Where There Is Faith, There Is Hope!!

Hi all, sorry for the delay in a new post. Between the start of wedding season, and a church picnic that I am planning things have been a little crazy. Anyways, I am truly going to make an effort to post consistently now...I promise.

While at work today, I was thinking about my life and where I thought that I would be right now. My mom always tells me, "We make plans and God laughs." God knows how my life is going to end up and what I'm meant to be, however, at the old age of 26 I feel like life isn't what I thought it would be. I don't have the job I want, there's no guy in my life, and I haven't done nearly all the things I want to do. Add on trials and disappointments and you can build yourself a road. Life doesn't turn out how we want or plan. I've had amazing adventures, experiences, and moments in my life that I thank God for everyday. It's easy to have hope and faith during that time in your life. The hard part is, how do you keep the faith and hope when life sends you one curve ball after another.

What do you do? If you're anything like me, I might freak out, have a few tears or meltdown, but then turn around and work on picking myself up. Life goes on, and you just have to learn to go with the flow. Trust me that is easier said than done, and I am the first person to admit it. We are all human, and unless you have a "whatever" or "I don't care" mentality, like me, you dwell on it and you doubt what is planned for you in life.

That's where faith and hope comes in. I have to believe in my heart or hearts that there is a reason why everything happens. There is a reason I didn't get the job I was praying for and I'm at a different job, a reason why prince charming hasn't turned up yet, and a reason why curve balls are being thrown. Without hope that one day things will all fall into place, life would suck and be miserable. There's a quote that says, "You can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air...but only for one second without hope."

Even when we get down on ourselves or don't know how we are going to get through an obstacle, we have to turn to God and ask for help. We have to have faith that he knows what's best for us and hope that there will be a brighter tomorrow. It's easy to forget all the blessings that we have been given when you are in that moment of hurt or turmoil. I'll admit I make that mistake too! We have keep in mind the big picture. We are all meant for great things, we just might not achieve it when we want to, but we have to believe it will happen.

Faith and hope are hard to keep. I'm fortunate enough to have amazing people in my life who are there to remind me when I forget. They are there to remind me to keep the faith, that their is always hope, to always pray, and to fight for what I want. I'm so blessed to have them in my life. They are there when I need them. Things are going to happen whether we like it or not. We can fight it or we can learn to accept. Either way faith and hope are the only way we are going to get through this magical adventure called life!!

A New Chapter

Happy almost Friday everyone!! I hope that you are all having a good evening. I know that I haven't blogged  in a while, but after some thinking I have decided to start back up again. Writing is something that I truly enjoy, and something that I want to keep up with. What better way to do that, than to blog.

I don't want you to think that I haven't been writing or blogging in two years, I actually was writing a blog for the Chicago Steel. I ended up having to give it up in June, because I got a new job. I won't lie when I say leaving and letting go of the blog was one of the hardest things I've had to do. Either way...here I am!

My plan is to keep posting about some of life's adventures that I have/will experience, but also talk about the different curve balls that life faces you with. If you decide to come back day in and day out that's awesome and I'm excited to have you share this magical adventure with me. Ultimately this blog is for me. It's a ways for me to keep track of this crazy adventure we call life, and hopefully connect with people about issues that are important to me and relateable to others.

So much has changed and happened within the past two years. Looking back I've changed and been able to grow as a person. This post starts a new chapter in my life. One that I'm looking forward to sharing with all of you. I hope you'll join me on this life's magical adventure!!

Weekend Movies

Happy Hump Day everyone! So this past weekend my sister and I hung out and watched a ton of movies. However, two of the newer movies that we watched was "Think Like A Man" and "The Lucky One." Both movies were absolutely amazing.

