Where do I sign up for this?

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Welcome to 2011

I have never had very pretty eyelashes. My mom has shorter, straighter lashes, so I got them too. Of course Katie has long lashes and when she wears mascara they look amazing. I have spent so much money on the "newest" mascara, "voluminous" mascara, "telescopic" mascara... and none of them work. I just have to deal with the fact that I have little baby lashes that are straight and that's that.

Well no more!

Welcome to 2011 where you can literally pay to have eyelash extensions applied to your lashes. It's a pretty long process. Takes about an hour to and hour and a half, but the results are definitely worth it. They can last up to two months and the best part is, you don't ever have to wear mascara!

I have always wanted to become an eyelash extensionist, but it's expensive to take classes, and I just never made it happen. Luckily, The Nature Company had plans for me. My owner, Martha, decided she wanted me and the other esthy, Brittany, to learn. Viola! The fruits of my labors!

Mary's eyelashes before extensions

Mary's eyelashes after extensions

Patricia's eyelashes before

Patricia's eyelashes after

Erin's eyelashes before

Erin's eyelashes after

I love doing eyelash extensions. I'm such a meticulous person, I love the fact that I get to make my guest's eyelashes look perfect. And everyone is always so happy and excited after getting them, it makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside. I have to do 10 more models until I can begin charging full price... which I won't even say on here because it's expensive. But I like the title "extensionist". It sounds very fancy. I think I'll keep it.

It's begun...

Ladies and gentleman, may I introduce to you THE MOST ADDICTING GAME IN THE WORLD! Oh yes, my friends, for a small fee of five to eight dollars, plus and Xbox, you can have hours of entertainment at your fingertips! Play with friends or just by yourself and you battle through alien infested swamps, libraries, and control rooms. Customizable options mean you can never play the same way twice! Come and get yours today!

*Note: Results may vary depending on how well you aim. Microsoft cannot be held accountable for hours of your life you may lose playing this game, as well as hours of sleep you might not receive from playing said game. Questions or concerns? Just turn the dang thing off. You've been playing too much anyway.

Ander and I have finally started playing Halo... need I say more?

DIY fun paper ornament

This fun little guy took me a little while, but it was definitely worth it. I found the tutorial here. I really love this lady's blog, she has the cutest ideas. I really loved making my own ornament. I did exactly what she told me, except I glued the rubber bands to the actual ornament, just in case there was any slippage. I would love to make these into lanterns somehow, but I haven't quite figured out how to make that happen.

And on a happy note, I made this the other night for dinner. (This is for you mom)

This, my friends, is what my mom and I named Macaroni Special when I was little. It used to be my favorite dinner in the whole world! Box of macaroni noodles, spaghetti sauce, and hamburger. I hadn't eaten it in a long time. *sigh* I love the taste of nostalgia...

OCDog

I have come to the realization that my dog has OCD. I love May-May, she's is basically like a child to me, but I've noticed that sometimes she does strange things...

Case #1: Her food dish

Her food bowl has two places to put food. It's the one we used for her when she was a puppy, water in one side, food in the other. Now we just fill both sides with food. May-May will not touch the food until both sides are full. If ONE side is empty, and the other is completely full, she still won't touch the food. She paws at the bowl and moves it all over the kitchen until we fill the other side.

Case #2: Things MUST be in they're rightful places

I finally finished my headband holder a little while back, and after it was finally done, I set it in our room on my vanity, turned out the lights and walked out. About a half hour later, I hear May-May begin barking back in our bedroom. She was barking like crazy, so I literally thought someone was hiding in our bedroom. When I went in there with her, she was staring at my headband holder. I put it on the ground and she started barking again, jumping around the holder like it was about to bite her. She finally got up the courage to come and sniff it, and once she did, she was fine. I had to have her watch me put it away so she knew it belonged there. She's never had a problem with it since.

The same thing happened when I moved a trash can to prop a door open. She freaked out at the trash can almost giving me a heart attack in the process. Once I moved the trash can back to where it normally was she was perfectly fine.

Case #3: Potty

May-May has a really hard time going potty quickly. She circles the ground at LEAST 10 times before finally squatting. Each time she circles she moves either left or right, and watching her it seems and though she literally is trying to find the right spot that feels good to her so she can do her business. This drives me insane because I'll spend 10 minutes outside with her just waiting for her to find her "spot".

Needless to say, May-May is weird. I love her, she's my baby, but she's so weird sometimes! None of these quirks can really be fixed, either. We just have to take her the way she is, warts and all.

