Updating You on All the Stuff

Here we are on the brink of September! Each new season feels like a new chance at the New Year. So I just gotta talk with you about life and add in a fun assortment of photos that’s been a part of my life, but doesn’t have much to do with this particular post. But that’s how conversations go, right? They’re all over the place! So anyway–

let’s talk goals:

My book is coming along! While I was hoping to have a bit more accomplished by the end of August, I still got a lot done. I wrote a preface, an epilogue, entirely re-worked certain chapters, and I’m deepening the emotions + realness of the story. Guys, it’s getting better. I’m working my way through the book backward and it has opened my eyes to so many things that need to be expressed more deeply.

I wrote the first draft of this book when I was 17-18. Just writing it felt like opening my world, but when I read it now I see how cautious and careful I was to put everything just so., but life isn’t just so. I’m getting excited for the progress, nervous for how people will receive it, anxious to finish it, and fighting hard not to procrastinate. Help me, guys! Cheer me on. I need your loud voices of cheering. We are getting so, so close.

Let’s Talk this Blog:

And I’m going to be extremely honest with you. Remember back in March when I started the Betha Bee series? It was fun & growing for me to work on, but so hard to accomplish each week. Wellllll, I feel like the whole thing has been a complete failure (just being real with ya!). Because it’s hard for me to write humor consistently, it got lost in the shuffle of life. On top of that, I spent the springtime + most of the summer fighting hard to keep my hope + rest in God alone.

Part of me just wants to give up and take the loss, but I don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet. I’m making a few changes to the Betha Bee series that I hope will be better received & easier for me to continue. I will be announcing those changes through the Facebook page in no particular time frame. Just be on the lookout for it! The series hasn’t been forgotten, it just needs some serious help!

To be honest guys, I am figuring out how to transparently share my life + write to encourage you + write more reflective & humorous stories while also staying relatable and open. If anything, I want this blog to be a panoramic picture of life. Life is never just full of one thing..it’s full of many things, and I want my blog to reflect that.

Let’s Talk Upcoming Projects (eeek!):

Yes. Yes. Yes! As if I don’t already have enough going on (ie: a book to finish + a failed Betha Bee series to restore), I am gearing up for October! NO, not because of the pumpkin spice fall stuff, but because I am hosting another October series. This will be my third year doing it and I am so excited about the theme for 2017! Just you wait & see!

During the October series, I will publish a post nearly every day for the entire month. This series is going to be especially good, and I already have a team working hard to bring you encouraging + transparent posts. The series reveal will happen October 1st! I won’t be talking about the series too much until late September…I mean we don’t want to die of excitement or anything. Just know it’s coming and your inbox is going to be full of good stuff this October.

Let’s Talk Life:

Well, it’s been good. Ben and I had a vacation during the 2nd week of August and guys, we literally did NOTHING. We are back to work now & I’ve been cooking much more recently and fish tacos + this easy, easy parmesan chicken have been favorites for us! Seriously, I’m not kidding. Eat them soon. We’ve been taking evening walks with our dog, Franklin and this Wolf Mountain home is so beautiful!

I mentioned through the Facebook page that I am getting back into reading God’s Word consistently. While I did a ton of growing in God throughout this summer, I have felt starved both spiritually & emotionally because I didn’t make reading my Bible a priority. It’s not something you put on your checklist…it’s time you invest in the most important, life-giving relationship of all….God!  And I had only been reading His truth-filled words sporadically through the summer, but absolutely no more of that!

As I start this new season, I begin with new goals. I am hopeful, excited and not discouraged for the things that got lost along the way of 2017. I can’t get overwhelmed by the highs & lows of this year. I just have to make the next right choice, and continue taking small steps forward…no matter what!  The truth is that no year will have you saying, “Well, I’ve arrived. LOOK AT ME GO!” You just keep living, falling, getting back up, resting in God..and so on and so on.

Start 2017 fresh again. BECAUSE YOU CAN. God is in the business of restoring tired hearts, so get back up. It’s time to GO!