like this sold on Etsy and stuff but I've never really done anything about it.

And that was even with crappy pliers!

Anyway, I think that's all.
love, Ellen

Day 28: Nice

One time, while waiting in line to check out at Target, we were kind of in a rush. We loaded our things on the belt and waited as the lady in front of us finished her purchase. She received her receipt and turned around and handed us a gift card and, in our rush, merely said thank you and went on our way.
Turns out, that gift card had $20 dollars on it and, little to that lady's knowledge, we were already low on cash because we were about to get married.

I'm so grateful for people like that who are so generous and kind to complete strangers. I hope that I can be one of those people some day.

The other day at work, there was a guy at the drive through that I was helping who you could tell was having a hard day. What looked like his father was sitting in the passenger seat, slumped over, and looking very close to death. I wanted so badly to just say "Anything on me" but I had just started at that job and I didn't know my boss's policies of donut-giving and I was really low on cash, so I secretly gave him a free donut with the intent on paying for it at the end of my shift.

I went on with my day and it was just me and the boss in the shop and he told me that it was perfectly okay to give away free donuts toward the end of the shift because I would throw them away anyway. It was a relief but at the same time, I wish I could have done more for that guy.

It's one small step toward becoming a more kind and generous person.
There was a sign at our wedding that looked very similar to this one:

(Thanks, Tiffany!)

True dat.

love, Ellen

Day 27: Fire

I hate to think there could ever be a fire or any natural disaster happen to me, but anything is possible, even the worst. One of my biggest fears is an earthquake that turns into a Pompeii situation because of Yellowstone. Anyway...

 Besides the obvious Sean, Erma, and Reggie that I'd grab, I'd also definitely grab our wedding quilt that was hand made by my mom's old boss (see header), our scrabble set left to Sean by his grandma, and probably my phone because then I could call the fire department which is a couple blocks away to come save the rest of my possessions.

That'll be all for today.
love, Ellen

Day 26: Quirky

I had an assignment in a creative writing class I took in college to list 10 of our quirks and I went way above and beyond.... whoops.

I'll just post my assignment from that. It'd just be easier.

• I organize organize organize. The only problem is I love re-organizing more  which doesn't make much sense... 
• I have hypothetical conversations too often. 
• I have a post-it note collection and it's one of my favorite things to remember things with (if that makes any sense).
• I'm bad at story-telling. I've had too many people tell me "Are you done?" at the end of 
• I have an eyeglasses collection. 5 pairs is much too much for someone whose prescription is hardly strong. 
• I drink a lot of milk. I could probably drink a gallon a day without trying. 
• I like having my hair be short. I like having it like 2 or 3 inches long the most. But I also like doing things with long hair and wearing hats... It's really complicated.
• I like reading but I'm incredibly slow at it. 
• I love old things. Old music is my favorite, I love antiques and antique prints, and I married older than me! (by 9 years)
• I like doing art. I'm an amateur painter and I like sculpting. I'm actually pretty good at making jewelry and I'm working on my drawing skills.
• I'm afraid of boys. I've never had a blood brother (I have brothers-in-law now) and I've only dated one other guy besides my husband. When boys try to flirt with me, I bring Sean up early in the conversation because they weird me out. 
• I like making lists. To-do lists, packing lists, etc. 
• I'm horrible at planning parties. I'll bring cupcakes but don't make me plan it. 
• I'm bad at cooking. I can do it but I'm not great. Also, washing dishes is gross but I'll do it if I don't have to cook. 
• I love animals. I've had a cat for my entire life (3 different ones until I moved out). I have a kitty now named Erma Gerd and a ball python named Reggie. When my husband and I have a house we'll get a little dog for me and a big dog for him and we'll still have Erma and Reggie. 
• I accidentally love watching horrible television. Toddlers and Tiaras is great and so is My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. Ew but great.

Okay. I'll be on my way now. 

love, Ellen

Day 25: Sport

Oops, forgot yesterday.
Here's it quick:
I'm very talented at organizing and I think it's because I spent a lot of my high school times playing tetris.

On to today! My favorite sports team only became my favorite sports team after Sean and I met. I acquired the Twins as my favorite baseball team when I fell for Sean. We've watched and listened to many a game and I even went to Target Field and saw them beat the Phillies last June!

