what to do. what to do.

for new years. i have no idea.

the insurance adjuster still hasn't looked at my car, so it's been sitting for two weeks. unable to be fixed. yep. i am frustrated. but without a car, it's really hard to make a plan for new years. i don't drink, so i always know if i am driving i have a safe way to get where i am going and get home. but depending on other people for rides makes me so nervous. all my friends drink and even the ones who don't really drink will drink on new years. plus not being 21 really limits the options around here. so i am considering staying home. i wouldn't mind it. especially if my dad will set up the new Pixma Pro9000 photo printer. :] sitting at my desk with fresh photos and the new scrapy stuff i got today wouldn't be so bad.

films.

gah. something won't let me go to bed. still. i don't know what it is, but i can't sleep.

i decided to write about movies. probably since james and i went to one tonight. :] we saw the pursuit of happyness. did i like it? yeah. would i watch it again? maybe. i felt like it was a little slow. of course, i've been feeling like that in just about every movie i've seen lately, so maybe it's not an accurate telling of the pace. it was a sweet movie and definitely reconfirmed my desire to live in the city. the visit to the ocean... yeah i could live with that opportunity everyday.

we also saw night at the museum a few nights ago. did i like it? yeah. would i watch it again? no. okay, if i was babysitting... yeah i probably would watch it again, but not on my own. see above about how it felt slow. but this one really felt slow. it was cute and if i had kids, i would have been glad to take them to it, and perhaps would have enjoyed it more. but as it was... mehh. it was ok. a good excuse to eat movie theater popcorn.

what else... we saw casino royale a while back. i'm giving that one the award for movie of the year. it was amazing, and if you haven't seen it yet, you must. the departed is a close runner up for movie of the year. it was really intense at the end and a bit too much for me to handle, but both of these movies i would definitely watch again.

happy feet was a huge disappointment. i love penguins. i mean i really love them. so i could hardly wait to see what i thought would be an amazing movie. and... it was just a huge let down. i have talked to other people who really liked it, but i would almost say i hated it.

a couple months ago i saw man of the year with james, erin, and zachary. to start off the movie, i almost died. but it was hilarious. erin and i could not stop laughing. plus the movie had some really funny parts and we had one of those guys with an out of control laugh sitting behind us... all in all i think it was the hardest & most i have laughed in a really long time. so i loved the movie. i would watch it again, but i don't know if i would have the same good feelings, because i think some of it was the circumstances. still. i'd say it was a good film.

that's about as far back as i can remember or care to remember. if i do think of anything else... i'll be sure to add my lovely little review. ha.

spice it up.

i'll try to make things a little more interesting around here with a few holiday photos. this first one is the whole family. we set the camera on this little pedestal my parents have, but it wasn't high enough, so we used a holiday popcorn tin. :] the second one is my little blue box that was a surprise. i think it's harder and harder for my parents to surprise us now that we are older. so it was definitely a cool gift.

and now about today. my dad's new partner came out from reno with his wife and four cute kids. at one point before dinner, i was sitting on the couch and their youngest girl was jumping back and fourth between my dad in a chair and me. then she just kind of chilled out for a bit in my lap. my dad made a few comments about how if my sister and i would just get to it, he could have grandkids like her. ahh. apparently he doesn't know that i am already suffering from baby fever. severely. but first comes the college degree. then comes the engagement. then comes the wedding. then come the kiddos. but really, i can hardly wait. a year and a half left of college. oh man. we keep discussing how my brother and sister-in-law could have a baby if only one of the close relatives lived closer to them to help take care of the baby. i keep volunteering to quit school and move down there. but everyone just thinks i'm joking. silly them.

tonight we had another good dinner. my dad grilled some type of beef. tenderloin maybe? yeah. it was a good dinner. it was my dad's partner's birthday, so his wife brought a cake for dessert. unfortunately it wasn't chocolate. haha. oh how i love chocolate cake. i had to run into town before dinner to get some milk. [we decided against attempting to use the other milk in anymore cooking.] so i went to a little mini-mart and i was waiting to check out and almost bought some chocolate. i just couldn't decide which one to buy and then the checker came back. he saved me, i suppose.

