5 Days In

I'm 5 days in to this complete social media fast, and here's what I've realized so far:

One // I am blessed with some truly wonderful friends. I can't even remember the last time I simply wrote a blog post, clicked the bright orange "Publish" button, and didn't publicize it in some way, shape or form. 

I honestly didn't expect any one to read Saturday's blog post, and so when those wonderful, dear, loyal-blog-reading friends reached out with their sweet words of encouragement, it just made me feel mighty thankful for such a dear tribe of people to walk through life with. 

Thank you, friends, for constantly chanting "your words matter, Amy." 

Yours' do too. <3

Two // I forgot what it's like to have your phone, just be your phone. You know, solely for communication. Where the only notifications you get are when someone legit wants to say something to you, and they wanted to do so so badly that they took the time to text you. 

Or Snapchat you. {Okay, so I'm not entirely social media free. I mean, does that even count? It's like texting, but with pictures that last .5 seconds. Totally doesn't count.}

Three // When your phone is just your phone, you don't get a whole lot of notifications. 

And you know what I was reminded through that? My identity is secure in Christ, regardless of if my phone is blowing up, or silent as the moment after a bad, confusing joke. 

No matter how many times I hit that home button to see my blank lock screen, I'm still Amy, loved and treasured by Christ. 

It's not "Amy, loved and treasured by Instagram," or "Amy, loved and treasured by Facebook," it's something that is rock solid, and can never, ever change. 

It doesn't depend on my number of followers; it's entirely dependent on Who I'm following. 

Boom clap. 

Four // I genuinely miss it {mainly Instagram}, but not in the way I'd expect. 

It's really not as hard as I thought it would be. I don't miss it the way I would miss sugar or pasta, I don't crave it the way I crave those things {and pretty much all the food}. 

I just enjoy it. I really do love sharing my heart and my world in my little corner of social-media-land. And I look forward to being back, I really do. 

Five // I also have realized how much social media has taken away from my time of blogging, which I want to fix. This "Sweet Home Santa Barbara" blog is what started it all! 

It got me plugged into the blogging world, gave me a glimpse at some women who truly lived for Jesus, and helped me realize that my heart was aching for that. 

It gave me a passion for being a part of a community that shares. That's my favorite thing about the blogging community, we share. 

We share the cool and exciting new trends (hi, my best friend Stitch Fix). We share the life changing events, we share about our jobs, and our families, and our pets. We share what makes our heart beat with passion at a rate a gajillion times faster than it normally does, and we share what breaks it. We share the good times, but we also share the bad. The hard. The "things will never be the same" moments. 

And that passion to share? It's built into me. Right next to the part of me that craves all the food. 

And so, here are a few life updates. 

I've recently become really into trying to figure out how to do my hair. It's something I've always wished I could do, but figured my hair was just destined to always lay plain, and stick straight. 

False. 

I've even pulled my sister into this. 

I've been learning completely through YouTube, and these are my favorite channels:

Twist Me Pretty || Abby Smith

Missy Sue

***

I'm coordinating a wedding this weekend. After going to 6 in the last year, it's about time that I took it up a notch. 

I'm equal parts excited and nervous. Mainly excited, but let's be real. It's my friend Claire's big day, and I want it to go peeerfectly. 

No pressure. 

***

In less than 2 weeks, PJ and I will be celebrating our one year anniversary by running this half marathon. 

We will probably look something like this. 

It's gonna be great. 

***

I'm in week 8 of 10 in my second seminary class! This one has been kicking my butt much more than the last one, time-wise. But it's teaching me a lot about sacrificing time for building a dream. 

And the truth is? I don't even know what that dream is. Right now, it's just the dream of following God's path for my life, and I kinda like it that way. 

***

Enough about me. How are you? 

31days // All Things

I ran a half marathon today. 

I finished 5 minutes slower than my last one, and while some may be disappointed with that, I was the exact opposite. I was ecstatic, shocked, and thrilled. 

I talked a little bit about it here, but I've been in a bit of a running funk lately. Anything over 5 miles just wasn't sounding appealing, which made it quite difficult to train for a half marathon. So to be brutally honest, I just kind of didn't. The most I ran before the race was 7.5 miles, which is juuust over half of the full 13.1. 

Running this race, the one thing that kept going over and over through my mind was this:

So what does this have to do with purity? After all, this is 31 days on purity, right? 

Sometimes, pursuing purity can feel like a race. Sometimes, it can get tiring and discouraging and lonely. Sometimes, you can pull a Paul in Romans 7, and be shocked to find yourself doing things that you know you don't want to be doing. 

Remember this verse, friends. It's not through our own strength that we are pure. It's through Christ, and His strength. Grab hold of that when it feels like yours is failing. 

Happy Sunday, loves! Hope yours is a great one. 

SB Wine Country Half Marathon {Race Recap/Review}

This past weekend, I ran my first half marathon! For those of you who have been around for a while, you know this has been a long time coming. It's amazing how fast time flies, it's hard to believe I was actually in a boot for 6 weeks not too long ago. I'm thankful for that injury, because it made it 10X sweeter to cross that finish line. 

I ran the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon.

This was by far, the most beautiful race I have ever run. Probably even more beautiful than any race I could have dreamed up. The pictures really don't do it justice. 

The race started in Santa Ynez, which is a little remote town about 40 minutes outside of Santa Barbara. We ran through that and two other towns, all well known for their wineries (hence the race name!). After getting through Santa Ynez, we made our way through Los Olivos (probably my favorite of the three), and finished in adorable Sulvang. 

Having been doing all of my running lately in Santa Barbara and San Diego, I'm used to either running through neighborhoods or running along the beach {not complaining one bit about that!}. 

This race took us through fields and farms, nothing short of gorgeous scenery at each leg of the race. 

We even saw a buffalo:

It. Was. Incredible. 

If you're ever looking for a half marathon to do in California, I would highly, highly suggest this one. There are definitely hills that give it a challenge, but you really can't beat the scenery. 

The one piece of criticism that I have for Destination Races is please, please, please have water bottles at the finish line next year. Everyone I talked to found it very shocking that there was only a small water station with plastic cups, in an area where we were asked to continue walking so as to allow others to pass through the finish line. 

Once we followed the directions and continued moving, there was no sign of water anywhere. Seeing as we had just run 13.1 miles, and it very quickly became a whopping 90+ degrees, I think this was just asking for dehydration to hit. 

So, there's my one piece of helpful advice for next year. Other than that, the race really was fantastic!

Not to mention, you finish smack dab in wine country. 

Helloooo post race festivites!

I want to say a giant thank you to all of you readers who have been praying with me through this. Through all of the races, all of the knee pain, foot pain, and just plain fear. 

You guys got me through this. Your prayers. 

So thank you. Thank you so, so, so much!

10 Words or Less

"Sell yourself in 10 words or less":

I

ran

a

half

marathon

today.

{Boom. Only 6.}