No way am I getting married without a hair straightener.

Venice has been the city of “Ask and you shall receive” lately it seems. (Also, “be careful what you wish for.”)
First I touched the stone heart of Venice, which is, what I believe, the smallest unknown attraction in the city.  It is said that if you are single and you touch the stone, the city will work it’s magic and find you true love within a year.  There is a longer story about the origin of it here (this is my first time doing a link, so let me know if that doesn't work).  Then a few days later, Laura and I met a guy that we ended up having coffee with.  Long story short, he decided that we were engaged, and now I have been avoiding the area where he said he works and the vaparetto stop where we first met.  Keep in mind, he did not ASK me to marry him, he was just like "And now we are fidanzato" which means engaged. It was a very weird day and I’m not sure there is any social media forum appropriate for this story.  I will just leave you with, Don’t worry, I am being cautious and smart.

Thursday Laura and I went to Murano.  Before I left I have many a conversation with my grandma about buying glass.  They went along these lines:
Me: I really want to get something from Murano.
Grandma: No you don’t.
Me: Yes I do!  Not something big, just a little trinket or something.
Grandma:  You’ll change your mind when you get there and see the prices.  We have a set of glasses from there and they cost too much when I bought it many years ago, now it will really be too much.
Me: Yes, but you bought a set of really nice glasses, all I want is a little something to put on my bookshelf.
Grandma: Ok, we shall see… but you’re not going to want o buy anything.
Well guess what, grams… It wasn’t nearly as bad as you led me to believe.  (Not that I should be surprised.  Basically everything my grandma told me about Venice was a lie.  I have not been robbed, every locale has told me how safe Venice is, there is no violent crime here, and no man has tried to trick or deceive me-at least not convincingly, I realize that maybe I should have put this before the story of my new “fiancé”.  Grandma however tried to tell me that the trickery that the men would try to pull on me would involve telling me I had to carry jugs on my head and then they would put snakes in the jugs.  Why I would ever believe something like that, I am unsure, but alas I promised to stay away from all men who were interested in water transport that didn’t involve the canals.)  We ended up not staying long, but are making plans to go back again soon.  We also want to go to Burano.

Now remember that I had written a post about not knowing how to order food in the grocery store.  Yesterday, we learned this in class!  Our whole lesson with Marco was about food and ordering it in different stores (ex: supermarket, bakery, butcher).  I am ready to try this again, now!  I will let you all know if I become successful.  Also, Slava and I were trying to decipher a term for weather with him explaining in Ukraini (sp?) and me trying to guess in English.  Then in our lesson with Claudia that day we talked different climates and about exactly what we were trying to figure out.  The word was humid, for those of you who were curious.

Changing the subject just a bit, not everything has been great.
I washed some clothes and my new salmon and blue shirts got runs in the sheer parts.  They are still wearable but still slightly upsetting.
Also, if I thought mosquitos at home loved me, they are getting a run for their money from the mosquitos here.
Then… my hair straightener apprently could not handle the convertor to Italian outlets and has decided that it will only heat to about 10 degrees before shortening out.  So, hopefully Monday we will learn how to say “My hair straightener broke. What is the cheapest one you have?” and also handed a map on where to find a place to buy one here.  I will not make it through the next month and a half without one, I have too much hair for this activity called travel.  Plan B will be to have Laura use her hair dressing knowledge to cut it all off.
Looking back to when I packed for this trip, I also should have been more proactive in planning outfits.  I simultaneously feel like I brought too many clothes and not enough.  This would have been prevented if I brought a few more sweaters, I could have cut a few of the shirts and had a good deal more outfits.  The silver lining to the last few of these things is that I will have less to pack up in my suitcase to bring home.  I will ship some clothes home before I agree to cart around my suitcase if it weighs as much as it did on my trip here.

Maybe today I will check postage prices.

What's harder? Trying to make a joke or buying food.

