• Faith,  Life

    True Life: I Hate The Unknown

    It’s true. I hate the unknown more than anything. When I don’t know the details of things that are happening in my life I get anxious. I love to be prepared and when I’m prepared I think that I’m the one in control of what is happening in my life. Obviously this isn’t true in the slightest. God’s in control, no matter how much planning and preparing I do. He ultimately decides how things happen in my life.

    Planning and preparing aren’t bad things in themselves of course, I think God honors us when we are responsible and plan for things that are happening in our lives. But I believe it’s a sin when we plan and plan and plan so much that we think we are out planning God. I don’t know if anyone else struggles with this but sometimes I think I know better than God does. I know what I’ll enjoy and I want to enjoy it when I want it. I can be very impatient at times.

    The most frustrating part to me is that I KNOW Jesus’s ways are better than my own. I know that waiting on His timing will only bring me more joy, but sometimes I still feel that I know better or maybe it’s just that I can be selfish at times and I want what I want more than I want to wait for whatever Jesus has prepared for me.

    I’m having a hard time with this but I know that Jesus will carry me through. What do you guys do when you struggle with waiting on Jesus? I’d love to hear from you.

  • Life

    101 in 1001 (the ultimate to do list)

    Hi friends! Since I started blogging I’ve been reading other people’s blogs like crazy. I really like to go back through older posts and read through them to see how they’ve gotten to where they are today. This helps me learn things to do to grow my own blog. I’ve found on a lot of people’s blogs from a long time ago a list – 101 things to do in 1001 days and I felt really inspired to do one myself. This actually took way longer than I would have though to write, I started it yesterday. So without further ado… here’s my 101 in 1001 list 🙂

    Start Date: August 18, 2015

    End Date: May 15, 2018

             F A I T H

    1. Get involved in a community group
    2. Serve on a team at church
    3. Make Christian friends
    4. Read through all books of the bible (1/66)
    5. Read 15 Christian books (0/15)
    6. Get into a habit of praying for Tommy every day
    7. Go on a missions trip
    8. Invite someone new to church
    9. Pray out loud in front of others/someone else

      R E L A T I O N S H I P

    10. Get engaged
    11. Get married
    12. Surprise Tommy with a weekend getaway trip
    13. Go on at least 2 dates a month (0/34)
    14. Go on a date to the drive-in movies
    15. Attend a country concert together
    16. Attend pre-marital counseling
    17. Go pumpkin/apple picking
    18. Go ice-skating
    19. Go to the Bronx zoo
    20. Go to an aquarium
    21. Take a trip to Maryland
    22. Go white-water rafting
    23. Watch all the Lord of the Rings movies with Tommy (0/3)
    24. Cut down a Christmas tree together
    25. Bring Tommy breakfast in bed

      T R A V E L

    26. Visit 3 countries (0/3)
    27. Take a trip to Wildwood
    28. Visit the Bahamas
    29. Visit the Punta Cana
    30. Take a trip to Hawaii
    31. Visit a state I’ve never been to
    32. Go camping for a weekend
    33. Visit my grandparents in Florida
    34. Go on a road trip

      F I N A N C E S / C A R E E R

    35. Save at least 100 dollars each month (0/34)
    36. Create a budget for Tommy and I once we’re married and follow it
    37. Create an emergency fund
    38. Create a retirement fund
    39. Find a new job/establish a career
    40. Pay off at least half of my school loans

      H O B B I E S

    41. Crochet two blankets for the twins (0/2)
    42. Create 15 DIY projects (0/15)
    43. Read 25 books (0/25)
    44. Reread the Harry Potter series (0/7)
    45. Learn how to use a professional camera
    46. Buy a professional camera
    47. Complete 2 puzzles (0/2)
    48. Learn how to knit
    49. Learn to ride well enough to buy a new dirt bike
    50. Get up on the wakeboard

      B L O G G I N G

    51. Learn how to create a layout
    52. Get 1000 followers
    53. Learn how to make money blogging
    54. Increase posts to at least 2-3 a week
    55. Attend a blog conference
    56. Make three blogging friends (0/3)
    57. Take a blogging course
    58. Comment on 50 different blogs (0/50)
    59. Write a blog post every day for a month

