Rear Ending

I was not going to blog about this but then after thinking about it almost all day I decided to. This morning, well more like this afternoon I was in a very minor car accident. No one was seriously injured and neither car was damaged (thank goodness), but I wanted to share the story with you and give you tips on how to be prepared for a minor accident or severe one of this kind. So here is the story:

It was rainy today while I was driving and a large truck that I could not see around was in front of me. The truck moved into the left hand turn lane and when he did that I realized the cars in front of him were 1. stopped 2. a lot closer than I had anticipated, so I slammed on my brakes. Well the brakes locked and I slid into the rear end of a PT Cruiser. I immediately put my flashers on and got out of the car to see if the other driver was okay and to see where there was damage to the cars. When I approached the car, a woman probably in her early thirties was there in panic on the phone already to the police. After making sure she was okay, I got back into my car and waited for the police to arrive. Needless to say since there was absolutely no damage to either us or the cars there was no report to be filed and we were able to go on our happy and safe ways.

The reason I was not going to share this story was because I did not think it was a big deal, but it has been with me all day and the reason is because this was the other woman's as well as my first accident ever. We both were inexperienced, I was able to stay calm but the other woman was not. Since she had never experienced this before she panicked and thought her car was totaled. When the officer had her get out and look at the lack of damage she became calm and realized the major accident she thought she was in was just a very minor one indeed. So again the reason I am posting this is because I have attached a link to ways to handle a fender bender of any kind. If you have never been in an accident please read this to know what to do if you are ever in an accident.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4456432_survive-fender-bender.html

Movie Review: The Soloist

This past Tuesday, I won early screening tickets to see The Soloist starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx and directed by Joe Wright (Atonement). It follows a journalist, Steve Lopez (Downey), for the L.A. Times on his journey of finding short pieces to write. He ends up meeting Nathanial Anthony Ayers Jr. (Foxx) as he is walking around one day in L.A. He listens to his music and learns that Mr. Ayers attended Juilliard. Lopez becomes fascinated with Mr. Ayers and starts writing pieces about him. He also starts learning about his past and how he fell in love with music. Mr. Lopez also starts to learn the Ayers sufferers from schizophrenia and that is why he was never able to graduate or perform his music. Ayers denies his schizophrenia and it only flares up when he is about to perform for an audience or is in an experience where his schizophrenia has heightened in his past. 

The movie portrays the friendship and bond between these two characters and it has a heart felt feeling throughout the movie. It shows the importance of never giving up on someone and always being there just to be a friend. I enjoyed this movie, however I felt that it did drag on a bit. The run time is two hours and the cast is excellent. My favorite scene is when Ayers and Lopez are sitting at a rehearsal for the L.A. Symphony and the movie shows you how Ayers sees the music. It is fascinating. I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.

Miss America

I assume you have been hearing the buzz on the radio, TV, or in the news about Miss California and the way she answered a question during the Miss America Pageant. If not here is a recap: 

Miss California was a contestant for the Miss America Pageant 2009 and was in the top 5 to be chosen. Once the top 5 are chosen they go through a series of questions where judges and the audience can hear their answers. The judges score the contestants based on a points system and the contestant with the highest points wins the crown. When listening to the answers, judges look for articulation and good speaking. When Miss California took the stage to answer questions for the 2009 Miss America Pageant, Perez Hilton, a contest judge, asked her whether or not every state should legalize gay marriage. Miss California, giving her opinion, disagreed and said no. She believed that marriage was a sacred thing between a man and a woman. Perez Hilton later called Miss California a "dumb b***h" and said that she was a disgrace to America and did not deserve the crown because she should not represent America. He also states that her answer cost her the crown.

This to me is interesting because don't we live in a country for the Land of the Free? Doesn't it state in our Constitution's First Amendment that we have a freedom of speech, expression, and religion? So why did her OPINION cost her the crown. Maybe the way she articulated her answer cost her the crown, but to take points away from someone based on her personal opinion is wrong. They took away her freedom of speech and dogged her for not being in the "current times." I think this debacle is a little ridiculous and yes, her answer does not agree with many others but would you have rather had her answer "yes" and then after possibly being crowned Miss America revoke her answer? More people would be outraged and say she is a liar. She was honest and still chose to speak out. Regardless of her answer, either a yes or a no, people would be upset...so take it as you wish but I think she did a great thing for standing up for her belief and being honest. Many girls can now look at her and say, I want to be able to do the same thing. 