I have a new respect for how my grandparents and other immigrants learned to speak English.  It is one thing to learn a language in your native country with a professor who also speaks your native language.  It is a completely different situation to try and learn a language in a foreign country, with a group a people who come from even more different countries, and there is none of your native language spoken during class or while walking around the city.  (Ok, so that last part is a lie, because a lot of people here do speak English, but they are more willing to help you when you speak Italian).

In the class, there is one girl from Spain, two girls from Brazil (one does speak English though, she went to school in Philadelphia), a boy from India, a lady from France, a guy from the Ukraine, and then me and Laura.  There were a few more on the first day but they got moved to the advance level. I have never felt more stupid than I did on that first day of class.  It seemed like everyone else was following along perfectly, and I was sitting there trying to copy off Laura just to see what it was we were supposed to do.  It was rough.  I don’t remember a lot from the movie Lost in Translation, but I’m pretty sure I can now relate to Bill Murray.

After class we met Karan, one of the students who got moved to the advanced level.  He has become a savior to Laura and I.  He has been studying Italian for 5 years and it fluent, and he is from England so it is amazing for us when we want to know how to translate things.  Tomorrow he leaves, and Laura and I will have to fend for ourselves again.

However, it has been a week now (I am writing this on Friday) and I feel a lot better about speaking.  The one thing I will say about this class though, is that while we see some new vocab when we do worksheets, I don’t feel like I am incorporating it into my knowledge base.  We are reviewing a lot of grammar but without words to use, what is the point?  The best way to improve is to get out and use it, right?  So that’s what we are doing.

Monday night, Karan, Laura, and I were going to see The Great Gatsby in Italian, but then Laura didn’t think she would make it to the vaparetto (water bus) in time, so we went to grab a drink instead.  We ended up meeting a couple locals and spending some time talking to them.  The woman had studied in New York for her Master’s, so while she did mostly speak to us in Italian, she was also able to speak in English when we would get stuck.

Wednesday morning Laura and I tried to get me hooked up with WiFi for the apartment, and get Laura a phone.  Neither one of them came about as we thought they would.  The guy in the store did not know what I was talking about when I relayed the message Rita told me in order to get myself set up and the phone guy needed Laura’s passport in order to set her up which she did not have.  We did however get to a cafe with WiFi and that was when I uploaded my last post.

Yesterday morning I FINALLY made it to the grocery store!!  This was so exciting for me…until I got there.  Buying dry food and food off the shelves is the same anywhere, but the problems I had where more so like “Where did everyone get the carts and baskets?” “How do I buy fresh mozzarella/seafood/chicken from the counter?” “What is the difference in these milk containers? Do they have 2%, skim, and whole?  This one has a baby on it and this one has a woman on it, but the words are all the same…what does that mean?”  These are all thoughts I had but could not even begin to communicate.  I found the carts on my own, I chose a milk that didn’t have any picture on it and it tastes fine, just slightly different than 2%, and I forfeited the idea of getting fresh food from the counter.  I will leave that adventure for another day.

((I have started to make a list of small goals for my Italian.  They are things like “Becoming fluent enough to be funny.” It is sooo frustrating to me to have a funny thought and not be able to say it because I either don’t know the words or know it won’t translate the same.  Another new goal is “Learn how to obtain all things in a grocery store that I am looking for.”))

Last night, most of us from class were going to go out together, but it was raining and one of the girls lost her bus ticket, so a few people bailed.  It ended up just being Karan, Laura, Sanchit (India), Slava (Ukraine), and I who got together.  I had a great time!  It was one of the bigger tests of Italian that I have felt in all of my studying. Sanchit speaks English really well, and Slava knows more English than he thinks, but it was still easier to speak Italian and harder to communicate, if that makes sense.  Italian was easier because it is our common base, but harder because I always want to default into English.  Between the five of us though, we made it work.  As we parted ways for the evening, Slava and I headed towards Piazza Roma so he could catch his bus and I the vaparetto towards where I live.  This is where I am really proud of myself (and Slava), because without help we were able to discuss how we were both trying to study in Florence, what we wanted to do, and the problems that we faced in getting to do so.  At the bar, we had also been able to discuss what we had previously studied and where we worked.

