Work Hard & Be Nice to People.

I have a sign hanging up in my house that says "Work hard and be nice to people." My mom bought it for me while we were shopping for my birthday last year. I saw it hanging in Francesca's and loved the simplicity of it. It's some of the best advice, but it's so, so simple. 

When considering what we should do and how we should act, I think we sometimes overcomplicate things that can often be boiled down to these few simple words.

Work hard. At your job, on your hobbies, on becoming who you want to be. Work hard on making your dreams a reality, on being someone you can be proud of. Work hard at the things you are supposed to work hard at and work hard on the things you can sometimes forget deserve hard work, things like bettering yourself, trying to be a good spouse/partner, being kind to people, or standing up for yourself. Life is too short to take the lazy way out on the important things. Work hard. 

Be nice to people. Be nice to those who are nice to you, and be thankful for their friendship. Be nice to those who aren't nice to you, and wave goodbye as you ask them to leave your life. Life is too short to put up with mean people in your life, but it's also too short to be a mean person yourself. So no matter what, be nice to people. Be sweet. Kill 'em with kindness. 

Want to become a better person? Work hard and be nice to people. 

Want to move up in your job? Work hard and be nice to people.

Want to make your life a happier place to live? Work hard and be nice to people.

See? So simple. We overcomplicate things.

Happy Monday, friends. It's a fresh new week (birthday week over here, yay!), and there will be plenty of chances to work hard and be nice. Take them! 

Your New Favorite Blog: Park Avenue.

Meet Anna White, the gorgeous blogger behind Park Avenue! An elementary school teacher living in Nashville and a self-proclaimed french fry and coffee addict, Anna is one of the sweetest lifestyle bloggers you'll ever find! I asked her a few questions to help you get to know her better.

Comments have been turned off so you can go stalk  say hi to Anna instead! Click here to follow her on Bloglovin! You can also find her on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and of course, Snapchat. She's going to be your new favorite...so, you're welcome. 

Want your own post like this? Click here!

This Year Has Pushed me so Far Out of my Comfort Zone.

My birthday is next week, and whenever it comes around, I always think about my year and all that has happened. When I think about the last year, uncomfortable is what comes to mind. It was a year that pushed me so far out of my comfort zone.

But...it was also the best year of my life. Funny how that works.

I had a pregnancy that was in no way planned by me. Uncomfortable. 

I lived alone for two months while Chris did his away rotations. Uncomfortable. 

I signed up to live wherever a random algorithm decided we were going to live. Uncomfortable.

I spent a lot of the year having no idea what the next month, let alone the next year, was going to look like. Uncomfortable. 

And plenty of other things. Stuff that I really never saw coming. I'm not one to label entire years like that, but really, the entirety of this one was pretty clearly uncomfortable.

But it was also the best ever. 

Having the happiest baby join our family and just fit right in? The best.

Finding out that hard work and sacrifice really does pay off, this time in the form of getting to live in Florida? The best. 

Waking up one day and realizing that I am truly in love with my life? The best. 

So I guess what I'm saying is that sometimes, life doesn't have to look classically "good" to be the best ever. Sometimes the best life ever comes from being pushed and pulled and spending quite a few days standing anywhere but your comfort zone. 

Every year before my birthday, I look at who I am and how that's different than it was last year. I have to say, I really like the version of myself that I became this year. I became more flexible. Less anxious. I became aware of the fact that I can do hard things. I became more open. More vocal. Less of a doormat. I became a mom. I changed in a few big ways and a thousand tiny ones.

I really love this version of my life. I love where my life is right now, and I love where it's headed. And I know that none of that would be the way that it is if I would have had a cushy, comfortable year.

All in all, I think it's a pretty good trade.

What good things have come from being pushed out of your comfort zone?

Twelve weeks with jack: All of the pictures (weeks 9 & 10)

Week nine:

so stylish in your fancy pool outfit // we spent the week leading up to match day at the pool, and you loved hanging out with us...you did not love getting your feet wet // my new favorite outfit of yours. I now try my best to buy hoodies with animal ears on them whenever possible // just playing games with us!

the happiest baby there ever was...

...and the silliest. You discovered you tongue this week, and think it's so funny to stick it out. 

the sleepiest, snuggliest guy...who sometimes just likes to sit up in the chair like the rest of us. 

