Tag Archives: Growing up

2

The Repeat Factor

|

Over the past few years I’ve read over several thousand books (I wish I was joking) and watched several hundred movies. A lot of these books and movies were new to me. Before you start talking about how much time I’ve wasted doing this, don’t. I’m sure that there are many things you’ve done in your spare time that you enjoyed that I could say was wasted time.

I talked earlier this week about trying new things and how it can be a really fun experience to get out of your comfort zone.

However there are also times when you like something a lot and you get comfort from rereading a book or rewatching a movie.

I know there are some folks who don’t like doing this. To them, once they finish something, it’s out of sight out of mind. It’s not a big deal to retain the knowledge so once it’s done, out the brain it goes. Whenever I talk about rewatching a movie multiple times in theaters, they don’t understand why I do this. I don’t understand why it’s so hard to understand to be honest. I like something a lot enough that I’m willing to pay to go do it again. I’ve explained this before: the first time I’m super excited so I’m just geeking out, the second time I’m trying to catch everything I missed the first time because I was geeking out to pay much attention, and any times after that is to just enjoy the movie.

When it comes to rereading books, usually it’s because the stories are comfort reads and bring back some form of nostalgia. I try to read the Harry Potter series and the Chronicles of Narnia series at least once a year. Every time I do so, I always seem to find new things. Sometimes it’s because I’m getting older and read it in a different light. Sometimes it’s because I’ve learned things along the way and become aware of new information that makes the reading experience different. Also it’s just because I enjoy it. It’s like revisiting an old friend and you’re catching up.

Right now I have an insanely high TBR pile. You really don’t want to know how many books I have to read. Plus I keep getting new books from the library all the time. But there are still times when I want to go back and rediscover books that I’ve read years ago. It’s especially tempting when I read/hear from other people discovering my favorite books for the first time. I want to go back and join them again. It’s easier rewatching movies than rereading books mainly because it takes a shorter amount of time to do the former. It gives the same feeling though.

Basically when it comes to repeating a book or movie, it has to be something that I highly enjoyed the first time around. While I can occasionally give something a second chance, it’s rare because I’d rather spend time on something I really enjoy or trying out something new.

What are some books or movies that you can watch a gazallion times and enjoy them? What makes something worthy of experiencing multiple times because you want to

2

The one achievement that will never be unlocked

|

There is one area of geek fandom that I desperately have always wanted to be a part of but I never will. No, not anime or RPGs. While those are fine and dandy, I’ve tried them and while they are interesting, those just aren’t for me.

Nope, what I really wish I could do but can’t is play video games.

Growing up, my parents wouldn’t buy us any video game system. We were supposed to be focused more on our studies and any leisure time was supposed to be spent doing more studying or reading for pleasure. Video games were expensive and a waste of time. The only time I ever got to play them as a young child was when my sisters and I visited my cousin’s house and eagerly played Super Mario/Duckhunt. (Confession: because of my limited time playing Super Mario, I still have not passed the third level. Of the first game. I know. I know.)

When I got to school, everyone had video games. All the boys loved them. They brought their Gameboys and Game Gears on field trips, their Nintendo magazines and game guides were read illegally during class, and were always bragging what new games they got and what new achievements they reached. I was the weird girl who instead of being all “Boys and their silly video games” was more like “I want to join!”.

But I couldn’t. Not because I didn’t have access to games. Nope. It’s because…I GET STUPID MOTION SICKNESS PLAYING VIDEO GAMES.

Yes this is a problem that I have to face. I cannot play or watch certain video games without actually having to go throw up and then feeling like I want to die. Anything that is first person (most shooting games) or where the camera spins around while the person has to look for something, I cannot handle. I watched my friends play Portal one night (a game I would love to try out) and it was absolutely horrible. I pretty much spent the rest of the night dry heaving with severe nausea. I love playing Mario Kart but if we try just one round on Rainbow Road, my night is over.

