Love & My New Year Weekend..

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I have the motivation to blog, but I'm not sure what I want to blog about. The holiday spirit is still nestled in my bones, and I need a few more days to wake up :). However, life and time waits for no one. It is already the 3rd of January...tick tock goes the clock, and so must I.  My weekend was wonderful. I had a blast spending it with two college friends. We spent most of the weekend indoors watching movies, playing 7 Words (so addictive), eating and sipping champagne.

Our New Year's eve plan was canceled when the snow came pouring down; we stayed indoors. On New Year day, we went to church, came home for lunch (we had made plans to eat brunch at a restaurant my friends would not stop talking about :), but they closed early), then to the mall and back home to watch three movies back to back. They were the slowest movies of our lifetime, but we survived in between dozing off and playing 7 words.

We finally went out to brunch the next day at the spot both my friends have raved about all Sunday. It is called The Original House of Pancakes, and it sure is a popular place. It was packed when we got there, and I believe we waited about forty-five minutes before we were seated. We could have waited longer, but we called in a few hours earlier to get our names on the list. Yay! I was starving.

It is a real laid back place, and the food was not bad. I had not been before, and my girl-friends had talked it up a lot. Personally, I was not awed out, mainly because I was not full. The waffle I ordered was small. It was not the typical thick waffle I see at other restaurants. According to my friends, the portions seem smaller from the last time they visited. I guess people waste the big portions. It is a recession people :). That was the explanation we concluded on; I planned on asking the waiter, but never got to it. LOL, It wasn't important anyways.  It was a laid-back time with fun conversation. I can't wait to finally get a better phone or a camera to capture my adventures :)

I wish I could say my emotions were all "happy happy joy joy" Friday through Monday, but I had some few moments of realization as I look back into 2011 and the preceding years. Moments when what you think is not exactly what it is. I think because it was an holiday of new beginnings, I spent the weekend having much fun and staying introspective. I got to lay still and think about life and the journey. I am learning a lot about people, hurt,  relationships, friendships, forgiveness, personalities, identity, betrayal, changes and love. I love growth and progress, and I got a few personal reality check as I thought back over 2011 that would help move my 2012 forward.

My biggest reality check was that it all boils down to love. The choices we make about the people around us and the role they play in our lives boils down to love. Love for God, one-self and others. It is my choice to love, serve, give, lift up and walk alongside people. It is my choice to decide where I place my identity, my heart and my value. It is my choice whom I choose to call lover and friend. Regardless of how people react to my choices and my personality, it is my choice to love while setting boundaries. Family, lovers and friends are designed to love you, but are prone to hurt you. It is your choice to decide to choose love.

I am a better person, because of this realization. Walls do not heal, and in loving, walls must come down. Judgement, independence and confrontation do not hold love together.  Making up your mind about who you will become does not negate who others are and the freedom and space they need to be just that without castrating their every move. It all comes down to love.

Oh wow, I did not plan this post, but I guess it is what I am bringing into the new year.

I am excited for what 2012 has to offer. It has started, and I am taking it places.

Beloved, You are Loved Absolutely!