Update: Proving My Mother Wrong, Pt. 2

In an effort to make sure that my mother is constantly reminded that I am, in fact, social and to prove to anyone else that may be inclined to believe her...this is what I have been up to lately.

Middle of June - Work Picnic

I have worked for the same law firm for almost 3 years now.  We have an annual tradition of a summer picnic for the employees and their families.  This year, we had a department volleyball game.  Anyone in the department was invited to play for that team.  Mind you, I haven't played volleyball since 9th grade, but hey, I miss playing and I always had fun.

This picture makes me laugh because Bailey looks pissed, but she really wasn't.

I had these NASTY bruises on my arm for a week after the picnic.  Oh, and did I mention it was for NOTHING!!  We lost because our new claims team cheated.  And stacked the team.  No, I'm not bitter we lost out on a pizza party or anything...

Orem Summerfest

Every June, Orem City puts on Summerfest.  There's a carnival in the park, a boutique of sorts set up with all sorts of vendors setting up booths, fireworks and a parade.  I went with my friend Jenny from work.  I should NEVER go anywhere with her when I have money to spend.  Although I am usually pretty thrifty, it manages to go right out the window when I am with her.  She has no problem spending my money for me.  Because of that, this is what I walked away with...

It's beautiful.  It's purple, it's shiny, it's zebra print (and fuzzy!) and you'd be hard pressed to find another purse that screamed Monica quite so loud.

Strawberry Days

Karina, Leah and I headed off for Strawberry Days, which is Pleasant Grove's summer city fest thing.  Not much to do, and not-so-impressive boutique wise.  We walked around for 20 or so minutes and then got some strawberries and cream.  YUM!  And I don't even like strawberries all that much. 

Deeeeefreakinglicious!!!!

More to come, too much to post, too little time!!

Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda

FIVE things I SHOULD have done instead of coming home and facebook stalking/watching The Voice:

1.  Gone to the gym.
2.  Took a nap.
3.  Laundry.
4.  Ran the dishwasher (instead of looking at it as if it was growing legs).
5.  Cleaned the kitchen.

Oh well, tomorrow's another day.

Project: Smashbook

The following conversation with my mother took place last weekend:

Mom:  Where are you?  It's loud.
Me:  Five Guys.
Mom:  By yourself?!
Me:  Yes, mother.  I'm by myself. (extremely sarcastic)
Mom:  Geez, Monica.  You need to get out more.  Get some friends.
Me:  Mom!  I was joking!  I'm with Leah and Karina!  You believed me?
Mom:  Well, you're not social.  You're certainly not my daughter.

Following this conversation, I bought a movie ticket to go see Super 8 (which was excellent, by the way) and then went to go kill time at the mall.  I wandered into Archiver's, one of my fav scrapbook stores, looking for a new project.  This is what I found. 

This, my dear blogging friends, is a Smashbook.

It's a scrapbook.  It's a junk drawer.  It's a journal.  It's AMAZING.  It has patterned paper inside, includes a pen/glue stick and runs you $15.  It has all sorts of add ons that run for about $2.50 each.  It's my summer project to prove my mother wrong. 

As you can see, I've already gotten some add-ons.

They also have all sorts of ideas here.

I talked Leah and Karina into doing this with me this summer, which I'm hoping will keep me motivated to do more and really enjoy my summer.  I've already done my first page.

Nothing too fancy, but with my Smashbook, it doesn't have to be. 

Take that, momma.  :)

Things I Miss...

I have been really bad in the blogging world now that my challenge has ended.  I will try my best to be better. 

That being said, I decided today that I was a little homesick, so to make myself feel better, I made a list of things I would do if I was home.

1.  Go shopping with mom.  She misses having girls at home, so when we are home, it is usually a shopping free-for-all.
2.  Get a large order of Space Aliens fries with cajun ranch.  OK, let's be serious.  I'd get like 5 large orders and it still wouldn't be enough.
3.  Get a pumpkin muffin from Perkins.
4.  Take Sam out for some quality brother-sister time.  Followed by a Monopoly marathon in which we play every single version of Monopoly he owns.  At least until he gets mad at me and my mom sends him to his room for being rude to me.  Haha.
5.  Go to a movie with Ammon.  I was able to get a lot closer to Ammon while he was out here for school this year and knowing he will be leaving for 2 years in about 2 months makes me miss him a lot already  :(
6.  Cuddle with mom watching TV in her room until my dad gets home from work and then has to go sleep on the couch because I fell asleep in his spot. 
7.  Play with the daycare kids.  I love them to death and they are so much fun!
8.  Waffle cone Wednesday at TCBY.  I hope they still do that.  I lived for that in high school.  Yum.

Who said I wasn't handy with power tools?

As many of you know (or maybe you don't, so now you do), I recently moved into a fabulous condo.  Doing so meant that for the first time in my life, I actually had to buy furniture.  I've always lived in student housing and always had completely furnished apartments.  So this was a new experience for me.  I decided first and foremost, I needed a bed.

I went to Ikea.  Also a first time experience.  LOVE that place.  I dragged Chris and my poor roommates along to decide on the bed.  Don't worry, we were there for at least 2 hours while I laid on just about every mattress and examined every bed frame trying to find the best bang for my buck.

Well, I found my bed.  But putting it together required me to read instructions to which there were no words, just pictures.  Hm.  Also, it required a power drill, which I OBVIOUSLY didn't have.  Good thing I have Ashlee (one of my co-workers), who just finished building a house (with her bare hands...she is my hero) with her husband.  She has everything you could ever need.

So, with Karina's help (though I am proud to say it was mostly me on my own) I put together my bed.  Friends, be proud.  I am growing up and putting the furniture I bought with my own money together.

And that, is how you put a bed together.  I rock.

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!!!

Day 28 - Your favorite movie.

Dang.  I have so many favorite movies.  Right now, my fav movie is Easy A.  I laugh hysterically everytime I watch it. 

Buuuut...my favorite movie of all time is.....

I used to watch this or Sound of Music almost every Sunday after church.  My mom and sister and I loved the line "Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!"  We would quote it all the time.  As I've said before, musicals are my favorite, but this one is probably the best. 

Day 29 - Something you could never get tired of doing.

Easy.  Going to craft/scrapbook stores.  Or a bookstore/library.  I could spend all day in those places.  I usually try to go those types of stores on my own because I bore my companions before we've been there 5 minutes.  I can't help it.  I have to look at everything.  I get so excited when I leave a store after a big purchase.  It's my drug.  One of my favorite stores...

I'm so excited they have 2 in Utah Valley now.  I used to have to wait until I went home to go and stock up.  Hobby Lobby lets my inner dork out.

Changes

Day 27 - A photo of you from a year ago, and how have you changed since then.

Well, 2010 was not a well-documented year for me picture-wise, so I struggled to find one from about a year ago.  Good thing Leah is better at picture taking than I am.  Here, I was really, really excited to go to my fav scrapbook store and about my double sided paper.  Yes, I am a HUGE dork. 

How I've changed...
-I got glasses for the first time in my 24 years of life. 
-I moved out of my shoebox of an apartment into a condo with roommates I actually like.
-I got a promotion and one of 3, very nice raises at work.
-I finally decided what I want to do with my life and decided to go back to school.
-I've payed off 3/4 of my debt that I managed to incur my first 2.5 years of school (not including student loans).
-I revisited my love of reading and purchased many (maybe too many) books and have filled my bookshelf.  Almost done with everything I bought.

Pretty good changes in a year.  Thinking about it, I've accomplished a lot and am grateful for the changes in my life that have led me to where I am now.