Happy Little Thoughts (:

I haven't posted anything 

in quite a while because 

I have been making a lot

more changes in my life

and I'm not sure how I 

want to word them or 

bring them up just yet, 

but just you wait!! :)

For now though I've

decided I'm going to post

a daily happy thought, 

or something I am 

incredibly grateful for.

Starting with my sisters.
Each and every one of 

them are my besties,
and they have all grown
into such beautiful fine
women, chasing after dreams
with such incredible determination.
These ladies have taught me so much
over the years, and I still have so
much to learn from them. They
 inspire and encourage me
to be my absolute best on
a daily baisis. Not sure where
I'd be without these girls
constantly by my side.

Left to Right : Abby, Madi, Linzie, Emily, Ashley, Me. Not pictured: Wendy

Left to Right: Madi, Abby, Me, Ashley, Linzie, Emily. Not pictured: Wendy

L i t t l e A d v i c e

Sometimes I feel as though

I have so much I want to say,

only I don't have enough 

words that come to mind,

so tonight I'm going to 

try and keep it semi-simple. 

This week is going to be 

so i n t e n s e that I think even

the energizer bunny himself

would be impressed if I can

actually manage to pull it 

off without a complete

m e l t d o w n  or two. 

In fact, I might have 

already let myself lose

a little sight when it comes

down to what really matters,

which is to b a s k in every 

possible moment with 

those we love and adore,

no matter what the situation.

You see, you never fully know

if or how long it might be until 

you see someone again ...

So when there's that dreadful

e     m    p    t     y   

space in between, you

will at least always have those

memories to hold onto, 

because despite whatever 

sorrow or despair creeps in,

at least it beats having nothing.

So this blog is for 

all those people that I

may have taken advantage

of the time we spent together, 

not knowing yet just how 

much life can change, 

and how often we 

change with it,  but

I miss you . . .

                                              . . . f i e r c e l y. 

And this is also 

for the high school

s e n i o r class of 2012,

especially since I have

watched a lot of you grow

up with Em, my little sister,

 the last seven or so years.

So This is my   a d v i c e 

to you, and anyone else who 

took the time to read it.

Always let your mistakes 

s t r e n g t h e n   you daily, and

celebrate every little bit

of  s u c c e s s , even if it

was just the fact that

you managed to   c r a w l

out of bed on a day that

seemed entirely overwhelming.

Never settle for anything 

less than your personal  b e s t

and don't bee too serious

that you forget to have 

a little  f u n. Learn to 

say  y e s  more often,

and know that when 

life gets difficult, 

you are never  a l o n e.  

P . S .   I   l o v e   y o u   a l l  .  

6 0 D o w n

So my meeting 

yesterday with the

personal t r a i n e r went

quite fantastic!

Despite the fact

that my b a n k account

has decided to lose 

some weight as well,

but what can you do?

It will be s u p e r  m e g a

worth it in the long r u n.

In talking to him I 

had said that I wanted

my goal weight to be

h a l f my original weight,

but that would mean

I wanted to lose 

all but o n e pound

of fat! Haha. 

Not happening.

So now my 

goal weight is

going to be 140,

which I am totally

s t o k e d for. It's 

about time I 

see more

results. :)

Since I am 60 

down on my own,

and will ultimately be

s h o o t i n g  for 115,

in the end that means 

I'm halfway there!

 

Wish Me L u c k

Today I actually have 

a meeting with a personal

trainer who just so happens

to be a friend of a friend.

I'm hoping it goes over

well and doesn't turn out

to be terribly unaffordable 

because I just came up 

with my third official 

weight goal, and

I am mega excited.

My first goal was

to simply get started,

and I had managed to 

lose 25lbs in the first 

two and half weeks.

My second goal 

was to get under 

200lbs, which 

I did just under

four months.

Now, my third

goal is to be half

my original weight.

Understand,

this is an intense 

goal, especially when

considering the fact

that I have been 

at a standstill for 

another four months.

I've kept the weight off,

but I haven't lost much.

Granted it also fell from

being one of my 

priorities, but 

things are about

to change. 

So wish me luck! :)

Take a H i k e !

This Summer,

I have pretty much

decided that I am going

to go h i k i n g at least 

once a week.

Here are just a few 

pictures I took on 

my cell phone 

from the last two 

weeks with some

of my lovely friends. (:

R E A L

Yesterday,

I had an opportunity

to join a friend from work

with a bunch of her friends to

a R e A l game! 

