tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64023770238386099442024-03-12T18:12:51.070-07:00Natventuresready or notNataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.comBlogger714125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-49411441343890253102017-01-22T11:02:00.000-08:002017-01-22T11:11:23.804-08:00FROM MISS TO MRSWelllllll I'm <i>really</i> late posting about this, but I've had this feeling to write lately and so here we are.<br />
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First, I have to apologize for being such a terrible blogger this last year. I don't really have my own computer anymore, which means sharing the desktop but I hate blogger on it. I'd rather sit on the couch with a cup of tea or coffee and crank out a post from comfort rather than sitting upright in a computer chair. I mean, the desktop is lovely for photo editing and digital print making and playing mine craft, but after a while the chair screams at me to get up and my back is stiff and really, the couch is just my best pal when it comes to blogging. Anyway, all of that to say this: I'm blogging from iPad on the couch now so we should be back in business - but only time will tell for sure!<br />
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Second, ahe the part we've <i>allllll</i> been waiting for, I took a road trip this summer that probably changed my life.<br />
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Nathan and I loaded up the car Thursday after work and after double and triple checking that we had everything, we headed off to Portland - <i>only </i>a 7 hour drive - at like 4:30 in the afternoon. YOLO, amiright?<br />
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In Portland we hit up the Voodoo donuts (where this angry homeless man karate chopped the driving cones on the street like it was his job) and I made friends with two impeccably dressed gay business men. Portland, you are definitely weird.<br />
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From there we booked it down to Oakland, California. That was the longest stretch our trip and in the future it would have been nice to break that up a little bit - but you live and you learn. Oakland/San Francisco was super fun though and we spent the <i>entire day</i> walking around the city. We saw Fishermans Wharf, charged our phones in a Starbucks in the financial district, ate lunch on the pier, had drinks at an Applebee's restaurant on the third floor of a building (the view!) and got distracted by the street performers causing us to missour ferry back to Oakland.<br />
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Leaving San Francisco, we headed down to Monterey. Everyone told us to go see Carmel By The Sea and check out the aquarium at Monterey bay. So once we got to Monterey we decided to check out Carmel first.<br />
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Carmel is pretty darn rad, I'll just say it. We parked on the street and just started walking through all the little boutiques. We walked in to a Lush store where all the ladies we super nice and informative. We ended up buying a Dragons Egg bath bomb because obviously. We wandered through some more shops and made our way down towards the sandy white beaches. It was absolutely beautiful at the beach.<br />
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We decided we were hungry and walked back into the little town to find a restaurant. Everything was pretty packed but we found this cute little restaurant that had fish tacos and I was sold. So we waited the 20 minutes for a table in the back corner and ordered our food.<br />
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The town has public restrooms so not a lot of places have their own bathrooms, we discovered. So Nathan excused himself to go find one near the restaurant. It seemed like he was gone forever and I was starting to wonder what had happened to him when our food was delivered to our table. So I finally shot him a quick text and a few seconds later he showed back up.<br />
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When I asked him what took so long he got this silly grin on his face and said, "I'll tell you later." Which should have been my first clue that something was up, but honestly I thought he was just talking about having found some neat little shop that he'd show me when we were done eating.<br />
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We finished our meal and walked some more around town before heading back to Monterey, where<br />
we decided to see what the aquarium was all about. After finding a place to park that wasn't a million dollars for two hours, we headed towards the aquarium. You guys! The aquarium was $50 a person to get inside and just, holy buckets. At the beginning of the trip and for two not-so-rich people, we laughed and walked away. There were a bunch of cute little shops all around so we walked through those rifling through souvenirs trying to determine if there was anything we wanted.<br />
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Finally we walked into this restaurant for a drink on their veranda. The waiter was incredibly rude - when we told him was just wanted drinks and maybe an appetizer he told us we could just go sit at the bar all haughtily like we were taking up space in his precious section (which was most,y empty by the way). Having worked in the restaurant industry, I thought that was uncalled for. If your section is empty and your table just wants drinks and appetizers you smile and serve them because a smaller tip is better than no tip because of your empty table! Okay, so I'm not bitter at all, right? Right.<br />
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Anyway, after we left the restaurant, in a shocking turn of events and something completely unexxpected, we walked around the bay some more. My feet were getting tired and I was ready to go do a little bit of nothing for a while. We headed beck to the car and accidentally stumbled upon our hotel. So we checked in and found our room and tried to decide what to do next. I had brought a nice dress for a fancy night out, but Nathan forgot to pack nice clothes.<br />
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I offered to do something less fancy, but he was pretty adamant that tonight would be our fancy dinner night and we would just go pick out some clothes for him. This should have been clue number 2, but again, I was oblivious. If Nathan has a plan, he usually sticks to it (it's the INTJ personality he's got), and so we googled the nearest Ross Dress For Less and picked him out some dress clothes and shoes.<br />
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Before we headed back to the hotel, Nathan wanted to walk down the beach one more time. It was a beautiful day and tomorrow we were heading to Santa Barbara, so it was now or never. I begrudgingly agreed, because I like the sandy beaches but my feet were sooooo beyond tired of walking <i>everywhere</i>. Nathan found a place to park and we hiked over the hill to the beach. And you guys, it did not disappoint.<br />
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There were a few people down on the beach and Nathan suggested we walk down towards the part where no one had already taken residence. This should have been clue 3, but both of us being introverts it didn't surprise me that he wanted to get away from the people.<br />
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We passed a couple making out on a blanket. Nathan made some comment about them and retorted telling Nathan to be nice, they probably just got engaged. We laughed and walked farther down the beach. My feet hurt and I was ready to go back to the hotel, so I stopped walking to take in the gorgeous view. I had just placed my hand over my eyes in a cover from the sunshine to watch the cerulean blue waves splash against the shore when I hear from behind me, "hey, Natalie," so I whirl around and there's Nathan down on one knee!<br />
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Before he says anything, I'm thinking this has got to be a joke. I literally <i>just made fun of that couple</i> and I figured this sucker'a gonna be tying his shoe!<br />
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But instead he says the sweetest words, "I can't imagine my life without you, will you marry me?" And you guys, it's like I went into some sort of tunnel vision. It was hard for me to get the word out as I nodded and smiled, because I wanted to say "yes" and "it's about damn time!" at the same time.<br />
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He placed the most beautiful ring on finger and from there I heard the words he was saying but it was hard for me to actually listen because I JUST SAID YES TO A BOY. YES TO MARRYING A BOY!! We took a few pictures and I tried to get one of my ring with the waves in the background but they all came out blurry.<br />
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As we walked back toward the car to head back to our hotel and get ready for our fancy and now <i>celebratory</i> dinner, he told me about how at lunch in Carmel he had actually called my dad. We talked about who to call first and who to text verses who to call and who to tell before we announced on facebook and all those <i>super </i>important details.<br />
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He also revealed to me that my ring had actually belonged to his great-grandmother and was a family heirloom. The best part is that we didn't have to get it resized - it fit perfectly. Which to me just means it was meant to be.<br />
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We went to the hotel to get ready for our fancy fancy dinner. Nathan picked a good restaurant where they had this dish - a bacon chop (it's a slab of bacon cooked like a steak) and they served it over a pepper jack baked mac n cheese brick and it was probably the best thing I've ever eaten.<br />
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And that's the story about how I became the future Mrs. Nathan!Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-83646456223218527922016-09-26T10:31:00.000-07:002016-09-26T10:37:43.395-07:00ON BEING AN INTROVERT<br />
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Introverts are an interesting bunch, I tell you what. They super are.<br />
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This weekend Nathan and I tried to adventure into ULTA - a beauty supply shop - on Saturday. I feel as though this is something that a normal girl would be over the moon about! Yay! My man is buying me some makeup! The possibilities are endless!<br />
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But instead, I walked in trailing behind Nathan - immediately overwhelmed by the sheer volume of products. If you know anything about me, you know that a makeup guru I am not! I looked around at all the aisles and my mind went blank.<br />
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Why was I even there? What did I need? Who did I think I was, walking into that store knowing almost nothing about make up!?<br />
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You'd think, maybe, that since I am an artist I would be all about the makeups. However, as much as I would love to learn more about make up, it's really not something I'm super passionate about. I like to cover up my red spots and even out my skin tone, and I do like a good smokey eye - but when it comes to types of products and differing brands, I am at a total loss.<br />
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But these types of places offer consultations of sorts to try out different looks and products to see what you like and what looks good on your skin tone. This is a cool service, but somehow I don't know how to go about asking for it. I hate feeling like I'm imposing on someone, or being demanding. So, I freaked a little bit.<br />
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I didn't know what I was doing in that store. I felt so totally out of place and it made me feel ridiculously uncomfortable. I just wanted to leave, but I tried to look around anyway and see if there was anything that spoke to me.<br />
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After what felt like an eternity of aimlessly wandering around different aisles, (it was probably only maybe five to seven minutes) a saleslady with a fabulous purple shade of lipstick asked if I needed help with anything. She was very nice and asked me if I could help even to narrow down what I wanted, but I panicked. I couldn't think of anything. I didn't have a game plan, I didn't know what I wanted, and I really just wished I could turn invisible or bolt out of the store.<br />
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But instead I just whined that I really had no idea what I was even doing there like a child. It was definitely <i>not</i> one of my finer moments. These are the things that happen when I go out in public unprepared to deal with people. Or, more realistically, having dealt with <i>too many</i> people that weekend already and I was just all peopled out.<br />
