Despite all the craziness that's going on in my life, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on how amazing life is, and how I'm truly blessed.

To do so, I want to premise that I didn't learn how to ride a bicycle until my first night at )'(.

Here's a short breakdown of the timeline for how I learned...

Phil lent me his BMX bike because he knew I needed one for the playa. It was short enough so that my feet could touch the ground -- I was too scared for anything taller.

The bestie, Shawn (@shawn__jun), then helped me fix the bike's brakes. Shawn also taught me how to ride in circles around my neighborhood on it, because he didn't want his best friend to die in the desert from her lack of ability to ride a bicycle.

One of my close friends from college, Rob, on a spur of the moment road trip from Massachusetts to California to Iowa, spent an entire night watching The West Wing DVDs with me & helping me customize my bike -- everything from the funny faux fur to the basket to the crazy spinning lights. That darn basket took so much effort to attach, but we did it!

Jon (@jonhsiung) helped me fix up the bike, and offered up his car to transport it, nearly missing a seminar he had to teach. Jon, having the most knowledge out of anyone I've ever met about moving vehicles, offered his expertise and helped me make sure my bike was safe for the road.

On my first night on the playa, Tim (@timwut) & Khoa & Thong & Haz (@haztan) helped me on my first ever playa bike ride. I was sweating bullets, to say the least. I was nervous as hell...but with the guidance of good friends, I successfully made it to Center Camp.
Then, day 2 on the playa, Wayne spent the entire day making sure I didn't die from exhaustion on the most epic journey I've ever been on in my life .... to the "edge of the world." A 3.5 hour bike ride from Camp No Cure to Center Camp to the Temple of Flux to the perimeter. I did it. And I met some pretty ridiculously amazing people along the way....

Yesterday I was gifted a really great bicycle by a woman who knew I needed a bike for this year's )'(. Thank you Celeste (@celestronica)!! I can't believe that via Twitter I was able to secure myself a method of transportation for this year's burn. I am so grateful. <3

I seriously have some amazing friends, and I've honestly been super lucky with some of the opportunities that have come my way. Life is full of amazing treats.

People + kindness = this world is indeed a beautiful place.

And that my friends, is simply wonderful.