Day 30: Car I Drive (and past cars too!)

I currently get around in this cute 2006 Nissan Xterra. This is the first car that I bought for myself, so I feel pretty proud of it. I've had it for a little over a year, and I love it! It'll be perfect for a little family. ;)

The cars I've had prior to this were all given to me by my mom and dad. I was a tad spoiled throughout high school. :)

Before I bought my Xterra, I had a 2001 VW Passat that used to be my mom's car. My parents gave it to me one Christmas in college when my mom was getting a new car. This was a good car, but I had to put oil in the darn thing all. the. time!

It looked something like this.

Since I got my mom's car, my brother got my car, which was a Black Jetta. I think I got this car for my 17th birthday. It was a great little car during high school and part of college. My brother is still driving this thing! But again, it needs oil all. the. time! Ha!

Prior to getting the Jetta, I was driving my mom's Intrepid for a while.

And the reason for this is because my first real car truck, was a big, white Ford that was a stick shift. It was my car for three whole days, until I crashed it and it was totalled. Yes, I got into an accident three days after getting my license. First and only accident I've ever had. I wasn't hurt or anything, which was good. But boy was my dad mad at me! Haha!

It kind of looked like this - only a little nicer. That was prior to me crashing it though.

So there you have it. I've had my fair share of vehicles. I'm more than happy to stick with what I have now for quite some time, though. :)

And this concludes the 30-Day Challenge! I enjoyed it for the fact that it let you all get to know me a little better. But I miss regular posts. So I'll be looking forward to those!

Day 29: Hopes,dreams and plans for the next 365 days

I am a control freak planner by nature, so I always enjoy topics like this. :)

My hopes for the next year would be...
-That our wedding planning, and the wedding itself, happens with the least amount of drama possible. So far, so good! I think Kevin and I are both lucky that we have great families who make our lives, and this whole wedding planning process, that much easier.

-That we both stay active and healthy (that pretty much goes hand-in-hand).

-That Kevin's Grandpa Joe, his Grandma Helen and my Grandma Ruth all stay healthy and are able to attend our wedding. It would be a dream come true to have them there. My grandpa and my other grandma will not be well enough to be there. :(

-That we still have the good jobs that we currently have.

-That we continue to learn not to take advantage of the time we have here on Earth with each other, our families and our friends.

-That Michelle and Brandon have two, healthy baby girls!

My dreams for the next year would be...
-NUMBER ONE: TO START A FAMILY!

-To be able to take an exotic honeymoon that we wouldn't have to pay for. Ha! Right now we're planning something low-key that won't be too much money. But a dream of ours would be to get away for a week and really enjoy ourselves!

-That I get a promotion at work.

-That we get another dog (from a shelter) so Kahlua will have a buddy! And so I'll feel a little more safe when I'm home alone and Kevin is gone on work trips. Meaning, Dog #2 will have to surpass the four-pound limit that Kahlua currently holds. ;)

Our plans for the next year are...
-To get married! Duh!

-Possible relocation. It's still dependent on a number of factors, but it's hopefully a plan that will be set in motion once I have my annual review at work. *fingers crossed*

-Putting our finances together. Eeek! This one kind of freaks me out a lot little.

-To save more.

-To join a church.

No matter the hopes, dreams and plans that I have, I could never imagine them to turn out the way God has planned; and his plan has always been - and will always be - PERFECT.

Days 27 and 28

Day 27: My Worst Habit

My worst habit by far, is that I bite my nails. I hate that I have this habit. I was doing pretty well for a while, and my nails were nice and long. But then I watched "Inception" last weekend and the movie made me confused nervous and I ended up biting all my nails off on Saturday night. So now they're short. I am not a fan. I'm going to let them grow again. I'm determined to kick this habit!

Day 28: What's In My Purse

I actually did a post about this a few months ago. So hop on over here and take a looksie!

Day 26: My Week

The past week seemed like it went on forever, for me!

On Monday I wasn't feeling too well and as soon as I woke up that morning I couldn't wait until I could be done with the day and back in my bed. When I got off work I ate dinner and laid in bed for the rest of the night.

Tuesday was a little busy. We wrapped all of our gifts for the Adopt a Family program that we did at work and we also had a nice little pizza party for lunch. That night I made enchiladas for dinner and they were tasty! I also addressed all of our Christmas cards that night.

Wednesday I went with my manager to a luncheon. The food wasn't anything to write home about, but it was nice to get out of the office for a couple hours. That night I grabbed some JITB on my way home, caught up on a bunch of shows, then took about an hour trying to find an outfit for the next day because I would be going to Kevin's company's Christmas dinner on Thursday night.

