The Key to Happiness

What is the key to happiness?  Is it being rich?  Being popular?  Having a significant other? 

All wrong.  

The key to happiness is yourself.

It may sound silly, but it's one of the truest things out there.  I must begin by saying it is important to be selfless.  If you're selfish all the time you will lead a very unhappy life.  Being selfish is asking for a wretched, depressing future.  Yet, sometimes it is necessary to put yourself before others… especially when it comes to happiness.

I've found that if you as an individual are happy, others will be drawn to that and they themselves will also be happy.  Happiness really is contagious.  The only way to spread it is to have some joy yourself.

Sure, life can get us down.  There are the constant stresses and difficult thoughts.  Sometimes, it' s necessary to push it all aside and smell the roses.  Enjoy the walk through life's garden instead of running through it.  

Go do something for yourself today.  Pamper yourself or buy yourself something.  Read a book or take a walk.  It doesn't really matter.  Just find a way to escape this stressful thing called life that tends to dull our happiness.  Spread the joy and love daily.  It is a challenge, but it will make you special.  

When you're happy, you'll make others happy, and that will make you even happier.  Until next time xxx.

Pretty Little Liars Theory

Do not read this if you did not watch the Spring Finale of Pretty Little Liars!  It contains spoilers. -A

I have been a PLL fan since day one.  I've read all the books (though they've just further confused me).  The books vary quite a bit from the show, but I love them both equally.  Honestly, there are so many different characters and people of interest (who is A anyways?) it's hard for even me to keep track.

In this Spring finale, it was made very clear that Alison DiLaurentis is still in fact alive.  She came back and talked to Aria, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily.  Apparently, Noel Kahn has been helping Ali stay hidden this whole time.  Alison sat down with the girls and told them everyone that happened the night she was "killed".

While Alison is telling the girls this, all the parents are in police custody.  Mr. and Mrs. Hastings are being interrogated.  So is Cece Drake.  Melissa Hastings comes home from London because Toby told her Spencer was struggling.  In my opinion, I do not think Toby's word is what brought Melissa home.  Something else is going on that brought her back.  Perhaps something to do with the A team.

It begins with Alison attempting to leave her house.  But, Mrs. DiLaurentis stops her.  She begs her practically to go up to her room and stay in for the night.  Alison turns for the stairs, but listens in to her mother's phone call.  She is very distressed, confused, and panicked with the news she has just received.  While her mother is on the phone, Alison sneaks some sleeping pills and slips out the door to go to the barn.

It is revealed that Spencer was on drugs the night of the sleepover.  While Alison drugged the other three girls with sleeping pills (so she could sneak out) Spencer was speeding and was not affected.  She follows Alison outside and gets in a fight with her.   Spencer even goes as far to raise a shovel to Alison's head.  Ali is able to calm down Spencer though, and Spencer returns to the barn and falls fast asleep.

Ezra is with Ali briefly that night.  They talk momentarily in his car.  They essentially break up once Ezra discovers that she is a high school student.  He still has feelings for her, but knows that a relationship is inappropriate.  Ezra drives off.

Alison meets up with Ian at the kissing rock.  They get in a brief fight, but Alison holds creepy videos Ian had over him.  She blackmails him and Ian storms off into the night.  It seems very clear that Ian leaves and does not return.

Ali finally meets up with Mr. Montgomery.  Alison knows that he was cheating on Ella.  Byron begs Alison to not tell Aria or Ella.  He knows it would destroy their family.  They part ways.

Alison walks back to her house.  Her mother is standing in the front window looking out.  She seems very upset.  Suddenly, Mrs. DiLaurentis' hands fly to her mouth in horror.  You see a large rock drop to the ground with blood on it, and Alison falls to the ground.

Alison was still alive as she was thrown in the grave, so she was able to see who piled dirt on her.  It was her own mother.  Mrs. DiLaurentis is shoveling dirt on top of her daughter as Alison screams for her to stop.

In the present, Spencer, Aria, Hanna, and Emily are all in shock and Ali is in tears.  It was a horrifying truth they did not expect.

Alison then continues to explain that Mrs. Grunwald pulled her out of the ground and brought her to the hospital.  Ali goes on to say she was so scared so she fled.  Mona found her and took her to a motel where Alison changed into Vivian Darkbloom.

Alison explains that she came back to keep the girls safe.  She was the one who came up to Ian in the bell tower as he was about to throw Spencer off.  Ian was so scared by her that he fell, but Alison says he was not dead.  Someone else helped him escape.  Alison also admits that she saved them from the fire along with Cece.

None of the girls know who's body was actually in the grave after Alison was pulled out.  They also don't know who hit her with the rock.  Only Mrs. DiLaurentis knows that.

In the present again, the girls are paralyzed with fear when they hear someone coming.  They begin to run as a masked person in all black shoots at them.  The girls are chased up the fire escape and on to the roof of a building overlooking the Empire State building.  They scream for help but no one is around.  

