Sunday Afternoon Graduation

Today's challenge must include only pictures. A lot has happened in the past five days! I had a bunch of graduation events on Friday and Saturday and then Sunday was the actual ceremony. Here are some photos from this weekend.

An Education.

Today is day 23 of the Blog Every Day in May challenge: things you've learned that school won't teach you.

1. Don't construct your self-worth on those around you. I used to be the most insecure person you would ever meet. It got better in the later years of high school, but didn't really taper off until college. It was at its worst in middle school; they were rough years for me. I didn't know who I was, so I defaulted my identity to match everyone else's. I was so unhappy, and one unkind word could shatter me. But over time, I learned who I was and who I wasn't. In part, getting to know yourself requires an absence of fear, at least it did for me. Fear paralyzes any action that is required of you in a situation. I had to get rid of the source of fear and when I did that, I was free to stand up and start building myself.

2. How to be fiscally responsible. Yeah, yeah, there's that one week in school where they teach you how to balance a check book, but it doesn't go beyond that much. But nothing kicks your butt into shape like paying for college yourself... (I did that for two years).

3. Don't be afraid to say no... and don't be afraid to say yes! There's not much explaining necessary for this one. Know yourself and be aware of each opportunity or choice. If you feel like it's wrong for you, then it probably is...(and vice versa).

4. Do not wait until the timing is perfect, to have all your ducks in a row, or the right amount of money in the bank....that time will never come.

5. Don't project your fears and failures onto other people. The week before my wedding, I had someone approach me about my future marriage. "Are you sure you want to be doing this? You're so young..." First of all, how dare you? Second, this goes back to points 1 and 4. People spend all of their lives mulling over their mistakes and regrets, and instead of moving on or resolving those issues, they project them on to the choices that other people make. They are making a huge mistake because a) that person is not them, and b) it's incredibly rude and insensitive. Needless to say, whatever relationship I might have had with that person ended that day.

6. Don't take shortcuts. Someone I admire very much used to tell me that there are no shortcuts to any place worth going... and he was right.

I would really love to hear about some of the life lessons that you've learned along the way!

P.S. Have you liked me on Facebook yet? 

Journey Into the Archives

Today's challenge is a list of links to your favorite posts in your archives. Let's go!

My Five Day Gluten-Free Meal Plan- This post alone has about 500 pageviews and has been repinned a lot on Pinterest. But it's also my favorite because it shows how easy it is to make the transition to eating gluten-free.

DIY Facial Toner- I am a huge sucker for DIY beauty products because they contain far less chemicals (if any at all) and are inexpensive. This is my most popular post to date, with 1570 page views.

Gilded Cat Canvas Painting- I really enjoy making my own artwork to decorate our apartment. I was inspired by a pattern I saw online and decided to spin it my way and paint it on a canvas.

DIY Project: Pinterest Terrarium - This was my first "real" blog post (after creating the About Me page) and it's one of my favorites because it ignited a new hobby. I hate so much fun creating this simple DIY that I now try to have as many plants, herbs, and greenery in my apartment as I can.

Up-Inspired Bridal Shower - Last year my best friend, Alyssa, and I threw a completely DIY'ed bridal shower for our best friend, Kelsey. Warning: this is not for the faint of heart. DIY'ing a complete event like this is very time consuming! But we enjoyed it and it turned out really well. We themed our shower after the Pixar movie "UP" because it's one of Kelsey's favorite movies.

Happy reading!

Some Catch-Up and a Dose of Real Talk

As Monday rolls to a close, I am hoping that yours was relaxing and beautiful! Before I jump into the meat of this post, I have some blog-housekeeping updates that I wanted to be sure that I pointed out! Not only did I clean up the blog itself, I revamped my About Me page. I've always been dissatisfied with it, but felt stuck as to how to change it up. Then I happened upon an article that answered a lot of my questions and, well, the rest is history. I've added new social media icons for your convenience. I know some readers don't have blogs and it may be easier to follow on Twitter or Facebook.

