Day 20

Who and what we vote for should not be based on what your friends will think of you. Your vote is not a present or a compliment. You vote for what you think is right and would help you, your community, your state, and your country.

We have to educate ourselves before we go to the voting booth. Do not vote for what you do not know...read, search, think. Make your voice matter.

Day 19

This quote makes me think about how important it is to make sure you have goals and plans. Your life could go in a million different directions. . .You just want to be sure you are the one behind the wheel.

Day 18

Don't let the clouds make you forget that there is sunshine.

Day 17

"Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice"

I think it comes and goes in phases. I'm seeing this alot in my toddler. If I show him he is much more inclined to listen than if I just tell him. And this is true in any parent to child situation...mom, dad, son, or daughter.

Day 16

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sSfbQk7DxE&feature=related Go to this link! Watch this video! It's Spoken Poetry by Sarah Kay.

Watching this link has inspired me to write something for my two children, my 17 month old son and my soon-to-be-born daughter.

For my children: Love with every piece of you; even though loving that fiercely can sometimes lead to some of the greatest pain in the world, it will also lead you to the most intense joy I know is possible.

Learn that this life is not easy, and if you can say your life is easy that means you need to change something. Nothing great ever came from “easy”. Dance with your heart, even if no one is dancing with you; let the music into your heart and open up your arms to the beauty of being able to feel the music move you.

Make goals, have dreams, expect great things from yourself! Many people may tell you that if you expect too much your are just setting yourself up to be disappointed; but I say, who are they to say you expect too much? You know your limits, you know your needs, and you know your heartfelt desires, dreams, and wishes; never let anyone else hold you back from working towards your dreams, including yourself; push yourself forward, stretch yourself, you have the capabilities to be who you want to be you just have to start trying.

It is okay to not be okay, it is okay to cry, it is okay to ask for help; and when you’re crying because it’s not ok always know that you can ask me for help; I am always here for you. There will be times in your life that we won’t agree, and times where I do not support your choices; and I will tell you what I think; but I will always love you and want to hold you close and hear what you need to say.

Family is the most important thing in my world. Family is made of the people who will be a part of your life, for the rest of your life; take care to treasure the relationships, and make an effort to make them work; it is family that you should be able to lean on at any point in your life.

I love your Daddy. I love your Daddy with so much of my heart that sometimes it feels like the heartbeat in my chest is actually his. Your Daddy means so much to me; I miss him when he is away from me, I don’t want to leave his side when he’s home; his touch can calm me faster than most things, but he can also be the reason why I’m not calm in the first place; I love your Daddy even on the days when I am mad. Your Daddy helps to make my world complete.

You are beautiful, handsome, lovely, stunning, and amazing; and so is everyone else. I want you to like your body, and treat it with respect; that fantastic body of yours does not come with a money back guarantee, so you better make sure that what you do with it and what you put in it are things that will make it last. Your body is governed by your mind; your choices, no one else’s. No one else in this world has the right to make you use it in a way that you don’t want to. If anyone in this world tries to tell you different, they are WRONG.

There are people in this world who will try to push you down; they will try to make you feel unattractive, undesirable, and unwanted; notice that all of those words have one letter in common, U, and you are the only one that can let these kinds of words or these kinds of people stay in your life. Be strong and have courage.

Dr. Seuss said; “You are you, that is truer than true, there is no one alive who is you-er than you.” This is true my loves and it is true about everyone in this world. Every person has their own story, every person has their own song…and sometimes, just sometimes, you can find someone who’s song can blend with yours perfectly, but the only way that will happen is if you put your song out there and use those cute little ears you’ve got there and listen, and I mean really listen to what other people have to share.

Every experience in this life can be a learning experience, if you let it. No matter what life throws at you try to walk away from it having learned something new; about yourself, or about someone else, about a topic that you didn’t know about, or about something you thought you know everything about! There is always more to learn.

I will never be done talking to you and trying to teach you, and I can promise the thing I will probably tell you the most is: “Baby, I love you.”

Day 15

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid" -Albert Einstein We all have the capability to be so much...often times; it is the belief that we can only amount to something small that gets it our way. Believe in yourself. Teach your children to believe in themselves. Refuse to let yourself judge someone else’s capabilities or life choices. Refuse to limit yourself by someone else’s standards. You are amazing! And I am phenomenally me.

Day 14

It is better to be late than to never do what you have committed to do. Than being said…It is still much better to never be late. We should always try to say what we mean, and do what we say. There are times when we, for whatever reason, cannot do what we said we would do; but we should still strive to be our best. Sorry I got to my blog later today than normal. I’m sure it will not be the first time that happens, but I will try to never be late.

Day 13

Always remember that each choice you make is molding you into who you are. Even the small mundane decisions are pushing you to who you will become. ~Crystalinda

Day 12

Today I am sharing a song. Here are the lyrics

At first glance this song might seem cinical...saying "I am giving up" over and over. But to me, it's exactly how I feel. I have decided that I am giving up on seeing things like half empty glasses; I'm giving up on all the "greener grasses". No matter what the world throws at my marraige, no matter what imagined happiness there might be out in the world, I'm giving up on all of those things and choosing Jake. Even if we stop having a ball. Even if the paint chips from the wall. Even if there's always cups in the sink. Even if we are not what we thought we were. I am giving up, I'm just going to love us for what we are and be happy about it, dang it! :) ( I love you Jake)

I also want to say that this doesn't mean that the grass here isn't really freaking green. I just mean even on the days where we're not having a ball...I'm giving up looking at the greener grasses. I am taking everyday knowing that there are going to be dissapointments and failures and times when I want to chase Jake "with a rolling pin", as the song says, but all that is ok. I'm giving up on the half-empty glass mind set. I love my glass no matter how much is in it. as long as we are both in it that's all I need.

