I just want to be able to watch TV again.

I've been staying away from the television for oh, a few months now. Instead, I've been watching my Revenge and The Vampire Diaries online the day after, (Hey, no judging. We all have our guilty pleasures.) as well as completely addicted to Alias on Netflix. (Side note, does anyone else think Sydney Bristow is the WORST spy ever? Just me?)

Want to know why? Although I'm pretty sure most of you are smart enough to know the reason.

CAMPAIGN ADS. Campaign ads are a thing straight from hell, sent by the devil to torture the majority of Americans who despise political drama.

I watched the morning news with my roommate this morning from about 7:30-9:30am. In that span of time there were only three commercials that weren't campaign ads. Three. That's it. So that means a lot of hostility and wanting to hulk out on my part, because we all know how many commercials one can see in two hours of television.

Also? Out of two hours worth of campaign ads, only one was positive. Only one said, "These are the things that I stand for, so I'm asking for your support," and did not engage in smear tactics.

That's the worst thing about campaign ads. 99% of them only talk about how bad the other guy is, about all the horrible things they did, instead of presenting what the candidate whose ad it is has to offer voters.

Is this all politics is? Is this all voting is? Listing candidates list of wrongdoings and then voting for whose list is the shortest? Because this is not what I signed up for. We are better than this. Our country is better than this.

These kinds of smear campaigns are what prissy little high school girls do to each other to wreck each others lives. And last I checked, no one who is running for public office is a prissy little high school girl. Unless I overlooked someone, in which case, feel free to correct me.

So please. If you're running for public office, do your country a favor and grow the hell up. Adults do not do this to each other. Adults do not engage in disrespectful behavior such as walking all over debate moderators. They do not take the coward's way out in campaigning and smear the other guy instead of stand up for something for once in your rich, educated, privileged life.

I'm sick of politics. I'm sick of campaign ads. And I'm sick of people treating each other like garbage.

I like talking about myself

Okay, so last week, Kirsti gave me this blog award thingy over on her blog.

Hey thanks, K!


11 Facts:

1. I am a walking contradiction.
2. I have a habit of staying off of the internet for days at a time.
3. I have a freckle on my lip, which I think no one but me has ever noticed.
4. Rain makes me want to sleep until forever.
5. I know you all know this, BUT I LOVE LISTS.
6. I AM ADDICTED TO TYPING IN ALL CAPS.
7. Every time I become afraid I'm going to end up alone, God reminds me of the amazing friends that I have. (All together now: AWWW!)
8. I don't feel like I'm 26. Sometimes I get really weirded out when I start to think about how, for all intents and purposes, I'm an adult, even though I REALLY don't feel like it.
9. I'm running out of random things to tell you.
10. I gave someone beer as a birthday gift yesterday. It was Newcastle Brown Ale, in case you're wondering.
11. I am listening to Newsies (the movie soundtrack) in this coffee shop and almost failing at not bursting aloud into song.

Kirsti's Questions:

1. What's your favourite fictional pairing and why?
As in, favorite fictional couple? Well, I'm fond of Rose and Ten. Also, I honestly love Marco and Celia from The Night Circus. As well as Hermione and Ron from Harry Potter. They make me smile.
2. If you went travelling with the Doctor, what's the first place you would go and why?
Um. Too many places to choose from. So, I'm gonna say...he should surprise me. As long as it doesn't involve imminent death or injury.
3. What's your favourite Halloween related movie?
I don't really like Halloween-type movies that much, so I'd probably have to say The Nightmare Before Christmas.
4. If you could be any kind of animal, what would you be?
A cat. Mostly because I think they're hilarious. And if people were animals, I would probably be a cat. Let's be honest, here.
5. Cake or cupcakes?
Can't I have both?
6. What's your favourite song at the moment?
Any and all songs from Mumford and Sons' new album, Babel. I'm hopelessly addicted.
7. What was your favourite subject in high school?
Does choir count?
8. What's your favorite 90s TV show?
Pretty much any vintage Nickelodeon shows.
9. If you could be any superhero, who would you be?
Let's be honest, it's much more fun to be the villain.
10. What do you like on your pizza?
Pepperoni. Extra sauce. Extra cheese.
11. Do you have any weird phobias?
YES. Well, mostly they're weird quirks and not really phobias. Like, I have to have all of the doors closed at night when I'm sleeping--closet, bedroom, etc. I don't know why. But I can't sleep if they're not closed. I also have a distinct fear of sleeping or showering at night when I'm home alone. 

Here's where I'm supposed to nominate 5 people. But I'm going to cheat, as well as take a cue from Kirsti, and ask any and everyone who wants to post answers to the following questions in the comments! Also, I nominate these people:

My Dad
Emily (even though Kirsti already nominated her.)
Alice

My Questions for YOU!

