Checking in

Remember my mantra?

Now that we are one third of the way through 2013 (eek!) I think it's a perfect time to check in with my goals for the year.  

Let's take a look back at what I said here.

Personal Goals

• Go on a blind date
• Ask someone out on a date, because who says I can't go after what I want?
• Find a more unified theme for my blog, and increase my viewing audience
• Go on at least four brewery tours by the end of the year
• Ride a hot air balloon
• Send birthday packages/care packages/cards to show I love my family and friends 
• Buy all Christmas gifts by the end of November
• Send out Christmas cards by the first week of December
• Make a habit out of reading CNN, just like I read blogs/social media sites
• Every time I open social media I have to open CNN or another news source
• Minimizing all meat intake to once a week I've done a great job doing this so far
• Go ALL OUT for holidays (Valentine's, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Mardi Gras)
• Travel abroad at least once this year 
• Travel to NYC, New Orleans, Dallas (for you, Sarah), Boston, Seattle, and Santa Fe
• Take another road trip across the country
• See more of my best friends (in person)
• Go to at least one concert

Physical Goals

• Continue to improve my yoga practice, and master at least two more headstands, including variations of dolphin and scorpion
• Join a yoga studio by the end of September 2013
• Join a gym with spinning classes by the end of September 2013 and join
• Find a team sport/ book club (not physical, but still) / beer tasting club or other group the join by October 2013

Professional Goals

• If accepted to a graduate program I want to choose one that will help achieve my long-term professional goals
• Apply to work at Teach For America's Summer Institute to gain professional development and better improve my management skills and leading a group of people towards success. Decided not to apply after all.  
• Give my students a purpose every day for why they are in my classroom, with a goal-driven mindset until they exit in May 2013
• Mentor at minimum two more students individually on their life goals
• Set up a field trip for my Spanish I & Spanish II students by end of March 2013
• Make sure I am always doing something to work for social justice, whether that is volunteering somewhere new, helping individuals, or donating to a cause.

Not bad, huh? Lots has been happening since the last time I graced the blog world with my presence.  Let's recap...

• I went home to Texas and spent an incredible amount of time with one of my best friends

Taken in East Austin, Texas

• My favorite blogger has reduced her blogging to once or twice a week 
• I have since then learned that age is just a number.  Just a number. JUST. A. NUMBER.
• Felt.."free like bluebonnets in the summer"

Bluebonnets are the Texas state flower and bloom in the springtime in the Hill Country

• Continued to sit on my porch
• Started reading the book Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

• Got classier glassier and invested in two pairs of new frames by Warby Parker and Rivet and Sway

The Mantra by Rivet and Sway on top and the Sims frame by Warby Parker on the bottom

• Went to the beach

• Drank some good craft beer 

What are you reading/drinking/enjoying? 

Have you checked in on your New Year's Resolutions?

"La joie de vivre"

My heart is SO full.  Full of humility, love, gratefulness, and happiness.  I am so thankful for how blessed I have been this year.  I feel as though I have been living up to my goals and resolutions so far.  The most important "la joie de vivre" - the joy of living.  

Let's take a look at some personal goals here from this post.

Personal Goals

• Go on a blind date
• Ask someone out on a date, because who says I can't go after what I want?
• Find a more unified theme for my blog, and increase my viewing audience
• Go on at least four brewery tours by the end of the year
• Ride a hot air balloon
• Send birthday packages/care packages/cards to show I love my family and friends 
• Buy all Christmas gifts by the end of November
• Send out Christmas cards by the first week of December
• Make a habit out of reading CNN, just like I read blogs/social media sites
• Every time I open social media I have to open CNN or another news source
• Minimizing all meat intake to once a week
• Go ALL OUT for holidays (Valentine's, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Mardi Gras)
• Travel abroad at least once this year 
• Travel to NYC, New Orleans, Dallas (for you, Sarah), Boston, Seattle, and Santa Fe
• Take another road trip across the country
• See more of my best friends (in person)
• Go to at least one concert

That's pretty darn successful for February 2013, especially considering I had not purchased plane tickets or concert ticket to either.  I feel good about this list, and I think it's definitely possible to complete everything by December.

I just returned from my trip to New York City and it was incredible.  I had the most wonderful time with my roommate visiting friends, being young, and simply living.  I'd love to give a brief update in pictures and a short list of places I highly enjoyed.  I have never felt so alive in the city, and even though I have no desire of living there, it was a blast to visit as a twenty-something.

Of course we arrived in the middle of Blizzard Nemo

Made a new friend on the left, reunited with a new friend on the right, and had a great time with my roomie 

NYC streets were dead in the middle of the night during Nemo

But the snow made Central Park look magical the next morning

Magical 

Met up with my college friend,  Erica! 

