TGIF!

So, I just realized I was talking to Gracie dog about my feelings about changing jobs (out loud) and decided I was likely losing my mind... and I'd be better off blogging a little.. :) I plan to play catch up on lots of bloggidies this weekend, but for now downloading some thoughts...

* the new place has just as many acronyms as my last place...which I totally didnt feel was possible. However, they have some acronyms which are the same letters but mean vastly different things. Jax=confused. Do I need a new chair? That's an FSR=facilities service request. Do I need access to social media? That's a DSR=database service request. *eyes wide in confusion* ;) haha.. Corporate acronyms are comical.

* Did I mention Eric works where I'm now working? I dont think I did. He's 8 floors away and we wouldnt even see each other unless we tried, so it's not a big thing. But, today I may have accused him of inviting me to lunch out of pity b/c I had no other plans. Yeah, I did. And no, I dont know where it came from b/c he was being nice. I think I just need sleep before he starts thinking I'm as crazy as my dog likely does.

* I'm disappointed that there are no lemon poppyseed muffins in the cafe...or at least there weren't today. Yeah, this matters. Whatever.. ;) (but there WAS pepsi. Yeeeeah-yuh!)

* I was packed with meetings today which was great, but also exhausting... That said, I was pulled in to some cool projects...always a bonus....and everyone's super nice! :)

* The security guy at the front of the (majorly huge) building is a nazi! It's almost comical. There are stories of him making people get visitor badges for their 2 month old...(the only reason it's "almost" comical is b/c I'm confident I will forget my badge someday and he'll be angry at me and likely frighten me)

* My boss has been kinda busy this week, so I haven't really been walked around the floor to meet a lot of people.. which is totally okay...but it's weird b/c there are a lot of people on my floor. So, when I see someone, I just auto-introduce. But, now I'm kinda like "crap, have I met him/her?" I just smile like I have... It's funny.

* I'm digging it so far, but I'm ready to be out of the newbie awkwardness. Granted, I know it's a great time to take in as much info as I can before I get things really rolling, so that's a bonus. I'm loving having the time to actually meet people and familiarize myself with things so hopefully I wont feel as "newbie" soon. :)

* Had a happy hour with some friends from my former jobbie and had a lot of laughs... Good times.. I feel really confident about staying in touch with people which eases a lot of my worry even though I miss them. Gawd, I'm such a girl. haha...

TGIF, blogfriends. I'll play catch up with ya'll soon!

New job=so far so good!

I wanted to write a long-winded post about the first day or even my last day at my other job (which happened to be yesterday). But, I'm really freaking tired. Soooo it's gonna wait. But, today was good! I had no idea what I was doing...understandably...but overall, two thumbs up. More to come after I rest my weary eyelids.

Hope everyone had a great day! :) I feel like today is either Monday...or Friday... I can't decide.. Very odd to work somewhere one day then somewhere else the next!

And random, but this happened downtown today kinda near my new office. I seriously thought someone was playing a joke on the new girl when I got some emails about this. Comedy. I have no idea why it's not making a hyperlink on blogger, but whatever.. here it is.

http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=12391667

Ironic.

I find the following ironic:

I used to go to the bathroom at the law firm, lock myself in a stall and stand there in business attire my for a good minute til I'd finished blotting tears, taken some deep breaths and harnessed my chi.

I did that b/c I was miserable and had either had my feelings hurt, didn't feel like I'd done a good job, or pretty much questioned what I was even doing working there.

I wasn't really sad when I left there, even though there are some good people there.

I just found myself in the bathroom, harnessing my chi, blotting a few tears, and taking a couple deep breaths.

But this time, it's b/c I just said goodbye to one of my fav people up here b/c he won't be in tomorrow, aka my last day.

I just found that incredibly ironic. Oh how much things have changed in just three years, right?

(warning: this likely isnt the last melodramatic blog of the week....) :)

And then as a bit of randomness, my coworker just walked in and said "You know what? I dont like the scent of coconut in a car..." haha.. WHAT? and just like that, I was laughing hysterically.

Unfiltered.

