Last week was a toughie. Tuesday was an ok day; tiring but overall pretty normal. Then on Wednesday night while teaching I pulled my groin muscle. If you know anything about sports injuries or just the human body in general you probably know that the groin is one of the hardest muscles to heal. It plagues most people for a lifetime. It made me feel awful about myself because you pull your groin, much like any muscle, from the muscles surrounding it being weak. Who wants to feel weak? I have a performance coming up at the end of February and I'm praying it's healed up before then so I can still perform. Then on Thursday i spent most of the day throwing up. The hardest part about it was that Stephen was in class all day and I had no one to take care of me. I'm not sure I've ever wanted a vacation so badly before... 

The Last Chapter of the Right to Vote

Just to let you all know I got my voter registration card in the mail this week. Is that wasn't overdue I don't know what is! 

All I can do is shake my head.

How are you?

Such a common question that so many people ask, right? Do you ever answer it honestly? I have to say that I try to. And I tend to only ask that question when I want to know the honest answer from someone. I have a friend who always just shrugs her shoulders or says "eh" when I ask because she doesn't think I really want to hear whats going on with her. But I do. So I assume people want the truth when I'm asked. I have to admit though that I don't always. So for those of you who read my blog this is my honest answer about how I'm doing.

Over the past few weeks as I've been here in New Jersey everyone has been asking me how I like Grand Rapids and I've been responding with "I hate it". And I do. I'm trying so hard to like it. I hate the snow, a certain type of people, the drivers, the time of day my mailman comes, my neighbors, the traffic lights, the lack of street signs, the fact that I have no friends, pretty much everything. The people who I talk to often know this and I'm sure they are sick of hearing it by now so I'm going to write about what I do like (positive thinking, right?). I like that Grand Rapids is an old city full of history, I like the way my street looks while it's snowing at night, I like the brick roads, I like the public library and the people who I always see everytime I'm there. I like how everyone smiles at each other and makes conversation in the grocery store. I love waking up in the morning and feeling independant (no matter how cold it is), I love that no matter how bad my day was I know that I can come home to my home. I love that the reason I moved my life to a strange and sometimes horrible place was for a man that I love more dearly and deeply than I ever thought I was capable of. And that he feels the same about me. I love that no matter how many inches of snow, wrong turns I make, or how loud my neighbors are, we can laugh together at the end of the day.

So thank you to everyone who has listened to me complain endlessly. I think my New Years resolution is to try to see that greener grass.

Ahhh

Well I am finally back in New Jersey after one of the scariest car rides of my life. We, Stephen Sarah and I, were supposed to leave on Friday morning but at about 5 0'clock started hearing about a terrible storm headed for GR. So I watched the news and realized this was going to be bad but wasn't sure what to do since Stephen had a paper to write, an apartment to clean, and pack up his stuff. My mom called and advised us to leave that night instead of waiting for the morning. And after a few frantic calls we deicded that would be best. It was about 7:30pm. At about 8:45 I decided to take a nap and wait for my fellow travellers to come over. At about 10:45 they finally drove up and it took us 15 minutes to barely squeeze everything in the car. So we hit the road at about 11:15 after grabbing gas and energy drinks. You have to understand that all of us had a rough week; Stephen and Sarah with finals and me with holiday mall hours and parent wacth week at the studio. We were all exhausted. But we were brave and sang songs. Then we hit Ohio and the freezing rain, then it started snowing, then we hit Pennslyvania and the roads were covered. Then we were driving on route 80 and it got really bad. It was about 6:30am by this point and I still hadn't slept. So once the sun came up it was slow going. To make a long and scary story short and somewhat less scary, it took us over 15 hours to get back (it should have taken 11) and we slid all the way from PA to New Jersey. And I didn't cry once. Needless to say, I am thrilled to be back.

Just a few more weeks...

We all know the classic line from the "Wizzard of Oz": "There's no place like home". Now although Grand Rapids is officially my new home I am so excited to go back to New Jersey for the Holidays. I can't wait to spend time with my parents watching movies (and Sienfeld!), going to diners with my friends, relaxing, shopping with my mom. It's those very small things that often meant nothing at the time that I'm really missing. I can honestly hardly contain my excitement to see my friends. I never thought I would miss them all so much. I just miss being so comfortable with people. I don't have that here. At both my jobs I have to be assertive and aware and I don't have many friends, and even if I did I wouldn't feel very comfortable with them at this point. My friends from New Jersey are amazing. They have been always there for me weather I need some cheering up, or some grounding. I mean how many friends do you have where you feel completely comfortable saying "Hey, you're being a jerk!"? I can say that to my friends and have it mean something. They can also say that to me and I listen and don't take offense because I know they care. It's interesting because as hard as it's been to be away from my friends I know with all my heart that I will always be friends with them; they aren't going anywhere. And that makes me feel so secure. So to any of my friends who read my blog: Thank you for being so faithful in friendship, you are loved and cherished.

