All About Steve

Let's jump right in, shall we?

First off, the opening credits suggest that our girl writes crossword puzzles? QUIRKY!
And now we see these red boots that I guess she just wears all of the time every day. Again, QUIRKY!
Oh, Sandra Bullock! Getting all scared by a dog in the park as she walks to work. QUIRKY!
HAHAHA, she almost runs into a guy and tries to go around him, but then they do that awkward shuffle. CLMUSY!
Oh, no. She works so hard on her crossword puzzles that her boss is asking her if she ever goes out. "Less work, more of everything else. Just enjoy being normal." Actual words her boss told her. That's a totally appropriate conversation to have with your boss.
Good thing she has a blind date that her parents set up for her!
Now she's at career day for the school and spilling everything out to the firefighter that's after her. QUIRKY.
Oh, geez. She's gonna bomb in front of this class of kids.
Haha, these kids are making fun of her for not having a boyfriend and living at home. QUIRKY!
She also suffers from vertigo. QUIRKY!
Her parents are forcing her to go on this date because "they want her to be happy." Everyone keeps telling her to be normal which apparently means being in a relationship!
EW! She changed for Bradley Cooper. And then she just mauls him in the car. But he has to go do breaking news in Boston because he's a cameraman. I'm so annoyed with her that she just made out with him.
And then she made a crossword puzzle "All About Steve" GROSS. And of course she's fired.
And Steve's a total IDIOT. He's a cameraman who zooms in on a women's breasts as part of his footage. I guess they're both really unprofessional so that's CUTE.
AND NOW Sandra Bullock is riding a bus across the country chasing after Steve. I hate this movie.
And the bus driver made her get off and drove away.
Of course she's getting a ride with some random stranger to Tuscon. And the way she does that is by running in front of his semi truck. HAHA. She wrote down his license in Sharpie on his arm in case he murders her. But I guess they had a good time because he was laughing as he dropped her off.

NOW SHE'S GONE TO OKLAHOMA because Steve's there. UGH. I hate this movie. How creepy is she! I don't like this at all.
I do love how freaked out he is. That's hilarious.
OOOOH. But she helped him find this Dad they're doing a story about because she knows so many facts.
AND NOW SHE HAS A FRIEND! She met someone at the protest they're doing news about. Or something. I'm kind of half invested in this movie.
Now the news anchor Steve works with is messing with Sandra and telling her fake advice to make sure she stays with Steve. THIS MOVIE IS AWFUL AND FULL OF EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION.
Now she has her friend and the friend's love interest giving her a ride into a huge storm where Steve's caemramanning.
But of course his car gets sucked up into a tornado. DANGIT.
OH, MY GOODNESS. Steve thinks Mary's (Sandra's character's name) trying to kill her. Which is hilarious in and of itself.
Mary got mixed up in the story Steve was cameramanning and fell into an abandoned mine and there's a deaf girl in there too. It's a long story how it all came about. But she's starting to become hopeless.
Everyone thinks she's dead because of the poisoning.
Guys, Mary got out using her brains and physics and stuff! QUIRKY!

Okay, I'm so glad they don't end up together. That makes this movie much better. She realizes she doesn't need to stalk a guy to make her life complete. YAY! That's probably why Sandra Bullock did the movie because the ending is about the girl and not the relationship she thinks will make her normal. I appreciate that!

Positive Image

My laptop battery's about to die and I haven't blogged in DAYS!

I saw Divergent spontaneously last night. I really was not impressed. I went with two friends. One of them had read the book and one of them hadn't. The friend that had read it and I agreed, if we hadn't read the book we'd be confused. You miss so much of Tris' thoughts and why she does what she does. And the whole Four storyline is just kind of forced and just... not very exciting I guess?

ALSO! Kate Winslet makes some random huffs and weird panting sounds at the end which made me think... was she even trying in this? I mean, I feel like the people that made Divergent were maybe like... what big name can we get to be involved in this?! KATE WINSLET SAID YESS!!! Give her as many lines as possible! Even if it was a bit of a hindrance to the plot. WHATEVER SHE DESERVES IT.

What else is new? I realized that maybe my reading taste is becoming more defined? Because I started reading this book a friend gave me and it's AWFUL. Hang on... Did I blog about this before? Let me check...

No, I just THOUGHT about blogging about it. OKAY. SO. A friend gave me a book to read. Just some light chick-lit and I have since started to read it and it's AWFUL. Like... I'm sorry, Stephanie. I just can't keep reading it. Everything is so over-the-top cliche and it's just not well-written. Which is a bummer because I've read some other stuff by the same author and I remember liking it a lot. But apparently there's well-written cheesy (a la Sophie Kinsella, Meg Cabot, and Helen Fielding) and then there's BAD cheesy. Where the characters flip flop in motives, the plot points are laid out so plainly there's no way you can miss it, and the terrible similes abound. I'm not really sure what was going on there. A Billion Reasons Why? More like A Billion Reasons Why Not to Read This.

This post has been pretty negative so far. Let's lighten the mood, shall we? HAHAHA! I searched "positive image" and this was one of the first results:

"Positive image."

Trying to be Helpful

Haha, wow. I was clearly... distracted last night. But look at my dedication, still blogging away!

Tonight I realized that I think I'm the most unhelpful helpful person. I saw this guy on the sidewalk walking home and I offered to give him a ride (after much deliberation and multiple U-turns). But I was so so happy he was accepting the offer and that I could even BE helpful that I shoved open the door as he was getting in, basically pushing him back into the snowbank he just finished climbing over. CLASSIC. Then he had this bag of (presumably work clothes) and I chucked that into my backseat panicking that this wasn't going at all like I expected it to be. BUT IT'S WHATEVER. At least I got to drive him home.

He turned out to be a co-worker of my housechum, Hannah. So that was sweet. But I felt bad about pushing him into the snowbank. He seemed pretty grateful despite having to make sure all of his clothes were in the bag when I handed it to him. I was just REALLY excited!

ANYWAY, it's way too late and I should clearly go to bed so... GOODNIGHT!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's day!

I worked for about six hours before I realized that it was STP day and I could use that as a greeting. Good call, Abby!

I'm not really sure what to write about. We watched Laws of Attraction and by watched I mean, we paid no attention for the entire hour and a half. Good call guys!

And now everyone's singing Frozen. I think it's time for bed. Sorry, this is terrible.

Exhaustion

Exhausted.

