True Love

I have a lot of love for my favorite day of the year, Black Friday. The rush I get when I score an awesome deal, the holiday music, the crowds, the race to grab a limited item. The quality time i get to spend with my mom, who passed down all of her Black Friday wisdom to me. Finding the perfect gift for everyone. I got my brother a donut maker, I seriously hope he practices that thing on his family. :)

Normally I do splurge a bit on myself. But this year, due to my self-imposed punishment of being a crappy ring owner, I humbled myself and said no gifts for me. Nothing, nada, zip.

Except for those freakin' fantastic boots pictured here.

I have an ongoing love affair with boots. I'm not the kind of person who spends a ton of money on labels or expensive clothes, or even purses. Im not really even a shoe kind of girl. But show me an adorable boot, and my knees go weak. I live in Las Vegas, which means my boot wearing is kind of limited. So I live in them during the cold seasons, and look for excuses to break them out in the summer.

So when I saw these Ugg Bailey Button Triplets, I knew it was true love, and they were meant to be. Even if it's pretty much guaranteed they'll probably never go on sale this season anywhere. Judd tried talking me into a knock off pair at first. I can do knock off with most things like purses or jewelry. But not these. Too pretty.

So I grabbed them this morning, and they're safely hidden away. It's actually kind of nice restricting myself to one present. I can now really focus on the season itself and true meaning, and forget all the consumerism. Christmas comes just once a year, why waste it on silly material needs?

Her Diamonds

I can't sleep in today, even though it's Sunday morning. My mind is frazzled, so I'm up watching Sister Wives on Netflix and blogging.

Yesterday, I lost one of the diamonds in my engagement ring. We were out running errands all day, but I'm pretty positive it popped out somewhere in Costco. We were loading up the car, when I looked down and kind of screamed. It was kind of fruitless to go back and look for it. Costco on a the weekend before a major holiday involving food is worse than the I-15 on a Friday afternoon. Carts and shoppers extreme.

So, trying really hard not to cry, I asked if we could go to a jeweler. We headed over to the Galleria Mall, where we went to the place that has originally tightened it. My jaw dropped when they told me what the damages were going to be. Just under a thousand. I asked what would happen if we stuck a CZ in there, at least until after the holidays. Since a good portion of the price was the labor, Judd decided it wasn't worth it, so we coughed up a deposit.

I'm so mad at myself. I know it's just a ring, but I feel like this wouldn't have happened if I had taken better care of it. I haven't had it serviced in three years. Cleaned, but not taken care of. I have noticed the diamonds rattle sometimes, and the thought did cross my mind to get it looked at. I'm disappointed I let this happen to my husband's gift he spent so much on. He's been so sweet, which I appreciate.

I'm also kicking myself for not getting insurance on the ring. We looked into it when we first got married and setting up car and rental insurance. It was going to be an extra $30 a year. At the time, we were cash-strapped broke college students, so it seemed like a bill we could avoid. Now I'm thinking, 30 bucks? That's like the cost of eating out at Claim Jumpers. Ugh. That's changing Monday!

So I just learned a very expensive lesson in taking care of things of value. I know it's just a "thing" and I could have had something more serious break like my car, but this was a special gift Judd saved up for a long time to get for me. I need to treat it better. I'm going to be the best ring owner after this, trust me!

Success

I've dropped the "associate" from my title. Now I'm a Producer. Of my own news show.

Granted, it's the 4:30 a.m. Not the audience or ratings that the 10 p.m. gets... but people actually get up and watch my show. I get some airtime myself whenever I run the "Question of the Day" segment where I share what viewers are thinking on air. I'm given four and a half hours to come up with the best show possible. Then I have to sit in the booth, direct the anchors, and pray it all goes well.

It's the most overwhelming job I've ever had. It's the busiest I've ever been, and maybe the most stressed out. There's days I want to throw my computer against the wall, and sometimes I swear like a sailor when a technical glitch happens on-air. Usually not out loud though.

But I love it. This is what I've fought for years for, and what I think I'm meant to do, at least for the time being.

