2010 resolutions

here are a few changes i would like to make for the following decade:

• Be healthier: i know it seems like everyone and their grandma goes on "diets" on january 1, but as soon as it hits around january 10, they're back to the same eating habits. i'm not going to "diet" i'm going to choose to be healthy. i'm going to cut out a lot of processed food, exercise more, and learn yoga (!) i've always wanted the learn yoga, so i'm going to look for good dvd's and such and finally learn! one thing i'm not going to do though is diet. that word is pure evil. i'm going to cut out a lot of out of the box frozen/off the shelf food and fast food. i have had this book for a while now, and if i want something from the drive-thru i better cook it myself. i'm not saying i'm going to NOT go to taco bell at all and when i do i'm going to make smarter choices about what i'm putting into my body.
• Apply myself: just today i found my sixth grade report card, and one of the comments was: does not work to the best of her ability or something along those lines and it got me thinking. at the turn of the decade i was in the sixth grade. i have spent the last ten years not applying myself. if i had only applied myself i'd be graduating college in june, instead of just figuring out what i'm going to with my life. there's not telling what i could be doing right now if i'd only applied myself. i'm not saying that not applying myself is a bad thing, as with most choices, there's good and bad. if i'd applied myself, i would have paid more attention in my classes instead of screwing around online, and i probably wouldn't have found the wonderful people at rkop. some of the people i probably would have met eventually, but still, i can't imagine life without them even though i mostly lurk at the board now. it's a whole butterfly effect, and i'm taking the good with the bad. i still can't help but wonder what would have happened if i'd only applied myself.
• Budget: for the past 2 years, i've had more than my share of debt to pay. i'm not blaming anyone but myself. i got credit cards to build credit, but at the same time maxing the limits and not paying nothing but the minimums. it's gotten especially hard because not only do i have credit cards to pay down, but i've added a car payment and a cell phone bill to the mix. i do alright living paycheck to paycheck, but i'd like very much so to not have to do that anymore. knowing that i'm waiting until the last second on my phone bill until i can afford it. it's gotten a little out of hand. so my plan for 2010 is to get a few paychecks ahead of the game by watching exactly what i'm spending on what and only buying necessities and putting the rest away. i'm lucky enough that i still live at home and my mom only makes me pay an minimal amount of rent, and she feeds me, so i should be okay when it comes to only buying what i need.

those are the major changes i would like to make for myself in the coming decade. i have a few other minor changes and accomplishments that i would like to make: like finishing all my transfer requirements and transfer to a school around LA to finish my degree; travel to new york city; go to an eric hutchinson show with danielle. in texas. i don't think it'd be the same if she came here. i have to see the look on eric's face when he sees me there; blog more. blog about keeping my resolutions, blog about something that interested me that day. just doing it. i enjoy it. i have no idea if other people read it, but i'm doing for me. anyway that's pretty much all of the resolutions for the new year that i have, but as two spot gobi twittered today "I resolve as I go along, not yearly!..." i can't remember which gobi runs their twitter page, but that seems like sound advice, so i'm putting that down as another resolution. i resolve as i go along, not yearly, so if i find a flaw that needs to be fixed, i'll fix it. i won't wait until january 1 or my birthday or monday or next week, month, decade. i'll resolve it immediately. what are some of your resolutions? feel free to post them in the comments or link to your blog.

<3 justina

2009: a look back

2009. where to begin about 2009? 2009 was an amazing year for me. really. i finally got see jason mraz (3 times!), i got to meet danielle and a good portion of rkop'ers (it's about time too. i was only on the board for 3 years before even attending a show), i got to see eric hutchinson twice and a bunch of other artists which i really enjoyed. in 2009 i flew for the first time, i got my certified nursing assistant certificate, i bought a new car, and met a whole bunch of cool new people i'm grateful to call friends.

2009, i loved you. you were such a good good year for me. as much as i would like to reminisce and relive this year over and over again, i can't. 2010 will be another good year, i can feel it. so, while you were a good year, oh hell, someone will call it a freaking great year. i need to move on. you just aren't the right fit for me. when i'm staring out the window, know i'm thinking of you and i miss you. please, let me move on and better myself in 2010. it's not you, it's me. i'll miss you. i swear.

sounds like this live 2: a review of sorts

on december 15, 2009 eric hutchinson released sounds like this 2 a new ep showcasing 5 tracks from his debut record sounds like this. sounds like this live 2 is a bit of misnomer though.
"I wanted to continue the approach I had on the first EP, getting the songs back to their purest form – the way they were when I wrote them," Eric explains. "We had a day off in Minneapolis so I went into a studio and played through the songs in one take." so while not technically live, hutchinson still wanted the ep to get back to the songs the way they were written, him solo on either his piano or guitar. older fans of hutchinson know some of the tracks have been around for a quite a while before sounds like this was even recorded. outside villanova even made it onto his since discontinued release "...before i sold out," a live ep released in 2006. even though his band play on the ep, the feel of the ep is getting the fans back to hutchinson on the road solo; before perez hilton, before his record deal, before he hit it big. fans who were around to watch him blow up and are still continuing to watch him grow, and to be frank, are holding on for the ride just like he is, appreciate that hutch still hasn't forgotten where he came from.

the ep is remarkable and definitely worth the $3.99 you'll pay for it on itunes. be sure to pick it up here: http://bit.ly/soundslikethislive2

the track listing:
1. Ok, It’s Alright With Me
2. Outside Villanova
3. Food Chain
4. You Don’t Have to Believe Me
5. It Hasn't Been Long Enough

adventures

over the past few months, my converse have been on an adventure. i have had them for a while, but the real adventure started on july 22nd. i've had the shoes for a while, but the real adventure began then. july 22nd was the day i went to my first "real" concert. i've seen live bands at a few parties and fairs and what not, but at 20, i was lagging in concert attendance. that first concert was eric hutchinson. it was an incredible show. a night that i'll remember forever, i lived off the energy from that show for months, and my converse were right there with me. flash-forward to september. september was a big month for my trusty sneaks. in september, i bought my first car, and they were on my feet of course. also in september, i took my first plane ride ever to denver to finally meet danielle in person. still, on my feet through my first airport security experience, on the plane, and finally on the ground in denver were my converse. i wore my converse the whole weekend, they got to experience my first jason mraz concert, at red rocks amphitheater no less. on the last day of the trip it rained, and they were left outside on the hotel patio. the next morning on the drive through the lovely colorado mountains and snow, they were left at the hotel, much to their disappointment. october was another pretty big month for my converse. they got to experience two jason mraz shows, one at hollywood bowl, and the other at cricket wireless amphitheater. they also got to experience san diego for the first time. november was another pretty big month for my shoes. i turned 21, and although i didn't get drunk, (i honestly don't see the point in such things) it was a big day for me, and my converse were on my feet. most recently, on december 1, my converse got to experience a 4 hour drive to see eric open for kelly up in fresno. with stops along the way at a cheese factory gift shop among others.

all the memories of my converse were not good ones. through the end of july beginning of september, i acquired my certified nursing assistant certificate. part of the uniform for the class was white tennis shoes, and i couldn't think of any other shoe to wear other than my converse. throughout taking care of residents at the the healthcare center, my shoes have been urinated on and trekked through god knows what. i washed them and left them to dry in the sun, so they're completely sanitary now. i promise. they also became the object of my procrastination. there are now eric hutchinson lyrics written on them. listening to e.hutch while trying to do algebra homework is not the best. but now they sport lyrics from breakdown more, rock and roll, western charms, call me back, all over now, and subtitles. all in my horrible penmanship.

most girls have twenty or thirty pairs of shoes, but for this girl, there's only one.