Chocolate. Like A Hersheys.

Oh my goodness, I'm on a writing spree! I haven't written in over 10 days so all these posts I've been meaning to write are piling up. And heaven forbid I put them all in one! Nope, not happening.

So, as of this time next week, I have no roommates. I'll be living alone in this three bedroom apartment by myself. I'm nervous. Not only because both of my roommates are moving away, but because of other things too. Vince and Val will be moving soon. Nathalie has Cody and therefore I feel like I don't really have her as a friend anymore because, well, long story. And I'm just nervous about being in this big new city all alone.

I don't like that the dog is going to be gone. My apartment isn't exactly on the nice side of the city. In fact, it would be safe to call it the bad part of the city. Not that Maddie was a guard dog, but she made me feel safer because she would bark whenever anybody came too close to our apartment door. I've been thinking about getting one for myself. But I don't want to limit my choices on where to live when I can move out. I'm not sure if it's the right time for me to get a dog, then again, is there ever really a RIGHT time to adopt an animal? Because I feel like if I wait until the right time to adopt a dog I'll never get one.

I already know I'd get a chocolate lab mix and name her Chelsea Mae. In case you were wondering.

Plus, I'm afraid I'll be lonely without a dog. I don't know. I have no idea what I'm going to do. I really shouldn't even be thinking about a dog yet. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do when my lease is up. I don't know if I'll be able to afford living on my own. But I don't have anybody to live with. Not to mention I don't have any furniture, or any money to buy any as well. I mean, I've been applying to jobs that (hopefully) pay well. I do have a degree after all, so this not-getting-paid-well thing is starting to turn into a crock of bullshit.

I'm just completely lost as to what I'm going to do by the time my lease is up in September. Please help.

Then again, if I could afford it I'd probably love to live on my own. (If I got a dog). I've never had my own place and I feel like that's a life experience every person should have sometime in their life. I'm a neat freak so I wouldn't have to stress over anybody else. I could have complete control over the place. I could decorate how I want. Rearrange whenever. Walk around naked. You know, the good stuff. I'd be forced to learn to be even more independent, even though I've vastly improved in that area since this time last year. I'd have to learn how to cook. Be forced to learn how to (better) budget/manage my money.

I don't know. This is one of those times when I should make a pro/con list. But if I were to find out that the "get a roommate" situation won, I'd be freaking out about who in the hell I'd find to live with. A complete stranger? Ugh, I don't know. Seriously, opinions please.

He Figured She'd Gone Back To Austin.

Today I got my vacation approved! So it's official! Nathan and I are going to Austin! As in, Texas. I'm pretty excited. He is too. He is "sooo fucking excited, this is going to be awesome!" Exact quote, For the most part, kinda. I love roadtrips. I'm hoping he lets me navigate. This is kind of a running joke because I'll hook up my TomTom and use my GPS on my phone to go places though the city. And still manage to get lost. The other day he even told me I could get lost on a straight street. The nerve!! So yeah, I bet he lets me navigate. I mean, it's only about a 900 mile drive...how lost could I get us? He won't let me take my radar detector. Something about going the speed limit, stop having such a heavy foot all the time, blah blah blah. We are not taking my car. I'm sure y'all can guess why. I'll give you one guess.  Oh, that I just got my car back after he wrecked it? Yep, good job. (It really wasn't his fault! I just try to give him a hard time about it!)

Bragging Rights.

The other day I was sitting on the couch catching up on Hart of Dixie episodes when my phone went off. It was Nate. He told me to come answer the door.

"Where's your key?"

"In my pocket."

"Soooo, why am I answering the door?"

"My hands are full".

I answer the door and he has his hands behind his back. He pulls his arms out from behind him and shows me two bouquets of flowers AND beer! He knows me so well!  Just thought I should brag to the world about how I somehow snagged the best guy ever and show off my flowers. Not the beer though, y'all already know what that looks like. Of course I had to text my mom the news about this great guy. Her first question? Did he mess something up? Haha. That's always a woman's first assumption when she gets flowers. Isn't that sad? But no, his reasoning was that he thought I needed something as beautiful as me, or something corny like that. Which is unlike him, the whole "Mr. Romance" thing, so I was pretty surprised. Then Mom said "Only your boyfriend would buy you beer and have it be considered romantic". Yeah, we went there.

Lullaby.

