My Family Tree Bears A Few Nuts!

So last Saturday was an interesting day for me. I got the wonderful pleasure of going clear to Rapid City to Christmas shop. Yay, sounds exciting, right? Umm you are highly mistaken.. This lovely Saturday started off with a phone call from my mother telling me that I should be ready to leave in about a half an hour because Aunt Jeanne and the Grands would be on their way to pick me up. Now, I had probably fallen asleep between 2:30 or 3:00 that morning and really had no idea what time it was when she called. After I incoherently mumbled ok and goodbye to her on the phone I checked the time and had to rub my eyes to make sure I was seeing this correctly. 4:55 in the AM!?! Are you serious? I layed back down and cuddled up in my nice warm blanket dreading the long day I was about to face with only two hours of sleep. I soon hopped right out of bed, knowing if I had not I would undoubtedly fall back asleep and be rudely awakened with another phone call telling me that they were outside of High Rise and I need to get my butt down there! So I got all beautified (well to the best I could at 5 in the morning on 2 hours of sleep) and then went downstairs to start my day. Now I get outside to get into the car. (which by the way was still pitch dark outside because even the sun was still too tired to get up so early!) Well I of course have to sit in the back seat of Aunt Jeanne's car right smack dab in the middle of Grandma and Grandpa! And when they first arrived Grandma didn't want to get out of the car so I literally had to crawl over Grandma, in fear of falling down and smothering her with my body. But after I ninja-ed myself over her and got situated I realized I still had the task of buckling my seat belt ahead of me. This seems like a pretty easy task, right? WRONG! First of all, I had to dig and search all over the stupid car seat trying to find the belt after that was accomplished I then had to safely secure it. I struggled and struggled trying to get my seat belt at the safest and most comfortable size and when I finally did that, the real fun part.. I physically had to grope my own grandfather, maneuvering my hands to places that they most definitely DO NOT belong! Then finally, yes, success!! So now that I am safely secured in, we were headed out of Chadron. Now about 5 miles out of Chadron my Grandma already insisted on telling her oh so famous, but not appropriate jokes. I of course start off, politely listening to her until the pun is totally destroyed and the joke ends up making no sense to me whatsoever! Soon after her several attempts, Grandpa then realizes that he really has to pee! Oh great! We are barely out of town and the bladders are already full! So we drive a little farther and then pull into a rest stop. Mom and Grandma then are yelling at Grandpa and Jeanne that they should not go down to the outhouse because who knows what kind of nutjob is sleeping in there just patiently waiting for full-bladdered truckers. They of course, ignore them and go to the outhouse anyways to do their deed. Ends up Grandpa takes alot longer than expected and have Mom and Grandma in a paranoid state the whole time. Grandpa finally comes back and of course has to mention the situation in WAY too much details, which has us all laughing and slightly disturbed. Back on the road again and in strange conversation, I grabbed for my heavenly ipod. As I turn it on and start to jam out, my ipod starts frantically skipping from song to song in a chaotic manner. In panic mode, I start freaking out. My only escape to sanity and it fails me!! Nuh Uh! Not happening! As I start to whimper and complain out loud I finally got it fixed and was at rest. I then was at peace for around an hour until we reached Rapid! When we entered Rapid we headed to our first shopping destination, Shopko! I was pretty excited, simply for the fact that I didn't have to be smushed like a sardine any longer. We go into the store kinda go our separate ways and all do our thing. After we meet back up and are ready to leave Mom then realizes that the weather has shifted and it is starting to snow! Oh man! Of course, she starts to immediately freak out and obsess about how if it starts to snow and freeze that she does not want to stay here. She then began constantly yelling at Jeanne to slow down because if its slick outside she will slide right into something! During all of this we stop at a few more places and get our shopping done, all feeling quite successful with our purchases. Then noon hits and a decision must be made! Where are we gonna eat?! Of course, no one cares, wherever, but oh man not there and definitely not there! And we can't go there.. So after some yelling and fighting and stubborn minded individuals we agree upon Burger King. We finally arrive to our second choice Burger King across town to eat. Grandma and Grandpa stare at the menu in awe and confusion having no idea what to order considering nothing on the menu is from Arby's! We then all order our food and start to eat. We then argue some more and then laugh about everything that has happened throughout the day and of course laugh some more when the family curse occurs and mom spills food all over her chest and must go to the restroom to clean it up. Then everyone finishes eating besides Grandma and mom starts walking out to the car, causing Grandma to inhale her food just so we wouldn't leave her there in the Rapid Burger King. I watched her in fear that she would start choking and I would have to give her the hemlich or worse, mouth to mouth!! We all were growing rather weary and tired already and were excited to know that we only had two more stores ahead of us. After some more shopping and some calloused feet we were ready to head back home!It had been a long and tiring day and I think we all were ready to crash. The ride back home made me realize that even though my family might be slightly crazy and I can become annoyed that I am soo lucky to have them as my family! We all just drove home in good conversation, some good singing christmas songs (who cares if the lyrics are completely wrong), and some good ole road trip games. After we returned to Chadron I definitely was ready to go back to the dorms and be myself and unwind, but I realized that I do have a bunch of amazing relatives and am so lucky to have them in my life. I love you all even if you are crazy! :)

