Why I love sharpie:

While taking a drawing class in Italy I discovered my love for sharpie. It is so freeing. The quick movements of the pen and so precise and harsh against white paper – yet at the same time can be delicate and smooth. But more than anything I love the quickness. I don’t have to wait on mixing ink or smudging carcoal – I can just draw. I feel uninhibited and completely lost in a drawing.

I wish everyone could find that one activity that makes them feel that way. Completely separated from the world, and in peace with your own thoughts. It is definitely something to be treasured.

Here are some of the sharpie drawings I did in Italy. Enjoy.

How hulu ruined my life...

http://www.hulu.com/

When I first moved into my apartment I made the conscious decision not to put a tv in my room. Because honestly I don’t trust myself not to watch it 24/7. I am addicted and I knew if I didn’t make myself get up and walk into the other room to watch tv I would be screwed. I would never leave my bed.

Unfortuantely I forgot about Hulu. My favorite website. So much so that it actually my homepage on Safari. (pathetic I know) Hulu has turned me even lazier than I ever expected to be. In the morning, instead of getting up and getting ready and starting my day – I just turn over grab my computer and watch something on hulu. I tell myself that I need this 45 minutes to go from being asleep to awake – but in actuality – I am just plan addicted to Hulu. With as busy of a schedual as I keep – I rarely have the time to watch my 15 shows on the day and time they come on. So instead I lay around in the mornings and nights too lazy to get up and walk the five steps to my  tv (Where I could have set the DVR) and watch Hulu.

I might as well have had a tv in my room – but at the same time I feel even if I did. I would still be sucked into watching hulu on my computer.

We are a society of technology and a society that likes instant gratification and Hulu is fuelling my fire.

Although I am chastising myself for being addicted – I’ve added the link so I will not be alone. Get addicted. Lets lay in bed and watch together. 

Quizzes: getting to know yourself.

People are addicted to personal quizzes. What Disney princess are you? What type of shoe are you? What board game are you? What type of movie are you? All these ridiculous titles that suck people in by making them wonder…”Idk… what am I?” So people sit there mindlessly and go trhough 20 minute long quizzes just to see what forest animal they are – because in some way knowing will make my life better.

I am all for better understand yourself, but for some reason I don’t think that going through some quiz is the way to do it. Instead keep a journal, sit with just yourself and think. It’s not as scary as it sounds. If you take the time to get ahold of what is going on in your life and how you react you’ll be amazed at what you learn about yourself.

Don’t be afraid to know you. But I promise going through mindless quizzes is not where you will find your answers. 

http://quizilla.teennick.com/

A day in the life of a penny

Today I woke up in a wallet.  After several boring hours, I finally felt myself being transported. As I played around with my fellow nickels and dimes a cold hand removing me from the place I called home abruptly interrupted me. Now I had been transported to some sticky gross cash register at a convenience store in exchange for a pack of gum. Seriously? Is this what I am reduced to? But regardless I got to spend the next few minutes talking with some other pennies listening to their life story. It was amazing all that they had seen. Then again I was interrupted and taken from my new friends and put into the hands of some soccer mom getting her caffeine fix. At least her new wallet was a nice clean place for me to take a nap. Hours later I could hear her kids playing around her demanding they see me. Unsure what was going on, I got excited that someone actually wanted ME. But then as a little grubby hand was shoved into my new resting place and snatched me away – I realized something was terribly wrong. Then after a few seconds of this little kid mumbling something under their breath – I was hoisted in the air only to find myself drowning in some sort of fountain. I had never felt so wasted in my life. I had basically just been thrown away – left to sit and rust. Hours later after being left with my own thoughts while all the other lost pennies just lying lifeless next to me, a strange man reached in the water and grabbed a handful of us. He was dirty and very excited to have just gotten a few dollars worth of coins. As he darted towards the nearest store to buy some sort of junk food – I was then placed in yet another cold dark cash register. Fortunately I didn’t have to stay long before a nice little boy came and took me home. Exhausted from the day – I was worried where I would end up. And then I saw it. The shiny porcelain pig, that all pennies dream about. The place where we can sleep and talk and have fun with all our friends for extended periods of time, before finally being taken back to our first home – a bank. As I was dropped into the little slot on the top and clinked down with the rest of the coins I let out a sigh of relief. Even the most eventful day, could have a calm wonderful ending. 

The unexpected

Tonight I was rattling my brain to figure out what to write this blog about. I took a break to go to church, where I am a youth group leader for the senior high girls. Sitting there I realized how much these girls have impacted my life – which to me was a funny thought because that is exactly what I am there for. I am there to serve them and to help them grow as people. But unexpectedly I was the one changed. They impacted me in a way I didn’t think was going to happen. They have shown me unconditional trust and love and I will be forever be grateful.

This reminded me of all the unexpected things in life and how wonderful and beautiful something unexpected can be.

An A on a test when you thought you failed

The boy you like admitting he likes you to.

A rain storm in the middle of a drought.

A kiss that catches you off guard.

Things I want to do before I buy the farm

Write a book

Ride a motorcycle

Do a zip line in a rainforest

Get married and have a family

Go to law school

Finish a jigsaw puzzle of one solid color

Sleep in a tree

Learn to surf

Go to Prince Edward Island, Canada and see Green Gables from Anne of Green Gables

Go to Greece and paint the city

See the Louvre

See all the Smithsonian’s

Go white water rafting

Happily ride a roller coaster

Become fluent in Spanish
Sit front row at a Rock concert
Learn how to ballroom dance

Be involved in the production of a TV show or movie
Visit every state in the US
Swim in every ocean
Visit every vineyard in California
Road trip from California to New York

Build my dream house

Swim in a waterfall

Work with kids

Race a car on a racetrack

Bake a three-tired fondant cake

Make a difference

Puzzles

People and Jigsaw. I have a deep love for both. I love diving into the depths of a person. I love sitting at a coffee shop for hours getting to really know what a person is about and letting them get to know me. Everyone’s life is a fantastic story filled with drama and romance – happiness and sorrow. It amazes me how that contours a person’s life and their outlook on life. We all have a uniquely beautiful story and I think it is our job to tell them to others. That way we can learn and heal together.

Just like a jigsaw puzzle. The more time you spend with it the more pieces get put together until finally you see the beautiful picture in the end.

Just be careful not the tear it apart again.