Is it Friday yet?

Ok, so can I just take a minute to brag about how awesome my friends and family are?  I mean seriously, I don't know how I got so lucky.  This week has been nonstop.  It's that time of the semester where everything from school hits you all at once.  I never understood why teachers give you the most amount of work in the last few weeks. So right now I am bogged down in research and interviews and audio recordings to transcribe.  And that's just for one class.  I don't even want to go into the other two.  But anyways, needless to say, this week has been hectic and stressful.  In fact, I am typing this in order to avoid the rest of my projects.  Luckily though, I have a great support system that has kept me going and helped me stay positive throughout this process.  I don't think my friends and family know just how much their encouraging words really do lift me up.  I love taking the time to just take a break from it all and chat or grab dinner with a good friend.  It really does re-energize me and I know the work will all get done in the end.  It's nice to remind myself that I can still have a life outside of school and work. So thank you to all of you who make me strive to be better and motivate me to push on. Have a beautiful day!

What's in a Name?

I figured at this point, you guys might want to know what the title of my blog means.  It took me awhile to come up with it, but I knew it was perfect as soon as I thought of it….and when it was the first name not already taken.  I wanted something catchy, but appropriate for me and what I want my blog to stand for.  In any case, Verbiage15 has multiple meanings to me.  Dictionary.com defines verbiage as an “overabundance of words” which I found to be rather appropriate.  As I am not the best writer, I sometimes have the tendency to ramble or go off on tangents, thus saying too much.  However, verbiage15 has a deeper meaning than that.  I initially came to the word Proverbs because this is my favorite book in the Bible.  Proverbs was shortened to verb, which led me to [verb]iage.  It made sense in my head anyways.  Verbiage by itself was enough, so I decide to add the number 15.  15 is my favorite number, but it also represents Proverbs 1:5, which states “Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser.”   This verse helps to remind me that we always have something to learn, both academically and spiritually.  The main purpose of this blog is about me reflecting on my life as it happens and becoming wiser about myself.   My hope is that I can learn more about myself through my writing and be reminded of how lucky I truly am to have the opportunities and the people God graces me with each and every day.   If I can entertain people in the process, then even better.  I know my life may not be the most exciting, but there is just something about hearing other people’s experiences that helps you escape your own.  So, if you’re reading this, I hope you enjoy!

That's a Wrap

So my birthday came and went and I am happy to say I survived.  The 3 celebrations I had certainly helped.  I must say, I am honestly blessed to have such a great family and group of friends.  I have already told you about my first celebration on my actual birthday (read the previous post if you missed it.)  The second celebration came the next day, when my family took me to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  It is rare that all six of us are all together at one time, so I really treasure these moments.  Our food was delicious and the dessert was even better!

The third celebration was this weekend.  My friends and I ate at a great local restaurant that I had never been to and was not in the least bit disappointed.  We had a great time sharing stories and laughter.  I was reminded that I have so many great people I have in my life to support me.  I cannot say thank you enough to everyone for making my 25th birthday the best it could have been!

I am also lucky that my birthday also lands during spring break.  This year some friends and I went to Orlando where I was able to see a good friend of mine and go to Disney World for the first time.  I reminded me of all the great memories from my times spend at Disneyland growing up.  We had a great trip and it was the perfect way to escape from the real world for a bit.  Here are some pictures to sum up my break and my birthday celebrations:

 

Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot

 Magic Kingdom

 

I got to see so many friends while I was 

home for the break, include this amazing person :)

 

My birthday cake....ice cream cake: my favorite!

 My meal at CF: Lettuce Wraps...yum! 

(Just now finished eating the left overs)

 

Cheesecake: My all-time favorite dessert

Some of my great friends that helped me 

celebrate and made my birthday so special!

Thanks for reading...have a great week everyone! -J

Celebrations

My birthday celebration has been good so far and still isn't close to being over! It's been a laid back day, which I gladly welcome any time. I woke up to this sweet girl on my pillow.  She always makes it so hard to get out of bed in the mornings.

  

Luckily my birthday always falls during spring break, so I've been able to see a lot of my friends back home.  Last night I hung out with my long time friend.  We were supposed to just go to dinner and then home so we could get some actual work done. (I have been procrastinating like crazy during this break!) But somehow we ended up at the hair salon.  I have been wanting to cut my hair short for a few months now, but keep chickening out.  Well, last night I decided on a whim to go for it.  Why not start 25 off with a new look?! Well, two hours later and my hair was 10.5 inches shorter.

Before

After (way past our bedtime)

A little shorter in the back than I wanted, but it will grow back...right??

Goodbye hair...

Still getting use to it, but in the mean time I just keep reminding myself that I did it for a good cause.  I luckily had just enough to be able to donate it to Locks for Love. Anyone have any tips for making your hair grow faster? 

Anyways, back to my day.  My parents and I went to see This Means War.  It was a really cute movie.  Not as funny as I expected, but still good.  My older brother is working tonight so we won't be doing our family dinner until tomorrow.  So for tonight, my mom is making me my favorite dish, alfredo and pasta.  Then when my sister gets back from soccer practice we will have cake and opened gifts.  I'll sure I'll have pictures from that to post another time.  But for now, I am just happy to have this time to spend with my family. I have been overwhelmed with all the people that have wished me a happy birthday so far.  I am truly blessed to have so many great people in my life. Thank you all!

25

25. That's how old I am today. Don't ask me where the last 25 years of my life went because I have no idea. (I also have a HORRIBLE memory so that could be the problem) But nonetheless, here I am. People always ask if you feel any older on your birthday and for the first time I can honestly answer, yes. There is just something about 25 that feels so much different than 22, 23, or 24. Even though it took me awhile, I have come to terms with being 25. For some time, I have felt in a way, "behind" like I missed the memo somewhere. Everyone I know is engaged, married, and having kids (some even on their second child!). But somehow I have managed to stay single and I am okay with that. The last year has been one of self-reflecting and figuring myself out and what I want out of life. My dad asked me yesterday if I had accomplished everything I wanted to by the time I was 25. My immediate answer was not even close! So he asked what was on my 30 list, which I replied with: Everything that was on my 25 list. So that got me thinking about what it is I want to accomplish in the next 5 years. Top on the list are the biggest and most obvious--graduate, get a job in a school that I love, and get married, although I am not in big hurry for last one...as long as it's by 30 ;) I am a big believer in things happening when and how they are supposed to so I constantly remind myself to just be patient.

So here I am on my birthday, determined to make this my best year yet. In order to get me motivated to be proactive this year, I have decided to make this blog (I promise to work on the design of it soon) Starting a blog has been a goal of mine for awhile now, but I always felt like I needed to wait for some big event to happen or for my life to be interesting enough for people to want to read about...then I realized I may be waiting for a long time. Even still, I feel like I am at a turning point in my life and there is so much coming up that I want to document, even if I end up being the only one who reads this. But, just in case, to whoever may be listening, welcome to my crazy, unexpected life. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

P.S. Happy Birthday Grandpa! It's been 18 years and I miss you more and more with each one that goes by.