I Googled What?!

Remember last week when I admitted that I'm embarrassing? Well that is not limited to meowing at strangers- my google search history also illustrates my embarrassing behavior. When Jess & Kelli announced their I Googled What?! link-up, I knew I'd have some weird ones to contribute. Here's just a little sample of what I've googled lately:

How far is thirty feet?
I'm just really bad at envisioning distances... I must have been hoping the internet would help me with that. But really, what did I think I would get from this search?

Guy running Hey Stop!
Wait, what? Was I talking to someone? Was I trying to figure out how to get running guys to stop? Was anyone even running?

Jewel you were meant for me
This is a really good song and totally not random at all. AT. ALL. But really, it's been stuck in my head for days!

Boyfriend doesn't want to get married anytime soon blog post
Well this is a tinge on the pathetic side. Whatever, I just wanted someone I could relate to. I didn't find a blog post to read, either. SIGH. (this is all in good fun, promise. If blogs has emojis I'd put the laughing-so-hard-he's-crying guy)

Mint Fuzzy Fabric/ Mint furry fabric/ mint colored fluffy fabric/ pastel aqua fluffy fabric
I have googled various combinations of this approximately one million times. I just need some mint colored plush fabric, is that so much to ask? Why don't they make fluffy fabrics in mint?!!

I just need this, but in mint! Why can't I find it?!

What's the weirdest thing you've googled lately?

Friday Letters

I've never done Friday letters before, but I see once in a while on my daily reads and decided to give it a shot. I think it might even be a link up? Feel free to add my link if you know of one ;) KIDDING!

Dear work, I'm really not feeling you today. Let's just call it quits now and reconvene on Monday? Dear boyfriend, I am so excited your going to be here on Wednesday. I wish I got to keep you for more than five days! Dear work friends, I am SO glad we've all gotten so close lately. You guys have completely changed my outlook on this place. Even though I'm still looking for something new (and so are all of you guys, actually), it will be SO hard to leave my sparkly unicorn friends. Dear Bachelorette, I really want to be more interested in you, so if you could become more interesting that would be great. Dear fall, I've really been missing you lately. I wish you were the only other season that existed besides summer. The only thing I don't like about you is that you're followed by winter. Dear cough, I am so over you. If I have to eat one more cough drop I'm going to puke. Which will probably occur in about 2 minutes since I'm currently hacking up a lung. Dear free kittens, why are you popping up everywhere? Please stop taunting me. Dear brain, please stop stressing over that thing your stressing over. If you're not going to do anything about it (and you already decided you're not) there's no use in even thinking about. You can't change anyone's mind but yours and you're better off just living your life & going with the flow. Dear Friday, thank goodness your here!

Love,

You Can't Take Me Anywhere

So I have a confession: I'm embarrassing. Seriously, I don't recommend going out in public with me. Even though I embarrass myself on a very regular basis, one of my most embarrassing moments happened just this past Easter.

On Easter this year I stayed at my mom's house. The end of her block has churches on either side of the street, so there are always cars lined in front of the house on Sunday mornings- Easter was no exception. My mom wanted me to go outside and look at her flower garden with her, so I came into the front yard of our very suburban house dressed in my pajamas with unbrushed hair- like I said, I'm embarrassing. I immediately noticed a sweet little cat peering out of a car window directly in front of the house.

Doing what any normal crazy person would do, I said (loudly) "There's a cat in that car! I'm calling animal control." I then proceeded to run over to car to check out the cat. I started meowing at him and dancing around so his eyes would follow me. As I'm putting my crazy cat lady tendencies out there for the whole world to see, a college-aged guy came running out of the neighbor's house...

He started stammering "I'm sorry! That's my cat! His name is Walter, I really love him! I promise I've been checking on him a lot! He has water in there! I promise I'm not a bad pet owner! He's my first cat and I really love him! I'm sorry!" Cue mortification.

So the cat's owner wasn't in church after all. Nope, he was thirty feet away and he had heard me threaten to call animal control on him, then came outside to find me meowing at his cat in all of my pajama-cladden, bed-headed glory. I ran into the house ashamed and left my mom to talk to this guy about how much he loved his cat, Walter. When he was finally confident that we weren't really going to call the authorities my mom came in and just started laughing. I don't think she stopped for ten straight minutes. That was a moment I'm sure I will never live down.

