Thursday Thoughts with Jen - Vol 20

My mini hiatus is over! It's time to get back on track with Thursday Thoughts!

1. Doing yard work is the pits. Seriously. It is by far THE worst part of owning a house. I spent a majority of last weekend raking endless bags of leaves. Don't get me wrong I love all the huge, pretty, old trees in my front and back yard but cleaning up after them? Not so much. Not to mention, my debilitating fear of snakes had me on edge the entire time. On several occasions I scooped up an armful of leaves with a twig and ended up jumping out of my skin and tossing the freshly raked leaves all over the ground. Luckily I survived the weekend snake bite free. 

   

   Oh ya, and a helpful pointer for all Mission residents. Leaves have to be in paper bags, not
   plastic. This dummy got to re-bag 12 bags of leaves after doing it wrong. Fun times.

2. Speaking of my house, it is starting to look like a winter wonderland in there! Maybe it's a bit premature, but with Thanksgiving falling a week later this year I wanted to be sure I didn't miss out on a full season of Christmas cheer. My decorations starting going up last week. Yup. You read that right. The Chicken Tindah's decorating began last Wednesday. 
3. Oh Chrisssssstmas tree, oh Chrisssssstmas tree, why are you so expensive?!? I knew I wanted to get a big tree for my house this year since I'm no longer in an apartment, but I wasn't prepared for how expensive they were! Holy moly! I did a lot of research. Hobby Lobby. Home Depot. Target. Menard's. I went to them all. I ultimately decided on this beauty from Lowe's. It was a little bit more than I wanted to spend at $288, but it was just too pretty to pass up...and I'm telling myself it's an investment. I'm in love. 
   
4. This is SO me. Mint M&Ms are the BEST variety. Christmas music started the day after Halloween and continues until New Year's Day. I tried getting C on this bandwagon with a sing along in the car a few weekends ago. He was so not amused. What a Grinch.
5. Have you seen this website that can guess what you post about on Facebook? Too funny. Here are some of the funny, kinda accurate statuses it created for me: So I wish I had brothers! I'm not a giant! I choose sugar over spice! CHRISTMAS MUSIC TIME! Margaritas at Nada are calling my head? Mandy your little short but that's why hot shorts were invited right? I look like old times. Ok...so maybe they aren't so accurate :)
6. Has anyone tried Stacy's Bake Shop Bakery Crisps!?!? I've had a longtime, borderline unhealthy obsession with Stacy's pita chips for the last several years, and I seriously can't wait to get my hands on the Vanilla Pound Cake Crisps. They sound divine, and at only 130 calories per 4 crisps they are sort of guilt free....if I can stop at just 4 crisps...which I obviously won't. In fact, I probably won't stop until the entire box is gone. Oh well. These sound yummy none-the-less.

   

   These come in Vanilla Pound Cake and Banana Nut

7. If I'm going to be eating entire boxes of cake crisps I better hop on board with these 20 fitness trends for 2014. It looks like high intensity interval trainings (think Crossfit) takes the top spot. How do you guys feel about Crossfit? I've only been to one class, but I wasn't super keen on it. I'm more of a regular group fitness kinda gal. I like my kick boxing, 50/50, and strictly strength classes way better. 
8. That Walt Disney was one smart cookie. I'll leave you today with 16 Quotes to Help Guide You Through Life.