Stephany Writes

Categories: Life

Project 333

project333

I am a wannabe minimalist. I crave space and openness and light. I don’t want to see crammed bookshelves or overflowing closets in my home. I want as little room taken up as possible. I want to live with less because that kind of life is appealing to me.

Over the past few years, I’ve bought into consumerism and the buy-buy-buy phenomenon. Shopping has become a drug to me, something to do to make me feel better. Yet I swipe that credit card and a hand grips me deep in my stomach. I don’t get a high from shopping, I don’t even particularly like it all that much. (Being at the mall usually puts me in a bad mood.) As much as having new things and wearing the latest trends is nice, it’s not the kind of life I want for myself.

As I mentioned in a post last week, I long to live a frugal life because I want to. Yet I’m getting caught up in what I should be doing, not what actually feels right in my heart.

So, now, for the next three months, I am going to dress with just 33 items. Project 333 is a minimalist fashion challenge that urges people to whittle down their closets and jewelry cases to just the bare necessities. Undergarments, loungewear, pajamas, and workout clothes are excluded but everything else is not. This challenge also includes accessories such as jewelry (though wedding rings and sentimental jewelry that you never take off are excluded), shoes, and any other accessories, such as purses, sunglasses, scarves, etc.

I thought the easiest time to do this would be in the summer months when all my winter clothes are put away and I’m already down to the basics of my wardrobe. (Always give yourself the best possible avenue to succeed when you’re trying something new!)

Thankfully, I work in a very casual office where I could wear jeans, a t-shirt, and flip-flops every day if I wanted to. So this was very helpful when creating my new wardrobe.

When creating my 33 items, I made sure to pay attention to clothes that made me feel really good when I wear them and not frumpy or awkward. I knew I wanted the majority of my wardrobe to be shirts, that I don’t wear jewelry at all, and would only need one purse throughout the challenge.

So, I whittled it down and was left with the following:

– 2 pairs of jeans
– 1 pair of shorts
– 19 shirts (vary between dressy and t-shirts)
– 2 dresses
– 1 skirt
– 1 purse
– 1 pair of sunglasses
– 2 cardigans
– 1 pair of black flats
– 1 pair of TOMs
– 1 pair of flip-flops
– 1 pair of black sandals

I started this challenge last Tuesday and have already noticed a change in the way I view picking out what I’m going to wear for the day. My closet was never stuffed full, but there was always an array of dresses and skirts and nice tops and t-shirts and should I wear this cardigan with that shirt or should I wear those shoes with that dress… with a limited selection to pick from, it’s made mornings go a whole lot smoother. I know the clothes that are hanging in my closet are ones that I love and make me feel good, so there’s no trying on shirt after shirt and discarding it because I “feel fat” in it.

Right now, it’s been nice. I enjoy the extra space in my closet and the limited selection. And with the next three months being focused on not spending money on anything unnecessary, it folds in nicely with that (since I don’t plan on buying any new clothes to supplement my wardrobe for the next three months).

It’ll be interesting to see how this changes my outlook on how I want to present myself and dress on a daily basis. Who knows where it will go from here, but that’s another blog post for another time. For right now, I’m going to enjoy my new minimalistic closet and the freedom I’m finding in fewer choices on a daily basis.

What do you think – could you whittle your closet down to 33 items to wear for 3 months? Have you ever participated in Project 333?

Categories: Life

Siesta Scripture Memory Team: Verses 3 – 6

So, remember how I wrote this nice blog post in mid-January about joining up with Beth Moore’s Siesta Scripture Memory Team and how I was going to memorize two verses a month to round out the year with knowing 24 Bible verses by heart?

Yeah. That.

I completely fell off the memory verse bandwagon and I’ve been feeling very guilty about it. But just because I fell off the bandwagon doesn’t mean I can’t hop back on, right?

Right.

So I am back on track and I have FOUR verses to share with you all. I have the first two memorized and I’m working on the second two. Now that I’m back on track, I’m finding such joy in finding verses that hold meaning to me and speaking them aloud a few times a day. They comfort me and help me to put my focus back on what truly matters.

