I have a place I like to call my very own. A place where I usually go by myself to do some thinking. When I was growing up, I would ride my bike here to go for a swim and then sit on my thinking rock. When I was engaged, and only a few days away from my wedding, I went here and panicked. I can recall sitting on my thinking rock with tears streaming down my face, looking out over the water and wondering if I'd ever be able to come here again. My feet were mighty cold on a warm May evening.
Fortunately, they warmed up and a few days later I celebrated one of the best days of my life. Although the first few months were a test for both of us, I can honestly say now that marrying Jon is the best decision I have made thus far in my life. I just love him to pieces.
Yesterday, I went to my place again for the first time since that case of cold feet. I am pleased to say that in the middle of winter, my feet were warm and cozy. And I couldn't help but think about how lucky I am.
I'm done yet another semester of school. It feels pretty good. With all of this new found free time, I decided to come check on my blog. After wiping all the dust off of it, I realized that I qualified for a blogging award. So I made one and then gave it to myself. I feel pretty special.
It took me a while to qualify for such a prestigious award. I had to completely neglect my blog for almost an entire semester. And then when worst came to worst, I did something really lame, like exploit all my readers for homework purposes. I'm a winner. And I'm not selfish. Feel free to award this to any other lucky, qualifying bloggers.
Anyways, after such a dry spell of posts I feel almost sheepish to begin blogging again. Do I even have anything good to say? I guess I can start with just a simple little realization I came to the other day. That might be worth reading about.
I am a puzzle.
Not like a brain teaser, word puzzle or riddle; I am a giant jigsaw puzzle. Like this...
I am made up of pieces. Some pieces are big, some are really little. They all fit together making a picture; which is me.
The pieces are people.
Obviously, this handsome devil makes up a very large piece...
And same with all of these people...
But the point isn't about having a puzzle composed of a few big pieces. As important as those big pieces are, you need to branch out and find more. Otherwise you end up being a puzzle like this...
And everyone knows that puzzles made of a few big pieces are for kids.
For the longest time, I have been afraid of making real relationships, puzzle piece worthy relationships. In order to protect myself, I hid under the guises of nonchalance and aloofness, and thus remained nothing more than a simple, big piece puzzle.
Fortunately, somewhere along the road of growing up, my fear subsided and new pieces have begun to appear in my puzzle. And the best part is, I can feel myself becoming a much more well-rounded and complex individual - something that never would have occurred had I kept myself hostage and remained nothing more than a few big pieces.
I once had a friend tell me that my theme song is "I am a Rock" by Simon and Garfunkel. I was proud to be given such a compliment of independence and self-sufficiency. However, now I realize that a rock is nothing more than one piece, and that one piece is pretty boring and lonely.
I have realized that in order to live the fullest life, it is best to break yourself down into as many pieces as possible. But how?
Allow people into your life so that they can form a new piece.
Allow yourself to reach out to people and bring them in as a new piece.
Allow people to make the puzzle of you more complex and interesting.
I am a firm believer that this life of mine is one where I am to grow and blossom into the best Kristen I can be. And I'm beginning to realize that the best Kristen I can be is one touched and influenced by the remarkable lives, talents, and thoughts of others. A life filled with the colorful pieces of hundreds of unique and colorful people is a much better life than that of one cold grey rock. I am so grateful for the pieces of my puzzle.
Goodness gracious! To everyone who participated in that silly survey of mine - THANK YOU!! I got more than enough responses - 85 last time I checked. So thank you so much if you took the time to do that for me.
Like I promised, here are the results of the survey. I made them into nifty little graphs.
Here is the age breakdown of all you awesome participants.
Almost 80% of you believed that it IS fair that today's up and coming Generation Y has been given the title the "Entitlement Generation."
The main justification for the title "Entitlement Generation" is that Generation Y has "high expectations with very little effort." The close second is that Gen. Y has a "sense of privilege."
Just under 75% of actual "Entitlement Generation" members felt that they probably ARE more entitled than their parents were at their age.
Okay, this one is a little trickier to read. The blue line is the results for recreation activities enjoyed during CHILDHOOD. The red line is the results for activities enjoyed NOW. As adults now, we spend WAY less time participating in semi-organized sports and games and WAY more time spent on electronics. I was especially glad to see that the amount of time spent in outdoor activities hadn't decreased much at all! Some activities I missed that people noted were "make believe play" for childhood, and "cleaning" or "exercising" for now.