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I mean, normally I handle myself pretty darn well in public. So well that sometimes people say things like "you're an introvert? really?" As if introverts aren't allowed to have well developed social skills or like being around people.<br />
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I can do people. I can do crowds. They're not my favorite and I can't do them for long periods of time, but I <i>can</i> be in public and not be the weird girl in the corner. I promise, introverts can be people persons too. But it only lasts for so long.<br />
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But back to my story. The purple lipstick clad saleslady took my attitude like a champ. She gave me her card and said that when I was ready, I could give her a call and we would play.<br />
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And then I went and sat in the car with Nathan for a while before regaining my composure enough to go into more stores before ultimately heading home and staying in my apartment the rest of the day to avoid any more people, like a true introvert. Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-87593111873458468482016-09-26T10:08:00.000-07:002016-09-26T11:20:32.218-07:00RESURRECTIONDudes,<br />
<br />
Here I am. Again. I couldn't stay away. I need an outlet and cutting myself off from the blog was probably one of my dumber ideas.<br />
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I mean, I needed the break and to relieve the pressure, but I can't stay away.<br />
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You can't get rid of me that easily, internet.<br />
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So, here I am. For whenever the mood strikes and the words flow.<br />
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It's good to be home.<br />
<br />
xoxoNataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-71372230278975308172016-06-21T12:14:00.002-07:002016-06-21T12:14:59.952-07:00I'M CALLING ITIt's been a good run, folks. We've had 8 years together, can you believe it? But I think, it's time for me to move on. I haven't been a good and faithful blogger lately and I think that means that for me, it's time to start over.<br />
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I've dabbled with the idea of just starting a completely new blog, so you might look for that in the future. But for now, I'm taking away the guilt of never posting anymore and simply just signing off.<br />
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Have a fantastic life, kids. I'll see ya on the other side. Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-67831834152065660672016-03-11T19:38:00.000-08:002016-03-11T19:38:38.274-08:00ON BEING AN ADULTI was in the shower the other morning and having incredibly deep and philosophical thoughts, like you do, and I was thinking about adulthood.<br />
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Adulthood and I have had a very interesting relationship. I used to think being an adult was the dumbest thing I'd ever done. And slowly I adjusted to thinking that maybe being an adult wasn't actually that dumb after all...and then I lost my job and went right back to thinking being an adult is completely stupid.<br />
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But you know what? It's not really. I got a new job. I was able to pay my bills. I didn't end up living in an old refrigerator box in the back alley of somewhere, as is my worst fear, and life kept going. Life didn't suddenly stop and turn completely on its head like I'd always imagined it would if something catastrophic happened to me.<br />
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It's a weird thing about life, how it just keeps marching forward. I know that when I was little I knew this, but I didn't really <i>comprehend</i> it until I was much, much older. I used to think if something went wrong that that was just the end of it. That there was no coming back from that, it was just over. You missed out. You lost. Time to head another direction. And really, that isn't the case. I'm so glad I know that now, but I'm still not sure why I didn't really grasp that <i>then</i>, you know?<br />
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Whatever.<br />
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So anyway, back to my shower thoughts. Because that's what we're here to talk about anyway, right? Right.<br />
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I was washing my hair underneath the steaming hot water in which I have to be surrounded by or else I somehow feel...cold. And as I lathered the suds into my scalp, it occurred to me that I am not really a real adult. Because occasionally I still feel like I'm just a little girl playing pretend at the adult thing. Sometimes I find myself in situations where people think I'm this grown woman, when really I feel like a six year old flailing around down inside me screaming "I'm too young for this!"<br />
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And you know what's crazy? I'm not a little six year old girl. I'm actually a pretty well adjusted adult...but then again, fake it until you make it, right? I wonder if I will ever feel like an actual adult and not like a little girl at a masquerade ball.<br />
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I'm sure that as time goes on, I'll feel like a more adultier adult, but I guess that just like all things in life, it just takes practice. And then I read <a href="http://reasonexrhyme.blogspot.com/2016/03/there-is-no-brunette-superwoman.html">Stephanie's blog post</a> about being the one that actually makes your dreams happen and my mind exploded.<br />
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You see, even if I am just a little girl pretending to be an adult, I still get to do all the things I want to do. Talking to Nathan, our plans for the future seem crazy to me still. Like, am I really old enough to talk about buying a house? Am I really old enough to move across the country if I wanted to? Am I really old enough to get married and travel and do all of the things that Little Natalie dreamed for Big Natalie to accomplish?<br />
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And the craziest part is that I totally am. I am able to make these things happen. I just have to be willing to put in the work and file the papers and do whatever else it is I need to do to make things happen. I tend to let myself get overwhelmed, but if I just take it one step at a time, before I know it, when I look back at my life, all the things I want to do get done.<br />
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And that is what I love so much about being an adult. It's more than just making my own bedtime and prioritizing my budget so that I can pay rent. It's the fact that I get to make my own dreams come true. I am the master of my fate - in a manner of speaking.<br />
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Plus, to have a partner that has the same goals and plans for the future that I do, it just makes me more excited to keep going. So, yay for being an adult and things. Yay! Confetti! I can do whatever I want!Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-26953700098778395302016-02-16T16:50:00.001-08:002016-02-16T16:50:54.848-08:00THE SPECTRUMYOU GUYS!<br />
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You guys have been doing a thing and I really REALLY need you to stop doing the thing anymore. If I catch you doing the thing, then I'm going to smack you upside the head and give you a list of websites to check out and books to read.<br />
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If you're confused, let me clear a few things up for you, okay? Take a deep breath and get comfy, because here we go.<br />
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Introverts have a bad name and it hasn't stopped yet because people keep perpetuating the stereotype and no one has really put the real research out there, although plenty of people have tried. There is still this notion going around the introverted people are socially awkward, shy and antisocial. THIS IS AN UNTRUTH!<br />
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The real difference between introverts and extroverts is the way in which those people gain and release energy levels. <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extroversion">Extroverts</a> gain energy from people. They tend to feel more energized and pumped up after hanging out with their friends, going to a party, spending time in a crowd, etc. Whereas on the flip side of extroversion, <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/introversion">introverts</a> gain energy by spending time alone either watching a movie, reading a book, or completing a project, etc.<br />
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When extroverts are full of energy, spending time by themselves may be a nice reprieve. When introverts are full of energy, a night out with their friends might not be something they are dreading or loath to do. Ya feel me?<br />
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I keep seeing these articles about the "extroverted introvert" which just annoys me to no end. No person is a true introvert or extrovert based on the stereotypes of either being constantly inundated with new people or hating social interaction of any kind choosing to spend a majority of time with your nose in a book. And I'm SICK OF IT. I'm so tired of people perpetuating the stereotype that introverts can't be social creatures.<br />
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JUST STOP SPREADING THE INSANITY.<br />
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If you find that you feel more energized after you've spent a couple hours reading your book and you would like to go out and pub crawl Friday night with your friends doesn't mean that you're not introverted. It might even be shocking to learn that introverts even process a lot of social prowess and may even have a nice circle of friends instead of just one or two.<br />
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I know, your mind is blown, isn't it?<br />
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But seriously. Everyone falls on the spectrum of intro/extroversion and while some people are more on one side or the other doesn't mean that people don't also fall in the middle. There is such a thing as an ambivert, actually.<br />
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I'd like to challenge you to help change the dialogue surrounding introversion and extroversion. If we start changing the way we speak and write about it by realizing that it's a spectrum instead of a black and white issue then we can better understand our fellow humans.<br />
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Remember that it's not about how shy a person is. <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shyness">Shyness</a> has nothing to do with introversion, it's merely a term for the fear of social judgement. Whether you gain or give energy by being around people or away from people is what gives you your introvertedness or extrovertedness.<br />
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Now go forth and turn the stereotype on its head!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe>Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-11509834465320951712016-02-04T17:22:00.003-08:002016-02-04T17:22:56.994-08:00IMPATIENCE What even is blogging these days anyway? I mean, who even does that. Not me. Didn't you know? Because I am the worst at it apparently.<br />
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And you know what? I don't even have a good reason. Not a one. None. Nothing. Because I'm currently laid off while I wait for the photography season to pick back up and I have all the time in the world to write blog posts. Plus, I mean, with all this time I do lots of interesting things. Like watch stupid reality trash television like Dance Moms. Betcha never saw that one coming!<br />
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But in all seriousness, I have done some cool things. I mean, I've been watching a lot of Food Network shows, so I've really stepped up my game in the kitchen. I made lamb burgers with homemade tzaziki sauce and it was amazing. Recently, I've started using my croc pot as well to cook pork shoulders and it's been fantastic.<br />
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In addition to the trash TV and the food prep, I've been doing a lot of artwork as well. I've been creating all these custom mugs for my friends and family. (If you want one, email me!) And it would be great if I could turn it into a legitimate business, but that will take a lot of time to really take off enough to support me. I'm currently drawing up designs for mugs though, for local souvenir shops - just to get my name out there. Exciting!<br />
