Miss Representation

Ladies and gentlemen listen up, we have a big problem on our hands. The women of our country have been misrepresented. We have been told to be thinner, sexier, more beautiful and to take the back seat in our society. The media is constantly streaming images into our minds of who we should be and how they expect us to look. They have diminished women’s ability to be leaders and in positions of power by sending demeaning messages of women into our culture.  When an advertisement only shows the value of a women in her youth, sex appeal, body and beauty it focuses on her outward body and not on her inward intelligence and worth. I see it daily when working with my teen moms at Hope House. The young women I work with often think that they will never be successful with a toddler in tow or without the perfect body. Last week, one of my girls started a diet- at age 17! This should shock us and spur us to do something to empower and instill confidence in the women of our country. 

So what do we do about it? 

I have a good idea of a place to start. Watch the film MissRepresention. A friend of mine showed me the trailer and immediately I knew this documentary alined perfectly with my passion of encouraging and empowering adolescent girls. The film MissRepresentation will shed light onto how the media effects the view society has of women and it will bring awareness to the issue at hand. The director of the documentary also challenges it’s audience to do something about it. You can watch the trailer here and see it for yourself. I promise you it will ignite a fire in your soul to push back against the pressure this culture has placed on the women, especially the youth, of our country and hopefully stir an excitement for women to pursue leadership roles in the future. 

This Thursday, December 5th at 6:30pm there will be a showing of Miss Representation at the AMC Cherry Creek 8 in Denver. I encourage all to attend. Below is the link to the facebook event page. I hope you all can make it and if not at least watch the trailer and become even a little more aware :)

https://www.facebook.com/events/1413613528870150/

XO,

Erin

Dusting off the blog- so much to tell you!

Sorry for the long blog hiatus, friends. I guess I’ve just been enjoying life too much to pencil in the time to write. But finally, a free evening; a bowl of the most delicious kale turkey sausage butternut squash soup in my hands and I’m ready to tell you what I’ve been up to this past month. 

Where to start...

Kenz and I rocked the Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon in mid- October. We had a blast training together and even more fun the weekend of the race. Going to the fitness expo the day before got us amped to run our 13.1 miles the next morning. We both PR’d which was our ultimate goal. Our annual half marathon was a huge success. We even made the Denver Post! Who knows which city we will choose for our 2014 half. 

Runner's Health Expo

Right before we ran 13.1

The glorious finish

My nephew, Theo (short for Theodor) was born! He is the perfect addition to our family. I am dying to get my hands on him and give him some smothering Auntie love. Lucy has been a great big sister to him, Erik is excited to have a “soon to be Giants fan” in the house and my sister Lisa is loving being a stay at home mommy!

Halle turned ONE! Can you even believe it? Emily threw the biggest birthday for her at The Farm, in Fort Collins. It was a blast to walk the little ones around to see all the animals. Halle calls anything on four legs a dog, which is hysterical. All of our family was there and I couldn’t imagine celebrating my sweet niece any other way. If only time could slow down a little, my Halle girl is growing up too fast. 

I got a tattoo......Kidding! But I did get a promotion at work!!!! This is truly the reason why things have been so busy lately. I was blessed to get a call from the non-profit I work at, Hope House, asking me to interview for the Residential Case Manager position. I was blown away when an hour after the interview they offered me the position and asked if I could start on Monday! With this new big girl job in place, it allowed me to quit my job at Earls waitressing and put all my energy towards my passion of counseling. I love these teen moms more now than ever before. My position requires me to manage the teen mom’s case, in order to foster growth and empower them to become self sufficient. More than just helping them find the right job, or get accepted into their dream school or budget their money, my heart beat is to love on these girls- be their support and encourager; I’m their #1 fan. I believe in them. I believe they are some of the most inspiring, hard working, intelligent, beautiful young ladies I’ve ever met and they do it while holding a 2 year old on their hip. 

My Girls at the Hope House Gala

Kenz came with me to the Gala as my date

The Hope House Halloween Party

Genesis and I wore matching outfits. She has great taste in fashion :)

Aiyden is all boy and always full of smiles

Even though, my job consumes a lot of my time and energy, I have still made space in my busy life to explore this beautiful city. There’s always room for another happy hour in the Highlands or an Americano in Wash Park. Adventuring through Denver wouldn’t be nearly as exciting if I didn’t have my amazing girls to do it with me. Life is exhilarating and new and I promise to let you in on this journey more often!

