Chúc mừng năm mới

Today is the Lunar New Year!  I wish everyone the best as we embark into the year of the Snake.   May everyone have health and fortune in this new year.

These are some photos from my Vietnamese class and my work as we celebrate the ancient spring festival.  

Remember

Another Christmas season has come and gone, and we are on the cusp of yet another new year. A whole new beginning, something that we get everyday but on a grander scale every year and decade, it is up to us individually what we make of these constant new starts. Every day across the planet there are people that are held back for various reasons: economic, health, war. Then there are people that forget, we forget that there are still in need, people all over the world… and even in our own cities. Although Christmas is over, we still can not allow ourselves to become complacent. Please still consider giving to charities of your choice, throughout the year. Christmas may come once a year, but people don’t stop needing after Christmas ends.



Charities that I Endorse and Support:





www.debra.org

www.komen.org

www.toysfortots.org

www.AdoptaKatrinaFamily.org

www.goodsamjc.org

www.stewpot.org

Blessing

Here we are on the cusp of yet another holiday season, and I can't help but think that we forget at times what the holidays are really  about. Well after much meditation and soul searching, the answer came to me.. Community. That is truly what it is about, we may not realize it, but if we sit and think.. even for a second, we will realize how very lucky to have such a wonderful network of people.

Sometimes when I feel the loneliest, I think of the people that I can count on, and these are the people that I hope can count on me. These people range from my family, to my friends, and the people somehow manage to bend the family/friend barrier. But I am also lucky to count each and everyone of you in my extended community. So no matter what holiday's you celebrate, be it Yule, Christmas, Hanukkah, or even the upcoming Thanksgiving. I hope that each and every one of your lives are filled with love, and prosperity, and I offer a small blessing to each of you, including the people that have come into our lives, and may have stepped out.



"To put the world right in order,
we must first put the nation in order;
To put the nation in order,
we must first put the family in order;
To put the family in order,
we must first cultivate our personal life;
We must first set our hearts right."
~Confucius



Brightest Blessings

This RetroPost was originally posted on 19-Nov-2006 at 12:18AM.                 M

2009

The song for me that best fits this year for me and even in a way the entire decade,this song is Distant Dreamer by Duffy. 2009 was a year of dreams for me, and it was this year that many of my greatest dreams were realized and some others were shattered. However no matter what occurred, deep down I kept thinking of what will be and what I will become. At the moment I am standing on the cusp of 2010, a new year and a new decade, and I can’t help but reminisce about things past, the loved ones lost and the loved ones gained; I do know, however, that this year and decade will bring new wonders, more dreams will be conquered, and we will each grow from our experiences that are yet to come. Deep Down we are all Distant Dreamers, Thinking about what all we will do… Let’s Make all our dreams come true!

“Although you think I cope,
my head is filled with hope...
of some place other than here.

Although you think I smile,
inside all the while...
I'm wondering about my destiny.

I'm thinking about,
all the things,
I'd like to do in my life.

I'm a dreamer,
a distant dreamer,
dreaming for hope, from today.”

~Duffy

Do They Know...

Ready for it or not, the holiday season is upon us. I see many people celebrating with lights, trees, and gifts. I can’t help but think of those who do without; these are the people that live in the third world, or the people just around the corner. These people are forgotten, and it is this time of the year where we need to take the time… and, regardless of the economy, anything we can spare and share what we do have. Many of us go our lives and we take for granted what we have, and we never take the time to remember those that stand in the shadows.

About the Photo: This is my friend Jessica’s Christmas tree, it is blue and silver… my favorite colors on a tree. The Holiday season is full of beauty and I would hope good cheer, no matter the Holiday you happen to celebrate!

Some notable charities:
www.toysfortots.org
www.AdoptaKatrinaFamily.org
www.goodsamjc.org
www.stewpot.org
http://carams.org/

2008

Every year it is a tradition for me to choose a song that reminds me of the year that is passing… as we go into 2009, the song that reminds me of 2008 will have to be Nickleback: If Today Was Your Last Day.

2008 For me personally has been full of many trials and tribulations; I have lost a very dear friend, and reconnected with some other dear ones. I have moved past things that were holding me back, and expanded my Horizons… I have started an adventure that will carry into 2009 and beyond, with someone that is very close to my heart and grows closer every day.

“Against the grain should be a way of life
what's worth the price is always worth the fight,
every second counts 'cause,
there's no second try,
so live like you're never livin’ twice,
don't take the free ride in your own life.

If today was your last day,
and tomorrow was too late.
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?
Would you call those friends you've never seen?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one your dreaming of?”

~Nickleback

Happy Holidays!

This is the season that the world is supposed to unite and share and good cheer for one another, so many religions have major celebrations at this time of the year… that it truly is the holiday season. This is the season for giving, for showing others that you care… that you think of them even when they are not right in front of you. This is the time where we share our lives with strangers and donate to the less fortunate, and open our hearts like we never even consider doing other times of the year.

