Reason #18 - Yoga

   I started doing yoga in the hospital. I never really had a desire to try it before I  had the opportunity, but I'm really glad I did it! It is so refreshing and relaxing. I love doing it at the end of a long day to clear my mind. Anyone really can do it! I am at the point where I don't use instructional videos anymore, I just do the positions I want to do and that is so freeing. I hope to teach it someday! I also want to travel and do yoga in really cool places. It's something so simple, but is so good for you physically and mentally!

Yoga on, yogis!



 

This music video always makes me happy. Thought I'd share!

Reason #17 - Babies

   Holding a little baby is an instant uplift for me. Who can resist little baby face and little baby smell?? Not this girl. Here are some cute babies to get you through this Monday...

I saw this on the internet and I liked it. Just some things to think about.

Reason #16 - Waking up 2 hours before your alarm clock

   We had some ladies over for dinner tonight and we all agreed that one of the best things in life is when you wake up two hours before your alarm clock is set to go off. It's so amazing getting that feeling when you realize you have a lot more time to rest. It's something so simple, but makes me so happy every time it happens. On the other hand, waking up two minutes before you have to get up is the worst. But I want this blog to be strictly positive, so I'm not going to talk about that. :-)

-B

Reason #15 - Work

   This may sound unusual, but I love working! This is mostly because I adore my job. I work at the Gymboree outlet and it's the bomb! I think it's way better than working in food or as a fair greeter (my previous jobs). I get to sell cute clothing to cute kids. And getting to interact with the little ones is the best! The other day a little girl asked me to watch the TV with her and I did for a little because we weren't busy! It was so precious. I just feel so good when I get to work. It gets me out of the house and takes my mind off of things for awhile. It also helps when you enjoy being around the people you work with. Tonight I helped put together a lot of outfits for a woman who was shopping for her daughter. I was working with her for over an hour! It's so satisfying pleasing someone else and hearing them say, "I'm going to write you a good review." If it paid better I could probably do this for the rest of my life! But there are many other jobs that I want to experience in life, so that probably won't happen.

   If I had any advice to give if would be to find a job that makes you happy! It's really difficult during your teenage years because jobs are slim. I was lucky to work at a restaurant where a lot of my good friends worked so that really helped. I had fun there, but eventually I was ready for something different and decided to leave instead of continuing in a job that I didn't enjoy as much. Money is nice to have, but happiness is way more important. There is something out there that you will look forward to doing, you just have to search a little to find it sometimes! :)

-B

Reason #14 - Uplifting Conversations

   Have you ever left a conversation just smiling and thinking, "Wow, that was really nice." Maybe you were talking to a family member or a neighbor or a cute boy or an older lady in church. Nothing is more uplifting than a nice interaction with a friendly human being.

Reason #13 - Snow Days!

   Even though I am no longer in school, snow days are still fun for me. I enjoy having the kids with me (for the most part). It's like time freezes and you just get a free day off. Today we are drinking hot cocoa, watching movies, reading books, and cuddling. Yayayayaya :))

Sending the kiddies out to play!

-B :)

Reason #12 - Late nights

   I love many times of the day, but there's just something about the world late at night. Everything is still and silent. I do some of my best thinking in the middle of the night. That's when I write most of my blog posts or in my journal or letters or I read or watch movies. It's also some of the only time I get to spend alone. I don't have to be doing anything for anyone else, it's my me time. A time to reflect on my day or to email my best friend who is 10 hours ahead of me in India. I am the definition of a night owl.

   Also, some of my favorite memories with my friends have been late at night when we're half insane and do something we wouldn't even think about doing in the daylight.

-B

Reason #11 - Pretty Flowers

   It's the dead of winter and this is easily the most depressing time of the year for me. I think I hate it so much because I really enjoy being outside with nature and seeing everything alive around me, but that isn't so easy in the winter. Right now I am dreaming of flowers. Flowers can say so many different things. They tell us when spring is here. And they can say "I love you," "I'm sorry," or even "I was just thinking of you and I wanted you to have these pretty flowers because you are awesome." Charley went out and bought a bunch of flowers for the house and it really brightens my mood every time I walk passed them. I really need more flowers in my life, especially in the winter.

