In My Own Little Corner, In My Own Little... Oh Wait.

Let me just prefice by saying this: I LOVE my little home. I live in the coolest apartment in Hollywood with the coolest roommate in Hollywood, and that is a fact. You know your building is kind of a big deal when people respond to your address with a, you live there?! (in an awe and inspiring way, not disgust or pitifully). It’s charming and adorable and I love it. I come home to an adorible doorman (or sometimes doorwoman!) whose only job is to hear my life stories and make sure no robbers find their way to my front door. I can live out dreams of living like How I Met Your Mother by visiting the pub/ restaurant and then go work off all the fries and treats in the gym, all without leaving my building.

We Love the Bounty!
And that they give us every
sauce under the sun.

It's gorgeously wonderful.

Being only 380 sq feet, my apartment is charming all in itself. It may not be the biggest room, but the view pretty well speaks for itself. And if that’s not quite enough, reading on the fireescape and being able to see the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Observatory is! 

Now, all of that being said, I can’t help but to feel like there are so many little things I should have appreciated a LOT more in Utah. So, for all of you with lives that you feel are medicore at best, check yours compared to mine, and appreciate any of the following things:

This is how I feel i look sometimes:
I found a parking spot! On the other end
of the world.

A Driveway. LA is known for crazy drivers and crazy traffic. I feel that as a current resident of this city, it is my responsability to add my car to the maddness. Unfortunately, my building has no parking. Instead, I pay rediculous amounts of money to park my car far away from my house or in metered parking, all the time. Even at work, I move my car literally every 2 hours so that I don’t have to pay oodles of money while I work at a job I don’t get paid to do. It’s borderline awkward how excited I get now when I can park somewhere for free, without fear of tickets and tow.

A Wendy’s that you can drive home from and still have hot food. Okay, this is random, but accurate. Today, I was so excited to go on a chicken run to Wendy’s. I haven’t been anywhere near there since before I moved and couldn’t wait to dive into the deliciousness. I grabbed it in the drive through, thinking how lovely it would be to eat at home! 7 miles and 40 minutes later. Cold fries. Melted frosty.  Dear Wendys so close to my home in Utah, how I miss thee.

A Microwave. What is sadder than cold Wendys fries? Having to eat them cold because you have no microwave. Or stove. Or oven. Or anything that radiates heat in any way. Make a list in your brain really quick of things to eat for real meals that you don’t need a microwave for, aside from cereal. Exactly.

I can't complain too much, however, because
sometimes lacking real food and furniture
results in dinners like this:
Air mattress to air mattress, chip to mouth.
We rock.

A Bathroom Door. Now oddly enough, I can’t actually say this is the first home that didn’t have a bathroom lacking a shuttable door, and it probably won’t be the last. I’m just lucky enough to have never lived with anyone awkward in these places. However, it is sometimes nice to not have to announce to the world, I’m changing, don’t open the curtain!

A chair. A chair. I literally eat my dinner on a pillow on my concrete floor. Sometimes, I get really excited when people have couches that I can actually sit on! A couch! Even a folding chair is really quite nice. Right after I moved in, we went to the store to buy important things. There was talk of buying lawn chairs for the living/family/eating/sleeping room, but I accidently had to buy those really awesome pillow chairs that are completely unpractical, yet so cozy. Like, I try to say, I don’t need a couch, I can sit in the middle of the floor with this instead! Sit back, fall. over. flat. sigh.




Now, as I said, this is not a complaint list, this is a be grateful for those things list. The awesomeness outweighs the little clamors of my time here by like 9,765,365,453,454. I love my life, my job, my friends and all the new adventures and experiences I'm having. It's also been this crazy amazing learning experience. I fell like I could make a list of new things I've learned, and everyday I could add lots more to it. Today's addition: gratitude and appreciation for things past had.

Just Singing in My Lifeboat

   Yesterday, after being rejected (again) to give plasma, I decided that a little shopping at Barnes and Noble would do my soul good. Well, that, and I didn't have to be to work for another hour and a half. I walked through the entire store five times, found a book for my father plus three for me before I decided I had spent enough time and money wandering aimlessly. As I got in line to pay, I found and bought one more book. I'm a total sucker for quote books and little nuggets of wisdom, so when I saw this little gem on the shelf, I couldn't resist some good words of advice and endearment.

 "Don't Forget to Sing in the Lifeboats."

   I can't help but to feel like I need a shirt or something that has this as my life slogan. Well, at least my life as of late. Now don't get me wrong, I love my life, it's awesome! But remember that part in Titanic, when everyone is just waiting to get on the lifeboats, and nobody knows what's going to happen and whether they are going to get on a boat or stand on solid ground ever again? That's pretty much where I have been. I think sometimes it's just too hard to see the bigger picture when it's far too easy to be focused on the little things. 

   Yet, with all that said, I've pulled back to see the bigger view. Am I getting married? No way. Do I have a major? Not even close. But I have my whole life to decide those things and get all that worked out. Here's the real thing I've learned in the past 6 months of my life, stress and panic attacks don't fix problems. They only aid in ice cream sales and maybe acne production. It's amazing how much my life has improved. I've taken a page out of Crush's book and now I just go with the flow, and it couldn't be working out better.

