Dove Chocolate Challenge Day # 12 "What would you do if you could not fail?" Amber / Indianola, WA

What would I do if I COULD NOT FAIL?

 

Hmmm...

 

 

I am going to post this in bullet points;

 

-I would become a life long student


-I would become a surgeon (no I wouldn't).


-I would be a super great actor.


-I would not be mean to my husband


-I would have patience beyond imagination


-I would be...I honestly have no clue...I cannot really think of anything. You know? I really have no clue...

 

I just plain don't know what I would do if I could not fail! I guess I just don't understand the question!
I am pretty satisfied with my life..and I know that things are not perfect, but I like me, and I like others. So? I don't know! I count all of my experiences as joy. I marvel at life, I take heed in troubled times and learn hot to have love, patience, kindness, brokeness, and reliance on others around me to lift me up and God. I am me. And I think life is a pretty special thing (gift), everybody deserves to live it once. :) I want to be ALIVE and full of LOVE. I want to be a bright radiance in this world that reflect love. :)

 

So...I guess...after thinking about it...I think I understand the question, and I think what I would do is bring awareness to others about the world that we live in today. I would eliminate hunger, get rid of hatred, prejudice, degredation, suicide, sex trafficking, and bring justice into the world. (Did you know that we have more slave today, yes, at this very moment, than we have ever had in history?) True fact! No lie! Go find the facts out for ysourself! I'm serious, go do so after reading this! And I would make everbody take marriage / relationship counseling, lol. ;) And that every orphan would be loved, and every widow would be helped, and no child would be left behind and left without a loving family. I would make sure ever broken heart was healed, and every broken relationship was mended, and that every disease would be cured...And most of all, I would want LOVE to permeate the earth. And I would let others know that God loves them and believes in them even if they don't believe in him. :)

 

That's about it.

 

-Peace

 

 

Fellow Chocolatier :)

Dove Chocolate Challenge Day # 11 "You can't live a positive life with a negative mind." Chelsea / Harrisburg, PA

                                                                                  

Well,

 I am at home, sitting on the couch, thinking about going to bed. Very soon. (What will ACTUALLY end up happening is that I'll end up going to bed in about 2 hours...).

Today was particulary LOUD at Joel's Place. The kids (teens) were running around back and forth through the front office to the outside, back from the outside through the front office, and so on..AND as they were doing so, they were screaming at the top of their lungs...(hide and go seek//tag). Also...we have free soda that we've been giving out that's been donated by Pepsi for the PEPSI REFRESH project that we are being voted in for. So...they've  been coming up to us (the kids) and asking for soda. So we've been giving out a couple pops a day, but today we made a rule that a kid can only have 1 soda a day. Not two, or three, or four...like they've been getting/asking. So yeah, that was a halt to the sugar highs going on. Jeez Louiz!

So yeah, I felt weak today, a bit sad, and I just felt defeated just because of a lot of little things that added up over the span of the day; not accepted for the acting gig I was going for, bills, fixing teeth, heahache..and a couple of other things. And the kids were being specifically ornery today. But ...somehow I was able to keep a positive mindset today...I don't know how. But I was able to keep one up.

And I've developed a bad habbit of being mean to my husband, or being annoyed of certain things that he does, and I'm realizing that those really are just negative mindset stuff. So those little things don't matter so much, so you know what? I'm not going to let them get the best of me, because it's just that, they don't matter, and I love him. And are those little things worth fighting over? I am learning about what battles are worth picking...So yeah. I started thinking about this positive/negative mindset stuff yesterday, and it's funny that today's quotes was specifically on this subject; You can't live a positive life with a negative mind.

Well,

Alright,

Let's keep it short tonight. :)

Love you guys!

-Your Fellow Chocolater

Dove Chocolate Challenge Day # 10 "Never stop learning." Carletta / Aliquippa, PA

Dear blog,

 Well, today was interesting.

I only got 2 hours of sleep....yeah....so about right now I feel completely e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d! And I certainly plan on flopping over on my bed soon. Why wait? Right? Except right at the moment I'm not home, I'm at Heather's studio, so as soon as I get home, that is my plan. Bed. Lights out. Onward sleeping blogger! Anyway...

I was fairly grumpy today. I went to bed at around 5pm and then woke up at around 6:15pm. Less than an hour later I was up. Yep. I was thinking to myself, now why did I agree to this 7:45am orthodontist appointment again? Yeah...

