Coffee Date

If we met up for coffee I would take you to a new coffee house because there are so many that I want to try in the area! Unless you were my Mother, then we would be at a nice restaurant and I wouldn't mention coffee. Ever. First I would make you tell me all about yourself, or get me caught up on your life and then I would tell you that I love my new life in the city! I love coaching figure skating and I have two new students!!!! I would tell you that moving here was the best decision I've made in a long time. I would tell you that I really miss my old coworkers though. They weren't just coworkers they were my friends and we basically shared everything with each other and I miss that. I would also tell you that I don't like echocardiography, I do like my new coworkers, as I slowly get to know their personalities. My schedule is amazing I'm not going to lie, I have every Thursday off and every other Friday. The weeks I have a four-day weekend almost feel like I have a week off!

You would ask me if I met a guy yet because everyone does these days, and I would say, no. And then I would tell you about the middle aged shirtless (he should not have been shirtless) man in the park who told me I was beautiful as I walked by, and the guy who was killing it trying to flirt with me from his car on the freeway! He formed his hands to make a heart and made it a beating heart in my rear view mirror. And other things that I tried to ignore because really, what was he thinking was going to happen? Was he actually thinking that I might pull over?  Wow! I call it car flirting, like, is that an actual thing?

Anyway I found another super cute coffeehouse just across the skyway from my apartment! This is dangerous! I want to go and photograph it one of these days because it's super fun and the coffee was delicious! I went on a morning before heading to work and sat in there for about thirty minutes reading blogs and such. Towards the end of my thirty minutes a line of people came in and one middle-aged man in particular sat down a couple of chairs away from me while waiting for his coffee. I was indifferent until, he leans forward and cuts a run of bunnies! 😳 What the hell dude? Here's the best part he turns around and awkwardly looks at me! Gets up and leaves. Who does that???? Wow just wow! A happy note from this place, they offered me a cup of coffee for the road! For free! It was one of those unexpected random acts of kindness that made my day, despite fart boy and his despicable display of grossness! 

I had an hour and a half dance lesson yesterday! Whoop so. much. fun. I am really loving ballroom dancing, it's fun and a challenge, it's a little bit of a workout, really not that much of a workout... I'm moving though, and that's really all I care about. 

I went to music in the park last night with my neighbor. We had a lovely time enjoying the beautiful weather, music, and food trucks obviously!:) Jazz festival is going on in the city, so obviously it was jazz music, which was really fun to listen to. That's when the middle-aged shirtless man happened. It was nice to go with someone this time. I went a couple of other times by myself and awkwardly walked around and sat by myself drinking a beer. I'm not the type to sit at home when there is a free outdoor event going on a block away!

Big changes are coming for this little space, so stay tuned!:)

What is happening in your life?

Ciao,

slumber party

I love three day work weeks!:) It finally feels like summer has hit around here, and I am getting out in that sunshine as much as I possibly can and I can't get enough! I love exploring this city and finding all of my favorite places to go! I am feeling like I am getting into a good rhythm here and getting more and more comfortable with it every day.

I shared a couple of photos from my slumber party with two of my Godchildren last week, and I wanted to share the rest of the fun memories with you. Because it was so fun! These two have the cutest personalities and are so fun to have around. They are always full of energy and always have something to say!:) The day I picked them up it was raining, so we took a walk in the sprinkling rain to the Science museum. It was all about space and astronauts. We also went to the omnitheater while we were there if not only because I really wanted to go, but I knew they would love it too! They were in awe of the hugeness of the screen and how it felt like you were in the movie, it was so fun to see their facial expressions! 

 After the museum, we headed home for pizza and a movie! 

 The walk home also included spotting what they called "two brides" coming out of the courthouse. To which I replied there must have been two weddings! Ha ha And they had a lot of fun chasing birds in the park, and playing in the water fountains!   

 The next morning we enjoyed a picnic on Lake Calhoun and getting our legs wet in the cool water and, of course, followed it up with some delicious ice cream cones! 

Can I do this every day?

Have a beautiful day!

Ciao,

Rachel

Wordless Wednesday

Around the apt this time. 

I am working on depth of field lately and I think it's getting better.

Have a beautiful day!

Ciao,

Rachel

Confidence

What is confidence? The first time that I was told that I was confident I thought "What? me confident?" And I thought about it and what actually makes a person confident. Whether it is a person's accomplishments, smarts or being comfortable with who you are.

So what makes a person confident? Sure experiences play a part, the more you do something the more confident a person is when performing a task. The old adage "practice makes perfect." What about the first time you try something, what if it doesn't go as planned? Does that mean that you weren't confident? Or maybe you just don't have what it takes. I think it takes a confident person to fail well and get up and do it again. To be able to perform something confidently even while not being confident that the ending will be what you had hoped, is confidence in yourself. You are okay with the outcome good or bad. Not doing something because it might not be successful the first time is the greatest failure. That my friend is a low point. I think it takes a pretty confident person to give your all without the fear of failure. Mostly just scary.

Our past accomplishments can give us the confidence to bring to our present state in life. Knowing what we were able to achieve gives us confidence in ourselves that we can accomplish great things. We find out what we are made of. Even some people are still not confident in themselves, after achieving great things. What about those who maybe don't have many accomplishments? Does that make them less confident than the one with a whole list of accomplishments? I think not! Accomplishments are just that, accomplishments. Their resume is probably just longer than yours. Accomplishments don't necessarily make you a better person. It's how you achieved those accomplishments and what you had to go through to get yourself there. Another person may have very little material accomplishments, but they have had many trials in their life. Those are the real accomplishments. I have known some people who are very talented and yet they do nothing with their talents because they don't think they are good enough. They can't put themselves out there to make it happen. Why? I don't understand that at all. How are we confident? What makes us confident? Is it merely a personality trait?

Being okay with the person that we are, with our flaws, our weaknesses, and our strengths and loving ourselves despite our flaws and shortcomings. God created us, how can we not love what He has given us? Know yourself and love who God created you to be! 

I do think it is a combination of everything I have mentioned and more. I know personally, I gain the greatest confidence from my Faith in God. I am nothing without Him and I can accomplish nothing without Him. If we say that all of these worldly things give us confidence what are we when we are stripped of them? What is at the core of our being that gives us the courage to keep going every day? When we can completely give ourselves over to the Lord, let Him lead our lives and walk blindly the path He has laid out for us, I think that is complete confidence. I'm working on it, most of the time it feels impossible.

Food for thought.
Where do you gain the most confidence?

Ciao,
Rachel