Pity Party for One

I'm not great at blogging. Fact. But let's give this another try. It seems that my friends have also fallen off of the blogging bandwagon so I don't really know who will even read this... :)

A little update about what has been going on in my life...

I have possibly the SWEETEST little addition to my family. My brother and Emily welcomed sweet Vivian Kate O'Brien to our family on December 14th, 2011. She is the cutest little thing! See for yourself...

Just look at those cheeks! So kissable and cuddly... I finally got to babysit her this last weekend and we had the best time. Really, we didn't do much. I tried to be extra funny so she would laugh and show me that big gummy smile. It worked! Maybe they were out of sympathy for Aunt Rissa making a fool of herself but I'll take what I can get. She is just so cute. Obviously I can't say that enough! I probably watch her videos and look at her pics 20 times a day. And then I force all of them on my co-workers. haha Vivian is entirely too cute not to share with the world!

The second addition to my family is....OLIVER, my cat! To all of you cat haters, you can insert your rolling eyes here. BUT, this cat is unlike any cat I've ever met. First of all, he is soooo damn cute I can hardly stand it. I provided a pic as confirmation...

Second, he is the funniest little guy. He really is! He loves to play hide and seek. He will literally move the pillows around on the couch and hide under them until I start playing with him then he will jump out and start all over again. Third, he has such a great personality. He talks all of the time. Not whiney meows but more of just squeeky noises. So funny. He comes to me 99% of the time when I call him. He sleeps on my back. He is just funny. Sometimes I wish he was just a fat lazy cat but what fun would that be!?! I'd be okay with him moving out of his kitten stage because his teeth are sharp!

Sadly, that's pretty much it for any excitement. I have nothing going on personally. Still waiting to meet the "one." Doesn't really seem like that's going to happen for me. I can't even seem to meet the "one" for right now.

I am so happy for everyone in my life.... All of the new babies, new relationships, new jobs...etc. There's no way to say this without sounding like a selfish jerk but I just need something to happen for myself. I need a reason to be proud of myself or a reason to at least stop having a breakdown at random places. I'm generally a happy person but I feel like most of the time it's not authentic. Like people just expect me to be happy or funny and I can't always be that for them. I don't want to let anyone down so I just don't tell them what's really going on or how I really feel. Plus, the American response is "everything will be fine." Well sometimes things are not fine!! I have a right to a pity party every once in a while. Can't someone just be negative with me for one minute??!!?

Let's face it. I really do have a great life! I have an amazing family and a wonderful group of close friends! I just don't think they know me as well as they think they do... Or even as well as I think they should.

More of a yearly thing...

Well my blogs have somehow turned into a yearly thing... Which I kind of like because I can list everything that is happening/happened in my world thus far. AND I DO like lists! I especially like using bullet points :) (Nerd, I know)

And here we go, in no particular order...

• I graduated!!! YEP, just when everyone (including myself) lost any faith that I would ever finish my degree, I surprised everyone and graduated with my Finance degree. It's about bloody time! A group of some of my very best friends helped me celebrate this milestone in Broken Bow a couple weeks ago.


• My brother and Emily are PREGNANT! I've been waiting years for this and I couldn't be happier for those two. They will be awesome parents. :) I've been practicing my Auntly duties on Ava and Jaxon for a few years and I think that I'm a pretty good Aunt...at least I hope so. I reckon only time will tell. I don't remember ever doing much with my aunts growing up so I plan to be much better for this new bundle of joy! I foresee trips to the zoo, sporting events and anything else their little heart desires.


• My best friend, Sarah Miles is PREGNANT! She is the mother to the cutest little boy, Jaxon. I'm so stoked that she will be having a girl this time around. Lillian Kate is sure to be a hit! I hope she has red hair like her mama and a personality just like her big brother. Jaxon is the funniest kid so I'm sure he'll teach his lil sis a few things :)


• My best friend, Traci Spellings is PREGNANT! I am so excited for Traci. She has wanted this for so long and I couldn't be happier that she if finally living her dream. Traci is also getting married in August. I love a wedding!! I hope all of her dreams come true!


