Life Lessons

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch!
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special..
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift



Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

Such a Slacker

I've been the biggest blog slacker ever. I've been pretty physically and emotionally drained from school and current events in my life. It's just hard to find the energy to put together a blog post. So for now, all I have is an explanation. Sorry!

Your Love is Strong

Easter Sunday was yesterday here is Australia. It was my first Easter away from home and it was a tough one. I woke up happy but the dreary weather quickly put a damper on my mood. Katie and I walked to church but it just didn't feel right. Going to church felt right, but not going to my church didn't feel right, it didn't feel like home. I didn't have a delicious dinner to look forward to. All I could think of was my lean cuisine sitting in the freezer and how it would probably be the extent of my Easter dinner. Suddenly, I missed home the most since I've been here. I don't think you realize how valuable friends and family are on holidays until you don't have them there. Katie and I were going to go to an Easter art show but I was just not in an emotional state to go out. I sat in my room, feeling pretty lonely and depressed. I tried to nap but my mind wouldn't stop racing. Sweet Katie sent me a text saying she left something for me downstairs so once I mustered up the energy I headed down there. On every stair step there was a chocolate egg trailing to my makeshift Easter basket filled with an assortment of candy. It definitely brightened my mood but still didn't take away the loneliness I felt. After awhile I invited Katie back over and I made us some spaghetti and we watched Ratatouille. Though it didn't feel Easter-esque it was still enjoyable. When I woke up this morning and checked facebook, everyone's statuses were about Easter and all of a sudden it felt like Easter. Almost as if I couldn't celebrate Easter until my friends and family back home could too. So to me, today is Easter and I am definitely okay with that. I ate a chocolate bunny for breakfast and listened to some music to have my own little Easter celebration. One of the songs I listened to was "Your Love is Strong" by Jon Foreman and I ended up putting it on repeat. What a wonderful message. Thanks Jon, and thank you Jesus for your strong love and what you gave up for my sake.

Heavenly Father, you always amaze me
Let your kingdom come in my world and in my life
Give me the food I need to live through today and
Forgive me as I forgive the people that wrong me
Lead me far from temptation
Deliver me from the evil one

I look out the window the birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune or out of place
I walk to the meadow and stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl on her wedding day

So why do I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need

Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

The kingdom of the heavens is now advancing
Invade my heart, invade this broken town
The kingdom of the Heavens is buried treasure
Would you sell yourself to buy the one you've found?

Two things you told me
That you are strong
And you love me
Yes, you love me

Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

Our God in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Above all names
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us weary sinners
Keep us far away from our vices
And deliver us from these prisons

Breaking Point

Today was my last day of classes for 2 1/2 weeks! I am so thankful for a break! I'm officially half way through the semester, which is honestly pretty hard to believe. I've been here for 7 weeks and have 12 1/2 more to go. It's crazy how time is flying by. I mean, like everyone else, I definitely have days that drag on and on but acknowledging that it's been 7 weeks makes me realize how quickly time is passing. This last week has been insanity. I've had so much due in classes and just more work than I really want to do while I'm in... Australia. Come on, who honestly wants to be stuck studying in a room for days on end when they're HERE? Thankfully, I have so much to look forward to. First of all, Easter is this Sunday and it's one of my favorite holidays! Then on Tuesday Katie and I are flying to the Gold Coast and we'll be there for five days. We're planning on beach bumming, going to Brisbane, and going to Dreamworld! I am so incredibly stoked. I seriously just sit here sometimes, look around, and think "Wow, what a fun time in my life." Things have been so good for me lately and as much as I miss home and all the people I love there, I am so happy I'm here!

Paddington Bear

Okay maybe not the bear... but a cute district of Sydney. I just love the name. Probably because it makes me think of that cute little bear wearing galoshes. Anywho, Katie and I decided to take a day trip there yesterday and it was a lot of fun. It's a classier part of Sydney, filled with designer shops and swanky restaurants but it was a lot of fun just walking around. They also have a Saturday Market that we spent a good part of the afternoon at. We ate some delicious Thai food while listening to a three man band sing "Good Lovin'." I think the only market goods we actually purchased were some bags of this unbelievable fresh Australian chocolate. The package I bought was caramelized honeycomb covered in dark chocolate. It's to die for... and to eat all within two days apparently! :) We did find some bargain shops and did a little shopping and walked down to the nearby Darlinghurst district. We saw some pretty entertaining things there, including a man being make-uped by a MAC employee. I'm still pretty unsure what the was all about... but enjoy the photos!










