Pasha and Pixie

I'm just sitting here, and who is sleeping on the Snuggie, well of course Pixie! It just got me thinking about how much I love my babies. Yes, my pets are my babies!! I just want to share with you how precious they are to me. :) I hope each of you have the joy of having a pet at sometime in your lives, and I hope they are as precious to you as mine are to me!!

Introducing: Pasha

Miss Sassy herself! We got her May of 2007 from a family friend. She was the only kitty who actually didn't run away, so we took her!! She was a small sweet kitty with such a wonderful personality. Her name was already picked out before we got her, Pasha. I got her name from the movie Doctor Zhivago (I watched the movie in a class of mine). The little boy in that movie was named Pasha, and I just loved it. Right when we got her, the name was fitting, and I loved her too!! She has caused us a bunch of headaches along the way, with UTIs, ruining furniture, going into any place she pleases, but with all those headaches she has given many of laughs!! She has enjoyed her fair share of catnip in the day, which leaves her slightly spacey most of the time. Her enjoyment of boxes of all sizes has brought so much laughter when she tries to fit her nearly 15 pound body into them.... It sure is the sight! She might be anti-social when strangers are near, but she sure is a snuggle bug when she wants under the covers! She is our little Pasha Baby!!

Introducing: Pixie

We got her February of 2007 when she was a little over a year old. She was originally my older brother's dog, but they weren't able to keep all of their dogs, so they asked if I was interested. Oh of course I was! I had loved that dog so very much every time I saw her! When we got her, her name was Stormy, but I am all about keeping the names starting with the same letters... So I changed it to Pixie. She is just the sweetest Lhasa Apso! She has gotten so smart over the couple of years that I have had her, she is our little protector and guardian. She just has the most gentle personality, patient with everyone she meets. You can usually find her by my side, usually sleeping :)

These are my babies, and I love them oh so very much!! I hope you enjoyed meeting them :)

To Be Five... and Get Away With It!!

"It's the most wonderful time of the year" is such a true quote!! Christmas time is just my most favorite time of the year!! The magical feeling that comes along with this blessed holiday is just magnificent! Each and every year I get so excited to decorate, bake, buy gifts, and spend time with family. This year was extra special for a number of reasons, and it will surely be a Christmas I will NEVER forget!!

I'll start off with the beginnings of the Christmas season (which for me started 2 weeks before Thanksgiving... I get a little impatient, what can I say, haha). I started putting up a few decorations around the house... The banister trimmed with greenery and lights along with the stockings all in a row. I do believe that was actually all I did the first round, Kyle wouldn't let me put anything else up... The following week was when I went crazy! We put the tree up at around midnight on a Friday evening and it was topped with the star at 2:00 am. I don't know if it was due to the fact that I was so tired, but I cried for a little while enjoying the beauty of the tree. The tree to me is the most special part of this holiday :) I also decorated around the house in other areas. It was what I considered "perfect"...Though I want to add so much more!!! I'm so glad Kyle keeps up!!

More beginnings... the presents!! This year, however, we did the shopping a little different. I'll explain... I listen to Dave Ryan in the Morning show on KDWB, and every year they do what is called "A Christmas Wish" and this year I was so moved by all the stories that I just had to give back. I brain-stormed for a while on what I could do... Then it hit me! The Marine's Toys for Tots program!! I called the local Toys for Tots number and found out that toys were needed for 0-2 year olds, and instead of buying gifts for family members this year, Kyle and I decided to buy just toys to give!! It felt so amazing to be able to give back to children in need that live in the same area as we do! My heart felt so wonderful.

Now onto family time... I ventured out to head to be with my family on Wednesday before the big storm hit. I made it home safely, and I'm so glad left when I did because Thursday we woke up to so much snow!!! It was absolutely beautiful!!! I was all ready to get outside and enjoy it, which is just what Kaitlin and I did!! It was so needed to get the sleds and go down the hill a couple times. What a blast!!! The rest of Christmas Eve day was spent just enjoying family company, watching TV, eating a delicious spaghetti meal (our family meal fyi), singing karaoke, and playing games! It was such a fun day!! My most favorite part of Christmas Eve is going to church, but this year it had to be cancelled due to the weather :( But it was better for us to be safe and at home.

