The "American GIrl" Dream

i stumbled upon this post by the fulltimegirl.com and i absolutely adore it

http://www.thefulltimegirl.com/2013/11/18/the-american-girl-dream/

i promise i'm not going to quote the entire thing (even though i could) but i will just say this article pretty accurately sums up my motto on dating...and maybe as i've gotten a little older, i've realized a little more about my worth...and maybe that's why being single doesn't send me into a full blown panic attack complete with sobbing and everything like it did 2 years ago...and i still want to get married (that hasn't changed) but i'm not going to settle...and i don't want someone to just settle for me (i'm crazy and obsessive and honestly a little judgmental and very sarcastic...so yeah i've got a lot going on...but he will love that about me...or at least tolerate it and think i'm funny)

reading more in 2014

i've always enjoyed reading but i've never really picked that love up since high school...but i'm going to change that in 2014

i got a few books for Christmas and i went on a downloading spree on amazon so i have lots of reading material to work with

i started reading one on my ipad earlier this week, purely based on the name..."the single woman: life, love and a dash of sass"...yeah i'm kind of in love with this one already...and i'm almost done with it

i think the thing i like best about this book is that it's fun...and while it covers the normal issues that a book on being single has to cover...it definitely has that bit of sassiness...and obviously i embrace that...it also has this great prologue that i've read every morning this week...and while i won't put the entire thing here, i am going to share a few of my favorite lines

"she walks the unaccompanied path. she has her own back. she asks for no favors. not an ounce of independence does she lack"

"she's sassy and feisty to those she meets, but some nights her tears fall on empty sheets."

"but she loves God and she loves to dance, and she's her own better half"


so basically i love this book for real...and i'm sad that since it's on my ipad i can't write in the book...but that's probably a good thing or else i would have highlighted the entire book already  (no but really i would have)

{promise i'll eventually talk about a book that isn't about being single...}

My Year

I distinctly remember my mom telling me on new years eve 2011 that 2012 was going to be my year...and i also distinctly remember thinking all throughout december 2012 that 2012 had so NOT been my year...but 2013 was definitely my year
i can honestly say that this year that i turned 25 was nothing like i thought it would be 3 years ago...or 5 years ago or 10 years ago..but somehow i'm so much more content than i ever would have expected myself to be...and i still haven't had the major freakout over turing 25...and i've been waiting for it for 3 months now!

i've written a little bit about it here before but no one loves a good plan more than i do...and in 2013 things came together in a spectacularly unplanned way...but i really couldn't have planned it any better

i won't lie...the beginning of the year was a little rough...my younger brother got married and i may not have handled that situation as gracefully as i could have...but i'm working on it

then someone who was my only other single close friend in greenville moved back home...and i was again back to being lonely...

and then the twins were going to start school in may meaning they didn't really need a nanny anymore...

so maybe around march of 2013 i was panicking that this wasn't going to be my year either...maybe it was going to be even worse...

but then things just came together..and i'm still in awe of how they did

i was approached about the possibility of taking over as the children's minister at the church i attend...just for a year or so while they searched for a long-term fit and i looked for an accounting job...and then i got a phone call from a staffing agency about an opening with a company in Greenville that was interested in me

i took a working interview for a week there...the exact week that the twins started school...which i think made the transition a lot easier for me...it's kind of like we all grew up together on that same day...

i got an apartment in late may...i was brought on full-time in august...and i'm part-time in the children's ministry with one of my really good friends...and then in late october, i transitioned to a new role at the same company and i absolutely love it...it's a lot more responsibility and stress...but i kind of thrive on that so it all works out 

so 2012 was not my finest year but 2013 was my year...and turing 25 was a walk in the park compared to 23...and while maybe my little story of God working things out sounds so simple (and it is) but it's my story and i kind of love it...

and i can't wait to see what 2014 will add to it!