Spotlight On: Cadi Griffin

This morning, I am so excited to introduce y'all to one of my dearest friends, former roomie, Cadi. Cadi is so kind and funny and organized.  She challenges the people around her to rise to their full potential. She also works as a middle school counselor and is so passionate about her job and her students. In addition to being an incredible friend, and awesome school counselor, Cadi also makes super cute, and very well priced, wire-wrapped bracelets! Be sure to read all the way to the bottom of this interview to be entered in a giveaway to win one of Cadi's awesome bracelets!  

What prompted you to open your etsy shop?

I truly never intended to open an Etsy shop. I started making bracelets after seeing some from a popular bracelet maker and thinking how outrageous their prices were. After I started making my own, I had friends that would ask about them and want me to make them one. It was actually a friend that suggested I should put some on Etsy!

How do you stay organized?

I live by my yearly Vera Bradley planner! If I don't write something down, chances are it will be much later when whatever someone wanted me to do pops up in my mind. I'm also a big fan of sticky notes!

 

What's the one product you can't live without?

This is a hard one! Most of my friends know that I am a huge Ulta junkie! but a girl can never have too many nail polish or lipstick options!


What's your favorite part about designing and making bracelets? The hardest part?

My favorite part is seeing the finished product and people loving it! The hardest part is choosing the beads or stones. Since I order most of my beads and stones from other sellers on Etsy, instead of purchasing them in person, it can sometimes be difficult to imagine what the end product will look like.

How do you unwind at night?

Before bed I usually watch a little bit of TV and read the daily She Reads Truth devotional.


What's one thing you want to accomplish in the next three years?

Within the next three years I would like to go back to school and work on my specialist degree.

What does your typical day look like?

A typical day starts with me, very slowly, getting up and getting ready for work. My workday is never typical! I work as a middle school counselor for 700 students, so no day is ever the same as the last! But I love the variety; I couldn't imagine doing the exact same thing everyday for 30 years. After work, when I get home, I love scrolling through social media (a terrible habit), sometimes I'll work out, or my roomie and I will go out to eat. After that, because I'm not a morning person, I read my daily devotional!

What would you tell 15-year-old Cadi?

I would tell my 15-year-old self the same thing I frequently tell my kiddos, to just be true to yourself, no matter what others think, and do what makes you happy! Because ultimately your happiness is all that is going to matter!

What is on Bible verse/passage you cling to?

It's hard to pick just one, but as my phone background I keep Psalm 91:4, "He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge." I love this verse because no matter how bad things are going or how unworthy we fell, it's a reminder that Jesus is always there for us, waiting to embrace us.

To enter for a chance to win one of Cadi's super cute bracelets, all you need to do is head over to Cadi's shop, look at her bracelets, and then leave a comment letting me know which one if your favorite?

My favorite of Cadi's creations are these cross wire-wrapped bracelets!

Good luck!

2015 Goals // Part Three // Fired Up. Saying Yes. Saying No.

After figuring out whatdid and didn't work for me in 2014, I started thinking about the things I'm most passionate about. The things that make my heart beat fast. The things that fire me up and make me feel alive. I truly believe the things that fire you up do so for a reason; those passions were built into your soul by God. And I long to live my life in a way that enables me to be purposeful about pursuing and participating in the things that truly fire me up. The list below of things that fire me is not exhaustive, nor is it in any particular order. 

• Loving on high schoolers
• Seeing people come to know Jesus
• Writing/reading/words
• Organization/organizing/cleaning
• The Bible
• Long talks with friends
• Slow weekends
• Praise music
• Grace
• Surprises for people I love
• Dance parties
• Witnessing God build communities 
• Time with my family
• Learning
• Dreaming about my future with Tyler
• Being in the mountains
• To do lists/planners
• Authentic conversations
• Laughter
• Making memories
• Travel
• Cooking
• Encouraging others 

Now that I have a more clear idea of the things that fire me up, as well as the things that did and didn't work last year, it is much easier to see the things in my life that I need to be saying "no" to and the things in my life I long to say "yes" to. 

• Comparison
• Accumulating more and more stuff 
• Making my life about my job 
• Reading the Bible as if it's a story about me 
• Not feeling like I am enough - smart enough, good enough, pretty enough
• Judging myself
• Snooze button
• Perfectionism
• Stifling my own dreams
• Netflix/social media all night long
• Phone after 10 pm
• Feeling like I have to say "yes"

• Boundaries
• Less stuff 
• Trusting God
• Knowing the Bible for myself 
• Phoneless date nights / phoneless time with friends
• Morning prayer time 
• Taking Luna on walks
• Finishing my novel 
• Time with the high schoolers
• Grace up grace
• Forgiveness (for myself and others)
• Working out/eating well
• Writing for fun
• Seeking God above all else
• Getting my financial house in order for good
• Dreaming big dreams over my life 
• Daily gratitude
• Margin
• Joy
• Reading 
• Believing that I can't, but God can

Jenn Loves Books: Gone Girl

I'm almost always the last person to read a book that everyone seems to be reading. The Divergent series, The Fault In Our Stars, The Help. The list could go on and on. Part of me just worries that maybe the book isn't as good as everyone seems to think it is. So, when everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE) was reading Gone Girl, I just didn't jump on the bandwagon.

