SUNFLOWERS AND SPRING TIME AND QUESTIONS

Sweet Alana has nominated me for an award, guys. That's pretty cool stuff around here, you know. So, sunflower award...right? It's kind of like the Liebster award but without as many rules. You know the drill, 11 facts, answer the questions, nominate the bloggers you love and then ask them seven questions. It's really a fun little game, but I'm warning you in advance that I'm not nominating anyone. 

First, the people that I would nominate have already been, so. Redundancy. And second, I'm lazy. Ergo, no nominees. But I will open it up to the public - if you feel like it, then answer the (probably) random questions I'll spout off without thinking at the end of the post. Enjoy!

The Facts:

1) I'm a high school art teacher. This blows peoples' minds because I look like I'm about 17 or 18 years old myself. 

2) My favorite color is blue. (Does this even count? It's so simple...but yeah. I'm gonna make it count. It's a thing and it's about me soooo.)

3) I feel very strongly that having to come up with 11 things about myself that aren't already appearing on this blog ad nauseam is maybe harder than it should be...

4) I'm learning to hula dance with my mom and sister. Remembering the steps and getting the correct form are the biggest obstacles for me. It's been a long time since I learned a routine for anything (gymnastics) so I'm really out of practice. But this has so far been one of the funnest things I've learned to do. 

5) It's hard for me not to take it personally when someone corrects me in front of other people. Like learning to hula - when my mistakes get pointed out I get a little defensive about it and I have to remind myself that it's really alright and they're not picking on me. 

6) Personal space invasion is maybe what you would call my biggest pet peeve. Do not pop my bubble without permission or I may hurt you. Just kidding, I'll just be super tense while we're interacting and then as soon as you back up I'll relax a little bit. 

7) I lose myself every winter. It's like I can't figure out who I am anymore once the sunshine disappears. I have only noticed this recently, but I went back and read some of my old journals and whenever I find entries where I'm transitioning back into spring and summer, I always talk about how much more I feel like myself and I remember who I am. 

8) My dream job is to travel the earth and write articles about my experiences, including photos, and publish them on a travel website (so they can pay me and I can keep traveling). I'd also like to teach art at a community center or out of my house so that my students will consist of people that mostly actually want to be there, not have to be there. 

9) Sometimes I really miss being a barista. Free coffee tastes better. 

10) I have some of the worst cabin fever I think I've ever experienced. I am so beyond ready for it to be summertime that it's not even funny. So many cool things are happening this summer! I can't wait!

11) Perspective is important. I get bogged down in the monotony of routine and I often forget that this is life. This is just what I do, day by day. I don't need to be in a hurry. I don't need to worry about what's happening in the next ten minutes, per se, but just to be myself in this moment that I am in now. I feel like I'm in hyperdrive or autopilot occasionally and I have to take a step back and remember that life is a lot simpler than I imagine it at times. The sun is still going to rise in the east and set in the west. Time will pass whether I'm paying attention or not and I can't just sit here and watch my life go by while I'm constantly waiting for tomorrow. Tomorrow will never come, as they say, we only have today. 

The Questions:

1)What's a musical instrument that you've always wanted to learn how to play, but haven't yet? 

I would love to the learn the drums because I seriously love how they sound. I just haven't had the means or the time to put in any effort. Plus, I always get nervous about messing up so I tend to shy away from any opportunities for fear of immanent judgement. 

2)If you could live inside the world of your favorite book, what would it be?

Well, this is probably one of the toughest questions in the history of ever. I really, really enjoy the Hunger Games but I don't think I would want to live inside Panem. I just read a book about a woman who lived in Tuscany, and that just made me want to move to Italy with all the parts of my being. So, Italy it is then? Sure. 

3) What was your favorite thing to play with when you were little?

I played a lot with my stuffed animals when I was little. I had barbies and polly pockets that I would play with too, but the stuffed animals and beanie babies were my favorite. 

4) If you could decide what the weather was like all the time, what would it be?

Sunny and about 80 degrees with some fantastic thunder and lightning storms. Easy. 

5)If you had to chose between being a wife/mother and being a career woman, what would you chose?

Speaking as a woman who doesn't necessarily feel called to be a mother, I don't feel like that's something I would choose. On the flip side of that, I don't think it means that I want to be a career woman either. I'd rather just travel around the world with Nathan and get paid for it. 

