Obsessed.

There are very few things in life that I am "obsessed" with. Like...very very few. As of late I have been in love with polka dots, like the one in this picture:

(Picture is thanks to Neil's Mom! She's a fantastic photographer!)

Another thing I have been in love with is SLEEP! I haven't been feeling well lately but the one time I feel better is when I'm sleeping...or with Neil. (I think the second is much more psychological than rational...) Anyway. Sleep is fantastic but only in proper proportions. (As I mentioned as part of my Sunday School lesson this last week.) Moving on...

It's no secret to my close friends that I am "obsessed" with my skin. I have tried SO MANY different creams, lotions, washes, masks, moisturizers etc. Nothing seemed to really work. Yeah, they'd keep my skin clean or moisturized but what about those dang pesky zits? I only get one or two here and there every now and again but it seems like they last FOREVER. My zits are the kind that tend to form under the skin and not really come to a head-so popping is out of the question. (Gross, I know but let's admit it friends, we ALL get zits. Girls and boys alike.) So after a lot of spending, testing and disappointment I discovered something  that I never thought would happen. I am obsessed with Mary Kay skin care. 

I KNOW. 

ME?! The girl who thought Mary Kay was just a stupid company who charged WAY TOO MUCH for the products. BUT I tried it a year ago and my skin has never felt better. Within seven days, my zits have almost disappeared. I have the following products:

Night and Day Solution, Face Wash and Moisturizer, Microdermabrasion kit. (The two on the far left and the one cylindrical thing in the middle-ish section I don't have. BUT I WANT THEM! 

I also have the Satin Lips and Satin Hands set.  I LOVE THEM. 

Now, some of you may be wondering how I can afford this. Well, this year, I got my tax return on my birthday and so I splurged a little. I bought Mary Kay but guess what?!?! I got a discount because it was my BIRTHDAY! 30% off my total! It was heavenly. 

Anyway, I love Mary Kay and I'm just a tad obsessed with how much better my skin looks just after a few days of using it. (My skin missed it from last year, I'll tell you that!) My last set lasted about 5 months which is a long time when you consider how often you buy face wash etc. 

Guys, my skin looks like this!

Haha, JUST KIDDING! That is the magic of Photoshop courtesy of Neil's Mom. But I feel like that's what my skin looks like. It's so much softer and clearer and I like the feeling. 

So yeah, I'm a little obsessed. So sue me!

Dislike

I'll catch you up on all things "Valentinesy" later but just for now I have got to express my current hatred for Midterms. School is good but right now, I don't like it. That's okay right? I mean, I'm not going to drop out or anything. Believe you me that would be harder than staying in! I just don't like school right now. Midterms on top of regular homework assignment, essays and work. Physically it is hard to handle everything and being sick, so sick that I can't do anything but throw up and sleep, is annoying. It all comes from the stress. So maybe it's not that I dislike school, maybe it's that I dislike the stress that makes me sick which makes me miss work and then I miss class which puts me behind...that's one nasty little cycle... Oh well, onwards and upwards!

Twenty-Two

What do you do when you turn twenty-two?

Do you go to the mall and buy some new shoes?

Do you skip out on class just to go to the zoo?

Maybe I'll just go on like always cleaning and cooking. 

Who needs a party? Who's even looking?

Just do the dishes then back to the grind!

No one will notice, no one will mind!

Then wash your face and off to bed. 

It would be easy, no ache in my head.

Oh, twenty-two, oh, twenty-two

What do I do with you?

It's a mystery really, a puzzle, a bind!

If I knew what to do I could settle my mind!

So, here I stand, with a tricky old plight

willing it to turn pretty with all of my might.

A movie and dinner! My mind begins to think!

forget the stinky dishes in the sink!

Don't skip out on a birthday, no ma'am!

Be more persistent than Sam I am!

Go to the mall and buy those new shoes!

Or climb up the mountain and shake off the blues!