Anyway, as of this year, I've been so much more into baseball than I ever was into any other sport. I have my own glove and bat and we go and play at the park near our apartment about 3 or 5 times a week (when we have time). I really think I'm getting good, too!

love, Ellen

Day 23: Money

If I had a thousand dollars right now, I'd put it directly in the bank and save it for either a house or a real honeymoon for our 1 year anniversary.

But first I might run out and buy some sausage for biscuits and gravy for dinner. Mmmm... perfect rainy day meal. I also created a really awesome blanket and pillow nest for Sean and I to cuddle in while watching our 9th (but really the 8th) Academy Award Best Picture Winner, The Great Ziegfeld. It's a little more than 3 hours long so I figured we'd need to get comfy for this one.

I just made some biscuits and I hope they turn out! Kitty loves the nest.

Sean just texted me if I want to go to a movie... hmm... the nest might be nixed. At least kitty likes it!

Okay, I'm going to go check on those biscuits.
love, Ellen

Day 22: Meal

I keep forgetting to tell you to go to Ellie's blog for her blog-a-day updates! (Sorry, Ellie!) But do it. Here's the link: http://elliehuey.tumblr.com/

What would I choose to be my last meal? This is a pretty difficult, actually. I'd probably want something my parents would make. They're pretty great cooks and I wish I had that skill, but alas.

Here's the thing, my go-to food is always seafood. I might want sushi because I love sushi but at the same time, I still want my parents to be the chefs.

Side note: I don't know why I said last meal. It really should be "What's your favorite meal? Who makes it and what makes it your favorite?" but I said last meal. No one be sad.

Okay. I really like my parent's Alabama BBQ chicken and Mexi-corn (it's a white barbeque and corn with cheese and lime mayo and cayenne powder) but I also would LOVE some fresh crab and macaroni salad.

This is too hard and I'm too hungry. I'm going to go eat and leave it here because if I don't, I'll just pass out. (or not... I'm not starving...).

byyeeeee.
love, Ellen

Day 21: Letter

Hi, Future Ellen!

I've always had a weird time writing future self letters. I'd usually ask if I had a boyfriend or a brother... Here's the thing, I have a husband now. I imagine you (future self) would still be married to him and getting ready to have kids or possibly chasing a little one or two around by the time you read this (because someone... mhhmm... forgot to set a future date to read this. We'll say I'll read this in 5 years.

I realize now that no matter how much you plan out your future, there's always something else that's going to happen so I'm not going to ask you questions. How are you supposed to answer them anyway?

Right now in my life, I just started working at Daylight Donuts and it's been a lot of fun. I work more hours than my cafe job and I get better pay so it's all around better! Plus I get all the donuts I want (within reason) and I just really like it. I don't know where I will be in a year when we plan on moving out of our teensy apartment without laundry, dishwasher/disposal... I hope you're remembering this place with fond memories because it's kind of a pain trying to store all of our stuff here right now.

I can't wait to buy a house. I want to be able to personalize it and have a real place to call home for longer than a year or two. OH. Something I'm really excited for is our trip to Oregon next summer for Abby's graduation. I can't wait until Sean and I can spend some time on the beach together (as you can probably tell from my past posts this month...). I hope this new job will get us enough spare cash that we can go somewhere fun for our 1 year anniversary/second chance honeymoon but I'm not getting my hopes too high.

It's really weird right now not going back to school with everyone. I can't wait to go back to school to be an interior designer but for now, it's weird not planning on going to classes and taking tests. I don't even know.

Erma turned one year old this month. She's still got some kitten problems like random arm attacks and pushing all her water on the floor, but at least she's a little more grown up from when she would just attack me every time  I moved anything. She's also getting better at allowing us to pet her, which is nice.

I think that's all I want to write for now. I'm pretty sure you can gather from former posts where else I am in my life but it's always nice to hear from your former self, usually.

love, Ellen

Day 20: Wearing

Today, after work, I put on my cut-off shorts and my Star Wars comic tee shirt that looks like this:

This is one of my go-to outfits. I love how comfortable the top is and the shorts are so comfortable as well. Plus it's so cute. I made the shorts myself by cutting up some old pants and then I folded it up and sewed down the sides under the seam. The shirt is kind of old, I bought it about this time last year at H&M.

