Happy List

I had a bad day today. The kind where everything that could possibly go wrong did go wrong. Don't you love those? Anyways, for old time sakes, here's a happy list to cheer me up.

Things that are currently making me happy:

1. The chocolate bar Taylor bought me to cheer me up because I had such a crappy day (he has discovered the fact that I can be bought with chocolate....my weakness)

2. Monday emails from abroad filled with great advice and laughs.

3. Netflix, always and forever cheering me up

4. Mumford and Sons on constant replay

5. Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. It's actually an extremely satirical book.....but just the fact that I'm reading makes me happy.

6. KaLyn doing my hair today.

7. The many hugs I got from one of my kids today, Isaac. And him telling me over and over again that he missed me over break.

8. 99 cent rolled tacos at Filibi's.

9. Winter break in less than a week.

10. 79 cent 44 oz drinks from Circle K, legit.

I have an interview for an internship in the morning that I've been freaking out WAY too much over. I should be sleeping!? 

Wish me luck....

Goals

I'm running low on motivation lately, so a couple of days ago I started this thing where I make lists of my goals for the day/week/month/life. I write even the most minute things that seem idiotic, but it helps. I thought I would share the one I wrote tonight, because after reading it, it made me chuckle.

Goals for the week:

1. Stop eating cereal for breakfast(at 12 pm), for lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner and midnight snack. You can't afford to buy that much milk. And there's probably some sort of health consequence to this....

2. Clean your room. I'm tired of playing the hot lava on the floor game. Plus, there's no room on the bed to sleep.

3. Write Ty a letter that doesn't begin with, "I'm so sorry I haven't written in so long, I promise you can punch me when you get home". Write him more often you jerk!

4. Finish all the books you're reading, I swear you have ADD sometimes.

5. Rock the internship interview on Tuesday without making inappropriate/sexual/your mom jokes, breaking out in your nervous dancing, swearing or stuttering. And look good, but not too good! 

6. Get rid of Netflix...hahahah jk.

7. Find a desk for your room so you no longer have an excuse for not doing homework.

8. Stop picking fights with people Shannequa. 

9. You're not nocturnal. Sleep!

10. Wake up at a decent hour... maybe...

This list is now taped to my wall, wish me luck!

Also, it's not creepy that I write notes to myself in 2nd person...

Being Thankful

I may not be fond of decking out my house with thanksgiving decorations or getting extremely excited about eating turkey. However, I am fond of being thankful for all the great things that I have in my life. 

2011 has been an amazing year to say the least. So even though as of lately I have been feeling a bit down, I have to remind myself that I have a lot to be thankful for this year. 

Traveling: I was given an amazing opportunity to travel this past year. I visited many new places and came back with many beautiful memories and learned a lot of new things about this world and even about myself. 

Friends: Throughout my travels, I was lucky enough to become friends with some amazing people. I am so thankful that I got to meet every single one of them. I've also been blessed with some amazing friends throughout my life and even though some of them are thousands of miles away from me at the moment, they still bring a smile to my face and comfort me when I need it the most. 

Family: I feel like sometimes this is the part of my life that I take for granted the most, but I have a great family that is always there for me when I need them. 

Job: My job brings me so much happiness into my life. And even though at times it causes me a lot of stress, I always end up thinking of all my kids and I instantly feel better. My job gives me the opportunity to work with kids from impoverished areas and help them succeed in school. I could not be more thankful for the opportunity to be with those kids everyday. They have taught me so many new things and I love them for that.

Literature: My "go to" when I'm feeling sad, mad, happy, you name it. Literature has always been my relief. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have so many beautiful pieces of literature around me to help me through the bad and good. 

Church: My church has been an amazing blessing this past year. It has brought me guidance and support when I needed it the most and for that I could not be more thankful. 

I also have some silly ones:

Netflix: I don't think I have to say much more. You have been my bff lately, you rock.

Mumford and Sons: You have been the source of my jam sessions in the car lately. You make me want to play the banjo so bad it's not even funny. And your lyrics are pure gold. You rock.

Nutella: I would have starved without you. You rock.