"Think Like A Man" was absolutely hilarious. The actors were great, and there was a happy ending which we all love to see. Jeremy and Dominic were two of the hottest guys in the film. Watching the movie, it made you think about how hard it is for men to think like women, and vice versa. But I'm not going to lie, it would be nice to have a book that told women what men were thinking. Yes, I know that it is a movie and that ironically each girl was dating someone who was described in this book, but seriously it would be so nice to have a guidebook. Especially for those of us who are into a guy but are too shy to say anything...a.k.a. me. But that's a different story lol. The bottom line is that if you are looking for a comical romance that both you and your significant other will enjoy...this is the movie!!

 

Now "The Lucky One" is definitely more of a romance movie. It was inspired by the Nicholas Sparks book, which was phenominal! Zac Efron was hot as usual and seeing his tattoo, whew. The connection between Beth and Logan (the character's names) was hot and undeniably fun to watch. It made you wish that you were the one with Zac in the movie. I was also impressed that the movie pretty much followed the book, which is something I am always worried about, especially with Nicholas Sparks books. I always seem to fall in love with the book and I just hope the movie will live up to my expectations and won't be ruined for me. The one thing that I was a little bit sad about was that the movie did not show the relationship between Logan and Zeus, the dog. Also they don't show the relationship between Logan and his friend who he lost at war, Victor. I really wished that these were portrayed in the movie, because they were so important in the book and really brought it to life. However, I think this is totally a movie worth watching, but you are going to wish you had a love story in your life like this lol.

The moral of the story is that if you are look for some amazing movies this weekend, here are two. Otherwise if these two don't appeal to you go to your local Family Video, or use netflix/redbox whatever, and find a movie you haven't seen yet. You never know what movie you'll find!

One Fabulous Weekend

As I promised I am back this week with a ton of fun posts, or at least I think they are :). Since today is Monday, I figured I would give you a weekend recap. This weekend was filled with a ton of family parties, and a whole lot of time spent with my sister.

Kathleen, is at UIndy, and to say that I miss her alot is the understatement of the year! She is my best friend and the person that I do almost everything with. She is the one person that I am able to be real with because no matter what at the end of the day she loves me.

I know, I know I'm getting all mushy. But with her moving away to Indiana it has been really hard. Well she had to attend a wedding this weekend so she was home Friday and Saturday! We had a blast. We watched a ton of movies, went out to dinner, and just hung out and talked. I definitely missed her.

She has a job interview at an ice rink today. Needless to say that doesn't surprise me. We have both grown up around the sport of hockey, and we have watched our brother, John, play hockey for over 16 years! Hockey is in our blood, and we love it! If she gets the job at the ice rink, I think it will make her feel more at home. I mean, come on, how can you go away to a school with no hockey team and be okay with that?? LOL. So GOOD LUCK TODAY KAT!! You'll rock your interview!

On Sunday, we had two family gatherings. My Uncle Mike and his girlfriend, Robin, were in town for a wine tasting. They live in Rockford for 3/4 of the year and Arizona for 1/4 of the year. Anyways, I haven't seen the two of them since April so it was nice to see them. We went to Home Run Inn, and let me just say it was absolutely outstanding!

My Uncle Mike and Robin are on the far left

After that we were off to my Aunt's house because we had family in this weekend from California. She ended up having a get together. It was so much fun! I got to see some of my cousins and two of my little cousins. Plus, I got to practice playing Mario Cart on the Wii. As you can assume I wasn't very good at it, but it was so much fun!



My Aunt and her family

  Well that's all for today folks! I hope your weekend was as fabulous as mine! Until tomorrow!

My Apologies...

Hi Everyone, sorry I've been MIA for the past week. I will be back tomorrow with a weekend update and then I have some fun posts for this coming week! Have a good rest of your weekend and be back tomorrow!

Believing is Seeing

This week's theme seems to be believing in the impossible and miracles. So I figured that I would end the week off with another post about believing, however I am going to start with a quote for this one.

In the movie, "The Santa Claus" Judy the elf tells Scott, "Seeing isn't believing, Believing is seeing." When I was younger I never really understood what that meant. As I've grown up though I always think about it Christmas rolls around. Do we all have to be convinced and see something before we can believe it. Take one of the easiest examples...Santa Claus. We might not see him, but does that mean he isn't real? Yes, I know the secret about Santa Claus, but at the same time who's to say he doesn't really exist.