She took me to the Big Gay Ice-Cream Shop!  

The baby was soft serve with caramel topped with sea salt and covered in chocolate! 

There was a romance about Washington Square Park

Serendipity has legit hot dogs! 

But they are even more serious about their Frozen Hot Chocolate!  

Beauty in the Upper West Side

NYC night life

Craziness in Grand Central Station

Ended the trip with a PHENOMENAL performance by Mumford & Sons

Huge venue, but I was honored to be SO, SO, close to the stage

Are you experiencing "La joie de vivre" this year?

"I water my grass all day, every day..."

Sometimes you just have to keep on keeping on--know what I mean?!

January has been full of fun, and living, and downs, but lots of ups too.  Updates, in pictures? Sure, why not.

• I am beginning to feel immense guilt about leaving this place come May.  My school, my students, a place that has changed me and shaped my life's vision.  I am not sure if I could truly justify with words the way this little parish in central Louisiana has touched me.  May will surely be bittersweet.  

• My cousin came to visit for MLK weekend with her boyfriend and that was a blast.  I took her to all the local places and we went to NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana for those of you who never heard the acronym--Sean).  
• Thank you for coming, prima.  I love you so much and am so proud of who you have become since we were little girls playing Barbies.

At the local Daquiri Bar

New Orleans has an incredible energy about it.  This was at the Frenchman Art Market 

•  I felt so twenty-something.  I admired and appreciated art, something I take for granted much too often.  I forget how much I love just walking around and appreciating what other people take the time to create.  I may or may not have purchased three pieces of art.  

Best bar EVER.  The Carousel Bar inside of the Hotel Monteleone

• New Orleans was just fantastic.  I had not been there post-Katrina, even since I've been in living in Louisiana now.  Most people who know I live here don't realize that New Orleans is not just around the corner.  People also don't realize that Louisiana culture varies from the north to central to south Louisiana.  I definitely loved the vibe in New Orleans.  The Carousel Bar was a great place to people watch, listen to jazz, and sit at a bar that went around and around (slooowly of course) in Carousel fashion.  

The original Raising Cane's in Baton Rouge, LA.

Our first King Cake of the season in the spirit of Mardi Gras from Sucre.

It's not a NOLA trip without some Cafe Du Monde

Beignets & Cafe au laits

•  If you notice in the photograph above, I finally gave in and purchased some LSU gear.  You know you've been officially adapted to Louisiana culture when you wear some purple and gold. Oh, and when you stop calling it purple and yellow...oops.

• Then one fine MLK day, I was in a car accident. With whom?  Just with a girl who had her license for all of, oh, one month at the ripe age of sixteen.  I was at a green light and she was turning left in the opposite direction into oncoming traffic (AKA: me).  On the bright side, no one was hurt, she got a ticket, hopefully learned her lesson, and had insurance.    

My current rental: a black charger. Oh, I look SO fast and the furious in this.

• But, among all the ups and downs, I have these beautiful ladies to keep me company and keep me smiling.  I treasure our wining and dining like last Thursday night.  Maybe even scoring us some free creme brûlée on the side.  
• On a final note, the University of Washington (Seattle) grad school has now delayed their decision until "sometime in February."  But patience is a virtue, right y'all ;)

How did January treat you?

Drunk on Life

Remember this, guys? Well, let's recap a bit:

Personal Goals

• Go on a blind date
• Ask someone out on a date, because who says I can't go after what I want?

Check, and check.  Well, almost.  I am not wasting any time at all.  I am officially on the dating scene, I have never been the "dating" girl, but it's a new year and I decided that it's time to start dating.  So, I asked someone out, and I will also be going on a blind date this Tuesday.  

I know the blind date is the most intriguing story.  I have this past student who is a great kid, he's also very tech savvy.  Said student e-mails me towards the end of last semester informing me that his dad's friend was interested in taking me out.  My student prefaced all this by saying that he felt out of place telling me.  Awkwardness aside, I asked my student the infinite question, "How in the world does this 'friend' of your dad's even know who I am?"  Apparently back in September or October when my student ran into me at Wal-Mart as I was in my gym clothes and running shoes this person was also with him.  I only saw my student of course and cut the conversation as short as possible given my appearance.  According to my student he could not stop asking about me since.  Intrigued? Me too. I sure was flattered.  To wrap this up for y'all I will just say that I immediately left my student out of it and I made the executive decision to pursue this potential blind date.  This blind date has offered to make me dinner, but considering it is blind I changed its direction to meeting up for a drink at a local and neutral location.  In the words of Shoshanna from Girls, you've got to meet in a public place in case he turns out to be a rapist.  

