Tomorrow, I'm doing something I've wanted to do for years. No, I'm not starring in a movie opposite Ryan Reynolds (yet). But I AM about to join the ranks of those free of contact lenses, expensive solutions and red, irritated eyes. Tomorrow, I'm getting Lasik!

I'm nervous—mainly about having my eyes taped open by my eyelashes: First of all, that just seems like a good way to torture someone. Second, will the tape rip out my lashes?? If so, I'll have to get fake ones because people who don't have eyelashes always look a little odd—even frightening—to me. Gluing on fake eyelashes every day would be incredibly inconvenient and add precious minutes to my already too-long morning get-ready routine. Plus, it can’t be healthy to paste things to an area that was recently surgically invaded. So, let’s all cross our fingers, say a little prayer and hope I’m not left eyelash-less after tomorrow, because the whole purpose behind this surgery is convenience. Well, convenience and the fact that I look consistently hung-over because my eyes are so red from my contacts.

Anyway, other than having my eyes taped open and the potential for the loss of my lashes, I’m really excited about tomorrow! I’ll do a post-surgery blog (once it doesn’t hurt to look at the computer screen) with a more detailed analysis (i.e. pros/cons list) of laser eye surgery.

Here is a picture of my eyes pre-surgery (note the morning-after-a-drinking-binge look). Look out, Old Blue Eyes. You’re about to have yourself a little competition!

Grab the fattened calf: The Prodigal Blogger returns

Is this microphone on?

Hello?

Anyone?

Bueller??

BUELLER?!?

Well, nearly two years later, I’m back. I’ve been derelict in my blogging (derelict may be too kind a word for my negligence)—so much so that I considered deleting this blog altogether, coming up with a fresh new name and re-launching. But we have so much history together—this blog and me and all five of my formerly-faithful readers—that I decided I’d take the risk and dive back in full force.

And making a return couldn’t come at a better time in the life of a blogger than preceding a great adventure: I’m moving to Switzerland! Now, obviously, it’s no coincidence I’ve decided to blog again right now. But I’m hoping my content will be so inspiring, witty and downright fascinating (per the usual ;) that you will forgive me and join me on the journey. I wouldn’t want to take it with anyone else (well, except maybe him).

But I digress (Well, not really. Maksim Chmerkovskiy is no digression!). Ahem. Moving on.

Let’s do a quick re-cap of the last two years so we can move on and get this party started! I’ve opted for one of my favorite formats: the top-ten list (which may or may not include ten things.) Without any further ado, here are some of the moments of the last 24 months that in some way—big or small—changed my life. These are in no particular order, by the way.

My struggle with insomnia. (I know—way to start it off on a bad note. But, it’ll go up from here. I promise)
It sounds so innocuous to write “insomnia” that way, but up to this point in my life, I’ve never experienced anything more challenging, disheartening or all-consuming. I learned a lot about myself, my God and my true friends through the experience. And I can honestly look back and say that I am a better person for it.

“In prosperity, our friends know us; in adversity, we know our friends”
- John Heywood

I know I wasn’t easy to be around during that period, so to all of you who stuck with me, joined me for caffeine runs, forgave my forgetfulness, made me laugh, laughed at me when I needed it, and showed me what it means to really be held up and supported through a difficult time—thank you. I truly couldn’t have done it without you.

The beginning of my love affair with New York City.
I went to New York for a work conference in February (not my first trip to NYC, but the first one where I spent a significant amount of time there), then stayed for about five days afterward. My friend Amanda joined me and we did the sightseeing, touristy thing. Somewhere in the midst of the blaring horns and unrelenting sirens, I fell in love. Alicia Keys sums it up pretty well:

“Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there's nothing you can’t do, now you're in New York.
These streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, let's hear it for New York.”

