Wednesday: a wee bit of me =]

I am joining Leigh in a wee bit of me Wednesday =]
{one} if you were granted three wishes, what would they be?1. To skip the rigorous workouts to get to my ideal weight. 2. To live a happy, healthy life, where money isn't an issue and all I need is to be with the one I love and our family. Material things wouldn't matter. 3. World Peace... Hey if this genie or wishing well really grants wishes, I think this is the way to go about getting World Peace.
{two} who is your favorite author?Nicholas Sparks... I'm a sap/hopeless romantic, what can I say?!
{three} what crowd were you involved in during high school?...one time at Band Camp - Marching Band was the shiz at my school, so I'd say I was kind of cool. I even had to get down and boogy occasionally (fingers crossed nobody has pictures and or videos hidden of that somewhere). I was also part of Student Council and Beta Club... Latin Club.. French Club... Every club?! Nah.. Over achiever?! A little.
{four} what is your favorite thing to do when you have time to yourself?Catch up on shows and blogs. Read my little heart out. Scrapbook (That involves A LOT of time to myself).
{five} do you have any hidden talents?Well to the people that don't know me well, I play the Saxophone. I speak German (hidden, because I don't do it for just anyone). I can form my tongue into a 3 leaf clover.... Random people that actually get to hear me sing say I'm pretty good, but don't worry I won't take that as a reason to audition for American Idol.
{six} can you fake any accents?I pretend I can fake a British Accent... I can't.
{seven} have you ever been mentioned in the newspaper?Yes, I have. I was on the front page of our county newspaper (with my dog and a basketball?! of course). Our county was on the verge of losing accreditation in schools and I wrote my opinion in a worded letter/article and it made the front page. I was shocked, but it was awesome!
{eight} have you ever been arrested?no, thank you.
{nine} what is your favorite job you’ve had?Current job.
{ten} do you have any scars?Dos. One on my leg. I was in the woods running when I was in first grade... Why? I'm not sure. I slipped in mud and fell on a stump... Slit open a nice chunk of my leg. We had just moved to the US and didn't have insurance or anything... my mom kept it clean and bandaged, so now I just have a scar.
My second one is on my ear. I had an ear piercing and when I took it out a keloid grew and I had it removed almost 2 years ago. It still hurts sometimes. They couldn't stitch it up because of how big the keloid was, so took FOREVER to heal.
The End. :)

Miscellany Monday

This is my first time participating in Miscellany Monday, from lowercase letters. I think it is a great idea!

1. I love hate writing papers, but I always procrastinate and add extra stress to my own life.

2. Going shopping at the Mall of Georgia again tomorrow, hopefully I'll be more successful this time. Nonetheless it will still be as fun as last time!

3. I'm slowly becoming obsessed with all things Vera Bradly in the Baroque pattern. I've never even owned anything Vera until yesterday and now I just have this itch to get more! 

4. I'm loving seeing all of the Christmas lights up everywhere!

5. I've had sort of a mini-vacation off from work (5 days), which never happens, and I didn't even ask for them!

That's it! Short and sweet. I actually need to get back to that paper!

On the Last day of the 12 (14) Days of Christmas....

Day 14: Oprah's Favorite Things: What item(s) would you want if you were in the audience?
You are about to see a greedy girl. Now, I do not pine for these things (at least not most of them ;) ), but you asked and so I am sharing!
1. iPad2. Since I'm getting the iPad anyway ;), I'd also like the Scrabble App3. Le Creuset Cookware - BEAUTIFUL4. DonorsChoose.org Gift Card - I think this is a great idea!5. Of course I want the Volkswagen 2012 Beetle6. Elfa Customizable Closet System from the Container Store - Oh my I want/need this! We have such limited closet space!7. The Black Eyed Peas - The Beginning8. A Course in Weight Loss - I think this would be beneficial to me!
Now that I look like the greediest day in the world, I'll counter it by telling you about something we're doing at work, that we do every year.
We are participating in the Giving Tree. We adopt a family for Christmas and provide them with presents.
This family lives in a domestic Violence Shelter. The mom and her four kids have to stay there to stay away from whomever (husband, boyfriend, etc.) that was abusive to them. I am glad we participate in this. I think this family will have a GREAT Christmas. People have already gotten such cute clothes and toys.
Since I am in charge of running it, I always end up buying way too much.
This is what I got: 
One of the girls likes Hannah Montana, so I got her: 

And for the boy, he (or his mom) wanted educational toys, so I got him these:

The first two are the same thing, just one in the box and one open.

I hope they all LOVE everything they get and that they are a happy family!

