Yum!

Katie at Marriage Confessions is doing a giveaway for $100 gift card to Olive Garden. A chance for free food? Sign me up!

Josh and I had our first date at Olive Garden, so every time I go, it brings back special memories. Plus I love their salad and breadsticks! We went a few weeks ago with some friends, and everything was delicious. So when I saw Katie's post and the chance to win a gift card, I couldn't resist.

High Five for Friday!

Five things that I loved this week...

1. The fact that it's raining today and there is cooler weather on the horizon! No more feeling like summer in January!

2. Dinner & Laser tag last weekend with some friends. Why isn't laser tag cool anymore?

3. The mirror I bought at Hobby Lobby. I may or may not be obsessed with it. I also may or may not still have no idea where I'm going to put it!

4. Thirty-One's new spring line debuts next week, and I am in love with the new prints!

 

5. We have pretty much NO plans this weekend, and I am excited to be able to relax!

Happy Friday, friends!

What It Means

When I first started this blog, it was shortly after Josh and I were married. I knew that being married was going to be a whole new adventure, and I wanted to start a blog to chronicle the moments. I've always loved writing, and had often contemplated blogging, and being a newlywed seemed like a great time to start. I originally named my blog "Life as Josh's Wife" and wrote one post (you can still read it, way back here).

I had great intentions and not so much committment. Life took over and my one and only post stayed there with no visitors.

One day I was driving and heard Andrew Peterson's song Dancing In The Mine Fields on the radio, and I loved it. I love folk music, and I love Andrew Peterson, and this song is a perfect example of why. As I listened to it in the car, I was touched by what a perfect analogy for marriage it is.

Not just marriage, but faith, and friendships, and everything else.

If I've learned one thing in my twenty-something years, it's that life isn't easy at all. There are so many mines around. So many ways that we can be caught off guard and all our plans and best intentions can be blown up.

The other thing I've learned is that we're never alone; even at the hardest, darkest times, God is with us. And that's what I want to learn to embrace. I want to dance through life--embracing the good parts, without fear or anxiety over the mines.

So when I was inspired to start blogging again, I knew that's where I wanted my focus to be--finding the joy among the mines of everyday life.

Midweek Confessions

I'm linking up to E again because these are therapeutic! I like spilling my guts.

• I hate, hate, HATE the dentist. HATE. Is that clear enough? They scare me to death. I have no idea why, really. Even the ones that sedate you scare me. I keep saying I'm just going to let all my teeth fall out and get fake ones and be done with the dentist.
• I just bought a mirror at Hobby Lobby that I have no idea where I am going to put it. We live in a one bedroom apartment and don't have a ton of space. Justification: it was 50% off, I had a gift card from my MIL for Christmas, it is gorgeous, and it was made in America. What do you think?

• I hate the amount of time it takes to put on makeup the morning, but I hate the way I look without makeup more. I don't wear a ton, but I have to at least do my eyes or I look like I'm 12.
• I didn't watch the State of the Union last night. Josh did, and complained the whole time. This is why I don't watch--because I'd just be annoyed. So I ignored it. 
• I think I could give up sweets pretty easily. What I can not give up is cheese and bread. I could live off of either one of those.
• Whenever I use my computer, I realize how disgustingly dirty it is. Dusty and the screen has some random smudges on it. But I always forget to actually clean it. Oops.

That's it for this week!

I Love Hate Just Don't Know About Florida...

There are some things I really, really enjoy about living in the Sunshine State.

For one, sunshine! I only like rainy days when I can curl up in bed and watch movies all day.
I like the beach. 
I like the ocean.
I like being close to Disney, Universal, Sea World, etc so theoretically, I could go whenever I wanted. Noth that I have gone in years.
From what minimal snow exposure I've had, I think I like not having to deal with snow.
I like fresh oranges all year long.
I like being close to the South but not really in the South.
 
But this...this I could live without:

 

Really? 81 degrees in the middle of January? I want to wear sweaters and jeans and boots, and this weather is not cooperating with my winter wardrobe.

Puppy Love

Josh and I don't have kids yet, but we do have two furry friends that think they are our kids.

We adopted both of our dogs without knowing much about them. Riley (the big lab/shepherd mix) came from a Walmart parking lot where a man was giving away puppies for free. June (the little terrier) came from an ad on Craiglist. We lucked out, though, and both of our girls are sweet, playful and generally well behaved.

And now, because I am too tired to write an actual post, I will shower you with pictures of the furballs:

Our girls get along really well with each other, too. They snuggle together and play together, and share their toys without fighting. 

I can only hope that one day when we do have kids, they get along as easily! (Yeah, right. I probably just cursed myself!)

If you just can't get enough of Riley & June, you can always follow my feed on Instagram @NormySapp!

On Insecurity

Since I switched my day off and have been able to go to church on Wednesday nights, I've been going to a woman's Bible study based on the book So Long Insecurity by Beth Moore.

I have some Beth Moore experience under my belt from college, and while I love to roll my eyes at how ridiculous she can be, I have always learned from her. This time around isn't any different.

Last week, one of the challenges was for us to think about how our insecurity limits us. To really, honestly take a look at our lives and see what we're missing out on because of insecurity.

Now, I'll admit, I've always struggled with insecurity. I'm generally quiet and shy and it takes a while for me to warm up to new people. But I had never really given any amount of thought to what I was missing out on because of my insecurity. Or given any thought to the idea that I didn't have to be insecure, that it was something I could change.

I was kind of shocked when I started paying attentions to the things that I hold back from because of insecurity...

• There's a knitting group meet up that I keep saying I'm going to go to, to learn to knit and meet new people. I've been saying this for almost a year and still haven't gone. 
• When I'm ordering food I hesitate to make special requests. My boss is very specific about how she likes her sushi, and it is torture when I have to order it!
• I am an independent consultant for Thirty One Gifts.While I love their products, I very rarely promote my business or invite people to host parties.
• Coming up with blog posts is difficult, because I'm always worried that I'll bore you to death or that you won't like what I wrote. 
• On our first date, I wouldn't look Josh in the eyes and I barely talked to him. Good thing he was willing to look past that!

I'm sure I could think of plenty more, but you get the idea.

Yikes.

John 10:10 tells us that God wants us to live abundantly.

I know this, but often I am too worried about what others will think or how I will feel to embrace it. As I said, I've always just looked at my insecurity as a character trait, part of my personality, not something I could actually change. But I am beginning to realize that maybe I can change, and maybe I need to. Maybe I shouldn't spend so much time worrying about what everyone else thinks, and instead dwell on what God thinks.