My "get away" place

Everyone has a place that they go to when they need to escape from their lives for a little while. Actually, I have no idea if everyone has this place, but I would hope so. I don't know what I would do without my escape place. Mine is my family's mountain house that my grandparents/distant relatives own. The house is very old and I have so many memories there from my entire life. It has always been there. The house is on a big hill that overlooks a small lake. It can be very touristy at times, especially around the 4th of July, but it is still as peaceful as I can think of. I am craving this scenery so much right now. Nothing bad is going on in my life. In fact, I may be happier than I have ever been. I still need a break every once in a while, so I go there if I can. I go there and don't think about anything...no heavy burdens, no stress, no annoying people...just me and the house and the lake. I am hoping to be there very soon, if only for a couple of days. I need to breathe the fresh air that Charlotte is not at all capable of providing.

That is the lake. I sincerely hope that it never succumbs to suburbia. This place is almost like a family member. I walk around the trails of the lake, constantly thinking and clearing my head. It is always so comforting and massively refreshing to be there.

You know what I have realized, recently? Dan in Real Life is my absolute favorite movie and this place is why. I don't think my family has ever been as cheerful and drama-free as the family in that movie, but it's close! No one else likes the movie all that much so I kept wondering why I liked it so much. All I could think about was this place. It is such a feel-good-romantic-comedy, which I am all about, so I knew I liked it because of that. But, the family feel in the movie is what gets me.

This is how I think I was while there with my cousins...completely oblivious to grown up drama and just caught up in ourselves haha

My family used to come to the mountain house every summer for at least the 4th of July. My cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles would all come up and spend time together with good food and good fire works. I am so grateful for having somewhere like this to come to and feel at home, yet far away from my life. I found myself craving this place once I got into college and my life turned into one big adventure after another. I needed any form of normalcy back in my life and found that this house made me feel at home, no matter what was changing in my life. I am a very sentimental person, so going here has always been comforting for me. I do the same things every time I go, feel the same every time I go, and can go back to my life after a few days feeling recharged and ready to take on more changes. I would love to live there, but then I guess it would turn into the normal and not be my escape anymore...which I am sure I will always need every once in a while no matter how good life is at the time.

Over the past few years, my friends and I have been going up to the mountain house over winter break and spending a few days after exams just relaxing and having a good time. I'll share some pictures from one trip when we were caught in a massive snow storm that left 17 inches of snow and no power for four days...but it was amazing :)

Like I said, this is my escape and I've got the itch to go so badly lately. Hopefully, soon!

In Memory of Ira Yarmolenko

I am writing to you tonight at 2:45 a.m. I can not even remember the last time I voluntarily stayed up this late. Eric has been in New York since Wednesday and I can NOT sleep. This sounds pathetic, and it may be, but I am so used to sleeping in a confined space haha. I am not used to my big bed and I almost don't like it.

Tonight, a Dateline NBC episode was about a girl from my college that was murdered in 2008. Eric was close with this girl, Ira Yarmolenko, and I had a hard time watching the episode. I have since spent most of the night discussing this with friends, thankfully, so Eric does not get this vent-sesh for once. I have a hard time dealing with the loss of young people. Ira was murdered a little over three years ago. I did not know this girl from more than an occasional "hello" because we shared a college English class together. However, she affected my life. Ira was the kindest person I have EVER met. I would say this about her if she were still alive. I have never in my life met someone that was so genuinely GOOD. At the end of the dateline episode, her best friend said something that stayed with me, which I will try to paraphrase. She said that she almost feels like she is annoying people by trying to convince them of how GOOD of a person Ira was. She said that she felt like she was annoying people by trying to tell them that someone that amazing actually existed, but she realized that she had to keep talking about her. She had to keep making people realize that someone that good did exist and someone that human did live. If I did not know Ira, even though I barely knew her, I would have a hard time believing her as well. Ira was a human. She was what every human being should strive to be. It IS hard to believe that someone this amazing did, in fact, exist. Her best friend also said, "It was impossible to be in a room with her and not feel like you were the most important person in the world." I hardly talked to Ira, and I whole-heatedly agree with this statement. She had such a powerful way of talking with people and making them feel alive and important. I know this sounds cliche, but I literally never once saw her without a beaming smile on her face. She was an inspiring human being and I do not say that about a lot of people. It is easy for you to read this and think I am being cheesy and sentimental. I am not. I am being honest. I wish you would have been in an English class and had the chance to say "hello" to her, much less actually KNOW the girl. I can't even believe how much I have learned about her from her loved ones since her death and I cannot believe how much one person can affect a community. Her family has got to be unbelievably proud of her even through their grief.

