A Year of Journaling: 52 (More) Journaling Prompts.

I think journaling is one of the best things you could do, but if you don't journal regularly, the idea can be overwhelming. And even if you do, it's easy to get in a rut and let months pass by without writing anything down.

So whether you're in a creative rut or you just want to get started journaling, here are 52 prompts to help jump start your creativity. Part one here. Buy yourself a pretty journal and get started!

1. If you had the power to change anything in the world, what would you change?

2. The last time you surprised yourself.

3. A reason you're proud of yourself. 

4. The best part of your week so far. 

5. A list of little things that make you happy. 

6. How you're chasing your dream. 

7. A list of life-long resolutions. 

8. The biggest change you want to make in your life. 

9. A love letter to your life. 

10. Something you've learned this year. 

11. A quality you admire in others, and why.

12. Why you're happy with your life right now. 

13. The last risk you took and how it turned out. 

14. A list of things you love about yourself. 

15. Something in your life worth celebrating. 

16. A little, easy change you can make in your life. 

17. Things that are stressing you are right now and what you can do about it.

18. A list of things you're thankful for. 

19. A bad habit you have. 

20. Ways you've changed for the better over the last year. 

21. The best decision you've made this week. 

22. A plan for chasing your dream. 

23. The last time you got a text (or email or letter) that made you smile. 

24. Your dream job. 

25. Something you'd like to learn. 

26. Something that's making your unhappy with your life right now, and what you could do to change it. 

27. Somewhere you want to travel. 

28. A cozy morning. 

29. Your favorite thing about the current season. 

30. Something you wish you could go back in time and tell yourself last year. 

31. If you could choose one thing about the way your life is right now to make permanent, what would it be? 

32. Your favorite way to spend a morning. 

33. Three things you can't live without. 

34. Quotes that inspire you. 

35. Something you're looking forward to. 

36. A time in your life when you were happier than you are now. What was different?

37. A time when you were brave and how it shaped you. 

38. Write a poem. 

39. Your relationships with your family. 

40. What you hope you to accomplish this week.

41. A five year dream plan. 

42. The last five things that made you happy. 

43. A goal you have for this week. 

44. How you disappointed yourself recently. 

45. A friendship you miss.

46. Someone you need to forgive. 

47. Something you're good at. 

48. Something that makes you unique. 

49. A personal statement. Silly, serious...it doesn't matter. 

50. What month is your favorite, and why? 

51. A compliment someone gave you. 

52. The last time you proved someone wrong. 

Learning to Love the Unknown.

The past few nights have been spent staying up and looking at options of places to move for residency. Now, the whole ordeal is just a terrifying process, but in the spirit of wanting to be as prepared as possible, we're going through every single option (so many) and seeing what we like or don't like about it.

As someone who loves well laid plans, I find it hard to look at the unknown with any sort of positive feelings. Be terrified, yes. Dread it, easily. But think of it fondly and maybe even love it? Not so much.

Looking at all these cities though, I realize there are so many places that are still unknown to me. Looking at cities I've never heard of, I'm wondering what it would be like to fall in love with these places.

It's making me think, so many of the best things in my life were unknown at some point. Moving from Tennessee to Florida my freshman year of high school felt like it was going to be the end of my life, but it was the very best thing. If I'd never moved here, I would have missed out on so many incredible things, but most of all, I never would have met Christopher. I wouldn't have a little family on the way.

I was terrified of going to college because it was unknown, but those years were amazing. I met my best friend, fell in love with books and writing, and got to experience wonderful things.

Getting married was a huge unknown, but it's been the biggest adventure of my life.

I don't know this little babe yet--in fact, everything surrounding having a baby is incredibly unknown to me--but I know I will love him so much.

So today, I'm learning to love the unknown. Because the very best things in my life were unknown at one point.

The future is scary. Looking at all of these places and trying to imagine having a life there is just downright terrifying. But, it's exciting too. Because I know wherever we end up, it will be a journey full of adventure. Of course it's unknown--but that just means I don't yet know all the wonderful things that will happen. And I know that in a few years, I'll look back and be so happy that we stepped out into the unknown.

Little by little, I'm beginning to fall in love with the idea of the unknown.

18 Weeks: Things I Want to Remember.

Because when wine tasting isn't an option, you go olive oil tasting instead. 

