My Life

Change is inevitable. Whether we deal with it in family life, work life, school life or your love life, change is something you can count on. Now if you’re anything like me, you don’t like change.

I’m a person who likes routine, almost to a fault. I know what I like at Starbucks, so I continually get the same thing. I know that I can count on Target to have things I like, so I go there. I know that my nail salon does my nails the way I like it, so I don’t venture out to other places. Yes, I like my routine.

You can ask my parents or siblings, or even my bestie, I don’t handle change all that well. In fact, I usually try to do everything I can to avoid it. However, as you all know, it’s inevitable…..

When my accident happened two months ago {story here}, this was the last thing that was in my plan. Having doctor appointment after doctor appointment wasn’t what I had in mind for the month of September. Getting three MRIs, two blood tests, an EKG, among other tests wasn’t a dream of mine. Not being able to drive and go through constant pain had never crossed my mind. Ever. All of these definitely have brought change into my life.

I’ll be the first to admit, recently my attitude about all of this hasn’t been that great. Okay, it’s been downright horrible. I’ve been wrestling with God as to why this is happening. I’m fairly certain I would be able to fill bathtubs with the amount of tears I have shed. I could go head-to-head with T. Swift on writing songs right about now.

This accident has changed me at my core. I’ve learned that each day really isn’t guaranteed. I’ve re-learned that change brings out what is inside and I still have a lot to work on. I’ve learned that while change may bring unpleasant things, there ARE still things to be grateful for and good can come from it. While I don’t know the reason for all of this, I am confident that God has a reason and someday {hopefully} I can help others who are going through difficult times.

Are you dealing with change? If so, how are you dealing with it, or how have you? I would love to hear from you all. Not only do you inspire me, you inspire the other PPP blog readers.

P.S. I had plans for this blog in December, but those have been put on hold…..for now. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to do it in 2013, but we shall see. One step at a time, right? :) 

Faith…..it’s a tough subject.

After my accident almost seven weeks ago {story here}, my faith has been tested quite a bit. Right after the accident, the first thing I felt was gratefulness to be alive. There’s no doubt about it, it’s a miracle I’m alive. Even if you don’t consider yourself a religious person, it’s hard to deny this truth.

About a week after the accident, a pain I’ve never felt started to set in. At first it wasn’t all that bad, and then it got perpetually worse. I couldn’t move my neck, could barely function and not to mention I was having panic attacks and couldn’t drive for a month. During this time, I started feeling discouraged and depressed. Why would God allow this to happen to me? Life was just starting to get to a place where I felt like things were going smoothly. After nine months of insomnia, a break up, death in the family, along with other things, I was excited that things were starting to look up…..and then this happened.

You know I try to be as honest as possible here on the blog. I hate to admit this, but MANY of my prayers after the accident went like this, “God, why would you allow this?”, “Why do I have to go through this pain, it would have been so much better to have died.”, “I’ve been living my life for You, why me?”.

Shortly after the accident, a song was playing that has stood out to me. I’ve sung this song in church for months, but after everything, it’s gone to the depth of my heart. “My flesh may fail, my God you never will”. My flesh DID fail but my God has been faithful through it all. He has given me just enough strength for each day. He has provided numerous ways to show His love through all of this. He has used many people to bless and encourage me. He’s taught me it’s OKAY to ask for help, it’s okay to be vulnerable and rely on people. There have been countless blessings that have occurred because of this.

After my battle with discouragement and struggling with my faith, God has shown Himself faithful to me. He has been healing me and has provided the finances/ insurance to help with some of the bills. He has restored my passion for life and given me new joy and excitement to pursue things I’ve had dreams for. Things I was way too scared to try before, I’m starting to take steps to do them. The accident has made me realize the term “YOLO” is so true. You only live once.

I’m sure down the road, there will be another chapter in this story. For now, this is where it ends. Some of you may be going through tough times, whether it be physically, emotionally, financially….I want you to know it’s going to be okay. Call out to Jesus, He is so faithful.

If you have a prayer request, or questions, feel free to leave a comment below or you can email me. {Click the about button at the top} I hope this encouraged you. I know this was a long post, so I’m going to wrap this up.

Big hugs to you, sweet blog friends.

Hi all!

Today I have a MRI scheduled, so I’d appreciate prayers, happy thoughts, etc…. out of everything so far, this is the thing that scares me the most. I’m hoping it turns out “normal”, but then again, if it does, we’re onto more tests and such. I was hoping that almost three weeks in I’d have a few more answers… definitely learning patience in all of this.

