Thank You and Goodbye...

Dear Haley's Happenings readers,

     First off I would like to give a big thank you to all my followers. Thanks for being so great and for the many, many comments you've left me since I first started this blog. It's definitely made blogging more fun. Y'all are really great followers! :)

     Having said that I would like to apologize for being such a horrible blogger these past few months. To tell you the truth,  blogging has just become more of a duty than an enjoyable hobby. Posting has become something I feel obligated to do instead of want to do. It's seriously no fun anymore and I just don't have time for it. And I believe my time here on Blogger has come to an end. As of tonight I am officially quitting blogging.

     This is something I've been thinking about for about a month, it's not some spur of the moment decision. It's a little sad leaving Blogger. I mean, I've been blogging for two and a half years and it's been really fun. I've met new friends and gotten new pen pals through Blogger. It's been a great experience.

     I'll keep my blog up for a couple of weeks after posting this, just to make sure everyone sees this. And I'll keep my Blogger account. I still want to keep up with all y'all's blogs and stuff, I just don't want to have a blog myself.

     Again, thank you for following and commenting. I really will miss getting new followers and looking at your lovely comments. And, who knows, I may start another blog sometime. I'm not saying goodbye forever, just for now.

     Your  friend,
                Haley

A Long Lost Blogger is Back! ;)

So here I am. I've been telling myself that I'll sit down and get a post written for a few weeks now, but it just hasn't happened- obviously. But, here I am! Since I've been gone a while this post will just be a mixture of random stuff. ;)


The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan. These are some great books! I finished the latest one a couple of days ago and now have to wait a month until the last one comes out. Waiting can be so hard! But, it's not like it left on a cliff hanger. The last book is going back in the series, and the tenth one ended with a good, final ending. Still, I really wish I didn't have to wait for this one. Have you read the books?

Captain America. We went to see it a few weeks ago, and it was good! I really liked it. It far surpassed the other superhero movies I've seen in theaters this year (Thor and  Green Lantern). Can't wait until it comes out on dvd. :)

Baking is fun. People, let's face it, I'd bake something everyday if I could. A few weeks ago I made a Blackberry Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake. Judging by the way it was gone in a few days I think everyone liked it. The other day I made brownies. Homemade brownies are so much better than the mixes you get at the store. And, yes, the brownies are going fast, too. ;)


The Eagle. We got the movie from Netflix about a week ago and I really want to watch it! I might watch it later. If I do Josh will probably watch it with me. I hope he does because watching movies by yourself isn't any fun. Have you seen it?

I'll be the first to admit, this isn't the most interesting post. But it's a post, and right now I just need to get one up. I will leave you with a few of the pictures I've taken lately. Have a good week!

Which is your favorite?

~Haley

Saturday Fun

Last Saturday Mom, Lindsay, Josh, and I went shopping. I usually don't take money with me when we go to Target or the bookstore or wherever. Just because, if I have it there to spend, I'll more than likely find something to spend it on. So, it's not very often that I actually have some with me to spend... if I want. ;)  And, as you'll see, Saturday I brought money with me... and spent it. ;)

First we went to Hastings where I got these:

I know I could have gotten them cheaper somewhere else, but I loved the cover art! Especially Waverley's. :)

Then we went to Beall's, where I got these:

Okay, y'all need to know that two pairs were $6.00, one was $7.20, and the last was $3.00!! Yes, they were having a big sale. I am very happy with my purchases. Cheap purchases, I might add. ;)

On the way home we stopped at Sonic for Happy Hour, and the fun day ended with my all time favorite meal- hamburgers and French fries. So good! :)

Did you have a good weekend?

~Haley

The Next Food Network Star

Okay, so let's just say I was not happy about last night's elimination. Whitney, gone? Mary Beth SO should have gone instead. I like Whitney so much better. I'm sad that she's gone. :(

So, in the beginning I was pulling for Orchid, Whitney, Susie, and Vic. Those were my four favorites. Now only Vic and Susie are left. And, although I still really like them, I think I've decided I want this guy to win. :)

He kind of suddenly jumped out there and got really good. Now if he can just keep it up! He has a blog where he talks about each episode as they come on. It's pretty interesting. Just go here, if you want to see it.

