simple.

Enjoy the little things in life. Thank you God for letting me have this day spending it in my favorite way. Coffee shop, yarn, best friend.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! I hope you all have had a blessed day! I am so thankful to be spending the Holidays with my lovely family :)

Holiday Photos: The Kerns

Holiday Photos: The Crists

Holiday Photos: The Maggards

Instalife

I miss blogging terribly. I will try to make a come back for all of my readers. Which is probably very few since I haven't been keeping up. Anyway... Here is a collage of my life lately via Instagram :)

1. Halloween shenanigans 

2. Cutest cafe 

3. Houston @ night

4. Friday thoughts

5. My loves in Texas

6. Thanksgiving break: reunited in Abbyland

7. Iowa sunset

8. Thanksgiving Eve with my childhood friends

9. CHRISTMAS TREATS 

I Love You Grandma

"There ain't no way you can hold onto something that wants to go you can only love what you have while you got it" -Because of Winn Dixie

I never thought that writing this quote down midsummer as I read the story of Because of Winn Dixie that it would apply to me in such a way as it is now. I knew it was coming but I never mentally prepared myself. I have been told it is okay to ask big things of God so I was hoping that one day things could possibly, by a miracle get better. I called most days and I remember the day at school where I thought I should start calling her during my off period. I called her and told her about school and about how I wanted to start calling her during the day so she didn't feel lonely on days when not many people called. Over night everything changed... The once independent, take no shit, and overly generous woman I knew became dependent and frail. Gone. Never to return to the same person. Life would never be the same I silently cried to myself. Yesterday, God called my sweet grandma home. Life will never be the same I continue to cry.

I am so thankful for the 22 years I got to spend with her being the 'apple of her eye' as she always told me. Along with my mom, she was the most influential woman in my life. I will never forget all the memories. As I've been told it's never goodbye... it's see you later. I know that I will see her again and while I wait I will do my best to make her proud. I love you grandma.

The Best Love Awakens The Soul

via

Love Is On My Side

No, the title does not mean I found the man of my dreams... BUT. You can get excited about this post because its coming straight from the depths of my heart.

via

I found this quote on Pinterest this past week and it really stuck with me. All I truly want from this life is to live to bring glory to my God. I mean that is why I was placed here so why not live out my life to its fullest potential right?? So, yes, I want people to look at me and think 'Wow, she really loves Jesus'. This is where it may get a little tricky. I don't want people to think that of me for my own good. I want people to look at me and think that girl has something alive in her spirit and I want some of what she is on. Basically that goes along perfectly with my goal of inspiring others. The way I choose to inspire others is through the love of Jesus Christ. And no, as I found out in church today, that Christ is not Jesus' last name. HAHA! (No, I never thought that but my pastor decided to point it out... hilarious)

I want to inspire you with some words of insight I received today. 1) Nothing anybody says about you has a hold on your destiny because they won't get you to heaven. All you have to realize is that God is on your side and with that you can't fail. 2) God is no respecter of persons, God will use anybody with a willing heart to do his work 3) You were created to be you nobody else so stop trying to live other people's dreams and live your own. 4) Don't give yourself away to people who can't receive you.

Do your best at life and inspire others. Even if you're not on the right path with your faith in this moment you can strive to do your best and get back on path. In fact, I haven't always been on a correct walk of faith in my life, but I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't made all the mistakes I have made. To be quite honest I know I will make many more but that's the beauty of life. You learn from each mistake you make you can reflect and go on from there. So if I had to choose a life of either always being 100% on path or falling off my path along the way I choose the second. I know that may sound absolutely crazy that I would want to have made mistakes and gone through trials but I wouldn't be where I am standing today if I had not gone through everything I have gone through. And I love exactly where I am standing in life today. So I embrace my mistakes and trials and you should too.

Staying Inspired Through the Midst of Life

As I was driving to work this morning I was thinking about how pumped up I am about my life and where life seems to be taking me these days. This was after a two day drag of feeling tired and worn out. After two days of that I had a thought that went a little something like this... where is your inspiration? Your whole life goal is to inspire others so why are you so uninspired? So flash forward to this mornings drive...  I couldn't help myself but to come up with a list of things to do each day to get inspired. This is what I came up with. I hope it helps you appreciate the small things and learn that each day will go according to your attitude.

