Movies #9 and #10

Yesterday my younger sister Chandra was off work, so we went to the movies together. We decided to make the most of her day off and we saw two movies: Shrek Forever After and Letters to Juliet.

Shrek was in 3-D, which was fun to watch since this was only the second movie I've seen in 3-D. I can't believe how many movies come out in 3-D these days... it seems like everything is in 3-D! The movie was really good. It wasn't as funny as a couple of the other Shrek movies, but this one had more of a serious plot and story behind it, instead of all funny stuff. I definitely wouldn't say it was better than the first and second Shrek movies, but it definitely was better than the third movie. It was better than I thought it was going to be, so I was pleased.

Letters to Juliet was a sweet, cute romantic comedy. It wasn't fantastic, but it was really cute. I thought it was a little slow, but maybe that's just because I was getting tired. I did manage to stay awake in both movies, though, which is great for me since I often have trouble staying awake in them!

10 movies down and 15 to go. The next movie I want to see is Robin Hood, and I'm hoping to see it in two weeks when my sister Sharon is in town visiting. There are a bunch of other movies that I want to see this summer, but I can't remember the names of them right now. I love movies!

If I could meet you

I often think about what celebrities or famous people I would like to meet if I were ever given the opportunity. I'm not the kind of person who gets starstruck or goes crazy over stars, but I love talking to people (famous or not) to find out what their lives are like, what they've been through and what they've experienced.

My top five people (in no particular) order are:
#1) Kelly Ripa
#2) Anderson Cooper
#3) Oprah Winfrey
#4) Dr. Phil
#5) Elton John

Most people will probably find my list odd, but nonetheless, this is it. I don't know why, but I think these five people are interesting and I would love to be able to just talk with them to find out what their lives are like.

As I already said, I really like talking to people, especially people who live differently than I do. I enjoy listening to what they've been through and I also like telling them about my life. It's also fun to hear true stories about real people on different TV shows like 20/20 and Dateline or shows on TLC. People are so interesting!

What a strange dream!

I had the strangest dream last night that I just had to write about. I dreamt that I went to bed as a 25 year old, and I woke up as a 40 year old. I thought, "I can't believe I'm 40 years old!" (Not that 40 is so old, but aging 15 years overnight is a pretty extreme jump!

Here are a few odd things about my dream:
#1) I wasn't paralyzed. Actually, this isn't so odd because I'm usually not paralyzed in my dreams, but most people find this strange.
#2) In my dream I was sitting in my family room with an interesting makeup of people: my friends Hillarie and Nate, my mom and dad and my two uncles on my mom's side. This was a random group of people since my two uncles live hundreds of miles away and I don't see them very often at all. And most strangely, my dad has been dead for more than 11 years, so it's always interesting when he pops up in my dreams (which happens frequently).
#3) We were just sitting around, not talking, watching the weirdest show on TV -- the old console TV that my dad bought in 1988.

Needless to say, I was relieved to wake up and find that I was 25 again! I don't know what made me dream this -- maybe the fact that my birthday is one month from today or something like that. Who knows!

My new quilt

A few months ago my friend Julie Schenk told me about a quilt she was making and she asked me if I would like it. She didn't have to ask twice because although I have lots of blankets and quilts, I could always use another one. I definitely have more blankets than I need, but I love them and they are so fun to cozy up with.

Julie finished my quilt a couple weeks ago and she decided to mail it to me since she's been out of town. The quilt arrived last week and I couldn't wait to see what it looked like. I told my mom to unfold the quilt and hold it up. I kept my eyes closed while she did this and I told her to tell me when she was holding it up. I opened my eyes and I loved the quilt! I emailed Julie to thank her and I told her that the quilt was, "So me!"

I had my younger sister Chandra take lots of pictures of the quilt, but they definitely don't do it justice because the colors don't look near as bright as they do in person.

This is a picture of the entire quilt:

This is a closer:
In this picture you can see the stitching pattern of the quilting. It's different flowers and swirls:
The next several pictures are extreme close-ups of some of the different fabrics: I love my new quilt and it looks great on my bed!

Graduation

May is the month of high school graduations, and every time another year rolls around I always think about my high school graduation in 2002. I can't believe that it's been eight years since I graduated high school. Although the time seems to have gone quickly, on the other hand, so much has changed in my life in the years since I graduated that it almost seems like a lifetime ago. Isn't it weird how things can seem so long ago and not so long ago at the same time?

When I graduated high school I was still a "normal" person who had endless possibilities ahead of me. I was just beginning to emerge in the world as an adult, and I had my whole life ahead of me. Fast forward eight years down the road and I haven't accomplished any of the things I wanted to. I'm almost 26 years old, unmarried, childless and completely disabled. I have no control over my body and I can't even care for my most basic physical needs. Although I have some college under my belt, I don't have a degree and I will never be able to work or have a career. (Or at least not the career I wanted... nursing.)

However, despite all of the physical changes I've encountered since graduating, I'm still happy and positive. The fact that I'm happy despite not having the life I always thought and expected I'd have is one of my best accomplishments, if not the greatest. I may not have all of the things that I always wanted, but I'm one of the happiest people I know, and I think that's saying a lot since there are so many people in the world who do have "everything," and yet, happiness still evades them.

This is a picture of my mom and me on my graduation day. This is one of my favorite pictures of myself of all time for several reasons. I love the colors because they are so rich and vibrant. I reached a milestone and this picture depicts that. I look happy and beautiful, and most importantly, I'm standing with my best friend.