**Spread the Word!**

Lets not allow this to happen. Help spread the work by posting this on your blogs and sharing it with other people! The Government should not be allowed to let this pass!

Why I chose Naropa

Warning! The following post is melodramatic and pretentious. It was very late at night. I apologize in advance if you decide to finish reading, but consider yourself warned.

Over the course of my life's education, I have been drawn to the left of civilization. Not that I see myself on one particular side of it, but rather that I am aside it altogether. What I consider my unique view of the world has revealed a heartbreaking amount of pain, mistrust, violence, deceit, tragedy, and villainy. There is a quaint amount of the good things, too, but they are invariably the exception and not the least bit common.

I always have two reactions to this view. The first is anger. How dare they lie to us!?! How dare they let this happen and show false concern while simultaneously gaining from it!?! I want to lash out, cause them the pain that they are causing so many others. I want them to hurt like we hurt; then maybe they will cease their destructive and selfish ways. But alas, I am only a small boy throwing rocks at a fortress wall. All my anger and violence give rise to nothing but a sore arm and a pile of broken rocks.

My second reaction is compassion. Immense compassion that swells from my eyes in waves of silent emotion, filling the night around me like darkness. Herein, I believe, lies my true power. Not because I feel more than others feel, but because I find it so unbearable, I know I must release it as a flood of good will for anyone that is in need.

I could have chosen from any of several universities to attend for graduate school. Any one of them could have taught me how to show empathy, give advice, listen carefully, and make a client feel better. But very few of them believe in the basic goodness of humanity, or in the wellness that lies at the heart of everyone's psyche. None of them teach that healing is only achieved with love (if they do it is completely unintentional). Only one of them teaches how to be completely present at all times, how to love unconditionally, and how to create a therapeutic relationship that extends beyond professional courtesy and obligatory cordiality. Only one university teaches the practice that I want to make my own.

I chose Naropa because it allows me to feel without feeling inappropriate. I don't have to consider myself and those around me machines in meat suits or fatally flawed by design. I can practice with the same philosophy that I live the rest of my life.

My goal is to change the world. Or at least be part of a force that changes the world. Based on my reactions to the world, I have two choices. I can throw my stones and fight the man until it breaks me, or I can teach the world about love and live it so powerfully that people have no choice but to embrace it. From what I've tasted of the former, I believe I'll find much more peace and success with the latter. Naropa is the tool I have chosen to pursue my goal of living love. Hopefully when I'm finished in three years, I won't have to ask any of you if it worked. Namastè.

"Love is a many-splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love." - Christian, Moulin Rouge

"God is love." - 1 John 4:8

*CONGRATULATIONS TRISTIN*

So after months of talking about moving, waiting for schools to respond back to Tristin and all the other fun stuff that comes along with applying for a grad school, we finally got an answer this week.

On Wednesday Tristin received a phone call from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado and found out that he got accepted into their Contemplative Psychology Program! Congratulations, Baby! We are so proud of you!

For those who aren't familiar with Naropa, it's a Buddhist-belief based school. You don't have to be Buddhist to go to it (obviously) but a lot of what they base their programs off are fueled by Buddhist ways and believe systems. It's really so cool. And no, we are not converting to Buddhism if anyone was worried :) Hopefully Tristin will post something about it that give you more of an idea of what the school is like. Anywho, so that's the news for this week!

This May Be Your Lucky Day!

So my best friend Thobeka did this and said to pass it on, so I am. Also, It'll be cool to see who responds first. So here I go....

Hi friends!

In honour of March, the luckiest month of the year…the first five people to respond to this post (do that many people even read my blog?) will get something special made by me! Made with tons of love and luck just for you! It might be a fun project, a sweet letter to you from me, or some yummy goodies, you might be surprised what you get! Give it a try!

The catch? You must re -post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to leave a comment, win a lovely little something for themselves! Have fun! Oh and don't forget to post your mailing address!

iPhone friendly!

Not that anyone would EVER care enough to want to use this, but if you want to see the mobile-friendly version of our website, just go to jtroney.mofuse.mobi.

Our new future apartment

Well I haven't been accepted to Naropa University yet, but the interviews the last couple of days went really well. We are feeling confident, so we have filled out an application for an apartment in the area. It is the perfect place! It is in between Boulder and Denver (only 20 minutes to either one), in a gated community, seconds away from Costco, Whole Foods, Safeway, a mall, and a movie theater, has a garage, has a big park right across the street with tennis courts, a volleyball court, walking and biking trails, and a clubhouse with exercise room, pool, and hot tub... It is awesome.

For the privilege of these bragging rights we will pay $895 a month for 1 bedroom. Boulder is not cheap, friends. We weren't smart enough to take pictures while we were there, but here's a link to the Craigslist posting.