Now that you know my most embarrassing moment, tell me yours! I need a good laugh at your expense ;)

I Ain't Saying She a Goal Digger...

I have a lot of goals in my life. Some of them are simple, like my goal to never have chipped nail polish (I'm usually failing at this), and some are much bigger aspirations, like to get my doctorate degree. I think that it's important to have dreams and to always be striving to accomplish something, no matter what that something may be. I have a never ending list of things I hope to achieve one day, but I'll just give you the short version.

-learn to sew so that I can make clothes for my children

-own a kitten

-find a new job

-adhere to a regular blogging schedule

-be nicer every day

-go back to school

-and so many, many more

So anyways, what's got me talking about my goals is that last month Rachael & Meghan  announced that they'd be hosting a swap all about being inspired to reach your goals. Obviously I jumped right on board. This might be my favorite swap I've participated in to date, and having a fabulous partner surely didn't hurt! I had such a blast getting to know Ashliegh over at The Darling Daily. She has so many amazing aspirations- she wants to open her own boutique, build houses in a third world country, and be crowned Miss America! Since she already runs a really awesome fashion blog, volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, and kills it in pageants I would say she's off to a good start!

My iPhone camera was failing me today

Ashliegh sent me an awesome package, and it was the perfect pick-me-up to come home to after vacation! She sent me a cute "daydream" pedestal which is currently sitting on my desk holding my favorite locket and those adorable spade earrings she sent me, but I can't help but picture it piled with macaroons! She also sent nail polish in my favorite color, lots of chocolate, some 'Merica colored hair ties, clip-flags for work, a magnetic note pad, a journal that I LOVE, and an insanely cute book full of inspirational quotes. Not to mention that it was all accompanied by a super sweet handwritten note :)

There's no way I could pick a favorite item, but that quote book is definitely in the top 10 ;) It was so hard to pick my favorite pages for that picture up there! (the first one is the cover)

Okay, and let's talk about these giant m&m's! They have my mind racing with ideas of how I could use them to decorate some baked goods. You know, if I bought another bag. I already ate that one.

What are some of your goals? What inspires you to accomplish them? 

Do You Even Blog Here?

Hey, you might remember me- I'm the girl who runs this blog. I'm too embarrassed to even go back and see how long it's been since my last post. Oops!

But, you may recall that I just got back from vacation yesterday *insert sad crying emoji's here* And just in case you don't recall, let me refresh your memory. I spent the last 6 days in sunny Charlotte, NC visiting my cute boyfriend. All I want is to hop right on a plane and go back. Who needs a job? Well, me unfortunately. But I'm making it through because that same cute boyfriend will be visiting me in just 8 days! His friend is getting married an hour from my mom's house. Crazy how things work out sometimes.

Anyways, my vacation was a blast and I had so much fun, but I took approximately 5 pictures of the whole thing. #Isuck. I wish I was the kind of person that remembered to take her camera out once in a while. Or, you know, just swipe up on her iPhone.

If you were guessing that most of the pictures are Elsa, you are 100% correct

I arrived Wednesday at waytoofuckingearly in the morning and we headed straight to Panera for breakfast. I'd already been awake for 5 hours, so I ordered a salad. Totally normal before 10 am, right? After breakfast/lunch we visited a friend so I could meet his new kitten, who was absolutely precious, and then we went to Sam's parents and spent the rest of the day watching TV and napping. I kept dreaming about work! Talk about a buzzkill- it was seriously the worst.

Meet Paxton, which I still think is a girl name.

On Friday the 4th Sam had to work. He wasn't supposed to, but since fireworks and alcohol are usually such a great combination they thought they might need a few extra cops around the city. I used this opportunity to hang out with my best friend/old roommate Scott. Anytime with him is a good time, and I was so glad we were able to get together. I wish we'd had more time to hang out!

On Saturday I woke up feeling 10 kinds of miserable. Sore throat, coughing, sneezing, stuffy nose- the works. In the evening I even ended up with a fever. We had plans to go to the lake with a bunch of friends, so Sam pumped me full of cold medicine and forced me to go anyways. As expected, I was very grumpy all day and probably made a bad impression on the three people I didn't know. Oh well. I also got a horrible sunburn, so that was fun.

