5 Happy Things for Today

1. Long heart-to-heart talks with my Momma
2. Cheerwine at breakfast
3. Ordering a McDonald’s Happy Meal for myself at age 27 just to get the Strawberry Shortcake toy
4. Finding the perfect embroidered white shirt on sale
5. Laughing and singing in the car with my family

You know, I’m recognizing that I have a pretty great life. Nothing is ideal, and nothing is meeting my “expectations.” But you know what? Expectations are just that… expectations. You can’t live life based on expectations. You have to live life based upon the here and the now, muddling through all the messy, awful stuff to see the joy and beauty in the small things. Accepting whatever comes your way with grace and with peace. Learning to love others as Christ loves… not expecting anything in return and definitely not thinking about what “I” can get from it. 

Think about it. We cannot change our circumstances. We cannot change our past mistakes. We cannot change the fact that pain and heartache ARE going to come into our lives. What we CAN control is how we respond to all the bad things and how we respond to people when they hurt us.

I, for one, am going to choose to open myself up and take it ALL in - the good, the excellent, the bad, the terrible, all of it. I accept it as a gift. And it is. Because it is part of life.

And life is a gift. 

Making Me Feel

Recently I have been struggling with the type of person that I have become. I do not acknowledge my emotions, and I insist on being logical and reasonable over being the dirty "e" word - emotional.

And it is starting to cause problems in my relationships and in the way I treat myself and approach problems.

And it's time to stop.

I am naturally a very emotional person. I feel things very strongly, and I am naturally a very passionate person. But something has changed in the past few years, and I continuously shove down my emotions and try to push away people who get "too close" to me.

It's incredibly unhealthy, and it's crippling me.

So I'm changing. I've been talking to a friend of mine who is very intuitive and is able to help me see myself clearly. So step 1 is well on it's way. I've also started trying to find inspiration online to help myself look at things more emotionally and learn to process emotions in a healthy way.

Here's some of the awesome quotes I've seen around:

"The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind." - Caroline Myss

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new." - Socrates

"The best way to find out if you can trust someone is to trust them." - Ernest Hemingway

"Fear does not stop death. It stops life." - Unknown

Planning for Summer!

This summer is (hopefully) going to bring a LOT of changes in my life:

• New job (still looking, but I know something will come open)
• Getting my own apartment again
• Decorating said apartment
• Traveling some

I've also been thinking about some new hobbies that I would like to start:

• Photography (need to get a camera other than a point and shoot)
• Dancing (I very much want to learn salsa!)
• Cooking more. (I know how to cook, but I rarely do it. And I have soooo many recipes pinned to my Food Obsession board on Pinterest!
• Running (I know. I know. I hate running. I really do. But I always dream that I am running, and I know I would get a rockin' and in-shape body if I would do it!)
• Writing (I need to get back into this. Either writing fiction, poetry, or research article. I don't care. I just need to write!)

And those are just the things I can think of off the top of my head.

What about you? What are you looking forward to this summer? And what new things would you like to learn?

Winter Blues

It's been a strange few weeks. Stressful in some ways, completely unremarkable in others. Had to go to the doctor last week for a hormone imbalance, and the prescription I'm on now is "working," but I'm in a pretty bad mood because of it. I'm tired of feeling tired, so hopefully I'll get all this crap worked out soon. I'm tired of trying to be positive about everything.I really dislike winter. And I dislike having so little privacy and space of my own right now.

Started my job search this past week as well. This current job ends probably in May, so I'm trying to get something lined up before then. It's a little discouraging to see how the job market looks. I think I'm going to have to just get face time with potential employers and convince them that they need me, even if they don't have a position open at the time. ;) I need to get more energy and positivity before I can put myself in that mindset though. Whew!

I've been making little crafty things every now and then. But crafting is an expensive hobby! haha! Especially when I'm having to rebuild my craft supply stash.

This past year was really hard in so many ways, and I'm ready for some happiness. I know that you make your own happiness in many ways, but I don't quite know the secret right now. If you have any tips, let me know.

I know this is a random post, but it is what it is.

Look! I have a doppleganger!

I’ve always tried to find someone that I look like and have never been able to find anyone that I thought was close enought to me. However, a friend of mine mentioned that I look like the British tv actress and singer, Martine McCutcheon.

Well, you be the judge.

This is me…

And this is Martine McCutcheon…

Close enough for me! I now have a doppleganger!

Happy New Year!

New year, fresh start.

2011 brought lots of changes to my life.

I ended a 3.5 year relationship. I started a new relationship. I graduated law school, studied for the GA bar exam, started my new job, passed the bar exam, was sworn in to the court system, ended a relationship (on good terms! no worries!), began re-energizing my relationship with my Lord Jesus Christ, and re-learned that I love crafting.

It's been a busy year to say the least.

But I feel like I am making some extremely positive changes, and I feel more excited about life than I have been for a while. The sky is my limit! haha!

