Me Mum is Thee Best

I know some awesome moms, but no one beats my mom.  This woman rocks and I can’t thank her enough for everything she did for me during my last week in the States.  She has done so much to solve my petty and, often times avoidable, problems.  To the point, I literally wouldn’t be where I am right now (as I write this or post it).
Where I was while writing is a plane en route to Incheon via Chicago.  I may have done the upfront work to get myself here, but my mom has been in the background helping make sure everything fell into place since I signed my contact in December.

She’s helped with all the logistics of moving from paying for the truck and its gas (as well as the gas in her car) to reminding me to find moving help to packing and keeping me on track while packing.  I’ve never neither had so much help packing nor needed so much help packing.  This has proved a monumental task which I wasn’t completely up to on my own.

My mom arrived the evening before I moved out of my apartment in Milwaukee.  I still wasn’t done packing, despite starting the process five weeks earlier.  This is what happens when one tries to work full-time, see a city of friends, and pack.  She didn’t seem surprised, but after returning from seeing a movie with a friend, she helped in whatever way she could.  I appreciated the help then; and I appreciate it even more after my final 24 hours Stateside.

I have never been so burnt out.  Packing a year’s worth of clothes into two checked suitcases and a carry on (despite the size of my carry on) is ridiculously difficult.  While I had all my clothes in these three bags when I left Milwaukee, I neglected to pack any shoes and toiletries.  I unpacked everything a couple days after returning to my hometown with the intention of repacking it shortly thereafter.  However, shortly thereafter turned into the night I was due to leave.

At 9:30pm (five hours before my mom and I were due to leave for the airport), I was sitting at the kitchen table, looked at my mom, and asked if she’d come back to Grandma’s with me to help me finish packing.  I’d like to think she said ‘yes’ simply because I managed to ask for help and not because I was on the verge of tears…the first of many times in the coming hours.  Like six days previous, she was awake with me at the wee hours of the morning, helping the best she could.  She created another backup of the files on my laptop, folded freshly laundered clothes, and filled my travel toiletry bottles—a couple hours worth of work.  Even if I hadn’t needed her help with the former, I certainly needed the moral support and motivation to keep packing.  I kept wanting to cry in frustration and exhaustion; Mom wouldn’t let me.  She kept telling me to keep going and to push through.  I couldn’t fail.  Not in front of her.  Not when she’d done so much to ensure I got what I wanted.

If my failure at packing in a timely manner wasn’t bad enough, at a crucial time I also temporarily forgot where I put the car key.  (I’m seriously cursed when it comes to car keys; I have this nasty habit of putting them places where they become irretrievable for a time.) My mom was putting my winter coat into my suitcase—per my frustrated, teary eyed request—and asked if there was anything in my pockets.  I rarely keep anything in my winter coat pockets, so I promptly responded, “No.”  Wrong answer!  Ordinarily this wouldn’t be a problem; we’d simply open the suitcase up and remove the key from said pocket.  It was Friday the 13^th though, so retrieving the key wasn’t so easy.  The zipper got stuck and the clock was pushing 3:30am.  Ergo, we DID NOT have time for this.  After several minutes, the persistent threat of tears, and the power of teamwork, we succeeded.

Beth messes up yet again (with a car key no less), and Mom saves the day because apparently at 23-years-old, I’m still not to be trusted with a car key if the vehicle’s owner is around.

As previously mentioned, this fiasco with the car key happened just before 3:30am.  I wanted to leave closer to 2am or 2:30am.  3am was the latest I wanted to leave my hometown because my flight left at 5:50am and the drive to the airport is an hour and a half.  Departing at 3:30am left me very little spare time before my flight.  My mom, being the rock star mom she is, got me to the airport with almost an hour to spare, helped me check in my luggage, and saw me to security.

As I said before, “I literally wouldn’t be where I am right now” if it weren’t for her.

Everything above still doesn’t include my mom giving me free-reign to her car for almost a week, so I could come and go as needed and run all my errands; the fact that she scheduled my dentist appointment for me; that she’s willing to front the costs to ship me stuff that wouldn’t fit in my suitcases; and a dozen other things.

As I’ve hopefully and clearly illustrated above, if it weren’t for my mom being the fantastic, supportive person she is, I’m not sure how I would have completed all my packing and done everything that needed to be done in order for me to make it to South Korea.  Even now that I’m in South Korea, she’s still being phenomenal by staying up late to track my flight until I landed and taking care of the leftover financial things in the States (taxes, final paycheck, etc).

I can’t thank my mom enough for everything she’s done.  She knows how much it means to me to live abroad and she’s done more than her share to ensure that dream became a reality.

Old and New Meet Nature Throughout South Korea

My Next Big Adventures

Today marks one year since I walked across the stage at the U.S. Cellular Arena in Milwaukee for my undergraduate commencement.  These 365 days have flown by with adventures of all sorts; when I look back though, there’s plenty I didn’t do and didn’t say.  I officially end that today in two ways with work.