Happy Easter

Easter is a holiday that my family and I celebrate every year and I look forward to it. No, it is not on my top list of holidays but it is on my top list of eating during the holiday. After attending sunrise service (which will be blogged about further down in this post) we always eat breakfast casserole. This consists of bread, sausage, a cream of something (I think it is cream of celery), eggs, and cheese. It is so good, I could eat the whole thing! Then our family comes of to our house (perk of having family over, you don't have to go anywhere) and we have a big meal. This year it consisted of ham, cheese potatoes, green beans and ham, chicken noodles, rolls and salad. And of course cannot forget about the deserts, but I don't like pie so I won't talk about them too much. 

Being a Catholic, we attend a Catholic Sunrise Service every year. We go where we are parishioners (sp?) and this year the service was a little blah. Of course the Gospel is always the same but there was no music nor excitement. This is suppose to be one of the most exciting times in our church and there was no excitement at all during the service. I was really disappointed in that. I do not attend mass weekly because I attend a Methodist church on Sunday's, so when the mass was not good, I was really surprised. They used to be glorious services with decorations and loud music but now they are not. I also love to hear the story so I have posted it below here.

The Empty Tomb

John 20:1-9

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead).

Hallmark

In high school, I worked for Hallmark Gold Crown Store and many of my family and friends know that was a perfect job for me. I loved meeting all the customers and talking to our regulars. I also loved helping people pick out gifts that were going to mean something to someone else. My first job at Hallmark ended my junior year when the store I was working for closed. I happened to be walking in another Hallmark store when I heard the owner talking to an employee about how they were hiring and needed to hire more people. I immediately popped up to the counter and asked for an application. I was interviewed and hired on the spot. I was so excited. 

Since going to college, I have not worked at Hallmark, however I still love to go to them. In my county there are not many Hallmark stores left so when I go to when, I spend hours. I love the smell of the Yankee Candles and the neatness of everything. I love looking at the cards and it reminds me of the holidays when people would rush in looking for the perfect-last-minute card. Valentine's day was my favorite. The Hallmark's I worked for typically closed at eight in the evening so on Valentine's Day from 7 pm to 8 pm men would be lined up looking for cards for their wife, daughter, girlfriend, or fiance. My favorite was when I would stand there and a customer would come to me saying "I need a V-day card for my wife, she is not into words and a funny one would be great." I would then grab a card and hand it to the man who would then proceed to check out without reading the card. It always amazed me.

Hallmark is such a great place and they truly have any card for you or occasion. Especially with their different lines and collections. I have even used words from cards to make scrapbook pages. Their gifts are unique and every Hallmark store is different. They always have the typical Willow Tree and Precious Moments, but each carry additional products by either hometown companies or nationwide companies that other stores don't carry.

The reason I am blogging about this, is because I recently was in a Hallmark store and realized how much I miss it. I miss the employees I worked with, the regular customers who grew to be your family, and the new customers that were looking for special gifts. 

Urban Dictionary

I have been meaning to write on here for the past few days, however every time I sit down at the computer I do not have time to delve into a recent event or fun story. With that said more than likely today I will be posting three posts (this being the first). I found this cool note on Facebook titled Urban Dictionary. Curious I looked to see what it contained and wrote one myself. Here is how it works:

Go to UrbanDictionary. com and type in your answer to each question in the search box, then write the FIRST definition it gives you.

1. Your name?
Amanda
- A women named Amanda is typically very beautiful with an incredible body and nice eyes. They are known to be very loveable. Amandas are envied by other women.

2. Your age?
21
-The age at which one is finally considered human.

3. One of your friends?
Maggie
-Commonly used dog's name. If your name is Maggie, chances are every person that ever meets you who happens to have a dog named Maggie (Which will be at least 25% of the people you meet in your life) will immediately reply with, "Oh. My dog's name is Maggie! How cute!" Because they think you A) Care and B) Also think this is "cute".

