I Thank God Every Day for my Friends...

I LOVE YOU GUYS MORE THAN YOU KNOW!!! :)

Living...

What is the best feeling in the world?
Living.
I mean really living.
You know what I'm talking about, when you can feel every part of you wake up from whatever slumber it's in and take a deep breath and just GO.

It's that awe inspiring feeling that you get every now and then.
I think I need it every day.
The tricky thing here is that if you find something that makes you feel alive like that, sometimes you can fall into a pattern of doing it and it can lose its edge in a sense. It can become dull.
No good.

It comes from all sorts of things.
Seeing the adoration in your dogs eyes.
Making it through a super intense workout. (Yeah, that one doesn't happen often for me either.)
Catching up with your girlfriends.
Feeling like you're part of your longboard, instead of fighting with it.
That song that stirs something inside of you.
Having a really good cry.
Having a really good laugh.
Creating something, whether it's art or writing, or any other means.
Having your soccer team win their match.
Having a deep REAL conversation with someone.
Fighting for a cause that you're passionate about.
Using brand new chap stick.
Looking at your freshly painted nail polish as you open a door or a cupboard.
Swinging on the swings at night.
Seeing a shooting star.
Dancing.
Road trips. Long or short.
Taking care of plants.
Service, in any way, shape or form.
Learning something new and understanding it.
Writing a letter to someone you miss.

The list goes on and on and on...

Get out there and do something that makes you feel ALIVE!!

...AROHA...

Aroha.
My favorite word ever.
It means "unconditional love" or "one love" in Maori.
How powerful is that?

"Aroha inspires us to go the extra mile. Aroha means love. When we explore its roots Aroha yields a powerful message about love that is not widely understood.
ARO is thought, life principle...
RO is innner, within...
HA is life force, energy, breath...
OHA is generosity, prosperity...
AROHA may be described as the binding force of the universe."
-Ruth Makuini-

Oh man, I can't even describe how in love with this idea and this word that I am!
And then, to top off a great night of studying Aroha, I found this excellent poem;

"When I call all my senses home
into my central core
then I know a deep peace
just simply being.
Here is unconditional love and compassion
heart deepening and expanding
to accept whatever I am
or have been, or will become.
No tugs of war between anything,
and all of me
simply here."
-Anne Macleah-

Oh man, this poem is powerful! I love it so much that I just HAD to share it with everyone!

XOXO

Getting Back to Basics...

I honestly believe that there are times in life when you need to strip away all of the extra "stuff" and get back to the very basics. We live in such a high tech world that it's easy to get caught up in the fast and easy lifestyle, you know the one...where everything is just handed to you in a paper bag to make it easier to take with you as you're running to your next appointment while texting your appointment after that one to make sure that you're still on?

Yeah, it's exhausting.

Then you reach the point where you can't feel much of anything because you're so fried from everything going on all over the place. You can't even remember the last time that you had a face to face conversation with over half of your facebook friends. The last time you saw the number of texts in your inbox that was smaller than your age was......well, never. When you had a home cooked meal with your family while all sitting around the table, you couldn't shake the feeling that it was all a ploy to deliver the bad news. We've all been there. (The fact that I'm writing all of this on my blog, on my computer, with music playing in the backgroud is irrelevant.)

It stops today for me. I'm stripping it all away to get back to the pure, simple basics.

Here is the commitment. I have posted it on the world wide web for anyone and everyone to see...there's proof now.

I'm focusing on LOVE.
I'm focusing on PEACE.
I'm focusing on HEALTH.
I'm finding my CENTER.
I'm doing things that make me HAPPY.
I'm standing up for what I BELIEVE.

It's honestly that simple.

Love's the Only Rule...

Think about it. There's oposition in all things, right? Then that means that if you're not feeling love, you're feeling fear. No bueno. I don't want to feel fear. So then, what do I love?

I love my dogs, Nitro and Daisy. I also secretly love my cat Kitty (even though I'll deny it to the day I die) and I semi wish that she'd come home.

I love my family. At the present moment, especially my siblings Janae and Kyle. I love that we're best friends and that we are always there for each other, even when everything you think you can count on proves you wrong.


I love nature. I adore plants, I am drawn to animals and I am always yearning to be outside doing something! There's something really powerful about the Earth and being in contact with it. Submerging yourself in the great outdoors somehow makes confusing things slightly more clear.




I love surprises. Really, I would almost rather everything in my life be a surprise (within reason of course) because they're just so FUN!

I love friends. I have the BEST friends in the universe! My really close friends are always there for me, even if I am a terrible person sometimes, and no one can crack me up quite like they can.

I love longboarding and swinging. There is nothing more freeing than sailing through the air on a swing set or flying down the road on a longboard. I promise. If you don't believe me, try it.






I love music. All sorts. I especially love Michael Franti, Jason Mraz, Disturbed, Bon Jovi, Nelly, and Taylor Swift right now.

I love soccer. Arsenal and Real Salt Lake are my teams. When the world cup comes around I become a hermit and I never leave my house.

I love roadtrips. It doesn't matter where they're to, or at what hour, I love them all the same. I will NEVER turn down an oportunity for a roadtrip...unless it means I will get fired or something.

I love the gospel. I really love it. A lot.

and finally...

I really, really love my life. Ups and downs, crazy and sane, good and bad. I love it all!!!

Oh, and blogging, I love blogging too :)

Did You REALLY Just Say That...?

What is my favorite animal you ask?
Oh, wolves.
I truly love them.
Unfortunately not everyone in the world feels the same. Weird.