1. Wake up early and read something that you enjoy before work.
2. Take pictures of everyday life things
3. Enjoy the sunrise
4. Make eye contact and smile at a stranger... dare you give them a compliment? I would say yes.
5. Find something funny and laugh at it (like a video or picture or story)
6. Write out your goals for the day
7. Make time to have a conversation with somebody who challenges you (in a good way)
8. Serve others
9. Sing LOUDLY in your car
10. Please for the love of your sanity, drink some coffee. Its a must.

Here's a bonus: EAT CUPCAKES. :)

Teacher Style: Dress to Impress

skirt: Express (similar), shoes: target, top: Express (here)

Guest Post: Go Cyclones!

Hello, my name is Allison and I blog at Allison Ramsing .  Abby and I met at Iowa State University when Abby joined Alpha Omicron Pi.  Thank you again for the opportunity to post on your blog today Abby! 

For any of Abby’s readers who went to Iowa State or live in Iowa you probably know it’s the week of the Iowa State/Iowa game or as Iowa State fans know it as “Beat Iowa” week.  Therefore, when Abby asked me to do write a fashion post I knew that I wanted to do a post on gameday attire.  As I’m working on this post the expected high for the day of the game is 75 degrees (according to weather.com), but that could very well change as the week goes on.  So if these outfits don’t inspire you for this weekend’s gameday weather then wait until another week in the season and you’ll still be a “fashionable Cyclone.”

This first outfit is simple and spirited.  Most Cyclone fans own at least one Iowa State t-shirt and many

will wear their “Beat Iowa” t-shirt to this game.  My “Beat Iowa” t-shirt is in Iowa, so I’m wearing my
favorite Iowa State t-shirt.  Wear an Iowa State t-shirt of your choice, jeans, and tennis shoes and you’re ready to tailgate and watch the game.

This next outfit is for the fashionable Cyclone.  I majored in Apparel Merchandising, Design, and
Production (what is now known as Apparel, Merchandising, and Design).  Many of my classmates didn’t wear Iowa State t-shirts to the games, they used their creativity to turn everyday attire into a Cyclone
spirited outfit.  To re-create this outfit yourself pick items from your closet that are red and yellow, that pair well together and you’re ready to walk campus and find MacKay Hall before you enter Jack Trice Stadium.

 

 Since the game starts at 5:00 (central time) you may want to bring a lightweight zip-up or jacket with you
to remain comfortable throughout the entire game.  In this outfit I’m ready for the temperature changes as
the sun goes down.

Coffee + Teaching + More Coffee

Please forgive me for being MIA for the last few weeks. I have had no time for anything other than school. Which I love and am totally okay with. But I'm finally here with an update. Two weeks of teaching. I'm in LOVE. I love my kiddos and my school and everything about this career. I mean, don't get me wrong, I've wanted to cry already and questioned my choice. But ultimately I LOVE it. Did I mention I love it?? Okay enough enough.

Other than teaching I have been out a few times and have met some really awesome people. I attend church on Sunday nights at Lakewood (the mega church that used to be a basketball stadium). Its a young adult group where a bunch of awesome people come together for God. Whats cooler than that? Probably nothing. So what about Saturday you ask? Well... I pretty much sleep and watch One Tree Hill (reliving high school years). Oh and of course come up with awesome lessons to teach. DUH! Well enough with the words for now because I am kind of scatterbrained if you can't tell. Its past my bedtime. Here are some pics!

If you're thinking 'that girl doesn't really have a theme in her room'... well I kinda got over the whole everything matching because lets be real... that is not realistic unless I were to go buy everything new to match. I'll stick with the free stuff and have random colors. Plus I love it anyhow! Also, I think you can make an inference about how much coffee I drink based on the title of this post... see what I did there? Yep, I'm a Language Arts teacher. Expect to be asked to make inferences. OFTEN.