My Really Bad Habit

So as I was looking through my blog, I realized I don't always post the things I write. I write myself to sleep a lot and (as my previous roommates can attest to) I always fall asleep with my laptop in my lap. I fall asleep mid-sentence and wake up with my laptop perfectly balanced right where I left it. Below is a blog I started in October and in an attempt to finish last year, I am posting it now.


It is only October, but it might as well be Thanksgiving already because every night I crave bread, mashed potatoes and turkey. My fall food cravings are in full gear. Fall just seems so cozy to me. I love it. Sweaters, coats, and a warm bed... I am in heaven. I should probably wait to post the Thanksgiving gratitude post, but today I feel like I need a little gratitude boost. So I will list those things I am grateful for now, in no particular order.

Fresh food and home cooking. Sweat pants and three layers of blankets to keep me toasty in bed. A blog to write in so I can feel like I accomplished something today. Supportive friends and family. The ceramic blue elephant who stands sentinel over my meager collection of books and little cactus snow globe. Prayer. Wawa hot chocolate with Irish cream. Craft blogs. An education and the ability to earn a living.


There are so many more, but this seems adequate for now. I won't get toasted leg syndrome tonight, so I am cutting off the laptop before it is too late.

Enough said....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well I had intended to update this blog soon, but that was before I caught what may be the new plague here in Richmond. I think a person can get much more ill than I was, but for a girl who only gets a cold for a day or two, this thing is pretty wicked. I sound like I have pertussis... or I am turning into a goose. I am hoping neither scenario is correct. But the new year has begun, with or without my consent and we are now in full swing. I can honestly say I have spent over half this year in bed. I always wondered what it would be like to sleep like Rip VanWinkle though, so I guess I should feel pretty fulfilled.

For those of you who don't know, I quit my job right before Christmas because of a discrepancy about some requested time off. So my new found freedom has given me plenty of time to recover, but it has also given me plenty of time to think, WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I GOING TO DO WITH MYSELF!? I would really like a job, or as my parents suggest, I would like to "contribute to society". Luckily for the environment, most job applications are now online or electronic, because at this point I may have used up half the trees in the rain forest. When I think about energy usage though, I probably emitted enough CO2 to counteract any good saving the trees did. All I want is a high schoolers job being a cashier or something... at least something to make me feel like I am doing some sort of work. It has come to my attention though, that even if you are a college graduate and could easily count seven dollars and forty-nine cents worth of change no one will hire you. Perhaps having a college degree makes me inaccessible to those who shop at chain retailers? All I'm saying is, if I was running a business, I would give someone who is over qualified a position if they will happily take the same $8/hr as a goofy kid who can't count. End of rant. Too bitter?

Truth be told, besides being sick, I have actually enjoyed my time off.  When you're preparing for a wedding, I don't feel like you ever run out of things to do. Now don't get me wrong, I sure do miss getting a paycheck, but I have been able to spend a lot of time with Nate. Have I told all of you how much I love that guy? HE-IS-AMAZING! He brought me Chick-Fil-A soup twice, cough drops, extra snuggles, and did I mention foot rubs?? After he goes to work all day, he comes over to my house- to give ME a foot rub! I-LOVE-HIM! Best. Year. EVER!

I need to go to bed. The later it gets, the worse the coughing gets. I will leave you with this. Don't try to RSVP... I haven't added anyone's names yet.

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/NateEaton&EricaNalder

Out Like A Lamb... In Like A Lion

I figure on the last day of the year it may be important to write my blog for the month. I will write something superb in January. I am typing all of this on my i-touch in the guest room at Nate's parents house. Needless to say, the typing is a bit difficult!

Today I bought my wedding dress! It is a huge relief to say the least. I got it for 200 less than what I thought it was going to be and I know there was some serious divine intervention. Anyone who knows me knows I tend to stress a bit. Bless Nate and his learned patience towards me. He has been extra wonderful during the wedding stuff, and makes it go by so much smoother. I love that man!

In traditional style, I will be shouting out this years new resoloution. This upcoming year I have pledged to myself to be less negative. When I am awake tomorrow and have a laptop I will tell you all about it!

Two posts in one month... what has happened to me!?

So I have been wasting an inordinate amount of time tonight on worthless youtube videos and looking at dresses that wouldn't cover an ant... Does no one believe in making a wedding dress that covers anymore!? I believe I have a severe sleep deficiency lately, and I am hoping if I write all my thoughts down I will be able to fall asleep.
If you have ever been engaged, or will ever be engaged soon, this post is for you. I believe once you have a ring on your finger it chemically alters your brain. Maybe Nate bought me a band with lead in it and it is affecting my brain. I'm not sure, but I have not been right ever since haha. This is my public confession and apology for Nate, who puts up with my craziness. Tonight, I literally burst into tears telling him how I am sad to leave my family and move out in a few months. I also had a tantrum a couple days ago, during which I basically asked him to bring me cake, and when he told me he was bringing me a brownie, I demanded cake or nothing at all. And because He is probably so afraid of me at this point, he brought me the cake. Poor man. (I blew those stories a little out of proportion, but if you talk to Nate he will most likely say they aren't far off). Anyone who knows me knows I don't do well with huge sudden changes, and in trying to have this perfect wedding day I think I am stressing a little too much. Seriously. A wedding is one day, and I realize during this process that in the grand scheme of things the only thing that will really matter is that we will be married. Sealed for all time and eternity together. That realization was the first thing that brought me calm all day. I am so excited for that day. Now that I have worked through this dilemma, I believe I will go to bed. I am getting married. I will be living with a boy. We are going to be so happy. Who would have thought?

