Realizing who you are...

Growing up Cassie always loved to write. Notes, letters & in her journal. Now she has a passion for writing. She's loves Jesus. She's a wife to her high school crush & a mother to two beautiful little boys. She dreams big, loves entirely and lives life to the fullest. She believes laughter is the best medicine and embracing life is something she does with pleasure. Her blog is Live.Laugh.L0ve and she creates spontaneous designs in her handmade shop called The Spontaneous Designer. You can see more post by Cassie here.   

Apart of embracing life - is not only understanding yourself but realizing who you are. Figuring out how you go to where you are today. Reflecting on what made you who you are today. We all have a past, a history, a story - it comes with life.. Today I'm going to share a little bit of mine.

The beginning of my story is what people have told me. It is nothing that I can remember - but none the less it's where it all started...

November 21, 1988 my parents welcomed me into this world. 7 pounds 12 ounces - bald headed and extremely blue eyed. I no nothing of anything in between this day and the horror that struck my parents except this - I was a very sick baby/toddler. I was always getting sick, the doctors thought nothing of it but my parents knew something was wrong. Call it parental instinct if you will but the last time I got sick I was almost 2 years old.

I look at KJ and see the fun, energetic sweet little boy that he is and cringe at the idea of what my parents had to go through next. Like I said, I was sick again and my parents had had enough and rushed me to the hospital and demanded the doctors find out what was wrong with me. Multiple tests and an EKG later they found out I had a whole - big one - in my heart. I can only imagine the fear that shot through my parents.

The doctors told them that if they had waited any longer to bring me in - I wouldn't be here today. That opens your eyes quite a bit. That if my parents would have gone against their instinct and listened to the doctors when they said I just had a weak immune system I wouldn't be here. They rushed me into surgery and closed up the hole and I spent some time in the hospital recovering.

This part of the story is where I always find myself smiling because I have always been the type to bounce back fast. My dad told me 2 days after my surgery I was running around the hospital room as if nothing happened. I can just picture it, my little nightgown on running around on my short little toddler legs. Laughing and playing 2 days after I just had my chest split wide open. This happy little toddler that you would have never guessed by looking at her had just had open heart surgery.

That's who I am. I recover fast. Anyways, this next part is still me as well. While I'm running around like any toddler I trip and fall and slam right onto my chest. great. my dad flipped out - turns out I was okay and didn't do any damage. But still to this day - I am clumsy.

Like I said - figuring out who you are starts at the beginning of your life. There are things you did right from the start that make you who you are. Do a little soul searching, ask questions and find out if you are still the person that you were born as.

Broken Bonds

Amanda has been writing for about as long as she can remember.  She was always the kid walking around with a tattered old binder of her poetry.  She used to ride her bike around her block waiting for her muse to come and provide her with inspiration.  These days, daily life offers her plenty of inspiration, and she writes because it is the only way she knows how to make sense of the world.  Amanda is a stay at home mama to her two young girls, and she tries to fill their days with reading, loving, and creating.  She blogs about all of this and more at Indisposable Mama.  When she's not writing or spending time with her family, she can usually be found knitting crazy hats to photograph her children in.  Surely those photographs will be priceless in the years to come, either as reminders of fond memories or as great fodder for blackmail. Find more posts from her here.

How do you know when a relationship should be salvaged, and equally important, where do you draw the line between swallowing your pride and demeaning yourself?

For most of my life, I have always tried to do what was necessary in order to mend broken bonds.  My philosophy was that a relationship is more important than petty disagreements, and even if we have to swallow our pride a bit, it is worth it in order to maintain a meaningful relationship.

But I'm starting to question that theory.

See, for the second time in the last five years or so, I was asked to go against what I believe is right in order to maintain a relationship.  Both times I refused to cave, and both times, the other party did sever the relationship.

Upon looking back, it's difficult to regret these choices because I do not like who I would be had I made the opposite choices.  I do believe it is important to be humble in our dealings with other people, but I also believe that if we have to degrade and demean ourselves in order to be in a relationship then we are actually doing both parties more harm than good by playing along.

