Hymn #674

Last week when I had my interview they told me I would hear from them early in the week about the second round of interviews. Monday and Tuesday have gone by and I haven't heard a word good or bad, so I'm not really sure where that leaves me. I do know that I've had "In The Bulb There Is A Flower" stuck in my head since Monday evening when it started snowing. All day yesterday and so far today the familiar lyrics have been on repeat:

In the bulb there is a flower,

In the seed, an apple tree,

In cocoons a hidden promise:

Butterflies will soon be free!

In the cold and snow of winter,

There's a spring that waits to be,

Unrevealed until it's season,

Something God alone can see. 

Maybe it's because it's a catchy song. Maybe it's because the song is a lullaby of sorts, I don't remember ever learning it but it was a staple of camp Christian Education time and vespers services. The lyrics were written in magic marker on chart paper above the piano in our main building complete with little doodles of tulips and apple trees. Whatever the reason it's a comforting song to be playing on repeat when I'm in the middle of season with more questions than answers. Just wandering around the proverbial forest setting off down different paths only to discover they're all dead ends. 

And as much as I appreciate a good adventure and generally enjoy the scenic route I'm kind of over it. I don't want to "savour my season" or "embrace the unknown" or "enjoy the journey" because those things are all fine for a while but regardless of how much fun you're having on vacation you always want to get back to your own bed eventually. 

While everyone is busy admiring the twinkle lights, eagerly awaiting watching their littles opening presents on Christmas morning and starting to set goals for 2017 I'm refreshing my e-mail every hour (that may sound a lot but it's an improvement over every 15 minutes) and wondering if somewhere along the line I took the wrong exit and am doomed to wander around the wrong forest forever. 

My goal, wish, objective, intent...purpose in life is to have a permanent, full time camp job. Anything past that is a bonus. 

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The Hard Times Put The Shine Into The Diamond

Towards the end of 2015 I declared that my word for 2016 would be RISE. I was all gungho to participate in Ali Edward's One Little Word prompts and spend the entire year rising. I wrote out specific ways I wanted to rise during the during and how I would incorporate the word into every aspect of my life. I wanted to focus on being more successful and more confident. Connecting with nature and rising above. That was in January. Eleven months later I'm starting to find the humour that the vast majority of the rising I did this year was not really about success... 

In the beginning the two things that kept reappearing as I searched for quotes that contained the word rise were this quote:

"Don't carry your mistakes around with you. Instead, place them under your feet and use them as stepping stones to rise above them. Never regret, if it's good it's wonderful, if it's bad it's experience." 

And the song 'Riser' by Dierks Bentley neither of which was what I was looking for, but they kept coming up over and over again. At one point Riser was playing on the radio every time I got into the car. The quote that I officially picked was "If you're going to rise you might as well shine" which my mind had interpreted as "If you're going to get up in the morning you might as well be confident, talented and noticeable." 

It's only in the past few weeks that I've started to accept that Rise did not play out the way I wanted, but the universe was trying to manage my expectations from the very beginning, I just chose to ignore them. I envisioned climbing a staircase, easy and intuitive. Instead, I built the staircase...and I will be the first to tell you that carpentry is not my strength (or of any particular interest). 

The opposite of rise is descend and although rising didn't look the way I wanted it to I don't think I did much descending this year either. 

This year rising looked like birds...

And radishes...

Not a staircase in sight. And maybe it would have been nice to know that a year ago I like to believe that there's a reason I didn't. Things aren't as intuitive or straightforward as I imagined but I chose the word rise for a reason and I'm glad that I did, even if I didn't know what I was getting myself into. 

Linking up with Alyssa's Back to Blogging Non-Challenge//One Thing About Today You Wish You Knew A Year Ago.

