My American Dreams

I recently read a great blog post titled, "Is the American Dream Holding You Back?"  Well...is it?  So often we find ourselves working, working, working that we forget to actually live our lives.  I'm certainly not one who has this balance all figured out, but what I like about this post is that the author challenges that our society thinks "working like a dog is virtuous and personal enrichment is self-indulgent."  I couldn't agree more.  Do you ever feel a bit a guilt for taking a vacation from work?  Have you ever met someone who finds pride in never taking vacation?  For me?  Yes...and yes.  Don't get me wrong.  I of all people strongly believe in feeling passionately about your work and giving it your all.  I believe in hard work and that sometimes you will have to make sacrifices and figure out a system of balance. I have huge respect for driven hard workers.  This post, though, isn't suggesting we become lazy.  It's just suggesting that sometimes we chase so hard after The American Dream.....that we forget to pursue our own.  Perhaps we too easily forget that the American Dream doesn't, and shouldn't!!, look the same for everyone.  The American Dream is rooted in the freedom to pursue happiness.  What does happiness look like for you? 

Yes, I actually thought about all of this! 

This thinking led me to start considering some of my own dreams.  What are some experiences I would really like to have during my life?  What are some good-intentioned things that, when I flirt with the idea, cause a stirring in my heart and gut?  A clear clue that this would bring me a feeling of happiness.  No matter how large or how small.  How seemingly unattainable or simiplistically ordinary.  Like a bucket list.  Except I don't like to call it that because it just seems rather depressing to create a list of "to-dos" before I kick-the-bucket.  As I began this list I started to realize that this could be turned into a "favorite things" piece simply because I have a feeling that this list will start to be one of my favorite things ONCE I start crossing some of this stuff off!!!

So call it what you will, but here is my incomplete and ongoing list of what MY American Dream looks like...

1. Go white water rafting
2. Eat pizza and drink wine in Italy
3. Get my picture in front of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in NYC
4. Take a cooking class (ANY cooking class)
5. Go on a mission trip
6. Find an organization I'm passionate about and consistently offer hands-on volunteer work
7. Lead a bible study for high school or young college-aged girls
8. Learn to surf (ok...learn to STAND UP on a surf board)
9. Knit a scarf
10. Hike to a huge waterfall (preferably in Hawaii) :)
11. Learn to play golf...and like it (I should add as #12 PRACTICE PATIENCE!!!)
12. Learn to latin dance--come on, hips shakin', fringe, twists and spins.  Yes, please!
13. Learn how to use my cast iron skillet (it intimidates me)
14. Empower college students to believe in and value themselves
15. Be in a dance flash mob!!
16. Make time in every single day for God to have my undivided attention
17. Be a Dove Campaign for Real Beauty spokesperson (I may not be model material, but I am so passionate about women not buying society's definitions of "beauty" but rather loving themselves for exactly the way that they are.  And this campaign preaches just that).
18. Take my future niece or nephew to Disneyworld (I literally have a reoccuring about doing this)
19. Own a beach house on Seabrook Island, SC
20. Learn to shoot a gun REALLY well
21. Go fishing in Jackson Hole, WY
22. Plant my own vegetable garden
23. Never stop exercising, no matter how old I get
23. Read books to my future children at night
24. Get over my fear of people seeing me cry
25. Own a golden retriever
26. Floss everyday for a year (ok, for the rest of my life...baby steps, people!)
27. Bake a coconut and apple pie as good as my Grandma does
28. Learn how to make all of my Grandma's Thanksgiving recipes
29. Ride around somewhere beachy in a convertible, hair down, music blaring
30. Go rollerblading down a beach boardwalk
31. Own a soft-top Jeep and drive it around in the Spring/Summer
32. See a volcano (preferably not errupting)
33. Master real push-ups on my toes...chest to deck...everytime
34. Remember that people get more excited about receiving snail mail than e-mail...and actually put that into practice more.
35. Remain humble enough to accept my mistakes and learn from them
36. Teach a communication class (interpersonal, non-verbal, conflict resolution, anything!)
37. Learn how to grill!
38...........

So clearly the ".............."  indicates that I've decided to keep this list ongoing  Checking off any of my American dreams that I am blessed enough to complete--or have the fortitude to complete!  So here goes nothing.  Pursuing what makes me happy.

And this is why My American Dreams list is hopefully going to become one of my MOST favorite things!

Furry Friends

I love animals.  If it's furry you can probably bet that I will love it.  I sometimes wonder if you are born an animal-lover or if you become one the more you are actually around animals.  I guess that doesn't even really  matter, so let me just dive in...

Growing up we ALWAYS had some kind of animal roaming around.  We certainly always had dogs and cats...but there were definitely a few wild cards in there. 