It's fun, it's exciting, and it's definitely keeping my life interesting so I will keep y'all posted on the outcome of this date.  If anything I have a new friend, right? 

This weekend:

• I saw Zero Dark Thirty and it kept me on the edge of my seat the ENTIRE time. 
• I ran into every student and their mom (literally) on a rainy day outing
• Said bon voyage to our dear Matt. 
• Most importantly, in the words of a friend, I got drunk on LIFE. 

Don't forget to watch the premiere of Girls if you didn't.  I have to wait to watch it on HBOGo tomorrow night.  Please don't give away any spoilers! 

Rain Day // Mantra

All this recent excitement for Girls kind of, sort of, may have caused me to purchase a ticket to New York City.  No, really.  Okay, maybe it wasn't just because of Girls, but I am so psyched to go to the city in February.  February is one of my least favorite months anyway, so I may as well jazz it up a bit and hit up the east coast.

Louisiana to NYC, booked in a NY Minute :)

It's been about six years since I last went and even though I don't plan on doing the touristy things very much, I am thrilled to take this trip with my friend and roommate.

Best part?  I plan on seeing Mumford and Sons while I'm there.  They're playing in Brooklyn two days in NYC, and you bet I will see them while I'm there.  I bet you're wondering, were they a deciding factor on whether I went on this trip or not?  You bet they were!

So, let's analyze how my mantra for 2013 is going, "the work can wait" and "anything could happen."  For me, this year is about living.  I mean really and truly living.  Work can wait sometimes, and I want to enjoy life.  I have accomplished so much in the past year and a half, but I have missed out on living parts of it.  At the end of this year I intend to feel 100% drunk on LIFE.

I think the universe took it to heart when I established said mantra for my life, because today I woke up at 5:00 a.m. to find out that school was cancelled because of major flooding/tornadoes/storms.  HALLELUJAH!! What a beautiful surprise to have a rain day.  The work can wait...obviously, it did today!

I slept in, made breakfast, had lunch at my favorite restaurant, watched Django, sat on my porch and worked, and went mud riding(!). Say, what?  Yes, you did not misread, I went mud riding on a rainy day.  A friend we met a couple of weeks back drove by, honked (in true southern fashion), and before we knew it, two of my roommates and I were headed to the bayou to experience a southern tradition for rainy days.  It was an outstanding experience, and yes I missed yoga, but made some fantastic memories.

All I can say is that, life, well lived is good.

How has 2013 started out for you? 

Decisions

Lemon Drops were the drink of last night

Aren't you just in a deciding mood sometimes?  Usually I'm pretty indecisive, not the best decision maker.  Lately though, I'm all about making decisions.  On this beautiful Sunday before starting work again I will give you some insight into two executive decisions I have made.

• Making my bed regularly - I know this sounds super petty and ridiculous, but I've always been the girl who has made her bed every day.  Even through college I still made my bed daily.  When I moved to Louisiana a year and a half ago I somehow stopped.  I think this had something to do with the fact that I was going through a hard time that I stopped caring.  Now, I'm in a different state of mind and I woke up one day while I was home in Texas for winter break and thought, "Hmmm...I think I want to start making my bed every day again."  So, no more unmade bed for me.  It works for some people, and I tried it for a bit, but it wasn't for me.  I will wake up five minutes earlier just to get that task done.  Besides, I'm pretty sure I've read that people who make their bed in the morning are more productive.  

• "Anything Could Happen" by: Ellie Goulding will be my theme song of 2013 - Not only is this song featured in Girls, but it's pretty damn great.  It gives 2013 such a purpose for me.  Go read the lyrics or just listen to this song.  Last night, my first night back in Louisiana I made some pretty great memories to that song with some friends.  Dancing and laughing...oh, what a night it was.

My roommate Kathryn, her BFF Dan and I 

Cue Ellie Goulding playing in the background

What decisions have you made lately? Do you have a theme song for 2013? 

Inbox: Clean!

I would like to dedicate this post to those of you (like me) who have not cleaned out your inbox in years.  My roommate, Kathryn, has been nagging me about this for God only knows how long...but I've been putting it off.  See, in some areas of my life I understand the need for organization and I am extremely well organized.  In others...meh, not so much.  My e-mail is a prime example of the not so much.  Today, however, I decided I wanted my inbox to be at zero as opposed to the 2,000+ e-mails I had.  I wanted to clean out old folders, get rid of those labeled "Insert ex-boyfriend's name here" and "College."  I did a good tidying up, and it didn't take me more than thirty-ish minutes, which wasn't long considering the big mess I had.

