{Sort of like a “Friday Five” or a “Life Lately” except it’s probably not Friday, and I gave up on the idea of a catchy alliteration. These are some bits and pieces of my not-so-glam 20-something life. See past posts HERE}
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In Case You Missed It On the Blog in January
- 2017 – A Year in Review
- Home for the Holidays 2017
- Favorite Things {in 2017} I Need to Tell You About Right Now
- Top 20 Favorite Pictures From My Camera in 2017
- So There’s That Vol. 28
- The Road I Traveled: Meet Elizabeth
- Love Letter: To My Planner
- The Road I Traveled: Meet Brandi
- Vision Board Party
- Book Review: January 2018
Scottsdale Work Trip
Mid-January I headed to Arizona to represent my organization at the Wheat Foods Council annual meeting, which is a partner of ours. While it was a work trip with very little down time, I AM SO NOT COMPLAINING. It was between 60 and 75 degrees the entire time which was a nice mid-winter break from the bitter wind chill in DC.
Seriously, why are cacti so fascinating.
52 Things I Want to Do in 2018.
Chelsea, at “The Girl Who Loved to Write” is one of my favorite bloggers. I didn’t do true new year’s resolutions this year, but I loved this list she put together of 52 things she wants to do in 2018. I love a good list, and this is an approach to self-improvement that is more my style.
Positive Thinking
I’m laughing about this now, but I was definitely not laughing at the time. I’ve been struggling a bit with being positive lately, and so a few weeks ago when I got up early for a 6 am workout class before my late morning flight to Arizona for work, I was feeling really good and determined to have a better attitude going into this trip. Wrong move.
I had timed out the rest of my morning so that I could get everything I needed to done and out the door to the airport on time, which included ironing the shirt I was wearing that day. I only have a table top ironing board and no table so my kitchen counter is where I do my ironing. At one point I set my iron too close to the edge of the counter, and it fell and landed on my foot. I am pretty sure my next door neighbor (who I know was home because I could hear him moving around in his own kitchen #citylife) thinks I’ve lost my mind or something based how loud and how long I yelled. I have a pretty high pain tolerance but this was rough. I determined after a couple of minutes that the hot part of the iron never touched me (how does that happen?!) but that the reason it hurt so much was that the heavy iron had landed on ONE of my toes. But I was on a timeline so the purple swollen toe got shoved into a shoe and to the airport I went. I swear, the list of ridiculous (and eventually funny) things that happen that I can’t make up is way to long.
Why It’s Good to Embrace Negative Feelings
I tried to get this video to embed directly, but I couldn’t get it to work correctly. If you click the photo though, the link will take you to the video 🙂 I saw a friend post this Ted Talk on Facebook a few weeks ago and it came to me right at a time when I really needed to hear it. It stayed with me so much, that I’ve thought about incorporating it into a blog post idea that I’ve been turning over in my head recently. Stay tuned, and in the mean time, watch this!
My favorite quote from the video was “Tough emotions are part of our contract with life.“
Ted Talk Summary: “Psychologist Susan David shares how the way we deal with our emotions shapes everything that matters: our actions, careers, relationships, health and happiness. In this deeply moving, humorous and potentially life-changing talk, she challenges a culture that prizes positivity over emotional truth and discusses the powerful strategies of emotional agility. A talk to share.”
Spelling is Hard
My friend Nicole, who is an agriculture communications professional like me, tweeted the other day about what her crutch word was. Even though we are typically really good at spelling, I promise you that all communicators/writers/journalists/etc. have a word that is relatively easy that stumps them every time. Nicole’s word is “scissors” and I tweeted back that mine is “necessary.” Then our friend Jenni, who is a journalist for a paper in the Midwest, tweeted back that hers was “diarrhea.” Maybe you have to know these two ladies for it to be funny, but I thought her response was hilarious and it kept me laughing for the rest of the day.
Exodus 14:14
Exodus 14:14 is my favorite verse, so for Christmas, my best friend Megan gave me this handmade copper (also my favorite) bracelet and it’s been the perfect reminder to wear on my wrist. The bracelet is from “The Muddy Hammer.” If you like my bracelet, you should check out some of their other stuff HERE. #notsponsored
Busy, Busy, Busy
I typically try my best to avoid going on about being busy. It’s hard, but I think that’s a lazy answer when people ask you how you are, and while its also subjective, most people live what they consider to be busy lives. And to be honest, I personally prefer to have a busier schedule.
But with that said, the first six weeks of the new year always tends to be a WHIRLWIND for me, and this year has been no exception. It’s partially why this post tends to be short on pictures. This last week I hit that six week mark with our winter board meeting which is always right here in DC. My planner is quickly filling up again, but the meeting was a bit of a mental finish line mark for me, and it was nice to spend it surrounded by our farmers, who continue to inspire me and are such a large part of why I love my job. I’m a bit biased, but I am really excited that our newest elect to the board’s officer team is a farmer from Oregon.
When the farmer is extra tall and you are extra short, benches are necessary for taking good photos. Thanks for being a good sport Darren!
Out and About
A few snippets (and Snapchats) of life lately.
My Life in Memes
Memes that are speaking to me right now… both thought provoking and just plain funny.
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So, There’s That.
The Good Stuff 