To do list.

I will be turning 24-years-old in a month and its starting to hit me. At first I think to myself--"Oh my gosh, you're so old and grown up." But then I get real and realize--"Oh my gosh, you're so young and have so much to live!"

I have never felt more confident in the fact that mid-20's is the best age ever! You're old enough to do your own thing and your young enough to still have the time to waste. You don't have the responsibilities of a family but you do have a handsome man to love and live life with. You don't have an intense career but you are working hard toward building that future for yourself. You're older now and you and your siblings all get along. You've lived through enough to have learned so many legit lessons making you so much smarter and capable. I'm telling ya--life is good.

Life is good and I'm going to take advantage of that. If I were to think to myself what I wanted to do before I turned 30--I think I could have a little fun! Things I want to do with my family, my boyfriend, my friends, myself. So much to do--so lets jot it down.

Laura's To Do list:

-Finish writing my book

-Plant a flower garden and a vegetable garden

-Travel to Italy with my family and visit our home town

-Go white water rafting

-Come face to face with an elephant!

-Raise my own dog

-Sponsor a child in need

-Do a week long retreat with Habitat for Humanity

-Get my Masters degree

-Take a pottery class

-Learn another language

-Visit all 50 states and do something special there

-Go to Australia

-Learn to play the guitar

-Drive from the top of Arizona to the bottom--hitting all the beauty it offers.

-Go on a hot air balloon ride

-Volunteer for a presidential campaign

-Run a marathon (or perhaps a half marathon!!)

-Learn how to golf

-Play a round of golf with my brothers (and do well!!)

-Ride horses on the beach

-Drive cross country

-See the wild horses on Chincoteague Island

Whats on your To Do list?

Healthy Hearts

What makes a healthy heart? Exercise, eating right, vitamins and doctor check ups? Or is a healthy heart made from love, laughter, hard work and adventures? Maybe a little bit of both!

When times are great and perfect, it's so easy to live peaceful and calm. But when the times get harder--thats when a healthy heart becomes an essential part of life. Now that we're growing up, turning twenty-something and having responsibilities piled on top of us--this is the true test. Not a test that you need a scantron for, it won't be timed and no, it is not open book. It is life and it is testing you to see what you're made of!

In college, you go to class, do your homework, study for tests and do everything you can to get that perfect grade. In life--isn't it basically the same way? You go to work everyday, do all your work assignments, have that quarterly evaluation with your employer and do everything you can to get that promotion. The big thought is "Graduation!! No more papers!! It's finally done!!" But really, it's just the beginning!

There is going to be so much expected of us, so much pressure to keep up and so much more to learn! You can go into it with two thoughts--O crap! or O yes! The negative or the positive. Starting from the bottom or starting from the top.

Thats where a healthy heart comes in.

Just like everything--a healthy heart doesn't come for free. It takes effort and time. It takes trust and encouragement. Sometimes a healthy heart will get a little wobbly and lose balance--but you just have to stay focused and get it back on track.

So what exactly is a healthy heart you ask? It's you. It's everything that makes you. It's your mind set, your motivation, your competitive nature, your respectful morals. A healthy heart is what gets you through life in a good way. It helps you through the challenges and congratulates you through the accomplishments. It's you. It's your heart.

Starting your life as an adult and taking your steps toward responsibility and challenges, go toward it with your head held high and a healthy heart inside. Be excited for the opportunities you have been given, take advantage of the life you have. Love, laugh, work hard and explore. Don't take this time for granted. Be thankful for the love that is around you and stay away from the negative that will inevitably follow you.

Of course a healthy heart is made through exercise, eating right, vitamins and doctor check ups--but it's also made through the greatness you create for it. Stay positive, say I love you every chance you get and be honest. With all the intense challenges ahead of you--there are just as many beautiful pleasures coming your way as well. Let that be your motivation...

On days that my healthy heart gets a little wobbly and loses its balance--this is the conversation I have in my head. It helps me along..