Going out with the girls

A little fall fun!

XO, 

-Er

A day in the life of Erin

Time is a silly thing to me. It either passes too fast, like in the summer when you just want the weather to stay 85 and sunny forever; or too slow like when you’re running intervals on a treadmill- there is never a longer minute in my life. But here I am again, thinking time could slow down a little bit. I have already been in Denver 3 months! Although, some days are more exciting than others, I’m falling in love with this city and the people that inhabit it’s streets. 

After months of living here, I think I finally have my life in a bit of a routine. And for all of you who care to know what I’ve been up to over the weeks- here is a glimpse! 

A Day in the Life of Erin!

Monday morning Bible study with the girls at Wash Perk

Blue animal print running tights! What could be better!

Training for the half marathon coming up on October 20th

Sloan's Lake is absolutely beautiful. It's my favorite place to run and I love having the city skyline as my
back drop.

Breakfast perfection. Oh and my second coffee of the day! 

Just a little Ben Rector to help motivate me to clean! 

A clean room is a happy room! 

The fall weather got me in the mood to bake. So I made healthy banana oat meal cookies. They made my house smell like heaven!

A few cookies and a protein shake, made for a perfect lunch

Driving through the Highlands on my way to work at Earls. I love the city. 

I'm not sure if Denver could get any more gorgeous. 

 Earls Girls! Some of my favorite ladies! They make work so much fun and my life a lot better!

This is my happy place. Cooking for my roommates and friends!

Our happy little patio. Great food,  delicious drinks, wonderful people and meaningful conversations around this table.

That pretty much sums it up. It’s not a fancy life- but it’s a really good one! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, friends!

I am also working as a Residential Counselor at Hope House of Colorado, but I did not work on the day I decided to post this. But don’t you worry, though, I will tell you all about my amazing job working there very soon! 

XO,

Erin 

Fun Facts Friday

Here are 20 random and ridiculous facts about myself. Some things you should know if we are going to be BFFs:

1. I can make some of the most ridiculous funny/ugly faces when posing for pictures. My friends and family can attest to this.

2. I loving re-arranging furniture in rooms, I like changing things up!

3. I love to cook, but I don’t like to bake. If I can’t eat all of it in one sitting, it’s not worth my time 

4. I am constantly leaving cabinets and drawers open after I use them. My husbands pet peeve. Oops.

5. I don’t like to clean, but sometimes I just get in the mood and can go for hours.

6. I don’t like tomatoes or blueberries. But I so badly wish I did!

7. I didn’t use to like breakfast, but now it is becoming one of my favorite meals. I get excited about what I am going to eat the night before! This weeks current rotation: dippy eggs, turkey bacon and raspberries. Mmmm.

8. I eat every 3 or 4 hours. Literally. I pack a mid morning-snack, lunch, and afternoon snack for work.

9. I am mostly an introvert. If I don’t get at least one night at home by myself or with the Hubs with no plans, it stresses me out.

10. I want to be a stay-at-home mama one day.

11. I love watching the Real Housewives. All of them. Don’t judge.

12. I hate confrontation. More than anything. I would rather suppress feelings than bring them up. Something I am trying to get better at it!

13. I would much rather have a night in than go out. A night in a cozy house with friends and family is much better than a loud bar or restaurant in my eyes!

14. I am married to my perfect other half. He is good at the things I am not, and vice versa. He makes me a better person 

15. We keep a running list of baby names we love and may use someday. We have also decided that we will not be sharing our children’s names with the world until they are born. I value others opinions too much and fear someone might make me second guess  a name I love.

16. We love planning vacations, and start planning the next year’s anniversary trip immediately after we get back from the previous one.

17. A lot of times I will sing song lyrics out loud in a really weird voice, and I won’t even notice until Nick calls me out on it. He thinks its hysterical.

18. We like to “white boy dance” in the kitchen while making dinner. Think: the cheesiest most awkward dance moves ever.

19. I won my school spelling bee every year in elementary school, and even went to State in 8^th grade. Nerd alert.

20. I am learning to love the season I am in right now, without looking too far ahead to the next. It has always been a struggle of mine, but something I am working on!

