Life is not a car you can just steer in whichever way you want. It’s more like a canoe in a river with a mind of its own. I think that we often put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make things go the way we think they should go.
Life doesn’t quite work out like that. Ask anyone who has reached “success”… Often, life takes us down unexpected roads, which take us to where we need to be.
The key? An open mind, room for failure that ends up not being failure, a desire for growth, creativity, a vision and some faith that will carry you through the storms of uncertainty.
“10 million years into eternity, we’ll still be praising God for the very mercies we are now tempted to doubt.” Paul David Tripp
Sonam Kapoor: Hilariously outspoken, incredibly stylish, and an advocate for health and true beauty. Protagonist of one of my favorite films, Aisha.
Anushka Sharma: Down-to-earth, bubbly, and one of the most expressive faces in Bollywood.
Jacqueline Fernandez: Anytime I need motivation to juice or work out, this woman inspires me to stay on track.
Katrina Kaif: Probably one of the fittest dancers in Bollywood. We all want to dance like her…and she learned Hindi to enter the industry. Where there is a will, there is a way… She performed as one of my favorite Bollywood characters, Dimple Dixit.
Kareena Kapoor: She’s a diva. But always a favorite.
Nargis Fakhri: From Queens, NY. An outsider who made her way to the inside.
Priyanka Chopra: Actress, singer, and dream chaser. She also has some of the best hair in Bollywood.
Dia Mirza: A spokesperson for natural beauty and health.
Deepika Padukone: The gorgeous girl-next-door.
Aishwarya Rai: The Queen of Bollywood. The biggest stunner on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet. An international face of L’Oreal.
Namrata Soni: One of the best makeup artists in the world. Hands-down. She makes all the women on this list look extra beautiful.
I have been making this list for months now. I have done some really dumb things in the kitchen, so I thought I would share. If you are moving out on your own soon, if you want to start cooking, or if you just need a good laugh–enjoy the following words of wisdom.
Advice from my own strange kitchen mistakes and adventures:
1] Always be fully clothed, especially if dealing with oil, frying pans or boiling water.
2] Never try to grab a hardboiled egg out of the hot water with your bare hands.
3] Before you use the toaster oven, make sure there is nothing plastic around it. That includes Tupperware and water bottles.
4] Sniff your gas stove before bed time. A bit paranoid? Maybe.
5] Don’t peel things with long nails.
6] Clean flaky residues around the fire of the stove top because it will catch fire.
7] Don’t cut potatoes and store them in the fridge. They turn black and shrivel. Apparently, they should be stored in a dark place, covered with water and used within hours.
8] Always make sure the toaster oven is on when you want it to be on, because it will tick deceivingly even if it’s not plugged in. Then, you’ll go check your food, and it’ll be cold. Been there, done that.
9] Don’t wipe your eyes with onion juice soaked hands.
10] Wipe jar edges so sauce won’t oxidize (that is why you also shouldn’t leave sauce in the can)…
11] If you need a “toaster oven” safe plate/ container and what you are heating up is frozen and too big to fit in a small bowl and too hard to break (because it’s frozen), DO NOT put it on a normal glass or ceramic plate with the toaster oven door open partially (because it doesn’t fit). The plate shatters.
Advice from my mother and brothers:
12] If you are storing salad in a container, always put a napkin over the salad leaves because it absorbs condensation and blocks light. The leaves stay nicer, longer.
13] Keep handles turned in and not sticking out from the stove top.
14] Wash veggies before sticking them in the fridge (if that is where you put them).
Advice from Abuela (my grandmother):
15] Don’t pack anything directly in foil, put paper between the food and foil because foil sticks.
16] Spice up your rice by putting nuts in it (given that you and your guests are not allergic to them).
I hope you are all having an exciting week, thus far. I am happy to share, I finished my 90-day Bible Challenge (in 75 days). It was so exciting and beautiful. Easter weekend was a real blessing and a fun couple of days. It was a reminder of God’s love, mercy and goodness. The weather finally started to feel like spring this past weekend. Hallelujah! Despite the amazing weather, the work continues, so we must continue working hard. It’s weird and exciting having work and random pre-graduation requirements.
Exciting times are ahead. God’s timing is perfect, and His plans are good.
Let’s walk through this life inspired, together.
“I believe still today what I have always believed: that God is good, that the world He made is extraordinary, and that His comfort is like nothing else on earth.” Shauna Niequist
“When I understand that everything happening to me is to make me more Christlike, it resolves a great deal of anxiety.” A.W. Tozer
It took years to know, that there will always be fog, but it always lifts.