Suddenly, Ezra comes out of a doorway, looking confused.  At almost the same time, the masked person comes out.  Ezra fights with the person (presumably, A).  The gun falls and Hanna picks it up.  She aims it at the black figure and screams for it to take off it's mask.  The person jumps to the roof of the next building.  

The girls turn back to Ezra.  He is staring at the sky.  He turns to Aria and it is shown that he was shot by A.  He falls into Aria's arms and his eyes close (hence the trending #IsEzraAlive).

The episode ends with Mrs. DiLaurentis being dragged and thrown into a grave.  A then proceeds to bury her.  She is dead.


MY THEORY:

I believe that A killed Mrs. D because she knew who tried to kill Ali that night.  I do not believe that Ezra will die.  He is too big of a character to be killed off like that.  It just is not logical to kill him.  Ezra lives!

I don't think Mr. Montgomery really plays a role in any of it.  He was just a player in the way of the game.  It was already discovered that Alison and Jason are half-siblings with Spencer and Melissa because of an affair between Mr. Hastings and Mrs. DiLaurentis.

With this I must conclude that JASON IS THE REAL A.  It is all that makes sense at this point in time.  He was a part of the NAT club with Officer Garret (remember him?) and Ian.  He also had a brief relationship with Melissa before it was discovered they were actually related.  Why else would Mrs. DiLaurentis protect whoever she saw tried to kill her daughter?  If it was Jason, she would also want to protect her son.  

We know A killed Ian and faked a suicide note.  I think it is possible for Jason to have known that Ian hadn't really died in the bell tower because of his relationship with Melissa.  He must have wanted revenge for some reason, but why?  

Maybe Jason did not even realize it was Alison he was about to kill.  He might have mistaken her for Cece?  This is just an idea because he did have a relationship with her as well.

We have to remember all the people that have been killed: Alice (the little girl killed by her twin sister in the Halloween episode), Ian Thomas, Maya St. Germain, Darren Wilden, Lyndon James (remember Emily in the light house?), Garrett Reynolds, Mrs. Cavanaugh, the mystery girl in Alison's grave, and Mrs. DiLaurentis.

Every other character has almost been killed at one point or another.  Then again, there is still Caleb, Toby, Jenna, Paige, Shauna, Mona (who helped Alison in the beginning and really knew all along!), Melissa, Wrenn, all the parents etc.

Melissa whispers something to her father at the police station also.  Perhaps, the truth?  So Melissa knows something, Mrs. DiLaurentis knew something, and no one is telling.

Everyone knows something but Jason seems most suspicious.  Why someone tried to kill Alison is still a huge mystery.  Sure she was mean, but she did not deserve something so extreme.

The day the Pretty Little Liar's series finale airs will the best and worst.  A great show will end, but we will finally have all the answers!  Until next time xxx.

Spring Break 2014

When I think of Spring Break I think of tanning on my own private island.  All these wild ideas come to my mind- things other teenagers do but I find no appeal in.  Kids always come back to school after break with these crazy stories.  
In reality, my spring break is not as lively or adventurous this year.  We were going to road trip to Arizona or maybe Texas, but one of my brothers got sick.  Traveling with a sick seven year old is not very fun at all.  
Plus, I was playing tennis yesterday (the first day of break, Friday) and fell.  My left ankle is completely  messed up and my right knee is all torn.  It is not a pretty sight.  Sadly, I limp everywhere.  Unfortunately, it is also snowing.  Yes, snowing.  

So not exactly what I picture in my head when I think of Spring Break.  But hey, I've decided to make the best of what I've been given.

A few of my friends are still in town, so that is a plus.  I almost caught up on all my tv shows last night (Pretty Little Liars, Glee, The Fosters, and Twisted.  I know, very stereotypical for a teenage girl).  I'm hoping to do lots of reading, writing, baking, cooking, movie/tv show watching and bonding this break.  I really want to take care of myself as well (maybe I'm changing up my look a little bit?)  Who knows, I may even do something different with my room.  It's all up in the air, but that leaves room for lots of possibilities.  

I'll probably go to the mall at least once (limping around the mall in style, am I right?) Maybe catch a movie or two in theaters.  Go out to eat.  You know that whole deal.

Spring Break may not be very Spring Breakers this season, but I'm alright with that.  Honestly, the media has made spring vacation quite overrated.  While my break may not live up to all those unrealistic expectations, I'm still going to make my time off count.  

Have a beautiful break!!  Until next time xxx.