This last time, I finally stood up and said that I can't do it anymore.  I said that I am worth more.  I made it clear that I would be willing to mend bonds should the other party come half way, but I refused to sacrifice myself and my self worth in order to fix what maybe should stay broken.

And that decision has possibly been the most liberating decision of my life.  I look back on the words that I said when I informed the party that things weren't going to be fixed at my expense, and I get a sudden bolt of confidence.  I see myself as perhaps I should have all along -- as a person who is imperfect and flawed but who is still owed the respect that she shows to others.

I do look back wonder sometimes, but who am I?  Who am I to rough the waters?  Who am I to stand my ground?  Who am I to say I am worth more?

And my answer is that I am my girls' role model, and with that who am I NOT to do those things?

In hindsight, I look back on one of these relationships and I breathe a sigh of relief as I think, "good riddance."  With the other, I'm deeply saddened and hopeful that things will turn around.  But either way, I have been <em>blessed</em> with these relationships because through them, I learned who I was.  And that lesson is worth any heartbreak that learning it caused.

Which path would you choose?

Growing up Cassie always loved to write. Notes, letters & in her journal. Now she has a passion for writing. She's loves Jesus. She's a wife to her high school crush & a mother to two beautiful little boys. She dreams big, loves entirely and lives life to the fullest. She believes laughter is the best medicine and embracing life is something she does with pleasure. Her blog is Live.Laugh.L0ve and she creates spontaneous designs in her handmade shop called The Spontaneous Designer. You can see more post by Cassie here.     

A repost from my blog

I was going to do a vlog today. But I felt like writing instead. I feel like I can explain things and say things better with writing then I can trying to talk to a video camera. Which by the way - I'm awful at. My eyes never stay on the camera and I tend to say um. But that's off subject.

What I wanted to talk about today is something that is on my heart and it all seems to center around one thing. Life. My Life to be exact.

I don't know if it's because another birthday is coming up.
Or time seems to be at a stand still for me and I don't feel I'm moving forward.
Or if I'm just putting too much thought into things.

But I feel like I'm on this path. It is paved with beautiful stones the colors of the sunset, it's beckoning me too move forward, it's smooth as marble and as breathtaking as the sunset it was created after. There aren't many bumps in this road, it's safe. My kids are happy on this path and so is my husband. But we are all just happy - that is it. Because we played safe.

The path to my right is paved with every dream, wish & hope I've ever had. For myself, for my husband, for my children. I can see the various bumps and the detours along the way. It's beautiful and scary all at once. Some of my dreams are so close I feel if I reach my hand out just enough I can grasp them. Other's are so far away I feel like I could walk forever and never touch them. I can see my children continuing to grow up too fast right before my eyes and the love I have for my husband continue to soar. 


I feel like I'm living in this dream of not knowing which path to take. Do I want to play it safe, stay where I am and continue to be happy with life. Because I am happy. Or do I want to take the path that I feel I was meant for.. the path of the unknown and the beautiful. The path where I could be more than happy. 


I have new dreams forming along with old ones. I'm learning about myself as I go. I have taken on a new job {still working from home} and I hope to take on more. In a couple of years I hope to live another dream, even if it's for a short time & I'm still holding onto my dream of being a published author someday.


The sunset path may be the safest. But it won't get me where I'm meant to be. 
I will take the path of the unknown. Continue to be happy, roll with the bumps and detours and live this life I was given and give it all I have, give my children and my husband all I have. 
I won't live a mediocre life. I will live an extraordinary one. Because I was never meant to be ordinary.


I will continue to wake up each morning and rain kisses over my children's faces & kiss my husband a thousand times. As I take the path of the unknown, I know I will look into three beautiful faces and know that they believe in me and that we are all on this journey together.


I will know this is the path that was meant for me.

