Tea Time with Hil

Hi friends! Lately I've been thinking about what I would tell my younger self now that I am more than a decade out of high school. I have learn so much about life since then. I've shed many tears, laughed until my stomach hurts and gone through many seasons of life. In retrospect, I admire the girl that I was then but that is not without saying there aren't many times that I wish I could go back and be like "girl, let me fill you in on this". I'm sure we all have those moments from time to time.  Here is what I'd tell my teenage self... Dear Hil,  High School will not be easy. Your in this weird paradox between being the nerdy honors student but also being pretty darn cool. You can be a bit intimidating at times but that's because you feel like you have to be strong all the time. People will like you, but there will also be people who try to make your life hell. You never really know why. I hate to tell you this but you will deal with bullies for most ...

I took somewhat of a blog break, which was not planned. I'm noticing that I have a burst of inspiration to write in the Fall, which is where this blog began in 2019. Wow, 3 years ago on a random day at work while talking to one of my closet friends, I took a leap and made a blog.  While my blog hiatus was not planned, in retrospect it was intentional and needed. You see, I've been in a season of stillness since early this year. Maybe since around February.  I can always tell when I am transitioning into a new season of my life. Stillness comes over me and I just sit back and watch the things around me unfold in a way that is always revealing in every way that I needed.  Be Still is what God told me in February. I remember hearing those words in my head, randomly. I had just finished reading my Bible in entirety, and I thought to myself what is next on this spiritual journey that I've been on for the past 3-4 years? Just as clear as day, God said, Be Still. I then remember...

  Happy Monday! I pray that everyone out there reading this is safe and healthy! Lately, I have been thinking a lot about things that make me happy. Like, genuinely happy . Things that light my soul on fire, make me smile, and give me something to look forward to.  You see, this is an important question to ask yourself from time to time. Why? Because on those really hard & busy work days, on days where you feel a bit off or in a rut, days where you feel no one understands or everyone around you is too busy to listen... it helps to have a positive outlet. This positive outlet can be a number of things but notice the key word that I am using is positive. Something that will not harm you or anyone around you, but instead add value to your day/week!   After a few days of pondering on my "happy list", I realized that the things that truly make me happy are the small moments throughout my day. You know, those moments when you know God is winking at you like, "Girl, I got...

Happy Blessed Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the internet. Have you ever asked yourself "Why is this happening" ? I'm sure we all have asked this question time and time again when something doesn't go the way we planned. I'm not ashamed to say I have! Life has a funny way of making us wonder "Why"? Lately, I've been thinking about my own "Why" and I have realized just how much "Why" crosses my mind. Why is work is busy, I'm exhausted? Why won't it stop snowing already? Why are people so rude? Why does my to-do list always seem never ending? Why did I not wake up earlier? WHY are we still in this pandemic? It's human nature to question worldly things but what good does it do? Sure, I have moments of my day when I cycle through the many whys that we all endure. We continue to ask "Why" something has a different outcome than we planned. We go around and around about why , when deep down we ...

Happy Friday! Leading up to Christmas, I honestly had no idea what that day would look like. As we know, it's STILL a global pandemic and I don't know about you but my family & I are still practicing social distancing. With that being said, my level of Christmas cheer was not what it usually is because I knew that I wouldn't be able to celebrate with my loved ones the way I normally would. As the month started, I had already ordered most of my gifts from Amazon to cut down the amount of time that I needed to go to the store. Once I had that set, I had to figure out how I would even exchange gifts with people while still keeping myself & others safe. I thought about it for a few days came up with a master plan. For starters, I usually exchange gifts with my best friend and refused to not keep that tradition, so we settled on shipping gifts to each other and opening them on zoom. At first I was thinking this would not be as exciting as it normally is when we open gift...

Happy Tuesday and welcome back to my little corner of the internet! Thank you to everyone who has been reading my recent posts, it warms my heart! As we near the end of 2020, I have been thinking long and hard about what I want my 2021 word of the year to be. I started this tradition last year from an idea I found on Pinterest. Essentially, you pick a word that you hope will define your new year. For me, it is more about having a word that channels hope and inspiration for the upcoming year. By picking a word of the year , it helps me stay centered and focused on what I want to work towards in order to make my year the best it can be! Honestly, with how hectic 2020 was, I'm grateful that I did start this tradition because it helped me stay focused on what I wanted my year to be, instead of focusing on the pandemic so much. On those days were I was feeling unsettled this year I remembered my word, so this is something I definitely want to keep doing for many years to come. You...

 Happy Tuesday! How crazy is it that it's December?  If you know me well, you know I'm a die hard Frozen fan. Why? Because Elsa is my homegirl and she keeps it real, obviously lol. But seriously, Elsa taught us all how to "Let it Go" and to be true to ourselves, which is such a valid lesson when navigating life and relationships with people. As we near the end of the year, I have been reflecting a lot about the concept of family . This year was a defining moment for me with a lot of family members. As if 2020 was not hectic enough, I realized where I stand with a lot of people and have since chosen to permanently social distance from them. That probably sounds harsh, but just because someone is your family, does not mean they get a pass to treat you like dirt, make you cry, try to ruin a special moment for you or just not be supportive at all.  All of the above is something I experienced this year, unfortunately. It was made very clear to me during this pandemic tha...

