New Things

Somehow my sister and I managed to coordinate our schedules, along with the weather, and we were finally able to have a photo shoot of my costume a couple weeks ago.
It was a balmy 30-some degrees Fahrenheit and there was a nice, nearly fresh, thick blanket of snow on the ground.
I think my sister did a beautiful job with the photos. It was nearing sunset and we were losing light fast but she was able to get some really great shots. Amazingly, the only part of me that froze during the shoot was my hands. (Well, I was able to get away with wearing jeans, snow pants, and heavy shoes underneath but that's the beauty of having a hoop skirt - no one knows!)

In other news, I agreed to a trial run of dating my friend PBJ. You might remember him from this post. I guess I'll just have to call him J now that he's an actual boyfriend and no longer a pseudo-boyfriend.
Anyway, we'll see how it goes.

I love how the sky and woods look so purple!

Sitting in the snow

More sitting

Wandering through the woods

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.