Wikipedia

This post is being written because for the past few days, when I try to get on Wikipedia, it wouldn't load so my appreciation for it grew.  I look at Wikipedia for everything.  When I'm watching the news and they reference something that I don't understand- Wikipedia.  When I am watching TV and someone is guest starring and I can't figure out where I've seen that person before- Wikipedia.  I would say I go to Wikipedia.org about as many times as I go to gmail.com.  And that's saying a lot.

Correct Grammar

I love it when people know when to use:

1.  The words to, too and two.  People usually get two right but the other two (ha), not so much.

2.  The words their, they're and there.  Again, there is usually used correctly but for some reason, the difference between their and they're is a little murky.

3.  Me and I.  When you say "between you and..." IT'S ALWAYS ME.  Sometimes, people think it sounds more sophisticated to say "between you and I" but no.  Incorrect grammar never sounds sophisticated.   Hint: take the "you and" out.  Would you say I or me?  Mmmmk.

Kim.Bug.Unit-mate

I love Kim Searles.  A lot.  Kim and I are a unit.  Many times, we say things to each other without words... like people will be talking and we'll look at each other and I'll know what she's saying.  Let's go back in Cadence history.  My second semester, I get to sit in on auditions for the first time and I'm super psyched.  Kim auditions and ... okay one more insert.  During auditions, Cadence is the most obnoxious.  We would write notes on their audition papers and I made notecards for everyone that I could keep so I could always remember what I thought when I first saw them.  I'm super critical of notes so I, unlike American Idol judges, don't care if there's emotion, if the notes are wrong, they're wrong and you don't need to be going into singing.  So I would put check marks next to notes that were correct and x's (usually dark ones) when they were wrong.  Kim got no x's obvi but I did make a comment that I thought she had an attitude.  And I totally remember why I put that.  Someone, I'm guessing Jessica Hiltebidle or Andie asked her to move over somewhere to do scales or whatever and Kim goes mmmmk.  And I thought she was being like, Oh my gah, why you making me move?  And she probably was but this same attitude was what helped us bond and become the unit.  And this attitude would morph into not taking any bs which helped make Cadence as great as it is today.  Anyway, she was clearly one of the two best because we took two and she unanimously accepted and loved.  Moving on.

At the beginning of that semester, we had to make a poster for our table when we were pit-sitting.  I was obsessed with Cadence (still am) and while everyone else was trying to get out of making a poster, I was all about it.  So I shouted out, I'll do it but someone has to help me.  And new Kim goes, I'll help and I was like YAYYYY BONDING OPPORTUNITY.  So I picked her up at HJ and we went (was this the time it was raining cats and dogs or was that just another one of the many times we went to CVS to get stuff to make posters).  Then we started making cupcakes for people.  We made a list of everyone in Cadence... texted all of them and of those that responded, made a map of where they lived and the route that made the most sense and performed our cupcake fairy duties, which usually included drawings.

I hate parking.  I've learned to love driving because it takes me to where I need to go to see people but I still hate parking.  And parking in Chapel Hill on campus is exponentially worse than just reg parking.  So I would pick up Kim before rehearsal (every single one she would let me) and make her go through the anxiety I experienced while parking with me.  Wendy's glorified nuggets also brought us close together.  I think I would be ten pounds lighter if I had never been introduced to them but I'll take the extra ten pounds for the time I got to spend with Kim.  We took turns paying for dinner because it would have been ridiculous to have two transactions every time we went.  I wonder if we made it even or if one of us came out on top.  Ha.

She probably would have enjoyed me being 10 lbs lighter in the picture above and below but it's fine.

Kim is always there.  And she's not one of those people, well I take it back before I say it, she can be but she's not always one of those people, that just hug you and say it's okay, it's going to be fine, everything happens for a reason... blah blah blah.  She's one of those people that is like, yeah, that sucks and let's cry it out, talk it out and if you need to repeat everything you JUST got done saying to enhance your sanity, go for it, I will listen.  Sometimes she's that, it's going to be fine person but sometimes, that's not what you want to hear and during those times, she's your girl.  I go into this place where I feel like people don't like me and I'm annoying and so I told her this one day and instead of saying, oh Melissa, everyone loves you- you're great blah blah blah she goes "that place is full of lies."  So she said all of those things you want to hear but just in a more compact version.  And anyone can spit out all of those encouraging things that don't really mean things but only Kim can say the things she says.

Also, we keep typos alive.  I want to did.  I love you bug.

