Good things come to those who wait...and pray.

So today started out earlier than I've been used to for quite some time. We had an 8:30 a.m. meeting for the restaurant I work for which lasted about three hours. They made it up to us by serving us Einsteins Bagels and coffee, which is one of my favorite places in the universe, so even though I'm a grumpy morning person I forgave them. I didn't want to have to leave my house at 7:00 or 7:15 to get there because well lets face then I would have had to get up at like 6:15 and I was just not having it. And unfortunately Lyft doesn't open until 9:00 on Sundays. So I tried Uber ridesharing, and it was equally awesome. It was just a good way to start my day. Also it was free because I found a promo code.

 For a few weeks now I have been on a hunt for a new job, not to leave my current one, but at least to have a second income to help alleviate some of the, stress. I was getting impatient looking for openings that met my qualifications.. A friend had told me to try Linkedin.com, I'd heard of it but never really thought of it before. Within a few days I found a job that I wanted to apply for and I put in all my info, resume, you know the whole schpeel. Anyway I prayed about it a lot, and finally I got a phone interview today and it went amazingly! Still have another interview or two to go through, but the guy wanted to hire me just of our phone conversation!

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the PROPER TIME we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

I am doing a fourteen day devotional right now called "Ending Your Day Right." The above was today's verse. Everything in it's own time will fall into place, and I am slowly and trying to patiently learn that, it's an interesting little journey so far.

Walking Home

Okay I've gotten way off track in this whole 30 day Challenge thing, so we are just to pick up here and call this Day 9. Cool.

So I moved to a new apartment in LA about a month ago, and I really like the place, its a bit farther from work, however the walk from the bus stop is about the same. The only difference is I now actually find myself enjoying my walk home. The area I lived in before was much more residential, but it was also a lot darker at night, so walking home at night tended to be a bit scary. Maybe its because this area is a bit more lit up, but I actually feel at peace when I walk home.

Walking home today was a perfect way to end my day because, well, it wasn't a bad work day, but it wasn't good either. These walks always seem to set my mind at ease after a rough day. It's fifteen minutes that I have where I'm just taking in the days events. Tonight's walk was full of a few revelations about a few decisions that I am pressed with right now, and it all seemed much clearer.

As I was walking home this song popped into my head, as it does so often. But tonight I truly believe that with this song just popping into my head, God was giving me a message. Which I will have more info for you in the next few days I hope.

So yeah in short walks are good. Take them. And listen to this song.

Buffy, Blessings, and Breweries

Okay so I've gotten just a tad bit off track here and haven't written the challenge for several days...in my defense...nah, no defense I just got lazy. So I'm just flat gonna write about the cool things that have happened since Thursday.

Thursday - I took the day off from work because I wasn't feeling very well the night before. I went to choir practice, and was crazy out of it, couldn't really sing, it was very surreal actually. After my friend Joey, who is also in the choir, was about to take me home and knowing that I was feeling kind of down, decided to pick up Thomas so we could all go out and grab a bite. We went to Los Feliz which is way closer to us than we thought for one, and two was really cool.

We ate at this place called Public Brewery and it was awesome (and cheap). They had legit bar food for non LA prices, which was shocking to me. The over all atmosphere of the place was cool. Pool tables, music and all of the fund. It kind of reminded me of The Commons in Franklin, except no fried pickles. The reason the place was so cool, was also because, I am constantly realizing just how many things there really are to do in LA, that you don't need a car to get, contrary to popular belief, and that are actually fairly close to our apartment. I'm always really wanting to find new things to do in LA, but have always been trapped inside the, "oh, well, we need a car for that," type of thing...not true. You really can get just about anywhere in this city by public transit, just don't be stupid and take certain buses to South LA at night, know where you are going and you are fine.

Friday - Honestly I worked all day, not a whole lot to tell. I wore a dress all day, and seated people at their tables. Although, I did come home and become obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Seriously, could a girl get more badass than Buffy? When I was about ten I was obsessed with vampires, I loved Dracula, loved him. And when I got older and tried to read Twilight, I chucked it when Edward started glittering. Why? Because. Vampires. Do not. glitter. Period. So Buffy redeems all of that for me, which is fun.

