Passions: Revisited.

(Couldn't think of a good picture, so I thought I'd post one of a sunrise on the way to work a few weeks ago.)

I just got out of a meeting at work and for some reason I left in a funk. I thought, "What am I doing here? Why am I working in retirement? Do I even make a difference in the world?" It was right before my lunch so I thought, "I'll look at blogs, they'll cheer me up." That didn't do it... They all have Valentine's Day themed recipes on ways to treat your significant other. Not helpful. So, I decided to read old posts of my own blog. Strange, I know... But I came across a post below that I wrote on October 7, 2010, and it kind of snapped me out of my funk. Way to go, 22-year-old Abby! You were wise beyond your years...

The post was entitled: Passions.

I feel like the word "passion" has come up in a lot of the conversations I've had lately... but it's been in the negative. When referring to my new job at JP Morgan, many times I've said the lame statement of: "Well, it'll be a good job, but what can I say, I'm just not passionate about 401ks." I was just reading a friend's blog and she answered the question, "What are you passionate about?" and upon reading that I was completely convicted that I've been focusing on the negative rather than the positive. What am I passionate about? What gets me excited and motivated and high on life?

After much contemplation (ok, not that much, maybe 15 minutes), here is my list of things I am passionate about:

1. Encouragement. I think everyone deserves to hear the nice things we sometimes think in our heads but for some reason are too embarrassed to say out loud. If you like a person's sweater or think someone did a great job at work, why not tell them about it. I love to give compliments and I love to write thank you cards. I'm passionate about encouraging people.

2. Friendships. Solid friendships are pretty huge to me. Tonight I went for a drink with a friend and asked her how she was doing and she didn't waste any time with the lame, "I've been good, how are you?" She went straight into how her heart really is. I loved it! I love how real our friendship is. I'm passionate about friendships. Not only my own but that we all need them.

3. Music. I suppose this is a little more shallow than the things above, but I'm passionate about music. I'm passionate about singing and communicating a message through notes and words. And I'm passionate about instrumentals and communicating emotion through a major or minor key. I love it all...

4. Creativity. I'm passionate about thinking outside of the box. About creating beautiful things out of not so beautiful things. I kind of feel like creativity is a form of redemption, artistically improving a situation. I know... I just made that way deeper than it probably is, but why not...

5. Christianity. This is what I build my life around... or try to. (I fail, again and again....) It's where all of my passion begins.

The kicker is that while, no, I'm not passionate about 401ks, I can still incorporate all of the things I am passionate about in my new job (ok, well, maybe not music, but I will do that on the side...) It's these things that I will be focusing on... The end. :)

Whaaaaaat?!?

Are you as sick of seeing "Week 29" and a picture of the Plaza lights as I am? It's time, my friends. It's time for me to be for real about blogging more. My mom asked me the other night, "So, are you officially done blogging?" Nope, Momma, I'm not. I'm back. And hopefully for good.

Things got busy. I started dating a boy. The holidays hit. The holidays ended. The winter blues kicked in. My busy schedule started back up. I decided to stop dating said boy. I cried for a few weeks about it. And now I'm back. And I'm happy to be here...

So, what do I have in store for you on this momentous occasion of blogging? I thought I'd hit you with some things that I've been loving lately. Things that if I was blogging consistently they would have had a whole post dedicated to them. Things that I'd like to tell you about right now.

Almond Poppyseed Bread. I made this last week and it may be one of the best things that's graced food blogs in quite some time.

New Girl. I love this show. The humor is a bit inappropriate at times, but if you can look passed that, I'd highly recommend it.

Philip Phillips. I have liked the song "Home" by this guy for a while. But a friend told me last week that this album was worth having and I couldn't agree more. The song "Gone, Gone, Gone" is currently my favorite.

Jawbone JamBox. I splurged on this little guy and it's maybe one of my favorite purchases ever. It's my constant companion when I'm in my kitchen baking. Me. My JamBox. Quality Tunes. Butter. Sugar. Eggs. Flour... Perfection. (I'm sure it's good for other things, too: dance parties, game nights, pool parties, any kind of party really...)

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies. My favorite Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars made into an easier, cookier form. They were quite the hit at my church potluck today.

Meatball Bubble Biscuits. Funny name but a really easy and delicious meal if you are looking for something easy and delicious. 