I think my style shows off my personality pretty well. I like looking nice but I like being quirky as well as comfortable. I like showing off my spunk and not having to work too hard to keep it together. And days when I'm not feeling like shorts will do, I put on my dark green or gray pants and my awesome Van Halen sweat shirt. I got all those things at H&M (seems I shop there a lot, eh?).

Anyway, I'm going to go eat some food or something.
love, Ellen

p.s. Sean started a new movie review blog HERE. Check it out!

Day 19: Name

There are a couple places my mom said she got my name from. First, I have a great aunt named Ellen and, as far as I've been told, she was a firecracker. She wrote poetry occasionally and I have one of her pieces in my special box full of nice letters and memories from my life.

The other reason I was named Ellen was just because my mom liked it. Which is a very understandable reason because I plan on naming my kids based mostly on how much I like the name and then partly because someone else awesome has the name or not because whatever, you know? A name is a name and we should learn how to define it for ourselves and not let someone else define it for us.

My blog name, Bottled Pop and Picnics, comes mostly from when Sean and I were dating. One of the things we liked to do most was to go to various grocery or novelty stores and buy a couple bottles of soda to try and then we'd keep the caps and Sean would make magnets with them. We'd also go on picnics a few times. When we were engaged, we gathered all the kinds of soda and used the bottles as centerpieces of our tables:

Also, our 2nd Valentine's together was mostly watching a movie and having a floor-picnic with sushi and glass bottled soda. Hooray!

Okay, I've got to go clean the house before Sean gets home.
love, Ellen

Day 18: Wisdom, Funny, Brothers

Okay, I know, I've been horrible at my own challenge lately... but starting a new job and having my mother-in-law here have been making things a little hard. But I'm not complaining because I'm so grateful I have a job now and got to see my beautiful mother-in-law for a while!

Back to business.

The best thing my mom told me when I was younger was that

"You marry who you date."

or

"You're an odd duck."

Haha. It's true though! When I was dating Sean, I was told this often and I kept it in mind. When Sean and I would argue or be upset, I would remember that and figure that everything would be okay when we got married because it was never something I would be upset about for very long. We hardly ever argue and people kept telling us we would. Not saying we don't but we just remember the more important things and move on. I love Sean.

She also told me I was an odd duck and I'm cool with that. I'm different and I know it and I'll work it.

Check out Ellie's blog  here: http://elliehuey.tumblr.com/post/58378065229/abode
Seriously, guys, this girl is cool.

I have a funny story. So Sean and his brothers, his brother's wife, and his mom and I went to Gilgal garden in SLC yesterday and it was so pretty and had delicious grapes and we had so much fun there and, at one point, we met another family whose sons were interested in our game of 'catch the grape in your mouth' and we had a ton of fun telling jokes and grape tossing.

This leads into what was supposed to be my yesterday post about my favorite joke.
I have a few:

What do you call a fake noodle?
- an imPASTA!

How do you throw a space party?
- you PLANET!

What does a fish say when it swims into a wall?
-DAM!

What do you call a jack-o-lantern bandaid?
-a PUMPKIN PATCH!

What do you call an alligator in a vest?
-an INVESTIGATOR!

and then this picture makes me laugh every time:


EVERY TIME!!!!

haha.

Okay, one last thing and I'll be on my way:
I'm sorry I missed telling you about the live-chat with the Scott brothers from Property Brothers via their twitters... Anyway... I'm horrible. BUT! Make sure you watch the finale next Sunday night!

love, Ellen

Day 15: Dream House

Okay. I missed yesterday but I went to the zoo and got a job and had all my in-laws over for dinner... so it was hectic. Don't judge me.

You heard right, folks! This here's a workin' girl! I got a job at Daylight Donuts and today was my first day, I worked from 5 am until 9:45. I sell donuts and it's great.

Back to real life (or not...?). My dream house. Oh, the things that will go in it. I want an unfinished studio-sized basement where Sean and I can put a bunch of art projects and a movie theatre. It'll have a corner with play-doh and finger paints and kids crafts. FUN! And at night, a screen comes down and we move a couch out from the corner and watch movies on a projector. It'll have a wall that was painted with water balloons filled with paint like on Princess Diaries.

It would have an awesome garage for fixing cars and building dune buggies and whatever.