Just Me!

So, I haven't written a blog for over a month now and one reason for this is just lack of creativity on what to write about! Don't get me wrong, I've definitely started a few different blogs in the past month, but none of them were worthy enough to finish, and especially to publish. But since it has been such a long time since you have all heard from me I decided to at least write something so you all know that I am alive! :) And due to my lack of creativity today as well, I decided it was a good day to blog some lists! Sounds good? If not, too bad because that's what you're getting! :)

Random Things That Always Make Me Smile:

1. The giggle and laughter of little kids and babies!

2. The prescence of God!

3. Scrubs and The Simpsons!

4. Impersonations of any sort!

5. Chirsten's sneeze!

6. Pa's "Your Mom" jokes!

7. Watching "my boys" play Halo!

8. Kitties!

9. New Facebook Friend Requests!

10. Old people holding hands!

Things That Make Me Angry:

1. Scraping ice off of my car windows!

2. Cold showers!

3. People thinking there is something wrong with me when I am just fine!

4. The internet NOT working!

5. Waking up early when you can sleep in!

6. Buzzing flies in my face!

7. People pushing the elevator alarm! (especially late at night!)

8. Having to choose between two things that I really want to do!

9. Not having a vehicle to drive!

10. Bill Maher!!!!

Jack, Jack... Where are you Jack??

So have you ever noticed that in every romantic, love movie the main man is always named Jack?!! Seriously, just think about it. Jack Dawson (Leonardo Dicaprio in Titanic), Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean), Jack Taylor (George Clooney in One Fine Day), Jack Callaghan (Bill Pullman in While You Were Sleeping), the list could go on and on. And all of these Jacks have a similar trait with one another; they're basically studs.. Each one of them are very strong men that fight for what they want and end up completely intriguing that one lucky lady. They all have unique characteristics, but each one of them end up being completely irresistible. Captain Jack Sparrow just gives off that dangerous, manly vibe that may drive us women mad and at the beginning just can't stand him, but in the end we are always subdued by his dashingly handsome charm. Now, Jack Dawson is just basically the all around perfect guy. He is what a typical woman around the world is exactly looking for in their ideal man. He's nice, funny, charming, and talk about cuuutte.. He would do absolutely anything for his gal, which obviously was shown at the end othe movie. Then there was Jack Taylor. He's just the kind of man that you just can't help to fall for. I mean, seriously, as hot as George Clooney and good with little kids...Ding Ding Ding Winner!! Finally, Jack Callaghan in the oh so wonderful, While You Were Sleeping. Ok, so this Jack isn't what you might initially call a "stud"; in fact, some people might even consider him kind of a nerd, but nonetheless he attracts the woman with his humor and sincerity. I'm just gonna say, though all of these "Jacks" possess many different characteristics they know what it takes to sweep a lady right off her feet. They end up being the hero and rescuing that poor "damsel in distress". Talk about some lucky ladies!

As a Jill, I've always gotten the typical, "Hey, where's Jack??" I always just smile, grit my teeth, and walk on by, rolling my eyes thinking, " Pssshh, good one guys.." But the older I get, I'm finally questioning that myself. Where is that man that will sweep me off my feet and untie me from the tracks as the train is about to hit? Where is my dashingly handsome, charming, and funny hero? Seriously, where are you Jack??

Fan or Player??