This is where things got interesting. Although the above chart reported that most people haven't decreased the amount of time they invest in outdoor recreational activities, the number one change people predicted that the "Entitlement Generation" would cause was a decrease in outdoor recreation. The second biggest change was that the "Entitlement Generation" would integrate new types of recreation (such as YouTube channels as a form of recreation, etc).
And in regards to whether recreation is better today or was better while you were growing up, the majority feels that things are better today!
Now, I asked a couple comment based questions. Rather than type out every single comment (p.s. all the comments were awesome, thank you so much for taking the time to put your two-bits in!!) I categorized them into major categories.
For the question "What major changes have you noticed in recreation since your childhood?", the most common responses were:
More screen time / recreation is spent doing the most easy alternative aka technology/electronics
Recreation is now more solitary and independent
There are more time restraints keeping you from participating in recreation
There are fewer organized sports available
You are more out of shape / sedentary
Recreation is influenced by family members or new roles (ie. spouses influence type of recreation; new role as a mother influences recreation)
And a response I got a couple times that I liked / thought was sad is that you felt you no longer had an imagination, or that your imagination has suffered
For the last comment question, the prediction question, these are the main predictions I got:
The "Entitlement Generation" will raise an even WORSE generation after them / the tail end of the "Entitlement Generation" will be even worse than the beginning half.
People will become more robotic / people will lose their skills of interacting and socializing
People will continue to become more fat and lazy
Recreation will become BETTER / be made more of a priority (this one made me happy)
More technology will be integrated into recreation
There will continue to be less and less recreation (this one made me sad)
There will be more and more debt
And a response I got a couple of times that made me laugh / could actually be true is that human beings will eventually degrade to the point they are in the movie Wall.E, where they sit in little motorized chairs so they never have to walk.
For other questions that got comments, some of the common themes or responses I noticed were regarding parenting. Many believed that the type of parenting styles out there today are what have given the "Entitlement Generation" a less than desirable image. I looked more into this for my report. Apparently the "Entitlement Generation" was raised with two unique new styles that are beginning to appear detrimental. "Hover Parenting" (where a parent literally "hovers" like a helicopter over their child's head, reducing their ability to develop independence) and "Trophies for All" (where parents and child leaders/teachers/etc believe all children deserve a reward, regardless of their effort, because they want everyone treated equal) are not so good for kids. One commenter called it "hyper-parenting." Another person commented on the "ridiculous amount of structure" kids are forced to go through, both at home and school. Another person said that as a parent you face the pressure to be a "hyper-parent," constantly scheduling and programming your kids, because that's what everyone else is doing.
Overall, I got exactly what I needed, so thank you so much. I guess I found these parenting comments the most interesting because I have a firm belief that the first place (and most important place) a kid is introduced to recreation is in the home and through the parents. If the parent is over doing it, they risk the chance of their child becoming burnt out, and seeing recreation as a burden. If the parent just plum doesn't do it, they risk the chance of their child becoming hooked on the easiest alternative, aka the dreaded technology monster!! I hope these results were a little interesting to you. I know that they have been absolutely fascinating to me.
I know this is a really lame thing to blog, but I can't help it. I have to.
As a fourth year student in my degree, I have to complete a Thesis Assignment relating to Sport & Recreation. For this assignment I need to gather some primary research.
So long story short, please take this short 10 question survey. You will be doing me a world of good. I'll even share the results if anyone is interested in seeing them.
It was a really fun day. I got to wear a really pretty dress, have a ton of pictures taken of me and my best friend, and people complimented me and said nice things to us all day. It was easy to see why girls dream about this day for what seems like their entire life. For one day it seemed as if I was the centre of the universe. While sitting at that head table after the family dinner, it was clear to me that marriage was awesome, a piece of cake in fact. Just like the one displayed in the corner that Jon and I would be cutting later. Little did I know, pieces of cake don't always cooperate or end up the way you imagined. For example...
They might end up on the floor. Allow me to share a few things I wish I'd known when I got married.
Spouses Don't Read Minds
Surprising eh? Well, I'll admit it surprised me as much as it probably surprised Derek Zoolander to find out that bulimics can't read minds. Although Jon might be able to guess what's going through my mind every so often, it doesn't mean that he knows exactly what I'm feeling or expecting. And the same goes for me. We've had some pretty silly disagreements in our little green marriage and more often than not they stem from one of us expecting the other one to know exactly what we're thinking. For example, just this past week I got annoyed with Jon because he split a bagel with me the wrong way. And I am realizing how very ridiculous that sounds now. But in the moment I was ticked off that instead of just giving me the top or bottom, he had to go and split it down the middle. In other words, he didn't read my mind. And then there are all the times Jon and I decide to take a day for relaxing (this may or may not include skipping school...) and I end up making him incredibly ticked off. How am I supposed to know that I'm not allowed to ask him to help me tidy up the house?! I can't read minds!! (I now know that Jon's idea of a relaxing day is very different from mine...) Long story short, unless your spouse is skilled with tarot cards and a crystal ball, don't expect them to be reading your mind.
