Adventure #52: The Adventures Don't Stop Here, Y'all

 The LAST one.  Really truly.  And dude--I'm sad.

 

It's been fun sharing who I am from week to week.  Think about it--the one thing that every post has in common is ME.  Others influence posts.  Others give suggestions for posts.  Others take pictures for my posts.  But I have written every single post for one whole year.

 

52 posts.

 

It really does seem like a lot. 

 

In one week, it will have been a full year since I graduated from WMU.  I've been a post-grad for a year.  And next weekend, I'm heading back to celebrate some other graduations...I wonder how that will feel.

 

But yes, yesterday was the final Adventure Day for the blog.  Yes, technically I could write more posts.  Nobody is holding me to the 'one-year' committment, and nobody else has probably kept track of the weeks except for myself.  But despite the enjoyment and satisfaction that I get after I publish each post, it can be a hassle at times when life gets crazy and one just doens't feel the drive to pursue a blog post during the seven consecutive days ahead.  (One might interpret that as laziness, too.  Take it as  you will.)

 

 

I've been silly.  I've been myself.  I've posed.  I've taken pictures of food and things and people.  But more than anything, I've documented my thoughts, my feelings, and my everyday happenings.  It  has often felt like a solo journey through this more-than-ever 'real' world that I've been skipping and tripping through these past 52 weeks.  Some of you have been along for the ride right from day one.  Others have hopped on and off the train of posts to check in with my latest ventures.  And I'm sure there's even a few out there who just recently discovered this gem of a blog all about the quirky Ali P.

 

It really doesn't matter though.  Check out past posts if you choose.  Or just skip over all that and share with me your own blog so that I might be inspired to start a new project in the coming months (grad school IS ahead of me, ya know...).

See the awesome posters to the left?  It was a little project that I contributed to at the CoFo office yesterday.  I get to volunteer at a basketball tournament at the Boys and Girls Club, and I hear the players are in need of some encouragement during the games.  I certainly want to be apart of that.  Not just for that solitary day on Monday, cheering on some basketball novices, but day to day as a mentor, a role model, a friend.  My career pursuits will probably help guide me along that path, but all of my ambitions aside, there are people in my life who will be sticking around for quite some time, and I hope to attempt some less obvious efforts to keep them going and to help them continue to be successful.  Success is all in an individual's head anyway, so maybe what I really mean, is to just continue being the amazing people who I have known and loved.

 

It's not too specific of a 'future goal' to set for myself, but I have no need for specifics.  The near future seems pretty well laid out in front of my, so for the time being, I think I'll just keep in mind the little things that reall are the big things in life.  I always appreciate having my own personal cheerleaders, too, so feel free to contribute to my cause in a role-reversal of sorts, too.

 

So the Adventure Shoes...what now?  Honestly, I haven't quite decided.  I first got the now-colorful skate shoes back in my early years of high school.  About eight years later, and those shoes are still kicking (haha, a pun!), so I can't see myself getting rid of them any time soon.  I'll wear them on occasion.  Maybe they will strike up a conversation from a stranger from time to time.  When wearing the shoes, I always feel obligated to share their story and how much they have helped me cope from week to week during what has been a year of growth for me.  The shoes have been as much of a coping mechanism as anything else I've had--but I've got to say that certain people have helped me cope with this giant step away from my college years, too.  Coping...yes.  There have been rough weeks when my key motivation has been to have a good, 'adventurous' day, solely for the purpose of being able to share it with others via my blog.  I have a lot to thank those shoes for.  They've helped me 'step' out of my comfort zone (these puns are getting really fun!), they've introduced me to people, and they have made me reflect on my day time and time again.  How often do we just go through a day and then move on to the next?  Adventure Days have consisted of me conciously pausing throughout my day to take pictures and note what it is that is happening and how I'm reacting to it.  I then have to recount all of that in a post that is often being typed up the following day.  Appreciation surfaces.  Reinterpretations formulate.  And often I'm left feeling more satisfied with the past 24 hours than I was initially.

 

 

There they are.  My Adventure Shoes.  If you're ever around, feel free to ask for an introduction.  They are some pretty trusty shoes that have done more for me than I thought was possible when I began this blog one year ago.