Day 13 of the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge ... yes 13 :)

Day 13: Favorite Cookie Recipe
My FAVORITE cookies, especially for the holidays are VANILLE KIPFERL.

These are cookies I used to have every year in Germany. I was supposed to make them with my Oma last year but she was sick a lot, so we never did. Maybe I can convince her to make them with me this year. They are so so yummy. I don't have her recipe, so I found one online.
Here it is, from here:

Ingredients

• 2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 7/8 cup butter
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 1 1/4 cups ground almonds

Directions

1. * To Make Your Own Vanilla Sugar: Place 1 1/2 to 2 cups of sugar and place in pint jar. Put a clean vanilla bean in the jar, cover and shake well. Let stand for a few days, shaking the jar occasionally, before using the sugar. As you use the sugar, replace with fresh sugar.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the salt and the flour. Cut in the butter or margarine, and mix in with your hands.
3. Add the confectioners' sugar, the egg, the vanilla sugar, and the ground almonds to the flour mixture. Place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
4. Divide the dough into several parts. Make rolls that are approximately 1 inch thick. Cut the rolls into 1 inch pieces, and bend the pieces into the shape of a semicircle ( just like a croissant). Place the kipferl on a baking tray, and leave them in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
5. Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 10 to 15 minutes. When done, remove kipferl carefully from the tray.
6. While still warm, dip the kipferl in a mixture of confectioners' sugar and vanilla sugar.

On the 12th day of Christmas..

Day 12: Show us your decorations (indoor/outdoor)
Honestly, we have not decorated. We won't be decorating until December and that is early for us. Now, I LOVE decorations and would put them up early, but ever since I've been little, we have done it based on our German traditions. It was worse then though, because we would put up the tree ON Christmas Eve.
We get a real three and this allows it to still be beautiful on Christmas and a while after. We keep it up for most of January :) I have put up a couple of things here and there, which are things I have bought from work.
I bought this snow globe:

It is so pretty at night with the tea light lit and the snow swirling.

I bought a House Luminary as well, but don't have a picture of it and couldn't find one online to post! Once I take a picture I will post it!

**Here it is:

and here is something I got my mom for Nikolaus Tag tomorrow :)

It has been a long couple of days, so now I am off to bed

On the 11th day of Christmas...

Day 11: New Year Resolutions
First off let me just say that this challenge is almost over and I am not happy about it one bit. It has been a lot of fun reading people's posts :)
Now, my resolutions: 
1. At the risk of being a conformist, I want to get to my goal weight in 2011. I have started my weight loss journey this year already and I think I am at a good point where this resolution is DEFINITELY achievable.
2. Find a Full Time Job - I graduate from Grad School in February, so I hope to be able to find a good job. I love my current job, but I need to have a yearly salary and benefits, loans don't pay themselves.
3. Make loans pay themselves - Just kidding
4. Spend more time with friends/family - My job has kept me from spending as much time with those closest to me (boyfriend, best friend (I see my mom every day)). Them having full time jobs during the week and me working nights/days/weekends, makes it hard, because they live an hour away. My goal is to find times, whenever possible to spend with them.
5. Become more blog savvy - I want to become better at this whole blogging thing and find a corner of the bloggosphere that I fit in! :)
Those are good starters! I am off to the Mall of Georgia to get some shopping done for Christmas, wish me luck!

Day 10 of the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge

Day 10: Favorite Christmas Songs/Caroles

Now, I am a girl that loves all things Christmas music. There are some songs that annoy me after a couple of listens, but for the most part, I love them all. I will, however, leave you with a couple of songs that I would call some of my favorites, not necessarily for a good reason, haha!

Where are You Christmas - Faith Hill

I know it isn't necessarily a happy Christmas song, but I've loved it ever since the first time I saw the Grinch! Maybe it is just because I love her voice :)
Christmas Shoes


I love this song and this movie. The movie makes me cry on queue whenever this song comes on. There is a great message behind the song. Sometimes we forget that Christmas isn't always about yourself and your family, but that helping others is important too. Jesus died for us, so it shouldn't be hard for us to help a family in need.
I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas


This video is so funny. Haha, I give this guy kudos for putting it out there for everyone to watch! I've always liked this song since I was little :)
I could go on, but I'll leave it at that. Can't wait to see what everyone else posted!

On the 9th day of Christmas...