Healthy Heart Play list:

The Climb

We Are One

Wide Open Spaces

What Matters

Stronger Woman

If You Want It

Wish you were here.

I have been waiting for this moment for so long. Graduation! Finishing college, getting a job, becoming an adult, becoming my own individual. What an exciting and proud moment for an accomplished graduate. Your friends and family all gather around and watch you walk across the stage to accept your diploma. There is a big party in your honor to congratulate your success. Your friends take you out for the night to celebrate no more papers and exams ever! So many people to love you and congratulate you--for me, there is just one person missing. My mom.

When I was 16-years-old, my mother passed away from breast cancer. It was really hard for me. I was devastated. I was sad because I missed her--because I needed her help to grow up and learn about life.

Now I'm 23 and I'm finally okay. I wont say that I got over the situation--but I'd say I got used to the situation. I've learned to accept it and embrace my life as it is. I don't need help anymore to grow and learn--I'm able to do that on my own now. But I still wish she was here to just be her and live life with us. I wish she could be here to see me making these accomplishments. I wish I could see her smile and laugh and give me a huge hug because she's excited. No matter how used to it you get--you will never get used to the fact that they are missing out on your life.

This is a major thought that goes through my mind on a regular basis. She wont be able to watch me graduate. She wont be able to watch me marry the man I love. She wont be able to meet my children or watch me raise my family. I have a whole life to live and she wont be able to be there to watch.

And I know I'm not the only one.

I know that there are so many people in this world that are experiencing the same thought process. Whether it be caused my death, divorce, distance, disaster. There are so many people who know the feeling of wishing someone was there. Wishing that special someone was able to make it.

I know that you are not able to change life and there is no reason to dwell on the things you cant change--with that said, I change the title of my blog to: "Wish you were here--but dont worry, I'm thinking of you the whole time."

I wish so badly that my mother could be with her family experiencing her life within our lives. So in her honor, all we can do is think of her and love her. When I walk across that stage for graduation, I will give my father the biggest hug and think to myself in my heart about how huge my mom would hug me because she's so excited. On my wedding day, I will walk down the aisle with my father and think to myself in my heart how happy my mother is to see everything so beautiful and true. When I raise my family--I will strive to be as good a mother as she was and think to myself in my heart how happy she must be watching me every step of the way.

To anyone who has lost a loved one--I'm so sorry. But always remember they are in your heart and the way to keep them alive within you is to cherish their memory and live to make them proud!

Wish You Were Here. A song that I heard with my mother when I was 13-years-old. We thought it was so sad-- but so beautiful.

Dress to Impress or Dress for Success??

Making the switch from the classroom to the office will introduce you to many changes--one in particular that is a bold necessity is the dress code. Will the office be professional? Business casual? Casual Fridays? Casual all the time?

And what about the interview? Do you have to dress differently for that?

It is so true that what you wear makes a big impact on an employer/boss. It can show your employer that you are professional and ready to take on the role in their office. If your feeling appropriate and comfortable in your clothes, it can give you more confidence and it shows that you are put together and have prepared yourself for the business enviornment.

As a college student beginning my journey through interviews and internships--getting my foot in the professional office atmosphere door, if you will--I've started being more conscious about my wardrobe. Instead of buying clothes thinking, "Oh that'd look really cute out at the bar on a Friday night!" Now I think to myself, "Oh that'd be perfect to wear into the office for my internship!"

Some people hate having to dress professionally and say they could never have a job that would require that everyday. Honestly--I think it's kind of nice. It's a whole new world that will seem strange at first but will eventually become natural. It can actually be kind of fun to shop for interview and business attire. So what exactly am I looking to buy for this new "professional atmosphere"?!

