Recurring Series – Page 123

Ten on Tuesday (Vol. 18)

1. What is your current favorite television show?

Big Brother. It’s total trash TV, but there’s just something spectacular about this show. If you’ve never seen the show, the basic premise is that a bunch of strangers move into a house where they’re secluded from the outside world – no TVs, no cell phones, no radio, no books. Every week, there’s a competition for a new Head of Household, who then has to put up 2 people for eviction. There’s a lot of gameplay involved, as well as some spectacular catfights and yelling matches. There are people you absolutely hate, and people you just fall completely in love with. This season, my favorites are Ragan, Lane, and Britney.

The show is amazing. If you’ve never seen the show, you’re definitely missing out!

2. Apple juice or orange juice?

Orange juice, no question. Apple juice is just plain nasty! Plus, OJ is good for your immune system!

3. It’s Shark Week on Discovery Channel. Do you watch? Why or why not?

No, I don’t. I never understood the big deal, or why I want to watch a week full of shows centered around sharks. Sharks don’t interest me that much.

4. What are the non-blog websites that you visit regularly?

Twitter. Facebook. Swagbucks. Good Reads. Gmail. My school’s website. My bank.

5. What is your favorite way to prepare green beans? Asparagus? Potatoes? Carrots?

I don’t cook asparagus or carrots so we can just throw those off.

I’ll admit that I don’t like fresh green beans. Canned green beans just taste so much better to me, and I like them with some squirts of butter & pepper, cooked in a pan on the stove.

I love potatoes. Mashed potatoes and new potatoes are my favorites. I make mashed potatoes just any old way, nothing special about it. With the new potatoes, I cut up the potato in large squares and put as much as I want in a bowl. Then, I pour in some olive oil and sprinkle some basil which I stir together until my hand gets tired. After that, I just arrange it all on a baking sheet, put it in the oven at 375, and wait until they’re golden brown. So flippin’ delicious. My favorite.

6. What is your favorite flower?

Tulips.

7. How do you feel about handkerchiefs?

Uh…two thumbs up? I don’t really have an opinion. They have their uses.

8. If you could only shop at 3 stores for the rest of your life, what would they be? (You probably should include a grocery store.)

Target for all my clothing and household and personal care needs. Publix for my grocery needs (and because I can’t go a week without getting one of their subs). And Ikea for my decorating needs. Perfect!

9. If you could only use wine for one purpose for the rest of your life, which would you choose? To cook with or to drink?

Hm…well, I don’t cook with wine and I don’t drink wine so this is hard for me. I guess I would choose to drink it, because I’m hoping my palate will become sophisticated enough to actually enjoy a glass of wine. So far, it’s not happening.

10. What’s your bedtime?

Ideally, 9:30pm, but I usually never make it to bed before 11. I do need to get on a more normal sleeping schedule when I go back to school in 4 weeks. Right now, my afternoon naps take care of my sleep needs, but it’ll be back to the grind soon!

Head on over to Roots & Rings to read more answers!

Categories: Recurring Series

50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind, Part 1

Right now, I’m in Orlando! It’s Friday, so I’m hopefully still sleeping when this posts and gearing up for a day at Disney World! Be jealous.

A while back, Ashley linked to this survey on her Life List and it looked like a really interesting survey to take, with questions that were different and introspective. So, here you go, my first 5 questions on this list answered:

1. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

I would never put my age at 22, or older. I think many bloggers would easily be able to say they act a lot older than their age indicates, but it’s not so for me. I would pinpoint my age around 19-20, with the fact that I’m still in school, still live with my mom, have a part-time job where I’m only responsible to pay our phone bill + gas when needed, and have seemingly no responsibility for important issues.

I’m not saying I’m not responsible or mature, and I do think there are certain areas of my life where I do act way above my age. It also doesn’t help that I’m constantly mistaken as a high-schooler. But there are some areas of my life that I think I could take a bigger step toward fixing and proving myself to be the 22-year-old that I am.