Oh, and Mary Beth has a blog where she talks about the episodes, too. I haven't really read it, but Lindsay said it was good (she's the one who found both blogs). You can check it out here.

All right, so this post makes no sense to those who don't watch the show, but those who do watch it know exactly what I'm talking about. If you watch it-

What did you think about last night's elimination?

Who do you want to win?

Let me know!! :)

~Haley

Yes, I rearranged my room. And, yes, I have pictures.

Last Friday night, while cleaning up my room a little, I started thinking, "Hmm, what would it look like if...?"  So, I tried to picture my room with the furniture rearranged and decided that Saturday I was going to rearrange everything. Saturday morning I went up to my room armed with a plan and a vacuum cleaner. ;) I ended up trying a few different arrangements before settling on the one I'd tried first. After everything was in its new place it was now time to change where the pictures hung. Okay, so let's just say I'm not very good at hanging pictures. It usually takes me a few tries to get it straight. So I went and asked Lindsay if she would help me and she refused to have anything to do with it (she was probably thinking of the time she put about 10 holes in the wall for one picture. And, no, it wasn't that long ago ;) Yes, she very well may be worse than me when it comes to picture hanging. ;) So I went and tackled it by myself. And you know what? I did much better than I thought I would. The only thing I wasn't able to get up is my corkboard because I'm going to need some brackets for it and we don't have any at the moment. Soooooooo, that's what I spent last Saturday doing. And here are the before and after pictures-

Before-

In the before pictures my room's pretty messy because I'd already started moving things around ... a little... but mostly just because my room was messy to begin with.

After-

The monkeys are the only ones who survived the stuffed animal cut. ;)

I'm really liking it. It's a nice change! :)

But now I must ask:

Do you like it? Let me know!! :)

~Haley

Pictures From Our Day Trip

I bet y'all have been on pins and needles waiting for me to post these pictures! ;) Okay, maybe not, but here are a few pictures I took on our day trip up to a nearby lake a few weeks ago. Enjoy!

.

Hope you liked them! :)

~Haley

Sherlock Holmes 2 Trailer!!

I first saw the trailer this morning on Samantha's blog. When I saw the trailer had come out I was so, so super excited my heart may've skipped a beat! ;) Then I watched it- twice. And now I have to share it with my blogging friends. :)

I absolutely can not wait for it to come out. Last December we got the first one from Netflix (Lindsay and I ended watching it 3 times in 2 days ;), then I read the books, and since then I've been waiting for the second movie to come out, or at least the trailer for the second movie. So anyway, I just thought I'd share all the excitement with y'all. ;)

~Haley

My Guitar

So here are a few pictures of my guitar. :) Yes, I'm still loving it. ;)

I love the fleur de lis at the top of the guitar. Definitely one of my favorite parts of it. :)

~Haley

Yes, So Far It's Been A Very Busy Summer

Well, I am very sorry for abandoning my blog like I've done the past few months. I don't have an excuse, but a good reason for letting it go like I have. That reason being: blogging takes time and I usually don't have time for it. I have more important things to do. But, I do miss it. :) So here's an update on what's been keeping me so busy. :)

I started taking guitar lessons. I am very excited about that and am enjoying it a lot. So far it's proven to be very fun and I am looking forward to being able to play some cool songs. ;) Right now I can only play the first 3 strings, but, hey, you gotta start somewhere! I got a new one (I was using my Mom's old one that was like 30 years old and was too small for me) last Friday and am absolutely loving it! Maybe I'll post a picture of it soon.

