Oh. My. Goodness. I don’t know how I did it, but I did it. This semester is over and I actually did decent. I survived this semester.
There was one class (my evolution class) which was the one class I didn’t do as well as I had hoped to, but I still did decent enough. My organic chemistry class was my favorite by far, and I did extremely well on the final and with the help of my professor, I got the grade I was shooting for the entire semester. 🙂 My physics final was HARD, but I snuck by with the grade I wanted in that class too so I was proud of myself for that. And then for my honors seminar, I never had any concerns for that class, it was always just a lot of busy work.
And you might notice that I never distinctly pointed out any grades in that last little bit of this post. To be quite honest, I hate sharing my grades with others. My grades are my business and in college I’ve learned that people either are like me and prefer not to share their grades, or they share their grades and make it all about a competition. There’s no need to make comparisons and compete to see who’s doing the best. We all have our own plans and goals and we all need to stick to those plans and goals.
Sorry for the little tangent haha. Anyway! The past two weeks have honestly been so intense. I studied so much and for organic chemistry, I don’t think I’ve ever been as dedicated in my entire life. I also don’t think I’ve truly ever felt as interested and passionate about something in my life. And so now this is going down in writing… If dental school doesn’t work out for me, I think I might pursue organic chemistry as a career. Whether that means a masters or PhD in it, I don’t know, but I love organic chemistry. What a nerd I am!
I’m honestly still in shock and have no clue how I did it. I legitimately was worried that I would burn out, considering how many credit hours I took this past summer. But I didn’t! I pushed through and I survived this semester. 🙂 I hope those of you with finals had a decent finish and that you’re all enjoying winter break now, because I sure know I am! Have a great week, Merry Christmas, and I’ll see you all next Sunday.
Finals week is upon us everyone. It is finally here. Thank. Goodness. Finals can be an extremely stressful time for some people. For those of you who got lucky and only have one final this semester, I WISH I was in your shoes. That sounds like such a pleasant finals week. I’ve got three. And I have some friends that have four or five finals! During this stressful time of the school year, it’s more important than ever to take care of yourself.
For those of you that go to school with me or live with me or even just talk with me every once in a while, you are more than aware of the fact that I absolutely despise my intro to evolution professor. He’s a creep. The final for that class is tomorrow and I’m THRILLED to be done with that class and never see that man ever again. With that mini celebration aside, I’ve also got two tougher finals, one for physics and another for organic chemistry.
I’ve a pretty dedicated student and already spend a lot of time studying and doing homework because I want to do well and I want to truly make sure I understand the content of the class I’m studying for. While I do go hard on the studying, I also think it’s SO important to take care of yourself and give your body and mind a break.
Whether you’re just going for a walk, doing some yoga, going to the gym, or taking some time to play a sport, I recommend getting up and moving around. Your body gets tired from sitting and studying and most people develop some sort of weird posture or their spine gets out of alignment from sitting at a desk and studying all day. I’ve had it so I know. Getting your heart rate up and moving helps clear your head too. You make yourself happier and your mind tends to focus on the task at hand as opposed to studying, so you can stress less.
Other than physical activity, I also try to get more sleep than I typically do around finals week. Most people would say, “But Ana, that’s time to study!” I get that, but I also recognize that I’m putting my mind through a lot throughout the day and the stress I already have isn’t great for my body. To prevent myself from getting sick and give my brain the best break it can possibly have, I get at least an extra hour of sleep. I try to stick to the same wake-up time, but I go to bed earlier, and so far, last year, I know that helped me feel much more productive in the mornings, so we’re going to stick to that this year too.
It’s also SO important to stay hydrated and keep your body fueled during finals week. I have some friends that say “I don’t have time to eat. That takes away from my study time.” And to that I say, you’re a fool and your body is actually going to crash on you. Take care of yourself! It’s not that hard to grab a snack if lunch takes up too much of your time. At least that’s something in your body!! Your body NEEDS energy and your brain especially does. You also need water to keep your body functioning properly and prevent yourself from getting headaches related to being hungry or dehydration. Without food, you become cranky and discombobulated anyway, so what good are you doing for yourself if you’re not eating?