Oprah Wasn't Built In A Day

If you're a regular listener to Stuff Your Mom Never Told You you probably listened to last weeks podcast that talked about failure. I happened to listen to it on my drive home from visiting H. & R. this weekend and it was scarily accurate. In the last six months I've either completely failed or partially failed at a lot of things. In the past six weeks alone I've encountered upwards of a dozen disappointments and I'd be lying if I said I was handling it well. I was handling well, I had nothing but hope and optimism and I even channelled all that positive thinking/secret/law of attraction stuff and went ahead and sticky-noted in the dates for camp sessions for a job that I really wanted. And now I mostly just feel defeated. Which isn't to say that I'm miserable because that's not the case either. I'm so happy that I went with my gut and didn't wind up unemployed in an apartment in the city. I'm thankful that I'm no longer in a relationship with someone who doesn't get camp or own work boots. And being home will always beat being anywhere else (I don't really want to relocate to Labrador). I'll always acknowledge the silver linings but that doesn't mean I'm ignoring the massive storm clouds. And that's okay.

This time next year I hope that the things I've sacrificed have been worth it. I hope that the successes outweigh the failures and I can see the completed puzzle, because right now all I see is a pile of disjointed pieces. I don't know how to make the pieces I have fit together and it seems like each time I   start to make some headway I discover that the pieces I'm working with belong to a different puzzle and get taken away. So I need to start again. 

I want to remember how satisfying it is to complete a puzzle and how boring it is when the puzzle is too easy and only takes a few minutes to complete. Because the truth is maybe this time next year I'll still be working on the puzzle and I need to be okay with that. I want to remember that it's okay to keep working on things but sometimes it's okay to move on too. 

I know that there are bigger lessons to learn from all the recent disappointments but as the saying goes 'Oprah Wasn't Built In A Day' and I can't expect things to be handed to me on a clipboard or learn everything from one disappointment.


Linking up with Alyssa for Back to Blogging/One thing about today you want to remember a year from now. 

Sitting on the Fence

Ask me if I'd rather summer or winter and I won't hesitate to respond 'summer'. Ask me what I want to drink and most days I'll quickly respond with water, pop or coffee. I don't really consider myself to be indecisive...until I need to answer a yes or no question about something that could influence life in a big way. When that happens I like to take a good look at each side, size up the pros and cons, the what ifs and the maybes. And then I take a seat on the fence. 

If at any point you ask me which choice I'm leaning towards I can easily list off a dozen pros and a dozen cons for each side of the proverbial fence. For the last four months the my fence has divided the line between "not going back to camp this summer" and "sign me up, my bags are packed". There are a lot of good reasons why I shouldn't return to camp this summer and there's a handful of reasons why I feel like I should go back combined with a handful of reasons why I want to return. There isn't a clear, consistent winner though and I know that there needs to be a winner. Sooner rather than later an e-mail is going to appear and I'll have to make a permanent decision. 

Somewhere along the line I read that you should 'try on' your decision and pretend that you've made that decision for a few days and then decide if it fits. So I've taken that advice and on the days I try out packing my bags and heading off to camp I jump into program planning, staff training ideas, brainstorming solutions to problems and let the enthusiasm and excitement take over. This lasts for a few days and then I remind myself to manage my expectations. And I soon as I remind myself of that I get flashbacks of the most stressful moments of last summer. And as soon as I put myself back in those situations I quickly flick the switch and become a firm no. For a few days I wear that decision and feel content, uncertain, but content. 

Fast forward a few days (or sometimes a few hours) of that decision and then I see a throwback Thursday photo or see a cool idea on Pinterest and the switch turns back to "pack your bags" and the cycle repeats. 

I embrace my Type A personality (at least I'm trying really hard because I don't think it's a bad thing, contrary to what a lot of people seem to think). One of my biggest Type A traits is I enjoy following rules and making the right decisions. When there isn't a clear right choice my brain kicks into overdrive, I start feeling (mostly self-imposed) pressure to choose correctly, not disappoint anyone, do what's best etc. etc. which leads to constant anxiety about making a decision and complete terror that I'll choose incorrectly and ruin my life. That might seem extreme and logically I know it's not exactly the reality of the situation. 

The reality of the situation is that if I say no that still leaves me with two options - find a non-camp related job or explore another camp. And if I say yes I head off to camp and continue on with life. None of those scenarios is likely to produce an outcome that will leave me feeling like I blatantly made the wrong choice. But that doesn't make choosing any easier.

I Get That A Lot

"You're very quiet."

