Learning Takes More Than One

Posted on December 5, 2012 by TheJessicaness

coffee

I learned this year that it’s important to have goals and to constantly strive to achieve them. I also learned that other events might interrupt your temporary plans, but you should be long-term goal-oriented as well. Finding a way to find yourself among the chaos is a worthy achievement. Don’t let what scares or intimidates you hold you back from a new experience.

You just might find that you like something new or that you have the chance to be one of those kind souls you read about in blog land. You can develop new friendships that will help you to promote yourself and give you something more to blog about. This will help you grow into what you want to see in the world – selflessness, sharing, and sympathy.

Other people are not always going to be happy with every choice you make, but even a spouse or parent isn’t the one in charge of your happiness and pride – they are there to encourage that behavior and share it with you. No matter your choice – don’t disappoint yourself or have regrets. Learn from it all and move on. Others might not always be able to be there for you so stay positive and be there for yourself.

I learned that it’s important to have goals, but not necessarily stick to them. It’s like taking multiple trails to the same peak – the view is the same at the top, but the markers along the way kept you from getting lost. I thought I might be disappointed in not reaching all my New Years resolutions, but I have to give myself credit for trying. I learned more about what I like – blogging and hiking, and that I didn’t set a goal to accomplish either.

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Can You Do Me a Favor?

Posted on December 1, 2012 by TheJessicaness
Tracks: Earth and Sky

Tracks: Earth and Sky

My dad asked if I could watch Sonal’s store, Indo-Euro Foods, while she attends her daughter’s wedding and he goes to Hawaii to await the end of the world. I said I could. I drove home Nov. 26th with the plans to return on the 5th for training before they both leave the second week of Dec. I worked at 7-11 before so I know how to use a register. My biggest issue will be learning the different names of foods and knowing where they are on the shelf or if they are sold in the store.

Riverside Park, Yuma

Riverside Park, Yuma

Watching the store will be a great distraction from missing Caleb (or so he says), a selfless act, and an opportunity to learn more about another culture. I will get to listen to their music all day, discuss movies with people who rent them and watch some myself, and learn about new foods and making recipes. I will learn about their religious beliefs and marriage rituals. I will learn about their tight family structure and support and compare it to the, “it’s their life to screw up” mindset of American families.

sunset in paradise

sunset in paradise

Most customers know Sonal and know that my dad usually watches the store, so they should be considerate of what I do know about the store. I’ve been warned that some may ask if I’m Indian; if I work there; and if so, was there was a change in management. Some customers will be kind and helpful. Others will treat me poorly with bad manners. I look forward to trying something different and learning something new. Some will be great conversationalist’s in the non-rushed setting of a family owned business and one will neither speak English or Hindi – I’m ready!

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Laying Here

Posted on November 30, 2012 by TheJessicaness

novref

As we lay here you tell me I’ve been forgotten; your story rewritten and my chapter erased. You no longer need my bittersweet taste. I didn’t mean to treat you so harshly, but what are feelings if not just emotions that get in the way. We are all animalistic in the search for food, companionship, and warmth. A cruel society makes us change our moods.

One is quicker to judge and trip a fellow traveller than to allow them their rights to take the path just as equally walked upon as both sides have been explored generations before we were even thought of. I don’t think it’s so much right and wrong as it is cruel and kind. We all have our own truths and they are what we wake up to every morning and our parting thoughts with our brain nearing the hours of unconsciousness ahead.

Can we not agree to remember the good and move in a positive direction building up happiness over the emotional drains of past times. We should not be so quick as to steal someone’s shoes – we have no idea the places they’ve been. When at the end of your rope who do you see at the other end? Are they pulling for you or dropping the line? Whether one life or many we are building blocks of what’s to come.

Somehow we have removed the closeness out of our families. We are quick to make our children move out without teaching them about taxes, insurance, and heart-break. They know nothing of job loss, mortgages, and real sex. How are they to become worthy if they just follow your steps instead of improving on love, preservation, and evolution?

Laying here… remembering a time when I used to write my notes on paper, but typing helps me save trees, water, ink, etc. I am fighting sleep. I finished surfing the internet. I read my last page in my current book. I walked the dogs today, but not far. I still haven’t tried my new yoga video. I want to talk to you. I know that’s what I miss.

