So sorry for my absence for the past few weeks!

You will never EVER guess what happened to me!

So I was hiking in the woods a few weeks ago when out of the corner of my eye I stumbled upon something so shiny, so beautiful that I had to stop and take a look. There, basking under the glow of the hot Georgia sun was the beautiful wrapper of an unopened Snickers bar. It would be chocolate abuse NOT to rescue it from it getting ultimately eaten by a bear, right? Or worse, not getting enjoyed at all but left to melt to chocolate and caramel and nougaty mush!

Oh the horror!

That’s exactly what I thought.

So I rescued it.

Little did I know that the piece de resistance happened to be sitting in a hidden well.

Yes. You heard me. A well. As in water. As in fall in and “Crap!”

And fall in I did.

“Crap.”

Apparently Lassie has been caught up in this Candy Crush craze as much as my mom and everyone sane enough to spend 23 out of their 24 hours a day ‘clearing the jellies’.

This very caught-up-ness in Candy was the reason why I was not rescued for two weeks.

TWO WEEKS!

Thanks a lot, Lassie.

It’s okay though. I was able to MacGyver myself a nice little blanket out of some old moss, I had plenty of enough water to drink (one perk of being trapped in a well) and I even discovered that ants do taste a lot like chicken.

Who’d a thunk?!

You want to know another crazy story?

I made that all up (except for the part of saving a Snickers bar from destruction. That I totally did! Ain’t nobody gonna destroy a Snickers bar better than this girl!–And I just gave myself a headache from using double negatives. )

The reason for my absence was that I spent the last two weeks on vacation. The fam and I went up to our cabin in northern Wisconsin and did absolutely nothing. And it was wonderful.

Well, I should clarify.

I kayaked every morning (even on the mornings when it was a balmy 45 degrees out. Gotta love Wisconsin!). P.S. I really want a kayak. Like, really really. If anyone knows of a good place to buy them for cheap, or has one that they want to sell or get rid of, hit a girl up!

Had mad Cribbage wars with my dad (I don’t want to brag, but there may have been some major skunkage on my part).

I went shopping with the moms (Maxed out my credit card on Brewer gear and these funky bookends made of actual books! I mean…how cute are these?!)

I ate. And ate. And ate. And just when I thought I couldn’t eat anymore, I ate.

Get in mah belly.

I stayed up late. And slept in late. And wasn’t bothered with emails or work or school for 14 whole days.

It. was. wonderful.

And if that wasn’t great enough news for ya…

I am driving 13 hours back up to Wisconsin tomorrow to begin my summer internship at the Milwaukee Public Library.

WHAT?!

I am too excited for words and have a feeling I am not going to get an ounce of sleep because of it.

Brewer games, Summerfest, bonfires, random road trips and Milwaukee adventures, Kopp’s Custard, seeing all of my WI homies (you know who you are), and anything and everything that comes my way.

Ohhhh yeahhhhh.

This summer is going to be one for the books!

I will be sure to keep you updated on all the crazy awesome times that are sure to come along the way (that is if I can tear Lassie away from her candy obsession).

Have a great rest of your Monday friends and I will see you in Milwaukee

But we’ve all done it.

You, my friend are charged with one count of checking yourself out in the mirror, two counts of irresponsible couch usage, four counts of shower-to-bedroom carpet drippage, and seventeen counts of temporary nudity of the first degree.

How do you plead?

AWESOME!

2. A week and two days from today begins my amazing internship at the Milwaukee Public Library and my even more amazing Summer. I couldn’t BE more excited (cue the Chandler Bing voice)! Packing for this amazing Summer however? Yeah….even thinking about that makes me cringe. Anyone care to help me pack? I’ll pay you in delicious cookies

3. Who needs a bowl when you’ve got a counter, a carton, and a spoon?

4. Note to self: Do not leave chocolate unattended in a heated, non-air conditioned car for prolonged periods of time. A smelted piece of candy for anyone who can guess what this is!

5. Speaking of heated, non-air conditioned cars…leather seats + an open sun roof with access to direct sunlight + a sweltering Georgia summer day = one very burned bum. On the plus side, I can officially say that I’ve got the hottest ass of anyone I know without lying. YOUCH!

6. Honey Boo Boo, step aside. The Cheeseheads are moving in! Apparently TBS has greenlighted a TV show series which follows the greatest, most outrageous, fun, and crazy fans in the world. All I can say is…FINALLY!

Have a great Thursday, folks

Words can’t express how much she means to me!

She emulates who I want to be, how I want to carry myself, and how I want to live my life. She taught me to be kind, to laugh, how to be a friend, and to go after my dreams.

If I end up being half the woman she is, I will consider myself the luckiest girl in the world.