Basically this is me:

It’s horribly embarrassing that this happens. It’s one thing to get motion sickness when in a car (and yet I can ride roller coasters with no problem whatsoever) but when watching/playing video games? While I do know some people who are the same way, it seems really rare among gamers. I’m going to assume that either a) they suck it up or b) it really is rare. I even googled “video games motion sickness” and I found an article that said this

“Getting motion sickness while playing videogames affects a lot of people, yet it seems almost like a taboo to talk about among gamers because you might not be seen as “hardcore” since you can’t play certain things.”

There are games that I CAN play and do enjoy. You may ask, what is a game that you like AND can play? One that comes to mind is Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. I was introduced to that game about two years ago and had such a blast playing it. It didn’t make me sick at all and it was fun playing it with friends. However since I have no access to it without my friends, I can’t play it without them but that was something I really enjoyed.

It’s just really sad for me because I would love to be part of this community and I just physically can’t. Video games interest me but I can’t spend time playing them without wanting to cut off my head from the pain. Which is probably good because I could see myself getting quite addicted and not leaving. So maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.

That being said, I fully appreciate everything that goes into making a good game and I’m always interested in games that have good story lines and are visually appealing. I really liked watching the beginning of Bioshock Infinite and wish I could have played it. While I’m sometimes leery about how much time can be spent devoted to a game, I’m still always interested in hearing about new games. I also don’t mind watching demos but fair warning, if I start feeling sick, I’m going to ask you to stop. It would be awesome to work for a video game company as well. And maybe one day when I have kids, I can conquer this stumbling block so that all of us can play together.

In a nutshell, video games are fun. I wish I could play them. Until then, I live vicariously through my gamer friends (you know who you all are.) And this is about sums it up how I feel:

0

It’s going to happen at the prom!

|

With it being May, it means that it’s high time for prom season. If you haven’t already, you’ll be seeing high school kids wearing overly expensive dresses and tuxes, eating at fancy restaurants, and cruising in limos, almost every Friday and Saturday night this month. Prom has become an American rite of passage for high school students. Practically every teen movie you see has some prom sequence that serves as the climactic scene of the movie.

I remember how back then prom was SO IMPORTANT. And now looking back …it really wasn’t.

I went to prom both my junior and senior year. I was even on the prom committee junior year. Basically I did that so I could put it down on my college application. Our prom both years was held at a hotel in the city next to us on the waterfront. I remember we were really trying to push for the theme of “Waiting for Tonight” (based of the popular at the time J.Lo song) but instead got outvoted for some cheesy theme. Senior year was equally cheesy.20140427_150734

As for my dates, well you know how it’s the trend now to have huge elaborate prom-posals? (Just google it) Yeah not the case here. Junior year, there was a guy that was a senior that I asked to go. After giving me the run around for a few weeks (this seems to be a repeat pattern in my life) he eventually told me no because he wasn’t going to prom. Lo and behold, a week later another girl asks him to prom and he says yes. *SWEAR WORD* I ended up going with one of my good friends because his date ditched him at the last moment. We had a good time and it was probably for the best I ended up not going with the first guy. During senior year, there was a sophomore that I asked to go and he turned me down. After weeks of thinking I wasn’t going to go, finally another one of my friends asked me to go with him. Part of me is slightly suspicious now that he asked me because of the group that I ended up going with more so than because of me. This is due to the fact that during the actual prom I danced with him ONCE and never saw him again until we were all leaving.

I got my dresses while shopping with my mom at the mall both years. I chose blue for both dresses, junior year – ice blue, senior – navy blue. (I like blue.) They weren’t overly expensive, nor were they flashy or that memorable. I do remember pouring through all the teen magazines looking at the prom issues and very much wanting a Jessica McClintock dress but alas that one cost $$. The style at the time was for the poofy dresses and while I didn’t want too much poof, I did opt for some poof so that my dress made that nice swishing sound.

20140427_150830

(Just for privacy reasons, I’ve blurred my date’s face in case he wouldn’t want his face floating online.)

We got limos both years and did go out for fancy dinners. Prom itself was….ok. I didn’t dance much(though admittedly I probably did dance more than I do at weddings now. Some of the music was just really hard to dance to even though it was popular at the time. (How on earth are you supposed to “dance” to Limp Bizkit?) Basically there was no group dance where everyone dances in sync. Though there were choreographed ‘Nsync dances.

