revolution 2.

life in general is pretty crazy. i am a full time student, which takes up a lot of my time but surprisingly i still find more than enough time to sit back and enjoy the beauty of the world.
as i have been looking back on the past year, i have come realize that i have done so many things that i never would have imagined myself doing.
for example.

• i went to china. who does that? i mean, a lot of people do but i didn't go for me. yes, i knew that i was going to be a different when i came home, but what i didn't realize was that i am a totally different person. i am still me, of course, but my view of the world has changed.
• i became a cryer. i knew this isn't something that someone should put up for whoever to read. but i am truly one of the most emotional people i know. i don't think it's a bad thing, not at all. i actually like being able to cry when something is awesome, or sad, or inspiring, or even hilarious. i find that it makes life a little more interesting when i cry out of no where.
• i was able to grow closer to my family. this has always been a goal of mine. not because i am distant from my family but because i feel like there is always reason to be closer. the weird thing is, it was while i was in china that my relationship with my family grew stronger. it's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
• i came to the realization that life is something to celebrate and every day there is something exciting going on. yes, some days are less exciting than others, but we all need to laugh and clap and cheer about the fact that we are alive. we are living, surviving, and loving. how lucky are we.
• i have the greatest friends. i know that i'm not always there for them when they need me to be, but i want them all to know that i always want to be there. when they are happy, sad, angry, heart broken or on top of the world. dear friends, i love you all. and i am here for you when you need me.
• i don't have anything to lose. in life in general. i think a lot of the time i keep myself from doing things because i feel like i am going to miss out on something else, but the fact of the matter is, there is never anything to lose. only more and more experiences to learn and grow from. bring it on, life!
• i gave my heart away to 33 little asian children. i went from getting all their little round faces confused, to knowing who was laughing even when i wasn't looking. each of them changed my life more than i ever imagined and miss them everyday. i will never be the same person i was last year, and because of them i am better than i was.
• i learned to say when i'm thinking. this isn't always the greatest thing to do. but i feel like there are so many people out there that tell people things that they don't necessarily believe. i want to be someone that just lays it all on the line and says what i'm thinking. if you don't like that, too bad for you.
• i learned to roll with the punches. life is so unpredictable and if we get too caught up in worrying about what is going to happen tomorrow or in the next six months, life gets too messy and we get ahead of ourselves. i learned to just live in the moment and enjoy it. embrace it, take it all in, and breathe in deeply the fresh air of unpredictability.

well there you have it, just a few examples about how i grew more over the past year than i could have imagined. and the exciting part is, i don't even know what the next year is going to bring! hopefully something exciting (you'll be the first to know). for all you who read this blog, thank you for reading it and thank you for being so great. cause really, you are all so great and i am so lucky to have YOU in my life.

bless you.

xo.