Yes I Will Go With YOU!!!

Best part of living in St Louis

The insanely large amount of FREE stuff to do ALL the TIME.

For example.....
FREE JOSH TURNER CONCERT!!!!!!!

For reals awesome!



I got to go to with some really great friends.
And got to hear some really great music.

What exactly is Harrison looking at????

Poor Dan!

Such a FUN concert!

GORGEOUS!!!

I have such AMAZING friends!!!!!

Do I LOVE him???  YES I DO

#married #kids #whocares!

Be Happy Be Healthy!

IHOP at Midnight???

I have kinda a love hate relationship with summer.

I love it for many many reasons...obviously.

We won't go into all of that!

Why do I hate it???

Cause people go on trips and leave.

This past little while 2 of my really good friends left.....major sadness!!!

It was a hard 4..and 10 days...respectively.

Plus a 3rd friend had family in town and we didn't see him much.

So our group went from 6 to 3.  And though I ADORE the other 2...it always felt like something was missing.

AKA 50% of us!!!

BUT...everyone is back!!!!!!

So to celebrate...an IHOP run was made.

Did we disturb the other 4 people in the IHOP at midnight?

LIKELY

Did we drive our poor waitress nutty?

DEFINITELY

Did we have a good time???

ALWAYS!!!!

Things learned???

Sometimes after midnight the only way to get people to shut up....is to make out with them ;)

Red velvet pancakes are not pancakes....they are just cake

Turkey bacon...no thank you!

Sugar packets in water does not make it taste good.  

Trying to add lemon to it...doesn't help

Be happy Be Healthy peeps!!!!!

dear boys...like the good ol days

Full of wit...a little bitterness....and lots of love!



dear trouble
its like a bad recording of an adele song...could've had it all
shame on me...cause i knew when you walked in
but it's all about christina perri at this point...don't come back for me
love
girl who got played like a 2 dollar banjo

dear lonely
did you really think it wouldn't hurt me at all?
you basically told me i wasn't worth the work and the effort
yeah that made me feel super duper grand!
NOT
love
broken

dear bug boys
you ditched us...why am i apologizing??
love
say what now?

dear bug boys
awww y'all are great. forgiven!
love
a girl who hates spiders

dear sneaky
seriously dude....i rarely trust guys who wear pants that are tighter than mine
love
you ain't getting none of this

dear black tie
oh you are a baby but sure i'll give you a tour of my little town
even though you are like 3.5 years younger than me...no worries!
love
cradle robber

dear eye candy
could you be more perfect???
here's hoping that you didn't see me drooling! YIKES!!!
love
a girl who reverts back to a giggly teenager the minute you walked in the room

dear hometeacher
thank you. that's all. thank you
love
a grateful girl

dear new kid
i missed you so much so glad you are back
you give really good hugs
and you are a really good listener and you are really kind
and you smell nice and you are so understanding
thanks love
steph

dear addition
I DONT WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOU LEAVING!!!!
I DONT WANT IT TO HAPPEN
love
the queen of "de nile"

dear into me
aww you are so sweet...but lets just be friends forever
FRIENDS FOREVER
love
girl patting your back
(see this for clarification....minute 4:55)

dear sad one
i know it has been hard.  i know you need friends right now
and i...we are here for you...friends for sure
you won't escape now!
love
on it!

dear big man on campus
you are so overwhelmed and don't even know how to respond
so i won't hold it against you
i'm gonna give you a chance to change and get out of this time. i'll be here when it's all normal again
til then
friend

Don't forget to check on on Elise!!!!! http://www.elisespiecesblog.com

I Should've Just Gone To Bed

PLAIN WHITE TEES


YOU LET ME DOWN!!!!!??????


Why didn't you put out this song SIX years ago???????
I have needed this song soooo many times since then!!!




