ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Sometimes bad things happen. Sometimes people get sick. Sometimes people have ALS.

Don't know what ALS is? Go to www.alsa.org

This website tells you everything you need to know about ALS. If you want to know specific definitions then go to http://www.alsa.org/about-als/what-is-als.html

Feeling kinda lazy and not wanting to go and do the research? Don't worry, happens to me all the time when it comes to school. Basically, ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects a person's nerve cells in their brain and spinal cord. And it's a progressive disease, which means it continues to get worse. 

There are so many terrible diseases in this world that don't have cures, and ALS is one of them. 

Before the Ice Bucket Challenge took over social media, how many people actually knew what ALS was or even took the time to look it up? No shame, it's just not a common disease that people really pay attention to. 

But you know what's really cool? The Ice Bucket Challenge. Yesterday, I was nominated for the challenge by my cousin, and I decided to accept it. Now, I would be lying if before I was nominated I said that I wasn't one of the classic people saying how the challenge was everywhere and taking over social media. I also had negative thoughts about how it would be much more beneficial to just donate money rather than pouring a bucket of ice water over your head. 

However, I accepted the challenge for my super cool Uncle Bill, who unfortunately has ALS. Then when I got home I did some research on how the Ice Bucket Challenge was actually helping the cause. And it just makes me so happy.

http://www.alsa.org/news/media/press-releases/ice-bucket-challenge-082014.html

Take a look at that link. It gives some amazing information.

During this time period last year, $1.9 million was donated to ALS research. So far during this time period of the Ice Bucket Challenge this year, there has been $31.5 million in donations to ALS research. THAT IS AMAZING, GUYS. 

Yes, to find cures to any disease you must have money. However, you must also have awareness. Before the Ice Bucket Challenge, ALS wasn't a disease that people talked about. Now that's all anybody is talking about. It doesn't matter if that person is talking about ALS saying how annoying the Ice Bucket Challenge is or if they are talking about ALS saying how happy they are for the sudden increase in awareness. That person is talking. 

All through high school we were always doing fundraisers for breast cancer. We continue to have Pink Panther night during basketball season that always raises so much money and is always such a success. However, even though we had so many donations and supporters for our event, I never once gave a donation during that time period. I always wore the pink shirts and my pink socks and played with that pink basketball, but I never donated money. Even though I was participating in the events held, I still wasn't donating. But I still think that is okay because I was spreading awareness along with my fellow teammates. 

Now what I don't understand is how I thought that this Ice Bucket Challenge was any different. I was one of the people saying it would make more sense to just donate. However, I believe now that I was wrong. Granted, I still think that donating money is a key part and everybody should do it. 

Besides the fact that these videos have taken over your social media accounts and for a short time we won't be able to complain about so and so's political rant, or too many baby pictures, or constant drama, we're spreading awareness. 

So maybe instead of retweeting that tweet making fun of the challenge or talking bad about it to your friends, we should all try and educate ourselves and have a change of heart like I did for this cool movement. I mean, this is making history, guys. In 20 years we'll be able to look back on this and realize how much of a difference we have made. 

So this month for me is about doing the unexpected. Well I nominate all of you to do the unexpected and do some research on ALS. And next time you want to question somebody for their motives regarding the challenge, just be happy that one more person might learn what ALS is. And remember all of the people fighting this terrible disease each day.

We love you, Uncle Bill!

Throwback to a long long time ago during the days of Baby Sara. (Really only the Blackwell family will probably get the Baby Sara reference, but by golly she's always good for a few laughs.)

You can make a donation here to help find a cure for this awful disease. www.alsa.org/donate

That's Unexpected Alright

So if you know me in the slightest, you know that I stick with things that I'm comfortable with. 

Sure, if an opportunity presents itself for an adventure that is new and exciting I'd totally jump on it. But you know, I like my daily routines to be pretty normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. 

