boyfriend wanted

I love pinterest. I'm not even sure if I'm ashamed of it. No, no I'm not. Anyway, while on pinterest I discovered this amazingness. Yes, it is what you think it is: Matthew Gray Gubler's blog post about his perfect woman. Too bad I fit very little of the criteria. But it's still adorable, and made me decide to do the exact same thing (no point in hiding it). So here goes...

boyfriend wanted

must love random adventures

pizza
star gazing

the smell of books and rain

and laughing

tall
handsome
with dark hair and eyes

preferred

tattoos and patience a plus

religious doubters or "non-believers"

cynics

sarcastic senses of humor

and good listeners read on

any similarity in look, mindset or fashion sense to

johnny depp

atticus finch

or bruce sprinsteen sincerely welcome

Must be tolerant of sleeping late

slightly reckless driving

disney movies  
the beach
dogs and cats
daydreaming

and classic rock music

i love surprises
have several nick names
am scared of the dark 
never drink alone
and always find time for fun

all I want is 

to hold someone’s hand
have a reason not to hate valentine’s day
and to never stop laughing

Books and bad habits

It's no secret that I love books and I'm proud of my continuously growing collection. My parents always had tons of books all over the house when I was growing up as a child,  and even now, there are stacks of books in their room along with full bookcases. And I never understood why since I loathed reading. It took me until I was old enough to figure out that I could read what I wanted, and not always what my teachers told me to, to realize that reading isn't so bad. And from there, it skyrocketed. 
I have an incredibly bad habit of spending copious amounts of time on websites like bookmooch and whichbook, most of the time, at the same time. Now, if you're not familiar with these sites; bookmooch is a website where you trade books with people all over the country, and if you so desire, the world. It's based on points, so the only money spent is on shipping. Whichbook, is a site I came across on stumbleupon and it allows you to search for books based on chosen criteria such as long or short, safe or disturbing, easy or demanding, etc.
FYI: It's rare when I've come across a book on whichbook that I previously heard or knew about. 
Anyway, usually my idea of the perfect day is sleeping in past noon and turning on the tv, listening to music and opening 2 tabs for bookmooch and whichbook and letting the day slip away "book hunting" as I call it. There are tons of books I found on whichbook that aren't available on bookmooch but I have them saved in my "wishlist" on bookmooch (I'm now up to 100 and counting). 
One thing about bookmooch that I love is that it links directly to amazon, and shows the current lowest prices of each book, as they depreciate with time. If I find a book that is particularly interesting, I have a hard time waiting for it to be found or available and jump immediately to amazon.
I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to getting books (practically for free) in the mail. There's just nothing like it. If I could sum it up, it would be that it's like Christmas year-round. Remember what being a kid and getting a new toy for no reason felt like? This is my sober adult equivalent. I have to say, I tend to find something's missing whenever I'm not getting books in the mail, the anticipation is so sweet. I liken it to the habits of a hoarder. I try to be a "glass half-full" type of person; I chew gum almost constantly and tell people I don't stop because, as far as I'm concerned, it could be cigarettes. And I'm not going to stop book hunting because, what's so bad about having a ton of books? In my opinion, an overflowing bookcase and stacks of books are a small price to pay for a "bad" habit.

My sister, my best friend

My sister is my best friend. There are people out there who probably find it rather cliche. I think that our closeness is possible because of our age difference (we're 4 years apart). She's my best friend so there are things that we know about each other that we would never tell anyone. But for the sake of bragging about my awesome sister/best friend/partner in crime/adventure accomplice, some general facts about Mady include; she cries at every sad movie ever, every time she sees it without fail, she LOVES Led Zeppelin to no end, she thoroughly enjoys SNL and movies with Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell as well as Sarah Dessen novels and people watching/judging at any and every possible moment.

Despite our friendship, we're still sisters; we have disagreements and we get on each others nerves. Mady is sometimes absolutely disgusted by my taste in music, and has set out to "educate" me about "real" music. It's a constant struggle. Mady will also tell you that I drive entirely too recklessly, that I am impossible to shop with and keep track of, and that we are now mortal enemies since I am a CU student and her dream is to go to CSU. Alas, these are the battles we face.

Yet, despite everything, we share the same sarcastic, sometimes cynical, extremely hypothetical sense of humor. We both enjoy extensive but pointless trips to Walmart which almost always end in bag-fulls of stuff we didn't intend on buying and don't need and always include jamming out to anything from RUN DMC to Cher. We also share a distinct love of reading and writing and the music we grew up with especially Fleetwood Mac, Elvis and Kenny Chesney.
Moral of the story is while "there's no place like home," there's nothing like having a best friend for life in a sister. We make each other laugh and we pick each other up and reassure each other in ways that only a sister or best friend can, and we know that no matter what we always have each other. I'm not sure what I would do or where I would be without her to keep my head on straight. And I don't say it nearly enough, but I'm thankful to have her in my life to be the best sister anyone could ask for. 

One of our favorite things to do in the summer is go to Film on the Rocks. So naturally, when we saw that The Notebook was on the schedule, we were...um... ecstatic beyond all reason? Yes, exactly. (We're also looking forward to Anchorman, which is easily one of our favorite movies, and we're having a hard time dealing with the fact that it's practically an entire month away. But I digress.) This is a picture of us at Red Rocks listening to the very awesome Dunwells and enjoying our favorite jolly ranchers (blue raspberry and green apple).

And miles to go before I sleep

Even with everything that's been going on in my perpetually complicated state, as always, I've managed to find some sense of normalcy complete with a routine (at least my definition of a routine). People always ask me the same questions: How's it going? How's the job hunt going? Are you taking any classes this summer? While I have a profound dislike for the first two questions (because you can never say anything but "fine" to the first one, and the second one always manages to bum me out), the third is one that I don't mind, simply because the answer is "NO!"

A lady I work with asked me today if I'm taking classes this summer, and as always I said "No, I just finished my degree, I'm transferring in the fall to another school." Delighted as anyone I've ever seen, she offered a buoyant "Congratulations" followed by, "Does anyone know? Does anyone here know? Did you celebrate it?" Casually, I said no. And to my great surprise, I found myself getting lectured about what a wonderful accomplishment it is to have gotten my Associate's and "how could I NOT celebrate it?" She then made me promise, with witnesses present, that I do something to celebrate my "wonderful" accomplishment; be it a short trip or material items. Looking into the pleading, unbelieving face of my extremely kind, wise and adorable co-worker, I tried to explain that I bought a new CU shirt (from work, of course) since I'm transferring to UCD, to make it official- at least to me. But it wasn't good enough. She scoffed at my shirt and wouldn't take anymore of my casual "It's no big deal" attitude until I finally promised that I would find something to consider a celebration, and tell her about it. Oh, and she even gave me a deadline: "You have all summer"... well played. 

The truth is, I thought for an entire 5 minutes about whether or not to have a party for my... graduation? continuation? and decided against it because I wasn't sure that I would have the time, money or energy. And even now I only mildly regret it. Because, at the end of the day, the day I finally get my Master's degree and accomplish all the things I want to for myself, will be the day worth celebrating. Until then, the days and steps run together, and my many goals pile up; but at the top of the list: enjoy summer. 

 

"But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." -Robert Frost