Let's just start this off with a little checklist, shall we?

• It's interesting what makes people tick. I've seen some of the most unfazed people I know think things that seem minute to me are be very big ordeals. 
• We're all connected. I called into work to work to find out my schedule and my boss was just thinking about me. On my way to school, I was thinking about my friend Michelle, who I ended up running into after my classes and went to lunch with. 
• Don't judge a book by it's cover. I went to a restaurant, that has quite frankly kind of scared me for a while, today. I love new and interesting places, but I'm a germaphobe and really appreciate a sense of cleanliness, so since I once entered the doors one day a few months ago (and swiftly made an excuse to leave) I've been very skeptical about it. However, the food was good. I won't be frequenting there though, but I'm glad I did give it a chance (and that I went with a "seasoned" veteran... ha! Seasoned... cause we're talking about food... anyways...)
• God works. He just does. Take this in any sense you'd like. He works to make all things come together for my good. He works in my favor. He works to take away your stress, problems, and pain. Since my last post, I've spent time (though not as much as I'd like) in prayer and trying to soak up more of His knowledge and wisdom and HEED what I'm taking in. And the crazy thing is, God has shown up. Again and again and again. And it's really coool and REALLY WEIRD. And I'm surprised by it and not surprised by it all at the same time. But I love it and I love hearing other's testimonies this week too, because it's been filled with them and how amazingly God is working in everyone's lives! I can't wait to expand and share more :)

A New Week, A New Story.

Honestly, today, I am overwhelmed. I am searching for my peace in Christ, which I did a pretty great job maintaing in the days prior to last night. I'm trying to push back all the negative thoughts and emotions, but it's also resulted in my pushing back all of the yucky work I have to do too. Everything feels so fuzzy in my mind. Opaque and uncertain. I am trying to rush through everything with the mentality that I'm taking it slow and being still. I'm overanalyzing everything to the point where I'm not sure what I think anymore. I'm letting things get to me, plaque up my heart and weigh down my soul. I can feel myself becoming heavier and heavier and addition to all the mental and physical clutter I lag around, I feel like I'm dragging myself as well.

 I feel like I just need to breathe.

And getting away for a bit would be nice too. I honestly cannot wait until Campus Harvest because a life transformation is something I need. I want to feel renewed, like I have a fresh start, a clear mind, soul, and conscious. I AM READY!!! Until then, I am going to just work on building up my spiritual warrior on the inside of me and appreciate each day for the magnificence it is in God's glory. I'd been doing really well about not sweating the small stuff... which is just about everything in this life. So I don't intend to let it keep me down now! I need to return to Psalm 46:10 and really meditate in the word this week, and I shall! Lent starts on Wednesday and I feel like this year it's vital that I choose something really big to give up. I want to fast from something that has a stronghold over me, so that I am really broken down and made and kept vulnerable and weak so that I keep my concentration affixed on God and can really listen to what He is saying to me.

In church we are covering a series on faith, which is perfect for me right now, to be honest. My mom just bought me a beautiful new journal, which I am going to make the conscious effort to write in daily because I feel like things are so much clearer to me when they are written down. Verbal words are not my forte.

Despite everything running ramped in my mind, this weekend really was wonderful. It started off with me eating at a new Mediterranean restaurant on campus called Grip, with a cute little lady named  Rebecca who I truly admire! She has such a sense of respect for herself and her happiness, which really is something to be fascinated by.

 Then, that afternoon, Victoria and I went to the Botanical Gardens to take some "not so surprise" photos of one of my first friends at college, Elizabeth, and her boyfriend Jay! She had planned a cute surprise shoot for their 1 year anniversary, but he caught on a little quicker than we'd hoped!  Regardless, we had so much fun with these two!

I'm so blessed to have such a sweet, funny, and playful business partner and best friend. And though it may seem like all we do is goof around... we did get a few good shots of the sweet, sweet couple in there too ;)

Afterwards, we met up with some amazing friends at my new favorite place: Brewed. It's this awesome coffee shop/ brewery with mouth watering sweet potato fries - and let me tell ya, I've had my fair share of sweet potato fries.

