Rest in Peace, Alan Rickamn

Today, one of my favorite actors, Alan Rickman, died at age 69 from cancer.

I was shocked to hear of his passing, and of his cancer diagnosis, as I had no idea he was sick.

He was one of the people I wanted to meet at some point in my life, but now, that is not possible.

He was absolutely perfect in Harry Potter as Snape, Hans Gruber in the Die Hard movies, and all his other roles.

From what I have read/heard about him, Alan was very supportive of others, very funny, an all around great guy to be around.

It's impossible not to feel sad about the loss of Alan Rickman, aka Snape/Hans/Harry (from Love Actually).

My condolences go out to his family, friends, and fans (yes, his fans as well).

Rest in peace to a wonderful man. The world has lost an incredible soul, one that will be dearly missed.

A Strong Desire to Be An STM

For some time now, I have been wanting to be an STM (short term missionary) at a Joni and Friends Retreat.

The only thing stopping me from applying: the money. The one I want to go to isn't super expensive, but I am still unable to pay for the retreat.

The registration for this year opened today, but I am hesitant to apply. They do have assistance for people who are unable to pay the entire amount, but I'm not sure if I really want to/can do it this year.

So, I am looking to hopefully go next year.

You can learn more about Joni and Friends here, and about the retreats here.

A friend of mine has gone to a few of these retreats before, and loved them. I read about them on the website, and they sound like so much fun. So, I hope to be able to go to at least on retreat in my life.

Musically Inclined

I was recently chatting with one of the children's librarians at the local library, and we got to talking about music and musical instruments.

She told me she was learning how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the guitar, so she can play it at story time.

I told her that I used to play the violin in my elementary school's orchestra, and took a guitar class my freshman year of high school (yes, they had/have a guitar class!!).

For quite some time, I have been hoping to be able to buy a full size violin for myself, and to start playing again. I seriously miss playing, and would love to get back into it.

I quit playing the violin after fifth grade, because I "got bored with it." I have been regretting that ever since. So, hopefully I can start up again, before it's too late.

I may even start trying to play the guitar again as well. I love music, and actually enjoyed playing instruments. There are other instruments I want to play as well, and hopefully I can maybe take lessons for those too. Although, violin is my instrument of choice, and will be focusing on that.

I can't wait to get back into things, and to play again soon!!!

2016, and My Dreams for the Year

I can't believe today is the last day of 2015, and that tomorrow is 2016. How fast the year went!!

                                                                           Source

My dreams for 2016 are:

• to get my driver's license
• to do well in my classes
• to get a job
• to be in a relationship with a guy who will love all of me; who will love me for who I am
• to be more outgoing/do things out of my comfort zone
• Start and keep a regular exercise routine
• Learn how to cook
• Eat half as much junk food/twice as much healthy food
• Start/work on a book to be published
• Get my room cleaned up and redecorated
• Start and keep up a small garden (fruits, veggies, flowers)
• have regular contact with friends (email, texting, get togethers, etc.)
• volunteer at an animal shelter
• to learn self-defense
• to learn a new language (I want to learn Italian, Spanish, Sign Language, German, and maybe a few other languages)
• Have more self-confidence, more self-love
• Have more adventures

What are your dreams for 2016? I hope everyone has a happy, safe New Year's!!

Merry Christmas!!!

To those who celebrate, I hope you have/had a wonderful Christmas time!!

I celebrated with my sister and her family, dad, and two of my brothers, and it was a very enjoyable time.

I got:

• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• Baking With the Cake Boss: 100 of Buddy's Best Recipes and Decorating Secrets by Buddy Valastro
• A Kevin Minions plush toy (something not on my list, but I love it all the same!!)
• A package of Grumpy cat stickers and a 2-pack of Grumpy Cat pens (another thing not on my list, but I will definitely be using them; I love Grumpy Cat!!)
• Allegiant by Veronica Roth
• Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb DVD
• Insurgent DVD
• Toy Story 2 DVD
• Toy Story 3 DVD
• A Funko Pop! Harry Potter figurine (this one is of Harry in his Quidditch robes, carrying his broom and a snitch)
• A Funko Pop! Sadness figurine (from the movie Inside Out)
• Sindarin/English & English-Sindarin Dictionary (a language J.R.R. Tolkien made up in the Hobbit/LOTR series)
• 3 Amazon.com gift cards

All in all, a wonderful Christmas celebration. Seeing my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew, opening presents, Christmas dinner...always a wonderful time!!

Winter Fest 2015

The annual Winter Fest in my town was this weekend.

I did go, and this was probably my 4th or 5th time going. It's pretty a pretty neat community event, where you buy a tin (yes, you have to buy it), and then go around to participating shops, who then give you a cookie/treat.

There's also different acitivities (like carolers, musicians, etc.) and, of course Santa Clause.

I always try and get my picture taken with Santa every year.

I may be an adult, but that doesn't mean I have to always be an adult every single day. I love Santa!!!

