Thursday, November 14, 2013

Result of My Compulsive Need to Over Think

Here I am, back on the thinking stool.
For those of you who don't know me very well, I am a compulsive over-thinker and worry-wart. I can't help it.


ANYWAY, I am a lonely person. Not in the sense that I hate life and hate being alone, that is not the point. I do rather enjoy my alone time (hence what I'm writing as of this moment). I love my husband dearly and I love spending every moment with him. I don't know what I'd do without him. Life is so good right now.
I'm lonely in the sense that I am lonely for my girl friends from high school. I know that now I'm in the "married life"; I'm supposed to up and move on, get used to not being overly social with people outside of my immediate family. I also am very aware that I haven't gone to high school in 2 years and that we grow up and go in our own directions. Still, I am a young 20 year old, who's majority of good friends she had growing up are on a completely separate wavelength. They are all going to their respective universities, living the dorm/roommate life, experiencing college in its fullest.
Then you have me, who jumped 5 years forward into being a wife, working to help support our little family, looking at houses to buy soon, wondering when we'll start having kids, etc. It's as if there is this invisible barrier, and the only glimpse have into their world is Facebook and Instagram.
I'm certain that majority of the blame is on me, I am not very good at keeping up with people and staying involved anymore. I used to be very talented at that actually, but now I am the kind of person who thinks they can get away with going months without speaking with someone and then pick it up right where we left off as if time had never passed (Partly because I have been able to get away with that with the 2 girls I've known since forever, Malia Malo and Rachel Crowe).
Then again, let's be honest, I left high school with very few friends I had started out with in the first place. I guess you could I say I was a "real peach" back then.
I want to see my friends, I really do. I am very interested in what's going in their lives, regardless if it's dumb or insignificant. How are classes going? Dating anyone? Are you still a music major? These are all legitimate questions I have, but cannot bring myself to ask. Maybe I'm afraid they don't want to talk to me. Maybe they'll think I'm boring. Maybe I'm worried that I won't be able to relate to anyone because I am in such a different stage of life than they are.

OR MAYBE I'M JUST AWKWARD. That. That could definitely be a contributing factor.


As I think about all of this at once, this chaotic mess that's been shoved in a loony bin and then stuffed in a barrel full of monkeys, I realize that it's actually going to be okay. I wouldn't trade where I am now for anything. Words cannot describe how happy I am with my life currently and where it is going. I like this "adult" vibe I've got going on. I feel mature. Responsible, even.
Eh, that may be a stretch. I'm getting there.
The point is, if I want to reach out to someone, then I should do it. Stop contemplating every scenario and outcome and move on with it. Stop being a Knuckle-head McSpazatron.

 You get out what you put in, right?

I am so deep sometimes I should win a Nobel Prize or something, I swear.

SO. Shout out to all my gal pals from Desert Ridge High School. We should get lunch. Let's all catch up because it has been WAY too long.










Tuesday, October 15, 2013

BIG NEWS!!

Oh hey. It's me again. Boy, has it been a while. Like, nearly a month. I have been really bad about being a regular update-er posting person. HOW DO I BLOG.
ANYWAY lots of big changes and big news as of late! Items of business as follows:

1) New Blog Design
You may have already noticed, but the blog has a new look and a new name. The other template and blog title wasn't very "me". It was like I was trying to be that cutesy-pootsy LDS blogger who has that stereotypical Pinterest style, which is so inaccurate. So here we are. In pink. With these cool floating lights out of focus aspect thing that I'm really digging. :D And the title is more accurate too. I am way more exciting than "Our Story Starts Here" BARF GAG EW. (no offense to anyone who that it was a good name, I thought it at one point myself)

2) SCHOOL
That is right! I have been admitted and am registered for classes at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Kinda a step back, going from university to community college but hey I'm back at school and that's what matters. I am actually quite excited. I keep looking at my text book list, anticipating to go out and get them but I know better than that. As everyone has gone to college before knows, you should not buy your textbooks till after the first day of class because your instructor might have other plans than what the materials may be, regardless of what the Student Center may tell you. I could be wrong, but that's how it was at ASU. I saved like $200 bucks by waiting. LAWLZ anywhom I'll still end up getting them at the end of this semester when people are trying to get rid of their textbooks. But yeah. I have decided I shall study Music, probably specifically Vocal Performance. Just because it's the only thing that seems to make sense to me right now and I know I'll never get tired or bored of music. I also really want to be a soloist again and FEEL like I contribute something. I used to be so confident in high school and then I hit adult life and my confidence was shot in the face with a shotgun. I also just really love making beautiful music. Thus, this is what I want to do.

