User Profile

Hi! My name is Tara and I'm the proud single mama of a wonderful thirteen-year-old daughter, Lily Calla, and a betta fish named California. My journal is a place for me to express my thoughts and feelings and chronicle my everyday life. I write a lot about the girl and our life together as well as current events and whatever else happens to be on my (dirty) mind, with an occasional meme thrown in for the fun of it. My journal is "friends only", but I love meeting new people and making new friends. So, if you're interested in adding me, PLEASE leave a comment telling me why and how you found me (that's just common courtesy) and I will more than likely add you back. :)




Banner courtesy of islandgirlsj


I am...

~a Southern girl at heart. I was born in Georgia and spent ten years there, six years in Texas, and countless vacations in Tennessee where most of my relatives lived. I still say y'all sometimes, cook with bacon grease, and can recite all the words to more than one Barbara Mandrell song. Yep. I really WAS country before country was cool.
~a closet California girl. It's where my daughter was born and the place I called home for almost nine years. I know what it's like to wear shorts on Christmas, pay three times higher the amount of rent than the rest of the country, and I do a totally bitchin' "Valley girl" accent.
~living in Washington now (or again, rather - I also lived here from ages 16-21) because my entire immediate family has decided to settle here. I couldn't beat 'em, so I joined 'em.
~a tolerant, open-minded Liberal.
~sentimental, sarcastic and silly. I wear my heart on my sleeve.
~a highly sensitive person. It's not a bad thing.
~not afraid to stand up for myself, people I care about, or a cause I believe in. Don't confuse sensitivity with a lack of courage or strength.
~an ENFJ. An idealist with a practical bent.
~an Aquarius. Virgo rising, moon in Scorpio. This means I'm friendly, independent, quirky, humanitarian, analytical, self-aware, sensual and intense. All wrapped up in one neat, little package. Well, not always neat. Not all that little, either.
~a synesthete. I associate letters, words, names and numbers with colors. I also experience other forms of synesthesia. It runs in my family.
~a lifelong night owl. Insomnia is not uncommon for me.
~learning how to live with bipolar II disorder (especially the depression part). Don't let this scare you off- I'm just as normal as you are. ;)
~an eternal optimist. Depression be damned!
~a former Christian. I mention this only because it says something about who I am today. (It makes no difference to me if you are a Christian, or if you identify with any other religion, or none at all.)
~evolving in my spirituality. I claim no religion but I am also not an atheist.
~a believer in the power of positive thinking.
~a follower of the the Golden Rule: "Treat others as you would like to be treated".
~working on self-acceptance and embracing all that I am.
~interested in expanding my horizons (meeting new people; learning about different ways of life, different philosophies, new ideas...). Divulge your knowledge, I plead!
~constantly learning and growing; trying to figure out my purpose here on earth and what this life is all about.


Tree courtesy of pixelpeach



My Favorite Quotes


"I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult." E. B. White


"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." Dalai Lama


"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. " Maya Angelou


"Believe nothing against another but on good authority; and never report what may hurt another, unless it be a greater hurt to some other to conceal it." ~William Penn


"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells." Dr. Seuss


"Be who you are and say how you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter, don't mind." Theodor Geisel


"How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours." Wayne Dyer


“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.” Karen Ravn


“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Marianne Williamson


"World peace, through individual happiness." Buddha


“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.'' Denis Waitley


"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand - strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming WOO HOO - what a ride!" unknown


"'Impossible' is a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact, it's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration, it's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing." Muhammad Ali


"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal." ~Martin Luther King, Jr.


"While we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism and doubt and those who tell us we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can." Barack Obama


"It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." Anne Frank


"Be the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi


"The beauty of life is, while we cannot undo what is done, we can see it, understand it, learn from it and change so that every new moment is spent not in regret, guilt, fear or anger but in wisdom, understanding and love." Jennifer Edwards


"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of someone else." Judy Garland


"Well-behaved women rarely make history." Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

tolerance is love
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Because apparently, 150 interests just isn't enough for me... ;)

Likes: 3rd Rock from the Sun, a clean house (not the actual cleaning part), affection, a great-fitting bra, all things '80s, Animal Planet, Anthony Bourdain, being a mother, being honest about mistakes, being supportive and helping people feel good about themselves, being surrounded by trees, Big Brother, bison (admiring them, not eating them), blueberry cheesecake, Bruce Springsteen, Burn Notice, casseroles, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, celebrity gossip, chili, collecting handbags, comebacks, Coneheads, connecting with people, cooking with my daughter, crime shows, Criminal Minds, diplomacy, Discovery Channel, Diners Drive-ins and Dives, documentaries, dooce.com, eating healthy, elephants, equal rights for everyone, Eva Cassidy, finding beauty everywhere, Finding Nemo, Food Network, Frasier, freckles, funny commercials, funny and intelligent men, Gilmore Girls, gray days, Halloween, HGTV, Ice Age, IHOP, Jack McFarland, Japanese curry, Jon Stewart, journalism, Judy Blume books, Kathy Griffin, kisses, lamps rather than overhead lighting, laughing so hard I cry, listening more than talking (but I need to talk sometimes, too), Mad Men, making new friends, marathon snuggles and giggles with my Lily, Martin Luther King Jr., Mary Chapin Carpenter, memoirs, menu planning, Michael Kors perfume, Miracle Whip, National Geographic, nature shows, never giving up, news shows, not smoking anymore, organizing my pantry, Paul Newman, pecan pie, pelicans, people who can laugh at themselves, photography, planning ahead, Project Runway, quizzes, reading random LJ profiles, reality shows, researching sociopaths, Ricky Gervais, separation of church and state, Sesame Street, Sixteen Candles, snow, Southern cooking, spaghetti, Snoopy, tea, The Birdcage, TLC, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Top Chef, tracing my family tree, turtles

Dislikes: allergies, Alzheimer's disease, animal abuse, anxiety, bad manners, banning books, barbecue-flavored potato chips, beets, being told what to do, bigotry, capital punishment, censorship, child abuse, circuses, closed-mindedness, corporal punishment, depression, dirty hands and fingernails, disappointing people, door-slamming, drama, exploitation of children, extremism, fast-food Mexican, Fox News Channel, grudges, human trafficking, hypocrisy, insincerity, mean-spiritedness, mood swings (my own, mostly), negative thinking, nightmares, not being able to draw, not getting enough sleep, not living up to my potential, passive-aggressive behavior, people who act two-faced, people who don't stand up for themselves, psychotropic medication, public restrooms, right-wing nutjobs, sauerkraut, the mispronunciation of words (like "mischievous"), violence, when people add me without commenting first, when my neighbors play their music too loud