To look back and think of how anxious I used to be just four short years ago baffles me. I was constantly worried that every decision I made would be the most important decision of my life. I had felt as if every opportunity, even as simple as the way I walked to class or what I decided to wear that day, could possibly have been a missed opportunity and there was a constant thought in the back of my mind - "what if?" Every moment felt as if I was at some competition of life. I would see good traits in someone else and try to emulate them in myself, but fail, and then be frustrated with myself for not being successful with things I had tried so hard to "perfect" about myself.
This past summer is when I had my epiphany. I was made the way I am for a reason. There is no perfect ideal to live up to. We are made a certain way and we live our lives, both of which shape us into who we are - the influence of our nature and nurture. My mind is a blessing; my talents are blessings; my surroundings are blessings. Because of the way I am, there are wonderful people that I will have the opportunity to have relationships with that would not be the same if I was any different from the way I am now. Though it's difficult to not compare myself to the good traits I see in other people, I have to keep in mind that I have traits of my own that they don't have and won't ever have, and t h a t. i s. o.k.a.y. Comparison truly is the thief of joy. Taking ownership of my middle name, I can't continue to compare myself to others because then I am losing myself, my true self, to something that I'm not. I am not envy. I am not jealously. There are a lot of things that I am, but those are not them. I love all the things I am and this jumble of wonderful events I'm thrown into called life. Life is beautiful, and I love looking out into God's creation knowing I am exactly where I'm supposed to be, doing what I'm made to be doing, being who I was created to be. Once I realized this, my life changed for the better. I'm not going to lie and say I never worried ever again after this day, but any worry I have now is only slight in comparison to the permanent comfort and calm I have now. Any worry or trouble is fleeting. This is where true joy comes in. Joy is a state of being, not a temporary emotional state, and finding this through my Savior is t h e best thing that's ever happened to me.
Differences exist to be celebrated, and I invite you to celebrate with me.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Sunday, August 3, 2014
DIY: Floral Letter!
Floral letters are so much fun to make and they look beautiful hanging in your room, dorm, apartment - wherever you would like to put them! Here's how I made mine!
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What you will need:
What you will need:
- A wooden or cardboard letter in your desired size (you can find these at your local craft store, like Joann's, Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc.)
- Lots of fake flowers
- A hot glue gun with lots of glue
- (optional) Clear rhinestones
- (optional) Ribbon
- (optional) Paint
How-To:
Step 1: (optional) Paint your letter a color close to your flowers or white if your flowers are multi-colored. This makes the letter look more "finished" once you're all done putting on all of the flowers, because you may be able to see some of the original letter peeking through.
Step 2: Remove the fake flowers from the stems. They usually come off, but sometimes I find that cutting them off is easier. Be careful with them once you've removed them because you don't want all of the petals to come apart!
Step 3: Think of how you would like to lay out your flowers. What I did was rationed my largest flowers (in this case they were the blue roses) and placed them where I wanted them to go. It's much easier to move around the smaller flowers than the bigger ones!
Step 4: Glue down your flowers. You may need to cut a bit of where the flower attached to the stem first, but not always. I personally prefer to put the glue on the flower then stick it to the letter because it gives me more control over what I'm doing. Keep doing this until all of your flowers are glued down.
Step 5: (optional) If you like sparkles, you can glue a rhinestone to the center of all of your flowers! Put a dot of hot glue in the middle of the flower you'd like to put a rhinestone in then press it on. I did this on all of my flowers except for the ones that were too small.
Step 6: (optional) Glue the ends of two pieces of ribbon to the back of the letter equidistant from the edges. This may be tricky depending on what letter you're doing. Once they're glued on there, you can tie the ribbon in a bow so you can hang your letter on a wall. If you don't want to hang your letter, you can also just set it on a table or shelf or lean it up against something!
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And voilà! You've got yourself a floral letter!
Let me know if you tried this out and how successful you were at this lovely summery craft!
xoxo, em
Step 3: Think of how you would like to lay out your flowers. What I did was rationed my largest flowers (in this case they were the blue roses) and placed them where I wanted them to go. It's much easier to move around the smaller flowers than the bigger ones!
