Day 5

Day 5. Three Personality Traits I'm Proud of

Three? Oh, c'mon. *sigh* Okay. Let's try.

1. Blunt. I am a straight-forward person, who says what she means. I don't like beating around the bush. Unfortunately, this also means I think before I speak, a lot. So yeah, it's a blessing and a curse. :P

2. Finisher. I'm the type of person who starts something and HAS to finish it. I canNOT stand unfinished projects. It just irks me to no end. I will finish what I start, to the best of my ability. And usually fairly quickly too. I don't like taking my time. If I can do something, then I wanna do it NOW.

3. Loyal. I am loyal to a fault. Mess with my bestie, you mess with me. If you are my bestie, I will love you to death. And it is very hard for me to give up on friendships/relationships. I'm not the kind of person that can easily get over a broken friendship.


There, that's 3 right? ;)

Day 4

Day 4. A Guilty Pleasure

Oh my gosh. Okay yeah. Mainly two.

I am so. so. so. addicted to coffee. I'm admitting it freely. It is the most amazing thing a person could ever think up. Pure bliss in a cup. Mmmmm....my latest obsession? The Peppermint Coffee that my bestie gave me for my bday/Christmas. So amazing. So magical. So delissssh.

Chocolate. No seriously. I canNOT tell you how much chocolate I consume. Cuz then I'd feel ashamed. ;) I literally did eat an entire large dark chocolate Hershey's bar in two days though. :P 

But oh, cadbury...chocolate all the way from England? Totally can't beat that!!

After a long, quiet day at work...complete with standing around, bored, with co-workers, and joking with patrons...I checked my school account and found this:

Squee!! :) Nothin makes me grin harder than seeing all my hard work paid off this past semester! 

I'm one of those paranoid people who stresses about grades and thinks she's failed if she gets a B. 

I know that can seem very obnoxious to people...as if I'm so stuck up that if I get a grade lower than an A then I get upset.

In a way, I hate this most about myself. I've been realizing more and more how very 

much of a perfectionist I am. I get so easily stressed out if I do not get good

grades. Part of me even feels like I have to work harder in college because

I cheated in high school. *gasp* Horror, I know! A home schooler

who cheated?? But yeah, I did. Stupidly too. :P Got caught, had to re-take

the class. My perfectionist side reminds me of how that was a failure

in my life. And while that still bugs me from time to time, I have

slowly been realizing that I do not need to push myself to make up for that

one mistake. It's in the past, it's done, over with...I've regretted it and now I have to move on. 

Another part of  me pushes to get the good grades because I *know* I can. My mind tells me

that I can get perfect grades if only I push myself hard enough. 

The struggle is telling my mind when pushing that hard is just not good. 

The stress alone is not always worth the extra-good grades. 

So while I am thrilled to have made perfect grades, I am also happy that I took the time this past 

semester to focus on having good times outside of school, and that I took the time to ENJOY

my classes instead of just being so focused on being perfect. 

And I was surprised to discover that...even while enjoying my classes, I could still work hard

and accomplish great grades. 

And while my mind may tell me otherwise, *I* tell myself that if I do indeed ever get a B or even a C, it's okay. Not the end of the world. What matters is that I did my best, enjoyed life, 

and didn't become obsessed. 

So yes, there's one of the goals on my 2013 Bucket List!

Enjoy school and become less of an obsessed perfectionist. ;) 

For now, I will celebrate my good grades with hot cocoa and a movie. 

Hard work deserves some sugar and mindless activity. ;) 

You could always join me. :P Harry Potter movie night, anyone??

Day 3

Day 3. Earliest Childhood Memory

I was three-years-old and it was my older sister's birthday party. Mom had gotten me all dressed up and I remember the dress being flouncy. It was blue and purple and it had one of those huge bib-like collars. So fashionable was I at three. ;)

I remember seeing Mom rushing around to get things done. She stopped long enough to get herself ready and I stood in her bedroom doorway, watching her as she leaned forward towards her mirror, putting on eye  makeup. The only thought I remember having was, "I want some."

Mom, being in the hurry she was, rushed downstairs to finish getting ready.

While I don't exactly remember going to get the markers, I do remember being in the bathroom WITH a marker and climbing up onto the sink to look into the mirror. I don't remember drawing the marker on...the next thing I do remember is going downstairs, walking into the dining room, where Mom was getting things ready.

