WILW

What I'm loving Wednesday!

Check out the link up HERE

I'm loving that my sister pulled double duty today in family good deeds: 

1.) Picked up my mom from the airport

2.) Rescued her furbaby niece and nephew (ahem, Maycee and Gunny) from my house while I was at work so they didn't have to be in their kennels all day...like some sort of caged animals right? 

Bonus points for you today Audrey =)

I'm loving that my mom is back in town from her Seattle excursion

I'm loving that today is leap day! 

I love when I label the dogs' food bags to take to grandma's house and they read "Mace" and "Guns"...heheh

I'm loving that my dear friend Kristy and her husband will be in AZ in April...woop woop!

I'm loving this:

 ...And there you have it folks

It's OK Thursday

You know what that means...

It's OK

To turn your frosted mini-wheats right side up in order to see which ones have the most frosting...and eat those first

To put one...or 2 extra shots of espresso in your skinny vanilla latte before your research methods/stats class

To be Republican...that's right, I said it

If your husband thinks your new blog layout is ugly...whatever, he just can't appreciate polka dots and a deep purple like I can

If it looks like you're packing for a weekend getaway when you leave for work and school in the morning...what I can I say, I love me some snacks!

If your Erin Condren Lifeplanner makes your purse heavy...totally worth the sacrifice

If you can't go one blog post without mentioning your Erin Condren Lifeplanner

...Oopsie

To get excited when the Suns win TWO, count 'em TWO games in a row

To cry because you have SO much homework due all at the same time and no time to do it all in

To be a mouth-breather because your allergies have your nose all stuffed up

To day dream about next week being OVER cause that means:

your economics class will be DONE

Research paper will be DONE

 Presentation on said research paper will be DONE

Stats quiz #2 will be DONE

...pray for me =)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Today I'm linking up with Jamie for the first time for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving that pitchers and catchers report for spring training this week. Totes looking forward to the Dbacks season!

I'm loving this Honey Vanilla Chamomile Tea from Celestial Seasonings. So yum and so relaxing!

I'm loving this new link-up =)

I'm loving that my birthday is this weekend...even though I'll be sitting in class all day. Can't win em' all I suppose

I'm loving the new Starbucks that went in down the street from my house that is only a drive-thru and/or patio seating...I've never seen one like that before, but with this beautiful weather we're having, and it's convenient location on my way to work...I'm totally diggin' it. Ask me again when it's 115 degrees outside this summer.

I'm loving the research I'm finding for the humungo paper I have to write by Tuesday...I am, however, not loving actually writing it and having no time to write it in...but I don't think this post is for things we don't like, so I'll stop there

I'm loving that after I filled out my required "plan of study" for grad school this week I realized that I can be done by next Spring. Yay-uh!

  

It's OK Thursday!

Is it Thursday already?!

IT'S OK

To have so many ideas for this link-up throughout the week, and then when you sit down to write them...you forget every single one

To quit your yoga DVD halfway through because Gunther is laying right next to your mat, looking so cute and furry, and keeps sniffing your face in triangle pose, that you finally succumb to the cuteness and play with him instead

To listen to a song on repeat. ...And don't let my husband tell you otherwise.

To believe it was divine intervention that I found a long lost Starbucks gift card in the back of my wallet the same week a new Starbucks opened around the corner from my house...that also happens to be on my way to work. 

Heaven.

To write down unnecessary things in your Erin Condren Life Planner just because you like to open it up and look at all it's pretty-ness.

If your housecleaning takes a back seat to your working, schooling, homeworking...and blogging.

If you have to sing the alphabet to yourself in order to correctly put drugs back on the shelves in your pharmacy

To be 24 years old and still not be able to swallow a pill without gagging

If the only way you can get through 10 hour days at work is to eat your way through it.

True story. 

To geographically choose what establishment you are going to shop at, get a drink from, or get gas at in order to avoid a left turn on your way out

To be afraid of left turns

If the Reese's Easter eggs just came out this week and you've already eaten a whole six-pack...in one sitting.

Don't act like you wouldn't do the same...

What's Ok with you?!

Happy Birthday AZ!

Today is Arizona's birthday! But not just any birthday though, our State turns 100 years old today!...I wonder how many years that is in dog years...

Did you know AZ was the last of the continental United States to be sworn into the Union? Yup, we were the last of the lower 48, just before Alaska and Hawaii. 

