100th Post!

I never do this, but for the sake of material for my 100th post in this blog since I began in November, I thought I'd share a little about the shopping spree I went on yesterday with some of my birthday money.

I was trying to find some comfortable yet cute clothes for South Carolina. It's supposed to be hot and humid, as mentioned in the previous entry. I've decided the only thing I'm wearing is dresses. So here's what I ended up buying yesterday:

1. The black version of my brown purse, which was falling apart. I'm gonna try to be nicer to this one. Rue 21
2. Beachy blue dress with interesting straps. Ross.
3. Crazy Alice in Wonderland's table cloth dress, which was so eccentric I liked it. Ross.
4. Blue necklace, on sale at Rue 21.
5. Strappy shiny blue and tan gladiator style sandals. Ross.


The everything being blue thing was kind of a coincidence. Once it started I kept it going. I like new stuff :)

Update Overhaul

The countdown till I begin the journey to South Carolina to see Mikey is down to seven days. Seven! I can't believe there's only a week left and I can't tell you how relieved I am. Each day gone is a little more weight off of my shoulders.
Bootcamp is probably the most difficult part when you're in a relationship. Snail mail is horrible, though handwritten letters are amazing, and timed phone calls such, though they're better than nothing. Everything has it's pros and cons.
Before I continue, funny facts about the photo on the left. Number one: he's not actually wearing a hat. It's edited onto his head. Number two: there is not flag in the background, that is also edited. Number three: this I'm not completely sure of, but there's a good chance his shoulders are editted as well. I know his friends' photo was like that. Why all that? I have no idea. It also looks like they airbrushed his face a little. I don't. know. why. It's weird.
Anyway, as I've mentioned before, this experience you either get through or you don't. And we've made it with flying colors. I've written him every day since he left, and his unit noticed how efficient I am and I actually got a request from his friend for some song lyrics. Another one of his "co-workers" drew me a picture for my birthday. We've made the best out of this situation, and we've actually been talking about getting married...
Pretty much any female I talk to wants to know: are you guys gonna get married? The answer is probably, most likely, but I don't know. And I'm fine with that. But he's started talking about it like we'll be married by the end of this year, which is crazy, and exciting. Since we've passed this long distance test so well, and neither of us want to be with anyone else, I have no doubts about it. We're young but I don't think either of us have ever been so sure about anything. It might be when I visit him in a week, it might be this summer, it might be December when I move to Virginia with him. I don't know, and I say that with a smile. The chances of us having a big to-do about it right away are slim. We're more likely to sign the papers and save up for a big shindig later on. My mom's not happy about that, but we'll do what we decide to do and be happy no matter what.
Mikey seems to be disappointed with bootcamp, actually. I think he wanted it to be more hardcore than it was, but personally I'm glad it's been so easy for him. I've heard a lot of horror stories and I'm just glad he's safe and got through it. He passed his graduation requirements on Thursday and is now embarking on the Victory Forge, a four day camping trip that tests all the skills he's learned. Once he's back he says he gets his phone for personal time for the rest of the week! But he told me there were a few things he did that he built up in his head before and was disappointed after. I think he thought it would feel like a life and death scene from a movie, and it didn't, so he felt let down. I dunno, like I said, he's safe and that's all that matters to me.
Now I'm just trying to keep myself busy. I have to get my transmission replaced in my poor car (but my dad is awesome so I get to keep my money) so I'm mostly borrowing my mom's van and getting rides till then. I've got my movies and games and hard drive, and a few hours at work before I'm all done there and otherwise I'm enjoying spontaneous adventures with whoever wants to hang out.

I'm going to South Carolina with Michael's parents, but it's very likely that I'm staying a little longer to hang out with him during the weekend and fly back by myself. I'm nervous about the whole thing, and we're still working out last minute details, but I'm super excited. It's really hot and even more humid over there, so I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for wet heat instead of the Arizona dry heat here. I can't wait! We leave the 20th, spend the night in Phoenix, and take the four hour flight to SC the next morning. Family day is the 22nd, Graduation is the 23rd, and then I tag along with Mikey to report to AIT in Virginia.