I've been following along with the Blog Every Day in May challenge over on Story of My Life. I missed yesterday's challenge, which was to list and describe five of your favorite blogs. Over the weekend I created a page where you can see the blogs I read, which can be found here. I don't know about you, but I love finding new blogs and I especially like seeing who my favorite bloggers read. So let's keep that love going!

This is my "anxious" expression. I start twisting a piece of hair around my fingers and adopt a "pensive" demeanor.

Today's challenge is to get real and talk about something that you are struggling with. To be honest, there's quite a few things I have had to confront and deal with these days. I struggle with saying no to chocolate. I struggle with waking up before 9 a.m. And I can never walk away from a Sex in the City marathon...

But let's be real. I'm graduating in a week and I am so excited and relieved to be finished with that part of my life. But two days after graduation, I immediately dive into an industry that I know very little about: the financial industry. I am so blessed to have found a full-time, salaried job straight out of college, but it's an unknown for me; I am no longer anchored in the harbor of "college life."

I got married a year and a half ago, so I have already grown accustomed to living as an independent adult, but this new opportunity has me a little weak in the knees. What if I fail? What if the corporate work-place isn't for me? What if... what if... what if...?

Last night, my hubby could tell that I was not quite myself. I expressed my fears and doubts in much more length than I have here and he listened patiently. He reminded me of the blessing that is this job and told me that even if by some unforeseen chance it doesn't work out, that I am not going to be a failure. He acknowledged my reasons for being anxious, because the unknown, newness, and change are always unsettling. "I have faith in you" he said to me, "and I will always love you." 

While my anxiety is still present, it's another comfort to have a companion who understands and just pulls you into a loving hug (as he did after our talk). I'm thankful he's by my side. I would be a mess if I had to go it alone. All I can do is continue to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward; take one moment, one day at a time, instead of being so caught up with anxiety that suddenly it's upon you. It's easier that way.

Have Shoes Will Travel?

Day 18 - Tell a story from your childhood. Dig deep and try to be descriptive about what you remember and how you felt.

We all have moments in our childhood where our instincts take over and any sense of reason we have at the age of six completely abandons us. At least I did. This is one of those stories. 

I was in first grade and had become a bit of a tomboy.  My close friend, at the time, was a girl named Jackie. She was so cool. She always had the coolest clothes and newest school supplies (haha). I, on the other hand, was sometimes lacking in the cool department and I realized it when she showed up to school in with the newest set of Air Jordan's on her feet. I was shoe-struck. She walked in and sat down at her desk with pride because everyone was staring at her shoes. 

My eyes glazed over as I stared, my heart pounding louder in my chest. “How awesome were those Jordan's?” I couldn’t get over it. The sleek black material was arranged to make the perfect shoe. The style looked so official, like the wearer was part of something infamous; like they were one with the phenomenon that was Michael Jordan, the hero of the 90's. I had to get myself a pair! 

In a moment of envy, I looked down at my own shoes- they were cheap white tennis shoes with Nala and Simba from the Lion King emblazoned on the sides. Oh, they were also from Payless. I slowly slid my feet farther under my chair in hopes that no one would see them.

As the day wore on, I was able to convince Jackie to switch shoes with me. I must have been able to turn a phrase or two, because she eventually gave up her precious Jordan's for my Lion King sneakers. The day ended and as I rode home on the bus, kids turned around in their seats to take a look at my "new" shoes. I felt so cool and so proud. 

When I got home, it was another story. My mom was on the phone, red faced and anxious. The minute she saw me walk through the door, she shot over to me and told the person on the other end, "she's here and yes, she's wearing the shoes." Apparently, Jackie's mother called the Superintendent of our elementary school district because she thought I was trying to steal her daughter's shoes. Jackie must have failed to mention that we were planning on getting our rightful shoes back to each other the next day.