Really, that’s how it made me feel. Something came alive, and I’ve been longing to go back ever since. Who knows what that means, other than trips to NYC as often as time and money allow... There’s something about finding that place that really speaks to your soul. I feel so alive when I’m walking the streets of New York. It’s good to have a place like that to go and be rejuvenated.

Dancing with the Stars.
Judge me if you must, but I think that show is going to change my life! And not because of this:

But because it reminded me of how much I LOVE to dance, and dancing is one of those things I dabbled with but never fully developed. I danced a lot in college, and then my friends and I went dancing in Colorado all the time when I first moved there. Then I got busy with distractions (read: dated guys who didn’t like to dance), and I just got away from it. But seeing Dancing with the Stars brought back to mind how much fun I have when I’m dancing, so when I get back from Switzerland, I’m signing up for ballroom lessons. Obvi I'd like to go pro. Look out, DWTS—here I come! (I haven’t put the final touches on my tactic for getting on the show, though: Should I get famous and become a celebrity "star," or just get crazy-good at dancing and become one of the professional dancers? Thoughts? Which is more probable?)

“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Hearing these words from my boss: “Carly, there is an opportunity for you to work in our Basel, Switzerland office on a project for about four months. Is that something you’d want to do?
After I thought about it for all of 0.000000001 seconds, the answer was clear: a VERY professional “HECK YES I DO!!!!!!!!” I’d like to say it was more dignified than that, but I really don’t think it was.

Moving to Europe has been a dream of mine almost as far back as I can remember, but it was one of those dreams I looked at as a “pipe dream,” thinking it would never happen. I could just never figure out how it would work. So, I all but let go of it, other than a few reminiscent daydreams about the “what ifs” and “maybe somedays.” Well, it turns out I didn’t have to figure it all out. Isn’t it amazing how when we let go of our dreams, if they're meant to be, they come back and find us in ways we never expected? I am so far beyond grateful and excited about this, and you can count on the fact that my future blogs are going to document every magical moment of this adventure. So, stay tuned! (Think Mark Twain’s The Innocents Abroad, in blog form, and most likely I’ll be the only one ever drawing comparisons between Twain and myself. But a girl can dream, right? I think we’ve just established that.)

Deciding that I do want to apply to graduate school, making the decision on my major (Journalism, in case you were wondering) and taking the GRE.
That’s three things, but they’re all connected. I’ve realized this year that I really love to write and edit—I’m passionate about it, and (if I do say so myself), I’m good at it. Maybe that’s an atypical thing to love, but it’s me. I also really love to learn how to be a better writer and editor. Why not learn how to be better at my passion while getting my master’s degree at the same time?? It seems like a no-brainer, so I’m going to apply for the Fall 2012 semester and see what happens.

Taylor Swift’s Speak Now CD.
Don’t judge me—for the fact that I still buy CDs or that I announced to the blogging world (and probably not for the first time) that I love T-Swift. She may be a little crazy; she may even be a terrible live singer. But by God, she can write music that gets to the heart of things, and as long as she does that, I’ll be a fan. Also, she dated Taylor Lautner (team Jacob!) and Jake Gyllenhaal (team Jacob part duex? She must have a think for that name).

If you can’t respect her music, at least respect that.

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent.”
- Victor Hugo


My amazing family
I hope this doesn’t sound trite, but these past two years I’ve grown closer to my family than I ever imagined. Not because I didn’t think we could be close, but because I thought we already were about as tight as a family could be. But my relationships with my mom, dad, Nick and Pete have each grown in ways I hadn’t even considered they could. We’ve become more than family—we’re friends. I can’t think of any greater gift.


Well, I think I’ll stop there for now, and leave you with a song. It’s called In Your Arms by Plumb. I’m not sure at this exact moment what these lyrics are speaking to me, but the song is incredibly stirring—and it’s more than just my love for her voice ... Enjoy the playlist, enjoy these lyrics, and most of all, come back and visit. I am committing to blogging at least once every other week from this point on (and there will be fewer gratuitous pictures of my celebrity crushes, because I'll have awesome new pics of my own to share! Note that I said fewer, not "none." I gues a part of my will always be 10 :). My goal is to blog once a week, but I don’t want to be overly ambitious and disappoint. Under-promise; over-deliver: That’s my motto.