I finally sat down and decided to read the book after one of my friends gave me such a hard time about having not read it yet. She insisted I would get sucked right in and read it in no time. She was right.

Gone Girl pulls you in immediately with the disappearance of Nick's wife Amy. Nick comes off as aloof and suspicious, and honestly, a liar. The book is smart and keeps you guessing. Just when I thought I knew for sure what had happened, something else would be discovered and my whole theory would change. I literally would text my friend in all caps "NICK IS SUCH A HUGE LIAR AND I HATE HIM." And then have to recant all those feelings two pages later.

I've heard that Flynn's other two books, Sharp Objects and Dark Places, are even darker than Gone Girl. I also have heard that they're not as widely read as Gone Girl. If you've read either of her other works and enjoyed it, let me know.

Have you read Gone Girl? Did the book keep you guessing until the final pages? Did you like it?

Friends Friday

In my little corner of the internet, I want us all to be friends. So let's take this chance to get to know each other a little bit better.

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What is your favorite cold weather accessory: I have recently discovered my love for knit hats. I have one with an extra-large pom on it, and I cannot stop wearing it.

Highlight of your week: We had Waffle House catered to work last night for dinner. They were cooking waffles and hash browns in our office. It was wonderful. It's the little things during tax season you guys.

I would pack a bag and leave for: Barcelona. In a second.

Oscar nominated movie you're dying to see before Sunday: Foxcatcher - It's supposed to be a career altering performance for both Steve Carell and Channing Tatum

Weekend cocktail of choice: Gin with grapefruit juice and a fresh basil leaf. Smile, there is gin.

Now you're turn! Copy the questions below into the comments and tell me about yourself! I can't wait to get to know each of you guys better.

What is your favorite cold weather accessory:

Highlight of your week:

I would pack a bag and leave for ______:

Oscar nominated movie you're dying to see before Sunday:

Weekend cocktail of choice:

The Truth About My Square Life: I Have Time To Read

The Truth About My Square Life is a series attempting to stop pretending the highlight reels of our lives on Instagram are the whole picture. If you're anything like me, I bet you find yourself comparing your real life to other peoples' square lives, their highlight reels, as if it's the whole picture of their lives. And this comparison game is exhausting, and it's stealing our joy.

So let's stop that.

A couple weeks ago I curled up in bed to read after having an impossibly long and exhausting day, and I posted this picture:

I don't know about you, but this Tuesday has just worn me out. So I'm giving myself the night off to curl up with a good book.

What it looks like is going on: I have all the time in the world for leisure activities like reading.  I don't waste my time with mindless activities like binge watching Friends on Netflix.  Oh you do? You know you're killing your brain. Also, I only wear pajamas that match my bedding, because I am just that fancy. I wouldn't be caught dead in sweatpants and a t-shirt. And, of course my glasses are just as fashionable as my nighttime attire.

The truth about my square life: I had had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I got home to be reminded that I hadn't gone to the grocery store, I hadn't done laundry, and I hadn't cleaned my apartment in about a week. I made a half-hearted attempt to do some of those things, gave up, ordered a pizza, and crawled into bed with the whole pizza and Gone Girl. I ate the pizza out of the box in my bed, read for half an hour. Then decided that I was too tired to read, and turned on Netflix. Oh, and I ate the whole pizza...

2015 Goals // Part Two // Victories & Challenges

2014 was an incredible year for me. It was a year filled with friends weddings, and dance parties, and moving into my own apartment. But 2014 was also really hard. It was the year I survived my first tax season, the year I didn't finish the CPA exam, the year that I found myself wondering "why does God seem so distant?"

For me, listing out my victories and challenges was difficult. I really struggled to not just sit around and beat myself up over all the things I should have done better (hello perfectionist). But, that's not the point of making these two lists. The point is the end result, the list of lessons learned over the last year. And while 2014 held many ups and downs for me, it really was a life-shaping year. I feel like 2014, at it's core, was the year I finally sat down and said this is the woman I want to be, these are the things I want others to say about me. 

