My Olympic Obsession

Hi. My name is Mindy, and I am an Olympic-aholic. 

For weeks I have been looking forward to seeing those rings on NBC and hearing the "Dum dum da dum dum dum da dum dum dum dum"(if you can't hear the song when you read those words, you need to watch some Olympic coverage). In order to prepare for and build my own excitement for the opening ceremony I painted my nails to start getting in the Olympic spirit.

Finally, the big day rolled around and I decided to dress accordingly for the opening ceremony; ready to cheer on my country. 

My sister made me pose for a pic saying, "I need to capture this.  My sister in full swing.  Yup that's my sister". She gets quite a kick out of my style sometimes.

Now that the opening ceremony is over and the events have begun, I'm not going to lie- I'm kind of like a kid in the candy store when the Olympics are on.  I get all sorts of excited at the idea of watching all the different events.  I was pretty excited today because I was able to bring a portable tv for my desk to watch the Olympics while at work.  No complaints here.  

I am not sure when it all began, but I definitely have an addiction to the Olympics. There's something extremely beautiful about watching the world come together in one place, even if it is to compete against each other in athletic events. Besides my love for sports, especially volleyball, maybe underneath it all it's the idea of a sample of all of God's people coming together in a peaceful manner. While watching the opening ceremony my sister commented, "I bet God loves the Olympics... I bet He's proud." Well wouldn't he be? I mean sure, competing against each other can end up getting a little ugly if people get upset or mean or something. But overall, it's pretty cool that people from all over the world are in one place. It's like a tiny sample of what heaven will be like right? A melting pot of every country come together for the same great purpose.

Regardless of whether it's my love for sports, or the coming together of all the countries- I am hopelessly in love with the Olympics.  There is something nostalgic or comforting about the voice of Bob Costas, or the sound of the Olympic theme song.  I'm quite excited for the days and nights left of quality time spent in front of the TV living vicariously through these athletes who compete to be the Best at what they do.  As the torch goes out in 2 weeks, it will be a sad moment until excitement re-builds and we come together again to watch the world compete in the winter Olympics in 2014.

So tonight... go home, spend some time with Bob Costas and join me in my love for the Olympics.

Formal Complaint

I'm sitting on the floor in my bedroom with the "smoking porch" (as I call it, aka tiny tiny balcony fit for a smoker to stand out on) door wide open, just listening to the rain.  It's 1:49 in the morning and I am so so thankful for the sound of the raindrops hitting the pavement; the sound of them beating on the leaves of the trees just out my window.  It has been weeks and weeks since we have had rain.  Fires were starting all over the place.  But here again, God provides.  He knows exactly what our land needs, what we need, and he provides because He is faithful.  

Based on previous posts or the About Me section of my blog, you can see that I am a newly married woman (of already 8 months at this point).  And so you might think, "what are you doing up at almost 2 in the morning? Why aren't you in bed sleeping next to your husband?"  Well unfortunately you will find me, right next to you asking this same question; seriously why am I not in bed sleeping soundly next to my new husband?  

As I sit here listening to the beautiful sound of the rain, it is hard to, on one hand, feel so angry, and on the other hand, so appreciative and so IN LOVE with the way that God is providing this rain.  I have been doing my best to keep my frustrations at bay, and not publish them on my blog.  But at the same time, from the beginning, I told myself that the purpose of this blog would not be for the people who happen to stumble across my page, but for myself.  I started this blog as a form of creativity; a way to discover who I am in this new place as a married woman, figuring out what life looks like and what God has for me next.  With that said, I have to be honest and say that these past few months have been difficult.  

I am, what I like to call, a "work widow."  My husband works anywhere from 90-100 hours a week.  I know when you hear that you probably want to say, yeah okay miss exaggeration. And I wish I could say, "yeah you caught me".  But I can't.  I married a man who works for an investment bank.  Not the personal investment sort, but investments dealing with companies.  Basically what his company does is acts as the middle man between the companies who want to sell and the companies who want to buy another company.  In theory, it's a great job.  It pays really well, has good benefits, and good perks.  But as a newlywed wife who wants to see her husband, it is about time I file a "formal complaint."  

