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