Realization: I'm a Jelly Belly!

So today I decided that I really wanted to go to the Jelly Belly factory since we live soooo close to it. I dragged my Shannon along with me because I didn't want to go alone. She wasn't expecting much and she wasn't too excited when we got there either. After the tour though, she did say that she had fun! (Yes, that is her not impressed face in that picture.) We got to learn a little about Jelly Belly history! Did you know that they started their business in Portland, Oregon? But because of the humidity and amount of moisture that Oregon gets, it wasn't a very good place to make candy. So they moved their operation down to California. I can totally relate! There is way too much rain up there for my tastes! We also got to see the making processes for the jelly beans and how they got packaged! We also got to see some really cool Jelly Belly art! I definitely want to go back sometime soon! There were so many goodies that we didn't even get to try while we were there. Like Jelly Belly soda, and Jelly Belly chocolates, there was even Jelly Belly ICE CREAM! Yes. Ice cream. It looked SO delicious. They even had a cafe on site and the food smelled really good. I had so much fun. We will for sure go back soon!

Mourning Isn't My Style

When life hits you; she bitch slaps you. Then it's up to you to decide how to react. The last couple of weeks have been really hard on me, physically and emotionally.

Shannon and I had shared a cat for... it seems like forever. Maybe around seven years? Shannon has a really intense job that she strives for; which causes her to move around a lot. While she had to move around she would leave the cat with me so I wouldn't be so lonely and so she knew the cat was with someone she trusted. Our cat Lilka, the cute monster in the above pictures, died a couple weeks ago. I took the news really hard. I'm still trying to recover. It's hard not having her right next to me but the experiences and the memories I have of her will always be with me. So I am doing my best to remember how much I love her instead of remembering how much I miss her. I decided that celebrating the good times I had with her is better than mourning the time I wont be able to spend with her. That view has been helping me through it.

I also have been dealing with dental stuff. I woke up in unbearable pain in the middle of the night. I thought that maybe I was grinding my teeth again and caused a tooth to break. I talked to 14 different dental places and only one was able to get me in as soon as possible to find out what was going on. I found out that I needed a root canal; which is total ouchies. I have been on pain killers and antibiotics for about 3 weeks now. I was searching around for a cheaper option and finally found a Dentist near me that I trust. Today, I finally got the first part of the root canal done. It was about $140.00 out of pocket. It was totally worth it to not be able to feel the pain. This temporary filling they used will last a few months until I can go in to finish it and put on a crown (which will cost almost $1,500.00). Let's just say that I wont be looking at expensive Halloween costumes stuff anymore (even though I want to).

With all that being said I am hoping to keep posting on this blog as much as possible about the things I love and continue to interact with some of my favorite bloggers. I have some really neat ideas about things to post in the future! So look forward to it.