I talked to one of my oldest friends this morning that's known me since freshman year of high school. She told me that I'm the most successful out of our group of mutual friends. I quickly told her in no way was that true. Everyone has been successful in their own way. Others have gone on to great jobs, bought houses, graduated, and so on. She's about to be a mom. I think that is a huge accomplishment and something far better than what I'm doing.

But I was thinking about it, and I feel like everything has kind of come full circle. I used to look at my group of friends from high school and get so insanely jealous... because each and everyone of them had been cast in a show except for me. For the longest time, I considered it my biggest failure that I was part of the ten percent of students to get into LVA, and couldn't get myself cast to save my life.

But now I realize I just hadn't realized what my niche was. I thought I was meant to be an actress. I was really good at tech work, and I could write really well. I liked these things, but kind of ignored them as talents, because I was so focused on why I wasn't getting cast. But I look back now, and realize that the tech and writing experience I gained there was a big stepping stone to where I am now. I gained invaluable knowledge that I still use every day, both in high school and in college.

I'm not sure where I was going with this, other than getting some jumbled thoughts out, but I guess if anything, I would say to take a look at some things you know you can do, but just take for granted. Is there a talent hiding that you can turn into something awesome? Sometimes I think I'm way to busy to try and learn something new. But thinking about this makes me want to do a self-examination and see if I'm ignoring anything else.

Thoughts on Current Events:

Investigators are re-opening the death investigation of Hollywood starlet Natalie Wood. My anchors saved the "What kind of wood doesn't float" joke for commercial break, thank goodness. Because it was the first thought I had when I got this story. In all seriousness though, even if the case is 30 years old, justice is justice. If that woman was murdered, the truth should get out there.

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are no more. Not a huge surprise. I hoped these two would beat the odds and prove cougars have some game... but I guess not.

21 Occupy Las Vegas protesters were arrested yesterday as they SAT on Las Vegas Boulevard, blocking traffic. One protester we talked to said getting arrested was "fun and exciting", and that they went out there knowing it would happen. Another said he hopes people will now take them seriously. OK, so I could maybe agree partially with their message... but I thought these people were mostly upset because they were out of work. So wouldn't trying to get arrested defeat trying to get a job? I don't know. Too many mixed messages.

UNLV Basketball continues to dominate and give the school something to be proud of. UNLV GO FIGHT WIN!!!!!!

And I'm hosting my first ever major family dinner for a lot of people. I think it's like 14 or something. It's the pre-Thanksgiving Italian Shenanigans Wednesday night. I'm having all these extended family members show up at my house, where I'm supposed to have this fantastic Italian meal prepared. Somewhere in me, a domestic goddess will hopefully make an appearance and I will pull this off. Because that's a lot of food. And a lot of work. Thanks Mom for volunteering me for this. But you're handling actual Thanksgiving, so I can't complain too much!

Arizona Animal Adventures

Ok, so I know it's ridiculously lame to post the second half of vacation pictures like a month after the first. But these were all on Judd's phone, and I just now got them off. Plus... they're animals!! Who doesn't love animals?

We were warned there were skunks in our campground. But we were also told they were friendly, they were just super curious. We didn't see any the first few nights. But Monday night... they were out in full force. A whole bunch of them.

I learned something about my husband I didn't know before. He is absolutely crazy about skunks! I mean, he's fascinated to the point where he wants to get one as a pet. (they're not legal anywhere we want to live though, so probably not happening!). So Judd spent the night following these skunks around, trying to get a great picture. He got a little too close and snapped this awesome image before remembering these things can spray!

Lucky for him, nothing happened. He says we could get one and disguise it as a kitty. Hmmm...

We also checked out the "Out of Africa" zoo/safari while we were in Sedona. It's this cool park in the middle of nowhere. Most of the animals were sleeping, but this one giraffe was starved for attention, so it followed us around as we walked around its enclosure.

The coolest part of this zoo is its Safari tour. They have a bunch of wild animals all living in this huge enclosure. You get in this bus, and a guide takes you through it. He throws out food so the animals will come up close. I loved the antelope with the crazy horns above, and of course, the zebras. But this below was the best part of the day...

You're allowed to feed the giraffes carrot sticks. So the guide dared someone to put it in their mouth, and feed it to the giraffe that way. Guess who volunteered! It wasn't that gross... plus now that giraffes have quickly climbed up my list of favorite animals, I thought it was awesome!

