True Love

photo by Lou Lou Photography

My parents met in high school at an early morning church class called seminary. It took awhile for my dad to ask my mom on a date but eventually he did. Not long after their first date my parents knew they were meant to be together.

After high school my dad served a church mission in Texas for two years and my mom went off to BYU. Three months after my dad returned home from his mission they were married in the Seattle temple. A year later they had me. A few years after that my brother came into the picture. A couple more years passed and my little sister was born.

Today my parents celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary. I feel honored and blessed to see first hand the loving, tender relationship my parents share. Both my mom and dad had difficult childhoods. It is truly a miracle that they found each other and were able to create such a loving, wonderful home environment for me and my siblings. 

My parents--that is what true love looks like. Because of their example, I have hope and faith that one day I too can have a strong, enduring marriage. Alone and together, life for my parents has rarely been easy. But no matter the obstacles they've faced individually and as a couple, my parents have always clung to each other and the Lord for support. Neither one of them is perfect, but together my parents continue to beat the odds.

Thank you mom and dad for loving each other so purely and unconditionally. Happy Anniversary!

Sometimes...

Sometimes it's 8:30pm on a Tuesday night and you're already exhausted from the week. So you take a cab home instead of riding two buses or switching trains lines twice and taking another bus.

Is it way more expensive? Yes. Does it hurt your pocketbook? Absolutely. Do you do it anyway? Oh yeah. Yes, taking care of yourself can mean a $13 cab ride.

Same goes for treats like Starbucks. The little budget-conscious diva inside me shirks at spending $3.50 for one drink but the times I do indulge are well worth it.

Emails won't stop coming. People keep asking you questions and needing your attention. All of a sudden your head is spinning and you can't feel the floor. Stop. Step away from your desk. Grab your wallet and hightail it out of there.

As my coworker said today, she enjoys the walk to Starbucks almost as much if not more than the actual drink she purchases.

So there you have it. Taking the occasional cab ride and going to Starbucks every once in awhile. Two small ways to promote self care, which seems to be my topic of choice this week.

How do you promote your own self care? What helps relieve your stress and make life feel a little bit easier?

an easy silence...

source

It's after midnight. I just said goodnight to a good friend and really need to catch some z's but I keep saying I'll make time for blogging and don't. The past few weeks have been rather hectic between moving to a new apartment and starting another quarter of grad school. But really, those are just excuses.

It's easy--too easy--to get caught up in the everyday hustle and bustle of life and not stop to reflect. Writing is how I process my emotions, thoughts, and experiences. Becoming a better writer takes practice and I don't get practice unless I make time for it.

Writing is a form of self-care for me. Self-care is a term which when heard I immediately used to turn my nose up in the air. However, my therapist is helping me learn and appreciate its intrinsic value in our lives.

If you don't set aside time to rejuvenate and find your center, you can easily become overwhelmed by the sheer need to survive. Your actions lose meaning and your life feels empty of purpose.

So right now I'm writing for the sake of writing. It feels good. I'm going to try harder to be more consistent with my writing and combat my biggest obstacle: time.