As I have said multiple times before, after the year I've had I am incredibly hopeful that 2011 will be a good year.  Without further ado, my wishes for 2011:

• I hope that I continue to make friends, especially through blogging!
• I hope that I graduate and find myself a "real" job.
• I hope that Dustin and I can continue to work towards becoming financially sound.
• I hope that this blog will continue to bring happiness to me and to all of you.
• I hope that I can go to some more fun concerts!
• I hope that I can find more books to read and, of course, review.
• I hope that I will again participate in and win NaNoWriMo.
• I hope that my family and I will continue to make many good memories in this house.

At the end of every year I like to look back on both the good and the bad.  It helps me to be thankful for the good I have in my life as well as reminding myself of the work that I still need to do.

Any of you that have been reading my blog for any length of time over the last year know that it has not been an easy one for me.  Over this last year...

• I lost my job with Caribou, a company I was with for nearly 5 years.  It was devastating for me, like being broken up with in the very worst way.
• Along with losing my job I also lost someone I thought was a friend.  She was the reason I lost my job and to this day we have not spoken.
• I was without work for 6 months in which I constantly felt down on myself.
• Because of the job loss my husband and I had some pretty bad financial issues.  
• Because of the financial issues we fought a lot and had some pretty dark times.
• The worst thing that happened this year, though, is that Jake died.  I don't think I've totally come to terms with that yet.  And I, along with many others, still post on his Facebook wall.  I miss him.

So.  Some pretty hard things.  Possibly not unlike some of the hard times that a lot of people are dealing with in this economy.  These are why I will say that 2010 was not a good year.  Except for...

• Making new friends.  Over the last year I have met some really great people, like Ang and Sara, to name a few.
• My family has been amazing.  Without them I honestly have no idea how we would have gotten through the hard financial times.  They were our rock.
• Music, books and writing.  I've had a lot of time on my hands this year and because of that I've been able to discover new music, books and I've done more writing.  Although none of these paid the bills they did help strengthen my soul.
• School.  The one thing about Caribou was that it held me back.  I didn't move up or down when I was there and came no closer to finishing school.  Because of the job loss I took the plunge and am working my way towards my AA is sales and marketing.  And I've rocked a 4.0 three quarters in a row.
• Blogging.  At this time last year I had less than 100 readers.  I am now nearly to 600.  This blog has brought me so many new friends and through it I have found so much comfort through this hard year.  I can now easily say that I have friends all over the world.  And although I haven't "met" many of you I still hold each of you very close to my heart.  I have been incredibly blessed with this blog and if 2010 has done anything good for me it has been bringing you all to me.

I suppose laid out like this it is hard to think that 2010 has really been that horrible of a year.  Yes, there have been some bad times but there have also been many good times.

I am ready to say goodbye to 2010.  And I hope one day I will look back and only remember the good things that came into my life this year.  I hope you can all do the same.

Bring on 2011!

Guess who had the laziest day ever yesterday?

I basically lazed around in bed all day reading The Hunger Games and watching all three Twilight movies.  Yep, I had myself a little marathon.  But since I've already seen all three movies multiple times I was able to get some reading in as well.  And so far I am LOVING The Hunger Games!

When Dustin got home we made breakfast for dinner and broke in our new electric griddle (thanks Ryan).  Oh my gosh, I don't know how I ever thought that I didn't like sausage.  Up until a year ago I thought I hated sausage.  But then one day I found myself craving it (sometimes I crave foods I don't like, such as eggs and Chinese food) so Dustin bought some and I discovered I loved it!  Sadly, this is not the same story for eggs or Chinese food (except orange chicken).  Mmm, so delish.


Now, I have a bone to pick with someone.  I'm not going to call her out but needless to say that there is a certain blog I read that I'm about ready to stop reading.  Why?  Well she's so NEGATIVE.  Every time I read her blog I walk away shaking my head.  Now, I'm a big complainer.  Ask Dustin, I like to complain.  But when it comes to things I post on the internet I try to keep it relatively positive.  It's rare when I'll write an entire post about only negative things. Anyway, I just hope that this person realizes that her life is not that bad and she had lots of happy things in it.

That is all.

