Humbled and Blessed...

What a fun and overwhelming weekend! I am humbled and very very blessed to have won the "Best TV Personality" Award by the Eugene Weekly for 2010-2011. I feel especially humbled to have been in the running with the talented Brandi Smith and Marc Mullins who have been in the business far longer than I have. I went to the award ceremony with my co-anchor and one of my best friends Seth Wayne! He is always there to support me and lift me up in life.We started off the night by going out for Sushi at Sushi Ya in downtown...




I'm lucky to have him in my life as a good friend. The ceremony was at the Wow Hall and it was fun to see all the people that turned out. Several awards were given out and when it was my turn I was so surprised when they called my name that I almost didn't get out of my seat! It's humbling for sure..! I have so many people in my life that love and care for me..God is good..and so is life!

Eugene Weekly, "Best of" Issue

I am humbled and honored to be one of the nominees for "Best TV Personality" in Eugene. I was contacted last week by the Eugene Weekly and one of the photographers came by to take pictures of me for the next issue. The award ceremony is tonight and I am excited and nervous! Will post when I have picturs and find out more. Thank you for all your votes and for enjoying Fox News @ 10!

This song just makes me smile...

Let YOURSELF be ur everlasting light...!!!!!!!

Two Lovely Bits

If your life isn't working - make better choices, put up with less sh*t, and expect more of yourself.

---PF Changs fortune cookie for today "Time Heals All Wounds, Keep your chin up"

Processing

Can we focus so hard on positive thoughts that we forget our pain or past negative ones? This is the question I had on my mind this morning. I have been watching the movie "What the Bleep do we know" that focuses on Quantum Physics and the power of the mind. Much of it is facinating..but, what stood out to me was that one bit. Can we be so hopeful and stand so steady in the face of adversity that we can literally forget pain even very traumatic situations?

Are we being true to ourselves if we do not process through them first? How deep is the mind and how does it interact with the heart. Can anything be overcome instantly even the most painful of situations if we simply choose to move past them. Personally I do not believe it to be true. I think we must go through the "belly of the beast" in order to reach the other side. Our mind can help us think positive thoughts and be hopeful for the future but, processing out your feelings is the only way to assure that you have overcome something.

Thoughts?

Lovely Quotes off Twitter

I think my blog is becoming that random hodge podge place where I can collect bits of wisdom and things that I Love and want to reflect on later. If you happen to stumble upon it, I hope you can leave feeling a little better from what you read ...

"And think not you can Direct the course of love, For love, If it finds you worthy, Directs your course." -Kahlil Gibran

A man doesn't love a woman because she's beautiful, a woman is beautiful because she's loved.

If letting go was that easy, love would be easy and heartbreaks wouldn't exist.

What is important is not what happens to us, but how we respond to what happens to us." - Jean-Paul Sartre

"All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love." -Leo Tolstoy

When you feel small and weak, remind yourself that you are a child of the universe who is connected to the infinite source. --Deepak Chopra

Love me without restriction. Trust me without wondering. Want me without demand. Accept me how I am. -Jo Masterson

Messages from "The Secret" Scrolls

From The Secret Daily Teachings

Do not worry at all about negative thoughts, and do not try to control them. All you have to do is begin to think good thoughts each day. Plant as many good thoughts as you can in each day. As you begin to think good thoughts you will attract more and more good thoughts, and eventually the good thoughts will wipe out the negative thoughts altogether.
May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne
The Secret and The Power... bringing joy to billions

What a Perfect Song

I Love this new Sara Evans song...

Thought of the Day

The best sailors are made during the roughest storms. Stay steady. Stay calm.

Reflections

A blank page can provide a ton of possibilities. What do you want to write about today? Do you want to create a story, reflect on the past, make a to-do list for the day? A blank page is a canvas full of potential. I have been journaling since I was about 7 years old. My first dairy was a plastic vinyl covered one with a huge ballet slipper on the front. It had a tiny little padlock and pink pages with lines. I instantly fell in love with it. The surface felt shiny, the lock made me feel safe. I had a place for my deepest secrets, starting with the very first one-how I really felt about my goldfish, Snowflake dying. My handwriting is wobbly my words full of sadness.

