I believe

The other day, my very favorite blogger Erin at Living in Yellow did a link up. We all know my abilities to actually make it to link up parties are a little lacking.  So obviously I'm doing it late. I think it's become my thing to write my link up post a few days late. If only it would be as effective as linking up on time. But whateva, whateva. It's my blog. I do my own thang.

Onward to the actual point of this post.

Her link up was called I believe.

And there are many things I believe.

Here goes nothin': 

I believe in chocolate. Excessive amounts of chocolate.

I believe in the knowledge that no one can hold you back from your dreams.

I believe that if you put in the work, big things will come to you.

I believe in laughter.

I believe that a day without a smile is not a day worth having.

I believe in fresh starts.

I believe in forgiveness.

I believe in the color yellow and it's abilities to cheer me up.

I believe in buying cookie dough simply to eat, never to cook.

I believe in the power of a compliment.

I believe in skinny vanilla lattes.

I believe in silliness and dancing like a freak. 

I believe in making silly faces.

I believe in kindness. 

I believe in nail polish and makeup. 

I believe that happiness is a persons best quality.

I believe in sunlight.

I believe in confidence. 

I believe in family.

I believe in being trusting even when I have no reason to. 

I believe in honesty.

I believe in community. 

I believe in Alpha Delta Pi. 

I believe in love.

I believe in holding your head up high and fighting through the pain.

I believe in new clothes and occasionally shopping.

I believe in spoiling myself within reason. 

Lastly and most importantly, I believe in Jesus Christ and all He has given me.

Lazy Sundays

Hewoooo!  I'm actually doing a link-up on time today. Get it, Natalie.

I also am having a lazy Sunday. I worked on some homework this morning and now I'm working on some online shopping. Whoops. Anyways, here's my linkup.  Aww yeah.
1. What is something you have wanted to do but are afraid of?
I want to skydive. But jumping out of a plane scares the beejuzus out of me.
2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?


I see myself graduated from college, getting into my career, travelling to new exciting places.  It's weird to think that I'll be 24 in five years. I can hardly imagine what this next year will bring let alone the next five. But I hope that I will be doing well in my big kid life. 
3. What are you looking forward to before the end of 2012? I can't wait to go down to Austin, TX in two weeks and see all of my friends at UT. I am thrilled that I get to see them and I honestly can't wait. I am also really excited for fall to come. We had a little taste of it for about a week, but now it's warming back up.  I just order myself a sweater so I'm really excited for colder temperatures.  I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and seeing my family and friends at home. I am looking forward to Christmas. 
4. What are your hopes for your blog? I hope to see it grow. I hope to continue writing posts that mean something to me.  I hope to find inspiration in my daily life to share on my blog.  I am looking forward to my future in the blogging community.
5. Do you always see yourself living in your current town/city? No. I love Lubbock and I love my school. But as soon as that diploma is in my hand, I'm getting out.  I hope to move near Houston or Dallas though.  I'm a Texas girl and I definitely don't want that to change. 
6. What is your morning routine? I'm not very good at a consistent morning routine. I usually hit the snooze button at least once. Then I get up and brush my teeth. Then I get my hair and makeup done and  occasionally eat breakfast before heading to school.

Me, Myself, & I

Today we're trying something new people.

I love trying new things and this is something  I've been wanting to do 

the last few months, but my timing is always terrible.

So here we go: 

This months Me, Myself and I

1) When you're feeling down, what do you do to pick yourself up?

This is really bad for the environment so Earth please don't hate me,

 but it's honestly one of the few things that can cheer me up. 

 I get in my truck,

 I roll the windows down (granted it's not raining or a billion degrees),

 I play my favorite music as loud as I can and I drive.
I drive for as long as it takes until I can smile.
I drive sometimes too fast or sometimes too slow.
It all depends on what is upsetting me at that moment.

 I especially like driving until I get lost.

Finding my way home takes my mind off of whatever it is that is stressing me out.

When I can't drive, I generally try and focus on something that is happy or funny

until I can't remember why I was feeling upset in the first place.

2)  If you had to live in a different time period which would you prefer?

