Collection 20: Spottie Dottie Stuff

When I was in 9th grade, I had a close friend who was all into Hello Kitty and collected Hello Kitty Stuff. Soon after, a mutual friend started collecting the little frog character (from Hello Kitty) and his stuff. Then it was determined that all our little group would choose different characters and collect that junk. I was given Spottie Dottie:


So I bought the sticker book, the notebooks, the little lunchbox and various other pink things. I had a lot of them but rarely used them and a few months ago I decluttered my storage closet and gave most of it away to Goodwill, or just threw it away. I'm too old for a pink dalmation.

Collection 19: Beck pictures

So from the first time I heard the song "Loser" by Beck, I was hooked. That was when I was 12. I was immediately in love with him, and his long hair and flannel shirts. For me, he was the most amazing musician that ever lived. All through middle school and high school I thought of him every day and dreamed of when I would meet him and be his wife. I bought subscriptions to Rolling Stone and Spin magazines just in the hopes of catching articles about him. I would sit in front of MTV for hours and recorded any smidgen of him that they were nice enough to play.

Up until age 18 I collected every single magazine cut out of him and taped them into my "Beck book". This was a giant notebook I found and turned into a tribute of my favorite musician. I had/have a lot! I still have the notebook, even though I am no longer obsessed with him. Once I got into college, my musical taste changed somewhat and I don't listen much anymore. But I still appreciate his genius.

Here are some pictures of this notebook (where I also keep my autographs and pictures of Daniel Johns and Gavin Rossdale).





When I was 14, I was lucky enough to see him in concert. It still ranks in my top 3 concerts of all time. Especially since I almost met him and he actually looked at me from inside his tourbus, and when I requested they stop to give me an autograph, he mouthed "I'm sorry" to me. aaah.... I still keep the pick I got from the concert in my wallet..

You know what?

I had a pretty great weekend. A lot of football, and I loved it.
Yesterday, my Buccaneers beat Atlanta 31 to 7. Woohoo! And, my fantasy football team won 98 to 97. A close one. I started out the fantasy season 0 and 5. Now I am 6 and 5.

I went to the App game (obviously) and tailgated with Katie, Daniel, Jeff, Tracy, Chad, Erica K, and 2 new people (Dennis and Kristen). I had a blast tailgating and had an even better time at the game. Somehow the game is a lot more fun when it's close, like it was this weekend. We won 37 - 17 and it seemed a lot closer than that to me. I wrote 2 posts ago that we played bad, but really I'm no pro and shouldn't have judged. Plus, I was kind of drunk when I wrote that. If we hadn't played well, we wouldn't have won. That's that.

This weekend is the first round of the playoffs and we are playing James Madison University (who we beat last year in the playoffs) and I just bought my ticket. I'm still not sure if I will be able to go or not, but I figured I'd better buy a ticket now and not be stuck without one just in case.

Here's a great picture from this past game that my girl Marie took for the Blue Ridge Blog (click here for blog):














And here's a few I took:




Here's Corey Lynch that I took:


Click here and look at the rest of Marie's great pics from the game, including the one she took of Corey Lynch with his gorgeous fiance. He's so handsome. And he's my friend on Facebook. I guess that means we're cool or whatever :D

HERE are all of my pictures from the game.


P.S. I told Jared on Saturday night that we were going to name our first born son Lynch. Lynch Williamson. I like it.

Collection 18: Shot Glasses

Okay first off, I know that the last post is titled Collection 7 instead of 17. I was really really really tired last night and it shows. I'm leaving it.

Here is a collection I didn't really intend to have, it just sort of happened. Shot Glasses are one of those things that you can really give to anybody who drinks alcohol. They are always appreciated but not really used that much. I really only use mine when I throw parties, which is rarely now. But I still have them. Some of them are Jared's. Most were presents. I like them all for different reasons. Click on the picture of them all below to look at it in flickr, where there are notes for each one.

Collection 7: National Geographics

Ugh.. I've never felt less like blogging than I do right now. I collect National Geographics. My dad has been buying me a subscription to the magazine since my junior year of high school and I'm pretty sure I still have each one. They are awesome to look through and I especially love getting the maps! He has been collecting them since the 70's and has WAY more than me. I wonder what he does with all of his.. mine are randomly scattered about my condo here and there..

Had a great time watching ASU win today, even though during the second and third quarters, it didn't seem like we were winning. The offense was bad, the defense was bad but the other team (UTChattanooga) was even worse.

Collection 16: Boys' Digits.

