Blessed by Bailey

Friendship is one of the most sacred things in life. I have been truly blessed to be able to experience true friendship; the kind where you can be completely yourself and not feel judged. I am so blessed to be able to say I have a best friend and truly mean it. No matter how far away we may be, I know she is always there for me and I can talk to her about anything. I know that distance may make it harder, but it doesn't mean our friendship will change or end. I think many people never experience true friendship, so I feel incredibly blessed to say that I have.

Bailey & I

This girl is such a blessing. She is kind, generous, comforting, beautiful, funny and overall an amazing person. After living together for a semester, we both had to adjust to living 4 hours apart. We talk most days whether it is a quick snap or a longer facetime session. She can always brighten my day and she goes out of her way to send me mail, which always puts a smile on my face. I mean, my first day of classes started out with a letter from my best friend wishing me a great first day! 

First day of classes letter! 

She also surprised me with a package filled with candy and a group of letters that I am supposed to open when...I am sad, lonely, not motivated, etc. I was so surprised to get this in the mail, especially from Bailey because she isn't known for being super crafty...haha. I LOVED IT THOUGH. I haven't opened any of the letters yet but I am so excited for when I get to! I know whatever she wrote will brighten my day and make me feel like she is not far away at all!

A letter & package on the same day! 

The open when... letters! Can't wait to read them all!

I have been counting down the days until I get to see Bailey again (which was supposed to be a month after classes started) but I decided to go home this coming weekend so I get to see her earlier than I thought! I am super excited to see her and hang out even for just a few hours!! So glad I have such an amazing best friend :)

Weekend Fun

I cannot believe I have only been back at school for a week and a half! It seems like so much longer! I am not going to lie, the start to my second semester was a little rough. I was adjusting to a new schedule and a room to myself. It was a challenge at first but I have learned how to stay organized with my busy schedule. The past few days have been so much fun! On Thursday classes were cancelled, PTL!! Concordia never has a snow day, so it was a perfect little surprise! I had plans to hang out with one of my good friends that evening so we decided to get together earlier in the day since we had nothing else going on! We played cribbage, listened to music, chatted and baked monster bars! YUMMMM. It was such a great way to spend my day. It can be a challenge to initiate hanging out with people when I am so used to spending all my time with one person but it is good for me to step outside my comfort zone a little bit and connect with some of my other friends! 

MONSTER BARS! So delicious! 

The next day, I had plans to hang out with another friend, Hannah. We decided to have a girls night which was very eventful and just what I needed to get out of the regular homework routine. We went to panera for dinner and then hit up the mall and target where we found some pretty great deals! We both ended up making a few purchases! Then we headed back to the dorms for some homemade blizzards and a movie. In case you don't know me, I go to bed fairly early but Hannah had me up past 1 AM. I was setting records last night! 

My homemade blizzard! vanilla ice cream, oreos, PB2 powder and reeses! 

Francesca's gold chain bracelet: $7

Francesca's statement necklace: $10

V-neck sweaters from Gap: $7.50 each

Striped long sleeve from Gap: $8

I am not going to lie, I was slightly mad at myself for eating dessert two nights in a row, but I had to remind myself that IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. I am usually pretty healthy and I know I will not be eating dessert very often so it is okay to give in every once in a while. I also worked out both days that I ate dessert so I can't get too mad at myself. 

QUICK GOAL UPDATE: I have been running every week but need to push myself a little more. I am trying to eat healthy and workout daily and so far I have been doing a pretty good job! I am hoping to continue my healthy lifestyle and stay focused on the results I want to see! I hope to start seeing changes and start feeling healthier and more confident! 

Let’s be honest…this whole blogging this has definitely gotten away from me for the past 3 months….whoops! But for now I am back. I always snap pictures and come up with ideas, but I seem to have a problem actually sitting down and writing a blog post. So with the New Year, my goal is to blog once a week. I want to keep up with my blog but I don’t want to feel pressured to put up a post everyday or even every other day. So let’s start!

here are a few pictures from winter break :)

Frosty Folic 5K! 

MAJOR UPDATE: I am back at school after having a wonderful 3 weeks off from school! But I am back without my roommate and best friend L It has been a weird adjustment  living by myself after living with my best friend but each day I get slightly more used to it. I do seem to get more accomplished without her here…maybe because when we are together all we want to do is talk and go on adventures! Haha My classes this semester are going to be challenging, but they seem very interesting so hopefully the work load won’t seem too bad.

