A newfound appreciation for water

Today started off with a bang... literally. A water pipe broke in the street right outside of our apartment, resulting in an early morning wake up and no water for getting ready. It's crazy because the night before I was pouring out our tea kettle to refill with fresh water and I thought about how much water I waste throughout the day. I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm not very water conscious, despite being in a drought right now, but it's not something I ever really thing about. I completely take advantage of the fact that I can turn on a faucet and get clean, delicious water to use to bathe, drink, and cook. Many people have to walk miles upon miles just to get buckets full of dirty water, and here I am pouring out perfectly good water that was just sitting in a kettle because I was being picky. I feel like it was a sign that this morning I woke up and had to carefully conserve the water that was left over from my water glass by my bed, and I felt a slight panic as I tried to figure out if I'd have enough water to brush my teeth and take my vitamins (again, two things that I'm so blessed to be able to do and take advantage of everyday). It didn't help that I stayed up working until 2am with the justification that that a hot shower and cups of tea in the morning would wake me up. Needless to say, it was not fun starting the day off in a zombie daze and in dire need of a shower (sorry coworkers).  Anywho, I'm feeling extra fortunate that by 1 pm I'll have ample amounts of water to wash my hands however many times I want and drink by the glassful, but from now on I'm going to try to be extra conscious of the amount of water I'm using and give silent gratitude every day for how lucky I am.

And now to end my rant, here are a few awesome links from around the web that I've been loving this week:

• These old photos show a different side to history and are a perfect example of the power of photography. 
• This Between Two Ferns interview with Obama is hilariously awkward, like they always are. I think it's awesome that Obama went onto the show and I thought he was actually really funny.
• This inspiring video about a brilliant boy from Sierra Leon brought me to tears. Not only has he taught himself how to created amazing technology from garbage (literally), but his outlook on life and how he just wants to provide for his family is so inspiring. Definitely a must watch.