Today, I just don't even know what to write about. I feel like this is the time in my life where I'm doing so many different things. And I just don't have time to relax. At all. I just don't even know.

Let's try this again, but less whiny??

Today I had church, got lunch at the Chatterbox with friends, met up with Brynn, and worked at the radio station. Solid day.

We also have another house guest with us! Another one of Jami's teammates. Woo! I tell ya, by the end of this month I might actually like a little piece and quiet. But for now I like having people in our house! It's so much fun being able to hang out with people I haven't seen in a while and building on those relationships.

Today Brynn and I talked about our future and I was like, "I don't even have to say I wonder what life will be like in ten years. I just wonder what we'll be doing a year from now." This is such a weird time for both of us because I don't think either of us is ready to be committed to anything for more than a year. Like, working at the bookstore for more than a year is boggling my mind. It could happen, but I don't feel ready for it right now.

Well, clearly I can't think straight right now so I'm saying goodnight.

what an exhausting life

So Abby, the beautiful child of God, just handed me her tablet so that I would blog for her since she is having a pretty exhausting day today! Seriously, this hard working girl had to get up at 6.50am and just got home ( it's noon now) to go to her other work in less than an hour ...to spend there the rest of her day. Kind of at least because she will have to close up ...so please, people be nice to her and should you read this before the day is ober , feel free to send her an encouraging message!! Thanks for your attention! Have a great, hopefully not as exhausting day as Abby!

Peace out!

Experiences and Thoughts

Have you ever been told to enjoy your food? I was talking with some friends and one of them talked about a food course that they took. One class they had to eat one bite for a few minutes and try to appreciate what they were experiencing with all of their senses.

Well, guys. I tried to EXPERIENCE my food this morning. I took my bowl of cereal into my room (Anne was sleeping in our living room, like a beautiful, resting butterfly), sat down on the floor and.... Kept repeating "Everybody (yeah, yeah)! Rock your bodyyy!" while eating my Frosted Flakes.

I think some people are more introspective, and I'm not one of them. Which is okay! I've accepted that. In fact, I like it! I don't get bogged down with doubt or worry or too anxious about anything. Sure, there are times when it happens, but then I start wondering about how delicious pepper jack grilled cheeses are and then I spot the book I checked out at the library and think about how I should renew it so I don't have to pay the lost fee and then I'll maybe never go back there so I don't have to face the librarians that love me and think I'm being a successful adult pursuing a career in radio and not a bum that's too lazy to even sign into the library website to renew my books.

My thought processes are pretty similar to what shows up on these blogs.

Woopsie Daisies

Thanks for the encouragement, Beth! I really like your comments. It makes it more fun when I check my blog!

Speaking of, guys! I forgot to blog yesterday! I vaguely thought about it last night while we were watching Head Over Heels and that was it! So silly of me!

Also speaking of, don't you hate it when you watch a movie from high school and it turns out that it's actually a terrible movie and you don't know what charm you thought it had? That happened last night and when I watched The Sweetest Thing with Jami. Why was everything in the early 2000's so gross?!

Anyway, I'm off to work, but I'll probably post something else later, gators.

Debriefing: The Sleepover

I'm texting with my brother, so that's weird. We're just not really friends, so it's always weird when I find myself having a conversation with him. It's great, but just so abnormal!

Anyway, Beth wanted to know how the SLEEPOVER went. Well, it was pretty different. I knew one of them better than the other so I felt a little weird at first. But then we did facials and made drinks and started watching The Mindy Project. And it felt more comfortable. To be honest, they were (self-admittedly) SLIGHTLY lame and fell asleep at like 10:30 (after having gotten lost, I arrived at like... 8:00) so there wasn't really a lot of bonding time the night of. But in the morning we watched a movie together and dissected Laguna Beach/The Hills dynamics. So obviously a great time for me. I think we all have a lot in common, but it was the first time really hanging out with them not in a Youth Encounter setting so it makes sense it felt a little weird I guess...? Anyway, now I know that if I'm going to hang out with them we need to start the festivities a little bit earlier.

Tonight I realized that I was actually excited to go to class tomorrow! Isn't that weird? Me? Legitimately excited about learning! Jami asked why I was excited and my response was, "I'm just excited to learn more about Motion." To which everyone was all, "What a nerd!" and "That just sounded really nerdy." What can I say? Apparently I really care about editing! WHO KNEW? Well, probably a lot of people in my life. Just not to what extent.

Yet again, I wish one of my friends also liked editing so I could have discussions with them about what I'm learning. At least Hahnnah likes YouTube so I have an outlet for YouTube-yness.

I think when I start making up words and adding random suffixes it's time for bed. NIGHTSKIES.

Thin Mint Creamer

I talked on air today for five minutes solid. What a rush.

Jami's warming up the kettle and then I'm consuming some hot chocolate with Thin Mint creamer and it's gone be good, y'all!
I don't know if you can see the photo of glory that I posted. Enjoy it, my friends.

Grace Helbig said there was such a thing as Tagalong creamer, but I'm not sure if that's real or not. Let me go make sure. Yeah, I think the beautiful art of hilarity told me lies.

Whenever I watch a livestream with Hannah, Grace, and/or Mamrie I feel so inspired to do something creative. I've decided to invest in a narration mic and next month will be a podcast a month! But first I have to actually import, edit, and upload them all. But then! Narration mic! Moving on up! To the east side! To a deluxe apartment in the skyyyy.

I really hope you can see the picture I found. I mean, I scoured the first page of Google results for you guys!

I can hear the kettle warming up! Jami's getting up! Things are progressing in a favorable manner! And I'm going to leave now.

EDIT: Jami made my hot chocolate and it's delicious. According to Anne, "it's just so delicious!"

SHOUT OUT TO ANNE FOR BEING A WONDERFUL HOUSEGUEST.

Easy A

We're watching Easy A. So just prepare yourself for lots of random quotes from the movie and many disjointed thoughts.

The "Pocketful of Sunshine" montage is so good.

"Do you know Glade candles? Those kind, but they were sexy Glade candles...

While I was working today I saw a girl that I went to college with. It was kind of weird, seeing someone from a specific part of my life. Like, what's the protocol? I asked her if she had my number and she did. That's gotta mean something? Probably some purging of her phone happened over the past three years. And I made the cut? Somehow? How? I don't know. But I hope that we can hang out someday. I've really been pushing myself to hang out with people I wouldn't normally. Like, I asked a girl from Bible study if she would want to hang out.

