complicated.

a friend found this on stumbleupon {source of all things wonderful} and i loved it so much and found so much truth in it, i just had to share. enjoy!


"....You see, when we’re born we see the world in an uncomplicated way. We know what we need, and we ask for it. We like nice people, and we don’t like mean people. We sleep when we’re tired, we eat when we’re hungry, and we stop eating when we’re full.

As we grow older, we eat and drink to console ourselves, rather than addressing what’s bothering us. We overwork to avoid close relationships, rather than finding people we can trust to form strong bonds with. We hold grudges, play games, spend more than we make, want things we don’t need, and we get too far away from our basic human needs. In other words, we complicate things....

Here are 100 ways to uncomplicate it...

{perfect inspiration for a Sunday!}

1. Don’t try to read other people’s minds

2. Get up 30 minutes earlier so that you don’t rush/get a ticket while driving too fast/have to explain why you’re late/get fired

3. Get 8 hours of sleep per night so that you think more clearly

4. Stick to your budget

5. Start saving and investing every week, no matter how little you can spare

6. Balance your checkbook

7. Don’t try to be friends with everyone. Cultivate closer relationships with fewer people.

8. Don’t try to do business with everyone. Identify your target client and take very good care of them.

9. Before getting angry, ask yourself if it will really matter in 20 years

10. Focus on being a good person, not on pleasing others

11. Stay home this Saturday, and finish off that nagging chore that you need to finish

12. Kiss and make up

13. Make a weekly menu, and shop for only those items at the market

14. Ask your grandparents the best way to uncomplicate life, and try it for a month

15. Fill up your gas tank when it’s half full

16. Don’t drink alcohol when you’re tired, sad or mad

17. Pay your bills on time

18. Get an annual physical examination

19. Say “I love you” to your significant other and to your children. Studies show that more marriages last, and fewer kids use drugs, when these words are spoken every day.

20. For just one day, imagine everyone’s intentions are good because most people’s are

21. Give away clothes that haven’t been worn in two years

22. Throw out clothes that are in disrepair, and can’t be mended

23. When you have a conflict with someone, talk it out. Don’t let it turn into more than it is.

24. Know what your priorities are in life, and act as if they are your priorities

25. Tell the truth

26. Don’t cheat

27. Don’t steal

28. If you’re holding on to a ridiculous grudge, let it go

29. Clean your house weekly, so that it doesn’t become too large a chore

30. Do your best at work, or at school

31. Don’t eat when you aren’t hungry

32. Eat when you are hungry

33. Be yourself

34. Say no unapologetically

35. Cook simple meals

36. Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses

37. Pay off your car before buying a new one

38. Organise your desk at the office

39. Change your smoke alarm batteries when the clocks spring forward, and again when they fall back

40. Organise your important paperwork

41. Take only half the clothes that you planned to take with you on holiday

42. Help your children with their homework every night, and have an open dialogue with their teachers

43. Have white sheets and white towels in children’s rooms/bathrooms, because they’re easily bleached

44. Spend your time with nice people

45. Avoid drama

46. Don’t text or talk on the phone while driving

47. Turn off the television/video games/computer; they’re time consumers

48. Don’t engage in office politics

49. Refuse to gossip, or talk behind other people’s backs

50. Do the dishes right after dinner

51. Never go to sleep angry

52. Ask nicely for what you need and want

53. Walk 10,000 steps per day to help your heart

54. Do 20 push-ups before speaking in anger

55. Leave work at work

56. Don’t befriend anyone that isn’t trustworthy

57. Don’t envy others

58. Have your oil changed

59. Take vitamin C BEFORE you catch a cold

60. Don’t work more than 8 hours per day

61. Weed your garden weekly

62. Wash your car weekly

63. Have a spring cleaning month every year, and do one room at a time

64. You don’t need to be best friends with work colleagues, but build respectful partnerships

65. Don’t drink and drive

66. Don’t look for reasons to be angry or sad, look for reasons to be happy. You’ll always be able to find plenty of each.

67. Be friendly with your neighbours

68. Return emails and phone messages promptly

69. Schedule in free time

70. Don’t procrastinate

71. Do what you say you’ll do, when you say you’ll do it

72. Be more flexible when you’re able to be

73. Forgive and forget. End of story.

74. Break the consumerism habit…put a three month moratorium in place on buying anything not deemed a necessity

75. Start your diet on September 1, rather than January 1, so that you won’t also have holiday pounds to lose

76. Take care of any health issues or concerns

77. Have your tires rotated

78. Have your brakes checked

79. Have your eyes checked

80. Don’t let your imagination run away with you

81. Let go of perfection in others

82. Let go of perfection in yourself

83. Don’t try to help those that refuse to help themselves

84. Find a way to reduce your commute to work

85. Have an alloted amount of worry time per day/week, that you strictly abide by

86. Drink more water

87. Eat more salmon

88. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill

89. Wear your hair in a classic, easy to care for style

90. Finish what you start

91. Wear classic clothes and shoes that never go out of style

92. Create a daily routine

93. Have a 1, 5, 10 and 20 year plan for your financial and life goals

94. Slow down

95. Eat out less often

96. When you ask your husband which outfit looks best, thank him for his answer and wear the one he liked rather than focusing on why he didn’t like the other one