So to all my fellow college kiddos out there, please take care of yourself. Please shower, please eat, and please get some sleep. You’re more prepared than you think if you’ve been studying hard and working hard all semester, so you can dedicate just a little bit more time to yourself. Of course I still want you to study hard and give it your all, but take some more time for you. 🙂 Have a good week.
The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Animation Studios
I actually went and saw Frozen 2 the day it came out, but I decided now was a good time to post. It would be an easy blog to write and I need an easy blog right now because finals are coming uppppp. Part of the reason I decided to write about Frozen 2 now is also because I wanted to write this after a lot of the reviews had gone out and hopefully more of you have seen it by now. This post will be spoiler free (for the most part) for those of you that haven’t seen it, so with that said, I’m gonna talk about my favorite movie right now. 🙂
The plot with Frozen 2 was incredible. I loved the maturity of the film and I really feel like I grew up with Frozen so to see to characters be six years older too was a really cool connection. I think I was in 8th grade when the first one came out and I was obsessed with it then, so here I am now as a sophomore in college and not much has changed in regards to my love for Frozen or Disney. Haha.
The end was not at all what I expected it to be but it was also better than anything I would’ve ever fantasized the ending to be. Just incredible and oh so cute. I really appreciated what Disney did with Elsa. She hasn’t needed a love story and I’m truly happy that they decided to stick with her story as a strong, independent queen who doesn’t need a man to feel good about herself. The story of her discovering the origin of her powers was extremely powerful and her continuing journey of self-discovery was so fun to follow. Her transformation toward the end and her outfit with her hair down is my favorite of all time. Anna’s dress in the end is also very pretty. Disney crushed it with the design of the characters and the animation for this movie in general. Wow, just wow.
The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Animation Studios
I really enjoyed the message too. Or at least, there were certain things that I took from the movie, that I really appreciated. Elsa was so dedicated to figure out where powers came from and her dedication and determination to what she wants. Her courage to venture into the unknown and discover herself is something that I hope to have. That kind of drive is something that I hope to have in life. I strive to be a courageous and kind person and I see that through Elsa. I hope that little girls who’ve loved Elsa, as well as Anna, see that in her too and want to be same way. And with Anna, she was persistent in her goals throughout the movie and even when she thought she lost her sister, she wanted to do what was right, even if it was tough. She put herself at risk to free the enchanted forest, even if that meant she may lose her home. And with Anna and Elsa, their bond and their relationship as sisters is something that I hope all girls out there with sisters see and strive to have. Elsa and Anna are so good to each other (for the most part) and they’re so protective, supporting, and loving toward each other. It reminds me a lot of my relationships with my sister. 🙂 Love you Allyson!
The music of Frozen 2 is also incredible. I liked the music in the first movie, but this music was also just more mature and more in touch with what I like. Currently, I’m listening to the soundtrack too! Haha. My favorites are “Into the Unknown” (which is now nominated for a Golden Globe!) and “Show Yourself”. Both are beautiful songs. I also really like Anna’s song, “The Next Right Thing”. Kristen Bell CRUSHED it.
The new characters in Frozen 2 were a good fit and I feel like there wasn’t anything truly unnecessary that was added. Often times, I see that sequels are worse than their predecessors because they add a bunch of poorly-developed, weak characters in an effort to just take advantage of the market for the movie. Frozen 2 didn’t have any “bad” characters in my opinion. I really liked Bruni, Elsa’s cute little salamander, that was introduced in this movie. SUPER CUTE.
On an unrelated note from the movie, I really hope that Disney cuts it off at Frozen 2. In the end, Elsa herself says something about being all done, so I hope that that was Disney’s way of saying goodbye to making anymore Frozen movies. If there are more shorts, I wouldn’t mind those but I feel like the ending of Frozen 2 was the perfect ending. Nothing more is needed.
