a challenge to love

 image via weheartit

any other year, i would have mocked those who celebrated a holiday on february 14th, or spoken out against the day when everybody decides to be love-dovey and show their "corny" love for others, claiming that we should do this every day, not only on valentine's day. 

this year, i've gained a new perspective. 

a few things have happened the in the past couple of months..... 

1. i got a tattoo (i'll get to how this has any relation to this, i promise). 

2. i started leading a bible study corresponding to the book stargirl by jerry spinelli. 

in stargirl, one of the major ideas presented in the book is to have a general love towards those around you, genuinely caring about what they are going through, and celebrating every moment with them. i say this is a "general love" because in the book it is directed towards every human being, almost as if it is a common necessity for life, a respect paid to each individual. 

this idea has really gotten me thinking lately about whether i truly love and care about every person i come in contact with, as the main character, stargirl, does in the book. before this bible study began, i started to evaluate myself in the terms of how much i really love people in general, leading to my tattoo: "the greatest of these is love." not only is that part of my favorite verse, but it is a daily reminder to me that love is the most powerful thing, because it can and has conquered so much, challenging me to do everything in love. 

this past week, i have been mulling over the idea of valentine's day (which isn't difficult when you work in bakery and are surrounded by heart shaped cookies and donuts and cheesecake and cake and everything), trying to find some grand meaning to it, and today, while i was mentally complaining that i had to help a customer after we closed for the night, it hit me.

yes, people do use valentine's day as a day to show their love for others, and yes, others find it depressing that they don't have a "valentine," but what if i've been missing the point? valentine's day doesn't just have to be about grand confessions of love, rather, it is about an even grander challenge to love. 

therefore, i have decided that valentine's day will no longer bring back bad memories of elementary school, middle school, and high school, but it will be a challenge for me to love everyone i come in contact with, just as Christ loved all he met- even those who nailed him to the cross. 

i will finally admit that valentine's day is the day of love, but minus all the chocolate and roses, and instead a day to help me remember what love really means, and to challenge me to show it. 

Overflowing with inspiration

i received the blog love e-course (from Red Velvet, the amazing store owned by this lovely lady) as a christmas gift, and i have already made read through every session, making tons of little notes all along the way! needless to say, i am more than inspired right now. i am so excited to start working on redesigning my blog in any amount of free time this week!

so, i wanted to just give you guys a peek of what has been going through my mind 24-7 since i started this course! i love all of these rich colors, and i am just giddy to reveal my new blog design and so many different and new features to my blog! eeek. i just cannot contain my excitement. 

also, i have decided to not post my "picture a day" pictures every single day on my blog, because that just seems kinda redundant. instead, i will upload them every day to my flickr account if you want to keep track, and then i will post a weekly recap of the pictures i took over the previous week!

have a splendid week!

xoxo, abbey.

Happy Birthday to me!

 last thursday was my 18th birthday! and it was sooo much fun. i got my first tattoo, and i couldn't be happier with it! it was a day of fun and time with family! surprisingly, the tattoo didn't hurt as much as i thought it would, which i was quite relieved by! my tattoo is part of my favorite verse 1 cor 13:13, and it says "the greatest of these is love." it reminds me that i need to always love, even if it's hard to, because love is the most powerful thing on earth, because its what saves me every day. 

 my birthday outfit! and the first time that i have worn jeans and felt good for a long time! shirt, target (it's missoni! xmas gift!). cardigan & jeans, gap. 

i've decided to take a picture a day this year, and do something creative with them, and commemorate the year. for my first picture, i took a picture of my newly completed case for my kindle fire. i crocheted this new year's eve and new years day, and i had a lot of fun taking the time to do it. 

i have fallen behind on being creative, and i've decided to change that this year! i will share some more of my goals later this week!

happy new year! 

xoxo, abbey 

Happy Holidays!

hello everyone! it has been the longest time since i have posted, and i have been seriously missing it! i was going to do a super fun post filled with me playing with one of my christmas gifts, but.... i kinda got sidetracked reading really pretty blogs and dreaming up a beautiful new blog design! so, this is me telling you that there will be some things changing here the next few days.. and i am so giddy about it.. cause i'm nerdy like that. i wish that i could do it now, but i need my dear friend ali to take some pictures for me tomorrow so that i can add some eye-candy to my blog!
in other news... my 18th birthday is this week!! woohoo! and......... i have an appointment for 2:00 on thursday (my birthday) for my first tattoo! i am more than excited! like, words cant even explain. i have been waiting for this day for months, and its finally almost here! and don't worry.. i will definitely have pictures to show on thursday, and hopefully ali will be there to take some pictures! (i sure am making tons of plans for her, without her knowing.. lets just hope that she's ok with it!)
it's nice to be back after a crazy couple of months, that i just don't want to talk about. i'm looking ahead to this fabulous new year!
xoxo, abbey.