I wrote a song commemorating Snowflake and her short but, very meaningful life. I was 7 and the joy of writing has never left me since. I still have that journal, yellowed with age, padlock broken but, everything intact. A small seven year old just starting on the path of life. Last time I was in Minnesota, I opened the big plastic bin containing what is left of my possessions in my childhood home. Beneath the ballet trophies and awards and newspaper clippings were my journals throughout the years.

I had a flight at 6AM but, I spent the next 4 hours reading through the words of my life. From the goldfish dying, came crushes on teachers, sibling rivalry, crushes on boys, rants about parents and dealing with the culture clash of east and west through high school. I read on. I used to save everything. The clipping from a lilac tree tucked securely in a ziploc bag from my first boyfriend. The purple petals now crisp and some reduced to dust. Little notes from friends taped into a scrapbook. A VHS tape of the very first time I anchored a newscast in Duluth, Minnesota. Prom pictures. The color swatch from when we painted my bedroom, poetry I wrote scribbled on scraps of paper, all of it, reflections of who I was and the buds of who I have become.

So many other writings in my journal of love that was unrequited, or love that was too soon, too young...too fast. At 5AM, exhausted, I put it all away. I closed the lid on the box and dragged the bin laden with heavy heady memories into the closet. I replaced the clothing that lay on top of it and went to bed. I will always have those reminders of me tucked away to reflect on because quite honestly you can never really know where you are going, until you know where you have been.

Bittergirls!

I'm reading a book right now that makes me laugh!~ It's called Bittergirls and it's co-authored by three women. I bought it about 3 years ago from Goodwill and shoved it in a bookcase where it gathered dust. On a whim while cleaning the other day I pulled it out and read the first page. I couldn't believe how funny it was! It's bascially about break ups and how to get through em. Even though it's not my situation it's still such a fun and funny read, that anyone can get a kick out of it. I would highly recommend consulting the Bittergirls for anyone who is going through a tough time ...or just needs a good laugh..The bittergirls will be there for you every step of the way!

Egyptian Wedding Fun

What a lovely weekend I had. I was able to take part in a beautiful Egyptian wedding of a close friend and had a wonderful time celebrating with close friends. The wedding was at the Oregon Garden Resort in Silverton which is about an hour and a half drive from Eugene. The wedding was a mix of two different unique cultures. All the meat was Zabiha Halal meat while they also served alcohol. Complete opposites in our culture and faith. I also got to see a wonderful friend Sabine Baji who I have not seen in a very long time...with her three beautiful children whom I adore. I thought long and hard about what to wear and settled on a red dress that I adorned with Pakistani cultural jewelery.



Another cool thing about the wedding? The photo booth! My friend Shenah and I went in and took a bunch of cool pictures with the props that were on hand. We had a blast.



At the end of the night, the bride surprised the groom by inviting a band to come out and play that mimicked Prince (or the artist formerly known as ) :) The wedding was a much needed event for me. I miss my culture daily and it's hard to feel as though I have it when I am in Eugene and not around it much. In Minnesota, I would go to weddings all the time and be around Pakistani food and music and people. Here it is much harder but, I am lucky to have friends that offer a chance to be around it from time to time.

It was a wonderful mix of cultures and I feel blessed to have been a part of it.

Days That Make You Want To Scream

Some days are just bad days. Ever have one of those days where everything seems to go wrong? And I mean every. single. thing.?

That was my day yesterday and it went from bad to worse. The Law of Attraction talks about this a bit in the movie, "The Secret". It says that when you wake up having a bad day, you send out vibrations from what you are thinking leading to more bad things to happen to you. I guess I can see how this would work. My day started off bad and I just kept the ball rolling. From a paycheck snafu that was stressful to feeling overwhelmed at work, everything just seemed on the verge of collapse yesterday. Honestly had I known it would be so emotional, I probably would have used a sick day, that is what they are for right?