AND

Did you know there won't be another centennial birthday for another state for another 47 years when Alaska celebrates theirs?!

What I'm trying to say is...

We're kind of a big deal today. 

I am an Arizona native, born and raised, and pretty proud of it, seeing as how, well, Arizona is pretty dang awesome. 

I root for the Phoenix Suns, the D-backs, and the Sun Devils and I solemnly swear I will never jump on a team bandwagon even if my teams are losing (cough Suns cough cough Sun Devils).

I've lived in Arizona my whole life and even though the summers are pretty long, hot, and painful, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. 

Besides:

I know I know, by the time mid-June rolls around I wanna punch someone every time I hear that!

One year Nate and I went to see Brad Paisley in the summer and he was playing an outdoor amphitheater, he started talking about how hot it was and he goes,

"If I hear 'it's a DRY heat one more time...!!" It was pretty funny! 

 Our state is so scenic and unique, and thanks to my husband, who knows every nook and cranny of these here parts, I've gotten to see some pretty cool spots. 

Where else can you be having lunch on the patio in your shorts and tank top, then drive 3 hours north, make a snow man, then drive back down the mountain and put your shorts back on?!

 See? I told you: pretty dang awesome.

People in California call it the "wild west" in Arizona. I say they're just jealous they can't carry a firearm in order to defend themselves, reserved to them by the 2nd Amendment.

Oops! Did I just make this political?! Totally didn't mean to go there...

Anyway, happy birthday Arizona!!

Meet and Greet Link-Up

Today I decided I would give in and link up with Neely over at A Complete Waste of Makeup who's hosting a get-to-know-you extravaganza...cause let's face it, blog comments and new followers make me feel warm and fuzzy inside =) ...that and plus I just figured out this new "link-up" idea and I've been going a little "link-up" cuh-ray-zee the last few days!...I promise I'll cool it after this one =)

Hi.

My name is Carissa.

Most people call me Rissa.

I'm married to Nathan.

Most people call him Nate.

We have 2 labs named Maycee and Gunther.

We call them a lot of things.

And we hang out here under the sun in AZ!

I was never interested in blogging for a long time because it seemed a little vain to me at first. In fact, between this post and the last Valentines Day link-up I did I'm thinking, "Whoa! Rissa, quit talkin' about yourself so dang much!" I swear, I really do try and avoid that...

Anyway, I got the itch the start a blog after reading a friend of a friend's blog who often wrote about her job as an elementary school teacher and always had really cute and funny stories. So my idea was to have this blog and write about the funny things that come up in the day-to-day, or try and make regular things funny...cause I like funny things.

They make me laugh.

And I think laughing is Ooober fun.

One of the girls in my high school class was from France and she would mix up the meanings of "fun" and "funny." She'd be like, "I rode this roller-coaster last weekend and it was soooo funny!"

...which I thought was funny.

But I digress...

You can read more about Nate and I Here and Here   

He thinks my blogging is silly, but word on the street is...he totally reads it. AND said it was funny. His mom let the cat outa the bag on that one  =)

Boo-ya.

Anyway, as I've been doing all these link-ups and seeing all kinds of other super fun and fancy blogs with super fun and fancy ideas, I thought what the heck, we'll link-up and see if I can't meet some new bloggers and maybe, just maybe, find some new followers! ...Cause I won't even lie, that would make me happy =)

Snapshot Sunday

I've been trying to pay attention to all the fun things other bloggers do to keep things interesting on their blog. One thing I've seen, that I thought was a cute idea was "snapshot Saturdays," used as a week-in-review kind of idea, which I thought was fun, right?! Except if we really want it to be a "week-in-review" shouldn't we do it on Sunday? I dunno, but I decided to go with Sunday anyway. So here we are...

Snapshot Sundays:
My week in review

Erin Condren Life Planner

Happy early birthday to me! I've been eyeing this "Life Planner" I found online for a couple months now, and it finally came this week. Try as I might to organize my life and schedule electronically (via my itouch or blackberry), there's just nothing that compares to a good ol' fashion paper planner to hold in my hands and flip through the pages! This though, is no ordinary planner.

One word:

AMAZEBALLS.

Everything is personalized and customizable. I'll let you check out the awesomeness for yourself here at their website. You too, shall soon become just as obsessed as I am.

