My Sunday Night Blues

I was pleased to see that I actually got a day off from work this weekend. Then, felt a little dissapointed that the day was on Sunday. Sunday has never really been my favorite day of the week. Oddly, it is one of my very least favorite. I sort of wonder if anybody else gets the Sunday Night Blues. I'm always so happy on Friday night, festive even. Saturday finds me relaxed and full of fun. Saturday night, it's still the best, and I feel as if its a holiday when doing something fun. I usually sleep late on Sunday, so Sunday morning is relaxing, as I get up, and eat breakfast while watching television. As the day moves to Sunday afternoon, I start to feel tense. I should get to that work I was going to do this weekend, or I should finish cleaning my apartment. By Sunday night, I'm in full stress mode, and I usually can't sleep.I guess I don't handle the transition of going from the weekend to the school weel very well. I'm not sure what the cure is, and I remember, growing up, I always felt this way. Does this happen to anybody else?

My Scary Story

When I was younger, I used to spend a lot of time at my best friend's house. My friend insisted her house was haunted. Her parents thought it was some weird  phase. They were wrong though. For some reason, her parents never heard the sounds, but I heard them too. You would be sitting in the living room, and you would hear the very distinct sound of somebody slowly walking across the floor upstairs. The only problem, though, is that you knew nobody else was in the house, or supposed to be in the house. And, when we would go to look, nobody would be there. There was a corner of her basement that was always colder than the rest of the house. It had a rocking chair, and, sometimes, you would walk downstairs, and the chair would be slightly rocking, as if somebody had just gotten up from it. It was creepy, but it seemed harmless. One night, my friend had a slumber party, so there were several of us, who slept over in her basement. About halfway through the night, I woke up to the sound of somebody walking through the room. I turned on the light, really startled, but nobody was there, and my friends were all sleeping. Just as I started to doze off again, i heard a weird sound above us, where the kitchen was. It sounded almost as if somebody was bowling. There was a rolling sound, and then the sound of something hitting a bunch of bottles. I was the only one who woke up, and i was too scared to go up, but the next morning, when I looked, the kitchen was fine, with nothing disturbed. Nobody else had heard anything, although my friend said she had heard that in the past. From then on, I always suggested we'd have the slumber parties at my house.

My Vacation

My mom is a Disney World fanatic, to say the least. We went to Disney multiple times when my sister and I were young and I think my mom enjoyed it even more than we did. Anyways, over Thanksgiving break this year; my mom has planned a family vacation to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We are going to meet up with some relatives while we are there and spend Thanksgiving with them. We are staying at Disney at the Port Orleans Resort. I am starting to really get excited about it. It will be nice finally getting a break from school and work for a week. I haven’t been able to go home in over a month now and I actually miss spending time with my parents and younger sister. My sister and I are close in age and, now that I’ve gone away to college, we’ve become even closer than we were before. I’m looking forward to catching up with her and spending time together.

My New Favorite Show

I have been so busy with work and school lately that I have barely had time for anything else, including TV. Now I have never been much of a television person (like I’ve said, I’m a bookworm), however, I always had a few select shows that I would make a point to watch the one night of the week that they were on. This year, though, I’ve noticed that I have none. I used to be a big fan of the show “Lost”, but now that the series has ended, it has left a void. Only recently have I come across a show that could possibly become a new favorite. The show is called “House”, and I am extremely late in jumping on the fan bandwagon. The show has been out since 2004 and has apparently created quite a following. As imdb.com explains: “The series follows the life of anti-social, pain killer addict, witty and arrogant medical doctor Gregory House with only half a muscle in his right leg. He and his team of medical doctors try to cure very ill ordinary people in the United States of America.” The show combines mystery and humor, which to me is a great combination. I am beginning to get to know each character and understand their individual stories. I like the show because I become so intrigued in the mystery of solving each patient’s unique illness. I wish I could have discovered the show sooner.

My Gift Idea

If you are looking for an original gift (for a book lover) a personalized book might be an idea. As I have mentioned before, I am an avid reader. Well, while cleaning out my closet last weekend, I came across an old children’s book of mine. It was a personalized book that my parents had made for me. It said my name throughout the story and the story was about me going on an adventure with two of my cousins. I browsed through the internet this weekend to look for a book like this for my niece and came across several websites that provide this service. Usually you can choose a book of your liking. You can then choose one or more names that you want to have featured in this book. Below I have listed a small selection of websites that provides this type of book.