School. Enough said. I am all but done with 10th grade and then will go directly into 11th. We take our long break during the holidays, so we're working through the summer. I actually think doing school in the summer and taking a break during the holidays is pretty nice. It's SO hot during the summer, so you're usually stuck inside and bored, but around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years your always busy anyway, because that's probably the busiest time of the year. And without school to worry about, it makes that time of year much more relaxed. Just my opinion. ;) Plus, I'd rather go out in the snow than  100 degree weather. And, no, I'm not just saying that because it's summer. ;)

My brother has been taking swim lessons for a while. That's every morning Monday- Thursday. Sometimes my sister and I go swim laps while he's taking his lesson. Swimming is fun and such good exercise! When we were little (like Lindsay 8 and me 6) we were on a swim team. Lindsay was really good! :) Yes, I'm bragging about my sis. ;) Lindsay loves to swim, but I like to. It's fun, but certainly not my favorite thing to do. Well, I'm more of a goof off in the pool, so swimming laps isn't as fun to me as just playing in the pool is. ;)

Reading. Okay, so y'all probably already know how I love to read- it's like my absolute favorite thing to do. So, yeah, I've been pretty busy reading. I thought it would be cool to keep track of all the books I read this year, so whenever I finish a book I write it on a list, write the author's name, and the date I finished it. Yes, I'm cool like that. :) Just kidding. But, yeah, it's been fun to see the list grow and grow. Plus it keeps me reading every day. I mean, I want to write as many books on that list as I can before the end of the year. Yesterday afternoon I got a book I'd been waiting for in the mail. I started it at about 6:00 p.m and read the first four chapters. Then I took a break and came back at 9:00, got in bed, and read the last 24 chapters. Yeah, I turned my light off at 1:45 a.m. It was just so good. I couldn't put it down until there was nothing left to read in it. ;) I'm sure y'all know what I mean. ;)

My family and I took a day trip to a nearby lake last Saturday, which was a lot of fun. We took a picnic, hiked, and drove around. I love doing that kind of stuff. I'm not a super outdoorsy kind of girl, like I don't think I would like camping  (which I've never done), but I love hiking and having picnics and stuff. And I love the scenery where we went. It was beautiful! I'll post some pictures soon. Promise.

"I promise.

And when I promise something, I never ever break that promise.

EVER!"

- Rapunzel from Tangled

Sorry, couldn't help but put that in. For some reason it just popped into my head when I promised y'all I'd post some pictures. ;)

Just a sneak peek of what's to come. ;) One of the pictures I took last Saturday.

Soooooooo, that's a little of what's been keeping me busy. I have to go now, though, so see ya sometime soon! Hopefully soon. Yes, I will post again soon, don't worry. ;) And, no, I don't blame you if you don't believe me. ;)

~Haley

Yes, Julian Smith is Funny :)

Julian Smith videos are really funny! These are a couple I watched this morning and decided to share with y'all! ;)

Do you like Julian Smith videos?

~Haley

just more rambling

Strawberries. Okay, these are my favorite fruit and we got some the other day. Can I say good? They're delicious all by themselves!  :)

The other day I got out one of my sister's puzzles and now I'm almost finished with it. Maybe I'll post a picture of it when I'm finished. But, just to let you know, there's a border piece missing.  I don't know how it could have gotten lost, but it did.

Food Network. Okay, let's just say that, along with my mom, sister, and brother, I watch way too much of Food Network. I guess our favorite shows would have to be Chopped, Dinner Impossible, and Chefs Vs. City, because those are the ones we record. But as of last night The Next Food Network Star is thrown into the mix and I know that's going to be a favorite also. Lindsay and I recorded and watched it last night. I got a feel for who I may want to win and quickly decided who I don't want to win. Oh, one of the people I really didn't want to win got eliminated last night, so yay! On to other things...

Klondike bars are really good. I had my first one ever a couple of weeks ago. So far my favorite is the cookies and cream bar. The perfect warm weather dessert. ;)

And last but not least "Mean", by Taylor Swift. This is on the radio all the time right now. At first I didn't really like it, but now I do. I like the music video, too. ;)

Okay, so in this post I covered food, fun, TV, more food, and music. I've got school to do, though, so have to be going now. Talk to y'all soon!

~Haley