bookswap

yes, it's time. 

I got the email today.

did you?

I'll be mailing my book (complete with inscription) to a lovely lady.

I'm so looking forward to reading all the inscriptions & book titles that we have all come up with.

You can read them too, or read about the bookswap hosted by Kateigh.

{poprocks} book swap

Yes, ladies & gentlemen,

it's here.

FINALLY.

{poprocks} book swap ♥

Not only will you be swapping books with some of the sweetest people on the planet...

 for every person that joins the swap

Kateigh - the oh-so sweet lady that she is -

will be donating a book to a local children's shelter.

PS - check her out here and join in on her January fun.

{poprocks} & photographs: book swap

while I breathe, I hope

Okay.. So just an update on my progress for Africa -

I've had a few setbacks, but still breathing (and according to math logic & my favorite mantra, that means I still have hope).

I've had to push out my departure date for Tanzania from February 19th to March 19th.  I wasn't and am not happy about it, but over the holiday (where I had oh-so-much fun with these girls (Jac & Kateigh), I misplaced my wallet.  Oh yes, I did.  And not in a great place apparently.

I misplaced it (my mom always told me that I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached) and now am missing some of my plastic.  Superb, right?  Yeah.  Freakin Great.  Well, I did manage to call and cancel the cards before too much was taken, but the specific card that was taken I was using for my airline ticket... with all of my airline miles.  So now, I must wait.  I must wait for a new account number to be issued, the new card to be sent, and activated and all of my points to be transferred.

All that being said, I contacted my program manager at CCS and we moved the dates - I'm still doing the full 12 weeks so I'll be back in June instead of May.. which doesn't really matter at this point.

I've been really slack on commenting the last couple of weeks with the holidays and this last fiasco, but I'm catching up, I promise!

 

a decade of my life is gone, this is what stands out...

I've been reading in on JenRem's Blog and she's pretty amazing, you should go read up if you don't already...  Thanks to Kateigh for leading me to her!

I sent over my last decade list to her, but also decided to post it on my own little blog for your viewing pleasure.  This is my summation of my last decade in my own little bubble.

♥ fell in love for the first time.

♥ graduated high school & earned my associates degree.

♥ learned to play tennis at tryouts, and went to Nationals with my college team.

♥ beat up a man for picking on my little sister.

♥ had my heart broken for the first time, but not the last.

♥ ran up thousands in credit card debt and then paid it all off.

♥ had a summer romance with a boy I met on a train to NYC.

♥ learned enough about cars to not get ripped off by a mechanic.

♥ gave a second chance, then walked away from a toxic relationship forever.

♥ realized that I have a fear of committment, and I'm okay with it for now.

♥ worked as a babysitter, a tutor, a wench, a pharmacy & photolab technician, a waitress, a fairy (no joke, wings and all), a receptionist, a records specialist at a college , a cashier in a tattoo/piercing parlor, a maid, a mad scientist (I taught rocket science to 5 year olds), a lifeguard (and saved a life) and an insurance broker.

♥ got four tattoos.

♥ became really good friends with my mom.

♥ my hair has been purple, blonde, black, red, permed, straight, short, and back to normal.

♥ let my stubborn self stay out of touch with my sister, my Dad, and two of my best friends.

♥ got over myself, was honest with each of them, and we are stronger for it.

♥ lived in four different abodes, wound up back with my Dad, and I'm okay with it for now.

♥ fell in love... with shoes

♥ made new friends, and kept the old (one is silver and the other is gold)

♥ lost my grandfather, two great uncles, two aunts, a cousin, a grandmother and a godmother.

♥ gained a brother in law, a nephew and a niece.

♥ hit rock bottom, picked myself back up.

♥ left a career after five and a half years.

♥ started a blog.

♥ watched one of my best friends marry her best friend.

♥ signed up to go to Tanzania for 12 weeks to volunteer.

♥ decided to choose faith over fear.

Kreativ Blogger Award!

Alright, so here's me in a few photos.  They are in no particular order...

My favorite corner in my room.. Pictures of my family & friends. Books galore:

Demitasse cups with teeny little shoes & french words on them.

I also have a thing for pretty glass containers.

