music monday: local natives

A little music to start your week of feeling right. Local Natives, to me, are the Fleet Foxes of the beach, but instead of ringing with the echoes of a mountain landscape there’s liquidity in their sound. They’ve bottled something in their melodies and harmonies that’s centering – gratifying almost, like a day spent exhausting yourself in the sun.

‘Hummingbird’ came out 3 months ago today, and has become the soundtrack of my life for get-togethers, car rides, beach days, work and even cooking. It's music to feel good to, and a reminder to enjoy the world around you.




nirrimi firebrace // t magazine // ocean love // boat days // standing elements // long hair // we heart it

the part can never be well unless the whole is well. - plato

What a month April has been!  I have been making some pretty tough choices about my professional future, as well as dealing with life’s tendency to become outrageously hectic during times that require the utmost focus and centering.

Admittedly I am the type to let my own health and wellness fall by the wayside when I’m scrambling to keep up with the day-to-day, but this time around I feel I’ve turned a corner.  My wonderful, handsome boyfriend was kind enough to give me a juicer for my birthday, and my incredibly thoughtful parents signed me up for a membership to a local gym.  This magical combination of health driven gifting has inspired me convert the anxieties that come with big decision making into fuel for focusing on personal wellness.

A lot of hard work is still ahead, but the motivation I’m running on from being responsible with my own health puts a positive spin on my problem solving abilities.  I hope you will all remember that while tough times make sinking into a rut feel tempting, they are best approached with a positive attitude and a healthy body.  Thank you for your understanding while my airwaves are a little quieter than normal, and for being so lovely to return to once I’m able.

Pictured: Spinach, tomato (grown in my garden) and chive ‘almost’ omelet cooked with coconut oil, and celery, carrot, green apple and spinach juice. Yum!

boston in our hearts

Today I wrote a post for Boston on the Palm Beach Lately website that really conveys my gratitude for the kidness that has resulted from this horrifying tragedy.  I am very far from those affected, and in that way I feel somewhat helpless.

I don't know what is to come from this moment forward, as full scale investigations swing into action and intention is determined, but I do know that I am proud of the good that can be found winthin mankind in times of darkness. To read more thoughts, check out my post at Palm Beach Lately here, and Floridians feel free to share this graphic.  

"It is important to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated." 

Stay strong Boston, and may we all stay united as a people.

birthday birthday birthday

Today I am turning 26, but mostly I still feel like this:

I'm incredibly overwhelmed by the blessings that have come my way, the family that surrounds me and the friends who support me. I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to those who have reached out to me already today, and to all the sweet readers who have helped me keep Young Alumni alive and bright.  You are a wonderful gift and a great motivator; I am truly grateful to have you.

guest post: lauren's korean adventures part three

Today we complete the journey in a three part feature on teaching and serving abroad. I have truly enjoyed learning more about this fascinating choice of career, and I hope you have too! Read part one here, and part two here.

When I returned to Korea for my second year, I made friends with a coworker who, as the trilingual owner of both American and European passports, seemed fully set for a glamorous life abroad, but we were both at a loss for options after our teaching stint. The possibility of the Foreign Service Officer Test came up in our discussion, and with a little bit of research, I decided it was a path worth pursuing.

The remainder of my time in Korea was spent drinking up as much of the country as I could, throwing myself into work and socializing and exploring at a breakneck pace. I traveled to Hong Kong over my summer vacation and quickly gave thanks to God for my relatively odorless, clean little corner of Asia, however plagued by nuclear crisis it may be. But one more stamp in my passport only fueled my desire to fill the pages up.

 

I took the Foreign Service test, a weird hybrid psychological profile/general knowledge assessment/personal experience survey, in February, and received notice of my passing score a few weeks later. I have several more steps to take and pass before I'm potentially commissioned and assigned to a post overseas.

Realistically, I may not be successful in my first attempt, and in any case, newly commissioned Foreign Service officers are more likely to wind up in Baghdad than Busan, but it feels good to know I'm taking proactive steps toward a career that will give me the opportunity to travel widely and often.

If I'm not successful, I'm also considering returning to school to get my master's degree in education so I can teach at international schools in other countries, with an eye toward reapplying to the Foreign Service later.

I have no idea what my life's work will be, but the only certainty in my heart at this point is that when I look back on my career, I want to live in as many corners of the globe as possible, and see the world from as many perspectives as possible.

In 2018, the Winter Olympics will take place in Pyeongchang, which was being transformed from a sleepy little ski hamlet in preparation for the event even before I left Korea. If it's possible, I promised myself a trip back for my thirtieth birthday, to celebrate my first foreign home's appearance on the world stage and ring in a new decade in the place that first stirred up a determined, adventurous spirit in me, with the hope that it will be renewed for many more years to come.

I hope you've enjoyed this career feature. Click here if you are interested in learning more about becoming a Foreign Service Officer. You can also follow her on her blog here, or on twitter @laurenbankert.

If you’d like to share your story and help fellow Young Alumni, please feel free to email me atyoungalumniblog@gmail.com