I read this book where the author meets a new friend a week, or at least tries to. It's really interesting! She talks a lot about the value of friendship for people both emotionally, mentally, and physically. You should totally read it. You know, when I know the title of it I'll let you know.

Right now I'm too distracted by, "here's the sitch, Melanie Bostick."

"I always thought that pretending to lose my virginity would be more... I don't know... special? Judy Blume should have prepared me for that."

"I knew he wasn't Latino, but for some reason all these shady backdoor deals had me talking like Carlito. Beat it, esse!"

DIS MOVIE DOE. I can't. Okay, I'm going now.

Confession Session: SLEEPOVERS!

Workin' 9 to 5 what a way to make a livin'! Or something like that. I don't know. Jami always sings that.

But today I am working 9-5. So that's weird. I'm home on my break and figured I'd better churn this one out before I have dinner with my parents and then a SLEEPOVER! Yeah. A real life, sleepover. Man, I love them so much. I don't think people understand it.

Some nights I sleep in Jami's bed purely because it's like a sleepover. I don't think I'll ever outgrow them. And I feel like that's a good thing! To want to spend time with friends? That's good, right? Me, Anne, and Jami are in the midst of planning a "sleepover" where we'll all sleep in the living room. I'm telling you, it's just great having a sleepover! I'm not sure what it is. Maybe because you stay up late talking? You're probably more prone to have weird bizarre conversations right before you're about to nod off than you would for a 2:00 coffee session. Look at me, sounding like I get coffee on a regular basis. Haha! Yeah, right!

WELL. I have to go pack. For my sleepover! YES! I'll debrief with you guys tomorrow.

Ninja of Motion

I would like to shout out the two people who have commented on my actual blog. Props to you, Beth and Tillie. However, I'm a bit upset that both of your comments revolved around a certain houseguest we have. Ummm, hey. I'm here too!

MOVING ON.

Today in class my professor called me a Motion ninja (Motion's a program to create motion graphics. To be honest, I don't really know what it is)! I'm going to take that as a compliment even though all I was doing was following the book at my own rate instead of waiting for him to explain everything five times over. I take it as a sign that I clearly enjoy what I'm doing because otherwise I wouldn't even want to work ahead.

I don't even know why, but I have such a passion for editing. I think I like being precise and creative. And editing is pretty much a 50/50 split down the middle. You need to have precision to make each edit hit the exact right frame. And you need creativity to know what frame you want. You have so many options to choose from, but having an image of what you want the scene to play like really helps make every decision.

Guys, I wish I had more people in my life who cared about stuff like Motion and filters and transitions. But, alas... I'm a lone wolf. Theoretically I'm in a class of people who DO care about those things, but the reality is pretty different. I'm not so sure the professor even cares. But at least he called me a Motion ninja. I'll always cherish that moment.

WELL. Now I have the WHOLE DAY---- to apparently read Hayley G. Hoover's articles for The Gloss and peruse through Facebook profile's of former high school classmates! SOLID USE OF MY TIME, I'd say.

Well, our house guest has woken up and I fear it's time to end this shared moment we had. Today's book will be Wicked by Kristen Chenoweth (with Joni Rodgers).

A Conversation

According to Anne I have to blog again, because this morning I was just making up for lost time. I didn't realize that myself.

So, we have a fake fire. And even though it's in the right place (see what I did there?) it doesn't emanate heat. It's pretty useless. But the rotating light and the orange-y glow it gives off are extremely cozy and soothing. It's not even real!

Ugh, how easy it is to be lured into comfort by artificial light in this culture. I hope I always know the one, true Light that can set me free.

Well, this took an unexpected turn.

Can we say that my jaunt into the intellectual deep provided enough content that I can stop now?

We can? Wow, for once we agree on something! What do you mean?! We ALWAYS disagree! Remember? The only thing we agreed on how devastatingly abrupt Selena Gomez and the Scene's career was together! I wonder how The Scene are doing without her...

Tramp for the Lord

Ahhh, already falling short. Oh, well. It happens.

Guess what I'm reading now... Tramp for the Lord. The story of Corrie ten Boom's life after she comes back to Holland. This lady though! She has shaken my faith. If she can find happiness in witnessing in a concentration camp? Who am I to avoid talking with people about Jesus because it might get awkward? Really, Abby? How selfish are you? I'm going to politely refrain from answering that question.

Anyway, today I have to head to ole Century College to make up for the class I missed yesterday. Woo. No, it'll actually be kind of cool! I'm learning how to make my own custom title screens. That's actually pretty awesome, right?

Well, I think I had better get a JumpStart (I don't know why it's spelled like that. Autocorrect believes it deserves it, I guess. Hope it's not copyrighted) on the day. But first to read my Bible. The book which Corrie ten Boom fights for and hides and cherishes her entire time in prison and in the concentration camp.

In Tramp for the Lord, she talks about her house (the Beje) becoming a museum for her and her family. I couldn't imagine what I would do if I got to see it. I thought I would probably cry if blessed with such an opportunity.

The Hiding Place

Okay, if Esther is reading this she would be so proud of me. I'm all about The Hiding Place! It's so good. If you've never heard of Corrie ten Boom don't feel bad because I hadn't either. But she's this awesome lady who helped hide Jews during World War II. Well, her, her family, and their house. Gosh, I can't stop thinking about it! She and her family have this amazing faith in the middle of these amazing horrific circumstances. I just can't believe it! Every time I think about them I ask God to give me such a brave faith. I feel like such a coward in comparison. In so many sense of the word. Like, I don't think I could handle the pressure of hiding people and having to run drills and organizing hundreds of citizens in a secret underground ring of people to help Jewish people flee the town into (relative) safety. And I also don't think I could handle having to trust God that much. I feel like my faith would shatter when faced with such genuine hardships. But maybe I don't give God enough credit. I don't know. A good quote that I've read out loud to my house chums and guests:
Her sister is comforting her after she found a metal shard on her pillow where not an hour before she left her bed to join her sister downstairs to pray during the night as planes fight each other overhead.

"'Betsie, if I hadn't heard you in the kitchen-'
But Betsie put a finger on my mouth. 'Don't say it, Corrie! There are no "if's" in God's world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety- O Corrie, let us pray that we may always know it!'"

Ugh, I just admire them so much. It's so crazy! And here's another thing her sister says after Corrie says she's had a vision of her family and townspeople being led away from their town.