"You don't say much."

"Hardly a peep out of you."

"You're pretty quiet."

"Are you always this quiet?"

"I bet you're not this shy/quiet at home!"

Once upon a time if you would have asked me what character trait I liked least about myself I wouldn't have hesitated even a second before answering that I wish I was more outgoing. I would have loved to be that person who thrived on everyone paying attention to them, who flawlessly filled awkward silences with small talk and ensure everyone around them is comfortable and at ease. 

But that isn't me. 

Pinterest

Over the past few months instead of awkwardly and frantically searching for a response to the above comments I've started to respond "I get that a lot." or "Yes, I am.". Because I've come to realize and accept that being quiet isn't a bad thing. I know some people consider "quiet" to be a negative adjective, and up until very recently that mentality was fully engrained in me as well. I'm not sure when the light bulb moment went off and I realized that "quiet" isn't bad. It is perfectly okay not to be the loudest person in the room. 

As it turns out I like not being the loudest person in the room. Sure I can carry on a conversation and enjoy talking to people but I don't need everyone to know who I am. It's a huge relief not to be constantly pressuring myself to "not be the quiet one" and trying to be someone I'm not. 

The lesson in all this is short and simple - embrace your 'flaws' and don't try to mould yourself into something you aren't.

Open & Close

Summer is my favourite season. I look forward to the first day when the sun feels warm and the grass is noticeably green. I love the first week or so at camp when the days start off foggy and cool but then gradually become warm. The span of time when daylight starts at 5:00 a.m. and lasts until almost 10:00 p.m.. August is my favourite month because it has the perfect balance of hot days and evenings that are warm enough to be outside but cool enough to fall asleep. 

When I look back on this summer I'll think about the enormous potential and possibility I felt in May. Laughing and hypothosising with H. & R. about what was ahead. Which new counsellors would be amazing, which would quickly figure out that they weren't "camp people" after all. Who would develop camp-mances and who would start off uncertain but grow into an amazing counsellor.

And then I got thrown a curve ball. Followed by another and in a matter of days it felt like everything was flipped upside down. This was the first summer that I really doubted myself as a 'camp person' and as person. It's the first time that camp has ended and I haven't been certain that I'll find myself back in the same place next May. I know that there's a time for everything; for things to end and begin and it may be time for me to step away. 

I have no  idea what will unfold over the next few months. What doors will open and what ones will close. So as summer ends I'm looking forward to processing this summer, figuring out where I need to be and the things I need to step away from. Of course I will do it all while enjoying the scent of Crackling Woods candles, sipping on hot coffee and eagerly awaiting the premiere of my favourite shows. 

Fall potential and summer potential feel very different to me. Fall is about moving forward, taking time to figure out what went right, what was wrong, what I can change and identifying the things I need to hold on to and the things I need to let go. 

Liking up with Bailey Jean

Things That Fill Me With Rage

It's been a long week but it's Friday and I need to let it go (cue song). Part of letting it go is ranting in list form because sometimes that's just what needs to happen.

I can't find a stream to watch last night's Grey's Anatomy.

People who dole out passive aggressive insults on a daily basis.

I hate living in the city. I need some trees and green grass in my life.

I want to watch The Princess Bride but every time I do I think of him and why things didn't work out.

I bought a new kind of K-Cup to try and they're gross. It tastes like dirty water.

It's rainy out and I have nobody to cuddle.

I have a craving for coconut that I just can't satisfy.

I've been biting my nails so bad lately and my fingers/hands are a mess.

My hair is too long but I don't want to cut it.

My jeans are too big but I don't want to spend money buying new ones.

7 o'clock is too early to go to bed.

This is my last free weekend until September.

I want iced coffee but it's too cold for iced coffee.

I have no interest in starting to worry about September right now, but I can feel it inching into my mind.

On the flip side I swung by Sobey's on my way home from work and picked up ingredients to make homemade pizza (with extra spicy pepperoni), pop, a bag of ketchup chips and some dark chocolate peanut M & M's. So in the words of Liz Lemon, "I'm going to go talk to some food about this."

