Falling for fall...

I can't decide if this summer was a good one or not. I have a feeling that since I can't decide, that I'm leaning towards the not-good side. It wasn't a horrible summer, by any means. It just wasn't spectacular. I'm going to blame it on this whole 'being a grown-up' thing. Summer was so much more fun when I was a kid and could do nothing but lay on the couch all day and watch MTV.

Anyways, now that summer is over, FALL IS HERE! And I love the fall. You might say I'm a sucker for it and anything fall-related. Here's a list for you:

-I'm a sucker for anything apply, pumpkiny, nutmeggy, or cinnamony. We're talking candles, baked goods, cider, yummy waffles made in a sandwich maker (umm...it's wednesday. Where were my yummy waffles this morning?), and things on a stick. It's all good. All of it. Oh-except for cinnamon mints. Those are gross anytime of the year,

-I'm a sucker for football. I have been since elementary school, where I was introduced to my very first Emotion Bowl. Granted, at that point, I really just liked getting to stay out late and dye my hair orange and black. Now I actually like the game. And yes, I do actually know how it works, TYVM.

-Speaking of football, I'm specifically a sucker for a very certain team who is kicking butt as usual. Go Broncos!

-I'm a sucker for Halloween*. Might just be my favorite holiday of all time. I love the parties, the stories, the tricks and the treats, and I love that you get the chance to let your imagination come alive for one night and run free. I'm also a sucker for adorable Princess Ballerina's, Scooby-Doos, and Vampires.

-I'm a sucker for pumpkins. And not just for carving them (which I'm awesome at, by the way.). I also loooove leaves. I still have a Ziploc bag full of all the leaves I collected in Boston. What I'm going to do with them, I couldn't tell you. But I still loooove them. Plus, after you rake them all up, you get to jump in them and rake them all up again. It's the best cycle ever.

-Lastly, I'm a sucker for believing that fall is a time for starting over. For finding that balance you need to make it through the end of the year. Time starts to slow down (or so it seems) and life starts to slow down. And that is definitely what I need. Besides a new life plan, anyways.

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*Speaking of Halloween, I need awesome costume ideas. Individual and group please. And go.

Still waiting...

...for the rest of the girls to post their pictures from The Roommate's wedding, but until then, here are three of my favorites. I won't go into wedding details, since the pictures do a much better job, but just know that it was definitely in my top 3. Which is a feat all in itself.




*The girls at Mt. Rushmore! Check that off my life list.

*The Hot One and I. The Roommate was too hungover to take any more pictures with us. We're lucky she even made the drive!

*Awww. I still love these girls after all those years apart (hey-two years feels like a lifetime). Reunion 2009 was a success. Still deciding on where to go for Reunion 2010.

Anyone have any good ideas?

Just a quick one...

Woo! In exactly 23 days, I leave for Reno. Gotta love spur of the moment travel decisions. Especially when the ticket was only $100 round trip. Super excited to play in Lake Tahoe, kick ass at Blackjack and hang out with my favorite teacher!

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In other news, this is so two days ago. But really? How can I not put this on here? Team Taylor represent!

Ramblings continued...

So I believe I left off with the question of why I haven't done anything about my current life predicament. Here's what you need to know:

*I change my mind. A lot. Like every other day.
*If you asked me to list things I could see myself doing for the rest of my life, I could easily list 7. Which is a lot when you're trying to make a life-changing decision.
*I have a really good life in Boise. One full of family and friends that are like a second family. 98 percent of the time I have a fan-freakin-tastic time and life couldn't be better.
*I have this problem where I can't make a decision that affects myself without considering how it would affect a certain handful of people (namely my immediate family. Times are a little rough and I don't feel it's responsible of me to gamble with my life when it kind of gambles with their lives too.).
*I second-guess myself. A lot. Apparently, I'm not a risk-taker and fear plays a huge role in the decision-making process.

On the other hand of the spectrum, however:

*I'm a very restless person. I almost always have to be doing something.
*I always pictured myself somewhere completely different from where I'm at now. See this post for related information. It's also one of my favorites.
*My sister is currently living in Russia. Something I thought I would be more likely to do than her (not necessarily the Russian thing. But the living abroad thing.) It definitely bothers me that I'm still living in Idaho, still working in retail, and still no where closer to achieving any of my big plans.

So yeah. Every three months or so, I go through this funk. It basically consumes my entire life. I yell at myself for still living in Boise, for not going to graduate school, for not moving somewhere to experience life a little differently. I kick myself for not taking advantage of this carefree time in my life, the time when I could do anything I wanted. And then sometimes I make plans. For instance, last fall, I decided I was ready to leave. I decided I wanted to be a teacher. I decided that Portland was a good place to accomplish both (it also helped that PIC and Disco Pierre* had decided to move there too). And so I looked into school. And places to live. And then life got fun again and those plans completely fizzled out. Which really didn't surprise me or anyone else. Because that's how I roll.