Interview-

To an interview, you want to wear a solid, conservative suit with a coordinated blouse and moderate shoes. Make sure to have limited jewelry, a neat/professional hairstyle, natural makeup and manicured nails. I have found that New York & Company always has great suits and accessories for an interview. They have great prices--you can always find a good sale!--and they have a wide selection of lengths and sizes for the suits. Another money saver I love is to give yourself a manicure instead of going to a salon! I buy a conservative, mature color and paint my own nails before an interview--it saves money, makes me feel good and it shows the employer that I took that extra effort to impress them.

Business Casual-

Going into the office everyday dressed for a business casual setting, it's important to be comfortable and appropriate. Nice dress pants, conservative skirts, classy tops or professional dresses are all great options for your work day. That said--where is the best place to go to find this selection?

-New York & Company

-H&M

-Forever 21

-Express

-Ann Taylor Loft

-Target

It can get expensive to have to re-build your closet to satisfy the requirements of the business world. You are just now graduating and now you have to spend the little money you have on professional suits and work clothes? Yeah--you do. But if you look in the right places, you can find great work clothes for great prices!

To be or not to be--that is the question

As I round the corner of college and see the finish line in the near distance, I realize that I have a question to answer--What do I want to be when I grow up?!

Obviously I am a Communication major with a concentration in Public Relations--but what does that mean really? Who do I want to communicate with? What do I want to communicate about?What relationships do I want to publicly maintain? What area do I want to do all of this communicating and public relationing in? And I cant believe I'm even saying this right now--but is Public Relations really the field I want to even be in?!? So many questions--so many answers!

Just like all graduating students out there--it's time for me to starting looking for that perfect job--but how do you find it?

Everyone is talking about how hard it is to find work these days while living through this unfortunate economy but the more I'm job searching, the more i'm realizing--there are lots of people making the process much easier for us! With all these job searching sites, resume building and posting sites, Craig's list, Mason Career Center Jobweb. So many apps that you can utilize to find a job.

First and foremost--I have to thank Mason for having such a legit job searching website. I couldn't believe how much was just right there waiting for me to apply to. There's also the on-campus interview system which has employers come to Mason for interviews where they are recruiting Mason students specifically. The job website is set exclusively for Mason students and alumni--so for all Patriots out there--take advantage of it!!!!

I also recently learned about the whole posting your resume online. Post it on the Washington Post, Career Builder, Craig's List--all over the place! I didn't realize you could go about the job search in that way but I feel like there's no better way to do it! Let the employers see your resume, see that you're perfect for the job and then have them call you with the feeling that they must have you! Rest assured--my resume is out there!!!!

Then there are all the sites with employers posting their open positions for the world to see. Just waiting for those freshly graduated young adults to bite. You have to sift through them pretty hard to find a good one--but still, it's worth the effort. My favorites have been Indeed and Washington Post Jobs.

I must say the whole job search process has been extremely competitive--and some what discouraging--but you just gotta keep on trucking through. Just like all the other people on the job hunt, you have to keep up a positive attitude, put your best foot forward and never give up. It will all come together in the end--and the more jobs you apply for, the better chance you'll get your job!

"I cant promise perfection now

But I'm trying to make you proud.

I'm only at a whisper now

But one day my voice will be loud!"

There is an Arizona

In September 2000, Jamie O'Neal released her hit song "There Is No Arizona". I remember the first time I heard it. The lyrics touched me so deeply. The emotion in the song was so strong and seemed so true. I held onto it for a long time.

The song tells a story of a woman whose lover leaves her to go build a life for them in Arizona. He promised her that he was going to get things in order for them and have her come. She waited and waited. It never crossed her mind that this dream place "Arizona" was not real. That this future he was promising did not exist. That there is no painted desert and no Sedona. The woman waited for him--but he never called for her. "Each day the sun sets into the west, her heart sinks lower in her chest. Friends keep asking when she's going. Finally she tells them--don't you know There Is No Arizona."

Every time I listened to this song I pictured Arizona as this beautiful place that was perfection and comfort. Arizona was where her life was going to unfold and she was going to live. Arizona was going to be beauty and refuge. It was going to be love and a future.

