Ahhh...the 80s...

I LOVE the 80s. If you haven’t come across my adoration for that decade, I’ll give you a few reasons…

Number One:
The Movies! Films like the Karate Kid, Back to the Future, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Weird Science, Stand by Me, the Goonies, Footloose…ok, I could go on forever! I’m not entirely sure why I LOVE the films so much in this decade, but I think it has to do with the sincerity in them. Sure, some of them are for fun, but movies like The Breakfast Club and the Karate Kid, helped us believe that maybe, we could conquer what struggles we experienced in our youth. The Karate Kid conquered his fear of the fight, where in The Breakfast Club, five teens found their way and understanding of those different from them…

Number Two:
The Music! Singers like Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and groups like Tears for Fears and Erasure…each had their own way of expressing themselves and gave us all a glimpse of what was to come…

Number Three:
The Clothes! Whether it was tight-rolled jeans or leg warmers, a ‘sense of style’ was born when the 80s rolled around. It was ‘vintage’ at its best!

I could go on forever about this WONDERFUL decade…but I’ll spare you if you’re NOT a fan! Nonetheless, take some time out in the next few weekends, rent a few films from the 80s, grab a CD or tape cassette of your favorite rockers from that time, and enjoy the sincerity of the greatest decade yet!

Become a HERO Youth Ambassador!

I was recently contacted by a member of the HERO Youth Ambassador program. The program was developed to provide comprehensive school-based support to orphans and vulnerable children living in HIV/AIDS-affected African communities.

Now, HERO is looking for 20 students (ages 16-19) from across the US and Canada to be selected as 2008 HERO Youth Ambassadors. Students chosen will travel to Africa in 2008. The deadline to apply is March 1st, 2008. If you know of a young person who is interested, feel free to pass this information along. Click the links below to find out more info!

You can learn more about this program here:

http://www.beinggirl.com/en_US/heroes/hero_landing.jsp

You can also check out some of the Youth Ambassador’s personal experiences in a series of webisodes here:

http://www.youtube.com/BeinggirlHERO

If you're NOT interested in applying for the program, get involved anyway! Click the link below to find out more!

http://www.beinggirl.com/en_US/heroes/Get_Involved.jsp

The Road Not Taken

When I was a little girl, I often thought about the GREAT things that I wanted to do. For so long in my youth, I wanted to GET OUT of South Bend; I always thought that this place had nothing for me. I wanted to move into a BIG CITY somewhere, anywhere…anyplace but here…

However, as I’ve grown up, gotten married, finished college, and began my pursuit for these ‘GREAT’ things, the focus has somewhat shifted…the ‘GREAT’ has taken on a new form…I am reminded that sometimes, the little things are what matter most. Sure, being in the spotlight might be appealing to many, because really, we just want someone to notice; notice what we do and NOT take it for granted…but deep down, I think we all want to have made an impact on someone…to say someone else’s life is better because we took the time to LOVE them…

I believe that no matter where we're at...whether in a BIG CITY, in a small town, or in South Bend, LOVING someone is the key to being 'GREAT'...even when sometimes, you're the ONLY one who knows it...

The following is Robert Frost’s poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’; maybe you’ve read it, maybe not, but I must say, the words are poignant and give the sense that the ‘road less traveled’ does indeed, ‘make all the difference’! Believe in miracles...

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.