Crazy Eyes Maycee

A long time ago I tried watching Orange is the new Black right? I got a couple episodes in until one ended with a character named Crazy Eyes peeing on the floor. On purpose. After that I just was like nope sorry, this isn't for me. Not my kinda tv. But the nickname 'Crazy Eyes' stood out to me because it reminded me of my dog Maycee. I love her so much and she's so cute and so pretty, and so good but bless her heart, she's just not that photogenic. She has crazy eyes in photos, guys. And sometimes you just never know what kind of eyes you're gonna get.

Firstly, Maycee's stank-eye is the one you'll (or mostly me) see most. This is her absolute go to. Ask her to move out of the way so you can get by? Stank eye. Ask her to get off the bed? Stank eye. Ask her to lay down before you feed her? Stank eye. She's like a perpetual teenager that's pissed off whenever you tell her to do something.

"Serving face" is a thing these days right? Homegirl serves an awful lotta face.

My uncle told me once after he received our Christmas card, that my dog "looked like a serial killer."

I meeeaaaaannnn, maybe maybe not? ...She just has really intense eyes, ok? And perhaps that intensity can be mistaken for pre-meditated murder. Potato Po-tah-to.

Maycee also has hunting eyes. These are the eyes she makes when she's ready to go fetch something dead falling from the sky (Birds. They're usually birds, don't get crazy).

There's also her post-hunting eyes - the kind of eyes that beam with satisfaction because she just fetched something dead falling from the sky (again, typically birds. Don't get crazy).

She also has these, "I'm over this" eyes which typically occur any time I try to snuggle, love, or take a picture of her.

"Can you quit taking pictures and throw my damn ball pls thx"

"Make it stop. Please make it stop"

Also can't forget the begging eyes...

Begging eyes usually make their appearance every morning between the hours of 6 and 8, or in the evenings between the hours of like 5 and 7. Or when you're eating your breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Snack time usually too she hangs around. So like, any time of the day really.

She makes her happy eyes when she's got her face out the window with a cool breeze blowing...

Or when she's smelling all the smells a hiking trail has to offer:

No matter the type of crazy eyes Maycee might be serving you, one thing's for sure -  they're always gonna be intense. But that's why we love her. She's an intense betch.

T is for Townsend Turns Six

You guys, can we just take a moment and wish my blog a happy birthday? Because on this day, SIX YEARS ago, T is for Townsend was born. It made its entrance into the world weighing no pounds and no ounces, and measured in at a whopping 13 inches...you know, the size of that old white MacBook. I have no birth certificate but check out my very first blog post ever here. It's kind of embarrassing because let's face it, our writing styles change over the course of six years. And so do some our likes and dislikes, and I feel like my early posts were super cheesy. I think I sometimes even used "hubs" to refer to my husband. How embarrassing.

But nonetheless, I've never gone back and edited or deleted any old posts. I kind of like having them as a memento. A lot happens over the course of six years - both in real life years and in blog years. Some people start new blogs because their old blogs didn't reflect their "personal growth" over time. Some blogs get new titles and new layouts, and so on. I've had my share of design changes but I have to say, I've never felt compelled to start over. I haven't always been consistent in coming to this space and posting regularly, but I've never gotten the urge to create a new space. Or a new name, or new content. T is for Townsend has sort of been the same since I started this thing six years ago: rambling on about the nonsense that pops into my head. I dunno if that's good or bad now that I type that out...

But anyway, let's reminisce shall we? Cause like I said, a lot happens in six blog years.

Firstly, my favorite thing about the blog world has always been meeting new people...which is super cliche but really, if you look hard enough, there's cool people on the internet. I flew out to Florida to meet one of them once, and we spent the weekend at Harry Potter World. Read about it here and here.

I also met two of my best friends through blogging. Read about our awesome daily convos here. I've seen both of them get married and they watched me turn 30, and it's so fun going through life with friends you met on the internet.

When I first started this blog I was deep in the throws of grad school and interning and working full time. Now I just work full time so that I can pay the government back for the grad school thing. Yolo, worth it.

Nate was working in a warehouse back in 2011 and now he's been a cop for almost two years, patrolling the mean streets of Chandler. 

I even got into my first car accident over the course of T is for Townsend's existence. Read about it here.

Although for as much as things can change in six years, a lot can also stay the same. Like me and Gunther, for example. Read about that here. We're basically the same person.

I still get mad when the wifi is slow, or my iPhone dies too quickly. First world problems, man. Read about them here. I'll always eat any candy in the house way faster than Nate and then he gets upset and then he straight up buys candy and hides it from me. Read about that here. Or my favorite post I ever wrote for T is for Townsend that gets recycled every year - read it here.

Six years is a long time in blog years to keep a thing going. Hopefully we'll keep this thing going for another six...or at least until I'm over it. But I'm not over it yet so we'll keep on writing! Happy birthday you old blog, you!