Inhale, Exhale, Unplug

I'd be lying if I said it was all sunshine & rainbows  snowflakes & tinsel around here lately, the past two weeks seem to have had more than their fair share of bumps. Which is probably why I've spent the last 2 hours alternating between ugly crying and silently sobbing in to the sleeve of my hoodie.

There was more bad news on the job/grant front this week and there's a major storm in the forecast which mean I might not get to go away this weekend. Overall I feel increasingly frustrated with circumstances and I'm not sure what do to next. Of course it doesn't help that because I have no friends within a 500 km radius I spend a lot of time online, a good chuck of said time spent creeping acquaintances and random people I went to high school/university with who have open social media profiles. All this leads to a whole lot of comparison. And I think we can all agree comparison should be considered a dirty word. 

It's hard to be happy and satisfied with my current life phase when I'm constantly being reminded that the girl who spent her high school days high as a kite and skipping class is now married with a baby. Or the guy who lived down the hall from you in res and obnoxiously paraded his weekend hook ups through the halls every weekend has proposed to his girlfriend. And of course that one person who you just don't like because there's just something about them that drives you nuts is now living the dream, working for a production company getting paid to act and write and be creative. Scrolling through the Newsfeeds as you sit at home (home being your parents house) for the 10th Saturday night in a row is not good for the self esteem. 

I am praying with everything I've got that the weather clears up and I can get away this weekend. I need some quality girl time away from it all to just be in the moment with friends and not have to rely on technology for social interaction. Just to breathe deep, not worry about missing texts or messages because everyone I need to be with is in the same room. And then when the weekend is over to take a step back in and be able to focus on the positive and trust that God isn't doing this to torture me, He has a plan. The universe knows what's up, everything will work out exactly the way it's supposed to (and not a moment too soon/late). 

Until then I need to sit in a hot tub with my bestries, drink a lot of wine and rant about how much being a single 20-something with no idea what to do next when nothing seems to work out sucks. 

See you Monday Bloggy Friends. 

Dear Diary...

Via

Since I've started blogging again one thing I've struggled with is finding a balance between writing open, honest, genuine and interesting posts and while at the same time maintaining my own privacy and respecting the privacy of family & friends. Not to mention making all those great blogger connections! It's also really important to me to abide my confidentiality agreement that comes with my job. For the most part I think I'm finding my groove, some of it is instinct and other things I've picked up from other bloggers. I know what I'm comfortable sharing and if something feels like it's too much I go back and reword it before I hit publish.

The other day I came across a blog that totally blew me away as far as what they were sharing online...especially since I found the blog through a LinkedIn profile. I'm all for connecting and networking, if I blogged exclusively about summer camp or programming then I would totally have a link to my blog on my LinkedIn! But sometimes I blog about how much I love Vanilla Coke and Jesus. And sometimes I rant about being single. None of those things are particularly relevant to my professional life. When I clicked on the blog link I was expecting to read a blog full of interesting opinions and perspectives about volunteer work and experience working in non-profits, even a review blog would have made sense! Instead I spent an hour reading about relationship and friend drama. Exactly what employers look for when hiring, a person who airs their dirty laundry on the internet for all to see and makes no attempt to disguise themselves while doing it! Also featured was a photo of their drivers license complete with personal information!
Kind of blew my mind.

Like I said, I'm still figuring it out. Right now I don't have my Twitter connected to my blog (even though I do follow a few bloggers on Twitter), but it's something I've been considering lately. I already have a link to my Instagram and Pinterest, so I'm not entirely sure what the hold out is on Twitter. I still have those accounts locked because even though I accept 99.9% of Friend Requests there are still some I decline. I don't do it to be mean but if I don't recognize your name or can't easily identify you as a blogger or if it's clearly a spam account!

I think living with my parents inhibits my participating too, there are so many fun swaps and exchanges happening in the blog world, but I don't really want to explain to my parents why I'm getting packages from Florida. Heaven forbid somebody I know in real life start reading my blog! I've read about other bloggers' experiences with "coming out of the blogging closet" to their family and friends but I'm totally not there yet. Maybe someday, but not someday soon.

