i want adventure in the great wide somewhere.

Lindsay Faith. I'm in my twenties, but six years old at heart, and I'm married to my best friend Landon. I am analytical and curious. I am constantly wondering, and I'm easily intrigued. Basically my mind never stops; which is why I wanted to create a place to serve as an outlet for some of my thoughts. I can only hope that someday someone somewhere takes something positive from what I have to say. Feel free to ask me anything. If there is something that you want to discuss with me, please do, and if you could do so respectfully, I'd truly appreciate it. PHOTO BLOG // INSTAGRAM // TWITTER

[lindsayfaith]

I have a list on my iPhone.

It's been nearly four months since I've written on here, but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing elsewhere. I enjoy writing in "real life" journals a bit more, but sometimes I also like to share my thoughts where others can see them too. I've just been doing so more on Instagram and Twitter lately. I forget about Tumblr more often than not, but I have collected a few topics in a list on my iPhone that I'd like to find time to post about on here. There are some exciting possible changes in our lives that will be coming up, so those may make an appearance on here as well. We'll see. =)

[lindsayfaith]

"These days, people sit around unhappy, alone with their “healthy” self-esteems, telling themselves how great they are and how the world ought to “accept” them no matter what. When I was single I did the online dating thing for a little while (I met my wife on EHarmony). The vast majority of the profiles I came across featured some version of this phrase: “I want to find someone who will accept me and never try to change me.” Look, I understand you don’t want to end up in a relationship with a person who will pick you apart and criticize your every move, but you likewise don’t want to be with some passive schlub who will merely “accept” you. What kind of a pathetic and dreary goal is that anyway — just wanting to be “accepted,” tolerated, put up with? That’s not real. Life is not static and stagnant, do you really want your relationships to be? At some point you have to confront the fact that you’re not perfect, there are parts of you that are unacceptable, parts of you that a loving spouse wouldn’t “accept.” Marriage isn’t for people who are too good to change, that’s what divorces are for. In fact, life isn’t for people who are too good to change. Life IS change, reject one and you reject the other."

[lindsayfaith]

As fans of SeaWorld, Landon and I were curious and skeptical when we started to hear about the documentary Blackfish. We tend to be skeptical of most documentaries, as it is often easy for them to deceive and manipulate viewers through the way they're made. We watched Blackfish a few weeks ago and both agreed that the "facts" being claimed were not consistently clear. We have been researching the topic ever since and discovered that the film makers were intentionally deceptive. There is some truth to parts of the film, but they've managed to manipulate the footage and interviews into causing their viewers to believe downright lies. If you saw Blackfish and were appalled at what you learned about SeaWorld, please take the time to read and watch some of the rebuttals from SeaWorld and other ex-trainers. I'm not saying that I expect everyone who sees the counter arguments to side with them. And, although I do not agree, I can understand why some people are against all animal captivity. {Notice that I said "animal" captivity, not specifically "orca" captivity, because it is completely illogical to want killer whales to be free and not every other animal in zoos and aquariums everywhere.} I simply want to encourage people to hear from both sides so that they can make an informed decision on who to support and believe. As much as I love SeaWorld, I'm mostly passionate about everyone doing their own research before naively believing everything implied in a documentary. SeaWorld: The Truth About Blackfish A Former Killer Whale Trainer Responds to Blackfish {I posted the above paragraph and links on Facebook and wanted to share my thoughts on here as well. The paragraphs below are some of my responses to people who commented on my status. I decided to share some of them as well, because they further explain my opinions on the matter.} After studying what both sides are saying, it is up to the researcher to discern what he/she believes to be the most authentic argument with the most solid evidence to back up their claimed facts. It's up to you to decide who you believe to be the most genuine in their purpose, as well as who gives the most concrete evidence to back up their claims. What upsets me about the subject is that many people have merely watched the documentary and proceeded to jump on the bandwagon. I just want to encourage people to do their own research and think critically about the subject, even if they still end up deciding to support Blackfish. Although I would disagree with them, I respect those who actually research both sides before making a decision on who to believe. I'm not entirely convinced that SeaWorld has always made the best decisions in regard to the whale families {especially in the past}, but I do think that they truly care about them and attempt to make the best possible decisions, especially as they keep learning more about each species. I also think that if there were a similar documentary on almost any other animal, it would also be able to convince viewers that the animal at hand is more intelligent than others. As we continually learn more about animals, I think we all begin to realize that they are more intelligent than we previously thought. That is why I personally support most zoos and aquariums, because they've been able to teach and enlighten children and adults about animals that most people could never dream of ever seeing in real life. I'm convinced that the trainers love the animals deeply, because they choose to dedicate their lives to them, at least for a period of time. I don't believe that such animal lovers would continue to work there if they thought the animals were mistreated in any way. Sure, Blackfish managed to get a handful of old ex-trainers to talk badly about SeaWorld. But out of all the ex-trainers that SeaWorld has ever had, they could only get a handful to say such things. Two of them have already come out and said that they thought the movie was going to be different than it is and does not agree with the overall message of the documentary. If you do not support any type of animal captivity, then I would not argue with you on that {although I have my reasons why I do not agree}. That is a much deeper belief system than simply believing one documentary about one animal and one corporation. Blackfish was created by PETA activists who want the release of all animals, not just orcas. It makes sense why they wanted to create the documentary, but I do not respect the film or it's creators because of the deceit and manipulation they had to do in the film in order to convince more people to believe as they do. When you are truly convinced that your belief system is the best way to believe, you shouldn't have to deceive people into agreeing you.

