"Little" Sweet Wedding Moments

            I guess it’s been a while (once again) since I’ve blogged… no surprise there! There have been a million “little things” and “big things” going on in my world these days. In keeping with the “little things” theme, I’ve been hearing a lot these past few weeks, “Don’t get caught up in the little things” from several different people. With this entire wedding process, I think Alan and I have done very well in resisting the urge of getting caught up in the little things. I think I’ve had to remind Alan a few times and vice versa to remember its all about the marriage, but that’s normal I’m sure. There have been a few snags and problems with things, but for the most part I haven’t let it bother me. I’m leaving all the “getting caught up in the little things” to the Moms. J They seem to be handling all the “little things” very well.

            But the more I think about it, I think people mean to say “don’t let the little things that go wrong ruin it all”. I do plan on getting caught up in a million “little things” that will be happening this entire week. The little moments I get to spend with my bridesmaids (some of my best friends) like lunch, getting our nails and toes done, and just hanging out before I get married. Saturday, I hope that I absorb ALL the “little things” throughout the entire day. The way Alan looks at me when he sees me in my wedding dress, the moments before the wedding with my Dad, getting ready with my Mom and bridesmaids.

             Like I’ve said before, it’s the smallest things that can make the biggest impact on your life. My cousin gave me a cookie jar this weekend that was my grandmother’s. It happened to be made the Christmas right after I was born and was made by my Aunt Margaret for my grandmother. Each side had a list of the grandkids and what they called our Ninny (Mamaw). Alan and I also got our first Bible with both of our names on it from my Noni. It is absolutely beautiful! These were both very meaningful gifts and yet might be seen as “little” by some people. I LOVE the “little things” that will be experienced by Alan and me this next week and will cherish every moment of it.

            Next time I blog, I will be Mrs. Alan Sweet!!!!

Be a Little Selfish....

Well like I said in my very first blog, I’ve completely fallen off track with my blogging (no surprise there). Life has really changed this past month for me (in a good way of course). Most of you that know me already know that I had an AMAZING birthday week and Easter weekend. I’m not going to lie, these were not “little” things that made for such a good week. In fact, it was a series of super huge things that kept building on each other to make me happier than I could have even imagined I would ever be. I know it sounds really cheesy, but I figure at this moment in my life its okay to be a little cheesy. I think I’ve earned that right.

Let me preface this story by saying it was 9:00 at night and anyone that has ever been to grad school knows that you probably aren’t thinking clearly after working 8 hours and going to a 3 hour graduate class. So, on a random Tuesday (well not very random because it was my birthday week) I came home to find that Cleve had left a candle lit in the kitchen while he was at trivia! He could have absolutely burned down the house. I thought mom and dad taught him better than that! Well, after playing in the kitchen for a good few minutes… I say playing, I actually mean I was cleaning and try to calm myself down and not be mad at Cleve for leaving a candle lit. I looked in the living room and saw MORE candles lit!! Can you believe it? Suddenly, I realized that it was my birthday week and this could possibly be some sort of “surprise” so I carefully walked into the living room and found this…..

Plus there was a really “Sweet” man standing there waiting to talk to me. After all this, I have a very beautiful shiny “thing” sitting on my left hand. I’m not going to say it’s a “little” thing because that is something it definitely is not. See….

That Thursday after agreeing to be the next Mrs. Sweet (I obviously said Yes a couple of times I think), we flew to Florida to see my family for my birthday. This really was an “All about Jillian” week! I kind of felt a little selfish, but sometimes it’s fun to just take a little attention while its being offered up to you. Just make sure you give that attention back to others and remember how special they made you feel. Someone said to me this week at work, “People don’t remember what you say or what you did, but they remember how you made them feel”.

We had a wonderful weekend with my parents and I got some really great gifts. Including this 13 pound cake!!! Yes… 13 pounds, we weighed it in a weigh contest that I won..Of course I won, it was my lucky week. Notice the little engagement ring on the top? Good job, Mom! 

Probably the best of those gifts being a 4 pack of tape measures and a running hat with headlights on it from my Dear Brother. (Yes, I am a now woman that carries a tape measure in my purse, I am officially a “Little Brenda”) Cleve always picks the most practical gifts, very good gift giver. Alan even got me a gift which just blew me away because it was something I wanted 2 months before. Anyone who knows Alan knows that he’s not normally someone who plans ahead. I love you Alan but even you have admitted this J

