Some TMI for you all...

Taken from Emilie, who took it from Kimmi... Warning, might be some TMI included in the following


1. Where is your cell phone? On the nightstand next to me

2. Your hair? down, slightly curled

3. Your mother? Upstairs sleeping

4. You father: Cremated in a wall in Kent

5. Your favorite food: chicken curry and pad thai!

6. Your dream last night: I don't remember

7. Favorite drink: Soy chai lattes!

8. Your Dream/Goal: To be happy

9. Room you’re in: My bedroom

10. What’s your hobby?: Music

11. What is your worst fear?: Being miserable forever

12. Where you were last night: At home

13. Something you are not: A liar

14. Muffins: Apple cinnamon... or just cinnamon

15. Wish List Item: Macbook

16. Where did you grow up?: Olympia, then Shelton

17. Last thing I did: Went to see Denny's with Jeramy after seeing Emilie's play =)

19. Your TV: On channel 5 (NBC)

20. Your pets: 2(3) cats, and I had a fish until earlier today, which died due to SOMEONE not cleaning the tank... (it wasn't my responsibility) Now it is still all stuck dead in one of the fake trees in the tank. Ew!

21. Your friends: Are few but good ones

22. Your life: Stressful

23. Your mood: Caffeinated (that's a mood, right?)

24. Missing someone?: Mhmmmm

25. Your vehicle?: My red mazda

26. Something you’re not wearing: Underwear... lol

27. Favorite store?: AE, Charlotte Russe, Barnes & Noble

28. Your favorite color: Purple

29. Last time you laughed: Less than a minute ago

30. Last time you cried: Few days ago probably

31. Your best friend: I have a few =)

32. Place you go over and over: SPSCC... ugh!

33. Guilty Pleasure: Disney?

34. Favorite place to eat: At home

35. Where do you want to be in 6 years: I don't know, whatever makes me happy

Positive Attitudes?

I don't have much to blog about, as my classes are pretty boring... So I thought that I'd share what I've recently referred to as the most ridiculous essay of my life, written off of probably 3 hours worth of lecture notes. Ugh. Enjoy?

“Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.” - Anonymous

I believe that a positive attitude is the best coping method that we as human beings are equipped with. Perhaps this is why it can be hard to enforce; just as we would sometimes rather yell back than sit calmly, we are tempted to use a negative instead of positive approach.

In the context of public speaking, one has two jobs they must accomplish with a positive attitude: speaking and listening. As a positive speaker, you are more believable. You are able to draw the listener in with your enthusiastic outlook and credible style. Why must one be positive as a listener? Being attentive and in the moment will make your speaker more comfortable and willing to provide you with the best quality of presentation they offer. It might take practice or a greater concentration to develop this skill, as it requires a unique focus on the moment. Blocking out our worries and strife allows us to be effective listeners, soaking up what the speaker gives.

If you are not giving your full attention to the speaker, you will not gain full knowledge of the speech. You might have heard once that you only get out what you put in. This completely applies to public speaking. You cannot expect to retain information you aren’t hearing or are letting go in one ear and out the other. The more you really listen to what the speaker is saying, and the more critical thinking you use to analyze the speakers words, making your own connections to the content, you can guarantee yourself the most benefit from the given speech.

No one is stuck with a negative attitude, no matter how long they’ve been carrying it. Attitudes are behavioral, therefore they can change. By adopting a positive attitude, one can greatly benefit in ways such as open-mindedness, creativity, critical thinking, critical listening, and becoming more accepting and tolerant of others.

Our physical environment communicates to us and affects how we communicate with others, therefore we have to be conscious to how we are responding. Effective communicators adjust and adjudicate their attitude toward their environment, but they must be careful to stay positive while doing this.

One thing that I believe goes hand in hand with being a great, positive communicator is patience. As a speaker, we must be patient with our listeners. Though we want to fast forward our minds to preview our speech as we give it, we must be patient and stay in the present with the listener. As a listener, we must be patient and not draw conclusions too early. We must keep a positive attitude and open mind and let the speaker present fully before judging the content.

In conclusion, it is highly beneficial to put effort into a positive attitude. There are many great things for an individual to obtain from a positive outlook while speaking and while listening. You never know what you might be missing out on while not being in the moment or giving something your all.

Beautiful Disaster

She loves her mama's lemonade,

Hates the sounds that goodbyes make.

She prays one day she'll find someone to need her.

She swears that there's no difference,

Between the lies and complements.

It's all the same if everybody leaves her.

And every magazine tells her she's not good enough,

The pictures that she sees make her cry.

And she would change everything, everything just ask her.

Caught in the in between of beautiful disaster,

And she needs someone to take her home.

She's giving boys what they want, tries to act so nonchalant,

Afraid they'll see that she's lost her direction.

She never stays the same for long,

Assuming that she'll get it wrong.

Perfect only in her imperfection.

She's not a drama queen,

She doesn't want to feel this way, only seventeen but tired

She would change everything for happy ever after.

Caught in the in between of beautiful disaster,

But she just needs someone to take her home.

Cuz she's just the way she is, but no ones told her that's ok.

