You've gotta.

{via: flickr.}

You've gotta let your hopes shine through you like they did when you were a little girl.

You've gotta take it one day at a time, moment by moment.

You've gotta go to sleep with hopes of magical dreams so you can dream magical dreams full of your hopes.

You've gotta realize it's ok to change your mind everyday about what you wanna be when you grow up.

You've gotta put passion into everything you are doing. If you can't, you've gotta change something.

You've gotta get excited about the little things.

You've gotta feel sad if you are sad, mad if you are mad, lost if you are lost...

You've gotta give yourself time to appreciate the prize in the cereal box.

You've gotta dress up in whatever makes you feel the best. Not what others think should.

You've gotta be proud of yourself when you're really good at something.

You've gotta accept the things you know you struggle with.

You've gotta be okay with asking for help when you need it.

You've gotta say what you need to say.

You've gotta follow your own path. 

You've gotta do what makes you truly happy.

You've gotta understand how much you are loved.

but most of all,

You've gotta love yourself.

you've just gotta.
xo-

“And if strength was born from heartbreak...

 then mountains I could move."

 [grandma Allen & me circa 1989.]

dearest grandma Allen,
i think of you everyday. i miss you everyday. i send my Love to you everyday. 
but you already know that, right?  because most days, i know that you are checking in on me... watching over us one by one.  last week i caught a whiff of your perfume... it took me back to every hug i have ever given you & they replayed in my head all at once.  i closed my eyes & felt so loved.

i always see you in my dreams.  you always let me know that you are ok & that you love me.  they are the best dreams, vivid & so real.  i think it's our way of communicating.

i try & make you proud, grandma.  i think you would be.  i have started standing up for myself, grandma.  sometimes i feel like you & Jesus are high-fiving whenever i stick up for what i believe in & not being a doormat.  you are such an inspiration, grandma. you were such a smart, sassy, confident woman & your life was focused on Love. your Love has impacted our lives more than you could ever imagine.  our family is truly built on a foundation of Love, one you laid for us.

we miss you like crazy, but we send Love to you & one another every single day.
  
nothing is the same since the day you had to leave. all of our hearts feel pangs of missing you each day- but our hearts are filled with your Love & the wonderful memories you left with us.
its hard without you, grandma. but, i know you are here.
you would have Loved Christopher's wedding.  it was just like a good ole fashioned Allen wedding.  eating, dancing, Loving the night away.

you'd be thrilled, grandma, we are all loving & living. because we know we will see you again & it will be better than any Allen event in the past...(though that is totally hard to believe.) ; )

I miss & Love you so much,
your Annie.

simply be.

{via: tumblr.}

For just a while, calm your thoughts. In this moment, simply be.

There is much in your life, and there is much more to come.

Yet you have always been, and you always are, more than enough.

For a moment, let go of the way you appear and the things you’ve done. Feel the truth and power of who you are.

In silence, there is much you can know. Beyond thought, there is much you can understand.

Touch the person who always lives inside the person you are. Be immersed in the beauty and wonder of being.

Feel the strength that is always there. And know that whatever may come, all is well.

— Ralph Marston.

Links of Love. part I.

{via: sweet home style.}

10 words to delete from your vocabulary.

23 Things to Always Remember And One Thing Never to Forget.

You're beautiful.

Fifty People One Question.

35 simple ways to be beautiful.

thank you so much for your sweet encouragement in response to my last post. it means so much to have such sweet friends. & to those of you expressing a feeling of similar dismay... you are constantly in my thoughts & i'm sending you big hugs!  

(we can all totally get through the current junk in our lives. especially with the support of each other... which you have mine, one-million percent.) 

xo- 

“Smile, breathe & go slowly.”

{via: flickr.}

sometimes it all seems to happen at once. 

you try to untangle one part of your life only to find another knot of confusion. they say challenges are meant to make you stronger.  that everything happens for a reason & God never gives you more than you can handle. 

& tonight:

i can't help but hope with all my heart that they are right.

xo-

familiar thoughts.

{image: marilyn monroe. 1949.}

She was a girl who knew how to be happy even when she was sad. And that’s important—you know.

