Happy 2013!

Oops, this is delayed. And as I write this, I think it should be noted that I'm supposed to be writing two journalism stories. Yolo. (Btw, I say that meaning oh well or no big deal, not saying it in the way of doing something stupid because I only have one life...just to clarify.)

Yea, it's been a while. Time to catch up. Not really. I will attempt to focus.

Heyyyy, it's a new year. I really tried to think of great resolutions.  I've pondered it quite a lot, and I have nothing too deep. Of course, there are the personal reminders that I can always take time to be healthier or grow closer to God, but - not to discredit those in anyway - those aren't my focus of the year.

Instead, I have a seemingly silly list of things to accomplish within this year. Lehgo...

1) I would like to watch all of my movies within the next year.
I probably own 75 movies, but I watch less than 20, and I feel like I'm wasting them by letting them sit.
2) I want to blog and work out at least once per month, but obviously not at the same time.
Oops, I already failed. So, I'll make up for it by blogging and working out twice this month...or I will wait until December and do both of them 12 times. Jk, I'll try to be consistent and bump those up to more than once a month if I can fight the laziness.
3) I would like to wear a bikini and not feel self-conscious.
Don't judge me. I don't want to do this to show off my body or because I want attention from guys. I want to do it to show confidence. I currently don't have the confidence to do it. I'm not sure how to find the belief in myself to be ok with it by the end of the year, but I'm determined to do so.  I want to be able to walk in front of people at the beach or on the way to a pool and not feel like the entire world (or the x number of people around me) are judging me and going to talk about me to their friends. I want to feel like it's just another outfit.
4) I want to find a new place to live in July where I'm happy and free.
I really don't have a choice on a part of this one. My lease ends in July, and I'll be forced to move. No big deal. But, I currently don't know where I'm going to live.  I have a few ideas in my mind, but nothing is really saying, "Hey, Kirsten, live here!" like my current apartment complex screamed to me when I toured it. God will provide.
5) I want to work toward life goals.
These goals could change, and that's ok, though I know that some will always remain. Here's the current list: 1) Grow spiritually.  2) Keep my very close friends close to me and appreciate their friendship. 3) Work on a friendship with someone in particular and attempt to make it grow to the best of my ability. 4) Be happy. Do what makes me happy and not what anyone thinks I should do, even if it's one of the very close friends. Live life, whether that means moving to Chicago to go to my dream school or eating Mint Oreos everyday because they're freaking delicious. 5) Even if I go nowhere with my theatrical dreams, always try to pay it forward with kids who may not have any other performing outlet.

So, are these really resolutions? Maybe random goals? Maybe things to try to get me to where I want to be in life?

Idk. I only know that they have been swarming around in my mind and buzzing me constantly to let it out. Here I go. I shall try to fulfill my list.

The Next Biblical Post

I don't always read the Bible, I don't pray as often as I should, and I fail sometimes, but I'm trying.  Some people don't even try, and it amazes and saddens me at the same time.

While reading the Bible just now, I thought about heaven.  I imagine it to be like the happiest times, so I imagined it at B-Dubs during musical after-parties (without the alcohol because I really don't think that's in heaven).  I imagined the coolest people ever, the best food (I know we don't need food in heaven, but why not have some boneless wings and sweet tea?), the greatest atmosphere, and everything happy and heavenly...obviously.  But, then I realized that people will be missing.  There are people who are close to me, or used to be, who will be missing from the party.  And after it is too late, I can't extend a late invitation and say, "Oops, I forgot to invite you earlier. You should join us now."  It will be too late.  There is an expiration date, and it's approaching, whether on December 21st when the Mayan calendar ends / zombie apocalypse happens or when I die when I'm 95.  I'm obviously adding in somewhat of a joke at the end, peeps.

I don't want my friends to be missing.  I want everyone to be there.  Everyone has a choice, of course, but am I doing enough to try to persuade them to get the acceptance to the party?  Am I doing as much as possible to make sure I'm always on the list, or do I almost waver into the area of not so sure sometimes? The answers are that I'm failing.

At the beginning of my high school career, I was set on making everyone in the school a Christian.  As I later realized, I can't make anyone do that.  It's a choice, and I can't force it on everyone...and forcing it is definitely counter-productive.  But, when I realized the counter-productivity, I gave up.  I focused my energies into other things rather than on attempting to lead others to Christ.  Yea, I post things on Facebook and Twitter occasionally that are Bible verses or quotes from Christian songs with hopes of inspiring others to follow God, but I'm not actively ministering to others.  It's the work of all believers, not just the pastors and people at the top of the lay people social food chain.

I need to take a better approach.  I need to stand up for my beliefs (in more ways than simply saying I'm a Christian), and I need to reach out to others.  I have great opportunities to do this on campus and with my friends in both real life and those who I know in real life but only get to interact with on social networking sites.  I pray that God will give me the direction on how to do this because I am at a loss of ways, though I'm sure that He will show me in time.

A bit of an addiction...

"Live from Hollywood, it's Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars!"

Those are some of my favorite words. Yes, I very willingly admit that I am totally addicted to Dancing with the Stars.  I love dancing, I love celebrities, I love tv, and I love shiny costumes and trophies. It's kind of like little pieces of perfection wrapped into a time of awesome every week...until my favorite people are eliminated, and then I hate it until I remember that other favorite people remain on the show.

