One Little Word, Choose.

Choose: verb // to pick out or select as being the best or most appropriate of two or more alternatives. 

It's practically 2015, can you smell it in the air? The chance to restart, refresh, learn from 2014, & really move forward with a clear direction. I most certainly can. I unknowingly started the One Little Word in 2013 with the word BRAVE, a word that fell into place after a year chock full of huge, life changing milestones. In 2014, I felt inclined to make my OLW TRUST, at a time in my life where I needed to learn not to question as much and just trust in my plan. 

This year I am choosing the word, CHOOSE.

After a year of trusting (often times not willingly) I am ready to plant my feet firm and make my own choices. 

In 2015:

I will CHOOSE to enjoy life to its fullest extent.

These are the days! The days I will look back on many years down the road and realize I didn't take enough advantage of the freedom of time I have to read great books, drink good coffee, sleep in late, & spend quality time with those I love. 

I will CHOOSE to be present in my every day. 

This means cleaner eating (possibly trying a bout of Whole30 to get me on track), exercise (getting more active in road biking and running // hopefully a Half Marathon this year), quality time with my husband (less tv, phones, electronics) and basically all of the things that make me feel giddy & refreshed.  

I will CHOOSE how I let things affect me.

Rather than let my emotions get the best of me, I vow to accept the responsibility that I have a choice in how I allow things to affect me in my daily life. There are things and people, I've learned, that I cannot change no matter how hard I try, but the one thing I can be in control of is how I choose to respond (or not respond) to them. This year, I am going to CHOOSE the people in my life who make me a better person, CHOOSE to allow those who don't bring something positive to my life to get packing & above all else, I will CHOOSE myself. 

I will CHOOSE myself. 

This means taking care of myself first & foremost (healthier eating, exercising frequently, and maybe even a massage every once in a while!). I am also choosing to stop being so dang hard on myself & instead focus my efforts on how much I have to offer the world with my God-given skills and abilities rather than second guessing myself. 

When you think about it, it is amazing how many choices we make on a daily basis. While most of these are essentially unimportant (what to eat, wear etc.), some decisions can have much greater effects on our lives & well being. I hope that 2015 will allow me to CHOOSE those options that make me a better person both inside and out. I hope you'll be a part of this journey. 

Peace,

Allison

One Little Word, Trust.

Trust: noun firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

This year I am inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Elise Blaha, and am going to begin 2014 with One Little Word that will resonate throughout this new year. The word I picked for 2014 is TRUST. Without knowing it, I picked the word BRAVE last year as I mentioned in this post. This year, TRUST is something that I know I am going to need as I am now almost two years out of college, newly married, and starting my career. Often times it is easy to get overwhelmed by the craziness of life, but I am going to focus on letting things happen and "Trusting" or learning to TRUST my purpose. I will continue to use this word for different posts throughout the year exploring what it means to really TRUST both personally and spiritually. Don't worry my blog will always have DIY projects and the like but I would also like to use my outlet to its full capacity and I hope it inspires you as well in some form or another to look within yourself. Here are some of the things I have brainstormed for my One Little Word.

trust.

trust in myself. 

trust in my plan and purpose.

trust that I am exactly where I need to be to go where I am supposed to go.

trust in my abilities as a wife, daughter, sister, and friend. 

trust in my skills in my profession.

trust in my faith.

trust in my husband to look out for me so I don't need to be so independent. 

trust my choices.

trust my instincts.

trust my creative talents. 

trust in who I am and who I am becoming. 

trust others. 

trust that all things will work out in the end. 

trust in my marriage. 

trust my ability to love and be loved. 

trust in the adventures to come. 

trust in the timing of all things. 

trust in the good of the world. 

Hope you'll enjoy this new adventure with me!

Peace, 

Allison 

Smell Yah Later, 2013. A Year in Review.

