I'm Alive!

I've severely neglected my blog over the past couple of months due to the exhaustion of working 60 hour weeks and commuting 3 to 6 hours a day.
I applied a couple of weeks ago to a college and got in! And now I am writing this from my new dorm room (I moved in two days ago)!Everything has moved at lightning speed!School starts Wednesday and I have orientation until then.
I'm so excited to have this part of my life feeling like it's moving forward towards reaching my goal!
I'm a "Hawk" and Liberal Studies major with an emphasis in Special Education at Holy Names University.
HNU is co-ed and a very small school (500-600 undergrads and around 1,100 students in all) which I love.
From the looks of it, this year is going to be amazing!!

Crazy month, photo fun :]

April flew by! May is too! 

In April I went up to Tahoe and down to Monterey and Carmel. 

A week or so ago, I passed my in the car driving exam. 

Last week my two betta fishies died :(.

Tonight, Sunday and Wednesday are the graduation ceremonies for my sister from UC Berkeley.

Tomorrow I'm doing the Human Race which is a fundraiser for most of the non-profits in Sonoma County.

Sunday, Mother's Day, I'm preforming in a "band" made up of a bunch of my friends at my work.

Next week is the last week of school before finals!

Next week is the last week of this round of the fitness bootcamp I've been doing. Two weeks later I start work at a 7:30am-5pm job Monday-Friday.For. The. Entire. Summer.
11 final papers to write.3 final tests to take.1 dance final to choreograph and preform.
A week to get it all done.Yikes.

On the trip to Tahoe and Monterey I took my camera with me and came back with these results.I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.:)

Happy 22nd Birthday Sis!

Happy 22nd Birthday to my gorgeous, talented and amazing sister!
I love you sissy! I hope your day is magical and that all your birthday dreams come true!

Happy Easter!

Yes, we still do Easter egg hunts around here! 

We even have our very own Easter bunny with the floppy ears and everything. She's technically a dog but I think she could pull it off!

Our Easter was pretty laid back, I went to boot camp and then had to work until noon but then got to come home, have an Easter egg hunt and in the second half of the day celebrate my sister's 22nd birthday. Her birthday's tomorrow but she's back at school so we had our "big" celebration over the weekend. We celebrated with my mom's famous shrimp pasta, Funfetti cupcakes and a tiara atop my sister's head.

Oh happy day! :)

I'm a Contestant and Would LOVE your support!!

For the next 8 weeks I will be over at my contestant page for the

Flab to Fab Blogger Fitness Challenge!

(Hosted by April of April Showers and Charlie of Operation Shrink Charlie's Big Butt)

Out of all the people who entered I was one of the EIGHT who made it in (including the hosts!)

I would love for you to follow my challenge blog during this as I will be posting all the time over there.
(Though I will still continue here too!)

Click HERE to go to my personal blog page!

Click HERE to go to the Challenge's blog page!! 

(The challenge's blog page is where my and all the other amazing women's weekly Vlogs are! That's right! You get to see me on video! No promises that you'll think I'm quite as normal after watching them though! The first one is already up!)

You're also welcome to join in with the Blogtourage weekly on the Challenge blog page as well!
25 Bloggers have already linked up! That's HERE!

Weight loss is not an easy thing and I'd love to have your support as I try to make a major life change.
(And compete along the way!)

Come on over to cheer me on in this amazing competition!

Epic St. Patrick's Day Adventure

For St. Patrick's Day, two friends and I headed out the beach. 

It was a beautiful day with lots of laughter which proved for some really fun pictures!

Happy Monday!

Happy Two Year Angelversary Emily!

Happy Two-Year Angelversary Emily!


At only 14, you were taken so soon but you left in style doing what you loved most, skiing with your team on the snowy mountains in Tahoe.


Love you SO much and miss you every day sunshine!

This is a wonderful video put together by another one of Emily's friends. 


It's filled with her bright smile, sweet voice and the ever apparent twinkle in her eye.

Skii the day away in paradise sweetpea. 

Fly high, Soar.

New Blog Design!! :)

So what do you think of my brand-spankin' new blog design!?
I love it! 
Jessica did such an incredible job on it!
It's just so ME! Yay!
 Head on over and give Jessica a visit!
And while you're at it, I even got a snazzy little grab button that you're free to take!!(to the right) 

Along with my sweet new blog design I've got all new music (on the left) to go with it!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hope you find that pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow!!

I Heart Faces: Jump For Joy!

And for my first I Heart Faces entry..
"Jump for Joy!"

Go visit I Heart Faces for more wonderfully joyful jumping photos!

Kidney Infection

I never take naps. 

Never. 

So when I slept for 8 hours during the day on Saturday, 10 hours on Sunday and 5 hours on Monday on top of my normal nightly sleep I knew something was up. I also started breaking out on and off yesterday after my morning dance class which happens when my body's fighting something off. 

Then yesterday afternoon I started having back pains and by the middle of the night was woken up in severe, can't move at all, back pain. 

Went to the doctor today and yes, I have a kidney infection. On top of all that I'm having signs of a developing staph infection so to battle two birds with one stone, tonight starts a 14 day course of antibiotics (Azithromycin).

