Blog Challenge, Day 8: 5 Passions

1. Reading- I appreciate how hard it is and how long it takes to write a book. So when I find a book that I enjoy, I immerse myself in it and it becomes my escape from reality. We all need that every now and then, right?



2. Writing- I wrote about my love for writing in yesterday's blog post. If you'd like to read it, click here.



3. Football- Growing up, I was always involved with sports but football was the one that I played the longest. I watched games every Sunday, played during games and practices and enjoyed playing in the street with family and friends. Football consumed a huge portion of my life and the ten years that I played are full of wonderful, bittersweet memories.



4. Learning- Not to sound corny but educating yourself is important. Now before I get ahead of myself, I'd like to clear something up; I am not talking about 3x+4y=7. Most people will probably never use that information after high school. I am a firm believer that in order to change the world, you need to know what you're dealing with. So I like to learn about the world and what's going on around me so that I can make a positive influence in someone else's life.



5. Blogging- Too predictable? Saw that one coming a mile away? Yeah, me too. But it's true. I started this blog on a whim, not knowing just how fast I'd end up falling in love with it. It's turned into much more than a hobby for me. It's become a way for me to express myself, my thoughts and my feelings to the world. It's my outlet and has helped me overcome some issues that I've been having about not being able to accept constructive criticism. So, at the risk of sounding cliche, I love both of my blogs. :)



What are your 5 passions? Tell me in a comment below and have a great day!

-Chelsea

Blog Challenge, Day 7: My Dream Job

I have always known, from an extremely young age, that I wanted to be a writer. I have old notebooks full of short stories, poems, essays, etc. that are taking up tons of space on my bookshelf. I grew up with a pen in my hand and with paper always within reach. I caught the writing bug early and I was in love.

I was, and still am, addicted to the written word. I always had my nose in a book and was made fun of for being a "bookworm" or a "geek." But I never cared because I genuinely loved feeling like I was living in a world created by someone else's imagination and I wanted to create that experience for someone else. I appreciated how hard it was to write something good and put it out there for other people to criticize and hopefully, enjoy.

So I was destined to become a novelist. I feel that in my bones, down to my very core. I can't stop reading and writing; I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I did. I finished my first novel last year and have been trying to get it published, while working on my second novel. It's a crazy, long, hard process but I wouldn't trade the gift of writing for anything in the world.

My hope is that one day I'll be a best-seller and that I'll have enough money not to work another job. My husband will have his job in the military and I'll stay at home writing my novels and still being able to take my kids to and from school. (Just to clarify, I don't have kids yet. This is like a 5 year plan kind of a thing.) Until earlier this year, I hadn't thought about being a stay-at-home mom but I know in my heart that if I ever missed anything that happened to my kids, I'd die. So the plan is for me to set up an office in my house and work from there, while also fulfilling my wifely duties.

Now before I get ahead of myself, I don't think that this will be easy. At all. But it's what I want and I'm determined to have it. Kristopher fully supports my hopes and dreams, just as I support his, so I'm confident that we can make this work.

What do you guys want to be when you grow up? Tell me in a comment below!

Have a great day!

-Chelsea

Blog Challenge, Day 6: The Hardest Thing That I've Ever Experienced

This is a really touchy subject for me because when I saw this prompt, all I could think about was last year when I was in the hospital for 10 days. I'd rather not say what I had or what happened to me but the doctors said that my life was pretty much over.

At 19 years old, that's a lot to take in. Heck, it'd be hard news to take at any age. But when I heard those words, I kept thinking about the possibility that I'd lose Kris. I didn't think that he would leave me but I didn't expect him to stay when he knew just how limited my future was going to be.

But he stayed.

So any time that anybody questions our relationship or just how strong that our love is, I tell them what happened to me and how he held my hand the whole time, not leaving my side for a minute. He helped give me the strength to fight my medical issues and prove the doctors wrong. And I did. A year later, I am completely healthy with absolutely no signs of my illness anymore. I proved those doctors wrong, after a year of absolute hell. It literally took everything that I had in me to fight it but I did it.

But Kris was my rock, my strength and I never could've gotten through this without him. But the idea of losing him hurt me more than the knowledge that I was sick. I mean, how could I get through this on my own? (Of course I had an immense support from my family as well.) I was seriously granted an amazing gift and will never be able to repay him for everything that he's done for me.