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Arrival in Terminal Two

Posted on November 26, 2012 by TheJessicaness

Wake up, eat banana, drive to Grandma’s, eat sweets and kiwi, ride to airport, pick up Dad and Caroline, back to Grandma’s, drive to Dad’s, walk dogs, eat lunch with Brinn and Mary at BJs Restaurant. I had a mini veggie pizza. I would have gone for the nine-inch but it didn’t have wheat crust. We talked for another hour then dropped Caroline off at the house after a stop at Starbucks. Then I had dad and daughter time at the theater watching Cloud Atlas, a great film that I want to watch again to catch more of the details.

We got done with the movie after 9:00 pm and drove by Sonal’s to say hi. When we got home Caroline and I read while my dad checked email and then we went to sleep. It felt too dark when I woke in the morning and there was too much oatmeal in my bowl – not to sound pessimistic. Caleb calls and I talk to him for 40 minutes before he decides to go drink beers with his roommate – so I don’t have to listen to him complain and so that I can spend more time with my dad.

I return inside to the discussion we were having about the future of technology and the possibilities that holds for us as we continue to learn all this new software and keep up with the changes of the old. Caleb texts me when he is done drinking and we Skype each other. He is able to see me but not able to get his video working, so I don’t get to see him this time. We cut the conversation short so that I can still leave before lunch like I planned. I was going to leave at 10:00 am, but didn’t get out of there until 1:00 pm.

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Making Friends

Posted on November 24, 2012 by TheJessicaness

Today was great. I made it to Piestewa Peak early enough to find parking. I ate a banana and made my way to the trailhead. There are rock steps most of the way up the intense vertical climb. The view is amazing and makes it worth the 1.2 miles of sweat this hike will bring. After the hike I drove to the Desert Botanical Garden. Admission was $18 and well worth it. I gave myself three hours because I had lunch plans and the lady at the desk said it takes about an hour and a half. I think after three hours I might’ve seen half the park.

I started out on the small loop to the right and heard live music. I enjoyed the cacti, hummingbirds, and sculptures too. I found the source of the sound with a collection of instruments and while listening made new friends, Kim and Therese. We walked the park together and talked and just got along great. We exchanged information and then went our separate ways. They gave me a list of some places to see while in Phoenix and I’m hoping to come back and see it with them.

I was feeling sweaty and wanted a shower before lunch. Caleb called me on the way home and it felt great to tell him about my morning. He had some schedule changes on his side of the world that may affect our communication for a bit, but I’m happy with what we get. I cleaned up and jumped in the car. Lunch was moved from 2:00 pm to 1:30 pm and I made it to California Pizza Kitchen in Tempe Marketplace at 1:40. Grandma and I had the spinach and artichoke pizza, and Amanda had the chimichurri chicken. We split a salted caramel pudding dessert and made it to the theater in plenty of time for Lincoln.

The movie started at 3:15 and is a two and a half hour film. When we first sat down the theater wasn’t that full, but by the start of the movie groups of people were scattered throughout in single seats to watch what they paid for. I didn’t know what to expect going in, but it’s a great biography of President Lincoln’s life. He seemed like a guy that I would want to be friends with or work for. The actor, Daniel Day-Lewis, that portrayed him did wonders. We could use another president with a beard and top hat.

dessert from CPK

After the movie we drove to Grandma’s to say good night and then I followed Amanda to her house and we rode to Tailgaters together. Halfway there Scott calls to let us know that they cancelled trivia night because of the Notre Dame game, but that dinner is on the house because they didn’t call him ahead of time. Amanda and I share a cheese pizza and Scott gets a calzone. I was glad the trivia was cancelled as Scott still had the questions and is more talkative with fewer people. We enjoyed some conversation and then I shared dessert with Amanda. We had warm undercooked cookies with ice cream on top.

Back at the house Amanda’s dogs, Frank and Bella, made friends with me while we talked and looked through her wedding album. Her dress was beautiful and the photos well taken with different lighting and angles. It was after 10:00 pm when I left. I don’t want days like this to end. I got to spend time with family, make new friends, and talk to family far away. I got a call from my dad letting me know his trip was amazing and I called my mom to find out about her holiday events.

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