Snow Globes

I’m not sure how this idea even popped into my head, because it’s kind of weird, but bear with me as I try to explain my thoughts from this morning.

Think of the little characters inside snow globes. They are so cute with their little scenes, just going about their day with sparkles on the ground. Then someone takes them and turns them upside down and shakes them all around. Ah! But then they are set back down and the sparkles float around so beautifully until they finally settle and the scene is back to normal.

Well, I think that life is kind of like that, too. We are all just cute little figurines inside our snow globes, for the most part pretty content with our lives. But sometimes things happen that turn our lives upside down and shake us up.

Initially, that event feels disorienting, stressful, and scary. We worry about how we can go on or how we will get our lives back in order. We have been tossed around inside our snow globes.

But I believe that after every time we are turned upside down, beauty comes from it, just like a snow globe. Sparkles come down in the form of new friends, stronger relationships, better character, or fresh perspectives.

We can close our eyes when things get rough because we are afraid, but if we forget to open them in the aftermath, we miss discovering all of the positive “sparkles” that come from it.

We’re all going through things that are hard. We’re all in snow globes that get shaken up. But all of our snow globes have beautiful sparkles in them. Let’s remember the enchanting beauty that dwells in our lives every day in the midst of stress, heartache, and fear.

Happy winter! Xo <3 J

Candy Corn, Scarves, and Crunchy Leaves

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote these words a long time ago, but I'm really feeling their truth right now, in 2013.

Of course I'm excited for the change of season because I love wearing boots and scarves and sweaters, delight in anything pumpkin flavored, and feel alive when I breathe in that certain fall scent. But this year, I'm excited for the change because I can feel a change in my life, too.

As the leaves change and fall off the trees, and the weather gets cooler, I'm feeling similar things happen to me.

Just like the change of colors, my ideas and thoughts about life are also changing...getting deeper and richer. I've learned a lot over this past year about who I am and who I want to be. I no longer stand by as I let things or people bother me. I've started taking more action in my life, because I know that I'm the only person who can make my life how I want it to be.

Just like the leaves falling from the trees, I can feel my past mistakes, heartaches, and regrets falling off of me. I'm stripped down to my trunk and branches, ready to prepare for new leaves, new and better experiences, to come later down the road. But for now it's just me, and that's okay.

And just like the air getting crisper, my faith and relationships are getting tighter. For warmth I rely upon God, family, and friends. Those relationships will be my hat, gloves, and coat when things get cold.

Fall is good. :)

Not a Mystery!

It's been a while since I've done one of these puppies. And I know I've done many like this one I'm about to write. But after my embarrassing display of my love of suckers that I willingly put on facebook for the world to see tonight (I bought over 400, in case you missed that), I have been forced to reflect on some of the many reasons why I am still single...a lot of which have developed as a result of living alone this summer.
1. I eat at least 3 pickles a night.
2. Girl Code is my favorite TV show.
3. I paint my nails at least every other day...because I scrape the nail polish off with my teeth...attractive, I know.
4. I laugh. Loudly. When I'm by myself. Often.
5. I don't cook. I've had marshmallows and graham crackers for dinner 4 out of the 7 days this week...
6. I'm dramatic. About everything. You should read my diary.
7. I spend 40 hours a week with three little girls under the age of 8..."You become like the 5 people you spend the most time with; choose wisely." ...well...you do the math.
8. If you don't smile at me when you say hi to me or add an explanation mark to the end of your texts to me I will think that you hate me. And cry.
9. I get excited really easily. And when I get excited I sing, and yell, and jump, and dance, and thrash...and people have gotten hurt by my excitement before.
10. I believe everything I hear. Gullible is spelled on every ceiling I've stood under. Woops.
And obviously, I am not mysterious. I have no secrets about myself...obviously. Ha :)
Hope everyone's having a lovely summer! :) Xo <3

Skipping Under Rainbows

Having been around much older siblings and cousins my whole life, I've always been in kind of a hurry to grow up. I started kissing boys at 3, asking boys on "dates" at 8, wearing makeup at 11, falling in love at 14. And now I'm on track to graduate college and step out into an actual career at 21.
I've always been so eager to grow up so I can be on the same page as my sisters and cousins that I've never really appreciated the stage I'm at. But now as I look at all I have to accomplish before the last week of April and my schedules for classes this summer and fall semesters, I'm sort of regretting this growing up early thing. I guess it's something we can't really avoid, though, so it doesn't really matter...but I just don't know if I'm ready to be an adult.

I still wait to write a 5 page paper until 6 hours before it's due. 
I still watch hours of TV shows on Netflix. 
I still skip when I'm happy. 
I still eat too much candy. 
I still press snooze a million times before I actually get up in the morning. 
I still cry when I am confused or frustrated. 
I still haven't cooked anything besides macaroni and cheese for dinner. 
I still talk too loud and laugh by myself about things my brain tells me.
I still sing and dance like a child when I'm by myself.
I still talk to myself when I'm driving.
I still think that everyone is good, all the time.
I still get happy when I see rainbows or pink or sparkles.
I still have a unicorn pillow pet on my bed.