“So then, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you may do, do it all for the honor and glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31 AMP)

Over the past few months, I have felt myself repeating a version of this verse in my head as I pull into the parking lot at work. The idea of everything I do – even the things I have to do that I don’t want to do – should be done for God’s glory. Work is on the upswing right now, but there were many, many weeks when I was very unhappy and had a lot of anxiety about my job. I felt connected to this verse. While God doesn’t want us to be miserable, I think it also is important to realize that we need to put our full effort into whatever we are doing. I need to approach my job as doing something to honor God, to glorify Him. I think once I started wrapping my head around that and realizing it’s for Him, frustrations and annoyances started leaving, little by little.

There are so many more actions you can tack onto this verse. It’s not only about doing those things you don’t want to do. So then, whether I write or read or talk or clean or exercise or eat or laugh or sing or dance or love… do it all for the glory of God.

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NLT)

This is one of my favorite Bible verses. It’s a great comfort to me when I’m facing troubles of my own, but I’ve never fully memorized it. It’s a longer passage than I’m used to, but it holds such a great message. We will face troubles, we will face sorrows. Following Jesus is not meant to be easy, but we have such peace in His guidance. I know I feel so much lighter when I know I’m following in His footsteps, and not trying to do this all on my own.

I love that last sentence. I say it with drama.

TAKE HEART! I have OVERCOME the world!

He has overcome it. He has battled it and defeated it. He carried the cross, He took the nails, He died for me. And He rose. He lived. He overcame.

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)

I love this verse. I can’t remember how I found it, but this version of it paints such a vivid picture for me. I have felt attacks on my spirit lately and it leads me to feel far away from God. This verse reminds me that I need to be aware and on alert – the enemy is looking for my weaknesses, he’s ready to pounce at any moment. I can’t – won’t! – let him win.

“Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3 (NLT)

I’ve been focusing on the New Testament for all of my verses so far, and I wanted to sneak in a Proverb into my studying. This one is just me in a nutshell. I am huge on setting goals. I just can’t fathom a life where I’m not setting goals and working to achieve them. Lately, though, I seem to be setting goals and then not putting in the work that needs to be done to achieve them. I’ve been lazy and unmotivated, to be as honest as I can be.

So when I stumbled on this verse while searching for a Proverb, my eyes lit up. It felt as if was written exactly for me. Is that what I’ve been missing? Is it because I haven’t been coming to God with my plans and asking for His help and guidance with them that they’ve fallen apart? This verse tells me that I need to have God on my side with all my goals, no matter how trivial they seem. Think about it: do I want to have His help on my side, or not? If my goals are aligning with His will, He’s going to help me see them through to completion.

What verse/saying/mantra gets you through a tough time?

Categories: Life

50 Guest Blogs, Part III

Happy Friday! This week has been emotionally wrenching and sad and difficult and hard. We live in scary times, but we also live in a time of love, humanity, and openness. I am very proud of our country.

To close out my week, I wanted to give another update on my 50 Guest Blogs goal for this year. I have been thrilled with the people who have let me hijack their blog for a day and let me do what I love to do: write. Currently, I still have 22 spots left until I hit my goal, so please fill out my form or just let me know if you want me to guest post on your blog. I’m up to writing anything!

13. On Vulnerability as a Blogger (Love Everyday Life)

Becky and I share a similar blogging style and one thing I love about her and her blog is that she is very open and honest about her feelings – the raw, messy, honest emotions of real life. When she signed up to let me guest post on her blog, I knew immediately I wanted to write about why I let it all out on my blog. I know I tend to be more vocal about my feelings and emotions than other bloggers and it’s just who I am. I do want to be clear that I’m only vocal about my feelings and emotions. As open as I am, there is a lot I’m quiet about – mainly things that happen with my family. I don’t bring family issues into my blog. There is a lot (A LOT!) of stuff I desperately want to talk about, but I know it’s not always my story to tell so I keep silent. When I talk about being vulnerable and open, it’s about what I am going through personally.

“Being vulnerable means accepting that what you have to say is going to be messy and not everyone is going to agreed with what you have to say. And being okay with that.”

