Playing Through Pain

I have a bunion on my left foot (thanks, Mom!) and recently it’s started causing me grief again. It started out as an irritating discomfort, then it became more painful and finally, it got really red and blistered. When I woke up this morning, it was pretty bad - swollen, red, purple and my big toe joint was really sore. 

I was getting ready to go to the gym after I got the kiddos off to school and it hurt just walking around in my bedroom. I wondered how I was going to be able to get through my cardio with this pain. I found the blister pads and my bunion sleeve that I wear in my shoes and I put my socks on and found my widest toe box shoes. It was painful but it wasn’t debilitating so I decided that the show must go on. Yeah, it hurts but sometimes you have to do painful things.

As I was lacing up my shoes and thinking about the fact that sometimes we have to do things even when they’re painful I realized the correlation between my little foot injury and life. Over the last several years, I’ve experienced a great deal of pain and struggle in my life. There were days, weeks, months, when I didn’t think I could go on. I was sore from the pain. I was exhausted and weary from the constant struggle. There were many times that I just wanted to stay in bed and hide and wait until the storm was over. But that’s not an option in life.

We have to play through pain. We have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. We have to be strong and persevere through the most painful times, through the darkest nights. I didn’t feel strong enough to keep playing most days. Fortunately, I had the encouragement from others to keep going (even though sometimes their words seemed so cliche I wanted to punch them in the throat). Playing through pain is what strengthens us. If life is always easy, we don’t grow, we don’t develop character. Our pain makes us gentler, kinder and more compassionate. This world needs more of that. 

That pain you’re going through is making you into the person you are meant to be. It is not easy. It is not fun. But there is always a purpose for good for the pain you’re going through. 

When life hurts the most, keep playing. 

xoxo 

Julie

Have Courage and Follow Your Dreams

Hey y’all! Emily here! I know many of you may not know me, so I’ll introduce myself a little further: I am a Texas native blessed to have the opportunity to live in new places as a marine wife; I’m an NBG lover (seriously – could the pieces be any more beautiful and original!?); and I’m a dreamer! I know – weird way to introduce myself, but I’m a total dreamer, and that’s what I’m blogging about today! I am so inspired by NBG owner Kristi and those like her who fiercely labor to make their dreams a reality! I recently took a leap of faith and followed a dream of my own: auditioning for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders! I know…crazy right!?! For me, it certainly is!

If you had asked me a couple years ago if I planned to pursue my dream of being a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, I probably would have awkwardly shifted the conversation to any other subject. I have had this deep-seeded dream for almost 10 years, but I never had the courage to follow through. For three years, I gave myself every reason not to audition. I gave into fear. But finally this year, I overcame my fear and started chasing my dream! It has been the most exhilarating and incredible process! After three rounds of dance auditions, I have been invited into the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders’ Training Camp! I am still in the process of chasing my dream, but because I finally gained the courage to do so, I want to share that courage with you!

Firstly, no one will ever love your dream the way you do. No one. So keep it close to your heart, guard it, protect it, and don’t ever give anyone the opportunity to diminish your shine!

Secondly, surround yourself with those who encourage your dream! I cannot stress the importance of this enough! There may be times when you feel like giving up, but the support of those around you will give you the strength to push further than you could on your own!

Thirdly, you better WERK! ;) Farmers who prepare their fields for rain yield better crops than those who sit on their bums during the off-season! So prepare your fields, girl! ;) Do what needs to be done to grow your dream into a reality and water it with the love you have for your dream and the care of those amazing people around you! (I don’t know why I’m making so many farming references…whut!?)

And lastly, be content regardless! For me, this is the most difficult step but I have found that peace of mind makes chasing my dream more worthwhile. Tune your heart to be grateful for every opportunity that comes your way, and whether your dream comes to fruition or not, you will always walk away feeling like you’ve won! ☺ “My heart is at ease knowing that what was meant for me will never miss me, and what misses me was never meant for me.”

As I mentioned, I am still in the process of chasing my dream of becoming a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader! I have chosen to have a content heart regardless of the outcome, but I would love your good vibes and your prayers because I want to earn my boots and dance on that field! ☺

“Understand that life isn’t what you’re given. It’s what you create, what you conquer, and what you aim to achieve.”

Keep chasin’ those dreams, y’all!
Emily
@emily.hatch

Hey Beautiful

I originally wrote this for my personal blog, but I felt that it needed to be shared here with you gorgeous mermaids. I write from my heart, so I hope you enjoy. 

This morning my trainer tagged me in a picture that was everything that I needed to hear today. Funny how that works out.

Before my workout this morning I took some new measurements so I could see how much progress I've made, according to the tape measure. In a little over a month it's been 2 inches. I told myself, "Two inches is still wonderful. It's better than gaining two inches. Be proud of that." 

I got done with my workout this morning and read these words: 

Can I get an Amen? Perfection! I have a love/hate relationship with social media. Because of it I have gained some pretty great people in my life, my trainer one of them, but it's also the perfect place to find discontentment about yourself. We see so many rockin bodies and we get envious. We see sayings like, "don't settle for mediocre," and so we start doubting ourselves. We wonder if we are settling because we aren't trying to kill ourselves to get to the next level. 