So, I wrote a long, rambly post about how I wanted to be more unfiltered on here, but I was all worried about offending and yada yada. And then I deleted it...haha.. It comes down to frankly I'm freaking boring when I dont vent on here. And life is not all sunshine and daisies... so I want my blog to accurately depict that feeling when it needs to...I'd love to have an anonymous blog, but I tried it once and I just like posting pictures too much!

...I woke up this morning and stepped out of my room....and right into dog pee in the sunroom. Yeah. Way to start a Monday.. haha.. My roomie's doggie's pee pee issue is not improving. And I always feel badly telling her b/c she gets really quiet and then I feel awkward like I'm the one who peed on the floor...(gross) but I feel like I SHOULD tell her b/c well.. it's gross. And twice now, Gracie has peed in the house... that is NOT something she does. EVER. Sooo roomie was somewhat acting like "see, your dog does it too" and I finally said "I think it's b/c she's smelling your pup's pee and thinking it's okay." Roomie went into that silent mode again. *nervous* Anyway...jsut sayin...that's all I'll say about this issue for now. Passive aggressive potty time. Nice.

...I'm excited about my new job this week (AGH) but seriously wish I'd given myself a day in between jobbies b/c I think I'm gonna show up to the new place with red eyes after bawling the day before. haha.. I mean.. I'm pumped for this new experience, but just wish I could take lotsa peeps with me. I'm an only child and somewhat resistant to change. That said, I know that about myself, so I know how to bawlk that resistance a little. So, yesterday, I went and had some retail therapy. Yeah. I mean.. who doesnt like starting a new job with new clothes?! Duh.

.... When I get stressy, I lick my lips. Therefore, my lips are awesomely chapped and have a little red ring around them. It's very Ronald McDonald fashion. You're jealous. I can tell. (Not QUITE as jealous as when I stepped in pee this morning, but jealous nontheless right? ;) )

...My debit card got hacked! WHOA! I logged in yesterday and saw some random charges from visanet terminal trace or something. I knew that looked shady, so I called and thankfully, I'll be able to dispute it. Also thankfully, I caught them before they took even more! The bank told me they've been at it since December and start slowly taking small amounts then start hitting your account with large withdrawls. AGH! So glad I logged in when I did!

Anyway, there's some venting couched in other randomness. My blog is my outlet and I should be able to use it more for that purpose than I've been doing lately. I just get so scared that so-and-so reads it or he/she/it will be offended by something random I go off on a diatribe about... Ever feel like that?

Anyway, I'm sending love from the midwest and hope you have a happy Monday, peeps!

Weekend Recap..

Hi ya'll! :)

Friday-tried out a new little wine bar.. Well...it's an old bar with a new twist (read: new throw pillows on the white sofas that were already there). That's its thing. It reopens under a new name, with some minimal new decor and then works for um.. a couple years til the clientele get ahem.. a bit.. well.. less than desirable and they have to close it again. We were bored. We went to check it out. Girl time was fabulous though! :)

Okay, in almost every pic, one of us had her leg crossed "just so" and a leetle too much thigh was revealed, so I had to crop every.single.one. Hilarious. Oh well.

We have a great young business professional group here and Saturday was their 5th anniversary party. Good times. :) (and I got to borrow Sara's dress that I kinda adore). Rachel and me...my hott date, Sara and me (Eric's studying lots and lots b/c his next CPA exam is next week)

Woke up EARLY this morning to play golf... rephrase.. to sit in the cart with Meghan (Eric's friend's wife) while he and Thomas played golf. :) You see, the two of them signed up to be on a golf league and they had to get three games in before Tuesday...and they needed four people...hence how Meghan and I came into the picture.. haha. Well, they didnt NEED 4 peeps..but they'd rather not be paired with randoms so Meghan and I opted to ride along. :) Too bad the sun decided to replace itself with wind and cold all morning (read: Jax covered in blankets and Eric's sweater not saying a whole lot til the sun came out around 10am..haha) :) Sooo my mental image of getting a little tan and racing around in a golf cart loving life wasn't met entirely.. but we still had a really good time. I wanna to learn to golf. Decided.