I'm planets away from being a grown-up. But it's coming faster and faster every day and I guess I'll just have to find a way to stop being such a child or find a way to hide it better! I'm thinking the latter seems more realistic!
But never mind all of my babbling! I have a paper to write that's due in....9.5 hours, instead of 6. Hey! Maybe I am growing up after all :)
"Growing up won't bring us down!" -The Maine

Second Storm

Just as there can be many sources of happiness, I also believe there can be many sources of strength. Over the past (almost) 20 years I have earned a great deal of strength...by God, the people put in my life, the things I've been through, and the things I've had to let go of.
But I'd like to take this time to reflect on how the things we let go of give us strength. At this same point in time two years ago, I was finally letting go of something I had been trying to let go of for a long time. I said, "This time, I mean it." And I did. But it took a while to convince others, and even myself. Because for 3 years I had been the girl who cried wolf. I wrote a blog about burning bridges and never looking back, and I can proudly say that I really never did look back at that toxic river. I moved on to greener pastures and I picked wildflowers in sunny meadows. It's easy to be strong when the wind is at your back.
But then something happened that I never thought about. I came across yet another obstacle I would have numerous battles letting go of. This obstacle wasn't a toxic river, but a deadly storm. This wasn't a storm that came across me by chance, though. This was a storm that I saw a mile away and still walked right into the eye of.
I'm not sure why I willingly got myself into this mess. This storm tore me up, pounded me against the ground, and threw me up in the air. It's been a little over a year and a half since it began, and though I know I risk sounding like the girl who cried wolf again, I think I'm ready to burn this bridge as well. And I'm coming out of the storm with more strength than I've ever had.
Though life will never be perfect, sunshine-y meadows like I once thought, I know that I can find flowers through snow and that I can see sunshine through clouds and that whatever happens, I will always come out tougher than before.
"I am not what I have done, I am what I have overcome."

Tribute to the Best: Sister Edition

"My sisters remind me, by their very steadfastness, that truth, beauty, and goodness exist in the world, and that no matter what there are and always will be people loving people through thick and thin."
     Oftentimes I get caught up in my life's stresses and  problems and distractions and forget how completely and truly lucky I am to have two amazing sisters. They are my moral compass, spiritual mentors, and best friends. 

     Being 7 and 6 years older than me, it definitely took us a while to get to this point. Imagine seven year old Ronnie trying to keep up with two teenage sisters! Impossible. And those poor sisters trying to escape this little girl following them around 24/7. But as I continue to grow older our age gap seems to shrink more and more. However, I admire them for being able to be my older sisters. At any given point in my life I can call either one of them and complain about what's going on and not only do the know exactly what I'm going through, but they also can tell me that it all works out, and I know it's true by looking at the beautiful woman they have become. I don't know how they put up with me, as I'm always either singing, laughing, dancing around, complaining, crying, or talking non stop. I couldn't handle me as a little sister.

     Brooke is my rock. We talk pretty much constantly throughout every day and I really don't know what I would do without her. She let me live with her and her (amazing) husband for two summers. Most people don't realize what that entails. Brooke and Jeremy letting me live with them also meant them letting me eat most of their food, worry them with my crazy behavior, annoy them with my randomness, and bombard their marriage. They are saints. Those two summers were the best summers of my life, and I will be forever indebted to those two amazing people for that. Brooke and I often get asked if we are twins...actually, every time we are out in public together, it happens at least once. But I think we are also kind of twins on the inside, too. We are always laughing about things no one else understands. We feel the same about people and things and life. We like the same things, and she understands everything about me. She supports me through every decision I make, even if she doesn't completely agree with me, and I'm so thankful for that! I love spending time with her in her classroom and watching how much of an amazing teacher she is. I aspire to be that kind of teacher. She is also one of the kindest, funniest, most amazing women I know, and I also aspire to grow into that kind of woman. I'm so fortunate that God gave me an automatic best friend in her!

    Brianna is my home away from home. When I need to feel safe and loved I can turn to her. She inspires me to go against the grain and do what I want, not what others want. She also happens to come along with a cute little button of a niece (and another on the way) that I love more than words! Brianna is one of the smartest people I know. She's a real life Google. I can ask her basically any question in the world and she can give me a correct, detailed answer. She's also the person I like to turn to when I'm not sure where to go in my faith. Brianna gets me when no one else does. She has the kindest heart of anyone I know, but her strength is awe-inspiring. She really is one of the strongest people out there...physically and emotionally! She has been through so much and knows exactly what to say when I need someone. She's such an amazing mom, and I'm so glad I can look to her as a role model as I continue through my life and experience scarier, and scarier things. I will be forever grateful for all she has done for me and for having her as someone to model my life after and as someone who is also one of my best friends.

     I love my sisters, and I don't know how I could get through life without them! Thank you, God, for blessing me with two of the most beautiful women (inside and out) in the world as my sisters! 

XO <3