Being a Friend

So many times I've seen people make lists of who they are: Daughter, sister, friend, college graduate, volunteer, etc, etc. I've been thinking and I believe that the most important identity to me is Friend. Obviously daughter and sister are important and special, but these identities were assigned, not chosen. Graduate and volunteer are great aspects as well, but I still don't feel like they give a good idea of who I really am. I have chosen to be a friend and it's wonderful that we get to choose who our friends are. And as much as I love my family, there is no replacement for the relationship you have with a friend.

It was a difficult time when I had to realize who my true friends were, but now I am beyond thankful for these wonderful women in my life. Since we can choose our friendships, we also get to set our own rules and expectations for those relationships. I can talk to my friends about pretty much anything, and we know each other well enough to share without the fear of judgment. I truly hope that every person has the opportunity to share in a relationship where you know that you would do anything for a person and know that that person would do anything for you.

In this time in our lives when my friends and I are all figuring out what we're going to do with our futures, it is so great to have each other to rely on. No matter how much my life is changing right now, I know that my friends will always be there (even if "there" is 1000 miles away). I still hope that some day we can live closer together again, but no matter what I'm thankful for them and love my friends beyond explanation.

A million thanks to all of them! I hope everyone else can take a moment to truly appreciate their friends, and to remember to be a friend.

Random Thoughts of the Day

Since I missed my August post, and I only wrote 1 in September, this post will serve as my "make-up" post. Although, at the moment I just feel like sharing some random thoughts:

-It must be hard to be a color-blind referee.

-Isn't it strange how we treat the Speed Limit as a minimum?

-I think it really stinks that "diet" drinks taste so gross.

-What is the point of hiccuping?

-With the infinite amount of possible names there are in the world, I have to wonder why there are so many streets with the same names! And why there are towns with the same names! Come people, let's stir up that creativity!


That's all for now.
Let me know your random thoughts of the day!

And remember to Keep the Optimism!

20 minutes (I guess this makes up for August...)

So I clearly failed at posting my August blog post, but I'm pretty sure my 1 reader didn't notice :) ha ha

August was a little crazy because I was packing up my apartment and moving about 20 minutes south. So, now I'm about as far south of Boston as I was north before. Pretty drastic change, I know.

It is amazing what 20 minutes can do, though. In my new town people are much more friendly. I've been greeted with friendly "Hi" "Hello" and smiles from strangers -- I love it! The people in my new apartment building are ultimately more friendly than in my last building, and the building itself is much nicer. Although moving is always a little hectic, this move was definitely worth it.

I'm very happy in my new home and I can't wait to take a little time to explore. I'm only 3 miles away from the beach, and I predict that will provide plenty of adventures.

I'll keep this post short, and I'll do my best to think of a much more inspiring topic for my actual September post.

Keep on looking for the adventure (even if it's only 20 minutes away!)

Regaining the Optimism

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." - Anonymous

I hope to start living my life based on this quote. We can't always control the way things work out, and even when we try to control them they don't always turn out how we hope. That along with the mantra "I am here now" - which I learned at yoga - I think will make for a much happier life. I need to live more in the moment, and make the best of the way things are.

I've been kind of a downer this month; definitely not my usual optimistic self. So, this is super important for me to improve immediately, as I am much happier when I'm optimistic:)

Tonight I spent the evening with a new (and wonderful) friend, and it was really a great time because I got to talk a lot of things out with her. She doesn't know the pre-Boston Carri, so it was nice to be able to talk with someone who isn't biased by past knowledge. She made me feel better about the way I've been feeling lately, and I really needed that validation. I'm so excited to have found a great friend who I really feel I can talk to. I hope this friendship will help me regain the optimism that I've been lacking.

I hope you'll all take the time to regain the optimism in your lives!

Going to the Extreme... sort of

So I thought I was pretty adventurous moving half way across the country. I barely knew anyone out here and I was set that I would make it on my own. And I have... I've got a job in a time when that is not an easy thing to get, I've made some friends when it could have been so easy to have kept to myself, and I've had some pretty interesting days going on adventures.

But, sometimes I still feel like such a boring person. I was in a throw-back kind of mood on my drive home, so I rocked out to some Avril Lavigne: "I want to know that I've been to the extreme. So knock me off my feet. Come on now give it to me. Anything to make me feel alive." (Anything but Ordinary)
For all the evenings I spend watching other people's lives on TV, why don't I go out and do more exciting things? I really have no excuse. I do want to go to the extreme, well maybe not the extreme extreme... I have no plans to streak through the Common any time soon, but I would like to spice things up a little.

Ok, so now that we're up to date, my life plans are to write more, rediscover my creativity, and live more excitingly (is that even a word?) Oh yeah, and to KEEP THE OPTIMISM!

My love/hate relationship with Fate

Sometimes it's fun to believe in fate. To think that everything that happens has a specific, planned out reason, and that as we lead our lives all of the puzzle pieces are falling into place and creating the masterpiece that is our lives... then I realize that this sounds like complete crap, and I re-evaluate life.