3) Fringe and All the Feels
 Ian and I have been watching "Fringe" on Netflix for literally the past, oh I don't know MONTH, all day everyday because we've been addicted to it's well executed screen shots and plot structure. Seriously, if you haven't watched it DO IT NOW BECAUSE IT IS JUST SO GOOD. It's one of JJ Abram's greatest contributions to society. Other than "Super 8". Srsly tho. We've been so emotionally invested into this show and we literally just finished it earlier this evening and I don't even know what to do with myself. WAHHHHHHHH I used to never understand the whole getting-into-a-show-that-it-becomes-your-life-thing because honestly, I have always preferred movies over television. Still do, but I'm much more open minded now. UGH it was sooooo good. Just go onto Netflix and devote the next couple weeks of your life to it's glorious madness. DO IT. NOW.

4) RESONANCE CHOIR TOUR--Hollerrrr
Ian and I also just returned from choir tour this past weekend. It was a nice mini-getaway for the short tour that it was. We went up to Snowflake and sang at their Pioneer Park Fall Festival thingy. That's always fun. Then we went to a corn maze while we were there and availed in finding ALL the stamps in the maze (even though the map was SO rigged). I got a tootsie roll pop, so it was worth it. OH and we got this cute picture there was well. D'awwww






Jadyn and Taylor also got a cute one in. ;)




After that we went to the Safford-Thatcher area, where some of us went to the carnival and the rest of us went to the Gila Valley Temple so we could do sealings/baptisms. What a neat experience! That was the first time I had gone to the temple since we got married. It is such a gorgeous temple. Definitely a one-in-a-lifetime experience. Church is true guys! :) Then on Sunday, the final day, we headed towards Tucson and hit the Titan Missile Museum and the Arizona Sonaran Desert Museum on the way. Two very cool places that I could go to again on the next road trip. That evening we sang at a fireside in Tucson and it was great. Finally heading home, we grabbed some Eggee's and arrived in Mesa close to 11 PM. I am very glad I took off Monday as well because I don't think I could have gotten myself to wake up at 4 AM after that! haha Overall, great trip. I'm crossing my fingers that next tour we'll go to Europe. One can only hope!

Aye aye aye aye. I do believe that is all for now. PHEW. So yeah. Hope you lovelies have a great night.

G'night folks.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Belated Birthday Bonanza