I love you bug- your friendship means so much to me.  You're like a handprint on my heart <3.  Bah ha.  No, but really.

Birthday Cards

I really really like mailing people birthday cards.  With facebook now it's not really hard to remember people's birthdays.  It's right on the front page and you click a button and type "Happy Birthday!  Hope you have a great day!"  But there's something special about getting a card in the mail with real handwriting and knowing someone went to the store and picked out a card just for you.  So what I do is... at the end of the month I look at all my list of people whose birthdays are that month (it's already typed up and saved on my computer) and I write them in my planner like as a shopping list.  I go and get birthday cards for the specific people- not just cute ones that would work for anyone.  Oh, and I always get them at Target.  Alwaysalwaysalways and by always I mean for the 3 months I've been doing this but I'm obviously keeping it up because it's one of my favorite things.  And then I take them home, put them in the envelope and put a sticky note on it where I put the day of the birthday and then under it the day I need to send it and put them in order of when to send them so I don't forget any!  And then I send them and people get so happy and that makes me happy.  Happiness all around.

UNC

I love UNC. I love the quad in the spring and the arboretum in the fall. I love the Pit on a sunny day and Graham Memorial Lounge on a rainy one. I love Roy all the time. But what makes UNC truly special is not our beautiful campus, our distinguished reputation or even our basketball team. It's us -- the student body -- who make UNC what it is.

I have memories of all of these things Eve talked about.  I loved sitting in the quad on a spring day doing the crossword puzzle and Sudoku in the DTH with Jaimie and then, later on, Michael Stanley.  

Fall is my favorite season and there's nowhere I've seen as beautiful as UNC's campus during the Fall.  

Oh the pit on a sunny day.  I didn't experience the pit too much until I joined Cadence... pit-sitting and pit-singing.  

And Graham Memorial was so peaceful and conducive to my reading. 

I love Roy all the time too!  I remember standing in line for one of the many basketball games I had the privilege to attend and the security guard asked if I could let Roy through.  I got so excited!  Roy touched my arm, shook my hand and asked me how I was doing.  Through great inner strength, I was able to respond with a coherent, "I'm great, how are you?"  

But I have to agree above all of these wonderful things that I will always have fond memories of, it's the people I met there and the relationships I formed that made UNC what it is to me today.

 

Malia Losordo

I love Malia so much!  I like her little voice and how she says me tooooooooo!  I don't want to say anything lightly but I think it's safe to say Malia is the nicest person I know.  I have spent a lot of time with Malia because we were in Cadence together and when you're in an a cappella group, you spend a lot of time together.  I don't know that I've ever heard her say anything negative about another person.  Malia brings sunshine into a room.  Sometimes, literally.

Also, from a musical standpoint, she has the best pitch recognition and learned all of our music so, so fast.  And her voice is beautiful and I got to hear it all the time being a fellow solid sop 2.

She's a good listener and is such an encouragement when you're down.  You know you can always call her and she'll help in any way she can.  She also took very good care of my frog pants while they were in her possession!  My frog pants deserve a completely different post to come soon.  She gives good hugs and I'm hoping she'll keep me on track studying for the GRE that we're taking together on August 3rd.

I love you Malia.  Thank you so much for all the laughs, support, encouragement and lovelovelove.

PS- we need a picture together.

My iPhone

I love my iPhone SO much.  First of all- I went from the most basic phone you can have to this one and that probably makes everything that much better.  I like that I can get on the internet everywhere... like while driving.  I am all about looking up reviews for stuff so if I'm trying to decide between two brands or something it's super easy.  Also, probably my favorite thing is that I can see a texting conversation... not just one at a time.  I like that because if someone responds hours after I've sent something with "yeah," I'll know what they're talking about.  I also like that I can have my little puzzles no matter where I go and it's cool because if Zachary emails me, I get it as soon as he sends it and then I can try to catch him in case he's still on.  Lovelovelove this phone.  Oh yeah, and the camera is so much better and I can send the pictures to Zachary or any one else so so fast.  And you can make it to where you can see the picture- like a backwards camera.  It's so cool!!

Haley Reinhart

I love me some Haley Reinhart on American Idol.  I don't typically watch American Idol but my family does and since I'm living with them, I've been watching it.  For some reason, Jennifer and Randy are really hard on her- and half of the time, their comments don't even make sense but I like her.  I kind of hated her at the beginning... her grunting and she's pretty dramatic but her unmistakable talent won me over.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7pnoq47Jl8


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBbSvcJdGO4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=035GStnLOaI

More Reasons I Love Zachary

1.  When we are in a grocery store and we get separated, he just shouts my name as if there weren't hundreds of other people in the same store until I can find him by following his voice.


