Love Yourself Link Up: Run to the Goal

Today I am writing as part of the Love Yourself Linkup – an ongoing blog series that focuses on topics like self image and body image. A community of women post their thoughts on these topics and tell stories of personal experiences.We’ll share what inspired us, challenged us and more! Learn more about the Love Yourself Linkup at Anne the Adventurer. If you have a story to share too, join the conversation by writing and clicking to enter below!

Running is not a passion of mine, but it is a goal. Running one mile, two miles and maybe one day I’ll do a race. Running is a goal that takes work. It takes a lot of mental encouragement and encouraging yourself isn’t always easy. Every block I pass, I try to be proud of myself. Because that’s one more block more than I ran yesterday. Setting goals is the fun part. Figuring out how to get there, that’s the important part.

Those steps whether small or large are the most crucial part of your goal. If it weren’t for those steps, you wouldn’t continue to come closer to the goal. So, with any goal you have, don’t get discouraged because it’s taking longer to achieve. Just know every second you work on that goal, your one second closer to reaching it – no matter how many seconds it takes.

Today I ran, yesterday I ran. My first goal is to run the mile without stopping. I’m focusing on that and when I reach that first goal, I’ll set my next one. I will encourage and be proud of myself every step of the way because that’s what it takes. Love yourself. Be proud of yourself. You will reach your goals.

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Love Yourself Link Up: A New Friend

Today I am writing as part of the Love Yourself Linkup – an ongoing blog series that focuses on topics like self image and body image. A community of women post their thoughts on these topics and tell stories of personal experiences. We’ll share what inspired us, challenged us and more! Learn more about the Love Yourself Linkup at Anne the Adventurer. If you have a story to share too, join the conversation by writing and clicking to enter below!

A couple of months ago, I stepped out of my comfort zone and reached out to a sweet gal/blogger/amazing “Instagrammer”\DIY extraordinaire and asked if she wanted to grab coffee sometime. She replied and said she would! After finding out we had several connections through mutual friends and places we’d lived, we set a date and met. Today was the day.

I got up, got dressed all while the excited butterflies in my stomach fluttered. Meeting someone new makes me a little nervous, but then I couldn’t stop smiling because I knew this lovely lady was going to be special. I sat in my car, plugged in the directions and followed “Map’s” directions to the Bicycle Cafe. As I parked, I said a quick prayer that He’d bless this meet up and in the cafe I went. I got a tweet saying she was almost there. I stood out front, waiting and looking at every movement until I saw her. There she was! This new friend I was just dying to meet.

We hugged, feeling as if we’d already met and in we went. She ordered coffee, I ordered a chai tea. I knew the adrenaline would fill me with energy soon enough. Then it happend. We connected. We talked and talked and talked. When you’ve never met someone, you have a lot to catch up on, twenty-something years it happened to be. We talked about love, life, family, creativity, the future, our blogs, the good, the bad, everything. It was so much fun. This was just what I needed. She encouraged me, inspired me and made really great points that made me think.

This meeting today reminded me how much a new friendship can work wonders for my heart. I felt uplifted and encouraged. I was proud of myself for going out of my comfort zone and reaching out to someone I didn’t know and I’m so glad I did because I now have a genuinely sweet and thoughtful person I can now call my new friend.

Today, I want to encourage you to break out of the norm and reach out to someone you’ve admired from afar, maybe a new coworker or neighbor and make an effort to chat. You never know, a true friendship could blossom from that little coffee date and new friend is so good for the soul.

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

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Ten “Instas”

Today I want to introduce you to some “instagramers” I enjoy following. Their pictures are so lovely and always brighten up my day. From babies to puppies to sights around the world, they give us a little peek into their lives through their phone camera. Enjoy!

1

CASEYLEIGHWIEGAND of thewiegands.com takes the most darling photos of her precious babies. And who doesn’t like seeing sweet pictures of babies!?

2

CAROLINAVD is located in Finland and takes photos of her beautiful home and friendly pup. Her photos are minimal in color, adding a touch of  simpleness in my Insta feed.

3

LITTLEMISSCLEMENTINE has an absolutely beautiful daughter. She is the star of her Insta page. She’s always exploring and Mama, you dress her to the T! Love LMC. Check out her adorable darlingclementineshop.com It’s full of little things for the wee ones.

4

COLORADODARLIN is a local here in Denver. This makes it fun to follow her as pictures pop up around the city I live in. She’s very detail oriented and takes beautiful pictures of the surrounding area.

5

Oh, LITTLEFLOWERRR. She’s one of my dear friends. Her & “Baby Kitty” go on many adventures and her Insta page tells the story.

