Just Keep Swimming Swimming Swimming...

3 Weeks!

Sierra — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:36:58 +0000

From today I will be in New York City for the first time EVER! I am so excited to visit this famous city but even more excited to finally see where one of my best friends has been living for the last 2 years! I just wanted to take a moment to share my excitement and a photo that I found the other day that I got weirdly attached too. This photo was actually taken in Utah but I love the actress, the outfit, the snow, and pretty much everything about it!

23 Years of Age

Sierra — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:00:48 +0000

Feels a lot like 22 years of age. Last week was my Birthday and this is the first one that wasn’t planned out weeks ahead and didn’t involve multiple cities and various events. This year my celebration was pretty low key but very fun! When I got to work in the morning my cubicle had been decked out with decorations and there was Birthday Girl attire ready for wear. The work day went pretty easy and when I got home I had presents waiting for me! Roy made a delicious dinner and I go to blow out my candles and eat cake while skyping with my family.

That weekend we had a BBQ at our place, sadly it was one of the maybe 8 days it has rained in southern California since I moved here 5 months ago. Just my luck. We held the party in the house instead and just went outside to do the actual BBQ’ing. The food was DELCIOUS! Roy won our Chili Cook Off and my friend Anna made a scrumpcious gluten-free cake! The event started at noon and at 11:30 pm Roy and I left with the rest of our guests to go get some drinks (tea) at a near by cafe. What happened in those almost 12 hours? LOTS of games! Just Dance 3 and Super Smash Brothers on the Wii, Taboo and Catch Phrase played with around 20 people, board and card games! We spent the entire day just hanging out and having a great time, I couldn’t asked for anything more!

Holiday Videos…

Sierra — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:52:27 +0000

Finally put the videos I took over the holidays together! Hope you enjoy!

20 New Year’s Resolutions For 20-Somethings

Sierra — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:22:01 +0000

Thought this was hilarious and deserved a share!

Find full article here by Jessie Rosen.

20 New Year’s Resolutions For 20-Somethings

Before you status update, Tweet, Tumble or Instagram, pause and say to yourself, “is it entirely necessary that I share this morsel of thought with my entire social network?”and if the answer is not, “yes, I absolutely must,” then step away from the Internet.
Know which candidate you’re going to vote for in the upcoming presidential election, and know why.
Enough with the 14-day juice cleanses. If you want to lose a little weight quickly, eat less and exercise like crazy. If you want to lose a lot of weight slowly, do whatever Jennifer Hudson did.
If you really like the person you’re hooking up with and would like them to be your boyfriend/ girlfriend, find a way to tell them, and hope for the best. If you don’t and wouldn’t, stop.
Find a way to save approximately 300 dollars and spend it on a flight to see a friend or family member who lives far away.
Please stop liking the Kardashians, all of them. It’s not helping anyone, least of all the Kardashians.
Spend less than or equal to the money you earn each month.
Wear clothes that fit you, especially to work.
Call someone on the phone at least once a week, and speak to him or her for at least ten minutes.
Start preparing now to get over the fact that Facebook is probably going to change again in six months. You’re not going to deactivate your account. You don’t know how.
Wait 30 seconds before you look up a fact you can’t remember on your phone, and try to remember it using your brain. This is what the olden days were like.
Replace one terrible reality show you’re currently watching with one wonderful scripted show currently available on television. Swap suggestion: Real Housewives of Anywhere for HBO’s Enlightened.
Try that food you think you don’t like but have never actually tried, unless it’s brussels sprouts. They really don’t need any more attention.
Cut one person out of your life who you truly do not like and add one person who you truly do. Note: not on Facebook, on Earth.
If you’re still blacking out regularly, you should stop.
Volunteer once over the next 90 days. You’ll feel really good about it, and probably end up volunteering again over the next 275.
Tell someone who you love that you love them on a more regular basis. To their face, not in a text.
Back up your entire online life onto an external hard drive, especially your photos.
Crap or get off the pot. This applies to whatever thing you’re not doing that you should just sack up and do already.
And in the eternal words of Tom Haverford, “TREAT YO SELF!”

