It All Adds Up

Change is something I have a hard time grasping onto - either in the cold hard cash form or when life throws a curve ball at me. Not all change is bad, though. You all know of the bucket list that I've been working on and I'm happy to report that I have been able to cross another item off the list: getting my finances in order. I did this by enrolling into Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and it was one of the hardest classes I've ever taken.

If you're like me, you break out in a cold sweat; feel like puking or running away to a remote desert and sticking your head in the sand when you hear this word: budget.

For five straight weeks this is how I felt every Monday night knowing that class was about to start and we'd have to talk about our budgets. Not fun. But I stuck with it and by week six, I had finally gotten the hang of Dave's way of budgeting and felt like I was on top of the world! Tomorrow will mark the 9th and final class and because of the class, I am a changed person where my finances are concerned. 

If you're struggling with your finances at all, I highly recommend this class. Here are four reasons why:

1) Its Biblical Based...

Dave Ramsey really gleans from the Bible and draws all of his lessons from scripture. Praying about your finances and putting God first and in the center of them is really the key to getting things in order. Not just in a monetary form, but in life as well.

2) Dave Ramsey is real and honest...

He did not come up with this program for his own benefit; he truly wanted to help others. He wanted to teach people how to get out of debt, because he has been there. He went bankrupt and was able to get out of debt by following God's principals regarding money. 

3) It's simplified into 'Baby Steps'...

There are 7 Baby Steps that are to be worked through at a slow pace. I did not really understand this until about week 6, but Dave really does break it down so getting out of debt is doable. It's really true the tortoise wins the race in the money game.

4) If I can do it, you can do it!

Every month I was coming up short on my budget. I did not understand my spending habits at all and was shooting in the dark most months. It was a very stressful way to live. When I started the class the instructor had us tell one thing we hope to accomplish during the course of this class, I admitted that I was a horrible at making a budget and needed desperate help. Now that I know how to budget and stick to it I no longer use a credit card!

Also, God will bless you and help you save money when you make a point to follow his way of managing money. Last March I hurt my foot pretty badly running in a 4 mile race. It was still hurting last month and I made a doctor’s appointment to get an X-Ray even though I wasn't sure how I was going to pay for it. That next Monday I sat next to a new guy in class and asked him where he worked and it turned out that he was a foot doctor! I politely asked him about my foot and he examined it right there on the spot and gave me the good news that nothing was seriously wrong and that it was just a slow healing injury. I was thrilled and cancelled my X-Ray appointment the next day! What an answer to prayer!

Some of you may be fellow Taylor Swift fans and know that her new album came out October 27th. Well, because I'm sticking to my budget, I couldn't buy her album and I was quite sad, but I accepted it. I thought maybe someone would get it for me for Christmas. Then a week later, without them knowing I was trying to save money, two friends of mine thought it would be a good idea to give me the new Taylor Swift album! I cried I was so touched and excited! I am so glad I didn't fall into the temptation and spend out of my budget zone and buy the album. 

So the next time I'm tempted to go out of the budget zone, I'm going to 'Shake It Off' save the money and if you listen closely, you might hear some loose change in my pocket ;)

-A

A Year In Review - Happy Anniversary to my Blog!

Last year in October I started this blog. I started it after I prayed the dangerous prayer that whatever God saw fit to remove and/or bring into my life, that He would do it. It was also after that prayer that I knew it was time to quit Facebook (for seven months)...when I got more into Twitter and Instagram...when some friendships ended and new ones begun...when I really started getting more involved in my new church family...and when I started living my life and relationships more intentionally and chronicling those experiences here on my blog.

In my very first entry I wrote about my fun filled vacation to visit my best friend, Emily in New York. It was a fun entry but I couldn't let it slip that she and Steven were expecting their first child together. That was a hard secret to keep in! The news of Albert (not yet born at that time) came as a shock to me. I was used to most of my friends being married and some even had kids, but Emily and Steven had always been just Emily and Steven. I wasn't quite sure how this would change our relationship. Then on May 31st, Albert Gregory came into the world and honestly, he has enriched Emily and I's friendship. It's hard to describe, but I cannot for the life of me picture a world without him in it. If you're single and your friends are either getting married or having babies and you're worried that it will change the friendship and that they won't need you any longer, that is not true. If they're good friends, they will still include you in their lives. Yes, it will be different, but don't give up on them and the friendship. They are going through one of the biggest changes of their lives and need your support and understanding more than ever.

