Thanks

Every single day I try to make an effort to recognize my blessings, but especially on this day, I see so much that I have to be thankful for.  

Parents that love each other after 25 years of marriage.

My mom, who does so much for our family without ever complaining.

My dad, whose stories and laughter never leave a dull moment.

Grandparents who after 50 + years of marriage still tease each other and hold hands like they are newlyweds.

My brother, because he brings so much joy to my life.

My sister, because watching her grow up is one of the greatest things that I have been a part of.

My small group: I have been longing for fellowship for the last 4 years at school, and I finally found it and it feels so good. I am so blessed to have all of them in my life and I am so excited to see how our relationships continue to grow in the next year.

The beautiful weather today.  

Arrested Development marathons.

A job that I really do love.  

I have so much to be thankful for in my life and I thank God everyday for his continued faithfulness.

Enjoy your families & friends today and everyday.

To Live in the Country

Apple cider, crunchy leaves, crispy cool nights, sleeping with blankets piled high so I can have the windows open, pumpkin, & late night mugs of decaf coffee.  It's Fall!

Every fall I get a mad desire to live in the country.  

Living in South Dakota, I have been so blessed to have the country so close to me that I often take it for granted.  I was recently reminded about the beauty and rawness of living in the country. 

What I Love About the Country:

1. The smell (fresh hay, cows, grass, all of it)

2. Best view of all thunderstorms (which I also love)

3. Stargazing

4. Tranquil

5. Gravel roads

6. Perfectly straight rows of crops

7. Early morning chores

8. Black coffee (city folk are weak when it comes to coffee)

9. Wearing cowboy boots for real reasons (not just country music concerts)

10. Belt buckles & cowboy hats

11. Farmers in their Wranglers

12. Barns (red ones, of course)

13. Simplicity

14. Gardens and hearty home-cooked meals

15. Front porches, rocking chairs, & sunsets

16. Plaid & flannel

17. Aprons

18. Big families

19. Tractors

20. Big picture windows with no need for curtains

To live in the country would be one of the greatest blessings in my life.

Maybe someday.

"One gets, sensitive about losing mornings after getting a little used to them with living in a country. Each one of these endlessly varied daybreaks is an opera but once performed."
      - Nathaniel Parker Willis 

I'm Back

I was so excited for this blog when I first started it shortly after my birthday, but now it has been several months since I have done anything with it.  Lots of stuff has been happening in my life and I think it's time to try and fit blogging more regularly into my life.

Updates:
1. I have started my job at Sanford Children's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and I absolutely love it.  I will be off orientation in 3 weeks and then I will be a real nurse all by myself (scary, but so exciting).

2. I am living in a beautiful house that I am renting from one of my mom's co-workers. It is such a blessing. and the best part is that it is only 2 block fro the hospital so I can walk to work.

3. I have found a new church home in Sioux Falls and a wonderful small group to be a part of.

4. It is much more difficult to be back home in South Dakota than I thought it would, but I am finally finding my place here and I am loving being here so much.

When I first started my blog I came up with a list of 22 things to do while I am 22.  In the upcoming days, I will give you an update on how I am doing at accomplishing my list.

There are so many topics that I want to touch on here, so hopefully all of these topics will give me plenty of stuff to write about for a few weeks.

Until I can write a more substantial post, please enjoy my most favorite blogs written by Godly women with a real life perspective.

A Deeper Story

Girl Meets Life

Lauren Dubinsky

Good Women Project

Good Night.

Ladder of Pride

Church was very challenging this morning.  We are continuing on with our One Month to Live Challenge and today we talked about Learning Humbly.

Pastor Jerry's illustration was that when we think we are better than someone else, we climb a rung on the ladder to get closer to God & His greatness.  We continually think that we are the greatest, when actually, God is the greatest.  During church, I realized that I am a very proud person.  I constantly find myself climbing rungs of the ladder thinking that I am better than someone else because "I don't talk about myself as much as she does" or "I am going to make a better nurse, because I care more" or "I am a better person because I don't participate in that" etc etc. 

This week, I want to be like a child.  I want to be helpless and completely dependent on God.  I don't want to climb any ladders this week and I don't want to think I am better than someone else.

I also want to love the "unlovables" in my life, COMPLETELY.  We all have those people in our lives that get under our skin and drive us crazy, this week, I want to love those people in my life.  I don't want to make snarky comments to them, I don't want to gossip about them, and I want to acknowledge their existence in my life and be thankful for what they have taught me. 

This will not be an easy task, but here's to change.

One Month to Live Challenge

I have been back from Florida for a week and I am getting reacclimated to the chilly weather and snow, but oh how I wish I was still being a beach bum. 

The 2 adorable girls I spent the week in Florida with.

