Midweek Music Obsession.

So my Pandora's been kicking it old school lately, and I'm kinda diggin' it. :)

"It's time we stop, children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down"

For What It's Worth... Buffalo Springfield

All You Need Is Love... The Beatles

No Rain... Blind Melon

and as an homage to the WSP concert last week....

Big Wooly Mammoth... Widespread Panic

Enjoy!

an ode to the social network.

I found these on More Design Please. A fabulous little blog with all kinds of art, decor and diy posts. I have a feeling that whoever runs this little blog and myself could be bff's. Mostly because of their love of great design that I also share. I realize I'm an ex-art major that couldn't finish the graphic design program... but who says I still can't love some good design? And anything that mixes vintage design with my favorite secret obsessions? #Winning.

here's to home.

I love Birmingham.

love it. 

The past few years of living here and going to school here have been amazing. I've met the most amazing people, learned so much about life, school and other people and myself. I have not once regretted coming to UAB or Birmingham since I moved here 3 years ago. 

But right now, Birmingham is not home. 

and I need home. 

It's beautiful here, and I love going to school here, but I'm overly excited about going home, home for the summer. 

I've always told my parents I would never move back home again, not for school, not for summer and not after I graduated for sure. It's become a sort of threat from my parents to bring me home, like taking my keys away was in high school. 

"If you mess up your bank account again...." "If you don't go to rehab after your surgery...." "Find a job or....."

And the funny thing is it always worked. 

I came home the summer after my freshman year and this was my life.....

That summer consisted of having my identity changed to "Miss Carrie" or "the teacher the you can hug to get more goldfish and peanutty bars", "the all-time pitcher in kickball", even "the worst person in the world" after a 15 minute quiet time due to yelling in the bathrooms. Every afternoon I was showered with hugs and "I love you, see you tommorow's".

But honestly, I was miserable. I got up at 7, went to class went to work at 1 until 6 and went home and went to bed. I had no friends at home since they all stayed at school that summer, and I didn't even have time to see my friends that were at home. I stayed in Birmingham last summer so I could "escape" Dothan, but then I was in Birmingham with no friends and working 9-5 everyday. I do realize this is the normal life for every grown-up, but I've found out I'm not quite ready to go there on my own.

During one of my frustrated calls to my mom earlier this year I broke down and asked if I could come home this summer. I never thought I would ever say those words, and I don't even know if it will be first or last time I do say them. All I know is that right now, this is what I need.

So this summer, I'm taking it back home. It won't be filled with the precious faces above, but I'm determined to make it one filled of happiness, family and several beach trips. Since I moved to Birmingham 3 years ago I've found it's way too easy to concentrate on the negative. This summer I'm determined to work on focusing on the positives of life and learning more about myself and what makes me happy. I need a slow-paced life again. I need home-cooked meals, or at least nightly dinner with my parents. I need more hugs from my dad and seeing my mom's smile on a daily basis. I'm looking forward to the future and honestly, this may be the last time I can spend every night of the summer at home in my bed, living 90 miles from PCB.  I've gotten an internship with the local TV station and hopefully I'll be closer to finding out what I really want to do with life. 

So here's to home and being happy. See ya soon, Dothan. :)

spreading sunshine.

I found these while I was stumbling one day. Enjoy!

50 ways to spread sunshine.

1. Send a hand-written thank you card to someone.

2. Give a compliment about your waiter/waitress to his or her manager.

3. Hold open a door for someone.

4. Have a conversation with a homeless person.

5. Compliment a co-worker.

6. Pay for the person behind you in the Starbucks drive-thru.

7. Clean out your clothes and donate to a local non-profit.

8. Send flowers to someone anonymously.

9. Leave an encouraging note in a library book.

10. Ask an elderly person about their childhood.

11. Be a courteous driver.

12. Mentor an at-risk child.

13. Mow a neighbor’s lawn.

14. Donate blood.

15. Introduce yourself to a new coworker/classmate/church member.

16. Share inspirational quotes.

17. Write letters of appreciation to organizations that serve your community.

18. Leave happy post-its for strangers to find.

19. Smile.

20. Appreciate the people who support you.

21. Treat everyone the same– from your best friend to your mom to postal worker.

22. Release your expectations of other people. Allow them to be who they are.

23. Be genuine.

24. Forget yourself.

25. Delight in every day.

26. Flatter people.

27. Tell people how much you like them.

28. Share your lunch.

29. Fill a parking meter.

30. Volunteer somewhere. Anywhere.

31. Seek forgiveness.

32. Do your best.

33. Love yourself.

34. Dream big.

35. Tell someone why you love them.

36. Check in on someone who is lonely.

37. Stay curious.

38. Adopt a pet from the humane society.

39. Tell your boss that he/she does a great job.

40. Renew an old friendship.

41. Donate toys/books to a hospital.

42. Give someone a sheet of brightly colored stickers.

43. Make eye contact.

44. Take someone’s picture and send it to them.

45. Don’t think about other people’s definitions of success, beauty or happiness.

46. Create spaces for others to enjoy.

47. Make beautiful art.

48. Send unexpected gifts.

49. Be enthusiastic.

50. Love your life and everyone in it.

patience problems.

So I'm not sure if any of you have ever had this weird thing that happens when everything around you starts revolving around the same subject, but you have no idea until everything comes full circle... and then you there's this big strange, overwhelming epiphany. Well I've had one of those lately. 