Today, I was supposed to try and meet up with Laura and Karan again, but I don’t know if my texts are going through. They haven’t responded in a way that makes me think they are receiving what I am saying.  So instead, I am typing this up.  Now I must leave to go to class, and see what is going on with mine and Laura’s phones.

Saturday morning addition:
Laura and I figured out how to make our phones work!!  Success!  I ended up not being able to meet up with Karan and Laura yesterday because our phones refused to contact each other.  After class, the same five of us went out again and I really feel like A. I have made some great new friends and B. that I am really starting to think in Italian. You can add to my list of little goals: “To have a dream in Italian.” “To think in Italian without having to do the full translation part of it”

Over the past week some things have happened to me that I find super exciting, but I am sure no one else would be as amused.  The first is that I get sooooo excited when other tourists think I am a locale.  I have finally figured out some of the roads and the vaparetto system, or at the very least, the main ways to get places.  One night this week, I got stopped by a family from Malaysia because they were lost and trying to find the train station.  I was able to lead them to where they needed to go (not too hard since I was headed in the same direction) and we got to talking.  They spoke some English and kept asking me questions like “Oh, you are a student?  We thought you lived here!  How long are you here for?” “What are you studying?” “Why did you want to study Italian?”  It was weird because I heard myself start speaking English as if it wasn’t my native language.  I was speaking broken English as if I was Italian trying to speak English.  Also, I kept responding in Italian when they would ask me a question.  It was both exciting and weird.  Exciting that for once I was defaulting to Italian, but weird because they didn’t speak Italian and actually wanted me to speak English.

I have also helped a few people figure out which vaparetto stop they needed, how to avoid the street merchants that will literally stalk you if you make eye contact or show any interest in what they are selling, and how when ordering food there is a difference in price when you order at the counter than when you sit down.

That is all for now, as I need to use my computer to look up train tickets for weekend trips and other exciting things before my battery dies.  Also, I PROMISE to post pictures soon.  I just haven't taken that many yet. Ciao!

Two Blocks Away And Not A Clue To Be Had

(Disclaimer: I do not have Wi-Fi at the moment in the apartment so I will not be able to update every day.  Also since classes do not start until tomorrow, I do not know if I will even have time to update everyday…or that people will care.)

So just how yesterday 5 hours was not enough to check in and get back to the hotel, waking up at 6 was not enough time to get to Venice by 10.  It is things like that that make me wonder why people love having to rely on public transportation.  Also, small adventure was no one yesterday informing Laura and I that no place will be open to buy bus tickets on Sunday.  Luckily there was ONE place (with a One Direction poster in the window) that was open that sold them.  So we made it to the city around 10:30 and then took almost another hour to figure out our water bus tickets.

Things I read about Venice: “You will get lost.” “If you come across something you like, get it then because you will not find it again.” “Embrace being lost.”

Things I did NOT read about Venice, but found out: “The reason you will get lost is because the street names are freaking ridiculous and not always available.” “Long roads will not tell you what they are, except maybe once.” “The words ‘Dov’e’ Piazza Roma?’ will become your mantra. If you can get back there, you will PROBABLY be able to find where you need to be.” “The reason you can embrace being lost is because there is same things on every road: Venetian masks, men selling bags, gelato, pizza, and tobacco shops (oh yeah, because Italy apparently didn’t get the memo in the 50’s that smoking kills).”

So Laura and I split up to go to our apartments because at this point we were both later than we said we would be.  Though I probably didn’t need to get a water bus ticket, I am glad I did.  It was like a tour without knowing what you were looking at, haha.  Don’t worry, I made up my own facts about things.  Really though, if you want to get some good pictures, just buy a water bus ticket for 7 Euro, it is good for 12 hours and just hop from line to line and take some pictures.  I feel like I might do that one day.  I have to embrace being a tourist at some point.  Since I have a bit of time, I wanted to get my feet under me first, or at the very least not be carrying 80 pounds of luggage with me.