I got the joy of hanging out with this lil guy for most of Saturday after work. His name is Mason and he's my friend's son. Doesn't he look all classy in his little tie onesie? Yeah, I thought so too. He's looking at a cat in this picture. A cat that he enjoyed chasing around the apartment. I say chasing because the cat wanted absolutely nothing to do with him and kept running away from him. Making him giggle. We took him out to a BBQ restaurant and while there were a bunch of other little tykes there, I'm positive he was the cutest. I may be a little biased though.

Come On Now, Mother Nature.

Do you see what's in my hand there? That's right y'all, it's a pile of hail I picked up off our porch. It came out of nowhere. The other day it was raining and pretty windy when all of a sudden it started hailing. It kept it up long enough that it piled up in the corner of our porch. I was flipping off the camera because isn't the point of living further down south to have warmer weather? I mean, come on, hail is the opposite of warmer weather. Although my dad said it has been pretty rainy in Iowa lately too. The storm knocked out the power over on our side of the city so Nathan said we should drive to a side of the city that had power and hit up a bar. Such a good thinker. He even got me home at a decent time so I wouldn't hate my life in the morning since I had to work early.

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of These

Question Of The Day: What do you usually think about before you fall asleep?

I'm really lucky in the fact that I have trained my body to learn my routine. Every night before bed I straighten up the apartment, pack my lunch, set out my scrubs, shower, brush my teeth, read, then turn out the lights. Usually in that order. Usually that routine starts around 9:00. I'm predictable. My body knows once I start straightening up, it's almost bedtime and I start getting tired. So usually I don't have time to think about anything before I fall asleep. I turn on the lights, pull up the covers, and am asleep. I don't toss and turn or anything. I wake up in about the same position I fall asleep in.

But last night...I couldn't sleep. It was 2 AM and I was still just laying in bed. I was tossing and turning. I was dozing in and out. It was annoying. I don't know what to do when I can't sleep because it happens so rarely. Nathan was laying in bed watching a movie on Netflix with his feet up by my head and his head by my feet. I know it wasn't the sound from his movie or the lights because I can fall asleep with anything. I had went to bed around 11 that night, so I had been trying to get to sleep and stay asleep for about 3 hours.Here's the sweet part. Nate held my hand after I rolled over once again. And as soon as he did it, I was out like a rock. He must have the magic touch because once my hand was in his I was instantly relaxed. Awww.

Other facts about how I sleep:

• I HAVE to be covered up with something, even if I'm dying of heat.
• I HAVE to have some kind of sound. Usually it's my radio on.
• I generally fall asleep and wake up in the same position.
• I can't go to bed unless my bed is made. If I didn't make it that day (which is rare) I'll make it before I climb in.
• I'm bad about staying on my side of the bed...
• Or sharing covers for that matter.
• I keep a water  bottle on my headboard. I'm always amazed how much I drink in my sleep.
• I'm not one of those people that gets up to use the restroom during the night.
• I can sleep through anything until my internal alarm clocks goes off about an hour before I need to get up. Then the slightest noise can wake me up. I don't know how my body knows, but it does.

Sweet Ride!

My new sweet ride.

See that car? Yeup, that's what I'll be driving/ have been driving. It's my rental that I'm having longer than the expected week. But that's ok, I'm having fun driving it around. It's a Dodge Caliber. It's fun to drive a new car around. Play with all the features it has and my car doesn't have. Such as lighted cup holders. It's the small things in life that make me happy! Now when I'm struggling to find my water bottle when I drive, I don't. Because it's all lit up! Thank God because that has always been a huge problem for me. Haha. But no really, I think it is fun that it has lighted cup holders.  Not as fun as lighted speakers but it'll do for now.

This car also shows me as being out of state. Only now instead of being from Iowa, I'm from Minnesota. Which is funny because it's right next to Iowa. Plus all of the sports teams I like are Minnesota, so I have a lot of Vikings/Wild/Gophers clothes. And my car keys are on a Minnesota Gophers lanyard.

What's Your Name?

You know what I haven't done in awhile. Those random questions I used to do. So here we go folks.

How did you get your name? And if you could rename yourself, what would you choose?

I can't say my memory is exactly clear on how I got my name. But I can say I'll try my best to remember how the story goes. If I'm wrong *cough, grandma/grandpa/mom/dad, cough* feel free to remind me of the details. M'kay, so here it goes. 

