A Mere Guide.

I don't see the point of resolutions that are made the first day of the year. If you want to do something, or make a drastic change in your life--then DO IT. What's the point of waiting until January 1st to start cleaning up your life or setting goals for yourself?

Goals should be a standard part of life, an everyday factor, not something that you relabel and market as a resolution. However, I am ALL for goal lists or a yearly itinerary. Goals serve as a road map for my year, my life. Of course I might not be able to achieve all the things on my list, but circumstances are taken into account and nonetheless, I exit each year gracefully and entering the new year without grand expectations. Life is a food fight, you never know what's going to be thrown at you.

Resolutions Goals & Tid-Bits:
- Maintain an organized room.
- Taking care of my heart by exercising.
- Talking with God the 1st thing in the AM.
- Cooking at least 1 meal a week for my family.
- Taking my dogs on more walks.
- Go to Disneyland.
- Take a road trip.
- Fall in love with washing the dishes.
- Saving 1/3 of my paychecks.
- Get back in touch with old friends.
- Refrain from using curse words.
- Go to Rock the Bells.
- Attend as many Dodger games possible.
- Go to a freaking Laker game.
- Utilize my new ability to ride a bicycle.
- Putting my friends before myself.
- To not be a selective passive person.
- Step forward on my path to nursing.
- Live my freaking life.

Clean Slate 2010.

I was very fortunate to ring in the New Year with two of my closest friends and spending the first day of the year with my entire loving family. 2010 is already looking good.


Love.


3, 2, 1...YAYAYAYAYAYAY!

2010 is all about starting new and loving my gems, my family & friends.
It's definitely going to be a good one.

Baby Jesus.

I was just about ready to say that this Christmas was the worst Christmas ever, but in reality--it's the baggage that comes with the holidays that makes today a bit heavy, definitely not the meaning of Christmas.

Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, but the past few weeks I've been drowning in the social norms of buying presents for loved ones, feeling merry, and thriving in the cold. Which led me to my boiling point, the point which took months and months to get to. The situations and attitudes that erupted today threw me off, and I felt this overbearing feeling of hatred and bitterness. For that, I genuinely apologize.

God put me in check. He made me step back, and stand in the shoes of the one I had ill feelings towards. At that moment, my heart was strained, my tongue was at a loss for words, and the tapes of my mind completely erased.

Today is Christmas. The day of remembering the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord & Savior, God's ultimate gift to us.
God gives us this day to appreciate one another, and to step back from our hectic lifestyles and to breathe for that one second. Those are the most precious gifts I could have ever asked for.

Merry Christmas.

By far, the best Christmas song:

Make Your Move.

"...I'm leaving; don't nobody worry. I'll be doing my damn thing quick-fast in a hurry.
Dreamweaving..."

It's been an eventful year, and I can honestly say that I've achieved quite a bit through the past twelve months--enough to pat myself on the back. I've grown a lot through trials, tears, and thrilling times. All in all, this was a good year, this was my year.

2009 started off on the rocks, and I was definitely getting some negative vibes. My pre-existing relationship was in turmoil, and all emotions had left my body. The once "optimistic Jane" was replaced with an indifferent girl who had ran around nameless. That indifferent girl could no longer live a life of lies. I made one of the smartest moves of my life, and pulled myself out of that relationship. And honestly, I thank God for the tough times He threw at me. At that moment, those hurdles seemed impossible to climb, but low and behold, God fell through and blessed me with more than I could ever imagine. I am so thankful to God for the truest of friends and the genuine friendships that have been molded over the past year. He's given me time to focus on myself for once, and to live life as me, boy-less, stress-less, limit-less, and just breathing.

While focusing on myself, my life was altered. You see, I lived my entire high school and college career aspiring to become an elementary school teacher, but things took a different course. During the middle of the year, I found myself--I found my ultimate calling--my intended course of study--my goal--my path: nursing. I love people. I want to help people. I want to make a difference. It all fell into place.

A moment of vulnerability: The past several months have been a blur. Things have been moving at lightning speed and I find myself recollecting on the past few months and remembering merely but faces and certain incidences. I haven't really taken the time to play out the things that have happened from the summer to now. In a sense, I feel like I pushed all memory out of the hallows of my brain, just so that I could keep a facade of optimism towards the people that have done me wrong. When honestly, I was burning up a little.

All of that was let go this past weekend. All of my previous misconceptions of people & their wrong doings were forgiven; and ultimately, I was forgiven. YNECM's Winter Retreat was a clear awakening. I was shaken and put into place. My life was twisted and my mentality was a bit clustered, but God amazingly weaved Himself into my life and provided life changing messages that are ever so applicable to my life and the people around me. I truly wish I could share exactly what I'm talking about, but I can't. It's not my "issue" to tell, but I just know that God is working in incredible and obvious ways. Trust.