It isn't that I don't enjoy doing the unexpected or going on random adventures. I totally love it. I just generally don't go out of my way to do it. 

For example, growing up near Columbia you would assume that I have gone to most places for food and fun here, right? Wrong. People who move here from out of state know more places here than I do. It's not that I don't want to try new places, I just don't. When I go to a restaurant it would be a safe bet to assume that I'm not going to try something that I haven't had there before. It's just what I do.

ANYWAYS. 

August I am supposed to focus on trying new things and doing the unexpected for my Happiness Project. Well by golly am I in the process of doing the unexpected right now. 

Also if you know me, you would understand how I am around people. I'm very outgoing and can talk to a brick wall, but I'm not about to really try and force a bunch of random attention on myself. I'm just usually as chill as a cucumber.

So my start to this crazy story happened a few weeks ago at the lake.

I went with some friends to get supper at Shady Gator's when I was approached by two girls asking me to sign up for their swim suit contest. LOL.

Literally. LOL. That was my initial response. Like, whatever dudes. You don't know who you're talking to. I'm super awkward. 

Well after some persuasion and me thinking about the rules to my Happiness Project, I agreed. And it was ridiculous. And I could go on for days about how crazy and totally unlike me it was. However, it was actually kinda fun.

But maybe I only found it fun because I won and got $100 for it. So you know, winning helps. 

So it continues with them inviting me back for finals. And I said that I could maybe come back but we'll see.

Well GUESS WHAT. The grand prize is $3,000. Sooooo....uhhhhh....yeah I said yes. And I talked to the lady in charge of finals yesterday. 

And DOUBLE GUESS WHAT. This finals shindig is way more intense than I was/am prepared for. Like, GUYZ, this is insane. 

It's next weekend. Both Friday and Saturday. I have to go to a whole bunch of things. It's on tv. I have to do a little photo shoot. I have to ride around on a boat. I have to dress up in a nice dress one evening. And of course I have to do another swim suit contest thing. 

Like, HOLY GUACAMOLE. If this isn't doing the unexpected then I don't know what is. 

Everybody say a small prayer that I can contain my insanely awkward and weird self for two days. 

Tackling a Bucket List

So the month of July is supposed to be where I pursue a passion. Well, you know how some people really love to craft? Or play music? Or stick with one thing?

Welcome to the mind of Andi where my brain has a difficult time fully completing one thought before moving on to the next. I don't think there has ever been a time in my life where I have focused all of my energy on one thing developing a "passion". 

SO. Here is where my brilliant idea began. I'll walk you through it. 

We'll start back in December when I was developing my Happiness Project. I got to July and decided I wanted to "pursue a passion". Well my first obstacle came about when I realized that I didn't have a passion that I could really focus on for an entire month. I mean, everybody knows that I would just get bored if I picked one thing. So that's when I decided I was going to make a BUCKET LIST. 

Yep.

I've seriously made probably 50 Bucket Lists in my life so far. I think it kinda dawned on me that doing awesome things in my life that will create a story to tell is my passion. Let's be honest, I can tell a story. Though it may be way too long and detailed and not very interesting to most, by golly I love telling stories. 

I realized that a Bucket List would be great for me because I can literally do a different thing every single day if I wanted to and have every activity fall under one category. Genius, I know.

Fast forward to about a month and a half ago.

I'm laying in bed one night thinking about my Bucket List idea for July when ALL OF A SUDDEN I have an even more brilliant idea. 

Okay what I say next is important. Well, it's important to me. Only because it is ANOTHER project that I'm extending from this one because I have loved writing about all of my adventures and I'm not quite ready to stop in just a few short months.

ANYWAYS.

I'm going to make my Bucket List extend through my 20s. That's right. Nine whole years of Bucket List shenanigans. And I'm going to do one item from my list every month. For nine years. Yes, I do know that is a lot of Bucket List items. 108 to be exact. Makes me excited just thinking about it! THINK OF ALL THE ADVENTURES I AM GOING TO HAVE. 

