Learning to Love Wisconsin

For the majority of my life, I did not appreciate living in the state of Wisconsin. I thought it was such a boring state and people outside of Wisconsin seem to think very negatively of this state. We are known for the Green Bay Packers and cheese… and not much else. Fashion trends take about 3 years to reach Wisconsin too.

For the longest time, I could not wait until I had the chance to move out of this state. I mean my hobbies consisted of makeup, clothing, shopping (for clothes and makeup), and not much else (well, I enjoyed watching the Green Bay Packers).  If those are your hobbies, Wisconsin is not a state for you.

I have since come to realize that sometimes it is a mental thing and that if you just try, you can learn to love anywhere that you are living. I can now honestly say that I love living in Wisconsin and if I do not end up leaving this state, I will remain happy. One of the biggest reasons I have learned to love this state is because of one of my guy friends. This guy is the ultimate outdoorsman (I mean, he went to college for Natural Resources) so he knows so much about nature and exploring the great state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is truly a beautiful state and has a lot to offer for people who enjoy nature.

I had always wanted to go snowshoeing but never really had anybody to go with until I ended up going with this guy. I thoroughly enjoyed snowshoeing on public hunting land (no trails, people!). Since my introduction to the snowy woods, I have become more interested in “outdoorsy” activities such as biking, hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, may consider fishing again (probably not) and would love to go tent camping (my family had a camper when I was younger but I did not enjoy it then). I have officially turned into one of those people that is extremely proud of where they come from.

A recent Wisconsin activity that I have been doing this fall and winter is going to “Shawano Country” and finding Barn Quilts. You may ask, “What is a barn quilt?” well, a barn quilt is a large piece of wood that is painted to resemble a quilt block and these “quilts” are placed on barns. Shawano Country has almost 300 official barn quilts and it seems that they continue to add more to the list constantly. It has turned into a weekend activity to drive out in the country, find these barns and photograph them. I enjoy driving in the country because I think Wisconsin is so beautiful when it is covered in snow and I find it very relaxing; barely anybody on the roads!

We have a feeling that the horse (far right side of photo) was rather lonely because it was very interested in us and was coming near us and following my car as we drove off. I kind of felt bad for the poor old guy (or girl). 

Next weekend, I will be heading up to Iron River, Michigan to snowshoe because there have not been sufficient levels of snow to snowshoe locally (there has to be at least 6 inches of base snow—and we do not have that). One of my brothers is doing an internship up there and is living near an area with a nice trail (and they have loads of snow). Last year, I went way up to the central northern area of Wisconsin on a mini vacation to a huge family-owned farm. They served farm food and had a million snowshoe/cross-country ski trails. I do not think I will make it there this year as where my brother is makes for a cheaper "vacation" but I will still have access to some snowshoe trails.

If you are from Wisconsin, do you know of any outdoorsy activities I can do? Winter or summer activity ideas are greatly appreciated!

The Struggle Is Real

One of the biggest struggles I have is my hair. Really, Abbie? Your hair? Yes, my hair.. it has been a struggle sticking with a particle “hairstyle”. What I mean by that is: I chop off all my hair and then nine months later I find myself scrolling through pictures and I come across a picture with my long hair and I think to myself “my hair looked great long… why did I ever chop it all off!?” Plus, it is expensive to maintain short hair anyways (especially if you color it as well). So let’s talk about the history of my hair for a while.

My natural hair color is considered a dark golden blonde and my hair is quite fine (and absolutely no body to it), however, I am told that I actually have a lot of it (I say otherwise, but apparently hair dressers know best). When I was younger, I typically kept my hair rather long and unruly (my mother usually trimmed my hair and that was weather permitting so it got rather straggly looking at times). Around the age of 10 or 11 I decided that side bangs were the thing to have—so I went to a salon and got those. No one warned me that I have a natural cowlick and when you have one of those, side bangs do not work; your bangs ends up splitting where you do not want them to.  It took me probably a year of “side bangs” to realize that I had a cowlick. Lesson learned; bangs and cowlicks do not work well. At one point, I did have my haircut roughly about chin length but I do not recall the exact time period—I did not maintain the length and immediately grew out my hair again.

At some point, I discovered a flat iron and used it daily (sometime between 12-16 years of age, I think). You may ask why? Your hair is naturally straight! Well, my hair is mostly straight but it tends to flip out oddly (in my opinion) so I used a flat iron to make the ends completely straight.

The year I turned eighteen, I went in a completely different direction with my hair: I decided to get my haircut rather short (about 3-4 inches above my shoulders; I have a slightly long neck so it was not THAT short) and in an angled cut (shorter in the back, longer in the front). I also started having lighter blonde highlights put in my hair at that time as well. I maintained this “look” for a good 3 years and my hair kept on getting blonder and blonder (I totally thought it was a more “grown up” look for me and I needed all the help I could get in that department).

