2011 Recap. 2012 Hopes

One reason I started to blog was to remember what I did or where I was a year ago. I couldn't remember for the life of me what my years goals were and I went to look on my blog and BAM- there they were! I'm so glad I had them written down and now I can see if I've accomplished them.


2011 Bucket List
1. To finish off college with no C's. (I had all A's and B's this year!) - GO ME!
2. To get a job over the summer (I was a full time nanny to an adorable baby girl)
3. Travel outside the United States (I just recently went on a road trip with my cousin from Alaska through Canada back to Chicago!)
4. Go to Vegas- Not yet- but I'm keeping this on my list for 2012!
5. To student teach at a school (I like) in the NW suburbs (I got very lucky to be student teaching only 7 mies away!)
6. To stay true to who I am- I think someone can always keep working to improve themselves, therefore I'm not done with this one yet. :)
7. Visit my Grandpa again in Ohio -(we did visit my Grandpa on spring break thank goodness, but unfortunately he didn't make it to the holidays. :'( He passed away October 13th, 2011.)
8. Go on a Cruise- I'm keeping this on my 2012 bucket list as well.
9. Get a new phone - (goodbye old phone, hello iPhone!! I love it and could never go back to a 'regular' phone. I don't know what I'd do without my iPhone!)
10. And hopefully spend another holiday season with the boy :) -(I got to spend 4th of july with him again- does that count? lol. but unfortunately no I did not :( )
11. To be more confrontational when it's appropriate- This I can keep working on as well. It never hurts to try to be a better person.

My girlfriends and I on an ugly sweater train crawl! SO FUN!!

Without further to do my 2012 bucket list:
1. Go to Vegas (from my 2011 list)
2. To stay true to who I am (from my 2011 list)
3. Go on a Cruise (from my 2011 list)
4. Go back to our beach house
5. Find a job
6. Graduate :)
7. Read 10 books---this doesn't seem like a lot but I JUST started reading for enjoyment. I'm currently reading the Hunger Games trilogy! (SOOO GOOD!!)
8. Find an educational summer job
9. Continue taking sign language classes over the summer
10. Keep in touch with friends that matter and who have been there for me. (Some of my girlfriends have been not so nice lately and it upsets me.) I do however know that I have some friends that I don't have to talk to every single day and when we do talk it's right where we left off and I love that about some of my friends! :)


I hope everyone has a safe but fun new years! 

Christmas Time

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I sure did. Santa was very generous this year, so I can't complain at all.

My sister and I with our cousins and the dogs on Christmas Eve.

I was lonely though. I didn't like experiencing the holiday without a significant other. But my family and friends definitely helped me forget about that.

I found this website that I've fallen in love with. It's called divinecaroline.com ---i highly recommend it. I read this article by Katella Bliss. It is very well written and describes how I'm sure many people feel sometime in life. Here it is: (again, I did NOT write this and CANNOT get credit for it)

You

By: Katella Bliss (View Profile)

Sometimes it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one in the world who’s struggling, who’s frustrated, or unsatisfied, or barely getting by. But that feeling is a lie. And if you just hold on and find the courage and patience to face it all for another day, then in God’s time, not yours, someone or something will find you and make it all okay. Because we all need a little help sometimes and that’s a fact. Someone to help us hear the music in our world. Someone to remind us that it won’t always be this way, that it won’t always be dark cloudy skies, the sun will shine too after the rain. That someone is out there patiently waiting and that someone will find you in its own time and purpose.

Life is not easy for any of us. It is a continual challenge and battle of survival and it is up to us to be cheerful and to be strong, so that those who depend on us may draw strength from our example; for the greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing your heart. There is always a choice you have to make in everything that you do and you must always keep in mind that the choice you make . . . makes YOU.

Life isn’t a destination, it’s a journey. We all come upon unexpected curves and turning points. Everything that happens to us shapes who we are becoming. And in the adventure of each day, we discover the important things in life and why they are important. We realize that people who come our way have their purpose and that everything happens for a reason.

I believe that we are who we choose to be. Nobody’s going to come and save you, you’ve got to save yourself. You are not a responsibility of others; you are responsible for your own self. Nobody’s going to give you anything; you will work for it and earn the fruit of your labor. You’ve got to go out and fight for it. Nobody knows what you want except for you. And nobody will be as sorry as you are if you don’t get it. You cannot blame others for your failures and frustrations; they are not born in this world to live up to your desires, dreams, and wants in life. Remember always—it’s you who chooses what and where you stand right now. It depends on how you respond with people and situations. Whatever the consequences of your choices, you must be ready to face it all by yourself.