The previous paragraph explains my lead up into this blog. In my short life, I have known an extraordinary amount of young people that have lost their lives. It is unfortunate, but has also molded me into the appreciative person I am. I have learned so much about life and what is important and most of all, what is not important. I will never spend an absurd amount of energy into complaining about how others live their lives. I can only control how I live mine. Trust me, I could vent to you all day long about how little sense it makes for someone to think that they have the right to tell others who they should love, how they should talk, what they should wear, etc. but I will not. Life is SHORT and I will not give in.

Grief is a tricky, tricky thing. I do not think that there is one certain way a person should grieve. Everyone  is different and has different feelings. The hardest loss I have experienced is that of my childhood best friend, Lynn Marie Stokes. I still think about her every day, which keeps her spirit alive, I believe. Since her death, I feel as if I have almost become obsessed with death. It is a very common thought in my every day life. I feel like a demon-child saying this and this may be the most honest I will ever be in a blog. I do not know the appropriate way to grieve a loss of anyone, but I feel that I have had to experience this way too many times for my young age of 23. I have learned that death is a part of life. I have learned to appreciate the most out of my relationships with people. I have learned that life is unpredictable and not very practical. It is selfish and rocky at times. I have learned that people are beautiful and worth getting to know. It is worth talking with people, it is worth getting close with people. I have overcome the bad habit of staying away because of my fear of losing those that I love. Life is too good for that.

I apologize for the somber mood of this blog, but I have vented more tonight with my friends than I have in a very long time and I could not help but having this come out. Life is good and I am happy. The point of this blog is, yes, to vent a little more, but mostly to spread the message that life is not always pretty...life is never predictable...and life should always be appreciated.

It is hot hot!

Agh! I am terrible at keeping up with this! I hope this finds you doing well, in spite of the endless heat of this summer. I have been wedding planning...which can be fun, if I don't allow myself to become overwhelmed. I am the most indecisive person that I know, so sometimes answering 5000 questions is way too much for me. I think I am handling it pretty well, though! Other than wedding planning, I have been spending time with my family which I always love. My sister is very ready to have her baby...it could be any day now! I am almost finished knitting my soon to be born nephew's blanket (that should be my goal for tomorrow) and will have it done by the time he is born! I will, I tell you!

Lately, I have been wanting to find new recipes to cook. I would love to have more vegetarian options other than pasta and bean tacos. Eric and I have been trying to keep the pasta cooking down to one night a week, because we were going pasta crazy for a while there. The local trader joe's has a lot to offer, but I feel like I have tried all of their put together meals now. I want to branch way out and come up with yummy meals that are healthy and light. I will share my favorites with you if you share your's with me! For now, I will share a great pasta recipe (I can't stay away from pasta...I told you haha!) this is one of my absolute favorite meals, which a family friend shared with my family:

Rotini pasta (angel hair pasta is also good with it)
Olive oil
A lot of basil (one cup)
Half cup sun dried tomatoes
Half cup of diced tomatoes
Little bit of salt and pepper (I'll fill in the exact amounts at a later time)
Crumbled feta cheese

Cook up the olive oil with basil, both tomato types, salt, pepper in a skillet until the tomatoes and basil wilt somewhat. Cook the pasta at the same time so they will both be ready together. After draining pasta, add all ingredients from the skillet and then add the feta cheese.

It is super easy to cook and very very delicious...the left overs are even better than the first serving! Feel free to share some of your favorites!

I'm back!

Well, it seems that my blogging crave did not last very long. I apologize. However, it is summer time (for school teachers woot woot!) and I am already bored out of my mind. This means that I should be blogging a little bit more! I might as well do something productive with my time. I am going to try to figure out how to make this thing fancy with pictures and videos and what not because at this point, all I know how to do is type.

To start off this blog...I have a lovely update to share. Eric and I are engaged :) :) I will share pictures from our photo-sesh this weekend if I can figure out how to do that. We are both so very excited and I LOOOVE my beautiful ring! I was thinking about making this a wedding-planning themed blog site, but it probably won't happen...I'm never very good at sticking to one thing for very long, as you can tell already, I'm sure.

OO! I figured it out! That was not very difficult! Okay, well here are some more :)

 

 There are some of the pictures...we took many, many more and I can not wait to see the rest! My sister had her maternity pictures taken by the same person (capturedbykendall.com) so I contacted her and asked if she could take our engagement pictures and walla! 

Other than this, I don't have much else to update you on. As I said, I am done with school for this year. The school system I work for is on their last week, but the teacher I was subbing for came back for the last two weeks, so I'm done. I am going to visit my class on Wednesday for the Kindergarten "graduation" and I am so excited about it! I miss those little things. 

