Love Loudly

My dear, sweet lovely adventurers... it has been too long!  As many of you may know, I am closing my little shop for the summer because I am directing a summer camp in the mountains near Flagstaff, Arizona.  I am so so excited... but also a little sad to leave my lovely adventure at home, my husband and pups and of course my craft room!  But, I am confident that God has called me and given me the gifts for this amazing opportunity and adventure.  It's just a week away!  

I can't wait to share the lessons I'm sure to learn and come back with fresh new ideas and dreams for this lovely adventure!  I wanted to write a pre-adventure post with some encouragement and inspiration for you dear sweet souls. 

I've been really inspired lately to be very honest and encouraging with my words.  I think we all walk around thinking that everyone else has it together, and everyone else must know how great they are and what gifts they have.  But, it turns out not that many of us do.  And even if we've known it at some point or been encouraged that doesn't always last.  Doubts creep in and make us forget the words that once gave us confidence.  

So I created some designs that speak to what I've been working on in my life.  "Love One Another Deeply" and "Love Loudly" both call on us to be bold and encouraging with our words.  To be vulnerable and to take that step into what we feel like might be an uncomfortable moment as we tell someone what they mean to us, what beauty we see in them and what gifts they have.  

Everyone deserves to be loved and to know they are loved.  Some days, we need someone to love us loudly. To tell us direct encouraging words, to make time for us or bring us flowers for no reason.  So, I challenge you to love loudly.  Message, email, text, call, speak in person with those in your life that you love.  Even if you can't see that they need it or they haven't asked... we always need to know that we are loved. 

I can't wait to reconnect with you all in the fall and I hope you have the most beautiful couple of months. In the mean time I'll probably be in the mountains wearing this awesome hat my grandma got me.  And you can always follow me on Instagram @thelovelyadventure for updates on my adventure! 

Know you are loved,

The Lovely Adventurer

5 Lovely Things Vol. 1.0: Things to help start the New Year strong

So here's a little known/actually probably well known fact about me... I'm soooo terrible at being self disciplined.  Thus, any and all "New Year Resolutions" I've had have been more like "New Year Jokes".  For reals though. I'm terrible. 

This is my very serious face so that you'll believe me when I say, truly, truly... I am so terribly terrible at self discipline. 

So, this year instead of making a new joke I decided to choose some things that would just help me be more disciplined.  Since... that's really the root of all my problems in life. Eat tacos... or pay bills? tacos. Watch Netflix.... or do laundry? Netflix. duh. Paint my nails.... or clean stuff? nailzzzz.  These thoughts happen on the daily. #oops 

So, here are my 5 Lovely things for the week that are hopefully helping me to start off my New Year strong. 

1. Planner

a) I'm obsessed with Sugar Paper LA. Their products are the bomb diggity and they sell them at Target where I spend 99% of my life... and my money. 

b) I love writing everything down, in pencil. Does that make me old?  I can't handle google calendar or writing things on my tiny phone keyboard.  Give me all the paper and all the pencils. please. and a lot of erasers. 

c) I love the layout of this planner. It includes a big monthly view, monthly goals, weekly goals and a large slot for writing each day out.  I'm all about compartmentalizing life and this one has alll the compartments. I love it. 

2. Tile 

This one doesn't necessarily help with discipline... but it helps keep my sanity so that's pretty great.  I've had this for a while longer than the start of this year but dang, people. I love it.  Where I am lacking in discipline I am also lacking in memory.  I make up for it all in beauty, don't worry. hahaha. But seriously, my memory it is terrible. 

So I'm constantly losing my keys, my phone, my purse... errything. Enter TILE. have you seen them?!  You just attach them to whatever you want (I think they have sticky things to attach them to things that aren't keys) and then program it with an app on your phone.  Now, anytime you lose your keys or whatever you get into the app and have it track down the location of your keys.  It also plays this cute little song so you can find it.  Kind of a struggle if you lose your phone and your keys... but I have yet to be that awesome. I'm sure there will come a day. 

Tile. get one. it will keep you sane. 

3. Calendars. All of them.

I'm a very visual learner. Usually my months go something like this:

"I'm going to be awesome this month!  It's January! Let's do this!"

..."crap... is it really February? I forgot to do all the awesome things." 

"I'm going to be awesome this month!  It's February!  Let's do this!"

..."crap... it's March?!  I forgot to do all the awesome things."

"MARCH! Awesome! Things! Maybe? meh. maybe in April." 

So this year my bff Target sold a million amazing calendars in the dollar section and I bought them all. I'm plastering them everywhere to remind myself how many days I have left to be awesome and that I can't let my goals and dreams slip away so easily. Remind Remind Remind... that's the secret to an awesome me. 