Oh and I wanted to give a shout out to this company because when my mom first ordered it for me, Fedex said they delivered it but it was nowhere to be found at her house. She contacted Erin Condren to let them know what happened and their customer service replied to her inquiry in a matter of hours, offered to reprint it at no extra charge and they had it over-nighted and in my hot little hands the next day! I was so impressed with their willingness to help us, and made everything so quick and easy. My mom promised them we would put their EXCELLENT customer service skills and TOTALLY AWESOME products on blast for them. So you should totally go check out the website! 

Coupons

Fed my new, sort of addicting hobby I've started: couponing

Guns

Nate and I took my parents shooting for the first time. They enjoyed learning, Nate enjoyed teaching, it was a win/win.

Wrestlemania

And last but certainly not least, I had to remind Nathan that I can totally lay the smack-down on him at any point in time, and that he better be ready for it.

Alright, that's probably (surely) a lie, but that's what I like to tell myself.

Ready for a new week?!

...Me neither, but what say do we really have in the matter, right?!

Soldiers and Jesus

I heard this song this week and was so touched by it, I wanted to share it with everyone...

Grand-daddy came home in a B-52
In a pine box covered in red, white and blue
He was one of the brave and the proud and the few

Twenty-one guns helped us say goodbye
I stood there in silence tryin' hard not to cry
As the preacher, he quoted, lines written in red
And then he folded his bible and in a broken voice, he said

There's only two people who's ever died for me
Laid down their lives just so I could be free
They both went through hell, bared crosses and shells
And both got back up again after they fell

They never picked the fight, but they're there
To pick up the pieces

God only knows who we'd be without soldiers and Jesus

It seems like the news loves to run 'em both down
But whenever we need 'em, they're always around
So don't hand me a party's political views
'Cause they're a left side, a right side, and then there's the truth

There's only two people who's ever died for me
Laid down their lives just so I could be free
They both went through hell, bared crosses and shells
And both got back up again after they fell

They never picked the fight, but they're there
To pick up the pieces
God only knows who we'd be without soldiers and Jesus

To me, they're both heroes for the path that they chose
'Cause one fights for my life, one fights for my soul

There's only two people who's every died for me
Laid down their lives just so I could be free
They both went through hell, beared crosses and shells
And both got back up again after they fell

They never picked the fight, but they're there
To pick up the pieces

God only knows where we'd be without soldiers and Jesus
Soldiers and Jesus

"Soldiers and Jesus"-James Otto

Valentines Link-up!

So I was tagged by none other than Tyah Haro for this lovely Valentines day link-up post! You can click on the button above for the questions and original post!

So here goes nothin'!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

Including our dating years, our jr. high every-other-week-breakups, and all the "on and off" nonsense, a grand total of 12 years!...I've had a crush on him since I was 9...what can I say, I'm a one-man kinda woman!

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

We met in 4th grade when we went to the same church. I was bummed when he got kicked out of our Sunday school class for bad behavior and had to go the 5th and 6th graders class. After all, Sundays were the only day I had to admire him (and his super slick bowl-cut) from afar =)

We then went to school together once we got into Jr. High, and I got to see him almost EVERY day! Exciting right?! We started "going out" in 8th grade when we were passing notes in church, and just haven't been able to get rid of each other since!  

3. If married, how long have you been married? 

This April we'll have been married for 3 years! Whoa! Time flies when you're having fun eh?!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? 

We got married in Gilbert, AZ at the Shenandoah Mill...and it was pretty awesome if I do say so myself! It was a good-size wedding, we ended up with slightly over 150 people.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!Nate's nickname is Suppy, and sometimes I like to throw in a little "Nay-Nay" to shake things up a bit.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

Only 3??

1.) His sense of humor

2.) His integrity

3.) His confidence...which might sound like a weird quality to like in someone, but since I am lacking (to say the least) in the self-confidence department, I wish I could be more like him. He is unapologetic for what he believes in, doesn't let anyone push him around, doesn't take things personally, doesn't second guess himself, doesn't worry about anything, and is afraid of nothing. Pretty BA right?! 