A Quiet Pain

People are interesting creatures.  On the outside, it may appear that many of us are happy and satisfied with life.  "I wish I had your life," "You're so lucky," "I'm so jealous."  So many things we think and say day in and day out.
The purpose of life is to be content with who you are.  Smiling on the outside does not mean you're actually happy.  The people that can fake smiles are the ones who are quietly in pain.
You'll never really know what people deal with behind closed doors.  You'll never know all the thoughts they have and feelings they bear through.  It is important to be patient and understanding.  Sometimes the brightest smiles hide the biggest fears and pains.  
Your biggest pleasure may be someone else's temptation.  The thing you find joy in may bring pain to another.
So be careful with your words and actions.  Live gently while you're on this world and leave a beautiful path behind you.


I find the most lovely people are the ones who have suffered and can turn around and be the kindest person with the most tender heart.  Live gracefully and try to always smile.  Until next time xxx.

What I've Learned in Relationships Class

Since I've been sick, this is my second post of the day. I hope it makes up for my lack in posts lately. Thanks for sticking around. Little Thoughts, Big Ideas has hit over 3,600 views! That makes me so overjoyed! 

I took the class Relationships because a) I needed another practical art credit and b) it sounded so easy. 

Well, it is possibly the easiest class ever, but I've actually learned some. The main lesson we are focusing on right now is intimacy. Before you get confused and slightly weirded out, let me explain. 

I was a little confused when my teacher announced we would be learning about intimacy vs. sex. After all, I wanted to learn how to build better relationships with family and friends, not how to get a boyfriend. 

Then there was the paper my teacher passed out and printed on top was: SEX IS NOT ALWAYS INTIMATE AND INTIMACY IS NOT ALWAYS SEX. 

I, personally, have always been aware of this.  On the other hand, many high schoolers are not. I think it's a very interesting concept. 

Having sex does not mean you're intimate with someone and vise versa. Now of course when you're older you can certainly choose a path that associates the two. 

But for now, us high schoolers should stick to building healthy and strong relationships. That's my opinion anyways. Live your own life by all means. 

The definition of intimate is:

adjective

1. associated in close personal relations: an intimate friend.

2. characterized by or involving warm friendship or a personally close or familiar association or feeling: an intimate greeting.

3. very private; closely personal: one's intimate affairs.

Nowhere in the definition are the words "in love" or "sex" or "kissing" or anything else like that. Being intimate is a much deeper and personal idea.  

So often high schoolers confuse romantic behaviors as being intimate and label it as "love." They do certain things because they believe that love will come out of it. It's a mistake I see my peers make far too often. 

Now I strongly believe you can love people in high school. There's your family to love, your friends, and whoever else you may care about. 

But loving someone is not being in love with them. 

Certainly, some people may be or have been in love with high school. I, on the other hand, have not. I don't know what it means to love someone in that movie romance sort of way.  I'm young still. I've barely lived life.  

I love my family and close friends unconditionally. I have intimate relationships with some of them because I can talk to them about anything and I know we can always rely on one another. There is trust and understand. That is the foundation to love. 

If you can look at someone, see their flaws, and care for them anyways you know you love them. You can't deny it then. No, I'm not saying you're in love, but you most likely do love them and would do anything to protect them. 

So that's what I learned in relationships. We can be intimate with different people in different ways. Remember that. Until next time xxx. 

Raw Emotions

I've realized something. I've realized that from reading this blog, you can tell a lot about me. You know my favorite movies, tv shows, and travel destinations. 

You know my hopes for the future and thoughts about life. You know where I live in the world and what I care about. 

You know all these seemingly big things about me. 

What you don't know are the deeper emotions I have. You've never personally talked to me for hours on end. You don't really know all the small things that scare me. You've never met the people I care about. You have never seen my most  embarrassing moments. 

Yet from this blog, you know so much about me. You know what generally makes up me. But you don't know all the smaller things I keep deep beneath the surface. 

There are so many feelings we share and so many more that we hold close to our hearts. 

They are the raw emotions we don't share. Those emotions only come out around the people we love and trust. 

So what I really want to say is that you may think you know someone. You may think you know who they are and where they've come from. You may think you know what they've done and what they hope to do. You may think you know all these things. 

But I challenge you to talk to this person when they're falling apart. Pick them up as they're falling down. How do they respond? 

Talk to them in the middle of the night. Are you able to connect? Pay close attention when they talk about their dreams. How much do their eyes light up?

How do they treat strangers? How often do they smile? Take note of all these tiny details. 

I've realized over time that all these minuscule traits are what really make someone up. Small things are so beautiful. The way they start singing when their favorite song comes on. The way they cry when the main character in a movie dies. 

The way their hand feels in yours, or the kindness in their hug. The way their forehead creases when they're reading a book. 

The sound of their laugh and the smell of their clothes. 

It's the small things about people we often overlook. We forget to see the raw emotion behind all these tiny things. 

So before you say you know someone, see the small things they do. It is through observation that we can get to really know those around us. 

You may think you know a lot about me from reading this blog. I'm not saying you don't. Yet, you may never know the most important things about me. 

Go give someone a hug. Until next time xxx.