Sometimes the most simply happy days are the best.
Day 1: Always thankful very first for my family.
It’s pretty incredible how lucky and blessed I was to have a Mom and Dad who have always been encouraging, supportive, practical (it’s needed) and loving. Loving not only to me and my brother, but to each other. Not every kid can claim the foundation of a strong parent marriage; but my parents have given my brother and I the brilliant luxury of consistency and stability for 24 years now. And then of course, also thankful for my brother. God really knew what he was doing when he paired the two of us. Where I’m hype, he’s relaxed, where I’m over-share, he’s reserved. It’s pretty awesome how close I consider us given our age difference.
That’s the lesson of the last week for me.
Not that it’s groundbreaking or surprising; or something that you couldn’t discover in a self-help book at the back corner of Barnes & Noble.
But relevant and damn true, nevertheless.
Life is short.
Stop waiting.
Stop delaying.
Stop saying tomorrow. Or next month. Or in six months. Or next year. Or in five years.
Stop.
Stop thinking you need the right time.
Stop feeling you’ll know when the inspiration hits you just right.
Stop praying for the heavens to open, birds to sing and God to give you the prophetic right-of-way. (By all means, pray about it—but sometimes you need to act in faith too.)
Stop hoping things will start to happen on their own.
Stop imagining that the world will conspire separately and things will magically start taking the shape you want.
Stop doubting.
Stop questioning all of the different alternate possibilities.
Stop being afraid of the unknown.
And certainly stop wondering if it will ever happen.
Because the first step is to do something.
You only get one shot at this life and sure, you might want to deliberate and make smart choices. You’ll want to consider the options and best path to choose.
You may even have to wait a short while.
But wait with purpose, if you have to.
Stop sleeping on your dreams. Stop letting them live in your head.
You’ve got to start living and stop putting hopes on hold.
The one person who can control the likelihood of those dreams transpiring, my friends, is you. So, take the first step today and decide what to do next.
But please, do.
Do.
Live your life with a sense of urgency.
This day counts.
Now, go make it look like it.
<3
So nice to come home to.
Today I’m appreciating some precious time with the family. We lost a loved family member this weekend and it makes your realize how quickly life passes and quickly life can leave. So very much living in the present right now.
That means:
- Lots of sleep.
- Coffee with my people.
- Some writing.
- Good food.
- Lazing around.
- Putting in some time working for a while this afternoon.
- Eventually finding the giddy-up to drive back to Winston-Salem.
Still a thankful girl today.
<3
- Sleeping in? Beautiful.
- Finally being up-to-date on The Newsroom? Beautiful.
- Watching J. Edgar? Beautiful.
- Not having a freaking clue what I’m doing with my afternoon—-but having no obligations? Beautiful.
Today life feels wonderfully full of possibility.
I could teach them the secrets of how to get Ashley to do what you want.
1) Reverse psychology. “Yeah, you really shouldn’t date him.”
2) Challenge her. “I don’t think he would date you.”
3) Dare her. “I dare you to go on a date with him.”
And if all else fails, there’s always: option 4) Call her a weenie.
"—
Katie - Best friend since age 3.
This girl knows me.
But I’ve suddenly discovered my inner Eeyore for the past 24 hours. Will someone please come help me figure out where this little black cloud is attached to so that I can move on with my day, please?
Blame it on the absolute rollercoaster of emotions from the last four days—but dragging this mood around today is getting pretty tiring.
And go, let’s get happy.
Holy goodness, I’m running a 5K in two and a half weeks.
I should probably log some miles before then; but for the most part I’m super excited to get back into running.
I am a freaking rock star at nesting.
Only ONE box is left to unpack, and if you had seen all of the museum-of-ashley amount of things that made this move, you would be mega impressed. So much has settled in the last 48 hours and this place is already kind of starting to feel like home.
Friday is never going to arrive.
Seriously. This week is nuts.
Moving is stupid expensive.
Seriously. Someone’s potentially going to be eating ramen next week.
Christina Perri is a lyrical genius.
Y’all, if you haven’t listened to her cd… . Goodness. I’m pretty much beside myself that I’ll get to see her & Jason Mraz this month. Fingers crossed for no rain.
I get really hyper-focused on things, really easy.
I have to say, I have made big steps forward in doing better the last few months—but goodness, girl—let life do its thing.
To say the least, it’s going to be difficult to concentrate over the next seven hours as I wait to pick up my new key!
But deep down it’s still the same.
Reflective-kind-of-mood this evening.
I’m pretty sure I’m the least serious subject a photographer could ever hope to find. Sorry, Ms. Meriah : )
You decide to re-subscribe to Cosmopolitan.
Silly girl.
Just a 20-something girl who loves sunshine, baseball, Georgia and baking--and who might just have a weakness for a good dare.
I claim no possession or rights of the photos shared on this blog, unless otherwise noted. Please feel free to click the photos for more information on their source.
im in a sex and the city mood
Necessary.