{Coffee date - linking up here}

I almost passed up this beautiful moment

Growing up Cassie always loved to write. Notes, letters & in her journal. Now she has a passion for writing. She's loves Jesus. She's a wife to her high school crush & a mother to two beautiful little boys. She dreams big, loves entirely and lives life to the fullest. She believes laughter is the best medicine and embracing life is something she does with pleasure. Her blog is Live.Laugh.L0ve and she creates spontaneous designs in her handmade shop called The Spontaneous Designer. You can see more post by Cassie here.    

After two weeks of being teased with the chance of rain. We finally got some.
KJ was sleeping & Jay immediately wanted to go outside when it had calmed down and was just lightly raining. I won't lie - my first reaction was going to be no. Because I had a list a mile long of things I needed to get done. But something told me just take him outside.


So there we went.
Short, t-shirts, no shoes.
Out into the rain.

At first we I just sat on the porch while the rain fell lightly like a feather floating from the sky. I let the cool breeze only found during the summer rain whip around me. I watched Jay drive his train along the cracks in the driveway - he seemed so incredibly happy.

But a voice inside my head told me to get up and enjoy this moment with him.
So I did.

I let that feather light rain wash over. I walked hand in hand with Jay up in down the street - splashing in puddles and laughing. We raced up and down the driveway. We spun in circles until we thought we were going to throw up. And we laughed. Boy, did we laugh.

For the first time in a long time. I let the rain wash away my to-do list. I let it clear my mind. I let the cool breeze engulf me and I appreciated it. I talked with my little one and laughed with him. I embraced the moment. A moment I almost didn't take the time to do. A moment I could have never had with him. He reminded me that once upon a time I used to love being out in the rain. Jay reminded me to take the time to appreciate it.

And as the rain stopped.
As our fun was coming to an end.
We witnessed the most beautiful sky after the storm.
Jay could only keep saying "Mommy looks at the pretty colors."
It was a moment I will cherish forever.

Were back!

Woo! We have been pretty MIA around here. Which I guess is a good thing sense this is Embrace Your Life and that is exactly what we have been doing! :) Swimming, BBQing, playing, family, fireworks, etc. The list goes on. But things are starting to settle down some so we are getting back into the swing of things now! :)

We are looking for guest posters.
If you are wanting to share an inspirational story or how/why you embrace life - we would love to have you!

We are also looking for button swaps!
If you are interested please e-mail us!

Embraceyourlifeblog@gmail.com

A perfect day

Growing up Cassie always loved to write. Notes, letters & in her journal. Now she has a passion for writing. She's loves Jesus. She's a wife to her high school crush & a mother to two beautiful little boys. She dreams big, loves entirely and lives life to the fullest. She believes laughter is the best medicine and embracing life is something she does with pleasure. Her blog is Live.Laugh.L0ve and she creates spontaneous designs in her handmade shop called The Spontaneous Designer. You can see more post by Cassie here.   


A repost from my blog


It was just one of those days that was absolutely perfect.
We spent a huge majority of our day outside playing in the pool.
Soaking up the sun. Doing some soul detox.
Enjoying mini turkey sandwiches.
Enjoying the birds chirping.
Looking at that endless blue sky.
Then we got some amazing long awaited news that made us beyond giddy.
Afterwards we spent the rest of the evening outside playing.
The boys fell asleep easily that night.
I wanted to rewind the day and just live it again.
The boys were angles.
The weather was wonderful.
I was in a fantastic mood.
I felt no fear.
I was blissfully enjoying life.
It was perfection.

Do something you love

Growing up Cassie always loved to write. Notes, letters & in her journal. Now she has a passion for writing. She's loves Jesus. She's a wife to her high school crush & a mother to two beautiful little boys. She dreams big, loves entirely and lives life to the fullest. She believes laughter is the best medicine and embracing life is something she does with pleasure. Her blog is Live.Laugh.L0ve and she creates spontaneous designs in her handmade shop called The Spontaneous Designer. You can see more post by Cassie here.  


A repost from my blog


It's just part of life that we do things that we don't always like. Weather we have to or we feel obligated to. Say you have a job you don't really like, but you go to work everyday because you have bills to pay. That can put you in a bit of a rut doing something you don't necessarily like every.single.day.


