Gotta Love Puck :)

OOhhhh short post.

I'll admit it: I'm a total Gleek.  I LOVE Glee. I'm torn between two characters as my favorite: Puck, and Will Schuester. I cannot wait till Glee comes out on DVD- and how early it comes! But yet, this post is about me spending four and a half hours on the facebook graffiti app.  I dunno where this creative spark came from, but I had the sudden urge to draw Puck.  And draw him I did.  This is the first thing I've actually spent time on/ drawn in months. The first thing I drew on the computer in going on a year.  And dang, it felt good to get back into my creative ways.   I guess I found a good happy place Krista. :)

And just wondering.... this might sound a bit conceited but it really isn't- for anyone else who draws.  When you're finished and you step back and look at what you've accomplished, do you also feel surprised that YOU made that? And just you wonder "how the hell did I manage that?" Cause I do often, and I love that feeling. xD  I 'spose it's cause I never really expect any of my things to turn out good, so I'm really proud/surprised when they do.

The Perfect Day

I have been not the greatest person to be around due to my mind being completely occupied with stress. Between the tests, friend drama, missing home and keeping updated with Tiger’s latest affair, I have missed out on so much going on around me. I have forgotten that today is a perfect day. Why would today be such a perfect day? Well, it’s not just one day. Everyday is the perfect day. But the perfect day for what? Well, that part is up to you.

There is a good chance that at some point in your life you have told someone to essentially “butt out and let me live my life.” I sure have before. Well here you go. Here is your life. Close your eyes and imagine the door opening for you. All your dreams are here waiting for you.

These days it is extremely easy to get caught up in this fast paste of the world. Heck, even in farm country PA it gets hectic. Instead of just going through the motions like it is just another day, maybe you should try to make today yours. What you need to do to own this day? What do you need? Some days I think I need a hug from a friend, just to make it through the day. Or other days I think I need the boy next to me in class to smile at me. Then other days I just can’t find anything. Those are the days where I need to try harder. There is always something there to make it a perfect day.

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within. ~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

I found this quote today and I just fell in love with it. Seriously, I am head-over-heals. We set the date for the spring. ;) This quote can probably be interpreted in so many different ways. Find your interpretation.

I know that when the light is shut off around me, my light glows. I hope that each and every one of you find the courage to say that yourself. It’s important to have faith in yourself. Remember, “if you really put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price.”

This is why it is important to find reasons to make everyday worthwhile. Now, of course you can’t go skydiving everyday or eat your favorite food (Alaskan king crab legs for me!) because it is just unrealistic. And of course there is going to be that Spanish oral final that is looming over you, but that’s when you figure out a way to own it. Unfortunately, I have not been gifted with the talent of easily picking up a language. But I have made it my goal to not let that stop me. Knowing that there would be no way for me to get through that class on my own, I asked for help. I went to tutoring everyday that it was available. Today I had my Spanish oral exam and I am proud to say I was confident with the outcome. I am sure it is nowhere near perfect. But I did my best. And today became the perfect day.

Find Your Happy Place.

Vacation. One entire month off. No school. No work. No book. Is this real? Needless to say I am stoked about winter break! I am looking forward to spending some good old quality time with my mom and then of course my 2 best friends: Nicole and Jen! YAY!

So right now I am breaking a sweat studying for finals. Yes, you can actually do that. It’s your mind rejecting all the information you are trying to cram in there.

In between my study time I watched the most adorable video on hulu.com! Seriously, it took me out of my horrible “I hate teachers, school and learning” mode and brought me into “Christmas ROCKS” mode! So click on this link and get ready to absorb the Christmas spirit!

All those out there who are extremely overwhelmed with things, like myself, I have a few helpful tips for you. Due to unfortunate issues, my mood hasn’t been the most gracious one, but today something changed.

Just a few hours ago, I went to the boy’s basketball game at my school. Basketball has been my outlet for years, but I had lost touch with it this past year. Going to the games gives me this overwhelming feeling of happiness. I just love the game.

I challenge you to find something that you have a passion for. It is important to have something to go to that will make you feel better, because, everyone deserves to be happy. Of course you can’t be happy all the time, but when you start to see that grey cloud hovering over you for quite sometime, go to your happy place.

Also I think it is imperative that you have more than one thing to go to when you are down. Sometimes people can’t be reliable so don’t just pick people. Of course I have gone to my friends to pick me up, but nothing quite did it like basketball.

I am really excited to hear about your own personal happy places. So please share! Who knows you might have a good idea for me or other people out there.

I hope you guys have a fabulous holiday, but don’t worry we will talk more before then!

Imagine....

