When I was a little girl, my dad used to play a game where he'd take a turn he didn't know just to do something a little different. I'm sure he thought it would bring out the adventurous side of me, but I was always terrified that we'd get lost forever. I never really made it known to Dad so he probably never knew and therefore had no reason to stop playing this game. He knew the area I grew up in really well and he was always interested in learning more ways the roads connected. He is the best at detouring whenever we hit traffic.
When I started driving, Dad and I used to drive for hours and hours. Back when gas wasn't that expensive. We started by driving the routes I was already familiar with and slowly Dad pulled out my adventurous side by having me take turns I didn't know so I could learn how to deal with detours and getting lost. We never had a map on us, just our combined knowledge of the highways and roads in the area. It was really scary for me at first, but I started learning the roads really well. And I started memorizing roads. Eventually, I started looking at maps to enhance my local geographical knowledge. I would experiment with different routes to get to and from almost everywhere.
When I started working full-time a few years ago, I started traveling pretty often for work and I had to learn to adapt to new places because I was often alone in a new city. I had to get over any lingering fears of getting lost by glancing at a map and figuring out which major roads I would be near so that I'd eventually run into something familiar. I do drive with a map in unfamiliar areas, but I have lost all of my fears in terms of directions and getting lost. I quickly memorize routes and I could probably still drive some of the cities that I haven't visited in a long time. I've even become one of the most knowledgeable of my close friends in terms of everything that's near home.
And it all started with my dad's strange little game when I was little.
Monday, November 2, 2009
20 Questions
I found this on a few different blogs, so I copied it. I also cannot sleep tonight. :)
1. What is your favorite thing to snack on while you are blogging?
I don't have a specific blogging snack, but I do enjoy salty snacks pretty much all the time.
2. What is one thing you wouldn't want to live without?
Aside from Jesus? Probably access to a fantastic library system.
3. Beach, Mountains, or Farm? Where would you live?
Farm in the moutains. Oh, wait, that's pretty much where I'm going to settle down. :)
4. What is your least favorite household chore?
Taking out the trash.
5. Who do people say you remind them of?
The only person I can think of was the time a friend said I remind him of Felicia Day.
6. Parties and socializing or staying home with the family?
Home. But I also like to host smaller type gatherings.
7. What's your all time favorite movie?
The Rocketeer. It's been my favorite since I was about 6.
8. Do you sleep in your makeup or remove it every night?
Sometimes I sleep in makeup, but I don't wear makeup all that often. So the days I forget are pretty few and far between.
9. Do you have a hidden talent or a deep desire to learn something that you've never had a chance to learn?
I don't know that I have any hidden talents, but there are several things I'd like to learn: photography and how to read a bit faster (without losing retention), for example.
10. What's one strange thing you are really good at?
I can adapt pretty well to most situations, even though I'm really shy.
11. What first attracted you to your spouse?
He's not my spouse yet, but I'm not sure what attracted me to him first. I did notice that he was the only person in the room outgoing enough to talk to me (I'm so shy that I have a really hard time meeting new people, and most of the rest of the people in that room share that trait with me). And that his smile was incredibly genuine.
12. What is something you love to smell?
clean laundry, homemade peanut butter fudge, and gasoline (not all together, obviously)
13. Tell something about you that you know irritates people?
I tend to want to fix everything.
14. When you have extra money, what's the first thing you do with it?
Get married/build a house
15. Are you a silent laugher or loud laugher?
Both, depending on how comfortable I am. Silently when I'm nervous, loudly any other time.
16. Where is your favorite place to shop?
Ann Taylor/Ann Taylor LOFT and Barnes & Noble (although I've banned myself from shopping at both places for the time being)
17. Whats one thing you would do more often if you had more time?
Read and/or work out
18. Are you a big spender or frugal?
Naturally I'm a big spender. But I have taken certain measures to make me a lot more frugal.
19. Who is your favorite character of all time?
I have absolutely no idea.
20. Would you want to be famous?
No. Definitely not.
1. What is your favorite thing to snack on while you are blogging?
I don't have a specific blogging snack, but I do enjoy salty snacks pretty much all the time.
2. What is one thing you wouldn't want to live without?
Aside from Jesus? Probably access to a fantastic library system.
3. Beach, Mountains, or Farm? Where would you live?
Farm in the moutains. Oh, wait, that's pretty much where I'm going to settle down. :)
4. What is your least favorite household chore?
Taking out the trash.
5. Who do people say you remind them of?
The only person I can think of was the time a friend said I remind him of Felicia Day.
