God...Fate...Karma...Kismet?

Do you believe in a cosmic power that controls our lives? Whether that power is God, Fate, or something else?

Some days it feels like the world is conspiring to make you do or not do something. Is this some amazing power or just life? And if it is a higher power, are all the problems in life road blocks detouring us to another path? Or are they barriers we are suppose to work around to better appreciate the end goal?

Today I had a really fun, great opportunity to go to Las Vegas and hang with friends. A last minute invite that I felt guilty taking because I worried about walking away from all my duties. Yet, I talked to my dad and he said he hoped he had taught me not only responsibility but also enjoyment of life. So I decided I was going to go. Take the weekend and play.

I am single, have a good paying job and a stable life. I should do something for me, who knows if an opportunity like this will come again! Or if it does, if my life will be in a place where I could take the opportunity like I can now. (No kids, no pets, nothing to stop a weekend away.)

Yet, from the minute I made the decision to go to Vegas, things seemed to go wrong. Several things came up at work that have to be dealt with before 10 am Monday morning. Also, I got an email about my saturday class indicating something that I should not miss. Lastly, when I got online to tell my friend I was coming down, within two minutes of logging on, the entire "ning" network went down and I couldn't coordinate the trip!

So are these all hurdles to overcome or things to stop me? Am I weak because I took everything as a sign that going is not the right decision afterall? Am I not working hard enough? Minutes after that my decision the network came back up (it was offline for over three hours!).

And why would some higher power go to such extremes to stop me from having a weekend to myself? Is life really coincidences or some greater planning? And is it egotistical to assume that some huge thing like an entire network going down is a sign to me? Or am I reading too much into my situations?

Conversation!

So this last month I have had amazing conversations in several forms...

I had lunch at the Olive Garden with LoriAnn yesterday and got to hear all about her crazy life and the guys in it. (And yes we were there when the gun went off!)

I love sitting down and talking with my family. We get into all those taboo subjects and usually end up laughing at the end. When mom and dad were out of town last month Erik came over and we talked all about how silly Scott and I are, John Stewart and much more.

I finally am getting into facebook and laughing with people there.

I am starting to understand how Alicia and some of my other siblings can spend hours chatting online (through their games). I joined a forum and could spend all day talking to these hilarious ladies. We can vent and talk about families and twilight and all our obsessions.

I got to see Becky and pick her brain about all things Australian. Well at least scratch the surface. :)

I could go on and on; school, work, reading blogs... I love communicating and all the great conversations. I just realized that I wish I had written more of them here so I wouldn't forget them! So I wanted to take a minute and at least say thanks to all my friends and family for the wonderful conversations in the last month!