My Grandpa was a mailman who ran the rural mail route, and you can only imagine what kind of critters he found along the dusty gravel backroads of Weiner!  My brother and I had so many pet turtles that I couldn't even begin to count!  As soon as we saw grandpa's dust-encrusted Ford pickup pull in the driveway, we would head outside to look in his truck bed...what would it be this time?!  Of course, it was always a turtle.  My brother and I would dash inside to prepare the turtle's new home. Mom would grab a bucket that our family endearingly (and literally) coined "the puke bucket", (this surely needs no further explanation). I would snatch a few lettuce leaves from the fridge, and in we would place our new turtle friend.  We'd poke his shell a few times and name him something really unique and creative...like Terry the Turtle.  After a couple of days, Dad would drive the little guy to the farm where he would release the turtle into a pond.  Freedom at last!!

Then there was my beloved pet fawn...
The summer before my 2nd grade year my Dad found a young fawn on his farm.  Worried that the fawn's mother had abandoned it, he kept checking on it for a couple of days.  After concluding that the fawn had indeed been abandoned, he scooped the little weak baby into his arms and carried him right smack into our house.  I can remember it so clearly...probably because I literally freaked out with joy!  A baby fawn?!  For me?!  The fawn walked right up to me and bleeted, and I petted his little wobbly, white-spotted body.  He took to me quickly.  I fed him from a bottle and named him Comet.  Hey, I've always been obsessed with Christmas, and this was the closest I was EVER gonna get to owning a reindeer!  We bought Comet a brand new yellow dog collar, and I made an adhesive nametag with Dad's old school label maker.  You know the kind. A local man had some wooded and fenced-in land that he raised deer on, and he agreed to let me keep Comet out there with the other deer.  (It's Northeast Arkansas, people. Raising deer isn't the least bit odd.). Every day that summer Dad would drive me out there to visit my new friend.  Comet always remembered me, too.  He would run right up to me, nuzzle me, and search for his bottle.  After a while the other deer got so used to me that they, too, would walk up to me.  So I started packing apples for them.  Dad said I looked like the Pigeon Lady from Home Alone what with all the deer circled around me!
 I'm not all that sure what ever happened to Comet.  One day I was ready and waiting, apples in-hand, for Dad to come home and take me to see Comet, and the next thing I knew he was telling me that Comet was gone...that the man said Comet ran away.  To this day we think something is off about that explanation, but regardless, my little almost-2nd-grade heart broke when I heard the news.  I ran upstairs; hid in my closet and just cried my eyes out.  I cried over a baby deer.  But that's what pets do to us.  They weasel their way into the hearts of the young and old and become family.  And like any relationship...it really hurts when it ends.

Comet and my totally trendy outfit

Perhaps the thing I love most about furry friends is their natural ability to love. Except for turtles...and hamsters...and fish.  For some reason I just never remember feeling any kind of reciprocated love from our pet turtles in the puke bucket, or our hamster, or our fish. Anyway...

I really believe there are 2 things about pets that make them so blasted desirable and cherished. 
1. They stay when change endures.
2. They always love us just as we are.

Think about it.  They give us the two things I would venture to assume that the entire human population innately desires--someone to stick it out when life throws in some CRAZY and unexpected changes, and someone to love the very best and the very worst of us without leaving.  Sure there are other things that make pets great, but at least for me these two are the best parts.  Don't you love when you come home, and your dog is so overjoyed to see you that you think they just might spontaneously combust?  It's good stuff.  It's a constant.  It might just be one of the few predictable things in life, and that sure does feel nice!  Pets can't judge.  They can be just as happy living on the streets with a homeless individual as they can be living on a compound with an affluent family.   They don't expect all the bells and whistles.  They just want you. 

So here's to our furry friends!!

Radar

 Basil Bunny

Scout (she was a good sport that Halloween)

Cleo Catra

And here's to my NEW furry friend...meet Jazzy!!!  I  rescued her 3 weeks ago from having to "walk the green mile" at the Jonesboro Humane Society.  She's one year old this June and is my sweet little rascal.

 Jazz

At the NEA Humane Society about to adopt her! Ignore my brother in the background; he always tries to ruin pictures!!

Jazz's adoption day

And this is why FURRY FRIENDS are one of my FAVORITE THINGS!!!

Dancing!!

So all week I've been thinking..."what in the WORLD am I going to write about this week?!"  I thought about doing something deep and profound, but I've gotten pretty deep in some of my last posts. I thought about writing on my favorite accessory or beauty product, but that just sounded so lame to me.  So I put off blogging all week until BAM! it hit me...