So will I go see Frozen 2 in theaters again? If anyone wants to go with me, I’d love to. 🙂 Will I be getting Frozen 2 on DVD when it comes out? Absolutely. Frozen has always been something very special to me because the bond between Elsa and Anna reminds me of the bond that I have with my sister. It’s kind of freaky how similar Allyson and I are to the royal sisters of Arendelle. I love it though. I hope you all have a chance to see Frozen 2 at some point. It’s a fantastic movie with a great message and incredibly talented people. Have a great week everyone.
My laptop works everyone!!! You might not think it’s that big of a deal but I sure as heck do. I’ve needed it to do some homework, which is now done by the way, but oh my goodness, wowza, I’m so happy. Anyway, I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving and have had safe travels getting to and from places if you traveled for the holiday. I shared this in a recent blog, but some of you may know that my grandpa passed away recently. This past week, we held his celebration of life and my sister and I had the honor of speaking at it. My family and I have always enjoyed Thanksgiving with my grandpa in addition to my aunt and uncle, but things were different this year. Things are going to be different now. Different is never bad, but it can be a little scary going into the unknown. Regardless of that, here’s to new beginnings.
My family and I left for Farmington, New Mexico on Thanksgiving day and roads were good for travel. Thank goodness. My sister and I passed the time napping and talking with our parents. There was no radio because my mom’s car decided to lock us out of the radio so that was a fun time. We saw a lot of snow on Wolf Creek but regardless of that, the trip was great.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at my great aunt’s house and it was great to get to spend time with them outside of our traditional Christmas morning breakfast. It was strange though. It was different from what I’ve been used to around that time. It felt good to be with family of course but it just wasn’t the same. My grandpa wasn’t there. Marty wasn’t there either. Losing family is hard.
After our incredible meal, we went back to my grandpa’s house where my dad and aunt have been doing a lot of packing and moving of things. The house was practically empty when we arrived earlier in the day and it would continue to get more and more empty throughout our time in Farmington.
On Friday, my family and I attended my grandpa’s memorial service. It was incredibly touching to get to meet all of the people that had the pleasure of getting to know my grandpa. He was a wonderful person and it really warmed my heart to see how many people he had an impact on. Getting to speak on behalf of some of the teachers that worked for him was also such an honor. My sister also crushed it up there when she spoke, so I’m very proud of her. The service was great and the food following the service was also great. Olive Garden catering is thebomb.com let me tell you. The rest of Friday was spent packing up and cleaning up around my grandpa’s house.
Saturday was also a lot of cleaning and moving things. It was also a day that I did a lot of homework that I hadn’t finished earlier in the week. I promise I don’t procrastinate it’s just that I had a horrible cold earlier in the week and sleeping was more important to me than homework. Priorities! We also visited the Salmon Ruins which is about thirty minutes from my grandpa’s house. It was SUPER cold but it was still really nice to get out, walk around, and revisit a place that I had been to when I was younger. I’ve also always really enjoyed learning about the history of the Anasazi people and ancient civilizations (this place isn’t exactly what I would call ancient but I hope you get what I’m trying to say here haha) so this was fun.
Sunday we left and spent a wonderful TEN HOURS in the car. Kenosha Pass was closed which resulted in a two hour detour for my family back through Colorado Springs. New beginnings = ghost towns through desolate parts of Colorado? Haha. It also did not help that I had a HORRIBLE headache today. Fun fun. But now, we are all safely home and I will be heading up to finish out this semester in the morning.
As I said before, different is not bad but different can still make you feel bad. Maybe bad is the wrong word. Sad maybe? I’m not quite sure what the word I’m looking for is yet. I’ve spent a good portion of my life in New Mexico visiting family, living in my grandpa’s house, climbing the trees in his backyard, and calling Farmington practically a second home. So many traditions, so many memories.
