Ah! Scusa me! So sorry for not having blogged in…one month and a day! Bad Liz! Tee hee. Things have been SO insanely hectic ever since early May. Let me give y’all the low-down:

May 9th: Went to my counseling appointment with my grief therapist, Dawn. (Wonderful session by the way. My Mom and I decided to stop in Riverside on our way to San Diego since we were driving down and starting our trip on Father’s Day. We bought a boquet for my Dad’s site, and another for my Grandpa and Grandma’s site, too. We visited my Dad’s site and it was a feeling I’d never experienced before. I couldn’t describe it in writing to save the life of me, but it was…bliss. Tranquility. Peace. And, a bit of closure.)

Anyway! Back to the 9th. At the end of my sesssion, as I go to drive home, I’m in a left turn lane which has 2 lanes. I was in the outside lane, and an old lady in a Cadillac was in the inside turn lane. So the light turns green, and half-way through the turn, right as we’re coming out of the intersection, I hear this huge SMACK sound and my body jerked to the right, then to the left, and I smacked the left side of my head on my driver’s side window trying to get back into my lane. She had hit me with such speed and force that she actually moved my SUV an entire lane over. THANK GOODNESS no one was in that far right lane because I would have been sandwiched and something horrible would certainly have happened. I called my Mom, she came down immediately, and we all exchanged information. The kicker? This old cunt never ONCE apologized to me. Not one time.

The thing I’m the most angry about is the fact that my back AND neck are messed up now. I’d had my back injury from cheer since 2003, but over time it eventually healed on it’s own. I’ve never had any neck injuries from cheer (shocker), so I knew this was a result of the sideways whiplash. My attorney’s sent me to an amazing chiropractor and, get this — his daughter Megan and I used to cheer together for 2 years! Haha, small, small world it is. He knows all about cheer injuries so he’s a gem to me. And, he’s by far THE MOST thorough chiropractor I have ever been to in my life. He’s number 5, and surpasses the others like you wouldn’t believe.

On my first visit, he took a series of x-rays. Some of my neck, upper, mid, and lower back. There was a total of 9. When he got them back, we didn’t like what we saw. I’ve lost 100% of the natural curveature in my neck, and I have scoliosis (or curving of the spine. It’s just a medical term, not a serious diagnosis thank goodness, but a major and important observation). I looked at my bone scans and MRI’s from 2003 and 2004, and my spine was PERFECTLY aligned. No curves at all. Something obviously happened between then and now, and this recent car accident is the ONLY major source of hard impact/accident/injury I’ve had in the past 4-5 years. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what fucked up my spine and neck.

UGH. I could kill myself — I knew I had a TON to blog about but I’m running on empty all of a sudden! I guess I’ll end this entry but will definitely edit it when the rest of my, “stuff to blog about list” comes back to mind!

Although! I did get tagged by my sessay favorite loverpants and my sweetie Heather, so I’ll take my taggage. These are always fun!From Renee:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Doing all-around gymnastics, dance, and in the 7th grade, on drill-team. Sleepovers were BIG at my house, baby!

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today?
* Toss in a load of laundry.
* Continue to clean up my PC.
* Go to CVS and get my Yaz refilled.
* Call and schedule a hair appointment with my stylist, Lisa.
* Do some more Summer shopping.

3. Snacks I enjoy:
Fruit, yogurt, chicken salad, trail mix, almonds, a can of tuna with a dash of Miracle Whip, whole-grain popcorn, veggies, etc.

4. Places I’ve lived:
Born and raised right here in Nevada. Well, technically born in Las Vegas, but have always lived in Green Valley/Henderson.

5. Things I’d do if I were a billionaire:
Pay off any and all debts — school, vehicles, mortgages on our other 3 properties, go on a massive shopping spree and ravage Louis Vuitton, set up a no-kill animal sanctuary for cats, dogs, and any other animals that need a safe, loving place to call home. Donate and support every positive animal rights group I could. Oh, and design my own custom home in the hills of Laguna Beach/Aliso Viejo.