Thursday I started to get a migraine. I thought at first it was just a headache and it would go away eventually, but it would just not budge. It ended up turning into a migraine and I had to pass on Kevin's company's Christmas dinner. I was really bummed because I had been looking forward to going and seeing all his co-workers. So that night I came home and was in bed by 8pm and prayed the migraine would go away.

Friday I woke up with the lovely migraine so I called in to work and ended up spending pretty much the entire day in bed and took some pain killers that knocked me out for part of the day. Ha! The migraine finally left on Saturday!

A pretty general week, I guess. I could have done without the headache issues, but it was kind of nice to stay home from work for a day and rest up. :)

Day 25: Guilty Pleasure

Okay. So I'm just going to honest here and say that my guilty pleasure is Jack in the Box. Whenever Kevin is out of town during the week on a work trip, I'll run by JITB on my way home and grab some crispy chicken strips and curly fries. I know JITB isn't the healthiest thing out there, but this happens only about once a month and I thoroughly enjoy it! Ha!

Day 24: Where I live (catching up)

So as to not give away my true location of residence in case there are any crazies out there ;), I'll fill you in on the area I live in. I live about 30 minutes East of San Francisco. I actually work in the heart of the Financial District in San Francisco.

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San Francisco is know for a great many things, but some in particular are...

The Golden Gate Bridge

(Kevin and I still haven't taken the well-known picture in front of this thing. We're lame too busy.)

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Chinatown

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Boudin Sourdough Bread

(So good!)

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Alcatraz

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Embarcadero

(Love this place! I literally work about three blocks from here so it's super easy to make quick trips on a lunch break.)

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San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California. I like to think that it's kind of close to being like New York and Chicago. I've been to Chicago, and they are kind of alike. Never been to NYC though, so I really couldn't compare. But it is a big, bustling city filled with many different types of people. When we first moved here and I got the job I'm at now, I did not like this place. I'm not much of a city girl and it took some major adjusting for me to get used to all the people in this city, the traffic and just plain finding my way around! But after being here for about 2 1/2 years this place has definitely grown on me and I am thankful to live near, and work in, this great city!

Day 23: A YouTube Video

I love this YouTube video for two reasons:

1) There's a baby in it and I love me some babies!
2) This used to be my "theme song" before Kevin proposed. ;) Ha!




Oh, and because this video comes up as humongous on my blog page, you'll probably have to click it to go directly to YouTube if you want to see it. But I'm pretty sure everyone has seen this already, so it's all good!

Definitely NOT a Wordless Wednesday....and Day 22: A Website

I'm feeling much better today, and I'm not so much a grump today either. ;)

Last night I addressed all of our Christmas cards. My hand felt like it wanted to fall off, and thank goodness they include extra envelopes because mistakes were being had! I should have them out by Friday, so I'm glad that little chore will be done with. BTW...I think it's kind of sad that the cost of stamps to mail these things cost almost as much (if not more) than the cards themselves. Geesh!

Kevin's away tonight for work, which means I can FINALLY catch up on some recorded shows! A lot of the shows I watch have already had their season finales. I'm way behind. So Kahlua and I will be cuddled on the couch from approximately 6pm-10pm if you need to find us. ;) Ha!

My friend Breanna is turning 28 today. Happy birthday, Breanna! Her birthday is only 20 days before mine, so ever since high school we've always easily remembered each other's birthdays. I teased Breanna this morning and told her she's 20 days closer to being 30 than I am. LOL! But all joking aside, I'm really looking forward to our 30's. I think there are a lot of exciting things coming up for me and my girlfriends and I'm looking forward to it. Also, my mom has always told me that her 30's were her most fun. Granted, my brother and I were beyond the age of five at that point so she didn't have babies or toddlers to worry about, but I'm trying to take a positive stance on the the big THREE-OH coming up in a couple years.

Okay, so I've been going back and forth about what I wanted to do for my co-workers this Christmas season. The first year I worked here I bought them all $5 (or maybe it was $10) Starbucks gift cards. I guess I was trying to make a good impression. Ha! Last year I made iced sugar cookies for everyone.

{via}

This year I will be making Peppermint Fudge Cupcake Jars. I am in. love with this idea! I was Googling "baking cupcakes in mason jars" and after 30 minutes of searching I came across this recipe from Our Best Bites. Is it not the cutest!? Mason jars are very inexpensive, and I was looking for a recipe to cook the batter inside the jars; rather than baking the batter in cupcakes pans, and then putting them in the jar. And the fact that they're small mason jars makes them even cuter and much easier for people to have that one serving and not feel over-gluttonous. And the candy cane stripe frosting!? To die for! I also wanted a recipe that tasted Christmas-y, so the peppermint definitely helps. Also, who can pass up fudge-filled, homemade cupcakes? In a mason jar no less! I'll let you all know how it goes when I get to this little project on Sunday. In addition, I think you should really follow Our Best Bites. It looks like they have a ton of great ideas and recipes!