Thoughts on Current Events:

Penn State Scandal... this has dominated my newscasts for the past few weeks. It gets worse and worse every day. Did you check out that Bob Costos interview with Jerry Sandusky? It's seriously one of the creepiest things I've ever heard.

While we're on possible sexual abuse... Herman Cain. I personally think some ladies wanted a fat paycheck, air time, and a book deal. Why would you wait a decade after the fact to go after someone who did something so rotten to you? Oh yeah... because everyone knows his name now!

Speaking of women who may or may not make up stories for attention... Mariah Yeater is kind of a nutcase. Justin Bieber is not her baby daddy. I'm not even going to try and give her any credibility on this one. Some texts of hers got out today where she was telling her friends to delete anything saying who the real baby daddy was. If I'm wrong... that will be absolutely crazy.

Also in entertainment news... Kim Kardashian's divorce... oh, wait, I stopped caring about that, never mind.

But something I do care about... Occupy Protesters. Not because I am mad because I'm in the 99 percent (and really, is that even accurate)... but I'm concerned about the day I'm going to have to write about the big shootout that could occur if this keeps going on. These guys may have started out with a decent message (if you can figure out what it is)... but sleeping in tents and causing health and sanitation issues isn't solving the problem. I'm fine with peaceful marches and protests. But defacing buildings and news vans (including ours at FOX5) isn't cool. Police riots aren't cool either.

Beautiful Sedona

It was definitely vacation time, and a Judd and Kristen kind of vacation time. So we packed up Judd's car with a bajillion camping supplies, hit the road, and headed to Sedona, Arizona.

We had never been there before, but heard good things about it. One of the first big decisions was where to stay. Judd would have been totally fine camping the whole week, but I wanted a few days at a hotel. Then the big decision was whether to splurge on a resort... or pay less for a cheaper hotel that came with a totally awesome package kayaking deal on the Verde River.

Can't turn down a kayaking adventure!

So we spend a few days hanging around town, and checked out this highly recommended restaurant. I was really excited about it, because you could dine on the patio overlooking the mountains at sunset. But it took almost an hour for a waiter to acknowledge us and bring us drinks, and that was after we politely mentioned it three different times that we were being ignored out on the patio. So we started to walk out, because for what we were going to pay for the meal, it's kind of lame to be waiting that long. And the restaurant wasn't even that busy. But the manager caught us at the door, apologized profusely, and bought us appetizers and drinks. So that's why we're smiling in the picture, free food is always a happy thing!

We realized we didn't really have the right kind of shoes for all the hiking we wanted to do, especially since a lot of it would be in water. So we got these hippie/yuppie shoes (because that's what all the retired rich hippies in Sedona wear all over town, not just for outdoor adventures!). Judd absolutely hated that his were orange at first, but they're growing on him now!

Then we made our camp home sweet home for the next several days!

Check this out... maybe you already know this... but they make pancakes in a can! It's like whip cream... but with pancake batter! I saw it and had to have it. There's very little mess, and they were pretty good!

Slide Rock Park is one of the coolest things about Sedona. It's this trail along a river. In many parts of it, the rocks make natural "slides", hence the name. Families pack this place during the summer, since it's basically a cheap water park, but it was still warm enough in October to try and brave. I posted a few videos so you can see what I mean. I highly recommend it, probably my favorite part of the trip!

I miss colorful leaves!

So each time we go camping, we get more and more creative with our tinfoil dinners. There's very little in them that's actually healthy... but we're on vacation and they're so darn good! So in no particular order... beef, carrots, potatoes, onions, cream of mushroom, Velveeta cheese, mozzarella sticks, pancake batter, salt, pepper, garlic salt, barbecue sauce, brats, and whatever else we had hanging out in the cooler. Top that off with homemade camp ice cream!

Judd going down a rock slide...

And me going down a rock slide. I love the paranoid lady's voice in the background!

How did I forget this post?!?!?!

Lame award of the month goes to yours truly... for forgetting to post about hitting the three year milestone!

