happy happy girl

Today, when I got to work the first thing my supervisor, Desiree, said to me is "Why are you so happy?"
Cause, people, I am happy.
I attribute it to a couple of things:


I seriously believe there is nothing in this world more refreshing than taking a run. Or a swim. Or a bike ride, or a walk. And I have been doing just those things. Thank you, my lovely roommates who are either triathletes or training for the Ragnar.
Plus, while I run I listen to J. Biebs. Best. Work-Out. Music. Ever. Believe it. Your work out will nevah be the same.


Secondly, I found out where I will be living the next year and a half of my life:

dun dun-dun duuun!



That's right, ladies and gentlemen. "Deep in the heart of Texas" (please believe I hear Hadfield's voice singing that e'ry time I think it. E'ry time.) And it's taken a while, but I am thrilled! I'll be serving in T.H.E. Mission (Texas Houston East). I can't even imagine how rad it's going to be. Which is terrif- the most marvelous things are always unexpected.


(coolie - I just googled "define:tejas" cause I refer to it in my mexicano-speak 90% of the time and check this out: 
Tejas: Sanskrit word meaning fearlessness, valor.Awesome.) 


And last week I reread Mrs. Dalloway By Virginia Woolf. The most scrumptious, delicious, breathtaking language in the world! It's one of those books that makes you feel like lace and pearls and fresh flowers - instant "classy".
Read it.


Plus, on top of all this sugar, I've been feeling really inspired lately. By quotes and classes and books and all of these sparking people.
Have a taste:
"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become." - Charles DuBois


See what I'm saying? I'm a happy girl of late. It's bliss. 

so cool...

I'm not old enough to play baseball or football. I'm not eight yet. My mom told me when you start baseball, you aren't going to be able to run that fast because you had an operation. I told Mom I wouldn't need to run that fast. When I play baseball, I'll just hit them out of the park. Then I'll be able to walk. 
-Edward J. McGrath, Jr

happy day of love!

Okay, guys, I have been the epitome of single on valentine's day today. i'm talking grouchy, cynical, etc etc.
But I just have no reason to be that way. I AM SO LUCKY AND BLESSED!
i have

• incredible friends 
• incredible roommates
• incredible classes
• incredible opportunities
• and an INCREDIBLE family

So, happy valentine's day! LOVE TO EVERYONE!

Just a few of my favorite LOVE quotes. In honor of February 14

"Would that I could love the best of men as tenderly as God loves the worst..."

"Twas not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart,

Twas not my lips you kissed, but my soul."

-Judy Garland

"From their eyelids as they glanced dripped love."

-Hesoid

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I met in the street, a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat was threadbare - there were holes at his elbows; the water passed through his shoes and the stars through his soul"

-Victor Hugo

 (as you might have guessed, this is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite quotes. ever.)

holla!

"If you're going through hell - keep going." Winston Churchill.

Well friends, as downer as the last post may have been, I promise you I am not going through hell. (i just like that quote) It's been a very good two weeks. Time seems to be flying by.

just since I've moved back, I have

1. read an entire Shakespeare play and wrote a small paper on it.
2. worked through 10 outta-nowhere busy days at the good old asb
3. seen two famous people (and these- just today! no kidding)
   a. Condoleezza Rice (yowza. what a spelling)
   b. Donny Osmand
4. Had a cards night with my Lond-y peeps. Love y'all.

That's all for now, folks. Here's a picture to keep you interested:

I'm into black-and-white right now, can you tell?

Have a bueno weekend

we wish you a merry christmas...

....and a happy new year!

"At this time of Christmas, this season when gifts are given, let us not forget that God gave his Son, and his Son gave his life, that each of us might have the gift of eternal life." - Gordon B. Hinckley

Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Bee

Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision.
Muhammad Ali

We watch American Ninja Warrior pretty religiously now a days.... (see below)

I think that Jenna's Sam should train for it. I would mos def by a ticket to Mount Midoriyama to see that.

since these men are the greatest athletes ever of all time (obviously) please enjoy some quotes by famous athletes/Vince Lombardi. I LOVE sports quotes, they are raddest.




Leaders aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.
Vincent Lombardi
American NFL football coach.


I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok.
Shaquille O'Neal
American basketball player.

This is Brian. I picked him from the very first time I saw him. Because hello! He's a ginger with the world's best mustache (and I hate mustaches, so this is a big achievement).

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog!
Archie Griffin
American football player and two time Heisman Trophy winner.


The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
Vince Lombardi
American football coach.