Yep, phone numbers. Cute (sometimes even not cute) boys are something I have always appreciated. Anytime in my life that a boy has given me his phone number, I have kept it, and stapled or taped it into my journal. I've had the same journal since 10th grade (1997). I sometimes go 2 years without writing in it, then I'll write 10 pages in it. I'm off center like that. I picked it up the other night to take pictures of the digits for this post. It was then that I realized I had not written in it since 2005. That means there is not one mention of Jared. Don't get me wrong, I have written myself a few pages of journal entries about Jared, but they've been on notebook paper or whatever I had with me at the time. So I took those papers and put them in my journal, and then wrote a few pages about Jared. Now I only have 4 pages left in the journal I've had since 1997. Ten years of life.

Anywho I've collected quite a few phone numbers over the years. At least, I think I've got a lot. Stapled in the back of the journal are all the random boys' numbers. There are other numbers stapled throughout the book, where I've talked about certain boys. But rather than risk you seeing any of my atrocious handwriting, I'm just going to show you the ones in the back. :)











Most of them I never called ;D

I found a new Greatest.Website.Ever.

You know how I love me some Star Wars.
You know how I love me some i can has cheeseburger cats.
How about somebody make a mashup of the two?

OKAY!! CLICK HERE FOR BEST WEBSITE EVER!!!


















I almost died from laughing...
Also, I want one of these for my cats:


















Millenium Falcon Catbed Website Here.


collection post to come later..

Halfway Done! Collection #15: Autographs

This is my hardest earned collection. I have a story for almost every one. When I was in high school I went to a LOT of concerts, including 4 Weenie Roasts, 2 Ozzfests, and Woodstock 99. My first (real) concert was Aerosmith in 7th grade, and since then I been to see a lot of bands. Over 200, I'd say. My favorite thing to do is get autographs, if I can. My brother has more than me maybe, but mine are mostly from people I like. I don't know if any of these will ever be worth anything, but they are worth something to me :).

You can click on them to see them bigger.

Brandon Flowers and the bassist from the Killers:

He is super hot, and worth the 2 hour wait after the show. And the 6 hour drive to Myrtle Beach to see them at the House of Blues. Also there we got
Louis XIV:


more...

Gravity Kills, Faith No More, and Our Lady Peace:

By the way, Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace is really hot. And Nice.
From a Weenie Roast.

Fred from Cowboy Mouth:

It says, "To Allison <3 Fred". Also a very nice guy. From a Great Guiness Toast in Downtown Charlotte.

Athenaeum and Athenaeum:

They are a localish band who I saw 5 times in high school and college. They are all cool except Grey Brewster. He's an ass. Good thing they kicked him out.

Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day:
Yippee! One of my faves. Green Day was my absolute favorite band in Middle School. And I was in love with Billie Joe. I saw them at Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte when I was 15 and they were everything I ever wanted in a rock show. I even crowd surfed! I didn't really get to know if Billie Joe was nice or not, but he is cute.

Far Too Jones, Jolene, and Athenaeum again:

I honestly don't remember the first two bands, but these are all from a Weenie Roast.

Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Better than Ezra, and Cracker:

I really like all three of these bands! They all seemed very nice! From a Weenie Roast, and the Great Guiness Toast, all in Charlotte.

Lead singer of Semisonic, Lead singer of The Refreshments, and Soulfly:

Semisonic sang that song "I Know who I want to take me home". That guy was cool, he drew the mustache on George Washington. The lead singer of the Refreshments (who sang the Bandidos song that you don't know, but I love) was hot and I kissed him on the cheek. Soulfly consists of some ex members of Sepultura, a South American Metal band. They were hardcore.

Vanilla Ice:

Saw him on his metal comeback tour at Tremont. I gave him a hug and he smelled like pot. This was after his big Christian coming out on VH1.

AJ Poppoff from Lit, and Daniel Johns from Silverchair:

Daniel Johns used to be one of the hottest men alive (click here) and I made my brother and his friend drive all the way down to Atlanta with me to see them. Then, I made them wait with me 3 hours after the show (in the cold). There were 50 people there waiting and he only signed 5 autographs. I'm a lucky girl, especially since he touched my hand.

Linkin Park:

Anybody want? I'm not really big fans, but they're okay. From an Ozzfest.

And one of my faves, Bloodhound Gang:

Who couldn't love the guys who brought us "The Bad Touch" (the discovery channel), "Kiss Me Where it Smells Funny" and "Why is Everybody Always Pickin on Me"?
From a Weenie Roast.

I have more, and no pictures..

Are you jealous? Probably not.

Collection #14: Shoes.