Boys take note: hydrangeas and sunflowers are my favorite. :)

 

 

-B

Reason #10 - Vinyl Records

   Today my sister went off on a little day trip to Lancaster City. To my surprise she came home with four new records for me! I was even more surprised to find out that they were really good records. Not the kind that you can pick up at a consignment shop for a buck. Like Darkside of the Moon kind of good. Eeek! I'm a happy girl. My parents got me a little record player for Christmas and now I've become obsessed. Music just sounds so cool and gritty on them. Currently I'm listening to one that my sister just got me today, the Woodstock soundtrack. It gives me chills because they have clips of announcements and other sounds from the audience too. Ahh, I love it. It's pretty fun!

Spinning some Beatles on the good old player.

 

-B

Reason #9 - Sports

   I'm kind of a junkie when it comes to sports. I can never get enough of sports and I love them all. I'm especially happy tonight because my Seattle Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl! Whoooo! There really isn't anything like watching a close game, knowing that anything could happen. And there is an amazing unity among fans of the same team. A team can bring together a whole city. Ahh, I love it!

 

WOO LETS GO HAWKS!!!!!

 

-B

Reason #8 - Good Books

   One of my favorite things is finding a great book and staying up really late reading because you can't put it down. Ahh, just thinking about it fills me with joy. My problem is, though, that I want to read so many books that I can't just read one at a time. So sometimes it takes me 6 months to finish a book because I'll be reading 3 other ones at the same time. I should work on that, but I just love reading and I just want to read everything. And I LOVE libraries. They are just so enchanting to me. I could spend hours in them. I love the atmosphere and even the smell. Plus you can meet the coolest people in libraries because the coolest people read.

My dream.

   I have a lot of favorite books, but It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini is probably my favorite. I think I like it so much because I identify SO much with the main character. It's about a boy named Craig who struggles with depression and ends up in a mental hospital. The way it's written is not depressing, it's really funny. It took me awhile to read because I started it before I went into the hospital, and then finished it after I got out. I credit this book for helping me so much through that time because it was comforting to see my life in a book basically. It's so real and it is based off the author's own struggles and stay in a hospital himself. The ending is just so amazing. I read the last page often when I am feeling down. Sadly, a couple days before this past Christmas, Ned Vizzini took his own life. I was heartbroken to hear that the man who wrote such an influential book in my life fell victim to his disease. After his passing I saw many people on the internet say how this book helped save their lives. I highly recommend it.

 

Some of my other favorites:

To Kill a Mockingbird

Crime and Punishment

Into the Wild

Looking for Alaska

The Outsiders

The Giver

Perks of Being a Wallflower

Speak

Harry Potter series

Hunger Games series

My Sister's Keeper

The Color Purple

A Series of Unfortunate Events

and so, so many more.

 

What I'm reading now...



 

   There's this great place that has super cheap used books called 2nd and Charles. You can also trade in old books for credit, but I don't like giving my books back because I like watching my collection get bigger. :)

 

-B

 

 



Reason #7 - Dreams

   You can interpret this reason in a couple different ways.

1. I think dreaming while asleep is one of the coolest things ever. Our mind subconsciously makes little movies for us every night. How CRAZY is that? I have been known to have really wild dreams, especially after I started routine medication. Sometimes I go on those dream interpreting websites to try and figure out what they mean. I'm not sure how accurate they are, but they are fun to explore. I also have very simple dreams, that sometimes make me rethink if they were actually real life or not. Nevertheless, I love being able to recall my dream the following day. Sometimes I get upset when I can't finish them, but they are still super awesome to me. Our brains are such cool and powerful things.

2. Day dreaming. I dream about my future a lot. I imagine how I will meet my future husband, my wedding (a lot about my wedding), my future children, the home we will live in, going to grandma's house for Thanksgiving, what I will do for a living. I dream about places I will visit and things I want to see and experience. I hope I get to travel and make lots of memories. I want to hot air balloon and go on a cross country road trip and see tons of national parks and monuments. I want to have a perfectly imperfect family and have a really crazy Christmas card every year. I want to have a really close relationship with God. I want to go to as many concerts as possible, even when I'm really old and I can't stand anymore. I want to go white water rafting and hiking in unique places. I want to volunteer a lot and meet all kinds of people. I want to hear about other's lives and I want to make them better if possible. I want to invent or create something really cool or crafty. I want Oprah to tweet me back. I want to write a book and some good poetry. I want to throw a surprise party for someone I love. I want someone I love to throw a surprise party for me. I want to eat lots of yummy foods and never turn down something delicious for the sake of trying to lose weight. I want to teach yoga in Hawaii. I want to love and to be loved. And I don't want to leave this earth until I have done all these things.

 

Dreaming is what keeps you alive.