Sean and I will have a fantastic master bedroom on the second floor with a luxurious on-suite and a walk-in closet with plenty of shelf-space. All our kids will have a bedroom on the second floor with us but on the other side of the house. Laundry will be on the first floor and there's going to be baskets for each child on wheels in a shelf thing and all the kids will take their own clothes to their rooms and put them away.

Our kitchen will have all the counter space and a big nice fridge and it will have a bar-seating area and an open concept to a family room.

Also on the first floor there will be an office where Sean and I will write and edit and do work. Also all of our geeky paraphernalia will be in there and an Allosaurus skull. AWESOME!

I think that's all.
I've got to go make chocolate chip cookies now...
love, Ellen

Day 13: Love/Hate

5 Things I have a serious love/hate relation ship with.

1: I hate how much I absolutely love donuts. They're all just so great and so tasty but they're just so bad for you! Doesn't even matter, I'll still eat all the donuts I want.

2: I have a recently realized love/hate relationship with Doctor Who. I loved it so much when I watched all of them at once and I still like watching a few episodes here and there but I hate that it's so much bigger than it was and that they had to announce the next doctor so early. I don't want to know til I can hate him for being the end of Matt Smith (if that makes any sense) and then gradually like him because he's not half bad. And because I love the cheesy old effects and one-episode plots.

3: My relationship with food is an incredibly complicated one. I love eating and I love the taste of food. When I get too hungry, I get crazy angry. However, despite all of these things, I rarely can eat a whole meal. I rarely join the clean plate club and I have a habit of leaving the last bite. It's all mental, I'm sure. I just have weird habits, I guess.

4: I love reading but I'm very slow at it. I love the stories and I love words and all that, but the fact that I'm so meticulous about spelling and grammar (which sometimes makes me nervous saying that because what if I have a misspelling or something on here...)  makes it hard to just read something straight up.

5:  It took me a while to come up with the last love/hate but I think it's gotta be my cat. She's so cute and funny and fun to play with but at the same time she's just pure evil who attacks my limbs at completely inconvenient and stupid times. I'm afraid to leave my arm hanging off the bed at night because she'd come up and attack it. Dumb. But I still like her.

Day 12: Famous

I already told you I'd be late but faithful in the blog-a-days this week already, so here's today's.

If I were to have lunch with anyone who is famous right now I would definitely go somewhere with Tina Fey. We would have so much fun and talk about all kinds of good ideas for sitcoms and things and then we would be friends forever happily ever after.

I already told you that I highly recommend her book, but if anyone out there knows her and would be willing to hook a girl up with some pal time (or whatever), I'd be down. She is just so beautiful and funny and witty and I just want to be her best friend.

We would probably have lunch at Zupa's or something. Maybe sushi except that's hard to eat in a social situation. The thing is, I love a good salad and sandwich so that would be easiest.

Oh. I just re-read the prompt and it says the whole day. The longer the better! I would probably just want to sit and talk and maybe come up with some really great pilots or something for a new hit sitcom to air this fall because she would come over on August 21. (umm... I like this idea. Too bad it's not going to happen, probably. If only.)

love, Ellen
p.s. check out Ellie's blog post: http://elliehuey.tumblr.com/post/58117814436/sk8r-girl

Day 11: Favorite Treat

HI! Sorry I'm so late tonight... it was a busy day. I'm imagining this is how it's going to be the next week or so with my mother-in-law in town. It's okay!

My favorite treat. SO DIFFICULT.
Here's the thing. I absolutely love donuts to no end. I could eat donuts with everything. Plain glazed donuts are my favorite but I'll eat the other kinds too. I tried my hand at baked glazed donuts once and they turned out pretty well except that I used too much yeast and mixed it at the wrong time... but we still ate them!

My favorite thing to make as a treat, though would have to be chocolate chip cookies.
Here is my favorite recipe:

Best-Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies
barely adapted from Anna Olson, Food Network Canada

Ingredients: 
3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened 
3/4 c. brown sugar 
1/4 c. granulated sugar 
1 egg 
2 tsp. vanilla extract 
2 c. all purpose flour 
2 tsp. cornstarch 
1 tsp. baking soda 
1/2 tsp. salt 
1 c. bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.

