Goals for a New Year

I'm making this my motto for the year. It applies to so many aspects of my life right now it's scary and exciting at the same time. Things will change this year, big changes, drastic changes and I think I like that. Already things are changing in certain areas of my life that I did not ask for and I'm not happy with. I will be the first to admit I don't do well with change, at least not immediately. It takes time for me, but over time, as I've been told before, I am very adaptable. I'm trying my hardest to see the silver linings here, but I think I might have to make some extremely hard decisions this year.

All that being said, making the hard decisions for myself means I'm being honest, and it means I'm the one creating the life I want, and not one that is dictated by people that are under the misconception that they can use me for their own means or gain.

I started out this year on a good note, making my goals I'm about to share on January 1st and feeling like this was going to be a good year, and now I'm tired and I'm angry. But I have been learning that anger is a powerful emotion that should never ever be ignored or stifled. It means there is something vital to our soul's happiness that is not being expressed, though learning how to express anger in a way that is powerful and productive is an art. Learning to channel anger into creativity and drive to get the things you want most in life is a challenge I'd like to take on.

For now I'm going to continue a tradition I started back in 2013 of sharing memories from the previous year, and goals for the new year.

15 Memories of 2015:

1 Re-wrote my entire novel

2 Finished Calling in the One

3 Reconnected with someone I hadn't seen in 8 years on Facebook, and now we're dating.

4 Went to Aftershock Music Festival in October

5 Consistently kept up yoga and found a wonderful friend in my yoga instructor.

6 Started archery in August
7 Got my first bow
8 Celebrated 3 years at POI
9 Went to Universal Halloween Horror Nights
10 Tried dating on both Match and Eharmony (neither went very well)
11 Sent Norman Reedus a fan letter :)
12 A friend from high school passed away
13 Spent Thanksgiving with the new boyfriend and his family
14 My mom got herself a new car after being car-less for most of the year
15 Had someone to kiss at midnight on New Years eve


16 Goals for 2016:
1 Finish my novel (I feel like I've said this every year since 2012, but I'd really like to finish it this year. It's so close to being done it's frustrating.)
2 Find an agent for my novel
3 Move into my own place
4 Start the sequel to my novel
5 Keep up my dream house posts monthly: boards by room
6 Share excerpts from my novel on this blog
7 Pay off more debt
8 Get enough of a raise to move out on my own
9 Be consistent with my French lessons
10 Buy new pieces of furniture for my new place
11 Complete my gallery wall in my hallway
12 Buy my own Enagic water machine
13 Do a handstand in yoga
14 Visit the beach more often
15 Ask for what I want (I need to get more comfortable with this)
16 Follow my passion planner

Happy Hobbit Day!

Today we celebrate the birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, and the simple joys of the life of a hobbit. Thank you J.R.R. Tolkien.

P.S. Tomorrow is the first day of Autumn! Here's to cooler nights, fall clothes, and holidays!!

31 Things I've Learned

Today being the day I celebrate having spent 31 years on this planet, I thought I'd share some things I've learned in that time. Some of these little nuggets of wisdom are my opinion and may not apply to you, but most, I think, are worth sharing.

1. Your friends are the family you choose.
2. Relieving stress is all about the exhale.
3. People don't change. You can only evolve.
4. Not everyone will like you (and, God only knows, you won't like everyone you meet), and that's okay.
5. Generosity is the key to loving relationships (and I mean all of them, not just your other half).
6. Honesty really is the best policy. (Not always the best solution, though.)
7. You don't have to be besties with your co-workers. In fact, don't even go there.
8. For me personally, yoga is the best workout I've found so far.
9. We already have everything we need within us, we just have to remember.
10. Asking the universe for what you want really does work. It's like magic.
11. Vegas totally is as awesome as everyone says it is.
12. I love Disney more and more the older I get.
13. Inspiration is EVERWHERE!
14. Putting your feelings on paper is like therapy.
15. There is nothing more theraputic for a woman than time spent with her girlfriends.
16. Massages are essential.
17. Book stores are my church, stories my religion, and music my soul.
18. Sleep is the key to good health.
19. Most things you hated as a kid: baths, naps, early bedtimes, you love more the older you get.
20. You will never, ever find the same kind of meaningful relationship as the one you have with your sibling(s).
21. Our dreams and beliefs are like the stepping stones that get us through life. Don't ever sacrifice them for someone else.
22. Worry is poison.
23. Fear is essential. You can't have courage without fear.
24. There is nothing wrong with crying. Crying is to your soul what sweat is to your body.
25. Everyone has a dark side. There can't be light without the dark.
26. Find the things in life you are passionate about. Without passion your soul withers like a flower.
27. Life is not about being right. It's about what you can give to others.
28. When it comes to opinions, no one is ever right or wrong. They are simply different opinions.
29. If you didn't grow up with traditions, then start your own. They make life more memorable, and give you something to look forward to.
30. Words are so powerful they really can hurt.
31. The grass is never, ever greener. Don't waste your time comparing yourself or your life to someone else.

