SO- I'm going to finish this challenge!! Which means about 20 letters worth of catching up... ok not quite that bad- but close. I knew this would be hard when I made the decision to do this- I didn't know it would be quite THIS hard.
It's ok- life is good.
I finished 2 of my 3 finals today- and Monday is my last one- which means I get to sit back and breath tonight then 'hit the books' (or sketchbooks more accurately) until my final Monday afternoon when I turn in the last of my stuff!!
It has been a CRAZY month. Good though- just crazy. I'm not taking any classes this summer which means I'm going to be terribly busy with other things (kids, getting prints ready for comic con in September, getting a portfolio together for my official BFA application (!!), baby shower(s) and birthday parties that I'm throwing... and I'm sure other stuff as well.)
Don't feel bad for me- I like being busy. I also like writing which is why I started this blog in the first place- I just need to figure out a way to integrate the blog into the natural order of my life. I'm sure many of you do this successfully- any advice??
This book by dear old Dr. Seuss is one that I've read and had read to me several times. In High School this continued as it was my Band instructors favorite book. The seniors even gave him a signed copy when we graduated. (Well; I never got to sign it; I have a suspicion as to why- but that is a very long rant)
IN ANYCASE
I have been amazed by how often the different phrases come to mind as I go through my life. It hasn't been easy- not by a long shot- I have constant struggles and surprises that I couldn't have predicted at all.
This silly little book has had a lot of truth to it over the years and I've come to appreciate it's little message- you cannot predict life- all you can do is go along and do the best you can.
I'm trying really hard to keep up with this A-Z thing- and now I'm about a full week behind. Part of the problem is I'm having a really really hard time coming up with things to talk about each day- I still plan to complete this challenge- so I'm going to try to do some catching up this next week.
in·dem·ni·fy
[in-dem-nuh-fahy]
verb (used with object), in·dem·ni·fied, in·dem·ni·fy·ing.
1. to compensate for damage or
loss sustained, expense incurred, etc.
2. to guard or secure against
anticipated loss; give security against (future damage or liability).
OK so it isn’t really the best word- but it kinda works for
what I want to say.
SO I didn’t sleep from Tuesday morning until Wednesday Night
working on a painting (which I will share a picture of in May- in a post
semester ‘gallery’ on my website- which also should be up and running after
finals). This non sleeping and rushing
to finish a painting led to me not blogging. Which means I have to make up for ‘G’
and ‘H’ which I intend to do tomorrow morning- but decided to blog something
tonight in order to not get to much farther behind- it isn’t the best post- but
hey; maybe you learned a new word?
Also- ‘F’ seems to not be there- I don’t know what happened-
it’s been a kinda crazy week. I will do
my best to catch up.
I am so grateful for mine- for the love that we all share and for the sacrifices that they make for me. The degree I'm pursuing is a lot more time intensive than most- by that I mean I spend anywhere from 30 to 60 hours outside of class working on projects. It will be worth it! But in the meant time I'm so grateful for my Mom; she takes care of my kids during the days that I'm at school and sometimes takes them when I have a particularly busy weekend.
My two kids are also really patient with me- as patient as a 4 year old and a nearly 2 year old can be. They are pretty supportive of me and help me get my homework done by playing in their room and drawing in their own sketchbooks. (Most of the time anyway; they do have their days where they are just crazy and in my face- but like I said; they are very young)
I'm also grateful to my husband- he has to listen to me on my worst days and he still encourages me to stay and school and finish.
I'll add a picture asap... but I'm to lazy to find my usb cord to hook my camera up to my computer... which means this will be a super boring post!! (since most of it would be picture related)
So I've been buying the kids Easter basket stuff a head of time- since Easter falls the weekend before the last week of school... it seemed like the responsible thing to do so I wouldn't be stressing last minute. Of course this has resulted in me buying to many silly things for their baskets.
(picture will go here)
but hey! I'm having fun; and that is what counts.... right?
Another quick post- it's late and I either need to go to sleep or do more homework. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I started this challenge- well yea I do 'hey this will make me write every day!'
Well it is working at least.
So I have a soft spot for animated films; and as much as I sometimes wonder if I should admit it- I love Disney movies. Sometimes I think saying that out loud is some how giving other people permission to throw eggs at me... But I do- I thoroughly enjoy Disney movies and TV shows. One particular series of their movies that are kind of a guilty pleasure of mine are the Tinkerbell movies.
Admittedly the movies are childish and predictable (not surprising considering the age group they are aimed at...) but I still find the stories fun (well except for one of the movies... The Great Fairy Rescue was terrible in every way it could possibly be awful).
So tonight I blew off homework for about 2 hours ordered some pizza and grabbed the copy of 'Pirate Fairy' I'd purchased earlier today while running errands.
My husband was working late so it was just me and the kids at home- so we decided to have a party for fun.