i'd prefer.

i need to write. i don't necessarily have anything i need to write about, i just need to. plus i should write about christmas so i don't forget the details.

i sort of hoped that james would come to dinner, but he didn't make it. he left his phone in carson and had to go back to reno to get it... so yeah. it didn't work out.

i tried to help my mom in the kitchen this year. i try every year, but sometimes there are too many people and i just don't want to add to the madness. this year no one was really helping, so i tried. i made the mashed potatoes. not a hard job. but i managed to mess them up. when my mom went to the store today, they didn't have our kind of milk. so she had to get the other kind. not good. we thought it would be okay to use the gross milk in the potatoes and conserve the good milk for drinking... wrong. the potatoes just didn't taste right and i swear it was the milk, not my mixing abilities.

dinner was entertaining. i didn't have my new camera yet, so i used my sister's to take some pictures. i'll post some of them on here maybe tomorrow. we were trying to get a picture of the whole family by using the timer... so i ended up putting the camera in the window shutter :] and it turned out to be the perfect photographer. not a whole lot of note-worthy dinner conversation took place, just that we were joking with my sister about her shirt. it was a little low cut and my dad made a comment that she better not wear a low cut shirt tomorrow when we have company. it sort of escalated and my dad said "well i'd prefer if you didn't wear a shirt that goes down to your navel." it made me laugh out loud. coming from my dad... i don't know. it was just funny.

after mom and i did the dishes and everyone else watched the grinch, we had our little christmas. i didn't really expect to get much. i knew i was getting my camera, and i knew i was getting some clothes that i picked out with my mom... plus there's the $12,000 to fix my car... so i was super excited when my dad came out of his room with two blue bags. one for my sister and one for me plus there was one under the tree for mom. amanda said that last time they were in vegas, my dad snuck it back into the hotel room under his shirt. :] good work, dad. so, is it sad that tiffany jewelry makes me so happy? [i guess it's going to be sad for my future husband, huh?] tomorrow i will add a picture or two of our little christmas. all in all, i think it was a good christmas for everyone.

i brought a small bag of crafty things home with me... but i haven't put anything to use yet. i'm sort of struggling. i was hoping to work on my art journal a bit, but i don't know if it's going to happen. and everytime i try to scrap, i lay out a page and then i have to let it sit... i have adhesive-phobia or something. so i end up laying out pages, but not adhering a single thing, then moving them aside to make [but not quite] more. so on top of this unfinished canvas by my desk, i just have a pile of incomplete pages. finally the other night, i decided they had marinated long enough. it felt good to actually finish a bunch of them. so i guess the cure is to remember how good it felt to finish them, and just sit down and make things. no more letting them marinate. ha. i need a sewing maching too. i keep telling myslef it would help. maybe with some christmas money.

ok. i think that's enough writing for no one but me to read. :]

oh dear. what have i done?

i'm not sure why i had the desire to make this thing. i came close a few months ago, but somehow stopped myself. now it's winter break and i guess the lack of school to occupy my time is getting the best of me. so here goes... another way to waste precious time on the internet. you should totally leave a comment if you happen to come by here. even if i don't know you. i'm just curious how many people will stumble across this page.

who knows. maybe i can learn a thing or two and make my blog pretty. i kind of want this to be a place where i can dump a ton of cool photos i take and never do anything with or share with anyone and of course, a place to vent and just ramble. and i guess i secretly [not so much now, huh?] hope this thing will help to wean me off the space. ha.

so anyway. i guess it's the day before christmas now that i have stayed up until 3:30am. and this year, in my family, that means it's christmas. [we are doing it on christmas eve so my brother and sister-in-law can come.] that means tomorrow i get my new camera, and that means maybe i will have some fun pictures. [and that means i have to learn how to add pictures on here.] but i am just excited to have some family time and relax finally. when school was done on monday, i still had so much to take care of, it's been a crazy busy week of shopping and stress. so i am so glad that i will finally be able to lay on the couch, watch tv, and not feel guilty. :] and maybe i will even call some old friends and see if anyone else is home for the holidays.

eek. i'm going to play around with this now until i can fall asleep.