Eric and his maple bar on the cart. Guilty pleasure. Totally. (You have QuikTrips? Get a maple bar.)
We finished off golf with Mexican food. Duh. ;) The weekend wouldnt be complete... :) Anyway, hope you had a great weekend! :)

Gardening with Marla and Jax

Good day had by Jax! :)

First, a couple of my fab coworkers decided to stage a photo outside my office window today with signs reading "awe.some.sauce" :) Since I'm leaving, I mentioned wanting to take a funny photo of my office and Patrick and Michele came up with this! We had to climb up in the flower area... Shhh... don't tell. The best part: Our windows are SO tinted from the outside that we couldnt even see the person taking the photo.. Hilarity! We just sat there smiling for like 20 seconds each picture hoping she was taking it. in the flower/shrub area. outside our office. holding signs.

Switched up the signs...
Then, I got home and Marla and I decided to mulch/plant things. We discovered about 4 layers of those plastic things meant to keep weeds down (I dont know what they're called) but they were so old and torn, they were useless (judging from all the weeds growing in the flower bed).
We look like we have no idea what we're doing. haha... Marla's friend stopped by to see the house and we made him take pics.. Yeah, we did.


Today=good day! :) Just decided to share my randomness....

Weekend Recap!

Yeah, I said I was tired in that last post. And I am. But, I wanted to blog the weekend anyway... :)

Friday night, met up at Sarah's to decorate for Ashley's shower on Saturday! :) Then, Saturday, headed to Sarah's in the am to get everything ready..

Jenny and Sarah's sons, Maddox and Landen, are freaking ADORABLE, right?! They were just playing until....

...Sarah brought out the magic blue tent. And as if drawn by some other force, the two quietly crawled towards it as fast as possible. I dont know why I found it both picture worthy and hilarious.
Made it! Phew.
My friends are talented. Brooke makes baby carriages out of watermelons...(awesome, right?!)
caught red handed...er....cheese cube handed.. hiding in the pantry... Nice, girls. Nice.
I don't want to post a ton of pics/deets thereby potentially spoiling a post by Ashley about her shower, but here are some cute ones! :) It was a really good time and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it!!! :) Ready to meet baby Cooper!



My friends are all such hot moms. I'm just sayin. They are.

I changed clothes at Sarah's and met Eric (at a local Braums parking lot b/c I'm directionally challenged) and we drove to Carrie and Matt's wedding in a quaint little barn used for weddings and celebrations! Really cute and different setting...and a great time!
the fun party favors.. homemade (and eco-friendly) detergent! :) The bride and groom are very good to Mother Earth and it showed in a great way. Also, the rental fee for the wedding location went to a charity. How freaking cool is that?
The gorgeous bride! :)
AND I got my dresser assembled. Wait.. rephrase.. Maureen came over with wine. We started the dresser. I called Eric about hour number 2. Eric came over, disassembled some of what we'd done (oops), fixed it....and THEN the dresser was assembled! :)

I forgot to take a pic in my room (and I'm too lazy right now) so here it is! I got the Hemnes dresser from Ikea and so far, LOVE it! I've been thinking of replacing the knobs with fun, yellow ones from Anthropologie to go with my bedroom, but who knows.. That's for another day, another project. Til then, I'm just glad to not be getting my undergarments out of shopping bags on the floor. (Don't judge my stellar organization system I had going on, peeps...haha).

Top 2 Tuesday!

I wanted to blog....but I really didn't feel like writing anything super long b/c I'm sleeeeepy. BUT, I saw that Taylor over at the Undomestic Mamma had her Top 2 Tuesday post and I opted to join!

Today.. Top 2 items under $15! :)

Clinique superbalm in Ginger. This stuff is uh.mazing. It stays on for a long time and the tube seems to last forever!

I heart Tyler candles. My good friend, Ashley, just gave me one as a hostess gift from helping with her shower this last weekend and I can't get enough of it. I haven't lit it yet b/c I'm too busy taking the lid off and smelling it like my own personal treat in my room or something.
Pics from the weekend tomorrow hopefully! :) This whole living with a roomie thing is great, but I find that having someone to chat with regularly in the evenings (beside my doggie) is totally cutting in on my blog time...haha... :)

On another note, a personal trainer at my gym subbed for my butts n guts instructor tonight who was stuck in traffic. I am SO freaking sore! She's hard core. (I didnt mean for that to rhyme). I kinda wanted to hire her to whip me into shape. But then I thought better of it and had spring rolls for dinner. Whatever.

