What Have I Been Doing?

So, I've been in Virginia for a month now and I wanted to give a little update on what I've been doing. I started this whole blog with the intention and promise to Do Something--capital letters and all. I'm not sure how much progress I've made Doing Something in the manner I meant it when I made myself that promise. My main goal was to not waste so much time. Instead of re-watching my favorite videos on Youtube or stalking pregnant acquaintances I would be doing something more productive. I'd be learning a new skill or hobby, volunteering, reading, and ideally writing.

I'm an expert procrastinator, so I knew this would be a challenge--and it has. I still spend a lot of time on Youtube and I haven't read a book since my internship started. To be honest, I come home at the end of the day, help make dinner, and basically just collapse on my bed watching Youtube videos. And while part of me is like "It's okay, you've had a long day. Relax, don't worry about doing something right now. Have you watched that new Vlogbrothers video yet?" the other part of me is disappointed in myself.

That's not to say I've been completely lazy, and that's what I'd like to focus on today. Call it a self-given pep talk, if you will. I need some motivation right about now.

1) Internship: As I mentioned before, I've been interning with FEMA for the summer. So far the job is...well, pretty boring to be honest. I don't feel like I'm earning my keep because nobody ever has anything for me to do. Most of my day is spent secretly playing bejeweled on my ipod and hoping someone comes by with something (anything) for me to do. The problem is that the people I'm working with deal with a lot of classified material, and I have zero clearance. So I literally can't help out with much. But hey, if they're paying me to sit in my own office with my own bathroom and drink tea all day that's fine with me. Even if it is extremely boring.

There was one fun aspect of my internship this week. I got to go on a site visit! Basically, some of the roofs needed to be replaced throughout the facility. I got to go around with the contractors working on the roofs and inspect them. This means that I was climbing up and down ladders and traipsing across scorching hot roofs all morning with a bunch of old men in work boots. These were the good kind of old men. The kind that call you ma'am and say things like, "Don't be afraid of that ladder; you don't weigh enough to do anything to it," I just smiled sheepishly at that and tried not to think of the 4 sprinkle donuts I'd eaten that morning.

Other than that the internship has taught me about tea. I've always wanted to be a tea drinker. I can't stand the smell or taste of coffee, but I felt like I needed to be able to order something besides a smoothie or a cookies-n-cream milkshake at a coffee shop, and now I can order tea. My aunt is a tea fanatic and has a whole cupboard of different kinds of tea at work. I've been trying a new one each day to find out what kinds I like. So far chamomile, green tea, and blueberry-flavored green tea are my favorites. I know this doesn't sound like Doing Something, but I think it counts as expanding my horizons. Right?

2) Family Stuff: I've been spending a lot of time with my extended family since I came to VA. I hardly ever get to see them all, so I've really appreciated this opportunity. I spent a weekend with my aunt and uncle and their two little girls in Arlington, which was lovely. The girls are brats thought (don't tell them I said that!). I went to two separate Father's Day dinners with a father that wasn't my own. One was at the Peking Gourmet Inn where we all pigged out on delicious duck. I'd only been there once before and I was younger so it was lovely to go back and be able to really experience the new food. Also, they had Jasmine tea, which was wonderful.

The second Father's Day dinner was at my uncle's parents' house. They are from Switzerland and have the most incredible house there with an amazing view of the Matterhorn. They also have a ping-pong table in their basement, where my cousin Erich and I played before dinner.

The most exciting family event I've participated in was a bridal shower. The bride was already married by the time we through this shower (apparently I come from a whole family of procrastinators) and she wasn't even present. Instead we all filmed the shower and my uncle is going to edit the film and send it down to her. It was my first bridal shower ever, I didn't know the bride, and she wasn't even there. It was unusual, to say the least. 

What was so fun about the bridal shower was that it was thrown in a house just three doors down from where my Great Granny raised her thirteen children. That's right, 13 kids. And you should see this house! So small--and no air-conditioning! I don't know how she did it. We took a walk down to her old house and she told us stories and those of her children that were present reminisced. Being so far away from my family I don't get to hear many of these stories, so it was an experience I'm really grateful for.

3) Sandwiches: I helped make 1,780 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches today. I had to wear gloves and a hairnet and everything. A bicycle tour is coming through this middle-of-nowhere town in VA. It is a very scenic town, but I'm still surprised so many people are coming. Anyway, my uncle happens to be the mayor of this very small town and so is in charge of providing a snack of all these cyclists. My aunt, uncle, and I and about 10 other volunteers spent our Friday night making sandwiches, cutting up fruit, and probably wishing we lived somewhere else--but then again, maybe not. There was a great sense of community there. Or that could have just been peanut butter. Tomorrow is the day of the ride where we actually pass out the sandwiches. I have to wake up extra early for a Saturday. Wish me luck.

4) Italy: I bought my plane ticket to Italy. I'm officially broke, but hopefully I'll get paid soon. Buying the ticket kind of solidified how real this is in my mind. It's happening. I'm really going to Florence--for a whole semester no less. Crazy. My mind can't even process this right now.

