Monday Musings

1. This weekend I took the weekend off of social media and loved it. It was so refreshing and made me utilize my phone for the purpose of a phone - phone calls & texts. No facebook or instagram checking for this girl.  A few weeks ago I actually removed the facebook app from my phone all together and made me realize how wonderful it was. I love social media; but it is also such a time suck and it's so easy to compare your life to others and feel like you don't measure up.

2. Lins & I attended the Imagine Dragon's concert a week ago in St. Paul. It was pretty amazing & fantastic.

Trader Joe flowers are always a yes

3. Fresh flowers from Trader Joe's haves been my jam lately. Apparently purple is also my spring color of choice.

A rare coffee + St. Paul on a gorgeous spring afternoon

4. In full transparency my love addiction for lattes, mochas and 'fancy coffee' has gotten a little out of control in the last year. Gone are the days were I would enjoy a latte here and there with a friend at Caribou. In the last year the addiction increased and it was becoming a 3-4 time a week occurrence. After much thought my roomie and I decided that drastic action was needed on our part and we decided to take a 6 week coffee shop fast. We did add a few 'rules' in to our fast but for the most part no grabbing coffee before work or just for the much need 'pick me up' only grabbing coffee if it facilitated community and friendship.  It's now been a month and I have started to like regular brewed coffee pot coffee (with flavored creamer of course) and have forced myself to be more creative with coffee and teas.

The rare mocha and lattes are more of a treat now instead of a necessity. I'm hoping once the fast is over I will be able to practice better self control where Starbucks, Caribou and Dunn Bros are concerned.

5. My beloved North Dakota State Bison were in the NCAA basketball tournament this past weekend. They lost right before the Sweet 16 but it was certainly exciting to see them on national television playing ball. With that said my bracket is not a complete bust quite yet and my final four are still in the game.

A Banner Week

Mondays tend to get a bad rap; I'm not necessarily sure why that is - maybe because it's the first day back at work for most individuals, the start of a 5 day working stretch, or maybe saying goodbye to carefree weekend days? Either way I tend to dread Mondays and everything it entails with the shriek of an alarm to begin the day, work that may have piled up over the weekend or just starting the week over again and hitting 'reset'. 

This week I vow it will be different. This week it will be a banner week and how can it not be when the week is jam packed with fun events like dinner with the family, dinner + coffee + dessert with a dear friend, date night with a cute boy, a benefit to raise money for a wonderful family with cancer expenses, and a workshop day with coworkers. 

Yes this week will be a banner week. 

Hello 2014

As is often the case over here on this little blogspot I call my own .. I'm behind. 

As I am still working on my 'Goodbye 2013' post (and every 2013 vacation posts) and compiling pictures & going over the gloriousness that was 2013 I am already thinking in leaps & bounds about 2014 & enjoying all of the moments. 

::: Currently 2014 :::

I am forgoing 2014 goals and working on '30 goals before I turn 30' as well as monthly goals.

Learning to like straight up coffee and trying to break the Caribou & Starbucks addiction.

Surviving the Minnesota freeze. 

Enjoying the Christmas decor that is still up (no judgments please).  

Anticipating new devotionals and Bible memory plans.

Learning what working from home really looks like. 

Contemplating trips & travel plans.

Excited about a fresh + new year. 

What does your 2014 beginning look like?

Life Recently

Where do I even begin?

Life recently has been a bit busy. As life get's busier blogging always seems to get pushed to the back burner. Since I last blogged I have been to Chicago for fun, Atlanta for work and to and from Rochester (weekly) for work. 

{Chicago}

Chicago was all sorts of amazing (until I got flashed on the El train - cannot make that up folks). Tasty Chicago style pizza, colorful fall trees, the hustle n'bustle of the city but also the fun relaxed areas of Navy Pier & the shores of Lake Michigan. 

{Atlanta} 

Atlanta was basically all day spent in a training classroom and evenings spent in a hotel room. I did get to spend a couple hours visiting Coca-Cola World and trying dozens of pops from around the world. 

{Odds & Ends}

The rest of life has been busy with a new work location that is a 90 minute commute. I work out of that office for a few days, spend the night at a hotel & work the remaining days remotely. I am definitely learning a lot about myself during this work project. 

At the beginning of 2013 I chose a word to reflect on for the entire year - the word was 'grace'. Originally I thought the word was more for how I should react & live within the year - extending grace to others, being graceful in all situations, ect. But recently I am realizing that sometimes the person I need to extend grace to is myself. I am realizing that I cannot be 'super Becca' and get everything done, accommodate everyone & everything. I am still a work in progress but what a comfort to know I do not need to be perfect and that I serve a God who loves me with all of my imperfections.

A shameless hotel selfie

Minnesota is covered in a blanket of snow and I am kind of loving it. But the icy slow roads could go. I am loving all of the Christmas decor & songs playing all over. It really is the greatest time of the year. 

Last thought - the ability to blog from a phone is sometimes magical and sometimes full of grammatical errors. Here is hoping that this blog sees a bit more love as 2013 winds down & 2014 begins.

Stopping by to say 'hello'

Stopping in to say hi, hello & catch up. 

As I write I am currently in Chicago & enjoying some vacation time with a friend. We flew out early this morning & are painting the town red before we head back in a few days. 

Recently work + life have been so busy that things have fallen to the wayside; one of those things is blogging. Blogging going to the wayside is not something I want but it just seems to be one of the things that is put aside. 

One of the things I was looking forward to on this trip was flying into the sunrise. With a 7am takeoff I was hoping to witness a beautiful sunrise. This morning there was no breath taking sunrise from the clouds but watching the sky change from dusk to hues of blues & whites was just as magical. 

The rest of the weekend I will be off spending my girls weekend in Chicago. Until I can come back to blogging you can still find me in Instagram; my name is becca_onegirl

Weekending + Fall Idea House Inspiration

Today brought the 'official' beginning of fall, I can't believe summer is winding down but I am still loving the warm days & cool nights that we have been experiencing. The weekend was filled with fall inspiration, walks (with a waterfall), cups of tea in the evening (it's tea season!) and college football with my beloved Bison. 

Saturday my mom & I headed to the Bachman's Idea House. Bachman's decorates the Bachman family house in the fall, for christmas & spring. Ever since my co-worker told me about the Idea house I have wanted to visit. I loved the Idea house and plan on attending during the seasons as it was so fun and I loved being inspired by everything -- it was like walking into a pinterest house. 

Love me some succulents and this fireplace makes want a fireplace some day - even if it's a fake fireplace.

Gourds and pumpkins make my heart go a flutter. The gardens also had fun vegetables interspersed around the flowers and it looked beautiful. 

How did you spend your weekend?

Water Falls + Juicy Lucys

Last weekend I had several friends arrived from all over the United States + Japan for Shelby's wedding. For months we had been planning activities for their arrival.  One evening we went to dinner in St. Paul, the Renaissance Festival on a weekend and Monday morning we found ourselves heading to Minnehaha Falls. I always enjoy a chance to play tourist in this beloved state of mine and it doesn't matter that I have visited the falls numerous times I always treasure my trips. 

To end the perfect day at Minnehaha Falls we visited the 5-8 Club for Juicy Lucy burgers. Juicy Lucy's are the Minnesota 'burger' and are a cheese burger that is stuffed with cheese vs. having the cheese on the outside. They were delicious but I think I may still prefer a regular cheese burger. But now and then a juicy lucy is a great treat.