So I got on my water bus and rode it for a few stops.  So everything I just said about being dependent on public transportation…yea, I TOTALLY get the water buses.  They are pretty cool.  And since there are no cars at all, these are actually very necessary.  I got off at the correct stop and realized that there was all of 5 people around.  Thankfully one was an old lady who saw me looking around and offered to help me.  I worked my way through some small streets and emerged on a hustling and bustling road (which was NOT labeled).  I guessed which road it was only because there is only one big road in that area.

Now it was time to guess, right or left. I took a glance at my map, had no idea what it was saying, and chose left.  After walking for a while, I found a new street name, tried to find it on the map, still couldn’t find it and then asked someone what road we were on and where I needed to go. Turns out, I should have chosen right. So I turned around, walked for a little bit more, realized I was getting no where and called Signora Nicosia, my hostess.  I named a few things around me and she said to stay put and she would come get me.

I was literally around the corner from the apartment and had no idea!!!  Hence the name of this post.
I cannot tell you how much of a relief is to have moved in and unpacked my suitcase.  I do not have to worry about it for another 27 days!  Between that and a nice relaxing shower and a nap, I felt so relaxed and ready to face the day.  I set off to meet Laura and find the school.  If I thought finding the apartment was hard, finding the school was 10 times worse because I didn’t have a safety net of someone to call to figure it out.  I knew roughly where to go, though we shall see tomorrow if I remember the way to the square again.  The good news is I was only carrying about 4 pounds of things, and therefore significantly less irritable.  The school’s sign could not be any smaller and after walking around a residential area and consulting two maps, I did a double take on a building I had already passed twice and saw the tiny plaque.

While I was waiting for Laura, I found a book store!  I think before I can buy things though, I either need to find a post office to ship things home or decide what I can ditch.  I also found out that there is a small bar right outside the gate to the school and a gelato place close by.  The whole area is basically a row of bars and restaurants nicknamed University Square because it’s where all the college kids hang out.  It is also where apparently all Venetian kids try to live out their life goal of catching a pigeon.
Laura and I had dinner at the bar just outside the school and followed with gelato.  My first gelato of the trip! Then we walked around a bit because Laura thought we could see her place from the island. Surprise, surprise…we didn’t actually know how to get to where we needed to be.  The view was nice though.  Once I get a chance, I would like to revisit that area and see what else there is.  We parted ways again and the walk home only took me half as long as the walk there.  More surprising and exciting is that I found it on my first try!!  I also never thought I would say this, but thank you mom for making me pack that super bright flashlight.  Once I got into the building, there were no lights that I could find and I definitely had to pee and did not want to waste time trying to figure out the stairs in the pitch black.


((I know I am posting this a few days late, so I have another post I am working on about my first few days of class.  I am going to try to post as much and as often as I can more for myself so I can reread this later and remember small details.))

Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore...

Buongiorno!

After a morning of packing, repacking, weighing, repacking, ditching items, reweighing, and double checking size and weight limits I was ready to go.  You would think having an extra 16 pounds to play with by not flying out of Metro would be a blessing, but that is not necessarily the case.  You still have to fit every thing INTO the size limit and remember that you are going to a city where you do not have taxis or cars to transport your luggage.  I still channeled my inner Tim Gunn and Made It Work with enough room to fit my new Red Wings gnome (look forward to that series of pictures!).

Now let me start my records of my Italian adventure by just saying: the Toronto airport is harder to navigate than the staircase in Harry Potter.  Well, not the airport itself.  Once you are inside, it is easy breezy beautiful, CoverGirl.  But the drive to the terminal might as well have David Bowie as a guide.  It took several turns, asking a man who did not speak English, and a waitress to get us where we needed to go.