So..diagnosis; I will most likely have to have oral surgery. They said that was pretty much the only way of me having a normal mouth. You see, I have an underbite, cross-bite, crowding, joint coersion, mal-alignment, and one more thing...I don't remember. So the biggest problem is that basically my upper jaw is underdeveloped. So later this month, I am scheduled to go back and have a surgical profile made (where they take pictures of your mouth and profile, and then they assimilate a model to see which way is best to pursue for me...whether that is 30 months of braces & stuff or jaw surgery). I am praying that my teeth align before the next appointment so that I won't have to get surgery) that's my hoping miracle.

But yeah, after that...I went to my drama class that I signed up for, and I was told that I couldn't take it because I have to take the pre-requisite in order to be in that class. Even thought I have acting experience, but that's okay. So I had to drop the class. Bummer. But...Oh well, life goes on. And it's not a big deal. Not life or death. And the other class I signed up for I signed up a little too late for, so I was wait-listed and I didn't get in. But I did make a last minute attempt at taking a Russian Literature Class that I've been wanting to take for awhile. A 3 hour before class last minute attempt. I e-mailed the teacher, I am a freshman and this class is a junior level prerequisite with advanced levels in Russian, but I took a shot at it anyway, I e-mailed the teacher and let her know that I read, write, and speak Russian fluently. I also went to the Russian-Ukranian Language School for 8 years, every single saturday...for eight years. So that paid off. I remember HATING and DREADING coming to class...Russian schools = classes are very strict. Teachers call students by their last names, and give you grades in front of everyone else in the class. If you have and F on your report card, all of your fellow class mates will know it. Or if you don't have your homework finished for that day, you will be mocked and ridiculed infront of everybody.  Same thing goes for when your assignments are corrected. ...So yeah, I wasn't a fan, and I used to BEG my dad to quit. I just didn't want to go there, and my self-esteem as you can imagine wasn't so high in Russian school. I had mostly C's and sometime Bs, and definitely lots of D's. But I never had A's. And you know, the teachers don't help your self-esteem much, nor do they encourage their students either, instead they are made to make their students feel like they are a failure. True fact. Anyway...Russian schools are much stricter, very much like Japanese schools. And I always felt like a loser, like I was dumb, and I also didn't really have any friends, but maybe one, in my 5th grade year of Russian School. Yeah.. People there weren't very nice. I don't usually use this word, but a lot of kids were just stuck up!

So, but the happy story is that I found my niche eventually during my very last year of Russian school, I got all A's, I applied myself, I understood stuff, I had nicer teachers, and I made some more friends (2 more, to be exact, the other girl from 5th grade moved away). And so I graduated, with a Russian-Ukranian language School Diploma, Honors, and Scholarship. I was so excited that I did so well! I was suprised at myself, and I was SO happy to have a free Saturday after those 8 years. YEAH!

But you know what's funny? (or rather scary..lol..I still had dreams where I would re-enroll in Russian school, or they would add a higher course & study and grades! Meaning that instead of my 8 years there, I would have to come back for year 9,10,11,12....) Scary right? I truly did have those night mare...quiet often, and those dreams felt real! When I would wake up, a sigh of relief would come over me. lol. True story!
(And I had a similar dream last night...in my two hours of sleep!)
But anyway...I'm telling you this story because my dad used to tell me on the way to Russian school, inside of the car, as I was doing that day's homework, "I know it's hard, but one day you will thank me." And I used to shake my head nooooo everytime those words came out of his mouth. Thank you for this?!?  What? No freakin' way!

And...well, ladies and gents, today, I can honestly say...that I am VERY thankful that he made me go, and that I pulled through. Because now I am in the Russian literature class. I got accepted! Woot! I also have the certificate of professionally translating Russian, teaching Russian, and other things such as that. Pretty cool huh? Oh, and in high school I was able to skip all of my foreign language requirements! Yeah!

So...when I was debating this morning about whether or not I should take ANY classes this semester, and whether I should keep this Russian class or not (it's alright, but not as fun as thought it would be). Basically the class consists of reading books and discussing them, books that are in English translated from Russian books. So it's not that interesting to me...but the teacher is super cool! So when I came home from class...I had the idea of possibly dropping the class, but then I unraveled the dove of the day...and guess what it said? "Never stop learning." ...So I just looked at it and chuckled. And then I made up my mind to keep the class, even though I am a bit more at an advanced level in Russian, I am still sure that I can learn a few things from this class. And it's just chill. So why not?

