Possibilities

Had something annoying/inconvenient happen the other day to me but was able to get past it quickly by reframing, perspective, and realizing that when bad things happen, it shows you how many people you have in your life that you can truly count on. I'm so incredibly lucky and blessed and sometimes my heart almost doesn't know how to handle all that I feel towards my family, my friends at home, and my friends who have become a family to me here in Chicago. The feeling of knowing that people have your back 100% is indescribably wonderful. So thank you all.

My mind has been spinning tonight in a good way. I got my passport in the mail today. My trip is really happening. I've been talking about this for forever, I've been dreaming of visiting Paris since I heard about the Eiffel Tower when I was like 5. It is happening.

The world is so big but so small in relation to the universe. Chicago is so big but so tiny in relation to the world. It's just insane to think about how little we all are in the universe. Yet our lives seem so big. I started thinking about this a week ago when I did yoga up on the 99th floor of the Sears/Willis Tower. It was such a cool experience and the city was so beautiful. I get a similar feeling when I climb mountains and see the view from the top. We are so small. But we have such a gift to have a life and we can do so much good with it and experience amazing things.

I think it's amazing the amount of opportunities we have these days. Especially as women we are so lucky to be young women in the United States in this era. I don't have to follow one path because it's the only way to have security. I don't necessarily have to get married or have kids. I can have a job that I worked so hard for, I can go back to school and get my doctorate, I could some day go teach or work abroad. Tonight I heard about what sounds like the perfect job for me. Wilderness programs where you can take kids out on hikes in beautiful places and do therapy, yoga, and meditation with them. That is me. Helping people. Experiencing the world. Learning new things.

Life is freaking awesome you guys. Go live it.

"Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning."
-Gloria Steinem

Home--gratitude and expectations

Home can be so many things. I think home is a feeling that you get when you are content with where you are. Home can be several different places, and it can be a feeling you get when you hang with certain people or experience something amazing and connecting.

I feel home here in Chicago. Both when I am alone at my apartment and when I am with the truly great friends I have made here. I had to come here to become who I am today. I question sometimes, who would I be if I had never left KC? I think essentially the same person, but without the experiences I have had here and the people I have met, something really important would be missing.

Home is Kansas City, where I grew up, where I have my family, where I will always be tied to. Home is the Royals championship and parade and celebration I always dreamed about actually happening. It is celebrations and traditions and love.

Home is Colorado and the mountains and hiking and seeing God in nature. Home is setting out to accomplish something like climb a mountain and know that you can do something that seems impossible. It is being called somewhere without knowing why and being sad to leave somewhere when you have no connection to it other than knowing that you belong there.

Life is a huge freaking mystery. A still unwritten story. I don't know when I want to make big changes yet. How do I know that things that I dream and wish for will happen one day? Because of everything I have received so far. A home, my friends in college and Chicago, Royals World Championship, a job. I expect to receive good. I have already received so much.

Here's to 2015!

There have been so many things that have happened this year. At the beginning of the year, I made some promises to myself. The ones that I have fulfilled this year include going to see the Royals at a playoff game, going to New York City, and practicing my Italian regularly.

I also checked another item off my bucket list when I got to go sit on the Friends couch on the set in Los Angeles! 

I saw the Royals win the World Series!!! And went home for the celebration. Another bucket list item.

Some other things that have happened that have also made my year great: 

-Going to Colorado and New Mexico again. Something about being there always makes me feel so at peace.

-Seeing Royals fans invade Chicago for Royals to Wrigley

-winning a league championship with my volleyball team

-celebrating my birthday with some wonderful friends

And here are some things that come to mind when I think about this year and moving forward:

Tell people how you feel

Spend time with those you love

Make plans to achieve your dreams

Have something to look forward to

Be kind to everyone

Everyone has something going on you know nothing about

Everyone has some sort of soft spot. You just have to find it.

Anything could happen at any time so do not put off the things you really want to do

Self-care!!! yoga, massages, sleeping in, kitties, pj days, naps, candles, 

Believe truly something wonderful is going to happen soon

Don't be miserable just because something you want isn't here yet

Believe in divine timing.

