Getting a massage

Continuing in my quest to do something I've never done before every day, I opted to get a professional massage today. 

I have never done it before, and frankly have never liked the idea of being half naked in a room with a stranger oiling and rubbing on my body like I'm the next sacred human sacrifice!

Hesitant as I was, my mom really wanted me to do it, so I pushed on. 

I had to fill out a pretty detailed form about my medical history and what parts of my body I wanted massaged. One of the options was the gluteal... I promptly checked the "no" box on that one! I was escorted by my masseuse to this low light corner room with soothing music playing. I was told to undress and lay on the heated bed under the blankets. 

The masseuse was a young woman, couldn't have been five years older than me! The massage went very well, the first half hour I spent trying to guess in my head what she was doing, where her hands were going, and why she would do what she did. Most people try to relax but my brain just couldn't let it go! It was only awkward for a few minutes in the beginning. So that was a relief too!

But about half way through she starts talking to me, and we discover we both played fastpitch! So we start talking about the sport and having good conversation. Though, my brain never let me forget I was half naked laying on a table while she was rubbing me. But I did my best not to let my awkward brain intrude on the conversation. She then starts pointing out what muscles are effected by throwing and playing in general. No surprise that those particular muscles rather tight in me! She started pulling and stretching them out! It hurt so bad! I began to wonder if she found pleasure in pulling out those knots and watching me try not to show my pain! 

The massage ended with her pushing on every painful muscle in my neck like they were keys on a piano and her fingers knew every key! 

It was definitely a new experience! Mixed feelings about the end result though, I don't feel any different, and most people feel relaxed! 

 

Too cool for school

I am currently at my college orientation, and they are running us all over campus in little designated orientation groups. While I have many opinions on almost every aspect of the experience, today I want to focus on these two girls that act "too cool for school." Meaning they think they are above doing the ice breaker games, sound really unenthused when asked to speak, and give each other a sort-of eye roll look when some one else says something. 

These type of people irk me! In high school this attitude may have carried them right to the top of the social pyramid. But in college, there is no need for it. People stop caring so much about what others think. I could tell my OC (orientation counselor) was put off by these girls, cause she was trying to pump up the group and they were hashing her mellow! I'll tell you what, THAT attitude is what's "not cool". 

All in all you get out of the experience what you put in. And if they wanna put in a crappy attitude, it's their bed they are gunna have to lay in. But no need to outwardly express the negativity... Cause then the whole group gets affected. 

They think they are too cool for school. But really, this school is too cool for them! 

Alexandrite

Alexandrite is a uniquely rare gemstone, it can actually undergo dramatic shifts in color depending on what kind of light it's in. It is a gem that has a different color depending on your viewing angle; a gemstone that shifts colors when you rotate it in your hand, is what professionals in gem related fields call "pleochroic". it can also change colors when viewed under an artificial light source. (In natural sunlight, the gem appears greenish blue; in soft incandescent light, the gem appears reddish purple)


My three best friends LOVE buying rings. They all love to look at jewelry, try on 

jewelry, buy jewelry, wear jewelry, talk about jewelry, complement each others jewelry, and tease me about my lack of rings/jewelry. Let's just say I don't share their affinity for jewelry, I wear it if I have to... but it is not a serious source of enjoyment for me. (they know this about me and love me for it anyways) 
When we are out about the town together we never fail to make a stop at multiple stores and shops to look at rings. Even if they are wearing three on their hand already. When we (the "fab-four" as I affectionately call us) hit up the farmers market, we make a stop at every ring and jewelry stand possible.... Probably multiple times. 
I can tell their faces light up when we stop! Their arms immediately reach out to touch any ring and every ring they see. There is a constant cloud of "ooooo's" and "ahhhh's" that loom above us as the three of them rummage through those padded boxes with rows and rows of rings. Their voices get higher and softer as they review each ring like they have never seen one before. 
While they are doing that, I usually have this glazed over look, and not much interest in touching them. They might ask me what I think about one or two, I either make my "I can't believe you are even touching that" face, or shrug it off and say "it doesn't suck." It's not that I hate what they are doing, I just don't share their love for rings.... But I share in our friendship, and watching them enjoy and bond over something brings me joy. 
Today, we went to a local fair, where we stopped at multiple ring stands, which resulted in the purchase of a few by my friends! And while I was standing there, staring at the long table of ring options, I thought of Alexandrite, I thought of how rare it was (almost 1000 times rarer than diamonds) and how from any given angle the color is different. I took a long look at my very-best friends while they were distracted. I really soaked it in. From each angle we look different, we make up a different color from one another, we have different families and activities. We have different political, educational, and religious views. Yet when I look at us, sitting there in a pop-up tent rummaging over some cheap silver, I equate us to Alexandrite, because despite these hundreds of angles one could see about us, I see the love and friendship we share. I see the color we make when you put us all together. For some reason we naturally complete each other. We just effortlessly work, play, talk, and hang out. Not many teenage girls can say they have remained close friends for over 10 years.... We can. 
God put us all together cause he knew all our different angles put together would make the most special and rare friendship combination possible.  
All teenage girls think their friends are diamonds, but I KNOW mine are Alexandrite. 

They may think I shrug it off, but I cherish our ring shop stops, cause it reminds me of our Alexandrite-like friendship. It makes me thank my lucky stars I have such amazingly unique friends, cause in a world of diamonds, I am blessed enough to have a rich supply of Alexandrite.