 

I would love it if you would share any thoughts you have about this post, past posts, or the blog as a whole.  In fact, feel free to share anything.  I always wonder who my readers have been through all these months, and while I have a vague idea of a few, it's always fun to hear about others who have stopped in for a read from time to time.

 

Thanks for everything.  And now--time for Ali P. to start up on her newest Adventure...

Adventure #51: The Lowest of the Low and the Highest of the High

 

Don't I look so happy and cheery and perky?  Well...I was.  I woke up with a ton of hope on my Tuesday morning.  Not only was the hope filling me up to the brim with good spirit, but I had a full day ahead of me.  Why not have the positive attitude to reflect all that?!

 

Why so hopeful?  A much-awaited doc appointment that I thought would be a cure-all for months of discomfort, frustration, and failed attempts to feel normal again.  I'll just break it to you now:  normalcy didn't return after yesterday morning.  The solution is to delve into the problem further, escalate my stress a bit, and then maybe get somewhere and make a lil headway with figuring out what's wrong.  In the end:  money spent, time off from work reserved, and procedure scheduled for later this month.  Inconvenient?  Yes.  Worth it?  I sure as hell hope so.

 

Wow did I skip things...  Stuff on my mind?  Yep.  One could say that.  So let's continue with my day a little more chronologically (skipping all of the things that I choose to skip).

 

Look at the breakfast gwapes!  Not gween gwapes though!  Purple gwapes!  (Haha, it's ok if you don't understand that tangent...

 

But yeah, I sent out my usual (though never typical or expected in content) text to Brian.  Did I ever mention I'm a morning person/early bird?  And that he's most definitely a night owl?  Hehe, I like using that to my advantage at times--makes for fun/interesting conversations in the A.M.

 

His response (sorry for the blurry-ness!):

 

 

Ominous?  Perhaps. Well-received by Girlfriend Ali?  Of course!

 

More stuff happened.  Yadda yadda yadda.  At work and worked on things.  You know.

 

Eventually I got the above items together in a lovely, organized pile to prep for my visit to Travis High School.  That was an exciting highlight.  I mentally prepared myself to talk about naked roommates, going to class, and not surviving solely on the caf's soft serve ice cream.  I'd say I've learned enough of that stuff in undergrad to pass my knowledge on to the senior class at THS.  (Good conversation did progress from the above topics and many more, thanks to my guide:  The Naked Roommate book by Harlan Cohen.  Worth checking out.  Or buying even.)

 

Before I ACTUALLY left for my adventure back to high school, I was kept pretty busy checking up on students' FAFSA progress.  Remember the FAFSA?  Remember how FUN it is to fill out?  Believe me, I remember--not only do I have to ensure that as many of my 79 students complete THEIR FAFSA, but I had to actually do a FAFSA this year--WHAT.  (Regardless, all I was offered in financial aid as a grad student were loans...  I'm not too keen on taking out any more of those loans though, so those are just gonna sit there unless Ali P gets really desperate...or gets a few more expensive doctor procedures done.  Bleh.)

Now what?  I don't need to go into specifics about much else, I suppose.  I just want to say how glad I am that my horrible morning turned into a decent afternoon and a legitimately fun evening.  My night was definitely enjoyable, being goofy and simply spending time with Brian.  Earlier on in the day, I even got news that a certain Kzoo friend might be able to visit me in May!  I heard awesome positive things about Brian's potential summer job prospects.  I even had a giant slice of my delicious frozen meringue cake--with extra balsalmic strawberry sauce because I'm currently IN LOVE with that stuff.  (And to think that initially I thought that I made it wrong?!  Psh.  What did I know?)

 

 

So.  A day sucks.  You may not be in the mindset of turnng it around.  But just try to be neutral.  Other factors may play their part and make things better than you could have imagined.  Accept what is as fact and don't mull on it.  Life goes on.  Stuff will happen.  It's ultimately your choice to decide how you'll react.  Yes, I reacted negatively at first.  But then I became neutral to it.  No, it's not very fun to be around someone who's just 'going through the motions,' but it's a hell of a lot better than being around someone who is absolutely unbearably upset, mad at life, and in a bad mood.