I'm in a weird place somewhere in-between "this is going way too fast, someone please slow this whole thing down so I can figure stuff out" and "okay this has gone on long enough, someone please get this baby out so I remember what it feels like to be normal again." 

• Finding out Baby Jacobs is a BOY. Opening the envelope with Chris and finding out we'll be adding a little guy to the fam was so surreal, but at the same time, I felt like, "Well of course you're a boy! Duh." This whole journey so far has been insane, but no matter how scary and confusing it gets, the further along I get I keep having more and more moments of, "Of course it's supposed to be this way. Of course this is what's supposed to happen." 

• Taking a weekend road trip. The picture above is from an olive oil tasting bar. I repeat, an olive oil tasting bar. So, that's something you need to add to your bucket list. Chris and I went to a little town about 45 minutes away for a day-trip on Saturday, and it was one of the best days we've had in a long time. There were vintage stores and flea markets and an old bookstore-turned restaurant. It was magical, and it made me so excited to think about all the adventures we'll go on once the little guy is here. 

• We started his library this week! We found a vintage bookstore on our trip, and Chris asked if I wanted to get the babe some books. Um, yes please. These are the first things we've bought for him together, and it was so sweet. 

Bambi, because of course he needs all the Disney books. The Poky Little Puppy because my little brother was obsessed with that one when we were little, so I'm hoping this kid is too. And This is my Family is a book Chris and I both had. This kid is going to have an excellent library.

18 weeks down, 22(ish) weeks to go. Baby Boy Jacobs, I can't wait to read to you. 

5 Planner Hacks: How to Get the Most Out of Your Planner.

I live and breathe by my planner. As much as I like to feel adventurous and spontaneous, I also know that if I don't write it down in my planner, I'll forget it. Twice a year, new planners and pens and notebooks grace the shelves of Target and inspire me to organize my entire life: January (New Years) and August (Back to school).

The thing is, planners can get really overwhelming really fast, and can end up getting thrown back on the shelf with several empty months left. This usually happens because A) It just became too overwhelming to use something like that every day or B) It didn't help as much as you thought it would and you feel like you're wasting your time.

Over the past three years, I've become extremely dependent on planners, and I really think they make my day so much easier and save so much time. I use one every single day. Here are the best things I've found to help get the most out of using a planner.

Write everything down. This is the most important thing! I think sometimes planners don't work because we're really just liars (or maybe just extremely optimistic) when we write in them. For example, we'll write:

• Respond to emails
• Schedule blog post
• Conference call
• Get things ready for party. 

When in reality, this is what that list means:

• Respond to emails
• All 10,000 of them. Cry a little. 
• Schedule blog post
• Figure out what the heck to actually blog about, because I have no ideas. 
• Actually write blog post.
• Take pictures for post. 
• Conference call
• Take notes during the call. 
• Send notes to everyone. 
• Scramble to respond to questions asked during call, and send emails answering them. 
• Get things ready for party. 
• Clean the whole house because I'm having people over. 
• Go to the store so they actually have something to eat. 
• Cook said things for them to eat. 
• Take a shower and try to actually look presentable. 

See? Big difference. If you look at the first list, it looks like a deceptively easy day and you can end up wasting most of the day and panicking when it's 6:00PM and you've only crossed one thing off the list and HOW could this happen if you used a planner?!

I write down every single thing I want to get done. From how many glasses of water I want to drink (not joking) to making my bed to sending specific emails. It can feel silly at first, but having exactly what you expect to get done written down in front of you helps you manage your time better. Plus, more things to mark off just makes you feel more productive. 

Write things (somewhat) in the order they need to be completed. If you need to turn something in by 8:00AM, try to write it near the top of your list. Otherwise you end up getting to it around 3:00, and that's not fun.

Use a highlighter to mark things off instead of scratching them out. I just started doing this last month, and it's so helpful for when I need to go back and see exactly when I did something. Plus, it makes your planner look neat and colorful, so it's a win-win.

Have a separate "running to-do" list. Whether it's a section in your planner or a notebook or a list on your phone, have a separate area for all the things you need to get done eventually. That way, when things pop in your head, you can write them down somewhere with all the other things you need to do, and you'll also have a list to reference when you're planning your days.

