the thankful project: a choice

Happy Monday! Today, I'll be joining along in The Thankful Project. If you haven't heard about it yet, you should jump on over to Chasing Happy and read a little more about it.

Today's topic is a choice.

This was pretty easy for me. I had two immediate choices come to my mind. The first was my choice to marry Jake. It is by far one of the best decisions I have ever made. Although, I wasn't alone in that choice, really. So instead, I'll write about my second choice.

I am so incredibly thankful for my choice of where I went to college. When I started looking at colleges, I had no idea where I wanted to go, but I did know that I didn't want to go to Anderson University. Simply because that was where my brother was going to school and I felt I needed to be my own person. Little did I realized that having my brother at the same college would be one of the biggest blessings. But I was immature and stubborn and had made my mind up-- here is no way I would go to AU. But to appease my mom, I applied to the school. Thankfully, a few months went by and God intervened. He opened my eyes to see that AU might not be so bad. And I am so extremely thankful that He did. This was the first time I recall God really calling me to a certain place and it was a defining moment in my life.

There are so many things I could say about college. There were ups and downs. Lots of studying and hard work. Late nights and early mornings. Lots of changes and lessons learned. Lots of growth and maturity. But really, it shaped me in a way I would have never imagine. It challenged my faith and helped me to figure out what it is that I really believe. It led me to people who are some of the best friends I could of ever asked for. Friends who like me for me and who have become more like sisters than friends.

And then one of them actually did become my sister. So that's pretty cool.

Then college led to grad school, where I met these two. And maybe I'm biased but I think I have some pretty great friends.

And then of course there is this guy (reread my first choice).

I could really go on and on about how this choice affected and changed my life in such a meaningful way. So many blessings have stemmed out of that decision. I will forever be grateful that I had a choice and for the one that I made.

if there are three, let it be: poison ivy home remedies

As you may have heard, we had a serious battle with poison ivy in our house. Apparently, our backyard has a fair amount of the pesky plant near our fence line-- just one of the perks living right next to a wooded area. A little hint, if there are three, let it be! So last week, being the wonderful husband he is, j took to destroying the plants in the back yard. Even though he was being careful, he ended up getting some of the oils on his skin and broke out in rashes. In the past couple weeks, I have learned a significant amount about poison ivy plants and home remedies, so here are some the best options we found.

Poison Ivy 101

• a rash is contracted from the oil on the plant, not the actual leaf itself
• if you get oil on your skin, wash it off immediately (even if you're outside-- find a water source) and use soap, preferably a dish soap, to remove the oils from the skin
• dogs can carry the poison ivy oils on their coats. if they rub up against a plant, you can get the oils on your skin. So if you're in an area with your animals, be sure to either give them a bath or wash their coat to remove the oils
• animals aren't affected by the oil, but humans are!
• poison ivy rash is not contagious; it can only be passed through the oils from the plant
• a rash can appear up to a week after skin being exposed to the oils

Poison Ivy Home Remedies 

• rubbing alcohol and apple cider vinegar remove the oils from the skin and help dry up the rash
• oatmeal baths really do help with the itching. Put the oatmeal in an old stocking or nylon and let it soak in the tub to allow the oatmeal residue to infuse into the hot water
• use a baking soda paste to help relieve itching. just add some baking soda to water to create a paste and put it on the rash
• soak a cloth in cold water and place it on the rash, it will help relieve itching and any swelling

And of course, benadryl and hydrocortisone cream are extremely helpful to relieve itching. If your rash continues to get worse after a week or if you ever develop a fever, call your doctor. Often a prescription or steroid shot will help clear it up.

Unfortunately, after a week of using home remedies, j's rashes weren't getting any better so he ended up at the doctors office. Apparently, he is highly sensitive and next time we'll be going to the doctor first. But these are great remedies to help relieve a mild case of poison ivy.

friday + a giveaway winner

We did it! We made it to Friday again. If you've had a week like we have, then you're welcoming the weekend with open arms. It's been a full week, so a weekend with some down time is just what we need. We've also been battling a severe case of poison ivy (the hubs-- not me). So expect a post dedicated to home remedies for poison ivy soon.

I don't have a whole lot to share with you today, to be honest. But if you are a fan of country music, then you should definitely watch the opening skit from this week's CMAs. It's hysterical. And even if you have seen it, you should watch it again. I think Brad and Carrie work well together, plus the DD crew makes an appearance. Check it out for a Friday laugh.

But I do have a winner to share with you! The winner of the $25 gift card to Flourish Boutique is Justine Marie! Congratulations to you, Justine and I hope you just love shopping at Flourish!

the thankful project: an experience

Have you heard of The Thankful Project yet? If not, you should jump on over to Chasing Happy and read a little more about it. Such a great concept for this type of year. While I missed the first three days and probably won't be doing the full month, I will be blogging about a few topics along the way. 

November 4: An Experience

In July 2007, I was blessed with an opportunity that I had dreamed about since I was a little girl. You see, I grew up in a small (like 350 people small) midwest-farming town and the biggest event of the summer was our county fair. The whole county basically shuts down and everyone you know spends the week at the fair. Still to this day, it is one of my most favorite times of year. And for my family, it is something that we all are a part of. We all spend the week together and it's just so great.

And ever since I was a little girl, I had always dreamed about being the fair queen. As silly as it may sound, it was a big deal to me. In the summer of 2007, that dream became a reality. It was my third attempt, which is more times than most people compete. Honestly, it took a lot of courage for me to run that third year. Most people stop after two years, but I knew that I wanted to try one last time and if I didn't, I would have always regretted it. Thankfully, that persistence paid off.

It was one of the coolest experiences of my life. I got the opportunity to meet a lot of people, travel to new places and do a lot of fun things. It really was a dream come true for me. It was a time where I could represent something I loved and believe in. But more than that, it was a time in my life where I learned about God's timing and perfect plan for our lives. I learned more about patience and letting go of a situation than I ever meant to. That summer was one that could have been filled with a lot of pain and struggle for myself and some family due to different situations going on, but instead it was one filled with new experiences and celebration.

So while being the fair queen was filled with fun events, dressing up and other wonderfulness; it was also a time in my life when I saw God work in a very real way. Plus, I learned a whole lot about interviewing, public speaking and public relations (which was my major so that helped, too). All of those things together made for an experience that shaped me then and still does today.

 

welcome to november + a giveaway

Welcome to November! Today I am blogging over at Simply Clarke so be sure to head on over there and check it out. Plus, you can enter to win a fabulous giveaway!!

Ok, now go visit me over at Simply Clarke-- Happy Friday!

welcome home

As you may have noticed, I've been a little mia for the past week. Since then, we've moved into our house and I've turned a whole year older. On Monday, I turned 27, which just seems crazy to me. And even crazier is that now we are homeowners. A whole lot of awesomeness going on here.

The past weekend we were so blessed to have our parents, siblings, cousin and grandparents help us move out of the apartment and into the house. It took a lot of muscle, advil, patients and love from them and we couldn't be move thankful for all their help. Plus, it was even more wonderful to have so much of our family in OUR home. Talk about warm fuzzies--I was full of them.

As we are starting to make our space look like a house again, it is so great to make it even more of our own. This weekend we have plans to take a trip to IKEA-- two points for my husband coming up with that idea. I'm not sure if he realizes what he just got himself in to.

And even though I'm not a big fan of Halloween-- the dressing up part, let's be real I do like the candy part-- Happy Halloween. Enjoy a fun and safe day of trick-or-treating!

wednesday words

For the sake of my sanity, today I have to focus on packing and more packing. So I leave you with this.