Sparklyness

So sorry this is so late tonight. I worked all afternoon and got home and then ate at Famous Dave's (Sorry, RC, the one in Sioux Falls wins my heart. You're cool and all, and I know you're brand new to this city, but you're missing that super fun atmosphere. The food was still phenomenal, and I'll always love you, but you've got some breaking in to do.) And then I did some laundry and THEN I had a few people ask me about TCT and I was like "Holy cow, it's Tuesday!!" So yes. Here I am. You guys can thank Summer and Traci. =)

Here we go...First of all, the TCT shot:

Woo! I need more daylight to get better shots. I believe that no light can top sunlight, and we don't get enough of it in the winter. Hang in there, friends. We'll have some better TCT's soon.

Make some guesses as to what that is in the comments. Blah blah blah, you know the drill. =P

So here's some recent daily images:

Look what I woke up to today!! SNOW!! Not much snow, but it still made my morning. And then it got warm and it all turned to slush and then it got cold and it all turned to ice so I'm a little less happy about it. Boo, Western SD, you're no fun for a snow-loving girl.

I feel like this should be a TCT, as well. Brian couldn't figure out what this is. If you don't want to know, stop reading now. If you do want to know, continue reading now. It's a clear plastic up of icy Dr. Pepper. The condensation bubbles around the outside looked all glittery and I took a bazillion photos of this cup. Ok, more like 10...But either way, I was all intrigued by the sparklyness. Yep, I just made up another word. And then I used it as the title of this post.

Self-Portrait Sunday....Yeah, I know, this is like soooo cliche. Same with last week. But the photo I REALLY wanted to get wasn't working out, and I was tired and getting frustrated, so you get the mirror camera shot. Hope you're happy. I'm not. =P (Ok, I admit it, I do kind of like this one....Kind of. Like a millimeter of like.)

Books. These are most of the ones I read in the past year. Mainly over the summer months this year. So many good reads here. If anyone would like to borrow one or two of these, let me know. I'll gladly send them your way. And if anyone would like to borrow a book to me to read, shoot me a comment and I'll email you my address. Book exchanges are good. And I have no books to read currently. Boo.

So there ya go. A Too Close Tuesday shot, and some other dailys. Hope you enjoyed them.

Oh! And if you're wondering, work is going great. Haven't started at Best Buy yet...But TJ Maxx is a pretty fun place. I like my co-workers and the job is pretty simple. I fully enjoy jobs where I can talk to new people every day, and this is definitely one of them. I also realized that I don't know if I'll ever have a job that I enjoyed quite as much as working at the museum over the summer. Seriously...It was the best. And if I wanted to stick around the Hills for another summer, I would totally work there again. Anywho...Just wanted to get that out there. =)

Make a TCT guess! And then go do something else that's fun. Be happy, my friends.

Snow-Less

Hey, guys.

Thanks for reading this. I don't know if I say that enough. I can't believe how many fantastic people I have following this little piece of the internet. Makes me feel pretty awesome. I'm trying to top my stats and reach 1,285 views for this month. My record is 1,284 from December 2010. So I've got 11 days to get 285 more views. Think I can do it? I believe I can. But only with your help. =D

Ha...We're all about goals this year, have you noticed? Speaking of goals, my donations amount is slowly increasing. Thank you, THANK YOU! everyone! I'm really feeling confident about reaching that $700 by April. Big things are happening, all because of you.

Anywho, here's some pretty pictures.

Everywhere else in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD has snow. And we have this. What the crap, Rapid City? Get your winter together. This is so not cool. I mean, I know I will appreciate the 40-50 degree weather you have in store for us all next week, but come on...I just wanna see some pretty winter snow already. Get it done. This photo makes me very depressed.

OH! Up next is this week's Too Close Tuesday photo reveal! Remember what it looked like? Any final guesses?

You guys were super duper close with your answers. I'm gonna give credit to all of you, because you were all basically right. Here's the photo:

It WAS yarn! Good work everyone. This is a scarf I'm re-doing for miss Halle. The one I made for her for Christmas didn't turn out too great (because it was the first one, cut me some slack, right?) And I was so unhappy with it that I decided to make her another one that didn't suck. Still gave her the first one, so she'd have it to open up, and she seemed to like it despite its flaws. =) Little kids are so sweet. Anywho...I really need to get going on this thing, as you can see there's still lots of yarn left on the ball and not much on the scarf. Ha! Here we go....