Family is Family is Family
Jon and I really love our families. And our families are very different from each other. For instance, my family enjoys to sit around in the same room with everyone doing their own thing. Jon's family on the other hand enjoys playing card games. My family enjoys driving out onto the Ridge and going on long walks. Jon's family enjoys booking a church gym and playing sports together. My family lives on a farm. Jon's family lives in the city. We most certainly have our differences, but that doesn't mean that we aren't members of each other's family. I've come to realize that you don't marry a person, you really marry a family. And one of the best ways to make your spouse happy is by making an effort to really fit in and actively be apart of their family. Although they may not have changed your diapers and tied your shoe laces, they did all that for your spouse and that makes them important.
Say Sorry Sooner
Jon and I get in disagreements, believe it or not. And since we're both super mature we will oftentimes give each other a good old silent treatment. Sometimes we even just plain argue. I'm really good at just leaving the room. We're both awesome at stewing over grievances, spending time just thinking to ourselves how right we are and how wrong the other one is. And since we're both so good at all of this, we sometimes tend to forget that when all is said and done we're both going to end up saying sorry, no matter who was right or wrong. Fortunately, we are now to the point where we both realize this, which makes for new best times in the dispute resolution department. Why waste a good portion of your day being grumpy with your spouse when you know that when all is said and done, you're going to say sorry and you're going to forget what you were even grumpy about. Heck, this could probably apply to all relationships. Don't burden yourself with a grudge when you know it's not going to last. Say sorry sooner.
Every Marriage is Unique
Remember when you were growing up and how often you were told something like, "You are unique and that makes you special"? Well that trite saying still applies, even when you're all grown up and mature and married and stuff. I believe it is safe to say that no two marriages are alike. Remember that. Even if the world of professional and semi-professional bloggers try to tell you that all marriages are perfectly similar and similarly perfect. Ignore the pictures of their nearly identical horm-rimmed hipster husbands, perfectly decorated and vintage-ly accented homes, and completely envy-worthy wardrobes. Accept that your marriage is just as unique as yourself. For example, Jon and I talk like little kids when we're around each other. And we think we're simply the coolest. Well, maybe not Jon, it bugs him and he's trying to talk more like a "man."
So there you have it. Although I haven't been married all that long, I feel as if I've learned some incredibly important lessons. We've come a long way since May 4th. It seems like each day Jon and I continue to function more efficiently as a couple. We know what makes each other happy and what rubs each other the wrong way. And we're beginning to know what each of us needs to do in order to make marriage that piece of cake I thought we had already achieved on our wedding day. Like I was saying, although pieces of cake don't always cooperate or end up the way you imagined, the best thing you can do with that cake is to just go with it. Even if it ends up on the floor.
"I'm taking an awesome elective university class this semester," said no one ever.
I think it's pretty common knowledge that most GNED or elective university classes are a giant waste of time. Without being required to study a random astronomy class to satisfy some random "cluster," the university experience would be a lot more efficient. Not to mention cheaper. If I were to sit down and contemplate the $600 I paid to play charades and make junior high style collages in my "Intro to the Theatre" class, I might be a little disgruntled. Oh the things you do to get three more credits and become "well rounded."
However, this year is proving to be a little different. I'm still in an elective that I find retarded (Intro to Psychology - my prof prefers showing us outdated psych movies from the 1970s rather than actually lecturing us) however, I'm also in an elective that I actually... dare I say... love?
Okay fine, I'll say it, just as soon as I push the nerdy glasses back up my nose. I love this elective class I'm in. It's called "Texts & Ideas." Essentially, we study well known texts and apply the ideas of each author in trying to discover what it means to "live the good life." I know, fascinating right? These are the books we've had to read so far:
For the first time in my university career, I feel like I'm learning something that is going to have an impact on my entire life, not just some distant and unknown job. Perhaps on a later day I'll share what each book has to say in regards to living the good life. As for this post, I want to share one of my own discoveries since beginning this class.
