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Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Be Carefree and Sparkly in 2012
So, Shoot for the Sun in Twenty-One-One ended up being a really great theme for 2011. The year started off in the most amazing way possible---my incredible boyfriend Eddie told me he loved me at about 1 in the morning on New Year's Day :) (and I said it back since I'd been holding it in too!).
In February I spent the first Valentine's Day I've ever had with a boyfriend (well, with a *real* boyfriend, since the only guy I dated in high school during v-day COMPLETELY ignored it) with my sweetie, and it was super duper fun! We also celebrated Eddie's birthday, and I dug my car out of the snow when the blizzard hit (ugh!).
All the while I was working hard in my classes and shooting for the sun by applying to an internship program at the Library of Congress, never dreaming that I'd get in. Eddie and I also had a BLAST when he took me with him and his friend to go see Monday Night Raw live at the Allstate Arena.....never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would watch WWE wrestling, let alone be seeing it in person, but it was SUPER FUN! :)
Spring finally came, and I again spent my birthday with my incredible friends and boyfriend! I also got some unexpected news: I'd gotten into the Library of Congress internship program! Thanks to the most amazing best friend in the entire world, I was able to go to DC and spend the summer working with some of the most intelligent and professional people I have ever met, learning SO much and seeing some truly remarkable things. I earned my Master's Degree, and right before I left for DC I took a super fun trip to Florida with my family :)
And after Florida and a somewhat tearful goodbye, I set off for DC not knowing what to expect from the Junior Fellows program. I had a BLAST!!! From seeing Abraham Lincoln's draft of the Gettysburg Address to making pigment samples to experiencing my 2nd 4th of July in DC, it was a wonderful summer. Another highlight was definitely getting to show Eddie all my favorite places and spaces when he came to visit for our exhibit at the end of the summer :)
So, shooting for the sun was going pretty well! I had a couple of job interviews and was feeling confident that by the end of the year I'd have a job and be able to reach my goal of starting to pay off my loans and becoming fully financially independent. Then, in September, I experienced one of the most exciting events of my life: the birth of my nephew! Little Judah was born on 9/10/11 (so easy to remember, awesome! lol), and it has been so much fun watching him grow up so far. I can't wait to read him so many stories!!
And then life started hitting me a little hard. I hadn't been getting any job interviews, and so I decided to go back to working at Barnes & Noble. I also had tons of super fun fall times with my man and my bestie, including going apple picking and especially carving pumpkins together!
So, even though I hadn't gotten a "real" job yet, I was surprised and delighted to get a holiday job working at 1 of my favorite stores, Lush! I also LOVED bringing Eddie to Thanksgiving and continuing to get to know his family as he got to know mine. Spending our 1 year anniversary downtown was definitely one of the highlights of my year, as was spending Christmas together :) Finally, for Eddie's Christmas/anniversary gift we got to go see Monday Night Raw AGAIN, making it the 2nd time I've been and the only time Eddie has ever been to see it twice in one year. Score one for my present buying skills! lol.
Overall, I feel that Shoot for the Sun in Twenty-One-One was a success. I learned that no matter how hard things seem, they could always be worse. I learned how to lean on my friends and family during hard times, and to celebrate with them when good things happened (which was a lot!). I somewhat failed at my goal to eat better and to exercise more, but I'm learning a lot about what discipline means in that respect and hope to improve this year. Even though I am not fully financially independent yet, I continue to strive for that goal and feel that I did everything in my power to meet it this year. Like my friend Holly said, shooting for the sun is not about being perfect, it's about doing everything in your power to make good things happen for yourself.
This brings me to our theme for 2012: Be Carefree and Sparkly! I'll leave you all with what Holly said on her blog (http://meatlesswithmia.blogspot.com/) about our theme, because I could not agree with her more!
"I can worry & obsess over my future all I want, but I only have so much power. If something is meant to happen, it will happen. Being carefree and sparkly is about enjoying life for what it is. It's about working hard toward my goals, of course...but it's also about giving myself a break. If my plan B doesn't work out, hey, at least I did everything in my power to get there. And if plan C doesn't work--then I'll come up with something else."
