Day Twelve:

Day 12: Something you don't leave the house without

Besides the obvious necessities for the day (underwear, clothes, etc.) I normally never leave the house without...

My Running Shoes

Yep. My running shoes go with me pretty much everywhere because I never know when I might find the opportunity to hit the trail. Say I'm running errands and I get done early and it's a beautiful day...trail running! What if there is WAY too much traffic and I'd rather spend 90 minutes walking or running...hello running shoes! Not to mention, I typically try to squeeze in a walk at some point during the day just for stress relief. All good reasons to have the shoes. :-)

Day Eleven:

Day 11: Favorite TV Shows

1. Modern Family

2. Parks and Rec

3. The Office

4. Breaking Bad (BEST show on TV...when it's actually on TV)

5. Tie for Dancing with the Stars (I know, I know) and So You Think You Can Dance ( I love dancing, okay?)

Day Ten:

Day 10: Something You're Afraid Of

I'm afraid of the Coulda Shoulda Woulda Monster.

I'm afraid of being at the end of this road and not having done what I could've, what I should've. All those things left undid, unsaid. All those dreams still floating in my head. 

I'm afraid of being an old lady and wishing I could go climb that mountain, but being remorseful because, alas, it is too late. 

It's not so much death that I'm afraid of, or being old. It's the life unlived. Not having flown. Clipping my own wings because of fear. Fear of failure, fear of making mistakes, fear of making the wrong choices, fear of making a fool of myself. 

"Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free." 

- Jim Morrison 

 My greatest fear is regret, and more specifically dying with regret. 

How's that for an uplifting blog post??!! 

But there's always a silver lining, right? Acknowledging fear, just as the quote mentions, is a step towards freedom. Knowing that I fear this has given me the motivation to get out and do those things that I will regret not doing. 

Day Nine:

Day 9: A Picture of Your Best Friend

Funny Girl

This is one of my besties. I'll allow her to remain nameless. I had a collection of photos to put up here and had to choose one. Yeah, this probably isn't the best one but that's what is so great about this gal. She's actually super dooper incredibly beautiful but the funny quirk she has is that she takes super dooper funny looking pictures. Almost always. It's uncanny. And I love it. I like to put her different funny pics on my phone as the photo assigned to her number so I can have a good chuckle when she calls. I would share the current one assigned to her but it's a little embarrassing so I'll leave it be. 

She's also super dooper quirky funny cool and a beautiful person inside and out. That's why I love her! 

Day Eight:

Day 8: A place you've traveled to...

Perugia, Italy 2002

I traveled to this place in 2002 to study abroad. Little did I know how much it would change my life. The start of 2002 was a weird time to be an American traveling abroad. Many backed out of the trip due to worries following 9/11 attacks just months before. But I stuck with my plans and I'm so grateful I did.

Besides getting to meet awesome people from schools all over the US, who became some of my best friends, I also got to know quite a few international friends whom I have remained friends with even to this day. It's great getting to broaden my horizons by letting people into my life that have such different backgrounds. I find that we can all learn new things through experiencing different cultures, but at the same time I always find that we have more in common than we do differences. 

Beyond that, I learned how to speak Italian close to fluently and was inspired to come back and study a year later (and then went back each year after that until 2005 when my travels ended). This trip basically started me on a journey of travels throughout the world all and I'll never forget and will always appreciate the lessons I learned. 

It was a great way to expand my mind and made me realize the world is a much bigger and much more incredible place than the tiny world I knew back home. It lit a fire within me to see the world and experience new cultures and also gave me a greater appreciation and respect for cultural differences. 

I will encourage my future children to travel as much as they can when they are young (and even when they are old!). It's what makes a life well-lived. 

