#17. FAIL.

I'm not gonna lie, I got nothin'. But I'm blogging about it, so it counts...right?

I won't disappoint tomorrow, I promise. I got somethin' good comin', just wait and see...

#18. Sometimes.

Sometimes I don't think. Sometimes I make bad choices. Sometimes things that sound like a good idea aren't and sometimes you pay for that. Sometimes I think things are okay and they aren't.

Like when I thought it was a good idea to jump off the cliff again to get a picture of it and am still paying for it almost a month later.

Like when I thought it was a good idea to date a 26 year-old when I was 20.

Like when I thought multiple times in college that it was a good idea to study at Handy Andy with friends when I knew I would do everything but study.

Like when I thought it was a good idea to try fish again in case my tastebuds changed. Big mistake.

Like when I thought it was okay to stay up late doing nothing even when I have to get up early. (Wait, that's the story of my life...)


And if you are waiting for a redeeming quality or thought to this post, there isn't one. Just sometimes I don't think. And, if I were being completely honest, I secretly knew all of these things were not a good idea and still did them anyway.

A girl's gotta learn somehow.

#19: Seasons of Love.

Of this I am fully convinced: I love music. From contributing to family Psalty productions as a young child to singing at the top of my lungs out my car windows in high school to sitting here listening to a last.fm playlist...I <3 music.

But I also have a theory: my current music taste or playlist is always affected by the season. Sure, there are the general Mariah Carey Christmas around Christmas time, sappy love songs around Valentine's Day...just kidding. But really, here is my theory in a nutshell:

Summer- COUNTRY! Country music rarely leaves my stereo or playlist during the summer months. Why? Simple. I attend country concerts in the summer because they are more fun outside than inside. Because it's not a country concert if you don't get beer spilled on you. And because I can't attend a country concert and not know the words to their most recent songs; hence, it must stay on my playlist.

Fall- NEW MUSIC and CHRISTIAN! I love finding new music around fall time. Why? Simple. My birthday is in September, and if I want to buy any new tunes with my sweeeet new itunes gift card, I have to know what I am going to buy! I also enjoy driving home with the windows down, feeling a nice fall breeze and relaxing to a new, not-yet-radio-over-popularized tune. I also like to think I listen to more Christian music in the fall. I'm not sure why, maybe I'm more spiritual then or maybe it's just in hopes of my mom buying me more itunes gift cards, but it seems to happen around September and October.

Winter- MUSICALS! Yep, it's true. Why? Simple. The holidays bring with it more family time, which means the average number of musicals watched throughout the year increases exponentially around the holidays. Not only that, when the weather is yucky, a nice place to sit is in a cozy theater in Chicago seeing Wicked! or a not so cozy theater but sweet production in Toledo seeing The Lion King.

Spring- POP! I might have to wait for one more spring to complete my theory, but I'm pretty sure about this one. Why? Pretty simple. The best thing to listen to while recovering from S.A.D., working on zero energy due to a lack of vitamin D and sleep, and attempting to stay awake on the drive to work is most definitely pop. Carefree, meaningless, and overrated. It doesn't get any better than that.

Now, I know what you are all thinking...I'm missing a HUGE part of my musical taste here. I know, right? Nope, here is the simple truth:

Rap is for all seasons. It transcends all things.

What about you? What does your fall playlist look like?

# 20: Boys vs. Girls

"He created them male and female and blessed them."

Genesis 5:2

Last night I was once again reminded that boys and girls are created very differently. At the core of who we are, we are very different.

For our ending night of VBS, we decided to hold a free car wash for members of our church to put into practice the lesson they had learned of serving others. The boys and girls were pretty evenly matched in numbers, so we decided to have the boys wash cars for the first half hour while the girls at ice cream and then vice versa. For the first half hour of the car wash, the boys were all about gettin' er done. They washed like 6 cars (it was pouring down rain by the way, so our car wash wasn't too popular) and kept complaining that they needed to advertise more because they weren't getting enough business. They got wet, well mostly because it was raining, but only as a side effect of washing the cars so vigorously. When it was time for them to switch out with the girls, they weren't happy about it. One of my more sensitive boys almost started crying because he hadn't gotten a turn using the hose. Luckily, I know this boy also likes to eat so I said, "Hey! Go get your ice cream! It's waiting for you!" and he happily ran inside.

By the time the girls got out there, not only were they hyped up on ice cream, it had also started to rain even harder. They washed a total of 2.5 cars the entire time they were out there. They could have cared less about washing cars- what they cared about was getting each other soaking wet with the hose, laughing, talking, and having a good time. It was a social event for them. And once they soaked Ms. Abby with the hose, it was all downhill from there.

The difference between the two groups was like night and day. I could see it all the way from the 3 year-old boy out there with his little sponge scrubbing the cars to the 6th grade girls laughing and throwing buckets of water at each other.

And I can't help but know that His design is always the best. And I'm not saying girls who get 'er done or boys who are more social are wrong or weird or stupid or messed up. I'm saying that we live our best lives when we live as we were created to be- whatever combination that may be. ESTJ? INFP? ENFJ? Lion? Otter? Golden Retriever? Sanguine? Whatever. that. may. be.

Confession.

I really do wish I was a better blogger. I think I've figured out blogging is a lot like exercising- once you get in a consistent pattern, it becomes a lot easier to keep up with. Break that pattern for a week or a month, and you will have one hay of a day getting back in it.

It's not that I don't think of things to blog about because I write blog entries in my head on a daily basis, it just seems that by the time I get to doing it, I've forgotten most of what I was going to write.

They say a habit forms within 21 days. So that's my goal. For the next 21 days, I am going to blog. It might not be totally awesome every day, but at least I am doing it. Hopefully you will find at least one of the next 21 days enjoyable. (Well, 20...I'm counting today.)

We'll see how this goes.

Until tomorrow, think about this:
Jon Acuff's post today.

What is on your list?