[lindsayfaith]

Sometimes I'm wrong, and sometimes I write.

I had previously written that I thought I would write more on here because of Landon working more, but it seems that is not the case. On the contrary, I have actually gotten more organizing and cleaning done, read more books, tested out some recipes, and written a bit more in my tangible journal. I don't regret the days when I used to post on here every week. I originally created this blog as an outlet for my thoughts, but also as a way to save them. I'm incredibly sentimental. I love to keep records of moments, hence why I take lots of pictures, blog, journal, post on Twitter etc. I'm not sure that I will end up posting on here much, but I do think that there will be times I'll want to write about something in particular that just will not fit into a Tweet or is not suitable to post on Facebook, for whatever reason. I used to want to keep up with my life on here, you know, not miss big moments, events, or thoughts. Somehow I lost that drive, which is not a bad thing at all, but I've certainly not written about loads of significant thoughts and experiences on this thing. That's okay though. I like having a drive to be more in the real world [as opposed to the virtual]. I still keep up with many of my significant life experiences via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Social media really is a lovely way to connect and record memories, as long as one can balance it without getting overly obsessed with it. I do miss recording my thoughts on here though. I have lots of theories and opinions. I don't keep them bottled up; I speak my mind and heart openly, but there's something different about writing them down. It can help as an additional outlet, but it can also help sort thoughts and feelings out in a way that can bring a unique sort of enlightenment and understanding. With all of that said, I'm not sure how often I'll be coming here to record my thoughts, but I will keep in mind that I have Tumblr as an option, whenever the desire to write out a specific post arises.

[lindsayfaith]

Amy Poehler and Billy Eiechner sing aggressive Christmas carols.

I know that I haven't been on here in a while, but I just couldn't help sharing this immediately.

[lindsayfaith]

As a Hunger Games fan girl, I've been watching every interview of the Catching Fire cast that I can find. I watched this entire interview; which I think is around 45 minutes. This particular Q&A with Jennifer Lawrence certainly stood out to me though. I just love her response. 

[lindsayfaith]

There's not much that I need to say about this article; he says it all. He puts down in words exactly how I've felt ever since I first learned about sex [I was fourteen... and a half]. I've done my fair share of attempting to articulate my thoughts into words that would be meaningful and powerful, but I know I've never quite done what he has in this article. It's worth your time, no matter who you are.