2. Which is worse, failing or never trying?

I think they both are pretty bad. In both instances, you’re left with regrets. You’re left with what-ifs. Failing makes you feel like a loser and never trying makes you feel lazy. I will say that the horrible feeling I get in the pit of my stomach from not trying is way worse than the pit I get when I fail. When you fail at something, you learn. You grow. You move on, knowing you won’t make that same mistake again. (Hopefully.) But when you live a life of never trying new things and experiences, you can’t learn or grow. You become stuck on a stagnant path of nothingness. It’s a terrible feeling I know all too well.

3. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?

I’m having a hard time with this question. I’ve typed and deleted an answer about 5 times because it’s a hard one to answer. On the one hand, it’s just life. Sometimes, you have to do things you don’t want to do, like work commitments and spending time with your in-laws. Sometimes, money issues and fears get in the way of things we like but don’t do, such as traveling. On the other hand, I think it’s because we become comfortable in our shallow worlds where we sit in our bubble of containment, not venturing out to make a difference because we’re afraid of what will happen. We’re afraid we’ll grow and change and become a person with a whole new set of goals and ideals.

4. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

I think that’s natural. There is so much I want to do, so much I want to see. At 22, I feel like my future is wide open. I feel like I have so much time to do everything and it fills me with such excitement. There are some Big Life Events that I want to happen (such as getting married, becoming a mother, and graduating college) and then there are life experiences that I want to enjoy (such as traveling, getting published, running a half-marathon). I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and come up with a Life List, which is something I should do.

At the end of my life, I hope I can say I lived a fulfilled life, where I touched people. I want to be surrounded by loved ones and know I was happy with myself.

5. What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?

Judgment. I would like the world to have less judgment. I think we too quickly judge others by outward appearances too easily. I know I do it. If I kept a tally of how many people I judged in one day, I would be a little embarrassed by the number. I see it all the time at work, with people judging how others dress and take care of their children – even if they have “too many” kids. I see it on TV and in magazines and blogs. I know change has to start within. It has to start with me. If I started judging less, maybe it would spark others around me to start judging less. Food for thought, at least.

Categories: Recurring Series

Two Game Nights, Two Sets of Twins, and a Lazy Sunday

I don’t typically do weekend recap posts, mainly because my weekends usually consist of a lot of sleep, blog reading, and cleaning. But this weekend was drastically different. I actually did stuff. It felt great.

Friday night was, by far, one of the most fun nights I’ve had in a very long time. Here’s the short back story: Tamy is a good, good friend of our family who used to babysit my mother and her brothers when they were younger. She used to live in St. Pete. Tamy then went on to marry and have her own kids. My mom babysat for her kids. My mom went on to marry and have my brother and I. One of Tamy’s daughters, Talyse, babysat for us. The last time I saw Talyse, I was five years old. About a year or so ago, we all reconnected on The Facebook. Then I found out Talyse has a BLOG! So while this isn’t technically meeting a blog friend (since she’s actually a real-life friend, first), it was my first experience of meeting someone via the blogosphere. Everyone always talks about how meeting someone whose blog you read is different than meeting someone any other way because you know them already. This statement is totally true, social disaster that I am. I felt immediately comfortable and at ease with Talyse and meeting her babies felt like meeting celebrities I just read about weekly! There they were – in person! (And, ohmygod, they are adorable. I just wanted to gobble them up.)

We spent some time with the babies, who are amazing miracles born at 29.5 weeks. They spent 55 days in the NICU and are just proof of God’s grace and mercy of how far they’ve come since then. They’re 18 months now and so darn precious. Kyran is a flirt and has no problem attaching to other people. He’s silly and goofy and cuddly. Karyssa is a lot more reserved than him and is very shy. Surprisingly, she warmed up to my mom rather quickly – proving that she’s still got it. Karyssa was still a little unsure about me, but Kyran became my new BFF within 5 seconds so it’s all good.