So far this summer, I have:   1. been very lazy

                                              2. been obsessively watching random YouTube videos about make up for some reason (I don't know why but I love watching people do make up...is that weird?)

                                              3. been watching netflix movies and old t.v. shows (Cosby show mostly)

                                              4. gotten sick twice (I am currently sick, but I feel a little better today)

                                              5. been driving Eric crazy--I found this really old video of him rapping to DMX that I really wanted to post on here, but he doesn't want me to so I'll be nice and respect that. Ohhh but it's so funny and makes me fall in love with him all over again :)

Basically, I need a job or I need my friends to stop working so that they can entertain me. OR, I need to get a life. Probably the third one. Hmm, maybe I can make this blog site be about how to entertain yourself when you are trying not to spend any money. There's a good one! Feel free to share ideas! I know I can paint, read, write, go on walks, go outside, and other obvious choices...but if you have anything creative, let me know!

I live extremely close to the greenway, which I love, so I will be walking pretty frequently. I really want to go to my parents' house and pick up my bike, but until that happens I can walk/try to get into running again.

I am going to start reading the Harry Potter book series. I read the first three when I was in 6th grade, but stopped somewhere along the way. Nicole (my future sis-in-law) has all of the books, so I am going to dive into that soon. She is not working this summer, and neither is my best friend, so maybe we can all come up with things to do this summer to keep us entertained. 

Anywho, if you have any creative ideas...leave a comment! I would love to hear what you have to say!

In answer to Dan's question...

Yes, I am going to write about today! He asked me that at the winery today, and I felt a tad embarrased for having a blog...but eh, I like it haha.

On the way to the winery today, Eric's sister brought up something her philosophy seminar (she's a teacher...I forgot what the seminar was for) discussed this week. She started talking about morals and what makes right from wrong. I thought this was pretty interesting and thought about it for most of the rest of the day. One example she gave was of a woman eating her pet cat that had died. At first, she thought this was morally wrong, but after thinking about it for a long time she decided that it could be culture based. I thought this was a very good point. Although eating a beloved pet may seem horribly wrong, in some cultures it could be a disgrace not to eat the animal. I started thinking about what morals I have...

1. It is wrong to kill someone, no matter what.
2. It is wrong to judge others.
3. No matter what a person believes, listen to their opinion and take it seriously.

I'm sure there are a lot more, but those are the ones on the very top of my list. I started thinking about why I consider these to be "morals." Obviously the first one is a moral to most people, I would assume. That one is not hard to understand. What I think a lot of people have a difficult time understanding is that there are so many different opinions about what is right and what is wrong in the world, that there will always be conflict. When it comes down to it...there is no "right path" for a person to follow. Why is someone's opinion valued more than another's? This ties in with religion, gay rights, and a bajillion other things. I could debate with someone until my head falls off about why two men and two women should be able to get married...but if the person on the other side of the table believes with everything inside of them that this is wrong...nothing I can say or do will change that. They are probably saying the same thing about me. And although I could probably rack up one million people in this country to agree with me, there are obviously just as many people that would disagree or else it would be legalized. I don't understand them, they don't understand me. Someone in their life told them that this was wrong...whether it be the bible, their parents, grandparents...they think it is wrong and would be disrespectful to whoever taught them that to think otherwise. I might be wrong about them worried about being disrespectful, but you get the point. Everyone is right in their own mind. There will always be conflict because people make their own morals. Morals feel as if they are set in stone. That is what you believe. That is what you know is right/wrong. There is not way around it. Maybe there should be.

I miss being in college sometimes because I could debate with anyone at any time and not feel like I had something better to do. I love hearing different view points. It absolutely fascinates me how differently people think and how passionately they will want you to understand their opinion.

Fun filled weekends

I have been busy every weekend for the past three weekends or so. I have been spending a lot of time with Eric's family, which I love. We went to Lake Lure last weekend...hiking, relaxing, lots of wine and catching up...those are the best times--even though during this time, I got hiccups for five hours straight! (side note: Eric just said, "you're not writing about me, are you? I'll have to sue your ass!" hahaha) anyway, I love spending time with his family. They are so so so different from my family, but the family-feel is always present. I think I would go crazy without those times, because my family is very rarely all together at the same time anymore. We live all over the state and it is difficult to see each other on the same day...which is why I am thankful that Eric's family is small and somewhat close together. Well, this weekend me and Eric had a little day date...went to eat lunch and then to the art museum. Afterwards we ran some errands...which oddly is always my favorite trip to go on with him haha. Tomorrow we are going to a winery with his family for Mother's Day and I can't wait! I'm sure it will be weird not spending the day with my own mother, but I will see her next weekend for my sister's baby shower!!!