• Prayer 
• Dance parties - all the time. 
• Saying yes to spending time with the people who matter most to me
• Finding a church home and building my community there 
• Celebrating a whole year as a "big girl" with a job I love
• Volunteering with high schoolers 
• Celebrating big moments in big ways
• Planning outfits for the week on Sundays so that there is less stress throughout the week
• Adopting a greyhound
• Launching this blog
• Listening to worship music more throughout the day
• Setting phone dates with friends 
• Being grateful

• Over-committing; being afraid to say "no" because I might miss out on the fun
• Making a budget and then ignoring it
• Making my God small
• Believing the lie that Instagram is real life
• Comparison
• Not taking time to do things I love
• Feeling attached to my phone
• Ignoring my body telling me to slow down; ignoring the fact that I was sick
• Pushing myself too hard; being too hard on myself; having unreal expectations for where my life "should" be
• Binge watching netflix when I should be sleeping; social media/pinterest when I should be sleeping; keeping my phone within arms reach when I should be sleeping 
• Drinking more diet coke and less water 
• Putting off going to the grocery store/doing laundry/cleaning the apartment 
• Accumulating more stuff

• Prayer is powerful.
• God is never as far away as I feel like He is. 
• I love my job, and it's a great job, but it is not (and should not become) my whole life.
• It is so important to take care of myself, physically and mentally - I've got to fill my cup up. I cannot pour into others if my own cup is empty! 
• Words are powerful and impactful and make my heart flutter. 
• PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE - STOP LOOKING AT THE COMPUTER - TURN OFF THE TV
• Comparison and perfectionism are stealing my joy. 
• Grace, unmerited and unearned favor, changes everything. 

2015 Goals // Part One // So...It's Not January 1st

We're a month and a  half into this year. The year that once stood before us like newly fallen snow. Perfect. Untouched.

We've jumped in with both feet. Parts of this new year and still white and beautiful. But so much of my new year already looks like that left over snow on the side of the street after lots and lots of cars have driven through it. Nasty.

But it's never too late to sit down and stare at that newly fallen snow and declare goals and plans and dreams over your life.

So, it's not January 1st. So what? I have a vision and dreams and ambitions and goals for my life. And I don't want to spend another moment not working towards the life I actually want to live. And, for me, without tangible goals and action steps and great people to hold me accountable, I will end up spending too much of my life on things that just don't matter. I get sidetracked by things that seem important and lose sight of the big picture, of my big purpose.

Luckily, there is nothing special about January 1st. It is never too late to decide that you want to live your life on purpose.

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While I missed out on the latest order of the Lara Casey PowerSheets (which I will be ordering as soon as they become available agin), I am centering my goal planning process around the process used in the PowerSheets, which Lara outlined on her blog at the beginning of the year.

Over the next two weeks I'll walk through what worked and what didn't in 2014, the lessons I learned from the things that did and didn't work, what fires me up, what I'm saying yes to and what I'm saying no to, and finally, proclaiming my goals and the action steps to reach those goals for this coming year.

If you want to join me in setting realistic and realizable goals for your life,

If you long to live on purpose, if you're tired of striving for perfect, and never quite measuring up, if you long for realistic and realizable goals for your life, join me. Let's make big things happen in our lives this year. Let's live our lives on purpose for The Purpose.

#LoveYourCurls

In light of Dove's new ad campaign to #LoveYourCurls, I thought I would get real with you guys about having curly hair. Just incase you've missed it, or you're like me and can't seem to go more than a few days without watching it:

Our curls are perfect this way.

I so related to the little girls in the video who longed to make their hair straight and have it look like everyone else's hair; little-girl-Jenn felt the same way. Honestly, it wasn't until I was in college that I really fell in love with my big curly hair. Now, I love it. While I do straighten my hair from time to time, I definitely prefer to just let my hair do what it does best - get big and curly.

One perk of having curly hair is that it can be super low maintenance. With the right products I can make my curls last two or three days.  I also try to avoid shampooing my hair as much as possible since shampoo is actually very drying, and that's the last thing my already dry curls need. Don't worry, I do condition my hair any time it gets wet, but I probably only shampoo my hair three or four times a month, which means showers take less time.  And a big bottle of shampoo lasts a long time.

These are the products I swear by to get my curls to last as long as possible.

1. Redken Curvaceous Ringlet Perfecting Lotion - This curl lotion gives my freshly washed curls just the right amount of control without weighing my hair down. The product does it's job all day, and even in the middle of July in Georgia, I have little to no frizz.

2. Wide Tooth Comb - Friends are always confused when they come over and need to borrow and brush and I have to tell them I don't have one. The bristles on a brush are far too close together to use on curly hair. The only time I run anything through my hair is when it's wet. I use the comb to get my hair parted and detangled, then I put my products in and stop touching my hair!

3. Dove Refresh + Care Invigorating Dry Shampoo - I've tried several dry shampoos, and Dove's by far does the best job. It smells great, absorbs oils, and doesn't leave a yucky feeling residue on my scalp all day.