A2Z Personalized Children’s Books

You can choose out of 150 books for children. There are also some titles available for adults. All the books are hardcover and it will cost between twelve and fifteen dollars to have a book made.

Printakid

This website sells personalized stories for children. The fun part is that the illustrations are also personalized to look like the child.

Created4Me

This company has only one book on offer, but it adds first, middle and last names to the book. Most other personalized books only have first names.

MadLuck Books

Here you can pick from a variety of themed books for babies, children and adults. The books can have the name, age, home town and other names printed in the story.

My Picture Post

Hello everyone! Well, my last update was pretty depressing (at least to me), so I’ve decided to make this one a little more happy and carefree. Lately I have been getting really into reading other people’s blogs to get inspiration for my own. While doing this, I’ve came across many blogs that are focused on positing artsy pictures along with quotes. The pictures are very random. Some are happy, some are sad, some are serious, and some are funny. Anyways, I have really begun to enjoy browsing through the pictures and thought I’d share some with you today. I hope they can brighten your day a little like they have mine.

My Childhood Tragedy

I recently read a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson that both touched and saddened me with its truthfulness. It said, “Fear defeats more people than any one thing in the world.” It reminded me of a specific event in my childhood that permanently changed my view of the world. It was the day before Labor Day, September 2nd, 2001. My grandparents had come home that night from playing cards with their friends to find out that someone had broken into their home. The burglars were still in the house when my grandparents arrived home, but quickly fled when they heard my grandparents enter the house. They left the same way they came in, through the bathroom window. From that day on, I dreaded the nights when my parents wanted to go out, because I was terrified of returning home and finding someone in our house. I was afraid of almost every stranger that I passed in the grocery store or at the playground. Over time, I felt myself gradually leaving behind the wonderful, ignorant days of my childhood. I felt myself outgrowing the innocence of my youth.  It wasn’t the break- in itself that caused this change in me, but the sudden realization that there is a lot of evil in the world, and that evil can touch my family too.

My Obsession

I am absolutely obsessed with quotes. I don’t know when exactly this obsession started, but I have been a quote lover for quite some time now. I literally collect quotes (if that is even possible). My quote collection is becoming rather extensive and I have about 20 Word documents on my computer alone designated to random quotes I find while searching the internet. I have also decided that I would like a hard copy of all the quotes I collect in case I ever lost the documents on my computer. Therefore, I have also begun writing them down in notebooks, and printing off the documents to keep them in folders. Anyways, while searching the internet for quotes, I have found that surprisingly I am not alone in my obsession. So I wanted to share just a sample of some of my favorite quotes with you. Enjoy!

“I regret that it takes a life to learn how to live.” – Jonathan Safran Foer

“You know what’s weird? Day by day, nothing seems to have changed, but pretty soon … everything’s different.” – Bill Watterson

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that’s all.” – Oscar Wilde

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste the experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music – the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.” – Henry Miller

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"'That proves you are unusual,' returned the Scarecrow; 'and I am convinced that the only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusual ones. For the common folks are like the leaves of a tree, and live and die unnoticed.'" — L. Frank Baum (The Land of Oz)

"Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop & look around once in a while you could miss it."
- Ferris Bueller

"Be happy for this moment...this moment is your life." - Bob Marley

My Fall Break

Unfortunately I didn’t get to enjoy my Fall Break to the fullest since I had to work Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I did, however, get the chance to go home for Friday and Saturday. I haven’t been home to see my family or my boyfriend in about five weeks now so I really enjoyed it. The weather was almost perfect too. I live in Youngstown, Ohio, which is about three hours from here. When I first got home I went out to lunch with my boyfriend at Friendly’s. Then we went to the local grocery store where he works and bought a pumpkin because we decided we were in the mood to do something “seasonal”. We spent the next few hours designing and carving the pumpkin together at his house. To my surprise, it didn’t turn out that bad. Afterwards, he introduced me to pumpkin seeds for the first time. He seasoned them and put them in the oven. He made me try some, but I didn’t enjoy them nearly as much as he did. After that, I enjoyed a home cooked dinner with my family. The next morning, my boyfriend and I got breakfast, went to the mall, and then came back to my house to bake chocolate chip cookies. This is something we have never done together so we figured it might be fun. It was fun and, once again to my surprise, the cookies actually turned out delicious. I then spent the rest of my Saturday watching movies and lounging around the house. Overall, it was a much- needed, relaxing weekend and I was disappointed when I had to drive back to Toledo on Sunday to work. Hope all of you had a good Fall Break also!

