Day 07: A picture of your most treasured item!

Alrightyyy... So I know that this is like my third post tonight and second of the 30 day photo thing... however, I felt adventurous [: So my necklace is my most treasured item. Both of the items hanging on the chain close to my heart everyday are from my best friend in the entire world. Essentially he is my everything. We have seen each other through the hardest events in our lives as of now, and he never fails to stay by my side. The little half heart up there says "friends" and he has "best". It's kind of a long and completely adorable story on how he gave it to me... but the realllllly quick version is that I got it for my 18th birthday; however it was bought and intended to be given to me 12 years prior :) The ring was another gift from this past Valentine's Day. I love rings and usually wear 4. However, after the many engagement questions, it was just easier to put on the necklace.. and it's closer to my heart and I don't have to worry about it getting lost/ruined by chlorine at work! I love him (:

New Year's [:

Alright, it's New Year's Eve tomorrow which is one of my most favorite days of the year!! [: It may have something to do with my love life.. but that's a story for a different post. [; 

Back to the main point.. New Year's. It's an ending and a beginning and that makes me very happy. The past couple years of my life have been full of many life-changing transitions and as I look back and remember the many things that have happened, I have too many words to express. Through watching my parents go through a divorce and try and sort out their lives, to moving out to college, to falling in-love, to growing up, to many new experiences, I'm just so grateful for each and every moment and I am so excited to what this next year will bring me! 

Things I have learned from this past year:

* Life's too short to hold grudges and get angry over the small things.

* At the same time, people deserve the best and should stand up for themselves; or have someone to stand up for them if they can't.

* I am very excited to get done with school and start my career; I cannot express how excited I am to start working with children who are so special and who I hope to guide through a period of their life!

* I care a whole heck of a lot more than I thought... about most things.

* Part of being in a relationship means to compromise; you'd think that I would know this.. but I think that this past year has taught me what that actually looks like in action. Just loving someone isn't always enough. It's a give and take; It's compromising; It's doing everything you are humanly capable to make that person grow and become the best person they can be.

The main thing I really want to work on for next year is to start living in the moment. I want to be able to stop worrying so much about tomorrow and the future and I want to be able to appreciate the NOW. 

What are you working on in 2012??

Day 06: A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day.

Maria Mena

I absolutely am in-love with her voice and her lyrics speak to me so loudly. No matter what kind of a mood I'm in I can flip through my playlist of her songs and find something that fits perfectly! You should all check her out. Plus, she's so beautiful and has this sporty/funky style that I adore. :)

Day 05: A picture of your favorite memory!

I mean.. how beautiful is this? Being there, being so close, feeling the mist.. it was breathtaking. It was one of those moments that I felt so content with that I just want to replay it in my head over and over again. I mean I can't say for sure that this is my favorite memory ever. But I would say that it is deifnitely the best picture I have of a great memory. Niagra Falls, Canada. I would love to go back there some day with a group of friends and just soak in the awesomeness. 

Christmas survey!

I stole this from You, Me, and Natalie but it was too cute for me to pass up!

01. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Who says I can't have both!?
02. Real tree or artificial? This is the first year that I got to experience going to a tree farm and picking out a real tree, it was just splendid :)
03. When do you put up the tree? Well... in our apartment it was up by the time school resumed after Thanksgiving break.
04. When do you take it down? We took it down before Christmas break since we didn't spend Christmas there.
05. Do you like eggnog? I've never had it.
06. Favorite Christmas gift as a child? Probably my MYTWIN doll. I absolutely loved it... but then as I got older, the fact of a doll being huge and looking just like me really freaked me out so I had to put it in a different room.
07. Do you have a nativity scene? I'm sure it's in storage somewhere.
08. Hardest person to buy for? Probably my brother... Since I haven't really seen him/spent more than a couple hours with him for almost 5 whole years... I really don't know too much about him or what he wants/needs.
09. Easiest person to buy for? My mom. Lol, she's usually the one that I can just be walking through a store and see something that sparks my eye in a "my-mom-would-absolutely-adore-this" kind of way.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. There's something magnificently magical about tearing open an envelop to see what's inside.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever recieved? I don't really have a worst gift that is coming to mind.. most of the gifts I have received have been pretty cool.
12. Favorite Christmas movie? A Year Without A Santa Claus. :)
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Like a month before Christmas.
14. Ever recycled a Christmas present? I can't lie.. yes I have. hahaha
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Desserts! I can't pick only one!
16. Clear lights or colored lights on your tree? mmm both!
17. Favorite Christmas song? I know it's a bit dreary, but Where are you Christmas by Faith Hill from The Grinch.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Travel to Grandmas :) (it's only like a 15 minute depending on where I'm staying!)
19. Can you name all of Santas reindeer? I think soooo: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph.
20. Angel or star on the top of your tree? Angel!
21. Open presents Christmas Eve or morning? Well.. we used to Grandma's on Christmas Eve.. but now it's on the 23rd. So we used to open up presents on Christmas Eve from Grandma/Grandpa/Aunts/Uncles/Cousins.. and then we would open presents from Santa on Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Bad drivers!
23. Favorite ornament, theme or color? Well, its tradition in our family to get an ornament from Grandma every year when we decorate trees until we graduate high school. So those 18 ornaments are most definitely my favorites!
24. What did you want for Christmas this year? Honestly.. I'm not good at figuring out what I want. Unrealistically it would've been nice to receive a digital camera or an iPod.. but I didn't ask for either lol. I received this really nice rain coat that I asked for though!! Campus is always so rainy and I didn't have a coat or an umbrella! so YIPEEEEE :D

