Be Still.

Hey friends! Hope y'all have had a good week. Also, S/O to my incredible friends who've told me over the past week you read my blog. Y'all are THE BEST. The photos above are from the beautiful sunrise this morning--a few of my friends and I drove up to a look-out point near Fayetteville and it was amazing. (Also side note about photo quality--I'm going to get a new phone this afternoon so iPhone camera quality will be better, and I'm working on the camera situation. It might not seem like a big deal to y'all but it really bothers me lol).

Today, I just wanted to share something that's been on my heart the past few days.
The first part of Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God." This verse has always been one that I've displayed in my room, but it's held different meanings for me throughout different stages of life. When I came back to school almost two weeks ago to start the semester, I had a plan for how this semester would go. Last semester started off very rocky, so I knew I needed to make some changes. But within 24 hours of being back, my schedule started to get crazy and I got some disappointing news.

My anxiety heightened to a point that it hadn't reached since my Junior year of high school. I was having a hard time sleeping and focusing in class (during syllabus week #yikes). My plan to start off on a good note was not working. At all. And in the midst of all this, I was trying to get back into a strict routine of quiet time and prayer.

After a few days, I realized things were getting out of control. But that morning, I was reading in my devotion (Rhythms & Grace by Amen Paper Company =awesome), and the verse of the day was Psalm 46:10. They pointed out the two main verbs of this first-be still and know. The first-be still. Put away distraction, turn off your phone, close your eyes, and talk to God. The second-know. Know that the Lord is good, His plan for you is even better, and He is on your side.

I was talking with my campus minister earlier this week about struggling to make my time with God a priority. And what he said was so convicting--we will make time for anything else but our spiritual lives. Talk about WOW. Reading a passage of Scripture and meditating on it takes less than 10 minutes, so why do I struggle so much to do this??

One recommendation he had was immediately when you get in bed at night, read a Psalm. Read it, meditate on it for 2-3 minutes, and then read or watch TV or do whatever you do before you go to bed.

All this to say, take some time and be still. It's often in the silence that God speaks the loudest!

Feel free to leave a comment with thoughts/posts you want to see!

XO

The Pages Project

Hey friends!! One of my goals for this year was to read at least one book a month, and here is a fun project I've been working on to reach that goal. It's called The Pages Project--basically a book club but with a more fun name! This project is a collaboration with my friend Cate-check out her blog here. We're still working out the logistics, i.e. we might work in some sort of journaling component, but for now we just want to get started on the book! Being full time students, we're planning on reading one book per "quarter" (January-early March, late March-May, etc). 

The first book we're reading is Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel. Find it on Amazon. 

From reading just a little about it, it sounds like it's about a mid-twenties girl who finds herself at an admissions job for a New York school. It's gotten great reviews so far!

Cate and I both agreed that a fun read was in order for the first book we read. We are both in school and could not deal with another "boring" read on top of all our school work. But, if you have any recommendations for our next book, please leave them below!

If you want to follow along with us, here is the tentative reading schedule:

Week 1 (Jan 20-26): 3-73

Week 2 (Jan 27-Feb 2): 77-149

Week 3 (Feb 3-9): 152-217

Week 4 (Feb 10-16): Catch Up!

Week 5 (Feb 17-23): 220-286

Week 6 (Feb 24-March 2): 288-318

Week 7 (March 3-9): 320-356

Cate and I would love for you to read along with us. Try to challenge yourself and read before bed instead of playin' on yo phone (#guilty).

New.

There's something so refreshing about a new year. So much opportunity, promise, and hope. My friend Cate and I always say we are excited about a new chapter, rather than a fresh start. There won't be as many huge changes in my life this year as there were last year, but I think this year is going to be a good one. The travel bug bit me so hard last week; currently trying to plan so many trips (with all the money I don't have). Nonetheless, I came up with some goals I want to try to accomplish this year.

For the past few years, I've nominated a word for the year. This year, I chose grace. Whenever I used to think of grace, I always would say it's being patient or calm with someone when I'm frustrated with them, see a graceful dancer, etc. But after reading Emily Ley's Grace, Not Perfection , I realized that grace needs to be extended to ourselves as well. We shouldn't be so hard on ourselves. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:9, God's grace is sufficient for us. His power is made perfect in our weakness!!! So let's let go of trying to achieve perfection and an image, and let God's grace shine through us.

My goals for the year:

Heart

1. Contentment. Focus more on using what I have instead of buying more.

• Do the 30 day contentment challenge. I read about this in a book the other day, but a woman started the challenge by not buying anything other than extreme necessities for 90 days. No shopping, no Amazon, nothing. Just basic food and hygiene products. I'm not sure to what extreme I'm going to do, it might just be no online shopping since I don't have a lot of time for shopping at school.

2. Journal more. I can't remember the last time I wrote through an entire notebook. One of my mentors mentioned to me that journaling through college was one of the most comforting and therapeutic things she did. I also ordered a gratitude journal. If you want a post on that, let me know!

3. Let my inner creative come through. As I wrote a few posts ago, I am not good with any kind of painting/crafting. But, I really want to try this year. Rather than watch Netflix in my free time, I could maybe paint a canvas for my little or watercolor.

4. Speaking of reading, I want to try to read one book a month. Stay tuned for an exciting project I hope to reveal soon!

