January & February Goals

I’m not sure the source of this print, but I love it. I want to embrace each day with an excitement and expectation. There is joy in the ordinary!

As I shared at the beginning of the month, I’ve decided to have monthly goals this year in order to truly be diligent about making things happen. Before moving into February I want to revisit my January goals to keep myself accountable…

1. No social media after 11pm.

This goal was just what I needed. I had made such a habit of lying in bed and scrolling through Instagram for 20 to 30 minutes before falling asleep, and that’s not what I want to fill my thoughts every night. I plan to keep this habit of unplugging from social media after 11pm going strong in February.

2. Write down simple joys each day in my journal.

One of my favorite habits! Every day I write down two or three things to my list of 1,000 gifts. I’ve become so much more aware to the beauty in ordinary moments through this practice. I also plan to keep this up!

3. Send five letters snail mail style.

Handwritten letters and encouraging cards get me fired up. I met this goal by sending six during January. Yay!

4. Clean the entire house for my parents.

Mission accomplished. I loved being able to serve my parents in this small way and I know my mom appreciated it when she came home from being out-of-town.

5. Be intentional about speaking to store cashiers when checking out. {AKA say more than just “How are you? Good.”}

I didn’t succeed at this one every single time, but I always made it a priority to smile and make eye contact when checking out. I plan to continue working on being more intentional with this goal in the next month.

Now for my February goals…

1. Read two books.

I’m currently working through Jesus + Nothing = Everything and I would highly recommend it. I’m learning more about how the gospel continues to impact every aspect of my everyday life. Next on my list, is Veneer: Living Deeply in a Surface Society. It focuses on having real and genuine relationships which is something that I want to continually be intentional about cultivating.

2. Go hiking.

I haven’t been since the fall and I miss it. I have a day planned with a few friends over Valentine’s weekend and I’m so excited for it.

3. Be intentional about living in and embracing the ordinary moments.

This builds on my habit of writing down the simple joys (AKA 1,000 gifts). There is so much beauty to be had in the ordinary and I don’t want to miss it.

4. Have at least four coffee dates with friends.

We don’t necessarily have to get coffee…lunch, frozen yogurt, dinner, etc. I want to spend time with my girls and continually develop rich friendships.

5. Pray for my future hubby and marriage consistently.

This is another things that gets me fired up! I want to honor him before we even meet and this is one way that I know I can do that. Although I miss him, I plan to live fully in this season of singleness. Instead of “pining” for him, I will use my time to lift him up. That is one way to pour into him and our future marriage before we ever even meet.

Happy Friday!

lately & celebrating life

I’m just going to go ahead and jump right into this…

Friday night. Such a sweet and fun night! It was rather chilly so I went grocery shopping with a couple of friends and we got ingredients to make homemade pizza. Yum! We made pizza while talking about anything and everything. Jesus, teaching, gratitude and 1,000 gifts, families, and so much more. We had the best time and ended the night playing a card game that got pretty intense. I love laidback nights spent talking and laughing with my girls. Be intentional in your friendships!

One of my favorite old photos.

Monday night. My grandpa passed away. He left his earthly body that was failing him and traded it in for a NEW and GLORIOUS body in heaven. It seriously overwhelms me when I think about the fact that he’s now fully healed and with Jesus right now. There’s such beauty and joy in that. I’m so thankful for my roomie because she sat with me after I got the news and let me share memory after memory. Also, one of the last coherent conversations I had with him, he told me how proud he was and that he loved me. Y’all I’ll always be grateful for that.

Tuesday morning. A reminder that His pursuit is relentless and I don’t want to become numb to that. It was also such a sweet reminder that my grandpa is experiencing the fullness of Christ’s love in an unimaginable way.

Tuesday afternoon. It started snowing! It was magical and everybody on campus seemed to be extra energized. It was gorgeous to see campus blanketed in white and students out enjoying it.

Wednesday morning. I work at the early learning center on campus and I usually would get there at 7:15am. BUT there was a two hour delay and then I had a snowy view from my classroom. So cold but so beautiful. Once I left work, I checked my email to see that all of my afternoon classes had been cancelled. Hooray! I was perfectly content with a cozy afternoon free of classes.

