Weekend Favorites 4/22-4/24

Wow. I have been terrible about blogging recently, and really there is no excuse other than life. We are currently playing that oh-so-fun marine corps game of 'hurry up and wait' to see what platform J will be assigned for flight school and where that will send us in the coming months. Because of this, I have been cautiously tempering my inflow of work in case we will not be here in a few months. Thankfully the wait will be over next week and then we can make a game plan! Honestly, it's not the moving around and last minute orders that are the most frustrating, it's the waiting! But then again, patience is not a quality that I possess in any graceful fashion so that doesn't help my case...

In the meantime, while we wait PATIENTLY, here are my weekend favorites. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Favorite Shoes: Just ordered these beauties from the J-Crew New Balance collection. They are so pretty and when I realized last week that I had managed to puncture a hole in my nice sneakers I decided to take the plunge and buy them 

Favorite Podcast: This talk by Liz Gilbert (author of Eat Pray Love) knocked my socks off. I have felt this way my whole life and hearing her talk about following your curiosity instead of forcing a passion was so incredibly moving for me. Hummingbirds Unite!

http://www.supersoul.tv/supersoul-sessions/elizabeth-gilbert-flight-hummingbird-curiosity/

Favorite Movie: This weekend J and I watched the Princess Bride which was so much fun because it was a childhood favorite for both of us. Every time I watch this movie it gets funnier, and I have so many good memories associated with it :)

Favorite Book (currently): I am STILL reading Brian Greene's book The Fabric of the Cosmos, which is shocking because I'm normally an incredibly fast reader. But this damn book is taking me forever because I have absolutely no background in physics and I have to read every single paragraph multiple times and then put it down and think about how I know absolutely nothing (Jon Snow...) about the world around me. It's awesome though. I think I'm starting to get it...maybe..youtube videos help. 

On a separate "book note" I just ordered Elizabeth Gilbert's new book Big Magic and the first book in the Outlander series so I can't wait to get my hands on those!

Favorite Recipe: This weekend I have made the homemade Bean Burger recipe from Thug Kitchen twice and we are still not sick of it. Even if you are not vegetarian or vegan you NEED this cookbook. The flavors are amazing, the recipes are easy, and they are cruelty free...reduce your carbon footprint...blah blah blah...you know, IMPORTANT THINGS. 

  

On that note, hope you all had an amazing weekend. What were some of your weekend favs??

Em

Pep Talk Time

Life has been pretty crazy the past couple of weeks, but the good kind of crazy. We nailed down the last few details for the wedding; venue, photographer, lighting, hotel, bridesmaid dresses, MY DRESS, the DJ, basically everything! My business has been taking off like crazy with the spring market (thank you little baby jesus!), I had to travel for various reasons to Nashville and Durham, and of course life in flight school is as unpredictable as always! 

Life is good! It's crazy thinking back to when I was in my early twenties and didn't have a clue where I would be in a few months, and especially not in a few years! I definitely did not think I would be living in Milton Florida, marrying my amazing best friend, or running my own Real Estate Business. But here we are! It's funny to think about the curve balls life throws at you. 

There have been lots of ups and downs (mostly ups!), I've made amazing new friends, strengthened old ones, stepped out of my comfort zone career-wise and personally, and grown a lot as a person. I have started learning how to COOK! Which is probably hilarious to those who grew up with me :)

The other day in the car, J and I were discussing the different potential duty stations we could be sent to and what it would mean for me and my career. I got a little bit frustrated because it seems like the second you get established and comfortable in a new place its time to pick up and move again. It takes so much time and money to start a business and the thought that I will have to keep starting over can be daunting at times. Also, one can't exactly sell real estate in Japan. 

But then J looked at me and said, 'what do you mean you would have nothing to do? You can do anything you want.' Just like that, so matter of factly! And I realized, he's right. It's so easy to look at the military life through a negative light. But in all honesty, these moves allow me to have the freedom to change things up and follow MANY dreams, not just one! Soooo we get sent somewhere I can't sell real estate? I can go back to school, learn a new trade, travel, do an archaeological dig. 

I think it is so important for us ALL to realize that life doesn't have to hold you back. You don't have to stay in that job you hate, you don't have to have one career your whole life, you are NEVER too old to go back to school, you SHOULD travel often and learn about new cultures. If you wake up one day when you are 57 and decide you want to be a photographer, sign up for lessons! If you want to quit your job, sell your belongings, and travel the world: do it! 

If there is one thing I've learned this year, it's that you can't limit yourself based on what you think you are 'supposed to do'. Recently (in politics and in general) it has come to my attention how absorbed we as humans are with putting people into boxes and categorizing them. And when something doesn't fit in a box we fear it or reject it. If everyone worried a little bit less about what was 'acceptable' or 'normal' and focused more on being a good person and being happy, the world would be a better place. 

You can be a business owner, real estate broker, archaeology loving, yoga-doing, mom, animal activist, occasional vegan dieter, wanderluster, who sometimes has no clue whats going on. (or whatever). 

I guess what I'm saying is, think about what makes you happy, I mean truly happy in your soul, and do that! Don't get so caught up in the technical details of everything that you forget to see the beauty and opportunity in each situation. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!