ten years ago

Ten years ago today my dad's sister - my amazing Aunt Judy - passed away from cancer. She was a wonderful, creative, and loving woman and I was devastated by her passing. I still am.

She lived across the country so we only saw her once or twice a year when we went to visit her or she came out here to visit us, but those visits were full of exciting adventures and parties. Tea parties, beanie baby parties, scavenger hunts, pool parties, picnics - you name it, she made it incredible. She couldn't have children of her own so she treated her nieces like princesses. She would have been a wonderful mother - her child would have been the luckiest kid in the entire world.

The day I found out she passed away was one of the worst days in my life (probably the worst). Her funeral was even worse. The church was packed - the pews were completely full and there were people crowded in the back, standing room only. People had wonderfully kind words to say. I was a mess.

I miss her every single day. Although I don't cry about it as much anymore, I do think about her all the time. I think about what our relationship would be like now if she was still around. I think of the ways she would influence my life if I was still able to talk to her an visit her.

I wish I had a photo of her that I could post on here, but all of my pictures of her are hard copies - she passed away before the development of digital cameras.

Ten years ago today the world became a little bit worse because it lost one of the most amazing people to have ever walked its streets. Even though the world is a little worse because of her loss, those who knew her are better people because of her presence in our lives.

You would have loved my Aunt Judy.

What I wouldn't give for one more tea party with her. One more conversation. One more hug. 

learning ballet

Seriously one of the most precious videos I have ever seen. Not to mention the fact that I looked like this when I was little and was probably the least talented ballet dancer in my class.



Thanks Joanna at A Cup of Jo for posting this video! So cute.

This little girl is a prime example of never giving up. Perseverance my dear, perseverance. 

xox

letters

I absolutely love handwritten letters. I wrote a few this weekend - to my aunts on my mom's side.
I also absolutely love this picture.

Have a beautiful night.

 xox

back

Hello everybody!

So sorry that it has been so long since I posted anything - however there are a few relatively good reasons for my lack of blog activity.

1. I have been finishing my senior project paper (remember the Love Out Loud Campaign?) It ended up being 37 pages and is now published on our school's website. I am currently taking a break from LOL stuff, simply because my brain can't handle it right now. But that does not mean that I am giving it up for good.

2. A week ago we had finals which meant that I was studying, working, writing, etc.

3. While I was studying for finals and preparing for the end of the quarter, I was also getting ready to head to Europe for a week with Christine. I had all that packing stuff to do, along with figuring out what we were going to be doing in each city (Prague and Munich).

4. In the middle of all that stuff (aka the studying and packing), I got SUPER sick and ended up going to the health clinic on that Monday (the 14th) and then the ER the next night because I had a high fever and couldn't breathe because my throat was so swollen and painful. Everything turned out okay (they gave me an IV so that I got hydrated, as well as numbing stuff for my throat, pain meds, and amoxicillin). Needless to say, the doctor (along with my family) were not too thrilled when I said I was still planning on going to Europe, despite my sickly condition.

In any case, I finished my finals, I got well again, and I went to Europe. Which means that I have hundreds (yes hundreds) of pictures to go through, as well as all your lovely blog posts to read from the past few weeks. Here is a photo from the trip, just because I'm not a huge fan of all text blog posts. (It's not the best because it was taken at night, but I really like the clouds.)

Luckily I am wide awake right now (it is 7 in the morning for me - Munich time) which means that some photo editing can happen. I'm kind of excited to see the pictures that we took while we were there.

Check in within the next few days to see pictures from the trip - hopefully there will be some good ones.

xox

P.S. There are also some things that I get to cross off my "101 in 1001" list - I will get to those within the next few days too.

before i die

I came across this amazing mural that a woman named Candy Chang. She painted this big chalkboard mural on an abandoned house in New Orleans with the statement "Before I die...." and a bunch of blanks for people to fill in with the provided chalk. 

My favorites? "Before I die I want to understand." and then right next to it: "Before I die I want to be ok with NOT understanding." There is so much truth in both of those statements. 

Before I die I want to make a positive difference in the world - even if it is just a positive difference in the world of one or two people. I don't need to be remembered in the text of history books or for some great epic thing that I accomplish - I just want to be remembered in the life of a few others.

What do YOU want to do before YOU die?

I'd love to know.

xox

fill in the blank Saturday

Alright, so I'm a day late for Fill In The Blank Friday, but I figured I'd participate anyway.

1.   My biggest accomplishment in life thus far is       my senior project - The Love Out Loud Campaign. I just turned in my 37 page paper yesterday and it will be published in the Cal Poly library. Also, my advisor wants to nominate me for a senior accomplishment award for that project - I will keep you posted on whether or not I get the award.

2.  My favorite place to sit in my house is    depends on which house I'm at (I have three - My dad's, my mom's, and my house at school). At school I either like to be in my bed or on the love seat in our living room (which is basically where I spend all my time when I'm home). Dad's - in one of the big comfy chairs we have in the living room. Mom's - the corner of the couch in the living room. See a trend?

3.  My fashion philosophy is    comfort. I absolutely LOVE being comfortable (obviously). I am most comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt/sweatshirt, but I also want to reach out my fashion horizons and dress more stylishly and fashionable. I found the following picture on a website a few days ago and I want to get an outfit that looks like it. It is my fashion inspiration for the time being... I love it :)

4.  Something every girl should have is     the perfect nail polish color (I'm still searching for mine).

5.  If you looked in my purse right now you'd find....     just about nothing because I am in the process of switching purses but normally you can find a wallet, pens, pencils, a tampon, band aids, my planner, a few note cards, etc.

6.  My favorite music right now is       The Beatles. I have been taking an AMAZING class about the Beatles this quarter and it has just made me look at their music in a very different way.

7.  My favorite part of my body is       my eyes. Probably because I get the most compliments on them. I mean, they suck because I am practically blind and have to wear glasses or contacts which irritate my eyes, but I like how they look. I like the colors, I like the shape, etc.

dead week

This week is crazy. Even though it's supposed to be "dead week" aka the week you do nothing in your classes because finals are next week, this week is crazy.
I have papers, I have presentations, I have hoops to jump through.

On the bright side, this quarter is almost done.
And then I go to Europe.
And then I go to Vegas.
And then I go to Wine Fest.

Until then, this quarter is crazy. I probably shouldn't even be blogging right now because there is so much to do.

I won't even have a social life until after this quarter is over.

Not to mention that I have heard the saying "You can always retake the test, you can never relive the party" more times in the past week than I have in the past four years... too bad, at this point in my education, having to retake the test means not being able to graduate.

So I have no other option but to log off of Facebook, turn off my computer, and move on to my reading for Spanish.

Hope your week is better than mine.

inspired video

Although I am still processing the events of this past weekend (The Love Out Loud Show), I wanted to share a video with you.

This video was made by Aubrea who did new media for the campaign, including our other video, designing the entire web page, etc.

I just wanted to share. I hope you are as inspired by it as I was. It brought me to tears.