Wednesday's photo. Baby Jimmy John's subs in the break room at work. Cell phone photo. The only one I got all day. It works, I guess. (PS - I did not enjoy one of these little guys, sadly)

Tuesday was my first day of work. When I got home, Brian and I took a trip to Sonic and got some Cherry Limeades and  late night fast food. Cherry Limeade from Sonic is now my favorite drink in the whole world. Sooo yummy.

How about some photo requests? Think of something you want me to shoot. An object, an idea, a song, a word, ANYTHING...And I'll interpret in my own weird little way, and report back here with what I come up with. How's that sound? Give me some ideas, I'm running low on inspiration and motivation in this snow-less city.

Frost

First real day at the new job tonight. Well, not sure how "real" it will be; I think I'm pretty much just shadowing someone, doing a little training and learning. But we can call it a real day. =)

Anywho, it's Tuesday!

Check out my super close shot and tell me what it is.

Easy peasy.

Some others...

Finally got some snow yesterday! And it was cold and it felt like winter. Woke up with this lovely frost on my window. I was pretty excited. Today, however, it's back to being rather warm and sunny and most of the snow has melted. I am SO not used to this warm winter weather out here. I miss you, SESD. 

So, the day before yesterday, I forgot it was Sunday and that Sundays are Self-Portrait days. So I jumped the gun a little when I made cookies and used my cookie jar shot as Sunday's photo. So later Sunday night I got a dumb picture of myself and we're moving Sunday's cookie jar photo to Saturday, since I didn't get one that day. I know, it's cheating. But I don't care. This is my project and I can do what I want.

=)

Self-Portrait Sunday #2 - Snore...It's so lame and cliche and all those other words that I don't like. But it fits the rules so I'm sticking with it. Boom.

And COOKIES!

I have to say, these are way up there on my list of good cookies. They're still super soft and tasty today. Next time I'll make them bigger. (Although these ARE the perfect size for dunking into a glass of milk. You know who you are.) =)

Also, because I'm awesome...Here's the recipe I used.

Now go make some cookies.

After you guess what my Too Close Tuesday shot is.

So Deceiving

My computer just crashed. My big dumb old piece of crap Gateway just flat out shut off on me without any warning. I think it was because I was watching like an hour and a half of TV on it, and it kind of overheated. I have to admit I saw it coming. Surprised this thing can still run Photoshop anymore...

Hang in there, buddy...You're all I have right now, and I'd be lost without you. So anywho...

Time for a quick update. Ready for the answer to Tuesday's photo?

Here it is again:

How about a little farther out?

There! Did that help? Ladies, that should have made it much easier.

Ok, fine. Here's a full shot...

TA-DA!!!! Nail polish. Nice and super sparkly nail polish! That was fun, huh? (PS, how do you get your nails all sparkly like you'd think they would be by looking at the bottle? I had to put like 5 coats of this stuff on to even get a little bit close. Boo, nail polish. You're so deceiving.)

Another, last night's photo:

I have a nametag!!! So exciting! Last night was my orientation/training at TJ Maxx. Seems like it'll be an alright job. The people who work there all seem really fun, so it should be good. Looking forward to making some new friends. =) Only working part-time for now, but that works out BECAUSE I also got offered a part-time sales job at Best Buy. Wooo!! Had to go get a drug test done this morning. (And THAT, my friends, was an experience in itself. FYI - Don't go pee before you leave to go to a drug test. Duh, right? Yeah. Go me.) So, assuming I pass that test, I'll be starting there sometime next weekish. Then I'll have TWO nametags! Hooray!