   With that said, spontaneity has become this crazy awesome thing in my life. I always think, "oh, one day I'm going to go here" or "one day, I'll do that." But along with releasing the idea that the world might end tomorrow if I don't choose I life plan today, I picked up the thought that I might regret today if I don't make the most of it.

 

The Lady Gaga

   For example, remember that solar eclipse the other day? Where I live, we are just a little too far north to have been able to see it properly (just to clarify, apparently you could still see it pretty good. I thought you couldn't see it at all... that makes this adventure seem less cool. It was really just as cool, if not greater, so don't be fooled.). However, located about 4 hours south was the epicenter of the entire thing and the primest of all viewing areas pretty much in the entire country. So, I called up my dear friend Jenny, jumped in the car and drove. We literally drove 4 hours to see the sun for 20 minutes. But it was the coolest 20 minutes ever. Some strangers at a gas station showed us (well, they did and we just copied what we assumed they were doing) how to see it properly ala Lady Gaga, and then I learned that reflections on camera lenses make it just as viewable without completely destroying your vision. Now, as if driving into Utah's desert for a half hour isn't spontaneous enough, we decided to keep heading south, feeling ambitious enough to head to Vegas for the evening. Well, as luck would have it, last minute plans are sometimes intercepted by premeditated ones, so one phone call later, we were headed back home as quickly as possible. 12 hours in the car in one day, only to be broken up by gas stations, solar ellipses and a bite to eat is not how I usually spend my Sunday evenings, but it isn't one I will surely forget. Sometimes, you just have to get home at 4 AM to appreciate a good adventure or to think, "man, we were really crazy that day."

   Basically, here's what I'm getting at: change is great and sometimes we all need a little more of it. New jobs, new friends, new surroundings, and most of all, new experiences. That being said, I feel a great big change on my own horizon. 48 hours ago, I was just debating about what to do with my summer, and now I'm packing and job hunting to the best of my abilities. I mean, sure, I've had two trips in the next two weeks planned out for awhile now. But moving to California right after? Not so much. And when I think about that, instead of freaking out about just how much I have to do or the fact that I'm going to have to navigate on all those terrifying freeways alone, I remember that I'm basically going to go to the beach every day, build forts every night, and probably watch Laverne and Shirley to my heart's delight, and then I realize, it's all going to be okay.

Adventure is out there!!

Another Day, Another Destiny

If you had asked me a year ago where my life was headed, whist maybe throwing something at you and demanding some assistance packing, I don't think I ever could have imagined this last year and where it's taken me. Old doors were closed- closed, hammered shut, burned, rid of; and so many new ones were opened (some side windows as well).

Disney World: Oh Disney World. The memories of that place will never be forgotten. So many adventures took place there and they will forever have a special place in my heart. The people I've met there will always be looked at as some of my best friends. Sure there were some low points and stress in abundance, but what else would you expect in the place where you have the responsibility to make someone's trip the most magical memory? Overall, I can't not look at this opportunity as a highlight of my entire life and I love so much that I got to experience it. Although it's ended and is done with, a little part of me wishes, every single day, for a group of fellow cast members to put our hands in and "call TLT on three!"

School: Oh school... it never ends. I mean, sure, I guess it would end sooner if I wouldn't take so much time off, (but come on, didn't you read the above paragraph? Feel the magic people, give me some sympathy points.) yet, I can't help but to have felt, at least up until now, that there was no hope for my future or ever graduating. I AM A SOPHOMORE!!! I can;t even express the joy I feel when I can say that I am officially no longer a college freshman, lost in the crowds of students. I'm totally almost done with my Associates (maybe cross your fingers for me on that one being checked off soon) and my major? Well, I'll let you know on that a little later.

Highlights and other accomplishments for my life recently, like as in the last year:

• I now eat tomatoes, who knew this day would come! 
• I learned to drive stickshift- at night, in an old crappy truck, on the curvy crazy roads of Plain City. Mission accomplished.
• I finally made it to another Disney park- which I then lived in for 5 months. 
• I conquered my phobia of skinny jeans. In fact, I'm wearing some right now! 
• I mastered pretty much the entire wheel of hair colors.
• I went to Disneyland far too many times, but loved every second of it. 
• I flew across the country by myself.
• I broke 100 in bowling. With no bumpers.
• I was in my first show at Weber State University! Play in a Day, best thing ever.
• I was diagnosed with a severe case of Beiber fever. It doesn't seem to be clearing up any time soon. 
• I learned that sometimes life is a little hard, but guess what? Things always work out, and it will always be okay.

Well now this list looks pathetic. I've done more in the last year than just this, haven't I? Of course. So instead of words, how about a nice photo collage! After all, one is worth a thousand words, right?

And as for life to come? New adventures are waiting just on my horizon. Interested in finding out what? Check out my other blog- other blog? Because I even keep this one updated. It's like I'm a schizophrenic or something, every personality needs a blog! Anywho. Here's the link: http://kellymakingadifferencedownunder.blogspot.com/


Adventure is out there!