Categories
beauty life love

super bowl inspiration

It’s so nice when you find inspiration in unexpected places. For many of us this week, it was in a couple Super Bowl commercials.

I’ll be honest … I didn’t actually see these commercials during the big game because I’m pretty sure I was too consumed with the food. When you have friends who make homemade vegan Jambalaya, pizza dip with these wonderful mini bread slices and put out yummy, spicy salsa, there is a lot to be consumed with. That’s not to mention there were cheese potatoes and desserts and a keg full of locally brewed beer.

And there were girls to talk to who cared about the game about as much as me. And there was a baby to be gawked at and a crazy half-time show where everyone seemed to be stunned by how uncool the Red Hot Chili Peppers have become.

But the day after the game, after that horrible Broncos loss* where I couldn’t help but feel bad for Peyton Manning (because he’s the only player I knew), Super Bowl inspiration started showing up on Facebook in the form of Coke and Budweiser ads.

The ad above was the 60-second commercial shown during the game. It’s lovely, beautifully filmed and full of real people who make our country great. One of the girls singing is actually a 16-year-old American Indian from Albuquerque, who learned “American the Beautiful” in Keres, her family’s unwritten native language. She said to learn the song, she had to get help from elders to translate the words.

I know there’s been controversy over the ad because multiple languages were used, but what could be more beautiful than celebrating and including our country’s diversity instead of making everyone look, talk and act the same? Our melting pot is one of the best things about living here.

Below is the full five-minute Coke ad which tells some of the stories of those filmed. It’s so lovely and definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it.

Then there was the gem below by Budweiser that is stealing people’s hearts. I think we all love the stories of unexpected animal friendships. How about Owen and Mzee, the famous hippo and turtle who became friends after the 2004 tsunami? And Bella and Tarra, the dog and elephant who couldn’t stand to be apart when Bella had a spinal injury?

It’s an amazing world we live in, with wonderful people, animals, love and friendships that can develop anywhere if we let them.

 

 

*On the Broncos. I cheered for the team on a whim. The best reason I had was that it was the team closer to my home. But if I could go back, I would have cheered for the Seahawks who have two former Utah State Aggies playing for them. I had no idea, people! I swear! But once I made that Broncos decision, the stubborn person in me just couldn’t go back.

Categories
love

a global valentine

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A guy from Albuquerque decided to surprise his wife for Valentine’s Day by telling some friends he knows around the world to take pictures of signs saying “I love Anne.” Then word spread and he was suddenly getting photos from strangers, too.

He’s since created a Facebook page for his wife and has received photos from more than 40 countries. Signs have been placed in front of the Eiffel tower, the Big Ben, the Sydney Opera House and the pyramids in Egypt. The signs have been written in various languages, hung from trees and held by babies.

I love this story for a few reasons. I obviously love the creativity. I love how this gift makes the world seem small and connected. I love how the husband didn’t have to spend a dime to make his wife feel special. And because I love travel and photos, it just seems like an amazing way to see the world in pictures with love being the theme.

Sometimes social media can just be another distraction. Sometimes it can be negative. But sometimes it can bring people together in creative ways and just might inspire us to spread the love.

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Paris France

Photos from the I Love Anne “World Valentine” Facebook page

Categories
laughter life love

to a person on their first day

Welcome, this is the world. It’s a pretty cool place.

Laughing’s the best.

Sometimes gross things will happen. Some days awesome things will happen. Some days you’ll get ice cream. Some days you won’t.

There’s plenty of reasons to dance, you’ve just got to look for them.

You should give people high fives just for getting out of bed.

Just treat everybody like it’s their birthday, even if they don’t deserve it.

The biggest mess up? Not forgiving each others’ mess ups.

Take brain pictures!

Love is louder.

 

 

If you love this as much as I do, pass it along! We could all benefit from hearing how awesome life is.

Categories
love

some thoughts on love

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Today, the Supreme Court halted same-sex marriages in Utah and it makes me sad. A Utah girl born and raised, I was so excited when I heard the news in December that the ban on same-sex marriages was struck down by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby. I honestly never imagined that happening in Utah, at least not in this decade, and to have it happen a day after New Mexico was pretty amazing.

Now, I don’t want to get religious or political here. That’s not the point of this blog. I want to talk about love. Last August, I wrote what I think love is, and I want that for everyone … no exceptions. With a few edits, here’s what I wrote:

I think love is kind. And simple. And happy. It’s that feeling of being proud of the person or people you’re with. It’s the quiet moments when you’re sitting next to them and nothing else in the world matters because you’re content. 

True love is selfless. It also makes things more bright and beautiful … and light. It doesn’t weigh you or others down. And it can be a fairy tale, but it’s one you have to create for yourself, no matter the circumstance. No one can do that for you.