Bad days can be changed with the right thoughts but, had you said that to me yesterday you probably would have ended up getting punched. How do you handle a bad day? What strategies do you implement to overcome them. A sympathetic ear can make a world of difference. I try to do this in my daily life. Whether it be a co-worker or a friend I seem to have a knack for sensing when those around me are feeling off and listening and offering support if I can. For me the day ended with a long, hard cry on my couch. It sounds silly but, the release of emotion can be a very healthy and good thing. Afterwards I felt ready to put the bad day behind me. Here it is 8AM on the next day and lets hope that good thoughts make this day much much better than yesterday.

So Many Books...So Little Time....

On my reading list are so many books I want to read....here are the top two though!

1.) "No God But God" by Reza Aslan. I first saw Reza on Christianne Amanpour's show, "This Week" which airs on ABC. He is a contributor to the online publication called "The Daily Beast" and is a sharp, intelligent modern Muslim man who is changing perceptions of Islam through his writings.



Though it is the fastest growing religion in the world, Islam remains shrouded by ignorance and fear. What is the essence of this ancient faith? Is it a religion of peace or war? How does Allah differ from the God of Jews and Christians? Can an Islamic State be founded on democratic values such as pluralism and human rights?

No god but God examines how, in the shadow of European colonialism, Muslims developed conflicting strategies to reconcile traditional Islamic values with the social and political realities of the modern world.



Sounds right up my alley!!!! You can also check him out at http://www.rezaaslan.com/


The second book I am dying to read is "The Power" by Rhonda Byrne. By now almost everyone is familiar with her teachings about the Law of Attraction.
The Power is about love. In short, when you love anything, you feel different, and you end up attracting more of the same in your life to love. If you can just focus on love, your entire life will blossom. I cannot wait to get my hands on THIS!

A Book I Cannot Put Down!

I have a book in my possession right now that I cannot seem to put down. Most of the time when I get a book, I will read a couple of pages and then skip through a whole chapter to get to the parts that I like. I very rarely read an entire book cover to cover unless I really like it and it grabs me in a certain way. This one is WAY overdue to the library and I really do not care. :)



Despite the title of this book, I cannot seem to get enough of it. It's called, "This is not the Life I ordered". It sounds like a cheesy self-help book but, it's more a story of courage.

It's a collaboration of ways four women have gotten over difficult times in life. And I mean serious serious hard times. One woman talks about having her husband die on her when she was 3 months pregnant due to a horrific car crash, another talks about years of abuse as a child by her own father, another about having to recover after being shot. In every story is a lot of pain and a lot of hope. These four women have become fast friends, meeting at each others homes over the past several years and finding ways to cope with loss and change. The book is about that.
Combined with the stories in the book are inspirational quotes the women have come to rely on when times are tough. The bottom line, anyone can survive anything and find a way to move on. Sometimes it really doesn't seem like it. Sometimes you seem so stuck in a bad situation that you feel like you will never get out of it. The book presses you forward, talking about all the hope in the world and the ways that you can move forward from loss and change. If these women can move forward from such horrible things..why do problems that are much smaller seem so insurmountable? It's hard when you are in a situation to look forward but, forward is really the only way you can look.

Here are some of the quotes from the book

What I like most about change is it is a synonym for hope--Linda Ellerbee

INVENT A SECRET LANGUAGE FOR CHANGE

--Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it-this is a kind of death.

CREATING ANSWERS FOR THE DREADED QUESTIONS

--All change even the most longed for has this melancholy. For what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves, we must die to one life before we can enter into another.

KNOW THAT OLD HABITS HATE BEING ABANDONED
--The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainly, not knowing what comes next.

This book holds a lot of peace in it's pages for people going through several different kinds of things. I would highly, highly recommend it!