I've Got Big Plans, Man!

In one week, I will turn 25. It's a big age, and I think it's going to be a pretty major year for me. I'm planning on doing a lot in the coming year, and can only assume that it, as all the past years of my life have been, will be better than the one that came before (which seems quite hard to come by considering the last year I've had). I have been doing a lot of growing, learning, loving and examining lately, and have come to realize that there really is no such thing as "too old to do _______." There are so many things I want to do and learn in life, and I am quite excited to begin doing many of them. I have many goals and dreams, and I fully intend to make them all realities!

Twenty-five might be a scary year for some, as it seems to mark a huge step in the adult direction, but for me, I'm seeing it as a year in which I will be reborn, and dabble in as many new things as I possibly can! I see possibilities, opportunities, and new life! I've been coming up with ideas of things I want to learn and begin lately, and it's time I laid them out and released them into the universe, so she and my Papa God can help me accomplish them! Some of the things that I hope to accomplish in my 25th year of life are:

1. Further exploration of myself, my thoughts, feelings, and capacities
2. To learn to
• Speak another language or two (at least be conversational)
• Play the banjo
• Dance the Sevillan [in time for the Feria]
• Drive a stick-shift car
• Make a killer tortilla de patatas
3. Get serious enough about my blog that I can start to make some money off of it/parlay into the world of travel writing
4. Explore, at least a little, every region of Spain / go to Formentera and Menorca, and some of the islands of the Canaries I haven't yet explored
5. Go to, and really experience, at least three new countries (preferably five)
6. Continue my progress, growth, mission, and life, in a loving, positive, mindful way

I think it's an incredibly reasonable list, and I really do plan to accomplish everything on it! Now I just have to put all my faith in God that He will help me make it all happen, and make some little plans and timelines for myself, so I can keep myself on track to checking them all off!

Life is such a beautiful thing, and we are so blessed to have the chance to experience it, no matter where or how we might be doing so. And since we are such complex and special beings, it's really important that we fully realize out potential and do as much as we can for and with ourselves. I am pretty sure we weren't created so we could just be couch potatoes or office bots. No, that can't be it. So, get out there! Go, learn, do, see, and be all that you can! Even if you just hit the sidewalk in front of your house with some sidewalk chalk and draw body outlines like it's a crime scene, use yo brain! Move your body, use your mind, live your life, and be proud of all you do!

Live, laugh, love, and remember how amazing and remarkable you are! :-*

Massive Blessings, Love & Light to you all

I'm so happy to be on this earthball with you :)

The Weird Thing About Swimmers

Since it's the wonderfully anticipated (or dreaded) Valentine's Day, I think it's only appropriate I write about one of my truest loves. One of my loves that no matter how much time passes, will always be a part of me, and will always be a source of fond memories and adoration -- swimming!

I started swimming laps in a pool again this week for the first time in probably two years or so, and found myself looking at one of the lifeguards, as she suited up and stretched to get in and swim, thinking, "Hmm..I wonder if I could beat her. She's clearly in better swim shape than I am right now, but I'm curious... if I was in my normal swim shape, who'd be faster?"

Wait, what? Excuse me? Why did I come here again? Didn't I just come to this pool to swim and get back into one of the passions and loves I've had for well-over half my life? Whyyy am I even thinking about this? We're all swimmers here. We're all here because we love to be in the water and know that the land kiiiinda sucks (not really). And besides, what difference does it make who is faster or slower? We're not at a swim meet here!

And that's when I realized that swimmers, or likely anyone who does a sport that is both individual and team, is pretty freakin' weird, and has this incredibly strange habit of turning anyone and everyone who steps, dives, or swims onto/into "our turf" into competition!

I mean it. It could be a 45-year old woman or man. If I'm swimming, and I see them getting ready to get in, I cannot help but wonder what their stroke looks like and how smoothly they move through the water. If they've been swimming their whole lives, or have just picked it up as a way to take care of themselves in their "old age." Or, the most bizarre thing, "Are they faster than I am?" It is such a weird thing we do. (I say we, because I am pretty dang sure I'm not the only one. ... Gosh, I hope not. That'd be awkward...)

This got me thinking, and I figured out that it's because swimming is both a team and an individual sport. We swim for a team (or represent a country, in the spirit of the Olympics), and our place contributes to the overall score of our team's, therefore determining which team wins the meet (swim meets or our "games" for those of you who aren't accustomed to swim terms). But, we are also in the lane (swim lane/calle), by ourselves, racing against the others in the pool (and the clock). This means, that in two-team meets, in every other lane, there is someone from your team. So while we may be racing against the other team's swimmers, we're also trying to beat our own teammates. (Don't anyone try and deny this one! You know you want to beat everyone in that dang pool! Doesn't matter which team they're on.)

So because swimming is both a team and individual sport, we have this weird sense of connection to anyone else who's a swimmer, but also that they are somehow competition. If we meet another swimmer outside the pool area, we're bonded. BOOM, friends, oh my gosh! "Where do you swim? What stroke? Omg, how much does it such to practice in the winter? And, how much longer till the summer Olympics are on?!?" (Even though we're still probably thinking about if we're faster than they are, we bond, because we have the same passion.) But on the deck (pool deck), we're like, "Okay, who's this? Hmm..they look pretty fit. But then again, I'm also pretty fast.. I think that I might be quicker than them. Let's see." And then it's either, "Ok, ok, worthy competitor. I see you." Or, "Yeah, that's right. I've been doing this since I was 8-years old. Year-round? Yep, did that too." (And if we're water polo players, we likely need to separate ourselves from those who "just swim," so we'll scroll, tread, and throw in some head's up laps too.)

