Day 30 of 30 days of me

day 30- Why did you decide to do this challenge

Well, this challenge was one heck of an experience. I have never really done well with updating my blog, so this really was a challenge in that respect. But my reasons for doing this are pretty simple:

I was bored.

I wanted to write.

It sounded like fun.

Glad I did.

End of story. :)

Day 29 of 30 days of me

day 29- In this past month what have you learned

I've learned that writing for 30 straight days is very difficult! There is so much about myself that I never really admitted to myself until I wrote it down. My personality traits, how I have changed in the past year, what I fear, etc.

I think this challenge was kind of a jump start for me. I wondered how I would be able to handle writing all the time...and I found that I really enjoy just writing little tidbits here and there. Maybe I would have some success as an online editor/writer for a company. I'm not really sure, but this blog experience has me definitely considering that option.

As you can tell from reading my blog, my writing style is very informal. Of course, I can write lots of fluff and with a tad of flourish with the best of them, but I like to think of my writing as a conversation with someone...perhaps myself. I don't really like to make things complicated; in my opinion, it just turns the reader off to whatever you happen to be writing.

I'm not sure where this blog will take me, or if it will help with any kind of a job, but I did discover myself a little bit in the process. I love to write and read. Even if there is no one else out there actually reading this mess of a blog, it doesn't matter to me really. I like blogging for myself, and if others want to read and share their opinion, the more the merrier!

Day 28 of 30 days of me

day 28- A picture of you from last year and now...how have you changed since then.

January of 2010, Me near the red carpet at the Invictus premiere in London

December 2010...close to a year.

The physical difference is minimal, but the difference between me then and now is so significant it is difficult to describe. Before I went to Europe, I never knew how to be confident in myself. I became an independent young woman through the freedom I experienced while living and working in London.

Not only was this change noticeable to me, it was visible to my parents and friends. I think I carry myself differently now. I'm still quiet and often shy, but I present myself with a more confident attitude. I can attribute almost all of these changes to study abroad. It is the adventure for which I am the most grateful that I had the opportunity to experience.

Day 27 of 30 days of me

day 27- A page of favorites

This could take awhile...and don't forget, this is not a complete list. If it were, it probably would be pages long. Actually, I probably would never finish...

Quotes:

• "A room without books is like a body without a soul."
• "The world is a book and those that do not travel read only a page." -St. Augustine
• "Those without humor are at the mercy of the rest of us."
• "You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” -Samuel Johnson
• "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

Movies:

                              

Some others include Emperor's New Groove, Harry Potter movies, Shrek, almost all of the Disney movies, 10 Things I Hate About You, and The Dark Knight.

Books:

I was having problems adding the covers to the movies I liked, so I'm not going to attempt for books...

• Harry Potter Series
• Ella Enchanted
• Northanger Abbey
• Night
• Twilight Series
• Phillipa Gregory books
• The Last Lecture
• The Great Gatsby

Television:

• Big Bang Theory
• LOST
• Glee
• True Blood
• So You Think You Can Dance
• Friends

Activities:

• Volleyball
• Reading
• Writing
• Photography
• Editing
• Playing board games
• Laughing

Food:

• Cheeseburger
• Caesar Salad
• Chicken Marsala
• Mushroom Ravioli
• Cheeseburger Chowder
• Green bean casserole
• Potato skins w/ chicken
• Chocolate
• Carrots

Okay, now I'm hungry.

Day 26 of 30 days of me

day 26- What do you think about your friends

I feel like this is a weird question. What kind of person would get on and blog about how much they hate their friends? Why would you keep them around if you didn't like them?

I love my friends. They mean everything to me because not only are they the most supermegafoxyawesomehottest friends on the planet, they are also the most funny, kindest, most amazing people I know (if you catch that reference to AVPM...and you know what that stands for, then you are totally awesome). I am the kind of person that believes you should surround yourself with the kind of people you would like to be.