97. Allow your children to grow up

98. Clean out your garage, and donate anything that hasn’t been used in the past year

99. Stretch every day

100. If a relationship is over, let it go

{part 2: another hundred ways to uncomplicate your life}

{source: its a charmed life}

the end.

hope some things that had been forgotten were remembered, things you agree with were affirmed and things you hadn't thought of were learned.


and i hope this finds you in happiness, health and love. xoxo

oh, and happy easter!


to be continued.

some wise words

tis true....tis true.

found here

to be continued.

iadorevintagehowboutyou.

while taking a "break" from studying this afternoon {otherwise known as procrastination. meh. potato, potato} i came across my new favorite website slash blog. it is called adorevintage.com.

and adore vintage, i do.

vintage inspired interior design, fashion, advertisements and, my favorite, old photographs.

it was a match made in heaven.

i found this absolute gem:

{obsessed. how beautiful is that? taken in 1962 in new york.}

and how much fun does it look like these girls are having on their thrice tandem bike?

{is that how you say a three way bicycle built for two?....or maybe i should just say bicycle built for three..}

either way...so precious. look how adorable they look too...

last time i checked i wear a t-shirt and workout shorts when i go on a bike ride.

next time i am going to look my best. i wish this picture showed their feet. i hope they were wearing heels.

{i want to be them. time machine please?}

ok. i am off to dinner. then time to hit the books. i wonder if those bicycle girls had to study western civ? i bet not. i bet they just got to ride bicycles all day long and day dream about their lives and their friday night dinner dates and the sun tanning they would do the following day. {ok so i know that is probably not true. im sure they went to college and studied and became strong successful women. however i would like to think they were worry free with nothing to do all day but go for bike rides along the beach with their girlfriends wearing cute outfits and getting tan.}

question: do you ever wonder if your pictures will end up on a website 50-60 years from now with people commenting on your clothes and such saying things as "ooo how vintage it looks!" weird.

anyway ta-ta for now!

to be continued

cinderella shoes.

enough said.

these shoes are consuming my life.

i want them so badly.

too bad they cost a small fortune.

someday.

xoxo.

ps. i found these on a wedding blog...the husband proposed to his wife with these christian louboutin shoes...in paris. how cute is that??

to be continued.

roses and thorns.

ok. so confession time.

it is 10:37, wednesday evening {hump day, evening?, if you will}, and i have a complete essay to write and i just cannot. we have had a little longer than a month to write this lovely essay on the equally lovely book "as i lay dying" {sarcasm on the 'lovely'? why yes. also, read the book in high school....we called it 'as i die reading'. true story. luckily with an actual qualified teacher the book made more sense this time around and was actually somewhat enjoyable. still, it had some moments of 'dying reading'. my apologies mr. faulkner} anyway and in true 'kate' fashion i have procrastinated till the end..its due next tuesday. if there is one thing i win at in life it is my procrastination skills. really, they are awesome. but anyway tomorrow is the last day my professor will read drafts and as this is worth 25% of our grade, i really think it is a good idea. plus some overachievers {slash people i wish i were right now} have already sent him 4 and 5 different drafts. seriously. i have one page down. essay: 1 kate: 0. its beating my butt. i was excited about this essay in the beginning. i actually do enjoy writing and so initially welcomed this assignment with an open heart, but now, especially after composing an email to my education class advisor discussing the 2nd grade class i teacher aid in, all i want to do is share more about that class. not discuss the characters in a.i.l.d which exude signs of heroism.

in case you did not know, i am in the teacher certification program here at gonzaga, and am currently enrolled in a class which requires a field experience where once a week i get to dress up in cute teacher clothes {including heels. splurged last week on some adorable red little heels}, and spend and hour and a half on tuesdays with little 7 and 8 year olds. the school i am at is a title one school, meaning it has many impoverished and at risk students. 61% students are on free or reduced lunches. it is a complete 180 from the elementary school i attended. many of these students do not have a steady home life; many do not even have permanent homes.

here is an excerpt from the email i sent my advisor relaying my one of my experiences with these students from the first two weeks:

...This week was just as good. The day was started with a little girl, Melina, asking what the empty milk carton was for, which was sitting on a desk. When i told her it was a penny drive for children who werein need, she said in her tiny voice, 'when i get my allowance, im going to give it all to the carton'.when i told her how nice andgenerous that was, she answered back saying how her family was 'broke' and how they had been 'broke' for a while. I then noticed the holes in her long sleeved shirt, as she mentioned she hasn't had new clothes in a while. It made such a huge impact on me, that this little girl, one, knew her family was having financial troubles, and two, still thought togive her allowance to the penny carton....