First, I started my journey toward speaking out about the bullying I’ve been enduring at work.  Over the past few months, various incidents have occurred in which I’ve chosen to be the bigger person and not retaliate when I’m told that I’m “too young” for something to concern me even though it does, that I’m being a “smart-ass” when I’m actually joking around (major double standard in play here), being lied to my face, and simply being interrupted for no reason other than to interrupt me while I’m working.  For the most part, I’ve let these slide because either a) I know I’m right, so I’m going to control my temper and not get in a pointless argument or b—and often the case) I’m too flabbergasted that I’m being spoken to in such a rude manner.  This has led to me being very anti-social at work.  While I am capable of not talking all day, the frustration behind my not talking makes work unnecessarily stressful.

During my bi-annual performance review today, I completely unloaded on my manager and told her every brutally honest detail.  I’ve hinted that the work environment has degraded in recent months, but I never gave her the details necessary for her to fully understand what has been happening.  Since she doesn’t work in the office on a regular basis, she never saw firsthand how I was being treated.  Now that she knows, she’s insisting we move forward to combat this negativity and workplace bullying.  A friend mentioned last week that I should go to HR (my manager also mentioned this today), and I’m still chewing on the idea.  I’m thankful my manager is as supportive as she is and helping me move forward.

Side note: What frustrates me most about the whole situation is that all my life I’ve always stood up for myself and fought back.  Now I’m just taking it; and I can’t even say for certain that I’m just letting it roll off my back.  As I texted my older sister one day, “Idk whether to be proud of myself for controlling my temper or disappointed in myself for not speaking my mind…”  Regardless, I’m learning a lot about professionalism (or lack thereof, at times) in the workplace from this whole experience.

That has been my adventure in what I didn’t say.  Second—and much more positive—is my adventure in what I didn’t do.  Despite having a fulltime job and fun money, I still haven’t gone abroad since studying in New Zealand.  My wanderlust has become a burning desire to go far, far away to a land where everything will be new.  My wanderlust has been like this for about the last six months, and it will finally get its wish in February when I will be moving to teach English in…

SOUTH KOREA 😀

When I read the email offering me a one year contract with Avalon English (a well-known, private English school), I couldn’t stop smiling.  I was thrilled and happily applauded myself knowing the months of (secretive) hard work had finally paid off.  While I’m still thrilled, a terror has also set in and surfaces from time to time.  I will bounce from excitedly making lists of everything I’ll need to bring with me or all the incredible new experiences I’ll have to freaking out about how everything I want to bring might not fit in my suitcases or how unprepared I currently am for life outside the western world.  Then I remind myself that my hard work and determination have gotten this far and they’re bound to get me the rest of way too; otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have gotten as far as I have.  I also know I have a great support system who is all full of advice and encouraging words whenever I need to hear them.  I may be physically moving to South Korea alone, but I won’t be making the journey alone 🙂

So Much New to Explore!!

Reasons Why I Love Leggings

First off, some people have very strong, negative opinions about leggings and I encourage these people to read this blog as an insight into why leggings rock my socks.  Leggings are easily my favorite article of clothing and probably the only one I can’t live without (denim short shorts are barely beaten out though).  And here’s why 🙂

1. Comfortable. I’ve always chosen my clothes based on comfort, not fashion.  Cotton leggings are comfortable enough I could live in them, so they’re frequently a logical choice for me.  Leggings are honestly so comfy; wearing them for a whole day—whether sitting or standing—is easy.  They’re even comfy enough to sleep in!
2. Year-Round Wear. Leggings are light enough to wear during cool summer days (otherwise there are capris length leggings), most spring and fall days, and even during the winter.  While sometimes this requires wearing a pair of tights under said leggings (Wisconsin winters are chilly), I have worn leggings on numerous occasions in the middle of winter.  Since I’m writing this post, I’ve obviously lived to tell my tales 🙂
3. Range of Motion. This goes a long with Comfortable, but leggings are stretchy enough to move with me; and since they’re made of cotton, they easily shift across my skin.  They’re almost like a second skin because I don’t usually have to pull them up in order to sit down—like I do jeans—and upon standing up, I don’t always have to pull them down into place—like I do jeans.  Jeans are just inferior.
4. Wear Everywhere. I can wear leggings literally every place.  I can dress them up to wear to work or dress them down to hang with friends.  I can even work out and (as previously mentioned) sleep in leggings.  It’s a win-win.
5. Wear with Everything. Similarly leggings can be worn with any conceivable top: a hoodie, a dress, a tunic, and even a t-shirt.  (I acknowledge that perhaps not everyone should pair a t-shirt with leggings though.)  Any footwear can also be worn with leggings and still manage to look good, including crocs which—let’s admit—is a huge feat.
6. Do Anything in Them. In part because they allow for a wide range of motion, I can wear leggings and do any activity I please in them.  (Granted I can do this in most articles of clothing…)  I can climb a tree, ride my bike, go to work, dance, or sleep in leggings, among other activities except shower.  I wouldn’t recommend showering in leggings; nope, nope.
7. Match Everything. Maybe it’s just me, but the vast majority of my leggings are black (and grey), so they match everything else.  This makes getting dressed a lot simpler and I happen to like simple.  This is why I own as many leggings as I do jeans…if not more leggings.
8. Lookin’ Good. (Warning: A vain moment approaches.)  Personally, leggings just look great on me, thus I look great in leggings and who doesn’t love when their clothes look rockin’ on their bod 😛

So basically, I can do whatever I want whenever I want, be comfortable (and kinda lazy), while looking good doing it…if I wear leggings 😀

11 Pairs of Leggings + a pair of shorts 🙂

Incredibly Alice

One year ago today, I brought Alice home from the Wisconsin Humane Society.  We’ve had an incredible year together and I’ve learned so much about Alice, particularly how incredible she is.