Go to the ice rink and skate life away.

Whatever you do don't give up this day!

Go fishing, go biking, go fly to the moon!

Go dance in the rain or learn how to use a harpoon!

Get up and go!

Life is too short, you know.

So twenty-two, oh twenty-two

I know just what to do with you!

I'll live out today and everyday here after

with happiness, joy and lots of laughter!

I'll go to a movie, I'll let down my hair!

I'll even throw my to-do list in the air!

Just know that today is a great day for me!

And to think, one year from now I'll be TWENTY-THREE!!

Oh boy. 

Confidence

A song from the sound of music goes something like this, "I have confidence in sunshine! I have confidence in rain! I have confidence that spring will come again! Besides, which you see, I have confidence in me!"

Sometimes I wish I could belt out that song perfectly and believe it.

I've been told before that I am a confident person and that so-and-so is jealous of that confidence. I attribute that to my acting skills and while I am flattered and honored that people would be jealous of me ever, I have to say that I am not always confident in my abilities to do anything. And if I do it, and I confident that I will do it right? Not always.

Sometimes, you can forget the things that you do well because the list of things that you achieve at a sub-par level seems to extend so far in front of you that you collapse under the weight of the pressure. That's how I feel right now. Sub-par. Incapable to doing anything worth merit or honor.

I'm not writing this because I want pity or even need it necessarily I just want everyone who reads this...(ha...all 7 of you...) that confidence is not and has not ever been the easiest thing for me.

I am a girl who likes Theater and Music but I also love Sports. I like hiking and biking but I also love to sit in side and play video games. I love to read but I also love to watch movies. I love to dress up and look nice but I love wearing my sweats. I love to cook and I love to have someone cook for me. I love veggies and I love potato chips. I love to love, I really do and I also am a very mean person if I don't check myself. I am mature and I am immature. I am silly and I am serious. I am patient and then I am so incredibly impatient. I don't fit into any one mold and while being unique is great and all, it is hard to be so unique at times that I don't belong anywhere.

Things can be said that hurt and that stay with a person. Kids in the sixth grade called me "cow". Though I've learned to push that away, sometimes the hurt creeps back, unwelcome as it is.

I love my family very much. And as every family does, mine has imperfections. Six girls with such stark personalities, there were words that were said at times that still are recalled, years later. I was by no means only a victim. I played my part in the "villain" role plenty of times and for some reason, that makes me feel worse. I know that dwelling on the past will change nothing and acting for a better future is the only true form of reform but sometimes I wish I could reach into the past and cover my ears, protecting my oh-so-sensitive self from hearing unkind, stupid, biting comments that were made out of spite, fear, anger or jealousy. We were all different people then but when those things come from people you love, despite everything, those words seem to come back the loudest and most painful. I know that we all regret the scars we gave each other, at least I do, but we have to move forward and heal the wounds that I think all of us are too stubborn to admit we have-for the most part.

Because of that, I wish so much that I could be the ultimate sister: the perfect babysitter, the perfect role model, the perfect person to give advice, the perfect debater, the perfect communicator. I wish so much that I could be the ultimate daughter: patient, loving, kind, better about communicating, not selfish, free of tendencies to project an attitude of acting entitled.

I love my family and I have such a wonderful life so writing all of this down and complaining makes me feel ungrateful. I am so blessed! I feel guilty that I have bad days. I shouldn't doubt that The Lord has my life in His hands. I should feel confident in sunshine, rain and myself. Always. But the truth is that I do have bad days. I do get discouraged and feel unworthy of love. I suppose that this is all part of our experience here on earth. If we never experience sorrow or grief, loneliness or unloved the beauty of feeling happiness and joy, comfort and love would be taken away and we would not appreciate or understand the extent of it all.

So, do I have confidence in sunshine? Yes. Rain? Yes. Do I have confidence in me? Eh, maybe not today but tomorrow is a new day and full or opportunities to be better at being confident.

