So I thought I would make the start to my birthday a little interesting. Every year I ask for a puppy. I’ve just always wanted one – a golden retriever or black lab – I don’t know why just those two, but I’ve only ever thought about those two, even though I love other breeds. Anyways, I never get one. The reasons have been explained to me multiple times– no one is really home enough to give a puppy there full attention and to train it, no one would pick up after it, and my parents would be the only ones taking care of it. However, both of my parents each had a dog and I have dog-sat multiple times. That’s ok. I understand. Whatever.

Well last night I received my first present. My friends were so excited for me to open it and I sort of knew what it was, but i opened it. As I reached into the bag I felt something fluffy and soft. I pulled out a small, golden-brown dachshund. The only problem was it was a stuffed animal. Once again.

However, this year, with a little bit of revenge and tom foolery in my heart, I sent out a tweet through my phone simply saying ‘I GOT A PUPPY FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!!’ Because I have my twitter account “feed” my tweets to my Facebook account as my updates, within a matter of seconds I had about 30 comments on my status. What started out as a little white lie quickly turned into utter mayhem! People wanted to know what breed it was, what we were going to name it, etc. and I simply could not end the joke that soon.

So, to all the people who thought I actually received a puppy, my apologies, I’m sorry. It will probably not be until I own my own house that I will own a puppy.

This year has already shown to be an aching year. One of my resolutions was to lose 25 pounds by my 21st birthday on February 28. Starting last Monday (1/11/2010) my friend, Carloe, and I started P90X – an intense workout program that really gets your muscles working…and dying :/  However, so far I have lost 6 pounds and my whole body is aching, but it feels great.

I’m also starting to watch what I eat and how much I eat as well. I use the Weight Watchers Point System and it has really helped. Our refrigerator at home is filled with healthy snacks and food. In addition to that, my church has started a support group on Saturdays to help get people who want to lose weight a group that will encourage them, give tips and tricks, and just be there to listen to their difficulties and struggles. I encourage anyone who is struggling or just needs that extra push of motivation to join us on Saturday mornings at 10:30 am at the Castro Valley Church of the Nazarene.

School starts next week and I’m actually looking forward to my classes. I’m looking at Interior Design and Architecture and seeing where that will take me. Because all my classes are now evening classes I have moved my schedule to the mornings which will really make me start getting my work done and getting to bed early. We’ll see how that goes.

I think that’s about it for now, but if you’re looking for another great blog of mine, head over to Project Zazzle and watch the Zazzle competition that started today. It continues for 12 weeks and needs people to vote on all the great designs. You can either subscribe to our blog posts or follow us at @projectzazzle to keep up to date on the competition and the latest challenges.

1. Don’t Procrastinate
2.  Stay Organized
3. Manage my finances
4. Lose 25 pounds by my 21st birthday

What are your resolutions? Do you have any tips for keeping my resolutions or making them successful?

An ornament.

A Crayola ornament for each year.

We have made it a tradition each year to find a Crayola ornament that’s part of an ongoing collection that started the year that I was born. What’s significant about these ornaments, to me, is that my parents got me these ornaments when i turned one – not really knowing my true personality. If you know me, these ornaments speak to my creative and colorful personality and imagination.

This year, my mother stopped me one day after I came home from my classes and told me she had bad news. My heart instantly sank and thought someone in my family had passed away. I asked what happened and she responded that they had stopped my Crayola ornament collection. My heart did sink! This would have been my 20th ornament and I thought that this had to be a mistake. She said that Hallmark hadn’t received any of those ornaments and that the collection had ended. My mom said that it might be time to stop the ornaments; I refused to let it end. I even thought about making my own!

Days later, my mom shows up with a bag in her hand and tells me she has a surprise. Seeing that the bag was from Hallmark, I was ecstatic! I opened the bag and pulled out what was my 20th Crayola ornament!

The winner will be given a spotlight on my Year Round Holidays blog, a picture of their product (hopefully which will be in the Foto Friday post of the Zazzle blog), and 2 packs of their tags purchased!

And the winner is…

(and it was a very difficult choice to make)…

BluePlanet!

Congratulations on a beautiful design!

This picture was taken during our NorCal Senior High Camp at Lake Shasta. Because we bathe in the lake we thought it would be fun to get a group together. We decided to wash in stages and took pictures before we jumped into the lake to wash off. We had no idea that the guy behind us (the camp liked to call him “The Bear” or “Grizzly Adams”) was there.

Please vote for my entry here: A Bear in Our Bath

Please tell others to vote for me…I could get a scholarship for $400!! Remember you can also vote every day!

Thanks!

The winner of the Breath of Christmas Design contest is….

VampOut

Here is her beautiful design!

Thank you to everyone who submitted designs! It was great to see all the unique designs! Look for a possible Breath of Christmas 2 Contest next year!

We will be purchasing 260 postcards to pass out to the congregation as well as the people we carol to.

Secondly, thank you to everyone who voted and spread the word along about voting for their designs.

So….without further ado…

DRUM ROLL PLEASE….

The winner of the Living Nativity 2009 People’s Choice Award, with 9 unique votes (18% of the total), is….

VampOut

Their design will be featured in my holiday blog: Year Round Holidays with an interview discussing the designer and where they got there inspiration from.

Congratulations once again to VampOut for creating a well received design!!

Well…

THERE’S ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT TO SUBMIT YOUR DESIGN!!!! The deadline is October 31, 2009 at 11:59 pm and the winner will be chosen on November 14 as well as purchased on that day.