"'I don't know,' she said softly. 'But if God has shown us bad times ahead, it's enough for me that He knows about them. That's why He sometimes shows us things, you know- to tell us that this too is in His hands.'"

Okay, I know I have my class tomorrow morning, but I think I might just have to finish this! Ugh, it's so good!

Also, Ashley came over for dinner and we had Jami's homemade pizza for the first time since the fast. Dat dough doe.

Today: A List

Haha, do you guys remember last night when I thought I had to blog super late at like 2 am even though I had already made a completely coherent post earlier in the day? Good times, am I right?

What I did today:
Π Blake (not Shelton. My other friend Blake) and I went to fill my tired with air!
Π I was then gifted with a tire pressure gauge
Π I was taught how to use a tire pressure gauge
Π I watched as someone (probably Blake) filled up my anti-freeze
Π I forced someone to watch two too many YouTube videos about a truly inspirational movie
Π Borrowed ice skates and went skating for the first time in eight years
Π Drank some delicious Nestle hot chocolate which is the best brand of instant hot cocoa and I will no longer drink Swiss Miss the same way.
Π Gently encouraged/guilted some children into listening to me read Dr. Seuss books in celebration of his birthday at the bookstore I work at.
Π Ate bites of several donuts, some homemade cake, and chocolate as a delicious dinner
Π Sat around an empty studio for three hours while scrolling through tumblr.
Π Came home to a German girl in my living room.
Π Remarked about the amazing ability to touch her because for a while I couldn't do that.
Π Ate some delicious German chocolate provided by the German girl.

And now we're pretty much caught up on my day. As you can tell the Seven fast has made a huge impact on my regular diet. I'm pretty much a changed person.

Goodnight!

Party

We had a party. It was fun. Although I had to close at the bookstore I work at so I missed quite a bit, but that's all right. We played this really awesome game that's like Catch Phrase. But it's on a smart phone and you hold it up to your head and it records a video of everyone saying random crap trying to make you guess. I hope I never have to see them because I know that I completely lose myself in those games. I'm completely unaware of how loud or obnoxious I am.

And I think that's a solid post. So let's post it! Motivational speech, done!

Take Three

Back to the grind.

Yesterday was the last day of our fast. It feels weird seeing a box of chocolate, knowing I have the capability of eating it, but not really wanting to! I had two truffles last night and I'm still kind of full. Like, I don't really want to eat any right now because I kind of think that's a little gross. Who am I?

Tomorrow at the bookstore I recently started working at I get to read books out loud to children! It's Dr. Suess' birthday! I'm going to try and find a little costume I can cobble together! My fallback would be my safari hat with the premise that, "when you read you go on an adventure." Why do you think safari hats signify adventure. Why not a baseball hat. Me sitting inside a baseball stadium surrounded by baseball fans is an adventure. Especially if one of them is there with me due to obligation and he knows a lot about baseball so I incessantly ask him questions trying to learn about the game. Then it's an adventure for everyone around us too!

Okay. I know what I need. Striped leggings. Who knew stripes were Suess-y. I'm going to pair them with my black dress with weird tufts that look like truffala trees. It's not really a specific character, more just really wacky. Which I think of when I think Dr. Suess, you know?

If Esther's reading this... I'm finally getting around to reading The Hiding Place! It's really good, but she keeps hinting at the tragedy that's about to unfold. She'll be describing her sister's house and then all of a sudden it's "if only I knew the darkness that would fill the house as I stood outside of it filed with fear." Or something like that. Then she'll go right onto discussing her favorite nephew like nothing happened.

Tonight's our house's birthday for the Han's/break the fast party so I'll let you know how that goes.

Dogs

Dogs are weird. I like to think they're great. But right now I'm spending a lot of time with one and when it barks. I just don't know what to do! This afternoon it was just sleeping in a rotation of places. And now he's barking every ten minutes. I'm sorry I'm not your owner! I don't know what you want from me! Please! Just tell me what's going on!

Well, I have class tomorrow so that's exciting. For probably the first time in my life I finished an assignment with about twenty four hours to spare. What? How is that possible? When I was in college I would have waited until right about now to even start. Maybe I'm just growing up? Like I realize how it's just irresponsible to wait until the night before. Also, I'm just kind of tired at night! Why would I stay up so late just to be doing something like homework? I'd rather get it done and then hang out with Jami until I go to sleep.

Well, the dog's barking again. Perhaps it's time to go to sleep. Maybe then he'll stop?

That Awkward Moment (when you miss the 90's)

I miss romantic comedies! Apparently the decade I most belong in is the 90's? I grew up then, but I wasn't able to appreciate the steady flow of adorable, heartwarming rom-coms before I hit the double digits. And now I'm in my twenties and all I get is too many guy movies filled with vulgar humor with a slight romantic storyline to gain the female audience that's happy to have a movie they and their boyfriends can watch together.

What happened? Why do I have to settle for movies like "No Strings Attatched" that are mainly about a guy and the banter between him and his friends?!

Jami and I saw "That Awkward Moment" tonight. It had the same kind of fake penis humor you'd expect from a movie starring Zac Efron and two of his bros. However, and this is a SPOILER ALERT: at the end Zac Efron cries while making sweeping proclamations of love to the girl he likes. Which got me thinking...

Why did he do it? Is he really that emotional? In one scene of the movie he's staring at her Facebook pictures and starts Facebook stalking some guy in one of them. Do guys really do that? Or does Zac Efron and the studio executives that paid for the movie want to make some money on the girls that came to see Zac Efron shirtless and also see him pining for a girl (who they can pretend is maybe themselves)?

I don't know, but if you're a guy reading this feel free to speak up. I mean, I understand that not every guy goes out, parties and tells everyone with an issue that they "just need to get laid." And that happens in the movie a plenty. I guess I'm just wondering how many guys would tear up when trying to get back together with the girl they like?

Bread Blog

We made whole wheat bread on Saturday and I thought I'd show you what I did. First we had some basic ingredients. LIKE FIVE. Which I just think is awesome because I know exactly what's in this bread. Unlike some breads in a grocery store that have about seventeen ingredients like Jen Hatmaker pointed out in her book, 7.

Five ingredients TOTAL.

And all of the ingredients look like this.

NO EXTRA INGREDIENTS!

Add two packets of yeast, two cups of warm water,

and 1/3 cup of honey in a bowl 

from Target (bowl from Target not necessary)

Jami looking at the awesome recipe we used

while waiting for the yeast to "activate."

What I looked at while waiting. You wait kind of a bit.

