Facts: All Sorts of Updated Goodness

Fact: today was National Hug Day, or something like that.

Fact: that has nothing to do with what I'm going to blog about.

Fact: I'm about to give you all kinds of updates on le blog.

I have both good news and bad news to catch you all up on. Let's start with the good news, because if we were going alphabetically we should start with bad news since B comes before G, but I'm feeling rebellious right now and I feel like starting off in the middle of the alphabet with G, the good news.

Good news:

I put my Valentine's Day decorations up:

In case anyone's keeping track, it's not yet February, which means I'm ahead of schedule, which also means pigs must be flying somewhere.

-I finally met...er virtually, that is, my blog bff Mosby from Simplicity is Key!

It was the first time I've video chatted with anyone from blogland. 

It's true, Mosby stole my blog-friend-turned-video-chatting-friend V Card. 

She's a frisky lady, what can I say? ;)

I can also now confidently say that I'm not being catfished, and Mosby's not a creepy, wrinkled old man whose real name is Arthur and has a pet ferret. 

So that was good news.

I hate talking on the phone because I'm always terrified of awkward silences, so the idea of video chatting had me a little nervous, I can't lie. Cause if you run into an awkward silence while you're video chatting, you're just sitting there looking at each other which just makes for even more awkwardness, and ain't nobody got time for that. Fortunately we didn't have such an encounter and she is just as fabulous via talking to each other as she is texting each other! I got to meet her little kitty Brutus and she got to meet Maycee and Gunther and the whole thing just went smashingly! 

Can't wait to do it again! 

-I got my learn on last weekend, and was able to tour the new Mormon Temple being built here in AZ with a couple of our best friends

I don't know much about Temple building in the LDS faith so it was a really neat learning experience, and the inside of it is was so grand, and elaborate. It was pretty cool. 

-Nate and I went bird hunting, and while we didn't kill any quail, I did think of this awesome hashtag: #allfailnoquail. Cause nobody killed any quails, so everyone failed, no quail...it's probably not a good sign if you have to explain your hashtags right??

Also, if you're on the east coast right now, buried under two feet of snow, you can't be mad at me for what you're about to see ok?

And don't worry, you can rub it in my face this summer when you're outdoors gallivanting around enjoying yourself and I'm laying inside on my tile floor with no clothes on trying to cool down from the 120 heat. So it's fair. 

And now for the Bad news:

This happened:

You guessed it, another car accident. For those of you keeping track, that's two car accidents in four months, and I've only had my car back since October, the last time it was repaired from my accident. Nate and I were driving home from work and the guy behind us wasn't paying attention when traffic slowed down, and plowed into us at 50-60mph. 

Remember when I told you about the last accident I was in, and how it wasn't my fault, but rather my alter ego?? I've changed my mind. It's this car.

It's bad ju ju.

I go my whole life, 26 years with no accidents, no tickets, nothing, then all of a sudden I buy this car and bam - two accidents in four months. I'm not happy.

But I am happy about the fact that both you, the reader, and this blog are now up to date. It's like that feeling you get when you clear all your notifications off your phone, and get rid of all those red bubbles that drive you crazy telling you how many emails you have to read...just me??

And on that note, I will bid you all adieu....

2013 Year in Review

*disclaimer: for all you non-bloggy folk, the words in pink provide a link where you can find the original blog post

I realize you probably rolled your eyes at the mere title of this post, seeing as how every single one of your social media news feeds is probably inundated with some variation of a 'year in review' post but what kind of a blogger would I be if I didn't do one myself??...Not one of the cool ones that's for sure.

It's actually times like these when I'm really happy I have a blog, because I can literally go read about my entire year... which is really helpful when all the years start blending together and you can't really remember what happened in what year. 

Is it just me or does January 2013 seem like a loooooong time ago?? 

It does, but per the above paragraph, thanks to my blog, I know that it got really really cold last January. Like, 29 degrees, colder-than-Alaska cold. And that's cold for Arizona folk. I also know that my husband killed a Javelina on the very first day of 2013

...and then skinned it in our front yard. We never got any nasty grams from the HOA so it appears none of our neighbors lost their cookies over it.