Our flight had some more turbulence than I would have liked, but nothing too terrible.  I originally had my row all to myself, but they moved a lady into the other aisle seat.  Not that I am complaining because I was still able to lay down in the fetal position and catch some zzz’s.  Though, did you know that babies can cry for almost 8 hours straight.  I do now. 

From the airport, Laura and I had almost 4 hours to get to the hotel, check in, and then get to the island to meet my hostess so that I could get my keys.  Yeaaa…that apparently was not enough time.  First off, the first bus we were supposed to take barely stopped at the airport. As in, they pulled up, stopped, we stood up, and it drove away.  So we had to wait for another hour to catch it on the next loop around.  Then we got to the second bus stop and I mistakenly put us on the right bus number, but going the opposite direction.  I was just in a panic because I didn’t want to waste another hour waiting for it to come back again.  However, since we were only a handful of stops away from where we needed to be, we had to now ride the bus alllllll the way to the end and back again. Oh, and of course sitting in front of me for a while was a kid wearing a Blackhawks hat. Whatever, GO WINGS!! Beat them tonight!

Now, almost 24 hours from when this adventure started in my driveway, we are in the hotel, I’ve made contact with my hostess (oh yea, I had been trying to call her but stupidly added numbers to their already 20 digit phone number so I felt bad about that), and we are going to grab some food and rest.  Tomorrow we head to the island.  I can’t wait to get this suitcase into the apartment and not have to worry about it for 24 days.

I may also start searching for some flat rate postage boxes to get some of this home.  I do not want to deal with this much stuff again.

Ciao!

An Anti-Anti-Valentine's Day Ramble From A Single Gal

Hello. My name is Marcie and I do not have a date for Valentine's Day.  WAIT, don't leave!!!  This is not an anti-V-Day post.  This is all about how love was prevalent in my life today without being in a relationship.  Too easily do I think people focus on one kind of love today.  Just because you do not have a significant other does not mean you are unloved or can't celebrate this holiday.

I started out this day by going to nanny.  This is a typical Thursday morning activity, but today was different because Melissa (mom) was home with us.  She had some stuff to take care of at home and was helping out with the oldest's class party today.  It is no secret that I do not want kids, but it was really special to see the love between mother and daughters today.  There were moments that I observed where my thoughts were literally, "These will be memories that those girls will have in 10-20-40 years.  Sitting at breakfast, using a chocolate lollipop as a microphone, singing to a fun song over and over while laughing."  Love.

Then I spent the next few hours focusing on the person who needs to most love in my life... me.  You cannot love others until you love yourself.  Here is where I also come clean about something that I have been purposefully not sharing for the past month and a half.  I made a New Year's Resolution.  I know, you are all shocked.  More shocking (you may need to sit down for this) is that I have kept it.  I resolved to work out in some capacity every day in 2013.  Well, I had a REALLY good January and first half of February but the past couple days have been a ride on the struggle bus and I needed a reboost of motivation.  I treated myself to a coffee (I rarely have caffeine anymore) while I did some Italian homework and then I went shopping.  I hate shopping but I had to see that my hard work was paying off. And it is!  I have been walking around with baggy pants for a while but I didn't realize the extent of it until I walked out of DEB with pants that were TWO SIZES smaller than the ones I wore in.  Just in case you didn't catch that, that is TWO SIZES in ONE MONTH of work.  Now I know it will not continue at this pace, but it was the push I needed.  I went to the gym and had a great workout.  Love.

Then I spent some time with my family.  I had a long conversation with one of my mom's cousins, I ate dinners with grandma, watched tv with my dog, and got to see my mom for a bit (she's been really busy for the past couple months).  Love.

