64 Colors Turns One!!!

Okay, well technically it turned one yesterday, but the sentiment is the same today :) I haven't blogged as often as I would like to but still this outlet has been such a huge blessing to me. It has been quite a year.

Over the last year here at 64 Colors there have been, well, a lot of random posts, but somehow it has been a way for my to keep track of my history. The daily thoughts and goings on in my life and I have loved taking you along on the journey with me.

Some of the things I blogged about that stand out the most when I take a look back over the last year are:

- Last November's election and results

- And of course my 'letter to my fellow church-ians' parts 1, 2, and 3

- There was also my Top 8 of 08' (most of which are still on my most played list on my ipod)

- And two posts that were very emotional for me about baby Elijah Amador and 'Elijah's Story'. I will never be the same.

I so love what I am able to do here with my blog. I look forward to continuing my journey and as long as you care to join my for the ride I would love to keep on taking you with me! Also feel free to share my blog with anyone you think who might enjoy it! :)

I hope and pray that my blog will continue to grow and develop and be able to touch people in any way it can. Please join me in this prayer.

Much Love.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday and in honor of this special day I would like to tell you a few things about her :)


My mom, the wife. Always supporting my dad in all the challenges life has sent them, always being an incredible example to all young women around her :)


My mom, the mom. Always there when I need her, never failing to give of herself in anyway she can...since the day I was born.


My mom, the anchor. Always the one that keeps life together when it seems to be falling apart.


My mom, the teacher. Never failing to teach life lessons, truths about how to be a good friend, and always willing to teach me a new recipe ;)

Last...but not least....

My mom, the friend. The best one I've ever had, and the best one I'm sure I ever will have.


Happy Birthday Mom! I love you more than my words can ever say.

A Short Game Of "Catch-Up"

Life seems to be going by faster than I can keep track of. On June 15th I started working again (Thank You Jesus!) at Michael's Arts & Crafts. It's been a good thing for me, not without some challenges, but I am very grateful to have a job. I have to admit Berean has turned out to be a tough act to follow. I have come to learn that I was spoiled with co-workers that were friends; people that genuinely cared about me. I miss that. I love arts and crafts though so that makes it lots of fun :) I know that this job is a gift from God, I prayed that I would get it and I did. I have yet to figure out what His purpose is in placing me here. So for now I just want to be salt and light. Sometimes its a challenge ;) haha.

Last week my family and I had the pleasure of having some really good friends visit from up north. It was some much needed fun. It went by too fast, but it was really a great time :) That same week I said goodbye to my car. I wasn't sad about, more relieved than anything. It was kinda a mess... reason #823 I'm glad God is God and I'm not. I saw my car as beyond repair and worth more to me gone than in my possession exact opposite of how God sees us haha. Yes, thank you God for your grace! :) I wasn't incredibly attached to my car, not the way some people are at least. But it was my first car, and minus its constant mood swings, it was a great car. We had a good 4 years :)

Summer has just about reached its half-way point, and while I have complained about recent heatwaves I will miss it when its gone. I really love summertime. Working in retail again makes me feel like my year is gone already. Today we got our first shipment of Christmas product. And all the Fall product has been out for a few weeks already.

I just try to remind myself that my year is far from over. Being "busy" again gives me that much more motivation to always make time to take in the "small things". And I encourage you to do the same. :)

A Letter To Hope

Here is a little something I wrote tonight; praying it reminds you (as it did for me) that hope is not lost. Much Love. ~Leslie Danielle

Dear Hope, Is it true what I've heard?
Are you really lost?
I always thought that with God's help I would never lose you,
But I am searching way down deep within;
Here and there, both near and far.
I've watched every hour's news broadcast
And it seems they're not even mentioning you're gone.
Yet between each and every line they read
I hear their desperate need for you.
Is it in my future to see you again soon?
When you're around me I find it easier to breathe.
Getting out of bed in the morning,
You give me faith in what I do not see.
Without you around, I too, feel lost
Won't you please return to me soon?
I'm begging God down on my knees
To please return my dear friend hope back again to me.
But until that day I will pray
"For today God I place my hope in you"
Only to find that's where you were all along
I realize that my hope was never really lost.
It seems my mind was clouded with worry
That made me easily forget;
From where I start to where I end
My hope always is, and always will be forever found
Resting in God's arms.