I remember what happened Saturday except more Buffy and more working at a Chinese place, except that I didn't where a dress I wore pants. So skip it.

Today - Started out rough. Woke up crazy dizzy, which is not a good thing for me...but I was able to nip in the butt, so that is good! Then when I was on the bus, for some reason when I pulled the string to stop it didn't take, so I missed my stop and had to get off at the next one, which was over a mile away from the church, so I was getting impatient. Eventually I got there. Late, but I was there. And here is where my day really turned. I love the Pastor at my church. Pastor Sam is a genuinely nice, compassionate person, who deeply cares about his congregation, and he reaches out to everyone every week. While I have only been going to Wilshire for a little over a month, I have yet to hear a sermon that I don't like, or that doesn't touch me in some way. Today hit home very hard.

With the recent bouts that I was fighting with my health and all of the doctors appointments, having to step down from a job where I was at least decently paid, the bills have been piling up. They seem to get larger by the day. And it has been stressing me out, not as much stressing me out, as much as just scaring me. Trying to figure out how I am going to do it. That and a few other things that I cannot go into detail on the web. So I've been extremely lost lately, while trying to keep a happy vibe going for myself. Today Pastor Sam talked about our worries, and distractions, and that even though those distractions may be important, we need to be active in choosing to make time with God, because, well, lets face facts y'all, it's the most important. For me that has been a challenge. To put everything else aside for even just 15 minutes a day and talk to God through the scriptures, and prayer. And apparently in my case, music.

What happened after church, was kind of like a punch in the gut, that made me feel better all day. I am working on a few songs for church and I was singing "Blessings" by Laura Story (if you are having a rough time with anything, listen to this song) and it was like I really heard the words for the first time, and I kind of just crumbled, I just started crying and praying out loud, and within minutes I felt like a totally different person. Very relaxed, and able to deal with the situations I need to deal with, as an adult, and the people that were making me angry, weren't making me angry anymore. Anyway my point in this is that talking to God for just a few minutes out of your day makes a huge difference, and when you do it out loud its even more therapeutic! I'm ready to face tomorrow completely differently than a I faced today.

Oh and if any of you L.A. born and raised know where I can find a place that sells fried pickles...for the love of pete please let me know!

Day 6 and 7

Day 6 - The playing of Lego Harry Potter for the first time - Yes this was the highlight of my day that day. When I was younger I loved to play with my little brothers Lego's, I don't know what it is that makes them so utterly fascinating but even now, while I don't play with them, and believe me if I had the chance I would, they are so fun. It makes you feel like an architect. Am I right? And add that the wizarding world of Harry Potter? I am so down. I get so excited when I get to do I new spell. It's kind of like combining two of my favorite childhood moments into one giant display of gaming awesomeness! And yes I took a picture of the screen.

Day 7 - Mel's Diner and "The Heat"
I have been  dying to see The Heat since I saw the first trailer, because it just looked hysterical...and it was. My friend Natalie and I had been talking about it off and on, about seeing it together except that we never had the same time off to see it. Well this morning we both had the morning off so we decided to have a chick date. I had never been to Mel's Diner before (which I am utterly in love with now) so we went in for breakfast. If you've never been to LA or San Francisco, you most likely don't know Mel's. Mel's is your typical fiftiesesque diner, it reminds you of Happy Days immediately when you walk in. And while the service honestly wasn't the best, had we not been headed for a movie it wouldn't have even mattered. The atmosphere and food was just awesome. We both drank a ton of diner coffee, and were constantly stopping conversation to listen to songs that were coming on from the jukebox. Regardless of server issues I will be going back, because nothing makes me happier than fifties style anything. And for breakfast the corned beef hash is quite awesome, and it's fresh, none of that canned stuff.

 Hollywood Boulevard on my way to Mels. It just looks really bright and happy in the morning!

The Heat - Ladies go see it, I won't put anymore than it made us laugh hysterically many times. Some of it is trashy humor, but as long as you go in expecting that, you will enjoy every second of this movie, and some of it is just too ridiculous not to be funny, then there are some very smart writing moments in there as well. Again I can't say anymore or I will spoil it, but go see it!

