Positivity rules!

There is SO much to catch up on in this blog.  So I moved to a new apartment.  I spent a week finishing up packing, moved on Friday, and am now pretty well settled with just a little bit of cleaning and decorating to do.  My new place is less shiny and sparkly and impressive looking, but it's super cozy and the right size for me.  I have really nice windows that have a pretty good view.

In other news, after visiting home and spending more time hanging out with my awesome friend Ciara, I decided I needed to be even more positive than I already have been.  She pointed me to some great websites and pages on facebook with positive quotes and affirmations. This encouraged me to form some of my own positive affirmations that I now say 1-2 times a day.  It's already working!  It's amazing how different I feel already and how my attitude is changing after just over a week of this. I find myself smiling more, thinking more confidently, speaking to strangers with more ease, and turning around negative thoughts into more positive ones.  It felt a little silly at first, but now I can speak my affirmations out loud with confidence and truly believe them.

I really believe that this positive thinking will carry me through this semester and allow me to be successful. I just started classes yesterday, and while I know it's going to be a TON of work filled with new experiences and things that I have never done before, I believe that I can do it, and that I can do it well.  When professors asked if things seemed overwhelming, I found myself shaking my head "no," while others said things like, "Yes, it is kind of a lot."  I really hope this keeps up.  I think I need an affirmation for an earlier bedtime next!  I also want to learn to use positive psychology in the schools I work in. I believe so strongly in it.  It's amazing what we can do with just the power of our minds.

I also just adopted two new cats two days ago.  There names are Shalimar and Shenandoah.  I've been volunteering at Treehouse Humane Society for two months now and fell in love with these girls (they're sisters!) almost right away.  They were getting depressed in the shelter and losing weight.  I've barely had them here, and they already seem so much happier!  They follow me around and curl up next to me.  My favorite thing is when they jump up on my bed right before I go to sleep and when I wake up.  This morning Shalimar laid on my chest while I read.  I know that it may not have been the most financially responsible decision, but I know with my heart that it was the right one.  I didn't make it impulsively and they needed me.

 Shalimar is on top.  Shenandoah is beneath her.

 The view as Shalimar laid on my chest this morning.

 my new space!

There is nothing like a beautiful sunset!


Well, that's most of the news here.

I go into one of my schools to meet staff on Friday and the will meet the kids at that school the next Friday and the students at the other school the following Monday.  Can't wait to get started and see what working in a high school is like!

"I am stronger than my challenges.  And my challenges are making me stronger."
-Karen Salmonsohn

"It makes no sense to worry about things you have no control over because there's nothing you can do about them, and why worry about things you do control? The activity of worrying keeps you immobilized. "

-"You cannot be lonely if you like the person you are alone with."
-Wayne Dyer

Loving life

Moving to a new city is so amazing because you're always uncovering new treasures.  Today I went on a bike ride with no real specific destination in mind and found another really awesome area of town.  I went along the lakefront path at first which was complete madness because it's the air and water show this weekend.  There were a MILLION boats on the lake and tons of people swarming the path.  It was madness.  I wanted to go bike along the adorable park by Navy Pier that I found a few weeks ago but it was closed--I guess because of close proximity to the air show.  I went back a slightly different way.  I decided to ride into Old Town and ended up going to my new school, Walter Payton College Prep, before turning around.  I biked along the roads for a while on the way back and stopped in the nature area in Lincoln Park and watched the ducks for a while before heading back.  I live in a pretty cool place.  I love how much there still is to discover.

Now, I gotta give some quick love to KC.  Now I may dog it sometimes, but it's only because I grew up there and all I wanted from age 17 on was to get out and explore something new.  But it really is a great place.  If it had my mountains, I would live there in a heartbeat.  It has my family and some of my best friends.  It has the beautiful plaza, the Royals, the gardens, and so much more.  And just great people.  So please don't think I hate it there.  Totally don't.  I just needed to move on and see what else there is to see out there.

Magical Summer

There is a ridiculous amount I want to say and I don't know how much of it I'll actually get to saying here, so I'll just go for it.

Sara, Matthew, and I traveled out to Colorado for a week recently.  It was fantastically amazing as always.  There's just something about Colorado that feels like coming home.  Like I was meant to be there.  We drove out and stayed in Denver for a night--got some dinner with Ben at the 16th street mall downtown--before heading into the mountains the next morning.  We did tons of hiking on this trip because that's what I live for.  We did waterfall hikes, Deer Mountain, which had breathtaking views of the mountain range, a hike up to Sprague Lake which is indescribably peaceful and beautiful, and a hike behind out cabin, which was right along the river.  We capped off the trip with hiking my second 14er, Mt. Bierstadt.  It was pretty hard even though it's rated as one of the easier 14ers.  One of my goals is to hike as many 14ers as I can, so I love getting another peak done this summer.  Sadly we had to say goodbye and head home but if all goes well, I'll be living out in Colorado soon enough.  For right now, I'll just enjoy the Now.

I have another day and a half back home in KC too.  It's always fun to be back here and catch up with everyone.  I got to go out with Ciara and do a few runs with her, including a 15 miler, the furthest I've ever run so far.  I also got to see Grandpa and see Natalie off to her new life down in Tennessee.  Crazy life changes.  Soon I have to head back to Chicago and finish packing and get moved before the school year begins and my life starts speeding up again.

What an amazing summer.  Life just keeps getting more and more awesome.

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
Ralph Waldo Emerson