My mom explained the "brevity" of the situation and that under no circumstances should I ever switch clothes with another kid at school. I nodded my head, embarrassment started to creep in. After calling Jackie's mom, we agreed to wear the shoes back to school so that we could switch them back during morning recess. 

The next morning, I donned the Jordan's and hopped on the bus. This time, my fellow student's stares seemed accusatory and I was no longer proud of my actions. I felt like everyone knew, so I hung my head. When I got to school, I immediately found Jackie, who explained her mother's anger about the switched shoes too. Her Jordan's were clearly more expensive than my Payless Shoe Source sneakers, and her mother had gotten worried and called the school. We were both embarrassed that we had betrayed out mother's trust and given away something special that they had bought for us. I apologized for having caused her any trouble, and we made the switch. 

Jackie handed me back my white Lion King sneakers and I gave up her glistening, black Air Jordan's. Even though my shoes didn't seem as cool to me, my feet slipped right back into the grooves inside the soles, and I knew I was right where I belonged. All was back the way it should be... 

A Favorite Photo

Day 17 of the Blog Every Day in May challenge and we have to choose a favorite a favorite photo of ourselves!

I chose this photo from our engagement shoot. Typical to the laid-back nature of Luis and I, we just had a close friend take photos of us for an afternoon. It was such fun; we ventured all around our little city and took photos along the lakefront of Lake Michigan. This particular photo was one of the best that were captured; we are both so happy and relaxed here. I must interject that Luis really dislikes taking posed photos, so getting a photo of him looking relaxed is not always the easiest tasks to accomplish. Our friend, Joseph, did a great job.

We took these photos about a month before our wedding. It was a whirlwind, to say the least. Looking through our engagement photos made me thankful for the time we spent taking these. They capture us perfectly.

C'est La Vie

I had to really wrack my brain to find a topic for today's Blog Every Day in May challenge; we're supposed to write about our "lot" in life and what we're doing to improve it.

As I sat down to think about it, I realized that, despite facing challenges that come with life in general, I have very little to complain about or blame for anything in my life. I'm so thankful for that.

I've always had family and friends who loved me, I found someone to love and marry and be with for the rest of my life, and I have been successful in other areas of my life. I guess if I had to write about something, it would be about my health. It hasn't been an easy journey for me, but it's definitely something I'm figuring out and working to improve!

When I was 14 I became incredibly sick. I had no idea what was going on and it was really affecting my ability to function. After multiple doctor visits, I was diagnosed with IBS. As of right now, there is no cure and no method of prevention since the medical community doesn't even know what causes the symptoms. Even though that's the case, some doctors believe that certain foods can exacerbate the symptoms. So, I had to make many changes to my diet and continue to monitor which foods seemed to make me feel sick.

Over the next several years I was able to manage my way around it, only getting sick maybe one week out of every six months. But most recently, last year, I became more sick than I'd ever been before. I checked in to the hospital, was put on fluids because I was seriously dehydrated and malnourished (because a common reaction to the symptoms is to not eat because all it does is make you even more sick) and they ran some tests on me, including a CT scan. Long story short, my condition, due to its chronic nature, had developed into something a little more serious- ulcerative colitis. For the rest of 2012, I had to go to extensive doctors visits, exams, and had a minor procedure done to determine the severity of my condition.

Since there is no cure for it, my doctor only had one recommendation- medication. I am not the type of person who runs to get prescriptions every time I have the flu or  a cold so I told my doctor I would do more research about the particular drug I was being prescribed. During my research I found that it is and immune system suppressant, seeing as my body believes it has a contaminate that it's trying to get rid of, when in fact it doesn't. It's common in other auto-immune disorders. Basically the drug would cause my immune system to function at a very low level. This is incredibly risky because I would be susceptible to other germs and bacteria which can cause other sicknesses. I called my doctor to ask whether it was absolutely necessary for me to take medication and she admitted that it wasn't absolutely necessary. It's just the usual next step with patients like me. I then felt free to ask about alternative solutions to handling the symptoms and she recommended several diets, one of them being the elimination of gluten.