Alice’s First Day at Home

Incredibly Lovable: Alice loves cuddling and being held.  She snuggles in my arms and will rest on her back like an infant.  This has lasted for 30 minutes before and is a regular occurrence; my girl loves to be loved.

The “Pet me; I’m cute” face

Incredibly Weird: This kitty enjoys sitting side the refrigerator.  Yup, you read that correctly: Alice likes to sit in the refrigerator.  I may have broken this habit, but for several weeks anytime I open the fridge door, she would step inside, climb onto the bottom shelf, and sit.

Alice willingly sits in the refrigerator

Incredibly Playful: Alice can entertain herself by looking out the window, but she also loves to play.  She chases a string, rolls a jingle ball, wrestles with her catnip-stuffed squirrel, and chases her spirals all over my apartment, frequently losing them under the couch or in my closet.

Let’s Play!

Incredibly Silly: When Alice plays, she completely over-exaggerates pouncing on her toys, which is quite a sight.  More of a sight is watching her swat toys around my apartment like it’s a giant soccer field.  She leaps over and through table and chair legs; she covers every inch of my apartment from the foyer to my closet to the kitchen; she also knocks her toys “out of bounds” and needs a new one put back “into play” for her.

Stalking

Incredibly Daring: Cats love to climb.  I don’t have much in my apartment for Alice to climb, so she takes full advantage when I do laundry: she daringly scales my wobbly, 4-ft tall drying rack.  Regardless of whether there are clothes to sprawl across or not, she seems to enjoy the challenge of climbing and balancing across the top of the drying rack.

I’m not sure how this is comfortable…or safe

Incredibly Curious: When Alice and I go outside, she wants to investigate everything!  We walk up-and-down both sides of my block, and we’ve ventured around the block east and two blocks west of us as well as a partial block south.  Her curiosity leads her up chain link fences, trees, and even brick walls.

Climbing a Tree

Incredibly Spoiled: Aside from fresh food, fresh water, and a clean litter box first thing every morning, Alice gets to go outside several days a week.  She also gets milk with me for breakfast, tuna for dinner, and I offer to share my food with her, especially her favorites (dressing, ice cream, meat, and cheese).

“Where’s my food?”

Incredibly Trusting: Alice loves pretty much everyone; at least, we’ve yet to meet anyone she doesn’t like.  When we’re home together, she frequently sleeps with her stomach exposed…much like a dog.

A trusting cat leaves her stomach exposed

Incredibly Confident: Similarly to trusting, Alice is also a very confident cat.  She makes herself at home just about anywhere, indoors and outdoors.

“Hi, I hope you don’t mind if I make myself at home.”

Incredibly Cautious: At the same, she can be quite wary of the noisy outdoors…and wind.  Honestly, a strong breeze could blow her away, so she’s smart to be cautious when it’s windy.

Maintaining a low center of gravity

Incredibly Social: As I said previously, Alice has yet to meet someone she doesn’t like.  Overall, she loves meeting and interacting with people, and she’ll approach our front door when there are people in the hallway and always greets my guests.

“Hello there, Little Bug”

Incredibly Unathletic: Sometimes I wonder about Alice though because she seems to struggle jumping up to most pieces of furniture.  For example, I’m always surprised the few times she jumps onto the kitchen counter.  Although, she’s getting better at jumping up on things; maybe she was just being lazy.

Apparently my hand makes a lovely pillow

Incredibly Rude: As much as I love Alice, she certainly knows how to take advantage of that love, particularly where food is concerned.  She thinks whatever food is mine is hers, to the extent that she’ll take a bite off my plate, fork, or the food in my hand (while on its way to my mouth).

“Don’t mind if I do”

Incredibly Smart: When I’m petting Alice, she will use her paws to move my hand or keep my hand in place.  She knows she wants and how to get it!

“Now this is comfy!”

Incredibly Determined:  As I just said, Alice has a mind of her own.  She knows what she wants and is determined enough to get it.  For example, Alice learned how to open the window!

Overall, I’d say I’m incredibly lucky to have such an incredible cat who’s also incredibly photogenic!

Alice at her finest 😛

The Power of Two Years

“A step in the wrong direction is better than staying in the same spot all your life.” –Maxwell Maltz

Two years ago today, I returned from New Zealand.  Instead of focusing on my trip though, the focus will be on how much can happen in two years.  This period of time seems long, but while it’s really only 730 days, there’s still ample time for change.

When I think specifically about these last two years, I realize how much has changed in my life (and the lives of my friends and family).  Part of this is because of where I am in my life: college and graduation naturally bring change.  Thinking back, I obviously knew changes were coming for me; however, I didn’t know these changes would include Alice (a cat, yes, but not one I love so dearly), living alone, still being single, lots of new friends and reconnecting with old friends (new friends, yes, but not ones I hang out with quite so much 🙂 ), improved relationships (particularly with my first younger-sister), graduating cum laude from college, a full-time job (not this full-time job anyways), my love (borderline obsession) with everything French, and so much more.  I also anticipated going abroad again within these two years…that has yet to happen 😦  All of this—and heaps more—happened in just two years.