I am so sincerely sorry for not posting.  It's been crazy lately and I still don't have the time right now to post a proper.... post.  But I just have to post this.  It's a song from last week's Glee episode.  I won't lie, it almost brought tears to my eyes.  I absolutely love this show, and this was fantastic.  I think everyone should see it sung in the episode, but since there's no clip from it online on youtube or hulu, I'm embedding a video of just the song.  Hopefully if you're up to it, you'll go to hulu (I'll post the link to the episode under the youtube video) and skip ahead to 31:00.  I hope you love it as much as I do.




Hulu link: http://www.hulu.com/watch/109904/glee-hairography#s-p1-so-i0

Love is all around

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around.

- Love Actually

Last night, although I was not at London Heathrow airport, I was at the Newark airport, where Krista, Nicole, and I finally saw each other for the first time since September. The three of us have been best friends for as long as I can remember (kindergarten to be exact so that would be about 13 or 14 years). So I don’t remember if we’ve said yet where we all go to school but this is the first time in all these years that we have all been at different schools and in different states. Krista came home on Tuesday, the same day I came home, but Nicole came back last night. She was coming back by plane and Krista and I decided to surprise her at the airport. We drove there with her mom and sister, who waited right outside the gate, whereas Krista and I waited off to the side so that Nicole wouldn’t see us. When she finally came through the gate, she went to hug her mom as Krista and I snuck up behind her. As we shouted “NICOLE!!!” she screamed then abruptly covered her mouth for screaming like that in an airport, then she hugged us both. The whole car ride home we couldn’t stop talking about everything under the sun since we haven’t seen each other in so long. The whole time this was happening, I kept thinking back to that quote and the movie Love Actually. The movie (for those of you that don’t know it) is about how love is everywhere and it can’t be stopped by anything. Krista, Nicole and I love each other, which was evident to anyone at that arrival gate at the airport last night.

sorry not the best vid but the song is good =)

And Everyday is a Start of Something Beautiful

“Next time... we will laugh more, we'll love more; we just won't be so afraid”

There is one problem with that however is that life doesn’t throw us “next times”. You only get one time. There is no do-over or backspace button in life. Everyone gets one chance and your free will determines what you will do with it.

“I really wanted to meet you. And I shoulda ate that. I shoulda ate all that stuff. Especially that. Shoulda put my foot in that.”

I just finished watching the movie The Last Holiday starring Queen Latifah. Talk about a motivational flick. Most days I look at life like this: “We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round.” But where is the magic in that?

“Maybe God has a bigger plan for me than I had for myself. Like this journey never ends.”

I’m not a big fan on the whole “God” topic, but I do agree with this quote. What if our plans for ourselves are completely minuscule to the actual things we are going to accomplish. Just doing what we can, is never really putting us to strive to our full potential. I want to be able to look at my life 4 years from now and be proud of the person I have become.

I am halfway through my freshman year in college and I am not sure if I am comfortable with the way I have grown. I have already done the whole “let’s be grown up and act like adults” so I guess I am stuck on where to grow now. And clearly I can’t grow any taller – I’m already 6 foot! There is a good chance that what it all comes down to is: it truly is difficult finding yourself.

Today: I was in the cafeteria eating my dinner with my friends and as we were leaving the music TV station was playing “Breakeven” by The Script. Nicole turned me onto The Script when I read the name in her profile and thought to myself “hmmm I haven’t heard of them, gotta check em out now”. Well back to the story. As we were leaving and the song was playing, this guy next to me started dancing and singing to his friend the song. Laughing, and being nosey at the same time, I said, “It’s a good song right!?” He looked at me, smiled and told me how he has tickets to see them in a couple of weeks. It was a quick conversation, but it was something beautiful. I never met the guy before but in those few seconds it didn’t matter if we knew each other for a lifetime or for a moment it was purely all about the love of music.

“surviving the world lesson #25 "nothing in life is fixed or set in stone, so get out there and carpe the hell out of the diem."

TWLOHA- I Love You!

I started writing this too late.  :/ Dang you sleep deprivation!  If it wasn't for you making me sleep during the day this would've been posted on Friday! Friday the 13th, by the way.  It only took me till like 7pm to realize that.....
  So yesterday was not only friday the 13th, but also To Write Love On Her Arms Day.  What a lovely organization that is.  No lie.  I greatly admire them for creating the atmosphere; they are a beacon of hope in a dark and scary world.  Lemme hit you with some info about them.  This is all taken from their website: 