That's my story.

Yup.

Well,

Nighty night!

Oh good! It's only 10:34 PM, this is the earliest I've ever blogged. I think.




G'Night guys!



-Fellow Chocolatier


And here's some food for thought, from a very intelligent one  ;)  

"The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
                                                           - Dr. Seuss

Dove Chocolate Challenge Day # 9 "Love hard, fall fast, cherish each moment!" Danielle / Toledo, OH

Brian and I just got done having a movie night. We watched a classic goody, "Swiss Family Robinson."
Boy! That was fun and relaxing. We haven't had a movie night in F-O-R-E-V-E-R!!! Well, that's a lie, we had one a couple of days ago now that I come to think of it, and we watched, "Into the Blue,"  ...that movie was suspensful! My husband is a computer teche type of guy...so he pulls out his lap top. So what I TRULY consider a movie night is when he puts down his lap top, and I stop whatever I'm doing, and we just sit together and watch a movie, enjoying the movie and each other's presence at the same time. :) That's the way I like it. But we haven't had a movie night in a loooong time because he's been gone all summer for forestry. But now he's back! Yay! :)

And as a spur of the moment, he suggested that we go to Ichiban Noodle (one my favorite restaurants) right after work! :) But offcourse I was extremely tierd, because I've been sleepless for the past couple of days..(adjusting to a new schedule...and all that). But we went ahead and ate some yummy food! And John came along with! It was supposed to be a date, but then Jon came with, so we had a fun night! I can be so mean sometimes though, my grumpiness can get the best of me sometimes. And it's ugly. And I don't like me when I'm like that. No fun. I say things I don't mean, and I say things that hurt my husband or other people. And I don't like doing that. I don't like speaking idle things and I don't like hurting the people that I love. Boo!

But you know what? I'm not gonna let my bad attitude ruin my night and get to me.

Today was great despite my tierdness and all. It was fun!

And as I'm sitting here blogging, I'm looking over at my husband sitting in the corner with his lap top and just admiring the man that he is and has become. I love him. He's a good catch. :) LOL...he just did something really funny. But yeah...I like him. He's a keeper.

It's good to have those moments when you fall back in love with your love. :) It makes life come alive again. Even though we do wanna rip each other's heads off sometimes, our love is alive. But, its a daily choice to keep it there. :) If you don't water, and weed your relationships and give them proper sunlight...then they won't grow. So tonight, we had some watering. Just chillaxin and being ourselves.

So yeah, I want to love hard, fall fast and cherish every moment that I have! I really do.

-Fellow Chocolatier

P.S., my friend Brandy just lost her husband a couple of days ago (military) and she has a little boy, so please be keeping her in prayer. I just can't imagine....makes me sad just thinking about it.

And to leave on a lighter note, I stumbled upon this quote today;

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.” - Dr. Seuss

Dove Chocolate Challenge Day # 8 "When you give with joy, joy is your reward." - Ida / Landing, NJ

When you give with joy....joy is your reward....

I agree! When you truly give with joy from your soul, the joy will reflect back on you. It's like a mirror.

Happyness passes on. Try smiling at somebody! Smiles are irresistable! They are contagious! They truly are!

You will RARELY find somebody not smiling if you smile at them, and if they don't smile, it's usually because they are putting on a good front of looking upset or because they are hurting. But even then so, you'll still get a tiny crack out of the corner of their mouth that turns into a little smile/smirk. You will!

And ..did you know that it takes more muscles in your face to frown than to smile? Frowning is much more complicated!

I think that's why that age old saying "turn your frown upside down," is so important.

Which leads me to this fact; did you know, (this is true and truly amazing!)  If a person is depressed, and they practice smiling for 30 seconds, they will feel better! Smiles alleviate depression!

So go ahead! Smile some, and then some more! :) 

But anyway...I just wanted to make a point of how joy radiates when you have it, and it is like the noon-day sun, it touches everything it sees and fills it with warmth. So there ya go, that is a great metaphor, joy is like the sun...sunshine!

So when you wake up and are not feeling so great, practice smiling, and remember that you are alive and well, your are blessed, you are highly favored, you are loved, you have loved ones, you are strong, you are unique, and you are truly living. You really are alive!!

So make a list of 6 things you're thankful for before breakfast, and then go on with your day, be the sunshine in somebody else's life. Be that radiant sunshine! Go warm up a cold friend. :)

And turn their smile upside down!