Oh and I fell in love with this pup and was very tempted to take it home with me!

Missing you...

Missing you so much today, baby girl. You would of loved the walk I went on this morning! So much grass to trample through and water to play in. Hope you're lounging under some tree in heaven with a full belly. Love you so much!

I'm still alive!

Classes started on February 22nd and ever since then I have been a very lazy blogger. Being tired 90% of the time doesn't make me very inclined to blog. Neither does having tonsillitis, really. Luckily for antibiotics I'm back in business. Though I have had a sore throat the last few days, I am praying it's allergies or the air at night or something other than a third re-occurrence of a throat infection. So, here is another blog entry to inform my friends and family that I am in fact still living.

When school started Katie and I decided that we would make sure we did something fun and memorable every weekend. Two weekends ago we took off to the town of Manly. After a lot of confusion regarding the train system we finally made it to the city. From there we took a ferry to Manly which was a pretty cool experience in and of itself. The ferry was rather large and we got decent place to stand outside. The views from the ferry were beautiful. The Opera House and Harbour Bridge were SO CLOSE! It was a great day to take photos. I took photos with my SLR (which I'm now glad I did) only because my little digital camera sadly saw its final day a few weeks ago. Another big plus to the ferry ride... a handsome, friendly English bloke was standing next to me and chatting with me. What more could you want?

When we got to Manly I was really excited because I thought Manly was just a beach. But Manly is this little beachy island that has just about everything. I instantly fell in love! It felt very California-esque and I loved everything about it. We even found a little hole in the wall used book store and I got four books for such a great deal! At Manly there's a main, famous beach and a smaller, less busy beach. We spent awhile lounging around at the smaller beach. It was unbelievably hot that day so it was a great day to be near water! I walked around in the ocean a litte... not too deep though because I'll admit... I'm a little baby when it comes to sea creatures. We spent the rest of the day just walking around, lounging about, and drinking smoothies. It's a rough life.

...It's back

Here I was thinking how lucky I was because my throat infection thing went away... for awhile. It's back. =( It's currently almost 4 in the morning and I'm miserable. Luckily thanks to some Ibuprofen and popsicles I'm dealing but I am not looking forward to the next couple days. Last weekend was horrible because I felt like this. I can't even sleep it hurts so bad! Classes start tomorrow and I cannot even express how bummed I am that I'm sick again. =(

The City

On Tuesday... so for most of you on Monday... we went on a tour of the city. We live about 15 miles outside of Sydney so it's not like we can see the Opera house from our windows or anything. We hopped onto this cool double-decker bus and drove through the city while our tour guide told us all she knew about it. Our first stop was a place that I believe is called look out point or something along those lines. Basically it's a really good place to go if you want a good view of the Sydney Harbour with the Opera House and bridge. We got out took photos and walked around. Then we hopped back on the bus and went to one of Australia's most famous beaches, Bondi Beach. There's even a reality show that takes place there and they were doing filming. Zac Efron was even there! It was a beautiful beach with clear turquoise water and nearly white sand. The wind was ridiculous though. Our tour guide who lives around the corner from the beach said she hadn't seen it that windy in many years. Regardless of the wind, it was a nice place to enjoy lunch and some sunshine. After awhile we headed over to a place they call "The Gap." Apparently it's most famous for being the number one place people commit suicide. Just a TAD morbid but it was still a cool place. We were so far above the ocean and the view was gorgeous. I guess there have been a lot of ship wrecks there because when the lighthouse isn't working ships can't see the rocks and crash. They even have an anchor on display from a ship that crashed there years ago. Out of 120+ passengers, only one survived by clinging onto the rocks until some locals found him. Sad huh? After wards we headed to a popular bar in Sydney for a drink. I had a glass of some pretty good white wine. After a long day of touring and that glass of wine I was ready for a nap! And that is exactly what I did when I got home. =)

You're alive and you matter and this pink holiday doesn't get to name you.

This is for my United States loves who are living in February 14th.