And she would change everything, everything just ask her.

Caught in the in between of beautiful disaster,

And she would change everything for happy ever after.

Caught in the in between of beautiful disaster,

But she just needs someone to take her home

And just needs someone to take her home.

First Day of Classes!

Today was my first day of classes! I think I'm really going to like them, though I have to drop my math class at OC because 18-credits is going to be too much since the three at SPSCC are looking to be a fair ammount of work. Oh well, 13 credits is good. I'll take the math next quarter along with the English 102 at OC so I won't have to drive in the wintery weather to Oly every day. So here's a review of today...

After an extremely frustrating 30 minutes of trying to find a parking spot (good thing I got there that early, huh?) I made it to Voice Class. I think it should be alright. The lady is older and her title is 'Dr.' so she must be pretty qualified. We got a crazy ammount of homework already in that class for it just being the first day but I have 2/3 of it done and it's not due till the end of the week. Then down the hallway to Public Speaking. The setting seems way less formal there as we are to call our teacher 'Nick'. For being a public speaking teacher, he's not a great speaker himself. I was looking at the clock every 10 minutes during the class while he SLOWLY read through the syllabus. Lifespan Psychology is my block class that I had next, and it's just a building over luckily. I think that i'm REALLY going to like this one. The teacher is so enthusiastic with everything she talks about. And very loud as well, so I won't be falling asleep or missing a word she says.

Ocean Shores!

I just got back from Ocean Shores! It was my one vacation this summer, and just in time before it's back to school for me! Jeramy & I went down Tuesday afternoon, did the beach, hot tub, groceries, (not in that order) and then someone passed out really early at 10:30... and it wasn't me. Next day was just relaxing. Went into town and did some shopping and got lunch, then came back and went down to the jetty. Later in the afternoon some friends came down to stay the second night with us. We went into the store to get some stuff for dinner then came back and all hung out and cooked dinner! It ended up taking so long that we ate at 11, watched part of Crank 2, and then I finally got tired enough to sleep around 2 or so. This morning I got up around 9 and packed up. Went back into town while everyone was eating breakfast to get containers to take the leftover dinner back in. It was about a 10 min drive each way from our resort to town and back. We checked out and all went down to the main beach area and fed the seagulls leftover rolls and fritos. Jeramy & I tried to fly really cheap kites but they broke! Haha! Then we drove ALL the way back down to the jetty to see it again. After that it was back home, with just a brief stop to put some oil in my car.

PICTURES! (low-quality from my phone)

Sun starting to set on the first night!

Other side of the rocks @ the jetty

Jeramy ontop of the jetty

feeding the seagulls!

AND A VIDEO TOUR!

Party Summer?

I think I've done more 'parties' and get togethers this summer than ever in my whole life. Last night I was out at a barn party with the bf. Saw trucks get stuck in the mud, did some karaoke, played a little guitar. It was good times. Now today I am going to a jewelry party at my aunt's. Hopefully is somewhat interesting... Though I developed a cold out of nowhere last night. Maybe it's just the weather change?

Recently... (pictures)

Almost went MIA again! My life's been full of friends, family, shopping, art, and Boogie SuperStar on the Wii! With that said, who's ready for a picture blog? Here's my recent life in photos...

Last years bulletin board for RC @ MtV

This years!

My wall

Osiris

16oz am w/ sf-fv

Addicting...

My guitar <3

New rug!

And matching sheets that go with my room too!

Summer Life

It's been a while. I just haven't been in the mood to blog. Actually, I still don't think I am, but I will anyways. I have nothing else to do since I am having a pretty laid back summer. All afternoon I worked on a bulletin board at MtV for the Reading Counts program. Got a lot done on that... And now I'm waiting for a call back from the guy to go hang out.

I go back to school Sept. 21, and this quarter I am taking Voice Class, Public Speaking, Lifespan Psychology, and Math 99. 18 credits, yikes! I am sort of excited though to be super busy! And next year, Western! It's sort of scary to think about but I'm so ready to dive into college again.

Fear

What's there to be afraid of?

Being who I was
Being who I am
Being who I'm turning into
and
Being who I will be

I'm scared that I will never settle into life
I'm scared that I might always be undecided
I'm scared that I could mess up the rest of my life right now

Imperfection
Not good enough
Disapproval
Rejection

I'm afraid of feeling guilty
I'm afraid I'll never achieve my goals
I'm afraid of wasting life, yet I'm wasting it by being afraid

Summer Dresses

After having two that I've been wearing as much as fashionably possible, I got three more summer dresses today! I don't know how I wore jeans on really hot summer days until this year but that sticky feeling you get is gross, and it's impossible to find a pair of shorts that look alright on me and fit right. Also, I think all of the dresses will be wearable in the Fall and Winter with leggings if I just get some brown boots... Which I might be more excited for than wearing them this summer! Hah! I also got a tshirt, pair of jeans, and a belt. I was going to do pictures, but then realized it was probably good enough to just explain. Today was my belated birthday shopping trip with my mom. I also got a new mp3 player because my old one decided to disappear. Not sure if I like it as much yet... It doesn't seem to be getting the album art right on ANYTHING.