Just so you know, American Ninja Warrior does not even hold a candle to the original Ninja Warrior. The original is just that cool. 

finished! Goblet of Fire whaat?

I love it! I will now share some of mi favorite parts. Mostly from the last part cause it's bomb.

Page 43
"What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?"
"Oh no, Ron," came Fred's voice, very sarcastically. "No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up."
(If you have ever heard Jim Dale say this, you probably think it is one of the funniest things in the world too! Also, Fred is my favorite of the twins. Sad huh?)

Page 216
Moody swept the dead spider off the desk onto the floor.
"Not nice," he said calmly. "Not pleasant. And there's no countercurse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me."
(I have always loved this part. Ba-BAM!)

Page 354
As he soared upward, as the wind rushed through his hair, as the crowd's faces became mere flesh colored pinpricks below, and the Horntail shrank to the size of a dog, he realized that he had left not only the ground behind, but also his fear.... He was back where he belonged....
...
"Great Scott, he can fly!" yelled Bagman.
(also have always loved. the tension just disappates. genius writing.)

page 407
"He sounds exactly like Moody," said Harry quietly, tucking the letter away again inside his robes. "'Constant vigilance!' You'd think I walk around with my eyes shut, banging off the walls...."
(Another one where I seriously L. O. L. ed.)

page 604
"What made you think he'd really stopped supporting Voldemort, Professor?"
Dumbledore held Harry's gaze for a few seconds, and then said, "That, Harry, is a matter between Professor Snape and myself."
(I know what it iiiiis!)

page 665
If ever Harry might have released his wand from shock, it would have been then, but instinct kept him clutching his wand tightly, so that the thread of golden light remained unbroken, even though the thick gray ghost of Cedric Diggory (was it a ghost? it looked so solid) emerged in its entirety from the end of Voldemort's wand, as though it were squeezing itself out of a very narrow tunnel.... and this shade of Cedric stood up, and looked up and down the golden thread of light, and spoke.
"Hold on, Harry," it said.
(I literally teared up here. I love Cedric.)

page 679
At that moment, Harry fully understood for the first time why people said Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared. The look upon Dumbledore's face as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than Harry could ever have imagined. There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore's face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dubmledore as though he were giving off burning heat.
(Man, Dumbledore is boss.)

page 696
"And he was right -- he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face."
For a fleeting instant, Harry thought he saw a gleam of something like triumph in Dumbledore's eyes.
(So, not a favorite part, but - WHAT? Why triumph? I don't get it. Anyone have any brilliant thoughts?)

page 708
"You are blinded," Said Dumbledore, his voice rising now, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!"
(Once again, Dumbledore = most boss)

page 713
"Severus," said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready.... if you are prepared...."
"I am," said Snape.
He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered strangely.
(Ba-BAM! Snape is also boss. He is so rad. I have been thinking about this, about how many stories he would have to keep straight and how smart he would have to be to do so etc. yeah, Snape is bomb-diggety.)

page 718
"Knew he was goin' ter come back," said Hagrid, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up at him, shocked. "Known it for years, Harry. Knew he was out there, bidin' his time. It had ter happen. Well, now it has, n' we'll jus' have ter get on with it. We'll fight. Migh' be able to stop him before he gets a good hold. That's Dumbledore's plan, anyway. Great man, Dumbledore. 'S long as we've got him, I'm not too worried."
Hagrid raised his bushy eyebrows at the disbelieving expressions on their faces.
"No good sittin' worryin' abou' it," he said. "What's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does. Dumbledore told me wha' you did, Harry."
Hagrid's chest swelled as he looked at Harry.
"Yeh did as much as yer father would've done, an' I can' give yeh no higher praise than that."
Harry smiled back at him. It was the first time he'd smiled in days.
(LOVE.)

page 724
"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make the choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

*pages from the American paper back edition
So, now I will start on numbah 5. I love HP. Can you tell?
P.S. Exactly TWO WEEKS!!

S.N.O.W.

The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event.  You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found? J.B. Priestley


So here it comes. Half of you are going to hate me, and half of you know exactly what I'm talking about.

I love snow. I love snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes. And silver white winters (that melt into springs, but that part's not important just now). I love the sound it makes - it makes the air thick and quiet. I love that when you step on it, the sound is halfway between a door hinge and a groan. In fact, I really agree with Lorelai






Just to prove my point, we have some snow quotes. 