And now I leave you with one of my favorite quotes by Mark Twain.

 



Reason #6 - Friends

   I wasn't always the best friend during my low periods. I became very isolated and distant. It was very hard for others to connect with me and because of that I felt like I was losing friends. I am thankful for those that stuck around and tried to understand what I was going through. I don't have enough time to write about them all, but I found a bunch of pictures today. Even all these pictures don't cover all the people that stuck by me through that time.

   Be a good friend and never ever give up on anyone. Chances are they are acting like that for a reason. Take time to listen and just be there when they need you. And if you are the struggling friend, don't be afraid to confide in your friends. They can't read your mind, so they need you to tell them how to help. If they are a good friend, they will listen. Sometimes the best thing someone can do to help is just sit in silence, not talking about problems, but just being there.

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

-B

Reason #5 - Hand-written Letters

   Hand written letters mean a lot to me. I save every single one I receive and I read them on really bad days. I have letters that my 2nd grade class wrote me when I moved to Maryland, all the way to "thank you" letters that I got last week. There is something so special about a letter. Someone took the time to write to you, to thank you for something that you did for them, or to send some words of encouragement.

   My lovely friend Jane, who is currently on a mission trip in India, wrote me many letters to brighten my day when I was struggling a lot. She would add Bible verses in them and always reminded me that I was never alone in this. That impacted me so much and I am so thankful for her.

   One of the best notes that I ever received was only 9 words long, but was literally the turning point in my depression. At the camp I go to every year, I was sitting next to one of my most amazing friends, Melissa. We were listening to a speaker and she knew I was struggling and not making the best choices in my life at that time. She ripped off the corner of her paper and wrote me a little note and handed it to me. When I read it I burst out crying. I don't think she knew how much it meant to me, but we ended up both crying and making a little bit of a scene, haha. I'm not sure why it just hit me then, but there was just such a feeling of love in that moment. It was amazing. I literally felt like God had prompted her to do that because it was just what I needed. I still have that tiny note in my journal and it means so much to me.

   You never know what some kind words can do for someone. If you appreciate someone, write them a note. A little goes a long way.

-B

P.S. If you would like to read about Jane and her team's adventures of spreading Christ's love in India, here is the link to their blog. She is an amazing writer! http://ywamwylieindia.wordpress.com/

Reason #4 - Blue Skies

   I walk to pick up my little brother from school, and I like to take this time to just observe what's around me. Today the skies were so blue and pretty. The outdoors always brighten my mood!

 

 

   Above is an unfiltered, unedited picture of today's sky. It still does not do it justice. I just think blue skies look so beautiful and mesmerizing. They seem to go on forever. I could stare at it all day. Love. Love. Love.

 

-B :)

Reason #3 - Delivery Pizza

   How cool is it that we can pick up the phone, order pizza and bread sticks, and then 30 minutes later... it shows up right at your door?! We are so lucky! It's such a treat. Most of all I love seeing my little siblings looking out the window and watching for the pizza guy. They get so excited and it's just so precious. Hooray for Pizza Hut!

Reason #2 - Dancing

   I LOVE to dance! Who doesn't love busting a move?! It's the #1 way for me to feel better when I'm down. I dance when I clean. I dance in the shower. Sometimes I get so happy that I must dance, no matter where I am. I was dancing at the gas station the other night because I was so happy to be with my friends and I saw that they started selling Cadbury Eggs again. Mmmmm.  :)

 

DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT

 

 

-B

Reason #1 - Family

   Family was the first one I could think of, and at one point the only thing that kept me going. I love my family and I was always still am constantly worried about upsetting them. I have four younger siblings, two pretty great parents, and a cutie patootie dog. Not to mention the large extended family that I don't even have time to write about.
  

 

   Although my family is not perfect, I am so blessed to have them. I love having someone to always chat or play games with when I'm bored. Family game nights get intense at our house. We have stayed up into the wee hours of the night playing charades and Dance Central 2. I even had to take a break writing this post because my little brother that I babysit during the day said, "Hey, instead of being on the computer or watching TV, we should play UNO!! We are being bored right now." So we did, he won. But we will be having a rematch later. My siblings are my best friends. We laugh a lot. We even have a Top 10 Funniest Moments list that we talk about when we are all together that still makes up crack up laughing. My friends even ask me to tell them "Trae stories" because I have so many good ones from that kid.

   Sometimes we get frustrated with each other, but I wouldn't trade them for the world! <3

-B