5. Nurture friendships/embrace conversation. I didn't believe people in high school when they told me this, but you meet more people in college then you'll ever meet in your life. Small talk/first conversations reallllllly give me anxiety. I'm just really not a fan. #introvertprobs One of my goals for last year was to embrace conversation, but I want to continue it into this year. On the friendship level, I want to try to nurture all the new friendships I made last semester. It was so crazy and hectic most of the time that I didn't get actual hang out time outside of our dorm room very much. And who doesn't love coffee/ice cream with a friend??

Health

1. Find balance. At first I was going to make this the cliche "Be Healthy or Go on a Diet", but I was watching a video the other day that shared if your goal is to lose x amount of weight or become this certain size, you'll just regain all that weight after you go off your diet (most of the time). So, I'm going to try to find balance in my diet/exercise routine. I'm not going to tell myself I'm going to four times a week, because then I'll stress myself out trying to go to the gym all the time.

• One soda a week. This is one change in my diet that I am going to hardcore stick to. I almost gave up soda completely, but my body craves it. It's kinda sad. So, I'm only going to have one a week.
• Build up my strength. I also want to try to incorporate more strength workouts into my week. Last semester I would mainly focus on cardio and then be too tired to do strength, but I'm going to try to do weights/tabata at least one day a week. **I've heard that writing your workouts in your planner helps you stick to them!!

2. Go to bed with a clean desk. Living in a dorm doesn't leave me with a ton of space for things to go, but I am going to try to spend 5 minutes at night cleaning my desk.

3. Become a runner. If any of my friends are reading this, they're all probably laughing. I really hate running. Like a lot. But I have dreams of being this super fit twenty-something with her lulu leggings running 6 miles. Maybe one day. My roommate and I are going to try to run at a local park at least once a week. Update to come on that one.

Do you have any new goals??

Top 10 of 2016

Back again?!?! haha, that's a productive snow day for ya. I wanted to share my top 10 favs of 2016.

1. Fav Random: Amazon Prime

College Students: get Amazon Prime. right now. The first 6 months are free!! I'm about to finish my trial but I will definitely be continuing it. Yes, I probably bought a lot more than necessary, but it was the best for random gifts and last minute function costumes. 

2. Fav Beauty Product: Touch of Spice Maybelline Lipstick

I have to give credit for this one to my roommate! She showed it to me one day and I was hooked. It is the perfect fall/winter color and it's super cheap.

3/4. Fashion Favs: New Balance/Off the Shoulder

New Balances!! They are the perfect combination of comfort while also being trendy and cute. They offer a little more than your basic running shoe. Other trend I loved this past spring/summer was off the shoulder tops! I'm hoping this trend will stick around this year. A few of my favs here:

5. Fav Experience: Justin Bieber

My friend Cate and I took the most fun trip to Nashville over the summer, and JB's concert just happened to match the time we were there! It was everything any fan girl dreams of. (tears might have been shed the morning after)

6. Fav College Survival Tip: Coffee

I spent an insane amount of money on coffee this semester. I am just so #college. Check out my favs K-cups here.

7. Fav Travel: Switzerland

First time in Europe=one of the best weeks of my life. Hot-tubbing in the Swiss Alps and making my own chocolate bar, what could be better?

8. Fav Meal: Brunch

Call me a basic white girl, but brunch has become one of my favorite things eva over this past semester. Fayetteville (where I go to school) has some amazing brunch places. Stay tuned for a best eats of Fayetteville soon to come!

9. Fav Book: Eligible

This book is one of my all time favs. I read it this summer as a beach read. A modern day version of Pride and Prejudice, this book is a page turner and a fun read. I'm now reading the actual Pride and Prejudice. If you like to read, stay tuned for a fun project coming up! :))

10. Fav Word: Joy

I'm not even going to sugar coat it, this semester was HARD. It was a ton of change at one time, and that season brought a lot of pain and fear with it. But, in those struggles, I found the joy of the Lord. My senior verse was Psalm 16:11, "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Even at my lowest points, I would cry out to the Lord for his joy, and he showed it to me!! I am so excited to bring this fav into 2017.

 Look for a post about my new word of the year and my new goals soon!

Thank you all for all the support with this new chapter of my blog!

I'm Back!

Well hello, friends! I started this project almost two years ago, but quickly I abandoned it. I just starting getting really frustrated with comparing my blog to others, and the craziness of the senior year of high school started to kick in.
 A lot of changes have happened in the past six months! I graduated from high school, started my first semester of college, and joined a sorority. I'm currently a biology major at the University of Arkansas. Guys, let me tell ya, being a science major is HARD. And I will be the first one to admit that high school did not prepare me for the pace of college. I feel like I am in such a better routine now, and I'm taking on a lot of projects in this next semester (more to come on that later).
But, I just still felt like something was missing. I missed reading, and I missed being creative. I joined the Yearbook Staff my senior year because I needed a creative outlet, and I am not artistic in the painting/drawing aspect. And I loveeeed Yearbook. #yerdstatus Reading other blogs in the morning is one of the highlights of my day, so I decided to jump back on the train!! I am at the very basic level of this, but it's something I truly want to be committed to this year. Please bare with me on the layout/design, as I'm going to focus on content in these beginning stages. Also, I'm not going to promise any certain number of posts per week, but I am going to try to get ahead before I head back to school in 10 days. I hope y'all are as excited as I am for this new venture!! The next two posts to follow will be very New Years/reflection based. Please comment and interact, as that is super encouraging!