team fall vs team Christmas

Are you team fall in November or do you go all in on Christmas after Halloween?

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and my mom always stayed on team fall with our decorations until the day after Thanksgiving, when we would put up our Christmas tree, bake Christmas cookies, listen to Christmas music, and fully transition over for the holidays. Last year, Cassidy and I didn’t get our tree up as early as we would like, and I found myself wanting to keep it up through January because I felt like I hadn’t gotten to enjoy it yet (#retaillife). This year, for all the reasons 2020 has had to offer, and #retaillife, I kind of want to celebrate the two simultaneously more than in years past, and I feel like it’s been the big debate on social media in the last week especially. I don’t think I’m quite ready to set up my tree or dispose of my pumpkins, but I am welcoming the Christmas spirit, but also still dressing for fall, but sometimes lighting a Christmas candle, but also sometimes a fall one, maybe it all just depends on the day... Now that we’re less than a week out from Thanksgiving, I will probably hold out this final stretch.

Have you decorated for Christmas yet? Have you started listening to Christmas music? Maybe most importantly, have you started your Christmas shopping?

a season passed

Does anyone else feel like time has stood still during this? More so in the sense that we haven’t really missed out on any events, haven’t had anything going on, or anything on the calendar to look forward to. The FOMO is just from missing interaction with people and having events. Not that they’re happening and we’re missing out. It feels like time has been on hold. The world has been on hold.

Except winter turned to spring and spring barreled through and now June is over.

A season has passed during this time, while life has been on pause, the world keeps turning at the same rate. A groundhog day but the days have gotten longer and hotter. It’s crazy to realize we have spent a quarter of the year in this state. Here in Ohio things are opening back up, although it’s definitely not returning to a completely “normal” status just yet. But we’re progressing forward. Kind of? A new normal. The juxtaposition of how quickly this summer is flying by has created a bizarre sensation because it also feels like time is standing still.

Do any other introverts (or extroverts too) feel like you’re going to mourn this quiet time at home? I know it’s going to be a huge adjustment for me on the other side. The quality time with my #quaranteam (Cassidy & Winnie, of course) has been so special, and minus the reality for potential contagion of a deadly disease and global pandemic where I recognize so many others are hurting, I am going to look back on this season with fond memories. We are in the depths of an unprecedented time.

the one where Easter was in quarantine

Growing up in a football family, our holidays sometimes looked a little different and weren’t altogether “traditional.” My sister always says those are the ones we look back on and remember, while the “traditional” ones, though no less special, sort of run together and become difficult to discern between in memory. We’ve spent Christmases in hotels & Waffle House with a trip to Disney following a bowl game, Thanksgiving carry-out on the floor, or with an entire football team and their families in the dining hall.

As I’ve gotten older, my family hasn’t always had Easter together, but even as Cassidy and I have started our journey together, it’s always been pretty consistent. We spend the whole day serving at church, often followed by brunch together. This year for the first time, his family was close enough for us to travel and spend it with them; however, the coronavirus forced us to alter our plans. We ended up streaming church online, and made a big meal for just the two of us that resembled Thanksgiving. Although I for sure still wore the dress I had planned. While it was obviously definitely different this year, wherever this Easter found you, I am sure it is one we will all remember.

Thankfully, the meaning still remains the same. He is risen!

Good Friday // He is RISEN

I always hated growing up how Good Friday was a makeup snow day in school, because living in Indiana, it was inevitably utilized as such. I also hate as an adult that I have to use a vacation day to hold it in reverence. This year, however, is a weird year, I think we can all agree. But the GOOD NEWS is we get to observe today, whether working from home, unemployed, schooling at home, or whatever status quarantine finds you.

Good Friday is the day that The Savior hung on a tree, pierced for our transgressions, and ultimately gave what no one else could give, so that we could find freedom in His name. The price He paid today matters everyday, but I encourage you to take some time today for reflection of what that really means. And if you don’t yet have a relationship with Him, today is a great day to begin one! Because this Easter weekend is a celebration of Him seeking that relationship with you.

We call it Good Friday, even though the events were all but good, yet He holds the victory. Death could not contain Him. He is the one and only Living God. Can you imagine though, how those around Him, who were closest to Him, felt today? How discouraged they must have felt watching Him suffer? Even though He had encouraged them He would rise again, death feels final, and they struggled to believe and recall His promises. How often do I find myself in their shoes? I know He is Jehovah Jireh, my Provider. I know He uses ALL things for good for those who have been called according to His purpose. I know He wants the best for us. I know He has purpose for us in all the uncertainty of #quarantinelife, but when you are in it, in the middle of your battle or storm, in the valley, it can be hard to believe what will come on the other side. But in three days, He rose again. So that we could live forever with Him in eternity.

