Child-Like Faith

No one can resist a cute kid. Or at least I can't. 

Meet Finley.

My 3'2, 36 pound, 4 year old, only girl cousin. She is an only child and was born and raised in Minnesota. Finley is a ball of energy, constantly joyful, giggles all the time, and is full of life. 

Her favorite pastimes are swinging, twirling around in her tutu, snowball fights with Dad, swimming, coloring, and asking way too many questions.






Finley's a deep 4 year old, lemme tell ya. She is a curious one and is constantly amazed at how things work. She is the type of kid who will ask you something and before you know it, it has turned into this frustrating argument between the two of you.

Partly because you have been talking about it for the past hour....

















And partly because you actually don't know the answer to her question and she is calling you out on it because you are trying to make it seem like you do. Gotta love those kids.

Even though Finley is only 4 and I have lived 16 more years than her, sometimes I think she knows more about life than I do. There is an ease with which she believes things, she gives simple answers to complicated questions, and isn't afraid to fall down because she knows that she can pick herself back up and try again. 

I always learn something new whenever I am with Finley. She reminds me that you don't have to be a little kid to have a child-like faith, which is something I admire and hope to have. For some of us it's hard to revert back to when we were kids and didn't have a care in the world. There was nap time, endless Goldfish, and the extent to getting in trouble was time out.

Just because we are older doesn't mean we are any wiser. Leave it to a 4 year old to make you feel like you still don't have life completely figured out yet. 

"Life's For Sharing"

I absolutely love what they did with this campaign. This particular one started in a Liverpool Street Station at 11:00 am on January 15, 2009 when a man begins dancing like a crazy person. All of a sudden there are dancers and singers performing all around you and you don't know what else to do but be in shock. You look around to see everyone else staring with their mouths open too. I can imagine if I were one of those people I would want to join in with them. I mean why not?


All it takes is one person to start something and then before you know it you have a whole crowd supporting and joining in with you. I think that is the beauty of these videos. It starts out small and simple and no one knows what is going on. Then as time progresses more people become involved and they come together as a group to fulfill a purpose. Things like this get people's attention for sure. I think the video did a great job of expressing that you should share moments in life together like the onlookers did after everyone dances and then nonchalantly walks away like it was no big deal.

Who wouldn't want to accidently come across this at their local airport? Oh ya, and they didn't use any instruments....no big deal. What a great way to take a mundane day and make life a little less ordinary!

How Do Vegetarians Do It?

I am a carnivore at heart. As a child I grew up with my dad cooking on the grill every weekend. Every trip we went on, my family and I would stake out a new barbecue restaurant to try. All to say, I have been to my fair share of barbecue places in my lifetime thus far. What can I say? I am from Texas.

However, one of my best friends is a vegetarian. I have always marveled at how she does it and have secretly always wanted to try it. So I did! I became a vegetarian for a day today. No meat, no poultry, and no fish for a whole day (what was I getting myself into?)! I thought about giving up half way through the day because I just couldn't take it anymore. But it actually wasn't that bad although it did take some extra effort.

Here are some of the common vegetarian foods/meals....
1. Hummus
2. Tofu
3. Veggie Pizza
4. Veggie or Black Bean Burger
5. Peanut Butter (aka my main food group)
6. Vegetables, lots of them!
7. Fruit

I did a little research on the topic to see why people made the change and learned some astonishing facts. According to this website, www.farmsanctuary.org, "factory farming is an attitude that regards animal agriculture, this attitude has led to intructionalized animal cruelty, massive environmental destruction and resource depletion, and animal and human health risks." In general, I believe that as Americans we really do eat too much meat. Meat is protein which is a necessity for our diet, but how that meat appears on our plate is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. Factory Farming has created living conditions for animals that are just down right repulsive. There are laws that are enacted to reflect societal values, but laws addressing how animals are treated on farms are inconsistent with popular concerns. Farmed animals are excluded from most federal and state anti-cruelty laws, so animals used for food production are legally subjected to intolerable suffering. We are endangering ourselves with the disease and anti-biotic resistance that comes from factory farming. which could lead Americans to greater health issues.

I am not saying that I am going to go cold turkey and cut meat completely out of my diet and become a vegetarian. I don't think that would be physically possible for me. I am saying that I am going to be more conscious and aware of the next time I eat meat. I recognize that this is a problem and will help the other vegetarians out there by being more decisive with my eating choices.

Inspiration

Ok, someone teach me how to do this ASAP! This guy, Chris Akrigg, has some serious skill. Besides the fact that I would probably die in a matter of minutes if I tried to recreate his talent, I think this is amazing. I am in a spin class at Dedman Rec Center and I love it. However, those bikes are stationary, we aren't doing impossible tricks, and our lives are not at stake.