For someone who

has never even been to

a live sports game, it was 

quite entertaining to be 

standing in the supporters

section with all the 

yelling and cheering!

With just how friendly 

and passionate some of those 

people around us were

about soccer and the team,

makes me almost want to 

become a loyal fan myself! 

Haha.

a L i t t l e B l u e

You know when

you feel a good s t r e t c h

coming on, so you go for it,

 but can't quite get it to

the e x t e n t  that you

e x p e c t e d so you end

up a little disappointed?

That's kind of how I have

felt about life the past

few days or so . . .

At least you always

feel s o m e w h a t better

after a stretch than

if you hadn't stretched

at all, right? :)

C r e e p e r S t a t u s

I can honestly say,

 I have never wanted to be

 a s t a l k e r so badly before. :)

Now I want to be just like her.

B i t t e r s w e e t

Usually I steer clear

of writing when I am

even slightly fuming, 

but I feel like I just had

a w a v e of life lessons 

tossed my way and I 

need to get a good

grasp on them before

 they fade away.

First of all, that

was so uncalled for. 

To stand up there

in front of the whole

class and openly refuse

to participate in the 

presentation until 

asked to do so by 

the professor and then

continue to throw not just

the project, but everyone 

individually under the bus

and saying the only thing

you got out of it was 

really good c o o k i e s?

Sadly, that just goes

to show more of

your own character

than anyone else.

Originally I felt 

like I wouldn't take

much from this small

group communications

class since I already 

work well with pretty

much anyone I have

ever crossed paths with.

However, it turns out

that sometimes no matter

how hard you try or go

out of your way to 

make things work, some 

people just won't be p l e a s e d,

and that is perfectly fine. 

All that matters is

that I do my best and

what I learn from it,

what I have learned

from my first year 

of college actually,

and how I plan to 

a p p l y it to the 

rest of my life. 

After staying a 

few minutes after

class with the rest of 

my group to clear things

up with the professor,

the guys and I all walked 

out to the parking lot together, 

and when I said "See you later-"

like we always do, I quickly

realized my mistake "-maybe . . .

 If not, good luck with life!"

College has been kind of  

mega b i t t e r s w e e t like that. 

It has given me the opportunity

to get to know such a wide variety

of f a n t a s t i c people, and then 

just like that... they're gone. 

People seem to be coming

 in and out of my life a lot more

 lately, not even just at school.

Although it makes me

semi-sad, it has also

helped me realize that I 

need to be careful not to

take a d v a n t a g e of anyone

at any time in my life. 

People are p r i c e l e s s,

plain and simple,

and I feel like I need

to pay more attention to

everyone I have the

chance to get to know, 

even if it is only 

for a few minutes,

it will be worth it.

Y o u 

are worth it. 

Also, sometimes when I got bored in class I would make a paper crane and stick it on a random car. :)

P h o t o W a l k s

Spring semester is

just about wrapped up!

I have two finals, 

two essays, and one

last presentation all 

due by the end of 

Tuesday and then 

I will have officially

completed my first 

year of college! 

This means s u m m e r 

is literally right 

around the corner,

and I am completely

s t o k e d for everything 

I have planned already!

One of the l i t t l e things

that I absolutely love

about Summer are 

all of the s p o n t a n e o u s

p h o t o   w a l k s  my sisters

and I go on whenever

a few of us happen 

to be home at the 

same time, and I 

just had to share 

some of the pictures 

we got on our first mini 

a d v e n t u r e so far!

M o r n i n g A i r

This morning,

the first thing I 

did was open my 

window to let the 

c r i s p  morning air in

so I could listen to 

the birds as I started

on my psych homework.

That right there

is  s i m p l e  happiness 

and definitely blog worthy. :)

In fact, I 

haven't been 

writing much 

because I started

off my blog with so

many deep thoughts

and good posts that I've

felt I couldn't post

until I had something

even better to say. 

But I've decided 

that isn't realistic,

I want this blog to

truly  r e f l e c t  who I am,

and  I want this blog to

also be something 

I can look back on

and see how I have

ended up where ever

I will be with  w h o e v e r

is there with me. 

Also, with Summer 

just around the corner,

you can expect 

more  p i c t u r e s,

starting today! 

F e e l G o o d A n y w a y

Life can be

quite difficult

sometimes, 

especially since 

people are such 

complicated, 

l o v e l y creatures.

 

We depend on 

one  another for 

stability and strength,

to learn and to love, 

and to simply 

                                     b e   t h e r e.

