Thursday Inspriation

Hey hi hello!

I'm thinking that I need some sense of normality around these parts in my small internet neighborhood, so I thought I would try my had at sharing something I found inspiring each Thursday! We'll see how this works out :) I was inspired to try this (...see what I did there??) after I found something that I feel like I HAVE to tell others about. 

I've spent all day reading the blog of a young woman who I believe is one of the most amazing people on the earth. She embodies what it means to spread the love of Christ and should be an example to all of us. At the age of 18, she went to Uganda to perform missionary work as a kindergarten teacher and now, at the age of 25, permanently lives there after having adopted 14 young girls. She continues to help feed, teach, heal, and love the many people that continue to suffer and need assistance there.

Reading her blog made me want to be better. Better at giving, better at listening to my call in life, better at helping, better at being kind and patient and caring and helpful. Just better. I know that we shouldn't compare our own lives to the lives of others, but instead we should learn from them to help us grow. What I've learned from Katie is that we are not just living for ourselves...we always have others depending on us, whether we realize it or not. We should be better because those people need us to be better.

Since finding, and reading every post of, her blog I have thought of her almost every day, and when I do I say a prayer for her, her children, the hundreds of people she helps on a daily basis, and the people that have their lives positively improved by Amazima Ministries. I highly suggest reading her blog; she's so well spoken, I read the entire thing in one sitting. 

Be inspired. Make a change. Improve your life.

What have you found inspiring this week?

Have a lovely Thursday, neighbors :)

Emma

Happy Friendiversary

Hey, hi, hello!

Way back, a long time ago (....okay 3 years ago, so not that long ago), in 2010, I was going through a lot of massive changes in my life. In June I graduated from high school and would soon be off to Purdue University for my freshman year of college. Looking back, I had a pretty perfect set up: I was living in an apartment style university residence hall, which meant that our room had its own kitchen and bathroom, not to mention a HUGE walk-in closet, and my roommate was my best friend from high school. I absolutely loved living with my best, having freedom to make up my own schedule, getting involved with many campus organizations, enjoying various sporting events, and going to class. One class I really, wholeheartedly loved was choir (...okay, it was technically a class because we didn't receive credit for it.) Our director was amazing and I was singing with some of the most talented people I'd ever met. The first week of choir was intimidating for someone with social anxiety like me, but I loved the atmosphere and energy that I felt being in our rehearsal room. The first rehearsal during the second week of school was especially exciting because the kids who auditioned during the first week of school were there for the first time, joining everyone who had auditioned over the summer. 

Before we got started, a girl came up to me and commented on the shirt I happened to be wearing. I had tie-dyed it the week before at an event hosted by my residence hall. This girl said that she lived in the same residence hall and we talked for a bit about where we lived before our director got rehearsal started. Since that day, Angela and I stood next to each other in rehearsal, ate more and more meals together, and learned how similar we were. 

Three years ago on September 14, 2010, is when we became friends on Facebook, which why I chose to celebrate our friendship today. We became such fast friends that I quickly forgot what my life was like before she was part of it. Adding her to my list of best friends just felt right and natural like we were destined to meet and be a part of each other's lives. To be honest, it's hard to put my finger on the exact moment I considered Angela to be my friend, she just was one from the start. As the semester went on, we had the chance to spend more time together because of our choir schedule; we ate dinner, went to rehearsal, hung out when we could during breaks, and walked back to our res hall. By the time it was the weekend of the show, we had become so close that our other friends in choir were completely shocked to find out that we just met at the beginning of the school year.

(Minnesota football game, October 2010)

Angela and I roomed together sophomore year, and we weren't already close, living together definitely strengthened our friendship. There were many nights spent staying up late, both because we were studying and having fun. I have been pretty blessed to have had the opportunity to live with two of my best friends and come out on the other side still friends. Ang and I hardly had any problems...I think the only thing that bothered her was my tendency to ignore my alarm in the mornings haha. Due to personal live happenings, I was unable to return to Purdue for the second semester of sophomore year. Having to tell Angela that I would not be back was one of the most difficult Skype conversations I've ever had to make. However, we didn't let that change our friendship; we were constantly in communications: texting, Facebook, Skype, and Twitter. We even continued our habit of sending handwritten letters to each other. In late January, Ang and our friend Ryan came to visit me, and I went to Purdue a couple of times. I'm very proud and extremely thankful that we didn't let anything get in the way or ruin our friendship.

