Things I'd Like To Say About Today

1. Freeway signs should tell you which side of the freeway your next freeway-of-choice will be on.

2. People should get in trouble for not using their blinkers.

3. Interview-ers should at least RESPOND to interview-ees, and not just blankly stare until the interview-ee has completed answering a question. How is the interview-ee supposed to know if they should keep talking? If they answered it even remotely 'correct'? If anyone in the room has any idea what he or she just said?

4. The city of Placentia should have never been named that.

5. There needs to be more than a one-lane freeway entrance to get on the 91, especially when 50 feet back it's the bus lane, and there's no WAY you can get over in time... thus resulting in 3.5 U-turns before you can actually start heading home.

6. I was the minority for once! Maybe I WILL get in!

7. Just because I'm dressed nicely doesn't mean I'm going to the Job Fair. And no, I don't know where it is.

8. The CSUF map said there was cheaper parking. It lied. I paid $8.00 to park for less than 2 hours.

9. CSUF students really like hot dogs.

10. I sang all the way home, and didn't care who looked at me through the window. That's a lie. I did care. I just made sure my lips weren't moving as much if I lined up with a car in the middle of traffic.

11. You want to live on the OTHER side of the train tracks in Fullerton. Trust me.

Come Home

Normally, the reason I love a song is because of the music... the melodies, the harmonies, the amazing drums, the beautiful piano... but today, for some reason, the lyrics somehow made it into my consciousness, and this specific song is almost EXACTLY what I am thinking, feeling, wanting to say at this moment. So thank you, Onerepublic, for recording some incredible lyrics.

"Come Home" by Onerepublic

Hello, world, hope you're listening.
Forgive me if I'm young
Or speaking out of turn.
There's someone I've been missing,
And I think that they could be the better half of me.

They're in the wrong place, trying to make it right,
But I'm tired of justifying.

So I say to you:
Come home, come home,
'Cause I've been waiting for you for so long, so long.
And right now there's a war between the vanities,
But all I see is you and me,
And the fight for you is all I've ever known, ever known,
So come home.

I get lost in the beauty of everything I see.
The world ain't half as bad as they paint it to be.
If all the sons, all the daughters stop to take it in,
Well, hopefully the hate subsides and the love can begin.

It might start now, or maybe I'm just dreaming out loud.
Well, until then,

Come home, come home,
'Cause I've been waiting for you for so long, so long.
And right now there's a war between the vanities,
But all I see is you and me,
And the fight for you is all I've ever known, ever known,
So come home.

Everything I can't be is everything you should be,
And that's why I need you here.
Everything I can't be is everything you should be,
And that's why I need you here.

So hear this now:
Come home, come home,
'Cause I've been waiting for you for so long, so long,
And right now there's a war between the vanities,
But all I see is you and me,
And the fight for you is all I've ever known, ever known,
So come home, come home.

Goodness

Today was a good day. Spent most of it washing things... the dog, the cars, the dishes... productive day! I had a much more positive outlook on life today than I have been able to muster the past week. Had a GREAT conversation with my parents. Did a lot of writing yesterday... for myself, for others... quite therapeutic. Got to chat with Alissa recently, which was SO nice, because it was starting to feel like we lived in separate worlds. Had a lovely dinner with grandparents and cousins and adorable children tonight... it's amazing what a pair of dimples can do for the soul! More camp sign-ups tomorrow at church. Preparing for an interview with CSUF on Monday... really excited, slightly nervous, but overall have a good feeling about it. I'm ready to get my life to a point where it feels like it's moving again. I'm ready for the part where I help change the world.

Running Around in Slow Motion

Sometimes I forget that life is happening around me, despite whatever it is that's going on in my own life. It's somewhat embarrassing, realizing how caught up I can get in my own actions, emotions, worries. It's so easy to think about others when everything is going well with me. Funny how that is. There doesn't seem to be enough time in the day for me to analyze one more thought, cry over one more hurt, or attempt to figure out how to make things happen the way I want them to happen. If I could make myself physically move and accomplish things at the same rate my mind moves, I would seriousy be Wonder Woman. I would. Because while I sit there, I let myself begin to obsess over the little things, and it feels like it will never end... my thoughts are running around at lightning-speed while I just sit there, letting everything else happen in slow motion.

Treasure Box

Tonight I pulled down this dusty box from the very highest shelf in my closet. I set it down, got all comfy in my bed, and slowly opened it up. My treasure box. I couldn't believe all the memories I had trapped in there, intentionally trying to keep them all locked up inside, not letting them out until I decided it was safe again. One of the notes I found in there actually instructed me to use the box as a place to keep my treasure... which I did. What I didn't do was realize how big a treasure I actually had before I locked it all away. Memory after memory came pouring out as I spent hundreds of minutes slowly and delicately peeling back time with each paper, photo, keepsake I uncovered. I sit here in awe at what I have so lovingly and preciously re-locked away, trying to figure out why I needed or wanted to lock it away in the first place. Something so valuable, so adored is meant to be cared for, cherished, loved. Aren't things like that supposed to get even better with time? But I suppose they can't, if they're locked up and tucked away, intentionally meant to be forgotten on a shelf until it's safe to pull them back out again.

Invisible Children: The Rescue

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen the "Invisible Children" documentary, how many times it has touched me in a different way... or how many times the video ends and I find tears streaming down my face yet again.

The guys telling the story have worked for years to give those children a voice, and they continue to work for peace, and to rescue the child soldiers who are still under Joseph Kony's reign. They have made a new documentary, and are letting everyone know about another opportunity to get involved and how to provide a voice for the children of northern Uganda.

Get involved.

Go here for more information: www.therescue.invisiblechildren.com

Watch the video. It will change your life.