God likes camping

Having gone camping nearly every summer of my childhood, and having just gotten back from my family's latest trip, I realize that every time I go camping, I get closer to God. I'm not sure what it is about camping that makes me feel closer to him, but I always do! One reason I think my connection with God is stronger while camping is, the fact that I am disconnected from the "world". I have no cell service or internet connection for a prolonged period of time. Another reason is I am always somewhere scenically beautiful! Whether it's the Redwood Forrest in California, a cactus dessert in Arizona, or a lush mountain forrest in Washington, I am surrounded by something awesome that reminds God created this planet. Those two reasons make it so much easier to talk to God. To open up to God. Not just for something i need either, i pretty much have continuous dialogue with him while camping. Numerous things about my life at home distract me from just simply talking to God. But with my iPhone out of hand, dirty tennis shoes laced up, and no peer from school in sight, I am more free to connect with God. Less interference I guess. 

But I'm back from camping and I'm connected with friends, my family's schedule is going five different directions... And my Internet connection is strong... But I need to make sure my God connection stays as strong as it is when I'm camping. I need to be able to set aside my distractions while I'm living my life here. Cause let's face it, I can't go to a mountain every day to connect with God. I need to be able to make my bedroom a mental "campground" in order to escape. 

I hope I can... Cause I think I'm happier and God is happier when I go camping!

Our Birds

My front yard, and everything in it is slowly being taken over by what my family and I call "our birds." There is a family of wild little birds that have made the decorative bird house on our front porch their permanent home! There are two parent birds and three baby birds that spend their days flying around my yard, resting on bushes, drinking out of the bird bath and drain pipe, eating the worms in front lawn, and we generally think its pretty cool that they live there. It's fun to watch them grow and learn to fly right in front of our eyes! But recently they have been really... annoying! They have found the gutter right above my window to be their preferred spot to sing at 4 am. Every day..... They fight with the crows in the yard too. There are some days I whip out a snack, pull up a chair and watch out the front window to see who wins! It's a territorial fight, nothing to horrible. There are also days I go out the back door to get to my car because I feel like walking through the front is dangerous. 

But those minor annoyances weren't enough to detour our affection for our birds. That breaking point came today when my sister and I discovered one of the three kid birds perched on the side mirror of my mom's car, just sitting there looking at itself, pooping all down the side of the car, and scratching the side and glass of the window. The bird was so distracted by the mirror it didn't notice my sister and I pass the car, and when it finally did, it just turned it's head and turned back to the mirror. Normally they fly away when they see us. I spent the better part of the morning trying to figure out,

A) why the bird was perched in front of the side mirror of my moms car 

B) how to break the news to my mom that her car is being continuously pooped on and scratched by a bird. 

The internet had a solution for me! It turns out this is a common occurrence in suburban america if you have a car in the drive way. What is really happening is the bird thinks it's reflection is another bird, and they are trying to socialize/hit-on the "other bird." Our car is not the first victim of this tragic bird confusion either. The only credible solution I have found is to put those cone shaped cardboard birthday hats on each mirror to block it. That sounds silly to me, and would probably look silly to passer-byers. But I would hate to let this bird stupidity continue. 

What to do about Our Birds.....

My Internet Distractions

I know I left you all a little down in my last post, but don't think for a second I am walking around town moping. I am keeping myself productively busy! And when I'm not busy being productive, I am almost always on the internet! So, I would like to share with you my internet distractions, in hopes that they become some of your favorite internet distractions too.

Facebook- This one is pretty self-explanatory. Creep on people's lives and make my own look better than it actually is. Great distraction that everyone uses now!

Sparknotes- No, this is not just a place to go review Romeo & Juliet the night before your English teacher gives you a test on the book. Its also a great place to read articles about life, or funny articles about other peoples' lives. I also find blogging inspiration from Sparknotes. Columns like AuntieSparknotes and Ask Jono are awesome!

You Tube- Combined, I have probably spent over a solid year of my life on You Tube. I am a hardcore You Tube creeper. I don't have an account, and don't make videos, but if its a popular video, a proposal video, a how-to video, or a music video, I've most likely seen it! Some of my favorite You Tubers are Jenna Marbles, Vlog Brothers, CTFxC, Ironing My Underwear, Timothy De La Ghetto, Phillip DeFreanco, Source Fed, ASAP Science, and many others. Seriously, go check out all of those people! As you watch their videos they will slowly seep their way into your heart and they will become the friends that live inside your computer! :) I also have watched every marriage proposal video on youtube. I find them so cute and all very unique.... Can't really explain or justify that fascination. I also discover music artist before they become famous on You Tube. A few examples are Sam Tsui, Alex Hobbs, and Justin Beiber! Seriously, I obsessed over Justin's crappy little acoustic videos before anyone in Hollywood knew his name. People like Sam Tsui and Alex Hobbs are not super famous, but have grown from making videos in their living rooms to producing real music videos. It's a pretty awesome progression to watch!

Pinterest- Electronic hoarding at its finest! Every cat meme, crock pot recipe, oversized sweater, messy bun tutorial, Ryan Gosling meme, inspirational tattoo, dream house, and home made craft idea can be found on pinterest! A girl like me, who likes to plan excessively can plan her whole life out eight different ways until she can't possibly pin more future house pictures and can't relate to any more of the "So Relatable" ecards.

CNN.com- This one might be unique to just me, but I find scouring the front page of CNN to be entertaining. You get a nice balance of important and factual news, mixed with the crazy paparazzi news and the obscure home town news. Everything from headlines about what congress did that day (which was most likely nothing) to snippets of little Jimmy in Nowheresville Kentucky who fell out of dog catchers truck and lived. (something obscure like that)

Blog- Writing this blog has been an awesome internet distraction! It lets me get my thoughts a feelings out into the world, whoever little a piece of that world may be, it doesn't matter. I can say I am on the internet, my voice is being heard, and someone out there reading this cares what I have to say.
I think that is what the internet is all about, there is a community on the internet for everyone, connecting the world to each other. And with every blog post, music video, and tutorial that is posted, it's silently celebrating that special community. So celebrate with me! YAY internet distractions!