Ramblings of the Day

Ladies & Gents,

I am working at writing a short story.  I thought I would practice writing some by blogging about my life, thoughts, joys, and share a little more about myself.  

First off, I would like to begin by stating I adore Mumford & Sons. These talented men speak to my soul; yes, I am aware how cliche it sounds. But, oh! The harmonies, the message of the songs, and the pure passion these artists get across in studio recorded songs is just so lovely that I find myself clasping my chest and shutting my eyes   focusing on every note, breathing it in, loving it.  

I have this overwhelming urge to read a play and design a set for it.  One Sunday morning while the preacher was delivering the sermon, it is a possibility, and I mean a very small one that I may have zoned out and mentally created a set for Clue if it were set onstage.  For those of you who have seen the movie Clue made in 1985, I figured out how to get people from one side of the stage to the other in a matter of seconds without the actor being out of breath.  But I'm not going to share my secret, am I? That would just be silly.

Well, I do believe that is all I have to say at the moment.  I think that I'm going to go read Pet Sematary by Stephen King and listen to some music, Mumford & Sons, of course!  It's great so far, but quite creepy.

Goodbye, my lovelies!

Love,

Anna

Goodbye 2011...

Ladies & Gents,



Can you believe tomorrow is the beginning of 2012? This year sure has flown by terribly fast. It has been a pretty good year. 2011 has had its ups and downs but overall good.

So many neat things have happened this year but I would like to share some of my favorite experiences...

One of the best was getting to visit New York City for the first time. I got to see the city and I loved it! We toured Carnegie Hall, Central Park, and saw two Broadway shows. My favorite thing was standing in the middle of Times Square with Levi, Luis, and Blake at one in the morning in the pouring rain. It was wonderful.

Another HUGE thing was being elected as an Arkansas State 4-H Officer. Not much can be said about that other then it being such a big honor. It's been fun planning TLC, O'Rama's, and getting to know my fellow officers better!

I got to go to Citizenship Washington Focus over the 4th Of July, it was so much fun touring our Nation's capitol and meeting people from New York, Vermont, Minnesota, Ohio, ....I forget the other states that were there. BUT, I met some amazing people! Like Jeremy from Ohio! And Haily my eternal friend from Kentucky! And Liesl from Indiana! And I got to know people from my state better! I think one of my favorite part was seeing all the memorials. Iwo Jima was my favorite.

A couple of the downs of 2011... The world lost one of the most magnificent women I've ever had the blessing of getting to know... Jan Lasater. I miss her a lot and think of her quite often, but I know she's not hurting anymore. I know she is in Heaven with giant wings. Another...my church burned down... We don't know what happened but we are still doing God's work without a Sanctuary to call our own. We the people are the church!

I don't remember when, but at one point I got to see Les Miserables with one of my favorite people EVER, Caitlin Howle. She's the greatest friend one could ask for. She shares her advice and her tacos.

I got to go to National 4-H Congress which was AMAZING. I met people from ALL over the Nation. As in, there were people there from every single state. Tori from Oklahoma, Emma from Indiana, Hannah from Texas, Connor and Sam from Oregon, and many others... I also got to know the people from my state better...they know who they are and I love them all dearly! I also applied for the design team...here's hopin' I make it!!!


I have lived 2011 to the best. Hind sight is 20/20 and I know I made my share of mistakes that I'd like to change. But here's to 2012 and living with no regrets!

Stay positive kiddos!

Love,

Anna

Buckle up...

Ladies & Gents,


As you may or may not know, I work at Einstein Brothers Bagels. I normally work the front of house, meaning I make the esspresso drinks: lattes', cappucino's, mochas', americanos', macchiato's, etc, make coffee, stock coolers, talk to customers and clean tables. But today, I was working the drive through. We had a system down, Chelli was taking orders and I was cashing them out and giving them their bagels. It was flowing quite well. I'd been working for about an hour and a half, it was about 8:30 am. We had about 6 people that had already ordered and 2 waiting in line to order.

Then a lady handed me her money. I'll never this lady. She had sadness in her eyes. She paid for her bagel with cash and then handed me her card and said, 'I want to pay for the person behind me.' What a nice random act of kindness. I pull up the next persons order. A potato bagel toasted with plain schmear. $2.78. I ask the lady if she wants her receipt and she says yes. She then looks at me with tears beginning to develop and she says, 'Please tell that person that it's in honor of the girl from Bentonville that died last night.' 'Sara', I answered and she shook her head yes and drove off with a tear rolling down her cheek. I got goosebumps and tears myself as the lady drove away and the next person pulled up, credit card in hand. I then told her about Sara and why the lady paid for her meal. She looked like she didn't know what exactly to say. Appreciative, surprised, saddened.... Sara was killed yesterday in a car wreck; I didn't even know her. She might still be here if she would've been wearing a seat belt.

Please buckle up... No matter how old or young you are, they are there for a reason. If you think they're 'uncool' you seriously need to get over it because living, yeah, living is cool.

As Forrest Gump so wisely put it, That's all I have to say about that...


Stay positive kiddos...

Love,

Anna

The Power Of Speech

Ladies & Gents,

There is no nice introduction leading into my first blog post here. I'm going to be quite blunt. Watch your mouth. Every single word that escapes your lips effects someone somehow. Think before you speak, think before you type or send a text message. You can make or break friendships and build people up or crush them down in the blink of an eye.

On the other hand, if someone says something that hurts and they honest to goodness feel awful about it and apologize and ask them to forgive you, you should try to find it in your heart to forgive them. If you fling it back in their face, it hurts worse for both of you. If you can help it, don't bring up negative events and pick a fight. And by no means should you ever try to make something mean you said seem less mean by pointing out the other person said something mean to you.

Today, I've found myself on both sides of this. I cried over words that lit up on my phone that felt like a knife in my heart and had a stupid, inconsiderate question that I regret even asking thrown back in my face. I can honestly say, having something I've apologized many times about and wished countless times I wouldn't have said thrown at me hurt a lot worse. I thought this person had forgiven me for my stupidity, but they hadn't... I feel really awful about the situation in its entirety.

So BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY. Even if you mean it a certain way, someone can take it a very different way.

Stay positive kiddos....

Love,

Anna