Alright peeps.. what are your top two things under 15 bucks? :)

Kinda fun randomness

I've had this blog for um.. three years now.. almost the exact amount of time I've been at this job. I actually started it when I left the law firm.. So, here are some fun entries I re-read. :) Made me smile to think about the HUGE risk I took leaving the law and how happy it made me... I'm a sappy mcsapperton. Sorry about that.

From when I left the firm:

http://u-can-call-me-jax.blogspot.com/2007/04/being-real-person.html

Apparently having no job made me curse a lot. Sorry about that in this post. This is the post before the career fair where I MET my current employer!!! :)

http://u-can-call-me-jax.blogspot.com/2007/04/out-of-college-money-spent-see-no.html

I needed to ease up on the cancer beds, but uh.. here are my first posts about my interviews here.. :)

http://u-can-call-me-jax.blogspot.com/2007/04/weekend.html
http://u-can-call-me-jax.blogspot.com/2007/04/i-could-do-that.html

Annnd another
http://u-can-call-me-jax.blogspot.com/2007/05/handshaking-rear-ending-and-tuesday.html

and just b/c this one is funny..
http://u-can-call-me-jax.blogspot.com/2007/06/so-you-think-you-can-dance.html

And after I'd been here a couple weeks...
http://u-can-call-me-jax.blogspot.com/2007/06/jobs-can-be-good-who-knew.html

Yeah, this was more for me than you. But whatever. That's why it's my blog. Have a good weekend!

Happy Friday!

So, the announcements have all been made and I'm working toward my final date here at this office. Wow. I don't want to get too emotional b/c well.. I imagine that's coming in one massive blog (preparing/warning you now...) I've noticed this is all in stages..

1. Am I really doing this?
2. Holy crap, I just did this!
3. I'm excited... but why am I still crying?
4. I'm not crying anymore.. but what the hell have I done?
5. I'm excited...I think.... Right? Maybe I'm numb AND excited. Yeah. That's it.

Anyway, my friends up here and I are planning to stage a couple fun photos in my office for me to frame at my new place on my desk. Kinda like looking at your old desk while at your new desk.. :) Being an only child, I'm a HUGE relationship former, etc, so I often use relationships with friends, etc, to help me transition better into large changes in my life...so making funny memories in picture form might be good for me! :)

Thanks so much for all the kudos on the bloggidy about my decision. It's scary, but having all the support makes it better. I'm sorry I haven't gotten a chance to thank each one of you personally. I don't have access to personal email at work and frankly, using my last couple weeks to email friends might not be looked highly upon.. haha.. Just sayin. And I've been emotionally exhausted in the evenings. I've had some things going on, but then just come home and pass the hell out.

I already have so many ideas for the new job and that's invigorating! I'm pretty careful to not write deets about where I work or what I'm doing after this b/c well...this is the internet and that's weird.. haha.. But, I'll try to write down as much as I can about some of my projects and stuff! (and you can pretend to care if you want.. haha)

This weekend, I'm co-hostessing a baby shower for my good friend, Ashley! I just adore her and her awesome little baby bump! So there will be plenty of pics headed your way on Sunday. Tomorrow night, my other friend, Carrie, is getting married, so even more fun pics. :)

I hope everyone's gearing up for a great weekend... I know I need some sleeeeeeep this weekend more than anything....and I need to put my dresser together that I bought at Ikea last weekend. I opened the package, saw that it included 47 screws and said "not today."

Decision Made.

First, thank you guys for all your great support via comments, etc. :) Second, I made a decision. I have accepted a position with another company here in town after almost three years with my current job. Will leaving be hard? You have no idea. Is it the right decision? I sure hope so. Will it be good for my career? Again, I sure hope so. Am I scared as hell? Duh.