I was hesitant to write about all of this, but I thought for a very long time and after a gentle “nudge” from someone who wanted me to share my happiness I decided to write this entry. I try my hardest not to be selfish and I often find myself feeling selfish for being so happy. This is something I’ve struggled with for the past year. I know a lot of people that are incredibly unhappy and are constantly being thrown unfortunate circumstances at them. Trust me, I’ve been there and know what it’s like to be on the other road. There are so many people around me that make me who I am: friends, family, OOO members, and my fiancé (that’s fun to say) and I hope that you all know that I recognize and appreciate all of this. I also know that I wouldn’t have these people in my life I didn’t have my Faith in God. To be honest, I didn’t find any of this happiness until I truly started asking and allowing Him to work in my life everyday. I was very ignorant and resistant to let Him help me (anyone who knows me knows that I can be a little stubborn sometimes). It was tough letting go of this stubbornness and letting someone take over my life. We have to trust that we have the strength to make it through the hard times, because once we make it down the tough road, we will find a life that will make it all seem worth it!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

Just know that you can help people who are going through tough times by just being there and doing “little” or even big things to help them find their way. And when people are kind enough to return the favor and show you some attention, take it! Enjoy the happiness knowing that you can give it all back to someone else. I think it’s okay to be a little selfish sometimes, just make sure you don’t take it, run and never look back.

On Our Own "Little"Moments

So, I've been a bit behind lately on blogging (I knew that would happen). After having two On Our Own (OOO) events these past months, I've decided that I needed to share the happiness that it puts in my life. But first, a little of the things that might not be so enjoyable about running a non-profit....

Recently, I've had a lot of work to do for OOO. I'm working on the business plan as part of my graduate Capstone project at Christian Brothers. Although we've been in operation for 2 years now, I've never sat down and written a complete business plan. Let me tell ya, it's easy to want to give up once you realize all the hard work that is going to go into it. I've had several moments in the past months where I've just wanted to abandon the whole project (no worries OOO parents, I'm not, keep reading). Everything that goes into OOO's operation from marketing materials, to fundraising, to insurance costs can be a "bit" overwhelming to say the least. And anyone that knows me knows that I have problems relinquishing control just a little. I'm pretty sure my favorite quote when I was a little girl was "I'll do it myself" (Typical Jillian talk huh?). I found myself literally saying "Aghhhhhh" (real mature, I know) a few times when having to make OOO decisions. But... never fear... my OOO young adults are here!!!

Trey our Strike King!

So, with ALL the frustrations that I've gone through struggling with this business plan, the ONE thing that keeps me going are the "little" moments I spend with my OOO friends. They are truly amazing! Each event we have, I seem to have one moment or two moments where I say to myself "THIS is why I do this". From impromptu marriage proposals to strikes on a bowling game there always seems to be some "little thing" that happens to make me remember why OOO is such a success and why I love it so much!

One moment was on the way to an OOO event with my dear friend Chad. If you've never talked to me before an OOO event, you don't really know how stressed out and distracted I am before an event. I'm normally, trying to remember who all is attending, if I have enough mentors, do we have petty cash... and on and on... Well, usually I have the pleasure of Chad riding in the car with me to help relieve some of this stress. (He LOVES my singing, you can just ask him... hahaha, I laugh because this is definitely not a true statement)
 
On the way to karaoke we were driving and I was thinking about everything that needed to be done. All of a sudden, Chad said "HEY! Look, it's a double rainbow!” I looked and looked and couldn’t see it. Finally, after Chad insisting it was there, I looked harder and saw that there really was a double rainbow. I never would have noticed it if Chad hadn't seen it. My OOO young adults notice the "littlest" things and find happiness in these things where someone like myself would normally overlook them.

Maybe that is the secret to my OOO young adults' happiness??? There are a few moments when we have sad OOO young adults, but honestly I rarely see them sad or feeling sorry for themselves. They actively seek happiness and it doesn't matter where they find it. We should all go through our day looking for these "little" things that makes us happy! God puts these special people and special moments in my life for a reason, I make sure to cherish these moments any chance I get, so should you!

"Don't Fuss, Dear, Get On With It"

           

            So, since my last blog, I’ve been actively looking for things in life that make me happy. Sometimes it’s extremely hard, sometimes it’s ridiculously easy. There was one day last week where I had a tough day and everything seemed to be going wrong (little things). Days like this, it’s easy to lose focus of what matters in life and it becomes hard to see what God is doing in your everyday life. It’s tough to turn these days around but I’ve realized if you just keep thinking in the back of your head “this too shall pass”, then your bad day will soon seem insignificant. (Cheesy, I know but sometimes just thinking cheesy thoughts like that can make you laugh at yourself and move on with it). My all-time favorite quote is from Audrey Hepburn, “It's that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so 'don't fuss, dear; get on with it.'” This makes me just say to myself “Ehh…. Moving on” and so I do.. Move on!

