As Christian, a Communication scholar, and a person rather familiar with different theories, including attachment theory, this article was particularly interesting to me.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/12/our-take-your-relationship-style-determines-how-you-feel-toward-god/?hpt=C2
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Travel the World
The above three-word phrase is so commonly used when people express their life dreams that it's almost cliché. However, I think it's a perfectly legitimate and reasonable wish for everyone. Reasonable, yes. Realistic, no. Unless we have tons of money, unlimited free time, and/or are lucky enough to land a job in which our requirements are to travel to all types of places on planet Earth, how many of us, when we get too old and frail to travel anymore, will be able to have proudly said that we have been to every place that we'd wanted to visit? Not nearly enough of us, that's for sure.
Unfortunately, I believe that the root of all inability to travel the world is money, because let's face it, we need money to travel. Usually lots of it. Sure, some people don't travel because they have kids which are often difficult to travel with, or other obligations like parents that need to be taken care of. But the main reason is money. Jobs are a hindrance to this desire, but what do we have jobs for? Money. Or, take a college student who has the summer off and a generous amount of free time, but has no job or doesn't make enough to go on a summer trip.
People get so caught up in their daily routines, schedules, responsibilities, and obligations that we forget that there is so much more out there. Who doesn't want to soak in all that the world has to offer and really get an idea of just how tiny we are compared to all that surrounds us? I am lucky enough to have been able to experience many different cultures, both in and out of the country, but still feel that it's not enough. Going through some kind of culture shock and learning about people and places that are so completely different (yet in many ways, the same) than I deletes any form of ethnocentrism within myself and is such a humbling and invigorating experience that I want more and more of it. I've become a travel junkie, but because of money, I can't feed that addiction nearly as much as I'd like to.
I wish I had a solution, but unfortunately, I don't. At least not right now. And until I land that dream job with National Geographic magazine and can visit, learn and write about people and places in every nook and cranny of the world, I'll continue with the list of places that I want to experience, both inside and outside of the United States.
So far, the list is as follows:
West Virginia
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Vermont
Oregon
Washington (State and DC)
Illinois
North & South Carolina
Canada
South America (Machu Picchu, Patagonia, Brazil)
Central America (I've been to two countries here, but I want more!)
Spain
Switzerland
New Zealand
Amsterdam
Malaysia
Germany
Ireland
Tuscany & Rome, Italy
Jerusalem
Indonesia
Turkey
Africa (specifically, Egypt, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Morocco)
Greece
Croatia
Paris
Scotland
And the list certainly continues. This list doesn't even include the places I have already been to but would give anything to see again.
Is this too much to ask for?
Unfortunately, I believe that the root of all inability to travel the world is money, because let's face it, we need money to travel. Usually lots of it. Sure, some people don't travel because they have kids which are often difficult to travel with, or other obligations like parents that need to be taken care of. But the main reason is money. Jobs are a hindrance to this desire, but what do we have jobs for? Money. Or, take a college student who has the summer off and a generous amount of free time, but has no job or doesn't make enough to go on a summer trip.
People get so caught up in their daily routines, schedules, responsibilities, and obligations that we forget that there is so much more out there. Who doesn't want to soak in all that the world has to offer and really get an idea of just how tiny we are compared to all that surrounds us? I am lucky enough to have been able to experience many different cultures, both in and out of the country, but still feel that it's not enough. Going through some kind of culture shock and learning about people and places that are so completely different (yet in many ways, the same) than I deletes any form of ethnocentrism within myself and is such a humbling and invigorating experience that I want more and more of it. I've become a travel junkie, but because of money, I can't feed that addiction nearly as much as I'd like to.
I wish I had a solution, but unfortunately, I don't. At least not right now. And until I land that dream job with National Geographic magazine and can visit, learn and write about people and places in every nook and cranny of the world, I'll continue with the list of places that I want to experience, both inside and outside of the United States.
So far, the list is as follows:
West Virginia
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Vermont
Oregon
Washington (State and DC)
Illinois
North & South Carolina
Canada
South America (Machu Picchu, Patagonia, Brazil)
Central America (I've been to two countries here, but I want more!)
Spain
Switzerland
New Zealand
Amsterdam
Malaysia
Germany
Ireland
Tuscany & Rome, Italy
Jerusalem
Indonesia
Turkey
Africa (specifically, Egypt, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Morocco)
Greece
Croatia
Paris
Scotland
And the list certainly continues. This list doesn't even include the places I have already been to but would give anything to see again.
Is this too much to ask for?
Saturday, November 6, 2010
203
That's how many days until I am Mrs. Jacob Stupka. It seems like a long time based on that number alone, but when you think about it, since we got engaged in April, we are more than halfway there. It's also just a little less than 7 months, which doesn't seem like much. And this semester, although not over yet, has gone by incredibly quickly, then I will only have one semester left before the wedding.