Unfortunately, 

no matter how much

you trust someone, 

(or even how much 

they trust you,)

it isn't always

e n o u g h.

Perhaps

if we're lucky,

we might find a few

people in our life who 

will choose to stay

by our side, despite all 

the fragile differences and 

d i s t a n c e s   that develop

 inevitably over time.

The tricky part is, 

we might not even realize

that they are there, 

because we don't know

what it would be like 

without them. 

(If that makes sense?)

Until then,

I am just as  g r a t e f u l

 for every person that has

drifted in and out of my life,

for I have no doubt that

they have each given me

an opportunity to better myself

whether or not they realized it.

Sometimes it might have 

been because I had to 

pick up the  p i e c e s,

or they made me 

realize that I 

deserved much more.

 

The very best though

are the ones who made me 

a s p i r e to be more like them

in one way or another. :)

T h a t M o m e n t W h e n . . .

. . . you realize your life is 

headed in the right 

d i r e c t i o n

in just about every

possible way.

If you haven't had

this moment yet,

a s k yourself why

and just do whatever

it is you need to

to get there.

Because although

I now know I

have a lot of

h a r d  w o r k
  ahead of me, I almost

cannot wait to see

what is around

the corner in

my life after

this realization.

:)

H a p p i n e s s H a p p e n s

"Life is what happens

while we're busy

making other plans."

I think it's easy for us

to get t r a p  p e d in the way

of thinking that we just have

to get through today, to

get through tomorrow and

the next day and so on.

Although I also believe that

every day should be better

than the last, you shouldn't

n e g l e c t your own happiness

and put it off for the future.

The way I see it,

we can make all the

plans we want, and we

can work toward them,

but when I find myself

(or anyone else) saying

something along the lines of

"once I lose this much weight,

I'll finally be this happy,"

it makes me stop and think.

If we let ourselves get lost in

those kind of thoughts, it

won't be too long until

we have an entire list of

overwhelming o b s t a c l e s

like"once I move out, graduate

college, get a better paying

job, find a hubby, etc, etc, I'll

be happy." All that does though

is give us countless e x c u s e s

as to why we aren't already there.

Personally, I think that those

statements could even be reversed.

"Once I am happy, I will stop

wasting my time and money on

temporary things and save

up to move out, I will have

a better attitude and work

hard toward a promotion,

I will be willing to go outside

of my comfort zone and not

hesitate to go out with

friends and meet new

people, etc, etc..."

Making sense?

Happiness is a c h o i c e,

and once you decide to be

happy, you can leave behind

those thoughts that are holding

you back and move forward

with the knowledge that

you will always be happy.

Just knowing that I have

the courage to s m i l e

despite whatever life throws

my way, gives me a sense

of s e c u r i t y that I

never even knew I needed.

So here's my advice:

If you want to change

something about

yourself or your life,

just   g o  f o r  i t.

but remember that

it might take time.

You'll have your

ups and downs, but

in the mean time

 be comfortable with your

own mind and skin.

Celebrate every little

accomplishment

and just be happy,

because you are

too beautiful to be

beating yourself up.

I n s p i r a t i o n - I has it

Lately I have been thinking a lot

about i n s p i r a t i o n and what it

is that keeps me going when I know

I could probably use a good 

burnout melt down or something.

So here's what I came up with:

1 - Seeing as I tend to spend more 

time driving to and from places in my

car than I do at my house, my car has

kind of become my c o m f  o r t zone. 

If I'm having a bad day I espeacially 

look forward to singing along with 

my f e e l - g o o d music, as long as

it's turned up loud enough that I can't

hear my own voice.  

Haha. 

"Filling my head with words to encourage me,
Gotta get my act so straight so I can truly believe.
That what I’m waiting for, is really worth the wait.
Stop bringing myself down,
I gotta know what makes me great."

This song "And Run" by He is We

is pretty much on r e p e a t daily,

and it definitely reminds me that

everything will work itself out 

one way or another, so I might as

well toss out my stress and frustration

and just be content and h a p p y

throughout my journeys. 

2 - Knowing that I can bring a s m i l e

to someones face just by entering the room. 

The reason why inspiration has even been 

on my mind is because recently a lot of 

people have directed that word toward me.

It's kind of intimidating but at the same time

probably one of the h i g h e s t  

compliments I have ever recieved.

No joke.

