The Shortest Month

February has blown by just as quickly as I thought it would. I turned 29 this month which is absurd because I still feel like I'm about 19...until I try to go on a bender and then it quickly becomes clear to me that I'm waaaay closer to 30 than 20! It is so surreal how quickly time flies.

When I think back to college and where I thought I'd be in my life right now, its honestly shocking to me how things turned out. I definitely did not think I would be married to a Marine. Or living in Japan. Or working as a yoga instructor instead of a Realtor! So many things have happened that I didn't expect. It's funny how life works isn't it?

And the craziest thing of all is looking back and realizing how many tiny, quotidian instances and decisions lead to this very moment! The person you are today has been a process, millions of thoughts and emotions turned into actions and words. An infinite number of choices could have been made, but each specific one you CHOSE has lead you to now. 

It's so incredible to me how interwoven our lives are, and how easily things could have been completely different (The Chaos Theory and all that). I just feel so incredibly lucky to have been surrounded by such wonderful role models my whole life. I know for a fact that I would not be the person I am today if it hadn't been for my parents, family, friends, even chance encounters with strangers. 

I feel like as I get older, I am more easily able to step outside of myself and try to see the bigger picture. I've learned some pretty great life lessons in my 29 years and I'm definitely not claiming to know it all but here are just a few things that I wish I could tell my 19 year old self...

Always, always be kind, to everyone, even if you don't feel like it.

Try to get to know people who are different from you, you'll be better for it.

Talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words.

Don't care so much about what other people think.

Don't ever let your happiness depend on someone else.

Above all always be truthful and genuine, especially to yourself.

You don't have to say everything you think out loud. 

It's okay to say 'no'. 

It is sometimes better to ask for forgiveness, than for permission. 

Start building your credit history!

You will never regret going out of your way to help another.

Focus more on the NOW.

Keep spending time with your family, you wont regret it!

Never settle for something just because it is easy.

It is okay to be alone. In fact your relationship with yourself is the most important.

One day the little things will be the big things, and the big things will be the little things.

Try to meditate for a little while every day. 

Keep reading everything you can get your hands on.

Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people. (-E.R)

Always speak out when you witness injustices, even if its uncomfortable. 

It's okay to FEEL sad or angry or upset, but remember that YOU are not your emotions. 

Your thoughts become your words and deeds.

There are so many things that I have learned about myself and life in the last 10 years. I have made a lot of mistakes, done my fair share of stupid things, and eaten my words more than once, but ultimately I think it all worked out okay! 

What do you wish you could tell your younger self? 

Em

P.S 

Here is my Pinterest board for motivational words of wisdom!

https://www.pinterest.com/ememismeme/more-than-words/

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

Flight Delays, Gratitude, & Favorite Holiday Traditions

If you can name one thing worse than winter storm flight cancellations in Kansas during the weekend after thanksgiving, now would be the time to speak up! I am currently on my second cancellation in 24 hours due to icy conditions and I would be lying if I said that my gracious, thankful attitude wasn't getting worn a bit thin. 

Of course it is ridiculous for me to get so worked up over something like flight cancellations when there are real problems in the world. I have a loving, happy, healthy family, great friends, a beautiful home, an amazing boyfriend, a job that I enjoy, and so many other blessings in my life that far outweigh the negatives! 

But I really just want to get home so I can decorate for christmas and get into the Christmas freaking spirit gosh darn it!!! In the wise words of Buddy (the Elf), I am an angry elf right now. And also maybe a cotton-headed-ninny-muggins but that's another story...

Anyways, I have decided to entertain myself by making a list of my favorite holiday traditions...

1. Christmas Movies! Love Actually, Elf, The Family Stone, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Holiday, The Polar Express, I love them all!

2. Christmas Music! I love listening to She & Him, Ariana Grande, Ceelo's christmas albums right now, but the oldies are amazing too, and I'm a sucker for country christmas music...

3. Making Christmas Cookies! My dad always makes his famous chocolate chip cookies at christmas and they are so delicious :) I also like making and decorating sugar cookies, but they definitely don't taste as good as his! Then, to counter the sweetness of the cookies, my mom makes AMAZING trash (chex mix not garbage haha) and I spend a good 60% of the holidays alternating between cookies and trash!