Today is not the day we celebrate. Today is the day we mourn. And there is a lot of death, literally and figuratively, in our world right now. We are mourning those who have been lost to disease. We are mourning the loss of graduations, senior seasons, jobs, businesses, birthday parties, vacations, weddings, celebrations of life, and time with families. There is a lot of loss. But the GOOD NEWS is He was resurrected. And there will come a time, though we don’t yet know when, the cross has the victory, and our world will come back to life. We will still be mourning the lives lost, but it is also why a relationship with The Savior is more important than ever. Don’t wait. Now is the time to share your life with Him because then we can have full restoration and reunite with Him, and our brothers and sisters in Christ. Now is the time to share why we have certain hope with those who may not yet know Jesus, because we don’t know exactly how long we have. We have to be living every day like there may not be a tomorrow to share, because coronavirus or not, our time on earth is fleeting. Our current situation only magnifies that which is always true.

He rose in three days. Sunday we celebrate the life that comes from knowing Him. But don’t forget that today, He gave His life so we could experience wholeness in Him. We all have sinned and fall short. But this is the ultimate redemption story! In Jesus’ name, we will find resurrection and an empty tomb on Sunday! He loves you, He cares for you, God sacrificed His only Son, Jesus, for you, and He who conquered DEATH and is more than capable, wants to fight your battle for you! He already holds the VICTORY!

Two lines from this song stand out to me today:

“I’m gonna worship through this battle.” & “The God I serve knows only how to triumph.”

march 2020

I haven’t posted in this space yet in 2020. It’s been sort of a whirlwind year it seems, but now it’s obviously taken a turn most of us didn’t quite expect. I initially started this post at the beginning of last week, but it’s been hard to press “publish.” We’re all dealing this in different ways, and I think even the unknown of how long this will actually last makes it harder to process. As a blogger primarily sharing fashion, it’s been challenging to find the line between sensitivity and continuing to produce content true to my brand, but honestly my brand has been sharing what’s on my heart, so whether fashion, beauty, or dealing with self isolation and a coronavirus, here we are.

I saw a meme last week that said “2020 is being run by the same people that put on the fyre festival.”

While I definitely appreciate finding the humor in all of this, and I greatly hope that in the coming weeks, because of these necessary precautions, we will mostly all be able to look back and just remember where we found ourselves quarantined without sports in March of 2020. But there are also harsh realities because these cases are real people with real families and real fears.

What warms my heart most in this season is seeing the way we’re all coming together. For the greater good. To protect generations that protected us before we were spoken into existence. Our nation in particular has been battling division for awhile, but in recent days, all I keep hearing in my head are the words of High School Musical: “We’re all in this together.” We are separated, social distancing, and self quarantining, but really, we’re all in this together. We are taking these steps together. And thanks to social media and FaceTime, I don’t really feel all that isolated. Granted I also have my best friend to share my space with, and some have found themselves very alone, and it is those we need to be thinking about and checking in on and supporting.

I am so grateful for the generations before me that have paved the way for me to live the life of freedom and luxury I do. But it is my grandparents, my parents, Cassidy’s grandparents and parents, that I am the most concerned about. My grandpa fought in World War II and he and my grandma eloped before he left for the war and kept their marriage a secret until his return. They are a wealth of experience and compassion I’m not ready to lose.

All of these steps and precautions, they are to save human life. While it may seem silly to some on this end, we are doing this to protect generations so that they are not gasping for air, fighting for their lives, because we don’t have enough respirators and our healthcare system is having to play God, choosing who gets one and who doesn’t. I know I am praying this never reaches them. That it never comes to fruition because we all took action.

It is scary. Never in our lives have we seen our nation, communities, friends and neighbors in this state. But what I want to share with you is that God is God. The name of Jesus conquers all! That was the point of Him dying on the cross. Because He loves you and wants to spend eternity with you. So come what may, but my blessed assurance is that my grandparents love Jesus. Life on this earth is fleeting. Eternity is forever. I have faith that my SAVIOR will save us, no matter what happens. His name is also above sickness and disease. He is a good God and He loves us. I am praying protection over our families and your loved ones.

“I’m still in your hands. This is my confidence. You never failed me yet.” - Do It Again by Elevation Worship