Highlights of summer

The summer has flown by so fast. It's already the middle of August and fall is around the corner. Here are a few pics of the highlights of my hot season:

Hot summer days on the boat always will cool you off. I haven't been tubing behind a boat in 13 years, so this year it was definitely a highlight. Here's my friend Jake jumping in the middle of the lake.

I went to Rochester in July for the first time for CPR training and Ben and I made a day of it. Totally a fun day of wall murals, mansions and sushi. :)

Along with happy highlights, there are also sad ones. I had to move (hopefully just temporarily) from my apartment so my landlord could do renovations. I don't know when I can go back but I'm just trusting in the Lord that He knows whats best for me. Here's Ben right after helping me move all my stuff out, looking out of my empty apartment.

One of the few things I got to do this summer was go camping with Ben's family to Redwood Falls. It was very restful and super fun to fish and go swimming in the river with Ben's sister, Libby. (Pictured here)

One of my old friends from high school, Brooke, got married at the end of July and it was so fun to see my old high school friends and celebrate her and her husband. Here my friends Lindsey and Stacy are laughing, totally gorgeous.

I hope to squeeze a few more memories in before the summer is done, perhaps go tubing down a river  this Saturday. :) Have a HAPPY rest of your summer!

...

It's been a long hiatus.

Busyness of life every once in awhile just drags me down. I'm now enrolled full-time in nursing school, going for my LPN. Words cannot describe how hectic life has been and how I've had to weigh out my priorities in life. I've decided to continue on in this blog because It brings out my creative side that I need to nurture even though I'm busy. If I lose or forget a part of me in the process of schooling, was it really worth it? Those were my ponderings today, and here are a few things I've been loving:

This guy takes amazing photos, and was features in Urban Outfitter's blog. Simply amazing. Makes me want throw down my books and go on a hike and camp in the middle of nowhere.

This home has me missing my apartment, (It's currently being renovated). I miss natural lighting, (hard to get in the basement of your parent's place) and plants.

Daydreaming about another rad tattoo...this one will do nicely.

These teacups are just adorable. I love the birds.

This lady, Oana Befort, is an amazing watercolor artist and has downloadable calendar backgrounds for all your electronic devices...for free!! Just download and set to your background for your phone, computer or iPad.

Oh yeah, and I'm currently obsessed with this song, just like everybody in existance:

Life

Life is funny. It can change so quickly and you barely even blink. I live in Buffalo, MN now, across from a tasty (and very tempting) chinese restaurant. I live in an old brick building that has store space below and the upstairs space has been renovated into living quarters. I hear this used to be a dentist office...and even more scandalous...a brothel. But its my little "loft" and I'm loving it wholeheartedly. I have a great view of Buffalo Lake, and the light that streams in..."sigh." So majestic. After living in my last few places that had no direct sun whatsoever, its refreshing to have it, and to have healthier and happier plants. Its good to be back people! Have a blessed day!

Moving (again)

Here's a pic of my kitchen area of my current place. Tomorrow or very soon I will be moving downstairs to another apartment that is slightly bigger. Instead of a studio, (I've been using one room as a living room AND  a bedroom) I will have a one bedroom apartment. I'm excited because the bedroom has a brick wall and the living room is hardwood floor. I really hate moving though, even if it's only downstairs. And the feeling I have is bittersweet. I really love my bathroom with its natural lighting and deep tub, and my kitchen is specious and lovely. But I hate how congested it feels in the bedroom/living-room space.

My bathroom: love the window!

Another of the bathroom. I love the pedestal sink

View of the kitchen from the bathroom

Another view of more of the kitchen

My bedroom/ living room. Doesn't it feel congested to you? Maybe I'm just crazy

Better view of the bed

Another view of the room- sorry for the mess!!

So thats that a bit of a tour of my apartment, soon to be "old" apartment. I can't wait to start decorating downstairs and starting fresh again, and have a little more room to do so.

Have a great rainy day!

Kitchens

It's been one of my most favorite things lately to look through Pinterest and find my favorite rooms and spaces. These usually include lots of natural light, lots of green plants and a Kilim rug. Ha ha!
I pictured a few of my favorites above, here are their links: One, two, three, four.

