What makes Jess a mess?

I'm a girl with many ambitions, passions, and abilities.  Recently I've discovered that I have so many passions that I can hardly keep up with myself!  I have found that writing out my ideas and experiences has helped me to reflect on where I've been and ultimately where I'm going in this journey.  This little blog is a direct effect of that realization.

I might as well give you a little summation of what makes me, well, me :)  I am an upcoming Junior in college, time is absolutely flying I still cannot believe I'm half way done with my college years!  Throughout this past year I have had many life changing experiences.  FCA's AfterDark marks the point in my life where I had a huge wake up call

"The great key to living a life that truly matters, a life that is rich and fulfilling, a life that can weather life's greatest storms and still come out smiling is to get your spiritual roots moving daily into the fertile soil of faith."  - Joe White

I knew I needed to get my spiritual roots moving, so I dedicated my life to Christ right there and then on October 28, 2010.  Since that moment I have lived my life solely to bring Him glory and to pursue His purpose for my life!  I was baptized on May 29, 2011, the weekend of my 20th birthday.  To see how much I have grown in 7 months truly is amazing, and the Lord deserves ALL the glory!

Sometimes I don't have a way with words, so my outlet for expression is photography.  I love capturing the Lord's masterpieces on film, and being able to share them with anyone and everyone!  There's still so much to learn and so much experience I still need to gain, but I hope that with time I can pursue photography as a career.  This blog will serve as a portfolio and an outlet to share the moments I experience, the people I encounter, and the expression of my creativity.

Here's where I get vulnerable with you..  Like most girls, I have struggled with image, and through the Lord's faithfulness I have been able to grown and slowly overcome this challenge.  Throughout this crazy process I have geared that negativity towards a passion of fitness.  Now I'm no "workoutaholic" but I still LOVE getting my heart pumping with a variation of work outs (strength training, pilates, zumba, etc).  Setting new goals gets me so pumped to keep pushing forward and enables me to see just how much my body really can do!  I know that working out is half the battle to maintain a healthy lifestyle - nutrition plays even more of a role!  Through my struggle I made food the enemy, but I have learned that the right foods can do SO much for my mind and body.  I'm striving to consume more organic, natural, and whole foods rather than that yucky processed stuff.  All in all I've accumulated random knowledge from all over and it's definitely a passion to keep on learning.