I don't really know where I was going with this post, it's just something I've been thinking about lately. And I'd love to hear your thoughts on things. How do you decide what to share on your blog or is it something you even think about? Do you have all your social media accounts connected to your blog, or separate accounts for the blog world and real life?

Girl Between The Lines

I am really excited to be linking up with one of my long time favourite bloggers Hayley, and one of my recently discovered bloggers, Lauren for the first week of The Girl Between The Lines link up! I don't know about everyone else but I love reading about people. I enjoy reading about bloggers' daily adventures too, but my favourite posts are usually ones that are about the person behind the blog. Today's prompt is to share a picture of yourself along with three things that you love about yourself.

(I'll preface this by saying I hate pictures of myself, so much that I almost skipped out on participating today. And since I lost my hard drive a few weeks ago I don't have any pictures on my laptop I had to resort re-posting a photo I've shared before.)

Three Things I Love About Myself

I have a really good memory! I remember little details about people without much effort and sometimes I have to hold back on making reference to these details because I'm scared people will think I'm a total creeper. I promise I don't spend hours stalking Facebook and blog posts I just have a weird ability to remember that one time six months ago when you mentioned your favourite cartoon character for a week when you were three. I love that I'm able to remember the details and use them to make people happy. 

I'm a really good gift giver! This one pairs nicely with the first one, being about to remember little details about people means I am a pretty awesome gift giver. I will go to great lengths to track down a specific item I'm looking for and if I can't find it I'll get creative and make it myself! I love that I'm able to show love by putting thought and creativity into gifts for others. 

I'm creative! I enjoy writing, doodling, scrapbooking, crafting, decorating, ect. Anything where I can experiment with colours, textures and just lose myself in what I'm creating. I know there are people who hate the idea of writing for pleasure or sitting down for hours with piles of papers and photos to create something from nothing, but I am the complete opposite. I love that I'm able to express myself so easily. 

Playing Catch Up

Oh my, I didn't plan on taking so many days off from blogging but Saturday night I came down with a stomach bug. Sunday I was absolutely miserable, I couldn't eat or drink anything, I just slept all day. Yesterday I still felt crummy but I had an appointment in town at 9 a.m. to complete some more paper work for the never ending grant project. I managed to to pull myself together to go in but it took longer than I was expecting and the whole time I just wanted to sleep. When it was finally over I high tailed it home, took some Gravol and slept until supper time. I managed to crawl out of bed long enough to sip some tea and eat some crackers. Today I'm feeling better, but I'm still exhausted. It's barely 11 a.m. and I'm already anticipating bedtime. Not a great way to start off December!

While I was busy being sick I got way behind in the blog world. When I checked Bloglovin' last night there were over 60 unread posts! I'm looking forward to a lazy day snuggled on the couch with a cup of tea catching up on everyone's Thanksgiving celebrations! Before I get to that though I want to link up for the last instalment of "These Are A Few of My Favourie Things" Link Up with Elise & Jen to share some of my favourite gifts that are under >$100! As a matter of fact, all of these gifts are under $50!

Who doesn't love a new mug to sip tea or coffee out of on a cold winer day? I really like filling the mug with K-Cups, individual hot chocolate packages or a gift card to Tim Horton's! I think it's the perfect Secret Santa gift and depending on the mug & what you put inside you can easily keep it under budget!

I adore board games! Apples to Apples is one of my favourites. I think board games make great gifts because it's something you can play during holiday gatherings, but you can get lots of use out of it all year round too! I always have at least one board game on my Santa list!

The past few years TV Shows on DVD have been a bit gift in our house! We've all got favourite shows that we like to re-watch and Dad loves DVDs of the shows he watched growing up (think, M*A*S*H).

I have yet to meet a female who doesn't love new pyjamas! And if you want something a little more expensive, you can always pair it with a mug/gift card or DVD and give the recipient all the ingredients for a cozy night in!

One of my favourite parts of Christmas is admiring all of the ornaments on the tree and reminiscing about where each ornament came from and who gave it to us. Christmas Ornaments  can make great really personal presents, either you're lucky enough to stumble upon the perfect one in store or you find a great DIY to make one or you are able to purchase something generic and add a monogram or engraving.

