Day 24...I Need a Movie Day

Your favorite movie and what it's about

Confession time, I have a lot of favorite movies. So I guess I'll just share a couple with you.

"The Princess Bride" is about the virtues of true love and how it's actually worth going through a lot to attain true love.

Oh "League." This is my "go-to" action movie. I love the idea of a bunch of fictional characters from different "worlds" getting together to kick another character's butt. It's pretty great.

And, right now, this is kind of my movie obsession. It's a pretty fun girl's movie. Five women start a Jane Austen book club, and after managing to rope one stranger of a man into reading along with them, the whole group (and their families) embarks on a slightly wild ride of growing, healing, and moving on.

Addendum to Day 23

I'm really into books so I tend to fall "in love" with lots of fictional characters too. I thought I'd also share the books that some of my favorite boys star in. (Again, in no particular order.)

Prince Brigan

Jacob

Adrian

Kartik

Sam

Charlie and Patrick

Bram

Carlos

Owen

Varen

Finnikin

Artemis

I could go on for a lot longer about this but I think I'll stop it there.

Day 23...Attractive Males :D

Give 5 pictures of guys who are famous whom you find attractive

In no particular order...

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Johnny Depp

Matthew Lewis (aka Neville Longbottom)

Jensen Ackles

Gerard Butler

Addition as of April 5th, 2013: Skylar Astin

Day 22...So Many Little Things

How have you changed in the past 2 years 

Oh wow. This is one of those posts that could go have about a million different interpretations.
Well, there's the obvious things...I graduated high school; I moved from Italy to Germany to Washington; I've started dancing a whole lot more; and I'm even more into writing letters than I have been in the past.
Then, I guess there's the littler things. Little things like now I'm better at letting things roll off me now. I'm a lot less shy and still super trusting of people; I'm definitely a mind that looks at things with a mindset of "innocent until proven guilty." I feel like I'm a lot better at going with the flow; somethings still worry me and I like to have a plan (like when I have to depend on the buses to get me somewhere on time). But, because of a couple events in the past two years, I've learned that I can deal with events like planes delayed and having to stay by myself in hotels. Unexpected things will be thrown from every direction, and I've learned that it's important to take things as they come because worrying about everything that might come is just too much stress. Additionally, I've become more confident in myself, which is a really nice feeling; now I just need to stop dealing with people who treat me as if I'm little.
I'd be willing to bet that there are a couple of other ways that I've changed over the past two years but, come on, it's 2 years. That's a lot of changing to remember.

And here's a pretty picture for to bring a smile to your face

Books I Want to Acquire

I want books about flowers because they're pretty and they inspire me.

I want a "PostSecret" book because the postcards are beautiful and the secrets are beautifully heartbreaking.

I want a Shel Silverstein book because I really like his poetry and it doesn't seem to matter if it makes sense.

I want the last book of the "Graceling Realm" series because I'm really attached to those characters.

I want a book with my name on it because that means that I'll have achieved one of my biggest dreams.

Day 21..."Idjit"

One of your favorite shows

Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, and Castiel

Say hello to the boys of "Supernatural", my current TV obsession. Thank goodness for Netflix: Instant View, right?
*spoilers below*
For those of you who don't know, this show is about brothers Dean and Sam. They road trip across the country, killing the creatures that go bump in the night. They run into bigger prey eventually: Azazel, Lilith, Uriel, Lucifer, Zachariah. (Some demons, some angels.) Castiel is kinda ends up being the brothers' shoulder angel, helping them pick the right path and warding off what harm he can.
Honestly, I know that a lot of people would probably brand this show as a waste of time (like those people who point out plot elements like the falling bottle of Tabasco sauce -_-. I'm still never watching TV with you). Yes, the plot can be contrived at points and unbelievable at others (even for a world full of fictional creatures). But it brings me entertainment and, at the end of the day, isn't that the point of all TV shows?

Day 20...

How important you think education is

I think that learning is really important--whether that happens in a strictly educational sense doesn't matter one way or the other.
And since my mind is a complete blank after today, that's about all I have to say about it.

Day 19...Do Not, End of Story

Disrespecting your parents

This is one of those things that I'm really not into. Sure, I'm all for being your own independent person because that's actually a really good idea. But I do think that there's a way to do that without being a jerk to your parents.
Parents have it hard--18 years of trying to raise however many kids to be constructive members of society all while being constructive members of society themselves. I think disrespecting them just makes that all the harder.
So, no, don't disrespect your parents. It's not cool--despite what all those stories about all the cool kids tell you.

