Holiday Advice

I don’t know about you, but I love Thanksgiving and family activities. Maybe it is because I have a super small family and I am not yet married, therefore I am not trying to juggle multiple families.

My obligations are limited. I choose to kick it with my mom all day and cook. I get to pick out our cooking jams aka kitchen dancing music and make pies. No seriously, that is all the responsibility I have.  So… that is pretty awesome. My mom often tries to make me watch football, but I can usually get out of it.

Many people say that the holidays are stressful. I totally get that! If I had kids or more than one family to answer to, they probably would be! As this is not my situation, I would like to dish out some baseless and gratuitous holiday advice. When I say baseless I really mean it, my only commitment on Christmas Day is my commitment to not showering until at least 1pm.

Here it is:
Do what you want.

I know it sounds selfish, but it is to save your sanity! My dad decided many years ago that they were never going to spend a holiday on the freeway. And you know what!? I am incredibly grateful for that decision. They did what was right for them (and us) and invited everyone to them instead of trying to please everyone else. Everyone was included, so it really just became their call at that point. I’m sure there was some initial drama involved, people probably called them selfish or whatever… but in the end it led to happy, low-stress (for the most part) holidays extending throughout my childhood.

So that is my advice. It is my final word. Just do what you want! And when I am married and I am talking about how much I hate the stress of the holidays, please send me this so I can be pissed at how ignorant to family dynamics I was at this point in my charmed, employed, un-married life.

Here’s to your very own Norman Rockwell holiday season.

Gobble gobble. Psych! We are having prime rib. Seriously.

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A weekend of learning.

This weekend I went to a Portland Blogger meet-up. It was awesome because not only did I get to see my real life internet friends, I also learned stuff. Do you know what SEO is? I didn't either. But now I do! …kinda. I was a bad student in the back of the class talking to my friends (Linnea, Sam and Abby). I did take some practical notes though! I also got this super cute mug that Jenni made as our favor.

One thing I did learn that I will have trouble using, is the obvious point that your title and tags need to have key words and somewhat relate to what your post is really about. I struggle with that because I would rather have my title be eye-catching and weird rather than relevant. Meh, we’ll see how it goes.

Other things I learned this weekend are:

1. There is an Elephants going in down the street from my house. My heart is rejoicing but my wallet is pissed.

2. This is my favorite note from church this weekend. It was timely and lovely and beautifully put.

I hope your short T-giving weeks are as stellar as mine! Even with all this narst rain. 

Pretty Little Liars.

This is not about PLL on ABC Family… Even though it happens to be one of my fav shows.

First things first, I want to say thank you for the confirmation after that last post. I got a number of calls and texts from friends confirming how timely that post was to their lives. Which makes me think, are we all liars most of the time?

Reality is that we all deal with anxiety, fear and the unknown. Why aren't we more honest about it? It would be a lot easier to go through things together. Just saying.

You guys, we are all in this together. (Please watch this at least until Chad's toe-touch)

On a completely different note, I am going to an SEO (search engine optimization) workshop with the Portland Bloggers on Saturday! I am really excited about it because I know nothing about SEO. I love getting together with this group. No one is creeped out by you when you already know about their life! Haha. If you are a blogger you should join us! Check out the Website. And while you are at it, you should probably check out my guest post on their blog too. Duh.

The F Word.

Fear.

I know I have written about this before, but I think it is the kind of thing that needs to be mentioned regularly.

So many of us live our lives in fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of failure. Fear of commitment. Fear of the unknown. .. Just to name a few. The thing about fear is that it can be completely debilitating. It is an emotion that can completely take away all common sense and reasoning. Ridiculous.

The thing I know I have shared before is that the Bible tells us NOT TO FEAR.

Isaiah 41:10
Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Philippians 4: 6-7
6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7) And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

When people read and email and status update this verse from Philippians they are focusing on 7. Well… what about 6!? Read it on its own and get back to me.

On that note, let’s throw anxiety in there too. I get anxious about a lot of stuff. For example, these past few days for me have been riddled with anxiety, like having trouble eating and sleeping anxiety. Am I the only one who thinks excitement and anxiety are from the same family? Like fraternal twins maybe?

So many people use these verses as a comfort. “Oh! The lord is with me. Cotton candy in the sky, I feel comforted.” He is with you and if you are like me you can feel that comfort. Like, seriously physically feel it.  But He is also commanding that you not fear or be anxious. And when you do and stop trusting him, you are actively defying his will for your life. You are disobeying The Word when you live your life anxiously in fear.