Here are the few pictures that I took/had taken for me, during the fest:

 

These guys are awesome :) They sing as well as playing their instruments.

 

All the treats from the cookie walk.

 

Santa!!

 

Me and Santa :) He loves to sing "Merry Christmas" when he has his picture taken with kids (and adults).

 

 

I had a great time, and I hope to be able to go again next year.

Goals for 2016

Even though I rarely ever keep them, I have made resolutions/goals for 2016.

I don't know why I make them, as I know I'll never keep them. I can be quite a procrastinator at times, so I never really think about not meeting my goals when I make them.

But, here goes another year of goal-making (I should probably put not procrastinating on my goals on my list!!).

• Start and keep a regular running exercise routine
• Get a job (at someplace I would love)
• Eat at least half as much junk food
• Spend half as much time online
• Find a boyfriend (one who will love me for me, and who would not try to hurt me)
• Go for a walk every day (at least 30 minutes)
• Eat healthier
• Learn to cook
• Talk to, and get together with, friends once a week
• Knit and crochet at least one thing a month
• Start writing a book, and keep working on it until it's finished

These are all I can think of at this time, but I might add more to it later. Hopefully I can do at least a few of these, and keep it up.

I Am Thankful For...

Many people do a 30 days of thankfulness list every Thanksgiving, where they list one thing they are thankful for each day of November. I will be doing it a little differently, where I will list all 30 things at once. There are, of course, more than 30 things I am thankful for, but I don't make to make this too long.

So, here is what I am thankful for:

1. My family
2. My friends
3. A roof over my head
4. Food to eat
5. Clothes to wear
6. Clean water
7. My education
8. Friends who stayed by my side when I was going through a really tough time a few years ago
9. My two crazy, lovable cats
10. Being able to instantly connect and talk with friends and family, with text messaging, Facebook, IM, etc.
11. Photography, and having lots of opportunities for taking pictures (I am an avid photographer)
12. Baking (I am an avid baker as well)
13. Journaling/blogging/writing (yet another thing I am avid about)
14. Volunteering at my local library (I have been doing so for about 3 1/2 years or so)
15. Furthermore, having libraries close to me, with lots of resources that fits whatever need I may have at any given time.
16. A comfy bed to sleep in every night
17. Pinterest (yes, Pinterest. There are TONS of great ideas on there!!!)
18. Friends and family who support me and my dreams in life.
19. Beautiful sunrises and sunsets
20. Farmers (yes, farmers. We wouldn't have a lot of the foods and goods we have today without them. They work very hard and don't get much credit for their work. So, thank you farmers!)
21. Girl Scouts. I was a girl scout in school, and absolutely LOVED it!!
22. Music. I am almost always listening to music, so of course it is something I am thankful for.
23. Knitting and crocheting. I first started with knitting a few years ago, when I was going through a tough time, and it helped me stay sane. Now I do crocheting as well, and absolutely love both crafts.
24. Chocolate. What can I say, it's SOOOOO good!!!
25. Operation Christmas Child. They give shoebox presents that they collect from people who pack them, to children all over the world. I was able to do it a couple times, and absolutely love it!!
26. My bike. It's one of the few exercises that I love and am really willing to do.
27. Doctors, nurses, EMTs, police, fire fighters, etc., who help us in times of need.
28. Teachers who are willing to work with/help their students to do the best that they can. And who work their butts off for their students each and every day. Especially special education teachers.
29. Nature. I love nature, and what it has to offer.
30. Last but not least, being alive.

What are you thankful for?

To those who celebrate, happy Thanksgiving!!

A Little Teaching Motivation...Hopefully

I bought this at a recent holiday craft fair, that I had gone to with a friend.

When I first saw it, I debated whether or not I actually wanted to get it for myself.

Mainly because I am not a teacher (yet). I still have a dream of becoming a special education teacher, but I don't know if it will actually happen.

I am a very shy person by nature, and talking in front of a group of people scares me. (I do want to be more outgoing, though, so hopefully I can still go for my teaching degree.)

I decided to get the name plaque, though, to remind me of my dreams, and that anything is possible.

The person I bought this from, when I said I was debating whether or not to get this, that I could put it up somewhere where I could see it all the time, to inspire me to go for my dream.

That's what prompted me to buy it, and to be honest, I'm actually glad I did.

Hopefully, I will be able to start going for my teaching degree within the next few years. I love children, and would love to be able to be a part of their future!

Living in a Broken World

The world we currently live in is a broken world. With the way things are going, I believe it will always be a broken world. Unless we do something about it.

There have been several terrorist attacks lately, most recently in Paris.

All these attacks breaks my heart. What are the terrorists trying to prove, by attacking innocent people?

I have always wanted to go to Paris. It is a beautiful city, and the people seem so nice. These recent attacks will not deter my wish to go.

Pray for everyone in Paris, and for those around the world.

We need more good in the world. A lot more.

Nous sommes de Paris, la ville des lumières, toujours/We stand With Paris, the City of Lights, always.