LOVE it!! 2012, here we come! :)
In February I spent the first Valentine's Day I've ever had with a boyfriend (well, with a *real* boyfriend, since the only guy I dated in high school during v-day COMPLETELY ignored it) with my sweetie, and it was super duper fun! We also celebrated Eddie's birthday, and I dug my car out of the snow when the blizzard hit (ugh!).
All the while I was working hard in my classes and shooting for the sun by applying to an internship program at the Library of Congress, never dreaming that I'd get in. Eddie and I also had a BLAST when he took me with him and his friend to go see Monday Night Raw live at the Allstate Arena.....never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would watch WWE wrestling, let alone be seeing it in person, but it was SUPER FUN! :)
Spring finally came, and I again spent my birthday with my incredible friends and boyfriend! I also got some unexpected news: I'd gotten into the Library of Congress internship program! Thanks to the most amazing best friend in the entire world, I was able to go to DC and spend the summer working with some of the most intelligent and professional people I have ever met, learning SO much and seeing some truly remarkable things. I earned my Master's Degree, and right before I left for DC I took a super fun trip to Florida with my family :)
And after Florida and a somewhat tearful goodbye, I set off for DC not knowing what to expect from the Junior Fellows program. I had a BLAST!!! From seeing Abraham Lincoln's draft of the Gettysburg Address to making pigment samples to experiencing my 2nd 4th of July in DC, it was a wonderful summer. Another highlight was definitely getting to show Eddie all my favorite places and spaces when he came to visit for our exhibit at the end of the summer :)
So, shooting for the sun was going pretty well! I had a couple of job interviews and was feeling confident that by the end of the year I'd have a job and be able to reach my goal of starting to pay off my loans and becoming fully financially independent. Then, in September, I experienced one of the most exciting events of my life: the birth of my nephew! Little Judah was born on 9/10/11 (so easy to remember, awesome! lol), and it has been so much fun watching him grow up so far. I can't wait to read him so many stories!!
And then life started hitting me a little hard. I hadn't been getting any job interviews, and so I decided to go back to working at Barnes & Noble. I also had tons of super fun fall times with my man and my bestie, including going apple picking and especially carving pumpkins together!
So, even though I hadn't gotten a "real" job yet, I was surprised and delighted to get a holiday job working at 1 of my favorite stores, Lush! I also LOVED bringing Eddie to Thanksgiving and continuing to get to know his family as he got to know mine. Spending our 1 year anniversary downtown was definitely one of the highlights of my year, as was spending Christmas together :) Finally, for Eddie's Christmas/anniversary gift we got to go see Monday Night Raw AGAIN, making it the 2nd time I've been and the only time Eddie has ever been to see it twice in one year. Score one for my present buying skills! lol.
Overall, I feel that Shoot for the Sun in Twenty-One-One was a success. I learned that no matter how hard things seem, they could always be worse. I learned how to lean on my friends and family during hard times, and to celebrate with them when good things happened (which was a lot!). I somewhat failed at my goal to eat better and to exercise more, but I'm learning a lot about what discipline means in that respect and hope to improve this year. Even though I am not fully financially independent yet, I continue to strive for that goal and feel that I did everything in my power to meet it this year. Like my friend Holly said, shooting for the sun is not about being perfect, it's about doing everything in your power to make good things happen for yourself.
This brings me to our theme for 2012: Be Carefree and Sparkly! I'll leave you all with what Holly said on her blog (http://meatlesswithmia.blogspot.com/) about our theme, because I could not agree with her more!
"I can worry & obsess over my future all I want, but I only have so much power. If something is meant to happen, it will happen. Being carefree and sparkly is about enjoying life for what it is. It's about working hard toward my goals, of course...but it's also about giving myself a break. If my plan B doesn't work out, hey, at least I did everything in my power to get there. And if plan C doesn't work--then I'll come up with something else."
LOVE it!! 2012, here we come! :)
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Things That Rock
So here's a secret that's not really a secret: I don't like medicine. I take it as little as possible, and even though I am lucky enough to still qualify for my mom's health insurance, I very rarely go to the doctor. I also haven't been sick that much over the past year, which has been a blessing in and of itself!
But all that changed with one little itch.
Well, it started as a little itch. Then it turned into an uncontrollable itching/burning feeling covering literally my ENTIRE body! Maybe this is an overshare.......lol oh well. I share this because, for once, I am SO GLAD that I "gave in" and went to the doctor! With the prescription and advice he gave me 2 days ago, my itch has almost completely disappeared.
