Finding adventure...

Life is an adventure.  

If it's not...you're clearly not growing enough. 

In the past 14 months: 

my parents sold the house I've lived in since I was 7 & moved 600 miles to the Black Hills. 

I spent a week in Florida with my roommate, explored downtown Seattle on my own, drove up to Canada to my friend's cabin in the middle of the night, 

gone through 2 break-ups, gone on a handful of "awkward first dates", 

started the process of looking for my birth mother (and still haven't sent in the papers), 

got an entry level job at my dream organization to work for...and a year later got laid off, 

I went Skydiving,

my grandma who I am very close to had a serious stroke, 

I went on a cousins trip to Arizona,

and now I'm halfway moved out of MN and will live with my parents in Spearfish, SD for December then start a lease in Denver, CO starting in January with no job lined up yet... 

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My life is an adventure lately...and boy, am I growing.

Five important things I've learned this past year or so about Faith, Love, and Happiness:

5. Don't get too attached to home as a physical "place". Sure it's sad and you've made a lot of memories there, but its just a building. It's just a town. You can't move away from memories, they come with you.

4. Get rid of that shirt "that might be good for layering" but you haven't worn in 2 years. Get rid of those textbooks and notebooks from college you know you're never going to look at again. The less "stuff" you have = the easier it is to move on short notice = more adventures.

3. Don't look for a relationship just to "make you happy", that is way too much responsibility and pressure to put on someone else. This should be obvious, but I know I've fallen into it way too often.

2. Don't let fear hold you back. God doesn't use fear as a way of closing doors.  If you're comfortable, you're not growing.

Most importantly...
1. Follow your gut.   I've learned the Holy Spirit often works through my gut...(give that man your $10 gift card, start a conversation with that elderly lady in the airport, don't go to that party). You know when something doesn't feel right.  Once you start following it on the little things...you'll learn how to listen to it on the bigger, tougher things.

So even if it's not your "thing", I dare you to look for more adventures and opportunities to grow.  Whether its jumping in that puddle or out of that plane. Don't pass up an opportunity you know you should take just because it's not what you're used to.  I've done that way too often and it's just a waste of time to stay comfortable because you're scared of the alternative.  Because as Helen Keller said...

"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

Fun out West!

My parents moved out to Spearfish, SD in September of last year after retiring. Danielle and I set out this summer on the 9 hour drive to go visit them and have a few lil adventures!

Mules in Custer State Park

Needles!

Reptile Gardens

Badlands

Double rainbows! View from my parents' house.

President's Heads :)

Climbin boulders at the base of Devils Tower

Mom and Dad :)

Costumes in 1880 Town..so fun!

Friends' Thanksgiving!

This weekend we had our 2nd Annual Friends' Thanksgiving. We had ham, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, crescent rolls, Hawaiian bread, corn, pickles, carrots, grapes, and pumpkin pie w ice cream and chocolate cookie bars for dessert! 

The Next Chapter...

This September we found out that the Gifts-in-Kind part of World Vision-Twin Cities was going to be shutting down as part of a large organizational restructure. What does that mean for me? It means that as of December 02, 2011 I will be laid off. It was a shock to all of us...and although I was surprised, for some reason deep down my heart already knew. God had been nudging me to head towards a new chapter in my life for a couple months beforehand and I wasn't listening. Now I had to listen.

My poor roommate and close friends have had to listen to me constantly talking about what new jobs I've applied for, me changing my mind about what I want to do next..if i should relocate and where (and trust me this changes alot). They have all been so supportive through all this and I've really seen how blessed I am to have the friends and family that I do!

Since September I've thought a lot, changed my mind a lot, and prayed a lot. God has really laid it on my heart and led me in a certain direction that I really have peace about (which is a blog post in and of itself!). So as of now, I'll be moving to Colorado--probably the Denver area--in January. I've sent out a handful of applications to jobs I'm really interested in out there, but as of now I don't yet have a job. I am starting to set up appointments to look at apartments with my mom the first week in December, which makes it all seem even more real. It will be a complete leap of faith moving to a new state with no job, but God hasn't failed me yet..and I know He wouldn't lead me out there to leave me high and dry.

It will be so hard to leave my friends here in Minneapolis. I have so many awesome memories here and I do not take any of it for granted! I am beyond blessed. But I need to follow my heart...which God has sewn a little adventure into...and I am excited to see where this journey takes me!

1st Annual Cousin's Trip!

Earlier this summer, my cousin Ted and I decided we wanted to take a trip down to AZ to visit our other cousin, Danielle. She is a Freshman at U of Arizona in Tucson...and Ted & I being from Massachusetts and Minnesota we don't get to see each other too often. It would be the first time we have ever hung out together without our parents and the rest of our family. Well we made it happen and flew out to AZ for the last week in October. It was a blast :). It was really fun getting to know each other not just as family...but also as friends.

At Rawhide...an old western town that became "haunted" at night.

Dani & Ted showin some cousinly love after shopping.

Being tourists.

Miss you Ted & D! All I can say is...I can't wait to plan the next one :)