I know I'm all about memories and enjoying the moment and remembering all the fun times.
And yes there were many AMAHZING and AWESOME moments that happened when I was "supposed" to be in bed.
Pranks...Rock Canyon park...Smiths...Stargazing...Movies...Dance parties...Skype...phone..and in person convos and confessions


BUT....
Full disclosure...there were also a few...eh hmmmm...moments when I should have just gone to bed!

Finding Happiness: 3 Suggestions

This week I have been working on my happy....

Baby steps...one thing at a time.

This week though-I actually did three!

 (applause applause!)

Confession...they kinda are all connected and kinda all were the same thing...but I feel much more accomplished by saying 3....

1. You've gotta get out of your own way!!!

Life happens...sometimes we are unhappy

Sometimes you can blame situations.  Sometimes you can blame others.

BUT

How often do we blame ourselves?  Probably not as often as we maybe should.....

Gosh we get in our own way soooo much!  We don't let ourselves be happy...by making choices that will CLEARLY make us unhappy

So this week I got out of my own way.

2. Sometimes you have to trade what makes you happy in the moment for what you know will make you happy in the long run.

The easy route is of course the right now happy.  But right now happy doesn't last.  And sometimes it even leads to long run unhappiness.  Long run happiness can be hard in the right now-cause it is hard at first.

But worth it right?

3. SPEAK OUT...SPEAK UP...Say what you want to say

I had a very important conversation this week.  About getting out of my own way...and long run happiness.

It was not a fun conversation.  It meant I had to be vulnerable and open.  Both things I really DON'T like being.  

As I was driving home...trying to distract myself and hold back tears.....this song came on

Thanks universe!

You all know how obsessed with I am this song...

Like CRAZY obsessed.

Pretty sure I have posted it AT LEAST 3 or 4 times!!!!

(I love this video too..the girls are sooooo cute!)

You can be amazing You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug

You can be the outcast Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love

Or you can start speaking up

Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do As they settle ‘neath your skin

Kept on the inside and no sunlight Sometimes a shadow wins

But I wonder what would happen if you

Say what you wanna say And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

Everybody’s been there, everybody’s been stared down By the enemy

Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing Bow down to the mighty

Don’t run, stop holding your tongue

Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live

Maybe one of these days you can let the light in

Show me how big your brave is

Say what you wanna say And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

And since, your history of silence Won’t do you any good

Did you think it would?

Let your words be anything but empty Why don’t you tell them the truth?

Say what you wanna say And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

So be brave everybody.....

And be happy...be healthy!

Prettier With a Boy????

This fact is something I have been thinking a lot about lately.

Have you ever taken a trip down memory photo lane...and noticed patterns?

"Oh that was a good hairstyle for me"
"Oh poor clothing choice there"

"What was I thinking for like...a year!"

Well a pattern I have noticed in my own trips....

I look prettier during the times I am dating someone.

And post breakup...the pictures look HORRID

Exhibits A B and C  (please excuse the awkward cropping...done to protect the innocent)

(also...I will not exhibit the bad picture examples!)

I commented to my sister the other day 

"I need to get a boyfriend so I can look good in pictures again"

Silly girl say what????

Now I will admit that there is some truth to this statement.

BUT...

H54F!!!

1.  Lots of work=lots money=lots of time with fun co-workers
I really do have the best co-workers in the world.  Do I brag about them enough??????


2. Car wash!!!!  Poor Jonas is a hot mess...so we cleaned him up!
Cleaned out...vacuum....a good scrub....
Now he is all sparkly

3. FOURTH OF JULY FIREWORKS!!!!!!!
Arch grounds...GREAT friends.  A bunch of people are here in StL for the summer...so we had a blast with them!

4. I have such amazing friends...they watch out for me and always are the greatest.

plus...aren't they good looking?

5. No work today=movies, reading, blogging and general laziness.  Could not be better!!!!

YEAH for Freedom

I love patriotic songs.

but I think this holiday is more than just yeah for America and what we stand for.

to me it is more....Yeah for what we have and all those who make it possible.

dear boys-love anouncements

Happy Wednesday everyone!!!

dear addition
well isn't that sweet.  so glad i've got you as a friend!
love
me

dear new kid on the block
well welcome welcome.
you give good hugs-so i guess we will keep you around.
love
me

dear rule boy
thanks for the compliment.
it surprisingly meant a lot.
love
me

dear bachelorette fan
ummmm love!
lets be friends!
love
me

dear lonely
yeah...