6

LAUREN_TIEN is also a local in Denver, but her feed is full of travels to Mexico and all sorts of places. She is creative and always shares her latest DIY project on her blog PearlsPoppiesPinkiesUp Blog

7

Look at that face! ALEXNIEUWHOF has an incredible talent. Her feed is full of color and inspiration and every now and then her sweet Golden shows up. I’m such a sucker for Goldens. Her blog is just as gorgeous as her feed – Whimsey Darling Blog

8

AMERRYMISHAP takes us around Jennifer’s lovely surroundings in black and white. By black and white, I don’t mean the filter. Most everything she takes is black and white. Her photos are such a breath of fresh air and so is her blog A Merry Mishap Blog

9

BLEUBIRD takes wonderfully delightful pictures of her family and their daily adventures. I always love seeing sweet babes and her feed is one of my favorites. And if you like her feed you’ll liker her blog too Bleu Bird Blog

10

Speaking of babes, ARMEADORS ‘s feed is filled with her’s. She has the two cutest, sweetest (we’ve met) babies ever. They have the best facial expressions and always have a little pep in their step. You’ll love all of her photos and her photography skills.. that’s a whole other reason to check out her page. She even has a youtube page that’s to die for YOUTUBE PAGE

That’s my TEN “Instagramers” I love to follow. Let me know what you think of the rest of their photos and be on the look out for more of my favorite “Instagramers” in the coming weeks. You can also follow my Instagram feed @aubreyrachael Happy Wednesday, Friends!

East Coast Picture Overload.

This year we decided to do a Road Trip. We started with Georgia where I was in my sweet friend’s wedding (more on that later) and then ended it spending time in New York City with my Aunt & Uncle. Along the way we stopped in Hilton Head, South Carolina, Lexington, Virginia, Cherry Hill, NJ and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was a crazy, wild trip and I’m so glad we did it. So many memories were created that I’ll never forget. Some highlights were of course Kylie & Michael’s Wedding, using AIRBNB and finding unique and beautiful places to stay while meeting wonderful people, seeing all of our family along the coast, the Art Museum and seeing Wicked on Broadway. You’ll see bits of these highlights in the photos. So, without further adieu, it’s time for the picture overload.

Happy Thursday, Friends!

It’s that time of the year again.

It’s that time again where you really shouldn’t be hearing from me. I should be drowning in final projects (which I am) and not coming up for air. However, when you’ve worked for weeks on end on these very projects, even though they’re still not done, it’s REALLY hard to focus. I have until 6:30pm tonight to turn in one final project. I should really get going, but ….oh look my tea is ready, the sun is so shiny, mmm… love my protein shake. See there are just too many other things that are way more exciting! I know, I know I’ve become a procrastinator. A procrastinator, really! It’s just so easy when there is no brain power left and little things around me suddenly become the most exciting things I’ve ever seen. So, this is my final outlet. I have to get it all out and go…. So, my last words will be that of this weekend. Well not words, but pictures. You remember the post last week where I shared the weekend through Insta pictures? Well, I think I might just do that again. Check out this crazy weekend – in no particular order with a little narration.

Nordstrom Cafe. It’s just so delicious.

Because sometimes the day just can’t go on without coffee.

I love whoever said it was okay to eat leftovers.

Happy Mama’s Day.

It only took one spoon and us two to eat.

It’s just so beautiful.

Because bridge pictures are awesome. Especially at sunset.

Sometimes I crave spaghetti. Well I got it – outside for lunch with the Hubby.

Old buildings hold a special place in my heart.

Anthropologie mirrors. Enough said.

Paper flowers in a barrel. Anthropologie, you never cease to amaze me.

Paper register. In love, really.

Sometimes the shakers are prettiest.

The end. Hope you’re weekend was filled with love and laughter and your Monday doesn’t feel like Monday. But if it does, I’m with you. Happy Monday,Friends! Here’s to the last week of the Spring 2013 semester.

Hope is the thing with feathers.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—

I’ve heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.
Emily Dickinson

This past weekend we explored downtown. We walked past this place called Poet’s Row. Neither of us knew how it got its name. And then we saw it. Every. Building. On. The. Block. They were named after Poets. Oh yeah, no big deal. I live in the Emily Dickinson building. So cool! I thought it was the neatest idea. So, in honor of Poet’s Row, I thought I’d share a poem by Emily herself.

Freezing Water Day

That’s right, it’s a Freezing Water Day. You know, a Snow Day. I had to put on my big ugly UGGs, huge puffy jacket and my faux fur scarf. Snow was coming down last night and by this morning everything was covered in snow and looked so very pretty as I walked out the door.

It looked. Walking and traveling in it – that’s a whole other story. But so far today is a success – there are no broken bones or cars. That’s what I call a successful Freezing Water Day!

On that note, Happy Freezing Water Day, Friends!