Now I wish I was filing a formal complaint with his company.  Trust me, there have been so many times where I have played over and over in my head the scenario of me telling off his boss, or pictured and planned out how I would write a book that would expose how ridiculous and how inhumane this position is.  There have been so many times, especially in the past month where I have thought- "I can't do this anymore, something has to change with this job or it is seriously going to start affecting our marriage."  Let's just say that right now is one of those times.  

So as I sit here, with the door open, listening to the comforting sound of the rain and the thunder, and the beautiful flashes of lightning, I wonder to myself- how is God going to provide in my situation?  I have so much pent up frustration and disgust with the way that the business world works today... it makes me SO angry sometimes.  I have gotten into many discussions about how the business world works, about the crazy demands that people have on each other, and how it must be SO FAR away from what God intends for us that it makes me CRAZY.  

All in all, I am not sure what the point of this post is.  I don't want to talk a bunch of crap about my husband's job or about the situation I am in.  I love him to death, and I am so thankful for what we have in our lives.  But in all honesty, I am so so frustrated.  I know that God loves me, that God loves us and that he created marriage to be a beautiful thing where husband and wife get to see each other and enjoy spending time together and love on each other... but I also know that this is a fallen world.  There are many things that mess up the beautiful picture that God created this place to be.  

And so the question I ask is, what should I do from here?  Just like God provided the much needed rain tonight, I know that He will provide exactly what my husband and I need.  But in the mean time, what am I supposed to do... sit tight, waiting for the clouds to form and the drops of rain to fall?  If so, then okay- that's all I need to know.  Sometimes all we need is that promise of rain- the forecast in the weather saying, "Yes, IT IS GOING TO RAIN" for us to hang in there and wait, even if it doesn't happen right when they predict.  

That's what I feel I need.  That simple encouragement that things will get better.  That it won't always be like this.  That my righteous anger, my "formal complaint" against the business world and the ungodly way that they conduct the industry, is not in vain.  God is good.  We have a God who provides, who is faithful NO MATTER WHAT- of that I am confident.  My prayer right now is that the rain would come quickly.  That I would have an understanding, an encouragement that this time of frustration would have a foreseeable end, and that I would have nothing but patience and LOVE to extend to my husband even in the moments where all I feel is sadness.  

To those of you fellow "work widows" out there- I am praying for you.  You are not alone.  God is good and He will make it right.  

What is your calling?

Today I was talking with a dear friend of mine about the infamous question "What is your calling?" I don't know about you, but I feel like it is one of those questions that you are asked a ton- especially right around college graduation and into your twenties as you're still figuring life out (and this could be longer, but I can only speak for the twenties so far). Yes, sure- this question could take many forms... What do you want to be when you grow up? What do you want to do with your life? What kind of job do you want? What is your "blue sky" dream? (That was my favorite version of the question- like if you could do ANYTHING what would it be?)

I feel like I have a love/hate relationship with that question. When I am talking with a good friend about this question it can be a bit more fun. It's like an opportunity to think about your dreams, about what you might want to do if there were no limits. But when that rando person, way extended relative asks, so "what is your calling?" Sometimes I just want to roll my eyes, give a heavy sigh, and maybe even punch them in the face. Okay not really- but still. That question is such a tricky one isn't it?

When I graduated college- I had no idea what I wanted to do. I chose a major and minor that I loved. I was a Religion major and a French minor at a private liberal arts college. Put those two areas of study and what do you get? Well- other than me, I'm not sure. It definitely doesn't lead directly into a field like a teacher or a nurse does.

But there is one aspect of that infamous question that I have known my entire life, and that is living my life to love the Lord. When I was really little and people would ask the question "What do you want to do/be when you grow up?" I would always answer- well, I want to do something for God and I want to help people. To be honest, I'd like to (and still do) respond like this today. Really, nothing has changed in that answer. The only thing that has changed is, well I've grown up a bit, and my understanding of what living for God looks like has grown. 