Oh, and I also mailed out some valentines.  I found some great valentines from a while ago (I don't want to say anything more until they reach their destinations-hopefully Saturday) and I mailed them to a few people who I thought would really appreciate them the most.  I also received some awesome virtual valentines which brought great joy to my day and I am still smiling about them.  I love that people know me so well and send me interest-related things.  Some of the greatest love comes from those whose love comes freely with no reserve.  Love.

This was my love story for today.  It was greater than any novel or movie I could have wrapped myself up into today.  What did you do?



P.S. I will still call it Single Awareness Day, but I refuse to be glum about it!

P.P.S. Here are some baked goods I have made over the past week to prepare for today.

10 lists of almost 12 from TwentyTwelve

This was supposed to be 20 lists of 12 but that was really hard.  Now it is 10 lists of almost 12. I will say that if I am alive in 2101 (as a robot, obvi), it will be so much easier to list 1 items in 21 categories.

1. Top Life Events

• Seeing Railsplitter at ACTF
• Going to my first (and second and third) Red Wings game ever!
• Commune with Sarah, Becky, and Emily
• Working the Fireworks with TPC
• Erin's Wedding and seeing a ton of my friends
• Taking a cake decorating class and making a decision to try and get into a pastry program
• The pirate water balloon fight on my 23rd birthday
• Taking an Italian class and feeling like I understood a foreign language for the first time in my life!
• Visiting Anna at NIU
• Tigers going to the World Series
• Go Curling for the first time!
• Not attending a single funeral all year (This is huge for me)

2. Songs I Became Obsessed With

• Andy Grammar - Fine By Me
• Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe
• Taylor Swift - Treacherous
• Victorious - Take A Hint
• Natalia Kills - Wonderland
• Jana Kramer - Why Ya Wanna
• Casey Abrams - A Boy Can Dream
• Phillip Phillips - Gone, Gone, Gone
• Hunter Hayes - Everybody's Got Somebody But Me
• Robyn - Call Your Girlfriend
• Raelynn - Boyfriend
• Wonderland - Don't Want To Fall In Love

3. Shows I Followed (Not necessarily shows that I STARTED watching)

• Pretty Little Liars
• How I Met Your Mother
• Big Bang Theory
• Real World: St. Thomas
• Dance Moms
• The Challenge: Battle Of The Seasons
• Big Rich Texas
• Project Runway Allstars
• Bunheads
• New Girl
• Once Upon A Time*
• Chicago Fire*

*The whole season is sitting in my DVR waiting for me, so I am way behind


4. Entire Albums That I Can't Stop Listening To

• Phillip Phillips - The World From The Side Of The Moon
• Taylor Swift - Red
• Casey Abrams - Casey Abrams
• Hunter Hayes - Hunter Hayes
• Wonderland The Musical

I'll be honest, these are the only full albums I have recently

5. Saddest Moments

• Tigers being swept in the world series
• NHL Lockout
• Finding out Toby was part of the A-Team (PLL)
• Ending up in the ER in August for stomach pain and still having no answers
• Getting my first (and second) IV
• Having to leave The Parade Company
• Not seeing a single performance at Carthage

6. Tweets I Favorited

• @carthagecollege: Congratulations to Carthage alumna Laura Kaeppeler, '10, Miss America 2012!
• @noahg89: @ohswan , @chelsowicz went on pintrest. I saw red wings photos and knew they were from you
• @MJCarrier: Instead of getting autographs from celebrities, I'm going to get them to sign prewritten Letters of Recommendation.
• @chris_manzo: It's not editing, they just scream "bleep" every time they are mad.#rhonj
• @lucyhale: Just caught @IANMHARDING singing @taylorswift13 no big deal
• @HonestToddler: Date night is rude and thoughtless. Why are they still dating? Are they undecided?
• @HonestToddler: Mommy just told the baby and his mom my name, age, and favorite games like identify theft isn't a thing.
• @OhSwan: Me: " Doesn't Lochte have beautiful eyes, grandma?" Grandma: "I think he's beautiful all over." #rockongrandma #teamlochte (Yes, I did favorite myself)
• @Efergz: "Libertarian: is that just a Hillsdale invention?"
• @grden_of_eden: How do we get Eminem to rap America the Beautiful during the World
• Series? #debate2012
• @bexmoy: Live every week like it's mouse week.
• @bexmoy: ABC Family is FINALLY doing Harry Potter week instead of weekend!