Thus there’s a lot of power in two years as it can easily bring changes, some permanent.  Numerous births and deaths have occurred in this time span—and in any two year span.  All changes can have a lasting impacting, but major changes such as births and deaths will always leave a mark in/change one’s life.  With these emotional events come the opportunities for further changes.  A child learns an incredible amount in her/his first two years of life: rolling over, walking, climbing, talking, eating solid foods, deciding what foods he/she does/doesn’t like, playing games, and in general learning about her/his world.  A death can lead loved ones to re-evaluate their lives or adapt to living without someone—sometimes an extremely important person in our lives.

Just about anything can happen in two years.  You can meet your soul mate and get married in less than two years; you can also go through the turmoil of a divorce or messy breakup in two years.  Someone can become famous in two years; a celebrity can also lose her/his fame in those same 730 days.  You can become a whole new person and discover a completely new way of life in just two years; you can also destroy your entire life by making one, or a series of, poor choice(s) in two years.  In the next 730 days, a nation could resolve or start a war; the same nation could also experience its coldest winter or hottest summer on record.  None of this even begins to account for the technological changes that have been accomplished in the last two years or will be accomplished in the next two years.

The point is a lot can happen in two years and we could have only a miniscule idea of what changes will occur to us or in our world.  At least part of what happens is within our control as well as our openness/willingness to change.  However, that which is outside our control shouldn’t be stressed over because those stressors can easily disappear with time.  Two years contains so much power and potential for change 🙂

 

While I might not look different, two years has changed me a lot.

A glimpse into June 28^th, 2012
Music

• “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepson peaked in popularity the week before and was the current Billboard’s Number One Single ^1,2.
• “Where Have You Been” by Rihanna and “Wide Awake” by Katy Perry broke into Billboard’s Top 10 the week before and remained there for three months ¹.
• Justin Bieber’s Believe was currently the number one selling album, followed by Kenny Chesney, Fiona Apple, Smashing Pumpkins, and the Rock of Ages soundtrack ³.

Movies

• Ted, Magic Mike, and Tyler Perry’s Medea’s Witness Protection were released in theaters the next day ⁴.
• Brave was released the week before in theaters ^5,6.
• Madagascar 3, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Prometheus, Snow White and the Huntsman, Marvel’s The Avengers, MIB 3, and Rock of Ages had all been playing in theaters for two to six weeks ^5,6.

News/Events

• Google announced the pre-sale of Google Glass ⁷.
• CNN initially misreports a major Supreme Court ruling regarding Obama Care ⁷.
• Nat Geo poll results reveals that Americans believe Obama would be better than Romney at fending off an alien invasion ⁷ 😛
• There’s some other info on armed conflicts and attacks, business and economics, disasters, international relations, science and technology, sports, and others here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events/2012_June_28

After ~30 hours of travelling, I finally landed at MSP where my mom waited to finish taking me home after my five months of adventure 🙂

Sources:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_top_10_singles_in_2012
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_number-one_singles_of_2012
3. http://top40.about.com/od/onthecharts/a/Us-Pop-Music-Charts-June-28-2012.htm
4. http://www.movieinsider.com/movies/june/2012/29/
5. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2012-06-29&p=.htm
6. http://www.google.com
7. http://theweek.com/article/index/230005/good-day-bad-day-june-28-2012

Outdoor Alice

As my Facebook friends are well aware, Alice and I spend a lot of time outside together. Our weekend afternoons are spent lounging in the sunshine and we enjoy evening walks after work during the week. On weekends, we’ve also taken to walking the length of the block.

Watching People and Traffic

Besides relaxing in the grass and soaking in some much needed Vitamin D, I watch Alice’s reactions to her expanded world. She absolutely loves watching the birds (and people too). Knowing full well that Alice has little chance of catching these birds, I’ll occasionally let her run after them 🙂 Hopefully she’ll never catch one because I’d feel horrible and I don’t know what I’ll do for the bird.

My Little Huntress

Alice is most fascinated by ducks.  Yes, I said ducks.  On a walk a couple weeks ago, we encountered a pair of mallards nibbling on fallen birdseed.  I’ve never seen Alice so entranced.  She really wanted to cross the street to see those ducks; instead we watched them for almost 20 minutes.  The next day when we walked down the block, she insisted we cross the street.  Once across the street, we were standing in front of the house where we saw the ducks.  I practically had to drag her away from this house.  Almost two weeks later, she still stops to investigate 🙂

DUCKS!

Alice has also taken a recent interest in bunnies and squirrels. When we first started adventuring outside this spring, she paid little to no attention to her fellow small mammals. Now I’ve caught her not only staring down squirrels and bunnies but stalking them too. Alice can have her fun, but literally I keep her on a short leash.  Chasing bunnies will take her a lot further away than the birds; they fly up and Alice stays on the ground, unlike running after bunnies.

I am considering adding to her leash because I’d like for her to wander more on her own if she would like. For the time being, I give her more length by hooking my ankle through the leash. I can sit in the lush green grass and she can l lounge under the bushes without darting off.