Step 4: Glue down your flowers. You may need to cut a bit of where the flower attached to the stem first, but not always. I personally prefer to put the glue on the flower then stick it to the letter because it gives me more control over what I'm doing. Keep doing this until all of your flowers are glued down.
Step 5: (optional) If you like sparkles, you can glue a rhinestone to the center of all of your flowers! Put a dot of hot glue in the middle of the flower you'd like to put a rhinestone in then press it on. I did this on all of my flowers except for the ones that were too small.
Step 6: (optional) Glue the ends of two pieces of ribbon to the back of the letter equidistant from the edges. This may be tricky depending on what letter you're doing. Once they're glued on there, you can tie the ribbon in a bow so you can hang your letter on a wall. If you don't want to hang your letter, you can also just set it on a table or shelf or lean it up against something!
And voilà! You've got yourself a floral letter!
Let me know if you tried this out and how successful you were at this lovely summery craft!
xoxo, em
7 Happy Days
A compilation of things that have made me happy this past week.
My "new 'Rette sistas" are the girls who just made my new dance team, by the way.
3.) I had an opportunity to reconnect with an old good friend of mine. We had grown apart but we used to be pretty close, so I initiated a conversation with them. I was nervous about the outcome, but I just kept reminding myself of a sermon I had just heard. Staying in the gray area of life is easy, and taking risk is the only way to escape the metaphorical gray and get into the white. Risk taking also means that sometimes you will inevitably end up in the black, but I'd rather have success along with failure than merely staying in the safe zone. Thankfully this time my risk taking was successful! Regardless of the outcome, I'm glad I have so many opportunities to get out of the gray and experience success alongside with failure. Yes, you read that right. I trust that God has a perfect plan for everyone, myself included. I love learning new things, preferably from successes rather than from failures, but you can't have one without the other!
Moral of the story, I'm happy everything worked out.
4.) I organized my room, therefore my life. I've been having a lot of bad dreams and they suddenly stopped once I organized everything. If you've got anything to clean up, I encourage you to do so - it may indirectly help other aspects of your life as well!
5.) The song "Like Real People Do" by Hozier. I looked up the song meaning, and in an interview Hozier mentions that it doesn't have a specific meaning because it's made up of multiple different life experiences mashed up into one song. I love the vibe this song gives and how you can interpret it any way you want to! Definitely go check it out.
6.) I got a hair cut!
Don't get me wrong, I loved my long mermaid hair, but I was definitely in need of a change. As a "girly girl," I've always loved dressing up my hair and playing with my "look." Going to start my new life in college by myself, I felt like I needed something more manageable and fun. It's so flippy and exciting, and now I feel ready to take whatever else life has to throw at me! (Yes. It is possible to feel that empowered from a hair cut.)
7.) I took a personality test to find out whether I'm more of an introvert or extrovert.
For anyone who doesn't know, an introvert is typically more shy and quiet and they like having alone time to recoup. An extrovert is often very loud and outgoing and they gain their energy by being around other people. Neither one is "better" per se, they're just different personality traits.
I've always considered myself to be an introvert, but I also have traits of an extrovert which is confusing, so out of curiosity I took this test to find out where I am on the spectrum:
http://psychologytoday.tests.psychtests.com/take_test.php?idRegTest=1311
You can pay for your full results, but, being the unemployed full-time college student that I am, I settled with the free snapshot it gives you. My result? I'm halfway in between! (4% closer to being an introvert.) This may seem strange to include this on a list of things that made me happy this week, I mean it is just a personality test, but I had no idea a person could be a combination of both! This explains a lot and gives me a new perspective on my life and how to use the personality traits I was given to their full potential.
8.) Bonus! I just found out this week that Katy Perry's cat's name is Kitty Purry. That is really awesome. She wins at cat naming.
Let me know if anything that's made me happy this week strikes you in the same way it did me!
xoxo, em
1.) This advertisement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs
Every young girl needs to see that! As well as every woman, I think it's great for everyone. #LikeAGirl
While we're at it, this one too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzL-vdQ3ObA
After watching that, I realized how excessively I do say sorry. Granted, apologizing isn't always bad, more often than not it's actually good. However, like in the video, I would find myself apologizing when "asking a stupid question" as well, when in reality I shouldn't be because there's no way I was the only one wanting to ask that question. And even if I was, who cares? Questions make everyone more knowledgeable and the world a better place. Yea for being inquisitive!