The one calling that I know for certain is a part of my being is, being called to follow Jesus. After this, everything else comes second- or at least it should. In the midst of my weird place of transition, I think I have somehow allowed this understanding to become a little cloudy. Following Jesus is one of those things that in theory is "simple". Our goal is to seek the Lord, understand Him more and learn to love like Him- sounds simple (in theory). But then you throw in the icky ways of the world that tempt us, that we get sucked into and it all gets jumbled; we get confused, we get distracted, lazy, or just lose sight of what our first goal in life must always be.

So then what is my calling? Yes, it is to live to love like Jesus- and to share that love with others so that they might learn to love Him too. I understand that, I really do. But the beautiful thing is that we can do that with with any profession; so that's where I get confused. Straight out of college I went to work for a church. I worked with the college ministry and LOVED it. It challenged me, it made me take my faith super seriously, it made me who I am right now. But now, here I am, in a new place in life and asking that question all over again.

Over these past months, I think I've been too busy being either in denial or just plain lazy, afraid to admit the fact that I have no idea what's next- no idea where I'm being called. I haven't thought about the question seriously, haven't sought out the Lord's direction for me. Sure I've had some random thoughts, kind of out there ideas like starting my own Nail Art business (as you can see I have a blast with nail art), opening a shoe store, etc.  Besides those ideas, I'm a bit clueless right now.  So this is me, admitting to you that I think it's time to start asking that question again. I don't expect for immediate answers- definitely not, but I think I'm willing to start the adventure, to allow myself to dream big, and to trust that God will be right here with me helping me figure out what's next, whether its a big step or a small one.

Have you found where God is calling you for now? Or are you searching, just like me? Hang in there. God has a plan for this world, and He wants us to be a part of it. We just have to be willing to ride out the wave while we figure out what's next.

 

All a blur..

When I was little, I remember older people telling me- enjoy every day now, because as you get older time just goes faster and faster.  I always thought they were crazy.  Yeah right- time goes so slow, school is so long... sure summer went faster because we were on vacations etc.  But now I am in complete agreement with those older, wiser folks who warned me saying that time flies when you get older.  Why is that? Obviously it's not speeding up, but it sure feels like it!  

I cannot believe 7 months have gone by since my wedding.  Us newly married people are probably pretty annoying because everything is in reference to our "big day."  I apologize to those of you who aren't married yet, and hope that you'll not get too aggravated by us- but it's the easiest way to measure time at this point.  With such a big life change like that too, it's hard not to measure everything from it.  

It is crazy to think how much has happened in the past year.  Time has been flying by so fast lately, that I haven't had time to sit down and think about what's happening in life, where I am, or how I feel about where I am.  I think this is super important in helping us stay grounded, to see where we've come from and what we're moving towards.  Well... in the last year I lost my job, got married, moved in with my husband, thought I found another position that would be a perfect fit (but God has other plans in mind apparently), and I am now working for my dad's company; filling in for his assistant while she is on maternity leave.  It's been almost a full year since I lost my job working at a church and I feel like so much has changed since that point.  

I am so thankful for this year, what God has been doing- and yet I feel like I can't remember the last time where I felt I had my feet planted securely on the ground.  Although there are clear things that keep me grounded, like now having a husband, and trusting that God has a plan for me... I really feel like I've been floating about in some sort of way not sure of what I am doing or what is happening next.  

I haven't decided if I like this feeling, or if my "super organized, planner self" is about to snap one of these days when my dad's assistant comes back and I am once again in a place of "what the heck am I doing with myself?"  Life is so strange, isn't it?  We think we have it figured out in one moment and then the next it's like wait, what?  A couple months ago I declared myself in a place of "proactively waiting."  I came to terms with the fact that I did not know what I was up to, or what was next, and decided to just wait on God and seek Him for what was next.  I loved that place, it was great!  Then an interview popped up, my proactive waiting period turned into waiting to hear back regarding this position, and my happy, care-free waiting turned into a disgusted, frustration with the icky way that so many job interview processes are handled (even by the church unfortunately).  With all that said, I feel like I have once again found myself in a place of uncertainty.  I picture myself as one of those characters in a movie, where the scenery, the people around, cars, everything is whirring by, so that everything is a blur- and yet there I stand right in the middle watching it all go by in a blur.  I haven't really moved, I haven't changed and yet everything else continues to keep moving.  

