My Nectar List

Recently on Facebook I had posted a link to some of my friends encouraging them to check it out.  Basically, it's the idea of a Nectar List.  Everyone has heard of a bucket list - things you want to do before you "kick the bucket", but a Nectar list is basically a list of accomplishments that you have made in your lifetime, so far.  It's about appreciating what you've been able to do and how you've already lived - even if your biggest dreams and wishes have yet to come true.  Amber has beaten me to creating a list - so it's given me the push I needed to at least start mine.  I have a feeling I'll be adding to the post as more and more things come to my mind, but for now, here's what's so far been the nectar of my life:

My Nectar List

1. I tried out for American Idol
2. When that didn't go so well, I got my first tattoo the next day
3. So far, I have three tattoos and one planned (one for each surgery)
4. That being said, my insides have been on my outside
5. I got accepted to my first choice college the day after Christmas in 2002 (TEMPLE)
6. I traveled to Israel for 10 days (end of 2004/beginning of 2005)
7. While there I had my Bat Mitzvah at the age of 19 in the basement of a hotel in Jerusalem
8. I've ridden on a camel

   

   riding the camel near the Bedouin camp

9. I've stayed in a Bedouin camp, eaten with no utensils while sitting on the ground, and had their amazing tea!!
10. I have gone on an archeology dig in Israel

    

    we were digging, and it was super awesome

11. I've climbed to the top of Mount Masada and watched the sunrise
12. I'm a lover of board games, and have quite the collection
13. I've met half of Phantom Planet    

    

    @panic at the disco show, drummer and guitarist

14. I was credited on Mandy Moore's last album as a hand clapper with my Kevin and Melissa friends
15. I've met Mandy Moore

    

    kev, me, mel and mandy

16. I used to travel all over to see my favorite local band, The Poptart Monkeys
17. I lived in Dublin, Ireland for 6 weeks, right before my senior year of college
18. I made out with a hot Irishman in the middle of the streets of Dublin at 4am
19. I kissed the Blarney stone when visiting Blarney Castle

    

    Blarney castle is behind us

20. I signed the Ketubah for one of my best friends
21. That same friend and I slept in Heathrow airport overnight because our flight got cancelled
22. I spent a weekend in London
23. I visited Madame Tussauds in London
24. I have shopped at Harrod's
25. I've been to Buckingham Palace

    

    Those gates were jammed with people

26. I have been in love
27. I've had my heart broken 
28. My sweet sixteen party was at Six Flags Great Adventure

    

    group at six flags

29. I've driven by myself to Michigan (14hrs )
30. I've also driven to North Carolina, Boston, Connecticut, Ohio and Maine (not to mention the rest of New England)
31. I've spent multiple 4th of July's in Michigan - at Lake Michigan and seen the fireworks over the lake
32. In college, a group of us advertising students gave a presentation to the Coca-Cola Company
33. I love karaoke - and have even come in second in a contest ($250)
34. I've met Chuck Palahniuk

    

    note the crazy girl with the wedding veil

35. I've met Ben Foster (at Penn station)
36. I've met Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul (at the airport!)
37. I've met Ed Westwick (in 30 Rock)
38. I have an extremely tiny family but love them all dearly. I consider myself lucky!

    

    not pictured, Lala and Uncle Joe

39. I bought my car in 2009 by taking advantage of Cash for Clunkers
40. I was a gymnast for years, and was capable of doing handsprings and flips
41. That lead to becoming a cheerleader

    

    8th grade, cheering for basketball

42. I know how to drive a manual vehicle
43. I've driven a Corvette and a Porsche
44. I've witnessed the miracle of childbirth (twice!!) when both of my godsons were born
45. I have the best godsons a girl could ask for

    

    anton, me and asa

46. I've taken nine years of Spanish - and have been trying to polish my skills
47. I caught the bouquet at my cousin Mindy's wedding

    

    we were super excited!