Week ten: 

always, always smiling.

and always, always making us laugh.

the sweetest big eyes // you love being swaddled with your arms out so you can wave them around // you found out this week you're going to be a little Florida baby, so we dressed you in gator gear all week // just sitting up in a chair with your little bear hoodie on!

the sleepiest little guy.

match day was so, so special with you there!

and you face timed with Uncle Dylan, which you apparently thought was hilarious. 

These were two of the best weeks of my entire life. Who knew there could be so much happiness in such a little body. Love you forever, baby jack. 

What's Match Day Really Like?

I have a love/hate relationship with Match Day. The parts of it leading up to the day...the pressure and  anxiety and how everything is kept in the dark and the complete lack of answers...I hate that part. A lot. But the actual Match Day? I loved it. Best day ever. And I think I would have felt that way even if the envelope hadn't said what I wanted it to say.

We woke up that day at the crack of dawn...because really, who can sleep when they're about to find out their future?! We were excited and jittery and anxious, but (speaking for myself) waaaay less nervous that I was expecting. I think it was just that feeling of...it's here. 



We got ready and then started the day at some of our close friends' house, where we toasted the day we've been talking about forever. It's been really cool to have friends that are going through the exact same journey you are, but on this day-where we were all about to find out what was going to happen to our futures-it was especially sweet.



After a mimosa or two it was time to head to the school, and when we got in the car is when I finally started feeling a little anxious. So we did what any two rational adults would do...I turned on my favorite rap music entirely too loud and we danced it out.

We got to the school, which was all decked out for Match Day. All the pictures I have of us from the first few minutes we were there look like this:



Nerves, nerves, nerves. But after walking around for a minute, seeing our friends and family, and just seeing the whole atmosphere, we loosened up and starting having some fun.

There were over 100 students there to find out their fate, and their friends and families were there, and it was just such a cool experience. The energy was so high, everyone was excited, and it was an amazing thing to get to share with our families.



The whole ceremony took place in an outdoor courtyard. They had everyone's name on a star, all in a circle around the yard. After hellos and nervous chatter and mingling, it was time for everyone to grab their little black boxes and go find their stars.




You got to request who to stand by, so we were between our two best friends from med-school. It was so sweet to get to experience this moment with them, and since I had to stand behind Chris (you know, since I'm not actually in med-school myself, so I didn't get a star), it was perfect to get to stand with another student's partner, someone who has walked through the same thing I had and who was just as nervous as me. You can explain this process to whoever will listen, but there's nothing like having someone who knows what it's like first-hand.



Once everyone got in the giant circle is when I started crying (for the first time that day, so hey, I call that a win.) It was just such an amazing moment that was so many years in the making. There were a few speeches, one in particular that referenced the first day of school four years ago where they all received their white coats. I remember sitting in that ceremony and thinking how Match Day didn't even seem real, it was so far away. It was emotional to think of all that's happened since then.

Then, the countdown. Everyone across the country opens their envelopes at the exact same time. So the whole courtyard counted down from 10, and in a moment that I'll never, ever forget as long as I live, Chris opened his box and pulled out a golden envelope.



A little side note here: The match letters did not have the names of the cities, they had the names of the hospitals. I did not memorize the names of the hospitals, so for a solid ten seconds I was so confused. 

Seeing those words, "Congratulations-you matched!" while standing outside with 100 other people finding out the same thing was an incredible moment.

We spent the rest of the day laughing and crying and celebrating and sharing our good news.

It was a day I will never, ever forget. A once-in-a-lifetime experience that I'm so glad we got to have together, with baby Jack right there with us.

And now...I'm so glad it's over. Onto the next adventure!

Baby Jack: A Birth Story. (Part Two)

Continuing the story of baby Jack and how he came into this world. Part one here.

We left off with the grumpy nurse, but unfortunately, that is not where she leaves my story. She took us back to a triage room, hooked me up to a monitor and, within ten minutes, told me I was going home. Even though my contractions were only 3 minutes apart at this point, they were only lasting about 40 seconds, and she said I was only dilated to a 2-the same I had been at my doctor's appointment.

The doctor had to see me before I could be sent home, though, and he was in a c-section, so she left me in the triage room, hooked up to the monitors. For two hours. Where I still had contractions every. three. minutes.

Now seems like a good time to address the issue of contractions. Everything I read said, "You can't really explain what they feel like!" Which I found incredibly frustrating, because I feel like if so many women experience this, someone should be able to explain them. And then I spent the day having contractions, so here I am to explain them to you.