I kind of hate the concept that someone or something else has control over my life and no matter what I do, I'm just following a plan that some higher being has laid out for me. Where's the fun in living that kind of life?

I have been known to tell people "Don't worry. Everything will work out." I feel I can still say this on days I hate fate because it's a very honest comment. Everything does work out -- one way or another. I didn't say "Everything will be ok." I said it will work out, and honestly, this is all we can really depend on.

Things may or may not be controlled by fate, I guess we don't really have control over it either way, but we can always rely on the fact that things will work out. For better or for worse, things will happen and we will keep on living.

So, don't worry. Things will work out :)

Just a lame blog post

I'm just kind of bored today because I was really hoping it was going to be a nice weekend and I had plans to go running and hopefully catch some rays because my paleness is getting ridiculous. Unfortunately, it is raining... yet again.

I'm super stoked to go back to IL next weekend for my sorority Founder's Day! I can't wait to see all the girls and be back in college for a weekend.

I feel like I'm missing my "muchness" (you know, like from Alice in Wonderland). I really want to write and to create some cool things like the old collages I always did, but it's been really hard to find my motivation. I really am going to try to write or create at least a little something everyday. Maybe if you're lucky I'll share little snipits with you.

*Holding on to the optimism*

That's it! I'm building an ark!

Ok, maybe building an ark is a little ambitious, but all my fellow Boston-dwellers have to agree that the rain here is ridiculous! At first I was like "woo-hoo! Rain = free car wash" (which I really needed), but now it's more like "wamp wamp... rain makes everything dreary and it's not fun getting my work clothes all wet."

That gives me yet another reason I am beyond excited to go back to Chicago this weekend! I can't wait to see some friends and spend Easter with my family. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but my family is very big on getting together for holidays, and sometimes it's just weird to think I live 1,000 miles away from anybody related to me...

My current obsession is getting free stuff - who doesn't like that? I'm a big fan of the sitewww.heyitsfree.com Not only does it have an awesome name, but he gives great freebie tips and there are links to tons of other freebie sites. So far I've gotten a ring sizer from Blue Nile and a sample of Hyland's Restful Legs (because I'm seriously convinced I have Restless Leg Syndrome and I'm hoping this helps), and I'm still awaiting tons more things I ordered the other night when I couldn't sleep :)

I hope you had a wonderful March (and that you stayed dryer than I did!) Now go order some free stuff and I'll be back next month with more wonderfulness!

Short month.... BIG Cause

Oh my goodness, February went by so fast I almost didn't get to write my monthly update! In my defense - it IS the shortest month of the year!

Work has been super crazy, but I did get to go to Toy Fair in New York where there were over 1000 exhibitors. I saw more toys than I even knew existed, and it was really cool getting to meet all the different people. My hotel was right down the street from Times Square and it was a great experience for my very first business trip :)

That was fun and all, but on a more serious note - I just got back from seeing this documentary called "Lumo" about women in Africa. I had no idea how terribly the women of Africa were treated and how they have become such victims of the ongoing wars. There is a Heal Africa hospital where the women can go to be treated for the awful injuries they've sustained. I've decided that this is a cause definitely worth my time. I knew so little about it before this weekend, but now I want to help raise awareness and raise money to help out the hospital (who's budget has been seriously cut, and they are in real need of assistance). I don't feel I should go into too much detail at this time, because it's extremely graphic and tragic, and I'm still learning about it.
A group from the First Baptist Church of Wollaston (MA) is looking for ways to help, so a benefit concert is now in discussion and I'm sure I'll post more once we get it all figured out. I'm not technically a member of the church, but my boyfriend is the music director there, and since I don't really have a church of my own, they've been kind enough to accept me :) And I'm so excited to help them plan this fundraiser!

Please visit healafrica.org to learn more about the situation, and maybe you can help, too!

"Be the change you want to see in the world" -- Gandhi

What happened to my good karma?

I've been putting off my January blog post because, to be honest, this has been a crappy month. I swear I'm a good person and I continuously do good things to put my good karma out into the universe and hope it comes back to me. This month was mostly bad, but there was one or two little things that were good.
This month, somebody somehow got my debit card number and charged about $300 worth of online games to it. Games like World of Warcraft and Age of Reckoning are really not my style of things to buy. Luckily my bank caught it early enough that I'm really only working to get back about $40. I have NO idea how this person got my card number, but it has been a serious inconvenience trying to work it all out and I'm still debit card-less which is annoying in itself.
My other item of bad luck was my car. Driving home from work one night I must have hit a bad pothole or something because my tire completely died and ripped apart. Apparently the wheel (the metal part) was damaged too, so 500 some dollars later, I have a new wheel and tire on my car.
Needless to say, this has been an expensive month. I'm about to make it even more expensive because I'm about to buy my plane tickets home for Easter (at least that is a happy expense!)

The good news of the month - I have met a few girls through the book club I joined and I think they might actually be girls that I will hang out with! I'm so excited because this has been a loooonnnnggg 5 months without friends.

I've made it through another month on my own living in Boston, and I have to admit that living here continues to offer me interesting experiences and I do believe they are helping me build myself into a better and stronger person.

~ until next post! Peace!