How It's Supposed To Be

I saw this on Pinterest the other day and it just really hit home. 

I don't know why, but as humans, we get caught up in comparison.  To strangers, to friends, and even pictures in our own heads of how things are "supposed to be."  And it is so easy to do, without even realizing it! Most of the time when I get down about something, or disappointed, it's because I had this picture in my mind of what things are supposed to be like, and they turn out differently than I thought/wanted.

And then I saw this and is kind of made me realize, just because things are different, doesn't mean they are bad.  The Lord will give us every good blessing we need.  And just because those blessings don't look like what we pictured, doesn't mean they aren't what we need, or aren't good. What we need is to see things how they are, and be grateful.

25 and stayin' alive! (ah, ah, ah, ah)

Welp, it happened.  Today I officially became an old lady.

I turned 25.

I remember as a little girl daydreaming, wondering 

"I wonder what I will look like when I am 25? "

"I wonder what I will be doing when I am 25?"

"I wonder what I will be like when I am 25?"

And after having a very heartbreaking experience last year around this time, I went into 2012 dreading turning 25 at the end of the year.  I was still struggling so much to accept what had happened and to move forward with my life.  I subconsciously put a mental expiration date on myself saying, "if I am not at my dream job...or....if I am not dating somebody else seriously...or...if I haven't moved out to my dream city by the time I turn 25,  I am useless, I am a failure."

And up until the end of the summer, I mentally beat the crap out of myself for not abiding by my timeline, my "usefulness expiration date."  I became more and more disappointed with myself because none of these things had panned out for me yet.

And then, by the Lord's tender mercy something clicked.  I realized how hard I was being on myself.  And that was big.  I never,ever had realized what ridiculous timelines I put myself on, I never realized how I would be SO hard on myself for not accomplishing things I thought I wanted to, when I wanted to.  And because I recognized this, I was able to begin to change it.

I realized that hey, just because some total clueless jerk broke your heart doesn't make you unlovable...it just means you deserve and want better. And he wasn't it.

Just because you haven't been able to afford that apartment you've been dreaming of moving to for so long yet doesn't mean it won't happen, it just means you are where you are supposed to be for now.

Just because you aren't at your dream job yet doesn't mean you won't have it...it just means you have a purpose to serve at the one you are at now.

And, just because things aren't like you pictured them at 25, doesn't mean they aren't good.

Expirations on people do not exist.  Sure, we all physically die and leave this earth some day, but we have NOW. We always have now.  

Treasure it, cherish it, live it, love it, NOW.  Make changes that need to happen.  Let yourself grow.  Work on your dreams.  Don't give up or beat yourself up.  The Lord has a plan for everyone, and He loves us all individually, and perfectly, even though we are not perfect.  He doesn't put us on timelines, when we mess up He doesn't say "Alright, that's it, you only have till your (insert age) to get it right!" He says, "It's ok, try again tomorrow.  Let me show you that what I have planned for you is bigger and better than your plans."

I am alive. Simply saying that puts a smile on my face because this time last year I didn't think I could survive.

But I did. And I am better. Stronger.  Older. Wiser. More blessed.

Here I am. all 25 years of me, failures, trials, experiences, scars, lessons, blessings, and all. I am alive and I am grateful to be 25.

Once Upon A Time/Happily Ever After

After a rough year, and the last few weeks being pretty challenging, I have found myself daydreaming about my life, and what I hope and dream for it.  I find myself thinking

 "I will be happy when/if this happens..." a lot.

  Then I saw this page online and it hit me....I can be happy NOW.  I don't have to wait for some future events in my life...I can make the best out of my NOW situation, and use NOW to work on making these goals and dreams come true.  

I have a Heavenly Father who loves me unconditionally and showers me with Tender Mercies every day.  I have the gospel.  I have a roof over my head, and that is an extra special blessing after being on the east coast and dealing with Sandy.  I have a car to drive and a job to make a living.  I have people who love me.  I have blessings without number. And when I think of these things, I truly feel happy:)

 I totally, TOTALLY recommend reading this talk too.