3.  Mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.

4.  Using a standard-sized cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges.  (The tops will not brown, but do NOT cook longer than ten minutes.)

5.  Let cool, on the sheet, on a wire rack for five minutes.  Remove from baking sheet and let cool completely.  Makes approximately 3 dozen.  Try not to eat them all.


But, here's a thing too.
Next time you need a quick and easy cupcake recipe, just take any box of any flavor of cake mix and take 1 can of room-temperature (or not, it just makes it easier to stir and rise a little better) cola or sprite or root beer or cream soda or whatever, just make it carbonated. Works like a charm and they're delicious.

love, Ellen

Day 10: Dream job

I think my dream job would be an interior designer. I love making things look presentable and organizing and it just seems like my perfect fit.

Either that or a proofreader because helping people improve their writing and just make things sound better.

I could really go with either because they both fit me so well. I'm imagining that the interior designer pays better, but I could still love either job.

Anyway...
love, Ellen

Day 9: Date

My dream date goes hand in hand with my dream vacation, essentially.

Sean and I would start out riding our bikes on the pier and lock them up near a fair. We'll eat funnel cakes and play fair games for a while as the sunsets and then we'll walk along the shore at dusk back to our bikes and ride back to our town house just down the pier.

Either that or...

We go to a park and play baseball for a while and then grab some food (sushi or pizza or burgers... whatever) and have a floor picnic in the living room and cuddle while watching a great movie surrounded in soft pillows and blankets in a nest.

I love spending time with my incredible husband and I'm so glad he's the one I get to spend forever with.

It's so stormy outside and I love it! I've still gotta do the dishes and clean the floors but It's still great weather and I get to see my fabulous mother-in-law today!

mmm... thunder rumble...
okay, I'm out.

love, Ellen

Day 8: Time waster

I seriously have a problem. When I'm not at work, I'm at home watching tv and surfing the internet for funny pictures and gifs. boring life.

Anyway, some of my favorite places to find cat pictures and other mildly funny internet things is
Slow Robot

And it's sister site
I Waste So Much Time

The other one I spend too much time on is
9gag
however... This one has a million typos and stupid pictures so it can get stupid at times.

Other than those, I keep up on a few blogs
Ellie's (Which you should check out because she is doing my challenge with me)
Mandey's (She is so cute and her twins are ADORABLE)
Jessie's (She is also very cute and is super stylish)
and a bunch of my friends (who you can find on the side of my blog under Comrades in Blogery)

Also, and most obviously, PINTEREST.
Seriously, I don't know what people do without it. It's my go-to source for recipes and home decor ideas and hair styles and make-up tutorials and pretty much anything else. You can follow me here.

Go waste some time.
Sheesh.
love, Ellen

Day 7: Exciting

There are a couple fun things happening this month.

The thing Sean and I are looking forward to the most is his mom is coming to town! I love my mother-in-law and I can't wait to spend some time with her. We got to hang out in June when Sean and I went to MN but it's always exciting to be able to see her. She's so sweet and I'm just so excited!

 I can't wait to show her around my state. She's been here before but not since we've met or since 3 of her kids have lived here so we can show her around like locals (of which I am the only true one).

The other thing I'm excited (but more nervous) for is finding a new job! I've applied at a bunch of different places but nothing real yet. I have high hopes for a place I'm going to get an application from tomorrow morning (because they have kind of odd hours) because I have someone there to boost my application. Fingers crossed.

I'm really kind of bummed that tomorrow is my last day because I've made so many great friends in my time there and I'm going to miss all of them. All my regulars and my coworkers... I'm going to miss all of you! Sad.

Bittersweet.
love, Ellen

p.s. I took this picture on Saturday when Sean and I were out sailing with my Grandpa on the Salt Lake. BEAUTIFUL!

Day 6: Motto

I have a few motto's and they change every so often.
Recently, I had one that was

"I can learn anything."

I also try to remind myself 

"Everything will work out."

It's really hard to remember that last one sometimes. Looking at life right now, jobless soon and no school, I don't know what is going to happen, but something good can work. I've made a ton of great friends in my time at the cafe and I would keep working there or at least in the library but I can't so I have to find something new. It will all be okay.

love, Ellen

p.s. Check out Ellie's blog from yesterday!

p.p.s. I have to share these things with you:

1: Even though I'm not a huge Mumford and Sons fan, I love this music video! 