Every young girl needs to see that! As well as every woman, I think it's great for everyone. #LikeAGirl
While we're at it, this one too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzL-vdQ3ObA
After watching that, I realized how excessively I do say sorry. Granted, apologizing isn't always bad, more often than not it's actually good. However, like in the video, I would find myself apologizing when "asking a stupid question" as well, when in reality I shouldn't be because there's no way I was the only one wanting to ask that question. And even if I was, who cares? Questions make everyone more knowledgeable and the world a better place. Yea for being inquisitive!
2.) The "What Makes Me Feel Beautiful" tag. What you do is you find and post five pictures that make you feel beautiful along with an explanation of why you chose each picture. Not going to lie, I've been dying for someone to challenge me to participate in this and one of my friends finally did. I live for this type of empowerment stuff. Here's my post, word for word in all of it's teenage slang-filled glory:
"Okay @madimoo28 here is my cheesy chain post, sry not sry & yea all women<3 I felt beautiful at my senior pictures because of all of my sweet supporters that surround me. I felt beautiful at prom because I loved getting to embody for a night the treatment I and all other girls should require. I felt beautiful in Hawaii because I was surrounded by God's beautiful creation and the people there all had beautiful hearts. I feel beautiful when I dance because even though I'm imperfect, I get an opportunity to showcase an art/sport/idea that I've spent time perfecting. Last but not least I find beauty in intelligence and accomplishment and my graduation just represented to me all of my hard work and growth. I challenge all of my new 'Rette sistas to post five pictures that make y'all feel beautiful!!"
My "new 'Rette sistas" are the girls who just made my new dance team, by the way.
3.) I had an opportunity to reconnect with an old good friend of mine. We had grown apart but we used to be pretty close, so I initiated a conversation with them. I was nervous about the outcome, but I just kept reminding myself of a sermon I had just heard. Staying in the gray area of life is easy, and taking risk is the only way to escape the metaphorical gray and get into the white. Risk taking also means that sometimes you will inevitably end up in the black, but I'd rather have success along with failure than merely staying in the safe zone. Thankfully this time my risk taking was successful! Regardless of the outcome, I'm glad I have so many opportunities to get out of the gray and experience success alongside with failure. Yes, you read that right. I trust that God has a perfect plan for everyone, myself included. I love learning new things, preferably from successes rather than from failures, but you can't have one without the other!
Moral of the story, I'm happy everything worked out.
4.) I organized my room, therefore my life. I've been having a lot of bad dreams and they suddenly stopped once I organized everything. If you've got anything to clean up, I encourage you to do so - it may indirectly help other aspects of your life as well!
5.) The song "Like Real People Do" by Hozier. I looked up the song meaning, and in an interview Hozier mentions that it doesn't have a specific meaning because it's made up of multiple different life experiences mashed up into one song. I love the vibe this song gives and how you can interpret it any way you want to! Definitely go check it out.
6.) I got a hair cut!
 |
| Before... |
 |
| ...and after! |
Don't get me wrong, I loved my long mermaid hair, but I was definitely in need of a change. As a "girly girl," I've always loved dressing up my hair and playing with my "look." Going to start my new life in college by myself, I felt like I needed something more manageable and fun. It's so flippy and exciting, and now I feel ready to take whatever else life has to throw at me! (Yes. It is possible to feel that empowered from a hair cut.)
7.) I took a personality test to find out whether I'm more of an introvert or extrovert.
For anyone who doesn't know, an introvert is typically more shy and quiet and they like having alone time to recoup. An extrovert is often very loud and outgoing and they gain their energy by being around other people. Neither one is "better" per se, they're just different personality traits.
I've always considered myself to be an introvert, but I also have traits of an extrovert which is confusing, so out of curiosity I took this test to find out where I am on the spectrum:
http://psychologytoday.tests.psychtests.com/take_test.php?idRegTest=1311
You can pay for your full results, but, being the unemployed full-time college student that I am, I settled with the free snapshot it gives you. My result? I'm halfway in between! (4% closer to being an introvert.) This may seem strange to include this on a list of things that made me happy this week, I mean it is just a personality test, but I had no idea a person could be a combination of both! This explains a lot and gives me a new perspective on my life and how to use the personality traits I was given to their full potential.
