Learning to Live

As we all know, yesterday was Thanksgiving. A day we've come to believe should be filled with gorging ourselves and remembering what we're thankful for. I get that. And I think it's cool. Really. Food, family, thankfulness, naps and football make for a beautiful day. But I think we forget to remember what we're thankful for every day. Every year we go around the table and say what each of us are thankful for. In the past answers have ranged from "the Wright brothers" to "toilets." This year we had some other interesting answers, "mermaids, rainbows, unicorns and fairies" and other thankful statements ending with "go Tigers" referring to our recent trip to the Metrodome.  However, there was one thing we constantly kept coming back to- family. Grandpa started it all when he said he was thankful for his nice, big family, "took two wives to get here but we made it." After that, we all came back to our fantastic family and ...

I know I blog about a lot of super cliché things like 100% of the time, but life is full of cliché messages we are supposed to pay attention to. Today was a pretty big day. Not only was it my half Birthday (only 1.5 years until the big 2-1!), but I signed a lease. I realize this is a normal thing for college students to do when they are trying to get off campus, but it just seems like this can't be real life. When did I get old enough to sign a lease? Am I really a sophomore in college? The weirdest thing about it all is the fact that I'm going to have my own room in a house that's not my parents... I don't know if I like the whole concept of buying myself food or paying for my utilities. I guess I have to accept the reality of it all though. Life is happening-fast. I often find myself saying, "I can't wait to be married" or "I want a baby right now." I find myself getting so caught up in the future that I forget about living in the now. And ...

I wasn't really they partying type in high school, none of my close friends were. Until one night when we all went to a Halloween party our junior year of high school. I wasn't there long enough to get trashed or have a super fun time, but I was there long enough for the cops to show up and kill the mood. Looking back, it seemed as though my life was over. I remember how devastated we all were about the fact that it had ruined our trust with our parents, some of our most anticipated sporting events, got us kicked out of NHS, teachers talking mad trash and for me -- getting kicked out of the musical. Some of us worked off our sporting suspensions, which seemed like the worst part after the fact. Hell, I ran track. And I am not a runner. We all went into Mr. Klaphake's office the next Monday with depressed and sullen looks that summed up our weekends. We all know what happened with each other that night and what happened in the office. And even though it seemed like our l...

Prayer. For those of us who are religious, praying seems to be a staple of our faith. For those who aren't, it means little. I am one of those people who considers myself to be a person of faith. Unfortunately, I often find myself getting caught up in the hustle and bustle around me and forgetting to take a moment to talk to God about all the great things he has done for me and is continuing to do. I often use college as an excuse for my lack of faith and prayer. But in reality, there is no excuse. And I really don't know why I don't make time to pray at the end of the day. It takes little effort to close my eyes and have a short conversation with God. But I typically prefer closing my eyes and sinking into a deep stage of sleep. I know that praying truly does make me feel better, but I can't figure out why I push it to the bottom of my never-ending to-do list. I think we all forget to thank God every morning we wake up alive. Actually, I know there's a huge lis...

I'm not typically a person of politics. Like when I ran for President in my college gov class, it was definitely not my thing. If you were there, you know what I'm saying- total disaster. But in my opinion, this whole idea of a marriage amendment shouldn't even be a political issue. It maybe be on the docket this November, but I don't think it's right.  This is a religious issue people. Ever heard of the separation of church and state? This is not an issue we need to be addressing on our polls this fall. Our country and society are slowly going to shit and this is what people want to focus on? Combined, both sides of this marriage amendment have raised over 10 million dollars. There are people in this world who can't afford a meal, and we are raising money for this? In all honesty, I believe that this proposed amendment is a way to get conservatives out to vote against democrats. It's a great idea. I'm still at the point in my life where I'm tryi...

I realize that this title may have you thinking what's the deal with learning? I hate learning. I hate school. I hate class. Well, you might be thinking that, but I'm not. Sure. Going to class sucks sometimes and homework is a real big bitch but I think we all forget about the bigger picture. I'm here to learn. I don't always want to learn, but that's what I'm here for. But those moments when I'm fascinated by something I've just discovered are moments I've learned to cherish. I hope I never lose this feeling. I've looked more things up in the dictionary this year than I probably have in my whole life. I'm obsessed with the the things I'm learning about. Maybe it's because it's something I'm actually interested in. I really do tend to geek out over English... and education... Whatevs. I think we forget about how fortunate we are to be in a country where we are forced to become educated. Now we are all at the point where ...

Today I asked my mom what she thought of my blog. "Well it shows your soft side." Not sure what exactly that's supposed to mean. I feel like me crying every other week of my life is pretty soft- but what do I know? Anyways, I feel like this shows how much my mom's opinion means to me. I've wanted her to read this from the beginning, but when she asked for the link last week I got super excited. I truly value what my mom has to say about the things I do and decisions I make in my life. My mom isn't the only person whose opinion matters to me though. I'm the type of person who needs the input of others regardless of what the decision is. But today my mom pointed something out to me and it really hit home. She told me she couldn't make every decision for me because it was up to me to make mistakes in my life and learn from them. Nothing could ever be more true. I've already made my fair share of mistakes, but there's always more to learn. While ...