Sadly, the All-Star season has ended.  My Twitter followers are probably thanking Jesus for this because I blow up Twitter every time that I watch DWTS...but I do the same with Glee, The New Normal, Breaking Amish, etc., so I don't feel badly about my choices.  I would share them in person, but no one seems to enjoy it as much as I do, so I'm seeking out someone in the Twittersphere who may like to converse with me regarding the glorious reality show. I have not yet found anyone. That's ok. ;)

My favorite couple the entire season has been Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough.  I'm a huge fangirl for Shawn.  I have loved her since she first competed in the Olympics, I voted for her in season eight of DWTS, I wanted her to return in the Olympics this summer and was devastated when she couldn't, and I was EXTREMELY ecstatic about her return to DWTS: All-Stars.  She's the bomb. Derek pushed the boundaries so much this season, and I love him for it...most of the time.  My favorite was definitely the trio dance with Mark because hello, beast mode. The bomb.

Regardless, I'm glad that Melissa won.  I wanted Shawn to win, but I loved Melissa this season and definitely wanted her to do better than Kelly in the finale (no one is buying that crap that she and Val are just friends...no one...).  Others who deserved to probably be in the finales or closer to the top than they were are Sabrina and Apollo. Sabrina is wonderful and Apollo is a really great dancer.  I was so sad when Apollo and Karina messed up their hip hop dance, but throwing a classically trained dancer into a rough and jaunting hip hop dance is entirely unfair. It's like taking me and putting me into a Latin dance without much prep time, but I suppose that's what the pros do with the celebs, so whatevs.  I still sympathize for her.  And Sabrina. Oh, darling.  She's magnificent, but she didn't have enough audience support. :( She's exceptional and deserved to go really far.  People know this "shocking" truth *wink, wink*, but whatevs. "It is what it is," to quote Liz and Dick.

So, this is a really fluffy post.  Nothing serious, but that's ok.  Humanity needs to focus on a few lighthearted things sometimes when there are mounting pressures that are always looming above our heads such as term papers and finals....or maybe that's just me.  Anyway, I love Dancing with the Stars. <3

Bucket List

Bucket List. ....which my fingers like to type as Buckey List....dumb...

I'm sure that most people have seen the movie with the two famous people whose names I can't remember. My bad, Mr. Famous Guys.

I've decided to make a bucket list. As far as I know, I don't have cancer nor anything else that would cause the need to make a list of things to do before I die, but I'm doing it anyway.  Bree (my roommate / best friend) and I made a bucket list a few weeks ago of things that we want to do while we live in Cape. After midterms were over, we realized that our time in college is limited and we have many things to do, so we're trying to do one thing each week.  It's a bit difficult now (and for the next few months) because there are not a lot of wintery activities on the list, but that's ok.  We're going to complete it, culminating in a 3-day trip (because that's all that we can afford...if we save our money like cray-cray) to Chicago. Woot!

Tonight, I was talking to a friend on Twitter, and I said that Chicago (the musical, not the city this time...sorry for any confusion, mis amigos) is on my list of musicals to see.  Then, I realized that I don't actually have a list, so I made one.

Then, I decided that there's no need to stop the list-making because who doesn't love lists?! Well, I assume that some people probably don't, but my friends and I like making them, so I continued the trend of the night by making a full-life bucket list.

I'm positive that I will continue to add to the list often, and I'll probably think of most things while sitting in class and feeling bored.

Some of the things are simple and known to happen such as earning my Bachelor's degree. If all goes as planned, I'll have that on December 21, 2013. Yes, I looked up the exact date a few hours ago.

Other things seemed simple when I was younger, but now they might not be; example: getting married. I'm not going to dwell on the subject, but I assume that a majority of others my age without a boyfriend can easily feel #foreveralone.  So, I hope to change that someday when God sends the perfect guy into my life who will have a relationship with me that is centered on Christ.

Another thing on the list is to perform at SCC again. This may seem dumb, trivial, stupid, whatever, but I love SCC and the Ed Center stage, and I would love to perform there again. It's going to happen. Just wait. (Plans are in my head but not yet released to the public. :P)

So, there you have it.  Others on the list are traveling things, silly things like blogging daily for a month, or going to Disney World with friends.  Visiting all 50 states and places in Europe and Australia are obviously on the list.  Ya know, the life things that I want to do.

Therefore, my dear readers who I don't know, I encourage you to make a bucket list, or a buckey list as I accidentally keep typing it.

Post 8: The Next Phase of Changes and Plans

Midterms began yesterday.  I didn't study as hard as I could have and should have, but I felt prepared. Then, I looked at the test.  Any feelings of preparedness went away.  If not for the essay portion of the literature test, I would have totally failed it.  I don't know any of my grades yet, but I'm sure they were not exceptional as they should be.  My statistics test was easier than I expected, but it still did not go well. I have another midterm in 13.5 hours and one online.  Basically, I'm ready to end Tuesday so that my midterms will be over.

Then, I get to do homework for one day of classes before break.  I do not understand why there is school on Wednesday.  I want it to be cancelled. Snow day, maybe? Ha, I wish!

I planned to study tonight. That didn't happen.  I changed my plans, but I still was not too productive - except with Group Talent, so that is a win!  Other than those Beta things and some iTunes reorganizing (I am admittedly a nerd), I did not do much.  Well, I watched Dancing with the Stars, but it cannot really be considered productive time.

Of course, I am "postponing" aka procrastinating.  I am going to totally rewrite my article from last week which has already been submitted.  We'll see how this goes.  I'm not sure how to connect the two people who I am writing about, but it can possibly be done.  I am sure that I will have an update on that situation tomorrow.

PS - If anyone ever reads this, I would like to point out that, within less than a week, I have quit looking for anyone to post comments on my blogs because I know it is not going to happen. Sad life. :P

PSS - I have had a headache tonight, so I am going to sleep after I rewrite my article.  Studying can wait until the morning considering my class is not until 2 pm.  Hopefully I wake up on time.