Thanks for All the Visits!

Today, I signed into wordpress and found that I had my busiest day. Thanks guys! I’m touched. I’m currently working on a post that should be really good, but I also have a lot of reading and a huge paper due Thursday, so it will probably have to wait until Friday (sorry, guys).

In other news, I had a fantastic weekend with Stephanie. It was nice and relaxing. I’m now looking forward to watching the SAG awards tonight with my mother and my aunt, judging dresses and winners.

A lot of the reading I’ve been doing has been for my Adolescent Behavior and Development class. I love it. I am fascinated by adolescents. They are so moldable, in positive and negative ways. I want to help them figure out who they are without the influence of society telling them what they “should” be. It’ll be difficult, but I’m up for the challenge (and already facing it in my internship…)

A Peaceful Sound

I love the sound of water, specifically of waves. It gives me a sense of peace and of beauty. I love oceans, lakes, rivers…basically any body of water. I love the peace you can get from just sitting on a dock or a beach when there isn’t anyone around. And so even just the sound can take me there (the smell can, too). Beautiful.

You Can’t Handle the Truth!

I can’t stand it when I ask someone what they’re thinking and they say nothing. Is it actually possible for someone to actually never be thinking anything? Maybe it is, but typically when I ask this question it’s in the middle of a heavy conversation. The other person is usually silent for a while. I let the silence linger, because he/she may be trying to figure out how to say something important, but if it continues too long, I ask what the other person is thinking. Often the answer is, “nothing.” Now, I understand that sometimes people don’t want to share certain things with me, and that’s fine, but I don’t understand why they can’t just say, “I don’t want to talk about it.” It’s not going to hurt my feelings and I won’t press the issue, but I will press it if you claim it’s nothing.

Ultimately, the issue here is that I hate being lied to. It’s confusing. If someone says they’re not thinking anything, does that mean the conversation is supposed to be over? Am I supposed to challenge the other person on something more? I never know, but if the person simply tells me they don’t want to share, then I know where to go. However, while I hate being lied to, I have a harder time telling the truth myself, at least when it comes to intimate details about me. I like to pretend I have no weaknesses, even with the people I’m closest to. It’s a flaw that I’m working on, but it’s an incredibly difficult habit to break. Maybe I should take my own advice and start saying what I’m really thinking (or feeling).

I’ve heard before that your true character is how you act when no one else is around. Because of that, I am my most honest in my room. An extra challenge for today’s topic was to take a picture of something I find truthful, so here is a few views of my bedroom from my bed. It is kind of a mess, because I felt it would be lying to clean up.

Day 15

Day 15: A picture of you last year and now. How have you change since then?

So, these pictures are a little more than a year and now old, but they’re almost exactly a year apart. So, the obvious change is how much weight I lost (and if it wasn’t obvious, pretend it is). Another change is that I now have my BSW and have begun work on my MSW. I’m not really sure other ways I’ve changed…a year isn’t that much time…any thoughts?

Jon and Laura's Wedding August 14, 2010

Zach and Paige's wedding August 15, 2009

Day 14

Day 14: Something you crave a lot.

Ummm, chocolate. That’s amazing. And ice cream…I think that covers it…

Day 12

Day 12: A picture of something that makes you happy.

This is Duck Lake at sunset...

This is Interlochen. I went there once every summer throughout my childhood. I have many fond memories of that lake and of the many Operettas I saw while there. And of family and of campfires. There are just many good memories here.

Day 9

Day 9: Put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play.

My ipod isn’t close by, and I’m lazy, so I’m going to put itunes on shuffle, since it’s the exact same library.

1. “Sunsets and Car Crashes” Spill Canvas

2. “Perfect Situation” Weezer

3. “I Woke Up in a Car” Something Corporate

4. “Fractions (Acoustic)” Emery

5. “Jacksonville” Sufjan Stevens

6. “On the Radio” Regina Spektor

7. “My Sundown” Jimmy Eat World

8. “Misguided Ghosts” Paramore

9. “Me and the Moon” Something Corporate

10. “The Contest” Sweeney Todd Soundtrack

Day 8

Day 8: Songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, and mad.

Hm…well, I think this will be more based on band/c.d. then on songs, and I’m certain there will be overlap, especially since sadder songs can make me happy because of how beautiful they are…but

Happy: Explosions in the Sky, Sufjan Stevens, Regina Spektor, Slumdog Soundtrack, Wicked Soundtrack, Sweeney Todd Sountrack, Death Cab for Cutie

Sad: Death Cab for Cutie, Sufjan Stevens, Something Corporate

Bored: Anything on my itunes list…doesn’t matter, because I’m bored

Hyped: “Jai Ho”, Rent Soundtrack, I don’t know, anything I can dance to

Mad: Paramore, Pink, and any other angry females

Day 7

Day 7: Something you’ve been proud of from the past few days

On my first paper for one of my classes in grad school, I got a B. I was unhappy. I literally could not remember the last time I got something lower than an A- on a paper. So, for the next paper in this class, I worked ridiculously hard on it, and ended up getting an A-/B+ (yes, slash, long story). It isn’t ideal, but I worked harder and got a better grade. Now, I should probably go work hard on the next one, because it’s due tomorrow, and it needs better organization than the last one…

Day 6

Day 6: Short term goal for this month and why

My short term goal for this month is to write an epic paper for my Practice with Children and Youth class. This may seem lame, but it’s worth 70% of my grade, which means it’s pretty freaking important…that is all.