Day 18...I Feel Like Cinderella

Your beliefs

I believe in love and in being a good person.
I believe in being well educated and open to correcting your own ignorance.
I believe in civility and giving everyone a fair chance.
I believe in happiness and pray that it'll happen for me.

Day 17...Possibly Anticlimactic

Your highs and lows of this past year

I guess I'll give you guys a little bit from 2013 and 2012 since we're only a month and a half into 2013.
Highs of 2013 were going to Virginia, and seeing both my brothers this past weekend. Lows were having to deal with more than a few immature people in more than a few unpleasant situations.
Highs of 2012 were moving to college, getting into dancing, and getting my tattoo. And, actually, let's not go into the lows.

Day 16..."And I Was Like"

Your views on mainstream music

Much to the disappointment of many of my friends, I tend to like mainstream music. I think that a very apt description of my favorite music is the kind that I could have a silly dance party to in the kitchen whist I am baking. You know, those songs that just get stuck in your head and you always end up singing under your breath? I love music that it catchy and that I can sing along with. Isn't that mainstream music in a nutshell?
I mean, my tastes do branch out beyond that so I'm not completely atrocious to all of those who couldn't listen to mainstream music if their life depended on it but, personally, I don't have much of a problem with it. Sure, a song here and there will really annoy me but, as a general rule, I'm not too picky about my music.

Just for funsies, here's a couple of my favorites...










Okay, maybe a couple more than a couple of my favorites.

Day 15...Um, About That

Your favorite blogs

I'm actually a terrible member of the blogging community...I've been writing since September but haven't branched out all that much. So I think I'm going to take a rain check on this post. I'll tell you all about my favorite blogs when I have more than this one.

Day 14...And We Still Have Those Conversations

Your earliest memory

Honestly, the first thing I remember about my life is sitting in the back yard with my brother--talking about religion. I do think it's pretty funny that my first memory was a really deep conversation with my brother considering he's still the person I'd go to if I had something heavy that I need to talk about.
Sometimes, I wonder about the things that make us remember what we remember. Like, maybe I was baking with my mom the day before that or watching my sister play video games the day after. Why don't I remember either of those things?

Day 13...A New Adventure

Somewhere you'd like to move or visit. 

Funny story, I've been thinking about this sort of thing a lot recently. Going back to an earlier post, I would love to move to a quaint beach town. If that does happen, it'll probably be up here in the Northwest. But maybe I'll be sick of the rain by then and move farther south in hopes of more sunny days.
Somewhere I'd like to visit..well, I keep saying that I really want to go to Ireland. I want to stay in a castle and go on picnics there. I know there are a bunch of other touristy things that I'm supposed to do but, if I travel, I want to experience the things that I want to experience--not what some books tells me that I should see.

Picnic by the sea.

It just looks so pretty.

Another Cheater Post

Okay, it's late and my mind is wandering so I'm going to share my mental babblings with you guys--whoever cares to read them.
My mentality is very permanent. I tend to think that I have to finish something, once I start it. For example, I feel like I probably will go to the same college for all four years for the sole reason of that's where I started. There could be a few things that change my mind but those would be really big things--and moving would be a really big deal.
(quick back story: I'm down visiting my brother this weekend and we were talking about special occasion dresses.) I made a comment about how I don't understand when girls spend several hundred dollars on their prom dresses; the only dress that I'll spend a lot of money on is my--you guessed it--my wedding dress. My brother asked his devil's advocate question--as he likes to do. "Why are you going to spend so much on that dress?" And that question actually have me a lot of pause. Besides the fact that bridal gowns do just tend to cost a fair bit of money, I have no real reason to spend a lot of money on one. I mean, I am only going to wear it for a day and then it'll hide in my closet for the rest of my life. What really is the big deal about the dress? I know that I will want that day to be perfect but life isn't perfect...why should my dress be super expensive?