6)What's your biggest regret?

I feel like anyone who reads my blog would already know this - because I've talked about it quite a bit. I don't regret dating Matt - that experience helped show me what I wanted out of a relationship and how I needed to be treated in order to be happy with another person who shares my life. What I do regret is holding on so tight and so long after it was so blatantly over. I kept thinking that I could "fix" it, that I could make it work out how I wanted it to and that Matt would come back to me and love me forever and it took something major to make me move forward from that. But the thing of it was that I'd never broken up with anyone before - I mean, not really. So I just plain didn't know how to let someone go. I'm so glad I eventually figured it out because Nathan is so worth it, but I wish it hadn't taken me so darn long. 

7)Who is your hero and why? What could you do to make yourself more like that person?

I don't know if I could pick, but gun to my head, most likely I would choose my mom. She's pretty rad and she knows basically everything. Her and my dad make a great pair and I'm pretty lucky to have them as my parents. In order to be more like her I would just have to be the most awesome person ever. She's selfless, loving, caring, maternal, wise, and wonderful. And she raised four kids. And one of those kids was me, so.

My Questions (for those interested):

1) I love to hear new music. What's your favorite song right now? 

2) Favorite place you've ever traveled and why? 

3) Who is your favorite artist? (fine arts, modern arts, performing arts, musical arts, whatever)

4) Favorite blog that you love to read? 

5) Who was/is your favorite teacher? What about them do you love? 

6) What is the top thing on your bucket list? (I know we all have bucket lists, don't try to lie about it.)

7) If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? 

THINGS I DID THIS WEEKEND

This weekend was deliciously amazing. I didn't do anything too spectacular, but I know a good weekend when I see it. 

Friday afternoon I went to the art gallery slash music building on the University of Idaho campus to see if my students won any awards in the high school art competition. One of my students received an honorable mention. And just, holy goodness I was so proud. Maybe I am a real teacher after all? But I was thrilled beyond measure, like, words cannot describe. I felt like a little kid who was just handed their favorite candy bar and even though it wasn't even my candy bar I jumped up and down all the way back to the car. 

And Saturday we just watched Game of Thrones basically all day. Which, I mean, I hated Game of Thrones when all the boys started watching it a while ago. But I'm starting to change my mind. Not being surrounded by college aged boys in a living room where there aren't enough seats for everyone definitely helped make the experience more enjoyable this time around.

Plus, this morning I had red velvet pancakes. Oh yes. 

But I realized something when I got back to my apartment today. The beginnings of my years are always hard and I kind of expected this year to be that way too. But it hasn't been, not in the way that I had anticipated. Anyway, I was thinking about what made last year so tough (the break up) and that this same weekend but in 2013 was the weekend that Nathan drove up to see me because I had posted this and he realized that maybe he didn't want me out of his life forever. 

So high five Nathan for having a good same weekend a year later. You're seriously my favorite. ♥

this is my valentine's bouquet. i stinkin love it.

Everything and Liebster

So far this is the weirdest Christmas vacation I have ever had in my life. Mostly because of how it started and how it's going to end. The middle really isn't so bad, if we're being honest.

Friday we were supposed to have school, you see. But because of what happened at Sandy Hook elementary and the "fact" that the world was supposed to end soon, some rumors were circling the area and freaking some students out. Students and faculty were worried that some of our own students would get this big idea that they were going to go out with a bang on Friday, shooting up the school. 

I don't know about you, but I take those kinds of threats seriously - because if you just ignore it I think it will happen. And then you have to look back with the guilt of knowing you could have stopped it. So the head honchos called off classes and started winter break early. Which is a little scary, but I'm glad those students never got the opportunity to make those rumors come to fruition. 

And then my graduation present arrived in the mail, taking my mind off of why school was out of session and setting it to focus on one thing and one thing only - my brand new macbook pro. My mom handed me this cardboard box and I sang a few lines of "brown paper packages tied up with striiiiing" and plopped myself down on the couch having no idea what was about to become of me. 

That cardboard box was so deceiving! I looked down inside and saw a smaller white box with a black handle. Looking back up at my mom, I smirked. I smirked a knowing kind of smirk - one that says "really? you got me this?" Thinking that I was about to pull out of a box of expensive art supplies. I was all sorts of prepared for new brushes and watercolors and pencils, etc. 

