Back home.

In the 7 years that Adam and I have known each other we have taken a ton of roadtrips together - at least 2 or 3 per year and I always love the range of emotions and events that happen when you are in a car with someone for hours on end. Sometimes it's silly, sometimes it's serious, maybe sleeping, coffee stops (Read: bathroom stops), snacks, sing-a-longs, life chats...its a unique way to spend time with anyone! But I love traveling together, one of my favorite kind of adventures.

So today, 40 hours of worth of roadtripping in the last week and our adventure has finally brought us back home. (Ironically I am writing this post from the car as we had to run out to a basketball game for work once we were back!) I love that home is so welcoming, even though tomorrow morning it will look a little less so as I consider the unpacking and laundry to be done. I'm not even super sure what day of the week it is, so I suppose tomorrow will be a day of adjustments all around :) For tonight though, the laundry  & everything else can wait. We are home.

Day 3

Day #3 - A favorite quote and why you love it

Definitely excited about today's topic - the only exception to that excitement is that I enjoy quotes A LOT so picking a singular favorite is kinda tough. I mean seriously, I have a whole board on Pinterest dedicated to quotes that I value. To me there is something so empowering about discovering a set of words that speak to the soul of who you are and how you see life.

All of that to say that my favorite quote changes often depending on the kind of day/week/month...etc that I am having. With today being my birthday on top of "share a favorite quote blog day", I feel that maybe I should share something more profound or reflective since birthdays are milestone events, but I think my favorite quote still fits - "Goals are dreams with deadlines" -Diane Scharf Hunt

 Just let those words sink in! I found this quote last fall when I was training for my first half marathon. I just feel in love with the pictures that this set of words always brings to my mind! I love setting goals for myself and working towards them (ahem...30 days of blogging anyone? ha.) so this quote just added an even bigger image of how magical it seems when a dream can be lived out in real life. So I guess that's the birthday thought too then, as I start year 23, I can't wait to keep dreaming bigger goals and seeing what God has in store for them. Yup - kinda awesome and exciting all at once. A year ago if you would have listed out what has happened from birthday 22 to now - I wouldn't have believed half of it, but here we are, birthday 23 - with all kinds of dreams & goals ahead. I like the sound of that.

Drink coffee. Read books. Be happy.

Really, my daily life can be as simple or as complicated as I let it become. The reality is that, most days my mantra need only be:

I mean really, those 3 things in some capacity [most days] are about as simple as a to-do list should get.  Especially considering the books I try to read the most are all found in the Bible. "Be happy". That is one part of this list that does trip me up. "Happy" isn't always easy when mornings are too early, work days are too long, and close friends and family are too far away. So today,

Joy to me can be a foundation for feelings when "happy" just doesn't cut it.  An emotion that has solidity where happiness can be incredibly fleeting and subjective. Joy comes from a deeper place. A place where I daily seek to 

Let go. Let God. 4 words that are freeing and yet also inevitably the start of adventure that becomes my every day life [especially working full-time in ministry].  God [whether I 'let' Him or not] loves me so much that He grows my faith and works on my heart everyday. My faith growing is a daily adventure, which may seem like a funny way to think about the 24 hours in any given day [as an adventure], but I want you to take a moment and consider this:

I read all this...

An adventure to learn that

and to 

Adventure is the best way to learn that

Because, simply put, 

seriously. everyone.

But each day is never to short to

because:

So on this daily adventure of life, I try to