dreaming....

i have been having the most incredibly dreams lately. it's always a touch disappointing in the morning to realize that all the interesting stuff i did while i slept was actually not reality. my response??? to dream BIG in my waking hours. i mean, why not...right? we have one life. one chance to live it up. i intend too.

but here's the thing. the one very important part to day dreaming that we often miss is believing. we HAVE to believe. that what we want to do. what we want to be. where we want to go. it can happen. it will happen. plan your life accordingly...and prepare for those dreams to come true.

why not? amazing things happen all the time. why can't they happen to YOU?! Si? YES! so what are you dreaming about...what is distracting you from your daily tasks...think about it...dream about it...and ask, how can i make this dream my reality. 

now don't get me wrong. i don't think happiness or love can come from dreams fulfilled. happiness and love is something we have, it is not given to us.  but what will come is a GREAT adventure. a wonderful story. and a life with no regrets. no take-backs. 

so i dare to dream. BIG...

i hope you do too. why not? 

believe in your dreams and in yourself. 

yes, this is my family

my older brother ben is coming to see me this weekend. the unique thing is that he is not coming by car or airplane, ben is sailing to nyc from Florida. as i write this he is in the middle of the ocean, probably surrounded by dolphins, and out of reach of the world.
yup, this is my family in a nutshell.

my parents raised my two siblings and i without fears of taking on crazy adventures. even when we were little they would let me bike miles away from home, without a helmet...just as long as i called when i arrived. as we got older the adventures became more extreme. ben solo hiked the Appalachian trail and then built a raft and rafted down the Mississippi river (the press loved that one...a modern day tom sawyer). then my family went to Israel for awhile. my dad had us going to the craziest places when we were there...no other tourists in sight.

at the end of college i decided to take a trip of my own. i went to Guatemala, without being able to speak a word of spanish. i co-led a backpacking trips in the wilderness to raise money for Guatemalan orphans. at the end i tooled around the country alone...it was beautiful!

but of course my family keeps going bigger and better. my brother became a captain of a sailboat and lived in the caribbean for a while; as i moved to NYC to work with kids in the inner-city. my parents are loving all the stories we tell!

which is why when my mom heard of 67 days of smiles on the Today Show she called me immediately...she knows me better then anyone. and she knows Kyle extremely well too. yesterday she called to see how our audition video was going...she is super excited for the possibility of another crazy adventure in store for one of her kids.

i love my family. i love that they encourage us to live our lives to the full...as my dad says 'what's life if you don't live it on the edge"...oh and he's a pastor :)

when i was in first grade my parents gave me a pair of rollerskates for my birthday. as the story goes i feel in love with those skates. the minute i woke-up i put them on. i would brush my teeth in them, make my bed in them, and eat my lunch in them. they made me happy...really happy.

every time my parents tell this story, my siblings laugh SO hard. To them what is funny is not just my past obsession with rollerskates, but that i essentially haven't changed from when i was seven.

i still go through my times of pure and wholesome obsession. from longboarding to writing music...i take on new hobbies and do not put them down tell i'm good at whatever it is. last year when i bought my longboard i had no idea how to ride...but i worked on it and i worked on it. today i can ride home on 5th avenue between cars with no problem.

which all leads to my new obsession: Orlando, Florida. seriously. ever since Kyle and i decided to apply for 67 Days of Smiles i have become addicted to the possibility. i am watching ever video on Orlando that youtube, Orlando tourism sites, and the travel channel have to offer. and i am inhaling tons of facts...for instance the first amusement park was created in Orlando because there is a river that bubbles 98.5 percent pure. so they made the first glass bottom boat for people to take a ride on the river and see all the wildlife. too much information??? maybe for you...not for me, i only want more information! eeeeee!

ok, i am distracted. and i got very little sleep last night due to this new found obsession. oh man...ORLANDO i think i have a crush on you!

whoa! lately all i can think is "i want this and i want that". today i caught the negative cycle. no no no, i will have none of that. i have LOVE. i have FAMILY. i have good things. and i have what i need. life IS good. my oh my.

we all know life is what we make it, this is no secret. and so i am going to make my life great. good. perfect (or as perfect it can be). i know my happiness does not live in the future. it is right here, next to me wanting me to hold on to it. and i will.

sure the tides change, hardships come into our lives and they leave. and still it is us who creates it to be whatever it is: good or bad.

so today i smile. as i am stretched and pulled. tired and weary...i smile. i am happy. things are good.

(but i continue to dream: of roller coasters and ice cream)

Kyle and I are applying to be the hosts for 67 Days of Smiles in Orlando, Florida

Check out the videos we made for it:

Deleted clips

Welcome (hola)

and join our facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=531858484833&ref=mf

LOVE to you ALL!

caterpillar caterpillar caterpillar

being a girl scout troop leader for little 5 and 6 year olds offers up tons of laughs every week. their view of life is so hilarious...oh man.

we are currently working on earning our nature badge. so last night we took a walk around the housing projects looking for things in nature we could sketch. on our walk we found a caterpillar hanging out on a tree. the girls were immediately enthralled. so i ran into my office and grabbed my caterpillar house (yup i own one of those) and placed the little guy...who they named Sammie Cookies inside.

as i check-up on him this morning to make sure he is happy i got to thinking how AMAZING caterpillars are. i mean, i think that the awesomeness of something changing from a worm-like creature to a butterfly is one of the greatest examples of beauty in this world. and a great metaphor (i'm love metaphors).

this little caterpillars and us have so many things in common. we have a great purpose to our existence. we are here to make the world more beautiful then before we came. and i intend to put all my energy into create a place of beauty in this world. i will fail at times and i will succeed at times. but always i will be changing...challenging myself...and striving to create more beauty.

cross your fingers.

we live our lives with crossed fingers. holding onto hope with the tightest grip. because we know...we know where we want to go. what we want to do. who we want to be. life is not a guessing game. nope, its a hoping game. so we sit in the waiting room of life. holding all our lucky charms hoping our number gets called.

i say. let go of the lucky charms. uncross those fingers of yours. they are just ways we try to tell ourselves that our happiness is out of our hands. i don't know about you, but i'm not having it. you are good. you are GREAT. we all are and this will happen for you. whatever "this" is: maybe LOVE, a great gig, a good friend, an amazing job...it will happen.

i mean. i do believe in positive energy and all those good things that help us lead content lives. but i'm more into positive action. you know? doing what you need to do to get wherever you want to go. 

i guess i'm writing all this, cause it's my time to take some positive action. step it up and do it all. take a breathe. grab a coffee. and jump on the train. bring the good luck charms if you like the look of them. but remember YOU are the luckiest of them all.