Happy 2012 everyone!

22 Days of Christmas?

Sierra — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:47:08 +0000

Final Count: 22

In all honestly, I didn’t really try too hard to accomplish everything on this list they just kind of came naturally with the season. It was a great guide though to look at whenever I had some free time. As you can tell a bunch of them I did multiple times or continuously but that is only because they are so fun! This holiday season I only got to go home for a few days which was not something I am used to. As a student I usually got a few weeks off but now as adult in a real job I was only to come home for four days. The days were packed but it was well worth it! But enough about that- to the list!

1. Take Christmas Card Photos

Forgot to share my family photos last time!

5. Listen to Christmas Music Constantly

Uh, duh.

6. Sing the wrong words to Christmas Carols

All the time, ask Roy, he hates it.

7. Go to a mall, shop for presents, love the Christmas decorations and curse all the crowds

Unfortunately yes, but I got all of my Christmas shopping with a week to spare!

10. Wrap presents to a super cheesy holiday movie or music

I definitely spent the Saturday before Christmas watching the new Original Disney film 12 Dates of Christmas and Charlie Brown while wrapping tons of gifts!

11. Watch all your favorite holiday films:

Yessss! I made Roy watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas with me one night!

Also may cheated and watched Miracle on 34th Street a few days after the holidays because no one wanted to watch it with me.

14. Make Sugar Cookies and Deck them out with Bells of Holly!

See #25!

15. Make a Gingerbread House

Oh yes, my sisters and I definitely made a huge mess out of our kitchen on Christmas Eve making these fabulous homes!

16. Wear Cheesy Christmas Clothes

Ugly Sweater party at work? I think yes.

A friend’s ugly sweater party! See # 18.

17. Watch your favorite lovey-dovey holiday films:

I’m not going to lie, day after Christmas shopping this year was inspired by Diaz’s winter fashions in this film and 90′s/Winter in NY/ Rachel Green (Jennifer Anniston in Friends)

The Holiday

Just Friends

18. Go to/Host a Holiday Party

Work Holiday Party-As you can see my team wore some pretty snazzy sweaters! Our office party was during lunch and we were able to have a pretty big and epic white elephant game, there were some intense players that definitely made for some wonderful entertainment. We also had a visit from Santa who delivered our stockings! The stockings were filled by all of our fellow co-workers with mostly chocolate and candy but whatever that is perfect for me!

Annual Ugly Sweater Party- A friend of mine throws an ugly sweater party every year and I was convinced that I was not going to make it this year. Thankfully, I hit no traffic driving up north after work and was able to make the last hour of the party and then take some of my best girlfriends out to the bars. Apparently, our sweaters attract unique people so we had quite the interesting night! It was the perfect way to start off my vacation!

22. Participate in a Gift Exchange, White Elephant, or Secret Santa

See #18!

23. Drive around your neighborhood and watch in wonder of all the Christmas lights

This is the first year that I have heard of a house in my hometown doing a light show with their Christmas decorations but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been happening under my nose. Either way we went and it was awesome! You tuned into a radio signal transmitting from the house and just sat and watched this house explode with color and cheer. It was so cool! After that we drove to the most popular areas in town and checked out their lights. I must say that I remember a lot more houses being decorated when I was younger; I am not sure if that is something that has changed with time or if my perception is just different now. Either way the ones that were decorated made me happy.

24. Drink and be Merry

Oh, we did.

25. Put out Milk and Cookies for Santa

I spent most of Christmas Eve night in the kitchen baking and decorating with my sisters. As I said before we decorated Gingerbread houses but we also made and decorated some sugar cookies for Santa. To say the kitchen was a mess would be an understand but by the time we went to sleep the room was clean.

Although I did not get to these before New Year’s I guarantee I will do #13 and #21 sometime this winter!

13. Play in the Snow

19. Go Ice Skating

21. Watch the entire Harry Potter Series!!!

Two Thousand and Eleven

Sierra — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:18:26 +0000

An amazing year has come and gone. A year in photographs….