Once the babies were asleep, it was time for games! For the next four or so hours, we played Apples to Apples. We had a good-sized group of 7 people, which I think makes the game a lot more fun. I’ve been wanting to play this game but we never have enough people to play it the right way. It was such a fun game! I had a blast reading the ridiculous answers, giving ridiculous answers, lobbying for my ridiculous answers, and laughing way too much. My face and sides hurt from all the laughter!

We didn’t leave the condo until 12:30am, which is LATE for me. I felt like a wild woman! Since my mom had to be at work early in the morning & Talyse and everyone was leaving to travel back to South Carolina the next day, we had to pack it in early. (Well, early for all normal 20somethings.) It was a fun night and I wish Talyse lived around here so we could visit more often. Just having a few hours was not enough.

I slept in until 12:30pm on Saturday, which felt AWESOME. We ended up having my 15-year-old cousins come over for a game night, which was loads of fun. I love these girls fiercely and I don’t spend as much time with them as I should. They’re growing up and are so much fun to be around. We can be totally sarcastic with one another in one breath, and in the next, totally deep and introspective with our thoughts. My mom and I want to make this a more common thing and have made some plans for the future. They are awesome girls, with the same issues and thoughts that most fifteen-year-olds are dealing with, and I just want to be there for them when they need a soft place to land.

We ordered pizza. (Yes, I had pizza two nights in a row.) And then settled in for a night of games. We played Buzzword, Mad Gab, and Clue. We also talked a lot. I think they needed a night like this, so I’m hoping to do it more and more so they know they have my mom & me if they would ever need anything.

Sunday was a lazy day, where I talked my mom into skipping church and going out to breakfast. And then we basically watched some TV, read, and napped. I love Sundays where you can just be lazy and recharge from the weekend to get ready for a busy week ahead. It felt wonderful.

I’m starting back at my internship this week, working for 3 hours, 2 days a week. I’m excited to get back and feel the energy and challenge from the projects again. And I miss the atmosphere and people! It’ll be nice to not be so lazy every day. I’m looking forward to it, even if it does mean missing out on afternoon naps.

Categories: Recurring Series

Ten on Tuesday (Vol. 17)

1. What was/is your favorite live-action (meaning not animated) kids’ movie?

For some reason, Babe comes to mind. I just looked it up and it came out in 1995, which seems right since I would’ve been around 7 at the time. Now I want to go back and watch this movie! Who didn’t love Babe?!

2. What is a bad habit you have? Are you working on breaking it?

I think my worst habit is talking badly about myself. I do it all the time and I’m trying to make a conscious effort to stop. My mom does this as well and it irritates the heck out of me when she does it. I need it to irritate the heck out of me when I do it as well!

3. Describe your father in 3 words.

Distant, jerkface, gambler.

4. Which character in the Breakfast Club were you most like in the ’80s?

I’ve never seen this movie, actually. I remember renting it once but only getting about an hour or so in, but Molly Ringwald annoys me immensely. I can’t stand her on Secret Life Of the American Teenager and she just rubs me the wrong way. Plus, I was all of two when the ’80s ended, so this question doesn’t really apply to me.

5. Name 5 songs you know ALL the lyrics to.

There are so many, but ones that come to mind:

Beauty from Pain – Superchick
Jesus Freak – dc Talk
His Cheeseburger – VeggieTales
How He Loves – David Crowder Band
Hope Now – Addison Road

6. Do you make pancakes from scratch or a box mix?

I don’t make pancakes. I think I’ve made them once in my entire life. They’re just never something I crave or even want to eat, so the only time I do eat them is when I go out to breakfast. My mom makes them a lot, though, and uses a box mix.