I covered names and pictures just because I don't want my peeps to be weirded out. Haha :)

The simple fact that I inspire others 

inspires myself to keep it up.
To keep setting up challenging goals

not just for the satisfaction of 

meeting them, but to p r o v e 

to others that they can do it too.

So  t h a n k   y o u . <3

3 - I have been wanting to mention 

this third reason for a long time, but 

I keep putting it off because I worry that

I won't be able to word it in a way that 

would give it justice, but I've decided

to just go for it or else I never will.

W a r n i n g : This one may be lengthy 

and possibly full of cheese. :)

When I was little I could always see 

just how much my mother a d o r e d her

brothers, and that adoration passed 

on to me probably before I even 

understood that you could love 

people in different ways, and now I 

believe adoration is one of the 

strongest kind of love there is.

Both of my uncles are more than 

just incredible men, they're h e r o e s.

Right now I want to focus more on 

my mom's little brother though.

Every now and then his story pops

up from the back of my mind, and 

I can't help but be so p r o u d of him 

ever day, and be motivated by everything he

has overcome over time. 

You see, there was a point where

he had been so devastatingly addicted

to drugs that we considered him gone.

I mean, I don't know most of the details,

and there was always a little spark 

of h o p e that he would bounce back

from it, but at that point it had 

seemed entirely unrealistic.

To keep a long story short (ish), 

he decided on his own that he had to

turn his life around in order to keep what

was most important to him: his kids.

He has turned his life around so 

completely that you wouldn't be able

to tell that he had been on a road so dark.

I know you hear of stories like that

every now and then, but it means 

something different when you actually 

see someone close to you go through it, 

and there's nothing you can do 

but love and support them anyway.

When I think of how drastically my uncle

has changed his life I can't help but think if he

can make those changes n e c e s a r y to 

become a better person, then I can too,

and I don't even have anything like

drugs weighing me down. It's 

all my own stress, frustration,

thoughts and insecurities.

I'm in c o n t r o l, 

and he taught me that, 

even if he doesn't know it.  

So, what inspires y o u??

D r a g o n s o f L i f e

Last Saturday in my P s y c h class we began 

discussing the value we place (or don't place)

on ourselves and how self love plays as 

a pre-requisite in loving other people.

This concept is something I have always

felt m e g a strongly about, so here's a quote!

"Self -esteem is the armor

that protects kids from 

the dragons of life:

drugs, alcohol, delinquency,

and unhealthy relationships."

I think the only thing wrong

with this quote is that is should 

replace the word "kids" with people.

We all battle our own dragons 

pretty much daily, and it

can be quite f r i g h t e n i n g.

Think about it.

If our self-esteem is our armor 

then we need to be oh-so careful

not only of how we treat it, 

but what it's m a d e of. 

I like to think that all the 

people in my life (family, friends

even people I work with) are a l i n k

in my chainmail. Every now and then 

there might be a weak spot, I might get 

injured and will have to tend to my armor

and learn how to s u r v i v e a few battle wounds,

but I would be entirely willing to take 

that chance and know that I did my best.

 Because if you avoid your battles, your suit 

might do nothing more for you than collect
dust and t a r n i s h over the years, despite

the fact that its made of the finest material.

Which brings up one more point

I want to mention before I shut up. ;) 

Sometimes our dragons are perhaps too big

or too strong for us to t a m e or f i g h t on our own,

and we need to call on others to fight by our side.

We can't help but j u d g e them by their armor, 

but we can control what we take into consideration.

You could choose someone with the shiniest 

suit, knowing they must be d e d i c a t e d by how

much time they spend polishing it daily. 

Or you could choose someone whose suit 

has a few dents or cracks, knowing that they

have certainly taken a b e a t i n g of their
own, and yet, they're still standing.

T h e C u r e

There is absolutely 

nothing a s i m p l e convo,

animated s t o r y , 

or comfortable s i l e n c e

with an old (or new) 

friend can't c u r e .

Just sayin'.

G o o d M o r n i n g

I love sleeping.

I love being awake.

But I hate waking up.

Every morning my alarm 

is set for 4am, and then I 

allow myself to hit s n o o z e

for a good half hour before

my second alarm goes off 

and that one I actually have 

to get out of bed to make it

be quiet and get ready for

work, school, or the gym. 

Usually work. 

Then at 5 am I facebook  s t a l k

what went down online while

I was sleeping, browse pinterest

for a few bright and early 

f e e l   g o o d  quotes, and as I 

was doing that this morning 

I thought now might be a fun time

to write a few words about

a few things. 

