P H A I N

Day 1 & 2 Yellowstone. Probably the most diverse scenery I've seen in the span of 2 weeks. I had planned on going to Yellowstone in 2018 with Samantha, on the way back from California, but ended up coming straight home from San Francisco. So, of course, I started planning for a trip specifically to see Yellowstone. I threw out the suggestion to my family that we should all go, and most of them agreed! Having 9 of us go introduced some difficulties but ultimately we got it all worked out and started planning what all we wanted to see along the way. The first day was just driving, we headed to Sioux Falls, SD. Day 2 was jam packed full of sights! The first stop being the Corn Palace. About half of us had been there before, but it never ceases to a-maize! (See what I did there? Eh? No? Too corny? Ahem...moving on.) Next was a ghost town in Okaton. Abandoned places isn't everybody's thing, I know, but since it was right off the highway, we stopped and...

This year I'm turning 30! So I thought I would mark the occasion with a few things that I've learned so far, and most of them I still have to work on, but here goes! 1. Progress, not perfection. I struggle big time with wanting things to be a specific way and I always end up disappointed when things don't match the vision in my head. Roll with the punches a bit! And celebrate progress, even if it doesn't quite match what you had envisioned. 2. Compare to yourself, not others. I find I tend to put myself down whenever I look at someone else in envy. But if I look at where I was a year ago, I'm pretty proud of the progress I've made. 3. You can't pour from an empty cup - know your limits. Raise your hand if you have a hard time saying no! I would stress myself out endlessly by saying yes to anything someone asked of me. It's okay to say no, your well-being is more important than pleasing everyone. Boundaries, especially for yourself, i...