Sherlock

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable must be the truth."

-Sherlock Holmes

Sorry Mr. Downey Jr. You just don't cut it for me. 

There is a more refined Sherlock in my life. 

He goes by the name of Benedict Cumberbatch. 

The best Sherlock I've seen. EVER. 

Not only does Mr. Cumberbatch make a much more superior Sherlock, but that Martin Freeman sure is a keeper. Sorry, Mr. Law but it looks like you just can't hold your own. 

Martin Freeman. I'd like to meet this man. He seems like he'd be a nice one. :) He's also THE Hobbit in the Prequel to the LOTR series, "The Hobbit"!!!! 

Sherlock. Everyone needs to watch this show!

I just watched the last episode of season 2. Holy GOODNESS! It was splendid. I cried like a little baby! Steven Moffat (also wrote Doctor Who) is simply a genius. GENIUS I SAY! 

Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch and Mr. David  Tennant. Sherlock,  meet Dr. Who. 

Go. Watch. Love. 

Pistachio Poultry on Pretty Purple Plates

Why, yes, I did just use a rather awesome alliteration to define the "Winter Semester 2012 Kick-Off" Dinner date that I had with Neil. Anyway...

So this year for Christmas I was given a set of dishes. 2 purple, square plates, 2 sets of silverware, 2 wine glasses and 2 glass bowls. I. Am. In. LOVE! 

(Thank you Kristen and Lauri!!)

Because of this, I decided that I should put them to good use. And, let's be honest here, the only good use for just a beautiful set of dishes is an equally beautiful dinner! YAY FOOD! All of last semester I was itching to try this Pistachio Chicken recipe that I found while Pinterest-ing. I absolutely LOVE pistachios but they are just so darn expensive that I knew I had to wait for the perfect opportunity to make the chicken. With the new dishes and the new recipe and a new semester I decided the time was just right.

This was our dinner on Tuesday night:

Look! That's my wreath!!

It was soooo yummy!

So we had asparagus, pistachio chicken, clementines, salad and a Pear Sparkling Juice thing. YUM!

Aren't those dishes just lovely? I LOVE THEM!!! 

Me and Neil :)

Then for dessert, Neil made PASSION FRUIT MOUSSE!!! It was SOOO good. 

In fact, there is still some in my fridge...hmm...

It tasted sooo much like passion fruit. Every time I took a bite I thought of Portugal. 

YUMMO!

After dinner we decided to watch a movie and chillax before the new semester. We were going to watch The Slipper and the Rose but when we popped it in the DVD player we discovered that it is a Non-USA format DVD. It's actually an Australia Region DVD. It was a sad realization but not too sad. I can watch it on my computer and other things...Anyway, we decided that we would watch Tangled! I love Tangled. It's simply adorable! 

So yeah, that was our spectacular date on Tuesday night. To tell you the truth though, any date with Neil is spectacular. Just sayin'.

DIY Yarn Wreath

I made my first ever yarn wreath and I LOVE it!! 

I'm obsessed with making them!

It was quite the ordeal but I made it in just a couple of hours (with some help) and it was really fun. My kind of  craft. I still haven't put it up in my apartment yet. I'm not sure where to put it but I did name it! Or rather, Neil, knowing my obsession for naming all thing inanimate, picked a name that I just LOVE.

*I made flowers out of felt. I had 3 different colors of purple and then I made a couple of little white flowers. In all honesty I didn't know how to do any of this so I just found blogs with felt flower tutorials and then played around with what I found. They aren't perfect but I love them. LOVE them!

Then I wrapped the foam wreath with the purple yarn. (Clearly it was purple but I love purple so much that I have to say it just in case, at any moment, you might forget!)

After I wrapped the yarn and hot glued it down, I played around with the placement of the flowers. I also added some flowers for some elegance. 

TADA!!!

 Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Sophie. My yarn wreath.