a holy moley kind of month

Do you experience this?

Praying and hoping and hustling for a season of life, and feeling like, "What is happening?" "What am I doing?" Ahhhhhhh! Over and over again? The past few weeks I've found myself thinking, am I really about to do this? Am I really going to push myself so beyond anything I've ever done before, to see if maybe, just maybe things will be different this time. Maybe this thing I've wanted for years but have never done will work out and I'll be closer to living my best life if I try this one thing? Maybe...

He're the thing - "maybe" is an unpredictable kind of word. It's a high risk, heart break probable vulnerability that once you act on, you really don't know what you're in for. It could be great - making the move to another country, asking your boss for that promotion, investing in friendships, running a marathon, trying a new hobby, starting the new job or business, saying no to the things you don't want to do but your family expects you to do.

Maybe! Maybe those decisions turn out to be amazing and you get the promotion, have a new awesome friend, or start your dream job beaming because you took the risk and did it! But maybe things fall apart. You dislike the new city your in, get a hard "no" for the raise you wanted, or get rejected by loved ones for making choices they never would. Being brave in decision making is a hard, hard thing to do because the desired results are not guaranteed no matter how brave you are. But let me tell you, whether you get rejection or praise - the fact that you allowed yourself to be vulnerable and courageous for yourself will lead you to grow in areas you never thought you could. I know this is true, because in the past two months its been happening to me.

My girl Brené Brown says it best: "You cant get to courage without rumbling with vulnerability."

So go and rumble! Whether that means looking at your life and really seeing the areas you need to change and grow.  Or doing the thing you know you've wanted to do or try all these years! You know what they are; the good things that have been on your mind but you've ignored because, life. Friend, You may have to say "no" to some things to say "yes" to the good stuff.  It's your life! You decide what's worth it.

I know that some of my Christian friends feel repulsed by this. In the past, I may have been too. You may be thinking, "My life is not my own, to You I belong. I give myself, I give myself to You." (If you know you know) Let me offer this thought: Jesus came to free us of our guilt and shame! Not only that, He tells us that the greatest commandment is to love Him with everything we have, and equally love our neighbor we love our self. I believe that part of loving yourself is working towards meeting to your needs (love, food, community, health etc) and pursuing your God given dreams in the short life you've been given. You were born with gifts and talents, and pursuing them is not a self indulgent mischievous act, it's part of the unique plan that God has created you to live out! We are free in Jesus name, and there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Yes, our faith and hope is in Him, but we cant stop there. Faith and works go together.

So stop condemning yourself for making yourself a priority. Stop shaming yourself for wanting to pursue the desires of your heart because no one around you is doing anything similar. Jesus does not condemn you, and neither do I. And you know what, doing what you need to do for yourself not only affects you in a positive way, it affects those around you and serves them in ways you cant even image. I never understood the Gospel so clear until now; I never understood it so fully until I started loving myself practically, every single day. That is when I truly learned that I am worthy of love.

It will be hard and you will have to sacrifice. But, it will be worth it. You'll never know where your decision to act may lead until you try. In the past few weeks we've seen the fruition of so many months and years worth of prayer, seeking and risk taking. It's taken years for some of these things to happen, but they are happening at the right time because I believe that like Ecclesiastes 3 says, there is a time for everything.

Here are some photos from the past few weeks - weeks of grace and blessing and risking and sacrificing -  I never want to forget. Thank you Lord <3

pool time the week we found out we both had new jobs

Music and drinks at Wynwood Yard - one of our favorite places in Miami

Facetime with my Indian baby whom I love so freaking much my heart hurts!

 Walks on Miami beach with my love between apartment hunting

I'm working out more than I ever have in my life and feel so good from the inside out

and started a job at Anthro + got promoted the fist week! Insane.

a bit of fall here and there

 ^ Celebrated 9 epic years with this guy ^

Furniture shopping. SO.MUCH.FURNITURE.SHOPPING. and thrifting, of course.

portrait mode, just because.

and beach-side dancing with the 50+ crowd! lol Probably our most stereotypical Florida moment yet!

Let's make magic!

Do you have lots of favorite photos of your family just sitting on your computer, and wish you could have them displayed on a beautiful album on your coffee table instead? Did your photographer send you a link to a beautiful gallery of  your photos, but you never had the time to do anything with them besides share on social media? Have you thought to yourself, "I'd love to make an album, but I don't have time?"

Well, I am here to help! In the past couple months I've had the opportunity to work on photo albums for family and friends and LOVED creating them. So I wanted to extend this service to you.

As you might know, G and I made the move to South Florida a couple months ago, and most recently started working and earning income again so we can move into a place of our own! For now, I'm working part time hours, so to help us with our move, we hope you'd like to support us while I make you something you will love and cherish for years to come.

If you are interested in a photo album for your family, please message me on Facebook and lets make it happen!

