Today a family friend passed away from her long battle with breast cancer. She discovered the lump while nursing her newborn, Kayden, who is now 4 years old. Lakin babysat for Kayden after the family moved to Lawrence to be closer to family in Topeka and Manhattan. Jamie was a great person and a great mom and I know that she will be missed and remembered through her husband and family.

Meanwhile, my mom is in Houston at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center right now for her yearly check up. And while I am sure that everything will be fine, I do hate thinking about her being down there alone - God forbid she would receive any sort of bad news. Lakin and I had dinner Sunday night, and we reflected alot on the night that my parents told us she had been diagnosed and our families journey through her cancer. We found out something funny that the both of us realised : We really didnt remember our childhood in depth before mom got cancer.

I think what this tells me is that sometimes things happen in our lives that make us step back and really think about what is important and what our lives truly mean. Lately I have been so consumed with finding a job, bullshit drama my friends pull me in to, and things that happen at work that dont matter at all. Most importantly, I think this year I have learned that most of the time peoples opinions and their whispers about you behind your back, judgements of your actions and choices should have no basis on the decisons you make everyday.

This may have no connection, but I have been applying for jobs lately and I found myself thinking “I am completely under-qualified for these jobs, but I will apply anyways.” Shouldnt this be how we approach our lives? I wish I would have had this attitude four years ago, I know thats for sure.

Anyways, cool first entry huh.