Sorry I'm a little late, but at least I didn't take another month. My most recent affliction is a sinus infection, so I've been feeling a little crappier than usual. It's also been snowing quite consistently up here and I'm beginning to think we've become New Greenland instead of New England. Apparently we've already surpassed the blizzard of '78 in regard to total accumulation. I will most likely need a Tauntaun to get anywhere tomorrow. I've been enjoying my time off from doing anything, but I think it's about time I left the house and actually did something productive. If only I could learn how to not panic driving in the snow... You'd think after living here my whole life I would be used to it by now, but unfortunately I still get anxious. Luckily, my job allows me to relieve that stress by making staying home during a storm mandatory. However, there's only so much Netflix I can watch before I get cabin fever. I do have some good news, another Bachelor review as well as another book review on my Reviews page.
The good news is that I finally found a middle school placement! The extra good news is that it's in my own town, which means it's super close and convenient for me to get there. I also have more connections there, which might work in my favor. The teacher I'm supposedly working with is younger, male and very good with technology, which are all great. He also spent his sabbatical last year researching and doing a case study on the flipped classroom model, which is a model of teaching centered around providing students with lectures and other content online to watch from home and doing supplemental work and discussion in class. I've always been curious about this method of teaching and it looks like I'll get a front row seat to this concept when I start my internship again this week. I'm hoping that with my extended background in technology I'll be able to integrate seamlessly into his classroom and work well with him. We'll see how it goes, but I'm looking forward to meeting him and getting back in the classroom with some middle schoolers!
As for The Bachelor, I'm still sticking with my Top 3 of Kaitlin, Jade and Whitney. Mainly because they are probably the only genuine people left in the house, besides maybe Casey. I actually didn't even watch the whole episode last week because I got bored halfway through and didn't really feel like watching Kelsey's "panic attack" for the fifth time, (because they showed it so often in clips of the previews). It's only week six and I'm already sick of the unnecessary drama that's been happening. I'm usually ok with it, because that's what this show thrives on, but this time it's just sad. Like they're all trying way too hard to be THAT dramatic, it doesn't even feel real. I know that show is at least partially not real to begin with, but still. I'm hoping tonight's episode and the two-on-one date will shed some light on what Chris thinks about all this. I feel like we've barely heard him talk this entire time. If it were me, I'd send both Ashley AND Kelsey home, but we'll see.
That's all I have for this week. It's short, sweet and to the point. I'd probably have more if I actually did anything with my life these days, but sadly I haven't. I don't mind being an introvert, but sometimes, if you get stuck in a rut of being home all the time, it gets harder to leave when you actually have to. I'm going to try to make more plans with friends and see if that helps. I've already planned my spring break vacation, which is unusual because I've never gone anywhere for spring break while I've been in college. I'll be visiting my best friend in Colorado and I'm really excited about it! I've never been and I can't wait to see the mountains and hang out with her again because it's been way too long. I wish it were April now:( While I've been shut in, I also managed to read Looking for Alaska by John Green, which is another book I got for Christmas. I'll be putting the review for that on my Reviews page later today. In the meantime, I'm going to go cue up my LOTR marathon and bake another batch of chocolate chip cookies. Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.
I hope everyone had a fabulous post-holiday weekend! It definitely feels like January now... These frigid temperatures are set to stay with us up here in the north east for awhile, so I'm trying not to skimp on heat. That being said, I have spent a great deal of time indoors as of late and I am not ashamed of it.
Whilst inside, I have been paying close attention to the drama that has risen out of YouTube lately dealing with Grace Helbig. For those of you who don't know, Grace is a YouTube personality and classy individual who, until recently, uploaded video blogs to her main channel "DailyGrace" on the MyDamnChannel network. Since her contract with them seems to have expired, Grace has chosen to start over on her own channel, thus preserving her content, (since MyDamnChannel wouldn't let her keep her old content on the "DailyGrace" channel siting copyright issues). It seems as though Grace and MyDamnChannel had a falling out of sorts, however everyone seems to be happy now and Grace has her new channel from which to control her own content.
This is all well and good, but when you move channels and go from over two million subscribers to less than 500,000, it takes a bit of wind out of your sails. Grace has not asked any of her original subscribers to switch, however the Internet has taken it upon itself to educate the masses and let them know what's going on. Grace's many friends through YouTube, including author John Green, Mamrie and Hannah Hart, her brother Tim, and many more came together to draw awareness to this change. The amount of YouTuber support throughout this ordeal has proven to be very beneficial for Grace and extremely uplifting. I've never seen this type of support before from an online community and it was great to get to watch all these people support Grace in her endeavors. She still has a long way to go, but if she stays true to herself she should be just fine, if not better than before.