So today I challenge you to do something you love. Weather it's dancing.
Painting.
Playing with your kids.
Catching up on blogs.
Singing.

Whatever you do - make sure it's something you love and spend a good amount of time doing it. You will feel refreshed afterwards.

I know that when I start going down hill. I stop myself and remind myself there are things I do that I love and I do them. I'll build towers of blocks with the boys. Go swimming. Crochet. Have a dance party in the living room. Watch a favorite movie.

And afterwards I walk away with a smile because I loved it.
It made me happy.
Try and do something you love once a day if you can.
If not try every other day but don't let it go too far in between that way you can balance things out and get out of that rut of always feeling like you are doing something you don't like.

What is something you love to do? Leave it in the comments below & then go do it. :)

Hope

Amanda has been writing for about as long as she can remember.  She was always the kid walking around with a tattered old binder of her poetry.  She used to ride her bike around her block waiting for her muse to come and provide her with inspiration.  These days, daily life offers her plenty of inspiration, and she writes because it is the only way she knows how to make sense of the world.  Amanda is a stay at home mama to her two young girls, and she tries to fill their days with reading, loving, and creating.  She blogs about all of this and more at Indisposable Mama.  When she's not writing or spending time with her family, she can usually be found knitting crazy hats to photograph her children in.  Surely those photographs will be priceless in the years to come, either as reminders of fond memories or as great fodder for blackmail. Find more posts from her here.

I have been thinking a lot about hope lately.  When I look around me, there is so little of it to be found.  It seems almost as if people are afraid of hope.

If you listen to our political discourse (from both sides,) you will hear public figures talking about how the other side's options will never work.  If we elect the "wrong" people, our country will go downhill. If we make the wrong choice (and someone always thinks a choice is wrong,) we will end up in a land of despair.

We hear it when people talk about our society as a whole.  They will talk about how our cultural values are in the gutter and we are getting further and further away from some past ideal.  Hope isn't preached; instead we lament the present.

And in my house at least, my kids hear it too much in the way I speak about my life and the way I carry out my days.

Growing up, I was an eternal optimist.  I had a deeply held belief that things would work out for the best.  Even if something bad did happen, some other opportunity always came along that made things better.  I had an unlimited belief in the goodness of the world and in my own ability to capitalize on that goodness.

And then somewhere along the way it got lost.  I now find myself facing challenges and instead of hoping for and working for the best (or even just for the better,) I find myself wallowing in what is.  I don't take enough risks anymore.  I don't dare to believe that change is possible. 

In many ways, I am living a dream life right now staying home with my two little girls.  We spend our days how we want to, and every day I am bombarded with kisses and hugs and eyes that see the wonder in the world.  But as any stay at home mom will tell you, it's not all smiles and giggles.  The job also comes with a lot of fatigue, lost patience, and burn out. Good and bad though, I know without a doubt, I will mourn these days when they have past.

And so in honor of these days and the memories we are creating, I am going to work on bringing hope back into my home.  From here on out, I am making this affirmation on behalf of my family.

We believe in hope.

We believe in positive change.

We work to change that which we do not like.

We have confidence in our ability to make change happen, and we also trust in our ability to handle any hardships that come our way.  We are strong, and we are capable.

Always, we will look forward to the rainbow that follows the rain.

As with any change, our journey away from despair towards hope will take time and will be a bumpy road, but part of hope is not giving up.  And I won't give up because my children deserve to know that there is always a chance for things to get better as long as we are willing to fight for it.

Things Change

Drawn towards a creative life at a very young age and being an only child, I was always found drawing, imagining, or creating in one form or another. Now I am the desigNERD behind Dig Deep Design Studio. I'm all about designing, writing, photographing and living a fruitful, fulfilled life. No other ambition than to find balance in myself and live an artful existence. You can find Diggers blog here & her shop here. Want to read more from Digger? You can do that here.  

The fact is: we change.

A million things take their affects on us and we twist, bend, and mold into new versions of our old selfs.