Day Seven:

Day 7: 5 Favorite Movies

1. Amelie

Released: November 2, 2001(USA)

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

French film about a woman named Amelie. Her character is innocent and playful, with an interesting, if not somewhat sad, childhood upbringing. She lives a humble life in Paris, always wanting to do good in the world and make things right. She goes out on a mission to help others and along the way falls in love with a soul mate. This movie always makes me feel good and hopeful. 

2. Pan's Labyrinth

Released: December 29, 2006

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Spanish film in the style of a dark fantasy. Deals with era of WWII fascist Spain and a pregnant mother and her young daughter who come to live with a ruthless captain for the Spanish army. The historical narrative is coupled with the young girl's imaginative obsession with fairy tales and how she uses that world to escape the brutalities and horrors of her real life. The cinematography and special effects in this movie are amazing. 

3. Kill Bill, Volume 1 & 2

Released: 2003-2004

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Epic two-part film action/thriller film, in the style of Tarantino, (aka over-the-top blood and guts, stylistic homages to past cinematic styles like Italian spaghetti westerns, old Kung-Fu films and 1970s cheesy action flicks). It's the saga of one Bad Ass Motha and her revenge on those who tried to kill her. In particularly, a fellow by the name of "Bill". I love a good revenge story, especially one with a bad ass heroine. 

4. Braveheart

Released: May 19, 1995

Directed by Mel Gibson

Speaking of epic revenge stories, how could I have a top 5 movie list without this one? Seriously. I know it's on everyone's top movie list and seems pretty banal to include this, but I gots to. Because I can watch this over and over and still tear up. The love story, the family, the loyalty, the betrayal, the injustices and the battles to fight good vs pure evil, and the history! Oh and, yeah, it won a ton of Oscars that year and for good reason. Oh god, just talking about it gets me all fired up. 

5. Boogie Nights

 Released: October 10, 1997

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

"Everyone has one special thing". This film is about the rise and fall of a 1970's porn star, dubbed "Dirk Diggler" (based loosely on the life of real-life porn prodigy John Holmes). It's like this movie was made for Mark Wahlberg. The soundtrack is awesome too. I love how it shows the drastic change of boom times to bust and how it affects everyone's life along the way. 

Day Six:

I've returned to keep plugging along at this effort to complete a list which will, supposedly, inspire me to write more on my blog which was the whole point of starting a blog...to write more. I used to write a lot - in fact, I was an "early blogger" keeping a very up to date and detailed blog on my Myspace account (I know... that totally dates me). I think that was circa 2004-2006. It was a good one. Anyway, I gradually lost interest in it because of my loss of interest in Myspace all together and that is one thing I lament about the Facebook format is that it does not offer a blog. Oh well, too many people are friends with me on Facebook now so I wouldn't be able to be as open and honest. Once parents and other relatives join you have to monitor yourself on that site. Mine also happens to have inlaws. Double monitoring.

Here it is Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy

 

I'm sure she'd kill me if she knew I posted these pics...but they make me so happy! Not because they are god-awful selfies taken for the sole purpose of seeing how weird and contorted we could make our faces, but also because they remind me of a great time. This was when I and my good friend (who shall remain nameless for fear of defamation suits) decided to live in Italy for a little over a month, just for the hell of it. We had already lived there together once (studying abroad in Perugia in 2002) and I had been back several times for additional studies abroad and travels (I was addicted. I was also broke at the end of this addiction). We were both there in Europe for different reasons and had a little over a month to kill. So we rented a room in an apartment in Rome and made absolutely zero plans. Which turned out to be awesome! My friend was a little concerned about doing this, at first. "I'm worried about getting bored!" She said. But I had a feeling that would not happen and my feeling was correct. We got ourselves into all kinds of trouble (the best kind) and I loved every minute of it. I couldn't have imagined spending that summer with nothing to do, just living La Dolce Vita, with anyone else but this girl. (This picture should prove why). Anyway...looking at this reminds me of a great friendship, a wonderful time in both our lives, and, frankly, if I'm upset it still manages to make me laugh. 

So there...take that Day 6!