lucy

Lucy “A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours. Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things-a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight. And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty.” ― John Grogan, Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog             Dogs, you either love them are you don’t. They’re always in your face, their breathe smells, and they get into everything that you leave unsupervised. But even so, they bring so much joy (for us dog lovers) and make life so much more enjoyable. My family has always had a dog, I feel as if we would systematically combust if there wasn’t a dog in the house. There was Max, our german shepard, who could play fetch for hours. There was Buddy, our golden retriever, who suffered from skin allergies, extreme ADHD, and separation anxiety. He chewed holes in the dry wall, and did not become remotely calm until age 8. He might have been a complete pest, he sure made sure his scent was throughly rubbed into my carpet but boy did I love that dog. I think we tend to forget that our dog will not grow old with us, in fact they leave us sooner than we anticipate and were left heart broken.             Dogs in my opinion are therapeutic, they help with depression, anxiety, and other forms of mental illnesses.Back in the spring of 2013, my brother had a huge anxiety attack, he was depressed for days and would call me crying, telling me that he missed me and that he wanted to come home. I felt helpless, distraught because I couldn’t help the one person who has been by my side since the beginning. He told me he felt empty, alone and that he needed something to keep him company. My parents as well as I knew that we needed a dog. We needed a furry friend to fill thee hole in my brothers heart.             That is why my dog Lucy is such a huge blessing. Over the summer my cousin was getting married in Dillon, Montana. Its the middle of nowhere. No internet, no cell phone reception, and a limited amount of television channels. But it didn’t matter because his dog (a Llewellin Setter) just had puppies. I went over to the box were the puppies were being held, and picked up the smallest puppy of the litter. She looked into my eyes, and i looked into hers, and I knew from that moment, that she was mine. She was small, so mellow, and I couldn't put her down. I was attached, hooked, that dog was mine. My brother, Luke, on the other hand had a little trouble warming up to her. He had the impression that the dog we were going to pick was going to be a boy, but that wasn’t the case. He’s 16, and is stuck in a horrendous teenage phase. After a few hours I sat down on the couch right next to Luke with Lucy in my arms. I put her in his lap and just waited, because I knew it was only a matter of time before he fell in love with her as well. 30 seconds later, her picked her up and cradled her in his arms. “Leah she’s so little!.. Look at my little baby!” he was hooked, I knew it would happen.             Lucy is now 6 months old, and she and my brother have the most unique and pure friendship that could happen between man and dog. She’s the biggest drama queen and howls  whenever she doesn’t get her way. Lucy has to be constantly snuggling with someone, and if she’s not, she’ll back excessively until someone sits next to her. She’s somewhat obnoxious and does not respond well to the word “no”. She’s climbed on top of the dining room table, eaten my fathers birthday cake, and knocked over and broke my mothers crystal candle holders. She licks the plates that are placed in the dish washer, and takes us on walks, rather than us taking her one. Though she is a pain, she is also one of the sweetest dogs I have ever come across, and mi proud to call her my own. Lucy has brought joy and peace back into my home. My brother is almost back to his normal self, excelling in everything he does. He’s happy, and I know its because of Lucy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IUy1u1d74U