Burning Love (or eyes for that matter)

This has nothing to do with the challenge. But rather some helpful information if you ever find yourself doing something as stupid as I did today. I made my self a BLT for lunch and decided to put fresh Jalapenos on it, then I didn't wash my hands...then I touched my eye...word to the wise or unwise in this case - ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS IMMEDIATELY AFTER CUTTING ANY KIND OF HOT PEPPER! So After this Happened I decided to look up a few tricks on how to treat it quickly and effectively, because the way handled it, could have gone better. Shoving your face under the faucet and pouring cold water into your eyes makes it worse at first, just FYI. My eye is still pretty foggy, but I feel like that's to be expected after rubbing chili pepper juice into your eye, under your contact.

Also if you're going to cut jalapenos, don't be a hero, wear gloves. Because you can burn your skin too. If you don't have gloves available to you, rub oils such as vegetable, olive, or canola oil on your hand to help keep some of the oils out until you're done cutting. And REALLY wash your hands after you're done. Possibly even with something other than water.

Fun fact capsaicin oil in jalapenos is what causes that terrible burning sensation. And it is not soluble in water.

1 - Take a Shot glass of milk and hold it up to your eye.
This makes a lot of sense since they tell you to drink milk when you eat something too spicy.

2 - For your skin, rub lemon or lime juice, the citric acid helps break down the the capsaicin.

3 - Alcohol - if it's on your skin feel free to use rubbing alcohol. But if your mouth is on fire this may be when that bottle of Jose you've had in your cupboard comes in  handy! Swishing it around will kill the oils.

4 - Cold Compresses - again not water but the cold will eventually draw out the heat.

5 - Here's a weird one - Toothpaste - again for your skin - please don't put tooth past in your eye, that is just all kinds of bad idea.

6 - Saline Solution - for those of us that wear contacts this is good to know, switch from blinking to flushing your eye with the saline for at least 30 minutes.

So for the eyes there seem to be only three real solutions; milk, saline, and water if the you don't have the other two available to you. But like I said before it's better to just not be a hero period and wear gloves while you're cutting hot peppers. Otherwise you end up practically hanging up on someone, and cursing like a sailor, while yelling at your confused boyfriend to shut off the bacon.

Day 4 and 5 - Time Warner Cable is not good for late night blogging.

When I got home Sunday I was too tired to do much of anything, so I just read my Bible for a bit and went straight to sleep. Then on Monday night for whatever reason Time Warner decided that my internet was not going to work for a few hours, without warning...this is not the first time this has happened. But Day 4 was a particularly good day, very busy, but good. I started attending Wilshire United Methodist Church in my area over a month ago, and I absolutely love it there. I have never felt more at home in a church.

For a few months now I have had this huge desire to work with teens in some way, volunteering somewhere. I think I've found my spot. The youth ministry at W.U.M.C. is called Youth 4 Jesus, and at the moments it's only a group of about ten kids. Yesterday I got to interact with them for the first time, just to see what they were about. I have a few more sessions to sit in on but I am really looking forward to getting to interact with these guys!

Today Day 5 (now yesterday) Monday -
I came home from work thinking that I still had a bunch of dishes to do before I could fully relax and lay down. But much to my surprise and an awesome roommate, they were done for me! It really is the little things that make you smile so much!

Day 3 - I did it

I did it! I got up this morning and did a few laps in the pool! I did all but backstroke and that isokay cause this is California, it's crazy bright here. I haven't swam for exercise in a little over three years so my body is kind of angry at me, but in a good way. I wasn't able to keep it up for too long, but I plan on doing this every other day! I really enjoy working out when I do it regularly, and as much I try to like it...I hate the gym. Running or walking for an hour or even an half hour on a treadmill is sooo boring, I need to find a good hiking spot and soon! So that was how I started my day off, like I said I didn't do it for very long, but I still felt really good about what I did do! And I got to entertain the boyfriend while trying to remember how the heck to put on a swim cap, so that was a plus.

Also this fortune cookie paper just made me feel all bubbly inside. Everyone should remember this everyday.

Lady Day

So I'm on day two, and so far it hasn't been too much of a challenge to find the positive sides of my days. Today was not by any means a bad day. When I got home from I had previously picked what I was going to write about, which included IHOP and bus seats. However, upon logging on to the internet I came across Huffposts article, addressing Texas state senate passing House Bill 2. While I am admitably, terrible about keeping up with what is happening in the world, (I'm trying to get better, I swear) this upset me. While I am not a feminist, or activist by any stretch of the imagination. I am a woman, who genuinely loves being a woman, and believe or not I actually am capable of deciding what is best for my body.