I read an article on MSN the other day about some judges who think that extermination of wolves would be a super idea. Now, nothing in the world gets my blood to boil quite as fast as ANY sort of hunt, let alone one that involves wolves. First, because until very recently they were still on the endangered species list. Well, now that they're off, problem solved, let's see just how quick we can get 'em back there, eh? And second, well, I just love them.

Some of these new laws would allow (absolutely not joking) burrying cubs in their dens and gasing them. Honest to goodness. And it would allow for aerial hunts.
Remember how I don't agree with hunting at all? Well, I agree even less with aerial hunting. If you're going to be a real man and hunt then you sure better do it at a more even level than chasing some poor animal down in a plane. You already have the upper hand with having a gun. Be happy you have that. Matched up against those animals otherwise, you'd be screwed.

What is the main factor for the desire for the hunt? Wolves are eating cattle. First things first, statistics show that more cattle are killed by Coyote, Mountain Lion and even DOGS than by wolves. And second of all, I don't know about you, but having grown up in the west, I kind of knew that wolves were sort of part of the deal. I could have told you this in Junior High. Now, here are these ranchers (grown men mind you) who bought land out here in the west and are saying that wolves are a problem? No. That's not how this goes.

There is a ranch in Montana that lost (I think it was 6) calves this last year to a pack of wolves up there. The solution? Kill all but 2 of the pack (as of earlier this week) and hunt down the others. This was around $2,500 worth of cattle. Is that really what a pack of wolves is going for these days?

I was looking more into the history of the wolf hunt and found this quote from probably one of the most gifted public speakers any state in this union has ever had...good old Wally Hickel, once the governer of Alaska. In response to allowing the hunting of wolves the man said (again, not joking)

"You can't just let nature run wild."

Oh man. I hope he was embarassed.
It was said years ago and I'm STILL embarassed for him.

As I was researching how legit this statement was (which I found it IS an actual quote from this guy) I found a couple other gems that were good for a laugh and thougt I'd share them...

"There's plenty of room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the mashed potatoes." Saskatoon Restaurant

"Music hath the charm to sooth a savage beast, but I'd try a revolver first." Josh Billings

Now, I was on the verge before all of this information and super great (not to mention deep, insightful, thoght provoking...ugh) quotes came into my life of going vegetarian. But this absolutely sent me over the edge. That's it. I'm done with meat for a while. I feel bad about eating it anyways, and it's not like it's my favorite food in the world anyways, so it's really no huge sacrifice to give up anyways! Call it my way of protesting against those cattle ranchers in Montana :) Ha! Take that guys!

In the end though, as dumb as I may think you sound, I think good old Voltaire put it best when he said,

"I may disagree with everything you say, but will defend unto death your right to say it."

Growing up...

The past couple days have been filled with talk from people all around me about how things change so much as you grow up. You have responsibility through bills, school, a big guys job, and decisions that could feasibly change the path your life is taking. People around you are getting married and having babies, and the old people around you are quizing you as to when you're going to hop on the wedded bliss bandwagon. You realize that your parents are a lot more human than you'd ever liked to believe before. You suddenly feel the pressure of making a "real" life for yourself. There's a constant barrage of people who are trying to look out for you telling you which books to read to become someone, which majors will get you the jobs that you're going to want 10 years down the road, which guys to date and which ones to not touch with a 20 foot pole. It's overwhelming.

My solution?

I've stopped listening. All of those solutions may have really worked out well for the people offering up the advice, but not everyone wants to be a doctor. Or a lawyer. Or an accountant. I have never wanted to be any of those things. Maybe marriage isn't for everyone, and you know what? That's ok! You cross that bridge when it comes. All of those boys that I probably shouldn't date? Yeah, I totally have. And you know what? I got some epic stories out of it and some memories that still crack me up. I wouldn't trade those lessons that I learned for anything. As for those majors in school? That's great that a business degree would allow me to get a job almost anywhere, but here's the thing, I don't want to go into business!! As I see it, that sort of defeats the purpose of getting that degree, no?

So, if I'm not doing all of the things that those "wise, educated, learned" people around me are telling me to do. What am I doing?

I'm meditating.

I'm practicing yoga.

I'm buying plants.

Lots of plants. And in turn, learning to care for them.

I'm longboarding every night.

And honestly, not getting much better at it. But I do it because I enjoy it.

I'm having ANTM marathons with my sister.

A waste of time? No. The memories of hanging out will last forever.

I'm reading.

Walden is a truly magnificent book. Eat, Pray, Love is another. The Dalai Lama is a very wise man. As is Lao Tzu. As is Gordon B. Hinckley. The animals being hunted in the ocean are beautiful and deserve the chance to live their little lives completely. Plants really are wise on a plane that we don't usually think about. The Earth is full of power, she's just waiting to give it to us.

I'm dancing.

Whether at official tribal dance fires, in my room, or in my car on the way to work. Dancing makes everything seem better.

I'm drawing again.

I let my passion for drawing, and creating fall to the wayside. But I'm reclaiming my love for art.

I'm dating.

And not dating. It depends on the day. And my mood. But I'm sure getting lots of good laughs out of the whole experience.

I'm laughing.

Because if you don't laugh, then you cry.

I'm crying.

Because sometimes that's all you can do. When those saved up tears reach a certain point, they're going to come out whether you want them to or not.

I'm learning to try and embrace change.

Sometimes it's good change and other times it sucks. But you know what I've learned? It's going to happen anyways, you might as well find the positive side, right?

and most of all...

I'm loving my life. Ups and downs. Ins and outs and all. It really is a beautiful ride, whethere you decide to have a conventional life or a completely obscure, off the wall, insane life. They're all beautiful none the less :)