Today and everyday, I love you mom!

Thunder and Grandma

Golly, whoever gave you that shirt, daddio has amazing taste!

“Come on guys! Let’s go!” says Thunder with every wag of the tail

Our BEFORE “We’re almost there!” picture…

Our AFTER “We’re THERE!!” picture. Cue the yawn from momma

I am glad that I got to spend this day with the world’s universe’s greatest mom EVER! God blessed us with the perfect day for a hike. So a hike is what we did. My mom, daddio, the pup (and my little sister in spirit who wishes she could’ve been there too) hit up Kennesaw Mountain earlier today and had an absolute blast.

Thunder of course had a serious case of sensory overload. Apparently all of Kennesaw thought it was the perfect day for a hike as well because they, and their dogs, were getting their hikes on as well. Needless to say the pup went a little cray-cray with all of the smelling and licking and sniffing of his fellow pup’s bums.

By the end of our roughly four mile walk, the poor guy was pooped out (quite literally. Note to self: two poop bags are never enough!)

I couldn’t have imagined a better way to celebrate this amazing woman than spending it with the people (and animal) I love most, rehashing old memories and making new ones.

To all of the wonderful moms out there, Happy Mother’s Day!

Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time, my friend Chad went to college.

Now, Chad likes to tell people what made him decide to go to school and the reasons why he traded in a job at best Buy for a few hard years of hitting the books.

See, on a whim one weekend, Chad packed his trunk and cruised down the highway to visit our friend Mike who was away at school. They didn’t have any plans but spent a couple of days going out for drinks and eating their fill of meals at the residence hall.

It was in that very dining hall that Chad first came face to face with a big and beautiful stainless steel object of his desire. Yes, he glanced up slowly and realized that he was starring straight at chocolate milk on tap.

His jaw dropped and his eyeballs flashed fireworks as he immediately filled three glasses with the sweet-flowing delicious liquid,  his brain reeling with infinite possibilities.

“It’s like never-ending chocolate milk!” he said at the time, his eyebrows furrowed and his head bobbing in quick nods. “I gotta go to college, man!”

Yes, this really is a true story. Chocolate milk on tap convinced my dear, dear friend Chad to ditch his job and head down the highway the following year. Chocolate milk on tap changed his life because let’s face it, anything on tap is great.

Let me count down some other killer classics that would leave you and I saying, “I’d totally tap that”…

• Slurpees: Flip the switch sideways and let the crystal soda slide smoothly into your cup like a snake. For bonus points, mix and match flavors until your drink looks like the surface of Jupiter.
• Brown soda: Did you ever get behind an open bar at a wedding when you were a kid? Hey, if you remember mixing tall glasses full of fountain Coke, Sprite, Orange and Root Beer into delightfully tangy swill, you had a pretty amazing childhood.
• Beer at a keg party: Forget the bottles and cans for a night. Not it’s time for some foamy pumping. If you’re the guy who actually knows how to tap the keg, the you’re the official dude responsible for keeping everyone’s red solo cups full tonight.
• Maple syrup: Just toss on your hiking boots in the dead of winter, walk silently to the middle of the forest, and tap that tree to get it done, son. It’s time to get sticky. And if you’ve never had fresh maple syrup right out of the tree, you haven’t lived (no offense, Mrs. Butterworth).
• Soft-serve ice cream: Don’t you love it when your local all-you-can-eat buffet has that soft-serve ice cream machine sitting right in the open? You can squeeze a little big swirl into your warm, plastic wet-from-the-dishwasher bowl, or go all commando and build the tallest, swirliest ice cream cone known to mankind. Brain freeze, beware!
• Water: If you’ve got a drink in the kitchen, clean hands in the bathroom, and a hot shower in the tub, then today’s your day to say thanks.
• Nacho cheese at 7-Eleven. Now here’s the heaviest hitter of all. When you swirl your salty 7-Eleven nachos under the hot pump of oozing cheese, you’re sure to be in for a good night. I once saw a guy fill up a Big Gulp cup with the stuff and take it home. Forward thinker, that one was. The cashier was so surprised that she just charged him for a drink. Good deal, man.

People listen up:when you come face to face with anything on tap, all Coke cans and beer bottles fade to dark black. You grab control of the boat and start pumping nozzles  and squeezing triggers with reckless abandon, breaking free of the tight shackles of portion control and sailing deeper into a shadowy paradise of no rules…no order…and no limits.

AWESOME!

Question of the day: What are some things that you totally would tap?

Just a little reminder…

At the end of each day, just before you go to bed, take about thirty seconds to look out your bedroom window at the stars–remember your place in this world and don’t you for one second let yourself get lost in it. Then, take some time to remind yourself that what you’re going through now will pass and it WILL get better; everything heals with time.

