A Little Inspiration

Easily one of my favorite icons is Mother Teresa of Calcutta. I find her ability to remain ever-humble in a world where millions looked up to her, to be nothing less than saintly. I have been reading a few quotes by Mother Teresa each day, and I found one recently that stuck out to me as an ideal way to live life:

"Joy is very infectious. We will never know just how much good a simple smile can do. Be faithful in little things. Smile at one another. We must live beautifully."

A few things struck me as I read this particular passage. Notice how much emphasis she has placed on finding happiness through the simple things. She is consistent with this idea right down to her sentence structure, using just a few words in each sentence, but in such a way that the meaning is clear: our actions, however small, have a ripple effect. Why spread anger when it is so easy to simply smile?

I am just as guilty as the next person of sometimes letting my frustrations get the best of me. Heaven knows I have snapped at people who certainly did not deserve it when I was under stress. I believe it is fair to say this is one thing that is easier said than done at times, but the importance of common courtesies, as well as a simple smile is overwhelming. In fact, it can get you pretty far in life.

The view from the hotel parking lot--the whole town had
recently been destroyed by a tornado

A quick example: In May, Cameron and I were headed to a good friend's wedding in Arizona, which is a bit more than a stone's throw from my beloved Michigan. After driving all night and day, we landed in a tiny town at the end of Kansas, quite exhausted and unkempt after about 19 long hours of driving. The couple ahead of us was quite rude upon discovering that no, this hotel did not have presidential suites, as they had just rebuilt after a tornado wiped out the entire town not long ago. The woman at the front desk of the only hotel for at least 70 miles gave us the price of a room, which was a bit more than we had wanted to spend for a few hours' sleep. I thanked her for her help and Cameron and I quickly discussed whether we should bend the budget a little. The woman heard our situation, and offered to give us a discounted rate. We of course gladly accepted and thanked her profusely for her help. We ended up loving the experience we had there, right down to the Hot Pockets we ate for dinner from the local gas station since the restaurants had not yet been rebuilt.

Life's little lessons often stick with people, and I think that on that day we learned that simply by being kind, we were able to enjoy a great night's sleep in a state-of-the-art and green-friendly hotel, for less than we would have otherwise. It's a simplistic example, yes, but at the same time, it fits.

Regardless, I am very much enjoying this collection of Mother Teresa's quotes, and it has certainly helped give me a new appreciation for the world around me, even just a friendly smile. It really is the simple things, isn't it?

Oh, But The Leaves

I have an announcement.

It's hugely exciting.

Are you ready??

The leaves are turning color!!! I love this time of year. It's beautiful here in Michigan during the autumn months, and even more exciting is the fact that fall means winter is just around the corner, and do you know what that means? Christmas. I love absolutely everything about Christmas. The lights, the music, the gently falling snow glistening under the street lamps, the hot cocoa by the Christmas tree..everything.

My boyfriend took this photo on Michigan State
University's campus last year--beautiful!

I'm getting ahead of myself. Fall. As a kid, I looked forward to packing up all my new school supplies, unpacking, and then repacking them and heading off to school in the morning. Fall also meant my birthday had arrived (even though now it means I'm getting older, apparently), and that provided an excitement all its own. Plus, what's more fun as a kid than raking up the leaves into a huge pile and promptly throwing yourself into them, effectively destroying the newly raked lawn?

This year, fall meant a new beginning for me, in a way. It felt a little strange not packing up my possessions to move back into a cramped dorm room, but not doing so also began to solidify the thought that if I so choose, I could be done with school forever. Very strange feeling, indeed.

I'm officially not a student now, though I believe I will always be a student at heart. New things fascinate me, and I thoroughly enjoy soaking up the information contained between the binding of a brand new book. The amount of books I read increases tenfold as the weather turns cooler, I think. To me, there is nothing more satisfying than being surrounded by the beauty in nature with my nose in a book, curled up in a cozy blanket, and something warm to drink. Ah, perfection.

Adventures in Interviewland

I had an interview in Detroit on Monday. Normally, this would be exciting, and it was, until I had to actually get there.

My interview was set to begin at 3 pm, and in situations like that, I am very particular about being there at least 10-15 minutes early. Knowing that one of my greatest talents is getting lost, I arrived in Detroit at 2:15 to give myself plenty of time to figure out how to get to the office. As it turns out, I did drive around for about 15 minutes before I found what I believed to be the correct building and the parking structure across the street, as described in the email I was following. Great.

Enter my inability to understand driving directions.

I walked around this particular monument about 4 times..

I exited the parking structure and crossed the busy street, walked into the building and loved the sound of my heels clicking against the marble floors. I spoke to a very nice gentleman at the reception area, who assured me I was absolutely not in the correct place. In fact, I was four blocks away.

