Day 26

Whew! I am back after a whirlwind two weeks! It's been so crazy with work/school/moving/wedding. I was on a roll with the 30 day challenge for a little bit, but alas, life called. But school and work are over for the time being, which gives me a lot more time to be able to blog again. Just a brief update on life before I go on to the challenge. All my belongings and furniture are all moved into Jake's (and I suppose I can call it mine now, even though I'm not living there yet) apartment. What a transformation! It went from bachelor pad to comfortable, tiny home for two in a matter of days (MANY thanks to my parents' help, who both went to Las Cruces this weekend to help). Plus my dad made a BEAUTIFUL coffee and side table that he designed himself and crafted in his garage, as a wedding gift to us. So now I am back in Los Alamos, waiting out the last three weeks until the big day! It's going to get here in a flash, I can feel it! Which is why I need to finish up this thing and get to the 30th photo challenge! I'm on 26 now, and if I can't finish them before I'm married, well, I'm a hopeless case I suppose.

Post a picture of something that means a lot to you...



I wasn't really sure what picture to post for "independence," because I google imaged it and just got images of the constitution or American flag. Which is all great, but I wasn't talking about national independence. My personal independence means a lot to me. So this photo was the closest I could find to "my" independence. Those who know me know that I am fiercely independent...not to be confused with separated! I am very close to people I love and don't know what I would do without them. However, I do not like asking for help if I can help it, from simple things like opening a jar of pickles to complicated things like what to write my thesis on. I love being my own person and not letting anyone tell me how I should be or what I should do. I get giddy from figuring things out on my own. It means a lot to me to not be completely dependent on someone else, and to not be one of those people who just want and/or let others tell them what to do. But I've learned more and more, probably mostly in the last year, that no one should go through life 100% independent. It's obvious in a few aspects of my life that I've learned this; for one, getting married. Two, I realized I can't survive graduate school without the help and support of my colleagues. And three, I wouldn't even be the independent person I am without my family and friends. A marriage is about interdependence, not being dependent. My cohort in grad school, we're interdependent. And family? Interdependence! So while my independence in some walks of life means a lot to me, I don't want to end up completely at one extreme.