7. Things I Have Learned About Myself (Good and Bad)

• I am a good worker.  This is my second job that I have had since graduation that I was hired on for a season and asked to stay on.
• I have hoarding tendencies.  Cleaning my room really forced me to face this reality.  I am not holding on to trash, but I have a hard time throwing things away if they are in good condition even if I will never use them.  I am working on this though and have just thrown out/sold/given away a ton of crap.
• I fail without structure in my life.  If I feel like I have an open schedule I will dawdle all day. If I can plan out my week I get so much done.
• I need to update my wardrobe.  When I dress more adult, I feel more adult and I act more responsible.  It is hard for me to find strength in my life when I am wearing the boxers and tank I just slept in.
• I need to separate the "I need"s from the "I want"s.  (I.e. "I need to move out" versus "I want to move out".)
• That being said...I need to move out.  However, maybe I don't need to move out quite as soon as I would want to.

8. Books I Read (For The First Time) and How I Rate Them

• Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin (3/5) It was very interesting to read about the sad and serious past of such a funny person.  It is really interesting to hear her blatantly talk about she would do anything to be famous, and she basically did.
• Wife By Wednesday - Catherine Bybee (3/5) Good quick read, but not too much to the plot.
• The Back Door Of Midnight - Elizabeth Chandler (4/5) I love this "series" and this author. The books in the series are only connected by the location, and I started reading them in like middle school.  They still hold my attention and I still go back to read them
• A Hopeless Romantic - Harriet Evans (2/5) This book is told in three parts and only the middle part was interesting.  
• The American Heiress - Daisy Goodwin (2+/5) This was a really long book, and I am giving it a 2 out of 5 because I can only really remember like 2 things in it.  I gave it the + because something must have kept me reading but I would need to reread it to figure it out.
• The Fault In Our Stars - John Green (5/5) Amazing!  This was a suggestion from a friend on one of my Facebook statuses and I was not disappointed.  It was not a sad cancer book, but I did cry through the last 50 pages.  I finished it and could not read anything else for a week because I just wanted to hold onto those characters and their stories.
• The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service - Beth Kendrick (3/5) It was good story of a woman rediscovering herself after a failed relationship, but not great.
• Stay - Allie Larkin (5/5) If you want a book that is based around a dog, I would choose this one over #7. Super sweet and funny.
• Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern (4.5/5) This was another FB suggestion.  It would get a 5/5 for description, originality, and mystery, however...it started off slow and did have moments where it dragged a bit.  Still a really good read if you like to read.
• The Boy Who Sneaks In My Bedroom Window - Kristy Moseley (1/5) AWFUL!  You would think I would learn my lesson with self-published books.  This was a book that makes me sad because the idea behind it could be a really good book, but the execution was not there.  It had to have been written by a teenager.  I'll leave it at that.
• City of Bones/Ashes/Glass/Fall Angels/Lost Souls and Clockwork Angel/Prince - Cassandra Clare (5/5) This series is really good!  If you liked Hunger Games and YA books, this could be right up your alley.  I liked the Clockwork prequels better, but all are good.  The final books in both series are coming out in 2013, and COB is going to be a movie as well (get ready for like a 15 movie series).