6. People I want to know more about:
Anyone who’s WORTH knowing more about, and anyone who wants to know more about me.

From Heather:

How to play: Once you’ve been tagged you have to write a blog with 10 weird, random facts, habits, or goals about yourself — at the end choose 5 people to be tagged. Don’t forget to leave them a comment saying “You’re It!” and to go read your blog. You cannot tag the person that tagged you.

01. I’m a neatness and sanitation freak. Cleanliness is a must!
02. I don’t get along with most girls. …Probably because I stay away from drama and I’m not a gossip. Guys FTW!
03. I have 5 dogs and 5 cats. …and 5 foster kittens and 1 foster Pit-Bull at the moment!
04. One day, I’m going to travel to Egypt to visit the Valley of the Kings, the Great Pyramids, and the Great Sphinx of Giza!
05. I LOVE to drive. I enjoy my solo road trips like y’all wouldn’t believe!
06. I speak English and Italian / Io parlare io inglese e italiano.
07. I LOVE rainy days! Thunder, lightning, pouring rain, and I’m a happy girl!
08. I get more compliments on my hair and eyes than I can count. It’s very flattering.
09. I have a shopping addiction. My Mother feeds my addiction. Maybe we belong in Intervention on A&E..? HAH!
10. I FINALLY picked a hot pattern for when I get my Sidekick Slide (or possibly Blackberry or iPhone 3G) crystal’d. Check it! Hot, huh?

I’m to lazy to find out who’s been tagged already and who hasn’t, so if you haven’t yet, then TAG! You’re it, G.

…yeah. I’m so hardcore at barely 5 feet. Ha.

Ciao tutte! baci / xoxo

Unfortunately I don’t have time for a BIG update (which I know I need to do! SO much has been going on lately! Had a wonderful birthday — definitely one of the best thanks to Mama. A $3,000 shopping spree DID NOT hurt my feelings in the least, hahah. Finally got my beloved, which I’ve named ‘Precious’. …shut up. It’s a perfectly suitable name for inanimate object. I’ll go into it more later, along with a bunch of other stuff that’s been going on. BUT! I’m about to leave for California (going to San Diego with Mamma! Haven’t been there since my first year of cheer camp @ USD’s La Jolla campus in…2003? It’s certainly time to go back!

Like always, I’ll be updating my Flickr like CRAZY! Y’all know how obsessive I am about documenting every little detail about my trips and vacations, tee heez. I’m bringing the digital too, but I’ll have to wait until we get back home to upload those photos. But, like I said — be sure to check the Flickr because there’s going to be CONSTANT updates the entire time!

Mama rented a NICE laptop (still shopping around for a new one), so I’ll have `net access in the room. I’ll try to edit this post and make a more interesting one later tonight once we get to the room and are settled in. Today’s just a travel and relaxation day. …and, as everyone knows, it’s Father’s Day. It’s always a hard day but as the years go by, they seem to get harder because every year I know even MORE about my Dad. We’re stopping at the Veteran’s Cemetery in Riverside to bring some boquets and American flags for both my Daddy’s grave and my Grandpa Ed’s site, which is right next to my Dad’s. It’ll be hard as hell, but it’s something I NEED to do. That place (the cemetery) is so beautiful and I have such an immense amount of pride when I go there. Not just anyone can be burried there and it’s very…honoring and moving, that MY DAD, a hero, is there amongst the other brave men and women who have served our country. When I see Marines in uniform walking around in the office, I just think to myself, “Wow. My Dad was a Marine, too”. Sometimes I cry, sometimes I smile. But it’s a beautiful sadness, if that makes sense.

I gotta get my heiny in gear and get dressed! We’re aiming to head out by noon. …Looks like it might be a few minutes after, haha. I’ll be back either on Tuesday or Wednesday. We’ll see! Everyone have a good Father’s Day and be sure to tell your Dad how much he means to you. Have a great week loves! Ciao tutti! baci ; xoxo!

YES! Finally back in blog & update mode! …It’s about time, eh? Hah. Oh man, SO MUCH has been going on lately! I don’t even know where to start. I guess I’ll go with the biggest change first.

