New home for Jasper

Jasper isn't too crazy about my camera

this cage was a Christmas gift from my parents. Lucky for me and Jasper because saving for a new cage is difficult when you only work part time and have car payments and school supplies to pay for. The cage has guillotine doors but I messed around with it so it's more drawbridge style now and he can walk out on it when he chooses to.

Don't know anymore

sometimes I'm just tired of it all. I consider not going back to a four year college when I finish getting my associates. Then I think of how no one in my family would allow it. I think of all the voices and (sometimes) well meaning advice coming in and hitting me so hard I think I'm going to bruise from it. I feel trapped. I want to get away. But I don't know where I can go where I would be able to escape into the silence. I want to just go up to the rooftop of the highest building and just let myself hang in the air. I want to feel the cold thin atmosphere rushing through my lungs and be alone. And sometimes I want to fall.

Problems problems problems

One of these days I should probably try practicing self-restraint. But these were gorgeous. They made me look taller and made my butt look fabulous. You can find these beauties here. Oh and I must have these, perhaps these. and these!!! I did actually almost buy those silver ones yesterday but I was already getting them in black which I actually needed. Since black flats are timeless..and I'm required to wear them for work. I didn't have much of a choice since my two plain black ones were falling apart. Both pairs were 16.99 each, I wasn't in the mood to pay $34.00 for two pairs of shoes (before tax) But next time I get the chance I'll see if they're still there.

what was I saying about self control again?          

Butterfly...

There's a felt silver and gold butterfly hanging in my room. It's nothing special, just some cloth and glitter held together by school glue and cut in the shape of wings and a body by a small child's hand. At the time I didn't really appreciate it. i thought it was ugly and was disappointed that it hadn't matched what I saw in my mind at all. But I liked the sparkle so I hung it up anyway. Now every time I see it I feel a sense of nostalgia. I want to go back to the 6 year old who made it. i want that time when my biggest concerns were the shapes not cutting out properly or whether or not the teachers would notice that I had used more glitter than was allowed. I just want to lose these worries about my education, my social life, romantic life, what I'm going to do with myself. That butterfly has been hanging in the exact same spot for over 18 years now and it hasn't changed at all. Sometimes I wish I could do that. Just suspend myself in a shining sparkling moment for a little bit longer. More and more these days I feel like everything's spinning away from me. Like I'm moving through moments quicker than I can handle. I can't hold on to anything, it doesn't matter how much I try. it all ends and all I'm left with is that memory. That stupid butterfly. Staring at it spinning and catching the light and losing it. Remembering but never being able to really go back

Disgust. Pure and utter disgust

I cannot stand receipts. I don't like to look at them and I especially don't like to organize them. All they seem to do is make a mess of my desk, steal all my rubber bands, and spell out a future life of poverty for me. And just when I had them stacked in a pile to start sorting through, Jasper flew right through them, sending them scattering and sending me right back to square one. Bah. I'm just going to curl up with a chocolate Odwalla bar and Breakfast at Tiffany's to drown my sorrows.

this is probably why I haven't gone totally off the deep end yet.

I'm Scared...

We made plans today. And not just in the normal "we'll have a million dogs and love each other forever and ever" kind of way. You got approval from another girlfriend of mine (and her dogs I might add) and we were talking on the drive back. You told me you wanted us to have a place like her near the woods and the water and of course in the mountains like we always talked about. You said how you were planning to ask Mimi and Pop-pop about their cabin in the mountains. You know I think the place is beautiful and the only real problem is that it's so remote and the cabin was built in the early 70's so it's not really fit for a human to live in. Then you said you were thinking we could build a home up there and you could work to get indoor plumbing and all the modern things set up in it. Then when I reminded you how remote it was and how hard it would be to see friends and family, you didn't even miss a beat. You said "well what about the mountains that Frank and Mary live on?" and then you went on to say we could just as easily have an RV so we could come up to the cabin whenever we wanted. We made plans for what we would try to do with you trying to find more permanent work and me trying to finish school. Then I asked you if you had ever though of marriage. You told me that aside from taxes and living together, you had pretty much considered us married since last summer. I didn't know what to say. I love you and I had pretty much been thinking the same way. But I'm also terrified. It makes everything more real. I'm not used to that. I'm used to the relationships I had before you..date for a few months with no plans for commitment and no real serious talks like the ones we've had. That sounds silly since I've been with you for almost 2 years and have been out of high school for 3. But I'm still scared. I don't know if it's normal and it doesn't make me want a life with you any less. I just don't know how to sort out my own feelings I guess.

