The End of This Year and the Beginning of the Next

Well, 2015 is looming large and I am excited to know that I will be done with school this year and back on track with my SMC goals. I hope this coming year is a good one.

This past year I challenged myself to blog once per week, and in December I challenged myself to blog once per day. Now both challenges are over and done. There was only one week this year, in July, when I wasn't able to at least throw something up on the blog and that was due to my internet being out. Then in December I was late posting for one day because I worked late, joined a friend for a late dinner, and didn't get home until after midnight so I had to make up for it by posting twice the next day.

I have mixed feelings about the challenges. On one hand I'm glad I stuck it out and I'm proud of myself for having done so. On the other hand there were times it felt more like a chore and like I could have done better in regards to content.
But as I say goodbye to 2014 I thought I'd update on a few of the things I blogged about over the year.

• Scarf project - I'm still working on it but it's currently less than two feet long so progress has been fairly slow.
• Costume pictures - There are still no good pictures of me in the costume. Trying to coordinate my sister's schedule, my schedule, and the weather has proven difficult.
• My guy friend (PBJ) - We're still friends and things are still complicated.
• My summertime cough - I tested negative for whooping cough, yet I read somewhere that the cough associated with whooping cough can last for 12 weeks. Mine lasted from the third week in June to the middle of September - just about 12 weeks. My friend (PBJ) also had the same horrible cough, his also lasted about 12 weeks. I wonder if it was a false negative for whooping cough? If not I wonder what the hell we had.
• School - In for penny, in for a pound, right? I signed up for six classes next semester. I anticipate not having a lot of free time, but maybe this way I can end in the summer instead of next December - fingers crossed.
• Graduation Celebration Vacation - I still really want to do this but I'm still undecided about where to go, how much I can afford, and whether I really am brave enough to go it alone.

Finally I want to say a big, heartfelt THANK YOU!!! to all those who commented on my blog throughout this year. It really meant a lot to me and I wish I had had more time to personally answer each one.

Blog Challenge Day 30: One Thing You're Excited For

I'm excited for New Year's Eve game night. Every year we pass the time until midnight with board games and card games, and it's a great end to the holiday season. I wish we could have a game night once a week, or even once a month, but we all get so busy that game night only happens about a handful of times per year. But on New Year's Eve it's become a tradition. So, I look forward to the snacks and the desserts, the winning and the losing, the laughter and the fun times, as well as a brand new year.

Blog Challenge Day 29: Five Weird Things That You Like

1. When the clock reads 12:34.

2. When I'm driving really late at night and very few people are on the road because then I feel like some kind of apocalypse survivor (preferably the zombie apocalypse) and I can pretend I'm on a supply run in a (mostly) abandoned town.

3. The smell of my deodorant. I mean everyone should like the smell of whichever one they choose but I would be so sad if they discontinued this scent.

4. When the air is so cold that breathing in sort of freezes the inside of your nose. It's a weird feeling that I like for about one breath, then I'm quick to burrow into my scarf and breathe through that as much as possible.

5. Mayonnaise. Not because it's weird to like mayonnaise, but because I could eat it out of the jar, and that's probably weird.

Blog Challenge Day 28: Somewhere You'd Like to Move to or Visit

There are several countries in the world that I would love to visit; maybe I'd even consider moving to a few of them, but of all the countries I've never been to there is one which holds a special fascination for me. That country is Sweden.

Some of my ancestors came on the boat directly from there and I still have a few distant relatives that reside there to this day. Many of our family traditions, especially around the holidays, center on old Swedish traditions and I think it is for that reason that I feel more kinship with Sweden than I feel with any of the other countries my ancestors hail from.

So, while I don't know if I would ever move there (I barely speak a word or two of Swedish!), I would love to visit someday.

Blog Challenge Day 27: A Qoute You Try to Live By

As a perfectionist I tend to put things off worrying that it won't be perfect whenever I do get around to starting. I do this both for boring things like homework projects and for fun things like taking up drawing again. I just get so worried about things going wrong, or not feeling truly ready to start that I have to remind myself it's okay to not be perfect or not be completely ready. I just need to start from wherever I am and go from there, otherwise I'll never get to do the things I need and want to do.