2014!

So, 2013 is almost over! How crazy is that? I'm actually pretty excited for 2014. With it, comes a lot of milestones for me. And I'm very excited. Okay, so aside from the exciting things coming up, I also am setting a few goals for myself.

1. I want to gain more self confidence. This is a major one for me. I've been working on my confidence lately so this is a huge goal for me for the next year. I also want to stop comparing myself to others and start seeing my beauty. After all, isn't my blog called "simply beautiful"?

2. I want to go out of my comfort zone. Now, when I say this you're probably thinking, "woah! she wants to go like skydiving or something cool!" that's not necessarily what I mean. I want to do something that I would normally maybe be too shy or scared to do. Maybe that means helping someone or going somewhere new. I'm really not totally sure yet what I will do. I believe God wants us to be uncomfortable sometimes. I think that's a big part of being a Christ follower. We must go out of our comfort zone to accomplish big things. 

3. I want to develop a broader perspective of life. Now, this one doesn't really have to happen in 2014. I think this one is just a main goal for me in life. Sometimes I feel like I'm just going through the motions. I really don't want that. I want to fully engage myself in things. I want to engage myself in conversations and friendships unlike I ever truly have. 

4. I want to change someone else's perspective of life. I want to help someone be closer to God and find the true joy that comes when we accept God.

5. Lastly, I just want to find true happiness. I want to have more happy moments. I want to smile more and focus less on the dark moments. This is something I greatly struggle with. Sometimes I'm far too focused on the bad times that I forget that there are so many amazing times coming.

I believe this next year will bring me lots of happiness. Although, there will still be dark times I am ready and excited for what's to come. 

This is what I really want to strive to become. This kind of girl. So, I promise to update you on how well these goals are going. And I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

These are a few of my favorite things...

I've seen quite a few of these posts lately and felt compelled to do one myself:

1. First off, I have to say I LOVE scarves. I pretty much wear one everyday during the fall/winter. It's an obsession.

2. Go ahead and call me cheesy for this one but I love sunrises/sunsets. I know, so cliche but I just can't help it. This morning when I woke up I noticed that the sky looked pink so I ran outside in my Pjs to take a picture. Go ahead and laugh, I understand.

3. Books! I LOVE to read. If I really like a book I'm reading, I will spend hours at a time lost in my book. Some of my all times favorites would have to be To Kill a Mockingbird and Love Does. Two completely different books, I know Haha!

4. Candles! I currently have been lighting an eggnog candle all the time and it really puts me in the Christmas spirit. I love almost every kind of candle. 

5. Lastly, I had a hard time choosing one thing to put for this because my list could go on forever. So, on a more serious note, I love my time that I have of just listening to worship music and spending time with God. It's so renewing and uplifting. Hillsong United Zion... It doesn't get any better than that. 

So, if anyone would like to comment I have to ask: what is one of your all time favorite things?

Thanksgiving!

Today has been wonderful. I love thanksgiving for many reasons. I love spending time with family I never see. I love all the food (doesn't everyone). And I love all of the happiness it brings. A couple of quotes I recently found popped into my mind today and I thought I should share them with you. 

Max Lucado is one of my favorite Christian authors. And ever since I read this quote from him the other day, it has stuck in my mind. I waste a lot of time not doing these things. And it really hit me after reading this that I need to start now. First off, you should know I have a problem sometimes with simply letting go of things. Sometimes you have to realize that maybe something didn't work out, maybe you are disappointed in yourself, maybe someone disappointed you, but you need to just let it go. I need to remind myself more not to waste time dwelling on things when they don't go according to plan. I mean, after all, you never know what God is trying to do in your life. Something might not go how you planned it, but what about God's plan? We may not see it until years from now but God has a plan for you in everything you encounter. When I look back on things that have happened in my life, I realize what God was trying to do. And I'm thankful today that because of His goodness, I can be happy in the moment and not have to worry about what's going to happen next. God has things under control. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Late Night Thoughts