And that's still how I roll. My current plan is to move to Greece. Don't ask me what I will do there. It just sounds fun and exotic and like it would make other people jealous. Don't worry, though. Tomorrow, I'll probably want to become a dentist. Basically what I'm saying is this: it's a good thing I still have four years left to figure my shit out. Because I'm going to need it.

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*From here on out, M2J2 is now Disco Pierre. As in 'Disco Pierre Knead Stoner.' As in inside joke.

Cue awesome 80's WhiteSnake music here...

Ever have one of those days (or weeks or months or years) when you have a million and one thoughts racing around your head all at once? One of those days where it would be soooo nice to put them all somewhere where they would just leave you alone? A place such as a blog?

Yeah. That happened to me. And I have a blog. Right here. This one that you're reading right now. So why haven't I posted in over a month?

Ever have one of those days (or weeks or months or years) where all those thoughts in your head make no sense at all? To you or anyone kind enough to try and let you get it all out?

Yep. That was me again.

So instead of letting the internet try and have a go at making sense of the madness inhabiting my head, I put it all down in paper form. I filled almost an entire notebook in one month. Filled it with ramblings about nothing and everything all at once. Did it solve any of my problems? No. Did it do any good? Hell yes. It emptied my mind. It made me realize that I still have the same giant questions I had three years ago when I graduated from college. I'm still in the same place, which to me, feels like essentially nowhere, despite the fact that others continually tell me otherwise.
So if I've felt this way for the last three years, why haven't I done anything about it?

Good question. And one we shall tackle on another day.

Photo Overload

Thanks to the BFF, I can now post actual pictures from The Circle's cabin trip. Somehow, BFF managed to only be in one picture, and a long-distance one at that. We'll have to change that the next time around!

*Triple K looking pensive.
*QS with my sunglasses.

*Me looking ridiculous.

*The Pro being lame and sick and whiny.

*Princess Ballerina. Too cute for words.

*Jet-skis are awesome.

*So are my tubing skills.

*Triple K spent a lot of time in the water

*The Pro thought he had tube burn on his knees. Really, he
just didn't put on sunscreen.

*BFF is a wimpy driver. We'll work on it.

*Halleyouya!

*The Jiffy-Pop predicament. Good thing they come in two's.

*Do you hear what I hear?

*Matching shirts. Awesome!

*Mesa Falls=WOW!










So there you have it. In other news, PIC and I went and saw 500 Days of Summer. Good movie. Probably not the best of the summer, but there is still some time to go. Wedding countdown=13 days! Maybe I will share some other wedding stories. After all, I have a million of them!

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Please excuse the weird formatting problems. It is entirely Blogger's fault.

An ode to The Teacher...

*The Teacher so nicely informed me tonight that my blogs are too wordy and that she doesn't have time in her busy life to read all my ramblings. And so I was going to post pictures of the cabin trip, but instead I decided to tell a story featuring The Teacher herself. Love you!*

Once upon a time, The Teacher and her friends came to visit from the school that doesn't know how to play football (might as well start off on the right foot. Go Broncos!)

Good times were had by all. The Teacher is a very inclusive person. Her friends are my friends and my friends are her friends. Especially when we are all friends with the alcohol. We ended up at China Blue for the majority of the night, where we danced and danced and danced some more. They had a special guest DJ from California that night who was spinning some awesome tunes.

We're talking 'What a Feeling' mixed with Eminem mixed with 'I've Had the Time of My Life' mixed with Christina Milian. We're talking music so awesome that The Teacher herself went up to the DJ to tell him how awesome he was. And a new friendship was born. They even let us use the fans to cool ourselves off.

The Teacher just generally has a zest for life and gets excited about things very easily. As I hazily recall (not because I was wasted, but because it was a good 5 years ago), something exciting happened. So exciting, in fact, that as she was celebrating, she completely ate shit and fell face first into this VIP seating area. It was hilarious at the time (of course!), but I wish I had a picture of the bruise because it was gnarly.

So, like I was saying, The Teacher has a lot of friends. And she talked one of her friends into giving the 6 of us a ride home. In a tiny little truck. Don't worry, they had a good time. I rode in the front. Because I am awesome.

I am fairly certain that the alcohol-consumption continued on into the wee hours of the morning, only to come to a screeching halt when The Teacher yelled at one of her friends, went to slam the door, kicked it when it wouldn't close, and put a giant hole in my bedroom door. That cost her $100 to replace. In addition, someone used the bathtub as a bed (alas, I couldn't find any pictures. They tend to disappear when college students try to lead respectable lives.), and The Teacher regaled us all with a heart-wrenching version of James Blunts' "You're Beautiful."

All in all, it was a successful and memorable weekend, one that I don't think I will ever forget.

Love you Teacher!!