We are safely back home now - feeling something like zombies ourselves - and preparing to head back tomorrow. My stomach has already filled with dread. I really have to find a new job. Anyway, I've completed the Blogging A to Z in April Challenge again! I hope you've enjoyed my posts this month. I've enjoyed reading many of yours as well! Thanks for joining me for the ride!
Three long years of hard work finally saw it's reward today - I graduated from university today!! I am so happy! I've worked very hard over the last few years and I earned summa cum laude honors. I'm very proud =D Now I'll be taking a few months off before I start my Masters. In the meantime, here is a photo of me in my cap and gown and honors regalia for you.
I really feel like an American girl at the moment, traveling across the country! We made it safely to our destination and I'll be graduating tomorrow! So excited! I'll say this about our travels: Tennessee has absolutely stunning scenery, Kentucky is beautiful, Illinois is a little bare with plains stretching out but striking in its own way and Iowa (at least the part along the Mississippi River) is just breathtaking. We've really enjoyed getting to see more of the country! Definitely a great way to travel for us!
This, as promised, is the third of my absolute favourite songs! In fact, it is my favourite song. I think it’s actually very appropriate for today, as we have just finished the first leg of our road trip to my graduation. This post is actually being written from Marion, Illinois tonight. We have discovered something very important about ourselves – we love road trips! We have traveled about 10 hours (or approximately 650 miles) today. We have only 390 miles left to our destination. This means that, money permitting, we hope to make a few more road trips to places we’ve wanted to visit. It’s going to open a whole new world for us, lol!
I've loved this song for many, many years. I hope you enjoy my version of it. Only a very short post tonight, as it's almost midnight and we have to be up extra early in the morning to start on the way to Iowa for my graduation! More tomorrow!
By the way, this is my 300th post! Not a bad way to make a 300th post, eh?
I absolutely love the message behind this song and video. It was one of the last songs I really fell in love with while we lived in England and then when we moved to the States, it wasn't on the radio. Such a shame because it's definitely a message that would be useful here as well!
So, carrying on from the post I wrote a couple of days ago, be proud of who you are. Don't be ashamed to be yourself. Love every inch of your odd, silly, crazy, unconventional self. Or, if you're not odd, silly, crazy or unconventional, love yourself just the same because you are you and that is an awesome person to be!
Speaking of talk, I had my interview today. It went really, really well. Possibly too well.
What do I mean by that? Well, the interview wasn't really like an interview. It was more of a conversation. And I had a great rapport with all three interviewers. But I think I may have oversold myself. At the end of the interview, the panel's only concern was that my current employer wouldn't be able to replace me! Which is great that they're concerned about my current employer, but I really hope it doesn't impact their decision on whether or not to offer me the job.
Keep your fingers crossed. I know that whatever is for the best will happen. If it's meant to be, the job will be mine. If not, then I'll keep looking. Love you guys!
I’ve recently been considering some very important philosophies The Hubs and I have and contemplating how we will best translate these to our children. This is very important right now because we are working on adopting a 14-year-old, a young adult who will already hold the beginnings of her own opinions. Many of my (for simplicity, I’ll say my, mine, me and I to include both The Hubs’ and my own thoughts) beliefs may, on the surface and to some people, appear to conflict with one another. I, however, don’t feel this is necessarily the case.
I’m sure that, by now, you’re asking yourself, what is Lynn babbling on about now? What I’m really talking about is the very touchy subject of homosexuality. You see, the older I get, the more and more I find myself thinking “why does it matter who someone loves? Why does a person’s sexuality need to impact their morality in the eyes of other people?” And I find myself answering that it really shouldn’t.
The problem I come to is integrating that belief with the religious beliefs I was raised with. In some ways, I’ve put many of these ideas aside already simply by growing up and experiencing life. However, there are still some things I do believe in. I have a strong belief in Jesus. I believe in God as well (that’s sort of inherent), however it’s not just the Father, but Jesus himself that my higher-power philosophy supports. This in and of itself is not what constitutes the problem. I’m aware that having a strong belief in, love of and dependence on God the Father and God the Son does not mean I have to be a bigoted, holier-than-thou, judgmental puppet for the homophobic sector of society. However, I have a desire to raise my child(ren) with a sense of right and wrong and with a love of the Lord. This should not pose an impossibility, yet I find myself wondering how I’ll do this. Traditionally, this would mean finding a church home and attending regularly. It’s what I’ve done much of my life. In recent years, though, I’ve found myself silently fuming over many of the things that are being taught in churches. Many times before The Hubs and I left our last church, I would find myself listening to the pastor and having to force myself to sit still and maintain decorum rather than jumping up and shouting that what was being said simply did not have to be the case.