Blah blah blah...

I think I'm just going to do away with the whole challenge thing. Because it's summer I'm out of the house or with family/friends more often. of course that hasn't been the case this week because I've been sick. It's already 100 degrees so i don't' know if it's the flu or heat exhaustion, all I know if I'm in pain and not really able to sleep in my own bedroom because since it's pretty much a converted attic above the garage it's one of the hottest rooms in the house. I'm not even letting Jasper in there these days because it's so unhealthy. We basically just stay downstairs reading blogs and watching Harry Potter. Well I do those things he runs around on my laptop trying to eat the keyboard and causing trouble..I love him :)

Day 20. My fears

I don't think I have a lot of fears..I have some that I think everyone has. The biggest ones I think would be small tight spaces, being smothered and bugs. Bugs are a big problem for me. When I was about 9 I went on a summer trip to India with my family. There were fire ants around our house but I had never experienced any big problem with them until one day. I was getting ready to take a shower and I placed my clothes on my bed. When I came back from my shower I began putting the clothes on, and almost immediately I noticed a tingling burning sensation on my arms. Then I noticed it everywhere. I started tearing the clothes off while screaming for my mom. Turns out there was a fire ants all through out my bed and they had gotten into ALL of my clothes. The clothes and bedsheets were cleaned and we got all the ants out, but since then I haven't been able to stand small bugs, especially ants.

Day 18. 5 Items I lust after

1. a kindle
2. a dog (not really an item but still)
3. my own apartment (especially the gorgeous condos down the street that I know I can never afford)
4. bird cages & supplies (so I can buy more feathered friends)
5. a bird room or a private art studio

Day 18. A problem I have

Procrastination. There's really no other choice for this. If my stellar job of skipping days in this challenge are any indication, I'm no stranger to the evil web of procrastination. I really should probably work on it since it affects my stress/sanity levels when I'm in school. But I probably won't...maybe later.

Day 17. Something I'm proud of

so this is actually supposed to be day 19 but I was out of town helping my sister move out of her apartment. So by the time I got back yesterday I was basically the walking dead.

anyway...

something I'm really proud of is my ability to work with animals. Anyone who knows me knows I love animals and that I'm able to get almost anyone's pet to like me. A lot of people in my neighborhood have dogs and the only one I wasn't ever able to pet was my neighbors' husky. I think that's because he was already an elderly dog when they moved here from Tennessee, and he was extremely protective of their kids. But I love spending time with animals and I always found it isn't difficult to work with them if you move at their pace and try to understand their point of view when you're interacting with them.

Scuse the cleavage

But I have a friend...

This is Jasper. The budgie that's clearly a mama's boy and has no shame about snuggling in with me. I love him so much.


That's all :)

Day 16. Something I always wonder "what if" about

I always worry about my chosen major and whether or not I'm going to be able to actually go anywhere with it. One thing about art is that having a successful career in it largely depends on where you went for college. Being at a community college for 2 years won't hurt but there's a good chance I'm going to have to go to VCU when I get my associate's. That's not terrible because they have one of the best art programs. But the school and area doesn't really appeal to it. It's in the city, Richmond is a rather sketchy area and I prefer a smaller school. But if I end up going there I'm just going to try to make a positive experience in it. What I really want to do is work as an art therapist, possibly with people dealing with mental health difficulties. There aren't really any schools in my state that offer that as a major so I could do a double major in Psychology and Art or (what I'm more likely to end up doing) is Major in art and minor in psych. I love both fields but I lean more towards fine arts than science and I don't want to risk the stress of a double major, especially after I tanked with just one during my freshman year. Granted I hated what I was studying but I didn't when I declared my original major. Anyways I know it isn't helpful but I always worry "what if all this studying is worthless in the end. I'll just have wasted thousands of dollars and countless hours on classes and supplies."