Talls and Smalls

You would think it might be difficult finding your best friend in a huge crowd at TCU, but not for me, not when your best friend is 5"11 (6’1 with basketball shoes) and has the number 22 writing on pretty much every article of clothing she owns. Walking into Einstein's bagels  is always interesting, most of the clientele is wearing oversized T-shirts and polos, but not her, she's always in her TCU basketball gear, which includes Nike shirt, shorts, shoes etc. As she walks through the line I can't help but notice that people double take when they see her, she's all legs, and just by looking at her they can tell she's an athlete. At this point I can’t help but laugh and shake my head, she’s so used to it that she doesn’t notice. The employees of Einstein's look up at her as they take her order, "cheddar cheese and turkey sausage on an asiago bagel, do you also want a cinnamon twist with that?" She replies with "yes and a fountain drink". They have her order locked away in their memory, she gets it every time. It's always red powerade. Her arms are always crossed with her iPhone in her right hand, as are her legs. She looks down, (It no big secret that I’m short) and it’s extremely apparent when we’re standing right next to each other. “What are you getting?”, I look up and say “I just really need a cup of coffee, it’s one of those days” She laughs, “Leah you don’t need coffee, you already have enough energy as it is”. We pay, and walk over to a table.  She slowly sits down, picks up her phone, “Did you see Chas’ tweet? That girl is always talking about some guy.” Her name is called, her bagel is ready, and she stands up, towers over everyone and everything, and proceeds to get her food. When she stands up, it makes a statement, people always notice. When she sits down I can’t help but notice that while my feet barely reach the floor, her legs can barely fit under the table. “Why are you so little?” she says. I always reply “Why are you so tall!!!” We are known as “smalls and talls” on campus but that name would not exist if she wasn’t as tall and lengthy. After were done eating I follow her out of Einstein’s, I try to keep up with her long yet gracious strides. It’s difficult because three of my steps equal one of hers. Walking at her pace, it only takes us a matter of minutes to reach our apartment complex. “Alright I’ll call you after my nap; I’ll be up around 3 o’clock.” I laugh; she never wakes up when she’s supposed too. She starts to giggle “No Leah, I’m serious this time!”. “D there’s a reason we call you the bear, you don’t nap, you hibernate”. She laughs, throws me a look that screams “whatever” and walks down the hall to her apartment. I won’t hear from her for a few solid hours.

Awkward

              Our lives are made up of moments, moments that shape who we are as individuals. Some moments, make us proud, some make us sad, some make us stupid, but some make us awkward. We are all awkward, we cant help it. We inedibly end up in situations that automatically make us want bury our heads in the sand. We do things that make our family and friends put their palms to their foreheads aka  to face palm. At the end of the day we cant help but laugh at all the situations that was were unfortunately put in. But I believe, that the most awkward situations make the best stories.

            The elevator, a type of vertical transportation system that people use to go up and down to get to different floors of a building. We use elevators everyday, you would think that we would get used to them, being in an inclosed space with people we didn’t know, having our personal bubbles popped, and breathing in all types of germs that we didn’t even know existed. Oh yeah, its a joy. The elevator sets us up for awkward situations. Awkward greetings, awkward glances, and of course awkward smells.

            My life is nothing but a huge awkward situation, I believe that I’m alive to humor others, to make people laugh with my dumb, irrational, decisions. It’s fine, it makes me happy knowing that my life is comic relief to those around me.

            I look at the clock, darn it, its time to go, its time to start the day. I take a deep breathe, tie the last knot in my shoe, slowly stand up, knowing that if i get up to fast ill get the spins on account of how early it is. My mind is awake, if only the rest of my body felt the same way. 9:48, time has never been on my side, it has never given me the benefit of the doubt. Ever

            I grab for my headphones, attach them to my iPhone, for i can never walk to class in complete silence, ever. It’s a “Midnight City by M83” kind of a morning, and so I put it on repeat. My sunglasses are on the kitchen table and i put them on, in anticipation of meeting the sun as soon I step out of the south tower of the Grandmarc. Keys... oh lord, where the heck are my keys? Run into my room, darn it. Check the bathroom, darn it. I stop, think, oh yeah! Some how my keys always end up almost eaten by the leather couch. I grab them, and move toward the door at a solid pace. I am determined to make it to that elevator, i am determined to make it to class on time.

            I open the door rush out, letting it slam behind me. Check the time on my phone, 9:50, i have to hurry. i press the button, and wait. finally after what seems to be an eternity, the elevator *dings* and the two doors glide open. I look ahead, and there are four other students, all faced the same way. Each is staring at their phones, checking their emails, responding to texts messages. No one wants to look around, no one wants to feel awkward, so they just stare at their screens, hoping, praying that no one tries to talk to them. i walk in just before the doors slide shut, and turn around to face the doors. I just like everyone else, glance down at my phone. I am in the middle of the elevator floor. I seem to be in a better mood than everyone in the state of Texas, i have a smile on my face, where these folk have “don't talk to me” or “F*** off” written across their forehead. The floor drops, *dings* and the doors open. Two guys dressed in polos, kaki shorts, sperrys, (the works) and a girl, wearing spandex and a double XL t-shirt supporting her sorority. They look at me, nod, and proceed to get into the elevator. I move back, but with caution knowing that there are two people behind me. They turn and face the doors, and immediately stare at their phones. At this point we are all counting down the seconds until we reach the first floor, waiting for that very moment where we feel like our personal bubble is not being intruded by some stranger. *Ding* the doors slowly open and one by one, everyone rushes out of the elevator.

