I like bluegrass

Ew gross. When did that happen????

The Lighthouse's Tale

Besfren

My best friend/soul sister, Kristen, sent me this today. She said it reminded her of me. How is it that 90 miles away and with hardly any constant communication... she can read right into my soul and see what I need? Love her.


Phenomenal Woman
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.


I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.


Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman


Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.


Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.


- Maya Angelou

Biancadonkadonk

Bianca drove to LA with me this weekend and helped me navigate around the city to get to where I needed to be. I'm an eternally grateful for her friendship, her support, and her love. Sorry to sound like a sob-story, but I started bawling just 30 minutes into our drive back home and she didn't mind it at all! I also forced her to listen to my ghetto rap to which then I was pleasantly surprised to hear her spit all the lyrics to Eminem's new stuff. Go figure!

Besides the crying... I had an AMAZING time. I loved spending time with the bro, catching up with old friends, and exploring a new city. Plus, the drive there and back was quietly calm and therapeutic. Perfect desert scenery. I was too busy driving/being a sob-story to take any pictures... but here are a few from the weekend.

Thanks to Shamim, Sahab, Jeff, and Caleb for making time for me on such short notice! Not that any of them will ever read this... but still... thanks friends!

dispel his sadness, solve his difficulties and remove his afflictions

"And if thou art overtaken by affliction in My path, or degradation for My sake, be not thou troubled thereby. Rely upon God, thy God and the Lord of thy fathers."
BAHA'U'LLAH, THE TABLET OF AHMAD

Let's kick it

My two most recent purchases:

Laugh:


Now I shall return to watching Harry Potter with my sister and brother. Oh blimey

This is me not thinking about it

It = visa complications/missing tucson/being a drama queen

1. 

2. Remembering Wednesday night...

3. Learning new music with the old ebony and ivory... Adele style

 

Me found home

Arizona.

I have a love/hate relationship with Southwest Airlines. I hate that you have to pick your seat. This whole awkward business of standing where your group number is in line and avoiding people because of the middle seat just is awkward with a tad of awkwardness on the side. And the staff/attendants try to be funny, but they're not. Buuuuuuut I love the prices, the free checked bag, and the friendly people... Anyway, I avoided all the awkward sideways glances toward the A50 number printed on my boarding pass by focusing on The Kite Runner's sister book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. The book focuses on two female characters growing up in Afghanistan in the midst of war and violence. I like it... I like heroic female stories. Like Zaynab from the time of the Babis... she's the persian version of Mulan :P. And Tahirih, who gave her life for the emancipation of women. Hearing these stories puts my life into a humble perspective. They motivate me, as a young woman, to do something with my life for humanity, so that the trials and tribulations that these heroines suffered through haven't been in vain. If I were a song writer (hopefully someday...), I'd write an entire album inspired by these heroines. Love it.

PS... Incase I haven't mentioned it enough... I love home life. Seriously, the family room couch is the best napping spot in the world. The green couch in the Staff Lounge at Bosch comes in at a close 2nd.

Happy medium?

Also, look who visited me on skype!!

I hope the shot of my sister here paints a clear picture of the reason why she's called "the Layli Monster." Bahahahahahahh I taught her well.

The Layli Monster

Today was a hard day for many reasons blahblahblah... The reasons don't really matter... what matters is how I approached the day. Instead of moping around, I tried to look for and focus on the things I am grateful for. Even those little-purple-mini-orchid-flower-looking-things on the side of the lodge this afternoon made my day. I appreciated the beauty of that purple plant and I was grateful to have that moment to appreciate the plant... to live one more day here, even if it was a rough day. Sometimes my positivity makes me sick, UGH can't I ever just be in a bad mood and not feel guilty for it?



Just a side note... my little sister started high school today. I love her.

Sleeping In

"Wherefore, O my loving friends! Consort with all the peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and friendliness, that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the grace of Bahá, that ignorance, enmity, hate and rancor may vanish from the world and the darkness of estrangement amidst the peoples and kindreds of the world may give way to the Light of Unity. Should other peoples and nations be unfaithful to you show your fidelity unto them, should they be unjust toward you show justice towards them, should they keep aloof from you attract them to yourselves, should they show their enmity be friendly towards them, should they poison your lives, sweeten their souls, should they inflict a wound upon you, be a salve to their sores. Such are the attributes of the sincere! Such are the attributes of the truthful." - ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

http://news.bahai.org/human-rights/iran/iran-update/

Sad day.

Why September will be awesome

1. Ecuador
2. Dex returns

If you grew up with holes in your zapatos

Love.

Cole Haan's lace-ups.

KWEST

Man I promise, she so self-concious.



UGH Kanye, I love his old stuff.

Simplicity

There's a quiet wisdom in the simple things.
Sometimes things get so messy and complicated... it's nice to stop and enjoy the simple things.

Oooo the colors!

***

So after driving the golf cart around here at Bosch for about a month... I've formulated a pro/con list about it.

PROS

-It's a golf cart

-Wind in the hair on a hot summer's day= faaaaaantastic

-It's a golf cart

-It goes super fast down the hills (which means double the wind in the hair)

CONS

-No windshield means bugs fly into the next best thing.... my face.

-Everyone wants rides all the time... geez get your own golf cart.

-Nothing else really... I mean it is a golf cart after all.

If this one breaks, I have an idea of what Bosch should replace it with...

That'll keep me coming back every summer.

Late night thoughts

So blog, I'm going to Ecuador on September 4th.
Raúl Pavón Mejía

When I was little I decided to do a year of service after listening to my dad's stories about his year of service in Haifa. In December of my junior year in high school, I decided I wanted to go to South America. By December of my senior year, I was enrolled as an MCB major at the UA. Then this past December... I decided to take a break from school and go. And here I am... waiting for a visa.

Scared? Yes.
Nervous? Yes.
Excited? Yes.

Things to work on in Ecuador

1. Detachment
2. Self-confidence
3. Service with sacrifice
4. Forgiveness

BAM that's what's up.

Also... hello August 2nd and happy birthday to my college best friend, Storm Byrd. You probably will never read this... but I'll deeply miss your company, your big sighs, and your long, complicated and unnecessary detailed stories while I'm gone. You're a good guy and I love you for it!