We size up anyone and everyone who shows up to swim when we're swimming. We try and figure out if we're faster or slower than them, and when they look like they're an inadequate swimmer, but then get in and start lapping us, we're like, "Ugh. What the heck. It's cool, I'm just here to swim. It's not a race. But, I respect you, good job. You do you."

I'm not sure if this is just the way we overly-competitively-minded people think, but I'm pretty sure it's just what happens when you have grown up doing a sport where you are cheering and screaming for your teammate, gathered around the end of their lane, or even at the block screaming for them to swim if you're doing a relay, but in the next moment you're on your block, pulling your goggles over your eyes, staring ahead at the long, beautiful lane ahead of you with a serious look on your face and focus in your mind, thinking, "Ok, girl/man, it's time. Let's show them what's up."

So yeah, maybe we're a little too competitive in a generally calm, casual setting at the community pools, but hey, you're most likely stepping into a world where we spend most of our time when it's season, so cut us a little break with our stare downs and sense of mine. Either way, I frrreaking love swimming, and am so stoked that I've finally gotten myself back into it! It really is the most comforting place to be (for me), and I'm happy I've returned to my dry-hair, chlorine-smelling-skin, wet suits and towels all over the house, ways of life!

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I decided to set a goal for myself, since it usually helps the motivation factors when you're working towards something, of making a 100 (free[style]) in under 1:07 by the start of May. I did my first one for time yesterday, and came in at 1:25. Which, considering it's been a couple years since I did a 100 for time, isn't so bad. But when I consider my fastest 100 free was just under a minute, I laugh and realize I'm pretty far from where I was always was. Although, it was a relay time, so really. . .

> > circa 2011 < <

Progress Report on My Four for 2014

For awhile, each morning when I was writing in my devotional/prayer journal, I would write the date, and I would say to myself a little, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's already x day of the month. I can't believe another day has come and gone, and we're already into the next one! Time moves SO FAST!"

I'm not really sure why I would do this, but it went on for two or three months, and it really was freaking me out. I think originally my thought was that, by reminding myself how quickly the days pass, I should and would try to live each one as fully as I possibly could, and not let one go to waste. But instead of it making me think, "What shall I do today that will make it really count?", I was left freaking out that already the time had come to write another day down! So I stopped doing this when I was home, because I didn't want to think about how quickly my numbered days in California would pass, and I've not started doing it again since. And it has helped!

The urge is still there to think, "another one," when I write the date, but instead of letting myself be like, "holy crap, on to the next one already," I just smile and remind myself that time is slowing down. (Which, as I've learned, it seems to pass more slowly when I tell myself this, and also just remain in the moment.) But since we are now in February, I thought it would be nice to do a little "One Month Check-Up" on our resolutions!

My Four for 2014 were:

1. No cussing
2. No drugs
3. Do more of God's work
4. Let go, and move on

1. No cussing -- this one has, surprisingly, been the hardest of them all to do. Through deciding that I would not cuss this year, I've come to realize just how much I actually like to cuss. And usually, for no reason, and to myself. I love to just say the F-word to myself in any given situation, and then laugh about it. But, also through trying to quit the habit, I've realized the times that I tend to cuss around others are: a) after a couple beers, b) when I'm super relaxed (aka speaking native English), and c) when I'm being lazy. I've pinpointed it to be, ultimately, something that happens when I am just too lazy to come up with a more intelligent way of saying what I want to say. Which can be hard, because sometime, those phrasal insults that involve swear words really have a meaning that can't be so easily expressed otherwise. Overall: still working on it. Potentially doing better, but there's still much work to be done.

2. No drugs -- this has been incredibly easy, considering that my friends here don't do drugs, I don't know where to find or buy them, and I just really don't care to do or take any. So, this has been, by far, the easiest of my resolutions. Overall: MAJOR success, and even better, still no desire for them! (We'll see how bad the temptation is when I'm actually around them though. . .)

3. Do more of God's work -- well, I wouldn't say that I've gone out and done a bunch of mission work since the new year began, but I am going to church tomorrow for the first time in my nearly two years of living-abroad-life, so we'll see what opportunities arise! And, through meeting new people, having loads of couchsurfers, and getting out in the world a bit more, I'm a far more open person that I think I was last year, and this causes me to gush out love with an incredible force, ultimately resulting in me serving God's greatest purpose for our human lives -- to love one another. Overall: doing quite well, and am looking forward to what opportunities come following me finding a church. (Which was part of this overall new year goal.)

4. Let go, and move on -- well, I'm not sure how many of you read this post about moving on and letting go, but, I can say this has been far easier and smoother than I thought it would be. I have had one serious breakdown, upon realizing something quite with a lot of impact and depth, but I am definitely traveling steadily and happily down my path, without excessive looking back and dwelling. Overall: succeeding!

So, that's where I'm at with my Four for 2014, how about you? Did you set any resolutions or goals for the year? And if so, how are you holding up with them? Hopefully they, you, and all, is just splendid!

Loads of Blessings, Love & Light to you all. 

I love you, I adore you, I wouldn't exist and be me without you! 

Thank you for sharing the globe with me! <3