For those of you who don't know me, I work in Student Affairs and advise fraternity and sorority students.  One group of students I advise is called Greek Life Facilitators.  I'll spare you the details, but essentially we just transitioned to a new group of students who will serve in this organization for the upcoming 2011-2012 academic year.  Before summer break we wanted to do something really substantial and FUN and transformative for them, so we brought in Chicka Elloy, (he's Australian and super cool), to conduct a 9am-5pm training for our new students.  Sounds boring, right?  Umm...NO!!!  It was AMAZING!  Teambuilders, life tips, communication techniques, energizers, study tips, relational tips, oh my!  And it was during one of these activities when I instantly knew what was going to be my FAVORITE thing for this week.  Check the clues below to see if you can figure it out....

CLUE #1 (Yep these are my students.  Aren't they great?!)

Any ideas???  Here's another hint...

Clue #2 (I'd KILL to learn this!!)

I'll give 'ya two more hints...

Clue #3 (Anyone wanna organize something like this with me?!)

Aaaand finally...WARNING, this next clip is extremely disturbing.  I would only recommend people who grew up watching the movie Labyrinth to click!!!!!  (Brother, this one is especially for you).

Clue #4 (Creepy!)

Got it, yet? My FAVORITE thing this week is..

DANCING!!!!!

Now I'm not talking about professional dance or anything that spiffy, (side note: please don't ever use dance to be a contestant on the Bravo network TV Show Dance Your Ass Off. You are too rockin' for that black hole)! No, I'm talking about plain ole dancing--whether you're krunk-good or downright awful.  Dancing just feels good and it instantly makes you happy.  Did you see my students' faces in the Clue #1 link; did you feel their energy; did you see the group of guys get IN FRONT OF THEIR PEERS and do the dance at the end?!?!  How about the cool looking guy at 1:43 in Clue #3?  And don't EVEN get me started on the elderly lady in the same Clue #3 link at 1:55.  Seriously, click on Clue #3 right now and FFwd to 1:55 and prepare to feel your heart melt!! 

What do all of these cats have in common?  Regardless of age, race, and nationality, they all just love how letting go and dancing makes them feel.  Maybe it's the rush of endorphins from getting your body moving.  Maybe it's the fact that when you dance you have no choice but to just peace-out to the judgemental bystanders and simply let yourself be free and expressive--doesn't that just feel freaking amazing?!  The fact is that anyone can dance. 

 "But, Alexis, I don't have rhythm!!".........

"But, Alexis, all I know how to do is the fist pump!"...... 

"But, Alexis, no self-respecting girl is gonna wanna dance with me when they see me flopping around on the dance floor!"....... 

"But, Alexis, my jeans are too tight tonight, and I forgot to do lunges after I pulled them on!" (probably only my girls will get that one...).

"But, Alexis, I don't know how to do The Bernie!!".......

 My answer to all of that??  SCREW IT!  I'm serious; who cares about all of that?  I'd much rather see rhythmically-challenged peeps with unstretched pants and limited dance moves out on the dance floor having the time of their lives than people safely sitting on the sidelines ridiculing yet secretly wishing they had the courage to just go out there and cut loose!  I'm the most UN-graceful of us all, but that doesn't stop me!  (Luckily, though, I did happen to be blessed with rhythm, so when I do trip or fall at least it's done on beat, right?).  And, guys, trust me on this one.  If you are concerned about how you look dancing in front of the ladies, just master this move--spinning a girl, (think Roarin' 20's style).  Just get out there; move your feet back and forth, and take her hand and spin her every now and then, and I promise she won't think a negative thing about you!  And, girls, trust me on this one.  There is a HUGE difference between dancing and dancing as if you're having sex on the dance floor.  Please hold on tightly to your dignity and shoot for the former...not the latter. 

So get on with your bad and confident self, hot stuff!  Forget what people think, and just be ok with you. Let loose and let your body move in whatever way it knows how. Dancing makes everybody happy!  Still don't believe me?  Well the rest of the world does.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY  ;)

And this is why DANCING is one of my FAVORITE THINGS!!!!

One for my Quote Book!!

I got the idea of keeping a journal of my favorite quotes from my friend, Kelly.  Although we grew up together, it somehow took us about 18 years to discover that we both share a love for quotes.  And I mean a L-O-V-E for quotes.  Regardless of their origin--movies, philosophers, my hilarious friends, humanitarians, my parents, Scripture, my high school math teacher.. I love them all.  Words are so powerful and influential, and I want to be sure to have the good stuff right on hand--now if I would just use it more often!

So without further ado...and before I add this one to my Facebook profile...here's a quote that just really resonates with me right now, at this very instant.  I'll spare you the self-disclosure here.  Just trust me that this one...this one is definitely for my book, and maybe it will be one for yours, too!  I do, however, have to give credit where it is due, while at the same introduce you to another one of my favorite things.  I discovered the quote at the bottom of the April 4th entry on the Living Proof Ministries Blog.  Ever heard of Beth Moore?  Follow this blog, but after you read mine! :)

It goes like this...

