here's a couple of my most recent outfits. the first picture is today's.I'm really feeling muted colors, stripes, and statement necklaces.
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linking up here today:
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
to my father
"Grief is its own thing. It’s not like it’s in me and I’m going to deal with it. It’s a thing, and you have to be okay with its presence. If you try to ignore it, it will be like a wolf at your door." - Stephen Colbert
today is the anniversary of my father's death.
after writing my personal statements for masters of public health, I realized there were many things left unsaid between my father and I.
to my father:
thank you pursuing my mother even after she moved half-way across the country, and convincing her to fall in love with you.
thank you for fostering my love of reading, and for chauffeuring curt and I across the state of Iowa to whatever libraires we didn't owe fines to at the time.
thank you for teaching me to save all my coins and to take to the bank to treat myself with money got low. this meant difference between smelly clothes and clean clothes in college.
thank you for eating ketchup sandwiches during the week so you would have enough money to take us kids out to eat on the weekend.
thank you for consistently fighting for more visitation with us even when you were not mentally healthy enough to receive it.
thank you for believing in me and my dreams, even when I said I wasn't interested in the family farm.
thank you for loving us to the best of your ability.
most of all, thank you for trying to get better. I know I have spent much of my life so incredibly mad at you for not overcoming your alcoholism and for eventually dying of it, so much so that I have completely overlooked how hard you tried.
thank you for attempting to become a better man for us. thank you for being my father.
love always.
today is the anniversary of my father's death.
after writing my personal statements for masters of public health, I realized there were many things left unsaid between my father and I.
to my father:
thank you pursuing my mother even after she moved half-way across the country, and convincing her to fall in love with you.
thank you for fostering my love of reading, and for chauffeuring curt and I across the state of Iowa to whatever libraires we didn't owe fines to at the time.
thank you for teaching me to save all my coins and to take to the bank to treat myself with money got low. this meant difference between smelly clothes and clean clothes in college.
thank you for eating ketchup sandwiches during the week so you would have enough money to take us kids out to eat on the weekend.
thank you for consistently fighting for more visitation with us even when you were not mentally healthy enough to receive it.
thank you for believing in me and my dreams, even when I said I wasn't interested in the family farm.
thank you for loving us to the best of your ability.
most of all, thank you for trying to get better. I know I have spent much of my life so incredibly mad at you for not overcoming your alcoholism and for eventually dying of it, so much so that I have completely overlooked how hard you tried.
thank you for attempting to become a better man for us. thank you for being my father.
love always.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
obsessed.
a song combining my two loves, florence and rap? perfection. excuse me while I listen to this non-stop for the rest of the day.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Happy Monday.
my feelings on today.
...but I did magically find this military jacket in my closet. I've had it forever but it's been lost in the abyss of my closet for some time. thank you military jacket for improving my monday. you da best.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
hunger in the united states: myths and stigmas surrounding food stamps
after attending an inspiring legislative briefing held by United Way about North Carolina's state budget and advocacy, I decided to take a break and check Facebook. normally I don't think too much into people's statuses but one in particular made me stop. this person chose to comment on food stamps, and not in a positive light.....and over 85 people "liked" this status. I wish I could say that I didn't let this status and the people who choose to "like" get to me, but in all honesty, I got ridiculously mad. I successfully fulfilled every stereotype there is about redheads being hot headed and fireballs in this moment.
I know the topics of food stamps and hunger are not comfortable things to talk about in our society. I also know that I haven't shared a lot about what I do for living on this blog beyond that I work for a food bank, but I have to take a stance on this issue. it's one that I encounter and advocate for every single day, and will for the rest of my life. this post are entirely my own thoughts, opinons, and experiences.
my job at the food bank is to travel to food pantries within our service area to assist clients at the pantry in applying for food stamps. I also work on advocating for more government assistance and sharing the stories I hear. I damn proud of my job, the organization I work for, and especially the people I work with.
these are the statistics I face everyday:
-369,600 people who are food insecure in our service area alone. that's 18.7% of the population that is food insecure.
-of that number, 35% are people who do NOT qualify for government assistance based on income.