Don’t give up on your dreams. In the end, it’s not the years in our life that counts. It’s the life in our years.

Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/22090/120839-#ixzz1hfWRZ5ft


Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year! 

Oh Canada

I'm back home! The drive through Alaska and Canada went as smoothly as it could go! I saw gorgeous mountains, wild animals and went in some hot springs! (all the photos in this post are ones that either I or my cousin took!)

This will be a random post about Canada and what I learned while I was there. 

 The left hand stoplight signal blinks repeatedly when it's your turn to go and it just turns off when you can't.

They have a Boston Pizza's in almost every town we stopped in. We ate their once and it was alright. 

 One of the most popular gas stations in Canada is called 'Fas Gas'. I love it! It's such a fitting name especially down here especially in Chicago. People never say the 't' in Fast anyways and fas rhymes with gas! You can also SAVE money on gas! That was great!

 It was hard getting use to kilometers rather then miles. But my cousin and I noticed that in his car, they have both miles and kilometers on the MPH dashboard. If we saw a sign that said 100 km until the next gas station, we looked on the dashboard instead of converting it in our head and saw that 100 km is in the same spot as 60 miles. It was a lot easier.

 I wish I went to Canada when I was a child because almost EVERY hotel that was in a decently large city had a water slide or TWO! They even advertise it on the outside of the hotel building 'HOTEL' and next to it says "WATERSLIDES"! How awesome is that. I thought it was great publicity and good idea for kid friendly hotels.

 Camouflage was EVERYWHERE! I saw a family of 4 at a restaurant and the Dad, Mom, little girl and little boy were ALL wearing camp winter jackets! NO joke!

 Canada is very pretty! Until you start going more south in Alberta. haha

Some caribou!

Many gas stations along the Al-can highway and even remote highway throughout Canada, are also motels and tiny restaurants. We saw many truckers at the same motels we were at. One trucker came over to our car when we were getting ready to start our drive for the day and told us she just hit a caribou a little north of where we were staying and to be careful! It was scary. It's dark when you go to bed (gets dark about 4:00 pm) and it's dark when you wake up (8 am).

Sign Post Forest!

 People come from all over the world to post their hometown signs and there was one from the city right next to my home town! How neat is that!

 Don't worry---we pulled over and just watched this bison heard eat and walk across the road. They were not afraid of us or our car.

 THEY WERE HUGE!! And everywhere...

 Me in the hot springs! It was so hot, ALMOST too hot!

 We had to stop at a gas station/motel for gas one time right next to this lake called Muncho Lake. This dog comes walking up to us with his wagging tail and just sat down outside our car wanting to be pet. He was so cute. We found out he was the gas station/motel owner's dog. His name was Muncho and was so cute and friendly. I think he wanted to come home with us!

This sign was right out in front of the desk at a Super 8 we stayed at. It caught me off guard. I think they might have had some encounters for them to actually put a sign up about being respectful. Do you think this means that customers were rude? Or their clerks were rude, so therefore costumers were rude in return? hmmm....

 World's largest Easter egg. It was huge!

 This was our little caravan back to Chicago. My cousin had 3 bikes on top, 4 extra tires on top of the trailer and our suitcases and cooler were with us in the back of the SUV.

 Ahhh...and we couldn't go through Alaska without stopping at a Tim Hortons. In my opinion, they are better than Dunkin' Doughnuts! They're hot chocolate was also excellent!

2 days before I left for Alaska, my parents bought me this new (used) car!!! I'm in love AND my parents are THE best! I'll get great use out of it because I'll be student teaching everyday starting in January. It's a 2007 ford fusion!!

We're home safe and sound and it feels good to be back in my own bed! :)

Alaska Adventures...

Things I’ve Learned About Alaska:

The Valley is considered a place in which one lives. It’s not Anchorage, it’s north of Anchorage and consists mostly of the cities Palmer and Wasilla. If someone says they're from The Valley it means they're most likely from Wasilla or Palmer.

You can’t go out looking for animals because they’ll never come out, but, when you’re not looking you’re more likely to see them.

Calf

Mama

They have numerous coffee shops. I wouldn’t call them shops because the only person in there is the barista. They are drive through coffee shops and during morning rush hour they are ALL always busy!

Skiing is not the only thing you can do outside. People can snow shoe, mountain bike, hike, ice fish, sight see and snow mobile.

Whenever you leave the house (no matter where you are) you can see mountains in the distance. It's beautiful!!

12 degrees outside isn’t out of the norm. People up here get use to it pretty fast.