My First Wedding Shoot

This August, I was blessed to be hired for my very first wedding shoot! I LOVED it!  It was so fun being able to capture this couple's special day!   Besides being super nervous before heading over and getting  SUPER lost on the way to the little church, it went off without a hitch and I had a blast! I love weddings! These are a few of my favorites of the day, from directly after the ceremony  in a special little couple's session for just the two Newlyweds.

Congrats Eric and Nicole!

Apparently, I have a life

I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged! The last few weeks have been flying fast. This year is flying by sooooooooooo fast.  I cannot believe it is mid October already, MID OCTOBER PEOPLE! 

I love fall.  I love boots. I love scarves.  I love warm fuzzy socks. And I love any excuse I can get to drink Hershey's Hot Cocoa fresh from the stove top.  

I have had some exciting things happen over the last few weeks.

I went to Six Flags again.  My sister's friend scored us some free tickets, heck yes! 

Then me and my sister went to see There For Tomorrow. Um...AMAZING!!!! So flipping good.

And this past week me and three of my best friends went to Atlantic City for two days! More to come on that.

Overall, I have been SO blessed, and blessed to be too busy to blog, and I have some more exciting things coming my way!

Sometimes, it's awkward being awkward

So the past few weeks I have been talking to a pretty cute guy...ok..let's be honest, he's actually pretty smokin'. We've texted quite a lot. 

Well, this said guy and myself were in the middle of a texting conversation when I decided it was time to work around the kitchen and pack my lunch for the next day.  

I gleefully laid my phone down and went to work, packing, washing, cleaning, and yes, singing a Disney Junior/Doc McStuffins song,"I feel better! So much better! Thank you doc for takin' all the ouchies awayyyyy", loudly. 

After a few minutes when I was done with my encore, I heard this faint talking.  Perplexed, I looked down at my phone.  And to my utter horror, it was in the middle of leaving this attractive man a nearly two minute voicemail before it cut me off.

OH MY. Hoping that it was the end of it, and I could move on, pretending it didn't happen, and that he probably didn't hear anything, I started to send him a text to say I was sorry for the mistake-call, when my text tone went off and stopped me. I look, and it is from this fine man. What did it say?

"Ps I am glad you are feeling 'so much better'."


Yup, that was awkward.

Crock Pot Cheesecake, British Accents, and other Amazing Things

I have had a serious addiction to late-night Pinterest binges.  And these are some of the gems of the week.

PEETA! haha. This cracked me up:

And OH my gosh when I get married, this is SO happening:

 

 And holy old glory, Jude Law, I love you and your beautiful,wavy hair and dreamy blue eyes and smooth British accent. 

Crock Pot Cheesecake?! Um, HECK yes! SO trying this like, today!

(recipe)

A requirement for my future home...

A hot tub.  Heck yes.  A hot tub.  I think I would rather negotiate on things like food, clothing, and a kitchen table to be able to have a hot tub.  I have my priorities. haha.

The other week my sister and I house/dog sat for my aunt and uncle and they have one of these glorious inventions.  Seriously.....I rate this invention right up there with indoor plumbing.  

And as I have said every year after we house sit...."I am getting one of these when I have a house!"

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Heck Yes I Was A Teeny Bopper

Last week I wrote about winning tickets to the Mixtape fest!! And this week I was able to be a teeny bopper all over again and experience two days of awesomeness!!  The tickets I won were to both days of the fest and it was EPIC.

I got to see tons of people I wanted to...and some I didn't....

 (ahem... Steel Panther/ vulgar 80's hair band, DJ Pauly D....cough cough) ...

 but there was Kelly Clarkson, LL Cool J (NCIS LA anyone?), The Fray, The Wanted, Carly Rae Jepson (so call me maybe!), New Kids On The Block two times, The Ready Set, and who I came for..... 

THE BACKSTREET BOYS and 98 DEGREES!!

And there may have been some girly squeals, serious booty shaking, swoons, and major Nick Lachey crushing going on... it was a BLAST! And now, I will let the photos speak for themselves:

thanks to my little sister for stealing the pictures from her camera!

Talk About A Flashback...

So you know where I will be this Friday and Saturday?

