The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Good morning from North Carolina! I've been all over the place recently and kind of MIA for a little bit so I wanted to do a lil catch-up post! So do you want the good news or the bad news first? Let's start with the bad.

The bad and the ugly:

+ I lost my job with Chatbooks. I'm trying to throw this in here nonchalantly but it's honestly been really hard. They simply downsized their customer support team and I was one of the unlucky ones. With this news, I've felt a lot of different emotions - sadness, anger, hurt, confusion, and gratitude to name a few. Sadness and gratitude because I loved my time with Chatbooks so, so much and feel very blessed to have worked for them for 2.5 years. Anger, hurt, and confusion because we pretty much planned this year of medical school and our travels (not to mention so much of our future in general) around this job and my ability to work remotely and this news literally came out of nowhere. It's still a shock and I'm still processing it but I'm hopeful that there is something else out there that I am supposed to be doing that will bring me even more joy and fulfillment. God is testing me and I'm doing my best to learn what He wants me to learn and that's hard. It's been such a weird week since I heard the news. If you know of any legitimate jobs that I can do while bouncing around the country, please let me know! And please, please, please no MLM recommendations. Please. I respect that if that works for you but no thank you.

+ We won't be sharing a 'How We Wore It' post for the month of August after all. It's been a super busy month for all of us and we will most definitely be back and better than ever in September! Stay tuned, my friends!

Image via Pinterest

The good and the happy and the totally completely random:

+ We still technically have 22 days of summer left :).

+ Jordan Kimball from the Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise is the greatest ever. I am so invested in him finding love (hopefully with Jenna) that I smile through every episode. Parker and I both love him. His one-liners are everything and we literally LOL every time he's on the screen. #TEAMJORDAN

+ We are headed to Bald Head Island for Labor Day weekend and I CANNOT WAIT! Picture of a Nicholas Sparks movie/novel - esque island that is filled with happiness and dreams come true and you have Bald Head Island. It's incredible.

+ I've been listening to 'Girl, Wash Your Face' by Rachel Hollis these last couple of days. I'm not even halfway through the book and I already want to scream about it from the rooftops. Every girl needs to read/listen to this book. Men, too. Every human.

+ Big Brother this summer has been bomb. I love Tyler and Haleigh. My family draws names and we each have two people that are 'ours' throughout the season to cheer for and if one of our people wins, we get bragging rights. Haleigh is one of my people and Tyler is one of Parker's and I think, as of right now, they have played the best game. Or at least they've tried to... Also, Fessy made the dumbest move in all of Big Brother history IMO. And Angela is the worst. (I am one episode behind so if one of the above people is out now, NO SPOILERS!!)

+ Do you follow @TheAlisonShow? You know how she always says "sharing is caring"? I'm gonna come out and say that I would so, so, so appreciate it if you would share my blog (or even my Instagram) with your friends. If this thing could somehow earn us some money, that would be huge. Yes, I'm playing the sympathy card a little bit because I just lost my job but in all seriousness, if anything I've shared or written here tickles your fancy or does so in the future, please share it. I would be forever grateful and you would make my day! And yes. I feel really awkward asking this.

+ This season of So You Think You Can Dance was a bit of a snoozer at first so I slacked on watching. I watched the first episode with eliminations from the top 10 last night and I swear I had a smile on my face the entire episode. Slavic is blowing my mind. There were so many good dances that it's hard for me to pick a favorite!

+ Our GPS pronounces Waterstone Drive as Watastone and it makes me smile every time I turn onto that street.

+ God loves you and you are doing great. I felt like I should remind you of that.

I'm grateful that there are more good and happy things in my life than there are sad things even if the sad things are pretty significant. Counting my blessings and noticing the things that make me smile always helps me feel better. What is something you do to feel better when you've received bad news or are simply have a blegh day?

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you know how much I appreciate you!

xoxo, Chelan

Family Time in Canada

I spent a week and a half in Cardston with my family and it was as a blast, as always. We went to Beazer & Wally's, Matlin did my hair, and we played more games of Nertz than I can count. We went to the Carriage House Theater's Summer Theather production of Newsies, we played pickleball at the high school and we went birthday shopping in Calgary. I did the photo shoot with my friends for our How We Wore It Series (if you missed that last post, click here!) and we went to a Harry Potter Birthday Party. We had such a good time and I loved being able to spend so much time with my friends and family! They are the best!

New hair courtesy of my amazing sister @hairbymatlin!

Camping in Spokane with the McMurray clan!

After our amazing week in Eureka, we headed to Spokane, Washington to meet up with my family for a week of camping. And boyyyy was this week ever fun! We weren't sure if Matlin and Camrie (my little sisters) were able to join us because they had to work part way through the week but they ended up coming and surprising us which we were SO excited about!

The KOA campground that we stayed at was in the perfect location, had an awesome pool that was surprisingly not very busy, and it also had a pickleball court which turned out to be the highlight of the trip - for me anyway. I'd never played pickleball before so I was a little disappointed at first that it wasn't a tennis court but I hereby declare pickleball as my new favorite sport. Between the 6 of us (my parents, Matlin, Camrie, Parker, and me) we had a good group and created every team possible. My Aunt Karma and Uncle Jack and their kids, Logan and Catch, were there, too, so we played pickleball with them as well! It seems like most matches were pretty even so the games were always exciting and close!