Sorry about being so vague. I'd just rather keep some elements of my life private.

Happy Wednesday!

-Chelsea

Blog Challenge, Day 5: 5 Things That Make Me Happy

I have so much to be grateful for in my life. I've always said that I'm a very blessed person and I've always meant it. I never take anything for granted because I know just how valuable everything in my life is. Now course, I have had some hardships in my life but I feel like the good outweighs the bad. With that said, here is a glimpse into my happiness. :)

1. I have Kristopher-





















2. I have my family-

3.- I love being an army wife-

4. I love my newfound confidence-


5. I have my health-


Let me know what makes you guys happy! I'll see you tomorrow!

-Chelsea

Blog Challenge, Day 4: 10 Things I'd Tell My 16-Year-Old Self

16 was a big year for me. Not only did I turn the big "sweet 16", my parents separated and I went through my first heartbreak. Looking back, that time was really emotional for me and I wish that I had known that eventually everything would work out better than I could've dreamed.

                   I couldn't find any good pictures of me when I was 16, so this'll have to do for now.


So if I could tell my 16-year-old self 10 things, I'd say:

1. Just because it didn't work out with this guy, doesn't mean that it won't work out with the next.

2. Hold onto Beverly because she will end up being one of your best friends, even after high school.

3. Everything really does happen for a reason.

4. Have a more positive outlook on life.

5. Stand up for yourself in TV class; it'll be worth it.

6. Learn to control your emotions and your stress better.

7. It's okay to not want what you originally thought you wanted; things change.

8. Stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.

9. Life is about having fun and making memories, so stop and smell the roses every once in a while.

10. It's going to be okay. You'll meet your future husband next year. :)

Hope everyone has had an amazing weekend and enjoyed some great football! See you all tomorrow!

-Chelsea

Blog Challenge, Day 3: My Relationship With My Parents

I was a very blessed child. I grew up in a small town, was always involved in sports and had parents that were always very involved my life. We were always very close and we still are. They mean the world to me and I never take them for granted. I don't know where I'd be without them.

MOM:

My mom and I are closer now than we ever were. She has always been someone that I could talk to and she has always given really good advice. She raised me to be a strong, independent woman. We went through a rough patch when I was 13 but that's pretty normal isn't it? Right now, I consider her to be my best friend and I love her to death.

DAD: 

Growing up, I was a daddy's girl. I was a tom-boy and a half. I was always watching sports and eating chicken wings with my dad. Plus, we were always together because he coached all of my sports teams. (Except for cheerleading. My mom did that.) When my parents got divorced, we grew apart a little bit but we're working on being just as strong and close as we always were because no matter what, I'll always be his little girl and love him. :)

See you all tomorrow!

-Chelsea

Blog Challenge, Day 2: 3 Fears

In the previous blog challenge that I completed, I wrote about my fear of lizards, so I won't be writing about that again. But I'm the type of person that is afraid of a lot of things, so this shouldn't be too hard.

1. Moving away- I'm staying with my mom until Kris gets his orders and we find out where we're going to be living next. I want to move away with Kris and start our lives together but the idea of moving away from my mother scares me to death. For all I know, Kris and I could get stationed on the other side of the globe. It's a scary thing to know that if I needed something or needed help, I wouldn't have it at disposal anymore. I wouldn't be able to just call my mom and have her come to the rescue anymore. I know that moving is a necessary thing to do and that I want to do it, but the whole idea seems overwhelming.



2. Failure- For 5 years I slaved away on my first novel and after I finished it, I went to a publishing seminar. I learned a lot but it also petrified me. There are so many steps to publishing a novel and tons of rejection. The idea that my whole career is in the hands of other people that don't know me personally, only through query letters, seems really unfair and scary. My fear is that after all that I've invested and all the time that I've spent on my novel, which I love, that I'll fail and that I'll never be published.



3. Disappointing people- This has always been my biggest challenge in life. I'm a people-pleaser. I never want to disappoint anyone. If I let them down, I get really hard on myself and just continue to make myself feel worse. I'm afraid that if I disappoint people, even if unintentional, that they'll hate me or always think less of me after that, no matter what I do to fix it. I'm working on overcoming this fear every day but it's still always in the back of my head.


That's it for today's prompt! Tune in tomorrow if you'd like to see my next post!

-Chelsea