I was expecting this movie to be awful, but the kind of awful I could forgive and enjoy anyway. I was rather surprised as the movie got going that it was in fact NOT awful. Actually it was a really fun movie. My son even enjoyed it (he usually gets bored and finds something else to do when I throw in a Tinkerbell movie for his sister).
I'm not going to say much more than that about the movie right now- go forth and check it out if you are curious. If you have young kids they'll like it- and the plot and humor are interesting enough for an adult to watch as well (though admittedly I may be more childish than most adults....)
If you need another reason to watch it- Tom Hiddleston does the voice for one of the pirates. Which I found both fun and amusing.
Cookie... Honestly I've got so much to do this is the best I could come up with. So here I am- blogging about cookie monster. Well kinda- mostly I'm blogging the letter C and going to link 2 cookie monster songs that make me laugh.
The second is really the best. I hope you enjoy!
So I've been thinking a lot lately about what makes people, women specifically happy or sad. One of the things that keeps coming up in my mind is our feeling of self. I think it is really hard for women to realize all of the amazing things about themselves.
Men to probably- but as I'm not a man- I'm going to speak to the women.
Now- I'm not about to regurgitate the whole 'beauty magazines are ruining our kids self image' or 'barbie dolls are evil' arguments that you hear all the time. Mostly because I find both arguments deeply flawed- the reason? They take away our accountability and put it on someone else's shoulders. I'm really very sick of listening to women and girls give away their ability to be happy- by simply blaming it on someone or something else. Let's face it- that is the easy way out.
I could rant about all of that- but I'm not going to. Maybe some other day on some other blog post- but not today. What I wanted to say today is so much more simple.
Like I said- I'm talking to the women out there- men; if you are reading this- take note- some day you'll have a daughter, sister, mother, aunt, wife, girlfriend or some random stranger on the street that will need to be told this.
You are beautiful. Yes you- the woman reading my little blog. I don't know you personally, but I know you are a beautiful individual. How? Because we all are. Each of us in our unique, clumsy, awkward way is beautiful. We are also all insecure. It's part of being human. If you cannot believe me- that is ok- it'll take some time.
Here is what I have to do. I have to look at myself in the mirror and find the attribute that I'm the most proud of- for me it is my eyes. I have genuinely beautiful eyes. I think this is the easiest feature for most people to identify as their best- because eyes are beautiful. That is what I start with- and I tell myself out loud that they are beautiful. From there I go through anything I can think of that I love about myself. It sounds silly- but it helps. I don't do this every day- I probably should.
I have a daughter- and it is because of her that this has been on my mind. I know that she looks up to me- and she listens- she's only 21 months- but she listens. She knows when I say negative things about myself- and you know what? to her I'm amazing. I'm perfect- and I'm everything she wants to be. How dare I tear down her roll model with mean words. How dare I set her up to feel the same way about herself. No one does this intentionally- I know I often do not think about the things I say out loud as something that could negatively impact anyone I know.
I also have a son who is just over 4 years old. He still has a lot of confidence in himself and I hope that lasts- but even he has heard me say negative things about myself. He has a go-getter attitude though- I'm over weight- this is a fact about myself, I'm so busy with my degree that unfortunately exercise and even healthy food ends up taking a back seat to my homework and my kids. One day I said something horrible about how heavy I am- and he looked up at me with his giant blue eyes and said 'mommy- why don't we fix you so you don't have to be sad anymore?' It was sweet but a slap in the face all the same. My son could see that I was miserable- I needed to change my attitude. (Hey- I briefly mentioned that yesterday!!) I'm still overweight- I have a hope and a goal that I can get my life and home organized this summer so I can easily exercise and make healthy meals when fall semester starts. That is my goal. I'm tangenting a bit.
I share my insecurity- because I'd be willing to bet that everyone out there has nearly the same one, but even with that insecurity (or insecurities- as I know I have more than one and I assume that most people do) we can still be happy and still love ourselves. Which is why I just wanted to say.
You are beautiful.
Seriously.
~Nikkie
PS- Dove has a couple of really awesome commercials that I'm linking at the end here- if you haven't seen them take a look- they are worth watching.
'Selfie'
'Real Beauty Sketches'
They have a few other ones that are pretty awesome- so check them out.
PPS- like everything I write on here- the person I'm speaking to the most is myself- but if there are others out there that I happen to help- that makes me pretty happy :D
This is going to be a super short post. Finals are in 4 weeks so I'm tackling the end of semester stress and craziness.
My little sister used to teas me that 'It's all about Attitude'. I was a bit of a drama queen in high school (was?) and she'd have to listen to me complain about my life a lot. Finally she adopted this saying- which I've learned to love.
So I'm going to do my best to adopt an attitude of excitement and determination for the next several weeks. 'Cause I don't see myself getting through finals in any other way.