For now, I'm still smiling (and not in as much pain with my constant rice heat pack companion on my back) and hope this optimism and laughter will continue throughout the medication treatment!

Happy Tuesday!!

Happy One Year Blogoversary to Me!

Hard to imagine but it's my blog's one year blogoversary!! 

I never could have dreamed about how many new friends I would make within a year of blogging! 

I started this blog as a way to make connections and record some of the ramblings of my everyday life and come away having not only accomplished those things but also with a mindset that has me walking through life with optimism and appreciative of so many things I had ever previously thought twice about!

I also never imagined that I'd make it to a third post let alone an entire year of posts!

In the past year, here's  three of my favorite posts!

1. Thirteen Quotes on Laughter

2. Thirteen Mantra's I Strive to Live My Life By

3. The 3 Cents of Happiness

And of course the post that started it all!

The Butterfly and the Cocoon

I for one think this momentous occasion deserves a virtual toast!

Here's to another year (and beyond!) of bloggy friends and happiness!!

Okay, okay, my toasting skills are not the greatest! Haha! But in all honesty, I love you guys and hope that you all have enjoyed reading my blog as much as I've enjoyed writing it!

Great, big, gigantic virtual bloggy blogoversary hugs!!

(Do you see my name!?! Proof! :] )

What Would You Tell Yourself?

Have you ever looked back at your life and said to yourself, 

"I wish that I had known this earlier in my life."?

Up to this point I've learned some important lessons. 

Some of them include:

1. Don't "Kill Time." Time is precious, embrace every moment.

2. Growing up, you think your high school sweetheart is going to be the person you'll be with forever. Chances are, you're not. Each relationship is an experience. 

3. Don't be afraid of experiences.

4. Scratch that, don't be afraid. Don't let fear stop you from taking chances. Don't be afraid to trust.

5. It may feel like the end of the world. It's not. Life will go on.

6. When life gets the hardest, call up your best friend. Laughter is the best medicine.

7. Hold on tight to real friendships.

8. Don't spend all your energy on friendships and relationships that are one sided. You deserve better.

9. Don't cry over someone who's not willing to cry over you.

10. Forever is a long time to be without someone, don't walk away angry.

11. Don't regret. Past experiences have made you who you are today and led you to have so many wonderful experiences.

12. The only power that someone has over you is the power that you give them.

13. It's not what happens. No one can make you feel one way or another. No one can make you do anything. It's not the action, it's your reaction. You have the power to choose how you react.

14. Put yourself in their shoes. Where are they coming from? Do you feel any differently about that person now? 

15. It's not your place to judge. You are not responsible for judging anyone or their actions.

16. Don't accept things you don't think are right. You can affect change.

17. Hold yourself accountable when you are.

18. Allow others the space to hold themselves accountable when need be.

19. Don't blame.

20. Hugs, kisses and cuddling are wonderful things.

21. Love without bounds.

22. Find out what makes your light shine and do it. 

23. Don't do the things that make you miserable. Life's too short.

24. Don't fall into old patterns, figure out how to bring positive change to your life. If something had a negative outcome in the past, change it for the future. Don't fall back on habit.

25. Be happy, smile, it's a chain reaction.

If you could go back in time and tell your eighteen year old self anything, something you know now that you wish you'd known then, what would it be?

Two Years Jesse.

Two years Jesse. 

I miss your hugs, your smile, your laugh. 

I miss you.

Liver cancer claimed your life a mere 10 days after your diagnosis.

You've helped me learn to appreciate every day.

All of your "Blue Angels" are missing you here on Earth.

You will always be loved.

Rest In Paradise Jesse Rios. 

April 5, 1936 – February 22, 2008

I've Fallen in Love...

Meet Shayna. 

Shayna means beautiful and that she is.

She's my brand new Ashland guitar.

I'm in love.

My mom bought a guitar at the age of eighteen and as much as I wanted to get hers repaired so I could play it, it was more cost effective to buy a new one (though I will still get hers repaired someday).
I've been wanting to learn to play the guitar for years and am so excited to finally be presented with the opportunity to do so!

Shayna is a steel string acoustic guitar and with one of the smallest body sizes and fits me perfectly.

So far I can correctly and successfully play one chord which I'm excited about. 

Haha, the simple pleasures.

I bought her on the 15th, so she is my Valentine's beauty.

For Valentine's day I sent out 43 Valentines in the mail along with 4 packages that were swaps (though havn't received any of the swap packages in return from my partners yet, fingers crossed that they come! I've already had to deal with swapping and not having anything come in return which dampens the excitement of swapping.). I've received a bunch of cards (and stickers which I LOVE) and have so enjoyed running to the mailbox everyday for the last month and finding such wonderful surprises!

Valentine's Day weekend I went to a conference at my church with around 100 youth and adults 13-20 years old. It was incredible meeting so many new people, having beautiful and powerful midnight worships and just being surrounded by so much love. 

Valentine's Day didn't go quite as planned because the "Valentine" I was supposed to get together with ended up being sick and had to cancel.

I'm just glad that they're now feeling better!

My godmother is here for the weekend so I'm off to spend my last night with her and will update more soon!

Now for pictures!

Shayna <3

Buying Shayna..

These are some of the things I sent out...

Happy week behind and week ahead!