Side note:
-I've lost 7-10 pounds in the past month and a half. (2 inches all around)
-I plan on selling some of my clothes. (i.e. Obey leather jacket, sneakers, etc.)
-I got a newer Blackberry.
-I've finally been using my Twitter. (@hellojanie)
-I was able to get all my Christmas shopping done a month before Christmas.
-I still can't get the earring off of my 2nd piercing.
-I wear less make up.
-I'm still keeping it real.

I'm loving life & looking forward to the next year.
So who's coming with me?

California Steez.

As much as I dislike hate rain, I must say that I am thankful that the rain has fallen and the storm has dominated because ultimately it means that winter is finally here.

“The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.”
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


Image Courtesy: Flickr

I Should Have Dated ____.

You've crossed my mind the past few weeks, something that's been so foreign in my thought process as of late. The holidays are approaching and memories of the good and old begin to flood the halls of my crowded mind; and I've become frustrated with you, what you've become, and you blaming me for all of it. Baby, it takes two to tango.

Look in the mirror for once: you're filthy.

Winter Wishlist.

Everything from practicality to ridiculous requests, here are just a few of my favorite things.


Cupcake Carrier - Target - $21.99


KitchenAid Mixer - $249.99


Doris Orange Apron - Crate & Barrel - $26.65


Narrow Leg Vanity - West Elm -$319


Brown Suede Ankle Hi Tramper - Minnetonka Moccasins - $49.95


Petit Noe Epi Leather - Louis Vuitton - $1,160


Snake Check Hoody - Crooks & Castles - $84


Rainbow Room Cardigan - Married to the Mob - $88


Stanford Zip Hoodie - Victoria's Secret - $45


2010 Daily Planner Box Set - Moleskine - $39.95


Up DVD - Best Buy - $24.99


Entourage Season 1-5 - Best Buy - $179.99


Chuck Taylor Black or Navy Hi Top - Converse - $44.99


Disneyland - $72

Haha, just to name a few.

Fakes, Faith, & Headbands.

I've dodged around typing out all honesty, but tonight I cracked. I feel a little jaded and a bit self absorbed, but hear me out. For the past few months, I lived life bending over backwards to make people happy, to live up to expectations, and to maintain & improve a specific image. That all came crashing down when people decided to "discuss" a few things about me, and I ultimately found out.

It's funny how regardless of location, environment, beliefs, age, maturity, or stages of life, people always and I mean always insist on talking, gossiping, bashing, & polluting. Not to say that I've never gossiped in my life, I am definitely guilty of bringing down people; I'm human. However, I make big strides not to talk about people that aren't present in the conversation, because I don't think people realize how disappointing or hurtful it is to be bashed on or talked about until it actually happens to them.

All it takes is one incident, one story, one person, one mouth, & one ear to damage a person. Eleanor Roosevelt famously stated, "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."

Let's change the topic, "friends."

Shaking Things Up.

As anxiously sat in my seat, awaiting the arrival of my speech professor, I went over my scribbled index cards over and over again. Continuously telling myself that I wasn't ready, I looked at my watch and to my luck, fifteen minutes had passed since the original class time, 10:25 am. Fifteen minutes! At Pasadena College, or many universities, if a professor is more than fifteen minutes late to a class session that students are allowed to leave the class. I totally lucked out and didn't have to present a speech on Earthquakes that wasn't ready to be spoken about.



Yes, earthquakes are my expertise. My fascination with earthquakes was brought to life in my Geology course last semester. It is such a lively topic that really relates to everyday life. The minute I hear about: seismic waves, magnitude, faults, boundaries, intensity, plate movements, fault scarps, stresses, elastic rebound theory, etc. I get very excited and drawn to the conversation. I guess everyone has a little "nerd" in them, and mine happens to be a geological nerd who's into earthquakes and rocks. Who knew?



I'll leave you with this, a quote from Jack London's journal entry about the 1906 Great San Francisco Earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.7 and resulted in over 700 casualties:

"Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone. Nothing remains of it but memories and a fringe of dwelling-houses on its outskirts."

Get ready, California. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

Wild Child.

When I was a kid "Where the Wild Things Are" was my favorite book and even still now it is one of my most coveted. I use to perceive the story to be about a kid named Max who imagines a magical forest surrounded by monster like creatures, rules over the Wild Things as king, and returns home to a bowl of hot porridge.

While watching "Where the Wild Things Are", I was searching for the meaning of the film, the message Spike Jonze was throwing out. Even a few days after, I would sit and try to figure out what this freaking movie was about: "Why was it such a dark message? Is it about the battle between man and himself?...this thought, that thought." When all along the message was there, right in front of me. One of the Wild Things simply states in the film:

"...We forget how to have fun."

As adults we get so caught up with endless responsibilities and Mt. Everest like stresses, that sometimes we forget to just breathe & let loose. Whether you're plagued by loneliness, money issues, significant other drama, self esteem problems, and so on, JUST BREATHE and have a little bit of fun. Let's not get too tied up with this economic turmoil and disaster like mentality: Life ain't too shabby when you appreciate the things around you.



"BE STILL!"
Childhood is calling.