1460 Days

Today is Inauguration Day. For many of us, it's a day of mourning, action, worrying, or a combination of all three. We don't know what the future holds, we don't particularly care for the person who is now in the White House, and we feel unable to do anything about any of it.

After the election, people started a countdown of sorts, "Days until the 2020 election," as a way of putting this time period into a set amount of time we can count on to end at some point. But I decided that this was the wrong time, because the current president is still in power until the next inauguration day. So, for me, I am setting the time from today to Inauguration Day of 2020. Four years, or 1460 days.

I was partly inspired by this song:

(Fun Hint: Hamilton fans might recognize one of the female singers in this!)

How do we measure time? Four years is the length of a high school education, or a traditional college education. It's the length between the Olympics. The time between leap years. It equates to 1460 days. It sounds like an eternity right now, but it's really our choice how we look at the time and what we do with it.

For those of us who don't like the current president, we have to decide if we look at this as simply time that must be endured, one excruciating day at a time, or if we will look at this as 1460 opportunities. Opportunities to do good and be good and make changes in our country and the world. I am choosing to look at it as 1460 chances to put good into the world. I have composed a list of suggestions we can all partake in over the next four years. Some of them are for the country, some are for our state or city, and some are personal. If each of us does just a few things on this list, we'll see a big change in this country. This list is far from complete, feel free to send me suggestions to add to it!

We have 1460 opportunities to:

*Help one another
*Be kind to each other
*Do better, be better than we were yesterday
*Forgive ourselves when we mess up
*Give of ourselves
*Act like the person we'd like to see the president be
*Clean up our planet
*Get engaged in our local government
*Contact our local and national representatives
*Research issues fully
*Feed the hungry
*Help the homeless
*Read more books
*Listen to the stories of our elders
*Choose hope
*Choose to love
*Choose to forgive
*Listen to people you disagree with
*Open our minds
*Treat others the way we would like to be treated
*Rise above hate
*Talk to our neighbors
*Turn off the tv, phone, and social media sometimes
*Volunteer time/money to organizations that need it
*Plant a garden
*Learn a new skill
*Learn a new language
*Get healthy
*Go back to school
*Save money
*Go on vacation
*Find your dream job
*Write a book
*Break bad habits
*Form good habits
*Find a new hobby
*Make new friends
*Become obsessed with the latest book or movie craze

*Contemplate your place in the world
*Contemplate your higher power of choice

So, who else is with me? And look at this way: Whichever way you choose to look at this time, by the time you read this, you will have finished Day One. Congratulations, we've come one day closer to forever change.

2016 Year in Review-The Good Stuff

I wanted to do this yesterday or on New Year's Eve, but I couldn't find the list I'd been working on until this morning. I know 2016 was a tough year. Many major celebrity deaths, right up until the very end, falling down the political rabbit hole into Wonderland. Nothing feels right anymore, does it? But there were good things that happened and I don't want to lose sight of them. So, here is a list, in no particular order, of the good things that happened in my life last year:

*Amazing movies that I saw last year:
-Captain America: Civil War
-Moana
-The Jungle Book
-Zootopia
-Star Wars: The Force Awakens(I realize this came out in 2015, but I saw it New Year's Day, so I placed it here.)
-Star Trek: Beyond
-Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
-Pete's Dragon
-My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
(It was a really great year for Disney movies!)

*TV shows I watched or started watching:
-Bull
-Timeless
-The Good Place
-Northern Exposure
-Twin Peaks

*Genealogy advances:
-My parents took DNA tests and I found out what percentage of what I actually am.
-Confirmed that my mom's side of the family does in fact African connections.
-Contacted Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. who helped me find possible connections to my Driggers line to the original Driggers, Emmanuel, a slave from the 1600's. And he dropped the bombshell reveal that based on the amount of DNA vs. the timeline for this line, I have at least 2-3 African ancestors, not just 1. I have made strides to find these other ancestors, but nothing conclusive. Hopefully 2017 will give me time to do so!

*Blogging:
-Started a new food project based on holidays.
-Started this very blog.
-Tried several new kinds of food based on the food blog.
-Explored new cultures I haven't experienced before through the food blog.

*Work:
-Found out about moving to a new building in Northgate. This will allow me to continue working there indefinitely.
-Took on several new work duties that increased my value to the company.
-Had a really great 6 month review.
-Continued to come together as a cohesive group with my ever-expanding department.

*Miscellaneous:
-Had an awesome trip to Portland and Disneyland. My aunt and cousin joined us and it was epic.
-Watching my mother and aunt become Star Wars fans right before my eyes.
-Friday nights with my family still going strong. Some of the shows we watched last year include: Psych and Once Upon a Time
-Seeing the results of the popular vote during the election and knowing that we, as a nation, are at a time and place where we can elect a woman for president.
-Hamilton!
-A new, faster internet connection
-Another year at my apartment
-An uneventful year, for the most part, with health issues for me or my family. No major family deaths.
-Star Trek's 50th anniversary and going to see the exhibit at the EMP
-Buying all Star Trek: TOS and TNG seasons on dvd
-Elena of Avalor

I think this is a good list! I'm happy with this list!