My Major

I’m not sure if I mentioned this in a previous blog, but I am currently a student at the University of Toledo, I am majoring in business but have not declared an official major yet. However there is only a month or two left until I need to officially choose what area of business I want to major in. One occupation I have been interested in since high school is accounting. I became interested in pursuing this career after working at a local golf course in high school. My supervisor at the golf course asked me to come in twice a week and do some clerical work for him. This work included keeping track of our weekly sales from each department and organizing the totals in a spreadsheet. I found that I was very good at this job because of my knack for paying attention to detail. I then decided to take an accounting class in high school and, not only did I do very well in the class, but I also enjoyed it. Since then, I have decided that accounting is the best career path for me. However, I wanted to see if I would still do well in a college accounting class. Well, I am pleased to say that I am doing very well in my accounting class and have officially decided to major in Accounting. I plan on getting my Master’s degree in accounting, and am considering a double major because of all the benefits it could provide. I plan on becoming a Certified Public Accountant and hope to someday work for a public accounting firm.

Always Audrey

Today I remembered that I am supposedly going to a baby shower with my cousin this weekend. This led to me rummaging through my closet trying to find something decent to wear. After much debate, my cousin came in and pulled out a little black dress from the back and said that it would be perfect. I then was reminded of the reason I bought the little black dress. Audrey Hepburn has always been my favorite actress and fashion inspiration. When I saw the dress in the store one day, I couldn’t help but think of her saying how every girl should have one little black dress in their closet. Anyways, I am dedicating this blog to the elegant and iconic Audrey Hepburn.

Audrey Hepburn once said, “I never think of myself as an icon. What is in other people’s minds is not in my mind. I just do my thing”. Whether Audrey considered herself to be an icon or not, that is exactly what she was. When she was first introduced to America in the 1953 classic Roman Holiday, she captured the hearts of a generation of moviegoers. Immediately, both men and women were drawn in by her sophistication, grace, and manner. Only a few weeks after the release of Roman Holiday, a generation of women throughout the world were copying her gamine, yet elegant style. Audrey’s style was unprecedented in her time. She introduced a different way for women to dress and behave, at a time when the main focus was on sex appeal. Ever since Audrey’s rise to stardom, females everywhere have strived to pull of the “Audrey Hepburn look”. Over a half century later, Audrey’s style is still being copied by famous designers, and she is still known to be one of the greatest influences on fashion.

                                   

My Movie Reviews

I always thought it would be fun to be a movie critic. I mean, getting paid to watch movies all day and write about them, what could be more fun than that? However, I don’t see that particular career in my future, so for the next ten minutes I am going to pretend I am a movie critic. This past weekend, I set a personal record. I saw three movies in three days. The first movie I saw was the newly released teen comedy Easy A. This movie was just as cute and funny as I expected it to be. I think the main reason I enjoyed it so much is because the main character is just so lovably quirky and relatable to every teenage girl. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. The next movie I saw this past weekend was You Again. This movie was also a comedy about a high-powered PR professional discovers that her brother is about to marry the woman who made her high school life a living hell. The plot seemed promising to me, but after about ten minutes into the film I knew it was going to be a flop. The actors were unbelievable and the jokes were not funny. I was tempted to leave the movie half way through. I give this movie 1 out of 5 stars. The last film I saw was Eat, Pray, Love. This movie is about a woman who, on the heels of a painful divorce, sets out to seek her true destiny by traveling first to Italy, where she learns to appreciate nourishment; then to India, where she discovers the power of prayer; and finally to Bali, where she unexpectedly finds the meaning of true love. I mainly wanted to see this movie because the main character, Julia Roberts, is one of my favorite actresses. Roberts was definitely not a letdown in this movie. She played her part superbly. I found this movie to be inspiring and uplifting, and would definitely recommend it to all of you. I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.

"Apple Makes Internet- TV Push"

I just wanted to take a moment to discuss an article I recently read in the Wall Street Journal. The article, entitled “Apple Makes Internet-TV Push”, explained how Apple Inc. is attempting to make an aggressive push into the television market. Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Inc., recently introduced a new device that allows users to rent episodes of TV shows over the internet for 99 cents each. The device will only allow users to rent, not buy, videos to watch on their televisions. The new Apple TV will cost 99 dollars and will be available in four weeks. Shows on both FOX and ABC will be available for rent the day after they are broadcasted on television. In my opinion, the entire article seemed like an advertisement for Apple. The article didn’t really announce anything that exciting. It basically just reported progress being made by Apple, which isn’t anything new or surprising. At first glance, it seemed as if Apple was introducing something ground-breaking. However, Netflix has been streaming videos through TV and Blu-Ray DVD players since last year. I think that the new Apple TV might not be as big of a hit as Apple anticipates it to be. Also, most networks allow people to view episodes of their shows online for free not long after they air on television. However, this is only one girl’s opinion. What do you think?