So, this is a post in which I humbly admit defeat. I don't have anything against modern medicine, I believe in it and I think it works, but I think some part of me wants to believe that I'm always strong enough to fight things on my own. In this case, I definitely wasn't, and that is a lesson I definitely need to remember in other situations!
But all that changed with one little itch.
Well, it started as a little itch. Then it turned into an uncontrollable itching/burning feeling covering literally my ENTIRE body! Maybe this is an overshare.......lol oh well. I share this because, for once, I am SO GLAD that I "gave in" and went to the doctor! With the prescription and advice he gave me 2 days ago, my itch has almost completely disappeared.
So, this is a post in which I humbly admit defeat. I don't have anything against modern medicine, I believe in it and I think it works, but I think some part of me wants to believe that I'm always strong enough to fight things on my own. In this case, I definitely wasn't, and that is a lesson I definitely need to remember in other situations!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Thankful Series-Day 30!
I made it!! :) I am honestly shocked that I remembered to blog (almost) every day this month! It's been a lot of fun writing down these little thoughts about things to be thankful for, and hopefully whenever I'm feeling down I can look back on this blog and remember them!
So, for the last day of the thankful series, I am thankful for my blog, and other blogs! I love sharing things with people through my blog, and I especially like looking at other people's blogs for ideas and inspiration. It's been a lot of fun discovering new ideas and interests this way, and I hope to continue blogging (although with the retail holiday season upon us, you may not hear from me for awhile...lol).
So, for the last day of the thankful series, I am thankful for my blog, and other blogs! I love sharing things with people through my blog, and I especially like looking at other people's blogs for ideas and inspiration. It's been a lot of fun discovering new ideas and interests this way, and I hope to continue blogging (although with the retail holiday season upon us, you may not hear from me for awhile...lol).
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Thankful Series-Day 29
I can't believe today is the 2nd to last day of this series!! It has been both helpful and personally challenging to think of all of these things to be thankful for, and has definitely helped me realize that even when things seem bleak, I still have SO, so much to be thankful for!
So, today I am thankful for fun art! I have a few artsy things hanging around my room that bring me lots of joy :) #1 is definitely the beautiful picture of a bird that my friend Lindsay took and framed for me. It's a robin, one of my favorite birds, and the red of the bird really pops against the green of the background/trees it is sitting in! I also have 2 awesome pictures I got from this year's Chicago Comic-Con, 1 of Sheldon wearing his Flash t-shirt and saying "Bazinga," and another of the full cast of The Big Bang Theory (Leonard is wielding a light saber, and Penny is holding a carton of Chinese take-out!). I also have this neat little plate that I've had since as long as I can remember that has a baby's room/stork on it, and has my time and date of birth :) It's fun to have these little things around to look at, they really brighten up my room!
So, today I am thankful for fun art! I have a few artsy things hanging around my room that bring me lots of joy :) #1 is definitely the beautiful picture of a bird that my friend Lindsay took and framed for me. It's a robin, one of my favorite birds, and the red of the bird really pops against the green of the background/trees it is sitting in! I also have 2 awesome pictures I got from this year's Chicago Comic-Con, 1 of Sheldon wearing his Flash t-shirt and saying "Bazinga," and another of the full cast of The Big Bang Theory (Leonard is wielding a light saber, and Penny is holding a carton of Chinese take-out!). I also have this neat little plate that I've had since as long as I can remember that has a baby's room/stork on it, and has my time and date of birth :) It's fun to have these little things around to look at, they really brighten up my room!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Thankful Series-Day 28
I am having a little bit of trouble thinking of something that I haven't already mentioned! Let's see......ahh, I know! I am EXTREMELY thankful that the repair of my car is hopefully not going to take very long, and that it might end up costing much less than originally quoted thanks to a very nice mechanic! Yay!!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thankful Series-Day 27
Today I am extremely, extremely thankful that no one was hurt in the car accident I had yesterday. Though my tire was messed up, and my axle is broken, it is getting fixed, and for that I am also thankful for my amazing, amazing boyfriend, and our awesome friends Cody and Lea, who came to the rescue and helped us put on the spare tire at the scene. Long story short, the road was slick from the rain and I spun out, hitting a median but nothing and no one else, thank God!
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