StayGoldie

"When you're a kid, you assume your parents are soulmates - my kids are gonna be right about that." If that quote sounds familiar, you are probably a fan of NBC's hit show, The Office . I remember watching this episode with my dad during one of our nightly routines in Wisconsin. Then a middle school student, it struck me what those words meant. Having just moved 1200 miles from the only place we knew as home, I was able to evaluate our family without the everyday blur of hometown formalities. I was aware of how my parents' relationship was such a constant in my life. In my eyes, it had never once faltered. When my elementary school best friend found out her parent's were divorcing, I didn't believe her. I thought that was something that only happened on TV. Luckily, I was one of the kids who assumed correctly, much like Jim and Pam's children. Thirty years ago today, my parents exchanged rings, my dad wearing quite possibly the snazziest tux...

I once heard you can tell a lot about a person by the books they keep on their shelves. Ironically, I think I read this in a mystery book, one that I cannot remember. Since then, I have become more aware of the books I display in my room. I, like many book lovers, have a bad habit of roaming bookstores on Saturdays and buying books for the simple reason that they were on sale. Therefore, I own at least a dozen books that I have not even cracked the spine on. The upside of this is that I always have a large selection when I feel the need to read. The downside is that I now own two copies of Top Dog by Maria Goodavage. This selection is by no means my top 10 list. It just happens to be the first ten I think of. It would probably be impossible for me to pick my top 10. For instance, as a child I would have told you my favorite book series is Seekers , an ongoing story about three bears who journey to accomplish various internal tasks. For those of you from my generation, this was ...

Happy Monday everyone! I am sure you are all thrilled to return to work and class. Normally, I do not mind Mondays. However, the US is continuing to get pounded with snow and rain. My poor Wisconsin friends have posted photos of their two-foot snowfall, much to their dismay. Today at work in Johnson City, TN, we have joked that we have had all four seasons in the past hour.  It is also the time of year for students to begin cramming for finals. I have dozens of presentations, papers and exams that I am pretending do not exist. No matter what your schedule, you can always find time for six seconds of comedy.  Therefore, while I sit here at the front desk of the college of education, I have taken on the challenge of compiling 10 of my favorite Vines. Enjoy. 1) Gavin and the Lawn Flier Little Gavin is an essential for every Vine compilation. This is my personal favorite of the child Vine star.  2) Fre Sha Vocado Don't ask.  3) ...

Today, I did what every introvert does on their Saturday off. Having no plans, I finally straightened my hair and put some foundation over my blemishes. I had a hot date with the clearance section of Books-A-Million. I bypassed the new releases and found myself in the bargain priced reference section. I stumbled upon "The Wander Society" by Keri Smith. I recognized the name; Smith has been on the top of the charts with "Wreck This Journal" for a few years. For those of you unfamiliar with this quirky gift book, the journal gives you strange directions as to how to creatively deface it. I have not tried it, but I have heard it is a lot of fun. "The Wander Society" is an interesting name in itself, so I picked it up and read the synopsis. Cleverly, Smith explains you can only know if you need the book by taking the questionnaire on the first page. If you answer, yes to three or more questions, you're out of $6. Long story short, I took it to the coun...

Welcome back everybody! I know you have been dying for the revival of the 31 Day Challenge. In case you did not read the last post, I explained how I will be moving from the old challenge to this new one I put together last week. Since I was already a week into the last one, I took the six prompts I had completed and wrote them into this challenge. Therefore, I will be starting on day 7. Regardless of our futile attempts to be less materialistic, everyone has dreamed of a luxurious lifestyle but never having to work again. We sit on our outdated couches and watch "My Lottery Dream Home" and critique the choices of the people living our wildest fantasy. Everyone's first instinct when they consider this mundane conversation starter is to reply that they would buy a better house. Do you not have a home now? Is it not filled with furniture and knickknacks? What I think to be the most rewarding part about lottery winnings is not what I can buy but what I can get rid of....

When it comes to self discovery, everything should be personalized to fit your needs, especially your prompts. Therefore, I have ditched the old 31 Day Blog Challenge and created my own. Some of the prompts I made up, some are mixed and matched from various other blogs. I tried to keep in mind that this is a challenge after all, and thus picked prompts that were appealing and thought provoking. If you are interested in following this challenge, I understand seeing prompts you cannot relate to. Luckily, all can be adjusted easily. For instance, you may not be a fan of amusement parks. Instead, write about your favorite spots to spend a weekend or vacation. You could even design your own amusement park, centered around you. Kinda like Dollywood but with less hairspray. For day nine, I will be using either The Story Shack or Plot Generator . Some tips if you're looking to start a blog  Don't get too caught up in how your blog looks. Write first, design later.  Giv...

Below is my actual reaction to reading today's prompt. Credit to Giphy The following is the Google search I entered after attempting to write today's post. I wouldn't say I don't have strong personality traits. It just is not something I have ever sat around thinking about. When deciding your personality traits, it's important to consider which version of you is being analyzed. For instance, I'm constantly joking and annoying my parents, but to my colleagues I am professional and dedicated. To those of you reading who know me as one way or another, I'm sure you find one of these statements to be humorous. What I am going to attempt not to do is pick my favorite version of me. Arguably, I would prefer to ride carts through Walmart than to devote myself to hours of accounting homework. Perhaps this means I more resemble the former,  but wouldn't we all? I believe the trick to this prompt is finding the greatest common factors betwe...