I have a few posts brewing up in my noggin that I want to post. I promise that I don't always post these random, list-type posts all the time. Sometimes it's just easier that way. But there's a few coming up that will have a real point to them. Cross my heart.

Horrible quality photo, so sorry.

So Co-worker #9 showed up this morning with these mini cupcakes that she made. They are so mini I almost started crying from the cuteness! I guess Co-worker #9 is trying to make up for the bad 'tude she's been having about the whole Adopt A Family thing. I don't know for sure, but I just tell myself that to make me feel better about her unwillingness to give to a family in need. *stepping off my soap box now*

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Day 22: A Website

I love, love, love The Pioneer Woman's website! She has the best personality, recipes and takes the best pictures. Check her out if you haven't already. She obvs has a blog. You won't be disappointed. Oh! And I'll be making these cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. Wish me luck!

Day 21: A Recipe

I've posted quite a few recipes on this here blog, but one that I like the most are the Deadly Brownies. They are sweet, over-indulgent, very rich, but irresistibly good. Oh, and ooey-gooey too! Like, really ooey-gooey. Since Christmas is coming up, and many of you have family dinners to attend, this might be a good (and quick) dessert to whip up and take with you. From my experience, people usually come after this with fork in hand; no one has really ever cut a nice piece and served themselves. The last party I took it to everyone was just using their fingers and eating it straight from the pan -- kinda gross, but whatevs!

So follow the LINK, and bake away!

Oh, and only 18 days until Christmas (21 days until my birthday!)!

No real point here...and Day 20: A Hobby of Mine

I'm in quite the mood today. It may be because I'm Female, and this time of each month tends to bring out the worst in me (don't judge). It may be because I feel a head cold coming on thanks to lovely Co-worker mentioned in #9 of this post. It may also be because nothing "exciting" is going on right now and I tend to feel a smidge bored/antsy/anxious/whathaveyou, when I don't have something to worry about, plan for or stress over. I know, life's tough.

~ Said Co-worker #9 came up to me today to complain about how much it's costing her to buy gifts for her chosen family member for the Adopt a Family program that we're doing here at workplace. Pretty sure she's missing the whole point about the SPIRIT OF GIVING! So much so that's she's refusing to chip in a measly $15 for the grocery gift card that we're giving to the family so they can enjoy a decent Christmas dinner. Yet, she enjoys going out to lunch every day to the most "exclusive restaurants" in the city. I'm pretty peeved with Co-worker #9 at the moment.

~I really want to take a day off this week so I can have one more day to just rest because I've been feeling exhausted the past two days like I never have before. However, luncheons and commitments prevent me from this dream. So I'll just have to suck it up and hope Kevin makes dinner every night this week so I can put on my comfies as soon as I walk into the front door and crawl into bed.

~Our Christmas cards came in and they're pretty cute. I just wish Kahlua's eyeballs didn't look so devel-ish in the picture I used. Oh well. If anyone would like a Christmas card from us - and you have a blog - feel free to send me an email at chasersofkaysersblog[at]yahoo[dot]com with a mailing address, and I'd be happy to send you one! The only reason I ask that you have a blog is so that I can make sure you're legit. :)

~Speaking of Christmas cards, what do you all do with the ones you get in the mail? Being as I'm a no-clutter-in-my-house freak, I can't have them on the fridge or just taped to a wall. I'm looking for a cute way to have them easily accessible so I can look through them and see how cute everyone is, but something that is contained and looks neat and clean. Suggestions?

~My heart has been incredibly heavy for this blogger. If you have time, say a little prayer (or two) for her. Again, I don't know her, but just heard about her heartbreaking story through the blog grapevine and I'm sure she could use all the prayers available right now.

