As personal as it gets.

I love to meet people, and surprise people. 
I don't have it "all-together," 
but I'm doing the best I can.
I'm handicapped when it comes to taking compliments.
I've been terrified of commitment,
but now I feel safe in my own skin.

I want to be like my father.
I like people that I can learn from. 
I get joy out of proving people wrong.
I love working with kids--
I've finally found my ultimate passion.
I love to help celebrate birthdays, but hate my own.

I have no money.
I'm NOT a baby when it comes to pain,
as long as I have a sweet battle wound.
I hate to admit it, but my parents have taught me everything I know.
I want to become someone I can be proud of. 

I'll do everything to prevent you from seeing me cry.
I don't care about being rich, 
as long as I'm happy.
Ice Cream is my weakness.
To me, the sexiest thing is laughter.
I'm guilty of moving home to save money.

I'm confident in my personality,

but not so much my appearance.
I'm independent, and I try to be strong.
Yellow lights make me nervous.
I accidentally fell in love,

and I am happier than I've ever been.

 

I want to be on my own, 
but I love being with people.
I don't ask for help.
I spend most of my time
trying to prove things to myself.
I always said I wouldn't be like my mom,
but I am, and I'm glad.

 

I like to get dirty.

I absolutely HATE liars, 
more than the average person.
I've found someone who makes me laugh 

until my heart aches and tears roll down my face.

I try to not be "typical" anything. 
I'm a tomboy at heart.
I secretly want to live a hippie lifestyle;
Travel the world, work nonprofit, and meet everyone.
(I may just do it someday.)
Graduating to me = not having homework.
However, graduating to me = having homework for the rest of my life.

I love to make people wonder.
I'm too proud to just "let things go," 
and sometimes it gets me into trouble.
I'm terrified of opening presents 
and being on the "Kiss Cam." 
I would not take back a single expereince of my life.

Holiday LOVE

On

the 22nd,

I got to fly home

on time, unlike my flight

to Sacramento. I spent the 23rd

doing all of my Christmas shopping,

very last minute, with boyfriend in tow. That

night, Derek flew in from Pheonix, while I was out

with the girls for the first time. We went to Boots, a new

country bar in Oak Creek, where we got to laugh while watching

 drunk people ride the bull. On Christmas Eve our whole family was

together for the first time in months. Like tradition, we went to church, and

then had Christmas lasagna for dinner. We started making Christmas lasagna

because Brandon complained about Christmas ham for years. Turns out, he was

eating  Christmas ham at his girlfriend's while we were filling up on his lasagna

 at our  place.   We opened   presents   while  watching  Wisconsin  on Demand's 

"Yule Log" with fire crackling in the  backround. On Christmas day, we  went to

 my aunts  house,  where   we  spent  time  with  Grandma,  who of which we are

 learning to charish every moment. On the 26th, Josh and I  went to his family's 

house for  MORE presents and  festivities. Since then, I've been blessed to spend

time with my friends  and  Josh!   I got  awesome  Christmas  presents, and have

been snacking on

 all   the  sweets  I

can  possibly   eat.

I hope  my  team-

mates felt as blessed

as I  have this Xmas.

Mom and Dad set this up in my room for me :)

Christmas Gift Highlights:



Two weeks off with family and friends was is exactly what I needed to feel like me again!

END of Round One: Return to Sacramento!

We spent the last 6 weeks working on trails and the memorial garden at the National Chavez Foundation, and we are finally done!  See, the thing about putting 10 people to work for 8 hours a day is that you will get a whole lot of work done in a short amount of time.  We continually finished tasks in less time than expected, giving the site supervisor, MIKE, the constant battle of coming up with things for us to do.

For me, Round One was a mental struggle.  With the long days of manual labor, you were left with a whole lot of thinking time.  I found myself analyzing the team dynamics way too much.  When we first got our team, BLUE 7 was really chummy and seemed to really get along.  At camp, we came in 2nd place playing "The Newly Team Game" because we already knew each other so well.  We spent time together on the weekends and genuinely had each other's backs.  Because we started off on such a positive foot, I really had a hard time accepting our differences when they started to come out.

Our team is full of LARGE personalities and together, we are finding it quite difficult to get along.  There is a lot of sarcasm and negativity, and I find myself struggling to maintain sanity at times.  There are also a lot of "cliques" or small friend circles which frustrates me.  I was so happy when we could all hang out and get along, and I've come to the realization that we were just trekking through the "honeymoon stage."

The positive in this is that it really makes me see how lucky I am at home.  I can't believe how much love I feel when I am around my friends and family in Milwaukee.  I'm proud to have friends that I can snuggle with, talk about absolutely anything or nothing at all with, and give each other advice that really comes from an honest place.  I cannot wait to see these people at home and I'm really counting on it being the boost I need to get back to work.  I need to get back into the right mindset so I can embark on my next journey with NCCC.

I get to go home in 3 DAYS!!!!  I fly to Milwaukee on December 22nd--where I will see my babies (Sugar, Buddy, and Anna), my parents, and of course, Josh :D  I plan to do some really quick Christmas shopping on the 23rd, as well as get my cavity filled : /

Then, I will spend my break with the people I love.  Thank you for your support...I apparently need it :)