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I'm designing a new updated logo for the business my mom works for. It's been a lot of back and fourth and nothing is finalized yet, but we are getting close I think. I've spent a few hours working on the design and revitalizing the old one. Different shapes, different fonts, abbreviations or entire business names? It's really been a big journey. Actually, the experience is phenomenal and I would love to work with other businesses for logo designs, etc. This is the nerdy stuff I live for!<br />
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But if we're to take a break from my monotonous life update (that I know you are all SO THRILLED to be reading) I would have to tell you some other things and feelings I have about <i>stuff</i>.<br />
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Since I graduated from high school, it has been a lot of non-stop with classmates and friends getting engaged and married and popping out kiddos. And I've mostly (<i>mostly</i>!) been able to stomach it without too much constant jealousy of their impeccable diamond rings. Mostly. But recently I've found myself having to work harder and harder to stuff down the green monster.<br />
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It's not that I'm super stoked out of my mind for all my friends. Really, truly, honestly, I am beyond happy that their lives are going in that direction. It makes me believe in marriage and that people really do care about committing themselves to another person for the foreseeable future and beyond. In a culture that hates on marriage so much, to have my Facebook news feed constantly bombarded with so-and-so is engaged/married to so-and-so, it's really nice.<br />
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And on the other hand, my stomach sinks a little. I wish it was me. <i>I wish it was me</i>. When it really hit me hard was when one of my old students got engaged. That was the toughest one to get over. Because, <i>why</i>. Why? I have an amazing relationship with a phenomenal man who loves me an incredible amount. We have talked a lot about marriage and the future and our plans for life. We are a wonderful team and we balance each out very well.<br />
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So maybe that's what makes it so hard. The fact that I know it's coming but I don't know when. The fact that these girls (and guys!) don't have to wait any longer and I'm over here forced into continued patience. It stings a little, down deep in my soul, to see all those others flaunting their rings all over social media, while I'm still here bare handed.<br />
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It won't be forever. My time is coming. I know that. I'm just tired of waiting. So tired of waiting. And yet, I'll keep on waiting. As long as it takes. Impatience gets you nowhere and worrying does nothing to change a situation. But sometimes ya just gotta vent, amiright?Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-9502455687466577692016-01-04T16:14:00.001-08:002016-01-04T16:15:09.951-08:00FAMILY FOTOS<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" id="vp1VQBdL" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/embed.animoto.com/play.html?w=swf/production/vp1&e=1451952758&f=VQBdLlj1D0arM5gSzoD48Q&d=0&m=p&r=360p+720p&volume=100&start_res=720p&i=m&asset_domain=s3-p.animoto.com&animoto_domain=animoto.com&options=" title="Video Player" width="640"></iframe>
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We had family pictures taken earlier this December, and I love every stinkin' one of them.Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-80170051601176002752015-12-30T08:34:00.000-08:002015-12-31T14:42:11.706-08:00HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDEIt has become increasingly difficult for me to sit down in this space and crank out my thoughts like I used to. I open the page, read some posts and then exit out as if I was never a writer at all. I'm beginning to wonder if that means I should shut down or if I should launch a new space, one that's different and fresh and blank. One that isn't full of memories and stories already, an empty book with blank lines. It'll even smell crisp, like a new notebook purchased in the fall for the impending start of the school year.<br />
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Or maybe perhaps that will be too much work and here, I already have my friends. All three of you that read my blog. (Hi Dad!)<br />
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So who knows. I just know that 2015 was a terrible year for the blog! Sorry guys! It wasn't as if I had bad intentions here...my follow through this year was just focused on other things. I mean, it has been a wild ride I think.<br />
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I started out the year working for the juice bar. I worked what felt like a billion hours a week (which is just a slight exaggeration) and it just started to burn me out on the job. I started as a barista when I was 17 years old, and even though I worked in a school for two years post college, moving back to the juice bar (while fun) still felt like a giant step backwards as much as I tried to convince myself it was just sideways.<br />
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And then in the summer I made a remark that I shouldn't have, it got blown way out of proportion, and so I had to walk away. Actually it was a huge blessing in disguise. Sure, I worried about how I was going to pay my bills and buy my groceries, but it also helped me realize the incredible support system that I have here in my little Idaho.<br />
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In late August, just before I turned 25, I started working for a photographer. He's a photographer that I've admired for years and years and meeting him was a little unreal for me. He had only lived in my head and on my computer/phone screen for so long that you kind of forget that he's a real person. But honestly, the shock only lasted for a couple days and then we were into the real stuff. Especially because my backup left me after three and half days on the new job and I felt like a complete idiot 90% of the time.<br />
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Transitioning from juice bar barista to photography studio manager was a much steeper learning curve than I had anticipated. Plus the lack of training and the being right at the tail end of the busy season left me in a kind of "sink or swim" situation - which I feel like is my whole life. But it got better. It didn't get easier, I just figured out how to do more stuff. And my relationship with my boss started to develop away from him being upset that I didn't know what I was doing, to him being appreciative of all the things I do there now. It's been a little bit of a roller coaster, if I'm being completely honest.<br />
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I would tell myself that I just had to get through today. I just had to make it until five o'clock and then I could breathe a sigh of relief. Or I just had to get through the next hour. I just had to get through this phone call. I had to set up little goals for myself or else I think I would have lost it.<br />
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But looking back at how far I've come in just a matter of months, and even though there are things that still terrify about this job, I'm mostly just excited about it. It shows on my face. My dad says this is the happiest he's seen me in a job in a while. And it's true, I am happy. I'm even, get this, <a href="http://theyounglife-n.blogspot.com/2015/01/happy-happy-joy-joy.html">joyful</a>.<br />
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I'm joyful for a multitude of reasons, all of which were made that much sweeter having gone through the juice bar battle and the photography manager goal setting.<br />
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I'm joyful because I have a family that loves me and is willing to back me in any I want to pursue. I started making custom gifts this holiday season, and I got a way higher response than I had anticipated I would. I made quite a few gifts this year and I hope to just continue on with that. I would like to ship things across the country, not just the state, you know? And my dad has expressed an interest in helping me do that. I can't thank him enough for just how incredible he's been to me.<br />
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I'm joyful because I have developed an interest in designing fabrics, which was helped along by the love of my oma. She has been such a source of encouragement and even sent me Christmas presents made out of the fabric I designed!<br />
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I'm joyful because I have a great relationship with my boyfriend which just keeps growing and growing. He's such a rock of support for me and he pushes me to make tough decisions. He's smart and ambitious and I don't know what I'd do without him.<br />
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There are a few other important people in my life that have helped to finish this year out nicely for me. It's amazing after how tumultuous my summer felt, to be this happy at the end of the year. But you know what? I'm glad. I'm glad there's snow and skiing and family surrounding me this December. I'm usually such a grinch this time of year, and I expected to feel annoyed all month. But then it started with a windstorm in November and then it's snowed practically all of December and maybe I'll be really tired of the snow in February just like every year, wishing it was summer time, but also maybe I'll just like it because that's how it is.<br />
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I've learned a lot this year. I've grown a lot this year. And I honestly am just excited to see what the new year brings. Happy 2016 kids. May it be exactly the year you need.Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-61278679648710491072015-11-30T19:06:00.000-08:002015-11-30T19:06:34.082-08:00A HEARTY THANKSI feel like I say this every year, but this year feels especially fast. Maybe it's just the second half of the year that has been so incredibly...unique, or it could just be that time passes faster the older you become. I mean, not that it really matters anyway.<br />
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But since this year has been totally out of the norm, it's shaped me in ways I didn't know I could move. It's stretched me and grown me and pulled me in different directions. It's made me more confident in some areas and also shattered other parts of me beyond recognition. And I guess that's what happens when you go out into the world and try to be a functioning adult. Limits get tested, patience is worn thin, grace and humility become your best friends and you are forced to figure shit out. Welcome to adulthood.<br />
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As weird as it sounds though, it's actually something I really enjoy. This year I lost a job in the stupidest way possible and had all sorts of negative things spread about me (I can only assume, based on the situation, as it was not peaceful) which was a complete and utter first in the Natalie department. But through that situation I came out with a different and better sense of self.<br />
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As an artist, I started designing fabrics and have even sold some to people who are not my family - which is, as they say, the mark of success. As a girlfriend, I got to understand just how much Nathan loves me through all the stress that we've dealt with the past few months. As a daughter, I have witnessed just how much my parents care about me and my wellbeing and how readily they will sacrifice for me when I need them to. As an employee, I have learned that it's not the amount of money you make, it's the experience you get doing it. Which could also be in the art category too, you know, starving artist and all.<br />
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So as we've just finished Thanksgiving and are about to head into the Christmas season, I have been filled with a spirit of thanksgiving. Or at least I want to be filled with a spirit of thanksgiving but sometimes I am filled with a spirit of hunger and crankiness - I am only human after all.<br />
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But I'm thankful for quite a few things this year, including but not limited to: my family, who keep surprising me in all the best ways; <i>all</i> my friends, who are supporting me in all my artistic endeavors or who listen to me rant about things without judgment, (you guys are amazing!); my oma, who has supported me and offered a lot of advice and who has been my biggest cheerleader when it comes to designing fabrics and creating art; and Nathan, who is so much more to me than a boyfriend and even when I'm crabby and impossible, for whatever reason, he still loves me and surprises me with little things all the time. I couldn't have asked for anyone better to have by my side.<br />