"" MISSION STATEMENT:  To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.  TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.
      Vision: You were created to love and be loved.  You were meant to live life in relationship with other people, to know and be known. You need to know that your story is important and that you're part of a bigger story.  You need to know that your life matters.  
      You need to know that rescue is possible, that freedom is possible, that God is still in the business of redemption.  We're seeing it happen.  We're seeing lives change as people get the help they need.  People sitting across from a counselor for the first time.  People stepping into treatment.  In desperate moments, people calling a suicide hotline.  We know that the first step to recovery is the hardest to take.  We want to say here that it's worth it, that your life is worth fighting for, that it's possible to change.    
      The vision is the possibility that your best days are ahead. The vision is the possibility that we're more loved than we'll ever know.  
      The vision is hope, and hope is real.  You are not alone, and this is not the end of your story. ""


So full of hope and love.  So full of the possibilities of tomorrow.  They have saved countless lives and helped innumerable people.  They help us battle the staggering statistics that unfortunately are true.


- 121 million people worldwide suffer from depression.
- 18 million of these cases are happening in the United States.
- 2/3 of those suffering from depression never seek treatment.
- Untreated depression is the number one cause of suicide, and suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers.

That's my arm from yesterday.  Jen and Krista also wrote on theirs.

Yay for love and supporting it! We are all loved, even if we don't realize it.  To you, whoever is reading this, I LOVE YOU!  You are awesome and amazing.  You make a difference in this world.  You deserve everything that comes to you.

"You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection." -Buddha

     And fantastic news that I am sooo excited over- they found water on the moon! WATER! On the moon!   If you aren't excited about this you probably don't realize the significance of this discovery.  I am smiling from ear to ear as I write this.  Yet as a person interested in science and such discoveries, one of my first thoughts was "I wonder who will be the first person to drink moon water... I wonder if it'll taste any different."  Hmmmm moon water.  I wanna drink moon water!  

[picture from here]

[image from here]

 MMMmmmmm A glass of cool moon water please!

     To end this I'm gonna show you another Jason Mraz video. (I really hope you like him too, with all the references I make haha.)  This is a new song that he made for a documentary titled "May I Be Frank".  I love when he explains the song, it's so simple- why hasn't anyone else thought of this before?

  "There's a famous bumper sticker that says 'what would Jesus do'!  I dunno.  I haven't seen him in a while.  But what moves me is when I think, well, what would love do?  You know?  And I realize it's the same thing.  So when you find yourself in any ol' predicament ask yourself what would love do."

Thankful.

Hey everyone! So here's what's been going on...at my school we have to do a certain amount of experiential hours for each class (approx 5 per class) and we just have to go to random school-sponsored activities and write up a response to complete this. Well, I had nothing so far for my intro to Lit class so I decided to go to this thing called "Faces of Hunger". Honestly, I thought it would be a bunch of the homeless people complaining about how they were screwed over and just go on and on forever, but I was shocked. At first it kinda was what I expected, each of the five people (all women who are either homeless now or once were) talked about their lives and how they got to be homeless and how afterwards the system was basically just screwing them. After this, there was a question and answer period. We learned about how everyone has to make under a certain amount of money to get help from a shelter, how much custody you have to have of your children to receive food stamps for them, and how the children are so stressed out about their homelessness that their schoolwork suffers tremendously. This alone made me and my friend decide that we wanted to make a difference...we wanted to help these children. As I was making this revelation, one of the women was speaking and something she said caught my attention. Although I do not remember the exact words, she said that she was thankful. I found this odd. I mean come on, thankful to be homeless??? But yes, this woman went on to say that she was thankful for her children, and for life in general, that she got to sit in front of us and talk to us about her life and that just made me think, well if she can be thankful and she doesn't even have the money for a place to live than why can't everyone be thankful?

I'm thankful. Especially for my friends. I received some news today that to me was pretty bad, a precursor to my worst nightmare coming true. When faced with this situation, I called Krista, who is definitely like a sister to me. She stayed on the phone with me until I was calmed down enough for her to go to dinner. Then I tried to call Nicole, but she never answers her phone until three hours later! (just kidding nicole ily!) After this, I just was in that state where you just can't stop moving so I cleaned my portion of my dorm room, made my bed, washed some dishes, did my hair, all before one of my new best friends, Ruthann, came over. I wasn't sure until today just how much she cared about me. When she came into my room she just looked at me and knew something was up, I told her what was wrong and she hugged me and then didn't leave me until about 10:30, when we were hanging with some other close friends. I am especially thankful for the fact that even though I've met my new friends just over 2 months ago, they really care about me and will be there for me. I am so extraordinarily thankful for my two best friends in the world, Krista and Nicole. I have no idea what I'd do without them. What are you thankful for?

Gobble, Gobble Anyone?