Why did I not say something, you ask? Because, the long and short of it is, I’m a coward. The area we live in is a very conservative area and very religious. While I personally count myself as a Republican, this is true more on the fiscal side of things and my disagreement with abortion (that’s a story for another day, though, and comes down more to personal beliefs for myself than trying to dictate to others). Socially, it’s probably more accurate to deem myself a Libertarian as I am much more liberal in my social beliefs.
However, there is no room for acceptance here if you are not simply a sheep who keeps her head down and follows the rules, asking no questions and simply nodding agreement in the right places. I don’t want to be that person though. I want to be brave enough to stand up for what I believe in and be a role model my child(ren) can look up to with respect and think “yes, that’s the kind of human I want to be. Someone who fights for the rights of others and isn’t frightened away from doing the right thing because others will shun her as well.” I’m working on getting there, albeit in very small steps. Many people would laugh and say what I’m doing is not enough, but it is at least a start. I’ve openly posted supportive comments about the LGBT community and those organizations who support them on Twitter. I’ve spoken to friends and family about my feelings on the matter. I’ve publicly liked GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and SBNN (Straight But Not Narrow) on Facebook (this may seem like a very small thing, indeed, but only a few months ago there was an out and out comment war on my Facebook from someone locally who knows me and took offense at my posting a video to my Facebook wall from Youtube of Pink’s hit F*cking Perfect). I hope to use the qualifications I’m receiving from my degree to be more active by either becoming the staff advisor to a local GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) if I go into teaching or a support group for the local LGBT community if I go into social work. Whether this will be something I’ll be able to accomplish or not remains to be seen, but I certainly want to work towards it.
In the meantime, the question of how I will give my child(ren) what they need to develop a moral compass remains to be answered. I honestly don’t see us becoming active in a church again in the near future, unless a very rare and unusual church (at least for this area) makes itself known. I guess The Hubs and I will simply have to be shining examples for them and put them in the company of those who feel the same dedication to a world where everyone is accepted for who they are that we do.
UPDATE: Literally minutes after completing this post, I was excited to see a Tweet from @glaad with a link to this article. Looks like I’m not the only person thinking about this issue!
I told you earlier in the month that you would get to learn my three favourite songs during the course of the month and I earlier shared "I Feel So Close" by Calvin Harris. Now I bring to you part two or the trio, "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye.
I just love this song! I'll be honest - the first time I heard it, it did nothing for me. I think I actively disliked it. His voice is so similar to Sting's voice and I am NOT a Sting fan, so that was a problem for me. But then I heard it again and it began to grow on me. By the third time I heard it, I found myself nodding along to it and when the forth listen rolled around, I was hooked! Gotta love a song that can grow on you and become one of your favourites!
Only a few days away from my very favourite song (currently, at least)! Any guesses what it may be?? I'll give you a hint: it is a current song =D
This letter took a lot of thought and a lot of songs were in the running. The first two that came to mind were Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac and Rumor Has It by Adele. However, since I've already used songs by both of these artists and I'm trying to keep this diversified, I opted against using them. So that left me with the question of what song to use. Some of the other songs that made the shortlist but were eventually ruled out? Raspberry Beret by Prince, Ruby Tuesday by the Rolling Stones, Rockerfellar Skank by Usher, Rhythm Is Gonna Get You by Gloria Estefan and Roam by the B-52's. Which of those is your favourite or do you have another R song you love?
Btw, I love this song! It's just so mellow and makes me feel so happy =D
Q was a difficult letter for me. I really struggled to think of a song beginning with Q, but finally I remember this one. While I wouldn't really call it one of my favourites, I don't mind it too much and my dad loved it, so that's enough for me.
MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods
