Let's Talk About Obsessions (LTA Blog Series #3)

So with my undergraduate career over and my first few months in the "real world" coming to an end, I thought I would spend my time writing a blog post about some of my favorite things or as I like to call them, my obsessions. Now, before we begin, let's just all go ahead and admit it, we have an obsession or two or.....twenty. Whether they be a guilty pleasure or something that most people love we all have an obsession with or about something. However, I may have a little more than the average twenty three year old woman should. I mean I'm pretty sure, and some of my friends will attest to this, I am a 23 year old stuck in a 16 year old fangirl's body and I am not ashamed! I have obsessions in just about any category you can dream up, from food to clothes to TV to accents and on and on and on. So, without further ado, let's get down to business ( to defeat the Huns!). Oh, come on, you knew where that was going. Also, disclaimer before we begin, this post is not something written to enhance my life or yours. It is not written to give you any advice or show that I am changing my habits. I realize that some of these obsessions may be unhealthy, but for now I have them under control :) and I am satisfied.

Obsession Number 1: CHOCOLATE!!

Chocolate is my first love. I'm pretty sure I came out of the womb loving chocolate. My mom would always tell me that when she was pregnant with me she hardly ate because she was sick all the time. However, the main craving she had was chocolate. Skip to my childhood and the fact that I was such a picky eater but also a chocoholic I think we can safely say my love of chocolate began before I was even born. Chocolate is the one thing that I refuse to cut out of any diet I begin (and of course eventually end). It is my one companion when I have any feelings of any kind. Ok, now I'm feeling like that table in Mean Girls for the girls who eat their feelings. Oh well! So, yeah, chocolate, it's good and you should have some.

Obsession Number 2: TELEVISION!!!

Ok, so most people might think they have an obsession with TV and they would be wrong. These people think its bad that they have five or six shows they watch. To me, that is a healthy relationship with television. If you want to know what obsession really is then look no further. Between summer and fall, I watch about 70 shows and that is not an exaggeration. The last time I counted it was 64 and I have added shows to my schedule since then. I have an average of twenty shows per week/season that I watch. I spend twenty hours or more out of the week with my eyes glued to the screen. I mean if that isn't obsession I don't know what is. This doesn't even include the shows I watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime. 

Obsession Number 3: MY IPAD!!
To add fuel to the fire of my TV obsession, I own an iPad and boy is that trouble. Not only do I have a readily available source for my shows, but I also have easy access to all my social media. I take it with me wherever I go. I hate for it to be below 30% battery life and I am always charging it. I hate when I don't have it with me. It feels like an extension of me most days.

Obsession Number 4: THE FAULT IN OUR STARS!!
I am utterly obsessed with anything and everything TFIOS. My friend Andrew and I are up to date on everything that is happening involving the new paperback covers, new trailers, meet ups, and screenings of the movie. I am officially in love with Ansel Elgort even though I have yet to see the movie. I want to reread the book over and over and over again. I watch and read anything that has to do with this book and movie. I especially watch the trailer over and over and my reaction is just as excited and emotional as the first time I watched. I mean I have probably watched it over 50 times now. 

Obsession Number 5: TRAVELING!!

I have a bad case of the can't sit stills. I always want to be on the go. In my short years on earth, I would say I've done a fair amount of traveling. I have been to Haiti (for a mission trip) and Greece (school trip) and my heart is torn between the two. I have a passion for the orphans in Haiti and I have a passion for the archaeology in Greece. Yet, I have yet to explore all the places I want to see. Mostly I've done a bunch of road tripping and concert seeing. What I really want to do though is travel overseas. I have this undeniable urge to see the world and most importantly to see the world with as few posessions as possible. I am what you might call a vagabond, a dreamer. My aspiration is to pay of all my debts, save a little, fly to Europe with only a backpack in tow, and travel until I cannot travel anymore. My goal is to travel to all 7 continents.

Confessions of a Lazy Woman

If you cannot tell by the title, I am a self professed lazy woman. However, I am sure you already know that since I have not written a post since January. I have been particularly lazy these past four months. As you have read before, I graduated in December and with that came extreme laziness. The only problem with my laziness is that for the most part I am happy with it and that is not a good thing.

