For Las Vegas

I am tired.

I am so tired of waking up to the kind of news I woke up to this morning. I am tired of watching people do bad things in our world. I am tired of becoming used to this.

This morning on the radio, one of the cast members said something along the lines of, "I hope this is the last straw for you." And I cannot help but agree. I hope you are as fed up with these kinds of tragedies as I am. I hope this is the one to finally break you down and make you take action.

Around me today, people are going about their lives as if nothing has happened. As if 58 people haven't lost their lives and 500+ more aren't wounded in the hospital. How have we become numb to this kind of thing? When did it get to the point that another shooting happens, and all that comes out of it is a couple of days of angry tweeting and Facebook article sharing? It's not right. It's just not right, and I won't accept it.

I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell. And for once it might be grand to have someone understand, I want so much more than they've got planned

I absolutely loved Beauty and the Beast growing up. I still do. Belle is my absolute favorite Disney princess, and I hold this story in such a special place in my heart. When I heard that they were remaking Beauty and the Beast as a live-action movie, I was excited but a little weary. But then they cast Emma Watson as Belle, and I was ecstatic. Add in the rest of the amazingly perfect cast, and I was simply thrilled, though disappointed that I had to wait two years for the movie to be released.

Well, two years have passed, and I finally saw the new Beauty and the Beast last night. I've tried to think of the perfect word or phrase to describe just how amazing the movie was, but nothing really seems to suffice. So I'll say simply what I said when I "checked in" at the movie on Facebook after the credits finished rolling: Wow.

This movie was everything I wanted it to be and more.

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

"It will all work out in the end."

This, I think, is my life motto. While I love reading and finding quotes and pinning beautiful words on Pinterest, I think these words may be some of the most important to me. Whenever I'm worried about something, I whisper these words to myself. Whenever something doesn't go quite right, I say these words in my head.

And I think they're absolutely true! We may have to go through some rough and perhaps unpleasant experiences, but things will always turn out the way they are supposed to. They may not end up how we want or expect them to, but they'll always work out and work out for the best. You know I believe in fate and destiny and serendipity (sarahndipity), so I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, which means that everything happens and turns out exactly as it's supposed to. Truly, it will all work out in the end, and it will be amazing.

We all get the exact same 365 days. The only difference is what we do with them.

My first blog post here on sarahndipity was January 6, 2016, and it was all about my resolutions for 2016. It was a great way to start off my blog, and it's been so fun to write my way through the year. Now, however, it's a brand new year! New resolutions are in order.

Everyone has a different take on resolutions. Some swear by them and make them every year while others don't even like the idea. When I was younger, I always made resolutions, simply because I thought that's what you were supposed to do for the New Year. However, I never really took the time to understand what resolutions really were or why people were making them.

I've decided that I love the idea of resolutions. Some people say they don't like resolutions because we should work on bettering ourselves throughout the year. I totally agree! However, I think there's something so magical about the New Year, a time when we feel fresh and new and as though we have a chance at a fresh start. Resolutions are things we can work on throughout the year. If you think of a new resolution in June, there's no reason to start working on that right then in June! We don't have to wait until December 31 and January 1 to think of resolutions and begin them, but this is the prime time to make these changes!

Be a little kinder than you have to.

Happy September 1! The beginning of a new month means lot of things. First of all, the first of September means the Hogwarts Express leaves today! Yay for another year at Hogwarts. But the start of a new month always means new beginnings and a fresh start. I can't think of a better way to start fresh than to be kind. And kindness is so easy! It's probably one of the easiest things in the whole world because kindness is free. To prove that to you, I've compiled a list of random acts of kindness that don't cost a thing. I dare you to try one out today!

Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey.

A new year at school means a new motivation wall! You may remember a post I did in the spring on my wall of quotes in my apartment last year. It's something I decided I wanted to do every year, and I also decided to make every wall different. There are some of the same or similar quotes to ones I've had before, but all of the graphics are different. For today's post, I thought I'd go through all of the quotes on my wall and explain why I chose them.

Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.
This is the quote with the floral design in the upper left corner. I had this quote last year, and it's been one of my favorites ever since I came across it. We spend a lot of time, particularly as teenagers and young adults, wondering what our purpose in life is. We spend this time thinking about what we want to study, who we want to be, what we want to do with our lives. We get so caught up in these thoughts that we sometimes forget to notice what's happening right now and how it might affect us and our futures. Every single thing that happens to us happens for a reason, I firmly believe that {hello, serendipity}; and I think this quote speaks to that. We are all meant to do such amazing things, so every moment is important in the course of our lives. Every single moment or action has a specific purpose. Every moment counts!

Just help. Make an impact. Show someone you care. Say yes instead of no. Say something nice. Smile. Make eye contact. Hug. Kiss. Get naked.

Ellen DeGeneres is arguably one of the best human beings on the planet. She's kind, she's funny, and she likes to dance. What else do you need?

Ellen has been a huge influence when it comes to my passion for kindness and generosity. Heck, even her last name says that she's "generes." Whenever I turn on her show, I just get so happy and feel so inspired by all she does for people.

I can't imagine how much money Ellen has given away -- or spent on things to give away -- over the years on her show. It's amazing that she uses her show and her platform to make such tangible change in people's lives. I know other celebrities give to charities and volunteer and even have their own charities, but I love that Ellen also promotes kindness and generosity through her show and just the way she is as a person. It's important to do good things for other people, especially when you have the resources to do so, but it's also important to set an example and encourage others to be kind and generous.

Paying it forward: a look at random acts of kindness and chain reactions

IOWA CITY, IA – It was the most expensive chai latte I had ever purchased. On Wednesday, April 27, I spent $10 on a drink at Starbucks that normally would have cost me $4.19. As I handed over the bill, I said to the barista working the register, “Just put the rest toward the next order.”

“Oh! So nice! Thank you!” he responded with a smile on his face that hadn’t been there just five seconds earlier.

It was a dreary day in Iowa City. I figured a lot of people would duck into coffee shops for a warm drink for relief from the cold rain outside, so I chose that day to perform a random act of kindness.