1. What's the most terrifying dream you've ever had?
2. What is the very best meal you've ever eaten?
3. Name one (or two) of your favorite books, so I can add them to my reading list.
4. Coffee or tea?
5. What is your favorite book in the Harry Potter series?
6. What is your favorite time-wasting activity?
7. Tell me one thing you like about yourself.
8. What do you do when you're sick at home?
9. Name your favorite guilty pleasure TV show.
10. What is the worst book you've ever read?
11. What do you want to be when you grow up?

The rules:
1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award Presenter on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who awarded you.
3. Copy and Paste the award to your blog.
4. Nominate at least 5 blogs (up to 11) to receive the award.
5. Inform them of their nomination by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Include 11 random facts about yourself in your post.
7. Answer the 11 questions the person that has nominated asked you and create 11 new questions for the people you have nominated.

Answer my questions! And have a beautiful day!

Be grateful you're not me.

Most of you already know I work for Starbucks. Some of you even know that I've been opening every morning. Open is at 5am. We need to be there at 4:30am. Which means I have to wake up an hour which I'm pretty sure not even God himself is awake for. I mean, if I were God, I'd still be sleeping then. But then again, there's probably a reason why I'm not God.

Reasons why you shouldn't wake up at 3:30am every morning

• Your body doesn't want to wake up then. It doesn't matter how early you go to sleep the night before, it knows that it's still the middle of the freaking night and that it should still be sleeping.
• I'd say you get used to it, but that's a lie.
• No one likes going to bed at 7 o'clock at night. I don't. You wouldn't either. 
• You're tired all the time. It doesn't matter how much you sleep at night, how often you nap, you're always tired.
• Um, DUH. 3:30am!

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me...as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
-Matthew 25:35-36, 40

I was on my way home from grocery shopping, waiting at a stop light. And so was he. He couldn't have been much older than me, and he held a small cardboard sign that read "Hungry and homeless, anything helps."

My eyes glanced from the sign to his face. I had a front seat full of groceries; it would have been so easy for me to share my food with him.

But I didn't. I looked away.

I did what so many other people do to the homeless. I looked away, pretended he wasn't there. I looked him in the face, right in the eyes, and I still looked away.

Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.
-Matthew 25:45

I did not do what I could for this young man. I was Jonah, ignoring God's call to minister to His people. I have sinned not only against this man, but against God himself, and I have never felt the weight of sin so acutely. And, to tell the truth, I have never been so afraid for my salvation until now.

Father, I beg not just for forgiveness, but that you would change my heart. Make it one that would care for your people. And please, Father, provide for that man because I did not.

How to cope when your house feels like a walk-in freezer

The last few days have brought cold weather to St. Louis, as well as numerous other locations, from what I understand. It is undoubtedly fall. It is also undoubtedly cold in my house. It's old, poorly insulated, and we don't have our heat on yet. You can imagine the degree of my physical discomfort.

So, friends, this post is brought to you by the letter C. For cold. And complaining. Because it's really cold, and I'm good at complaining.

How to deal with a cold house:

• Drink lots of hot drinks. Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, hot toddies, whatever floats your boat. I'm on my second pot of coffee today, just to get a little warm in me.  
• Open the curtains. I realize part of the theory behind curtains (besides keeping people from seeing you naked in your house) is to insulate the windows from the rest of the room. But sunlight=heat. If you let in the sunlight, the room will get a little bit warmer.
• Wear all of your clothes at once. Seriously. Layers are key. Wear two pairs of socks if you have to, anything to avoid your extremities feeling like popsicles.
• Sleep a lot. This one is tricky. The covers on your bed will be very cold at first from unuse, so it'll be difficult for you. But if you can be brave, stick it out, eventually it won't feel cold anymore. And if you're sleeping, you won't know that it's cold.
• Put lots of blankets on your bed. This will help with the above. I always find the weight of lots and lots of blankets on me to be comforting. Besides making it a bit warmer, it helps me sleep easier, too.

 So, friends, what are your cold-house remedies?

In case you're wondering why I'm always over-caffeinated.

As if I need to explain why. This one should just be a "Well, DUH." But it's Monday, and I need to post about something, and the rest of my life revolves around coffee so why not my blog, too? (That was a run-on sentence, and I'm only sort of sorry for it.)

5 Reasons Why I Love Coffee

1. The obvious one. There's the whole caffeine part, the part that wakes you up in the morning, that gives you that extra boost to make it through the last part of your day. I secretly love that shaky, hyper feeling you get when you accidentally drink too much coffee.

2. Hot brewed coffee. The smell, the taste, the way it warms you from the inside out on a cold morning.

3. The complexities. The way each coffee from each growing region, each roast, each brand, is different, tastes different, smells different. Coffee isn't just coffee. There's so much to taste in each cup.

4. Espresso beverages are fun! Not only do espresso beverages like lattes, mochas, and cappuccinos taste yummy, they're also super fun to make!

5. It's so interesting! I could go on and on about how intense the process is from the coffee tree (Yes, coffee is the seed of a fruit that grows on trees!) to your cup. Most people don't wonder where their yummy cup of coffee comes from, but if they did a little digging, they'd learn oodles they never knew before!

So, friends, what's your favorite part about coffee?