Twenty-Five.

Well Year 24 has come to an end and tomorrow I round the corner of a quarter century! Along with the ability to consume serious amounts of cake and sugar with minimal guilt, I love being able to look back on the year and recall all of the little moments that made it so special.  Lots of changes this last year, some exciting and others hard, but all necessary to bring me to where I am today.  So thankful for this life and all of the people in it, the opportunities for growth and relationships, and the One who has blessed me so abundantly each day.  Bring it on 25, I am ready for you!

Some of my favorite moments of Year 24 

Packer pre-season game in Lambeau

Country Fest with my BFF (+Luke Bryan!!)

My move to the Cities!!

New friends :)

Old friends :)

Replacement Refs. Enough Said.

Nannying this gem

Cranberry fest in Eagle River

Breakfast Dates 

Thanksgiving Festivities

Turkey Bowl 2012

Toby Keiths, duh.

Holidazzle Parade!

Christmas with Family

Happy New Year!!! 2013 

Celebrating Sarah's 21st in Vegas

Crashed Ice with friends

(Not) Our 1st Rodeo!!

Klondike Days!!

St. John trip!! 

ACMs 2013 with my cowgirls!

Celebrity Run-ins: Carrie Underwood...

Keith Urban...

Bachelorette star and fellow UW-Oshkosh Alumni...

Taylor Swift and Ryan Gosling ;)

Cinco de Mayo!

Eurotrip 2013

Cruising Lochness in Scotland

Guinness Brewery in Dublin

London!!

Mother's Day Memoir

Mother's Day always manages to sneak up on me year after year.  What was once a fun day full of flowers,  and cards, and breakfasts in bed has become instead a bittersweet reminder of all that I have lost. But I am beyond blessed to have spent 21 years with seriously the most amazing woman ever.  And I'm not even exaggerating.  Ask anyone who knew her and they would agree :) That lady loved God with every fiber of her being, a love that was constant, never faltered, despite the many hardships life threw at her.  She saw each as an opportunity to be refined, to grow closer with her Heavenly Father, and to renew her faith.  And now her faith has become her sight, while leaving behind a legacy worth sharing.  

Here are some of the things I remember most about her.  Things she taught me and I will never forget.

1. Love Jesus with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of mind, and with all of your strength.
2. It's better to have little and love much.
3. Cooking is overrated ;)
4. Be yourself, you are special just the way God made you.
5. Don't date boys, just be good friends (I think she might retract this had she known I'd still be single 20 years later;)
6. Always say please and thank you.
7. Put others first. Always.
8. Take your time and enjoy each season of life.  Don't rush through it, cherish the little things.
9. Let your beauty shine from within.
10. Smile even if you don't feel like it.
11. Encourage others. Serve others. And treat them the way you want to be treated.
12. No matter what life brings, trust in God and believe He has a beautiful plan for you.
13. Forgive others. Say your sorry.
14. If at first you fail, try again. If it's broken, tell your dad.
15. Love with a gentle spirit. Show kindness, grace, humility, and thankfulness.

Happy Mother's Day, xoxo.

Blessings

I can't believe the New Year is in full swing and we are halfway through February already.  I'll admit I've already begun to plan out my spring cleaning.  I know, I know, who makes plans to clean...but there isn't much I love more about spring than spring cleaning.  Well except maybe Shamrock Shakes. And spring break, which, let's get serious, is yet another reason I went back to school.  A girlfriends gotta get some beach time ;) Anyways, in my last post I shared my 2013 resolutions and word of the year, and promised to keep you updated on my progress...and since I'm sure you are all on the edge of your seats, anxiously waiting to hear how its going, here it is.

Other than the fact that I completely forgot what my Word of the Year was, I think it's going fairly well.

It's true. In less than a month, I had totally forgotten what word I picked to spend a whole year implementing more into my life.  Ironically (or not ironically, I'm never sure if I use that word correctly...) my word is mindfulness.  Apparently, I still have a lot of work to do.

However in my defense, with the new year came a whole lot more responsibility.  I started a new internship, picked up two more classes, and still hold two part time jobs.  Between school and work, I don't have time to be mindful.  I barely have time for the Bachelor, Friday Night Lights, or Mod Fam.

Ok it's not that bad (its really only Sean and FNL), but I still think that amidst the hours of studying, nannying, and selling the world of J.Crew, I am misusing some of my time.  Which is actually the main point of this post.  I know, who knew where this was actually going...but here we are, finally. I think.

Part of coming up with new resolutions was the realization of my need to prioritize the important things in my life.  I realized I needed to be more mindful of the way I was using my time, especially as I continued to commit to more and more things.  So where did I get off track? How have I managed to lose sight of these resolutions so quickly? Well other than the proven fact that most people abandon their resolutions by Valentine's Day, I also attribute my fault to the simple fact that I am a weak human being.  Try as we may, we can't and won't ever be perfect.  And amidst by efforts to prioritize, I have discovered a greater truth.