I LOVE shoes. Everytime I buy a new pair of shoes, I want to treat them like a baby. I want to wear them everywhere... I love cute shoes. I love pretty shoes. Sometimes I love ugly shoes. I really really love cute cheap shoes. As much of a shoe lover as I am, I still refuse to spend more than $30.00 on one pair. I would really like a pair of Rainbow Flip Flops, but I don't want to pay $40 for a pair of flip flops. I try to limit myself to only buying around 6 pairs a year. But if I find a good deal, it's on. On like Donkey Kong. I have some pairs of shoes that I've had since high school. When I went to my mom's house 2 weeks ago, I found a pair of shoes in the closet that my mom had bought me to wear to my 8th grade end of year band concert. I only wore them that once and then put them back in the box. Guess what? They still fit. And they are awesome. Some of my cool Converse One-Stars still fit, too. I still have my senior prom shoes. Pretty shoes just make me feel good inside.

These are my favorite shoes, which I bought last year at JC Penny's (for $18.00-75%off!!!):


High School Prom shoes:

By the way, don't look at this in large size. You'll see my serious need of a pedicure.

Most of my shoes (which I laid out all pretty for ya:



You know what I don't get? How can boys live with only 4 or 5 pairs of shoes?

Doesn't make sense.

Collection 13: Candles

Now I know there are many many people out there who can say they collect candles. When I was 13ish, I collected weird candles. I loved any kind of candle that wasn't the "norm". I had a candle shaped like a poodle, and a few shaped like eyeballs. I had one of those hands that melt red blood. I had several different fruit candles, and even a Beethoven candle. I don't have those anymore, I'm sure they either melted or my mother threw them away. Nowadays, I just have normal candles. But I have a lot! I believe we have close to 40 here in the house and outside. And everyone of them has been lit at least once. They say it's bad luck to have an unburnt wick in the house. Who knows.

Here is my current favorite, the one Jared gave me as a birthday present. It is Rose Petals from Yankee Candle Co.

Collection #12: Hats

This is by far my favorite collection. Hats make me happy. The best place to find yummy hats is thrift stores. I have a lot, and I love them all. Why? Hats are like a mini disguise that doesn't take much effort. You can say so many things with different hats. I took pictures of myself wearing all my favorites, and the facial expressions just wrote themselves. That's what makes hats great.

Let's see if this thinggy works:



Click the picture for fun slideshow goodness.

Collection #11: Romance Novels

This one's pretty self explanatory. I collect romance novels. Or at least, I used to. Not as much anymore. When I lived at the beach during my summer internship with the QAR project, I didn't have cable. I lived in a dorm. I had a tv and dvd player and all of my dvd's, but I had no cable. I got awfully bored the first few weeks and decided to go ahead and read some. I've never been a big reader. Instead of finding a library, I decided to go to Wal-Mart and buy a few books. The romance novel section had some interesting selections, that I loved. That summer I read 24 romance novels. They were all basically the same with different characters and different situations, but I didn't care. At the end of the summer, instead of moving them with me in my car back to K-town, I gave them to my roomies and told them to take them to the used book store and keep the money. I'm charitable like that.

I still enjoy romance novels, but I don't read them as much. I've branched out since then. Now I read pirate books, Harry Potter books, and suspence. I read a John Grisham book last month, and now I'm reading some Patricia Cornwell. Good stuff.

Collection #10: Pictures

Short and sweet tonight.. I'm still thawing from the Appalachian slaughtering..er.. uh.. game in Boone today.

I collect pictures. Ever since I was a young'n I've always loved taking pictures. I've always had a camera, polaroid or otherwise. I have pictures all over my house, I have about 15 photo albums from before I got a digital camera, and I have exactly 3,800 pictures on my flickr right now. If you think that's a lot, you should see all the ones I haven't added to flickr. I try to never leave home without my camera, because you never know when you'll have a great oppurtunity to take a great picture.

Here are a few from the football game that Jared, my dad, and I went to today. My Apps beat Western Carolina U. in Boone. The final score was 79-35. We left at the beginning of the third quarter, as it was veryveryvery buttass cold.

Collection #9: Buccaneers Stuff.

Yes, this collection goes along with the football cards and the pirate stuff, but it is different. Obviously, my favorite NFL team is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Why? Because I am Floridian, I was born in Bradenton, Florida. This is near Tampa. While we lived in Florida, the Bucs were my family's favorite team.

Once we moved to NC, they cheered for the Redskins mostly (my mother has always been a Skins fan, and the Bucs sucked at that point). I wasn't really caring either way since I didn't really like football anyways. Then in high school I realized the awesomeness of football (marching band, woo!) and picked up the old Buccaneers because they were my original team. Plus, my older brother was pulling for them.

Well since then, I've developed into quite the Buccaneers fan and therefore collect stuff. I have the football cards, a cool snowglobe, a dammit doll (that Katie and Andrea gave me), a bobblehead, numerous shirts and hats, and lots of other fun things.