Remember that even on your darkest, most horrible of days, those days when you feel utterly and helplessly alone, underestimated, unappreciated, and unloved, remember that you’re NOT. Remember that somewhere out in this great big world, somebody loves and appreciates you oh so much, perhaps even more than you’ll ever know. Furthermore, realize that there’s at least one person out there that’s dying to meet someone just like you. Yes, you. You, even with your frizzy hair, big nose, glasses, and not-so-flat tummy. You, with your awkward smile, embarrassing laugh, and that corny sense of humor that you think that no one could ever love.

You are appreciated and wished for and brilliant, each and every one of you.

Above all else, though, take the time at least once a day to remind yourself that you’re beautiful–inside and out. Don’t let the way others judge you affect how you judge yourself; don’t let your mistakes and your past define you; and don’t let anything, ANYTHING hold you down.

Remember you are a wonderful person and you have the potential to go so very far. You are amazing just exactly how you are, flaws and all. You don’t need to every change for anyone but yourself.

Each and every one of you is worth so much more than you know..and if you ever, EVER start to forget or doubt any of that, read this again. You know it’s true; now, it’s time to embrace it.

I love you all!! <3

All day yesterday and during my sleepness night, I couldn’t help but ask “Is there anything that I could have done to help him?” “What if I tried to reach out to him more?” “How could I have missed the signs?” “Is there anything I could have done/said/tried to do that could have prevented this from happening?” After going over all of these shoulda/coulda/woulda’s in my head, I was instantly reminded of the countless times my friends and family tried to help me, tried to say or do anything and everything to get me from listening and acting on my eating disorder.

While alcoholism and eating disorders have their succinct differences, they come from the same beast: addiction. Even at my sickest points, those times when I tiptoed the line of living to see tomorrow, the only person that could help me, that could change me, was me. Doctors and psychologists, friends and family could give me the facts, could express their concerns and could offer words of encouragement, love and inspiration, and I believe a large part of my recovery is due to those very things, but the one thing, the only thing that propelled me into the happy and healthy place I am in today was me. I had to fight my demons. I had to face my fears. I had to overcome obstacles and hardships and relapses.

I say these things to you today because I believe that you can too. But you have to make that first step. YOU have to be the one to say enough is enough. YOU have to be the one to kick your eating disorder, your depression, your negative thoughts about yourself in the ass!

My cousin Nick was an amazing person. He was loving and funny and kind and caring. He was an all-star soccer player, knew how to play the guitar like nobody’s business and could make one mean pancake (as was seen by the Sunday morning pancake breakfasts that we had whenever we came to visit). He was so full of life up until those last few years/months when he just couldn’t deal with his burdens any longer. He got so caught up in his unhappiness, in the bottle, that he lost the will to fight anymore.

I urge you all to keep fighting! Nothing is worth risking your happiness, your goals and dreams, or your life for!

Nothing!

I love you all and want you to know that if you ever, EVER need someone to talk to, to redirect your thinking, to reassure you that you are the amazing and beautiful and incredible person that you are, I am here! No matter if you have ever suffered from an eating disorder or not, we all have our daily battles that try their hardest sometimes to throw us off course. The most important thing to remember is…

DO NOT STOP FIGHTING!

I love you, Nick, forever and always. Even though I will miss you more than words could ever express, I know that you are in a much better place. You are no longer in pain, are no longer hurting, are no longer alone, and I cannot wait until we are reunited someday. And since you never fully taught me how to play Metalica’s Fade to Black on the guitar, I’m calling the first spot in line with at least five free lessons buddy–God can just wait his turn

We all know your perfect temperature lies somewhere between these dangerous extremes, so every time you strip down to scrub up, you’re basically playing detective.

Oh, you know that perfect temperature is out there, but there are just oh so very many problems.

First off, there’s the tale of the tank. See, we all know hot water is made, not born. Chances are good that a fat, clunky water heaters sits somewhere in the basement under piles of rust, cobwebs and Christmas tree ornaments, and each morning you’re crunching numbers to figure out what she’s got left to give. Bubbling to the top, you’re fine, but if you’re the last to go, it’s time to crank it (and, from personal experience, that is not a fun job).

Secondly, there’s the You Factor. Yes. You and all of your temperature fussiness. After all, if you live somewhere chilly (*cough Wisconsin cough*) where winter mornings are marked by running from your sheet cave across ice-cold linoleum floors to the bathroom, then your perfect temperature could be hotter than normal. On sweaty summer mornings, you might make do with a slightly cool rinse. If you just finished a basketball game, just got out of the pool, or are aching with a sore neck, you could have all kinds of varying shower plans.