[picture from here]

[picture from here]

[picture from here]

Is anyone drooling yet? I am! Thanksgiving is coming closer and I am getting really excited. As you can see from above, those are my favorite things about this holiday. It’s going to be really nice to come home and see my mom. It’s going to be interesting seeing my family. There is a bit of a distinction between the two. I love my mom, and I am learning to love my family. When I talk about my family I am usually referring to is my mom because it is just she and I in the house. Because of the way I was brought up, large family situations would scare me. There were always just too many people and too many conversations to follow.

During holiday’s when we would all get together I was never truly wanted to be there. I refused to appreciate it for what it was. I think as a child I never understood the concept of family. Once I heard a crazy story about a relative, I judged them never trying to accept them first. Looking back, I honestly can’t remember any good times I have had with my entire family.

I have always felt that Thanksgiving was nothing special. Of course the food was always completely delicious, but it was the actual event didn’t mean much. It seemed as if my mom and I were put on some kind of charity case, “who is going to take the Collopy’s this year?” Some families have a set place they always go, and I find myself jealous of that.

This year things are going to be different. I am going to embrace family time. I am going to take in all the crazy, nutty fights and appreciate them for what they are. The truth is I missed out on the family aspect of life. When I go over to Nicole or Jen’s houses I just love atmosphere. There is the mother, the father and the siblings and that is a really important structure. It is something that I never had, something I missed out on.

This thanksgiving I am looking forward to either having everyone over my house or traveling to my aunt’s house. I am going to put all my cards out on the table by being myself and letting others do the same. Judgment will not be dining with us either.

Here comes the challenge. Now, I don’t know what kind of terms you are on with your family but let’s all try our best to enjoy the moment. Let all the crazy characters in our life be themselves (it’s the only way to get the best stories right?). No matter what goes down, who burns the turkey or drops the last piece of cake on the floor we must try to accept if for what it is. Life IS beautiful you know!

Since that was kind of deep, I think it calls for something quite spectacular. A horse? (That’s what Nicole suggest but I have something by far better! - plus it has a pretty green background!)

Everything starts with you. You have the control. Go out there and be somebody. Your wishes are bound to come true.

Hugs

So I have been thinking...here I am at college and I have made a bunch of new friends, but I thought that something has been missing that was always there in friendships that I've had in the past. Not knowing what this was, I took two of my friends to my High School so that I could but tickets to the drama production for this weekend. Since rehearsal was going on, my friends in the play were all having dinner when I walked into the cafe. As I saw each of my friends, I got a hug from each of them, most hugs being the kind that lasts a few seconds because you haven't seen the person in a while. As I continued thinking about these hugs, I realized that whenever I see one of my really good friends that I had before college, whether the friend was one I've had since kindergarten, one from the drama department, or one from my Antioch retreats, I always hug them when I see them, I even hug their siblings when I see them. I want you all to do something now. Go out and find someone, whether it be a friend, or just someone you kinda know and give them a hug. For a little inspiration, here is a picture of me, Krista, and Nicole, "hugging" for a picture at Krista's 18th birthday.

What A Beautiful Day

"I see the bird with a leaf in her mouth, After the flood all the colors came out, It was a beautiful day, Don't let it get away, Beautiful day..." -Beautiful Day by U2

     This morning I woke up at 7:07 and pressed the snooze button on my phone twice.  I was so exhausted that I don't actually really recall my first class much at all, except that I was cramming as much as I could fit into my sleepy brain for my next class where I had my second midterm of the year.

     Once I arrived in my British Lit to 1798 class immediately after my first class I hardly had any time to finish reviewing my study guide.  After an hour and twenty minutes (five longer than the class was actaully supposed to last) I left the building with quotes from Dr. Faustus and King Lear floating around in my head and my hand flexing to relieve the writer's cramp it had gotten from nine paragraphs.  Hoping that my paragraphs would sound better to her than they did while I was writing them, and that I got at least some of the short answers and fill in the blanks right, I clutched my jacket  around me as I walked back to my dorm and looked up at the grey sky, my whole body aching from dodgeball last night.

[picture from here]

     I got back to my room after waiting several minutes for the one working elevator to arrive and watched How I Met Your Mother season 4 for the rest of the day (except for my lunch break).  Then at 8:05 I realized it might be time for dinner and decided to go the lazy way.  I grabbed a soup out of my food stash and began opening it on my desk.  To my great dismay it exploded on opening and I got raw chicken noodle soup broth all over my laptop.  Panicking my hands flew to grab napkins but not before my middle finger on my left hand grazed the sharp edge of my soup's tab.  I now have a deepish gash from side to side on my fingertip that loves to bleed.  