4. Ridiculous Glasses  

A lot of days I take life way too seriously. And also, I really struggle with caring WAY too much about what people think of me. So, I buy fake glasses. And I wear them. In public. At first I broke out in sweats because they are pretty ridiculous and some of mine don't even have lenses #ghettoglasses But the more I wore them the more they made me laugh.  It was like a secret joke with myself. A lot of people would compliment me or just stare at the glasses that are larger than my face. I've learned to just let it go and let it make me laugh. So, find something that makes you happy and helps you take life a little less serious. 

5. Daily Inspiration

I spend way too much time talking to myself with negative words. Not believing I can do things or focusing on everything I'm not instead of everything I am. I'm determined to surround myself with some love this year and to focus on the lies I believe. This little dry erase board from you guessed it, the target dollar section, is my first weapon of choice. I'm excited to document the messages I'll be writing. 

So, those are the things I'll be using to start my year off strong and try to tackle being at least 5% more disciplined. What are some of your new year goals?  Whatever they are, you can do it.  I believe in you.  You are you, and that's enough. 

Love,

The Lovely Adventurer

Do Scary Things

Yesterday I posted this picture on Instagram .  This quote is in The Lovely Adventure mission statement and it's been something I've carried around with me for years. 

I went to college thinking I would get a degree, earn the big bucks and change the world.  Turns out, college revealed everything I wasn't good at (math, test taking, memorizing, reading large amounts and comprehension).  I thoroughly hated the academia of college. I wouldn't trade my friends and social experiences for the world, so in the end I'm glad I went. But also in the end, I had no idea who I was or what the heck I was going to do with my life.  Gifts? Did I have those? According to my college GPA and test scores, no.  No, I did not.  So, after college I wandered.  I worked at camp, which I loved.  My husband (boyfriend at the time) had moved to the United States for a job and that fall I followed.  We worked for the same YMCA resort, he did challenge adventures and I did outdoor education.  It wasn't my favorite job in the world, but, I did discover that I was good at being creative, hard working and people generally liked me as a human (always good to know).  

I got engaged that fall on a trip to Australia and that winter of 2010 in the off season I started this little crafty adventure of mine.  I discovered this love for handmade, re-purposing and teaching myself new skills.  

I went on to work full time at Heartland Camp after we were married in the fall of 2011 (I could write a whole novel on how much I love that place... I'll save that for another day).  That job gave me the freedom to discover that I loved design.  I loved graphic design, web design and event design.  I was pretty good at leadership (always room to grow) and I just hardcore love being part of a community and learning people's stories. I don't think I would have ever learned those things about myself had God not opened doors for me and had I not mustered up the courage to walk through. I'm all teary just thinking about it. How much I love how God has called me out of my box and said, "Andrea, you were made for so much more than this." 

Some days I struggle to believe it. Most days. Most days I want to curl up under a blanket and stop pushing my boundaries. Get a "real" job, stop trying to learn new things and just be safe.  But the truth is, it makes me feel alive. My soul craves creativity and design and learning new things. Starting this business has been the hardest and best thing I've ever done. And as soon as I want to throw in the towel, stop "wasting" our money and give up, God gives me a new idea. Or sends me someone who inspires me.  I have yet to hit a dead end.  And for me, always the pessimist, who is usually searching for the dead ends or an excuse to stop, that's pretty remarkable. 

Living the life you were created for doesn't really have an end or a golden answer. Living. It's a verb, it's continuous while we are blessed with life. Don't let your doubts or who the world says you should be create your box.  Turn that dang box into a spaceship and send it to the moon, you won't need it. Life is full of freedom without it. It's full of struggle and doubts and tears, too. But, when you aren't trying to fit in a box that you weren't created for in the first place, it's full of discovering who a boxless God created you to be. 

It's also worth noting who God didn't create you to be.  I thought I was meant to be a top of my class PHD psychologist.  Because that was successful (and really, it is...just not for me).  Coming to terms with the fact that my brain doesn't comprehend math, it can really only learn kinestetically and that my introverted tendencies are sometimes my best has changed my life. When you stop trying to fit into that box, you find you didn't really like it in there anyway.  

So here's to living the lives we were created for.  To giving up our boxes and pushing our boundaries. Here's to doing scary things (even if they are small) and figuring out how to be the best you.  You have something special to share with the world. There is only one of you and someone needs what you have.  Find it and don't stop sharing your story. 

Love,

The Lovely Adventurer

P.s. You're the best