I lied.

So much for a new post every week. I apologize. I'll try to do better in the future, which will require better time management. Although, I have been writing lots of drafts and brainstorming posts in random notebooks during classes.

So what have I been up to that's been distracting me from this blog? Well, take a look:

This guy has been ruining my life by raising my standards. He's. An. Angel.

This book and everything else John Green related. Seriously, check him out.

Oh, and this:

I (well actually my cousin J) cut off a 13 inch ponytail, and I haven't looked back since. I'm donating it to Children with Hair Loss. 

I've also been spending (not enough) time with this sweetheart, cousin J's sweet baby boy. I'm loving babysitting him. Even dirty diapers don't seen so bad.

Of course I've also been trying to keep up with school work, and maintaining what I call a social life, which is difficult for an introvert, although I've been doing better with talking to new people. I haven't been home in several weeks, but I get to go home in a week and a half, and I'm looking forward to it. 

What have you been up to lately? Any cute babies to adore?

KB

Psst…look for some new posts coming over the next couple weeks; my workload will be lighter.

Will you be my friend? Check yes or no.

I think somewhere between middle school and college I forgot how to make/be a friend. Not that I haven't made new friends in that time, it just always seems to be an accident, like he or she is an unlikely friend, but a great one nonetheless. What I mean is I didn't seek these people out, it just sort of happened, which is totally awesome. 

My problem seems to be making friends with people who are more like myself on a deeper level rather than someone who just happens to be in my class and we got put together for a group project. Actually, even group projects are tricky for me. Usually we drift apart once the project is done. And even more recently I've been reluctant to form bonds with new people, because I plan on making a big move in about a year (we'll see how that goes) and I don't want to get attached, then be devastated when we part ways. I realize this is absolutely ridiculous, because friendships are for a lifetime and are invaluable, but for me they require so much energy, and I've been hurt a lot recently, namely by people I count among my friends. So forging a new friendship is a huge investment of my emotional energy, and I guess I have trouble trusting that the return will be profitable for everyone involved (of course not in a material way, but a spiritual/personal growth way).

I'm not saying there is any type of person I wouldn't want to be close to; you can't judge a book by its cover and you shouldn't judge people at all. I think you have to give everyone a chance, but sometimes you don't give them a chance, or they don't give you a chance, and both of you may be missing out on an awesome bond. I think I've been failing to give a lot of people chances, including myself. My thought process is: "oh I'm too busy" or "well we're graduating in less than a year, so why bother," and I need to get out of that funk. I also need to get better at following through and maintaining contact.

This has been extremely rambling, but I hope it has caused you to think about how you approach new friendships and existing ones. 

Any tips?

KB

PS: It probably doesn't help to walk around with your headphones always in your ears and your nose in a book. #guilty

Vlog brothers

John Green
John Green
John Green

And also Hank.

They're excellent in so many ways. I read a John Green novel (The Fault in Our Stars), then my brother showed me Crash Course videos, and now I'm working my way through Brotherhood 2.0, 2.0.0.9, etc videos. They're super inspirational in an everyday way: like things you can do to decrease world suck in your own life and the lives of others without emptying the bank or your emotional stores. Also they're entertaining and funny.

Also Hank writes and sings songs. They're fantastic!

The Brotherhood videos are less than four minutes each, so they make great study breaks if you can stop yourself from watching the whole playlist in one sitting.

Here's their youtube channel. They have other channels and websites, which I suggest you check out. 

Fall semester is in full swing

In my night class on the second Tuesday of the semester, I had a mild freak-out. I was a little bored in class (seriously, who can pay attention for 3 hours?), so I decided to clean out my inboxes. I should have been keeping up with that because it's a new semester, I've got a new job, new classes, and new projects. My school email account had become a dumping ground of welcome to class/wanna share a textbook?/Honors College Advocates/work memos. Deadlines were fast approaching, so I found myself running all over campus trying to get the correct forms filled in and signed by the end of the week.

