Normally I believe one would have a post like this a week later for the new year, however as I was running back and forth through the house, a couple of flashbacks hit me like a ton of bricks. Now as most people get "older" the years go by faster, and while this was true for 2018, I must say it has gone by in such a way that stuff that happened only months ago, literally feel like a forever ago.

I know I've already posted several blogs on my oh so wise college advice, but due to several recent adventures, I figured I can't share advice enough. College has been a huge learning curve. I could have used someone to show me the ropes starting out; I'm grateful to have been able help out a few friends and siblings.

Have you ever been in a season of life, where you are literally just going through the motions? For me, in the past six years, I have on and off been doing that. It is so hard to keep up the momentum and push though. But life just goes on, it does not matter who you are or what is going on in your life, there is no way of stopping it. So floating and drifting it is, but there is only so much of that one can do.

When multiple people recommend you read the same book, you should probably go and read it. After finding it on sale at Target, I dumped it into the cart and added it to the stack of to-read next to my bed. When packing for a conference earlier this month, I shoved it into my bag, hoping I would get the chance to start it.

If you've been following along for a while, I'm sure you are well aware of the graduation situation that happened last December (And if not you can read about it here). Well here is the latest and greatest of the saga. After the back and forth calls with the COBA Dean, it was all on the graduation coordinator. It took around three weeks to get everything sorted out and my graduation official. But obviously, it was worth it.

Heartache is one of the weirdest emotions one can feel (at least in my own opinion), exactly like the name, part of your heart contracts and makes it hard for blood to pass through, thus ache. Recently, it kept me up all night, making it hard to breath and continued on and off for the next week. I was going to say it's been a while since feeling that way, but honestly? I have never ever felt it like that. It was like part of me died on the inside and I was walking around numb for the next few days. I legit cannot get him out of my mind - ha I mean does anyone stay up for HOURS thinking of someone? 😬

For the first time in years I actually got invited to a NYE party and guess what? It ended up that this was the year that first ice/snow of the winter came on New Years Eve... ha so the party got cancelled. Plus it ended up I got some sort of virus/food poisoning friday night and was still recovering on Sunday. My unexpected sickness also meant I slept the entire day on Saturday disrupting all of my year end cleaning plans, lol.
Right in the middle of changing out my desks, I had a moment where there was pure frustration, and anger. It was one of those moments, where I could feel the anger bubbling up inside and there was just a brief moment to decide - do I loose it and completely break down or how can I turn this into a "I WILL make it work" moments? I realized my almost twenty years of living in that room - I have never actually gotten to do a room makeover - my parents settled for new paint, comforters, and lamps, every so often, but that was about the limit. There was never a point where they surprised us (yes, us. I share the room with my only sister) with the option of choosing our own furniture and decor - it was just given to us. Even the first moment of freedom, we "got to choose the paint" between them and the painters, it got mixed up.

But think about the crucial transitional periods in anyone's life and it is no wonder, I was so naïve and babyish for so long. My dad would often tell me to "grow up" & "quit acting like a child", and yet how is one suppose to do that when they are stifled in their own room? It is easy to say it, but another to actually follow through and do it.  Trying to make a sacred bedroom AND an office in only half a room with a closet smaller than I am is a tall order. And no matter the book or article about simplifying or organizing a small space, nothing seems to work.

There was something I heard this past week. It was along the lines of: what if your child's most annoying feature is actually their biggest character trait? Basically it boils down to , figuring out a way to harness the annoying and turn it into what it was meant to be.

I use to be super annoying at organizing. I would take all of the books off of my shelf and sort them by  series and then by order. And even now my closet is organized by shirts, dresses, coats, etc. although in middles school it was even color coded.

I realize in order to achieve stuff there must be sacrifice. For me it is usually financial. Funny because up until college, I was such a budgeter. I would save most of my money, and use the rest for something I really really wanted. Now? I am sinking. Trying to figure out how to repay loans, redo my room, save up for conferences, trips, & just life.

Hahaha, wow, I got so off track y'all. But long story short, I wanted to completely redo my room, in a way I would love for the next couple of years and actually enjoy every aspect of it. Especially, because I have a home based business and spend a lot of time in there!


XOXO,
Suzanne Marie

Every yearly review post begins with something like this... "This past year has been great, but when so quickly." or "Wow, what a crazy year", or.... hahaha you get the picture. I think this has been one of the few years where the roller-coaster rides have been worth it. Can't say I loved every minute, but this has been the best year in a long time.