Turning 30 - Things I Can't Change About Myself

You guys - I come to you, writing this post as a new woman. I've entered a new phase in my life. A new decade. I'm thirty now. Like, I'm not in my 20s anymore. Am I still considered young, or no? Either way, I feel like a new person. A more mature, cultured, person. ...That's a lie I don't feel any different actually, but I did turn thirty last month (I know, I'm always late to the blog game these days). Maybe now I'll quit getting carded at the grocery store when I buy wine? That's the kind of earth-moving, paradigm-altering stuff that happens when you turn thirty right?! Probably not...but maybe, if I quit going wearing Taylor Swift concert tees and no makeup?!

So for my 30th birthday I decided to have a 90s-themed party - because what's better than reminiscing about the good 'ol days as you turn another year older right?!

We all dressed in our 90s best and celebrated my 30th year...and the 90s! We played MASH (complete with jelly roll pens), drank Hi-C's, enjoyed some Dunkaroo dip, wore slap bracelets, and jammed out to the best 90s playlist Spotify had to offer (online music streaming is so not 90s but yolo I was too lazy to make my own playlist).

Source

That's Shannon Miller in the middle there - fresh of her gymnastics gold medal from the 1996 Olympic games. ....my friends really commit when it comes to theme parties, you guys.

I don't know what it is about throwback stuff, but it just puts everyone in a good mood right?! So thanks to all my fraaaans and family that came and humored me and partied like it was 1999! Sidenote - please just look at my jelly's in this picture. JELLY'S, guys (Also: Charlene's pants).

What's more 90s than wearing plastic shoes and having your feet sweat so much that you can barely walk because you're slipping and sliding on all that foot sweat?! ...or maybe that was just my problem, I dunno...

I kind of feel like at 30, that's the point in your life where parts of your personality just aren't changing. Like, if they haven't changed by now, they're part of the essence of you - woven into the very fabric of your being. And I got to thinking, there's some things about me that I should just stop trying to change because it's not gonna happen - they're woven into the very fabric of my being. ....sounds dramatic right? So here's six things about myself that I'm realizing aren't going to change because I'm 30 now...

1.) I'm not a hugger. I mean, I'll hug you because that seems to be what's socially appropriate and I realize other people are huggers, but I might unintentionally make it awkward because I probably won't go in to hug you unless you come in to hug me first and at that point it might be like a weird, uhh is she gonna hug or is this like, a side hug situation or oops we just turned our faces to the same side and almost kissed, I dunno what's going on and I'm really sorry but I'm just not a hugger. Like it won't hurt my feelings if you don't hug me. Unless you're Nate - you have to hug me cause you're my husband and it will hurt my feelings if you don't hug me. Soooo, you're not off the hook pal.

2.) I'm an introvert. I love my friends and I love my family, but when I'm in social situations, I very much feel like I have to be "on," and being "on," takes energy for me. I need my alone time to recharge and be "off" and drink wine with my dogs (they don't drink the wine, to be clear - just me. Don't send Peta after me pls thx). I had a conversation with my father-in-law about this one night when I was over at their house and he goes, "so it's work for you to be over here right now?" and I said "no, cause I don't have to pretend to like you people"...and we laughed and laughed.

3.) I'm a procrastinator. No getting around this one. Nothing's getting done until it absolutely has to be.

4.) I'm a nail-biter. I know, it's a gross a habit and don't worry Nate reminds me of this every day (literally, he calls me gross), but it's just a habit that I can't break. I wish I could have pretty Instagram-worthy painted nails that I could take pretty pictures with, clutching the latest spring, fashion-y, trendy color in my hand but alas, it's just not in the cards for me. My finger nails look like that of a 12 year old boy.

5.) I can't take two sound streams at one time. For example - if we're watching tv and Nate starts watching a Youtube video I have to mute the tv because I can't take the two different noise sources. Either that or give Nate the stink-eye until he puts his headphones on or goes to the other room to watch his Youtube video. One or the other. If you start talking to me while the people sitting right next to us are also carrying on a conversation, it's gonna be hard for me to focus and I'm probably gonna politely ask you to repeat things over and over.

6.) I snooze my alarms. I cannot, I repeat cannot, jump outta bed up and at 'em in the morning at the sound of one alarm. This is problematic because Nate and I are on opposite sleep schedules and he in fact, jumps out of bed up and at 'em at the sound of one alarm...which unfortunately is usually mine and then he's all awake and can't go back to sleep but really just went to bed like four hours ago and you see how this is not a good thing right? I feel bad, I really do but it's physically impossible for me to wake up with one single alarm. That's just how God made me...

So, let my 30th year commence!! ...I mean, it already has for like the last three weeks but for the sake of this blog post let's pretend I'm posting on time...