Love your joyful Fellow Chocolatier!


P.S., When I am at Joel's Place, some of the kids that come in are full of smiles up to their ears, and their joy just radiates onto me, and then I can't help but smile, laugh, crack jokes, and just be joyful and happy to be alive, and then the next kid that drops by to sign in gets joy radiated from me onto them. It's a chain reaction, and it's great!

So go light the world! And break a smile!

Dove Chocolate Challenge Day # 7 "Show kindness to someone today." - Leah / Oldsmar, FL

Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy...


I am staying up wayyyyy past my bed time. My body clock is slowly adjusting. It's 2:47 in the A.M. right now and I am still up. I just finished filing out my FAFSA, which was a pain in the butt by the way... (it took forever to figure out my PIN number...cause apparently I signed up before,, years and years ago...and ...well anyway...it was a pain!) And right when I thought, "yeah! I'm ready for bed! Whoo-hoo!" Bam...I remembered..I didn't blog yet. And I know I can't skip a day...even though at the moment it is very tempting. But nope, I won't procrastinate. Nope. Not me. No way. Nuh-uh, not now. No.


So, we're about kindness today yeah?

Well, today was an especially FUN day!!! Yeah!

It was Mark's 57th birthday!!! Go Mark! I wrote on his birthday card that I hope he gets to eat 57 more cakes like this! ;)

Mark spent a really chill day just walking up and down the river taking photographs, but little did he know that Heather, Brian, and I were scheming since yesterday for a surprise birthday party for him! Chyeah! :D

So...around 3pm the 3 of us schemers got together and we started brewing up some trouble! :)

Brian and I met Heather at her studio to make some last minutes plans. We were touching up and printing a design for an inside joke between the four of us onto a shirt. Can't tell you what it is (it's their idea and it's not patented yet) :) But anyway...we printed the designs and headed over to Panda Garden and ordered a whole lotta Chinese food! Yum! Then we headed back to the apartment. We had to drive all the way around the other side of town to get to Mark's apartment cause we didn't want him to have the chance of seeing us. (Cause the quick road to the apartment is to drive right next to the river...where Mark was taking photographs!) So we went around. Brian and I also left our car at Heather's Studio and packed into Heather's car so Mark wouldn't get suspicious of seeing our car and thinking that we were up to something. :)

So...Heather has a spare key to Mark's apartment, so all 3 of us snuck into his apartment and started messing it up. Just kidding. We got inside and started dec-ing the place out with streamers and balloon and stuff. It was fun! The food was delivered, so Heather ran down stairs to pick it up. Yum! (It was SOOO GOOD!) And since it was Mark's 57th birthday, we decided to pull the old trick of putting the candles on backwards on the cake, so instead of "57" it said "75." Hehehehe :) When we were putting last minute details up with the streamers and ironing on the logo on the shirt, Mark was at the door, he heard Heather's voice...and he thought...hey...she might be talking on the phone...but little did he know that when he quietly opened the door that Brian and I would be inside and that there would be a whole night of fun awaiting him. :)

So because he came in earlier than we had expected, we made him stay in his room for about 5 more minutes as we were putting up the rest of the finishing touches. Then we called him in and he was truly surprised! There were balloons hanging from the ceiling, streamers, and yummy food waiting to be dug into. So we all sat down and ate.

Then soon after, two more guests joined us for a little while, and they sure brought some laughs along with them! Oh boy! :)

When Becka and her friend came up (don't remember friend's name)...they stayed just for a little bit but they wished Mark a cheerful happy birthday. And Mark got a big smacker from Becka! Right on the lips! He didn't see that one coming! And it was HILARIOUS!!! :) He was sooo RED! It was funny! (You would've had to have been there to truly appreciate it).

So then we brought out the cake, sang happy birthday and enjoyed a little bit of triple-chocolate sweetness. And of course..we flipped the 75 back to 57 after awhile. :)

But I think the BEST part of the evening was when Brian and Heather pulled out the water grenade balloons that they had bought the night before. I'm pretty sure this was against the rules, but we filled those suckers up and started dropping them from Mark's 7th story apartment onto the pavement below. I was like "oh no no no, I can't, I can't throw one." All 3 of them just grinned and (especially Heather) and just egged me on. Heather said, "since you're afraid of throwing it, then you really have to, cause we gotta break your fear. Freedom!" And then it all began! And so we started chucking them out the window. It was a BLAST!!!!! :) We always had to look out the window and make sure no passer bys were coming. ;)

And somebody's bike got a free wash. lol. Oops!