48. I'm still friends with the people who were there during important segments of my life
49. I have some of the best friends in the world
50. I have the best and most supportive family
51. My whole life I have loved art, and recently went to one of those painting classes

    

    my beautiful work of art ;)

52. I've been to lots of concerts: N'Sync, Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Panic at the Disco!, Bruce Springsteen, Ian Hunter, Mike Viola, Fountains of Wayne, Adam Ant, Maroon 5, Christina Aguilera, Taking Back Sunday and more!
53. I saw Rent with the original Broadway cast!
54. I've seen: Wicked, Rent, Spamalot, Damn Yankees, Annie and many other live shows!

That's my list - as of now.  I'm sure I'll keep thinking and adding to it.  But looking back at everything I've done - I can say that I'm luckier than most.  I can't wait to see what else makes it onto this list!!

Reviews: Potpourri

So there are a few reviews that I never got to writing.  I created the posts for the blogs I wanted to write - but do to becoming busy - and not sitting down to do it, I never got around to them. So I figured I would just write a quick summary for the ones I've missed.


TV:
Raising Hope
Rating: 8/10 Stars
If you haven't seen this show yet, you should totally check it out. I feel like it was a dark horse, and I'm happy that there were 4 seasons, but I'm sad because there could have been more.  Burt, Virginia and MaMaw were some of the best characters on television.

Movies:

Neighbors

Rating: 7/10 Stars
This was a pretty funny movie.  Efron played quite an obnoxious frat dude, while Rogen and Byrne played two pretty adorable (and sometimes extremely stupid) new parents.  If you want to laugh, give it a try.
 

The Lego Movie

 Rating: 9/10 Stars


 I was pleasantly surprised by this movie.  I had extremely low expectations when I saw the first ad. How the hell were they going to make a movie on the concept of Legos? Well, they did, and it was fantastic!!! Beware the Kragle!!


X-Men: Days of Future Past

Rating: 10/10 Stars
By far the best superhero movie I've ever seen.  I could rewatch this over and over.  The acting was superb as well as the storyline.  But if you're one of those people who likes to nitpick with details when time traveling is involved, skip this.

22 Jump Street 

Rating: 9/10 Stars
This was great! The first movie was all about making fun of itself for being a movie remake of an old TV show.  Well this was all about making fun of itself for being a sequel.  The bits during the credits were also pretty fantastic!


Book Thief

Rating: 8/10 StarsGiven as much content as this had in the book - I thought they did a great job transitioning it into a movie.  The cast was done quite perfectly in my opinion - and gave me all the same feels I had when reading the book.

Maleficent

Rating: 7/10 Stars
Very interesting take on the whole fairy tale.  Looking through the point of view of the villain is something most of us have thought about, but this actually did it.  I am not the biggest Jolie fan - but even she was tolerable in this one.


Guardians of the Galaxy

Rating: 9/10 Stars
Great cast. Great Jokes. Great Storyline. Fantastic soundtrack!! Enough said. Go see this!

Let's Be Cops

Rating: 8/10 StarsI didn't have the highest hopes for this movie - but I love me some Jake Johnson.  It exceeded my expectations very much.  I laughed a whole bunch, and I did figure out the ending, almost to a T. But I like when I can do that.  I'd recommend to someone who wants to laugh.

They Came Together

Rating: 6/10 StarsI'm not even sure I finished this.  They tried extremely hard to be "different" that I was annoyed by it.  I love Poehler and Rudd, but this was a dud for me. (haha, I made a rhyme).


So are there any movies you guys disagree with me about, or any that you think I should check out? I'd love to know what you're thoughts are!!

Hello Blog Land - It's been a while

So as you've probably noticed, I've been pretty absent from my blog. So much to tell you all - but I've been crazy busy in the best way possible. So here's some of the highlights that I've lacked sharing so far.

The most important thing I've yet to have shared is the surgery I had on July 14.