They teach me something about myself almost daily, they build me up when I'm down, and they make me laugh until it hurts. The people with whom I choose to surround myself challenge me, in a good way, and I know that they are there for me when I need them. I should thank God everyday for giving me the chance to be friends with them. Or that they picked me to be friends with. All of them are special to me, and I don't know what I would do without them.

Day 25 of 30 days of me

day 25- What I would find in your bag/purse/wallet

Lots of things. I'm one of those girls that like to carry around massive purses, and then I stuff them full of stuff I don't really need with me. I will have my wallet and cell phone at least. I normally carry chapstick with me. Sometimes my camera may be in my bag.There are times when I have a book in there, just in case. I almost always have a pen and some scratch paper...mostly in the form of tons of receipts that I never get rid of.

I have some Ibuprofen with me a lot of the time because I am in need of it playing volleyball all the time! I have a gift card in my purse now for a hair salon...a few coins floating around on the bottom...sometimes I have some makeup in there. A lot of pony tail holders are just jumbled in that mess. There are many times that my bag resembles Mary Poppins' bag. Just a whole bunch of goodies!

Day 24 of 30 days of me

day 24- Give a bucket list

Wow...this could be a really long list. In no particular order:

• Travel around the world
• Take a hot air balloon ride
• Get married
• Have a family
• Skydiving/bungee jumping (yeah, I still have to convince myself to follow through on these)
• Ring in the New Year at Times Square
• Celebrate a Christmas at Disney World
• Visit all 50 States (Over half down!)
• Become an book editor
• Have my own library in my house
• Go back to London
• Go on a cruise
• Visit every continent (Antarctica may be out of the question...)
• See all of the Wonders of the World
• See the Northern Lights
• Get a dog!
• Learn how to dance
• Swim under a waterfall...just because I can
• Go snorkeling
• Fly in a helicopter
• Fly first class...just once
• Name a star...even with those silly kits that you can buy online
• See/do something that will change my life

So some of these may be a little lofty, but I don't really care. Go big or go home, right?

Day 23 of 30 days of me

day 23- Something you crave for a lot

This is a pretty easy one. There are a lot of physical things that I crave for, but also emotional needs that I think most people crave. I am going to try to make this short otherwise you could be reading this for a very long time. Here are a few things that I crave:

Chocolate
I'm a huge fan of chocolate. Doesn't really matter if it's milk, dark, white, swirl, rainbow, or invisible. I still want it. I think many girls are like this. Must be all that PMSing guys are so fond of.

Success
I want to be able to make a living for myself after I graduate. I want to do something worthwhile...something I enjoy doing. After I have worked so hard in college, I hope to be able to get to one of my major goals in life: become a book editor. I don't want to define my life by this one thing, but if I could make something of myself and use my degree then I would be very happy.

Acceptance
I think this is something everyone has wanted at some point in their life. When I was younger, I was never really a part of the "popular" group. But, I was never really a part of the "nerdy" group either. I had friends on both sides of the spectrum. So, I was never really accepted into either group. And, to some extent, I think that's how it is for me today.

Love/Friendship/Happiness
I'm lucky enough to have some amazing people in my life love me. I have great friends and family and without them I could never be happy. It really is the small things in life that matter. I hope I never forget that.

Day 22 of 30 days of me

day 22- What makes you different from everyone else

I'm not going to lie; this is a tough one. In reality, there are almost seven billion people on this earth (6.89 billion to be exact). Try to wrap your head around that number. Someone is bound to share every single one of my "unique" qualities. But, I guess I can list off a few qualities that have been mentioned to me over the years that I think make me...well, me.

Sarcasm
Yeah, probably not the best quality ever, but it takes a lot to maintain my sarcastic attitude. I'm pretty proud of it. I've always told people that it is my second language. If you don't like it, well, too bad. It's my sense of humor, and it shapes what I think is funny, who I think is funny, and how I torture people with my verbal prowess.