            Finally, we can have our sanity back. Those 30 seconds seemed to be the longest 30 seconds of my entire life. I wonder what would happen if we didn’t have a phone to look down to, emails to check, text messages to reply too while being in an elevator. Would we actually have to create conversation with people that we didn’t know. It could be the new way to meet people, kind of like Eharmony or Christianmingle.com, just kidding. We might despise elevators, but like I said before, they are often the focal point of our greatest stories.

why we go back to blogs

            I am a huge fan of blogs, especially ones that talk about food. I can never get enough recipes and every single time I go online, I find yet another recipe to add to my collection. I’m especially fond of brownie recipes, last time it was a recipe for chocolate pumpkin swirl brownies, this time they use pistachios. I absolutely love it. What I search for is always found, and I’m also given new ideas, things that I would’ve never thought of before. I consider who ever thought of these ideas an absolute genius, for they have opened up our minds to new possibilities, new outcomes, and more laughs. 

            We all have a hobby, something that makes our lives worth living. Whether it be cooking, sports, or even knitting, we all have a vice, something that makes us.. well us. We log onto the computer, and immediately look things up, whether it is a new recipe for the wonderful holidays, a new pattern to make in the Christmas sweater for a loved one or, whether Purina puppy chow is the best choice of food for man’s best friend. Alas, our searches lead to other peoples blogs, and a new world is created in front of our eyes.

            We go back to the same blogs because that one site fits our personality, it fits who we are. I believe that the majority of the things we look up on the internet describe us as people. It explains our interests and allows us to dig deeper into the things that we truly loved to do. It also has become a network; people are coming together and bouncing ideas off of each other, one brain to the next.

            People return to the same blogs, because they always have a reason to come back, and also because the blog that they go back to is in fact, easy to go back to. If readers have trouble getting on or going back to a blog site, they’re less likely to go to that site in the future. The content and how it is written makes readers want to come back and find out new information. Writers that use subheads, bullets, bold fonts, images, etc., will always have more followers because their blog is easy to follow.    The content that people are reading is interesting and is appealing to read on a daily basis. The readers will come back to the same blog because they know that the information could be useful to them, and that it can be applied in their everyday lives.

            The “voice” is developed. The person who wrote the blog wrote the text in his/her voice, as if he/she was speaking directing to the people who read the blog. This allows the readers to feel a more personal connection with the blog, thus posting comments and getting more involved with the blog.

            One of the main reasons why readers return to the same blogs is because the blog is constantly being updated with new information and ideas. Readers are able to retrieve and learn about new ideas every single time they visit the blog. It gives the readers a sense of encouragement or hope, knowing that they won’t be left with the same information that the blogger fed the readers weeks ago.

            It seems to be a life accomplishment when the blogger responds to a comment a reader posted on their blog. The reader feels important, noticed, but mostly delighted that the blogger took the time to respond to or even care about the comment that was left on their page. When bloggers interact with their readers, their readers will most like come back for more information and will also tell others about their blog. The writer is smart if they recognize their top followers. They might post the readers recommendations and promote their sites in their blogs. This will ensure that these readers will remain loyal and will spread the word to others about the blog.

            We come to find that some of best blogs are ones that don’t censor their content. Readers can tell if the content has been through an approval process.  It will come across as bland and the blogger will lose some of their audience because of it. The more honest they are when it comes to their stories, the better. Readers love reading stories that they can relate too, plus it makes the blogger look like an actual living human being.

            Some blogs offer RSS feeds. This allows the reader to get new content sent to them as soon as it is posted. This way readers do not have to check the Web site every time, but they still get the information that they want.

            Lastly, great blogs almost always provide interesting links, that the writer thinks that the reader will find interesting. Not only can the reader retrieve great content on the current blog but they can visit other sites and come across new information.

            Blogs inform readers about everything. Whether it be relationship advice, or the right way to trim a Christmas tree, blogs are becoming more popular and will continue to grow. They will grow, as well as the number of followers.

http://www.hostway.com/web-resources/social-media-marketing/business-blog/10-keys-to-building-a-regular-blog-readership/