"And finally Winter, with its bitin', whinin' wind, and all the land will be mantled with snow."
Roy Bean (check out this guy. he is the raddest baddest thing you will ever see. here's a sneaky peak to get the party started)

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."  John Ruskin


"Is it snowing where you are? All the world that I see from my tower is draped in white and the flakes are coming down as big as pop-corns. It's late afternoon - the sun is just setting (a cold yellow colour) behind some colder violet hills, and I am up in my window seat using the last light to write to you." 
— Jean Webster (Daddy Long Legs)


"A few feathery flakes are scattered widely through the air, and hover downward with uncertain flight, now almost alighting on the earth, now whirled again aloft into remote regions of the atmosphere." 
— Nathaniel Hawthorne (this guys is bad-aye.I like him a lot.And he seems complimentary to snow right here. bravo, nate.)


The snow doesn't give a soft white damn whom it touches.  e.e. cummings (this is for all y'all who don't like snow. and it is not really negative toward snow, it just shows snow in all its thugness. Snow don't care. Snow does what snow wants to do. Bad-aye number 2.)


And finally: Watch this. I bet you a dollar it's worth-while. ... but I haven't watched it yet. 


*P.S. I am starting #4 today. Yikes. I am Speed Racer through the binding.

cat on a hot tin roof

"I'm not living with you! ... We occupy the same cage, that's all."

quote

“Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”

― Mark Twain (Who knew he ever said anything that wasn't dripping with sarcasm or irony?? This is actually very beautiful.) Also, I love the weather of today. It is finally not 85 degrees. I love it. Last night, I went to a Sitar concert last night. (as in "Then - the magical sitar player falls from the roof and says 'The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return'" Yeah. Righteous.) Nishat Khan. He was incredible. And performed for 100 hours.  Also, it's Mid-Autumn festival. (shout out to mikelle who introduces us to weirdy chinese foods and cool traditions). We are having "JowTsuh" and if you speak with her for the correct spelling and punctuation.

quote

“The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth.”

― Chinese Proverb

quotes

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
     -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
      -Howard Thurman

The cure for anything is salt water- sweat, tears, or the sea.
      -Isak Dinesen

google reader

do you know that i LOVE google reader?
and this would be why:

"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become." -Charles DuBois

and

I love him.


... except the running of the bulls is super cruel to the bulls. Do they all die? Cause they all bleed... a LOT. This I never knew.

picture compliments of "The Big Picture"

braverism

these are just what i need tonight:


Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. ~Ambrose Redmoon

Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow. ~Dan Rather


Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. ~C.S. Lewis

Courage is fear that has said its prayers. ~Dorothy Bernard

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer. ~George Smith Patton


Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear - Mark Twain

Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared. ~Edward Vernon Rickenbacker
 
Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway. ~John Wayne

I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. ~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
Nelson Mandela
 
It always seems impossible until its done.
Nelson Mandela
 
 Faith is believing that although we do not understand all things, He does. Faith is knowing that although our power is limited, His is not. Faith in Jesus Christ consists of complete reliance on Him. 

He has the power, but it’s our test.

Our God will deliver us from ridicule and persecution, but if not. … Our God will deliver us from sickness and disease, but if not … . He will deliver us from loneliness, depression, or fear, but if not. … Our God will deliver us from threats, accusations, and insecurity, but if not. … He will deliver us from death or impairment of loved ones, but if not, … we will trust in the Lord. 

Our God will see that we receive justice and fairness, but if not. … He will make sure that we are loved and recognized, but if not. … We will receive a perfect companion and righteous and obedient children, but if not, … we will have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that if we do all we can do, we will, in His time and in His way, be delivered and receive all that He has.  - Elder Dennis E. Simmons


For all of us out in this nuts-o world trying to be brave today, or tomorrow, or right this minute, good luck. You are not alone. I'm feeling this with you, and chances are a million others are silently offering prayers identical to yours and to mine. Keep Calm and Carry On.

the best

I belong as an English major. I know this because somehow - last night - a handful of words pulled me up and out of a bad place into a really fine one.

People are often illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered -

forgive them anyway

If you are kind, they may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives -

be kind anyway

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies -

succeed anyway

If you are honest and frank they may cheat you -

be honest and frank anyway

What you spend years building, they could destroy overnight -

build anyway

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous -

be happy anyway

The good you do today, they will often forget tomorrow -

do good anyway

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough -

give the best you have anyway

You see: In the final analysis it is between you and God -

it was never between you and them anyway.

falsely attributed to Mother Teresa (she used it on a wall in one of her orphanages) but actually begun by Kent M. Keith. It evolved into this beautiful beautiful work of art. Honestly, though - it packs a punch, don't you think?