kick ass

Today is my day off. It's my favorite day and I imagine a million things that I'm going do to. But the temptation to sleep-in, let my husband cook me breakfast and cuddle with my pup, while watching the final episodes of "Breaking Bad" trumped all. It's okay because they are sweet moments. 

It's mid-January. I stopped making resolutions awhile ago. I suck at them. They remind me of quick fixes. 30 days to abs. 10 days, lost 10 pounds. the possibilities are endless. I'm at that age where I think I'm too old for quick fixes. They don't really benefit for the long run. I'm in the market for life-reforming goals. I want things that are going to stick. 

I stumbled on this quote last year and I found great comfort when I read it. I think it still pertains to most aspects in my life and is a good motto when looking forward. 

Although, I didn't set a resolution for this year (nor do I ever think I will again, unless it's a community-type resolution) but I did set a goal. I decided to kick ass. nothing more. nothing less. 

2015, let's do this. 

the season of more. more. more.

I really admire the minimalistic lifestyle. I’m drawn to it. I think there is so much beauty in the simplistic. But in my life, minimal is not a common way of life. When traveling for long bouts of time and coming back to a “reality” again, I often times have the opportunity to start fresh. I have far less clothes, I have far less furniture(if any at all) and everything still looks clean and uncluttered. I may have a random keepsake here and there but it’s minimal, it’s peaceful, it’s calm. This is my favorite feeling. Fast forward to 6 months and I have tripled my furniture, pictures on walls, vintage vases, and the list goes on. I seem to always find myself back to where I was.  In the "More" zone. 

Currently, my husband and I are at opposite ends. He would tell you otherwise, but he is in the "more" phase. I think because he has lived the minimalist lifestyle for so long and he's finally at a place to be standing still. Marriage does that to you. He now wants more. He has actually started hoarding furniture. He comes home with something he's stumbled upon and I have to look at him and tell him, "put it back where you found it." It actually stresses me out a bit. We don't have a lot of space to be adding non-functional furniture pieces or random lamps that aren't anything i'd ever have dreamed of having in my dream home. 

Then there is my mother. My mother (out of the goodness of her heart) sends us care packages. She usually sends us one-two a month. They are filled with randoms she finds from goodwill. My mom is a goodwill master. But sometimes it's too much. After her boxes, i end up having to buy more hangers or clear our drawers to store what she's send.  We only have so much space and in the back of my mind, I keep thinking that it's going to be a pain to move. Moving is something we'd like to do sooner rather than later. The more stresses me out. Especially during the holiday season. 

I remember working retail around this time and the goal was to sell as much as possible. The other goal was for me to not purchase anything. Then I'd do it anyways. Then the goal was let's see if I can not purchase anything this week or this day. But it never worked. I fall into the trap too. Then I get frustrated from the holiday corporation. That makes us believe that we need to buy more. We need those special edition christmas collection ornaments that looked almost identical from last years collection. What happened to breaking down what it means to be in the holidays. Family traditions. spending time together. being thankful for what we have. knowing that we are not alone and there are thousands of people who have far less than we do. hug your loved ones and send them more blessings this year. not more of something that will be out of season next year. 

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
 

The Endless Summer

Dance all night, sleep all day.                                                                                                                       and binge watch netflix.

This was the anthem for my summer. Minus the reality that I didn't really get to sleep all day. 

The last few months have been a whirlwind and I'm sad to see it go. June-August was filled countless hours binge watching Netflix, we are too broke to do anything else, also all of our money went toward our wedding and other peoples' weddings in far away places. All that aside, this summer has been great and magical. I danced my heart out and drank my liver out. Neither of which are normal occurrences for me. 

But in my defense, I've noticed that all the weddings/events in the like, we went to,  there seemed to be more alcohol in abundance than water. Just give me water, please.

In July, we went to a Florida wedding where the dancing and humidity took its toll. I was drenched in sweat and kept drinking this yummy pineapple and rum concoction (seriously, not any water in sight) . That night was great, lost my keys, danced with my mom, took "selfies"with  my esteemed aunt and a southern belle, had bonding time with my cousins that lasted until about 5 am.  It was great, until the under slept version of me was not happy.  I recounted the nights events and drinks... I counted up to at least 14 and stopping counting, knowing that today was going to be awful. And it was.  Was it worth it? Totally. 

Lesson learned. Alcohol is not water. 

Until next time, my friends. 

Darkness cannot drive out darkness, nor can we keep waiting for the world to change

My heart is heavy these last few days. "We keep waiting, waiting, waiting on the world to change." And it is. Just not like we'd planned or hoped for. A couple days ago ISIS beheaded a second journalist, both so far have been Americans, and that breaks my heart. I don't understand Evil. But why should I? Thank God, because it keeps me hoping and praying that there are more people like me. People who need light, even on our darkest days. There is still goodness that needs to shine. 

Light is good but the darkness is where we see who we really are. It's where the monsters come out. That when we find out what our human side is capable of. For most, the power of light and all that is good consumes and overwhelms. In those moments, we come out stronger and have more fight in us that we never knew was there. That's what the darkness teaches us. And that is beautiful and merciful. 

But it's the other end of the spectrum. The people who never come out of darkness that is inconceivable to me. 

A couple years ago, I went to Washington D.C. for my Aunt's inauguration as an ambassador. It was exciting and such and honor to be there and overall, a really big deal. In my downtime I went to the Newseum. This place is the mecca for all journalists. I remember seeing the sections dedicated to the World Trade Center, the Oklahoma City Bombing and other importance pieces of history that a lot of people probably don't remember. Then I stood next to a Memorial database of journalists who lost their lives in the line of duty. Men and woman who died because they knew how important it was to find those stories, those real life events that you and I would have never known otherwise, the ones who brought the world to us and thought we should know. I was so emotional reading those names, soaking up their stories. 

I'm not writing this to sound depressing. I'm writing so you can thing about how you will respond with light. 

To find a way to connect with the world and at least acknowledge that we all breathe the same air and are made of the same flesh and bone. 

Please, Please, please find the light wherever you can and share you can. 

We all need a reminder that the world has beauty and goodness in the most unlikely of places.

There is light even in the deepest, darkest dwelling. There has to be. 

Nesting: We got a monster and her name is trouble.

It seems rather odd that I'd start this blog as one of my beginning posts rather than filling in the blanks on other things but, oh well, the world has not crumbled yet from a jumbled storyline.  

And then there were three. 

My other half and I very recently added a puppy to our mix. She's a precious little labsky, born on July 5, 2014. Fun Fact: She was born on our wedding day. We took that as a sign of fate and went for it.  Her name is Buhle Alexandria Suikerbossie Venter. 

It's a mouthful but we call her Buhle (boo-lay) for short. It's a Xhosa name for beauty and Suikerbossie is Afrikaans for sugarbush, an endearing term like honey or sweetie. 

The first day we had her she was extremely mellow. By 3 am, she was a completely different dog. She pulled a full Jekyll and Hyde and became a monster, a cute monster.

Having a puppy is like a baby. There are tons of sleepless nights and they pee and poo everywhere. We have been crate training her and it has not been fun. She cries for hours and hours. If anyone has any tips, please send me your knowledge. 

Then there are those moments, when your husband tells you when you come home from work, "She won't sleep and hasn't slept for hours," and in that moment she snuggles up next to you and falls asleep. Precious. I'm totally in love with her. 

This spunky, stubborn girl is going to be trouble. I knew it the moment I looked into her baby blue-eyes.