Daily Haiku on Love by Tyler Knott Gregson
“Porque detras de cada persona se esconde otra. Quizas mas bella, quizas mas nueva, quizas tuya.” Tres Metros Sobre el Cielo, Federico Moccia
[Tagline quote says: “My daughter is a miracle from God.”]
By: Gabriela Yareliz
On June 12, 2013, I wrote Viviendo [living]: Adamari Lopez, based on my reading of Adamari Lopez’s autobiography. She is an incredible Puerto Rican actress and writer who has overcome many obstacles. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she went through a mastectomy and chemo. She saved some of her eggs (fertilized with her then-husband’s sperm) before she started chemo, only to later go through a divorce in which her husband left her. That was the day Luis Fonsi (her ex-husband) lost many fans. She was devastated because her biggest dream was to have children, but she wasn’t about to have a child with her ex-husband and the eggs she had saved.
After this loss, she went on to dance in Mira Quien Baila (the Hispanic version of Dancing with the Stars). She ended up winning the competition and donating money to the search for a cure cause (for cancer). She didn’t only win the competition, but she stole the heart of her professional dance partner, Toni Costa. Both of her parents passed away (another difficulty to add to the mix), and this new romance with the Spanish dancer made some of us feel better, and it filled us with hope that she would find joy in her life again after the many tragedies she endured.
After doctors told her that it was impossible for her to have children, and that the fertilized eggs (by her ex-husband) were her only chance, she announced in 2014 that she was expecting a child; the father being her new partner in life, Toni Costa (the dancer we all love).
She has been using her platform to tell others about how hard she prayed to God for this child, and the fact that miracles do exist and happen. This child is a miracle; she has overcome all the odds.
All of her fandom is delighted by the news, and her People en Español cover with Lopez holding her baby girl is a special and unique one. Because I wrote about her years ago, I had to do a follow-up post.
Expect miracles. They happen. Even when everything says impossible, God knows the desires of our heart, and He has the final say. Alaia (the baby) is a miracle. Her life shows how big God is and the things He can do for us.
Oh March. You almost took us to the grave. It has been an insane month. INSANE. It was one of those four and a half weeks where you have to make important life decisions on a deadline. This month: I applied to almost a job a day; I walked to church again after weeks of frigid temperatures; I blacked out in church; I cried a lot (in a good way); I prayed a lot; I almost missed a super important exam until someone on my train ran through the streets of Flatbush, Brooklyn with me (my angel); time stopped; I registered for the bar exam; I got about four hours of sleep every night; I missed plenty of morning alarms; I presented a joint venture licensing agreement; a Spaniard appeared; I had a New York Minute adventure; I continued my 90-day Bible Challenge (just a couple days left)… It was wild.
I am in a desperate need for Easter/ Passover. It’s all about how the impossible can happen. Redemption comes in unexpected ways; debts are paid through grace; and Red Seas part. Freedom.
Spring is here, and it’s time to walk out of March together and leave the March burdens behind. It was a month with new things and old things. One of those months where life sort of comes full-circle.
Saturday was one of those New-York-Minute-adventure days.
Some days fill you with wonder and amazement. The Julie Andrews type wonder.
It was kind of like:
So, I am hoping the rest of the week will either live up to this past weekend or normalize.
“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.” Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God
“It’s better to have all of it for a while, than a piece of it forever.” Monica
“It is wonderful how God works by our hands, and yet His own hand does it all.” Charles Spurgeon
“Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.” Frederick Buechner, Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC’s of Faith
“Bravery is a choice, not a feeling.” Jon Acuff
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” Leo Buscaglia
“Writing is an underestimated art,
you are painting colorful images
in people’s minds by using words
of black and white.” -The Art of Writing
“I do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with the roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frost-work, but the solidest thing we know.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Immediate are the acts of God, more swift than time or motion.” John Milton, Paradise Lost
“When you are in love, you learn to love the things that you once never cared about because the person you love cares about them. This is why Christ told us that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord your God; when we love God, we love others, we love the orphans and the widows. We love the world even when it hates us, we desire to see people healed and love restored.
You want to change the world? Then you need to start loving God in such a way that your entire world changes. That is the beauty of transformational love; it doesn’t just affect you, it affects all those around you.”
T.B. LaBerge// Go Now
“Watch out for that signal, when life as you know it ends.”
GABRIELA YARELIZ 