25 Before 25

Birthday Flowers :-)

Happy Birthday to Me!!

     Is it bad that I forgot how old I was turning?? I had to count up from the year I was born to figure it out!

   In honor of my 24th birthday, I am going to do something that I might regret later.

 

 I'm doing the '25 Before 25 Challenge.'

   Yes, the dreaded, overachieving, stupid 'Things I Want to Complete in a Year' challenge. The things we do to try to keep life (and blogging) interesting.

    So, with no further ado, here it is! Some things are stolen from my real list, some things are new. All are theoretically very achievable. Nearly none of them are very exciting.

1. Move Back to MA
2. Graduate from College
3. Write a Letter to Someone who has Inspired me
4. Have a Child
5. Teach Her Something New
6. Sew up the Couches
7. Make Bun Mam (again)
8. Baby Charm Bracelet (at least start one)
9. Be More Stylish
10. Finally Tell my Mother her Secret
11. Become a Neat Freak
12. Wash my Shoes
13. Send a Postcard to PostSecret
14. Get to the Bottom of Jack's Peeing Issue
15. Clean my Coach Purse
16. Pressure Cooker Pho
17. Create a Signature Dish
18. See Someone from my Mom's Side of the Family
19. Get in to Graduate School
20. Visit my Grandparents for No Apparent Reason
21. Complete my List of 50 Things that Make Me Happy
22. And Make a Video About it
23. Vote for my Little Brother for President of the U.S.A
24. Attend a NAMI Meeting
25. Buy a Random Person Something off their Baby Registry

     Okay. Maybe this challenge isn't so stupid. Now that it's written, I must admit that I'm pretty excited about it. I've been putting off some smaller things for a while, and it'd be nice to think that I'll actually get around to doing them.

Getting in to Grad School

      Well I'm not in yet, but...

      I got an interview! That's half the battle!

So there are two more phases:

1. The Individual Interview
2. The Group Interview

     I am feeling pretty good about this! Although this semester has just started, I already feel like my undergraduate experience is being neatly wrapped up, complete with a little bow.

     I remember when I first started college. I would listen to some of the other students with awe at their vast knowledge of so many things. They were able to pull a wide array of subjects in to nearly any conversation for a fairly interdisciplinary discussion.

     Now I am finding that I am that student. I'm able to incorporate various concepts, explain research, and connect different fields in to my conversations to solidify my argument in a way I never could before. I'm coming across concepts I am already familiar with in my coursework. That makes things so much easier to grasp. Having the ablility to comprehend what the point of an article is without having to struggle as much as I did even two years ago is an amazing feeling!

     My interview is set for crack-of-dawn A.M. the first week of March. I'll find out a couple of weeks after that whether or not I'm accepted. I still have a couple of schools I have to hear back from, but I would love to get in to this particular program!

Pregnancy is Not Sexy

     Let's try an exercise. I'll say a word, and you say the first thing that comes to your mind. READY?

Sexy

     If the first thing you thought of was 'pregnant,' it's gotta be because you saw the title of this post, and already knew where that exercise was headed.

     That’s right- I’m joining team Jessica! Despite what you may think, pregnancy is not sexy!

     Let me just make clear that I’m not referring to the whole experience of pregnancy itself. Of course the whole concept of creating a life, feeling it grow inside of you, sharing a special bond etc. is beautiful. It’s what makes the world go round. What I am referring to is the swelling hands and feet, stretch marks, aches and pains, waddle, and all the other lovely physical changes that a woman goes through when she becomes pregnant. Not sexy.

     Perhaps it’s best explained by Dwight in the beginning of this clip from “The Office”:

 

    
     This is a very naturalistic viewpoint, but I happen to agree. Biologically, us ‘preggers’ aren’t even supposed to be sexy. The whole fact that you’re already pregnant means that you can’t get pregnant again right now anyways. Biologically speaking, that is the whole purpose of having sex to begin with- Reproduction.

      With that said we are humans- and one of only two species (the other being dolphins) who have designated another purpose for sex: pleasure. I have to give that fact the attention it deserves. But basically, what we have done is reassign the term 'sexiness' to mean something other than having certain qualities that attract the opposite sex for the purposes or reproduction. Instead, sexiness is something that we would define as being visually pleasing to the opposite sex not necessarily for the goal of reproducing, but for something else.  

Then for what? Attention? Ego-boosting? Pleasure? 

     Whatever. What I’m trying to say is simple: I don’t feel sexy.

I weigh a ton.

  My shirts are riding too high and my pants won’t button.
The maternity pants I do have won’t stay up.

The pants that fit the best are my old pants

(with a maternity belt over the undone buttons and zippers,)

 and if I am not careful I’m flashing everybody.

Last night when I rolled over from my right to left side...

 my hips made a huge popping sound

that made me want to vomit!

My hands are swollen.
My waist is disappearing (along with other body parts).
My swagger is whack.

And I feel like I'm always smelly... Pregnant Smelly...

     Kudos to those chicas in the world who do feel sexy during pregnancy. You have unhuman, supernatural powers.

...

     Are you/have you been pregnant? How did you feel sexy?