I remember she took one look at me and burst out laughing. Then she must have run to get the camera, because there is a photo of me that day, looking solemnly up at the camera, not sure whyyyy on earth Mom is laughing.


What can I say? I was a cute lil tyke.

I woke up from sweet, sweet sleep to the sound of my darn alarm clock (aka, my phone: Thor. What can I say? We have a love-hate relationship...). I took one look out my window and groaned. I can't say I was shocked since I had been forewarned and since it had already started before I went to bed, but the sight of white covering EVERYTHING so did not make my day. 

I guess I can't really complain since it's the biggest dump of snow we've had yet. 

Okay, okay, I'll admit...it did look kind of pretty on the trees outside my bedroom window. There is definitely something magical...Narnia-like...about snow on tree branches. 

This, however, DID fill my day with joy. Coffee. Regular. With cream and sugar. Mmmm. I am such a girl-coffee-drinker. Thanks to the bro! And it gave me the much-needed caffeine high to get through the last half of the work-day. 

Much joy to you all...be it in coffee or non-coffee form. 

Though, I have to say, if you don't drink coffee, I really really don't understand you. :P 

Day 2

Next day!

Day 2. Twenty Facts About Me

Oh, boooooooooring. Why can't we have the more interesting blog challenges?? Okay, okay, here we go. 20 facts. Meh.


1. I have an iphone. (hence all the instagram photos lately, dur) His name is Thor. Yes. I named him after the long-haired, big-muscled, weird-clothing-styled goofball who talks in Yoda talk. I don't care. He is HOT and he is funny and I love that movie nomatterwhatanyonesaysorwhomocksme. So there.

2. I have been working on a bucket list for the year 2013. Uh, nooo I'm not sharing it with you! Nosy much? Geez. ;) Maybe one of these days.

3. I read Young Adult books all the time. And enjoy em. I just finished "The Fire Chronicle", 2nd book in a new series by John Stephens (a writer on GilmoreGirls & GossipGirl...), which I thought was brilliant. Can't wait for the 3rd book.

4. I watch inspirational films like "Chariots of Fire" and "Amazing Grace" and wanna get up and DO something. Those are definitely movies you canNOT just sit there and watch. It'll make you feel like a bum if you do.

5. One of my pet peeves is when someone leans across the desk, while I'm working. So DANG annoying!

6. I am a HUGE fan of Donald Miller...one of the few people who makes sense to me these days! I mean c'mon, how is THIS not inspiring: "Why not get your glory from God? Why not accept your feelings of redemption because of His pleasure in you, not the fickle and empty favor of man? And only then will you know WHO YOU ARE, and only then will you have TRUE, UNINHIBITED relationships with others." 

7. Yes, I like the boy band One Direction, no, I do NOT swoon over them. They look like over-dressed puppies, for pete's sake.

8. I had this amazing dream this morning that I was hanging out with my sister and we were drinking hard lemonade. And it tasted amazing in my dream. Then I woke up. On a Thursday. Snow outside. I hate dreams sometimes. They mock you.

9. I get all teary-eyed and smooshie-inside when I listen to "The Holiday" soundtrack. Hans Zimmer is pure genius.

10. I drink my hot chocolate with peppermint extract in it. Mmmm....so amazing.

11. I'm secretly starting to like Matt Smith better than David Tennant as the Doctor. Yes, I feel like a traitor.

12. I have a favorite blanket named Mr. Snuggles.

13. I have tiny tiny wrists...I can wrap the pinkie of my right hand around my left wrist, and have the right hand's thumb cover my entire pinkie's nail. Try it...bet you can't do that.

14. I hate the sound of snow crunching beneath my feet. Ugh.

15. I am not fond of being touched.

16. I have an inner alarm clock that wakes me up between 5-6:30 a.m. every morning. It's a pain.

17. I have 5 ear piercings.

18. I am 5'7" tall.

19. I have a not-so-secret horror of the novatron power pack at school...better known as: The Box of Doom, the Box of Boom, or just the Scary Box. Evil evil lil box of power.

20. I love daffodils and daisies.

My friend was right..."Pain means you're alive." :) 

This book excerpt made my day and made me smile, because it reminded me of a

telephone conversation I had with my friend two years ago. 

Even two years later, this conversation stays at the front of my mind.