Don't get me wrong, I am lucky to have had the
chance to experience this world with all of its technological advances. It has helped this world in so many ways! We can communicate with people across the globe just as easy as talking to your neighbor. There are people alive today that shouldn't be alive, but due to the medical advances they are, and for that I am so thankful! BUT, that's not what the question asked is it? :) I think that living in this modern world has caused people to always have their noses into something; mainly a cell phone, computer, or iPod. Let's take New York City for example, everyone is hustling and bustling somewhere and they don't even take the time to even look at the people they're shoulder to shoulder with, let alone strike up a conversation with them! I know some of you are probably thinking 'why would they want to talk to a stranger?' Why not? What if they're having a really crappy morning? You could help cheer them up! What if they're on their way to their first day at their dream job? You could give them a pat on the pack and tell them to 'rock it!' Everyone is so busy with their own lives that no one seems to care about others. I went to New York with my boyfriend for a weekend and I felt really alone. People wouldn't even make eye contact with me! (I know I'm not that bad looking!) We were talking in my child psychology class the other day about how the world works. The U.S. is all about individualism. Better, fast, stronger, king of the hill, CEO, always wanting more. That's not how we were made to be. We were created to rely on one another. If you were here all alone, this world would crumble. You can't do it on your own. You have to have others to help you make something happen. Even the simple things, like someone who works at a gas station, if they weren't there, you wouldn't be able to get gas, so you wouldn't be able to use your car, and that would seriously limit the places you go. Appreciate the people who help keep this place running smoothly. And we all keep it running smoothly. So, take the time to tell the cashier thanks and have a good day, and really mean what you're saying. Take the time to compliment someone on their hair or their shoes or their purse and mean it. That could make someone's day! And no, they won't think you're creepy or weird, people are dying to have someone say something nice to them, or say anything to them at all! We all need each other.
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I make a lot of quick decisions in my life,
I think it's more fun that way. :) But one quick decision that changed my life was the decision to go to Haiti. My mom asked me around 2 weeks before we were supposed to leave. Right when she asked I said 'Yes!' I didn't even really think about it! The next couple weeks were a whirlwind as we were packing like madmen and going to meetings. Well, really one meeting. Isn't that crazy?! We met the people we were going to go to Haiti with for a week only one time before we left, after we met them we better have liked them because we didn't have a choice after that! Luckily, they were awesome. The whole experience was awesome and life changing. You can read all about it here. I was going through a really rough time in my life and it opened my eyes. Who cares what I'm going through. The people here are living in towns with tents as homes. With nothing to eat or drink. Not knowing if they would make it through the night. I had the amazing opportunity to build the first of many houses for a community near a school that the group we went with had previously built. It was July which means it was blazing. We had to take breaks mid-morning to mid-afternoon because it was just so blistering hot. The heat didn't matter though because we were changing people's lives! Families who had NEVER had a home, never even had a mattress to sleep on. Can you even imagine? I can barely imagine and I was there to see it with my own eyes! I was so happy I made the decision to go, even if I didn't think about it at all before I gave my answer. Sometimes you just have to follow your gut, you never know what you could end up achieving! ** In other news ** I just finished my last class of my JUNIOR year in college this afternoon. I still have to take finals but who cares! I did it! I finished my junior year! So happy! Have a good day! Such a touchy subject.
What do you think of when you see a homeless person? I wonder if they're really homeless? Ew, they look really dirty and gross. Why don't they just go and get a job? Homeless people are so lazy. Do they really mean it when they say 'God bless you'? I've thought some of those things, I admit it. Honestly, I don't give as much money to the homeless as I should. I do have those questions always seeming to nag my thoughts, I'll be honest with you. BUT I will tell you about the times that I would go out with my mom and hand out money to homeless people downtown. We went around the circle downtown and I ran around and handed out $20 bills to the homeless people sitting on the side of the road. It was so freeing. It felt good to help others in such a way that others didn't. I mean, admit it, 99% of people don't give the people on the side of the road money. Yeah, I worried. I worried they wouldn't use the money in a proper way but that didn't matter. I had given it to them and it was theirs to do with what they wanted. Now, if you want to help out the homeless but don't have the guts to give it to a random guy (who may or may not actually be homeless) which, trust me, it's hard to do! Then give to a homeless shelter or volunteer your time there! My ideal day?!