As is the usual reaction to someone who is eliminating gluten, you are upset, angry, and anxious about what you can eat. Everything has gluten in it!! You shed a fear tears because now you can't eat donuts anymore (a huge vice of mine) and cake is off limits. Well, that's what I thought anyway. It really helped that I already had someone close to me who was gluten-free (my mother-in-law) so she helped me find brands of g-free bread that didn't taste like cardboard (Goodbye Gluten and Udi's are the best). After several months of doing my own research and embracing new foods, I realized how little I was giving up and how actually toxic our everyday wheat is. I went gluten-free officially in November 2012 and honestly haven't looked back.

All in all, my health has caused some roadblocks in the past, but removing food from my diet that was harmful to me has drastically helped improve my health and the way I feel each day!


Here are some of my favorite sources for gluten-free food creativity if you are or are considering removing gluten from your diet. I know that these blogs and sources really helped me so I wanted to share that with anyone who may also need them.

Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef - Her knowledge about the gluten-free diet is so extensive. She has amazing videos where she walks up and down each aisle of the grocery store and points out which products to avoid and which are safe. I learned so much here.
Silvana's Kitchen - Silvana's website has incredible recipes for gluten-free pastries, desserts, etc.
Gluten-Free Girl - This is my gluten-free Pinterest board with recipes, more sources, and information about the gluten-free diet.
My Five Day Gluten-Free Meal Plan
Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Cookbook - I was given this for my birthday. It's a great cookbook that is perfect for g-free beginners! It includes recipes for fried chicken, chicken pot pie, pizza, muffins, pancakes, etc. All you have to do is buy the Bisquick g-free mixture and you're good to go. It's the best book for the newbie.

A Day in the Life.

Today is Day 15 of the Blog Every Day in May challenge! I have to admit that I've really loved blogging each day. Sometimes I think that my blog needs to be full of large posts, concise tutorials, or lots of photos and content. But this challenge has made me enjoy the little posts and reflections, which is something that I usually don't do.

Currently, my life is very oddly scheduled. I usually wake up around 9:30 am, which I realize is not early at all compared to some. But I have been finishing two credits for my undergraduate degree this Spring and I graduate in a week and a half. That being said, I have had a lot of extra time that I've spent job searching (successfully!), doing freelance design projects, and studying. So each day is different for me.

I usually eat a small breakfast, simply because I am not always hungry right when I wake up. But I eat small amounts constantly through the day. I'm a grazer!

As I said before, I spend a lot of my extra time learning things like CSS and HTML and completing client orders via my Etsy shop. There are a lot of changes I want to make to the layout of this blog, but just don't have the knowledge to carry it out. So I try to learn as much as I can. It's very time consuming!

Sorry about the crappy phone picture... I ordered a new card reader yesterday so I'm crossing my fingers that it will be here by Saturday. This is the first time in about six years that I've been able to read for pleasure. As an English major, everything I read was all for my coursework. So... I'm happy to read books that I've chosen for myself. You can check out what I'm reading in the Goodreads widget that's in the right sidebar.

What do your days look like?

A Few of My Favorite Things.

Today's challenge is not so much a challenge, but more of a reflection on what makes you happy... and it came at just the right time.

1. Luis (my hubby) of course. I love his goofy expression here.
2. Anything that has to do with Paris or France. Culture, language, and cheese, oh my!
3. Afternoon tea... or tea anytime, really. 

4. Baking and cooking good food!
5. Vacations, no matter how big or small.
6. A hot bath.

7. A good book; anything Jane Austen... specifically Pride and Prejudice.
8. Cheese.
9. Writing letters.
10. Funny people.

