5 Things to be Happy About

1. My sister and I went to the Brad Paisley concert. We ended up being there for 8 hours, and had an absolutely blast. There were a few up and coming artists on a separate stage before the actual concert started. And let me just tell you; Jana Kramer was amazing! That girl can sing.

Scotty McCreery always had a guest appearance and every teenager girl in the audience went nuts. Oh, and my sister scored us an amazing seat upgrade for free! 

2. I went to a new place called Defy Gravity on Tuesday. Its like one extra large trampoline. It was such a great break from work, and quite the workout. I felt like I could barely move all day long afterwards.

3. Thank you for all the support of sharing my giveaway and coupon code! It made my heart happy to no end!

4. I made cupcakes from scratch for the first time ever, and oh my word were they delicious!

5. I'm not going to lie.....I have a weakness for ice cream. And the problem is there are 5 ice cream shops within a 2 mile radius of my house. I probably eat it 3 times a week!

Crossroads

I'm at a bit of a crossroads these days. I've had to take a lot of time off this summer to battle against mono, so as a result I've done a whole lot of thinking, reflecting, dreaming, and planning. I'm slowly teaching myself to do a little more of what I love, and a little less of what I don't want to be doing. And surprisingly, it's moving me forward in exactly the direction I want to be going! I guess they call it dream chasing for a reason! 

I'm learning to let go of Plan A. My dreams have shifted and changed over the last couple of years. I spent my whole life training to be a teacher between babysitting, nannying, summers as a camp counselor, and then a degree an early education. And then I landed my dream job as a teacher, and I loved almost every moment of it. I didn't leave because I hated it. I left because I realized that I had more dreams inside of me that would never be fulfilled inside a classroom. But the more I chase after certain dreams, the more different opportunities present themselves. So I'm slowly taking small steps forward in faith and seeing where this path leads me. I have a feeling that the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 are going to be filled with decisions and new adventures!

top: gap

jeans: old navy

shoes: lands end

necklace: caroline g (use code bubble50 for 50% off)

or enter giveaway!

Have you ever found yourself at a crossroad where both paths are good choices? I'd love to hear any and all advice as far as taking steps forward!

Giveaway + Discount Code

Happy Monday friends! I hope that y'all are having a great start to the week. I decided to start this week on a fun note with a little giveaway. I recently popped some bubble necklaces into my shop as I'm a firm believer of having a little {or a lot} color to go with any outfit. I'm offering one lucky reader a chance to win one free!

Also, I'm offering 50% off all bubble necklaces with the code: SUMMER50, which will make them cost ONLY $14.99!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

5 Things to Be Happy About

1. I've been searching long and hard for a notebook that would help me manage the addresses of the friends I had connected with online. I wanted to make sure I'd have room to have their twitter handle plus website info. So as a result, I ended up having to make my own and was really happy with the end result.

2. I've been giving myself a break from long hours at the library and trading it for my kitchen table. I've managed to make it a workspace during the day and then back to normal by dinnertime. I also found Meredith Andrews song, "Not For a Moment" and its so beautiful.

3. My sweet friend got married and had both cupcakes and cake at her wedding. I was clearly in Heaven.

4. I went to the Farmers market with my friend Lacey and got to taste so many yummy samples. We both bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers to take home.

5. I added some of those oh so fun bubble necklaces to my shop and boy have they been selling fast.

Creating Community

The other day, I stumbled across this quote {below} and it struck a chord with my heart.

"You can't do it alone, as you navigate through the rest of your life be open to collaboration. Other people and other peoples ideas are often better than your own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you. Spend a lot of time with them and it will change your life. No one is here today because they did it on their own."

There are so many moments in life, where I want to "do it alone". Where I simply convince myself that I really truly can manage whatever is on my plate all by myself. There have been time after time after time, where I have uttered "no, I've got this." But the truth is I've been barely hanging out, gasping for air, fighting for my life because I've somehow convinced myself that I can do it alone. But deep down, I've always known, life is not meant to be walked down on a small narrow path meant for one. 

{via}

Community is this beautiful word. It allows us off the hook for feeling like we have to navigate through life alone. It in many ways demands that we walk through life hand-in-hand. I can't tell you the number times community has whispered to my heart, "you are not alone." Such a simple, yet powerful message. Community wraps her arms around me in the messy, ugly, defeated, and broken-down moments of life. And she dances with me in the victories, the triumphs, and the joys of everyday life. I'm a better person because community had her arms open wide and embraced every part of me. 

{via}

I absolutely love meeting new people, hearing their stories, and building community with one another. If you know me well, you know that I'm a big fan of chasing dreams. But I know that we aren't meant to chase dreams alone. And just like the quote says, "no one is here today because they did it on their own." I'd love to create community right here, so I'm including a link to post your blog below. Feel free to use this opportunity to follow new blogs, make new friends, and build community here in this online space.

Let's do this together. Are you in?

Ch, Ch, Changes.....