Hello all, I haven't posted since last week so I figured I could gab about my ordinary weekend that also happened to be my birthday weekend.
I turned the big 2-0, no longer teenager milestone, second decade of life, the 20th anniversary of the blessed day I graced the Earth with my presence, on Friday the 20th. HA I turned 20 on the 20th. Awesome.
ANYWHOM, I wasn't really anticipating much, since for crying out loud, I just got back from a week long cruise where I did nothing but get waited on hand and foot. So the day started out waking up relatively early at 7 am to go to the DMV for my name change and our address change. By the time we got there around 8:30, the line was literally out the door, so we decided, EH we'll hit up Bed Bath and Beyond first. That trip was an interesting one in itself because of EVERYTHING that we received as gifts (which were all so amazing by the way, we are super grateful), we did not receive any of the basics. i.e. towels, dishes, silverware. We had been living off of 2 of plates, bowls, glasses, and cutlery . Meaning I did dishes every. single. meal. That got old pretty fast. Long story short, we have dishes and silverware! YAY! The towels are yet to be bought, but Target will be getting a visit from us shortly.
So that trip happened.
Then we went back to the DMV, waited for 20 minutes to find out that we didn't have all the documents we needed like our marriage certificate. Definitely a duh-moment but it definitely set me off since the lady at the Social Security office never said anything about bringing that with me, she said the receipt would be fine. UGH. Some people. So we went back home to get what we needed, and poor Ian had to listen to me vent but he's so good to me and listened and helped me calm down, since it really wasn't that big of a deal. (What did I do to deserve such a great guy? Beats me). We finally got back to the DMV, waited in line, and got our tasks done pretty quickly. We were out in little over an hour. :D I was pretty happy about that, and also that my picture was update and that my license now has McHardy on it. That put me in a good mood, so we went to Burlington to get me a cute outfit for later that night. ;) YES BIRTHDAY LINGERIE. Deal with it. We did get him a nice new Trump tie though too. It looks pretty studly. We got home probably close to 2, and man was I tired! I get up at 4:20 AM Mon-Thurs, I deserved a nap. So I did just that.
Hehehe. How exciting, on my birthday as well as my day off, I go to the DMV and sleep. Awesome right? It did get more exciting, I promise.
Woke up around 4. I decided we should go out to dinner at least for this occasion, and Texas Roadhouse was the place to be. After overindulging in my carnivorous habits, we grabbed some $5 movies at Walmart, went home, and watched a movie called "The Island". Ian's pick. It had Ewan McGregor in it and Scarlett Johansson, so how bad could it really? It was very intriguing to be honest! I don't want to spoil it, so I won't go into detail, but I definitely recommend it.
Then Saturday rolled around and I just worked literally all day. I won't bore you with my 8 hours of insurance-filled adventures. I was able to make it to the dinner portion of Choir Retreat though. My tummy was happy by the end of the night!
Then Sunday came about, and I love Sundays. Church and relaxation. So much relaxation, I slept in till 10. HA. Cause our ward don't start till noon. Suckahs! Our new family ward is the bomb though. I had a really good first impression. We came on a week where there was a youth spiritual number and combined RS/Priesthood. srsly tho the youth is about 70 total, easy. At least that. Ian's very excited about that. He's really good with the youth. He was a Priest adviser before he went to his Marine Corps training.
Everyone is really nice; people came and introduced themselves to us, since obviously they didn't recognize us. It's a pretty established ward in a very established stake. We stood out. We also stood out because Ian has a powerhouse voice that carries over the congregation. :) I'm getting used to it, but I love to hear him sing. Makes my heart go pitter-patter. But yeah! Major success. Then that night, Ian's parents were considerate enough to make cake and get me a gift, so we went over there for dinner and a little birthday party. So sweet. UGH I just love them.
So yeah. That was my birthday weekend. Eventful, but not in your face. I liked it. A lot.
But yeah. I'll finish up with peectures of my put-away dishes (because I'm a noob who gets excited about that), as well as the lovely cake my sister Ashley made. :D

It's red-velvet, my favorite! 


Yay dishes and glasses!!!


And the silverware...we're not total cavemen.


Thursday, September 19, 2013

Oh, What's In a Name?

Names names names names names. You see, I am in a pickle. A big, fat, green, juicy, delicious pickle.

Actually, not that kind of pickle, silly heads. See definition:

in a (pretty) pickle
Fig. in a mess; in trouble. (*Typically: be ~; get [into] ~.) John has gotten himself into a pickle. He has two dates for the party. Now we are in a pretty pickle. We are out of gas.
See also: pickle

No, I do not have two dates to a party and ran out of gas. It's more like I am so excited about this blog and to start pouring out my hearts to complete strangers and post funny pictures and crap; but in the excitement of it all, I just kinda threw out a name to get the blog created without even really thinking about it too much. My thought process:

Blog? Yeah! Ooh pretty templates. Uhhh THAT one! YAY! OH wait I need a name. What's uber cliche and sounds like a typical girly-"Curlz" font-covered-in-rainbows-and-unicorns-blog? Uhhhh...how about dis? Eh, it'll do.