4. Bumble + Bumble Curl Conscious Reactivating Mist - Truth, this product has a kind of strange smell when you first spray it on your hair. But it goes away, I promise. I sampled the mist at the mall, and kept making my friend smell my hair to tell me if the strange scent had gone away. It definitely did, and the reactivating mist definitely reactivates your curls. For day two or day three curls, this is my go to. I mist my hair, then start scrunching my curls back to life, and laying down some of the frizz from my pillow.

How do you take care of your hair? What products do you swear by? 

Do you find yourself wishing your hair was different than the way it is?

Flourish: Month One

 

I mentioned earlier this week that I have a mentor through church. She is incredible, and wise, and so clearly hand picked by God to be part of my life. The mentorship program I am participating in is called Flourish: Rooted To Believe.  For January and February our focus is on God's story. We're reading The Story, which is the Bible written into more of a novel. So far it's been great, and is helping me continue to work towards my goal of reading through the Bible in a year!

We've also been reading through Psalm 119 (which is the longest of all the Psalms). Over the last month we have really dug into the first half of Psalm 119, and I cannot get over how much goodness I'm getting out of it. I've never really had guidance on how to just dig into scripture, and spend a whole week meditating on a set of verses, and this time has been radically changing how I approach scripture.  Each time I come back to the week's verses, I feel like I see something new, or understand something a little better.

The best part is, on Friday's all the women participating in the Flourish program instagram a verse, or summary, from the week with the hashtag #Flourish2015. I feel like each week almost the whole passage is represented; it's really interesting to see how God's word speaks to each of us on such an individual basis.

Over the last month, these are the verses that have most struck me:

"I have hidden Your word in my heart; do not let me stray from Your commands." - Psalm 119:10 

What a great opening passage for the year. This passage has become one that I keep going back to; it's such a great reminder that we are not just supposed to read scripture, but know it. Know it so well that it becomes a part of us, buried in our hearts. When I'm tired, and find myself just going through the motions of reading the Bible, this is the verse I come back to to center myself.

"I am a stranger on earth, do not hide Your commands from me." - Psalm 119:19

I love this verse; I love the truth it speaks, that earth is my temporary home. The reminder that Heaven is my true and forever home. Heaven is the place where I am not a stranger. That Heaven is better because I am not a stranger there. This verse challenges me to stop focusing so much on the things of this world, and to fix my eyes on my God who knows me wholly. What a great reminder that I have never been, and will never be, a stranger to my God.

"I will walk around in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts." - Psalm 119:45

God does not want us to be enslaved to anything; with Him there is freedom. His commands do not chain us down. Instead, they set us free. So why do I keep making myself a slave to things that don't matter when my God has already set me free?

"Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth and it endures." - Psalm 119: 89-90

God's word and works will stand the test of time. He, and by extension, His word are sturdy. He is trustworthy. He will always be faithful. To the very end.

#CubeLife: Being The Best Mentee

I believe having a mentor is so important. It's great to have a woman in your life who has walked your path before you, and is able to give advice and wisdom as you make decisions about your life. I am lucky enough to have two mentors: a professional mentor at work, and a spiritual/life mentor through church.

Did you know that in a mentor/mentee relationship, most of the responsibility actually falls on the mentee? The more effort you, as the mentee, put into the relationship, the more you'll be able to glean from your mentor. There are three questions I always like to have answered before I meet with either of my mentors:

What am I currently working on? - At work, this includes projects, professional goals, the status of my CPA license process. With my spiritual/life mentor, this includes personal goals, and areas of growth, as well as what's going on with me and the high schoolers I volunteer with.

What steps am I taking towards the things I'm working on? - For both of my mentors I think of measurable steps I'm taking towards achieving the various things I'm working towards. The key to answering this question is measurability. If you cannot measure your steps in someway, then you cannot track your progress. This either means you're not sure how to reach your goal, or your goals aren't specific enough. If it's the latter, make note of it as something to talk to your mentor about, she probably has an idea of how you can work towards the goal. It's important to write all your steps down so you don't forget when you go to meet with your mentor!

How can my mentor help? - Again, for both of my mentors I look at the goals I'm working towards, what steps I'm taking to reach the goals, and see what holes they can help fill in, or what progress reports I need to be giving so that I'm held accountable for my goals. Sometimes you just need your mentor to be a cheerleader in your corner, other times you might need her to facilitate your work towards your goal.

At the bare minimum, taking the time to answer these questions before meeting with your mentor communicates to your mentor that you value her time, take your relationship with her seriously, and want her input and advice in your life. Remember, your mentor volunteered to give up her time, and genuinely wants to invest in your life!