             I truly believe that having great friends in your life can help you alleviate any heavy thoughts you may be having. My relief from my bad day was painting with some really great girl friends! (“No Doubt”) Girls, if you’ve never been to a paint party, I highly recommend it. It’s a great time to get to know your friends better and just have fun not worrying about anything (except completely screwing up your painting or splattering a friend haha). The past few years I’ve really focused on relationships with people in my life, positive people to be exact. Sometimes the people you keep in your life can bring you down. Having a good group of friends with the same positive outlook on life can really change the entire “mood” of your life. At the beginning of the year, I told myself that this year I was really going to focus on my friends and my relationships with them. When I say friends, I mean everyone in my life: co-workers, friends (old and new), family, boyfriend, dog (yes, my dog she’s a friend). Little things like writing notes to show them how much I value our relationship can brighten someone’s day. Life is shorter than we expect sometimes, so I want all my friends knowing how much I value their friendship at any given moment.

            On the note of my dog, this is how she makes my life brighter. I left for a trip (a two day trip) and when I came home she acted like I’d been gone for months. In fact, she acts like this every time I walk through the door. I can’t think of anyone else that gets more excited to see me when I walk through the door than Bella. What if we all acted like this when we saw someone we hadn’t seen in a while? Smiled huge, hugged them and truly showed how happy we are to see them again? Might be kinda chaotic if we all acted as excited as our pets when we see our friends (and maybe even awkward at times), but you get the idea!! Make sure every person in your life knows how much they mean to you; don’t assume that they know it.

            Once again, it’s the “little things”: writing notes, giving hugs, and huge smiles all to show the people in my life that they are important to me. I’m definitely not perfect and it, nor will I ever be. But doing these things for others, always prove to make me a little happier knowing my friends know how much I care about them. At least, I hope you all know how much I care about you!

"Just the start"

            So, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about writing a blog. I tell myself it would be good to write down all the “little” thoughts that I have throughout the day about my life. (Mostly because I’m pretty sure I’m losing my memory rapidly these days). But, then I also remind myself how terrible I am at making time for things and decide I will never follow through on keeping a blog. But! On my way to work this morning, I came up with a super awesome name for my blog and then just started thinking about all the things I could talk about. In a way, I think I want to remind myself about the things in life that make me happy and I feel like God is giving me these things to share with others for their own happiness.

            I’ve been in a dark place before so I know how tough it can be to get out of that place but, I also know that I never want to go back to being unhappy. I know it’s hard to get out of those dark places or period in your life because you feel like it won’t end. We get so caught up in all the bad things that are happening that we get consumed by it and fail to notice even the little things in life we should be thankful for.

            We tend to look for some “grand’ event, happening, person or whatever it may be in life to make us happy so we forget the little things that happen every day, every hour that can give us comfort. I’ve lived the past few years of my life that way. I was sad and generally not excited about life because I felt like God needed to give me some BIG event in my life to make me happy. Wrong, Jillian! This past year I’ve prayed everyday these specific words “help us find happiness in everything you have given us”. I pray every morning when I leave the house, I sit in the car, say my prayer and then I’m on my way! I’m almost ALWAYS running five or ten minutes late so it takes true dedication to do this everyday. I’m working to make prayer a priority in my life no matter how crazy and hectic my schedule is. After all this praying, I figured out that you can find happiness in the smallest things; all you have to do is let them make you happy.

            So here goes the first “little” thing that makes me happy on a daily basis during the work week. There is a church on White Station that a man stands at EVERY day (rain or shine) and waves at the cars that are driving by. He’s always on the opposite corner from me and is waving at the cars coming from the other direction, but for some reason every time I see him, I seem to smile. He takes time out of his morning to try and make everyone else’s morning happy. This is just a wave; it’s so funny and weird that it makes me so happy! See… I told you “It’s the little things”!

            If we are looking around all day for things that make us happy, it only seems right that we do something everyday to make other people happy. It sounds stupid, but I try to smile and say “HI!” to literally every person I see. You can ask anyone that knows me; I do this everywhere I go, literally. It doesn’t matter who they are, what kind of mood they’re in, or where I see them. I just smile and say Hi! (Just a warning, it might take some people time to perfect doing this. It could come off as creepy in some situations so proceed with caution.)

            I had four flights this week and met each of the four people who sat on the plane next to me: Steve, Scott, Ryan and Lisa. On top of that, I know about their families and what they do for a living. Some people like to use the word “networking” for this but I like to just think that its four more people in the world I know. (Modern Family reference: “I feel like a new friend is a gift”-Cam) This just makes for a more pleasant flight and its always great hearing about someone else’s experiences in life. No one person is going to be able to experience everything there is to offer in life. I figure the more we listen to others about their experiences the more we can get out of our own lives.

            So, go out everyday looking for little things that make you smile or put you in a better place in life. Sometimes even trying to make someone else’s day bright will end up make your day brighter. Look for new blog posts soon because I know that I’m going to have a “Jillian” more things to come!

PS- Mom this is a blog, you don’t get to critique grammar on it J