I hope Christmas was wonderful!

Day 04: A picture of your night.

Christmas... "the most wonderful time of the year". Christmas for many is a time of family and celebration, but also for most it's a time of hustle and bustle trying to please everyone. Gotta do Christmas with mom, and then with dad, and if you're in a relationship, with their parent(s), grandparents, aunts and uncles. It can sometimes squeeze the joy out of Christmas. I hope that for you, Christmas was magical and full of family, celebration, food, presents, love, and joy. :) Merry Christmas belated! <3

Day 03: The cast from your favorite TV show

Omg I love this showwww. If you haven't seen it, you should probably work on it. It mixes the serious and comical events of life and family. Parenthood hits the main hard moments that anyone can go through in life life, finding out your son has Asperger's, raising a teenage girl that wants to rebel against everything that you say, teaching your young daughter that winning doesn't happen all the time, finding out that you have a 5 year old son that you never knew about, or even having to explain to your kids that their father keeps leaving. But it shows the bond of a family and how families are supposed to rely on each other and love each other unconditionally. I love itt :)

Day 02: Someone I've been the closest with longest

My big brother <3

Day 01: 10 facts

01. I'm going to be a teacher some day.

02. I want to change the world.

03. I love working with children.

04. I have endometriosis.

05. Life's a mystery; but that's part of the beauty.

06. Movies are my favorite.

07. I love singing/listening to music.

08. I enjoy cuddling very much.

09. Change can be very scary.

10. I'll trust you until you give me a reason not to.

What is happiness?

Some say happiness is hard to find.

Some say happiness is a state of being.

Some say happiness doesn't exist.

Some say happiness is just a feeling.

According to Merriam Webster, happiness means..

a.) a state of well-being and contentment : joy.

b.) a pleasurable or satisfying experience.

c.) obsolete : good fortune : prosperity.

Synonyms : bliss . felicity . blessedness . beautitude . gladness

So I guess happiness depends on who is talking. There are moments in my life that I have felt truly happy, as if I would change absolutely nothing and play the scene over and over again to have that feeling back; but I wouldn't say that I feel like that every second of my life. I mean I would say that there are many moments, parts of my life that I was mostly happy most of the time.

I hope that everyone can experience true happiness at least once in their life. At the same time, you have to realize that in order to experience true happiness, one must also experience true pain, suffering, sadness.

Life knocks you down more times than you can possibly imagine; don't knock yourself down.

Tonight, I'm feeling like I really need to work on the whole feel-good thing.

We need to stop tearing ourselves down; everyone does, but I feel that sometimes girls do it way worse because girls get so caught up in their thoughts and emotions that they become a reality. Many times, I feel that girls do things so that they can gain reassurance from someone else that they are smart, beautiful, witty, loveable, or all of the above. I mean come on, we're alll guilty of it. One of my favorite quotes is from the movie RENT, "You can't find real love, until you love yourself". I think that is sooo true. Girls, we can't bargain for love. We can't pretend to be someone or something that we are not and expect to find true love; if true love even exists, it wouldn't be true if we are constantly trying to fix our flaws and the things that we think are unlikeable. True love by definition would mean to find someone who loves all of you, no matter what; the good, the bad, and the ugly.. right?

Personally, I'm not sure about true love. I mean sure, I believe in love; there is no other way to describe the way that I've felt. However, do I honestly think that I would be 100% happy with someone and willing to work everything out with them? I honestly don't know. For me it's just so hard to believe that marriage can work. I dont' know, but I'll find out someday. I'll tell you this much though, if I do get married, I pray to God it's for the right reasons, and not because I faked/pretended/acted my way into being the perfect/ideal wife to someone.

Hmmm, lots to think about.

Sweet dreams, and may you always remember that there is beauty in this imperfection.