I mentioned before that one of my favourite gifts to give to friends is to fill a stocking with a whole bunch of their favourite things! I'm working on gathering things to make a few of them right now and it's so much fun to just pick up little things that I know they're going to love. 

Check back tomorrow when I link up with Erica to recap my November Goals and publicly declare goals for December!

ABCs

A is for Arts & Crafts, I can spend hours working on DIY projects and letting my creative juices flow!

B is for blankets, my favourite is one I made in grade 8 sewing class.

C is for camp, which has shaped me into the person I am today and continues to make me a better person.

D is for dusk, I love the way the sky looks as the sun finishes setting and the starts are starting to come out.

E is for Ephesians 3:20, my favourite verse in the Bible.

F is for fire, there is something so therapeutic about watching flames dance and listening to crackling wood.

G is for God, Alpha & Omega, creator of the universe.

H is for hope, I love this word and it's meaning.

Pinterest

I is for ice cubes, because everything tastes better with ice!

J is for Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, any other jelly bean is just not worth eating.

K is for kitchen, where I can lose myself for hours cooking, baking and singing along to my iPod.

Pinterest

L is for love, romantic love, platonic love, love between friends, family, God's love. All of it. 

M is for memories, life is constantly changing and I'm thankful I can look back and remember the good times.

N is for naps, the solution to 90% of life's problems will be reveled after a good nap.

O is for ocean, I can't imagine every living somewhere far from the ocean or water. 

P is for Peyton, the cutest and smartest cat that has ever lived.

Q is my favourite letter of the alphabet.

R is for Reality TV, my guilty pleasure that I fully admit and accept.

S is for summer, the most magical four months of the year full of sunshine, stargazing and serenity.

T is for The Princess Bride, my favourite book AND movie.

Pinterest

U is for underwear, I absolutely love underwear shopping!

V is for Vanilla Coke, the most delicious beverage to ever be sold.

W is for writing, I've been filling pages with my scribbles for as long as I can remember.

X is for x's and o's, because there's no denying hugs & kisses aren't great things. 

Y is for yoga pants, comfort at its finest.

Z is for zebra print, just enough to add some flair without making things tacky.

Linking up here!

Refresh(ed)

After I hit 'publish' on yesterday's post I got to work and accomplished quite a few things on my to-do list. I spent almost the entire afternoon cleaning my room, caught up on Teen Mom 3 while cleaning, plus had a quality dance party/sing a long with Luke Bryan. Once that was done I sat down with an ice cold glass of pop and caught up with blogs. And much to my surprise and delight when I went to tackle Google Analytics again it was magically working! I also did a lot more googling and got the button/grab box issue resolved! It's now hanging out on my sidebar and I am super excited to start taking part in button swaps and sponsoring other blogs! 

I feel like I've moved up just a little from the kiddie table of the blog world. Still not at the grown up table, but inching my way closer!

Yesterday when I said I needed a pause button what I really needed was a "Refresh" button. Once I crossed some things off my to do list, had a giant and delicious stir-fry for supper, caught up with H. & R., gathered supplies for a DIY Project I have planned I felt a lot better about life. I also got to enjoy the amazing combination of fresh sheets and freshly shaved legs as I climbed into bed last night. It's the little things in life.

In the spirit of appreciating the little things I'm linking up with Brianna at Endlessly Beloved for 10 Things I'm Thankful For:

1. Hot showers, yummy smelling body butter & crisp pyjamas. 

2. Broccoli. The most delicious of all the vegetables.

3. Wool socks. I hate having cold feet!

4. A good pen. Writing is so much more enjoyable when you find a pen that glides smoothly across the page. 

5. YouTube. Because sometimes you just need to watch cat videos. 

6. Luke Bryan. 

7. The Blogging Community. 

8. Friends who have the best sense of humour and kindest spirits. 

9. My faith. 

10. Moments of silence to just take deep breathes and appreciate what I've been blessed with. 

Pause

The past few days I've felt like I needed a "Pause" button for life. There are just so many things I want need to do but every time I start something else comes up and I never finish. 