[lindsayfaith]

Christina Perri - "A Thousand Years"

This song gets me every time. I am a fan of the Twilight book series, but that's not why I love it. It's simply a beautiful song. A few months ago, I wrote about some detail changes that I would make to our wedding if I had it to do over again; I've decided that this song would also be one of them. I still love our first dance song, "It Is You I Have Loved" by Dana Glover, but I'm certain if I were planning it now, I'd choose this song. They both have similar messages in the lyrics. I truly do feel like it was Landon I had loved all along. I can't help but smile and tear up when I hear our first dance song, but for some reason, "A Thousand Years" evokes intense emotion in me nearly every time. And Landon loves it too. =)

"I have died everyday waiting for you Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years I'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find you Time has brought your heart to me I have loved you for a thousand years I'll love you for a thousand more"

[lindsayfaith]

Portland, Oregon.

Landon and I loved everything about Portland when we traveled there this past weekend to celebrate our two year anniversary. I knew I would enjoy it, but I had no idea how much I would absolutely love it. I suppose our experience was not entirely what Portland usually is like, seeing as it didn't rain once when we were there. Nevertheless, we love Portland. We arrived at night and was already blown away with how beautiful it was, knowing we would be even more amazed in daylight. The public transportation there is incredibly convenient. We used the light rail system to get to our hotel from the airport and then to everywhere else we wanted to go for the rest of our time there. We didn't even have a chance to get lost once, because everyone there is so kind and friendly! All we had to do was look at a map and people would ask us if we needed to help at all. We walked around the autumn colored streets, explored forest park, visited the animals at the zoo, took a tour of the waterfalls at Columbia River Gorge, played in snow up at Mt. Hood, ate dinner at the Portland City Grill on the 30th floor of a building downtown, and took in all of Portland's beauty. I felt like I was in an autumn, fairy tale wonderland. I'm quite certain there are fairies inhabiting the forests up there. We stayed at the most adorable Marriott hotel [we love Marriott] who upgraded us to a larger room with a fire place and firewood for each night as an anniversary gift. It's always tough coming home from an adventure with my husband, but it's nice to be home at the same time. It's fun to look through the pictures together and share them on social media. There's always even more to look forward to as well. I'm just overwhelmed with gratitude right now.

[lindsayfaith]

I've already written a post about how we had to cancel our New York City anniversary trip for the second year in a row. I had a slight mourning period immediately after I found out. One of my heart's strongest desires is to travel this world with my husband, so I took it pretty hard when a trip I had been planning for almost two years had to be postponed yet again. After about a week, I finally accepted it. At that point, we could start discussing other possible places we wanted to go for just a weekend without him having to miss any work. We went from Denver to Seattle and landed on Portland. I'm so freaking excited to explore Portland's city and forests and waterfalls... in the rain, haha. I was sad about canceling NYC at first, but when I came to my senses, I realized how incredibly blessed my life is. Landon and I have already gotten to travel much more than many people our age, and I love exploring any place with my best friend.

[lindsayfaith]

I don't mean to brag, but... I love my job.

I just would like to brag about my job for a few minutes here. First of all, I'm a nanny. I know many people fail to consider that a "real job," but I'm not doing it so that other people can approve of it, so that doesn't really matter. I do it to make money [obviously, that's why we needs jobs], and I do it because I absolutely love it. I've always loved children. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I am the oldest of four children, my youngest brother being twelve years younger than me. Or maybe it has to do with the fact that I am simply young at heart and always will be. I still willingly listen to Radio Disney and watch kid movies... even without kids present. Basically I get paid to play and practice being a parent. I've learned a lot about myself through nannying, to say the least. I've learned how I react to certain situations. I've learned the difference between temperaments of children. I've learned the benefits as well as negative affects of certain disciplinary techniques. I've also gotten to observe many different kinds of family dynamics, but that's a different subject. All of my experience has been in child care. Well, most of it. I worked full time at a summer camp [children ages five to twelve] one year and then at Einstein's for a month before I quit and tried to be a cocktail waitress at my family's restaurant for another month and quit that to pursue my "career" as a nanny. This was all about seven years ago. Since then, I've gotten to know countless families by being welcomed into their home to take care of their children. Some of those families I am happy to not work for anymore, those ones are now horror stories [okay, not really that bad] that I have to tell. There are other families that I miss very much, but the kids simply grew too old to need a nanny anymore. At the moment, I work for two different families regularly, and I have a few others that contact me for occasional needs. The purpose of this particular blog is to brag about only one of those families though, even though I am blessed to be working for both. 