Since my last post, I have had two babysitting jobs. Neither of which have required I work many hours. Due to that, and lack of a second job, I have spent my days sleeping, watching Netflix/Amazon Prime, sleeping, hanging out with friends, sleeping, eating, sleeping, eating, and did I mention sleeping? Also, I have been keeping 2 of my 3 resolutions. Come on, we knew I'd fail at least one. I mean I'm surprised I kept more than one. Okay, actually I'm surprised I kept any of them. So, I have stayed off mountain dew and I am well on my way to reading 50 books by December (well, mostly). Other than that, there has been no real progress in life after college.

Some days I think its good to have the break. Other days, I think its not so great. I mean I have been in school for close to 18 years and I deserve a break, right? Yet, I do need to get on with my life and look to the future and start to set up a plan. The only problem is I am not exactly sure what I want to do now that I am done.

I have a plan and I want to do it, but sometimes I don't want to do it. Does that even make sense? I plan to take classes in the fall and possibly spring to get ready for graduate school. I plan to take the GRE in the fall and apply to at least 3 schools. I plan to be in grad school by the summer or fall of next year. I plan to sign a year lease with my roommates at my new home. I plan to start paying off my student debt so that in 2 to 3 years I can start my traveling. PLAN PLAN PLAN PLAN. You know, I really hate that word.

With all these ideas and plans running through my head, comes the stress. Stress and worry are two words that have hardly ever been in my dictionary and I have no idea how to handle it. For now though, I'm looking to scripture and remembering Matthew 6:25-34:

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

I am taking the jokes on my behalf and the advice given to me daily in stride. As long as I am happy where I am and my family is and most importantly I feel that God is, then I am fine being "lazy" for now. I am happy with where I am because I know the plans I have laid out for me and that I am working and striving toward my goals, but most of all I am joyful because I do not know what God has in store for me but I do know that he is there for me and he carries my burdens and worries so that I do not have to. I know that as long as I work, I will eat, and as long as I am healthy I can serve my Lord and that is all I need in life.

Life without school

So, as you may have seen in my past three blogs, I am officially a graduate of college. Woohoo!! Partay!!! So, some may be wondering what is it like? Honestly, I thought I would hate it. I am not your normal person who really doesn't like school. Don't get me wrong, I hate schoolwork, but genuinely love school. So of course, I thought I would hate being done. I actually thought I would miss the work. Well.....I don't! Surprise! Ha! 

Of course I do miss my friends. However, since I'm still living in my college town I do still get to see them. I also am only babysitting right now and therefore I have a lot of free time. So, my days consist of babysitting, watching Netflix, reading, and hanging with friends and I am loving it. However, I am constantly searching for a "real" job and hopefully one within my field. The job search is the worst part of this whole thing right now. It's been a month and I still haven't found anything. 

For now though, I am working on my 50 books in a year challenge that I set for myself. So far, I have read five books which means I am two books ahead of schedule! I have also gone on a mini book buying spree at books a million thanks to their end of the year sale and picked up seven more books and I have already read two of them. In all this time spent reading I have also been watching a lot of booktubers on YouTube. I've been getting a lot of great book recommendations and I am thinking of starting my own channel or either turning my blog into a book blog of sorts. If I do decide to turn this into a book blog you can expect book reviews, movie/book review, book challenges, book hauls, etc. so let me know what you think. I mean if I could make a living off of reading and writing reviews I would. Hey, wait a minute! Haha, if anyone knows where I can get a good critic job, let me know! I'd be great at that. Except, I love just about everything and don't critics hate everything? ;) 

All I know for sure is that I am enjoying my time as a graduate and can't wait to read more books. 

Bout of Books Day 1....$100 book basket list

Bout of Books Read-A-Thon

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

In an effort to complete my 50 books read in a year challenge, I have decided to complete this read-a-thon for the week of January 6th. I watch a lot of booktubers videos on YouTube and I learned about this marathon through jessethereader (see video below) and thought it would be a good way to get a few books out of the way. Since I have not found a job yet, besides filling out applications, I will have a huge amount of free time to complete a few books during this week marathon of reading. So, I have decided to complete a few books I have already started and begin one more. The books I have chosen and will be reading are:

               1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

               2. Matched by Ally Condie

               3. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

               4. The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
If you would like to compete in this marathon, follow the button below to learn more. And if you would like updates on my progress I will be attempting to tweet it with #BoutofBooks and possibly a blog post at the end.