When you're done waiting things will look like this!

Then you can pour it into a bigger bowl.

Or just start with a big bowl...

Now add 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and

start with 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour.

Then you stir that and keep adding UP TO three cups of flour.

You'll know it's ready when Jami tells you it's ready.

NOW! Oil your hands because you about to KNEAD DAT BREAD.

Then you knead it.

This is what it'll look like when it's done.

If you're not sure wait for Jami to tell you when it's done.

Put a towel atop your bowl and set it

between two warm burners that Jami turned on.

GUESS WHAT! After you shower and

play a lot of Frozen Free Fall you'll have a present!

Then you gotta PUNCH DAT BREAD. No, actually.

PUNCH IT. Like, punch it a lot.

Once Jami tells you to stop, pour it into a bread pan!

Let it bake for the time that Jami set (like... thirty-ish minutes).

Jami says, at 350º Farenheit.

Get the bread on a plate and CUT IT UP.

(Feel free to say, "I will cut you!" if you want some fun with it)

EAT YO' BREAD, GURL!

I hope this step by step guide helped you make bread! Let me know if you make some!

NOT A BREAD BLOG

Our internet is down and so I'm going to apologize for the first in what is sure to be a string of disappointments. I really wanted to make a bread tutorial. I was going to call it, "Bread Blog." You can ask Jami. I spoke the words OUT LOUD. That's how sure I was. But our internet is failing me so... I'm sorry.

Please accept this picture of a starfish:

STARFISH IS SAD, BUT WILLING TO ACCEPT LIFE'S DISAPPOINTMENTS.

Jami teaching me how to spell disappointments:

"Dis as in-"

"I dissed you! Bet you're feeling pretty disappointed."

"And appointments as in, I had an appointment with the doctor today."

"Didn't work out."

"I have cancer."

Bread

Today marks the day wherein my housechums and I eat only seven foods for a month. It's gonna get weird.

Here's the list for anyone playing at home:
1. Chicken
2. Eggs
3. Avocados
4. Spinach
5. Whole wheat bread
6. Sweet potatoes
7. Apples

Here's the thing. I don't really like avocados, sweet potatoes, or spinach all that much. Especially the sweet potatoes. Gross. So this month is not only a fast form flavor and my small way of experiencing the lack of choice that about 50% of the world lives with when they only have rice and beans to live off of, but also a challenge to see if I can make myself like a food.

For breakfast I made scrambled eggs for me and Jami (with water a la Poppa Sowers' teaching) and then I also ate some super gross avocados. I'm pretty impressed with the fact that I made eggs. Usually I only make things with the microwave so the fact that I used a pan and spatula to make my breakfast boosted my self-esteem. YAY FOR ACHIEVEMENTS.

I think this month is going to have a lot of achievements considering I'm probably going to have to learn how to make a lot of stuff for myself. Like today we're going to make bread. YAY! BREAD! I'll keep you updated on how that goes.

EDIT: As I was writing this I was kind of hungry and I just wanted some of the cookies that my mom gave me a couple of days ago. They're covered in chocolate. And I want one. This month is going to be hard. I'm gonna go throw the cookies away now.
------------------------------
We're waiting for the bread to be bread. I can't wait!
------------------------------
WE MADE BREAD. And it's really good! I just ate a piece plain, that's how delicious it was!

TUNE IN TOMORROW for my attempt at a tutorial.

Forgetfulness and Disney

Ugh, ugh, ugh.

I was sitting on the couch wondering why I had the weird feeling that I had something I was supposed to be doing. And then I realized I haven't blogged in far too long.

Why? Why must I forget. And why must I forget awesome blog topics as soon as my mind turns to something else. I'm really good at focusing on what's in front of me. But that also means that EVERYTHING ELSE gets thrown outside the window.

Brain!! Why can't you work like a responsible organized person's might

Oh, I did have this thought after seeing Frozen for the fourth time. Disney promotes procrastination. Seriously! How many famous story lines end in someone waiting until the last minute (sometimes they're even too late) before someone comes back to life, or they realize who their one true love is, or the funny side character finally gets their own storyline.

Thanks a lot, Disney. For making me procrastinate? What? This post took a weird turn.

Good night.

Gaming

Okay, okay, okay! I know I've been really bad at keeping this updated. I GET IT. But I'm really trying to make some solid vlogs. That's where my focus is right now. As clearly evidenced by my minor freak out to Taylor that I wasn't able to use her computer to upload videos. So I am now trying to upload a ten second video to YouTube using my phone and the sketchy phone signal I get in the middle of the woods where Taylor lives. To say that this month has been a labor of love would be... kinda accurate.

Next month, guys. I'll be better. Well, I'll try to be. I realize this relationship could be defined as unhealthy. As I constantly make promises to change my behavior and consistently fail to change my behavior. WOOPS. To err is... human... Isn't that kind of justification for any failure?

Let's not get too deep here.

Well, now I'm watching Taylor play a video game called Catherine. It's pretty bizarre. People are sheep and this guy has to solve puzzles in his dreams in order to stay alive in real life. And he has two different futures that you can decide on. He either stays with his girlfriend Catherine, or pursues some random girl that's named Katherine, but with a K. THE INTRIGUE. Video games can be weird.

I'm more of a Candy Crush Saga type video game. Like arcade-y puzzle-y ones? I don't know. I used to spend hours playing Bejeweled Blitz and listening to episodes of Hamish and Andy.

It's so hard to start a new blog. I had one for FIVE YEARS. That's a lot of years. And now I have to start anew and I'm not sure what to bring over and what to start over. Like on that blog I used to call you guys "readers." Like, "Hello, readers. Hope you're doing well." That kind of thing. But now I just don't know what to do.

Blog etiquette. Does such a thing exist?

Spy

I forgot to blog. Again. Sorry, but my priority is blogging this month

Jami and I are watching Spy. This cute little British show on Hulu about a hilarious, bumbling regular Joe right off the clean English streets who accidentally becomes a spy. Here's some sample dialogue between Tim and his boss/teacher who is slightly more than obsessed with him.

"I feel your pain, Tim."
"You do?"
"Sure! Chlamydia can be a nightmare."

This show is hilarious. It's definitely dry humor. It also features a son who is super snobby and through which the show plays out different standard tropes like a secret gambling ring.

I had a real topic ready, but it's gone out of my head. Good night!

"He's the boy that I like!" "Well, I looked for a boy that you hated, but it was such short notice."