 

It's your choice.  I was fortuante and thanks to circumstance and some awesome people who care for me a lot, I had a day that progressively got better.

 

At the very least, in my own words:

 

Have a DAY.

 



Adventure #50: What is going on here?

Lately, I've been confused.  Really, honestly confused.  So much in life has me wondering about things bigger than myself, but yet, things that trickle down to my everyday.  While I can't say that yesterday's Adventure Day was completely about my mind's wanderings of late, I've decided to dedicate the entire post to my musings.  Why not?  This is the third-to-last post and my opportunities to share are dwindling (sure, I could keep blogging, but I'm taking a purposeful hiatus, so...yeah).

 

My vagueness has probably left YOU confused now.  Tis ok.  I shall elaborate:

 

THIS...is trash.

 

 

Yep, the above is a lovely photo of mine and Aeryn's community trash can, located in our apartment's kitchen.  Too much info to be sharing with the readers?  I think not.  You decide.

 

Anyway, my point in sharing this is that it exists.  It is varied.  It is colorful.  It is massive.  It actually has MASS.  And that last bit is the problem.

 

See, the existence of our trash simply reminds me that each apartment in our complex has equally large trash cans, if not larger ones.  They get filled just as frequently, if not more frequently because I do all I can to recycle.  Thinking about all that trash then gets me thinking about how many apartment complexes are in Austin, how many 'Austins' could fit in Texas (based on population), and how many Texas's (based on population) could fit in the U.S.  That's A LOT.  That doesn't even take into account large-scale events, especially wasteful people, and BUSINESSES.  Don't even get me started on businesses.  What about wasted food?  There's that, too.

 

It's all so...frustrating.

 

Especially because there's not much I can do.  Where the hell is all of this trash going?  In the ground...in junkyards...it's definitely still stickin around.

 

Not ok.  And what's worse is again, I have no solution right now.

 

Moving on...

 

My socks.  I've had these socks for ages and ages and ages.  They are not necessarily my favorite socks by any means.  They are knee socks and are so bright they hurt your eyes and they are STRIPED.  They have also got to be very thin over the years (notice the hole).  But I can't bear to throw them away because they are still useful.  They serve as a barrier between my feet and my shoes.  They keep the soles of my feet covered when I walk around the apartment.  They also keep my legs warmer when I wear them under a pair of pants.  So many people throw away perfectly good things or don't see the purpose in continuing the use of 'broken' or 'old' or 'outdated' things. 

 

Even if I refused to continue wearing these sockes, I'd try to do something with them.  Pinterest has taught me that everything can be reused, and with the current state of today's world, we need to try for that as much as possible.  (And hey, it's all so much cheaper than buying new anyway.)  We live in a consumer-driven society.  The solution so often is to just throw stuff out and buy new stuff.  At least give stuff away if you can or repurpose stuff.  Or realize that you don't NEED new stuff all the time in the first place.  Maybe some of this is sparked by me being an AmeriCorps volunteer for these past months, but I've always been frugal and thrifty--a trait that I'm proud of, especially as I realize that it's benefitting the environment. 

 

And before all of my readers go out and purchase me some new socks, I'm going to say that I have plenty of funds for plenty of pairs of socks--that is not the point.  If you missed the point, then I'm sorry, that's my best shot at explaining.  (One doesn't even wear socks that often in Austin, Texas--sandals and flip flops are much more common.)

 

Ok, I'll step off my soapbox now.  So many other thoughts have been circling my brain, and I'm such an impatient, get-me-results-now person that I just can't let it go.  Ali Problems.

 

But hey, see all the stuff below?  Would you believe that I carried ALL of it to the College Forward junior class that I subbed for?!  (Minus the boxes in the pic...)  Yep, I'm subbing once a week for awhile in the evenings, but I gotta work out a different system...Ali P. is a weakling.

 

Haha, randomness is my specialty, and that's why you get tidbits like the above.  I hope you enjoyed yet another special edition of:  Skipping & Tripping in Ali's Adventure Shoes.