the ones you want, they dont want you back, but they still lead you on so you continue to look like a fool.

and when you both want eachother, there always seems to be something or someone in the way.

at least times like these always leave you with some stories…

couldn’t ask for more ♥

- My best friend, Danielle Larson

sushi. 

frozen yogurt.

lock, stock, & two smoking barrels.

couldnt ask for much more… that is all =)

1. Forgive your parents
2. Pay off debt
3. Lose your image
4. Think critically
5. Find the silver lining
6. Make friends with children, old people and animals
7. Don’t watch the news
8. Explore outside your comfort zone
9. Try new foods
10. Invest your money
11. Get rid of clutter
12. Read the ingredients list
13. Don’t believe information you’re given when someone or something is trying to sell you something
14. Don’t grocery shop hungry
15. Lose toxic friends
16. Do yoga
17. Never stop learning
18. Get a hobby
19. Don’t buy publications that have celebrity headlines
20. Thank your parents
21. Buy used
22. Don’t buy into the housing hype
23. Learn to differentiate between needs & wants
24. Ignore socialization
25. Time does not equal dedication
26. Things are not love
27. Stop trying to change your lover
28. Learn from your AND others mistakes
29. Listen more
30. Exercise
31. Find a life outside of your children
32. Stay out of direct sunlight
33. Buy your size, not the one you want to be
34. Identify government propaganda or research it yourself
35. Get a library card
36. Don’t waste food
37. Be honest
38. Don’t let anyone intimidate you; everybody has something on either side of the bell curve
39. Let children struggle so they can grow their own wings
40. Forgive yourself; you only did what you knew to do, when you could decide to do it.
41. Grow a backbone
42. FLOSS
43. Don’t ever try a cigarette
44. Learn how to make yourself orgasm first
45. If you are repeatedly treated poorly by someone, it’s because you allow it to continue
46. Confidence is sexiest
47. A great haircut is worth it
48. Say NO when you get the urge
49. Read this
50. And this and this and this.
51. Be grateful
52. When you marry someone you marry his or her family.
53. A marketer working for DeBeers created the American tradition of the engagement ring.
54. Your job probably thinks your expendable; be selective with your loyalty
55. When your kids constantly whine and misbehave, it’s not because of the school system…
56. If you are offended by something someone says about you, it’s probably true
57. Give without expectation
58. Everyone likes a birthday cake, no matter how much they deny it
59. Don’t yell
60. Get over yourself
61. No one really knows what they’re doing in life
62. Communicate
63. Diversify: your friends, money and interests
64. Talk about ideas, not people
65. Don’t fall into marketable New Age hype
66. There are 400 billion stars in our galaxy, so yes, the world does not revolve around you
67. Smile (apparently, it’s the 2nd best thing you can do with your mouth)
68. Compliment more
69. Know your weaknesses, find other people to complement them
70. Mentor, mentor, mentor
71. No matter how much you know, you’re still probably ignorant
72. America needs a lot of work right now
73. Race does not define you
74. Your purpose is to be; enjoy it
75. Normal doesn’t exist; it’s all socialization put in your head
76. Live beneath your means
77. Avoid car loans
78. Clip coupons
79. Stay on the border of the grocery store
80. Tip 20% or more
81. Your beliefs are yours alone, unless some random stranger asked for a lecture, keep it that way
82. Take responsibility for your choices
83. Just do it. Anything, everything, all of it – whatever you want. Just do it.
84. It’s always easier then you thought.

Hope you have a fabulous Tuesday!

jump X number of years later and here i am, finding myself in a long distance relationship. normally i would have said no right off the bat, but this one was different {they always are}. he is everything i could want in a boyfriend: hilarious, outgoing, sweet, family oriented, a little dangerous, etc. so i thought, “hmmm… i don’t want to lose him so lets give it a shot.” the long distance thing only lasted for about 3 months so it wasn’t that big of a deal. i knew when it would be over and sort of had that ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ to keep me going. so when we found out that he was going to be living about 4 hours away for the next 3 years, things got a little more complicated…

so far, 4 months have passed and it has been the most difficult months in our relationship, knowing that it will be AT LEAST 2 1/2 years before we have a chance to live near each other again. unfortunately, it seems as though i was right about long distance relationships. they don’t work. well, at least not for me. 

we love each other so much but when it comes to being completely happy in the relationship, we aren’t doing so great. after a few long discussions about this, we have come to the conclusion that right now just isn’t the right time for us. as much as it absolutely kills me, i know that this is what needs to happen. 

luckily, he is here visiting right now so we could talk and say our goodbyes in person. unluckily, he is leaving on wednesday and that will mean its officially over…well, for now that is. 

this sucks. this sucks. this sucks. 

but i know we’ll be happier in the end, and that’s what matters right?

quick update:

• started line dancing every week and i absolutely love it!
• went to London for 3 weeks – it was great
• got some more work for my company which is fabulous of course…

back to life.

the weather here on the coast has been absolutely great! i think i may have realized that i dont want to be anywhere else. sure, i want to travel and experience different places, but i can truly see myself settling down here. not sure the boyfriend wants that, but it will be YEARS before i need to cross that bridge. 

speaking of the boyfriend, he is coming down to visit this weekend! i just saw him a week ago, but it will be really nice to have him back here on the central coast. he hasn’t seen all of our friends in about a month in a half so they will be pretty happy to see him too. ah, to have the whole gang back together again

that is all for now!

just wanted to dip my toes back in the water and let you know that i’m back =)

ps- enjoy this song

They say life is what we make of it. By the end of this post, I hope to have helped you decide whether that statement is true or not.