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And as we head into the land of greens and reds and jingly bells, while you are all taking the time to make a unique gift or thoughtfully pick one out at a store, remember who it is you're buying for and why you are so thankful for them.<br />
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Christmas tends to make me really grinchy and irritated with all the people in all the stores buying all the things and paying absolutely no mind to the world around them. Sometimes I get so annoyed feeling like I'm the only one paying attention to my surroundings, that I lose track of the fact that these are humans too. And they are somebody's mom, grandma, dad, sister, brother, aunt or uncle. And they deserve to be treated like a human being too.<br />
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So goosfraba this holiday season, my friends. And a Happy Christmas to you!Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-19069992405685658992015-11-02T12:07:00.002-08:002015-11-02T12:07:41.768-08:00LOOKING BACK<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well happy November, nerds! I honestly thought I'd be able to squeeze one more post in October out before the change of months and then, boo. You know how it is.<br />
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So now for a horrible transitional paragraph, I went to Moscow for Halloween this year and it was a pretty rad ordeal. It's been entirely too long since I visited that dinky little town and it was almost exactly just how I remembered it.<br />
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Except now they have a Buffalo Wild Wings and a Panda Express.<br />
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But we ate at Sangria instead because the avocado rolls and sirloin empanadas! And they lived up to everything I remembered them to be plus a little bit extra. If you ever find yourself in Moscow, do yourself a favor and hit up Sangria. It's a little on the spendy side, but oh so deliciously worth it. And to finish, for dessert you'll want the sweet potato creme brûlée. Just trust me on this one.<br />
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After dinner we sported our costumes and posed for pictures before heading out with a group of friends to do a halloween pub crawl. It was windy and rainy and completely packed with college kids around every corner, standing room only thankyouverymuch.<br />
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And the costumes! So many costumes of every variety! From crappily completed homemades to extravagantly executed store bought creations, there were such an incredible display of creativity that it caused me to spend most of the night people watching. Which is to say that I had loads of fun.<br />
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But aside from all the Halloween shenanigans, I just really enjoy being back in Moscow. I don't know what it is about that town, but I crave it every now and then. It makes me wish I was back in school. It makes me wish I could just walk around the down town and hang out in the coffee shops and eat a bagel. It makes me want to walk through the mall and hit up the Ross Dress For Less and get some pretzel bites. It makes me want to drive to the campus and walk through the arboretum, where I used to spend so much time.<br />
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So much of my growing up happened in Moscow. So much of who I am today is because of my time in that town. I remember hating it at first. Loving the fact that I was on my own and at the same time dreading the alarm in the morning. I remember working through so many insecurities in that town. From boys, to feuds with friends, to my own body sensitivities. I worked through so many obstacles, faced so many tough times, and trudged on so often when all I wanted to do was run away.<br />
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And then, the longer I was there, the more it really grew on me. I made some deep connections to the people there, it's where Nathan and I started dating and fell in love, as cliche as that sounds. It's basically where I grew up and grew into my adult self.<br />
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There's still so much growing and learning yet to do, and still so much ground I have yet to cover. But I still like to fantasize about what it would be like to go back to school and move down to that stupid little town that will forever hold this little part of my soul that lived and loved and painted and drew in that space between high school and adulthood.<br />
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Now my home is a little apartment on 4th street by Costco and instead of going to school everyday I go to work. It's a nice little routine and a great little life with so much in store for the future. So, I guess all that to say this: Halloween is awesome and change is good.<br />
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Happy Halloweener, kids. I hope you had a blast.Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-18894739603222434442015-10-12T09:24:00.003-07:002015-10-12T09:24:36.625-07:00HEY - I DIDN'T FORGET ABOUT YOUHi there. Remember me? I used to run this joint once upon a time. I used to post a couple times a week, and now? Well, now it seems to have fallen into somewhat of a disarray around here. I mean, just look at these cobwebs. Sheeesh. Sorry about that.<br />
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Once I quit working at the juice bar, I threw myself into designing fabrics and applying to new and exciting places to employ me. It was fun times. I was also preparing to move across town, which just happened last Wednesday! I had forgotten what a pain moving is - all the heavy furniture down three flights of stairs, all the way across town, and then up three flights of stairs because that's just the way we roll 'round here.<br />
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But now I'm getting the new place all settled in to and it's starting to feel reeeaaal homey like. It even has a giant mirror wall, which if you know me in real life at all, is basically my favorite part of the place. So it's been really fun to get all the furniture just where I want it and get all the art hung up on the walls. It's not finished yet, and like any good project will never be completely finished, but it's getting close.<br />
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And in addition to my big move, I have a new job! I work with a local photographer as his studio manager. It has been one of the hardest new jobs I've ever taken on - a completely new experience. I've found it to be a little challenging to learn the ropes, but I'm starting to feel like I have a real handle on things. It's still got it's challenges, but I'm learning to love it instead of letting it overwhelm me.<br />
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It's just that my life is a little crazy these days - new place to live, new place to work, and a new season outside. It's kind of like everything I knew and all my routines I expected have changed 180 degrees. I'm still learning to adjust, but I think it's been really good for me. It's making me stretch and grow and so, that's a good thing. It keeps me moving forward.<br />
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And our big changes aren't really even over. But I think also that they never will be. I used to think, and I've written about it before, that life to me was this linear way of thinking. You finished one school and went on to the next one and then, in my head, you started working and that was sort of that about the whole thing. And it's taken me the last couple of years to really understand that my idea of how life worked was sort of really wrong. Life is linear, but also it really, really, isn't linear at all.<br />
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So my perspective has been forced to shift in different areas of my life. And the question I have been asking myself lately is where do I see my life going? In college our professors would have us write out our five year plans. In most of the interviews I've done I've been asked where I see myself in the future, and I always sort of bullshitted an answer. Mostly because what I want to say is married, fabulously rich, and traveling the world. And by fabulously rich what I mean is that my husband makes enough for me to stay home and not have to punch a time clock. But that sort of view is a little outdated and these days women are expected to be more than stay at home moms.<br />
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I have been forced to reconsider. And also, I spent money on a college degree, okay? So I can't let that just fall by the wayside because then why even did I go to a university? Riddle me that, batman. And so here I am. Contemplating my next few steps in life and how do I want to get there and who am I going to take with me?<br />
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Well, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to stay home. So in order to be able to do that, I need to have a job that will allow me to work from my house. I'd also like to have flexible hours so that I can take a trip to Italy if the mood strikes me. And it's not going to be like I'm going to be able to do that tomorrow, so I have to start putting in the work now in order to be able to get to that place in the future. Which, I mean, art is what I'd like to take me there.<br />
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Designing fabrics on Spoonflower is a fantastic start to this journey. I've said it before, but I'd really like to seriously put some effort into my sad state of an Etsy shop. And I'm going to look into what it would take to teach some art classes at a local creative little studio downtown.<br />
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It feels a little like reinventing myself. But it also feels like coming home. And so, I guess this is kind of what being an adult feels like. Weird.Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-74366602969681102762015-08-04T10:00:00.000-07:002015-08-04T10:04:13.152-07:00A BIG CHANGEMy life has been a little upside down these last couple of weeks. In the past, I've read those articles that say things like "10 Things to Remember When Your Twenties Don't Go As Planned" and stuff like that, and I've always thought to myself, well hey, I must be the exception and not the rule because so far I am rocking my twenties! I am an adult! Yay and things!<br />
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And then recently there was some overly dramatic craziness which ended in me apparently being the bad guy. It's a new feeling for me - this ostracizing atmosphere where I felt like a leper or maybe an axe murderer and everyone just kind of looked at me like all of Pride Rock stared at Kovu in The Lion King II. You know what I mean?<br />
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It's crazy how all the good you can do, and how hard you can work, and how much effort you can put in, and that it can all be undone by some workplace gossip. I haven't maintained a lot of friendships with girls over the years because I don't enjoy the drama that they can bring. Sure, I have some really good girl friends, but as a general rule I've learned that girls can be really mean and petty and sometimes for no really good reason at all. And that's kind of what I'm taking away from this situation I currently find myself in. Girls are just mean, and sometimes they are mean just because they can be.<br />
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So I've had a lot of time for introspection lately. A chance to take a step back and really evaluate my priorities. What do I want to do with my life? Where do I want to go? Who do I want to be? And I've found some answers, some ways to use my God-given talents as an artist and designer.<br />
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It was my grandmother who introduced me to <a href="http://www.spoonflower.com/welcome">Spoonflower</a>. She is an amazing quilter and knitter and author and fellow creative soul. She saw that Spoonflower was holding a fabric design contest and she encouraged me to be creative and enter. So I looked into it. And I created a couple of designs (that are now for sale!) and I entered a design in the Botanical Illustration Fabric8 contest.<br />
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It feels really good to be creating. It helps me calm down and relax when it feels like the rug has been pulled out from underneath me. It reminds me that this is what I was meant to do. And actually, I am pretty good at it.<br />
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So I've been applying to jobs in the design field. And I've been working on creating some awesome fabric prints in my Spoonflower shop:<br />
