Saturday, July 31, 2010
The speed at which time seems to whiz by is a constant source of amazement to me. How one minute, it's June, and I'm dragging myself through the last days of Spanish class, and how seemingly hours later, it's the last day of July, and summer is half gone. I'm convinced there really are not enough hours in the day, because some of them must get skipped for life to go so fast. I can't seem to think of another explanation.
I suppose I'm not complaining at the lack of time, since just yesterday I was moaning about the abundance of time on my hands, but it does occasionally worry me that my days are speedily sliding away. What if, in all those hours that get left out of the day, I'm missing some extremely important lesson I need to learn that will help me through the rest of my life? I think time needs to stop and smell the roses, at least long enough for me to catch up.
Yet, I know very well that it will not. Time will continue the crazy race that it's running, sprinting toward it's unseen finish. Personally, I think a nice, slow mosey pace would do wonders for my peace of mind, but nobody asked me. At least I can be grateful for the happiness of my breakneck life, because there's no doubt that overall, life is very good. Though there's always room to find more joy in this high-speed journey.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Being Entertained
Friday, July 30, 2010
I'm afraid I'm out of practice with this daily blog thing, because I can't think of anything to write about. This is pathetic. At least I remembered that I needed to blog, so that's something.
The truth is, my mood has been less than positive for the past few days, and it puts a damper on my grateful thoughts. While I was in school, stressed out of my mind by taking too many credits and working too many hours, I dreamed of the blissful days of summer, when I would be home with nothing to do and hours to do it in, not a care in the world disrupting my well-earned break from the responsibilities of life. It sounds so idyllic, written out like that, but in reality it's anything but. The reality is that I am bored.
I have absolutely nothing to do with my days. Sure, it's nice to have a day like that every so often, when you can unwind and take a quick little break from life. But day after day after day of entertaining myself with cross stitch and TV movies takes it toll, and I have four more weeks of it. I'll be lucky if I come out the other end with my sanity still intact.
Thankfully (there we have some gratitude!), my mother is willing to entertain me. Or maybe she's simply trying to entertain herself and decides to take pity on me by taking me to movies with her and letting me talk her ear off about the wonderfulness of Skyler. Either way, she holds off the boredom for a portion of each day and helps me retain what I call my sanity. I'm grateful to be entertained.
I'm afraid I'm out of practice with this daily blog thing, because I can't think of anything to write about. This is pathetic. At least I remembered that I needed to blog, so that's something.
The truth is, my mood has been less than positive for the past few days, and it puts a damper on my grateful thoughts. While I was in school, stressed out of my mind by taking too many credits and working too many hours, I dreamed of the blissful days of summer, when I would be home with nothing to do and hours to do it in, not a care in the world disrupting my well-earned break from the responsibilities of life. It sounds so idyllic, written out like that, but in reality it's anything but. The reality is that I am bored.
I have absolutely nothing to do with my days. Sure, it's nice to have a day like that every so often, when you can unwind and take a quick little break from life. But day after day after day of entertaining myself with cross stitch and TV movies takes it toll, and I have four more weeks of it. I'll be lucky if I come out the other end with my sanity still intact.
Thankfully (there we have some gratitude!), my mother is willing to entertain me. Or maybe she's simply trying to entertain herself and decides to take pity on me by taking me to movies with her and letting me talk her ear off about the wonderfulness of Skyler. Either way, she holds off the boredom for a portion of each day and helps me retain what I call my sanity. I'm grateful to be entertained.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
A Recap
As you may have noticed, I am behind. By quite a few days actually. And the problem with being so far behind is the daunting task it presents of catching up. And the problem with this daunting task is, well, it's daunting, and one that I'm not particularly keen on dealing with. So, in an effort to actually continue this daily blog, I'm afraid I will be skipping the days I've missed and starting anew with today. Skip is a bit harsh though, because I will complete 365 posts; they just won't be consecutive. So, here we go again.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The unfortunate thing about skipping so many days is that several of those days were full of excitement. Because I like to share my excitement, and because I love pictures, today's post will be a pictorial recap of my summer so far.
