Day 10

Day 10: A Picture that Confuses You

When I saw this topic I knew exactly what picture I wanted to pick. As it has been stated many times before, I went to Hawaii this summer with some friends. We rented out this house a block away from the beach and it was awesome. Something that made it even more awesome was the art that was put all over the walls. It was usually stuff with extremely strange quotes and such. Anyway- the best one/most confusing one was this poster mounted in the dining room.

Can someone please explain this picture to me? It was a great topic of conversation for everyone that went to Hawaii with me, and no one could really figure it out. How does an egg flying in the sky with butterflies coming out of it over a chess board explain perspective?! Like seriously.... if you guys have any idea... please let me know, I'd be interested to know what your thoughts on this are.

Oh. and the quote underneath "Perspective" says "Change is not only necessary to life... It is life" What the heck?

Day 9

Day 9 - Someone or something that has gotten you through a lot

Just for the record- a lot of different people have gotten me through a lot of different things in my life. But I'm really an independent type of person- to a fault actually. When I'm truly suffering, I tend to keep most of it to myself and just tell myself that I can get through it by myself. I do have one thing though that has truly gotten me through every possible problem that has come up in my life. And that thing is my journal, or I suppose multiple journals at this point.

I guess it's kind of an odd thing to choose, but it is absolutely true. With journal writing, I just find it sooo therapeutic. I can write anything that I'm thinking about whenever I come across a problem in my life. It allows me to vent and not hold back, get excited over stupid things, and just be myself and think and write whatever I feel like writing. And it's very fun to go back and read my journals as well.

Whenever I'm going through a really hard time, I can express my fears and pains and such to their full extent and not worry about other people worrying about me. Which is where the whole independence thing comes in I guess. I can also really see how much I have been blessed with as I write down all of the good things that have happened to me and how much God watches out for me and loves me. It's a good way to reflect on the past, live in the present and look forward to the future at the same time. I'm a huge advocate of journal writing- I can't say enough good about it. So I suppose that's what has gotten me through the most, if not everything.

Day 8

Day 8: A picture that makes you laugh

I went to my photos on my laptop to search for a picture that made me laugh. I only have pictures from 2010 and 2011 on there, so I didn't need to search long because this one is form January 1, 2010. haha!! I had kind of forgotten about it. Love these boys- even the creeper in the back.

Day 7

Day 7: A picture of a place that you've been

It was hard for me to pick a picture for this one because I've been to a lot of cool places. I decided to go with a picture from Hawaii though. I tried to pick a picture that I don't think most of you have seen, since I didn't put it on facebook or on the blog. I'm pretty sure this is Sunset beach in Hawaii. But who really knows- I went to a lot of different beaches. Hawaii was awesome. So chill and perfect weather. It was really paradise, I must say. I would love to go back again.

Day 6

Day 6 : My Parents

Aren't they lovely? Well the topic "my parents" is rather broad.... So here is a picture of them. My parents' names are Flint and Freda Finlinson. Yep- that's right. Take that for some alliteration, why don't you. It's even better when you add family at the end. I still think they should have named all of us F names, but hey that's just me.

My mother is a Southern belle from Georgia. She is extremely proud of her Southern heritage, which is where I get my love of the South from. (In case you didn't know, I love the South) I'm very much like my mom in a lot of ways. She is very practical, honest, and everyone seems to love her. I'm not sure how much I am like her in that last aspect, haha. Despite her protests, I still believe she is an amazing mother, even if she doesn't think that I have that opinion. She loves Aerosmith, diet coke, Gone With the Wind, fine dining, and planning and going on family vacations.

My father is a western boy from a small farm in middle of nowhere, Utah. You would never know that form meeting him today, but he is still proud of his heritage as well and the work ethic that it taught him. I am also a lot like my dad in a number of ways. He loves being creative, fashion, and cooking. He is obsessed with cooking actually, and spends most of his leisure time planning gourmet meals and cooking them. Lucky for us, right? He is very good at keeping in touch with and having a personal relationship with all of his children- unlike a lot of fathers that I know. That is what makes him special as well as many many other things.