So it took Mom forever to get pregnant. And when she finally did Mom and Dad started talking names. They didn't know if I was a boy or a girl until the day I was born (which has it's own dramatic story, btw...maybe someday I'll let my momma do a guest post about it). They decided if I was a boy I would be Michael Duane. If I was a girl though...wheeeew...that's where my parents started to not agree. 

Dad wanted a "double name". You know, where there's a first and a middle name and the girls goes by both. Such as Mary Kate or Sarah Beth or Betty Lou or something. Lovely. Mom wanted a name that I wouldn't have to share with anybody. Such as Jodessa. Even better. That was sarcasm, folks.

Anyways, so one day Mom and Dad went out to eat and they had this really sweet waitress. Her name was Joella. They both agreed it was a beautiful name and it fell under both of their wants. No, my name is not Jo Ella, it is Joella. One word. Joella Marie. 

But if I could rename myself I think I'd choose Eila. Pronounced I-La. I don't know why but I absolutely looove that name. I guess it's not too far off from Ella, which everybody seems to call me these days anyway. Maybe I'd choose to name myself Brilane. Or Norah. Or Davanee. (Pronounced Day-va-knee). Actually, you know what, I don't know. I have no idea what I'd choose.

I Can Be Your Buzz Lightyear, Fly You Across The Globe

Have I mentioned I'm addicted to The Hunger Games books? I have? Oh. Well, just in case you've forgotten, I am. And I also am not ashamed to admit I just finished the second book, Catching Fire. It's even more addicting than the first one. I'm dying waiting to get my hands on the 3rd book! I want to know what happens! RIGHT NOW! I'm already freaking out about what I'm going to do when I finish the series. Don't you hate that? When you love a book, and then it's over, and yet you are still craving for more. I know that's going to be me and this book.

Addicting book.

Nate has agreed that we can go see the movie on Sunday! I'm so excited to go! I wonder if it's going to match how I pictured it in my head. Probably not, but that's the beauty of reading a book then watching the movie. You can compare it to how you pictured things in your mind. How different people can take the same words and yet they are completely different. Usually I like the book more, but nothing beats seeing a movie to a book you are addicted to.




Another thing I really like, which I probably should be more embarrassed to admit: the new Justin Bieber single, Boyfriend. Now that he has matured and his voice is a little deeper I feel way less creepy when his songs come on the radio. Honestly I thought it was a new Justin Timberlake song. Those dang Justins just sound so much alike now! Who'da thunk it?


Other things I'm currently addicted to include, but are not limited to:

• Orajel : It's like a present straight from heaven when your widom teeth are coming in. Those suckers hurt!
• Breakfast On The Go! packets, the S'mores flavor: I throw them in my purse (along with a granola bar or a piece of fruit) so that if I'm out and about and hunger strikes I'm good to go!
• The Big 98: My radio is constantly set to 97.9 in my bedroom. It's never off. Ever. 
• Eric Church's Springsteen: Song of the moment
• Ben & Jerry's Cinnamon Buns Ice Cream: I love this stuff. I think the main ingredient is crack cocaine, because I can't stop eating it!

You Don't Look A Day Over Fast Cars And Freedom

3000. 

The number of dollars needed to fix my car.

5.

The number of days needed to fix my car.

1/2.

The amount of my car that will be brand new by the end of the process.

0. 

The number of tears I've shed over my car so far.

I may not have shed any tears over it, but I'm not going to lie. I'm getting rather pissed off at the amount of people telling me "it's not so bad". You are right, it isn't that bad. It could have been a lot worse. Or even worse Nate and/or I could have been hurt. So I'm really lucky, and I know this. But don't tell me you want to see my car and then make a comment like that. You aren't making me feel any better. And I'm sorry, but if you had a car that wasn't even 2 years old, and still had 4 years of payments left on it... you wouldn't exactly be shitting butterfly glitter either. So shut it. Just agree with me that it sucks, ok?

On the bright side, it turns out I have rental car insurance. Who knew?! So hopefully I can borrow a cute lil car. I hope I get a tC. Do they even have those to rent out? I don't know. When I was on the phone with my Grandpa I told him this is exactly why I need two cars. Hence, maybe it's a sign I also need a tC. Ha! Oh jeez, I'm funny. 

Katniss Everdeen.

