Double Delight!

I am happy to report two great blogging firsts for me. First, this is my 150th post. Who knew I had so much to say and share (just kidding....I am a talker!)? Also, yesterday was the one year anniversary or birthday of this Teach.Read.Cook.Learn blog!!! I am so excited about that. Has a year ever been full of SO many changes and new opportunities? What will year 2 hold I wonder?

                                                                        *beauty from here
I love this blog. I love it even when I think I am the only one who reads it. I love it when I add pictures....I love it when I just type. I love that my friend helped bring my vision to life, and now her own blog is growing in well deserved popularity.

The year has seen my move from comfort and passion to growth and delight. It has seen Sabrina at 24 and 25, and Sabrina the new car owner, and Sabrina the moving lady, and Sabrina the girl who is random.

Cheers to my life and the blog that I use to share it with you. Cheers to more fun, living, grace, and joy. Cheers to creativity and the friends who take time to read about the life of little 'ol Sabrina Maude Stewart!

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to you (the best, blessed, mama in my world!)

Happy Birthday to you ( a woman of contentment, simplicity, and joy)

Happy Birthday dear mama ( Betty Laverne Miles Stewart)

Happy Birthday to you ( I love you dearly, and sincerely!!!)

Fitness Goals

I am going to just unload all of my current fitness goals in one post. There are a lot of them....but I am hoping I can hit most of them....or maybe some of them. That would be good for me!

Limit the sweets and reward myself with Yoforia (once a week).

Exercise 3 days a week ( I have 2 weekly sessions set up with a fitness group...so I just need to add in 1 more day.)

Eat more fruits and veggies daily ( I made a little tally mark chart to help me see this one.)

Don't buy any new clothes at my current size. ( This is budget and fitness combined!!)

Say NO to soda....maybe except Diet Dr. Pepper! Order water when I go out to eat.

Go out to eat less...sooooo hard for me!!!!

Whew!

Retreat Part 2

My weekend was soooo many things.
It was
needed
hard
hilarious
strength
illuminating
tearful and cheerful

Being on a retreat with my cohort (who I love and am inspired by!) and my professors (who I respect and am inspired by!) was in some ways surreal. We were able to bond and heal in ways that just would not have been possible if not for that set apart time, in that set apart place.

I was reminded of my strength. I was reminded that I am TOO hard on myself. I was reminded that people are struggling all around me and I need to care about that. I was reminded that God truly brought me to this place in my life for a reason. I learned that life is hard and people can be just destructive to others....yet we have resilience and love and coping skills that we are not even aware of.

I am too thankful for words for my precious and unique life. Sabrina is really a good person, she is growing and maturing and having to let things go each and everyday. But all of that is natural, it is a part of the process and I am learning that trusting the process brings joy. That being in the moments is what it is all about.

May I remember to support my cohort. May I open myself to more love in my life and more learning. May I grow in grace and always remember that my health is a blessing.

On a random note- The bonding over 90's pop music, the laughter over Taboo, the joy of being with friends was priceless.

Retreat Part 1

" It is the bread of my art and the water of my spiritual life
That remind me always to reach for what is highest
Within my capacities and in my demands of myself and others;
not for what is perfect, but for what is the best possible."
Audre Lorde

At the closing of our Counseling Theories class this Fall my professor gave each member of our class a different quote that she hand selected for each of us. Mine is above and I treasure it! After a class full of personal revelations and sharing, this quote showed me that she got me...and all of my Sabrinaness.

This weekend I get the opportunity to go Retreating with my 10 wonderful and different cohort members and my 6 major professors. Yep....UGA you were the perfect choice for me:)

Dedication

But Ruth said:
“ Entreat me not to leave you,

Or to turn back from following after you;

For wherever you go, I will go;

And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;

Your people shall be my people,

And your God, my God.

17 Where you die, I will die,

And there will I be buried.

The LORD do so to me, and more also,

If anything but death parts you and me.” Ruth 1:16-17

What a truly humble and beautiful statement to start out my week. I had not read Ruth in quite a while and I was struck by these touching words:)

Children's Books are in the Air

Last week we spent a fabulous 30 minutes in class discussing and reading our all time favorite children's books (shout out to The Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Treasury).

Then a friend's blog mentioned one of my fondest childhood memories.....going to the public library (insert thundering applause).

After that one of my favorite news sites had an article about the newly crowned Newbery and Caldecott children's book winners.

It seems like children's books are just in the air this week:)

PS- If you click here you can find the complete list for any books that have ever won a Newbery award!