The 1920s, I think.
I have a real love for the Great Gatsby and
sometimes I like to dream about what my life would be like if I were Daisy.
Although I wouldn't be too fond of that whole market crash in '29 thing.
If it couldn't be the 20s I think I would like to live in the 50s.
Things seemed simpler then than they are now and I like that.
As much as I try, I can't seem to keep my life simple, but it seems like
things were easier then and I think I'd like to be a part of that.

3)  What is the most creative Halloween costume you've ever worn?

This is a hard one..
I was pretty standard things as kid.
Ya know, a witch, a pumpkin, etc.
I honestly don't know what my most creative costume was.

4)  Five weird things about you we wouldn't know without being told?

1. I can't do the number three on my right hand.

It's really weird. I can do all the other numbers

but when I try and make a three my hand turns into

a dinoraptor claw.

2. I like to buy cookie dough to eat rather than to make cookies.

I find it's way more fun to do it that way.

In fact, I have some in the fridge that is calling my name.

3. I get really excited about getting emails.

I really love when I have more than 15 in my inbox at a time.

It makes me super happy to see the numbers pop up even if it is all junk mail.

4. I love typing.

I used to play typing games for fun because I liked to beat my score.

I also try and type as fast as I can all the time.

I don't like to type slowly and it makes me cringe when people can't type correctly.

When I was a kid, I dreamed of being a secretary.

I think it stemmed from my love of typing and my 
strange infatuation with school and office supplies.

5.  I have a slight fear of feet.

However, it's gotten much better lately.
I don't get squirmy looking at them.

I only get squirmy when the get near me.

I also only have real problems with select peoples feet.

5)  What would you tell your 16-year-old self?

The next three years are going to be harder than you know.
But don't worry, there's a ton of good that's mixed in with the bad.
Remember to tell everyone who means something to you that they matter
and that you wouldn't be the same without them in your life.
Don't let the world get you down.
Keep the smile that you constantly have now because soon there will
be days you don't know that you have it.
Don't ever base your thoughts of yourself on the opinion of someone who doesn't matter.
No matter what, don't forget to be kind.
Remember that everyone you meet has a different story
and that they may be fighting battles you can't even imagine.
Have heart and be strong. You can make it through.
And I promise that we turn out pretty good after all of it.

Change

I had a post scheduled for today. But then a few things made me change my mind.
The first was that it was too close to my heart and I was scared. The second is that it was about my dad and I was scared that by some odd chance he might see what I had written. The third is that something changed my mind. That something is what I'm going to write about instead. When did life make me bitter?
When did I stop supporting people trying new things just because I do them? Am I really that girl? If I am, then I am sorry. 
When did I start looking a task and viewing it as something I can fail at, rather than something I can succeed at? What happened to make me start seeing everything in a negative way?
I used to be so positive. I always was willing to try. I never wanted to hurt someone. I guess that life threw a lot at me these past few years. I didn't always handle it in the best way. I let it get the best of me.
And I am not ok with any of that. I am not ok with being the negative person that I have been. And today that's going to change. I am going to keep my head held high and be the person that I know I am regardless of the actions or words of other people. I will be better for me and for the people around me. Because I want to lead a positive, happy life.

Balance & Focus

My two strongest qualities...  {Keep reading.. you'll understand} You know that saying: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" I'm starting to think it's true. Because here's the thing. For the past few months, I've had an individual trying to become me. I mean let's be honest.. Who doesn't want to be like this?

Anyways, I think it's a little weird. Especially considering what I'm assuming their reasons are behind it.  But I'm choosing to be flattered by it.  I guess it means I'm sort of awesome if someone wants to  be exactly like me in every way.. Or maybe they're a little deranged. It's whatever. As long as it doesn't directly affect my life, I'm not complain'. In other news, this whole school getting in the way of blogging is not ok with me. I need some balance in my life. My schedule hasn't been the same since I got back to Lubbock. It's killing me. I just want a normal. But I'm starting to think that maybe chaos is my normal. After all, I did sort of make it this way, didn't I? I'm definitely supposed to be writing a paper right now, or rather, researching for a paper right now. But all I want to do is blog. I love writing more than anything, but writing a paper about "the research process" is a little mundane and boring. I just want to write about something interesting. Like ya know, how to find balance..  Riveting people.  Fun fact, my major coming into college was Journalism. I think I could have been pretty great at it. But then there's the problem of I only want to write about what I want when I want.  So the whole deadline/structure thing doesn't really float my boat. So naturally, I switched my major to something that's nothing but deadlines and structure. If you can figure out what I was thinking there, lemme know.  But really, I love Interior Design.