Day 11

I love this quote. I cherish the memories of my dad reading to me and my sister when we were little. I think that when parents read to their children it breads a love of books and a love of reading; it teaches children to use your imagination, to believe things they can not see. I'm greatful to my parents for making fairy tales a part of my childhood.

Day 10

No matter what your gaol is, no matter what you are trying to accomplish, remember this "You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." Lets start on our greatness!!

Day 9

In times like this where ciaos and fear are re-introduced into our lives, we need to show love and support to those who are hurting. When something this horrible happens we try to find reason behind the brutality; this is not always possible. Unfortunately there are people in this world who have no moral code and will brutally massacre innocent people. I know at this time when someone uses weapons and causes this much harm it is easy for people to fear the weapons and mistrust their purpose. Let us remember; it is not the guns that kill and injure people, it is the lawless criminals behind them. This is not a reason to change, add, or more strictly enforce gun laws. Lets imagine this situation happening differently, lets imagine that upon seeing a masked man enter the theatre through the emergency exit and throwing tear gas and drawing a weapon, that there were 7 or so armed civilians in the first few rows who drew their weapons and stopped the man from killing 12 and injuring 50 people. I honestly believe that if it was easier for lawful citizens to learn about and buy weapons that we would be safer. The gun laws only affect the people who obey the law. It doesn’t make a difference to the type of person who would do these vicious crimes if their gun use is legal. I am proud to say that; I have a concealed weapons permit, I own and carry a handgun, I own a shotgun, I know how to shoot, I know how to clean and care for my weapons, I feel safer and more prepared for an emergency knowing that I do these things. I recommend anyone who is of legal age to have a concealed weapons permit, even if you are not going to carry at all times. Educate yourself on gun safety. It could save yours and many others lives.

Day 8

On a day like today, I could not agree more! I'm sleepy...lets go back to dreamland.

Day 7

I have two quotes to share today. . .

I like reading these two quotes together. I believe what they can teach. We can solve any problem, we can make it through any trial; we just have to have the desire to do so and make it a top priority. If you really think hard...what is your biggest obstacle right now? What is the goal you are trying to reach? Now think with me...what's stopping you from doing it? The first few reasons that pop in your head are probably reasons you feel like you have no control over; push those away. Now what is really stopping you? Fear of change, fear of failure, lack of confidence, lack of funds, or lack of time? A lot of these reasons can keep you from doing things; but they can all be overcome if you put your mind to it. Let go of fears, believe in yourself, and take little steps. Save pennies until you have the money. Re-evaluate your schedule, what is your time going to? What can you cut out so you have more time to make it happen? "If it's important to you, you will find a way"

Day 6

Even though this life is not perfect we can choose to be happy. Make the best of what you have where you are. ~Crystalinda

Day 5

First off I have to say, I 100% disagree with this thought process.

When I came across this quote it was almost upsetting that anyone would really feel this way. Do not just let life happen around you! You make your life to be what you want it to be. If you never expect anything, nothing you expect will ever happen! If you never assume then you are just waiting for someone else to take the first step. If you never ask, the answer will always be no! If you never demand, your needs might never be met. Do not just "let it be"...make it happen! If you feel it is meant to be, then GO GET IT! Nothing will be the way you want it to be if you never tell anyone what it is you want.

Day 4

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." Perspective really is a huge part of how we see things. I could talk about this simply, by using the example of an optical illusion. When you look at it for the first time you see one thing and after looking at it for some time or after hearing someone else’s input you see the other side of it.

Look at this photo, what to you see? At first glance I saw a skull, but after I looked closer I see a woman sitting at her vanity; now every time I see it I see both parts of the illusion. I have really identified with this quote recently in my personal life. Sometimes our opinions about something changes and you begin to look at it differently it seems like the whole situation can change. I’m having a bit of a hard time putting it into words. But hopefully you all can understand my point. Personal perspective really has a huge part to play in the way we see our life.

Day 3

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult." ~Seneca Do you ever remember a moment in your life when you wanted to do something but you though it would be too hard or that you wouldn't be able to accomplish what you wanted to do? Often times after you just go for it and do it, it seems a lot less difficult than you thought it would have been, and you think to yourself "wow, that was easy". Believe in your abilities. You can do it. -Crystalinda

Day 2

This quote has a 2 parts. It says "Believe there is good in the world"; it also says "Be the good in the world". We should believe that even though this world is full of bad and filth that there is good too. Why not make ourselves part of that good? Be the good. ~Crystalinda

Day 1

"Welcome to today! Another day. Another chance. Feel free to change." I wrote this on my bathroom mirror last night so it would be one of the first things I saw today. Let's try to remember that every day we have a fresh slate in front of us. Each new day gives us new opportunities for us to get closer to who/where/what we want to be. Find a goal and reach for it! Good morning ~Crystalinda

The Challange.

I'm starting a Quote Challange. I want to share a quote everyday and share what that quote makes me think. I love quotes, I almost always have a little notebook I carry and write down little tid-bits I hear. One day I'd like to compile a quote book. I have a few that others have put together and published on my library at home. I gather inspiration and motivation from everyone around me. In a sociology class I took a few years ago, when my professor was introducing herself she said something that I really liked; she said: "I am not the only teacher in the class, each one of us is a teacher and each one of is a student. We are all here to learn, including me, we all have information to share." So, this is me sharing...please feel free to reply and comment and we can all learn from each other. Today, July 12th, 2012, will be Day 1