Until next time, friends …


Your baby blues
So full of wonder
Your curly cues
Your contagious smile
And as I watch
You start to grow up
All I can do is hold you tight

Knowing clouds will rage
And storms will race in
But you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down
Waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms

Story books full of fairy tales
Of kings and queens and the bluest skies
My heart is torn just in knowing
You'll someday see the truth from lies

Knowing clouds will rage
And storms will race in
But you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down
Waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms

Castles they might crumble
Dreams may not come true
But you are never all alone
Because I will always
Always love you

Clouds will rage
And storms will race in
But you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down
Waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms

A friend is always there to bail you out of jail. A best friend is right there in the cell next to you, saying, "Dude, that was AWESOME!"

No, I did not go to jail this weekend. I just liked the quote.

[There are pictures at the end, so KEEP READING!!!!!]

There are a couple things to talk about today. First, the cleanse. It went great Thursday, Friday and most of Saturday. However, Saturday night and Sunday was declared cleanse-free. It was a joint decision by Jenna and me. Back to the cleanse Wednesday (after my birthday).

Now for the fun part: the weekend! It. Was. AWESOME. Best weekend I’ve had in a long time. Basically, the people I was going to the beach with from here in NC were annoying me, in the sense that they kept changing plans, when we were leaving, whether or not we were even going to the beach, etc. By the time the trip was officially “on” (for about the 5th time) I had pretty much checked out. The NC group left Friday night to head to the beach.

Rather than join them, I texted Jenna first thing Saturday morning and asked her if she wanted to hang out at the beach all weekend. She said heck yes. I said I’ll be there in less than 4 hours. I packed my swim suit(s) and hit the road. We were on the beach later that afternoon! We hit the beach Saturday with Sarah, a friend of Jenna’s who is hilar and so much fun. Then we all went out Saturday night. (There are SO many stories about it that I can’t even get started on them.) Sunday was more beach time. The weather was perfect—90 degrees and cloudless. Jenna and I even braved the water. I think braved might be an understatement. It was the COLDEST water I’ve ever felt in my life. I imagine it was about the same temperature as the water the Titanic went down in. Our feet were numb from it, but it was invigorating. To go in we had to get a running start from the beach—there was no “easing” into this hypothermic water. Sarah tried to take some pictures of us running—Baywatch style—into the ice water. See below.

Best pick-up line of the weekend:
::two boys approach us on the beach:: “Hey ladies, my friend here wants to get a massage. Do you know where he can get a good one?”

::insert Jim Halpert Face::




::blank stares all around from us girls:: “Uh, no.”

::boys starting to look a little regretful about their lame pick-up line:: “Oh, ok.” ::awkward laughter:: “Well thanks. I, uh, guess we’ll just get going now.”

::no protest from us::

Oh, did I say “best” pickup line? I meant WORST EVER. But funny.


It looks so serene and innocent, but don't buy it! Brrrrrrr!!



Our home for the day...



This is what happens when a spider tries to mess with me: he gets trapped in a straw with sand at both ends. HA!



Here we are, running into the waves Baywatch-style! There's a reason we're the only ones in the water. It's called hypothermia.

A Thanksgiving Blog…

Ok, so I figured that since everyone else is doing blogs about what they’re thankful for this time of year, I should do something different! So instead of writing about all the stuff I’m thankful for, I’m going to write about what I’m NOT thankful for. Fun, huh?? :)

1. The fact that eating unhealthy foods is directly related to getting fat. This is just a bummer. I mean, why can’t we eat anything we want and in whatever quantities we want? And also, maybe not ever even have to work out? I would enjoy my life more if I could eat like Oprah (when her weight is up), and have a body like Jennifer Aniston. That’s just a fact.