Shhhh.

So, I have a little secret.
And you can't tell anyone.
I like.... clothes. Alot.
And, it's kinda a problem, quite an expensive one, actually. Especially when I fall in love with certain Anthropologie pieces, which, are like..whoa, swoon.. and then I see the price, and I'm like.. just stab me in the heart why don't ya.
Just had to share, cause I'm being super fashion-inspired right now.... maybe it's because I'm watching project runway... and I'll share loves tomorrow.. or later tonight.. or sometime.
In other news, I applied for a college tonight. And it's probably where I'm going to go.. so we'll see. I've been super stressed out lately with school work and some other things, and piling the stress of making it into a certain school on top of it all was just bringing me down so much. So, I decided to go back to my original idea for school, that is so much more laid back than quite a few of the schools I was looking at: Rogers State University in Claremore, OK. I am already so relieved compared to the beginning of the week, especially now that I am pretty sure on where I want to go to school, and since I want to stay in the Tulsa area, which is only 30 minutes from the school. Needless to say, I feel really good about college right now, and it's just something that is finally off my chest. What's really funny though, is that I started out wanting to got RSU, and over time, I changed my mind so many times on what I wanted, and where I wanted to go, but now I'm back to my original idea, but with different intentions, and I kinda love it.
Last night, I started training for my new job as an art teacher at Young Rembrandts, an after school art program, and I am sooo excited to start teaching! Tomorrow, I will be finishing up my training, and will probably be observing a class next week.. and then..... FALL BREAK. Goodness, I need this soo much. It will be such a relief after all the craziness going on right now. And, during fall break, I will hopefully be taking some senior pictures of one of the coolest seniors I know, and we've got some cool ideas for this photo shoot!
Well, that's what's been going on in my world this week. Hope you guys have had a great week so far!
xo, abbey.

Past Week in Pictures

So, I kinda enjoy taking pics with my phone. Cause I can edit them in quick, toy camera-esque ways that make me smile, in a fun, unexpected, random way. And who doesn't like taking pics with their phone when they don't have their professional camera on them? Or when they don't feel like getting out said camera? So.. here is the past half-week-ish in pictures.

My lovely breakfast on Thursday for my mental health day. 

My precious kitten

My fun pixie cut.. that I have yet to post real pics of!

And my other baby, who has been quite sick lately.. 

Well, that's been my week! Hope that you guys are having a good week so far!

xo. abbey

Inspiration: Adele

 Oh Adele. Not only does she have exceptional style, but she possesses such a strong body image, even though she has gotten quite a bit of criticism for not being a size 2 like every other young woman celebrity out there. For many, the fact that she doesn't fit the "socially accepted" body style for women today is so incredibly empowering  especially since she advocates how comfortable she is with her body.
I have personally struggled for years with my own body image, resulting in some harsh criticism of myself. When I first starting listening to Adele's beautiful music, I thought that she was like every other female musician: fashionable and tiny (disclaimer: there is anything wrong with women that are small, because every woman is beautiful, I'm just expressing my own struggles, and how society forces the need to fit into a "correct" body size onto women and girls today). I was so surprised when I discovered that Adele and I are about the same size. Even then, I never thought that I would be comfortable or happy with my body until I was down to x-size or x-weight.
Over the past week, I have realized that I no longer want to beat myself up trying to conform to the "correct" body size. I have had piles of "goal-clothing" stacked up in my closet for months, and I have decided to get rid of it all, and move on. I'm tired of being held back by what society dictates, and to start loving my body, because God made me in his image, his perfect image. And to him, my body is perfect.

We should all take note and adopt Adele's attitude: it doesn't matter what others think of your body, but what you think of your body and that you love it. For me, Adele has been exceptionally inspiring in this whole revelation of my thought process, and I can only hope that other girls will hear her message, and kick the whole I-hate-my-body-because-it-isn't-like-a-celebrity's mindset to the curb.
Therefore, I am Abbey Elizabeth, and I am not size: 6, 8, or 10. I am size: curvy.