I think love, for me, is being able to say and/or feel it often for others, no strings attached. It’s in laughter over the simplest of things. It’s in long days filled with adventure that I never want to end. It’s when my friends, fiance and family are happy and excited to be with me, and I feel exactly the same way about them. It’s when they are there for you in the hard times … the times you cry for hours and they don’t care because they love you. It’s when you see something is wrong with them and you try your hardest to help.

I think love can last that way. I think it can last when we care more for others than ourselves. When we don’t need some Hollywood plot to make us feel like it’s real. When we don’t get lost thinking love has to be magic and fireworks all the time, and it’s actually just as strong on the simple days. And I think when we come to the end of our lives, it’s wishing that others are happy without us, no matter what. And maybe if we lose someone, love is about taking adventures without them … for them.

I don’t think it should matter if you’re gay or straight. Everyone should be able to feel the kind of love they need and imagine. And if they want to get married, they should have the choice.

Growing up, I was taught gay marriage was wrong and I believed it because that’s what many people instilled in me. Not only was I taught that it was morally wrong, but it was culturally wrong. People couldn’t really wrap their heads around it because they didn’t understand it.

And then college came and my views started to flip upside-down (or perhaps right-side up) as classes invited panels of LGBT students to talk to their peers about growing up gay, hiding it, coming out and coming to terms with a world that often still did not accept them. That was only 10 years ago. Our country has come so far in 10 years, but days like today can put us right back to 2004 in an instant.

I remember listening to the stories that came out of these panels and I thought long and hard about them afterward. This issue wasn’t something I could put in an imaginary box and hide away because my heart wanted something for these students who often felt like outcasts in their hometowns, their schools, and sometimes even their families.

I remember one night, years after listening to that first panel of LGBT students, I told one of my best friends that not allowing same-sex couples to marry did not seem fair. I asked him, “What’s the happiness in that? What’s the happiness in not getting to be with the one you love in the way you want?” He didn’t agree with me on the issue, but he could see my point, and he didn’t have an answer.

As I’ve said in a previous post, I now believe we are all connected in some way. Several experiences and a lot of thought has gone into this belief. I believe we are connected to the dead, the living and future generations yet to grace this earth. And although each person’s influence will affect our lives differently, one way we can ultimately connect is love.

People who disagree with same-sex marriage often say they still love gay people, but just don’t think they should be able to marry. And while I believe they mean what they say, I think they are still more concerned with themselves than the couples who long to have families just like straight people do. And I always have to wonder, why are people so afraid of same-sex couples who love each other? Even if they are allowed to marry, that does not change the relationships straight people get to have at all. I just don’t feel there is enough love in the statement, “I love them, but …”

Love isn’t about making someone act the way you want them to act. Love is just about … love. No strings attached.

In 2012, I went to the Pride Parade in Salt Lake City and I can honestly say the atmosphere was full of love. There was laughter and rainbows and goofy costumes and there was cheering. There was support. And there were a whole lot of people, both gay and straight, on floats … entertaining as a way to be accepted by crowds who had already accepted them.

I’ve seen videos of same-sex couples getting married in Utah and New Mexico and they are beautiful. Some people have waited decades for this moment, and I hope in Utah it’s not taken away for long.

In New Mexico, the Dona Ana County Clerk just started handing out licenses to same-sex couples one day, saying simply it was time. That happened to be the same week Travis and I got married. We were gone less than a week, and when we got back, we knew four same-sex couples who also tied the knot. It was pretty amazing.

One of the women we know, who had actually told us that a marriage certificate didn’t mean anything, got married and ate her words. She said marriage actually did feel different to her. She said there was something sweet about it, even though she’d been with her partner for 16 years already.

So, I know my little blog won’t change the minds that are already made, and I never want to make people feel bad. My hope is that we can each evaluate what love means to us and what marriage means to us. And if it’s something we find beautiful and beneficial, I hope we’ll wish it for everyone who wants it … no strings attached.

Categories
love

warm memories

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This year I’ve found it’s possible to actually like January. I’ve lived in Albuquerque, N.M., for a little more than a year now and I’m loving the sun. It’s not warm here, like many people think, but it’s not freezing, either. And yes, we do get snow, but not in huge amounts, and it usually disappears quickly. Can you tell I’m not much of a snow person?

Yesterday, Travis and I went on our first hike of the year which basically means 2014 is starting out well.

I hope wherever you are, you’re able to find a way to like January. Maybe you already do. Maybe you’re a ski bum, or someone who likes to snowshoe, or someone with an attitude much better than mine when it comes to winter.

There’s that old movie, “An Affair to Remember,” that has such a lovely line.

“Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories.”

I hope wherever you are and whoever you’re with, you’re able to make some warm memories this season.

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