Day 14: A picture of you and your family

Here's a picture of all of us, but it's pretty old. I think I was a senior in high school in this picture.

This was the same trip but it shows our personalities better (except Dad's not in it)

Last but not least, is my favorite picture of me and my parents. This was taken after my graduation from high school so it's pretty old too but we all look about the same.

Day 13: 5 Favorite books

This is gonna be tough. For the purpose of this I will make a top 5 of Kurt's books and top 5 of all others

Kurt Vonnegut-

God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian-

This isn't actually a book, rather the script for a radio show Kurt used to have. The basic premise is that this reporter goes and sees Dr. Kevorkian every so often and is killed, then brought to life again. While he is dead he interviews those he meets on the other side. This book is SO hilarious and is typical Vonnegut in every way. He interviews people as famous as Hitler and as unknown as an average joe. Super quick funny read. I think it took me 45 min and I read really slowly.

Slapstick-

This book is so interesting. Very hard to explain but it's amazing. Very different view of the future of this nation. There are basically two story lines in here. One follows the President of the United States in a semi-post apocalyptic-society and the other is the story of how he grew up. Both stories make you think and will continue to catch you off guard.

Cat's Cradle-

This follows a man that tries to document what happened the day the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in the life of the man responsible for creating them. While this may be the plot line, my favorite aspect is the fake religion Kurt creates called Bokononism. For those of you who have watched LOST, I'm certain they ripped the premise of the show off of this book. I'm not angry though, I love it!

Mother Night-

This book looks into identity. Basically you are whoever you pretend to be. This is about an American spy who is being tried in the Nuremberg Trials because he can not prove he is a spy. The reader must decide if they think he's a spy or not and the twist ending makes it perfection.

Timequake-

This book itself isn't that spectacular but I love the basic premise which is that at some point in time, there was a glitch in time and everyone was sent back 10 years. They couldn't change anything they had done, they could only sit there and redo everything they had already done for the last 10 years. The book starts at the instant the 'timequake' ends. In essence it is the end of the 10 year 'replay' and explores what happens when people have to turn off their auto pilot and make their own choices again after 10 years of having no control.

All Others-

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell-

An interesting look at todays Christianity through the eyes of a man who focuses very much on the Jewish roots of our religion. Can't explain it much better than that but it's very thought provoking

Animal Farm by George Orwell-

Basically how I feel about government and one of the only political books I've ever enjoyed.

"All animals are created equal; some animals are just more equal than others"

Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne-

I heard this guy talk about his book 'Jesus for President' and I thought he had to be nuts. He was this dude in homemade clothes and gnarly dreads. He looked like he should have been pan handling outside as opposed to giving a talk to a few hundred people. Zack encouraged me to read this book and basically it has revolutionized my life and may do the same to you. Go into it open-mindedly though. If you're a republican... don't read it, you'll just get pissed off.

Burned by Ellen Hopkins-

This is a phenomenal book and I loved reading it. Another good twist ending and still thought provoking which is always good. It follows the story of a Morman girl who is constantly abused by her alcoholic father. She goes to her aunt's house to find herself and become a woman. She falls in love and it's just a nice fluffy coming of age story.

The shack by William P. Young

Yet again, a good thought provoking book about a man whose daughter is abducted and killed. In a search to discover how to grieve for her, he goes to this abandoned shack and is met by God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit  who show him what love, loss and grief mean from an eternal perspective. Very very intriguing.

Day 12: A poem to someone I love

I don't like writing poetry on the fly therefore this will be a haiku:

Lacrosse, college, fun

Eternity can't break bonds

On and off field

Day 11: Bucket List

This is going to be super random and probably fairly incomplete but here it goes:

1: Visit all the continents (I only need Antarctica and Australia)

2: Graduate college

3: Visit all the countries in the EU (9/27 done)

4: Get married

5: Have/adopt a kid

6: Become a godparent

7: Do the Peace Corps

8: Start a non-profit

9: Return to Amsterdam

10: Smoke weed with my mom- In A-dam of course!

11: Go back to NOLA with the Roots team

12: Save someone's life spontaneously using my EMT skills

13: Be an aunt

14: See Keaton play college sports (football, lax, or wrestling)

15: Return to coaching

16: Own my own apartment and live alone

17: See New Zealand with my dad for at least a month

18: Never reach a million dollars in net worth

19: Finish Kurt Vonnegut's books

20: Get at least 5 more tattoos (all with deep meaning and significant thought)

21: Get a tattoo with my dad

22: Complete a masters degree

23: See ASC LAX win a game

24: See ASC LAX have a winning season

25: See ASC LAX ranked

Day 10: Songs you listen to when you're happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad

These are sort of off the top of my head so, I'm sure they're not entirely accurate. But accuracy is most perfectly achieved through chaos.

Happy:

Tipsy in the Sun by White Panda

This song just makes you happy. How can you NOT be happy listening to this. It makes me feel like freshly cut grass and sun tans mash that up with some beach lax and you've got this song.