Day 9: Favorite Holiday Recipe
Honestly, I don't know the technical name of this recipe. My Memere (grandma) used to make this for different holidays. Now that she's not really into cooking anymore, my aunt makes it. She made it for me this summer when I was visiting my family in Maine, since I'm never there for the holidays :(
I asked her for the recipe so that I could make it for a potluck at work on Black Friday, it was a huge hit :)
I call it: Chocolate Graham Cracker Pie
It is the EASIEST recipe ever, and hopefully not a family one I'm giving away! Don't tell my Memere, JUST in case ;)
What you need:

2 Conatiners of whipping cream (my aunt didn't tell me the size, but I got the medium one out of the three they had).

Chocolate Syrup (This is personal preference, I kept going until it was the right color and taste for me)

1.5 boxes of graham crackers (I used honey, because they added a bit more sweetness) The amount you use will vary on the what size dish and how many layers you wish to make.

Directions:

1. Whip cream while adding the chocolate syrup (however much you'd like) until the cream starts to stiffen.

2. Then you start layering. Start with a layer of the cream/chocolate mixture, then a layer of graham crackers. Continue this until you have your desired thickness (ending with the cream/chocolate topping). 

3. Refrigerate - I made this the night before to give the graham crackers time to soften, it turned out perfect.

This is so easy, but SO good :)

Day 8 of the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge

Day 8: Least Favorite Part of the Holidays
I love, love, love the holidays. It is the best time of the year, (most) people are in a good mood. The music/decorations are fantastic! I don't have much that I do not like, but working in retail, I do have a couple of least favorites to share!
1. Last minute shoppers that blame ME for not having what they are looking for because early shoppers already bought it.
2. Grumpy shoppers - shop online if you can't be nice to people.
3. Coupon hoarders that want to use all coupons at once, when it CLEARLY says "one coupon per transaction" on the back. If they come together, then they will say "May only be combined with so and so coupon".
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm sometimes a last minute shopper, but I have an appreciation for fellow retail employees. I have been in their shoes and will never disrespect them because of my tardy Christmas shopping.
Honestly, I am a big Amazon.com shopper myself, I like that I get free shipping and receive everything within 2 days. It takes away the stress of having to go out. Of course, I still love going to stores though :)

Giveaway over at "A Step into my Life"

Kit from "A Step into my Life" is hosting a giveaway that ends tomorrow (technically today).

It is such a cool giveaway for a $35 gift certificate to CSN stores!

Go enter before it is too late!!!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

On the 7th Day of Christmas...

Day 7: Holiday Craft/DIY
I really want to make this wreath:

The how-to is here: Felt Wreath

I love that it is so simple (looking). It is so pretty to me. I like that you could use any color felt and add to it for different holidays. I haven't made it, but I do hope to some day :)

12 Days of Christmas Challenge - Day 6

Day 6: Gift Ideas

The biggest thing I wanted this year was an HDTV. I bought that for myself Black Friday (online, NOT in stores) because I'd never expect someone to buy me that!

What I'm wishing for...

1. A DSLR Camera

2. A snuggie - for me... not a dog... the picture was too cute! :)

3. All of the Sex and the City TV DVDS

I could go on, but then I feel greedy. I always have a hard time figuring out what I want for my birthday/Christmas, so I keep an ongoing list and add/subtract when necessary :)

12 Days of Christmas Challenge - Day 5

Day 5: Favorite Holiday Movie/TV Special

Most of all I loveeee Miracle of 34th Street!

Classic

and modern

I am going to be very predictable and say that of course I love It's a Wonderful Life.

Every year my mom and I watch this at least once, sometimes mores.

I am also a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies. The cheesier/sappier the better. Every weekend, if I get off at a decent hour, I'll watch at least one or two :)

Some of my favorites are:

Fallen Angel

The Christmas Card

and more more more :)

I also love classic cartoons.

Along with The Grinch, Santa Clause, Christmas Story, White Christmas and so much more. I <3 Christmas!

Happy Saturday everyone! I am off to work another crazy day in retail :)

On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

I did! I ran my first 5K. I actually thought I'd walk a lot more than I did, but I guess the adrenaline rush with everyone around you running keeps you going. It was a lot of fun! I have a picture of me, but it is on my camera somewhere. I'll add it later!

On to day 4 of the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge :)

Day 4: Tips/Tricks to a Budget Friendly holiday season

I think some of the most fun things that cuts down on spending is Secret Santa or White Elephant. Both are a lot of fun and require you to just purchase one gift. You set a price range that works for everyone so that everyone is able to participate and then have a lot of fun.

When I was in the youth group at church we do white elephant gives and it was so much fun. There was one expected gift every year and everyone wanted it. One of the dads worked for the county and was able to get old street signs and they'd give them as a gift. So everyone wanted their turn to be just right to where the gift was stolen 3 times and nobody else could get it. Definitely a blast :)

Another thing you could do is make homemade gifts. You can find things on sale and make something great if you want to save money.