I wrote this on Sunday June 13, 2010 and it still rings true today....

1. I am shy and awkward unless I am around my best friends. 
2. I want to end war, suffering, global poverty and change the world but I don’t believe in myself enough to accomplish my dreams. 
3. I love and respect pretty much everyone but if you lie to me I probably won’t respect or like you. 
4. I’ll tell anyone about Africa – facts, my trip there, my love for the continent and its people- I could talk about it for hours. 
5. I write poetry and one day I hope I am brave enough to share it on a stage in front of a crowd (I am actually a published poet!) 
6. I hate being judged and hate it when I see myself judging others. 
7. I often feel worthless because I don’t fight for human rights and peace every second of every day that I live. 
8. Sometimes I think my morals and beliefs hold me back from truly living life as a 19 year old. I wonder what I am missing. 
9. I am NEVER quite satisfied. 
10. My greatest fear is not dying alone, my greatest fear is not living up to the plan God has for me. I know I am supposed to be a great humanitarian! 
11. I judge myself and hold myself to moral standards that even I can’t live up to.
12. I talk to myself; a lot actually. 
13. I hate drama and I manage to stay away from it most the time. 
14. I don’t believe in the old sang “forgive and forget” instead I tell you “forgive and don’t forget” once you forget you allow history to repeat it’s self. 
15. I believe everything is a form of art. 
16. I can’t drive a car or ride a bike- they scare the hell out of me. I guess it’s because I don’t trust myself with mine or someone else’s life. 
17. For a long time all I wanted more than anything was a guy that would make me feel worthy as a woman. I am learning to love myself now but wouldn’t mind if a cute boy wanted to take me out on some cliché or non-cliché dates. 
18. I love to dance but you’ll never catch me doing it in public. I think I only danced 3 times at the dances in high school. 
19. One of my favorite things to do is swing in the park! I used to play a game where I would try to touch the moon or tree branches with my feet. It gave me the feeling of flying. I wish I could fly! 
20. I want to believe in love and marriage but the divorce rate and marriages I have seen in my own life make me believe less and less each day. 
21. I usually have more guy friends then girls- my mom used to get upset that all my friends were male- and I tend to confide in them more because there honest, straight forward and drama free! I love all my guy friends! (No offence to my girls! I love yall too!) 
22. I wish I was more confident and willing to accept who God has made me. 
23. I speak the language of sarcasm fluently- this sometimes offends people. I am sorry but the house I grew up in spoke it fluently at the dinner table so I have learned from the best. 
24. I believe music, food and sports breaks are the three things all barriers and connect people of different race, religions and backgrounds together. 
25. I love making mix CD’s. It’s what I do. If you ever need a themed CD or random CD let know! 

“Mastering the art of travel is not accomplished with practice or talent no school will give you a bachelor’s degree on not getting shot when back packing through eastern Africa or avoiding Montezuma’s revenge on your trek through Mexico. It’s a way of life unknown to the majority.  It’s almost impossible to convey to your friends back home over the course of a single conversation. It’s more of a feeling. It’s the excitement I experience the night before a trip. The high that comes with booking a one way train ticket to a place I’ve never heard of. The little things that often go unnoticed.  The friends I’ve made, the countries I’ve called home and all the bugs I’ve eaten by accident.   Mastering the art of travel requires deviating from one’s plans” - The art of travel