within 5 years.

The man has done it again, folks. That is Chris Dessi, the man who sparked my initial motivation for getting this blog going. Earlier this week he tweeted a question of the day that was: "What's something fun or important you think you should do within the next five years?" My mind immediately started racing as I thought to myself, what are some things that I want to do in the next 5 years? Rather than trying to tweet something and squeeze it into 140 characters I thought it might be a better idea to write a blog post or more of a list on something fun crazy or whatever I want to accomplish within the next 5 years.

1) Get my own place - Hopefully, within a year (maybe a year and a half) I will have saved up enough money to move...somewhere. Whether I am lucky enough to still be at the job I am now and am able to move to DC or Arlington (anywhere with a closer commute) or whether I make a bigger move (like to another state, big) I hope that it definitely happens within a sooner rather than later time span.

2) Travel, travel, travel - I know this sort of contradicts my first point (that whole saving money thing) but I want to travel as much as I can before I "settle down" later in life. I want to go to Arizona and California (as I have friends in both places now and have never been to either). I ache to go back to London and other various spots in Europe. And there will always be trips to NY since so many loved ones and friends are there too. Not to mention Texas and Florida to see family as well...seems like I have a lot of planning to do!

3) Go skydiving - Well, as Dessi said, this can be anything, whether it's practical or not! I've always loved roller-coasters and any sort of thrill (nothing beats that rush of adrenaline!) And my cousin Kristen has gone skydiving not once but twice and raved about it. It seems crazy, but doing it within the next 5 years sounds like a good idea to me.

4) Have a semi-solid life balance in place - What I mean by this is I hope to have in 5 years a stronger sense of self. As of right now, in this very moment in time, I am still struggling with the fact that I'm not heading back to Marist right now to begin another year of classes and internships. Although I have grown leaps and bounds with getting to know myself and being confident with that person I still struggle. I hope to stay and become an even more positive person, I want to have a good routine down of staying healthy (i.e. working out more than like, once a week) and just overall have a solid "grip" on life.

For now, that's all I can really process about what I want within the next 5 years or so, but only time (and this blog) will tell what happens next!

earthquakes, a hurricane, what the heck is next?

"Amanda, is your desk shaking?"

"Um, I actually feel the floor shaking under my feet..."

That was the comment my co-worker Molly made to me when we were standing, chit-chatting near my desk when a 5.8 earthquake started in Virginia and rattled its way all the way up the east coast and into Canada. Now, I have never been in an earthquake before so I wasn't really sure what the heck was going on. All of sudden, once Molly made that comment it became worse, the whole office building (in DC) was shaking, vibrating, people were running out of their offices into the main corridor. Once the shaking ceased for a moment we all sort of stared at each other. What do we do? Should we evacuate? Well, since most of our walls in our office are large sheets of glass we booked it down the stairs and into the streets as everyone else had done. Needless to say it was a very bizarre day and I was a bit shaken up by it. Sure, it wasn't that bad (thank goodness) there were no injuries reported really, no extensive damage (nothing like the devastation in Haiti or Japan) so once it was over everyone felt at ease to make jokes and whatnot. 

However, we aren't quite out of the woods just yet as Hurricane Irene thunders towards the east coast, so far planning on slamming the Carolina's first and working her way up. Seriously people, what is happening? Maybe it is just timing and everything is hitting us at once (as the old adage says, "when it rains, it pours") but it is all very odd isn't it? Oh well, my parents, cousin and I feel somewhat prepared for the storm that awaits us, hope everyone else along the east coast stays safe too!

a love note to the rockstar diaries.

Okay, to some, this may come off as a bit creepy, but here it goes anyways. Nearly a year ago my lovely good friend Alyssa, showed me the blog, Rockstar Diaries, accounting the married life of Naomi and Josh who have a smug faced bulldog and in February were given the addition of a gorgeous baby girl. As soon as Alyssa started scrolling through the endless photographs of their life, I felt myself become hooked. Not long after, I found myself checking the blog nearly every day to see if their were any updates, I soon saw that Naomi had a Twitter account and followed her on there & nearly died when she tweeted back at me one day. Now working in D.C. I find myself wondering if I will ever bump into them (again, sorry if I'm sounding creepy or stalker-ish to anyone out there!). So today I saw via Twitter that an article was written about Naomi's blog to my dismay, in a negative tone. The article, chose to focus it on "over-sharing" and how Naomi and Josh in a way flaunt their perfect life, perfect baby and perfect dog, saying things like "...baby Eleanor never seems to cry" and "their dog Kingsley wouldn't be out of place at Crufts," in addition to "...doe-eyed, immaculately dressed Naomi and Josh are unceasingly happy." These are to me, outrageous claims, as an avid reader I know that Naomi has blogged numerous times about bad days, rough days, sad days and any other type of day that you can think of. Her life certainly is not perfect, as no one's is, and she certainly has never claimed it to be.

I think the reason I am so hooked is because for one, the photos Naomi takes, either on her iPhone or a fancier camera, are always gorgeous. She writes simply and to the point, and I think she has influenced me to help notice things I may not have noticed before, to slow down and appreciate the little things. She has inspired me in my own blog, so please Naomi, please keep "over-sharing," because your hundreds of readers and fans have sort of come to depend on it.

a solid start.

I always like when a new month starts on a Monday. For example today, is Monday, August 1st. It makes it seem much more official, like you're starting off on the right foot. I have been both excitedly awaiting and dreading this month all at the same time. Why excitedly? On the 9th, I'm going to see one of my fave bands (Kings of Leon) in concert and I have a trip to New York (FINALLY) in the works which of course I am pumped about. Also, the heat & humidity in the DC area is getting pretty darn unbearable that at this rate I am ready to welcome the crisp fall air with open arms.

Why dreading? Well, for the first time in four years at the end of this month I will not be heading back up to school. It weirds me out, makes me wonder about my future, makes me feel old and scares me along with 1,000 other feelings all at once. But for now I will take it all one day at a time, starting with Monday, the 1st.