I’m Feeling 22…

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Whoa! 2022 is here and for me this year feels like it will be just as transformative as being 22 was.

A fun pic of me at 22 vs now in 2022…

When I was 22 I was finishing my final year of college and trying to figure out my next chapter in life . Well in 2022 I’m yet again looking at what is next in my life. This year I have a lot of mirrors in front of me already. More to follow as I work my way through some reflection and decisions.

As always my goals for each year are Mind, Health and Spirit, but some of them could easily cross over into another category. Since that is the case I’m switching the format and just listing all my goals.

2022 Goals

  • Visit ALL Indiana State Parks
  • Visit 1 new state
  • Finish my Certified Nutrition Coaching through NASM
  • Finish the 66’ SS Impala update with dad
  • Reduce time on Social Media – max 2 hour per day. Past year had a limit of 3 hours.
  • Practice jump rope skills at least 30 mins per week

Theme Word for 2022

HOPE

My sweet friend Cori wrote inside a book that she got me for Christmas Hope to mean Honor, Obey, Pray, Encourage. I find this beautiful and very necessary for what I meant when I chose Hope. I have HOPE that I am on the right path and making decisions that will honor God, myself and my family.

What is your theme word for 2022?

XOXO,

Cecee

Pandemic Possibilities

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Boy 2020 has been intense! Moving states, squatting at different family and friend’s homes, hitting my breaking point, breakup , purchasing a home and 1 final move from 4 different spaces… also can’t forget about a pandemic, civil injustice and protests+riots.

A lot has happened in our country and worldwide in the past 3 months. This post is about what has been happening in my world for the last 6 months. I have had lots of personal transitions that I wanted to update you on.

I’m so grateful to be back home in Indiana! My time in Tennessee was really difficult as I ended up having severe allergies to my new environment. My year in Nashville lead to 7 doctor visits, lots of different prescriptions and 100 plus needle pricks in allergy testing. Only option left was to attempt shots that would take 2-5 years to build up my system for relief. My eyes would swell shut after 2 weeks, which as you can imagine it presented issues. I would drive back home to IN after 1-1.5 weeks in Nashville to heal then head back and repeat.

Fortunately I was able to stay with my company and take over a new territory starting in April. I finalized my travel in Tennessee in early March when COVID started to get more serious.

From my Tennessee travels I then flew out to San Diego, CA. While in CA announcements of businesses closing due to COVID began and I changed flights to return sooner for fear of being stuck in CA. When returning, my forced quarantine ended up being an eye opening blessing that lead to so many possibilities!

I did hit my absolute lowest point, which you can either stay down or pull yourself back up. I have God on my side and he showed me so many back to back blessings and I’m so grateful.

God’s 1st blessing was to present me with Ally Vaeth’s ElevateU Bootcamp challenge which was a great insight to her program. I am now in her ElevateU program and learning so much about Mind, Body and Spirit! Another post dedicated to this topic to follow!

My next blessing was timing. I have been looking at houses and they kept selling prior to arriving to the showing. A house in the area I had been looking posted at 10:00pm on a Friday at the end of March and I had an offer on it before Midnight. I made the decision to offer based on the images posted on Zillow (no idea of the floor plan), advice from my realtor and faith that my prayer were answered. I did get to see the house the next morning and I updated my offer in hopes to secure it! My quick judgment worked in my favor because they chose my offer, even though they had multiple offers. Next blessing was no bid war !

During the time of waiting to close on my house my Aunt randomly text me (another God blessing) offering to stay at the cabin since the numbers in Marion county for COVID were spiking. She was giving me an option to help stay healthy, but she really gave me a chance to reclaim inner peace. The cabin is my happy place that makes me feel calm and grounded.

During the pandemic God created so many possibilities for me. I am now a homeowner again, working on my mental , spiritual and physical health, growing my Mary Kay business and back in a territory I love for my job. I am grateful!

XOXO,

Cecee

*This post is not intended to dismiss the magnitude of the pandemic. I truly feel for those who have been impacted. I have deeply missed my family and friends . I am beyond grateful for my health, as well as for those who I hold dear. I am choosing to reflect on the positives that occurred during these unusual times.

Father’s Day Gift Ideas

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Please note this may include affiliate links. Please visit my disclosure page for more information. 

Father’s Day is just a week away and now is the time to make a plan or get a gift if you haven’t done so already! I have a few fun ideas on how to show dad some appreciation and several links to Amazon Prime items!

As I get older I know I personally appreciate shared experiences the most.  I think most parents feel this way as well and would enjoy creating more memories with their children.

First step on giving a shared experience is determining which hobby your dad enjoys the most. My dad’s favorite hobby is fishing and that is the theme I am going with for him this year.  I purchased my fishing license so all that is left to do is pick up some bait and beer then head to a lake for a fun fishing experience!

In addition to sharing a day at the lake with my dad I wanted to get him a gift he will have in addition to the memories. If you know my dad 95% of the time he is wearing a hat. I bought a custom designed hat that was painted by the hands of a local artist.  The hat, as you can see below could not be more fitting for a fishing weekend!

PS if you want to do a similar experience and provide a hat with a fish/bait painted, here is another hat that is still available. Feel free to reach out to me or the link to the local artist is his Instagram page and you can message for pricing.

Other ideas:

I hope you enjoy a fun experience with your dad!

XOXO,

Cecee

Seeing the wildflowers through the weeds

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I recently traveled to Austin, TX to visit my little, Annie. If you haven’t visited Austin I highly recommend going. This was my third trip to Austin and I can never get enough of this city! The food , shopping and nearby state parks make it a perfect vacation destination! You could potentially end up craving ROBERTO’S BRAZO FUERTE QUESO from Tacodeli all year long. I count down the days for that wonderful cheat meal!

April in Austin provides the beauty of blue bonnets and other gorgeous wildflowers along with overall wonderful weather. I wanted to experience the beauty of the wildflowers as well as a state park this trip so we visited Inks Lake State Park. The park is beautiful with a wonderful lake, waterfalls and wildflowers. Hiking around the park, enjoying a picnic on the rocks by a waterfall and searching for wildflowers was my favorite part of the trip. I do wish I had packed some sunscreen!

I wanted to search for the wildflowers as someone told me that I am a wildflower and I completely fell in love with the term. Wildflowers are sporadic, they sway where the breeze takes them, and they are beauty amongst the weeds.

Even though there are aspects of life I prefer having planned vs swaying, I have made an effort in being more sporadic and accepting of moments. Everyday life, like weeds can be overwhelming. Taking time to search for those beautiful moments can be challenging, but worth it.

During our hike I reflected on all the times that I continued to worry about what’s next and the path to get there. There was no clear direct path or plan leading us to this field of beautiful wildflowers, but we still found them. Appreciating the moments and beauty in little things is my goal as I often get wrapped up in my own mind and easily overwhelmed.

Visit Austin and parks around the city, embrace beautiful moments and don’t let the weeds overwhelm you!

XOXO,

Cecee