A Few of My Favorite Links {#5}

Hey everyone! I hope everyone's July has been as wonderful as mine has been. I've been doing lots of much needed relaxing and spending time with loved ones. I apologize for not giving this blog the attention that I thought I would have been giving it during my time off, but I wanted to utilize my free time to spend as much time off the computer as possible. You know, making up for that personal life black hole I was trapped in back in May. (Don't worry - I'll be filling you all in on what I've been up to on my vacation later this week!)

However, my time spent on the computer these last couple weeks have not gone to waste - I've been finding some internet gems lately! Of course, I wanted to share them all with you here - when you find awesome you just have to pass it along, right?

The DOs and DO NOTs of Running Your First Marathon

This was shared with me by one of the students I work with, Cassie, who has recently started a running career of her own! I love The Oatmeal comics, and the fact that the creator of The Oatmeal is also a long-distance runner is just icing on the cake! His comics on his experience as a runner always have me rolling because they so perfectly sum up everything you go through while you train & race. I shared another comic of his last summer about running, and I laugh myself to tears each time I read it. I'm so psyched for him to come out with his book all about running!

TRANSMORMON

This short documentary highlights the life of a young transgender woman who is struggling with straying true to herself and true to her Mormon faith. It's interesting to see an individual have an internal battle such as this and how to navigate issues of making themselves happy when the things that make them the happiest are conflicting. This is definitely worth a watch and some internal reflection.

11 Things to Remember When You Think You're Not Good Enough

This article talks about how powerful positive thinking can be, which is something worth reminding ourselves over and over again. Everyone feels like they're not good enough from time to time. It's nice to keep these things in mind when those times do come around and haunt us.

Raju the Crying Elephant is Happy

Raju and his new friend Phoolkali!

It's heartbreaking knowing that many animals are still treated the way Raju was treated in many parts of the world today, but having stories like these definitely raises awareness of this major issue. Elephants are my absolutely favorite animal (as I've mentioned many times before) and knowing that there are organizations out there like Wildlife SOS working to help these animals gives me such joy - and it's so heartwarming to see that Raju can finally be happy after 50 years of captivity! :)

23 Reasons We Need to Save Elephants

So much good buzz about elephant preservation lately! This article outlines some fun facts about elephants and why they're so important as a species to humans, some of which I had no idea about (like the fact that elephants should have a 96% risk of cancer, but only have a 3% risk... what?!). It also made me really want to go visit the Hope Elephants in Maine. It's only a few hours away from me and would make an amazing little road trip! :)

Awkward Moments After Wisdom Tooth Surgery

The fact that this popped up on my News Feed kind of terrified me, because well... I'm getting my wisdom teeth out in a few short weeks. I really hope my loved ones are nice enough to not film me for the whole world to see online! (Maybe I can bribe them with cookies or something?) But at the end of the day, I have to admit that these are pretty hilarious!
What links have you been loving lately?