- marilyn monroe.

xo-

oh, school.

to my lovely university:

you look absolutely dashing lately. i adore walking about in between classes & having picnics on your soft grass next to potter's lake. but, you see, when you are so beautiful, it makes it so very hard to sit in class & watch spring happening outside the windows... so, please stay this perfect for a long while, so i can appreciate you as much as you deserve when i'm not swamped in silly homework, meetings and projects.

[monday, april 12, 2010.]

[monday, april 12, 2010.]

rock chalk
& Love always, Anna.

p.s. my new post for buttoned up on some tricks to fighting the spring itch!
p.s.s. become a fan of little reminders of love now on facebook!

dear anna, (& you, too!)

love, you.

-via.

what you need to know.

& be sure to check out this reminder featured on buttoned up!

xo-

p.s. you can become a fan of little reminders of love now on facebook! hooray!

"So, little Amelie, your bones aren't made of glass."

have you ever seen amelie?

it is wonderful.

yesterday, as i sat in the library, writing a paper, dreaming of warm summer days, i was serenaded by amelie's beautiful soundtrack. have you heard it? you should!

it will fill your heart with happiness.

listen here.

xo-

{images via tumblr.}

dear sunshine- we miss you.

[natalie. fall 2009]

[me & noah. fall 2009.]

[natalie & me. fall 2009]

see sun...?!
we had so much fun basking in your warm light.
please come out again soon.
pretty please, with cherries on top?

Love, Anna.

Love to Haiti.

"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you,so you also should love one another." John 13:34.

How to Help: Haiti.
With Love & Prayers.
xo-

in our hearts you'll always be.

{playing hoosker-do circa 1994(?) at gma & gpa allen's.}

dearest gma allen,
a year has passed since we lost you, but you have remained firmly in our hearts.
we feel you with us, gently encouraging us when we are discouraged, filling us with happiness when we feel sad, and forever loving us, as we love you.

we miss you grandma, but you are always in our hearts. always.
& one day, grandma, we'll be with you, again.
...playing games, eating gardettos & drinking fresca, together in heaven.
& how sweet it will be.

i love you so much,
always, & forever.
your Annie.

really, i do.

{via: weheartit.}

dear sweet readers.
this week has be so long. so very, very long. i just wanted you to know that your sweet comments encourage me to remember how happy my life is, even when i feel utterly worn out.

have a very perfect friday. & a very perfect weekend.

with so much love.
xo-

i wonder...

{via: flickr.}

sometimes i wonder how one day can be absolutely happy for no particular reason.
i wonder why some days our hearts are far more tender than normal. i wonder how people can say such disheartening things. i wonder if maybe i have done something to make someone else sad. i wonder what people are thinking about in their hearts as they go about their daily lives.

perhaps the girl reading flashcards on the bus is suffering from a newly broken heart- the boy across the aisle in class, who stares ahead so very intently, maybe his mind is running non-stop with about fears of losing his ill grandfather-- & maybe the shy girl in the front row, who takes diligent notes, is really about to explode with excitement over a wonderful date from the night before...
people hide so much from the world, i think we all do.

i wonder how sometimes i can be laughing about something so very silly & within the next minute be brought to tears from something which hurts my heart so. & then there are days in which nothing seems to be going right & you wonder if you were naive for having woken up with a feeling of hope for the day. the day which later would slowly prove to be a day of disappointments.

today i became very discouraged. i wondered how much my life would be impacted by a low grade on a single test, or the fact that i forgot one little assignment.
then i realized:
it can matter for the moment, but i won't let it sour my overall feelings.
i will be sad. i will feel disappointed...but at the end of the day i must dust myself off, get up off the ground, and let the world know that i will sometimes fail.

but my failures will only make me wiser, make me stronger, make me me.

xo-

adoring audrey.

“Pick the day. Enjoy it — to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come. The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present — and I don’t want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future.”

-audrey hepburn.