This was beach day (Charlie is in the background building his kelp castle)

At church on Sunday we started a new sermon series based on the book "One Month to Live."  With this sermon series, we are doing different challenge groups/Bible studies to correspond with the sermon series and the book.  I am taking the One Month to Live challenge.  The premise is that you evaluate your life and decide what you want to change about your life before you die and then live the next month as if it were your last. 

Since I started the challenge, I have started to evaluate my life and decide what I would like to change in my life and what things I want to truly accomplish in my lifetime. 

The first thing that I have come up with is that I want to start Owning It.  After reading Kayla's blog post, I was so inspired to own everything in my life from my thoughts to my actions to my decisions.

Today, I am owning many things, some of which include:

• Trying to lose weight during this "session" of Weight Watchers has been discouraging because after 10 weeks, I have not seen the results that I want, but I am going to be better.  I am going to make better decisions and make time work out, even if it means a little less sleeping in time on a Saturday morning. I own my current weight and I own my desire to lose weight.
•  I have little motivation for school work and as much as I hate it, I have been resorting to the "enough to get by" mentality.  I own my lack of motivation and I am going to try and put more effort in the last few weeks.

I was also inspired to not be such a people pleaser.  I need to not be afraid to say "Sorry I'm Not Sorry."

In the next 30 days, I only want to feel sorry for the things I truly need to be sorry for and not for not pleasing every person in my life. 

In the next 30 days I want to be more willing to spend time with friends, even if it means foregoing my 10:30pm bedtime or sacrificing a little "me time" on Saturdays.  I want to make the most of my days left here in college, and there's no better time to start than now. 

As I have been thinking about what I want to accomplish in my lifetime, I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing more that I want in my life than to be a wife and a mommy.  Now, I know that this obviously will not happen within the next 30 days, but I can start preparing my heart and my life to meet my husband so that I can be the best wife that I know how to be.  I know that God has placed this intense desire in my heart for a reason, and I am so excited to see how He fulfills his plans for me.

I will update on my 30 Day Challenge as I start meeting with my challenge group and we get into some really deep issues.

Airplane Rides

Spring Break is here and I am in Florida!  It amazes me that just being in warm, sunny weather improves my outlook on life so much.

I really enjoy traveling/flying.  When I am flying, I do not like sitting on the aisle, but for both of my Saturday flights, I was blessed with aisle seats.  On the flight from Escanaba to Minneapolis, I sat in 7C (there were 10 rows total on the plane) next to Michelle, a nice woman who is an occupational therapist in Ontonagon.  She was telling me about her incredible journeys as a traveling OT.  I shared with her my dream to one day be a traveling nurse, and she filled me in on some of the secrets of being a traveling professional.

1. You will work harder than the "regulars" because you are an outsider and they probably won't like you very much
2. Know the weather patterns of where you are traveling (stay out of the south/east during hurricane season, Oklahoma during tornado season, etc)
3. Traveling with a friend is the best thing you can do
4. Take full advantage of ALL days off to explore the state/country

Michelle was a good seat companion.

On the flight from Minneapolis to Ft. Lauderdale, we had a 3 seats per side plane, which is a nice change from the propeller planes in the UP.  My seat companion was not very chatty, but she seemed nice.  The middle seat in our row was empty (yay for extra room).  It was a long 3 hour and 20 minute flight, but when I arrived in Florida, I had a very warm welcome (literally).

Today, we went to the beach and it was so enjoyable to be able to just sit without having to think of projects, homework, and real life for a few hours.

I know that in 4 days, I will not be ready to leave his glorious weather, but I will be ready to get back to school and power through the next 7 weeks until graduation.

Real life starts soon.

Overflowing

God has been so incredibly good to me lately and I have been filled with so many emotions.  He has provided me with my dream job for after graduation.  He has provided me with a house to live in back home that is close to the hospital, fully furnished, and an incredibly reasonable price.  He has provided me with a deep appreciation for this place, because for the past 3 years I have been so bitter about being here, but now I can see that this was His plan all along and I am here because I am supposed to be. 

Today is an incredibly gorgeous day in the UP in the middle of February (which rarely happens).  The sun is shining, the snow is melting and the air is so sweet with the scent of spring.  This weather plasters an ear to ear smile on my face and fills my heart with pure happiness.  I have been reminded so many times lately that God creates these little moments for me and I am learning to thank Him for the small things like gorgeous days and good coffee. 

Someone posted this video on Facebook and I decided to take a listen.  What a beautiful song and so encouraging when I need some encouragement.

I know that God is for me, and the He will not forsake me in my weaknesses (which are much more often then I like to admit).

When I work out, I listen to worship music.  This morning Barlow Girl's "Average Girl" popped up on my iPod and it really touched my heart because I have been struggling with waiting for my prince (and often wondering what's taking him so long to get here) for awhile and even more so now that "everyone" seems to be in a relationship, getting married, or having babies.  I just need to remember that God is writing my love story and when I get tired of waiting, I need to rest in His arms.