After prom both years, we all went down to the beach in Nags Head thanks to parents who owned beach houses down there. It was a pleasant way to relax afterwards. Though I do remember sometimes feeling a little left out and just of place when going there, almost like I didn’t really belong. Those weren’t good feelings. But it was nice to get away and just enjoy the peaceful nice of the beach after being stressed out from getting ready for prom. Even if we never actually went into the water because the Atlantic Ocean in May is FREEZING.

Then we got back to school on Monday and that was that. Like I said looking back, it does feel silly spending all that money and time and stress for just one night on dresses I never wore again. Prom was not the be all or end all for me. It was just a night with some good (and some not so good) memories. I wouldn’t go back and visit it to be honest but it is what it is. When I do have kids and their prom time comes, I’m sure I’ll most likely go through the same experience with them. I’ll only say once that it’s really not that big of a deal but then I’ll let them have their fun.

Because you know. Everything happens at the prom.

0

If I were to give advice to my past self….

|

One of my favorite plot devices in the Harry Potter series was the use of Hermione’s time turner. Why? Because there are times when I wish I could go back in time and change how I did things. Obviously since I know the future, in hindsight everything is 20/20. Where I am now in life is because of the choices I made, and I’m here where I am for a reason. What I wish I could do was to have an alternate timeline just to see how things would turn out if I did things differently. I’d still end up where I am now, but just to have a look as to “what if I had turned left instead of right”.

So here’s what some of the advice I’d give to my past self, knowing now what I do:

To my 5 year old self: Kindergarten is going to be ok. It’s ok for you to tell your teacher some boy kicked you in the head. It is NOT tattle telling no matter what anyone tells you. Also even though the pizza served in school looks nothing like pizza on TV, it is ok to eat it. Don’t have kids make fun of you for reading. YOU ARE AWESOME.

To my 9 year old self: Don’t give that boy you like a valentine. It’s not going to get you anywhere. Also you’re going to hit a major growth spurt soon. Enjoy being taller than the boys in your class for a few years.

To my 12 year old self: Middle school sucks. Don’t let the kids teasing about your hair,clothes, your name, or even for just being Asian get to you. People are mean and you don’t need/want them for friends. For reals. Also the Beatles are an awesome band. Just saying.

To my 13 year old self: Don’t date that boy who asked you out. Just…trust me on this one.

To my 14 year old self: You probably don’t want to send that letter to that senior from the Scholastic Bowl team from that other high school. While you may end up having a friendship for the next couple of years, is it really worth it? No.

To my 15 year old self: Even though your guidance counselors are telling you otherwise, if you really want to do engineering in college you need to start preparing NOW. Take all the engineering prep classes you can, take computer science, plan on studying hard core EVERY NIGHT. Those kids from NOVA are already ahead of you.

To my 17 year old self: If at this point you don’t know whether you want to go to school for engineering, I highly recommend history. Also this is the last year you will really be close to your high school friends. Enjoy it because it’s not going to last forever. Prom is overrated. BUT if you want to talk to that guy that works part time at Sears, do it sooner rather than later.

To my 18 year old self: STAY AWAY FROM THE BOYS. THEY ARE A DISTRACTION. Seriously. Trust me on this. Go to more football games. Get to know lots of people. Enjoy college life but STUDY STUDY STUDY.  Also if you’re going to drink your first beer, don’t make it a Natty Light. Turn off the AIM. TURN IT OFF.

To my 20 year old self: Since you didn’t listen the first time, STAY AWAY FROM THOSE SAME BOYS. THEY ARE A DISTRACTION. Seriously. Trust me on this. Also, is there any way you can invest in a small company called Facebook?

To my 24 year old self: If you start seeing red flags, even if you love the person, don’t ignore those red flags.