8.) Bonus! I just found out this week that Katy Perry's cat's name is Kitty Purry. That is really awesome. She wins at cat naming.
Let me know if anything that's made me happy this week strikes you in the same way it did me!
xoxo, em
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Coincidence?
Warning: This post is going to be a lengthy compilation of some amazing related experiences and my reflections on the significance I've placed on them.
It all started a couple months ago. To try out for my dream of a college dance team, known as the "World Famous Kilgore College Rangerettes," I needed to send in a "full body" picture with my application, so naturally my mother decided none of the thousands (yes, thousands) of pictures that I already had would work and insisted that we took a new picture. (By "new picture" she meant do an entire photo shoot at the state capital in downtown Austin, Texas, mid-afternoon on a Saturday.)
Side note: at first I was dreading that photo shoot because of how awkward it sounded, but it actually wasn't too bad. Everyone was so sweet! I got to witness a wedding take place and a few people came up to me to ask what I was doing. The look on one little girl's face was priceless, you would've thought I was Cinderella or something!
Anyway. My mom took a bunch of pictures of me that day. Later, I went through all of them and finally decided on "the one." When I finally finished the rest of my application, I went onto my desktop to find and upload the picture that I had selected...it was titled IMG_0555! (I have a slight obsession with the number five. Three fives? Even better.) Since I was starting to get doubts about myself and my dancing ability, this sign was the nice little reassurance I needed to keep me confidently working towards my dream.
This one isn't AS significant, but later I had downloaded all of the pictures from my phone onto my computer. I went through them and noticed that the one and only "screen shot" I had taken on my phone of this dance team was titled IMG_7755. 1.) Two fives! 2.) This number also closely resembles the number 75, which is the "line" (a similar concept to "classes" used in school) that I auditioned for, the 75th line. 3.) It was a screenshot of a promotion for the 75th line. How cool is that?!
Time went by and, finally, I found myself in Kilgore embarking on the grueling week long tryout process for my college dance team. After attending the school's orientation, I went and visited the Rangerette museum. While talking to the person who worked there, I found out that the team's captain from 1955 had just visited Kilgore/the museum for the FIRST time ever since the museum had been open! She was on the 15th line! She came all the way from Florida just to visit the organization, most likely in honor of the commencement of the audition process for this diamond jubilee line. This just really struck me of all people as amazing because of my nerdy obsession with the number five and all multiples of five, but in particular the number 55 because it is a multiple of five but numerically it's two fives.....anyway, for some reason, even though I didn't see her in person, I just felt very special and lucky that the day the leader of this amazing team in 1955 decided to come was the same day I came as well. Did it have anything to do with me? No. Nevertheless, I appreciated her perfect timing.
Walking out of the museum, my mom spotted a dime on the ground. Yes, dimes are worth ten cents and that rocks, but that's not the significance of this dime. Dimes remind my mom of someone she loves who passed away a long time ago, and they always seem to pop up only when we are in need of a reminder that we have a guardian angel watching over us. This dime just proved to me that God is helping me through this week of tryouts and my goal of becoming a Rangerette was indeed His plan for me, counteracting the physical sickness I felt and the fear placed in my head. This particular instance, along with the previous events involving the fives, led me to write this passage in my quiet time journal that night, the night before tryouts:
"'Coincidence'-used only once in the Bible, in the New Testament by Jesus in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
And by a coincidence a certain priest was going in that way, and having seen him, he passed over on the opposite side. Luke 10:31
Coincidence-translated from Greek 'synkyrian,' which is a combination of two words: 'sun' and 'kurios.'
Sun=together with
Kurios=supreme in authority
Coincidence literally means together with God
biblical definition: what occurs together by God's providential arrangement of circumstances
For God, there are no unimportant events, He does not need to conserve His strength because His power is limitless. Isaiah 46:9-11
-just because we are taken by surprise, doesn't mean God is!