I've been thinking about what my New Year's resolutions are. And I've also been thinking about the concept of resolutions in general. Most people say they don't make resolutions because they always break them. Well, making a resolution means that you are resolving to do something. We resolve to do things all the time. So why is it so hard to make New Year's resolutions and actually keep them? Maybe we shoot too high. Maybe we don't take it seriously. Maybe we expect that we are going to fail, so we don't give it as much effort from the beginning as we should.

Now, if any of you know me at all, you know that I am a very stubborn person. Once I make up my mind that I want something or I am going to do a certain thing, I usually follow through. So, this year, I have made resolutions. Not any of those weak "do better, try harder" types of resolutions. I have resolved my stubborn will to accomplish these three things. (Just three! Not too difficult!)

1. Lose 20 lbs by July. I've slowly inched up the scale for the past few years. It's time to make a lifestyle change. I resolve to be healthy.
2. Stop putting off learning new things. I've been saying for years that I want to learn to sing, I want to learn to fluently speak a foreign language, or I want to take up piano playing again. My resolution is to stop saying these in future tense. When I want to learn to do something, I don't put it off. I start learning it THEN.
3. Live every day as if the only thing that matters is to be closer to God. I let school and relationships get in the way of that so many times in the past. God deserves more than a couple minutes a day from me. He deserves my all. So, I resolve to take every step as a step towards intimacy with God. If something is leading me away from time with Him, then I stop that activity. I've already been on my way to getting back to where I need to be with Him, and I can't wait to see where this journey takes me in the future.

So. That's my plan for this year. I'm excited!

Did you make resolutions? What did you decide?

Poor Wayfaring Stranger

Poor Wayfaring Stranger - Peter Hollens - Feat. Swingle Singers - A cappella cover - Beatbox

This song is amazing. I'm always in awe of what the human voice can do and the sounds we can make. The harmonies in this song give me chills, and the range that the female singer has is so beautiful. I think one of her highest notes in actually mixed into the harmony towards the end.

My favorite lyrics of this song:

I want to wear a crown of Glory
When I get home to that good land.
I want to shout Salvation's story
In concert with the Blood-Washed Band.

I'm going there to meet my Saviour,
To sing his praise forever more.
I'm just a going over Jordan.
I'm just a going over home.

Enjoy! :)

Book Review: On Folly Beach by Karen White

"Folly Beach, South Carolina, has survived despite hurricanes and war. But it's the personal battles of Folly Beach's residents that have left the most scars, and why a young widow has been beckoned there to heal her own...." (via Barnes&Noble)

On Folly Beach by Karen White follows the story of two women: Emmy - a modern day woman who has just lost her husband in Iraq, and Maggie - a woman who survived WWII and the heartache that came with it. Their lives intersect when Emmy buys Maggie's bookstore, Folly's Finds at Folly Beach, SC, and moves from the midwest down to the Coastal South. She is haunted by her own memories and ghosts even as she discovers Maggie's ghosts as well. Emmy reveals Maggie's past through unsigned notes written in old books. Love, war, passion, heartbreak, betrayal, espionage, deception, and grief filter throughout the entire stories of both Maggie and Emmy.

History buffs will enjoy the story since it talks about German U-boat activity in the Atlantic during WWII and also about the Duquesne Spy Ring. The writer takes some liberty with history to make it more real for the story, but the basic facts stay the same.

This book touches on some of the hardest human emotions, and ultimately, it is about learning to let go, grieve, and then move on with your life. It is tragic at times and heartwarming at others. But overall, you leave the story feeling like you have glimpsed into the heart of human existence - love and loyalty between two human beings.

On Folly Beach is potentially the best novel I have read in a very long time. I would highly recommend it to any reader. It was incredibly well written and poignant.

I doubt that I will ever forget this story.

Things I Want to Do This Autumn

• have a bonfire
• go to a cornmaze
• hike to a waterfall
• visit the mountains
• watch Hocus Pocus, The Village, Sleepy Hollow, and other not-so-scary scary movies
• make pumpkin muffins
• press colorful leaves
• make a quilt
• buy a pair of heeled oxfords
• go to a fair
• and other seasonally appropriate things. <3

It’s like a 5-yr-old girl’s birthday party exploded and reformed as a cake.

We had a fall festival at my church tonight and had a cake auction. I signed up to make a cake, thinking I would create some sophisticated and decadent glory of a cake.
Instead, I ended up making a strawberry boxed cake with canned frosting. Oh well. It’s the thought that counts, right?

Anyway, this is the finished product. It’s so magically beautiful.



I’ve heard that it looks like unicorn poop, confetti, an exploded birthday party, and “junk” (according to my sister Julie). But I love it. And if I had given myself more time to work on it, I would have even covered the sides with multi-colored sprinkles.

This is my cake. I regret nothing.