-- Post From My iPhone

Lent, A time for fasting

Hi, my name is Juanique Roney and I'm a *sniffle* televisionholic! No, I'm not but sadly enough, Tristin and I had been watching a lot of TV come evening time. This is why. We both would work until 6/8pm at night, we'd be tired, eat dinner and have no energy to do anything else. the sun would be down, people would be preping themselves for bedtime, and yet Tristin and I would still want to spend "quality time" with each other...drained of energy or the will to do anything quality-ish! So what would we do? Watch TV, because it was easy, convenient and required no brain power or energy what so ever.

About a month ago I went to visit a friend who told me that for lent they gave up watching TV. "What a good idea," I had said! I desperately wanted to try it. So now, happy Lent! We are fasting by cutting out our TV watching. Well not all TV though. We record our shows we really care about, watch it, skip the useless commercials and TADA, we've set a Lent goal. Watch only the shows we really care about and use the rest of our time doing something more productive or mind stimulating. So far so good! We do a lot more reading now but sadly a lot less talking. Probably better than watching show after show after show mindlessly.

So, watcha think? Good Lent idea or bad lent idea? Either way, I'm happy I'm sticking to something I can do, unlike setting an unrealistic goal like giving up chocolate!! HAHAHAHAHA! Impossible. Trust me, I've tried and failed too many times! Probably all the more reason to keep at it.

The Latest

So it's been about 2 weeks since I last wrote on here and I figured I'd update alles van my vriende on what's going on in the merry USA. (My Afrikaans is a little shabby so if I spelt something wrong...tough).

So about 2 weeks ago I quit my job, the one that was draining the heck out of me. Yes, that one! And I didn't quit it once, I quit it twice in 3 days! True story (a long one too). OH MY GOODNESS, the euphoria I feel since I've ridden myself of that place is just phenomenal. Here's a lesson for everyone out there. If you're working somewhere and you're so unhappy every minute of every working day, do yourself a favor and leave! it's NOT worth it. Life's too short to waste. You should enjoy what you do and look forward to it, not dread it every time you work through the threshold of your working space. So that's the biggest news...on my side anyways.

Now I have a lot of time on my hands. You'd think I'd be doing useful things like catching up on laundry and what not. But you're wrong. Old habits die hard even when you do have a surplus time all of a sudden to adhere to daily-life responsibilities AKA Laundry. But I will get around to it soon.....eventually....sometime in the near future :) However, what I have been spending my time on is on good books. Hope you don't mind me sharing a few with you. I'm a sci-fi/fantasy freak so if you're not into that sort of thing, prepare your mind to block out the next few paragraphs. I've put links to the names of the books. The links will take you to a brief overview of the book and what the story is about. I'm too lazy to type it out for you. Sorry.

Book #1 this week:

The Poison Study: I loved this book. But boys won't love it. It's a girls book told from a girls point of view. So much action, drama, adventure and twists to the story you'd think you're on a rollercoaster! Girls, if you like fantasy, READ THIS! it's really good.

Book # 2 this week:

Enders Game: This is my second time reading this book and there's a reason for that. Because its AMAZING!!! TRUELY AMAZING! this is a girls and guys book. Guys may like it more probably but I know MANY girls who love it as well! The political, emotional and detailed depth of this book is stunning! You'll be thinking about this story long after you've read it!

Book # 3 this week:

The Magic Study: Sequel the The Poison Study. This book is good but not as good as the first one, in my opinion. But still quite amazing! Not as much thrill and "sneakiness" as the first one but it's enough to keep you reading. I read it in less than a day. I get a little obsessive about books and storys sometimes. They become real for me and I have to know what happens.

Book # 4 this week:

Enders Shadow: HOLY COW this book should have won the Nobel Peace Prize or something! (Well not really but this book should be noted for being completely and irrevocably AWESOME). This book is kind of like a companion book to Enders Game. It's the same story but from a different characters point of view. The characters name is Bean and I kid you not, when you read this book, you literally feel like you're reading the mind of a boy genius (Bean being the genius). How he over annalyses and critiques everything from such a subtle but genius perspective is ASTOUNDING! it's like poetry! So indepth that I can barely understand his thought processes! Well obviously I can or else I wouldn't still read it, but it's really really amazing how the Author has translated Bean's brillance to words of paper! Read Enders Game, and then read this! Definitely going on my top 10 Book list!

So there you have it! That's basically my life in a nutshell the past week! I hope if you're looking for a book you'll maybe try to read one of these! Reading is awesome! OH and if you are a book lover, go to goodreads.com and sign up and add me as a friend! we can compare books we've read and recommended some to each other! it's a fun site!