Day 12...I'm Not Gonna Know Until After I'm Done

Your dream college


I feel a little bit like this is an unfinished topic. My dream college class? My dream college experience? My dream college campus? I guess this is probably asking about all of those things at once, huh?
So far, I really like the college I'm at. I guess my dream college is a place where I feel like I belong; a place where I don't feel like a number and that I feel like I can learn how to make a difference. My dream college is a place where I can make friends just because almost everyone is friendly enough to talk with me for long enough to find some common ground.
I don't really know what I'd look for in a dream college, but I am really happy with the one I'm at for the moment. A few elements of my life might end up changing so maybe the school I'm at won't continue to be my dream college but it's pretty satisfactory for now.

Day 11...I Skipped the Audio Books

Put your iPod on shuffle and write down the 10 songs that pop up.

1. Gettin' Over You by David Guetta & Chris Willis ft Fergie
2. Love it All by The Kooks
3. Every Valley is Not a Lake by Cold War Kids
4. The Little Things by Colbie Caillat
5. Pretty Boy by 2ne1
6. The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us! by Sufjan Stevens
7. Butterfly by Donavon Frankenreiter
8. My Apartment by Ben Kweller
9. All At Once by the Fray
10. Closer by the Kings of Leon  

I'll tell you all a secret, though. I think that I've listened to three of those songs before this day. My siblings give me a lot of music, so much that I haven't found the time to familiarize myself with all of it. But there it is, the 10 songs that show up on shuffle on my iPod.

TWLOHA

I just wanted to share this with you guys.
And I think that the pictures speak for themselves.

 I also want to dedicate a moment to TWLOHA

Day 10. How Fitting For Valentine's Day

Discuss your first love and first kiss.

Firstly, let me say again how funny this is my topic for Valentine's Day.
Secondly, we're gonna spend a minute talking about how I feel like I was the only person in sweats today--amid the sea of red dresses. But I was tired and I have midterms tomorrow so my level of caring was zero. I did, however, make a new friend in my English class. We bonded over "How I Met Your Mother" and mediocrity. It was great. Although, I am expecting that work will be crazy today. Valentine's Day means that everyone is gonna be chomping at the bit for their packages.
Thirdly, I guess I should actually talk the topic of the day: my first love and my first kiss. So there was this boy in the grade above me who would always ask my dad for candy bars (my dad's a math teacher who sometimes offered rewards for doing well; this guy just kept coming back as a joke.) After a few times of seeing him in my dad's classroom asking for candy, I started calling him the "candy bar kid." Things went on like that for a while then, randomly as far as I can remember, we started hanging out. Mutual friend, maybe. Anyway, I found out that his name was Kris, and that I thought he was funny.
Then he did something that really confused me...for two months, he decided to ignore me. I was confused and hurt the entire time. Anyways, after the winter break, he started talking to me again. From then, everything just grew. We became super close and the mutual attraction we had was obvious to everyone.
At the end of the year, there was this "Spring Fling" dance. Totally a middle school thing, totally silly. A different mutual friend of ours was trying to get Kris and I to dance together but we were both being shy, awkward and stubborn. At least, until it was the last dance.
Then I asked him.
From that dance on, we were just together. I did make him ask my dad's permission--a huge ordeal, apparently :P. And our first kiss was in the gazebo in the bus loop's park. Then he told me that he loved me. :D Talk about a way to make a girl smile.
Maybe it was puppy love then but I was so attached too him--so attached that it hurt a friendship for a while. But that's how I understood love, wanting to be with someone all the time no matter what. I guess I do still believe that but it's just different now. There's a lot more to "all the time;" there's a lot more ups and downs in adult life than in 7th grade.
But who knew that 5 years later--after several break ups, two moves, a year and a half of not talking, and plenty of time treading awkward waters-- that same boy would be sending me Valentine's presents from across the country? Life has a funny way of working, I think.
Happy Valentine's Day to all. :)

Day 9. Ideally or Realistically?

How you hope your future will be like.

