high ideals

I believe...

That every person deserves honesty and kindness and, if someone is unwilling to give those things to you, they aren't worth your time.

In second chances. We're all human and we make mistakes. It's only when someone keeps repeating the same offence and expecting forgiveness that maybe we need to rethink the relationship.

That every person should have access to affordable necessary health and mental care. And for that matter, a warm place to sleep and a healthy meal. Starvation or freezing to death aren't appropriate punishments for poor life decisions or uncontrollable circumstances.

In love that lasts forever and is worth waiting for.

In traveling the world, eating well, having fun, learning everything you can, and experiencing as much as possible before you die.

Friends can be more family than the ones you were born with.

In standing up for the less fortunate and the less privileged and fighting the fights that other people aren't willing to fight.

The individual is more important than the group.

That when your loved ones need you, you drop everything and do everything in your power to help them.

Lies, rumors, and gossip: if you don't have anything nice to say...

It should be no surprise to anyone that I can't stand liars (especially if you had the great privilege of meeting my first husband). It's a concept that I just cannot wrap my mind around, I can't understand why people tell lies to people they love or, even worse, about other people. This has been a pretty distressing topic for me lately as my sister and my moopit have been the victims of this disgusting practice. I'm not going to go into the details or repeat the filth that has been said about two of the people that mean the most to me but let's just say that they're the kind of lies that could do permanent damage to a person's reputation and self-image. With moopit it's been worse because it has caused several rifts among the people I consider to be my friends. The gossip mill has been strong with this one and, while a few friends recognized something fishy, several people believed the lies without ever checking in for another perspective or side of the story. It's caused a lot of stress to the people I care about and makes me really want to bow out of the group involved entirely. So here's my friendly little reminder, dearest readers, if you don't have anything nice to say, just keep your mouth shut. There is never a good reason to spread lies about another human being and, if you hear something particularly terrible about someone else, maybe you should double check all of your facts before spreading it around and ostracizing that person. Let's try and spread a little love for a change, the world has enough problems.

things I never thought I'd be doing

It never ceases to amaze how much life can change in such small amounts of time and here are a few things that I never would have thought I'd be doing three years ago:

- Going back to school and being successful at it.
- Sharing my words and thoughts with everyone without being scared of rejection.
- Loving judo, archery, and running.
- Spending hours of TV binge-watching platonic bliss on the couch with my ex who is now my best friend.
- Fighting for a promotion I never thought I'd be considered for.
- Going camping in the woods of Indiana once a month for the sake of a LARP.
- Being so busy that I sometimes have to turn down plans.
- Planning a care package for a soldier in Germany that I'm pretty smitten with who used to be my best friend.
- Having tons of close lady friends (this is still sometimes weird to me).
- Taking cooking classes and being really good at it.
- Having confidence and independence and control over my social anxiety and depression.

Life's a funny thing. I can't wait to see what changes the next three years bring. 

random thoughts

• Five years ago Emily was a bit of an idiot
• I love when people are protective of their friends
• I love it even more when people use that protectiveness and stand up for their friends
• I really hate messy breakups and people who force other people to make uncomfortable decisions
• Also people that feel the need to stick their nose in where it simply doesn't belong (seriously, folks, mind your business)
• Sometimes the best cure for a week of emotional ick is a weekend spent in your sweatpants, curled up in bed with a good book and your dog
• Emotional angst is good for my writing so I'm pretty sure I'm in for a 4.0 this quarter
• Maybe I should stop turning down the nice guys that ask me out
• I love my little hobbit hole but my landlady drives me nuts
• Why do fire alarm batteries always start to die and start shouting at you in the middle of the night?
• I am ridiculously awesome at my job and it's going to be great experience for when I finish this degree and go for an academic advisor position
• Even though my godfather has been an emotionally abusive jerk my entire life, I appreciate him buying me dinner and it was worth it to finally see my gran up in Chicago
• I am seriously dying to see The Judge this weekend
• Three hours of sleep is totally worth it when you spent the entire night with friends and your favorite on-leave soldier boy
• I wish my mommy came to visit me in Chicago every weekend (okay, okay, I wish my mommy lived in Chicago and I could see her whenever I want)
• Some days I miss the quiet life I had in Arlington Heights with Maggie
• My dog is better at snuggling than everyone else on the planet
• I don't feel like dealing with anything serious right now so I'm just ignoring it until my own head space is better