Why is that?

I Challenge Everyone that reads my blog to take the joy and love of the holiday season, and carry it with them throughout the entire year…

Happy Holidays… I wish each and everyone a Very Happy Holiday Season and A Happy New Year!

Peace Be With You...

People so often look outside themselves to seek peace and understanding from others, sometimes though what they really see is actually within them. The beauty about this is that once they discover just how beautiful they truly are, they can finally open themselves up to those around them that love them.

Thanksgiving

So as another Thanksgiving comes to an end, I take a moment to think of the many things that I have to be thankful for. I know that each of us really do have many things to be thankful for, and if we only took a moment to recognize just one thing, the day would be a little easier. Thanksgiving is perhaps only an United States holiday, but it is one thing that we should do on a daily basis, give thanks for what we know we are lucky to have.

Halloween

Mississippi can be an odd place full of odd people, and my personal favorite holiday is Halloween. Halloween definitely allows people to open up and express themselves in a way that they are not able to do other times during the year, it allows them to be creative and at times scary… and beautiful… here is a collection of some Halloween photos I have gathered this season.

Echo In front of a bonfire at a Charli's Famous halloween party.

A Mississippi Deer.

My Front Door.

Seasons Change

October is the month that contains the most interesting holiday in modern history, Halloween. This holiday gives people the chance to portray themselves in a manner not normally seen; they can be anyone or anything they choose. Most social conventions are thrown out the door, and the world slips into a controlled Macabre of dark fantasies from the deepest darkest corners of the mind… but just for one day, after all it is in good fun.

Hoppy Easter

Easter 2008 has been full of many surprises; it is amazing how many wonderful friends that I really have… I am truly blessed.

These eggs are some that I and two of my dearest friends dyed in preparation for the wonderful spring festivities. I must say they are the prettiest eggs I think I have ever had the pleasure of helping dye!!!!

Happy <3 Day!

Love is in the air, and today is the official day to celebrate the love of those that love you… and vice versa. These Photos show just how merchandising can be for this wonderfully lovey holiday, millions of balloons and stuffed animals will find new homes with all the Romeos and Juliet’s around the world… not to mention the countless chocolate and flower gifts. The top photo was taken at a “Dollar Tree”, I love the sea of balloons that cover the ceiling, enticing lovers to buy them for their significant others.

I <3 You!

Valentines Day is just around the corner, the day for lovers of the world to unite to all celebrate their love en masse. Red just happens to be my absolute favorite color, and this time of year it is not missed!!! My favorite part about the Valentine Season must be, like Christmas, the wonderful efforts the retail world puts into enticing the lovers of the world to buy their lovey dovey wares. Such as this window display at an unnamed shop (I forgot to look) just off Black Street in Brandon, Mississippi. I love the white against the red, to me it symbolizes pure passion, and isn’t that what romantic love actually is? A pure passion for the person that makes you feel special?

Callie-Allie-Boo-Boo

Callie has her moments, and she can be a handful. While I was wrapping presents, it peaked her interest and she had to come play with the paper. Well I took a moment to get some extra tape and she decided to lie on the paper and prepare to be the next gift under the tree… I thought it was adorable.

On the first day of Christmas….

My true love gave to me, Electric Supplies in an Evergreen.

Really, You Shouldn’t Have… SERIOUSLY!!!!

But hey it was cute considering it was in an electrician’s office.

Sarcasm Tree

Christmas is definitely the holiday of lights, and the senseless murder of millions of evergreen trees. Their beautiful death shrouds consist of colorful ornaments, and a dazzling array of lights. These three beauties were found in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dallas, Texas over the weekend. Kind of gets you excited about the upcoming holiday doesn’t it?!!!!!

Holiday

It’s that time of year, when the homes of most Americans is filled with wonderful smells… the smells of large feasts being prepared. These feasts are prepared in honor of a group of religiously persecuted Christians and the Native-Americans that helped them through a tough winter. They had much to be thankful for, a new people to share customs, a place to worship however they chose, a great virgin land to mold and destroy into anything they hoped… People… What meaning does Thanksgiving hold for us in this modern age? We are one of the richest and healthiest countries in the world, and now as we embark on the 2007 holiday season, I wonder what lies ahead. A “Season” for giving… and Giving Thanks for what we have… perhaps we should end the “Season” and give to those less fortunate than us all year round… not just for a season. And for that matter, This Thanksgiving lets give thanks for what we don’t have disease, death, destruction, that some places experience on a day to day basis. Let’s not look at each other for what we believe or how we look… lets look at each other for who we really are, and we can take one another’s hand… and really give thanks that we live in a better world than we did yesterday!