Two weeks ago, while I was laying with a heat pack on my neck, I came up with this little list of things I’ve learned recently. It’s rather humorous (well, I think it is)– hopefully you can get a laugh out of it. :)

• There’s a channel dedicated to game shows. Family Feud may have been watched for three consecutive hours a few days in a row.
• There are still good people out there. So thankful those who found me were caring and nice!
• Heat and ice packs don’t get the credit they deserve. Lifesavers for sure.
• Popsicles make you forget your pain for approximately 4 minutes.
• Even after eating pizza 6 days in a row, I still wasn’t sick of it.
• Holding your neck up takes quite a bit of energy and muscle.
• There is no such thing as too many naps.
• Getting an EKG done reminds me of getting a car battery jumped.
• There are some good looking paramedics out there. Just putting that out there.
• Doctor visits sometimes bring more frustration than answers.
• You can have the best nurse and doctor in the world, but it still isn’t fun to see them.
• My sense of humor has not diminished….if anything, it’s gotten worse.
• My OCD stays intact even when I’m in pain. I may have seen things on the floor and pulled out the vacuum. It took all my energy, but it was bothering me to no end.
• Your true friends are made known during difficult times.

Yes, this was completely random. I guess that’s a little glimpse into my personality. My real life friends know I can be super random sometimes. Occasionally they’ll just laugh when I bring up an off-the-wall thought or comment. :)

Question: what is something you’ve learned recently? I can’t wait to read your lists! Thanks for sticking with me in this post. I promise, the next one won’t be so random!

You all know, I write from the heart. Whether it be something I’ve struggled with in the past, things I’m going through now, I lay it out there. Sometimes I feel vulnerable putting myself “out there” like I do, but then it is those times when I get the emails and comments saying what I’ve written has helped someone, or that they can relate to me. Hearing how my struggles/ journey has helped others has impacted me in such a big way. It’s humbling, mind boggling, amazing and crazy all wrapped into one. :)

In the past, I won’t pretend I didn’t write for the blog comments. It’s ALWAYS reassuring to get some blog love and see that someone actually reads your posts. However, lately, I’m not so much concerned with the number of comments I receive as much as what those comments are saying. Hearing “your post inspired me to _________” or “your outlook on __________ really challenged me”- THOSE are the things I strive now here on the blog. I absolutely love that I’m able to inspire people through my blogs- whether it be in my weight loss journey, crafting endeavors, or making the most out of life. My goal is to do my best to continue this. But moving deeper…..

Being at the age I am, I struggle with knowing my ultimate purpose in life. The things beyond sharing the love of Christ to those around me. Beyond being a loyal daughter/friend/sister. I’m talking about what does God have me placed on Earth to do? I know so many people around me that have felt their calling in life, but I have yet to experience that. Honestly, it’s been lingering in my mind for a couple years, but with the accident, it’s in the forefront now. It’s completely obvious that God has SOMETHING still here for me to do, or I wouldn’t have survived. The question is: what is it? Will He reveal it to me soon?

Have any of you struggled with this in the past? Or possibly you’re going through this now? Have a story on how you knew YOUR calling? While I may inspire some of you, many of YOU inspire me. :) I would LOVE to hear about your stories or even thoughts on this subject.

That’s going to wrap up this post. Big, big hugs to you all. ♥

Good morning!

I hope you all had a great weekend. I was able to get lots of crafty time in (yay!) and also went to a food truck event on Sunday, which was amazing. I used to be so hesitant of them, but now I may be a little addicted. Yummy food + great prices= a winning combo.

While I was driving the other day, a song came on the radio that stood out to me a lot. It’s the song called “Live Like That” by Sidewalk Prophets. Here is the part that really tugged at my heart:

The “points to You” part is referring to Jesus. This past year, I’ve grown so much as a person and really opened up about some of my struggles (posts found here and here and here and here). Throughout it all, I’ve had one constant in my life- Jesus. I’m constantly amazed at how He loves me, despite my flaws and can use little ‘ol me to bless others. I won’t say that life is perfect (because that is FAR from the truth), but knowing I have someone going through life with me is so reassuring.

I know I still say and do things sometimes that don’t always glorify Him, but I’m trying each day to be better at this. I hope that through my various posts, you’ll find encouragement, maybe a laugh (because we all need this sometimes!), or some crafty inspiration. And though it all, my hope it to glorify God with my words, actions and gifts.

See you tomorrow with a crafty creation!

Good morning!

This past weekend it was GORGEOUS (yes, enough to scream it) here in Washington. The sun was shining in all its glory and it was prime weather for the once-a-year Seafair event.

The bestie, little sis and I wanted to go to the actual site for Seafair, but found out it was $30 per person to get in. We contemplated paying the fee, but then decided against it. After all, it didn’t even include food AND you had to sit on the grass. Since my bestie is crazy amazing at research, she found a local park/beach area that would showcase the Blue Angels show perfectly. What’s even better? It was free. :)

Here’s a few pictures of the amazing weather we had….