Fantastic.

Four blocks isn't too bad, I thought. Oh, how wrong I was. That four blocks turned into 1 mile. Keep in mind that it was 83 degrees outside, the sun was relentless, I was lost, and I had 20 minutes to walk a mile in heels across the city, and that 20 minutes would put me at the office at exactly 3 pm.

By the time I arrived at the correct location, my feet were bleeding from the blisters that both formed and popped in the first 10 minutes of my trek. My shirt was nearly soaked through with sweat (something that has never happened to me, incidentally, even after half an hour on the treadmill, I never sweat that much! Gross.) I was 4 minutes late, and my stress level was out of control. My hair was matted to my head and I was the epitome of a "hot mess" at that point.

I imagine this was the general additude of my
blistered toes by the time I arrived home.

Frankly, I was amazed they let me join the interview given my appearance and tardiness. I did the best I could to answer the questions and appear unphased by my body temperature (I must admit, I was impressed with my self-control as I resisted fanning myself or attempting to clean my bloodied feet). In the end, they were very kind about the whole thing.

I'm not sure if I'll be called back for a second interview, but regardless, this was an important learning experience. I know that I have a strong drive to make things happen, and I think that came through as I practically ran to get to the interview on time. I know that next time, I will definitely make sure I drive by the proper office a day or two ahead of time.

The walk back to my car was one of the most painful walks in my life...paying $17.50 for parking was offensive to me as well. I'm not sure I can think of any parking structure that is worth that fee for an hour and a half.

So was the Journey Through Interviewland from Hell.

Running Through The Vehicle City

Here's a bit of irony for you: on Saturday was the annual Crim Festival of Races came to Flint, a city which boasts the name "Vehicle City," as if to suggest it is the younger, more scrappy brother of Detroit, the Motor City. Just last weekend was a huge car show known as Back to the Bricks, and this week, running aficionados found themselves flocking to the brick streets downtown. Interesting that a city based around driving as a major form of transportation also supports the opposite: the use of no vehicle at all!

My friend Tobi was in town, so we went into the city in the morning on Saturday. Of course, neither of us run, so we stood by the buildings and watched as the runners took their marks, and eventually returned as sweaty, smelly, and hunger-driven. Thousands of people showed up to run, and thousands more showed up to watch. I had never been to the Crim before, and I had assumed that several people showed up, but I never would have guessed it would be on such a large scale. The race featured everything from a Teddy Bear Trot for the little tykes out there, to a 10 mile race.

In the end, a Kenyan man named Julius Kogo won the 10 mile race for the second year in a row, this year completing the race in 47:15. Personally, I'm not sure how that's even possible, but kudos to the people who are so well-conditioned who can do that! (Nerd alert: Kenyans are sometimes stereotyped as being excellent runners, and as it turns out, they actually have a high proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibers, which may contribute to their ability to run long distances more efficiently...so, they're genetically predisposed to being great runners! Additionally, they train using low mileage and high intensity.)

While I don't dream of being a long distance runner, I may up the ante on the treadmill this week. Maybe someday, I'll participate in the Crim instead of watching...maybe.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

For the last couple of days, people of all ages and all walks of life poured into downtown Flint to see some pretty sweet rides. Old cars, new cars, red cars, blue cars. A little bit of everything.

Generally, I know next to nothing about cars. All I want to know is that when I put the key in my car and give it a turn, the engine fires up. I'm convinced, however, that my boyfriend knows everything there is to know about cars...plus some. He can identify cars instantaneously, and I'm usually surprised if he doesn't know the car's stats. Needless to say the Back to the Bricks Cruise Weekend is like a weekend of heaven for him. We walked around for a while Friday night, and he pointed out all the impressive cars (in my world, if it looks cool, it's impressive...that's not always true in the world of car people, apparently).

On Saturday, my younger sister and I headed back downtown to pass out some awesome keychains and bracelets for Fossil Cars. Of course, getting there was an adventure in and of itself. I'm not great with directions... and by that, I mean I'm absolutely awful at navigating anywhere. My ability to get lost in my own hometown is almost legendary. Everyone knows it.

Anyway, as we passed out the keychains and bracelets, we went from practically overheating in the hot sun to running through a torrential downpour in a matter of moments. As we ducked for cover in a doorway, a little boy and his dad were heading to the same area, only the kid was crying...hard. He had lost a flipflop while running through the rain and was quite upset about losing it.  We gave him a bracelet and a keychain and he started to calm down, but there was just no forgetting that flipflop.

We were completely drenched by the time we reached the pavilion area, and watched as the rain chased the crowd out of town. When talk of hail began, most of the cars were gone in a flash. It's amazing how fast the weather can change, huh? Eh, it was fun while it lasted, and we will definitely be back next year!