Because I've uploaded a large amount of pictures from our Rome trip into an album on facebook, I'll simply post the link here. I'd rather not post 178 pictures onto my blog as well. This would be the url:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045860&id=1224510276&l=7892cbee4b
Onto the company pictures! My aunt, uncle, and cousins came to visit for a week, and luckily Skyler was able to come sortof that same week as well, so it was quite hectic around here for a good ten days while we toured our visitors around the area. A few pictures of our adventures for your viewing pleasure.
The white stone of the buildings in DC are really quite stunning.
It's semi blurry, and my cousin Audrey was taking a picture at the same time, which accounts for the orange light on Skyler's shirt, but I like it all the same.
I might have gotten a little carried away with my artistic picture taking.
Skyler and my dad were a little tired by the time we made it the World War II memorial. While the rest of us put our feet in the fountain, they slept.
At Ford's Theater. He didn't want to smile because 'something sad happened there.'
Waiting for everyone at Arlington National Cemetery. I believe this was our fifth try for a picture.
The best temple in the world.
I love this picture, even though it is a bit blurry. It's just so candid.
At the beach on Assateague Island. Skyler got a little bit sunburned.
The wild horses on the island.
From our trip to the Baltimore Aquarium. I couldn't believe how colorful the coral is!
If you ever see this little guy in the water, run.
And of course, Raven's Stadium, so Skyler could rub it in his brother's face.
There you have the adventures of my summer. Very fun and very warm. Thank goodness for recaps.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The unfortunate thing about skipping so many days is that several of those days were full of excitement. Because I like to share my excitement, and because I love pictures, today's post will be a pictorial recap of my summer so far.
Because I've uploaded a large amount of pictures from our Rome trip into an album on facebook, I'll simply post the link here. I'd rather not post 178 pictures onto my blog as well. This would be the url:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045860&id=1224510276&l=7892cbee4b
Onto the company pictures! My aunt, uncle, and cousins came to visit for a week, and luckily Skyler was able to come sortof that same week as well, so it was quite hectic around here for a good ten days while we toured our visitors around the area. A few pictures of our adventures for your viewing pleasure.
The white stone of the buildings in DC are really quite stunning.
It's semi blurry, and my cousin Audrey was taking a picture at the same time, which accounts for the orange light on Skyler's shirt, but I like it all the same.
I might have gotten a little carried away with my artistic picture taking.
Skyler and my dad were a little tired by the time we made it the World War II memorial. While the rest of us put our feet in the fountain, they slept.
At Ford's Theater. He didn't want to smile because 'something sad happened there.'
Waiting for everyone at Arlington National Cemetery. I believe this was our fifth try for a picture.
The best temple in the world.
I love this picture, even though it is a bit blurry. It's just so candid.
At the beach on Assateague Island. Skyler got a little bit sunburned.
The wild horses on the island.
From our trip to the Baltimore Aquarium. I couldn't believe how colorful the coral is!
If you ever see this little guy in the water, run.
And of course, Raven's Stadium, so Skyler could rub it in his brother's face.
There you have the adventures of my summer. Very fun and very warm. Thank goodness for recaps.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Weddings
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Today has been anticipated for quite some time, because today was Sam and Jason's wedding day. It was rather brutally hot, though that was to be expected since it is the middle of June in St. George, and the sun was practically blistering (again, to be expected), but overall the day turned out beautifully. First was waiting outside the temple for them to come out, which they finally did, looking off-the-charts happy. Then the reception later that night, where I'm confident they smiled more than I thought humanly possible. It was a really very happy day, and it reminded me to be grateful for the joy of others around us, which can so easily lift us up too. Congrats, Sam and Jason!
And, because I love taking pictures, and a picture is worth a thousand words anyway, here's a few pictures!
Outside the temple, with all their cute bridesmaids.
With all the girls.
First dance.
Decorating the car. Andrew was quite good at this.
She's so cute.
The boys didn't get too into it.
And throwing the bouquet.
Today has been anticipated for quite some time, because today was Sam and Jason's wedding day. It was rather brutally hot, though that was to be expected since it is the middle of June in St. George, and the sun was practically blistering (again, to be expected), but overall the day turned out beautifully. First was waiting outside the temple for them to come out, which they finally did, looking off-the-charts happy. Then the reception later that night, where I'm confident they smiled more than I thought humanly possible. It was a really very happy day, and it reminded me to be grateful for the joy of others around us, which can so easily lift us up too. Congrats, Sam and Jason!