     After sopping up the broth off my laptop I figured that washing out the blood/chicken soup mix that had pooled in my wound would probably be a good idea.  But after running it under the faucet, cursing the water to hell and jumping up and down whilst clutching my burning hand I realized that might not have been the best way.  I put a bandaid onto my throbbing finger and almost burned my tongue on my steaming hot soup.  

     Grumbling to myself how this day turned out pretty crappy I logged onto facebook to see what was up with others and with the intention to complain about my misfortunes on my status.  I checked my updates first and saw Krista commented back on her status from earlier.  She had simply written "beautiful day" as her status and I'd pretty sourly retorted "not here. is cloudy :(".  To which she responded "oh its gross outside- smells like ass. its a beautiful day in my heart lol".   I thought to myself how wonderful of a look that is but didn't explore the thought further, probably because I was distracted with concern as to why her campus smells like ass and wondering how many asses she's smelled to make a honest comparison.

     After commenting back I went onto deviantart and started perusing the daily deviations.  One caught my eye with its bright colors and strangely relevant title "it's a beautiful day..".  I clicked on it and the page opened to a wonderful typography work that read "it's a beautiful day if you want it to be " 

 [click THIS; it's a link to the picture]

What a wonderful quote!  And just like that I realized that how awesome or beautiful a day is is totally up to you and your judgement/mood.  I'd started the day off in a negative manner so the rest of the day seemed to be down and crappy.  But looking back I see that today wasn't horrible at all. 

     This morning I woke up after the longest night's sleep I've had in about a week.  I had studied days before today for the midterm and felt semi-confident that I wouldn't completely bomb it.  I got out of my room on time and although it was a bit chilly with a low of 47 degrees today, it was warmer than most days lately and I didn't see my breath while walking to class.  I arrived to Brit Lit already knowing everything I could cram and found the essay part pretty easily done with some creative thinking and bs-ing. (Hey, I'm not gonna lie.)  Although I did get out of the class five minutes late, that's five more minutes I got to spend working on bettering my test.  I then stopped by the post office and was excited to see I got a card from my Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Zina- receiving mail is always fun!

     I got back to my room and for the first time since thursday was able to relax and not worry about an upcoming class.  I've been chilling all day watching season 4 of HIMYM that I got for my birthday yesterday.  For lunch I had a hot dog and the fries were fresh and warm.  I remembered not to pour the salt on which greatly diminished my salt intake.  I ate five strawberries today, two of them covered in chocolate and ate a piece off of my Godiva bar.  My dinner, though initially too hot, soon cooled down and was delicious, giving me a warm soup belly.  And then I went on facebook and saw Krista's comment and onto deviantart and found the piece of art that made me rethink my day, making me realize today was pretty cool.  Yay for today!  

     So rethink your day.  If you're already having a fantastic day, good for you!  If your day was a downer, look back and think about all the good things that happened.  Reflect on how this day could've maybe been worse and you'll appreciate how it really went.  That grey rainy day may actually produce a breath-taking rainbow.  Because, really, every day is a beautiful day- it's just up to you to realize it. 

"You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one.  Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own.  It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle."  -Paulo Coelho

[picture from here]

Hooray for Special Days!

Today is a very special day. Thank goodness that this day exists. If it didn’t well I for one wouldn’t be alive and secondly I wouldn’t have a best friend. So certainly you can see why this day is so important. I have been preparing for this day for quite a bit, I actually had to dust off the creative side of my brain so it could help me figure out the perfect way to celebrate today. So just incase you haven’t picked up why today rocks the socks right off your feet – it is my mother’s and Nicole’s birthday!

Birthdays are very important to me, you came into the world for a reason and the day you first exited your mother’s womb (sorry for the semi graphic description) needs to be greeted with a party! Unfortunately these two very special people are not going to be anywhere in the vicinity I am located but that is no way going to stop the celebration!

Like I said before I have created something really special for my best friend. Nicole has been there for me, through the good and the bad. It has been really hard being 4 hours from her. But even though there is a lot of distance, we are still as close as ever. She is my best friend and always will be. This is why I have made this video for her. I am so not the computer person, she has always been better when it comes to that stuff, so I hope my video doesn’t totally stink.

Thanks Skinner for always being a backwards FFBB. You rock my socks, and I hope you are feeling duckie today!

And Introducing.....

PERSONAL BANNERS!!
Why? Well, because with three people writing this blog now, it'll be way easier for a reader to figure out who is writing what.  Yea, three.  Wait, I didn't tell you?!  Oh no, I forgot to tell you!!

