Last night was honestly the first time where I realized how true this is. I realized that is why I got so much attention last night. One of the things I am going to work on during this weight loss… Well, life, journey is to have positive self talk.

Deep down I know I am a great person. I know I am loyal, funny, compassionate, smart, artistic, and genuine. And I know that I am pretty. I have to make sure not to let my weight affect how I think about myself. We are our own worst critics. But we also need to be our own personal cheerleaders.

Last night was a huge eye opener into how life should really be.

Mind you, I was around people who were drinking… And gay… But the difference in last night compared to others was major.

readmeyourfavoriteline:

A teacher from my old high school is in one of these photos. What are the odds?

Also, the caption for #6 made me teary-eyed.

#42 - “US gay service members march in a gay pride parade for the first time ever.”

This is the 2011 San Diego Pride Parade and the guy on the far right in the NAVY shirt is my friend Sean.  <3

Palm Springs Pride is over. I can honestly say that I had one of the best weekends of my life. Benny and Ricky are amazing, positive and fun people. Exactly what I need in my life. We went out to a few of the bars and clubs there on the gay block in Palm Springs, so much fun. Lots of singing and dancing. I love it. We put on a block party on Saturday night and it was fantastic. I cant believe we did the whole thing ourselves. That’s where I met Raja again. She performed. Then on Sunday we organized the rainbow flag for the Pride Parade. That’s what I’m doing in the picture. This is my 2nd time carrying that rainbow flag in a pride parade and both times it has felt so amazing. If you ever get the chance to do, I highly, highly recommend it.

Back to reality today. I’m so sore from all the work we did. Blisters on my feet and I am so exhausted, but it was so worth it.

Um….. The You Are Beautiful campaign is one of my favorite things ever…. this photo of Darren…. just became my new favorite picture of him ever… the new background to my phone…. my computer…. my life.

Crazy couple of days 

Whew. It’s been a wild couple of days, and it’s not over yet. The San Diego Remembers Matthew Shepard event went amazing. We had a great turn out, and everything went smoothly. I am so grateful to be a part of such an inspiring group of people. I have lots of pictures and more commentary to post later. I will try to sit down and put that post together tomorrow.

Tonight I am going to a “young professionals mixer”. What? I know, right? My friend Benny, who I met through Pride and is the organizer for San Diego Remembers, invited me to this group that is being launched here in San Diego called FLOC - Future Leaders of Our Community. Benny knows how much I want to get involved and be an activist. Plus I love volunteering and this group is about volunteering. Benny is going to go with me, but he is also MCing the event. I love it.

Next Tuesday I have an interview with Stonewall Citizens Patrol. They are a volunteer based patrol group in Hillcrest. They patrol around the clubs and bars to make sure everyone is safe. They started it a few years ago after there was a bashing near a gay club down here. I met one if the guys who works for them at Pride, and he said I should volunteer. So I talked to some friends and they all said I should. So I applied online, and they set me up an interview next Tuesday. I met some of the guys at Tuesday’s event. They were all so excited. At one point about 8 of them were out in the parking lot and when I walked out there, they all stopped talking. One of them later told me they were all talking about me. Omg I love it. I will be the only girl they have. So excited.

Not sure how my weigh in will go this week. It’s been an off week of eating nothing all day, then eating horrible at night. I got through Tuesday’s event on only a small salad and a margarita. LoL. Then after we all went out to eat to celebrate and I ate horrible. I’m not gonna stress since I was ahead of schedule to hit my Nov. 1st goal.

“…there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much, my heart fills up like a baloon that’s about to burst…” 

This quote from American Beauty sums up how I feel after last night’s San Diego Remembers Matthew Shepard candlelight walk and empowerment rally, pretty perfectly. My heart is so full of love. It’s an amazing feeling. More later.