I went to a friend's birthday dinner (Kevin, for those of you in the know) and it was so much fun! I forgot how much I love meeting new people in social settings. I met this one girl, Melissa and we had quite a few mutual friends. I invited her to the Bible study I attend with Jami. I hope she comes. I like connecting other people with other people. I also got a preliminary interview...? I don't know. I'm meeting with a friend of Kevin's tomorrow so I'll let you know how that goes.

Goodness, I love Gilmore Girls. That's a solid TV show I can always fall back on. Except anything after season four. Ugh, I don't like that stuff. To be fair I haven't seen much of it, but I still don't like it.

Also, this Friday I'm going to be spending time with Taylor which means Star Trek! It's getting harder and harder to find time to hang out, which means I'm getting increasingly more concerned we won't finish season one before she leaves for TWO YEARS.

And now Gilmore Girls is distracting me from all of the work that I have to do. Work meaning writing this blog and uploading a video to YouTube. This is my life.

Unnecessary Rant

Ugh, ugh, ugh. I really think I need a new laptop. Seriously, how is my laptop so slow that quitting an application becomes an insurmountable task. My laptop has to be the biggest drama queen ever. "Sorry, what's what? You want to OPEN A NEW TAB? Oh, sure. Why don't you go ahead and break me in half? Guess what? I'm going to freeze up so hard that you won't be able to even use another application. Yeah, that's right. You think you can just switch to something else while my outrage passes? I SHALL BRING MY ENTIRE SYSTEM TO ITS KNEES JUST TO PISS YOU OFF. Have fun restarting everything! See you on the flip flop!"

And here ends my late night attempts and jokesterhood. Night!

CLASSY

People change. But it's hard to admit because I think our society has trained us that if you're not nostalgic and looking back on the "good ole days" you're not doing things right.

Oh, goodness. Haha, look at me trying to be deep.

"We may have fallen into the intellectual deep end here. And if you try to grab on to me, we'll both drown." Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock

My class was really good. My professor is the type that when I went to shake his hand to introduce myself (I missed the first day of class) he stood back and said, "I'm just gonna wave." So, that'll be fun. He has already gone on two different tangents in my first class with him! But he is genuinely nice and was concerned about my log-in not working on the computers.

I think I'm going to maybe like the class, and I think I might LEARN something! What? Yeah, and I'll like learning it too! I just hope we actually start editing soon. As much as I love watching videos of other people doing what I enjoy...

Okay, goodnight people. Jami's starting to sing and meow. Time for me to make my exit.

I'm old.

It's late and I have class in the morning. It's been about three years since I've been able to say that. How weird is that? I've been out of school for almost three years now. I feel so far removed from the college lifestyle. When I went to the campus to register (or, as it turned out, NOT register) for my class I was like, COLLEGE WAS SO LONG AGO. So many of these kids don't know what the real world is like! It's bizarre. Thinking about how many people would have been in high school last year. I mean, I graduated high school... ALMOST SIX YEARS AGO???? I'm that old? WHAT? I don't... I can't... HOW?

All that to say that I have class at 7:45 in the morning and I already look like a mess so it's probably best to avoid looking exhausted AND unshowered. One I'm okay with. Both... not so much.

To Done List (Part 1)

- Fill out forms from the bank
- Stop at local community college to see about taking one class. (considering taking my college diploma and seeing if they would accept that instead of having to deal with getting transcripts and Official records)
- ORGANIZE my room. There's a difference between organizing and cleaning
- Clean my room
- Put away clean laundry that's been sitting in my dirty laundry bin for four days
- Find four items of clothing to donate as I just purchased four. (new life goal: something new comes in, something old must go out)
- Vlog
- See Frozen with friends
- Blog

Here's my updated to do list:
√ Stop at local community college to try and register, but end up staying for two hours to find out I can't until I attend the class
- Vlog
√ Put away laundry only to realize that I should probably do another load
√ Blog
√ Shovel driveway with Bobby and Hannah
√ Learn how to use a roofing shovel to break/scrape ice
- See Frozen with Jami
- Eat delicious dinner provided by Jami and Hannah

Do To Do (like, do da do)

I broke the chain! Not only did I break it, but I let it just sit all day. I knew, as soon as I woke up, but I just let it lay there. All day. Just all intertwined bits of metal. Woah, what if chains are just long strips of metal twisted together? Cords, yes. But chains?

Clearly trying to avoid the stark realization that even though I'm about halfway through this month I may still break the chain. Whyyyy?

So, in order to promote good chain re-growth. I'm going to write up a to-do list and check things off tomorrow!

In no particular order:
- Fill out forms from the bank
- Stop at local community college to see about taking one class. (considering taking my college diploma and seeing if they would accept that instead of having to deal with getting transcripts and Official records)
- ORGANIZE my room. There's a difference between organizing and cleaning
- Clean my room
- Put away clean laundry that's been sitting in my dirty laundry bin for four days
- Find four items of clothing to donate as I just purchased four. (new life goal: something new comes in, something old must go out)
- Vlog
- See Frozen with friends
- Blog

Tune in tomorrow when I cross of none-multiple items off the list!

Inspired

I finally made a house tour video. I know. Like you guys care. But I DO. I did it! It's been a long time coming and I'm happy I finally made good.

Anyway, I realized I'm coming to the part of any month-long journey where I start to resent everything that I'm having to do. "UGH, AGAIN?? I have to make another video? Why? Why is it EVERY DAY?" I think Jami had to deal with an annoyed Abby petulantly asking, "Why am I doing this?"

But I know why I keep doing it. Because it's always nice to know that you can push yourself. I'm not sure if you read my blog from yesterday, but I appreciate challenging myself. And while I don't know if I necessarily challenge myself to be healthier, or more dedicated to studying the Bible. It's always good to know that I can at least challenge myself creatively.

Although, let's be real a lot of my vlog/blog combinations haven't been too hot. But at least I'm putting in some effort to get it done. In a lot of my life I tend to lack motivation, but not this. For pretty much no reason at all. Somehow THIS is what I care about. Why? How? No idea, but I do care.

I'm almost done with 7. And our house is getting a little bit amped about February. I also convinced my friend Esther from church to do it with us. Well, she's finished reading her own copy of the book (which she bought, and devoured before I even got halfway through my copy) so she was already on the inspired side of things. She's also the kind of girl who decided to take a picture every day for a year as a way of documenting life. And even did it while she was in UGANDA. She would write down her picture of the day so that when she came back home she could upload everything in order. It's always good motivation when you have other people in your life that are motivated.

