Life of Twenty-two.

Well, another birthday has passed, and I only feel a tad bit older. I am not the so-called wild, wondrous 21 year old that has just fully blossomed into a young adult, but the still-wondrous but adaptive 22 year old that now feels like she has found some-what of a place in the real world. That was a run-on sentence, let me tell you. Anyway, I have found myself in the work scene at the university library as well as the public library. People consider me a librarian I suppose, but that is far from the truth. You actually have to have a masters degree in the library sciences (yes, it is a real thing) to be fully considered a librarian. I do not have the degree or the knowledge to even meet what I consider to be a great librarian. All the same, I am very pleased to have my jobs, and I only wonder what is going to come next in this little life of mine. Maybe I will go on to the major university of the state I reside and become a librarian? Maybe I will go to Kentucky and study art therapy? Who knows, because I sure don't. Tonight will be the celebration of my birthday with my family, as I was unable to see them on my birthday this past Tuesday. We will go to a German restaurant, as I am trying to influence my life with German culture and practice the language. I am a bit nervous. I want to speak German to the waiters, as I know they are native, but I don't want to sound so silly. I have a pretty good German accent, but sometimes I get so confused with what words to use. German grammar is pretty tough! At least for me it is. Are there any Germans who read my blog? I would very much like to have a German pen-pal to write to.

My Bavarian-styled pretzel at Starbucks I had last weekend coming home from Georgia! Yay!
In other news, I visited my best-friend Gabby last weekend in Georgia. It was very hot and humid (as most of the South is), but it was also lovely. Before we left for Georgia, Gabby and I exchanged birthday gifts since my birthday was coming up and hers was at the end of May. She bought for me this cute little tote bag that had a flower design on it (which I use to keep my necessary toiletries in), a beautiful red rose candle (I love roses!), and a little floral bat key chain. Yes, you read that right. A bat. Eine Fledermaus. She always knows what to buy me! I love flowers and bats! So do you know what I did with Flower (that is her name)? She dangles on the side of my camera, and I call her Meine Fotografie Fledermaus. That is where she resides. Anyway, on to the trip! The town in which Gabby, her boyfriend, and his family resides is a college-town, so we had the chance to take an unofficial tour of the campus. Of course I went to the library! It was so big, and I loved it so much. The walls were painted in all of these pastel summery colors, and it just made the atmosphere very positive and vibrant. The campus actually has a little nature-trail as well, which I thought was pretty nifty. Both Gabby and I love nature, so we were very spritely about that. I took some practice photos of the leaves and the trees, which I will publish in later time. Other things we took upon ourselves to do was to go to this little comic-book shop off the square, where I found a Little Lulu comic! I was so excited, as I collect Little Lulu memorabilia. We also went to Books-A-Million, where I found a personal birthday gift for myself.

This is Flower, meine Fotographie Fledermaus.

This is a book I had bought at the local Books-A-Million, The Sunflower. And to the right is a sweet little smiley face the associate drew for me! How creative.
I will post the rest of the photos I took of the trip possibly tomorrow. Gabby and I also had fun with our cameras before we left for Georgia, so we were taking pictures of each other and all the neat little things that entailed within her grandmother's home. I suppose that will be all for today, as I have so much on my mind, and when I am in this state it is very hard for me to write. How ironic. Most writers do so because of the very fact that they do have so much on their mind. Not me! Nope.

"Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place."
Kurt Vonnegut

I know I need to, but...

I need to write more, but I never know what to say. I have so many thoughts running around through my head, and try as I might to organize them, I come up empty-handed. I have a diary, a Tumblr blog, a prayer journal, and this blog, and I still usually just describe myself through pictures. I am a very visual person, and I have always felt that I could let photos of things that I like "speak" for me. Maybe that's a reason why I get really anxious when I have to talk to other people, or that I forget words that I want to use in conversation even though I know a great deal of descriptive words. I always tell people that I can't speak very well (I stutter quite a bit, forget words, dyslexic talking, whathaveyou), but I can definitely reveal a lot more about myself through writing. On the contrary, I have a lot to say, but I don't know how to express my words in an effective way. Frustration overcomes me when speaking to other people, and at the same time my thoughts all weave together and leave me in a blubbering mess. Please tell me I am not the only one like this! I have had people interrupt me in mid-thought to tell a story of their own because I was too preoccupied on trying to say what was on my mind eloquently. That is one of the reasons why I am so quiet around people, and even when I do talk people can barely hear me. Another reason why I am quiet is because I like to listen to people speak more than I like to talk. Plus, I'm shy. I am the quiet observer that has much to say and strong convictions, but comes out sounding like an imbecile when she opens her mouth. Anyway... I have recently friends with a girl named Callie on Tumblr. She is so sweet and intelligent, and I love talking with her. She seems so interesting. I hope the friendship lasts, as I feel we have much in common and great potential. We can only speak through Tumblr for the time being, but that is okay. If you would like to visit her blog, it is called Lighthouse and Pinetrees. It's such a lovely little blog. For those of you who love nature, poetry, intellectual thinkers, and mellow photography, this is your girl! She has a lot to say as well. I actually found her blog when she started to follow another Tumblr blog of mine, Sophie and The White Rose. A little creep that I am, I am always interested in browsing other people's blogs that have at least a little something in common with me...especially if they're interested in an obsession of mine. More on that later. Anyway, I was looking through her blog, and her personal entries spoke to me. The way she sees and feels about things are very much like the way I do. Also, the calm atmosphere of her blog soothed me. I am going to end this entry today with a photo I took this past weekend of flowers and such. I hope you enjoy your day.