Here's to 2015 and an amazing 2016.

Do more of what makes you happy

Been doing some introspecting lately, and here are some of those thoughts.

I went to my first ever Friends Thanksgiving, or as Liz dubbed it, Lambsgiving, this weekend. It was a blast. I know I go on and on about how grateful I am for the friends that I have made here, but I honestly think it can't be said enough. I don't think we always tell the people who mean a lot to us that they do mean so much. I really am trying to be more honest about my feelings lately.

Which brings me to another thing I was thinking about. When I think about my relationships with people, I realized that the most important thing to me in any relationship is having a sense of trust. It can take me a while to open myself up to people but once I do, you have my full trust and I will work to maintain that relationship and make it a priority. I sometimes worry when meeting new people that they will judge me for certain things that make me me, which is why I think I am more slow to open up. So if I tell you I am comfortable with you or if I tell you something about myself that not everyone knows, please know that you are incredibly important to me.

So rambling thought number three. Life is too short to not tell people how you feel. Life is too short to not ask for what you really want. And life is too short to not attempt to make your biggest dreams a reality.

For me the worst thing would be to live my life and have regrets. Life should never be boring or mundane. I've been re-watching Parks and Recreation this weekend. So I'll end with a quote from the wise Andy Dwyer:
 "Seriously, life is short. So I think you should just do what makes you happy."

World Series Champions

They did it. The Royals won the freaking World Series. It's finally sunk in.
This month was such a blur. Last year was the worst ending to a ridiculously magical season. And this year the Royals had the most amazing season. And then the playoffs started.

I thought it was over in Houston in game four. I was convinced that this was it and we weren't going to make it any further. And then they came back. And then I just kind of felt like it had to happen this year. I was able to make it back to KC for ALDS game two. It was my very first playoff game that I have ever been to. This was something I had been dreaming about since I became a fan way back in 2000. And it was every bit as awesome as I imagined it would be. I watched the rest of the playoff games at home alone, at  bars with friends, and with other Royals fans here. The last game I watched alone because I wanted to be able to be as crazy as I needed to be and so I could chat with my sisters. That night I honestly started to cry as the national anthem was being sung because I just felt like it would end that night. I started to cry again in the 12th when we went ahead. And then we won and I just couldn't stop smiling.

I went home for the celebration. It was so amazing to see the city so united to celebrate what the Royals did. They never quit. They said they were going to do it and they did. They erased the hurt of last year and turned it into an even more amazing story. I have never been so proud to be a Royals fan and of my city. We took the Crown.

Let me tell you about my night...

Tonight the Royals won the pennant. They are going to the World Series for the second year in the row.

Unbelievable.

I watched from a David Cook concert. I took a spot up right in front of the tv next to two other girls who were watching the game. I found out through conversation and bits and pieces that one was David Cook's sister. We ended up watching the game together which was a freaking roller coaster ride. Also, this really nice Cubs fan bought us shots. Earned some good karma right there. And we did it. We f'ing did it. Let's take it all this time.

Another night I'll never forget.

Best times of our lives

Sometimes I have a hard time not wanting to rush ahead to the next stage in my life. I think we all do this a little bit. When we're kids, we want to be grown up so we can do whatever we want. I was thinking about this last night and had a realization that I need to learn to appreciate where I am because these are some of the best and most free days of my life. I'm on my own, I don't have a family of my own yet, and my decisions are based only on what is best for me. It's liberating. This weekend was a perfect example of being able to do what I want when I want.

Friday I wanted to keep it low-key so I did my yoga class and then stayed in and did some painting and watched baseball. Saturday we played in a grass tournament and won the whole thing! Finally! I went out Saturday night even though I was super tired because this time in my life won't be around forever and I have to make the most of it. I had a great time with friends dancing and celebrating.

And today I had brunch with Rachel and planned a tentative itinerary for our Europe trip before biking down to the Lakeview Art Fair.

So enjoy every moment because time passes too fast.
"Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up. These are the best days of our lives."
-The Ataris