 I feel like today's topic is really similar to "Where Do You Hope You'll be in Ten Years?"
So I guess I hope that my future will be enjoyable. I know that hard times are going to exist but, overall, I want the future to be fun because what's life about if not to have fun?
My ideal version of life goes something like this: find a major that I'm passionate about and graduate with a degree in that. Then move to a cute coastal town, get a job at a quaint cafe and get to know all the (fingers crossed) interesting people that come through. I think doing that--living in a way that's reminiscent of the 1950's "we're all neighbors" mentality--would actually be really inspiring. You know, only sit down at a computer when you have an actual something to achieve and get out for a walk when you're bored kind of life style. I guess I'd want to live life slowly for a few years after college, just experience the experience. I also have a theory that living that way would give me lots of writing ideas as well as a lot of time to write so, maybe, I'd finish a story and get published as well. The optimal time for me to get married would be after this adventure on the coast. I do think that being married will be a wonderful experience; not that I'm rushing to get a ring on my finger--er, I guess, that finger--but I do look forward to having someone who wants to be around me all the time and thinks that I'm worth sharing a life with.
Realistically, I don't see the whole cafe-on-the-coast deal happening. I'll need to find a job that pays above minimum wage so I can get by, and I'll probably find one of those in a city somewhere. Other than that, my story stays the same. So find a great major, graduate, live on my own for a while then get married.
I want my future to be full of friends, and adventure, and love, and dancing. All in all, I'm just looking to have a good time.

Day 8. Questions I Don't Find Fair

A moment you felt most satisfied in your life {your happiest moment}

I've had  a lot of happy moments in my life. I think it's kind of unfair to ask for my ultimate happiest.
But, in the interest of having a longer post than yesterday, I'll tell you about a few of them.
In no particular order...
The first week of January this year. I got to see two old friends and had an absolutely wonderful time with them. My first experience TPing and the only time so far in my college career that I've been able to stay up until 3, get up at 8, and still be pleasant all day long. Thanks again, you two. I can't wait to see you again.
Christmas and Thanksgiving this past year. I don't get to see my family all at once very often so these two holidays were really important. I love all you guys. :)
Prom, senior year. Up until that point, I'd had pretty poor experiences with school dances. But senior prom was different. I had a date, I was going with friends, and my dress was amazing. We ate dinner--my date was practically a stand up comic while we were eating--and danced the night away. It's probably the moment that I consider to be my "senior send off" moment, the final wonderful memory of the year.
My sixteenth birthday party--my one and only surprise party. Since my birthday is in the middle of summer, parties are hard to have. But two of my friends threw together a surprise party for me--starting at the mall and ending up at my favorite restaurant. All my friends were there, and it was just a fun time. Everything felt right.
Making foil houses and playing Mario Kart until our brains fell out, KT. 
In general, I'm a pretty big appreciator the small moments in life so here are a couple less eventful times that I've felt extra content with life...

• Book discussions at lunch with Limone
• Riding back on the ferry with Tony
• Getting published in "Showcase"
• "Pirates of the Caribbean" premiere that one time
• Crashing first period violin class
• Blues dancing

Day 7. I've Never Understood this Name

Your zodiac sign and if you think it fits your personality.

All right, guys, my zodiac/astrology knowledge is almost zero so here's what I'm basing my opinions off of. I'm a Cancer, the freaky little crab. I would actually say that it does fit my personality pretty well. I'm loyal and like to help others. I most definitely depend on my friends for emotional support.
I don't necessarily believe in astrology but this does seem to fit my personality.

Day 6. About Me...?

Write 30 interesting things about yourself {Things others may not know}

Oh goody...30 things that people might not know about me. Let's see if I can do this...

1. I was scared to move to Italy
2. I ended up being scared to move away too
3. I love writing letters
4. I have the honor of saying that I have friends across the country; in other countries
5. I suck at confrontation
6. Civility is one of my favorite things ever
7. I'm a cuddly type of person
8. Touch and presents are my love languages for sure
9. I want to keep traveling
10. It was my brother who got me into dancing
11. Berlin is my favorite city
12. It is honestly weird to have mostly English every day 
13. I want to go to Ireland for the sole purpose of having picnics there
14. I have a very basic knowledge of how to play violin; I want to get better
15. My tattoo translates as "I dream. I write. I live." The language it's written in is Italian
16. I wish I was the kind of person who documented my life with pictures
17. The more I run, the more I like it. It's just hard to take those first couple of steps
18. I seem to have a habit of makes friends with people who like to swim/have been lifeguards
19. I like to think that I'm a wonderful baker
20. I honestly don't know what I want to do with my life career-wise
21. My favorite color is purple
22. When I have pets again, I really want a fluffy puppy
23. I want to start a CD collection
24. I don't think I'll ever buy an ASUS computer again
25. Flowers are beautiful and never fail to brighten my day
26. I know that lots of people forget that I'm only 18...but sometimes I forget too
27. There is not enough sun in the Pacific Northwest but I do love the rain
28. I love writing stories
29. My inner nerd has a great appreciation for things that glow in the dark
30. Sometimes, I have a really hard time being "in the moment"