That game of catch-up messed up the next week, but I'm finally (pretty much) caught up. My grades have not yet suffered because of it, but I have my first test tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. Other than that, the new semester feel is long gone, and I'm ready to grab life by the horns. I'm staying on top of my readings, homework assignments, and quizzes, AND I've even made time for leisure reading. Despite (or perhaps because of) the larger than usual amounts of work and reading I have to do outside of class this semester, I've learned how to better manage my time, which has motivated me to be more productive. I'm finally studying something I'm interested in, and my project for work is something I've been invested in for almost a year now.

Additionally, I've been thinking a lot about the future, specifically grad school. Yep, I'm seriously considering furthering my education even more. 

This has kind of been my inspiration of late.

Yeah, so that's a general update of my life. I'll try to post something at least once a week. I've been on lots of adventures lately, so I'd like you tell you all about them.

How's the new semester treating you? Or are you working or interning? What's that like?

KB

Just to update you on my dream journal

I had a dream Mr Big from Sex and the City was an achondroplastic dwarf. Quite possibly the weirdest dream yet.

Cameron Frye is my spirit animal

Maybe the introvert/extrovert, Myers-Briggs classification of personalities is some new-agey millennial crap, but I sure do relate to almost every characteristic attributed to introverts in most articles I read. For example:

accurate
mostly accurate
crude but accurate
#guilty
number 18 though
extremely informative

Yeah, so that sums me up.

So Sister came to visit me this weekend. And she brought friends, no big deal because I knew ahead of time. I like having guests stay over (#pearlsinprogress), but I do find it extremely draining. I was prepared though because my house means I'm in charge right? Wrong. They wanted me to "go with the flow" which really isn't my style, especially since they didn't let me drive, even though I was the only one who knew her way around town. Exhausting. I did have fun this weekend, but I'm also guilty of sneaking away from the group to call my dad on the phone more than once. In the same day.

The thing is, I, in true introvert form, get my energy from being alone. I do enjoy the company of others, but because it's so taxing energetically, I need to gain something from the interaction, like a laugh or the feeling that my contribution and presence is appreciated, and this usually (but not always) comes from being in a small group of people I know or can relate to. However, that wasn't the case for a lot of this weekend; it was like I was giving them all my energy and receiving very little in return, being ignored even, which eventually lead to a panic attack so I had to retreat for a while. So I sat out a free trip to New Orleans, but I don't regret it one bit. I've had time to recharge, clean the house, write a couple blog posts for the queue, and watch Doctor Who (seriously great show for introverts...and extroverts, in short: everyone should watch).

We like our "shells." They're there for a reason. We don't need to be rescued. 

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? How do you accommodate your friends of the opposite personality? Do you even accept the dichotomy?

KB

PS: I totally have the "resting bitch face" mentioned in the above articles. Love buzzfeed.

The gloves are off, the wisdom teeth are out

But really they are.

Last Thursday night (August 1) I had my last final exam of summer school, after which I had to race home to Sulphur because...last Friday morning (August 2) I had my wisdom teeth removed. Before the procedure they make you watch a video of everything that can go wrong. Comforting, right? Of course I nearly fainted while signing the consent forms, yeah I'm that girl. Fast forward about half an hour and I'm walking out the back door (#sketchy) sans wisdom teeth. I remember using sign language to tell my mom what flavor shake I wanted at Sonic. I really must learn more than just the alphabet, even for hearing people it's extremely useful for situation in which you can't or don't want to speak aloud. 

For the short time I was on intense pain meds, I had the weirdest dreams, I'm talking playing saxophone in front of an audience in the midst of an episode of Supernatural weird. I was extremely fortunate to be up and moving around on my own the next day with very little swelling. Jayce brought Miley the pup over to visit, then I went to their house to watch dumb movies which I actually enjoyed, and eat a skillet cookie which was divine. A couple days later I was puppy sitting like I hadn't been sedated three days before. It was nice to just hang out at my parents' house for a week without worrying about school or anything else. And now I get to hang out at my Baton Rouge house without a worry in the world (yeah right).

Oh yeah, did I mention I got a haircut whist out of commission? Bangs. For the first time in five years. I love it. More on that in a later post.

Have you had your wisdom teeth removed? Any funny stories from while you were waking up?

KB