Oh, hey! (1/3/11)

I’ve always found it funny how seriously some people take New Year’s Resolutions. I understand the point, but I don’t get why these goals are any more important that any other goal you make during the year. Goals are goals. Whether you want to lose weight or make more money, it shouldn’t matter when you chose to commit, people!  

I just had to get that one out there. 

Last night, my family played our annual Monopoly game of doom. Out of five, I came in second, with my aunt crushing me towards the end. I was doing pretty well; I had two of the most valuable properties. However, that was the problem later on: I only had two of the most valuable properties.As people started losing, more properties became available, which I just never landed on. So my aunt bought the rest, bought houses and hotels, and the rest is history. Next year. 

So, according to Tumblr, this is my 365th post. Hmm, which makes tomorrow my 366th post. Yet I started on January 3rd. And tomorrow is January 3rd. Did we add a day to a month somewhere? Because these small changes can make a huge difference. I mean, just ask Pluto. 

I’m sitting on a stool watching some noodles for dinner tonight. Can someone say lazy? Normal people don’t need stools for stuff like this. And now I’m just here. Sitting on my stool in the middle of my kitchen. Being more of an obstruction than providing any help. 

So, this is my 2nd to last post of all ever. Whoa, syntax errors. Let’s start over. 

This is my 2nd to last post ever. Well, on this blog anyways. I’m starting one for Spain. And I may make another Tumblr. You know, one which I don’t post every day. And maybe I’ll even (gasp!) reblog things! Who knows. That’s the thing about life-the possibilities are endless!!! 

Alright. Well now I’m just rambling. Which I tend to do a lot, I’ve realized. So, if you’re one of those people who hate rambling, I apologize. Except not really. Rambling is fun, and is something I do well! Well, on most days. Alright. I’m pretty sure I’ve proved my point in the last two sentences. 

Happy Monday! Even though it felt like a Sunday all day. But that’s okay. It doesn’t matter; I don’t have school or work tomorrow regardless of what day it is! 

Done. 

Happy 2012!!!!

We have made it into yet another year. Congratulations! 

So, I really like the New Year because at 12:02, you can be all like, “Ah! I haven’t eaten since last year!!” or “I haven’t had a glass of water since last year!!”. It’s a great time, really. 

Also, my first word of 2012 was monkey. And my first drink was a box of apple juice. 

Anyways, that’s all I have for today. I’m going to continue my New Year’s Day celebrations. Which is going to include a cutthroat game of Monopoly. 

That’s a successful day if you ask me. 

It happened. We’ve reached the end of 2011. 

Welcome to the very last post of the year. 

The older I have gotten, the quicker the years seem to go by. It seems just like yesterday that it was 2004. And 2006. And now, here we are. Less than 24 hours from a brand new year. The year the world will end. I mean, what? I’m extremely excited to see what this final year of life year will bring. I mean, it’s bound to be a fantastic last year. I sure hope that this whole 2012 thing is a myth and that the people making the calendar just got lazy year is as good as the last one. I have no doubts that 2012 will be just as good as 2011 was. So, here’s to a good 2011, and to an even more exciting and productive 2012 filled with preparation to survive December 21, 2012, aka ‘THE END!!” Muahahah.

Anyways, to mark the end of the year, I have made a list of 11 (2011. Eh? Get it?) of my favorite things about of 2011. It went by fast and, honestly, wasn’t the most eventful or exciting of years, but it was another year nonetheless. Let’s get started!!!

One More Year Until the End of the World!  My Favorite Things About 2011!

1. I was finally semi-kicked into the grown-up world (i.e., I needed to find a job and an apartment. And I stayed up in Fargo over the summer. So, I guess I just feel like I grew up a little bit.)
2. I survived two semesters of doom. The second semester of my sophomore year, and the fall semester of my junior year forced me work harder than I ever had to work in school before. 
3. This blog, of course!!! My life isn’t exciting, and now I have a 365 day blog to prove it! Kidding. In reality, this is probably the first year of my life where I will be able to look back at every day and see what I was up to. Minus like..two. Since I started on the 3rd of January. But that’s just a technicality. 
4. Being a Kick-Off Leader this fall was probably one of the most fun experiences I have had at NDSU. It was fun in and of itself, but I really liked how it connected me to the school more, which in turn affected how I went into the school year. 
5. Chili’s! Now, I say this because half of this year was spent working there. I guess I just really appreciated working at Chili’s because it taught me that I could do something else besides saving drowning children. Plus, although I only worked there for half of the year, it did take up a lot of my time. But it really was kind of defining point of my summer. Jobs tend to do that, I hear. 
6. I don’t really know how to adequately explain this one, but for some reason, this year I really began to appreciate coming back home. During your freshman year of college, it seems that you can’t wait to leave home and come back to school. That kind of died down for me towards the end of my sophomore year. It’s not that I don’t like Fargo or the people there, but I realized that ‘home’ is one of the only constants you’ll have in your life. While everything else changes, it’s nice to know that if everything else blows up in smoke, you’ll always have your home to go do. Ok. Cheesiness over. 
7. I came out to that majority of the people to whom I wanted to come out (ah! Look at that good grammar!). Not to mention I felt comfortable enough to bring it up in Tumblr. While that post may have not been read by millions of people that know me, I don’t feel any less happy with the fact that I posted it in the first place. Again, this is kind of hard for me to explain. But you get the point! I hope. Next!
8. I finally got to experience the whole Red River Flood thing. I got pictures and I got to sandbag. This may seem dumb, but it was actually really cool to help out with something that is so detrimental to Fargo. 
9. We got a new dog!!! We lost one, too, but I’m pretty sure getting Rosie alleviated the majority of the sad. Which is a plus. And update: she loves me now. So I don’t have to chase her around the house screaming, “LOVE ME, DOG!! LOVE ME!!”. Wait, I never did that. What? Hmm. And on to number ten…
10. People! I’d list all of the people I met this year, but…that would be weird. But, as you all know, I’m a people person. People are important to me. And this year, just like every other year, I met a lot of crazy cool people. And I’m sure you did too!
11. The fact that nothing horrible happened. This may seem like cheating, but I always consider a year a success when everyone I know is doing well and nothing horribly catastrophic occurred. I always complain about how uneventful and boring this year was, but maybe that’s not a horrible thing? I don’t know. 