David, a 28 year old artist, is recovering from a bad breakup with his girlfriend Sienna when he discovers the body of a dead woman on a beach near his home in Lompoc, California.  David is quickly interviewed not by the local sheriff but by an FBI agent, who declares that not only was the woman killed in a ritualistic murder but that she has been identified as David's ex Sienna.  David quickly becomes the prime suspect in Sienna's murder but Sienna can't be dead because she keeps leaving messages on David's answering machine.  David knows that no matter how bad their breakup had been that he could never have killed Sienna; she was the love of his life.  But when no one seems to believe him he knows that he must start searching for answers by himself.  What he soon finds is something he never would have believed possible.  And then more he discovers the more terrifying it gets.

I am a LONGTIME fan of Christopher Pike.  I'm pretty sure I've read every one of his young adult novels as well as one of his adult novels, Sati, which is among my favorite books ever.  I was in the library and not finding anything that struck my fancy so I decided to look up an oldie but goody.  I have to say that reading this book reminded me why I love Christopher Pike; he is a master storyteller and his endings always leave you with your mouth hanging open.  I was not at all disappointed by The Blind Mirror and now all I want to do is pull out all my old Christopher Pike novels.  Unlike R.L. Stine, who tried at adult fiction and in my opinion failed, Christopher Pike make the leap just fine.

Anyone else totally exhausted and feeling like you ate WAY too much this weekend?  Because I totally feel that way.  But I had a really great Christmas and I hope you all did too!


We spent Christmas Eve day cleaning the house.  I do love spending the holidays here but man it is not fun having to clean everything up only to have everyone leave a few days later and it's a total mess again!  Guess that's what happens when you host the holidays.

Christmas Eve evening Dustin and I went to Dustin's grandparents' house, who live here in River Falls.

Day 01 → Something you hate about yourself.
Day 02 → Something you love about yourself.
Day 03 → Something you have to forgive yourself for.
Day 04 → Something you have to forgive someone for.
Day 05 → Something you hope to do in your life.
Day 06 → Something you hope you never have to do.
Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.
Day 08 → Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.
Day 09 → Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.
Day 10 → Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.
Day 11 → Something people seem to compliment you the most on.
Day 12 → Something you never get compliments on.
Day 13 → A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)
Day 14 → A hero that has let you down. (letter)
Day 15 → Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.
Day 16 → Someone or something you definitely could live without.
Day 17 → A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.
Day 18 → Your views on gay marriage.
Day 19 → What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?
Day 20 → Your views on drugs and alcohol.
Day 21 → (scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?
Day 22 → Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life.
Day 23 → Something you wish you had done in your life.
Day 24 → Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)
Day 25 → The reason you believe you’re still alive today.
Day 26 → Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?
Day 27 → What’s the best thing going for you right now?
Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?
Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself.

None of you knew me back when I first met Dustin.  Well to let you all know, I fell pretty fast.  You see, I was nuts about my ex.  But my ex was pretty much just hanging out with me because it was comfortable.  And then I met Dustin.  He had the big puppy eyes I loved (and still love).  He was hysterically funny (and still is).  He was nothing like my ex.  And he also had a girlfriend.  But quickly after we met his girlfriend broke up with him.  And since my ex and I were going through one of our many breaks, I was there to pick up the pieces.

However, I have always been a clingy girl.  And Dustin, well, he was just looking to have fun.  And almost as quickly as we got close we suddenly stopped talking.  I'm going to tell you all that the first year that D and I knew each other were very bumpy.  One minute we were the best of friends and the next minute we sort of hated each other.  It didn't help that we worked in the same restaurant and that restaurant was pretty much like junior high all over again.  It was a constant he said she said and somehow there were always hurt feelings.

There were times that I hated Dustin during that first year.  And I lived without him.  Or tried to.  I pretended like he didn't exist and I pretended like it didn't bother me when he hung out with other girls.  But each time I went running back.  Maybe it was his big brown eyes or his sense of humor or the fact that he was absolutely nothing like my ex.  But no matter how I tried I could not live without him.

And so one day I went running back to him.  And somehow that time it stuck.

I honestly could not live without him.  How do I know?  I tried.  And failed.

 

Well, we waited till the last minute and I was a tad stressed but Christmas Eve is finally here.  All the gifts are wrapped (with an exception of one awkward one, I need my mom's expertise on that one) and under the tree.

 

Now it is time to hang out with family, eat lots of good food and of course tear into pretty wrapping paper (what?  I'm being honest).  

 

Until then, I am off to clean the house.  One of the downfalls of hosting part of Christmas, eek!