-our state is ranked 6th in the nation for food hardship, and the specific town I work in is 3rd in the nation for food hardship.
-more than 28% of the food banks in our state have had to turn people away and at least 31% have reduced quantities of food despite increased need.
-hunger has no face. it covers all demographics from seniors to children to latinos to caucasians. it is not just the malnourished child from africa.
-they cannot go out and just get a job. the number of unemployed workers per job vacancy is 3 to 1. sidenote: my brother has a masters, graduated with high honors and is still underemployed. it's not as easy as you think.
-46% of unemployed workers have been out of work for more than 26 weeks. this means they no longer receive unemployment, and likely have no income.
-the annual income for a family of four in the state I live in is $23,021. this is currently $4,000 lower than it was before the great recession.
-the fraud rate for food stamps is less than 10%, but yet many choose to focus on that 10%. the food stamp application is 8 pages back to back, and all information has to be verified and the client interviewed before approval is even considered.
-food stamps is considered a SUPPLEMENTAL income. research has proven that food stamps only buys enough food to last for 2 and 1/2 weeks.
-the average benefit amount for seniors is $16. these are the same people who have been paying into this system their whole life.
many of the statistics above increase if you were to just look at children, especially children of color.
all of these statistics are unacceptable.
this is what I face everyday when I go out to work in the pantries. this is the reality I see. while at a pantry today, a women came up to speak with me. she looked a bit familiar, and once she started to talk I realized I had helped her apply in November. this women turned to be and said, "I cannot thank you enough for helping me receive food stamps. because of you, I am not longer starving." that women why I do what I do. she is the exact reason why I refuse to remain silent. these people are just trying to survive. they are some of the hardest working individuals I have ever encountered in my life. none of them want to be at a food pantry, and absolutely none of them are proud of this. they constantly remind of how lucky I truly am. I had the privilege to have obtained a college degree from a private university. I am lucky to be able to live off of $400 a month. I am lucky to be able to choose whether or not I want to apply to law school. I had the privilege to be raised by a hard working single mother who worked her ass off to support my brothers and myself. hunger in the United States is public health issue, and it's high time that we recognize it as one.
hunger is everywhere. it is not just in the state I live in.
1 in 6 Americans struggles to obtain the food they need. America is not immune to the program of hunger. Government assistance is necessary. No one deserves to go hungry. Please take the time to hear the stories of those who are hungry before you take the time to judge their actions.
I know the topics of food stamps and hunger are not comfortable things to talk about in our society. I also know that I haven't shared a lot about what I do for living on this blog beyond that I work for a food bank, but I have to take a stance on this issue. it's one that I encounter and advocate for every single day, and will for the rest of my life. this post are entirely my own thoughts, opinons, and experiences.
my job at the food bank is to travel to food pantries within our service area to assist clients at the pantry in applying for food stamps. I also work on advocating for more government assistance and sharing the stories I hear. I damn proud of my job, the organization I work for, and especially the people I work with.
these are the statistics I face everyday:
-369,600 people who are food insecure in our service area alone. that's 18.7% of the population that is food insecure.
-of that number, 35% are people who do NOT qualify for government assistance based on income.
-our state is ranked 6th in the nation for food hardship, and the specific town I work in is 3rd in the nation for food hardship.
-more than 28% of the food banks in our state have had to turn people away and at least 31% have reduced quantities of food despite increased need.
-hunger has no face. it covers all demographics from seniors to children to latinos to caucasians. it is not just the malnourished child from africa.
-they cannot go out and just get a job. the number of unemployed workers per job vacancy is 3 to 1. sidenote: my brother has a masters, graduated with high honors and is still underemployed. it's not as easy as you think.
-46% of unemployed workers have been out of work for more than 26 weeks. this means they no longer receive unemployment, and likely have no income.
-the annual income for a family of four in the state I live in is $23,021. this is currently $4,000 lower than it was before the great recession.
-the fraud rate for food stamps is less than 10%, but yet many choose to focus on that 10%. the food stamp application is 8 pages back to back, and all information has to be verified and the client interviewed before approval is even considered.
