Thankful for Weekends

The thing I love about my new position at work is that it keeps me extremely busy. I am responsible for many new things that have to be done everyday, which can be very exhausting! Throw in a few new hires and the receptionist on vacation and I am running around like a chicken with its head chopped off (gruesome image, I know).

I am extremely thankful for the weekend; it is a time for me to relax, write, read, get chores done, and just feel in control of things. However, this weekend will not be as relaxing as I would like because my church is hosting a community corn roast today. It is supposed to be 90 degrees outside (too warm for my liking) today but it should be fun. A friend of mine will be coming out for it so that will be nice.

This week at the women’s group was a little different than usual. We are still reading Girls With Swords by Lisa Bevere and we covered chapter 6 this week. It is nice to discuss books with a group because you all get something different from these books and it is really great to be able to share all of our thoughts. Unfortunately, at the end of our group time, a couple of the women found out one of their friend’s parents were separating which was very disappointing. We are praying that this will be an opportunity for this young woman to grow closer to God and will turn into a positive thing even though at this point is extremely painful.

That just about wraps up my week thus far.

Currently Reading:

You Have A Brain by Ben Carson

Girls With Swords by Lisa Bevere

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

Scriptures:

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. - Psalms 119:105

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. We don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. – Romans 8:26

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. – Colossians 3:23-24

O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge. – Psalms 62:8

Life Changes

It is crazy how life can change in such a short period of time. I feel like in a blink of an eye my life has changed. I know that I have not blogged in awhile—and really have no legitimate excuses. 

Since the last time that I posted, I started attending a young women’s group that has really helped me grow in my relationship with God. Just a couple of young women discussing our struggles and triumphs and exploring resources to better understand what God has intended for our lives. I think it is important for Christians to have a group of people that you can discuss your faith with regularly. It is refreshing to discover that we all have battles and triumphs in our walk with Christ. We are currently reading Girls With Swords by Lisa Bevere—an excellent read for women. Lisa has a wonderful way of explaining things and encouraging you to see things in a different way.

I have also realized the importance of spending time in His word and asking Him to reveal it to me. The more I read, the more I seek His understanding, the more He is revealing to me. 

Another significant change in my life is my role at work. I am no longer the receptionist—I have been “promoted” to executive assistant to the owner, vice presidents (2), and the HR director and now have a cubicle upstairs. It is a different role and different atmosphere but thus far it has been going quite well and I am starting to enjoy it more. My biggest role (at least, takes up the majority of my time) is being the assistant to the vice president of our western division—who mainly works in purchasing. I am now mainly helping out the purchasing department—which I am okay with but definitely not where I aspire to be. I had been hoping this change would provide me with more time to focus on human resources related research/development but it has not. Hopefully someday soon it will but in the meantime I understand that where we are as company right now this is where I am needed.

Unfortunately, by the end of my first week in my new cubicle, I developed pain in my right wrist which my doctor probably thinks is Carpal Tunnel. I was prescribed a brace and ibuprofen and it seems to have improved, however, I do have some pain in my left wrist now too. I honestly think the configuration of my new cubicle is probably the biggest reason so I have been trying to switch things up and I think I need to get a cushion for my chair as I think the desk is a little to tall and my chair does not go any higher. Hopefully I will not need to get surgery—even though they tell me it is a very simple surgery and recovery.

A big goal I have now that I have my car paid off (YAY!) is to move out of my parents' home. I have wanted to move out for awhile but I want to ensure my “ducks are in a row” before I do so. One big part of that was to pay off my car so I would not have that additional expense. I also needed to find a roommate because I did not necessarily want to have that large of a financial burden. My brother has agreed to be my roommate which is probably better for him than me—he needed a push to move out. So now I really am just saving so I will be able to purchase everything that I will need when I am in my own place. I am just going to say it—it is sooo difficult for me to save money; I have a shopping addiction. I think now that my car is paid off and I found my dream apartment (which allows dogs—yipee!), it will be easier for me to save. 

I am going to conclude with a list of books that I am currently reading and a couple of my favorite scriptures from this past week’s readings. 

Books:

Take The Risk – Dr. Ben Carson (excellent read)

Girls With Swords – Lisa Bevere

Scriptures:

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. – Psalm 37:5 NLT

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ. Set your hearts on things above, not on earthly things. – Colossians 3:1-2

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. – Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

How I Became a Morning Person

Let me be honest here, I never thought of myself as a morning person. I always claimed that people were not allowed to speak to me before I had my coffee.. otherwise it was not a pretty outcome! My mother still continues to believe this—I personally think I have changed though.

As I started to pursue a job in the field of work that I was going to college for, I decided that it was important for me to get on a “good” sleep schedule and become more of a morning person as office jobs are typically an 8-4 (or 9-5) type of schedule and that would require me to be alert and in a positive mood in the mornings. I do not consider it to be acceptable to arrive to work half asleep; the company is paying you to work, and I think that you should be giving 100% first thing in the morning. One of my biggest peeves in the office environment is when someone tells me that I cannot come to them with work questions until a good hour after the workday started.

I started going to bed quite early every night (when I could, sometimes my old work schedule did not allow this) and waking up early every day.  My friends started calling me a grandma (do not take offense if you are a grandma) because of my early bedtime. I was quite the buzz kill. The way I looked at it though was that it would benefit me in my career and so it was worth it to me to be a buzz kill.

I am very much a creature of habit and enjoy a consistent morning schedule. Before I head off to work, I like to be able to take the time to drink coffee, check my e-mail, browse the many social media platforms that I use, and check my bank account (always watching that money!).

Midway through 2014, I decided that it was important for me to spend time reading the Bible and pursuing a deeper relationship with Jesus. Because I am always exhausted after work and I usually have to do homework as well, I decided that mornings were the best time to spend with Jesus. Due to my habitual nature, I knew that I needed to wake up even earlier if I wanted to be able to spend time checking e-mail and whatnot before work. Let me tell you, it was the best decision of my life. There is nothing better than spending time with Jesus before the day has started; I have never been happier. It is also amazing to see that even when I go over my “scheduled” (really, scheduling a time slot for God probably isn’t the best thing) time with Jesus, I still manage to get everything done that I want to.  God’s power is amazing in how He is able to bend time and events in my favor and I am able to accomplish more in less time after I have spent time with Him. In these cases, sometimes I end up way ahead of “schedule”.

So here it is: I think that anybody can become a morning person if they just take the time to change their schedule and mindset. If you are having trouble changing your mindset, ask God for help—He will help you.

It has been over two years since I changed my schedule and I believe that becoming a “grandma” has benefited me in various ways; I was able to get over my morning crankiness (that took more time than becoming a “grandma”) and am now a very productive person in the morning (at home and at work). I now wake up at 5:00 a.m. every morning (except on weekends—I sleep in until 6 or 7) and am typically in my bed by 8:00 p.m. (lights out by 9 p.m.).

For me, it is important that I get ready for bed a good hour before I “need” to be asleep; my body needs time to wind down. I typically watch something on Netflix or YouTube on my iPad or read a book until I cannot keep my eyes open any longer. If I just drop into my bed at 9:00 o’clock, I will be awake for hours! That is my biggest tip to you: if you want to start going to bed early, try starting a routine that gets you into your bed to wind down for at least 30 minutes before you want to fall asleep.

Are you a morning person? Or no? Please let me know in the comments!

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!