The Lovely Little Introvert

     I don't normally share the things I write. And nothing I've written lately has even been good. I was starting to think I had lost it. I tried to quit altogether, leave it as a forgotten dream. But a part of me also knew that I still had a little left. Someone once said that you need to write until you surprise yourself. Today I sat back surprised at what was staring back at me from the paper. Again, normally I don't share my writings, but I felt like I needed to today.         "Two years. It had been two years since that last day-since the day you walked out. And although I hadn't seen you, it was like nothing had changed. For me, everywhere I looked you were there. You followed me everywhere. At first I tried to ignore you, but you wouldn't go away. I pretended like it didn't bother me. You were there, but so what? Still you persisted. You kept on and on until finally I gave in. One night, in the mid-October rain, I slipped on my best shoes an...

      For whoever reads my blog post, you had to know something about Starbucks was coming sooner or later. It is a big part of my life, after all.       Here is just a bit of my Starbucks background to give a little perspective. When I moved back to Colorado after a brief, albeit messed up time, in Arizona, I started job searching again. I was offered my old job waiting tables, but I hated it and had resolved never to go back after having worked there for two years. It was, needless to say, a miserable place. So I began the endless task of filling out applications, almost a full-time job in itself. I applied for everything not having to do with food of any kind. I called around and no on seemed to be hiring (or they had misplaced my application--thanks, Bath and Body Works lady!). After about a month of hearing absolutely nothing, I started applying at all the places I had deemed "forbidden"--restaurants, which meant being a waitress again. My dad all but...

     There have been a lot of crazy thoughts rolling around in my head the last few weeks. I've started to write a new blog post so many times and it just never felt quite right. There were so many options, but none I had really fleshed out yet. Anyhow. I'm here now! Finally writing again, and it feels good! I am currently done with school for the summer (on week four of my vacation) and it feels wonderful. My sister is coming home from Africa in 17 days and I could not be more happy!! We also moved into a new house and I absolutely adore it. I have a glorious little hammock in the backyard and I am working on making a fairy garden with tiny little plants and a house shaped like a teapot. It's gonna be pretty epic. Yet despite all of this great stuff, God and I have been wrestling with some things for a while.      The overall issue has been with purpose and contentment. So many things have brought this about. For one, I am going into my junior year of col...

     If my blog's title didn't quite give it away, I am an introvert by nature. I used to resent it frequently, but I have come to accept myself that way. (I am still working on what comes after acceptance, but that's another story.) Anyway, a few days ago I was talking with my Mom about my being an introvert and just how I deal with people in general. She said that most people don't know how to handle introverts and are sometimes (perhaps even unconsciously) afraid of them. So I wanted to take this opportunity to explain introverts to you and a little about how to handle them--you know, so it's less scary next time you encounter one.       1. Introverts don't hate people.           It's a common thought that introverts just don't like people, but it isn't true! Most introverts love being with people, just not all the time. And it's typically easier when it is one-on-one or just a small group of people. Anything larger tends to cr...

     I have been really bad about blogging lately. Things have been crazy lately. Life never stops, you know? Anyhow, I hope to be a little better about it this time. And today's post will be quite random, so prepare yourselves!!      Ever since I was about fourteen or so I have been in love with Ireland. It all started with me wanting something to write about. I literally grabbed an encyclopedia (yeah, we had the book set, not the fancy internet encyclopedia...) and flipped until I found something interesting. That happened to be the Irish potato famine. I knew it had to be the setting for my book! I did tons of research and became totally obsessed. That was the first book I wrote. Looking back now, I realize how terrible the writing and plot were, but I have a special place in my heart for it. That sparked a huge ongoing interest in the country. Some of my favorite authors were Irish. If you've never seen any real pictures, do yourself a favor and go loo...

     I've always been a little indifferent towards Valentine's Day. Like why do we have to celebrate love only one day a year? Has it become that cheap? The other part of me has lamented the fact that I have never had a Valentine. My one relationship was in the Valentine's off season. It's cheesy, but there's just something about the beautiful flowers and heartfelt notes. (And I've always wanted to get one of those giant cards...I don't know why.) And I would love to plan some super awesome surprise for someone, too. So as we have come into February, I have been reminded again just how single I am. You know, the culture gives the word such a negative connotation. It's looked on as something to be pitied, like, "Poor thing. She's alone on Valentine's Day. How sad." Sucks for all us singles. Or does it? (Hold that thought for a minute).       Growing up, when people talked about loving themselves, I thought it was selfish. Shouldn't ...

       This week has been one of the roughest I remember in a long time. It just seems like that week where everything goes wrong. I mean, Monday started out great. Work was amazing and I felt like I made progress with my baristas and I felt like I was on cloud nine. Then I came home, packed up my stuff, and went to the library to take my French test. Though I haven't gotten back my final score yet, it is safe to say I bombed that thing (and I only have three...and they count for 30% of my grade). On Tuesday, work was a nightmare. We were understaffed and I felt like I was having a continuous panic attack for like two hours. When I did homework later on that day, I found out that two of the textbooks I had ordered were wrong, and one of them I needed for a presentation that's due next week. I emailed my teacher and the news kept getting better. There was no access to the correct books online anywhere and none of my local libraries had them. To Amazon I went. I had to...