All things work together for the good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28"
I had looked some of these things up from a website, which I will link right here:
http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-coincidence.html
Yes, I am that girl that will look up something just to put it in my quiet time journal. It's interesting though, isn't it?
Sunday morning was the day tryouts started and the day we moved into our dorm for the week. When I got there, I discovered that the rooms were a free-for-all. Since all of the floors I could easily escape my elevator phobia and take the stairs to were full, I started out at the best floor, the fifth floor. To my surprise, only two other people were on this floor! As personality tests have proven, I am half-introverted and half-extroverted, so having my own personal dorm and some quiet time to recoup at night after a stressful/exciting day at tryouts was perfect for me. Plus, what better room then room 505?
The very first thing we did at the official start of tryouts was attend a tea to get to know each other better and break the ice. We signed our name and randomly drew numbers out of a hat to figure out which "discussion group" we would be a part of - surprise surprise, I picked group number 5!
Okay this next "coincident" is definitely by far my favorite. I wish my reaction to this one had been video taped, because I am positive that I looked ridiculous. The first night of dancing, all 84 hopefuls lined up and a few of the Sophomores already on the team arranged us in a line randomly by height. They started passing out numbers and, being the nerd that I am, I prayed for an even number or a multiple of five, but I was expecting something awkward like 47. The Sophomore in charge of us at the time came down the line, handing out numbers one by one, and when she got to me...she handed me the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, the number 55 printed on that sheet of paper. I freaked out and showed it to anyone around me who would listen, then I turned around and made eye contact with my friends (we weren't allowed to talk...technically my eye contact broke the rules, but this was a very important moment in my life) and they laughed at my excitement.
I was holding back tears. It was a great moment.
My friend sent me this quote that night:
"Every calling has a college.
Every purpose has a process.
Every destiny has discipline."
Though it has nothing to do with fives, it's no coincidence that she sent me that. It's so hard for me to realize that there are things out there that align perfectly with the things I'm passionate about.
The last day, the girls who would be Rangerettes were revealed at "sign drop" when a large sign covered in the numbers that made it would descend down from their auditorium.
It all started a couple months ago. To try out for my dream of a college dance team, known as the "World Famous Kilgore College Rangerettes," I needed to send in a "full body" picture with my application, so naturally my mother decided none of the thousands (yes, thousands) of pictures that I already had would work and insisted that we took a new picture. (By "new picture" she meant do an entire photo shoot at the state capital in downtown Austin, Texas, mid-afternoon on a Saturday.)
Side note: at first I was dreading that photo shoot because of how awkward it sounded, but it actually wasn't too bad. Everyone was so sweet! I got to witness a wedding take place and a few people came up to me to ask what I was doing. The look on one little girl's face was priceless, you would've thought I was Cinderella or something!
Anyway. My mom took a bunch of pictures of me that day. Later, I went through all of them and finally decided on "the one." When I finally finished the rest of my application, I went onto my desktop to find and upload the picture that I had selected...it was titled IMG_0555! (I have a slight obsession with the number five. Three fives? Even better.) Since I was starting to get doubts about myself and my dancing ability, this sign was the nice little reassurance I needed to keep me confidently working towards my dream.
This one isn't AS significant, but later I had downloaded all of the pictures from my phone onto my computer. I went through them and noticed that the one and only "screen shot" I had taken on my phone of this dance team was titled IMG_7755. 1.) Two fives! 2.) This number also closely resembles the number 75, which is the "line" (a similar concept to "classes" used in school) that I auditioned for, the 75th line. 3.) It was a screenshot of a promotion for the 75th line. How cool is that?!
Time went by and, finally, I found myself in Kilgore embarking on the grueling week long tryout process for my college dance team. After attending the school's orientation, I went and visited the Rangerette museum. While talking to the person who worked there, I found out that the team's captain from 1955 had just visited Kilgore/the museum for the FIRST time ever since the museum had been open! She was on the 15th line! She came all the way from Florida just to visit the organization, most likely in honor of the commencement of the audition process for this diamond jubilee line. This just really struck me of all people as amazing because of my nerdy obsession with the number five and all multiples of five, but in particular the number 55 because it is a multiple of five but numerically it's two fives.....anyway, for some reason, even though I didn't see her in person, I just felt very special and lucky that the day the leader of this amazing team in 1955 decided to come was the same day I came as well. Did it have anything to do with me? No. Nevertheless, I appreciated her perfect timing.
