family

{I've recently fallen in love with the man behind this music.
How does John Legend hit it every time?}

My family is everything to me.
They are my anchor.
And maybe we aren't perfect, because we're just people.
But they are perfect for me.

I love that the way we celebrate is by sitting down to a beautiful table to enjoy heaping plates of delicious homemade goodness.
I love that we always bicker about which direction to pass the food around the table, and what the difference is between yams and sweet potatoes.

I love that when Dad says "What we have here...is failure to communicate," we all catch the reference.
I love that Mom and I always rewind and replay our favorite parts of First Wives Club, You've Got Mail and Return to Me. And that I grew up watching Barbra Streisand movies.
I love that Christine and I can swap recipes and that we cooked a Thanksgiving feast for the two of us and Blake, because we couldn't cut out any of our favorite dishes.
I love that Kevin has the same teachers that Christine and I had growing up, and that they still remember us.
I love the late night chats Dad and I would have when I got home from working at Anthony's and needed to relax.
I love having Oma and Opa ten minutes away and sharing Sunday dinners with them.

I love that being a Coalwell means you say "police officer" instead of "cop," you probably speak some amount of another language, you don't jump on trampolines, and you love to learn.

I'm so glad we'll all be together forever.
Because it's going to be unbelievable.

I'll always be into print

Loving this campaign and the purpose behind it.

Beauty is always better when it's back with good intentions.

photo via adsoftheworld

take it slow

I have had a lot of really wonderful, completely ordinary everyday moments. And those moments have made my life an adventure.

empowered

One of my unofficial goals for this new year is to start doing yoga.

Today as we were all laying on our mats at the end of class with the lights out, just breathing and trying not to think too much, this phrase cut through the clutter of my mind:

I'm stronger than my weaknesses

We all are.
I don't think I'm much of a runner when it comes to life's issues.
I tend to have the "it's like swallowing a pill" mentality to facing challenges and doing hard things; take a breath and it will be over soon.

But sometimes it's hard to turn off my brain and just let life happen.
Instead of trying to protect myself from every situation.
Because I only have so much control over what will happen.

So I think that will be my new manifesto (or one of them).
Because I have no reason to fear.
This life is beautiful; it's a gift.
And our souls are stronger than our weakest moments.

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

-Ether 12: 27

image via deviantart