A Popsicle Date!

Confession: I really, really don't like coffee. I don't even want to like it. I think it's totally ridiculous to spend $4 a day on a drink + it scares me to think about relying on something to get me awake in the mornings!

But you know what I do like? Popsicles. 

There's a place near me called Hyppo Pops that sells super fancy popsicles in the coolest flavor. My personal favorite is the mango champagne but I'm also partial to the key lime pie and the orange cream when it's dipped in chocolate. Yummyyyyy. 

Soooo if you and I were to get together and chat about life, we would not go on a coffee date. We'd go on a popsicle date! And here's what I would tell you. 

+ Sometimes I get overwhelmed by all the little details I have to take care of. Like about a minute and a half ago, I remembered something that I had to do, and I've already forgotten it again. I have a lot going on in the next few weeks and it's all I can do to do the bare minimum! But I'm working hard to take time to myself and to practice self-care.

+ I wish I had more time to read these days! I reserved a book at the library and didn't even have a chance to go pick it up before the time expired. And a few weeks ago, I took two books out of the library and only made it like five pages into one! How sad is that? I think once things calm down a little bit I'm going to buy a book or two for my nook and practice carrying that around with me just for moments when I'm waiting around. 

+ I've really had a hankering to go camping lately! The weather is just starting to cool down (just a teeny bit) here in Florida and it makes me want to spend allll the days (and nights) outside. If only we didn't have such busy weekends, I know I could rally some friends to make a weekend trip of it. 

+ I've been hearing God's voice so much over the last few months that when over the last week, he's been quiet (or I've been worse at listening--it's more likely the latter), it's been pretty hard to handle. Last night, my sorority had a prayer night and I just didn't even know what to pray for; I've been so overwhelmed by details.

+ On a less serious note, what is with restaurants in college towns giving out free food all the time?! Moe's gave out free queso two weeks ago, a pizza place gave out free pizzas, last night Krispy Kreme was giving out free doughnuts and coffee AND BJ's was giving out free pizookies! I mean, I'm not arguing with it, but I don't know that it's the smartest business decision since college students will literally just go in to take the free stuff and leave.

What would you chat with me about if we went on a popsicle date? Also, equally important question: what kind of popsicle would you have?

A Typical Day in My Life

I've decided that some of my favorite posts to read are those in which a blogger will talk about their daily life, what a normal, super typical day looks like. It's easy to choose to mention only the big events or the exciting news, but I think it's easiest to get to know someone by seeing what they're day looks like. So today, I'm linking up with Brave Love Blog again to share what a typical day in my life looks like. 

7am: I wake up, roll out of bed and get ready for my day. Usually I try to tidy up my room a little bit and pack my bag for the day before making breakfast. I really, really love breakfast so usually I'll make eggs or pancakes with fruit or a mash of bananas and peanut butter and granola. None of my roommates are up at this time so I'll usually just enjoy a leisurely breakfast and check email or bloglovin' or sometimes I'll watch a little TV.

8am: I leave for school. I ride a scooter everywhere (#collegetown) so it takes a little bit longer to get to campus from my apartment. I've learned the hard way that there's no way to get my hair to look good after the combination of wind + helmet hair from riding my scoot!

8:30am-11:30am: I have classes in this block of time everyday. Most days, I have organic chemistry, French, and then public speaking. Sometimes afterwards I'll go out to lunch with a friend but usually I'll go on and head home.

12:15pm: I take a ~20 minute nap here about half the time and that usually gets me ready for the rest of my day! I'll unpack my bag, make lunch (usually this is my big meal of the day and I'll eat leftovers for dinner) and plan out my afternoon.

1:30pm-5pm: Homework, studying, etc. Usually some Netflix in there somewhere because I'm human. I'm on a break from working at the lab right now because I'm waiting on some samples, but usually I'd work this chunk of time a few times a week. 

