Nailed it!

A healthy mind is equally as important as a healthy body, so when my friend Christine shared this story and it made me smile, I wanted to pass it along to you. I hope it provides you with a happy boost!

Christine has been preparing diligently for months for her upcoming wedding this May. She is super excited and has a Pinterest board filled with her fav wedding things. One of the items is a box made of wood for display at a wedding where people can insert their money cards. Christine is very crafty and wanted to make the box instead of buying one. She went to her parent’s home one weekend and teamed up with her dad who does a lot of woodworking. Together, they built the cardholder out of scrap wood. He used nails he had in a jar and revealed to Christine that the nails were from her grandparent’s home in Northern Pennsylvania. After both her grandparents passed away, her dad was at the house prepping it for sale and doing some minor upgrade work when he took the nails out of wood paneling from 1971 and placed them in a jar. He thought the card box for Christine’s wedding was a perfect project to reuse the nails.

It sounds simplistic, but there is a lot of cool symbolism to this humble story. A nail is defined as a small metal spike driven into wood to join things together. That in itself is cool if you think of marriage and how it’s a union. An additional fun symbolic element is that the nails are now uniquely linking a part of her family’s past with the future. A great example of how something small in life can have significant meaning.

Wishing Christine and Tyler all the best on their upcoming nuptials!

NOTE: Photos by Christine’s mom.

Gal on the Go 2.0

When I got married I thought it would be forever, not because I had delusions of grandeur, but because my husband and I both came from divorced households and we thought we learned from the mistakes of our parents. Fast-forward 7,297 days later to the end. My husband and I separated and of course it’s something I NEVER expected. You go about your life and then a curve ball heads your way and knocks you down. I went through all the typical phases … sadness, anger, mourning, scared of unknowns ahead, etc. Three of my girlfriends helped me pack on Christmas Eve of 2014. (Friends who help you pack, especially on the night of a holiday are GOOD friends!) Two days later I moved into an apartment. I hadn’t lived in an apartment since my early 20s. The first few months were a whirlwind and I felt like I was living in a hotel, then one day my apartment suddenly felt homey. I was going through A LOT between the divorce and other life events, and the reality of them hit me at odd times causing me to have many tearful moments. Along the way, I discovered who my true friends are — those who have been there to take my random calls and texts any time of day or night when I needed someone the most versus those who haven’t had any time to spare or worse, used my personal business as their own gossip fodder. On September 10 my divorce became final. Given all the time and legal c**p involved, I thought it would feel different in ways I can’t explain. Instead, it just felt like OK, now I’m divorced, bring on the next life adventure! I’m currently in the process of preparing to move to shorten my commute and improve my quality of life. This past year bad days seemed frequent and time felt like an eternity; at the same time I can’t believe that 2015 will soon be over! I’m sad leaving an apartment that’s hard for me to believe once felt sterile. During my time here I took up bike riding and immersed myself in my community cruising around town to my local gym, favorite mom and pop businesses like HighGrain Bread Company and more. I have been reflecting on my own advice of “Use your fears to become fearless.” I’m doing my best to navigate life, move forward and apply the quote by facing the unknowns with excitement rather than fear. Gal on the Go 1.0 underwent a lot of life debugging in 2015. Gal on the Go 2.0 is an upgrade and looks forward to being better than ever in 2016!