As for the title of this post "To Be Five" became so apparent at the end of the night and into Christmas morning. Like years ago, us three kids decided to all sleep in the same room :) :) We all crammed into David's room... He had his bed, Kaitlin had the couch, and I brought an extra ma tress into his room!! We shared laughter, singing, and dancing (well I caused laughter with my singing and dancing). It was so precious!!!!!! I loved it!!!! With a few hours of shut eye, David and I were up at 4:30 am with excitement... Who would have thought that a 20 year old and a 17 year old could still get so excited about Christmas??

It was so worth it though!! We waiting until 6 to open the gifts, and we each took a turn opening a present with A Christmas Story playing in the background. Some things will NEVER change!!

I had the most amazing Christmas this year! And I hope each of you did as well. This is a wonderful time of year, and I hope you all got as many memories as I did this year :)

Kaitlin, David, and I on Christmas morning!!!!!

The snowman Kaitlin and I made :)

Last Week of Class!

Oh seriously, HOW TIME FLIES! It is just insane to me that this semester is already over... It is so surreal to me to have accomplished getting my Associates Degree!! It is such an awesome thing to me! It is an eye-opener to the fact that I will be able to accomplish anything I set my mind to!!

I'm so ready to start the next journey in my life! That journey is going to consists of going to St. Cloud State University, which I'm getting more and more excited for as the days go on!! I'm ready for a change, as hard as it is going to be to leave the comfort zone that I have at school right now, but it is just another chapter to add to my book.

But... I'm not completely closing the chapter I have written at Ridgewater, because... I'm going to be back there for one more class!! And this one is going to be a FUN class!! My plans were just to take a class at SCSU and just refocus myself into getting into school again because this semester has been very blah for me, and I do not, ever, want to hate school. So I'm just going to take it easy this semester, and being that I am going to be only taking one class at SCSU I thought "hey I might as well take a class at Ridgewater because I'm going to have a little extra time." That is just what I am going to do! I'm going to be taking Gender and Sexuality Lit. class with one of my FAVORITE professors!!! It is going to be so much fun!

I'm above and beyond happy with my decision for my next semester of class. I do 100% think staying at Ridgewater was in God's plan because I'm working on taking some "me" time right now at Ridgewater, and I think God had it in store for me to stay there and better myself. I must admit it is so hard to listen to God and hear his plan, but I listened and he guided me so well :) I'm so blessed!!!

Winter is Here!!!

Whew, I made it through my first winter snowstorm!! I have to admit, the beauty of the clean whiteness that I woke up to was mighty astounding! There is just something so pure about snow. I would love it's beauty so much more if I was able to not have to go out into the chilling winds, or if I didn't have to drive in it.. But us Minnesotans need to be TOUGH!! I made it through the snow, the wind, and the driving today- all without crying!!!! Which for some of you that don't know, it is a huge accomplishment for me. I usually build up so much anxiety within myself for having to drive anywhere in bad weather, that it leaves me in tears just wanting to give up.. But today I set my focus on getting to school, and I made it no problem!! I said a prayer, and reminded my self over and over and over, and yes over again to not let the snow stop me from what I wanted to accomplish. With that goal I set out and made it to the school safe and sound!!

Success

Now who doesn't want to succeed at the things that they are trying to accomplish in life, be it finishing the race first, making a delicious meal, or getting the perfect dream job. We all want success in so many different areas of life.