(Snow Day 2012...we should've been doing homework, but we cuddled in sweats and did nothing instead)

Angela has become one of those friends that I can tell anything to and I know that she'll listen, keep my secrets, and give me advice. I also know that no matter how many times I bring up a topic to gush, complain, or worry about, she will listen to me every time. We can be in deep, let-me-pour-my-heart-out-and-cry-because-I'm-so-stressed-out conversation one moment, and in the next we'll be dying of laughter. When something happens, she is the first person I want to tell about it. I trust her opinions on everything from boys I like and clothes I'm contemplating buying to problems I'm having in school and what I should do with my life when I'm older. She is kind, beautiful, generous, wonderful, courageous, strong, full of life, and just all around lovely. I am indescribably thankful to have this amazing girl in my life and know we were meant to become forever friends.

(Football game, September 2012)

In celebration of 3 years of friendship, I have chosen 3 of my favorite memories together :)

On night, while walking home from choir rehearsal, we realized that our coats and gloves were opposite colors and that made us so much more excited than it probably should have. That was also the night we sat and waited for a bus home that never showed up, so instead of being annoyed, we made a little adventure out of the walk home.

During the summer between freshman and sophomore years, Angela came to visit me in my hometown. It was so fun to take her around and show her some of my favorite spots in town. We shopped, watched Harry Potter, and went to the zoo (which was my favorite part....I'm such a sucker for the zoo!)

Last December, I got to see her for the first time since June. My mom and I went to see the Purdue Christmas show and afterwards I waited for my friends to come out. A few days before going down to see her, I went through a few hard days, so having the chance to see Angela and my other friends really lifted my spirits, making me smile and be happy for the first time in a few days. The pictures we have from that day are some of my favorite pictures of us :)

Happy 3rd Friendiversary, Ang. 

Thanks for being my best friend, favorite Schkype buddy, and definite soulmate.

Ps, a fourth favorite memory because I can't resist!

Going to volleyball games!!! So much fun and finally meeting Purdue Pete was a highlight of my life :)

Life.

Life is a funny, funny thing.

I started the summer out thinking that I would have endless amounts of time on my hands, devoted to cultivating a blog where I could record some of my life's adventures thus far and making silly videos on YouTube that would showcase new adventures I would experience and to complement blog posts. You don't have to look at my blog for too long to realize that my plans did not turn out the way I thought they would. Sometimes life just happens, progressing faster than you expect leaving you wondering where in the world summer went. Between being fortunate enough to find summer work and my older sister planing a wedding for early August, life took on a life of its own. My plate got too full which meant I had to take a step back, reassess, and prioritize the goals I wanted to accomplish over the next months. While I wanted to put this blog and YouTube at the very top of this list, I knew deep down I couldn't. I had other important things that had to be put first, and as much as it broke my heart to neglect something I felt so passionate about, I decided the right thing to do was to focus on work and the wedding. After all, I knew the internet wasn't going to disappear over the summer.

Now with August nearly over, school has reared it's mostly ugly, but sometimes fun and beautiful, head, my job is over for the time being, my sister is married, and I'm ready to get this blog back in order, with occasional appearances on YouTube.

As I said in the very first (I think) post, I hope to make my little corner of the internet a wonderful, inviting, safe space, a neighborhood, if you will, where we can visit, share stories and ideas, and have a nice time.

Has life ever gotten in the way of something you were passionate about? Tell me about it in the comments :)

Have a safe weekend neighbors!!

A Good Tired

Hey hi hello!

You know that feeling when the end of the week arrives and you're absolutely worn out, but you think back on everything you did during the last 6 days and you are so happy and proud that the fact you're worn out doesn't even matter anymore and you just feel good? That was me on Friday evening. I got home from work feeling tired, but very accomplished at the same time.

It reminded me how lucky I am to have so many exciting things happening in my life that cause me to feel "good tired". Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love time to myself, lazy days lounging in bed while reading, watching tv, or getting a few extra hours of sleep, but those days definitely need to be balanced out with busy, hard, productive days. And believe me, last week was full of those days. In addition to starting a job, I helped out my church's youth group with their mission trip (which I'll talk about in another post), so my days were spent at work and my mornings and nights on the mission trip. I had roughly an hour to myself every afternoon when I got home from work that I used to shower and pack work clothes for the next day, which was difficult for me because I'm such an introvert that I need more "me" time than most people. Despite that, I had a fantastic week and wouldn't have changed it for anything.

