Summer is vacation season. Your kids and my teacher husband are {finally} out of school, and its high time to get out of town!
We went to the beach this past week in Emerald Isle, NC. That picture above is one of the biggest reasons that I chose to move to North Carolina. People often ask why we moved here, and as you know if you’ve been reading for a bit, last year was the year of adventure, so my first response is “a crazy sense of adventure”. I’m not sure why the ‘crazy’ qualifier finds its way in there, but that might have to be another post for another time. Part of that adventure is that hubs loves the mountains, and I love the beach.
I love the feel of the wet sand on my feet. I love how the ocean waves wrap me in a hug of gratitude, thanking me for returning once again. I love the sound of waves crashing at high tide lulling me into calm. I love how the sun kisses my skin beckoning me to stay just a few minutes longer. I love how a cup of coffee tastes like the best cup while sitting in a rocking chair on the porch staring out as the sun breaks over the horizon and my fellow lovelies are still sleeping.
I love these things because they are a soothing balm for my soul. When the hustle and bustle of life has me feeling like the gas in my gas tank is barely going to get me to the station, I know that it has passed the time to slow down. And for more than just a day or a weekend. I need a week. And you do too.
The first couple days are riotous with excitement of finally being on holiday and figuring out the dynamics of settling in to the place that will function as home for the next several days. By the third day, a sense of relaxing starts to emerge. I learned from the past not to plan every. single. second. jam-packed with ALL of the things to possibly do. (I’m actually still learning this!) It’s not fun to rush from one thing to the next to the next to the next. How on earth is that any different from the empty gas tank hustle bustle that I just talked about above? How on earth is your soul supposed to recover? So please, just don’t do it. Leave space in your days for sleeping in, for riding the waves as long as the ocean allows, for rocking back and forth while reading one more chapter in that book you’ve been meaning to get to, for watching the sky turn pink and orange and purple as the sun decides to go to sleep. For it is in that space that you will feel your soul exhale and relax.
Grab your sun hat, slather on the sunscreen, and take a minute to watch the waves roll by.
Special shout out to these lovelies for sitting next to me on the porch and partaking in my pursuit of vacation:
Left to Right: Kimberly (me), Aaron (hubs), Dana, Keith, Tom, and Amanda
As I gain experience in this big, beautiful world, I come to appreciate more and more the timing of things or words that God puts smack dab in the middle of my path. A couple of Sundays ago, I got to hear a sermon about Naomi and Ruth, which is undoubtedly one of my favorite stories in the whole big book and has one of the most iconic verses.
“Where you go I’ll go. Where you stay, I’ll stay,” says Ruth to Naomi.
The back story in a highly paraphrased version is that Naomi travels to a foreign land to better her situation only to be faced with pain and tragedy. She makes the hard decision to travel back to her home (aka her promise land). And in a surprising twist, her daughter-in-law opts to join her rather than stay in the foreign land.
One of the points of this story was to highlight the promise land in each of our lives. Just in time for Southwest to send me a reminder email that my Nebraska trip was just around the corner…
The pastor talked about that certain feeling that we get as we prepare for such a trip back to our promise land. The mixed bag sort of feelings that have everything from joy and triumph to loss and pain. It feels just as much part of our souls as the life we live. There is an immeasurable certainty of being at home in our promised lands.
What hit me as I was driving out of the valley down the gravel roads past the cattle and the windmills was that this little corner of the world has become my new promise land. My heart rejoices when I return, I am peace through my stay, and I can leave refreshed and renewed.
As I contemplated this, I was considering how I know this. And I think it’s the little things like knowing which drawer has the hand towels or the coozies or the essential oils. Like when I’m just as likely to be making the family meal in their kitchen as she is. Like when her babies will snuggle me (almost) as much as they snuggle their mommy. Like when I can go the whole week without wearing a drop of makeup or caring about what I am wearing. (Trust me: the cows don’t care!) Like when I can spend the day painting a play house with my nephew and niece knowing that we can’t wait to play there together.
I returned to my foreign land last night. There are great promises here and dreams to be lived and had. And a piece of my heart knows that I can always go back to my promise land. My heart is glad and my soul is grateful.
Take time to travel back to your promise land. Take time to slow down and be at peace with yourself and the world. You owe it to yourself.
It’s been awhile. I can serve you a load of excuses about how I spent so much time adventuring and getting into gear with a new gig or settling into our new place or preparing for the holidays…la la la la la, but really I just haven’t been inspired to share or be vulnerable.