I’ve left Abercrombie, but it’s because I’ve been working as a club promoter for Prive’ inside Planet Hollywood for the past few months. I LOVE this job! The pay, the perks, everything. It’s a lot of work but it’s so worth it, haha. The club is absolutely BEAUTIFUL, the company has tables & comp’d bottles @ hot spots nearly every night, VIP lists up the yang…a Vegas girl’s dream come true! LOL. Taking this was a HUGE change for me. I’ve never had a full-time job, so stepping into this pretty much out of nowhere kinda shocked my Mom, but she’s really proud of me. I am too, to be honest. I never thought I’d survive a FT position, but I’m doin’ great. I’ve met so many wonderful people and made some great contacts and connections. I get paid to meet cool people, promote an amazing club, and have fun. Awesome!

Although I’m no longer working at Abercrombie, it’s certainly not goodbye forever. Once I graduate and have my bachelor’s degree, I’m pretty sure I’m going to return and become an MIT, and eventually a Manager if all goes well. It certainly should. I’ve got a great record and history as far as my work and performance goes, which isn’t too common there, unfortunately. The vast majority of the employees (who aren’t managers) are high school kids who don’t take the job seriously, slack off, and just don’t do good work, whatever the task may be. Regardless of the pay and/or perks, I’ve always had an extremely good work ethic, which I get from a few places & people. My Mom, my Aunt, a few friends, school, cheer, etc. I’m very proud of that, too, because it shows, and it definitely doesn’t hurt!

Another…well, important thing, I guess you could say, is that I’ve been seeing a grief therapist for the past few months. I’ve been having a VERY hard time dealing with my Dad’s death. He passed away over 12 years ago, and although I didn’t know him well, now that I DO feel like I know him thanks to his friends and Marine buddies, I’m going through the grieving process that I’ve never truly gone through. I was 9 when he died. I had no clue how to process the situation or how to handle it. All I knew was that this man, who is my Dad, but whom I barely know, is no longer with us. That was that. When I was in my early teens (around 13 or 14), I started to go through a few emotional phases — anger, resentment, guilt…I got through them all thanks to my Mom, but, as I said, the grieving process never truly hit until now. And good lord, it’s…I can’t even think of the words to describe it. I’m having such a difficult time dealing with his loss. One thing that’s very problematic is that I want answers that I’m never, ever going to get, and I don’t know how to accept that. I’m a very direct and inquisitive person. If I want to know something, I do everything I can to either find out the answer to that something (or the questions I have about it), or do everything I can to learn and teach myself about it so that I can get the answers, if that makes sense. I get the fact that he’s gone, has been gone for over 12 years, and will never, ever be coming back. As much as I hate that fact, I understand it. But accepting it is another story. I want to know WHY to so many things. WHY did he have to die? WHY did I only get 3 months with him? WHY was he practically dangled in front of me at the worst time possible? WHY was I teased, cheated? WHY him? WHY a Marine, a good person, a hero? WHY not a mean, evil, cruel person who’s rotting in prison and is nothing but a menace to society? WHY MY DAD?

I’d, “Why?” myself ’til the sun comes up, but it’s useless because it’ll get me nowhere. And that’s the problem. I don’t know how NOT to question everything. It’s just my nature. I need to know. But, Dawn (my grief therapist), is absolutely wonderful. She’s so sweet, compassionate, understanding, and she genuinely cares about me and wants to help me as much as she can. That, I appreciate. She’s helped me out tremendously so far, and I know things will only continue to go up from here.

I know I had some more to say but I’m getting tired, so I’m gonna go crawl into bed, cuddle with Lilly, and try to get some sleep. Hope everyone had a good (and safe) weekend! Love ya’ll. Baci!

FIRST OFF! PLEASE take just ONE SECOND to click the two Flash banners above. Even just one click from you can help an animal in need. Go for it!

Yep! I’m still around, of course, hehe. Just been INSANELY busy lately. This is just a super quickie blog for now, but I’ll make an insanely long update about everything that’s been going on either later tonight (if I’m still up, hah), or tomorrow for sure!

Ti amo; Baci (xoxo)!

Someone…uh, well, lets just say, “interesting” sent me an e-mail the other day asking if I have a boyfriend and what my personal life was like.

