I am joining the rest of my friends who like to post on blogs and thought this might be a great way for me to unwind my mind after a day’s work! Hope you enjoy my random thoughts! I am going to do a 31 Days of December writing prompts, so today I am catching up the first 3 prompts.
There are always things that I say I want to do but never end up doing them. But if I really had to pick 5 things I would like to do more, I find that difficult.
First, I want to learn more about using my Cricut more to make more than just homemade cards. There are so many crafts I can make there and I see friends who make part of their living making items for other people. I think that I would want to make some decorations that I could hang up in our new house. I feel if I could make some artwork for the walls, it would be really cool and I would be learning new skills.
Second, I would like to read books more. I read sometimes before bed, but not as much as I did before I got a smartphone. I try to make it a habit to not be on my phone before I go to sleep but that bad habit is hard to break. I have so many good books to read and so many more that I would love to get so I can enjoy those magical worlds or thrilling stories.
Third, I would like to visit my family more. This includes my parents, relatives in CA, and my sister. If I get a chance to visit, it’s usually to see my nephew but it isn’t for very long. Money is always tight, so a trip out to Colorado or California is tough because I can’t afford plane tickets. Right now, times are tough and I want to visit my family just to enjoy being with them and seeing them more because I miss them terribly. If I’m lucky, I see my CA relatives once every few years and my parents a couple times a year. I would like it to be more if this were a perfect world where money wasn’t a problem.
Fourth, I would like to exercise more. I am one of those people who exercises in spurts of motivation. I would like to be more like my sister where I exercise almost every day of the week, but I’m just not like that. With everything going on right now, I’m feeling that great about my body image, but I’m trying to remember that I’m still healthy.
Fifth, I would like to cross stitch more. I made a lot of cross stitch patterns last spring for my nephew’s Star Wars nursery but I got a lot of new ones for Christmas that I would like to start. I also have a giant one my sister-in-law got me years ago that I started but have set aside because of grad school and working on other projects. I really want to finish it so I can hang it up somewhere in the new house. I love cross stitching and the final result is always so satisfying and looks so good!
Home, is where I can come home after a tough day and cuddle up on the couch with my cats and binge Friends on Netflix, play Stardew Valley or read a good book. Home is where I feel safe when it’s storming out or if it’s too cold. It looks warm when the windows are open and the sun is shining through them and making every angle come alive with sunlight. It reminds me of all the great memories during the holidays or when something good happened to me and my husband.
Home also reminds me of the sad memories too, but even though those were tough times I grew as a person. This house was our first house and we will soon be moving into a bigger house to start a new journey. Home is where you know you can let loose and be your crazy self. I do that frequently. But no matter what, home is where the heart is. My home will always have love in it.
It’s been a while since I wrote in this blog. I want to start writing again even if no one reads this because it helps me relieve some of the stress I have been feeling lately. I found a great list of journal questions to answer and this is the first one.
I am thankful for many things but I think I am most thankful for is the support system that I have through my family. When dealing with my anxiety I sometimes get a little out of sorts and need someone to help calm me down or talk some sense into me. Or if I am worrying about something really important to me but I’m afraid of not achieving it I know I can count on my family to cheer me up. My family is so amazing in every way and I appreciate everything they do to help guide me when things get tough.
There are so many things that I think are good ideas, but to pick just one is hard. But here it goes. The city of Rochester needs to add a few things to make it more shopper friendly outside of downtown. The mall could really use an exterior update, a P.F. Chang’s, other healthy restaurants, and there needs to a water park like Noah’s Ark somewhere for everyone to enjoy.
I know that this is really random but after seeing the shopping areas near my parents’ new house and near where my sister lives, it would be nice to have those options in Rochester. I know that some things are coming, but they are all in downtown and sometimes I don’t want to go to downtown but to areas near it instead.
There have been plenty of times when I have been scared, but one time still makes me realize how lucky I was to be with the friends I was with that night.