What’s next though? I honestly hope that my family and I continue to visit New Mexico because I’m not sure what I’ll do without the three to four trips we make to New Mexico yearly. I want to continue to see my family in New Mexico and Durango. I want to continue our traditions and even start new ones. Things have changed, but that doesn’t mean that everything has to change. Of course I’m still struggling with the death of my grandpa and also Marty, but with each of these endings, there are new beginnings.
If any people reading this attended my grandpa’s service, thank you so much for being a part of his life and thank you for also being here. As I said earlier, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you also have a great week. Here’s to new beginnings. See you next Sunday.
It can be a MacBook or PC, it doesn’t matter what it is. I run into some form of trouble with it at some point. So there’s a lot of really tech-savvy people out there and surprise, surprise, I’m actually not one of them. Despite the fact that I’ve helped a professional organization manage and maintain their website and the fact that I also have been running my own website and blog for five-is years now, I SUCK at technology and truly have zero patience for it.
My MacBook, which has been a handy-dandy little friend of mine since I started college just recently started having issues. Sad thing is, it’s only two years old. The battery has been refusing to hold charge. You might be asking yourself, “Then Ana, how are you writing this blog?” I’ve gone back to my old ways… my iPad.
Within the past two weeks, I’ve been on the phone with Apple Support, who has been incredible and extremely supportive by the way, for a total of five hours, trying different resets as well as diagnostic and maintenance repairs. I also took my laptop into Genius Bar and we were able to get my laptop to hold charge when plugged in. That was the happiest day of the past couple of weeks for me. And then literally right when I got back to school and had used my laptop for a couple of hours, it needed charging, since it had only gotten up to around 30% when we were cleared to leave the Apple Store. And guess what, IT REFUSES TO CHARGE AGAIN.
I have never been so stressed out or frustrated by a device so much in my life. I’ve taken incredibly good care of my MacBook and I love it so so so much and I feel so upset that it’s decided to jump into the deep end on me like this. I’m taking it into Apple again and hopefully we can get the issue resolved because let me tell you, college is ROUGH without a laptop, wowza!
I hope you all have a good week and I wish you all the best with all of your technology. And if anyone has any idea what might be going on with my laptop that refuses to hold charge when plugged in, please let me know. See you all next weekend and Happy Thanksgiving!
I feel like I could use a laugh and need to smile, so if you’re also feeling like that’s something you need this Sunday, then this is the blog for you. So on that note, I’ve decided to collect a couple of videos that I know that make me smile and share them with you all. Enjoy. 🙂
Minecraft anyone? Here’s something really cute that I randomly found one day. It always makes me happy. 🙂 So here’s some dancing parrots from Minecraft.
This next video comes from a dance I had to make for my honors seminar last spring. That was a really fun class and by no means was this meant to be something super serious. We were messing around with some more traditional dance moves as well as many of the modern moves seen in pop culture. See how many you can find! Haha. I’m the one in the blue shorts.
Another bird video. This one is just cute.
I’ve always been a fan of Jenna Marbles and this is one of her older videos but the music they create in this video just always makes me laugh. It’s a loud video and it’s an obnoxious video, but I love it.
For those of you that remember Vine, here’s a compilation that contains a lot of the classics and many of my favorites.
And if you’re still looking for something to make you laugh or smile, I highly recommend looking at cat videos (yes, I’m that person), or dog videos. Sometimes a video from FailArmy makes me laugh. I don’t enjoy watching people get hurt but some of the stupid stuff that people do does make me laugh. Bird videos are always really cute too. Just look up whatever animal you’re interested in and I bet you something funny or cute will pop up.
Sometimes, it’s good to just spend some time talking with other people too to smile or make yourself happier. Exercising or just going for a walk to get some fresh air and space to think is good too. I hope something from this post made you smile today and I hope that you all have a wonderful week. See you next Sunday!