• We will be heading to Destin, FL in just a few short weeks to watch two great friends get married. I'm so excited for these two because they are such great people! And I love vacation so bring it on!!


• I've decided to get into the cattle business. So far I only have two bull calves but I'm planning on getting at least 3 more bulls to sell in the spring and a couple heifers to keep and raise calves on. I will mostly be buying and reselling. Hopefully this will turn into some lucrative profits. Lord knows I have a lot of babies to shop for!! :)


• I'm turning 30 in 10 days!! Yep, 10 days people! I've been looking forward to this for some time so I'm really excited. I hope my 30s are the best ever! (It won't be hard to compete against my 20s) I finally have time to do whatever I want, which I hope that includes dating!

I think this is pretty much all of the big stuff going on right now!

xoxo

Riss

Can you believe it?!?!

WOW! So much has happened since my last blog...in July! I need to get better at this for sure.

Let me just make a list...

1. The Texas Rangers went to the World Series.
2. We had our 3rd annual Girls Christmas at Sarah's house. It was fantastic!! I have the best friends EVER!
3. Erin and Steve got engaged! Very happy for those two. Couldn't have happened to a better couple!
4. Rhonda and Ava are moving BACK to Texas! I'm soooo thrilled that they will be so much closer now. I just love them! AND Rhonda now has an iphone!!
5. My uncle had a heart attack on 11/08. He is doing much better now and they were able to treat it with medication rather than doing open heart surgery....again.
6. My dad got a new job with the state! This is so exciting! No more traveling and me worrying about him driving so much.
7. FINALLY, I registered for my last semester as a college student and filled out my graduation paperwork. It's hard to put into words how happy I am! I've been a professional college student for some time now. It's definitley time to find a new profession! :)

xoxo
Riss

It's that time...again!

Many of you know this already, but my birthday is tomorrow. I will be 29 *Sigh* I used to really love my birthday but I guess that changes as you get older. It becomes not such a big deal to anyone and let's face it...who REALLY wants to be excited about aging. Since this will be my last year being a 20-something I've really been thinking about what I've accomplished and what I haven't. I personally think that my 20's sucked... I'm gonna try to make the best of 29 but honestly I could just skip it and move to 30. Most people that have been through their 30's say that those were the best years. I'm willing to give it a try. Can't be any worse than the last 8 years. I still have one year to finish up some major milestones before I hit the big 3-0 though. Like...finish school.

Reflecting on my 20's...so far:

I've loved and lost.
Lived and learned.
Said goodbye to loved ones.
Welcomed new babies into the world.
Ran a marathon in Rome, Italy.
Ran a 1/2 marathon in San Francisco.
Made some of the best friends a girl could ever have.
I've been in school for about 8 years. Now that's endurance!!!
I became a worrier...
I've moved 13 times since 2000.
I've made very bad decisions.
I've seen / traveled to so many fantastic places.

Most importantly... I figured out who I am!!!

Love
xoxo
Riss

Updates and whatnot...

It seems that I haven't blogged in a while so I feel that everyone is due for an update.

Nothing spectacular is happening in my life.

The end...

Just kidding!! Prepare for some randomness.

