Is Anyone Interested in Trading Ad Space?

First of all, greetings to my lovely new followers, (followers number 39 and 40!) Claire and Carman.  Claire has a blog over here and she likes pretty things and zombie movies, so she's a winner in my book : )  And Carman has three blogs.  This is her profile, so you can check them out.

I know that there must be some other bloggers who are poor like me. I have been attempting to sell ad space on my blog, but nobody seems to buy it.  But it is for sale if you're interested and if you buy my ad space, I'll include you in a monthly sponsors post.   I just opened up an Etsy shop selling handmade jewelry and need to get it more exposure. Would anyone be interested in trading me ad space on their blog for putting my ad on their blog? No money involved, just an even trade.  Note: if we trade, I won't put you in a monthly sponsors post and I don't expect you to put me in one either.

I'm So Excited!

Did I tell you guys my new camera arrived? Because it did. Yesterday.  And today I got three long sleeved shirts and two short sleeved shirts at Goodwill, as well as a cute skirt and headband on sale at a store called Pitaya.  They have so many cute things there.  And when I got home, my purse I ordered had arrived in the mail, as well as two wallets (I needed a new one and found one online with a buy one get one free deal).  The purse is one of the most adorable things I have ever seen.  It's from this girl's Etsy shop. She also has a wonderfully funny blog, located here.

And guess what else? Tomorrow I am starting to make jewelry for my Etsy shop as an actual job.  I am so excited about that too!  You guys, I am literally so excited right now that I can hardly function.  I meant to eat my lunch finally and open my mail, but instead I wrote this.  Oops.

And this is going here because I'm writing my first sponsored post today, I would like to welcome my 27th follower, Woody, from Woodn't Ya Know It...  He likes thrift stores and he's funny so make him feel welcome and check out his blog.

The Obligatory Things I'm Thankful for Post

I'm not doing this just because it's expected. I'm doing it because I really want to.  First of all, I'm thankful for all the people who read my blog, especially my 21 followers.    You guys have been my only friends at some times and you've helped to keep me sane.

I would like to welcome my newest follower, Marvah Gorlorwulu from Nonsensical Babbles. This girl is only 15 years old, but she has one of the most interesting life stories I've ever read and she's a lot more grown-up than most adults. She recently moved from the US to Ghana and her blog chronicles the results of this move and her adjustments to her new living situation.  It's a great read and very well-written.  I guarantee you'll feel a lot better about your problems after reading her blog.  Of course I'm thankful for my friends and my family, and especially for G.  I spent Thanksgiving with G and his family, and it was full of great food, not-so-great-food (really bitter salad and way too much rum in the whipped cream for the pumpkin pie), and Scrabble (which G and I lost at, as a team, because our spots kept getting used by other people for less points than our words would have gotten in the same places).  I got to talk to my mom and dad twice in the past few days and it was really great.  I just don't ever call them because I'm so bad at small talk.  I want to talk to them, but I never call unless I have news to share, a job interview or a doctor's appointment coming up, for example.  My life has been staying pretty much the same for a while, so I don't feel like I have anything interesting to say.  I know that I need to start calling sometimes just to talk though.  I found this quote recently on a blog I follow, one that you should follow to, because it's usually hilarious and always entertaining.   "Unemployment feels like swimming underwater in a pool of jello: difficult, slightly suffocating, and surprisingly delicious at times."-Annah from Red Means Go  It's so true and eloquently put.  When I start searching for jobs, it seems so overwhelming that I have to stop before too long.  Everyone wants you to already have experience, but nobody will hire you so you can get experience.  It's so frustrating and feels suffocating.  But then it can be delicious when you just say, you know what, screw those jobs, I'm going to make up my own job and it will be way better than any of those.  So that's how I became a jewelry artisan and freelance designer, and soon a thrift store reseller.  I am also super grateful that I made both my first Etsy sale and my first eBay sale on Thanksgiving and the following day.  I can't be thankful for things without being thankful for being able to walk.  Those of you who are new to my blog probably don't know it, but last year, from October to May, I couldn't walk and I was in a wheelchair.  It sucked and was completely disheartening and occasionally soul-crushing.  It did give me a new outlook on life, which I'll be forever grateful for, but I wouldn't go through that again for all the money in the world.

