3rd Anniversary

A weekend away with Joel is always a blessing but this weekend getaway was extra special. We went to Osakis, MN to celebrate our third anniversary.

Ever since I was a little girl I had always wanted to see inside this little cottage on the corner in Osakis, MN. I thought it looked like a life-size dollhouse and it has always been a dream to play inside it! A few years ago I found out that it was owned by family friends and that they had remodeled it to be used as a guest cottage. So that is where we went to celebrate our anniversary. It truly was a dream come true to stay there. I was giddy like a 10 year old girl. It was so much fun!

Our weekend was filled with celebrating being married, relaxing, antiquing, knitting, watching movies, spending time with my family and we even saw our first ballet. We saw a production of Cinderella. My favorite part was seeing all the little girls at the ballet all dressed up like Cinderella. It added to my weekend of feeling like a happy, carefree little girl.

I love you Joel! It is a blessing to be loved by you.

Being Intentional

This past summer was the best summer of my life; though it's beginning might make you think otherwise. It all started off with the swine flu. I was diagnosed on the first day of summer! After one week of being quarantined at home and another of sleeping to regain my energy, June was almost over. I spent one day of feeling sorry for myself that I only had two months left of summer and then I decided to do something about it.

I decided to focus on being intentional with each day of summer that remained. Joel and I spent time at the beginning of each week planning out how we would spend our time. At the end of the summer I felt fulfilled. I knew that I used every day to do things that brought me and the people around me joy.

After two months of living intentionally I felt like the best version of myself. That is saying a lot since I had felt like the worst version of myself this past March. I was pretty miserable most of the time. I had felt that way for awhile but didn't really know what was wrong or how to talk about it with people. I finally started talking to my family about it and found out that depression runs in my family. So I did the obvious, I Googled depression and realized that was most likely my issue. I started meeting with a counselor and she said that I had depression and anxiety.

I feel very blessed that after only a few months of prayer, counseling, medication, and the amazing support of my husband, family and friends I feel more connected to God and to myself than I think I ever have.

All of this brings me back to today. I have had this quote on my fridge for the past few months:

“We can always choose to perceive things differently. You can focus on what's wrong in your life, or you can focus on what's right.” ~Marianne Williamson

So that is my inspiration for this blog. I am going to be intentional over the next year about focusing on what is right instead of what is wrong in my life. I am going to count my blessings. Each week I am going to post about things that have brought me joy. It is amazing the amount of blessings that can surround you when you take the time to look.