9.  Quotes From Some Of Those Books

• "One must always be careful of books," said Tessa, "and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us." (Clockwork Angel)
• "Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry," said Tessa, determined not to let him run wildly off with conversation. (Clockwork Angel)
• "They were only cogs," he said softly. "Only gears. Harmless."/It was Henry, to Charlotte's surprise, who replied, with-out turning, "Inanimate objects are harmless indeed, Mr. Mortmain.  But one cannot always say the same of the men who use them." (Clockwork Angel)
• "He always says exactly what comes into his head. No filters."/"Filters are for cigarettes and coffee," Simon muttered under his breath as they went inside. (City of Bones)
• "But isn't that what love is, Clarissa? Ownership? 'I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine,' as the Song of Songs goes."/"No. And don't quote the Bible at me.  I don't think you get it." (City of Angels)
• The benefit of being in love with someone who was with someone else was that I never had to honestly face him with all those feelings.  They were hidden and secret and protected. (Stay)
• "I love things that are beautiful when you don't expect them to be."/"Like what?" He asked softly./"Oil rainbows on the road. Rain on a car windshield at night." (The Back Door Of Midnight)

10. Blog Posts I Hope To Get Out Early in 2013

• Society Has Made Christmas An Egotistical Holiday
• Growing Up Is A Team Effort
• Why I Am Not Like Most Females/Why I Don't Want To Be A Mom
• How To Talk Like An Italian

I'm going to try and be more dedicated to this blog in 2013.

Politics Is Not My Cup of American Tea.

It's no secret that I am not political.  I actually try really hard not to discuss politics with people (as made evident to me again when I was going through several "Who is your political match?" quizzes with my mom discussing several issues). I also want everyone to know that in no way am I trying to negate the real issues in our country that we do vote for.  That being said, here is a list of things that I think SHOULD have also been on the 2012 Ballot.

-When should we fire Gary Bettman: today or at 12:01 tomorrow? The question is when, not should we.  The answer to that is clearly "yes" if you are a hockey fan.  I just don't feel like he cares/cared about what happened to this season. He waited too long to start discussions even though he knew the current contract was ending.

-How many times a month those sad, ruin-your-whole-day Sarah McLachlan SPCA commercials are played. Self explanatory. My vote is 3-4.

-What time of night horror movie previews should stop being shown.  Nothing like getting all snuggly in your bed when a commercial for Terrifying Monsters From The Doom Return To Eat Your Jugular Part 4 comes on and the next thing you know it is 4 hours later and you are still awake.  I would even settle for a Parental Control that just gives me a black screen during these commercials.

-Can we still bring back Firefly?  I know it's been 3,609 days since the last episode aired on TV, but I think we should all vote whether or not to pull all the characters off of their current projects and reunite them. I mean, the show takes place in space, they could totally have gone through some space-time continuum thing to explain this delay, right? (Note: I do not actually know what a STC does. It just sounded right.)

-Which state me and all my friends get to live in.  I miss all my friends in other states. A LOT!  So I want everyone I know to move closer together.  Everyone start preparing your arguments for whichever state you want to back. We will reconvene at a later date.

-How many phone calls you are allowed to receive from political candidates. It is voting day and we are still getting them!  I love robots more than most, but most people I know don't even listen to the messages anyway.  If a real person calls me that I can question about a candidate, ok, but if it is just a recording telling me to vote for someone...no thank you.

-When stores are allowed to start playing Christmas music.  Personally, the only Christmas music that I truly like is the 90's throwback to Destiny's Child's and NSYNC's CDs (8 Days of Christmas and Kiss Me At Midnight, yes please!) but beyond that I will listen to it Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  I know that is unrealistic for everyone else, but can we vote to at least wait until after Thanksgiving!  Let's respect all Holidays, people.

-Should Valverde be allowed to come back as a Tiger next season?  I know that some people would probably like to reevaluate Leyland coming back as well.  I personally am ok with him coming back, but we can throw that on the ballot as well if people would like. Really though, we don't need Valverde. (Also, if something has already been published about whether or not he is returning and I missed it, I apologize.)

-What gets to be on our state quarters.  I know they are all out, but I think they should reinstate them and next time the citizens of the state should get to vote how they want their state represented on our currency.

Those are my current thoughts.  If there was something you could put on the ballot, what would it be?