…I didn’t reply. Well, with what they were expecting. I simply answered a few basic questions and explained, as I do whenever asked about it, that my personal life is personal.

Do I have a boyfriend right now? No, I don’t. Am I straight? Yes, I am a heterosexual (but have no problem with anyone who isn’t and strongly support the gay community and 1,000% equal rights, including marriage and adoption).

That’s all ya need to know. I’ve never gone into the depths of my personal life because I’ve never seen or felt the need to. It’s MINE! Not your silly pants. Tee hee.

Anyway — my initial reason for opening WP! Lordy, it feels like I haven’t updated in forever. I know it’s been a good 3 months or so since a real post (eeeeeeeek!), but I just haven’t felt very motivated to update. …Probably because I know there’s so much updatin’ and new stuff I need to get done and put up. I kid you not, in my ‘Notes’ on my Sidekick, I literally have a list of some 15+ new ideas for the site — none of which I have even started on. I’m usually not much of a procrastinator except when it comes to school work, but lately I’ve been shoving everything to the side or puttin’ it on the back burner. Bad Liz! I think on February 1st I should make a “New Month Resolution”. Obviously my New Years Resolution already went down the toilet. Har Har.

Speaking of Sidekicks, I finally decided to part with my precious and bought a new one! (Insert shocking gasp here). I had initially narrowed my choices down to an iPhone, a DVF Sidekick 3, a Sidekick LX in blue, or a Sidekick Slide.

I quickly rationalized my thoughts and said, “…eh, fungul no!” to buying anything first generation, I couldn’t find any brand new DVF Sidekicks (everything on eBay was already used or damaged), and I don’t like the look and feel of the SKLX. But, the Slide. Oh how I love you, Slidey. So, I got one! And I LOVE it. I’m still getting used to a few features and the new design, but overall, it’s molto fantastico.

My next order of Sidekick business is to give Precious a preoper funeral (lmfao), and get my Slide SC’d (Swarovski crystal’d). Since NYCPeach just up and dissappeared, I’m still looking around for someone good and authentic, and so far Crystal Icing is looking good. I guess that’s where the celebs ran to when Peach died, so it’s good enough for me! I’m still deciding on a pattern and color scheme though, and we know how frickin’ long that took me to do last time with NYCPeach and my Sidekick II. Hahaha.

My trip to Disney with Mama was absolutely fantastic. I have some photos that I still need to upload, but you can see what I took with my Sidekick starting on this page on my Flickr! We both needed a vacation VERY badly, and Disneyland is definitely our ‘happy place’, heh. It’s just so insanely beautiful there at both parks around Christmas time. If you’re a Disneyland tripper but have yet to go in December, then get your ass down there at the end of this year! Between the decorations around the parks, hotels, the holiday parades, the Christmas fireworks show, the ’snow’, and Fantasmic!, it’s just…amazing. I will never, ever get sick of that place.

We got home from the trip about 2 weeks before Christmas. And man, was it the best Christmas EVER! Or at least one of them, haha. I got extra spoiled this year with a bottle of Dom Perignon! Hoorah for being 21! LOL. I got some more wonderful goodies as well, so I’ll post pictures on Flickr later today. I’ve got them ready, just got a ton to upload… :~\

Anywho, Lilly has been getting along with everyone (keep in mind, we have 4 other cats and 5 dogs at the moment, plus one foster dog!) so well lately, it’s astounding. I think what shocks me the most is Baby’s acceptance of her. She’s the alpha/dominant female cat in the house and always has been, so that had me worried. But she and Tibbies have actually let Lil join in on their morning ritual game of CHRLH, or my short term for their game that I’ve dubbed, ‘Chase, Hide, Run Like Hell’! LMFAO. It’s hillarious. They play it EVERY morning and I always wake up to either a cat pouncing on top of me while I’m asleep and scaring the crap out of me to the point where I think I may have pissed myself (hasn’t happened yet though, hahaha), or the sound of little kitty paws pitter-patterin’ and running up and down the hallway. It’s precious.

Expect a temp. new WP theme soon. I’m sick of this one and it’s full of errors that I need to fix and de-bug.

I’m gonna go try to get a few hours of sleep. Ciao tutti!