Describe your absolute best day ever or what you invision your absolute best day ever to be like and what this best day would have in store for you. Like would you be with family? Where would you be? what would you be doing? if you had the choice to continually live in an alternate reality that only consisted of you reliving your best day ever, would you stay in the alternate reality forever? I think my brain just exploded with the possibilities! Now, this may not be realistic, but the reader didn't specify that it had to be. :) Yes, of course I would spend my ideal day with my family. ALL of my family, dad included. It would also be spent with my boyfriend. I would love to sleep in for my ideal day but I don't want to waste time! So, we all wake up fairly early and cook a big yummy breakfast together complete with fat-filled biscuits and gravy and grease soaked bacon. After, we would head out to volunteer somewhere, anywhere. Let's just choose helping out baby elephants and Africa. Washing, bottle feeding, playing, and loving on these little precious babes all day long! An occasional water fight would break out and we'd end up playing ultimate in the mud, dodging elephants as we run around. Anything that involves lots of laughing will be a perfect addition to my day. We'll watch the sunset with the elephants as they lie sleepily at our feet. Once the sun goes down we'll all head out to dinner and comedy show, enjoy each others presence, soaking in the love and togetherness. Once we've laughed so hard our tummies hurt, Brian (my boyfriend) and I will head to the beach and walk along the sand with the waves lapping at our toes. And it just so happens there is enough light to throw a Frisbee around for a while. Since I control this day completely, the weather is perfect and there are no bugs, did I mention the sky is absolutely stunning? We'll throw a blanket down and cuddle under the stars until we fall asleep. And honestly, no, I wouldn't live in this day forever. Yes, I love my family and everything about this day but I'm a lady with a dream! I could spend all my time helping out the baby elephants but I'd like to give my time away to others in need as well. And now, I'll throw this question right back to you oh lone faithful reader. ;) xo Well, I guess I don't have too many faithful readers! haha
Thanks for asking the questions, I'll answer the next one tomorrow. The first questions was: What are your top 3 favorite movies and why you like them. No more, no less than 3. - Alright, number one all-time favorite movie: Martian Child. I love this movie so much, it's a movie about a widower and a kid who thinks he is from another planet. Sounds weird huh? It is, kinda. The little boy lives in a children's home and is waiting to be adopted. The widower obviously misses his wife and is going through a really hard time. A friend calls him up and asks him to come to the children's home and meet someone. The widower and the little boy end up hitting it off and he adopts him. The widower has no idea how to be a dad but he's figuring it out as he goes. And to make things harder, the kid thinks he's an alien, for real. The reason I like this movie so much is it's about to weird people who just 'make it work'. They really love each other with everything that they have. It's such a sweet movie and it makes me cry every time I watch it, especially when the kid does the martian 'dance'. Another reason I like it is because it was my dad's favorite movie. - Second favorite movie: The Blind Side. I am a crazy Sandra Bullock fan. :) People tell me I look like her? And then when this movie came out, they told me I acted just like her too. Weird. Anyways, this movie hits close to home for me. I'm not going to summarize it for you because I'm sure you have seen it, or at least seen the previews. This is one of my favorites because I really love to help others, in any way possible. I am the type of person that would take someone into my home if they needed it. I love the story and I think all the people in it are great, plus, it's a true story! I don't know how much of it is true, I still need to read the book. The movie is all about helping others, family, love, and never giving up not matter the situation. The young boy in the film/real life overcame so many obstacles to achieve his dreams. We all need to have that mindset. - Third Toy Story. The first one is the best one, hands down. I love all Disney movies but this one is my favorite of all of them. Woody is my favorite character, even though he can be a jerk sometimes. The sequels were really good too! The third one made me cry, I admit it. I just love this movie so much! And it was written right when we were the same age as Andy, so he was just like us! I could watch this movie a million times and never get sick of it. :) Thanks for asking! What are your top 3 movies?! Now I'm curious! xo Ok, no, I didn't run out of questions to answer.
