Compliments and Courage

Ever had a random passerby tell you, "Hey, I really love that dress you're wearing..."? Because a very nice man told me that today at the mall, and it made my day! After sitting in an office for 8 hours with little to no human interaction, that was the best thing ever. And after leaving that office to work at the boutique in the mall only to find out that someone else took the shift, that compliment meant even more!

Upon leaving that man's presence, I began pondering what he had just done. He had made my day. By doing what? A simple statement. That's it. Maybe he thinks nothing of it, and of course I'm not thinking too far into it seeing as how I'll never see him again and I don't even know his name. But how fabulous is it that humans have such an opportunity DAILY to impact each other? I mean, wow! That's what I'm left thinking about, even an hour later. About how I should do that more often. He didn't know what my day had been like...for all he knew, I could be a girl that gets compliments like that ALL the time. And whether he recognized it or not, what he did took a certain amount of courage that I would argue many women look for, and are disappointingly not finding much of these days in men or society in general.

I guess that's my point. Never underestimate the power of a simple compliment. And never underestimate what a small act of courage could do for someone who you're walking past in a mall parking lot.

Home Sweet Mobile

So it's been a while since I've posted. But in my defense, it's been quite a busy few weeks, but I want to tell you about all the highlights in hopes of getting on a more regular blogging schedule for the summer after I've finished catching up.

The weekend before finals (thankfully no final for me on Monday) I went to Nashville with my fellow Encouraged Co-Founders, and our Greek editor, Callie. While in Nashville we attended and volunteered at an incredible event put on by the Springtime of Faith Foundation called "Springfest"-2013 V.I.P International Lay Person's Leadership Forum. While there we were blessed to meet some big names in the Catholic world who all were very supportive of Encouraged, the greatest adventure I've ever been a part of. If I were to go into much detail about this, you'd be reading for another 45 minutes. However, I do have a picture.

Annie, Katie, and I..Ireland buddies turned ministry co-founders.

After our fabulous journey to and from Nashvegas, finals week began in Auburn. My grades weren't as wonderful as I had hoped this semester which made for a very stressful week. Through all the stress college kids manage to find a good time...or find some icecream. Either way, we made it and me and my friend Marshall ran into Aubie in the meantime.

Being halfway done with college is a strange feeling. These past 2 years have flown by and if that's any indication of the 2 years to come, I'd like to freeze time please. I moved out of my dorm (last on-campus housing move-out for this girl) and promptly came home to see my family and friends that I've missed so much.

All packed up, see ya later Room 215

One highlight of being home was Mother's day. Liz and I decorated the kitchen all crazy and made some awesome cookies for mom to surprise her. We had a blast baking and decorating. Speaking of baking, another highlight was being invited over the the Johnson abode to hang out with some old high school pals and enjoy some delicious treats last night. In my search for the perfect dessert to bring I ran into this recipe on Pinterest and had to try it. M&M chocolate chip cookies are always a good idea, right?

They turned out pretty good even if the picture stretched!

So, that's life as of now. 

Oh, did I mention that I'm working in a cubicle for the summer? My uncle got me a job at a local computer programming place and it's been great. Definitely a challenge for this extrovert...but a challenge accepted. 

Welcome to my office...*cough*...I mean, cubicle.

More blogging to come... Sorry this one was a whirlwind. :) Happy Summer!