see ya never.

2011 was a monumental year, to say the least.

 some great times:

* driving around all of metro atlanta (and then some) scooping up friends from rando's houses on New Years Day

* Mardi Gras 2k11, one of the best times with 2 of the best friends.  And i didnt get anything stolen this year (besides my dignity of course)

*Carolina Cup, adult style.  at least pretend-adult style. 

*The night following Carolina Cup.  Picture this: hotel room; Caroline, Katie and me; up until 5 am watching "strange sex" on TLC.

*met some of the best people in atlanta.  while ive always loved this city, i love it even more now that i have great friends.

*Jess' wedding.  one of the most gorgeous weddings ive been to, with even better looking  friends.  always thankful for my friends getting married so i have an excuse to reunite with the girls. and drink an abundance of champagne and tequila.

*a new house, that i love. a new roommate, who i love more than the house. and my roommates family that i love even more than the roommate and the house combined.

*Hawaii.  spending 7 days with my dad, step mom and little brother in paradise. 

*Charleston to visit my best friend for his deployment briefing. 

*turning 24.  a very significant birthday.  and i needed it oh so badly.

Some not so great times:

*a puppy chewing up my brand new Louis Vuitton (17 days old to be exact). and having to wait 5 weeks for it to be repaired.

*$800 stolen from my checking account via paypal

*a ticket for getting in the left turn lane before it was technically a turn lane. bastard cop.

*missing my older brother while vacationing in paradise

*a few too many drunken embarrassing moments.

*a few too many hangovers.

*a long, long. longgg (in a bad way) summer.

Surprisingly, i am grateful for every one of these moments, and the ones that werent significant enough to list. 

for 2012 i hope for:

*driving around Metro Atlanta (and then some) picking up friends from rando's houses on New Years Day (it makes for good stories)

*another wedding, another reunion with my college girlfriends.  always a blast when theyre around.

*Mardi Gras 2k12. hopefully with even more friends this year

*a trip to Vegas for my 25th birthday

*a trip to abroad. because while Hawaii is nice, Europe is fabulous.

*a trip to California to watch my cousin get married.

*a larger number in my savings account (new years resolutions, maybe?)

*a small number on the scale (another potential resolution)

*take a lot of pictures

*more time spent on myself

*more time spent on others who need it

*more time spent with God

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

junk mail.

i have a bit of a confession. i am a hoarder. and not in the "i buy dog food and dont even have a dog" kind of way... but in the "i may need/want this again" kind of way. i can not watch Hoarders on TV. it gives me an anxiety attack (which is another psychological disorder that i suffer from) just watching those people knowing that i have the same tendencies. on a much small scale, of course, but still. if it comes on TV i change the channel immediately. if someone else is watching it, i will leave the room. i can not and will not have anything to do with it.

i dont throw away cards. ever. even the stupid ones that random people give me and dont even write a thoughtful message in them. they are all stashed away in random closets, boxes, drawers, storage tubs, school bags, etc. in various houses might i add. (my mom HATES this).

every compartment in my wallet is busting at the zipper/clasp with receipts, notes i write myself, expired coupons that i knew id never use but thought about at one point, etc.

inside my extremely large purse is the following:

• wallet
• speeding ticket
• empty Tupperware
• makeup bag
• 3 pill bottles (2 of Tylenol)
• sunglasses
• party shades
• 3d glasses from the Lion King 3D
• 2 hotel room keys (no, im not on vacation anymore)
• contact solution
• valet tickets
• 2 envelopes
• 11 koozies. yes, eleven.
• trash (gum wrappers, hang tags from clothes, crumbled up paper, a wrapper from the cookie place at the mall, crumbes from said cookie, etc)

you'd think that at some point, id clean out this purse of mine. but no, i wont. and not because im a messy person, but because in the future i may need one of these things. and i dont want to be caught without it. what a shame that i begged for so long for this glorious Louis Vuitton, finally got it for Christmas, and now junk up. all because i hoard.

the biggest problem that comes from my hoarding is my stacks upon stacks of mail that pile up. it drives every roommate ive ever had insane. i get the mail, flip through it, open up what i need to open and stack it, along with the junk mail that i dont need to open/never will, in some random place usually in the kitchen. sometimes it ends up in the dining room or living room, but usually in the kitchen. i cant throw it out because i may need it. i may want to go back and read it one day, i may forget how much i owe on my credit cards or how much to pay the cable company (even though i pay all my bills online). i refuse to sign up for e-statements because i need to have it physically in my hands. even though i will never open it.

Natalie is the only roommate who dealt with my issues proactively. sometimes she would sit me down and go through each individual piece and determine (along with my help) what went in the "toss" or "keep" pile. and other times, she would wait until i was out of the house and throw it all away without me knowing.

this problem floods over in to my email, as well. i keep all of the emails that family send me. i have a folder for it. i keep every picture emailed to me. i keep expired coupon codes. i keep old travel confirmations. everything. except junk email. i am subscribed to approximately 25 daily/weekly emails. they drive me bananas. i wake up every morning with at least 17. most of which are daily deal sites (groupon, living social) but a lot of which are style related (the Zoe report, OpenSky, HauteLook).

today, i unsubscribed to 4 of those daily emails. i feel like a hippo has been removed from standing on my shoulders. maybe tomorrow i will go through my purse.

but probably not.

in other news: i got my wisdom teeth out (the most miserably awkward feeling. ever.) and i bought this Michael Kors watch.  which is a mens watch, and i love it 10 times more because of it.