Happy Tuesday to those who have taken the time to stop by my little corner of the internet!  Whelp, I'm about to get deep. Fair warning.  Recently, I have been thinking more & more about how awesome God is to love us despite our many flaws. He made us in his image and continues to love and protect us even though most days, we fall short.  My family has always been believers in God. While we may not have always been avid church goers, I have always known who God was and that everything I have is thanks to him. My Mom has always been a prayer warrior, and instilled in me very young to PRAY and seek God for everything. Every night I find her on her knees praying before bed. If I could describe an earthy Angel, it would be my Mom. Speaking of Angels, I think of my Paternal Grandfather, who we called Papa. He was a man of faith through & through, most of his days were spent reading his Bible, that he read front to back time and time again. As he got older, he would li...

And just like that, it is November . How is it already November when it feels like 2020 just began? The year that seemed to be moving at the speed of a tiny snail, has sudden flown by. Let me start by saying, I pray that you whoever is reading this out there is safe and healthy. Who would have thought that would be such a common thing to say? I say that to everyone now, "Be stay and stay healthy", as if it is the equivalent of saying "How are you". 2020 has been a whirlwind but to be honest, now that it is almost over I've realized that some good has come out of this craptastic year that has shaken up our entire world. ***For those of you who are reading this in the future, I'm referring to the COVID-19 outbreak that has changed how we all live our day-to-day lives.***   2020 has made me STRONGER . Yes, I am already a pretty tough cookie but 2020 has made me resilient in a way I didn't know I could be. When the pandemic first started, my main concern wa...

Happy Tuesday! Last week I finally did something I've been debating for months. I kept going back and forth in my mind. Should I do this? Do I really want to close that door for good? Is this super petty? The truth is, I'm big on closure and when I don't have any type of closure, I struggle moving on completely . My former friend of 4 years randomly walked out of my life over a year ago now. Yes, I was ghosted. And no, nothing happened to cause the ghosting. I really don't get how to you do that someone, especially after nothing happened? So again, back to closure. I deleted said-ghosted friend off of all social media platforms. I NEEDED closure and this was about the only way I was going to get any from her. I think the icing on the cake was her post 2-3 weeks ago that said something along the lines of "it's great having TRUE friends" . My thought was, as if the friends you had weren't "TRUE" enough, apparently you have moved on and now...

So, in the spirit of it being a New Year and a New Decade I've been thinking about what word I hope defines this year for me. What feeling do I want to get out of 2020? Granted, I've never done a word of the year before but I've seen posts on social media and thought the concept was interesting. Let's be real, anything that will spark some type of inspiration, I'm interested (within limits of course). I attempted to do this last year, but by the time it came back to my mind, the year was half way over and I felt the tone had already been set. Which it hadn't, you can always change the tone but that's what I thought at the time. So here I am, 7 days into 2020, ready to pick my word of the year. In my last post, I talked a lot about not sweating the small stuff this year (okay, I actually said not giving a fuck but I was a little sassy when I wrote that) and doing what makes me happy! This gets lost in translation a lot for me, because life happens. I t...

I don't know about you, but I'm always thinking of new Date Night ideas! My guy and I have been together over 10 years, so we've been on a LOT of dates together.  Just for the sake of keeping things fresh for the New Year, I did some research of Date Ideas, and a lot of them won't break the bank! In the end, it's all about spending time together anyway, right? I highlighted some that we do often as well! Happy Holiday's and Happy Date Night: Go out for desert Take a nice drive Go walking Go to the park Go to dinner at a new place Play a game Movie night at home Cook a nice meal together Go see a Play Mini Golf Bowling Go-karts Laser Tag Horseback Riding  Crafting (Painting with a twist or pottery painting) Recreate your first date Bake Something Find a new show to binge Go see a new movie Jam to your favorite songs Watch funny YouTube videos Plan your next trip Make a bucket list  Go on a picnic Have a bonfire Look at old phot...

So, I've been on this whole goal setting kick, which you'd know if you'd been following along with me the past few months. One may ask, how hard is it to set a goal? It's super easy to sit down and make a goal, but the hard part is the follow through. I ask myself often, why is that? Why do we have such a hard time following through with goals that WE set for ourselves? After doing some research (Pinterest of course) on the topic I found some tips & tricks that finally gave me some guidelines on the mistakes we make when setting goals. In knowing the mistakes, I then figured out how to effectively set a goal. Basically there's a method to the madness. If you really, REALLY want to be better at goal setting and actually check things off your list next year, this may be helpful. Or maybe you can find other ways to implement these tips in your life. Here are the Mistakes we should Avoid when Goal Setting: Thinking too Small - Don't limit yourself. T...