And it pales in comparison to everything else, but I'm thankful for the Washington Huskies' basketball team winning this week and the Washington Huskies' football team winning the Apple Cup and getting to go to a bowl game.  Last year was the first year we made it to a bowl game in 8 years, so going two years in a row is pretty cool.  The Apple Cup is where University of Washington plays Washington State University.  It's an intense rivalry, and we won it 38-21!

Happy 20th Follower to Me

You guys, I did it! I got 20 followers by my 20th birthday! Everybody please give a warm welcome to follower #20, Tiffany from Omg Wtf?!  Her blog is hilarious, so if you're in need of a good laugh, I would direct you there, unless you tend to be shocked and appalled by big kid words.  Her blog comes with a parental advisory.  But if you're willing to put on your big kid pants and realize they're just words, head on over there and take a read, then follow.

Hi there, Tiffany.  Thanks for following my blog.  I really appreciate it.  I apologize since you came at sort of a weird time when I'm depressed.  But hopefully soon, I'll be back to my old self.  For some reason, your RSS feed isn't updating in my blogroll : (  Things you should know about this blog are that I write about just about anything that crosses my mind ever.  Sometimes I vent here and probably nobody really reads those posts, but it's mostly for my own benefit.  I like sentence fragments.  More people get here by googling some sort of search query involving pandas than anything else.  I'm a college dropout who is currently on food stamps, but that's not what defines me.  I'm a huge nerd and I just got into Doctor Who.  I love to watch movies and often review them on here.  I am also sort of a fashionaholic, which consists a lot more of looking at it online and not being able to afford it than anything else.  I am going to be a graphic designer.  So that's pretty much everything you need to know about me.  If you get lost or confused, talk to Lauren or The Tsaritsa.  They've been here the longest and they've helped me get through some tough times.  Enjoy your stay and thanks for flying Air Jedi, or something like that.

Sick of Being Sick

Hey guys, I'm still sick.  Here's proof.

poor-quality picture of me laying in bed in my pajamas

I'm sick as a dog, a very sick dog.  This morning I woke up, and changed my pajamas for different pajamas that I didn't sleep in.  The only food we have right now is cereal, so I texted my roommate to see if she can get me some more instant oatmeal and cup o noodles.  She texted back that she's busy but she texted my other roommate.  I've received no reply.  So today I will continue my sick-day tradition of watching Gremlins at least one time while I am sick.  I also plan to watch Gremlins 2, which I haven't seen yet.  I don't know how this became my tradition but it seems fitting with Halloween coming up.

As delicious as boiling water is with honey, cinnamon, and pepper, I'd much rather be healthy and drinking hot cocoa.  At least I have lots of great blogs to read to occupy my time.  Thanks for being so entertaining, everyone.

And on that note, everyone say hi to my newest follower, Chio.  I just discovered her blog, Happy Dying Sun, and it's great so you should all go check it out.  I'm off to rest and drink plenty of fluids.

Also, these are some ridiculous Halloween costumes that actually exist: sexy rubber ducky, sexy pool table, sexy Hulk Hogan (complete with mustache), sexy Freddie Krueger, sexy woodchipper, sexy Scrabble board, sexy snowman, sexy Tin Man (from The Wizard of Oz), sexy Brian from Family Guy, and sexy George Washington.  The good news is there aren't any sexy Hitler costumes (that I can find anyway), but there are children's Hitler costumes.

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Prepare for discombobulation; you have been warned.

