What Makes A Home?

This is my most personal blog that I have written. I was born a writer and the only way to take emotional strain away is to see my words on a page arranged in the order my heart feels them. I'm sentimental and homeless. Im not homeless in the sense that I live on the streets and accept peaches and water from strangers, I'm homeless in that I don't have a "home."

I moved from South Africa to Las Vegas and then Reno then my parents moved from Las Vegas to California. I'm fragmented from my childhood in South Africa, my teenage years in Las Vegas, and when I move to Southern California, I will be a ten hour drive from my college years.

I am moving to a new house and with the move comes giant changes. With the move comes the end of summer.. which means my best friend moving back to her home and the start of my last semester. It also means I have only six months left in Reno.

I hate Reno. I do. I really really do. It's not my favorite place however I have spent four years of my life in this place. It was last Friday and I was sitting with a close friend at a table on the patio of one of my favorite Reno gem's, Silver Peak, eating a delicious sandwich, when i thought "I will miss this." Reno has grown on me but more and it terrifies me thinking of moving again.

I have been moving all my life since I emigrated and it certainly feels like i have no home. I also think this is where most of my commitment issues come from. When you move around so much you tend to stay away from forming romantic bonds. It scares me because in my heart I know I will probably keep moving. I think a small part of me longs to be a nomad and travel from place to place seeking new adventures and fascinating encounters. The other part of me craves stability and routine.

I love Southern California but its not home. So maybe some people are really really lucky and get to call the house and city they grew up in "home" but for the rest of us, maybe our home is people. You see buildings, parking lots, houses and coffee shops can all be built in every place and in every country, but maybe its the people that fill them that makes each building, parking lot, house, and coffee shop feel like "home."

So maybe we have multiple homes and sometimes those homes move or you move away from them.. then what do we do? I guess we try to keep them as close to our heart as possible and feel comfort that with good technology and the gift of flight.. you can go home again.

My room is empty, my dream catcher is boxed, my marilyn posters on the floor and my painting of Paris pressed up against my empty dresser and as glad as I am to leave this really gross college apartment, I almost feel like I'm saying goodbye to two years.

I guess I will see what the next six months bring me in the biggest little city. How much useless stuff I will accumulate, how many "one too many drinks"nights I will have, and how many tears I will shed when I move once again.

Life is journey and maybe some of us find our home and stay there, and maybe for the rest of us, we have lots of little homes along the way.

Most people say home is where the heart is, but I say the heart is where home is. because in our hearts we keep all the little homes and loved ones we've accumulated along our journey and in our hearts, we carry all those homes and special people with us all the time.

JG

Blessed & Blissful

Today, I feel like sharing my personal emotions and thoughts.

I feel blissful and content. I have the greatest friends any person could ask for. I have a cousin to talk flowers and fashion with and I have had two of my best friends in my life for four years. One of my best friends in my life for two, the other for three, and my "big bro",who just graduated college, in my life for eight. I'm still best friends with my high school boyfriend and we talk frequently and want the best for each other. I recently met a wonderful friend whose agreed to help me move out of the kindness of her heart, I have parents who help me out a tremendous amount financially with school and am moving to a beautiful gingerbread looking house July 1st with wonderful roommates, I have the most amazing PR internship with a national organization & lastly I get to move to Southern California in December.

I feel so incredibly thankful. I don't know that I believe in God but I do believe I am blessed by something to have been given such an awesome wonderful life.

All I need is prince charming but I believe that will happen too eventually :)

I hope everyone gets to live in pure bliss like I do. Sure some days I have anxiety, or my car gets towed, or really bad things happen, but for the most part I consider myself incredibly lucky to get to live this awesome life.

I'm off to enjoy this sunshine!

Happiness & gratitude

Ten Gluten & Dairy Free Products I Could Never Live Without

It was after two months of consecutive stomach aches and unbearable fatigue, that I decided I had to do something. My parents of course, urged me to go to a doctor. Other than the desire to possibly marry one, I have very little interest in modern medicine. My Yoga teacher had once told me about Ayurveda, a Hindu system of medicine involving, diet, herbs and Yoga. 


