Life. Simplified.

Come what may and love it.

Simple enough, right? Wrong. I don't love waking up in the morning with a precious new zit, I refuse to love it. It can go away, don't "come what" on my face! I mean....

Okay, so I know that's not exactly what the saying is supposed to get across, but I think we can all agree that it's hard to get used to being acted upon when we want to feel in control of our lives. I think there is a word missing somewhere in the middle. How about,

Come what may and TRY to love it.

For instance, I love my job. I coach cheerleading and tumbling to girls from the age of 5-16. There is an obviously wide range of skills and maturity levels that I deal with on a daily basis, but at the end of the day I love it. I get to feel a part of something, more importantly I get to feel a part of these young girls (and a few boys) lives. Now, there are definitely days when I leave the gym shaking my head and refusing to ever have children because my students have assured me that all boys and girls are spawns of Satan and on those days I don't even TRY to love my job or those evil little individuals. On the other hand, after being away from them for a few months while finishing school, returning to my job was the biggest reminder of how much I love kids and love watching them learn and grow! Basically, I just need to try to love when I don't like the things that come my way in the form of talkative and snotty children. :)

SO. To entertain your little eyes, I'm feeling reminiscent of my days of cheerleading and gymnastics and have added some inspiring and amazing pictures of those I now get to live my dreams through.

 I'm obviously biased... Cheer Athletics produces the world's best cheerleaders. Period.

 Wildcats best year in my opinion. Stomped Top Gun. And Jake's jumps...

 Start 'em young.

Now I feel the need to go work out...

Lo and behold, the glory days are o.v.e.r.

A Toast to the Cliches

The validity of cliches in my life have become way too overwhelming. Go on pinterest and try NOT to find some stupid quote that relates exactly to how you are/were feeling when someone didn't understand just how amazing you are and how horrible their life will be without you. Then think of the times when you thought you could do anything to make it work, and it didn't. Think of all the things you told yourself to make yourself feel better in the moment. They become cliche for a reason. They are life's constants ... even though we may not want to admit that out loud. I'm putting my pride aside and dedicating this post to the cliches of the broken and the healed, the cynics and the hopefuls, the bold and the beautiful (I'm not taking credit for this last one, I just wanted 3 comparisons because I like odd numbers):

This one is classic, because really, who wants to accept anything they have no control over? It's a lovely concept, but don't get too hung up on it.

This one is a personal fave... Through experience my advice is to delete any and all memory of them possible and make up horrible imaginary fights in your head so you never want to talk to them again. 

Smile because you are medicated from the drama they made you endure... In the long run you can smile because either you are finally happy and/or they/their wife got fat/ugly.

Best way to go. Let people surprise you!

This one is sweet, and we all want to be the exception when usually we are the rule. (Read "He's Just Not That Into You" Immediately if you didn't understand this)

Elizabeth Taylor, everyone! Pulling through with the "fake it till you make it" concept with a touch of her own glamour.

You WILL have more than one of these in your life. Let them go when you must.

So that we all remember just who is in control... Let everyone see you live out your once upon a time

Never forget this. A cliche to help us all believe that things will get better and we are not alone.

New years resolution!: Know yourself.

We are all STRONG human beings who are capable of so much more than we can imagine.

We may pretend not to notice, but it's always in hindsight that we are able to say we KNEW it was a lie.

A cliche to keep us hopeful when the world let's us down...

We are individuals with individual talents that do NOT need or deserve to be unnoticed. Be yourself, PLEASE. And don't apologize when others can't appreciate that.

This one hits close to home for me... quitting isn't always a bad thing. Having a backbone doesn't make you jaded or ungrateful, but instead it means you have self worth. Know the difference.

Lo and Behold, I'm a walking cliche.

An Apology is in Order....

Everything lately has been inspiring me. Finishing college has put a new perspective on life for me that really makes the possibilities seem endless. This newfound freedom has caused me to be somewhat overwhelmed in narrowing down exactly what it is I should be doing with my life. This is the first time that I have had to make this large of a decision on my own, if you saw how hard it is for me to get dressed on any given day, which can easily onset a hissy fit followed by the surrender to the uniform of zella live-ins and an oversized sweater, than you can only imagine the worst case scenarios I've been calculating in this anxious little brain of mine!

I feel awful for neglecting this blog, but I thought I was in love and didn't want to bore everyone with my ups and downs as I tried to figure it out. But I'm back and stable, for those of you who care. Here to inspire you with the things that inspire me, I will hopefully ramble my way into a meaningful and promising decision with regards to my future!

Lo and Behold... I miss college... (better yet, I miss people planning my near future for me so I have someone else to blame when things go haywire)

A girl can dream!

Summer dreaming as we speak...

Eclectic. Chic. Flawless.

I want to serve this at a dessert party.

Yes, please. 

Love this and love that Zara's spring line also utilizes these colors.

glamgasm.

drool with me...

Welcome to my humble abode!!

Everyone already knows I love her.

Still love her.

