Capri… so full of beauty

       Now, anyone who knows me knows that I have been obsessed with Pompeii since I was a little girl. I used to read the Magic Tree house book series religiously and one to the journeys I was able to take through that series was one to the ancient town of Pompeii. Pompeii used to be a town full of riches, commerce and the elite. The people there lived elaborate lives: big palaces and numerous bath and spa business centers. Also there? An acceptance of brothels and prostitution. Prostitution was not frowned upon and neither was much else, morals were not much of a concern to Pompeii. 

     Despite Pompeii's legacy and ruthless destruction, the remains of the city are still beautiful. The white columns and stone buildings still stand loud and proud, echoing the glories of a once glamourous city. It was incredible to be able to walk through the city. The remains of the citizens still bring gloom and shock. Their faces still clearly show trembling fear, who could imagine their life ended by pounds of ash and burning lava? 

    Next stop, was our hotel, which was quite charming and beautiful. The town is full of color and the people are some of the sweetest I met. Even though it rained, the beauty of the city could not be covered. 

      The next day, we went to Capri and again it poured, but that didn't stop our adventures. Capri is truly full of beauty. The colorful homes are lined among beautiful scenery and ever blue water. Capri is 

specifically known for its Limoncello production and intricate sandals, hand made by artisans. Nothing beats handstiched sandals and Swarovski crystals. Capri is definitely one place I will one day come back to. 

What the Italy?!?! #2

A picture's worth a thousand words. These are on every corner. Welcome to Italy.

Quote of the Day 10/25/12

“It’s the oldest story in the world. One day you’re seventeen and planning for someday. And then quietly and without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And that someday is yesterday. And this is your life.”              [Nathan Scott]

mind over matter, part 1

     Renowned German psychologist Bruno Klopfer published a famous study in 1957 on the connection between human psychology variables and cancer. In this famous study, Klopfer documented the life of a man named Wright who had been diagnoised with an advanced form of cancer in his lymph nodes. All treatments had been tried, retried and Doctors were accepting that Wright would not have much time left. Klopfer wrote the following: 

      "His neck, armpits, chest, abdomen, and groin were filled with tumors the size of oranges, and his spleen and liver were so enlarged that two quarts of milky fluid had to be drainedout of his chest every day. Wright heard about an exciting new drug called Krebiozen, and he begged his doctor to let him try it.  At first the doctor refused because the drug was being tried on people with a life expectancy of at least three months.  Finally the doctor gave in and gave Wright an injection of Krebiozen on Friday, but in his heart of hearts he did not expect Wright to last the weekend. Ten days after Wright’s first treatment, he left the hospital and was, as far as his doctors could tell, cancer free.  When he entered the hospital he had needed an oxygen mask to breathe, but when he left, he was well enough to fly his own plane at 12,000 feet with no discomfort.Wright remained well for about two months, but then articles began to appear asserting that Krebiozen actually had no effect on cancer of the lymph nodes.  Wright, who was rigidly logical and scientific in his thinking, became very depressed, suffered a relapse, and was readmitted to the hospital.  This time his physician decided to try an experiment.  He told Wright that Krebiozen was every bit as effective as it had seemed, but that some of the initial supplies of the drug had deteriorated during shipping.The physician used only plain water and went through an elaborate procedure before injecting Wright with the placebo. Again the results were dramatic.  Tumor masses melted, chest fluid vanished, and Wright was quickly back on his feet and feeling great.  He remained symptom-free for another two months, but then the AMA announced that a nationwide study of Krebiozen had found the drug worthless for the treatment of cancer.  This time Wright’s faith was completely shattered.  His cancer blossomed anew and he died two days later.”

     Many studies have come to show that the human is more powerful than most of us believe it to be. Harvard professor Ellen Langer has devoted her life to the research of the human mind. She has found that giving nursing home resident more control over their lives made them live longer, or she made hotel maids lost weight simply by telling them that their work burned as many calories as a typical workout, or Langer found that instructing a group of elderly men to talk and act as if they were 20 years younger reversed the aging process. 

