Easily Entertained

I will miss these two.



(Things to consider: This went on for a good 10 minutes. I stopped recording after one.)

Merry Christmas and a happy/sad dog movie too

First of all, Merry Christmas! Hope you had a day filled with love, family, and, of course, food.

My day consisted of sleeping in until 10 (a rare occurrence), a wonderful homemade breakfast (a nice break from the usual Pop-tart), stockings, gifts, a two hour nap, and then more food.

After we woke from our food coma and recovered from our sugar high and subsequent crash, my family decided to attend a movie. Now, movie-going is not a holiday tradition. Actually, I can't say I have ever been to a movie on Christmas before today. But we decided to venture out of our routine and see Marley and Me.

I 100% loved this movie. I will limit the reasons why to five.

1. Previews - I saw the trailer for Bride Wars and She's Just Not That Into You. Both of which I cannot wait to see. However, Bride Wars comes out as I am flying to London, and SJNTIY comes out while I'm in London. Hopefully, the Brits will be equally excited to see these movies and I won't have to go alone.
2. Jennifer Aniston - Not only do I absolutely adore Jen for just being her, but she is fantastic in this movie. I loved watching her portray a mother and it just made me want children for her so much. Seriously, John Mayer, put a ring on it and start making babies. Secondly, by seeing this movie, I did NOT see Brad Pitt's movie. Take that Angie.
3. Script - Wit. Grief. Subtlty. Hope. Desire. Love. It has it all. The writing is fantastic. And I'm not talking about the ways the actors interpreted the script. I mean the actual words. Take away the emotion in the actor's voice, the background music, all the visual elements, and actual listen to the words. These words had meaning. I guess this is mainly because the script came from a book. Nonetheless, I appreciated it.
4. Patrick, Connor, and Colleen - They are John and Jenny's three children. They are absolutely precious. That's all. I just thought they were adorable.
5. Nate, Ben, and Joe - My brother and two cousins. Those three at Marley and Me = hilarious times ten. They didn't want to be there. Laughed at the sad parts. Made fun of me when I cried (through the entire movie). Ben also put a Twizzler in his water bottle and made a flavored drink. Joe sat in stoic silence, as usual. Nate tried to hid any emotion he felt. I loved every second of it.

All and all, a great Christmas.

"Expect failure, but don't accept it"

We had to watch a short video about this man in my consumer behavior class. Honestly, I didn't really pay attention at the time, but now, as I'm studying for my final, I am intrigued and inspired.

A quick Google search directed me to this article.

"If at first you don't succeed..."

It is a profile on James Dyson, CEO of Dyson vacuum cleaners. He is quite the entrepreneur.

"You could say that long distance running has been a metaphor for my career to date, yes", Dyson concurs, "because its all about overcoming pain and realizing that the very moment when you feel tired is precisely the moment when you have to accelerate. Because that is the time when everyone else is feeling tired too. Redouble your efforts just when you feel like giving up - for often that can be the turning point."

We should all wish for such motivation.

I know I do.

We could change the world.

What is it about our generation? We walk around with an air of entitlement that can be sensed miles away.

Where do we get these ideas of self-righteousness? We are raised in a world where even those taught the difference between a right and a privilege are caught in the societal crossfire.

Our role models should be the generations before us who made something out of nothing, who fought through economic depression and world wars. Instead, we idolize those who have been given everything for accomplishing nothing. We choose beauty over intelligence. We spend money as if there are zero consequences. We have lost respect for others, and for ourselves. We have watched our country begin to crumble, yet we do not take steps to rectify the situation. You may say there isn't a clear answer, there aren't step for us to take. Well, if there was an answer, if there were steps, would we sacrifice for the greater well being of this country? Would we put others before ourselves?

The real tragedy is not the current economic crisis. It is not the sky-rocketing unemployment rates. Nor is it our mediocre education in comparison to that of rising international powers.

The real tragedy is our apathy.

We could be the greatest generation in history. But we aren't.
We have all the tools to garner great success. But we don't use them.
We have the ability to change the world. But we don't.


However, don't let my cynicism cause you to doubt all.
There is hope.

There are those in my generation who are determined. Their work ethic is unmatched. Their perseverance is inspirational. Their goals are great, and will be reached. They are not afraid. They embrace adversity.
They are the future.
They will change the world.

And for them, I am thankful.

Awanas: Paying off 10 years later

I am currently enrolled in one of the most fascinating classes ever - The Synoptic Gospels. Not only is my teacher a rock star, but the class is actually interesting. I know, right? Who would have thought a class would be fun to attend?

Well, I know there is at least one other person out there who agrees with me. And, apparently, they want to read all about it. I say this because today my textbooks decided to walk away. Isn't that special? Last time I read them, they hadn't grown legs yet, so I'm going to take a wild guess and say they had a little help disappearing.

At first I was angry, but hey, at least my little friend is reading about Jesus, right? And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the only silver lining I can find in this super situation. Do you want to know why?

Because there is a gigantic dark cumulonimbus cloud in the middle of this silver lining:

I have a test in that class tomorrow.

Therefore, I am currently sitting in the library attempting to remember all the information in the books. Thankfully, I already know the actual stories. Zaccheus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he.

So, Mom and Dad,

Thank you for making me go to Awanas and VBS. It seems that all that studying and Bible verse memorizing is paying off.

Love.

IHOP brings out the best.

Stimulating conversation at IHOP:

Lindsey: So what exactly do you do at biblestudy?

Kat: Well, we read this book...

Lindsey: I'm guessing the bible. (note: sarcasm)


These are my friends. I try not to associate with them in public....this only solidified that feeling.

I stumbled away my afternoon.

Fact 1: I tend to over-program myself.
Fact 2: Therefore, I don't have much free time.
Fact 3: I procrastinate.

Keeping that in mind, Brianna Elizabeth Dunn introduced me to a very dangerous website this afternoon.

First, a little background. Bree picks me up to run errands and by "errands" I mean a Taco Bell run. After we eat our disgustingly unhealthy yet wonderfully cheap food, Bree wants to show me a website.

We get on stumbleupon.com. (WARNING: This website WILL decrease daily productivity)

This website is a fantastic invention. Once you enter the site you click on the "Stumble" button. It then directs you to a randomly selected website. These sites have been suggested for inclusion by "Stumble" users.


While this is ridiculously entertaining and could fall into the "genius" category, I just wasted 70 minutes of my day stumbling around on the internet.

A few items I stumbled upon:

Creativity at it's finest.

Motivational graffiti

Hilarious. (Most likely created by a currently single guy).

Thanks B.


Libby

Why not?

I've been told before that I should journal. Hmmm.

Actual journals require time, patience and an ability to explore emotions, none of which I have in great abundance. In fact, I have about 3 empty journals stacked in my bookcase right now.

I guess blogging is the next obvious choice.

So, for those of you interested, here you go.

(At least I know CJ will read this.)

Libby