4. What should you be doing?
Reading
-rich white town in mass dominated by: 
-soccer mom's stopping in the middle of traffic to give you information about your own family 
-cops who have nothing better to do than find the best places to hide with their radar guns 
-the boy's hockey team and football team 
-teenagers who buy shitty overpriced pot using their parents money 
-golden retrievers

5. Favorite color?
Pink
-A colthing line by Victoria's Secret. It includes Panites, tank tops, shorts, bathing suits etc...

6. Hometown?
Pataskala
-Quite possibly the worse place on earth. It used to be quite a cute little country town, but it has been run to hell by a new breed we call Rich white trash. The pretend to be poor and ghetto, but mommy and daddy really pay for them to dress head to toe in Urban Styles. It's 20 miles away from columbus, and the high school is called Watkins Memorial. The only ones who love pataskala are the alumni of WMHS who dropped out of College and can't make any new friends outside of their little circle.

7. Month of your birthday?
July
-A month when mostly the hottest girls are born

8. Last person you talked to?
Mom
-The woman who loves you unconditionally from birth, the one who puts her kids before herself and the one who you can always count on above everyone else. 

Just telling her your problems makes you feel better because mom's always know how to make it all go away. 

9. Where are you right now?
Dorm
-a bedroom, living room, and kitchen in a space about the size of most walk-in closets. roommate included free of charge.

10. Your nickname?
Peanut
-A cute person, used as a nickname to show affection

**Some of the first entries were inappropriate so I went with the 2nd choice :)

Relay for Life

Today is the Relay for Life on Campus. It is going to be an exciting event and I love participating in the event. I have my own team this year and even though we did not get the numbers we thought we would we are small, but mighty. I only have two other team members, not including myself, but we are excited and we have almost reached our fundraising goal of $500.00.

The Relay for Life is an important event for me considering that I know many people who have survived or passed away from cancer. One person in particular that I relay for is my Uncle. I have been participating in Relay for Life since I was a sophomore in high school and it means a lot to see friends come together for a great cause of raising money and having a great time.

If you have never heard of Relay for Life, it American Cancer Society's biggest fundraising event. It takes place all over the United States and it brings communities together. The Relay for Life is typically 18-25 hours long (depending on the size) and has teams of typically ten raise money and walk around a track. One person from each team is constantly on the track for the total time of the relay. Great music, fun activities, and food are also apart of this event. Relay for Life also has some meaningful activities as well. The first lap at relay is started by survivors from the community so that we can honor them for their battle against cancer. Another meaningful event that takes place in the evening is the Luminaria ceremony. This is where luminaries with names of individuals who have survived or passed away from cancer are remembered. This lap is done in silence so those can be remembered or honored for what they have been through.

If you have not participated in a Relay for Life event, I really encourage you to find one around you community and become a part of it. Even the smallest amount helps. Take my team for example, we have three people and have raised almost $500.oo.

Check back here in a couple of weeks as well to learn about another event I take place in. April tends to be my service month for organizations such as the American Cancer Society and Autism Speaks.

World Autism Awareness Day

Today, April 2nd, is World Autism Awareness Day. This day in many countries, including the United States, programs are being sponsored by companies to encourage everyone to learn about autism and to help raise money to find a cure. Autism is a neurological disorder that last's throughout a person's lifetime. As of today, 1 in 150 individuals will be diagnosed with autism, roughly 67 children are diagnosed daily. That is a really scary statistic and imagine this: more children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes, and cancer combined! As of today there is no medical detection or cure for autism, so a lot of money from families goes toward therapy for their child. Any child could roughly experience anywhere from ten to forty hours a week of therapy. 

I am touched by this due to my niece. She is six years old and at the age of two and a half was diagnosed with autism. She has come a long way in the last three and a half years and we can not only thank that to the people who have helped in her recovery but to organizations like Autism Speaks who are raising funds to not only help families but to also find a cure.

To find out more information please visit the websites:

autismspeaks.org

worldautismawarenessday.org