This one particular family that I work for is an absolute blessing to my life for many reasons. I've been working for them nearly two years now. They pay me $20 an hour to play with their two boys, ages four and seven. They don't expect me to clean, run errands for them, drive the boys anywhere, do laundry etc. They just want me to take care of their boys. Of course, I do clean up after the kids and do dishes and the sort, because I like to help out, but mostly I simply come over and play. We play hide and go seek. We play on the Kinect. We play pretend superheroes. We watch kid shows and movies. And sometimes I break up fights. Sometimes I have to discipline. Sometimes I lecture. But like I said earlier, I'm getting parenting practice all the while. This family is also the most flexible family I've ever worked for. We have a set schedule for each week to have some consistency for the most part, but if ever I want to switch it up, it's no problem. They have me come over for a date night every Saturday, but if I have a party to go to or an event, they can switch it to Friday, or Sunday, or another day during the week. If I have friends from out of town visiting and I want a couple days off, they can either give me the days off or switch days around so that I don't lose the money from those days. They are also Christians, which is wonderful since I can openly talk to the kids and the parents about our shared beliefs. The parents and I even have some likes in common, so we can talk about certain books, movies, and TV shows together.

I totally did not mean to write this much [what else is new?]. I just really felt compelled to write this blessing of a family down in words. I've had other things that I've wanted to write about. Landon started his new job last week, so far he seems to love it. I've missed him immensely, but I actually have gotten lots done with my spare time without him, since he's working nearly fifty-five to sixty hours a week now. That'll lessen somewhat in about a month though. Once I catch up on my lists, I'm sure I'll write more on here. Then again, I've never not had a list of things to do. I'm not sure if I ever will here on earth.

[lindsayfaith]

Autumn is truly my favorite time of the year, plus a week or two into winter [since fall ends on December 21st, the weeks after are still included because of Christmas and New Years]. It's kind of odd that I live in a place where we don't truly have autumn, not like this picture. Being near my family and friends is just more important to me than being near a specific place. I would rather have to visit places than visit with my loved ones. I simply can't get over the beauty in this picture though. I love autumn so much.

Autumn leaves haven't been the only things changing lately, my life has had some changes as well. My immediate reaction towards change usually includes a little fear. After twenty-seven years of life experience though, I've learned that there needs to be change [whether good or bad] in order for growth and improvement, even if it seems negative at first. Instead of getting into details, I'll just list some of the changes and situations that have happened: a car accident I got into, Landon needing another job and finally getting one, my parents selling a lot that they owned, student debt nearly being paid off, one of our family restaurants closing, our NYC trip having to be cancelled a second time, and probably others I'm forgetting. I'm nervous and excited for how life will be changing for us in the near future. I'm just overjoyed that I get to experience this life while trusting in God and walking with my best friend husband along the way.

[lindsayfaith]

It's happened again. Our New York City anniversary trip has been canceled two years in a row. I'm still teetering between depression and denial, but it's been four days now since I've known so I'm slowly entering the road to acceptance. I just can't believe a whole year finally has gone by since we had to cancel last year. We had to cancel last year only a few days before the trip because of the freak storm Sandy. I was sad, certainly, but not like this time. I've now been planning this trip for nearly two years and it is being delayed yet again. The reason is a good one: my husband got a new job and he can't miss any training days. We could reschedule NYC for next spring, but I want to go during my favorite time of year, autumn. Of course, I'd love to go for Christmas, but I think that'll just be too busy for my liking considering that it'll be both of our first time there. That'll be for our second visit to the Big Apple. Hopefully the third year really is a charm.

[lindsayfaith]

As of lately - ramblings.

