But they're like really pretty

A few weeks ago, a group of 12 of my buddies participated in a "Besties" photoshoot.

A  friend of a friend was starting up a photography business, and wanted to get experience shooting photos of all different types of people. So, when she felt like getting more experience at group photography, we jumped at the chance to spend a few hours together on a Saturday being goofy and inappropriate by cheesing it up for the camera. We had three different outfit changes, and laughed so hard I am surprised the photographer didn't have to Photoshop my tears out.

Here are some of my favorite photos from that event. Seriously, aren't my friends gorgeous?!!?

Can you believe no one has put on ring on this girl yet??? I'll accept applications on her behalf.

Anyone recognize this Hottie McHolly???

 My life is random, and I love it.

 

I'm the kinda girl who...

Today, I'm joining my bestie Holly for her super-awesome link-up.

 

I've had some new people hop on board this crazy blog train as of late, so here is everything you need to know about the girl I am. I am allowed to call myself a girl for 3 more months darnit. Then once I hit 30.... well, you can call me whatever you want.

 I'm the kinda girl who...

~ believes in true love

~ sings. All day. Really loudly. And randomly. But it's okay because BuzzFeed says it is.

~ can automatically memorize all kinds of useless facts and trivia, but can't remember what I did yesterday.

 ~ thinks motherhood is not for the weak of heart, but for those with this kind of heart, it is the best thing in the world.

~ will always laugh at a good pun.

 ~ will choose extra cardio so I can eat more food.

~ pretty much likes everyone. In 30 years I can count on one hand the number of people I'm like "Meh, I'm good with never seeing you again."

~ loves rearranging furniture and shopping at Home Goods.

~ always has a stain on the front of her shirt because I'm clumsy (usually coffee).

~ believes coffee makes me a better person (ignoring the sentence above)

~ who hates compliments but loves pleasing people

~ over-analyzes every social situation after the fact, and determining where my awkward/dorkiness fell on a scale from 1 to 10 (usually hovering around a 6)

~ thinks you are never to old to love Disney

~ considers myself extremely lucky even though bad things have happened to me. 

~ constantly plans for the future

~ thinks the beach is my personal slice of Heaven. Followed by Disney World.

~ can laugh at myself. And I do. A lot.



 

Dating in 2029

The other night, Emerson had a phone date with her potential future husband. Connor is my best friend's little boy, and we have secretly been plotting their relationship since the day I found out I was having a girl. That's normal, right? We have maybe even determined how and when Connor will propose to Emerson and how old they have to be before they get married.

Don't tell Connor this, but every time I meet a cute/sweet little boy, I'm always like "Awww, wouldn't it be cute if they grew up and got married???" This is batshit crazy territory, but I swear it comes from the right place. Just ask Oren, Elliot, and Curtis, among others. Jon and I were friends for a long time before we started dating, and I feel like friendship is a solid basis for a strong marriage. It seems to reason that if you like your significant other as a friend, once looks fade and your marriage is filled with trials and tribulations, you still want to sit down and have a cup of coffee with that person. (Well, in our case, Jon doesn't drink coffee, and believe me it was almost a deal breaker, so we drink wine instead.) 

Another horrifying fact is that Emerson is the "popular" girl at daycare. It's true. Evan, Adam, and Fletcher are constantly competing for her attention. One day, Adam cried hysterically because Evan got to say "hi" to Emerson first. Is this foreshadowing? I hope not. Because the answer will always be: "Emerson is not allowed to date you unless you sign a sworn affidavit in which you vow not to harm her in any way, physically, emotionally, or socially."

Anyway, our phone date the other night got me thinking about how different dating will probably be in 15 years. When I began "dating" at the ridiculously young age of 12, here are a few characteristics of the time:

~ You started out by "talking." Talking meant you were "going out", but since you're 12, you physically never see each other except at school and maybe the occasional boy-girl party.

~ When you did actually talk on the phone, it was super-awkward and, also, you're 12, so really what did you have to talk about?

~ When I turned 16, I was finally allowed to ride in a car with a boy. This was a game-changer because that meant I could go on actual dates. My high school boyfriend and I went to such exciting establishments like the movie theater and Amish country.

Back in that time, texting, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and all that stuff didn't exist. The way we live and communicate is so different as compared to even 15 years ago.

I can envision FaceTime-ing as the new "talking," which I guess is a one-up since you can actually see the person you're talking to. I can also picture them going out to restaurants and all of their food is from a 150-mile radius ("You mean these cows aren't grass-fed? We're leaving"). At 18, they won't be as excited to graduate from high school because they'll be too busy worrying about where they're going to grad school (because apparently a Master's is the new Bachelor's).

Will Emerson and Connor have actual meaningful conversations, or will they do all of their communicating via text/Twitter/Instagram/whatever technological fad is hip at the time? I guess me and Connor's mommy have some work to do to make sure they know how to communicate effectively, even with technology. We have a long way to go, just based on their conversation the other night:

Emerson: "I love you Connor"

Connor: "Thank you Emerson."

We'll get there....

 

Things I think about at 3:30am

Anna is no longer waking in the middle of the night. Yay, one would think. Well, one, for some reason, my mind has decided that it should still contemplate all of the things in the world at the lovely hour of 3:30am instead of rest. I wake up at this time every morning. For no reason. It's not infuriating or anything.

Here are some of the thoughts that went through my head last night when I was awake for over an hour for no reason whatsoever:

~ Testing myself to see if I knew all the lyrics to "Blue Ribbon Bunny" from Sofia the First (I do).

~ Should I get a haircut?

~ What's that noise? I mean, it's obviously a masked burglar, but I'll just lay here and let it all play out.

~ My hair color in college was unfortunate.

~ What groceries do I need?

~ I'm out of coffee creamer at work (the horror!)

~ The anti-vaccination movement and it's implications on the spread of infectious diseases

~ What color should we paint our basement?

~ I wonder if they'll re-LASIK me for free since I now have to wear glasses for driving like an old dork.

Glasses selfie FAIL

~ Is it worth getting up to go to the bathroom or will that wake me up even more?

~ I think I left my space heater on at work (Update: I didn't burn the building down. Phew).

~ My knee itches

~ What's for lunch tomorrow?

~  Is it gross that I worked out before bed and didn't shower. (Yes. The answer is yes).

~ I forgot to send that student his resume critique

~ What should I wear to work since it's supposed to snow 67 inches?

~ How are they going to film Mockingjay without Phillip Seymour Hoffman?

^^^ All critical things that had to be sorted through before I could go back to sleep.

Yawn. Bring on the coffee. As if I needed another reason for that.