First off, I would like to say thank you to the people who have reached out to my family with their prayers and thoughts regarding my grandpa this past week. We have really appreciated your support and your kindness. This past week, my grandpa passed away, and it has put a damper on the family that’s for sure. I don’t want to feel sad but I know that it’s okay too. Regardless of that, I’ve decided to dedicate this post to him and remember my grandpa for the wonderful, incredible husband, father, son, friend, teacher, principal, and grandpa he was.
We have pictures of my grandma and grandpa coming to visit my home when I was very little. I don’t remember much from their visits to my hometown, but I very faintly remember him helping build a pink and purple tricycle that I got for my birthday one year. Without him, who knows if I would’ve even been riding a bike today! Haha, I kid, I kid. I remember them being in Colorado for little league softball and baseball games. It was so cool to have my grandparents there watching.
I remember catching grasshoppers with my grandpa when I was little too. We went hunting for those quick, rascally little guys in his backyard in the place where they grew corn. That was a lot of fun. When I actually caught one, I went in to show my grandpa and he was asleep! How was I supposed to prove anything now?
My sister and I both recalled this memory not too long ago. There was a parade in Farmington one time when we were there and my grandpa insisted that him and Grandma take us to Wendy’s for food. Allyson and I were definitely still planning on getting food from the kids’ menu but Grandpa decided that Allyson and I were moving up in the world and upgraded us both to full size meals. As a 10 year old, a full size burger with fries and a large soda was a DREAM COME TRUE. He told us not to tell our parents about that, but I guess the secret is out now!
Puzzles were a big thing we would do together. My aunt would always find the most beautiful puzzles for us to do when we came to visit the whole gang over Thanksgiving and Christmas break. My sister and I would work with our grandpa to put together the massive puzzles. I remember there was one time where the three of us stayed up til like 12:30 am to finish a puzzle one time. Grandpa was feeling dedicated on that one! It sure turned out pretty too.
My sister and I were also known as my grandpa’s little tree monkeys. He has a couple of trees in his backyard and Allyson and I decided we were going to climb them one summer. From then on, we were the tree monkeys. We helped get the peaches down that way too. He always had a lot of good food come out of his garden.
Just this past Christmas, I’ll never forget how funny it was when we pulled out all these funny Christmas dress-up prop things and my grandpa thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world. I know I thought it was pretty funny too! He always had the warmest and best laugh. He was good at making people smile.
My grandpa was always such a grateful person too. Every meal we had together, he would mention how great and pretty all the food was. It was always really good. I loved his outlook on life. He was always so thankful and I hope that I can be half of what he was.
Those we love don’t go away. They walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard but always near; still loved, still missed, and very dear.
Unknown
Every visit with him in New Mexico was a gift and every little bit of time together was wonderful. Even if we had an hour to Skype with him while my aunt and uncle were in Farmington, it was time well spent. Even if it was a quick weekend trip, my grandpa was a wonderful, gracious host and we loved every minute we had with him and family. Every Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and even a couple of Independence Days were well-spent with my grandpa. Every ride up to the airport, every tour of Tibbetts Middle School (with the 360 degree view on the top floor), and every story that was told or wisdom that was shared was a gift. I wouldn’t trade anything in the world for my time with him.
My grandpa was a wonderful man with such a good, caring heart and I know that a lot of people will miss him. I sure do! He always wanted to go to Colorado State University to go to vet school, and while that’s not my aspiration in life, I still feel like I carry a piece of him with me while I’m here at school. He will always be an honorary ram in my books.
Heaven gained one heck of an angel last weekend. Please say hi to Grandma, Abner, Peppy, and Marty for me, ok, Grandpa? I love you very much.
Have a good week everyone and I’ll see you next Sunday.
Alright. I have an issue. This typically isn’t the place I would go to rant, but on Thursday, some crap happened in my physics recitation and I am officially over it. There are these two people in that class, who I will not name, and all they ever do is leech off of other people for answers and work. THAT DOESN’T DO ANYTHING FOR YOU.
