Green Arrow

I’ve been doing a lot of figuring out lately.

Mainly figuring out which direction I want to go in life, which is hard.

This Way to Success

Long story short, my whole senior year of college I “thought” I knew what my life would look like after graduation. I had everything figured out. I had a plan and a direction and steps how to get there.

Then, God started changing my heart. He started steering me into a completely different direction that I never realized was an option I even wanted to consider. Thoughts led to serious considerations, eventually leading to making decisions and then actions taking place and…

BAM

… just like that, I had a new direction and new goals and plans, etc. etc. etc. First step was moving to a bigger city, and that was an adventure in and of itself that is still unfolding.

Moving and changing life courses has probably been one of the biggest risks I have ever taken. I left my incredible job. I left my soulmates of best friends. I left my family. I left the only home that I had ever known. I left my security and my comfort. I left my life. And I moved without knowing if I would find any of those things again in my new town.

But one thing that God is slowly revealing to me is that life requires FAITH. Sure, I don’t have all of the details figured out, but I know God is working within me, somehow doing the figuring out for me. All I have to do is look to Him and follow.

Romans 4 talks about the faith of Abraham, and how he trusted God and His promises even when his own situation seemed impossible. It describes how Abraham “entered into what God was doing for him….He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own…” (vs. 2-3, The Message). Then it goes on to say, “When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do, but on what God said he would do…” (vs. 18, The Message).

Then, in Romans chapter 8, verse 28 (my favorite verse of this chapter) Paul says this: “…we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good…”

This being said, I know that every detail of my life isn’t figured out. I know I don’t have a super clear direction of where I’m headed or where I’ll end up. But I do know that if I trust in God’s promise (which is a life full of LOVE and PEACE and HOPE and TRUTH) and follow Him and live a life of faith, that all of the details will eventually turn into something beautiful.

All I have to do is keep praying for a green arrow of where to go, just like in those investment commercials.

Big Texas Adventure

Little Rock to Dallas. Dallas to Austin. Austin to Waco. Waco to Little Rock

Spencer and I went on a big Texas adventure this weekend. Poor guy drove me 1500 miles in 4 days. Lucky me just got to sit in the front seat and talk and sleep and change the radio every 3 minutes and somehow lose at the alphabet game.

We needed a mini vacation. Crazy summer work schedules and figuring out life and a ton of changes happening all at once can wear you out. Makes me wanna just get away for a bit. Which is exactly what we did.

First stop: Dallas

First new pair of tennis shoes since 10th grade. I think I loved my cheer shoes a little too much.

Next stop: Austin

Inner Space Caverns in Georgetown. We’re standing right underneath I-35. Crazy how all of that is underground and most people have no idea!

They call this the “Sumo Wrestler Eating an Ice Cream Cone.” 

Deer in front yards. Neighborhood we stayed in had so many deer running around! I probably saw 20 deer in 2 days.

Best bad-for-you food on the planet. Fried avocado taco in a cone.

Austin City Skyline. This photo does no justice.

My hunky wedding date.

Yummmm Lake Waco from Common Grounds.

Everyone is so proud of be from Texas. 

5 Healthy Things I Promise to Do Forever

It’s been a few months… EEK!

I can’t believe I’m saying that to you…. or even admitting it to myself. But it’s true. It’s been a few months since I’ve worked out.

There’s been an overload of change in my life recently (not exactly a valid excuse I know) but the most active thing I’ve done since April is order a Get-Up-And-Goji from Tropical Smoothie. Those things don’t actually make you “Get-Up-and-Go” anywhere. Oh well, it was delish.

I finally did work out this morning, and let me tell you…. it was tragic. I’m already sore. I was shaking. Out of breath. Heart pounding after 5 minutes. Light headed. I’m lucky no one was there to witness it. BUT in the end, a good work out is always worth it. Today marks a turn around from my few months of no-exercise-Haley.

Although that past paragraph does not exactly agree with what I’m about to say, I’ve always known that being active is essential to your health. So is eating right, duh. Everyone knows that. But those aren’t the only things that I believe contribute to your health. I believe that health has many different aspects, and if you’re healthy, you’re happy.

So that’s why I decided to make a short list of things I always promise to do in order to be healthy. Please see below:

“5 Healthy Things I Promise to Do Forever”

1) CHOOSE WATER OVER SODA- to always choose water over soda !! and to ENJOY it… at least 5 days of the week…

2) THINK POSITIVE- to focus on the good in people, situations, problems, etc.

3) READ SOMETHING EVERYDAY- to always have a thirst for knowledge and learning and growing

4) SMILE- to always be joyful no matter what stupid things life throws at me (01 Thess. 5: 16-18)

5) DIG INTO MY BIBLE- to read God’s Word daily, and to be open to & listen to where God is leading me, to what He wants me to do, and to how He wants me to live my life.

By doing these 5 things, even if some of them are a little cheesy, I honestly believe that I will always be healthy and happy. Sure, I may not hardcore workout everyday, or eat salads for the rest of my life, but I’ll HATE less and LOVE more. I’ll see the light and BE the light that God has called me to be, and honestly, I can’t think of anything healthier or happier in life.

Procrastination at its Best

So there’s this thing I’m really good at… it’s called procrastination. It’s kind of a fancy word for laziness. Which I’m not a fan of, but I’m also really good at. I thought my condition would end once I graduated college, but that’s so not true.

I don’t know if anyone who suffers from procrastination ever really overcomes it. Well, maybe until they have kids and then they HAVE to get stuff done, but that’s a different story. My to-do list is smaller these days, thankfully, but my desire to complete my to-do list is still non-existent.

Really non-existent.

I think it’s because everything I have “to-do” now is grown-up stuff. Grown-up stuff that kind of sucks. Paying rent, figuring out job details, hard-core budgeting, actually folding laundry, etc. It’s a bunch of BLAHness that I don’t even want to think about.

So here I am, writing about my sucky to-do list instead. Maybe it’ll inspire me to get up and go.

Or maybe not. Oh well. I’ll get it done eventually (the continual thought of a champion procrastinator…aka: Me)

In the meantime, I plan on digging into Romans, watching the Olympics, eating some leftovers from yesterday (yummy Quinoa/Black Bean/Corn/Feta salad with Salsa), maybe taking a bubble bath, and thinking about much happier things than my blah blah grown-up to-do list.

Happy Weekend!