So here's the part that is slightly ridiculous about my Bucket List project. I'm going to write about it. All of it. Like, every event that I do. Not on a blog, though. Some of them, maybe, but not all of them. Why you ask? Well, I'm going to write a book. LOL. I turned this project into a masterpiece. The last item on my list is going to be to complete the book. Do I know if I'll ever let anybody read my book? Who knows. It's more for my own satisfaction of completing a project this big. 

Anyways.......I don't have the entire list complete yet. But I start next month. I'm not doing any of them in July because I'm going to start when I turn 21 so I have a complete nine years to work with. 

BUT, here is what I have so far:

1. Skydive.

2. Go surfing.

3. Ride an elephant.

4. Go a week without using my cell phone.

5. Run a half marathon.

6. Run a marathon.

7. Complete a triathlon.

8. Complete a half iron man.

9. Sing karaoke.

10. Swim with dolphins.

11. Ride in a hot air balloon. 

12. Make a quilt.

13. Learn to play the guitar.

14. Hold a snake.

15. Go on a police ride along.

16. Go either scuba diving or snorkeling.

17. Attend a presidential speech or debate.

18. See the town my dad was born in (Bitburg, Germany).

19. Attend an African American church.

20. Give blood.

21. Plant a garden (one with food, not flowers).

22. Donate hair.

23. Research my family history.

24. Have my palm read.

25. Eat an insect.

26. Be an extra in a movie.

27. Go on a date to a drive-in.

28. Crash something (wedding, party, ect).

29. Take a dance class.

30. Complete a 1,000 piece puzzle.

31. Take a self-defense class.

32. Live in a foreign country.

33. Visit every state in the USA.

34. Go on a spontaneous road trip.

35. Go on a mission trip to Africa.

36. Go on a mission trip to Haiti.

37. Walk on a glacier.

38. Learn to drive a stick shift.

39. Go paintballing.

40. Be a big sister (big brothers/big sisters).

41. Be on the field at a NFL game.

42. Write thank you letters to those important to me.

43. Learn to golf well.

44. Go to Harry Potter World.

45. Graduate from Mizzou with my undergraduate degree in Health Sciences.

46. Graduate from grad school in Physical Therapy.

So that's all I have so far. If you have any suggestions of something interesting to add, feel free to let me know! I am very open to suggestions. Or if you would like to do any of them with me, I love company! Unless it's the puzzle. I'm doing that bad boy alone.

Sorry, I just really love puzzles. 

Just Checkin' In....

So June marked the halfway point to my Happiness Project. Kinda bittersweet. I'm having so much fun doing this project and don't want it to stop! 

I guess it's a good thing that I have a plan to keep it going for a much longer time and it will be much more fun and exciting than this year..... ;)

ANYWAYS. I figured I would do a little check-in for the past six months and where I am with keeping up with these goals. I'll go ahead and say that some are great while others still need a bit of work.

JANUARY: This month was all about getting organized. I wanted to start a blog, "spring clean" my apartment room, and start a great devotional.

Wellll, score one for Andi because I started a blog and I AM STILL DOING IT. That's right. I think this is the first project I have ever stuck with. Especially for this long. Is this what growing up feels like? It feels great. 

LOL real hard at me spring cleaning my apartment room. That was a shot in the dark though. My room is never clean. Except I actually did make a pile of stuff to throw away/take home.....it just never actually left the corner I put it in. But I'm all moved out now so TECHNICALLY I followed through with this one because by golly that apartment is spotless now.

The devotional is at about 50% accuracy. I'm still doing Jesus Calling and I absolutely LOVE IT. I highly recommend it to anybody looking for one because it is perfect. It's weird how it says exactly what you need to hear and the verses that you look up for it are amazing....obviously. I say it's at about 50% accuracy because like I said I'm really bad about keeping up with projects and things. I just have a really bad attention span and I forget to do it every day. I know, I know, I shouldn't forget something that important and I'm working on it.