I just drew out my floor plan for a project a few moments ago and  every time I just want to see it all built even though I know that won't happen.  Which brings me back to my point, how does writing a paper over how to find  the information over a building help me build houses or hospitals or whatever else I choose? I mean, yes, it's helpful. But I already know how.. Why do I have to bore my TA with a four page paper about how I googled a building, looked it up in a book, and asked the librarian a question? I think I could save us both some time if I just didn't do it. Although, let's be real.
I can't do that.  I care far to much about my grades. And with my goal of getting another 4.0, I really don't think failing an assignment is a good start.   I hope my TA is prepared for a paper along the lines of "I spent a few hours on Pinterest and then decided it may be time to research, I googled, then went back to Pinterest" I mean... Four pages of that. Who wouldn't want to read it?  I think the original point of this nonsense was the fact that I need some balance. I'd love to tell you more, but I'm already late for my meeting... Until next time 

nine-eleven

"Where were you when the world stopped turning?" ~ Alan Jackson
I was in third grade. I was probably playing sparkle spell in order to learn my spelling words for the week. My teacher held her composure. None of us knew. Until I got to extended day care after school. And a fourth grader told me that two planes crashed into a building. I had the natural response of a third grader. I said she was a liar. I told her that she was stupid and that planes couldn't do that. Why would they mess up that bad?
I didn't understand. I don't think many of us did. Until my dad picked me up. He immediately took me to a restaurant. I knew something was strange. We didn't eat out on school nights. And we especially didn't go straight there from school. I was even more suspicious when my mom was at the restaurant meeting us. At this time, she never came home from work this early. I couldn't understand. Until I looked at the TV. And saw a building on fire crumbling to the ground. And then she told me she had been sent home early. At the time, she worked in one of the tallest buildings in downtown Houston and no one knew what was going to happen next.
Looking back on this, I remember feeling confused. But I never understood. It didn't register to my 8 year old self that there were people, just like my mom, in that building when it was hit. Some third grader in New York that day, just like me, lost their mom or their dad. Some mother lost her husband or her child. It didn't make sense that people died that day. I didn't understand.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the sacrifice all those people made for us. The firefighters, police officers, EMTs.  The innocent people. Forty years from now, will we remember? I mean, Pearl Harbor happened and was tragic. Can people my age tell you the date? Can they tell you how many soldiers lost their lives? How can we expect all those kids who weren't there or were too young to understand to grasp and remember the sacrifice that was made for our country?
I hope we can figure out a way to make it stick. I hope that forty or fifty years from now people still stop and remember the men and women who lost their lives because  a plane crashed through their building. I hope we can consider this loss to our country when we are at war with another. Do we want to cause innocent people to lose their lives the way our citizens did? I hope the answer to that is no. I hope we can use 9/11 as a force to change the world. But, if nothing else, I hope we never forget the people we lost that day. And the hurt our country felt. 

Labor Day Plus a Few More Days

This semester is going to be a crazy one. I can't even tell you how busy I've been and I've only been in school for two weeks. But thankfully, it's now my weekend. The perks of no class on Fridays are awesome.  However, it makes the rest of the week a little crazy. Anyways, this is my labor day post. A week too late.

Well my grandparents are turning 70 in November.
And being the large party people that they are, they obviously threw themselves a party. Ya know, kegs, hundreds of strangers, the whole nine yards. It was a rager.  Kidding. There were only maybe 20 strangers.  It was a low key event.  In all seriousness though, they had a party. A classy event though. I'm fairly certain there wasn't a keg. My mom may have snuck in liquor but I'm pretty sure she's been doing that since she was 17 so it was nothing new.  Ok, really now. One hundred percent serious. It was a great party. They threw it up in the Taos ski valley. My friend Jackie came with me and made a road trip out of it.  They brought in their favorite band. All of their closest friends came. It was fabulous.  {there were no drunk people} Story over. Cue picture explosion.