 My biggest goal for the New Year is to focus on my school work and to be healthy! Last semester my healthy habits ran away from me and it is a slow process finding them again. I made a motivation board over break to help remind me and motivate me to go after my goals and to work hard. I want to feel stronger, prettier, healthier, and all around better about myself. I don’t always make the best decisions but I am trying and I am definitely doing better than last semester!!  I want to be healthy but I also don’t want to get down on myself when I miss a workout or eat one bad thing. Life goes on and I have to learn to deal with my choices and make better ones next time.

My new motivation board-the idea came from pinterest of course! 

Over break I got a lot of new clothes so my first few days back at school I have tried to be a fashionista! Hopefully my outfits reflect my good stlye ;) 

My favorite new sweater from Eddie Bauer :)

Kenneth Cole winter jacket. LOVE IT.

First day outfit! New accessories from Christmas

Outfit inspired by my best friend :)

Already can't wait for the next blog post! Hopefully I will be able to keep up with all of my goals and New Year's Resolutions! 

My love for fall

With the weather getting cooler it is beginning to feel like Fall….and I absolutely LOVE IT. Fall is my favorite season for soooo many reasons. First of all, the weather. I love the cold. I love the trees and all of the pretty colors. I also love the outfits that you can wear in the fall; boots, sweatshirts, leggings, sweaters, really the list could go on and on. I love the Holidays that occur in the Fall. I love that you can curl up in a blanket and watch a movie without being too hot. I love sipping hot coffee or cider. I LOVE PUMPKIN. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bars, pumpkin chais, pumpkin muffins, honestly I pretty much love any product that has pumpkin in it. Since I only get to have pumpkin one time of the year, I take advantage of it! I am already looking forward to going home and getting a pumpkin muffin from dunn brothers and making yummy pumpkin baked goods with my family. I have already been to several different coffee shops to fulfill my craving for a pumpkin flavored coffee. YUMMY! Just thinking about it makes me want to go get one right now!

 Just looking at this list makes me so excited for Fall. BEST SEASON EVER.

Family :)

This past weekend at Concordia College was a special occasion…family weekend! In case you don’t know what that means…it’s basically an excuse for your family to come up for a weekend packed with super fun activities. It’s also a great excuse for parents to come up and spend money on their college students! ;) Last year, both my mom and dad (who are divorced) decided to come up for the weekend. I was super excited especially because I was homesick, but I didn’t realize how stressful and not fun it would actually end up being. Basically it was just hard to split my time between both families so it ended up being more work than it was worth. But I learned my lesson for this year! Thankfully, my mom couldn’t come up for family weekend so I was free to spend time with my dad, step mom and brothers! I was really excited to see them after being away from home for about a month now, and I was really excited to spend some quality time with my dad. Our relationship hasn’t always been the best but it is a work in progress and I’m trying to make the best of it! My family arrived Friday around 4 and when they got here I showed them my dorm and chatted for a little bit before I had to head out to choir. After choir, I drove over to their hotel and we went out for dinner! We went to a sub shop in Fargo called Grand Junction which was pretty delicious! After dinner we headed to Scheels sporting store for some shopping and then went back to the hotel where my bothers swam and I rested after a long week!

Cooper (6) with Cobber spirit!

Love these people :)

Me and my dad!

Saturday was another busy day, jammed with lots of activities including my brother, Jonah’s birthday! We started off the day by getting breakfast and then we hit up the Cobber bookstore so my fam could purchase apparel. Man was it crowded! Literally there were people right next to you 24/7! We had more time to chill in the hotel before we had to head to the football game! Before going to the game we grabbed all of our blankets and jackets as well as a warm Starbucks coffee because last year we were freezing and didn’t want to be cold again this year! We ended up not needing any of our warm clothes though because it was a gorgeous day!! After the game we went out for an early dinner before the big showcase at Concordia. Basically it’s talent show for all the musically gifted to show off, but it’s so much fun to see all the talent Concordia has! After the show we headed straight for Tutti Frutti-YUMMM! Not going to lie, this was probably the thing I was most looking forward to!

My outfit for the football game-love the denim shirt; cute and comfy!