Instead I got the shock of my life. I texted TheBoy with all caps. You guys! This! This is what I have been wanting and wanting and wanting and wanting and just when you think you reached the end of my wanting there was a crazy underground wanting garage. But macs are so expensive! I never in my entire life thought they would buy it for me, those sneaky rotten so-and-so's! 

I was completely speechless for about ten minutes. It felt like I could only talk in fragmented sentences "I'm so... You guys! ...but really.... it's just... wow." And it kind of just went on like that as I proceeded to open up the box, remove my new computer, start it up, set it up, and figure it out. Their only mistake was giving it to me before dinner, because pulling me away from it to get out the door for pizza was almost impossible. 

But aside from all that awesomeness, I have to remind myself not to get caught up in the commotion of wanting winter break to be almost over. TheBoy doesn't come back until three days before my break is over and when he first told me that I was mad. I was selfish and self pitying, complaining to my mom that all I wanted was to spend longer than a weekend with him for once and he was freaking gone. And then I got over it because there's nothing either one of us can do about it. A weekend together is better than nothing so I'll take what I can get because I'd rather have some than none at all. 

So to distract myself, Mom and I made Stollen today, which is German Christmas bread in case you were wondering. We made four loaves and are currently down to only one....and we didn't give any away. I am not allowed to eat any carbs tomorrow, guys. I swear. I am doing good at this whole losing weight thing and I'm not going to let these holidays stop me! But that bread! It could be my downfall. 

And on a slightly related note, I have recently rediscovered a love of reading. I read The Hate List in a day, it was so good I couldn't put it down. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend that book. Although with all the Sandy Hook stuff going on, it hits a little close to home. In The Hate List it makes a small reference to the book Ender's Game - which caught my eye because I remember TheBoy had talked about liking that book. So I decided to read that one too. I think it took me three days to make it to the end. Such a good book - really. So now I need something new to devour over my Christmas vacation.

Reading always gives me ideas for writing too, and I had originally planned to write some sort of fiction piece for Friday's End of the World extravaganza, but then I ended up taking a nap instead. So there you go. I'd like to write more fiction though, I only have a couple pieces here on the blog, but I can't help feeling like I should do more. Maybe next week. 

Last, but not least, the great Stephanie whom I love and adore has tagged me in a blog post for the "Liebster Award" and so, you know the drill. Questions, answers, facts, more questions and tags. Ready....go!

The Qs: 

1. What's one thing you want for Christmas? Money. Honestly, the older I get the more that seems to come in handy. Plus, I already got my macbook pro so I'm pretty much set for life. 
2. What do you think our kids will say about the music we listen to? What will you say back? I'd like to think future generations will like the music we have now and they'll think it's cool because it's "retro" and then I'll play them some disco music to see what happens. We got to lay down that boogie and play that funky music til we diiiiiieeeeeee. Yes. 
3. Would you rather be eaten alive by kittens, or lick a hobo clean? Can I just completely opt out? I hate these kinds of questions. 
4. If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself? Oh man, I would tell myself not to waste so much time being hung up on PC. Seriously. 
5. What's one thing you're really bad at that you'd love to do well? Sing. I can't carry a tune in a bucket but I'd like to. 
6. How do you feel about bleached blonde hair? Some people can pull it off and some people can't. The people that can't should really learn that about themselves...
7. Would you rather be a Yankee or a Southerner? I used to think I wanted to be a Southerner but Pinterest kind of ruined that for me with all the "You should prefer Southern girls and if you don't, raise your standards" That just kind of made me want to punch them all in the face. I'll stick with being from Idaho. 
8. Have you ever written a letter to Santa? Do you remember if you got what you wanted? I wrote a letter to Santa in 2nd grade and I had a 4th grader "elf" write back to me. It was a school project and I had grown up knowing that Santa wasn't real, so I never put much stock in crossing my fingers that he would bring what I wanted. 
9. How old were you when you had yours first crush? 4th grade. I had the hugest crush on Marty Hawkins. It was bad. 
10. Do you prefer the country or the city? I'm a country girl, but I could make a suburb work depending on what city I was near. 
11. Do you want to be rich when you grow up? Truthfully I just want to have enough money to live a comfortable existence that afforded a plethora of traveling opportunities, beyond that is not my concern. 