Star Wars Day

Happy Star Wars Day everyone! In honor of this most momentous day, check out this amazing digital art my brother has been working on for the occasion.

Basically, he's painting over the image on the computer, and the incredible process takes days, but the end results are worth it. He produces such high-quality images that they can be printed on canvas up to 48" high x 108" wide. I recommend looking at the pieces up close here where you can zoom in to see the brush strokes. It's pretty cool! He also has a few other pieces available for purchase in addition to the two above including one of Darth Vader!  Enjoy!

And May the 4th be with you!

2015 Goals

Happy 2015 everyone! I really do feel good about this coming year. These last two years I've felt have been really tough for everyone, and I think the universe has been preparing us all for some amazing things to come!

For the past few years I've been listing memories for the past year and new goals for the new year. So this year it's 14 memories from 2014, and 15 goals for 2015.

14 Memories from 2014:

1. I turned 30.

2. I went to Vegas (for the first time as an adult) to celebrate my birthday.

3. 2014 Winter Olympics.

4. Lost a great member of the office where I work.

5. Gained a new, and very dear friend at work.

6. Got Invisalign.

7. Got veneers on my teeth! (Look for before and after photo post on this soon)

8. Went to a design fair in Santa Monica.

9. Became the party/birthday planner at work.

10. Went to Disneyland for Halloweentime (first time for me. It was awesome!)

11. Bought a sketch from the sketch artists at Disneyland. I've always wanted one.

12. Won 1st place for our office Halloween costume contest.

13. Started writing half an hour a day at work.

14. Changed my hairstyle and color. I love being a redhead!

15 Goals for 2015:

1. Finish my novel by April 30th.

2. Get a laptop.

3. Start learning French on new laptop.

4. Get a raise for my new position at work.

5. Pay off my two credit cards.

6. Continue dream house posts on my blog.

7. Send out novel to agents before my birthday in July.

8. Get a new loan to pay off more debt and lower payments every month.

9. Do a hand stand in yoga.

10. Furnish my room with new pieces, and make my room more livable.

11. Continue to keep my room organized. (It was a mess that I had to clean up over break.)

12. Clean up my bike (that is just sitting on the balcony) and get a cover for it.

13. Follow the 7-week program in Calling in the One and meet my husband.

14. Write a YA retelling of Mansfield Park for NaNoWriMo.

15. Visit the beach and Santa Monica at least once a month.

And my overall goal or mantra for the year is to write every day. I don't care if it's just a sentence. I want to write something, even if it's not on one of my stories, and just my journal.

I also found this on pinterest for some great ideas for goals for the new year:

First day of Autumn

I'm so excited for Fall this year because it's been so damn hot this Summer! I'm ready for boots, and sweaters, and rain, and hot chocolate, and Halloween, and is anyone as excited as I am for the Once Upon A Time premiere this Sunday?!! Yes, I know it has nothing to do with the weather, but well, the theme is Frozen this season, so maybe it kinda does. What's your favorite thing about Fall?

A Magical Birthday

Happy Birthday to JK Rowling and Harry Potter, one of my favorite fictional characters of all time.


P.S. Daniel Radcliffe's birthday was the 23rd.

Winter

 

Winter is here, though it's already felt like winter for most of December, even over here in warm, sunny California. The air is crisp and clear, and jackets are a must. We've even had a week of 50 degree weather (yes, that's 50 degrees during the day) already. Today is my last day of work before I'm off to a 5-day Christmas weekend and, minus the cold snow, that list above sounds perfect.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! May your days be merry and bright!

The happiest place on earth

Yesterday my mom, brother, and I went to Disneyland (and California Adventure for a short period) as part of an early celebration for my birthday, which is actually this Sunday. It was such a fantastic day.