I’m so thankful for everyday moments. There really is beauty in the ordinary and I’m embracing the here and now.

our story of redemption

Good morning, sweet friends! Classes and work are back in full swing for the spring semester and I’m loving it. As I’m slowly figuring out my routine for this semester, I wanted to share with you the Bible reading plan that I’ve started this year. Last year, I read on Nicole's blog about how she had started to read the Bible chronologically. I was struck in the best way when she wrote, “The Bible is not just a book of random stories.  From the first page to the last, the Bible is Christ's story. The story of grace, mercy, and His glory.  From start to finish, it is about our redemption, our need of a savior.”

As I was thinking about what I wanted my quiet times to look like at the beginning of the year, I kept coming back to the truth of her words and committed to working through the Bible chronologically. I want to dig into the stories of the Old Testament and see them come to life. I want to learn and grow. I want to see how it all points to Christ.

I know it will take me longer than a year to work through, so I’m not setting any kind of timeline. I’m just planning on working through the Bible slowly and steadily. So far one theme that repeatedly stands out is that I'm messy, broken, and ordinary, but the Lord redeems and includes me in the story. That’s the sweetest.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you’re interested in the chronological plan, you can find it here. I plan to write about what the Lord is teaching me, but I tend to use instagram mostly to share glimpses of what I’m learning. I’m excited to continue digging more into His word through this study!

Do you have a Bible study that you’re currently working through? I’m interested to know how you study the word!

life lately

Good morning, friends! I’m slowly easing into this Saturday. I’m on my second cup of coffee and I still have my pajamas on. The past week has held some of the sweetest everyday moments. Laughing so much at work. Handwritten letters in the mail. Genuine conversation over lunch. Making plans to spend spring break with my best friend. Encouraging phone calls from my dad. That just scratches the surface…

Sunsets, the best Ben Howard playlist, and north Georgia back roads.

Exploring railroads tracks along the Toccoa River.

Laughing until we cry with my mom.

Catching the sunrise over the mountains.

Sunshine and blue skies that almost makes you forget it’s winter.

Friday afternoons.

May your Saturday be filled with joy! Embrace those everyday moments.

let them be little

One of my 1 1/2 year olds from last semester. This sweet girl woke up early from nap so we had a little extra one-on-one time.

I’m back in Tennessee and it’s the first day of classes. Hello spring semester of junior year! I genuinely love the start of new semesters and I’m especially excited for this one because my classes are all education courses. Sweetness. It energizes me to learn from professors passionate about teaching and alongside girls (and an occasional guy) that long to be in the classroom already as much as I do.

New semesters also mean a new classroom at work for this girl. I work at the early learning center on my campus and it has been one of the best pasts of my college experience. I’ve had challenging afternoons (I mean I’m working with preschoolers…). I’ve had frustrating moments. I’ve asked so many questions about behavior management and learned a great deal on my feet. BUT I’ve also had some of the best afternoons. These kids have made me laugh and smile over and over again. They’ve opened up my heart more and more.

I’ve been placed in the infants classroom this semester which is completely new ground for me. I’ve primarily worked with the “older” (2 1/2 – 3 year olds) kids with the exception of last semester where I had the toddlers (1 1/2 – 2) year olds). So I’m really looking forward to spending time loving on the babies.

One of the the things that I’ve learned working at a preschool and as a future teacher is just how much parents LOVE their babies. That seems so incredibly obvious that you’re probably wondering where I’m going with this. Well, it has really highlighted the hugeness of my responsibility of taking care of their children. They bring their babies into our classrooms every morning and leave trusting that they will be cared and loved well by us teachers. It’s our job and responsibility to create and maintain safe, fun, and joy-filled environments for their kids. What a responsibility and privilege that is!

I’m also constantly reminded to let them be little. They are learning and growing and developing. They are learning as I model how to correctly share for the 100th time. They are developing as they learn how to say more words or make sentences. They are little and I’m there to hopefully protect that innocence. I want them to have joy in discovering the world and learning something they didn’t know before. I know this probably seems pretty obvious too, but sometimes I place expectations on them that are way beyond their age. Then I’ll get frustrated with myself. So my goal is to let them be little. I’m just really thankful for the opportunity to have a job that I love as I work toward being an elementary school teacher.

{via}

P. S. Can I just take a minute to appreciate the cheesy sweetness of school/staff pictures? This is from last October and I kind of love that I have a future with lots of teacher pictures in it. I always loved when my mom would bring home her teacher picture every year and now I’m following in her footsteps. :)

Have a sweet day, friends!