Vibrant Birthday and Victorious Cooking

So I am going to try, note that I say "try", to title as many of these blog posts with some v-word in it, but I've noticed that there are a lot of negative V words that I hope I don't have a day that makes me want to use them. Anyways, I may start naming these blogs random V words in the end - like vicissitude or viscosity, which I am not even sure if I spelled it right then! Oh well, here we go...

This birthday has been one of the most amazing times for me, where I have never felt more loved, appreciated, and cared for by my wonderful friends and family. In frustrating times, I must come back and read about it, so I remember how lucky I am. My actual birthday, like I said before, was on the first day of school (I thought "no bueno"), but it really turned out to not only be an awesome first day of school AND birthday. It the best first day/birthday I think I have ever had! I felt like I was literally showered with hugs, cards, gifts, smiles, my favorite foods, facebook notifications, texts, calls, and "Happy Birthday"s. Saturday night I went out with my "English II peeps", as I like to call them, and had dinner at a great restaurant. They even brought me gifts! I love the people I work with - they are amazing! And then, the next day, Sunday, we had family over to celebrate, where everyone brought delicious food, warm smiles, and thoughtful gifts. My mom made me a cake; it was a layered lemon-bluberrry cake! Yum! Finally, just a few days ago, on Saturday, my friends helped my celebrate once again at The Mont, where I even got a free birthday shirt! Haha! It was so sweet to see so many people come to celebrate with me and bring gifts! WOWZA! My hand is going to be tired of writing those "Thank You" cards! The point in telling you all of this is just that I was so overwhelmed by all of the love I felt from all of my friends and family celebrating my birthday, and I am so so so so grateful for these people I have in my life. Actually, chances are that if you're reading this, you are one of those people! And another realization I came to, during this birthday in particular, was that I feel like I appreciated everything so much, een more than any year before, because I didn't really care what I did or what gifts I got, just that I though how kind it was that people went out of their way to make me feel special. That's amazing, isn't it? I hope I can do this for others too, but I am just still in awe at the giving nature of the amazingly incredible people I have in my life. I guess you could say that I'm feeling pretty blessed right now. :)

As for the cooking portion of this post, I am reading Julie & Julia, and absolutely loving it. I love her witty style of writing, and I find many things about her personality are like mine. I felt inspired by her cooking endeavors, so I made a pretty darn good dinner from a magazine recipe tonight, and I certainly am proud of myself. It was a lemon-thyme chicken, and it was healthy too! I even made a little salad that tasted a lot like Greek House's salad! YAY! But lots of times, I totally mess up, and get super frustrated like she does in the book, and again, it reminds me of myself. All that hard work going to waste? That will just about bring me to tears. But I guess that's why I'm not Julia Childs. Actually, I first had the notion to write a blog because of "Julie & Julia", the movie, which I also love. Speaking of movies (I think I acquired a little ADD these past few weeks...), I also finally got to see "Eat, Pray, Love" this weekend with Julia Roberts. I read the book this summer, just so I could see the movie, and I loved it too. I couldn't really relate to the "not wanting to be married" part, but I could relate to her trying to be someone she's not, and then finally realizing that the real her was even more amazing than she thought she could be. I've always struggled with my own self-esteem, and this book/movie reminds me of the good in me. And I particularly love the part about Italy, since I went there three summers ago, and it makes me want to go back oh-so-badly. Someday, maybe. Before we have kids. Yep. Sounds good.

So, I guess today, if you need a book, a movie, a recipe, or a birthday hug, I'm your gal. You may not like my choices or methods, but I sure do. :)

V is for...

A good friend of mine recently suggested that I start a blog. So here I am. Giving it a try. I've always, always loved journaling, so I guess this is my new way of doing so, or in addition to what I write already in my journal. Last year, I did a "Project 365" on my facebook, where I posted pictures for each day. That was tough but I really love the end product. So instead of continuing that, I thought I wanted to start a blog on my 27th birthday, which also happened to be the first day of school in my third year of teaching. Obviously, that didn't work out, and it was pretty crazy for me to think that doing that was really going to happen. But you live and you learn! And now I'm starting my blog today. It was a good day, that gave me a glimpse of fall, and it made me happy. Pretty good for the first week of school, eh?

Now, you may be thinking... "Why all the alliteration with the V's?". Well, because I'm an English teacher and I think all these V words capture the essence of "me". Let me explain each part:

Vintage -
I've loved old and antique things for as long as I can remember, from houses to furniture, and cars to knick-knacks. I live in a 1940s cottage-y home, and despite the things that need to be upgraded, I absolutely love it. I think of the people who lived here before me, and how different their lives must have been from mine. Especially since this house was built right around the end of WWII...Those Americans were the greatest generation. I also feel that I am "called" to love and preserve these old things, as they are a part of our history. I believe I am doing a little service to honor those who lived before me and fought for what I can now call my freedoms.

Values -
I believe that I am a person who has some strong values, and though I've made plenty of mistakes, I still try to stick to my beliefs. I truly value honesty, compassion, patience, trustworthiness, understanding, and integrity. The people who are closest to me I think have these attributes, and I am the luckiest gal in the world to have them in my life.

Ventures -
I strongly believe in "living each day to it's fullest". Some days this makes me pretty exhausted and sometimes low on the "cash-flow", but I have so many incredible memories of places I've traveled and things that I have given the opportunity to do, and I would NEVER trade those memories for anything. I plan on continuing this life of adventure, and experiencing many more things. It excites me thinking of what the future holds for me.

Lastly, I love the word "vested". I actually used it in my first-day-of-school-get-to-know-you activity. I called myself "Vested Valentas", because this attribute of mine can be both a strength and a weakness. Whatever I do (teaching, being a friend, being a wife, creating a project), I put my all into it. Sometimes that gets me in trouble when I expect others to do the same, and then I get hurt. But I'd rather give my all, and risk that chance of getting hurt.

Well, I want to read some of the book I just started finally before going to bed. So, farewell blog-land! Hopefully, I will write again soon!