"Leave it to God. It is an astonishing thought. It can become a life-transforming thought … unclench the fists of your spirit and take it easy … What deadens us most to God’s presence within us, I think, is the inner dialogue that we are continuously engaged in with ourselves, the endless chatter of human thought. I suspect that there is nothing more crucial to true spiritual comfort … than being able from time to time to stop that chatter…"
Frederick Buechner

Hello today! As you guys know (at least those who have been keeping up with me), I have always been known as 'A Lotta Girl, A Lotta Style.' Well, thinking about it, I don't really have that much style, but I do have a lot of creativity! Why not wrap the contents of my blog around my everyday mind? I feel that would be in the best interest for all of us. I kind of feel like I have been hiding myself from you guys with my former website persona. I'm not a fashionista (HOWEVER, I adore clothes in the worst way.) I don't know why I would portray myself to be anything but myself: artsy, unique, crafty, nerdish, and so many other traits. So here is my website makeover: I'm going to transform my blog to portray myself how I want to be shown! I hope you guys enjoy the change, and I hope you get an insight on who I really am. For starters, I am going to add the beautiful photos I took of my mother's garden the other day.
For the photo effects, I have used the filters on Instagram, Path, and Pixlr-O-Matic and sometimes even in unison. For the bright coral roses, I used the filter Peter on Pixlr-O-Matic. I felt that it complimented the color of the flowers quite well. My mother has a beautiful garden, and I am just so proud of her for creating a wonderful mixture of color and flower.
The sky was so heavenly that day! I don't understand why people feel disdain toward cloudy days. You can just sit back and watch them as they slowly pass by, and you may even see a cat or a butterfly! I gave her this beautiful Mother's Day card because she loves art (she's an artist too) and flowers. I decorated the front of the card slip, which was a glorious hot-pinkish coral color. We both love bright colors.
And this little gem is a photo of the past three generations of women from my mother's side of the family: My grandmother Jeanette, my mother Jeanette, and me! Fun fact: My grandfather wanted my name to be Jeanette too! Haha, how funny would that have been.
How was your Mother's Day? What did you give to your mother that was very special to the both of you?
"Please be a traveler, not a tourist. Try new things, meet new people, and look beyond what’s right in front of you. Those are the keys to understanding this amazing world we live in." Andrew Zimmern
Photos via artisticaudrey - Please credit!

If I Owned A Boutique... Part 1: Introduction

I have been pondering for a while now about possibly being a boutique owner. I've thought about the kinds of things I would sell, the music I would play, what kind of building I would want my boutique to be in, everything. The only thing I am still unsure about is how to go about owning my own business. I have been reading blogs such as A Beautiful Mess, and others like hers who own there own creative business, and it has inspired me immensely. I'm going to save up for these two e-courses to get me started on thinking seriously about this:

1. DREAMjob by A Beautiful Mess

2. Indie Compass by Indie Business


Hopefully that will help me be more aware of the steps I need to take before becoming my own boss. I am a psychology major, and I haven't taken any business courses, but I may when I go on to university. Wish me luck! I will be writing more and more about this topic in the future.

Quote of the Day
"Do one thing everyday that scares you." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Picture of navy shoes via Sunshine and Pearls

My January 2010 Shopping List

I know this is a totally random post, but I need to write my ideas down ASAP, and a notebook sometimes doesn't cut it.

My January shopping list will include:

1. Mason jars
2. Carabiner
3. Vera Bradley notebook
4. Fabric - $2.99 per yard
5. Everything in the "monthly" list
6. Cereal canister
7. Red paint chips - free
8. feta cheese
9. blue corn chips
10. cat dental chews for Lily
11. Apple juice
12. grated cinnamon
13. nutmeg
14. cinnamon sticks
15. Brie
16. Apple butter

My monthly shopping list will include (if needed):

1. grapes
2. grape/cherry tomatoes
3. cucumber
4. ginger
5. spinach
6. lettuce
7. oatmeal
8. tomato soup - $1.98
9. turkey
10. pretzels
11. popcorn
12. frozen corn
13. peaches
14. apples

I will randomly write back to this post, so please disregard if you are uninterested.