Transitioning

So here we are, in November. This year has flown by so quickly I can hardly believe it. So many wonderful and interesting things have happened in 2010. But back to my point, the holidays are right around the corner (four weeks until Thanksgiving, eight until Christmas!) and I have entered into a new chapter in my life. No, no little babies yet, but I have found myself in a new job and a new church calling.

I've been struggling for a long time at Bradz salon as their esthy. I was there for two years and I felt like the longer I was there the worse I was treated. There was also a lot of pressure on me since I was the only esthy they had, so I had to be there all the time. When I found out the owners were divorcing in June I decided to give them until October to see how well things worked out. At the end of September I realized that it just wasn't working and things were going from bad to worse. But around that time, I came across a pretty good job offer. I interviewed and Martha, the owner, offered me the job on the spot. Problem was, they weren't opening for another four weeks, so I kept my mouth shut and finished up at Bradz and gave them a week's notice. I am now officially an employee at The Nature Company Salon & Spa!We're new, but we're making things happen. I'm really enjoying my coworkers and my owner, they're all really wonderful. I also love the fact that I'm working with another esthy! I AM NOT ALONE!! It's nice to have backup in case one of us is sick, or needs vacation time. And I really love my esthy coworker. Her name is Brittany and we get along really, really well. And the BEST part about my new job is the fact that I work 2pm to 7pm every day except Sundays and Wednesdays so I get to spend my mornings with Ander! And last but not least, I'll be working less hours and making more money than I was at Bradz. AMAZING!

And secondly, I've been released as Primary Chorister in my ward. I've been doing it for almost two years! I couldn't believe it when they told me, but I knew in my heart it was time to move on. I love those darling kids though, I will miss them terribly. This last Sunday I announced that I wasn't going to be the chorister anymore to my kids and I sent two little girls into tears. One of them was crying so hard she had to be led out of the room. It was absolutely heartbreaking! After my singing time in both Junior and Senior primary I told them all that I would be open for hugs if anyone wanted one. How do I explain? TIDAL. WAVE. OF. CHILDREN. I received hugs from every single child after singing time. I couldn't believe the love those children had for me! I had no idea! I kept telling them that I wasn't dropping off the face of the earth, I'd still see them in the halls, and when they saw me they'd better say hello. After church was over the entire CTR 5 class came into the Primary room and handed me thank you cards. Then the CTR 6 class came and gave me little paper hearts with music notes on them. It was strange that I never felt the need to cry, because the entire day was very touching. I love those kids and would do anything for them. I hope they do keep saying hello to me in the halls because I will miss them a lot. Sort of getting emotional just typing it...

So what am I now, you ask? I've been called as a Mia Maid advisor! And can I be honest? I'm really excited! Some friends of mine who have since moved out of my ward used to be in our Young Women as advisors and they said we have a fantastic group of girls. Mia Maids: 14 and 15 year olds. I'm stoked! I keep praying every night that I'll be a good example to them and that they'll enjoy having me as an advisor. I get to go to my first mutual tomorrow night and I am really looking forward to it! I knew it was only a matter of time until I got called into Young Womens', I think it's going to be a blast!

This time of year is my favorite. I love the holidays, I love the music, I love the feeling in the air, I love spending time with friends and family, and now I have two new things to look forward to. Hooray for the holidays of 2010!

Another Halloween come and gone

This was the first year I've ever gone to a Trunk-or-Treat, and let me tell you: IT WAS AWESOME! Our ward's Trunk-or-Treat was held on October 30th at our church, and EVERYONE was there, including Sister Meine! Katie pulled a great last-minute costume together with the help of Goodwill and some black eye liner pencils. I donned my Wild Thing Max costume and we were off.

Everyone thought I was a rabbit, or a cat. Wrong. I had to explain to everyone who I was, but once they knew they were pretty impressed.

We aren't quite sure what Katie was supposed to be... a dead... beauty queen... ex-girlfriend of some kind.

After the Trunk-or-Treat Katie and I ran home so I could change into my next costume for the next party we were heading to. Ander came home from work just in time to go with us, so he dressed up as a Professional B. A. S. S. Fisherman. Go figure. It was too dark to really take any pictures there since it was outside, but we took these when we got home.

In case you can't tell, I'm a low-resolution picture. I'm all pixels. And it's so cool because from far away, like the picture below, I really do look pixelated.

And one last dramatic pose for the evening:

We had a lot of fun that night. We were also exhausted when we got home. I think all of us slept like babies. A fabulous night of good food, good friends, dress up, and spooks. Happy Halloween everyone!