Quote of the Day 10/7/12

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see. The longer I live the more my mind dwells upon the beauty and the wonder of the world."

[John Burroughs]

Quote of the Day 10/6/12

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”                                               [Ralph Waldo Emerson]

What the Italy?!?! #1

In honor of my study abroad voyage, separate from my more philosophical, analytical posts, I have decided to start sharing short and sweet life tips that Italy will teach me. Here is one as I start my weekend…

In Italy, they thoughtfully produce and sell wine juice boxes. No worries, the straw is included! So next time you're packing your kid a nice brown bag lunch, don't forget to include their juice for the day. Don't want them getting dehydrated or anything….

La Bella Vita

I call this one "pondering my Italian future"

     They say theres a first time for everything… Well, this is my time first time blogging…in Italy! I have been away from the states for 3 weeks now. Seems like just yesterday I was lugging my luggage through 6 different airports to make it to Italy. Yeah, 6 different airports: Santa Barbara to LAX to Denver to Chicago to North Carolina to London Heathrow to London Gatwick to Florence. If you've never trailed to so many airports you should, you get a cross country tour within 48 hours. Super exciting, you should really try it. 

     This semester I am very fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to spend a semester in beautiful, one of a kind, splendid Rome, Italia. The first two weeks of my program were spent in Florence. There we did an extensive, 4.5 hour a day Italian language immersion program. During the day we learned the language and during the night we attempted to tie together bits and pieces of any Italian we knew. Try asking a old little lady in a tiny market in a village for a few slices of prosciutto and she hands you a kilo of it. Atleast the prosciutto here is amazing so 3 pounds of it is the smallest of concerns. 

Quote of the Day 8/08/12

“What is the quality of your intent?

Certain people have a way of saying things that shake us at the core. Even when the words do not seem harsh or offensive, the impact is shattering. What we could be experiencing is the intent behind the words. When we intend to do good, we do. When we intend to do harm, it happens. What each of us must come to realize is that our intent always comes through. We cannot sugarcoat the feelings in our heart of hearts. The emotion is the energy that motivates. We cannot ignore what we really want to create. We should be honest and do it the way we feel it. What we owe to ourselves and everyone around is to examine the reasons of our true intent.

My intent will be evident in the results.”           [Thurgood Marshall]

Quote of the Day 7/8/12

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”            [John Lennon]

Quote of the Day 7/5/12

"Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change."        [Jim Rohn]

Quote of the Day 7/1/12

"Storms make trees take deeper roots."                        [Dolly Parton]

Cheat a little...

     So at my job (which btw I will have to devote a full post to one of these days because it is absolutely the best job I've had in my life thus far), my manager has us carry around a 8.5 by 11 "cheat" page of the activities going on at the property on a weekly basis. Unless we have completely memorized every event, this cheat sheet needs to be glued to our body at all times. That way, if anyone were to stop and ask questions about events, we could actually answer questions and seem informed. Plus, nothing looks worse then mumbling out a meesly "uhhhhh.. I don't know..." to a guest of a luxury, 5 star, world renowed resort.
     Because it is summer, there is no reason that I should not be posting on here more. I am so humbly honored by all the positive feedback I received for my last post and have been thinking about what to write next. This cheat sheet from work gave me an idea to perhaps write a small cheat sheet about myself. Now, the things I am about to share may or may not be the most important, pervailing life facts or secrets. Plus, I always suck at filling out those applications or question sheets that say "describe yourself in 250 words or less."
    And on a side note, if some of you stumbled across this post hopeing to find some justification to cheat on your significant other, your next math test, tax report or diet, sorry, keep looking...

Rat Race

     As I sit on my plushy queen size bed, stretch my legs and begin the oh so glamourous process of overnight teeth bleaching , I cannot help but reflect back on the conversations that took place 24 hours ago. My friend Christy had made a surprise appearance in Santa Barbara and it was only fitting and proper (for us former Southern Belles) to get together over tea and biscuits (okay... Coffee Bean and loud bar noises of downtown) and catch up on life. Christy and I were once just debate team acquaintances but after roughing the life of Knoxville, Tennessee, super sized Walmart, and fried chicken... well simply put, we were pretty much friends for life. 