To my 26 year old self: You are going to get through this, I promise you. It seems like you want to die at this moment, but you are so much stronger than you think you are right now. And life seems like it’s going to hell but it’s going to be better. I promise you. You’re awesome. Even though you think you’re alone now, you’re going to find some of the best friends you’ll ever have soon. Also, I know you like geek stuff. It’s been kind of dormant for a while but it’s totally cool to go see Iron Man or Thor. You WILL like it. TRUST ME.

To my 28 year old self: I know you keep dismissing this show, but you really should go back and watch How I Met Your Mother. There are situations in that show that will help you so much this year. Also watch your heart and emotions. Don’t fall too hard too fast.

To my 29 year old self: Stop drinking Diet Mountain Dew after 7pm. WILL YOU NEVER LEARN? Also watch out for deer.

To my future self: I seem to keep doing things the hard way in order to learn how to do them the right way. Maybe one day things will change. You’re still awesome though.

0

Knowledge is Power

|

Growing up, I didn’t know what some words or phrases meant because my parents didn’t grow up in American culture.  I didn’t know what a lot of swear words were and therefore I would sometimes be tricked into saying words at school that apparently meant something VERY BAD. I also didn’t know certain hand signals meant bad things too. Example: I got into trouble for sticking up my middle finger. I was tricked into doing it and then the kid tattled to the teacher. The teacher didn’t believe that I had no idea what it meant to do that and put me in time out. To this day that annoys me that happened.

I also don’t like not knowing things when people are talking. I don’t like looking dumb so if I don’t know what something means and I don’t HAVE to know it in order for the conversation to continue, I make a mental note to look it up later. I don’t know if I’ve just experienced rotten luck with this but a lot of times I feel like when I ask to explain something, the other person gets frustrated and annoyed that I don’t already know. I did have several teachers do this to me growing up and this may have created some underlying fear to this day. So to prevent that, I try to make sure I know either know things in advance or I don’t let my ignorance show. I don’t want to be a bother by asking questions. I want to learn but I don’t want to feel like I’m annoying you because I don’t know it already.

I really do like learning things. This is why I read A LOT. If I start becoming interested in something, I usually spend the first few weeks trying to cream in as much knowledge as I can. When I want to get to know a person and I find that they like something that I don’t necessarily know much about, I’ll learn about it so I can keep up the conversation. This is how I rack up so much useless trivia in my head and can crush you at Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit (and the occasional geek trivia night). I don’t necessarily TELL people I know things though. I’m not the type of person that acts like a know it all.

But I think the main reason I did this was to make up for all those incidents when I was a kid and got made fun of for not knowing things. And I wanted to fit in.

Though now lately I feel the opposite. I feel weird sometimes now that I DO know things that my friends don’t seem to know.

Example: My friends and I are a big fans of the game Cards Against Humanity. I also happen to know about 95% of what the phrases and terms used in the game mean. I’m not entirely happy that I know so much but going to public schools for my entire schooling career plus a healthy dose of lots of entertainment and having a wide circle of friends will do that to you. Nothing really shocks me in the game even when I do learn what 5% of those words mean because I have seen and heard worse in real life. I have a quite a number of friends who don’t know what a lot of the terms mean and it can be quite amusing explaining to them what they are. And yet, sometimes I wonder about myself, is it better to have been sheltered and not know these things? Is it better to be ignorant in some cases? Should I feel bad for knowing these things?

Also I realize that opposites attract and you don’t want someone who’s super similar to you because that would probably get boring all the time. But I tend to notice that the interests I have tend not to be desirable interests in the type of guys I want to date. They seem to go after women who don’t have these interests and therefore they have to explain everything to them. I realize guys DO like feeling knowledgeable of things and it can be a big ego booster for them to share that knowledge. It just makes me feel inadequate because I already know these things and feel like that’s a disadvantage for me. I don’t know necessarily if I would want to date a guy where I had to explain all these things to him and not be able to have a conversation on equal footing. This could all change one day and I’ll eat my words. But it’s frustrating because that’s one of those situations where I wish I didn’t know what I’d know.

It doesn’t really matter either way. I obviously don’t know EVERYTHING. And there are still times when I feel dumb compared to some of my friends because they know things that I don’t. And then I feel bad for knowing things that other people don’t because I wonder if it’s a waste to know these things.