It seems like everyone and their mother is getting married lately! I know it is wedding season, but i have known a least five couples that have gotten married in the past two weeks...that is a lot! Now, this is not including the royal wedding, which I thought was adorable even if it was blown out of proportion. Oh, want to hear one of my many cute Kindergarten teaching moments for that day? I let the kids watch some of the events before school officially began. As one of my boys was sitting on the carpet, he got a very confused look on his face and said, "Ms. Nowlan, WHAT are they doing?!" I told him that they are getting married and now they are husband and wife. He got a very serious look on his face and quietly asked me, "Are all of us going to have wives when we grow up...?" I told him that he would if he wanted to. I thought this was hilarious. He sounded so concerned that this was going to happen to him haha! Oh, I could tell stories about them all day long. I told you I would end up talking about teaching in pretty much every post! I just have to say that I LOVE teaching. It is the most rewarding, educational(for me), hysterical, fun job for me. I love the innocent nature of my kids. They question everything, which I love. I think it is very important to open their eyes to everything life has to offer, different opinions people have and make sure they know it is okay to have their own, different cultures, different vocabulary, everything. I love it when they make connections and grow from them! They can make me laugh by the simplest statements because they are so serious about everything that they say or ask me. I love it.

Alright, I'm going to finish this movie that I am obviously not paying attention to. Enjoy the rest of your day, everyone!

My very first blog...ever!

Hello, to you!

I don't know if this will be a consistent habit of mine, or if I will do this when I need to vent about whatever I have bottled up inside of me for weeks at a time...but I felt like "blogging." Hopefully, something productive will come out of it. I'm sure everyone's first blog sounds exactly like this one haha. So, I apologize for the boring first few sentences that you blog followers probably read 5 times a day...assuming people follow blogs like they do Facebook and Twitter.

Well, I guess I should start out by introducing myself. My name is MK. Take a guess at what that stands for...I bet you'll get it right in three tries! I don't know if I should talk about personal info, so I won't say where I live, but I did just graduate college with a degree in Elementary Education. I am currently a substitute teacher in hopes of teaching Kindergarten full time next school year. I feel like my thoughts revolve around teaching entirely too much, so I will try to talk about other things but I gaurantee I will probably mention the subject at least once in every post...I can't help it.

I don't think my life is exciting enough to blog about something every day, but as I get into it, that opinion may change. Tonight, I felt like talking about a void I have created in my life. Before college, singing was a HUGE part of my life. I don't even think my best friends realized how important this release of energy was for me. I kept this private, I guess because of slight self-consciousness, but I have realized recently that because I have stopped singing on a regular basis...there is a void inside of me. Mrs. Ely always said this would happen, too haha (chorus, as well as my favorite teacher ever!) I let out so much emotion through music and then just stopped once I got to college. I wasn't confident enough in my voice to try out for any type of chorus in college, so I just didn't. I regret that, slightly...but that shouldn't be an excuse as to why I have stopped singing in general. I am very rarely alone in my apartment, so I don't get the opportunity to belt out something when I need to...I'm sure my neighbors are appreciative of this haha. If I am in my car, I am either driving home from work, exhausted or with another person. I just noticed this recently, as I kept feeling frustrated and almost depressed. I heard a song I love tonight and felt a complete urge to scream the words at the top of my lungs, but was in a very public area haha. Anyone else feel like this? I feel like I sound insane. I guess I just need more time to myself, is the gist of this. 

Anywho---I'm also in the midst of many life-changing events. My sister is about to have a baby boy! I am beyond thrilled about this and can not WAIT to meet him :) Me and all of my friends are working full time jobs, which means I NEVER see them...and that has been a really hard change for me, whether I voice that to them or not. I think that hit me tonight, as well. I really really really really miss my best friends. Sigh! I will try not to sound so gloomy in my next blog! 

I am getting constant cravings for traveling lately. I want to get on a plane and leave for a month or two and explore. That would be amazing! I have wanted to go to Italy for basically my entire life...I really don't know why Italy, but that's where I want to go. Did you see Eat, Pray, Love...because that is my dream life haha. I want to go to Italy and eat and drink wine. That's all. Meet people, eat, and drink wine...and maybe blog about it. I could do a combination of Eat, Pray, Love and Amy Adam's character in Julie and Julia. 

Well, I suppose that is all for now. I will try to do a better job next time:)