I mentioned above that God brought new relationships into my life and that would be from my new church home, Immanuel Lutheran. This was far beyond the best decision God lead me to make. I was an attendee of an non-denominational church for four years since I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to follow in my family's footsteps and become a Lutheran. The Sunday I turned 26 I decided that it might be a good idea to check out a local Lutheran church and give it a try. I found Immanuel and never left! It's there that I have met some of the most amazing mentors and made solid friendships. One of my greatest joys was sharing to a co-worker about my new church family and watching her make the decision to also become a member! I encourage you to find a solid Bible teaching church and either join or attend regularly and make those same solid relationships. Being that my family is not on this side of the state, it has helped me still have that family atmosphere.

One of my mentors at church told the story of her divorce during one of the Bible studies I attended last year. After she was done, we thanked her for sharing since it must be hard to do. I'll never forget how she responded that God had healed her enough now that she can share it like she was "describing a bag of chips" to us. She had completely moved on from the hurt and pain and accepted her new life and the blessings God brought into it (she had remarried a wonderful man). During the course of this past year, God decided to remove a few relationships from my life. Life is messy. I don't always know what God is doing in my life when painful circumstances like these happen. It's hard to trust that He is doing a good work in my life. That's why I decided to have a vinyl of my favorite verse (Psalms 27:13-14) made and put it on the wall in my bathroom to see every day because one day, I'll be able to talk about my hurts like I was "describing a bag of chips." Jesus never said life with Him would be easy, but He did say that He'd always be there to help us through.

As writing relationships go, I met bloggers Amy Kessler and Lisa Anderson at Pursuit 2014 and what encouragement I got from them! It's because of Lisa's transparent message at Pursuit that allowed me to acknowledge God's grace in my life when I fail or when relationships sour. It brought me peace. And Amy! The fact that she loves cats and that we found out that we shared the same internship program in DC was thrilling enough! Then she offered (and continues) me some great writing tips. What a fantastic and memorable weekend that was for me! 

Oh and let's not forget the wonderful and talented concert that I got to go to with Bethany: NICKEL CREEK! Ahhh!

And to you, the reader, thank you so much for reading my blog! Thank you for hanging in there with me when I was just learning the ropes (still am!). My main goal is still to inspire and encourage you to build a meaningful relationship with God and others. I hope to continue blogging for a long time to come and that I build relationships with people through this blog.

-A

#ArtPrize 2014

It's here again! The 5th season of West Michigan - ArtPrize. This will be its sixth year in Grand Rapids and I love this time of year because I get to watch downtown Grand Rapids come alive with the hustle and buzz of a real city. Here are some pictures that I captured of the season.

Horse outside of the DeVos Place

There are four stunning glass blown lamps located in the B.O.B.

This is one of my favorite shots...you can even see the glitter in the wood grain

Me & Miss Alyssa

Turtle Girl!

This mans wood carvings made it into the top 20! This turtle here weighs 50 lbs!

-A

#MackinacIsland in Pictures

My parents and I stayed on Mackinac Island for a night and we had such a blast! I think my favorite thing was seeing the little island bats sleeping in shop doorways and riding our bikes to Arch Rock!

Where did you vacation this summer?

My bike!

 

Getting closer!!

View from the water taxi

St. Anne's Church 

We didn't stay here, but it was very pretty

Missionary Bark Chapel

Harbour View Inn - where we stayed!

Isn't it Grand?

I love my Daddie!

Little Stone Church

Arch Rock

-A

When Stars Fall

You don't get the job... A loved one dies far before their time... You feel lost and alone... You get your heartbroken... Your best friend moves away...
These disappointments and harsh reality checks happen to you and to me.

"Do Not Tremble or be Dismayed. For the Lord Your God
is With You Wherever You Go." - Joshua 1:9

Chills. He, the God of the universe...the creator of the stars, is with me...with you. It's overwhelming to think about, especially after I spent last Sunday at the beach watching the sunset with my family. It was a glorious sunset, but the real show was when the stars came out. We all just laid there as my sister pointed out different constellations. I like to think that God put those stars there in the heavens to remind us of His presence to comfort us when we go through hard times.

Recently I received some news that left me feeling discouraged. A day after I received the news, I got a very encouraging and loving email from a dear friend of mine. There was also the time when I got lost while vacationing in Colorado. I didn't know where or how to get where I needed to go and I was scared. But just like Joshua 1:9 says, He would be with me "wherever I go" and just like that, He provided a really nice lady to take me where I needed to go.

I don't know what you're going through in your life in this moment. But know this: Jesus is with you. After all Jesus warned us that we would have trouble on the earth, but to not lose heart because He has overcome earthly troubles, even though we still feel the pain (John 16:33). I encourage you to cling to that hope. Don't give up.

-A

The #Pursuit2014 of Happiness

I can't believe that it's already been about two weeks since I've been home from Colorado. In many ways I still feel like I'm still there. I learned so much about myself and those lessons have just flowed into my post-vacation life. I want to share the memories that I took away from my solo-vacation.