Back in college, a bunch of friends and I went to go see Happy Feet 2 at Block E in downtown Minneapolis. The movie ATL also came out and there were a ton of people there to see it. When we got out of Happy Feet 2, the people who were in the ATL theater were all standing around and were very angry because the theater the movie was in, the projector stopped working.
As my group was starting to go down the escalator, the crowd started to get loud and were pushing on the escalator. Right after we got off the escalator and were about 15 feet from it, there literally was a stampede of people. The guys in my group surrounded the girls to protect us and we decided to take the long way out of the building. When we got outside, we heard 2-4 gun shots (can’t remember). It was the scariest thing, because we found out the next day, someone in the ATL theater, had a gun and got upset with another person and pulled the gun out. This was what caused the stampede in the theater.
We all decided that standing around at a bus stop was not safe, so we walked the many blocks from Niccolet Avenue to the west bank of the U of M campus. For the rest of use who lived on east bank, we called the security people who walk you around campus at night. The next day, we found out that an innocent man was shot in the head on Hennepin Ave when all those people were running everywhere to get away from the gun. This man had nothing to do with the man who shot him. This was one of the scariest moments I have ever experienced.
If I look back to what happened a week ago from June 2 (since I’m writing this late) I think one good thing from that week was that my parents were moved into their new house in Colorado!
This whole process has been really stressful, but the move is good for my parents. They are still unpacking and getting things how they want it, but they got there safe and sound and Marmaduke (the Great Dane) is adjusting well.
I am looking forward to visiting them later this summer and getting to help put my room together and help put together some decorations for the house!
I have many goals that I am currently working towards. the steps I have taken to reach them range from just making a small change to physically making changes.
One of my biggest goals is to keep my grades solid and doing well in my grad school classes to better prepare me for student teaching this fall. So far, my vigorous work ethic and hard work has paid off and I have received straight A’s since my third semester (the first 2 had math, it was hard). Not only does this help me do well in classes, but it really does help me prepare for what is ahead for my future. I want student teaching to go so well, but there is a lot of hard work and some sacrifices will have to be made in that process.
Next, I am trying to hard to do some kind of exercise (I really hate exercise) during the day because of complications I had from a medication I took 2 years ago made me gain a lot of weight and I have struggled with it since then. In the last 3 days I have rowed twice for around 15-20 minutes or for 2000 meters. I also have been trying to do the yard work because that also burns calories. I know that exercise is good for me, but for some reason it just isn’t fun for me. My sister is great at pushing me to do more and she is right, but I am extremely stubborn and so I am trying because I am unhappy with my weight.
Sorry for not posting since April, but life has been very busy and now that summer is here I don’t have an excuse to not post everyday. This writing really helps me de-stress and I need to continue to post, even if I am busy!
I am definitely the type of person that HAS to have things planned out. I can do spontaneity, but I am very organized and like to stay that way.
For our Honeymoon, I made a whole itinerary for Aaron and I to have for the trip that included what park we were at each day, where we had reservations each night for dinner, the hotel and plane information all on the sheet. This also included extra magic hours and the times the parks were open and what time they closed. (The Disney experience app was not a thing then and neither of us had a smart phone yet in 2010!)
I also keep at least 2 planners in the house at all times. One is in my backpack for grad school while the other is next to my side of the couch for day to day things and writing down the days I sub during the week.
I also have to plan out trips for when I am visiting my parents and sister so that I know where I am going to be and when.
This may sound over the top, but I learned this from my mom and it makes my life easier. I think this quality will help me when I student teach next fall and in my own classroom!
I have been so busy that I haven’t posted in almost a month! So sorry and I need to get back on track so here is a good one.
I was an avid reader as a kid and couldn’t think of any picture books that I loved when I was young, but I definitely remember the chapter books I read. Here are the 3 series I read the most of:
So yeah, I loved all of these books when I was younger!
I LOVE to read books, so it was hard to pick just 5 books that people should definitely read. But I decided to go with these because all of them are entertaining but also teach some really good life lessons. I included some children’s books because I have read them and think that everyone should too!
Random thoughts of an everyday girl 