"I've never been to heaven, but I've been to Oklahoma."

So this Friday I fly back to Oklahoma for a few days and I have compiled a list of the things I am most excited for!

Here we go:

10.) That southern hospitality. While I love Colorado and the people here, there is just something about Oklahomies that doesn’t even compare.

9.) Braum’s ice cream. I need some peanut butter cup ice cream in a waffle cone ASAP.

8.) The heat. I know as soon as I get back into Oklahoma I will probably regret this, but I don’t even care. As I write this it is 70 degrees outside and I am wearing a jacket. I feel like it just isn’t summer without walking outside and feeling like you are going to melt.

7.) My mom’s cooking. Enough said.

6.) Swimming. I can not wait to jump into our pool. I honestly may run into our house, run right out the backdoor and jump straight into the swimming pool with all of my clothes on because that’s how much I miss getting to swim and lounge in the pool.

5.) Laying out by the pool. I daydream about sipping on sweet tea, reading a good book and laying out by the pool. So pumped.

4.) Getting to sleep in my own bed, in my own room. While I love my Colorado roomies, I can not wait to sleep in my own room and own bed. And also be able to fully sit up in my bed without hitting my head on the bunk above me (this happens daily).

3.) Just being in a familiar place with familiar faces (I think that may be a lyric to a song, or at least it should be.) While I have made Estes my home for the summer, and even know the backroads to avoid tourist traffic, there is just something about being back in my hometown that is honestly the best.

2.) I am flying back for one of my best friend’s weddings and I could not be any happier to get to be a part of her special day. Emily has been in my life for about as long as I can remember and she means so much to me! She gets to marry an incredible man of God and I am so stinking excited!

1.) Getting to see my family and my friends. I mean c’mon, obviously this was going to be #1. I can’t wait to see my mom and dad and sister and all of my Claremore friends. I have missed each of them dearly and I can’t wait to get to have sleep overs and coffee talks about what has been happening these past couple of months.

So basically I am stoked to get to spend a few days back in Oklahoma!

the game of comparison

Okay so I debated posting this, but #yoloincolo amirite?

Something that I’ve been thinking about and struggling with recently is comparison. I feel like with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it is so so so so so easy to play the comparison game. I have friends who have started jobs all over the world. I have other friends who have just recently got engaged, married or are about to get married. I also have friends who are having babies! I then look at my life and think, I’m graduating a semester late, I’m not dating anyone and I’m for sure not having kids anytime soon. So what am I doing? I start comparing my now to theirs and it isn’t a pretty game. While I’m comparing my life to theirs, I’m missing what is right in front of me. I have had to learn about being content at where I am in life, and apparently over the past few months that lesson has slowly been slipping from my mind. And believe me when I say that learning to be content is one of the hardest lessons to learn.

“Comparison is the thief of joy,” is something I have had to hold close to my heart. It is so true. While I’m busy comparing every part of my life to others, I’m missing what is right in front of me! I am missing what God is trying to show me and I’m missing the incredible things that God is doing in my life. I get to spend my summer in COLORADO for goodness sakes. I get an extra semester in college which has turned out to be the biggest blessing because now I am graduating with a degree in something I love and can use that degree to pursue my passions. Since I’m not in a relationship I have begun to look for jobs all over the U.S., which is so incredibly exciting! There are so many awesome things happening that I have almost missed because I was too busy looking at other people’s Facebooks and Instas.

When I started college I honest to goodness thought I would graduate in 4 years, be in a serious relationship and starting my dream job. While that does sounds pretty awesome, that has yet to happen and I now realize why: God has something bigger and better than I could ever imagine or daydream about and that is so awesome. A verse that my parents both instilled in me at a young age was Jeremiah 29:11. Who knew that at 21 this verse would be something that means so much more than I could have imagined? “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”