So the question is, what do you do when you are in a place like this?  Sometimes I think our society gives people who are in the place of unemployment way more crap than they deserve.  Yes I understand that there are people who maybe deserve a kick in the pants to get motivated and find a job that they so obviously need.  But at the same time, why are we SO DEFINED by our places of employment?  Yes, money is a necessity to live- that is obvious.  But if it wasn't would we still define each other by what we do?  

Right now, I am in a place where my husband makes enough money to cover both of us.  Praise the Lord, I am so blessed.  So I don't have to be running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to figure out what's next.  But I still feel weird when people ask me, "so what do you do?"  Having had a job straight out of college and keeping that same position for 3 years, it is weird to be in this new place- not having a secure job (outside of this temporary position I now have) and being asked that question.  And what's sad is, whenever I am asked that question and respond- with "I really don't know what's next"- it's like people are floored, shocked, almost as if they are judging me for not having it all figured out yet.  

So here I am saying, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS NEXT- and yes, right now, I am okay with that.  There's tons of things I want to do.  I'm having a blast trying new Nail Art creations.  I'd LOVE to open a shoe boutique.  I want to work back in ministry.  I want to make a difference in people's lives.  I want to be an active participant in growing God's kingdom.  Maybe I'll do it all- maybe I won't be doing any of that- I don't know. All I know is, I am going to try to soak up each minute knowing that time continues to fly by in a blur.  

Dandelion Manicure

It has been awhile since I have posted anything on the good ole blog, so here is a fun new manicure that I just did for my friend Megan.  She found the idea on Pinterest, which then linked us to a tutorial via a blog called Mad Manis.  It is such a cute manicure and actually quite easy to do!!  Here is the link for you to check it out.  Turned out really great  :)

http://madmanis.blogspot.com/2011/06/weeds-can-be-pretty-too.html

Color Run Nails

A friend passed on a picture of some nail art titled "Dippin' Dot Manicure" and I decided that it would 

be the perfect manicure to do in honor of the Color Run. I started by painting my nails white with the Essie polish. Then I proceeded to make colored dots all over my nails using many different polishes and the dotting tool I bought from Sally's Beauty. I did one color at a time, putting a few dots on each of my nails. By the end I had quite the artist's palette of colors on my paper plate, and a beautiful white nail with multi-colored dots. Super fun to do and super easy as well (even using my left hand)! 

Try it out :) 

The Color Run

Last weekend I decided to take my first crack at a 5K. I must first point out that I am not a big runner. I would much rather bike or Zumba for exercise or pretty much anything else. I don't necessarily hate running, just wouldn't be my first choice. But when my friend mentioned The Color Run to me a month ago, it sounded like a blast! It took me awhile to finally get the push and courage to sign up- but I am so glad I did.

If you don't know what the Color Run is, feel free to check out their website thecolorrun.com. Basically what it is, everyone starts out with a white t-shirt. As you run through the course, there are 4 different color stations where volunteers throw color at you. It's a chalky, powdery substance that splats on your shirt and powders up in the air. It was a blast!

Before the Run

What was really awesome about it, the color stations throughout the course were such a motivator to keep running! It was a super relaxed 5k- lots of people were just walking the entire thing. But my group decided that we wanted to run as much as we could. We took brief walking breaks if needed, but for the most part we ran! [I was super proud of myself for this, not being a huge runner!] Seeing the clouds of color up ahead, indicating that we were about to reach another opportunity to get covered with color, gave us the push we needed to keep running! Last but not least, once you reach the finish line- this is not the end of your color. When you register for the event, you receive a color packet that you are told to save for the end. At the finish line, everyone gathers in a massive group of color runners and on the count of 10 each person throws their color packet into the air creating a beautiful cloud of color! So if you possibly come out of the run without much color, no need to worry, you will be coated after the color cloud.

It was an awesome time, totally family friendly, so anyone can do it. I can't wait to do this again in the future! Be sure to check The Color Run website to see if it is coming to a city near you!

Go. Do the Color Run.

