Happy independence day! Whenever I think of the fourth of July, I always think of one thing – fireworks. Curious how other countries celebrate their independence day? Click here for the 8 most interesting independence day traditions around the world.
A long time ago, I received a pair of fuzzy pajama pants as a secret santa gift. I remember at the time being so annoyed when I opened them. I’m naturally a very warm-natured person. Additionally, I live in the south. The combination of those things meant that I was pretty much guaranteed to never… Read More The cost of avoiding the unknown
My birthday is tomorrow. For a full-grown adult, I still get embarrassingly excited about celebrating my birthday. For the past few years, I’ve tried to do something special to commemorate the occasion. It’s ranged from playing Whirly Ball, to going skiing in Colorado, to visiting the Christmas lights in Centennial Park. I just really enjoy… Read More Lessons learned from birthday disappointments
I recently found out that an old college classmate of mine died. She was a few years older than me, so technically we were never classmates. By the time I enrolled in college she had been hired by the office of Residential Life, so even though we never shared a class I still knew her… Read More In the arena of life, are you winning or losing?
As I was writing about the importance of thanksgiving, I realized that a lot of those same principles could also be applied to forgiveness. Like thankfulness, we all know that forgiveness is important, but don’t practice it at much as we should. Like thankfulness, forgiveness is sometimes incredibly hard to put into practice. And just… Read More Thoughts on Forgiveness
Thanksgiving day is quickly approaching! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the subject of thankfulness. Thankfulness is something that almost everyone would agree is important, and yet at the same time almost everyone neglects to actually establish the habit of giving thanks. Why is that?
I recently heard an excellent Ted Talk by Isaac Lidsky. He opened with a fascinating story about a little girl talking to her daddy about her goldfish. Her daddy explained that the fish is able to swim forward by wagging his tail to push him through the water. “Yes, daddy,” the little girl said.… Read More The danger of backwards-swimming fish
A few weeks ago, I had a meltdown. Because of various health issues, I’ve found myself going to a lot of doctor’s appointments lately. These days I average between 2-3 appointments every single week. It’s safe to say that I’ve gone to more doctor’s appointments in the last year than I have in the rest… Read More When hard work becomes a bad thing
Nearly a decade after I first went to Costa Rica, I laugh at the fear I felt when I boarded that plane. When I returned from that trip I remember feeling totally invincible. I had just faced my biggest fear – and won. I thought I could do anything. Little did I know I had… Read More Turning stumbling blocks into stepstools
I have a vivid memory from nearly 10 years ago now. I had just received a scholarship from my university to teach English in Costa Rica for the summer. Although I had applied of my own free will, I didn’t think I would actually be accepted. Now that I had been, I was petrified. Absolutely… Read More Feeling scared? Do it anyway