2.  He acts like a child.  In target, while I was looking for some grown-up, fix something in the house thing... I look to my right and I see a grown man, my husband, RIDING A CHILD'S BIKE DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORE.


3.  He likes to put his sunglasses on in the parking lot and link arms with me, pretending that I'm leading his blind self around.  It's so embarrassing but it would be more embarrassing if I called him out on it.  We'd get even weirder looks then.

Barack Obama

It's no surprise I am a strong supporter of Obama.  First and foremost, I'm very liberal and therefore, Obama and I agree on a lot of issues.  


I'm not going to say much about his economic policies because that would be the area I'm least educated in.  However, I'm working on it.  I'm reading Bernie Sander's The Speech and I have to say, I wish he had stood up for his beliefs on it more because we have the same ones.  I won't go into the details but the book is Sanders' filibuster speech fighting against the extension of these tax breaks.  Anyways, I believe in his healthcare program.  I think a lot of people who are strongly against it, don't know all the details.  I like that he supports stem-cell research.  I think I remember reading that while he doesn't support gay marriage, he does believe in rights for homosexual couples.  Could be better, could be a lot worse.  I think he handled the bin Laden issue with great care.  While some people think he's taking all the credit, he did have to make the final call.  He had to build the team, he had to choose from many options which would be the balance between safety and potential of getting him once and for all.  He obviously made the right decision and with all the pressure that was on him to make that decision, he did a great job.  I like that he's passionate about education for young kids, that he is against abstinence-only education and that he supports teachers.  


Now for trivial things.  I love his voice because it makes me feel safe.  I love the way he looks at Michelle and how he acts towards Sasha and Malia.  I love that he played basketball with my tar heels and that he takes the time to meet teenage girls that write him letters about growing up without a dad because of 9/11.  I think he's so classy.  The Republicans shoot down every thing he tries.  "If I said the sky was blue, they'd say 'no.' If I said fish lived in the sea, they'd say 'no.'"  Okay, so maybe that wasn't classy but it was funny and if that's all he says against him, God bless him.  It's not over the issue, it's over partisanship.  But not getting started on that.


I love Barack Obama, I think he's doing a great job with the resources he's been given, and I think history will be much kinder than we are now.

Jeannie

Zachary and I had been looking forward to getting a dog for... however long we had been looking forward to getting married.  We always saw our first home as one with a dog running around.  We got married in Graham, NC on a Saturday, drove to Jacksonville, FL on a Sunday and adopted Jeannie Morningstar Holliday on a Monday.  I wasn't working at the time and had lots of time to give and ... Jeannie took advantage.  We walked into the pound and settled on two dogs we wanted to meet, Jane and Jillian.  Jane had some pitbull in her... I'm not going to get on a soapbox about this but in the psychological debate of nurture vs. nature, I am all about the nature.  However, apartment management is not all about nature and sometimes refuse to let in families with dogs with any trace of pitbull in it.  So we were leaning towards Jillian.  I favored Jillian, Zachary favored Jane.  Of course, being the spoiled wife I am, we met Jillian first.  She was hiding in the tunnel between where they eat and where they sleep and I was calling to her and she inched forward.  She let me pet her through the cage but I could tell she was very apprehensive even though I was being super careful.  They told us to meet one of the workers and Jillian in the play area so we headed over.  We saw the worker carrying Jillian towards us... she explained that Jillian refused to walk while the collar was on but it was shelter policy that she remain on a leash until she was in an enclosed area.  The lady put her down and took the collar off and Jillian started sprinting around so very fast.  She would run up to us and we'd go to pet her and she'd go on another round.  I was still in love and Zachary saw that and he loved her too (although, don't ask him today, he'll deny it).  So we decided to skip meeting Jane and just adopt her.  We went to do all the paperwork and we learned that she came to this shelter from a shelter in Alabama.  They didn't have any information on what led her there but it was obvious that she had been severely abused.  We knew she would require a lot of patience but I was able and willing.  Zachary's grandma Jean and grandpa Billy gave us a generous wedding gift and Jean's only request was to use the money to buy something that would make us think of her.  Jillian became Jeannie.