Today, I was looking in my book that is called "God's Little Instruction Book- Inspiration and Wisdom for a Happy and Fulfilled Life." This book has tons of amazing and powerful quotes that can be applied to life in so many ways! One that I came across today was, " Some people succeed because they are destined to, but most people succeed because they are determined to." Holy goodness that spoke SO much truth to me! I have it in my mind that I am, without a doubt, going to make it in the world of Psychology!! I have my goals in place, and I will succeed at getting my doctrine in Psychology! Now with that quote that I found I think that it is true that if people want success they need to be determined in getting it. Settling in life is not going to get you the ultimate feeling of success in what you want...I don't think that we should be forced to settle in life.. We have the power to do what we want. Yes, there might be struggles along the way, but "where there is a will there is a way!" We all need to keep pushing on with keeping our goals in sight for the long run. Don't just think about these goal, accomplish them!!!

Here are some quotes on success that I thought were very powerful.

"Whatever the mind conceive and believe, the mind can achieve" - Dr. Napoleon Hill

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will always be successful."

"The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -Chinese Proverb

"The path to success is to take massive, determined action." -Anthony Robbins

"Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be."

"When you stop dreaming, you stop living."

"Never quit. The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are able to succeed."

"Never accept anything less than you think you deserve."

And my favorite...

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do." -Mark Twain

All We Need Is Love

This week have proven to me, yet again, that I need wonderful, caring people in my life! I try to always keep my head held high and remain strong, but without these wonderful people I wouldn't be able to be as successful as I am at remaining strong!!

My challenges this week with trying to "fix" everything caused me to crash and burn. With the help from a great friend, and two WONDERFUL professors I realized that I am not Wonder Woman with the power to make everything perfect. It was a rough journey this week to grasp and understand that. My main focus for now is to remember that I need to do what is
best for me! I can try and try to make everything perfect, but without caring for myself my attempts to make things a little better will not be able to be accomplished.

Another huge part of my week was being so so so so so thankful for the wonderful friends that I have in my life!! The friends that I care so deeply about are those who stand behind me and
support me with whatever I do. They are the ones who laugh with me the hardest, but they
will be the ones to cry with me the hardest when needed. They are there through
my craziest times, and still they stick around!! =-) How blessed am I!! I'm just so glad that I have been able to diminish those "friends" who were not so great to me, who didn't support me, who didn't understand who I was because they were not needed, and they only brought me down. We all know none of us need that!!!

Finally, I'm just so grateful for my family and my boyfriend. These people know me inside and out and love me unconditionally! Without them, I seriously don't think I would be nearly as
strong as I am! They have given me nothing but support through everything! Oh I
love them so much!

I'll share some pictures of a few of those I love oh so much! I would love to put pictures of everyone I love, but that would fill up a million pages... I've got so much love for all those in my life!

These people are my strength through it all! I would be so lost without them! Oh I LOVE family!

Kyle, he knows me the best and understands who I am no matter how crazy it might be!!

Awww my WONDERFULLY GREAT friends!!!! I don't know what I would do without them. These people, Shab, Naomi, Alyshia, Dusty, and Sean are the greatest people I have ever met! They are always there for me, and I would be so lost without these people.

So here's a HUGE thanks to all of you that I love so much!!! I hope you all have just as wonderful people in your life! We all deserve to be surrounded with the most amazing people! And if you have people in your life who take you for granted, or they don't treat you the way you want to be treated don't keep them around. You all only deserve the best!

Christmas Fever

Today has brought me so much joy! This Christmas season just fills me with the childhood magical feeling that I remember so well from when I was younger! But let me be honest, I was far from that magical feeling this morning when I woke up to see that my huge cat, Pasha, had managed to yet again crush the branches of my beautiful tree... It was just beyond simple repair today. I had to remove each decoration, the garland, and pull the top off of the tree to fix the bent branches. I was not pleased about this at all!! Through much frustration and rearranging I fixed the tree!!!

The decoration are all placed back on the tree, and it is back to it's original beauty!! I'm hoping Pasha keeps out of the tree, and we are all able to enjoy the beauty of our precious Christmas tree that means so much to me!!