So here goes:
Yesterday I went s h o p p i n g

after about a two or three week 

debate on whether or not

I could even afford to. 

The debate was settled when

I went and saw a  f r i e n d  who 

I haven't seen in forever and

he noticed that I had lost 

quite a bit of weight.

It was in that moment I 

think I realized I couldn't

afford  n o t  to,

despite the fact that 

I need to pay for my classes,

insurance, and gas up my car.

But realizing my jean size has 

gone from a 20 down to almost

a 13, and the fact that I've 

officially met one of my most 

important goals (to be able to 

share clothes with my sisters)

was worth the hundred I 

allowed myself to spend.

Plus, I feel like I just

u p g r a d e d  in cuteness.

Partly because of my new

obsession with n e o n  green,

but also in part because

its hard to see a difference

within yourself. 

Every time I look in 

the mirror I can't see the

changes I'm making because

I'm comparing myself to the me

I saw y e s t e r  d a y , not the me

I was three months ago. I think

one of the hardest things 

to remember is that 

change takes t i m e.

B a c k I n t o G r o o v e

As of today, 

I am officially 

back into groove

with the lifestyle 

I have been working

on building for myself,

and only 9 pounds 

away from my first 

weight loss goal! 

After almost

three and a half weeks

of winter vacation and trying to 

figure out how to work with my

new and improved (full) schedule,

I finally made it back into the

gym today, which is 

happy-making. 

Aaaaaaand, this morning

I also found out that my gym 

is officially open on Sundays! 

Mega good news right there 

considering the gym is where I

can just be me and totally de-stress

from all my work and school ness.

N a p T i m e ?

This semester I had planned

on dressing somewhat n i c e

for all my classes, but lets face it,

h o o d i e s  must have been invented

for college students, espeacially

those of us working full time as well.

Haha, maybe next semester?

Just wait, tomorrow 

it will be time to get my 

routine back into groove,

and then I'll have more to

ramble about, (which 

may or may not 

be a good thing.)

 But for now I am going to put my 

face back on my desk and take 

a m i c r o - n a p. Who couldn't 

use one of those, right?

O r a n g e J u i c e & S o f t l i p s

Today is probably

the first day all week

I have actually felt human,

(instead of this melting

zombie like creature)

and let me tell you,

it's fantastic.

So this is just

a mini s h o u t   o u t

to orange juice and

softlips vanilla chapstick.

My two very best friends

whenever I am sick.

(Future hubby,
whoever you might be,
take note of this.
Haha.)

W o r k - a - h o l i c C o l l e g e S t u d e n t

  ^ ^ those two phrases ^ ^
pretty much sums up my  l i f e
at the moment, which is definitely nothing
short of  c h a o t i c  and headache-inducing.
Toss in a head cold and a never ending sleep debt,
then I get a sweet mom who doesn't know how to not worry. ;)

Truth is though, 

I enjoy (almost) every minute of it.

Of course the fever and whatnot is unwelcome,

but I am a  g o a l - setter. Ultimately I set goals just 

so that I can meet them and set new ones. Granted,

with each progressive goal I set it gets harder, 

but sometimes that is what gives me 

the most determination. 

However, 

I'm certain that

not all goals are meant to be met. 

(Uh, you said what now??)

Not

a l l

goals

are

meant

to

be

met.

Sometimes I think we

get more out of life when we realize

that we aren't invincible. That there may always

be someone that's better than you at  e v e r y t h i n g .

I honestly believe it is this mindset that has gotten

me so far and so  h a p p y  in life, and yet it

is oh, so simple. 

I can do anything, but not everything.

So there you have it!

My tangent for the day. (:

4 6 S e c o n d s

18 years ago,

and 46 seconds

after midnight,

one of my b e s t i e s

was brought into this life

of total insanity, and she also

just so happens to be one of 

lovely sisters. <3 

So  h a p p y   b i r t h d a y   Emmy!

You're officially an adult, so
make the best of it! 

Although,

In my mind, 

you might always

be t h r e e years old. ;)

T o C l a r i f y

In my previous post I mentioned a  j o u r n e y . 

I just wanted to clarify that I don't specifically 

mean a weight loss journey, although

that is an important part of it.

Every day we grow just a little bit more 

and become someone we might not have 

even recognized the day before. 

Sometimes the changes are so subtle that 

it takes a lot to even notice a difference.

So this blog is simply to share my 

thoughts, feelings, and ideas as I 

t r y,  f a i l,  and  s u c c e e d.

W h a t F o r ? ?