As you may know, I've been following the YouTube community closely since the beginning of last year, (it feels weird to say that...). I have 52 subscriptions and watch a few vloggers religiously every day, including Grace. Seeing as my viewership has varied over the course of a year, I plan on experimenting and exploring with new channels and people this year, including Grace's new channel, in order to track her progress. It's been an exciting year for YouTube and I can't wait for what this year brings, including the YouTube documentary Vlogumentary, which is set to come out this year. If you want to know what's happening in the YouTube or online community as a whole, check out Tubefilter, "the curator of online video," including news, reviews and more.
In other news, because of the new year, my husband and I have decided to implement some new rules and goals for our lives this year. One of them being the "no spend" rule for January. This idea came from my wonderful mother-in-law, who practices this rule as well. All you have to do is not spend any money you don't need to spend. Obviously bills and groceries are necessary, but going out to eat, going to the movies, shopping for clothes, etc. are off limits until February. That way we have money to save for more important things. It also teaches us to appreciate the things we have and enjoy ourselves from home, which I have no problem with.
That's it for today. I'm in the middle of a Star Wars marathon with a cup of coffee and I plan on continuing throughout the day. I've also started reading Divergent, so if you have any questions for me about the book, or anything about reading in general, I will be answering them on Thursday through my Twitter account with the hash-tag "#LaxDivergent" Tweet me your questions, comments and predictions! (if you are reading it with me for the first time) Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.
PS: For your viewing pleasure:
Jimmy Fallon Late Night with Justin Timberlake: "History of Rap"
That's right, I'm officially DONE with my fall semester! One more semester to go before my full-year internship next year. It seems like I still have so much to do, but I also feel like I'm in the home stretch...it's a weird feeling I can't really explain. It doesn't seem like much, but I know that when I'm really done, it'll be for good. Until then, I'll be enjoying my winter vacation as best I can and looking forward to another great semester in January.
(Does this look plowed to you?)
Apparently the weather is against us up here in New Hampshire. Did I mention it's not supposed to get above 20 degrees today?! We had a mild blizzard this past weekend where we got at least a foot of snow in some places and we're expected to get more snow this afternoon, so I might be snowed in again today. I don't mind too much, I just hate clearing off my car... My husband is one of those guys who feels obligated to shovel everyone out so that the other tenants can get to where they need to go. Just based on that, I know I bagged myself a good one. Thanks to the shoddy work the plowing company did on our driveway, (or didn't do). I'm grateful that my own spot is clear, but as for the other two tenants, they have to shovel themselves out I guess. You had one job plow guys.
So far in our decorating endeavors we added a few things to our collection. A nice door mount complete with white poinsettias and pine cones as well as some twinkly icicle lights to hang somewhere in our living room. Unfortunately, we're in desperate need of more outlets and extension cords. Luckily my father hooked us up with an extra power strip, so we might be able to plug our tree and the lights into that, but we'll see when it's all done. I'll be sure to take more pictures!
This week is special to me not only because finals are over, but because my birthday is on Thursday! I will be 24 and I know that's not a huge deal or anything, but I definitely feel it this time. Because my birthday is in December, I've always been bombarded with storms and winter weather, ruining any real plans. This year it looks like I'll be free from the torment of Father Winter and finally be able to enjoy my birthday. So far I have plans with my father for breakfast and his famous pancakes, finishing up my Christmas shopping, a lovely trip down to Boston for a nice dinner date with my husband and spending some quality time with my mother, whom I haven't actually seen on my birthday in about six years. My birthday memories with her are my fondest; she used to call me out of school and we'd go wherever I wanted all day. I'm really excited to get to spend time with her again. It's been far too long.
So that's my recap for the past few days. I'm really looking forward to all the fun things I'll get to do this week and knowing Christmas is literally right around the corner makes it even sweeter! I'm so excited this year and now I feel like I can finally enjoy the holidays! Christmas cards have been sent, (major wife points right there), and presents have begun to be wrapped, so it's only a matter of time! Our first Christmas as husband and wife has been so rewarding to me thus far, and it'll only get better:) Check out Thursday's Blogmas post where I will list my Top 5 Christmas movies! Until next time, I remain your faithful Christmas correspondent.