Each day went pretty much like this:

Wake up and work for a bit, eat breakfast, head to the pool and lay out, play pickleball and get hot, jump in the pool to cool off, lay out, eat snacks, play cards, play more pickleball and get hot, jump in the pool to cool off, lay out, eat snacks, play a game, and repeat. We would take a lunch break and would clean up for dinner after we had had enough pool time then we would head back to play more pickleball in the evenings. Some nights featured a little shopping, we went to Mama Mia another night, and we celebrated Matlin's 21st birthday by going to Texas Roadhouse another evening. One day we spent our time at Lake Coeur d'Alene and that was a blast, too! We often played games and ate more snacks in the evenings and then I usually finished off the days with a little more work before bed.



Matlin and Camrie left Wednesday afternoon and that was sad but it didn't stop the rest of us from continuing to have a good time.

Another highlight of the week was biking the Hiawatha Trail. It's an old railway that's been converted into a bike path that is 15 miles long. While biking you go on some pretty high bridges and through some really long tunnels. So long, in fact, that you have to bring a jacket and wear a headlamp/have a bike lamp in order to see where you are going. It was a really cool experience and oh, the best part? It's all downhill so you don't have to do much work which is just how I like to bike ;). If you decide to give it a try, be sure to have a comfy seat on your bike otherwise you'll be sore for a few days afterward lol.

The biking crew!

Please forgive my horrendous outfit. It was supposedly going to be very hot on the trail (it wasn't actually hot) but I forgot to pack shorts that were for activewear so I had to wear Parker's... The grey on grey is pretty fashionable, right? And I think the whole helmet and light look finishes off the ensemble perfectly. 

On Sunday, Parker and I parted ways - he headed to Portland to start his rotation and I went with my parents to Canada for a bit so I could spend some more time with my family! Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the great camping trip! It was the best one yet!

Happy Sunday!

xoxo, Chelan

A Week o' Eureka

Please tell me you understand that title because I think its super clever, if I do say so myself, but my mom didn't read it right so now I'm thinking my cleverness didn't come across lol. Anyway, Parker's parents live in the itty bitty town of Eureka, Montana. It's a quaint little place surrounded by the mountains on the British Columbia border and right by Lake Koocanusa. There are several other smaller lakes in the area and my in-laws live on Carpenter or Terault lake. It's a beautiful lake that doesn't allow boating so the water is always calm. It's great for fishing and paddleboarding and just plain old floating - my favorite!

I didn't take many photos while we were there and now I'm kicking myself because of it but some highlights included white water rafting with Glacier Raft Company for Bailey's birthday, a hike around Lake McDonald (which we went swimming in and it was freezing) and dinner afterward. I also loved doing paddleboard partner yoga with Bailey. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time! Soooo much water up our noses! The rest of the time we pretty much relaxed on the water and read books and enjoyed the sun. It was a dreamy week and visiting my in-laws is a highlight of my summer every year! I'm grateful I married into a family that is so fun, accepting and full of just downright good people.

The view on our little hike by Lake McDonald!

Ready to go white water rafting. I've never looked better than when I was wearing that helmet and those booties.

Swimming in Lake McDonald with @ballsies!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo, Chelan

How We Wore It Together | High Waisted

Ever since we started this How We Wore It Series, we've tried to find a time where all of us would be in the same place at the same time but we've had no luck. All of us are from Southern Alberta originally but we're so spread out and often moving around so it's been nearly impossible! This year we didn't even really try to make plans because we were unsure of our summer schedules but the stars aligned and we happened to be in the same place at the same time without even really realizing it until we were all there! So we quickly formulated a plan and put it into motion. And let me tell you that this was probably my favorite How We Wore It post to date because we were all together. It was SO MUCH FUN! I love that this series keeps me in touch with these ladies and up to date on their lives from afar but it was such a blast and so refreshing to hang out in real life. They are all amazing and I'm so inspired by each one of them for multiple reasons. They are all confident, independent, strong, beautiful, and kind girls. I'm so grateful for their examples! Truly some of the best ladies out there! I'm grateful that this Series has brought us together!

Alright, alright, enough with the mush. Here are some of our photos from the most fun photo shoot ever featuring high waisted jeans! I love that high waisted pants are a trend and I hope they stick around forever. They suck and hold everything in. You would never know that I had eaten one of the best Sunday dinners I've ever had + dessert only minutes before this shoot because my ponch is well hidden behind that button fly.

High waisted jeans

Top

Shoes - they're Brash brand and from my mom's closet! She can't remember where she got them but she thinks it was Jane.com!

Be sure to check out my beautiful friend's posts! They are gold and they're my favorite posts of theirs yet! 

Jordan Cidelle

Twinnerpated & Co

Brittany Lowry

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you've had a wonderful July!

xoxo, Chelan