I made an appointment with a local Ayurveda practitioner, Laura Hennings and what she had to say changed my entire diet. Now, I have always been a healthy eater. Fast food, fried food, processed foods were never something I ate. When I went to see Laura she had me stick out my tongue and she told me my whole health history. I was amazed. After that I took a quick multiple choice test and I was classified as a Pitta Vata, but she went even further. She told me that I was also gluten and dairy intolerant. It was a shock at first but I decided that in order to get healthy and rid myself of this terrible stomach pain and fatigue, I was going to give up all gluten and dairy products. 


So what is gluten? Gluten is a protein found in the grains wheat, barley, and rye. It gives food elasticity and gives bread its spongy texture. It can also be used as a thickener for sauces. 


I have been gluten & dairy free for about six or seven months now and these are the staples in my diet that keep me healthy, happy, energetic, and eating yummy yummy foods. 

This granola is so freaking yummy and amazing. I always have some in my handbag in case I need a snack. 

Oh boy! This creamy amazing chocolatey goodness is life changing. I like this with some strawberries or just on its own.

This to me just tastes way better than those dessert yogurts riddled with chemicals. Plus there's some strawberry pieces in there. It's a morning delight ora comforting midnight snack!

This pasta, although has a sort of softer texture than regular pasta, is still really really yummy and on the days where I just want carbs carbs carbs it's yummy with some mushrooms or zucchini and a little olive oil.

Before I tried this bread I was eating Udi's bread. This bread is 800 times better. It has the spongey feeling of normal bread and tastes absolutely delish when toasted. 

I probably have six cups of green tea a day. It just feels really nice on my body and the taste of the green tea makes me want to eat healthy all day long. 

I like this milk because it's mostly almonds. It is seriously Yu-mmy! I don't drink much milk but when I do, this one is scrumptious and super smooth. 

This butter is another life changing product. I put this on my gluten free toast and over pasta and well as use this to cook my veggies.

There is absolutely no soy cheese that I have tasted that tastes better than regular cheese. However, this one is quite delicious and a nice substitute for the nights I'm absolutely dying for a piece of cheddar cheese. 

This is a nice afternoon snack with a piece of soy cheese or some soy butter or even some almond butter.

Hugs from my kitchen to yours!

Took this from Purpose Fairy. She is amazing and you should all add her for a daily dose of happiness

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Purpose-Fairy/196758903675076

On My Way To Namaste..

I have been an avid yogi since age ten. The feeling of holding that pose just ten seconds longer than the day before, the feeling of your mind and body so connected with each other that nothing else matters, the feeling of complete peace. When I am on my teal and baby blue mat, I am in my own world, a world which has only one inhabitant-me. I wrote a column for my University's paper about the different components of yoga: Yogalosophy.

Last semester I was unbelievably busy, being president of a club and being stuck in some hard classes and other side projects. I deluded myself into thinking I did not have time, an hour and fifteen minutes, to devote to yoga everyday and dropped it. I attempted to do yoga in my bedroom but my room is riddled with electronics so that didn't quite work.

Today I decided- I need a change. So I bought $55 worth of change- an unlimited yoga pass at The Studio in Reno. It was the best purchase I have made in a while. Although my bank account might not be feeling the zen, I already am.

I think the lesson here is, we may get busy but we need to take care of ourselves and take that extra time to nourish our bodies and our minds with good positive energy and exercise.

So while I may feel like I'm too busy with school or internships, or jobs, I will devote the hour and fifteen minutes to myself daily, because after all theres still 22.85 hours left in the day for work, school, internships and whatever other craziness I might get myself into!

Take Time For Positivity

People seem to have all the time in the world to complain and wish for a better situation, a better boyfriend, a better life. I'm guilty of this too at times. Sometimes it seems like negativity is all around us and its easier to fall in to it then to ignore it. 