I am most surprised by Alice’s reaction to dogs. She shows little interest in them. Little dogs might as well not exist for how much attention Alice pays them. She barely watches them when they pass; there’s neither a stare down nor hissing and puffing up. Only once has she shown a frightened emotion toward a big dog. I was holding her and she squirmed in fright. Otherwise, nothing.

“Dogs, where? Eh, whatever, I prefer to cat nap.”

When we walk down the block, Alice frequently stops to sniff the yard with a cat, who we’ve seen once, and a dog, who we’ve seen twice now. The most recent time, Alice stopped to flop in the grass and both the husband and wife were outside. While we chatted, two neighbors from across the street joined us. Then the son returned home with the big dog (I think she’s part boxer, to give an indication of size) and one of his friends. The dog wanted to play with Alice so badly; she kept pulling at the leash. All the while, Alice neither paid attention to the group of humans nor the dog. Finally I picked her up, so I know she’d see the dog. She saw her, but she remained relaxed in my arms. It was crazy. The wife was also surprised by Alice’s unusual cat behavior. That’s my girl though; calm in the face of stress.

LONG, LUSH GRASS!!

Speaking of not-so-cat-like-behavior, Alice will scratch at trees, but she’s made little attempt at climbing them. One time, however, she did jump to the trunk and clung on. She’s such an odd ball of fur J  I keep expecting her to take off up the tree because she stares at the trees as though she’s considering it.  I’m not sure how I feel about her climbing trees.  On the one hand, if she wants to climb then she should climb.  (I climb trees and jungle gyms when I feel the need to climb, so why shouldn’t she?)  On the other hand though, I’m not so sure about waiting for her to come down from the tree.  I have a hard enough time coaxing her inside for dinner most days (thankfully she’s easy to carry).

To climb or not to climb?

The most normal cat behavior Alice exhibits (beside sleeping in the sunshine and relaxing from a good vantage point beneath the bushes) is her reaction to other cats, even this is somewhat abnormal though.  Again, Alice is calm in the face of new situations that would stress most cats out.  When we encounter another cat (there are two who will sit outside on a cat tie), Alice is cautious about walking too close to them and respects their space.  At the same time though, she’s curious and wants to say hello.  I tend to be the one that decides we’re close enough because I will neither walk-up someone’s driveway nor into someone yard uninvited.  Thus far neither Alice nor the other cats have puffed up, hissed, or meowed at each other.  Alice did meow once, but she was looking at me when she did.  I think she wanted me to know there was another cat around 🙂

I thoroughly enjoy observe Alice’s behavior and shall continue to do so.  When I’m not scrutinizing her, I’m taking an absurd amount of pictures.  She’s just too cute to resist!

A defeated Alice. It’s so hard to tell her ‘no’

Reasons Why I Love My Mummy

Moms are superhuman considering everything they do and how little appreciation they’re shown.  For as much as I love and admire my mom, I still don’t show her the appreciation she deserves.  Thus in honor of Mother’s Day (and all the headache/heartache I’ve put my mother through), I decided to publicly pay tribute to my mum by listing 10 of the reasons why I am eternally grateful to have her as my mama.  These are also reasons why I’ll forever love her, despite sometimes having our differences.

1. She’s My Biggest Supporter.  Who else would spend every soccer season for a decade and a half sitting in the wind, heat, and the sunshine, thunderstorms and even flurries watching me play soccer.  In all seriousness though, regardless of the decision (including those with which she didn’t necessarily agree), my mom supported me.
2. She Spoiled Me.  At a very young age, my mom frequently read to me; she instilled a love of books that I still have today and I became spoiled through that love of literature by always having somewhere incredible to venture off to.  She also spoiled me by moving to district with good schools, so I was privileged to a great education and a wealth of opportunities.  I played a variety of sports, took classes during the summer, had a playground nearby that provided endless entertainment, and participated in an array of stimulating school clubs.
3. She Provides Financial Support.  She, of course, paid for all my childhood activities, always bought me new soccer cleats when I needed them, paid my activity fees, bought me clothes, food, toys, books, etc, but she also helped me out during college.  I grew up under the impression that college would be my financial burden to bear alone; however, being such a big supporter, she helped provide the money to achieve my dreams and goals, specifically studying abroad and graduating early.  Gracias, Madre!
4. She Taught Me Life Skills.  As most moms do, she taught me to be responsible for myself and my actions, to look out for others, to cook, to be polite, to pick up after myself, etc.  Albeit some of her other lessons were a bit unorthodox, such as allowing me to quit swimming lessons at age 8.  Considering this is one of the only things I’ve ever quit, I learned that nothing good comes from quitting and that I needed to preserve through challenges; this lesson wouldn’t have sunk in nearly as well simply be telling me or by not allowing me to quit.
5. She Understands Me.  Unfortunately, I will forever make mistakes, some bigger than others and some with worse consequences than others.  None of this matters to my mom though; she understands that making mistakes tends to be the best way for me to learn my lesson and is part of living life.  She also understands how I think; with one sentence she can make me realize I’ve been lying to myself about a situation or another sentence can take an everyday compliment and make it sound extraordinary, leaving me beaming 🙂
6. She Gave Me My Skinny Body.  I’m aware this sounds vain: I love my skinny, athletic body.  I wouldn’t trade it for any other body type and I know my mom had a similar body type (before her love of chocolate combined with a desk job and slowing metabolism betrayed her).  Despite this, I always take the sentence “you look like your mom” as a compliment.
7. She Gave Me My Best Qualities.  My mother is a strong-willed, hardworking, independent, caring woman.  I admire her for those qualities; I also thank her for passing them along to me.  Coincidentally, these happen to be some of my favorite qualities and the ones that helped me accomplish as much as I have thus far in my life.  Merci, Maman!
8. She Has Faith in Me.  And she sees qualities in me that I don’t necessarily see in myself.  For example, I’ve never considered myself an overly persuasive or motivating person; my mom believes differently.  She also trusts my judgment and professional abilities more than I do.
9. She Allows Me to Be Me.  My mom never pressured me to change who I was or to behave differently.  She let me climb trees in a dress and be the aggressive girl who pushed the boys around on the soccer field.  She also never forced me complete my homework on-time or guilted me for my mistakes.  My mom allowed me to grow up as I was with my outgoing, free-spirit and to have an equal say in what I did and who I wanted to be.  Yes, she’d advise me to listen to my teachers and raise my hand during class, but she never forced me to listen.
10. She Has Always Loved Me Unconditionally.  I’m thankful my mom and I never went through the “I hate you” stage.  This isn’t to say my teen years (high school especially) weren’t a rough patch for our relationship, but she always loved me and was always there when I needed her.  Even when I didn’t deserve her love and attention, I still received it without asking.  Her loving acts still make me cry, especially when those acts include forgiving my mistakes or looking past them :’)