Repost from 9/11/2008:

The horrors which took place on September 11, 2001 will forever be burned into my memory. From where I was to what I was wearing when i found out, I will never forget a single detail of that sorrowful day-
Although I was only 12 years old, every moment of that day feels as though it had only occurred a few days ago. I recall scurrying late into school, and shuffling my belongings into my locker. Seeing as how our bus was late, everyone was settling into their classrooms, leaving me alone at my locker. Something wasn't right and I could sense an eerie feeling in the air.
"Should we tell them?" I heard my first hour teacher frantically question the other "team" teachers. "No," one replied, "we don't know enough yet." I thought not much of it, and hurried into class, trying to avoid being "tardy". As i sat down and caught up with everyone around me of the previous night's television shows, my science teacher ran into the room and after trying to collect herself, told us that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. While none of us really new what the World Trade Center was or what type of plane it was, or the devastating consequences that followed, we quickly moved on and continued with our lesson. After five minutes or so another teacher ran in frantically and yelled that the second tower had been hit. Quickly we were told to go into the Social Studies room to watch the news. We didn't know what to make of it, but i recall the goosebumps which ran throughout my body. As we were watching the news the room of 55 seventh graders fell completely silent and still. Our minds, which were normally consumed with thoughts of instant messaging and the latest fashion trends became completely overwhelmed. Never in our lifetimes had we seen anything like this, except in the movies. I remember sitting cross legged on the floor, lifting the sleeves on my purple long-sleeved T and covering my eyes. I couldn't bare to see the faces filled with grief which flashed across the tv screen. As we all sat there, cuddling up together, watching in disbelief, our principle ran in and turned the tv off. She insisted we not watch, but rather continue with our lessons. We sat through the rest of the day whispering this and that while our teachers taught with blank faces, looking like they were scared to death. Throughout the day parents came and picked up their kids, while others sat and hoped their loved ones in NYC were safe. Luckily, for me, my family was safe and located in the Midwest, I silently counted my blessings. However, I recall a girl in my class being silently devastated, and you could see the sorrow in her eyes. Her uncle was killed in the Pentagon attacks, and I think she knew it right when she heard that the Pentagon, too, was targeted. I remember trying to support her. Later on, as we loaded the bus and drove home, rumors flooded the bus... and we all were admitting that we had never been so scared in our lives. We were anxious to get home and see what the news was. As we drove past a gas station we noticed the price of gas. It read $5.00 and there was a line 3 blocks down the road of cars waiting to get gas. We were terrified. After I got home I ran up our stairs to find my dad, watching the news solemnly. "WHAT HAPPENED, WHAT HAPPENED?!" I remember blurting out. My dad calmly explained what all had happened all day and what he predicted to happen. We went outside to sit on the porch and watch the skies. My dad had pointed out to me that there was no airtraffic allowed of any sorts, except military planes. He kept exclaiming the eeriness of having no air traffic, and when one army plane flew over, my heart lept, I was certain it was a terrorist. Later that night my cousins and I gathered and walked to the local Osco to buy American flags, we talked the whole way there and back, talking about what had occurred, and how glad we are that we are Americans. We attatched the flags to everything and demonstrated our devout patriotism. I went to bed not being able to change the channel without seeing the reoccurring clips of the planes hitting the towers. I eventually dosed off, however, I woke up thirsty in the night and turned on the tv. The image flashed on the screen and my heart sank. It was real and America was suffering. I watched every special they showed honoring the victims which had fallen, and I sat speechless with every passing story. My heart broke every time they spoke of it, and it still does. Tears pour down my cheeks to this very day, anytime I am reminded of the monstrosity that took place, that day, in 2001.
I feel that we must honor those who have fallen, for they are heroes to our country, and will forever be remembered for their courage...

God Bless America.

I will always remember.
God bless those who were lost.
You will always remain in my heart.
-anna allen

a letter addressed to Heaven.:

{me, gma allen & geoff.}

dearest gma allen,
summer has come to pass quite fast this year. its not the same without you here. nothing is the same. i have only swam once this year--i know! i used to be a fish--so much has changed.
we miss you. i miss you everyday. i always look at precious photos of us & i smile, remembering each moment vividly. if i close my eyes tight enough, & block out the world around me i can still hear the laughter echoing through your house, i can still smell the perfume on your sweater as i hugged you. you are missed, but you will never be forgotten. never.

i miss you, grandma. how i long to rewind time & push pause. wouldn't that be something? i would want to relive so many moments...but i can't--i can only cherish the memories you have left us with, & be thankful for having had you in my life. our lives. i am so blessed. we are so blessed for having you.

i know you watch upon us, laughing right along in our happy moments, & patting us softly on the back when we have been defeated. i know you are cheering for us in our successes, and i know you are helping us every step of the way... thank you, grandma.

i miss you so much. know that i love you, & that you are always in my heart. Always.

i love you grandma, i always have & i always will.

Love always & forever.
Anna Banana.