     So earlier this evening whilst I should have been intently focusing on studying for my exams tomorrow I was talking to my friends Jen, Krista and Calvin separately via ichat.  And suddenly Jenny brought up what I knew was coming.  She asked me why Krista is now writing for the blog and she wasn't.  To tell you the truth Jen I wasn't sure you were really into the blog or wanted to write for it.  But once you asked me it was enough; I want this blog to grow in love and happiness and am excited to accept new writers- especially my two bestest friends ever!  (Oh goodness, now I'm going to get others complaining about that, and then they'll wanna join.... haha)
     After a few minutes where Jen didn't know her email she used for her account, she just made a new account altogether, and she was signed on as the third writer for this blog!  YAY!
     Jen is a fantastic person, a best friend since kindergarden just like Krista is.  I trust the both of them with my life and know that they will always be there for me.  I love Jen to death and am so excited to have her join us here!

     And let's all give Jen a warm welcome, just like we did to Krista.  mmmmmMMmmmm Warmth.

     Now back to your feature presentation. Personal Banners!  Cause the only way really to see who wrote what is to look at the small font at the bottom of each post.  And I'm just lazy like that and don't wanna look for that every time.  Jen and Krista only just told me what color they like and a vague idea of what font they'd like to see, so theirs is only temporary if they don't like them.  So if you guys want something changed or the whole thing done over again don't be afraid to ask; that's what I have photoshop for.

     And the unveiling of Krista's and Jen's blog banners!

All of the pictures used were taken off of this site.

Wow, can you believe I'm going to be 19 in just 40 minutes?  Gawd I'm old. (And Krista and Jen, YES! I know I'm old! Now stop bugging me about it! haha)

     So to end this amazing post I think I'll have to show you an amazing video.  And amazingly I haven't shown it here yet.  I have no idea why not, and I don't know what's wrong with me because this video is fantastic and brilliant and I can't stop smiling and tearing up every time I watch it.  Yes it's a bit lengthy, but believe me when I say it is totally worth it.  So worth it.  I guarantee it.  So smile, smile, smile!   :) :) :)

IT'S FRIDAY!!!

Krista :)

I really only have one thing to say and that is: THANK GOODNESS IT IS FRIDAY! This week was insane for me so I would just like to praise everyone who had anything to do with making today Friday. That would include the founders of the calendar, the inventers of time and anyone else who had the brilliant idea of including a weekend in our lives! THANK YOU!

At my college this weekend is called Homecoming Weekend. We had homecoming at our high school when I was a freshman. I went but it turned out to be nothing special. Later tonight there is a homecoming dance where we are supposed to get “all dolled up”, wear pretty dresses and have a good time. Now, I am all for getting dressed up – it was one of my favorite things to do growing up. As a little kid I would stand at the top of the stairs in an oversized poufy dress and announce to the spectators (my parents) below: “Zenting Krista!”

This weekend we also have a football game where there is a King and Queen announced, that part I find way too cliché. Also at my school people are really obsessed about getting free t-shirts. I guess it’s fun getting a free t-shirt but people here act like you are receiving gold or something. All I hear is “Come here! If you do you will get a free t-shirt!” I don’t it must be a PA kind of thing.

Lastly I have begun a countdown to Nicole’s birthday! I added this countdown because Nicole has three surprises coming that day!!!

I Procrastinate Too Much...

Alrighty I finished my Midterm paper for my British Literature to 1798 class earlier than I thought I would and am currently hyped up on Coke, so quick blog post before I retire to bed only to wake up for an 8:00 am class.

     Procrastination is the main reason that I'm still up at this un-goldly hour.  I started studying for this around four in the afternoon, so really it's not that I started late, but there was just so much to do I didn't think it'd take this long.  Plus, I kinda procrastinated a bit in between. But not that much!  Anyway I need something to help me fix this problem.  So hows about something like this?  What is that you ask?  Why, it's a study ball!

     You get to experience what it's like to be a prisoner while studying!  ... As if school wasn't enough like a jail.  Oh come on, you saw that comment coming.  But yea.  This thing can be programmed up to four hours and won't open until the countdown is finished.  And the ball weighs a hefty 20.95 pounds, so you are not going ANYWHERE unless you're pumping up the steroids.  My first thought though?  I'm on the 14th floor.... what happens if I were to use this and there was a fire?  I'd have to lug a twenty pound ball down fourteen flights of stairs?!  Or what if you're studying on a peaceful dock and then CRASH! The wood falls out from underneath you because of the sheer weight of the ball.  You'd drown!  Please tell me there's an emergency release.  Please.

     And enough with that.  I just hope no parents are seriously subjecting their children to this.... it might even be child abuse then.  Huh.  Anyways I doubt that that would help with my procrastination problem as seeing I procrastinate with the computer and internet.  So that ball ain't stopping me from surfing the world... (wide web that is ;) .)