Maybe it brings out the competitive side of me? But either way it certainly pushes me.

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? Yet again I find myself blogging at midnight thirty. And it's not like I didn't have time at all today. Not that waiting until bedtime is a bad thing. But it certainly makes it harder to form coherent thoughts.

And with that I'll bid you goodnight.

I Know How to Spell, Jami! PROMISE.

So, I've had some alcohol. I'm not sure if I should write that. But I want to be honest here. Only a few people have links to this and I know I can be honest with them.

Hang on, Jami's talking.

Alcohol certainly makes people open up about what's going on. And it's great when you can listen and be there for them.

I'm wearing a paisley shirt. Hannah and Jami picked it out. I would normally never wear it, but why not push yourself and challenge yourself. Life is so boring if you don't. Okay, not boring, but certainly plain. It's so hard to be sensitive and like, politically correct right now. My brain can't handle it. So I'm going to go all out.

People who don't challenge themselves are not living a full life. Like, do you think God created you to only talk to the same ten people and NEVER feel uncomfortable? NO. That's why I always like forcing other people to talk in small groups. If I'm in a small group you can bet I'm going to ask the quietest person their thoughts on the question. Because God wants us to be uncomfortable. DID YOU READ THAT? God WANTS us to be uncomfortable. I truly, one hundred percent believe that. If we're not uncomfortable then we will NEVER, I repeat, NEVER grow. It won't happen.

So you can bet that when I was a camp counselor I would force my campers to mingle with other people in the cabin. Because I WANTED them to feel uncomfortable. There is so much more to life then feeling cozy and warm and safe. When you feel unsafe, on the verge of something, that's when you can really learn about life.

I'm going to stop now. I hope you appreciate my slightly intoxicated thoughts at 1:00 in the morning. Perfect time to blog, am I right, guys? Beth? Katie? Are we on the same page?

Ugh, okay!

I forgot to blog. Okay? Sometimes it happens and you're like, "yes! I finally can fall into bed and sleep forever!" But then you realize. You didn't blog tonight. So then you start thinking, "how do I recover from this?" So you decide to ramble about forgetting to blog.

See what I did there? I made a paragraph on forgetting to blog. It happens.

I realize none of this makes sense at all, but it's also past 1:00 in the morning. I have a very little window before I hit 2:00 in the morning and we all know what Ted Mosby would say about that.

Da illest.

I'm not feeling well. I'm lit'rally lying in bed as I weakly jab at the keys. Perhaps I'm being SLIGHTLY overdramatic. I don't know if there's anyone to verify that.

Today was mainly spent watching Laguna Beach. Although I did do a 7-inspired cleanse of my closet. If you know me, but at all, you would know that I'm totally comfortable wearing the same pair of jeans for a week straight without washing and then maybe wearing them twice more before I declare it's time to finally wash them, but not following through until I wear them once more and get a stain on them. So knowing that about you're probably shocked I even had clothes to go through. You'd be surprised. And probably saddened. But I did weed through things so I'm feeling good. Now I'm just trying to find a good place to donate everything. 7 has also inspired me to find a place to donate where no money is exchanged. I don't want to donate my clothes not knowing if they're going to someone who really, actually needs them. Someone who can't afford to pay for enough food let alone new clothes.

I'll let you know what/where I decide!

Conviction

I don't really want today to be defined by the fact that I didn't do something so I'm going to talk about things that I DID!

I've become really inspired by the book 7. I know I've mentioned it here before, but seriously. If you're looking to be convicted about how you live your life you should read it. Or even if you're interested in mild-ultimate hilarity and entertainment.

Anyway, so today I found a church that has a homeless shelter in their fellowship hall overnights. This is the kind of church that actually opens its doors to everyone! They truly care about the homeless! You know, like how JESUS CARED ABOUT THE HOMELESS. I feel like that's something not a lot of churches in Suburbia realize. That Jesus didn't just collect canned goods for the homeless or even make one meal a week for the homeless. He LIVED with them. Talked with them every day. EVERY DAY. How often do I talk to PEOPLE that don't have homes? Ummm, there's a guy that's on the street corner by our house that I think might be homeless and I smile at him as I drive by... And even that's only SOMETIMES.

I don't know if you can tell, but I'm really rattled by this fact about myself. So I emailed the church volunteer coordinator to see if my housemates and I could make an evening meal for about 50 or so human beings that have no shelter, bed, laptop, couch, heating, or virtually anything to call their own. We'll see if she responds, but I think it would be really awesome. Hopefully that will be happening in February!

I also emailed a Somali tutoring program that helps teach Somali immigrants and refugees how to read (and sometimes write) English. I have to take a $20 course and then I guess come up with some sort of schedule? I have no idea how it works, but I hope it works out.

And then I looked for a job somewhere. I wonder if maybe God wants me to use this time to volunteer and gain a heart for the community around me. Since, you know, a full time job seems to be way yonder on the horizon. I hope that God can use this time to break my heart for something!

So that's how a lot of my day went. Now I'm going to eat a home-cooked meal prepared by the hands of a dear friend and Sister in Christ. And appreciate it!

Chains are so Breakable!

I broke the chain!!!! I'm quite upset! I was trying to read the Bible every day and yesterday I forgot! Usually I would try and read it sometime in the morning, but I guess it just wasn't on my radar. Gahhh. It's quite upsetting when you break the chain. But that's all right because a new chain starts today! Yay for new beginnings!

Well, Han and I are off to the library so maybe I'll write more later. Perhaps I'll just leave on the high of starting anew.

More Mindy, Please!

Trying this new thing where I blog NOT after midnight. So you better get ready for the most disjointed blog that has no point.

We're watching The Mindy Project and it's hilarious. It's definitely becoming one of my favorite TV shows. So quickly rising up the ranks. I'm pretty sure I've seen every episode from Season One about three times so far. And I bought the DVDs about a month ago. SO GOOD. And it's nice that I live with other people who love the show. I think this is a TV show that I will never be sad to pay full price for the season. It's way better than The Carrie Diaries. It's smarter and wittier and more charming.

And now I'm too distracted because three people are in the kitchen trying to make dinner. And they're running around and being all distracting. And there was an issue with someone's car keys being lost in my car and people's cars not starting and their hoods being frozen over. All this to say that I'm DISTRACTED.