On the first day of class we did all the typical first day of class things. We looked over the course outline, we found out what our assignments would be like, and discovered what texts we would need to buy. Then our prof began to speak about what each of us would intrinsically need to make this course work: an open-mind. Since we would be studying a very WIDE spectrum of ideas, ranging from Greek philosophy, Christianity, to Hinduism, it was going to be imperative for each of us to open our minds up in order to get the most out of this class. To get this message across, she shared what is now my new favourite quote from Aristotle: "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." This sounded easy enough, I've always considered myself to be well educated.
Having been raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in a very small "Mormon" town, it oftentimes felt like there was only one right way to live and be happy: "To be in the world, but not of the world." Perhaps it was just me, but the interpretation I got from this was to stay the heck away from anything else the world had to offer if it wasn't a part of, or entirely in line with, Mormonism. In retrospect, I do not regret growing up this way. However now, since beginning this splendid elective, I'm beginning to realized how much "good" the world has to offer. After leaving each class, I find myself wishing to implement parts of the Greek philosophies of Aristotle into my life. I find myself wishing to emulate and cultivate the same sort of love and relationship the Catholic Bishop Augustine had for his Lord and Saviour. And I find myself desiring to view each moment of my life as utterly important as Arjuna does in the Hindu Bhagavad Gita. Although each of these philosophies and religions are not Mormonism, they each still have their own good, dare I say even their own divine good.
Although I may hate taking these elective classes and jumping through these university hoops, I'm beginning to realize that one of the most important things I'm learning is how to think critically, how to reason, and how to make applications between seemingly unrelated topics. Since starting out on the journey of entertaining ideas and opening my mind, I've been able to make new friends I probably never would have. I've been able to make connections between my own religion to other religions and ways of thinking. And best of all, I feel like I'm more able to determine when something outside of my own religion or comfort zone is "good." Because the world has so much good to offer.
I remember the day like it was yesterday. I remember the way I felt especially. It was such an overwhelming desire and a will so strong I could hardly fight the urge to follow it. So I didn't fight it. I let myself fall completely head over heels in love. I allowed myself to be consumed. And I did so happily and without any regret. My first real romance, my first real love. And as many can relate, the first love is supposed to last forever, or at least that's all you can possibly imagine happening.
Allow me to introduce you to my first love.
For almost ten years, I have been imprisoned by the romance of working out, exercising, but especially running. That is, until recently.
Is it odd to feel like you've broken up with running? Wait, I should backup, is it odd to feel as if you're in a relationship with running? Probably. But I don't care. Ask any other runner out there if they feel as if they have some sort of tie to running. If someone goes as far as to call themselves a runner, then they most likely feel quite strongly about the sport.
Anyways. Rather than going on about my mushy-gushy feelings for running, I prefer to talk more about the "breaking-up" part. This is because I'm positive that I'm not the only person who has suddenly had a falling out with a hobby or interest that has consumed so much of them in the past. If you haven't, then please forgive me for my blabber, and please don't think I'm a crazy person for going off about this.
So about the "break-up," because who doesn't love a good break-up story? To make a really weird, long story short, all I'll say is that there was a home-wrecker, and that home-wrecker was Depression. And quit possibly laziness. But mostly Depression. Here's why.
Since being diagnosed, I've done some serious soul searching, trying to figure myself out and gain a better understanding of what was going on. I came to realize that before things actually reached the all-time low I was already on a slow descent. Running was how I dealt with it. Running gave me control. Running made me feel powerful. Running filled my body and mind with endorphins. And they felt awesome. Finally I reached a point where not even running could help me out. Sure, it would give me momentary happiness, but when the endorphins expired, so would my rationality. I'm sure Jon's favorite days of our first few months of marriage were the days I could get myself out and running.
Finally I accepted my problem. I acknowledged that I need help. But not without a big and ugly battle. It's hard to admit you handle your problems on your own. So I started taking candy... Or at least that's what I call it haha. And it has fixed the problem that I've spent years using working out and exercise to fix. I'm not saying that all the sudden I'm perfect and cured. Heavens no. What I'm saying is that I no longer have the same obsessive and almost pathological drive to exercise like I used to. And I feel empty. I'm not used to dreading a trip to the gym. It's so foreign to me to make excuses to not exercise, but I still do it almost daily. I thought I was a runner! I thought that was who I AM. So why don't I want to do it anymore?
To be honest, it's probably the darn candy, but so what?! Although running used to be my drug, it was still also fun! So why can't I do it for fun's sake?
