Burn It Down With Love

 Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Catherine of Sienna. I tend to talk about her...muchly. Today, her feast day, I am going to write a little bit about why. 

 She spoke Italian, so her really famous quote can be translated into English a couple different ways. My favorite is "be who you were created to be, and you will set the world on fire". I sometimes can't get over how much I love this quote. It is the screensaver on my phone. It really just sums up how I feel about life and love. 

 

 I believe in souls and God. I believe that he created each person's soul with loving kindness. He breathes life into our souls and ignites a flame of love. He gives us this little burning. We carry it around all day, slowly growing into amazing people, feeding this flame. Eventually, we find our place. We find that one thing that makes the flame erupt into an inferno, consuming everything around us. 

 It is amazing to see people who have found their path. You can see the love they are pouring out and it makes you love them back. They care so much about what is important to them. 

 So, I guess....do what you love, and love will be what you do. 

 Thank you, St. Catherine for just being totally awesome :) 

Happy Birthday!!

 Today is my wonderful mother's birthday!! She is the loveliest and most incredible woman born to this planet!

In honor of that, here is a photo of all of us at the Vineyard this weekend!! She is the gorgeous one, far to the right! Best looking of us all!

Love and Hugs <3

Breathe It In, Guys

 It is safe to say that am pretty addicted to Pinterest. It is basically a search engine where all the results are awesome. Do things get any better? No, they don't.

 I always seem to find these really great, inspiring quotes and sayings while I am scrolling through. They just fill me with the most amazing thoughts and notions. Some of them are just for me, but some I like to share. So, here you go!

 This is a meditation mantra I found. And, even though I don't really do meditation (I have prayer to calm me down) I found this to be incredibly soothing. Peace and love go hand in hand. Anything wrong or malicious can be fixed with kindness. Breathe out love, and you and everyone around you can enjoy the rush of peace that surrounds you. It is a chain reaction. Your love will create an environment of peace for someone else, and then they will be able to spread their love with the people around them.

 Let yourself be caught up in the overwhelming waves of love. It is a juggernaut, ready to plow through hate and insecurity.

Well, This Is Just Awesome.

 All of my life I have know one thing for certain about myself. I love sleep. So much. It is just the best thing in the world. I just like being asleep. Apart from being incredibly comfortable, nothing bad happens while one sleeps. It is just perfect.

 The reverse of this is that I hate waking up. It just makes me sad and cranky. Usually I can't function at all for the first 3-5 minutes that I am awake (things like: can't remember who I am/where I am/where Gabrielle is. ha)

BUT....

 Sloan and I have done some Freaky Friday swippy-swappy. Suddenly, I am up hours before I need to be and it feels wunderbar!! And Sloan now sleeps like the dead. Let us hope it continues this way. Well, my part any way. Sloan can do what she wants with her short end of the stick. But, I think I am going to like being a morning person. :)

Everything Will Be Ok In The End...

...if its not ok, it is not the end.

 I guess, I take this to mean that happiness is the goal. Nothing else matters until you get there. And once you get to the end, and you're basking in a world of happiness, the little things that were terrible will just be stepping stones on your way to happiness. Think about that...everything happens for a reason, and the headaches will eventually become a part of what makes you happy. In the end you will be happy. So happy. And it will only be because of the things you had the strength to stand through.

 Hope your day is as awesome as mine is going to be :)


Behave yourselves! Love always,
Alexandra

P.S.
I am not sure who that said the "ok" quote. I've heard it before and it stuck with me. I tried asking the internet and it came up with a dozen different answers. To whomever actually said it though, thank you!!!

If This Isn't Nice, I Don't Know What Is

 I like to try and live my life so that I am happy as often as I can be. I want to be so happy that I make other people happy just by being around me. It's just good business! I've found the only way to accomplish this is to focus on the tiny things that are wonderful; make them so important, let it fill up your day. Then the terrible stuff (its always going to be there, no matter what) will be overshadowed by the lovely things.

 Another key is surrounding yourself with amazing people. Fortunately for me, that is no problem. I have a truly incredible family, and friends whom I love dearly. For the most part I think they share my outlook on life. We depend on each other, and help one another grow.

 Recently, one of my closest buds showed me a quote by Vonnegut. It really just encapsulates what I want to say:

      "I urge you, please notice when you are happy and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'if this isn't nice, I don't know what is'"

 What an awesome sentiment. During busy, crazy, hellish days it can be hard to find something worth exclaiming over. But when you find it, the small teeny thing that makes you smile, let the world know. Put a smile on your face and wear your happiness for everyone to see.

 Today, I am happy for the loving support of my family and friends. Also, BBQ.



  Hugs and love,
Alexandra

Gotta Get Down On Friday

 When she orignially preformed the song "Friday", I feel that Rebecca Black had a distinct message she wanted broadcasted to the world. Many might speculate as to what her message really was; we may never know for sure. After deep thought and reflection, I have come to the conclusion that what she really wanted was for us to "get down on Friday." To honor her wishes, I myself will be getting down this Friday.

 About to go see get some delciouso BBQ with La Gabrielle. It is about to be a crazy day, guys. Get. On. Our. Level. Fo. Real.