 

These last three are from the Lincoln building at the front of the park across from City Hall.  There's a whole book of sketches, like the dragon above from Sleeping Beauty, of just about every Disney character imaginable. During the day, one of the artists is there at that table drawing these sketches, and the next time I'm at the park, that's the first place I'm going. And all the art in the building is gorgeous. I would highly recommend checking it out if you're like me and have been walking straight past the Lincoln building every time you've been to the park.

What it means to me to be American

I’ve been giving some thought this week to what it means to me to be an American. It is all I’ve ever known. I’ve never been outside the country with the exception of a short trip to Mexico when I was in high school. I do know I was extremely grateful to be home when the plane set down, but that might have had more to do with my relief from nausea from food poisoning. (I don’t recommend getting food poisoning in Mexico.)

The novel I’m working on right now is fantasy, set in a world of my own creation. I noticed early on that I had inadvertently given my main characters a strong sense of duty. They have a job of protecting people, which they take very seriously, and I’ve realized this is something that has been deeply ingrained in me, something that is very American. I’m sure there are others who might disagree with me. My brother has said before that we’re one of the only countries that pays for advertising to encourage people to enlist in our military services. Or maybe we are the only country that does that, I don’t know. (That lack of knowledge sadly seems to be an American thing as well. In my opinion, America is a very ignorant country, but I’m making an effort to focus on the positive right now.)

 

July 4^th is a holiday I’ve always taken for granted.  It’s one that belongs only to America; a holiday that, for the majority of Americans, means fireworks and barbeques and spending the day in the summer sun, relaxing. This year marks the 237^th year since Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman were appointed to draft a formal declaration of independence, severing the 13 colonies from British rule. I’ve just recently read that declaration. I must have read it in school at some point, though I have no memory of it. I think I’ve heard Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, or Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech more often than the Declaration of Independence, and I’m only beginning to understand parts of the Constitution and its amendments.

But I do know this: we may be a young country, but the freedoms our country affords inspire people. I don’t think so many foreigners would immigrate here if that wasn’t the case. I do know that we are one of the only countries with a government that allows its citizens the freedoms offered in the Bill of Rights, especially ones like the right to bear arms, or freedom of speech. I read an article about a woman in Cuba who has been arrested multiple times for speaking out on her blog about what it’s really like to live in her country, and the injustices of the Castro regime.

I also know that I am blessed and truly thankful for the fact that I was born in America; that I will never have to think twice my ability to choose who I want to be and how I want to live my life. That, in the simplest terms, is what it means to me to be American.

Wishing you all a very Happy Fourth of July!

Graduation

On Friday, my little brother graduated from Camarillo High School as one of ten Valedictorians with high honors. He'll be going to BYU majoring in computer science. I can't stop bragging about him. I feel like a proud mom. I did help raise him up to about the age of 6, so maybe that's part of it. It's just so shocking to watch someone grow up and then to feel this great sense of pride in how they've turned out. He is the most non-judegemental and kind person I have ever known and I'm so thankful to call him my brother.

Congratulations, Dan!

Not so little anymore

Happy twenty-seventh birthday to my younger brother, Mitch! He's the best brother a girl could ever ask for.

This photo always cracks me up becuae we looked so much alike. People actually used to ask us if we were twins.

Life, in a nutshell

Regardless of my joblessness my life has been pretty busy lately. I know I haven't been a faithful blogger as of late so I thought I'd give you a little update on what's been going on with me. First off, I've been writing like a madwoman. My dragon story is coming along and I'm getting close to finishing a very good rough draft that I'll be sending to my grandma to critique (she was a school teacher for years). Then, once I've revised it a few more times, I'm hoping to send it out agents by my birthday in July. Wish me luck!

 Mitch posing with an Indiana Jones hat :)

This whole month has brought many birthdays, most importantly my brother's and my mom's, which is at the end of the month. My brother turned 25 last friday (Friday the 13th. How cool is that?) and we celebrated by going to Disneyland and California Adventure. He got a birthday button (coolest invention ever!) so everyone knew it was his birthday and must have been wished a happy birthday by 50 strangers throughout the day. It even put me in a spectacular mood and it wasn't even my birthday! We also ate at the Blue Bayou restaurant (aka the Pirates of the Caribbean restaurant), which none of us had ever been to so that was great. Definitely one of the best days I've had in a long time!

It was also Mother's Day and I made my mom a really cool necklace, which I'm planning to incorporate into a selection of designs that I'll be adding to my Etsy shop sometime this year. I'm not sure when seeing as funds are low as is time, but we'll see.