Thank you, Mommy, for everything you’ve done for me.  I know it hasn’t been easy raising me, but thanks for hanging in there and making the most out of the given circumstances.  I don’t know what I’d do without you or who I’d be if it weren’t for you.  I love you!!!

I Love You, Mommy!!!

Une Vie Différente

“Life isn’t about finding yourself.  Life is about creating yourself.” –George Bernard Shaw

Another post inspired by French class, but this time, the post will be much more than a simple translation of my writing.  One option for my most recent composition was what would be different about your life if you had attended a different university.  This was a much more challenging prompt to address than most because attending UW-Milwaukee has been extremely influential in who I’ve become.  The list of potential differences wasn’t going to fit on one page (the length requirement) which is why this post will be an elaboration of the actual assignment.

My other option (at the time), if I didn’t attend UWM, was UW-Madison.  I’m skeptical if I’d have liked Madison enough to complete my degree though.  It’s not that I have anything against Madison, just that I don’t think it would have been a good fit me personally.  There were numerous differences regarding the campus culture that I discovered when touring; I’m sure I’d have found several more if I actually studied and lived in Madison.  The tidbit about most of campus being drunk before noon on football game days still gives me pause when I consider I almost attended that school.  The drinking lifestyle was never for me.  There’s also the possibility I could have avoided the drinking or it might not have been as bad as the tour guide said (and my imagination imagined).  However, I have a low tolerance for drunk people, especially noisy and rowdy ones.

If I disliked the environment and culture enough, there’s a good chance I would have transferred.  The question is where.  I know I wouldn’t have transferred home; I refused to move home even when I didn’t have a job and could barely support myself immediately after graduation.  A part of me thinks I’d have transferred to UWM.  I loved almost everything about my three and half years of undergrad and firmly believe I was meant to end up in Milwaukee.  However, there’s another part of me that considers my love of travel and distant lands; thus I could have transferred abroad.  There are an uncountable number of factors that would have played into my decision though: how old was I when I chose to transfer, was I dating someone, had I studied abroad already, how were my relationships with certain family members (my mom, my older sister, and my niece), where were my interests, etc.

Not only would my relationships have played a definite role in where I transferred, but these relationships could have been extremely different than they are today.  I couldn’t have afforded to take the bus and frequently visit my sister and newborn niece my freshman year, so—unfortunately—neither of these relationships would have their current resilience.  The positive influence they (and my brother-in-law) have had on me is immense.  The amount of patience I gained by spending time with my niece (now nieces) is reason enough to say their impact was huge.  By having a stronger relationship with my sister, I sought out her advice and took said advice seriously—as well as my brother-in-law’s advice.  This advice helped shape other decisions I made.  None of this would be the case without the current strength of our bond though.

My Eldest Niece and Me

Then there’s the relationship with my mom.  I have no idea how that would have differed because regardless of where I attended university, I still would have gone home for as many holidays as possible and talked to her the same amount.  The difference would have been that I have since learned she didn’t support the idea of me going to Madison.  However, she also isn’t one to hold a grudge, so I’m confident she wouldn’t have held this against me; she may have been overly supportive if/when I chose to transfer though and thus influenced that decision.

Returning to going abroad, I might not have studied in New Zealand.  Almost my entire life, I had my heart set of going to England and I didn’t because I needed an international internship for my Global Studies major (a major Madison doesn’t have), and UWM has a program to New Zealand that included help securing internship placement.  New Zealand was still on my bucket list of countries to visit, but it wasn’t my first choice; I realize now it should have been though.  Similar to how my relationships shaped me, so did my time in New Zealand.  Some of these results would have happened regardless of where I studied abroad: sense of adventure, increased independence, appreciation for other cultures, etc.  I wouldn’t, however, have met the same people and had the same internship/learning experience.  My internship in New Zealand gave me confidence in my work that my classes hadn’t.  Since neither of my majors exist at Madison, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have completed that internship anyways.  Madison has similar majors, but I still could have taken my education (and thus my life) down a completely different path.  Either way though, I would have found something I enjoyed.