5pm-9pm: This chunk of time definitely varies depending on the day. Twice a week, I have an evening class (forensics!) and the other nights of the week I might have a pledge meeting for my sorority, a Bible study, or a meeting with my accountability group. It really depends. Usually I eat dinner somewhere in that chunk of time. 

9pm-11pm: If I don't have any big events, I'll usually use this time to study or blog or do my Bible study. This is a little bit more of "my time" so I try to do a little something fun or relaxing if I'm not too jammed for time. After that, I'll usually watch about half an hour of TV or Netflix before going to sleep and doing it all over again!

This is just a usual day--weekends and days that I teach kickboxing or have a sorority event look totally different and totally crazy! But it's all fun, for the most part. What do your days look like?

A Letter-Writing Wishlist

If there's one thing I really love to do in life (and there are many), it's writing letters. It all started when H and I started dating long-distance over the summer, and now over the whole year. 

It started out just being a piece of notebook paper stuck in an envelope, but as we've written more and more letters, I've found how fun it is to pick out the perfect card for someone. Now, I'm trying to learn to decorate envelopes a little more, from writing out the address in a beautiful script to adding vintage stamps.

Today, I'm linking up with the Brave Love Blog and I just wanted to share a little wishlist of mine, specifically for letter writing! Links are below.

better together card / hug you card / cactus stamps / mineral stamps / love mail rubber stamp / you make me happy card / know it all pencils / happy camper card / botanical stamps

Seen any cute cards lately? Any other things you're wishing for these days? Share them!

I Forget How Big I'm Blessed

Well, well, well! Things are looking a little different around here! I'm still working on getting everything totally together, but I'm liking the way things are turning out. I really wanted to make things feel a lot lighter and brighter to reflect the things we talk about here on the blog + I feel like the new colors are helping with that!

But on to my actual post for today, I just want to vent at you for a little. 

I've had my ups and downs in life. More so in the last few years. I know what it's like to feel so sad and so alone and so close to giving up. I know a lot of people can feel me on that one, right? But I've also been so so so blessed by God, especially in the last month. Like crazy blessed (so much so that I'm considering using #blessed. Not quite there yet though.). 

But there's something that's really been irking me lately, and that's when other people don't realize how blessed they are. Of course, I could go into all the cliches about how at least we aren't starving in Africa, but that's not what I mean. I'm talking about all the little things in life that God gives us that we just plain overlook because we're too busy looking at the things that don't matter.

A few days ago, after a really emotional day (and week and month, let's be honest), I was driving home and decided to stop and take a short jog around a pretty area of my campus. As I was finishing up my run, I realized I was near an area of campus where bats spend the day and are known to fly out all in a swarm right after sundown. 

Conveniently, it was almost sundown. I'd always heard cool things about the bats at twilight but hadn't ever seen them, so I figured I would wait and see them. I found a spot, sitting on top of a fence and I watched the sun go down. (Picture below is from my instagram.)

 

And then the bats started flying out of those two houses there. Thousands of them. Now, I know this sounds super nasty, thousands of bats flying all at one time, but it really was beautiful in the same way as a big flock of birds. 

And after such a long day, and really a long series of days that have been beating me down, there was something so therapeutic about seeing a display of something so free. I laughed. Isn't it funny how God gives you just what you need, right when you need it?

But the thing that broke my heart was all the people around me, not noticing this amazing thing going on right above them. As the bats flew all around, people were looking down at their phones, driving home, focused on other things. I just wanted to hop down from the fence, grab them by the shoulders, shake them, and say, "Don't you see what you're missing?"

I am those people most of the time. I'm usually so wrapped up in the deadlines, in the checking-off of boxes that I don't look up. I can't even imagine how many blessings I miss. 

There's a song that I hear a lot on the Christian radio at home called "This is the Stuff. To be honest, I don't even really like the song, but ever since that night with the bats I've had this one line stuck in my head:

"In the middle of my little mess, I forget how big I'm blessed."