Zebra nails

Here is my first use of the awesome Stripe Rite nail polish that I got from my friend a couple weeks ago.  There are so many fun ideas on the internet; so after a bit of searching I decided to try out the Zebra Nail.  It was a lot of fun to do and actually pretty easy!  I even managed to do my right hand as well, and it didn't look too shabby!  Lots of fun to do and got lots of compliments too.  

Enjoy.  

Here are the polishes that I used.  The Stripe Rite has a thin

brush that works really well for striping!

This is the best Top Coat!  It dries super fast, makes your nails feel

strong, and gives it a nice glossy finish.  Found at Sally's Beauty.

My Zebra Nails :)

Bow Mani

Lately I have been on a nail art kick, as you can see from my new Nail Art tab on my blog.  For my birthday, my friend Audra gave me a bag full of nail polishes!  She gave me a bunch of fun colors, and two nail stripe bottles- that are just awesome and allow me to be more creative with stripes and like in the image below, I can make bows, etc.  I was totally stoked and of course had to paint my nails almost immediately.  I tried out a zebra stripe look, (which I will show you in another post) and then I tried this manicure that I found on Pinterest. It was from a tutorial featured on thebeautydepartment.com.  It is actually a pretty sweet site, put on by Lauren Conrad and a few other ladies.  It has a bunch of hair tutorials, nail tutorials, and just really great fashion sort of stuff.  I love the site.  Anyways, thanks to their tutorial, I gave this manicure a try on my sister's nails.  It took a little while, with all the colors and layers, etc.  But I think the result was pretty cute!  

Enjoy!  

Baby blanket

One of the projects that I have been working on was crocheting a baby blanket for a friend of mine. I knew I wanted to do a Granny Square pattern, but wasn't sure whether I wanted to do patchwork granny squares where you weave them together or a giant Granny Square blanket. As you will see in the pictures, I decided to go with the giant Granny Square blanket. I picked out yarn colors that I wanted, watched a few youtube videos on how to start the granny square and went from there. I had a rough pattern in mind, drew it out on paper, and pretty much winged it! I am really happy with how it turned out. It is about 32" which is hopefully a good size for a baby? I can't wait to hear how my friend likes the blanket. Word on the street is she already received a few homemade baby blankets :/ but what can you do. I made it with love and will hope that it gets some use!

Now I must come up with another crochet project. Have any new ideas of what I could do for a project? Comment and let me know!!

Cheers.

Triggered Memories

Tonight I am blogging from what used to be my bedroom for 3 months, at my sister's place. We decided that it has been awhile since we had a sleepover, and a random Wednesday night was what we picked. My sister and I have a really special relationship. She is not just my sister, she's my best friend. She knows me inside and out, makes me laugh when I'm cranky, let's me share her clothes, pretty much everything you could want in a sister.

For the past 3 years, I had been living on my own. I had a cute 1-bedroom apartment, in a brick story-book apartment building, that had great character, and a perfect location- just a block from the nearest Alterra. I loved it! I had never lived alone prior to this and I absolutely loved it. It gave me a great opportunity to really get to know myself, and experience what living on your own is like. You can make messes wherever you want, when you want, you can move your bedroom around just so your bed is in the perfect spot to watch Avatar on the TV in the living room while falling asleep (yup I did that), heck- you can even walk around naked if you want. :) Overall, living alone was great.

This past August, life turned into a whirlwind of change, and my time of living alone was up. My position at work was eliminated and I was preparing to get married. I personally did not believe in living with my fiancé before getting married, so I knew that I was going to figure something else out. As this was all happening with me, my sister was in the process of moving out of her old place into her own super cute, 2-bedroom apartment. So what ended up happening worked out PERFECTLY. In the process of ending a lease and starting a new lease, my sister ended up in my joint for a month. Picture this: two queen beds and two dressers in a one-bedroom apartment. May sound cramped, but thankfully I had a big bedroom and really it was great. It was like a sleepover with your best friend for a month- we had a blast. At the end of that month she moved into her place, and 2 weeks later my lease ended and over I came to her house. Unlike my place she had two bedrooms- so I had a separate space to call my own.

