Finding New Hobbies

So here I am, summer almost over and what have I done all summer? Pretty much nothing. Yeah I've done a few  awesome activities here and there, but for the most part other then working, I've bored myself out. There's only so much a poor, minimum wage college student can do you know? So one day as I was complaining about my ongoing boredom, Aaron finally got annoyed an told me to find a hobby. (His is video games...shocker). Well, all the hobbies I could think of doing that I use to do are currently unavailable like chilling with my best friends or going on random shopping trips to Logan. That's what I use to do with my summer, but none of my friends are nearby and the closest mall is 45 minutes away and gas prices suck. So, I  finally made a list of hobbies I am willing to try.

1. Reading. I use to be a good, constant reader, but over the past couple of years I've kinda given up, but not anymore. Since our school library has mostly educational books, I took the initiative to go to my city library, and wouldn't you believe it, library cards are free! (I got one that has a reading superhero on it).  I remember my dad would try to convince me to read The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolken. So, I took his advice and I rented the book. It has been so interesting that I decided my challenge for the rest of the summer is to read the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy.

2. Learn oragami. So, this guy in my communications class last semester, was a skilled oragami maker and made me a few oragami animals. Well I was looking at them awhile ago and decided I want to learn oragami. It can't be too terribly hard, and the internet is full of "how to" stuff. Hopefully, by the end of the summer I'll be a skilled oragami maker.

3. Bracelet making. Last summer, I did this a lot. Well I figured it's time to pick it back up again. Luckily the thread needed isn't expensive and I already have the basic knowledge of how to do it, so this will just be an easy past time

Anyway, well that's about all I have for now. I'm sure as time goes on I'll discover new hobbies, but for now these are my main focus. Wish me luck!!

World's Greatest Dad :)

In honor of father's day, I decided to have this blog post be about my dad who has been one of the only men I know I can always depend on. This post is mainly going to be about how much I appreciate my dad and why.
As most everyone can notice, I don't look anything like my dad, or any of my siblings. However, everyone that knows my family knows why that is. My dad, Brian Kurt Jolley, did something very courageous that took a lot of strength and trust in the Lord that this was the right choice. That choice was adopting me. A few things   that I really admire is his acceptance, patience, courage, and love. Even though my mom had me out of wedlock, he still accepted her and her baggage (aka me). Not only that, but after they married, he took the challenge of adopting me and got me sealed to both him and my mom. He has loved us and my siblings unconditionally. It takes a very compassionate and special person to be able to do something like that, and still treat me with the same respect and equality as my siblings.
I try to put myself in my dad's place at that point in time and I don't even know if I would've been able to take on a 1 year old child right after marriage. The 'idealistic' marriage is  the man and woman get married, spend time just the two of them, then start having kids. My parents didn't get that. That'd be something pretty hard to give up. I know I've always imagined that after I got married, my husband and I would be together, just the two of us for like a year before having children, that way we'd get time to actually know each other. My dad gave that up. Instead of the fantasy I just described, after they were married, they went on a honeymoon and had some time together, came back and took care of me. I can't stretch enough how appreciative I am and it's not until recently I realize how much my dad sacrificed so that I could be a part of his family both physically and spiritually.
I will admit there have been times that I made my dad's life hard. I remember, after I had found out that I was adopted, for awhile, I was the world's biggest brat to my dad and didn't give him the respect he deserved. There were things I said that I shouldn't have that caused a lot of tension between us and to this day I still am ashamed of myself because those things I said were very unnecessary and a lower blow then punching someone in the balls. Yet, even though I hurt my dad, he still loved me, I just refused to see it. Thankfully, as I got older, sense started coming to me and in time things mended between my dad and I.
Now I feel closer to him then ever. For the longest time, I've always wanted to meet my biological father, but over the past year it's not important to me anymore. Why would I want to meet a man that I never knew? That never was a dad to me in any way what so ever? I know that was partially my mom's decision, but even when we did get in contact it was awkward. I felt like I was talking to a total stranger and I had no feelings for him at all. That was when it hit me, I don't need to get to know my biological dad. I already knew who my dad was, and that was the man that raised me as his own,  put a roof over my head, food on the table, and gave me the love every child deserves.
I love my dad so so much. he means so much to me. If it weren't for him I wouldn't know how to check things under the hood. Had it not been for him, I would've had to pay about $300 to get my car fixed up. If it wasn't for my dad, I wouldn't have had the life I have now or the privilege to be sealed as a member of his family. Through thick and thin my dad has been there for me. Even when I screwed up, he still was there for me and although he has been disappointed in me, he's still loved me throughout it all. I couldn't ask God for a better dad and I pray that God continues to give him the strength and patience that he has. Hopefully, you're reading this dad so that you can have an idea of how grateful I am for what you did. It means everything in the world to me. I love you daddy!! :)

Being Specific

This weeks lesson that I learned the hard way was to be specific. Especially when it comes to the male species because if you're not down to the last detail, they will screw up. Here's how I learned. So, I had work and as I was getting ready, I realized I had used up the last of my deodorant. Not only that, but I was all out of mascara. Now the mascara I can live without, but deodorant I NEED. So I asked Aaron if he'd go to Walmart and get some for me. BIG mistake on my part. I wrote down the brand of both mascara and deodorant and what kind I used. I even showed him what they looked liked. The next day I go to use my deodorant and realize it's not the kind  I use. Yes it was dove clinical protection, but he got me the odorless kind. Then, I started working on my makeup. I began putting on my mascara when I noticed it wasn't black...it was brown. So I looked at the tube and it said lash blast volume brown black waterproof. Now any girl knows waterproof is a pain in the butt because it doesn't wash off very easily. I was very irritated and kinda got mad at Aaron, which was wrong because he followed the instructions I had written, I had failed to keep them clear. I asked for lash blash volume and he got that. I asked for dove clinical protection, he got that. So, on his part he did everything right. All in all I learned that you can't just assume someone knows what you need, especially a guy because guys don't pay attention to little details unless you tell them. In any case it all worked out. I went and got some make up remover and I'll admit my armpits have been smell-less and the brown black isn't too bad...but I definitely learned that next time I need to be a little bit more specific.

Learning to be Frugal

Learning to be frugal is a difficult lesson I have come to realize. All my life I've been dependent on my family when it came to finances. My parents always took care of pretty much everything. Which I am now very appreciative, considering I am now on my own. Now that I'm out of the house, I  have so many payments! Like gas, electricity, rent, etc. and I'm realizing that stuff isn't cheap. I give my parents a lot of credit for working as hard as they did to make sure we could make a payment because it's hard. Thankfully, I have a job which helps with payments, but I've learned I can't just go out and do what I want anymore. I need to start being conservative. I am truly grateful for this lesson though. I have learned to prioritize and set money aside for each expense. I will admit, I still have problems  because I'm still a compulsive spender, but I can also admit that I have begun to learn to be frugal. Hopefully, within time, I'll know how to wisely use my money. Until then, I have plenty of time to learn.

The Start of Something New

This is the start of something new for me. I figured that this would be a great way to get my thoughts, experiences, and feelings out. This blog will also be a way that my family can know how I'm doing and know what's been going on in my new, independent life. So, to whoever reads this, I welcome you. Hopefully, my thoughts and experiences don't bore you and I'll try my hardest to keep it at least somewhat entertaining. Well, here we go.