Pick-Me-Up

Today was one of those days that I needed something to lift my spirits. Today I decided to (...wait for it...) fill out and submit an application for my first "real-world" job.  After submitting the application, something inside of me just felt worried, nervous, and alone.  Today was a big step for me, and a scary step.  

I needed something to take my mind off of everything.  Here are a few of my favorite things to do when I am unsettled and need a little escape: 

1. Watch my favorite TV shows. Usually, that consists of Criminal Minds, Mad Men, Grey's Anatomy, Pretty Little Liars, Boy Meets World, Friends, Real Housewives of OC, NJ, or Beverly Hills...the list goes on.  Usually I try to watch something I know I love that will take my mind off of everything. I try to stray from anything too scary (think: The Walking Dead) because that usually makes me feel worse. 

2. Take a bubble bath & read a page-turner. Reading is one of my favorite things to do, and what can make you feel more luxurious than a nice, hot bubble bath?  Whenever I've had a rough day, I always grab whatever bubble bath I have on hand (I try to use very relaxing scents like lavender or vanilla/honey), fill my tub up with bath salts (World Market usually has good options for a fair price), light a few candles, turn on some relaxing music (usually Jewel on Pandora), and relax in my tub with my favorite book.  I always feel so refreshed, relaxed, and clean afterward! 

3. Give myself a mani-pedi. This one is really pretty self-explanatory. What girl doesn't instantly feel 100x prettier when she has pretty hands and toes? I know I do! And with spring break here...I need something to make my toes sandal ready! 

4. Finally, have a really good workout. Elle Woods says it best: "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands. They just don't."  While I may not feel like working out sometimes, after I walk out of that gym I feel so much happier and more productive than I did before I got there.  It is proven that if you work out you will have more productivity, so even if you have what seems to be a thousand other things you "should" be doing -- spending one hour in the gym could actually jump start that productivity! Interesting huh?! See, there are no excuses! I'm the world's worst about giving excuses when I really, really need to do something, but I'm working on it! 

5. PRAY. But that's a given. Even when I don't need a pick me up.  Jesus should be you "favorite conversation" of the day...no matter the subject.

What do YOU do when you need a pick me upper? I would love to hear your ideas? 

Hope you're having a blessed spring break! 

Love, 

Me

Fearful

We all have fears.  Fear lies in every part of our lives whether it be fear of failure, fear of losing someone or something important to you, or simply fear of spiders.  You name it, and there probably is a phobia for it.  Fear is inevitable. 

For me, my biggest fear at the moment is that someway, somehow, I won't be able to graduate.  I've been looking forward to completing my degree ever since I was accepted.  I am so fearful that I won't get that opportunity.  I graduate (or plan to) in May, and I have so much ahead of me after graduation. 

While looking through my Bible today and spending time with our Lord I realized that there is no reason to be fearful...HE has my life planned out for me. He knows where my life is headed better than I do, so who am I to try and fight that?    

 

Whenever I'm fearful and anxious about the future Lovebug reminds me to: "Let go, Let God." That could not be more evident. God knows what He wants for our lives even if it's not necessarily what we thought we wanted for ourselves. 

Hope this finds you in the happiest of places. 

Love, Me

Celebratory Weekend

Things seem to have finally calmed down, or maybe I'm the one that's been calmed. I finally feel like I'm in such a great place.  One of my roommates, I will call her Sabrina*, turned...wait for it...twenty-one years old on Friday and we spent the weekend celebrating her big day because, honestly, just having one day to celebrate your birthday just isn't quite enough.

On Thursday we had a roommates' dinner at one of our favorite steakhouses, after dinner Kelly* and I (not-so-secretly) ran out of the house to get cupcake ingredients and decorations for her big day...Sabrina wanted to go to Walmart with us, but we didn't want her to since we were surprising her & decorating her door and other parts of the house.  

Kelly and I woke up at 6 on Friday morning and decorated her door with streamers as well as the doorways into the hall and dining room, and we even decorated one of our chairs to be the designated "Birthday Girl Chair." Kelly then made Sabrina some delicious breakfast tacos and after breakfast we made her some chocolate cupcakes for dinner that night. After the cupcakes were done baking, we each went and got ready for dinner.  Eventually, Lovebug got into town and we were off to Cheddar's for a celebratory dinner. Sabrina ordered her first legal drink and we just had a dinner filled with laughs and good times. After dinner we came back to our house and sat around talking and enjoying each other's company. Pretty shortly after we got home, two guy-friends of Sabrina's, Alex and Shane, surprised her by coming into town from Austin. We stayed up until 2 a.m. playing a game called Fish Bowl and then Catch Phrase.

Saturday, we spent the day helping Sabrina's parents prepare for the party. Sabrina's dad, brother, and my Lovebug spent most of the day outside by the pit smoking an insane about of ribs while the rest of us were inside either cleaning or (my personal favorite) playing catch phrase. The party came and went and, needless to say, it went off without a hitch. It was great to see how many people had shown up to celebrate one of my best friend's birthdays. After the party, we decided that we would go out to Northgate to "properly" celebrate Sabrina's big day. It really was so much fun.