So yeah. Here I am, stuck with a completely and utterly boring and uber cliche name that makes me sound like a typical-girly-"Curlz" font-covered-in-rainbows-and-unicorns-blogger. It's like, in a dire need of an intervention. I've looked at other blogger's way awesome and appropriate names and I've googled the crap of how to be creative and name ideas (because honestly, that's how NOT creative I am, I freaking had to use Google) but I can't think of anything fun, unique, and that really sums up my blog identity. Heck, what is even my blog identity? DOES THAT EVEN EXIST. IS THIS THE REAL LIFE. OR IS IT FANTASY. 

STAHP IT FREDDY I AM TRYING TO CONCENTRATE. ugh. I swear. I cannot keep my focus today, I think too much of this Mercury exposure is starting to affect me. 
(BA DUM TSS).
Wow that was dumb, and yet I literally laughed out loud as I typed it. HAHA still laughing. No lies.
ohmyheckanyway the point is, if anyone can help me think of an interesting name, the assistance would be much appreciated. ooxxOXoXxoOxxx







(if anyone gets my reference at the end, you get +100 to awesome)

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Here Goes Nothin...First Post EVER!

OKAY. So. I am joining the blog band wagon here, and I have NO idea what I am doing, so bear with me.

Disclaimers:
1) I am fully aware that for the first part of my blogging career, I will most likely be talking to myself. And I am okay with that. I do that in the car anyway, so it's already kind of a thing.
2) If I am fortunate enough to start having readers, please start following so I can follow you back. Yay networking!
3) I think I am absolutely hilarious. If you don't think so, then I apologize in advance for the puns, stupid jokes, and more than occasional innuendos (I'm a theatre kid, it's in my blood).
4) If I do post something with a strong opinion (which I don't think will happen often) and you happen to disagree, either be tactful or don't comment at all, otherwise I will delete it. I am extremely non-confrontational, and I'd like to keep everything cordial at all times.

ALL RIGHT. I think that is it. So here we go. I'll start with a mini-bio on myself to get the ball rolling.

My name is Haley Jane Taylor McHardy. Jane isn't my middle name legally, I have just been called that all my life, but Haley McHardy is my name. I graduated from Desert Ridge High School in 2012. I was a hardcore theatre kid and also band kid as well. I used to be 1st chair French Horn in the top band through HS, but I quit senior year. I miss it now. The horn, not high school. UGH you could not pay me enough to go back to that hellish place. I did a semester at ASU for theatre but after auditioning into the Acting BA program, I realized how much I did not want to continue in that field, so I withdrew from the Spring semester and have been trying to figure what the heck I am going to go to school for since. I am determined to go back in January though, gosh dang it! Any whom, I turn 20 in 2 days. HOLLERRR. I am young LDS woman who is married to the most considerate, handsome, hard-working, quirky, lovable, patient, and strong man you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. His name is Ian Joseph McHardy and I am pretty sure I fall more in love with him every day. We were married 11 days ago on 9/7/13 in the Mesa Arizona Temple and we just got home from our Alaskan Cruise that my parents set us on. We live in a wee apartment out in East Mesa and are loving the area. I work at State Farm Insurance as a Customer Care Center Sales Representative. Meaning, I can complete a variety of policy transactions and give you quotes on most private passenger vehicles, motorcycles, and renters insurance. Hit me up. ;) It's a fabulous job that pays very well and I am very fortunate to have, especially being half of a newlywed couple. I work early mornings during the week and a full day Saturdays. Saturdays aren't my favorite, but hey, it's money. Haha I sing in a fabulous group called Resonance Vocal Ensemble, coming up on 3 years now. That's actually where I met my husband; his mother directs the choir and he joined when he came home from his mission in Dallas Texas last August. Ian was actually my dear friend Hope Douglass' missionary before she got married to Mark Douglass, who is best friends with my brother in law Alex McHardy, who is married to Hope's best friend Allora McHardy. SMALL WORLD. The whole circle-situation-everyone-tied-together thing cracks me up. I love it really, Hope and Allie have been so nice to me and I love them to death. In fact, I love my friends and family SO much and I am very blessed to have wonderful in-laws as well. They have also been so very good to me, and I couldn't ask for anything better. Other than that, I am sure I'll be documenting more of my soul in the posts to come.
But hey. That wasn't so bad! First blog post? Check. :)

Here! Enjoy this picture of a cat stuck in a jar.