Ha, music, food, and TV... There are other things that I'm loving lately but I'll post about them some other day. I've missed you, blog. Hopefully you've missed me too...

365 Photo Challenge: Week 29.

Day 206.

I'm just about caught up! This is actually this past week. Let me tell you about it...

Day 200: Kathryn's cute socks. Day 201: coffee for me and the boy. Day 202: wrapped presents. Day 203: Christmas service for church. Day 204: dinner at Pei Wei with Dee Dee. Day 205: bowling with Dee Dee and the boy. Day 206: the Plaza lights after dinner with the family (one of my favorite Christmas traditions.)

I'm going to do my best to stay on top of this!

Day 200.

Day 201.

Day 202.

Day 203.

Day 204.

Day 205.

365 Photo Challenge: Week 28.

Day 194.

Week 28! Comin' atcha...

Day 193: Christmas ornaments. Day 194: sugar cookies. Day 195: presents under our tree. Day 196: grabbed a drink with the boy at a brewery down the street. Day 197: dinner with the family at Los Corrals. Day 198: my favorite jacket. Day 199: the future of Diet Coke... I love these things.

A pretty simple week. I'm almost caught up!

Day 193.

Day 195.

Day 196.

Day 197.

Day 198.

Day 199.

365 Photo Challenge: Week 27.

Day 190.

Alright, Week 27! This seems so long ago... but let me tell you about it.

Day 186: another Monday night dinner with Dee Dee... Jimmy John's this time. Day 187: our Christmas tree. Day 188: my first shot at making risotto... I made this recipe, it was pretty good! Day 189: this was another of those "I'm in bed and haven't taken a picture today" pictures, so I took it of my socks. Day 190: my first official date with this boy that's newly in my life (more to come on that later, I'm sure.) Day 191: the lamest fortune known to man. Fail on your part, Panda Express. Day 192: not my favorite picture of this project, but this is a rose that was given to Dee Dee on her first day and it has been living at our house.

On to the next week...

Day 186.

Day 187.

Day 188.

Day 189.

Day 191.

Day 192.

365 Photo Challenge: Week 26.

Day 183.

It has been waaaay too long. I know. I don't really know where time has gone this past month. I can't really believe Christmas has already come and gone and 2013 is about to begin. Despite my lack of posting, I actually have continued with my photo project. I'm going to try to get all caught up today. So here it is...

With the completion of this week, I officially was half way through this project. Half way... craziness. This week began a new month and a new color! And I was excited for the change. December is red in honor of Christmas... Anyway, let's take a look at Week 26:

Day 179: Monday night dinners with my friend Dee Dee... we often frequent Chipotle. Day 180: this was one of those "I'm in bed and I just remembered I forgot to take my picture for the day" pictures... so it's the floor in my bedroom. Day 181: ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Day 182: so, my church practices music at a different church on Thursday nights and that church was setting up for this dinner they were having with themed tables... This table was squirrel themed. SO weird. Day 183: my favorite boots. Day 184: the beginning of a new color! and the pretty garland and berries that Kathryn put around our front door. Day 185: Settlers of Catan with some of my favorite friends.

Day 179.

Day 180.

Day 181.

Day 182.

Day 184.

Day 185.

365 Photo Challenge: Week 25.

Day 173.

*Insert slacker speech here with lots of excuses of how busy I've been and how I really need to be more consistent in my blogging.*

Here we have last week's photo challenge pictures. Despite that fact that I am almost a week late in posting them, I did actually take these pictures on the days they were supposed to be taken. Anyway, let me tell you about them...

Day 172: Chex Mix made for our Thanksgiving. Day 173: the lamp in our kitchen... it used to be my grandma's... it's pretty special. Day 174: leftover pumpkin bars. Day 175: a family tradition, to have nut cups at Thanksgiving meal. Day 176: my cousin Elsy's cute little feet. Day 177: a wreath that I made that lives on my parent's front door. Day 178: hot cocoa cookies (go here if you'd like the recipe... it's a bit high maintenance but they were tasty.)

One more week of brown! (And actually, when I'm writing this, it's December 1st, which mean brown is over for me! Hooray! On to red!)

Day 172.

Day 174.

Day 175.

Day 176.

Day 177.

Day 178.