Click to view slideshow.

Christmas in Disneyland!!!!!

Sierra — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:05:28 +0000

#20 Have a day where you rejoice completely in the holiday cheer and spend the entire day being a kid.

My boyfriend does not like Disneyland. Crazy, I know, especially knowing my weird obsession with the entire Disney franchise. He says it is overhyped, crowded, and all the children hate being there. So, the only Christmas present I asked of him this year was that he reserve one day to go to Disneyland with me before the Holidays and that he buy his own ticket. After some debate he agreed. On Sunday December 19th we walked into the park at 810 am pumped and ready to start our day.

Roy was actually really excited becuase his friends had been talking his ear off the night before about how much fun Disneyland is. Plus we had devised a plan to avoid crowds and stress.

Basically the day went perfect: we never waited more than 25 minutes for a ride, we utilized our fast passes as much as possible, brought our own lunch, had a cheap but fullfilling dinner at Dennys, went to the longest lined rides during parades, and even got picked out of line a few times to get on rides earlier than others. Honestly, I felt like I was seeing Dineyland for the first time because I had never done so much in one trip let alone one day! We had an amazing time but nothing compared to our last hour there.

We were told by a friend that we have to stand in the middle of main street to watch the fireworks so although we made a few people mad by stepping in we got to a good position. The fireworks show was beautiful but nothing will ever compare to that last moment when it finished and the snow fell. All the children went from being tired and cranky to full of happiness and joy, all the annoyed parents were suddenly not filling the weight of the day and were rejoicing in the happiness around them. Roy and I could not stop smiling and being the sap I am I had to literally hold back tears. It was the absolute perfect ending to a wonderful day!

“That perfect and magical moment when you are standing on Main Street of Disneyland after a 14 hour day of awesomeness and 15 minute epic firework show… and it starts to snow (fake, of course). Yes, that just happened. Could not be any happier or in love with this man. ♥”

3 More Down!

Sierra — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 02:04:11 +0000

#5 Listen to Christmas Music Constantly

Oh ya, still doing this!

#7 Go to a mall, shop for presents, love the Christmas decorations and curse all the crowds

Officially finished ALL of my Christmas shopping today! Thank goodness! I am so excited though, I love giving gifts!

#8 Send out Christmas Cards!

Oh yes, we did. Sharing the Holiday cheer has never been so much fun.

Having too much fun…

#10 Wrap presents to a super cheesy holiday movie or music

See #17 and #5!

#12 See one of the new Holiday Movies out in Theaters

Arthur Christmas- I had a gift certificate for Regal Cinemas so Roy and I had ourselves a date night last week. We went to downtown Brea and saw Arthur Christmas. The streets were decked out in Holiday cheer and the movie could not have been any cuter! Great story, perfect cast, and amazing animations!

New Years Eve- Friday after work I went with some girlfriends to see New Years Eve, it had the same premise of Valentines Day but with a different cast and location. I, of course, being obsessed with pop culture loved seeing so many celebs in one movie! Also the plot of the film was adorable and made me realize two things: 1. I NEED to go to New York! and 2. It doesn’t matter what you do on New Years as long as you are with someone you love.

#17&1/2 Watch your favorite lovey-dovey holiday films:

Love Actually
The Family Stone

I absolutely LOVE both of these movies. They have amazing casts full of stars, sad sappy and love filled plots, and of course are based around my favorite holiday!

Snow White is Back!

Sierra — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:35:19 +0000

As you may know I am a Disney Junkie, especially the original princess movies (Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, Alladin, and Sleeping Beauty). So whenever a remake comes out I am thrilled to see it. Usually they are pretty horrible but still some what likable. This is the year of Snow White! The Snow White and the Huntsman trailer came out a while ago and I thought it was an interesting take on the story but figured the quality of the film would be less than sub par. Last night I saw a trailer for a new movie called Mirror Mirror and I could not be more excited! I love Julia Roberts and the rest of the cast looks awesome! I mean common, who doesn’t love some Nathan Lane?! Check out the videos below and make your own decision, I guarantee I will be seeing both these movies in theaters!