Whenever I see stuff like this it makes me want to get up off my butt and do something. I think it is so easy to want to do something and then never do it. I am definitely guilty. All talk and no action. We all make excuses. We blame our busy schedules, there's not enough time in the day, we're scared, we're not good enough, blah, blah, blah. Well, screw excuses. You are good enough, there is time, and you know you want to do it anyway, right? So stop putting off the things you want to do and just do them. (Anyone else just think of Nike commercials?) One of the best feelings is at the end of the day when you know that you pushed yourself to the limit and that you accomplished something you didn't think you would be able to. Here in America we pretty much have the world at our fingertips, there are endless opportunities, we just have to take the first step.

"We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities." Ralph Waldo Emerson

No Arms, No Legs, No Worries

The man born with no arms and no legs. Hard to imagine isn't it? Nick came and spoke at my church last year and I was mesmerized by his confidence and enthusiasm for life. It's painfully clear that it has taken him some time to get to where he is today, but I am sure if we were to ask him about it he wouldn't have changed anything. I believe that God does things for a reason and I firmly believe that there was no mistake when God created Nick. In God's eyes he is beautifully and wonderfully made. He gifted Nick with the courage and communication skills to speak with people all over the world. Nick has impacted countless people, including me, with his story and he doesn't give himself any of the credit. He is the last person to pat himself on the back for all the work he has done because he knows it's never about him. It's about giving the glory to God.

Cupcake Creativity

To start off I have only missed my parents once in my life. I sometimes have a hard time remembering to call them at least twice a week to update them. And it is a very, very rare occurrence when and if I will ever be homesick. Yes, I am that child and I was also that leash child you saw in department stores trying desperately to go explore, but that is another story for another time. Even though it may sound like I am not close or don't love my parents that is most definitely not the case. The Mitchell household consists of many family trips, too many inside jokes, and homemade traditions. One of the traditions being mother-daughter bonding night, which mostly consist of cooking or baking while listening to the infamous Frank Sinatra. My mother is an AMAZING cook and I only hope to become as talented as she is. However, her expertise is baking. When she was younger she aspired to start her own bakery, but then Ryan, my brother, came along and that dream slowly faded to the background.

One of our favorite things to bake are cupcakes. You can be as creative as you want with them, they are so simple, and take no time at all. Ever since I have been in my Intro to Creativity class I have found that everyone is creative and creativity can be found in just about anything and everything. You are creative every day, you use it in every day tasks. When you pick out what to wear in the morning, when you are day dreaming in class, when you are writing, and in this case when you are cooking or baking you are being creative.

Today I went to Sprinkles and got a free (ya I said free!) cupcake for my friend who just had a really hard week. If you are in the lovely world of Twitter you should check out Sprinkle's word of the day. All you have to do is look it up, drive to your local Sprinkles, whisper the word, and voila! You just got yourself a free cupcake! It's the simple things in life that can brighten someone's day, make them smile, and give them the encouragement to push forward. It never hurts whenever they are in the form of a cupcake either!

Out With the Old and In With the New

BACK IN BLUE

Today I was in Mockingbird Station shopping with a friend. We passed by Gap and she casually asked if I had heard about the fiasco they had last fall. Apparently, I had not. Last fall the beloved casual-wear Gap tried to change their logo to have a more fresh and modern feel. I don't know about anyone else, but I have always held a dear place in my heart for Gap so this news came as a bit of a shock. The Gap reminds me of the typical "jean on jean" awkward family pictures and my favorite pair of jeans that my dog stole and ate. However, to the company's dismay, this new effort proved to fail and will now keep the classic white-on-navy blue logo after all. This whole extravaganza began with the company switching the logos and exposing the new one to the world wide web without saying a word. Irritated fans reacted quickly and began to complain about it online. Initially, the company wanted the new logo to match its modernized image. Coming from an outsider's perspective, this makes sense due to the world having this unspoken competition of who can come out with the next new "bigger and better" product. Hansen, the president, wanted their "customers to take notice of Gap and see what it stands for today." And in Gap's defense it was a natural step to see how their logo, one they have had for decades, should evolve along with their current and contemporary image. This is not to say that I like the new logo, I am still a supportive fan of the original.

According to Marka Hansen, "the San Francisco-based company realized how much people liked the old logo after they put up the new one, a white background with black letters and a little blue box." I don't think this situation was thought through all the way or handled correctly. Logos are key to brands because they convey meaning and are something fans feel connected to. A brand resides in the hearts and minds of individuals, it is the source of the company's promise to their consumer, and it is the position that the consumer has placed in their mind. With that being said I don't think something like this should be taken lightly or happen off the cuff. I believe that they should have engaged with their audience and let their shoppers offer input.

              
          

vs.

      

"We've heard loud and clear that you don't like the new logo. We've learned a lot from the feedback. We only want what's best for the brand and our customers." - from Gap....OUCH!

Which one do you like? My vote goes to the good ol' original!