So there you have it. My favorite things about 2011. As it pertains to my life, at least. Of course there were other things that I liked about this year, but these are the ones which stick out in my mind.

Anywhoo, I hope 2011 was good for you, too!!

Happy last day of 2011! And I’ll talk to you next year. 

Happy final Thursday of 2011!!!

So, Rosie came home from the vet today. Other than being a little tired from being sedated for a while, she’s doing really well. Which makes all of us happy. Apparently the 85% won. 

I went up to the cities today and bought an iPod Touch. I missed having one of these. Plus, it’s always nice to have something new to play with. So that’s my other exciting news of the day. 

How awkward would it be to film a cooking show? I mean, you’re talking to a camera, while at the same time trying to cook a meal. This semester, I started watching a lot of these types of shows (yeah, I’m a Food Network geek). And there is no way that I would be able to explain what I’m doing while successfully doing it. And there’s so much silence!! I know this is crazy random, but seriously. To make a good cooking show requires a lot of skill, or at least I would imagine. 

I’ve always been a fan of shows where people show you how to do stuff. This Old House, Giada at Home, and Donna’s Day are all shows that I could sit and watch for hours. I mean, who doesn’t like watching shows about things you’ll probably never end up doing?!

That’s my random thought for the day. 

As you can probably tell, as of late, I’ve run out of interesting things to talk about. I’m pretty sure it’s because there’s only a few days left. 

Is that an acceptable excuse? Probably not. But I suppose that when one blogs for 365 days, there is bound to be a period of time in which one runs out of steam. And I guess the end is an alright place to loose steam. 

Ok. That’s all I have for today. 

Happy Thursday! 

Hello!

Let’s talk about optimism. 

See, everybody thinks that optimism is a trait that people are born with. While you may think this to be true, I disagree. To me, optimism is a skill acquire over time. Also, you can choose to be optimistic. You can’t choose your traits, really. If that were the case, I’d probably be a lot less clumsy. But anyways. 

Where is this all coming from?

Well, today we (as in my family and I) found out that Rosie, our dog, tested positive for Parvo. Basically, it’s a really bad virus. Given her age, the vet said that she has about a 15% chance of survival. However, my family and I are looking at the remaining 85%. 

I’ve learned a lot of things from being part of this little Smestad cohort, but one of the most useful has been that nothing is ever over until it’s over. Until then, should just be optimistic. I mean, sure, a glass may only be 50% full, but hey. That’s a lot better than 10%! And the way I see it, even if the cup is only 0.001% full, anything is better that nothing. 

Yes, I know, people always hate the optimist. They’re always the annoying people that may just be trying to make themselves feel better. But think about it: it’s so much harder to look at the positives of life versus the negatives. Which is why, optimists, I commend you. I’m not saying that being realistic about things is bad. However, realism and pessimism seem to have become synonymous. But it is what it is. 

Lots of people say that being optimistic just makes it harder to face failure, which I don’ t like. I mean, what are you going to go? Go through your day sad, expecting the worst out of everything? Nope. That just doesn’t sound like a fun party to me. 

So, though all of this, here is what I am focusing on:

• We caught the whole Parvo thing extremely early. 
• Young things bounce back quickly. 
• Apparently once you get Parvo, you never get it again. So, I’m comparing it to chicken pox. Which isn’t bad!

Moral of this blog: Happy thoughts>Bad, sad thoughts. 

And that’s all I have to say about that. 

But on a happier note, today is my dad’s birthday. We made him cake. 

And for the last time ever from this “Laugh It Off” blog: Happy Wednesday!!