My team at work is like my family in many regards so this was definitely not something I decided easily. The longer story is to follow, but let me just say the support I've gotten from my work family is incredible...which makes me feel flattered...but also horribly sad. :( They're such good people and I'm going to miss them so much... *sigh* The one person I wanted to talk to more than anything was my supervisor. I mean.. you're not going to find that everywhere.. The one person's opinion you value...as a mentor.. more than pretty much anyone else's is YOUR BOSS?! Yeah. I am very fortunate to have such an outstanding friend, mentor, and supervisor in her b/c she totally understood where I was coming from with the opportunity. From there, I sighed a huge sigh of relief and moved forward.

Once I made the decision, I felt like I'd done the right thing in my gut. But when I started to drive home, the tears came...and didnt stop til I reached my house. I sincerely hope this isn't goodbye to the people people that have grown to mean so much to me over the past three years... I don't think it is at all though. Sooooo for the next couple weeks, I'm tying up loose ends and will likely be a somewhat emotional blogger. Just a warning.... So thank you for your positive thoughts and comments, peeps. I really appreciate you. More updates to come. Oh and I'm excited!! Guess I should mention that obvious fact! haha! Despite being sad about leaving where I've been, I'm definitely excited for this new opportunity! :)

In the meantime, I'm headed to watch Bon Jovi perform tonight with one of my good friends I met during my time at the United Way. :)

Back.and.forth.

So, I have a decision to make.

Remember that dilemma I had awhile ago that I blogged about? (if you do, great. If not, I'm too lazy to go find it.. plus it would exactly identify what I'm talking about.. and I dont wanna do that either).

I took a DAY trip to Dallas to think. Windshield time is great. (*update b/c I realized I wasnt clear... this is not about a move to Dallas. Sorry I wasn't clear about that). :) I just went to Dallas.

I find that in the morning, my decision is made.

By afternoon, I'm moving toward another decision.

By late afternoon, I'm a complete 180 from original morning decision.

Bedtime, I've made the decision.

Next morning, I change my mind and the pattern repeats all over again.

This decision isn't a BAD thing. At all.

It's just a scary one in some regards. To make a big change.. or to not make a big change.

Change can be good..... ? But, I'm also a lawyer. I'm risk averse. That's my mentality.

But if I didn't take risks, I wouldnt be where I am today. So there's that.

But... then there's a saying... something like "Dont leave happy to try to find happier..." or something like that.

And I'm happy. And I'm not looking for happier. But I might be looking for a new opportunity. (if you're not getting what this is about by now...haha)...

So I have some big decisions... that I likely need to make within around 24-48 hours... *sigh* It's been on my mind a lot lately.. and I hate when I cant blog about things, so I just didn't blog....

But, as you're reading this, my little brain is full and I'll be making the decision soooooooooooon and then I'll update.....

Hope you had a great weekend, all! Mine was uber productive...and obviously thoughtful. Will blog more tomorrow.

Females are Passive Aggressive.. and Weekend Recaps. :)

Hi peeps! How was your weekend? Mine was eggcellent (get it? the Easter pun? Right. Anyway...) Friday, I went to sushi with Timberly, Lauren (in town from the Chi!) and Sara. We sat on the patio and it was fabulous.. Oh how I'd missed patio weather.. It's that "I want to wear a dress and/or sandals even if I'm freezing" kind of weather right now.. I dig it. haha.. :) Spring is upon us!

Saturday, I took one look at our yard and thought "no. just no." Soooo I got to work. I raked about 6 bags of leaves. Six. Then, I went and bought flowers and planted some around our porch. I picked out some icky weeds, too. Overall, it looks like I did nothing.. haha.. Dontya hate that? 4 hours later and the average person wouldn't even notice. *le sigh* But, I notice. And that's what matters. I dont want to have the icky yard on a block of well-manicured lawns and flowers. No thanks. Hmph! :)

Then, I came inside and baked cookies! No, you have not switched blogs accidentally. It's me.. baking. :) I baked oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies with walnuts. Yummmmmo! Timberly was kind enough to share a family recipe so I could have some fabulous treats for Eric's family lunch on Easter. :) This whole having a big kitchen thing is um.. fabulous. (Marla and I even made dinner together last night!)