If you know me at all, you will know that I am a true football fan.. Every Saturday afternoon you will definitely find me either at a Chadron State football game or curled up on my futon flipping through the ESPN channels watching all the different college games between timeouts and halftimes. Though I keep up with several teams, I of course, am a true Husker fan. I watch every game that I am able to, listen to the game on the radio, or at the very least continue to text people to update me on the score. Well lucky 'ol me got the privilege last week to go down to Lincoln and actually watch the Huskers play in Memorial Stadium! It was truly an amazing experience for me. (Though now that i got the taste for it, I think I'm addicted and have recently considered transferring to UNL. Ok, maybe not seriously, but it is truly tempting.) But when I first walked into Memorial Stadium such a rush came over me that I can barely even explain. One of the most amazing things is the all famous "Red Sea" of Nebraska fans supporting their Huskers by wearing every piece of red attire they own just to show their support and pride. I was also left in awe and amazement as the crowd clapped, cheered, booed, etc.. Now as the time went on in the game the boos became louder, the cheering became fewer, and the stands became scarce. We truly got our butts kicked, but it didn't even matter. I left that stadium with a smile on my face and still with Husker pride and my red attire.

Now, to get to the main point of all of this babble, when I got back from the game everyone back home kept asking me so how did WE do, or yeah WE got our butts kicked, or man OUR defense sure sucked! These are very common statements right? Everyone says this, including myself, but if you really think about it, isn't it funny? WE got our butts kicked!! WE?? This is completely indicating that we are Nebraska Husker football players. That we made some kind of impact on the losses and wins. When in reality, we did nothing, but watch. We all consider us Huskers, but we did not go through the strenuous practices. We never actually experienced the sweat, blood, and pain, but we still consider ourselves Huskers? We do not deserve this title at all, we should just leave it at Husker fans, but have no right to say WE lost or WE won. Why I write this is because of a recent discussion at Chi Alpha a few weeks back. So many "Christians" have this same view and outlook on life. They wear Christian tshirts, WWJD necklaces, fish emblems on their cars and may "represent" a Christian, but in reality have not put out any effort to actually "be part of the team". Just like in football we can wear our Husker red shirts and fake jerseys, but this does not make us Husker football players. We need to earn our position on the team and give it our all to deserve such a title. We must go through the sweat, blood, and pain to actually make a difference in the outcome of the "game". If we don't give it our all and make an effort we are just fans sporting the attire, but not a player helping the team. So what are you and what do you want to be? Do you want to be a fan, possibly looking good, but making no impact or do you want to be a true player fighting every second and being the best you can be in whatever you do?

~ 7 Random Things About Jill ~

So I guess I was tagged by Gina and am supposed to let you all know 7 random things about me, so here it goes!

7 Random Things About Me:

1. I can't stand when people pop their finger joints around me! Grosses me out!
2. I fall in love with expressive eyebrows!
3. I want to get my Masters in Psychology.
4. I ABSOLUTELY love when I can be a complete dork and 100% myself around other people.
5. I love being "one of the guys" and just hanging out with them.
6. My worst fear is to disappoint the people closest to me.
7. If there was a movie about my life I would want Amanda Bynes to play me.

Everything I've Learned...

So, the other night I was watching Jeopardy and came to the conclusion that I am truly pathetic! You might go, "well duh Jill, I've known this for quite some time, but why have you just discovered this observation?" Well, I was just relaxing and kicking back in my futon watching Jeopardy and answering several questions in a row and at first I didn't think anything of it, except for the fact that I was quite impressed at how awesome I was doing. And then it hit me! After the realization of how I knew all these answers, I just laughed and laughed and laughed at myself, out loud even! All these answers that kept escaping from my mouth were not proof of my wisdom at all, just proof that I have spent way too many useless hours watching the ever so amazing show known as The Simpsons! Honestly, so many parents have yelled at their children and even prohibited the watching of this show due to its inappropriate language and crude content. And I do not disagree with this view. Sure, The Simpsons are a little crude for young viewers and do not always display a moral value, but every episode sadly has taught me alot about life, in general. Watching this show has taught me not only historical facts, but also many many references to very classic movies and tv shows. Don't believe me? Go ahead and just watch some episodes yourself and watch the amazing knowledge you will receive unravel before your eyes.

Here are some fun, random, yet not so accurate lessons learned from The Simpsons:

1. If my nose starts bleeding it means I'm picking it too much.....or not enough

2. Springs can be flushed down toilets to save sinking boats full of old people.

3. Cafeteria milk comes from rats.

4. If the "check engine" light is blinking, it can easily be remedied by sticking a piece of electrical tape on top of it so that it goes away.