For example, we tend to thrive on other's failures. It’s common to hear someone starting a conversation with "Did you hear X got fired and apparently things aren't good with her and her boyfriend." It’s a rarity to hear "Wow X got this amazing promotion and things are going to great for her its just awesome. It's much easier to be a friend to someone in times of failure than in times of success.

I’ve been accused of being "annoyingly upbeat" "unrealistic" "too positive" I’ve even been called "Tinkerbelle." The way I see it, the way you feel about someone else's success will not change your success. You can spend an hour thinking about how horrible life is or how lucky other people are OR you can spend an hour counting all of the good things you have going for you. You can be thankful for the lack of ailments you have compared to others.

 

 It doesn't matter if the glass is half full, half empty, cracked, ugly.... It matters who the owner of the glass is and what he or she does with it.

Sometimes in life we get dealt an awful hand. We cannot exchange those cards; we can simply develop a strategy to play them to our advantage. But if you got someone else's hand, you may decide your hand isn't so bad after all.

Anne Frank said it best "I don't think of the misery, but of the beauty that still remains." 

Life is wonderful. It’s unpredictable, unfair, awesome, and challenging, it’s the greatest adventure we get to go on. In a materialistic world, we lose sight of all the amazing things in our life. This morning I woke up and, being blind as a bat, griped about not being able to see right away. Then I remembered I have two working legs to walk to the bathroom where my contacts, that I was able to buy, were situated.  Sometimes we complain about getting dressed in the morning, while some less fortunate people cannot get dressed on their own and have to wait for daily assistance with there dressing.

Lastly, today I thought "Gee it's really unfair that my grandmother has to be alone on Mothers Day," until I remembered that she had my late grandpa with her for fifty years and some people can't even say they have had someone with them for five.

Life is good, enjoy walking in your shoes, and when you wish for someone else's shoes, remember they may be less comfortable. 

Swim

Today I felt like listening to a band I used to listen to in high school-Jack’s Mannequin and came across the song “Swim.”

I found a tidal wave

Begging to tear down the dawn

Memories like bullets

They fired at me from a gun

A crack in the armor

I swim to brighter days

Despite the absence of sun

Choking on salt water

I'm not giving in

I swim

I’ve been nostalgic and a little weepy lately, thinking back to the times when my grandfather was alive. He inspired me so much every day with his kindness and was so proud of everything I did, it didn’t matter what it was-I was his superstar. Every night I would talk to him and he would tell me how one day he will see me on CNN, I don’t think he understood what a public relations person does even though I would attempt to explain it over and over again.

I think its pretty clear I'm not a natural blonde but I did get his big blue eyes!

He passed away in November and since then despite his passing, so many amazing things have happened to me: fantastic internship, scholarships, good grades… there’s so much I want to tell him but can’t.

Anyways when I heard this song it inspired me maybe not to swim, but to GO! I am going to keep going for all my dreams and know that he is with me watching over me, probably shaking his head at my ridiculous caffeine consumption.

Sometimes we all have those days where we miss how things used to be, or we wish things were different, but we must swim because life is good. Life is an amazing journey and sometimes we may not like the pit stops, but we must remember it’s not the end of the race and only WE get to decide the attitude we have at these pit stops and when we reach the end!

Challenge Your Mind

This semester I took Eng 411 aka Linguistics aka Hell on Earth. The professor's first words were: "Now this is a challenging scientific and mathematical English class." There is one thing in this world I hate more than math and science.. ants!

Three weeks into the class and we began doing linguistic trees. Nothing made sense and i contemplated dropping the class. Due to amazing scholarships from the Reynolds School of Journalism, I decided against dropping. I was going to learn Linguistics no matter what. I emailed the professor and explained that Linguistics made as much sense to me as a message from Athens in Greek. She graciously told me to come into her office a week before every homework assignment was due and she would check my work and help me with questions. So I did that... Every Friday/Monday for four months I was in her office. 

Page one of an eleven page paper. 

As I prepare to take the final I have an 87% in the class and cannot only do trees in English, but I have learned to do them in Tagalog as well for my final project. IT FEELS DAMN GOOD!