So I've Decided That I'm...

Going to start vlogging now. For those of you who do not know what 'vlogging' is, it's basically like blogging, only you record yourself via webcam or any other portable video device. I bought my Webcam C110 from Wal-Mart today, and it is successfully installed so I am excited to start my very first vlog post today!
I'm probably going to start of with an introductory video, but I haven't a single clue how I'm going to go about this... I know what you're thinking, "How hard can it be to introduce yourself?!" Well, I just don't want to go on a rambling rampage of things that will probably scare off the viewers. So if you don't mind, I will be writing a few key-points and questions of what I'm going to say on video. Those of you who are just beginning to vlog can use this as well if they want. Ha.

1. My name... Duh, it's Audrey. I'm not going to give out my full name though.
2. Where I live? Nah, I'll just say I'm from the South. Maybe that I was born in Alabama.
3. What I like to do: Draw cartoons, write, read, listen to music, hang out with friends... Normal things. Oh, except for obsessing over insane asylums every single damn day and going onto Ebay wishing I had every single asylum postcard.
4. Describe my history: Ah... I might improvise on that. I might tell the viewer's that I was born with this serious disease called Hirschsprung's Disease and how the major thing that ended it all was a seizure. As I am religious though, I believe this was a miracle. It happened the same time I was being baptized. I might tell them that high-school was alright for me, as incredibly boring as that would be.. I didn't have any bullies, people liked me fine, I didn't get into fights (okay, there were a few exceptions, but nothing really dramatic happened).
5. My major accomplishments: Beating Hirschsprung's and heart surgery, winning various HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) competitions, being in two school plays (one where I was the leading role), graduating high school... Wow, I'm a little boring.
6. I'm teaching myself how to play the piano? All I know is part of Moonlight Sonata from Beethoven, the first part of Chopin's Prelude in E-Minor Op. 28, No. 4, and my rendition of the guitar solo in Comfortably Numb. I'm still proud of myself though nevertheless. 7. I went to Athens, Ohio last summer (OH YEAH. I need to post those pictures). To see...guess what? An old insane asylum. The Athens State Hospital, ladies and gentlemen. I also went to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to see Bryce Hospital and Bolivar, Tennessee to see the Bolivar/Western State Hospital. Those are pictures I need to post as well..
8. My favorite movies: Anything that makes me think (with the exception of Austin Powers and Dumb & Dumber). I like movies such as A Beautiful Mind, The Others, Pearl Harbor, Titanic, Schindler's List, Girl Interrupted, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 1000's more. I love horror movies except for most violent ones. I'm more of a ghost, paranormal, psychological thriller type horror-movie-fan. I hate Hostel and Saw movies, they make me sick. My empathetic-self cannot handle those types of movies. I also do not like to see the insulin/electric shock therapy scenes in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, A Beautiful Mind, or Frances, but I make exceptions as they are more interesting to me than playing a torture game.
9. I'm very random? I know my bog says 'A Lotta Girl, A Lotta Style', but my blog is not a "fashion" blog. I love fashion though, don't get me wrong. I'm so random and disorganized, I hardly ever blog. I'm sorry for that. I'm also pretty nerdy. I love nerdy jokes. I'm terrible at math, but I can pick up a math joke so quickly that it's not even funny. How weird is that? Anyway... I'm secretly crazy. Except for those who notice my strange little ways and just stare at me. The only people who know about my insanity are my parents, my best friends, my boyfriend, and his family. It's more of an eccentric/quirky insanity more than it is a mental illness (also with a few exceptions.) << Is that grammatically correct?
"I'm so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I'm saying." Oscar Wilde Pictures via Pinterest

Please Help!

I have been severely disgusted by our society's view on feminine beauty and the ways of acquiring such an image for quite some time now. Since the beginning of this disgust, I have hoped that in the years to come some epiphany of some sort would smack those who further this idea into reality-check oblivion so that the image beauty would become less distasteful and unhealthy.
With your help, hopefully we can get the message across to congress on how this idea is causing women and girls all over the country to suffer about their body image. It's called 'The Self Esteem Act,' and by signing this petition, you will have helped the fight against the media and society vs. women.

Please read the information about the petition, and if you're a stickler to your sources as I am, disregard the NEDA.org, as it is a website for the New England Dressing Association and not the National Eating Disorder Association.