5 Professions I Admire But Could Never Do

There are a lot of professions out there and I happen to have chosen marketing. I love marketing, and I'm good at marketing. However, there are a lot of professions out there that I could never, ever do. Here are my top 5:

1. Teacher. I thought I wanted to be one. Turns out I can't do children. Especially ill mannered children who would be forced to go somewhere for 8 hours a day. I'm very thankful for people who want to be teachers, because we need them, and I would not be where I am today without a well rounded education, but I could never be a teacher!

2. Nurse. I'm very thankful for nurses. These are people who love helping others so much that they are willing to encounter bodily fluids all day and sit with worrying families all night. I love my friend K* who is in nursing school because she can tell me when I'm being a hypochondriac and when to actually worry. I could never be a nurse, though, because I can't do blood or pain and get squeamish when I think about sticking someone with needle.

3. Driver. More specifically, a truck driver. Think about it. They get the stuff we need from point A to point B. They drive. All of the time. They live in the back of their truck. I get claustrophobic in a house. They're away from their families for days or weeks at a time as they drive the things we want but probably don't need from distribution centers to stores. I know get frustrated with trucks, but I really am thankful for the drivers!

4. Construction. I love buildings. I love being in buildings, and I love looking at buildings but I have spatial reasoning issues and could never actually build a building. I realize it's mostly following instructions, but it's like the most complicated puzzle ever. Also, I'm a wimp and have trouble carrying 2x4s for more than a few minutes.

5. Mechanic. I enjoy having a car, but when it comes to doing more than turning it on or changing the CD, I have no idea how it works. Nor do I really care to know how it works. This is why I'm thankful for mechanics. You need to get your oil changed? No problem! Make an appointment. That buzzy sound is back? No problem! Make an appointment. (Or turn up the radio.) Your check engine light's been on for the past 3 months? No problem! Make an appointment. (And soon, please. Before your car spontaneously combusts or falls apart on a highway.)

What jobs do you admire but could never do?

*K is one of my dearest friends. I'm trying not to use too many first names.

11 ways I'm going to be awesome in 2011

True confession time. I'm resolutionally challenged. I make them, forget them, remember them, and then it's already October and "too late" in my mind to do anything about them.

Another confession: 2010 sucked. For lots of reasons, and it wasn't one even that made it especially sucktastic. But the one thing I already know about 2011 is that it's going to be awesome. And it's going to be awesome because I'm going to make it so. So here, on January 5, is my list of 11 ways I'm going to make 2011 awesome.*

1. Take risks. For the last 22 years, my life has been safe. Not safe in a plastic bubble kind of way, but safe in a I don't take risks way. If I wanted to keep living this way, I'd stay in Monmouth and work for the college until they either hire me or kick me out, and if they kick me out then I'd go home. But the new taking risks me is going to be the kind of person everyone wishes they had the balls to be.

2. Enter the real world. Right now I'm living with my uncle and not paying rent. My parents pay for my cell phone. I have no bills to speak of. To make this year awesome, I'm going to find a job, move, get an apartment, and be an adult. I'm going to figure out insurance, retirement funds, and learn how to live in the real world. Because even though I live off campus doesn't mean I'm out of the Monmouth bubble.

3. Dress up for me. If I didn't have to work, I'd probably hang out in sweats all of the time. I get home from work and if I'm not going anywhere, the sweats come out. And once they're on, I'm not going anywhere. This year, I'm going to put together real outfits. I'm going to do my hair (almost) every day. I'm going to wear makeup for more than just going out on Friday or Saturday nights. I'm going to dress up for me, because it makes me feel good.

4. Appreciate my friends. I want to stay in better contact with my friends. I'm going to write more letters. I'm going to make more phone calls. I'm going to do more than write on a facebook wall once a year for birthdays. I'm going to let my friends know that I appreciate them.

5. Read more books. Now that I'm not in college, I actually have time to read. (Ironic, isn't it?) But I've been working on Emma since 2009, and this is going to be the year I finish it. Perhaps my friend Paige over at paiges [of] books can make some recommendations?

