Hey, darlings, spring is here and the flowers could not be more beautiful. I am kicking off spring with one of my favorite trends of probably ever: the retro picnic basket. I love that these have come back in style. This bag speaks my language for sure. I have this weird obsession with natural textures. I love to decorate with it and now I get to wear it. (If you are just here for the something you may not know about me part, you can skip to the bottom now. Products linked are liked below as well.) I got to put the bag to great use last weekend when we went to Garvin Gardens to celebrate the birthday of my sister-in-law. It is such a beautiful place. I totally recommend it. I just barely missed the tulips; next year.

The sweetest little man complimented my bag too. He said, "ma'am, I don't usually comment on a woman's purse, but I sure like yours. I am into wood workings." How sweet was he? I can not wait to go back and explore the whole place.

Recreate this look:

Top Option HERE: Pants: On sale HERE , Necklace: HERE in black , Shoes: Similar HERE, Purse: HERE

Lets just be real guys. You know I didn't walk all around Garvin Gardens in those shoes. It was so hard to get up those uneven rock stairs too. These shoes were made for walking... only on flat ground!

Now if only we had swimsuits and could have played under the waterfall. I just love getting to adventure with this guy.

On to a different topic, I have a little something on my heart that I would like to share with you today. Sometimes I like to get a little deeper than superficial beauty. I have been reflecting on my life lately, and I just can not believe how far I have come. I just can not be more thankful for where I am. To some people who do not know where I came from my life may seem so mediocre. To me, I view it as so much more. I feel that no matter where my future brings me, I already have a victory. I know we all have a story. Mine just seems to be a tad crazier that most. I feel that the Lord allowed me to go through so much so that I can help others. That is why I share.

But before I can share my message with you, you have to know something about my past that most people don't know about me. When I was a little girl I was placed into foster care for a short period. I won't get into details right now about how I ended up there. Just know that it is never an ideal situation for any child. It is very traumatic. I remember feeling so terrified. To be plucked from my life and placed with complete strangers was so hard for me. I think about how far I have come from that point and I can not help but just be completely thankful to God for my life today.

When I am feeling low, I often think about that time to gauge my progress; and to remind myself to be thankful. If nothing else, I AM doing better than that time in my life. Life is not always fair. Unfortunately, that wasn't the worst of what has happened to me. I have a LOT of traumatic chapters in my archive. As I am sure that we all do. I am not here to round up a pity party, so we won't go there. I just like to think about this specific time because it is a great reminder that sometimes bad things happen and there is NOTHING we can do about except press on.

I think about the different ways that I could have turned out and I get so emotional. There were so many opportunities for me to have given up, but I didn't. I tried hard to pinpoint what has helped me the most to get to a place in life where I can look in the mirror and say "Yes, I can be proud to be you everyday.". While, there is no formula. Every situation is so different. This is what helped me to get through.

Every single time I was in a place where I felt like I could not go on, I would imagine myself where I wanted to be. Whatever was not lining up with my goal, I would work on changing. I hate to admit to being this kind of person, but it was not uncommon for me to literally drop everything/everyone I knew and move on when something was not going right. I don't mean that I was being a spoiled brat and dropping people because I didn't get my way. I mean when it was harmful to me. I think is so important to get away from toxic influences. I refused to stay in a situation that is not good for me. I take it a step further. Once I am done with something, that's the end of it. I am done. I move on. I let it go. I know that is not so easy for some people., but it has helped me so much. There were many times when I would leave a situation because I felt like I had nothing, so I had nothing to lose. I have been there SO many times.

No matter how bad things got for me (and they got REALLY bad), I WOULD NOT accept what life was throwing at me. If something wasn't going good, I would change it up until it was. I also never wanted people to feel sorry for me. I always worked so hard to appear to be doing way better than I actually was. It was both a virtue and a flaw for me. I felt so embarrassed and sad about things in my life that were out of my control, so just acted like they weren't there. Sadly, I think I viewed it as a sign of weakness. On one hand, it helped me to feel better about the things I couldn't control. On the other, I probablly could have helped myself more by simply talking about it to people who cared.

Today, I want you to remember a time in your life that was not so good. I want you to take that memory and use it as motivation to persevere. Do NOT give up and keep going. Make things happen for you, because in this world no one else will do it for you. I don't mean to to toot my own horn with this post. My life is in no way perfect. I am the furthest thing from perfect. I just hope to encourage even just one person through my experiences. If I can do that, it is all worth it to me. No matter what life throws at you, stand tall and keep fighting the good fight. Keep your chin up and work hard.

Here is my message to you: DO NOT GIVE UP. We can not always help what is done to us. We CAN help how we respond and how we grow from those experiences. It was not my fault that I was placed into foster care. There was nothing that I could have done to even prevent it, but I have worked hard to never let shape me or bring me down. I encourage you to do the same. There is nothing your circumstances can stop you from doing unless you let them.

Do you relate to this at all? If so, I would love to hear. Leave me a comment! Thank you so much for stopping by. Until next time.

Love Always, Sarah