Day 5. I Hope You're Trustworthy...Here Lie Secrets

A time you thought about ending your life. {Your worst moment}

First thing's first: the two phrases in italics do not refer to the same moment in my life. And I suppose that means that I get to share with you about both of them.
A time I thought about ending my life...honestly (and I'm truly sad to say this) but moments like that come around relatively often. I'll be frustrated with a class, or the way I rarely get asked to dance at socials, or worried about what I'm going to do with my life and--sometimes--ending it all now seems like an inviting option. Yes, most of the time it's a fleeting thought when I am wallowing at the bottom of the pit that is my unhappy feelings. I do try not to wallow; I promise. But sometimes--just sometimes--it becomes an actual notion, an actual curiosity. When life gets hard and when I can't figure out what I'm gonna do with it, ending it all sometimes decides to declared itself as an option. Go out while things are still good...I know it's messed up. I know it's wrong. But, yeah, sometimes that sounds almost inviting.
The worst moment in my life... I'm betting that those of you who know me are expecting me to say, "Junior year, when I decided to try cutting." I'm not saying that I'm proud of that but I also don't consider it my worst moment. Every decision we make marks us, right? I just possess the option to show some of my scars; I do not see that as something to be ashamed of. Actually, I really wonder what people think when they see my scars. I always used to assume that people would be repulsed because, after all, cutting isn't exactly a socially acceptable means of coping. Very few people ask me about it, and those that do tend to fall into two categories: they know someone who has cut or they've experienced the feeling of a blade pulling their skin apart.  Usually, the ones who are bold about it are the latter. Since people see what they want to see, the majority of people don't see the scars left by self inflicted harm. But if you've been there--if you've been driven to that point--I think it makes you more willing to see those scars; it's not a comfort but it's nice--if you will--to know that you're not the only one. We're own our little community, I guess. Granted, as nice as it is to be a community, it's also terrifying that there's enough of us.
So the worst moment in my life? I don't think it's happened yet. Yes, I've had some hard times. There was adjusting to living in a new country. There was being bullied all of 8th grade year. There was having my best friend move away every year of my high school career. There was the death of the boy who should survived (rest in peace, Michael; I miss you). There have been difficult times among my family. There have been all those little moments when everything became a heaping pile of way more than I could deal with. There have been fights, and break ups, and confrontations, and inconsiderate people, and genuinely terrible days. But I've gotten through all of that. I've moved on. I feel like the worst moment in my life will be something that comes to mind at a second's thought. The time that's come the closest was last June, probably, when an extremely close friend decided to lay into me. It's never fun when the people you trust start pointing out your flaws; validated or not, they always seem right to me.

Day 4. Why Do We Close Our Eyes to Pray?

Your views on religion.

You always hear people ask, "Do you believe in a higher power?" when talking about religion. The other day, a friend of mine followed up that question with, "Do you believe in a lower power?" I'd never thought of it that way before--that maybe some people believe in one but not the other...
Personally, I believe in powers beyond that of what I can see. I believe in good and bad. I don't think I'll ever really be a church-going kind of believer. Fellowship doesn't do a lot for me. I believe in a moral code but everything that most religions have to say about what makes you a good or bad person just puts me off. There are about a billion ways to be a good person. I don't subscribe to the notion that there is a specific set of rules and, to be a good person, you must follow all of them all the time. It sure helps. But it's too rule based; I like exceptions.
I think that religion is a very tricky thing; get mixed with it and it starts the Crusades. Those were fun times, right? I'm all for the idea that everyone is entitled to their own set of beliefs. I just wish that people would keep their strong, egotistical opinions to themselves.
My strongest thought about religion is that I wish people wouldn't shove it down my throat. You can believe whatever you'd like; please offer me the same courtesy.

Day 3. A Few Controversial Things

What are your views on drugs and alcohol.

