Day 17

Well, since I'm not a mom, I'll take Becky's idea and say something I'm looking forward to.

I'm looking forward to a lot of things. Most soon I'm looking forward to graduating. I really want to graduate with honors, and I'm on the right track. Additionally, I'm really looking forward to going back home and getting my teaching career started for real.

I'm also looking forward to being a wife and mother some day. I'd love to have a family of my own (not that I don't have an awesome family now) and share my wonderful life with them.

I also look forward to traveling. I hope to do a lot of it in my life, and I look forward to that!

I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them now.

Day 16 Blog Challenge

My Day 16 is my favorite season. This is really difficult. I love all the seasons. Each one offers the fresh outlook and hope of a great new thing, and the reprieve from the last. I love that I live in the best place in the world, one that has all four seasons.

Spring is awesome because it offers new life and hope. It gives the relief from winter's harsh cold. Plus, you can play in the rain!

Summer's awesome because you can hike and enjoy the mountains, after they've thawed from winter. They're a great way to escape heat.

Fall's great because you have beautiful colors and awesome smells. It's starting to be a family-oriented time of year with holidays and things. It's great.

Winter is fun because there's snow! You can ski, snowshoe, etc. Plus, there's snow to play in! :D And who doesn't love sweaters!?

So, I'd say my favorite season is: all of them and the fact that I am fortunate enough to call home a place that has all of them. I love Boulder!

If I had $1,000,000

I'd be rich! Haha, but seriously, today's blog is about my dreams and what I'd do with the money to make it happen. Firstly, I'd get rid of ALL my debt (and there goes a big chunk of change) and that of my family. I'd donate a bunch. And, with what I had left (if any), I'd travel the world. I'd take the ones I love and explore! I'd make dreams come true (mine at least, and torture those with me to follow along, haha)! I'd go everywhere! Obviously, this is a dream of having endless money. If I were set to have $1,000,000, I'd do as much as I can and still have a secure future. Even in my dream of endless money, I'd work. I'd find a school where I could teach and be truly happy, because I love teaching. It's in my blood and it's my passion. So, with endless money I'd see the world and teach to my heart's content. That's my dream. :)

Blog Challenge Continued

Oops, forgot to finish this last night...my bad. :)

After a long weekend away and no internet access, today I'm playing catch up (all the way up to Day 14). Sorry for the big post, but it'll be worth it. :)

Day 10: What I'm Afraid of:



I'm afraid, like many people of failing. I'm not talking about college tests (although if I had them I might be), but on the bigger picture. I'm afraid of failing the people I love and letting them down. I'm afraid of failing myself and repeating old mistakes, thereby letting myself down. I want to make people I love and care about proud. I'm afraid to fail. I set pretty high (sometimes unrealistic) expectations on myself in order to please/make proud/etc. the people I love, and I really want to live up to them. Unfortunately, sometimes they are pretty lofty and I fall short. I'm working on it, as always.


Day 11: Something I've Lost and Miss:



As you know, I've lost my dad. It's been nearly 10 years now (June), and I obviously still miss him. A lot. Like with anything, some days are worse than others. Important days in his life (birthday, anniversary of his death, Christmas Eve, etc) are harder than others, but randomly it's hard, too. I wasn't really a daddy's girl (that was Becky's area), but we definitely had our things. Theatre was our sacred place. We could fight like cats and dogs, but in the theatre, there was nothing wrong. We just synced. It was great. Our McDonalds trips, too, were our thing. Becky had donuts with Daddy, I had McDonalds breakfast. It was just us time. And I cherished it. Maybe that's why I still love McD's breakfast to this day.


Day 12: Favorite Trait About Myself:

I think my favorite thing about myself, which I sometimes forget, is that I am strong. I have been through a lot in my 25 years, and I strive in them. I more than survive. I am strong and just keep getting stronger. I know what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and I've had my fair share of strength builders. :)

Day 13: Some things I believe:

I believe everything happens for a reason. God has it all planned out and wouldn't present you with something you can't get through. You may not know it at the time, but everything happens to better you. You may not understand it, like it or want it, but it makes you stronger, better, and is for a reason. I also forget this sometimes, but I know deep down it's true.

And finally, Day 14: My favorite color:

If any of you know me, you know it's orange! I love it. It's so cheerful and happy. It's always been my favorite color, ever since I was a kid. It also happens to be Patrick's and my dad's. Weird, huh? I think it's just cuz it's an awesome color! :)

Blog Day 9

Hmm...my options...a picture of friends (which I don't have many pics of) or a book that's had a profound affect on my life. Wow. Hard. I'll attempt Julie's.

My favorite book of all time is Le Petit Prince. I read it in high school French class and have loved it ever since. I've read it so many times. It has some of the best quotes and lessons in it. I think it's probably had a pretty significant impact on me. Both its lessons and its language are in my soul. I try to live them. As you know, I'm obsessed with all things French, so what better, right?

