Mah Jams

Day 29, Wednesday: Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories. Use Grooveshark or YouTube to include them in the post

This was a fun post to write.  Except for the fact that I got completely side-tracked going through all my songs on iTunes that I had nearly forgotten about.  It's funny how certain songs really do come to represent a certain time, or phase, or event in your life.  It's amazing how many memories and emotions a song can bring about without any other provocation.  Here, in no particular order, are five songs that bring back memories for me. 

Sweet and Low - Augustana

This was our wedding song. David really wanted a song that wasn't anything too "common" for wedding songs. He chose this one, and I love it. It makes me a little bit sad that it's not something we'll hear all that often just randomly, but I love it nonetheless. Takes me immediately back to our wedding day.

 

 

PYT - Michael Jackson

The second I hear "Where did you come from baby? and Oooh won't you take me there?" at the beginning of this song, I'm immediately in the mood to dance. This song takes me right back to my senior year of college. My girlfriends and I would listen to this song while getting ready to go out and would frequently request that it play at whatever bar or party we ended up at that night. 

 

 

Holiday In Spain - Counting Crows

Although this song isn't necessarily about Spain, it kind of served as my "Spain anthem" while I studied abroad there. Everytime I hear this song, I remember all of the fun adventures I had while living there during my junior year of college. 

 

 

Learning To Fly - Tom Petty

I've always liked this song, but it really became the most meaningful to me during my first year with Teach for America.  After a hard day teaching, I would blast this song on repeat while driving home in the horrendous traffic.  I would usually be crying at the beginning of the song, thinking about whatever had happened that day, but by the end I always felt a million times better.  It is still such a big "pick me up" song for me. 

 

 

The First Single - The Format

This is a song by a band from Phoenix that was pretty popular (at least in Phoenix) toward the very end of high school and into college for me.  This song reminds me of driving around Phoenix during high school or during my summers home from college.  I actually don't listen to them much anymore, but even now whenever I am home (and don't even get me started on how it's been close to a year now...), I still feel the urge to blast this CD and roll the windows down to let in as much of that pleasant 100+ degree air as possible :-)    

 

 

I'm just realizing that I have a song for each of the places I've lived.  Kind of neat how that worked out.  I wonder what song will be "that" song for me that will always remind me of Australia when we leave here...

 

Catch up with my "Blog Every Day in May" challenge here:
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Day 27 (So mad that I missed another one... and SO close to the end)

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Then & Now

Day 28, Tuesday: Only pictures

Just a quick explanation before I let the pictures do the talking for today's post...

I love looking through old photos.  And since moving here with most of my belongings in storage back in the US, I've really been wishing I had brought my collection of old photos and albums.  Luckily, I do have some.  So for today, I thought that since I've been missing my family, I would include some "then and now" photos of us.  Enjoy!

Mom & Dad

 

Sister and Me (I'm on the left in the first photo, and on the right in the second photo)

 

Brother

 

The husband!

 

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Day 27 (So mad that I missed another one... and SO close to the end)

Link to "An Open Letter Regarding Inquiries About My Reproductive Plans"

Day 26, Sunday: Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss, if you'd like.

It's funny how when you're dating someone, everyone is quick to ask when you're getting married.  And then once you're married, the hot question quickly shifts to, "when are you having kids?"  I've been married for almost two and a half years and we don't have kids yet.  Yes, we both want kids someday, just not now.  I'm lucky in that my family doesn't really ask the kid question much at all.  I do get it from strangers or people I've only recently met, more often than I'd like.  Most of the time it doesn't bother me that much- it's annoying more than anything else.  But especially for strangers, I just think it is a very personal question to ask since you never really know a couple's circumstances or what emotions you might be stirring up for that person. 

I can't remember who it was that sent this article/open letter to me (I think maybe it was my sister?), but I loved it from the second I first read it. The sarcastic tone in which the author writes this open letter is spot on... and hilarious.  If someone ever really bothers me about this issue, I would forward this letter on immediately. 

Enjoy!

