Estoy Aqui

Shakira's Estoy Aqui was one of my favorite songs when I was at university, at BYU. Who am I kidding? It's still my favorite. In fact, I memorized the words so I can sing at the top of my lungs when I'm driving with the windows down. I'm just going to issue a blanket apology to anyone who has, or will be subjected to it.

Oh.

I'm still here. 

Hola!

So, I wanted to take a break. I had planned to restart in January, but a couple things happened. My iPhone died. Then my husband and his best friend decided it would be a good idea to wipe the laptop to cure it of all it's viruses before checking with me to see if I had anything important on the hard drive.

I had a book I'd been working on, it's gone. *silent scream*

I have three chapters in my email box... but the rest? The rest is lost in space. So that was fun.

The less I got online, the more I forced myself to focus on what, and who was around me, and I have to admit, I really enjoyed it. 

One day a friend asked me if I was okay, as she hadn't seen any posts, and when she logged onto Facebook hadn't seen any new writing. She was starting to get worried. It made me laugh. It also made me realize how much unplugging had done me good.

I plan to be back, but I'm going to be more selective, more careful about my time. It turns out I rather enjoy focusing on my loved ones. I hadn't realized just how distracted I could be, even when I wasn't staring at my iPhone, or with my bum planted in front of the computer.

This year, my word is DREAM. 

I believe we all have dreams, and while all our dreams don't happen overnight, or over several years, or decades even, we should still dream, and still hope for, and work towards our dreams. If that fire of desire is awake, the magic of life keeps beating.

I love finding people who inspire. Last year I shared the story of a 15-year-old hero with my daughters. My daughters were saddened by the story, and we prayed for Malala Yousafzai. Today, I was listening to NPR and they played a recent interview with Malala. 





I want my daughters to know how blessed they are to have the freedom and opportunity to go to school. I hope they understand how powerful they can be when armed with truth and knowledge. I want them to know that with this blessing, they have a equally great responsibility to study well, to use their knowledge to build, and to lead. It is miraculous young ladies like Malala that we should cheer for, and support. I hope you take a look. 

Cheers!