Letting off steam

I'm just venting here. I am so excited to move, but scared at the same time. I never thought I'd want to go back to Sequim, because there was always nothing to do. But since I've been away I realized just how much I love that town!

We haven't set a move out date, but I'd like to asap, that way I can really get everything else squared away. We're thinking end of June, but again, we need an exact date.

I'm thrilled to start the next chapter of our lives.

WBT - If you were told to write a research paper on ANYTHING IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD and it had to be 20 pages long, what would your topic be & why?

My topic would be about animal rights and why the penalties for animal abuse should be stricter/enforced/more severe.
I would go into the history of serial killers, and how the majority (not all, of course, but most) have started their "streak" by killing animals. I would talk about the obvious facts that animals don't have a voice and need supporters. I would also say that animals would be a hell of a lot less dangerous if people were penalized for raising them to be "fighters" (and I might even use snipets from my piece on dog fighting that I did for my legal research class).
I would do it because I feel like it'd actually mean something. It would be hard for me, and I may get emotional, but if I could use it to benefit those without a voice, hell yeah I'd invest in it!!!

Staying organized -- WBT

How do I stay organized? Hmm... I write everything down. This does include putting things in my phone, since I don't always have pen/paper handy. If I have assignments due, I almost immediately put them in my planner. My planner is my friend! After that, I put the due date into my phone with a reminder a couple days beforehand, just so I don't forget. With bills/money, I need some work. My bills are pretty much due around the same time, so I simply remember them. The hard part for me is keeping track of money spent to make sure we have enough for bills. It sucks, because I don't write down what/how much I spend and neither does D, and we don't usually tell each other totals, so a lot of it isn't accounted for and can totally mess up our account balance. IT'S REALLY FRUSTRATING!! lol As for everything else in my life, well, it's organized chaos. And it usually works for me...until I find something better.

WBT - venting...very, very late

Where do I begin?

I am having a hard time enjoying my job these days. I can't say too much, because a girl I worked with just "resigned" (truth is she got fired) for something she posted on Facebook. Let's just say I'm very short tempered, and I'm counting down the months until I'm outta there. It's gotten to the point where I'd rather stay at home and clean then go to work...I would look for another job, but since we're moving in just a few months, I won't waste the effort.

On that note, I am beyond excited to get out of this town. I never thought I'd want to go back to Sequim, but I really do. I needed time to miss it. Our families are there, which will make the holidays and get togethers MUCH less stressful and more enjoyable!

I just looked at my grades from winter quarter, which totally made my morning. I did better than I expected. :) I'm looking forward to my LAST QUARTER EVER at Whatcom starting next week!

I don't really have much else to say, since I can't go into my true feelings about work. I need to go shopping at some point, we don't have a whole lot of food.

I also need to do laundry. The chores never seem to end.

Yesterday I did the dishes, and the dishwasher made them dirtier at the end than they were before I put them in! SO frustrating!

Okay, so I'm off to shower and get my day going. Hopefully I'll start feeling better too!

Time, money, opportunities :) WBT

If I had the time, money, and opportunity to do something new, what would it be? I've been thinking about this all week. There are obviously lots of things I want to do. I think the top of my list would be to take a road trip. I think it'd be a great growing and learning experience.

I'd want to see both the east and west coasts, then cycle through the rest of the U.S.

I would LOVE to learn major languages: Spanish, Italian, German...and be fluent at them. I took German classes in High School, but if you don't use the language, it becomes lost. Unfortunately it happened to me. Same story for Spanish.

Another thing I'd really like to do is become an interior designer. You couldn't tell from my own place, but I LOVE decorating. It's so much fun! So, with unlimited resources, I would like to learn the art of that. :)

WBT -- travels!

I'm a girl who has only been out of her home state twice. Once to Canada, once to Disneyland, both on field trips. So, as you might imagine, I'm DYING to see more parts of the world! Although I don't have any plans, I have dreams. And they involve lots of sunshine.
My first is the most realistic. I want to take a road trip between July and August of any given year. It's typically the warmest during those times. I want to tour the U.S., and I want to spend my nights beneath the stars, with nature and the love of my life beside me. I miss the nights when I was 17, 18, with some of my friends...they'd have their guitars, we'd have beer, we'd be down by the river carefree, loving life in the middle of summer...I would love to leave all this and start over somewhere new, but first taking the long way to get there.
I would ideally like to see Australia. I'm so desperate that any time of the year would suit me. Although I don't like winter, even that would make me happy. Any part would be fine. I don't know what about it is so appealing to me, I just feel like we'd get along. It's about as far away from home as I could get, and that doesn't really have anything to do with it, but it doesn't hurt the decision making process, either.
Second on my list would be Rome, Italy. For starters, I LOVE most everything about Italians - the culture, the language, and most importantly, the FOOD! For Italy, I'd like to go when the sun could beam down my back while reading a long love story.
In the states, I want to see Tennessee. I want to visit the Grand Ol Opry. I LOVE country music. There's not a doubt in my mind that I'd fall in love with it, that it would feel more like home to me than anywhere else. Any time of year.

