My life... in a suitcase

It has been over a year since I first wanted to start a blog.  However, with procrastination and grad school and everything else - I just haven't made the time to begin my first blog. It also took me forever to come up with a name for my blog! I racked my brain for weeks trying to think of one and finally it came to me.

*Life in a Suitcase* I love this name for many reasons. One, it completely describes how I would love to live my life; traveling all of the time. Also, I lost two very special people to me this year - my grandparents - and I would like for my life to be a reflection of how they lived their simple but abundant lives, with such humility and love for each other and everyone around them. I hope my marriage one day is half as great as their marriage and faithfulness to one another.

Another reason for my blog name is during my senior year of high school, my senior project was to come up with something that describes my life. Immediately I thought to put all of the things that make my life -my life- decoratively into a suitcase. This idea came from the movie White Oleander. It is a very strange movie, but my love for psychology quickly made it one of my favorites. I loved doing that project and even now, eight years later, I am still thinking about it.
Below is a picture of the suitcases at the end of the movie and one of my favorite quotes from the movie as well.

My blog will include a variety of topics and I'll give some examples below:

I love to try new recipes, create my own recipes, and simply to just cook! So my blog will occasionally have a fun recipe that I've tried that I would like to share. I'm still in the learning stages on how to make my food look pretty in pictures! I don't see how some people do it!

I am a full-time nanny for two adorable children - Julia (3) and Jackson (almost 5). I will be sharing about the fun adventures we have together and about the oh so fun things that they say to make me laugh & keep me on my toes!

I love Pinterest and being crafty! I would much rather make something than to buy it already made. I love going into stores and seeing things online and thinking "I can totally make that". Although, my things never turn out as well as the original, I still get the feeling of joy to know that I made it myself.

The Lord is constantly working in my life and showing me how to become the person that He wants me to be. I'm still a big work in progress but I love sharing about what He is teaching me.

Although I don't travel near as much as I would like, I'm hoping that I can get a couple of good trips in this year - one of which will be my trip to Chicago next week so I will share about my first experience traveling all by myself.

I also have two dogs, Molly - the Boxer & Zoe - the Chihuahua. They are my 'unlikely pair' and they are very inseparable. They are pretty much like my children, since I don't have any human children at the moment.

Lastly, I just really love talking about life and more-so, I love hearing about other people's lives. I guess there is a reason I'm becoming a mental health counselor :) Therefore, I want to hear from you and the things that you are creating, cooking, or learning as well!

I hope that through my blog I am able to encourage and inspire you!

Thanks for reading!