Merry Christmas!

So, it’s Christmas day!  I didn’t get the moped I was hoping for (my parents tried, but the one they got for free from a friend just could have cost too much to fix up)  but I did get a new boombox, since mine had burned up in an unfortunate kitchen fire.  And, I got a really cool ephraim shirt that I wanted really bad.  It has a little pirate looking ship with an iceburg  on it and it says “formula for disaster” next to it.  I now have at least 4 things I actually like wearing in the winter.  Hooray.  I also got the equivelant of a half dollar (100 dollar bill that is) in a card from my aunt.  Plus a gift card to Target.  I know what I want!  It’s no fun to buy things that you need, instead of want, but you know, I guess that’s part of growing up!

 

Christmas presents!

I can’t wait for Christmas!  I will readily admit-I may be almost 25 (3 weeks and counting) but I still love presents!  I can barely sleep before major holidays.  Dorky it may seem, my family has always made a pretty big deal about holidays, and who doesn’t love dollars in their stocking?  I love the traditions and the surprises and the anticipation!  This year I am hoping for a moped, some cds, a pirate shirt, art supplies, and for enough money to get my brakes fixed. 

 

Dreams

So, I go to this group of women that meets once a week and we talk and pray and generally encourage each other and have a marvelous time together.  But, anyways, we took time out on Monday night to write down all the dreams that we have for our lives.  Big and small alike.  Learning a language, hiking, traveling, cooking, dancing, writing, whatever it is we wrote them all down on one side of a piece of paper.  Then we wrote down all the things that we see as stopping us from achieving those dreams on the other side of the paper.  It’s an incredible excersise, and I encourage you to try it with your friends!  It showed so much about us as individuals, and we discussed how we can help each other accomplish these dreams.  Well, I’m not saying I should try to be a destination wedding photographer or anything, but one of my dreams is to travel abroad and take pictures documenting each aspect of the trip.  I’d love to then have a show and attempt to sell these photos when I returned to the states.  One of the main things stopping me from doing this, however, is the fact that I would need a very nice camera to do any sort of justice to all that I see overseas.  I don’t know how I can ever save enough money to go abroad AND buy an incredible camera!!

 

Eastern Europe

When I was abroad this summer in Eastern Europe, I got to meet a family who had adopted a young Bosnian boy, and had a chance to hear their story.  The mother was telling me how it broke her heart to see these kids in the orphanage-they get their diapers changed automatically 3 times a day, at specific times, and on Sundays, because it’s the nurses’ day off, they only get one change in 24 hours!  This is obviously only the beginning of the corrupt system, and she would see the nurses’ go through all the donations and take what they wanted before giving anything to the children.  But, can you really blame them when their own children at home are going without due to low income?  So, churches have begun to come in and are attempting to start foster care systems in these countries, but it is a difficult task when there is a 65% unemployment rate-who can afford extra children?  It makes me thankful for things like the MRDD Guardianship program, and others like it.  If you can-consider becoming a foster parent yourself!

 

Car seat covers

So, I have had these awful cow seat covers over my front seats forever, mostly because I can see them from really far away and find my car in the parking lot   But, they are in really bad shape now, and I don’t want to get rid of them until I have something else to make my car stick out from the crowd.  I asked for new interesting seat covers for Christmas but my friends were saying that there are cooler things to add.  They suggested a couple of pirate flags, but I don’t know if I’m hard-core enough for that.  What else could I do?  Well, I have a lot of bumper stickers-maybe I should start loading my car up with them!

 

Life

I’ve never thought much in the past about collectible coins, but after my grandfather died, and left us a bunch, I began to get curious.  As a kid, I collected everything!  I collected trolls, cool pencils, pens, erasers, stickers, pencil boxes, the list never ends.    But, as I get older, and I move around, and I have to lug that stuff with me, quite honestly, the fun of collections has worn off.  I just don’t want stuff that just sits around and gathers dust or sits in my attic!  Anyways, the world has too much poverty left for me to spend my money on random junk just to say I have it.  But, grandpa’s old coins can make you money, where as trolls and pencils are pretty useless…ha

 

Pop culture is weird

When I think about how much pop culture has impacted society, it’s so weird.  I mean-you can take whole college classes, and become a professor of popular culture studies!  In the 1950’s, art that had pop culture references was just emerging, and it was hard to make the art snobs believe that it was indeed fine art.  Thus emerged the era of Pop Art.  Nowadays, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t consider popular culture, graphics, movies and commercials artwork.  But, am I supposed to believe that this is a true artwork for my walls?  Disney cars wallpaper?  I can’t do it.

 

stuff stuff stuff

I have so much stuff.  I feel like I am eternally purging and I can never simplify my life!  I get rid of 10 things from last season’s clothes….only to go out and buy 4 new things.  It never ends!  I got rid of 8 boxes of stuff when I moved, and yet it’s so hard to get rid of things that have sentimental value!  I bought this Spiderman border once, and never used it, but I don’t really want to get rid of it.  I have all these photos, letters, toys, hats, shirts that I might want to someday make into a big quilt…the list goes on!

I don’t want to be a packrat!  Someone help me!   I think I need Clean Sweep to come and talk some sense into my roommate and I!

 

October

it’s almost October!  yikes!  You know what great halloween costume I just heard of today? A kid in my class told me last year he bought a costume that made him look like an ostrich jockey.  I’m not even kidding you.  It looked like him riding on an ostriches back, with the legs dangling in front of him.  Remember Swiss Family Robinson??  Man, I loved that movie-I watched it again last week just for kicks, and it is so ridiculously idealistic and marvelous.

 

New stuff in the area

So, I have never really loved living in Cincinnati, until more recently.  The fact is, when you live closer to downtown, the river, and see the skyline every night, you start loving it more and more.  I spent my weekend in the glorious parks overlooking the river bends, and wished more young urban people lived near me.  And, then the next day I find out that the nicest condos you have ever seen, called the Ascent Condos are coming to Cincinnati!  They are super high-end, and I can’t wait to hob-knob with people who will live in them

So, anyways, I guess there is still hope that Cincinnati will overcome the fact that it’s in the midwest, and will rock hard someday!