I've been MIA for a few days.  I had the most awful migraine headache EVER for three days straight.  G was starting to get worried about me and started tossing around words like brain tumor and brain aneurysm, which started making me feel pretty worried too.  But he talked to his mom, who is a nurse, and she said it's most likely just a migraine, and if I start having other symptoms with it to see a doctor, but for now just to take some ibuprofen and try to sleep it off.  So that was Wednesday through Friday.  I felt quite a bit better on Saturday and had just the tail end of the migraine hanging on, but I took some more ibuprofen and it let go by game time.  Which was great, since I got to watch the Washington Huskies thoroughly stomp the Colorado Buffaloes 52-24.  We are now 5-1.  Washington Huskies are now a ranked team, number 22 in the AP ranking.  We take on number 7 ranked Stanford Cardinal, who has had an undefeated season so far, on Saturday.  It's certainly going to be interesting.

Now my allergies are being ridiculous, but other than that I'm feeling great.

I would like to welcome my newest blog follower, The Silver Swann.  She's really friendly and very nice, so be sure to stop by her blog and say hi, maybe enter her bracelet giveaway.  She can also be found on Etsy, which is where we first "met" one another.  She handcrafts some amazing jewelry, and you should go check out her Etsy shop as well.

And now I would like to wish a happy birthday to one of my first subscribers ever.  She's a lethal combination of writer and fashionista.  She's got looks and brains, and some super-cool tattoos.  And she writes an awesome blog.  So if you get a chance, stop by and tell her happy birthday.

Tsaritsa, I hope you're birthday is super duper fantastic and  you're surrounded by your loved ones having a great time right now (now, as in, when I'm writing it, not when you're reading it, unless you normally surround yourself with your loved ones to read blogs).  Anyway, I thought I'd go along with the theme of your dad's birthday greeting, and get you something cat-themed as well, so here's a cat playing you happy birthday.



And the last thing I want to discuss is E.L.F.  I never knew how inexpensive some of their makeup is!  I always hear people talking about their stuff and I just assume it's some sort of brand that I can't afford.  But I stumbled upon their website yesterday, and if you're poor like me, listen up.  They have all of the basic stuff you need for $1 each!  I'm not sure how great the quality of some of it is, but I know that it's been in different magazines and stuff.  Anyway, I ordered a bunch of stuff, since they sent me a code for $10 worth of $1 each products for free with a $20 or more purchase.  So I bought $36.95 worth of products, with shipping included, for $26.95, and I'll be reviewing everything once I get it.  I'm pretty excited, since at the moment my makeup collection is very small.  I only have one brush, one eyeshadow palette, three single eyeshadows, one mascara, one eyeliner, foundation, concealer, and two kinds of lip gloss.  I will be getting two different palettes, one with 60 eyeshadow colors, 20 lip colors, 3 blushes, and 2 bronzers, and the other with 20 lip colors and 28 eyeshadow colors.  That is the $20 portion of my order.  For my $1 each products, that would end up being free, I chose: a foundation brush, a blush, 3 different kinds of lip gloss, a lipstick, a mascara, an eyeliner, a foundation, and a concealer.  It should arrive in about 10 days, and then I'll review one product every time I blog.  If you visit their site right now, they have 2 really great deals going.  The first is you can get an 83-piece set that normally costs $35.00 for only $3.50, with any $25 minimum order.  The other deal is free shipping on an order of over $25.  These deals cannot be combined, however, as E.L.F. only allows one code per order.  Their site is very user-friendly, and if the inexpensive products are any good, I'll be saving lots of trips to the drugstore.  So I'll just have to wait and see if these products are any good or if the saying, "You get what you pay for" applies here.

I have an announcement: Sometime in the not-too-distant future, I'll be doing a giveaway, so be on the lookout for that.

So Much Good News

Before I begin, I'd like to welcome my newest follower, Jiff0777.  Thanks for following me and I'll try to keep you entertained.  If you have a blog, let me know so I can link to it.

Life is so good right now that I don't even know where to start.  I guess I'll do this in list form.

1. I got a place to stay, at least through the end of June, and possibly through August.
2. I got a job! And it's like a real grownup job! I'm a book cover designer for a book publishing company.  I signed a contract and everything.  That happened yesterday and it is so exciting.  You guys, I'm a real designer now!

