Admiration is a Form of Flattery

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!! Day 5 of the challenge is to publicly profess your love for a blogger friend. I am a blog-read-aholic at times, there are few ladies I am always excited to read who I admire for their inspiration. I wouldn't say we are friends but they are strong, beautiful every day women and I look up to them. Be sure to stop by their blogs!

//Katie\\

//Nicole\\

Pinned the Tail on the Donkey

The topic of day 4 of Blog Every Day in May is name your favorite quote and what you love about it. I could go on and on about some of my favorite quotes so today I will share my favorite quote that applies to me right now. A few months ago I went to Barnes & Noble, I was searching for a photography book and wandered my way into the life coaching books. Usually I steer clear of this section, it sort of freaks me out but on this particular day I was soul searching. As I scanned the book shelves, a book title really stood out to me, Stand Up for Your Life. I picked it up, briefly flipping through the pages. I couldn't get enough. I had to sit down. I read a good part of it for over an hour. At the time I was having a lot doubts about what my purpose was, where my life was headed, was I using my talents to their best abilities. For the longest time I was trying to find a way to sum it up, figure out how I was feeling, and finding a way to describe it. It was then I came apron these words that the skies parted ways and I had an AHA moment:

Those 8 words provided me with a moment of relief and an overwhelming amount of emotion. I am still trying to wrap my head around those words. It's so true though, the weight of potential is enormous. SO many people have it but have no idea what to do with it, myself included. Until you find what it is your excel at and a way to use it, you bear the weight on your shoulders.  Potential is only potential, it is such a blessing if you put it to work but until you do something with it, it is a complete waste. I have been blessed to have many different talents but I am not using them to my best of my abilities. I bear the weight of wasting them every day, selling myself short. I need to take a chance, a leap of faith and do what I know I was meant to do.

So there you have it. My favorite quote. My biggest fear.

In My White T

On the 3rd day of the challenge we were asked to lay down things that made us uncomfortable. Everyone has those quirky things about them that make each of us individuals. The two things that came to mind were crew neck T-shirt and roller coasters. Let me explain:

I have a weird phobia of crew neck T-shirts touching my neck, especially when I am sleeping or laying down. It makes me feel so uncomfortable and gives me the heeby-geebies. Usually you will not see me wearing a crew neck, I LOVE v-necks. Mostly because of this reason and also because they are more flattering. White T v-necks, yes please. There have been times when I only have a regular T-shirt to sleep in and I literally have to put the neck of the shirt on my chin so it does not touch my neck. Weird but true.

The most uncomfortable moment for me, which I avoid at all costs, is riding roller coasters. Seriously, worst and most uncomfortable experience. I do not see how people pay money to go ride these things.  The largest roller I have been on is the train roller coaster at Disney World, its for little kiddies. Absolutely frightening for me. Never will I step foot on one again. When I was in college my volleyball took a trip to Busch Gardens. Thankfully I had a couple of teammates who were not a fan of roller coasters, we toured the park, took a safari ride through the zoo, went white water rafting. At the end of the day we decided to try out the lazy river which had a huge drop at the end that shot out ridiculous amount of water everywhere. We naively decided we would try this with our teammates. The lazy river part of the trip was boring until we got to the end of this really high drop. Down we went and my heart jumped from my chest. Once was enough and I proudly planted myself on the bridge to get mauled by the wall of water as my teammates went down over and over again.

What is something that makes you uncomfortable?

It Came, It Conquered

One of the main reasons I have fallen off course on the 2nd day of the challenge is because I was having problems with the topic. Not to worry, I will post day 2 of challenge at some point. Until then, I must carry on!

Here is the list of topics!

Day 1, Wednesday: The story of your life in 250 words or less (or one paragraph... no one will be counting your words... probably)
Day 2, Thursday: Educate us on something you know alot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)
Day 3, Friday: Things that make you uncomfortable
Day 4, Saturday: Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it
Day 5, Sunday: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member
Day 6, Monday: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?
Day 7, Tuesday: The thing(s) you're most afraid of
Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.
Day 9, Thursday: A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or both a photo and words)
Day 10, Friday: Most embarrassing moment (s). Spill. 
Day 11, Saturday: Sell yourself in 10 words or less
Day 12, Sunday: What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time of your life...)
Day 13, Monday: Issue a public apology. This can be as funny or as serious or as creative as you want it to be.
Day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy
Day 15, Wednesday: A Day in the life (include photos from throughout your typical day - this could be "a photo an hour" if you'd like)
Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it
Day 17, Friday: A favorite photo of yourself and why
Day 18, Saturday: Tell a story from your childhood. Dig deep and try to be descriptive about what you remember and how you felt.
Day 19, Sunday: Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them
Day 20, Monday: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.
Day 21, Tuesday: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives
Day 22, Wednesday: Rant about something. Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel. (a pet peeve, a current event, a controversial topic, something your husband or roommate or neighbor or boss does that really ticks you off)
Day 23, Thursday: Things you've learned that school won't teach you
Day 24, Friday: Your top 3 worst traits
Day 25, Saturday: Something someone told you about yourself that you'll never forget (good or bad)
Day 26, Sunday: Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss, if you'd like.
Day 27, Monday: A letter to your readers
Day 28, Tuesday: Only pictures
Day 29, Wednesday: Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories. Use Grooveshark or YouTube to include them in the post
Day 30, Thursday: React to this term: Letting Go
Day 31, Friday: A vivid memory

Last weekend I partook the in Illinois Relay Marathon. We had a beautiful day and always the town puts on a wonderful event. Throughout the course there are bands playing, people in their yards cooking out and cheering on the runners. I haven't seen anything like it elsewhere. The town really comes together to support its runners. We all ran really well and were just 56 seconds from our goal of 4:00. Regards, we had a great time together and I am so proud of our accomplishment!

Nutshells & a Project

As I mentioned in my last post I have been struggling to blog on a consistent basis or quite honestly blogging at all. When one of my favorite blogs (Jenni from Story of My Life) came up with the idea of Blog Every Day in May, I felt this was the little push I needed to try and jump start my writing. Obviously the point is to blog every day for the month of May. She has been fantastic and included daily topics which conquers half the battle right there! Day one is "story of your life in 250 words or less". Does this feel a little like a school meet and greet or what?

I was born an only child 25 years ago and up until I had graduated college, finished playing collegiate volleyball had never had stitches. After a freak encounter with a water glass I now have a scar on my knee worthy of a tale or two. I've lived in Illinois almost all my life except when I went away to college in Evansville Indiana. I have tried my hand at almost any sport growing up EXCEPT soccer. My foot and eye coordination were never my strong suit. I grew up finger painting and riding my pony, a white appaloosa named Prince who stole my heart. I treasure the lessons about responsibility he taught me and one day I will rekindle my love of being a horsewoman. I have big plans of traveling around the world. So far I have traveled to 4 countries but there are many more on my list. I have a mild obsession with standard poodles, kombucha, and staying active. I place a high value on the meaning of true friendship and family ties.

Well there it is. Rachel in a nutshell.

I normally I am not one to link up but there's always a first for everything!