      F I T N E S S / N U T R I T I O N

    60. Make a meal plan and follow it for a month
    61. Make a habit of working out at least 3 times a week
    62. Do cardio at least twice a week
    63. Do weight training once a week
    64. Cut out sugar completely from my diet for a month
    65. Cut out processed food completely from my diet for a month
    66. Do a color run
    67. Get in the habit of drinking at least a liter of water a day
    68. Perfect making my own sauce
    69. Learn how to cook meat well
    70. Take a cooking course
    71. Take a hot yoga class
    72. Exercise every morning before work for one week
    73. Increase amount of vegetables eaten daily

      M I S C E L L A N E O U S

    74. Host a holiday party
    75. Finish Friday Night Lights all the way through for a second time
    76. Re-watch Gossip Girl
    77. Be in a bridal party
    78. Save a deposit for a house
    79. Make homemade ice cream
    80. Buy a new bed
    81. Send out Christmas cards (0/2)
    82. Write 3 people handwritten notes (0/3)
    83. Make pizzelles
    84. Get nails down once a month for 6 months (0/6)

      P E R S O N A L  G R O W T H / K I N D E S S

    85. Pay for 10 peoples drinks behind me at Starbucks (0/10)
    86. Learn how to change a tire
    87. Take a social media break for a week
    88. Send a care package
    89. Whiten my teeth
    90. Take a photography class
    91. Floss every day for a month
    92. Start writing a book
    93. Write a list of 101 things that make me happy

      A D V E N T U R E

    94. Ride a street bike
    95. Go to 10 new coffee shops (0/10)
    96. Go paddle boarding
    97. Learn how to change the oil in my car
    98. Go to a Broadway show
    99. Take a weekend trip with one of my girl friends
    100. Hike 5 new trials (0/5)
    101. Try snowboarding

    So there yah have it, I’m super excited to see how many I can complete. How bout you guys? Does anyone have a list like this? Send me a link, I thought it was really fun reading other people’s and would love to check it out 🙂

  • Life

    bloglovin’ :)

    If you’re interested here’s my Bloglovin’ link:)

    I’m still new to Bloglovin’ but I’m starting to LOVE it to find new blogs.

    http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14254633/?claim=ws7ms3h8y2f

    So exciting. How do you guys connect with other blogs? I really want to find others and build a community like I know many of you have. I’m really interested to hear tips you guys might have. Thanks:)

  • Faith,  Life

    how to experience J O Y in every day life

    Okay so my computer has a virus and that’s why I haven’t been blogging all that much. I’m currently on my work computer (shh don’t tell anyone). But my plan is to buy a Mac, hopefully tonight actually.

    I love sharing what God’s doing in my life in hopes to encourage others too. God’s really teaching me how to experience joy amidst my every day life.

    Joy.

    Real joy. Something that I’m not too familiar with if I’m being honest. God’s really teaching me how to really enjoy my life. Wanna know the secret? Focus on the good. Only the good. Acknowledge the bad, sure. But focus on the good. Dwell on it. Be thankful for it. All of the good, even the small stuff. Especially the small stuff.

    A fresh cup of coffee

    Sunshine at lunch

    Good smelling lotion

    A cute coffee mug

    A sweet kiss

    There’s so many good things to be thankful for on any given day, it just takes us to direct our attention towards them to realize they’re there. I also found this is the key to struggling with contentment as well. It’s hard to be wishing for more when we realize just how much good we already have. We are blessed, truly blessed and I don’t ever want to forget it. Join with me and let’s commit to never getting bored of the blessings in our lives.

  • Life

    Lake George Vacation Recap :)

    Hi guys, I’m sure no one has been wondering where I’ve been, BUT if you have I’ve been, I’ve been  here…

    IMG_5986

    Lake George, New York. It’s been so much fun and I’ve been super busy which is why I haven’t posted at all this past week or so. I just thought I’d recap my vacation and let you all know what I’ve been up to.