     And now I end this over-tired post with an example of what I'm going to be doing when that damn alarm goes off at 7:00 this morning.

"huh? What? Where am I? String... Oh you woke me up.  UGHHHHHHH NO! Sleeppppppppp."

Thanks Nicole! (backwards ffbb!!)

Hello! For starters, I am really pumped about being a contributor to this blog. Nicole’s blog is so inspirational to me. After I read a posting I just want to jump out of seat and help someone out. Her ideas are just exploding with positive energy. And I love it.

Basically, what it comes down to, is that positive people rock. It’s really a simple idea, surround yourself with optimistic people and you too will feel slightly lighter.

Today, for me, was exceptionally wonderful. It started off with logging on to Nicole’s Blog and reading the post of her welcoming me on board. I wish I had a camera because the smile on my face was so huge. :D

Then it was off to Spanish Class. Now that class is always a good time because my professor loves YouTube. Today we watched a clip on Latin America cuisine that included grasshoppers. It takes a talent for a teacher to bring humor into a class that would otherwise be dull. That’s another thing I am a big fan of laughter. Well, I like to call it giggling, or chuckling because they are silly words and people tend to smile when they say them.

With class, work, and advising appointments today was an exceptionally busy day for me. All the craziness was well worth it because I am now no longer undeclared! My major is now changed to Communications with emphasis on Communication Studies meaning I get to create my own curriculum. I also had to pick my classes for next semester and it’s going to be a tough semester. I have Spanish II, Business Statics, Writing and Thinking, Using Computers and the class I’m most excited for, Public Speaking!

All right, so I think I’ll wrap this up with a quote from one of my favorite authors Augusten Burroughs. I have read all of his books and he is quite the funny man. I found this quote on the side of my Starbucks cup one day in the summer. I was so excited to see that his words made it to side of my cup, so when I finished drinking it I didn’t throw out the cup. Well I sort of forgot I had the cup in my car and there it sat for about um I’m going guess around the ballpark of 5-6 months. Disgusting, I know. Opps. Well here is the really empowering quote:

The Way I See It #141

I used to feel so alone in the city. All those gazillions of people and then me, on the outside. Because how do you meet a new person? I was very stumped by this for many years. And then I realized, you just say, "Hi." They may ignore you. Or you may marry them. And that possibility is worth that one word. ~Augusten Burroughs

So maybe today be that person, who knows what might happen!

DeviantArt Update

I spend my break from my insane amount of work to do to come here and write this to you.  I figure it'd be nice to update here when I post a new deviation on deviantart, because it's not only easier for my family to find it, but it's also semi-shameless advertising so more people can see my artwork.  I promise that it won't cause your eyes to bleed or anything of the sorts, so if you'd like to be really nice I'd love it if you went and checked out my latest deviation.  Thanks and have a happy day!

http://denalim.deviantart.com/art/ZOMG-Look-at-the-Tiny-Peoples-142519342

Exciting News....

     Now as a momentary pause from my overbearing work for tonight I come here to gladly tell of some good news.  As you may well know I've been inviting not only my family to view this blog, but also my friends. And to my great pleasure I've gotten back positive reviews from them, saying how fantastic and inspirational this blog is.  At barely twenty posts in, I find this a great accomplishment and a lovely compliment.  But yet I feel like this blog has yet to reach its full potential.  I am merely one person sharing my thoughts and discoveries; I can only do so much.
     And it is with great joy that I announce that my backward ffbb, one of my best friends, Krista, has accepted my offer to be a co-author on this blog!  Now we will be able to read about her daily inspirations and such; you'll now be getting twice the amount of love and happiness!  I cannot wait for this to get going, this is going to fantastic.  :D

Aaannnnddddd now back to my work.  119 pages read for my lit class, three midterms in the next five days to study for, one quiz, and at this present moment a paper to write for class. Oh, the joys of college. (On the positive side, I'm in college and getting an education.  Meh, who am I kidding? Work stinks. :P )

Today was a fantastic day :)

     Aw so today was pretty sweet.  I got a a package in the mail from my Aunt Donna and Uncle Steve, I got my birthday present from Jen, AND I got my Jason Mraz's Beautiful Mess Live CD/DVD! :D hehe I've been waiting for this for soooo long.  I ordered it the day it became available.  And thanks to preordering I got it 7 days before it hits the stores.  Sweetnessss.