The Antics of Drunk People

First of all, welcome Gnetch, my 9th follower. If you haven't checked out her blog, you probably should do that right now. It's better than mine and this post will still be here when you come back.

Last night, my next door neighbors had a party. They must have had at least ten people in their room, and while that may not sound like a lot, there is only about 20 square feet of space to walk in the dorm rooms, so they must have been packed in like sardines.  They all got pretty drunk and one of them went to the bathroom (this morning I heard him say that he had passed out standing up in the shower) and when he came back, he entered my room by mistake.  He slammed the door open and then said Oh, sorry. Wrr-wron-wrong room and flashed a peace sign and stumbled back out.  I went to bed a few hours after that and was sound asleep when I was awakened by the fire alarm.  I covered my ears and went back to sleep. Someone had pulled the fire alarm on my floor and I think it was probably one of the partiers next door.  They don't even know for sure if it was them though because they were really drunk.

In other news, it's a beautiful sunny day today. I fell asleep two nights ago watching Inkheart and missed the second half, so I finished watching it today. It was one of the few movies I have ever seen that was just as good as the book, and the book was astoundingly good.  The computer animated parts were really great and very realistic looking, at least as realistic as a giant shadow monster with flaming eyes can be.  If you like fantasy, you should definitely watch this movie.  There's a fire-breather, an evil villain and his army of bad guys, flying monkeys, Toto from The Wizard of Oz, and a cool horned ferret thing, among others.  The plot of this movie is that when a man reads aloud, something can come out of the book, but then something from his world goes into the book in return and he has no control over what is traded.  The actors are absolutely perfect for the characters they play and it's just a great movie.  This film gets the very rare 5 out of 5.

For the rest of today, I am going to work on my physics paper and alternate watching movies and watching The Big Bang Theory, which my friend recommended for me to watch.

I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fourth follower! Tbr! I managed to go to classes today! Yay, I'm finally getting better! I'm going to take a very long nap after I finish this post and my lunch. In related news, barbecue pork ribs taste like happiness in my mouth. Guess who has never done anything for Halloween in her entire life? If you guessed me, give yourself a pat on the back, because you're right! I've never dressed in a costume, went trick-or-treating, went to a corn maze or a haunted house or a Halloween party. Last year, I almost experienced my first haunted house, but there was a two hour wait and we didn't get in. But tonight I'm going to my first corn maze! I'm so excited and the best part is I'm un-sick enough that I'll actually be able to enjoy it! Last night before I went to bed, I told myself that no matter how I feel today, I'm going to my classes, because I do not want to miss this corn maze and somehow going to my classes will prove to myself that I am well enough. I woke up this morning, and I actually felt a lot better! I'm so excited for this corn maze! Note the excessive amount of exclamation points in this post if you don't believe me. I'm going to take pictures and post them here tomorrow along with a Halloween-themed post on a secret topic. I'm also going to my first Halloween party this year! I'm going to be Alice from Alice in Wonderland. I'm so excited!!!!!!!

A Chaotic Jaunt Down Memory Lane

I have a third follower! Welcome, LaceyRee.

When I was about three years old, I tried to eat a handful of gravel.  I had had rock candy for the first time the day before, and in my mind all rocks were candy, so I tried to eat some. To my disappointment, it wasn't candy. I managed to scoop up quite a bit of dirt with the gravel and I was trying my best to crunch up the gravel but it hurt my teeth. That's when my brother, who is two years older than me, looked out the window and said, "Mom! J is eating rocks!" My mom ordered me to spit them out, and then I started crying, because my mouth was full of dirt and my teeth hurt and there wasn't any rock candy. I learned my lesson though. Only parents know which rocks are secretly candy.

A couple of years later my brother and I were playing outside and we decided to pretend we were cows. We got down on all fours and made mooing noises and ate grass. My mom asked us why were eating grass and we responded that we were pretending to be cows. Then my mom told us that there were little bugs on the grass that we were eating and we couldn't see them because they were too small. That cured us of eating grass. It actually didn't taste bad, much better than dirt and gravel.

