Faith, Hope, and Love

"Hope Floats" So, I was on Twitter the other day and noticed that #alicebucketlist was trending. I was curious, so I clicked on it, and found this blog . Alice is a 15-year-old cancer patient. She recently learned it was terminal and began her blog to track what's left of her life. Do as much as she can on her bucket list (and dream about the ones she can no longer achieve), and let the world share each step of the journey with her. One of the items on Alice's bucket list is to get everyone to be a bone marrow donor (I became one last year; wrote  a blog  about it for CURE). Another was to be trend on twitter (hence the #alicebucketlist ). The concept is kind of sad. But it's also inspiring. And... kind of hopeful. Reading through Alice's blog reminded me of Alicia Parlette (who I also wrote a blog about for CURE). A lot of the same thoughts and emotions swirled through me, so I thought I'd share a little bit of it here (to read the whole ...

I've been asked to blog for two other sites! How exciting is that?! I mean, I've always liked to write, and deep down inside I know I'm a good one. But I'll be honest, I'm plagued with A LOT of insecurity when it comes to the words I put on paper (or online, whatever). I've had friends read my stuff and go, "Wow, that was really good!" and I feel a moment of glee. But then I think, "Well, you know  me. You're my friend. Of course you wouldn't tell me I sucked!" And instantly, I'm refilled with self-doubt about my skills. This year, I had already decided to face my fear and write more . It's why I decided to apply for MFA programs--to stop being scared and finally pursue the career route I've always dreamed I'd take. It's kind of why I decided to start this blog--to force myself to write more often and just put myself out there. Keeping this blog hasn't been easy. There are points when I ask myself why I...

I'm on the phone with my sister and she's reading me parts of her attempts at a memoir. Mostly it's just ramblings about her first memories. Of me (apparently she thought I was annoying), our sister and brother, our cousins, our friends, her birthdays. While reading it out, she happened to mention my very first blog , which was on MySpace. (I also remember having an account with Open Diary. Anyone else have one of those? I think my username was African Aggie.) At one point I wrote every day. Sometimes multiple times a day. And then one day, I deleted most of the blogs, and just kept a few random ones. (I did re-write most of the ones I deleted into a real journal.) Taking a look back is kind of like opening up a time capsule. Simple things like:  my relationship with my brother ,  a time when I actually missed College Station  (yeah, barely miss it now, haha),  kisses from Khalil  (who is now five! oh, how time flies!) This stuff dates back to like 20...

Anyone who knows me knows that I love kids. They are such a joy to be around. And everything in their world is so cute and whimsical! And anyone who knows me also knows that I love whimsical. :) I'm quite a ways away from being a mom myself, but I think about it all the time. Not in a weird "my eggs are rotting" way, but just in a blithesome anticipation of how much fun it'll be. Or at least how much fun I can have being a mom (don't worry, I'm under no delusions that it's easy). Occasionally I've come across some extremely cute "Mommy Blogs" that have made me go... "I want to do something like that..." Here are two of my most recent findings. (And even if you're not interested, I'm posting them here so I can always come back to this post when I do have kids one day.) 1. Another Lunch: This mom has a blast making her kids lunches as fun as possible. Some of them just look too cute to even eat! She also offers how-to...