1/4 of 100 years old

This morning I was thinking what to write in a Birthday card to my dear friend Camille. And it reminded me that after high School, we went to Disneyland together. It was the best time I ever had at Disneyland. No lines, eating pp&j while under the protective roof of Pirates of the Caribbean, eating Rosa's tomatillo salsa in the car, pulling over for imagined flat tires, finding random dentures, eating free oranges, and splurging to eat at the Blue Bayou.

We said that we wanted to make a tradition of coming when we were 25 and then every 5 years after.

I am turning 25 this year.

That sudden reminder brought a waft of melancholy over me today.

I remember the imagined 25 self and to see the actual 25 year old self is a little...

It's a love hate relationship...

I remember the day my life changed, like it was yesterday. (Now envision that the remainder of this post is in a hazy dull colored memory cloud)

My best friend was down from good ol' Alberta for the summer (ironic, I know) and we were doing a little shopping. We were at Ross looking for some steals and my phone rang. It was my brother, Adam. He said he was getting an iphone and wanted me to go in on a family plan with him.

Just the thought of having my very own iphone made me forget that I am up to my eyeballs in debt, have a job that pays me way less than I had hoped, have never paid my own cell phone bill, am no longer receiving student loans and will need to start paying those back come January. So I said yes without hesitation (actually, there was a little hesitation but not quite enough).

Now, I am a proud owner of an iphone 4.
I made this purchase on a whim, knowing that my house is a black whole for cell phone coverage. We had to cancel many contracts because we couldn't handle all the missed calls.
I just prayed that we would get coverage with At&t. . . that was to no avail, because I have lost just about every call I have ever taken inside my house. This is no fault of the cell phone (I know it has a bad rep on the consumer report) and all to do with At&t. I haven't lost calls anywhere else but inside my house. Let me tell you, this is FRUSTRATING.

Frustrating enough to give back my iphone?
NO
Frustrating enough to collect my FREE case knowing it won't help my situation?
YES!

To make up a little for their bad rep, my pal Steve announced that he'd give everyone a free case:

If you purchased an iPhone 4 before September 30, 2010, follow these steps to receive an iPhone 4 Bumper or a select third-party case from Apple at no charge.

1. Download the iPhone 4 Case Program app from the App Store.
2. Launch the app on your iPhone 4 and sign in using your iTunes Store account or Apple ID.
3. Select your Bumper or case.

For iPhone 4 purchases made before July 23, 2010, you must apply no later than August 22, 2010; otherwise, you must apply within 30 days of your iPhone 4 purchase. To qualify for this program, you must purchase your iPhone 4 by September 30, 2010.

I followed these instructions.

This was the easiest free thing that I have ever acquired! No driving all around town with coupons, no early morning garage saleing, no "with a little paint...", just one itsy bitsy tap of the finger and POOF! A free case.

The hardest part was deciding which to get. You see, I believe it is a tragedy to cover any part of the iphone 4. It is beautiful! Have you seen it? It is sleek, smooth, shiny... WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD COVER IT UP???

I wanted a clear bumper case. But there wasn't one, so I decided to go with the clear wrap around case. How could I go wrong, it's free?!

The official price tag at goincase.com is $34.95. Or in other words 41 Diet Dr. Peppers from QT.

*** This post is in correlation with Camille over at Archive of Our Lives.

The end of an era...

Awesome Steal of the WEEK!!!

After reading I Heart Monster's steel of some books a or so ago, I was reminded that I needed to pre-order my Mocking Jay book!

Promptly I ordered it.
Got it on sale for $8.50
AND got free shipping just for pre-ordering!

As if that wasn't a good enough deal as it is, It was the best deal to come home on a bad day, having totally forgotten about ordering it and have it sitting there ready to cheer me up! .

Have I Eaten? Have I Prayed? Have I Loved?

Has every step of my life really been taken blindly?

Sometimes as I go from step to step it seems like I'm getting on and off the bucket seat of the haunted mansion ride at Disneyland. It just flows one, even, steady, emotionless speed. The path has an array of aesthetic effects but the flow stays the same. You can start and never stop. The beginning is a running start and the end (if you recognize it) is a running jump. If there weren't an employee there to tell you to get off you would literally go on for ever in the same melancholy motions. on...see...hear...feel...repeat...

Every decision in my life, I haven't had to make, things just happen. High school comes and goes, friends are placed in my path, job opportunities come, applications to college are accepted, favors are asked, love is found, love is lost, money is given, money is taken, rules come and go... I always just took it as fate. They offered me the job? I have to take it, fate gave me this opportunity. I got into that school? Well, I have to go there, the fates want me there. So-and-so likes me? I have to like him back, the fates want it.... If fate didn't want these things to happen, they wouldn't have come up. RIGHT???

It's almost like I'm a horse that takes people on the same path every day all day, and today, I am boringly taking it again. Today though, I get done with one round and feel this overwhelming sense of excitement that today will be the day for my real adventure. Only to find out it's the same dang path masked in a tropical climate or a fancy outfit.

I read today that "it's better to live your destiny imperfectly than live an imitation of someone else's life perfectly."

I think that up to this point in my life I have lived an imitated life as perfect as possible and don't have any clue what MY destiny is.When I try and imagine a change in speed or a directional change that would enhance the ride, I don't know what I'd do or even if I should do anything different. I really don't know who I am. What do I love to do? What are my passions? What would make ME happy? What makes my life, MY LIFE?