Life lately has been pretty nice. Besides the pre-Easter rush at work, my life has been pretty as close to perfect as you can get. good grades, kites, beautiful weather, concerts, friends...everything has been lovely. But I've also been secretly worrying myself away on the inside (per-usual nearing-graduation-college student), thinking about internships, jobs, papers, the summer, the fall, spring, next summer, and the year after and after and after, but then there's my future husband?, kids?, my family and their health and my health, keeping jobs and paying for houses and bills and this and that.... you get my point. My brain is a constant worry station. I've gotten pretty good at hiding it on the outside, but in my head those wheels are just spinning away. If I could just see my future... now. Life would be grand.

 In Sunday School we started talking about what age we would choose if we could stay that age our entire lives. I picked 19, so I would always be in my freshman year of college. Ohhh... that year was straight-up-paradise. No job. Daily midday naps. Easy classes. New friends. A new city. Free weekends. Tons of Freedom. and money every two weeks from the parents. ahhh. life was good. And if that was possible, boy I would do it in a split second. 

But sadly, it's not. I'm dealing with real "grown-up" life. I'm about to jump into the ocean of cut throat employers and selfish co-workers, and the possibility of being an unemployed journalist working at a children's clothing store in Homewood for the rest of my whole entire life. It freaks me out. 

Which then translates to my patience-problem. I hate waiting. I hate possibilities. I hate hanging in limbo not knowing if something is 100% for absolutely sure or not. I hate not knowing if I will be able to land a big internship next year or even a job after that. I especially hate not knowing what I'll be doing this time next year, graduated or not. 

So when we read James 5 on Sunday morning patience, patience, patience was the word. But not only patience, but steadfast endurance. I find that I connect more with the "endurance" part of patience than I actually do the sitting and waiting part. I've always been taught endurance my whole life, whether it's with twirling, playing soccer, running or putting up with teasing from my two brothers. I can put up with almost anything for a good amount of time. Endurance. I've got it.

Patience. That's another story.
I absolutely cannot stand waiting for anything for a long amount of time. I just can't do it. I find that I get real excited for something, obsess over it for 3 or 4 days and then when I realize it will take some waiting time, I usually drop it and never pick it back up again. This is what I define my patience-problem as. It's probably my biggest pet peeve about myself. And something I wish I could change, but it takes time to change. And then it comes full circle. I love seeing results. Whether it's a finished art project, my tryout routine the day before tryouts, a 15 page paper printed out and ready to turn in. I love seeing concrete products. This may or not be the reason I've never had a plant live longer than 2 weeks.

I realize everything in life takes time.  It takes time to find the perfect job, the perfect house in the perfect city. It takes time to find the perfect person to marry and then it takes time to get to know them. Life takes time. I've found it's just that it takes time to get to the place that takes time to get to the next place that takes time. Life never slows down. Life never stops. So then why does it seem like it takes so long to get to a final product? Why does the possibility of graduating next year scare me to death? It will get here eventually. It's just all the little things between April 21, 2011 and May 8, 2012 that could happen that knot my stomach up. If I knew what was coming I could put up a detour route, go around it and save my self all kinds of hurt, heartbreak and failure. If I didn't have to wait, I wouldn't have to wait to find out why I can't figure out what I want to do with my life and my future.

So when I was talking to my dad for my interviewing class the other night, everything he said gave me that little epiphany. Every question I asked revolved back to what else? than patience. What did you learn most in college? - to study. and have patience. What have you learned most from mom? - unconditional love and patience. What has your job taught you? - probably umm patience. What has having kids taught you? - definitely patience. Is your life different than you thought it's be? -Nope. It's everything I wished for. It just took some time and patience to figure it out.

So there's no escaping it. Time goes on. It never stops and life will go on. It just takes patience to get there. Whether I graduate in May or December, twirl next year, apply for an internship in NYC or LA, move away from home or move back to Dothan for a while, it's gonna take time to get there. And it can't happen now. Lord knows I'm not ready for the "real world" yet. I've only got a little over a year until I get there, so I can only tell myself to thank God for the little time I have left in school, learn as much as I can and prepare myself for the next step, whatever it may be. Life will come and changes will come. it takes patience to get there, and maybe I'll learn patience while I'm waiting for everything to pan out.

In the end, I just want to look back at life and be able to say "It's everything I wished for... too." It'll just take some time and patience to figure everything out. 

life is good.

Here's the long promised pictures that have been coming for a few days of one of the best weekends ever. :)

first up! flying kites. :)

 

So Friday afternoon my brother called me and told me we had VIP tickets for the Widespread Panic concert that night... for free! I'm not your usual "spread head" as the term goes, but who doesn't love good music, dancing, glow sticks and being in a room with thousands of other incredibly happy people? 

No wonder these guys have such a following, the concert was the best therapy session I could imagine.

 

my best friends.

first, but definitely not last.

Later that night I met my friends at a friend's bowl-dancing birthday party, had girls night on Saturday and then on Sunday went to supper club cookout and buddy's birthday! 

(didn't get any pictures of the rest of it... oops!)

Ohhhh. life is so good. 

let it be.

cliche, but seriously. these guys got it right.

When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree,
there will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see,
there will be an answer. let it be.

Let it be, let it be, .....

And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light, that shines on me,
shine until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be, .....