Insist On Yourself; Never Imitate

It is November. There are a myriad of things going on, making me believe I should probably write more than once a month. So for the update... I AM ENGAGED! I know... I didn't think it would ever happen either haha. But finally, I tricked him into it and Nate and I are getting married April 23rd. Best. Day. EVER. It is crazy how life works out sometimes.


Lately I have been reading books from a list of 100 classic literary works, a list I have been reading since I was 14. I set no deadline to finish them, I just saw the list one day and decided to do it. So I was reading some of Emerson's essays to finish another reading on the list and I fell in love with his essay Self-Reliance. The man is brilliant. So I wanted to share two of my favorite paragraphs in the essay that really hit me. (And then in classic Erica blogging form, I will explain how I feel it personally applies to my life.)


Emerson says:


"Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dare not say 'I think,' 'I am,' but quotes some saint or sage. He is ashamed before the blade of grass or the blowing rose. These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God today. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence. Before a leaf-bud has burst, its whole life acts: in the full-blown flower there is no more; in the leafless root there is no less. Its nature is satisfied and it satisfies nature in all moments alike. There is not time to it. But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time...


Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half possession. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. No man yet knows what it is, nor can, till that person has exhibited it. Where is the master who could have taught Shakespeare? Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? Every great man is an unique. If anybody will tell me whom the great man imitates in the original crisis when he performs a great act, I will tell him who else than himself can teach him. Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. Do that which is assigned thee and thou canst not hope too much or dare too much."


I think the nice thing about falling in love with Nate is that I never tried to make it happen, it just did. In dating Nate, every moment along the way has felt perfect in its existence. Our four years of friendship. When we both said I love you. Now our engagement. I feel like these things were all perfectly placed in my life. In general I think we all worry so much about what we are meant to become or where our lives will take us. We worry what others will think, or we try so hard to be a certain way, that we forget to just be ourselves. To be the fabulous beings God intended us to be, and to be satisfied in being such. When we just let life happen, without trying to force it along or make it something it was never meant to be, we see this beautiful masterpiece coming together we never could have created on our own. Emerson asked the question, "Where is the master that could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton?" and I feel blessed that I know the answer. The Master. When we stick close to God we are instructed by Him to become the person he would have us be. He teaches us to hone in on the talents He gave us and then teaches us how to use them to further His work and to better those around us. When we let go of trying to be something or someone else, and "do that which is assigned thee", we are not held back by fear or perceived limitations. We dare to dream. To branch out and fulfill our destiny.


This year has been a journey of trying to figure out how I find myself, or my life's calling. The real purpose for my life. And although I have yet to figure out what it is, I finally found out how to discover it. I think there are all sorts of people, places or things that lead you to where you belong, but for me, I feel like I understand them best when I stay close to what I believe. God provides me with those specific things I need to help me find my life's passions and purposes. And in those moments, I feel at peace. I don't feel the need to be a rose, I feel content just being a seed for now.

The Suite Life of Erica

So as I answered the phone for what seemed like eternity yesterday, I had a man call in and tell me about his life living in a hotel. Now, I have seen the Suite Life Of Zack And Cody, but besides that and the movie Two Weeks Notice, I know of no real people who live in a hotel long term. (Okay and maybe Nadia when her family was moving to the US... but besides that, no one.) Even though it was a touch unprofessional, every once in a while I feel the need to humor these people who share way more information then ever necessary or desired. And here is what I learned: If you live in a hotel, they have long term rates that can be cheaper than living in an apartment. They clean your room once a week, supply your shampoo and toilet paper. Can we say continental breakfast? I'm just saying... sweet life indeed. I am pretty sure you have to be a crack dealer or a pimp to redeem this offer, but I didn't get to ask the buy about that stipulation of the contract. On the surface, it seems like a pretty good deal though. And then I realized... I already live this life. Except I don't pay anything... and I didn't have to be a crack dealer or pimp. My parents are simply amazing. I know that soon enough I am going to have to leave my suite life for new adventures, but today I. LOVE. IT.

More to come soon... I love the fall. Going hiking next week, eating some DELICIOUS apples, and seeing the yellow and orange leaves fall from the trees. After four years in Idaho, I learned to love cold weather fashion. And flannel pajamas. I believe I will snuggle back into my bed now and take a nice little mid morning nap. Good night.