Late Nights

Sometimes I sit on the couch in our living room late at night, surrounded by the white twinkle lights, the only one awake at this late hour.. and then not wanting to get off the couch, because I have to be the one to turn off all the lights and make sure everything is secure for the night (and I'm scared of the dark.. get at me bro). Anyways.. doing what I do best and procrastinating this mini research paper I should be working on that's due tomorrow, I wandered back over to my blog. I realized the last post was very discouraging. Not too long after I wrote that, I had a sort of "come to Jesus meeting" with myself. I realized I was not living up to my potential. at all. I've been consumed with all of this worldliness--school, social media, relationships, vanity, and everything else. So what am I living for?? Well. The answer is simple. I'm living to honor God in all that I do. But I wasn't doing that. I wasn't acting this out. It's often so easy to just go through each day, and not realize the immense blessing God gives us every single day. It's a magnificent blessing to wake up again and see the sunshine. This in itself should be enough to rejoice in everyday! So I decided to use and appreciate what God has given me. And while I've come off of that high a little bit, there's still this rejuvenated sense of why I'm doing what I'm doing right now. Nursing school kind of sucks sometimes, but every minute is worth it. And God is truly showing me SO much through this experience. And I'm thankful for every minute. 

Also, in honor of the time I use to have to take pictures, here were a few favorites.

A few ordinaries, and a few travels.

 My brothers, the wannabe models

 River, not much more needs to be said about this crazy child :)

Here they are again, my favorite boys.

The simple joys of life in both of these.

The lighting in this was a nice accident

The streets of Edinburgh

Such beautiful places to visit

this place and this girl

P.S. at this moment, it is about 7:30 am in Rome, Italy right now. It's weird that I'm getting ready to go to bed, and Mary-John is probably getting up and ready for the day.  I'm missing my best friend so much. 

Where did you go?

I've lost my motivation for school. 

And I've become an even worse procrastinator. 

So, naturally, I'm blogging. 

Instead of reading the thousands of chapters and studying for my test on Tuesday.

Good thinking, Chels. 

The power of vulnerability

For anyone that still reads this little blog, I highly advise you to take 20 minutes out of your day and watch this. It is probably my favorite TEDtalk, and everything she says is spot on.
Watch on, friends.

Just Dropping By...

I cannot post much, but I just wanted to pay some attention to this little blog. 

First off, I can't believe it's already 2014!!! 

2013 was a year of change, some very heavy and heartbreaking change, but also some very good change. 

Everyone keeps saying 2014 is going to be a big year, so let's hope so!

So far this year I've been to San Antonio with the Blevins family, 

said goodbye to Mary-John as she flew off to Rome for the semester, 

and started my second semester of nursing school. 

My first day of classes and I'm already behind in reading… what??!

So may this year be full of greatness and joy.

I have a feeling God will bless us very graciously.

Picture time with the crazy babies before I came back to Birmingham for the semester!

Black & Whites

Here are just a few of the black and white films from my trip to Europe!

More to come. 

 Bike riding in Bruges

 The lock bridge and a view of the Seine on an evening walk in Paris.

 Notre Dame, 

she lived up to that beautiful name

 Eiffel Tower

One night, we had a picnic here.

Another peek at Bruges. 

I'll say it again, this trip was amazing. 

I shouldn't be blogging right now. 

I'm sure there are about a million and fifteen other things I need to be doing. 

#nursingschool 

#didijusthashtag

#imgoingcrazy

#stillhatehashtags

Food for Thought

“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.”

Thank you, nursing instructors for this little bit of inspiration.

Adventures

So it's been a while.

When I began this grand year of 2013, I had the surest feeling that it would be a great year. 

And it has been so far! 

It's been an interesting year, for sure. 

We've still got 3 more months to go before this year wraps up, but already, so much has happened. 

Since I last posted, my newest niece, Indiana May, was born in May, I adventured to Europe in July, and started nursing school in August. And between each adventure there has been a different small and personal adventure. I've seen small changes in myself already, and they assure me in nursing school that I will not be the same person when I graduate in 2015. 

It's hard to believe this is real. I'm actually on my way to being a nurse. But I think I may possibly drown in all of the extensive reading that is required of me. Whew. But I can do this! 

C'mon 2013... bring on the rest of your adventures! 

Here's a few sneak peeks at my last several months. 

 Oh I miss this baby girl so much... She's now almost 4 months old! 

Miss Indiana May Pritchett

 At Waterloo, in Brussels overlooking the land where Napoleon was defeated

 The Streets of Scotland

 This was a first real view of London!!

 Bonjour, Paris!!

 So we rode on the world's smallest elevator in our Paris hotel.

We got a little stir crazy on our way up to the 5th floor.

 Bruges. Isn't it beautiful?

And Amsterdam.

Perhaps I'll post more on these adventures later in life. 

For now...

I'm probably going to read some nursing books. 

Have a wonderful day!

Le Fleur

I don't know if I can fully explain the extent of my love of flowers.

Bring me flowers any day of the week and I'll be happy.

The beauty is just overwhelming.

So tonight, as I procrastinate, here are some beautiful flowers

(thank you Pinterest)

I'd lie in this field forever 

 But seriously, if my house could overflow with flowers constantly, I'd be perfectly happy.

A flower market in Mexico, how gorgeous.

Los Angeles

Hello little blog!

I'm currently in Los Angeles visiting my brother!

Want to see a few pictures?

Alright!

Day Two:

(Day One, i flew into Los Angeles, ate In-n-Out, chilled with Caleb, and fell asleep before 7 pm)

I was able to hang out with my Framily 

(closer than friends + almost family = framily)

Brennan and Khara (and their adorable pup Mojo) took me to Griffith Park today! 

You can never eat too much of this.

 Selfie? 

As long as it's in front of one of the most incredible views!!

 This city has been amazing so far!!

 Me and Khara, fresh picked flowers!

It was an incredible day.

And then we finished our evening with Intelligentsia coffee.

Quite the perfect hipster, people-watching kind of place.

And good coffee.

I look forward to the rest of the week!!!

This one time I had a blog...