If you don’t understand the material of a class, ask for help. I’m the type of person who is more than willing to help someone understand something if they just ask. I will walk you through something, step by step if you need it. I will briefly explain something to you if that’s all you need.
But these two girls. Oh. My. Goodness. Every single time they wiggle their way into my group it drives me up a wall. “What did you get for the answer?” “What equation are you using?” “What are the units on that?” They literally just ASK for the answers. I never see either of these two ever do any work and all they do is sit there and expect the rest of us to get them through the class. UGHHHHH. And the one that sits next to me when she actually comes to class alwaysawkwardly leans over to see my paper and at that point I just ask if she needs anything and she’s like, “Um, so what are we doing?” PHYSICS, DUH!
I truly feel bad for these two every time they’re in my group. I wish that they would just put in the hard work to actually be able to understand what’s going on. I wish that they would get off their lazy bums and figure out the class. You can only go so far in life leaning on others to help you get through school and life in general too. If you’re struggling with something, JUST ASK. There’s absolutely no need to fake that you understand something when you clearly don’t. You get on the nerves of the people around you and you’re not benefiting yourself by using others.
I hope you all keep that in mind and remember that hard work does pay off. It helps you understand things better, it helps you feel better about yourself, and it also prevents others from wanting to go insane. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. Also let me know if you don’t mind the occasional rant or two. Honestly, writing this has made me feel a lot less annoyed and irritated. A rant or two every once in a while might be kinda fun and not that bad of an idea.
Just woke up in Greeley. And how fitting, the wallpaper was literally just a bunch of cows. 🙂
This is definitely a Monday post. Sunday was too much. I had an organic chemistry exam this morning too and that was too much. Anyway! This past weekend I had the opportunity to compete in the Miss Colorado USA 2020 pageant. Those of you that have been around will recall that I also competed last year. Yipee!
My mom, sister, and I arrived in Greeley on Friday night and from there, the weekend flew by. I competed in interview, swimsuit, and evening gown and also got to be on stage for a big introduction which was super fun. This year I wore a yellow (maybe more on the orange side though) two-piece swimsuit (eeeeee) and for evening gown, my dress was very sparkly and gold. I will post more pictures of all of my outfits to this post when they come in. 🙂 Or I can make a separate post about that. Just let me know what you all would prefer!
In my interview, I talked with the judges quite a bit about my published academic work on Pyrrhura molinae (aka Bobo and his green cheek conure crew) and kickboxing. They asked about Hawaii and I shared a lot. It went really well. I also got to be in the room BY MYSELF because the girl before me dropped the pageant which was sad. More time for the judges to listen to me though I guess.
Out of the entire weekend, I feel like swimsuit was my favorite to compete in. I was absolutely terrified to go out on stage wearing a two-piece swimsuit but in the end, I was proud of myself for doing that. I don’t know many other people that would do something like that! I’ve been working incredibly hard to get my body to a place that I’m proud of and I’m still not quite where I want to be but I am incredibly proud of myself for coming to where I am after being injured for so long.
It was so fun to meet so many other amazing young ladies and I wish them all the absolute best in everything they do. It always feels so good to be around so many other good people. In addition to this, I would like to thank Future Productions fo putting another fun and flawless weekend and show! It has been wonderful getting to know your staff and getting to work with you all. I would also like to congratulate the new Miss Colorado USA, Emily DeMure. You crushed it, girl! You’re going to be amazing. 🙂 If you’re interested in checking out the pageant, check out the official website!
Now the question comes, will I compete again? I’m really not sure. I had fun and I’ve enjoyed being at Miss Colorado for the past two years, but after being extremely stressed about school the entire weekend, I don’t know if I want to put myself through that again. Yes, I still had a wonderful time, but school is also incredibly important to me. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Have a wonderful week everyone! And to those of you that are also in Colorado, stay warm! We’re about to get some cold, cold weather and snow! 🙂 Woohoo! See you next Sunday.
