girl, put your records on

i have learned some things over the past few months of my life - some serious, some silly - but i thought i'd share them with you.

1. it is okay to fall asleep on the couch watching a movie until after midnight - even on a work night.
2. when you really practice believing that God hears you when you talk to Him, and that He will answer your prayers, it's amazing how much your prayer life will grow and change and how much more you'll notice the Lord answering your prayers.
3. the difference in edible popcorn and burned popcorn is 1 second. no lie.
4. dancing around in your apartment by yourself is definitely good for you.
5. you don't have to be in love to appreciate it or to understand it or to celebrate it.
6. you are not a bad christian if you don't have a quiet time one day. He's not going to condemn you. trust me.
7. if you fall asleep with your make-up on and without brushing your teeth - good for you. i think that's healthy every now and then.
8. it's okay to stay in and do nothing on a friday night but watch movies, eat Ramen noodles, and read.
9. it's very hard to tell when chicken is done.
10. you should never make a decision about somebody before spending time with them. i do this a lot (i'm working on it), and i'm always wrong.
11. there are very, very few people in this world who will go out of their way to be a good friend.
12. take advantage of every opportunity to spend time with family and friends. it doesn't matter if you're out too late or you have to drive a couple of hours. i will always choose time with family and friends over sleep. always. you can sleep when you're dead, but you never get moments with people you love back.
13. there is no point to living with regrets. whatever it is, no matter how insignificant or significant, it's over. you can't change it. might as well learn from it and move on.
14. if you want to eat a brownie, eat a brownie. if you don't want to work out, don't work out. life's too short to worry too much about this stuff.
15. try new things. especially now that i'm single and living on my own, i'm discovering a lot of new things that i'm interested in. painting, for example, and volunteering. i also enjoy documentaries. weird.
16. if you put a candle that's in a holder of some sort in the freezer, the candle will pop out within an hour.
17. everybody should live on their own at some point in their life. no roommates, no spouse, no parents. it's liberating, and it teaches you a LOT about yourself. it's been one of the best experiences of my life.
18. wasps can be killed with roach spray. i learned this the other day when a wasp flew into my apartment. i was too scared (and screaming too much) to try to kill it with a fly swatter, so i sprayed that sucker down with about a whole can of roach spray. killed it.
19. it's a good idea to make sure your vaccuum cleaner is hooked up right before turning it on. if you don't, you could end up spraying crap all over your apartment. not that that's happened to me...
20. if you don't tape the molding when you paint, it's real easy to make a big mess real fast.
21. nail polish remover will take the paint out of carpet.
22. if somebody will talk to you about somebody else, there's a good chance they're talking to the person they were talking about about you. we all need to stop this.
23. plants will die if you don't water them...ever. even if they're outside kind of near rain and sunshine.
24. if you keep your feet shoved in to ice skates that are very tight for a very long time, your toes are subject to go numb and stay that way for several weeks after you went ice skating.
25. you can be a girly girl and not be high maintenance.
26. it's okay to be weak.
27. the saying really is true: you should be nice to everybody, because everybody is always going through something.
28. you are not a bad person if you leave dishes in the sink when you go to bed. they'll still be there when you wake up.
29. if you want to sleep until 2 pm on saturday - go for it. that's good for your soul.
30. everybody needs somebody that they can call at 3 am when they've had a bad dream.