There are plenty more so don't worry. :) But, I want to give you guys the chance to ask me something. I mean, I answer all these questions from a website and yes, they make you think and are really good questions, but I'm going to have a little 'reader request' day. So, ask me anything! I'll then take the next days to dedicate my blog section to answer your questions. By the way, I didn't have the greatest weekend. Bleh. Just personal issues that seem to be cropping up a lot lately. Honestly, I don't see it getting any better and it's kind of hard to wrap my mind around it. All I want to do is take a bubble bath and read a good book, thank goodness summer is coming up and I have an awesome road trip with an awesome lady scheduled. Enough of my babbling, it's your turn to get to asking me anything! Ok, maybe not anything, my mom reads this blog, so keep it polite. Please and thanks. I love you faithful readers/stalkers. xox muah! xox I have a roof over my head, food in my fridge, money in my wallet,
and an education, I'm one of the luckiest people in the world! How could I not be happy given all of those things? So, yes, I'm extremely happy. Aside the fact that I am blessed with running water and knowing that I'm safe while I'm sleeping I am completely satisfied with where I am in life. No, I may not know what's around the corner, I may not have a job lined up for when I graduate, I may not know why I've been placed on this Earth, but I'm O.K. not knowing. It will all come in due time. Currently, I'm on top of the world, tomorrow I may feel like I'm down in the deepest canyon of sadness, or I may feel just as happy. I don't know what will happen tomorrow but I will live for today and soak up every opportunity to help someone in need. Ask me this question in a year and I bet you $100 the answer will be different. I can tell you right now I'd be writing about how scared I am to graduate and how I'm going to travel the world instead of get a job and start a family. Do you know how frightening not following the 'American life' is? Well, you should see the looks I get when I tell people what I'm going to be doing after I graduate. It's a look of 'Yeah, right. What a dreamer.' But anyways, the question was about my life now, not next year. So yes, I am very happy with where I am in life right now. I could be out volunteering around the world right now but my education is important to me and I have learned so much from going to college. Yes, most of my classes are pointless and boring and all I do is sit on facebook, but there are others I love going to. I hope you're happy with where you are in life right now. If you're not, smile. Ok, I just got a call RIGHT before class and I got accepted
to my internship at Exodus Refugee! So, since I'm in class, I don't have anywhere to release my super excited feelings. Yes, yes, yes I should be paying attention but, come on, there are more important things, plus, it's beautiful outside. I have been assigned to the 'housing department' at Exodus. This means I will be responsible for setting up apartments before the refugee families arrive. A.K.A. carrying furniture up 3 flights of stairs in the dead of summer. Hard work? Yes, very hard work. Totally worth it? Yes, very worth it. Most all of the furniture has been donated to Exodus through various organizations and private donors, isn't that awesome! I saw the room where they keep all the furniture and it's PACKED! They had just received a load of 250 mattresses the day I arrived. I will not get paid for this internship but I will receive credits for my major at Ball State University. I start work May 23rd and will work 40 hours a week until July 29th. I.AM.PUMPED. other things I am pumped for: - The birth of my nephew (ANY DAY NOW) - My road trip with Rhea Roller - Not having to go to class for 3 months - Playing ultimate this summer - Moving into my new apartment - Eating oreos after class Thanks for reading my rave and rant about how excited I am. I hope exciting things are happening in your life too. xo I knew the answer to this right when I read the question.
I have this 'dream', it's not really a dream because it will happen but I'm not sure what else I should call it. I guess maybe a goal or something. I know the right word, a plan. Ok, so, I have this plan to volunteer around the world. I've always been addicted to travel in every way shape and form. I want to travel when I graduate from college, by travel I mean; I'm going to buy a plane ticket to somewhere and not come back home until I've seen it all. After thinking about this for a while I said to myself 'Why just travel? Why not do something productive while I'm out seeing the world?' So I began searching and scouring for something I could do while traveling. Then it hit me; volunteer. I've been volunteering my entire life, I'm basically a professional volunteer! You mean I can do two things that I love at the same time?! I'm sold! I got this book from my little sister for my birthday called 500 Places Where you can make a Difference by Frommer's. I've already read the book cover to cover. I've highlighted the places where I'm interested in going and are also really cheap. There are some places where you can go and its $250 for 2 weeks! It includes a place to sleep, food, training, and the the volunteer work! There are lots of places in the U.S. that are free! You work 4 hours a day and they give you a place to sleep and food! What a deal! So, I want people to hear my name and ask these questions: 'What country is Johnny in now? Where is she volunteering?' I want to be known as the girl who 'volunteered around the world'. I'm currently trying to figure out how to get sponsors or donations from businesses to help fund my trip. I won't be leaving for a year but it's going to take some planning so I need to start now. So, if any of you know of a business that would be interested in donating a few bucks, let me know! Now, onto the more important stuff, what would YOU want to be known for? First off, sorry it's been so long, school has been eating away
all my time! Thankfully it's almost over with. Funny thing, this actually just happened to me on Friday! It was really awkward because I had to stop and pause for like 5 minutes to think of something, not that I'm perfect (not even close!!), but I just didn't even know what to say! A flaw, but it can't be any flaw, it has to sound professional and has to somehow tie into my work in a way? Wha? I ended up saying that my flaw is jumping into things without planning out the details or thinking about the end product. You know what I mean? You're so excited about something that you don't look at the big picture and then later down the road you realize 'oh crap, this isn't going to work out too well.' In my opinion, that isn't too big of a flaw. Of course, it would be a little more helpful to be more realistic but it's fun to dream, and lots of dreams are within your reach! That's not my biggest flaw but it was the one that tied into my interview, so I went with it. I think that my true biggest flaw is being controlling. Which, thank goodness, I've stopping doing almost completely. A friend of mine just told me 'Don't sweat the small stuff.' such a simple and common quote, but hearing it from someone who has been there and done that made it all the more clear. What is a flaw that you have? Better yet, what is a secret flaw that you have? |
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