So today’s my twentieth birthday. Wow. Two decades around the sun. 🙂 That sounds pretty cool to me. Some would also say it’s my golden birthday, because I’m twenty on October 20th so that’s pretty cool. The past couple of years I’ve posted around my birthday, I’ve made it a post about the different things I’ve learned since my last birthday and I really like that so I’m going to keep doing that. So on this lovely day that is October 20th, my golden birthday, here are twenty things I’ve learned, relearned, or thought a lot about on this trip around the sun:
Taking summer classes will take a toll on you. I thought I was going to burn out for a second there when the fall semester started this year. Oh boy. I feel like taking a class or two wouldn’t be the worst but taking 11 credits this summer was actually so mentally exhausting.
Homemade burrito bowls beat all other burrito bowls. I’m a big fan of Qdoba don’t get me wrong, but when my family and I make burrito bowls at home, they’re actually the best thing ever. And they’re so filling and you know that the chicken isn’t going to be burnt.
You can’t always get what you want. This applies to a lot of things in life but I’m really applying this to the Game of Thrones finale. Guess the House Targarygen is going to have to find another way to rule the Seven Kingdoms for longer than about three seconds before going absolutely mad.
Hard work pays off. This is something I’ve always known but I really found that out after making the Dean’s List my first year of college. I feel like I really set myself up for success. This also applies to my sports and other stuff. Putting in the time and effort to perform as well as you want to really pays off.
It’s okay to feel sad. This may be one of the more serious and real things I’ve learned this past year, especially after Marty passed away. I feel like I’ve always thought I have to be this perfect, happy girl all the time but that’s really not the truth. I have emotions and I’m honestly tired of pretending that everything is okay all the time. Bottling up my emotions hasn’t helped anything so it’s about time that I started expressing how I feel more often.
It’s okay to cut ties with people. I’ve met a lot of really nice people in my life so far and I’ve also met a lot of people I hope I’m in the same room as, ever again. Regardless of how I feel about a person, I still treat them with respect and treat them like a person but I now feel okay telling myself that I don’t need that person in my life and that it’s okay to not be everyone’s best friend.
Adult tournaments are where the fun is at. This past summer I had a lot of fun playing tournaments and leagues and also just hitting with my sister and dad. With the exception of being pegged in the thigh earlier today on a serve, playing the adult tennis stuff has been so much more enjoyable and uplifting than junior tennis. There still is the sense of competition but there’s also so much less pressure and unnecessary drama and crap. It’s the best. I’ve also met a lot of really amazing and sweet people through tournaments so I feel blessed to have the tennis opportunities I have had.
Teaching tennis has its ups and downs. So you might remember that I made a post a couple of weeks ago about how much I loved coaching little kids. Yes, I still do, but literally the weekend after that post when I taught WAS AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE. Oh my goodness the kids were little monsters. And honestly that’s ok. There are going to be days where the kids are great and I suck or vice versa. It’s not always going to be perfect and things won’t always go the way I want them to when I coach. I’m there for the good, the bad, and the ugly, that’s for sure.
College really is better than high school. People are just so much more mature (there still are a lot of weirdos and immature idiots, but won’t there always be?) and everything is just so much better. The classes are more interesting, I have more freedom, and I’ve met some really incredible and wonderful people that I feel lucky to call my friends. 🙂
It’s important to put the technology away every once in a while. Nowadays too many people are glued to their iPads, phones, laptops, and other electronic devices. Instagram is not your life, breaking a streak on Snapchat will not end your friendship with a person, and being offline for a couple of hours a day will not end your life. I think it’s more important to live in the real world than the virtual world and remember things for how they are. Pictures and videos are great to have as memories, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I think it’s better to just live in the moment.
Kickboxing is so much fun. I’ve always wanted to try kickboxing and then I discovered that the rec center at CSU has a class and I decided to try it. It’s so fun and what I love most about it is how rhythmic it is. It’s similar to dance that there’s a beat to stick to and there are combos and you’re supposed to be very light on your feet. It’s so so so much fun. And it always kicks my butt too which I enjoy.
