Forgotten but Not Forever…

Well, seems as soon as the Navy hit I promptly forgot about my blog. Alas, I have come to my senses and decided to pick up where I left off, at least a little. Unfortunately being out at sea means I cannot make any videos or post any pictures. So for the time being it will be words on top of words on top of words. This is just my hello again message.

And on an unrelated note, I have been given a new and difficult task: to create a pair of male crochet shorts… in 10 days. We shall see how this goes. Wish me luck.

And we’re at it again.

Well folks, looks like it is that time again. I have the blogging bug and since I’m living in Japan and that includes many adventures and shenanigans I might as well start documenting those so I can share them with you all. Now it’s just a matter of going through ALL the pictures and figuring out how to present them in a fashion that makes sense and that won’t take too much time for me to put together. That being said, I’m going to read up on a few things and start sorting pictures! Just wanted to give a heads up that there is more to come! Super fun stuff!

New Friends

Ok, I’m a nerd, in this video I say I don’t have any friends in California and that’s a lie. Justin, I didn’t forget about you =) Promise!!! ❤ You!

As I embark on this new journey, having a great support network is extremely important. Good friends are hard to come by and I have been extremely lucky so far with finding my Navy family =) Thanks for stopping by!

Much love,

Laura

Why I Joined the Navy

Hello all! I’m going to try and make a few posts to talk about my thoughts on the Navy in the next week before I leave for bootcamp. I can’t believe I leave in one week! Gonna go by so quick for sure. Mind blowing, but really that’s ok. I was looking for an adventure and that’s sure what I got! Here is a little video where I talk about why I decided to join the Navy since many people were a little surprised by my decision. =) Sorry I ramble… Hopefully I’ll get better at making these things. Enjoy!

Much Love,

Laura

My First Vlog?

So I decided to try out the vlogging thing… I kind of explain why in the video. It was interesting and weird but I think it may work well for me sometimes. Sorry it is over 11 minutes… I apparently like to ramble. It was also WAY past my bedtime so I was exhausted and stumbling over words. C’est la vie!

This does mean that I have a new YouTube channel that’s hooked up to my blog: My Bohemian Niece. Yay for the same name to make things easier! =) Enjoy, or should I say good luck.

Much Love,

Laura

In the Navy!

Hello all!

Long time no talk! I have some very big and exciting news though! I have officially joined the United States Navy! Yep, that’s right, I’m a sailor! And I’m super excited about it! I am going to try and keep this blog up and actually use it while I do my duty for the next 6 years. I will be at basic training (boot camp) for the first 9 weeks, so I won’t have access to it. But after that I hope to document my adventure! I am also going to try something different and use some video, or vlogs, instead of just writing and pictures. Hopefully that will be a little easier for me to keep up with.

I plan on doing a video soon on my process so far and how I’m feeling and such but for right now, a song! Pardon the video, or lack of one, it was all I could find. This is the song that always plays in my head when I say I’m in the Navy. Brings back all those good DDR memories (Lisa, Erin, Mandy). Enjoy everyone! Anchors Aweigh!

All my love,
Laura

Thank GOODNESS It’s Friday: This is Water

So, in honor of TGIF (Thank Goodness It’s Friday), I am going to try and share something really good in a weekly post. This week I stumbled upon a Commencement speech by David Foster Wallace for the class of 2005 at Kenyon College.

In this speech, Wallace gives some phenomenal life advice for us all. He lets us know what it means to him to truly be educated. It isn’t the fancy job, or the money we make, but the small decisions about how we percieve the world. This isn’t the entire speech, only about nine minutes of it, but it is definitely worth a watch.

Also, the video done by The Glossary is quite amazing, don’t you think?! Here is the link to the full speech.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Friday and rest of the weekend!

All my love,
Laura

Here we go… Again

I have a love hate relationship with blogging. I love the concept of it, I love the community that reads and writes, I love the ability to share with friends near and far, I love a lot about blogging. I hate… well I don’t really hate anything about it (yet). I just have never found my groove.

(This is also me not quite finding my groove- with our crazy April/May weather this year!)

Over the years, I’ve attempted blogging on several occasions. Sometimes I got farther and more involved than other times. I used different platforms (I think that’s what they’re called) and have used many different names. I always wanted to blog so bad, I just never did.

Well, about the past year I have felt this strange compulsion to blog. I long to be part of the community that I have followed for years and feel like I know. If I ran into many of you ladies on the street I would probably instinctively be like “Oh hey, (insert your name here)! What’s up? How is your cat doing? I hope he’s feeling better. Your dad too!” And you’d be all “Who the heck are you stalker girl? Creepy.” Then you’d walk off and I would be mortified. Yep. That’s mostly likely what would happen.