14. 3 Years, 9 Letters, and a Future Husband (Hey Smalls)

Lindsey has been writing letters to her husband, which is something she started after seeing my letters. So I decided to write about the why of my letters. I wanted to explain why I feel so passionate about these letters. It’s a little weird, really. Writing personal letters to someone I don’t yet know is a concept a lot of people don’t understand and that’s perfectly okay. I don’t write my letters to please anyone. I write them for myself – and for the man I will one day marry.

“I wanted to be able to give my husband letters that I wrote when I didn’t even know who he was. I wanted to write about finding him, about our path to the aisle.”

15. What Zip-Lining Taught Me About Life (Why Girls Are Weird)

Krysten is an old and dear blogging friend and she left the topic open for me to choose. Since we both share a love of cruising, I opted to write about a life-changing time on my May 2012 cruise: the time I zip-lined in Jamaica. The experience was out of this world and nothing has come close to comparing to that time. (Yet!) I wrote about my experience and the lessons that I learned about myself. It was a really fun post to write. (Well, let’s face it: talking about cruising in any form is fun for me!)

“Zip-lining is about letting go and just letting the experience take over. It’s about trust, free-falling, and what lies ahead of you. Smashing fear in the face and being completely present and filled up with exhilaration and excitement.”

16. The Truth About Timelines (Chatter)

Kara, who has the most adorable little baby, asked me to write about my thoughts on having children and/or how I plan on raising my own children. I have very mixed feelings about having children, which I think mainly has to do with the fact I am single and don’t feel any pressure to get married or have babies just yet. Right now, I’m very happy being childless. (Very, very, very happy!) My post ended up differently than I had imagined, as I talked about the timelines we set for ourselves when we were younger and how they change as we grow up and experience more of ourselves and the world.

“People are always going to tell you how you should live your life. No matter what stage of life you are in, people think they have the magic answer that will make your life worth living – even when you think you have a pretty decent life. Don’t buy into the “should be doing”‘s.”

17. The Necessity of Writing (Chaos and Words)

One of the most common requests for guest posts is to write about writing. My process, how I find inspiration, why I love to write. It’s one of my favorite topics to talk about and since her blog is geared towards writing and supporting writers in their journey, I decided to talk about why I want to be a writer. The path to becoming successful at this is lined with rejection and false hope but there’s no other road I’d rather be on. It means doing a lot of work for nothing, but I’m up for the challenge.

“The thing about doing something you love is that it’s not always going to make you happy. Once you discover what you’re passionate about, the hard work starts. That’s when you have to start thinking about how to make your dreams come to life. You have to be willing to fail. You have to understand why you want this so badly.”

18. Finding Jesus (Holiday From Real)

Karen asked me to write about a time I felt God’s hand on my life so I wrote about being a freshman in college. It was a hard, dark time in my life and I was very scared and very unhappy. I hated my roommate, hated being on campus, and all the classes I was taking were upper-level so I had no connection with anybody. (Imagine a shy 18-year-old in a roomful of 20-somethings! I felt so out of place.) It was during this time that I first began leaning on God and trusting Him to see me through this.

“It was those moments, more than ever in my life, that I felt God’s hand upon me. I felt Him guiding me, leading me, showing me that there can be light and joy. This crushing sadness was just a season – it didn’t mean my entire life was going to be this way.”

19. So You Wanna Go On a Cruise? (Sweet Green Tangerine)

Jessica is in the midst of moving to Germany with her family and put the call out for guest bloggers. It wasn’t hard to say yes to the opportunity to get another post down. She was interested in a travel-related post so I, um, talked about cruising. (Are you surprised?!) With this post, I went through the day-to-day life of being on a cruise ship – from the day you embark to your days at sea and ports of call to the day you disembark. While my experience is specifically geared toward Carnival cruises, I think it gives a good glimpse into what a cruise vacation is like.

“I think everyone needs to find the way they love to travel best – for some, it’s road-tripping around the country; for others, it’s planning exotic getaways. For me, it is cruising. Traveling had never been a huge passion of mine until I started cruising and now I want to cruise all around the world.”