My mind has been a jumbled mess lately. I have had so many things on my mind that it has been driving me crazy! I realize this isn't good at all. One of the biggest things that has been on my mind lately is that I recently discovered that I have a huge lack of confidence! I'm sure many of you know what this feels like. Some days I feel great and I am just in a positive mood and other days I just feel kind of...down I guess. I have struggled with acne since I was in 5th or 6th grade and it has definitely taken a huge toll on my confidence levels. As bad as it sounds I sometimes avoid looking in the mirror in certain lighting because I know that its just going to make me feel bad about my skin. As silly as this sounds, I realized recently that I let my skin get in the way of living my life the way I want to. So, tonight I was just thinking about this and I was like "Leah, really? Are you listening to yourself?" I mean, I let something as small as a breakout ruin my positive mood! And I reminded myself that my blog is called "Simply Beautiful" so, shouldn't I feel beautiful? God doesn't want me to see myself in a negative light. As cliche as it may sound, God tells every one of us that we are beautiful. So, my challenge to myself and anyone reading this is to remind yourself that you are beautiful. God sees you beyond your flaws. And as it turns out, the major "flaws" we find in ourselves end up being small flaws that really mean nothing. And you never know who might find your flaws beautiful. We all have something we don't like about ourselves. But the truth is that God wants us to be confident and know that we are beautiful. I found this verse today and it fits perfectly into this post and it really stuck with me:

"You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way."

- Song of Solomon 4:7 

So, next time you are looking in the mirror at yourself picking out all of your flaws, remember this verse.

Thankful

I have yet to participate in the thankfulness posts so I decided that I would today. As I am sitting here relaxing all morning, I felt it was most appropriate to talk about thankfulness today.

I was re-reading some things from Love Does by Bob Goff, and I know what you're thinking, I have talked about this book already (probably too much). But, I was reading this passage about being a sincere friend and I have to say, I have some of the best friends in the world. But, there's a couple of things Bob says about being a friend: "You know what it is about someone that makes them a friend? A friend doesn't just say things; a friend does." and "If you are a sincere friend, folks around you will quickly understand that there's no hidden agenda and nothing on the other side of the equals sign, just you." I'm so thankful to be able to say that I have these kinds of friends. My friends are always there to listen to me vent and put up with my "giggle attacks" that happen quite often (sorry). Its just really awesome to be blessed with friends like mine in this world today where its extremely hard to find true friends. 

I am so thankful to get to wake up to this incredible view almost everyday lately:

I think this kind of view is a reminder each morning to be thankful. I mean, how could I possibly not be thankful when I get to see this almost everyday?

These verses have been sticking in my mind lately. So thankful!

Happy Happy Happy

My mind is all over the place today...isn't it always?! haha
The past few weeks, well the past month really has been crazy busy! First of all, I was in a wedding on the 19th of one of my best friends! Hailey is like a sister to me and I was so happy to be a part of her big day.

She looked SO gorgeous!! (Totally stole this from Brianna) 

One of my best friends Brianna!

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Brenden, isn't he handsome? :)

On a different note, I came across these verses today and they instantly put a smile on my face:

"The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart. Day and night I'll stick with God; I've got a good thing and I'm not letting go. I'm happy from the inside out, and from the outside in I'm firmly formed." 

-Psalm 16:7-10

I saved these verses on my phone as a reminder to be joyful. Tonight, I am so thankful to have a reason to be happy. And I'm so thankful to go to sleep knowing that God is going to give me more reasons to be happy tomorrow. Even on my bad days when I tend to overlook the good things, God is still good and that is a perfect reason to be happy everyday.

Things I love about fall!

Today's post is not like my usual posts. I want to talk about how much I love fall! The thought sprouted as I was driving and had bright yellow and orange leaves falling on my car. So here you go:

1. The leaves changing color!  This is such a typical thing to say but it really is so beautiful! Especially driving along seeing all the different colors of the trees. Oh, so perfect!

2. Dressing in layers!! Isn't this everyone's favorite? I love when fall colors come out and I get to wear comfy sweaters, boots and boot socks... My absolute favorite kind of clothes. Oh, and I can't forget my favorite clothing item ever... Scarves!

3. Pumpkin spice lattes! And salted caramel hot chocolate from starbucks! I have probably had far too many starbucks drinks in the past month. Gotta love those pumpkin spice lattes.

4. Watching football! I recently found out how much I enjoy watching Ohio State and the Bengals play. Even though I have yet to go to watch a game I love watching it on T.V. 

5. Carving pumpkins and doing fall activities! I love when the whether gets colder and I can carve pumpkins with friends and sit inside and cuddle up with a blanket and watch scary movies. Fall is such a happy time of the year!

P.S. I just finished another Max Lucado book that I read in 5 days! It's called "Fearless." I'll tell you more about it in my next post!

- Lots of love, 

Leah