Having a suite mate sucks. I’ve been locked out of my bathroom five times this year already. And I’ve been nice about reminding my suite mate to unlock it. She’s loud. She honestly scares me a little too. It’s an experience, let me tell ya. But beside that, I still enjoy having a room to myself and it’s all been great. I feel like I could definitely have a roommate, but not in the same room like last year and I feel like I will never want to have a suite mate like I currently do ever again in my life.
Bobo liking Taylor Swift is one of the cutest things ever. For those of you that don’t know I have a pet bird, well now you know that I have a pet bird! His name is Bobo (at least we say he’s a he) and he loves Taylor Swift. Any time my sister or I play her music, he’s bobbing up and down and jamming out. It’s pretty dang cute.
Traveling is so much fun. This past summer after I visited my friend in California by myself, I realized how much fun traveling is. I’ve always enjoyed traveling but this past trip really got me excited to travel. I really want to go on more trips with my family, especially to Universal Studios in Florida or California and ESPECIALLY to Russia. It’s been a dream of mine to go there for soooooo long now.
Don’t be so serious all the time. This one is something I’ve learned from teaching tennis and being with little kids so much. They just love life so much and they’re always so excited and just adorable. They’re just living life as it is and taking advantage of every opportunity they get. I want to be more like that. I still work hard and take things very seriously, but I’ve learned that there are some places and things that you just need to relax on. Sometimes you just need to let go and be less uptight and worried. Everything will work out in the end.
Going off of that last one, I’ve also learned that self-care is so important to being a functional human being. Whether that means I take more study breaks, work out more, drink more water, or treat myself to something tasty or sweet every once in a while, I’ve found that taking more time to help myself out has made me a happy, more functional person. I’m more able to then help others when I feel like I’m doing ok.
Having a sister for a best friend is the best thing ever. She’s always there for me and she’s someone I know I can laugh with, cry with, and even rant with. Allyson has been the best, best friend ever and I feel so lucky to have such a hilarious, smart, and adorable little sister to go through life with. Siblings make life so much more fun.
There’s a time and a place to say what you want to say. I feel like in our society today, there’s a lot of tension and hatred and overall weirdness. There’s honestly so much I could say about everything regarding our world, our government, and politics in general but I choose not to. I’ll say what I want to say, when I want to say it. I’ve noticed that there really are only certain people I can share with, which is kind of sad because a lot of other people will tell me I’m wrong or close-minded. And I’m not close-minded which is also sad! People just aren’t willing to listen or believe that there are other opinions out there. I feel like we all just need to stop that kind of mindset and understand that people have differences and that’s fantastic. People can’t get along if they can’t accept that and I just wish more people were willing to do that, our world would be a much friendlier and successful place.
Saying no is a magical thing. I’ve always known this too but I feel like in the past I’ve avoided telling people no because I worry about how it will make them feel. If I don’t want to sign your petition, I’ll let you know. If I don’t think something sounds good, I’ll let you know. I’ve always considering honesty to be the best policy, and that still holds true. I just feel like I’m getting better about helping others with the advice and guidance I give them. Or at least I hope I’m getting better with it, haha.
Family matters so much. I’ve always known this but with some of the stuff that has happened this past year in my life, I’ve really seen how powerful and amazing having a family is. My family provides so much support, encouragement, guidance, and love and I just appreciate everyone in my family so much. They’re always there regardless of what the situation is. I’ve had a lot of fun times with my family and made so many great memories and I feel so lucky to have the family I do. They mean the world to me.
And that’s that! There’s always more than the lists I’ve provided, but this is what has come to mind. Today has been a wonderful day and I’ve felt so loved and appreciated today and it’s honestly nice to feel that kind of love and get all that attention every once in a while. 🙂 It’s cool that my golden birthday fell on my 20th. Not sure why I feel that way but I do. It feels like this year is going to be a good one. 🙂
I hope you’ve all had a great Sunday and have a good week! See you next Sunday!