The Catcher In the Rye

Today I have a book reccommendation for all o you. Recently I read one of the great classics The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger. I was surprsingly never required to read it in highschool, so I decided to read it now. Better late than never, right? I would definitely recommend it to someone who wanted a quick enjoyable read. The book’s main character, Holden Caulfield, is a sixteen year old who has experienced some trauma in his life, making it very hard for him to move forward with his life. His younger brother died at a young age from leukemia, and since then Holden cannot move forward. The book shows his downfall, eventually leading him to a psychiatric ward. The book has a strong theme of preservation, and the main character wants to preserve everybody’s innocence, or youth. While trying to preserve everyone else, he is sticking himself right between youth/innocence, and adulthood/corruption. Throughout the entire book I was rooting for Holden to move past his problems, and become an adult. All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend anyone with a little free time on their hands to read it.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I think that my favorite time of the year is now upon us. In the past few weeks it seems that the weather has dramatically changed. We went from having days where the temperature was in the upper 80’s, to days where the temperature was in the upper 60’s. I know it may seem odd that I prefer chilly, cold weather over hot, sunny weather. I am not sure exactly why I do. I just know that Fall has always been my favorite season, and I would much rather it be cool and windy than hot and humid. I love everything about the season. I love when the leaves change to shades of red, gold, and yellow. I love the local Fall festivals, and carving pumpkins for Halloween. When the weather is cold and chilly, I love being able to cozy up with a book indoors. I think the main reason I love Fall so much is because, to me, the season brings a sense of nostalgia. I have so many pleasant memories associated with the season. When we were younger, my sister and I would rake all the leaves in our yard into one humongous pile (we had a very big yard). After that we would jump right in and throw fistfuls up into the air so they floated down like snowflakes. Because of these good memories, Fall will always be my favorite season.

God Bless America

Every year on this day I can't help but feel sad. It's hard to believe that nine years have already passed, especially since I can remember the day as if it were yesterday. On September 11, 2001, I was in fifth grade. The school I attended decided not to tell any of the students what was going on in case our parents didn’t want us to know, or in case they wanted to be the ones to tell us. However, I remember my afternoon teacher Mrs. Downey, who was usually very upbeat, acted very upset the whole day and barely taught us anything. When students asked her what was going on she told us that something very sad happened but that she wasn’t allowed to tell us what it was. I didn’t really think anything of this at the time. I was still very young and was really only thinking about what snack my grandma would have ready for me when I got home from school. When school ended and I went to get my backpack from my locker, I heard some kids talking. Apparently, one of the students walked past the teachers’ lounge and saw what they were watching on television. When I heard that a plane crashed into a building I immediately thought that it was sad, but that it must have been an accident. It wasn’t until I got home that I found out what really happened. I don’t think anyone will ever forget exactly where they were and what they were doing when they found out what happened. Nine years later, people my age are still remembering and putting statuses on facebook such as “God Bless America” and “Nine years and counting”. In fact, inspiration for this blog came from a video one of my friends posted to their facebook wall. I posted the link to the video below if anyone would like to see it. Let’s all remember the victims and their families today. God bless America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lKZqqSI9-s

My First Blog

As the title suggests, this is my very first blog. I realize that I am jumping on the blogging bandwagon rather late. To be honest, I just never considered myself to be the “blogging type”. I always thought that I could never be a blogger because I never had anything interesting enough to blog about. I figured that my life was too dull to write about, and that no one would have any interest in reading about it. Recently, however, I started to think about the blogs I’ve read in the past. Since I never blogged, I never read blogs either. Then, I remembered the one website that I visit almost every day- Facebook. On the website http://www.facebook.com/ , users can make status updates as many times a day as they’d like. They can also read their friends’ status updates. These status updates usually give a brief description of the person’s day, or what the person is doing at the time. They can also be thoughts, ideas, complaints, etc.. I realized that these updates are really just mini blogs. I enjoy reading other peoples’ status updates as much as I enjoy writing my own. I finally decided that since I enjoy this so much, I will also enjoy blogging. Now that I have been assigned to blog for my composition class, I am going to make the best of it. Who knows? I may even become an adamant blogger. Thanks for taking the time to read my first blog! Stay tuned.