Honestly, drugs scare me. I mean, the ones that the doc gives out when I have a ridiculous cough are fine. But the ones that people my age are stereotypically dying to try freak me out. My mind is  overactive enough without the additives that hang out in drugs. Tripping out and having hallucinations just doesn't sound like a fun time at all.  I know there are less drastic drugs--nicotine, for example--but being addicted to something doesn't sound pleasant.
As far as alcohol goes, I have no problem with social drinking. Granted, I'm not legally allowed to do that yet but the living in Italy had a major impact on the way I look at alcohol consumption. Once I'm 21, I'll gladly have a glass of wine with dinner.
As far as other people go, I'm not going to judge them if they do drugs or drink alcohol. Just don't force them on me.

I'm Cheating A Little Bit

I have a feeling that there's a clause of "You may only post once during your 30 day challenge." If such a clause does exist, I'm deciding to ignore it. I will post however much I want over these next 30 days, it's just that some of these posts will belong to my challenge and some will not.

How often do you use "forever" and "for life" interchangeably? Seriously, think about that for a minute. Do you choose which of those to use for a specific reason, or do you just need a phrase that conveys a super long time?
I was walking across campus today, thinking about my best friends (a much needed thought diversion after a math test that I've almost passed 3 times now). See, I'm one of those people who has a lot of "best friend," each have a time and a place. Maybe that's bad and I should have my sole best friend who knows absolutely everything and I'd go to for anything but, honestly, all of my best friends are my best friend for a different reason and I do go to them for different reasons. I guess I just like it that way.
Yes, by the way, I promise that these two things are related.
I would say that I have two long standing best friends. I will always consider both of these ladies (girls, women, females, whatever your pleasure) within my classification of "best friend." So I was wondering how I would put them into their own special classes.
Thus, I return to my earlier discussion of "forever" and "for life." In this respect, I draw a distinction between the two. With one of these best friends (K), I'm sure that we'll be best friends for life. We've been best friends for as long as I can remember. Even after I moved away, she was one of the people I insisted on seeing during my summer trips back to the states. With the other (T), I hope we'll be best friends forever. I met her while I was in Italy and I've seen her twice since she moved away. The distinction I find between my relationships with K and T (the thing that makes one my "best friend for life" and the other my "best friend forever) becomes apparent when I look at the dynamics of these two relationships.
With K, the dynamic changes almost every time I see her. I don't know if she shares this feeling but it's almost like I have to re-get to know her each time we get together; I know her at the most basic--I remember what we were like together we were little; I'm pretty sure I know what she wants out of life, what her morals are, and her general personality. But I don't know her other friends anymore, what her classes are life, or what she does for fun on the weekends; if her boyfriend is nice, how golf is going, or how weird it is to have a dad as a professor at the same school. We don't talk much, don't share favorite books or movies, or stories about boys under the covers of our blanket fort at nostalgic sleepovers. But we have a history and I do love her to death. I know that I could always go to her and talk to her about anything; I know that she'll love me through anything and I hope she feels that she could come talk to me if she needed it (or wanted to).
As far a T goes, we talk a fair bit. I know that she's currently working on a paper about criminal profiling (and she's disconcertingly interested in it...scratch that, this it T, criminal profiling is just the kind of thing that would draw her in.) I know where she works, which coworkers she gets along with. I know what books she likes, which ones she's biting her nails,waiting for the last book in a series to come out. I know how her relationship with her family is, which days she loves them easily and which days it takes a little effort. Everything seems to be the same when we get together, it falls back into the easy pattern of last time because we've be in so much contact since the last time we physically saw each other.
What this all culminates to is that I know I could always go to either of lovely ladies to talk. I just know that I'll probably go to K with big life reasons more often than for seemingly trivial things. T will end up knowing both because we're forever communicating. I expect that K will be around for all of my big life events, I've just gotten so used to her being infrequently in my immediate circle of people that I talk to; it's a hard habit to break. I have zero doubt that we'll remain friends for the rest of our lives. I just think that T and I will be friends forever, because we can't get rid of each other.
K, T, you are both amazing women. I love you both so very dearly and cherish all of our inside jokes. I admire you and am so glad that you're in my life. I miss you guys. Hopefully, I'll see you sometime soon. <3

Day 2. Life's Happening

Where you'd like to see yourself in 10 years.