  

That’s a glimpse at what my weekend was like. What did you do? Anything fun?

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll see you tomorrow for a super exciting announcement!

Good morning!

As you can see from the title, this post is touching on something personal and very real. Some of us struggle with it more than others, but I would say that everyone struggles with one (or many) in some aspect of their life.

I have held back on writing this post for a while. I felt like I needed to write it for me, but I also felt like there were some people that needed to read/ see this. Not sure who, just the Lord put it on my heart. If I’m being honest, part of me didn’t want to be THIS vulnerable and put myself out there. Sometimes I feel like I’m put on a pedestal and well, I want to show you that I face things just like all of you. The thing is, I don’t face my battles or journeys alone. Here, you can read what I’m talking about….

Over the years, I have tackled many insecurities, but I still have many more left to face. Honestly, I wonder if some of them will ever go away. The biggest ones I deal with: the way I look and what people think of me.

The first one goes back to about seven years ago. I never struggled with my weight until I turned 18 and from there it got out of control. Many of you will remember me mentioning losing 60 pounds from my heaviest and some of my fitness journey in previous posts. During this low (or rather HIGH on the scale) point in my life, I got some downright cruel remarks from people I knew. Not to mention, I got asked if I was pregnant three times in one week. This was and continues to be a hard topic for me. In the mirror, I still see and feel like the “fat girl”, even though I’ve lost quite a bit of the weight. I have heard that this happens to a lot of people when they lose a large amount of weight- however, knowing this fact doesn’t help at all.

The second insecurity: I’ve had my entire life. I feel the innate desire to be a people pleaser, almost to a fault. Not too many people don’t care what others think of them- my desire just seems to be greater than others.

All of this leads me to this point:

Don’t get me wrong, just because I know this fact, doesn’t mean I’ve conquered my insecurities. It’s actually quite the opposite. EVERY SINGLE DAY I have to remind myself of this fact. God loves ME, despite my flaws and imperfections. He knows I have insecurities and He is helping me through them. It’s a process and He is willing to walk through it with me.

It never ceases to amaze me how faithful the Lord is. I know He will help me through these struggles if I continue to see Him in all of it. While I may never fully overcome these things on this side of heaven, I’m so thankful I don’t have to go through these things alone.

My hope and prayer is that this post speaks to who it needs to. Like I said earlier, I felt like the Lord put it on my heart to write this. If you need to send me an email, there’s a button on the top right of the blog. Take care, sweet blog friends!

Hi there!

It’s been 1 1/2 weeks since my birthday and I have yet to do my birthday recap. When I was getting ready to put this post together, I realized that I hardly took any pictures. *gasp* Thankfully, my bestie took a few, so this post won’t be completely bare.

Started off the morning with an early nail appointment. Got myself a pedicure and my nails repainted. There’s nothing like freshly painted nails, especially when there’s a “party nail” on both hands!

I had the afternoon to myself, so I treated myself to a delish lunch and rested up for the busy night. My bestie and other friend told me they had some fun stuff, so I figured a quick nap would be a good idea. When we met up, they gave me this little booklet….

The things in this book were completely random, but just about all of them were outside my normal “comfort zone”. Ah, these girls just know me too well. Here’s just a sampling of what they wrote down:

• Dance on the corner of the sidewalk for 10 seconds
• Follow someone down the sidewalk for 5 blocks
• Take a picture with a group of tourists
• Try on a complete outfit assembled by Gretchen and Kalyn
• Pretend to puke inside of a trash can
• Apply the brightest possible eye shadow from Sephora

Oh goodness, this list went on and on. While I wasn’t able to complete a lot (since we started late), I did have to do some things that were embarrassing.

Now no outing with my bestie is complete without some sort of food. We went to get apps earlier in the day, we each tried a different dish and shared. I got the soft pretzels with dijon mustard- so delish!

For dinner, we went to a Mexican restaurant. It was a quaint little “hole in the wall” place. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of what I ordered, but it was pretty good! After getting embarrassed quite a bit, I worked up an appetite!

There were a few other pictures, but sadly they didn’t turn out very well. I am beyond bummed that the picture I took with Gretchen turned out horribly. However, I’m super thankful that I got a fairly good picture with my bestie, Kalyn. Love this girl to pieces. We’ve been friends for 25 years and the plan is to keep it going for another 25+! :)

Thank you from the very bottom of my heart to those sent over birthday wishes to me. You all are such gems. I am blessed to have such sweet blog followers and crafty friends.

This is going to wrap up this recap. Thanks for stopping by!