But now it’s 2016, and I am choosing to be vulnerable and finding inspiration in anything I can get! Last year was the year of Adventure for me. I adventured the heck out of 2015. Some were planned, some were spontaneous, all of them were lovely and stretching. It felt like I helped my spirit develop the habit of adventuring and seeking the adventurous mindset. This year the word GROWTH has latched onto my soul and not let go. I’m not even quite sure what it means yet, but here are some things I think it will begin to mean for me in 2016. If you have other ideas or feedback on any of the following, I would love to hear it via the comments below!
GROWTH of Finances
I missed out on the class in high school and college where they taught me how to budget effectively and plan for retirement and what the heck a 401k and Roth IRA mean. For much of my childhood, I remember living paycheck to paycheck without a lot of “savings” discussion. In college, there were several times I had less than $10 in my bank account. I’m not saying this for a pity party; I’m just painting a picture that I haven’t been the best at finances, and it’s high time to learn.
2. GROWTH of Employment/ Income
Many of you know that in the Fall of last year, I got my real estate license and began working for the best real estate company out there! Unfortunately, Real Estate is not a fast, get rich quick kind of business. Fortunately, I have learned that it is absolutely where I want to be professionally. I have positioned myself as a well educated, knowledgable professional in my market. I have learned that I LOVE helping clients search for and find their current dream home. I also love that I am now in control of how much I make and the amount that I want to work.
Additionally, I started selling cinnamon rolls for the holiday this last year, and I think it is definitely something to continue pursuing because it was such a great way to spread Christmas cheer! I still use and sell products for Plexus because their company models and products align so well with my philosophy on having a healthy life, taking care of me from the inside out, and not putting crap in my body. Lastly, I want to create some (mostly) passive income for us with an investment property. Loads of people are renting condos and apartments in my college town, and my goal is to capture some of that income for my family.
Photo credit: Shawn Bailey
3. GROWTH of Me
Hubs and I both decided that we would learn Spanish in 2016. I have a bit of a head-start on him since I spent three months in Spain during college. However, I got back and didn’t use it everyday, so it didn’t stick. We got some Rosetta Stone Latin American Spanish for Christmas (thanks W&P!), and we’ve jumped in with both feet!
I joined/ helped create a book club with some amazing chicas because I have learned how reading helps me still expand my vocabulary, speak and write well, and share stories with other lovely people.
I want to read three of Brene Brown’s books this year. I started with a The Gifts of Imperfection, and have already had a couple major aha’s that will definitely impact me and my relationships (particularly with hubs!). I’m still mulling over how it will look for me and how I feel about it, so when the mulling is complete, I will share the story with you. She also has Daring Greatly and Rising Strong that I cannot wait to sink my teeth in to.
4. GROWTH of Family
I want this year to be the one when we add other (little) people to the mix. The jury is out on whether that will be naturally or via foster care or both, but I’m ready. This in particular is one of the things that I was nervous about being vulnerable about. But then people ask about when we are going to have kids or even better they assume and dole out loads of advice on when the right time for us to have kids will be (don’t wait to long/ you’re still young, you don’t want to have kids yet/ what are you waiting for…), and while I don’t think that people should just take the liberties to force that kind of unsolicited advice, I can’t help but think that, particularly with the ones I love, that if I would have just shared that little piece of our story, they would be more understanding and loving and gracious. At least, that is what I hope is the truth. In the meantime, I am largely available to babysit for your tinies a couple of hours to get my baby-fix, so hit me up!
In retrospect, this pose with Christmas bells looks an awful lot like the pose many couples do when announcing a new baby. Sorry. Not this one. But that shot is still so Gorgeous! Photo credit: Look for the Magic Photography and Audley Campbell
5. GROWTH of Perspective
As social and political events continue to occur, I want to challenge myself to listen to perspectives that are different than my own. I seek relationships with people who are unlike who I grew up with. I have already met some delightful people that fit this bill, but I am open to so many more. The other way I want new perspectives is through traveling. There is so much beauty to be seen in this world and people who live there with stories to tell, so I want to go. I was the luckiest to win a Caribbean Cruise from my work, so I plan to take full advantage of the opportunity to see and fully experience some gorgeous places and people. I’d love to take in a few state parks throughout the year too, so if that goal aligns with yours, let’s go together!
Here is to the year of GROWTH. I am sure more things will come up or I will begin to look back and see how I have grown. I hope to acknowledge and give full weight to celebrating each one. My best to y’all!
What A Great Ideus