That's why I love the beach. It's always the same. The same water, the same sand, the same wind and tide. It's always there to remind me that no matter what, regardless of what forces push against me, I can stay true to who I am. 

I can stay the same.

"Just to see you smile, I'd do anything."

Growing up Cassie always loved to write. Notes, letters & in her journal. Now she has a passion for writing. She's loves Jesus. She's a wife to her high school crush & a mother to two beautiful little boys. She dreams big, loves entirely and lives life to the fullest. She believes laughter is the best medicine and embracing life is something she does with pleasure. Her blog is Live.Laugh.L0ve and she creates spontaneous designs in her handmade shop called The Spontaneous Designer. You can see more post by Cassie here.   

One of my favorite things about embracing life is doing something to make someone else smile. Because embracing life isn't just about embracing your life - it's also about embracing those around you. So, every once in awhile I will do something unexpected to make someone smile. To let them know just how much I care.

Yesterday the giveaway cards I had won from Red Letter Paper Co came in and there was one specifically that I was very anxious to use. As soon as I opened the package, snapped & picture and uploaded it to IG of course ;) I wrote my hubs a love note and set it on his pillow for when he came home and came into the room.

It made my heart flutter when he saw it.
When he picked it up, read the front of the envelope.
Smiled & opened it.
He then read the card and he looked at me with a smile.
Love in his eyes and pulled me in for a big hug and kiss.

Sometimes all people need is a sweet reminder of how much you love them or care about them.
Let someone know how much they mean to you today.

A little piece of me {Guest post}

We are made up of so many different pieces.  Most times those around us see us for who we really are before we ever do.  Insecurity can weigh us down and hold us back.  Why is it that everyone else around us can see how strong, wonderful, and beautiful we are but we are the last to notice.

It's so easy to be swayed into being something we are not.  We fight so hard to become who we think we are or who we think we need to be.  How freeing it is when we finally realize that being ourselves, the good, bad, the ugly... all of it allows us to connect with others on a much deeper level.  When we come out from behind our masks and allow ourselves to be free in front of those who already see us for who we are....beauty and true happiness can surface.

Embrace the little pieces of yourself.  For these are what makes you special, unique, and what draws people to you.  Be relatable and share who you really are.  You'd be surprised at how many hearts you will touch.

On a Monday, I am waiting
Tuesday, I am fading
And by Wednesday, I can't sleep
Then the phone rings, I hear you
And the darkness is a clear view
Cuz you've come to rescue me

Fall... With you, I fall so fast
I can hardly catch my breath, I hope it lasts

[Chorus:]
Ohhhhh
It seems like I can finally rest my head on something real
I like the way that feels
Ohhhhh
It's as if you've known me better than I ever knew myself
I love how you can tell
All the pieces, pieces, pieces of me
All the pieces, pieces, pieces of me

I am moody, messy
I get restless, and it's senseless
How you never seem to care
When I'm angry, you listen
When you're happy, it's a mission
And you wont stop 'til I'm thererics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/a/ashlee_simpson/pieces_of_me.html ]
Fall... Sometimes I fall so fast
Well, I hit that bottom
Crash, you're all I have

[Chorus:]
Ohhhhh
It seems like I can finally rest my head on something real
I like the way that feels
Ohhhhh
It's as if you known me better than I ever knew myself
I love how you can tell
All the pieces, pieces, pieces of me

How do you know everything I'm about to say?
Am I that obvious?
And if it's written on my face...
I hope it never goes away... yeah

On a Monday, I am waiting
And by Tuesday, I am fading into your arms...
So I can breathe

[Chorus:]
Ohhhhh
It seems like I can finally rest my head on something real
I like the way that feels
Ohhhhh
It's as if you've know me better than I ever knew myself
I love how you can tell
Ohhhhh
I love how you can tell
Ohhhhh
I love how you can tell
All the pieces, pieces, pieces of me
All the pieces, pieces, pieces of me...

More lyrics:http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/a/ashlee_simpson/#share

A Little Piece of Me

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