Overall, the weekend was super busy but so much fun! I love showing my family around campus and the Fargo/Moorhead area and this weekend was great excuse to hang out with my family! I love my family and value spending quality time with them whenever I can! I can’t wait to go home this coming weekend and see my mom, step dad and sister! So grateful for the opportunity to have two families that love me so much! Don't know what I would do without these people and can't wait for this coming weekend filled with family fun:) 

Just some pictures from this weekend :)

Grayson (8)

Cooper (6)

Jonah-Birthday Boy! (11)

Coffee Addict.

Before I got to college, I thought the norm was going to coffee shops to do homework and staying up late while drinking coffee to finish homework due the next day. As a freshman, neither of these things were true for me but I really wanted them to be. Not the whole staying up late thing but the drinking coffee all the time and going to fun coffee shops in town to work on my homework. Last year I found a coffee shop called Moxie Java in downtown Fargo that I absolutely love. This inspired me to look up what other unique coffee shops were in the Fargo/Moorhead area. I found several different coffee shops and wrote them down on a post it in my room. My goal is to go to all of them by the end of the year…let’s be honest, that won’t be hard at all. I LOVE coffee and would drink it all day, every day if I could. Unfortunately if I did that I would be absolutely broke and I probably wouldn’t accomplish much if I spent all of my time in coffee shops lounging and pretending to be studious. Unfortunately most of my friends do not share this same passion for drinking coffee and finding fun, unique coffee shops in the area so I don’t go as often as I would like but again they probably help me save a lot of money!!

Caramel Macchiato & Maple Pecan Scone
Both super yummy! 

That is one problem I have…I like the fancy coffee that costs $5! Caramel lattes from Dunn Brothers and Nonfat Caramel Macchiatos from Starbucks are two of my favorite drinks. I have started being able to drink straight up brewed coffee with sugar and milk added or flavored creamer but if a latte will always be my first choice! This weekend I am planning on sucking it up and buying a coffee maker. I have decided that I need to save money and having a coffee maker in my room means I can have coffee whenever I want, even if the campus coffee stop is closed. My goal is to cut back on lattes so that they are an occasional treat…but we’ll see how that goes! 

One final note. I am currently sitting in a Starbucks and I just love the cozy, chill environment as well as the wonderful smell of freshly brewed coffee :) I also love being up before everyone else and just enjoying the morning without feeling rushed or stressed. Wish I could start my day like this more often! 

#FashionistaStatus

I like to think that I have a good sense of style...but I enjoy comfort way and accessibility way too much to put in the extra effort. My roommate this year is the total opposite. Every outfit takes thought whether she is going to class, the gym or even bed! When I see what she has picked out for the day, I immediately feel like I gotta step it up a notch! Not only does she always look cute but she accessorizes!! Are you serious?!? I can barely manage to put a cute top and jeans together let alone add accessories into the mix! Even though I would not consider myself to be a fashionista by any means, last week I put together 2 outfits that I absolutely LOVE.

Necklace-Francesca's
Tee-Gap
Sweater-Gap
Jeans-Gap
Shoes-Target

Loved that I was rocking my new statement necklace! :)

I love this outfit for a few different reasons. First, I put it together in literally 2 minutes. This is seriously a miracle that I can look cute in such a short amount of time. Second, I LOVE that I got to wear my new necklace! I had been waiting for the perfect outfit and this necklace just added a little something to the rest of the outfit. Third, I liked how I mixed different elements that I normally would not have. I kept the top bright but simple and then added a statement piece of jewelry, I rolled my jeans and I wore a funky pattern on my shoes. Definitely using this outfit as a go-to next time I am in a need of a quick but cute outfit!

This last Sunday I went to church with a group of my friends and I wanted to look nice without feeling overdressed. The church that we go to is mostly young adults and college kids and it has a very laid back vibe. I mean it's located in a movie theater and they have their own little coffee shop where they make you FREE lattes. I mean it can't get much better than that! Anyway, I didn't really know what to wear but I was really excited because it was cold out which meant I could for sure wear pants. When I finally started trying things out and seeing what I liked, this is what I came up with...

I was pumped to be wearing my cords and denim shirt for the first time!

Close up-gold jewelry and a last minute decision to add the cardigan

I am beyond obsessed with this outfit and felt so good while wearing it. It's the best when you feel comfortable, confident and stylish while wearing one outfit! If I could wear this outfit everyday, I think I would...Because of my recent success with well put together outfits I decided to go crazy on Pinterest and save a bunch of cute outfits to my iPhone so I can hopefully try them out this fall! 

Church girls & I rocking our denim shirts :)

              "Never let the things you want make you forget the things you have."