Another pretty significant book is "The Night Before Christmas" because Daddy read it to us every Christmas Eve. I've continued that tradition. So, in a way, that story has had an impact.

Never a Dull Moment

Similar to Mary's always telling Julie to write a book, my friend at school here, Kate, keeps saying we need to write a book about all the adventures we have. It seems they're ceaseless. Every time we go out, it turns into an event. Although, I think it's just the city, personally. Or maybe it's just me. :)

Anyway, I got back to NY late Sunday night. Yesterday was MLK day and the school was closed. It was nice to have a day to recoup and rest before the routine started up again. Plus, it gave me a chance to get my apt set up again, after being gone for a month. MAJOR grocery shopping needed. Plus, with my new diet, anything that was left over, I pretty much can't eat, anyway. :)

So, Kate and I decided to make a day of it. Running errands...what a day! She needed a new blanket and I decided there was probably some housey stuff I needed, too. She mentioned she'd been to Times Square with her boyfriend the day before and seen a Target there. Ok, cool! We headed downtown only to find out that it's not a Target, but rather, just a giant sign. Poo. So, in the bitter cold, we walked the 9 blocks to the Kmart I knew was just a ways away. Not a biggie. We found an awesome blanket for Kate and a toaster (I mean, "stapler") for me and headed back up.

Riding the train with our new exciting housewares, we stopped in Harlem for the grocery store. I'm tellin' ya, it's an exciting day of hanging out, yeah? I know you're jealous! We wandered through the grocery store and $120 later were out of there headed home to cook some yumminess. As we were walking out, we found a cab that took the sketchiest way back home...unappreciated, sir. Finally we made it back and unloaded. We had our DELISH dinner of lasagna casserole and pampered her poor puppy who had just had surgery. Poor Cabbot. He's doing much better, but of course he hams up the injury to get lovins. He is her seeing-eye-dog and had to have a toe removed, so he can't work for another couple weeks. Luckily it was during break. Anyway, I felt bad that I couldn't give him any noodles; he looked so sad and pathetic with his cone on. But, I was good and didn't feed him.

So, laughing all the way through dinner, we enjoyed our eventful day of Target-less Times Square, sketchy cabbies, and late dinner. All for a day of errands. Love this city!

Blog Challenge Update

Ok, so I fell behind...shocker :)

Day 6 is (on Becky's a picture--done that and on Julie's a sad memory--no thanks) interesting facts! So, Becky put 15 interesting facts about her on her Day 1, but I didn't, so I will share some now.

1. My favorite number is 6. I was born on the 6th at 6:00 and weighed 6 lbs or something like that, I think. Anyway, I like it. But my lucky number is usually 7. Weird!


2. I love stupid trivia. Useless knowledge fascinates me, and I can always find a place to share it. Usually it's with my students (kids love the stuff). I make a fun time of the day to share a new fact.


3. I don't like escalators. I never have. When I was a kid, I had this Sesame Street book where Ernie and Maria go to the mall. They get on the escalator and the line in the book says, " 'One, two, three, step!' said Maria" and anytime I had to get on an escalator mom would say that to me. To this day, I still say it in my head every time I step on. If you watch me, you can probably see me concentrating getting on. They scare me. I hate them!


4. My favorite color is orange. It's just such a happy color. Coincidentally, it was my father's favorite, too. Neat. It's also Patrick's favorite. Convenient. :)


5. I too have the uncanny ability to find misspellings and typos in things. It drives me CRAZY. It seems like such a good ability to have, right? NO! It's annoying as hell! They're everywhere! It amazes me how people don't understand their own language!
6. As you know, I'm in grad school. But did you know....I only have 4 months left!? To the day, I'll graduate in 4 months. So excited.
7. I have adrenal gland problems and can't eat sugars or fake sugars. And there's sugar in EVERYTHING!
8. I, also, don't find myself that interesting. If it weren't for Julie, I wouldn't have this blog at all. :)

Day 7 is my favorite movies: O boy! Well, in no particular order, some of my favorites are:

• Empire Records


• Happy Accidents


• Life as a House


• Must Love Dogs (and pretty much ANYTHING with John Cusak in it)


• Princess Bride

I'm sure I'm missing some, but o well.

And today is Day 8! Today we'll discuss a place I've travelled!

You all know how I love travelling, so today's more of it! :D This past March, I went to Belize, Central America. It was beyond amazing. I went with a few of my friends to love on the kids of Belize. We painted a school, hung out with some orphans and learned immense amounts about how others live. It was a very humbling experience to see the joy these kids have with so little. The whole trip was so amazing (we went cave tubing, monkey hunting--SO FREAKING AMAZING!, and to a Mayan ruins site--also way cool). But the kids really made it for me. During the lunch and recess breaks at school we played with them; man they have energy! It was so great to be able to share the love and get dirty for kids! :D