The Facts:

1. I am a huge grinch. I love Christmas, but it just takes me a really long time to get in the spirit of the season. 
2. I wish that holidays were more family filled, but none of my family seems to make that a priority. 
3. We get a brand new puppy on monday! Heyo! 
4. I'm really good at CatchPhrase.
5. I think coming up with 11 facts about myself is more difficult than it should be. 
6. I am not a people person. 
7. The telephone and I are not friends. 
8. I fully believe that actions speak louder than words so if you say something, you better back it up. 
9. Speaking in accents is way more fun than speaking in my normal voice. 
10. Sometimes I just want to run away from everything and go live in a foreign country. 
11. I'm really glad I made it to the number 11 on this list. That was hard. 


The New Qs: 

1. What is one thing you've never tried before but really want to?
2. If you could pick one new instrument to play, what would it be? 
3. What is your absolute favorite book of all time? And if you can't pick just one, give me your top three. 
4. Favorite thing to drink? 
5. What's the question you get asked most often and how do you feel about that? 
6. What age do you most often get accused of being? 
7. How did you meet your best friend?
8. Favorite holiday tradition? 
9. What's the biggest mistake you've ever made? 
10. How old were you when you realized what you wanted to do with your life? 
11. What's your favorite thing to wear? 


And now the Tags:

(If I'm honest, I will tell you that there aren't a great many people here in the blog world I feel comfortable enough to tag in a post, especially because this past year my posts have been so irregular and that I don't really have a steady following, so I'll just tag some people anyway and see what happens.) 
Natalie
Stephanie (can I pick you even though you already got it? I really want to know your answer to my #3 because I'm in the market for new and good books!)
...and I'm done. I'd tag Alana but Steph beat me to it. 

Honored

Sooooo I got an award! Woohoo! It's been a little while since I've received one of those! Everybody's favorite Stephanie got really confused and thinks I'm a great artist and therefore gave me this award. (Let's not tell her the truth okay? I like getting awards. Shhhh)

So now the deal is that I have to tell you 10 things about myself and then award some other find bloggers who I think are totally Kreativ.

10 Things About Natalie:

1. I'm a nerd. Like, a nerdy nerd. I;m a make video game references in broad day light in crowded places kind of nerd. The kind of nerdy that my brother posts Portal 2 demotivational posters on my facebook page nerd.

2. I want to be crafty. I want to be that one friend that always hand makes the gifts and the cards you get from her. I'm not that friend yet. But I will be! Someday.

3. I'd rather be barefoot. But I also really like shoes. What a freakin' dilemma that can be.

4. I'm introverted, meaning that instead of getting a charge out of being with other people I get exhausted and need some 'me time' before I go out again.

5. I don't want to live in Idaho for the rest of my life. I dream about what it would be like to move away from here. I have no idea where I'll go yet, but just somewhere different would be nice. I think I need a vacation. I haven't had one of those in a very long time.

6. I grew up hating Mexican food. Did. Not. Want. Anything. To. Do.With. That. Nastiness. And now? I can't get enough of it. Carne Asada? Yes please. Shrimp fajitas? Of course! Chips and salsa? GIVE ME MORE!

7. I can't stand beans. Any kind of beans at all. None. I simply just refuse to eat them. They're gross on every level.

8. I miss sleepovers. The kind in high school, you know? The ones where you stayed up all night watching movies and pranking each other. Back when you painted each fingernail a different color and your best friend gave you a "fabulous" make over. Late night kitchen raids tip toeing around the house so you didn't wake up the Parents. Those were the days.

9. It is amazing unto me how many friends from high school I know who are engaged, married, and popping out kiddies. Seriously, I've only been graduated for three years, people. It's just unbelievable sometimes.

10. I love learning the histories of languages and words. I know how several commonly used phrases originated and things like that. In church I love learning the Greek or Hebrew words behind our English ones, because the Greek and Hebrew words are more specific. English is a really vague language and the more I learn about it, the more I don't like it all that much.

But enough about me! Especially since I was supposed to stop at 10 things anyway.

So I pick:

Cassandra ....because I simply enjoy her blog and she's just super cute.
Melissa ....because I love her. Bunches.
Valorie ....because she is awesome. Seriously.
and Natalie .....because she's adorable and always has the best blog headers every season!