Living with my sister for the 3 months prior to getting married was one of the biggest blessings that I experienced in preparing for the next stage of my life. As I was sitting here tonight, with my sister having already fallen asleep I walked around the apartment and the familiar scent filled my nose. I stood there for a moment in the darkness of her living room and let the memories flood back in. So much happened in this place in the 3 months that I spent here. Putting together wedding invites, wrapping bridesmaid gifts, putting together seating charts, fabulous dinner and sleepover for my bachelorette party, what had to have been the best bridal shower on earth (really I must tell you about that another time- I had a cake with the most adorable shoes on it, as a gift from my bridesmaids), and primping and putting on my wedding gown, all took place in this space.

I look back on those 3 months with the fondest of memories. I could not have had the best experience in preparing for my wedding. Besides all the fun that happened in this apartment, the ultimate reason that these memories are so great is because of the blessing of being able to spend so much time with my ever-so-loving sister. I am thankful for a wonderful sister who even though we don't live under the same roof anymore, welcomes me into her home no matter what the hour, who runs over to my house when I'm having a hard day, who buys me a bottle of wine and bubble bath after a stressful interview, and who still wants to have sleepovers even in the middle of the week.

I am thankful that the simple moment of breathing in the aromas that fill this space triggered such fond memories and reminders of how blessed I am.

Interview attire- is it really necessary?

Here I sit- watching all my favorite Monday shows (It is such a good TV night!! Gossip Girl *i'll admit it*, Dancing with the Stars, Castle) and thinking how all I should be doing is prepping for the interview I have tomorrow. I don't know who decided that interviews should be intense, but I am pretty sure that I am not a fan of such person. I must be honest and say that I have not had an interview in 4 years. I was blessed to find a job straight out of college, so I have not had an interview since my first job out of college! And now here I am 4 years later... with an interview tomorrow- and feeling like a fish out of water. Unfortunately I realized that not only is my brain a bit out of it's element- but so is my wardrobe!! I worked in a church for 3 years- in a laid back environment, working with the college ministry. So my college wardrobe, rolled right into my working wardrobe. I'm talking jeans, nice looking t-shirts, mixed with leggings- long t-shirt dresses- you know, college attire. It was great!! But... now, as I am trying to put together an appropriate outfit for an interview tomorrow- I realized that my closet was seriously lacking. I found out I own 1 pair of pants that fit right and could be appropriate for the occasion, and maybe 2 shirts. Yikes. Needless to say I had to make a trip to my teacher, much more mature dressing, sister who was gracious enough to provide me with a full outfit with several options. I am so thankful for her! If it weren't for her- I would have been at Gap scrounging the sale racks to find something that would make me presentable and a desirable candidate. With all that said, as you can tell- it definitely took me 2 plus hours to figure out what I was going to wear to my interview. I really would like to know who decided that you needed to be all fancied up for an interview. Think about it. Teachers are required to wear a full pant-suit sort of thing when they go for an interview, and then if they get hired, do they wear them? no no- they dress nice of course, but a full pant suit- no way! That's how I am feeling- if I get this position, working again with a college ministry- am I going to wear fancy pants and a fancy shirt all the time? Not unless I am seriously required.

Overall, I have decided that interviews are a pretty frightening experience. (This all said before the interview- i'll keep you posted after tomorrow). I'm not quite sure how to prepare- just hoping that the prep I am doing will allow me to be myself as much as possible and keep me from freezing up. That's the best I can hope for right?

I still think my theory - that we should just be born into the position we were designed for, like the good ole family businesses, is a better idea, but who am I to say. Guess I'll just go to my interview, pray for God's guidance- and do the best I can!

just a thought

It has been a bit since I have last blogged.  I have been somewhat busy, but really my brain has been overloaded.  I will take time in the next few days to expand on what's been going on- but for today I just want to share a scripture passage that spoke to my heart.  A lot of what's been on my mind has to do with the struggle between fear and faith.  It's basically the story of our lives fighting between allowing the fears we have to dominate our thinking, or allowing our faith to be the ruler that guides our life.  Without expanding much more right now- this verse in Deuteronomy put me in my place this morning as I think about the fears that plague me.  

"Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies.  Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them.  For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."

Good words that I need to let penetrate my heart today.