Jewelry Love

Just got in the lovely necklace I ordered from a friend of mine that worked at Anthropologie with me. Her name is Ashley Gerber...you can visit her site here. She is one talented woman, and such a gem! Definitely take a look at her one-of-a-kind urban looking, incredible necklaces. 

Mine is made of organ keys. What a great statement necklace!

And it means that much more to help support a friend in her business and what she loves doing

...I wear this beauty with pride.

2013 Aspirations

So someone asked me recently what my resolutions were for the new year, and honestly at the time I hadn't sat down and seriously thought about any. But now, ladies and gents, I've finally figured out some (hopefully) attainable goals for this next year! In no particular order:

• Graduate (May..hooray!!)
• Get an appartment in SD with friends
• Take a pottery class; master a potters wheel ("master" being relative of course)
• Drink more water (cliche, but vital I'd say)
• Do yoga more frequently (flexibility, relaxation, stretching, workout, need I say more?)
• Read more than just mind-blowing quotes from the following: Tyler Knott Gregson, Henri Nouwen, e.e cummings, Thomas Merton, C.S. Lewis, F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Improve upon my photography and cooking foundational skills (in terms of cooking especially, "foundational" is also relative)
• More hiking (it's a beautiful world out there)
• Flossing daily (it gets late...I slack)
• Legitimately spend time praying for people more, write down requests if I need to 

So that my friends is my list. Feel free to keep me accountable for any of these! And if you haven't pondered any for this upcoming year, I would highly recommend doing so

Artist I'm currently obsessed with:

Matt Wisniewski's portrait and landscape collages are so beautifully put together. Such movement! It's as if these images that normally wouldn't work, all of a sudden go hand-in-hand and tell a story. Plus I'm a such a sucker for art featuring feminine touches and landscapes.
I could go on and on, but I'll let you gaze in awe for yourself!

 

 

 

Check out more of his work here

Getting real

So this past week for me was one that despite the numerous fun activities and hours distracted at work, I was kinda stuck in my head, wrestling with things internally.
I like to think that having these times occasionally is a positive thing because it causes me to refocus and question some aspects of my life I might normally skip over or put on the back burner to deal with later.

The bummer was that I had all this negative self-talk going on in my head. And that doesn't help....it hurts. It's hard not to let the image I see of myself or how I think the world perceives me, overcloud the image that I should be focusing on which is how God sees me and how he loves me despite the millions of messes I continually make when I try to make things go my way.
I will mention that throughout this struggle of almost "pushing against the current" I was continually reminded just how blessed I am by my friends who know who I am and help me sort through these messages and affirm and encourage me when I'm doubting.
And I'm happy to say that now at the end of this week I can see the light at the end of this little tunnel I've been in!

I'm realizing that God is using this time in my life to refine me, to help me learn some things about myself including that he delights in me and to continually hope and trust in his timing in my life. I'm a big fan of metaphors so I like to picture it as a piece of wood being carved and chiseled by these experiences into something that I can't quite see the end result of...but I know it'll be beautiful.
I may not know where I'm going or even who he has planned for me to be with on that journey. But I'm so glad he knows me better than I know myself and puts up with my goal-oriented self getting frustrated at not being at a place I wish I was at, or the person I wish I was.
I hope this whole thing hasn't come off as over-confident. But this has been a much needed reminder that I am made who I am and brought to where I'm at on purpose.
I have so much love to give, if not specifically to be put in a relationship at this point then it can still be given to the people around me. And I can't wait to see where He takes me as He leads me out of this desert I've been in.

Some verses I've been repeating in my head:

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"-Jeremiah 29

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness"-2 Corinthians 12

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure"-Hebrews 6

La Jolla afternoon

On Wednesday, my best friend Lindsay and I took a little trip to one of our favorite places...La Jolla! We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to enjoy eating our gelato and browsing the shops along the coastline.
 The result? A relaxing afternoon and an unintended photoshoot complete with sunbursts galore!

 

 

 

 

 

What I'll be saying when school mornings hit me: