A month I'll never forget.

When I get old, I'm going to have one helluva story to tell. But aren't we all? I always think I'm a badass, and then I realize everyone around me is as well. Each person that has lived should have some crazy story to tell based off of their own perspective. The good, the bad - it doesn't matter because it's their own and all I can do is soak it up like a sponge. Learn from their mistakes and accomplishments by putting myself right in that moment where the story once lived.

I just can't let these moments in my younger days pass me by too fast. Sometimes I feel like I'm not holding up to my own standards, but then I realize I'm worrying too much and I just got to roll with it. Go with my gut and forget the rest. It's like I'm literally a bird flying around in my own neighborhood. I know where the secret spots are to find food and I have the best nest around, but I have wings. I can take them anywhere I want. I risk my life - but then I risk not knowing what I could've seen. I risk the journey.

Speaking of my latest journey...

There she is - couldn't be flying more freely on the Crazy Train after gazing at the ship wreck behind me...



Crazy Train cruising the playa - oh but look who we have here.... Mr. Carl Cox. World known DJ. So amazing.



There we are and couldn't be happier...



Tay and I made our fantasy masterpiece costume come true on the playa. So happy with the turn out...



Me busting moves with a Lego attitude.



My man and I at the most sacred place on the playa - we found eachother again at the Temple...



My favorite art installation on the playa! It was unreal to walk into. Felt like a real sinking ship!



The famous Lego Truck finding it's way to that sunken ship!



Walking and talking with my Cam.



The men who keep Billy, the Lego Truck, alive. My brother Anton and long-time pal Jesse. Mad love for these guys - especially with The Man burning down behind us.



Sunrise kiss on Sunday morning... kissing the playa goodbye...

There are so many other remarkable pictures that were taken from professional photographers, along with amazing art and amazing live music performed by artist at the cost of nothing. I just can't imagine a world any better than that. How can you explain to someone about a place that allows your imagination to run wild while being given gifts in a dusty, dreamy desert? I just can't put anything up to that par. You'd think I would be done after 5 years. You think this little free bird would want to see something else - the world offers so much. But when that time of the year rolls around later in the summer, I get sick thinking about being anywhere else but my home, Burning Man. It's a weakness of mine. An attachment of letting go of the most precious time and place on earth to me. Every single year. My heart aches wanting to go back home... Until next time Burning Man. And then there is reality. Seattle E-Bike and a class that I am taking up called the Self Expression and Leadership Program. It is the third level of the Landmark Education Series and I'm finally taking it! I'm learning so much more about myself and my possibilities. Stay tuned.

The gift of LIFE

I learned from a very young age that life can be out of your hands sometimes. Sometimes for the better and a lot of times for the worse. The difference between people that react to these kinds of uncontrollable experiences in their lives is what truly matters. Some people like to blame others for what they cannot control. Some people like to forget about all responsibility and flee from all the problems they have been faced with and simply forget about it. Some people like to numb themselves with their own vices. A vicious cycle based off of attachments to those experiences that lies in their head.

But SOME people.... learn from it all. Of course, you can't forget but that only allows you to learn from it. They hold their head high, gulp those tears, and hold on to each precious moment as if it's in slow motion. Not taking life for granted is the ultimate key - as cliche as that sounds. You never know how it all can change in one instantaneous moment.

I went to a friends' funeral last week. I didn't know him all that well but I knew him for years in the friend circle. I have close friends that knew him very well. He was sick.... mentally. He let those bad thoughts consume him. Define him. And just like that, he jumped off the bridge and becomes part the past. Just like he wanted. He simply gave up. I've never been able to wrap my head around suicide but I can't help but think what must have been going on in his poor mind to take his own life.

I think about the silly bickering and bantering my boyfriend and I have from time to time. I've been catching myself in the midst of the madness more often lately though. Letting those little buttons get the best of you is just not healthy for the soul. "Just look at the bigger picture, is this what we really need to wrap our heads around right now?" is what I usually end up telling him and then the bicker turns into a subtle hug and kiss. Oh how I've grown from my rebellious 16-year-old ways.

All I can say is I absolutely LOVE my life. I love how tall I am, how awkward I am at times. I love how I have such great surrounding energy in the people that are closest in my life. I simply fall in love with my life every day and I will not accept anything less. This happened because I saw darkness, I've made mistakes, and I choose to learn from them.

"Time is on your side" -Coldplay