Thursday, December 30, 2010

Day 09 Blogging Challenge

Something I'm proud of.

That's easy:


And in 4ish months, with a little bit of luck,  I can add this one:

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Silent Night

I hope you and yours have a blessed, peaceful, wonderful and safe Christmas weekend.  To my wonderful family--I love you.  Thank you.  To Joe Joe--we miss you every single day.  Luther, Lamont and LuLu were in the tree for you and your sugar booger saved you a piece of chocolate.  To my friends-you are amazing. To the Auburn Tiger Nation--WAR EAGLE! 

Here's to you, friends and family. 

Merry Christmas

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas!

I'm taking a 3 day hiatus from blogging since we'll be out of town and will have no internet service.  

Merry Christmas!!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Day 08 Blogging Challenge

I'm sick, which makes me cranky, which therefore means this is going to be short, sweet and to the point.

2 days before Christmas and you want to know my short term goals??

Survive.

Pure and simple.

Between raising a three-year-old, being broke, being in school, and the ridiculous amounts of family politicking that accompany the holiday season, survival is the only thing on my mind.

Longer-term than that--there are exactly 143 days from today's date (including weekends, holidays, and days we don't have classes) until May 14th, which to me is a HUGE date, because...

GRADUATION.  

Cannot get here fast enough. Granted, I still have to take (and pass!) the NCLEX, but knowing that the school part is almost behind me is definitely a light at the end of the of the tunnel.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Day 07 Blogging Challenge

The person or thing that has had the biggest impact on my life.

I was convinced that this was going to be a person-so many amazing people have had impacts on my life, in both positive and negative ways.   Everything that I am and my views about the world are shaped by the people I have come into contact with...I believe that it's true that we are all balls of clay that are molded by the circumstances of our lives.


But I realized that:
1.  I couldn't narrow it down to one person who has the biggest impact and
2.  I wouldn't be in contact with half of the people that have had impacts if it weren't for one thing.


The internet. Between blogging, social networking, and the vast array of...STUFF, the internet has completely changed the way we interact, the way we learn, and the way that we view the world around us.  My generation, and all of the generations to follow, have never known life without it.  I was in college when Facebook began, and I wouldn't remember how to write a paper without Google Scholar...kidding.



We get the news faster, we are more globally savvy (as a whole), and sites like People of Walmart and Awkward Family Photos give us something to laugh at.  Whole companies freak out when the server is down, and it makes headlines when sites like Facebook are not working.  Like it or not, the internet has shaped our world and the way we feel about the people and things in it.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Day 06 Blogging Challenge...oh, to be a bookworm

So today is supposed to be about a hobby I have.

Reading isn't a hobby.  

Reading is a passion.


Old books.  New books.  Electronic books.  All books. I could go on and on about books...but instead I thought I would list my top books--there are so, so many books, and so so many genres that I could literally list books all day long...these are in no particular order, just great, great books.

2.    Acheron  (part of a series)
4.    Outlander
10.  Eat. Pray. Love. (way better than the movie.  trust me)
11.  Middlesex
13.  On The Road (Kerouac and I don't exactly get along-but still worth it)
14.   The Count of Monte Cristo (probably one of my all-time favorites)
16.   Dubliners
17.   The Help 


Books can take you anywhere.  Can make you be anything.  Can help you see things in a different perspective.

And this is, no lie, what my table might look like at any given moment:

Monday, December 20, 2010

Day 05 Blogging Challenge

Oh, the places you will go...

I love to travel.  I love getting lost in a new city and finding some hole in the wall restaurant or store, or discovering some off-the-beaten path pub or bookstore.  I even like sitting in airports and on planes, because you never, ever know who you might see or meet.  On one flight, this H-U-G-E man came rumbling down the aisle and sat next to me.  Five minutes later, he's showing me pictures of his fights.

Fights.

The Huge Man was a professional wrestler. Like, Monday Night Raw professional wrestler.

And then there's the little old lady who chatter the whole flight, or the guy who falls asleep and drools the whole time, or the woman working on her "novel."  
But I digress.  Somewhere I've traveled.

I've been all over the country.  I've been all over the UK.  I've been to Mexico.

But one place stands out for me.  