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<a href="http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/nataliedrawn_" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.spoonflower.com/assets/promote/RibbonBannerB_300x45.jpg" /></a><br />
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So far I have just two designs up for sale, but I am definitely working on more. And if there's any designs that you are looking for and can't find, let me know and maybe we can work together to create the kind of fabric you might need.<br />
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One of my good friends said to me that when he was fired from one of his past jobs, his whole world opened up for the best. So here's to things maybe falling apart so that better things can fall together. I really don't know where the future will take me, but I am excited to see what happens.Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-14447738462608052512015-07-14T16:59:00.001-07:002015-07-14T17:02:25.010-07:00DAYDREAMING<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been daydreaming a lot lately about the town in which I attended college. I have been daydreaming also about being a student in that college that I went to just a few years ago. It feels odd to me, this idea of being "finished" with college. I mean, I'm not finished with college. Or at least, I don't want to be.<br />
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Oh, when I was there I wanted out. I wanted out so bad I could almost taste it. I was sick of papers and projects and deadlines and finals. I was ready to get out and on into the work force! I wanted to start my life already people! Shaking fists and things! And then, also, at the very same time, I wanted school to last forever. I always wanted a dedicated three hours of painting twice a week in my life. I craved the inspiration that a specific project would give me for my art classes. I loved the smell of the campus in the fall, with all it's crispy leaves and backpack clad students. I loved the way the snow made everything crisp and fresh in the wintertime. I thoroughly enjoyed sneaking into the bagel shop when I was supposed to be in my printmaking class and devouring a pepperoni pizza bagel and blended caramel latte. Those were the days, you guys. Those were the days.<br />
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I miss having a more open schedule. I miss being able to skip my morning class if I wanted to because I was up too late the night before. I miss the connections I had to other like-minded individuals in all my classes, sharing ideas and creating inspiration and hating the same classes.<br />
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Homework and projects and papers have become glorified in my brain. Like, it was maybe fun or something to do that, when I know that it actually made me crazy and there were plenty of times that I couldn't wait for the semester to be over so I could have some peace of mind and relax for a little while before the next round of classes started back up.<br />
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But isn't it funny how sometimes we romanticize about how things used to be. I'm sure someday I'll look back on my life now and miss the juice bar a little bit. I'll miss the craziness that goes on there. The mad grocery runs to Costco or a dash up the street for a box of bananas. The adrenaline rush that accompanies the filling of a large order while you have a billion people in line with more walking through the door in a constant state of chaos. The way that all the employees there are like this little juice bar family who cares about, loves, and looks out for all of it's members. I love my little juice bar. I love my little life I have here in this little niche. I love my town, especially in the summer.<br />
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It's almost as if Coeur d'Alene becomes a completely different place in the summer. There's so much to do outside. There are so many places to eat, hike, swim, and hang out in. I have all my favorite places. I have my cute little routine. I have created my life here in this town.<br />
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And maybe that's why I dream about changing it. This life is so good. So so so so so good. I mean, don't get me wrong. This place, in the summer time, feels like I'm constantly on vacation. But then my mind starts to wander. And I drift into wondering what it would be like to be back in college. Or to be in the design field. Or to work from home. Or to live in a completely different city. Or even country.<br />
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Idaho will always be home to me, I think. I've been here too long. It's too ingrained in who I am. And yet, I also am filled with a spirit of wanderlust. A spirit of change. A yearning for something new. But also for something familiar as well. Hence all the daydreaming about Moscow and college and art programs. I really do miss cute little Moscow. Especially Moscow in the fall.<br />
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You know, my birthday is coming up here in a month or so. I will be twenty five. TWENTY FIVE. I can't believe it. I've been blogging since I was 18 and these posts have covered a lot of my changes. My words have revealed different hopes, different dreams, different experiences, and different people. Boyfriends have come and gone. So have jobs. So have many different people.<br />
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I started out always wondering what it would be like when my life finally started. When I was twenty-blank, what job would I have then? Where would I live? Who would I love? And isn't it interesting how we can't really go back to our past-natalies and put a caring arm over her shoulder and say things like, everything is going to be alright! Just calm down and take a deep breath! But also, by going back and re-reading our past words, we can comfort our present-natalies and say things like, look how far you've come and hey! Everything is actually alright! High fives all around!<br />
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So guys, high fives all around. We've made it this far, anyway, and we have plenty of daydreaming left to do.Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-28907539951477222792015-06-30T16:31:00.004-07:002015-06-30T16:31:48.391-07:00JUST PRETTY THINGSSometimes I just need to break up all the negativity with some pretty things. With everything that's been slathered all over my Facebook news feed recently, I started a pinterest board to de-stress my brain after a busy day at work. I used to scroll through Facebook to relax after a busy day, but it's less and less about my friends' lives and more and more about everyone's dang opinion about every dang thing.<br />
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And so therein justifies the pretty things.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">all images from pinterest</span></div>
Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-41734401941717784422015-06-17T17:12:00.000-07:002015-06-17T17:12:01.963-07:00WELL HELLO THERE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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i think it's been a good long time since we had ourselves a real down home update as to what i've been up to lately. i think i quit writing these play-by-play posts quite a while ago. i just sort of sat in front of the computer and went all "who the frick cares anyway what i ate for lunch? i sure don't." and that was sort of that.<br />
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which today, i ate four bites of nathan's san fransisco sourdough sandwich for lunch. so.<br />
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a couple of days ago i went and colored my hair purple. because why the hell not and things. i keep forgetting that my hair is not a normal color until the wind blows it in my face and i'm seeing purple streaks and then my heart gets all happy because hello! purple hair!<br />
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in more of natalie's favorite things, i bought myself some peonies at the store. lately peonies have been my very absolute favorite of the flowers. i don't know, guys. they're pretty. and pink. and i can't hold myself back. i blame summertime and my hair.<br />
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this summer though, is almost maybe completely different from any summer i've had in the past? no summer job. no ending of school or waiting to go back. it's weird and normal at the same time. i wish for all the world that i could take summers off, so i could lay by the beach in my swimsuit all day. but as an alternative, the juice bar is pretty good too.<br />
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it's nice to get off my shift in the early afternoon and have the rest of the day to live it up in the sunshine. plus, nathan bought us longboards that get here on friday and i just can't wait for that. this summer is turning out to be pretty rad. 2015 has been alright by me so far.<br />
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camping!</div>
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boating!</div>
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beaching!</div>
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aaaaaaaand fin. happy june, bloggers.Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-31720978855656362002015-06-03T20:42:00.001-07:002015-06-03T20:47:43.046-07:00THE STORY OF US<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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nathan and natalie circa 2012</div>
<br />
Three years ago I was finishing up two summer courses at the University and I was in the beginning stages of packing up my apartment so I could move back north to start my student teaching. It honestly feels as if that was a lifetime ago. As if maybe I was even a completely different person. Three years sounds so long and so short all at the same time.<br />
<br />
Three years ago I was palling around all over the place with Felisa and we were basically inseparable. We started inviting this Nathan kid to come hang out with us when we would go places and do things. Little by little it started to be just me and Nathan doing things. Felisa would have to work. Felisa was in Washington. Felisa had to be here or there or somewhere without us. And the more time it was just him and me the more I got this case of the feels for him.<br />
<br />
I had been single for the last semester of my schooling, having broken up with Jordan in January. I had been doing a really good job of remaining that way as well. After all, come June 22nd I would be moving north anyway and who <i>wants</i> to be in a long distance relationship, am I right? But then, there was this boy and I just didn't know what to do about anything at all.<br />
<br />
My best case scenario for Nathan and I was a short lived summer romance that would end once school had started back up for him and I threw myself into my student teaching. We would have the best intentions, but, inevitably, things would slowly drift apart and we would float off in our opposite directions neither one worse for the wear. My worst case scenario was that it would be a short lived summer romance where towards the end of it we would argue and fight and spew words of hate towards each other and never interact ever again. Not really that I pictured that one coming, given our dispositions and personalities, but stranger things have happened.<br />
<br />
And by stranger things I mean the events that actually transpired. Because even in my wildest dreams I never anticipated the real world situations that would unfold as Nathan and I embarked on this journey together.<br />
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We were both so noncommittal in the beginning, so unwilling to call our relationship what it was. It was the other people that started referring to me as Nathan's girlfriend and he never corrected them or made any remarks about it, so we just kind of kept doing our thing. I would come back down for the weekend all summer long and then on into the school year. Each time I was a little less willing to leave him on Monday morning. Each time it tugged harder at my heart strings to say goodbye.<br />
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And then one January weekend I had to say goodbye in a way that I hadn't really anticipated except for that I had. One January weekend Nathan called our relationship off and I drove back north crying in my car because obviously this was meant to happen. We couldn't go on doing this song and dance forever. I kicked myself for even starting the relationship anyway because <i>I just knew</i> this was how it was going to end.<br />
