25 before 25 comes to an end!

Can I just say I LOVE birthdays. I am so sad that mine is over in 6 minutes! Not going to lie, it's been great. Some new experiences and some great friends. My day consisted of cooking myself breakfast at 3 am (stayed up late and was hungry) then reading, going to sleep, sleeping in, getting ready, going to the mall, spending a bit too much at Forever 21 (all but one piece are basics, so I'll wear them out), getting some pizza, trying to find my Betsey perfume... learning it has been discontinued (so I found it online pretty cheap!!!), checking out J.Crew and not being impressed with the store...


Then there was some printing at Kinko's (or Fedex Office as they like to call it now) of a receipt proving I did, in fact, renew my license even though it is nowhere to be found. Yeah mail! 
After that it was time to pick up Nicole for the festivities! I arrived at her work a tad early and was on the phone so I missed meeting a pretty hot customer... oh well. Boys. I then tried on some vintage frames which were AWESOME! One of my wardrobe goals is to find a really good pair of glasses (of the prescription kind) because mine are at the end of their life. After that fun we rushed to the BINS to dig dig dig in dirty stuff to find treasures. (I promise promise promise I'll do a bins post soon!) I'm not going to lie, I have been collecting bits and pieces of things for Unicorn Sparkle(bottom)s which I'm excited to send! 
After our dirty dig we met up with Bryan and MikeD. at Mio Sushi (DELICIOUS!) and had some good laughs. We finished the night with Swirls frozen yogurt and because Nicole casually asked if I needed a candle for my cup of fro yo the nice nice guy gave me it for free! Super stealth Nicole! Speaking of Nicole, I'm mentioned (and get a birthday shout out) in her blog today! Go read it!


Wow this is getting a little more wordy than usual... well, I figure now is the best time to recap on my 25 before 25! So here it goes:

1. I got not 1 but 2 tattoos!

4. Moved out of state, wooo back to Portland!!! Didn't think this was going to happen maybe 2 month ago but I do not regret my decision!

5. I finished not one, but THREE blankets (the last is not pictured here, it will get it's own post later!)

6.I took (and posted!) 100 flickr worthy pictures

Sets

8. Finished 8 (way more than 8) for fun books

Titles

9. Finished 2 (and then some) self help books

Books like: He's Just Not That Into You, If You Have to Cry Go Outside, What Color Is Your Parachute? and more.

12. Paid off a huge chunk of my credit card! (and then put some money back on, THEN, like a good girl, used a portion of my tax return to pay a lot off again!)

Thanks mom!

14. Made 3 collages (and then some)

16. Finished my paint by numbers!

17.Took a road trip.

20. Figured out next career goal (I'm pretty sure.)

25. Went horseback riding.

11. Finally road the Spectrum Ferris Wheel!

What I didn't quite make it to:
2. Swimming with sharks 
7. Crochet scarf/cowl. (Going to do that this year, or just make more blankets!)
10. Cook for someone at least once a month. (This one started out great but then just fell to the wayside.)
13. Volunteer: not sure where yet but it's out there (I did get started on this one, I am going to be working with the Rose City Rollers hopefully, helping them with fundraising and such!)
15. Paint a picture (do other paint by numbers count???)
18. Go on a hot air balloon ride
19. Get off my medication for anxiety. (While I did lower my dosage for a while I was not in a position to completely leave it AND I actually switched to a different kind which seems to be working very well.)
22. Take a photography class (Still working on getting this going, need to get a place to live and such first though!)


What else I managed in the 12 months of 24:
Did the second tour of Hearst Castle (my third time touring, but did the second tour in the sequence)
Toured the Winchester Mystery House
Made extra collages
Unloaded a couple carfulls of stuff to goodwill and resale stores
Completed Elsie's Blog Love Course
Signed up for and participated in the e blogger conference Indie
Watched an awesome and amazing 1 year old one day a week for a couple of months!
Got attached to said 1 year old, oh how I miss him!
Added several cameras to the collection
Left my job
Made a banner for my blog!
Took lots of pictures!
Organized pictures in iphoto
Started my pinterest boards
Took pictures of my dear friend Christie with her super duper spiffy camera!
Moved from Encinitas to San Marcos to Carlsbad to Chula Vista to Portland
Had my very first technical boyfriend after high school
Watched all episodes of Desperate Housewives to date
Signed myself up for a pen pal list!
Started the Gunslinger Series
Changed blog over to Click Click Corey
Read a manuscript for a friend, so great!
Attempted to blog every day for a month
Watched the first season of Mad Men
Watched first season of Pretty Little Liars
Bought some amazing dresses
Thrift shopped like a nut once I arrived in Portland
Saw Chels Dog and Knife Fight Ruby for a weekend on my way to Portland