Mirror pic in a bathroom taken by two photographers. Can I get a triple whammy?! But then you see how beautiful the mirror and bathroom are and how magical this place is and you can't help but forgive us and love us again, right?!

It was such a fun time with Mandeep and Naureen, two beautiful people who I rarely get to see. Mandeep is basically the next President and filled us in on his encounter with Jay-Z --- seriously, the fist bumped and Naureen told us all about-- well a lot of things. Naureen is like me hahaha we tend to talk, a lot. We enjoyed our conversation over featured delicious Korean BBQ sliders, Gourmet Mac & Cheese, Vegetable Soup (Victoria said yay, Naureen said Nay) and my amazing sweet potato fries (Mandeep got the regular fries, which weren't bad but seriously, common! SWEET POTATO FOR THE WIN!) We also had this delicious Leprechaun apple cider wine, that actually makes me think there's hope for me to one day leisurely enjoy the beverage. And last but not least, we might have met the coolest person on the face of the earth. He was our waiter and I have no clue what his name was and I, regretfully, didn't snag a photo with him of his incredible tattoo. Like seriously, my new favorite person. LEMME TELL YA WHY:

He had this beautiful tattoo of three apertures on his left arm. Unknowingly, I asked if he was a photographer. He responded with an obvious yes, haha, but my curiosity only stemmed from there. One of the apertures was red, while the other two appeared to be black in the dim lit venue (I later on found that one was purple). He explained to me that the three apertures represented the Holy Trinity. The first, the red, stood for the blood of Christ. The middle one was purple, standing for loyalty. And the last one was wide and black, representing how he needed to keep his focus on God, allowing everything else in the background to be blurred out. This was the general gist of what he told us. There was definitely more in depth things he said, but I can't remember it all. All I know is that's now officially the most beautiful, meaningful tattoo I've ever seen. LOVE. 

[ imagine picture of me and sweet souled waiter with beautiful, inspiring tattoo here ]

 On Saturday, Victoria and I had to take a few group photos in the morning in Dallas. It was freezing, so afterwards we went to get something hot for our bellies!

We found ourselves nestled into Opening Bell Coffee, with two warm mugs of frothy, Vanilla Chai Tea! It was definitely a nice little place to step back and relax on a foggy, chilly day.

Later on that day, I got to spend some time with my mommy which included a few of my favorite things: hot tea (courtesy of Beep, also known as Rebecca mentioned earlier), McDonald's apple pie, and gold foiled cards! <3

Here's to an awesome week. I hope all of you have one too! <3

Thankful (a week in photos)

Today was an absolutely lovely day spent in Dallas with one of my best friends Monica, and her lovely friends Kathleen and Emily, as an extended celebration of her 21st birthday. It was such a refreshing day, spent out of the mundane. Bishop Arts District always makes me feel at home. It's filled with creatives, quirky shops, art pieces, music, murals, delicious restaurants, and couples getting their photos taken. Today was no different! It started off with chicken and waffles, brisket hash, huevos rancheros, coffee, & beignets at Oddfellows. 

Afterwards, we walked around Bishop Arts a bit and I finally found We are 1976!!!! Thanks to Mon's keen eye. Let me just tell you, this place is like a little piece of heaven. I walked in and my face literally lit up. I instantaneously felt at home. Like, really. If you know me, you know I'm all about that stationary and office accessory life. Throw in some eclectic touches & a few Rifle Paper Co items and you've officially captured my heart. 

Unfortunately, we had to cut our time at heaven on earth short to go see a wonderful movie called Silver Linings Playbook. We moseyed on down to The Angelika, which is actually a really comfortable movie theatre. Worth the $8 matinee fee. Not to mention the quality of the film. Loved it. The message of the film was beautiful and really encouraged me to look at Sundays in a new light. Instead of the day before dreaded Monday, it gave me a new perspective on being a day to reflect on everything to be thankful for in week you're leaving behind. It also gave me the thought of each Sunday being the start of something new; something that can be filled with countless opportunities. Something to be excited about.