I loved Stonehenge.  I loved the mystery, the unknown.  I loved the raw open field with absolutely nothing around except the towering stones.  I would go back in a heartbeat.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Day 04 Blogging Challenge--the Soundtrack

15 songs that represent my life's soundtrack.

This is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I've gotten up and walked away and come back to this a bajillionty times this morning.  

Numbers 1 and 2 and 3 are easy.

1.  Aslyn's-That's When I Love You.
I walked down the aisle to my husband with this song playing, and it will forever be a part of my soundtrack.  I can't find the version that we used, but it was a little more acoustic and slow compared to this version.

2.Allman Brothers-Soulshine.  
This is "our song."

3. Israel "IZ" Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole- Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World
Same as number 1 and 2.

4.  Bowling for Soup- 99 Biker Friends
When I was going through a really, really, really dark period in my life, one of my best friends, who happens to be a biker friend, played this song for me, and it was kind of my mantra.  I mean, who doesn't need 99 biker friends to go kick someone's ass?

5.  Cherry Poppin' Daddies-Zoot Suit Riot
This is just one of the more popular songs  that's indicative of all swing/jive music.  I love, love to dance and sometimes think I would have been better suited to having been born in the 20s.

6.  Jesse Cook- Tango Flamenco
Any flamenco music, really.  How many can claim that they were on the flamenco dance team in high school? Yeah, I'm a dork.  Yeah, I don't care.  I loved it, and I still love flamenco guitar.

7.  Alanis Morrissette-ummm, really anything from the "Jagged Little Pill" album
How many angsty teenagers DIDN'T have this album when it came out?

8. Jimmy Buffett--Fruitcakes
Do I need to say anything more? My nickname has been "Fruitcake" since I was 11.

9.  Jimmy Buffett--When the Coast is Clear
I am a Gulf Coast girl from the tip of my head to the polish on my toenails.  I was devastated when the BP oil spill happened, and I was sitting on the beach listening to Jimmy Buffett when he played this song in Gulf Shores. 



10.  The Proclaimers-500 Miles
If there is ever a song more designed to get stuck in your head, this is it.

11.  Michael Franti/Spearhead--Hello Bonjour
The whole album is pretty politically charged, but the messages in nearly all of his songs are pretty powerful. Hello Bonjour is my favorite--why are we so intolerant of people who are different than we are?


12.   Nickel Creek-When You Come Back Down
My mama and Joe dedicated this song to me when I graduated from high school.  And I still believe with all my heart that Joe is and will forever be there for me, even though I can't see him here.  He and my mama always supported my dreams, and they were my "solid ground" while I was flying high. 

13.  Cowboy Mouth-Hurricane Party
This was my absolute favorite Cowboy Mouth song before Hurricane Katrina ravaged their hometown, and they have done a lot to rebuild their city.  And anyone who has every lived in a hurricane area, this song is so true--it means one things--a hurricane party! If you've never listened to Cowboy Mouth, check out some of their other songs as well.

14. Weezer--Undone
Straight back to 7th grade.

15.  Cheap Trick-I Want You to Want Me.
This song has cheered me up from many a miserable mood.  It is the best down-in-the-dumps antidote known to man, especially when dancing to it with your favorite Mr. Fabulousness.


Saturday, December 18, 2010

Day 03 Blogging Challenge

A habit I wish I didn't have.  

A habit I wish I didn't have.

This one is probably the easiest to answer, but it doesn't come without some close second-placers.  I am a hopeless electronic junkie. I compulsively buy shoes.  The concept of organization means nothing to me--I live in organized chaos.  

But in the end, how could I choose anything other than the habit that is dangerous, expensive, and nasty?


As if we didn't all know by now that these were a load of baloney.  I hate it.  I hate smelling like smoke.  I hate actually smoking.  I hate how much it costs.  And I have every single intention of quitting in 2011. 
Bank on it.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Day 02 Blogging Challenge

Today is supposed to be a photo of something I cannot live without. And I went through my head.  Was is my handy dandy notebook (computer)?  Was it my cell phone?  Was it my camera? Was it my Kindle? And then I realized that everything that I was listing was an expensive electronic device.  

So then I started to think a little more on a basic level.  

Sushi? 