~Not sure if I've mentioned this before on here, but I think about having a little baby of our own ALL. THE. TIME! My close friends, family and Kevin know this about me, but I don't think I've fully expressed this desire of mine on this here blog. I love reading blogs about mommies and their kiddos because I love babies and kids! I just cannot wait until I get to (hopefully) experience pregnancy and raising a child with Kevin. I go back and forth with when we'll start trying once we're married. Some days I think we should be married a year before we start trying. Other days I think we should start the night we get married (ha!), other days I think we should start 1/1/2012. There's not a day that goes by that I don't tell Kevin how I want a baby, or what a great dad I think he's going to be. Poor guy, he puts up with a lot from me. Some women don't have the desire to have children - which is completely their choice - but as for me; that desire is there and in full swing. If you haven't already noticed, I'm a planner so no doubt I already have nursery colors, names, furniture, etc. picked out for our future P-nut (get it? Our last name will be "Pino" -- P-nut? Haha!). All in good time though. I know He has a plan...

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Day 20: A Hobby of Mine

Would have to be reading. I thoroughly enjoy reading. I soak up books like nothing else. When I read I also have to read every detail of the book. Some people just skim over certain parts, but I have to read every description about details and experiences in a book. Love reading. So much so that I refuse to convert to reading online books on gadgets like the Kimble or iPad. I like to collect each book I read and keep them on my bookshelf so I can appreciate all that I've read. I also rarely let anyone borrow my books because the few times I have - I never get them back! Reading and books are a precious hobby to me. :)

And they lived happily ever after. The end.

Day 19: A Talent of Mine

I don't really know that I have a talent. There are things that I like to do, but I can't say that I'm talented at them. So I asked Kevin what he thought my talents were, and he said interior decorating and writing. Haha! Who knew?

I do love to decorate. I don't think our house is all that decorated, but I do what I can to make it homey. If we had tons of money - oh boy - I could go crazy with the decorating! But for now our house is a home and I get compliments on the decorating, so I guess that's a talent. Since I started blogging I've also gotten a lot of ideas and inspiration from other blogs, which I've loved! Back when I was in college (which seems like many, many moons ago) I wanted to drop out my first year and go to an art school in San Francisco so I could major in interior decorating. My parents talked me out of that one, which looking back now, was probably a good thing; but it still is kind of a dream of mine.

I also enjoy writing. I liked all my English classes in high school, and creative writing class in college. I also like to edit written work! Granted, my grammar and writing structure is no where near correct on this blog. I over-use the commas and exclamation points! all the time. But I like to write and edit and I think I do a decent job of it.

So I guess those are some talents of mine.

Anyone have any true talents out there?

Day 18: My Wedding

Seeing as I'm newly engaged :) I have been in the process of planning our wedding. Luckily, I got most of what I wanted to get done early on, so we've been able to really enjoy our engagement. We don't have much to really do until March. Huge relief! Here's a run-down of the deal-ee-oh...

Date:
Saturday, August 6, 2011



Location:
Sunset Whitney Country Club

Photographers:
Image Outfitters Photography

Wedding Party:

Bridesmaids...

Maygan (MOH)

Courtney (Kevin's sister, my future SIL)

Carley (cousin)

Michelle (with champagne in hand: my kind of girl!)

Alison (isn't her necklace cute?!)

Breanna

Alana

Groomsmen...

Matt (Best man, Kevin's brother, my future BIL)

Jared (my brother, Kevin's future BIL)

Nate (Kevin's cousin)

Kyle

Brian (I had to do a lot of cropping of this picture so you wouldn't see Kevin's drunk face...eek!)

Antonio (with a cute pup!)

Andre (aka Dre)

Ring Bearer...

Kaleb (Kyle's nephew)

Flower Girl...

Salma (Kevin's 2nd cousin, she's about two years older since this picture was taken)

Colors:

Black, red and black and white damask.

Attire:

An itty, bitty sneak peak at my dress :)

I will also be sporting this beautiful necklace that my Grandma Ruth handed down to me. It's gold (and also needs to be cleaned).

Bridesmaids will be wearing black, strapless dresses with red heels. I don't have a picture of it to share though.



I'm leaving it up to Kevin to pick out the tuxes. That's HUGE for me, seeing as I like to control everything! ;)

Flowers:

Red and white roses

Cake:
Undecided...

Other stuff:

We're going to have a wishing tree instead of a guest book. There will be a sign that says "Advice and Wishes for the Mr. and Mrs."

This might be the centerpiece for each table. I'm still wishy-washy about it though. I haven't decided for sure.


Invitations will look something like this, but with red font instead of the pink.


Favors

And that's pretty much it. Eight months, two days and counting!

Day 17: An Art Piece (catching up)

I'm not really an "artsy" person but there is particular art that I've always adored since I was a little girl. It is the artwork of ballerinas painted by the well-known artist: Edgar Degas.

I was a ballet dancer for 12 years (definitely NOT professional; too short and not skinny enough) and I feel like Degas captured the softness and beauty behind the art that is ballet dancing and dancers.