4. Decorating the tree. There is something so magical about making some hot cocoa, putting on some christmas music, and getting out the ornaments to decorate the tree. My parents tree is always covered in the ornaments my sister and I made when we were little and it brings back so many great memories to see them all on our tree :)

5. Pajamas! Every year we all get a pair of cozy pajamas on christmas eve and everyone has to sleep in them and wear them the next morning. I am all about those footie pajamas...

6. Napping by the fire. After the presents are opened, we're all full of pancakes and coffee, and everyone is comfy and warm, I love to curl up next to the fireplace with a good book and relax. 

7. Spending time with family. This is my absolute favorite thing about the holidays! Especially now that we don't live in the same state I am so excited to get to spend part of the holidays with them. None of the other parts of christmas would even matter without getting to experience it with family and friends!

These are just a few of my favorite things about christmas! What are some of your best memories and favorite traditions from the holiday season??

E

Have a Mindful Monday

As someone who gets easily excited and passionate about random causes and then has a hard time containing said excitement, there is a certain level of mindfulness that I always try to maintain. However, just like everyone, its hard to keep from falling off the bandwagon every once in a while especially about things like politics, religion, animal rights, HUMAN rights, you know, the touchy subjects. It's easy to become so passionate about your opinions that you forget to try understanding the others persons perspective. I'm not saying you have to agree or chose to even accept someones opinion when it is so far from your own, but all any of us really wants is to be heard and respected. 

That being said, since this is the season of forgiveness and love and kindness, I want to take extra measures to go out on a limb for others. I also want to try thinking a bit more before I speak, something that I'm okay about most of the time but an area that could still use a decent bit of work. 

Here are my goals for the rest of this year (and in general) concerning mindfulness:

1. Put a positive spin on everything. Not in that annoying, cheerful, beat to death kind of way. Just in that whole, hey, I want to try not to spread any unnecessary negativity around kind of way.

2. Up my random acts of kindness game. ESPECIALLY when it is not convenient to me. 

3. Build other people up, make them feel good about what they are doing, always encourage others to be the best they can be

4. Promote peace, love, and acceptance with my actions as well as speech

5. Read more so I can learn more about things I don't understand

6. Try to keep my sarcasm in check every once in a while, and fall back on self-deprecation less. 

Happy Monday - keep that caffeine intake up!

Monday Motivation

Guys.
My house smells like cookies, pumpkin, & cinnamon apples. 
This makes me so incredibly happy.

Also, because he knew I was having a rough day, J took care of all the dishes and laundry while I was at work. 
This, too, makes me super happy! 

Today could not have been a more Monday-ee Monday if it tried. 
But, sometimes you just have to put your big girl panties on and look on the bright side of things. I don't want to go into too many details but work has been kicking me in the butt the last couple of days and I have a feeling that change is in the air. 

I think all of us struggle to be positive sometimes. We complain about silly, little things. We get easily frustrated and give up too quickly when things get hard. But its important to remember that EVERYTHING is hard before it gets easy, and that often times we learn a lot and grow a lot when we have to work harder for the things we want in life. 

I know, I know, nothing is worse when you're trying to feel sorry for yourself than someone coming up and being all cheery and quoting motivational posters. BUT! Most times those cheery little buggers have a point...

(and yes, i do realize that in this situation i am both the complainer and the cheery, little bugger...)

Philosophers, novelists, doctors, & scientists have been saying for years that our thoughts dictate our lives and yet we STILL chose to ignore that sometimes. I do it all the time...

But my thoughts always come back to how thankful I am for the people and opportunities in my life, and then I feel really dumb for complaining. Especially when most of the time, my problems can be easily fixed with a little critical thinking and some elbow grease ;)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, I know that when I am old and grey I will look back on my life and the things I thought were small and insignificant will be the things that mattered most. So, I want to be better about appreciating the little things in life and making myself take a deep breath when everything seems horribly out of control. 

Because, honestly, things are never that bad when you truly look at them and take a moment to examine the big picture. Everyone has their own shit going on (pardon my french). We all have crazy family members, and less than perfect jobs, and pimples, and we spill things on our shirts, and forget to do important things. That's just how life works. Its messy, and complicated, and hard. But it's also amazing.

All any of us can do, is do our best, be respectful of others, and try to look on the bright side of things :)