There is no doubt that life has its ups and downs. However, how we deal with them can sometimes make all the difference. Today I want to share eight harsh truths that I’ve come to learn from life. There’s also a message in each that I think we can all learn from, and when applied, will improve our lives infinitely.

Some of these lessons may be old-hat for you. If so, look for ways to refine the idea to ensure your getting the most out of it. On the other hand, you may completely disagree with an idea or two and that’s great! Let us know your thoughts so we can all learn from each other.

1. Friends Come and Go
   When I was in high school, I always imagined spending most of my life with the same people. Then when I realized I had to move to college, that all changed. Once again, I made some close college friends but left them all behind when I moved from the UK to South Africa.  Friends will always come and go in your life; even though I’m back in the UK now, all my friends are in university around the country and not exactly in meeting distance. It can be a hard thing to accept, but many of the friends you spend time with now, might not be around in the next few years.
2.  

   Important Lesson: There are an abundance of amazing people out there for you to meet and build relationships with. If you don’t have many friends, don’t stress, there are literally billions of friendship possibilities.

3. You Won’t Always Get What You Want
   I remember one Christmas when the only thing I had asked for was some second hand turntables for DJ’ing. I didn’t ask for anything else so I was pretty sure I would get them. However, they didn’t come and I ended up having to save for 10 months on my own in order to purchase them.   You won’t always get what you want in life: people are going to be late, people will let you down, items you want won’t always be available. 

   Important Lesson: Don’t look for happiness in material possessions and if things don’t go your way, learn to accept them. Life’s too short to stay miserable.

4. Many People Will Love You, but Many Will Not
   Whether you are a celebrity, a charity worker or just a normal guy, there are going to be people that love you and what you do, but there’s also going to be plenty people that don’t like you. There are many possible reasons such as jealousy, similarities to them, or just not being someone’s ‘type’.   Important Lesson: Not everyone is always going to like you, and that’s fine. If people want to spend time talking about you then that is their problem. You are perfect as you are. You shouldn’t need everyone to like you to have some form of self-esteem.
5. Nobody Can Transform Your Life Like You Can
   Wouldn’t it be lovely if we didn’t have to go up on stage, but we could just read a paragraph of a blog post and become a perfect public speaker? Or, wouldn’t it be nice if our friends could do daring things, and we would benefit from them as well?   The support and help of others can only take you so far, you’re going to have to do your own thing to make big changes in your life situation. 

   Important Lesson: Do things for yourself and learn to stand on your own two feet. People you rely on won’t be around forever, and you don’t want to have to use others as a crutch to get anywhere in life.

6. You Are Going to Fail
   I built more than 7 websites before I created one that actually started making me any money. I even put hundreds of hours into my own company that I actually closed down last month. Whether it is exams, projects, companies, or even the odd pub quiz, there are times when you will fail to meet your goals.   As the saying goes – “Only those who are asleep make no mistakes”. 

   Important Lesson: You can learn a lot from others, but it is your own failures that are going to teach you the most valuable lessons in life. Learn from your failures, embrace them, and use them to drive you on to success.

7. Rain Will Sometimes Cancel Play
   On some occasions when you have your shorts on and you’re ready for the beach, it’s going to rain. Or, when you get to that first hole and you’re ready to tee off – the clouds will open. Things aren’t always going to go how you would like them to.   Important Lesson: Don’t stress about the things that you can’t control. Learn to live with things that happen. You can’t change the past, but you can change how you react to things.
8. There May Be No Tomorrow
   At least, not for you anyway. We never know what is around the corner, a car crash, a heart attack; heck…even the end of the world is possible. Let’s face it, although we would all like to live till we are 70 years old, that’s certainly not always the case. There will be one day that is our last.   Important Lesson: Make the most of each day. Make sure the people you care about actually know it, don’t worry about little matters, just make sure you spend time doing the things you love.
9. Someone Else Will Always Have More
   Whether it is money, partners, friends or even blog subscribers, there will always be areas where other people have more than you. That isn’t to say you can’t become abundant in whatever you want (i.e. someone always had more money than Warren Buffett until 2008 when he was noted to be the richest man in the world).   The wanting of more actually holds a very important lesson… 

   Important Lesson: Just because someone has ‘more’, that doesn’t mean they are happy. Read the biography of any celebrity and they will tell you they enjoy their process of earning money, rather than what money can do to make them happy. In other words, focus on what you love, not what the thing you love can get you.

BONUS: Linking all the lessons here together is actually quite simple, and I can share the majority of what you need to know to enjoy life in a few simple bullet points:

• Live life for the moment
• Accept what is, even if things don’t go your way
• Happiness is here, right now if you stop resisting and start accepting

 

 

Hope you all had an amazing weekend =)

This time, my friend Shelby will be there as well for about 5 days on her way to Scotland. We already have a plan in the works to spend a couple days in Ireland too

AAAAAAND, after Shelby leaves, the boyfriend might be coming to London to stay with me for my last week as well. He has never really traveled anywhere exciting before so I am so happy he may come out for me to share my London with him. 

YAY

YAY

YAY

Life is good!

How is everyone else’s day going?

we enjoyed going to the barn dance so much that we started going to the club in san luis obispo when they have western night on thursdays – more lessons and dancing! if we keep going, before you know it, we will finally know all the dances. 

korrie and i are even considering joining the cal poly line dancing club now! you learn all the dances, pay a really small fee for the whole year, and get in free to all the events…WIN WIN!!!! =)