It all comes down to just accepting myself. I am a person that has many interests that are not going to be the same as everyone else and who has had life experiences that aren’t the same as most people. It’s ok to know things and it’s ok to not know.

Because after all:

0

Yes, I will be YOUR Punk Rock Princess.

|
New Found Glory (album)

New Found Glory (album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve talked about how I am a huge Beatles fan. I also have mentioned how I am now a Josh Groban fan but I haven’t really listened to his music. Well at least until yesterday.

Other than The Beatles, my music taste has both varied and stayed pretty constant. I am the type of person that likes a song and not necessarily a band and their entire catalog. Going through my mixed CDs over the years you would probably find many bands/groups only listed once or twice simply because I enjoyed that one song of theirs but never ventured into anything else.

I was having a discussion the other day with a friend about music we listened to in high school and how it made us feel really old. And then I saw an ad pop up on my Facebook sidebar promoting a concert with 4 bands I like in high school being held in Maryland next month and I realized how most of the bands are now in their late 30s or pushing early 40s. And I’m like….oof, gosh this makes me feel ancient. (Especially after reading this article on Buzzfeed.)

But then I decided let’s take a stroll down memory lane and go back to 2001-2003. Back when I was 18-20, these were bands I listened to. I went to Warped Tour in 2001 as well as other numerous shows of this nature (ah The Boathouse, I miss thee). Punknews.org was one of my favorite websites. And I wore a studded belt. Yes, I listened to a lot of pop punk/emo music.

I realize that there’s a good chance the majority of you won’t recognize these bands because you don’t listen to this type of music. But that’s ok.

So here we go:

New Found Glory was one of my favorite bands during this time period. To this day, I still love their first four albums with their self titled one being one of absolute favorites of all time. I saw them about 4 times in concert. The last time I went though, I was quite sad because at the age of 20 I was one of the oldest people at the show and the kids there didn’t even know this song.

Saves the Day was the first non Beatles album that I ever bought. I was a freshman in college and I went to the mall to the record store and paid for Stay What You Are, with a check!

I got introduced to Alkaline Trio because of a boy I liked at the time. (Which is pretty much a good reason why I liked most of these bands TBH). This is my favorite of all their songs, though I prefer the version on the Vagrant Records sampler (if you know which one I mean, you rock).

I didn’t really like AFI too much, but I loved this song.

I saw Something Corporate in concert with New Found Glory and I loved how they used the piano/keyboard. Ah this just brings back memories.

This song by the Get Up Kids….to this day it’s one of my go to songs for just kicking back.

And this was just a brief sample of what I used to listen to back in the day, and still sometimes today. I hope that was a fun trip down memory lane for you as well (or I just introduced you to some new bands).

Enhanced by Zemanta
1

So may I introduce to you the act you’ve known for all these years?

|

It was 50 years ago last week that the Beatles came to the US for the first time and basically changed the way the world heard music forever.

It was about 18 and a half years ago (oh gosh am I that old?!) this year that I really discovered the Beatles music and it changed the way I heard music forever.

If you’ve known me for any amount of time, then you know that Beatles are MY band. Yes, I listen to other music and I have other bands that I greatly enjoy. But ever since November 1995, the Beatles have been my favorite band. That was when the Beatles Anthology came on TV and it changed my life forever.

I was in 7th grade and I was trying to figure out what type of music to like. Everyone was either listening to rap or alternative or country and while I liked certain songs, there wasn’t anything I gravitated towards. I wanted something that I could answer to when someone asked me what was my favorite type of music. And for reasons that I could not explain to you, I had the desire to tape the special. And then obsessively watched it for the next year. The Beatles were now MY band.

I still can’t explain what drew me to their music. Probably the same magic that drew all those fans 50 years ago. It’s catchy. It’s good. It’s simple. It’s deep. It stands the test of time. It’s influential. It’s memorable. I can find a Beatles song for almost any situation I’m in. Their music is classic. Their own music evolved and therefore changed music as we now hear it forever.