A few years later, I was in second or third grade, and some of the kids in my class and I decided to have what we called "Gross Eating Contests." I was the only girl, and I always won. The object was to eat either the grossest thing on our lunch tray or the strangest combination of foods. To start with, I could win by just eating the nasty green beans that were cooked to death. After a while, the boys got braver and ate their green beans too, so I started eating my baby carrots with ketchup. I actually thought that tasted really good back then, but now I can't stand ketchup. The day that I was declared the Gross Food Eating Champion of All Time, I ate my entire orange peel. That was actually really disgusting and there was no way the boys could compete with that. We quit having the contests after that, partially because it took up too much of our recess when we actually ate all of the food on our tray.

I have always gotten along way better with guys than I do with girls. We just share more of the same interests: sports, climbing trees, arm wrestling, video games. I still like all that stuff. Anyway, most of my friends in school were and still are guys. I actually have about 10 female friends right now, and that's kind of weird for me. I have about thirty male friends. Anyway, in fourth or fifth grade, the guys started having suspicions about if I was actually a girl. This was based on the fact that they had never seen me cry. I always just laughed whenever I got hurt, and I still do actually. So they decided that if they could make me cry, they would believe that I was a girl. I was, and still am, very competitive. I'm really tough and I wasn't about to let them make me cry, no matter what. And believe me, most guys would have been crying. At one point, they almost broke my thumb. I actually believed that they were going to break my thumb, since they practically pulled it back until it touched my wrist. It hurt really bad, but I didn't cry.  A different time, we were wrestling outside on the pavement and one of them slammed me flat on my back on the pavement and knocked the wind out of me. He felt really bad and it hurt but I didn't cry. I guess they just quit trying at some point and started believing me that I was just a really tough girl. Of course, none of the teachers ever saw any of this stuff happening. I was really little in elementary school, leading to nicknames such as Small Fry and Little J. I was also really strong. When I was in third or fourth grade, I started doing 10 push-ups every day. I got behind for a little while, but I kept track and I made them all up. One night, I did 200 something push-ups. My mom was a little worried, I think. She told me that I didn't have to do them all at once, and I could spread them out over a few days, or a week or something. She didn't want to discourage me from exercising, but I was about 10 years old. I didn't mind, I did my 200+ push-ups in one night. It took me about two hours. I still love exercising. Now I hacky sack for about 4 hours a day, at least when I'm not sick.

I don't think I've ever cried from pain. Like I mentioned earlier, I always just laugh. The more pain I'm in, the more I laugh. I punched a brick wall once while hacky sacking, don't ask how, I'm not sure. My knuckles were bleeding and I laughed so hard, then kept hacky sacking. I tried to ollie once on my friend's skateboard while I was wearing flip flops. This was stupid for two reasons. First, I had given up learning to skateboard about five years earlier because I couldn't even learn the most basic trick, an ollie. Second, when ollying, you should wear shoes that have some grip on them, because you slide your foot up on the skateboard and turn it sideways to get in the air (or something). My friend was determined he could teach me to olly, and I was wearing flip flops because we were going white water rafting and killing time before that started. I did everything exactly the way I was supposed to, and I probably would have successfully ollied, if I had been wearing shoes. I slid my foot up and sideways, and my flip flop slipped when I turned my foot sideways and my toes scraped against the grip tape. For those of you who don't know, grip tape is kind of like super coarse sandpaper. It's the stuff on the top of a skateboard. So I basically sanded my toes. They were sliced open and I was dripping blood everywhere, but I was laughing so hard. I managed to get a bandaid and then I wrapped the wound with duct tape after having it bandaged, because that way the water wouldn't soak in. Then I went white water rafting, and it was a blast. My best friend broke her foot though, so she didn't have quite as much fun.

This has been a chaotic jaunt down memory lane, brought to you by the letter J. Thank you for flying with me, and please put your seats in the upright position. Single file line, please.