FEBRUARY: I was trying to get on a health kick this month. You know, working out, eating real meals, and drinking more water and less soda. 

I honestly didn't do too shabby with this month and am still sticking with it the best I can. The whole working out thing has been put on hold because I was dumb and tried to play soccer, as you all know. But before I hurt myself I was on multiple rec teams at Mizzou and was just pretty active in general. I'm finally getting slightly better with my knee and have been set free to go on BIKE RIDES. HOLLA. 

Eating healthy. LOL. I'll never eat strictly healthy. I love chocolate and chips too much. However, I really did quit eating fast food so much (okay this is partially because I'm broke but SO WHAT) and the majority of my meals were rather healthy. As for drinking more water I've rocked this. Yes, I still drink soda but not near as much. I quit buying it because it was just a waste of money. You know what that did? Gave me a bit more pocket change to do fun stuff with AND I got healthier. Win win. 

MARCH: This month I wanted to focus on school, read more educational books, and subscribe to/read Time Magazine.

I rocked that school thing that apparently is SO important this month/semester. Seriously. I made a pact with myself that I was only going to skip a class if I had an actual reason to. I did realllllllly good with this too until about the last two weeks of school when I lost all motivation. I only skipped one class before that and it was so I could go with my brother on his college visit. Other than that I think I only missed four classes or so at the end. Which I am proud of. 

Reading wise, I subscribed to Time and I read the magazines when I get them. I love it. Educational books.....well I'm taking a Harry Potter class this fall so I'm rereading all of the books. Do those count as educational? I'm going with yes. 

APRIL: In April I spent my time focusing on my relationship with Christ. I did this because I don't feel like I can be truly happy until I'm in a place I feel good about with Him. However, I really don't think this can ever really be reached. I'm just enjoying the journey. 

I really wanted to spend more time serving others, praying, and reading my Bible. With Phi Lamb I was given so many opportunities to serve. I truly love my sorority for all that it offers. As for prayer, I've just never been very good at it. I spent my whole spring semester in prayer group talking about how I just get so distracted and it never turns out how I hear all of my sisters talking about their prayer life. Needless to say, my crazy brain hasn't changed any and I still get super distracted, but I've found things that work for me. And I've read my Bible every time I do Jesus Calling, sooo....slightly succeeding I suppose? I should really read it more. It's got some good stuff inside.

MAY: I really wanted to focus on being in the present this month and in the future. This was something that I'm really just going to have to continue working on. Mainly because technology can be so addicting. I wanted to reduce my use of social media, watch the news more, and just pay better attention to daily life.

Well the social media thing is hard. Cell phones are crazy and it's hard to stop using it so much. If you ask my family they would tell you that I'm still really bad about using it at home. But when I'm in new places or out with friends I do my absolute best to keep it put away. I've done pretty well so far and I have had some great conversations with wonderful strangers because of it. This has helped me pay better attention to my daily life because when I'm out and about I notice more now. And I trip and fall a lot less. Let's not get carried away and assume I'm not clumsy anymore though because we all know that will never change. Ask Andy Etzler. That pirate preacher knows how to call a girl out for being clumsy. It's cool though because I can do neat things like call him a pirate preacher in return. Keep on keepin on, man. 

I didn't have TV at my apartment so I don't know why I said I was going to watch the news. I've caught it a few times at home this month while mom is watching it though.

JUNE: I wanted to focus on my family this month. I spent lots of time with cousins and went to some family suppers and attended an amazing family reunion. WHERE I BECAME A WORLD CHAMPION IN THE BLACKWELL FAMILY OLYMPICS. That's right. World Champion. There is only one duo a year in the whole entire world crowned the Olympic Champions. TOTAL DOMINATION. Germany ain't got nothin' on me with that silly World Cup. Basically, I really love my immediate and extended families on both sides. I'm super blessed to be surrounded by the people I am. God gave me some keepers. 