What gets me the most is that when they wrote all these songs and music, ALL of the Beatles were younger than me. To write over 200 songs (and more when they started their solo careers) in your 20s that have stood the test of time for over FIFTY years? Geniuses, I tell you.

Now they might not be your favorite band and you may detest their music. But if you like music of any sort, I can guarantee you that whoever you listen to has been someone affected by the Beatles. This is one of those short blog posts where I don’t feel like I need to gush or explain in detail. You either appreciate their music or you don’t. I do.

Here’s to another 50 years.

Update:

I got to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland today and well, this is what happened:

beatles john

0

My Life is an Awkward Moment

|

“Uh. Um. Er.” (Uncomfortable Silence). *Crickets chirping*

And those would be the noises you hear when I’m in a situation where I feel uncomfortable and thus awkward.

Everyone has their awkward moments. I however seem to have an awkward life.

I have mentioned this before but I am a shy extrovert. I get my energy from being around others. I don’t need to say anything to you but just being around people energizes me. Sometimes it feels like I have a superpower of draining other people’s energy so that I can go be alone for a day and I’m perfectly fine til I need to recharge again.

However just because I’m an extrovert doesn’t mean that I’m outgoing. Far from it. Put me in a new situation with people I don’t know, especially people who already know each other, and I want to die. I feel out of my element and utterly uncomfortable. It doesn’t help when no one includes me in the conversation or comes up to me first. I do that awkward thing of trying to join in a conversation and can’t seem to jump in. I never seem able to find the right moment to come into a conversation. Either my voice never gets heard or when I finally do say something there’s an awkward silence.

I seem to know a lot of outgoing introverts. They recharge by being alone and are quite happy with that, but when they are out in public, you would never know this because they are good at being around others. They hide it so well that when they tell you they are actually introverts, you’re like no you’re not. LIES.

When I’m around people who I’m comfortable with, I have no problems. Even when I’m awkward with them, I know they’re not going to judge me so I feel completely fine being who I am in front of them. In fact I have been told many times after an entertaining awkward moment “Deborah, don’t change. Never change who you are”.

My friends have noticed that when I’m around someone I would like to get to know better and it’s a group setting, I clam up instantly and start acting very not like myself.  It’s because I get nervous and anxious. They can tell that something is wrong because it’s a different type of awkward. It’s the awkward where I am overly conscious of trying to make a good impression that I tend to shut down in fear of looking like a fool. And if you know me very well, you can probably tell that I’m visibly not at ease. Because I’m worried about looking too overly interested, I may over think myself into panic status and act completely indifferent towards you. Even though that’s NOT how I am at all. So if you are trying to see what kind of person I am, and we’re surrounded by people who I’m not necessarily comfortable around, you’re not going to see the type of person I really am.

I like getting to know people better one on one vs in a group setting. At least in the beginning anyways. Once we get past the initial getting to know each other stage, then things are so much better. You may not care how you come across to me, but I know for me, while I want to be myself, I also want to make a good impression to you. So in a group setting, when I’m having to fight that inside of me PLUS having to battle with everyone else and their personalities and actions, it’s very overwhelming. When I’m in a more one on one setting, I can relax. I’m more confident and can be comfortable when I’m not in a group. I can surprise you. Of course I realize that for some people, group settings are safer and more comfortable for them. To each his own.

Being awkward is a part of life. You can’t avoid it. You just have to accept it and live with it. And you never know, your confidence in not caring that you are awkward is the very thing that someone finds absolutely attractive about you.

1

The Annual Family Movie Trip

|

frozen

When my sisters and I go home for the holidays, it’s become a yearly tradition to take our parents out to the movies. This is actually a bigger deal than you might think because my parents rarely go to the movie theater. They don’t feel the need because they (finally!) have cable TV, Netflix, the library, and a ROKU so they can watch all the K-Dramas they want. Going to the movies cost a lot of money and the sound is too loud (or so says my mom). They don’t mind waiting until it comes out on DVD.