     Our 5 hour long conversation started with the usual- the "how are you doing?", "aren't you glad its summer?,"how is he doing?" and "I can't believe he said that!", but 24 hours later, I kept reflecting on one simple phrase. So simple, but so, completely and utterly honest: "it's like a rat race."

     After getting through the surface issues of life: not enough sleep, not enough money and not enough sane men, we got to the nitty gritty. What is life and when does it actually start? Christy's words could not have hit the nail on the head more perfectly, for me, for her and probably most of the rest of the world. By dictionary terms, a rat race is a term used for an endless, self-defeating or pointless pursuit and in visual terms, its like a rat in a lab cage, who tries to escape by furiously running around in its wheel, but realistically for little purpose. 

     I know especially, that being a student, and a part of the rising work force, you really do get thrown into a rat race. In school you are pressured by yourself, or someone close to yourself ,to do more, to do better, to get internships which will get you better connections and jobs in the future. You have to take 19+ units and do 5 extracurriculars and be the homecoming queen and be ASB president and the fasted runner on the track team and volunteer for the animal shelter and raise 25,000 dollars a month for cancer research and score in the top percentile on the MKATs or LSATS and triple major and get at least a 3.8 gpa all while somehow maintaing your health, sanity, credit card bills and personal relationships. Somehow even writing that all out made me exhausted, let know trying to figure out how to fit that all into a 24 hour day. 

Jan/Feb/March/April Update?

I've been gone for a while and I wish it wasn't so. There has been so much I have wanted to write and share but frankly, theres just no enough hours in the day. Things have been so chaotic and busy that last time I checked, I was unwrapping Christmas presents and now I am 4 weeks away from being done with my second year of school. Crazy huh? 

Despite all the busyness life consistently entails, one thing has been present... every. single. day. Ready for it? Well, joy. Pure, unending, consistent joy. The greatest thing I have learned is to find yourself knee deep in the so many errands, assignments, and duties but to have a calm and joyful heart. Never in my life have I been happier or felt so fulfilled. Here's a brief example from today: I spent a few hours going to the bank, to the store, and other miscellaneous tasks and as I drove with my windows down, the 73 degree sun and breeze shinning down, the only thing I could do was smile and laugh. This is the day that the Lord has made, and it was just perfect.

4/2/12

Quote of the Day 3/29/12

Quote of the Day 3/14/11

I'll be back again soon... :)

Quote of the Day 2/1/12

Quote of the Day 1/11/12

Quote of the Day 1/3/12

"Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything."         [Muhammad Ali]

Twice the reason to celebrate!

January 3rd isn't officially over, therefore I still have some time to brag about yet another two wonderful women in my life who happen to coincidentally, share a birthday today!

First of all, this person has been talked about before but not formally introduced. The picture above is of my bestest, dearest, most amazing, loving, inspiring, honest, motivating, best friend... Shannon Nicole Orr. At some point I will have to write about the story of how our friendship came to be because it is really one fascinating story. Shannon is the one person, outside of my family, who knows things about me. She has literally been there for some many things that have happened to me over the past few years, both the really good and the really sucky. What I have appreciated the most is the honest in our friendship. We tell each other how it is, and respect the criticism because we mutually understand that it comes from the most loving place. When it comes to fights, there haven't been any. Our moments of frustration with each other last about two minutes, because we can always say whats on our minds. PLUS, I have cried to her about the same boy(s) quite a few times in the past few years and she never would even roll an eye, I think she is a keeper :). We live quite a few thousand miles apart now, but things haven't changed. We aren't growing apart, but growing together. We love each other, pray for each other, and couldn't imagine life without each other. She is one of a kind and she's changing the world. I am so blessed and gracious to be able to call her my best friend. Happy Birthday S!

Quote of the Day 1/1/12

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.      [Helen Keller]