28 things I learned after 28 years

So yesterday, was my birthday…

…and I officially turned 28 years old, huzzah!  With age comes a lot of things: wrinkles, well-wishes, and wisdom, being the three most obvious, but it's often too easy to not put things into perspective and be thinking solely about the future.  Not that that's a bad thing, per se, but a lot of the time I love looking back at what a pessimistic, argumentative idiot I used to be, and rationalize how I got where I am currently, and what I learned to get here.  It's sort of like looking back at old diaries and realizing how naive you used to be…actually, it's exactly like that.  Through heartaches, strained friendships, painful loss, joyful gain, and lots of laughing, I'm proud to say I made it to 28.  Here are 28 things I've learned on the road of life that I'd like to share with you:

1)  If at first you don't succeed, try try again.  My brother used to pull my feet out from underneath me when I was learning to walk, but despite the fact that he made the process more challenging, I ended up figuring it out eventually.  Perseverance is key, which is the only reason why I now know how to ride a bike, thanks to Mary.  It may have been when I was the ripe old age of 14, but who's counting?

2) You lose 100% of the hands you fold.  Poker analogy for saying you can't win anything if you don't risk anything.

3) Everything happens for a reason.  Don't fight it, and don't ask questions.  It will be revealed in due course, I am certain of it.

4) Everything is a game of balance.  You have one life, and one body, and you have to make the most of it.  Balancing everything from activities, to meals, to workouts, to work schedules is a key to remaining sane.

5) Make the effort to have a relationship with your parents.  Not everyone is blessed enough to know their mother or father, and only one other person is lucky enough to be able to claim my mother as theirs too, but I can't stress the importance of our relationship enough.  Mother knows best, unless it's in Rapunzel's case...

6) Stand up for yourself…because it's likely that no one else will do it for you.

How to not suck at Valentine's Day

For some reason I seem to have this fascination with researching holidays as they rapidly approach on the calendar.  Even Trivia Crack ascertains that History is one of my strongest subjects, so perhaps it knows me better than I know myself.  Maybe it's my attempt to not seem ignorant as I choose to rant about said holiday, or maybe it's just my sheer intrigue at how we celebrate things in the 21st century, as opposed to how the holiday itself was intended to be celebrated.

As I dug up the dirt on Valentine's day, I found some interesting tidbits on the History channel.  Memorable items include a rebel priest Valentine (who was later to be canonized as a saint) marrying young couples despite the emperor's ban on marriage, and the pagan ritual of slapping women with bloodied animal hide to promote fertility.  Perhaps the 50 Shades of Grey story isn't as far off the beaten path of romance as we think…I kid!  I haven't even read the books, nor do I have any desire to.  I digress…

The video above has some more detailed information, if you happen to be interested, but I am here for a much simpler reason.  I would like to bestow upon you some advice for how to make this Valentine's Day one that will be memorable, and for the right reasons.  

I don't claim to know a lot, but I do know the population of the world is full of three types of people: Those who love Valentine's Day, those who despise it, and those who are indifferent toward it.  No matter what category you fall into, it's still possible for you to make the most of this holiday, sometimes without even spending a dime.

My Bucket List

For quite some time now, I have been storing away little nuggets of information pertaining to my personal Bucket List.  What is a Bucket List, you ask?  Essentially, it is a compilation of things one wishes to accomplish in his or her lifetime before they "kick the bucket."  Here's a little glimpse, albeit a heart wrenching and sad one, into what it's all about:

While the circumstances of the characters in this film make this particular Bucket List experience a tad bit different than my own, I think that the point remains the same: it's never too late to fill your life with meaningful moments and ambitions.

As a social media user in my twenty-somethings, it's all too frequent that I see articles from know-it-all wannabees stating that marriage, and even childbirth, are the end of what used to be an exciting, free-spirited soul who could take on the world and see it all.  Too late for that, married 23 year old mommy-to-be.  You're over the hill and will never be able to feel personal fulfillment on an individual level again.  Shame on you for deciding to devote your life to your husband and children at an age where it is more socially acceptable to get black-out drunk and have a one night stand.  Now that's living.

If you can't tell by my jestful sarcasm, I don't agree with this notion, and I personally feel that fulfillment in life is a personal decision, and comes in a variety of ways.  I don't think- kids or no kids, spouse or no spouse- it is ever too late to follow your dreams and ambitions.  As soon as we start to associate age and family decisions with the inability to be individually happy, we have sentenced ourself to more of a "Countdown to when my Life is no Longer About Me" than a real, meaningful life, and of course no one will feel enriched with an attitude like that.

I digress.  For a little over a decade, now, I have been developing my own Bucket List, and while it's not yet complete, I sort of feel the need to dictate it in a more tangible form, so that I don't start to forget it.  Some of the items on it have already been completed, and some will be completed sooner than others, but for one reason or another I have felt the need to do he following things in my life:

My Bucket List:

• Participate in a flash mob

• I was pretty close to actually doing this, but I don't count it as a "real" flashmob.  I want to participate in a dance flashmob, and I'd love for it to be in a place where no one knows me.
• See Aurora Borealis up close

• This is so stunning and mystifying to me that I feel like I just have to see it up close.  Some day I'd like to travel far enough North at the right time to make this happen.

Super Bowl Commercials through the Years

Hey y'all.

In honor of the athletic holiday known as Super Bowl Sunday, I figured I would share some commercials I've located from throughout the decades/years.

Many say that Super Bowl commercials are some of the most iconic advertisements of the year, and I know of a handful of people who watch the sports-tacular spectacle purely for that reason.  While modern commercials are, by far and away, much more technical, edgy, and oftentimes overtly sexual and racy, Super Bowl commercials leave a legacy of epic proportions.  In no particular order, and for no particular reason, here are ten commercials from Super Bowls past.  Feast, fellow football fanatics.  (Nice alliteration, Corri!  Thanks, Internet!  Glad you noticed,)

#1 - 1969 Gillette Razor, Super Bowl III
This commercial is certainly a throwback to older times, and the voice shifting in tandem with the beard size is auditorially effective, and hella-creepy.

#2 - 1976 Xerox, Super Bowl X

This one makes me laugh because of the monks.  I oft mention the grueling process monks and early musicians had to endure before the printing press existed, and this is just a comical reminder of it.