I'm not a fan of change at all. In fact, it kind of makes me cringe. Every new school year, I would dread the thought of starting in a new classroom with a new teacher attempting to make new friends. But over the years, I've learned that change can be great. I'm learning to embrace it instead of fear it.

A few weeks ago, I was finally able to change over my domain name to chasingbigdreams.com which was no easy fleet. But with the domain change, I plan on taking my blog in a slightly different direction. I want to use this space to share other peoples' stories of dream chasing and what they've learned along the way. I want it to be a place where people can find encouragement and inspiration. While it won't look much different, and the heart of it will remain the same, I definitely want to branch out and allow others to have a space to share their stories as well. In fact, I'm getting ready to start a new blog series about dream chasing, so hang tight!

{via}

But the main reason I'm writing about change is because its coming slowly but surely my way, I can feel it. I think these next 12 months are going to be very life-changing and full of endless change. Again, I'm working on embracing it as much as I possible can without cringing too much. Someone once told me that amazing things happen when you step outside of your comfort zone. And truthfully, I feel like I've been living outside of my comfort zone for well over a year, and amazing things have happened. 

{via}

I'm excited, nervous, and anxious to see where this year takes me and the new chapter is might start to write in my life!

5 Things to be Happy About

I'm slowly but surely getting back to my old happy little self! Whatever virus and/or sickness I had almost all summer has seriously wiped me out. But fear not, I'm coming back fighting! This past week had some low lows and some high highs but thankfully its almost over!

1. I got to spend a whole week at the beach with my family. It was so great to soak up all the sunshine and relax. I read some really great inspiration books while I was there and came back very encouraged.

2. My cat got very sick and was literally dying from lack of eating and drinking. But thankfully, she is making quite the comeback and will seemingly be around for a little longer!

3. I introduced a new fun product into my shop! I love these bubble earrings; so fun and happy!

4. I attended a blog meet up called TriFabb; which was amazing. I'm fairly positive that one of the hosts and I are long lost bloggy bffs. 

5. Kate and Lauren were there; so it was great to see similar smiling faces! Not to mention, they are seriously some of the most fashionable women I've ever met!

5 Things to be Happy About

I've finally returned from my endless resting as the doctor as instructed as it appears that I may have a mild case of mono or extreme fatigue. But now I'm back to blogging and sharing some recaps from the past few weeks!

1. I took some kids that I was nannying for a weekend to feed ducks. We were all so excited with a tiny duckling showed up for some of our bread crumbs!

2. Kate invited me to an outdoor movie night with her sister and friend. It was such a fun experience minus the fact that Lauren and I were a bit lost during the movie! Please excuse my tired face; I'm on a bit of a bed rest these days.

3. I've had Carly Rae Jepsen's song, Call Me Maybe, in my head for weeks and weeks. It's so unbelievably catchy and I love running to it. I tweeted her a few weeks back as a half joke/half not a joke. And then two seconds later I got an email that she had retweeted it, and needless to say my twitter feed went a little crazy for a few hours.

4. I found some adorable cards that I can't wait to pop into the mail to some of my sweet blogging friends!

5. I've been at the beach this past week resting, relaxing, and finally overcoming all this sickness that I've been battling all summer long!

Choosing Kindness

I've been kind of silent around here lately. There has been a lot on my heart and a lot on my mind. My heart has ached immensely for the loss of lives out in Colorado. There were so many people who had love ripped out of their lives so sudden and unexpected. It seems unbelievably unfair, but I've come to the conclusion that there are some things this side of Heaven that I simply won't understand. I have wished that there was more I could do in light of the loss of so many lives.

However, I did remember that there is one thing that I can do. I can use my voice for good. In all of the conferences that I've attended this past year the one piece of information that stuck with me each time was that when you have a voice and a platform; use it for good. A year ago, I flew thousands of miles away from home to California for a conference. I remember towards the end of it one of the speakers reminded all of us that it doesn't matter if you have 5 readers or 5000 readers, your voice matters, your story matters, people matter. She urged us not to be afraid to use our voices, share our stories, and love people in the process of both.

So while there is so little I can do in light of the tragedy, the one thing I can do is choose kindness. It is so simply yet has a profound impact on the world. Kindness is like wrapping your arms around another soul and giving them comfort in a time of need, a time of encouragement, a time of hope.

I can make a pledge to choose kindness even when its hard, even when I'm bitter, or mad, or confused. I can wake up every morning and remind myself that kindness matters. I can choose to love others well; both friends and strangers alike. 

I asked my sweet friend Brandi to make a printable. This is my pledge of kindness. It is truly a simple message; "be kind to one another."

This world could use a little more kindness. Perhaps you'll join me in spreading the kindness. Feel free to download the printable (see link below) and share the message of love, of hope, of kindness. I'm going to post this picture of myself with the printable on my social media sites with the hashtag #bekind. Feel free to snap a picture of yourself with the printable and join me there!  I'd love to see all of stand together hand in hand spreading kindness far and wide.

Let's use our voices for good. Whose with me?

Check here to download printable!