I've Got Sunshine On a Cloudy Day

So it's time to reflect, once again. While the last few hours of 2011 wind down, many television shows count down the most memorable moments, sights, sounds, and stories of the year while people come together to toast to a new year, a new beginning. We often take time to look back on the tragedies that have touched so many over the past year, we look at saddening and moving images which are yelling more than 1,000 words out to us as we look in disbelief. It was a year of terrible weather, natural disasters, and history in the making, and it's these events that usually make the headlines during year-end reflections. It's easier, as it is with many things in life, to look at the negative, to look back on these disasters and sad times. However, we can turn some of the bad and sad into good when we reflect and remember those we have lost; their pictures of happier days bringing warm memories back to us. A year seems to go by very quickly, and it's refreshing to look back ...

    Kelly Rae Roberts

The red candle is burning in the back of my room and here I am, laying comfortably in my big-girl bed, surrounded by a plethora of pillows and even a few stuffed animals, while being warmed by the lamp on my nightstand. It's just me and my somewhat trusty, slowly fading laptop. Sometimes that's all it takes to make me happy. Sometimes. Sometimes I would prefer not to be alone but I suppose right now is as good a time as any to update my blog. I have referred to this blog as my sanity, my stress reliever, and an electronic version of myself and my emotions. Whether it's a cheesy picture or a cliche quote that I've posted, I've posted them because I like them and they reflect who I am and what I like. Some of my friends say I have a unique personality and a fun taste in my interior, or exterior, decorations. Much of this is considered to be "so Luz" which in itself is quite original; an originality I am very proud of. This mixture of fashionista, apple-green...

I didn't think I could do it. I sat on my yoga mat and stared at the instructor with a slight sense of wonder. I could feel that my head was tilting to one side as the confusion raced around in my brain. I was perplexed. "How did she do that?" I thought, and as she softly explained that it was our turn to the try the tripod, no one moved. I wasn't the only one with a crooked head overflowing with thoughts of doubt, amazement, and shyness. I continued sitting still, just the same way everyone else did. The woman next to me finally moved and was successful at the tripod while the rest of us watched. I remembered how that woman had once told me that she's been doing yoga for 12 years so I assumed she'd done that pose many, many times before. I've only done yoga for a year so how could my body possibly balance like that? Almost as quickly as I was doubting myself, the instructor gave us another chance. Those infamous words came to my mind as I straightened my...