2: HOLY CRAP. These are the most ugly beautiful instruments I've ever seen. It makes me want to whip out my cello, for real.

Day 5: Vacation

I could use an all-expense paid trip to anywhere right about now. Life is getting the best of me and it's hard to not just say "Screw it" and become a hermit. However, Sean has already done that and doesn't recommend it.

Let's get down to business. If I were to pack up and leave this very minute (with all expenses paid, mind you), I would book it to the Oregon coast. I would stay in a town house right on the beach and sleep with the windows open so I could hear the waves crashing all night long. In the daytime, I would lounge on the beach eating crab and playing my ukulele.

Sean and I would go on long walks on the beach and we'd visit all the antique shops around and visit a marina and get a crabbing licenses. Then at night, we'd come back to the townhouse and relax with a movie or a book and enjoy our findings from the day.

Oregon is just such a beautiful place. It's not California crazy or Washington rainy, but it's just comfortable and magnificent. I would definitely live there if I could take my whole family with me and we could all work in an adorable boutique/cafe. Unlikely, but still.
We're going there next year for my sister's graduation trip and I seriously can not wait.

 SO EXCITED.
love, Ellen

p.s. Check out Ellie's blog from yesterday (favorite book) - http://elliehuey.tumblr.com/post/57362901635/time-is-nothing

Day 4: Fave Book

I know it's early, but today is going to be a pretty busy day.

My absolute favorite book would have to be Tina Fey's Bossypants. If I could spend a day with any celebrity, it would be her and we'd have the best time and come up with some incredible material for a new show which will be airing Monday nights at 9. But no, seriously. She is so incredibly funny and all around great. I look up to her so much and wish I could be her.

Even though I'm not really a writer (except on this blog and in my mind), I would want to work with her to create hilarious dialogue and situations that the multitudes would enjoy. And reading her book just made me fall into more of a girl-crush on her. (For those of you who don't know, a girl crush is something where, instead of crushing on a boy who you want to datemarry, a girl crush is where you want to be another female so much it's like a crush). She talks about everything from her face scar to her days as an improv actor to a writer for 30 Rock to a cruise she took... She's so great.

Here's the cover. Enjoy.

I give it 100 stars.
Read it, Love it, Read it again.
love, Ellen

Tomorrow's Challenge: Where is your favorite vacation spot? What do you like about it? Would you live there permanently if given the opportunity?

Also, check out Ellie's post from yesterday!

Day 3: Craziest Thing

Here's a fun fact about me you might not know: I don't do crazy things. I don't like heights and the thought of falling terrifies me, so I pretty much stay in one place. However, I have done some absolutely insane things that are just stupid, mostly.

Throwback to March 2012. I had been dating Sean for a month when he invited me to go to Phoenix with him to meet his family (minus his older brother & sister-in-law). Like a crazy person, I was excited to go. We left in his brother's car with some random girl from Brady's past at about 6 pm and then the car broke down and we drove 35 MILES AN HOUR for the rest of the trip, getting us there at 8 in the morning. It was a nightmare. 

Then I met his family and that was great because they are great people and it was fun, even though that random girl was uncomfortably flirting with Brady the whole time. The second day we were there (or so, it's all kind of a messy jumble of events), Sean's grandma, who was in Phoenix at that time, insisted we went on a hike in the desert. Sean's dad had said he'd buy "everyone" clif bars and then he only bought 4 for a group of 10 people. We each had a smallish water bottle. 

So essentially what I'm telling you is that I went with a bunch of strangers and a guy I had a crush on on a walk in the desert without food or water. 

Not only that, but after  that walk (when we realized our stomachs were eating themselves) we went to a hellish tourist trap called Tortilla Flats and wandered around, got HANGRY (def.: so hungry you start biting people's heads off) and decided to go to another hellish place called Organ Stop where a large organ rises out of the floor and plays crappy show tunes while you eat sad pizza on picnic tables. WORST.

I think I've told this story before but it's probably the most insane thing I've done.  So here it is again.

love, Ellen

p.s. Check out my sister-in-laws post at her blog - katieandbrady.wordpress.com
And Ellie's post -http://elliehuey.tumblr.com/post/57264526864/creatures