Just a blink, and a year has gone by.

It seems like ages since I have updated this blog. Ages since I have sat down for enough time to reflect; to collect my thoughts and paste them together to make a coherent explanation of my current point in life. As I sit here on my bed at 12:11 am on a Saturday night, I am attempting to piece together the last 12 months of my life and figure out a seeminly unsolvable question: what happened?

So much has happened with my professional life. I have grown immensely. I am even about to begin the application process for a promotion. I have learned that I want to work for my company as a long-term employee. I am truly blessed to work in the organization that I do.

My personal life has been really interesting over the past year. I was involved in a really bizarre, really left-field relationship for a brief period last fall, which quickly defined itself and just as quickly terminated. I took an incredible lesson away from that situation, and I find it strange that you tend to learn meaningful things from events that you generally dont expect to cause such lessons. I learned that I me, and I refuse to allow someone else dictate certain aspects of my life. They will have to embrace me for me: my past, present and future.
In all honesty, he was a fantastic guy, just fantastically not for me.

I took a trip to visit a friend in NYC, and I immediately fell in love with the city. About an hour into my visit, I knew that I would someday be a New Yorker. Manhattan is an incredible place that felt nothing short of surreal to me. I can hardly wait until my time comes to make that transition.

My home has since been broken into twice. Ive lost multiple pieces of electronic equipment; all of which I can comfortably live without. Some of the things I needed to lose anyway. Funny how things work out.

I've since bought a new car. Wow, so much has really changed over the last year. So much that I never even realized occured so fast.

A close friend of mine took a promotion in another city, and he is no longer my roommate. That was a big change (he is doing fantastic in the new market). Another friend moved in and is renting his room.

I have developed incredibly, and I have learned things about myself that I never even realized. New hobbies. New taste buds. I've discovered what works for me and what doesnt. I've learned things that make me proud to be myself, and embrace my individuality.

I've learned that some friends will always be there for you, and that some people are looking for an opportunity to kick you down---such is life.

My days as a 25-year-old are coming to an end, and a new chapter entitled "big 26" is about to begin. Before I know it "big 30" will be here, and I can only pray that I am in NYC before 27 comes along.

Keep your head up and keep going. Love deeply. Forgive. Leave nothing behind but judgement. Learn, live, love. Embrace your past, love your present, and dream of your future.

The Luckiest

I find that I always do my deepest reflecting when I should be diverting my energy to some other immediate task. I am running a little late this morning, and an epiphany struck while clumsily jamming one leg in my dress slacks and juggling a cup of coffee AND typing (its an interesting sight).

While I should be worried about getting to work "on time" (which in reality is twenty minutes early as I am ALWAYS early), all I could think about was how lucky I have been throughout my entire life. Literally, my life has been a series of incredible luck. This little mental revolution sparked last night over drinks at Broadway Brewhouse, where I was telling my friends that I was one fat-ass little baby and weighed 10lbs at birth. My mom had to have an emergency caesarean section to give birth to me. I began to wonder if I was born 100 years earlier, would I have survived an emergency birth? Maybe things would have been just fine, but to my understanding, I wasn't an easy newborn to bear (you try forcing a 10lb screaming baby full of watermelon out of your body and see how that goes). Something to be thankful for right off the bat. That spark resurfaced this morning in the midst of my failed attempt to multitask.

So I sit here, shirt unbuttoned and stubly face, thinking that I am the luckiest person on earth, and I am so thankful for everything I have. I can't help but think fate might have a hand in all my endeavors. I got the job I wanted. I have a college degree without any debt. I am healthy. I am pretty awesome :). I have great friends. Everything I could ever want. I realize these things, and I am eternally grateful.

My life feels like an interactive photo album. One with pages and pages of memories of incredible people, and the exciting part is I just got started. Thanks for being a part of that.

"jimmy goes hungry fund"

I have been trying to commit myself to eating out only a couple of times a week in an effort to save money. Owning a home is far more expensive than I previously projected and "old faithful" piece of shit car has a new issue every other month. So, I am attempting to be a responsible adult and,thus far, it hasn't been working out so well. I actually sat down and attempted to figure out exactly how much I am spending on a WEEKLY basis on eating out on lunchbreak alone, and came to a depressing estimate of nearly 20 dollars a day on LUNCH, which is completely ridiculous.

I am happy to report that I am making baby steps into this adulthood thing and am eating tv dinners for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So yes, that means my car isn't going to be making that horrifying, loud shifting noise much longer, and yes that new roof I just replaced was expensive as hell (feel free to make donations to the "jimmy goes hungry fund"---beer and home-cooked meals gladly accepted).

dear ann coulter

dear ann coulter,

i think you are a piece of shit.

love,

jimmy

a day without rain

i was outside today, and i realized something that has managed to evade me for some time now. i stopped walking for a moment and looked up at the sky and was reminded of how beautiful our earth is and how lucky i am to be alive.

a little over a year ago, a friend that i had back in college passed away suddenly. sadly, that is how life works. one day you are alive and happy, and the next you are gone.

just admiring something simple like the beauty of a tree, or the happiness a dog or loved one brings you, should be a reminder that you are still alive. life is about appreciation, and the more you do it, the more you feel alive.

take advantage of the little things in life. take advantage of the big things too. you never know when something or someone will be gone. tell someone you love them and that you appreciate them, and remind people of how you feel. it is worth it. i promise.

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

Throughout every day life, everyone is guilty, at some point, of being let down over something insignificant going wrong. It is the smallest things that can put us in a bad mood or even ruin the day. The small bumps in the road are enough to make you steam or get flustered, but they are the very things that make a good day what is it, when it happens.

In story of Adam and Eve, the tree of knowledge of good and evil was the entity that showed the very nature of evil (indirectly) and cost the two the eutopic life in the garden. However, without realizing evil, the two never truly appreciated the good. The concept may seem simplistic, but the moral of the story is incredibly relevant and can be applied to just about anything in life.

My point is the small things in life that make you feel like your day is ruined are the very things that make your life beautiful. Why? They make you realize everything you have, and then you appreciate things when they do go your way. Without all the little wrong things, you would be so used to everything going right, that it would be just as bad as things always going wrong. It would just be routine. Boring, unappreciative routine.

So next time your day is going wrong, be thankful. That day is going to make the next just that more enjoyable. After all, you never know when your last day will be.

Dejavu

We, as humans, have an inherent desire to give advice, and most of the time that advice is an ideal solution. It seems so easy. We hear others' problems and the outcome is simple, and the solution is seemingly common sense.

So why do we never take our own advice? Life seems to be a giant, cyclical process where past mistakes are relived. Sure some people are more adaptable and others are just stubburn, but overall the concept is relevant to just about everyone.

Girls that like "bad" guys seem to always like "bad" guys, no matter what friends say. Party animals never really seem to become responsible, and people who are always late never will considerately arrive on time. We, as humans, are inherently flawed, and incapable of totally avoiding past mistakes, else at some point we would be perfect.

I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I always will---no matter what anyone says. That might sound dumb, but that is what makes me me, a flawed human.