Thanks to You Mom and Dad <3

I've been thinking lately about a few different things and with it being so close to the holidays I really wanted to focus on how grateful I am for the many amazing people I have in my life. Those who are always there no matter what, those who are kind and uplifting and even though some of us may have had problems with each other in the past, it's behind us now and we are here to learn to forgive and forget the bad and hold on to the beauty we have in our lives.

God does not judge therefore, what gives us the right to do so? He is kind, gentle and nonjudgmental. "Sure, we are all judgmental in one way or another, but all of our judgments are superficial, based on appearance and actions, things easily interpreted by whatever state of mind or prejudice supported the need to exalt ourselves, to feel safe, or to belong." Everyone is going to judge people, that's life, but you have the opportunity to realize when you are doing it and change that.

I've been confused with those who hold grudges and live in the past, only because I recently had the "joy" of experiencing what it was like to be treated with complete disrespect as a result of someone else's actions and honestly, I am happy and truly thankful for this experience, to see how I dealt with it. To communicate with them how I felt in a kind way. Explaining to them that what they did was hurtful and nonsensical. I have never in my life felt so incredibly small, hurt and uncomfortable. But I feel like I dealt with it in an appropriate manner. I still talk to both of them even though I choose not to surround myself with their company because of the negative energy I feel from them when I am around them, but I am still kind to them when I run into them at work or outside of work, because I want to be not because I feel like I have to be.

The point I'm really trying to get across is that we all have already been forgiven for the things we do in life that we are not proud of, and He made that possible, so why do we still judge those who have "wronged or hurt us in the past?" I say, express how you feel and let it go. It's time for something new in our lives, but before that can happen we all need to learn how to let go and strive for something greater in our lives. Find what makes you happy, open your heart and let go of everything that's holding you back from really enjoying your life and seeing the beautiful things. Forgive those you feel have wronged you and if you have the relationship with them to forgive them in person, do it. If you are no longer close to them, they are not in your life for a reason, forgive them, take a deep breath and let it all go.

Doing exactly this has helped me so much with what I have gone through, this past year and also what I went through when I was younger. Growing up was hard in many ways for me, but I was lucky to have such a wonderful mother standing strong and keeping me strong and having such a wonderful father in my life now more than makes up for everything my family's dealt with in the past.

Thank you for being there, thank you for striving to give us a better life and for showing us the beautiful things life has to offer! I love you all so much :) xoxo

Holiday's coming up..

I haven't blogged in a long time, probably because Facebook has taken over the world and now that mom and dad are on it there's really no reason to keep up a blog anymore except to maybe keep it as a sort of journal that everyone can read ha ha. I was reminded about my blog by someone yesterday and thought I should probably update a little.

I've been sick in bed for the past few days as you all probably know by now, so I've had a bit of time on my hands. However, today I'm going out no matter what, lol. I'm having dinner tonight with my friend Jess at the Border Grill for happy hour ha ha (funny cause I'm not drinking) and then we are going ice skating, perfect for someone who's trying to get over the flu right!? ;) I haven't been ice skating in years so it should be fun, I'm excited. Like a little kid.

I have had a touch of the holiday blues lately with the Christmas coming at us head on. I can't believe it's Christmas again. Seems like just yesterday, but I feel like I am in a much better place than I was last year at this time. Well, I know that I am and I'm so thankful to be where I am at now. Since last Christmas I've shed a few "lbs" and by that I don't mean weight, but some people in my life who were not the kind that I would normally invite along for the ride. I learned a lot about listening to my intuition and a lot about learning to take care of myself, stand up for myself and to not settle for anything less than the things and people I want in my life. So for that I am very grateful :)

Speaking of not settling, I recently posted a status update on Facebook stating that, "I don't like the fact that I get disappointed so easily, any ideas on how to change that?" I was incredibly surprised to find that most of the advice from people was to either a.) lower my expectations or b.) lower my standards?? WHAT??? Really? I found their advice to be really upsetting. I almost felt an anger towards them for even thinking that would be a good resolve. I wasn't quite sure how to take it, so I decided to just ignore it. Then Jessica came to the rescue with this advice... "Love everyone's advice on this! I can only say you DON'T need to lower your standards, Keep putting good energy and love into every high expectation you have and trust that it is happening. Ariel is right, all the little disappointments that happen are just the stepping stones to reach your high expectations. Your still a young bird like me lil' Aim, everything will come together just keep your focus on what you want out of life, all the stuff that isn't important will disappear when it doesn't work for you any more, if your willing to let it go ;)"

Honestly, how smart is this girl!? She is definitely an old soul and I love her for it. I'm so glad she said it..I really hope everyone who replied that way read Jessica's and Ariel's comments. Thank you girls!! Love you lots!

So back to what I was saying earlier. I've made so many great friends this year and I'm so happy to have them all in my life. And now I'm thinking about moving to San Diego in February, so I'm going to have to start all over again in the friend department, but I'm okay with that. I will miss everyone, but I think I'm ready for something new...Whatever that may be...I guess this is my adventurous (Sagittarius) side coming out. I'm excited about it, but I will sure miss it here. Since I moved to this area, I've fallen in love with it! Dating here is, well I'll just say it's silly and I'm over it. I don't feel like anyone is really all the serious about it and I'm 26 this year!! I don't have time for games lol. Don't take that as me ready to get married or anything, but I would like to start a family by the time I'm at least 30, so 4 years to play, I think that works out perfectly. Right? Anyway, I would love to find a career in San Diego and I guess explore my options there. We'll see where it goes. My heart's not completely set on anything specific, but that's sounds about right to me at the moment :)

I'm having a hard time with Christmas this year...it's been 3 years since we've all been together for Christmas and I think it's about time that we pull it together and make sure that next year we have a real traditional Christmas like we used to have. I think it's important that we do and think we should all buy our plane tickets home now for next year lol. I'm so serious! Maybe we could spend it in Sun Valley, that would be so fun! Anyway let's work on that kids! Love you all so much! :)