7. What was your worst job ever? Why?

Probably my job at Panera Bread in high school. I worked there for 3 months, only for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday. It was a horrible job. The only job I had was cleaning up the dining area/dishes. I was trained to work in the bakery, but never scheduled for it. I was also trained to work the register, but never scheduled for that either. And have you seen a Panera Bread register?! There are so many different buttons to press to get to different menus. They didn’t give me enough time to learn it at all.

Anyway, I had to close the restaurant on Saturday and Sunday nights which entailed sweeping down everything, making sure all the dishes were clean and put away, mopping the place, making sure the coffee pots were rinsed out and ready for the morning, cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming, wiping down the tables, etc. It was such a hard job! I absolutely hated working there.

8. What was your favorite class in high school?

Psychology. I took it when I was a senior and it was college-level, but my teacher was amazing. I swear she was Ms. Frizzle from Magic School Bus come to life. Her hair was crazy, her outfits were hilarious, and she was such a hands-on teacher, even for college. But she made the class so much fun and our final was that we had to come to class and watch Garden State. So tough!

9. Favorite summer guilty pleasure?

The hot weather. Honestly, I love it. A lot of people hate how hot and humid it is here but there’s nothing like the feeling of the sun beating down on your face and shoulders to lift your mood. Plus, after 22 years of living here, I’m used to Florida’s humidity. It doesn’t phase me all that much.

10. Please share your best money-saving tip!

Oh, I’m the worst person to ask. I guess my best tip is to make a budget and stick to it. It’s something I keep telling myself I need to do, but I never get around to it. But making a budget will help you see what your bills are, how much extra you’ll have left over, and start the savings process.

Categories: Recurring Series

Seven Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 10)

One. The last time I did a 7QT was on April 9th. It feels good to get back to a normal blogging schedule. Life is finally settling down and it shouldn’t get crazy again until September at the earliest. Thank Jesus for that!

Two. I went on a crazy spending spree on Sunday. I almost never have money to do that but I still had some money left over after paying bills and putting some money in savings. So, I dropped $60 at American Eagle and then $40 at Target. I really can’t remember the last time I’ve done that for myself. I always feel guilty for spending too much money on myself, especially when I have credit card payments that I need to catch up on. But, sometimes, you just have to treat yourself.

Three. This week has been emotionally draining, to say the least. But I’m happy that I figured out what was bugging me for so long, and that I now have a plan of action. I think it’s going to help my mood and energy levels a lot. Plus, going to bed at 9:30 is divine!

Four. Because I’m a glutton for punishment, I bought Jillian Michael’s “No More Trouble Zones” over the weekend. I did the workout on Tuesday and holy Moses, I’m still having trouble just walking without excruciating pain in my thighs and butt. I used 3-lb weights, but I think I can bump it up to 5 lbs because I have no pain in my upper arms or chest area. I want to do this workout twice a week, so I don’t burn out as easily as I usually do with workout DVDs. Still, I have an intense love for Jillian and her workouts. She’s been the only workout instructor I can find, besides Billy Blanks, that really pushes me to my limits.

Five. Has anyone been watching Last Comic Standing? I mean, seriously, if you’re not, you should be. It came back after a long hiatus and I am so happy it’s back. While I’m not impressed with Craig Robinson as host, the talent is outstanding. I couldn’t find any recent clips on YouTube (other than clips of comedians performing in comedy clubs, with crappy audio) but trust me, you’re missing out. TiVo, DVR, whatever it! Just make sure you watch it this Monday.

Six. Once again, I just have to thank all of you girls who have texted me, sent me some amazing e-mails, tweeted me, and sent me comments. It was more than I ever imagined because I thought it was a post where I would get 2-3 comments. I didn’t expect to feel so wrapped up in love and encouragement from everyone and just wanted to give a big thank you and a great big bear hug to you all. You know who you are.

Seven. I feel like I need to start giving myself a Twitter break once a week. I’m easily falling back into old patterns, although I have stopped the habit of checking Twitter when I wake up and reading through every, single tweet that was sent while I was sleeping. It’s crazy how dependent we become on social media and technology!