And a strange love for hatboxes, huge mirrors & tiffany lamps.

Original artwork by Your's Truly...

charcoal sketching

turpentine wash

I love getting post from anyone, but I always keep cards from my besties.  The one on the left is from JacPfef, my lovely little sister and the one on the right is from my bestie, Allisen.

So with those little photos into my own little life, I'm tagging you seven to show us all 7 things in your life/home/space that show who you are or what you are all about:

Jennifer, Christie, Banu, Anna, Jamie, JacPfef, Kate

the road to hell was paved with good intentions

Or so I've been told.

You can have the best intentions in the world, but if you don't keep your eyes on the bigger picture, you will probably find yourself saying to your besties, "where are we going?  And why are we in this handbasket??" 

I've mostly lived my short young life as it came to me.  I've appreciated the people & situations that have graced my life as they were and had never thought that I should have any sort of expectations.  Who am I to think that I should choose what I do, where I go, and with whom I am friendly with.   I've felt lost for a long time.  I didn't even know it.  It wasn't until I started writing, reading, painting again that I really felt it.  It's sort of been an emotional battle for me the last few months that I've been working through all of this.  And I am not an emotional person.  I am not the girl that cries... except, recently I have been.  My dear friends that have been going through this with me, sometimes just by leaving me alone (thanks for your patience, PS), I cannot and do not know if I will ever be able to thank you enough.  Well, how much I've been missing out on.  It all started that day that my dear Lisa kindly reminded me who I was and pushed me back on track.

I am important.  I have worth.  And it's my life.

My first new intention is to not forget those words.  To repeat them to myself daily if need be.  Until they have become permanently ingrained in my mind.

I'm going to start with some daily intentions.  I'll work my way up from there.  Please feel free to offer advice.  I may not take it... but advice given, is always heard and appreciated.  Also, Jac has been so kind as to redecorate my banner and I'm working on updating my site.  So I guess that my first list of intentions will be as such:

Thursday (not necessarily in this order):

1 - update page with some more fun stuff

2 - Kreativ Blogger Award posting (thanks again Jac, and now Kate too)

3 - put up & decorate the Christmas tree (my last one here at home)

4 - read my new book - "The Gospel According to Coco Chanel" ( ♥ her)

#6 - get to JFK

- Recap -
List of things to do this week:

1 - visit family
2 - visit the Tanzanian embassy for my visa's
3 - photo shoot with Jac
4 - spend time with good friends
5 - pack for cali
6 - figure out how to take a train to JFK

#5 - How do you take the train to JFK? No idea. I thought that grown-ups knew how to do these things, you know, get to the airport on your own... yeah, no. As it turns out, if you're really a grown up, you can just ask one of your good friends to drive you. It doesn't matter that it's a drive through NYC and a long one at that... they have to... because it's what friends do. In my case, because I have a sister (well, only one in the area), I ask her to take me and she is mandated by the sisterly code of conduct to agree. And be happy about it.

As Katie pointed out at Jac's dinner party, sister's really are amazing. They are basically second or third hands when you need something and they will always be there. Whether it's an ice cube for your glass of wine, eggs for the brownie mix, or an hour & a half drive to the airport... she's always going to be right there.

So how do you take the train to JFK? I don't know. Jackie drove.

#4 - spend time with good friends

- Recap -
List of things to do this week:

1 - visit family
2 - visit the Tanzanian embassy for my visa's
3 - photo shoot with Jac
4 - spend time with good friends
5 - pack for cali
6 - figure out how to take a train to JFK

#4 - Spent loads of time this week with amazing people. I've basically just gotten a good dose of awesome over the last week. Obviously, the family time is included in this.

Jac & I went up to Albany to visit Allisen for a mid-week dinner. She'll be back Friday night for our family dinner before I leave for California. And by family dinner, I do of course mean that it's a celebration for Jackie's housewarming/Allisen's birthday/Carrie goes to California.

In addition to that, spent lots of time with Jac&Kate. No, it's not a typo, they are not sold separately. It's a package deal when you get one, you get both. And I love it. For this reason especially... Only good things happen in Wal*Mart at midnight...








More to come as I finish up my list....