 That's right... Judd and I have been married for over 3 years! Our anniversary was July 12, and we celebrated by going to the RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay. I've written a ton of stories about how sustainable it is and all the community stuff celebrity chef Rick Moonen does... but I've never been able to justify spending the big bucks for dinner there. Until Judd got a sweet gift card to Mandalay Bay and we needed somewhere cool to eat for dinner.

 So there we are! I thought my lobster and shrimp pasta was awesome, but Judd says his crab legs were really, really salty. Like they just came out of the sea kind of salty. Which means they're fresh, right?

We then spent the weekend at the Ravaela at Lake Las Vegas, formally the Ritz Carleton. Fun Fact! This was the hotel Judd and I stayed our wedding night :) The pictures I took sucked, so I borrowed some off the website. Much more true to form!

I highly recommend this place. I'd take it over the Strip anytime. Plus, along with their regular pool, they have this hidden beach pool. You have to walk a bit to find it, but it's so worth it.

See what I mean about taking my own pictures? Both Judd and I thought we'd be cute and surprise each other with the other person's favorite snacks. So needless to say, this was not one of our healthier weekends. Although we did work out twice at the gym, so that counts for something.

So it was a great weekend, to honor a fantastic three years! Here's to many, many more. And to learning how to take better self pictures. Although it was pitch black outside so I really couldn't see anything!

Thoughts on Current Events: The world would be a better place if there were more people like Steve Jobs. I've always admired the man for being a great innovator and daring to think to the next level. He inspires me to want to do things bigger and better. I almost cried watching the commencement speech he gave back in 2005. Watch it if you get a chance.

 This Conrad Murray trial is pretty interesting. Even if Michael Jackson was completely hooked on Propofol, clearly there had to be negligence somewhere. I wonder what the outcome will be.

 Speaking of trials, Amanda Knox is home! I totally thought she was guilty of killing her roommate a few years back. But the new evidence brings up more questions than answers. I hope someday, justice can be served to Meredith Kercher.

 Sarah Palin and Chris Christie won't be on our presidential candidate list. So it's basically Mitt Romney at this point, right? I mean, they're not going to drop Rick Perry's racist hunting camp anytime soon. And Michele is basically a joke (what the heck? Don't discourage people from getting the cervical cancer vaccine!!). And does anyone else even have a shot?

 Gossip Girl is back, but the show has gotten kind of dumb. I feel it's lost some of the wittiness that made it awesome a few years back. But it will hold me over until The Bachelor is back. Gosh I watch such awful shows. But one show that is not awful is "New Girl" on FOX. Judd has the biggest crush on Zooey Deschanel who I can admit is pretty adorable. We like the show, it's pretty funny. And Tosh,O, because he reminds us so much of Judd's brother Telly, who's serving in Afghanistan. I think Tosh is his long lost twin.

Cut and Stiched

Once upon a time, back when I used to be a veterinary assistant, a very mean cat came into our hospital. A very nasty, sick cat. It was diagnosed with a deadly kitty disease, so obviously, it was kind of on the cranky side. As I was holding it for the vet, Kitty freaked out, and tried to jump out of my arms. I held on, and got a nice big infected scratch on my shoulder. I had to go to the doctor and get antibiotics. I also had to get the wound drained. I got better, end of story.

Or so I thought.

Fast forward four years. This cyst popped up in the exact location where Kitty scratched me. I got it checked out, and Doc thinks the infection never went away! Thanks Kitty. So I had to get it biopsied, which meant I had to face the greatest fear known to man and womenkind.

I'm absolutely, 100% terrified of needles. They literally make me faint.

Which is really lame, since I used to give injections and draw blood all day. But I guess it's different if you're doing it on someone else.

So I put on my best pitiful face, and begged Judd to take me to the biopsy, even though it was in the middle of his work day. What a stud!

So they got out the cookie cutter needle, did their thing, and was over. I pretty much squeezed the blood out of Judd's hand, I was holding it so tight. BUT... I didn't pass out, and I didn't cry, which either one would have been really embarrassing!

As a reward, we celebrated at Cafe Rio, my least guiltiest pleasure. I justify it in that pretty much everything in it is healthy, and i get two meals out of one burrito!

I have these stitches now, and my shoulder is sore, but other than that, I'm alright, as long as I don't have some nasty cat infection!