Confidence
I always thought this was a strange compliment to give me, but I have heard it numerous times in relation to volleyball and most recently, after I came back to the States from Europe. I never really think of myself as confident, but I try to portray it as much as possible. I believe that if you can fake it, you can make it. I came back from Europe with a new sense of self. I became aware of what I was capable of in my own life. I don't need someone to guide me anymore because I am grown up. Well, I'm sure there are things mommy and daddy are still good for. :) Confidence is key. It is easy to distinguish someone lacking in confidence and that affects the way people view you. It isn't something you are born with, but it can be acquired. Just learn to love yourself.

Shyness/Modesty
It is probably in the definition of "modest" that writing that you are modest makes you the exact opposite of modest, but in my situation it is absolutely true. Writing this blog post has been difficult for me because I don't really like to talk about my good qualities. I'm hard on myself, and I know it. Taking compliments has always been a struggle, but I have learned to accept them over the years. I think it goes hand in hand with how shy I can be. Around people I know pretty well, I can be Miss Chatty Cathy, but around those that I do not know, I am as quiet as can be.

Pessimist
Not a good quality, but a characteristic nonetheless. This is definitely something that I need to work on. I like to think that I try to be an optimist, but in reality, I am so a glass half empty kind of person. I never really noticed this about myself until a friend of mine pointed it out. Since then, I have been trying to work on it. And, I think I have had some success. I now recognize when I'm being a bit of a downer and try to fix the situation.
 
Laughter
I think I will end on this one. I. love. to. laugh. This is partially why I am so sarcastic because I get to laugh. I can laugh at myself when I deserve it. I laugh at people I know and love (kind of makes me sound like an asshole, but the laughing is always well deserved, I assure you). And, I love laughing with people. It's good for your abs. It's great for your happiness. And it's even better for your soul. If I get laughing lines when I'm older, I will sport them proudly because that just means I know how to live a little. A quote that my dad has at the end of his e-mails fits this category perfectly: "Those without a sense of humor are at the mercy of the rest of us."

Day 21 of 30 days of me

day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy



Well, there are a lot of things that make me happy, so I'm going to try to find pictures to put words to my happiness.

This picture isn't mine (Taken by Ashely W.), but it portrays a huge aspect of my life: volleyball.



London. Europe. Enough said.

Me and my boyfriend, Curt, on New Year's Eve.

My friends! Jumping for joy! :)

I would add a picture of my family, but I don't really have a very good one. But there are a lot of things that make me happy like reading, writing, listening to music, hanging out with friends and family, watching movies, going for walks....I just don't have pictures for all of those.

Day 20 of 30 days of me

day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying or being with in the future

Believe it or not, I am older now than my mother was when she got married to my father. It is actually a bit of a creepy thought because I don't even want to think about marriage until I graduate. But, since the question asks (and I'm going to be vague)...

When I was little, I always imagined I would marry Prince Charming. Disney just plays into little girls' fantasies about how they all deserve to be treated like princesses and marry a handsome prince. Unfortunately, I never thought about the short supply of princes. I do not think that there are many girls that have no imagined their wedding day at some point in their life. But, what most girls imagine is the dress, the flowers, the colors, the cake, their wedding song...basically, the easy stuff. The hard thing to imagine is the guy waiting down at the end of the aisle.

For a long time, that face at the end of a long aisle in a massive church with a ton of white flowers and amidst hundreds of guests was blurry or an idealized version of an actual person. A prince. And I'm not saying every girl shouldn't be treated like a princess, but it is just unrealistic. Of course, I want the best for myself. I feel like the person I'm meant to be with will be my Prince Charming just not the Cinderella-like version.

And I'm not talking about a guy with a boat-load of money or that is devilishly, ridiculously, over-the-top handsome; I'm talking about the kind of guy who is sweet and that makes you feel special and loved just the way you are. I want to be able to be with someone who understands my sense of humor and can dish it right back. Or the kind of guy that laughs at how ridiculous I'm being at any given moment. Someone who tells you not just what you want to hear, but what you need to hear. Someone who knows when something is wrong...even if they don't know exactly what's wrong. You know the cheesy song line, "all you need is love?" Well, that's just a little bit true.