Anyway, I created a blog on TypePad almost a year ago to document a really awesome opportunity I got to perform in the show CATS for several months out in Virginia. Ha, because I thought I was going to have tons of time to sit around and blog. No. I was out having adventures and seeing as much of that part of the country as I could! But the name My Bohemian Niece was born then, because that is what my wonderful Great Uncle Bugs started referring to me as. I loved the name. I wanted to use it so I stuck it on my blog. I still love it. I think it’s a keeper.

I get side tracked easily. Where was I? Oh yes, now. I returned from Virginia in November, immediately met this wonderful boy salsa dancing (the week I got back) and we started dating. I also started an (unpaid, yay) internship in December and then proceeded to begin my last year of college (everyone in unison now: FINALLY), plus my job to pay the bills. So, I’ve been busy and distracted and all that jazz, but I still was wanting to blog. Really bad. And I have no idea where this compulsion is coming from but it simply won’t go away! I decided to finally give in. I am restarting my little piece of internet home here, on wordpress, because everyone says this is the place to be.

Confession, I have had this created for a while now, I just never wrote anything. I sit and stare at the blank screen and don’t write. I get scared. I don’t have an editorial calendar yet! I don’t know exactly what my voice will be yet! I’m not sure exactly what I’ll write about. So I never wrote anything, which wasn’t soothing my itch any. Tonight, even though I have to be up early for a coffee meeting, I am forcing myself to start. Just write. I will get everything else figured out soon enough. I have to start somewhere and tonight is as good a night as any. So hello internet world, I am here and I hope to stay.

All my love,

Laura

Visit All 50 States

1.     Alabama

2.    Alaska

3.    Arizona  

4.    Arkansas

5.    California

6.    Colorado

7.    Conneticut

8.    Deleware

9.    Florida

10.  Georgia

11.   Hawaii

12.   Idaho

13.  Illinois

14.  Indiana

15.  Iowa

16.  Kansas

17.  Kentucky

18.   Louisiana

19.  Maine

20. Maryland

21.  Massachusetts

22. Michigan

23. Minnessota

24. Mississippi

25.  Missouri

26.  Montana

27.  Nebraska

28.  Nevada

29.  New Hampshire

30.   New Jersey

31.   New Mexico

32.  New York

33. North Carolina

34.   North Dakota

35.   Ohio

36. Oklahoma

37. Oregon

38. Pennselvania

39. Rhode Island

40.  South Carolina

41.  South Dakota

42.  Tennessee

43.  Texas

44.  Utah

45.  Vermont

46.  Virginia

47.  Washington

48.   West Virginia

49.  Wisconsin

50.    Wyoming

 

Marked out means I've visited recently. Highlighted are places I've technically been but that I'd like to go back now as and adult. So I'm not counting those just yet.

*As of 2/4/2013 I have officially been to 10 states and unofficially to 18. 

35 Before 35

   

      Travel

1.     Visit all 50 states.

2.    Road trip across the U.S.

3.    Go on a cruise.

4.    Go on a several day white water rafting trip.

5.    Take my entire family on a trip. 

6.    Go wine tasting in California.

7.    Make it back over to Europe. (Visit Leslie and Erin.)

 

      Self-Improvement

8.    Lessons/Classes to take:

        a.    Piano.

        b.    Sewing.

        c.    Cooking.

        d.    Sign-language.

9.    Become debt free.

10.  Move out of KC & MO.

11.   Study US &World history.

12.  Write at least one letter a week.

 

         Professional

13.   Finish my bachelor's degree.

14.   Dance professionally.

15.   Find a career I love & do it well.

16.   Have a photograph published in a magazine.

17.   Volunteer at least once a month.  

18.   Have my own home.

 

         Artsy Fartsy

19.   Write a book.

20.  See 10 shows on Broadway.

21.   Throw a masquerade ball.

22.  Direct another rock ballet.

23.  Perform in Rocky Horror Picture Show.

24.  Pictures:

        a.    Take at least one picture a day.

        b.    Get my nice camera out at least once a week.

 

        Health & Fitness

25.  Go on a yoga retreat.

26.  Running:

        a.    Run a half-marathon.

        b.    Run a marathon.

        c.    Complete a triathlon.

27.  Eat healthy and excercise on a regular basis. Find my norm/routine.

28.  Continuously try to live a more and more sustainable lifestyle. 

29.  Live close enough to work that I can bike.

30.  Organize my life:

         a.    Clothing.

         b.    "Stuff".

         c.    Keepsakes.

31.   Use up all my craft supplies.

 

         Random Adventures

32.  Things I want to do:

        a.    Sky diving.

        b.    Rock climbing.

        c.    Scuba diving.

33.  Things I want to learn to do:

        a.    Snowboard.

        b.    Surf.

34.  Climb Mt. Fuji.

35.  Watch a good professional soccer game live.