Goals

One ship sails East,
And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow,
Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales,
That tells the way we go.

Like the winds of the sea
Are the waves of time,
As we journey along through life,
Tis the set of the soul,
That determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Goals. I'm always thinking "okay, I want to do this.. and this.. " but I never write them down or fully form the Goal. Haha. Hardly ever at least. So I'm thinking that is what I should do today. Actually make some good concrete goals, for the next year, and after..

But of course, as soon as I start typing: my mind goes blank.

Okay, so In the next year goals..


1. Learn German; this one should have an obvious reason why. But maybe I should make it a little harder and challenge myself to not only be able to speak and understand German, but I also want to make the goal to read two German books by July 2009.


2. Eat Healthy. This speaks for itself as well. I need to eat healthier, the end.


3. Volunteer I need to be out there volunteering more, and what better way to completely immerse myself into Germany but to help some Germans? Hopefully I can figure something out.. I need a lot of hours logged for my degrees.


4. Travel: this one.. is kind of already accomplished. I'm already traveling to Germany to be an Au pair, however, I want to make my way around that continent backwards and forwards!

5. Keep this Blog going! I must I must, even those this post is probably much more for my benefit than for anyone else's. I am excited to keep this going and be able to document my travels and stories here, and keep in touch with my friends. Here's to more blogging. :)



Now goals for the next five years-ish..


1. Graduate! I need to stop putting this off, and being queen of procrastination and dragging things out; and just get it done. I want to kick butt when I get home from Germany, and never look back.

2. Do an awesome Internship either Summer 2009 or 2010 with UNICEF or the United Nations, or something related to that field of work. I need to get myself out there.

3. Learn French. I know, I know, what am I thinking.. I just typed "Learn German" not too long ago. However, I really need to learn a United Nations official language, and French is one of them. I figure if I've got French, English & German that covers a lot of ground. Most of Africa really, and that's my goal continent anyway. (Do immersion program in Quebec?)

4. Get into a Masters program for International Relations. I think I really want to do one of those programs that only lasts a year, where you go and study in different countries. There is one where you travel around Europe for an entire year, studying and immersing yourself in the different cultures. I think that that is awesome. Too bad I'd have to get a million loans to do it; however, that might just be worth it.

5. Background Research: start really understanding each and every country in Africa and how they relate to each other. I need to get to a place where that knowledge is just at the fore front of my mind.


Hmmm.. those are good for now.. heh. Thanks for listening ;)

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Jackson Pollock

So.. I have been looking for cool things to put on my blog. Or cool things that other people have on their blogs, or what have you. Basically, I've been thinking about blogging today; and I came across a website that has widgets. I thought that was cool. My mac has widgets, and I probably use them a bit too often.. So I thought neat! I will find an awesome widget for my blog. Well I did!! :)

This is the Jackson Pollock widget. Where, you, yes you, are the artist and get to paint like Mr. Pollock did.. Amazing!

I think it's pretty cool..

Maybe I should goto art school..

* hint: every time you click, it changes the color of your paint.

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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

One need only think of the weather, in which case the
prediction even for a few days ahead is impossible.
- Albert Einstein

I have 66 days until we fly to Germany. 66 days! That sounds kind of like a lot to my mind, where I really just want to get this show on the road, get to Europe, never look at a Vehicle's title again, and never answer the phone "Jordan Credit Union, this is Nicole, how can I help you?" or at least not for the next year. I want to play, I want to have fun, and learn, and I want to do it now. I'm not the very patient type. And yes, yes I know that it all won't be fun, nothing ever is, but I am determined to have fun and learn German and be the best German Nanny I can be!

So on to my problem of the day. I am trying to plan for this European trip, and know exactly what I am doing when it comes to packing and things. Let me give you some background information, the morning of the day that I left for London in May 2005 (which seems SO long ago now!) I hadn't packed anything. Not one single thing. I was a procrastinator. I am a procrastinator. But, this time, as it is much longer of a European trip this time as opposed to last time, I was thinking that perhaps I should plan ahead a little bit more. Any ideas on what to bring? Or what not to bring..

It might be nice to get some suggestions of things that maybe, just maybe, an American girl in Germany for a year cannot live without. For example, I want to bring my CD's.. but I might just have to resort to only my Ipod. Don't get me wrong, I love my Ipod, I think it is a great Applestic invention. However, I like the idea of being able to use my CD's when I use the family car to take the kids to school. Sigh. Probably should focus on German anyway, and listen to German music. Which brings me to my next item: Movies. I know I can't bring all of my Movies, they would have to be in a suitcase all their own. But I must bring a few. So then it comes down to decision making. What movies do I bring? I love Breakfast at Tiffany's AND Roman Holiday, but should I really use my small supply of movies and bring two Audrey classics? Or should I conserve, and only bring one Audrey. Decisions Decisions. Let's not even get started on books.. I think I will just have to read German books. Can't decide only one or two English books to bring. Eek.

Sigh... Then we come to the even more important, and even harder aspect: Clothes. How do I know what I will want to wear for next year? It doesn't snow much there, but it also doesn't ever get too hot either; and it's rainy. Susi, my family's mom, said that they hardly ever get snow, so I wouldn't need "to bring very much winter clothes", but then it's like, she doesn't know me, she doesn't know that in the Summer in a super air conditioned house I walk around with a blanket AND a sweatshirt. So I'm thinking I will just bring whatever I wear in the fall and spring time mostly, and then minimal summery and winter things? I guess if I don't bring what I really need to have, I can just go shopping.

Gehen wir Einkaufen! (let's go shopping)

Wish me luck..

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My first blog

So, as you can see, I have decided to start a blog. I have never really had one. On Myspace I had a blog where I posted an occasional thought or on Facebook I have become one of those people that is always posting new, fun & favorite quotes. But never a full time for real blog. However, now that I am moving to Germany soon, and will probably have some interesting life changing experiences, AND Super Pictures!! I have decided to start one up.

I am new to this.. so be patient.. but I really am excited; and can see myself really getting addicted to this. Hmmmm..

Addiction may be bad. But as this person on the blogosphere said, "Your blog is your unedited version of yourself." And I'm okay with being unedited..

I will write more later ;)

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