a girl who reads.

i like to think i'm a girl like this. also if god forbid i have a son instead of a daughter, he's not allowed to date someone that isn't like this.

Date a Girl Who Reads by Rosemarie Urquico

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has

problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she

wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her

bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out

when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a

second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when

they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug,

the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the

 author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. 

Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship.

Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound

intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas, and for

anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton,

Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the

difference between books and reality but by God, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her

favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other

things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who

understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin

again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like

characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her

chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she

will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while,

they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick.

Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest

yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She

will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the

winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow

off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful

life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then

you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.

what will happen to them?

{via}

i can't help but wonder about the kids i work with each day.

when they go to kindergarten, will they make friends? young children are usually forgiving but teasing and outcasting starts young. will these kids be quickly turned down by other youngsters? what about in middle school? like max in the picture above, will they keep to themselves because it's easier than making friends?

max tries so hard to make eye contact, say his name and follow the rules that he is presented with but still he struggles. will the kids struggle with rules, or be noticed so easily because they are different?

i generally feel hopeful about what i'm doing. i know that the hours of work i spend each day 1:1 with a child translate into better social skills, speech, play skills and academic skills. sometimes the other kids in the non-aba classrooms don't even notice that my kid is different from them somehow.  i know that i'm making a concrete difference in a child's life and i truly love that.

i can only hope that in 10 years that they will be playing with the kids in the playground, instead of reading a book alone like max is in this picture.

inspired week 1.

each monday i will be doing a simple post of a quote or lyric that inspires me. each wednesday i will also have an inspiration post, but will be more about pictures or other elements i see that inspire me. i need more inspiration to remain creative now that i'm spending most of my time working. 

{here}

love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you/it will set you free/be more like the man you were made to be/ there is a design/an alignment to cry/of my heart to see/the beauty of love as it was made to be

figuring it out.

this transition into a full time job is still pretty difficult for me.

by the time i get home i'm so tired that the last thing i want to do is bag the clothes i have on the floor that need to go to goodwill, to put away the dishes, to hang up the new glasses i just bought or to make the bed. i'm looking at all of that mess as i write this post. i know i need to clean, but i can't find the motivation.

i need some balance. i am being reminded why i need a routine, because otherwise nothing gets done.

this blog is one of those things that is falling by the wayside during this transition. i like the challenge of posting every day or every other day and i do want to keep up with it.

but for now, i'm recovering from a work day that was busier than usual, leaving me with work at home too. i have laundry calling my name, dinner that i need to cook for myself, and shoes to put away.

better posts will follow. i swear i have a list of blog posts ready.

say something nice.

i've had quite an interesting week so far. some very bad, and some very good.

amidst all the events of this week i have yet to have time to write out some decent blog posts. so, instead of a more lengthy post today i decided to share this video with you!

isn't it amazing what people will do with an opportunity for kindness? this video really makes me love people.

one.

one year ago i walked on a sandy beach towards his smiling face.

i walked by myself. it was daunting, and i was very nervous about being the center of attention for those long 30 seconds.

it was so worth it.

the first year of marriage is awesome and challenging. i knew ben so well before, and still have really yet to be surprised by anything he does or says. but that doesn’t mean we didn’t grow or change or learn things about love, our relationship and what we want for the years to come.

we’ve set the foundation.

of course we can change as needed, but this was a really important year. i’m not just saying that because it’s what every married person says. i actually mean it. there is some adjustment, some learning, and some growing. i know so much more about myself now than i did before.  i know how bad my worst really is, and i know how good my best is capable of being, all because of a man who loves me through all of it.

i have a partner for life. someone who will be here through everything. we are a team, and i love it.

i feel like i’ve been missing something by not being married before. everyone should get married. and frankly, everyone should be able to get married.

i live with a wonderful man who makes me laugh every single day. we can act so ridiculously together and have so much fun. that is what life is about. having fun. enjoying each other. really liking the person you’re with.

sometimes hearing “i love you” kind of loses its intensity. but when someone says they actually like you, that’s big. and i know that ben likes me. and for the record, i really like him. he is the best man i know, who really makes me want to be the best woman he knows (he would tell you that i am, but i know far better women).

we celebrated our anniversary (which was yesterday) with a whale watch, and a trip to our beach. as we sat watching the sunset as we did a year ago, i thought of how i felt like we’d always been married, but at the same time it felt as though we were literally there yesterday getting married.

i will say that the sunset following a hurricane is much more beautiful than the one we experienced yesterday. so i’m thankful for that hurricane 363 days ago that made our wedding at sunset so beautiful.

happy anniversary, ben.

the first day.

yesterday was my first day at my new job.

this isn’t just any job. it’s the job i really want to do. not just the 9-5 this-pays-me-money kind, but the i-feel-a-sense-of-purpose-and-belonging-here kind. the kind of job i know that i’m perfect for and was made to do. my career

yes, my job will change within this field, but it’s where i’ll be when i'm working.

the beginning of the day was inspiring. as i sat in an auditorium full of district-wide staff from the superintendent, to teachers, to secretaries, to me, i felt like i belonged. i looked around and felt inspired to do more to contribute to the lives of children.

and not just any children.

the children who need help, who need guiding to learn simple tasks like numbers and colors and to look someone in the eye. the kids with autism.

those are my kids. they are where i belong.

i have only met a few of these children, but on tuesday i’ll meet all of them. i’ll meet their parents. how amazing.

i am so excited to learn so much this year from these littles, and about how to help them.

i can’t wait to learn what steps i can take to further my career.

have i mentioned i’m so excited and i feel purposeful?

i’d like to say i’ll update, but my job is confidential so i can’t. i might talk about what i learn myself, but i won’t be mentioning any specifics.

to learn more about autism and how to help visit autism speaks.