Day 198; July 28th, 2011: Pretty pretty and Triva Night

      So today, I was not moving from my bed until trivia night. Goal accomplished.
     I knew that once I actually started getting ready for the day, I wanted to look gorgeous, so i spent most of the day looking up tricks to do with eye makeup. I tried a few of the tricks today once I started getting ready, and I think I found one that I actually really like and will probably start to use on a fairly regular basis. Yay.
     And just to throw this out there, today is the third day of ladybugs being on my car, so today's blog isn't exactly about me talking, its more why each time I see a lady bug: I freak out in excitement. I keep praying for signs and they keep coming.
     Three days ago there was one ladybug on my windshield the entire time I was driving, yesterday there was one ladybug on my trunk and now today there were two ladybugs on my windshield... then there was a sign at Trivia night too (that even Mat caught on to, which was humorous to me... and he made me blush about it) and I'm sure my friends are tired of getting pictures of ladybugs all the time, but they can deal. But anyway, here's why I keep freaking out every time I see that a ladybug has taken a liking to me:

 "     Many cultures view ladybugs as lucky, and a great deal of superstition surrounds these small and stylishly outfitted insects. As often happens with superstition, it is actually a bit difficult to determine why ladybugs came to be viewed as lucky. One interesting thing about ladybug superstitions is that these superstitions are so universal: usually, superstitions about living things are quite varied, with different cultures attaching different meanings to everything ranging from black cats to mirrors.
     The most likely explanation for the general view that ladybugs are lucky is their dietary habits. Ladybugs eat harmful crop pests, so the appearance of ladybugs would have been welcomed by farmers and gardeners. In agricultural societies, it would have made sense to venerate a beneficial insect, encouraging people to leave ladybugs alone so that they could consume pests such as aphids. The appearance of a ladybug would also have been viewed as a blessing, which explains the positive association with ladybugs in many cultures.

     One of the most common superstitions about ladybugs is the idea that killing a ladybug will bring down bad luck. This would support the idea that ladybug superstitions evolved as a form of protection for the ladybug population, ensuring that the insects could travel unmolested. Many cultures also link the sight of a ladybug with future luck in love, good weather, a financial windfall, or the granting of wishes.
     Having a ladybug land on you is supposedly to be particularly lucky in some cultures, and some people believe that when a ladybug lands on an object, the object will be replaced by a new and improved version.

     In some Christian societies, especially in Europe, the ladybug is linked with the Virgin Mary, also known as Our Lady to devout Catholics. According to legend, the spots on the ladybug's back symbolize the Seven Sorrows of Mary, and ladybugs were sent by the Virgin to protect crops. This explains the origins of the name 'ladybug'." (http://www.wisegeek.com/why-are-ladybugs-lucky.htm)

 So in total:

• If you kill a ladybug, you'll have bad luck.
• If a ladybug lands on you and you'd don't shoo her/him away and allow her to fly away on her own, you'll have good luck.
• If you see a ladybug, you'll have good luck.
• If a ladybug lands on you, something wonderful is about to happen to you.
• If a ladybug lands on something like a car, furniture, appliance, house or some other object, then you will soon receive a new and better model of that object.
• If a ladybug landed on you, whatever ailment you had would fly away with the Ladybug.
• If the ladybug is held in your hand while making a wish, the direction that the ladybug flies away shows where your luck will come from.
• In Belgium, people believed that if a ladybug crawled across a young girl's hand, she would be married within a year.
• During the Pioneer days, if a family found a ladybug in their log cabin during the winter, it was considered a "good omen".

• Many believe that the arrival of ladybugs will bring fair weather.
• Folklore suggests if you catch a ladybug in your home, count the number of spots and that's how many dollars you'll soon
• If a man and a woman spot a ladybug at the same time, there will be a romance between them.

Ladybugs symbolize:

• Protection
• Happiness
• Luck
• Love
• Friendship
• Good deeds done

And that, readers, is why I keep getting really excited every time I see a ladybug.