We walked around and stopped by a few more shops in Mockingbird. Got some lovely navajo hipster house shoes and a cute blazer at UO and fell in love with the Signature and Indigo Waters scents at Franchesca's! Can't wait to get them!

Exactly a week ago, ironically enough, I was also in Bishop Arts, for Monica's 21st birthday! We had a delicious dinner at Eno's where I ate Pasta Carbonara. It was incredibly cheesy and rich, filled with pancetta, basil, and red pepper, simply delicious.

So glad that in addition to the yumminess, I got to spend some time with some girls I'm incredibly grateful for. After eating, Janie, Victoria, Laura and I walked around a bit and ended up going to try some new delicacies at Dude, Sweet. They never cease to amaze me with their uniquely constructed dark chocolates. If you haven't gone there, you definitely should! I dont know where else you can try chocolate with chipotle, or roses, or blue cheese. Trust me, it's all good. And I don't even like dark chocolate. 

 

Another great thing that happened this week?! I got my camera back!!! As most of you probably don't know, I FINALLY got my Mark 5D II, but it immediately had a few issues. After sending it back, my baby came home to me! Since I don't have a shoot til next weekend, I couldn't wait to try it out with some natural light! So I took a few photos of myself near one of our larger windows.

Another thing I'm thankful for this week? My new mentee Jihee! I am in love with her! We are incredibly similar and after only spending a couple hours together, it felt like we'd been friends for quite some time. Here are a few photos from our mentee/mentor lunch date that you definitely should not judge me for (:

 

I'm also thankful for... a few additional healthy snacks this week!!! My dad put our magic bullet to good use and made two delicious fruit juices today. They are seriously so scrumpdiliumptious. I can't stop drinking them all up! And he sweetened them with Agave instead of sugar so I feel even healthier about my decision!

 

Also, had to give a shoutout to Starbuck's Perfect Oatmeal because... hello, it's perfect. 

And here's a random picture of my best friend because I think it might embarrass him!

& finally I'll leave you with this beautiful message. Hope you all have a great week! 

Have heart.

There's a young man in my neighborhood named Chris. Ever since we moved here, when I was in first grade, I've spotted Chris wandering throughout the streets of our neighborhood and the connecting few. I honestly feel like this boy, who I've maybe exchanged 5 words with, has made quite a big impact on my life and has taught me a lot, without telling me anything. The interesting about Chris is that every time I see him, he's holding a bouquet of flowers. Sometimes he's just sitting on the sidewalk of the main road, holding his flowers. Or standing there with his flowers in hand, waving as cars pass by. He also works at the neighborhood Kroger from time to time, which is probably how I know his name. I think about him quite a lot and wonder why he always has flowers in hand. It's so obvious that there's something Chris knows, that I don't. But, it's honestly one of my lifelong desires to pause whatever's going on in my life, just one day, stop the car, and go talk to Chris and find out about his story. I've come up with countless reasons for why he holds those flowers, where he gets them, and who he's waiting for, but there's still this unquenchable curiosity of what the true story really is. Honestly, I fear that it's something traumatic, which is also a reason I've never actually stopped to ask him. And I'm also afraid that he's not willing to accept the truth of whatever's really happened, hence him always standing on the side of the road, holding flowers, seemingly waiting for someone who's yet to come 13 years later. But regardless of the countless things I've come up with, every time I see him, he has the biggest smile on his face. Even if it's cold, come rain or shine, he waves and smiles as if there isn't a thing in the world to be worried about. He has this incredibly positive attitude and I can just tell that he has the hugest, happiest heart. Though seeing him always sends my mind on a trip down Wonder Lane, it always brightens up my day. It's funny how without even speaking to a person, you can see their heart. You can tell so much simply through their actions, their attitude, the way they carry themselves, or just how they stand on the sidewalk holding a bouquet of flowers, waving at every new friend that passes by.