Arizonians?

Is it Arizonians or Arizonans?? Anyways, people that reside in Arizona, you should definitely attend the Arizona Blogger Meetup and tell me all about it. I would love to attend and personally meet all the people I blog stalk; (creepy?) however, the Atlantic ocean stands between us, and will simply make my attendance impossible. 

Check out the details here!

Proof: we DO study in our household

My parents back home have a hard time believing that I am actually studying here and doing my homework and not just taking trips all the time. So, today as we were studying at my house, I decided to take some shots during our study break to prove to them that I am being studious!

Did you see all those notes and books?? No, we didn't stage these shots, we DO study! 

And no, we weren't simultaneously watching the original Batman series, or Scrubs, or Friends on tv...

Journal Challenge

Recently, my Material Poetics professor challenged us to really explore our writing and focus on journaling our thoughts. In the past, I've tried keeping journals; but, I loose interest quickly and I'm not consistent with my writing. So, I figured I should actually challenge myself and see how this goes. My professor explained how great writing comes from someone that is fully self-aware and in tune with their thoughts and beliefs. I guess this is where I struggle, seeing as I'm still growing and learning a lot about life. However, she gave us several prompts that help you explore your mind and what you think. Now, a lot of these prompts are very personal and ask for private thoughts that I'm not willing to share with the world. However, I decided that I'm willing to share a few on the blog and hopefully more people will be inspired to do the same. 

The first prompt was to write a letter to yourself. When I first read this prompt, I felt that it was very vague and I was a bit confused as to what I was supposed to tell myself. However, after thinking about it, I realized that was the entire point. What are you willing to admit to yourself and actually confront yourself about it? 

So here's my stab at it:

   
Dear Maggie,


A year ago, you would have never pictured yourself in the position you are in today. You were upset, you thought life was going downhill, and you feared that you would never find someone else. You began to think of life as a set definite plan and lost sleep over figuring out every detail about it. You stopped living in the moment like you used to and became this robot-like figure who over analyzed every decision. Can I say how happy I am that we're over that? Life is beautiful, and I am sure you're fully aware of that now. Sometimes life gets hard and it's very easy to loose sight of your goals. Although you went through a rough couple of months, they made you stronger than you have ever been. You became your own woman, not holding back by anyone or anything. You proved to yourself how capable you are of being your own person and making your own decisions. I know it was in you all along, but you needed a struggle to overcome to finally realize it. You finally opened your eyes and realized that everything you need was just a phone call and a quick drive home away. Your family has been your rock these past couple of months, it was them who got you through those miserable days and told you to keep your head up. I can't believe it took you so long to come to that realization but I could not be happier that you have finally gotten there. The past couple of months have taught you lessons you will never forget. I am so glad you took the opportunity to live abroad, on your own, and figure out what it was you were truly passionate about. I know that upon your arrival here in England you struggled with the realization of your situation, but you overcame it, very quickly I might add. And  upon that realization you became happier. I haven't seen you this happy in a long time. You are living life as you should, enjoying and learning with every moment you partake in. Even though your family and friends are far away, the things you are learning here are amazing. Not to mention, the people you are meeting here are helping you become a better person, challenging you to open yourself to a new culture and environment. These lessons will carry on throughout your life, and your time here in England will never be forgotten. Keep enjoying the moments you have here and remember to never loose sight of what is ahead of you. Although     you struggle with school at times and you begin to slack off, you have to realize that you have the potential to do everything you are dreaming of. All it takes is for you to set your mind and keep working towards your goals. I have no doubt you will become the woman you have always dreamed of. 

     
Sincerely,

Maggie

Raise your hand

Raise your hand if you loose countless of hours of sleep thanks to Stumbleupon?!

Hand raised. 

Raise your hand if you have recently been introduced to Seinfeld and have spent the last 3 days watching countless episodes?!

Hand raised.

Raise your hand if you have lectures in 6 hours?!

Hand raised.

Raise your hand if you have yet to finish tomorrow's lecture reading?!

Hand raised.

I'm out of control today, I apologize. This cold weather is making me go insane. I have yet to manage to stay warm for more than 5 minutes today. And if you must ask, yes, I am wearing double socks and gloves in bed as we speak. Don't judge me.

Title Tuesday: Man's Search for Meaning

I've been thinking about new things for the blog, seeing as my resolution for this year was to keep this more updated; which I am already slacking in, I'm sorry. But, I figured I should start a new segment and put my English literature skills to use. 

Title Tuesday

Each week I'll be spotlighting a favorite book of mine, in hopes that some of you will pick it up and enjoy it as much as I did. 

Starting out with one of my favorites:

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

I first came across Frankl's work my senior year in high school. We did an existentialism unit in my senior composition class. Even though most of my class paid no particular attention to the subject, I was instantly fascinated by the philosophy. 

Man's Search for Meaning was written in 1946 by Viktor Frankl. The book chronicles Frankl's experiences in a concentration camp during the war. The book describes his psychotherapeutic method for finding a reason to live during his horrific experience. It is composed of two parts: Part one deals with his analysis of his experiences that took place in the camp, followed by Part two; which then introduces his ideas of the meaning of life and his theory of logotherapy.

Through his experiences, Frankl comes to the conclusion that the meaning of life is in every moment that is lived. Life never ceases to have meaning, even during times of hardship. He describes the intensity of life and the importance of acknowledging it. Frankl further describes the beauty of life and the ability that humans have of choosing our meaning with each choice that we make. 

Frankl's work was a definite source of inspiration that year for me, and still continues to have an impact in my life. I walked away from that class with a new outlook on life and aware of the intensity of life that Frankl describes in the book. 

Man's Search for Meaning has been ranked among the top 10 most influential books and it is a definite read for everyone. 

So, take a trip to the library, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, you name it, and pick up a copy!

Pancake Day

I partook in Pancake Day on Tuesday, can we please have this in the states? I need more excuses to eat pancakes all day. 

Here's some background info thanks to good old wiki:

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Shrove Tuesday is more commonly known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day.

Pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent because they were a way to use up rich foodstuffs such as eggs, milk, and sugar, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent. The liturgical fasting emphasized eating plainer food and refraining from food that would give pleasure: In many cultures, this means no meat, dairy, or eggs.

Thank goodness I have awesome housemates that teach me all this knowledge and make me pancakes. What an awesome way to celebrate.

I'm definitely bringing this back to the states. I might even establish Pancake week at our house. 

bit of everything

unfortunately, our trip to Bath and Stonehenge was postponed due to my lack of planning skills. I kind of messed up the ticket prices and didn't buy them on time, oops. But, it has been postponed, not completely cancelled. I will not leave the UK without seeing Stonehenge, end of story. But, since last weekend I kind of ruined the weekend plans, we had to make up for it somehow. I still ended up having a fantastic weekend and made some new friends. We went out to dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant in Hampstead.  

As far as life is going, I'm a huge confused mess right now. ASU registration really has a way of creeping up on me every semester, I hate it. Plans for next semester are completely up in the air right now. Do I stay? Do I go back home? Do I start my student teaching? Do I finish my first degree first? When do I leave for the Peace Corps? Where am I going to live? see what I mean?? It's a mess. Not to mention that ASU is offering horrible literature classes next semester, which makes me completely unmotivated to go back. And yeah I miss the sun and warmth, but do I miss the 100 degree weather?...not so much.

But regardless, I am still one HAPPY huge confused mess, and life will just have to figure itself out on its own.