Day 23: Lessons not taught in school

Things I've learned that school won't teach you:

- Communication in relationships. That would be any kind of relationship: love, family, friends, work, etc. I've found this has to be learned in our own ways, mainly learning from those who care about us, and from our mistakes.

- Mistakes are a part of life, and a necessary one. Someone once told me that mistakes are the funnest part of life. For the most part, I would agree. And this isn't even something any of my jobs have taught me. I've had to learn the hard way (through my own mistake of thinking I have to be perfect all the time. Ridiculous.) that it is part of being human to make mistakes. We are not machines. Never let any boss (or parent or other half or whomever) make you feel like that. Because if they are, it just means they're not doing a very good job of teaching you.

- Like the quote above says, everything happens for a reason.

I'm actually having a tough time thinking of things I didn't learn in school; not that it would be easier to remember anything I actually did learn. I didn't like school all that much, including college. I think what I've learned most of since being in school is how to be on my own. Learning that it's okay not to have a boyfriend, or tons of friends, or to be part of the "cool crowd", that life is actually short and not made up of infinite tomorrows. Biggest thing of all: that it's definitely okay to be different, to not "fit in" with anyone's definitions, judgements, or expectations.

Basically, I guess I'm trying to dazzle you with the old adage "be yourself". They try to tell you that in school, but most don't learn it until they've left.

Day 21: The best of my posts

Here are my five favorites posts from my own blog in no particular order:

1. Something's Gotta Give

This is one of my most popular posts on my blog. I've actually recieved emails from people requesting dimensioned plans of the house, especially the kitchen. Now that I think of it, I wonder if I still have that email. I did send the reader the dimensioned plan and I would love to see the outcome if they indeed did build the kitchen.

2. Failing

This one is of a video of James Cameron's TED talk about creativity and the necessity of failing. Awesome way to spend 18 minutes.

3. Eclectic Design

I love floor plans. Love them. They're like pieces of art to me. And space planning is by far my favorite aspect of interior design. This post features some of architecture's most daring and creatively designed residences.

4. What if money didn't matter.

This video is so inspirational. I try not to watch it at work because it's bound to make me tear up.

5. My first letter to my future husband


P.S. I actually discovered that my post of Gerard Butler's house in New York is the all time most popular post on my blog. Interesting.

Day 20: Life's struggles

I recently talked about overcoming obstacles in my life. You could say that an addiction would also fall under the category of something I'm struggling with right now, but when one says "right now", it sounds like something more temporary. I have a feeling my addiction to sugar is something I'll be struggling with for some time to come.

via pinterest

Right now, something I'm struggling with, and plan not to be in the immediate future, is money. It's not even that I don't have enough, it's that I have just enough to get by, which doesn't feel like a very satisfying or successful way to live. Managing money is a tough lesson in life to learn, but an extremely valuable one. I've grown up experiencing both sides of life: with an abundance of money, and without. I wouldn't think twice about telling you which I prefer.

The part I struggle with is reminding myself that this situation in life is temporary, to remain positive will only pull me out of it quicker, to remain patient. Patience is not one of my virtues (my lack of patience is not one of my worst traits either, but we'll get to that on Friday :), especially not when I really want something. And what I want is to be able to have the flexibility and freedom to travel and see things I haven't seen before. On top of that, that feeling of not having more than enough puts me in a constant state of worry.

I do feel like people have relationships with money - whether they be positive or negative - just like with food. When you start to realize that you're constantly thinking "I don't have enough money" (especially when you start using it as a crutch, or an excuse to say no to something), that's when you know your relationship with money probably isn't a very healthy or positive one. This is where I am, and have been for quite some time. I use my lack of money as an excuse to not do the things I want to do and I'm tired of it.

From now on, I would like to think things like, "I'm grateful for the income I have. It's so much more than some." and "I am going to plan this trip and I am going to have the funds by this time to do it."

Doesn't that sound so much more empowering than starting any sentence with "I don't have..." or "I can't..."?

The other positive part for me is having a plan. Right now, I'm focusing on paying off debt so that when I am making more money - and I will, I'll be able to save it. It's all I've got right now, but one of my new mottos lately has been "just one thing at a time."

Day 19: My 5 Favorite Blogs

I don't follow very many blogs. I find that having just a choice few almost guarantees that I'll be able to keep up. So really, these five blogs are the ones I read the most and have become my favorites.

Joanna, Toby, and Alex

A Cup of Jo I've been following the longest, before I had even started my own blog. Joanna has a way of relating to everyone and has contributed largely to making blogging so popular. I love her style of balancing both personal and general content, and keeping everything so simple and concise. Not to mention, her consistency is something all of us bloggers strive to live up to in our own blogs.

Brandi I've already professed my love for, but Not Your Average Ordinary belongs on my list of favorite blogs as well. She's the only one I've met in person after following her blog for some time.

Meg

Meg Fee has recently moved her blog The Wild and Wily Ways of a Brunette Bombshell from blogger to her own site (it still has the same title). Same amazing writing on her life and issues with health. I've been following Meg's blog since I started following A Cup of Jo. I would say Meg is the reason I've had the courage to share with my readers about my own addiction and issues with food. Not to mention, the amazing idea to start writing letters to my future husband.

Bree I also posted about when I told you about my blogger friends. I love checking up on the latest things she's found around the internet on her blog, Lux & Lace.

The many authors and curators of the Query Tracker Blog are amazing, and I love being able to keep up with the latest in the publishing world. They also post extremely helpful posts about writing and advice for publishing.

 

Day 18: From the archives of my childhood

Tell a story about your childhood. Dig deep and try to be descrptive about what you remember and how you felt:

I would say I was pretty freakin adorable, wouldn't you?

I've been thinking about this one for days and I honestly considered not posting it, at least not until I had had more time to think about it. I obviously do not have memories of when I was as young as I am in the photo above, and I really had a hard time thinking of anything positive that I could remember and wanted to talk about.

That's me holding Trip- or trying to. And don't even get me started on those glasses.

Trip liked to sit at that window and talk to the birdies.

Then I spent Friday night looking through photos and came across a few of our first cat whom we named Triple Trouble because he was capable of causing such havoc, and who we lovingly referred to as Trip. The memory I have of the day we brought him home is particularly poignant now because he just passed away last month at the age of 18.

My brother had wanted a cat for ages and as a Valentine's Day present from our mom we got to go pick one out. A friend's cat had just had kittens and I remember being in a closet-like room with all the kittens. My mom says that Trip was the one kitten who sat on his own quietly and calmly, which was the biggest reason we chose him. The ride home was what I remember most clearly with little Trip being so terrified that we couldn't get him out of my mom's arms, so she had to drive home with his nose stuffed into the crook of her arm.

After we brought him home he became quite the little terror with so much mischievous energy he would pounce from around corners, and run laps in the living room at night like a caged wild animal.
The older he got, the more that calm side took over, and he became the smartest, most patient cat I've ever lived with.

Sadly, after about ten years with us, we could no longer keep him. He spent the last eight years of his life with a very loving woman who treated him like her child and even gave him his own room in her house. He was truly a loved and very lovable cat who lived a long, enviable cat life, and I will always remember him.

Day 17: Best of me

A favorite photo of yourself and why:

 

I've always loved this picture of me. I've used it twice as my profile picture on Facebook. I took it myself about two years ago. I love that it's a little blurry, like it's slightly ethereal. I like my black nails, and the dress I'm wearing is one of my favorites. I just feel comfortable and pretty when I wear it. It helps too that my hair and skin look pretty amazing. And this was taken at the end of the day. Probably one of the few photos of myself that you'll ever hear me brag about.