In February I tried my own hand at Javelina hunting, and since I camp up empty, I just talked about  my outfit instead. Another Valentine's Day also came and went and I reflected on things that have (or haven't) changed between Nate and I.

March came along and Google tried to pull a fast one on me and deleted my blog. And then when it came back I blogged about how I almost lost my blog...with clever Gloria Gaynor references laced throughout. More importantly, my precious little niece Miley was born in March.

  ...She came in like a wrecking ball.

So sorry. Couldn't resist.

And then there's this picture that's not from March but it just melts my heart, because Miley is so dang cute, and her and uncle Nay Nay together are even cuter.

In other political news, Rand Paul staged a good 'ol fashioned filibuster in the Senate in March, and I wrote about what I would talk about if I had my own personal filibuster. 

In April Nate and I celebrated four years of being married by taking a trip to New Mexico to see George Strait in concert on his farewell tour. I also had Nate take over my blog for the first time. That was fun. Oh and I graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry.

Boom.

In May I had another graduation of sorts, my Master's Degree. No big deal.

I also enjoyed another weekend in the vineyards wine tasting in southern AZ, threw a surprise bridal shower for my cousin-in-law, and had to say goodbye to my work BFF.

I kicked off summer by hanging out with Taylor Swift in Glendale, and camping at Bear Canyon Lake. 

Nate also helped me realize how much Gunther and I are the same. Speaking of Gunther, the dogs took over my blog for the first time in June too. They're a hoot.

July brought with it another fantastic 4th of July complete with sparklers and a new NRA shirt. I also dragged Nate to a baseball game and we waited in the 100+ degree heat for a free t-shirt. He was pretty happy about that...not. We went to California to watch my cousin get married, took our annual hike to Kinder Creek, and I wrote more about my dogs and things they never think about.

In August I went on my first archery deer hunt, enjoyed shark week, and came to terms with everyday decisions I'm really bad at making. 

...Newsflash: it's January and I'm not any better at making said decisions.

I welcomed September with Brian Littrel and the Backstreet Boys and discovered a few Backstreet solutions. I also finally got the nerve to ask a few questions I was too afraid to before. I gave aerial yoga a try, threw a few first world fits, and got into my first car accident.

September was busy.

In October I met Luis Gonzalez and took a vacation to Dallas...that the government ruined.

We still managed to have fun though...cause, duh, we always do.

We dressed the dogs in Halloween costumes too, cause duh, we always do.

November came along and I recycled my favorite post I've ever written about my favorite veteran for the 2nd year in a row. I wrote about 7 things I won't blog about, and went on my first rifle deer hunt.

Arizona State University beat, ahem, that other team down south...

...beat 'em good.

...and won a PAC-12 south title

It was a good year to be a Sun Devil.

It's always a good year to be a Sun Devil.

Before we knew it December was here and the holidays were in full swing. We took Christmas photos, went to the Princess for ice skating, and cut down our own Christmas tree. We laid low and spent Christmas day together, and I finally watched The Christmas Story. Or is it A Christmas Story?

Aaaaand that might be a new record for the longest everrrrr it's taken to put together a blog post.

But you were worth it, 2013.

Cheers to 2014!

December Rewind Part Deux

In an effort to knock out as much of December 2013 as I can before 2014 arrives, I give you:

...Part deux (that's "two" for all you non french speakers out there)

Check out Part Un here

One of the most feverish debates of the holiday season is your Christmas tree:

Real or fake?

In the Townsend household it's really not a debate. Real tree's the way to be.

All day errry day. If it were up to Nate however, it'd be a fake tree. ...Good thing it's not up to him. We took it a step further this year and instead of opting for just a real tree, we (and when I say "we" I really mean me) decided to actually go cut one down from the forest.

I dubbed it:

Operation Townsend Tree Acquisition

In order to successfully complete this mission you'll need a few items:

1.) Security clearance from the government
i.e. a permit from the Forest Service

2.) A topography report
i.e. a map detailing where Christmas tree cutting is permitted
...provided by yours truly, the Forest Service 

3.) Special intelligence
i.e. what species of trees are permitted to be taken

4.) Dogs, to track the scent of your desired Christmas tree

Just kidding, I don't think that's really a thing.