~Lauren

Connect through social media

Social media is a network of connecting people. I want individuals to reach our blog, of course, but more than that I want people to feel connected to others personally. Social media is a connection of people looking to find another person who is in the same season of life. One girl looking for a recipe for a dinner party stumbles upon Mekenzie’s famous Thai turkey burgers and immediately feels like she has found her perfect meal. The girl who is struggling with a work out regimen seeking transformation finds encouragement through Lauren's latest work out routine. I love that social media provides an avenue for us to connect with real people experiencing real life situations from miles away. It connects my roommate down the hall to my family in California. It allowed all of girls to stay connected when one of us was in Kansas, one stayed in Fort Collins, another moved home to Colorado Springs and the last moved her newlywed self to Denver. The blog was a key player in keeping our friendships strong and our lives intertwined. 

This was the night we created the Serendipitous Girls Blog,  January 2012

Throw back to celebrating Mekenzie's Graduation, May 2012.

Social Media has connected friends to family, strangers to loved ones- and it has connected me to the journey of my life. As I was writing this post I decided to flip through some of my first articles and I couldn’t stop reading about the wild life I’m living. Serendipitous Girls blog has been a journal of my life over the last 2 years. It’s kept record of my highest highs and lowest lows. I loved reading back on times that I was on cloud 9 after the birth of my sweet niece; my heart could hardly take in how blessed I was feeling at that time. On the flip side, I enjoyed reading back on the rocky roads I’ve been down, the trials I experienced and the amount of growth I have experienced because of the them. I’m not the same person that I was back in January of 2012 when I wrote my very first blog post. I am thankful for the connection the blog created for me so that I reflect on where I have been and the lessons I’ve learned along the way. Looking introspectively into where I’ve been and where I am going is encouraging and enlightening for me.

Connect. Connect with people you love through social media and reconnect with the amazing life you've lived. It’s fun, encouraging and if used properly- social media can change who you are.

Denver Girls. 

Sweet Halle babe! She changed my life. 

My Right hand woman!

XO,

Er

Blogtember!

Remember the "Blog Every Day In May" Challenge? We can't stay away! The Serendipitous Girls are taking on a new challenge. "Blogtember"...it's happening. Blogtember is a great opportunity for  creative writing and speaking to topics we wouldn't normally write about with pre-determined questions and topics from our friend over at "Story Of My Life." I hope you'll hang out with us as we share our lives with you, the beautiful and meaningful and sometimes not so beautiful and meaningful experiences, insights, moments. 

Day 1: Describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and or the factors that make up who you are. 

I was born a Kansas City mid west girl. My dad was in ministry and my mom was a teacher. My older brother Josiah and I were each others best friends in those early years. We had our own rooms growing up, but took turns every night pulling out the trundle bed or unrolling the sleeping bags for slumber parties just to be together. We biked to the library, bladed around the block, and hunted for locust shells in the back yard. Mom would feed us french toast sticks on a weekly basis and "daddy donut day" was Saturdays. Dad got the cake donut with the coconut flakes and I got plain glazed. We split a carton of milk and the donut shop ladies let us watch them make the donuts in the back. My parents were always both invested and devoted. My mom was the mom who hung upside down on the monkey bars with us, threw us huge birthday parties, and sang us awake every morning. My dad always gave us special one-on-one dates, stopped working right when he got home for the night so he could play with us, and made sure we knew his love for us every single day. My childhood was simple, but filled with many memories and lots of love.

My parents introduced me to Jesus from the start. They raised me as best as they could to be a woman of God and a woman of great character. They made sure to teach me leadership and self-sufficiency and raised me with a strong moral compass and a competitive spirit. They pushed for me to be passionate and not shy away from deep and meaningful conversations.  I appreciate all of these values.

My family moved to Colorado Springs and SURPRISE, mom was pregnant with Malachi, my 12 year old brother shortly after the move. I was the baby for many years, but I couldn't imagine life without the joy of my littlest brother. My parents referred to us as built in babysitters, but I loved being second mom to this little gem. Malachi just started middle school and I can't believe how rich and talented his life is. He is a true friend, an awesome musician, and an incredible athlete. He loves his style and loves to shop! His days are filled with leading worship, going to practice, and going to school.  He is so grown up for his age and I just love him! Colorado Springs was where I spent my high school years, dad was in Real Estate and mom never really left teaching, but worked very part time and was home with us kids. I played soccer, attended youth group, and spent lots of time trying to figure out who I was. Friendships were trial and error and I learned many challenging life lessons during that crazy high school season. 