Alright, update time on my degree issue. If you read my recent post about how I ended up failing a class, which is a huge fault of mine, but also with several issues from the school. Anyway, you can read that here. So a little over a week after I got the news about not graduating and talked to the advisor, I got an email back from the dean of the COBA, but he also ended up calling my house and talking to my mom and then called my cell phone and was in the process of figuring out what we could do so I could move on and keep the job I had lined up.

Never thought I'd be here. Rushing to talk to an other unhelpful advisor. Sitting in my car with tears streaming down my face or sitting at Craftwork, trying to not to cry anymore, while figuring out what to email the dean of the college of business (who's email I got from the secretary, not the advisor). Pieces of my life's puzzle that were not suppose to be there, now are getting smashed together, trying to make the picture a whole. It's these moments that one would ask “How did I get here?” and “What just happened?” I was planning for graduation and my next steps, now I’m still stuck in college loop again.  The year round class loop that was suppose to end forever, now seems like a broken record.

Essential Oils can be used in many different ways, but when starting out it can get so confusing how to start implementing them into daily use. It can seem overwhelming learning how to use them in place of other medicines we have, but it is fun to learn alternative options that can help. If you are are brand new to the world of eo's, click here for a general overview of them and here for some information about two of the top companies.

Emily Ley, the author of Grace, Not Perfection and is the creator of the Simplified Planner (also found here and you can read my reviews here & here), just released her second book, A Simplified Life and it is the perfect read for anyone and everyone who needs a little bit of simplicity in their life. She goes through step by step several different areas in life that could stand some reorganizing. From home, to technology, finances, and faith, there is something in there for every women you know.

I was really trying to come up with the absolutely necessary top ten essential oils for starting out with, but after tons of research there were several oils that were ALWAYS on the list, but no two lists had the exact same ten on them. And for someone just starting using essential oils it can just get confusing, especially because all of the different starter kits have completely different oils.

With my college graduation looming close, I wanted to do a major flashback to my senior year of High School five years ago.

All I can say OMG I was cute! 😍 😋  But seriously wow I cannot believe that this was five years ago, it is one of those weird memories that does not seem that long ago, yet feels like ages and tons of stuff has happened. 😂  And wow look at how much I have changed!

I have always been told I was shy. Through different college classes and honestly just life, I have learned that firstly, you should not label people, because the more they are told something (i.e. shy), they more they become that. And secondly, I am not 'shy,' rather an introverted-extrovert, which means I love being around people and socializing, but it drains my energy and I need my own space to recharge and recover from an outing.

Recently, a fellow blogger had a post about 5 Important Habits to Develop in your 20's, and while I definitely enjoyed reading it (especially because I have seen other takes on the same idea), I felt as if she did not quite expand upon several of the points and left out some crucial information. Also, this list does not just apply to women in their 20's, it is for everyone! The idea is the sooner you start implementing these into your daily life, the better.

Recently, thanks to my Summer FabFitFun Box, I got to try a few samples of the Marine Collagen. It was a little strange, with a slight taste to it, but easy to get use to or disguised with some essential oils. It does dissolve better in lukewarm water vs ice water (it takes a few minutes for it to completely dissolve.

Last month we headed down to Port Aransas for a short vacation before we all had to start school again. And we had a blast at the beach. Unfortunately, my family has this thing with planning our family vacations around bad weather. We found out that Hurricane Harvey was suppose to hit the same morning, we were planning on leaving.

After seeing everything that is happening in South Texas (and y'all it is NOT all Houston! Dozens and dozens of towns were COMPLETELY destroyed!), it is breaking my proud texan heart. But seeing the way literally EVERYONE come together to raise money and/or volunteer makes me soooo happy to call Texas my home and to be a part of this community. I normally do not stay up past 1:30am writing blog posts, but I half cry everytime I see videos and photos of South Texas that I wanted to round up all of the places you can donate or purchase to donate. (Not going to lie, I'm one of those people who no matter the tragedy, I can't make myself donate a ton of money, but I will if it means shopping. You can judge all you want, but that does not make me a bad person; I am only human).

Essential Oils have quickly become one of the recent trends, even though they have been around for quite a while. And they is a lot of debate regarding quality and different brands, but when it comes down to it, making sure that you are using essential oils that are of top quality is very important, and currently, dōterra and young living are hand in hand the best brands out there. Many other brands that claim to have good quality oils, in reality contain fillers and synthetic ingredients. And that will not help provide any (or very little) therapeutic benefits.