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February came along and I made it through Valentine's Day without smashing anyone's teeth in and I had about convinced myself to finally pick up all the pieces, close the door, and move on forever. I had to remind myself that I couldn't live in the past forever. I couldn't keep dwelling on this failed relationship because I didn't want to mope and wallow for months and months the way I had done when PC and I broke up. But, to my surprise, Nathan didn't let me walk away and move on and forget all about it.<br />
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Instead he drove up from Moscow through a snowstorm to be with me and prove that this was really what he wanted. He stayed up for the weekend and we talked and we had fun and we remembered what it was like to be together and we just kind of decided to see where this was going to take us.<br />
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So now here we are, three years in. I had never pictured it in those very first days. I didn't believe we'd ever get here. But then, I also shouldn't be surprised that it happened because of just how well Nathan and I fit together. We make an incredible team.<br />
<br />
He has strengths where I have weaknesses and I have strengths where he falls short. We are both weird in the comfortable silence we can share with each other. Neither one of us is afraid to be ourselves around the other. He lets me vent and cry and laugh and yell and be loud. He reminds me to calm down or be quiet. He keeps me moving, improving, reaching for goals. He pushes me to do the things I say I am going to do instead of letting me just be lazy on the couch in front of Netflix shows. But he also knows when to let me relax and be lazy on the couch in front of the Netflix shows.<br />
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The other day he was sitting on his office chair in front of his computer and he pulled me over onto his lap. At first I didn't want to. The chair wasn't big enough for the both of us. I have a bony butt. It would be uncomfortable for both of us. But he insisted. And I obliged.<br />
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At first it was uncomfortable. I was sliding off the chair, we both had to maneuver a little bit to get to a place where it worked for both of us. We played a game on the computer, he controlled the mouse and I pushed the buttons on the keyboard. Soon I forgot that I had been uncomfortable. Soon it wasn't as if we were two people, but instead like we had melded together. I don't know how weird that sounds, but just it was such a simple thing for me to have my back against his stomach, my head leaning against his chest, both focused on the task at hand. In that fleeting moment I realized that I have never been this comfortable around another human being before. It was as if I just belonged in that place, right next to him, perfectly filling the space between his arms. I never wanted to move from it.<br />
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I won't try to convince you that our relationship is perfect. And I'm not so high and mighty as to say that we never get on each other's nerves. Nathan and I have faced some pretty tough times as a couple and we've worked through some pretty big issues together in order to get to where we are today. But honestly, during these last three years I'm glad he was the one by my side ready to help me take on the world. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be with.<br />
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So cheers to the last three years and may there be many, many more to follow. I'm so glad <a href="http://theyounglife-n.blogspot.com/2012/07/free-falling.html">you caught me</a>, Nathan.<br />
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nathan and natalie circa the present</div>
Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-24111812314199936002015-05-19T19:55:00.000-07:002015-05-19T19:55:27.763-07:00MAYBE IT IS POSSIBLE AFTER ALL I've often written about how utterly stupid I find being an adult to be. You know, how much bills suck and how making big decisions is hard and all the stuff all the adultier adults already know about. But lately, this whole adult thing has been growing on me. As in, I think maybe I'm starting to figure out <i>things</i>. Gasp.<br />
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By no stretch of the imagination do I have all of the answers to anything, but I guess maybe I don't go around proclaiming that being a grown up is the stupidest thing I've ever done anymore. Instead, I'm actually rather enjoying this season of my life.<br />
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I used to sit and daydream about when life would actually start and when would I have a place of my own and when would I this and when would I that and yada yada yada. I used to walk through home goods sections of stores and wonder about the sorts of things I would have in my own house someday. What kind of plates would I eat off of? What kind of couch would I come home to sit on? Always imagining, never knowing anything other than eating off of someone else's plates and sitting on someone else's couches.<br />
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But recently I've been watching the HGTV shows that Netflix has obtained and it has caused me to do some rather large thinking. Nathan talks about buying a house in the area and coming up with timelines and we're talking about buying cars and taking trips and doing things that I knew someday I would be doing but all the while feeling like maybe it wasn't as real as I hoped it would be. Does that make any sense?<br />
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Like you sit on the front porch swing when you're little and you dream up all the big plans for your life and as you go through the years you think maybe those plans might actually never come to fruition and then you wake up one day and realize that actually, yes, you can go out and do those things and there's nothing stopping you anymore. Can I just say how freeing of a feeling that is? Like, is this even real life?<br />
<br />
I used to believe that I was too little for a real house. You know, a "real" house would be too big for me. I wouldn't be able to reach the top shelf and people would come to my door and ask for my parents and I would shake my fist and be all indignant and say sassy things. But now, having a "real" house, (not just an apartment or small living space) seems like less and less of a distant daydream and more and more of an impending reality.<br />
<br />
It wasn't as if I really believed that I would never have my own house, it's just that...I kind of believed I would never have my own house. Or car. Or what-have-you. Like it was all just beyond my finger tips. I could look and I could smell, but I couldn't touch it. Not yet.<br />
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And now, maybe, I'm the closest I have ever been. Dreams are starting to become reality. Adulthood isn't looking so stupid anymore. It's like, what is even happening to me these days, you guys? You guys! I mean, I still have no idea, but it feels awesome!Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-63573644795890350422015-05-12T09:09:00.000-07:002015-05-12T15:45:20.047-07:00PEOPLE BE CRAZYRecently at the juice bar we found ourselves in the position where we needed to let one of our employees go. These kinds of situations are never fun for anyone and I was dreading the actual conversation we were bound to be having. As the manager, I am part of the hiring process and that means I'm part of the firing process as well. I have never been fired, but I have been laid off. I know it sucks. I know it makes you angry and feel like you've been treated unfairly. It's not fun for your employer either.<br />
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I am not a very reactionary person. I tend to clam up in uncomfortable situations, which keeps me from saying something I might later regret. I have not been witness to people who generally fly off the handle and spew word vomit like a teenager when something doesn't go their way. Mostly because this behavior is reserved for children, not thirty year olds.<br />
<br />
It was shocking for me to sit through that conversation as this employee argued and interrupted with excuse after excuse about how this was unfair and we were playing favorites and no one provided a chance for improvement or been honest. I couldn't believe that this employee absolutely refused to take any responsibility for their actions, but instead kept throwing the blame back on us and how terribly we were treating them.<br />
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I'm sorry, but in what world is being fired or let go ever fair? When is the timing ever good? I will argue some people may be let go unfairly but that is maybe the exception and not the rule. Whatever the case may be, it is in your best interests to keep your damn mouth shut. Employers and business owners talk to each other. If the community finds out that you are a juvenile disrespectful employee who constantly makes excuses, no one is going to hire you.<br />
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If you want any advice from this situation, it would be this: bow out gracefully. Keep your dignity. Don't leave a bad conversation and then text mean, unnecessary comments to your former employer. It just makes you look immature and reaffirms that they made the right choice in letting you go. <br />
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Anyone that needs to tear down other people in order to make themselves feel better has a lot of growing up to do.<br />
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But even though that was a rough day, I'm glad to have gone through that experience. Not only is it a vibrant reminder of how not to act in a serious situation, it shows me how other people with different temperaments react to the world around them. Not everyone is a dignified, classy member of society. And also, some people will never learn.Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-32530531872271531382015-04-30T18:46:00.000-07:002015-04-30T19:01:23.182-07:00THAT FAILING FEELING<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I used to be a teacher. In a high school. In a small town in north Idaho. And there were things I loved about that job and there were things I hated about that job. It wasn't perfect but it wasn't awful and now it doesn't matter.<br />
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I wasn't fired from my position. I didn't do anything crazy or irrational to make my administration go "hmm, maybe we shouldn't bring her back next year because of X." I wasn't fired or hated or anything ridiculous. It was all sort of very sad - my being let go. It was a budget cut and a "we like you but we're going with the teacher who has more experience" kind of deal.<br />
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And yet, it still leaves me feeling as though somehow I had failed. I reflect back on that job and I think to myself that I must have just been this giant let down because I wasn't good enough to keep my job in the face of a slimmer budget. I just realistically didn't have the years experience and knowledge to thrive in that situation and even though I know it's not the same as being fired from a job for poor performance, it still stings when I think about it.<br />
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So I try to go about my daily life and forget that it ever happened.<br />
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Which works for me, most of the time.<br />
<br />
To be honest I have been dreading the day when I would have to look someone in the face who I used to work with at the high school and ask them which drink they would like and what our specials at the juice bar are. I know that I am so much more than a barista, but when faced with the girl asking to take your order, I felt like the stereotypical "would you like fries with that?" persona.<br />
<br />
You guys, I still feel as though I have failed.<br />
<br />
Failure is a big thing for me. It is a big motivator, a big fear, a big fat "to don't" on my list of life. And even though I was technically <i>laid off</i> instead of <i>fired</i>, it still feels like I was a big fat failure. I didn't go from teaching <i>there </i>to teaching <i>here</i>, but instead I went in a completely different direction. Most days I feel pretty good about it. I love my job. I love combining my sense of nutrition with my sense of artistry and I like flexing my manager muscles.<br />
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But from the outside, I can't help but notice that this looks like a giant step backwards.<br />
<br />
So when one of the secretaries who worked in the school office of the high school where I used to teach walked in to my little juice bar, it was as if my worst nightmare had just come true. I looked at her and it was like I was staring my own failure directly in the face.<br />