:) :) :)
Yesterday Jake had the day off from work, so we decided to spend the afternoon and evening doing wedding stuff since I have been stressing about it because I've hardly had any time to sit down and really get things done. We had gotten most of the big things done, like where to have the ceremony and reception, I bought my dress and veil, decided on bridesmaids and flower girl dresses, and we've chosen our attendants and booked our photographer and DJ. But the smaller things really add up and I definitely do not want to be figuring out all of those little details halfway through next semester when I'll certainly be just as swamped as I am this semester. So after I got off work yesterday, we had lunch and relaxed a bit, then started gathering emails and sending save-the-dates to as many people as we could. We took a break and went to see the movie "Due Date". It was soooo funny. This is the movie that they filmed much of here in Las Cruces last year. Part of it was filmed on the highway that is a two-minute walk from my apartment, so last year Jake and I went around 11 PM one night and watched them film a vehicle chase scene. It was really neat to watch that scene in the theatre and know that we were technically there. But the movie itself was really funny and I love Robert Downey Jr.
So we got back from the movie and ordered our invitations, updated our registries, corrected some details with the photographer, and...I think that was it. But it felt good to knock a few things off the list. Next time we will probably make a wedding playlist and designate the "special" songs like the first dance, father/daughter, mother/son, etc. Things we need to get done soon also include booking a place for a rehearsal dinner, talking to a florist, at least thinking about decorations, favors and gifts for the wedding party and families, and hashing out all the details with our reception venue such as food, final fees and prices, etc. And the list definitely goes on, and I can't think about everything that needs to be done too much or else I get overwhelmed. Actually doing it isn't so stressful, but thinking about it is. I've learned this: You may have somewhat of an idea about how much goes into planning a wedding, but I think you really don't know until you are actually planning one. That has definitely been the case for me. And sure, we could elope or have a courthouse wedding and save money and stress, but I definitely wanted a traditional wedding. I am trying to avoid a lot of unnecessary details or over-the-top demands, and I think I've been doing a good job. I never wanted a super fancy, super expensive wedding. Just traditional, beautiful, memorable, and one that fits Jake's and my personalities best.
And if I haven't bored you enough with wedding information overload this will do it:
Regarding flowers, I will hopefully be able to go talk to a florist in Los Alamos when I am there for Thanksgiving and figure out what types of flowers will be good in May, and which ones won't cost a fortune. I have an idea of what I want, but I'll need to see how much it will cost and if it's possible. I was thinking ivory roses, Abraham Darby English roses (because their color is close to the guava color in our wedding), and perhaps white freesia as an accent flower (and they have a wonderful fragrance). So the flowers don't have to be these exact ones, but I like this color combination.
Thanks for letting me update you with all the wedding goings-on. Have a wonderful weekend :)
:) :) :)
Yesterday Jake had the day off from work, so we decided to spend the afternoon and evening doing wedding stuff since I have been stressing about it because I've hardly had any time to sit down and really get things done. We had gotten most of the big things done, like where to have the ceremony and reception, I bought my dress and veil, decided on bridesmaids and flower girl dresses, and we've chosen our attendants and booked our photographer and DJ. But the smaller things really add up and I definitely do not want to be figuring out all of those little details halfway through next semester when I'll certainly be just as swamped as I am this semester. So after I got off work yesterday, we had lunch and relaxed a bit, then started gathering emails and sending save-the-dates to as many people as we could. We took a break and went to see the movie "Due Date". It was soooo funny. This is the movie that they filmed much of here in Las Cruces last year. Part of it was filmed on the highway that is a two-minute walk from my apartment, so last year Jake and I went around 11 PM one night and watched them film a vehicle chase scene. It was really neat to watch that scene in the theatre and know that we were technically there. But the movie itself was really funny and I love Robert Downey Jr.
So we got back from the movie and ordered our invitations, updated our registries, corrected some details with the photographer, and...I think that was it. But it felt good to knock a few things off the list. Next time we will probably make a wedding playlist and designate the "special" songs like the first dance, father/daughter, mother/son, etc. Things we need to get done soon also include booking a place for a rehearsal dinner, talking to a florist, at least thinking about decorations, favors and gifts for the wedding party and families, and hashing out all the details with our reception venue such as food, final fees and prices, etc. And the list definitely goes on, and I can't think about everything that needs to be done too much or else I get overwhelmed. Actually doing it isn't so stressful, but thinking about it is. I've learned this: You may have somewhat of an idea about how much goes into planning a wedding, but I think you really don't know until you are actually planning one. That has definitely been the case for me. And sure, we could elope or have a courthouse wedding and save money and stress, but I definitely wanted a traditional wedding. I am trying to avoid a lot of unnecessary details or over-the-top demands, and I think I've been doing a good job. I never wanted a super fancy, super expensive wedding. Just traditional, beautiful, memorable, and one that fits Jake's and my personalities best.
And if I haven't bored you enough with wedding information overload this will do it:
Regarding flowers, I will hopefully be able to go talk to a florist in Los Alamos when I am there for Thanksgiving and figure out what types of flowers will be good in May, and which ones won't cost a fortune. I have an idea of what I want, but I'll need to see how much it will cost and if it's possible. I was thinking ivory roses, Abraham Darby English roses (because their color is close to the guava color in our wedding), and perhaps white freesia as an accent flower (and they have a wonderful fragrance). So the flowers don't have to be these exact ones, but I like this color combination.
Thanks for letting me update you with all the wedding goings-on. Have a wonderful weekend :)
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