But doesn't that enlist a little bit of fear and anxiety in you!? Haha. Vicious cycle. “Do not fear.” It isn't a suggestion! This post probably wasn't helpful for anyone… sorry for instilling an anxious fear of fearing.

I don't blame you if you read this and think, "Eff Laura and her F-word, she is a downer." (Pun!)

How thankful are you for grace!? Majorly thankful.

I leave you with this:
Matthew 6:34
So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

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Endless possibilities and Harry Potter.

It is Friday and I am in SUCH a good mood! My coffee tastes extra caffeinated and my weekend plans are taking over my brain. Endless possibilities my friends. Endless. Reality is that I will probably do a bit of cleaning… but why rain on my own parade? I’m sure I will fall in love with a tall, handsome, Jesus loving stranger this weekend! Why the heck not? It could totally happen.

I also thought I would share a gem that was sent to me this morning. Here is a video that was recorded by my friend Hanna at the midnight premier of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1). We were in line (in the rain and cold) saving spots for some tardy friends. *Warning: Hanna F-bomb in vid.*

Obviously a killing curse is involved… what else? Truth is, I forgot about this. Thankfully I am now reminded that Lauren and Marina owe me FOREVER.

Happy weekend!

What, Me Worry?

This is a line that my dad likes to throw out there. If you ask him why he is saying the same annoying thing over and over, he stares at you and says, “Alfred E. Neuman!” As if I am supposed to know who that is and what it means.

Sorry Dad, but I didn't read Mad Magazine in the 1960s. Anywho, I think good ole Al has it right though. We don’t need to worry about it! Reality is this: All things will work out for good. All challenging things will eventually come to pass.

Right now one of my challenges is not necessarily personal, but instead in response to others reactions to me. Everyone else seems much more concerned about my life, love life, future plans etc. than I am. New internal response: What, Me Worry?

Another thing I think needs a mention today is the election!! Woohoo! Today is Election Day! I know a lot of people get all stressed and wigged out about their candidates today, but to me Election Day is the coolest thing. We have the right to voice our views and participate in democracy. Does it get much cooler?

I am not super political, but I am a human. And one thing that has really irked me this political season has been the way people have treated each other. It is like people think the internet makes them anonymous, or that not physically being next to someone when hurtful words are used makes them less offensive. Well, it doesn't. That person is still going to read those words. As an observer, it is honestly embarrassing. If you are one of the mean aggressive ones, you should really be embarrassed.

Election Day is exciting. We are officially all participating in something together! And no matter how the races (big and small, state or national) turn out, they are a done deal. It is my hope that after the fact we can just drop the angst and come together! no matter if your chosen candidate is elected. We are a lot stronger when we are united!

In conclusion:

I hope you all rocked the vote! Remember when MTV did “vote or die?” That was a little aggressive.

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We don’t actually know what we look like.

It isn't like we see our faces all day. I know my hands and nails pretty well. I think they are okay. And I like to paint my nails because it makes me feel put together. I have decided that this is because I literally look at my hands on my keyboard ALL DAY. It is other people that have to look at our faces. Your co-workers and friends probably know your face a lot better than you do. I bet you know details about your significant others face that they don't even know.

I have some friends who are absolutely beautiful! And to be honest, they probably don’t realize how babelicious they are. It isn't like they look at themselves all day. They stare at their computers until it feels like their eyeballs are bright red and about to fall out of their heads. When you feel like a zombie, you assume that you look like one as well.

How I (and probably many others) feel after work:
- My skin feels greasy
- My eyes feel dry (I have now rubbed them, therefore mascara flakes now sit on my cheeks)
- My legs feel like they only half work
- I am hungry enough to eat a meal, but know I should only have a snack (it is confusing)
- I know my make-up came off, but I don’t care
- My outfit feels stale
- My hair is now misbehaving (depending on the weather)
- I need to brush my teeth but opt for gum instead

I assume this is how everyone feels after an 8-hour day at their computer. BUT when I meet my friends for Happy Hour they all still look solidly decent after a long day at work. When we feel nasty, we assume that we also look nasty. We do not see ourselves all the time, others do. In conclusion, this is why we do not always feel the confidence that we know is in us.

Have you ever looked at a picture and thought, “wait, is that me?” It is my guess that you have. That is because you don’t spend your entire day looking in a mirror or at pictures of yourself ala Kim Kardashian. Congratulations for not being a narcissist!

We don’t know what we look like because we spend all of our time looking at other stuff. You are probably good looking. Give yourself some credit.

One Direction had it right. You don't know that you're beautiful! It's okay, why would you?

PS. These guys look like little girls. Nice voices though... call me in 10 years.