Near the middle of 2013, my hair started to break off a little but I did not realize that it was happening (I just thought my hair was really tangled at the crown and fuzzy looking). In September of 2013, I had realized that my hair was looking rather ridiculous with all of those super light highlights on the top layers and then BAM! my natural hair color underneath (it was not looking pretty, let me tell ya). I then decided that I would start coloring my whole head of hair to hopefully bring more balance throughout my hair. Well, that was not my brightest move as my hair started to break off even more. At that point, I started debating on going back to my natural hair color. It was hard to decide to or not because I was afraid that it would be a complete nightmare to get to my natural hair color and I did not want to sport what I call “the “crack whore look” as I fondly refer to as having super dark roots and really blonde ends—it should not be a desirable look, people (no offense if you like that look).

In December of 2013 (if you have not noticed… I get my hair done every 3 months like clockwork), I took the plunge and made my first step toward going back to my natural hair color. My hairdresser and I decided to color my hair darker than my natural hair color since the color would fade and we were hoping that it would then blend into my natural roots. It did not quite happen as we thought because the color faded more than we hoped but we ended up with a fairly nice “ombre” effect without even trying (thank goodness, that look is currently “in”). I have not colored my hair since then and have been growing it out and the breakage that was basically around my whole crown is almost at chin length and blends fairly well into the rest of my longer hair. I continue to get 1-3 inches cut off the ends every 3 months to get closer to evening out the breakage layers. So that is the current history of my hair.

Current state of my hair

So you may wonder… Abbie, why did you just tell us the history of your hair? Well, you see... over the New Year, I was browsing through this blog and some other older pictures of myself with short, blonde hair, and I started thinking “OH! I miss that super blonde, short hair!” So here we go… the vicious cycle continues and I found it rather humorous and decided to share it with you (this decision came while in the shower; where great thoughts are born).

Okay, even though I am having these thoughts about how nice my hair looked then, I am determined not to go down that route again. I mean, my hair ended up breaking off (probably because it is so fine) and it is so expensive to keep it up!  I mean, I had to buy special shampoos and conditioners for colored hair, when my hair started breaking off I had to invest in some good Keratin shampoos and conditioners, plus hair masks, and leave-in sprays to get my comb through my tangled blob of damage. The savings are crazy when you think about it… so I am quite sure I will talk myself out of this one.

Do you ever go back and forth on how you like your hair? Please let me know in the comments below!

Welcome to My Life: January 1, 2015

Hello and Welcome to My Life:

I cannot believe it is 2015! I was recently looking at this blog and realized that I had not posted since March of 2013.. almost 2 years ago! Apparently, I am not much of a blogger (or writer for that matter).

It is crazy to see how my life has changed since then. Back in March 2013, I was still in college for my first degree (last semester) and I was looking for a full time job in that field (Administrative Professional). Just a little over a month after I stopped blogging, I was offered a job at a small company as their receptionist and administrative assistant. I accepted the position and it has opened many doors for me.

I graduated in May of 2013 with an Associate’s Degree in Administrative Professional and then that fall I decided that I would continue my education and take classes toward a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resource Management. The company that hired me has offered to help pay for my education which has been an absolute blessing (education is not cheap!). I took several classes locally and had them transferred to a University of Wisconsin college and now I will start my first online semester through there this coming semester.

Earlier, I mentioned that the job I accepted has opened many doors for me, however, I think the credit truly goes to God. These past six months I have taken my faith more seriously and have been pursing a closer relationship with Jesus and I believe that is the utmost reason why doors have been opened for me recently. God can bless you in any occupation you choose whether it is being a missionary, pastor, doctor, teacher, etc. or if you choose to work in business (even if you work for a self-proclaimed heathen). I tend to be a very organized and structured person and it is amazing to see how these “skills” (I always thought I was an OCD freak—No offense if you are OCD) have helped this company develop a more structured environment rather than “flying by the seat of their pants” (as my co-worker has stated). Every day, I am working closer to my goal of starting an official Human Resource Department with this company—the more I do this type of work, the more fulfilled I feel. Many people seem to have a negative idea of Human Resources (the hiring and firing people) but I find it as a career in which I can help people develop and grow into their full potential while utilizing the skills that I have.

Other than my career and college changes, there has not been much else going on in my life to blog about. I am still single and not looking (unless God decides to send the perfect gentleman my way). I did not make any New Year’s Resolutions—who sticks to them anyways? Writing a blog post was not a resolution either—it just happened. I refused to go to the gym this morning even though I should.. but ya know, then there would be all those people there starting their New Year’s Resolutions. My only "resolution" for this year is to to follow God’s will for my life and wherever that takes me—I cannot plan what is His to plan. He will let me know in due time.

I hope that you all have had a wonderful start to 2015 and hopefully I will blog again soon about my life, fashion, or something else that is interesting.