Those are my top four destinations. I don't think it's too far fetched, do you?

Inatimate object -- WBT (a week late)

--Sorry this is late!!!--
(I chose my lovely Blackberry)
I am respected by my owner. She doesn't pound on my parts when she's in a hurry, she's mostly patient when I'm tired and not at my fastest, and she even gave me a blanket that keeps me safe and warm in case she drops me! If I'm down on my luck and feeling like I'm gonna leave this world, she quickly plugs me in and gives me lots of caffeine that keeps me going for at least 2 days. She doesn't like me to leave her.
I don't really like when she keeps me stuffed in her purse. It doesn't happen very often, but I'm afraid of the dark, so it's scary when it does. I know she doesn't do it on purpose, but because of my blanket, I don't fit in her pocket. At least I have my friend that plays music with me. :)
I'm even with her at work, and I hear everything she tells her co-workers, guests, and I can even read her thoughts to her friends and boyfriend!! Boy, if something ever did happen between us, I'd have some JUICY STORIES! Well, okay, maybe not so much, but I like to think so :)
Someday, she's gonna be a really good mama to a real baby -- I can tell just by the way she treats me!

What I hope to teach my kids (or youth of the world) -- WBT

-I want to teach my kids, first and foremost, to not be scared of who they are. By this, I mean, don't pretend to be someone they're not just to please someone else.

-I want to teach them that I'm their mother first, friend second, but that doesn't mean they can't come to me if they're scared/insecure/whatever.

-I want them to love a God. It could be the Christian God, or whichever God they see fit, but I think it's necessary for them to have faith and that kind of guidance in their life.

-I will teach them support. I will support them with whatever decisions they support in life, as long as it's for the greater good.

-I will teach them that we have three things in life of the upmost importance: faith, hope, and love...and the greatest of these is love. I will teach them to love with all their heart, even when it's hard...love their enemies, because hating them is so much harder and not worth the stress it ensues.

-I hope to teach them the importance of education. Growing up, it was never assumed that I'd go to college...it wasn't ever really brought up or expected. I'm not saying I'm going to push it down their throats, but I will say that I do expect them to at least give it a shot. I know that higher education isn't for everyone, and if they decide they hate it, then that's that.

I'm sure there's more that I want to teach my kids. But these were the first to come to my head. :)

unanswered questions -- WBT

Here are some things I'd like to know before I get too old and cynical to care:

1) will the world really end in 2012?
2) will men be able to someday give birth without having to change their biological parts?
3) will the world really know peace?
4) will marijuana ever be legalized?
5) will the age limit on drinking in the United States be lowered (or raised, for that matter)?
6) will passports ever be required to enter different states in the U.S?

okay, I know they're not the world's "smartest" questions or whatever...but hey, we never said there was a requirement on that :P

Stress

This week's topic is what I do to calm me down when I'm stressed, and what I do overall.

1. I try to make whatever is stressing me out go away. If it's something work related, I ask for help or slow down my pace. If it's school related, I tell myself that I'm going to be okay and everything will work out. Also, taking a time out from whatever it is sometimes helps. Doing something else for like an hour (watching a show or reading) can help calm me down.
2. Sleep is a wonderful thing. We've become great friends over the past couple years. I've been really stressed out before, but usually not enough to where I couldn't sleep. Usually.
3. Talking about the situation really helps, especially if it's a relationship related stress, and even if it's not.
4. Managing my time has helped me a lot; prioritizing, not procrastinating, etc. That way I have time for assignments and other things. :)

five in five

Okay, so it's taken me a couple days, but here are five ideal places I'd like to see myself in five years.

1. I definitely see myself married, with one, maybe two kids. I want all my kids to be close in age, so I don't want to wait too long in between. We live in a small town, and I am a certified paralegal working in a firm.

2. We are married. We are still in Bellingham, because I landed a job at a law firm as a once in a lifetime sorta deal. Derek enlisted in the army and now works for border patrol. We will be moving soon because he will be stationed somewhere else. Oh, and we're expecting :)

3. I got the opportunity to work in a very prestegious animal law firm. There's only one problem. It's in Australia. But, it's a great opportunity. So, Derek and I pack up and move.

4. We are married, with one child. I decide that I am tired of the small town feel, so we move to a larger city that is still close to family, but just far enough away as well. ;) We are both doing great.

5. The world actually ends in 2012 and none of this has the chance to (or not). :/