The Wonders of YouTube

YouTube is one of those horribly amazing websites. You start out completely innocent looking up a video on how to French braid hair, and before you know it, you're watching videos entitled "Dog gets tongue stuck to pole" and "Ten ten best bone breaks EVER"... Two hours later.

I personally love YouTube. What's not to love? It gives average people the possibilities to share their talents, knowledge, and experiences with the world. The things that matter to them could become the next internet sensation.

Three videos stand out to me right now that I found on YouTube. By looking at them, it's easy to see why I like them:

1. KIDS- Kids can be so cute. Or so evil... Or both. As the aunt to a very rambunctious 4 year old boy, I've learned how true that really is. In this video, I absolutely love how the little boy calls his mother by her first name. This is something that my nephew likes to do to his mother, just because he knows it gets her blood boiling. I, however, just have to laugh.

2. DISNEY- Who doesn't love Disney?! If you're one of those crazy people, you can stop reading right about now. I LOVE Disney! The songs, the imagery, the life lessons, and of course, the love stories. As cheesy as they are, they are beloved.

The newest Disney phenomenon is "Frozen". It's exciting, heartwarming, and fun. However, sometimes I get caught up in the awe of the story and forget how truly unrealistic it is. A few people on YouTube decided to use their creativity to remind us all of that.

3. SPORTS- What's that big thing happening right now with a lot of really tall guys and a orange bouncy-thing? THE NCAA TOURNAMENT!!! Even if you're not a basketball fan, you have to admit the excitement of March Madness is kind of awesome.

My team made it this year! As a 3 seed led by Ethan Wragge and Doug "McBuckets", I had a lot of hope that the Creighton BlueJays could go to the Final Four. That hope was shattered when they played Baylor. Yes, it was a tough game to watch. (And that's all I'm going to say about it.)

But, the video that popped up on YouTube was the very inspirational post-game locker room speech by head couch, Greg McDermott. Not only did the players need to hear it, but I think a lot of fans did too. (I may or may not have cried a little, but I'll never tell.)

Oh, YouTube. You suck me in to your sick game every time...

Traditions

Traditions help define families. Those special moments between people make the greatest memories. My family doesn't have very many traditions that we practice regularly, but the ones we do have will continue when I have a family of my own.

Even though we were soaking wet, we're still smiling! :)

Dinner Time: When my parents started having kids, they realized how crazy life could get. Everyone is going in different directions, doing different things. So, they decided dinner time was family time. It was our chance to all sit down together without television or phones and actually talk to each other about our day. Without this tradition, I know I would not be as close with my family, because we are rarely all together outside of this time. While we normally eat dinner at home every night, Fridays became our day to eat out. Because of this, Fridays became extra special family time.

Christmas Cookies: Everyone has holiday traditions. I'm sure my family's traditions are similar to most families, but they hold a little place in my heart. My favorite tradition growing up was making Christmas cookies. The women on my mom's side of the family (grandma, aunt, cousin, mom, sister, and me) would get together and make cookies. But this wasn't a two-hour deal. This lasted ALL DAY LONG. And that's why it was so fun. We'd make 6 or 7 different types of cookies from scratch and deliver them to friends and neighbors. My favorite cookies were my great-grandma's sugar cookies. For some reason, they tasted like heaven, but maybe that's because I can vaguely remember my great-grandma making them when I was very young. I loved this tradition. However, about five years ago, this tradition became too difficult for my grandma, so it ended. Even though we don't do cookie day anymore, I know it will be something I do with my own kids.

Beginner's Luck: Since I am newly 21 years old, while I was home, my dad took me to the casino to teach me the "evil of gambling". We played blackjack for almost 3 hours and BOTH came out ahead! We had the best time laughing and making new friends, and and it meant a lot to share that day with my dad since we rarely get time to just be together. Even though neither of us are big gamblers, I wouldn't mind if a casino trip became a birthday tradition!

Words I Live By

What words motivate me to do better, be better, and achieve greatness? Well, I've never actually had a quote that has specifically inspired me. There are a lot of great quotes out there but none that have moved me...

Until about 3 months ago. While in Rome, the realization hit me that my study abroad experience was quickly coming to an end. This amazing, incredible experience that I had been planning for a year was over in a blink of an eye. I became sad, really sad.

Then one day, my roommate Jo found this really intriguing book. When she opened it up, she read the first line to me. It was a quote by Mark Twain, and as she read it, I felt incredibly moved. It said, "Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Mr. Samuel Clemens himself.

Mark Twain was right.

You really do only live once. Why not make the most of it? That's how I am choosing to live the rest of my life.

The world is mine!
(At the top of Mt. Vesuvius)

I generally consider myself a pretty selfless person, or at least I try to be. However, I think there are certain times in life where you have to be selfish. For me, traveling and experiencing the world is one way I will always be selfish. Traveling makes me truly happy, and I refuse to let my life become boring. I love adventure, excitement, new opportunities, and the chance to grow.