It get’s dark so early in winter that someone might be awake more when it's dark than light out.

(some moose on our way out of Alaska)

There are TWO military bases up in Anchorage.

People call the road the ‘PW’, which means the Palmer-Wasilla Highway

We are now in Canada. The Yukon to be exact. We just passed through Whitehorse and will be hitting the hot springs tomorrow around lunch time. I'll hopefully be back by next weekend...all depending on weather though.

The current ABC's of my life

No, not the actually alphabet, but those are the three things on my mind these days.

A-Alaska! I leave for Alaska in 3 days! I can't wait to get out of town for a few days and relax and explore places I've never been nor have I dreamed of going before. I'm still packing, slowly but surely. I just found out that Alaska Airline doesn't allow a bag to be checked. I need to bring a suitcase...a BIG one at that. I do need to bring hoodies, sweatpants, boots and jackets up there, so I think a big suitcase is a MUST.

B- The Boy. Oy- Where do I even start with him? We broke up about 3 weeks ago. It still sucks, but I'm still moving forward. It's just hard because he needs 'time' but I feel like he should know whether he wants to be with me or not...it shouldn't be a MAYBE answer- you either know or DON'T know. I deserve someone that KNOWS they WANT to be with me. My thought behind my whole process is to give him 2 weeks of no communication (while I'm in Alaska and Canada), it'll be hard to contact me anyways and see what happens when I get back. I already bough my NYE ticket to a bar The Boy and all his friends are going to, so we have to be ok by NYE. I wouldn't have bought the ticket if he didn't say he wanted me there....But he did. :/ oh the joys of relationships.

C- Classes. I AM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH UNDERGRAD CLASSES!!! And it feels so good. I have been doing nothing all week and I'm proud of it. I worked my butt off this quarter, so I deserve it. I get my grades sometime this week and I feel good about them. I start student teaching January 3rd, in a 4th grade class and I'm so excited to start!


D- Dessert and Diet. It's no secret that I love dessert. Any kind, any time, anywhere. I've found many on Pinterest that I can't wait to try at the Holidays.

Source: houseonhilltop.wordpress.com via Kristen on Pinterest

I tried these 'skinny' cupcakes and OMG are they amazing!! NO joke! My Mom even liked them and they were so easy to make- 1 box of funfetti mix and one can of diet 7-up or sprite!

Source: fashionmeetsfood.com via Kristen on Pinterest

Source: plainchicken.com via Kristen on Pinterest

These look amazing too. I just started liking red velvet and these are just CALLING my name!
No, I'm not on a diet. I'm just learning how to be healthy. A change of diet sounds better. I'm not cutting out anything, just enjoying the same things in smaller portions. I've read that in Shape magazine. I also learned that I have a bad case of impulse eating. Meaning, if I'm bored, I'll eat what I can find. I've kept myself busy recently and it's really helped. And when I'm hungry I'll take a handful of trail mix and I'm good to go.


E- Exercise. I have been exercising a lot lately because 1st, I have the time too and 2nd, it relieves a lot of stress when I work out. I love the feeling after a great hard workout. I found a treadmill workout that I've been doing the past few days and man, is it hard. Here is what I've been doing.

Source: ittybitsofbalance.com via Amy on Pinterest

This is the intermediate one, but they also have a beginners one from the same website. 


Well that's it for my ABC's...for now that is. I'll try to post pictures of Alaska and Canada while on I'm on the road, but it depends if I get Internet connection. 


Wish me good luck as I take the 6 hour flight to Alaska and the 2 week journey home!

Alaska Here I Come...

Yes...you heard that right, Palmer, AK to be exact. That's about 40 miles NE of Anchorage.

I'm super excited to be getting outta here for a few weeks.

I'm flying up there the 3rd and will return to Chicago around the 18th or 19th of December! I can't be more excited. 

To make the long story short my older cousin has been living up there for the past 4 years and is ready to come back 'home', which is a NW suburb of Chicago. He got his house to sell and sold most of his furniture already on Craigslist. But, he still has some stuff to bring back, along with his car. 

That's where I come in. I will be driving back to Chicago with him over for a the few weeks before Christmas. I'm hoping weather permitting, we won't get stuck or snowed in anywhere. We will be driving through a few of the Canadian territories before heading down through Minnesota or North Dakota, I'm not quit sure yet. 

I will be bringing my iPhone 4 along for the journey, so hopefully I can blog some pictures and capture my trek back to the lower 48. It might be hard to get internet during some parts of our trips due to high altitude, mountains and you know....the wilderness of Canada. 