Okay, so we all go through this at some point. By this I mean, STRESS!! For me, it usually happens towards the Holiday's. All of a sudden by brain is on overload and I have a long to-do-list of all the things . Sometimes we don't even realize that we are burned out until someone says, hey, are you good? Or you look in the mirror and realize you have dark circles under your eyes lol. For me, I've mainly been feeling stressed with work lately, which has been causing some burn out. I need a break, that simple. Luckily Holiday Break is coming up soon. But in general, I've been thinking of ways to catch burn out and stress as it is rearing its ugly head, and maybe in doing so I can try to work through it before it's full blown! Worth a shot, right? Here are the Signs of Burn Out: You're not taking care of your basic needs. You're snoozing the alarm more than usual. You're exhausted, all the time. Your to-do list makes you feel overwhelmed. Nothing ...

I know I'm not the only one who has struggled with saying "NO" at times. This was actually something I actively worked in this year and I feel that I've gotten a lot better but even so, it still can be hard to say not without feeling guilty. I realized I struggle with this over a year ago. I had constant back-to-back lunches and dinners, etc. scheduled with friends and family. Everything was so close together, I was struggling with having time to myself to regroup. Finally, when things slowed down, I realized just how exhausted I was. Also, I realized all of the money I used from constantly having outings so close together. It was then that it clicked; I could've said no . I could've easily say "hey, this month I am booked but maybe next month". Why didn't I do that? Guilt. I felt like I was being anti-social or letting people down who clearly wanted to hang out with me. But you know, that wasn't fair to me. I've said this before, b...

After a two week break, I'm back! Can you believe that it's already December? Where did the year go? I've been seeing quotes all over Instagram saying "May this last month of the year be your best one yet" . I thought about it and there is some validity to that statement. This is the last month of the year and we should make it a good one, right?! But how do we make December our best month? How do we finish the year out strong? In my usual fashion, I thought of a few things that I plan to do to make December 2019 a great closing to the year... I plan to wrap up as many projects and lose ends as I can. I want to go into 2020 with a blank slate, which will leave me open to new projects and goals to focus on. For example, I'm currently working on three knitting projects. Yes ...three. I'm hoping to get those done before the year is over.  I hope to get organized before going into the New Year. In general, I'm an organized person by nature but I do h...

Wow! We are literally heading into a new decade. How weird is that? For memory sake, I've been thinking about all the BIG MOMENTS I've had in the 2010's. Since I've been all about simple joys, I thought it would be cool to do a post on those moments so I can have something to look back on in another decade. Here goes nothing...  In 2010, I graduated from High School. This was my first big moment of 2010. I remember being so excited to graduate high school and start college! It was also exciting to be a Senior in High School, to rule the school haha. Senior Year was definitely my best year of High School for many reasons. I had a great set of friends during this time of my life, I finally felt like I was coming into my own, I was in a new relationship, I had stood up to my bullies after years of shit from them and the future was so bright. I couldn't wait to leave High School behind and start a new. I can't believe so much time as passed! I left that place an...

Happy Monday! Whelp, we are more than half way through November. How crazy is that? The closer we get to Thanksgiving & Christmas, the more I have been thinking about ways to be a blessing to the people in my life. Something about this time of year makes me really reflect on how blessed I am. So many things to be thankful for not only during the holiday season but all year long! One thing I always try to remember is that paying it forward is key. When you are good to others, good will be given back to you! Here are some ideas of how to bless the people in your life, big or small. Call/Text Someone - So this is super easy but we all forget to reach out to our loved ones at times, so challenge yourself to do better during this holiday season. I make an effort each week to text my family members. It's always short and sweet but the point is to let them know I'm thinking of them! You never know how something so small can change someones day.  Be a Giver - I don't know...

Happy Hump Day! I've mentioned this before but I've been doing a lot of self reflection in order to set realistic goals for myself in 2020. In doing so, I have been reading (and watching) a lot on goal setting to find new ways to not just create goals, but to also stick to them and follow through! I am currently using a notebook specifically for goal setting. One of the articles I found asked such a loaded question, that I had to write it down in my journal so I could not only reflect but also, look back on what I wrote as I progress in creating new goals in the future. The key is to create goals based off of what you want your life to look like in 5 years...and then in 50 years. Okay, that's a huge time gap, right?! When I first saw this question, I was like whoa... 50 years from now seems hard to picture. Sometimes 5 years from now is hard to grasp, let alone 50. But I excepted the challenge. I wrote this question down in my journal 3 weeks ago, and to be honest, I jus...

Happy Monday! Yesterday was daylight savings, and I'm so grateful for the extra hour of sleep lol. Much needed. Lately, I've had a total creative bug. I've been on pinterest more than ever looking for new things to create. Granted, I'm a crafter anyway but even I go through phases where the trill is gone. I guess the question is, where do you find inspiration? Even if you don't craft, what motivates you? What gets excited? What is your hobby, the thing you look forward to doing in your spare time? For me, I have a few ways to channel inspiration when I'm stuck in a rut or even having an off day. Quotes. I've always been a lover of quotes. I get so much inspiration from them and a large amount of the pages I follow on Instagram are quote pages. Who knew something so simple would burn a fire in me to get me going, keep me sane and give me hope when I need it. This is also why I end each blog post with a quote, it's just my thing. Little words of wi...