Pinterest: I'm kinda iffy about you actually... you've made me waste hours of my life and made me realize I actually really suck at crafting/sewing/cooking/beauty. However, you're a great procrastination tool and lets face it, I love you for that. You rock.

30 Rock: Liz Lemon=hero. 

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Mumford & Sons

I know this is probably getting annoying. But I'm currently obsessed with Mumford & Sons. Their lyric writing abilities makes me want to marry each one of them. As of late, I've been drooling over "White Blank Page". I listen to it on a daily basis. It's one of those songs that I heard for the first time and it  immediately slapped me in the face with reality, do you know what I'm talking about?? The lyrics to this song are absolutely beautiful!

Le Petit Prince

I recently received a very special gift from my good friend Ty who is serving a mission in France. Although I haven't taken French for quite some time now, I struggled and fought my way through some of the passages he loved. 

And I fell in love. 

I had no idea I would be learning such beautiful lessons from a children's book. 

The book is simply amazing, and I highly recommend it!

Here's my favorite excerpt from the English translation:

"People where you live," the little prince said, "grow five thousand roses in one garden... yet they don't find what they're looking for..."
"They don't find it," I answered.
"And yet what they're looking for could be found in a single rose, or a little water..."
"Of course," I answered.
And the little prince added, "But eyes are blind. You have to look with the heart.

Missing London Town

I meant to post these a very long time ago. All compliments of Natali's great film skills. 

 (Our epic trip to Abbey Road, Natali and I have experienced Paul McCartney together, so witnessing this together was epic. 

While Natali was in town we tried hitting up as many art museums as possible.

(Monet at the Tate Modern)

(The sneaky picture Natali took of Sir Paul's portrait at the Portrait Gallery. Shortly after, we were scolded for taking it, oops.)

(Andy Warhol at the Tate Modern)

We took many strolls around London.

(The Globe)

(Camden Town)

(Riding a double decker)

(adventures in good old Egham)

 

  

(Edinburgh, Scotland) 

We had a blast while Natali visited! I want us to all go back!

Bittersweet

We received some very unfortunate news at work today. One of my kids has been placed in foster care after a very long and grueling case with CPS. We are very fortunate that my staff and I were able to get her the help she needed and that everything turned out for the best. But I can't help feeling like crap today. I know that her new living situations are indeed a lot better than where she was at, and she will no longer be in danger. However, it breaks my heart that she is dealing with all this at such a young age. She will no longer be in our program due to her new living arrangements, and it breaks my heart that she won't bring her smile through the door everyday anymore. 


Again, I am very thankful for my staff members that were on the ball throughout this whole situation. Without their watchful eyes, that child would have never received the help that she was seeking. I hope that we all can take this as a learning experience and that you as readers will too. It is very important for everyone, especially those that do work with children, to always be on the lookout for their well being. If at any time you suspect a child is being abused or endangered, do not hesitate to call the necessary authorities.  You never know just how much help you will be bringing to that child. 

Life, According to KaLyn's iPhone

I'm not cool enough to have an iPhone, but my roommate KaLyn is. Here's my life lately according to her iPhone.

(Wing night with the boys, HS gang back together again)

KaLyn and I worked an event together the other night, and we got extremely bored. We may or may not have attracted several mysterious glances as we laughed hysterically over these. 

My good friend Kyson just got home from his mission. We've known each other since 2nd grade and I guess some things just never change. It's probably why we're still friends.

We still manage to act and dance like we're kids...

My Kids

They are the reason I pass out on my bed from exhaustion the moment I get home from work.

The reason I loose sleep planning their days. 

The reason I laugh endlessly at their wild crazy stories.

The reason I sometimes want to pull my hair out one second, and hug them the next. 

But most importantly, the reason why I absolutely love my job. 

We had an awesome day last week dedicated to writing letters to the amazing soldiers in service. They loved writing them letters!

Happy Veterans Day! 

Sneak Peak

We had a hard time getting the kids to calm down after a candy-infested weekend.... 

But here's a sneak peek on a little project we're working on for Veterans Day! 

On Repeat

The amount of literature references these boys make in their lyrics is so amazingly hot. In love.

weekend recap

this is all I can really say about this weekend:

life changing.