    So my boyfriend’s family has been going up to Lake George every year for as long as he can remember. This year I was lucky enough to join them for a few days. My boyfriend and I drove up Saturday night and stayed until Wednesday night because I had to work today and tomorrow. Our days have been packed full of fun stuff so I thought I’d just recap each day so I can try to remember everything we did.

    S U N D A Y

    Tommy’s parents had a wedding to go to so they weren’t up at the lake yet but his brother was. On Sunday we woke up kind of late because we didn’t get there until pretty lake Saturday night. We went shopping for some food and things that we needed at the store, then hung out at the public beach for the day. At night we stayed in and watched some Friday Night Lights on Netflix (our new fav show we watch together).

    M O N D A Y 

    Sunday night I had researched a cute coffee shop to go to the next morning and I found one called “Cafe Vero” so on Monday morning we went out to breakfast there.
    IMG_5998

    I’ve never seen latte art before this so I thought that was pretty cool. I got a peppermint mocha latte and it was delish. Tommy parent’s got there while we were out to breakfast. We all went down to the beach and hung out. We got to float around on the tube, lay in the sun (my fav), play ping pong and just hang out with Tommy’s family. At night we went out to a cute little Italian restaurant. We got to eat outside, it was really nice. Tommy and I were planning on going down to the beach to hang out by the fire but we both passed out when we got back from dinner. We had a long day 🙂

    T U E S D A Y

    On Tuesday Tommy woke up early to go wake surfing (see picture below) while I slept. (He’s the morning person obvi). I woke up when he got back and we headed down the beach again to hang out. I got to try wakeboarding for the first time – which was really difficult. I almost got it but will have to try again next time.
    IMG_5989

    We also went fishing on Tuesday and I caught a small mouth bass (woohoo!).

    W E D N E S D A Y 

    One of our plans while we were up at the lake was to go hiking so we did this Wednesday afternoon. I was hoping we would get a nice view of the lake but it was kind of hard to find trails or really know what they looked like before we picked one. The one we picked was a cool one though and wasn’t like any of the hiking trails we normal do in New Jersey. We hiked near this cute little lake:

    IMG_5993

    After we went back and hung out with his family at the beach again before we had dinner and drove home.

    It was an awesome little trip and we decided were going to drive back up Friday night and spend the weekend up there too. It’s a nice little getaway and is super relaxing. God has been showing me lately how awesomely good He is and reminding me that he really only wants what is good for me and that I do not have to be afraid because He’s always with me. This trip really reminded me just how blessed I am. I have the greatest boyfriend who always showing that he loves me, and I’m so thankful that he wanted me to be apart of this vacation.IMG_6001

  • Life

    10 Fun Facts About Me!

    Hey guys, one of my favorite types of posts to read on other people’s blogs are the posts where the writer shares a little bit about their life. I enjoy being able to connect with them on a more personal basis so I thought I’d share some fun facts about me in this post.

    1. I work at a bank that is closing soon and I’m going to need to find a new job. (prayers please)

    2. I still live with my parents, I have a younger brother, and 4 dogs (yikes, crazy I know).

    3. I have an iPhone 5 with a very cracked screen and a missing home button lol

    4. I enjoy reading but rarely make enough time to do it.

    5. I drive a VW Jetta that’s manual and I just bought my first dirt bike in December.

    6. I just graduated college in May with a Psychology degree but don’t know if I’ll ever really work in that field.

    7. I’m very shy and prefer to hang out by myself or with my close friends or boyfriend rather than go out any day.

    8. I can’t wait to be in the stage of my life where I get to buy my own house, get married, and have children – although I am learning to be content with where I am in my life also.

    9. For some strange reason I am unable to finish the bottom of any drink. There is usually multiple water bottles in my room where there is only about 2 sips left in them. My boyfriend usually combines them all into one water bottle when he comes over.

    10. I love coffee and tea and will probably end up having a whole cabinet devoted to them when I have my own house.

    What about you guys? I’d love to hear fun facts about you 🙂