We didn't get home until about 3 a.m. that night (we had to take the "tourists" to see what Fuego was all about). We made sure that everyone had a place to sleep and then Lovebug and I went to bed. But, we stayed up until about 5:30 talking about the night, life, us, the future, and everything in between. Do you ever have those moments of clarity and realize that you are exactly where you are meant to be? During our conversation I had my moment. If it was possible, I fell even more in love with him this weekend because of how he treated my friends when he knew how much they meant to me. I feel like I hardly got to spend some one on one time with him this weekend because we were both so busy celebrating Sabrina's birthday to focus on us and that was okay with me. It's not always about him and me and our relationship.

It was a weekend for the record books. I loved every second of it because of the people that I shared it with. My friends. My people.

Hope y'all are enjoying this week!
As always,
I love y'all!
M

*These are both names that my roommates have mistakenly been called by people they've just met. 

Keep Your Head Up

My goodness! I have been in such a funk lately, and I honestly can't quite pinpoint the reason that I started to feel like this.  I think that it's been an accumulation of things: being in a long distance relationship, realizing that this is my last semester of college (undergrad at least), not being happy or satisfied at my job, still going through some family stuff, AND to top it off while I was back home the cedar count was crazy high so I had allergies unlike any other and that put me in a "funk" -- add all that up and here I am. 

I know that I'm blessed beyond measure, but sometimes I let the small things get to me and don't handle things in the manner I should. That's when things get bad and I'm the world's worst (...or best?) hermit and I hold everything in until I reach my breaking point...BUT I also am so easy to read and I wear my emotions on my sleeve. 

That is...until now. 

I'm going to try to get better at handling my emotions and stop letting the little things knock me down. I've got too much to live for, and holding on to the small things that are out of my control (living long distance until May, being my last semester of college, and my family's stuff) isn't going to make things better. 

There it is...my last self-pitying post.  Last time I am going to bring myself down by things that are out of my control because I have a God that will handle those things for me! 

It's not going to be easy, but I'm going to work hard at being a happier, less-burdened individual and become "Intentionally Focused." (read this website to find out what that means!)

As always, I wish you nothing but happiness and love! 

xo, 

M

My 2014 Resolutions

I love the feeling of a fresh start at the beginning of a new year. I believe wholeheartedly that everyone should do their best to better themselves everyday; not just at the start of a new year, but at the start of every new day we are blessed with. I do think that a new year is a good place to start -- not to become a new person, but to be a better me.   

That is the basis of my New Year Resolutions. I think that all of my Resolutions (with the exception of the last one) are all things that I can work on every. single. day. 

My Resolutions are: 

1. Stay more committed to my studies. Strive to make A's in every class. 

I think that every college student has this goal at the start of every semester, but this semester in particular for me has a heavier weight on it. I'm taking 17 hours as well as doing my online teacher certification, working 13.5 hours each week, and volunteering at a local elementary school. With this being my last semester of college I am going to do my best to stay on top of my schoolwork.  I am most definitely guilty of starting the school year out strong and then slacking off after the first test week and stressing throughout the rest of the semester when I'm trying to catch up. I hope that this semester is different. 

2. Stay active and devoted to my health.

I have a kind of love/hate relationship with the gym and I have a really big love of carbs and sweets. With that being said, I often ditch going to the gym and go to dinner with my friends instead. With that, I often put on pounds instead of losing them. This cycle makes me feel worse about myself and lowers my self-esteem. This is a completely vain and selfish point of view, I agree, but I think that when I'm healthier and feel good in my own skin I do feel that I'm happier. 

3. Focus more on my relationship. 

I am beyond blessed to have found someone like Lovebug, and I have realized that I don't appreciate him nearly enough. I know he knows that I love him, but I don't always voice how appreciative I am of him and the little things that he does for me every single day. He treats me like a princess (very cliche...but it's true!) and in return I should treat him like a prince, right? On Saturday the 4th we will have been together four years (!!!!!) and we no longer have that fun, new relationship we had in the beginning, but we have something so much more substantial and meaningful and I hope to let him know everyday how happy he makes me. 

4. Strengthen my relationship with Christ. 

I think that all of us can stand to strengthen our relationship with Christ. He gave us His one and only son so that we can all be saved and spend eternity with Him...can you imagine a love like that?! I know, without a doubt, that there is nothing as selfless as that. I hope to strengthen my relationship with Him more in this year. His love will never let me down, and He has the power to protect me and save me unlike anything in this world. His love is never ending and I hope to live more like Him. That is something I will have to work on everyday.  

One of my favorite quotes is "Don't shine so that others can see you. Shine so that, through you, others can see Him." That is completely true! As Christians, we need to be overflowing with our love of our Lord! We should be glowing so much that people who don't know Christ will seek to build a relationship with Him! Isn't that really, truly the best gift of all? 

5. Lastly, I hope to travel more this year.

As much as I wish that I had the money, time, and ability to, I cannot travel everyday. So this is more of a goal of mine this year. I hope that I am able to travel more this year. Since I'm graduating this year and I won't start teaching until August, I have the summer to travel and explore. I will have to save up exponentially to go to all of the places that I would like to go, but I pray that my travel plans will all work out. 

There are my plans for the year, and I know that I will have to work everyday to keep up with these resolutions. What are your New Year Resolutions? 

With all my love, 

M.