I have had many things I've been wanting to write on here, but evidently not the time to do so. Well, of course, I could make the time. When I think back to when I used to post more, I don't know how I did it. It's not that I'm ultra busy. I suppose I do keep myself busy with things that I just love doing whenever I'm not working. Landon and I spend a lot of time together. I'm not going to "waste" my time blogging when I could have quality/fun times with my husband. Soon though, he may be getting a new job, in which case then I would have more time without him. It will be good and bad. Good because we will be making more money, and good because I get much more done without him around [we can't help but have fun instead of be productive when we're with each other]. Bad because we will have less time together. When I say "less time," I mean more like the amount of time that most couples get with each other; right now we have a ridiculously awesome amount of time together. It's been wonderful. Someday we hope to work together. I know lots of couples who say they couldn't work together or be together that often, but we are not one of those couples. Landon keeps encouraging me to apply at the places that he is, but I'm just not ready to give up being a nanny yet. I get paid $15 and $20 an hour without tax [different families and number of kids] to play, watch kid movies, hide and go seek, and practice being a parent. I do want to work with Landon though; I hope we get to soon. I don't plan to be spending my time without Landon [if he gets a new job] on here though. I have a long list of things to get done involving scrap-booking, decorating, and organizing. I do enjoy documenting my life though, so I hope to do a little more of that in my real life journal and this online blog.

I've already spent much more time than I planned to writing this. I'm only doing so because Landon is on a man-date with my 18 year old brother. I cannot even describe how thankful I am that my brothers have such an incredible role model and big brother-in-law. My mom often says how thankful she is for Landon, not only for me but for my siblings. I could keep writing a whole new blog on that subject, but I'll stop for now.

Okay, one more thing. I had planned to write a post celebrating my Tumblr reaching 100 followers, but that was quite some time ago. I'm up to 111 now! To anyone reading this, I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long. I do want to start blogging more again. I'm much more on top of my Instagram and Twitter these days since I can do that on-the-go. I just got my first smart phone a couple months ago by default. My beloved flip phone tragically died, so I took my dad's very old iPhone 3. Yup, I use an iPhone 3. I was quite upset about even using a smart phone, because I loved my anti-smart flip phones. I got used to the touch screen though and hope to get a newer iPhone sometime soon! Technology is not high on our list of things we want to spend our "extra" money on though. Traveling is among the few things we deem worth of our money.

I think I've said "hope" way too much in this post, but apparently I'm hopeful! I've also written a lot more than a few sentences like I originally thought I would. It's just so freaking typical of me.

[lindsayfaith]

Yesterday J.K. Rowling announced that there is going to be a new film series inspired by Harry Potter's Hogwarts textbook "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." I am over the moon with excitement!! J.K. has expressed that she's not planning on ever continuing Harry's story, but that she'd consider writing something else in the world of wizard and witches. Although I'd be even more ecstatic about new books, I'll take anything from her about the magic world!!!

-- > HERE'S THE OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ARTICLE < --

[thegoodfilms]

[lindsayfaith]

I could use a very merry unbirthday tea party in Wonderland right about now.

[lindsayfaith]

An unusually tough week.

Yesterday I was in my first car accident. My first and only car that I've had for nearly eleven years may not make it, and if it does, it will cost nearly as much as it's worth. The airbags went off and hit me in the neck [I'm fine - just a little sore]. The biggest hit though was not to me or my car, but to our bank account. Times like this, when unexpected financial troubles hit, can be awfully stressful, but then there are days like 9/11. Today I am reminded that there are thousands of people who lost loved ones on that horrible morning twelve years ago. I'm reminded that there are bigger, greater, and more terrible things happening in the world around me than my lost car or suffering finances. I am also reminded of the many blessings around me: my husband, family, friends, and the fact that even though my car may be gone, none of those people are.

I wrote the above paragraph as a Facebook status this morning, and it's helped me to reread it a few times through out the day. Sometimes we need to remember to take our own advice and even encourage ourselves. It's been an unusually tough week financially. My husband has been such a wonderful encouragement and has stayed calm and grounded through it all. I can't imagine going through life's ups and downs without him or with someone else. We are forever the best team.