Things that school didn't teach me.

 Very true.

I never learned the same way that they taught me in school... I remember taking really good notes in class but not absorbing all of the information. I had tried to grasp the topics while in class, but I don't think I'm an auditory learner. I never was able to fully understand what they were talking about when I was in class.

 I would go home and read and reread my notes to learn the information. Sometimes, I would make lists or graphs and memorize my notes. I could memorize all the information for a test and it would be ingrained in my brain. I could think about my study sheet and picture the information in my brain. It worked like a charm.

If I studied that way, I would get an A on the test, no problem. I learned at an early age, that I learn the best visually. It worked for me, and I continued to use that method in college.

I've also learned a few lessons completely separate from school.

Here are a few of them.

It's OK to not know where you're going or have everything planned out... I like to know when things are going to happen and how they'll work out. I know that I can't possibly know how my whole life will play out. I've learned how to be patient. I really have. It is such a gift to be able to wait for things and earn them yourself. I'm a happier person when I'm patient and not always waiting for something to happen to me.

It's OK to be different... Don't be afraid to express your views if they're different from another person's opinion.. This one is a big one for me. I feel like sometimes in the past, I would hold back on expressing what I'm thinking because it differed from someone's point of view. I try my hardest no to do that anymore.

You want to know one of the most important lessons I've learned? Here it is...

Never take any moment with a loved one for granted. Life is too short to do that...

Favorite Posts

Day 21... Share a few of your favorite posts from your blog. There's only a few days left to this challenge! Yay! I skipped one day and then was late posting the topics over the weekend, but I think it was worth it to do this challenge. Here are my favorite posts. Enjoy!


A Special Moment ~ I wrote about the experience me, my mom, and my aunt had with my grandpa the day before he died. I realized how present God is in our lives even more.

Hair and Make Up by Beautiful People ~ I was very happy to share my experience with having my hair and make up done professionally on our wedding day. (I'm going to write about the actual ceremony after this challenge is over.)

That time I chose to eat breakfast food ~ I chose to eat breakfast when I was out for brunch with my mom this January. Bill later told me that Red Velvet pancakes are fu-fu pancakes. I think they still count. :)

Not even the MINT ~ This post makes me laugh. Bill and I were on a date and absolutely everything that could go wrong went wrong. We were able to laugh about it together.

Hanging out with Dad ~ I like rereading about the visits I have with my dad since he's living so far away right now.

Family Photos from Our Reception ~ I will treasure these photos for a long time. We made some good memories at our reception.

Share a Struggle

Day 20... Share one of your struggles.

These past couple of months, I have been wanting to lose 15 pounds. I was frustrated during those months, because I would lose three pounds only to gain it back. I also found out that protein bars or fiber bars were making me bloat up a lot, and I got horrible stomach aches from them. It took me 4 months to figure out what was giving me the stomach pains.

Now, that I have that figured out, I'm not gaining the water weight that comes from bloating. That was encouraging. Last month, I tried working out more by running. Running can sometimes be pretty painful on my knees so I wasn't doing it regularly, and I wasn't loosing the weight that I wanted to lose.

This last week, I started working out more to my DVD workouts. I use Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, Hard Body, Extrememe Shred & Shred, and her Banish Fat Boost Metabolism. I have a lot of them! I'm working on her 30 Day Shred, and right now, I'm on day 5. I love that I can do cardio in my home without a machine with this workout. I sweat so much from it.

I think that I'm coming out of my struggle to lose these fifteen pounds. Today, I got on the scale, and I had lost four pounds since last week. It was a very welcomed surprise! I can't wait to be thin again. :)

A Vivid Memory and My Favorite Blogs

Day 18 and 19.... A vivid memory from my childhood and a few of my favorite blogs.

I'm combining these two days, because I didn't want to blog over the weekend. I like coming back to my blog feeling refreshed, and I don't want to blog because I feel like I have an obligation. So I took a break.

A vivid memory from my childhood...

I was 8 or 9, and my brother must have been 5 or 6 years old. Phil is three years younger than me. We had gone over to my parent's friends house in Sycamore for the Pumpkin parade. Phil and I were playing in their backyard. I think Meg was with my mom and dad.

Their friends had this tree house with zip wire that went from the tree house to the other side of the yard. I have no idea why I wanted to try it. I'm scared of heights, and it was twelve feet in the air! Phil was still playing in the backyard when I decided to climb up in the tree house and try it out.

I grabbed the handles for the zip wire and pushed off the tree house. Halfway through, I could feel my hands getting tired, and I couldn't believe how high up I was. My hands slipped before I could do anything to stop it, and I fell really hard on tree stump in the middle of their yard.

I landed on my left side facing away from Phil. It was the weirdest experience. I didn't cry or scream...

I just laid there for a few minutes, and I remember Phil saying, "That has to hurt."

I can hear him saying that as clear as if it was just yesterday.

I got up eventually, and we walked to my mom who was watching the parade. I told her how I fell and that my arm hurt. I wasn't crying or anything so she didn't think it was that bad. I went a few days without going to the doctor, and then one night, I felt nauseous. My mom had to bring a bucket to my room.

The next day we went to a park with some of our friends, and my mom told her friend what happened and how I was nauseous the night before. She was slightly panicked when her friend told her that you can get nauseous when you have a broken bone.

We went to the emergency room right after that to get my arm checked out. When the doctor came back with the x-ray, he couldn't believe that my arm was broken clean through. I remember that it felt weird to move my arm. I felt the bone move separately inside my flesh. It was the weirdest feeling ever. I learned at a young age that I have a strong tolerance for pain. The doctor couldn't believe there was a clean cut since I wasn't in pain.

Do you have childhood memory you remember vividly?


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Day 19. Here are some of my favorite blogs that I read regularly:

The Pioneer Woman

~ I adore Ree's blog. I read every post, and I love just exploring her whole blog on a daily basis. I just finished her book Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. I definitely recommend reading it.


Undressed Skeleton

~ I love this blog for all the fitness tips, advice, and encouragement. There are also plenty of healthy recipes as well.

Cupcakes and Cashmere

~ I read this blog for any fashion advice or for tips on home decor. There's so many good things on this blog. I also got my challah recipe there too.

Dancing Branflakes

~ Tiffany's blog is by far one of my very favorites. She's a dancer and a great writer. There are a lot of whimsical pictures and posts on her blog, and I love her writing.