Anyway...

So Day 2 is going to talk about the ladies that were positive influences on me today!

Amanda -  Until this week I have never really spent any length of time with Amanda, it was pretty cool, and sad when they left, because she is a pretty awesome person all around. It was fun to actually get to know her a little. If I keep going, I am going to get off track here. Anyway talking to Amanda this morning about exercising and working out and all of the fun healthy stuff, which really is fun when you're regularly doing it, inspired me to start working out again. She is a pretty committed athlete, which I admire. So first thing tomorrow I'm getting up and going for a swim!

Natalie - This girl. She gets me in oh so many ways. We have the same sense of humor which is awesome for me, because well, I'm not ashamed...I'm kind of a dork. But of one of the things I love the most about Natalie is that she is just herself all the time. After work we just got to sit enjoy each others company and crack jokes. For at least fifteen minutes of that half hour, I spent it laughing. I left work smiling and in a great mood.

As a cat and then real Natalie, both equally pretty.


Melody - The lady I can easily call my best friend these days! We finish each others sentences, it's kind of creepy. Today in talking about getting things like headshots done and all of that fun "you need to do this in order to be an actor stuff," Mel is one of the few who will be discouraged by a few minor set backs from chasing her dream of becoming an actress. And that right there was enough for me to get an energy boost!

All three of these ladies have so much more to tell, but today I just focused on what inspired me specifically on this day, as this challenge is for me to find something during each day, that inspires me or helps with a positive attitude. I will say after Day 2 I am enjoying it! Feel free to join me, if you don't have a blog, do it in Notes on Facebook. For thirty straight days find at least one thing out of that day that you liked, it doesn't matter how big or small, and share a little something about it. Because as I in my first blog no day is ever all bad, there will always be at least one reason to smile.

So Much For One

Well day one was a pretty successful day in the positivity ventures because I can't choose just one thing! So here are today's little bits of happiness.

1 - Yogurtland and Looney Tunes - Okay so Yogurtland happens at least once a week for me, but it always feels like a special little treat, because I get to pick exactly what I want, and for the next two month they have Looney Toons centered bowls and spoons so that makes it extra special! It was extra nice today because, while I am a person who genuinely loves to be around people, I need my alone time, and I haven't had that for a little over two weeks. So it was the perfect treat, it was a yummy little dessert and 20 minutes in thought with myself!

2 - Getting to meet up with Pete and Amanda - Today is the last day of their visit and I ended up having work in the morning and choir rehearsal at night, so I was pretty bummed thinking that I wasn't going to see them really at all on their last full day here. BUT while it was a short hour and a half I did get hang with them and Thomas for a bit. This is the most time I have spent with either one of them where it was not show related, it's been a really awesome week chilling and talking with both of them, they are pretty awesome people.

3 - Church Choir - I love it! That's all.

4 - Dancing Around my apartment to this:

You may judge how you see fit, but 3 year old me was very excited to hear this song. And yes I do still think that it is just as awesome!

First One! 30 Days of Choosing Happiness!

Exciting moment for me! The blog world is still very new to me as I have really only even started reading family members recently.

Okay here is a short story as to why this blog is even starting.

Once upon a time I was a very chipper, happy go lucky person. At some point, life just got the best of me, and beat me down enough to the point of grotesquely Negative Nancy. In the past I would brush it off and keep going. This time when I got knocked down, I chose to stay down. There is that word, chose. I was unhappy, and was convinced that something else in the world had to change before I would ever be happy again. Except that this was far from the truth.

One day it finally hit me that happiness is a choice! YOU have the power to change how YOU feel. Duh! So I still struggle with this but I'm on the right road now.

So the challenge and the inspiration for even starting this blog in the first place; for the next 30 days I have to find at least one thing out of that day that I liked. No matter how tough that day might have been, I have to find something positive, about that day. Because the reality is, that no day is ever all bad. There is always something to smile about.

At the end of each day I will post my something and feel free to join me! I can't wait to see where it takes me!