incredible right? right after that, a little boy said he was going to put a whole twenty dollars in the carton. the selfless spirit of these kids is so uplifting.

after just 2 times with these kids, they have touched me and i can say it is easily one of my most favorite times of the week, if not my favorite.

i am still not 100% sure if teaching is the career i want for myself. i still go back and forth with i don't really know what but i don't like the idea of pigeon-holing myself so soon into one career, even if it is one i know i could be extremely happy with. i feel like i need time to explore others. the problem is the education program here is so specialized i don't really have time to explore. its not a major so i have to pick a major, meet all those requirements and then meet all the requirements of the cert. program. so its pretty hectic. oh well.

anyway:

my secret dream job of the week? wedding photographer.

how cool to get to experience this every time you go to work??

found here

ok. i suppose it is time to get back to my essay. i have a feeling it is going to be a late night for me. oh joy.

also a girl in my class (college, not elementary) shared that her class (elementary, not college) went around and did 'roses and thorns' each morning: the good and bad about their previous day. so today:

rose: got a lovely late valentines day letter in the mail from my little blue devil. read it twice i loved it so much.

also. it snowed a lot. {it makes our campus look so cute}

thorn: my essay. meaning a late night and i am tired. and sick. spring break hurry up please? :)

also. it snowed a lot. {i am starting to forget what warmth feels like}

my apologies for this insane monster of a post.

again basically its for me. but then again, partly for you if you find my random procrastination influenced thoughts interesting.

love to you.

to be continued.

photographs and memories.

i absolutely love pictures.

i am always the annoying one asking a waiter to snap a picture of the dinner group or the mom-like person who gathers the group for a picture, at sometimes the most inopportune times. my friends can attest to this. {i can feel i am totally going to be the annoying mom who has the camera in her kids' faces all the time. funny thing is as a kid i hated that.}

however i always know that i'll be glad i did. and because of this i have tons and tons of pictures saved on my computer. i don't think this is necessarily a unique thing to have or to like, but after ordering new prints a couple of days ago it was reaffirmed at how great pictures are.

when shutter-fly notified me through email my pictures had been delivered i literally jumped up from my bed and practically ran to the mailroom eager to get there before it closed.

it was seriously like christmas. {although whenever you have mail in college its like christmas}

i then decided to reorganize my pictures in my room, adding to the collection and taking some down..just as a refresher.

it was so much fun. :)

{part of the board}

{pardon the messy bed}

oh and also? spokane officially cannot decide on its weather. talk about bipolar. today it was snowing while it being sunny and partly cloudy out. weird? yes. i kept saying it felt like those old movies where the snow looks fake, because the screen is odly lit up. does that make sense? i don't know but thats what it felt like and it was very confusing. i think im ready for it to be spring.

you cant really tell, but this was taken right now and it was snowing:

and lastly some girls in my hall and i went out on saturday for a pre-valentines girls dinner. we all dressed up and ate white cheddar and apple salads, bruschetta and sipped on our waters with lemon.

it was very classy.

such a relaxing, fun dinner.

{until we called the taxis too soon and the drivers got ansy waiting while we dealt with the checks. it was a bit uncomfortable.}

that is all.

love to you this week. xo

{inspiration for title? see jason reeves. my fav singer}

to be continued.

st. valentine.

"all you need is love"

this short phrase containing merely 5 words is perhaps {in my humble opinion} the most influential phrase to be ever spoken or i guess sang in the english language. and why? because its true. don't try to argue. i think love is the only thing in the entire universe that everyone is looking for and is also something that can not fully be explained....or in the very least people have many different definitions. how do you know what love really is? how is it defined? it seems as if there are varying degrees like some classics: puppy love, first love, everlasting love, true love.... is there a difference between loving something or someone, and being in love? shouldn't love, well, just be love, plain and simple? humans have made our entire world complicated, and i feel like, over time, we have made love complicated as well.

i feel like until you find 'the one', people always question if they love the person they are with, or if it a simply an infatuating lust. you know you love your family, and you know you love your friends....so shouldn't you be able to tell just as easily if you love your significant other? why do people find it so hard?

valentines day is a day completely devoted to this complex emotion, and living in a hall filled with 50 girls there has been some discussion about it...to say the least. most of it is discussion filled with hatred and resentment....complete opposite ideas than probably intended by ol' st. valentine.

i however, love this holiday. maybe its commercial or even silly, but its still one day out of all 365 in a year completely dedicated to honoring the ones you love, be it a significant other or a friend....something that is surprisingly hard to do in our every day busy lives. i love the idea of love. therefore i love valentines day and always will.

and because i love it so much i decorated...naturally:

{love}

{our mirror decorations. some dino love}

{our door}

i hope this finds you in happiness, health and love...most of all love. xoxo

and...although a couple days early, i hope you have a fantastic valentines day loving the people in your life!

to be continued.