MKA=BFF4L

Classic and I love it. Not trying too hard and still lookin' bangin'.

Little sex-pot man.

My dream mans' uniform. I know I posted my uniform in a previous post...

I plan on it.

I have no rights to these pictures, but I thoroughly have enjoyed them and would feel selfish if I didn't share them with my loved ones. So enjoy, babes!

“The universe doesn’t care if you’re scared. I know this is not news, but you need to hear this. I’m scared, you’re scared, and we’re all scared. The difference is whether you’re going to keep moving. I really hope you will.” ~Merlin Mann

Stick to what you know...

There are few things in life that will never fail you and often times I've found that sometimes we have to learn the hard way what we can and can't rely on. The conclusion I've come to is this: When in doubt, stick to what you know to avoid turbulence in your otherwise cool, calm, and collected life. Now, if your life is already turbulent then I guess you have nothing to lose... but for those of us who seek control and comfort in life, we have to stick to what we know to remain sane. There are a few things that I know will undoubtedly fail me at one point and probably another; those things include (but are certainly not limited to) my car, my skinny jeans, my math skills, my judgment, my budget, my computer/flash drive, etc. Luckily, I can rely on a few things in life to fix my car, to disregard my skinny jeans, to compensate for my lack of math skills, to have mercy on my judgment errors... you get the picture.

I know I can rely on my family, my church, a generous handful of friends, and therapy. By therapy, I mean what you do to make you feel overwhelming happiness. My closet might tell you that I consider retail therapy to be an acceptable form of therapy... and that would be a perfectly valid conclusion! Another form of therapy for me is running... a habit that I have almost forgotten about since I've been able to hide my winter weight for way too long, but a habit that has recently blessed my life with a little bit more balance and a few more endorphins.

My goal right now is to stick to what I know. I know at this point what I want and what I don't want for myself and for my future and am challenging myself to keep those values in the forefront of my mind when making decisions.

Lo and behold, dammit.

I love my Mommy.

I don't even know where to begin! My mom is the best. She is the first one to take care of anyone. She doesn't have to know them, but she assumes the role of caretaker to anyone she comes in contact with and for that I love her. She truly taught me the art of caring and that to truly care means that you don't expect it in return. I can't tell you how many times I rolled my eyes at having to run soup and crackers to a stranger's door because my mom heard through a grapevine that they had the flu. Or when someone at church was struggling financially and my mom just so happened to clean out her closet that same week and drop the clothes off at their house because they "didn't fit her anymore" without so much as asking a question. I honestly can only hope to be half as selfless as she has shown me to be. I have learned through her example to make sure that the house is clean before bed, that when someone has been out of town we should have warm cookies waiting upon their arrival home, and when someone comes to visit we are to have a thoughtful gift on the guest bed to let them know we appreciate their company. Even more admirable, is that most of these things are second nature for her. It's not a burden at all, but just the way she is. Not to mention she does all this while looking fabulous! While our fashion senses don't always see eye-to-eye, I respect her for wearing what makes her feel good and for taking care of herself always. She's gorgeous and that fact lightens my fear of aging with the chance that along with many other traits I also might have inherited her graceful and inevitable pursuit towards old age. Basically, I love my mommy. And by posting this on my blog for everyone to see, I feel like I've made my point abundantly clear.

An oldie but a goodie of me and Mom!

Sorry for the wordiness but I had been out of town for the last week both in Frisco (home) and visiting some family in Arizona so I feel like I have so much to say! Much needed TLC was enjoyed and it's always great to catch up with long lost family! I have been so blessed to have so many influential mother figures in my life and this Mother's Day certainly reminded me of all of them. From literal 'aunts' to my substitute 'aunts' that I have no blood relation to, but have earned that title no less, I realize that I need to let these women know of their emanating beauty and genuine example in my life... even if Mother's Day was last week. Better late than never, right?

Ello Princess!

I swore I wouldn't catch Beiber fever, and I did. Now I've found myself drooling as I watch the Royal Wedding coverage and repeats. Since when am I on ANY bandwagon? As of late, I'm a molded follower of pop culture... it's true. From the Biebs to Her Majesty the Queen and to the bazaar antics of Charlie Sheen, I'm guilty of falling subject to the opinions of TMZ and E. Maybe I'll consider this a natural physical reaction to lose all the brain cells I may or may not have acquired this semester-homeostasis! That's it, my current trash TV binge is a subconscious, physiological attempt to balance the information in my brain.

While on the subject of Princess Kate... I have to gawk momentarily at how stunningly she presented herself as an addition to the Royal family. Also, the comparison of her dress to Grace Kelly's made me love her even more because I strongly believe we should all strive to be more like Grace Kelly. Gawk with me...

LOOK at her teeny waist. Please, just look.

Perfection. I love this. Not sure how much I would love to be Pippa though...

Sorry men, after today ALL girls/ladies/women/whathaveyou will be slightly jaded about not being a princess... maybe try to make them feel like one... just a thought.

Lo and behold, we are ALL princesses! :)