On Marriage, Engagements and being Maid of Honor...

Rachel, my best friend and roommate, got engaged on the 23rd!!!
While the wedding is set for June 2014, we have already started planning. Rachel even bought her dress already!!!
I have to say that I'm excited (and slightly stressed) to be her maid of honor. While we live together now, we won't for the majority of the planning process, which will make it hard, especially since ALL the bridesmaids are scattered over the country. I'll be in Chicago, Rachel will be in Texas, and the rest will be who knows where by then. However, I am endlessly excited for her and I LOVE HER DRESS.

On How It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Another picture for my picture goal. I took this before I actually wrapped the rest of my presents. I am so excited to have a tree this year. Last year, we lived in an apartment and just didn't splurge for one. I'm glad we did this Christmas. We also put lights up on the house...it doesn't look that good. Half the lights are blinking while others are out and others just shine normally. Don't know how that happened, but it's the effort, right?

On Love vs. Hate...

I just wanted to touch briefly on the tragedy in Connecticut. A million things have already been said about the  shooting, and I don't really have anything to add about how to prevent this type of tragedy from reoccurring or how to cope with such a loss, but I would like to say something about how I reacted to such a situation.

As with the Aurora shooting, I am deeply saddened by the events and my heart goes out to all who were affected. But in a time where great Evil has taken place, I just want for people to hear that Good can win. In fact, Good will win. Evil may prevail in certain situations, taking lives and causing tragedies, but it is up to us to react with love, not hate. Don't rail against the shooter or get in arguments over gun control. React with kindness, not only to those affected but to all those around you. It is easy to forget how much good there really is in the world. It's not always as loud or obvious or splashed all over the news. But in moments of great loss, it becomes really evident to me. Think about how the country came together after 9/11 (minus the hateful actions of some against American Muslims) or about all those across the country sending money to help the families of the fallen children.

We may not be able to help the children who fell victim to an incredibly disturbed man on Friday, but we can help those we interact with in our day-to-day lives. Let that car merge in front of you in traffic. Forgive a person's thoughtless actions toward you. Donate money to St. Jude's Hospital, a hospital that never turns down a cancer patient for not being able to pay. Smile at everybody you meet today. Good can and will win. There is too much of it for it to lose.
Despite events like the Sandy Hook shooting, our world is getting better. And it is up to us to continue standing up for Good, for Kindness for Love.

On Dreams and Goals...

Ok new life goal you guys.
I should have been born fabulously wealthy with no responsibilities. Then I could fulfill my dream of becoming a world-traveling bum.
I need some real goals...
How about my picture taking goal?!

Ok, so I've only taken one picture, but it kind of goes along with the top picture. I was reading A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway, and that is my bookmark that my college roommate got for me while she visited Mexico. Yep..traveling...great book...reignited desire to be a writer... If only.

On My Happiness Project pt 2...

So I think I have been doing a relatively good job on keeping to my November goals. I've had a lot of help, thanks to my roommate (and best friend), who has been waking up a little earlier to pack my lunch and make me breakfast. This has helped me save time in the morning and eat better. I don't know how I end up with such good friends, but I am extremely lucky like that :)
The only goal I haven't kept to is to cook more. My roommate has been doing all the cooking since she is on that Paleo Diet, but at least we no longer have food in the house that is easy to eat. EVERYTHING now requires cooking. Healthy food can be like that.

Goals for December:
1. Take more photos.
OK, so that has honestly been the only goal I could come up with for this month. I formed it after my trip to Chicago to visit James, where I took no pictures! The reason I did that is because a year or two ago I actually resolved to take LESS pictures so that I could try to be in the moment more and not focus so much on what Facebook would think of what I was doing while I was doing it. However, if I don't take any pictures, I feel that I am going to end up forgetting a lot of events, so I want to start taking more photos...without going completely overboard with it like some people I know who treat the picture taking as if it is the actual event.

Funny side note about this goal:
On my first night back in Arizona after Thanksgiving I actually had a dream about getting married (in a double wedding with Heidi Klum weirdly enough), and only at the end of my wedding did I realize that there had been no photographer, and when we checked other people's pictures, they were all of themselves and not of the actual wedding! I think that was my unconscious trying to tell me that this should be my December goal.