“You must once and for all give up being worried about successes and failures. Don’t let that concern you. It’s your duty to go on working steadily day by day, quite quietly, to be prepared for mistakes, which are inevitable, and for failures”

(Anton Chekhov quoted in Madeleine L’ Engle, Herself, 72).

Hang on with me for just one more minute here!!  This quote is so freeing for me.  What a simplistic yet difficult command!  I am a continuous work in progress in the area of remembering to accept the fact that I will make mistakes.  This might sound so simplistic to some of you, but my goodness is this an area of weakness for me!  I love what the author of the blog entry, Melissa, goes on to conclude about this quote.  I use her exact words:

"The ugly truth is sometimes I am inordinately afraid of making a mistake. And this is not humility, folks, but a very sneaky and dark form of pride."

Yuck.  Pride.  But what truth!  And this form of pride is indeed sneaky, as in the butler from Mr. Deeds, "don't underestimate my sneakiness" sneaky!  I need to chunk up the deuce to pride and say hola to humility. I don't know if this quote is helpful to any of you, but mercy it sure does speak to me!  What courage it takes to truly adopt and act in this truth!

And that is why the above quote is one of my FAVORITE THINGS!!

Now excuse me.  I have to go add this quote to my Facebook profile....

Some Beach...Somewhere...

I used to be a winter person.  But somewhere along the way I realized that I only liked winter for the following reasons: Thanksgiving...Birthday...Christmas...warm apple cider...snow days...more frizz-free hair days...and boots.
Or maybe my preferences have just changed over the years?  For whatever reason, I am now a summer person, and even more particular--a beach person.  To me, there is no place more calm, more powerful, and more humbling than the beach. 

My first trip to the beach was when I was around 10 years old.  Our family went to Disneyworld and made a stop by the beach.  This was the first time my brother, dad, and I had ever seen the ocean, and I remember thinking it was pretty cool.  I mostly liked the seagulls, (thanks to Scuttle from the Little Mermaid), that were flocking around us.  I remember watching my Dad, however, taking in the ocean for the first time and him just standing at the water's edge, the surf pooling around his big Dad-feet, in complete awe of the expanse of water before us and saying something about how small we really are.  Shoot, I was just excited to see these feathery little seagulls waddling around me!   I'm sure my brother and I soon asked our parents where the nearest pool was...

I do remember, though, the first time I was truly taken back by the ocean.  It was the summer before my Senior year in college, and I was in Spain studying abroad.  My new friends and I took an extended weekend trip to the Mediterranean island of Mallorca...

It was nightfall, and a friend and I wanted to go down to see the water.  I distinctly remember standing there and finally getting what Dad was talking about those years ago.  As I waded into the surf, I looked out at the water which mirrored the moon above.  I felt the gentle, cool, yet humid thickness of the air around me; I smelled the strong saltiness.  Everything was very calm yet humbling in the sense that I had just internalized how small and weak we all really are, and just how strong, powerful, peaceful, and artistic our God really is.  I believe one of the many ways God reminds us of his love for us is through the things in nature.  Those things that just catch and hold our attention for only a moment, and that many of us--especially me!--so frequently take for granted.  And it's different for everyone.  Maybe some of yours are snow-capped mountains great for skiing, or a green park, or the view from atop your deer stand, or a lightning storm, or maybe even a patch of bright purple wildflowers growing along the side of the highway.  Mine?  Certainly the one at the top is the beach.  Maybe it's just the hopeless romantic in me, but when I visit the beach and have that moment where i just quietly stand there and take it all in, I feel God lovingly reminding me, "I made this for you and everyone because I love you and there's a whole lot more where this came from!"  I also can't help but ask myself, "How can people see all of this perfection and power and think it happened at the hand of luck or chance or some sort of molecular collision?" 

Am I getting too deep here for anyone?? 

Now don't get me wrong.  That's not the only thing I think about when I visit the beach!  I'm not forgetting about the sun warming your skin, the tanning (with SPF 30, of course!), the "beach reads," the trusty breeze that keeps me cool and from getting the dreaded sweat-stache, (too much information?), digging your toes into the cool sand, the tasty cold beach drinks, body boarding, parasailing, seashell hunting, napping!, people of all shapes and sizes wearing swimsuits of all shapes and sizes, and everything else in between.  What are your favorite things about the beach, fellow beach-lovers??

So now that I have myself and all of you longing for "some beach...somewhere," I'm going to light my Bath & Body Works' Lime Margarita candle, slather on my Forever Sunshine hand lotion, and count the days until I am reunited with surf and sand!

And that is why the beach-ANY BEACH!-is one of my favorite things.