Actually this letter is more for me than for you!

dear me
way to finally figure out you deserve more.
its nice to realize that.  very happy about it
love
me

dear eye candy
you are nice too!!!!!
add that to your pretty face
friends????
love
me



dear branch boys
alright i'm bagging the whole thing
i'll just play the field and be the top banana in the shock department!
love
holly golightly

50 Days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Source: pinterestoffer.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

SOOOOOOO true!

We are at exactly 50 days today.

Mix Tape Monday

Work tonight=I have been sleeping all day.

It also means I have nothing to blog about!

No stories....unless you count what I dreamed about.

I only really remember my dreams when I'm not in deep sleep.
So the days when I stay up late and then sleep late in an attempt to regulate my schedule, are usually the best for dreaming.

Today's dreams weren't anything earth shattering.  But they were fun and light.
And remind me of these songs.


Its July 1st...Sunny, warm, but cool enough to have the windows open......but still very summer-y



So enjoy some

Finding Happiness: Inspiration from Mara and Danny

I have a lot of things that I want this post to be.  I have been thinking and writing/rewriting it in my head for a week or 2 now.  And I suspect this version you are reading now is at least draft 10!

What I want to talk about has been really important to me recently.

And I think it may not end up in one post.  We may be talking about this for weeks!

It has been said that trials come into our lives for 3 reasons

1.We make poor choices that lead to our unhappiness

2. Others make choices that hurt or harm us

3. Life happens and our mortality leads to inevitable grief and sadness

Truth for sure. Its gonna happen...no matter what

BUT

Recently I have better understood our role in our own happiness....in spite of both trials and good times.

There are many reasons why, and I guess that will be where future posts come from.  

But today I want to talk about one inspiration.

Mara and Danny from A Blog About Love

(credits go to their blog...and the photographer Saydi Eyre Shumway...for the photo)

This couple is one of the most inspiration and amazing two people I have ever "met"

Both have experienced extremely deep heartaches in their lives. Their hearts have been truly broken.

They have every right and every reason and every excuse to be bitter, jaded, coarse and unhappy.

But they are exactly the opposite.

When I read THIS I was floored.  The idea that working for happiness was not foreign to me.  

But the idea that we had to let go of the things we think we need to be happy, to truly be happy..that one shook me a bit.

To really get to the place where Mara is, there is a lot of surrendering that has to be done.  A lot of changing of attitudes and priorities and perspective.  A LOT of work!

And I don't want to say that I don't want to do the work.  

Because isn't true happiness worth ALL the work in the world? 

OF COURSE!!!

When talking to one of my best friends about this type of surrender and type of change, I caught myself saying "I'm just not there.  I just can't do that right now."

And I don't believe I was wrong.  I am not yet ready to completely let go.  I'm not in a place where I can relinquish control like that.

But I do think I was too dismissing.  I was too dismissing of the possibility that the ultimate goal could be reached with small baby steps.

My mother is forever saying "you eat an elephant one bite at a time"

But I didn't know where to start.  The complete overhaul I would need to allow myself to truly be happy was so overwhelming, I didn't know where to begin.

But Mara came to my rescue!  She recently posted THIS about her active and intentional gratitude following a very significant trial.

So that is where I have begun.  I have already started here in my blog world, trying to find the positive, and being happy for the simple joys in life.

And can I tell you since I have been trying to do it in my "outside life", amazing things have happened.  

Days that should be terrible aren't so bad.  Hard things seem easier to deal with and move on from.

And it hasn't been as hard as I thought.

It was one simple step.  And once I feel I have it down, I will take another.

Now I always say at the end of my posts Be Happy Be Healthy.

But this time I really want you all to know that I mean it!