Simply Beautiful

Mrs. Lovely at The Ideologies of Melissa AKA Chesty LaRue kindly awarded me this awesome spectacle:

Seriously, if you haven't checked out Mrs. Lovely you need to. Because she is just that - lovely. And I love her blog. Good, bad, happy, sad, ugly, beautiful - she's got it all, and she does it all because she's made of awesome. So go read her!!

And now, since I am the coveted Beautiful Blogger I must list ten things that make me happy and then award ten other bloggers. Well, we'll see if I can get up to ten bloggers, but the ten things that make me happy are definitely doable :)

10 Things That Make Me Happy:
1. Sleeping in
2. Hugs and kisses
3. My new Canon Rebel XS
4. Nerf Gun Fights
5. Blogging
6. Weekends
7. Seeing old people couples who are absolutely head over heels in love with each other
8. Thunderstorms and lightning in the summer time
9. Backflipping into the Hayden Lake 
10. Making other people laugh

And now, my [insert whichever number I come up with here] beautiful blogger nominations:

1. Suki at Life With Ghost Eyed Dogs because I love her photography.
2. Zelda at Dead Rapunzel because our nails are red and white with hearts on them!
3. Sara at Sara Spelled Without An H because I think she's hilariously awesome.
4. Jessica at This, That And My Blog because I like reading her blog. She makes me smile.
5. Simply Valerie at On The Pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness because her camera's name is Stella
6. LadiesMan at Life in 64 Colors because I can make him fall on the floor collapsed with laughter.
7. Kendra at Carpe Diem because she's adorably cute.

And that's all I can come up with!

I hope your Valentine's Day was Beautiful. :)

I Heart UR Blog

So Mrs. Lovely at The Ideologies of Melissa gave me this awesome award because she thinks I'm adorable.

She passed it on to me and Cassandra, so I figure I'll just pass it on to two other bloggers. Two is a good number right?

Yes, two is a good number. I see you in the corner! Yeah you! Over there. With the Face. Stop shaking your head! You. Love. Two. I know you do. Okay, now that we have that settled, I'll tell you the two people that I think should get this notorious award.

For two reasons:

1. Because they are awesome

and

2. Because I heart them. Obviously.

So my picks are:

*drum roll please*

King Of Fools at Dead Rapunzel because (besides the other previously listed reasons), she not only rocks my socks but occasionally makes me die with laughter, even if she's occasionally inappropriate and not always family friendly. Oh yeah, and I love her. Tons.

and

Kendrabelle at Carpe Diem because I think she's super sweet and always butters me up with comments. In short, I heart her tons and tons.

So there you are ladies and gentlemen. Now if you'll excuse me, I have minds to warp and values to twist.

Awe-Summmm Award

Michelle at Lollypops and Lizards tagged for an award, so I figured I should get around to posting about it, because I have to list seven reasons why I'm Awe-Summm :-)

So here are the rules:
List 7 things that make you Awe-Summm and then pass the award on to 7 bloggers you love.Make sure to tag the recipients and let them know they have won! Also link back to the Queen that tagged you.

7 things that make me awesome:

1. God


2. My family


3. Prince Charming


4. My friends


5. My sense of humor


6. My independence


7. My love of writing

7 bloggers that I tag:

1. Cyndi @ Just My Humble Opinion


2. Suki @ Back At Home


3. Kendra @ Carpe Diem


4. Paige @ Reves Plaisants


5. Artelios @ Nipperized

And I always have trouble meeting the requirments for nominees, but this will have to do. :)

Attitude of Gratitude

So Michelle at Lollypops and Lizards nominated me for the Attitude of Gratitude award! I can't believe it really because I never thought I would win an award for my blog. But this just MAKES my ENTIRE DAY! (That and the grafiti I found on the sidewalk while walking home from the Rec Center after my 3 mile run...)

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show an Attitude of Gratitude.

3. Link to your nominees within your post.

4. Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received this award.

5. Share the love and link to this post and the person who nominated you for this award.

Tell us how you've come to have an Attitude of Gratitude.

So now I pass this award on to:

1. My Aunt at With All Our Hearts

2. Paige at Reves Plaisants

3. My Grandpa at In My Father's House

4. Keri at Life of Logan

5. Artelios at Nipperized

6. Suki at Back At Home

7. I know I'm supposed to pick 10, but I'm having trouble. And this is my blog, so I reserve the right to change the rules when I want to. So I'll give out the remaining four nominations when I feel like :-)