Most of you know that I did this vacation by myself which added a different aspect to this trip altogether. My first adventure was riding a city bus from downtown Colorado Springs back to my hotel. I'm used to catching flights or running to try to catch a train in a foreign country, but city buses are a different story! So on I went to the bus station, since taxis are expensive in Colorado Springs, found the bus I needed, (within 2 minutes of its departure) sat down and tried to relax after being up for 18 hours straight. And I did. Unexpectedly. I sat there on that city bus (for an hour) and read a book amongst the strong odor of legal pot (maybe that's why I was relaxed...lol) and let it sink in that I was on vacation. It's funny how it took an ordinary city bus to help me recognize that this vacation was the start of something special.

The next day, Thursday, was when I got the opportunity to go horseback riding through the Garden of the Gods!

Wow. Just wow! I will never forget the first moment I turned around in my saddle to say something to see what the view looked like behind me and it just literally took my breath away. The mountains were so majestic on the landscape and the clouds were cascading all around them and it was truly a moment of "wow." The group started making fun of me after the 1,000th "wow" haha!

Thursday was also the first night of the Boundless.org conference and they kicked things off with a singles mixer. I had never been to a mixer so I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't need to worry because Boundless.org made it so that it wasn't awkward and I met some great people! During the mixer, Lisa Anderson walked by the table I was at and I got so excited to actually see her that close! I tweeted later that night that I had a #fangirl moment when I saw her and she tweeted me back saying to introduce myself the next time I saw her! On Friday I ran up to her and told her I was the girl from Twitter who had the #fangirl moment and got this great picture with her!!

I have been reading Boundless.org and Lisa's articles since 2005 and meeting her was truly an honor since she has been a mentor to me for all of these years. Lisa closed out the conference on Saturday night by sharing her personal struggles as a single woman in her late 30's. She is an inspiration. It was refreshing to have someone be honest, raw and understand what it is like to be a single Christian in today's culture. Thank you, Lisa!

Later that same day I attended another seminar with four other Boundless.org bloggers. Before the conference I connected with Amy Kessler on Twitter and we hoped to get to meet each other in person. God is so good because I got to meet Amy! Turns out Amy and I have a lot in common including the fact that we went to the same internship program in Washington, D.C. just a year apart! She even shared a few blogging tips with me, too (thanks for reading my blog, Amy!). It was so great to meet her.

There is so much more I'd love to share but this post is long enough already... so I'll leave with the verse that my sister gave me before I left for my trip because it's so true: "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." - Proverbs 16:9

I didn't go to Colorado with much of a plan but just to let the "chips fall where they may" and it was the trip of a lifetime. God was with me on the entire adventure and I felt His presence in the moments of uncertainty and when I was having "mountain top" experiences. Thank you to all who prayed for me while I was away, I appreciate the support so much.

Much love,
-A

#Pursuit2014 In Pictures - A Mountain Top Experience - Garden of the Gods

Don't worry, I will write a post about my solo vacation, but for now, here are some photos! Enjoy!

-A

Sleeping Indian Rock

Just breathtaking...

Rattle Snake Rock

This is the stable grounds before we headed out on the Garden of the Gods tour on horseback

#Pursuit2014

As promised, here is goal no. 2 on my "bucket list" - I'm taking my first ever solo vacation!

This is probably going to be the biggest goal to accomplish on my list since I'm really going out of my comfort zone. I'm a planner and I love structured itineraries of what I'm going to be doing on a vacation. With this trip I'll have three solid days where I really don't know what to expect. So, you'd like to know where I'm going?!?

On August 6th I will be flying out to Colorado Spring, CO on my own to attend: Pursuit!!!

Boundless.org is a Christian blog/webzine for young adults that focus on topics from how to save for your first home to how to date well in the culture we live in. I have been reading their blog posts since I was in high school and they have acted as mentors through many phases of my life. As I mentioned above, this is a huge step out of my comfort zone and I don't know what to expect - but I will tell you this: I am SO excited!

One of the things I'm most excited about is meeting the authors of the articles I've been reading all these years! I'm probably going to have a few "fan-girl" moments for sure (Candice Watters, prepare yourself)! I will be posting photos during the conference on my Twitter account, @PumaAlie10 and I will update my blog from time to time. I will also make time to do touristy stuff such as the Garden of the Gods, Pike's Peak and the Air Force Base.

Another personal goal of mine is to accomplish the 5k that the conference is having while I'm there! I haven't been able to run since I hurt my foot in March (I ran too fast in a 4 mile race) and that's been hard on me. I plan on walking this 5k and it will be a great thrill for me to cross that finish line!!

I also have this strong desire to eat at the local Chick-fil-A! Oh, I can taste their yummy waffle fries and specialty sauce now...and the peppermint shakes...oh my!