7. Tell us how he proposed?

Nate proposed on January 17, 2008, the day he got home for his 2 week leave from Iraq. After everyone left that night after visiting and hanging out we went into his room and he asked if I wanted to see some pictures from Iraq. I said yes and started looking through a large stack of pictures from his deployment so far. As I got towards the bottom of the stack there were pictures of him kneeling next to words written in the dust, on the floor of Saddam Hussein's mother's palace that read things like "Hi Rissa!," "Miss you!," and "Love you!." Then the very last picture, in the same fashion, read "Will you Marry Me?" Then by the time I looked up at him he had pulled out the ring and was down on one knee!...You know what's funny? Is it didn't really register in my head what exactly was happening, and I thought maybe that photo wasn't supposed to be there, or I wasn't supposed to have seen it yet or something, so instead of "Yes!" being the first words out of my mouth, instead I go, "Is this for right now??" ...He laughed at me.

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

Neither, cause I'm not really into the cliche Valentines day stuff. Last year he made me a personalized picture frame and then HE cooked dinner...and that was good for me!

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

If I had convenient access to a beach all the time, I would totally be down for that! But since that's not feasible in Arizona, I would probably say the latter: pop in a movie and relax on the couch...except instead of watching a movie, we play with our dogs. Cause they're funny. And Cute. And when Nate talks for them, he makes them say really funny things. And it's funny. 

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

While there are tons of places we would love to go, and things we'd love to do, one that tops our list right now is to spend a summer in Alaska. ...In a big cabin on a lakeshore...one that has our own personal dock! And then spend the summer playin' around in Alaska and doing all the awesome things you can do there.  

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

Nothing really...I have class Tuesday nights. Boooooo

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

Yes. Cannon's version of the underwater camera, unlimited shopping funds, a trip to Disneyland, and the above-mentioned trip to Alaska. 

Just kidding.

I'm not that greedy.

But I would totally take all of the above he wanted to get them for me anyway =)

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Oooo just 1??

Let the other person be just who they are, and then LOVE them for it.

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

It's OK Thursday

So while I was out blog stalking today, I landed on this blog that I really can't even remember how I got there, but nonetheless, was freakin' adorable! She has this "It's Ok Thursdays" thing that she does where on Thursdays she writes about anything that's "OK" for her, for the day, or anything fun, random, and quirky!
"What a fun Idea!!" You say?!My thoughts exactly.
So you can check out her blog by clicking on the button above (at least I hope I linked it right!), and here goes my very first "It's OK Thursday!"
 It's OK...
 To give up on trying to keep your husband's side of the room clean...ain't never gonna happen!
For me to talk crap about the Suns and how much they lose this season...cause I'm a Suns fan...but any other non-Suns fans...don't even think about it.Curse my love and devotion for those Phoenix Suns...
To blog before you homework
To house clean before you homework
To be OK with a little dog hair in your bed if it means quality snuggle time with the pooches
To count anything with dark chocolate in it as "healthy"
To check and see if there's a burglar hiding behind your shower curtain before you use the bathroomThat one's for you Charlene, I know we can't be the only ones! =)
To refuse to go grocery shopping by yourself...cause let's face it...the grocery store is scary
What's ok with you today?!

Regression Assumptions

Monday nights is my stats/research methods class. 

It's pretty much a doozy. 

Every time I go to this class I start to get irritated, because last I checked, I'm not a math major and by the end of class my notes look like this:

  What the heck?! 

Every Monday night I ask myself, why is this important for a degree in public administration??...don't answer that, I know the real answer, but that's not the answer, nor the sympathy I'm looking for.  

BUT on the bright side of things, we totally learned something fun today:

HOMOSKEDASTICITY

I know right?! My spell check was like, "whoa what the effff??"

Now, sitting in a statistics/research methods class for 3 hours is terribly long, boring, confusing, and...confusing. So you can imagine my delight when our professor busted out this bad boy.

 I learned that Homoskedasticity occurs when all random variables in a sequence or vector have the same finite variance, or when the variance of error term is equal to all observations, blah blah blah... which isn't nearly as fun and exciting as just saying the word!

 But wait! It gets better!

HOMOSKEDASTICITY has a counterpart.

 wait for it...

HETEROSKEDASTICITY

Which would be the opposite, or absence of homoskedasticity...don't ask me what that looks like or implies, I haven't really thought about it yet...homework isn't due until next week and I'm having too much fun just saying it the word. 

See, regression assumptions have a sexual preference too!