6. Listen to more music. More confessions: I love Ke$ha. And Trey Songz. And Katy Perry. Basically, I love music that has the relative worth of abc gum. But I'd like to expand my musical horizons. I was a music major, for goodness sakes. And just because I can appreciate Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky doesn't mean that I get to rot my brain with Ke$ha.

7. Create less drama. I'm really quite good at creating drama. Maybe I find it subconsciously exciting? I really don't like being in the middle of it though, so I'm going to stop (or at least try to stop). No more worrying about things I can't control, no more complaining to friends unless it is at least somewhat warranted...like I have a fever or I'm homesick. Then I can complain. Otherwise, it's just drama.

8. Get a cat. Or some other living thing. Like a fish. Or a plant. Maybe I'll start with a plant.

9. Find my passion. I thought I had one, but as soon as I made it a major I stopped being passionate. So I hope to find a new passion in 2011. Is it cooking? Baking? Writing? Who knows, but hopefully I'll find it and explore it!

10. Don't stress about being awesome.** I already am awesome. Why would I need to worry about being awesome? I'm just going to live the best I can.

11. Live a good story. I hate cliches. Hate hate hate cliches. But there's one I've been mulling over for a while, and that is "Life is not a dress rehearsal." Why would I want to live the rough draft of my life? It's not like I can go back and edit it when it's all said and done to make it more awesome. I'm going to live awesome now.

*Ok, maybe not all of them are life altering, but they're things I'd like to accomplish!

**Courtesy of my dear dear friend HW

Top 5 Things I Learned in 2010

2010 is coming to a close, and I want to start with the top 5 things I learned this year. It was a big year for me, lots of ups and downs, and here are some important lessons I learned:

1. Loss is hard, but it is a fact of life. In the end of 2009 I lost my grandmother, but I'm putting this in 2010 because that's when I really came to terms with it. I learned that it is important to remember the person, but it is also important to continue living and to continue finding beauty in everyday life. I mean, my grandmother wouldn't want me to miss out on friends and laughter (two of her very most favorite things) because she isn't there!

2. Go ahead, make your own path. As I neared my graduation date (May 16, 2010), I realized I had some huge decisions to make. And you know what? I made the ones I thought were right. Yes, it was hard. Yes, I cried. Yes, my mother got tired of phone calls asking her what I should do. But I made it and while I'm still not where I want to be, I can assure you that I took the path I wanted to take, and I am well on the way to where I want to be.

3. Step back and reexamine periodically. I learned that it's okay to make everyone stop once in a while and make sure that everything looks (and feels) right. People got frustrated with me because I slowed things down sometimes, but I know from experience now that people get more mad when you forge ahead with no idea of what you want.

4. There is nothing better than family. I already knew this, so I guess this was just a re-realization. I live with my mom's family in Illinois and my uncle is my roommate. I made pies with my grandma for Thanksgiving (and earned a letter home saying I'm a nice girl. Score!). I see my cousins a lot and drink Manhattans with my grandpa. And Monmouth is starting to feel more like home than Spokane.

5. Change is good. Change is also scary, intimidating, and I'm bad at it. But changes, both small and large, are good for me as a person.

To be fair, I also learned smaller, very important lessons like my alcohol limit (4 rum and cokes...good, 5 rum and cokes...bad) and that I may be more of a cat person than a dog person. I have also learned about the joys of car ownership and the trouble that befalls a person who loses her keys in downtown Chicago. I learned that I can't get from point A to point B without my GPS (a GP-what?) and that even though I'm 22, I still love children's movies. But this was more about the big lessons than the smaller ones.

What did you learn in 2010? Anything earth shattering?

Trying it again...

Alright, I know I'm the queen of starting something just to leave it unfinished. But I'm really going to try this time.

As many people know, I'm addicted to lists. I make lists of lists, panic when I lose a list, and often waste a lot of time making lists. This blog will be a collection of lists about me. I'm going to try to remember to update it, but if I don't, it's probably because I put "update blog" on a to-do list that was looked at and then left behind.

Enjoy!