There's so much epic change coming up. Not only am I not a teenager anymore, but in one year I'm moving twice and I might even get married. Holy shit. I'm so ready to start traveling!

Movies Movies Movies

(I'm way overdue for a post, I've been neglecting this blog big time! But no worries, after this post I have a more serious update.)

So I've been doing my best to keep busy while Mikey's been at bootcamp, and I've found that one of my favorite things to do is go to Hastings and browse their movies. If you look through the used DVDs, you can buy one and get one for a dollar (of equal or lesser value, of course). This stack you see to the left is all the dvds I couldn't resist adding to my collection since April. With these and Mikey's hard drive, I've had some pretty epic movie marathons. No shame, I love movies and there are a lot of days I don't mind putting one in after the other. On top of that I'm also guilty of watching the same movies over and over, especially if I just got them.

There's something about physically owning movies, cases and all, that's just so much more satisfying than having them downloaded on a drive. Although, I did get a terabyte hard drive for my birthday, so I'll probably be doing a lot of illegal downloading this summer, but I do plan to keep buying my favorites.

So here's a brief summary of these movies and why I chose to take them home:

1. Mean Girls. It was one of those things where I'd been wanting to watch it so so bad for months and I couldn't find it whenever I looked for it. It's kind of dumb, but this is probably one of my favorite movies. It's so quotable, and the message is so great, it runs through my head all the time.
2. Fired Up. I brought this up in a blog a little while ago, stating that it's one of those better-than-you think movies, and I still stand by that.
3. Van Wilder. Mikey showed me this one, because he has a man crush on Ryan Renolds. I do like this for the most part, though I'm not a fan of Tara Reid and there's a gross prank scene that makes me want to vomit.
4. Easy A. Too good not to own. There's not much to explain. Emma Stone references all of my favorite 80's movies and puts on a great performace. Had to have it.
5. Red Eye. I haven't watched this since I bought it, and it's such a contrast to the other movies, but it's definitely good. I don't think I should watch it before I get on an airplane. Cillian Murphy and Rachel McAdams, what more do I have to say?
6. Gigantic. Caught this on TV one day and ended up really liking it. However, I'm getting kind of sick of Zooey Deschanel always playing the quirky unique girl no one can have. Still, I bought it, mostly for Mikey's sake because he loves her.
7. Red. Retired: Extremely Dangerous. Cheesy yet badass movie about retired CIA agents who are on a mission to figure out why they're being hunted down. Very good stuff, worth having on my shelf.
8. Charlie Bartlett. I was long overdue in buying this, I should've had it after the first time I watched it when it was new(er). It's so funny, and so good, if you haven't seen it, go find it. If you have, watch it again.
9. Sunshine Cleaning. Yet another movie I caught on TV with Mikey. It was odd, but charming, and very cheap at Hastings, so I thought why not?
10. Bring It On. I bought this out of nostalgia, because as a preteen my friends and I watched this all. the time. We sang to the soundtrack and quoted it all. the time. And when you watch it again later you kind of think "why did I love this movie so much?" but I still enjoy it to an extent. And, coincidentally, there's a scene in Fired Up where they're all watching it.
11. Bedazzled. I have a crush on both Brenden Frasier and Elizabeth Hurley. The devil is supa hot.  I needed it. Enough said.
12. Black Swan. Intense mind fuck movie. If you haven't seen it yet do so, then buy it because it's worth it.
13. My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Also out of nostalgia because I used to watch it with my mom a lot, but it's kind of adorable anyway, and I actually like it more since I'm grown up (so to speak) and uh *coughthinkingaboutmarriagecough*.
14. The A Team. For my and Mikey's one year anniversary we were both pretty broke, so we got some cheap pizza, ate it outside of the theatre and saw A Team, which was badass. I had to buy it for all of those reasons.

I love movies. But my relationship with Michael has also revolved around them. That happens when you meet at a movie theatre. So I like just sitting around watching them imagining he's here. I'll make him watch them with me later :)

Songs For Different Moods

So this post is about "Songs you listen to in different moods."