In the classic 1897 New York Sun article, "Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Clause," Francis P. Church replies to a little girl who asks if there really is a Santa Claus. In the article he says that he does exist and he is as real as love and generosity. Show me the proof, if you believe there is not some kind of magic in this world. You can't prove something like that does not exist.

Which brings me to my next point, you might not be able to see everything, but you can feel it. Helen Keller once said, "The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." Believing in Santa Claus, in God, in love or kindness can't always be seen. We feel it with our heart. Think about it. People are told all the time that God is always with us, but they don't always believe it. But think about what would happen if they started to believe. I know from personal experience there is a sense of comfort and constant love by having God in your life. I might not be able to see him right now, but I can feel it. I know I am loved and I know that he is always looking out for me.

It's the same with Santa. I might never see him, but feeling during the Christmas season, it's magical. For anyone who has felt that magic, I don't know how it is possible to say that you could never picture there being a Santa.

So why do we need proof that something is real before we believe it? When we are kids we are willing to believe in the impossible, in magic, but then why as adults do we push it all away as we grow up? Society seems to tell us, if you aren't a child then seeing is believing. Do we agree with it, maybe yes, maybe no. We don't seem to do anything about though.

Holding on to that magic and believing in something bigger than us keeps us young. If you are able to hold on to that magic and faith that are primarily meant for kids, you have been given a gift. You get the best of both worlds. You the fun of being an adult and yet you get to keep the heart and the excitement of a child. In my eyes that is one of the greatest gifts we can be given.

In about 85 days the Christmas season will begin. This year make it a point to BELIEVE and feel that spirt of Christ and love and even Santa in your. Once you start believing, that is when you will finally begin to see.

Happy Friday Everyone! Have a magical weekend!

The 1980 Miracle

Since I mentioned yesterday that one of my favorite movies of all time is "Miracle" I figured that it is only fair to dedicate a post to it. For those of you who don't know, in the 1980 Winter Olympics the United States Hockey Team won the Gold Metal. The big rival that year was the Soviets. Since 1954, the Soviets had won every world championship or Olympic game. They were the team to beat. 

The U.S. team was made up of ameteur and college players. They weren't professionals, and no one believed that they would get very far. The boys were coached by Herb Brooks, in my opinion one of the most inspirational and best coaches of all time. Brooks made his men work hard. He was determined to get the boys in shape so that they could be conditioned enough to keep up with the Soviet for a full three periods. Furthermore, he made sure that they understood that they were a team. They didn't play for the individual name on the back of the jersey, they played for the name on the front.

When the U.S. was matched up against the Soviets everyone tuned in to watch. It didn't matter if they understood hockey or not. It was the fact that they had something to believe in. America needed that at the time. The game went back and forth and the U.S. ended up coming from behind to win it. Michael Eruzione, who was also the captain, had the game winning goal. One of the most memorable parts of the entire game for fans was when the announcer scream, "Do You Believe In Miracles?!"

I grew up with hockey all around me. My brother started to play hockey when he was 5. I have watched him play now for 16 years. I understand and love the game. The excitement that you feel when you watch a good game is undescribable. Needless to say when we bought the movie Miracle my sister and I made it our movie. I think we have actually watched it so much that we know almost every single line :)

 The nice part about the movie is that every play you see is the actual play from the game. This movie is one of the most accurate sports films that you will see. Every time we watch it, it is like you are watching it for the first time and experiencing all of the games for the first time. You feel the excitement that they felt when they score a goal. You fall in love with the players, and you feel their triumphs and defeats. You understand Brooks's coaching style and why he acted the way he did. This movie is beyond phenominal! If you haven't seen it, I would recommend it!

Below is ending of the movie, it will show you the excitement that you will feel if you get a chance to see it!

Anyone else have movies that never get old? What movies are your absolute favorite?