2011 In Review

I'm sure this is much easier for people that blog regularly as they have something to look back on, but I thought it might be fun to recap this past year.

January:

I honesty can't remember anything from this month! I know I was still out of work and bummy because of that. I attempted to start a project making and selling cellphone covers, but it didn't go over too well.

Some of the case I made.

I also went to Gasparilla, opting to ride my bike there and meet up with friends rather than the usual meet up to pre-game and then attempt to get the mass of drunkards down to the parade route. It was nice being able to do my own thing, I may do the same this year.

I'm in the middle there.

Okay, maybe January wasn't SO bad. Facebook's new timeline feature is my lifesaver here! My brother was on leave from the Navy and came to visit and he took me to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for the day. We rode EVERYTHING and I got to check out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

I look so mean!

February:
I finally started my new job at Misener Marine on the 14th, Valentine's Day! I also tell Sam that this was our friendship anniversary since it is the day we met. (She was training me.) I don't recall anything else exciting happening around then, I think I was just getting myself back into work mode after being unemployed for nearly 6 months (and out of the corporate world for almost a year!)

For the sake of having at least one picture, these are my favorite nails from February:

March:
I started to really get situated at my new job in March. I discovered that my favorite close beach (but not my favorite FAVORITE beach, that's Anna Maria Island) was close enough to my new job to start going there during my lunch break. I would have my lunch packed, bring a blanket, and spread out on the sand and eat and relax for about 45 minutes and it would be the best part of my day.

On Picnic Island during my lunch break.

I also had a fun day when I went with my mom and her friend on the water taxi from downtown Tampa to this  amazing dive restaurant called Rick's on the River. It's the kind of place where you sit outside and they have live music and you eat fried fish and drink beers and margaritas. I want to do that again soon.

My mom and I at Rick's on the River.

April:

April was a pretty good month. I went and saw Suckerpunch by myself and I LOVED it! It got a lot of bad reviews but it was pure eye candy from the amazing costumes to the makeup and hair to the beautiful actresses. It also had a killer soundtrack which I promptly downloaded as soon as I got home from the movie.

The main most exciting thing that took place in April was when I went with Kerry (a friend that I met from Facebook!) to go see Semi Precious perform at this bar called the Kennedy. Really it was just Justin, the lead singer, playing DJ but it was really fun and we danced and drank and partied! But the best part was when Lady Gaga decided to stop by for a visit! She performed "Judas" which hadn't even been released as a single yet. It was so hectic and amazing and I took as many blurry pics as I could before I had to get out of there to avoid being crushed. I was right next to her and that put me in a position of great danger.

I started going to my mom's barn which she rode so I could play with the animals out there, including a donkey, some goats, a pig, peacocks, and English Bulldog puppies!

I also went to the Dragon Boat races, which I go to every year.

I baked some tie-dyed cupcakes for Easter.

And possibly most importantly I learned about EpicMealTime and the honey badger video!

May:

My mom had a horse show at the fairgrounds so I put on my finest wellies and hung out there for the day.

May was also a real good month for nails for me:

Sam's birthday was in May and she decided she wanted to go to St. Pete beach and have lunch at this place called Crabby Bill's before actually going to the beach. Well we ended up eating/DRINKING for about 5 hours and finally stumbled onto the beach at 5, so it was too late for any real beach activities, but we did get to sit and wait for the Rapture to happen!

Eating my first raw oyster.

I made Sam and I these starfish hair clips.

For the first time in the 8 years our parents have been married, I got to meet my eldest stepbrother, Kris. He came to visit us along with his wife and his son, Konner. I am an Aunt! 

Konner with Layla and I.

The whole family went to a Rays baseball game.

June:

The main fun thing I did in June was go to the Ringling Museum with Sam. I have wanted to go since I was in high school and I just never made it out! So one morning we headed down to Sarasota to finally see it. And let me tell you, it was amazing! The "museum" is basically an estate with several buildings on it, the main parts are the circus museums, the Ringling's mansion, and the art museum. It was so huge so we only made it through the circus museums and then we wandering the grounds a bit, checking out the gardens and the water.

The second half of the day we spent at St. Armand's Circle which is this outdoor area with lots of shops and restaurants and it is very artsy and Floridian. I love going there. We got some ice cream at Ben & Jerry's and some sweets at Kilwin's, but mostly we shopped around in all of the little boutiques. On our way home we stopped in front of this amazing statute that I always drive past on my way there.

