New Things!

Well, there have been lots of new things that have happened in these last 4 months since my last post. Good and bad which is, well, good and bad! Hah. Anyways one of the very good things was that I finished school and took my BIG certification test. And PASSED! That was such a relief and it really stretched me. A pattern that I'd gotten used to in my life is that I tend to not always follow through with things like school, an art project, new opportunities etc. I've allowed my internal self doubt to sometimes sabotage accomplishments that I was fully capable of doing. I will say that this has been one of my biggest battles that I've struggled with throughout my life and a bad mindset that I've grown up with. But one of the many beautiful pluses of marriage is that you are forced to view life from a completely different pair of eyes. In this specific situation with taking my certification test, I was so thankful for my husbands black and white way of thinking. I kept telling him that there's no way I was going to pass it, that I'd be so embarrassed to fail, and that there's was no point for me to even take it. One day, after listening to many of self deprecating rates he grabbed me by my shoulders, looked me in my eyes and told me that I'm going to pass it, that I'm smarter than I give myself credit for, and that he was certain that I would pass. So after maybe a little bit more self doubt talk, I worked up the courage to schedule and take the exam. One week after the test (it was awful, 6 hours straight with not a single break and I just made the cut off time by 10 minutes) I logged on to my computer to find out the verdict, and wouldn't you know I saw a big "PASS" under my name. After almost jumping out of my cubicle at work and running up and down the halls at my office, I texted my hub and he replied with lots of "Yayayayay's" followed by an "I knew you would do it". I adore than man. He makes me a better person. And I believe I make him a better one too.

Moving on to a less positive note, there have been lots of extreme highs and lows at the company I've been working at. With many sleepless nights, prayer, and long talks with my husband, I came to the conclusion it was time for me to move on. There have been a handful of times in my life when I felt 100% at peace with something and new that it was the right thing to do. And I knew it was time to move on. So I put my 2 weeks in and my last day of work was May 18th. I feel liberated, I feel nervous, I feel excited, I feel at peace. It's time for something new and different, what ever God has planned for me, I'm looking forward to the new adventure.

There have been many other events that have occurred over the past 4 months, which I'm sure will come to mind, but those are the 2 biggies.
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Today we celebrated my dads big 5-0! It was an eventful and fun day, as it always is with my family. We went on a scenic train ride through alongside the Kiski River. Here are a few pictures from today's events.

The sibs and I and crammed into the backseat of my parents van.

My dad and Kyle chattin' it up

The view from the train

My brother and sis-in-law

My Momma

Tomorrow we're all going to be together again for my little sister's big dance recital! I will be posting pictures of that for sure!

~S.

A Brand New Year

Normally when the new year comes around I look forward to seeing family and friends and celebrating but I don't think too much about the year to come. I'll have ideas that dance around in my head of resolutions and things to try but never this urgency of following through. So as we were getting ready to head out to my family's Saturday night for our traditional New Years bash, I started to notice the flips in my stomach I was getting and realized that it was excitement about the idea of a brand new beginning in time. A clean slate. The thrill of not knowing what is to come.

Going back a few days before this, I headed into a Panera with all the intentions of studying hard for the last of my courses, which I of course have been procrastinating on until the last minute. When I sat down I quickly realized that I wouldn't be getting much studying done with a group of teenage girls talking loudly next to me about their life woes. I opened my book and tried my hardest to focus on my reading but gave up when I kept reading the same sentence over and over again because I was too caught up in their conversation. I heard them say a couple very familiar names of teachers I once had and quickly gathered they were seniors from my old high school. It was so funny to me that 8 years ago I was that same teenager sitting in a Panera complaining about how unfair teachers could be, how fake girls were, and how cute I thought a certain boy was. I laughed to myself at the tone they had of knowing so much about life and how tough it was but in all reality life has barely just begun.

As I sat there smiling and listening to them talk about the future and wondering what college they were going to get accepted into, something about that ignited that excitement inside I'd felt so long ago about not knowing what the future holds.

It's not that I haven't been thrilled at all the big wonderful things that have happened in my life since then (i.e. getting a big girl job, becoming independent, dating, finding my husband, getting married, buying a house...) and what the future held with them but it often got clouded by adult realities. But I think it's important to keep that excitement alive that once fueled our young dreamy minds. There is no reason to ever stop feeling that way!

So, here are a few of my New Years Resolutions:

*Let go of insecurities
*Pursue deeper friendships
*Use my sowing machine
*Get more sleep
*Crochet
*Paint
*Finish our basement
*Organize house
*Make time for crafts
*Plant a garden
*Don't hesitate to act on ideas
*Allow myself to dream

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to a very creative, productive, crafty, restful, and dreamy Brand New Year!

~S.