This year was great and hard at the same time. I was really emotional due to stressing about the future and trying to go off of my anxiety and depression medication. There were days where I left bed for maybe an hour or two because everything would make me want to cry and I could feel this hollow ache in my chest. It was hard on those days to find anything to be awake for. Looking back those days seem so distant even though there were maybe a month an a half ago, I'm happy to say I have so many good memories from the year (and the past month) that I don't feel the pain of the hard parts anymore. I've been growing a lot and (hopefully) maturing  too. Not to say I don't act like a kid from time to time (in the last month I've had at least 7 strangers comment on how excitable I am haha), but I'm getting really comfortable with who I am and what I want to do. I'm totally and incredibly excited for the future and this next year! My only emotional goal is to still feel as young as my elders tell me I am. 


Up next... 25 before 26!!! 


xoxo

100 flicker worthy pictures: SET 10!!!

This picture set is not what I originally planned for the last one but I couldn't pass it up because there was no way I was going to fit all of them into my Day 2 post from My Trip to Portland. So here are some of my favorites from Hearst Castle!

I think this is a regal way to tie up the ends of #6.

Saving grace

Even in the corners

two glorious paintings

filled to the brim

at the edges

best room in the house

color of light

stairs so small

no e-z bake

regal

WOOO! Now I have some time to relax and figure out my 100 things project starting in March. OOP! Looks like that gave away one of my 25 before 26's!

xoxo

100 flickr worth picture, set 9

Oh goodness! Set 9! Almost there!!! Here's another set of Mini's.

party!

blanket plans

wall decoration

kitty house

bird house

christmas tree reflection

yuuum

mini mary

ooooh balloons!

the art above my bed

all sets

100 flickr worthy pictures, Set 8!

I know it's been a while and the end of 25 before 25 is drawing very near! I still have some polaroids to scan but I will definitely have the last 2 sets up in the next week!

Enjoy!

A pretty tile

cracked

pondering his reflection

It says tny tipi

best view

my favorite animal

so cute

stalking

rows

shielded from the sun

previous: Set 1, Set 2, Set 3, Set 4, Set 5, Set 6, Set 7

First Post of the New Year

Hello 2011, How are you? I'm pretty fantastic though I am once again awake way past bedtime, I'll try to be better about that this year. ;)

I didn't go out for New Year's Eve this year. I couldn't find anything that sounded like fun. So, while I was in bed this morning I had this great epiphany. I would start, right on the dot, even a tad before working on my plans for all of 2011.

What I did on New Years Eve:

Read:

He's Just Not That Into You in the food court at the mall. Brilliant. Nothing new was said but it's all in one place and it's really blunt. I like it. I got some news last night that made me thinking investigating the book was necessary. May as well right. Knowledge is power and such.

Finished re-reading:

Watched:

I loved Away We Go! The movie version of HJNTIY didn't impress me as much. It definitely takes away from what the books says a bit. Puts a less harsh, more happy spin on things. Sometimes life is harsh but if you don't stay in situations that are never going to work then maybe you'll find your exception. 

During the movie watching I looked through the journals of 2010, jotted some stuff down, looked at my 25 before 25 list and the notes I had been taking since I started re-reading The Happiness Project and I brain dumped on some index cards everything else I had been thinking about this past month and then organized it into lists.

I also made another collage (#14) on the cover of my 2011 purse journal! Only one more collage to go!

Bottom 2010, top 2011!

I have yet to 100% complete what each month is going to look like but I have a better idea. I've already started crossing off some of the little tasks I had on my list for the new year like setting up my Google reader! 

I also made a grocery store list and wrote out some things I need to do when I wake up to better complete my 2011 project and goal outlook but it's definitely shaping up. A lot better than I could have done going to a party. I even cracked a Woodchuck Hard Cider and had maybe 2 sips of it. No matter how I sometimes attempt, I'm just not a big drinker. 

I thought I was going to be bummed being alone on New Years but I definitely turned it around. This year is going to be good, not just because I say it here but because I've planned it out a bit. I'm going to have things to look back on when 365 days have passed. I will progress, I will find my next path.