Jen over at Crazy Shenanigans did a little year review of the books she's read and I thought that'd be fun since you all know I'm a bit of a bookworm.  Thanks for the idea lady!

Thus far this year I've read 38 books.  I'm about halfway through one of Christopher Pike's adult novels right now so I'm thinking the total will be 39 by New Year's Eve.  Not exactly the 41 that I read last year but still, not too shabby.

The best book I read this year is actually a tie between Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl and Maggie Stiefvater's books Shiver and Linger.  I got really into the young adult genre this year and these were by far my favorites.  To see my reviews of these books, you can go here, here and here.  You should definitely check them out, they're so good!


And the worst book easily goes to Superstitious by R.L. Stine.  Such a bummer.  I grew up LOVING R.L. Stine's books!  But the man needs to stick to Goosebumps and Fear Street and stay away from adult novels.

Thanks to all of you that sent me questions via Formspring yesterday.  Here are the answers!

• How did you start blogging?  I actually started "blogging" back in 2002.  I began on OpenDiary and was on there for maybe a year or two.  When I discovered Blogger I moved to that and didn't look back.  I've had a few blogs here and there but this is the first one that has really felt like home.  It's a definitely keeper.

• Hot or Cold? Which do you prefer to be?  Neither?  I hate being uncomfortable temperature-wise.  And while I'm sure some would think I would say that I prefer to be hot, I think I'm going to go with cold.  Only because I HATE sweating and what it does to my hair, hehe.

• I'm confused....what is Formspring??  This is!  You can submit questions, either anonymously or with your name attached, and whoever the Formspring belongs to can answer them.

• What is that shade of red lipstick you wear sometimes?  I actually don't own red lipstick.  I tend to go towards more berry colors.  I definitely want to find a color I love and rock it though!

• Once you graduate, what do you want to do with your degree?  Find a real job.  In all seriousness, I have no idea.  I would love to work for a publishing company a la Being Erica but that's more of a dream than anything else.  Honestly I'd be happy with a 9 to 5 with benefits.  My degree is in sales and marketing and I figure that's so broad that I can do a lot with it.

• So...are your parents letting you do whatever you want to your new house, or do you have to double check any updates with them? Also will you let your pup swim in the pool come summer?  I know if I wanted to paint or something they'd be cool with it but I'd probably still run it by them first.  They know I want to repaint the bedrooms and bathrooms and eventually we'd like to remodel the kitchen.  I know they'll help us out since they have more remodeling experience under their belts than we do.  But I can't imagine wanting to do anything that they'd put their foot (feet, I guess) down on.  And Monte was actually the first one to go for a swim before the pool was closed!  He accidentally backed into it when my dad was chasing him.  He can swim in it if he wants, I'm just not so sure he'd want to.

• What's one thing you want to change about yourself?  I'm lazy.  It takes a lot to get me off my butt.  I may look busy to all of you but honestly, I will find any way to put off chores, errands, etc. so I can just sit on my butt. 

• Do you make money from blogging?  A little.  My sponsors pay to have their shops advertised on my blog.  But other than that, no.  It's definitely not something I could quit my job for. 

• What's your favorite TV show of all time, and why?  This is hard because I LOVE TV.  Friends is the first show that popped into my head.  I could seriously watch each episode over and over and still giggle.  Plus I just love when Chandler and Monica become a couple.

• If you could be any animal (be it real or fantasy), what animal would you be and why?  A cat.  Seriously.  You know I'm lazy.  Well cats are the ultimate lazy animals.  I swear Metro NEVER comes out from under the bed.  Unless he's hungry.  That would be the life.  Plus I'd love to understand what a catnip high feels like. 

• Are you planning on having little Krystens and Dustins?  Believe me, if we had the money there would already be one.  We both wants kids so bad.  But right now we just don't have our finances in a great place.  I'm hoping in the next few years, I definitely want to have at least one before 30.

• If you could get ANYTHING for Christmas, regardless of whether it were realistically possible or not, what would you want?  I'd want Monte to live with us forever.  Seriously.  He's honestly the best dog I have ever met.  And pets always leave way too fast, you know?  If he could stick around and be old and gray with us that would be awesome.

• How did you parents come up with the spelling of your name?  Well, my dad is Larry and his sisters are Robyn and Gayle.  They wanted to have Ys in my name and my brother's name.  I was actually originally supposed to be Kathryn but at the last minute they changed it.  And while I used to hate the way my is spelled, now I like its uniqueness.