"Brothers raising brothers? That is so Catholic, Danny! I'm sorry. Is that offensive to say?" - Mindy Lahiri.

Re: Mindy's canvas bag over her head
"AHHHH! Are you kidding me?! Why are you wearing that?"
"Because I don't want to get murdered, Danny!"
"THAT DOESN'T CLARIFY ANYTHING."

"What do you say, Duncan? Shall we take our Oolong and say so long?"
"Blech. That's lame."

Those are all quotes from episodes full of amazing quotes. Every single episode is well written and sharp.

7

SEVEN! Or rather... 7? I'm reading a book called 7 and it is changing my thinking! I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but I am obsessed with this book. The author, Jen Hatmaker, takes seven months to look at seven THINGS in our culture that are excessive. I've just finished the month about food and it is so good.

If you're thinking it's by some crazy lady who is obsessive about breaking down society's norms you'd be kind of right. She's more like some crazy lady who's trying to look at her life in a different way. In a healthier way. And it's inspiring.

Me and Jami are going to attempt our own food-based 7. We're going to use the seven foods that she chose and eat those for the month of February. Perhaps we're cutting ourselves short seeing as February has 28 days as opposed to her 31. But I think by the end of the month I'll be VERY happy for those three days. Plus it'll be something new to add to the list of chains not to break! Maybe it'll be my NEW chain!

Well, it's WAY past midnight and I need to give my feet more attention seeing as they're STILL cold from being outside. Minnesota is really cold right now, DID YOU KNOW THAT. A large part of the United States is REALLY cold so if you're somewhere warm, please appreciate it.

Sick Psychology!

It's really late. BUT! The "Don't Break the Chain" thing is working! Because even though it's really late and I kind of really want to be heading off to a good night's sleep. Here I am. Blogging away! While I'm waiting for the video I edited to be uploaded. That's how serious I am!

I don't want to break any of the chains. PSYCHOLOGY.

Speaking of psychology (SEGUE), me and my house chum, Jami, were talking about how we sometimes trick ourselves into being sick. We obsess over what could be a small sniffle until eventually it becomes this big huge terrible cold that if left untreated WILL TURN INTO PNEUMONIA. I think our brains our more powerful than we give them credit for. Jami was talking about how there are some kids at the camp that she worked at that would make themselves so homesick they would throw up? Can you imagine? Why would you want to do that to yourself? Because your mental status is so anxious that it's affecting your physical status.

It reminds me of those people who say they carry their anxiety. Perhaps that's like the homesick kid. People have to literally carry their worries around because they manifest themselves into physical traits and issues that they actually have to deal with.

OKAY! It's always time for bed when I try to get so metaphorical I can't even finish my first metaphor. STOP ABBY. Just go to bed. OKAY, GOODNIGHT.

REIGN OVER ME, No don't.

At the recommendation of a mutual friend my housechum, Jami, and I started watching a TV show called Reign. I don't know if you've ever heard of it, but it is WEIRD. It's about Mary, Queen of the Scots! And her life as she's trying to marry the Prince of France and all of the INTRIGUE and SCANDAL that happens in the French court. IT IS SO WEIRD. I cannot emphasize that enough. Weirdness abounds. If you think you're going to be watching a regular period piece about France you'd be WRONG. Because then all of a sudden there'd be some weird plot twist. We're only on the second episode and already there's been hints of magic-y things, murder, and some MYSTERIOUS girl/creature/thing that's maybe helping Mary or maybe trying to kill her. WE DON'T KNOW. Because, and I don't know how clear I made this, it's a pretty weird show.

Today was also the day that I said goodbye to Mackenzie! I'm glad I was able to drop her off at the airport, but it was a rushed goodbye. It's unfortunate when you have a friend staying with you, but you never have a really serious talk with them about their life and what they want to do. But sometimes that happens when you live in a house with three other people and flights are delayed and time alone gets minimized and minimized. I GUESS THIS IS BEING AN ADULT OR SOMETHING.

Oh, boy. Time for bed since I'm clearly tired enough to be ALL CAPSing too much. Plus, Hannah just got back from driving in "the worst snow she's ever driven in." So I'd love to find out what happened there.

More Carrie please!

So much of today was spent lounging around.

I watched The Carrie Diaries for the first time and definitely not the last time. First of all, the girl who plays a young Carrie Bradshaw is adorable and looks like a Disney animated character come to life. Second of all, the characters have emotional depth and the storylines of the episodes I watched yield character development. The pilot episode involves the father crying about her late mother. It's rather gripping, but still lighthearted enough as to entertain you. I mean, in the end it's still a show with fairly cliche plots about a teenage girl.

And I read more! I'm working my way through the first book of the "Uglies" series by Scott Westerfeld. It's not exactly the freshest plot. A dystopian novel about a young girl bucking the new society's norms. Never read anything like that before. Ha! Sarcasm! Anyway, it's still the kind of book that keeps you reading, if only to see what happens.

It's also Mackenzie's last day with us before she heads back to The D. So we went to Polish restaurant her father saw on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. So expensive for some fairly bland pierogis. But it was nice to go out for some food with the housechums plus guest.

I hope she liked her farewell dinner. But she'll hopefully be back soon!

Just Keep the Cabin Safe!

I think my eyes might be dying. I've been staring at screens for too long today. Six hours in a studio with very little to do and choosing to vlog every day for January means that I have had too much screen time.

Although I did discover my personal talent of sitting for long periods of time. Solid skill. I also re-discovered how much I love reading. This year, as always, I'm going to try to read 50 books. If you complete such a task in a year it means you're a bibliophile. And every year I try and fail. But this year could be different. If I'm really dedicated, it'll happen. And something that might help me build my dedication is the theory called:

Don't Break the Chain

See what I did there? Segue! Anyway, it's this concept that if you have a physical calendar and you cross off days that you completed a task or didn't do a bad habit you eventually develop a string of crossed off days. Also known as a CHAIN. Didn't see that twist coming, huh?? So you have the chain of days* and as the chain gets longer you don't want to break it more and more. I sure hope it works. I printed some calendars at work because I hate the patriarchy or something. So we'll see if it works. It's slightly overwhelming thinking about every day of the year and having them all crossed off in a row. That's quite intimidating. Especially for a girl who can't even commit to opening up her advent calendar every day when the surprise is always CHOCOLATE.

*Footnote: The autocorrect on my device kept correcting chain to cabin. Obviously a cabin of days would motivate anyone. Don't break the cabin, guys!