Even so, we still like to take them out when we’re all home just so they can experience the movie the way it was meant to be. Last year, as everyone in the family thoroughly enjoys James Bond, we took them to see Skyfall. This year, after a positive attitude towards seeing Tangled on DVD, we decided to go see Frozen. Animated movies can be hit or miss with my parents. We try to take them to see the Pixar movies because we think that’s the best animated movies out there (other than the Kung Fu Panda movies and How to Train Your Dragon which they surprisingly liked because they thought Toothless looked like our pug). We soon discovered that there are certain types of animated movies that they like and don’t. They will say yes to humans, talking animals, and objects that act like humans. They do not like movies with monsters or inanimate objects that don’t talk or cars that talk. Ratatouille, Toy Story 3, Brave, and Up were all huge hits while Cars and Wall-E tanked VERY badly. (To be fair, Cars is probably MY least favorite Pixar movie ever and I still haven’t seen Cars 2.)

So to test them out for this year’s movie, like I said we had them watch Tangled and they greatly enjoyed it. The story was a hit, good songs, there were humans, and Pascal the chameleon reminded them of our pug. We figured then if they like that movie, then they would greatly enjoy Frozen.

Now if you haven’t seen Frozen yet, I’m not going to spoil it for you but I’m going to tell you that you need to go see it. It’s one of the best movies Disney (not counting Pixar) has put out in a LONG time. I would rank it in the era with The Lion King. It’s wonderfully animated, memorable songs, and a very funny/emotional storyline. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. Mainly because whoever did the marketing for the movie had no idea how to market it. My sister and I thought it was going to be about the stupid snowman but it ended up being a delightful surprise.

On our trip to the theater, we soon discovered that it was take your parent to the movies day and we were just like everyone else. Except for the fact that were 20 years older than all the other kids in the theater. Unfortunately for us, we had to sit near the front of the theater which is not really fun. But this was a new theater back home that had seats that reclined so it wasn’t really that bad. The parents seemed pretty excited about the Disney short that was shown in front of the movie. If you have seen it then you will chuckle that my mom thought that they had actually come out into our actual theater.

Watching the movie again was a delight for me. But it was really good for my parents as well. They seemed enthralled throughout the entire movie. No one fell asleep! Nor was it too loud for them either. They enjoyed Olaf, laughed appropriately (sometimes they don’t catch the jokes, plus there is no closed captioning in theaters), got scared/nervous during certain scenes, and gasped at the twist. It was a delightful time for everyone. It’s a good sister movie so seeing it with my sisters again was like “Oh hey, I appreciate you a little more, *nods politely at each other”. It was a good family bonding time. Also I might add that even though the theater was packed with kiddies, they were all quite well-behaved. No one shouted or cried. Well done, parents. We all walked out saying everyone enjoyed it, which is when you know the film is well done.

So that was our family’s annual trip to the movies. Because we as a whole group don’t do it that often, it makes it more special for us. Sometimes we even buy popcorn (GASP, no really this is a big deal, though our family LOVES popcorn). No idea what will be out next year for us to enjoy, but whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be a good time.

Image from: http://monorii.tumblr.com/post/72555957053/disneys-frozen-minimalist-posters-elsanna

3

2013: It was the best of times, It was the worst of times

|

2013_2014-in-Sand-724x479

This week, my posts will be taking a look back at 2013 and looking forward to 2014. Monday’s post was about all my firsts for 2013 while Friday’s post will be about how geeky 2013 was for me.

I made my New Year’s Resolutions for 2013 in a ski mountain resort in western Maryland where 5 of my closest friends and I had spent the past few days enjoying winter activities (or for me falling continuously down a mountain). My New Years Resolutions for 2013 were:

  1. Go out of my comfort zone more
  2. Read at least 200 books this year
  3. Be more awesome

It’s safe to say I did all three of them. I’ve briefly talked about #1 on Monday. We’ll talk more about #2 on Friday.

2012 had been a really good year for me. It’s one of the few times in my life when I can honestly say I was happy for almost the entire year. 2011 had been such a crap-shoot year that 2012 was such a wonderful blessing in how awesome it ended up being. Sure, there was that one month that sucked really bad but other than that, it was one of the best years of my life. (Although when I look back at that crappy month, there may have been something good that came out of it, but only time will tell.) And I had hoped that 2013 would be the same way.