And, because I love taking pictures, and a picture is worth a thousand words anyway, here's a few pictures!
Outside the temple, with all their cute bridesmaids.
With all the girls.
First dance.
Decorating the car. Andrew was quite good at this.
She's so cute.
The boys didn't get too into it.
And throwing the bouquet.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Toy Story 3
Friday, June 18, 2010
Cinematic masterpiece. Artistic genius. Most epic movie to grace theaters this year. Toy Story 3.
I am a Disney fan. Though fan might not be a strong enough word. Fanatic. Obsessed nutcase. These are perhaps more apt descriptions. I love the old Disney movies, most of which we own on VHS, and several of which I now own on DVD. I can quote large portions of my most well-loved films, and sing along to at least the chorus of almost all the classic songs. I have a Disney princess calendar, and my nineteenth birthday celebration was Disney princess themed. To me, Disney is the best thing invented since sliced bread.
This obsessive love has, in recent years, extended to include most Pixar films as well, since they are a marvelous movie-making pair and all; it's only right that I am fond of them both. And Pixar has made several notable additions to my Disney collection of favorites: Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., The Incredibles, Up. And, of course, the Toy Storys.
Who could fail to love the Toy Story series? On top of being voiced by notable funnymen Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, Woody and Buzz have a friendship that everyone wishes to someday have with their friends. Starting out as enemies, they eventually learn to work together, and by the end are rescuing each other from perilous situations. It's phenomenal. So who in their right minds would be unexcited to see the latest installment?
Definitely not me. I'd been looking forward to this movie for quite some time, and my hopes were not disappointed in the slightest. The movie was absolutely wonderful, a definite success, especially considering it was a sequel, which are usually poor when dealing with Disney (no offense). I loved every second of it. Thank you Pixar, for making my afternoon so very well-spent.
Cinematic masterpiece. Artistic genius. Most epic movie to grace theaters this year. Toy Story 3.
I am a Disney fan. Though fan might not be a strong enough word. Fanatic. Obsessed nutcase. These are perhaps more apt descriptions. I love the old Disney movies, most of which we own on VHS, and several of which I now own on DVD. I can quote large portions of my most well-loved films, and sing along to at least the chorus of almost all the classic songs. I have a Disney princess calendar, and my nineteenth birthday celebration was Disney princess themed. To me, Disney is the best thing invented since sliced bread.
This obsessive love has, in recent years, extended to include most Pixar films as well, since they are a marvelous movie-making pair and all; it's only right that I am fond of them both. And Pixar has made several notable additions to my Disney collection of favorites: Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., The Incredibles, Up. And, of course, the Toy Storys.
Who could fail to love the Toy Story series? On top of being voiced by notable funnymen Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, Woody and Buzz have a friendship that everyone wishes to someday have with their friends. Starting out as enemies, they eventually learn to work together, and by the end are rescuing each other from perilous situations. It's phenomenal. So who in their right minds would be unexcited to see the latest installment?
Definitely not me. I'd been looking forward to this movie for quite some time, and my hopes were not disappointed in the slightest. The movie was absolutely wonderful, a definite success, especially considering it was a sequel, which are usually poor when dealing with Disney (no offense). I loved every second of it. Thank you Pixar, for making my afternoon so very well-spent.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
I'm Not Allowed To Write About It
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The subject of today's post . . . well, I'm not actually allowed to tell you, because Skyler once informed me that he doesn't want an entire post dedicated to him. I guess technically I'm going against his wishes a tiny bit; hopefully he'll understand. But I will now be content to be grateful in silence for the best thing to ever come into my life. I'm sorry, dear reader, that I can't tell you more. I'm not allowed to write about it.
The subject of today's post . . . well, I'm not actually allowed to tell you, because Skyler once informed me that he doesn't want an entire post dedicated to him. I guess technically I'm going against his wishes a tiny bit; hopefully he'll understand. But I will now be content to be grateful in silence for the best thing to ever come into my life. I'm sorry, dear reader, that I can't tell you more. I'm not allowed to write about it.