If you can't find a planner that works for you, make your own. Seriously! Everyone is different, and every season is different. If the planner you bought doesn't cut it for what you need, there are plenty of free printable to-do lists online. Put them in a binder and you've got a planner! Or, it can be something as simple as a notebook with the date written at the top of each page. Whatever works for you, use it.

The Swing Forward Camp.

Two very important things about me:

1. Fall is my very favorite thing in the world.

2. I start celebrating fall on September 1st.

Now, I realize that a lot of people don't like this and that you may think I'm rushing summer to be over, but hear me out: I live in Florida. If I waited for Summer to be over, I wouldn't get to celebrate fall until it was time for Christmas. Two months is simply just not enough time to squeeze all of my favorite things about my favorite season into. So, September 1st it is. Side note: When I still lived at home, one time my mom and I tried to sneak the fall decorations out on August 1st instead, but my dad threatened to kick us both out of the house, so we decided September would just have to work. 

I love this quote, because to me, August really is a hinge year. I'm sentimental over summer but so excited that fall is almost here. Pool days and sunshine are still around, but pumpkin spice lattes are right on the horizon.

August makes me nostalgic. Another summer is in the books, memories and vacations and popsicles and bikinis. It will be a year before the carefree attitude of summer is back around, and I miss it already.

But fall is hovering, with it's excitement and desserts just waiting to be baked and pumpkin flavored coffee and carmel apples and oversized sweaters. And I can't wait. I can't wait to go to Hobby Lobby and buy more glittery pumpkins and candy corn string lights. I can't wait to bake entirely too many desserts, but hey, I'm eating for two this fall, so bring on the pumpkin. I can't wait for everything that fall is--cooler weather and warm drinks and excitement about what the rest of the year holds.

So me, I'm in the swing forward camp. And for the next three weeks, I'll be over here soaking up the last of summer and anxiously awaiting my first pumpkin dessert of the season.

Which camp are you in?

It's A.....

First of all, let's just take a moment to talk about how hard it is to be home alone with the test results in an envelope for NINE HOURS and not even peek. I deserve a medal, but I will settle for ice cream. 

I spent all day trying to figure out if I knew what the baby was. From the beginning, I've felt like it was a boy, but at the same time, I have no idea what either "feels" like. Plus. I was so sure that it's a boy, that it made me think that meant it was going to be a girl. I'm weird, I know. 

Anyway, the second Chris got home he was bombarded with demands of opening the envelope immediately. He said he needed a glass of water first, I said this was no time to think of silly things like hydration. 

Sometimes you're just too excited to look at the camera, am I right? 

Little baby Jacobs is a BOY! Chris and I are both beyond thrilled, and it's so exciting to finally be able to call him him and he and think about him in terms of an actual person--and, of course, the types of clothes I will buy him and what his nursery will look like. 

My adventure loving heart is so excited to add a little boy to the tribe. Bring on the messy and exploring and learning things that I have zero idea about. Life is good.

17 Weeks: Things I Want to Remember.

Seventeen weeks already! It's hard for me to wrap my head around this because I really feel like I just spent $98 on pregnancy tests yesterday. But time is funny like that, and it never does ask you how fast or slow you would like it to move. 

• Chris came home yesterday and sang "Jesus Loves Me" to the baby. He then proceeded to ask the baby if it was Catholic (We're not Catholic), but that's neither here nor there. It was a sweet moment while it lasted. 

• Getting to hear the heartbeat again! This is the third time I've heard it and it still give me butterflies. And by butterflies, I mean an incredibly weird feeling of realizing that something is literally living inside of you, followed by extreme relief that everything sounds good. 

• This is the week we find out the gender! In fact, as I am typing this, I have the baby's gender in an envelope and am just waiting on Chris to get home so we can open it together. I repeat, I HAVE THE BABY'S GENDER IN AN ENVELOPE AND AM EXPECTED TO NOT OPEN IT FOR NINE HOURS. SEND HELP. Also...final guesses, people! What do we think this little babe is?!

17 weeks down, 23(ish) to go. This. Is. Happening.

Little baby Jacobs, 

I can't wait to find out if you're a boy or a girl. I can't wait to start being able to picture you as the person you're going to be. Today will be the last day I have to refer to you as "it" or "they" or "the baby" or any of those other awkward terms. 

Girl or boy, you're going to be an incredible human being. I truly cannot wait to get to know you. But for now, I can't wait to find out if we're going shopping for tutus or camo. Xoxo