Just because we are in the process of getting that rockin body, or whatever it is you're chasing after, doesn't mean we're settling for mediocre. This is what I've been telling myself. We all have different goals in mind. I have just really had to back off and tell myself, you are enough! I may not be where I want to be with every aspect of my life, but I'm so far from where I once was. 

Maybe this is as good as my body will ever look. Will that be enough for me? It should be. I will keep working hard to stay healthy, and if it changes then that is incredible, but if it doesn't, then that should be incredible too. It has birthed 4 children, it has nursed 3 babies, it has withstood a lot of pain, and it's still going.  I have battle wounds to reflect just how much it's been through, and it's far from perfect. 

There is still body fat on it, there are freckles that are all over it. There are these little lines that are starting to show around my eyes, but I'm not going to dislike myself any longer. I'm proud of myself and I'm loving the changes that are happening. 

I want to show my daughters that if you don't like something about yourself, you have the power to change that. I want to give them self confidence to know that doesn't mean undergoing any kind of plastic surgery. They don't have to be "perfect," I don't have to "perfect," you don't have to be "perfect" to be beautiful. We are all beautiful, we just have to believe that about ourselves.  

I am beautiful, just the way I am. Beauty isn't reflected on what size my waist is, what the number on the scale is, or even how perfect my skin is. It's reflected on the way I live. The way I love. The way I treat people. 

One thing I've learned for sure is how you can start with one goal, and it escalates from there. I've reached a place where I have realized just how important it is to love myself through all stages of my journey. Not just when I feel I've "arrived" at where I want to be. 

Do I still beat myself up sometimes and think I'm not doing good enough because I haven't made as much progress as so and so on the flipping Internet? Yes! I'm ridiculous like that sometimes. I'm real. I'm not going to lie about it. I doubt myself, and where does it get me? Nowhere! Absolutely nowhere. We're all different. Our journeys are different. Our bodies are different.

I'm sure we can all agree on one thing though, we all want to be happy and healthy. So let's do that. Leave some encouragement for someone today. You know how much you need it. They're no different. 

Until NextTime, 

Erica 

Ladylike Lace

Never far from the mind as being the epitome of femininity, delicate lace has yet grown even more popular for spring! 

Runway favorites like Valentino and Lanvin were ALL about black lace on the runways, so it's no surprise that it has shown up at Nobella Grace! Personally, I haven't been able to get enough of this romantic trend and let's face the facts...there's nothing chicer than black lace! The best thing about this feminine fabric is that it looks fabulous with both statement accessories and bold beauty products. 

See how I styled these Nobella Grace little black lace numbers below!!

Free Spirit Maxi Dress $41



Nobella Grace not only carries these HOT black lace pieces that I styled above, they also carry some pretty heavenly white lace pieces too!! So, just say YES to choosing romance for spring and click on the links below to take a peek at each of these white lace beauties :) 

Lace Kaftan Dress $38

Kaya Dress $42

Grace Maxi Dress $46

xoxo, karabears 

Do One Thing

Hello Mermaids!

I originally wrote and published this blog in April of last year. At that time, my depression, anxiety and PTSD was at an all time high and it took everything I had just to get from one day to the next. As women we tend to have a very hard time slowing down and giving ourselves the grace of healing and recovery. I hope that as Mother's Day weekend is upon us this gives you a little grace to take care of yourself so that you can live your best life!

xoxo

~Julie

What do you do when you’re a highly driven, productive person and major life stress (I’m not talking about the ordinary life stress, I’m talking about the soul-rocking kind of stress that shakes you to the core of your being and makes you second guess just about everything) takes it’s toll on you, leaving you exhausted, weary?

I have learned…being that “highly driven, productive person” who has been rocked by life-changing events…that sometimes there are things you can’t just “push through.” And I am highly skilled at “pushing through.” Some might say I’m an expert. With the help of a lot of people in my corner of the ring, I have learned that sometimes life rocks you so hard you just have to…be still. Sit. Wait. Rest. Recover. Recharge your batteries.

We all have different levels of tolerance when it comes to the “big” stresses – whether the stress you’re facing is post partum depression, divorce, caring for an ill parent/child/relative, grieving the death of a loved one, loss of a job, major parenting challenges, relocation, etc – sometimes the overwhelm and magnitude of the situation catches up with us and our bodies, our minds, our souls just can’t take any more. And as I have grown weary over the years of the heavy stress, I recently got some very helpful advice from a client who also happens to be my doctor and friend that I trust very much.

“Do one thing”, she told me, “just pick ONE thing to accomplish every day.

Doesn’t have to be big but only one thing.”

It seems simple. Old me would have laughed her out of the room – “what do you mean, ONE thing?! I can easily accomplish at least one hundred and fifty-three before the day is out. The more on my plate, the better. I’m so efficient that way.” But today’s me was relieved…”yeah, I can do that. I can do ONE thing.” And then the great part is when you set out to do ONE thing and you actually do twelve, you feel like a highly productive individual, which is exactly what the over-achiever in me wants to feel like.

I never really imagined myself in this position…where doing ONE thing would be my goal for the day, where simply putting one foot in front of the other would require every ounce of energy I could muster. Sometimes life does that and the only way out is through and giving up, quitting the game, is not an option. So we have to figure out the best strategies for coping to get through with as much sanity as possible. Take a step back. Take as much off your plate as possible. Focus on the necessities and reprioritize. Anyone can do ONE thing…doesn’t have to be big…just ONE thing.