I've been pondering a lot and feeling listless, like I'm not doing what I'm meant to be doing. God gave me a singing voice for a reason, and a desire to heal people. I have an appointment with a music degree councelor at Saint Cloud State tomorrow morning, wish me luck! I really would love to pursue a music therapy degree, but I don't want to travel or move, so I think I'll attempt finishing my music degree then go on to do a music therapy equivalency program online. It will take longer but I believe that it would be cheaper and more suited to me. I've been meaning to do some more schooling but I've never took the step to get back into it. Here's hoping and praying that this time I will really do it, not just have good intentions, and that this is the right step. They say that it's hard to go back to school once you stop...well...I'm living proof of that. It's been too long. It's time.

Now I'm off to go work out with my gal-pal Angel. Hopefully this will stick too! :)

Happy valentines day!

Happy Valentines to all my loved ones, friends and family! Have a blessed day and know that God loves you greatly!

Snapshots

Here are a few snaps of my January. Its been sooooo cold in Minnesota, pretty much record breaking. It was fun though, my college friend Katrina came up for a sleepover and we watched the Golden Globes together. I also just hosted a Super bowl party with my truly wonderful neighbors. I'm glad that I can utilize my apartment so well, despite it being so small. I love to share my home with others. Have a great start to your February everyone!

1. Looking through my pictures on a warm day, listening to the snow melting off the roof.

2. My cat loves the new rug I bought! What a goof.

3. A mixed drink I made at my Super Bowl Party, truly tasty. Heres the link for the recipe!

4. My cat also loves my "new" vintage, velvet couches. So does her hair. :(

5. My beautiful friend Katrina and I enjoying coffee at a local coffee shop on her visit.

A "Very late" Christmas party post

These photos are very late, (and blurry, sorry only an iPhone for pictures) but better late than never I always say! I had the perfect opportunity to update my blog considering its -20 degrees outside and i'm hibernating until this arctic blast is over! I had my new "housemates" over for a meet-n-greet Christmas party in December and it was a blast! I love these ladies already and we get along very nicely. All the boyfriends were busy so we got to have some good girl time. I made puppy chow, and the girls brought home-made salsa, meatballs and various treats.
I made spiked cranberry rum which was oh so tasty, and you can find the recipe here.

Have a safe and happy new year! I have many things I want to improve on this year. Most of all I am thankful for all I already have.

Merry Christmas

I hope all of your Christmas' were fantastic! Mine was, I got to see my newest nephew, Judah, for the first time! Here he is, isn't he adorable!

Happy new year to you all! 

Be thankful

It's easier said than done, to be thankful, to be content. I'll be honest, I've been having a really rough time lately being content and thankful. Things in life have really been knocking me down lately at work and in life. I see photos of people that I once knew in high school or college with their cute families and still looking as skinny as I first met them (how is this possible??) and I look at my own life and I feel bleak. I'm not married, stressed all the time, and usually broke. (lol) I miss old friends, sometimes (more than I care to mention) wish I WAS them, living their lives. This is actually something I've struggled with for a good few years now, wishing I was someone else, someone who had it more together. Someone who has a career and family about them. But man! God wants me to feel free! To remember to be content in any circumstance, no matter how difficult. The disciples in the bible had nothing, and traveled all over in the name of Jesus, sometimes being abused for it and in the end, dying for it. In the face of thankfulness and peace, how can I not be content? So thats pretty much the key then: being thankful. I can look at others and live my life in regret and bitterness, or I can embrace myself for being myself, along with all my imperfections that for some reason, God loves about me. I could really cry about how hard it is sometimes, but while life is meant to be free and joyful, it's also a battle. The thing to remember though is that the battle is already won! If I have any unhappy or negative thoughts about myself or my life, I have to ask myself, who's making me think this? Is it God or satan? Ummmm 9 out of 10 times it's satan. (The stupid little bugger!) Don't believe the lies! You ARE worth it, you are where you are supposed to be, and you are blessed. This was kind of a soul-baring post for me…hope you take something from it, in lieu of our recent past holiday of Thanksgiving…which needs to be EVERYDAY, and will be everyday for me, no matter how hard it can be.

Happy (and I really do mean HAPPY) Holidays!