So I'd say that these first six months have been pretty epic. And I feel like if I was going to give myself a grade I would give myself a B. You know, there's always room for improvement but I don't like bad grades so I wouldn't want to give myself anything lower than that. Get into that C range and you might see a rare occasion of me crying. So I'm a bit of a nerd, whatever. 

So if you've been reading these past six months, THANK YOU SO MUCH. Special shout out to my girl KB because she tells me every time she sees me that she stalks my blog and it makes my day every time. If you don't read my blog, well, you won't see this and I think you're really missing out on some goofy stories. 

Keep it real, homies. 

The Road to Glory: Blackwell Family Olympics

Who doesn't like a little friendly competition? 

Every year at my family reunion we have the Blackwell Family Olympics. This is no joke. Completely serious. It's legit. And it is a big deal. 

We've had the games for many years now. A few years have been individual winners, but then we started teams. My cousin Steven and I quickly paired up. This is our story of glory. 

2009:

The first year for teams. 

The Olympics this year consisted of a giant relay race. We had challenges like: eating a doughnut hanging off a string without using our hands, finding a specific crayon in a bucket of crayons, swimming back and forth between docks in the lake to match up ducks with names on them, filling a tub with water using a sponge, and a few others leading up to......a word scramble. 

Let me just tell you that we had a huge lead on every single other team until the word scramble. As soon as we picked up our pencils, we fell apart. 

And that's the first year we did not leave victorious.

It was a rough day. And year. Considering we were made fun of for our word scramble failure from then on out. 

After a few years of single champions, we are brought to last summer. 

2013:

The second year for teams.

We were tired of being the Family Olympics joke. This was our year. We were in it to win it. 

The Olympic games this year were individual events with a running total of points. First place in an event received 10 points, second place 9 points, and so on down to last place receiving 1 point. Some of the events included: family trivia, pogo stick, a luck of the roll dice game, bowling, hitting a baseball after spinning around 10 times, water balloon toss, and a few others.

Just like in 2009, we took first in almost every event. The dice game and family trivia were our downfalls this year. However, I would like to add that Tara and Chandler cheated in multiple events.

For the second year, we came in second place. 

We'd grown tired of these "fun" family games. We planned on taking a trip to Vegas instead of joining the family in Branson this year. 

However, team asthma showed up. Third times a charm, right?

This year I was pretty sick. I was doing a breathing treatment for my asthma every four hours and just couldn't get any energy. The day of the Olympics I slept until 2:15 only to get up to drive over to the site for the games. 

Chandler told me I had to pull a Michael Jordan and compete like he did in the legendary "flu game" of the NBA finals. 

All of the doubt was in our corner. I was practically dying and Steven has bad asthma as well. 

The scoring for the Olympics this year was the same as last year. Individual events with a grand total of points.

We had to complete a 40 piece puzzle. We rocked it and got first place.

We had to balance 3 dice on a spoon without touching them. This was a last team standing event. Despite our perfect zen, we came in last place for this one which really hurt our total points. 

We had to complete a Soduku puzzle. I have never been so thankful in my entire life for being a complete nerd in middle school. I did these puzzles for fun. Probably because I didn't have much of a life back then. Oh well. It came in handy because we dominated and took first in this event. 

 

This one we had to use straws and suck to carry a smartie from one end of the table into the jar at the other end. We actually came in third place in this event. After we finished, Steven threw up in his mouth because he couldn't breathe and I had an asthma attack. All in good fun, right? 

There were a few other events. For instance, we had to eat an entire box of milk duds then chug a drink, fill up a jar with water by transporting the water with a cup carried only with our mouths, a memory game, and maybe one or two others. 

Then the last event......the dreaded word scramble. We just knew that we were done for. We're terrible at word scrambles and we were down in points because of the dice. 

BUT WE ROCKED IT. AND WE CAME IN FIRST IN THE WORD SCRAMBLE.