College landed me at Colorado State in Fort Collins. I remember being in school and people telling me those 4 years of college were their "glory days". Its so stinking true though, I loved those years. I made my closest friends and finally felt somewhat settled in who I was and what I was all about. I grew to love running and began signing up for half marathons in college. Running opened my eyes to nutrition and overall wellness which opened my eyes to cooking. These things are all still very much a part of my life and things that bring so much joy. They are therapy and life to my soul along with coffee, time with girlfriends, patio seating and gigantic breakfasts. Life during the college years were consumed with training for races, exploring new recipes, about 1000 coats of nail polish, Bachelor Mondays with no less than 8 girls at all times stacked in our living room, FCA Friday's, room mate road trips, spring break trips, a million peanut butter tubs eaten by spoon alone, smoothies and chicken, lots of oatmeal, bike rides every where and living life as spontaneously and adventurously as we could handle.

It hasn't been long since the "glory days," but I'd say this is the sweetest season yet! The transition from college to working world has been eye opening and challenging, but has given me such a great opportunity for growth and dependency on God. I met my closest companion 3 years ago, but began dating and falling in love with Lee Thompson just 10 months ago. He is above and beyond any blessing I have ever received and he pushes me and challenges me and serves me and knows be better than any one else on the planet. Getting to do life alongside a person like Lee for the rest of my life is my greatest joy and most anticipated excitement. 

I really do believe the people who walk along side of you in life play a major part in helping you discover who you are. I only hope and pray that my life and my story give arms and legs and voice and breath to the gospel every day. I know where I have come from and the stories of those who have raised me and befriended me and loved me and mentored me have been some of the most significant signs of an active and moving God. I'm beyond thankful! 

- Mekenzie 

Philippians Friday's and an americano please

This morning I found myself thankful... 

Sometimes thankfulness is a choice, and other times I feel it in my soul. I'm reading a lot about thankfulness these days. I'm learning how to choose it by verbalizing the things i"m thankful for in prayer and by writing down things I recognize I should be thankful for as a daily discipline,  but its the most wonderful thing when you choose it and you feel it all together. 

Just over a month ago, the girls and I decided to study through the book of Philippians together. We did it as a way to connect during the week and make sure to see one another amidst the craziness of our schedules, we did it because we were so excited to all be in the same city for the first time since college, but mostly we did it for the purpose of setting aside time to talk about things that really really matter. We did it to challenge one another to growth in the Lord. We did it so we could sit around the table and pray for one another. 

"Philippians Friday" starts at 6:00 a.m. We just finished the book, but I'm still going to call it "Philippians Fridays" I think. The original plan was to meet at a new coffee spot each week, but we happened upon the best americanos in the most quaint and adorable coffee shop in the heart of one of my favorite Denver neighborhoods and it stuck. The tables are often off balance and the chairs and seating change so we pick a new spot inside or outside every time. We sit outside on the patio and watch runners go by as we sip our hot coffees from giant mugs on warmer mornings and we watch commuters and moms and dog walkers flow in and out for their morning cups. We unload our bibles and journals and breakfasts of think thin bars and yogurts and overnight oats and bananas and we  call it fellowship. It's good. So good! 

I love being a part of this fellowship. I love coming with questions to discuss. I love the authenticity and vulnerability of this fellowship. I love the different histories and backgrounds and memories that come together around this table. I love the wounds and the joys that each of us bring and the stories of the ways we've seen God move and work in those wounds and joys. I learn a lot from these women. I feel comfortable and uncomfortable all at once. Comfortable for who I am and uncomfortable as they push me to who they see God making me to be. 

Sometimes its hard to choose to be thankful and sometimes when you're sitting and staring into the 4 faces of beautiful people that love you no matter what you're going through and where you are, thankfulness smacks you in the face and knocks you to your knees to thank God for loving and caring for you so well. 

Today I'm thankful.