Mirror Mirror

Snow White and the Huntsman

PS The TV show “Once Upon a Time” is absolutly adorable and follows most of the original fairy tales. Especially Snow White, which makes my Sunday nights that much better!

PPS Sorry I the videos aren’t up and you have to click on the link but I was having trouble with this post.

12.5 down and 12.5 to go!

Sierra — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 03:36:55 +0000

Last week I made that fabulous list of 25 activities to do before Christmas but did not share with you all that accomplished so far this December! So here it goes:

#1-Take Christmas Card Photos

This was accomplished the day after Thanksgiving but due to the AMAZING photos that were taken I am not yet allowed to share them with you. I promise as soon as our friends and family get their cards I will post them here!

#2- Decorate your Work Space

I am pretty sure my co-workers think I’m crazy.

#3- Pick Out and Decorate a Christmas Tree

Did it the first weekend of December! We had a hard time deciding between a fake and a real tree but eventually the easiness of a fake tree won. It has an ornament that has the smell of a Douglas Fir though!

#4- Hang Mistletoe and Decorate your Home

Did it the same night as #3 and #11!

#5-Listen to Christmas Music Constantly

I now have a soundtrack to my life. When I am at home my TV is tuned to channel 919, Holiday Music 24/7. In the car: ipod or Holiday Radio Station. Work: Pandora on my phone is gold, I have made it exactly what I want!

#6- Sing the wrong words to Christmas Carols

Thursday December 1st I spent a good hour or two doing exactly this with a group of friends at a car club meet of Roys. There is video but I am not sure if I can get it… update later!

#7- Go to a mall, shop for presents, love the Christmas decorations and curse all the crowds / #9- Christmas Shop! Both online and in Stores! / #10- Wrap presents to a super cheesy holiday movie or music

My Amazon cart was full of Christmas Presents even before Thanksgiving! The first week of December I purchased everything I wanted and then proceeded to venture into the crazy world of mall shopping. Thankfully we have a huge mall right across the street from us but still it was not an easy afternoon! As of right now I only have two more gifts to buy and I am pretty sure at what I am going to get for them. As for the wrapping, I did watch an extremely cheesy Christmas movie after my mall day. As for the new presents coming in the mail, I usually just find some fun holiday show or movie to watch on television while I let my creative juices flow.

#11&1/2- Watch all your favorite holiday films:

I have now watched Elf three times and have seen The Santa Clause once! The evening that Roy and I spent working on #3 and #4 we watch these two movies and then the next morning when I hosted my Ladies Holiday Brunch we had Elf playing on repeat in the background!

#14- Make Sugar Cookies and Deck them out with Bells of Holly!

This past friday night, some girlfriends and I prepared for a holiday party that evening by attempting to make sugar cookies and decorate them. It ended up being a lot more complicated than we expected but eventually we had a great finished product so thats all that counts!

#18- Go to/Host a Holiday Party

So far I have both hosted and attended a Holiday Party. On Saturday December 3rd I hosted a Ladies Holiday Brunch where a few of my girlfriends came over and ate, drank, and did crafts with me all day. We started off by eating the delicious food we had all brought, then moved to gossiping, reading magazines, and looking through my scrapbooks. Then we proceeded to the Art and Crafts portion of the day where we made candy/oreo turkeys! We know we are a holiday late but we didn’t have time before Turkey Day and they were just so damn cute! The entire day was filled with chaos, laughter, and A LOT of Sangria! The second party is the one I mentioned in #14, it wasn’t so much a “Holiday Party” as it was a “Thank goodness finals are over and we can all get wasted party”. Haha. Either way I had a good time!

Wooooot! I am half way done with the list! But I ddi kind of cheat a little by doing all the easy stuff first. Oh well, as long as I have fun doing them I will feel accomplished! I will most definitely being doing some of these more than once so do not fret if you see a repeated number. I hope you all are having a wonderful time enjoying the holidays!

Much Love,

Sierra