That's right. Sweet, sweet redemption. 

However, it wasn't quite enough. By getting first place we tied it up with Tiffany and Alex. We had to go into a tie breaker. 

Things just got real.

We had to bounce or throw ping pong balls into a jar a few feet away. The first to make four balls in the jar would take over as champion. 

Now everybody would automatically look to Alex and Tiff to easily win this round. I mean, we know how they were in college. This is life size beer pong. (Sorry, guys. Love you.)

This took serious focus. And it was a lot harder than you would assume.

BUT

......

.....

.....

VICTORY WAS OURS.

THAT'S RIGHT. WE WON.

BLACKWELL FAMILY OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS.

I've never been more proud to display a trophy in my life. 

That one was for you, dad. 

#glennyaward

Family and Father's Day

The month of June is supposed to be a time for me to focus on my family. When planning what each month would be I made a month to focus on my friendships and thought long and hard about adding a month for my family. Normally this would be an easy decision. However, I'm insanely lucky to have such a close family. I mean, how many people can say that both their immediate and extended family on both sides is so close? 

My mom, brother, and sister are my favorite people in the world. Both sets of my grandparents are incredibly loving and have taught me so many life lessons. My aunts and uncles push me to be the best that I can and never skip an opportunity to give me a hard time about something. My cousins are seriously the coolest. The ones who are close in age to me have been some of my best friends while growing up. The ones older than me have been role models while teaching me how to have a blast at the same time. Their kids have taught me that I don't need kids of my own for a very, VERY, long time. 

So my big dilemma when starting this project was if I really needed to devote one of my few 12 months to family. If things are good, why try and change them? My family is the key to my happiness. People are always leaving while family stays. Mainly because they can't leave. Trust me, I've tried to disown them on a few occasions....doesn't work. 

Long rambling conclusion....of course my family needs a month. 

So we'll start with Father's Day.

Some people may think that Father's Day may be super sad for us. Out of all the holidays and individual days that can be depressing, this is not one of them. That's like giving me a bag of chocolate chip cookies on National Oreo Day and asking if I'm sad that I don't have an Oreo to eat. Sure, I'd really love to have an Oreo, but I have a WHOLE BAG of chocolate chip cookies. Who am I to complain? That's how Father's Day is to me. Sure, I'd love for my dad to be here, but I have a WHOLE FLOCK of men who have helped shape me into the woman I am today. Who am I to complain? It's a day to celebrate them!

So this Father's Day weekend I went to St. Louis to spend the weekend with my family. And it was fantastic.

I GOT A TAN. Okay I got burnt. But guess what, by this weekend it will be a tan. 

I got to see my little cousins. They're seriously adorable. One of them spent a good 2 minutes trying to explain to me how my cousins Tara and Tiffany were sisters. And then she told me that she thought that she would maybe be my age when she gets older. Too awesome. 

We had an awesome meal on Sunday to celebrate all of the fathers in our family. It was delicious. 

Then we watched the NBA Finals. I'll be the first to tell you that I don't really like the NBA. I'd much rather watch college basketball. I don't know what it is, but something about the NBA just gets to me and bothers me. Either way, the Heat lost and that's all I cared about because I REALLY don't like Lebron. MJ forever.

All in all, this weekend was great and my family continues to make me happy. 

Later, gators. 

May Wrap-Up

So to all of you trusty readers out there who actually pay attention to how my blog relates to my Happiness Project (mom I'm talking to you), you may have noticed I didn't really write about what the month of May was focusing on. 

Here's why.

You see, the month of May was a month for me to focus on being in the present. You know, put my phone in my purse, pay attention to world events, and try and not have my head so far up in the clouds in the wonderful world of Andi. 

There wasn't really a specific event that I felt really deserved a special post. So I decided to just make one and explain my conclusions.