"An Open Letter to Friends and Family Regarding Inquiries About My Reproductive Plans"


 

Catch up with my "Blog Every Day in May" challenge here:

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Day 5 (Oops! :-/ I did blog on day 5, just not following the prompt...)
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From the Mouths of Babes

Day 25, Saturday: Something someone told you about yourself that you'll never forget (good or bad).

Just about this very time last year, I had just told my students that I wouldn't be back the next year because of our impending move to Australia.  It was surprising news for both me and them.  Because of the setting in which I teach, I have most of my students for multiple years.  So it was especially hard to think about not being their teacher the next year.  As a teacher, I place a lot of importance on what my students think about me.  Kids are extremely (and sometimes brutally) honest.  They speak their minds and have a certain way of "telling it like it is."  So when I received this letter from one of my students who had been with me for nearly three years, I was so flattered.  I will always remember sweet Kassandra.  Her words were some of the best compliments I've ever received. 

On an unrelated note... while I was looking for the above photo among the other photos of student work/letters that I've saved over the years, I came across this gem and just had to share.  Oh how I miss these amazing (and hilarious!) kiddos!

This was a journal entry responding to "tell me what you did this weekend."  Apparently this second grader was dancing in a club?  This student was very proud of the multi-colored disco ball. 

 

Catch up with my "Blog Every Day in May" challenge here:

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Day 5 (Oops! :-/ I did blog on day 5, just not following the prompt...)
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My Three Worst Traits/Faults

Day 24, Friday: Your top 3 worst traits

Not sure if these items are actually "traits" or not.  Maybe "faults" or "things I need to work on" would be better descriptors.

Exhibit A: Indecisive. Clearly choosing just one flavor was much too difficult of a task for me...

1.) I'm a procrastinator.  Always have been.  Every once in a blue moon, I will get in a super pro-active mood and get things done well in advance of when they need to be done.  And I love the feeling that I get when this happens.  But despite that, I still can't seem to make a habit of it.  I put assignments, chores, phone calls, and a multitude of other things off until the near last minute.  Maybe I work well under pressure?  Or maybe I'm just a master of distraction? 

2.) I'm indecisive.  I labor over decisions both big and small.  Where to eat dinner, job decisions, travel plans- you name it, I will most likely have a hard time making a decision about it. Sometimes I feel like I'd rather just roll a dice or have someone else make a decision for me.  I think this actually has quite a bit to do with my next "worst trait" in that I just over-think decisions and choices.  I have gotten better at this one over the years though, but I know I need to work on this even more.  I think one thing I do have going for me in this area is that once I actually do make a decision, I don't waiver from it.  My indecisiveness usually comes only during the decision-making process. 

3.) I'm an over-analyzer.  I think a lot of women do this.  I put way too much energy into worrying and thinking about things like: why someone did or didn't say or do something, figuring out the significance of an event totally out of my control, obsessing over various scenarios or reactions that are most likely completely unlikely.  It can be exhausting.  I envy people like my husband who are able to see things in a much more black/white fashion, while I just get caught up in all the gray areas, the "what if's, and the "what does it mean". 

In writing this post, I think I've realized that these three traits/faults all really have a lot in common and probably feed one another.  I procrastinate sometimes because I am indecisive.  I am indecisive because I over-analyze.  And on and on.  At least I can say that hopefully if I improve in even one of these areas, the others should also follow. 

 

Catch up with my "Blog Every Day in May" challenge here:

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Day 5 (Oops! :-/ I did blog on day 5, just not following the prompt...)
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Lessons I DIDN'T Learn In School

Day 23, Thursday: Things you've learned that school won't teach you

Left: At a senior graduation event in high school - Middle: College graduation with my siblings - Right: Grad school graduation

I am fortunate to have had amazing academic experiences during both my high school and college/grad school careers.  I learned and grew so much during those years and felt completely ready to take on the world when I graduated.  And I was... to a certain extent.  However, it's funny how once you really are out there in "real life," that you quickly realize how much you have yet to learn.  Here is a short list of the things I've learned that no one ever taught me in school. 