I'm in a very "bah humbug-y" mood today.  I don't know why.  Maybe it's the extra snow that we got yesterday, snow always makes me relatively unhappy (because it always seems to show up when I need to drive somewhere).  Or maybe I just need to add some more candy into my diet.

However, I've been noticing some new faces around here and thought it'd be a great time to have a Formspring day! 

So without further ado...

So you all know how I was so excited that I won 3 giveaways on Friday?  Well my luck did not continue.  Shortly after I found out about the third giveaway win I got the mail and found a statement from the IRS saying that we owe them $300.  We never got a form in the mail to fill out after we cashed some bonds so that income wasn't recorded.  This should have been for our 2009 taxes.  Now, nearly a year later, they decide right around Christmastime that they want their money.  So $300 down the drain.  I am so mad.  Why wait nearly a year till Christmas to do that?  Merry Christmas IRS jerks.

My weekend was relatively boring.  I work on Saturday and Sunday and we were relatively busy, which at least made time go by fast.  Customers for the most part have been cheery and happy which is good; there's nothing worse than cranky customers at Christmastime.

My parents were in town to continue working on the downstairs apartment of the house, which my brother will move into in a few months.  On Saturday my dad and Dustin drove the 4 hours to Green Bay to move most of Ryan's things here.  He'll live in one of the bedrooms in the house with us until the apartment is finished.  He's staying in Green Bay for the rest of the month to finish work but on New Year's Eve he'll be here for good, yay!

I cannot believe it is the week of Christmas.  How did it get here so fast?  Dustin and I are going Christmas shopping at the Mall of America on Thursday.  We had to wait this long because until now I couldn't work spending the extra money into our budget.  So I'm excited to finally be getting the shopping done and wrapping all the gifts.

On Christmas Eve we're going to dinner at Dustin's grandparents' and afterward going to Dustin's dad and stepmom's house to spend the night.  We're spending Christmas morning with them and Dustin's sister and then later Christmas morning we'll come back here to spend the rest of the day with my parents and Ryan.  I am so thrilled that we not only got to spend Thanksgiving with both our families but Christmas as well.  This house has been such a blessing for all of us.

How about all of you?  What are your holiday plans?

Day 01 → Something you hate about yourself.
Day 02 → Something you love about yourself.
Day 03 → Something you have to forgive yourself for.
Day 04 → Something you have to forgive someone for.
Day 05 → Something you hope to do in your life.
Day 06 → Something you hope you never have to do.
Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.
Day 08 → Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.
Day 09 → Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.
Day 10 → Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.
Day 11 → Something people seem to compliment you the most on.
Day 12 → Something you never get compliments on.
Day 13 → A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)
Day 14 → A hero that has let you down. (letter)
Day 15 → Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.
Day 16 → Someone or something you definitely could live without.
Day 17 → A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.
Day 18 → Your views on gay marriage.
Day 19 → What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?
Day 20 → Your views on drugs and alcohol.
Day 21 → (scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?
Day 22 → Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life.
Day 23 → Something you wish you had done in your life.
Day 24 → Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)
Day 25 → The reason you believe you’re still alive today.
Day 26 → Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?
Day 27 → What’s the best thing going for you right now?
Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?
Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself.


Dear Teacher,

Although I don't think I would have ever called any of my teachers a hero, I certainly looked up to you.  I loved your classes and always looked forward to them.  Somehow I managed to have your for three different classes and I was always excited to be there.  You made learning fun and to this day I remember a lot of what I learned from you.

So a few years later when I heard you'd be fired for possibly having some kind of relationship with a student I was pretty let down.  I actually remember you telling our class once about a teacher you had had that had been accused of the same thing.  Now, I don't know whether or not what happened is true.  Only you and that student really know.  But either way it makes me sad.  Why?

You were a good teacher.  And you had the ability to teach so many kids year after year.  Even if the accusations weren't true it makes me sad that you would have put yourself in a position to look guilty.  And so now you no longer teach.  And no one will get to learn your interesting take on Ethan Frome, no one will get to watch episodes of My So Called Life and walk away having really learned something, no one will get to see you sword fight in the front of the classroom.  No one will get that.

I truly hope the accusations aren't true.  I like to believe the best in people and so I want to believe that they aren't true.  But either way, you let me down.  And that makes me sad.

Sincerely,
Krysten

Would you all like to know what I accomplished yesterday?