Categories: Life

We Are Strong

“So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (Message)

I was brought to tears many times on Monday. At first, when it happened and pictures from the scene started showing up. The chaos, the destruction, the panic. And then when the accounts started pouring in. Of runners running to the hospital to give blood. Of the volunteers stepping up and going above and beyond what they ever imagined they had to do. Of people opening their homes to displaced runners. Of there being no shortage of blood supply, thanks to people giving. Of the police and the EMTs and first responders – who just did their job and did it well.

I’ve participated in many races and I’ve spectated at even more. I love the running community. It’s supportive and inspiring. While I don’t ever see myself running a marathon, or even a half-marathon, I love being at races and the atmosphere that envelopes you. It’s intoxicating. Runners are incredible people with these fascinating drives to get out there and run for hours and hours at a time.

It took my mom over 7 hours to complete her two marathons. I know it’s not an impressive time (and sometimes she feels like she’s not really a marathoner because it took her so long) but just imagine being on your feet, running and walking and limping and hobbling, for seven straight hours. Heck, I can barely handle an hour of it before the monotony is too much. Checking off mile after mile after mile. All to say you ran a marathon and to get that coveted medal.

On Sunday, I participated in my fourth Iron Girl race. I walked the 5K with my mom and her coworker and it was hard. It was the first race I’ve done in a while where I haven’t listened to music and I have to say, you miss out on a lot when you’re listening to music. I felt such camaraderie with the people around me. We cheered each other on. We cheered when the front runners in the race passed us. We laughed at the signs people had made specifically to motivate us. There was such support from everyone. We all wanted to succeed and see the people around us succeed. A race is a place of celebration, of pride, of encouragement. It is not a place of chaos and destruction.

What happened on Monday was truly awful. I have never felt unsafe at a race, not when I’m participating or spectating. To take something so triumphant and inspiring and turn it into a tragedy like this, breaks my heart. It frightens me that something like this could happen – that someone could hate so much to bring darkness on such a celebratory day. My heart hurts for Boston, this place where my grandfather grew up and a city that doesn’t hide its passion. I know a lot of people from Boston and I love them all. They are good people.

When the tragedy of Newtown happened, I couldn’t put into words how I felt. I couldn’t listen to the news reports, couldn’t look at the faces of those children, without feeling so sickened and scared of the fate of our country. Thinking about the terror those kids and teachers must have faced is heart-wrenching.

I was eleven was Columbine happened and thirteen when 9/11 happened. I was young. I was clueless. I heard about it, shrugged my shoulders, and went about my day. I didn’t have the emotional capacity to understand how devastating these events were and would be for the rest of my life. They were sad events, but they didn’t affect my day-to-day life or anyone I knew so I couldn’t grasp what it meant for our country.

I was 19 and a freshman in college, living on a college campus when Virginia Tech happened. Thirty-two people killed. 

Then, just last year, there was a shooting in a random theater in Colorado. 12 deaths, 58 injuries. What? How could this happen? 

In December, a sick man walked into an elementary school and killed 26 people, including 20 children. This can’t be happening. Not here. Not now.

Two bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. 3 deaths, 183 injuries. How. Could. This. Happen.

Am I scared for our country? No, I am not. We are a strong country. We are unified. We are together. We are one.

We will not be silenced. We will go on. We will run races. We will kiss sweet babies and play silly games with children. We will travel to see friends, attend sporting events, and make each day count. We will not be silenced. We will love, most of all. We will laugh and cry and feel joy and life. We will love our families and love our friends and love our neighbors and love strangers. Love is the answer to all this. Choose love. Be love. Live love.  

Just as it was in Colorado and Newtown and Columbine and Virginia and New York – our hearts are with you, Boston. We are with you.

Categories: Life

50 Guest Blogs (Part II)

Happy Friday! This week has seemed to be the week for vulnerable posts for me, so I thought I would end the week on a bit happier note. 🙂 I’ve been busy, chucking away at my 50 Guest Blogs in 2013 goal. I wanted to take some time to highlight some of the awesome bloggers who have graciously let me take over their blog for a day. See Guest Blogs 1 – 6 here.