I bought my first box of macarons.

A cool ring I bought at a little shop in St. Armand's.

Whew, blogging is way more work than I realized! I think I may stop this for now and bring you part 2 later!

Back for Good?

I had forgotten all about my little slice of internet here! I had the intention of setting out to start a new blog for myself to start documenting my life so I am hopefully able to look back and reflect on my progress towards bettering myself, but then I found this, it already had my name, I figured I may as well just add to it!

This really is going to be a completely personal blog. I know that now days most people (myself included) start a blog more for the attention rather than using it as a way to get out your emotions, thoughts, whatever. Blogs started out as an online diary/journal, and we all know that you NEVER wanted someone to read your diary, but now they seem so much less personal because one is writing for an audience rather than them self!

Anyways, if anyone actually is reading this (possible followers from when I started this thing well over a year ago), my life has changed a bit from where I was before, but not enough to suit me. I started a job in February working for a marine construction company and even though at times it was boring and I felt under appreciated, I really did like working there. I met who is now one of my best friends there, Sam. I liked that even though it was a large company (and a huge office) it felt small and family-like. In August they started to do a lot of cut backs and laid off several people and unfortunately, I was one of those. I was upset, but I knew that I was in a much better place compared to the last time I was out of work. I spoke with my agent at my employment agency and told her that I was okay with not working for a few weeks if it meant that she could take her time to find a job that really worked for me, meaning I'd make decent pay and feel compatible with the company. Pretty much every business in the world needs some sort of administrative position, so I feel it is important to find a company/field that suits me.

I have been with my current job since September 2nd. I like it here, but I don't love it. A lot of the women are quite clique-y here and I'm used to making friends at jobs and here I don't really have anyone that'd I'd want to do more than go out to lunch with. I wouldn't mind finding some place that makes me happier, but I am holding on for now because I hoping that I will be hired on as a full-time employee soon, and in that case I will be entitled to full benefits (I haven't been to the doctors in years!) and my hourly rate should go up several dollars. So I'm going to suck it up and stick with it for now!

Except for the job changes and meeting a new person that has become an important part of my life (that sounds so sappy but making a new, close friend is a big deal!), 2011 hasn't been that exciting of a year, and I am completely to blame. I cut myself off socially quite a bit, turning down invitations and rejecting offers to go out, mostly because I have been unhappy with myself, more physically than spiritually/mentally, but I have also been doing some soul-searching trying to figure out who I really am and how I come across to other people. It seems like so often how we see ourselves is not how other's see us, and I want to try to figure out a way to start projecting to others my ideal image of myself. But my main drag has been my physical appearance. In 2010 I lost 29 pounds which sounds like a big deal, but was really baby steps towards my ultimate goal. Cut to this year and I have gained back 15 of those pounds, although I'm pretty sure there has been points during the year when I was heavier than that and just refused to weigh. My weight has been one of my biggest issues for most of my life, and I allow myself to become depressed and withdrawn when I am unhappy with my appearance.

Another increasing problem is my skin. I always had normal skin throughout my teenage years, maybe a blemish here and there but overall not needing much makeup (but that didn't stop me from piling it on!) However the past few years I have developed severe acne and it seems to just be getting worse. I have tried almost everything I can for it and really the only thing that has helped was getting prescription products from the dermatologist, but like I said, I haven't had insurance in quite some time. So while I can figure out ways to dress myself hide/flatter my figure as much as possible, I can't hide my face. I have always taken pride in my makeup application skills. I have done some freelance work and my friends always beg me to do their makeup before going out. But with acne this bad, there really isn't much that can be done short of airbrushing and I don't have the funds for an airbrushing machine. Yet. (Fingers crossed I can get one soon!)

I swear I'm not as big of a complainer as I seem to be here, but it feels so good to just lay everything out and have the opportunity to examine it from another angle. And the point to all of this, bitching about my life and attempting to start blogging is because I want to gain control of myself and my life and go full force in 2012. I have so many goals and ambitions for myself and I need to start being proactive because nothing good is going to come to me as I'm living my life like a reclusive child. I need to take responsibility for the direction in which I choose to head and make myself into who I want to be.

So if you are along for the ride, bless you. As I said in the beginning, this blog is really just for me. I'm not trying to entertain an audience, I'm trying to work on myself.