...and Doctor Who, and my friends and family, and Christmas, and Spring, and chocolate, and being healthy, and kittens, and writing and Kate Middleton, and my favorite blogs. The list goes on!

I want to hear about what makes you happy!

Dear Mom...

Today's challenge is to issue a public apology! Here goes...

Dear Mom, 

Yesterday was Mother's Day and I was so happy to be able to spend the day with you, making you feel like the amazing woman that you are. I know, growing up, that you and I had a few rough patches (or years) where we both realized that we are two very different people. I love that about us. Your strengths are my weaknesses and your wisdom is always needed in my life.

I'm sorry that I yelled at you that one day about how the way you folded my laundry bothered me... What I failed to realize was that I was a (stupid, selfish) seventeen year-old who was lucky to have someone willing to do that for her. I don't know why I remember that particular moment... Perhaps because I'm embarrassed by how petty and silly I can be. There are so many little things (and big things!) you did for me that I am so thankful for. You were always there for me and I know that everything you do was with my brother and I in mind. I hope you know that I love you so much! 

Love, 

Elise

10 Words.

"Sell yourself in 10 words or less" is today's Challenge. This one made me nervous because I'm not the best at describing myself. You know when you go to an interview and the first question they ask is "so tell me a little about yourself"? I break out into a sweat and start rambling... But here goes:

Empathetic.

Positive.

Dreamer.

Introspective. 

Bookworm. 

Love to laugh. 

Loyal. 

Creative.

How would you describe yourself?

Sometimes I Embarrass Myself...

It feels like forever since I've been blogging, and I have to say, I've hated it. I'm having issues with my card reader and haven't been able to upload any photos at all. Since I don't like to create posts without any of my own photos, I haven't been posting at all. However, I'm going to look at it as a way to break out of my blogger "comfort zone" and do something different.

I've been really strapped for time these past few weeks: I'm graduating in a week and a half and starting a new full-time job two days after that. My life has been in flux for most of this month. But I've been really enjoying the posts from bloggers participating in the Blog Every Day in May challenges and I wanted to hop in, even though we're already ten days in.

Today's prompt is to share your most embarrassing moment(s). Lucky for me, most of them happened in my adolescence and have therefore become funny stories that I look back on fondly...

I was in the sixth grade, at the ripe ol' age of 12, and was super thrilled to be a part of our school play, The Emperor's New Clothes. I didn't have a major part at all, in fact, I was only one of the many students whose role was to merely stand around and look occupied. I was the definition of an extra. Either way, our little middle school hadn't done anything like that before and all my friends wanted to be in it, so I decided to join too.

We were instructed to wear all black, so I showed up with a sweater, a long skirt, and a pair of flip flops (remember the days where if you didn't own a pair of those then you were uncool by default??). Yeah... I showed up in flip flops. The show went on without a glitch and since it was the closing night, we had planned to present the director with a bouquet of flowers after the play ended. We all bowed and filed off stage. However, someone stepped on my shoe and ended up breaking the latch that keeps your foot in contact with the sole.

In all the commotion back stage, I desperately tried to fix my shoe because I had been somehow designated as the person who was to give our director the flowers. No one would switch shoes with me, and before I knew what was happening, it was time to give our director the bouquet. A student thrust them into my hands and I was forced to go back out on stage. I ended up hobbling/dragging my foot as I walked so as to at least keep the shoe on my foot. I must have looked like Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame... It took me twice as long to reach the middle of the stage and I'm sure everyone in the back of the gym could hear the shuffling sound that my flip flop made as I dragged it along the stage. I handed her the bouquet and chose to stay put. So, as she was being congratulated, I was this awkward 12 year old just standing next to her as people clapped. I'm sure my grandma has the whole thing on video somewhere... I kind of want to track that footage down.

Flip flops were not the best shoe choice for someone who has a history of being incredibly awkward and goofy. In the photo above, you can see another one of my proud moments where I accidentally dropped my best friend's flip flop into the lake. I also look very awkward...