Totes
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
If you asked me right this minute what holds the number one spot on my list of things I hate, it would unquestionably and without a doubt be packing. I literally HATE it. Packing requires thought and effort and care (if you don't want your stuff to be mangled upon unpacking), yet in the back of your mind you know that all that thought and effort and care really amounts to nothing in the long run, because it will all be quickly undone by the imminent unpacking (regardless of how unmangled it may be). There is very little about packing that I find remotely appealing.
The one, single, very small, semi-redeeming quality that I've discovered about packing my apartment up every time I move (I still haven't discovered anything redeeming about packing for a trip, other than it means I'm going on a trip) is the totes I use to pack everything into. How pathetically . . . pathetic does that sound? The only thing I enjoy about the process is the cheap plastic bins that protect my priceless life-items from harm. Put that way, it makes me sound rather shallow.
But there's something about totes that put me in an organizational mood, and if there's one thing I (occasionally) love, it's organization. Though you would probably never guess that from the current state of my room. I think I get excited over the organizational implements, like totes, not the organization itself. At least I get over something related to it, which is a step in the right direction after all.
Because I love totes, and because they're remarkably handy when I have lots and lots of stuff that needs storing, I've been amassing quite a collection in the past few years. Currently I have nine totes, and almost all my stuff fits in them! Which makes storing them at my uncle's house much more convenient. I quite love my totes, even though the unpleasantness of packing is not really diminished by them. Such is life. I'll be content with being grateful for my totes.
If you asked me right this minute what holds the number one spot on my list of things I hate, it would unquestionably and without a doubt be packing. I literally HATE it. Packing requires thought and effort and care (if you don't want your stuff to be mangled upon unpacking), yet in the back of your mind you know that all that thought and effort and care really amounts to nothing in the long run, because it will all be quickly undone by the imminent unpacking (regardless of how unmangled it may be). There is very little about packing that I find remotely appealing.
The one, single, very small, semi-redeeming quality that I've discovered about packing my apartment up every time I move (I still haven't discovered anything redeeming about packing for a trip, other than it means I'm going on a trip) is the totes I use to pack everything into. How pathetically . . . pathetic does that sound? The only thing I enjoy about the process is the cheap plastic bins that protect my priceless life-items from harm. Put that way, it makes me sound rather shallow.
But there's something about totes that put me in an organizational mood, and if there's one thing I (occasionally) love, it's organization. Though you would probably never guess that from the current state of my room. I think I get excited over the organizational implements, like totes, not the organization itself. At least I get over something related to it, which is a step in the right direction after all.
Because I love totes, and because they're remarkably handy when I have lots and lots of stuff that needs storing, I've been amassing quite a collection in the past few years. Currently I have nine totes, and almost all my stuff fits in them! Which makes storing them at my uncle's house much more convenient. I quite love my totes, even though the unpleasantness of packing is not really diminished by them. Such is life. I'll be content with being grateful for my totes.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Freedom
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Don't let the title fool you; this post is not a philosophical, early fourth of July discussion on the benefits of living in a free country. Or anything similar. Instead, it's about what you would probably expect if you knew that I took my final final for my Spanish class today. Yes that's right: today's post is about the freedom of not having Spanish class any longer.
It's such a good feeling, knowing that classes are over with, and for the next two months I have nothing to do but enjoy my summer. Theoretically these next two months should include a job, but I'm not entirely sure it will be able to, since it is only two months and employers tend not to hire for such a short time frame. But we'll see. Right now I'd like to simply bask in the wonderful feeling of freedom, freedom from Spanish forever. Oh it's a feeling to be grateful for.
Don't let the title fool you; this post is not a philosophical, early fourth of July discussion on the benefits of living in a free country. Or anything similar. Instead, it's about what you would probably expect if you knew that I took my final final for my Spanish class today. Yes that's right: today's post is about the freedom of not having Spanish class any longer.
It's such a good feeling, knowing that classes are over with, and for the next two months I have nothing to do but enjoy my summer. Theoretically these next two months should include a job, but I'm not entirely sure it will be able to, since it is only two months and employers tend not to hire for such a short time frame. But we'll see. Right now I'd like to simply bask in the wonderful feeling of freedom, freedom from Spanish forever. Oh it's a feeling to be grateful for.
