Giving thanks...TODAY.

Yes, I already wrote a Thanksgiving post. But that was a general post. It's only noon and I have already had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I wanted to get it down so that I can never forget.

I love that whenever my family gets together, hilarity ensues (even if it is a dry and very Wheeler-esque type of hilarity).

I am thankful for my mom waking me up at 8:30 instead of 8:00, because it is Mountain Time here and it feels extra early. 

I am thankful for my Grandparents because they are quirky and awesome.

I am thankful for my Grandmother for going to great lengths in order to accommodate our gluten free lifestyle (she even found a way to bake the Wheeler egg-casserole with gluten-free bread crumbs!)

I am thankful for the gluten-FREE muffins and DONUTS we had with breakfast this morning. 

I am also thankful that my Grandmother insisted that we drink prosecco with breakfast because it reminds her of living the 'good life' in Italy.

I love that my Dad and Grandfather refer to watching football as the "Audio-Visual" part of the holiday.

I enjoyed that my grandmother asked me to google engagement rings with her. It's heartwarming that she believes someone will want to marry me someday, I used to be unsure.

I also love that when I asked for my Grandfather's new gmail address, my Grandmother said not to send him any nude photos of anyone because it would "send him into a tizzy". My Grandfather just apologized for her strangeness and that I was forced to share her genes. 

I love that they've been married for 50+ years. 

I love that we spent an hour googling Arne Jacobsen egg chairs, and that my Grandfather might seriously purchase a purple one.

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Most of all, I love that we googled ridiculous cat videos for the better part of a second hour. I love my family.

Happy Thanksgiving!!! (Part deux)

"Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel."

What am I thankful for?
Much more than a blog post could ever do justice, that is for certain.

“Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.” -W. T. Purkiser

2010 has been incredibly good to me:

• It has been a year of learning, growth and second chances. 
• My family is in good health and everyone is flourishing. 
• I have maintained my most incredible friendships and have welcomed many new people into my life this year. 
• I am so grateful that I got a chance to live in Australia and support myself doing what I love. 
• I have heaps of friends living on the other half of the globe that I am so keen to visit again :) 
• Some old friends have come back into my life in a big way and I couldn't be happier. 
• All of my friends are doing incredible things and I am so proud of them. 
• I have found new friends (and the like) in the most unlikely of places.
• I am grateful that I have had the courage to put myself out there when failure was likely. 
• I am also grateful that I have kept my heart open, no matter what has crossed my path. 
• I am grateful that I am still able to work towards my dreams and believe that I have the support and capabilities that I need to be successful.
• I am healthy and have nearly made it a year and a half without health insurance, without problems.
• I am thankful that I will be re-enrolled with great coverage in January!!!
• I lost a friend this year, but her legacy lives on and she will undoubtedly help millions beat or avoid lung cancer. For that, I am thankful. (Miss you and love you, Jill)

*If you haven't read this amazing piece on Jill Costello and her incredible journey in Sports Illustrated, please do: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1178822/1/index.htm


I am thankful for each and every aspect of my life - good and bad. I am just so thankful to still have my life and my health. I cherish my future everyday and I must say, my life is pretty fantastic. I am content and things seem to get better everyday. My life is full of love and laughter - I am so blessed!

Happy Thanksgiving

Andy Shauf: "You Remind Me"

You remind me of everything I love
Yeah, you remind me of everything I love
The straw underneath this blanket
and the stars that catch your eyes
and the moment where you are closer by my side
you remind me of everything I love
yeah, you remind me of everything I love
a smile spreads to another
and another after that
with the thought that it's only love if it's loving you back
and my eyes are closed
and your hand is there,
oh my dreams are taking,
and you have your share
you're so beautiful
in this room above
where the paint is peeling
and i'll realize that i'm in pain
you remind me of everything I love
yeah, you remind me of everything I love
a smile thats so much bigger
than the smiles that i have seen
and it makes me realize
that there is so much more than what I have seen

Today's Gemini Horoscope:

"You're witty, sharp and funny, and you learned a long time ago to listen to your gut. At the moment, that built-in radar is telling you that there's something coming up. The good news is that what's on the agenda isn't going to be at all unpleasant. You'll probably end up being quite delighted with the surprise the heavens have in store for you." 

Yay!!! I love starting my day with such optimism...

Lots of studying in today's lineup.

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Current mood: Blue October: "Congratulations"

OUTSTANDING weekend...

Dear UC Berkeley, 

Thank you so much for supplying me with a decent education and some truly amazing friends that (like myself) absolutely refuse to take themselves seriously. 

Love,

Melissa

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This weekend, we recreated a game day in Newport and NEARLY beat Oregon in football. I was so excited that I whipped my hair. Seriously.

Willow Smith ain't got nothin' on me and Liz...

Uh...Don't ask.

Just makin' friends...

Once in awhile, we might take a normal photo (likely on accident).

True love.

Robyn: "Stars 4-Ever"

Why do videos like this bring me SO MUCH JOY? We may never know.

Happy Saturday!

Angus & Julia Stone: "For You"

This is such a sweet song, makes my heart feel warm. I love Angus & Julia Stone. They are a couple of awesome Aussies and are beyond amazing. Their music takes me to a great place automatically. Everyone needs to have bands they love that much (or at least the occasional song that can change your reality for a couple moments - "Wonderwall" by Ryan Adams still does that for me). I believe that music can be transformative - and if you disagree, then you're missin' out. 

---

Give these jams a whirl:

The Beast

Here We Go Again

Wasted

Santa Monica Dream

Just A Boy

Bella

Hollywood

Silver Coin

Stranger

Jewels And Gold

Mango Tree

Lonely Hands

-

I can assure you, you will not be disappointed. 