Well, that's all I've been doing for now. My plan is to start writing for realz on Sunday--did I mention how good I am at procrastination.

Obligatory and Exhausted Post

Quick Update:

• The internship is going...okay. It is kind of boring so far, and all of the interesting information is Top Secret so I'm not learning anything juicy. But I'm being paid. I'm being paid. Repeating that to myself makes the 10 hour days go faster.
• There is a man at work who is quickly becoming my self-appointed mentor/work father. That or he's flirting with me--I'll keep you posted. Either way I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm an idiot. He talks to me like I'm three. I do not appreciate it. I'm being paid. I'm being paid.
• I've gotten no less than three separate tours of the facility in the past three days.
• I have finished Sherlock and Downton Abbey (more on both to come) and am now watching Heroes.
• I have to drive myself to work tomorrow for the first time--wish me luck. This would make a lot more sense if you knew how terrifying driving is for me. 
• See you Friday, because I am totally getting back on a schedule now. Trust me.

Let's Catch Up

I've been working on a Top Ten Disney Heroines post to get back in the swing of things, but I've decided to do an update-y type post first. I told myself when I started I'm Falling With Style that I wouldn't get to in depth in my personal life, but I think we can all agree that that has gone down the drain.

The Heroines list is taking much longer than I anticipated (How do you judge them, really? They're all so great!) and the fact that my summer abode is without wifi isn't making it go any faster. As I mentioned before I have an internship for the summer. I won't tell you doing what, except that it's for the government, which isn't nearly as exciting as it sounds. I'm living with my aunt and uncle for the summer in Middle of Nowhere, Virginia. I've never thought of myself as being much of a city girl--my biggest fear is crossing streets--but I will admit to being a little flummoxed out here in the country. There are cows everywhere.

Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful. There is so much green, and  I can see the mountains, and there are ever-present popcorn clouds in the sky. It's lovely. But I miss the water, the ocean, and I miss my family. I  won't see them again until August, and then that is only for a week before I go off to Italy. Is this adulthood?

I have about a week and a half before I start my internship, so for right now I'm just...chilling. My aunt works most of the time, my lovely cousin who is the same age as me is spending her summer taking classes at college, and the younger boy cousin is busy studying for his last week of exams as a high school student. My uncle works from home, so I constantly hear him talking about who knows what. Sometimes I think he sells cars, other times cds. I don't really know what he does. The gist is that I'm alone most of the day, which is fine. I'm a naturally introverted person, so I've actually been enjoying the rest. It does lead to awkward situations though.

My aunt worries that I'm bored. I don't know how to politely tell her that she doesn't need to worry and set up play dates and horseback riding lessons without straight up saying that I don't mind not being around people all the time.

Have you ever noticed that the first time you talk after an extended period of silence your voice is scratchy and unintelligible until you cough? Yeah, introvert problems.

So I've been doing a lot of reading. I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and have since moved on to The Girl who Played with Fire. My mom got me the trilogy for my birthday--20, don't you know. expect a more detailed post on the trilogy as a whole when I'm done, but for now just know that I'm reading them.

I'm at the library right now. I haven't ventured out of the house much, but I went to Walmart on Monday and the library today. It's a beautiful library.  I say that now, but I haven't even explored it yet. I just walked in, found a comfy chair by an open window facing a pond with an outlet close by, and sat. I'm in a corner right behind the magazines and the graphic novels--not much traffic. There's one man at a table close by to me, but he's working, Maybe studying as he's going back to school or something. I don't mind him, and the view is great.

So, what else have I been doing in my extended absence? The answer is: not much. But I've had fun. Here's a little bulleted list. Judge if you want; I'd judge me too.

• I watched seven seasons of The Office. I enjoyed it, but it rarely made me laugh out loud (lol) like Friends still does on the ninth go around. I mainly watched it to procrastinate studying for exams and to make use of my Netflix account. I don't think I'll bother to watch season 8 (not on Netflix) anytime soon.
• I've purged my closet. Half my clothes are now on their way to Goodwill in preparation to make room for more "business appropriate" attire. Am I...growing up?
• I had a lovely, quiet birthday spent mostly with a recalcitrant cat named Tiger.
• Our iguana, Marley, has passed. My father almost immediately replaced him with a ball python whose name is Monty Juan Carlos Javier. My little brother Andrew was in charge of naming him. I've held Monty, and he isn't as scary as you would think until you see him strangle his dinner to death.
• Grady Bubba (my turtle) has also passed. I left him with my roommate, Whitney, over spring break and he died. She replaced him, which I told her afterwards was unnecessary, but now I've grown rather fond of Sadie Lou. She's much more active that Grady ever was, and eats almost twice as much.
• I drove on the highway for the first time ever, and no one died, so I count that as an accomplishment. Driving scares me. Pretty much anything to do with cars scares me. If I wanted to be analytical, I would guess it had something to do with the minor car crash my family and I got in when I was younger. But I don't really want to be analytical.
• I am going to watch Downton Abbey next, followed by Sherlock. Any suggestions after that?
• I am watching The Legend of Korra, the Avatar sequel, as it airs, although I'm behind an episode now that I don't have wifi. I plan to write an in depth post on the show when the season is finished, but for now let's just say that the fact that I'm still watching it speaks for itself...but so does the fact that I haven't gone crazy trying to find wifi to watch the latest episode. Do with that what you will. I watch the reviewer sawyer7mage who reviews every episode. I both agree with his opinions and find him attractive. He also reviews Naruto and other shows like that, but they don't hold my interest. I'm strictly LoK.
• I got all A's last semester. Be proud.