The Right To Vote Pt. 2

So apparently I don't have the right to vote. I am still too frustrated by the whole experience to go into too much detail but I will say that I was not able to vote this past Tuesday. I was lied to (many times over) and I believe that is what resulted in my inability to enact my right. I of course embarrassed myself at the polls by crying, and then I raged for about 30 minutes at home before calming down enough to cook dinner and watch the events of the night. Obama winning came as no surprise to me but I fear for the kind of country he will turn this into. Stephen and I have been talking lately about moving to Europe someday and the idea is appealing to me more and more. I'm disappointed overall about the voting process and I think I'm too tired and frustrated to find answers. It's been a month of trying to get the answers I wanted.

On a lighter note I did enjoy watching Mighty Pythons Flying Circus' "Election Night Special". I think it will always be my favorite sketch from that show. Enjoy.

Time

"'I think you might do something better with time,' she said, 'than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers.'

'If you knew time as well as I do,' said the Hatter, 'you wouldn't talk of wasting it. It's him.'

'I don't know what you mean,' said Alice.

'Of course you don't,' the Hatter said, tossing his head contemptuously, 'I dare say you never even spoke to Time!'

'Perhaps not,' Alice cautiously replied, 'but I know how to beat time when I learn music.'

'Ah! That accounts for it,' said the Hatter, 'He won't stand beating!'"

That is one of my favorite quotes from Lewis Carrols "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". I love how angry the Mad Hatter gets at the idea of referring to time as some sort of abstract instead of being a living breathing thing. C.S. Lewis also talks about time in his book "The Silver Chair". He mentions Father Time sleeping deep below the earths surface and that he will wake at the end of the world. So many people talk about time as if they have no say in how it goes on. It is true that we cannot stop time from moving or that we can turn it forward of back. But we do have the ability to spend it how we wish. Alice thinks people shouldn't waste it with silly riddles. Where as the Mad Hatter and March Hare see nothing wrong with that (neither do I). I have chosen to spend much of my time with dancing and even now I chose to use time to laugh, share my life with someone I love, and work hard. To use a cliche: time is precious, use it to do something you love even if most people would think you're crazy. Spend time with the people you enjoy being with and don't beat time, he won't stand for it!

The Right To Vote!

I have never wanted to vote for president. That is until a few weeks ago. Through out the primaries I was rooting for Ron Paul (see previous post) but didn't actually vote for him considering I had no plan to ever vote again, I knew I would be moving to another state, and didn't want to hassle of being called to jury duty. But I changed my mind one day. Here in Michigan there are two new proposals up this election. One for the legalization of medical marijuana the other for embryonic stem cell research. Two things I feel strongly about. So I decided I would register, have my say about the proposals, and write in Ron Paul (just to stick it to the man a little). Well I went down to the library and turned in my form there only to receive a letter from the county clerk a few days later saying I was not registered due to the fact that the organization, who was responsible for sending in the forms, had not sent them in on time. I was enraged. Here I was a 20  year old woman who finally has the mind and ability to vote and I can't. I called the library, was regretfully nasty to a nice woman, and eventually spoke to my new friend Michael. He apologized profusely and said he was investigating the problem and would let me know the results. To make a very long story short I was told to call Hailey (who turned out to be a very young and unprofessional person) at the Obama Campaign who basically gave me no confidence at all. So I called the County Clerk directly and a woman in the elections office told me all I had to do was bring my license to the polls on election day and fill out a provisional ballot! I was shocked it was so easy (I'm still a little nervous). The whole thing really taught me a lesson: I don't really believe that God wants me to vote and I think that it really doesn't matter all that much how many people vote but I do know that it was devastating, even to a person who never wanted to vote, that my freedom and privilege could be denied me. The moral of the story: Go out and vote for your local government (mayor, congress people, senators, etc), research the proposals for new legislation in your state, and vote for someone like Ralph Nader (or Ron Paul) because God knows someone like Obama sure as hell doesn't need your vote. 

Apples, Root Beer, Donuts, and Free Bikes

I am starting to think that Stephen and I have some sort of magnet for cheap vintage bikes. We went apple picking today and got a little lost and on our way back to being found we saw these two bikes on the side of the road and slowed down for a look. Well they were free! So we labored for some time trying to get both of them into the car but decided only on would fit. So we packed it, went and picked some apples, enjoyed some tasty old timey root beer, bought some donuts, and headed home. Our plan is to fix it up and sell it to some hipster who won't mind paying a decent amount for it. It's funny because while we were fixing up my bike Stephen had said how fun it would be to fix up old bikes and sell them as a little money making hobby. Looks like we may be on our way to doing just that. Hm.

Pictures

Here are some pictures of my apartment, Lake Michigan, and my bike make over. Enjoy!