I'm excited to share the experience of the mission trip in an upcoming post!
Keep an eye out for it :)

Let's make today great, my fellow internet neighbors!

A Letter to Daddy

[I know I'm two days late with this post, but since I spent Sunday with my dad and not on the computer and Monday at work, I think you all will understand!]

[Dad and I at the zoo, Summer 2012]

Dear Dad,

Happy Father's Day! Thank you for being the best guy I know and such an inspiration in my life. The list of things and lessons you have taught me during my short 21 years of life longer than you probably know. Because of you I know how to make French toast, can watch endless hours of the History, Discovery, and Science channels, have fond memories of days spent at the park fishing, and can water and weed a tomato garden like a pro. The best advice you've ever given me is that the answer is always no unless you ask and I know that my faith wouldn't be half as strong if I didn't have yours to look up to. 

I appreciate the time you take to answer all of my silly questions about the world around us and the generous laughs you give to my jokes that probably aren't that funny. I love the time we spend together in the evenings watching Jeopardy and I love even more the time we spend watching "my" TV shows and movies. 

Thank you for constantly making me feel special and loved.

I hope to spend many more Father's Days with you!

Love,

Bug

[Dad with me and my older sister, Father's Day 1995]

PS. I promise you'll get your gift as soon as I find time to go buy it. Yay procrastination!

Instagram Insanity

Hey hi hello!

I have a confession to make: I love Instagram. I don't just love it; I adore it, am obsessed with it, 

and I find myself constantly going through my timeline looking at everyone's pictures. 

If you don't believe me, I think the 637 (and counting...) pictures I've posted speak for themselves. 

Because I have so many Instagrammed (who else loves making pronouns into verbs??) pictures, I thought I would start a series sharing recent uploads as well as my past favorites!

 1. My best friend Angela and I at the zoo when she came to visit me. [old favorite, Summer 2012]

2. Taking a trip to Wisconsin for a family gathering. [old favorite, Summer 2012]

3. Woke up to see my sweet cat Pippi curled up at my feet. [old favorite, Summer 2012]

4. Some gorgeous clouds I spotted on my walk home from work. [old favorite, Summer 2012]

5. My well-worn TOMS. I've recently had to retire them :( [old favorite, Summer 2012]

6. My cat Vera tried to convince me to take her with me on an 11 day trip. [recent upload, May 2013]

7. My best friend Ryan and I being silly watching movies on said 11 day trip. [recent upload, May 2013]

8. My best friend Olivia let me stay with her for 11 days. We had a lot of fun! [recent upload, June 2013]

9. Woke up with some crazy bedhead the other day. [recent upload, June 2013]

10. Dinner at Five Guys. I eat there way more than I'd like to admit. [recent upload, June 2013]

How blessed am I to have so many best friends, fun memories, and beautiful places to share? I hope you enjoyed these 10 Instagram pictures. If you'd like to see more, you can here! Feel free to follow me as well, just be warned I post a lot of food and cats :)

Do you like or use Instagram? What are your favorite pictures to post?

Let's make this Sunday great, neighbors!

Busy Life

Hey hi hello internet neighbors!

It has been quite a long time since my last post, but I am in the possession of a great excuse: life. In the last three weeks, a lot has gone on: my older sister graduated from college, we helped her move back home, I went on an 11 day trip to my old college town to stay with a friend, and I'm learning some music to sing at my church's you mission trip. Phew. That was a mouth full! Next week is proving to be even busier since I'm starting a job during the day while singing previously mentioned mission trip music in the mornings and evenings in addition to staying the night to keep an eye on the sleeping mission trip youth while the sleepy mission trip adults get some sleep. Woah, is there a world record for the most times "mission trip" has been used in a sentence? I think I could give it a run for it's money. 

Anyway, I'm hoping to write a few posts describing some of the above mentioned adventures as well as a few more introduction posts in the next few days. That way I can try to be a bit more timely and regular with the days that I put new posts up on this blog. Yay organization! Perhaps if I have some little posts backlogged for busy days it will be more helpful with my goal :)

That's it for this quick update! I hope you're having a lovely day. It's Friday after all. Congratulations!

You made it to the end of the week. 

Be proud of yourself.