I will also be tweeting along the way with pictures (of course) so you can follow me here...

I also need help! What in the world do I pack? I've never been to Alaska, but I can imagine it's cold and dark since it is winter time. And what do I do in the 2 week drive back to Chicago? I have some books I want to read, but what else should I do? Any ideas? I need help with this BADLY! Please give your input! 

On the other hand, 42 days until I start student teaching! Yippeee!!

Breaking Up is Hard To Do

And I did NOT do the breaking up here. I didn't fight it, but it's what he said he needs right now. I'll respect that. I am very sad, but now after 2 nights of restless sleep, I think I have more questions and just bitter...as to be expected.

He said he's in a funk. Just with life in general. He is unhappy at his job, but loves his patients. A couple months ago he took on a 2nd job at a bar that is making him work 3 days a week until 2 am. I think it's taking a toll on him. We've been rocky the past few days and I kinda knew this was coming. We weren't seeing each other anymore and it was partially because we've had complete opposite schedules. He said he is unhappy with himself, and if he can't make himself happy, he certain can't make me, his girlfriend, happy. I completely agree with that statement, therefore I agreed with this "break", or whatever you wanna call it.

So, that's it. He told me it doesn't even feel like we're dating anymore and weirdly enough, I kinda knew what he was talking about. It felt like we were just going through the motions of being in a relationship. Since I don't know how this whole 'taking a break' thing works, I told him I wouldn't call or text him unless he contacts me.

We'll see how long we go without talking. It has already been hard, so I hope this isn't permanent. I'm just hoping he can find happiness within himself again without finding happiness from another girl. That's my biggest fear.

Breaking up is hard to do...

It just plain sucks!


This song is the theme of my life currently:

Easy by: Rascal Flatts ft. Natasha Bedingfield

Writers Block=Randomness

I've been thinking about what to write about lately and there is actually so much going on in my life right now, that it's hard to put into one post.

I have 1 more week of classes and then one final exam and a couple of final lesson plans due and I'm done with classes forever!!! Unless I go back to get my Master's degree in something.

I start student teaching in 59 days!! I also completed my degree confirmation request for March, when I'll technically graduate.

In other news, I'm still addicted to Pinterest. Whenever I get new followers, I get more excited about that then when I get new friend requests on Facebook.

Has anyone else other than me started their christmas list? Mine has been longer this year, than the past couple years. I mostly am asking for children's books, nice professional clothes, new teacher books and stuff along those lines.

Some of my recent Pinterest finds:

Source: weheartit.com via Kristen on Pinterest

Source: u-createcrafts.com via Kristen on Pinterest

Source: penniesonaplatter.com via Kristen on Pinterest

Source: zales.com via Kristen on Pinterest

I wanna make these Christmas morning---yumm!!

Source: thatssoyummy.com via Kristen on Pinterest

Source: homegoods.com via Kristen on Pinterest

Source: 7thhouseontheleft.com via Kristen on Pinterest

I should start my psych paper that's due the 14th, but some tea and my bed sound so much better!

The Windy City

I lived in the actual city of Chicago for exactly a year. I went to school full time and it was much easier living close to campus then from my home in the suburbs. Chicago is nicknamed The Windy City and today, I definitely knew why. As I was on the train back home to the suburbs, I was thinking of how many things I miss about living in the city, as well as how many things I DON'T miss.

Things I Miss about Chicago:
-Being able to walk to any local attraction the city has to offer
-The easy access to public transportation
-There is always something to do on the weekends
-The numerous places for frozen yogurt
-Shopping on Michigan Ave.
-The friends that still live down there
-The lakefront
-Great food right down the street

Things I Don't Miss about living in the City:
-The el or buses running late
-The constant noises from the fire trucks and ambulance
-Roommates never cleaning up
-The windy and freezing walks to class everyday
-The unpredictable crimes that happen so close to where you live
-Having to commute over 45 minutes just to see family, friends, and the boy
-The crowds everywhere; LP zoo, Michigan Ave, restaurants
-Having to wait over 45 minutes to be seated at a decent restaurant
-Paying twice as much for everything: clothes, food, rent, etc.

The Boy and I doing a Segway Tour on the lakefron

(I highly recommend it, if you're ever in Chicago)

I think it's safe to say that I'm glad I moved back home. However, I do not regret living in the city for a year. I learned a lot. If I didn't live down there then, I probably would have liked to live down there sometime. I'm glad I did it when I did. I love the city and would consider myself a city girl, but I prefer to live in the suburbs.