It may or may not have something to do with screaming girls, teenie boppers, choreographed dance moves, and a serious flashback to my pre-teen years...

and it might involve these guys:

and these guys too:

No lie. I will be seeing the Backstreet Boys and 98 Degrees in concert!!And I am freaking excited! And unashamed! 

When my sister and I found out that they would be playing a show near us we freaked and wanted to go (heck yes we did!), we have ALWAYS wanted to see them! And then we looked up the tickets... the cheapest ones were $150 PER TICKET! Whomp whomp. Totally not happening.

Then we heard about a chance to win a pair of tickets through a local radio station, all you had to do was go to a car dealer and enter in your name, be there at a specific time, and hope your name got drawn! 

And so we figured "Why not try?"

And you know what... my name was the FIRST name the pulled out! My sister and I were totally fangirling and jumping up and down and hugging. It was epic. haha. 

And then a few minutes later, my sister won a pair of tickets too! AH! It was our lucky day for real yo!

So this weekend I get to dance and sing and relive my teen years with the Backstreet Boys and 98 Degrees. And I am flipping excited!

That One Time I Dyed My Hair Brown and Went On Vacation (Part II)

The second day of vacation my sister and I went to Six Flags for the first time ever....and let me just say...AWESOME!! I died over all the Batman, Superman (Smallville/Tom Welling anyone?), and Coke paraphernalia. 

And this, my friends, is called "Supreme Funnel Cake" and can I just say that it's strawberry chocolaty goodness was TO DIE FOR.

And this was my little sister after experiencing her first upside down roller coaster:

I was seriously hoping Tom Welling or Christian Bale would be there walking around,  but no luck. Maybe next year...

That One Time I Dyed My Hair Brown and Went on Vacation (Part I)

First of all, I cannot BELIEVE that it is almost August. Seriously, I have no clue what happened to the past two months. 

Therefore, it has been nearly 2 months already since my vacation! My first vacation in 5 years, yo!

And it was glorious.  My sister-aka my best friend- and I went to the Baltimore/DC area for a 5 days and went to many, many places and ate at many,many more. haha.  

Our first day we went to the National Geographic Museum in downtown DC and saw the Titanic exhibit. If you know me at all, you know I LOVE the Titanic.  The history of it, and the movie. This exhibit was incredibly well done! And BONUS...it had real props used in the movie! AH! 

Observe:

To the right of this picture there is the real cherub statue the used on the bottom of the grand staircase on the set of the movie.  Of course I had to walk down the staircase like Rose:)

 Here is my sister (and then me) standing next to a lifeboat the used in the movie!!

 And this is a model that they used for shooting some underwater scenes in the movie:)

And this is me geeking out over Leonardo DiCaprio :)

We thought this was fitting....

I'm flying, Jack!

A Kind of Perfect Wednesday

Some of my favorite days are rainy ones.

And some of my favorite, favorite rainy days are ones spent at the movies. 

And favorite. favorite, favorite days for me include eating at one of my absolute favorite places in the world: the Juice and Java....a little hole in the wall that my friend's mom introduced me to a few years ago and I have fallen in love with. Seriously....SO good.  The BEST smoothies in the world and the Chicken Popper Fajita is TO DIE FOR.

Last week my sister and I had a favorite, favorite, favorite day and went to the Juice and Java on a rainy day and then went and saw People Like Us at the theater.  (Chris Pine anyone?)

(me sis and me )

This picture sums up my sister and I's relationship PERFECTLY!

My Nephew Is Hilarious

So, I have an 18 month old nephew. And he is stinking hilarious.  I am so blessed because I get to spend a lot of time with him and there is not a day that goes by when I see him and am not practically rolling on the floor laughing at him. He is just a kick.

Not to mention, he is stinking ADORABLE!!

 This is his cheesy grin that he does when he is hamming it up, or... when he's in trouble.

 I know I am bias, but seriously, cutest little boy ever.

He has a slight obsession carrying around handfuls of dog food and throwing them piece by piece at our 2 dogs. And a few weeks ago when my sister and I came home from vacation, he was just super excited and hyper the rest of the day. Plus, he's figured out how to start undressing himself. All of that combined equals this:

(sorry it's sideways, my mom shot the video haha)

Jackson from McKenzie Mease on Vimeo.