<div align="center"><a href="http://boutofbooks.blogspot.com/" title="Bout of Books"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5vTB-V4jGjufkh-0GtY4B6m6RiEqiYB-M_RZ19MtMuwR68zUlJHhV5WzmtU7QVPpff-gXXtnT-IjnYESStgBBSMbvRMReiIFf5zsR8gOxukQpPDYGuCivdEsAHC03UOWuNMTictFOeaUb/s200-no/BoB9.0-200x200.jpg" alt="Bout of Books" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

http://youtu.be/WYic4SW5OK0

New Years

Oh look! It's a blog post about the new year. Who saw that coming? Definitely not me! 

No, but in all seriousness, I have been contemplating over writing this post for the past few days. I have very mixed feelings about new year's resolutions. One reason I feel this way is because of course I'm in the majority of people who make resolutions every year and within the first week I have broken them all. And yet, still I am the ever optimist who believes that this year will be THE year. This will be the year that I finally achieve all of my resolutions and become a "better" me.

I often wonder why the new year is a symbol of fresh beginnings and a reason to start over and become a better version of yourself. And yes I know that question may seem silly, I mean "new" is in the description for goodness sakes. Still, there is something else about it that seems to say, this is the time to change. What about it makes you believe that you can make a clean slate for yourself? Why is January 1st so different from December 31st? Why are we not constantly looking to better ourselves? The new year should be everyday in my opinion. Each day we should get up and think, what can I do today to make me a better person. More importantly, what can I do today to help someone else? Honestly, the new year should be about others and not ourselves. So this new year, I resolve to listen better, to love harder, to be someone's crying shoulder. I resolve to be a better friend, sister, and daughter. Even more than that, I resolve to be a better daughter in Christ. 

Of course, still, I have made my own resolutions. I believe by making these personal resolutions I can exercise my physical and mental body and this can give me a better chance at achieving the goal of helping others more this year. More than ever, I really really want to achieve these. I lowered it to three this year in hopes that I could accomplish them. I've already told my friends about them in hopes I have their support and encouragement. This year I have resolved to no longer drink any Mountain Dew. I have resolved to lower my intake of fast food to only once a week, if not lower. Lastly, also, I have resolved to read fifty books in a year.

I am very excited about these resolutions and I hope my friends are there to encourage and support me as I seek to accomplish them. As many of my friends know, those first two resolutions are pretty difficult for me to even think about let alone actually achieve. I am addicted to Mountain Dew and I am constantly eating out due to laziness. So along with the fast food resolution, I resolve to cook more of my dinners this year instead of wasting my money the easy way. 

I hope that this new year brings just as much joy as the past twenty years or so has brought me. I hope that happiness and love finds my family and we can begin to slowly but surely move on from my mom's death. I hope that my dad finds peace and is no longer as lonely. 

Additionally, I hope that your new year is just as great and that happiness and love find you. I know that God will wrap his loving arms around you and I hope that you find comfort there.

Tops of 2013

Since today is the last day of 2013, I wanted to do a quick listing of my "tops" of the year, from books to TV shows to movies, so here we go! Keep in mind these are my personal favorites and are based on my own (cough, cough...expert) opinion ;)

*Disclaimer: there is a chance I'm using the word disclaimer inappropriately but I don't mind so....neither should you?  Also, in my mind these all get a five out of five star rating. I mean why else would they be on this list if not.

Top Books:

(*Disclaimer: some of these may have been read in late December of 2012, but I'm putting them in here anyways so there)

Top Movies:

 

Top TV Shows:

(*Disclaimer: I have way more than this but I'd thought I'd spare you)

 

Top Albums:

Save Rock And Roll by Fall Out Boy

Night Visions by Imagine Dragons

True by Avicii (this really should get a six out of five stars)

All That Echoes by Josh Groban

Frame by Frame by Cassadee Pope

PTX: Vol II

Top Songs:

(*Disclaimer: Again, I could put so much more but I thought I'd spare you the long read and put the first ones that pop into my head)

The Mighty Fall/ Fall Out Boy feat. Big Sean

Natural Disaster/ Pentatonix

Demons/ Imagine Dragons

Wake Me Up/ Avicii

Thrift Shop/ Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

And since I watch a lot of YouTube over my breaks I thought I'd put in this category:

Top YouTubers:

Zoella 

Pointlessblogtv

Tyler Oakley

DailyGrace

Sprinkleofglitter

Superfruit 

Tell me your tops of 2013!