I could probably handle life as it was today. I think I'd even enjoy it.


My candle is flickering on my 1-year-markdown-beautiful-flowers...


Muhammad Yunus, "Banker for the Poor". Read it.


I love Denver's sunny days. And all the days, but I love the sunny ones. I can't wait to live here this summer... and until further notice.


Madelyn and Kaila come tomorrow... It's been 2 1/2 years since I've seen either of them. I've changed, and so have they, and I'm really looking forward to these next few days with them.

Life as I know it.

Life as I know it is about to change. Sometime soon I want to write about my whole college career... so much has happened. So much has changed. I had an interview with the Dalit Freedom Network on Wednesday... I'm not sure if anything will come of it, but it was so interesting just to be there. The woman I met was great, and she seemed pretty enthusiastic about a possible job for me (when/if money comes in), even going so far as to suggest that she might need some sort of assistant. So, if you're wanting to donate to a great non-profit anytime soon, DFN should be the one! But really - they do amazing things. They are a branch of OM and work with the Dalits (the "untouchables", the lowest caste in India). They provide schooling, healthcare, support groups, and jobs for the Dalits. They are doing amazing work, and you should definitely check them out. Oh, how I would love to be a part of that. To work for an organization like that right out of college would be amazing. But I'm trying not to get my hopes up, and still searching and sending out resumes like crazy! [If anyone has any connections with non-profits or humanitarian organizations here in Denver, let me know!] I'm just so ready to move on. I LOVE the kids I nanny for... They're so precious. They drive me absolutely crazy, but little moments keep me going.
Running with Claire on the playground
Reading with Daniel
Laughing with Katie and Jen
Having real conversations with them
Sharing my life with them
Singing along to music: High School Musical, Disney Princesses, Taylor Swift, and Coop's cd.

There's so much more that I love, but these things keep me going. And I love the things I do and the girls I live with and my friends and life right now... But I feel stagnant. The things they try to preach at us in chapel make me want to run away screaming from this place. I'm so done with force-fed Christianity... I'm already living it (I hope), and want to live it for real, in the real world. Get me out of this bubble!

Anyways... So much has happened in college, and I can't wait to read my journals and just process through it. That will have to wait, though, until May 9. I can't wait to see what's next in life!

Oh, I want to travel again. I already miss it like crazy. I'm content right now, waiting for the next chapter, but I want that next chapter to include a trip. Just one. Please? If I worked for DFN (dreamin', here), I could go to India! That would be amazing. I already listen to the Slumdog Millionare soundtrack everyday... I'm pretty much an expert on Indian culture, now.
No, but really. I would love to go there. Nepal, maybe? Peru? Africa again? We'll see.

I need to have a garage sale come May... I have too much stuff for living how I want to live.

I can't believe it's already been a year.
I also can't believe it's only been a year.

Today I went wedding dress shopping with some friends... What a good way to spend Valentine's Day! The friend that was looking found her dress, and she has only been engaged a week! It was beautiful and I am so glad I got to be a part of it.

I'm pretty excited for my turn... Trying to be patient and content where I'm at, which I am... but I'm also experiencing engagements and trying on dresses with my friends and roommates, and I can hardly wait. What a sweet time of life.

Love 146.

www.love146.org

Margaret Walker said that [Love] “makes you big inside.” It is an ever expansion, an invitation, a freedom. Love is the greatest gift of all. Love lives in each one of us and invites others in. Love is found in the faces of mothers, fathers, friends. It lives in the hands that bring healing and end slavery. It breathes through words that give freedom and break chains. Love frees each child from a disgusting cage and whispers,



I am in a class this semester, a directed study about global human rights.




And that is all we can do. Stand together. Hold the babies and the children and show them love. And I don't yet know how to do that, how to go or stay and just love... I'm learning, I guess. And sometimes I get discouraged. Sometimes I think that I'll never be able to do that. But then I realize how much I've learned and grown in the past four years alone, and I am overcome with anticipation for what is next. And we will do it together, and we will love together.

And this: Nelson Mandela said “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

That's all for now.

Superbowl weekend.

This has been a good weekend. Homework fits into the times when we're home, in between all the times spent with people that are important to us.

I learn through this and these. I'm thankful for my friends... all of them. I'm trying to be a better friend... not so selfish and self-conscious. To love everyone, no matter what.

I love Sunday mornings... coffee in bed, yoga, reading... I should get some homework done, but I have better things to do!

I love living with five other girls. I'm going to miss this when it ends... I'm going to miss these girls. I hope that I can be intentional when college is done, intentional enough to spend the time that I need to with the people that I love.

This is a good semester. Busy, but less busy... I'll do fine in my classes and focus on my friends and the people that I love. Oh, and finding people to live with and a job, too. That'd be good.

[I love Janae's playlist for after her shower... She's a good playlist-maker!]


Also, superbowl weekend last year was when everything started. The most stressful and traumatic weekend of my life, the best one that led to the best thing. I wanted to say that I can't believe how far we've come, but I can't because it seemed to lead to this all along.