7. On Reading, Validation, and Embracing Your Passions (Walking with Nora)

Nora is one of my dearest friends and someone I greatly admire. (She’s also been my go-to girl to vent to when I’m frustrated about work or guys or life in general. She’s a gem, really.) Nora offered her blog for me to guest post on, leaving the topic open and I decided to write about a hobby we both hold dear to our hearts: reading. I am an avid reader, a bookworm to the extreme, and I wrote about embracing being a bookworm and being passionate about books and reading. I spent a lot of years being embarrassed that I loved reading so much and over the past few years I’ve begun to realize how silly that is. Hiding what you love to do because you’re afraid of what people may think is ridiculous.

“And isn’t that what reading is all about? Making the reader feel something – big or small? Taking our minds off the troubles of today and transporting them to a different place? Reading has become more and more about me, and less and less about what others think of me.”

8. On Careers, Doubts, and Understanding Self-Worth (Seattle Stevie)

Stephanie left the topic open for me so I decided to talk about my journey to discovering that my self-worth cannot be found in my career. I went through a bit of a quarter-life crisis when I started my first post-collegiate job as it was hard adjusting myself to a brand-new career and work atmosphere. I had moments where I was so incredibly happy and moments where I was so miserable I was leaving work in tears on a regular basis. I’m still trying to figure out what I want from my career but I’ve stopped placing my self-worth in what I do.

“I can’t pinpoint the day or what caused me to fall into downward spiral of self-doubt and unease with my life but it happened. I felt as if I wasn’t measuring up. I was falling short, not using my full potential, and  jealous of the super cool jobs those around me had.”

9. A Passion For Cruising (Considering the Campbells)

Molly left the topic open for me so I decided to blog about one of my favorite loves: cruising. Of course, this was posted right around the time Carnival was having issues with their ships so the timing couldn’t have been better, right? Yeah. I wrote about why I love cruising and gave three big reasons why I think everyone should take a cruise at least once in their life. Don’t knock it until you try it, right?

“…every time I get on a ship, it feels like I become whole again. I feel at home on cruise ships. I feel alive.”

10. Some Thoughts on Memorizing Scripture Verses (Life According to Amanda)

I can’t remember how I met Amanda but I’ve been following her on Twitter for a while now and when she signed up to let me guest post on her blog, I grasped a faith-related topic quickly. Since we’re both doing Beth Moore’s Scripture Memorizing Challenge this year, I thought writing about why I felt memorizing Scripture was important. I’ll be the first to admit I am not nearly as well-versed in Scripture as I should be, having grown up in church all my life. But I’m looking forward to changing that and finding my mindset change as I grab hold of verses that hold meaning to me this year.

“I want to be that girl who can whip out a verse to comfort a loved one, but I haven’t made it a priority. In essence, I suppose I have not felt that memorizing Scripture is a worthwhile investment of my time.”

11. On Being a Messy Christian (With Faith and Grace)

Allison is one of my close blogging friends and we went back and forth on topics to talk about. She was most interested in me writing a post around the title of her blog so I set to writing a piece that is now one of my favorite posts I’ve written. It centers on the book Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli which transformed the way I view my faith. And it caused me to do some deep thinking about my faith and what I want from it. I love this post. You should read it. Yes.

“Sometimes, I forget how fiercely God loves me. How necessary I am to Him. I forget that I am part of His plan and He has never forgotten about me.”

12. Sitting On Dreams (Adorkable Me)

Erini left the topic open for me so I perused her blog to get a feel for what she writes about and how to connect my writing to it. In the end, I decided to talk about finding and cultivating your passion. I have always known that writing is my number one passion but never really thought about pursuing it as anything other than a pleasurable hobby. I talk about my path to discovering that this passion is something I want as more than a hobby – I want it to be my career.

“I am a writer to the bones of my body. Writing is what makes me me. I am lost when I don’t have a place to create.”

I still have lots of spots left for guest posting. If you’d be so inclined to let me take over your blog for one day for a guest post, please let me know in the comments, tweet at me, or fill out my form. I will love you forever and ever, amen.