Reminder...

...that even when things are hard, I truly am blessed!

Source: imgfave.com via Jessica on Pinterest

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! :)

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!

It may be...

It may be cold-ish here in Illinois...but in less than 2 days I will be enjoying sunny Florida with my family!



It may be hard to choose what to pack to bring to DC, since I am flying and will be carrying my own luggage from the airport to my new apartment...luckily I am good at Tetris, so hopefully I will be able to fit everything I need into my suitcase(s)!



It may NOT be good for me...but I really enjoy eating cookies for breakfast! lol



It may be annoying when she wakes me up, but I still love snuggling with my Rory cat and letting her sleep in my room at night.



It WILL be hard to leave my boyfriend, friends, and family for 2 months...but I know it will be worth it for the amazing experience that is sure to come when I leave for DC in less than 2 weeks!

Weekly Goals

I just read an awesome post on my friend Holly's blog titled "Weekly Goals". She talked about how peppering a to-do list with more fun or enjoyable tasks or goals can make the rest of your to-do tasks seem more manageable. I think this is a FANTASTIC idea! Recently I've felt a bit overwhelmed by my schoolwork, and so here is part of my to-do list for the rest of the week, including some more "fun" tasks so that I can balance the have to do's with some more fun to do's that will help my personal well-being :)

1. Complete government information quiz
2. Complete government information homework
3. Do research for exhibitions class project/visit Columbia College library
4. Go to Zumba or another class at the gym
5. Grocery shopping for ingredients to make another delicious quinoa samosa bowl
6. Birthday present shopping for my dad!
7. Do research/begin putting together list for YA Literature Website project
8. Clean apartment/start going through closet and getting rid of some junk
9. Re-do budget for the rest of spring 2011 semester
10. Have a super fun time hanging out with le boyfriend and other friends this weekend! (after the homework is done...lol)

Recently...

Life has been rather busy! I have been doing lots of homework and hanging out with friends....so, I mean, that doesn't sound that complicated, but I feel like I haven't had any free time lately for some reason! So here are some pictures that describe what I have been doing for the past few weeks:

1. Buying presents! It was my sister-in-law's birthday a few weeks ago, and since I found out that I am going to be an aunt (!!!), I included a little something for my future niece or nephew with her present, pictured below.




2. Hanging out with my awesome roommate, who bought me these super adorable owl pillows!




3. Cooking!! Since I made those Snickerdoodle Cupcakes I have been on a roll! I made home made onion straws, hamburgers (for the 1st time ever!), and a baked pasta dish (a recipe from my sis-in-law). So far I am pleased with the results, apparently my years of watching nothing but the Food Network are finally paying off...lol!



4. Reading! I don't have a picture for this, but I have been reading comics, YA books, and much more for my classes. I've also been reading for fun using my new Nook Color e-reader, which I ADORE! I will post a full review of its features soon, but so far my favorite thing about it is that I can read magazines in stunning color (seriously), and use the internet/listen to Pandora radio. I also recently read "Black Heels and Tractor Wheels" by Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman) and adored it! She is a clever and fun writer, and the story of how she met and married her husband and transitioned from being a vegetarian city girl to a carnivorous country wife is really entertaining.

So, that's all for now. Hopefully soon I will have time to put together a few posts that aren't quite so random! :)

Confucius Say...

So I was looking up quotes by Confucius for my friend (inside joke, long story involving a Chinese dog...lol), and found this one:

"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop."

I really like it! I think it's good to remember that even if you feel like you are making slow progress, or even no progress on a goal, that doesn't mean that you won't eventually get there. For example, many of you know about my goal to lose weight. I've kind of hit a plateau and lost some motivation, but just because I haven't been hitting the gym hard or eating exactly healthy at every single meal doesn't mean that the little things I do won't eventually add up, if that makes sense. So, in short, don't give up on your goals if you are not making progress, just remember that going slowly doesn't mean that you have stopped, or that you can't go faster eventually if you want to!