6. Parties and socializing or staying home with the family?
Home. But I also like to host smaller type gatherings.
7. What's your all time favorite movie?
The Rocketeer. It's been my favorite since I was about 6.
8. Do you sleep in your makeup or remove it every night?
Sometimes I sleep in makeup, but I don't wear makeup all that often. So the days I forget are pretty few and far between.
9. Do you have a hidden talent or a deep desire to learn something that you've never had a chance to learn?
I don't know that I have any hidden talents, but there are several things I'd like to learn: photography and how to read a bit faster (without losing retention), for example.
10. What's one strange thing you are really good at?
I can adapt pretty well to most situations, even though I'm really shy.
11. What first attracted you to your spouse?
He's not my spouse yet, but I'm not sure what attracted me to him first. I did notice that he was the only person in the room outgoing enough to talk to me (I'm so shy that I have a really hard time meeting new people, and most of the rest of the people in that room share that trait with me). And that his smile was incredibly genuine.
12. What is something you love to smell?
clean laundry, homemade peanut butter fudge, and gasoline (not all together, obviously)
13. Tell something about you that you know irritates people?
I tend to want to fix everything.
14. When you have extra money, what's the first thing you do with it?
Get married/build a house
15. Are you a silent laugher or loud laugher?
Both, depending on how comfortable I am. Silently when I'm nervous, loudly any other time.
16. Where is your favorite place to shop?
Ann Taylor/Ann Taylor LOFT and Barnes & Noble (although I've banned myself from shopping at both places for the time being)
17. Whats one thing you would do more often if you had more time?
Read and/or work out
18. Are you a big spender or frugal?
Naturally I'm a big spender. But I have taken certain measures to make me a lot more frugal.
19. Who is your favorite character of all time?
I have absolutely no idea.
20. Would you want to be famous?
No. Definitely not.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Show Us Your Life - Talgates and Favorite Teams
I've never participated in this before. But today is possibly the best day for me to start. Kelly over at Kelly's Korner hosts Show Us Your Life every Friday. This week is Tailgates and Favorite Teams. I regret that I do not have any pictures right now.
As far as professional sports, because I grew up in Philadelphia and still live nearby, I have to support every Philadelphia team. I'm especially excited about the Phillies because of how well they are doing this year (and last year). But my boyfriend Josh got me into the Steelers last year, and my grandmother who's from Pittsburgh area is thrilled.
As far as college sports, I blame my boyfriend for getting me into WVU football. This evening, I purchased tickets for the game against Connecticut in two weeks. This is my first college football game, and I am so fortunate to be able to take my boyfriend and his father. They are two of my very favorite people, and they are both WVU fans. I am so excited. I am going to have to get myself some blue and gold to wear. :)
As far as professional sports, because I grew up in Philadelphia and still live nearby, I have to support every Philadelphia team. I'm especially excited about the Phillies because of how well they are doing this year (and last year). But my boyfriend Josh got me into the Steelers last year, and my grandmother who's from Pittsburgh area is thrilled.
As far as college sports, I blame my boyfriend for getting me into WVU football. This evening, I purchased tickets for the game against Connecticut in two weeks. This is my first college football game, and I am so fortunate to be able to take my boyfriend and his father. They are two of my very favorite people, and they are both WVU fans. I am so excited. I am going to have to get myself some blue and gold to wear. :)
Friday, October 9, 2009
Josh and I were walking around town last weekend and we ended up seeing the church he volunteered to help when he was a Boy Scout. He and several other boys laid the stone walkway through the graveyard maybe 10 years ago. I didn't take any pictures, but it was so nice for Josh to see that it's still in great condition. It was so peaceful in that little graveyard, and we're so glad we stumbled across that memory.
We also got some pictures of some ducks in the lake. My mom really likes mallard ducks, so I think I'm going to put together a small collage of pictures for her to hang next to her figurine collection. I had totally forgotten about that collection until just now. I used to climb up on the chair when I was little and play with the ducks whenever I could. Now I really have to do something with those pictures I took. I will also get around to posting the pictures once I find my cord to upload my pictures.
