GRATITUDES + BREAKTHROUGHS // February 20, 2017

Gratitudes

Above you’ll see the most adorable sneak peek from Jessica + Sean’s engagement session on Saturday afternoon. Originally when we book the session, these two had hopes for snow and instead they enjoyed the 70 degree weather! These two are planning their wedding for August 2017, I can’t wait to share their full session just as soon as I’m done editing.

Yesterday I went with my Mom, two sisters and Gran to try on wedding dresses. Not for me – ha! – but for my baby sister Kensey. We made two appointments at shops in Fredericksburg to get started. This was the first time Kensey had tried on dresses so it was really fun seeing what styles and shapes work best for her personality and figure. In our family we have a wedding dress rule, that whoever the bride is HAS to try on one dress that each person hand selected for them. So you can only image the various styles that came from our group yesterday, some of them were quite lovely others… not so much. We do this in order to make sure we all keep an open mind and a sense of humor. I’m stating it right here on this blog, I think Kensey found THE dress yesterday, I’ll follow up in a few weeks when she makes her final decision.

I have finally found a yoga studio that I love near my house. For the past year I’ve been taking classes at a place near my parents house when I visit and working on an at home practice. Bikram Centreville has everything I’ve been searching for, as a lover of the Bikram practice I felt like I had been missing it for the past 4 years. This studio offers Bikram, heated vinyasa flow and yin. It’s so nice having the option to enjoy the healing and opening powers of Bikram while pushing through the strength and power building vinyasa. I’m only sad I didn’t find it sooner and even more sad when I move next month I might not be able to attend and will be on the hunt again. But for right now I’m fortunate to have found a place that has really spoken to my heart.

I needed to get away from the sparkles this week and Road House Blue’s was the right fit. This navy came from OPI’s 2011 Touring America Collection. It has purple undertones and a cream finish. I love how deep the color is and the formula is thick too. I only needed two coats of color before the top coat. If you want a break from the ever popular Russian Navy I would highly suggest this one.

Breakthroughs

During yoga teacher training we had an exercise that the whole class participated in, that we loving dubbed the “ouija book.” This book my Melody Beattie, Journey to the Heart – Daily Meditations on the Path to Freeing Your Soul was tossed around class. Each person who caught it had to randomly flip to a page and read a passage. The point of the exercise was to relate the passage with something that was going on in your life and reflect on the message it was bringing you. So many times in class these readings were spot on and would elicit some pretty strong reactions from people from crying, anger and speechlessness.

Last week was a pretty rough week again with online searches for houses, the process of packing and still getting adjusted to the long distance between me and the bf. Katlyn ended up surprising me with the book and gave it to me yesterday. As I was getting ready for bed I flip to a page and here’s what it said:

Embrace the Change

You don’t have to fear change. What you need to fear, a friend once told me, is things that remain the same. When that happens, life has stopped.

Life is an evolution. Your life is constantly, quietly evolving each moment into something new, something different, something that adds gracefully, beautifully, and perfectly to what it was. You can trust that process with all it’s insights, clarity, confusion and emotions. You can trust that process with its peace, joy, laughter, and it’s side trips.

Learn to honor and love the process of continual evolution and transformation. It’s how things grow. It’s how you grow. It’s how life is.

Learn to embrace change.

Okay universe, you got me. I’ll be reading this passage daily in a hope to calm my racing mind and really try to welcome all of the upcoming change.

As always thanks for reading, xoxo.