Family Trees

I've seen lots of modern ideas for Family Trees lately. The February Martha Stewart Living showcased Darcy Miller's inventive ways of displaying family mementos and an understated Family Tree that is downloadable here.

I am also taken with the innovative designs at My Tree and Me.

I love all of the different options for honoring your family history. These would make fantastic gifts for family members but I definitely want one for myself too!

(Images courtesy of darcymillerdesigns.com - thanks to marta writes for introducing me to Darcy Miller - and mytreeandme.com)

Lazy Saturday

Yippee! I finally have internet access at the apartment. Chance and I woke up early this morning and sat on the couch, enjoying the snow falling out the window before the internet-mr.-fix-it arrived. The snow was just enough to make the surroundings gorgeous and give us an excuse to stay in all day.

For the first time in a while, it's been a quiet, relaxed day. No particular place to go, no particular thing to do. We've just been watching movies, eating, and enjoying looking up random stuff on the internet (such as http://www.sketchysantas.com/ - hilarious). I hope to do some homework later but will probably just end up watching Jon Hamm on Saturday Night Live.

I am going to try to be better about blogging now. I've seen lots of inspiring, creative things lately. If nothing else, I want to begin documenting Chance's meals. Fortunately for me, he has become quite the cook; he prepared mouthwatering steaks earlier in the week and is currently trying his hand at burgers and french fries from scratch. We're thinking about taking a cooking class together but I think that would be more for my benefit than his. Any good recipes we should try?

More soon.

Catching Up

My internet still. isn't. working. Oh, the joys of apartment living. It should be working after Saturday. Until then, I have taken to blogging at work. It feels very unnatural, just to let you know.

Classes are going well. They are all quite homework-heavy, so I am keeping busy. I love my Emily Dickinson and Contemporary Poets professor. She's a published poet, her husband's a musician, and she's an all-around cool, laid back, insightful, interesting woman.

My internship is still lovely. There are fun things in the mix, so I can't wait 'til the the next couple of issues come out! In related news, I'm in the process of applying for the NYU Summer Publishing Institute. Cross your fingers for me! It sounds like a dream.

I've stumbled upon lots of new blogs that I want to share with you. Soon.

The Final Semester Begins

Classes resume today. I'm starting my last semester as an undergraduate. Ever. It's a weird feeling. It's scary but thrilling. I'm faced with a lot of choices post-graduation and I'm not sure what to choose yet. I have all of these images of how my life could look swimming in my head. I just can't pin anything down yet. I want it all. Is that wrong? I know I'll need to make decisions eventually. Sooner rather than later, as they say. Right now, it's just fun to feel like this.

I'm only taking four classes this semester and just two English classes. Even though English is my major, I feel relieved to be taking two classes (and not three with required discussion) in the subject (Ethnic American Fiction and Emily Dickinson and Contemporary Poets are the courses - for those who have an interest). I'll be continuing my internship and required seminar, which is wonderfully exciting except for the fact that my seminar instructor is completely disorganized. I am still head over heels in love with my internship at albemarle, which makes up for the negatives of the seminar. I am also looking forward to my hopefully-easy-but-interesting Anthropology of Religion course. I'll report back after I've taken all my classes. Wish me luck!

It's the Future

I found this questionnaire at Happenstance. She found it here and it apparently first came from here. This blog is donating 25 cents to the Red Cross in order to help Haiti for each person who answers the questions below and links back to MannLand5. The time limit for this might have expired, but it's worth a shot, right?

1. Hair color..Au naturale..or not?
I'm not a fan of dyeing. I'm au naturale all the way. Brown forever and always!

2. If somebody has food in their teeth or lipstick on their teeth do you tell them?
Usually, yes.

3. Would you rather have a million dollars or your vision of the perfect body?
A million dollars, for sure. I can work on my body any old time. Plus, who wants "perfection" anyway?

4. Favorite magazine?
How could I choose? Well, albemarle magazine first and foremost. I also like everything from O (the Oprah magazine) to Real Simple to Vogue to Nylon to Vanity Fair and all sorts of magazines in between. The list doesn't end.