This may sound silly but, in 10 years, I'd really like to be happy. Not in the trivial sense of "I'm having a really awesome day" (even though I'll love being that kind of happy too). I mean more in the sense of knowing that I'll wake up everyday, excited to get up and lead the life I lead. I'd like to be happy with who I am, secure with where I am; I want to be content and safe. And I really want to see in myself what everyone else seems to see in me.
Ideally, yes, that'll happen sooner than 10 years but it's one of those 'work in progress' types of things so I'm gonna give myself a while to achieve it.
On the slightly less philosophical side, I see myself graduated and possibly married. Not that I'm dying to tie the knot yet but being married sounds like fun. You get to spend all your time with someone you love and who loves you. Hypothetically, the two of you get along very well and enjoy each other's company. (Okay, I'm actually just excited to have someone to cuddle with whenever I want.)
I'm supposed to say something about where I'd like to be employment wise as well, aren't I? Well, uh, I would love to be published by then. Granted, that means I have to actually finish a story first. (Maybe that'll be my goal for the next two years: finish a novel length story.) Let me let you in on a secret, though...when people ask me what I want to be doing in ten years, I also blank on the "career" portion of the answer; I feel like that's not normal considering a lot of people I'm meeting at college are studying to be a something (geologist, veterinarian, teacher, stage manager, linguist). Don't get too worried, though, I do have ideas of what I might like to do (write, work in a publishing house, be a florist--side question, how do you get into that business?) but having a job isn't really my main goal, if that makes sense. Yes, I know that I need a way to support myself. I just always hear people saying things like, "Do work that makes you happy" or "Work in what you find interesting." Okay, so I think about the things that make me happy/interest me: flowers, writing, dancing, tattoos, traveling. What career do you make of that? Maybe I'll write about a traveling tattoo artist who meets a dancing florist on a road trip across America. (...actually, that has intriguing potential.)
So Robyn in 10 years ideally equals happy. How I come to be happy is going to be an entirely different story. The world is my oyster or some such cliche.

Day 1. Oh Mi, Oh My

Your current Relationship, if single discuss how single life is.

Oh, goody. How do I explain this one? Well, there is this boy that I like a whole lot. Like, a lot a lot. That didn't really hit me until recently, though. He's wonderful; smart, funny, good taste in music and books...he's gonna be a mechanical engineer for the Navy. He's one of the good guys.

The only problem is that he lives across this lovely country of ours.

If Facebook where to ask me what my relationship status is, I'd probably answer with "It's complicated." Honestly, though, I'm pretty sure that's just because we live so far away from each other. I'm betting we would be so bold as to call ourselves a couple, if only we went to the same school.

I guess there's a lot to be figured out between us. But we're young and there's time to figure it out. For the moment, I'm happy with the constant texting and the sporadic post cards. Oh, and the flowers.

Yeah, he sent me flowers.

My current relationship is an odd one but, if you ask any of my friends, that's normal for me.

Stolen From A Friend

I don't know if you guys know Kris, writer of Lost But Who Cares, but he's a pretty cool guy. We were talking to day about blogging and it reminded me of a 30 day writing challenge that he did a while back. Since I've been having a bit of a lull in my writing, I thought I'd give it a try: 30 days and 30 topics.
Here are the topics...

Day 1. Your current Relationship, if single discuss how single life is.
Day 2. Where you’d like to be in 10 years.
Day 3- What are your views on drugs and alcohol.
Day 4. Your views on religion.
Day 5. A time you thought about ending your life. {Your worst moment}
Day 6. Write 30 interesting things about yourself {Things others may not know}
Day 7. Your zodiac sign and if you think it fits your personality.
Day 8. A moment you felt most satisfied in your life {your happiest moment}
Day 9. How you hope your future will be like.
Day 10. Discuss your first love and first kiss.
Day 11. Put your iPod on shuffle and write down the 10 songs that pop up.
Day 12. Your dream college.
Day 13. Somewhere you’d like to move or visit.
Day 14. Your earliest memory.
Day 15. Your favorite blogs
Day 16. Your views on mainstream music.
Day 17. Your highs and lows of this past year.
Day 18. Your beliefs.
Day 19. Disrespecting your parents.
Day 20. How important you think education is.
Day 21. One of your favorite shows.
Day 22. How have your changed in the past 2 years.
Day 23. Give pictures of 5 guys who are famous whom you find attractive.
Day 24. Your favorite movie & what it’s about.
Day 25. Someone who fascinates you and why.
Day 26. What kind of person attracts you.
Day 27. A problem that you have had
Day 28. Something that you miss.
Day 29. Goals for the next 30 days.
Day 30. Your highs and lows of this month!

Let the challenge begin.