Christina, Me, and Gavin in NZ

All these potential differences mean I might not be friends with some of the wonderful people I am today.  I happen to really like my Milwaukee friends, especially considering the majority of them have one very distinct similarity: French.  There are one or two friends I don’t know directly through the French Department who also happen to love French, if not the language then certainly the culture.  Aside from these friends, I’ve only made a few other friends in Milwaukee.  In recent years, French has definitely made a big impact in my life.  Regardless of where I could have attended university, hopefully I still found the delicious eloquence of French 🙂

Oui!sconsin

Then there’s Alice, who I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t attended university in Milwaukee.  I also wouldn’t know all the great people from my jobs or from the student organizations in which I was a part.  Nevertheless, a lot of other people inhabit the world, so I wouldn’t be friendless and I would have had other jobs in which to meet people.  Plus living in Madison would have allowed me to assist more with my high school forensics team as one of the assistant coaches lives in Madison and the team competes in Madison almost every season.

Ultimately, I hope I would have either found my way to UWM or found myself happily living abroad, travelling with any spare money I have while learning/perfecting my knowledge of other languages and making friends along the way.  Also I like to think that somewhere in creating myself and seeking happiness, I would have developed the strong relationships I have with my family.

Some Sisterly Love

Easter Weekend Sans Family

“A day spent with friends is always a day well spent.” –Unknown

When I realized I wouldn’t be going home to my family for Easter, I was initially quite disappointed (and frustrated at my lack of planning).  I decided to make the most of the weekend though, making grand plans with myself to be super productive and spending lots of time with Alice.  Instead I found myself quite busy with friends 🙂

I worked all day Good Friday, but upon leaving work noticed a message from my friend, Alex.  We met at City Market for dessert, and so he could experiment with his photography reflectors.  This meant I was the subject, a subject who was already exhausted from a crazy-busy, long day.  I chose to ignore the camera by looking out the window, enjoying my mini chocolate cheesecake, checking Facebook on my phone, and talking while my eyes wandered around the restaurant’s interior.  Alex was happy with my natural state of being which was great because I didn’t have the energy for much else.  After losing all but a sliver of our sunlight, we walked the few chilly blocks to Vedo’s for a slice of pizza.  This was an excellent start to my Easter weekend.

Photo Shoot with Alex (Click for more of his photography)

Despite working Saturday morning, I found time in the afternoon to do a few (shopping) errands before hanging out with friends.  These errands are usually unexciting, but finding great deals and having coupons is super exciting; thank you, Kohl’s.

Late Saturday afternoon, I took the bus to visit my friend, Shanna, and her boyfriend, Tony, out in the suburbs.  Our friend, Willow, drove down for some quirky fun.  We watched some TV (two episodes of Strangers with Candy with a young Stephen Colbert :), an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and the first episode of Game of Thrones) plus a movie (Pokémon 3) while indulging in Chicken and Black Bean soup and a variety of wines.  Regarding the selection of shows/movie, so glad I finally finished watching the first episode of Game of Thrones (now to find time for the rest of the seasons) and watching Pokémon was surprisingly entertaining.  Overall a superbly relaxing evening.

Watching Pokémon

This wasn’t the end of our enjoyment together.  We planned to have brunch together the next morning, but brunch turned into breakfast at lunch; it was noon before we arrived at Café Hollander.  After—critiquing the validity of the menu (#francophonesnobs)—and much discussion, we delighted in our food, outdoor seating, and spring weather.  The great outdoors came at a cost though: I burnt my neck on the sun.  Despite this, I appreciated the pleasant weather, even more than I appreciated my Fresh Fruit Waffle.

Fresh Fruit Waffle at Café Hollander

Expectantly, the waffle was huge—and tasty.  There were strawberries, apples, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries arranged on the waffle with a couple spots of whipped cream.  I was impressed by how thinly sliced the apples and strawberries were 🙂  I haven’t eaten most of these fruits all winter; their taste (combined with the warm sunshine) reminded me of summer’s joyousness!

Usually, being full makes people sluggish and tired.  This doesn’t apply Willow, Shanna, and I; we became—or remained—our boisterous selves 🙂  We decided to leave so as not to disturb those still enjoying their meal.  Instead we boisterously hunted down Easter candy across the street at CVS.  The chocolate wasn’t hard to find, so bantered about the chocolate options.  Willow and I are appalled that Cadbury’s daily deliciousness is limited to certain holidays in the U.S., whereas Shanna was basically satisfied with Peeps.  Soon we moved on to terrorize the next aisle over; this led to the discovery of blank VHS tapes being sold in four packs and Lisa Frank coloring/sticker books.  Willow and I were ecstatic with happiness.  We also find Ghirardelli chocolate in this aisle 🙂  Easter Chocolate Mission: Accomplished.