It has been so long since I have challenged myself and taken a hard class that I wasn't comfortable with. This class taught me so much about language. More importantly, this class taught me so much about myself. It taught me that I'm 100 times more determined than I thought and a million times smarter and more capable than I could have imagined. 

It's a work in progress!

I cured my mind which was diseased with laziness when it came to math and science. It was like bootcamp for my mind.
It is so important to keep challenging ourselves and pushing ourselves in order to be the best we can possibly be!

I plan to use my Linguistic knowledge in everything I do. I now understand the scientific value of words and the importance of using some words as opposed to others. Amazing press releases here I come!

Linguistic hugs from my house to yours! 

Caffeine Is Calling

About three months ago, I decided to give up caffeine, trying to follow the Ayurveda constitution and all. All was well until I remembered: Im in 400 level classes, president of a club, about to start a PR internship, and a homosapien.

As I began planning the annual Reynolds School of Journalism Toast dinner for 50, I realized I needed energy..

I made my first cup of coffee in months this morning and the feeling is unexplainable. I have so much energy I don't know what to do with myself: Gym, running, homework, speech making, dinner planning- the possibilities are endless! It's an amazing feeling, its a gift from the caffeine gods. Bright "alien" eyed and bushy tailed, day here I come.

I learned something more than how great coffee is, this taught me that its ok to need a little help. That sometimes the workload gets a little heavy and sometimes I get tired. I would like to say I'm the yogi with a strict no caffeine herbal tea diet, but I'm not.

I'm the woman who can't wear white and not spill, the woman who gets so busy she forgets to text people back, the woman who takes on more than she can handle, and the woman who apparently needs her cup of coffee.

I get by with a little help from my friends... and a little cup of joe :)

Presidentially Proud

A little under a year ago I was elected president of the Journalism Student Advisory Council. I was nervous. I avoided clubs in high school and have never been a “club person.” Well that changed quickly, when I took over as president of JSAC.

When I took over we had $160 in our club account, I am pleased to say that we have raised over $1300 and donated some of it to charity.

We just had our last meeting and I couldn’t help but shed a tear when I got home.  Bittersweet indeed. I have learned so much during my year as president and will take with me these life lessons into my future endeavors.

These girls, yes my club happens to consist of awesome femme fatales, have warmed my heart and become my personal friends. They put up with my flightiness, extreme positivity, and sarcastic humor.

I learned so much being president of a club and these are just some of the major things I have learned as president:

1.     Take notes-In order to stay organized, it is crucial to keep an organized notebook of things you want to discuss in meetings, things previously discussed, and duties.

2.     Set a meeting agenda- It is so much easier to have an effective club meeting if you have a clear idea of what you want to discuss. That way the members know what is going on and you cover every topic you planned on covering.

3.     Delegate- People join a club so they can be of use and help out with things they enjoy doing. Get to know your members and delegate according to their passions. No one wants to do things they hate doing; they do enough of that in their classes. Give them duties they will enjoy doing.

4.     Feed yourself with food not power- No one likes a dictator. Instead of being Mussolini, ask the members for their input.  I tend to have a very chill attitude towards life; I set all of our club meetings at Starbucks and each meeting was filled with creativity, productivity, and most importantly-laughter.

5.     Follow through- these people depend on you to lead them and get things done. If you promise to do something or execute an event, in the words of Nike “JUST DO IT.”

6.     Enjoy it- I have enjoyed watching my members grow personally and academically. I am so proud of everything we have accomplished and treasure all the fun times we have had. From auctions to dean’s lunches to our annual dinner, it has been a pleasure.

Each one of these girls has taught me something. I could not have asked for more amazing members. Furthermore, I couldn’t think of better women to spend my time with.

I know the next president will continue to do amazing things with JSAC and will continue to make the Reynolds School of Journalism proud.

Next semester, I will be a mentor for freshman and I cannot wait to start that next chapter of my life and share my many life lessons, learned the hard way of course, with freshman.

Huge journalism hugs