The point is, there’s one or two dials max, without numbers or letters on them, that you’ve got to spin and turn around in your groggy, half-sleep state to find that one perfect scrub-a-dub-dub temp. Sometimes you apprehensively stick your hand or big toe in to test. Other times you just go for it, jumping in with your birthday suit ready for anything.

When you step into the shower and it’s at the exact right temperature, it’s absolute bliss. Bring on the shampoo afros, lathery bellies, nose blowing, and pruny fingers because you are about to get ready for ten hot (or cool or cold) minutes of…

AWESOME!

Woo this week seemed to just fly by, didn’t it? Lots to do to keep me busy, but hopefully this weekend should be nice and relaxing. Yesterday I realized that I only have 6 more days left of being 25 (Really. Seriously. How did I get this old?!?!), two weeks until my baby sis graduates from college (Really. Seriously. How did she get so old?!?!) and  a month until I get to pack up my things and head on up to Milwaukee for a summer full of fun (Really. Seriously. How did I get so lucky?!?!)!

I. Can’t. Wait.

Before all that happens though, I’ve got a weekend to enjoy!

I hope you’ve got some fun penciled into your calendar this weekend too and in the meantime, please enjoy my favorite finds from around the web in this week’s Friday Fav’s!

Click the light blue links to be taken to the original source.

Favorite Fashion: No striking out with these Baseball booty shorts. Are these for real? I need. I want.

Favorite funny: Spinning Hawaiian Monk Seal. I have no idea why this is so funny, but the longer you watch, the funnier it gets. BAHAHA.

Favorite bling: Kate Spade Idiom Pendant Necklace. I saw these at the Kate Spade store in Charleston and was this close to pulling the trigger, but didn’t for some reason and am now, of course, kicking myself for it. The shiny, colored-circle pendants are simple, classy and cute. Plus they all have different little sayings on the back - hello sunshine on the yellow, make a splash on the blue. Fun!

Favorite woah: Once in a Lifetime Shots. I’ve seen a bunch of these slideshows before, but this one is pretty cool and includes a flock of flamingos in the shape of, wait for it, a flamingo!

Favorite breakfast: Banana Bread French Toast. Banana bread pancakes I’ve heard of, but french toast?! Come to mama!

Favorite furball. Call me crazy (go ahead, we’ll wait) but I have always thought dog noses and mouths are so CUTE! Right?! Awww.

Favorite Funky Find: This is THE coolest chair ever! Just give me a book (or five) and a cold glass of lemonade and I’ll be one happy camper!

Favorite photo: I dare you to not smile after looking at this

Favorite scoop: Cinnamon Toast Ice Cream. I can now have a legitimate reason to have ice cream for breakfast. YES!

View past Friday Fav’s—>

Follow me on Pinterest—>

Hope you have a wonderful weekend

For example: Public toilets.

I LOVE that they are relatively good for the environment, help to conserve water, and are nice when you are on the tad forgetful lazy side when it comes to remembering to flush.

I HATE that 99.99999% of the time, these friendly flushers do one of two things: they either surprise your bum with a lovely poo water shower, doing its thang before you are, um, done doing your thang, or, they decide to take a nap mid-poo and leave you waiving/pushing/hunting for a button to clear the bowl of all presents.

LOVE/HATE.

Some other things that I have a LOVE/HATE relationship as of late include:

Spring. I LOVE that it has finally decided to show up, gracing us with it’s warmer weather and sunshine. I HATE  that I now have to start shaving my legs again. Darn you shorts and summer dresses!

Speaking of hair…long hair. I LOVE that my hair is now under-the-boob level, giving my a monkey barrel full of styling ideas and options (plus I can do that super cheesy but oh so dramatic Tyra Banks model-ish hair flip thing). I HATE that my luscious locks take me nearly an hour to comb through post-shower due to the massive amounts of snarls that are so kind in presenting themselves.

Spider-free bathrooms: I LOVE that the spider the size of a small baby who was living in my bathroom is no longer there. I HATE  that the spider the size of a small baby who used to be living in my bathroom is now in some other location in my house. Which I have yet to discover. EEK!

Mega-Stuffed Vanilla Oreo’s. I LOVE  that Oreo’s finally got it right with the creme-to-cookie ratio. I HATE  that I just ate the very last one and am now left cookieless. Oh the horror!

Hanson. I LOVE Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’ by my favorite all-time hottie, hunk-a-licious boyband (and sharer of last name) Hanson!!! I HATE that, well, I don’t really think I can think of anything to HATE about Hanson. They are amazing!

What are some of your current LOVE/HATE’s?