Home Sweet Home.

Well folks, it’s official, I am a Chico State graduate! It only took 4.5 years with a little minor detour, but man was it worth it. It feels really good to finish school and to start my “adult adventures” !!! I have my whole life ahead of me and I’m going to make it the best that I can!

So I moved back to Monterey Bay on December 19, 2008 – pulled up in the drive way Friday night at 10 p.m. It’s such a nice feeling to be back home. Monterey Bay runs in my blood. You truly don’t understand Monterey Bay’s beauty until you have left. Visit my photo blog www.montereybaydailyphoto.com and you’ll understand why I love it so much!

After the holidays, it’s job hunting time. I hope I get the job I realllly want 🙂

Be Your Most Beautiful Self.

I had to share these videos. These are from Dove’s beauty campaign. I adore what Dove is doing.

Remember to always be your most beautiful self. That means being true to who you are, loving yourself and being content with your mind, body and spirit. We are all unique and original.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with using skin care and cosmetics. I am a beauty consultant for Mary Kay and love to pamper others. There is nothing extreme in taking care of your skin or using a shade of lipstick for an extra confidence boost. However, I think that the media and many companies have gone to the extreme with creating unrealistic beauty expectations.

Just be smart and stay true to yourself. We are all beautiful!

Our mind is like a puppy.

I love Tricycle, the buddhist magazine. Here are some of my favorite daily dharmas.

Coming Back
For some, [the] task of coming back a thousand or ten thousand times in meditation may seem boring or even of questionable importance. But how many times have we gone away from the reality of our life?–perhaps a million or ten million times! If we wish to awaken, we have to find our way back here with our full being, our full attention. . . In this way, meditation is very much like training a puppy. You put the puppy down and say, “Stay.” Does the puppy listen? It gets up and runs away. You sit the puppy back down again. “Stay.” And the puppy runs away over and over again. Sometimes the puppy jumps up, runs over and pees in the corner, or makes some other mess. Our minds are much the same as the puppy, only they create even bigger messes. In training the mind, or the puppy, we have to start over and over again.

–Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart

from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book

Isn’t it so true? I find my mind trying to fit every random thought into every second of my day. When I started practicing meditation and mindfulness, it is such a relief to understand our own mind. I didn’t even realize how distracting I was to myself!

Journey to Wisdom and Happiness
The Buddha’s maps for the journey to wisdom and happiness are attractive to many people because they are so simple. Essentially, he taught that it doesn’t make sense to upset ourselves about what is beyond our control. We don’t get a choice about what hand we are dealt in this life. The only choice we have is our attitude about the cards we hold and the finesse with which we play our hand.

When the Buddha taught his ideas twenty-five hundred years ago, many people understood him so well as soon as they heard him that they were happy ever after. The people who didn’t understand him immediately needed to practice meditation, and then they understood.

–Sylvia Boorstein, It’s Easier Than You Think

from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book

I believe very deeply in Buddha’s teachings. I love the metaphor of life and cards. You only live once, so why not make the most of it- bruises and all.

Going on Consumerism STRIKE this Christmas!

WATCH IT ALL >>> www.storyofstuff.com

I’ve decided all I want for Christmas are my two front teeth. Oh wait I already have those! Okay, then all I want for Christmas is love and spending time with those that I love (which after coming home after graduating college- feels pretty special). After watching the story of stuff, it really makes you wonder and think how our world runs. Then it makes you think and wonder how America practically runs the world. The story of stuff provides information our society needs to be aware of and we need to be proactively finding ways to improve our consumerism. We do have only one planet!

Honestly, a couple of weeks ago I asked my mom and brother what they wanted for Christmas and they both said “I don’t know, what do you want for Christmas?” and I said “I don’t know.” I feel like I have everything I need, and there’s really nothing that I want. There is soo much STUFF out there, why do I need it all? I have the original original zune and I love it to death, I don’t need to trash that to get the hottest smallest new ipod. I have a razor cell phone that works great, I don’t need to trash that and get an iphone. All this iSTUFF is too much. The only thing I’m considering buying is a netbook (mini laptop) because my current laptop is too old, has viruses that won’t go away and is so slow it’s beyond frustrating. Unless you absolutely need something, by all means- buy it! But for those who buy just because…be more cautious of what you’re doing. Try to work with what ya got people! Also, how about working on what’s inside than outside! I’d rather meet and be friends with an amazing interesting person who is “soo last season” than a well dressed shallow and rude person!

As Americans, we have been taught to go shopping to solve our problems. Consumerism is ruining this country. Did you hear of this past Black Friday? People getting trampled on and dying? Are you serious? What the hell is wrong with people that they think if they buy a new DVD player or a new pair of shoes that life is going to be all pretty pretty pandas! What are the priorities of most Americans? I personally skipped the craziness of Black Friday – and I think days like these have just hypnotised people to BUY! BUY! BUY! HURRY B4 it’s GONE!

So that’s why I am going on consumerism STRIKE this Christmas! I’m not buying anything for Christmas and I told everyone not to buy me anything for Christmas. I’m not being a Ebenezer Scrooge, I’m just taking a stand. I’m tired of stuff collecting in the house, of stuff I don’t use, of stuff that doesn’t serve any purpose in my life. Just take a step back and really look at where all your money is going. Do you really need it? No, you most likely don’t. How about using that money to go on a family trip or go out with friends instead of buying things you don’t need. You don’t need just STUFF! Just walk away. Be a smart consumer. Stuff will never replace the time you spend with friends and family and will certainly NEVER say I love you. Don’t let any STUFF take away time from friends and family. Our society is becoming less and less personal. Technology is a blessing, but it is also a curse.