5. If it has a tooth pick in it, its free!

6. The best way to avoid jury duty is to say you're prejudiced against all races.

7. It's always the dog with the shifty eyes! Noone ever suspects the dog with the shifty eyes.

8. Money can be exchanged for goods and services!

9. If you try your best and you fail miserably. The lesson is 'never try'.

10. What don't you learn, don't trust mice, cats are made of glass....

~Made On Purpose For A Purpose~

Here I sit another day of my life at the front desk of High Rise, working ever so hard might I add. As if you couldn't tell.. But I spend a majority of the time just sitting back and watching people as they walk by. Most, of course, are familiar faces or getting more familiar day by day and some are rather close acquaintances, but most of the time as they walk by they are all just faces to me and nothing more. Until recently I have really began to think. I see these people everyday and usually always give them a smile and a friendly hi as they walk away and they escape my mind, nothing too major. But now everytime someone walks by me I just stop in amazement and awe. Why might you ask? Just think.. I have no idea how many faces I come into acquaintance within a day, over one hundred, for sure and guess what? Every single one of these individuals were made on purpose!! Now just take time to think about that. It definitely changes your perspective on people. At first, they are just a face, but it's so much more than that. It's not like God was like "Oops, that wasn't supposed to happen." and poof Jill was made. No, not at all. He added a little of this, alot of that and was like there she is, exactly what I wanted, my masterpiece. Am I the only one who gets shivers because of that? And not only was every person made on purpose they were made FOR a purpose. Every single person that walks by me in a day have something they are meant to do in their life. They were completely made to do it. And what's really crazy is that every single person's purpose is unique and different. This brings up a huge question for myself. What is MY purpose? What was I MADE to do in my life? And am I fulfilling it?

War with Mom

My mother and I have a very interesting relationship with one another. Though we are very close, we do spend the majority of our time in some type of argument or fight. Nothing, serious of course, but it's always something. She calls, I'm then rude, she asks the "wrong" questions, I complain, she thinks I hate her, and we hang up. It's a neverending cycle. What's sad though is we always get into the fights over the same questions every time. And if you know my mother, you will know what that topic is, yup you guessed it, BOYS! Or normally just one boy, but you get the picture. Now, I know that she loves me with all of her heart and I truly love her with all of mine, but this topic and her together absolutely drive me insane! And it's not that I don't want to talk to her about my relationships; it's just that I feel like it's the only thing she really cares about. And I know thats not completely true, but I do know that is a main focus to her. And I'm the kind of girl who would love to be in a relationship and I like boys, but it is definitely not the number one priority in my life and I never want it to be. So the fact that she wants to make it the number one topic of discussion always sets me off. And after we get in the little arguments, I always feel terrible and agree to myself to not let it get to me and just to give her what she wants, but every time it still results in failure and I'm too stubborn to just let go.

Another reason, why our conversations always leads to yelling, tears, or hurt feelings is because she can read me so well that normally she hits the head on absolutely everything. I am the girl who denies her emotions. Not just to others, but to myself, probably most of all! And somehow my mom can read through my deception and get the truth out and I hate it! I hate feeling vulnerable and apparent and she is the only one that seems to have the power to do so. There is a reason I hide my feelings from people and myself, but she always digs and then exposes me for the fraud I am. And I say I hate this and on the outside, I truly do, but in the long run I know it's whats best for me. Deep down, I do want to share my feelings and thoughts with people, but it's always just too hard. If noone knows the truth, noone will know my pain and I can always fake that smile. But sometimes the only way to get over that pain is to share it with others and then you can let it go.

I am very lucky to have the mother I have. She loves me more than life and I can tell by everything that she does for me daily. I know that she asks questions and calls me hourly because she cares about my life and wants to watch me succeed and grow into the woman I was meant to be. And I am very thankful for that, I obviously don't show it all the time, or even most of the time, but I can't explain how greatful I truly am and how everything she does for me and my friends mean the world to me! So no matter how much we fight or argue I respect my mother and love her with absoluly everything I have because I will always be her baby and she will always be my mommy!

Blogging To Be Vulnerable...

So here I am starting a blog.. You all may question this decision of mine and why I have decided to do such a thing and in fact I have a few answers to that question.. First of all, I'm a college student and I mean facebook and myspace already control 85% of my time why not add one more thing that can keep me busy and help me accomplish my goal of procrastination. And I might add to that at least I can improve my writing skills at the same time of avoiding my homework and RA obligations.

Reasoning number two for starting a blog would be the fact I can express myself with written words rather than by actual conversation. It is very hard for me to express my feelings and thoughts to others, it always has been. Every time I get upset, sad, mad, happy, excited, pretty much any type of emotion I sit down and just write my feelings out. I then reread it to myself to regather what has occurred and then go from there. If I do this anyways, why not make it a blog and get input from others? Also, this is a much easier way for others to get to know me without me having to deal with the awkardness I feel when I share my personal feelings and thoughts out loud. So here it is.. A beginning for me. It will be my first step into vulnerability.