Along with my writing, jewelry, my art, and birthdays I'm also looking for a job (most likely two part-time jobs, as I can't handle sitting in an office all day 5 days a week ever again) as my unemployment has just come to its end, which I'm super stressed about; and, to top everything off, we've had construction workers doing work on my mom's balcony over my bedroom for over a week now and I'm growing tired of the pounding.

Oh, and I've also had a myriad of issues going on with my body like severe pain in my neck and shoulders (which plagued me at Disneyland but, thankfully, my massage therapist mother has been helping me with) as well as various forms of anxiety attacks. I feel like everything is going to converge at some point in a kind of explosion of sorts, but I'm hoping it won't be all bad. Sometimes things get worst before they get better, right? Well, that's my philosophy anyway.

Hyperbole and a Half

Due to my inability to tell a story this funny I'm passing you on to Hyperbole and a Half for some festive hilarity with the story about the year Kenny Loggins ruined Christmas :)

A day with Disney

Happy Friday the 13th!! I've always believed these are good luck days so may you all have the best of luck today :)

Wednesday my mom and I spent the whole day at Disneyland and California Adventure! One of the best days I've had in a long time! We have a friend who was able to let us in for free, so that made it even better - a late birthday present for me - and we could hop back and forth to each park whenever we wanted. And it was a really nice day for weather too: it was sunny, but there was a breeze so we never got too hot (although, later we got too cold, but that's a whole other thing).

Anyway, so it was Disneyland first - here's a summary in pictures:

waiting outside Cal. Adventure

Main St. (this was about the spot we watched the fireworks too)

more Main St.

Indiana Jones

Pirates of the Caribbean

Capt. Jack (If you haven't ridden the ride since the movies, they've added Jack, Capt. Barbosa and Davy Jones to the ride along with music from the movie. Love it!)

Haunted Mansion

Splash Mountain (this line was ridiculous. we waited for an hour - most lines weren't longer than 45 min. - and the people behind and in front of us were completely obnoxious. we had planned on It's a Small World afterwards and then decided we didn't have anymore patience left for that lol)

Tomorrowland! (we rode Space Mountain next, which is a whole story in and of itself: we were about 10 feet from getting into the numbered lines to get on the ride when they had to stop the ride because three or four cars were stuck on the tracks. they turned on all the lights and we had to wait until they cleared the tracks, which took about 15 or 20 minutes - after we'd already been waiting for about 45 min. It was a long wait, but it was worth it. That ride is, hands down, the best ride at Disneyland!) we would have gone on Star Tours too, but it was closed :(

The Castle!

Disney and Mickey

California Adventure!

Cal. Adventure entrance

I bought some shot glasses (I collect them, wherever I go) from this store and it looks really cool all lit up at night!

We went on Soarin' over California first - after we took a break and got some ice cream, of course - and then, as we were walking toward the roller coaster we came across Grizzly River Run, which we got soaked on (and ended up being a dumb idea because it was already 6 o'clock so we didn't have any time to dry), but it was a fun ride.

'California Screamin' - smoothest roller coaster I've ever been on!

After our dinner of tacos we went over to the ferris wheel and sat down where it was warmer and I started messing around with my camera as it got dark

The main reason we stayed over at Cal. Adventure when it got dark was because of their World of Color show that's going on this summer. People have been talking about it on the news and the Today show and I really wanted to see it, but it turns out you have to pay extra (ie, buy a fastpass) to be able to stand in the designated areas with the best view and there are only so many other areas you can see it; and then, on top of that, they rope off all the areas around the viewing area and don't allow you to stop walking. So, in other words, if you haven't paid extra (on top of admission into the park) you can't watch the show. Excuse my french, but that was the most fucked up thing I've ever heard of. And it says on the map for the park that you can get a fastpass, but it doesn't say that's the only way you can watch. And I'm sure most people assumed, like I did, that fastpass just means those are the better seats and you can watch it elsewhere. Talk about false advertising. I was so bummed that we had waited over at that park while we were getting colder by the minute only to find out we couldn't watch it! It was just really upsetting because that's a temporary show (it ends the 29th of this month, I believe) so I'll never get to see it now :(

It was a relief to go back over to Disneyland where they let you stand, and even sit, in the middle of Main St. to watch the Fireworks show at 9:30 every night. Free for everyone! And it's an amazing fireworks show! It's choreographed to music and the castle lights up along with the fireworks. 

Disneyland really is the happiest place on earth, but I'm not sure I can say the same for California Adventure.