Orange

Should have some fun new news this weekend. Be ready. =)

So I just want to throw this out there...I know not EVERYONE is gonna know what I'm referring to here, but I just want to say that I am so proud of where I come from. I've seen so many people stand up for one of our community members today, and it is so so so amazing to witness. I know I don't know the full story, being out here in RC and all, but from what I do know - I love seeing so many I-W parents and students and alumni and supporters banding together to make things right. That's just something you don't see anywhere but in a small town. <3

Anywho, yesterday it was nice and chilly outside so I got to wear my sweet new headband that my sister-in-law (and brother too, I suppose) got me for Christmas. I was so excited that I had to take pictures of myself. Which always makes me feel awkward, but oh well. I do it anyway.

Yep...Pretty cool, huh? Not sure which one I like more. One of them has to go into my 2012 folder. Help me choose? #1 or #2?

Some others:

I ate an orange the other day....

Kids love Cuties. Cuz Cuties were made for kids. (Because I really stink at peeling real oranges. These little guys are so easy though!)

MOST. DIFFICULT. PUZZLE. EVER!! This has been on the kitchen table since I got here, almost a month ago. And it's barely halfway done. Usually I can finish a 1000 piecer in a few days. Maybe a week or two, depending. But not this one! Thanks, Mom & Dad, for buying me such a great puzzle as a Christmas gift. It's been keeping me busy on these super duper boring jobless days.

So there's that. OH! Go back to Tuesday's post and make a guess on the photo! I'll get the reveal photo up here tomorrow, so this is your last chance!

Also, THANK YOU for the donations! I'm up to just under $240 now, and we're still less than a week into this goal. AMAZING! I really don't know how to thank you enough for the donations. If anyone else still wants to contribute, the little link is over there somewhere --->

Check back soon for some official news from the job front. =)

Happy Tuesday

Here it is, friends!

What am I??

Perhaps kind of easy. But there's some fun color in there so I'm going with it. =)

Leave a comment and make a guess! Happy Tuesday!

Yeah, keys.

GUESS WHAT, YOU GUYS!

I woke up this morning, moped around a bit, got all sad because I don't have any cereal, opened the fridge about 12 times before realizing there really isn't anything in there (literally,) and then hopped in the shower. And THEN, I get a phone call. And then I schedule an interview with the lady from TJ Maxx. And then I eat a McDonald's fruit & yogurt parfait and begin drinking a McDonald's caramel iced coffee, because seriously, that's the best breakfast in the world in my book. And then I get ready for the interview. And then I actually GO to the interview. And hey, guess what, while I was there, I got offered a job.

My streak of unemployment has ended!

Granted, this job has nothing to do with my field of study, and probably won't be SUPER AWESOME, but I'm still excited. Orientation is on Friday. Heck yes.

So there's that.

ALSO...Holy cow with the donations, you guys. Thanks so so SOOO much! I'm already 20% into my goal, and that was only Day 1! Once I start making some money, I will find a way to say THANK YOU more than just typing it here. Promise. =) The donation button is over to the right side of these words now, if anyone else wants to help me reach my goal. It really really really means a lot to me to have so much support. And I'm not talking just the monetary support. I've got the most amazing friends and people in my life who have gone above and beyond with encouragement, helpful tips, sharing my link, putting up with my bad moods, and just all around being there for me Every. Single. Day. It all means so much. I will not let you guys down. =)

So, on to some photographs, shall we?

I've always wanted to do some sort of Self-Portrait project. I've seen a lot of people go all out and do 365 days of self-portraits. I considered that, but it seems just a bit TOO ambitious for me right now. So instead, I'm doing weekly self-portraits. Every Sunday's photo will be of me, somehow. Here's Week 1. I wear awesome socks. And it drives my mom crazy. =)

So today while I was waiting to go into the interview (Because I get there 20 minutes early because I have a ginormous fear of being late.) I snapped some shots of my keys. Yeah, keys. Doesn't get much more exciting than that. Glad I thought ahead and knew I'd have some time to kill so I brought my camera. Go me.

This one's my favorite.

Oh, JK on the keys thing. The last one is my graduation year tassel thing, that's been burning and fading in the sun since the year 2006. Pretty awesome, huh? Which of these four photos is your favorite?

I'm excited about tomorrow's Too Close Tuesday....You all better be ready!

(Also, still working on finishing that McDonald's caramel iced coffee. I added more ice. Still over halfway full. I think I need help in the drinking things department....)