My room is in desperate need of a good cleaning. 

I have yet to write a full sentence for NaNoWriMo.

I'm running dangerously low on face wash & deodorant. 

My phone bill needs to be paid.

Laundry basket is overflowing.

I'm behind on Teen Mom 3.  (Maybe not the end of the world)

My BlogLovin' feed has 30+ unread posts. 

I am supposed to have a pile of Christmas cards made for the church tea & sale next week.

Google Analytics Round 2. (Seriously, WHY WON'T IT WORK!?!?!)

Blog Button Round 4. (I'm pretty sure the problem with this one is my lack of HTML skillz)

And here I am blogging about it all rather than making it happen. Except that blog should probably be on that list too

Anyone else need a 'pause' button for a few hours? 

Friday Five

{one}

This is a snippet of an e-mail I got yesterday afternoon. I'm house/pet sitting for a friend and it will potentially overlap with when I'm anticipating hearing about the grant. It's not a huge deal, but I am going to have to pack strategically and be prepared with office clothes and casual clothes. I had to laugh when I read it though because it's a perfect analogy of where I am in life right now. No idea what's next, but I know somethings next and I'm at peace with that. 

{two}

Wake Me Up - Avicii 

I am seriously obsessed with this song! I can't figure out exactly what it is I love about it so much but I am a big fan!

{three}

Ketchup Chips. Not a day goes by that I don't mourn the fact Vanilla Coke isn't available in Canada anymore. (Seriously, if you have access to this drink one for me and savour every drop.) The thing that softens the blow is my unlimited access to a wide variety of ketchup chips. And the store brands are always so much better than the big brand names. Better = coated with as much salty red stuff as possible. Bonus points for ruffled or baked varieties! 

{four}

I bought a Halloween dress for my cat this week. It's actually an extra-small dog dress but it fits Peyton just fine. I'm pretty sure putting my cat in a dress qualifies me for a new level of Crazy Cat Lady status but I'm okay with that. 

{five}

Dear Miley, put some clothes on. You are a seriously talented singer and songwriter. I get that you're a grown up now, no more Hannah Montana, that's great. But you know what grown ups do? They wear clothes!! Because in order to be respected as a grown up you have to respect yourself. And I find it hard to believe that somebody who is parading around in their underwear has a lot of self respect. End rant. 

25x25

I've been thinking about doing this for a while now even before I started blogging I thought I should come up with a list of things I wanted to do before I turn 25 but I kept putting it off and honestly wasn't sure I wanted to commit. But I was browsing the October Daily posts and noticed that the topic for today was sharing goals and dreams. I took it as the final kick in the pants that I needed and got started on making a list.

I decided to do 25 things by 25, which by my calculations (i.e. the app on my phone) that gives me 460 days to accomplish everything. Some of the things on my list are totally out of my control and I debated whether or not to include them because I am potentially setting myself up for failure. I decided to go for it anyway, call it "The Secret" or public prayers, I'm putting it out into the universe and we'll see what happens.

So without further explanation my 25 x 25 List!

1. Be in a committed relationship with someone I could potentially marry.
2. Host a dinner party.
3. Open an Etsy shop or sell something on eBay.
4. Read 150 books.
5. Become a regular volunteer with an organization.
6. Complete NaNoWriMo.
7. Complete at least a week of the 100 Mile Diet
8. 30 Days of Yoga Challenge.
9. Reach 100 blog followers.
10.Go on a mission trip.
11. Complete a 365 Day Photo Challenge.
12. Complete a Sims Legacy Challenge.
13. Plant a herb garden.
14. Send 25 Christmas cards via snail mail.
15. Be part of a church community with other young adults.
16. Try 10 new foods.
17. Watch a sunrise.
18. Answer 25 of the 50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind
19. Keep a notebook of favourite quotes & verses.
20. Go TV Free for a week (including Netflix and YouTube)
21. Read the Bible cover to cover in chronological order.
22. Bake homemade gingerbread men.
23. Go camping with friends.
24. Compile a recipe book.
25. De-Clutter donating/throwing away at least 5 large bags of 'stuff'.