Sick & sunburned, but at least I was with that guy!

(Also literally the only picture I took of us. Ew)

My illness stuck around for the rest of the trip, but nothing like that first day. We made Sunday a date day and ran errands, went out to dinner, and watched a movie together. It was honestly a really perfect last day, but it was so hard to not think about leaving. I just wanted to stay forever. We also got to sleep in on Monday since my flight didn't leave until after noon. It was so nice to lay in bed together one last time rather than rushing around half awake like we normally have to. As hard as it is to leave him, it's also a wonderful reminder of how blessed I am to have someone to miss.

Apparently I didn't take any non-gross pictures of myself.

Okay, this is already way longer than I meant for it to be! How did you guys spend your holiday weekend?

I Used to be Shy

I'm shy, but I used to be really shy. Like, get-a-stomach-ache-when-I-meet-new-people shy. I wouldn't play games, talk to strangers, put forth my best effort in dance class, or even answer questions in class. It was bad. And then one day I just got tired of being shy. I was tired of letting it hold me back and keep me from having fun and trying new things, so I decided to stop.

I started out by doing things that made me nervous every chance I got. I auditioned for every play, volunteered for every musical, and joined every dance class I could find. I never did these things alone, only if I had a friend for emotional support. It helped some; I became more confident in my talents and had more fun, but I still clammed up and made myself sick if a stranger was around.

The biggest thing that helped me to stop being shy was Sam. My boyfriend is the most outgoing and gregarious person I have ever met. He thrives on social gatherings- he's basically my polar opposite. Before I met him my bestfriend knew how shy I was, so she helped me out. She would answer questions for me in public and she had a way of making people think I was social when she was the one doing all the talking. I loved her for it, and I still do, but Sam does the opposite and it was such a blessing. He would take me to parties and then leave me alone with a group of people I didn't know, or he would force me to join in for a game of frisbee even if I said I didn't want to. He never answered questions, made decisions, or asked for help in stores on my behalf, so I was forced to do these things myself.

As time's gone on, I've continued to do things that make me uncomfortable. I go to fairs by myself, I sign up for classes that sound fun even when no one will do it with me, and I talk to strangers. I decided not to be shy, and I am so much happier without that burden weighing me down. I still get nervous trying new things and meeting new people, but I've taught myself to push through it and it's led me to amazing opportunities and wonderful friendships that the old me never would have had, not in a million years.

Blogiversary!

Yep, you read that right; on Saturday my blog turned one! I can't believe it's already been a year since I started Cats, Cuddling, and Carrot Cake. I have loved being a part of this little world of blogging, and I am so grateful for the experiences and friendships it's brought me. I still have a lot of aspirations for my baby blog, like learning to post on a regular basis, maybe? Definitely not a strength for me... and I hope that the next year brings just as much happiness and even more growth

SO ANYWAYS, in honor of my blogiversary I want to reminisce on the last year in my corner of the internet. If you click that little "popular" button at the top of the page you can see what your favorite posts are, but I want to tell you what MY favorite (and less clicked) posts are.

I Believe

I love making lists, and I also love talking about myself. I mean, that's why I have a blog, right?

Total Sorority Move

I love this post because I got to use all my favorite TSM's, and also because Luke Bryan's face is in it. #Duh

Shark Tank

This post is basically all my best ideas put into one post. The other day I saw the coffee mug in Dollar General, so I'm pretty sure they read my blog. Can you please make the nail polish happen, DG?

What My iPhone is Wearing

I liked this post because it gave you a little glimpse into a very important part of my life: my phone. Plus it was fun putting this post together and pretending my iPhone had an outfit!

They Should Have Kicked Me Out

I may have lived in the South, but I am not a Southerner. Mainly because I will never accept corn dogs as a side dish.

What's your favorite post of mine?

Thank you all so much for reading along with me as I've moved more times than I know off the top of my head, endured a long distance relationship twice, turned 23, started a new job, and whatever else I've done in the last year. I love you all to the moon and back; you are what keeps me coming back here (almost) every day. Happy Blogiversary to me!