After months of contemplation and conversation with myself, I've come to a conclusion. I need to rethink my approach. Changing is the most constant part of the human experience. No matter what, everyone changes. And change isn't always a bad thing. It's how we adapt to it that can be bad. So here are my own adaptations to the change I've just described.
1. Change the Definition. In the past, working out has always meant pushing myself to my absolute limits. A work-out wasn't good enough if it was under half hour. A 10 km run wasn't good enough if it took over an hour. I wasn't exercising if there wasn't sweat pouring down my face. Obviously this is all false, but to the old Kristen it was exercise doctrine. Nowadays, this definition has changed completely. And it was kind of hard to do that, but I had to. Exercise no longer means pushing myself to the limit. Exercise can be 20 minutes long if that's all I'm feeling like. Exercise can be more than just running. And Exercise can in fact be a time of peaceful meditation. To be honest, if I hadn't changed this definition, I'm pretty sure I would still be hiding from the gym.
2. Slow Down the Tempo. Going along with the previous comment, another thing that really helped with getting myself back to the gym was changing the type of music I listened to while working out. Before, my music reflected my mindset. High energy, fast paced, fist pumping, typical aerobic exercise music. The first few times back at running, this music only stressed me out because it made me feel like I had to push harder. Finally I decided to listen to the kind of music I listen to while relaxing. Folky, chill, alternative music. The difference was tangible. I had the most peaceful and wonderful run I had had in a long time. Aren't sure you can work-out with slow music? Give Cider Sky a try, they help wean you off the Top 40 pop stuff. It's still a quick tempo, but the music is still relatively chill.
3. Do Something Different. Back in my control freak days, doing the exact same workout, everyday of the week was perfect. Because it meant that I was in control. Nowadays, I get bored. It's already hard in the first place to get myself in the gym, doing the same boring workout day after day would be torture. So now I like to experiment. For some reason I have an exercise aversion to working out my abs. To fix this, I've discovered I can take a boring abdominal workout (ie. crunches) and make them super awesome by adding in the challenge of keeping my balance. Think doing sit-ups on a yoga ball. Think doing sit-ups on a yoga ball balancing on only one leg. Think doing plank on a bosu-ball. Think doing plank on a bosu ball, working your palms to the edges and center, back and forth. By thinking outside the box, I've found I can make exercising more interesting.
To sum things up, I guess what I'm trying to say is that although you may change, it is possible to adapt to the changes. There isn't only one way of doing something, even if you've only used one way for almost 10 years. Think of obstacles, or "break-ups" as an opportunity to widen your horizon, to discover new, and potentially even better, ways of doing things. In conclusion, I believe the old saying goes...
Last Christmas I got the most wonderful present from my Grandpa Gibb. His autobiography. Although it's really easy to procrastinate reading books when you're a busy university student, I decided this was one book I shouldn't hide on a shelf. After a few pages in, I couldn't put it down. I was taken captive by the amazing stories of his life, especially those of his childhood. Stories of walking from the farm to school. Stories of the kinds of pranks boys played back then. Stories of watching the train tracks being laid to his hometown of Hillspring. Stories of farming and the slow integration of modern technology into his livelihood. Stories of meeting and falling in love with my Grandma. Stories of a life well lived and a legacy to be proud of.
I was sad to finish this wonderful book, but what I felt even more than sadness after turning the last page was jealousy. I was and still am unbelievably jealous of the world my Grandpa grew up in and the life he has had the privilege of living. I wish that I lived out on a farm. I wish that walking and horse riding were my main means of transportation, and that cars were a luxury. I wish that each day I got out of bed early to work hard until sunset. To physically work hard, rather than relying on technology to complete my tasks of the day. I wish that conversation wasn't a mere exchange of pop culture and social media. I wish that phone calls and letters were how I showed people I was thinking about them, rather than posting a video to their wall on Facebook. I wish that life was more tangible and meaningful. It feels like the world I live in is so superficial and fleeting compared to the world my Grandpa grew up in not so long ago.
Rather than making life easier and better, I have the overwhelming feeling that technology is simply making life more complicated and shallow. Is it just me, or do the people from our grandparents era just seem more real? I believe things seem this way because they didn't have the kind of artificial distractions that we struggle with today. Rather than losing themselves in what so-and-so just "tweeted" and the pictures what's-her-face just put up on Facebook, they lived in the world, their world, in the here and now. They got to know exactly who they are. They allowed themselves to filled with real substance, with real relationships, with real knowledge. Today it seems like everyone is estranged from who they actually are. We live in a world of imitations. It's not cool to know yourself, your values, your thoughts, your world. But it is cool to know what's going on in that magical place called cyberspace.
