change of plans

this trip abroad is really enforcing the memo that i can never expect what's coming. originally, i was only going to be abroad until july 7th, but i decided to take latin summer classes in bologna for three weeks, so now i'm not coming home until july 24th.

and now, i'm going to the philippines.
i'm leaving oxford a week and a half early to visit my grandma. and then i'm flying back to london to go to berlin, bologna, berlin and back home.
she hasn't been doing well lately so my mom is flying over and i just bought my ticket to meet her there. in some ways, i'm terrified. i haven't been to the philippines since i was 10 years old. i'm curious about seeing how different my grandma's house will look, and to see how she's changed since i saw her 7 years ago when she came to stay with us in california.

i've missed her. i wish that i had taken advantage of being with her when she lived with us. i'm happy to see her but weary of the circumstances that are allowing me to do so.

i don't know what you believe. if you pray, think good thoughts, or just hope. but if you have a few moments to spare, please keep my grandma in mind. these next few weeks are going to be a whirlwind.

21

11:00pm the night before

9:00am

10:00am

11:00am

12:00pm

1:00pm

2:00pm

4:00pm

5:00pm

6:00pm

7:00pm

8:00pm

9:00pm

10:00pm

11:00pm

12:00am

my birthday (yesterday), by hour (minus 3pm), as inspired by rebecca.

the night before i opened the birthday package (with my family watching on skype)

i woke up to morning yoga, creative writing class, and spent time working on my paper before going to afternoon tea with hiyabel, chelsey and sarah (pictures to come)

then i came back and tried to write more (unsuccessfully)

this time last year, i was

sea kayaking with david

getting ready to go to greece

playing softball.. before tearing my ACL

working at my favorite coffee shop ever

loving santa cruz.

so much has happened in one year! i'm excited to see what the new one brings.

happy march

and i mean, happy.

i've never been a fan of new year's resolutions- for me, it's a little overwhelming to make such a big change for the span of a year. i like small, progressive steps. so i think i'm going to start having monthly resolutions. some small, little goals (because it always feels good to check things off of lists) and then some bigger, more personal resolutions. care to join?

my little goals for march are:

1. go inside the santa maria novella church.
i've only been living 2 seconds away from it for the past 2 months.
2. go to the academia and the bargello museums.
3. climb to the top of the duomo on a sunny day.
4. go to dante's house.
5. find appropriate presents for family and friends.

my one, personal resolution:

not to let others' decisions affect my happiness

i naturally invest a lot of myself into other people
which sometimes backfires because i then hold them to a certain standard
(which is both unfair to them and to me).
this month (and hopefully long after), i'd like to be happy
as long as the people i care about are happy.
they may make decisions that i personally would not choose,
but we aren't the same people.
{i struggle with this often}

i unfortunately don't remember where i read this earlier this week, but,
"for every 60 seconds you spend angry,
you lose a minute of happiness"

i just have to keep that in mind.

. . .

{photo via anneacaso}

change of plans

$510 change of flight ticket to come home early.