Sad:

Miserable at Best by Mayday Parade

I'm not the type to try and avoid the feelings I'm trying to fix via music. This song just kinda feels like sad. It's either this song or Self Conclusion by The Spill Canvas. It all kinda makes you wanna put on an old boyfriend's hoodie, eat peanut butter (or nutella) and cry to The Notebook.

Bored:

Anything Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip

Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip may be a mouthful of an artist name but it's fitting. Scroobius Pip is an AMAZING poet. Not rapper, poet. Also, Dan Le Sac has some pretty sick beats to background Pip's words. This song sort of exemplifies how I feel about life and social work in general. Overall excellent song.

Hyped (I don't know what this means so.... We'll go with pumped up):

No Ceilings by Lil' Wayne

This will always be on my pre-game warmup list. It's the attitude I need to take when I hit the field. Confidence may not entirely change whether you have skills or not, but I think it have give you the extra boost to get there.

Mad:

Body Bag by Hit the Lights

Pretty self-explanatory. You piss me off, I'd like to think you pay (except I'm pretty good at forgiving and turning the other leaf)

Day 9: Something you're proud of in the past few days

Wow. There is so much. Well a bunch of my friends either just graduated college or successfully finished their first year of college. Plus a ton of kids I've know forever are graduating and moving on to college and all that jazz. That's something to be proud of for sure.

But more importantly, me and 15 other girls just finished what will go down in history as the first ever ASC WLAX season ever. We may have lost each and every game, but there were large individual successes within each game played. Not only did we make a lot of firsts, but we also got to go through some super exciting experiences. We got to play Rollins College who finished the season ranked 7th in the nation and 4th in our region. This may not seem like something to be stoked about, but this team is only 4 years old. It was beyond inspiring to have Coach Lamb stand there and tell us that we would become that team. He is completely dedicated to this team no matter how long it takes. I can't wait to see the team go there and know I helped lay the foundation (no matter how rocky).

In related news, Lewis-Palmer's team (which now goes by Palmer Ridge) is in the state playoffs! My first season playing lacrosse was during their second season as a team. The following year, I was captain of the first team to have a winning season in LP WLAX history. This gives me hope for ASC WLAX's future and I can't wait until I can cheer my alma mater team to victory!

Day 8: short term goals for this month and why

Gee, what a strange prompt... 

I guess play hard in my game on Saturday against Mesa. It's our season closer and our last home game. I'm going to be playing on broken ribs so we'll see how that goes and I haven't practiced for a few weeks so that will also be interesting. 

I'm also hoping to successfully apply to a few more jobs and get at least one. If I don't get one I'm kinda screwed but oh well, life happens.

I'm also thinking I'm going to have to move in with my grandmother this summer as opposed to living in the apartments like I was planning to.

I guess the only other thing would be to complete my finals well and get back into the weight room/practicing so that I can merk next year on the field.

Day 7: a picture of someone/something that has had the biggest impact on you

This is a super old photo but I thought it was perfect. This is both a someone and a something that have a massive impact on my life. This is my youth group leader from high school, Zack Weingartner. I've know him since I was a freshman and he is super important to me. This picture was taken on the way to New Orleans in  Jan. of my senior year. Zack was responsible for showing me what true love in the name of Christ looks like and he definitely has helped instill my value of the underdog. Many of my career choices and moral decision have been made because of things Zack taught me, showed me or put me in the situation to learn. New Orleans has shaped a lot of who I am and daily influences decision I make. If it weren't for Zack or New Orleans (which wouldn't have happened without Zack) my life would probably be drastically different.

I think every decision we make influences our lives for ever, but I think it's rare that you can specifically pick a certain event or moment that significantly changed the course of your destiny. I'm not talking about knowing that a butterfly in Brazil can cause a hurricane in India. I'm talking about knowing that an earthquake in Japan causes a tsunami in China. A very large event that causes a very large reaction. I think being able to have those moments and experiences makes you very special and I think they are few and far between. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to point to at least a handful of events and people that have cause tsunami's per say in my life. Zack and NOLA have hands down been the catalysts for the most drastic changes in my life's trajectory.

Day 6: Favorite superhero and why

My favorite super hero would probably be Captain Planet. Not because I'm super green or into saving the planet or anything, but because it's really the only superhero show I grew up watching. I wasn't allowed to watch Batman or Spiderman or other shows like that because my mom thought they had too much violence in them. Captain Planet wasn't like that. Have you ever met a tree hugging violent person? Nope... Didn't think so.

I always wanted one of those cool rings and remember LOVING the show when I was a kid. I kinda want to go watch an old episode to see if it really was any good.

Day 5: A picture of somewhere you've been

This is the center of downtown New Orleans and the French Quarter. I spend every  summer here helping the homeless and have even taken a nap on a bench in park right there next to that statue. Also, I ran into the family from "Little People, Big World" in the huge Catholic Church in the background that looks like it's from Disneyland. I can't wait to go back and I miss it so much.