I'll admit it. I, Ella, have an addiction. It's called The Hunger Games. The book. Nathan had read the first one and wanted to see the movie, but once he found out I had not read the books he decided we couldn't see the movie until I had read the book. The problem was that there were so many holds on the book at the library that it would probably be 10 years until I got my hands on it. So he even found one of his friends to let me borrow all three books. Once he gave them to me I laid down in bed one night with intentions of starting to read it. He told me not to start reading them until I had time to finish them. I giggled when he said that because even though he tells me he likes to read, it is just hard for me to picture it. Then he gave me "that"  look and said "No, I'm serious. I started that book one night before bed and didn't sleep that night because I was up reading it. I finished it in one sitting."

Now, I wasn't that bad, I think I finished it in about 5 sittings...over the span of three days. Now I'm on part two of the trilogy.  In fact the second book is sitting right here beside me and as soon as I'm done writing I'm going to curl up in bed and continue reading it. These books are soo good! I want to know what happens. My heart is just broken for poor Peeta, but also for Gale. Then I just sit there and wonder what I would do if I were Katniss. I mean, I know what I would do because she doesn't really have an option, but I just feel so bad for her. She's such a strong woman, and smart, and independent. It's nice to have a heroine in a book for once. Unlike Twilight where Bella depends on Edward for everything,  (not that I'm not looking forward to the last movie, btw) Katniss is one badass woman!

OH, DEER!

Look at those deer, taking up the whole road like they own it! Bitches.

So Nate and I were making the two hour drive back to Nashville after having Easter supper with his parents, sister, and grandmother in his hometown. We decided to take my car there and back since it is bigger than his car and he wanted to bring his bike back to Nashville. Earlier in the day I had to be at work at 6 AM which had me waking up around 450 AM. By 730 PM that night I had already been up for almost 15 hours, had worked a full shift, came home and gotten dressed up, went on a two hour drive, and had supper with Nate's family. It was a long day and didn't want to risk falling asleep at the wheel. So I asked Nate to drive. I'm awake, singing in the car in between a game of 20 questions between us. That's when we noticed two deer crossing to the right side of the road ahead of us. Nate started slowing down in case they decided to turn around and run across the road again. Then a third deer popped out of the ditch and tried to run across the road. But SMACK! instead of being successful, the mother effer hit my car! 

Nate pulls over to the side of the road. I'm too scared to get out and look at the damage to my car. He does and tells me it's not too bad. I look back at the deer and notice he's laying in the middle of the street, struggling to get up. I tell Nate to go put the thing out of his misery. But we don't have anything worthy in the car to kill it with and I sure as hell am not letting him run over it, gross. I get on the phone with the insurance people. Eventually the deer does get up and stammers off like a drunk man into the ditch. I doubt he makes it.

The damage on my car could be a lot worse. And Nate and I were both ok. There's a dent above the driver side back tire, and the black siding on the drivers side door is slipping off. The glass in my side view mirror has fallen off and a reflector in my drivers side headlight has fallen off. Then there's a spot where we don't know what happened to my car. It looks like we either got a hoof or an antler or something but it's a pretty deep dent. The worst on the car. Finally, my car has a slight pull from the alignment being thrown off.

Tomorrow I go to get an estimate on my car to turn into my insurance company. I'm upset about my poor lil Sulley, but I know it could have been WAY worse and Nate and I could have gotten hurt as well. So thank you to my lucky stars!

Springsteen.

 Oh hey Floriowa blog! I feel like we haven't seen much of each other for awhile! Don't worry I haven't forgotten about you. I've just been living this life given to me. Spending some time with my friends and enjoying this beautiful weather. I went to a BBQ one night, I went out with some friends for a birthday, I went on a mini roadtrip to a town a few hours away, I've been going to the movies, I've been up to all sorts of fun things! What you don't believe me? Fine. Here's some picture proof.

Even crouched down he's still way taller than us!

They may be two of my favorites...

Looks excited to be with me.

Haha. Hotties, obviously.

Whatta cute couple! Aw.

The girlys.

Ohh hey!

"Tradition Girl Pose" -Duck Face, Peace Signs. LOL.

Channing Tatum = Hottie

Well, the new Guy and I went and saw the movie 21 Jump Street. All you really need to know about that movie is that Channing Tatum is in it. Enough said. Soo sexy. When it was over he goes

"What did you think of that movie?" 

"Well, I can't really tell you, because all I remember seeing was Channing in a policeman uniform"

"Enough eye candy for you?"

Why, yes. Yes there was plenty of wonderful eye candy for me. Thank you for asking. 

Sexy.