Every morning I plan on waking up and running to my window to pull back the curtains and see a mountain! If I can't see one out of my window, the next best thing would be to run outside and start singing, "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music." Yeah, I'm pretty sure these goals will be accomplished! 

I started thinking about doing a vacation like this last year when a fellow blogger and co-worker, Laura, encouraged me to do it. She told me that one of the best things she did while she was single was take a solo vacation and I was instantly inspired. So on the "goal" list it went! Thanks for the idea, Laura (check out her blog here)! 

It feels like ages ago that I signed up for the conference and now I'm only 8 short days away from being in Colorado! It finally sank in last week as I was doing laundry that I am going! I am going to COLORADO! Yes, I have the goals that I listed above, but my number 1 goal for this trip is to learn how to trust. Trust that God is leading me to Colorado and that I have faith that He wouldn't allow me to go on this trip if He didn't want me to. I have a feeling that this will be a trip that I will cherish forever and the amount of support I have gotten when I tell people what I am doing has been so uplifting. There have been times where I've questioned whether I should do this or not, but I have this peace that now is the time for me to go. 

Let the countdown commence! 

 -A

PS: I would love any sight-seeing tips in my comment section below!

Self-pity

"Self-pity is our worst enemy, and if we yield to it,
we can never do anything wise in this world." - Helen Keller

This quote was in my devotional today and I thought I'd share it with all of you. Great thoughts from a great woman. 

-A

Nickel Creek Flabbergast Sold Out Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park Concert Goers

It felt as if the Rapture took place on July 9, 2014 as the members of Nickel Creek, Sara Watkins (fiddle, vocals); Chris Thile (mandolin, vocals) and Sean Watkins (guitar, vocals) left the sold out audience feeling as if they had gone to heaven last night with tunes such as “21^st of May” to kick off their summer tour in Grand Rapids, MI.

 

Nickel Creek, famous for their bluegrass roots and folk style of telling a story through their lyrics, opened the night with the first song off their new album, A Dotted Line, “Rest of My Life” and they did not disappoint after that. 

This band, recently reunited, is well seasoned in performing despite their musical hiatus of seven years and it showed with a “seamless” guitar switch when a guitar string broke off Sean Watkins instrument mid song. Watkins, who just released his own solo album, is the picturesque of hilarity and wisdom as he told the story of why he wrote the “21^st of May.” He told of seeing a multitude of billboards back in 2011 that proclaimed the end of the world and “wanted to pen one more song if that was really true.” Lucky for us, that wasn’t his last song.

Their camaraderie shined through each instrumental piece such as, “Scotch and Chocolate” and “The Smoothie Song” songs that they’ve been playing together for over a decade. 

This trio certainly has a love affair with each of their instruments and Thile’s enthusiastic partnership with his mandolin is a classic example of this. After watching it’s no surprise that he has won multiple Grammy’s and various other awards for his pure talent and he puts his all into each chord – especially the “angry” song, “You Don’t Know What’s Going On.”

Dressed in a chic black lace dress paired with black pumps, Sara Watkins can definitely hold her own amongst the men of the trio. Watkins, who has an impressive solo career, showed the audience at Frederik Meijer Gardens her spunk as she played her fiddle and chimed in with perfect harmony with Thile and Watkins. 

The set included a well-rounded mix of their new album and their older music which pleased the devoted and recent fan alike. Nickel Creek played for a solid 90 minutes and finished the night with an encore featuring Sara’s breathtaking “Where is Love Now?” and the rambunctious crowd pleasing song “The Fox.” Nickel Creek makes the audience feel that they have found a musical soul mate and before the climax has been reached, the love affair is over and reality is back once more.  

Set List Includes (may not be in order):

“Rest of My Life”
“This Side”
“Destination”
“The Lighthouse”
“When You Come Back Down”
“21^st of May”
“Scotch and Chocolate”
“The Smoothie Song”
“Elephant in the Corn”
“Hayloft”
“Anthony”
“You Don’t Know What’s Going On”
“Somebody More Like You”
Encore:
“Where is Love Now?”
“The Fox”

PS: This was seriously the best concert I have ever been to (sorry TSwift) and many tears were shed on my part. I was fortunate enough to snag front row seats for me and my friend, Bethany and the only thing stopping me from jumping on stage was a massive row of flowers (and the guard)! My favorite parts of the concert were when Chris, Sara and Sean would talk to each other and the audience. I couldn't help crying when Sara sang "Where is Love Now?"

And I swear Chris was looking right at me when he sang "When You Come Back Down" *sigh* 

If I never go to another concert in my life, I'm ok with that. 

Love, 

-A

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They're gone... :o(