tracy elizabeth

if you follow me on twitter you probably noticed i was quite excited to ring in the new year. when 2011 began, i thought it was going to be one of the best years of my life. i really did. but all that quickly changed, and 2011 ended up being the worst year of my life for a lot of reasons. so, as i neared january 1, i kept getting more and more excited to get this year behind me, and to start fresh in 2012.

then, on the last day of 2011, i was spending the day with my BFF Amanda and she said to me, “let’s talk about all of our favorite moments in 2011…not the bad ones, but the happy ones…let’s reflect on those.” so, we proceeded to highlight our favorite moments of the year, my top memory being my trip to California in May for Ashley’s wedding.

and as i reflected, i realized something very important. that even though i am excited about this new year, this fresh start, i don’t ever want to forget 2011. the lessons i learned this year are the most valuable i’ve ever learned. the things i realized, the progress i made in so many areas, the life lessons i learned, are things that i never, ever want to forget. i had many, many awful days, i hit rock bottom this year, but i never gave up and i never lost hope. some people will never understand me and the decisions i made, and i am okay with that. i definitely care a lot less about what people think of me now. but at the end of the day, i answer to God and that’s it. He knows my heart, He knows where I am, and He loves me no matter what. and no matter what happened this year, i held on to that truth, and i am so grateful for His unwavering love for me.

so, rather than looking back at 2011 as the worst year of my life, i think i’ll look at it as the year i learned the most. because after all, what was the point of all that crap i just went through if i didn’t learn anything, right?

now, with all that said, good riddance 2011 and hello 2012. i’m excited to see you :)

(i know this was like, the vaguest blog post ever. if you know me, you probably know my life, but if you don’t know why my year was so awful and would like to hear my story, i don’t mind sharing it at all…just ask.)

Rachel Naomi Remen (via watapaching)

Jiddu Krishnamurti (via watapaching)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (via watapaching)

Taken with instagram

tiffanytroop:

For those of you who have told me that you’re already singing Christmas carols because there are no Thanksgiving songs…that’s not trueeeee, and I have a video to prove it!

And when I found the option to make this video, I made my most hardcore Christmas-before-Thanksgiving friend be the one that all the bad stuff happened to.  Don’t mess with the Pilgrims.  You’re welcome.

You can hate on me all you want!

(Source: tiffanytroop)

rachellittle:

A nod to Shakespeare.

(via tiffanytroop)

i love social networking. probably more than the average person, and maybe to the point where it becomes a little ridiculous. a lot of people say that email, the Internet, texting, etc is making us less social and less able to communicate face to face. and while i agree with that to some extent, i also think that these things are incredible.

i love the connections we are able to make through Twitter, Facebook and texting. i am seriously close to several people that i’ve either never met or only seen in real life a handful of times. there are friendships that i cherish greatly with people that i don’t ever see, but i am able to keep closely in touch with via texting or twitter.

i love group texting with my *5* girls: Amanda, Tiffany, Hannah and Rachel. i love our abbrevs. i love that i can text them at any point in my day and ask them to pray for me and i know that right away i have four of my closest friends praying for me. we have each other’s backs, and it’s one of my favorite things ever. i love our random “check-in” moments when we update each other on how we’re doing…and we can all be open and honest about what we’re going through at that moment. and i love that i can count on those girls to make me laugh hysterically every single day.

i love my #bffheartnecklaces friend @watapaching and the fact that we’re practically the same person. and that i can count on one hand the number of times we’ve really seen each other in real life, but she is becoming one of my closest friends. i love texting for hours while watching football, i love that when she says she hates the cowboys and i say that i do also she responds with “of course you do” b/c we have just about everything in life in common. and i love that this friendship has developed at the most perfect time in my life.

i love that there are people all over the country that i’m able to keep up with and “chat” with through Twitter and Facebook that i would normally not have any connection with at all. Twitter and Facebook allow me to keep in touch more closely with my family that lives on the other side of the country. and the Internet has allowed me to be encouraged by many people through this difficult year i’ve had.

so, bottom line is: i love social networking. and i love the friendships that have developed as a result of being active on Twitter, Facebook and my precious iPhone. i do not despise technology one bit.

Stephen Colbert (via watapaching)