     I decided to watch the DVD part first, and just finished watching the concert.  A-Mraz-ing.  Although he didn't do the Three Little Birds after I'm Yours like he did at the Jersey show, but I spose that's cause it's not really his song.  The 'every little thing is gonna be all right' part was like one of the best moments at the concert in Jersey (in my opinion).  However he did sing Lucky with Colbie Caillat which was really fantastic.  Gwad I love this guy.  And the part when he does the dance/jumps with the bass player just makes he crack up xD

     And here's the part where I get really excited cause I see that the reusable water bottle he's using on stage is the same brand/style as the one that I happened to buy in the university store.  His blogging about recycling had inspired me to get one, but I didn't know what brand he used; so when I saw that he was using a sigg bottle I got all squealy and happy.  Yes, yes, I'm THAT lame.  haha

      I can't wait to watch the rest of the stuff on the dvd, and that's probably going to take up my night, and in all likelihood I'll comment upon how fantastic and brilliant it is in the next blog post.  Cause I'm THAT obsessed.

     MOVING ON!

     So recall that I have mah little Ring of Inspiration?  (hmmm whadda think?  Ring cause it's on a ring, and rings go round and round, never ending, always in use, like this will hopefully be.  Yea? Na?)  Well after seeing my blog about it, mia madre decidera to send me a clip outta a magazine; it's actually an ad I've seen before, but in it's own context it is damn well inspirational.

Never be afraid to try something new.  Remember, amateurs built the ark.  Professionals built the Titanic.

     Tonight was the night that we finally ordered Chinese food.  :) Yummmm!  I got white rice and sweet and sour pork; I can't remember the last time I was this full from dinner.  I got my fortune cookie and it tells me that " Your wisdom is a treasure for all time. "  Hmmm Well I don't know about that, but thanks for the compliment.  But it seems like the back of my fortune is more in tune with me.  My learn chinese word is "happiness".  Maybe I should start saying kuai le more often :)

     And to end this blog I give you this fantastic video of Jason Mraz.  It's not from his Chicago show, but it is fantastic in that it's HQ and the audio is really great.  Plus, if having a high quality Mraz video on youtube wasn't good enough, he's singing... wait for it.... a Beatles song!  In My Life.  Amazing? You betcha.

New Banner!!

You might have noticed...

     I wanted to personalize mah blog a bit more, and the banner is the most customizable thing there is.  The banner is not only the first thing that people see when they visit your blog, but kinda like the spokesperson for the blog itself.  After just over 5 hours straight of slaving in photoshop, searching fruitlessly for a background picture (all the pics I loved I need special permission from the photographer), and just straining my eyes to oblivion I give you the above.

     Comments?  Thoughts?  Just cause this is what came out of 5 hours doesn't mean it's great or perfect or that I love it either.  I wanna know what you think of it!  Is it horribly ugly?  Is the color wrong?  Is it too dull, too cluttered, too loving, too whatever?  Or is it just right?  What do you think?

Update, All Saints Day, Catchy.

Update: I changed the url to this blog to something more relative.  Instead of using elocinsiemanym, I'm now using justlovebeing.  So the link to this blog is http://justlovebeing.blogspot.com/

image from (here)

     Andddddd today is All Saints Day in the Christian calendar.  Growing up in a Catholic school from pre-school to 8th grade and then again a Catholic high school I was constantly bombarded with not just faith and religion but with hundreds of saints.  A saint for this, a saint for that, a saint that died of old age, a saint that died as a martyr.  But what really is All Saints Day, other than just the day after Halloween that no one really cares about?  I googled it up and found churchyear.net gives us an explanation.

The Feast of All Saints is a holy day of the Church honoring all saints, known and unknown. This is much like the American holidays Veterans Day and Presidents Day, where many people are honored on one day. While we have information about many saints, and we honor them on specific days, there are many unknown or unsung saints, who may have been forgotten, or never been specifically honored. On All Saints Day, we celebrate these saints of the Lord, and ask for their prayers and intercessions.

     Growing up surrounded by lessons about saints it's surprising that I don't have a favorite saint.  I did have one that I was partial to in the 8th grade, after reading a page about him in the back of my religion book, but time and a poor memory have stolen him from me.
     I texted my sister, recalling that she has a little necklace of her favorite saint that, if I remember right, she bought in the city in St. Patrick's Cathedral.  It turns out hers is St. Anthony of Padua who is actually a pretty well known saint and a favorite of many.  What makes a saint someone's favorite though?  Why do you choose them?  Do you have a favorite saint?  I'd like to hear, post a comment if you do.

     Annndddd enough with religion.  Time for something weird.  Something strange.  Something strangely catchy.  A video that I found thanks to stumbleupon.  Damnn now I'm hungry. :P
OMG THIS IS A LINK TO THE VIDEO, DONT YOU THINK YOU SHOULD CLICK THIS?!?!

image from (here)