Nursing textboooks?  (no, I could really, really live without those...)

No, what I realized that in the end, it wasn't the stuff. It never was.  This is what I couldn't live without:



The people that make up my world, my family and friends.  That's the one thing I couldn't live without. They are my world, and without them, everything is....just stuff. I can live without the electronics, the gizmos, the gadgets.  But these people are irreplaceable.  Some are gone, to be seen again in Heaven.  Some I don't talk to nearly enough.  And some I didn't have recent pictures of.  But my family and friends, that is the one thing I couldn't imagine life without.

Except maybe chapstick :-)

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Freedom!...and Day 01 of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge

I finally have a few minutes to myself.  No class.  No care plans.  No case studies.  Bliss.

A friend of mine challenged me to blog daily, and even though I couldn't find the site she recommended, I found one that challenged thirty continuous days of blogging.  Sounds like fun to me!


Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself.
Day 02- A picture of something you cannot live without.
Day 03- A habit that you wish you didn’t have.
Day 04- List 15 songs that represent your life’s soundtrack.
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to.
Day 06- A hobby you have.
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you.
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why.
Day 09- Something/someone you’re proud of.
Day 10- A story about a past relationship.
Day 11- A picture of something you dislike.
Day 12- A picture of your room & don’t cheat by cleaning it. Share a secret.
Day 13- Write a letter telling someone something you could never tell them.
Day 14- A picture of something you ate and 10 confessions.
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle & share the first 10 songs that play.
Day 16- Something you could live without.
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why.
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have.
Day 19- Nicknames you have & how or why you have them.
Day 20- If you had 3 wishes, what would they be.
Day 21- Share a picture from your day.
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else.
Day 23- What is something you crave.
Day 24- Share a story about your past that you are ashamed of.
Day 25- What I would find in your bag.
Day 26- Places you want to visit before you die.
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge?
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned.
Day 30- A picture of you today & 20 goals you want to accomplish.

So.  Today is the first day.  Without further ado, a picture of yours truly:




And fifteen interesting things about myself...

1.  I am, and forever will be, a band dork.  I loved being in the band in high school.  My best friends were in the band with me, and some of my fondest memories from high school are from trips to games and competitions, not to mention "band camp."

2.  I am a reader to the very core of who I am.  I read cereal boxes, blogs, shampoo bottles, magazines.  If it has words on it, I will read it.  I have been to every country, even countries that don't even exist, within the pages of books.  A child who doesn't know how to read is one of the most negligent things a parent can do to a child.  It's an education, a mystery, an escape.

3.  Life is unfair.  Brutally so.

4.  I believe in loving life for everything it is worth.  We are not guaranteed tomorrow, and life is far too short to give two flying flips what someone else thinks about the kind of person you are.  Quirky?  Goofball?  Weird? Yes, please.


5.  I am terrible at math.  

6.  People will never cease to disappoint and disgust you.  But people will also never cease to surprise you, either.

7.  I am a Taurimi.  My birthday falls on the cusp of Taurus and Gemini, and though I don't put a lot of stock into horoscopes, I like to read both and pick the one I like better.

8.  Some of my very best friends are the ones that I never get to see.  I sometimes think that we have such a strong friendship because we are never together, and the stressors of daily life don't take the same toll that they would if we lived in the same town and saw each other all the time.

9.  I think my mother is one of the strongest people I know.

10.  It is rare that I get angry.  Even rarer that I hold a grudge for very long.  But some of the events that have recently transpired have tarnished my faith in a lot of things, and I don't know that time or patience will heal those wounds.

11.  I wear a 7 on my right foot and an 8 on the left.  Shoe shopping is a nightmare.  I'm probably the one to blame if you can't find the mate to the shoe you're in love with at Target!

12.  I have a very strong dislike of cold weather.  I was told that there is a town in Florida called "Frost Free."  I think I need to live there.  

13.  I'm a big, fat redneck at heart.  I love to play in the mud, drive big trucks, make a mess, play in the woods.  I'm just not quiet enough or cold-blooded enough to hunt.  I can't sit still that long.

14.  My husband is my very best friend and champion.  I consider myself to be one of the luckiest women on the planet.

15.  The glass is ALWAYS half-full.