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And then she asked me if I had graduated last year.<br />
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I laughed and brushed it off because I always get those stupid remarks. I'm almost 25 years old and people are constantly asking me what year of school I'm in or if I need to go study. But inside it stung on a level I've never felt before. Like, geez, did I really make that little of an impact? Shoot.<br />
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She didn't mean any harm by her comment. She was simply just trying to figure out why she recognized me, but it still really hurt my feelings. After she left and the juice bar was empty, I found myself trying to prep spinach bags through blurry vision.<br />
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You just never realize how truly deep the hurt stings you until someone who has no idea makes a comment without thinking.<br />
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But it caused me to really think about why it is that I am now shying away from teaching. And that sting of failure, that feeling of "you're too young to handle this and we need someone different because you're just not good enough," it hurts. And I think that's ultimately why I don't want to go back, and why I shy away from people who present me with teaching opportunities.<br />
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That school didn't believe in me, so why should I believe in me?<br />
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I know that's ludicrous and that that's the kind of thinking that will keep me from climbing the tallest mountain, but it's also a legitimate feeling. Teaching <i>is </i>hard. People just don't realize how hard of a job it is. How demanding it can be on your time. You have to be all-in or you're just not good enough. There's such a standard. And I was just <i>so young</i> and <i>so inexperienced</i> that it's no wonder they let me go.<br />
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And so, I think, maybe I will never go back to teaching because maybe I don't want that stress in my life. But I also am going to have to get over how that encounter with the secretary made me feel. I am more than just a juice bar manager. I am more than just "do you want fries with that?"<br />
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I may look like I'm only 18 years old, but if you really know me, then you'd see this wasn't a giant step backwards, it was just a side-step down this path of life. It doesn't look the same for all of us, and we all have different routes intended for our own selves.<br />
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I don't know if that lady looked at me and thought "wow, I can't believe it's come to this for her" but I know that it triggered some deep down feelings that I haven't processed all the way. I love my job. I love what I do at the juice bar. I like being in charge and having responsibility and being the constant in my regular customers' mornings.<br />
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I like that there are no teacher/parent meetings. I like that there are no lesson plans. I like that there isn't a group of teens invading my space everyday waiting to see what knowledge exudes from my being. But also, I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it.<br />
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Being laid off still makes me feel like I have failed. I still feel like I let people down. Like I let <i>myself</i> down. It was everything I said I didn't want to do. I didn't want to teach for only one year and end up in the statistic of teachers who never make it past year one. And it's partially that feeling of failure that says "why do you even think you could try again? you suck" that holds me back.<br />
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Someday perhaps I will overcome that annoying little voice in my head. Someday maybe I will return to teaching on a regular basis - just probably not in a public school atmosphere.<br />
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If I'm being honest, my dream job is to just create art and work from home anyway. My dream job is not to be a teacher. But that doesn't mean it's any less fun to feel like you've failed. Maybe I'm just rationalizing. Maybe I'm just trying to wrap my head around feelings I don't understand, but if there's one thing I know to be true on this earth, it is that in life there are not necessarily "rights and wrongs" but more or less there are "lefts and rights" and it takes a lot of prayer and careful consideration to know whether or not you should go through this open door or that open window.<br />
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I always thought there was a set course for my life. That there was going to be one thing after another that I would end up doing. School was always that way for me, so I expected life to be that way also. But the most shocking thing for me to find out as an adult is that I get to make my own choices. I get to choose my own path. I get to live my own life and there's no one else out there who gets to call the shots.<br />
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So it's hard to deal with feelings of failure, but I do know that comparison is the thief of joy and if I keep comparing myself to others then I will always feel like I'm failing. And with that, I promised myself that I would just keep doing me. I am going to go down my own path of life and wherever that takes me, I know that it's just for <i>me</i> and not for anybody else.<br />
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Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-10167887807887332862015-04-16T15:29:00.000-07:002015-04-16T15:29:31.748-07:00BE A DO-ER I was sitting on the couch after work one day when a restless feeling washed over me. I was a woman possessed, in need of something to do besides stare at moving pictures on screens. Life can somehow warp into this mindless repetitiveness where you feel as though you are doing the same things over and over, day after day, and suddenly I had had enough of it.<br />
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It's not as though my life is terribly mundane and it's not as though I never do any new things, but it was just feeling all sorts of one tracked and I needed an excuse to step out of the flow. So I got up off the couch and I boiled some water in a pot and I poured it into these old candles I had laying around telling myself for forever that one day I was going to clean them out.<br />
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And at that moment, something dawned on me.<br />
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Something that I should have realized a bit sooner in life and something that I'm mildly embarrassed to admit right now. But that would be the idea of "stop talking about doing it and just do it already."<br />
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Everyone always says things like "Oh, I really want to do that" or "Hey, this is on my bucket list! I should do this!" or "eventually I want to go to here and do this thing."<br />
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Well you know what? You're never gonna check things off your bucket list simply by <i>saying</i> that you want to do the thing on the list. You have to actually <i>go do the thing</i>. I tell you, it was the strangest of ah-ha moments because I kind of just wanted to smack myself on the head and go "well, duh Ralph."<br />
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So I did clean out those candles. And then I figured out how to peel the labels off so they are pretty glass jars now. And then I went and bought stuff to make sugar scrub to put in my nice clean candle jars as a gift.<br />
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And since then, I have been doing the things on my Pinterest boards instead of just letting them sit out there in the land of the internet waiting for that magical "someday" to appear on the horizon. Someday doesn't exist though. It's a thing that we've made up in our heads. I love the quote I've read a billion times in the way of fitness motivation that says "there are seven days in the week and someday isn't one of them." I mean, preach it sister.<br />
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Also, among my <i>duh, Ralph</i> epiphanies, is that when I am doing these things that I have been saying I will get around to doing for forever, there is this incredible sense of accomplishment that comes along with it. There is just something about being able to cross things off the list or put them in the "done" pile, or whatever your preferred method of organization be.<br />
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I've found that I am happier for having accomplished making/creating things instead of accomplishing finishing all the series of TV shows in my Netflix queue. In addition to my jars, I designed a pair of kick ass shoes for my roommate as well as the new spring coffee menu at work, made cold-brewed coffee, and tried some new recipes.<br />
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If my goal is to live a joy-filled year, this is definitely the direction I want to keep pursuing. I want to be a do-er instead of a say-er.Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-21847185686490645662015-03-31T15:21:00.002-07:002015-03-31T15:25:03.519-07:00WAKE UP SLOW<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> (running on Tubbs Hill last night)</span></div>
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I sit on my yellow stool at work sometimes and dream up wonderful things to write about on my blog. Often times it's a deep revelation I've had about something on which I am totally considered to be an expert, and sometimes it's just a flitting thought that goes something like "oh hey, I should blog about that."<br />
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And then I come home and I open up my computer and Facebook sucks my time away and I forget that I was even going to write anything at all and then before I know it, it's nine o'clock in the evening and I have to go to bed. Because getting up early in the morning for work puts a real damper on my late nights these days.<br />
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But today I felt like writing instead of binging on Netflix. So here I am.<br />
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I just read a book by Gary Chapman called "Things I wish I'd known before we got married." And it is a fantastic book whether you are single, dating, or in a committed relationship. It talks about all sorts of things and one of the things it talks about is morning people vs night people.<br />
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And dudes, I am <b>so not</b> a morning people. Getting out of bed bright eyed and bushy tailed is never something I have really been able to do consistently. I mean, let's be real, there are certain exceptions where I'm tooooooo excited tooooo sleeeeeep and so morning comes and brings along with it a sense of impending adventure. But when it is just work for which I am awoken at the inhuman hour of six o'clock in the morning, I am loathe to get out from underneath my nice warm covers.<br />
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I know there are things I can do in my daily routine in order to force myself to become a morning person, but I just do not want to do those things. Instead of trying hard to change my body, I would rather just change my work schedule. Right.<br />
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One of the things Chapman says in his book though, is that morning people will never be night people and night people will never be morning people. And so I was thinking about that this morning on my drive to work as I tried to force my brain to begin to function. I kind of like that about myself, that I am not a morning person.<br />
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Because I didn't choose to be that or not to be that, I <i>just am</i> that. And I think it's kind of important to take the things that you <i>just are</i> and own them. Obviously not everything is something to keep around, like say, if you are quick to anger you maybe want to work on that. But as far as morning people vs night people goes - I say you are what you are and why force yourself to change it?<br />
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Morning people will never be night people in much the same way that introverts will never be extroverts. I find that I am most functional after nine o'clock in morning, just as I find I am most functional when I have had some time to myself before I am expected to positively interact with other people.<br />
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So what if I am not a Wake-Up-And-Sieze-The-Day kind of girl. I am actually more of a Wake-Up-And-Go-Slowly-And-Try-Not-To-Think-Too-Hard-Until-Coffee kind of a girl. And I like it that way.<br />