How (and when) to say no - I'm a people pleaser who avoids conflict like the plague- so it's always been difficult for me to say no (without feeling guilty, anyway).  When you're in school, to a certain extent, your responsibilities (courses, extra curriculars, etc.) are somewhat already prioritized for you, and there are built-in limitations as to how much you can take on.  However, once those guidelines are removed, it's easy to find yourself over-committed and in over your head because you've taken on too many responsibilities.  Knowing when and how (and that it's OK) to say no is a huge life skill.  You can't do it all, and that's OK.  The world will go on and people will still like you if you say no to them.  I'm definitely still learning this skill.

Love isn't a feeling, it's a commitment - It's hard when movies, books, TV, and your hormones are all telling you that love is all about a certain feeling.  And it is.  To a certain extent.  But one thing people don't really teach you is that love is a commitment.  Sometimes it is even a decision that you have to actively make each day.  Sometimes this commitment is easy and sometimes it is hard.  But just like anything else that you commit yourself to, it takes work and deliberate action.  It's definitely important to feel that "love feeling," but it's probably even more important to realize that you might not feel that feeling everyday, and that that is part of committing to love.

Sometimes you learn the most from your failures - I think many people learn this lesson pretty soon after they leave school and enter the "working world."  I know I did, anyway.  I wouldn't say that my first year as a teacher was a complete failure, but I can absolutely admit that I failed myself and my students on multiple occasions.  Many days I would drive home from work in tears feeling like I failed, like my lessons never went as planned, and being scared that my students weren't learning anything at all.  And this feeling was probably true many of those times.  Yes, I had failed.  It took me a while, but I did learn from those failures, and I didn't give up.  If you can't even recognize that yes, you did in fact fail at something, then you surely can't learn and improve from those failures. 

How to negotiate - I definitely think schools should offer courses on negotiating skills.  I am still really bad at this, but it is such a powerful and smart skill to have.  My husband is the ultimate negotiator (sometimes even to an embarrassing extent), and I've learned a lot about negotiating from him.  I think the most important thing I've learned about negotiating is that it doesn't hurt to ask.  Something as simple as, "what's your best price?" or "do you offer a cash discount?" can go a long way in negotiating. 

How to make friends - In high school and college, making friends and socializing are somewhat "built in."  You have group projects in your classes, multitudes of extracurricular activities and clubs  available, roommates, and regular activities like orientation and mixers.  You make some of your best friends during these times.  So it's kind of a rude wake up call when all of those "built in friend-making structures" are suddenly gone.  In my experience, it is hard to make friends as an adult.  You will likely be in a new city and be the new person at your job, and people won't automatically invite you to lunch or include you in their weekend plans.  You have to put yourself out on a limb and be proactive. 

Take It, Or Leave It

Day 22, Wednesday: Rant about something. Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel. (a pet peeve, a current event, a controversial topic, something your husband or roommate or neighbor or boss does that really ticks you off)

I almost never like to get political here... or really anywhere else for that matter.  I don't like to incite drama or controversy, especially around political or religious topics.  I'm also not very comfortable standing on a soapbox- not for me.  For the most part, I really do understand and respect the value of different opinions, perspectives, and beliefs.  Rather than get aggressive, accusatory, or argumentative, I try to remind myself that when it comes down to it, most people really do have good intentions in their actions and beliefs.  That being said, for the purpose of this post, I wanted to share a link to a video that addresses the controversial topic of same-sex marriage.  I always have difficulty formulating my thoughts on this issue into words.  However, this speech from a member of the New Zealand Parliament after the country voted to legalize same-sex marriage is pretty spot on with how I feel about the issue.  I love how he keeps things simple, light-hearted, and positive.  And that is all I have to say/show about that.  Take it, leave it, or click that little red x in the top right corner.  :-)

 

Catch up with my "Blog Every Day in May" challenge here:

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Day 5 (Oops! :-/ I did blog on day 5, just not following the prompt...)
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Day 20 (I broke my streak- I missed this day...)

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