My mom flew up here from NC and we headed out to Cleveland on July 9th.  On the 10th I had a day chocked full of pre-surgery testing and meetings.  The scariest of the meetings was where I would learn about Ileostomy bags. (they are basically the same thing as a colostomy, but attached to your small intestine - which is where my Crohns lives) During this meeting, the wonderfully sweet nurse who explained things to me and my mom, I received two small tattoos (consisting of three dots) on two separate areas of my stomach.  This was to be where the bag would be inserted if I had needed them.   Now, I've gotten tattoos before, but these hurt like a bitch! Not to mention the idea of needing the bag was something I had come to grips with, but still didn't want.  (Don't worry - I never needed them.  But the tattoos are for life!)

After the incredibly taxing day - my mom and I headed back to the hotel and watched a movie. It was actually a Jake Gyllenhaal movie - ENEMY.  While we watched we couldn't believe how horrible it was.  We kept watching because we had faith that it would turn out better than it had been, but nope.  I've never been so disappointed with something he was in.  Granted - it is one of those movies where once you know the ending, if you watch it again you may appreciate it more.  So maybe I'll give it another shot one day - but not anytime soon. 

We ended up leaving the next morning to spend the weekend in Detroit with my Aunt Virginia and cousins, Morgan and Mindy.  This is when I finally got to meet Mindy's extremely adorable baby, Nickolas Alexander. Seriously though, cutest baby ever!!

Me and Nickolas

Nickolas and Mama

Nickolas and Aunt Morgan

tell me this isn't the cutest baby ever!

It was a pretty relaxing weekend hanging out with my family who I don't get to see that often.  It definitely calmed my nerves for my impending surgery.

This is the same weekend that I decided to treat myself to my first massage ever. And let me tell you - it was my best idea ever! That night, we had my "last meal" since I couldn't eat the day before surgery, and wouldn't be able to eat a normal meal for a while.  We got lobster, and I had two!! If that was my last meal, I was completely happy with it.

The next day my mom and I had to head out to pick up Lala from the Airport and check in to the hotel on the CC campus. But before we left, my mom, aunt Virginia and myself each used wishing paper and made wishes.  It was a nice way to cap off the end of the trip.

The following day was my surgery. I don't remember much of the day at all (or the next for that matter) which is good, because abdominal surgery is the worst!!

Basically - surgery went as smoothly as possible.  They removed all of the remaining Crohns and checked every single inch of my small intestines for any abnormalities.  Basically - a fresh start. I had a great team of doctors nurses and family with me, to push me to recover.  I was walking two days after surgery, and eating as soon as I could.  I was discharged after 6 days :) *last time was ten so woohoo!!

The ride home, is again - not something I remember too well- but I did get home and back to my bed sooner than I had anticipated - and without a stoma bag!!!

A few days after returning home, I ended up back in the hospital with an Ilius. Basically - my insides didn't like being poked, prodded and sliced open so they went a took a nap on me.  After another five days in the hospital waiting for them to wake back up, I was headed home again - and as of now - no ER or hospital visits since then!!

I'm doing pretty well.  Life seems to be coming together for me finally.  I'm hoping to start discussing returning to work with my doctor early next month.  I've got a pretty special someone in my life now. And after five years without fruits or veggies - I've started to introduce them to my diet.

There have been a few bad days here and there - but for the most part, I feel better.  This is what I've been waiting for, for five years now.  There's that part of my brain that keeps me grounded because you never know when it is going to come back or when the bad days will start to outnumber the good - but just the fact that I have good days makes me happy enough for now. :)  I'm trying to live it up as best I can before I start back with work (WORK!! so exciting!!) and I'm also trying not to over do it. It's been quite the battle, but I think I can reward myself with a little fun here and there :)

Thank you to everyone who has supported me, listened to me, or made me smile when I thought I couldn't.  I'm extremely excited with what the future holds for me, and I can't wait to share it with you all :)