I'm smart, but sometimes, I still listen to Justin Bieber

Life is full of contradictions. After traveling this week with some work colleagues, I learned a whole bunch about them that I wouldn't have known from our regular 9 to 5. People are always more than what meets the eye. And I think sometimes, it's those seeming contradictions in a human being that excite us, and make us gravitate towards certain people.

This weekend, I went to a DI tournament. For those of you who don't know, DI is a non-profit creative problem solving organization for kids. It's basically a science olympiad with a dramatic component, and it seriously rocks. The thing is, it celebrates creativity in kids, quirkiness in kids, and it's an opportunity for them to think outside the box.

I had a blast, reliving my DI days, and seeing all the creative things the kids came up with. I hope that kids keep all their quirky traits into adulthood. Because being quirky and weird can help you meet people, get a job, and be successful. No one wants to be with someone who's an exact copy of someone else, and I think we all need to recognize that. We spend so much time trying to fit in with other people that we wind up trying to be someone we're not. And that's seriously not cool.

So here are some contradictory things about me, that are quirky, and weird, and awesome:
*i like to wear high heels and be girly, but i love playing in the mud
*I have a nerd laugh when something is absolutely funny
*I'm a home-body, but I love to travel and see new places
*I'm fiercely independent, but I can't make decisions for the life of me
*I still like to color

With that being said, this week I'm going to work hard on making the quirky, most authentic side of myself shine this week. Let's celebrate being quirky!

"and i'm never sure, what i'm looking for, but it's always on my mind..."

"What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out." - Alfred Hitchcock

I thought being a grown-up meant that there would be no more drama, but that was a big lie. There have been a lot of big drama-fests at work lately, and it always surprises me that these things happen in the work place. I mean, come on people, we're supposed to be grown-ups - empowered, making decisions!

One of the things that continually surprises me is how wrapped up people can get in their little area. There are chargelines to worry about, people that are hesitant to have their name attached to a project, people who can't work with people x, y and z. Don't get me wrong, I get wrapped up in my stuff too, probably more than a lot of people, given that I'm 22.

In college, I used to get so irritated by the drama that surrounded me in my sorority. Fortunately, I thought, all that was going to end when I got into the "real world." But I'm learning more and more that the line between being in and out of the "real world" is a blurry one. I mean, there is no "fake world," is there?

There are people at work who "don't get it." I don't think I am one of these people. And furthermore, I don't intend on being one of them. I'm going to get where I want to go, wherever that is, by writing my own rules and trying to not to get so tangled up in the drama.

Then again, a little drama can be a good thing...Craig sent me flowers at work for Valentine's day. I suppose you could call that dramatic, and definitely not the unpleasant kind. And Emily came to spend the weekend last weekend, and we definitely got into some shennangins that one might call dramatic.

Let's admit it, we can all be drama queens sometimes. Drama makes life more interesting....just don't let it rule your life. There are bigger fish to fry sunshine :)

Also - I'm really diggin' the Sounds Like This album lately. Check it out if you want some smooth tunes!

"love, prepare yourself to shine."

"Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drown your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

It's 2011...and strange to think that just a year ago I was leaving to start out on an adventure to France, starting this blog in hopes of having a way to look back at it all. It was an incredible year. Last year, I wrote a journal entry saying that I thought the word that would best summarize my year in 2010 would be growth.

And in many ways, that would be true. I went to France on my own – traveled and saw the world, did so much my parents never were able to do; and now Seattle – where I have my first job and corresponding paycheck, and my first stab at the real world. To be honest, I’m not sure what 2011 is going to bring – lots of joy and struggles to be sure, new ups and downs to learn from and grow with.

I think for 2011, I would like my word to be individual. I want to continue to learn who I am, and to define it. I want to broaden my sense of self and start to figure out the rest of my life, however that’s going to end up. Adjusting to working every day has been a different challenge than my challenges of last year. And although it's been a huge change in many ways, I definitely feel like I do valuable work. And I actually like what I'm doing. Which I'm sure surprises no one except for me. I think one of my problems is that I like everything I do. And so then I never know what I actually want to do the most. And that's why I have trouble making decisions...yes, trouble making decisions, huge shocker, I know. So one of my goals is to start doing the choosing, even if it's difficult, consciously and deliberately picking one thing over the other because it's what I want, and not what anyone else wants.

Seattle is calm for the most part, and there's a routine. I go to work, I laugh with my cubemates, I come home, I go to volleyball on Wednesdays (i know, right?) , I spend time with a boy who loves me, I drink obscene amounts of coffee, I train for my 2nd half marathon (june 5th!!!), and sometimes I get lost in all of that. And it's all good, don't get me wrong. But I am bold and daring, and have so much more out there to accomplish and dream and do. And I think that's a lofty enough goal for 2011. Bring it on :)