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!

Weather

Which of these does not belong?

How about this one?

This one?

I'll give you a hint...it's the white stuff.

Cause that white stuff is snow.

And this picture was taken in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Today.

And I'm gonna go out on a limb here when I say it doesn't usually snow in the Phoenix Metro area.

Like, ever.

So while this was happening in Scottsdale and other parts of the Phoenix Metro area today, these things also must have been happening:

It's whatevs though. I'm not even mad. If Winter wants to hang for a little bit longer, I'm totally down for that. I was convinced our "winter" was over 3 weeks ago when I had to turn my AC on in the car and ran my errands in flip flops. So if I get to turn my heater back on and wear a scarf to work, I'm totally OK with that. You can't complain about cold weather in Arizona when six months of 120 degree weather is right around the corner.

I feel kinda bad cause a few of my bloggy friends on the other side of the country are like, 

"Winter needs to leave already. It's cold, it's dreary, it's depressing, and it's cold." 

And I'm like, "Noooooo Winter, don't leave me!!!"    

It's OK though, we'll be even come August when I'm like, 

"Summer needs to leave already. It's freakin' hot, I can't touch my steering wheel, the pool is 

too hot... and it's freakin hot!"

Ahh humans, we're never satisfied are we?

Happy snow day!!

For the Record

I would just like to say, for the record...that it was colder today in Arizona than it was in Alaska.

Alaska.

...and it still is.

It didn't get above 45 degrees today. And you could totally tell.

People were bundled up as if there were six inches of snow on the ground...myself included.

I didn't take my jacket or my scarf off all day (including inside my office).

I took the long way around to the cafeteria so I wouldn't have to walk outside.

I avoided the restroom at all costs because I didn't want to have to drop my pants and sit on a freezing cold toilet seat.

I didn't eat my orange I brought for lunch cause, well, it had been in the refrigerator...and the refrigerator is cold.
And my Facebook news feed is nothing but everyone posting about how cold it is.

Us Arizonans, we're never happy. 

We're mad in the summer when its too hot and 120 degrees and then we're mad in the winter when its too cold and 45. Which I think is kind of funny because I've seen a handful of bloggers post about how it's 50 degrees where they live and they're like "not bad for January! Feels pretty warm! I think I'll put some sandals on!"

In Arizona it's 50 degrees and the sky is falling.

Truly.

By the way, I wasn't sure what city in Alaska to google to find out the weather. So I picked Sitka cause it made me think of the movie "The Proposal." 

With Ryan Reynolds.

And Ryan Reynolds is way cute.

And I always like to be reminded of Ryan Reynolds.

Oh and I remembered this really funny joke:

Carissa: What's the capital of Alaska?

Reader: I dunno, what?!

Carissa: I dunno, JUNEAU??

...get it? Juneau? D'you know? See what I did there?

Now that the husband is asleep I'm gonna go turn on my space heater. 

Stay warm out there, my friends. Cause out here in AZ, we're having a hard time figuring out how. 

First Post of Two Thousand and Thirteen

Happy New Year folks!

I wanted to get in on all the New Year’s posts everyone’s been putting up…cause quite frankly I’m feeling left out.

But I don’t think I’m in the mood to summarize, in a brief paragraph, each and every month of 2012.

That’s 12 paragraphs.

That’s like a short paper.

And since school doesn’t start for five more days I’m gonna forgo that idea.

AND since I’m not brave enough to post my New Years Resolutions on the internet (cause let’s face it, they probably won’t happen and I don’t want the whole blogosphere calling me out on it), I think I’ll go about my year in review in a different manner.

Lessons I learned in 2012:

-No matter the effort, becoming a non-procrastinator is just not in the cards for me

-If you hang a picture on the wall near the light switch, it will probably get knocked down.

A buncha times.

And you'll have to replace it.

A buncha times.
-If ever I burn myself on the oven…it will always be in the exact same spot.

-No matter how much I pretend Goran Dragic is Steve Nash, he just isn’t.

He’s short (for a bball player), white, and a foreigner, so I was thinking for a while there my trickery was gonna work. 

But then I look at the Suns’ record…

Don’t worry though Goran, we’re still friends, you dragon you.

-I learned never ever take four summer classes...in one summer.

They'll do ya dirty.

-I learned that nowhere in the song "Gangnam Style" does it include the lyrics, "open condom style"

-Mariah Carey is bi-racial (thanks for that one Stephanie)

-My sister-in-law is having a girl!

-I do an awesome job of taking notes for my friends when they're not in class

Case in point:

-Lastly, no matter how much I learned over the course of 2012...none of it impressed Mckayla Maroney.

Whatevs. 

Check out some of my favorite posts from 2012...maybe they'll impress you

That one time my dogs wouldn't let me do yoga

That one time we got ANOTHER animal head on the wall

That one time I schooled my husband in grammar

That one time I wrote an apology note on behalf of my husband

That one time Gunther made me laugh really hard

That one time my womanhood was insulted

That one time I wrote about politics - It's not what you think, take a gander =)

Veteran's Day

That one time I created a plan to be in charge of my own country

That one time at Thanksgiving with the funny pictures

Cheers to 2013!