5. Bra style..lacey or plain?
Usually plain.

6. If you walked into Victoria's Secret..would you most likely come out with something sexy or comfy?
Comfy.

7. Do you fake and bake?
No.

8. What's your favorite body part on a man?
I really like eyes. In terms of Chance - I love his eyes, his strong arms, his hands, his lips, his everything! I guess it just depends on the man.

She's a Winner

May I just say congratulations to the lovely Ms. Drew Barrymore for her Golden Globes win. I have a soft spot in my heart for her. I really looked up to her when I was a little girl for her ability to bounce back from difficult times. I just think she seems so genuine and sweet. I loved her adorable, nervous acceptance speech.



I also loved the speeches given by Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock. I love strong, beautiful, and unusual women. Thank God for them.


(Image via cdn.buzznet.com)

When the Going Gets Rough

Sorry for falling off the face of the earth. Obviously, I didn't get through my 31-day blogging goal. I was so close but I lost internet access at my apartment, which made it impossible for me to blog. I am sad about not being able to complete the 31 days. Maybe I'll just incorporate it more into my routine instead of forcing myself to stick to a plan like that. Nonetheless, I do think one of my flaws is my poor follow-through. I hope to work on that in 2010. I do need to set goals and see to it that I stick to them.

It was rather strange to be without internet. I can't believe how much of my routine involves hopping on the computer to check email, read blogs, etc. I do get a lot of inspiration from reading what other people put out there. At the same time, I think it's easy for me to waste time on the computer. I'd like to work on that too.

I've had a hard time getting adjusted to the apartment. It's finally starting to feel more comfortable but it does not feel like home. I don't know what I was expecting but I was startled when I couldn't just settle in. I'm hoping that things continue to improve. It's just a big change that it is more challenging than I anticipated.

I think this week will be better. Classes resume on Wednesday, which means that I'll go back to being a busy bee. Clearly, I need to be busy in order to feel normal. Things just don't feel right unless I have twenty things on my to-do list.

It's hard to feel bad for yourself when horrible things are happening in the world. Massive tragedies have a way of putting things in perspective. If only disasters such as the earthquake in Haiti did not have to occur. My heart goes out to the people of Haiti. I pray that some sort of relief will come soon to the people suffering from this tragedy.

Difficult day.

The couch comes tomorrow. I'll be sure to tell more soon.

Moving Day

Chance has been constructing our new furniture while I've been washing all our dishes, putting things in place, etc. And that's after hours of moving all of our junk. We are both really tired.

More later.

Tomorrow is the big day. Chance and I will be up bright and early for our move.

I'm quite busy with preparations, so this will be a brief post. See you on the other side.

Have a great Monday!

What a day!

I left the house this morning intending to go to two furniture stores - one local store and an IKEA that's about two hours away. I came back this evening with a couch, two end tables, a coffee table, a TV stand, and various other random household goods. I thank God for my fantastic mother who is nice enough to help me furnish the apartment. The local store was wonderful (a little old man offered us Coca Cola in a glass bottle, presented me with a free lamp after my couch purchase, and called me "sweet lady"). I must say that IKEA is exhausting. Between all of the people scurrying around in competition for various pieces of furniture and the screaming children who just want to go home, I could hardly get through the store. It is so good to be home and especially good to know that I finally have plenty of stuff for the apartment. Now I face the task of getting it all in there, assembled, and put into place. What an exhausting time! I can't wait until I can just relax. My visit to IKEA reminded me of this scene from (500) Days of Summer:



Just so you know, my experience was nothing like this.

Happy New Year!

Well, it's a new year and a new decade. I hope you had a fabulous New Years Eve celebration. Most of my New Years was spent on the road headed back from Alabama. I had a fun time visiting family, eating good food, and doing a little shopping. I also got the opportunity to finally watch Up, which I really enjoyed. I especially loved the "Married Life" montage.



As my father says, it was good to go but it's also good to get home. It is a relief to be home so that I can really tackle my to-do list. Chance and I are moving into our new apartment on Monday, so there's lots to do. We did have a relaxing New Years with fireworks, champagne, and the entertaining Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper before the craziness begins.

I don't generally make resolutions but I do have high hopes for 2010. I'm excited to share an apartment with Chance, finish my last year in college, and hopefully get an enjoyable job. What are your hopes for the year?