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In other news, I bought a cool new pencil case today. I noticed that I needed one today when I was at the library. So I went to CVS once the library closed. It's lime green (typical, I know). I'm pretty much the coolest person out. Nerds like myself need "nerd tools" from time to time. Wanna know a secret? I'm actually enjoying studying again. (Shhh...don't tell anyone!)

I have a massive crush on Daniel Tosh.

Seriously. If you don't find him absolutely hilarious, we cannot be friends. 

I have a quote problem.

Errr...addiction is probably the better word. I like to blog them so that I can save them for later. Sometimes other people say things in a better way than I could ever dream of, even if I tried my very hardest. Yay for them. I will enjoy the fruits of their witty labor, and so can YOU!
"People should fall in love with their eyes closed. Just close your eyes. Don't look and it's magic." [Andy Warhol]

"If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere." [Frank A. Clark]

"Life is a ticket to the greatest show on earth." [Martin H. Fischer]

"Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on." [Eckhart Tolle]

"You're only as dumb as the situation you didn't learn from." [Keith Lullen]

"He who hesitates is a damned fool." [Mae West]

Found some gems today -- love that.

Chris Brown: "For Ur Love"

Today's Gemini daily horoscope:

"Planning your future can feel like a task that's hard to get your arms around -- after all, how can you look into the future with any sort of certainty? Things are in a constant state of flux -- especially now -- so you'll feel less frustrated if you just let life go on as it is for a little while longer. There's no need to pin down every little goal you have. There is a real mystery in your future, and you should see it as a very exhilarating thing." 

Sorry to share this again...but like I've said, I'm into this stuff. And once in awhile, my horoscope really nails it. Today's is telling me just what I need to hear ("stop being a control freak and just goooo with the floooow"). And the thing is, I do find my mysterious future to be quite exhilarating :)

TEAM JILL

I just got choked up watching this, but it's an amazing video. I miss Jill everyday. If you are not educated about Lung Cancer, it's about time that you are. No one else needs to be touched by this terrible disease...and improper funding is no longer an acceptable excuse. 

The NEW FACE of Lung Cancer from LungCancerFoundation.Org on Vimeo.

"If we have a good heart, a warm heart, warm feelings, we will be happy and satisfied ourselves." -His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama

An Open Letter to Brach's Mellowcreme Pumpkins...

To my dearest Mellowcreme Pumpkins,

Like my first real crush at age 14, you are all at once the bane of my existence and my reason for living.

You showed up for the 2010 autumn season this September, and I may be carrying an 5 extra pounds  thanks to your corn syrup-y love. Between my mother and myself, we can make 1-lb bags of you disappear like magic (yet, bags of you continue to show up on my kitchen counter). I may be suing Brach's once my dental bill arrives. 

The Halloween season for this year has come to a close, and your bags of orange goodness grace the drugstore shelves with much less frequency. It seems like just yesterday I was driving past Walgreens and talked myself into buying facewash that I really didn't need so that I could see if there were any more  Mellowcreme pumpkins left. Oh. Well, I guess it was yesterday. 

Please go away. You are so orange and cute but you spoil my dinner and rot my teeth. I love you and your pumpkin-shaped splendor, but this obsession is no longer healthy.  I need to free up my thoughts so that I may once-again fill them with strange logic structures and the like.

I will miss you. 

And Brach's, PLEASE do NOT come out with a Christmas-themed equivalent. Diabetes will ensue without question. 

I like the sound of this...

"Give people a chance to warm up to you, or to fully explain themselves. The next three weeks will be revealing in ways you can’t currently anticipate. Prepare to be pleasantly surprised."

Thanks, Horoscope. 

Ain't that the truth...

"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action." -Benjamin Disraeli

Yeah, so...

Here we go again.

I've definitely been slacking on this here blog. I've been focusing on coaching (which makes me really happy) and having a good time because I know what's up next...lots and lots of studying. Again. 

Yeah, I didn't do as well as I'd hoped on the October LSAT. Weird thing is, I feel really good about it. My score isn't bad enough that law school is out of the question or anything, but I did so much worse than I'd been doing on my recent diagnostics and I freaked out timing-wise on two sections. I think a lot of that had to do with nerves that I believe won't be present during round 2. I already feel so much less anxious. I know what I have to do to be successful. Let's say I had felt "pretty good" about how I did and then I received the score I have now. I'd be devastated. But, since I knew I had a rough go of things (really rough - could/should have cancelled my score), I'm confident that after 5 weeks of studying I can easily do much better. 

I know that there are people reading this that are interested in this topic - what I did that worked, what didn't work, what I recommend...and I will tell you, but it will probably be via Steve's LSAT Diaries. I am working on a blog post for him. If he chooses to use it, I will share the link. If he chooses not to, I will post it here instead. 

Experience is the best teacher and I have learned a lot about myself through this process so far. Writing this blog post is quite cathartic, too. 

Weirdest thing about all of this: I'm actually excited to study again. I enjoy all of the logic and the analysis. This is a good thing, it means I'm on the right track. This career is likely the one that is right for me. 

So, here we go again...It's more prep tests for me! And, I will continue to work on my essays and applications. I will also continue blogging. It's good to vent, and it keeps me sharp. Writing is fun just for the sake of writing...when you're a nerd like myself. 

LIFE IS GOOD.

Especially since...

THE CHRISTMAS TREE IS GOING UP AT FASHION ISLAND!!! 

Pure bliss!

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." -William James