Blog 54: Puppy Love

I had my first crush in elementary. There was this boy who was new at my school and all the girls were crushin’! He was tan, had brown eyes, and brown hair with blonde high lights. He was really different from all the other boys in our class. Just so you know, I went to Gilead Christian in elementary, and there were maybe 32 people in the whole class; so it was a very small school and we all knew each other. He was like a little rebel from the public schools that we had never known before. He skate boarded and had a smart mouth on him. We would tease each other, a lot. You know, the typical little kid crush stuff.

Well that was my first crush, and there’s not much more to say. I’m going to tell you about my first boyfriend now. I was going to Mechanicsburg Junior High at the time, and was in the seventh grade; he was in the eighth grade. Once again, he was the new kid and was a bit of a bad boy (I never noticed the common theme until now). But on with it, we dated for awhile and he was my first kiss. Then he moved to Florida and it broke my little heart. However, everything worked out the way it was supposed to. J.J. from elementary and Claddie from junior high are a thing of the past, and now I have an amazing boyfriend, Blaine, who I am totally in love with!

Blog 53: Pet Peeves

I know I have plenty of things that annoy me, but I can’t really think of any good ones.  I’m not even sure if I can talk for 250 words about just one of them. Ok here it goes, I hate when my socks get wet; it’s the worst in the winter. First of all, I always have on socks because my feet are freezing. Second of all, people track in snow and then it melts and I step in it. It drives me crazy! I hate the feeling and then I have to change my socks, which sucks because my feet were already warm and cozy in the first pair. Well, I can’t really say anymore about my wet socks.

Another pet peeve of mine is when someone leaves the light on when they aren’t in the room. It didn’t bother me as much when I wasn’t the one paying the electric bill, but now it definitely does. My boyfriend is super bad about it. I love him and all, but I still lecture him about leaving the lights on. I will say, “Hey Blaine, are you still in the kitchen?” He is obviously sitting on the couch in the living room, but I still ask just to be a smartass.

Ok, so wet socks and leaving the lights on, what else? Oh! I hate when people rev their engines like they’re Jeff Gordon or something. No one is impressed by how much noise your car can make, so be quiet for goodness’ sake!

Blog 52: New York

I have been on a lot of trips, to a lot of different places. It’s hard to decide which one meant the most to me. Since I have to pick just one, I guess I’ll go with my trip to New York. In July of 2007, my dad and I went to New York. We were there about a week, and there was so much to do, in so little time. I had just bought a new camera; and good thing I did because I took hundreds of pictures.

We left for New York after dinner and got there in time for breakfast! We ate at this amazing place in New Jersey, the Brownstone Diner and Pancake Factory. It was so delicious! Then we drove into the city and the skyscrapers were masked by the morning fog. We checked into our hotel and went out on the town! During that week the only time spent in the hotel was to sleep. We went to Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, etc. In Greenwich Village we found the best restaurant in the world, The Cornelia Street Café.

The best part of the whole trip was taking the subway to the Bronx for the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox 4^th of July series. It was my first and last time in Old Yankee Stadium. After the game on the 4^th we saw the fireworks in Manhattan. It was a very memorable trip; I’m just going to stop myself right now because I could go on about it forever!

Blog 51: Jane Addams

I’m not sure how many have heard of Jane Addams, but if she were still alive, I would love to meet her because I think she was a magnificent human being. When I was in elementary, maybe second grade, we had to read a biography and I read Jane Addams’ biography. It was a lot for my second grade brain to handle, but it was some good stuff. I actually did another report on Jane Addams in my American History class in high school.

In case you have no idea who I’m talking about, let me just get you up to speed. Jane was born in Cedarville, Illinois in 1860. She got tuberculosis of the spine as a child, and it left her spine curved. She was very ashamed of her deformity; however, it didn’t stop her from achieving great things. Jane attended college at a time when there were very few colleges for women. She went on to open Hull House, a settlement house in Chicago. Hull House started off small and ended up as 13 buildings. They offered many things: continuing education for adults, kindergarten classes, a library, a gym, a kitchen, a bathhouse, etc. She was also national chairman of the Women’s Peace Party and President of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She supported women’s suffrage, immigrants, and was a member of the NAACP. As you can see, Jane Addams was part of so much American history. She was even the first American woman awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize.

I would love to meet Jane Addams because she had such an interesting life and accomplished so much. It would make my day to sit down with her and discuss her life and hear the stories straight from her; a true American.

Blog 50: My Car

The best present I have ever been given would have to be my car. My dad bought me a car for my high school graduation and I am very, very grateful! I definitely did not want to have to buy my own car. Cars are so expensive, and it would’ve drained my savings to have to buy one on my own. Plus, I definitely wouldn’t have spent what he did. My car is a white, 2006, Kia Spectra. It gets pretty good gas mileage and is a good looking car. It has power locks and windows, cruise control, and a CD player. The car had about 50,000 miles on it when we bought it. There is nothing wrong with it; and yes, we did ask for the CARFAX.

I remember the day we went car shopping like it was yesterday. It was July, and it was HOT! We looked all over Columbus and ended up at Hatfield Kia. I had no intention whatsoever of buying a car that day. However, when you find a deal, you have to move on it quickly. I never make decisions that fast. I always think about everything very carefully before I decide, but it was towards the end of the day, and they were about to close, so I felt some major pressure. I decided that was the car for me and that was that. I’ve had it for 7 months now and it runs perfectly, just like the day I took it home!

Blog 49: Babysitting

I haven’t ever had a “real” job. But the past two summers I have babysat for my doctor’s nephews, Lucas and Henry. They were 6 and 8 the first summer and 7 and 9 the second summer. The summer of 2009, they lived in Marysville, which was a 20 minute drive. However, in the summer of 2010, they had moved to Ostrander, which was like a 35 minute drive. I had already told them I would watch the boys the next summer, so I drove the extra 15 minutes.

The boys were very well behaved for me, but not so much for their parents. They were allowed to go to a few of their friend’s houses for a couple hours and so some days I would hardly see them. On the flip side, sometimes their friends would come over to their house and I would have double the kids to watch. The family told me that I was welcome to eat whatever they had, so I didn’t have to pack a lunch or snacks, which was really nice. Basically, I got paid to watch TV and eat their food; I had it pretty easy. I did actually work though. I would cook for the boys, play outside or play video games with them, and I even took them to the pool a few times. All in all, I would say it was a great first “job.” But, this summer I want something I can put on my résumé, so I’m not going to be babysitting for them.

Blog 48: My Grandma

My grandma is my inspiration; I think she is a saint. My grandma is such a good person; she treats everyone like a friend. She is from a small village in Yugoslavia where she met my grandpa and had two children, my aunt and uncle. Later, they moved to Italy where she had my dad. Soon after my dad was born they moved to Switzerland and then came to America. My grandpa passed away when my dad was four and my grandma was left to care for my special needs uncle and my dad all on her own. She then moved to Columbus to raise my dad. After my mom and dad got married we all moved to Arizona.

My grandma has always had to work hard and I have never heard her complain once; she has had a very hard life, and yet she doesn’t act like anything is owed to her. She came to this country with virtually nothing and knowing no English, all to make a better life for her and her family. I am very thankful that she came to America. If it weren’t for her I wouldn’t be here today with so many opportunities right at my fingertips. My grandma has been in the United States for about 44 years now and her English is pretty good now. Here are a few fun facts about her: her accent is adorable, she lives in Arizona yet her yard looks like the Garden of Eden, she is an amazing chef, she likes to knit socks, she has never driven a car, and she wears a babushka.