My Joe Jurevicius Superbowl bobblehead is my favorite item. He is broken, but as long as you don't touch him, you don't know. I love that because I got it off ebay right after they won the superbowl. It has him, and a big Superbowl ring, and the final game score on the bottom.

Here:


PS that picture thinggy you see with the "40" is from the game my brother and I went to, where we were on the front row at Panthers stadium. Woo! Click here to see! Also here!


Here is my flag that Brad gave me, which hangs in my pirate bathroom:



By the way, Dane Cook was awesome!!

Collection #8: Pirate Stuff... .... arrr!

Now I know this is a giant shocker to you all out there.. but I love pirates. LOVE pirates. Especially Blackbeard. Why, you ask?

It all started in 8th grade (I think..) when I had the greatest history teacher in the world, James Pope. Mr. Pope taught at Corriher Lipe Middle School, home of the Yellow Jackets, in Landis, NC.

Mr. Pope loved pirates. His classroom was full of pirate stuff. When it got to be time to talk about pirates in class, you could see a definite gleam in his eye, and he got very excited and emotional and loud and quiet. All of these things make for a great lesson, and very interested students. I loved it. Mr. Pope loved pirates so much, that every year he hosted a Pirate Troop.

The Pirate Troop was a group of the 8th graders who got dressed up like pirates, with a pirate persona, and went around to all the local elementary schools, and acted out a little pirate play. The play was the pirates telling the story of Blackbeard.

In 6th grade I decided I wanted to be an actress, and when I found out that the Pirate Troop existed, I dreamed of being a part of it. Only 8 lucky 8th graders were chosen to be in the little bit of awesomeness. So when it came time to audition, I was hella nervous, but I was confident.

Lucky for me, Mr. Pope already knew me before getting into his class, and he already loved me and my brothers (he had taught both of them, too). When I freakin' nailed my audition, I was a shoe-in.

Apparently that year there were so many great "actors" who auditioned, that he expanded to 2 pirate troops, each consisting of 6 players. I was a pirate. My persona was Scarlet Hatcher, or "Hatcher the Hatchet". That's what Mr. Pope chose for me, and I loved it. I got to carry around a dulled hatchet, and scare little kids with it!

Anywho, so I loved that. And I loved pirates all through high school and college too. Then of course, Pirates of the Caribbean came out, adding fuel to the fire.

And then there's my internship that I got to do with the Queen Anne's Revenge Project. The Queen Anne's Revenge was Blackbeard's flagship. In 1718, he beached (purposely sank) this flagship in Beaufort Inlet. In 1996, underwater treasure hunters found this ship, and ever since then, underwater archaeologists have been slowly recovering artifacts. PIRATE ARTIFACTS! BLACKBEARD ARTIFACTS!!! Lucky for me, in the year 2004, they needed a GIS intern to do stuff for them, and I was lucky enough to be chosen. It's definitely one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. I got to touch actual Blackbeard artifacts. I especially liked this:



Needless to say, I collect piratey stuff now. I have a bathroom that I call "the pirate bathroom" where I put a lot of my piratey stuff. I've been a pirate for Halloween many times. Pirates rule.

Some of my bathroom stuff:


My pirate "action figures":


I have much more than this, but I don't have that much room on my camera :)




Oh yea, and guess what!? I'm going to see Dane Cook tonight in Charlotte! woohoo!!

Collection #7: Star Wars Stuff.

Yes, dear readers, I AM that cool. I collect Star Wars memorabilia. If I were rich, I'd buy ALL the vintage toys. I'd buy Luke Skywalker and Han Solo's uniforms...er.. costumes and I'd wear them.. Or I'd make Jared wear them. I'd completely remodel my house to look like it's from Star Wars. And then, I'd have a Star Wars Wedding. Jared would totally be down with that... maybe..

For some strange reason when I was 14, my Aunt Sue gave me the original Star Wars Trilogy for Christmas. This is the only Christmas present she has ever given me. It's like some sixth sense told her to give this to me. I'd seen them before once or maybe twice when I was young, but I never understood. Once my aunt gave me the trilogy to own, and I watched them again, I understood. So I watched them again, and again, and again. I was hooked.

I am officially a Star Wars Nerd. Not Geek. Geek is a term specifically reserved for the fans of that other genre (Star Trek).

Anywho, I'm also one of the rarer breeds of Star Wars Nerds, because I also love the new movies. Episode 3 was so awesome, I cried when it was over. I went to see all 3 of them at midnight releases. I only wish I could see the originals on the big screen. Or maybe at least on HIDEF (Stephen?? :D)?

Anywho my collection looks meager here, but it is not really:

Click on it and look at the large size.

You should see all of my lightsabers. And my Darth Vader Mask, and my TWO Darth Taters. And so on.