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<b>Waking up too early, maybe we could sleep in. Make you banana pancakes, pretend like it's the weekend now. We could pretend it all the time, yeah. Can't you see that it's just raining, ain't no need to go outside. Ain't no need, ain't no need. Rain all day and I really, really, really don't mind. </b><b>Can't you see, can't you see? You gotta<i> wake up slow.</i> </b></div>
Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-377479919950882242015-03-24T14:25:00.000-07:002015-03-24T14:25:23.421-07:00HOMEMADE EASTER EGGS: PINSPIRED <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I know it's a little early to be thinking seriously about Easter and eggs and things of that sort, but I stumbled across <a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-vibrant-naturally-dyed-easter-eggs-holiday-projects-from-the-kitchn-112957?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=managed">this blog post</a> and got really stupidly excited about coloring eggs that I just went and did it yesterday afternoon because obviously.<br />
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My sister came over and together we followed the instructions on the aforementioned blog to create our own naturally dyed easter eggs.<br />
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I have been falling in love with things that are natural and homemade. I think there is something to be said for the sense of satisfaction you get when you can look at something and be like "hey! I made that!" And so, we boiled eggs and we boiled vegetables and then we soaked our eggs for a ridiculous amount of time to get juuuust the right saturation of color.<br />
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We only colored a dozen eggs, six brown ones and six white ones. They turned out glorious.<br />
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I boiled purple cabbage (which created the blue color), grated beet (which created the red color), the skin of a yellow onion (for yellow, obvs) and then I also used red wine to see what would happen.<br />
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These eggs I soaked in the wine first. It didn't really color them how I had imagined, so then I soaked them in the purple cabbage dye, which turned them into these masterpieces. They are my favorites of the bunch!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CRXka1ehXeQ/VRHSnrc-nsI/AAAAAAAAEz4/HLv-HbrZBoY/s1600/11075589_10152760597718231_272779771_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CRXka1ehXeQ/VRHSnrc-nsI/AAAAAAAAEz4/HLv-HbrZBoY/s1600/11075589_10152760597718231_272779771_o.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DJlsODNhHx0/VRHSmojQ8nI/AAAAAAAAEzk/stjWezLoEVQ/s1600/11071200_10152760597018231_328426561_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DJlsODNhHx0/VRHSmojQ8nI/AAAAAAAAEzk/stjWezLoEVQ/s1600/11071200_10152760597018231_328426561_o.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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These eggs, believe it or not, were dyed from the purple cabbage. These were the brown eggs. The white ones were a little lighter and more evenly colored. They didn't get the awesome green swirledge that is happening here to make these eggs look like mother earth.<br />
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This is the white egg that was in the yellow onion skin dye. I love how rustic it looks.<br />
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On the whole, this was a great experiment and I probably won't go back to dying eggs out of a box ever again. Not only are these colors absolutely brilliant, but the potential for using all sorts of different types of vegetables makes me nerdily excited about all these easter eggs.<br />
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The only thing I have to say is that if you're coloring eggs with kiddos this year, these eggs have to sit a good long time in the dye, unlike those out of the box. So if the wee ones are impatient, this may not be as fun for you as it was for me. I mean, I let these suckers soak for a good three hours just so that I was sure they would be good and colored.<br />
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My kitchen may have been rank with the stench of sauerkraut since I was boiling cabbage and onions, but dudes, it was totally worth it.<br />
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<br />Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-52840169146500825292015-03-21T17:10:00.001-07:002015-03-21T17:10:01.446-07:00HEY NATALIE JEANI just got <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hey-Natalie-Jean-Inspiration-Motherhood/dp/1617691526">Hey Natalie Jean</a> in the mail today. I went out for lunch with Nathan and when we returned to the apartment there it was, in a little brown cardboard amazon box sitting on my porch. I unlocked the door and immediately ripped open the package, too full of excitement to think about anything else. And then, <a href="http://www.heynataliejean.com/2015/03/so-hey-natalie-jean.html">Natalie and Huck were right in front of my face</a>, in all their grey hard covered glory.<br />
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You see, in 2008 my aunt got a little bit into blogging. As a self proclaimed writer, I had to check it out for myself and haven't really stopped since. Back in those days I was big into checking out the Blogs of Note, secretly crossing my fingers that someday my little blog would be among them.<br />
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One day, and I'm not quite exactly sure when it was, I clicked through different blogs of note and stumbled by accident upon a one <a href="http://www.heynataliejean.com/">Nat The Fat Rat</a> (which just goes to show how long I've been reading her blog). It was a picture of Natalie standing <a href="http://www.heynataliejean.com/2009/10/noteworthy-moi.html">next to the giant sign that says "Welcome To Moscow"</a> and my insides got all excited since hey! that's where I live too! So I clicked on her links and read her posts for probably a stupidly long amount of time and I fell completely in love with her.<br />
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She was hopelessly optimistic and I absolutely adored the way that she would find meaning in the mundane. It drew me into her world, all the silliness that she was creating by just writing her honest little thoughts about stuff and things.<br />
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If you've never been to the little town of Moscow, Idaho, then you have no idea what a different world it is down there. There is a chapter in Natalie's book where she writes about her own private Idaho. Having lived in Moscow for four years, I can say that she put my feelings into words better than I could have dreamt. That little town in all its boringness is also quite beautiful in a really dumb way and sometimes I miss living there more than I care to admit.<br />
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Now Natalie inhabits a little apartment in the big New York City and just, hello. Nathan talks sometimes about moving to NYC and I can't help but think of her every time he brings it up. I feel like maybe sometimes I am just two or three steps behind her. Or maybe four or five, but who's counting?<br />
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Anyway, this book you guys! In the short amount of time I've had it in my little hands I have read well over the half way mark. She is funny and serious and incredibly relatable. And while I'm not big on the fashion part of Natalie's world, all the other stuff is just so exactly on point with how I feel about a lot of life or have felt in the past. It's vaguely like reading my own words and not unlike finding out that wait a minute here, maybe I am normal after all because other people have large feelings about small stuff and big things as well.<br />
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And in the words of Natalie herself, this book is <a href="http://www.heynataliejean.com/2015/03/luck-of-irish-happy-weekend.html">exactly the ham sandwich I was looking for.</a> Who needs a rueben anyway?Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6402377023838609944.post-5273155837952256342015-03-20T16:16:00.000-07:002015-03-20T16:25:05.892-07:00INDIGNATIONI saw something on Facebook recently that irked me in a large way. It actually shocked me at how much the remark made by a stranger caused me to be so irate. I debated writing a comment in response, but how ugly does that become? A Facebook comment war is fun for no one and usually does more harm than good anyway.<br />
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So, here we are, I suppose? I blog post directed not at a single person, but at a single way of thinking.<br />
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You see, this isn't your typical high school he said/she said drama that has me so mad, but rather something of much greater importance. I see online all the time the arguments between political policies, personal beliefs, vaccines, etc. And when it comes to people advocating taking foreign missions on in their lives, there is <i>always always always</i> that one naysayer who is wont to make the comment that people in America are in need of domestic missions too.<br />
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While there is nothing inherently wrong with the idea of going on a domestic mission, I find great offense in being made to feel bad about going on a mission abroad instead of helping the people in my own country. <i>That</i> is an <i>incredibly rude and selfish</i> thing to say to someone who is traveling to another country to volunteer their time for a foreign people.<br />
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<i>How dare you belittle my experiences.</i><br />
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I believe in foreign missions. I believe that traveling to a third world country while you are currently living in a first world country will change your perspective on life in ways that you had never imagined. We like to take plumbing, electricity and internet access for granted from our spots on our couches in our comfy living rooms. The ability to drink our tap water, take a shower, and flush our toilet paper down the drain are things that other people across the globe go without daily.<br />
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Even our homeless in America have better living conditions than a large population of the world.<br />
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Traveling to a third world country will help change your thoughts towards the people in your area. It will help raise an awareness in your being for helping those closest to you - so then, <i>why not</i> go travel the world?<br />
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And so, with this knowledge in my own life, that there are people out there who have quite possibly never taken a shower in their lifetime, how can I believe that they are not important? How can I let you sit in your comfy office chair behind the screen of your computer and let you tell me that I need to be taking care of the people in my own country first? Why is it that you somehow think I am ignoring the needs of my country and that I have no idea of the conditions here if I should express my desire to travel or live abroad? I think that is what make me the most mad - that you think I don't know about the people in my own country.<br />
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But that's where you're wrong. And I can't be silent while you bring up the fact that you believe domestic missions should come first and that I am in the wrong for not working in the local soup kitchen before I pack my bags for Honduras/Guatemala/wherever. If that is truly where your heart is, then go down to the soup kitchen yourself. You go and help those that have the least of the country and when I get back from my trip I might join you.<br />
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I have done both foreign and domestic missions. I have helped people in my hometown, in my home country, and in other parts of the world. And I am here to tell you that helping people wherever you are at should <i>never</i> ever be something to be ashamed about.<br />
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Don't let anyone ever make you feel bad about traveling to a foreign country to help out people who were not given the same life we were. And also don't forget that there are already lots of missions happening here in our great country to help those out here who have no voices.<br />
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You go wherever you feel led to go and encourage the naysayers to go with you and offer them a little perspective on their narrowed viewpoints.Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17175106773453711033noreply@blogger.com0