We just brought ours so they could have a fun day. 

After walking...and walking...and walking, and seeing nothing but Ponderosa Pines, we finally stumbled on this beaut of a Spruce tree. Seemingly the only one in the entire Sitgreaves National Forest.

And since Ponderosa's aren't very Christmas tree-like, we didn't hesitate in taking the axe to the Spruce.
And when I saw "we" I really mean Nate.
And when I say axe I really mean hand saw.
Cause we...er Nate, was sans power tools.

If you looked up the word "manly" in the dictionary, you'd see a picture of Nate cutting down a tree in the Forest and hauling it out on his shoulder.
Kind of like you see above.

Manly men for the win.

Anywho, to make a long story short, you saw the before, now here's the after:

It's crooked, and really bushy on the bottom, and too big for our living room, but I don't even care cause we searched, and chopped, and transported it all by ourselves.
And when I say "ourselves" I really mean mostly Nate.
I mean, I helped with the searching, but he did all the chopping...and all the other hard work involved.

Real trees for the win.

Operation Townsend Tree Acquisition was a success.

December Rewind Part Un

Hey guys.

It's me. Carissa.

You may not remember me, since I basically haven't been around for the whole month of December.

...And on that note, I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your guys' well wishes and support on my last post (technically I guess it'd be the post before last, but who's really counting?)

The blogging community and blog friends are some of the best support and encouragement a girl can find, am I right?! So thank you to everyone who reached out, 

it really makes me feel nice and warm and fuzzy inside (insert smiley face emoji with hearts in its eyes here).

Sometimes crappy things happen and all your bloggy ju-ju is gone, and then sometimes you have meaningful conversations with the right people and you feel better and you feel things are moving forward, and suddenly you also feel your bloggy ju-ju start to come back. 

And that's where I'm at.

That said, I'm going to try and cram a months worth of action into a couple days since the new year is right around the corner (say whaaaat?!).

Ladies and gentleman, I bring you:

...Part Un (that's "one" for all you non french speakers out there)

Earlier in the month my parents, and Nate and I went to the Scottsdale Princess Resort for their annual Christmas at the Princess celebrations. It was lovely, and beautiful, and Christmas-y, and I for one, enjoyed pretending like I'm rich enough to hang out at the Princess on the reg.

Maybe someday.

We went for the ice skating since, last year we tried out the rink at City Skate in downtown Phoenix and wanted a change of scenery this year.

We got both a change of scenery and a change of heart in that my mom decided she would actually try ice skating this year.

Breaking news: she survived!

Granted, she clung to the railing for a good part of the night, but this Michigander sure got the hang of it by the end of the night.

In fact, we voted, and by unanimous decision (well except for my dad), determined that she was actually better than my dad, who skated last year.

He'll probably actually disagree with that, but he paid for dinner so we didn't protest too much.

Speaking of dinner...

after we finished ice skating we enjoyed some Mexican food (and drink(s)!) outside at one of the resort restaurants with our own fire pit thing-y with marbles instead of charcoal...or whatever else you use for a contained fire.

You know things are getting fancy when your fire has marbles in it. 

That, and when your dinner comes it's the size of an appetizer.

Why, the more expensive the restaurant the more chincy (sp?) the portions??

Me no likey.

...the portions, not the food. Or drinks. Me likey the drinks.

After dinner we walked around the resort and looked at all their Christmas lights on display, watched a humongous, flashing, musical Christmas tree light up to Christmas music, and enjoyed a few 

more cocktails.

Or hot chocolate and Bailey's.

Or both.  

After we finished enjoying all the Christmas-y goodness of the resort we stopped and looked at Christmas lights on the way home...of which I only took one picture:

Buuuut I'm pretty sure that's the only picture we need right??

I have Christmas tree hunting, Christmas day, and other miscellaneous December-ness coming, so don't touch that remote!

...kidding, this isn't television. Or a cheesy 90's infomercial. 

If I was really concerned I suppose I could say, don't touch that mouse! Or track pad! 

But I'm really not that concerned.

This entire paragraph really, was uncalled for.

Sometimes I have a hard time ending blog posts, and I feel like that's becoming obvious right now.

Sooooo, bye!