Judge not, lest ye be judged.

Taking offense is not a sign of righteousness. If there is one thing I have consistently seen in my life experience is that if someone is so offended by someone’s else’s action that doesn’t immediately effect them, then they have that issue within themselves (or a very similar sin). 
So what does that mean as a believer? If you are being persecuted by someone you haven’t personally wronged, then try to understand that their battle is with themselves, not with you. If you can, turn your other cheek; look the other way. Forgive them, as that may be what they are not able to do for themselves. 

Photog Feature: Andy Johnson

You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.

  
I had the pleasure of working with Andy Johnson on set for a TV pilot. One night we decided to shoot, and the rest is history. The photos are stunning, and I highly recommend him. Hire Andy for you next set of head shots or any of your photography / cinematography needs! 

   
 

St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

I originally had no plans when I booked my trip to Europe. Once I realized it was during St. Patrick’s Day, I knew I had to hop on a plane over to Ireland!

Since I had not purchased an outlet converter, my phone was about to die. While waiting for the plane from Oslo to Dublin, I asked a stranger if I could plug into his laptop (because that’s not awkward). His name was Carl, he was from Sweden living in Dublin. Carl gave me some information about Dublin while I charged my phone, and then our plane started boarding.

Once I arrived to Dublin, I took a double decker bus (10 Euros round trip) to my hostel. Dropped off my luggage, borrowed someone’s converter so I could charge my phone, and got suggestions on where to eat. I ended up going to “The Celt” by suggestion of the Hostel Staff. It was AMAZING. For being St. Patrick’s Day, it was not crowded at all. Almost a hidden gem on Talbot Street. I got the Irish Stew and, of course, a Guinness.

From there I walked to St. Stephens Green. I got lost, and asked two French guys, Jullian and Loic, if they knew where the place was. There was quite a language barrier, but it turned out we all were going the wrong way. We turned around, walked to the concert and had a blast. I spent FOUR hours dancing and learning different folk dances with my new friends.

I booked an all-female room at Jacobs Inn Hostel. It was very clean, and offered a lot of free events (like a walking tour!). The girls I stayed with seemed very nice, and we talked for a couple hours before I went to bed.

When I woke up, I had breakfast provided by the hostel (toast and jam). I sat and talked to a teacher from Denmark for about two hours. My friend, Janine, from the room came down and we took photos in the photo booth before heading out to buy souvenirs. After shopping we went back to the hostel to have our faces painted. Another friend, Becky, joined and we walked to the parade. It was crowded! Even more so than Mardi Gras in New Orleans! It was a blast, as we weaved in and out of the crowd. We got an ice cream cone (in the cold?). Tried to spy floats over the tops of heads. Somehow Jullian and Loic ran into me in this huge crowd, so the five of us celebrated St. Patrick’s Day together. After the parade we went to eat. We laughed for hours over the difficulties communicating. “MY French Fries, YOUR French Fries.”

After dinner we made our way back to our hostel. Over a bottle of wine (or two) we discussed very important worldly things… Like “Soda” or “Pop”. By the time I had crawled into bed, I realized I was actually a bit homesick, but this time tomorrow I’ll be sleeping in Trier, Germany.

Bucket List: Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland.

Bucket List: Drink a Guinness in Ireland

Bucket List: Coffee with a stranger

Exploring Norway

Oslo, Norway

I flew Norwegian Airlines. (Either I do not know what a good quality airline is or I got a really good deal. Sure the coffee/tea costs extra, and there were no complimentary  peanuts, but I’m going to Europe; who needs those things? )

While I waited to board the plane, I asked random people nosey questions like where are you going and why. I scored a temporary traveling companion; her name is Helga. She lived in Oslo for twenty years, and she offered to help me navigate the train to my hostel. Helga is going to Spain to meet up with an old friend she dated back in 1977. So far, she topped my charts for coolest person I’ve met. She was one of the first female boxers, and was deemed “the blond Viking” whilst fighting in Las Vegas. Seriously badass.

If I die, let my tombstone read “No adventure too big or small; knew no stranger.”

Somehow I had lucked out in the random draw to have a window seat behind the wing of the aircraft. The clouds laid out across the atmosphere like miles of untouched snow. Which looked cool, until the descent it actually became miles of untouched snow. Brrr! The coolest site was when the clouds broke apart to reveal a huge island. It kind of looked uninhabited. You think you grasp the vastness of the ocean, but it doesn’t really settle in until you are flying over it.

Once I landed, I started to lose my vision; a migraine. Helga helped me navigate to my train stop, and her friend gave me directions on how to get to my hotel. I am horrible with directions. For awhile, with a migraine, I was walking up and down the same street lost. I asked one stranger where my street was, and I think she purposely told me the wrong way. Thank God I went with my gut feeling and didn’t follow through on her directions. I stared at a map by the train station for about twenty minutes, trying to guide through the unfamiliar street names. I remembered that I had grabbed a map in the train station, and I pulled that out. It wasn’t long after that, that I was struggling to open the door to my hostel. The headache was bad. Lucky for me, the room was available and she let me check in early. I slept for probably six hours. I lost my day in Norway.

I did some brief exploring while the sun was still up. Ate a fast food burger because the train ticket had wiped out my budget for the day. The exchange rate was not in my favor, and I was in the second richest country in the world. (Known for being expensive)

I’ve decided when I come back in a week, I will have taken the time to really study the map and decide what I’ll be doing, minus a headache. It will be a much more productive day.

❤

Bucket List: Get lost in a foreign country

Timehop Away

I have the worst memory, and probably for the best of reasons. However, I figured I would join the trend and download timehop so I could be reminded of the last x amount of years on social media. 

 For me, I typically only post happy things going on in my life, and occasionally they are moments that look happy, even if surrounded by bad feelings. Outsiders looking in would not pick up on the context clues of the hidden smile, yet I am now reminded every day by the little timehop dinosaur how easy it is to mold the perception of your life. 

  

Sometimes I even fool myself into thinking in that moment I was happy. I think I spent years practicing forgetting. 

With all that said, I do believe it takes sad moments to appreciate good moments; that mistakes fuel better outcomes. After all, Edison discovered 10,000 ways not to make a lightbulb. 

So when I look back on my timehop, I remind myself that Happiness is an emotion that changes with the wind, look instead to joy and contentment, as their deep roots will hold fast through the storm. 

May your heart be at peace even when your mind is not.