I love my parents very much, even though I don't say it as often as I should. (Good thing they read this blog, right?) I always say that I was first in line in the parent picking line in heaven. I had first choice, and these people are who I picked! haha. My parents also like to use that line against me when I am not happy with them. They will always say "well you picked us!'' Oh boy... either way, through good and bad, I AM glad I picked them. :)

Day 5

Day 5 : A habit that I wish I didn't have

This is a hard one because I'm always trying to start good habits as opposed to focusing on ones that I wish I didn't have. Instead of wishing, I prefer to actually try and change them. Of course I'm not saying I'm perfect and that I don't have any habits I wish I didn't have, I'm just saying that if you wish you didn't have a habit, you should change instead of wishing it wasn't so! So I guess I need to take my own advice.

I wish I was IN the habit of keeping up on current events more. So I guess I wish I didn't have the habit of ignorance? haha. I try my best to keep up with what is going on, but then I often forget. And it's so easy to just look at the New York Times online. So I wish I could get into the habit of just looking at it everyday to just know what is going on. I have TIME magazine and I need to read it more thoroughly more often. I know the basics of stuff- like oh hey there are a bunch of protests going on in Egypt right now! But I want to know the history behind them and the full on story.

The only problem is that you can never know everything that is going on in the world. I've been really good at keep track of the situation going on in Sudan right now. (Southern Sudan is seceding form Northern Sudan) And I know all the reasons and such, but that's only ONE country! How is it possible to know about the protests in Egypt, the ousting of the Tunisian president, the seceding of southern Sudan, the floods in Australia, and not to mention everything that is going on in America!? And also not to mention everything that I didn't just mention. haha. So it's a huge feat, but I'm continuing to give it my efforts. Not my BEST efforts, but hey I'm giving it effort. Anyway- I'm going to make a goal to look at the New York times every day for a week from here on out. Here's to habits that we (I) want to change! Who's with me?

Day 4

Day 4: My first love

I highly considered not doing this topic and just choosing some other random topic, but I suppose I'm not that creative in thinking of blog topics... so here we are. I'm not one to have extremely personal blog entries, so I'll keep this one kind of vague. For those of you who know the story, you'll know what I'm talking about, and for those of you that don't, you can ask me in person!

So my first love... eh hem...

When I was a mere 15 I met this boy at a youth dance. We hit it off and I really enjoyed his company and he seemed to be enjoying mine as well. Not really thinking anything of it, I would talk and dance with him and so forth. All of my friends during this dance saw what was going on and didn't waste any time in finding out if we were interested in each other- and it turns out that we were! And a young, exciting romance blossomed from there. I couldn't actually date him, since I wasn't 16 yet, but we were "going out" haha. Oh man.... it all sounds so silly looking back at it now.

Anyway, we hung out with in groups for the next 6 months, talked on the phone incessantly and just couldn't get enough of each other. I found myself wanting to be a better person, loving life to its full extent and just wondering how I could have been so lucky to have this happen to me. I know this may surprise many of you, knowing me now, but hey I was 15! I was stupidly "in love." haha I put quotes because I don't actually think someone that young really knows what love is, but that's what I thought I knew at the time.

Those 6 months were great and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. Due to complications that I don't wish to get into and the consequential teenage drama that ensued, it obviously didn't last. He broke up with via another friend (which I was SUPER pissed about) and that was that. I was devastated, but I did survive and live to tell the tale today. I've liked/dated a few guys since that time, but I have yet to recapture that 'stupidly in love' feeling that I felt during that first experience. And that is why I'm not married I suppose! I'm glad I went through that experience.

I actually went back through my journals over this past Christmas break when I was in town, and OH BOY. My first love experience filled the pages during those 6 months, as you would imagine. And as I read the entries, I felt all of the emotions all over again- from the excitement of having a boyfriend to the sadness of breaking up. It was intense!! Because you know that 15 year old girls are so much more dramatic than 23 year old ones.... (or are they?) I'd like to think so.... Either way it will be interesting to see how I am once I am in love as an adult. Here's to the future!