Although it's been almost a year since reading Grandpa's autobiography, I haven't been able to quit thinking about the things I could do to dejunk my own life. Ways that I could in a way mimic the life my Grandpa had "back in the day." It has been relatively easy to come up with ideas. Unfortunately, the implementation of those ideas is a completely different story. I'm embarrassed to admit that there are things in my life I consider a need that are in NO way a need. I don't need Facebook. I don't need an iPhone with data. I don't need those things at all. I would continue to live quite nicely without them. Then why can't I seem to just put them away for good?
I think the answer lies in the words be, do, have. For some reason, it seems like we cut ourselves short of living the type of life we want to live because we convince ourselves that when we have what we want, like more time, then we'll be able to do the things that will make us happy, which will then make us be the type of person we want to be. However, things don't usually work out that way. I've been telling myself these have lies for almost a year! When I have more time; when I have a job; when I have the energy, then I'll be able to do what I need to in order to be the Kristen I want to be.
Today I woke up and decided to flip those words around. I've decided I'm sick of playing the waiting game. I'm sick of wishing I could have a certain way of life and then doing nothing to get it. Today I decided that I'm going to be the Kristen I want to by doing the sorts of things my Grandpa would have done back when he was my age. I'm sure he wasn't on Facebook. I'm sure he wasn't on his iPhone. I'm sure he was living here and now. And by doing this, I'm absolutely positive that I'll have the type of deep and real life I've been craving since reading my Grandpa's autobiography.
So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm going to dejunk my life. And the first place I'm going to start is by deleting Facebook. So, if you happen to find your way to my blog via Facebook, I invite you to find a different way of getting here. I love having you come and check things out. It makes my day to hear somebody took the time to snoop around my silly little blog. Ways that you can continue to find your way here include: googling "near-life experience," I'm the fourth hit; bookmarking my page; becoming a follower; or following by e-mail. Not too hard eh?
Well, it feels good to get all of this out of my system. Have a nice weekend.
I wish I had more time to blog. I would write the most wonderful things. Funny things. Inspiring things. I would seriously blow everyone's mind. Okay, maybe not that, but I would really enjoy myself. Instead I'm stuck writing ten page papers about Aristotle and Saint Augustine for a class. I'm stuck making powerpoint presentations about Human Resources. And I'm stuck writing notes about psychology.
Please enjoy a blog post about nothing. I lack the time to put together something intelligent, so this is simply a post for the sake of blogging. To satisfy my blogging craving.
1. I like to take pictures on my iPhone and then edit them. Instagram was getting overrated, so I found some other really neat photo editing apps. They make my pictures more 'artistic'. You should check out the apps, they are FilterMania 2 & BeFunky. Here are some of my lovely pictures.
I post the finish product on Instagram after doing all the prior editing. If you wanna follow me, I'm kgibbgibb. Perhaps you've noticed I don't follow anyone. I realized Instagram was an unnecessary time waster. As much as I loved looking at everyone else's lovely pictures, I was spending too much time on it. I love editing pictures of my own, but as soon as I start following people and randomly checking it every hour I feel like I've got a problem. I'm a weirdo I know, but this seems to be working for me.
2. I got asked to write a guest post on someone else's blog. This is my first guest post ever. You can read it HERE. The blog is called Living Sideways. Tara, the girl who writes it has a specific section called "Body Positive" where she asks people to write about how they are positive about their own self-image. She's a really neat girl, you should check out more of her other "Body Positive" posts if you have the time. And if that's something you're interested in.
3. I mentioned before that I am a music thief. I jack music from YouTube videos. Please forgive me. Anyways, I might as well share the wealth if I'm getting it all for free right? Here are some cool bands/songs you should check out if you're bored.
I love chill folky music. I even work out to it. And study to it. And wash the dishes to it.
4. The Gibb family got family pictures done. I love them. If you need a good photographer, check out my friend Arianne over at Everglow Photography. Or you can follow her on her photography blog right HERE. Enjoy some pictures.
We have a picture just like this from when we were little girls!
Gosh I just love my family :)
5. Umm, my husband is the best. I feel like we're just playing house. We're seriously a couple of kids who give each other wedgies when the other one is least expecting it. I love ya Jonny.
And that's about all I have time to write. Forgive me for how random all this was. Peace.
