Saturday, January 15, 2011

30 Days of Truth: Day 01

Today's Truth is difficult. The topic is:
Something you hate about yourself.

This is very difficult for me to want to write about the very first day of the new meme. It's not fun to reflect on all of your vulnerabilities and be 100% honest about what it is that a person hates about themself; and, being the critical, overly analytical person that I am, I found multiple things that I'm not so happy about. But that is not a good way to start off a new meme so I decided to narrow down the things I could spill my guts about to 6 things:

  • I hate that my mind remembers things that need to be forgotten, insignificant things, and irrelevant things. I have some very bad memories from my early childhood that I wish I could let go. It sucks to have flashbacks of them on the rare occasion that they pop up. But it also reminds me to change the things that occurred and make them better. 
  • I hate how easily I can give up on myself sometimes. I sold myself out when I started going to school, and began compromising one dream after another. I gave up on med school and settled for physical therapy, and once I got into shadowing for pt I really didn't like it. So then I gave up on that too. But I'm hoping that nursing school is actually the right direction for me, and that I WON'T sell myself short.
  • I hate the contempt that I feel at times toward both my parents. It's an intermittent contempt, not necessarily constant. If you didn't already know, my parent's divorced when I was 8. My dad stopped coming around by the time I was 12, so the contempt for him came automatic with the abandonment. However, in the past 2-3 years, my relationship with my mother has dramatically shifted, and I find myself being so angry at her that all I can do is cry about it. I feel like you should never feel that way toward your parents, especially a parent who has sacrificed so much to make your life better. 
  • I hate how forgiving I can be to certain people. There are definitely 4 people who come to mind that I have let walk all over me over the years that I've known them, and I continuously let them do it. Because of this, you will see on my bucket list that I hope to gain enough courage to tell people how I truly feel about them.
  • I hate that I don't take more risks with my appearance. I don't wear makeup often, and when I do, people kind of make a big deal about it ("Who are you trying to impress? etc.). I don't try anything new with either my clothes or my makeup, and the main reason why I wish I did is because I want to be able to find my own unique style. Yes, I do love jeans and t-shirts, but like I've said before, I like feeling like a girl. 
  • I hate that I'm not more confident in my spiritual relationship with God. This is why I admire my grandmother most. I'm not sure if the lack of confidence comes from me being raised in a generation completely different than my Mimi's or what, but with my family's beliefs, I should KNOW and BE CONFIDENT in every aspect of my spirituality.
As I was preparing what it is what I wanted to share with you, I kind of started listing without thinking. Once I had the list, I began narrowing it down, and then explaining each aspect. This is something I must continue doing in order to be completely honest with each of the themes (it is 30 days of truth after all!)
Thank you for letting me expose part of myself with you, and for letting me be a little vulnerable today.

Friday, January 14, 2011

30 Days of Truth: How it Will Work

Hey guys! So I've mentioned a couple times that I will be starting the 30 Days of Truth meme tomorrow! (eeeeeek!) I've already been working on answering some of the questions, just to make sure that what I want to say makes sense and I can edit it. Let me tell ya, it's been somewhat emotionally draining for me the past couple of nights. I can only do one day at a time now because it makes my head hurt and at one point I broke into tears.  Yes, tears. But so far I love it, and can't wait to share my answers with you!

All of the 30 Days of Truth posts will be separate posts on their own so that when you click the label "30 Days of Truth" you can find all the posts separately.

Because some of the posts will be lengthier than others, I am not sure I will post day-to-day ramblings as often. I will definitely be posting how my first couple of days of school go, and things like workouts and things like that, but I don't want to bombard everyone with 5 posts per day from me, that's just not my style.

I just wanted to let everyone know how the 30 Days of Truth meme will be affecting the personal aspect of my blog! I hope you look forward to me exposing some of my inner loves and demons. And if any of you choose to do this meme, let me know! I'd love to read your answers as well!

Once 30 Days of Truth is over, it's back to the mediocre posts about my day to day life :)
Thank you all for reading!

The Things I Did While Traveling to and from Arizona

As I promised earlier today yesterday, here is a view of what I did while taking a vacation to and from Arizona with pictures:

I drove 17 hours my first day to spend the night in Deming, NM. I got stopped by Border Patrol once in New Mexico (read about it here). Before that, I almost got a CD permanently stuck in my mom's CD player.

After the first day, I got hit by a snowstorm that almost scared the pee outta me when I spun across the interstate into the median. Later, I made a pit stop in Tombstone, AZ, where I ate a late lunch at Big Nose Kate's Saloon, visited the Birdcage Theatre, O.K. Corrall, and Boothill Cemetery:
behind the bar at Big Nose Kate's

Birdcage Theatre

A sample of  a headstone at Boothill
Once I began the rest of my trip to Phoenix, I got to enjoy some beautiful scenery, which inspired the header and a button for my blog:

I got to visit Erika's office and take a couple pictures of Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks:

I celebrated New Year's Eve by going bowling in the afternoon to meet new friends, then later that night celebrated the holiday with my best friend and new friends:

me, best friend, new friend :)
On New Year's Day, I went to a nice brunch with best friend and parents, where a really cool replica of Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory was on display. It was made of candy and chocolate. I had my first ever (and second!) IN-N-OUT Burger experience before and after the Fiesta Bowl! (AMAZING) Then I got to cheer my Sooners to a BCS bowl victory, and take my FIRST EVER! picture with OU President David Boren. I also got to see some sorority sisters that I missed!
Chelsea, Erika, Nicole, me, Aubrey

D.Bo! 
OU = Fiesta Bowl Champs!
Throughout the entire week, Erika came home for lunch, I played Lego HP, read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and relaxed and slept. On Wednesday of that week, we went to the Phoenix Suns/L.A. Lakers game for free!
just before tip-off!
Erika also introduced me to Baja Fresh. delish.

Saturday, Erika woke up with a migraine and I ended up having to drive her to her first urgent care visit since she's been in PHX. Then later that night, she stayed at home :( while I went out to Old Town Scottsdale with a bunch of her coworkers (I didn't want to document this night for good reasons)

Sunday I got to stay in PHX for one last night because of snow all over the Southwest!

Monday I got to start heading back home, and got to enjoy MORE beautiful scenery almost the entire drive!:


I spent the evening in Tucumcari, NM, watching the National Championship game in my hotel room with pizza and beer (love that dinner combo!)

Then on my way back on Tuesday, I got pulled over by Texas Highway Patrol for going 72 in a 70 (you can read my rant about that here). I then made it safely home to my good ol' smalltown, OK, USA around 7:00 p.m. to multiple family members that missed me and The Killers waiting to be watched with an aunt and uncle.

Pretty successful trip I think :)

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

p.s. It's also Fab Friends Friday on FTLOB. Check out their site to find great new blogs, including a majority of the ones I follow! http://forblogs.blogspot.com