I was journaling today and like so many other times before, found myself writing out a prayer to my sweet Father.  I was expressing feelings of frustration in my inability to make time with Him a priority because of all of the other things going on in my life.  And that's when it hit me.  He is the One who provided all of these "things", these amazing opportunities.  It was like I was telling him, Sorry God, I just don't have time for You right now because I have so many other important things going on, yet He is the One who gave them all to me.  I found myself laughing at how ridiculous it was.  I was using the very blessings He gave me, as an excuse for my lack of time spent with Him.  Duh! God doesn't want to be top priority. He wants to be the priority.  Instead of trying with our own human strength to balance everything important in our life, we need to let go and let Him rule over all.  I'm not saying that we don't need to take responsibility over our commitments, just that we can't let the busyness of our blessings consume us and make us forget who gave them to us in the first place.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Ephesians 1: 3(NKJV)

Resolutions and Mindfulness

Another year, another opportunity to look back and remember the many blessings, hardships, and opportunities that met us along the way.  But the new year is also an opportunity to look forward and set new goals, hopes, and dreams.  I have never been much of a resolution setter...I know too many of the statistics that say most people will abandon them by Valentine's Day (which I can admit, any resolution of losing weight is completely lost as I sit on my couch alone, eating chocolates and wallowing in my own lack of a love life :).  However this year I have decided to set some attainable goals (with most credit going to my friend Krista, who is most inspiring in setting her own resolutions this year).  Guided by three categories, I made a list of physical, mental, and spiritual resolutions.  Ranging in commitment and importance, I have finally settled on 10 resolutions for 2013.  Starting small with things like "drink more water" and "get more sleep" to running a 1/2 marathon and sticking to a budget (yes, sticking to a budget is just as hard, if not more so, than training to run 13.1 miles), I am looking forward to seeing all resolutions through to completion.   

However, I don't think you can just make a list and expect it to complete itself.  So in effort to keep myself accountable, I made a nice (and if I do say so myself, quite country-chic looking) framed list of resolutions on my night stand as a daily reminder to myself. **Just another reason Pinterest is in fact, a great resource and not a waste of time...usually**. I have also just made all of you accountability partners through your willingness to read this post. You're welcome. 

While vacationing with family over the holidays, my aunt came up with a pretty fantastic idea that I have been sharing with friends ever since.  She challenged us to come up with a "word of the year", something we would commit to implementing more throughout 2013.  For example, she spent most of last year working to "inspire" others around her.  This year, my uncle is focusing on the word "rejuvenate" working towards optimal health.  Again, I think this is a great activity and I have been really thinking and praying about what word I would choose.  Today, I really felt like God put the idea of "mindfulness" on my heart.  After a little research and thought, I have finally decided that this will be my word for 2013.  To be honest, I was kind of hoping for a cooler, more important sounding word...there are so many other options like "empower, strength, inspire, fearless, thankful...", what the heck does "mindful" even mean? 

I'm glad you asked. 
mind·ful: attentive, aware, careful. 
Synonyms: heedful, thoughtful, regardful. 

Again, let me stress that this would not have been my first pick.  However, I have found a place for mindfulness in many aspects of my life.  For those of you who have known me for any length of time, you can attest to the frequency in which I lose my phone, keys, or both.  When it comes to daily tasks, I am in desperate need of more awareness and attention--being mindful of the tasks at hand!! 

On a deeper and more important level, I often tend to be selfish and self-centered.  God calls us to be mindful of the needs of others and use our time and resources to serve in His love.  This year I am committing to helping meet the needs of others and being more mindful of the concerns of those around me.  Finally I am realizing my biggest concern in the area of mindfulness is in my own spiritual life.  It is so easy to invest time and energy, emotion and hope, into things of this world, things that don't matter. We must look at life through an eternal perspective, focusing on God and what His purpose is for our lives. 

For example, I went to a yoga class yesterday, which let me stress, is entirely unrelated to the "spiritual life" I am referencing too--while some people seek a sort of spiritual experience through this sort of exercise, I simply use it as an excuse to lie on a mat with the lights off.  Anyways...during the portion of the class where we do just that, when we are suppose to be clearing our minds and letting go of any stress, I couldn't help but dwell on the fact that I had purchased a book earlier that day, even though I had just received a gift card to Barnes and Noble.  I was so annoyed with myself that I had wasted money on something I could've gotten for free (again, an area of mindfulness that could use some work...:) But in the big picture, did it really matter?! Was it really worth any bit of my emotion or worry? Not at all! Yes, it is important to be financially responsible, which coincidentally happens to be another one of my resolutions.  However it is not worth our time and energy to worry about such little things.  God has much bigger purposes for our lives, and I want to be more mindful and aware of what I am spending my time thinking about and doing on a daily basis.  

So 2013, I welcome you with high expectations and new resolutions.  I embrace you with hopes of being more mindful in the days ahead.  Happy New Year everyone :) 

XO,
S

Also--in the case of anyone who was worried, I will be returning the book and purchasing it from B&N with my gift card. :)