“It sounds really corny, but I think that if you’re beautiful inside, it shows on the outside for sure. You can be a pretty face, but if you’re not a nice person, it just doesn’t work. I’m not traditionally a beauty, but apparently people think I’m all right. If you’re a nice person, it definitely helps.” – Kate Moss

Since the last writing on this blog a lot of my life has changed.  I have gone from worrying about what I am going to do with my hair on Friday night to what values I want to create in my family.  I have become the adult I wasn’t thinking I would be for a long time.

I was living my life pretty typically for a twenty something.  I worked hard, I partied, I loved clothes and the odd frivolous spending day.  I was living in the moment.  My future seemed a long way off.

The future has arrived and now everything is different.  The things I thought I most enjoyed have become simple pleasures.  What I value most now is my quite time with my boyfriend and my family.  I love making my new apartment into a cozy home.  I love planning out the next year.  I love setting up all the building blocks for everything that is to come.

It is incredible how the entirety of what I thought I wouldn’t want for myself right now, everything I planned to happen in the years to come has been exactly what I have needed for me now and exactly what has fulfilled me.

Life has become something more beautiful then I ever thought possible and it has only just begun.

I have never been one to fully embrace much change with a positive mindset.  I have always enjoyed stability and continuity.   So I find it so very interesting that I have found my greatest happiness and purpose in everything changeable.   Every day, every moment is more drastically different from the rest.  I would never have understood or believed that this would be the path I am now on, if a month ago someone had come to me and predicted it.

Life has an amazing ability to form you into a person you never thought possible.  In difficult times you become a super hero with strength you never imagined,  in times of fear you can have moments of unexpected cowardliness, and during times when you need to suddenly grow up you find a knowledge and a responsibility inside you that you didn’t imagine would exist for at least another five years or so.. (some people longer).

I have been thrust into a stunning world of excitement and challenges.  I have been afraid, I have had moments where I have doubted myself, but much more then any possible negative, I have an overwhelming faith that I have never been more on the right path then ever before.  I believe very much that everything happens for a reason and my world has been greatly changed, it is an immense, incredible, miracle of a change.

I am blessed.  We are blessed.

Sometimes everything in the world just makes sense.  Everything is beautiful.

Take a couple minutes out of your day to enjoy some beautiful photographs taken by a dear friend of mine, Sarah Hamilton.

A Picture Show

http://beastmansphlog.blogspot.com

http://lebeastsphotos.carbonmade.com

Life is an exquisite and sometimes difficult balance between darkness and light.  It is epitomized in good vs. evil which in some form or another is in all of us.  We can go from the happiest of states to the lowest in mere moments.  Life is ever changing and us along with it. 

 Embrace the ups, the downs, the side ways.  I have had all of it in the last month and although I am exhausted and craving stability, safety and normalcy I am still very thankful I am not bored, stagnant or uninspired.  The good the bad and the ugly keep us entertained and moving forward; give us a reason to maintain strength and faith for the future. 

• Never stop fighting.
• Never neglect a reason to smile.
• Never take the small beautiful moments for granted.
• Never cease having faith in oneself or in others.

 Life is beautiful.

I realize that our society is becoming ‘green’ and attempting healthier lifestyles, and that’s obviously a positive shift.  But is what we are doing really long term.  Today my pet peeve is The Cleanse.

I understand that your body accumulates toxins etc. and that they build up and can eventually lead to health problems.  But every single person I know who cleanses does it in between drinking/ eating badly.  So it is basically you taking out the time to attempt to fix the damage you have already inflicted on your body for 24 hours to a month (depending on the cleanse) and then returning to unhealthy habits.

In the long run does this not just put you right back to where you were.  Would it not be smarter to improve your daily lifestyle little by little because the result would be the same in the end?  Only with moderation, versus a complete change for your body, are you not stressing your insides with the complete shock of a new diet and then the added punishment of when you’re celebrating it being over…

 Why not drink one night less a week, or gradually improve your eating habits.  That would be a lasting lifestyle adjustment compared to a quick ‘fix.’

I could be completely off here and I would love to know if I am.  I may just have to try one.  Stay posted for my possible rebuttal of my ant-cleanse attitude haha.

“Because when you’re worth knowing the spotlight finds you.” – GQ, Aug 08

I turned 23 this weekend and although I am completely aware that I am still very young I couldn’t help but somewhat reflect on where I am, my progress, my goals, etc.  I have been very blessed in having a deep understanding of my direction from a very young age.  I have always known what would bring me the most happiness and have never faltered in what I need and want.  But what happens when those two things differ, if I have what I want but not what I need? 

I know in the end need will have to win.  But at what point? I have been struggling with this concept for some time now and I am torn.  I have what I want and thus am quite content most of the time.   Until of course, reality creeps into my otherwise happy thoughts and reminds me that substance is missing.  The reality is not there.  And as a result there is no security or longevity, no safety.  I guess it comes full circle because it is those things that I want as well as what I need.  Perhaps once the smoke clears I have neither.

I just have me.

Its my birthday.  Be there!

I just kind of want her to go away.. I don’t have a good reason.

Kanye X Amber X LV