A New Year: A New Me

Every year is the same; people go through that "mid-life" crisis of an attitude and evaluate themselves and their lives for what it was in the past year. They will then wrinkle up their noses, cringe up their foreheads, and throw out a "humph" as they realize ALL that they meant to accomplish in the past year has once again gone undone. This is due to the pure fact that we, as humans or maybe Americans, hold ourselves to such high standards. Instead of giving ourselves reachable, accomplishable, and satisfying goals to fulfill, we demand a set of highest standards to fail miserably at. Which then in turn brings on the wrinkling, cringing, and humphing. That is why this year I am not going to set concrete goals to accomplish in a timeline fashion. Instead I am going to set a continuous and steady pace in helping myself to the becoming of a better individual in all aspects of my being. This will not be accomplished through the setting of goals that will be fulfilled, but through the living of life.
Listed below are different ideas and strategies to helping me live my life in a better manner, and help me live my life to the fullest.


*Eat what Mother Nature provides me, not mankind.
*Respect myself.
*Respect my body.
*Love myself--in and out.
*Fill my brain with worldly facts and knowledge (I may not be able to travel to exotic places but damn if I won't know about them!)
*Read. A LOT.
*Remember that even if it's trash, reading a magazine is sometimes a fun and relaxing thing to do.
*Stay positive. (Negativity will get you nowhere)
*Take in nature's beauty.
*Take an extraordinary amount of pictures.
*Improve my skills in photography BUT never lose the love and passion for it.
*Comparing and contrasting myself with others will only bring me down. (Keep this in mind).
* Love unconditionally.
*Work hard but be sure to take random days and hours off to enjoy life outside of work.
*Travel as much as money will allow.
*Try not to allow money to get in the way of life.
*Money does not buy happiness.
*Pay it forward. As much as possible.
*Be Happy.

I will constantly remind myself that the living of life and bettering of myself does not have an expiration date, and that I cannot fail myself unless I give up.

So here's a cheers to the year 2013 and NOT GIVING UP ON MYSELF.

The Road Of Life May Twist and Turn But Will Always Lead You To The Right Place

Well blog followers all I have to say is I AM SORRY. I neglected you. No excuses on my part, just laziness. I have to say though, aside from my laziness of blogging, I have been quite productive in life. Let's recap shall we?
In August I started dating the love of my life, Nick :) We quickly fell into the frenzy of love. He is everything I have been looking for in a MAN. Notice I said MAN not BOY. He treats me right, he is patient (most of the time), kind, thinks I am the most beautiful thing on Earth, and makes me laugh like no one ever has. And the best part about him is that he loves me. He loves me for me. I don't need any added bonuses, I just need to be me. I love the feeling of knowing I won't be cheated on (as I had in previous relationships) or lied to. I have chosen right, and have found a good honest man. ANNND quite frankly I think I deserve that.
Anywho. We started dating at the end of August. He left for a month and a half for Australia (note: he's an infantry man in the army). During that time I decided to leave Honolulu and move to the North Shore (note: still on the island of Oahu for those of you on the mainland who do not know these said cities) I was having trouble finding work and a place to stay so I stayed at his place while he was in Australia and I was finding a job. It took me about a month to find a steady job (which was nice for my tan). Just before he came home I got offered my now teaching job and when he returned he asked me to move in with him.
QUICK! I know, I know. If you know me well enough you know it is quite out of character for me to do such a thing. I was one of those individuals who tsked tsked at couples who lived together too early or got married to early. Then I experienced and felt what they must have been feeling. Being with Nick just felt right, and neither one of us wanted to be separated from each other.
Sooo he returned on Thanksgiving day, we had our first Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentines Day and life was grand.
Work for me is good. It is not the exact position I want to be in at the end of my journey, BUT for now it suits me well. I am a lead teacher for a 4 year old preschool room. The place that I work at is nice. The people are friendly, and I love my T.A. but sadly she is leaving me after next week. The hours are flexible and the pay is decent. However it is still to much of a daycare setting for my liking. I am hoping, when I get to back to the mainland, that I can find a more suitable job for me, perhaps in a school system.
Last month Nick and I moved out of our favorite place on Pukea Road, because we were having some roommate issues, and moved to our OWN place in Pupukea. We now rent a brand new one bedroom studio, that may one giant room (besides the bathroom) but feels like home to us. Our landlords, and the people who own the house we live above, are amazing. They have the kindest and most pure souls I have ever met in my life. This Nick loves, as he is gone for the month (in New Zealand this time), and knows he can count on them to take care of me.
As I settle into our new place, with the a man I am deeply in love with, and gather with friends that have been here for me through the hard times, I can't help but pat myself on the back and tell myself "Jenna, you made the right life decision by moving out here." Don't get me wrong, I miss my friends and family SO incredibly much it hurts. However, if I would have stayed in Minnesota, I wouldn't have become the person I believe I should be. I wouldn't have lived my life the way it was meant to be lived.
Thank you for all of you who have supported me along the way.
I love you
Aloha
Jenna