Okay well, the big news at Maurice's is that my boss, Shannon, put in her two week's notice.  This is ridiculous considering one of the assistant managers, Amanda, had to quit because she's having surgery and they wouldn't let her take the three weeks off that her doctor suggested she take.  Which means we are down to one manager, a manager in training and three associates.  So Amy, the only fully trained manager left, has been freaking out a bit, needless to say.  And while I understand Shannon's reasoning from a business standpoint, I pretty much think it's terrible to do something like this during the holiday season.  In the long run, though, I think we'll be better off.  It's terrible to have a manager who really isn't in it anymore.  And she hasn't been for awhile now.

I got absolutely nothing done yesterday.  I don't think I was really sick but I was just feeling really TIRED.  So I sat around all day getting nothing done except for taking a nap and watching The Family Stone and Maid in Manhattan.  Which means that today I have a ton to do.  And again I am so not in the mood.  Yuck!

The best part of yesterday is that I received my giveaway goodies!  I won Oh, My Darling's giveaway awhile back, which was $25 to Mandipidy.  I chose the following:

Lara has some problems in her life: the company that she's started with her best friend is floundering, her boyfriend just broke up with her and her parents seem to think that she can't do anything right.  So when she's at the funeral of her great aunt Sadie and suddenly there is a woman that looks like she's straight out of the 20's that only Lara can see, she starts to wonder if maybe she's going slightly mad.  The woman turns out to be the ghost of Sadie and she has one wish before she passes onto the afterlife, for Lara to help her find the necklace that has somehow been lost.  Lara must agree to help because Sadie won't go away until the necklace is found.  What starts off for Lara as an irritation turns into a treasure hunt, not just to find the necklace but also to find out more about her great aunt.  Soon Lara begins to wonder if Sadie isn't just haunting her, maybe Sadie is really her guardian angel.

 I've always been a fan of Sophie Kinsella's books.  In fact, Confessions of a Shopaholic was the very first chic lit book that I ever read!  However, I'd read a few bad reviews from others bloggers about this book so I almost didn't even bother.  I will say I'm glad I picked it up.  Is it the world's best book ever?  No.  It was a little slow to start but once I got into it I did find myself really enjoying the characters, especially Sadie.  And when I was nearing the end I got a little choked up!  It's certainly chic lit and while I'll say it wasn't my very favorite Sophie Kinsella novel I still did enjoy it a lot and would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun read.

Well.  The weekend certainly didn't go as planned...

Friday I took a shift so I worked 1 to... about 8:45.  It honestly felt like the longest day ever.  I don't exactly know why, we weren't terribly busy.  But it was one of those days when customers just seemed incredibly needy.  Not fun.  However I got through it and made it out in one piece.  I got home and got to see Dustin for the first time all week!

Saturday we woke up to A LOT of snow.  We were supposed to be going to a party at my in-laws but by 10:00 we decided there was no way we could go.  It would have been one thing if I didn't have to work on Sunday but I was worried that we would get out to my in-laws' and then get stuck.  So we finally decided not to go, which was probably for the best because we ended up getting around 18 inches of snow.  Ridiculous.  Seriously I am living in the WRONG state.  But of course I had to take some pics.


I worked Sunday.  The roads were at least driveable but that does not mean they were perfect.  My car was pretty unhappy every time I had to stop and go again.  Thankfully it got me to work and back in one piece.  Work itself was pretty uneventful.

Well, except for one teen and her mom at the end of the day.  Basically, the teen was totally rude to her mom the whole time, who was nice enough to take her daughter shopping, buying her anything she wanted.  All the teen had to do was be relatively quick because the mom had to be at a church thing in an hour and a half.  The teen?  Didn't care.  She was rude the entire time, constantly complaining and talking down to her mom.  Now, I was kind of a brat during my teen years.  But I was a brat in private.  I didn't treat my mom like crap in public as she handed over her credit card to pay for all my clothes.  I honestly had to bite my tongue from saying, "How about you shut your mouth or hand over your own card and pay for your own stuff?  Oh wait, most likely you don't have a job because your mom is nice enough to keep a roof over your head and clothes on your back.  So shut up, say thank you and stop acting like a spoiled brat." 

Does it surprise anyone that when I went to vacuum the fitting rooms that the room she was in had clothes all over the floor and hangers jumbled up next to them?

All in all, not a bad weekend.  Minus the brat, of course.

Happy Monday all!