We also got some pictures of some ducks in the lake. My mom really likes mallard ducks, so I think I'm going to put together a small collage of pictures for her to hang next to her figurine collection. I had totally forgotten about that collection until just now. I used to climb up on the chair when I was little and play with the ducks whenever I could. Now I really have to do something with those pictures I took. I will also get around to posting the pictures once I find my cord to upload my pictures.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Countdown until Christmas
Not seeing Josh much these days due to physical distance between us has made me look for ways to keep busy. I found a link called 100 Days to Christmas and I'm working on this. I am creating my list for Christmas cards tonight. This is the earliest I have ever done this. I'm amazed, but it will help so much to be able to get this done before Christmas Eve. I started a few days late so I'm working my way backward. I probably won't have a binder, as I plan to do most of this online. But I'm guessing this will help a lot for keeping me busy and creative this fall. I look forward to having Christmas organized this year. :)
Anyway, here's the link: http://100daystochristmas.com/
Anyway, here's the link: http://100daystochristmas.com/
Monday, September 21, 2009
Tomorrow is the first day of autumn!
Today is my boyfriend's birthday, and I am excited. While we're going able to see each other tonight, we are going to meet for lunch tomorrow with a couple other friends. And tomorrow night we have a date. :)
Tomorrow is also the first day of the best season of the year: autumn. It's all about crisp air, crunchy and colorful leaves, the new fashions and sweaters, apple cider, pumpkins and pumpkin seeds, among other things.
And I'm officially terrible at a meal plan. I'm going through my shopping list now, and it looks like I can get stuff at 3 different stores.... It's a little overwhelming right now. But there are some great deals. I'm going past a bunch of these stores on my way home this week, so it's not like it will be hard to get to any of these or that I'd have to go out of my way and spend extra gas money. But choosing which stores to go to sometimes gets a little frustrating. But because I have virtually nothing in my current home, I kind of need to stock up a little. Trying to save money while doing it is a little bit of a challenge.
Tomorrow is also the first day of the best season of the year: autumn. It's all about crisp air, crunchy and colorful leaves, the new fashions and sweaters, apple cider, pumpkins and pumpkin seeds, among other things.
And I'm officially terrible at a meal plan. I'm going through my shopping list now, and it looks like I can get stuff at 3 different stores.... It's a little overwhelming right now. But there are some great deals. I'm going past a bunch of these stores on my way home this week, so it's not like it will be hard to get to any of these or that I'd have to go out of my way and spend extra gas money. But choosing which stores to go to sometimes gets a little frustrating. But because I have virtually nothing in my current home, I kind of need to stock up a little. Trying to save money while doing it is a little bit of a challenge.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Log Cabins
Okay, so my boyfriend does not live in a log cabin. But a lot of it is wood and it's absolutely amazing. I have not slept so well in the past 18 months as I did in this place last night. I even slept through a major thunderstorm where we lost power not once once, but twice. It's certainly the first time in the past 18 months that I've slept through the night without medication.
We decided that because I live two hours away from my client site and Josh is only an hour away it would be good to spend yesterday and today with him and his dad. So yesterday after work I drove up and then we went grocery shopping to make dinner. We decided to try something new: black beans, yams, and tomatoes in a tortilla. It turned out pretty well (especially when we added venison and onions to it today - yum!) and I'll probably make it again with some modifications. We also made chocolate chip cookies today, and oh my goodness they were delicious.
And then we watched The Hunt for Red October. It was pretty awesome. We also watched Clear and Present Danger. So it was kind of like a Tom Clancy movie weekend. I think I need to read his books. I really like the movies based on his novels.
Tomorrow I'm meeting up with Josh and another couple to carpool to church together and then have lunch. And then we're going to a movie with another friend. I think this is the beginning of a tradition to lunch together for free (we pack lunch so we can either eat at someone's house or we picnic) after church. I love the idea of having time with friends after church. It's really quite awesome to be able to have that kind of time together with everyone.
We decided that because I live two hours away from my client site and Josh is only an hour away it would be good to spend yesterday and today with him and his dad. So yesterday after work I drove up and then we went grocery shopping to make dinner. We decided to try something new: black beans, yams, and tomatoes in a tortilla. It turned out pretty well (especially when we added venison and onions to it today - yum!) and I'll probably make it again with some modifications. We also made chocolate chip cookies today, and oh my goodness they were delicious.
And then we watched The Hunt for Red October. It was pretty awesome. We also watched Clear and Present Danger. So it was kind of like a Tom Clancy movie weekend. I think I need to read his books. I really like the movies based on his novels.
Tomorrow I'm meeting up with Josh and another couple to carpool to church together and then have lunch. And then we're going to a movie with another friend. I think this is the beginning of a tradition to lunch together for free (we pack lunch so we can either eat at someone's house or we picnic) after church. I love the idea of having time with friends after church. It's really quite awesome to be able to have that kind of time together with everyone.
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