I'm basically describing the so called "nice guys" of the world. Wake up, boys! Most girls want nice guys...they just don't know it.

It's not too much to ask for, is it? ;)

Day 19 of 30 days of me

day 19- Nicknames you have and why you have them

This is an extremely easy one because I have no nicknames. My name can be shortened to Chels. My mother calls me 'C' because my name starts with that letter. My brothers have come up with some great ones over the years..."sister," "loser," "weirdo," "butt-face" (yeah, we really are a creative family). Sadly, my nicknames are lacking.

Day 18 of 30 days of me

day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have

I know that there is a bucket list day coming up, so I will try to stay away from that territory. Here are some of my goals within the next 10 years:

• Graduate with at least cum laude honors
• Get married
• Have a family
• Get a job...preferably in the book publishing field
• Have a house
• Get a car
• Find out what I really want out of my life (this one would be a great one to figure out very soon)

Day 17 of 30 days of me

day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why

This one was very difficult to come up with just one answer. I always thought it would be really interesting to switch lives with a celebrity for a day. What kind of stuff do they deal with? Do they really enjoy their life? But that really wouldn't be very practical for me in the long run. I get to be pampered for a day, and then I go back to my real life knowing that my life will never have that kind of luxury. What a letdown.

I'm going to be a little vague with this answer, but I think I would want to switch places with someone that has a job similar to what I want mine to be. Yes, a little boring. But, I want to know if I am going in the right direction, and unfortunately, I can't really back out of my major now...not unless I want to go to school for another few years (and I really don't want to do that). I would want to find a successful editor at a publishing house and do their job for the day. I just wonder if I have what it takes to become an editor and if I made the right decision. That is something that truly terrifies me.

Day 16 of 30 days of me

day 16- Another picture of yourself

So, I'm not crazy. I just hate static in the winer time. Okay, maybe I am a little crazy...

Day 15 of 30 days of me

day 15- Put you iPod on shuffle...first 10 songs that play

1. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (Veggie Tales)
2. All Revved Up With No Place to Go (Meat Loaf)
3. Eyes on Fire (Blue Foundation)
4. Can't Help Falling in Love (Michael Buble)
5. Electricity (Billy Elliot)
6. Far Away (Nickelback)
7. Jingle Bell Rock (Randy Travis)
8. My Friends (Sweeny Todd)
9. That's What You Get (Paramore)
10. Riot (Three Days Grace)

Well, I've got a pretty good mix there. You can see my musical tastes are pretty eclectic.

Day 14 of 30 days of me

day 14- A picture of you and your family

Okay, so we don't have a recent picture. The closest I can get is about 4-5 years ago. Not the best picture ever, but here's the gang!

Day 13 of 30 days of me

day 13- A book you are reading now and why you like it

Right now, I'm reading Emma by Jane Austen. I haven't gotten through very much of it, but I have seen the movie.

I really enjoy Austen's works. I loved Northanger Abbey and Pride and Prejudice, so I figured another classic was in order. I really like the carefree spirit of her heroine, Emma. Although she is naive and thinks herself quite the matchmaker, her confidence in her abilities is still something that many women wish they had.

So far, so good. If you want to read a review of a book I just finished a little bit ago, click here.

On a side note, happy 20th birthday to my younger brother, Justin! I hope it is spectacular!

Day 12 of 30 days of me

day 12- How you found out about blogger and why you have one

This is a pretty easy one. When I was leaving for Europe, I wanted a way to communicate to everyone back home without having to repeat my adventures to every single person. So, I looked up different kinds of blogs and settled on blogger. It is really user friendly, and I'm really glad that I chose it.

I keep one now just for my own amusement. I gets me working on my social networking skills even if no one really reads it. I like to review books I've read and movies I've seen, so this is a good way to express that.

Day 11 of 30 days of me

day 11- Another picture of you and your friends

Again, I couldn't pick just one...

Deanna, me, Liz, and Amy before the tour of the Capitol (Washington D.C.)

Juniors jumping on the beach (Maryland)

Liz, Rachel, and me dressed up to go out