2. The sucking economy. But honestly, this hasn’t really affected me adversely yet, and I’m hoping it doesn’t. I mean, I got my dream job, and best of all (well maybe not BEST of all, but pretty dang close), EVERYTHING is on sale! I’ve found awesome deals at Victoria’s Secret, Gap, Limited and Express—just to name a few. I think I may just stimulate the economy back to goodness myself.

3. Spandex leggings making a comeback. This tops my list this year of things I loathe. I mean, seriously people. WHY?? There were some things about the 80’s that were awesome: Dirty Dancing, Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away, and the fact that I was born. Obviously. But when it comes to fashion, the 80’s BLEW. Everyone knows this. Poofy bangs, side ponytails, nasty workout leotards, parachute pants—it’s all bad. So why in the name of all that’s sacred, would we bring back one of the worst offenders? Yesterday, Lauren and I were out shopping, and we were accosted by the sight of multiple girls our age wearing skin-tight spandex leggings, and some of them completed the ensemble with tall hooker-boots too. Ick! If you’re reading this blog, and you have worn, bought, or even THOUGHT about wearing leggings, STOP NOW. Trust me on this one. It doesn’t look good on anyone who doesn’t spend at least 25 hours a day at the gym.

4. That Ohio is SO FAR away. Maybe it could just switch places with South Carolina for a little while. I don’t really think that’s asking too much…

All right. Well, that’s all I could think of that I’m not thankful for this year. I’m not much of an ingrate, what can I say?? For more about what I AM thankful for, see previous blog. :)

It's Almost Two O'Clock In The Morning...

And you ask, what better could I be doing right now than writing ablog?? NOTHING! That's why I'm blogging, people. Stay with me here.

Simple disclaimer: It is nearly 2:00 in the a.m., I've had a long, tiring, exciting, crazy week, and I'm tired. My thoughts may not be 100% cohesive (maybe not even 46%) at this point. So bear with me. Or don't. Either way, I write on.

I think right now I'm just going to write about whatever random thoughts come into my head.

1. I haven't had fajitas since I moved to North Carolina. Weird, because I was on a SERIOUS fajita "thing" for quite some time, as all of you who ate out with me could attest to. I kinda miss fajitas. Maybe I'll see if I can make some. I've never actually tried to make homemade fajitas, but it's sounding like a great idea right about now.

2. I went on my first post-Seth date. This may not be the most blog-appropriate subject matter, but it is my blog after all, so I guess that's for me to decide. I thought it would be weird/hard, since my last first date was over 2.5 years ago and with someone I grew to love. But over all, my date with, shall we call him boR, was a positive experience. Will it turn into anything more with him? That's a negatory, Ghostrider. Ready for an insta-relationship is the vibe I got, not to mention WAY forward for someone I just met. He was navy (not the color). Or was he a marine?? Same difference, right Mel and Jenna? ;) Either way, I enjoyed the date, and then deliberated for a few days about what I should do, and then decided that I didn't really want it to go anywhere. But I digress. My basic point is that I went on a date, it wasn't that bad, and now I have the confidence that I CAN do this again. Not that I was all that worried, but you always wonder if the dating thing has changed when you're out of it for as long as I was. It hasn't.

3. North Carolina in the fall = WOW. My drive home from work everyday is like driving through a picture. I can't even describe all the colors. I should get a picture before all the leaves are gone. I pass this lake on my way home and it's incredible...

4. I don't know what my favorite color is. Isn't that weird?! I mean, I have so many favorite colors, for different things (clothes, the sky, the ocean, paint on a wall) that I couldn't ever pick just one. Someone at work asked me yesterday what my fave color is, and I nearly had a nervous breakdown. Not really even close, but I did freak out a little. In a quest to be completely honest with myself and others, I really wanted to put thought into it before I answered the question. I finally decided on blue. In case you were wondering.

