Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless.

Bill Waterson

image via time.com

Handy

I secretly wish I were more handy. Well not really secretly. I want to some day be able to take on a renovation project in my own house and make it mine. I want to put my blood, sweat and tears into something and make it my own. My father has his work cut out for him teaching me all the necessary things to make this actually happen. For now, I will simply tuck away inspirational images until I actually have a house and I can actually complete these things.


image from coastliving.com

Stuck

I feel like I have sooo many thoughts rattling around in my head, but cannot seem to get them out my mouth. Maybe it is the dusting off of the creativity from 5 weeks off of school or I just have an incredible amount of things going on.

Chapters

You know when you are on the verge of a new chapter in your life? It feels consuming. You try to figure out what you will be facing and where you will be heading next. You anticipate all the things that could happen. But in the end you just don't know. You just need to remind yourself to breath and let life work its magic.

Curiosity

I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother

to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Image via Frodrig's Flickr

The View

Life has taught us that love does not consist of gazing at each other

but in looking outward together in the same direction.

~ Antoine de Saint

Dreams

life is so precious it's as fragile as a dream

and in a moment we all grow our wings

I wish to sing as if no ones listening

I wish to dance as if no ones watching

I wish to dance as if no ones watching

and I, give thanks for my dreams

you can rob me of my sight

and you can poison my bloodstream

but as long as I can dream than life is worth living

Brett Dennen "Nothing Lasts Forever"

picture via toni.r's flickr

Nerd

I have always been somewhat of a nerd. I have always enjoyed school, learning, absorption of new information...Enjoyed is far different from being excited about it. Let's face it, writing a 10 page paper is not something to get excited about. This time around I am excited for school. I am excited to create, to design, and to show off my creations.

Classes started back up yesterday, so there should be more fun stuff coming. So far I know I will be creating a logo and designing a website. I think I have decided on a topic for the website...RhodeTrippen.com. I plan to compile fun road trips in good ole RI. I seem to do this constantly anyways, so I might as well put it to use. Wish me luck...

Free Wheelin

So what does skydiving feel like?

In no way are my words and sad attempt at a description gonna even touch the feeling of it, but when I am 80 I want to be able to look back and laugh at how crazy I once was.

First and foremost I must say that I was extremely calm through the whole situation, which surprised me and made me wonder if there might be some psychologically wrong with me. I was about to jump out of a plane shouldn't I have been panicking? I wasn't. I cracked a joke about jumping out of a plane as we reached 10,000 feet. Maybe I am crazy.

I remember standing at the door of the plane taking one look and then shutting my eyes. For some unknown reason, I couldn't watch as we jumped off. I trusted my barefoot instructor to get us out of the plane safely. Once we started to free fall, I opened my eyes. There was an instant thought of, "Oh no....What did I do?" I lost my stomach a few times as we changed directions. My heart skipped some beats. It was hard to breath. It was hard to grasp what was taking place. And then, it was pure joy. I could not stop saying how awesome it was flying through the sky, looking down on the patchwork world below. I was so utterly happy that I had done it.

The best part is when the parachute opens, well right after. The harness between the legs doesn't feel magnificent when the chute tops. Then, you just glide and look at how amazing the world looks from 14,000 feet minus the distance you free fell. It is something that I will never be able to forget, but never be able to fully put into words. It was amazing!

And I am glad I had someone crazy enough to go with me!

Woohoo

Dream as if you will live forever. Live as if you'll die today.

~ James Dean

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

~ Abraham Lincoln

Big things happening this weekend...Skydiving and Ziplining!

Image via PartyPerfectBlog.blogspot.com

Milestones

Isn't funny how our milestones change drastically throughout or life? As babies, we take our first step, finally toss aside the diapers, and have our first bite of solid food. As teenagers, we have our first kiss, get our license, and more than likely get in our first accident (or a couple?). As adults, we pay things off...a car, student loans, a house, a mattress (yup, I said matress. Depressing I know)...I am sending out my last payment reaching my first adult milestone. I am paying off my first adult purchase...the mini.

My advice to my future child, who more than likely will not listen to me, will be wait to have that brand new spanking dream car. A car really is just a means of transportation. The cheaper car will more than likely get you where you are going just the same with a little more pocket money to spend on the important things.

Anyways, the mini is now mine!

It's Always Necessary

The hairs of our arms touched.

It was late, and we were tired.

We assumed there would be other nights.

Anna's breathing started to slow, but I still wanted to talk.

She rolled onto her side.

I said, I want to tell you something.

I had never told her how much I loved her.

She was my sister.

We slept in the same bed.

There was never a right time to say it.

It was always unnecessary.

There would be other nights.

And how can you say I love you to someone you love?

I rolled onto my side and fell asleep next to her.

Here is the point of everything I have been trying to tell you, Oskar.

It's always necessary.

I love you,

Grandma

Excerpt from Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close By Jonathan Safran Foer

Image from peezeth's flickr

I wanna hold your hand

There is just something about an older couple holding hands that feels so romantic.

"Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why its a comfort to go hand in hand."

Emily Kimbrough

Photo via FRAnCeScA's flickr

Seven Pounds

Last night I watched Seven Pounds. I cried. Not surprising. But what I cannot keep thinking about, how all the characters were sought out because they were good people. Not just good people, but good people when no one was looking. Wouldn't the world be a much better place if people were just good for the sake of being good, in front of people or when no one is looking, no matter what?

In honor of the weather.

Picture via ericwillie's flickr

Plans

I'm not sure why or even how I became a planner, but I am a planner. I feel like I am always looking ahead for the next thing. While this is necessary for certain things in life, I am on occasion bogged down with the thoughts of what can I plan next? I am trying to let go a little. Leave things to the unknown. Think of life as an unexpected adventure. It is more difficult than I have ever imagined.

Ahead

Do you ever wish you could have a brief glimpse into the future? That way you know you are heading on the right track. Or would that ruin the anticipation and fun of not knowing what/who/how things lie ahead?

Home Sweet Home

I will never forget the summer after my first year of college. What I remember is laying in my bed at night and wondering how the noises on Arch Street had never bothered me before. Home felt strange. The crickets that I had never noticed before, now kept me awake for hours.

I am going through this strange experience again, even though I have been living in Gansett for 8 months now. The birds in the morning are relentless. They start at 5:00am. I don't remember this being an issue last time I lived there, but now I just can't seem to ignore it. I wonder if this is because this isn't really my home any more. Am I just restless until I find my home?

Picture via Tipiro's Flickr

Sparklers

I have a fear of sparklers I wish I didn't. I was burned once on the arm through my favorite pajamas. They are the epitome of 4th of July and I am terrified of them.