Bought our Home March 2013

Image: Jamie Brant Photography

Got Married 09.28.2013 Fort Mill, SC

Mini-Moon in Southport, NC October 2013

Most Popular Blog Posts of 2013:

1. Will You Be My Bridesmaid?  2. Projects!!

3. Laundry Room Before & After 4. DIY Wedding Photo Booth

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LOVE Upcycled Wine Cork Letters : 33 Repins!! 5 Likes!!

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This year has been crazy, fantastic, exhausting, exciting, and overwhelming. While this blog is a place I want to share the things that bring me joy, I never want to come across as if I have it all together, because frankly, like all humans, I do not. I would love to say that all of the things I accomplished this year have been easy. To me, being me, it was one of the toughest years for me personally. I really had to go deep within myself to be BRAVE (my One Little Word for 2013 that I did not realized until the end of the year) and put my game face on to all of the obstacles and challenges that were in my way. Granted, I got through them all, but it was not without some/ many very emotional breakdowns. 

I took on a lot this year. The rewards have been so large and fantastic but at the same time they came with so much more responsibility and being me, second thoughts. For some, on the outside, this year may have seemed so "over the top," so full of benefits being reaped; but, in fact, it was quite the inner and sometimes outer struggle all at once that really challenged who I am at my core. Yes, I planned a wedding, bought a beautiful house, had a loving and understanding partner along the way (I thank God for him every day), got through two mentally and physically grueling academies, started what may be a career for me, got married, and started this blog. In all honesty, (and I am not by any means being ungrateful or unappreciative because I am all of those things as well) as the person going through it all with my family at a distance and scarce girl friends in the area to help me at my lowest points, I felt like I was at times so undeserving of such amazing things and, very honestly, fearful that I could not live up to the responsibilities that they each require. Who am I at age 23 to be entrusted with such things that quite frankly, I am so unknowledgeable at taking care of (ie. home ownership and repairs)? 

Being BRAVE took on so many facets in my life this year. I had to step up to the plate and try to assume the role of someone who is BRAVE when in reality I am quite the cowardish girl, or so I feel, on the inside. I had to stand up as a leader ( I was voluntold to be our Assistant Class Leader) in my academies next to my peers who were often times older, much more seasoned, and the majority of whom were of the male gender. I was often times looked at as the "one to beat" when inside I felt that I had no idea how to accomplish the task at hand and would much rather have been a follower in such circumstances if given the opportunity. In the work force, I was challenged as a strong (seeming) female to squash my feminist views and try and conform or fit into a male dominated field while obviously having the emotional highs and lows of a typical female. At home, I was molding before my own eyes and beyond my control into a (slightly) domesticated housewife, making lists and requiring chores that I never even witnessed in a "two parent" home, seeing as I am the child of a divorce at an early age. Never mind the fact that on top of all of the male populated activities I was involved in through my training, I was trying to put my feminine and creative touches on our wedding, all while my inner divorced child mind kept whispering fallacies that marriages are destructible, impossible, and damaging to my future (very future!) children's psyche. 

Oh sure, this year was beyond fantastic in its own rite, but you see there was so much more going on under the surface resulting in many boiling over emotional breakdowns that my poor optimistic future (now current) husband had to bring me back down to reality from. I am deeply grateful for the courage I have cultivated this year, but again if I am being entirely honest, I am so looking forward to the calm after the storm. Yes, I have been BRAVE this year when instinct told me I was not enough or capable, but I look forward to 2014 when I am going to learn to take a step back, step down from my over-thinking/ second guessing tendencies and just TRUST (my One Little Word for 2014) that I am where I need to be to go where I am supposed to go. Cheers to 2014! 

Smell yah later 2013! Happy New Year! 

Peace, 
Allison 

P.S. Sharing honest thoughts is very difficult in such a public forum, but I believe that being honest with my friends and readers is much better than faking that life is all DIY and no real challenges along the way. I look forward to 2014 and the journey that Hous.Love.Dog.Blog is embarking on!