Her first few days were rough.  She wouldn't walk on her own.  We didn't even want to try putting a collar on her but Jacksonville city laws were very clear that if she was outside, she had to have a leash on... can't put a leash on without a collar.  She didn't pee for like two days.  We would take her outside (on her hated leash) and she would just belly crawl in the grass looking at us like "You can watch but I'm not going to do anything..."  We eventually had to take her the vet and sure enough, she had a UTI.  This is a picture from the first day we got her.

The first night, we put her in her crate and she was silent.  We were ecstatic.  The next night she started crying in her crate and I immediately took her out and snuggled her.  That first night was the only one she spent in a crate.  I was able to spend 24/7 with her and got her to trust me.  We think she was abused by someone in uniform because when Zachary came home from work, she would bark at him and even jump on him and try to bite him but once he changed, she was fine.  She loves and trusts both of us now.

 I know this is pathetic but she was my only friend when Zachary went on his trips and I had teaching stresses to bring home.  She's so sweet (when she wants to be).  Although, she's relatively recently adopted this habit of growling when you touch her when she's sleepy.  It's pretty funny.  And with Joey... wow.  She will carry him around in her mouth.  She's really funny when we'll hear she's playing rough with him and we'll yell at her. She'll come in the living room acting completely innocent with a fur ball in her mouth and Joey comes in quietly behind and you can see his neck is wet from a mile away.  But she loves him.  And she loves us and we love her and she's absolutely one of my favorite things!

Moisturizing Cream Shave by Skintimate

I love this shaving cream.  I don't really have a lot to say about it except I haven't cut myself yet shaving with this stuff and that is saying something.  Also, it's ridiculous how soft your skin is after using it.  I love it.

First's First

My husband.

I love my husband.  The singular thing that I love most about him is that he is so thoughtful.  He thinks about every thing he says before he says it.  That is something I am incapable of (or maybe uninterested in) doing.  He doesn’t talk all that much but when he does, you know he’s thought about what he’s said.  With that being said, he’s also so silly.  I love that he’s thoughtful but if he were that careful and quiet all the time, I would be pretty bored.  He makes me laugh when I’m mad… one of my favorite things he does (even though it’s pretty frustrating in the moment) is he’ll ask me a question and in my frustration, I won’t respond.  So he’ll say “huh?”  I still don’t answer.  He says “huh?!” in a higher pitch.  By this point I think it’s kind of funny so he repeats again at a higher and higher pitch and usually I wait to see just how high his voice can get- think of it as conditioning his voice.  He likes to wear ridiculous shirts that he finds at Target just to see people’s reactions to them.  Oh my goodness, when we go through a drive-thru (usually to get food for me because he rarely eats fast food), the person will say “Welcome to wherever, this is whoever, how can I help you?”  We’ll order and he or she will tell us how much it is and to go to whatever window and he’ll yell “THANKS (insert name here).  We’ll get to the window and get our food and he’ll automatically look at their name tag and as we’re leaving he’ll shout out “THANKS (insert name here).”  He says that if they didn’t want people to call them by name, they wouldn’t wear a name tag.  Duh.  I also think he’s real cute.  I am still amazed that I snagged him.  When I was in middle school, he was that guy that I had a huge crush on but he was like teen idol material.  I’m talking I had a crush on Justin Timberlake and Zachary Holliday and would have happily settled for either one.  I’m praying I have a blue eyed gene in me somewhere so that our future children can have a chance at his gorgeous eyes.  He’s got a smile that lights up the room and you can tell he’s a runner- he’s all tall and slender yet muscular.  Also, he lets me sing in the car for hours.  We’ve made many 8 hour trips and I belt out whatever’s on my iPod the whole time.  He also doesn’t complain when I turn every single song before it’s over.  He tells me he wishes I were as funny as I think I am but I can tell, deep down, he thinks I’m simply hilarious.  He’s the love of my life (good thing I guess since I married him) and my best friend- all wrapped up in one.  Oh, and he lets me keep Jeannie.  That’s priceless.

The Idea

I watch the news.  Mainly CNN and the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  And don’t think that the Daily Show isn’t a source of legitimate news.  The stories that they run are well researched… they’re just funny and slightly biased.  Anyway, it’s pretty well known that negative stories that make you sad, angry, ready to punch a baby, etc., are more common than those that make you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.  It’s also well known and obvious that people that focus on the good are happier people and I read in Newsweek that you live longer so… here goes.

I’m going to pick one thing at a time that makes me happy, slap a picture on here and just spend some time reflecting on something that I like.  There are so many things that I don’t like and doing this isn’t going to make me forget those things or make me not think about them but I think it’ll be good to think about some positive things as well.  So here goes!

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.