It's weird, but I don't like slower sappy music. I try to avoid it because music is really powerful to me. My emotions will swing in whatever direction the song is about. I'm really affected by it, and sometimes it's a problem for Michael and I because he listens to stuff that makes me sad without thinking about it and I have to try to tell him nicely "Hey, can you change the music? You're bumming me out." I'm so connected to music.

Here's a few songs that affect me in different ways:

I have a deep respect for classical music, and this song makes me cry because it's so so beautiful. I dream of playing it on my cello one day.





When I work out and feel pumped up:





When I miss Mikey: (this is his ringtone for me, and my ringtone for him)




When I'm chilled out and happy: (any Clutch song, really)




When I'm pissed off:




And lately I can't stop listening to this song, I really like it, which is strange since Katy Perry isn't really my thing.




Well that's probably enough, I think I covered the basics. It took me a while to think about. I'm almost done with this blog challenge I've been slowly doing, and I'm not sure what to do next. I'll try to get ideas and blog regularly, but who knows. I'm lazy haha

The Most Wonderful Thing I've Ever Read

"I feel like I didn't appreciate you enough and sometimes I think I took this awesome thing we have for granted. Being away like this just makes me love and want you more. I want to support you and take care of you and never let you go. Knowing what being so far away feels like I know we'll make the most of all the time we're together. I love you."

-Michael Bradley Cook

I definitely teared up when I read this. Although it sucks he's so far away and I can't wait to see him, I can't deny that this is making our relationship stronger. Writing letters is probably the coolest and most romantic thing I've ever had the opportunity to do with someone I love.

I just felt like bragging. :)

Mikey Quotes

For those who are interested :)

 "So most people here are in intelligence jobs but it doesn't really show. Days like this when we do nothing are days we do stupid things. Get an empty bunk take the mattress and run jump and slide across the room. People wearing IBAs (sort of bullet resistant vest) and being spartan kicked in the chest. Just generally risking their own and everybody else's phone time."

"To sum up some aspects of basic I'll compare it to school. You know when you're in class and everyone keeps talking, asks retarded questions constantly, gets everyone more homework and doesn't function in a group well, and all the shit. Yeah that's pretty much basic except you sleep and spend all your time with those people. There's a lot of cool people but there's a lot of retards and it only takes one to throw you off or get you smoked.* Also I've had to write 3 essays and one sentence a whole lotta times. It's strange because almost all our drill sergeants are infantry and no infantry goes to basic at Fort Jackson."

"I've never viewed myself as someone who has all their shit together but some of these guys make me feel so organized. Especially my battle buddy who likes to make me late. I know that I have to wake up and make my bed which is getting easier and most things I have to do, I do the night before. I've f-ed up a few times of course but I'm getting better and he's not."

*I didn't understand what he meant by "getting smoked" until I asked a military friend. It means having to do a ton of sit ups, push ups, whatever the sergeant wants till you're exhausted.

Favorite Super Hero(s)

See, I have to be really really careful with this one because I don't know as much about super heroes as my best friend does, and I'm afraid I'll sound pretty ignorant if I put up a hero she doesn't like and/or don't justify myself well enough. But I'll try, okay?

As expected I have to say my first choice is Batman. Though I've mostly just seen all the movies (including the terrible ones) and am not too hardcore in my fangirl-ness, I still enjoy the concept and the more I learn the more I like him. In general I just like that he became a hero on his own. His powers basically are money and knowledge. Without them he wouldn't be able to be Batman. Shit I'd kill for both of those.

 

I do love me some X-Men. Again, mostly based on the movies (though I did have a Gameboy game). I did see a few episodes of the show where they're all teenagers, and that's where I saw Nightcrawler. I don't know much about him; I think his name is Kurt and I don't know why he isn't quite human. I'm sure Deroy will enlighten me. But there's not very many things I would love more than teleporting in a puff of smoke. So I guess I'm mostly jealous of him. He wasn't as attractive as I wanted him to be in the movie but oh well.

Here's the Nightcrawler I'm in love with.

Sadly those are really all I can come up with. I love most of the X-Men and if I was allowed to pick super villains I'd go with The Joker and Poison Ivy. Pretty stereotypical of me.