Walking out of the museum, my mom spotted a dime on the ground. Yes, dimes are worth ten cents and that rocks, but that's not the significance of this dime. Dimes remind my mom of someone she loves who passed away a long time ago, and they always seem to pop up only when we are in need of a reminder that we have a guardian angel watching over us. This dime just proved to me that God is helping me through this week of tryouts and my goal of becoming a Rangerette was indeed His plan for me, counteracting the physical sickness I felt and the fear placed in my head. This particular instance, along with the previous events involving the fives, led me to write this passage in my quiet time journal that night, the night before tryouts:
"'Coincidence'-used only once in the Bible, in the New Testament by Jesus in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
And by a coincidence a certain priest was going in that way, and having seen him, he passed over on the opposite side. Luke 10:31
Coincidence-translated from Greek 'synkyrian,' which is a combination of two words: 'sun' and 'kurios.'
Sun=together with
Kurios=supreme in authority
Coincidence literally means together with God
biblical definition: what occurs together by God's providential arrangement of circumstances
For God, there are no unimportant events, He does not need to conserve His strength because His power is limitless. Isaiah 46:9-11
-just because we are taken by surprise, doesn't mean God is!
All things work together for the good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28"
I had looked some of these things up from a website, which I will link right here:
http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-coincidence.html
Yes, I am that girl that will look up something just to put it in my quiet time journal. It's interesting though, isn't it?
Sunday morning was the day tryouts started and the day we moved into our dorm for the week. When I got there, I discovered that the rooms were a free-for-all. Since all of the floors I could easily escape my elevator phobia and take the stairs to were full, I started out at the best floor, the fifth floor. To my surprise, only two other people were on this floor! As personality tests have proven, I am half-introverted and half-extroverted, so having my own personal dorm and some quiet time to recoup at night after a stressful/exciting day at tryouts was perfect for me. Plus, what better room then room 505?
I didn't get a pic of my room number, so instead, I'll show you my DIY cardboard and sharpie classy dorm decorations and how I hung my sign I had to wear throughout tryouts on my door.
The very first thing we did at the official start of tryouts was attend a tea to get to know each other better and break the ice. We signed our name and randomly drew numbers out of a hat to figure out which "discussion group" we would be a part of - surprise surprise, I picked group number 5!
I was holding back tears. It was a great moment.
My friend sent me this quote that night:
"Every calling has a college.
Every purpose has a process.
Every destiny has discipline."
Though it has nothing to do with fives, it's no coincidence that she sent me that. It's so hard for me to realize that there are things out there that align perfectly with the things I'm passionate about.
The last day, the girls who would be Rangerettes were revealed at "sign drop" when a large sign covered in the numbers that made it would descend down from their auditorium.
Okay, I take back what I said earlier. This was probably my favorite five coincidence. I made it, yea!
I also met a former Rangerette with the same tryout number as me! Yea 55! Isn't she precious?!
I hope my experiences have brightened your day a little bit.
xoxo, em
Hello!
Hello friends! So as you can tell this is my first post ever on my new blog. I am super excited to start blogging! I've been wanting to do something like this for years, ever since middle school, but I've never felt like the time has been right. Hopefully this truly is the right time to start this and I'll have some interesting stuff to write about! (Well, at least I'll think it's interesting. That counts...right?)
Anyway, I apologize in advance if my grammar is imperfect (and I know it won't be, I'm human). All I can hope for is that my trials and imperfections may lead to triumphs and that I can inspire someone through the blogging forum! If not, then at least I'll have my thoughts collected and organized on here. What more could a girl ask for?
xoxo, em
Anyway, I apologize in advance if my grammar is imperfect (and I know it won't be, I'm human). All I can hope for is that my trials and imperfections may lead to triumphs and that I can inspire someone through the blogging forum! If not, then at least I'll have my thoughts collected and organized on here. What more could a girl ask for?
xoxo, em
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