But to be honest, 2013 didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to. There were so many ups and downs this past year that I’m surprised I didn’t throw up from having motion sickness. Then again, how many times can one really say they got everything they wanted? Still, overall I would have to say it was a rather good year. A solid B+.

I’m not going to go over EVERYTHING that happened this year. This is already a long entry as it is and doing that would make it a LONG LONG LONG blog post which you don’t want to read and honestly I don’t want to write.

I turned 30. It wasn’t so bad. I celebrated twice with my best friends. It was quite awesome.

I started paper journaling for the first time in many years. I talked about it in an earlier post but since I started writing in actual journals this year, I’ve filled up seven journals. Writing in them has been very therapeutic as it helps to keep the initial emotional outburst from not being put on social media. Which that eventually led to the creation of this blog. For which I’m really enjoying writing and I hope you’ve been enjoying reading.

And in case you wanted to know, these are the top most-read posts of this year (and basically since this blog started):

  1. The Girl Who Waited
  2. Trusting God When Things Seem Impossible
  3. The Elephant in the Room
  4. Silence is Golden…or Is It?
  5. It Comes in Pints?!

I lost my job in March and was unemployed for almost seven months. That was a very rough time for me. A deer hit my car during those months causing the car to be totaled and forcing me to buy a new car. It was absolutely rotten timing. But even through all the frustration and disappointments of job searching, interviews, and lack of funds coming in, I knew that God was going to provide and protect me throughout the entire process. And I KNEW he was going to give me a new job before the end of the year. Even though there were other parts of my life I was freaking out over, I always remained confident and at peace about my job situation.

Like I said on Monday, I had a lot of firsts. And I’m really proud at how many of them there were. I’ll just state this again, I’m a completely different person now than I was just a few years ago. And I’m really happy at how far along I progressed in 2013.

2013 was the first year of being completely single in almost a decade. Well, maybe not emotionally single for part of the year.  But God has finally closed doors on where they needed to be closed and in His timing, new ones will open.

When 2013 started there was something I wanted to happen this year. It was something I prayed about constantly, not that God would MAKE it happen but for Him to just guide me throughout the entire year to either prepare me for it or prepare me to not have it. I was told by a friend “Make sure you don’t put God in a box. Make sure you’re not telling him that he has to do things a certain way before you proceed.” Good advice.

My faith has increasingly grown throughout this year. Through all the ups and downs, through my frustrations and struggles, through the good times and the bad, I’ve kept turning to God through it all. And He’s never left me or forsaken me. He’s brought people in my life to help me get through the not so fun times. He protected me from any bodily injury when a deer hit me and totaled my car. He’s given me clarity and wisdom to get through all these times. And even when I still don’t understand why things happened the way they do, I’m trusting that He knows why.

As I stated above, my most read post this year is “The Girl Who Waited”. And that’s how I’ve seen myself this year. Last year I was “The Girl on Fire”, this year I was the girl who waited. I feel right now that’s what God wants me to continue being. Instead of rushing to make things happen immediately, I waited on a lot of things this year. Everything I waited on didn’t always happen the way I wanted it to but God has shown me wisdom throughout the waiting. I’m not saying I’ve mastered patience (far from it!) but I know God’s been walking with me throughout all this wait. And I feel that at this very moment, he wants me to wait just a little bit more.

Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” (Habakkuk 2:2-3)

I don’t know what 2014 is going bring into my life. There is a lot of uncertainty but there’s also a clean, fresh slate. I learned a lot of lessons in 2013. The goal for 2014 is to learn from those lessons. I approach this new year with hope. Yes, it could be awful. Yes, the world could end this year. Yes, there is a chance I will look at a bow and arrow and still wonder how to make it work. But there is also the chance that things could be really good for me this year. And Lord willing, I’ll be ready for whatever happens and that He will be with me throughout every step of the way.

So, 2014? BRING. IT. ON. Challenge accepted.