New chapters.

Adventurous. Spontaneous. Heartbreaking. Unimaginable. Overwhelming. Tough. Joyful. Blessed. Full of the unknown and unexpected.

Just a few adjectives that could describe my life.
I love photography. I know you all know this because my obsession with photos is evident by the constant flow that takes over my twitter and facebook.  What can I say, I'm a visual, creative person....things sometimes are just better describe in photo form than written form.
I've learned that this can lead people to have a skewed idea of what my day to day life is like and I can understand this.  It's easy to see life as this happy-go-lucky, no care in the world thing...when you see photos of smiling kids having fun, beautiful scenery, etc.  I've lost "friends" because of it and gained some "friends" because of it.  This "glamorous" life that I live is filled with sleepless nights, no social life, oatmeal down my back, snotty noses, sticky fingers, half packed suitcases, laundry I don't have time to do, family that lives miles away....life is messy and exhausting...and yet....beautiful.

I'm going to be honest here. I'm heading into probably one of the hardest chapters in my life and although I can see already how God's hand is in it, I am heartbroken, hurt, and tired.  I don't want to face it, but I am choosing to walk forward in the knowledge that God has never left me hanging.
As some of you know my best friend, Jenna, has decided to follow her dream and go to PA school. SO so proud of her. So excited to watch her walk into this new journey.....so so so sad though to have to say goodbye.   We have been roommates and best friends for six years. We have walked through each other's darkest times, moved to a new city together, have had too many adventures to count, raised two, brother, puppies together, share everything, went from being broke and crashing at people's houses to building up a pretty snazzy looking place to live (after moving a billion times)...cheesy, but, she's the sister I never had.   I'm going to miss her and her pup Tonka so much. I'm going to have to re-learn how to live life without my best friend by my side.
That's just one of the changes happening. So many other things that I really can't talk about on here are going on and other than staying with the jobs that I have I am completely re-starting.   It's exciting and exhausting just thinking about it. Especially because we have moved 5 times in two yrs....and I just unpacked and threw away our last box this week....only to find out I will begin packing again next week. I'm learning to be content where I am, but always ready to go when God throws a curve ball.  He has already been faithful by providing a temporary home (thanks Brit and Jer) for me for the next few months and by sending extra work my way in the slow season to come. He is faithful.

It's times like these that I am beyond blessed and can see how faithful God is by sending me the incredible families I work for.  Although the past fews weeks have been rough and I apologize to anyone who has interacted with me in those weeks (and the weeks to come), because I feel like I am not present or able to engage, when I'm with "my" kiddos I have the adrenaline and drive to continue forward.  They are what make me excited for the future and give so much purpose to my day to day right now.

I don't write this to be a downer or seek pity. I am truly excited to see what God has in store around the corner, but I want to be honest for those of you who sometimes think that it's greener on the other side.  Life will be messy no matter where you are, no matter what your job is, or where your location is, it's messy if you are in the spotlight or beyond the scenes.   But I wouldn't trade the messiness for neat and controlled. I wouldn't trade the sticky fingers, snotty kisses, tearful goodbyes, or overwhelming piles of laundry for anything. It's through the heartache and exhaustion that God has always shown me His faithfulness and His amazing way of piecing the puzzle of my life together.
Be present where you are, but hold things loosely, enjoy today, and always know that you are not alone. Everyone has a story and a struggle.

For Now I'm choosing to soak up the little moments....

Make messes...

Go on adventures...

and stop to breathe in the beauty that is Life.

Blessings to you my friends. Forgive my ill-written post, if I could have put it in photo form I would :)

Road Trip

Having a blast on this much needed vacation and taking some time to just relax and enjoy some "family" time.  I did, however want to just get on and post something fun. Put together a little video of our road trip to Hilton Head.  Don't judge...Jenna and I were a little sleep deprived and stir crazy and honestly, both of us HATE being on video, but we decided to branch out. 

Jenna

I just need to brag for a little bit.
So I spent the last week (with LOTS of help from Angie and my friend Nikki) trying to pull off a couple surprises for my best friend.  Her birthday was Thursday and we just moved into a new place so I wanted to give her a complete room makeover. Jenna and I have been friends for almost 6 years now and we have moved more times than I can count, we've been through ups and downs, have had seasons where our friendship has been anything but stellar, and have walked through so many storms together. Through all of this having a place to call "home" has not been top priority so I felt it was time to start building up "real" rooms and a place that we can come home to.  
Jenna is incredible. I'm not sure where to even start.  The first time Jenna and I ever hung out was really not planned. We were all hanging out in my dorm room and we had a few mutual friends....well..our mutual friends all decided to leave and I was studying so stayed behind. Somehow Jenna was left behind too and long story short we spent the next several hours sharing our hearts with each other....and the rest is history.
We've been pretty much inseparable since then....minus a few tough seasons we walked through.
My favorite thing about Jenna is that we tend to have very eventful things happen during what should be normal days. She is the only person that can live through these events, laughing and making them into adventures instead of being frustrated and negative.
We moved all the way to Nashville and faced southern culture shock together, with no money and not even knowing where we would live. We saved money in jars to rent an apartment and moved in with no furniture, slept on sheets on the floor, saved again in jars to buy a couch from Big Lots, spent months working odd jobs and looking for change to buy food off the dollar menu, had our first garage sale experience in the pouring rain, have moved several times by ourselves, worked at 3 am putting furniture together in the Pier 1 parking lot in the snow....these are just a few examples of the things we have survived through together.
We've worked through the tough times and have been able to be honest with each other and grow our friendship stronger through them. We finish each other's sentences, wear the same clothes without even planning it and confuse our parents on the phone because we sound like the same person. She's the person I can stay up with till 3am talking about boys, life, God, the future and dreams. We've shared nanny jobs, had all our college classes together, were roommates all through college and have even traveled together.
   The funniest thing about it all....we could not be more different.   Jenna keeps me on track by being realistic and logical, she's a first born. I'm the middle child, spontaneous, leap before thinking type.    We balance each other out.    She made a spontaneous jump with me when we decided to go get two little puppies one day.    Pretty much she's amazing and we've both grown so much as individuals and in our spiritual walks because of what we have walked through together.
I thought it would be fun to share some photos through the years....Jenna, please don't hate me.

           typical night

                   (This was for graudation....funny part....the matching dresses was not really planned)

                 (drove a uhaul for the first time to get the couch we saved up for)

                     (we we're REALLY excited to get a vacuum)

                   (when we were jobless we would go to Ross and just try things on)

    (Our first Southern garage sale experience)

So now that you've had a little back story here is what we did for her birthday:

(My computer is totally full so couldn't edit any of these...but was to impatient to wait to post them)

Before:

 

 Before                                                                                                   after

 My little helpers

Gross lamp/night stand

 we had a midnight visitor

 Also...note...never make coffee when you are completely sleep deprived and being asked several questions by a five year old....you will almost blow-up the coffee maker and need your boss to come to the rescue

Sawyer wanted to help so he fell into the teal paint

 almost finished with the accesories

 Angie's coffee vs. my coffee.....I like my straight up strong

 wall art

 we thought Jenna might like this

 we really wanted to play a joke and make some real cheesy BFF canvases

 TADA! Finished product

So that is the end to this super long post....pretty much I adore my BFF