Haha...Mark threw a fast pitch and hit his window. KA-BAM! It was HI-LARIOUS! And Brian was holding one and it exploded on his pants, which looked like he had an accident. And I couldn't throw them past my first shot, I kept hitting the same stinking place! It was fun nonetheless. IT WAS SOO MUCH FUN! And it got addicting quick! I'm pretty sure we all felt like little kids again. Oh, and then off course Brian had to take down a regular balloon and fill the sucker up with water and drop it. Heather actually dropped it, and that was the one that gave the bike a free wash. So...we ended up with a washed floor and a washed window while we were at it. :)

And then I couldn't resist throwing a regular balloon full of air out the window, which later we saw that night as we were driving home through down town.

What a fun and memorable night!

It was a blast!

And I would say that it was a love fest of kindness today.
Four friends. 1 surprised birthday boy. 3 schemers. Water balloon grenades. And a true celebration of the one we love.

Kindness just exploded from our hearts today like those water balloon grenades as they hit the pavement!

We love you Mark!

So that concludes our day, and certainly my day...I need to go to bed, gotta wake up in 6 stinkin' hours! May they be full of rest!


Yours truly,



-Fellow Chocolatier


P.S., Mark loved his shirt! :)

Dove Chocolate Challenge Day # 6 "It takes a bigger person to take the high road." - Charles / South Berwick, ME

Hmmm...It takes a bigger person to take the high road. ...I don't really have a story or anything profound to say about that, and I'm probably not going to say much today cause I have a headache, was depressed a little earlier, and am annoyed currently. So I don't wanna be a crab apple. And I especially don't want to be a crab apple in my writing. No-sir-ee.

But I guess I will just say one thing, today...I was super upset about something, not going to say what, don't want to start gossip. But I pulled one of my friends aside, one that I have mentioned often in this blog so far, and she took the time out to just hear me out, listen to my concerns and complaints, and she just loved on me. And she validated my feelings. Yes, I know I'm a girl, but beside the fact, everyone has feelings, and they are real. But sometimes we give in to our feelings much too much. And she said something that was funny yet true, "we all have feelings, no matter if we're 20 or 59 or 70, they are ligit, and what you're feeling is okay. And 70% of the time, our feelings are real, but those shady 30% are what can get us into trouble. We can make up scenarios in our head, or make things worse than they really are, or not realize that the person that is hurting us is not even realizing that they are and they may absolutely not even intend to. But sometimes they know that they are, and they do. So you're feelings are ligit. Just be careful not live out of your feelings, cause that can be dangerous."

So, what she said was absolutely true. Being able to talk to her made me let go of what somebody else did/said to me. I was able to let go, and look at the other person, and just forgive them. Now, if next time the same things happens over again, I have the confidence to correct that person and confront that person right on the spot or soon after, and not harber hurt inside of myself for weeks.

I didn't even know I was bitter against that person or that THAT was my problem, but when I pulled Heather aside to spill the beans to her, she listened. She was being a friend. And she softly gave an answere that was so simple, but it just clicked and made sense. Friendships are pretty cool things to have in life. I am for them.

So I guess all I have left to say is that my friend Heather was being the bigger person and taking the higher road, she could've went on with her day, but she didn't. And she told me something that was similar to my concerns and was able to explain it to me lovingly. And I can be a bigger person taking the higher road when in comes to stuff like that too, cause I have the power of love and forgiveness.

Which reminds me of this quote; Unforgivness is like driking poison and expecting somebody else to die.

It's true. There is power in forgiveness. And if you don't forgive, then you're the one dieing, because you're the one who drank that poison. Dont' keep holding on to whatever, let it go, whether by confronting that person that's hurt you, recalling that memory and forgiving the person, or by the healing touch of letting your feelings and frustrations out into the open to others. Vulnerability, it's a beautiful thing.

Well, I'm done for today, and it turns out that I did have something to say after all. It's funny how that works out....wouldn't you say? Writing is theraputic, and it kind of just unveils itself if you let it.

Here's one more quote to end with from the movie Finding Forrester: "No thinking - that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is... to write, not to think!"

Anyway,

God bless,

Nighty night.

-Fellow Chocolatier


P.S., I'm not annoyed anymore. There's a cool thing that happens when you're able to express yourself.