And I believe that is enough for now. I'm sorry for my leave of absence, but then again, I'm not. It was rejuvenating. 

Harry Potter World

So, this is a bit late. But only by a week! That's hardly anything, when you think about the whole scope of things. Really, how long is a week compared to the months I waited for each of the Harry Potter books to come out? Really?....It won't happen again. If only because I missed it.

The last you heard from me I was frolicking in Florida with my roommate, Julia. I have bunches to catch you up on, so here is a bulleted list of the major points that are going on in my life before the actual blog-content. I know, you're on pins and needles.

• Julia's family eats a ton. They go out to eat almost every day, and when they aren't eating out, her mom cooks amazing meals that could easily feed 10 people. I must have gained ten pounds in that little week I was there--I have no clue how Julia stayed skinny for the first 18 years of her life!
• I'm finally caught up on Once Upon a Time and WOW! Without any spoilers, I'll just say that there is so much going on and I can't wait until Sunday! On a side note, Julia knows the girl who plays young Snow White. How cool is that?
• I got sunburnt on my first day in Florida (I have very pale skin that resists sunscreen no matter how many times it's applied. It's like my superpower.) and spent the rest of the week under an umbrella with a towel draped over my legs while Julia had fun in the sun. Sadness.
• I GOT AN INTERNSHIP FOR THE SUMMER AND IT PAYS REAL MONEY
• I finally got my application for Italy, so now I just have to fill it out...I'll get right on that, I swear!
• I went to Harry Potter World!

It is this last bullet that I would like to expound upon. This was my first experience with Universal Studios ever. I'm a huge Disney World fan, so when I'm in Orlando I generally stay at Disney and don't move around much. But Julia and I (the huge potterheads we are) just had to see HP World, so we made the trip. It felt really weird to be in Orlando and see signs for Disney but not pull off, but I am glad I went--and both parks would have been too expensive for us broke college students.

Harry Potter World was amazing. We didn't even bother with the rest of the park at first, just headed straight for the castle and didn't look back until we'd done everything that we wanted to. 

We started with the castle ride because it had the longest wait and we knew it was a must see. We waited 90 minutes, and I'm not gonna lie, the outside portion of the line is brutal. However, it does move pretty regularly without long periods of standing still, which helps. I'd heard a lot about how the inside portion of the line was great, and for the most part it was. I really liked seeing the Mirror of Erised and Dumbledore's office and our little convo with the Golden Trio. My only problem was a plain door marked 'Kitchens'. Everyone knows that the entrance to the kitchens is behind the painting of a bowl of fruit, which would have been a great detail to add that wouldn't have been too hard. I also really would have liked to get a picture of me tickling the pear!

The ride itself was great! I would compare it to a combination of Soarin' and Dinosaur in Disney World, because it is intense and simulation-y, but not a roller coaster. It's been a while, so I'll admit to not remembering every detail about the ride, but I remember specifically thinking that they did an excellent job blending simulation and video with real life...if that makes any sense to you.

From there I got my wand. I didn't wait in line for the show at Ollivander's because we had to leave by 4 and didn't arrive in Universal until 11ish, so we were in a bit of a hurry to get everything done. Instead I just went in through Dervish and Bangs. I ended up choosing Hermione's, and I'm really happy with it. I originally wanted Draco's, then I got in line with Luna's, then I got out of line and picked up Lucius', and then I finally decided on Hermione. I like to think that it was calling to me :)

Next was lunch at the Three Broomsticks where I got the shepherd's pie and Julia got fish and chips and we both tried butterbeer. Frozen is better than non-frozen, by the way. Lunch was a bit expensive, but what do you expect in a theme park, I guess. I do think it was more expensive than Disney though.

We did the Tri-Wizard Tournament ride twice so we could experience both sides. I prefer the red side and Julia liked the blue. The wait for this ride was really short, the first time being 25 minutes and the second only 10 minutes.

After that we headed over to the Hulk, which had a very short wait, and was awesome! I lovvee roller coasters, and that really satisfied my fix. The Hulk was probably the biggest roller coaster I have been on to date, but it wasn't that bad. I keep telling people that so they will agree to go back with me.

As amazing as I thought Harry Potter World was, Universal itself didn't impress me much. Parking was very unorganized, the staff nowhere near as friendly as in Disney, there wasn't a lot for littler children to do (even the carousal was intense), and I felt like the copied a lot from Disney, without any of the magic.

As fun as it was to go on the more 'grown up' rides at Universal, my heart remains with Disney.