"Be brave. Be strong. Don't give up. Expect God to get here soon."

Psalm 31:24 (The Message)

Peace Out!...and In!!

Graduation season has come and almost gone, and honestly I struggled to get through it. I saw picture after picture of people that graduated high school the same year as I did graduate from college this year. In a perfect world I would have been one of them. In the last four years my life has had several unexpected turns...one after the other, after the other. They have been some of the most challenging years and experiences of my life to date. I have yet to see the rhyme or reason to it all, but still I am here.

I have had my moments over the last few weeks as I watched people graduate where I wallowed in self pity which, ironically, led me to a realization that brought so much peace to my heart.

My life is NOTHING like I imagined it would be at this point, but somehow I have this overwhelming peace within that I am EXACTLY where I am SUPPOSED to be. Sometimes it feels like I'm nowhere hoping to end up somewhere, but the truth is that God knows my eternity. Someway the experiences that have brought me here are all pieces of the puzzle. While that fact alone is not always comforting, it doesn't cease to be truth.

For the first time in my life I am beginning to understand what it means when the Bible says in Phillipians 4:7 "And the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus."

They used to be just words on a page. Now they are living, breathing, life-changing. There is no explanation for me to have peace that I am in the right place at the right time when nothing around me points toward answers. Nothing tells me where I am going. Nothing on the outside says I'm going anywhere. But yet I know that I am somewhere now. Beyond any answers I have...I know that I am exactly where I need to be for whatever it is that is next for me.

In the middle of an ongoing storm, in the middle of a desert surrounded by unanswered questions, in the middle of a world at war...

I have peace. My heart is at peace. When my mind struggles to be at peace my spirit takes over and keeps me at peace. Beyond my understanding I have peace and I am trusting that God is guarding my heart and mind from the voices inside that tell me I am on a road going nowhere. More than anything a college degree could give me right now...I have peace.

Peace Out!

SOOOO Excited!!!

I stumbled upon this yesterday....and since I'm such a HUGE John Mayer fan (what with my blog name being inspired by him and all haha), I thought I would share.

He is currently working on his fourth album. He has turned an entire house into a recording facility. Which, lets face it, is pretty awesome. :) Anyway, he has dedicated a whole page of his website to serve as a blog where he is writing pretty consistently on how things are progressing and posting videos and teasers on what we can expect to here on the new record. I was really excited and had a lot of fun catching up with it, he started it January so I was behind. Anyway, its lots of fun and in case you haven't gathered it...I'm SUPER excited that I can now look forward to some new music from John Mayer :) Plus I think its awesome that he's letting his fans in on his creative process.

Here is one of my favorite videos from the blog, as an example of some of the fun you can expect to encounter on it :)



Click here to check out his blog for Battle Studies.

Today:

I am grateful for my friends.

We each have our own definition of what a friend is but, I decided to look the word friend up in the dictionary. Some of the definitions were -

1. One attached to another by affection or esteem.
2. One that is not hostile.
3. A favored companion.

Now here is my definition -

1. One that is always there to help you put the pieces of your life back together when life breaks you into a million pieces.
2. One that listens whether they're interested in what you're talking about or not; they are simply interested in you.
3. One that is there to laugh at a tough situation before you're ready to laugh at it...because they know you need to.

And so much more. There's always questions that remain unanswered with each day, but for today...just for today I'm grateful for my friends.

To all of you that are there for me.
To all of you who laugh at me.
To all of you who laugh with me.
To all of you that let me laugh at you.
To all of you that listen to me.
To all of you who trust me.
To all of you who make life's blows just a little bit softer.
To all of you who are my friend.

The hugest, heartfelt THANK YOU.

It is you that make my heart smile on the darkest days.
Thanks for "claiming" me as your friend even when I'm completely losing it.
Most of all...thank you for your love, support, and FRIENDSHIP.

I love you.

“Are you upset little friend? Have you been lying awake worrying? Well, don't worry...I'm here. The flood waters will recede, the famine will end, the sun will shine tomorrow, and I will always be here to take care of you."
-Charlie Brown to Snoopy