Verb Conjugations.
Monday, June 14, 2010
In all of my planning of blog posts (which really isn't that extensive, trust me), I always thought this post would be about the last day of Spanish class, or at the very least the last day of Spring classes. However, I think you've probably heard me complain enough, or more than enough, about the misery that has been my Spring class experience, and decided to not subject you to any more whining. Please contain your excitement.
Instead, today's post will actually sortof praise Spanish. I know this is also a huge departure from the norm, but bare with me. I hope it will be worth your time.
Today I took my final Spanish oral exam. I've never been a huge fan of oral exams because speaking has always been my biggest weakness when it comes to the Spanish language. I can mostly understand what I read, and I can write a relatively understandable (though probably not grammatically correct) sentence, and I can semi comprehend what's being said as long as it's said slowly enough. But I am an awful speaker. This probably stems from my fear of saying the wrong thing and looking stupid; I think I've heard one too many stories of word mix-ups, when you say pregnant instead of embarrassed or something equally dumb, and these stories make my too nervous to practice speaking, therefore making me an awful speaker. Add to this nervousness the fact that oral exams are done in front of the professor for a grade, and the pitiful speaking ability I do have disappears completely.
In fact, I did so badly on my midterm oral exam that my professor told me, "you seemed to struggle with . . . Spanish." This was actually an accident; he meant to say I struggle with past and future verb conjugations, but those two things are such a major part of the language that his first accidental assessment was pretty accurate. However, I'm happy to report that I did better this time around. Marginally better, but better nonetheless. I think it had something to do with my improvement on my verb conjugations.
Really I shouldn't be grateful for those pesky things, because there are so many ways to conjugate a verb that it really makes the Spanish language, or any language for that matter, infinitely more complicated than it could be if it only had a few verb forms. However, strangely I am grateful for them. Even though I'm absolutely terrible at conjugating verbs correctly, and I have to cycle through all the forms I can remember before I finally hit on the right one, I still enjoy trying to conjugate them. It acts like a puzzle in my brain, and I like puzzles, so I'm grateful for anything that makes me enjoy Spanish just a little bit more.
In all of my planning of blog posts (which really isn't that extensive, trust me), I always thought this post would be about the last day of Spanish class, or at the very least the last day of Spring classes. However, I think you've probably heard me complain enough, or more than enough, about the misery that has been my Spring class experience, and decided to not subject you to any more whining. Please contain your excitement.
Instead, today's post will actually sortof praise Spanish. I know this is also a huge departure from the norm, but bare with me. I hope it will be worth your time.
Today I took my final Spanish oral exam. I've never been a huge fan of oral exams because speaking has always been my biggest weakness when it comes to the Spanish language. I can mostly understand what I read, and I can write a relatively understandable (though probably not grammatically correct) sentence, and I can semi comprehend what's being said as long as it's said slowly enough. But I am an awful speaker. This probably stems from my fear of saying the wrong thing and looking stupid; I think I've heard one too many stories of word mix-ups, when you say pregnant instead of embarrassed or something equally dumb, and these stories make my too nervous to practice speaking, therefore making me an awful speaker. Add to this nervousness the fact that oral exams are done in front of the professor for a grade, and the pitiful speaking ability I do have disappears completely.
In fact, I did so badly on my midterm oral exam that my professor told me, "you seemed to struggle with . . . Spanish." This was actually an accident; he meant to say I struggle with past and future verb conjugations, but those two things are such a major part of the language that his first accidental assessment was pretty accurate. However, I'm happy to report that I did better this time around. Marginally better, but better nonetheless. I think it had something to do with my improvement on my verb conjugations.
Really I shouldn't be grateful for those pesky things, because there are so many ways to conjugate a verb that it really makes the Spanish language, or any language for that matter, infinitely more complicated than it could be if it only had a few verb forms. However, strangely I am grateful for them. Even though I'm absolutely terrible at conjugating verbs correctly, and I have to cycle through all the forms I can remember before I finally hit on the right one, I still enjoy trying to conjugate them. It acts like a puzzle in my brain, and I like puzzles, so I'm grateful for anything that makes me enjoy Spanish just a little bit more.
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