O'Neal says that there is no Arizona--but I believe there is.

This fragile woman was waiting for another person to create her beautiful future for her. She had a vision in her mind of Arizona where her dreams were going to come true--and the man who created that image is the same man that took it away. The first time I heard this song, I believed it. I was familiar with that feeling of disappointment and abandon and I thought I lived in a world where Arizona did not exist. Where Arizona was just a lie people told you that was taken away in the end.

As I step off my front porch and walk into my future, I think of how I will never depend on someone else to create my dreams. I will create them for myself. My Arizona will be my Arizona. It will be my dreams and my perfection. I dont know where my Arizona is quite yet--but I know that it exists--I'll send you pictures once I get there.

"I believe in myself and that makes me stronger.

Things changed and so have I

I'm gonna make hay while the sun still shines

You can clip my wings--I'm still gonna fly"

Cook, Meditate, Play Softball.

When I think about the next few years of my life, the first thing that comes to my mind is "inspiration." Everyone needs some sort of push of inspiration to help guide them and excite them. Take a second and think about it--what inspires you?

Yesterday morning I finished reading the beautiful work of Elizabeth Gilbert Eat, Pray, Love.

This is an intimate book written by Gilbert about her life and journey to finding her place in this world. She had everything she thought was needed--a husband, a country home, a successful career--but all she seemed to feel was confusion. After going through a painful divorce and a suffocating depression, she decided to explore different aspects of life to help find understanding and balance in her heart. She explored pleasure in Italy, devotion in India and balance in Indonesia to reach a beautiful place within her self where she found happiness and solitude. When I take a second and think about that--I am inspired.

To experience life with the focus on pleasure, devotion and balance is to go through life with all the pieces needed to be whole. I might not be in my thirties coming out of an awful divorce--but why not take the same adventure? I might not be able to travel to Italy, India and Indonesia--but why not find other ways to explore like she did? All you need is the inspiration and you can create for yourself the image you see in your mind.

So--let's get real here. How can I apply this inspirational journey to my life?

Eat, Pray, Love.

Pleasure, Devotion, Balance.

Eat: Learn how to cook.

Moving out and into the world, I think it's about time for this woman to learn how to cook. Obviously I know how to cook the standard things--breakfast, salad, pasta--(I just realized how LITTLE I know how to cook!) but I want to learn how to cook healthy, creative meals for myself and my loved ones. I've always heard cooking is soothing, relaxing, entertaining, etc. Why not take the time to learn!

Plan of Action:

Cooking Demo Club

Cooking with the Author

Starter Cook Book

Kitchen Cookware

Pray: Attend Yoga and Meditation classes.

After reading this book, I gained so much curiosity in yoga and meditation. I've done a little bit of yoga at the end of work outs for stretching--but I've never experienced the full process of a refreshing yoga or soothing mediation class.

Plan of Action:

Yoga Class

Sun & Moon Meditation Retreat

Read/learn about Yoga and Meditation

Love: Maintain and cherish self-love.

After moving out, getting a job and inheriting the responsibilities of an adult, I'm sure it can get stressful sometimes while juggling work, bills, housing, cleaning, etc. It's so important to remember to have "you time" and focus on the hobbies and activities that make you happy. I want to explore more hobbies and see what other fun things are out there! I want to work hard--but I want to have fun too!

Plan of Action:

read, read, read

Plant a garden

Join a Softball League

Go to DC Museums

Go to a CAPS game

Get a massage

Just like Elizabeth Gilbert, I want to set inspiring goals for myself to help my life grow. I want to go into the real world with a plan. With hope. With inspiration.

P.S.
Eat Pray Love is being made into a movie and will be out in Summer 2010

Get Inspired!

"I'm giving my dreams a heart beat

I'm finally letting them breathe.

I am supporting them, and giving them confidence

I'm telling them that I believe."