i'm thankful for...

~my family~

~~my fiancee'

~~~my shalene patricia 

~~~~good books!! TwIlIgHt

~~~~~good food and snacks

~~~~~~coffee! my new fav...decaf with vanilla chia spice

~~~~~~~productive days.... lazy days

~~~~~~~~quality time

~~~~~~~~~getting excited for someone else's success or happiness

~~~~~~~~~~celebrating

~~~~~~~~~~~being HOME for the holidays

creating a fairy-tale

my mom always told me that i was in charge of "making my own happiness," of "creating my own fairy-tale," and my aunt laurie has a sign in her bathroom that says "you are looking at the person in charge of your happiness." it is so true! the way that we choose to look at circumstances, change, our relationships, all affects how we will respond to them.  this is really challenging for me... because it really starts with the "battle of the mind." this is where we need to "win" so that we can "win" in our lives... and live our "happily ever after" (on purpose!!). so my challenge to all my viewers (and esp. myself) is to do just that! we have "all the right ingredients" to make it... xo 

writing the soundtrack to your life...

what makes a good movie?? a stimulating plot...great actors/actresses....and.... having an AMAZING SOUNDTRACK!!! so....my love for music and lyrics propels me to ask... if you had to 

write the soundtrack for your week... what would it be? sometimes i wish it wasn't rude or completely impractical to pop my earbuds in and drown out all the chaos of life... and let music be my background....

...this would be a great typical week for me...

*MondaY- "simple life" weepies (wishing i were back home with my family and fiancee)

*TuesdaY-"oh" dave matthews (i get to see my man....)

*WednesdaY-"dream" priscilla ahn (song reminds me of shalene and i when we were lil girls)

*ThursdaY- "strawberry swing" coldplay (a pick me up song to keep me happy during the week)

*FridaY- "sky" joshua radin ( sometimes i put this song on repeat and belt it out on the drive home)

*SaturdaY-"crack the shutters"- snow patrol ( just great acoustically) 

*SundaY- "sunday morning" -maroon 5  (hmmm the title should say it all)

my morning ritual

in honor of jessie's blog... i decided to be a lil copycat....

my morning ritual monday-friday

wake up to 3 alarms either 6:30 or 6:45 (decision is made the night before... there will be no snooze button for me): my radio, my phone, gabriel's phone call

get ready...pack a lunch... coffee w/my flavored creamer of the week...breakfast of eggs, toast, yogurt and my multivitamins....walk to school w/my roomie sarah ;)

family n' friends

saturday was such a fun day... here are my highlights:

*cycling class with gabriel and christa at lifetime (very difficult yet rewarding)

*potbelly subs for lunch (love this place...they have the best hot peppers!)

*home to watch a movie with christa and gabriel...only to be joined by two other "squishers"...namely...bradley sheehan and john cooper...have i ever mentioned how much i love gabe's roomies?

*break for a tcby (didn't quite hit the spot due to the lack of cooperativity of the owner...sigh...he wouldn't mike the chocolate peanut butter into a shiver....oh well...)

*out to dinner with david and angela... i LOVE hanging out with these two! i always have so much fun...they are such a great couple! we did dinner at 'michell's fishhouse' and watched the 'hulk'.... we need to do this more than biannually!!

all in all... another perfect saturday!

umm apple pie anyone...

I must say that I’m slightly troubled! Hannah told me this last week that she would be fasting… I thought to myself, wow that’s great honey! I pray that it’s a very inspiring time for you and she told me that she was fasting for some sick obsession for apple pie… Now I know your thinking I’m weird but trust me, Hannah is NUTTY when it comes to the pie! I saw her fight, defend and guard last weekend like a mother goose whose babies are being threatened… If you don’t believe me then just look at these pictures! Sorry babe but I had to…

Ahhh but all kidding aside… Han and I have been doing so wonderful! I simply cannot wait until next August, we are getting closer and closer as every day passes and I just can’t imagine how close we will be in the years to come! I love you babe!

my pursuit of happiness...

gabriel picked me a early from school....we were able to spend so much time just being together...running errands...grabbing dinner....reading at barnes and nobels...just living life...i can't wait until we can be together everyday! we discussed religion, politics, work, school, family, our future, our dreams....i love teasing gabe....i love when he makes me laughs and teases back...i love watching him! he is the cutest thing.... esp when he is drinking his starbucks drink...he takes FOREVER to drink it!! i, on the other hand, am done in 5 minutes tops with my drink while gabriel savors his....and then lets me steal sips without complaint.... here are a few pics....don't you agree...he is adorably engrossed in that book!