It feels like you are slowly dying from the inside out. And that is all I can say. Because now I realize that the reason no one can explain them is because there is literally nothing else to compare them to.

I spent those two hours alternating squeezing Christopher's hand and whining and saying "I cannot do this" and trying to make it through clips of my favorite episodes of The Office.  Then this magical moment happened where I heard my doctor's voice coming down the hall, and I literally began crying out of sheer happiness before he even came in the room. Long (and gruesome) story short, he told the nurse she was wrong and that I was ready to be admitted and have an epidural.

Now, I know that there is a lot of back and forth about whether or not epidurals are safe/worth it/the right decision, so I will now lay out the pros and cons of getting an epidural and also the specific steps of my birth plan.

PROS: Literally everything. 
CONS: Nothing. 
BIRTH PLAN: Get an epidural. As soon as possible. 

I can only imagine the emails I will from you guys about this, but bring it on. I'm so happy with that decision. I will also say that even if I had spent my entire pregnancy thinking that I wanted to have a natural birth with no medicine, the pain I was in while I waited on the doctor would have been more than enough to change my mind. 

The two sweetest nurses came by to get me ready to be admitted, and Chris asked them if I could eat something since I hadn't eaten all day. They went and asked and came back and said "We have a good news/bad news situation. You can eat, but if you do, you can't get an epidural." And that is the story of how my 2 day diet came to be. 

I got admitted at about 6:00PM, and the guy who was going to give me the epidural was in the room waiting for me-cue tears of sheer happiness round two. I made sure to NOT look at the little cart he was pushing around...I knew what those needles looked like, and I did not need to see the one that was about the be shoved in my back.

My nurse who would be with me the rest of the night (her name was Marci and she was the best ever) came and stood in front of me with her arms out. She explained that sometimes when people get an epidural, the pain surprises them so they jump off the bed. Casual. I prepared myself to feel a bunch of pain and not jump off the bed...anddddd I didn't feel a single thing. I thought he was still taping off the area once it was done.

We've already established that I was pretty clueless about this whole having a baby thing, but one of the many things I was wrong about was that I thought it took at least an hour for the epidural to kick in-wrong. I was hooked up to a monitor and the guy asked me "Is it working yet?" I said, "I have no idea." The nurse gestured to the screen and told me I was in the middle of a monster contraction.

I. Felt. Nothing.

And thus began one of the most amazing nights of my entire life.

To be continued (again)...

Spending April: A To-Do List for Adventuring Through the Month.

1. Happy April Fool's Day! Play a prank on someone.

2. Plant a garden.

3. Make a new playlist.

4. Go through an entire day without complaining. If you catch yourself complaining, try again the next day. And then the next. You've got thirty days, you're bound to be successful for at least one of them!

5. Freehand a new smoothie recipe.

6. Buy some cheap flowers and dress them up. Like this.

7. Go on a bike ride.

8. Get some outdoor furniture. Whether you can afford actual patio furniture, or just a chair from a thrift store that you spray paint pink-get something for outside!

9. Switch up your routine with a new face wash or toothpaste. It's the little things.

10. Have a wine tasting party. Buy 3-4 new wines in your price range that you've never tried...you might find a new favorite!

11. Start a new habit. 

12. Cook a new recipe every night for a week. 

13. Make a list of your favorite things that have happened so far this year. 

14. Get all of your laundry done. All of it. Enjoy a day few hours with no dirty towels or socks anywhere.

15. Go on a breakfast date. Dinner dates are cool, but have you ever tasted pancakes?

16. Pick something you don't like about your life and change it.

17. Deep clean one room in your house. Spring cleaning!

18. Start a new series on Netflix.

19. Go through all your pens/sharpies/writing utensils and throw out the ones that don't work. Then buy new, prettier pens.

20. Go for a walk every day for a week. Soak up that spring weather.

21. Bake homemade cookies.

22. Go through your computer and delete old files. 

23. Make mimosas with something other than orange juice!

24. Clean out your car.

25. Start making a summer bucket-list. 

26. Make a dinner with no meat. Eat your veggies!

27. Make pizza at home. With extra meat, to make up for the meatless dinner.

28. Throw out any chipped/cracked/broken dishes that your holding onto just because. 

29. Try your hand at overnight oats. Anything to save time in the morning!

30. Have a picnic in the park. 

How are you spending this month?