Saturday night, Mexican food with Eric and my friend, Corona with lime...and The Green Zone movie. Green Zone= 3.5 stars in my opinion. I like Matt Damon and it was just enough conspiracy to keep me interested.

Sunday, headed out to Eric's family's lunch at his parents house which was fabulous! I really dig his fam in case I havent said so a hundred times on here before.. haha.. They're a great, fun group and I always have a blast with them. It's so flattering and nice to feel so included. :) His parents even had an Easter egg hunt for us... Eric won the contest, but I keep accusing him of cheating somehow. ;) Then, I headed to a late lunch/early dinner with my mom! :) Eric had to work so he couldnt come.. :( Mom brought me some spring flowers... adorable, right... :) She's kinda awesome like that... :) We used to go to the lake every Easter, but since it's just the two of us, that tradition has ceased unless one of us really wants to go...
We had a good time just chatting and whatnot. She came over to see the new casa, too! :) (the pic of the flowers was taken in our kitchen)

And about the new casa... roomie and I are getting along great! We had a blast together... But, there are quite a few times we get kinda passive aggressive and it's really humorous. I mean.. not at the time, but in retrospect. We havent discussed our passive aggressiveness b/c it doesnt need to be discussed... Why the hell are females so passive aggressive?! And I dont even think I'm that bad! Like really. But, I know I do it. Yet, I'm like 95% less passive aggressive with Eric. I just tell him what I'm thinking. Men are so much easier b/c they roll with stuff. Chicks get that look.. you know.. THAT look.. of "I'm pissed off but I'm going to act like I'm not..." haha... Anyway, I'll spare the stories, but they're kinda funny...

I hope you had a great Easter weekend, everyone! :)

Thankful Thursdays

So, I popped over to a few blogs and saw Thankful Thursdays on Then I Got to Thinking... and decided to do it today, too! :) (blogger doesnt want to space things out today.. sorry for the asterisks.. does yours ever do that?)

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* I'm thankful for my health and my friends' and family's health. In the past week, a lot of my friends have had some serious things go on (one lost her father, one's father is in ICU, and another's grandmother had a heart attack). I'm keeping them in my prayers and thankful for my blessings.

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* I'm thankful for my blogfriends! (that's you!) I seriously have been a blog slacker. IF I'm blogging at all, I'm not commenting like I used to (even if I'm reading) b/c I can't due to certain filters and jazz. Pish posh on filters. Anyhoo, ya'll rock. :)

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* I'm thankful for some consistently awesome weather! Hellllllo sunshine, patios and sandals!! :)

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* I'm thankful for my arse getting back in the gym! Along those lines, I'm thankful for my gym starting a new pilates class after work! WOOHOO! And the best part.. it's right before the other class I go to! So, double duty on Wednesdays.. haha... :)

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* I'm thankful for my team at work. Even when the job gets monotonous sometimes, they make it fabtastic.

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* I'm thankful for my little dog, Gracie. She might be overweight (haha), but she makes me light up inside just by being herself. She goes back to the vet this weekend so cross your fingers she's a-okay. :)

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* I'm thankful for Eric and for our weekly Mexican food nights whenever possible. He likely has no idea how much I look forward to what has become our little tradition. :)

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* I'm thankful for friends who I email all my venting, ranting, randomness, excitement, yada yada to. My friends ARE my family in many ways and they really keep me sane..esp as I'm adjusting to living with a roomie.

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*I'm thankful for my new bed and super comfy bedding! Seriously, I love sleeping in it!! :) (I'm also thankful I'm hopefully getting a dresser soon so my clothes can come out of boxes).

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*I'm thankful for expandable bars for closets (thank you, amazon) to enable my small space storage systems.. (ps. this month is small spaces on apartmenttherapy.com if you're bored).

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* I'm thankful for the community organizations throughout the city that do so much for our area. I had my Community Investments panel (allocation panel) agency visits this week (for the United Way) and was truly humbled. Happy to remain involved in such a great organization.

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*I'm thankful I turned in my KEYS to my old apartment yesterday!! Gooooodbye noisy, old, poorly insulated, apt!

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Annnnnnd... I'm thankful tomorrow is Friday! :) Have a great day, everyone! I hope you dont have any pranks pulled on ya...