• Things are really just moving along at a rapid pace...which I LOVE!!! Tomorrow will mark my 1 year anniversary of being back to work at Affirmative Insurance. I do love my job and the people I see everyday. I'm very grateful that I have found such a great position in this company because I was sad to leave it at one point.
• I'm currently on break between semesters. My summer classes start next Tuesday. I am NOT thrilled about that at all. But hey, this will be my very very last summer that I will have to waste on school. And this my friend, has me as giddy as a school girl with pigtails. As long as everything goes according to my schedule, I will be finished with school in December. I keep thinking that I would like to get my masters but then I slam my head into a wall and I come back to the reality of...I HATE SCHOOL. I remember back in the day I actually enjoyed going to class. I think when you drag it out for 10 years it puts a bad taste in your mouth. So with that, I will graduate with my Finance degree and call it a day.
• Memorial Weekend. I am sooo excited about going home for this reason... My nanny (dad's mom) passed away 4 years ago next week. This of course was a really hard time for my family. However, since Memorial weekend was the following weekend after her passing we all decided to get together, look at old pictures and celebrate. This party has since turned into something you probably wouldn't want your kids at but fun none the less. It is officially titled the Nanny Pat Memorial Horseshoe Tournament. It is so much fun just to hang out with my family and people that consider themselves family (though that feeling is usually one-sided). Things to expect at this East Texas shindig...award winning BBQ, all the beans you can eat, horse shoes of course, potato guns, annoying women, annoying men, and finally...you can definitely expect the cops to show up. It's best to sit back and watch all of this unfold from the safety of your tailgate.
• And for my last update today... I am going to NYC in August with my bff, Courtney. I am STOKED!!! We already have our tickets and our agenda pretty much planned out. We are still missing a hotel room which I feel is vital to our enjoyment. We should probably get on that...

Well I think that pretty much sums up anything and everything that's happening my world right now.

P.S. I thought bullet points were fun today.

Peace

Riss

New digs and my man, Tyler...

Well guys, I have officially moved into my new place in Frisco. I cannot even tell you how excited I am! I still have a few things to pick up from the house but for the most part the move is complete.

On a separate note... This weekend was pretty fantastic. Saturday afternoon I went to see Tyler Perry's play "Madea's Big Happy Family" with my mom and Cyndi. Honestly, if I try to explain how awesome the play was I will break down in tears. But I'm going to give it a go anyways... This play was written as a part of the healing process for Tyler when his mom passed away in December. The premise of the play was that this lady has cancer and only had 4-6 weeks to live. So she wanted to get all of her children together and talk to them about it at one time and answer any questions they might have. Well, Madea was summoned over to the house as well to keep the peace. As expected, when all of the children showed up, chaos ensued. Everyone was fighting and yelling. Needless to say, the mom was not able to tell her children that she was dying. When the mother died, Madea got all of the children together and tried to give them some words of wisdom and tell them how it is...something their mother was never able to do.

Tyler Perry gives the best advice! Every time I watch one of his plays or movies it restores my faith a bit that my "one" is out there somewhere. Tyler said that you have to be open to love and open to the thought of finding a good man. I'm not sure how to do this... He also said that God would send me a "good" man when my heart is ready. How do I know when that is or when I'm ready? I feel like I've been ready for a while now. I know that God has a plan for me but sometimes I wish he would let me in on that secret.

My favorite quote from Tyler is "you can be born into a whole lot of a nightmare, but God can usher you into a dream" I think he is brilliant!

xoxo
Riss

New Places...

Wow! It's been quite a while since my last blog. Fortunately I don't have any random dreams to update y'all with. Well, I do but I won't bore you with those this time around.

Lets see... After finding out that my roommate, Gabe is selling the house we live in, I was forced to get my own place again. Which I must say that I'm really excited about. Living with Gabe and Clifton has got to be the best roommate situation because we all do our own thing and really never see each other. But you know, it's just nice having your own space. I can put things were I want them, I can turn the heat and no one gets upset, heck, I can even walk around in... (well, you get the idea). I decided on these FANTASTIC apartments in Frisco. They are brand new and I LOVE them. My brother so kindly announced at the Super Bowl party last night that I will be hosting a pool party at my new place. He's so nice... Looks like my move-in date is March 12th. OH and one of the best things is that now I will live really close to Courtney and Crystal!

I actually scheduled my move-in on the worst possible weekend! I have midterms the week before, I go get my keys Friday, the 12th, move my stuff Saturday morning (very early, hopefully), I'm going to a Tyler Perry play Saturday afternoon, and then on top of that I'm running a 1/2 marathon in Dallas on Sunday morning. *SIGH* I'm tired just thinking about that weekend.

Other than that, things are moving right along as usual. School 3 nights a week and trying to train for the 1/2 marathon in between that and work.

My life is exhausting...

xoxox

Riss