New! (Kinda.)

Hello! Yes, I know I've been gone an awfully long time. My, the place has gotten dusty. But no worries. *flourishes huge fluffy duster* This old place was due for renovation anyway.

The new blog layout may not look all that different, seeing as how the banner is an old one I used to have (as is my blog button, which you can grab on my sidebar to the right), but the pink is something new. It's also one of my favorite colors, one that I have always tried to tamp down, because unfortunately it's a color so many people look down upon -- especially other women.

But I've always loved pink, damn it, albeit a bit secretively. And now I'm sick and tired of trying to hide it.

Along with a new blog layout, you can expect new blog posts in the coming days. I won't promise they'll be as regular as they were in the past, but I'll try my best. Even though I missed blogging and reading your comments, I will admit that unplugging myself for these past 3 months has been much needed. Life suddenly got to be too much for me, as it sometimes does, and I needed to take the time off to focus on that.

But I'm back. And hopefully better than before.

"Something Worth Reading": A Guest Post by Jessica Byam

Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity.  - Spencer W. Kimball

My mother gave me my first journal for my 9th birthday. It took me 7 years to fill it, and up until the very end, it consists of little more than a girl’s dreams of ponies and confessions of school yard crushes.

But I was 15 years old when my infant brother was born and died, and suddenly I had something important to write about. He lived for 4 hours—such a short time for such a beautiful soul—and I wanted to remember every minute with him. It was this brush with heaven, this first real exposure to the fleeting nature of human life that convinced me that I needed to make a record of the people and events that shape my own.

I am 25 years old now, and the attic of my parents’ house is stacked to the rafters with my words, which they are kind enough to store for me until I convince my gypsy heart to set up permanent residence somewhere.

Those volumes are quite literally the story of my life. They are filled with the fear and excitement of a young girl leaving home for the first time to attend school 2,000 miles away. They chronicle my time in AmeriCorps, where my view of the world was turned on its head and I discovered myself through forgetting myself. They tell of my first love, my first heart break, and of daring to love again. They bear witness of friendships formed in times of happy abandon and tested by time and distance, and of strangers who existed in my world for only a moment but changed my life forever.

My grandmother is starting to have trouble remembering things, but I once had the opportunity to read a journal she kept while bicycling across New York state as a teenager. She had never told me about this adventure before, and I fell in love with her voice as I read the little limericks she wrote about her traveling companions and described the hostels they stayed in. In an entry dated July 4th, she wrote about how proud she was to be an American and how grateful she was for the freedoms that granted her. Her words were simple, but they inspired me.

Journaling is a way to capture the ephemeral nature of life and hand it to those who inherit what we leave behind. If I ever get around to having posterity, I hope that I have left them something worth reading.

What about you? Do you journal? What inspires or compels you to record your life?

(And thank you for having me, Annie!)

I suck at this blogging thing.

Yes, I know I've been slacking in the blogging department as of late. You can blame my students -- needy little buggers. I don't know why I felt the urge to bombard them with projects and assignments and what-not with only 7 weeks left in the school year (can I get a hallelujah?), not to mention a full reading of Romeo and Juliet.

Hello, my name is Annie Cristina and I am a masochist.

But I promise to get back into blogging soon. As of June, you're going to be begging me for radio silence, I'll be blogging so much. But in the meantime, feel free to peruse my greatest hits, my favorites, and of course, my archives. And here is my favorite scene from "The Lion King" to help make up for my sorry blogging performance. It's not much, but it's damn funny (IMHO).

Are you aching, yup-yup-yup! For some bacon, yup-yup-yup!

Yeah, that scene never gets old. Anyway, tell me what's up with YOU! Leave me some happy, happy comments.

ETA: I should add that while I've been inactive here, my Tumblr has been seeing some action. *guilty look* It's just that it's so much more low-maintenance than Blogger!  And-And, it's so easy to reblog and post pictures and videos and stuff. I promise I like you guys here more, though. Pinkie promise. (But you can totally go visit my Tumblr, if you're into that sort of thing.)

These are a few of my (current) favorite things...

My lovely bloggy friend Asheyna asked me to write a guest post for her this month, so I decided to take my favorites feature on the road for April. Click here to  read my post and see what I'm loving right now, and don't forget to let me know in the comments what your favorites are this month. :-)

 

Favorites (March/April) by AnnieCristina

Click here to read the full post! :-)

Things making me happy right now...

I took this picture using the Instagram app

 going to the Miami Seaquarium with my boyf for free, just because I'm a teacher.

reading cheesy romance books for fun.

watching the NBA playoffs. (and rooting for my home team, the Miami Heat. :D)

taking an afternoon nap with the rain pattering against my window.

winning a giveaway from this sweet Etsy shop.

finding out my favorite coffee from Starbucks (white chocolate mocha) can be ordered nonfat. (and it still tastes good!)

getting medical tests done for the first time in many, many, many years and having all my results come back normal (minus my cholesterol, which is a bit high, but I'm working on that). next up, lady doctor! (gulp.)

What's making you happy right now?

You know why I'll never be a food blogger?

I'll tell you why -- it's because I am too impatient. I can't wait to take the pictures. I have to eat the food RIGHT NOW.

It's not for want of trying, either. I attempted to do this just last night. Ricky and I went to the Village Tavern, where we discovered, lo and behold, they served the very dessert I'd been craving all week, crème brûlée. I had all of the good intentions -- I even had my camera ready (okay, fine it was my iPhone's camera, but still, the Instagram app has some really nice filters!). But it was all for naught. I told myself I would just take one bite, just one little bite, before taking the picture. But then one bite became twenty, and well you know the rest.

So that's why I'll never be a food blogger. At least, not a very good one. Because if I took any pictures at all, they wouldn't look like those beautifully framed ones you see on food blogs. No. They would look more like this:

via

Yeah, I know. I'm pathetic. And also hungry.

Something funny for your Friday.

I recently discovered the hilariousness that is Julia Sweeney by listening to her audiobook, Letting Go of God (you can hear an excerpt here on YouTube). She is that rare comedian who is able to make you want to laugh and cry in the same breath. A real talent.

Here she is discussing her recent "birds and the bees" discussion with her young daughter. Warning: You will laugh, and often. Enjoy!

By the way, I noticed some of you are still entering my Amazon giveaway, which ended this past Tuesday, April 5th. I'm sorry, but a winner was already selected for this giveaway on the specified date, April 5th. Please stay tuned for the next giveaway!