Image via Artifact Uprising of soft cover books

What you'll receive:

• A beautiful soft or hard cover photo album with your images in the size you'd like 
• An average of 45-55 featured photos in your 30 page book, or 75-85 featured photos in your 50 page book

Investment:

• $50 for a 30 page book or 
• $60 for a 50 page book 
• Plus, the cost of your photo book and shipping from Artifact Uprising (Average $20-$50 total for softcover / $60-$100 for hardcover)

Image via Artifact Uprising of hard cover books

I use Artifact Uprising because it is my favorite photo company. Their products are amazing! No, this is not sponsored, I just love them :)

You can check out their site here: https://www.artifactuprising.com/

So, whether you'd like a book for yourself, or want to gift one (or a few!) for the holidays, this is a great opportunity to help you get your photos out of your computer and into your life!

This is a limited offer as I am only accepting 6 book creations to be completed by December 5th! I may open up availability for more if  I have time to make them. I hope to hear from you soon!

**The first person to order a photo book from me will receive $10 off their book, so if you're interested, don't hesitate to contact me**

More details!

• First, you'd send me the link to your online gallery of high resolution photos after selecting your favorites for me to create the book from. You'd choose the cover photo of course!

• On average, I take about 3-4 hours per book. This is something I want to make beautiful! You'll get to review the final proof for any changes before the book is complete.

• Once the book is created you can order as many as you like! I'll send you the log in information to the website and put the book in your cart, so all you need to do is fill out the shipping and billing information and order away.

• The $50 or $60 charge (depending on the number of pages you'd like) does not change depending on the number of books you want to order.

• Half the charge ($25 or $30) is paid upfront through PayPal or Squarecash, the rest is paid when the book is done.

• Your book will be completed within 3 weeks of initial payment. 

* * The best way to contact me is through my email address: tiffanyolives@gmail.com * *

I hope to hear from you soon!

Love, Tiffany Olives

The Best is Yet to Come

a faith journey to Miami

It's hard to believe, but in a few short weeks we will be moving into our first home in Miami! Do we have the apartment or house we're going to move into yet? Nope! We're actually viewing some this weekend we are very excited about! But right now, I'm writing it like it's already happened. It's going to happen, SOON. After two months of job hunting, G started a new job this week to get the ball rolling, and I just accepted my first job at one of my favorite companies! It's been 6 months of rest and work, seeking and praying, and doing the thing we set out to do after visiting Miami for the first time, almost a year ago. 

This past January we visited Miami for the first time, and this trip changed our life. I was 100% hesitating and strongly opposed to moving to Florida at the time, but knew it was time to leave Cali. For a menagerie of reasons, G and I felt we needed to make a change. But this would be our third major move, and I was ready to stay in one place for more than 3.5 years. I wanted deep roots, great community, and babies! So, this next venture would impact our future in a multitude of very significant ways.

I think you already know where we stood after this trip. We prayed and prayed and I cried because I'm a crier, and even though I was still very fearful and hesitant along the way, I followed my husbands lead on this and believed God was present in our story, and ultimately leading the way. I'm not gonna lie - it hasn't been easy. Moving across states never is, and this was our third time doing it with no jobs waiting for us and our second without a place of our own. So you can imagine why even after the move I found myself wondering if this was the right decision, because well, uncertainty is hard. But doing something hard doesn't mean its not worth doing. And that feeling of fear doesn't necessarily mean it's the wrong decision.  A brave life requires faith. Imperfect, sometimes doubting, faith. And I have to pray for faith all. the. time. I know I cant do it on my own, I've tried and failed miserably. I need Jesus! And you know what, He always hears my cry. Even when life looks like a mess - He is present and ready to be with me through it all, and He's ready to be with you too.

We could have NEVER done this alone. The great transitions of life also require a tribe of people to stand with you and support you in love and deed. And we are so grateful.

To our parents and siblings, who drove 10 hours from Jersey to Chicago with all our newlywed gifts and helped us settle into our very first home. 

To Tia Rozangela and Joe, who welcomed us in to their home in Long Beach for weeks at a time during our transition into and out of So Cal. Our home away from home.

To Elimar and Julia, who gladly let us live with them for three months until we miraculously got our place in the mountains of Escondido.

To Tia Rozani, who invited us to live with her Coconut Creek while we got jobs and did the things we needed to do before moving down to Miami.

To all our friends too many to name, who called, prayed, encouraged, gave financially and visited us along the way.

THANK YOU. 

Even though we've said this personally, this is a very important public thanks. We are where we are because of so many people, our determination to make our dreams come true and through Gods grace. I believe that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord, for those who are called according to His purpose. And Lord Jesus, I pray that we will do your work in this new place and make a positive impact on lives in our new home state.

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Brené Brown "The Gifts of Imperfection"

January 2018

G, the husband of my youth, I love you so much <3