5. I am going to Virginia Beach again next weekend, and I can hardly wait. YAY! More girl time with Jenna, which is bound to be fun, encouraging, and who knows what else. Always an adventure. :) Oh yeah, and I'll have just gotten my first pay check from the aforementioned new job. It'll be the largest quantity I'll have ever received in on check before, and I'm thrilled. I've already done my budget for the next 6 months (pat on the back for me!), and can't wait to use some of my spending money in Va Beach.

6. I reconnected with someone today/tonight after almost five or six years of losing touch. This is why I'm still wide awake. It's so incredible if you think about it, how much we change and grow as people, Christians, citizens, friends, whatever it is that we are in our lives, in such a short amount of time. I never want to look back on my life and have ANY regrets about people I've let slip away, or a relationship that I whish I'd nurtured but gave up on for whatever reason. So far, I have very few of those regrets, and now, one less because of a really, really nice conversation tonight. It feels good. I'm grateful for second chances, whatever that may look like.

7. Sometimes, when I put on my makeup, I think to myself, "I'm really just like an artist, if you think about it. My face is the canvas, my makeup products are my paint, and my little applicators are my brushes. Maybe if I take a picture of me when I'm done, I could sell it for some money. Or at least someone could after I die and maybe make a lot. Then people will say, 'Wow. That Carly Razo's talent was tragically unnoticed while she lived. But we sure are thankful for her contributions to the world of face art.'"

And with that, dear readers, I'll close. Maybe I've written myself to sleep (and you too? SAY NO! ;)

OH! I forgot one other thing: Belle is really getting better at running. I mean, it's not that she's some kind of disabled dog or anything and CAN'T run. It's more like she's lazy. But we've gradually worked up our distance, speed, etc, and she's doing great. I've never seen a dog with such unadulterated joy as Belle has when we start our runs. I hope I can get someone to capture it on film, because everyone should see it (I'm totally NOT biased about her being the cutest dog to ever live, btw). Not too many things can make me smile like her face--her whole countenance--when we're running together.

THE END

Lake Lure, NC

Some pictures from Amanda's and my trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. We definitely had the time of our lives... :)

This is where they filmed "Last of the Mohicans"! Does this waterfall look familiar?? [Spoiler alert!] It's where that one girl throws herself off the ledge.





Amanda and me with a little bit of the Blue Ridge Mountains behind us.




At the resort where we stayed.


And now, the Dirty Dancing Sequence...

Johnny's Cabin


Penny's Cabin


Dancing on the bridge (on the way to the lake where they practiced the lift)


"I carried a watermelon?"


1-2-3 Cha-cha-cha!


"Oh Silvia? Yes, Mickey??"


Nobody puts Carly in a corner


Go ahead and say it; I know you're thinking it anyway. "Carly, you're a freak". I KNOW! But I'm a fun freak. Amanda and I had the best time, and I'm already looking forward to next year's trip.

So long!

I'm Moving On

I've dealt with my ghosts and I've faced all my demons
Finally content with a past I regret
I've found a fine strength in my moments of weakness
For once I'm at peace with myself...

I've been burdened with blame, trapped in the past for too long

I'm movin on

I've lived in this place and I know all the faces
Each one is different but they're always the same
They mean me no harm but it's time that I face it
They'll never allow me to change

But I never dreamed home would end up right where I belong

I'm movin on

I'm movin on
At last I can see
Life has been patiently waiting for me
And I know
there's no guarantees, but I'm not alone

There comes a time in everyone's life
When all you can see are the years passing by
And I have made up my mind that those days are gone

I sold what I could and packed what I couldn't
Stopped to fill up on my way out of town
I've loved like I should but lived like I shouldn't
I had to lose everything to find out
Maybe forgiveness will find me somewhere down this road


I'm movin on...
I'm movin on.