what is your mindset??

passage from an amazing book that gabriel bought for me on our date night last night... i read 1/2 the book in 2 nights...yes... it's that good... i'd love to hear some comments on this one ;)

"we live in a world that values convenience over permanence.  Societal attitudes are vastly different today than in the days of the 1950's television show I love Lucy.  We have temporary licenses, temporary visas, and temporary addresses.  We expect instant cash, fast food, quick fixes, and instant great sex.  We purchase disposable goods and refundable merchandise.  We walk up, drive through, and exit, drive through door on the left.  We abhor suffering, not only for the pain it brings, but for the inconvenience.  The only thing worse than having an ailment we can't numb is standing in line for the five whole minutes to fill a prescription!  We live in a world that devalues promises.  "No new taxes," politicians pledge.  "Satisfaction Guaranteed!"  advertisements announce.  Marketing copy promises products will be "long-lasting and durable."  We've been disappointed so many times in so many ways by broken promises that we no longer expect promises to be honored.  As a result, we are skeptical and distrustful of promises made to us and disloyal to the promises we make to others.  We live in world that views happiness as a "right. "  People emerged from the Great Depression with an attitude of long-suffering and forbearance.  They'd experience the worst of times, and while they yearned for happiness they did not see happiness as something owed to them.  Today the fast-track, upwardly mobile society in which we live has produced a breed of impatient people demanding immediate gratification.  We've somehow translated our constitutional right to pursue happiness as the right to possess happiness.  Advertising slogans daily reinforce this notion.  You deserve a break today. " "If it feels good, do it." "Pamper yourself.. you are worth it."  In a society that devalues permanence, distrust promises, and demands happiness, the prevailing mind-set toward things is if it's old, throw it away.  If it's not convenient, forget it.  If it's promised, don't expect  it.  If it makes you happy, use it.  Unfortunately, this thinking has infected our attitude toward relationships.  A husband throws away his marriage because it has grown old.  A wife says, "Forget it," because loving her husband has become inconvenient.  We break promises and justify divorce and extramarital affairs with thoughts such as, I have a right to be happy.  I have a right to be understand and to have my needs met.   We need to reject the mindset of disposable relationships, empty promises, and self-centered thinking and embrace God's mind-set of permanence, faithfulness, and Christ-centered living.  

voting 2008....dividing us all...

so i'm sitting here at 9:43 p.m. watching the Election 2008....by myself....

yes...because gabriel and i had to 'exercise our rights' as American citizens... we didn't get to be together on our date night...

i got out of school at 4:30 p.m. and made it just in time to NOT wait even a second to cast my vote...which made me super happy....

waiting to hear the news....wishing my lil politician was here with me explaining all the %'s and getting all worked up... =(

spreading love

"Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor... Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting." ~ Mother Theresa

the seasons of our lives

i love fall time! i love watching the leaves dance along the streets, hearing them crunch beneath my feet, feeling the cool wind in my face, smelling, baking, and sampling all the yummy desserts, cuddling up with blankets are hearing the wind howl outside while everyone is snuggled up inside, sitting around a huge fireplace with a great book...yes.. i LOVE fall...

gabe loves summer time!  he loves humidity (I KNOW!!), he loves anything he can do in a bathing suit... surfing, wake boarding, laying out for hours at the pool, seados, playing pool sports, he also loves barbecuing, playing tennis and golfing... yes...he LOVES summer...

one of the most wonderful things about a relationship is how much it challenges you grow and how it causes you to appreciate so many things in life that you would have otherwise overlooked. oftentimes we are JUST like our best friends... which is so great too! because you understand each other extremely well and it doesn't take much effort...but i must say there is something to be said for WORKING to understand someone's point of view and for appreciating things that you otherwise wouldn't even have noticed as fun or interesting.  sigh...yes... it is hard to always do the "appreciation" thing when it comes to differences and it is sooo frustrating....buuutttt when you do... while it IS challenging... and it makes all the seasons of our lives more beautiful!