-food stamps is considered a SUPPLEMENTAL income. research has proven that food stamps only buys enough food to last for 2 and 1/2 weeks.
-the average benefit amount for seniors is $16. these are the same people who have been paying into this system their whole life.
many of the statistics above increase if you were to just look at children, especially children of color.
all of these statistics are unacceptable.
this is what I face everyday when I go out to work in the pantries. this is the reality I see. while at a pantry today, a women came up to speak with me. she looked a bit familiar, and once she started to talk I realized I had helped her apply in November. this women turned to be and said, "I cannot thank you enough for helping me receive food stamps. because of you, I am not longer starving." that women why I do what I do. she is the exact reason why I refuse to remain silent. these people are just trying to survive. they are some of the hardest working individuals I have ever encountered in my life. none of them want to be at a food pantry, and absolutely none of them are proud of this. they constantly remind of how lucky I truly am. I had the privilege to have obtained a college degree from a private university. I am lucky to be able to live off of $400 a month. I am lucky to be able to choose whether or not I want to apply to law school. I had the privilege to be raised by a hard working single mother who worked her ass off to support my brothers and myself. hunger in the United States is public health issue, and it's high time that we recognize it as one.
hunger is everywhere. it is not just in the state I live in.
1 in 6 Americans struggles to obtain the food they need. America is not immune to the program of hunger. Government assistance is necessary. No one deserves to go hungry. Please take the time to hear the stories of those who are hungry before you take the time to judge their actions.
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| both of theses are clients I've worked with this year. |
*comments have been disabled*
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
women in 2012: miss representation
this was so absurd I'm not even sure how to formulate words to respond to it besides anger. welcome to my feminist side.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Saturday, January 5, 2013
hellllllllllllllo 2013!
long time no talk! I decided to take an impromptu break from blogging. this allowed me some time to think and reflect. it was great.
Highlights of 2012:
- Spring Break Trip: Savannah, Orlando, Daytona Beach with mah best friends. still missing that butterbeer. stuff is DELICIOUS.
- Graduation Week: I was the student speaker at my college's scholarship brunch, and my momma threw me a bomb graduation luncheon. it was so great to spend the week with my near and dear.
- Guatemala: life changing. I know I fall in love with a lot of places, but I truly left part of my heart here.
- Tunisia: this whole trip was so so inspiring. I also made great friendships, and was convinced to at least think about joining the peace corps. still miss this place everyday.
- spent my last summer in chicago: so thankful for all the friendships I have made, and I look forward to seeing them evolve.
- Started The Abraham Project: moved to north carolina in july, and began this crazy year. I had no idea what this year would become, but it's been beyond all my expectations so far.
I know the whole resolution thing is over done, but I do like the idea of a fresh new year with brand new goals. I also thought it would be interesting to look back and see what my goals were last year and if I held true to them...
goals for 2012:
1. Get my heart fixed. so far, it's looking like open-heart surgery so 2012 is gonna be a big year. but this also means I have an excuse to slow down/make friends with 80 yr old ladies in the cardiac dept/eat a bunch of ice cream (cause it's totally like getting your tonsils out right?!) -CHECK. I do have a heart defect but I avoided open-heart surgery because it's a smaller hole. winnnnnnning
2. Get Healthy. More running, more fresh/natural food, more remembering those vitamins everyday/run a 5K. -CHECK. I ran my first 5k this fall. vitamins have been taken, and clean eating is a work in progress
3. Have a fresh start! I want to graduate and go some place completely new where I know no one and just work and have a fabulous time. -DOUBLE CHECK. pretty sure moving to winston and starting The Abraham Project fuifills this one.
4. Have long hair. so superficial, but I want it. no. shame. -CHECK.
5. No regrets. -CHECK. there's been moments of doubt, but never regret, and only moments never lingering.
and without further ado...
Goals for 2013:
1. Apply to Grad School (Masters of Public Health) and Peace Corps.
2. Travel.
3. Work at maintaining meaningful friendships from a distance.
4. Clean eating.
5. Worry less.
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| love this. via pinterest |
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