Contradicting Signs at CVS

I spent the remainder of the day being productive…when I wasn’t outside.  Easter Sunday was a gloriously beautiful day.  Since Milwaukee has had so very few of these days, I made sure to enjoy it.  I opened a couple windows in my apartment to let the fresh air and breeze in; Alice was in heaven having her windows open again 🙂  While my clothes washed, Alice and sat outside exploring and lounging in the sun near my building 🙂  She enjoyed this as much as I did and we went outside—per her request—again on Monday.

Alice Outside on Easter Sunday

I also cooked LOTS!  I made enough food for lunches all week and half my dinners.  Plus everything contained meat, so Alice benefitted too.  I made chicken stuffing casserole which has become a standard meal for me recently, but I also made pasta.  Yes, I can’t go more than a day or two without eating pasta, however, this pasta was extraordinarily delicious.  I covered penne noodles with two different sauces (the first jar only covered half the noodles), chopped deli maple ham to sprinkle on top, seasoned with a combination of my favorites, and added a subtle amount of sharp Wisconsin cheddar.  Something about that mix creates my new favorite pasta (that I cook at home) 🙂

Courtesy of the fun I had, the weekend flew by. Even though I didn’t cause a ruckus at home with my younger sisters or eat a traditional Easter meal, I still a fantastic holiday weekend!  This weekend proved to be a learning opportunity and, more so, a reminder that there’s more than one way to enjoy the holidays.

The Thrill of New

While I disagree with today’s materialist society and its incessant need to improve everything, I certainly do love new stuff.  There is something thrilling about setting up a new electronic device (phone, tablet, computer, etc), buying a new car, getting a new haircut, purchasing new clothes, as well as other new things.  Maybe this is generational or related to age, but I expect I’m not alone in this enjoyment 🙂

I love personalizing my electronics including the sometimes mundane task of transferring my contacts or searching for my favorite apps.  New electronics are so pretty and fun; they’re a fresh start in some ways and force you to organize your device a little differently.  Every tablet isn’t exactly the same; each has a slightly different interface and capabilities, so these differences are exciting to explore.  Laptops and smartphones are the same way, even if you simply upgrade to a newer version of your current device (for example, Galaxy S4 to S5).

When I obtain a new device, I spend hours personalizing everything.  I transfer files and contacts, download/install my favorite apps and programs, possibly upload a few of my favorite pictures, change the lock screen and wallpaper, adjust all the settings (screen brightness, sounds, etc), arrange buttons and apps/shortcuts on the various screens, login to my accounts for easy access, and of course set a password.  After my hours of obsessive personalization, the device loses a lot of its newness and intrigue.  I still want to use my device, so I attempt to find something new to do—which usually results in my doing everything possible from said new device.  Even this loses its glory and the device returns to its usually place in my everyday life; the thrill has officially worn off.  Depending on the device and its capabilities, the thrill lasts anywhere from two days to four days (ish) with some individual features retaining their thrill over the longer term.

Thankfully, this thrill isn’t just from new electronics. I experience a similar thrill and excitement for all new things, especially material possessions: clothes, accessories, books, movies, music, furniture, apartments, even notebooks and pens, haircuts, hairstyles, and new nail polish.  Different items provide a different amount of thrill, but there’s still a thrill and a desire to show them off.  The thrill ranges from only wanting to wear my new clothes or saving a certain hairstyle for a “special” occasion (even just a day when I’m busy, so lots of people can see my new cloths or hairstyle).  Honestly, most people don’t really care, and that doesn’t bother me.  I’m still excited to be showing off my new stuff.

This isn’t the case for all new items; I don’t carrying around a new notebook or movie everywhere I go for everyone to see.  Obviously I can’t even do that with an apartment.  I’m still excited to use these things though.  A new notebook makes me excited to attend class and fill the notebook with knowledge; I’ll watch a movie the day it arrives (or read a new book as soon as I finish reading my current one, hurrying to do so); and I thoroughly enjoy creating a disaster in my new apartment as I find a place for all my stuff before inviting people over.  The easiest thrill I receive from a new item is nail polish.  I’m not very girly, but I love when my toe nails are painted.  A color change or even a fresh coat is all I need for a happy, new thrill 🙂

Having something new temporarily becomes the center of your life and can make you the center of attention which might be why I, and others, like new stuff so much.  Other people will ask where you bought your new item, if you like it, if you’re excited (about your new job or apartment) or any number of questions.  The questions and compliments may even seem overwhelming at times, especially if everyone asks the same question(s).  These questions present the perfect opportunity to boast about your great new thing though.  Sometimes being the center of attention is fun.

After obtaining a few new items recently, my time in the limelight is coming to a close, especially now that I’m a full week into my new job.  As with all new things, I was excited to start (albeit also nervous), and prior to starting, most everyone I told—directly or indirectly—wanted more information about my new position.  Granted these were a lot of the same questions, but there was still something fun about everyone wanting to talk to me.  A new job is certainly one thing that stirs up a lot more attention than a new bag, for example.  While I’ve enjoyed the spotlight, I’m also happy for my life to return to normal, which doesn’t include all eyes on me.

Sampling of New Stuff

Question for Thought:  How do you react to new items?  Do you like being in the spotlight showing them off a few times before they just become another something you own?