But first, here is a great link that I read on one of my favorite procrastination sites, Thought Catalog. It really goes well with what I'm thinking.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/olya-kudriavtseva/2014/06/put-away-the-social-media-your-need-for-instant-gratification-can-wait/        Check it out!

Now don't get me wrong, I am totally one of those cell phone obsessed people. I'd like to think I would be completely fine if I lost the thing, but let's be real, I'd be so bored and I'd feel so out of the loop. 

Before texting was cool and I became attached to my cell phone in high school, I focused my free time in so many better ways. I love(d) to get completely lost in a book. So lost that I would quit reading and have to remind myself that I am in fact NOT Hermione Granger and I am unfortunately NOT a witch. Always such a buzz kill. I also love(d) to color. Boy oh boy how awesome a brand new coloring book was. The endless choices of which Disney character to bring to life next! I love(d) to people watch. People are so funny and do some of the most ridiculous things. I love(d) to sit and look for four leaf clovers. Blackwell luck is no joke. Documenting it with a special little clover can be so very exciting. I love(d) to do so many things that don't require an ounce of technology. I say love(d) because I still love all of these things. Honestly, I will love all of these things plus many others until the day that I die. However, I've let myself ruin my favorite activities by getting distracted with my phone or Netflix or Buzzfeed or stupid games that are addicting like 2048.

Do I still do all of these things? To some extent. When I'm reading, I let myself be yanked away from the wonderful make believe world I am in to check an incoming text. When I'm coloring I color while watching Netflix or a movie ruining my time that used to allow me to become less stressed. When I'm looking for four leaf clovers I allow myself to check the latest tweets and Facebook posts which being quite honest, takes all of the fun out of it. 

When starting the month of May I asked myself why I allowed myself to be so distracted with technology when I know that it really just makes me unhappy in the long run. And I didn't have an answer for myself. Why does anybody fall into the trap of technology? Just because? 

This month was hard. And I in no way got anywhere near where I want to be with technology. I decided this is going to be a very long work in progress. I decided to start off, I would make sure I always kept my phone put away when I was out with friends. And generally, I stuck to this. A few times when I was with one friend, they told me numerous times that it was okay to text somebody if I needed to. But there is the problem. Everybody is okay with this these days. I wish everybody would treat me like my grandparents do and scold me when I have my phone out around them. 

One time last month I was sitting at the orthopedic group waiting to see my doctor for my knee. I pulled my phone out at first to pass the time and quickly remembered this project and put it back away. Not a minute later an elderly man sat down across from me. We quickly picked up conversation. He told me about his family and I told him all about my regret for playing soccer which resulted in me being stuck in this knee brace. Why would I ever have my first instinct to be taking out my phone instead of have a really pleasant conversation with that man? 

For all the Mizzou kids out there. How many times have you pretended to be on your phone walking through Speaker's Circle so you didn't have to talk to anybody? Or while waiting for a class to start you get on Facebook or Twitter instead of trying to talk to a peer? Lord knows I do both of those. And that's weird. Because the world we live in is not a virtual one. We should be communicating the way everybody used to.

Since when did how quickly somebody responds to your text define how much they like you? Why does it make me so annoyed when I don't get 11 likes on Instagram? Why do I feel so accomplished when somebody retweets me?

I am unique. I am weird, an odd duck. I have great family and amazing friends. None of them like me any less because my tweets aren't favorited and I haven't hit the wonderful number 11 on Instagram likes. Why do I care so much? Because that is the society I live in and the world isn't going to change for me so I need to take matters into my own hands.

Like I said, I'm still really bad about this. I've checked twitter more times than I can count just today. Also, I'm blogging right now instead of being out in the world. 

This is going to be a slow change. But it's something that I really feel is necessary. I want my life to be focused on "the now" not what was posted to social media by all of my closest 700 friends on Facebook. 

SOOOO, if you see me out and about or just sitting at your house and I'm on my phone.....be my grandparents and tell me to put it away. 

I WANT YOU TO.