So today, I am pushing you (yes, you) to go do the same.  It will feel good, I promise.  Oh, and what better way to start off 2013 than to have organized e-mail.

Do you keep your inbox at 0? What number do you like your inbox to be at, or do you not care?

Top 12 of 2012

As I work on improving my blog for the new year, I stumbled upon a couple of new ones that I'm starting to follow.  This particular one, gave me the idea for today's post.  After all, we beg, borrow, and steal from those who inspire hope within us in order to become our best version of ourselves.

Taken by: Lisa w/Contax 645 Medium Format Camera 

12. Re-Launching The Bright Side According To Laura.

11. Finishing my first year with Teach For America (whew!).

10. Taking the summer to fully reflect and re-focus on myself after a difficult break up, and learning to love my life again.

9. After much prayer and reflection, reaffirming my call to work for social justice through Social Work.

8. Visiting Seattle/Tacoma and falling in love with the Pacific Northwest.

7. Moving in with three roommates who have been a major contribution to making my second year of teaching much better than the first.

6. Continuing my yoga practice, strengthening my body, and mastering two and a half headstands.

5. Climbing to the rooftop of a building (I'm terrified of heights!) to an amazing night view of Seattle.

4. Applying to graduate schools and putting my eggs in two baskets (EEK!).

3. Asking for forgiveness and reconnecting with old friends (I still thank y'all).

2. Completing 75% of my commitment with Teach For America as of December, and falling in love with my job....what an accomplishment!

1. Always having my mother to rely on when I went through the bumps of 2012, having her there with words of wisdom, smiles, cards, hugs, and even spending more time than she needed to in Louisiana with me.  To her, I am eternally grateful.


What about you, friends, what are some of your highlights from 2012?

What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

What are you doing New Years Eve?

I'm spending it at home with my family--a good group of them that came in from Mexico.  We are drinking, and eating barbecue, and being a big, loud, Latino family :)

I discovered this video last year and thought it was absolutely darling.  It combines three of my favorite things: 1. good music, 2. Joe Gordon-Levitt, and 3. Zooey Deschanel.  Are they not just beautiful?

A little something I discovered yesterday...I may or may not have the honor of attending Hogwarts next fall.  Check out this incredible view of the Suzzalo Library at the University of Washington:

The silent reading room at the Suzzalo Library AKA: basically Hogwarts 

If studying there is wrong, I don't want to be right :)

Happy New Years Eve y'all! 

Goals for 2013

I've been thinking about goals and resolutions.  I like goal-setting, it makes me feel accountable to myself.  I feel really good about 2013 for three minor reasons:

1. Odd numbers are my favorite
2. The number thirteen has a history of good things in my family
3. There will be lots of change happening this year, and I embrace change

Personal Goals

• Go on a blind date
• Ask someone out on a date, because who says I can't go after what I want?
• Find a more unified theme for my blog, and increase my viewing audience
• Go on at least four brewery tours by the end of the year
• Ride a hot air balloon
• Send birthday packages/care packages/cards to show I love my family and friends 
• Buy all Christmas gifts by the end of November
• Send out Christmas cards by the first week of December
• Make a habit out of reading CNN, just like I read blogs/social media sites
• Every time I open social media I have to open CNN or another news source
• Minimizing all meat intake to once a week
• Go ALL OUT for holidays (Valentine's, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Mardi Gras)
• Travel abroad at least once this year 
• Travel to NYC, New Orleans, Dallas (for you, Sarah), Boston, Seattle, and Santa Fe
• Take another road trip across the country
• See more of my best friends (in person)
• Go to at least one concert

Physical Goals

• Continue to improve my yoga practice, and master at least two more headstands, including variations of dolphin and scorpion
• Join a yoga studio by the end of September 2013
• Join a gym with spinning classes by the end of September 2013 and join
• Find a team sport/ book club (not physical, but still) / beer tasting club or other group the join by October 2013

Professional Goals

• If accepted to a graduate program I want to choose one that will help achieve my long-term professional goals
• Apply to work at Teach For America's Summer Institute to gain professional development and better improve my management skills and leading a group of people towards success.
• Give my students a purpose every day for why they are in my classroom, with a goal-driven mindset until they exit in May 2013
• Mentor at minimum two more students individually on their life goals
• Set up a field trip for my Spanish I & Spanish II students by end of March 2013
• Make sure I am always doing something to work for social justice, whether that is volunteering somewhere new, helping individuals, or donating to a cause.

This list is definitely subject to change and I will probably add to it.  So much to accomplish, but it's a long year.  Among all these goals I want to create more.  The world is my canvas...

I'll show you how it turns out in 2013 ;)

What about you, share one thing you'd like to accomplish in 2013?